NASDAQ Announces the Annual Re-ranking of the NASDAQ-100 Index
NEW YORK, Dec. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. (NASDAQ(R)) (Nasdaq: NDAQ) announced today the annual re-ranking of the NASDAQ-100 Index(R), effective with the market open on Monday, December 19, 2005.
"The re-ranking is a unique event in that investors ultimately determine which companies are members of one of the most closely followed indexes in the world," said John L. Jacobs, executive vice president, NASDAQ. "The re-ranking process is objective, rules-based and transparent -- one that ensures the NASDAQ-100 Index will continue to be an important benchmark by which you can invest in a diverse array of NASDAQ-listed companies."
The following 12 issues will be added to the NASDAQ-100 Index: Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG), NII Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: NIHD), Expedia, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXPE), Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq: PTEN), NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA), Urban Outfitters, Inc. (Nasdaq: URBN), Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: CDNS), Activision, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), RedHat, Inc. (Nasdaq: RHAT), Monster Worldwide, Inc. (Nasdaq: MNST), CheckFree Corporation (Nasdaq: CKFR), and Discovery Holding Company (Nasdaq: DISCA).
The NASDAQ-100 Index is composed of the 100 largest non-financial stocks on The NASDAQ Stock Market(R) and dates to January 1985 when it was launched along with the NASDAQ Financial-100 Index(R), which is comprised of the 100 largest financial stocks on NASDAQ(R). These indexes were originally designed to segment NASDAQ into two major industry groups to support media coverage and to act as benchmarks for financial products such as options, futures, and funds. The NASDAQ-100 is re-ranked each year in December, timed to coincide with the quadruple witch expiration Friday of the quarter.
On a cumulative price return basis, the NASDAQ-100 Index has risen over 1238.0% since inception, and it has outperformed several major domestic and international stock indexes for the ten-year period ended November 30, 2005, although past performance is not indicative of future performance. For the most recent one, five, and ten-year periods ended November 30, 2005, the cumulative return of he NASDAQ-100 Index was 6.4%, -33.3%, and 181.7% respectively.
Shares of each company in the Index are included in the NASDAQ-100 Index Tracking Stock(R) (QQQ(R)) (Nasdaq: QQQQ), which is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that trades like a stock. It is the most actively traded listed equity security in the U.S., and it is one of the world's most actively traded ETFs as measured by the average daily share trading volume. QQQ represents ownership in the NASDAQ-100 Trust(SM). The Trust holds a portfolio of equity securities that comprise the NASDAQ-100 Index and aims to provide investment results that, before expenses, correspond with the NASDAQ-100 Index performance. Since its inception in March 1999, the Trust's total assets have grown to over $20 billion.
The NASDAQ-100 European Tracker Fund(R) (EQQQ(SM)) is listed on Borsa Italiana, SWX Swiss Exchange, Deutsche Boerse, virt-x, and London Stock Exchange and is designed to closely follow the NASDAQ-100 Index. EQQQ provides European investors with low cost access to the entire range of companies in the NASDAQ-100 Index in European hours, on European markets. Since its inception in November 2002, the Fund's total assets have grown to approximately $315 million. EQQQ is not available to U.S. investors.
There are also 22 domestic mutual funds and 9 international funds linked to the NASDAQ-100 Index. For more information about the NASDAQ-100 Index, including eligibility criteria, visit nasdaq-100.com.
As a result of the re-ranking of the NASDAQ-100 Index, the following 12 companies will be removed: Career Education Corporation (Nasdaq: CECO) Dollar Tree Stores, Inc. (Nasdaq: DLTR), Intersil Corporation (Nasdaq: ISIL), Invitrogen Corporation (Nasdaq: IVGN), Level 3 Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: LVLT), Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: MLNM), Molex Incorporated (Nasdaq: MOLX), Novellus Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: NVLS), QLogic Corporation (Nasdaq: QLGC), Sanmina-SCI Corporation (Nasdaq: SANM), Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS), and Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation (Nasdaq: SSCC). NASDAQ(R) is the largest electronic screen-based equity securities market in the United States. With approximately 3,200 companies, it lists more companies and, on average, trades more shares per day than any other U.S. market. It is home to category-defining companies that are leaders across all areas of business including technology, retail, communications, financial services, transportation, media and biotechnology. For more information about NASDAQ, visit the NASDAQ Web site at nasdaq.com or the NASDAQ Newsroom at nasdaq.com. |
