Frequently Asked Questions

Below are video answers to commonly asked questions about using SeekEdgar products. Just click on the question to view the answer. If you have further questions, please contact us.

  1. How do I log-in to access the search engine SeekiNF?
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    • If you or your institution is a subscriber then go to https://www.seekedgar.com and log in by selecting the menu item LOGIN/SeekiNF from the top menu bar on the right. A new window will appear. Input your ID(university email if your university is a subscriber) and desired Password and click on "Sign in" just below your password. Another new window will appear. You will receive an activation link to your email. Please open your email and click on the activation link to activate the account and then you should be able to access our system by following the steps below.
      1. Go to https://www.seekedgar.com
      2. Click on "LOGIN/SeekiNF" in the top menu bar on the right.
      3. Enter the above login details and submit.
      4. Read and accept the "Terms and Conditions" only once, when you login for the first time after activating the account. Next time when you log in, the system will take you directly to the search engine, SeekiNF.
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    • If you or your institution is not a subscriber and you received log-in information from us then go to https://www.seekedgar.co (Please make sure that the website is .co, not .com) and log in by selecting the menu item LOGIN/SeekiNF from the top menu bar on the right. The system will take you directly to the search engine, SeekiNF.
      Watch a 5 minutes video here to learn more about SeekiNF.
  2. How do I start a search process in SeekiNF?
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    • Suppose you want to find all the companies that have litigation word mentioned in their 10Ks for the period 1994-2016. Here is what you would do to get the results:
      • Step1: Type the word litigation in the slot of "with the exact phrase".
      • Step 2: Since we want all the companies, leave the default choice "All" and select the desired time frame 1994-2016.
      • Step 3: Select "Paragraph (All)".
      • Step 4: Select 10K.
      • Step 5: Click on SUBMIT button.
      In few seconds, you will get 145,515 10Ks.
      Refer to Example 1 (video or pdf description) for the detailed explanation on how to search for documents containing certain key words.
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  3. Can you tell me what these different SEC filings are?
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    • For a detailed description on these filings click HERE.
  4. How can I search companies in a specific industry?
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    • Input the desired industry SIC code into the first slot below the sign SELECT COMPANY NAME, SIC, and DATE HERE. When you type in the SIC code, you will see the name of the industry in a drop down box. Select that name and click Search.
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  5. Can I search a specific company?
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    • Yes, you can by typing the company's CIK code or ticker symbol in the slot for company's name and select CIK or Ticker from the right hand side of the slot. Please do not select the name with a comma or a period such as "Angie's List, Inc." because it will mislead the search engine. In such a situation, the search engine will search all the companies with "Inc." word in the name because it is separated by a comma. The best way to get a specific company is to use the CIK code.
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  6. How can I search a set of companies?
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    • Input the list of CIKs or corresponding ticker symbols separated by a space into the slot for name of the companies and select the corresponding term either CIK or ticker from the right hand slot and click on the search button. Please do not select the names with a comma or a period such as "Angie's List, Inc." because it will mislead the search engine. In such a situation, the search engine will search all the companies with "Inc." word in the name because it is separated by a comma. The best way to get a specific company or a set of companies is to use the CIK codes.
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  7. How can I access the output of a search?
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    • There is a Download Results button on the left side of the display panel just below the SEARCH button.
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  8. What all do I get in the download file of a search output?
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    • Here is a download file that contains companies' names, their CIK codes, years, file type, and count (if the counter is enabled).
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  9. How can I search for companies' filings containing a specific search string, such as wrongful termination?
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    • Type wrongful termination in the slot labeled With the exact phrase, choose the filing or filings, years, resolution, and all companies or companies of a specific industry by inputting the corresponding SIC code and then click on SEARCH button.
  10. How can I search for companies' filings that contain multiple key words such as futures, options, and swaps?
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    • Type in futures, options, and swaps separated by a space in the slot labeled With all of the words. Select the document type, year(s), resolution, and either SIC code, a set of companies, or "All" and click on the SEARCH button.
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  11. Can I search for companies' filings with any one of the selected words, say futures, options, and swaps?
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    • Type in futures, options, and swaps separated by a space in the slot labeled With at least one of the words. Select the document type, year(s), resolution, and either SIC code, a set of companies, or "All" and click on the SEARCH button.
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  12. How can I use multiple exact phrases simultaneously to search for companies such as Bonus plans and Stock options and Equity incentives?
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    • Type in all the exact phrases separated by the symbol + in the slot labeled With the exact phrase like Bonus plans+Stock options+Equity incentives. Select the document type, year(s), resolution, and either SIC code, a set of companies, or "All" and click on the SEARCH button.
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  13. How can I use presence of one or more exact phrases and absence of one of more exact phrases to search for companies such as presence of Bonus plans and absence of stock options and equity incentives?
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    • Type in all the exact phrases separated by the symbol '+' for the presence and '-' for the absence in the slot labeled With the exact phrase like Bonus plans-Stock options-Equity incentives. Select the document type, year(s), resolution, and either SIC code, a set of companies, or "All" and click on the SEARCH button.
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  14. How can I get count of a specific word or a phrase in companies' filings?
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    • Enable the counter by clicking on Use counter (only for exact phrase) just below the first slot With the exact phrase.
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  15. How can I get the total number of words in a company's filing?
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    • SeekiNF the default setting gives you a display of the total count of words on the right hand side of the display window along with a distribution frequency of top 20 words with and without the stop words.
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  1. How can I get a frequency distribution of all the words in a company's filing?
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    • There is a download button on the right hand side of the display window. Clicking on this button will download the frequency distribution of all the words for the selected company and the corresponding document/filing. This file can be opened in MS Excel.
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  2. How do I drill down to a specific issue?
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    • Suppose you want to search for all the companies that have mentioned Class action in their 10Ks. Further, you want find a subset of these companies that have also mentioned jury verdict. You can do this in one step. Just type both the exact phrases separated by the symbol + in the first slot With the exact phrase and search.
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  3. How can I re-search with a new search string a set of companies' filings that I had obtained earlier from the previous search?
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    • This question is similar to Question 17. You can use the multiple exact phrase feature to achieve this objective. One can do this in one step. Just type all the exact phrases separated by + in the first slot With the exact phrase and search.
  4. How do I build the Boolean logic?
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    • You can search any document with a combination of exact phrases with "AND", "OR", or any combination. Seek iNF uses "+" for AND, "|" for OR, and "-" for negation with or without space before and after the symbol. Type the phrases in the With the exact phrase slot. Please note that for negation you must use '-', not the hyphen.

    • Suppose we have three phrases represented by A, B, & C.
      • For AND logic, type the phrases separated by + sign as: A + B + C
      • For OR logic, type the phrases separated by | symbol as: A | B | C
      • For AND and OR: such as A&(B or C): Type A+(B | C)
      • For AND and negation such as A & B & notC. Type as A+B-C
      • For OR and Negation such as (A or B)& notC. Type as (A | B) –C

    • Some Important points to remember:
      • " With the exact phrase" and "Proximity Search" work together as AND logic.
      • "With the exact phrase" and "With all the words" together work as AND logic.
      • "With the exact phrase" and "With any one of the words" work as OR logic.
      • "Without the words" would work only when you are using another criterion.
      • The Wild card search will not work in "With the exact phrase" and "Proximity Search".
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  5. What is "Proximity Search" and how do I use it?
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    • Proximity Search is used to search for information in any document that contains the two desired words within a given number of words. This has a lot of usage. For example, you can search for all the tables in DEF 14As (proxy statements) for executive bios by typing name age in the slot of Proximity Search within 2 words and by selecting all the companies or a set of companies, selecting a time period, and Table in Step 3, selecting the document DEF 14A in Step 4, and submit in Step 5.
      Refer to Example 5b (video or pdf description) for the detailed explanation.
  6. How do I download all the tables obtained in "Proximity Search"?
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    • Refer to Example 5a (video or pdf description) for the detailed explanation on downloading tables in a CSV file that can be opened in Excel.
  7. How do I use the feature "Display x number of words before and y number of words after" a phrase?
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    • This feature is very useful when you are looking for information that is not easily available. For example, Business Address and Fiscal Year End from 10Ks can be obtained using this feature. One can download the entire data by submitting a Request Form.
      Refer to Example 6 (video or pdf description) for the detailed explanation.
  8. How do I "Search/Count/Download Multiple phrases/words" in Excel?
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    • Refer to Example 7 (video or pdf description) for the detailed explanation. Also refer to FAQ 21.
  9. How does "Proximity Counter" work and how do I download all the results?
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    • This feature is used to count two words within a given number of words. For example, one can count occurrence of the words low and competition within 3 words in all 10K filings. This counter is helpful in compute PCTCOMP, a measure of competition developed by Li, Lundholm, and Minnis in "A Measure of Competition Based on 10-K Filings", in Journal of Accounting Research, Vol. 51 No. 2 May 2013, pp: 399-436. See the Newsletter for more detail.
      Refer to Example 8 (video or pdf description) for the detailed explanation.
  10. How do I get financial information, i.e., unique line item, from 10K or 10Q?
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    • Refer to Example 9 (video or pdf description) for the detailed explanation on obtaining unique financial information from 10Ks like,
      • Air Traffic Liability
      • R&D Tax Credit|Research and Development Tax Credit
      • Off Balance Sheet items
      • Fuel Hedge Contracts
  11. How do I use the search engine for the subsidiaries database?
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    • We have the entire subsidiary database available for all the companies for all the years from 1994 to 2016. One can access the database by selecting the menu item 10K-Exhibit (subsidiaries) from the top menu bar after logging in into the search engine, SeekiNF.
      Refer to Example 10 (video or pdf description) for the detailed explanation.
  12. How do I use Textual Analysis? Show me an example.
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    • Any search performed would give the textual analysis data by default. However, you can perform textual analysis for a given document or filing through the following steps:
      • Step1: Type a|the in the slot of "With the exact phrase". Or, you can use any search criteria including Boolean logic, if relevant for your search.
      • Step 2: Type either the name of the company, or CIK or ticker symbol, and select the corresponding option "Name", "CIK", or "Ticker symbol" from the right. Next, select the desired time period.
      • Step 3: Select "Paragraph (All)".
      • Step 4: Select the desired filing or document.
      • Step 5: Click on SUBMIT button.
      The system will provide the results in seconds. You will see the display of the textual analysis data for the most recent year in a table on the right side of the display screen. Copy this table and paste it in Excel spreadsheet. For the next year, highlight the second listing on the left-hand side of the display window. The system will display again a table on the right-hand side. Copy and paste again this table in your Excel file.
      Refer to Example 11 (pdf description) for the detailed explanation on how to search for documents containing certain key words.
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  13. What is Cosine Similarity Measure and how do I find Cosine Similarity Measures for the document/filing I am interested in?
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    • Cosine Similarity measures how close two vectors are in terms of their angular separation, irrespective of their magnitude. This measure provides the similarity between documents. The documents are more similar when their cosine measure approaches 1, and dissimilar as cosine measure approaches zero. This is the basic concept behind the cosine similarity measure.
      Refer to Example 12a (pdf description) for the detailed explanation.
  14. What is Word Variation and how do I use it?
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    • Word Variation compares and provides the frequency of words that appear in the two documents that you have selected. For example, using this feature, now you can find the list of words that are present in Document 1 along with their frequency of occurrence, but not present in Document 2. Or, you can find the list of words along with their frequency of occurrence in Document 2 that are not present in Document 1.
      Refer to Example 12b (pdf description) for the detailed explanation.

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