Government Relief Index

I'm a few weeks late to this news release but thought it was pretty funny:

NASDAQ OMX Introduces a Government Relief Index

New Benchmark Tracks Companies That are Participating in the U.S. Government's Financial Relief Plan

NEW YORK, Jan. 8, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. today introduced the NASDAQ OMX Government Relief Index(sm) (Nasdaq:QGRI). The index enables investors to track the performance of U.S.-listed securities that are participating in U.S. government sponsored relief programs such as the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) or other direct government investments. The NASDAQ OMX Government Relief Index is the latest index launched by NASDAQ OMX Index Group and underscores its commitment to designing and calculating relevant world-class indexes.

"This Index allows taxpayers and other investors to measure the performance of U.S. companies that are participating in the government's financial relief plan," said NASDAQ OMX Executive Vice President John Jacobs. "We believe the NASDAQ OMX Government Relief Index will be useful in helping investors evaluate the government's investments and the impact of the relief plan on the economy during this period of historical significance."

The NASDAQ OMX Government Relief Index consists of companies across multiple industry groups that have received a direct investment from the U.S. Government greater than $1 billion. The Index is the first of the Government Relief Index Series that NASDAQ OMX will be launching in the coming weeks.

The Index is calculated in real-time across the combined exchanges and is disseminated in dollars. The index began calculation with a value of 1000.00 on January 5, 2009...