S&P 500
A small number of shares control a big percentage
The e-mini S&P 500 contract (ticker symbol: ES) which we
predominately trade here is a futures contract based on the S&P
500 cash index calculated by the CBOE.
On 15 July 2004 I took a look at the index and thought that this
information would be of value to traders of the ES.
Click here to
download or open a spreadsheet showing the components of the
S&P 500 as of 15 July 2004.
The top 10 stocks by market value (i.e. 2% of the index by
number) have a 22% weighting on the index. Because this index is a
value weighted index (unlike the DJIA which is a price weighted
index), movements in the larger stocks will have a greater impact
on movements in the underlying index. At the time of writing this
(15 July 2004) the top ten stocks in this index (in market value
order) were:
| General Electric |
3.21% |
| Microsoft Corp. |
2.93% |
| Exxon Mobil Corp. |
2.77% |
| Pfizer, Inc. |
2.46% |
| Citigroup Inc. |
2.26% |
| Wal-Mart Stores |
2.11% |
| American Int'l. Group |
1.77% |
| Intel Corp. |
1.66% |
| Bank of America Corp. |
1.63% |
| Johnson & Johnson |
1.56% |
The second column shows the % weighting they have in the S&P
500 index.
So a 1% change in the price of General Electric will have about
double the impact on the value of the S&P 500 cash index as a
1% change in Johnson & Johnson. This translates to equally to
the lower weighted stocks in this index.
This is a note from the NYSE about the S&P 500:
A capitalization weighted index of 500 stocks. The index is a
standard by which investors measure the performance of the large
cap US stock market. The 500 stocks of this index are selected for
being a representative sample of leading companies in leading
industries. Many money managers index their portfolios to match the
S&P 500, so the return on their investments keep pace with the
performance of the index.