This is a selective list of business resources available via the Internet. It includes Internet sites mentioned in the Doing Business Research at the University of Pittsburgh pages. (Please use those pages for a complete research strategy.) This list also includes selected sites of a practical or reference nature for students, researchers, consumers, and business people. Sites with more comprehensive listings of business resources on the Internet appear in the last section of this list.

This list includes openly available, FREE sites, although some sites may require registration. Also, some sites provide a limited amount of free information hoping that you will purchase additional information. Inclusion in this list as well as the annotations are based solely upon the FREE information provided. Take advantage of this free information, and know that much of the information available for a fee may already be available to you through other library resources.

Many companies have their own sites on the Internet. Check out our Searching for Companies on the World Wide Web page for tips on finding these sites.

The GSPIA/Economics Library maintains a web page which includes sources for economics information and statistics as well as foreign trade. No effort is made to duplicate those categories here.

CONTENTS:

• Electronic Phonebooks
• Company Information - Profiles
• Business and Financial News
• The Stock Market and Investing
• Industry Information
• Dictionaries
• Business Calculators
• Consumer Information
• Small Business Assistance
• Guides to Doing Business Research
• Additional Directories of Internet Business Resources

Electronic Phonebooks

• Switchboard - Find a Business by name, category, or location. A Find a Person section is also available.
• BigBook - Search U.S. and Canadian yellow pages for companies by name or category and location.
• AnyWho Directories - Find a business by name, category, or location. People, Reverse Lookup (by telephone number), and Toll-Free sections are also available.

Company Information - Profiles

• Hoover's Online provides capsules on more than 13,500 of the largest public and private companies. The capsules, which consist of basic company and financial information and selected Web links, are the core component of the free portion of Hoover's Company Information.
• Thomas Register of American Manufacturers
• Fortune 500
• Forbes 400
• Forbes 500 Private Companies
• Forbes 200 Best Small Companies in America
• EDGAR: The Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system contains electronic versions of most Securities and Exchange Commission filings including 10K, 10Q, and Proxy Statements.
• CorpTech Database of 50,000 High-Tech Companies. Capsules are free of charge.
• Several of the sites in the Stock Market and Investing section below include company profiles.

Business and Financial News - Current Newswires and Headlines

These sites are updated daily or continuously. They are good sources for determining yesterday's and today's corporate activities as well as business, financial, and economics related news. Some sites may provide a short-term archive of articles. See also the Stock Market and Investing section below for additional sources of up to the minute stock quotes and information.

• PR Newswire
• New York Times Financial Section is free but you must register.
• Financial Times(London)
• Bloomberg News
• Business Wire

The Stock Market and Investing

• Yahoo Finance provides current and historic stock quotes.
• Silicon Investor provides stock quotes for single dates back to 1968 as well as news, profiles, and charts. Real-time quotes are free with registration.
• MSNInvestor includes current quotes (20 minute delay), market commentary, company profiles and charts. Real-time quotes are available if you register for a Microsoft Passport account.
• StockMaster.com provides current quotes (20 minute delay) and news for individual stocks, stock indexes, and mutual funds. Company profiles, charts for up to five years, and an Investment FAQ are also available.
• Wall Street Research Net consists of over 500,000 links to help investors perform fundamental research on actively traded companies, mutual funds, the stock market, and the economy.
• New York Stock Exchange official site. NASDAQ/American Stock Exchange official site.
• The Investment FAQ
• Penny Stocks: A Guide for Beginning Investors from the Missouri Office of Secretary of State
• Mutual Fund Investor's Center

Industry Information

The first section consists of sites covering multiple industries. Go to each site to see which industries are included and what data is available. The second section consists of key sites related to specific industries. Some links lead directly to key information pages. Other sites have their information scattered. Look particularly for links to Industry News, News Room, Facts and Figures, Economics, Research, etc.

• Census of Manufactures (U.S. Census Bureau)
• County Business Patterns (U.S. Census Bureau)
• Current Industrial Reports (U.S. Census Bureau)
• International Trade Administration: Industries Information
• Plunkett's Almanacs: Free preview chapters (including Industry Trends) of their Industry Almanacs
• BizStats Industry statistics and financial ratios

Sites for Specific Industries

• AUTOMOTIVE
  • Automotive Industries
  • National Automobile Dealers Association

• BEVERAGES (including alcoholic)
  • Beer Institute
  • Beverage Digest: Data & Statistics
  • International Coffee Organization

• COMMUNICATIONS
  • Federal Communications Commission Common Carrier Bureau (Telephone Service)
  • National Cable Television Association

• CONSTRUCTION AND HOUSING
  • Manufactured Housing Institute
  • National Association of Home Builders: Facts & Figures

• FOOD
  • Food Marketing Institute: Industry Resources
  • National Cattlemen's Beef Association
  • National Restaurant Association

• METALS AND MINERALS
  • Aluminum Association
  • American Iron and Steel Institute
  • USGS Minerals Information

• RETAIL
  • Food Marketing Institute: Industry Resources
  • International Council of Shopping Centers
  • National Association of Convenience Stores
  • National Automobile Dealers Association National Retail Federation Toy Industry Association

• TRAVEL AND TOURISM
  • Office of Airline Information
  • National Restaurant Association
  • Travel Industry Association of America
  • World Tourism Organization: Tourism Highlights

Dictionaries

• The WashingtonPost.com Business Glossary
• NYSE Glossary of Financial Terms
• TIAA-CREF Dictionary of Financial Terms
• Glossary of Futures and Options Terminology from the Chicago Board of Trade
• Glossary of Insurance and Financial Planning Terms from the University of Calgary

Business Calculators

• The Universal Currency Converter converts from one currency into another based on current exchange rates. The "full" version contains currency information on 180 currencies (including the price of gold, silver, and platinum) in over 250 geographical locations.
• OANDA Currency Converter converts from one currency into another based on current or historical exchange rates. You can view any exchange rate among 164 currencies.
• The Inflation Calculator adjusts any given amount of money for inflation, according to the Consumer Price Index, from 1800 to present.
• What is a dollar worth? Consumer Price Index difference calculator from Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis covers years 1913 to the present.
• 1st Source Bank Financial Planning Calculators include mortgage, auto loan, and debt consolidation calculators.
• Bloomberg Online Mortgage Calculator
• The Salary Calculator compares the cost of living in hundreds of U.S. and International cities.

Consumer Information

• Consumer World has gathered over 1800 of the most useful consumer resources on the Internet and categorized them for easy access. You can find buying advice and product reviews, comparison shop, file a consumer complaint, read hundreds of consumer rights booklets, find a low rate credit card or mortgage, get personal finance tips, read news of the latest scams, research a law, or clip electronic coupons through Consumer World.
• Better Business Bureau Central - consumer advice, charity reports, and online complaint forms
• Edmund's Automobile Buyer's Guides

Small Business Assistance

• U.S. Small Business Administration
• U.S. Business Advisor provides businesses with one-stop access to federal government information, laws and regulations, services, and transactions.
• Small Business Exchange - Information, advice, and resources from American Express
• International Franchise Association provides information and advice for those interested in franchising opportunities.
• SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives)

Guides to Doing Business Research

• Doing Business Research at the University of Pittsburgh - the research guide of which this page is one part. Although specific to the University of Pittsburgh, most libraries providing business reference will have the same, or similar, resources.
• Baker Library Research Guides - Harvard University
• Business Research Guides - Rutgers University
• Business Resource Guides - Orradre Library, Santa Clara University
• How to Find U.S. Company Information - New York Public Library
• Goizueta Business School Library Information Guides- Emory University
• How to Learn About an Industry or a Specific Company
• Lippincott Library Research Guides - University of Pennsylvania

Additional Directories of Internet Business Resources

• Internet Sources for U.S. Corporate, Industrial, and Economic Information - J. Murrey Atkins Library, UNC Charlotte
• VIBES - Virtual International Business and Economic Sources, J. Murrey Atkins Library, UNC Charlotte
• International Business Resources On The WWW - Michigan State University Center for International Business Education and Research
• BRASS-Best of the Best Business Web Sites