      The S&P 500 index is a capitalization-weighted index (each stock'smarket price is multiplied by the total number of outstanding shares inthat company) with an aggregate market value of approximately 80 percent ofthe value of all NYSE listed securities. When originally created, a baseindex was created with a value of 100. The current index price is derivedby comparing the current market value of all firms in the index with thatof the base period. The S&P 500 futures index is a commodity contract thatis based on the S&P 500 cash index. It represents the "obligation todeliver" the value of the index on a certain future date (the expirationdate).