Stock Market Indices
A stock index or stock market index is a method of measuring the value of a section of the stock market. It is computed from the prices of selected stocks (sometimes a weighted average). It is a tool used by investors and financial managers to describe the market, and to compare the return on specific investments.
An index is a mathematical construct, so it may not be invested in directly. But many mutual funds and exchange-traded funds attempt to "track" an index (see index fund), and those funds that do may not be judged against those that do.
Read more about Stock Market Indices: Types of Indexes, Index Versions, Weighting, Criticism of Capitalization-weighting, Indices and Passive Investment Management, Ethical Stock Market Indices, Innovations Awards To Stock Indices, Lists
Famous quotes containing the words stock and/or market:
“I’d rather I were dead and gone,
And my body laid in grave,
Ere a rusty stock o coal-black smith
My maidenhead should have.”
—Unknown. The Twa Magicians (l. 17–20)
“To market ‘tis our destiny to go.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)