Shareholder Scoreboard (A Special Report): Performance of 1,000 Major U.S. Companies Compared With Their Peers in 75 Industry Groups; How the Rankings Were Compiled
The companies were the 1,000 largest in the Dow Jones U.S. Total Market Index at year-end 2006 that had stock-market trading histories of at least 12 months. Size was measured by the total value of a company's publicly traded common stock.</br></br>The Dow Jones U.S. Total Market Index is designed to cover about 95% of U.S. stock-market capitalization. To be included in the index, companies must meet certain standards. Those not included weren't considered for the Scoreboard even though their stock performance may have made them one of 2006's best- or worst-performing companies.</br></br>Companies that were removed from the index after filing for bankruptcy-law protection during the year were excluded. Companies that didn't meet the index's liquidity standards because of very low trading volume of their shares also aren't part of the Scoreboard, including such well-known names as Berkshire Hathaway Inc.</br></br>Some big companies were dropped from the index after being acquired last year, including hospital operator HCA Inc., which was acquired by an investor group and taken private, and Golden West Financial Corp., a savings and loan acquired by Wachovia Corp.</br></br>Dow Jones also excludes securities such as convertible notes, warrants, rights, mutual funds, unit investment trusts, closed-end funds and shares in limited partnerships.