Book excerpt: The most accurate, up-to-date market intelligence for superior investment decisions—from the world’s premier financial index! The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index is the most watched index in America—if not the world. Whether you’re an individual investor purchasing stocks, an executive researching corporate competitors, or a job seeker looking for concise and up-to-the-minute overviews of potential employers, you’ll find the critical, often hard-to-find information you need in Standard & Poor’s® 500 Guide, 2012 Edition. Easy to use and packed with market intelligence on all 500 companies listed in the S&P 500 Index, this authoritative reference includes: Information on the bluest of blue chip stocks—from Abbott Labs and GE to Microsoft and Yahoo! Summaries of each company’s business activity, sales history, and recent developments Earnings and dividends data, with four-year price charts Exclusive Standard & Poor’s Quality Rankings (from A+ to D) New introduction by David M. Blitzer, Ph.D., Managing Director and Chairman of the Index Committee, Standard & Poor’s In addition, you get unique at-a-glance details about: Stocks with A+ Quality Rankings Companies with five consecutive years of earnings increases—a key indicator of strong long-term performance Per share data, income statement analyses, and balance sheet overviews of each company covered Put the comprehensive, updated data and analysis expertise of the world’s premier securities information firm at your fingertips with Standard & Poor’s® 500 Guide, 2012 Edition.