Factiva - Database Search Aid

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Factiva, a joint venture of Dow Jones Interactive and Reuters, contains nearly 8000 publications in 22 languages.

DATABASE HIGHLIGHTS:

Search the full-text of 8000 international business and general publications.
Search the full-text of the Wall Street Journal from 1984 to the present.
Screen for U.S. and foreign companies matching your criteria.
Get financial profiles for companies worldwide.
Get historical stock prices as well as currency data and market indexes.
Email results.

I. NEWS PAGES IN FACTIVA

Use these pages to access the current issuesof the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times and Barrons; as well as newswires.
For older articles use the main search page and search by journal or newspaper

Searching by journal or newspaper name
In the Search box enter sn=journal name (sn stands for Source Name)

Example: sn=wall street journal or use the Source Browser to find a journal

II. SEARCHING FACTIVA

Search Tips

Use connectors AND, OR, NOT:
aquaculture and texas retrieves only articles containing both terms
aquaculture or fish farming retrieves all articles containing either term
aquaculture not catfish retrieves only articles that contain aquaculture but do not contain catfish (Use NOT with caution)

Use truncation:
russia$ finds Russia, Russian, or Russia's. (Using OR works faster in some cases, e.g.: labor or labour)

Use parentheses to bind phrases:
viacom and (earnings or revenue or profit$) and (forecast or estimate)

Use proximity operators:
ATLEASTn, where n is any number from 2-500 of occurrences in an article: (Atleast10 hallmark)
SAME, connected terms must be in the same paragraph. (foreign invest$ same treasury)
NEARn, where n is any number from 1-500. Terms must be within that number of words apart, in any order (market near5 share)
W/n, where n is any number from 1-500, in same order as entered. (hillary w/1 clinton)

Use field names:
sn=advertising age (Source name)
hd=lucent on the loose (Headline)
by=landler (Byline)
pg=18 (Page)
lp=(wharton and rank$) (Lead paragraphs)

Search #1: Articles on Microsoft and monopolies
Show Me (2:49) [Video Presentation with Audio]

Enter in Search box: microsoft and monopol$3
[Tip: $ symbol is the truncation symbol for this database. For more information see Search Tips.]
Change date range to last two years
Choose journals in the Computers and Electronics Industries:

Click on Source
Choose Publications by Industries from the drop-down box
Click on Computers and Electronics[Selection will automatically be added to search]

In "Search for free-text terms in," change the default to Headline and Lead Paragraph to make your results more focused
Click on Run Search to retrieve your results

Search #2: Current articles about trends in the pharmaceutical industry
Show Me (4:22) [Video Presentation with Audio]

Make use of Factiva's Intelligent Indexing to target your search.

Click on Look-Up and enter Pharmaceuticals. Click on Look-Up.
Under Industry Results click on Pharmaceuticals [Selection will automatically be added to search]
Go back to the Look Up box and type Trends. Click on Look-Up
Under Subject Results click-on Editor's Choice - Industry Trends/Analysis [Selection will automatically be added to search]

Change date range to In the last 2 years
Choose journals in the Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals Industries:

Click on Source
Click on Factiva Groups
Choose Publications - Industries from the drop-down box
Click on Chemicals
Scroll down the list and click on Pharmaceuticals [Selections will automatically be added to search]

Click on Run Search to retrieve your results

III. COMPANIES / MARKETS

Factiva provides detailed information on more than 23,000 publicly quoted companies in 72 countries.

Company Quick Search: Search by ticker or company name to retrieve financials and news on a company.
Quotes: Quotes are available from nearly 200 exchanges in more than 70 countries. Instruments covered include global stocks, market indexes, funds, corporate bonds and currencies.
Charting: Use this area to chart prices of different stocks and compare them against different market indices.
Company Screening: Screen for stocks based on price, beta, geography and industry.

Search #1: Finding a financial snapshot or comparison report for a company

Under the Companies/Markets Section click on Company Quick Search
Click on Ticker
Enter MSFT in Search box and click Search
Scroll down the page to the Reports section and choose a Report:

Financial Snapshot: An executive summary of a company's stock and financial performance.
Financial Snapshot plus Profile: Detailed financial and stock performance including balance sheet, income statement, cash flow, key financial ratios, stock price, share and dividend information; and company history where available.
Comparison Report: Comparative financial performances between this company and the primary Factiva industry group to which it belongs (including the industry beta).

Search #2: Create a custom report for a company

Under the Companies/Markets Section click on Company Quick Search
Click on Ticker
Enter MSFT in search box and click Search
Scroll down the page to the Reports section and under Custom Report choose the variables
Click on View Report when finished

Search #3: Retrieve weekly prices for the past year for the NASDAQ in an Excel spreadsheet

Under the Companies/Markets Section click on Quotes
In the Select Index drop-down box choose Market Indexes
From the resulting list choose NASDAQ
In the Date Range drop-down box choose Weekly Prices for the past year
In the Format drop-down box choose Comma Delimited

Search #4: Create a chart to compare the price of Microsoft to the NASDAQ and S&P 500
Show Me (1:08) [Video Presentation with Audio]

Under the Companies/Markets Section, click on Charting
On the right side of the screen enter MSFT
Under Comparison Indexes choose NASDAQ and S&P 500. Click on Draw Chart
Change date range as needed