Weiss Ratings identifies risky investment vehicles

Some of America's largest and best-known companies harbor excessive risk for investors, according to a release from Weiss Ratings Inc., an independent pro-vider of ratings and analyses of financial services companies, mutual funds and stocks.

Based on an analysis of 6,485 publicly traded companies, 1,104, or 17 percent, were found to be very weak, receiving a Weiss Risk Rating in the E range, implying a significant risk to investors, suppliers, creditors and employees.

"Many people automatically assume that big' or well-known' companies are financially sound," said Martin D. Weiss, PhD, chairman of Weiss Ratings.

"Now that some of the big names like Enron and Kmart have fallen, however, hopefully more investors will wake up to the need to consider a company's true risk, using reliable, independent sources," he added.

The Weiss Risk ratings are based on the overall financial stability of the company combined with the stock's volatility. They incorporate a number of factors including the company's debt level, liquidity, equity position, and trends in these measures.

Weiss reviews more than 9,000 stocks, including all those traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange, and NASDAQ. Weiss also issues investment ratings on more than 11,000 mutual funds, covering both equity and fixed-income funds, and provides financial safety ratings on over 15,000 financial institutions, such as banks, insurance companies, and brokerage firms.

Weiss Ratings receives no compensation from the companies it rates. Rev-enues are derived strictly from the sale of its informational products to consumers, businesses and libraries.