A while ago I talked about finding the credit rating history of GM and at the time I didn't know a source for the rating history on bond issuing companies. Now I've found one that might be available via your local library.
I have access to the Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage service via my local library. Your local library may or may not offer access to the service. You'd have to check your library to find out. I don't know how common it is for libraries to carry the service so sorry if this doesn't apply to you. If your library does have S&P NetAdvantage then its a good source for corporate credit history ratings on bonds.
Its fairly easy to find the bond rating history for a company. In the top right side of the screen is a search box for 'Database Search'. For that select 'Corporate Bond Reports' under resources then for search by select 'Company Name' then type in the name of a company in the 'Enter' field and hit the arrow button.
I searched for a few companies and it was hit or miss. I'm assuming some companies simply don't have bond reports since they don't have a report specific to that company or they may just not issue bonds. I searched for Microsoft, Toyota and Walmart and came up empty. But I found several other well known names. The bond rating history for a sample of companies I found is given below:
Ford Motor
Rated | Last Change Date |
CCC | 11/3/2009 |
CCC- | 4/13/2009 |
CCC+ | 11/27/2006 |
B | 9/19/2006 |
B+ | 6/28/2006 |
Merck |
|
Rated | Last Change Date |
AA- | 11/16/2004 |
AAA | Initial |
The Boeing Co. |
Rated | Last Change Date |
A | 7/29/2009 |
A+ | 11/3/2006 |
A | 5/15/2003 |
A+ | 2/5/2002 |
AA- | 12/4/1998 |
If your library has access to it then Standard & Poor's
NetAdvantage service has a lot of information including the credit rating for bond issuing companies.