Barometer

  

Categories: Index Funds, Metrics

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 S&P 500?45 Views

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finance a la shmoop. what is the S&P 500? well the S&P 500 is just an index- that

00:08

is the standard and poors company assembled 500 stocks put them on a

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spreadsheet- this was a spreadsheet in 1957 -and they tracked them. [spreadsheet pictured]

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well the index had something like 37 shares of Procter & Gamble, the 23 shares

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of Ford, 18 shares of IBM and so on. in the 1950s the S&P 500 totaled something

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like 40 maybe 50 bucks on a good day. at the end of each day the elves who worked

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inside of the S&P Factory, they would add up the shares basically ignore any

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dividends and send to the press a total which was published to more or less

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everyone who cared about investing. well not nearly even a century later the 40 [man reads newspaper]

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to $50 reign to the SNP is today knock on the door of 2,500 .so without even

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having dividends reinvested you'd have made 50 times your money with dividends

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reinvested to buy more shares instead of keeping the cash to buy you know

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groceries or electric massage slippers. you'd have made over 70 times your [grocery display case and slippers pictured]

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original investment. welcome to America.

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