Bond Rating Agencies, such as Standard & Poors and Moodys, provide a valuable service to bond investors. These resources will tell you how to read bond ratings and a list of the large bond rating agencies.
Bonds are generally classified into two groups -"investment grade" bonds and "junk" bonds. The term "junk" is reserved for all bonds with Standard & Poor's ratings below BBB and/or Moody's ratings below Baa. Investment grade bonds are generally legal for purchase by banks; junk bonds are not.
Why do companies care about their credit ratings? This question-and-answer format article describes how the ratings assigned to a company's bonds by a rating agency can cost or save the a company millions in interest charges.
Fitch is a prominent bond rating agency on Wall Street. It's site is understandably organized and contains information on obtaining Fitch's credit rating services.
A list of the various bond ratings assigned by the credit rating agencies for long-term bonds.
A page from Invest FAQ giving a short two or three sentence explanation of Moody's various bond ratings.
Moodys is one of the largest bond rating agencies in the world. The site allows you to look up bond ratings by issuer. An absolute must-use if you want to start purchasing bonds any time soon.
