Stock Markets Exposed
What do the "points" mean on the stock market?
Everyday I hear that the Dow Jones or Nasdaq was down or up so many points. What does this mean? I also frequently hear things like, "The Dow closed at 12,000 today." 12,000 what?
Public Comments
- The DOW is the top 30 blue chip companies in the US and that number is a formula of their stock prices http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cp?s=%5EDJI . Same with the NASDAQ but truthfully , I've never checked into what their aggregate index is . OH , turns out Yahoo finance , the DOW & NASDAQ come up in blue link , so after you click on them you have the option of "components" and here is the nasdaq , which is maybe the sum of individual shares of the 3000+ companies ? http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cp?s=%5EIXIC I'll follow this ? and hopefully , one of the wiser will tell us . Love Yahoo Finance ! >
- The DOW is the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA). The 12,000 is the what the average share would cost (of the 30) if there had been no splits.
- One point = one dollar So, if you read that a stock or the Dow or the S & P is up one point, then it means it is up by $1.
