The FOX50 Welcomes Five New Stocks
Five new companies have been added to the FOX50, FOX Business Network's index of the 50 top American brands.
Fox Business launched the FOX50 in October 2007 upon the network's debut. Each member of the Fox 50 is a consumer household name. The FOX50 has been changed twice before, but due to acquisitions and mergers.
"The markets have changed dramatically since October 2007 with the financial-market collapse, bailouts, a Presidential election, and massive new government programs like health care," says Ray Hennessey, Fox Business's Director of Business News. "The additions our index committee made to the FOX50 reflect those events."
Leaving the index are the following five components: Yahoo, CBS, Lowe's, Charles Schwab and Sprint Nextel.
Joining the index, which tracks Main Street’s consumer and economic choices, are Ford, Pfizer, UnitedHealth Group, DuPont and JPMorgan Chase.
The new entrants increase the overall market cap for the index by $386.8 billion, from $110.1 billion, notes Fox Business senior editor Charles Brady.
All five companies have undergone changes since the index was first launched in October 2007. FOX Business news director Hennessey explains the reasons for the new entrants:
Ford. The American auto industry has seen a resurgence after the era of bankruptcies and bailouts. Ford has benefited from this resurgence, and has done so without the benefit of billions of dollars of taxpayer help.
Pfizer. Pfizer has grown in size since we constituted the FOX50, thanks to major acquisitions, most notably that of Wyeth. Drugs will be an increasingly important part of the economy, thanks to the aging of the baby boomers and increasing concern about health costs.
UnitedHealth Group. At just shy of a $50 billion market cap, UnitedHealth is a behemoth in health insurance. The role of insurers – and the value of their stocks – is sure to get more attention amid the health care debate.
DuPont. From energy to agriculture, there are few companies that can reach as many sectors of the U.S. economy, or be in a multitude of products that consumers buy, than DuPont.
JPMorgan Chase. Throughout the financial crisis, JPMorgan Chase tried to buck the trend of banks desperate for federal bailouts and help. With the resurgence of Wall Street investment banking, and the expected comeback in consumer lending, JPMorgan Chase has emerged as a household brand for many Americans.
The FOX50
3M
Amazon.com
American Express
Apple
AT&T
Bank of America
Best Buy
Boeing
Chevron
Citigroup
Coca-Cola
Colgate-Palmolive
Comcast
Costco Wholesale
Deere
Dell
DuPont
eBay
ExxonMobil
FedEx
Ford Motor
General Electric
General Mills
Hewlett-Packard
Home Depot
Intel
IBM
Johnson & Johnson
JPMorgan Chase
Kraft Foods
McDonald’s
Merck & Co.
Microsoft
Nike
PepsiCo
Pfizer
Procter & Gamble
Prudential Financial
Starbucks
Target
Time Warner
UnitedHealth Group
UPS
Verizon
Viacom
Wal-Mart
Walt Disney
Wells Fargo
Yum Brands