Standard and Poor's has been the leading brand in financial information and analysis around the world. Brokers, investment bankers, and other Wall Street professionals have relied upon S&P's unparalleled financial analysis for over 140 years. Their stock reports and ratings are among the most-respected in the industry. Now S&P's celebrated stock reports are collected for the top-rated stocks in the S&P 1500 composite index for each of today's five hottest stock sectors. Finance; Technology; Health Care, Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology; Energy; Communications and Telecom; The industries in these sectors include some of the fastest growing stocks around, and each of them include stocks assigned the prestigious 5-Star rating by S&P's top analysts. 65 percent of the 5-Star rankings allotted to stocks in S&P's 1500 composite index were assigned to stocks in one these 5 sectors! Included in each book are S&P's exclusive stock reports for the top-rated companies in each industry in the sector. Each book will also contain S&P analysts' valuable analysis of the sector as a whole and exclusive advice on how to evaluate stocks in each industry in the sector.
The company traces its history back to 1860, with the publication by Henry Varnum Poor of History of Railroads and Canals in the United States. This book compiled comprehensive information about the financial and operational state of U.S. railroad companies. In 1868, Henry Varnum Poor established H.V. and H.W. Poor Co. with his son, Henry William Poor, and published two annually updated hardback guidebooks, Poor's Manual of the Railroads of the United States and Poor's Directory of Railway Officials.
In 1906, Luther Lee Blake founded the Standard Statistics Bureau, with the view to providing financial information on non-railroad companies. Instead of an annually published book, Standard Statistics would use 5" x 7" cards, allowing for more frequent updates.
In 1941, Poor's Publishing and Standard Statistics merged to become Standard & Poor's Corp. In 1966, the company was acquired by The McGraw-Hill Companies, extending McGraw-Hill into the field of financial information services.