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I'm reading Beating the Street by Peter Lynch.

And quote "buy stocks from the Moody’s list, and stick with them as long as they stay on the list"

I've tried to look for this list in Moody's website but didn't find anything. The only thing I found in Google is https://dividendvaluebuilder.com/dividend-achievers-list/. It's similar but does not seem to be provided by Moody's.

Does anyone know where to find it?

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2 Answers 2

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Here is the relevant paragraph from Beating the Street, chapter 3:

Moody’s Handbook of Dividend Achievers, 1991 edition — one of my favorite bedside thrillers — lists such companies, which is how I know that 134 of them have an unbroken 20-year record of dividend increases, and 362 have a 10-year record. Here’s a simple way to succeed on Wall Street: buy stocks from the Moody’s list, and stick with them as long as they stay on the list.

Moody's Corporation sold its publishing business in 1998. The publishing business was later named Mergent, and acquired by FTSE Russell in 2015.

The list in question is now known as the Mergent Handbook of Dividend Achievers. Check your local library to see if they have copies. Alternatively, contact FTSE Russell to find out how to buy it. It appears that it is still being published, but it is no longer featured prominently. Less than 5 years ago, Mergent still mentioned its handbooks on its website, but now, they are not even mentioned at all!

These physical publications of fundamental data are getting less popular over the years, as they are replaced by online portals for retail investors (e.g. Yahoo Finance) and subscription databases for institutional investors (e.g. Mergent Online, Compustat, Capital IQ, WRDS, etc.). For example, S&P used to publish various stock catalogs that were easily available on Amazon, but they have stopped doing so. The Standard and Poor's 500 Guide was last published in 2013.

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Your link describes "Moody’s Handbook of Dividend Achievers". It's comprised of companies that have 10 and 20 years or more of dividend increases. Today, such companies are called Dividend Challengers, Contenders, Achievers, Aristocrats, Kings, Champions, depending on the number of years of increasing dividends and the provider.

Per this link:

Dividend Achievers refers to companies that have increased their dividend every year over the past ten years. Moody’s Investor Service created the list in 1979 and in 1998 it was acquired by Mergent Inc. and rebranded. In addition to this requirement a company must be listed on the NYSE or Nasdaq, and meet minimum trading volume requirements (if you want to get into the methodology of selection you can find it here). The 2019 list currently has 358 entries.

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  • Moody's Corporation sold its publishing business in 1998, so you won't be able to buy the book from Moody's.
    – Flux
    Sep 16, 2021 at 0:47

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