what is the standard and poor's 500 index
S&P 500 Index The Standard & Poor'sÂ 500, often abbreviated as the S&P 500, or just "the S&P",[6][7] is an American stock market index based on the market capitalizations of 500 large companies having common stock listed on the NYSE or NASDAQ. The S&P 500 index components and their weightings are determined by S&P Dow Jones Indices. It differs from other U.S. stock market indices, such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average or the Nasdaq Composite index, because of its diverse constituency and weighting methodology. It is one of the most commonly followed equity indices, and many consider it one of the best representations of the U.S. stock market, and a bellwether for the U.S. economy.[8] The National Bureau of Economic Research has classified common stocks as a leading indicator of business cycles.[9]
Dow Jones Industrial Average The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), or simply the Dow (/ˈdaʊ/), is a stock market index that shows how 30 large, publicly owned companies based in the United States have traded during a standard trading session in the stock market.[3] The value of the Dow is not a weighted arithmetic mean[4] and does not represent its component companies' market capitalization, but rather the sum of the price of one share of stock for each component company. The sum is corrected by a factor which changes whenever one of the component stocks has a stock split or stock dividend, so as to generate a consistent value for the index.[5]