"The S&P 500 measures the value of stocks of the 500 largest corporations by market capitalization listed on the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq Composite. Standard & Poor's intention is to have a price that provides a quick look at the stock market and economy. Indeed, the S&P 500 index is the most popular measure used by financial media and professionals, while the mainstream media and general public are more familiar with the Dow Jones Industrial Average."
"The S&P 500 index is calculated by taking the sum of the adjusted market capitalization of all S&P 500 stocks and then dividing it with an index divisor, which is a proprietary figure developed by Standard & Poor's. However, most sources peg this number at 8.9 billion. The divisor is adjusted when there are stock splits, special dividends or spinoffs that could affect the value of the index. The divisor ensures that these non-economic factors do not affect the index."
"The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES:^DJI) is the second-oldest active market indicator, as well as the most widely covered. At any given time, only 30 stocks make up the index, and they comprise a diverse basket of companies from all sectors of the market. All 30 companies are considered blue chip industry stalwarts, household names with long track records of success and stability. Currently, nine of the 30 components are Dividend Aristocrats, meaning they've paid increasing dividends for at least 25 consecutive years."
"Thanks to the DJIA's unique share-price weighting system, certain components have a disproportionate influence on the index. Take pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, for example. These companies are within striking distance of each other with market caps between $200 billion and $300 billion. However, because Johnson & Johnson's share price is currently around $103, it has about three times the impact on the DJIA as Pfizer, whose shares currently trade for $34."
"For a little while Wednesday afternoon, customers at an ATM in Texas got a curious extra with their cash. Along with a receipt detailing their transaction, they got a little slip of scribbled-on white paper."
"It was a plea for help from the man trapped inside."
Today in 1969, large denomination bills of US Currency, e.g. $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 bills were officially withdrawn from circulation. While you could use these large bills after July 14, 1969, banks no longer distributed them, in an effort to reduce corruption and illicit uses of large denomination bills.
"The promise of faster economic growth has become a study in the triumph of hope over experience."
"While the June jobs report, coming on Friday, is expected to show that hiring continued at a healthy pace last month, other recent indicators in areas like consumer spending, construction and auto sales have been decidedly less robust."
"As a result, Wall Street forecasters have been busy lowering their growth estimates for the second quarter, which ended last Friday, much as they were forced to do over the first three months of the year. Economic expansion for the full year now appears unlikely to be much greater than 2 percent — about the average for the current recovery, which celebrates its eighth year this month."
"The "gig economy," popularized by the likes of Lyft, Airbnb and TaskRabbit, has for years been promoted as an effective way for Americans to make money on their own terms. But new data show that the majority of workers - 85 percent of them - make less than $500 a month, on average, using those services."
"The home-sharing site Airbnb yielded the highest monthly return to its users, with a median income of $440, more than double the $210 a month earned by the median Lyft driver, according to San Francisco-based loan provider Earnest, which analyzed tens of thousands of loan applications to study the impact of gig-economy jobs. (Earnings on other popular platforms included a monthly median of $40 on craft-selling site Etsy, $70 on delivery app Postmates, $110 on services marketplace TaskRabbit and $155 on ride-sharing app Uber.)"