Benchmark and Example

noun

• A standard by which something can be measured or judged.
  • usage: "his painting sets the benchmark of quality"
• A surveyor's mark on a permanent object of predetermined position and elevation used as a reference point.
  • synonyms: bench mark

Originally a' Benchmark' was a surveyor's mark indicating a specific height above sea level. But it has come to have a much broader meaning in the world of investing. A stock market benchmark, for example, is an index or average whose movement is considered a general indicator of the direction of the overall market, against which investors and financial professionals often gauge their market expectations and judge the performance of individual stocks or market sectors. For example, the Standard & Poor's 500-stock Index (S&P 500) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are the most widely followed benchmarks, or indicators, of the US market. There are also benchmarks for international markets, and for other types of investments such as bonds, mutual funds, and commodities. In a somewhat different way, the changing yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond is also considered a benchmark of investor attitudes. For example, a lower yield is an indication that investors are putting money into bonds, driving up the price, possibly because they expect stock prices to drop.

noun

• An item of information that is typical of a class or group.
  • usage: "this patient provides a typical example of the syndrome"; "there is an example on page 10"
  • synonyms: illustration, instance, representative
• A representative form or pattern.
  • usage: "I profited from his example"
  • synonyms: model
• Something to be imitated.
  • usage: "an exemplar of success"; "a model of clarity"; "he is the very model of a modern major general"
  • synonyms: exemplar, model, good example
• Punishment intended as a warning to others.
  • usage: "they decided to make an example of him"
  • synonyms: deterrent example, lesson, object lesson
• An occurrence of something.
  • usage: "it was a case of bad judgment"; "another instance occurred yesterday"; "but there is always the famous example of the Smiths"
  • synonyms: case, instance
• A task performed or problem solved in order to develop skill or understanding.
  • usage: "you must work the examples at the end of each chapter in the textbook"
  • synonyms: exercise

• (n.) That which is to be avoided; one selected for punishment and to serve as a warning; a warning.
• (v.t.) To set an example for; to give a precedent for; to exemplify; to give an instance of; to instance.
• (n.) An instance serving for illustration of a rule or precept, especially a problem to be solved or a case to be determined, as an exercise in the application of the rules of any study or branch of science; as, in trigonometry and grammar, the principles and rules are illustrated by examples.
• (n.) That which resembles or corresponds with something else; a precedent; a model.
• (n.) One or a portion taken to show the character or quality of the whole; a sample; a specimen.
• (n.) That which is to be followed or imitated as a model; a pattern or copy.