More than $500 billion wiped off the value of U.S. stocks is providing opportunities for investors who remember that equities tend to rise when the Federal Reserve begins reducing efforts to stimulate the economy.

The S&P 500 gained 0.8 per cent to 1,651.81, giving the benchmark index only its second two-day rally in June. Telecoms led all major sectors with a 1.3 per cent rise.

McGraw-Hill Financial's S&P Dow Jones Indices is making changes in a trio of its signature products. After the close of trading Friday, the S&P 500 will include Pfizer spinoff Zoetis (NYSE: ZTS ) . The stock replaces First Horizon National (NYSE: FHN ...

Margin debt is about 29 percent higher than it was a year ago, and the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) has risen by more than 20 percent since last fall.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Energy stocks rose Monday, following the broader U.S. stock market on a rally ahead of this week's Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

Another illustrative example is the S&P MidCap index which essentially takes the S&P 500 index and �tosses out� the biggest 100 companies so as to focus solely on the 400 smaller �up-and-comers� (which in the right environment can outperform their ...

Over the last month, we have seen the first real signs of risk coming back into the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA:SPY), largely due to fears of an economic slowdown if the Fed were to put the brakes on its endless supply of quantitative easing.

Market capitalization is an important data point for investors to keep an eye on, for various reasons. The most basic reason is that it gives a true comparison of the value attributed by the stock market to a given company's stock.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Netflix Inc. rallied over 7% on Monday, closing out the session as the best stock in both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100, on the back of a programming deal with DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc.

USA TODAY markets reporter Matt Krantz answers a different reader question every weekday. To submit a question, e-mail Matt at mkrantz@usatoday.