S P 500 Index

Here are some basics about the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index, which on Wednesday hit a record high -- finally surpassing its previous peak reached in 2000. What is the Standard & Poor's 500 index? Many on Wall Street consider the S&P 500 to be the premier U.S. stock market index. Although the Dow Jones industrial average may be more widely quoted as a gauge of the market's health and trend, it is a narrow index, containing just 30 stocks. The S&P index tracks the shares of 500 U.S.

Sears Holdings Corp., one of the earliest members of the S&P 500, is being kicked out of the stock index next week and replaced by a Dutch chemicals company. The retailer, which trades on Nasdaq, will be dropped from the index when the market closes Sept. 4. LyondellBasell Industries in the Netherlands will take its place. Sears has struggled with falling sales, store closures, brand spinoffs and consumer skepticism. But its retail problems didn't cause its expulsion from the S&P 500. Instead, the number of shares Sears made available to the public, known as the "public float," "has been well below the 50% threshold for inclusion for an extended period of time and is no longer considered representative of the index," according to a statement from S&P Dow Jones Indices.

Google Inc. will replace oil and gas producer Burlington Resources Inc. in the S&P 500 index, Standard & Poor's said Thursday, sending the Web search leader's shares up 9% in after-hours trading. The move, which takes effect after the close of trading March 31, means managers of index funds that are designed to track the S&P 500 will have to add Google shares to their holdings.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index is once again in the red for 2011. A rough day on the markets Wednesday yanked the benchmark index back into negative territory with just two trading days left for the year. The index ended Wednesday down 1.3%, or 15.79 points, at 1,249.64. That is 0.6% below where it began 2011. The Dow Jones industrial average ended the day down 1.1%, or 139.94 points, at 12,151.41. It is still up 5% for the year. Investors were rattled by reports that European banks had borrowed large sums from the European Central Bank without lending most of it out, highlighting risks still present in the continent's economy.

The wave of earnings reports due in the next few weeks is expected to herald a seismic shift in corporate fortunes. With oil prices plunging, Wall Street is betting that the long profit boom in the energy sector is over. Now, investors are looking to industries such as technology and healthcare to emerge as earnings growth leaders. The stakes are high, because without exciting profit growth somewhere, investors could decide that the stock market's bull run is on its last legs.

Corporate America racked up another period of double-digit profit growth in the first quarter, despite record oil prices, rising interest rates and a slowing economy. With results now reported for more than 90% of companies in the blue-chip Standard & Poor's 500 stock index, the average year-over-year increase in first-quarter earnings is expected to be 13.8%, according to data firm Thomson First Call. That is substantially better than the 8% growth that had been forecast as of April 1, based on Wall Street analysts' estimates as tracked by Thomson.

The nation's biggest companies will report a sharp slowdown in earnings growth for the second quarter, according to Wall Street estimates, perhaps ending a long string of double-digit gains. The overall year-over-year profit increase for companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 index is projected to be 9.1% in the quarter ended Friday, according to Standard & Poor's in New York. That compares with the 15.3% rise that S&P companies booked in the first quarter.

a stock market benchmark for the retirement savings of millions of Americans -- hit an all-time high Wednesday, raising hopes that Wall Street's 4 1/2 -year rally will keep on rolling. But for many average investors, the event is a painful reminder that a key part of their portfolios has done little better than break even over the last seven years.

One of the biggest bears on Wall Street has toned down his snarl. Richard Bernstein, chief U.S. strategist for Merrill Lynch & Co., told clients Tuesday that he had raised his 12-month forecast on the blue-chip Standard & Poor's 500 index to 1,010 from 890. If he's right, the S&P still would decline about 10% this year from Tuesday's close of 1,123.67. But his previous forecast called for a 21% drop.

Coal producer Consol Energy Inc. will replace newspaper publisher Knight Ridder Inc. in the Standard & Poor's 500 index because Knight Ridder is being acquired by McClatchy Co. S&P made the announcement after the close of regular trading, in which Consol shares added 60 cents to $38.31. Shares surged to $40 in extended trading. Managers of mutual funds that mimic the S&P 500 are now likely to purchase its shares. The change will take place on a date to be announced, S&P said.

More signs that the U.S. economy's fourth-quarter momentum has spilled into 2011 are giving stock market bulls a fresh jolt of confidence. The Dow Jones industrial average on Tuesday closed above 12,000 points for the first time since June 2008 ? another milestone in the market's rebound from its deep plunge after the financial crisis. Shaking off the continuing social unrest in the Middle East, the Dow jumped 148.23 points, or 1.2%, to end the session at 12,040.16. The prospect of revolution in Egypt had sent oil prices surging Friday and triggered a modest global sell-off in stocks.

Investors bought in to the Federal Reserve's new plan to stimulate the economy, pushing broad stock market indexes to their highest levels since the worst of the financial crisis more than two years ago. The central bank's decision to pour an additional $600 billion into the economy by buying Treasury bonds has been greeted with some skepticism and criticism as well as praise, but investors appeared to conclude Thursday that there was no use...

Although shares of General Motors Corp. have almost certainly been made worthless by the carmaker's entry into Chapter 11, the stock's price actually resurged from its lows Monday. At a news conference after the bankruptcy filing Monday, GM Chief Executive Fritz Henderson said existing common shareholders would lose their investment "in entirety." But GM shares, after plunging to 27 cents when the market opened, jumped as high as $1.01. They closed at 75 cents, unchanged from Friday's close.

Wall Street rebounded Tuesday in another turbulent session after the Standard & Poor's 500 index neared a 2003 low. Investors drew some encouragement from Hewlett-Packard's prediction that its fourth-quarter and 2009 results would easily exceed Wall Street expectations. But still underpinning the market were concerns that the economy was in a recession that could be the worst in more than two decades.

a stock market benchmark for the retirement savings of millions of Americans -- hit an all-time high Wednesday, raising hopes that Wall Street's 4 1/2 -year rally will keep on rolling. But for many average investors, the event is a painful reminder that a key part of their portfolios has done little better than break even over the last seven years.

Here are some basics about the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index, which on Wednesday hit a record high -- finally surpassing its previous peak reached in 2000. What is the Standard & Poor's 500 index? Many on Wall Street consider the S&P 500 to be the premier U.S. stock market index. Although the Dow Jones industrial average may be more widely quoted as a gauge of the market's health and trend, it is a narrow index, containing just 30 stocks. The S&P index tracks the shares of 500 U.S.

Bill Miller, manager of the Legg Mason Value Trust, beat the Standard & Poor's 500 index for a record 15th consecutive year, winning by the thinnest margin since 1994. The $19.5-billion mutual fund returned 5.3% this year, topping the 4.9% advance of the S&P 500, a common benchmark for investment performance. The results include price increases and reinvested dividends. Miller might have seen his streak broken had it not been for an investment in Internet search firm Google Inc.

Big companies bought back a record $116 billion of shares in the second quarter, up 43% from a year earlier, according to a Standard & Poor's report released Thursday. The ratings and financial research firm said more than 40% of companies in the S&P 500 reduced their shares outstanding with buybacks in the quarter. The previous buyback record was $104 billion, set in the fourth quarter of 2005. "It's unprecedented," said Howard Silverblatt, S&P's senior index analyst.

The wave of earnings reports due in the next few weeks is expected to herald a seismic shift in corporate fortunes. With oil prices plunging, Wall Street is betting that the long profit boom in the energy sector is over. Now, investors are looking to industries such as technology and healthcare to emerge as earnings growth leaders. The stakes are high, because without exciting profit growth somewhere, investors could decide that the stock market's bull run is on its last legs.

Wall Street rallied for a second straight session Wednesday after the government's latest gross domestic product reading showed the economy was in better shape than expected, easing concerns that growth was moderating too sharply. The Dow Jones industrials rose 90 points. Investors were upbeat after a series of reports, including GDP, pointed to the likelihood of an economic soft landing after more than two years of interest rate hikes that ended in June.