Abstract:
A method of for construction a database to support calculation of capital market indexes. The method includes treatment of all securities in the financial markets and utilizes criteria for selecting subsets of types of securities and weighting the market value of said securities to provide said selected and weighted securities to market index calculations. Data from identified vendors is collected, standardized as to terminology, corrected for omissions and other errors, formatted in standard digital form and stored compactly in digital storage media. Several of the indexes require updates on a frequency as great as once every fifteen seconds as utilized in the preferred embodiment. Others of the indexes require data updated on a daily or less frequent basis. Historical data is included to provide a long baseline for index calculation.

Description:
[0001]     The present invention is a Continuation-in-Part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/442,819, filed Nov. 18, 1999 and entitled, “Capital Market Index.” (the “819” patent application), which application is hereby incorporated into this specification in its entirety by this specific reference thereto. The &#39;819 application was converted from a provisional application of the same title filed on Nov. 20, 1998. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention relates to a computer based method for selecting securities, identifying data elements comprehensively describing each security, acquiring the data elements, formatting the data elements for storage and utilization to compute capital market indexes.  
         [0003]     The 819 patent application teaches a method of computing a capital market index which represents the “capital market portfolio” of one or more countries. The capital market index is useful as both an investment and an analytical tool.  
         [0004]     The capital market includes bond, money market and equity or stocks. Each of these capital market segments is regulated, managed and tracked using different mechanics and methodologies. Each has its own unique risk/return characteristics and historical performance.  
         [0005]     A market index is an investment and analysis tool useful in measuring present market conditions and changing market conditions. A perfect index would dynamically replicate the entire marketplace and would enable the goal of measuring improvements in marketplace performance. A complete index requires the use of a “market portfolio” which can account for all sectors of the economy. This index can accurately reflect the performance of the marketplace.  
         [0006]     In efforts to measure, compare and track the growth/decline in investments, students of the markets commonly use indexes as benchmarks. Generally speaking, several indexes have been established for measuring various subsections of the marketplace. For example, the Dow Jones Industrial Average computes an index (based on a stock portfolio selected by Dow Jones) used to measure the equity market. Additionally, the Wilshire 5000 computes an equity index based upon a selected stock portfolio. Similar indexes exist for measuring the bond market and the money market. For instance, Lehman Bros. computes and publishes several bond market indexes and the IBC&#39;s Money Fund Report is published as a measure of the money market.  
         [0007]     Work on the flow of funds accounts at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System dates back to 1947. The Board&#39;s first publication of the accounts, with annual data was in 1955, and the first set of accounts with quarterly data appeared in the August 1959  Federal Reserve Bulletin.  From the onset, the emphasis in this publication was providing statements of total sources of funds flowing to economic sectors and the use of funds in the various sectors. The flow of funds accounts have also been closely tied to the national income and product accounts, published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis in the U.S. Department of commerce. The structure of the flow of funds accounts has evolved to reflect innovations in financial instruments and the emergence of new institutions.  
         [0008]     However, because each of the above mentioned indexes only measures a subsection of the marketplace, even when taken together, they cannot account for the grouping of different types of financial assets. Further, they cannot account for additions and subtractions between major classes of assets or into or out of the aggregate capital market. For example, if an investor removes capital from the stock market and reinvests into the bond market, an index such as the Wilshire 5000 will only indicate that there was a decrease in capital invested in the equity market. The Wilshire 5000 cannot account for the shifting of capital between markets. Thus, an index such as the Wilshire 5000 cannot provide an accurate picture of the entire marketplace.  
         [0009]     More critically, the data describing the performance of various market subsets is collected and held by different institutions with different, historically based formats, and is assembled for differing time periods. There is no single, central source for all the data and the formats do not share a common denominator that would facilitate examination and comparison.  
         [0010]     The value of being able to track the marketplace more accurately is evidenced by the number of prior art methods and inventions related to portfolio management which were discussed in the 819 application. The significance of the instant invention is the depiction of the construction and management of a unique database not previously disclosed which enables the construction and use of the capital markets indexes disclosed in the 819 application.  
         [0011]     In addition to the prior art methods and inventions discussed in the background of the &#39;819 application, there are several patents and other existing art which address issues of financial database formation. U.S. Pat. No. 6,850,906 (Chadha et al.) discloses a real-time financial search engine which retrieves financial updates in real-time and then stores the updates. Users of this system may search this real time data using a symbol and a time. The Chadha patent does not teach the construction of a managed database with multiple entities nor does it teach criteria for selecting individual financial instruments for use in calculation of indexes.  
         [0012]     The system of the instant invention stores a considerable amount of data for the purpose of calculating market indexes. This data includes not only price, volume and date, but also records which describe the security, actions taken by issuers and/or purchasers to change the security&#39;s characteristics. The emphasis is on the sequential nature of the information—i.e. March 2 nd  comes after March 1 st .  
         [0013]     The real time data flow has time stamps on the prices of the securities. This practice was established prior to the filing of the Chadha patent and is an industry convention in mediums such as the “Consolidate Tape” which transmits stock market information.  
         [0014]     The system of the instant invention provides the capability to search the database created by the system for specific information which would include the price of a security and it symbol as well as its daily volume. As such, the system of the instant invention exceeds the capabilities of a search engine.  
         [0015]     U.S. Pat. No. 6,925,441 (Jones, et al.) discloses a system and method of targeted marketing to consumers, including businesses and associates, based upon the financial characteristics of the consumer, type offer being made and the channel of communication for delivery of the offer. The consumer is characterized based upon financial, behavioral, and socioeconomic factors. The offer is characterized based upon the consumer and the potential for the consumer accepting the offer. The channel of communication for delivery of the offer is also characterized and combined with the consumer and consumer-offer characteristics to arrive at a net present value of the offer to be made. The system of the instant invention is directed toward measuring the different activities in the security markets as they occur and not the possibilities that could occur as directed toward consumers with particular economic status as in the Jones patent. Further, the method of the instant invention does not consolidate, monitor or control financial transactions of a given entity.  
         [0016]     European patent EP1109122 (Li, et al.) discloses a data system to analyze and chart the price activities of an instrument or commodity traded in a market. The system disclosed in the Li patent examines the changes in the price of a security relative to a pre-determined level. In contrast, the system of the instant invention provides calculations of the changes in the total return of the securities including monies received as dividends or coupon interest payments. Further, after calculating and storing the total returns of individual securities, the system of instant invention combines these returns into quantities reflecting calculated portfolio returns through time. Then the portfolio returns are standardized by an index value set at a level of 10000 for the date of Dec. 31, 1999. These operations require many more calculations than simply examining relative price determinations as in the Li patent which does not teach any kind of index creation.  
         [0017]     European patent EP1122661 (Pellegrinelli, et al.) discloses a method of distributing performance data concerning a plurality of subjects such as stock market companies from a distribution site to a user site. The Pellegrinelli patent teaches data condensation, recognizes the “data gathering companies” and utilizes their data but teaches data condensation for efficiency in transmission. By contrast, the system of the instant invention aggregates data for the purpose of utilizing it to calculate performance indexes which is not taught by Pellegrinelli.  
         [0018]     U.S. Pat. No. 6,236,972 (Shkedy) discloses a method and device for using a computer to facilitate a transaction of secondary market shares of an investment company between a buyer and a seller. The method and computer support of the system of the instant invention gathers data for different activities in the security markets as they occur. The Shkedy patent utilizes a database for the purpose of matching “buy and sell orders” and does not contemplate or teach the acquisition and use of data for calculation of indexes.  
         [0019]     Each of the above discussed patents discloses the creation of or use of financial databases for reference or analysis purposes but none possesses the scope or purpose of the databases claimed by the instant invention. These patents disclose databases applicable to limited portfolios which only relate to a specific portion of the market rather than the entire marketplace or a use of databases disparate from the syntheses of databases to be used in the indexes disclosed in the &#39;819 application. The indexes of the &#39;819 application constitute an investment manager utilizing the entire marketplace and are thus able to more accurately depict the current state of the market in relationship to the economy.  
         [0020]     There are a number of financial databases in use and, while they are not patented, they do depict a representative profile of the existing art. None of the following databases is constructed with the purpose of using the data for constructing the kind of comprehensively based capital market indexes disclosed in the &#39;819 patent application. The following databases display neither the breadth of coverage of the instant invention nor the other attributes necessary for the construction of said capital market indexes.  
         [0021]     The DRI Financial Markets Indexes provide information only about the fixed income markets but this service does not calculate indexes with the breadth and coverage as the instant invention. DRI&#39;s use of the word “indexes” refers to the services indexing the financial data for search purposes in finding data for a particular entity.  
         [0022]     Barra Global Investment Technology has a product denoted “Barra&#39;s TotalRisk System.” This system is a bottom-up approach to construct a database which covers a sub-set of the Standard and Poors indexes including stocks, bonds, exchange-traded and over the counter (OTC) derivatives, mortgage and asset backed securities, inflation protected bonds, money market instruments and structured products. The depth of the information is not disclosed to the observer and the information presented is not further utilized to construct a market index which the user may employ to test his portfolio. The Barra information is presented in different formats and does not lend itself to ready calculation by the user who would have to decide how to construct and test his own, subjective index without the utility of the standard provided by the instant invention.  
         [0023]     ECONData provides a useful tool for finding publicly available databases in a manner similar to GlobalInsight. However, this system is a data aggregator and is not designed with a particular final goal in mind, such as, building a capital market index. The system also does not possess the breadth of data of the instant invention.  
         [0024]     The Online Hot Stock market Report Center is a search and web venue for finding stock information that may be of interest to the user. This service does not have a structured database associated with it nor does it provide a comprehensive capital market index structured to guide the user in measuring overall market performance.  
         [0025]     The Internet Multicasting Service WWWSite describes, “ . . . building and maintaining public works projects on the Internet.” This Service does not teach assembling information for the purpose of building a capital market index.  
         [0026]     The home pages on the world wide web of such large brokerages as J.P. Morgan Chase and Merrill Lynch and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange provide discussions of the firms and their services. None of these imply a comprehensive database of the kind disclosed in the instant invention and none provides a capital market index as a product for managing financial assets.  
         [0027]     Scottrade and the affiliated Ameritrade sponsor a website built to help investors inspect the current market and do simple analytical functions such as graphing stock prices. This service provides information limited to equity markets and lacks the comprehensive coverage of the database of the instant invention.  
         [0028]     The Stockmaster service combines services from a number of related firms. One such exemplar service provides a stock index with dividends claimed to outperform the Dow Jones and the Standard and Poors averages. This is representative of the provisions of the other included services and, limited to data for stocks only does not reach the comprehensive nature of the database of the instant invention.  
         [0029]     There are home pages for libraries and/or departments of numerous university business schools; for example, the Harvard Business School Baker Library or the University of Texas Business School Department of Finance. These generally offer data aggregation and access for their students but none offers the structured database of the instant invention developed for the purpose of calculating the capital market indexes.  
         [0030]     No single reference reviewed above presents a complete and comprehensive offering of data across the financial security sphere. None of the references teach selection criteria for securities&#39; data with the object of using said data in calculation of capital markets indexes that represent the broad and complete portfolio enabled by the instant invention and no combination of the above references teaches the comprehensive management of the database of the instant invention.  
         [0031]     It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide criteria for selecting data for all known publicly available securities to enable use of this data to calculate the indexes disclosed in the &#39;819 application which blend the three major markets of equities, bonds and money markets to form one combined market index representing the blended portfolio. The data sources include: 
        Reuters     FT Interactive     Standard &amp; Poors     Moody&#39;s     Fitch     Global Insight (GI)     Commerce Clearing House (CCH)     Federal Reserve System (FED)     United States Department of the Treasury (DOT)     Federal Deposited Insurance Corporation (FDIC)     (FNMA)     (GNMA)     Freddie Mac     Federal Home Loan (FHL)     Sallie Mae     Farm Credit     New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)     American Stock Exchange (AMEX)     NASDAQ Stock Exchange (NASDAQ) 
 
 It will be recognized by those skilled in the art that the pertinence, accuracy and applicability of said indexes is dependent on the data input. Another object of the present invention is transforming the formats of individual data groups representing selected securities into formats suitable for use in the calculation of the indexes disclosed in the &#39;819 application. 
       
 
         [0051]     Another object of the present invention is to store, update and maintain the growing database comprising selected data to optimize access and utility in applications to the indexes.  
         [0052]     It is a further object of the invention to correct errors in data elements.  
         [0053]     It is also an object of the present invention to provide security for the data base including backup storage, restriction of access to qualified users and prevention of corruption computer failure or by external accession by unqualified users.  
         [0054]     It is a further object of the invention to provide training in the unique qualities of the database management process and the use of the data in constructing the indexes disclosed in the &#39;819 application.  
         [0055]     It is also an object of the present invention to provide stock, bond, and money market indexes to be used in place of the presently used stock, bond and money market indexes.  
         [0056]     It is also an object of the present invention to systematically test features and properties of the indexes to indicate changes needed in securities selection criteria and weighting of security classes and market sectors to improve the indexes&#39; accuracy and relevance in depicting relative performance between portfolios, securities, and other indexed asset classes in the marketplace.  
         [0057]     Other objects, and the advantages, of the present invention will be made clear to those skilled in the art by the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments thereof.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0058]     The present invention relates to development and use of a database comprising data for computing capital market indexes which accurately reflect status and changes in the entire securities market. The present invention comprises methods and apparatus for applying criteria for securities selection, acquiring data describing said securities, formatting data for each security, storing and maintaining said data, correcting errors in said data, protecting said data, using said data to calculate capital market indexes. The method is extended to train qualified users recognize the effect of selection criteria for securities in various market sectors (i.e., stocks, bonds, money markets, real estate, commercial real estate, art and other collectibles, etc.) comprising the indexes, to assess and evaluate the weights of various market sectors, to access elements of the database and to utilize the capital market indexes to analyze the economy and to manage investments.  
         [0059]     In another aspect, the present invention relates to a method for computing an index comprising the steps of: monitoring market activities in the fixed income and money markets, selecting the best or most relevant price for a chosen group of securities, calculating the index value based upon the change in those prices, and transmitting the calculated index values to the American Stock Exchange (AMEX). The accuracy of the prices of the fixed income securities is ascertained by determining the spread between the fixed income security being examined and an associated Treasury security and adjusting the price of the chosen fixed income security in accordance with changes in price of the fixed income Treasury security, with an override when pricing activity for the fixed income security is observed. The AMEX concurrently is monitoring the equities market and is calculating an index value for a group of equity securities designated in accordance with selection criteria developed to construct the database of the instant invention such as corporate market capitalization, trading volume in round lots of 100, overall liquidity and structure of corporate governance. Following the calculation of these indexes, the indexes are weighted and combined to form the master index, the Capital Markets Index. The weights are determined to reflect the overall proportion of a given market within the capital market; e.g., the proportion of the equity market to the whole. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0060]      FIG. 1  is an illustration of a preferred embodiment of the general methodology of construction and use of the database of the present invention.  
         [0061]      FIG. 2  is an illustration of the subdivision of securities in the securities market into asset classes.  
         [0062]      FIG. 3  is a representation of vendor requirements. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION  
       [0063]     In a preferred embodiment, the method of the present invention provides the functions of data identification, acquisition, standardizing data, up-dating, verification, correction of omissions and errors, formatting, weighting data elements, storage, protection and preparation for use in the capital market indexes disclosed in the &#39;819 application. The database disclosed in the preferred embodiment of the instant invention provides the input for the construction of three major combined indexes reflecting the history, current behavior and trends of the financial securities market. The Capital Market Index (CPMKT) is a daily index that represents the change in total return for all securities in all capital markets. The Capital Market Investment Grade Index (CPMKTIG) represents the change in total return for the traditional investment grade capital market securities. The Capital Market Real Time Index (CPMKTS) is an index compiled and computed continuously (updates every fifteen seconds in a preferred embodiment) during market hours and represents the change in total return for the traditional investment grade capital market securities. Here, “traditional” reflects those securities comprising most of both the capital securities markets liquidity and held or traded securities.  
         [0064]     The CPMKT index is the broadest and most complete measure of the capital market. It is calculated using data describing every single available individual capital market security. The universe of securities indicated by asset class is discussed below. In addition to the traditional investment grade products presented in the CPMKTIG index and in databases such as those described in the Background of the Invention, above, the CPMKT includes newer or non-traditional capital market securities. The CPMKT is designed to accommodate additional data so that as the financial and investing community creates new securities products, these products will be incorporated into the CPMKT index. Examples of new products introduced over the last twenty-six years include adjustable mortgages and asset backed securities. Examples of products that are not considered investment grade products include designated securities such as Pink Sheet stocks and High Yield Corporate Bonds.  
         [0065]     The CPMKTIG index is the most consistent measure of the capital market. It is calculated using data representing each security in the investment grade subdivisions of the capital securities market. These include all of the money market instruments of Bankers Acceptances, Commercial Paper, Short Term large Certificates of Deposit and Agency Discount Notes, as well as Common Stock from the equities market. In the fixed income markets the CPMKTIG index includes all U.S. Treasury issues, short and long term Federal Agency bonds, short and long term mortgage-backed securities and any investment grade corporate bond. Taking only the traditional investment grade products provides a consistent measure of the capital markets since the types of constituent securities do not change over time and individual assets within these types change very slowly. Proper asset weighting for the entities included in the CPMKTS can not be computed without calculating the asset weightings from the entities included in the CPMKTIG index. Equally important, the CPMKTIG is the only tool capable of validating the methods and results of the real-time CPMKTS index. This is because the data representing the constituent securities in the CPMKTS are chosen from among the securities of the CPMKTIG. It would be impossible to verify the accuracy of the CPMKTS without the CPMKTIG because no other single product tracks the complete investment grade capital markets.  
         [0066]     Therefore, CPMKTS index is a real-time complement to the CPMKTIG. In a presently preferred embodiment, it comprises approximately two thousand, four hundred (2400) constituent members, which are selected from among the assets included in the CPMKTIG. In the preferred embodiment, the members in the CPMKTIG are selected to represent all of the diverse elements of the CPMKTIG. The component indexes of the CPMKTS are weighted according to the weightings of the CPMKTIG. The CPMKTS is the only real-time measure of the majority of entities in the U.S. capital markets.  
         [0067]     The database supporting calculation of these and subsidiary indexes as discussed below is unique because of its comprehensive inclusion of all securities in the capital markets, the selection processes which determine the database components, the application of methods to correct omissions and errors to enhance the accuracy of the data, standardize terminology and the volume of data stored and managed.  
         [0068]     In the preferred embodiment described herein, the computing needs to support the database of the instant invention include storage capacity of approximately 2.7 terabytes for the database and the ability to manage approximately 10 gigabytes of data in the daily flow of updates. The data is compressed and normalized using standard relational data base practices. The data is acquired through secure connections across the internet to vendor environments and by use of dedicated communication circuits to vendor environments as is well known in the art. The data once acquired, corrected, and standardized, formatted and organized is output through the same modalities. A more complete discussion of corrections is provided below.  
         [0069]     Referring first to  FIG. 1 , an overview of a preferred embodiment of the method of the present invention is illustrated. The first step (indicated generally by the numeral  10 ) in the preferred method illustrated in  FIG. 1  is to identify the types of financial securities by characteristics. Next, the method subdivides the securities market into sectors based on said characteristics in step  15 . This is followed by further subdividing said sectors into classes of asset types in step  20 . Step  25  shows continuation of the process as data vendors are determined for each Sector/Asset subdivision. The process continues in step  30  with listing available vendors. In step  35 , individual vendors for historical, current and real-time data are determined. Vendor data for each type of asset is obtained in step  40 . The data is standardized in step  45 . This is required because different vendors use different terminology to describe the same type of asset. Data for each asset is stored using a standardized, common terminology which is developed as part of the method described in the preferred embodiment of the instant invention. The method of the instant invention maps terminology of the various vendors into a standard terminology used for describing the assets used in the capital indexes. Omissions in the data are rectified and the data is corrected in step  50 . In step  55 , the data is sorted into historical, current or real-time categories. The data is formatted in step  60 . This is necessary because different vendors use different digital formats for their individual data. The method of the instant invention converts each data element into a common format for use in calculating the indexes. Step  65  indicates updating the data. Updates are performed at different time periods for different asset types. As indicated above, current data is updated at the end of each market day. Real-time data is updated every fifteen (15) seconds during a market day as performed in the preferred embodiment. Historical data is updated at different frequencies depending on the asset. This updating may occur, daily weekly, monthly, quarterly or yearly. Step  70  describes the insertion of the data into the Capital Markets Database. Step  80  describes the distribution of daily data into daily index calculation programs. Step  82  describes the calculation of daily indexes and combination of the various indexes with appropriate weights. Step  90  similarly describes the distribution of real-time data into real-time index calculations. Step  90  describes the calculation of real-time indexes and combination with appropriate weights. Steps  80 ,  82 ,  90  and  92  mark the beginning of use of the database constructed with the instant invention in the calculations taught in the 819 application.  
         [0070]     The first step in  FIG. 2  labeled  100  indicates focus on the capital securities market. This market is divided into three sectors, Equities  200 , Fixed Income Securities  300 , and Money Market Instruments  400 . The Equities category  200  is further subdivided into five (5) asset classes: Common Stock  2011 , Pink Sheet Stock  2012 , Preferred Stock  2013 , Corporate Warrants, Units and Rights  2014  and Exchange Traded Funds and Closed-end Funds  2015 .  
         [0071]     Fixed Income Securities  300  is further subdivided into five sub-sectors: Corporate Bonds and Notes  301 ; Asset-backed Bonds and Notes  302 ; Mortgage-backed Bonds and Notes  303 ; Federal Agency Bonds and Notes  304 ; and U.S. Treasury Bonds and Notes  305 .  
         [0072]     The next subdivision is into asset classes. Equities  200  is subdivided into: Common Stock  2011 ; Stock sold through the Pink Sheets  2012 ; Preferred Stock  2013 ; Corporate Warrants, Units, and Rights;  2014 ; and Exchange Traded Funds and Closed-end Funds  2015 .  
         [0073]     Each of the five (5) sectors is divided into between one (1) and seven (7) different asset types combinations for a total of twenty (20) sector/asset type combinations. Corporate Bonds and Notes  301  is further subdivided into: Convertible Bonds  3011 ; Floating Rate Securities  3012 ; Non-rated Bonds and Notes  3013 ; High Yield Bonds and Notes  3014 ; Short Term Investment Grade Bonds and Notes  3015 ; and Long Term Investment Grade Bonds and Notes  3016 . Asset backed securities  302  is its own asset class. The Mortgage Backed Securities sector is further subdivided into asset classes Short Term Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC) Bonds and Notes  3031 , Short Term Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA) Bonds and Notes  3032 , Short Term Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA) Bonds and Notes  3033 , Long Term FHLMC Bonds and Notes  3034 , Long Term FNMA Bonds and Notes  3035 , Long Term GNMA Bonds and Notes  3036 , and Adjustable Rate Mortgages  3037 . Of the twenty (20) possible combinations, a subset is chosen based on coupon types or values that make these securities highly liquid. These become the basis for the eight (8) real-time fixed income indexes. In these eight (8) groups, another subset of the issues that are not callable, putable or sinkers are eligible for selection as proxies for their subdivision. Callable Bonds, also know as Optional Principal Redemption Bonds are bonds with multiple, discrete call dates upon which the bond can be redeemed in whole or in part. Putable bonds are subject to repurchase by the Federal Home Loan (FHL) Banks at the request of the bondholder before the final stated maturity date. The ability to exercise the put option may depend upon certain market conditions or other criteria specified in the Offering Notice. If the bondholder wishes to exercise the put option, proper notification must be delivered to the Office of Finance. Generally, putable bonds are redeemable on interest payment dates after an initial lockout period. Sinker bonds are bonds with long-term coupons but short maturity, usually a home financing bond.  
         [0074]     Federal Agency Bonds and Notes  304  is further subdivided into asset classes Short Term Bonds and Notes  3041 , Long Term Bonds and Notes  3042 , and Floating Rate Bonds and Notes  3043 . United States Treasury Bonds and Notes  305  is further divided into asset classes Short Term Bonds and Notes  3051 , Long Term Bonds and Notes  3052 , and Floating Rate Bonds and Notes  3053 .  
         [0075]     The Money Market  400  is divided into asset classes Bankers&#39; Acceptances  4011 , Short Term Large Certificates of Deposit  4012 , Commercial Paper  4013 , and Agency Discount Notes  4014 .  
         [0076]      FIG. 3  depicts the representation of data vendor requirements. The Capital Securities Market  100  is subdivided as in  FIG. 2  into Equities  200 , Fixed Income Securities  300  and the Money Market  400 . The diagram describes the partitions of data into descriptive and market data and further partitions of historical, current and real time data. Lastly the diagram shows the types of vendors providing each kind of data. Specifically, Equities  200  requires descriptive data  5110  and market data  5210 . Descriptive data  5110  is comprised of historical data  5120  including names of companies, identifiers for specific securities issues, issue date, maturity date and description of the security as well as current data  5140  including day to day revisions of the historical items or new securities as they emerge.  
         [0077]     Historical data  5120  is provided by non-authoritative vendors  5130  and  5135 . Here the two vendors  5130  and  5135  indicate a plurality of possible vendors. Current Equities descriptive data  5140  is provided by redundant vendors  5150  and  5155 . Again,  5150  and  5155  represent a plurality of potential vendors. These vendors are termed redundant because, in current embodiment of the invention, the database should not be compromised if a single vendor fails to provide needed information.  
         [0078]     Equities market data  5210  consists of historical data  5220  (including pricing history, historical ratings history, and adjustment to equity shares outstanding), current data (day to day changes to market data)  5240  and real-time data (pricing information)  5260 . Historical data  5220  is provided by an authoritative vendor  5230  which is a single vendor which is recognized as consistently accurate in purveying data. Current data  5240  is provided by redundant vendors  5250  and  5255 . Real-time data  5260  is provided by redundant vendors  5270  and  5275 . The same exact approach applies to the fixed income and money markets as depicted in  FIG. 3  except that the elements are numbered to correspond with the separate entities.  
         [0079]     The capital market indexes require detailed information in a digital format regarding all publicly traded securities including the asset classes which have been defined above stemming from equity securities, fixed income securities and money market instruments. For each such security, the indexes require detailed descriptive issuer information as well as accurate market data. The detailed descriptive information will include the issuer, the type of data being accessed, the standard industry code (SIC) for the security and the unique, nine-character number defined by the Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures for each class of a security approved for trading in the United States (CUSIP). Market data may include the following, as applicable to a specific security: pricing, factors, debt ratings, current debt outstanding, coupon rates, current shares outstanding, and all corporate actions.  
         [0000]     Corrections to Equity CUSIP Changes  
         [0080]     The CUSIP is a unique identifier used on all regulated securities. It is nine characters in length. The first six characters are specific to the issuing organization. The seventh and eight characters are specific to the security itself and the ninth character is a check-sum character determined by the first eight.  
         [0081]     Various corporate actions such as mergers, acquisitions, corporate name changes will also result in a change to the cusip. If one uses two data vendors to supply equity information and cusip changes are not implemented consistently between the two vendors, then it is possible to have on a given day to have two securities with different cusips that are in fact the same security. The effect on an index calculation is that the market value of a security would be double counted until the cusips were correctly synchronized.  
         [0082]     The most direct method for correcting aberrant cusip changes is to have a schedule of changes. That schedule would include the previous cusip, the current cusip and the date on which the change was implemented. The combined data source is then examined in the two following ways:  
         [0083]     1. Look for records with the current cusip before the change date.  
         [0084]     2. Look for records with the previous cusip after the change data. In both cases, such the incorrect records are marked as inactive and are therefore removed from any subdivisions, index selections and index calculations.  
         [0085]     Though the cusips are different, other characteristics of the security can be compared to discover duplication. Specifically the daily price, volume and shares outstanding for the security will be identical or will differ by a very small amounts.  
         [0086]     In this case, the record set is examined each day searching for two securities with the following characteristics 
        1. Different cusips.     2. Difference in price that is less than 0.1%     3. Difference in volume that is less than 0.1%     4. Difference in shares outstanding that is less than 10 shares. 
 
 Matches to these criteria are flagged and then reviewed. In most cases, the issuer description information matches closely enough that it can be verified that the two securities are actually the same issue. This can be confirmed with other data vendors such as CCH, or with the SEC&#39;s EDGAR site, or with S&amp;P&#39;s www.cusip.com site, or even with a search engine. As with the first method, any incorrect records are marked as inactive and are therefore removed from any subdivisions, index selections and index calculations. 
 
 Corrections to Equity Splits 
       
 
         [0091]     Companies, for various reasons, will split or reverse split their common stock equity shares. A stock split divides the shares into a larger number, adjusting the price per share by the reciprocal ratio, with no change in the total value of the company. For example a company with 100,000 shares at a price of $100 per share has a market capitalization of $10,000,000. The company performs a share 2 for 1 share split, increasing the number of shares to 200,000 and reducing the price per share to $50. The total market capitalization of the company is still $10,000,000, but the number of shares has doubled. The date on which the share split equity event occurs is called the ex date. If the date for the price change and the date for the change in the shares outstanding do not match, or if either does not match the ex date, then the calculation of the market capitalization will be wrong. The most reliable data for the equity securities is the pricing data, with the ex date and shares outstanding data being less reliable. Starting with an ex date, and a split ratio, a program would go to as many as 45 days before and 45 days after the ex date looking for a day to day price change to match the split ratio. When a matching price change is detected, the ex date is adjusted, as is the shares outstanding, to match the revised split event data.  
         [0000]     Corrections to Errors in a Series of Values  
         [0092]     Much of the market data follows predictable patterns. For example, prices for fixed income securities tend to change by a small amount each day. A typical series looks like this: 99.929, 99.939, 99.939, 99.952, 99.955, 99.925, 99.927. However, if the series were to look more like this: 99.929, 99.939, 99.939, 99.952, 2.000, 99.925, 99.927, then the fifth element, 2.000, is incorrect. This approach applies most directly to fixed income pricing and mortgage-backed security&#39;s factors, which have the most consistent pattern. It also applies to prices for equity securities, though they do have a greater volatility.  
         [0093]     Several characteristics go into calculating the market value of a security and there are two approaches to testing each of these characteristics in the equation for a securities market value. The most exhaustive is to devise individual tests for each characteristic and then apply those tests against the securities data.  
         [0094]     The second is to calculate the total return percentage across a period and investigate any returns whose absolute value is greater than 20%. The advantage of the second method is that it tests several characteristics of a security with a single computation. The securities are investigated individually and errors to the price or factor are corrected.  
         [0000]     Corrections to Securities Descriptive Characteristics  
         [0095]     Securities with an incorrect asset type or country code will not be placed in the correct subdivision, which will eventually skew the index values. With the country code, in many cases the vendors simply do not report a country code, or incorrectly report the country code of a corporation. The following rules are applied to discover and then to correct the errors: 
        1. The cusip for United States based companies always starts with a number in the first position.     2. Companies that are not based in the United States, but who have securities that trade in the United States will have an alphabetic character in the first position of their cusip.     3. Any company whose company name includes Corp or Inc is based in the United States.     4. Any company whose issue description includes the word ADR is not based in the United States.     5. Any company whose name includes PLC is not based in the United States. 
 
 Suspect companies are investigated using resources such as the SEC&#39;s EDGAR database (www.sec.gov), Standard &amp; Poor&#39;s CUSIP resources (www.cusip.com), the company&#39;s own web site, or popular search engines. 
       
 
         [0101]     Many funds were incorrectly coded by the securities data vendors as common stock (asset type  4000 ) instead of as an open-end find (asset type  4040 ). These issues were all coded as asset type  4000 , yet have the words “mist” or “fund” in their issue description field. Also common is that they would end with the two characters “FD”, indicating a fund. Finally, several companies release finds all starting with the company name.  
         [0000]     Corrections to Fixed Income Prices  
         [0102]     With two sources for fixed income security data, it is possible that daily closing prices do not match. One source was chosen as the preferred source for pricing data. When gaps existed in the pricing information from the preferred source, and the secondary source had updated pricing, a current price would be derived from the secondary source. The price is derived by adjusting the last good price of the primary source by the percentage change in price of the secondary source. This approach continues until the primary source again supplies a price for the security.  
         [0103]     Historical information dating from 1979 is required, as well as on-going information, such as prices and other market activity. All of these data elements must be updated on a regular basis consistent with each data element&#39;s change in the market.  
         [0104]     Data sources that are completely authoritative (such as the US Treasury Department&#39;s Public Debt information) must be used. In the instances where no sole authority is available, multiple, redundant sources providing the same kind of data must be employed and checked against each other to ensure the most accurate description of the market possible.  
         [0105]     In creating and calculating Capital Market Indexes, two fundamental approaches are available as illustrated in  FIG. 1 . These approaches are differentiated by the period in which they are reported and the frequency in which they are updated. These approaches further define data attributes used in the indexes. First, daily indexes  80  and  82  can be constructed and calculated. Secondly, “real-time” indexes can be constructed and calculated  90  and  92  during market hours, to be updated at predetermined intervals as market activity is reported.  
         [0106]     A daily index is updated every market day and has two properties: (1) it provides a more complete and comprehensive description of the market since each of the 1.1 million active securities can be acquired and processed within a twenty-four hour period; and (2) it is more suitable for longer term trending and analysis since it incorporates daily closing data, the most commonly employed statistical measure.  
         [0107]     A “real-time” index is constructed and calculated during market hours and is updated as market activity is reported. A real-time index has three properties: (1) it is a precise measure of security performance during market hours, reflecting current market activity; (2) the limits of digital storage technology impose restrictions on the volume of data which can be accessed and processed, thus only a subset of the 1.1 million active securities can be tracked during market hours; and (3) a real-time index enables creation of financial products that can be actively traded and tracked during market hours.  
         [0108]     The general criteria for selecting subdivisions to be incorporated in a real-time index are that it must: (1) be a “traditional investment grade” security as understood by the financial community; (2) have a sufficiently liquid market, generating enough activity to be reflected in an index updated every fifteen (15) seconds during market hours; and (3) not be a derivative security product, but an original issue based upon the value or credit of a single entity.  
         [0000]     Money Market Indexes Comparison  
         [0109]     Due to the limited number of securities in this sector and the fact that updates occur mostly on a daily basis, the real-time representation of the daily Money Market Instrument Indexes is identical to the real-time. Index composition and calculation is identical.  
                                   Money Market Instrument Subdivision   Corresponding Real-time Index                   US Bankers Acceptances   US Bankers Acceptances       US Short Term Large Certificates of   US Short Term Large       Deposit   Certificates of Deposit       US Commercial Paper   US Commercial Paper       US Agency Discount Notes   US Agency Discount Notes                  
 
 Equity Securities Indexes Comparison 
 
         [0110]     The only portion of the equity markets that is considered investment grade, has suitable liquidity, and is not a derivative product is the market for common stock.  
                                   Equity Security Subdivision   Corresponding Real-time Index                   Common Stock (100   2000 largest companies based upon       share round lots)   Common Stock market capitalization       Pink Sheets   No corresponding real-time index because           not considered investment grade securities       Preferred Stock   No corresponding real-time index because           of limited market activity       Warrants, Units, and Rights   No corresponding real-time index because           of limited market activity       Exchange Traded Funds   No corresponding real-time index because       and Closed-end Funds   derivative security products.                  
 
 Differences between Common Stock Subdivision and Real-time Common Stock Index 
 
         [0111]     Only the 2,000 largest companies by market capitalization are selected from the subdivision of common stock companies. For companies with multiple common stock issues, such as class A and class B stock, each of the common stock issues is combined together to determine the company&#39;s total market capitalization. Companies that are not a corporation, such as a Limited Liability Corporation, are not included in the real-time index. Companies whose common stock does not trade in round lots of 100 are not included in the real-time index.  
         [0000]     Fixed Income Securities Indexes Comparison  
         [0112]     Of the twenty fixed income security subdivisions, ten are represented by the four liquidity and four bond real-time indexes. Note that all have a one to one correspondence, except for the three long term mortgage-backed securities subdivisions. These are represented in the single real-time mortgage-backed index.  
                                   Fixed Income Security Subdivision   Corresponding Real-time Index                   US Treasury Bills   US Treasury Bills Index       Short Term Treasury Bonds &amp; Notes   Short Term Treasury Bonds &amp; Notes Index       Long Term Treasury Bonds &amp; Notes   Long Term Treasury Bonds &amp; Notes Index       Short Term Federal Agency Bonds &amp;   Short Term Federal Agency Bonds &amp;       Notes   Notes Index       Long Term Federal Agency Bonds &amp;   Long Term Federal Agency Bonds &amp;       Notes   Notes Index       Floating Rate Federal Agency Securities   No corresponding real-time index because           illiquid.       Short Term Federal Home Loan Mortgage   No corresponding real-time index       Corporation Bonds &amp; Notes       Short Term Federal National Mortgage   No corresponding real-time index       Association Bonds &amp; Notes       Short Term Government National   No corresponding real-time index       Mortgage Association Bonds &amp; Notes       Long Term Federal Home Loan Mortgage   Represented in the real-time mortgage       Corporation Bonds &amp; Notes   index.       Long Term Federal National Mortgage   Represented in the real-time mortgage       Association Bonds &amp; Notes   index.       Long Term Government National   Represented in the real-time mortgage       Mortgage Association Bonds &amp; Notes   index.       Adjustable Mortgage Securities   No corresponding real-time index       Asset-backed Securities   No corresponding real-time index       Short Term Corporate Investment Grade   Short Term Corporate Investment Grade       Bonds &amp; Notes   Bonds &amp; Notes Index       Long Term Corporate Investment Grade   Long Term Corporate Investment Grade       Bonds &amp; Notes   Bonds &amp; Notes Index       Corporate Convertible Corporate Bonds &amp;   No corresponding real-time index       Notes       Corporate High Yield Corporate Bonds &amp;   No corresponding real-time index       Notes       Corporate Non-rated Corporate Bonds &amp;   No corresponding real-time index       Notes       Corporate Floating Corporate Rate   No corresponding real-time index       Securities                  
 
 Differences between the US Treasury Bills Subdivision and Real-time US Treasury Bills Index 
 
         [0113]     The index is identical to the subdivision.  
         [0000]     Differences between the US Treasury Short Term Bonds &amp; Notes Subdivision and Real-time US Treasury Short Term Bonds &amp; Notes Index  
         [0114]     Only securities with an asset type such as a Bond/Note, are used. The securities selected as proxies cannot be callable, putable or sinkers as those terms are defined above.  
         [0000]     Differences between the US Treasury Long Term Bonds &amp; Notes Subdivision and Real-time US Treasury Long Term Bonds &amp; Notes Index  
         [0115]     Only securities with an asset type of Bond/Note, are used. The securities selected as proxies cannot be callable, putable or sinkers.  
         [0000]     Differences between the Federal Agency Short Term Bonds &amp; Notes Subdivision and Real-time Federal Agency Short Term Bonds &amp; Notes Index  
         [0116]     The securities must be issued by one of the following five agencies: 
        Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA: Fannie Mae)     Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC: Freddie Mac)     Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLB)     Federal Farm Credit Banks (FFCB)     Student Loan Marketing Association (SLMA: Sallie Mae) 
 
 The securities selected as proxies cannot be callable, putable or sinkers. 
 
 Differences between the Federal Agency Long Term Bonds &amp; Notes Subdivision and Real-time Federal Agency Long Term Bonds &amp; Notes Index 
       
 
         [0122]     The securities must be issued by one of the following five agencies: 
        FNMA     FHLMC     FHLB     FFCB     SLM 
 
 The securities selected as proxies cannot be callable, putable or sinkers. 
 
 Differences between the Long Term Mortgage-backed Securities Subdivision and the Real-time Mortgage-backed Securities Index 
       
 
         [0128]     The securities must be issued by one of the following programs: 
        FHGOLD-15 YR     FHGOLD-30 YR     FHGOLD-5 YR Balloon     FHGOLD-7 YR Balloon     FNMA-15 YR     FNMA-30 YR     FNMA-7 YR Balloon     GNMA-15 YR     GNMA-30 YR 
 
 The coupon must be a multiple of 0.5. The coupon must be within a periodically adjusted set of bounds, such as from 4.5 to 9.0. The securities selected as proxies cannot be callable, putable or sinkers. 
 
 Differences between the Short Term Corporate Investment Grade Bonds &amp; Notes Subdivision and the Real-time Short Term Corporate Investment Grade Bonds &amp; Notes Index 
       
 
         [0138]     The securities must be one of the following asset types: 
        Bond/Note     Loan/Note     Equipment/Lease 
 
 The securities must have one of the following coupon types: 
    Fixed coupon     Fixed coupon—Interest-at-Maturity     Discount     Zero coupon 
 
 The securities selected as proxies cannot be callable, putable or sinkers. The securities selected as proxies must be from a company with an equity common stock issue in the Real-time Common Stock Index. 
 
 Differences between the Long Term Corporate Investment Grade Bonds &amp; Notes Subdivision and the Real-time Long Term Corporate Investment Grade Bonds &amp; Notes Index 
       
 
         [0146]     The securities must be one of the following asset types: 
        Bond/Note     Loan/Note     Equipment/Lease 
 
 The securities must have one of the following coupon types: 
    Fixed coupon     Fixed coupon—Interest-at-Maturity     Discount     Zero coupon 
 
 The securities selected as proxies cannot be callable, putable or sinkers. The securities selected as proxies must be from a company with an equity common stock issue in the Real-time Common Stock Index. 
       
 
         [0154]     There are three levels to the real-time indexes and three corresponding partitions in the database which is the preferred embodiment of the instant invention. The single summary real-time index is CPMKTS. It is composed of three market indexes equity markets (CPMKTE), liquidity markets (CPMKTL), and bond markets (CPMKTB). Each of the market indexes is calculated based upon one or more security indexes.  
         [0155]     These indexes are described in the following table:  
                                           TICKER   MARKET   SECURITY           INDEX   INDEXES   INDEXES   DESCRIPTION                   CPMKTS   CPMKTE       Real-Time Equities Index               CPMKTE   Selection common stock for the 2,000                   largest US companies based upon total market                   capitalization           CPMKTL       Real-Time Liquidity Index               CPMKTLCBO   Selection of investment grade corporate                   bonds with a maturity less than one year of                   US companies included in the CPMKTSE                   index               CPMKTLBI   Selection of US Treasury Bills               CPMKTLTBO   Selection of US Treasury bonds and notes                   with a maturity less than one year               CPMKTLAG   Selection of US Federal Agency securities                   with maturity less than one year               CPMKTLCD   Listing of certificate of deposit securities               CPMKTLCP   Listing of commercial paper securities               CPMKTLBA   Listing of banker&#39;s acceptance securities           CPMKTB       Real-Time Fixed Income Index               CPMKTBCBO   Selection of investment grade corporate                   bonds with a maturity of one year or greater                   of US companies included in the                   CPMKTSE index               CPMKTBMG   Selection of mortgage backed securities                   with a maturity of one year or greater               CPMKTBTBO   Selection of US Treasury bonds and notes                   with a maturity of one year or greater               CPMKTBAG   Selection of US Federal Agency securities                   with a maturity of one year or greater                  
 
 Data Selection for the Real-Time Equity Index 
 
         [0156]     There is only one component selected for the CPMKTE real-time equity index, denoted the CPMKTSE index. Data for this index membership is determined quarterly. Beginning with the equities from the overnight CPMKTEQUS Index, this index selects those companies that are publicly traded in round lots of one hundred (100) shares and of these, the top 2,000 companies based upon total market capitalization are selected for inclusion in the database for use in the CPMKTSE index. For companies with two or more common stock issues, the company&#39;s total market capitalization is the sum of the market capitalization for each common stock issue.  
         [0157]     The members are selected based upon market capitalization of the fourth market day before the start of the quarter. For example, the CPMKTSE for the fourth quarter of 2005 (October through December) was determined based upon the market capitalization computed from the outstanding shares and closing share prices from Sep. 27, 2005.  
         [0158]     For companies with multiple stock issues, the issue with the highest daily volume is the representative issue. The outstanding share count for the highest volume issue is then adjusted so that this single issue represents the total market capitalization of the company. This revised outstanding share count is the share count used to calculate the value of the company within the index for the following quarter.  
         [0159]     Examples of Companies not selected include: limited partnerships, illiquid companies such as Berkshire Hathaway, and non-American companies such as Accenture which is based in Bermuda. Examples of companies selected for the database include Schlumberger and Puerto Rican Companies.  
         [0000]     Data Selection for the Real-time Liquidity Markets Index  
         [0160]     The Real-time Liquidity Markets Index (CPMKTL) is composed of fixed income securities with a maturity less than one year and Money Market securities. Due to the short duration, the membership of the real-time security indexes for the CPMKTL is determined monthly, on the fourth business day before the beginning of the month.  
         [0000]     Data Selection for Short Term US Corporate Bonds (CPMKTLCBO)  
         [0161]     The CPMKTLCBO is a selection of investment grade US corporate bonds with a maturity less than one year. The selection is broken into two maturity classes and two ratings.  
                                   Maturity Classes   Ratings                    0 to 6 months   Tier 1 &amp; 2       6 to 12 months   Tier 3 &amp; 4                  
 
 For each maturity class and rating combination, the two securities with the most recent issue date are selected. The market value weight assigned to each issue is one half the total market value for all of the issues in the maturity-rating combination. If there is only one issue for a maturity-rating combination, then the market value weight for that issue is the sum of the market values for all of the issues in that combination after choosing diverse issues from all the proxy issues that satisfy the criteria for that combination. 
 
 Data Selection for US Treasury Bills (CPMKTLTBI) 
 
         [0162]     The CPMKTLTBI is a selection of treasury bills. The CPMKTLTBI is broken into four maturity classes. The selection of representative securities in the CPMKTLTBI occurs monthly, on the fourth business day before the beginning of the month.  
                                         Maturity Classes                                0 to 3   months       3 to 6   months       6 to 9   months       9 to 12   months                  
 
 Two issues are selected from each of the four maturity classes. The first issue is the one with the greatest maturity date within the maturity class. The second one is the one is the middle maturity date. In the event that there is an even number of securities, choose the one with the lesser value. 
 
         [0163]     The market value weight of the middle issues is the sum of the market values of the issues with a maturity less than or equal to itself. This includes the middle issue. The sum of the market values of the remaining issues, including the final issue, is used to determine the weight of the other selected issue.  
         [0164]     The following table serves as an example. It lists all of the Treasury Bills with a maturity between 0 and 3 months on Sep. 27, 2005. They are sorted in order of maturity date from least to greatest. There are 13 issues and the seventh, cusip 912795VZ1, is selected as the middle issue. Its weight will be calculated based upon the sum of the market values for the first seven issues, $363,841,827,687. The second selection is the last issue, cusip 912795WF4. Its weight will be calculated based upon the sum of the market value for the final 6 issues, $244,279,292,904.  
         [0165]     Treasury Bills with Maturity 0 to 3 Months from Sep. 27, 2005  
                                                                             CUSIP   Maturity Date   Price   Face   Market Value   Weight                                912795VT5   20050929   99.991   46,638,793,000   46,634,595,509           912795VU2   20051006   99.936   59,284,658,000   59,246,715,819       912795VV0   20051013   99.88   57,074,002,000   57,005,513,198       912795VW8   20051020   99.813   56,740,304,000   56,634,199,632       912795VX6   20051027   99.753   58,008,905,000   57,865,623,005       912795VY4   20051103   99.696   43,413,877,000   43,281,898,814       912795VZ1   20051110   99.628   43,334,486.000   43,173,281,712   363,841,827,687       912795WA5   20051117   99.555   44,082,416,000   43,886,249,249       912795WB3   20051125   99.48   46,191,030,000   45,950,836,644       912795WC1   20051201   99.429   20,995,530,000   20,875,645,524       912795WD9   20051208   99.36   45,488,531,000   45,197,404,402       912795WE7   20051215   99.291   45,311,188,000   44,989,931,677       912795WF4   20051222   99.213   43,723,328,000   43,379,225,409   244,279,292,904                  
 
 Data Selection for Short Term US Treasury Bonds/Notes (CPMKTLTBO) 
 
         [0166]     The CPMKTLTBO is a selection of treasury bonds and notes. The CPMKTLTBO is broken into four maturity classes:  
                               Maturity Classes                   0 to 3 months       3 to 6 months       6 to 9 months       9 to 12 months                   
 
 For each of these classes, two issues are selected, the two issues with the greatest value for the issue date. Their market value weights are then assigned with half of the total market value for the maturity class to each of the two issues. 
 
         [0167]     In the example below, the two issues with the greatest issue date are 91282BN9 and 91282BS8. The total market value for the maturity class is $139,373,027,472. Each of these two issues would use half of that, $69,686,513,736, to determine their weight.  
         [0168]     Treasury Bonds/Notes with Maturity 0 to 3 Months from Sep. 27, 2005  
                                                                                     CUSIP   Maturity Date   Issue Date   Coupon   Price   Face   Market Value                                912827V82   20051115   19951124   5.875   100.309   15,209,920,000   15,256,918,653       9128276N7   20051115   20001115   5.75   100.297   28,062,797,000   28,146,143,507       912828BL3   20050930   20030930   1.625   99.988   31,538,969,000   31,535,184,324       912828BN9   20051031   20031031   1.625   99.844   32,368,420,000   32,317,925,265       912828BS8   20051130   20031201   1.875   99.73   32,203,806,000   32,116,855,724                  
 
 Data Selection for Short Term US Federal Agency Bonds (CPMKTLA) 
 
         [0169]     The CPMKTLA is a selection of US Federal Agency issues. The CPMKTLA is broken into four maturity classes, two asset types, and five agency categories:  
                                       Maturity Classes   Asset Types   Agency Categories                   0 to 3 months   1000: Bond/   FNMA: Federal National Mortgage           Notes   Association (Fannie Mae)       3 to 6 months   5040: Discount   FHLMC: Federal Home Loan           Notes   Mortgage Corporation (Freddie               Mac)       6 to 9 months       FHLB: Federal Home Loan Banks       9 to 12 months        FFCB: Federal Farm Credit Banks               SLM: Student Loan Marketing               Association (Sallie Mae)                  
 
 The 5040 asset type, Discount Notes, only applies to short term issues. Only the five main agencies are included. The “Other” category is excluded. 
 
         [0170]     For the short term issues, there are two selection approaches. First, for the agencies with the Discount Notes, select one security, the one with the most recent issue date, for each of the four maturity classes. The market value weight of each selected security is the sum of the market values for all of the issues in the maturity class.  
         [0171]     For the 1000 asset type, Bond/Notes, select the two securities with the most recent issue date for each of the twenty maturity/agency combinations. The market value weight for each of the securities is one half the sum of the market values of the securities in the maturity-asset type-agency combination. In the event that there is only one issue available in a maturity-asset type-agency combination, then its market value is also the market value weight.  
         [0000]     Data Selection for Real-Time Bond Markets Index (CPMKTB)  
         [0172]     The CPMKTB is composed of securities with a maturity of one year or greater from the fixed income markets. The real-time security indexes for the CPMKTL are determined quarterly.  
         [0000]     Data Selection for Long Term US Corporate Bonds (CPMKTBCBO)  
         [0173]     The CPMKTBCBO is a selection of investment grade US corporate bonds with a maturity of one year or greater. There are two sets of selection criteria that are used for long term corporate bonds. The first applies to bonds with an industry type of  1010 ,  1020  or  1060 . It is a simplified grouping of just three maturity classes and two rating classes. The second applies to bonds with an industry type of  1030 ,  1040  or  1050 . It is the normal grouping of nine maturity classes and four rating classes.  
         [0174]     For the “simple” groupings, which apply to industry types  1010 ,  1020 , and  1060 , there are three maturity classes and two groups of ratings. As a result, there are six different maturity-ratings combinations. For each industry, two issues are selected from each of the six maturity-rating combinations, resulting in twelve issues per the three industry types and a total of 36 issues.  
                                                 Maturity Classes   Ratings                                1 to 4   years   Tier 1 &amp; 2       4 to 11.5   years   Tier 3 &amp; 4       11.5 or more   years                  
 
         [0175]     For the “normal” groupings, which apply to industry types  1030 ,  1040 , and  1050 , there are nine maturity classes and four ratings. As a result, there are 36 different maturity-ratings combinations. For each industry, two issues are selected from each of the 36 maturity-rating combinations, resulting in 72 issues per the three industry types and a total of 216 selected issues from these three industries.  
                                                 Maturity Classes   Ratings                                1 to 1.5   years   Tier 1       1.5 to 2.5   years   Tier 2       2.5 to 4   years   Tier 3       4 to 6   years   Tier 4       6 to 8.5   years       8.5 to 11.5   years       11.5 to 15   years       15 to 25   years       25 or more   years                  
 
 Each issue is also assigned a market value weight, which is equal to one half of the sum of the market values for all of the issues in the maturity-rating combination. In the case where there is only one issue within the maturity-rating combination for an industry, then it is the only issue selected and its market value is used as the market value weight. 
 
 Data Selection of: Long Term Mortgage Back Securities (CPMKTBMG) 
 
         [0176]     The CPMKTBMG is a selection of mortgage backed securities with a maturity greater than or equal to one year. There are nine maturity classes, nine specific coupon values and nine asset types.  
                                                         Maturity Classes   Coupons   Asset Types                                1 to 1.5   years   4.0   3000 (FHGOLD-15YR)       1.5 to 2.5   years   4.5   3020 (FHGOLD-30YR)       2.5 to 4   years   5.0   3035 (FHGOLD-5YR Balloon)       4 to 6   years   5.5   3040 (FHGOLD-7YR Balloon)       6 to 8.5   years   6.0   3205 (FNMA-15YR)       8.5 to 11.5   years   6.5   3215 (FNMA-30YR)       11.5 to 15   years   7.0   3235 (FNMA-7YR Balloon)       15 to 25   years   7.5   3300 (GNMA-15YR)       25 or more   years   8.0   3305 (GNMA-30YR)                  
 
 From each of the 729 maturity-coupon-asset type combinations, the two securities with the greatest factor and WAC are selected for that combination. Each of the selected securities is assigned a market value weight that is equal to one half of the total market value for all of the securities within that combination. If there is only one security available, then it is selected and assigned its own market value as the market value weight. 
 
 Data Selection for Long Term US Treasury Bonds/Notes (CPMKTBTBO) 
 
         [0177]     The CPMKTBTBO is a selection of treasury bonds and notes with a maturity greater than or equal to one year. The CPMKTLTBO is broken into nine maturity classes:  
                                         Maturity Classes                                1 to 1.5   years       1.5 to 2.5   years       2.5 to 4   years       4 to 6   years       6 to 8.5   years       8.5 to 11.5   years       11.5 to 15   years       15 to 25   years       25 or more   years                  
 
 For each of these classes, two issues are selected, the two issues with the greatest value for the Issue Date. Their market value weights are then assigned with half of the total market value for the maturity class to each of the two issues. If there is only one issue within the market class, then it is selected with a market value weight equal to its market value. 
 
 Data Selection for Long Term US Federal Agency Bonds (CPMKTBA) 
 
         [0178]     The CPMKTBA is a selection of US Federal Agency issues with a maturity one year or greater. The CPMKTBA is divided into nine maturity classes and six agency categories:  
                                                 Maturity Classes   Agency Categories                                1 to 1.5   years   FNMA: Federal National Mortgage Association               (Fannie Mae)       1.5 to 2.5   years   FHLMC: Federal Home Loan Mortgage               Corporation (Freddie Mac)       2.5 to 4   years   FHLB: Federal Home Loan Banks       4 to 6   years   FFCB: Federal Farm Credit Banks       6 to 8.5   years   SLM: Student Loan Marketing Association               (Sallie Mae)       8.5 to 11.5   years   Other: Other federal bond issues       11.5 to 15   years       15 to 25   years       25 or more   years                  
 
         [0179]     The selection of the CPMKTBA securities is identical to the process used to select securities with asset type 1000 for the CPMKTLA. The agency category “Other” is excluded from the selection process. For each of the 45 remaining maturity-agency combinations, two securities with the most recent issue date are selected and assign a market value weight of one half the total market value for all issues within that maturity-agency combination. In the event that there is only one security with a given maturity-agency combination, it is selected and assigned the market value weight of its own market value.  
         [0180]     Although described herein in terms of a preferred embodiment and a number of alternative embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that a number of changes can be made to the method of the present invention which do not change the manner in which the steps in the method function to achieve their intended result. All such changes are intended to fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention as set out in the following, non-limiting claims.