This work takes financial ratios, a popular tool for analyzing firms and their performance, and describes the methods that can be used for comparing these ratios across a large number of industries. The authors have assessed seven financial ratios--return on investment, capital intensiveness, inventory intensiveness, financial leverage, receivable intensiveness, short term liquidity, and cash position--in relation to seven main manufacturing and retail industries. The result is a new factor analysis that will allow financial analysts to compare the performances of different types of companies and establish a global view of their relative positions.