John Moody

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see John Moody (disambiguation).

John Moody (1868 - 1958) was a U.S. financial analyst and investor. He pioneered the rating of bonds and founded Moody's Investment Services. Moody's Manuals are still issued, carrying on the tradition begun by the seminal Moody's Manual of Railroads and Corporation Securities and continued by the annual Moody's Analyses of Investments.

Contents

[edit] Moody and Bond Rating

Moody's was later merged into Dun & Bradstreet, only to again become an independent corporation in October of 2000. Moody's status is reflected in Thomas Friedman's 1996 comment that

There are two superpowers in the world today in my opinion. There's the United States and there's Moody's Bond Rating Service. The United States can destroy you by dropping bombs, and Moody's can destroy you by downgrading your bonds. And believe me, it's not clear sometimes who's more powerful. (From Feb. 13, 1996 interview with Jim Lehrer.)

[edit] Honors

John Moody received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Boston College and was made Knight Commander of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem by Pope Pius XI.

[edit] Family

Moody was the son of William Francis Moody (1834-1919) and Sarah Jane Nichols (1839-1897). He was one of five children, including Jeanette Hope Moody (1871-?), William Francis Moody (1872-1958), Eliot Crofts Moody (1875-?), and Arthur Henry Herbert Moody (1876-?).

He was married to Anna Mulford Addison(1877-1965) who was born in Nice, France. His children include UCLA philosopher and medievalist, Ernest Addison Moody (1903-1975) and John Edmund Moody (1900-1926), who died of typhoid fever in Messina, Italy. He is a convert to Catholicism.

[edit] Autobiographical works

[edit] Works Available Online