Business Intelligence Provider Hoover’s Releases Latest Edition of The Hoover’s Index of the Top 1,000 Most Searched Companies

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AUSTIN, TEXAS (September 6, 2007) – Hoover's, Inc. today announced the latest edition of The Hoover’s Index, a free, proprietary monthly index of the leading public and private companies, non-profits, and associations which represent the brand leaders, up-and-comers and “buzz” creators driving the U.S. and international economies.

The Hoover’s Index, which reveals monthly spikes in company search activity,is based on a proprietary algorithm that takes into account the search trends of business professionals, including both organic and internal searches on Hoover’s site, as well as business-related searches conducted via major search engines. Movement above and below index determines ranking, instead of gross search volume.

"The ongoing struggles in the mortgage and credit markets affected the latest edition of The Hoover's Index in a big way," said Tim Walker, Hoover’s industry expert. "But there were also big movers on the list that showed up because of deals well outside the financial sector – in chemicals and natural gas."

American Home Mortgage Investment Corp.
(Index #1,055)
August was the cruelest month for American Home Mortgage, yet another mortgage lender to collapse under the weight of the credit crunch plaguing the financial markets. Even until the week before its Chapter 11 filing, American Home reassured the world that it could weather the credit storm, a position that seemed likelier because for the most part the lender had avoided subprime loans. In the end, though, American Home's exposure to "Alt-A" loans – loans to people with better-than-subprime but less-than-prime credit – was too much for it to bear. When the end came, it came abruptly: the company laid off 90 percent of its staff, announced that it would wind down its business, and then filed for bankruptcy protection. All this from a company that brought in 2006 revenues of about $2.2 billion on $59 billion of loans originated.

Countrywide Financial Corporation
(Index #360)
Given that Countrywide originates one out of every six mortgages in the U.S., it's only natural that it would come under intense scrutiny during the current mortgage mudslide. So far, though, Countrywide has hung tough, helped in no small way by a $2 billion equity infusion from Bank of America. If Countrywide does keep itself afloat, Bank of America stands to make a bundle off its investment, which it made at very favorable rates; if Countrywide fails – well, $2 billion is still real money, but not enough to rock an aircraft carrier like Bank of America. With the extra liquidity in hand, Countrywide's future would seem to rest on how well the overall mortgage market does. In recent months, more ordinary mortgage holders (and not just higher-risk subprime borrowers) have fallen behind on payments. This has happened at the same time that creditors have gotten nervous, debt has gotten more expensive, and house prices have fallen across the country. That means stormy weather indeed for Countrywide, which was one of the major beneficiaries of the real estate boom in the early years of this decade.

El Paso Corporation
(Index #300)
El Paso is growing. Not just the city (which projects more than 15% growth for this decade), but El Paso Corporation, the country's top operator of natural gas pipelines. In August, El Paso agreed to pay $875 million (in cash, no less) to acquire the Peoples Production unit from Integrys Energy. The logic for the acquisition isn't tough to figure out: Peoples, which will become part of its new parent's El Paso Exploration & Production subsidiary, owns loads of proved natural gas reserves. Its holdings are estimated at 305 billion cubic feet, and it currently produces about 72 million cubic feet of gas per day. That sits nicely with El Paso, which already has estimated proved reserves of 2.4 trillion cubic feet in Brazil, Egypt, and the U.S. Even better, most of the Peoples reserves are in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas, where El Paso already operates.

Imperial Chemical Industries PLC
(Index #300)
For the most part, the sun set on Britain's political and military empire shortly after World War II. But not until August did the sun set on British ownership of Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), which has long been revered by Britons as a symbol of their nation’s industry. More than a cultural symbol, ICI remains an important player in the global markets for paint and industrial chemicals, which is what made it so attractive as a buyout target for its Continental rivals Akzo Nobel and Henkel. Netherlands-based Akzo had been after ICI since early this summer, when the British company rejected Akzo's $14 billion bid. But Akzo went back to the drawing board and recruited Germany-based Henkel, which makes cleaners and other chemical-based goods. The pair of Continental buyers sealed the deal after they sweetened their offer for ICI to more than $16 billion. When the buyout closes later this year, it will augment Akzo's position as the world's #1 maker of paint, and boost Henkel's profile in electronic materials and adhesives.

The Hoover’s Index for August 2007:

(As an example, a Hoover's Index of 406 means that the search volume was 4.06 times higher than the average search volume.)

To see the entire list of The Hoover’s Index, click here. Additionally, for those who would like direct delivery of news about the latest developments within The Hoover’s Index, the Hoover’s Hottest Companies newsletter is available here.

The Hoover’s Index, which utilizes more than a billion data points,is compiled from a universe which includes all worldwide companies that trade on a major stock exchange, as well as private companies identified as leaders by Hoover’s business experts. Hoover’s subscribers can click through from The Hoover’s Index to in-depth coverage of the history, operations, and executives leading each company on the list.

Hoover’s combines insightful editorial expertise, proprietary data collection technologies and a smart, engaging presentation to give its customers easy access to the most enlightening business information available. For more on how Hoover’s can give you a competitive edge with insightful information about industries, companies, and the people who lead them, click here to learn about Hoover’s subscriptions.

About Hoover’s, Inc.

Hoover’s, a D&B company, gives its customers a competitive edge with insightful information about industries, companies, and key decision makers. Hoover’s provides this up-to-date business information for sales, marketing, business development, and other professionals who need intelligence on U.S. and global companies, industries, and the people who lead them. This information, along with powerful tools to search, sort, download and integrate the content, is available through Hoover’s (http://www.hoovers.com), the company’s premier online service. Hoover’s business intelligence is also available through corporate intranets and distribution agreements with licensees, as well as via Hoover’s books. The company is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

Contact