Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA)

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) index is a measure of the 30 largest U.S. stocks and companies

The DJIA is an industry weighted average of thirty carefully picked stocks that over time have come to be the benchmark of the nation’s economy. The 30 companies that make up this index meet certain standards that are determined by the Dow Jones’ financial analysts, such as, a history of stable earnings or large market capitalization.

This idea was first written down in 1896 by Charles Dow as a couple of simple averages. Within a few decades, these averages came to serve its current purpose, and the entire financial world relies on these calculations. These calculations essentially are an average of the entire market capitalization, so back in the day the index consisted of twelve companies and their market values combined were divided by twelve. Presently, however, these companies engage in strategic maneuvers that change their market value and complicate calculations, therefore, the divisor is no longer twelve, as a matter of fact it was 0.1255 at the end of 2008. The Dow Jones also preserves continuity and relevance by changing the companies according to the shifts in the most prevalent industries; from railroads and steel to technology industries.

All Dow Jones Stocks

Company Ticker Market Cap
Apple AAPL 2.188T
Microsoft MSFT 1.869T
3M MMM 112.89B
Walgreens Boots Alliance WBA 48.15B
Dow Inc DOW 48.14B
Visa V 467.32B
JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM 465.48B
Johnson & Johnson JNJ 430.16B
Walmart WMT 394.67B
Travelers TRV 38.16B
UnitedHealth UNH 344.45B
Walt Disney DIS 344.41B
Home Depot HD 337.96B
Procter & Gamble PG 336.13B
Intel INTC 266.98B
Verizon VZ 244.72B
Coca-Cola CCEP 23.56B
Cisco CSCO 219.64B
Nike NKE 216.71B
Salesforce CRM 203.62B
Chevron CVX 199.7B
Merck MRK 191.77B
McDonald’s MCD 172.91B
Honeywell HON 152.45B
Boeing BA 148.93B
Amgen AMGN 143.87B
Caterpillar CAT 125.77B
IBM IBM 119.94B
American Express AXP 117.42B
Goldman Sachs GS 111.27B



See Also: DJIA Index Analysis