Nasdaq-100 Adds and Removes Stocks

The Nasdaq Stock Market said late Friday that, as a part of its annual re-ranking of its component stocks, the following 5 stocks are to be removed from the Nasdaq-100 Index effective Monday, Dec 24th. The Nasdaq-100 Index is composed of the 100 largest non-financial stocks on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

The removed stocks are (Friday's closing value in parenthesis):
LM Ericsson Telephone Company (ERIC, $24.31, -0.69, -2.8%) ,
XM Satellite Radio Holdings (XMSR, $13.55, -0.44, -3.1%),
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST, $25.01, -0.47, -1.8%) ,
Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. (PTEN, $19.86, -0.35, -1.7%),
Sepracor Inc. (SEPR, $24.95, -0.20, -0.8%).

The following stocks will replace the above 5:
Hologic, Inc. (HOLX, $65.20, +0.66, +1.0%, No Dividend) is a developer, manufacturer and supplier of diagnostic and medical imaging systems primarily serving the healthcare needs of women.
Focus Media Holding Ltd (FMCN, $57.80, +1.30, +2.3%, No Dividend) operates an out-of-home advertising network in China using audiovisual television displays instead of traditional billboards to broadcast advertising.
Hansen Natural Corp. (HANS, $47.70, +0.31, +0.7%, No Dividend) develops, markets, sells and distributes 'alternative' beverage category natural sodas, fruit juices, energy drinks, sparkling lemonades and orangeades, non-carbonated ready-to-drink iced teas, lemonades, etc under the Hansen's and other brand names.
Steel Dynamics, Inc. (STLD, $54.64, -0.96, -1.7%; Dividend yield 1.10%) is a steel manufacturing company that owns and operates three steel producing mini-mills with an estimated combined annual production capacity of 4.2 million tons.
Stericycle, Inc. (SRCL, $59.26, +0.04, +0.1%, No Dividend) has a fully integrated, national medical waste management network including 45 treatment/collection centers and 105 additional transfer and collection sites.

As usual, you may find activities of selling in 'removed' stocks and 'buying' in 'added' ones on Monday.

Three New iShares ETFs for Global Investment

Three new iShares exchange traded funds (ETFs) began trading on NYSE Arca today. The funds provide investors with an opportunity to participate in global growth prospects and access innovation in developing marketplaces, the company said.

iShares MSCI EAFE Small Cap Index Fund (SCZ): Tracks the performance of 40% of the eligible small cap universe in each industry group of the iShares MSCI EAFE Small Cap Index. As of June, 2007, the MSCI EAFE Index consisted of the following 21 developed market country indexes: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

iShares S&P Global Infrastructure Index Fund (IGF): Tracks the performance of the iShares S&P Global Infrastructure Index which measures stocks of large infrastructure companies around the world including companies involved in utilities, energy and transportation infrastructure, management or ownership of oil and gas storage and transportation; airport services; highways and rail tracks; marine ports and services; and electric, gas and water utilities.

iShares MSCI Kokusai Index Fund (TOK): Tracks the performance of the iShares MSCI Kokusai Index which is designed to measure equity market performance in those countries that MSCI has classified as having developed economies, excluding Japan ("DEEJ"). As of June 2006, the MSCI Kokusai Index consisted of the following 22 country indexes: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Four New ETFs from FocusShares

FocusShares LLC, a new player in Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) market, listed 4 new ETFs on the NYSE Arca platform :

FocusShares ISE-CCM Homeland Security Index Fund (MYP): Companies dealing with security issues and having contracts with the Department of Homeland Security. Expense ratio: 0.60%. This sector is not as hot as it used to be a few years back after 911 but it is the first homeland security ETF. A similar ETF is PowerShares' Aerospace and Defense ETF (PPA), which tracks a broader portfolio of defense companies.

FocusShares ISE SINdex Fund (PUF): Companies involved in casinos, liquor and cigarettes. Expense ratio: 0.60%. Also, note that PUF is an equally weighted fund, while others follow a modified market-cap structure. This ETF is very similar to the Vice Fund (VICEX), an actively managed fund with a five-star rating from Morningstar but with expense ratio of 1.75%.

FocusShares ISE Homebuilders Index Fund (SAW): Companies focused on the residential home construction and prefabricated housing market. Expense ratio: 0.35%. It will have to face tough competition from two other already-established ETFs: the SPDR Homebuilders ETF (XHB) and the iShares Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction ETF (ITB).

FocusShares ISE-REVERE Wal-Mart Supplier Index Fund (WSI): Companies that derive a large portion of their revenues from sales to Wal-Mart. This includes household names like Kellogg and Mattel. Interestingly, the index has significantly outperformed Wal-Mart itself and provides an interesting alternative to investment in retail sector. Expense ratio: 0.60%.