- Registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and/or its international counterparts

- Offer shares for sale to the general public and is traded on one or more stock exchange like the NASDQ or NYSE

- Ticker Symbol: is an abbreviation that symbolizes the companies' stock name (APPL for Apple).
- Required to make a variety of public disclosures

• to protect investors
• ensure equal access to company financials

Important SEC filings include: 

  - the 10-K Annual Report,
  - 10-Q Quarterly Report,
  - 8-K disclosure of material events

Access:

Mergentonline
    - each company has a report tab

EDGAR
   - SEC's system