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The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ), parent of the world's first electronic stock market and a leading index provider, today announced the results of the annual re-ranking of the NASDAQ-100 Index® (Nasdaq:NDX), which will become effective prior to market open on Monday, December 24, 2012.
"Since its inception, the NASDAQ-100 Index has evolved into a world-renowned brand that includes the 100 largest non-financial stocks listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market," said NASDAQ OMX Executive Vice President John L. Jacobs. "The securities being added to the NASDAQ-100 Index will join Facebook, Costco, Apple, Google and other household names that are leading the new economy forward. Our objective re-ranking process ensures the NASDAQ-100 remains a relevant investable index that is the underlying benchmark for about 7,100 products in 22 countries with a notional value of about $1 trillion."
The following ten securities will be added to the Index: Analog Devices, Inc. (Nasdaq:ADI), Catamaran Corporation (Nasdaq:CTRX), Discovery Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq:DISCA), Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq:EQIX), Liberty Global, Inc. (Nasdaq:LBTYA), Liberty Media Corporation (Nasdaq:LMCA), Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:REGN), SBA Communications Corporation (Nasdaq:SBAC), Verisk Analytics, Inc. (Nasdaq:VRSK) and Western Digital Corporation (Nasdaq:WDC).
The NASDAQ-100 Index is composed of the 100 largest non-financial stocks listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market® and dates to January 1985 when it was launched along with the NASDAQ Financial-100 Index®, which is comprised of the 100 largest financial stocks on NASDAQ®. These indexes act as benchmarks for financial products such as options, futures, and funds. The NASDAQ-100 is re-ranked each year in December, timed to coincide with the quadruple witch expiration Friday of the quarter.
On a cumulative price return basis, the NASDAQ-100 Index has returned 2040% since inception, although past performance is not indicative of future performance.
The NASDAQ-100 Index is the basis of the PowerShares QQQ® Trust (Nasdaq:QQQ) which aims to provide investment results that, before expenses, correspond with the NASDAQ-100 Index's performance. In addition, options, futures and structured products based on the NASDAQ-100 Index and the PowerShares QQQ Trust trade on various exchanges.
As a result of the re-ranking, the following ten securities will be removed from the Index: Apollo Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:APOL), Electronic Arts Inc. (Nasdaq:EA), Flextronics International Ltd. (Nasdaq:FLEX), Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (Nasdaq:GMCR), Lam Research Corporation (Nasdaq:LRCX), Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (Nasdaq:MRVL), Netflix, Inc. (Nasdaq:NFLX), Research In Motion Limited (Nasdaq:RIMM), VeriSign, Inc. (Nasdaq:VRSN) and Warner Chilcott plc (Nasdaq:WCRX).
