Talk:Stock market index/Archive 1

Ethical indexes
I've heard some significant figures, e.g. John Templeton, say flatly that all stock market indexes are ethical indexes with respect to the buying public's minimum criteria to trust *any* stock - and that over time all indices in all industries must emulate the ethicals in applying mechanical criteria such as scenarios (so-called 'mark to future'). That standards for the index may go down over time but the buying public will not want sudden surprises on scale of Enron. Biggest noise on this subject is Ron Dembo.

If that's even remotely true, ethicals and mechanicals require much much more space than industry indices.

Warren Buffet is more of a disclosure bug... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.150.61.63 (talk) 20:04, 3 April 2002 (UTC)

The formulars
Can anyone give some of the basic formulars used in indexing and assumptions made.

I think a pro and cons sectios would also be beneficial. Kendirangu 08:37, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

For an encyclopedic entry, this one is subpar!
The author of this article has presumed that the readers are graduates of economics and financial analysis and has drowned the theme with jargon. Instead of giving a simplified explanation as to how and what factors the indices depend on and how is this reflected on the state of economy as a whole!

Someone please do a rewrite! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.163.180.237 (talk) 01:26, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

Citation for awards?
There's a whole section of this entry that lists awards for indexes without any mention of the awarding body... Mlwalla (talk) 20:32, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Rampant use of: [citation needed]
Some statements are so outlandish that they cannot be made without some sort of citation. Especially this one: "However, empirical tests conclude that market indexes are not efficient" Whose empirical tests? Where? When? How do I know those tests weren't bulls*-t etc.? —Preceding unsigned comment added by ToyotaPanasonic (talk • contribs) 02:47, 14 January 2008 (UTC)

Proper definition
The following was added into the actual article by Special:Contributions/198.103.172.9:
 * IMO, an exact definition of the stock market index is still missing on this page as of 2009/09/29. The "index" is a numerical value, calculated most often as the arithmetical sum of a pre-defined set of stocks that meet certain criteria. That is why, when the "index" goes up or down it reflects an increase or a decrease, respectivelly, in the total value of those stocks.

Zain Ebrahim (talk) 20:41, 29 September 2008 (UTC)


 * ... thanks for this. i understand better what a stock market index is. why do i have to read this in the "discussion" page? i wanted to know what an index is: it doesn't really say in the article. (so for instance i have a better understanding from the above that it is a sum value, and being "down" or "up" is an indication of how that sum value changes). its also clear that depending on "weighting" its a bit more than just a sum, but of course i'm gathering that somewhere between the article and the discussion. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.32.48.164 (talk) 22:09, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Multiple versions of a single index
Some indexes have multiple versions. For example, the S&P 500 index has 3 versions: price, total return, and net total return. . We should explain this. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kalbasa (talk • contribs) 19:17, 18 December 2008 (UTC)

Indexes vs. Indices
According to the Journal of Financial Economics: "'Indices' as the plural of 'index' is appropriate for mathematical terms, but the plural of 'stock index' is 'stock indexes.'"

I have made appropriate changes. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.204.23.244 (talk) 01:00, 1 December 2007 (UTC)
 * I agree. The articles still contains many "indices". They should all be changed to "indexes". --Kalbasa (talk) 19:30, 18 December 2008 (UTC)
 * I've asked the question here. --Kalbasa (talk) 20:38, 18 December 2008 (UTC)
 * So, based on
 * the discussion here
 * books.google.com
 * and current usage in the article
 * I think indices is the plural that we should use. --Kalbasa (talk) 14:37, 19 December 2008 (UTC)

Dividends
This article does not mention how index construction methodologies account for dividends. Clearly a share price-weighted methodology such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average ignores dividends. But what about other methodologies? 192.118.34.228 (talk) 12:02, 17 September 2008 (UTC)
 * I've started a section on index versions which discusses this. --Kalbasa (talk) 20:54, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

I Deleted "Dr Canegrati" original research
Deletion due to Wikipedia's original research policy. Research is unpublished and irrelevant to the section in this article. Author engaged with extensive self promotion on wikipedia. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 123.112.71.190 (talk) 05:57, 7 April 2009 (UTC)