The most often quoted stock market indicator is the Dow Jones Industrial
Average (DJIA). In 1884, Charles Dow averaged closing prices of 12
representative stocks and the DJIA was christened. Since then it has been
expanded to include 30 familiar blue chip companies to be more representative
of the country's largest companies.
The calculation is also changed to reflect stock splits. While this index
is not reflective of the entire stock market, watching changes in the DJIA
can help you stay abreast of current conditions.
Original Dow Stocks
American
Cotton Oil |
Laclede Gas |
American
Sugar |
National Lead |
American
Tobacco |
North American |
Chicago Gas
|
Tennessee Coal &
Iron |
Distilling
& Cattle Feeding |
U. S. Leather
preferred |
General
Electric |
U. S. Rubber |
Current DJIA Stocks
| 3M Company |
Honeywell International Inc. |
| Alcoa Inc. |
Intel |
| Altria Group, Incorporated |
International Business Machines |
| American Express |
J.P. Morgan Chase & Company |
| American International Group Inc.* |
Johnson & Johnson |
| Boeing Company |
McDonald's Corporation |
| Caterpillar Incorporated |
Merck & Company, Incorporated |
| Citicorp Incorporated |
Pfizer Incorporated* |
| Coca-Cola Company |
Microsoft Corporation |
| DuPont |
Proctor & Gamble Company |
| Exxon Mobil Corporation |
SBC Communications Incorporated |
| General Electric Company |
United Technologies Corporation |
| General Motors Corporation |
Verizon Communications Inc.* |
| Hewlett-Packard Incorporated |
Wal-Mart Stores Incorporated |
| Home Depot Incorporated |
Walt Disney Company |
* Added on April 8, 2004.
The DJIA is the most well known stock market indicator. However, the
S+P500 and NASDAQ indexes include a broader selection of stocks including
smaller companies.
