This guide is an introduction to selected sources used to research company, industry , economic, and competitive information. It highlights some of the key research tools available but it is not intended as a comprehensive list of sources. For a more complete list of electronic resources available to member of the York University community visit our Business Online Web page.

The sources listed below are available in print or electronically at the Peter F. Bronfman Business Library. York University students, faculty and staff may access the electronic resources remotely by using the proxy server and signing on with their Passport York ID and PIN or with their YU Card ID and PIN.

Reference staff in the library are pleased to offer assistance to members of the York University community, either in person, by phone (416-736-5139),by email or by our IM chat reference service.

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This guide is divided into the following sections:

• Finding Company/ Industry Information
• Industrial Classification Codes
• Industry Trends and Analysis
• Industry Financial Performance
• Finding Articles on Companies and Industries
• Economic Indicators

Finding Company/ Industry Information

Public companies are traded on stock exchanges or over-the-counter and are subject to regulation by Security Exchanges. They are required by law to file reports publicly. This makes it relatively easy to find information about public companies. However, private companies, other than federally regulated ones, are not required to report publicly and therefore it is much more difficult to find information about them. Generally speaking for private companies, there is only directory information and occasionally articles in newspapers or journals.

For additional company information you may wish to consult company websites.Selected Print Company Sources Dun and Bradstreet’s Canadian Key Business Directory: Provides basic company information including mailing address, sales figures, and key personnel. Alphabetical, geographic, and SIC listings are also included. The most recent edition is available in the Bronfman Business Library Reference Room. (HG 4090 Z5 C3). D&B Million Dollar Directory. Includes basic information for both public and private American companies. Available in Reference Room (HC 102 M5) Scott’s Directories : Regional directories with company listings sorted alphabetically, geographically (by city or township), and by SIC code. Available directories include: Ontario Manufacturers (Reference Desk, T12.5 C22 O58), Ontario Business Directory – V. 1 Toronto, V.2 GTA and V.3 surrounding areas(Reference Desk, T12.5 C22 O6), Canadian Distribution Directory (Reference Desk, T12.5 C22 C36), Western Industrial Directory (Reference Room, T12.5 C22 W4), Quebec Manufacturers (Reference Room, T12.5 C22 Q48) and Atlantic Manufacturers(Reference Room T12.5 C22 A8. Ward’s Business Directory of U.S. Private and Public Companies : Volumes 1-3 provide alphabetical listing of companies. Each entry contains company name, address, phone numbers, websites, basic financial figures, SIC codes, and company type (private, public, subsidiary, etc.). Available in the Reference Room (HD2709 W37)

Selected Electronic Company and/or Industry Sources

Infomart: (formerly Financial Post Advisor) A Web site from Financial Post Datagroup and infomart.ca. Includes a wealth of information on Canadian publicly traded companies organized by key product category including Company Snapshots; Companies by Industry; Corporate Surveys; Predecessor & Defunct; Analyzer Search; Investor Reports (formerly blue sheets); Historical Reports (formerly yellow cards); Dividends; and New Issues.

• The Industry Reports section provides comparative data on the key Canadian public companies in each industry and provides general industry statistics and financial ratios.
• Also look at Companies by Industryfor a list of companies within selected industries.
• The Additional Databases link will lead you to Profile Canada for information on private companies.

Marketline Advantage : The Marketline Advantage database is divided into Industry, Country, and Company. It covers SWOT company profiles for over 2500 public and private enterprises worldwide, accessing fast and reliable insights on thousands of industry sectors including Porter’s Five Forces analysis, accessing a top-level view of the business landscape in over 110 countries.

Mergent Online Provides information for over 10,000 U.S. public companies and almost 20,000 non-U.S. public companies. Company records include detailed business descriptions, corporate histories and financial statements. Industry reports include information on both the U.S. and Canadian sectors.

Factiva: In addition to news and magazine articles, a good source for financial data and information on competitors as well as ratio comparison reports. Click on the Companies/Market link at the top of the web page and do a company search. Click on ‘Reports’ and select the type of report you want, e.g. Ratio comparison report provides data on the company, its industry and sector and also the S&P 500 Index companies.

Google Finance: In addition to news, this website provides a broad range of information about stocks, mutual funds, public and private companies, including quotes and charts.  Also available are valuation ratios that give you industry and sector comparisons for your company.  Search and display your company.  Then scroll down and click on “more from  Reuters” on the left side of screen, and then click on the Financials tab at the top of the screen.

Hoovers: basic information on public and private companies. Some industry information available.

Investext Plus : A database providing global company and industry research and forecasts, reports from key brokerage firms and SDC merger and acquisition reports. Currently over 140,000 documents are available in the database dating from 1994 to present.

Lexis Nexis Academic: Lexis-Nexis service makes available over 30,000 news, business, and legal information sources. Included are current international newspapers, as well as comprehensive company and industry reports.Information available includes trade and marketing reports, patent details, merger and acquisition analysis

Business Monitor Online : Provides country risk, financial markets, industry and company intelligence, analysis, data and forecasts.

Bloomberg : is a real-time financial service that provides current and historical data, news and financial analysis of companies, stocks, bonds, and indices.Economic statistics are also available. Use Bloomberg to find BETA, WACC, Bond, Equity data and more. To search for U.S. industry information type IBQ for a list of industries available. Restricted to the York University Community and available in the Bronfman Library only.

SEDAR: This website provides access to documents filed by public companies and mutual fund groups with Canadian securities regulatory authorities . Filings from 1997 to present are available.

EDGAR : The US Security and Exchange Commission’s database of public company information including 10k reports for public traded companies.

Industrial Classification Codes

The Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) is a useful tool for identifying key companies within an industry and conceptualizing the industry as a whole. SIC codes group together companies based on the goods and services produced.

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is an industrial classification system common to Canada, United States and Mexico. Gradually, the SIC system will be phased out in favour of the NAIC system. There are some differences however so if questions arise you will need to refer to:

Canada – NAICS 2012

SIC codes are still used in a number of databases and print reference resources. In some cases, the SIC codes used in Canada differ from those used in the U.S. A print version of the SIC table of codes is found in the Canadian Key Business Directory available in the Bronfman Business Library Reference Room. The Line of Business section groups Canadian businesses by SIC code. SIC codes for Canada are also available on Statistics Canada’s web site.

U.S. Census Bureau: NAICS

MSCI/S&P: GICS

Industry Trends and Analysis

Industry Canada‘s website for business and industry includes industry surveys, company directories, and patent and trademark databases. Much of the information on individual industries is found under Information by Industrial Sector and also via Canadian Industry Statistics . These are good sources for information on manufacturing industries and the high technology sector. This site has limited information on service industries.

Statistics Canada Publications. This is an index of all Statistics Canada publications available on the Internet as part of the York University Libraries depository library status. Divided into key subject categories including Primary Industries, Commerce and Manufacturing which all include publications of relevance to different industry sectors in Canada.

ESTAT and CANSIM : provide two different interfaces for access to Statistics Canada’s computerized database which containing over 730,000 time series. It is a detailed source of Canadian economic data collected by Statistics Canada and other agencies, including the Bank of Canada. Examples of the data available include the System of National Accounts, Labour, Manufacturing, Finance, and Agriculture. Available in the libraries to members of the York University community only.

Market Share Reporter: a print reference tool for marketing research and economic analysis. The information is a compilation of market share reports from marketing literature. Over 2000 corporate, brand, product, service and commodity market and SIC code information is provided for North America. HF 5410 M33. Latest edition in Bronfman Reference.

Value Line Investment Survey : Provides short introductory reports on each industry and detailed 1-2 page reports on the key companies in each industry. Located in the Bronfman Business Library Reference Room and the call number is HG 4501 V26.