Financial Services > Stock Exchanges

Advantages: Cheap products, easy to invest in, good dividend yield, unlike shares in a company will never go bust
Disadvantages: Index concentrated in 10 companies meaning more risk, not for ethical investors, sensitive to oil prices

...have been investing in the FTSE 100 index for the past 9 months. Personally I think the FTSE 100 index is a good place to invest for stockmarket novices and veterans alike. There are many different products that allow you to gain some kind of exposure to the index, which is made up to the 100 largest companies in the UK. In this review I will cover the following in regard to the FTSE 100 index: - What is the FTSE 100 index and what are the main ...
...FTSE 100 index - Methods for trading in the FTSE 100 index - My personal view on the current value of the index What is the FTSE 100 index and what are the main constituents The FTSE 100 index is like a barometer that is used to measure the value of the top 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. When you invest in a product linked to the FTSE 100 index you will be buying a proportion of the 100 companies that make up the index. Each ... Read review

Advantages: breadth
Disadvantages: poor performance

...follow the international markets, the nikkei makes for sorry viewing. Having reached an epic valuation of near 40000 in the summer of 1989, it has since collapsed, and due to renewed uncertainty in the united states, is currently trading at around 13000. Japan is in crisis, and the problem is that they just don'te spend any money ! The government has recently tried in vain to kick start the ailing market with an interest rate cut, but it is unlikely ... Read review

Advantages: lower tranasactions costs
Disadvantages: political uncertainties

The Ix or international exchange is the market which will be created if the proposed merger between the frankfurt and London markets goes ahead. It offers wonderful potential for a truly pan-european market with reduced transaction costs for continental investors. However several major political logistical and technical barriers stand in the way, largest of which is the single european currency which needs to be adopted by britian to make the market ... Read review

Advantages: Representative of big companies
Disadvantages: Not a s representative as the general index

The IBEX 35 is the official index for the market segment of continuously Spanish traded stocks since 1989. The IBEX 35 index is composed of the 35 securities quoted on the Joint Stock Exchange System of the four Spanish Stock Exchanges (Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbaoand Valencia), which were most liquid during the control period pursuant to the terms of this regulation. The index is semi-annually revised with the supervision period for the stocks to ...
...to be included in the Ibex 35 are: A) Its average capitalization in the index must be greater than 0.30% of the average index capitalization during the control period. B) It has not been subject only to a small number of transactions C) It doesn't suffer from a serious drop in liquidity D) It has not been suspended from trading on the stock market for a period of time that is considered significant. After the Comitee has the 35 stocks, it weights ... Read review

Advantages: large dynamic firms
Disadvantages: small range of companies

The C A C 4 0 is the French equivalent of th FTSE 100, however with less shares inside it, this naturally means the market is more volatile, similarly with the FTSE 100 the C A C is becoming increasingly dominated by a few leading stocks which also feature prominently in the E U R O T O P 300. France Telecom is one of these growing giants, and demonstrated it’s muscle recently by buying Orange from Vodafone in a £20 billion cash and stock deal. Solid ... Read review