As is the case with any stock investment in any country, it's always useful to get hold of the company annual report. This is as true in the US as it is elsewhere.
Company annual reports allow you to get a feel for the style of the company, its products and services. Most importantly they allow you to scrutinise its financial statements and get information about its revenue, profitability, earnings dividends, and general financial soundness.
Many investors use the FT Annual Reports Club, a service provided by World Investor Link (www.wilink.com), for ordering UK annual reports. However, this can also be used to order US company reports. The site allows companies to be selected from a wide-ranging menu.
The reports are despatched automatically and normally arrive within a week or two. Once mailing details have been inserted, on returning to the site they will not have to be re-entered on a subsequent visit.
There are some drawbacks to this service, however:
Because of this drawback it is probably more efficient to obtain company information direct from the web site of the company concerned.
Many US companies have a mechanism by which their annual reports and other corporate literature can be ordered by inputting a mailing address on a page at their web site. Some large companies will not send these out overseas, arguing that their presence on the web is good enough.
Recommend ReadingBook offers!
