Talk:Stock market indexing

Notes on page development


 * This page is devoted to indexes and index providers, not index funds;
 * Since we have a number of pages which tabulate fund selections we can hyperlink to these at the end of each section.
 * This page might be enhanced with graphics (style boxes or pies)
 * There are major dispersions of returns among style indexes; we may wish to create separate data pages for each index provider (although a spreadsheet version of this data would be appropriate for number crunching). This would be a major undertaking. It would be easier to defer this to the papers which have been written on this phenomenon, but they may not be accessible.
 * A link to the page Alternate Indexes would allow us to treat the following:
 * Social Responsibility Indexes
 * Fundamental Indexes
 * Equal Weighted Indexes
 * Dividend Weighted Indexes
 * Inverse and Leveraged Indexes

Blbarnitz 15:07, 29 August 2008 (UTC)

Grammar check: Suggest use of "Indices" instead of "Indexes", also "Alternative Indices" instead of "Alternate Indexes" I think this reflects more appropriate usage. OK if I change this? Will affect several pages. LadyGeek 02:11, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

Is this page intended to link with the cap weighted index pages (and the indexing sidebar?) Everything is on this page except cap weighting. --LadyGeek 01:42, 17 April 2010 (UTC)

Not until someone develops the page.--Blbarnitz 08:07, 17 April 2010 (UTC)

Perhaps this page should be renamed to Stock Market Indexes? Then, it will make sense add to this page to the Indexing sidebar so you associate the benchmarks with the funds. I got confused on the title, which was why I (incorrectly) I asked about the cap weighted index pages (which are funds). --LadyGeek 01:48, 20 April 2010 (UTC)
 * I hesitate at adding undeveloped, underdeveloped, and stub pages to the sidebars. This page and the alternate index page were among the series of index pages we created and offered to the forum population to develop. We followed this procedure (creating two or three stub pages on various topics for inclusion in the "This Week on the Wiki" series for about two months.) Not a single forum member ever contributed to any page offerings.--Blbarnitz 14:39, 20 April 2010 (UTC)

Investopedia has a good tutorial Index Investing. Perhaps provide a background to the tutorial, then expand from there. References: Is this a good approach? As noted above, what type of graphics would go on this page? I don't see anything that would fit here. Otherwise, I can take a crack at this.--LadyGeek 00:50, 21 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Yahoo finance indices <-- Every major US and world index with complete list of components and historical prices.
 * Richard Ferri articles on Forbes
 * index company websites


 * The best approach for developing the page (in addition to the Investopedia tutorial, is to 1) Provide an explanation of how each index provider encompasses the market with its methodology. The first division is by market cap. The perfect graphic for this in the Vanguard paper I have referenced on most of the index return pages, Determining the appropriate benchmark: A review of major market indexes. The graphic is figure 1. on page 4. (I would have downloaded this figure to the wiki only I have no way (or am ignorant) of downloading an image from adobe pdf files). 2) In addition to the market cap breakdowns of each provider, one needs to account for the way each provider measures growth and value metrics for inclusion in style indexes. For narrative purposes, the index methodology texts may have this (sometimes in heavy jargon). Probably the best reference to use in conjunction with provider websites and methodology statements is the Vanguard Benchmark site that, once again, I reference in a page or two of the index return pages I have been working (I probably need to include this link on most of the pages!). Each provider page in this Vanguard source contains a methodology tab in the page sidebar and a  summary of the provider's  methodology. Vanguard provides material for MSCI, S&P, and Russell. (Dow Jones and Morningstar are not included because Vanguard has no index fund benchmarked to these provider's indexes). The unbeatable tabular presentation of this material, however, is from Determining the appropriate benchmark: A review of major market indexes, this time in the appendix on page 13 and its tabular figure. We would have to add Morningstar decision factors to this table.


 * The ultimate value of this page will be to show that the return dispersions we see in index provider returns have much to do with how each provider carves up the market and decides which stocks go into the index. Naturally, it would be nice to find sources which discuss the ramifications of these differentials,(see pages 10-14 from The Case for Indexing, for example, which I have once again cited) rather than having us making original suppositions. Additional sources for this may be Rick's book All About Index Funds and we may be able to coax forum members into collaborating on this page, since Robert T. and others can perform Fama French regressions on the indexes and provide loadings (although this skirts the original research taboo.) They might also be tempted to discuss these results in layman's terms so that unsophisticated investors can grasp the meaning of the results. --Blbarnitz 05:47, 21 April 2010 (UTC)