Wall Street Journal Introduces New "Wall Street Journal Dollar Index"

NEW YORK, July 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Wall Street Journal has introduced The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index to provide a more precise measure of the value of the U.S. dollar, an essential benchmark for traders and corporate treasurers who need to discern the true measure of investing abroad or domestically.

The WSJ Dollar Index was developed by the news team of DJ FX Trader, a specialized FX news service from Dow Jones, to further the service's mission to provide authoritative, high-value and actionable information to the FX community.

The WSJ Dollar Index is based on the latest data on total FX trading volume from the Bank for International Settlements, a supranational organization of central banks. The index includes the seven most traded currency pairs, which each account for at least one percent of total trading volume and combined cover $2 out of every $3 traded in currency markets. The currencies are weighted based on their proportion of volume within the group of currency pairs used in the index.

The methodology and data used for the index set it apart from some existing market metrics that are based on fewer currency pairs or weight currencies equally. The WSJ Dollar Index also captures the impact of asset flows on currency volumes, which have in recent decades become a crucial part of currency movements. (Watch video of the index's creators, Vincent Cignarella and Stephen L. Bernard, discussing the methodology and use cases at http://www.dowjones.com/pressroom/smprs/WSJDollarIndexVideo.asp.)

Javier Paz, senior analyst for Aite Group, says: "The WSJ Dollar Index methodology is centered around the right currency pairs and the right weights to capture the dollar's strength or weakness. It is a very effective way for investors to gauge broad dollar sentiment."

Robert Thomson, editor-in-chief of Dow Jones & Company and managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, added: "The dollar defines and determines values across the world each day, so it is crucial to divine the value of the dollar itself. No currency is an island and the dollar's value is ultimately measured by its relationship with other key international currencies – we have blended those pairs and weighted their worth to bring a more precise measure of the dollar's value to the forex market."

To view the WSJ Dollar Index, visit http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303919504577525182826023196.html. The ticker symbol is BUXX. For background information on the index including the methodology, a historical analysis and a view of how the index compares to other market metrics, visit http://www.dowjones.com/pressroom/smprs/WSJDollarIndex.asp.

DJ FX Trader is a premium news service and information platform that provides exclusive news, analysis and commentary to help customers better direct their market and currency trading strategies. For more information on DJ FX Trader, visit www.dowjones.com/pr/djfxtrader.

Follow DJ FX Trader on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/djfxtrader.

About The Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal is the world's leading business publication with more than two million subscribers and is the largest U.S. newspaper by total paid circulation. The Wall Street Journal franchise comprises The Wall Street Journal, The Wall Street Journal Asia and The Wall Street Journal Europe. The Wall Street Journal Online at WSJ.com, the leading provider of business and financial news and analysis on the Web with more than one million digital subscribers and 34 million visitors per month worldwide. WSJ.com is the flagship site of The Wall Street Journal Digital Network, which also includes MarketWatch.com, Barrons.com, AllThingsD.com and SmartMoney.com. The Journal holds 34 Pulitzer Prizes for outstanding journalism, and, in 2012, was ranked No. 1 in BtoB's Media Power 50 for the 13th consecutive year.

About Dow Jones

Dow Jones & Company is a global provider of news and business information and a developer of technology to deliver content to consumers and organizations across multiple platforms. Dow Jones produces newspapers, newswires, Web sites, apps, newsletters, magazines, proprietary databases, conferences, radio and video. Its premier brands include The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Newswires, Factiva, Barron's, MarketWatch, SmartMoney and All Things D. Its information services combine technology with news and data to support business decision making. The company pioneered the first successful paid online news site and its industry leading innovation enables it to serve customers wherever they may be, via the Web, mobile devices and tablets. The Dow Jones Local Media Group publishes community newspapers, Web sites and other products in six U.S. states. Dow Jones & Company (www.dowjones.com) is a News Corporation company (NASDAQ: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV; www.newscorp.com).

SOURCE Dow Jones & Company