Patent ID: 7769663

Claim:
A method for computing a value for a global market index based on stock prices of publicly traded companies in a plurality of markets, each market corresponding to a at least one geographic region, comprising: determining, by a computer system, a minimum size range for the publicly traded companies for the index in terms of market capitalization, wherein the minimum size range has upper and lower bounds, wherein the computer system comprises a computer processor and a tangible memory, and wherein the computer system is in communication with a database that stores data regarding the publicly traded companies, wherein the minimum size range for each market is determined by: computing the lower bound for the minimum size range by multiplying a minimum size reference by a first factor, wherein the minimum size reference corresponds to a market capitalization of a publicly traded company in the market whose market capitalization is at a target percentile of market capitalization for the market for the index; and computing the upper bound for the minimum size range by multiplying the minimum size reference by a second factor, wherein the second factor is greater than the first factor; determining, by the computer system, a market coverage range for each geographic region of the market, wherein the market coverage range has upper limit market coverage percentile and lower limit market coverage percentile in terms of free float-adjusted market capitalization; determining, by the computer system, a two-dimensional target area, bounded by the upper and lower bounds of the minimum size and the upper and lower limits of the market coverage range; for each market that has one or more than one publicly traded company in the target area with (1) a market capitalization within the lower and upper bounds of the minimum size range and (2) a market capitalization within a market coverage range for the index, selecting, by the computer system, a threshold company from the one or more than one publicly traded company with a market capitalization meeting conditions (1) and (2) to be the smallest company, by market capitalization, in the index for the market; and computing the value of the index, by the computer system, based on market data for the companies comprising the index, wherein the companies comprising the index comprise, for each market, the threshold company for the market and publicly traded companies in the market having a market capitalization greater than the market capitalization of the threshold company.