The Wilshire 5000 Equity Index

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The Wilshire 5000 is the granddaddy of them all. It is composed of the prices of all stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange, and the NASDAQ system for which there is a quote. This astounding number, more than 5,000 in all, confirms the Wilshire 5000's position as the largest of the popular indices. The value of the stocks listed is easily billions of dollars, ensuring that the Wilshire 5000 is affected minimally by extenuating extreme circumstances surrounding either a particular stock or an individual market.

Plain English

The Wilshire 5000 Index, the largest of the popular indices, is composed of all quoted stocks on the NYSE, AMEX, and NASDAQ markets ”over 5,000 in all. It is designed to measure activity in all markets to best represent the overall health of the American economy.

The Wilshire 5000, which is prepared by Wilshire Associates, is not measured against the market itself but instead to a baseline value that was established at the end of 1980. In this way, the measurement of the markets' volatility can remain constant, even when circumstances may prevent the markets themselves from remaining so.

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