Select any publicly traded organization (e.g., your employer may be a good choice). Locate the organization on the SEC’s Web site at http://www.sec.gov. Use the EDGAR database on the SEC Web site to view the organization’s 10k filing. Also, search for the company’s standard industrial classification (SIC) code. Retrieve the different financial statements in the 10k filing. Check out the footnotes in the financial statements. Discuss any emerging issues that are evident on the SEC Web site.

Let’s do an example in case you have trouble. You will need to write this down or print it out somehow so you can use this example to get to the information.
Click on the SEC Link in the instructions; it will take you to the SEC Home page. You can explore that for a while. But to get to our sample information, in the second column and under the second blue bar “Filing & Forms (Edgar)” click on “Search for Company Filings”.
On that page under “General Purpose Searches” click on “Companies and other Filers”.
On the next page type “Wal Mart” (without quotes and make sure you put in the space and do not use a “-“; just Wal Mart) the click on “Find Companies” at the bottom of the box.
Now see “Wal Mart Stores Inc?” Note the SIC Code just below it.
Click then on the 0000104169 and take a look at all the information there. Look down the page at all the information filed by Wal Mart with the SEC. Note you do not see a 10K form???? Click on “Next 40.” Not too far from the top you will finally see the 10K!!! Click on “html” for the 10K then on the next page to get to the beginning of it click on “d10K.htm.” You are there. Wal Mart’s most recent 10k will come up.
Explore this; it is quite long and quite detailed. I suspect you will be amazed to see how much information a company must share with the world and how much is available to you if you go looking. Take a good hard look over this document.
Do some research on this site to tell us just what a 10K is?

Give it a try, and then try another publicly traded company. Try a big one; it will be easier for you to isolate. If you cannot get any further than Wal Mart, you can discuss what you find about them for this assignment. However, TRY to select different companies so the entire class is not researching the same company. We will all learn more this way.