Oh Good GRIef
Earlier this week, NASDAQ OMX Group launched the first index called the Government Relief Index (QGRI)designed to track the companies that have received more than $1 billion in government funding through the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) and other government aid. Press release here. The index began tracking the 24 companies that fit that profile on January 5th. Of course the index is heavily skewed towards financials like Citigroup (C), Bank of America (BAC), and Wells Fargo (WFC) but also includes the likes of General Motors (GM) and American International Group (AIG). More companies will be added to the index as necessitated by further government handouts, or excuse me, “recapitalizations”.
The equally weighted index started at 1000.00 and as of Friday morning stood at just 941.42. This is an extremely intriguing idea Nasdaq, and we will certainly keep our eye on this index from time to time. Surely, this will spawn at least some ETFs for investors who want to invest in the bailouts. It will also be interesting to see how this index compares to the other broad market indices. If the QGRI beats the market will the bailout be seen as a successful intervention or an unfair advantage for these troubled institutions? We will continue to monitor the index to keep our readers up to date.
Ockham Research Staff @ January 9, 2009
[…] have received more than $1 billion in government bailouts. We covered this announcement in Oh Good GRIef. This development was an inevitability as so many taxpayers are interested in getting […]
[…] that have received more than $1 billion in government bailouts. We covered this announcement in Oh Good GRIef. This development was an inevitability as so many taxpayers are interested in getting some […]
[…] more than $1 billion in funding from the Federal Government in the form of bailouts. We have written in the past on this index, the Nasdaq OMX Government Relief Index (QGRI), because it is of great interest to see just how […]