The Use of EDGAR Filings by Investors

Abstract

Using data from the SEC’s EDGAR server log, we examine the consumption of financial information in filings from 2003 through 2012. The EDGAR filings represent a first-source database for investors doing fundamental research on stock valuations. The magnitude of daily EDGAR requests for 10-Ks is surprisingly low and shows only a small difference between firms with and without publicly-traded equity. The average publicly-traded firm has their annual report requested only 28.4 total times by investors immediately after the 10 K-filing. The lack of annual report requests suggests that investors generally are not doing fundamental research on stocks.

Keywords: EDGAR; fundamental research; information decay; web traffic; Form 10-K

JEL Classification: G14; G18; M41