Courtesy of Doug Short.
I’ve received several emails regarding my switch from the DAX to the DAXK for my weekly world markets update. The substitution was suggested by Joerg Willig, a finance professional in Germany, who pointed out that the more widely recognized DAX is a total return index whereas DAXK is a price-only version of the same index. Thus the substitution gives us an “apples to apples” comparison with the other world indexes.
The emails generally asked about the difference between the two German indexes. The first chart below shows the percentage change of the two from the March 6th 2009 interim low to the end of 2011. Over that timeframe, the DAXK was up 48.9% but, with the dividends added in, the DAX was up 65.2% — a difference of 16.3%.
The next two charts show the eight indexes in my weekend update, first with the DAX (through the end of 2011), and then with the DAXK (through this past weekend).
Tip: Click the first chart for a larger version, and then use the blue links at the top to toggle between the two. As you’ll see, Germany’s benchmark index looks quite different in comparison to the other indexes when we look at price only.
Thanks again to Joerg Willig for suggesting the change.
