The chart above is of the US Nasdaq Composite index. The Nasdaq was founded in 1971 as the world's first electronic exchange and attracted many exciting companies including technology businesses to list there. It has a current market value around $10 trillion making it the world's second largest exchange by value after the New York Stock Exchange. The index includes all the shares listed on the Nasdaq, which means it has around 3,300 constituents. It started at 100 in 1971 and is currently 8,634.51. At the February peak it was up nearly 100-fold on its starting level.
