Secrets about the S&P 500 Index that you should know

Read something about S&P 500

The whole article is here,

http://biz.yahoo.com/cbsm/070307/1b9c7d92295e4a0f91e2c8dd594d0f15.html

The following fact interests me.

"Indeed, the S&P 500 is a litmus test both for investors striving to outperform the market and those satisfied with market-matching results."

"An estimated $1.3 trillion is given to mutual funds and other portfolios directly tied to the benchmark."

"Another $4.5 trillion -- almost one-third of the U.S. market's $14 trillion value -- is deposited with investment firms that justify their fees by comparing their performance with S&P 500."

"'Did you beat the benchmark?' is the bottom line for mutual-fund managers and other investment professionals who trade larger-capitalization U.S. stocks. Just three in 10 managers in any given year can make that claim against the S&P 500."