(MONEY Magazine) – This table ranks the 40 largest U.S. metropolitan areas according to how well stocks of companies based in them have performed. MONEY compiled it using indexes of selected stocks from the individual cities. Each index incorporates the stocks of at least 10 major companies based within 100 miles of a city's center. Unlike the stocks cited in the accompanying story, those here are often not rooted in their local economies. Many, in fact, have multinational operations. Ranking is by the index changes over the latest year, in most cases ending on June 30.

CHART: NOT AVAILABLE CREDIT: Sources: Baltimore Sun, Boston Herald, Caldwell & Orkin, Charlotte Observer, Dain Bosworth, Dallas Morning News, Dunham & Associates, Dun's Business Rankings, Fielding Index, Florida Stock Index, Hambrecht & Quist, Houston Post, Indianapolis Star, Johnston Lemon, Kansas City Star, Los Angeles Daily News, Memphis Commercial Appeal, Milwaukee Sentinel, New Orleans Times- Picayune, Newport Securities, Oakland Tribune, Ohio Co., Pittsburgh Press, Portland Oregonian, Raymond James Financial, Sacramento Bee, Salt Lake City Tribune, San Antonio Light, San Francisco Chronicle, St. Louis Investment Advisors, Trenton Times, Waddell & Reed. Indexes for cities without any were created for MONEY by Nordby International. CAPTION: Rating the top 40 towns