NEW YORK, Dec. 14, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ), parent of the world's first electronic stock market and a leading index provider, today announced the results of the annual re-ranking of the NASDAQ-100 Index® (Nasdaq:NDX), which will become effective prior to market open on Monday, December 24, 2012.
"Since its inception, the NASDAQ-100 Index has evolved into a world-renowned brand that includes the 100 largest non-financial stocks listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market," said NASDAQ OMX Executive Vice President John L. Jacobs. "The securities being added to the NASDAQ-100 Index will join Facebook, Costco, Apple, Google and other household names that are leading the new economy forward. Our objective re-ranking process ensures the NASDAQ-100 remains a relevant investable index that is the underlying benchmark for about 7,100 products in 22 countries with a notional value of about $1 trillion."
The following ten securities will be added to the Index: Analog Devices, Inc. (Nasdaq:ADI), Catamaran Corporation (Nasdaq:CTRX), Discovery Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq:DISCA), Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq:EQIX), Liberty Global, Inc. (Nasdaq:LBTYA), Liberty Media Corporation (Nasdaq:LMCA), Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:REGN), SBA Communications Corporation (Nasdaq:SBAC), Verisk Analytics, Inc. (Nasdaq:VRSK) and Western Digital Corporation (Nasdaq:WDC).
The NASDAQ-100 Index is composed of the 100 largest non-financial stocks listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market® and dates to January 1985 when it was launched along with the NASDAQ Financial-100 Index®, which is comprised of the 100 largest financial stocks on NASDAQ®. These indexes 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 returned 2040% since inception, although past performance is not indicative of future performance.
The NASDAQ-100 Index is the basis of the PowerShares QQQ® Trust (Nasdaq:QQQ) which aims to provide investment results that, before expenses, correspond with the NASDAQ-100 Index's performance. In addition, options, futures and structured products based on the NASDAQ-100 Index and the PowerShares QQQ Trust trade on various exchanges.
As a result of the re-ranking, the following ten securities will be removed from the Index: Apollo Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:APOL), Electronic Arts Inc. (Nasdaq:EA), Flextronics International Ltd. (Nasdaq:FLEX), Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (Nasdaq:GMCR), Lam Research Corporation (Nasdaq:LRCX), Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (Nasdaq:MRVL), Netflix, Inc. (Nasdaq:NFLX), Research In Motion Limited (Nasdaq:RIMM), VeriSign, Inc. (Nasdaq:VRSN) and Warner Chilcott plc (Nasdaq:WCRX).
About NASDAQ OMX Global Indexes
NASDAQ OMX Global Indexes has been creating innovative, market-leading, transparent indexes since 1971. Today, our index offering spans geographies and asset classes and includes diverse families such as the Global, Nordic, Green Economy, Sharia and Commodity Indexes. We continuously offer new opportunities for financial product sponsors across a wide-spectrum of investable products and for asset managers to measure risk and performance. NASDAQ OMX Global Indexes also provides custom index services and design solutions to selected financial organizations. For more information about NASDAQ OMX Global Indexes, visit indexes.nasdaqomx.com.
Daily index values, weightings and historical data for NASDAQ OMX indexes are available via NASDAQ OMX Global Index Watch and NASDAQ OMX Global Index Data Service.
About NASDAQ OMX Group
The inventor of the electronic exchange, The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc., fuels economies and provides transformative technologies for the entire lifecycle of a trade - from risk management to trade to surveillance to clearing. In the U.S. and Europe, we own and operate 23 markets, 3 clearinghouses and 5 central securities depositories supporting equities, options, fixed income, derivatives, commodities, futures and structured products. Able to process more than 1 million messages per second at sub-40 microsecond speeds with 99.99+% uptime, our technology drives more than 70 marketplaces in 50 developed and emerging countries into the future, powering 1 in 10 of the world's securities transactions. Our award-winning data products and worldwide indexes are the benchmarks in the financial industry. Home to approximately 3,400 listed companies worth $6 trillion in market cap whose innovations shape our world, we give the ideas of tomorrow access to capital today. Welcome to where the world takes a big leap forward, daily. Welcome to the NASDAQ OMX Century. To learn more, visit www.nasdaqomx.com. Follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NASDAQ) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/nasdaqomx). (Symbol: NDAQ and member of S&P 500)
Neither The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. nor any of its affiliates (collectively "NASDAQ OMX") makes any recommendation to buy or sell any security or any representation about the financial condition of any company. Investors should undertake their own due diligence and carefully evaluate companies before investing.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
The matters described herein contain forward-looking statements that are made under the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the NASDAQ-100 Index and NASDAQ OMX's other products and offerings. We caution that these statements are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties or other factors beyond NASDAQ OMX's control. These factors include, but are not limited to factors detailed in NASDAQ OMX's annual report on Form 10-K, and periodic reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to release any revisions to any forward-looking statements.
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