Pauline from Sunbury asks: How can I find out a company's credit rating?

By Intelligent Investor · 27 Jul 2001

By Intelligent Investor ·
27 Jul 2001

The financial press often talks about a company's credit rating, as we do on occasion. The main ratings agencies are Standard & Poors, Moody's and Fitch IBCA. We find www.standardandpoors.com/australiaNZ to be especially useful. There is a lot of information on this site and you can receive answers to specific ratings queries.

Keep an eye on what the various ratings agencies are up to. Pay particular attention to companies they put on positive or negative credit watch. However, they are certainly not the be-all and end-all of financial analysis. Warren Buffett once purchased some poorly rated bonds that, eventually, were highly profitable. He commented that if he wanted the ratings agencies to run his money, he'd give it to them. This is an astute observation as they often act in response to an announcement from the company rather than considering the long-term business issues.

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Pauline from Sunbury asks: How can I find out a company's credit rating?

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