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TODAY o January 2, 2001
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Q&A
WHERE YOU LIVE: YOUR VOICE, YOUR QUESTIONS, YOUR COMMUNITY NEWS
Saeed Ahmed - Staff
Tuesday, January 2, 2001
Do you have a question about the news? The Journal-Constitution will try to get an answer. Call 404-222-2002 or e-mail q&a@ajc.com (include your name and city).
Q: When television and radio news broadcasts report on the stock market, they cite numbers for the Dow Jones and Nasdaq indexes. Why don't they report on the S&P 500?
--- Dean Coward, Lawrenceville
A: Cable news and financial channels do report on the S&P index, but broadcast TV stations, with limited time, put less focus on market news. Same goes for radio.
Technology stocks account for almost 90 percent of the value of the Nasdaq composite, making it a useful indicator of the performance of that segment of the market. The S&P 500 is a much broader measure, with representation from all major industries, and is considered to be a better proxy for the general market than the much narrower Dow Jones industrial average of 30 blue chips.
But since the Dow is the oldest and best-known market average and the one most familiar to the public, and since the S&P 500 and the Dow generally move together, there's not much need to report both, said Myron Greene, retired business professor at Georgia State University and publisher of the Mutual Fund Timing Guide.
Q: As part of the 50 State Quarters Program, five state 25-cent pieces are scheduled to be issued next year. What months are they supposed to come out?
--- Peter Pawlak, Newnan
A: The U.S. Mint hasn't decided on the exact dates yet. But since a new quarter is issued about every 10 weeks, and the last one for 2000 was issued Oct. 16, expect the first one of the new year to come out early-to-mid-January, said a mint spokesman.
The states to be honored in 2001 are New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont and Kentucky.
For a detailed listing of year-by-year release, visit: www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/50sq_program/index.cfm?action=schedule.
Q: I've heard conflicting stories that TV's Mister Rogers passed away. Others, myself included, say no. Who is correct?
--- Ron Gummel, Fayetteville
A: Fred Rogers, the 71-year-old host and creator of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," is alive and well --- although he recently announced that he won't be shooting any more episodes of the 33-year-old show after 2001. But he isn't hanging up his cardigan just yet: Rogers will turn his attention to his Web sites, publications and special museum programs.
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