Wal-Mart Supplier Index

Maybe being a Wal-Mart supplier isn't so tough after all. A Reuters story notes that the International Securities Exchange launched an index to track companies earning a significant portion of revenue by supplying Wal-Mart. The "relationship-based" index is the only such one known to exist and includes 30 companies - General Mills and Energizer Holdings were the only two mentioned - with annual revenues from Wal-Mart ranging from 16% to 74% of their gross sales. For produce suppliers, Wal-Mart told The Packer in the past it doesn't want to account for more than 20% of sales for any one supplier, but I'm sure there are a number of produce companies above that threshold as they supply the world's largest retailer. One interesting aside; if calculated since 2002, the supplier index would be up 40%, while Wal-Mart's own stock has dipped 15%.