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Today when people talk about the market being up or down, they are
mostly referring to DJIA.While DJIA is the most popular stock market
index, by no means is it the only one. Some other popular indices are:
NASDAQ Composite - Index of all stocks traded in the NASDAQ
stock market (not Over The Counter stocks). Since the NASDAQ
market is heavily populated by technology stocks (Microsoft, Intel,
Cisco, Dell) including many Internet Stocks (Yahoo, Amazon, Ebay,
CMGI), it is a good gauge for the technology sector performance. It also
has a good representation of many biotech companies. By some
accounts NASDAQ may be poised to rival DJIA considering the public's
interest in the stocks it represents.
AMEX Composite - Index of all stocks trading on American Stock
Exchange (now owned by NASDAQ). Published by NASDAQ.
NYSE Composite - Index of all stocks trading on New York Stock
Exchange (e.g., General Electric, Hewlett Packard, Ford, and Exxon
Mobil). Published by New York Stock Exchange.
Russell 2000 - Index of 2000 small capitalization stocks. (We will
discuss capitalization shortly but for now think of this as smaller
companies such as 7-Eleven, Adtran, OfficeMax, and La Z Boy).
Published by Frank Russell Company.
Wilshire 5000 - The broadest of them all, this index contains over
7,000 stocks. Therefore, it can be argued that this index delivers the
most accurate measurement of the US stock market performance.
Published by Wilshire Associates Inc.
Dow Transports (DJTA) - Index of stocks whose companies are
involved in transportation, such as airlines, railways, and trucking (e.g.,
Delta Airlines, Norfolk Southern, and Ryder). Published by Dow Jones.
Dow Utilities (DJUA) - Index of stocks whose companies are in the
energy sector, such as oil companies and utility companies (e.g., Enron,
Consolidated Edison, and Consolidated Natural Gas). Published by
Dow Jones ….
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