Business Commons^™

Realizing Edgar: Eliminating Information Asymmetries Through Artificial Intelligence Analysis Of Sec Filings, Ryan H. Giarusso

Honors Program Theses

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) maintains a publicly-accessible database of all required filings of all publicly traded companies. Known as EDGAR (Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval), this database contains documents ranging from annual reports of major companies to personal disclosures of senior managers. However, the common user and particularly the retail investor are overwhelmed by the deluge of information, not empowered. EDGAR as it currently functions entrenches the information asymmetry between these retail investors and the large financial institutions with which they often trade. With substantial research staffs and budgets coupled to an industry standard of “playing …