The Motley Fool Announces NOW 50 Index
December 17, 1999 09:41 AM
ALEXANDRIA, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 17, 1999--The Motley Fool, Inc. today introduced The Motley Fool NOW 50 Index.
This new index measures the performance of 50 of the strongest, most relevant businesses traded on American exchanges -- businesses exhibiting leadership in innovation, superior use of technology, global branding and strategic vision. The stocks were chosen from a list of 288 companies nominated by the company's more than 1 million registered users -- its Foolish community.
"The stock market indices that get reported on the news every night don't tell the complete story. With the Motley Fool NOW 50, we've created a stock index that accurately reflects the performance of the market's most compelling value-creators: branded, consumer-oriented companies like Dell and Gap and Amazon.com.," said Motley fool co-founder David Gardner. "The stocks in the NOW 50 matter to us, to the individual investors that make up our community, and to the economy of the 21st Century."
The Motley Fool NOW 50 Index begins tracking the performance of these select stocks on the first day of market trading in the year 2000. The 50 companies in the index represent many vital sectors of the global economy, from automobiles to high technology to financial services to soft drinks.
"The NOW 50 were selected for their relevance to shareholders and consumers today and for the foreseeable future," according to Index trustee Bill Mann. "While the Dow Jones and the Standard & Poor's have their strengths, investors today need a tool that is forward looking and global in scope. That's the NOW 50."
Quantitative and qualitative criteria such as a market capitalization of at least $4 billion, high free cash flow, and a strong history of growth, accountability and adaptability were used to make the difficult decisions to determine which 50 premier stocks would make the final list.
"To meet our stringent standards, these companies had to be leaders for now and tomorrow," said trustee Chris Rugaber. "The Motley Fool NOW 50 Index is an index of the best, the most relevant, and the most promising."
The stocks in The Motley Fool NOW 50 Index are:
Automatic Data Processing AUD , America Online AOL , American International Group AIG , Amazon.com AMZN , American Express AXP , Applied Materials AMAT , ARM Holdings ARMHY , AT&T Corp. T , Amgen Inc. AMGN , Berkshire Hathaway BRK.A , Biogen Inc. BGEN , Cable & Wireless CWP , Cisco Systems CSCO , Citigroup Inc. C , Coca-Cola Co. KO , Costco Wholesale COST , DaimlerChrysler DCX , Dell Computer DELL , DuPont DD , EMC Corp. EMC , Enron Corp. ENE , Exxon-Mobil XOM , Gap Inc. GPS , General Electric GE , Home Depot HD , HSBC Holdings HBC , Hughes Electronics GMH , International Business Machines IBM , Intel Corp. INTC , Johnson & Johnson JNJ , Lucent Technologies LU , McDonald's Corp. MCD , Medtronic Inc. MDT , Merck & Co. MRK , Microsoft Corp. MSFT , News Corp. NWS , Nokia Corp. NOK , Oracle Corp. ORCL , Pepsico Inc. PEP , Pfizer Inc. PFE , Procter & Gamble PG , Schlumberger SLB , Schwab Corp. SCH , Sony Corp. SNE , Sun Microsystems SUNW , Texas Instruments TXN , Time Warner TWX , United Parcel Service UPS , Wal-Mart Stores WMT , Yahoo! Inc. YHOO
The Motley Fool's mission is to educate, amuse, and enrich individual investors around the world.
Having started with 60 readers its first day in August 1994, The Fool now reaches millions of investors each month by providing financial information and strategies in different mediums: on its Web site at fool.com; via its five Simon & Schuster books, all New York Times bestsellers; through its line of self-published books; through its weekly syndicated column currently appearing in more than 160 newspapers around the country; via "The Motley Fool Radio Show," a joint venture with Cox Radio heard on more than 115 stations nationwide every weekend; through regular commentary on Marketplace Radio; and on America Online . The Fool's first international site, Motley Fool UK, can be found at fool.co.uk and on America Online .
The report on The Motley fool NOW 50 Index is available online at: fool.com.
CONTACT: The Motley Fool Bill Dixon, 703/837-5527 or Niehaus Ryan Wong PR Jennifer Horyd, 650/827-7037
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