NEW YORK, Sept. 26, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, today announced the Barron's 400 Index will serve as the basis of a structured note issued by Morgan Stanley. This is the first time the recently launched Barron's 400 Index has been licensed to underlie an investment product.
Launched on Sept. 4, 2007, the Barron's 400 Index tracks the performance of highly liquid U.S. stocks, highlighting America's most promising companies as defined by fundamentals-related rules-based criteria. The index is a joint collaboration of Dow Jones Indexes and Barron's, which are business units of Dow Jones & Company.
"The Barron's 400 Index is a unique barometer of some of the most liquid and dynamic U.S. companies. We have already received a good deal of attention from the investment community and expect further interest in this innovative index offering," said Michael A. Petronella, president of Dow Jones Indexes.
Kevin Woodruff, Morgan Stanley's Head of North America Equity Derivatives, said, "Providing access to underliers like the Barron's 400 Index highlights Morgan Stanley's commitment to delivering innovative ways for our clients to enhance their portfolio returns."
To be eligible for inclusion, stocks are rated by fundamental criteria that measure companies' profitability, cash flow and growth and value style characteristics. Fundamental analysis and rating of stocks is conducted by MarketGrader.com Corp., a research firm based in Coral Gables, Fla.
Stocks must then pass additional rules-based screens applied by Dow Jones Indexes: Securities must have a minimum float-adjusted market capitalization of $250 million USD, and at least 100 of the index's 400 stocks must each have market capitalization of more than $3 billion USD. Companies must have reported quarterly or annual earnings results within six months prior to semi-annual reviews, and their stocks must have traded an average of at least $2 million daily for the preceding three months.
The top 400 stocks that meet these criteria are selected as components of the Barron's 400 Index. Components are equal weighted and industries are capped at 20% of the index to ensure diversification. Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are ineligible for inclusion.
The index is reviewed semi-annually in March and September. Estimated daily back-tested history is available back to December 31, 1997. Back-tested performance information is purely hypothetical and does not represent actual performance. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Index values are published daily on the Dow Jones Indexes Web site (http://djindexes.com) and on Barron's Online (http://www.barrons.com).
Journalists may e-mail questions regarding this press release to PR-Indexes@dowjones.com or contact Dow Jones Indexes/STOXX press office:
New York: +1-212-597-5720 Frankfurt: +49-69-29-725-290
Note to Editors:
About Dow Jones Indexes
A full-service index provider, Dow Jones Indexes develops, maintains and licenses indexes for use as benchmarks and as the basis of investment products. Best known for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Dow Jones Indexes also is co-owner of the Dow Jones STOXX indexes, the world's leading pan-European indexes, and together with Wilshire Associates, provides the Dow Jones Wilshire Global Index family, which is anchored by the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 and covers more than 12,000 securities in 59 markets. Beyond equity indexes, Dow Jones Indexes maintains a number of alternative indexes, including measures of the hedge fund and commodity markets. Dow Jones indexes are maintained according to clear, unbiased and systematic methodologies that are fully integrated within index families. www.djindexes.com
Dow Jones Indexes is part of Dow Jones & Company (NYSE:DJ) (dowjones.com), which is a leading provider of global business news and information services. Its Consumer Media Group publishes The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, MarketWatch.com, eFinancialNews and the Far Eastern Economic Review. Its Enterprise Media Group includes Dow Jones Newswires, Factiva, Dow Jones Client Solutions, Dow Jones Indexes and Dow Jones Financial Information Services. Its Local Media Group operates community-based information franchises. Dow Jones owns 50% of SmartMoney and 33% of STOXX Ltd. and provides news content to CNBC and radio stations in the U.S.
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