International Business Machines Corporation - Essay Example

The technical analysis charts provide an analysis of IBM with other companies listed on the stock exchange. Information like a yearly average of stock price, open and close prices for the day, price earning ratios, and other information are provided for users.

Financials

This link provides the financial statements for IBM, including balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows. Three years’ statements are provided for the company. In addition, statements can also be viewed on quarterly basis.

Historical Prices

This is an interesting link and shows prices for IBM stocks since December 31, 1965 to date. The information that is provided include open and close prices for the day, highest and lowest prices and total volume of transactions for the day. One can search the range of dates for which the historical stock prices are to be viewed and the system provides these readily.

Industry

This link shows the industry in which the company operates. For IBM, the industry is “Diversified Computer Systems” in the “Technology” sector. It also gives a brief comparison of the company with the industry changes in stock prices.

Insider

This link provides information about the insider transactions activities for the last two years by the company.

Profile

This page provides comprehensive information about IBM. This includes the full business address of the company, its website, the stock exchanges where the company is listed, number of employees (366,486 for IBM) and a brief summary of IBM together with a description of key executives and their pay package.

Reports

This link provides analyst estimates and forecasts about the future condition of the company. This page gives information to shareholders about how the company might perform in the future.

Research

The research reports provide various analyses of the company by different research agencies like Standard and Poor’s, Plunkett, Reuters, etc. The reports are provided for existing and potential shareholders to gain an insight into company’s strategies, operations and market standings.

SEC Filings

This link provides IBM’s actions on SEC inspections and investigations. The link provides the filings with a summary and detailed views.

2. Yes. The government needs to intervene in the operations of companies from the viewpoint of a regulator. This is because these listed companies use common people’s money to develop their systems and procedures and hence, have a responsibility towards their shareholders.

In addition, the financial stability of these companies is required to ensure a smooth economy. If there are too many failures, this would affect the economy of the country which will take a negative hit due to these events.

Hence, the government must take steps to ensure that all listed companies manage their systems as per best practices and benchmark standards.

In this regard, SEC and other bodies like PCAOB (which develops rules and standards for companies to get Sarbanes Oxley complied) and others are established.

3. Bonds are debt securities while stocks are equity securities. These have different impacts on tax, valuation, profits, etc. This means that variations of interest rate will affect bonds more than it does stocks. Any increase in interest rates will decrease the value of bonds and vice versa.

However, since bonds are debt securities, they have obvious tax benefits and savings. Stocks, on the other hand, are associated with double taxation, on capital and current gains.

Bonds and stocks should be evaluated considering all required factors including market risks and movements of interest rates.