One of Wall Street's favorite investment vehicles turns 25 years old on Sunday, but shows no signs of fading to the background as it ages. The Invesco QQQ Trust , which tracks the Nasdaq-100 Index and is often referred to by its ticker QQQ or simply as "the Qs," has become shorthand for growth stock investing since its launch on March 10, 1999.
Chip stocks Intel and Qualcomm were key in 1999, but were overshadowed by competitors Nvidia and Broadcom last year. The individual components of the fund also change over time, following the tweaks to the Nasdaq-100. Just last year, the index added 10 new stocks and did its third ever special rebalance, according to Nasdaq. Over the years, many key stocks have left the fund, including former top performers like Nextel Communications and Sun Microsystems, which were bought out.