Mergent, Inc. publisher of Mergent Manuals, Investment Guides and Electronic Information Services, is the preferred source for global business and financial information. Since 1900, Mergent has been an innovative leader in providing easy-to-use information tools. Mergent offers reference and financial information professionals a full range of powerful research tools in print, CD-ROM and online formats. www.mergentonline.com QUICK TIPS FOR USING MERGENT ONLINE: QUICK TIPS FOR USING MERGENT ONLINE: Text Box: 1. How do I look up information on a specific company? Looking up a company is simple. After you have signed on to Mergent Online either through User Name and Password or IP authentication, you will arrive at the UUBasic SearchUU screen (see image). There you can enter a Company Name, Ticker Symbol, or CUSIP (if you are not sure of the name, you may enter the first few characters). Multiple criteria can be entered separated by commas.) To search by US tickers only, simply check off the “US Exchange Only” checkbox. On the Basic Search screen you are also given the options to search for a group of companies located in a particular country, index, or that belong to a particular Industry code. (Lookup tables are available for Industry codes.) Text Box: 3. I am conducting some research and I need to find all companies that fit certain criteria. Instead of entering a specific company name, ticker, or CUSIP from the Basic Search screen, choose the tab labeled “Advanced Search.” On the UUAdvanced SearchUU screen (see image), choose your search based on one or all of the available categories and their subset of data points. For example: You would like to locate electronic computer manufacturers with revenues of over $5,000,000. In the first box, select which universe(s) that you would like to search across. In the second box, select the category of “Industry Codes” and then choose either “Any SIC” or “Primary SIC” from the data points menu. Then type the SIC Code (3571) into the “Search Value” field, and click the “Add” button at the bottom of Box 2 (There is a lookup table available above the Search Value field if you do not know what Industry Code you are looking for). The criteria you just set up will be added to the third box, Search Criteria. Next, select the category “Financials” then the “Total Revenue” data point, from box 2. Select the “Greater Than” (>) button then enter 5,000,000 in the “Search Value” field and click on “Add” to add it to the Search Criteria. Once you’re satisfied with the search criteria listed, click on “Run Search” to retrieve your results. Text Box: 4. Do you offer EDGAR? filings? Are they searchable? Yes — and yes. EDGAR filings are accessible via the “Search EDGAR” tab on the Basic Search screen. At the UUSearch EDGARUU screen (see image), you can search by Company Name, Ticker Symbol, Central Index Key (CIK), Filing Date, Filing Date Range and Filing Type. For example: If you would like to view all of Dell Computer Corporation’s filings in the past 3 months, type “Dell” in the Company Name field or “DELL” in the Ticker Symbol field and select “Last 90 Days” for filing date. Your search will return all filings containing information on Dell. You can also search using the CIK numbers. If you would like to look up a particular company by CIK, click on the hyperlink to the SEC website. Once you have located the CIK number, input it into the Central Index Key field on Mergent Online. Note: Some results will have an “Order” link next to them. These are paper filings and require a separate subscription or can be ordered for an additional fee. Text Box: 2. I would like information on foreign countries. Does Mergent Online provide this? Yes — to the right is a sample of one of the in-depth Mergent Online country profiles. These in-depth reports on 100 countries may be accessed through the Basic Search page or the left side frame of any company report. Each country profile offers detailed, organized information on that country’s history, geography, people, government, economy, stock exchange and corporate filing practices. Text Box: 5. How do you create a customized company report? Mergent Online allows you to create a customized company report or select from one of the pre-defined company reports. Under the “Create Reports” tab, within any company report, you may select a variety of sections from company reports to create your own report for specific time periods. This can be accomplished from the “Custom Reporting” sub-tab (see image). Under the “Pre-Defined Reports” sub-tab, you can select from six different types of company reports. You can also choose to format your report in either PDF or MS Word, resulting in a presentation-quality finished report. Finally, to print, use the printing option within Adobe Acrobat Reader or MS Word to generate the company report. Text Box: 7. How do I create a list of companies to build reports on them all at once? You will need to store companies you want to report on in the “Company Analysis List”, which is located at the top right of any page in Mergent Online. To add companies to the list you can run any type of search. On the Results page either check-off the check boxes to the left of the company name and click on the Click here link in the sentence above the results: “Click here to add the currently selected companies”. You can also add groups of 100 companies at a time to the analysis list by using the second sentence above the results, which says: “Click here to add companies (1 to 100) from this search.” Use the drop down to change the group of 100 companies, and click on the here link in that sentence again to add the next group. You can add up to 500 companies max to the company Analysis List. Once your companies are added, move your mouse over the “(expand)” link in the Analysis List. You can either remove companies from the list, create a multiple company report to get full sections of the company reports for all the companies in the Company Analysis List (See number 5 above), or you can create a Comparison report on all these companies (See number 6 above). Text Box: 8. I need various years’ annual reports for several different companies. For each company for which you need an annual report, you must search using that company’s Name or Ticker Symbol. Once at the Company Synopsis page, select the “Annual Reports” tab. This will lead to a screen offering available annual reports for that company. Note: You may view annual reports via Adobe Acrobat Reader, which may be downloaded from www.adobe.com. To view the annual report, select one of the available reports from the screen. If you wish to view the annual reports of a different company, you must return to the “Basic Search” tab to begin a new company search. Text Box: 6. How do I compare a company with other companies in the same industry? First find a company in the industry you are interested in. You can either run a Basic Search for a company or group of companies, or go to Advanced Search to get a list of companies that match certain criteria. Find your target company and click on the company name to go into the company report. Click on the “Create Reports” tab, then click on the “Comparison Reports” sub-tab and choose the “Compare Company Against Industry” link. This will bring up the Comparison Report builder window. In box 1 of the new window select the Industry “classification” code used to generate the companies included in the industry and the “scope”. In box 2 select the rank of companies to include. You can select which data items to display for all these companies by checking-off the “Use extended report items” box at the bottom. Use the “category” and “sub-category” drop-down menus to find the data items you want and click on the “Add Report Item” button to add each of them. Select “which years” to include for each financial data item you choose to include. Then select the “Result Format” that you want the report to be displayed in. Once finished formatting your report, click on the “Create Report” button at the bottom. This report can be downloaded into Excel using the “Download” link at the top. Text Box: If you have any questions or need further assistance, please call our Technical Support Help Line at 1-800-955-8080 or 212-413-7744 between 8:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time, or contact our Customer Service Department via telephone, fax or e-mail. Mergent, Inc. 5250 77 Center Drive, Suite 150, Charlotte, NC 28217 1-800-342-5647 or 704-559-7601 Fax: 704-559-6945 E-mail: customerservice@mergent.com | Website: www.mergent.com Version 2.18.03