Customize your news preferences online

Choose Your News

If you receive your Knowledge Mosaic news emails directly from us, you can now reconfigure your news profile yourself, anytime, anywhere, using our new My News Preferences page. Want to add the Securities Mosaic® Blogwatch to your current news lineup? Now you can do so online. Leaving for a two-week vacation in Maui and want to suspend reception of all news publications? You can do that too. Just log in on your personal account and you’re ready to roll.

Data Details

Because Data Shouldn't Be Dadaesque

Ever wonder about the data you get through Knowledge Mosaic? Where does it come from, and how far back does it go? How often is it updated?

This information is available on every search page on the site. Just click on the Data Details link, located in the upper right corner of the page, and wonder no more.

Document Cart: Email or print en masse

Like Online Shopping, But Without the Shipping Charges

Need to print or email a large number of filings? Our Document Cart will save you cartloads of time. From your search results on the All SEC Filings page, simply check the boxes next to the items you want to print or email, then click "Add Checked to Cart."

The Document Cart holds up to 25 items at once and allows you to print multiple filings as a single, concatenated PDF document; or email multiple documents in one simple step.

Document Cart: Save selected documents

Squirrel Away Those Filings

Found some useful filings, and want to save them for later? It's easy with the Document Cart. From your search results on the All SEC Filings page, simply check the boxes next to the items you want to save, then click “Add Checked to Cart."

The Document Cart holds up to 25 items at once and includes a text field for adding notes about the filing. You can also use the Document Cart to print or email selected items.

Exhibits Search page

Cut Through the Clutter

If you ever need to comb through the roughly 6 million documents that are tacked on to filings as Exhibits--Employment Agreements, Stock Purchase Agreements, Press Releases, Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws, and the like--then look no further than our Exhibits Search page. Bypass bulky filings and get straight to the Exhibits themselves, employing powerful, granular search capability (including bi-level text searching on both the document level and exhibit label level) to yield easy-to-scan results, with keywords in context highlighted.

Exhibits Search page: Finding Intellectual Property Agreements

From the Material to the Intellectual

Let’s say you are given the task of locating examples of intellectual property agreements for the pharmaceutical industry: where do you start? On the Exhibits Search page! Exhibit 10: Material Contracts is where you’ll find a majority of agreements in the filings. Next, determine the SIC for the pharmaceutical industry (you can refer to our "Locate SIC Codes" page). In this case, the range 2833~2839 will work. From there, enter "intellectual property" in the Exhibit Label text box and click Search.

Finding Notices and Orders under the Investment Co. Act of 1940

Isolate ICA Releases

On our SEC Regulatory Releases search page, you'll find both Notices and Order under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Notices date back to 1994, and Orders to 2007. To locate these releases, select the Action Type ICA Notice (which, its name notwithstanding, includes ICA Orders).

Combine with text searching to target, for instance, a specific company or type of exemption. Example: select ICA Notices and enter the text string “(exemption OR exempting OR exemptive) AND “section 6(c).” This query returns 422 results.

Finding SPACs on the All SEC Filings page

Is Your Check for Blank Checks Coming up Blank?

Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs), sometimes called blank check companies, are assigned the SIC code 6770 by the SEC--but this designation has limited value in practice. For one thing, the filing so instrumental to the SPAC enterprise, the Registration Statement announcing an IPO, often lacks an associated SIC code (many companies receive a Commission-designated SIC code only upon their second filing). Even when a SPAC does get tagged with the 6770, this number is subject to change once a deal is completed, supplanted by the target company’s industry code.

However, despite these hurdles, we can recommend a trick for finding SPACs on our All SEC Filings page. Since self-proclaimed SPACs do reliably affix the 6770 number to the cover page of their registration statement (independent of the SEC’s sanctioning of that code), and since this page also includes the SEC’s street address, we can search for SPAC IPOs disclosed in S-1s and F-1s using the text string 6770 near Washington, D.C. 20549.

Form D filings on our Exempt Offerings page

It's D-Licious

As of March 16th, 2009, qualifying issuers must file their Form D Exempt Offerings with the SEC in an electronic format. Our new database of Form D filings allows you to dive into this rich new stream of data. Discover recent offerings ranging from $400 to more than $1 billion.

Get SEC Release quick search box

Releases with Real Ease

If you know the SEC regulatory or litigation release number of the document you're after, then you're ready to launch a search from any page on Securities Mosaic. Just plug the number into the Get SEC Release text box found in the green banner at the top of every web page and hit Go.

This feature is particularly helpful if you are not sure what type of SEC release--litigation, report of investigation, final rule, exemptive order--you are looking for. Our release datasets are complete from 1995 to the present.

Institutional Ownership form group

Who's Whose?

Who owns what? One quick way to find out is to use the “Institutional Ownership” form group on our All SEC Filings page, which searches on all Form 13-F filings.

For example, suppose you want to know which Institutional Investment Managers have put money into Halliburton. Simply run a search with this form group selected, and the word “Halliburton” in the text search box (not the Entity box). You can even export the complete list of your results into a spreadsheet, by clicking “Printable Report” and then the “Excel” link.

Investment Adviser search page

An Investment Adviser Research Cornucopia

Our new Investment Adviser search page includes nearly 30,000 adviser registration filings culled from the SEC’s Investment Adviser Registration Database. We have extracted more than 400 data elements from each filing, creating a visually and analytically rich research environment for conducting business and financial analysis, due diligence, and competitive intelligence. Multiple search parameters and advanced text searching capabilities help you locate just the data you need.

Locating changes in a company's bylaws

Don't Let Bylaws Be Bygones

Need to find proposed changes to a public company's bylaws? There are many different ways to locate this type of language in the EDGAR filings. We've formulated one search for you here. On our All SEC Filings page, use the text string
(propos* w/15 (amend* OR chang*)) w/25 (articl* OR bylaw*) and the form group Proxies (Definitive)- DEF.
You might try limiting your search to the last 30 days.

Locating Employment Agreements

Everything There But the Hand Shake

Suppose you want to find the original Employment Agreement between Morgan Stanley and its past CEO John Mack. Go to our Exhibits Search page, where Employment Agreements, as material contracts, are typically filed as Exhibit 10. Make that selection from the exhibit number dropdown, enter Morgan Stanley in the company name field, and type employment and mack in the text search box.

Locating Form 12b-25

Better Late than Never

Filers who are late in submitting their quarterly or annual reports are required to file Form 12b-25. This filing is located on the Form Type dropdown of our All SEC Filings page under the letters NT--shorthand for “notification”-- followed by the form type name. (For example, the late filing of a 10-K is signaled by the submission of an NT 10-K.) To find the boilerplate of the form in our SEC Forms database, however, forget about NT; just look for Form 12b-25.

Locating Stock Purchase Agreements

Needle in a Haystack, This is Not

You are told to pull stock purchase agreements for the auto industry: where do you begin? We recommend using our Exhibits Search page. Exhibit 10: Material Contracts is where you’ll find a majority of agreements in the filings. Next determine the SIC for the auto industry (3710~3719 will work). From there, enter stock purchase agreement in the exhibit label text box, click Search, and voila! you’ve got some sample language.

Manipulating search results on the All SEC Filings page

Supremely Sortable Search Results

Although search results on the All SEC Filings page appear in descending chronological order, you can re-order your results by clicking on any of the hyperlinked column headings, including Company Name, Form, and SIC code.  (Before sorting, consider increasing the number of results showing per page; you can go as high as 2,000.)  

What’s more, there’s a neat trick for sorting by those column headings that aren’t hyperlinked.  Click “Printable Report,” then “Excel,” and you’ll have an Excel spreadsheet to sort or filter by other parameters.

(Note: This functionality is not yet available on our beta version of the All SEC Filings page.)

Personal Accounts

Sometimes You Have to Get Personal

If you typically access Knowledge Mosaic through your organization’s general (IP-authenticated) license, you may not be aware of the benefits of also maintaining a personal account. Only by logging in with your own username can you set up personalized Watchlist alerts, add and save documents in your very own Document Cart, memorize and store searches, access the site remotely, and adjust your news email profile yourself anytime, online. And personal accounts are included as part of your organization-wide license at no extra charge. Click here to sign up for one now.

Pop-Out PDF document for larger viewing

Never Squint Again

Based on feedback from our customers, we’ve made some upgrades to the way documents display on Knowledge Mosaic. 

First, scroll bars within documents will automatically fit your monitor screen whatever its size, for easier navigation.  Second, we’ve added a “Pop-Out” button to the navigation bar above every document, for those who want a wide, full-screen display, outside the confines of the viewing frame.  The document pops out in a new window, allowing you to easily jump back to the framed version.

Risk Factors search page

Anxious About Bad Debt?

Public companies typically disclose debt and financial risk in their filings. Our Risk Factors search page features a rich taxonomy of risk factor terms, allowing you to delve into a company's or industry’s risk factor statements with precision and speed. For example, pairing the risk factor category "Financial Risk" with "Accumulated Deficit" or "Substantial Debt" will allow you to zero in on specific disclosure language and quickly ascertain a company’s or industry's financial position.

SEC Enforcement - Defendant Search page

Who's Feeling the Heat?

Need to know who’s currently under investigation for conspiracy? Our SEC Enforcement - Defendant Search page makes it easy. Searching by Violation type, such as Conspiracy or Failure to Make Required Filings, will give you a quick window into who’s feeling the heat. Narrow your search using additional parameters such as Penalty Type or Total Amount of Penalties. Our hand-tagged data gives you the most detailed look at SEC Enforcement on the web!

SEC Investor Claims Funds page

Find Fair Funds Fast

Since the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley in 2002, more than $4 billion in Fair Funds has been distributed to defrauded investors, according to the SEC. To find information on Fair Fund distributions on Securities Mosaic, visit our SEC Investor Claims Funds page and simply enter the text “Fair Fund.” The same text search on our SEC News search page will locate additional information that has been made available in SEC Press Releases.

SEC Regulatory History page

Follow the Paper Trail

Wondering what revisions a particular SEC regulation has undergone since you last looked at it? Our Regulatory History page offers you a quick and easy way to find out. See a concise snapshot of all changes made to a given regulation, organized by (and searchable by) CFR section and date of amendment. Includes links to Proposed Rules and Final Rules where available.

SEC Regulatory Release page: finding SEC staff contact information

Trying to Track Down David Lynch?

Our SEC Regulatory Release page is the place to go for SEC rulemaking activity--but did you also know it can be a good source for locating SEC contact information? You can see a list of SEC Staff Contacts by clicking on the corresponding dropdown menu. Just select an individual (or individuals) from the list and run your search. Their contact information will appear at the bottom of the record.

SEC Watchlist Alerts: Additional Recipients option

Don't Keep It to Yourself

Our SEC Watchlist Alerts feature, already one of our coolest tools, keeps getting better!   The latest enhancement is an option to add up to 10 additional recipients to any of your Watchlists. Set up and manage alerts for colleagues who can’t afford to miss the next filing by that certain company.   Try it now!

Stored Searches on the All SEC Filings page

Save Your Work

You’ve crafted the perfect search: an inspired permutation of search fields wedded to a sublime choreography of keywords and Boolean operators. Bravo. But what if you need to run the same search next year? Will you remember what you did?

If you’re using our All SEC Filings page, you won’t have to—we’ll remember it for you. With our Stored Search feature, you can preserve your search parameters until the end of time. Or at least for as long as you have a personal account.

Tabbed Browsing

Meet the Control Key: Your New Best Friend

What’s the fastest way to peruse a list of filings? Say you’ve run a search on Securities Mosaic, and now you’re staring down a long list of results. For maximum speed and efficiency, we recommend tabbed browsing. Instead of opening or previewing each document separately, open multiple documents simultaneously by holding down the Ctrl key as you click on the filings.

This method allows you to download a dozen or more documents en masse. Then read the first document as the remaining ones finish downloading. A time-saver of revolutionary proportions.

Text searching: Locating names

What's in a Name?

Finding documents associated with a specific person is often trickier than it might first seem. For example, suppose you're searching for Walgreen CEO Gregory D. Wasson. Is Gregory ever referred to as Greg? Is his middle initial always included? To account for these potential variations, we recommend using both proximity and wildcard searching. The text search gregory w/2 wasson will return any instance where the name gregory is located within two words of wasson. To make this search even smarter, truncate gregory by adding an asterisk to the root greg. The resulting string greg* w/2 wasson is about as comprehensive as you can get.

Text searching: The Boolean operator "not"

An Invaluable Search Tool--NOT!

In advanced text searching on Knowledge Mosaic, the Boolean operator “not” is sometimes the forgotten tool in your tool box. Yet it can be extremely valuable, helping you focus your search by eliminating irrelevant results.

For example, say you’re interested in a company’s credit facility agreements--but not the revolving type of credit. On the 8-K Item Search page, selecting Item 1.01 (Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement) with the keyword “credit facility” yields, for the last 30 days, a total of 161 results. But if you add “not revolving” to your text string, you pare your results down to a much more manageable--not to mention much more relevant--46.

Text searching: The wildcard operator

Get Wild

If it isn’t already, the "wildcard" operator should be an essential part of your text searching repertoire on Knowledge Mosaic. Truncate words using an asterisk to include multiple variations on a single root.

For example, if you’re searching the filings for language about corporate acquisitions, use the root acqui* to locate all variations on the word “acquisitions,” including “acquire,” “acquired,” etc.
Check out our Advanced Text Search help document for more information.

Text searching: Using parentheses for nested searches

Bracketology

Organize the components of a complex text search by grouping text strings into discrete “nests,” using parentheses. The phrase robin or bluejay near eggs near nest is an impenetrable jumble, but nesting renders it meaningful: (robin or bluejay) near (eggs near nest).

And changing nothing but the parentheses changes everything. For instance, these same search terms can be grouped into nests within nests--as in robin or ((bluejay near eggs) near nest). The search engine starts with the inner nest (“bluejay near eggs”), then works outward.

Text searching: Using proximity operators

Location, Location!

Keyword text searching of the EDGAR filings is an invaluable asset, but it’s even more powerful when combined with proximity searching. Linking keywords or phrases with the word "near" will isolate instances in which they are located within about 30 words of one another in the same filing.

For example, "stock near purchase" will generate many more results than the less elastic "stock purchase." You can even use multiple proximity operators, as in "(stock near purchase) near cash." And no, you don’t need to use the quotation marks.

Using the Form Group selection to find Annual Reports

When a 10-K isn't a 10-K

"I’m looking for Monsanto’s 10-K annual report for 2002, and you don’t seem to have it." Questions like this remind us that the most reliable way to search for a company’s annual report is to use our Annual Reports—10K form group, rather than searching specifically for form 10-K. Why is this? Certain annual reports (especially those from a few years ago) are not filed as form type 10-K, but as 10K405, 10-KT, 10KSB, or 10KT405, among others. In fact, we have identified 14 different form types that companies have used to file an annual report. To be sure you’re not missing any annual reports, use the Annual Reports form group, found on our All SEC Filings search page.

Using the Standard Industrial Classification code

Industrial Resolution [sic]

The Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system may not be used much anymore, but it’s still the SEC’s preferred way of classifying filers. Take advantage of this by using SIC codes to search several similar companies in one fell swoop. We hyperlink to a current list of SICs on most Knowledge Mosaic search pages.

To locate a particular company’s SIC code, go to the All SEC Filings page and, for example, enter General Motors in the company name search box and click Search. The results show 3711 as the SIC; click on one of the 3711 hyperlinks to return all companies that share that classification number—such as Daimler AG and Ford Motor Company.

Weekly guided tours of KM via webinar

It's Educational

Every week, we conduct live guided tours of Knowledge Mosaic. The tours take place via web conferencing, meaning all participants are part of a telephone conference call and can view the trainer’s computer monitor. We encourage attendees to ask questions during the course of the session, and in many cases it’s possible for you to steer the tour to emphasize the areas you’re interested in.

The tours are offered Tuesdays at 2 p.m. Eastern, are free to subscribers, and are easy to sign up for. (But please sign up at least one hour before the start of the training session.)