Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Russell 2000 stock index drops 375 firms as too large

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Friday, July 9, 1999

Russell 2000 stock index drops 375 firms as too large
BarnesandNoble.com among firms replacing Internet success stories such as Ameritrade, Lycos, RealNetworks
Associated Press

   NEW YORK - After weeks of speculation, the benchmark Russell 2000 stock index on Thursday released the list of small companies that will make up its roster for the coming year, knocking out 375 companies that had grown too large over the past 12 months.
   Gone are Ameritrade, E-Trade Group, CMGI, Doubleclick, Lycos, RealNetworks and many other sexy Internet companies that help drive the Russell 2000's 7.28 percent return in 1999.
   In their place are companies such as 24/7 Media, BarnesandNoble.com, and Bebe Stores.
   Money managers across the country, many of whom measure their performance against the Russell 2000 index, have been anxiously waiting for the closely guarded list to be revealed.
   Overall, The Russell 2000 eliminated all companies with a market value of more than $1.3 billion. A total of 513 companies were added to the index.
   The Russell 2000 starts every July with 2000 companies, but many companies get acquired or go out of business, so more companies are added than axed each summer. The changes took effect July 1, but were announced Thursday.
   "The U.S. equity market is a very dynamic creature," said Paul Greenwood, senior research analyst at Frank Russell Co., the Tacoma, Wash.-based company that runs the indexes. "Once again, the large number of initial public offerings, mergers and acquisitions were responsible for a significant number of the changes to our indexes."
   The largest company in the index is American Management Services with a market value of $1.3 billion and the smallest company is Towne Services with a market value of $178.2 million.