<P> The Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index, or more simply the Wilshire 5000, is a market - capitalization - weighted index of the market value of all stocks actively traded in the United States . As of December 31, 2017, the index contained only 3,492 components . The index is intended to measure the performance of most publicly traded companies headquartered in the United States, with readily available price data, (Bulletin Board / penny stocks and stocks of extremely small companies are excluded). Hence, the index includes a majority of the common stocks and REITs traded primarily through New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, or the American Stock Exchange . Limited partnerships and ADRs are not included . It can be tracked by following the ticker ^ W5000 . </P> <Ul> <Li> The Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index was established by the Wilshire Associates in 1974, naming it for the approximate number of issues it included at the time . It was renamed the "Dow Jones Wilshire 5000" in April 2004, after Dow Jones & Company assumed responsibility for its calculation and maintenance . On March 31, 2009 the partnership with Dow Jones was terminated and the index returned to Wilshire Associates . </Li> <Li> The base value for the index was 1404.60 points on base date December 31, 1980, when it had a total market capitalization of $1,404.596 billion . On that date, each one - index - point change in the index was equal to $1 billion . However, index divisor adjustments due to corporate actions and index composition changes have changed the relationship over time, so that by 2005 each index point reflected a change of about $1.2 billion in the index's total market capitalization . </Li> <Li> The index increased tenfold in less than twenty years from its base date, peaking at a 20th - century closing record high of 14,751.64 points on March 24, 2000, a level that would not be surpassed until February 20, 2007 . A hypothetical investment in the Wilshire 5000, made at the 2000 peak and with subsequent dividends reinvested, did not become profitable on a closing basis until October 3, 2006 . </Li> <Li> On April 20, 2007, the index closed above 15,000 for the first time . On that day, the S&P 500 was still several percentage points below its March 2000 high, because small cap issues absent from the S&P 500 and included in the Wilshire 5000 outperformed the large cap issues that dominate the S&P 500 during the cyclical bull market . The index reached an all - time high on October 9, 2007 at the 15,806.69 point level, right before the onset of the Great Recession and the related financial crisis of 2007--08 . </Li> <Li> Since late 2007, the expansion of subprime lending difficulties into a wider financial crisis plunged the United States into a renewed bear market that accelerated beginning on September 15, 2008 . On October 8, the Wilshire 5000 closed below 10,000 for the first time since 2003 . The index continued trading downward towards a 13 - year low, reaching a bottom of 6,858.43 points, on March 9, 2009, representing a loss of about $10.9 trillion in market capitalization from its highs in 2007 . </Li> <Li> The Wilshire 5000 gained approximately $2.5 trillion in market value during the first 11 months of 2009 while the index rose 2,105 points . Therefore, as of November 2009, each index point represented about $1.2 billion in market value . </Li> <Li> The index achieved a new highest yearly close on December 31, 2012, a few percent above those of 1999 and 2007, but failed to do so above the 15,000 level (after achieving it intraday) by fewer than 5 points, closing with 14,995.11 points . However, it continued to rise in the short term such that, on February 8, 2013, the index surpassed the 16,000 level for the first time . It would be the first of four 1000 - point milestones that the index reached in 2013, as the index closed above 17,000 for the first time on May 3, 18,000 for the first time on August 1, and 19,000 for the first time on November 14 . The Wilshire 5000 would close out 2013 on a record high, finishing the December 31, 2013 trading session at 19,706.03 points . </Li> <Li> On February 28, 2014, the Wilshire 5000 had its first intraday high over 20,000 points . On March 4, the index closed above this milestone for the first time . On July 1, 2014, the index closed above the 21,000 level for the first time . </Li> </Ul>

How many stocks are in the wilshire 5000