Another calls for "little or no debt," which might translate to companies with a debt-to-equity ratio of less than 30 percent.

Most industrial companies with investment-grade credit ratings have ratios of no more than 60 percent.

A statewide referendum failed by a ratio of 57 to 43 percent.

He likes companies with debt-to-capitalization ratios of 45 percent or less.

Independence Bank, with assets of $137 million, had a ratio of 31 percent.

All but four of his four-year players completed degrees, a ratio of nearly 98 percent.

That compares with a ratio of 1.25 percent for the average stock fund.

Further, the company is highly leveraged, with a debt-to-capitalization ratio of 62 percent.

Mitsui Sumitomo, for example, has a ratio of 7 percent.

A ratio of 3 percent is the minimum considered acceptable by regulators.