s&p's 500

[spicyham]

is anyone here familiar with S&P's 500 listing?
how big a deal is it?

[KuyaDanny]

I think we need more details about your inquiry. What is it about the S&P 500 "listing" do you want to know?

- how does a company stock become part of the S&P 500?
- how does a company become listed on a stock exchange in the US?
- is the S&P 500 listed? (S&P 500 is not a stock, it is a group of 500 large companies whose stocks are traded in American stock exchanges)
- how do I invest in the S&P 500? (You could buy shares in the 500 companies individually, or simplify your life by buying one security, known as an Exchange Traded Fund. The ETF for the S&P 500 trades under the symbol SPY.

[spicyham]

im being invited to join a company not so well known so i dont know what im getting into if ever (well i cud always check reports and websites but that wont be as "believable" as first party observations) but their claim to fame is that they are listed in s&p 500 and traded at the nyse-

does being listed in s&p 500 automatically mean a company is stable, pays well, has a high growth potential and will still be here after ten years or so-

[quarklion]

spicyham,
I think S&P 500 is another Stock Exchange center just like NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX and locally, PSE. Why the company you mentioned listed in S&P 500 while trade the stock in NYSE.

[lechon 2000]

Originally posted by spicyham
does being listed in s&p 500 automatically mean a company is stable, pays well, has a high growth potential and will still be here after ten years or so-

Being included in the S&P 500 does not automatically mean any of these. All it means is that the company has been chosen by some committee at Standard & Poor's as "representative" of its sector and industry.

What it could mean is that because the S&P 500 is "important", your company will tend to be better covered by the media and stock analysts. That's no assurance of anything, obviously. Look at Enron.

[spicyham]

lechon: i guess you're right, ppl cant just feel secure coz their company is listed in an "important" list

quark:
the s&p is a list of companies whose stock value is averaged to come up with an index that supposedly mirrors industry performance-

follow up quessi:
would you rather join a stable multinational where everything has kinda been figured out but pays high, nice perks or a "struggling" start up company with good prospects for growth but if it fails your career is dead also-

[KuyaDanny]

I'm assuming you are in your twenties.

I know very few young people who plan beyond 10 years. I know I didn't when I was twentysomething. I also do not agree that if your company collapses, and you are young, your career is dead. If you're 45 or 50, maybe. But twentysomething? I think the only way you can kill your career at your age is if you commit a crime or do something else which severely damages your reputation.

So I'm going out on a limb and saying to you: at your age, you have plenty of time. Choose the job which maximizes your learning opportunity and allows you to have fun while learning. Stability, I think, is overrated.

[tr|n|ty]

Originally posted by quarklion
spicyham,
I think S&P 500 is another Stock Exchange center just like NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX and locally, PSE. Why the company you mentioned listed in S&P 500 while trade the stock in NYSE.

hunny, which planet are you from? S&P 500 is a list of stocks from what is customarily the top 500 public companies listen on the New York Stock Exchange.

as for KD's issue on stability, i think in this kind of economy, most will opt for a stable, established company. but i know a lot of people(my best friend included) who opted first for start ups during the dot.com rage of 2 years ago. she earned a lot of money in such a short period of time but eventually, got laid off(though she has a good job now for Applied Materials). start-upS give young people a whole lot of responsibility for an "entry-level" position. you learn more in a short period of time versus, say somebody who work for big firms who just does the menial stuff which you can always consider as paying your dues(i keep telling myself this :lol: )

[Fish]

Standard and Poor’s 500 Index

The Standard and Poor’s 500 Index serves as a vital tool for measuring the over-all health of the U.S. stock market. By comparing current market performance with how stocks behaved in the past, investors can draw better conclusions about when to buy and sell. The index also serves as a benchmark against which investors can measure the performance of their own portfolios. For example, if all the indexes are going up and an investor’s portfolio is losing ground, it’s probably time to re-evaluate.

It covers 500 companies of the US markets (mostly NYSE issues). The index represents about 75% of the New York stock exchange’s market capitalization and 30% of NYSE issues. It’s a capitalization-weighted index and calculated on a total return basis with dividends reinvested. It’s commonly known as the S&P 500.

It incorporates a broad base of stocks, including industrial companies, transportation companies, utilities and financial companies. Because some of its stocks have a greater influence on the direction of the market than others, the S&P 500 is calculated by giving greater weight to those stocks.

The U.S. stock market’s every move is reported daily in the S&P 500, among other indexes. It tracks the price highs and lows, the changes from yesterday, last month and last year, plus the volume of trading and many other details.