Proprietary market databases may show yesterday's share count beside today's stock price. Before that combination reaches a client presentation, you need to establish what each number measures.
When collecting financial, performance, issuance, and transaction data, start with the decision you must support. A financing recommendation needs current borrowing conditions; an acquisition valuation needs comparable businesses and verified transaction terms.
Commercial and proprietary market databases organize information for screening and comparison. Commercial services aggregate company accounts, prices, forecasts, ownership, offerings, and transactions. Proprietary databases contain a firm's own information, such as completed assignments and permitted client records. Check each field's definition, date, currency, units, and coverage before using it.
Regulatory sources provide filed disclosures. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) makes filings available through its Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (EDGAR) system. Many database fields are drawn from these filings, so the filing is the primary record a database summarizes. Read the underlying filing when a database number is consequential or unclear. Standardized fields can omit qualifications contained in notes.
Common mistakes
- Treating exactly 5% as a Schedule 13D trigger, or assuming passive Schedule 13G remains available at 20%.
- Applying the old 10-day Schedule 13D deadline instead of five business days.
- Giving every company 90 days for Form 10-K or expecting a fourth-quarter Form 10-Q.
Bottom line
- Database inputs require consistent definitions, dates, and verification against underlying sources.
- Form 10-K deadlines are 60/75/90 days; Form 10-Q deadlines are 40/40/45 days.
- Form 8-K generally uses four business days; its specific item determines the trigger.
- Schedule 13D generally starts above 5% and is initially due within five business days.
Exam shortcut
Identify the filer first: company, beneficial owner, investment manager, or insider. Then identify the event before choosing the form. Circle timing words. Acquisition, quarter-end, month-end, and materiality determination can start different clocks; business days exclude weekends and federal holidays. For ownership questions, check percentage, control intent, and eligibility in that order. A familiar percentage does not identify the filing by itself.
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Learning objectives
- A1
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