informationknot.com

Footnoted.org is a useful guide to help individual investors navigate through footnotes in SEC filings, such as 10-Ks and 10-Qs, where companies often bury their negative news. The site was started by Michelle Leder and named one of the best business blogs by CNN, Business Week and the Financial Times.

Historical Trend Data is currently available for venture capital investments in the U.S. from Q1 1995 to Q1 2008 from Price Waterhouse Coopers.

National Aggregate Data - Contains quarterly and yearly investment amounts and number of deals by Industry, Stage of Development, First-Time Financings, and Internet-Specific Financings for the entire U.S.

Regional Aggregate Data - Contains quarterly and yearly investment amounts and number of deals for select geographic areas

Here is a list of blogs related to the Subprime crisis that are the “most read in the industry” according to ALACRA.

Here is a list of useful sources for business research

Internet Resources

Center for Public Integrity
“Original investigative journalism about significant public issues to make institutional power more transparent and accountable.”
http://www.publicintegrity.org/

Columbia Journalism Review
Who Owns What: Resources on Media Ownership
http://www.cjr.org/resources/index.php

Lark Birdsong, Birdsong Research
In-depth business research
http://www.larkbirdsong.com

MAPLight
Money and Politics: Illuminating the Connection between campaign donations and legislative votes
http://www.MAPLight.org

Media Transparency
Look under the links for “funders” or “recipients” for info. Information is from Form 990s that nonprofits file with the IRS.
http://www.mediatransparency.org

*Form 990s for nonprofits in general.

Foundation Center 990 Finder
http://foundationcenter.org/findfunders/990finder/

Open Secrets
The Center for Responsive Politics is a non-partisan, non-profit research group based in Washington, D.C. that tracks money in politics, and its effect on elections and public policy.
http://opensecrets.org/

Source Watch
A project of the Center for Media and Democracy
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=SourceWatch

Statistics

Bureau of Justice Statistics; US Dept. of Justice
Criminal justice statistics
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/

Bureau of Labor Statistics; US Dept. of Labor
including business statistics
http://stats.bls.gov/

FedStats

fedstats.gov
US federal government statistics.
http://www.fedstats.gov/

globalEDGE; Michigan State University
Global statistical data sources.
http://globaledge.msu.edu/resourceDesk/

National Center for Education Statistics
From the Department of Education.
http://nces.ed.gov/

National Center for Health Statistics
US health statistics from the CDC.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/Default.htm

NCJRS Statistics
National Institute of Justice/National Criminal Justice Reference Service
http://www.ncjrs.gov/viewall.html

STAT-USA; US Dept. of Commerce
STAT-USA/Internet, a service of the U.S. Department of Commerce, is a single point of access to authoritative business, trade, and economic information from across the Federal Government.
http://www.stat-usa.gov/

Other

Company Dossier
Includes U.S. and global company overview information; financials; competitive information; executive information; subsidiaries list; current news articles and press releases; docket listings, litigation
trends, litigation risk; trademarks Access to court documents; summaries of cases, and commentaries; inside/outside counsel; auditor; and bank information.

Corporate Affiliations
Provides information on nearly 200,000 parent companies, affiliates, subsidiaries, and divisions.

EDGAR Database
Database of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It includes documents submitted by companies and others who are required by law to file forms with the SEC.

Hoover’s Online
Company reports on 15,000 public and private companies worldwide. Includes a summary of operations, history, list of officers, products, key competitors, and up to 10 years of summary financial data.

Policy Options for the Housing and Financial Markets from the Congressional Budget Office.
http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=9078

Executive Planet is a guide to international business culture and etiquette in over 35 countries. Topics covered include negotiating, gift-giving and entertaining.

This is a list of authoritative sources with overviews of the banking industry

Federal Reserve System

· FED 101: http://www.federalreserveeducation.org/fed101/

· Purposes and Functions: http://www.federalreserve.gov/pf/pf.htm

FDIC – Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

· About FDIC: http://www.fdic.gov/about/index.html

o Who is the FDIC: http://www.fdic.gov/about/learn/symbol/index.html

o Learning Bank: http://www.fdic.gov/about/learn/learning/index.html

OCC – Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

· About OCC: http://www.occ.gov/aboutocc.htm

· Customer Assistance Page: http://www.occ.gov/customer.htm

OTS – Office of Thrift Supervision

· Budget & Performance Plan: http://www.ots.gov/docs/4/481069.pdf

The Department of the Treasury has revealed a 212 page document entitled, Blueprint for Financial Regulatory Reform plan to streamline a host of regulations that are partially “blamed” for allowing the U.S. mortgage crisis to balloon into a full-blown economic threat. Under the proposals, the current patchwork of as many as seven federal regulators would be consolidated under three agencies: the U.S. Federal Reserve, a newly created financial regulator and a third agency for consumer protection and business practices.