Articles on Stock markets

The Russell 2000 index is comprised of the 2,000 smallest companies in the U.S. It's a good small cap domestic benchmark

The S&P 500 (also known as the Standard & Poor's 500) is an index of the 500 largest and most important U.S. companies

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is an index comprised of 30 'significant' U.S. stocks, typically the biggest

The NASDAQ is an electronic marketplace for trading stocks, and is also used to track major Technology stocks

The Wilshire 5000 is a cap-weighted index and it can be considered the broadest index of all U.S. equity markets

The Russell 1000 comprises over 90% of the total market capitalization of U.S. stocks, and is the go-to benchmark

The “Nikkei” 225 is the most referenced index for measuring Japanese stocks. It is to Japan what the DIJA is to the U.S.

The “Shanghai” is an index measuring all shares that are traded on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (China)

The Hang Seng Index (HSI) is comprised of the 50 biggest stocks traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange

The FTSE 100 Index tracks the performance of the largest 100 stocks by market cap traded on the London Stock Exchange

The EURO STOXX 50 is an index designed to give a broad representation of stock performance across the euro zone

The MSCI World is perhaps the most well regarded index for global stocks. The index is maintained by Morgan Stanley

The MSCI ACWI is the “All Country World Index” - providing the broadest measure for global stocks

The CAC 40 is an index that tracks the 40 largest cap stocks of the 100 listed on the Euronext Paris stock exchange

The DAX is an index that tracks the 30 largest cap stocks that trade on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in Germany

The LIBOR is the benchmark interest rate that the world’s leading banks pay each other for short-term loans

M&A stands for Mergers and Acquisitions, and refers to the consolidation of companies or assets for strategic purposes

The NASD stands for the National Association of Securities Dealers. In 2007, the NASD merged with the NYSE to form FINRA

REPO is shorthand for Repurchase Agreement. It is a money-market practice to buy/sell government securities overnight

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is a govt. agency which polices the practices of the securities industry

SIBOR is the primary interbank loan rate quoted in the Asian markets. SIBOR stands for Singapore Interbank Offered Rate

SPDRs (Spiders) are index ETF shares that track the S&P 500, or could refer to other similar ETFs tracking other indices

A swap is an over-the-counter agreement between institutions to "swap" one thing for another, usually cash flow

Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) are coupon-paying treasuries issued by the US Government with inflation

VIX is the ticker of the volatility index of the S&P 500. It serves as a gauge of market sentiment (a.k.a. “fear gauge”)

One of the largest and most influential groups in the country is the American Association of Retired Persons, or AARP

Most people recognize this as a “routing number.” The American Bankers Association (ABA) assigns a number to each bank

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange, now known as the CME group, is the largest derivatives exchange in the world