This Bakery Business market research report summary is from IBISWorld which also sells a full version of this report. 1  According to IBISWorld, firms within this industry manufacture fresh and frozen bread and baked goods, including cakes, muffins and croissants but excluding cookies and crackers.
A stock index or stock market index is a measurement of the value of a section of the stock market. It is computed from the prices of selected stocks (typically 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.
What it is: An index is a statistical aggregate that measures change. In finance, they usually refer to measures of stock market performance or economic performance. How it works (Example): Let's say we want to measure the stock price performance of the widget industry. To create an index, we simply set the total ($55) in the year 2000 equal to 100 and measure any future periods against that total. Because $78 is 41.82% higher than the 2000 base, the index is now at 141.82.