NASDAQ-100

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The NASDAQ-100 is a stock market index of 100 of the largest domestic and international non-financial companies listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange. It is a modified market value-weighted index; the companies weights in the index are based on their market capitalization, with certain rules capping the influence of the largest components. It does not contain financial companies, and includes companies incorporated in Canada (e.g. Research In Motion), Israel (e.g. Check Point) and Sweden (e.g Ericsson); both of these factors differentiate this index from the S&P 500. The index established a weekly close above the 1800 point level for the first time in 5 1/2 years on November 17, 2006.

NASDAQ-100 is often abbreviated as NDX. Its corresponding futures contracts are traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The regular futures are called ND, as in NDM6 for the June 2006 expiration. The e-mini versions are called NQ. ND and NQ are among the most heavily traded futures at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

While the components of the NASDAQ-100 will change in the case of delisting (such as due to merger, transfer to another exchange, or bankruptcy), the index is only rebalanced once a year, in December, with the removal of companies whose market capitalizations have dropped below the top 100 and their replacement by the companies that have entered the top 100. Anticipation of these changes can lead to changes in the stock prices of the affected comapnies.

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[edit] ETFs

The NASDAQ-100 Trust Series 1 Exchange-traded fund trades under the ticker NASDAQ: QQQQ. On December 1, 2004, it was moved from the American Stock Exchange where it had the symbol QQQ to the NASDAQ and given the new four letter code QQQQ. It is sometimes referred to as the "Quad Qs," "Cubes," or simply as "the Qs." On November 15, 2006, the ETF closed above $44 for the first time since early 2001.

Note: Since the NASDAQ-100 is a capitalization-weighted average, companies with larger market capitalizations will generally affect the index value more than those with lower capitalizations.

[edit] Note

The NASDAQ-100 is frequently confused with the Nasdaq Composite Index; the latter index (often referred to simply as "the NASDAQ") includes the stock of every company that is listed on NASDAQ (more than 3,000 all together) and is quoted more frequently than the NASDAQ-100 in popular media.

[edit] Components

This list is current as of December 2006. An up-to-date list is available in the External Links section.

[edit] External links

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