Standard & Poor's

Standard & Poor's traces to Henry Varnum Poor's 1860 History of Railroads and Canals in the United States, an early source of financial statistics for investors; the modern Standard & Poor's Corporation was formed in 1941 by the merger of Poor's Publishing with Standard Statistics. It is one of the Big Three credit rating agencies, alongside Moody's and Fitch Ratings, and publishes financial research and credit ratings on stocks, bonds and commodities issued by companies, governments and municipalities, including the S&P 500 stock index.