hidden pixel

Nasdaq Composite Information

The Nasdaq Composite is a stock market index of the common stocks and similar securities (e.g. ADRs, tracking stocks, limited partnership interests) listed on the NASDAQ stock market, meaning that it has over 3,000 components. It is highly followed in the U.S. as an indicator of the performance of stocks of technology companies and growth companies. Since both U.S. and non-U.S. companies are listed on the NASDAQ stock market, the index is not exclusively a U.S. index.

Contents

History

Early years

The NASDAQ Composite from 1971 until April, 2007

The origins of the NASDAQ began in 1961, when Congress authorized the Securities and Exchange Commission to conduct a study of fragmentation in the over-the-counter market. The SEC proposed automation as a possible solution, and entrusted the National Association of Securities Dealers with its execution. Launched on February 5, 1971 with a base value of 100 points, the NASDAQ Composite (which was the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is a broad based index which is calculated under a market capitalization weighted methodology that began trading with median quotes for 2,500 over-the-counter securities.

The all-time low for the index had been reached in October 1974 around 54 points, representing a market drop of more than 45% from the time of its introduction. The decline in the index surrounded the overall negative mood revolving around the 1973–1974 Stock Market Crash along with it being aggravated by the Yom Kippur War and the 1973 Oil Crisis which followed it soon after.

Dot com boom

On July 17, 1995, the index closed above the 1,000 mark for the first time. On March 10, 2000, the index peaked at an intra-day high of 5,132.52, and closed at an all-time high of 5,048.62; the decline from this peak signaled the beginning of the end of the dot-com bubble.[citation needed] The index declined to half its value within a year, and finally found a bear market bottom on October 10, 2002 with an intra-day low of 1,108.49 after a close of 1,114 the previous day. While the index gradually recovered since then, it did not trade for more than half of its peak value until May 2007. The 2000s brought a mix of pessimistic news stemming from the Early 2000s recession, the September 11 attacks and the impending Afghan War along with the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Financial crisis

The index opened the fourth quarter of 2007 with new 80-month highs, fueled by future possible takeovers and mergers, healthy earnings reports particularly in the tech sector, and moderate inflationary readings; closing above the 2,800 point mark on October 9, 2007. The intraday level of 2,861.51 on October 31, 2007 was the highest point reached on the index since January 24, 2001. While increased anxiety over high energy prices and the possibility of recession dropped the NASDAQ well into correction territory in early 2008, a bear market was finally recognized on February 6 when the NASDAQ closed below the 2,300 level, about 20% below the recent highs. On September 29, 2008, the NASDAQ dropped nearly 200 points, the most since the tech bubble burst, losing 9.14% (third largest in history) to fall beneath the 2,000 level. On October 13, 2008, the NASDAQ recorded a gain of nearly 200 points (more than 11%), continuing record levels of market volatility. Extending a two-month slide, the index recorded fresh 5½-year lows on November 20, 2008, closing at 1,316.12 near its intraday low, almost 55% below its cyclical bull market peak. On March 9, 2009, the composite hit an intra-day low of 1,265.52 extending losses surrounding the financial crisis which began in late 2008.

Towards the beginning of December 2010, the composite made a staggering 101% rebound from its March lows towards the 2,550 level, amid hope that the Late-2000s Recession, the United States housing bubble and the Global financial crisis of 2008–2009 were easing and possibly coming to an end. However it still ended the decade considerably below where it started the decade. Since its inception, the index has grown to include over 3,000 companies.

Criteria

To be eligible for inclusion in the Composite, a security's U.S. listing must be exclusively on the NASDAQ Stock Market (unless the security was dually listed on another U.S. market prior to 2004 and has continuously maintained such listing), and have a security type of either: - American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) - Common Stock - Limited Partnership Interests - Ordinary Shares - Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) - Shares of Beneficial Interest (SBIs) - Tracking Stocks

Closed-end funds, convertible debentures, exchange traded funds, preferred stocks, rights, warrants, units and other derivative securities are not included. If at any time a component security no longer meets the above criteria, the security becomes ineligible for inclusion in the Composite Index and is removed.

Investing

Investing in the NASDAQ Composite Index is currently made accessible through an exchange-traded fund issued by fund manager Fidelity Investments. Introduced on October 1, 2003, the ETF (NASDAQ: ONEQ) attempts to match the overall performance of the index. It is not nearly as popular as the "cubes" (NASDAQ: QQQQ) which track the NASDAQ-100.

See also

References

External links

· · NASDAQ OMX Group
Exchanges Armenian · Copenhagen · First North · Helsinki · Iceland · NASDAQ · Philadelphia · Boston · Riga · Stockholm · Tallinn · Vilnius
Indexes Copenhagen 20 · Helsinki 25 · Iceland 6 · NASDAQ (Composite · 100 · Biotechnology) · Nordic 40 · Stockholm 30
Other holdings Globe Newswire
· · Major United States stock market indexes
Dow Jones Industrial Average (30 large stocks; popular indicator) · NYSE Composite Index (all companies on the NYSE) · Nasdaq Composite Index (all companies on the NASDAQ; technology-heavy) · NASDAQ-100 Index (100 large NASDAQ non-financial stocks) · S&P 500 Index (500 large companies; general market analysis) · Russell 2000 Index (small-cap stocks) · Wilshire 5000 Index (total U.S. market)

Categories: Companies listed on NASDAQ | American stock market indices | NASDAQ

 

The above information uses material from Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Some facts may not have been fully verified for accuracy. [Disclaimers]
This page was last archived by our server on Sat Nov 19 16:49:56 2011.
Displaying this page or its contents does not use any Wikimedia Foundation's resources.
The owners of this site proudly support the Wikimedia Foundation.


nasdaq composite index7 png
images.pro-at.com
nasdaq composite index7 png
450px x 750px | 18.80kB

[source page]

Le graphe rien que le graphe

Google Images Search: nasdaq composite,
Thu Jan 19 22:05:30 2012