SEC.
In plain English
The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) is the federal agency created in 1934 to regulate U.S. capital markets. It enforces the laws that require public companies to disclose their financials, oversees stock exchanges and brokerage firms, registers investment advisers (anyone managing over $100 million in client assets), and prosecutes securities fraud. SEC filings (10-K annual reports, 10-Q quarterly reports, 8-K material event filings) are publicly searchable on EDGAR.
01Why it matters
The disclosure framework the SEC enforces is why a small investor can read the same financial statements a Wall Street analyst reads. Every public company has filed thousands of pages of mandatory disclosures going back decades, all free to read on sec.gov.
02The math, step by step
Apple's most recent 10-K (annual report) on EDGAR runs about 80 pages and includes audited financial statements, risk factors, executive compensation, and segment-level revenue. Reading the first 20 pages teaches more about the business than 50 hours of stock-picking podcasts.
04Receipts
Every figure on this page is sourced to a primary document. Tap to open the original.