Morningstar Industrial Classification System (New - 4 level)

Morningstar created a new Industry Classification System recently (2010).

Per this press release:
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Under the new global equity classification structure, Morningstar first maps companies into one of 148 Industries, based on their largest sources of revenue and income. The Industries roll up into 69 Industry Groups based on their market characteristics. Industry Groups fold into one of 11 Sectors, including Basic Materials, Communication Services, Consumer Cyclical, Consumer Defensive, Energy, Financial Services, Health Care, Industrials, Real Estate, Technology, and Utilities. The Sectors finally roll up to one of three major economic spheres, or Super Sectors, which are Cyclical, Defensive, and Sensitive.
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Looking at it this way from the top down:
L1 Super Sectors (3)
L2 Sectors (11)
L3 Industry Groups (69)
L4 Industries (148)

Unfortunately, Morningstar is not making this data available to the retail investor/trader. They sell this data to Financial Services industry (hedge funds, mutual funds, etc.)

I do believe that a 4 level system is better than the current 2 level systems that are shown by Yahoo or Telechart.

Next post ---> Global Industry Classification System (GICS)

Monk