Are there any stock photo companies in Manila?

How do stock rating companies determine their ratings downgrading or upgrading companies?

• I go into financials and I find that these companies upgrade or downgrade and that there is a corresponding shift in stock price when they do so. Are these companies buying and selling stock? How are these rating companies funded? Where is the idea of a free market economy? Is a stock downgraded when it does not move up in price or by it's balance sheet or what? What is the criteria for downgrading or upgrading a company? Do the companies pay to be evaluated this way? Who is footing the bill for these downgrades and upgrades?

• Answer:

  Upgrades and downgrades are determined based on the company's fundamentals versus stock price. If either the price appreciates or the business strength deteriorates to the point where the current stock price is unjustified then the company is downgraded. If the stock price drops or the business prospects increase to where the stock seems undervalued then the stock gets upgraded. Companies do not pay to be rated. The broker/dealers rate companies as a service to their investors. Statistically, though, they are almost always too late when they change their ratings.