Max, thanks for the semi site. SIII is definatly going to see volume on Monday.
Glad to see that you're looking at sectors. New index plays will be available on Amex this week. Easy way to play a sector without having to research individual stocks.
statestreet.com
State Street Announces New Index Shares To Begin Trading December 22 On The Amex
Select Sector SPDR® Funds "Unbundle" the S&P 500 Index into Nine Sectors; Each Can be Bought and Sold Like Shares of Stock
Options on Select Sector SPDR Funds to also trade on December 22
BOSTON, MA...December 16, 1998 — State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) today announced that shares of Select Sector SPDR® Funds – index shares based on nine specific industry sectors comprised of shares of companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index® – will begin trading December 22, 1998 on The American Stock Exchange (Amex).
SSgA, the investment management group of State Street Corporation, will be the investment adviser for the new funds. State Street Bank and Trust Company, with its fully-automated infrastructure will provide legal, compliance, custody and transfer agency services for the funds. Shares of the funds will trade as part of the Amex's Index ShareTM Marketplace.
The Amex today also announced that it will trade options on shares of Select Sector SPDR Funds beginning December 22.
Perform Like Sector Indexes, Trade Like Stocks
Each Select Sector SPDR Fund is designed to track the price performance and dividend yield net of expenses of a particular Select Sector Index. Select Sector SPDR Funds may bear a higher level of risk than more broadly diversified funds. The nine sectors are Basic Industries, Consumer Services, Consumer Staples, Cyclical/Transportation, Energy, Financial, Industrial, Technology and Utilities.
Douglas T. Holmes, principal of SSgA, said: "These funds provide investors with an affordable way to allocate assets to suit their own objectives, such as investing in a specific sector or utilizing a sector rotation strategy in their portfolios."
While they represent portfolios of underlying stocks, shares of Select Sector SPDR Funds trade like common stock, which means:
They are priced and traded continuously between 9:30 A.M. and 4:00 P.M. EST on the floor of the Amex.
Holders of Select Sector SPDR Fund shares are entitled to receive quarterly cash payments based upon dividends paid, if any, by the underlying stocks in each Fund.
Shares of Select Sector SPDR Funds can be bought on margin and sold short.
Joseph B. Stefanelli, executive vice president for Derivative Securities at the Amex, commented: "We anticipate these funds will appeal to a variety of investment objectives. While Select Sector SPDRs give investors access to these industry sectors on a minute-by-minute basis, the tax efficiencies of the Index Share structure could make an equally compelling case for the long-term investor."
Lower Cost & Tax Efficiency
Because the Select Sector SPDR Funds are passively managed ("indexed"), they tend to have lower costs. Since they trade like shares of stock, brokerage commissions for purchases and sales will apply.
Select Sector SPDR Funds are also tax efficient. They are expected to have relatively low portfolio turnover thereby reducing the potential for high capital gains distributions.
Participants
The administrator and custodian of the Select Sector SPDR Funds is State Street Bank and Trust Company. The investment adviser is State Street Global Advisors. The value of Select Sector Indexes is calculated by The American Stock Exchange. The distributor for Select Sector SPDR Funds is ALPS Mutual Funds Services, Inc., a registered broker-dealer. Counsel to the Funds is Gordon Altman Butowsky Weitzen Shalov & Wein.
Kathleen C. Cuocolo, senior vice president at State Street, said: "As a recognized leader in administration, accounting, custodial and investment management services, State Street is committed to exchange-traded products and has proven its success with many products including SPDRs. State Street's collaboration with The American Stock Exchange is testament to this." The ticker symbols and specialist units for the Select Sector SPDR Funds are:
Fund:
Symbol:
Amex Specialist
Unit
Basic Industries
Sector
XLB
Kalb, Voorhis
Consumer Services
Sector
XLV
Spear, Leeds
& Kellog
Consumer Staples
Sector
XLP
Kalb, Voorhis
Cyclical/Transportation
Sector
XLY
Spear, Leads
& Kellog
Energy Sector
XLE
Susquehanna
Investment Group
Financial Sector
XLF
Spear, Leeds
& Kellogg
Industrial
Sector
XLI
AGS Specialist
Partners/OTA
L.P./STR Trading
Partners LLC.
Technology
Sector
XLK
Susquehanna
Investment Group
Utilities
Sector
XLU
AGS Specialist
Partners/OTA
L.P./STR Trading
Partners LLC.
About The American Stock Exchange:
The Amex's Index Share Marketplace, which presently represents $14 billion in assets, includes: SPDRs® (Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts®) based on the S&P 500 Index; MidCap SPDRsTM (Standard & Poor's MidCap 400 Depositary ReceiptsTM) based on the S&P MidCap 400 Index; DIAMONDSSM based on the Dow Jones Industrial AverageSM; and WEBSSM (World Equity Benchmark SharesSM) based on 17 different Morgan Stanley Capital International country indexes.
The Amex operates under the management of The Nasdaq-Amex Market GroupSM, a subsidiary of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. (NASD®), the largest securities-industry, self-regulatory organization in the United States. For more information about The American Stock Exchange, visit its Web site at amex.com or the Nasdaq-Amex Web site at nasdaq-amex.com
About SSgA:
SSgA, the investment management group of State Street Corporation, uses quantitative and traditional techniques to manage $422 billion in investment programs and portfolios for institutional and individual investors. In addition to Boston, SSgA has full investment centers in Hong Kong, Tokyo, London, Paris, Montreal, Munich and Sydney. It also has offices in Brussels, Dubai, Guangzhou, Moscow, Prague, Santiago, Toronto, Vienna, Zurich, and Montpellier, France. In the United States, it has offices in Atlanta, Ga.; Chicago, Ill.; Clearwater, Fla.; Greenwich, Conn.; Hartford, Conn.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Manchester, N.H.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Naples, Fla.; Osterville, Mass.; Purchase, N.Y.; and San Francisco, Calif. For more information, visit SSgA's web site at ssga.com.
About State Street Corporation:
With $4.3 trillion in assets under custody, as well as the $422 billion under management, State Street Corporation is the world's leading specialist in serving institutional investors. Offices are located in the United States, Canada, Chile, Cayman Islands, Netherlands Antilles, Ireland, United Kingdom, Netherlands, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, United Arab Emirates, Russia, People's Republic of China, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand. State Street Corporation's common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol STT.
For more information on Select Sector SPDR Funds, including charges and expenses, send for a free prospectus from PDR Services, LLC c/o The American Stock Exchange, 86 Trinity Place, New York, NY 10006-1872, or by calling 800-THE AMEX, or from the Exchange's web site at amex.com. Read it carefully before you invest.
"Standard & Poor's®," "S&P®," "S&P 500®," "Standard & Poor's 500®," "500," Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts®," "SPDRs®," "Select Sector SPDR," "Select Sector SPDRS" and "Select Sector Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts" are trademarks of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. and have been licensed for use in connection with the listing and trading of Select Sector SPDRs on the AMEX. The stocks included in each Select Sector Index (upon which the Select Sector SPDRs are based) were selected by Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated ("Merrill Lynch" and sometimes referred to as the "Index Compilation Agent") in consultation with S&P from the universe of companies represented by the S&P 500 Index. The composition and weighting of the stocks included in each Select Sector Index can be expected to differ from the composition and weighting of stocks included in any similar S&P 500 sector index that is published and disseminated by S&P. |
