CREDIT RATINGS

Credit Rating


A credit rating is Standard & Poor’s opinion of the general creditworthiness of an obligor, or the creditworthiness of an obligor with respect to a particular debt security or other financial obligation, based on relevant risk factors. A rating does not constitute a recommendation to purchase, sell, or hold a particular security. In addition, a rating does not comment on the suitability of an investment for a particular investor.

The Big Three
The Big Three By 2008 Results
Fitch

Moody's

Standard & Poor's

Employees

3,000

3,900

8,500

Revenues

$882 mil

$1.755 bil

$2.645 bil

Profit

$246 mil

$748 mil

$1.055 bil

Market share in 2007

about 16%

about 39%

about 40%

Source: DER SPIEGEL 19/2008

Moody’s Investors
Service



Founder: John Moody (1868 - 1958)
1900: John Moody & Company is founded and Moody's Manual of
Industrial
and
Miscellaneous
Securities is published. The manual provided information and statistics on stocks and bonds of financial institutions, government agencies, manufacturing, mining, utilities, and food companies.

Moody’s Investors
Service




John Moody returned to the financial market in 1909 with a new idea: instead of simply collecting information on the property, capitalization, and management of companies, he now offered investors an analysis of security values. His company would publish a book that analyzed the railroads and their outstanding securities. It offered concise conclusions about their relative investment quality.
On July 1, 1914, Moody's Investors Service was incorporated. That same year, Moody began expanding rating coverage to bonds issued by US cities and other municipalities. By 1924, Moody's ratings covered nearly
100 percent of the US bond market.

Source: Moody’s Investors Service

Bond Ratings
Moody's

Description

Maximum Safety
High grade
High grade
High grade
Higher medium Grade
Higher