The Standard and Poor's reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Standard and Poor's

The Standard and Poor's Corporation (also: S&P), a subsidiary of McGraw-Hill, is a company that performs financial research and analysis. It is best known for its S&P 500 stock market index. The company also ranks the credit-worthiness of borrowers using a standardized ratings scale.

The basic ratings are:

Investment Grade

• AAA - the best quality companies, reliable and stabile
• AA - quality companies, a bit higher risk than AAA
• A - economical position can affect to finance
• BBB - medium class companies, which are satisfactory at the moment

Non-Investment

• BB - more prone to changes in economy
• B - financial situation varies notieably
• CCC - very speculative bonds, a company's profit is low
• CC - same as CCC
• C - same as CCC
• CI = past due on interest
• D = very bad economical condition, almost in bankrupt
• NR

Ratings below BBB are non-investment grade junk bonds.

External Links

• Standard and Poor's website

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