A hint
A general Web search should tell you what company Mr. Gordon is affiliated with, especially if you use quotation marks to search for his full name as a phrase: "Melvin J. Gordon".
But how to get the company's financial reports. It's hard these days to find a free way to search filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Well, you can search company names on the government site, http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml. Follow the links for "Search for company filings" and "Companies and other filings," and then type in the company name.
What if we didn't yet know the name of the company? You can't search the full text of documents there. A great alternative is, or was 10kWizard.com, which offered free passwords for journalists, but those freebies are gone. One alternative I know of now is EdgarIQ.com, though I find its design maddening.
You usually want to look at proxy statements for the bios and compensation and stock options of executives; the SEC calls a proxy statement a form 14; usually you will see a DEF14, for definitive proxy statement; that's a fuller document than a preliminary statement or an addendum.
Once you know the company, you also can get a quick summary from Hoover's; this will link to the company Web page, financial information, and press releases.
Return to Question 6
A primer on Web searching is available at http://PowerReporting.com/altavista.html.
You can reach Bill Dedman by e-mail at Bill@PowerReporting.com.
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