Semi-Annual Changes to the NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index

NEW YORK, Sept. 16, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. NDAQ and Clean Edge, Inc. announced today the results of the semi-annual evaluation of the NASDAQ^® Clean Edge^® Green Energy Index CELS, which will become effective prior to market open on Monday, September 23, 2013.

The following twelve securities will be added to the Index: Aixtron SE AIXG, Ameresco, Inc. AMRC, Capstone Turbine Corporation CPST, Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital, Inc. HASI, ITC Holdings Corp. ITC, JA Solar Holdings, Co., Ltd. JASO, JinkoSolar Holding Company Limited JKS, PowerSecure International, Inc. POWR, Rubicon Technology, Inc. RBCN, Revolution Lighting Technologies, Inc. RVLT, SolarCity Corporation SCTY, and Silver Spring Networks, Inc. SSNI.   

The Index is designed to track the performance of clean-energy companies that are publicly traded in the U.S. The Index includes companies engaged in the manufacturing, development, distribution, and installation of emerging clean-energy technologies such as solar photovoltaics, biofuels and advanced batteries. The five major sub-sectors that the index covers are Renewable Electricity Generation, Renewable Fuels, Energy Storage & Conversion, Energy Intelligence and Advanced Energy-Related Materials. The securities must also meet other eligibility criteria which include minimum requirements for market value, average daily share volume, and price. The NASDAQ^® Clean Edge^® Green Energy Index is re-ranked semi-annually in March and September. For more information about the NASDAQ^® Clean Edge^® Green Energy Index, including detailed eligibility criteria, visit https://indexes.nasdaqomx.com/.

The NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index is the basis for the First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund QCLN, which seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield of the NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index before fees and expenses. 

As a result of the evaluation, the following five securities will be removed from the Index: American Superconductor Corporation AMSC, EMCORE Corporation EMKR, ESCO Technologies Inc. ESE, KiOR, Inc. KIOR, and Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. STP.

About NASDAQ OMX Global Indexes

NASDAQ OMX Global Indexes has been creating innovative, market-leading, transparent indexes since 1971. Today, our index offering spans geographies and asset classes and includes diverse families such as the Dividend Achievers, Global, Nordic, Green Economy, Sharia and Commodity Indexes. We continuously offer new opportunities for financial product sponsors across a wide-spectrum of investable products and for asset managers to measure risk and performance. NASDAQ OMX Global Indexes also provides custom index services and design solutions to selected financial organizations. For more information about NASDAQ OMX Global Indexes, visit indexes.nasdaqomx.com.

Daily index values, weightings and historical data for NASDAQ OMX indexes are available via NASDAQ OMX Global Index Watch and NASDAQ OMX Global Index Data Service.

About NASDAQ OMX Group

The inventor and transformer of the electronic exchange, The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc., fuels economies with revolutionary technologies for the entire lifecycle of a trade - from risk management to trade to surveillance to clearing. In the US and Europe, we own and operate 24 markets, 3 clearinghouses and 6 central securities depositories supporting equities, options, fixed income, derivatives, commodities, futures and structured products. Able to traffic more than 1 million messages per second at sub-80 microsecond speeds with 99.999% uptime, our technology drives more than 70 exchanges in 50 developed and emerging countries into the future, powering 1 in 10 of the world's securities transactions. Our award-winning data products and worldwide indexes are the benchmarks in the financial industry. Home to 3,300 listed companies worth $5.1 trillion in market cap whose innovations shape our world, we give the ideas of tomorrow access to capital today. Welcome to where the world takes a big leap forward, daily.  Welcome to the NASDAQ OMX Century.  To learn more, visit www.nasdaqomx.com. Follow us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/NASDAQ) and Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/nasdaqomx). NDAQ

About Clean Edge, Inc.

Clean Edge, Inc., founded in 2000, is the world's first research and advisory firm devoted to the clean-tech sector. Clean Edge managing director Ron Pernick and senior editor Clint Wilder released their latest book, Clean Tech Nation (HarperCollins) in September 2012, offering a bipartisan Seven Point Action Plan for Repowering America (www.cleantechnation.com). For more than a decade, the firm has delivered timely data, expert analysis, and comprehensive insights to governments, corporations, investors, foundations, and nonprofits. The company offers an unparalleled suite of index, benchmarking, and advisory services, including the U.S. Clean Tech Leadership Index which tracks states and metro activity, sponsored publications including the annual Clean Energy Trends report, utility clean-energy benchmarking reports and analysis, and clean-tech stock indexes with NASDAQ. To keep abreast of the latest clean-tech news; access industry reports; learn more about Clean Edge, or sign up for the firm's free e-newsletters; visit www.cleanedge.com.

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