NEW YORK, June 8, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) and the American Bankers Association today introduced the NASDAQ OMX ABA Community Bank Index (Nasdaq:ABQI). The index enables investors to track the performance of the most actively traded of the approximately 475 community banks listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market. The NASDAQ OMX ABA Community Bank Index is the latest index launched by the NASDAQ OMX Global Index Group and underscores its commitment to designing and calculating relevant world-class indexes.
"The NASDAQ OMX ABA Community Bank Index is a great way for the investment community to track the price performance of the community banks," said NASDAQ OMX Executive Vice President John Jacobs. "And with community banks' growing importance in the daily financial lives of Americans, this Index will play an important role as a barometer of the companies' performance."
"This index is the next step in the evolution of the ABA NASDAQ Community Bank Index (ABAQ) which was launched in December 2003," said Diane Casey-Landry, ABA senior executive vice president and chief operating officer. "And it will be an important tool to track those community banks with greater market liquidity."
The NASDAQ OMX ABA Community Bank Index is composed of all banks and thrifts or their holding companies listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market, excluding the 50 largest U.S. banks by asset size, any bank having an international specialization, and any bank having a credit-card specialization as screened by the ABA based on the most recent call report data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
In addition to the above standards applied by ABA, NASDAQ OMX applies quantitative screens to ensure each component has a market value greater than $200 million and a three-month average daily-dollar trading volume greater than $500,000.
The Index is calculated in real-time and began calculation with a value of 1,000.00 on June 8, 2009.
NASDAQ OMX is a global leader in creating and licensing strategy indexes and is home to the most widely watched indexes in the world.
As a premier, full-service provider, the NASDAQ OMX Global Index Group is dedicated to designing powerful indexes that are in sync with a continually changing market environment. Utilizing its expanded coverage as a global company, NASDAQ OMX has more than 1,500 diverse equity, commodity and fixed-income indexes in the U.S., Europe, and throughout the world.
NASDAQ OMX's calculation, licensing and marketing support provide the tools to measure and replicate global markets. The NASDAQ OMX Global Index Group's range of services covers the entire business process from index design to calculation and dissemination. For more information about NASDAQ OMX indexes, visit https://indexes.nasdaqomx.com/.
About NASDAQ OMX
The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. is the world's largest exchange company. It delivers trading, exchange technology and public company services across six continents, with over 3,800 listed companies. NASDAQ OMX offers multiple capital raising solutions to companies around the globe, including its U.S. listings market, NASDAQ OMX Nordic, NASDAQ OMX Baltic, NASDAQ OMX First North, and the U.S. 144A sector. The company offers trading across multiple asset classes including equities, derivatives, debt, commodities, structured products and exchange-traded funds. NASDAQ OMX technology supports the operations of over 70 exchanges, clearing organizations and central securities depositories in more than 50 countries. NASDAQ OMX Nordic and NASDAQ OMX Baltic are not legal entities but describe the common offering from NASDAQ OMX exchanges in Helsinki, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Iceland, Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius. For more information about NASDAQ OMX, visit http://www.nasdaqomx.com.
About American Bankers Association
The American Bankers Association brings together banks of all sizes and charters into one association. ABA works to enhance the competitiveness of the nation's banking industry and strengthen America's economy and communities. Its members -- the majority of which are banks with less than $125 million in assets -- represent over 95 percent of the industry's $13.5 trillion in assets and employ over 2 million men and women. For more information on ABA, visit http://www.aba.com
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
The matters described herein may contain forward-looking statements that are made under the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the NASDAQ OMX ABA Community Bank Index and NASDAQ OMX's other products and offerings. We caution that these statements are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties or other factors beyond NASDAQ OMX's control. These factors include, but are not limited to, factors detailed in NASDAQ OMX's annual report on Form 10-K, and periodic reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to release any revisions to any forward-looking statements.
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