A number of so-called 'Internet indexes', some more prominent than others, keep track of the internet industry and related sectors. Some focus solely on the Internet; others survey a wider range of technology stocks; none are more than a few years old.

As big stocks soar ever higher, more money is drawn to mutual funds that mimic the performance of the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index. That money spurs the index's stocks higher, drawing in even more cash.

Or so the theory goes.

But according to Vanguard Group, the fund company that runs the Vanguard 500 Index Fund, which replicates the S&P 500, money is really going out of such investments, not in.

FTSE International launched its FTSE All-Small index on Nov. 30, 1998. The new index is designed to measure the performance of all fully listed UK smaller companies, a FTSE International press release said.

As big stocks soar ever higher, more money is drawn to mutual funds that mimic the performance of the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index. That money spurs the index's stocks higher, drawing in even more cash.

Or so the theory goes.

But according to Vanguard Group, the fund company that runs the Vanguard 500 Index Fund, which replicates the S&P 500, money is really going out of such investments, not in.