Standard & Poor's 500 Guide : 2003 Edition

by Standard & Poor's

Detailed facts and updated data on America's top companies and their stocks. Authoritative, updated facts and figures from the source trusted by more than one million investors Standard & Poor's Annual Guides, 2003, provide the completely updated data and analyses that top investment professionals have used for years to decide what to buy, when to sell, and why. Each book is a reference for vital data on earnings, dividends, and share prices; stock picks in a number of categories; and company addresses and contact information, along with names of top officers.

1020 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

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.