Nifty Fifty

The 50 stocks that were most favored by institutional investors in the 1960s and 1970s. Companies in this group were usually characterized by consistent earnings growth and high P/E ratios.

Investopedia Says:
The nifty-50 stocks got their notoriety in the bull markets of the 1960s and early 1970s. They became known as "one-decision" stocks because investors were told they could buy and hold forever.

Examples of nifty-50 stocks included General Electric, Coca-Cola, and IBM. However, part of this list included companies that have been troubled in the last decade, such as Xerox and Polaroid.

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50 stocks most favored by institutions. The membership of this group is constantly changing, although companies that continue to produce consistent earnings growth over a long time tend to remain institutional favorites. Nifty Fifty stocks also tend to have higher than market average price/earnings ratios, since their growth prospects are well recognized by institutional investors. The Nifty Fifty stocks were particularly famous in the bull markets of the 1960s and early 1970s, when many of the price/earnings ratios soared to 50 or more. See also Price/Earnings Ratio.

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This article refers to an informal investing term. For the Indian stock index, see S&P CNX Nifty. For the motor scooter, see the Honda Spree. For the Canon lens, see EF 50mm f/1.8 II.

Nifty Fifty was an informal term used to refer to 50 popular large cap stocks on the New York Stock Exchange in the 1960s and 1970s that were widely regarded as solid buy and hold growth stocks.

The fifty are credited with propelling the bull market of the early 1970s. Most are still solid performers, although a few are now defunct or otherwise worthless.

Characteristics

The stocks were often described as "one-decision", as they were viewed as extremely stable, even over long periods of time.

The most common characteristic by the constituents were solid earnings growth for which these stocks were assigned extraordinary high price-earnings ratios. Fifty times earnings was not uncommon.

NIFTY means National Index for Fifty

NYSE Nifty Fifty constituents

• American Express
• American Home Products
• AMP Inc.
• Anheuser-Busch
• Avon Products
• Baxter International
• Black & Decker
• Bristol-Myers
• Burroughs Corporation
• American Hospital Supply Corp.
• Chesebrough-Ponds
• The Coca-Cola Company
• Digital Equipment Corporation
• Dow Chemical
• Eastman Kodak
• Eli Lilly and Company
• Emery Air Freight
• First National City Bank
• General Electric
• Gillette
• Halliburton
• Heublein Brewing Company
• IBM
• International Flavors and Fragrances
• International Telephone and Telegraph
• J.C. Penney
• Johnson & Johnson
• Louisiana Land and Exploration
• Lubrizol
• Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing (3M)
• McDonald's
• Merck & Co.
• MGIC Investment Corporation
• PepsiCo
• Pfizer
• Philip Morris Cos.
• Polaroid
• Procter & Gamble
• Revlon
• Schering Plough
• Joe Schlitz Brewing
• Schlumberger
• Sears, Roebuck and Company
• Simplicity Patterns
• Squibb
• S.S. Kresge
• Texas Instruments
• Upjohn
• The Walt Disney Company
• Xerox

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