The Nasdaq 100 Index (NDX) is a basket of 100 of the largest companies listed and traded on the Nasdaq National Market (which is part of the Nasdaq Stock Market). The QQQQ is ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) that tracks the NASDAQ 100 Index. The NASDAQ Stock Market is based on market capitalization of the 100 of the largest domestic and international non-financial companies, including computer hardware and software, telecommunications, retail/wholesale trade and biotechnology. The NASDAQ 100 index was lunched in January 1985. The QQQQ started to trade since March 10, 1999.
The QQQQ is also known as "Qubes" which was previously traded on the Amex Stock Exchange under the QQQ symbol. On December 1, 2004, QQQ was moved to the NASDAQ Stock Market Exchange and was assigned a new ticket: QQQQ.
You may find NASDAQ 100 quotes and charts at
http://www.marketvolume.com/content/products/mktsum/mktsum_index_quotes.asp?ind=24
Basically, QQQQ is designed to follow the performance of the NASDAQ 100 Index. However, QQQQ does not always match the performance of the NASDAQ 100 Index.
At the current moment QQQQ is one of the most actively traded stocks on the market. There are several aspects that attract investors and speculators to this trading vehicle:
1. The same as the stock, the QQQQ shares could be bought using a margin and could be sold short.
2. Since QQQQ corresponds to the NASDAQ 100 index, it gives investors the ability to diversify the portfolio between 100 companies by buying one stock.
3. The QQQQ is one of the most active stocks on the market and due to its great liquidity it gives the ability to easily open and close the positions.
The options on the QQQQ are available on the Chicago Board Exchange.
Since the QQQQ tracks the NASDAQ 100 index, it's evident that the index technical analysis must be included into the QQQQ analysis and any trading system or trading strategy designed to trade QQQQ or QQQQ options should be mainly based on the NASDAQ 100 technical indicators.
