I am an individual investor. I am looking for access to historical
stock and company data for the companies currently public, for stock
screening. The Compustat database contains the information I'm looking
for, but it appears that it is available to institutions only.
 
I'm looking for monthly stock price (I can get this from Yahoo), and
quarterly/yearly earnings numbers (sales, earnings, outstanding
shares, etc), preferably from 1970 on.
 
I'm aware of the stock screening systems available on-line. But most
(all?) don't allow the complicated rules I wish to select on. And none
that I've seen allow back-testing over the past 20-30 years. I'd
really like to have a full copy of the dataset so that I can run my
analysis on my own machine.
 
How can I get this data? If I must, I'm willing to pay a reasonable
price for it. But of course any free sources would be preferable. 

Hi markf, 
 
Getting your hands on Compustat data for free is virtually impossible
unless you can convince somebody that you are not using the data for
personal gain. If that is the case, most universities have access to
the compustat data, either directly (On CDROM) or indirectly (through
a data service such as WRDS) :
 
What you might want to do is join an investment club such as NAIC (I
found them by doing a google search using the terms "compustat
individual investors").
 
&lt;a href=&quot;<a href="http://www.better-investing.org/about/membership/">http://www.better-investing.org/about/membership/</a>&quot;&gt;<a href="http://www.better-investing.org/about/membership/">http://www.better-investing.org/about/membership/</a>&lt;/a&gt; 
 
Individual membership is $39 per year (for basic membership). However
if you sign up for the NAIC / S&amp;amp;P Compustat Datafiles you get free
membership. These CDs contain the compustat industrial coverage data
(the timespan may not be as good as you were hoping for - they are
only promising 5-10 years of data, but this might be as good as you
can get as an individual investor). Windows/MAC one time subscription
is $52. Quarterly subscriptions are $105, monthly subs are $179.
 
This may be your best bet. 
 
I contacted Standard and Poors North American helpdesk to see whether
they offered the data directly themselves - they were unable to
provide me with a sales associate in a useful timeframe. However I do
suggest that you give their help desk a call on (800) 523-4534 (North
America) or +44-0207-826-8400 (Europe) and see if they can point you
to a more direct source with more extensive data (Remember these
companies are usually open to negotiation on data)
 
Summary of all URLs used in research : 
 
&lt;a href=&quot;<a href="http://www.better-investing.org/about/membership/">http://www.better-investing.org/about/membership/</a>&quot;&gt;<a href="http://www.better-investing.org/about/membership/">http://www.better-investing.org/about/membership/</a>&lt;/a&gt; 
 
&lt;a href=&quot;<a href="http://www.compustat.com">http://www.compustat.com</a>&quot;&gt;<a href="http://www.compustat.com">http://www.compustat.com</a>&lt;/a&gt; (institutional investors only) 
 
&lt;a href=&quot;<a href="http://wrds.wharton.upenn.edu">http://wrds.wharton.upenn.edu</a>&quot;&gt;<a href="http://wrds.wharton.upenn.edu">http://wrds.wharton.upenn.edu</a>&lt;/a&gt; (University subscription required - non
profit uses only)  

---

Request for Answer Clarification by markf-ga on 20 May 2002 20:56 PDT

This doesn't really answer my question. I know there are places where
I can get some of the info for just the past couple of years.
 
I'm looking for where I can get the complete set of data (from 1970).
If this just isn't possible, I wouldn't expect anyone to answer my
question, because they wouldn't have the answer I was looking for.  

The researcher didn't answer my question.

Hi there!

As you stated, the historical (20-30 years) monthly stock prices for
companies that are currently publicly listed can all be retrieved for
free through Yahoo's Finance website, using their search interface at:

[ http://chart.yahoo.com/m ]

The data that you require specifically that _cannot_ be obtained for
free is the quarterly/yearly earnings numbers (sales, earnings,
outstanding shares, etc) for these companies over the same time
period.

The primary source for this information, as you rightly state, is
Standard &
Poor's "Compustat" database. As Standard & Poors mention on their
website at
http://www.compustat.com/www/pages/me_lev2_01_sales.html , their
products and services are offered to institutions and organizations
only.

The Compustat database can, however, be accessed as an individual
investor. Some of the organizations that Standard & Poors offer their
products and services to will 'on-sell' you access.

One such organization is CRSP (Center for Research in Security Prices,
from the
Chicago School of Business). They can provide you with the exact
dataset you require, but be warned - their prices begin at $1,000.  If
this is an acceptable cost ballpark for you (and from the research
I've done, it does seem to be on the low side of average), you can get
more information on obtaining a custom dataset from CRSP at:

[ http://gsbwww.uchicago.edu/research/crsp/products/customdata.html ]

Additionally, access to and information from a number of other
(non-Compustat) databases that have the financial variables you want
can be purchased online from Thomson Financials at:

[ http://www.thomsonib.com/data_solutions/research_products/ ]

There are also online sources where you can retrieve portions of the
information you want for free. For example the earnings reports from
1997-> 2001 can be viewed for currently listed companies free of
charge at:

[ http://www.zacks.com/ ] 

For a fee, Zacks can also generate the dataset you want going back as
far back as 1981 (20 years). Their contact details can be viewed at:

[ http://my.zacks.com/about/contact.php3 ]

As the previous answerer stated, many universities do provide access
to the Compustat data, either directly (On CDROM) or indirectly
(through a data service such as WRDS). It is possible that the cost of
obtaining this data by enrolling in one such university for a time
might be less than by acquiring it outright through ordinary
commercial channels (!). This would probably be regarded as a pretty
extreme solution to your dilemma though! :)

Hope this information gets you the dataset you need!

Cheers,


-dakur-ga

Hello,
I don't know exactly where to get the information you are looking for,
but you can fine a lot of data at www.nyse.com.  You may want to check
out their TAQ database:
http://nyse.com/marketinfo/marketinfo.html

There are also other options available under the marketinfo tab which
may provide you with valuable information.

In case anybody is reading this (2 months after the question closed) -
I heard back from Standard and Poors finally.

They do offer their Compustat product to individual investors -
however the pricing is negotiable based on your use for the product.
Obviously if you are planning to leave a large investment firm and "go
it alone" in your own money management "company", they charge you a
lot more than if you are just an over enthusiastic stock picker.

But the bottom line is that, yes they do offer the software, but you
will have to call them for it.

Sorry I couldn't get the information to you in time for a rated (and
accepted answer), markf - but sometimes the truth takes a little
longer to uncover :)

Anyway, in the mean time, if all you want is 5 years of data, or you
just need the phone number for S&P, then my above answer gives you all
the info you need and hits the nail on the head.