Research Insight Documentation

Research Insight 7.6 is a Windows based application for accessing the Standard and Poor's
Compustat data. It permits the user to search for specific companies and data items and then
generate custom reports and graphs. Research Insight also includes a set of wizards to assist
in performing common tasks. Users can visit the Research Insight web page for more
information.  Research Insight has a Primer Guide available in PDF format. You download it
here.

NOTE: The Compustat data in Research Insight is derived from the same base data as the
Compustat Tape Data.  However, some of the variables in Research Insight may be computed
slightly differently. If you are attempting to merge data from Research Insight and the Compustat
Tape Data, be sure to check the definitions of the data items to confirm that they are identical.


Accessing Research Insight

From the Windows 'Start' menu, select 'Programs' -->  'OnLine Resources'  -->  'Research Insight'


Basic Steps

The Research Assistant allows you to search the Compustat database for companies that meet your specific
screening criteria.  Opening the Research Insight software, you will see a Welcome to Research Insight startup
window, click on Research Assistant.  The Research Assistant - Step 1 window will appear.

This window will allow you to choose specific screening criteria and then search for companies in the Compustat
database that match those criteria. You can create your own screen by searching for related companies, set
criteria for financial indicators, and change the Initial Set of companies that will be evaluated in the screen. Click
Next when you are done choosing your criteria.  This will  bring you to the Research Assistant - Step 2 window
which will display the set of companies that passed your screening criteria. By clicking under Display Mode, you
can display the set of companies by company name or ticker symbol.

To remove a company from the set, highlight the company name(s) and click on Remove Company.  To add a
company to the set, type in the name of the company in the blank field under Add Company to Set and then click
on the Add Company button. Click Next when you have finished modifying your search.

The Research Assistant - Step 3 window will appear giving the following options:
Report Assistant allows you to create a custom report based on the companies that passed your screening criteria.

Chart Assistant allows you to create a custom chart based on the companies that passed your screening criteria.
Open Report allows you to open one of over 100 pre-defined reports.  Open Chart allows you to open a
pre-defined chart based on the companies that passed your screening criteria.

Company Highlights allows you to run the Company Highlights report for the companies that passed your screening
criteria.  Finish returns you to the Research Insight desktop.  After you have selected one of the buttons, click Next
and choose the data items to be included in your report.

<NOTE>  If using the Excel plug-in, you can only download information on up to 5461 companies at a time. There
is also a 240 column limit in Excel. Use Research Insight and save as a comma delimited file for datasets larger that
5461 companies.


Research Insight Demo

This demonstration will show you the basic features of Standard & Poor’s Research Insight.
To help you quickly get started using Research Insight we’ll show you:

1.  The Research Assistant - which allows you to search the COMPUSTAT databases for
     companies that meet any number of financial or investment criteria.

2.  How to open a pre-defined company report and a performance chart.

3.  How to quickly access a company's Internet home page.

4.  How to launch Research Insight's online companion - Market Insight.


Welcome

The Welcome to Research Insight window allows you to access the many functions of Research Insight.
The Research Assistant wizard allows you to search (screen) the COMPUSTAT databases for companies
that meet specific criteria. The Report and chart Assistant wizards allow you to create custom reports and
charts. Company Highlights runs a company highlights report for specific companies. You can also open
predefined screens, reports, charts and sets. Library allows you to retrieve information from textual
databases. Prices, News and Headlines takes you to Real Time where you can have immediate access to
prices, news and headlines. Click Research Assistant and we’ll begin screening on a set of companies.





Research Assistant 1

You can use the Research Assistant to easily identify companies that meet specific financial or investment
criteria. All of the financial and market items are grouped together into easily recognizable categories, and
for each item you can set the parameters precisely to your needs. We’ll screen for all active companies with
the same SIC Code as VLSI Technology Inc. (vlsi) that have a market value greater than $1 billion. Click
Next to view the companies that passed the criteria.




Research Assistant 2

The Company List displays the companies that passed the criteria. We’ll modify this set of companies by adding
Applied Materials Inc. To do this, we entered the ticker symbol (amat) in the Add Company to Set field. Clicking
the Add Company button adds the company to the existing set. Now we’ll Save_As the set of companies for future
use. Click the Save As button under Save Set.




Save As

We entered a set name in the File Name field, now click Save to return to the Research Assistant - Step 2 window.




Research Assistant 2.5

Now we’ll run a quarterly income statement for each of the companies below. Click Next.

Research Assistant 3

The Research Assistant - Step 3 window gives you the option of opening a predefined report
or chart, creating a custom report or chart or running a company highlights report. For this demo
we selected Open Report which allows us to open a predefined report. Click Next to display a
list of all predefined reports.


 

File Open

Research Insight offers numerous predefined reports, which can be accessed through the Open Report
icon. We selected Quarterly Income Statement by clicking on the Income Statements folder and then the
specific report. Click Finish to display the report.

Report 1

The report displays for the first company in the Companies list. Click the Next button to view the report for
the next company in the set. You could also select the company ticker or name from the Companies area.

Report 2

Now we’ll run a chart for the same set of companies displaying share price and earnings per share. Click the
(Open chart) button on the left side of the window.

Chart Open

Research Insight offers a variety of predefined charts, which can be accessed through the Open chart icon.
We selected Price and EPS by clicking on the Pricing folder and then the specific chart. Click Finish.

Chart 1

Since we want to run the chart for the set of companies we saved earlier, we need to change the initial set.
Click the Change Set button.

Chart 2

We entered the set name in the Set field. (All set names must be preceded by a dollar sign.) Click OK.
If you did not know the set name you could click the Look Up button to view all available sets.

Chart 3

The $demo set is now our initial set. Click OK to display the chart.

Chart

The chart displays for the first company in the Companies list. To view the chart for another company,
all we would have to do is click the Next button, or select the company ticker or name from the
Companies area. You can also launch a company's home page directly from Research Insight to find
out more information on the company. Click the (Launch Home Page) button to take you there.

Launch Home Page

The Launch Home Page dialog box displays, defaulting to the currently selected company's ticker symbol
(Advanced Micro Devices). Click OK to go to their home page.

Home Page

The home page for Advanced Micro Devices displays in your browse. Click anywhere on the screen below
to return to Research Insight.


Market Insight

Now we'll go to Market Insight, our online companion to Research Insight. Click the (Market Insight) button
to display the Launch Market Insight dialog box.

Launch Market Insight

The ticker symbol for the current company in the set will display in the field, or you can enter the ticket for any company.
We entered AMAT (Applied Materials). Click OK.

Market Insight Web Site

After entering the correct login information, the company profile for Applied Materials displays in Market Insight. From
here, you can access Business Descriptions, Financial Highlights, Stock Reports, EDGAR documents, Executive
Compensation data, Industry Data and much more!

This concludes our demonstration. For more information on using Research Insight, select Research Insight Help Topics
under the Help menu in Research Insight, or refer to the Standard & Poor’s Research Insight - Getting Started manual.

Downloading in Excel

After you have run a report, click on the broken chain icon on the toolbar. This will Unlink the Arrays and create a
new worksheet: Worksheet 4.  Save Worksheet 4 which contains numbers. Worksheet 1 contains formulas when saved.


Downloading to Excel Using Research Insight

To save once you have designed and run your report:

1. Click File, Save As or the disk icon.
2. In the next window, choose either the A:/ or D:/ drive.
3. Name your report and add .csv extension. i.e. test.csv
4. Click on the box to the lower right, TEXT OPTIONS.
5. In the next window: Choose Comma, Use Quotes, Use Labels.
6. Click OK.
7. Click Save.

<Note> Your report will open in Excel without going through the wizard. Re-save as a .xls file.


Retrieving Canned Reports

There are over 100 predefined reports that are most often used.  You may open them using the
Research Insight software or open them using Excel.  To open using the Research Insight:

Click the Open Report button (6th icon down on the left). A list of reports appears. Select the
report you want by double clicking on it.  The "Run Assistant" window opens. Enter your company
ticker symbol or several symbols separated by commas. If you do not know the symbol click the
Lookup box to the right.  The report is in text format. You may save it to read in Excel. Click File...
Save and choose your drive.


Companies Listed by SIC Category

Click the Research Assistant (1st icon on top left row).  Click "Don't find similar companies" on the
bottom left.  On the far right click Company and check the box next to SIC on the bottom.  Choose
the SIC code(s) you want by using the drop down menus with the descriptions of the SICs.  Click
Next and your list of companies appears.  To build a Report with specific data items for these
companies click Next and choose the type of report you want.  On the next screen select the

<Note> Item Group that contains your Data Items and choose the individual data items by highlighting
each and clicking Add and then Finish.  If you do not see the Item Group you want click the Customize
button.