ABSTRACT
Despite the recent introduction of exchange-traded derivative securities on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Standard & Poor's Composite Index of 500 stocks (S&P 500) remains the"Big Daddy" of stock indexes. Beyond its traditional role as the standard against which most financial institutions measure their U.S. stock market success, the S&P 500 has garnered huge interest on behalf of those investors who aim merely to attain, rather than to exceed, average returns available from U.S. equities.
