The Seattle Times' Angel Gonzalez presents the Reynolds-sponsored session, "Finding a Niche in Business Reporting," at the National Association of Hispanic Journalists' annual conference in San Antonio, Aug. 9, 2014. For more information on business journalism training, resources and tips, please visit http://businessjournalism.org

1. Down to business
Basics
of
repor,ng
on
publicly
traded
companies
Angel
Gonzalez,
Sea-le
Times
@gonzalezsea8le
agonzalez@sea8le,mes.com

2. The publicly traded company
5,008
publicly
traded
companies
in
U.S.
exchanges
as
of
Feb.
2014
(WSJ).
That’s
less
than
there
used
to
be.
Thousands
more
are
traded
over
the
counter
(OTC
markets)
Generally
ruled
by
a
CEO
and
a
board
of
directors,
these
companies
have
one
goal:
TO
MAKE
INVESTORS
MONEY.

3. 8 out of 10 biggest public cos are U.S. based
Company
Industry
Apple
(CA)
Informa,on
technology
Exxon
Mobil
(TX)
Energy
Microso
(WA)
Informa,on
Technology
Google
(CA)
Informa,on
Technology
Berkshire
Hathaway
(NE)
Finance,
transporta,on,
manufacturing
General
Electric
(CT)
Manufacturing,
energy
Johnson
and
Johnson
(NJ)
Consumer
products
Wal-­‐Mart
(AK)
Retail
Chevron
(CA)
Energy

4. Essen@als
• Revenues
minus
cost
equals
net
profit
• Investors
some,mes
value
profits,
other
,mes
they
value
topline
growth.
• Amazon
($108
million
in
net
quarterly
earnings,
$150
billion
in
market
cap)
vs
Costco
($473
million
in
net
quarterly
earnings,
$50
billion
in
market
cap)
• No
profits
plus
no
growth
equals
trouble
• Lying
to
investors
also
equals
trouble
• Shareholders
have
become
increasingly
watchful
and
pugnacious

5. Going digging
Companies
put
out
a
lot
of
informa,on
during
their
lifecycle.
That’s
where
the
dirt
is.
To
find
it:
SEC.GOV
Here
companies
post
-­‐ Quarterly
results
(10-­‐Q)
-­‐ Proxies
(DEF14A)
-­‐ Annual
reports
(10-­‐K)
-­‐ Unscheduled
events
(8-­‐K)
-­‐ Purchases
and
sales
of
shares
by
corporate
officers
(Form
4)

6. Mining quarterly results
• Lots
of
informa,on
at
the
end
of
every
quarter.
-­‐ Press
releases,
slides
-­‐ A
conference
call
where
analysts
ask
ques,ons.
These
can
yield
stories
-­‐ A
10-­‐Q
form,
which
has
plenty
of
details
for
stories

7. Proxy statements
• They
outline
annual
shareholder
mee,ngs
• Provide
fodder
for
stories
about
compensa,on
and
perks
• Related
party
transac,ons:
there’s
all
sorts
of
good
stuff
buried
in
there
• Execu,ve
bios
can
also
provide
important
color
for
stories

8. Annual reports
• 10-­‐Ks:
like
10-­‐Qs,
but
more
so
• Good
comprehensive
review
of
the
year
• They
also
have
nuggets
• Other
types
of
reports:
annual
responsibility
reports
can
yield
stories
like
these

9. Plenty of fields to choose from
ENERGY
Fracking
boom
The
future
of
coal
Jobs
Safety
FOOD
COMMODITIES
A
good
gauge
on
infla,on
Everybody
relates
Window
to
the
world
INEQUALITY
Minimum
wage
increase
efforts
Soaring
CEO
pay
SPORTS
Adver,sing
contracts
Impact
on
retailers,
business

10. It’s all about storytelling
• Business
is
about
winners
and
losers
• Details,
found
in
documents
or
interviews,
help
cra
a
compelling
story
• Understanding
business
helps
us
see
major
changes
in
the
way
we
live
• Seeing
the
world
through
the
lens
of
business
can
unearth
more
personal
stories