Long Term Perspective

This series is relatively new to the S&P family. The index consists of 400 domestic stocks chosen for market size, liquidity, and industry group representation. It includes industrials, financials, utilities and transportation just like the S&P 500. The difference is that the market cap of these companies is smaller than for the 500 index. This index fell more modestly than its 500 counterpart in both 2001 and 2002, and has declined for two instead of three straight years.

Short Term Perspective

The Mid Cap index incorporates a greater portion of its companies listed from the Nasdaq (26 percent) compared to the S&P 500 (13 percent). Nasdaq companies tend to be younger than those listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). This index faltered briefly in 1998 during the financial crisis and then in 2001. It started to recover before the S&P 500 index of larger capitalization stocks in late 2001 and early 2002.

On a year-over-year basis, the Mid Cap index jumped 29.2 percent in October.

The S&P Mid Cap index jumped 7.5 percent in October, regaining its path of monthly increases after posting a dip in September.