Market Information
US Stock Exchanges
New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
- The New York Stock Exchange is the world`s largest stock market listing about
2,800 companies with a total market capitalization of nearly $15 trillion.
NASDAQ® (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated
Quotation) - NASDAQ is the largest US electronic stock market having over 3,200
companies. It is home to companies that are leaders across all areas of
business.
NYSE Amex Equities (formerly
American Stock Exchange or AMEX) - American
Stock Exchange, a securities exchange located in New York City, was purchased in
2008 by NYSE Euronext and became the NYSE Amex Equities in 2009. Companies with shares traded on the AMEX are generally
smaller than those listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Equity (Stock) Indexes
NASDAQ Composite Index is a market-value weighted index of all common stocks
listed on the NASDAQ. The index is used mainly to track technology stocks, and
thus it is not a good indicator of the market as a whole.
Dow Jones Industrial Averages
(the Dow) is the most widely used indicator of the overall condition of the
U.S. stock market. It is a price-weighted average of 30 actively traded blue
chip stocks. The 30 stocks are chosen by the editors of the Wall Street Journal,
published by Dow Jones & Company, a practice that dates back to the beginning of
the 20th century. The Dow is computed using a price-weighted indexing system,
rather than the more common market cap-weighted indexing system.
Standard & Poor's 500 Index (S&P 500) is widely regarded as the standard for measuring large-cap (large
company) U.S. stock market performance. This index includes a representative
sample of 500 leading companies in leading industries.
Russell 3000 Index (link includes other Russell Indexes) is one of 21 U.S. equity indexes produced by the
Frank Russell Company that are market cap-weighted. It includes only common
stocks incorporated in the United States and its territories and represents 98%
of the investable U.S. equity market. The Russell 3000 is considered a measure
of the market as a whole).
MSCI EAFE® Index (Morgan Stanley Capital International Europe, Australasia and Far East) is a free
float-adjusted market capitalization index that is designed to measure developed
market equity performance, excluding the U.S. and Canada. It comprises 21 MSCI
country indexes, representing the developed markets outside of North America.
The index consists of the following developed markets: Australia, Austria,
Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy,
Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Bond Indexes
Salomon Smith Barney World Government Bond Index includes the most significant
and liquid government bond markets globally that carry at least an investment
grade rating. It includes all countries in the Salomon EMU (Economic and
Monetary Union) Governments Index and Australia, Canada, Denmark, Japan, Sweden,
Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States.
Barclays U.S.
Government Credit Index The U.S. Government/Credit Index includes Treasuries
(i.e., public obligations of the U.S. Treasury that have remaining maturities of
more than one year), Government-Related issues (i.e., agency, sovereign,
supranational, and local authority debt), and Corporates.