Unlike the tool which measures atmospheric pressure, in finance, a barometer refers to markers or points of data designed to signify general economic or market trends. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 are well-known barometers of market health. They more or less are market health.
Data trends outside of market indexes can also serve this function. After the Great Recession of 2008, average revenues for companies providing non-essential consumer goods and services fell, indicating consumers were tightening their respective belts, mostly around their stomachs.
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Finance: What is the Russell Index?4 Views
What is the Russell Index? Well it's an index like a stock
index abroad one the Russell is actually a series of
various indices that track the progress or lack thereof of stocks in a given
sector or basket like many indices the Russell index is actually owned and/or
managed by the footsie or f TSI based in London that's the financial time stock [sky scraper in London]
index F TSI footsie and the indices come in all kinds of flavors with an example [ice cream counter]
right here where you can see funds with catchy titles like the Russell 3000
growth and the Russell 1000 value and the Russell mid cap yeah the Russell
micro cap and the anemic Russell top 200 it's only 200 companies there and that
top 200 yeah no relation to top gear the video Yelp of cars alright well why do [Top Gear website with Nissan Leaf charging]
we need yet another set of indices well we already have the Vanguard series
featuring the famous ticker s py or S&P 500 we have the Wilshire 5000 which
isn't really 5000 and we have a bunch of others each of which give market
insights from slightly different lenses like that and that and yeah that well [microscope, magnifying glass]
the answer because investors are willing to pay for those insights and/or invest [money passing hands]
in those index funds and will likely keep doing so until there's no more [money piling up]
money to be made at which point everything gets renamed to being an out
Dex
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What is the S&P 500? It's Standard & Poor's 500 generally largest companies, with a U.S. domestic bias. The S&P 500 is usually what investors think...
The Wilshire 5000 is an index fund, which is kind of a bummer...it sounded like a cool financial robot.
What is the Dow Jones Industrial Average? The Dow Jones Industrial Average is usually just called the Dow. It’s an average of 30 of the most well...