This ETF Might Look Like a Clever New Way to Invest in the Nasdaq-100, but Don't Outsmart Yourself

Group 1: Market Index Overview - The S&P 500 is the primary measure of broad stock performance, but there are other indexes and variations that can be confusing for investors [1] - The Dow Jones Industrial Average is flawed as it weights constituents by stock price, leading to a skewed representation of market performance [2] - The S&P 500 uses a market cap-weighting methodology, making it more representative of the U.S. economy compared to the Dow [3] Group 2: Equal Weighting vs. Market Cap Weighting - The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF allows each company to impact performance equally, which has historically outperformed the regular S&P 500 index [4][5] - The Nasdaq-100 index consists of the 100 largest companies in the Nasdaq Composite and is also market cap-weighted, but its construction differs significantly from the S&P 500 [6] - The Direxion NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index Shares has underperformed compared to the market cap-weighted Nasdaq-100 index [7] Group 3: Performance Analysis - Both equal-weighted and market cap-weighted indexes have experienced similar price drawdowns, indicating comparable risk [8] - Investors in the Direxion Nasdaq-100 Equal Weighted Index Shares face less reward with the same level of risk, which is not an advantageous trade-off [9] - Equal weighting benefits the S&P 500 by allowing smaller companies to have equal impact, but this logic does not apply well to the Nasdaq-100, which focuses on the largest companies [10] Group 4: Investment Recommendations - For those looking to invest in the Nasdaq-100, it is advisable to choose a straightforward ETF like the Invesco Nasdaq 100 ETF, rather than attempting to apply equal weighting [11]