With the majority of the more than 20 million U.S. businesses in private hands, the need for affordable methods of valuing them is significant. Larger firms have the resources to subscribe to major databases, but smaller, independent firms need to know how to get information off the Internet for reasonably priced per-document or subscription fees. One common strategy is to compile stock prices of businesses comparable to the one being valued. The two major sources here are EDGAR filings and stock screens. Using at least two sources, such as 10-K Wizard and Yahoo! Finance, is recommended. A second strategy is to study sales of majority interests in comparable companies. This approach can be difficult and expensive, so it's more feasible to use databases such as Bizcomps, Pratt's Stats, and DoneDeals that focus on middle market and smaller businesses. The state of a particular industry can be another valuable source of information. AccessMyLibrary, Highbeam Research, and FindArticles offer access to thousands of articles. Industry overviews are the specialty of First Research and IBISWorld. For national and regional economic data, at least three organizations provide reasonably priced and regularly updated overviews: JT Research, Mercer Capital, and Business Valuation Resources. Factiva is an excellent source for regional information. Two final approaches to private valuation are benchmarking and comparing executive compensation. Check out Integra Information and the Business Reference Guide Online for the former, and the Economic Research Institute for the latter.