Q. How do I locate an annual report/10-K report for an American company?

Annual reports are generally only available for publicly-traded companies. If your company is privately-held, annual reports are usually not available. Also, if you company is a subsidiary you will have to conduct your search with the name of the parent company (unless the subsidiary company has its own ticker symbol).

Annual reports are intended for the company's investors and they usually include a lot of photographs. 10-K reports are required by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and are more detailed than the glossy annual reports. Please be aware that some companies only file the 10-K report and don't publish a separate annual report.

• You will also be able to locate 10-K and 10-Q reports from the SEC Edgar web site.
• The S&P Net Advantage database will have 10-K and 10-Q reports
• Company websites will have an investors relations section that contains 10-k and 10-Q reports

If your company filed their 10-K report several months ago, you should consider consulting the 10-Q report which are filed four times a year to obtain more current information. The 10-Q reports are updated more often than the 10-K reports, but they are less detailed.