Free EDGAR databases

Prof. Josh Mills asked about EDGAR databases with text search features. I know of only two that are still free on the Web: EDGARscan and SECinfo.

EDGARscan is a product of PriceWaterhouseCoopers and offers word, phrase and Boolean seaching on a form that also allows for filtering by company name, industry, SIC code, type of filing, and date or date range. You can also choose a particular document and search in it. Reports have hyperlinked table of contents so users can go direct to parts of the text, footnotes or financial tables. The financials can be downloaded into Excel. The real purpose of this database is to offer a way to compare company data and PWC normalizes the financials so that the data is comparable across companies. So be careful, some users might want to see the financials "as reported". EDGARscan is at http://edgarscan.pwcglobal.com/servlets/edgarscan

SECinfo at www.secinfo.com is free but users must register. Once you pull up the reports by company, they allow text searching of "the recent filings or all filings" and return the paragraphs with the search terms. Reports have hyperlinked table of contents and financials can be downloaded. The home page also offers direct access to recent filings by type as well as lists of today's filings, yesterday's filings, or the most recent filings. And uniquely, they parse the 8K's so you can see lists of which companies are filing 8K's to announce mergers, auditor changes, bankruptcy, delisting, new management, or other significant events.