The Nasdaq "Super Round Number" Nobody's Watching

Though rarely mentioned in the financial media -- as compared to the focus on the PowerShares QQQ Trust (QQQ) and the Nasdaq Composite (COMP) -- the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) is the base index for QQQ, and is also the primary vehicle for futures trading on the Nasdaq.

Per the daily, hourly, and monthly chart views of the Naz 100 below, it failed in the final week of 2016 to overtake its March 2000 all-time high of 5,003 -- peaking in December at 4,994.50, and closing out the calendar year at 4,862.25. (Note that these values are those for the front-month Naz 100 futures -- so they can differ some from "cash" Naz 100, and the highs and lows may be reflective of trading in so-called "after-hours.")

On Friday, however, as CNBC issued "Breaking News" updates on the Dow's near-miss of 20,000, the Naz 100 futures quietly traded as high as 5,017.50 before closing at 5,004.75.

And it remains to be seen if 5,000 as "super round number" for Naz 100 will prove to be of greater import than the always-prominent Dow 20,000 -- but in the meantime, it seems pretty safe to say that, comparatively, "Naz 5,000" is being closely followed by next to no one.