The S&P 500 is an American stock market index based on the market capitalizations of 500 large companies having common stock listed on the NYSE or NASDAQ. The companies in the S&P 500 are selected by a committee.
What Stocks are in the S&P 500
The S&P 500 is a stock market index that consists of 500 large publicly traded companies. These companies are chosen by Standard & Poor’s, a financial research and analysis firm, and they are considered to be leaders in their respective industries. The S&P 500 is widely regarded as a bellwether for the overall stock market, and it is often used as a benchmark for investment performance.
The largest company in the S&P 500 by market capitalization is Apple Inc., followed by Microsoft Corporation, Amazon.com, Facebook, Inc., and Alphabet (Google). Other notable companies include Johnson & Johnson, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Walt Disney Company, and ExxonMobil Corporation.
The S&P 500 has outperformed other major stock indexes over the long term.
For example, since its inception in 1957 through 2017, the S&P 500 has delivered an average annual return of 10%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has returned an average of 7% per year during that same time period.
What is the S&P 500 — Should you Invest in the S&P 500
What Stocks are Held in the S&P 500?
The S&P 500 is a stock market index that comprises 505 of the United States’ largest publicly traded companies by market capitalization. The stocks in the index are weighted by their market capitalization, with the largest companies having the greatest weight. As of December 2019, the 10 largest companies in the S&P 500 by market capitalization were Apple Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Amazon.com, Inc., Facebook, Inc., Alphabet Inc., Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Johnson & Johnson, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and ExxonMobil Corporation.
What Stocks are Not in the S&P 500?
There are a number of stocks that are not in the S&P 500. Some of these include:
-Apple Inc. (AAPL)
-Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B)
-Google (GOOGL)
-JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)
Are All 30 Dow Stocks in the S&P 500?
The answer is no, not all 30 Dow stocks are in the S&P 500. In fact, only about half of them are. The reason for this is that the S&P 500 is a market cap-weighted index, meaning that the companies with the highest market capitalizations make up a larger percentage of the index.
And since the Dow is price-weighted (meaning each stock’s weight in the index is based on its share price), it generally includes smaller companies than the S&P 500.
Credit: time.com
S&P 500 Companies by Sector
What are the different sectors of the S&P 500?
The S&P 500 is divided into 11 sectors. They are: Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, Energy, Financials, Health Care, Industrials, Information Technology, Materials, Real Estate, Telecommunication Services and Utilities.
Consumer Discretionary: This sector includes companies that sell non-essential goods and services. It covers a broad range of industries including retail (e.g., department stores), media (e.g., movies and music), gaming and leisure (e.g., hotels and casinos), and automobiles. Notable companies in this sector include Amazon, Walt Disney, and Nike.
Consumer Staples: This sector comprises companies that provide essential goods and services such as food & beverage, household & personal products, tobacco products etc. Notable companies in this sector include Coca Cola , Procter & Gamble ,and Walmart .
Energy: The energy sector covers a wide range of businesses involved in the production and sale of oil & gas , power generation & distribution , renewable energy etc .
Notable companies in this sector include ExxonMobil , Chevron ,and ConocoPhillips .
Financials: The financials sector includes banks & credit providers , insurance companies , real estate firms etc . Notable companies in this space include JPMorgan Chase , Wells Fargo Goldman Sachs .
Health Care: The health care sector comprises pharmaceutical & biotechnology firms , medical device manufacturers & suppliers , healthcare service providers etc . Some notable health care stocks include Johnson & Johnson Pfizer .
Cheapest S&P 500 Stocks
In search of the cheapest S&P 500 stocks? You’re not alone. Many investors are looking for ways to stretch their dollar and get more bang for their buck.
There are a few things to consider when trying to identify the cheapest S&P 500 stocks. Price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios is one metric that can be used to measure how expensive a stock is. The lower the P/E ratio, the cheaper the stock is relative to its earnings.
Another metric that can be helpful in identifying cheap stocks is the price-to-sales (P/S) ratio. This measures how much you’re paying for each dollar of a company’s sales. Again, a lower P/S ratio indicates a cheaper stock.
Keep in mind, however, that just because a stock is cheap doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good deal. You still need to do your due diligence and research whether or not the company is a good investment before buying any shares.
S&P 500 Companies Ranking
The S&P 500 companies are the top 500 publicly traded companies in the United States by market capitalization. These companies represent about 80% of the total US stock market value. The ranking of these companies changes regularly, as their stock prices and market caps fluctuate.
Here is a current list of the top 10 S&P 500 companies by market cap:
1. Apple Inc. (AAPL) – $2.1 trillion
2. Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) – $1.6 trillion
3. Google/Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) – $1.0 trillion
4. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) – $946 billion
5. Facebook, Inc.
(FB) – $765 billion
6 .Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
(BRK-A) – $665 billion
7 .Tesla Motors, Inc.
(TSLA)-$560 billion 8 .Johnson & Johnson(JNJ)-$554 billion 9 . JPMorgan Chase & Co.
(JPM)-$552 billion 10 .
Conclusion
The Standard & Poor’s 500, commonly known as the S&P 500, is an American stock market index based on the market capitalizations of 500 large companies having common stock listed on the NYSE or NASDAQ. The S&P 500 index components and their weightings are determined by S&P Dow Jones Indices. It differs from other U.S. stock market indices, such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average or the Nasdaq Composite index, because of its diverse constituency and calculation methodology.