The success of the Harry Potter franchise has snowballed since the first of many Harry Potter books, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone", by J. K. Rowling, was first published in 1997. With the addition of movies, toys, games and other accessories, Harry Potter has created an industry generating billions of dollars in sales. With each new book edition or movie release, StockPickr believes investors can benefit by investing in companies involved with Harry Potter branded items.
The Harry Potter Stock Index includes such firms as Scholastic (Nasdaq:SCHL), who publishes the Harry Potter books, and Time Warner (NYSE:TWX), the series movie producer. Even Amazon (Nasdaq:AMZN) is included, where Potter books are best sellers. Hasbro (NYSE:HAS), Motorola (NYSE:MOT), Electronic Arts (Nasdaq:ERTS) and Coca Cola (NYSE:KO) are a few other related companies included in the index.
Is this a real stock index, like the S&P 500? Not really. It's more of a tongue-in-cheek version of a stock index. Note that stock portfolios and financial terms that are tied to celebrities tend to have a short shelf life, depending on how long the buzz lasts. For example, consider the term Bo Derek, which was most popular in the early 1980s, after the movie "10" first came out.
Investment dictionary. Academic. 2012.