Before buying the stock of a company, it's important to gather enough information to make a good decision about investing. Newspapers, websites, magazines, and government publications provide an incredible number of resources, opinions, and tools that can help an investor decide whether or not to buy a particular stock. Deciding which resources to employ is often overwhelming. Some resources offer data and information designed for experienced investors. Others tailor their news, research, and recommendations to beginners.

The following list of information sources provides a large foundation from which to start.

Most often, a brokerage house, such as Charles Schwab, Merrill Lynch, Ameritrade, or E*Trade, where most people purchase individual stocks, provides excellent research tools for their clients. Brokerages usually provide their own viewpoints and research regarding stocks, sectors, the economy, and more. If an investor uses a stock broker to purchase stocks, he or she can also provide a wealth of information and recommendations.

Each larger, publicly traded company is usually researched on an ongoing basis by a Wall Street analyst, who specializes in covering a specific business sector, financial services or petroleum stocks, for example. These analysts write reports on each company, forecast earnings and target prices, and recommend whether the stock should be bought, held, or sold. Many of these reports are available via subscription services or can be part of the services provided through a brokerage account.

Investment newsletters act as another good source for finding stock information and investment ideas. Newsletters are usually written by an individual who has specific ideas about how individual stocks may perform or how to put together a group of stocks into a portfolio, similar to a Wall Street analyst or fund manager. A good place to start is with Mark Hulbert's Hulbert Financial Digest, which tracks and ranks more than 180 newsletters.

Numerous websites provide comprehensive, easy-to-use stock overviews. These sites are a great place to find basic information and data, read analysts' estimates and recommendations, and peruse messages and opinions by other investors, as well as company news releases. Many of these sites offer premium subscription services, which provide actual analyst reports and more detailed market and company data. Most market information sites also host a number of professional commentators and writers who also provide further insight and thought into company performance and outlook.

Yahoo

http://www.yahoo.com

Motley Fool

http://www.fool.com

Value Line

http://www.valueline.com

SNL Financial

http://www.snl.com

Marketwatch

http://www.marketwatch.com

TheStreet.com

http://www.thestreet.com

Standard & Poor's

http://www.standardandpoors.com

Magazine and newspapers, such as Fortune, Forbes, Business Week, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and The New York Times, provide excellent background and investigative news sources that can help an investor understand better what a company is doing, what problems it may have, whether those problems are truly substantial, what new markets might be opening or closing, as well as how the broader economy may impact a particular company or business sector.

Company Reports

To get the numbers straight from the company and to read what they have to say about their business, contact the investor relations department. Each publicly traded company is required by the Securities and Exchange Commission to file periodic reports updating the financial highlights and overall picture of the company's business and accounting. While it takes some time to understand the financial statements and what they mean, company reports provide the most basic, straightforward details of what is actually happening and what direction the company is heading..

10-K (annual report)

The annual report on Form 10-K provides a comprehensive overview of the company's business and financial condition and includes audited financial statements. Although similarly named, the annual report on Form 10-K is distinct from the "annual report to shareholders," which a company must send to its shareholders when it holds an annual meeting to elect directors.

10-Q (quarterly report)

The Form 10-Q includes unaudited financial statements and provides a continuing view of the company's financial position during the year. The report must be filed for each of the first three fiscal quarters of the company's fiscal year.

8-K (current report)

An 8-K Form is the "current report" companies must file with the SEC to announce major events that shareholders should know about. A public company must file an 8-K within four days of any significant event to provide an update to their Form 10-K report.

The best place to find these reports is through the investor relations website of each company. Press releases, earnings announcements, and SEC filings are usually available. Or use EGDAR, the SEC's information database, where every company report is available for free download: http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml. Another great resource is http://www.edgarpro.com which requires a fee.