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The information you need to steer your investment decisions--from the world's most respected 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 looking to make a smart stock purchase, 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, 2009 Edition. Easy to use and packed with market intelligence on all 500 of the 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 developmentsEarnings and dividends data, with three-year price chartsExclusive Standard & Poor's Quality Rankings (from A+ to D)New introduction by David M. Blitzer, Ph.D., Managing Director & Chairman of the Index Committee, Standard & Poor'sIn addition, unique at-a-glance charts detail:Stocks with A+ Quality RankingsCompanies with five consecutive years of earnings increases--a key indicator of strong long-term performance!Companies with 10 consecutive years of increasing dividendsPut the comprehensive, updated data and analysis expertise of the world's premier securities information firm at your fingertips, with Standard & Poor's 500 Guide, 2009 Edition.