May 9, 2006
NASDAQ and Clean Edge Launch Clean Energy Index
New York & Oakland/Portland – May 9, 2006 – The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. (NASDAQ®; NASDAQ: NDAQ) and Clean Edge, Inc. today announced plans to launch the NASDAQ® Clean Edge® U.S. Index, an innovative and powerful tool for clean-energy investing. Clean Edge is a leading research and publishing firm that helps companies, investors and policymakers understand and profit from clean technologies. NASDAQ will begin disseminating the index on May 18.
The NASDAQ Clean Edge U.S. Index is designed to track the performance of clean-energy companies that are publicly traded in the U.S. The NASDAQ Clean Edge U.S. Index includes companies engaged in the manufacturing, development, distribution, and installation of emerging clean-energy technologies such as solar photovoltaics, biofuels and advanced batteries. The five major sub-sectors that the index will cover are Renewable Electricity Generation, Renewable Fuels, Energy Storage & Conversion, Energy Intelligence and Advanced Energy-Related Materials.
“This index will bring much needed attention, focus and definition to a sector that is already playing a lead role in addressing the global energy crisis,” said NASDAQ Executive Vice President John Jacobs. “It is fitting for NASDAQ and Clean Edge to offer this important index, as we promote innovation, forward thinking and high technology — traits that characterize the companies in this new index.”
“Clean Edge has been tracking the growth of clean-energy markets and companies for more than five years,” explains Ron Pernick, Co-Founder and Principal of Clean Edge, Inc. “We are honored to be partnering with such an esteemed partner as NASDAQ and believe this index represents the further advancement, maturing, and mainstreaming of the clean-energy sector.”
The NASDAQ Clean Edge U.S. Index is calculated using a modified market capitalization methodology. The index will be calculated and disseminated on a price return basis (NASDAQ: CLEN) and a total return basis (NASDAQ: CLNX).
NASDAQ enhanced its longstanding capabilities as an index provider last year by launching a state-of-the-art indexing platform. It is built upon NASDAQ’s industry-leading technology platform. All existing NASDAQ indexes are calculated on this platform, including the world renownedNASDAQ-100 Index®, NASDAQ Financial-100 Index® and the NASDAQ Composite Index®.
The index platform greatly expands NASDAQ’s indexing capabilities, enabling NASDAQ to calculate and disseminate an unlimited number of indexes on a real-time basis. In addition to both total return and price return indexes, NASDAQ can calculate and disseminate indexes that include securities listed on NASDAQ, the New York Stock Exchange and the American Stock Exchange. NASDAQ has been a leading index provider since 1971 and is committed to providing relevant strategy indexes and services to all investors.
About Clean Edge
Clean Edge, Inc., with offices in Oakland, Calif. and Portland, Ore., is a leading research and publishing firm that helps companies, investors, and policymakers understand and profit from clean technologies. Through its research and reports, conferences and events, online publications, and strategic consulting services, Clean Edge tracks and analyzes clean-tech markets, trends, and opportunities. Launched in 2001 by environmental and high-tech business pioneers Ron Pernick and Joel Makower, Clean Edge and its network of partners and affiliates offer unparalleled insight and intelligence. For more information, visit www.cleanedge.com.
About NASDAQ
NASDAQ® is the largest electronic screen-based equity securities market in the United States. With approximately 3,200 companies, it lists more companies and, on average, trades more shares per day than any other U.S. market. It is home to companies that are leaders across all areas of business including technology, retail, communications, financial services, transportation, media and biotechnology. NASDAQ is the primary market for trading NASDAQ-listed stocks. For more information about NASDAQ, visit the NASDAQ Web site at www.nasdaq.com or the NASDAQ Newsroom at www.nasdaq.com/newsroom/.