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S&P 500 - Index of 500 different but significant large capitalization stocks in the industrial, transportation, utility, and financial sectors (e.g., Anheuser-Busch, General Motors, Citigroup, and Chevron). S&P 500 is also a very popular index, matching the popularity of DJIA and NASDAQ composite. Published by Standard & Poor's (covered in the next section).

The above indices are just a small sample of the large number of indices available today. I just picked some of the most popular indices in the group. Financial analysts and experts and the Fed pore over hundreds of popular and not-so-popular indices to gauge the performance of the stock market or a section of the market. Of course you are welcome to create your very own indices made up of a list of your favorite stocks to track. But for the average investor with little time on his hands, the above indices should suffice.

While in the US most of the concentration is on the US stock markets and their indices, other countries with stock markets of their own have their respective indices to offer. The most popular are:

Nikkei 225 - Japanese market index.
FTSE-100 - British market index.
DAX - German market index.
CAC-40 - French market index.
Hang Seng - Hong Kong market index.
All Ordinaries - Australian market index.

Again this is just a sample of stock indices from around the world, but perhaps the most well-known in the US and of interest to the casual investor with interest in the international markets. …