Sometimes I find myself watching the Dow (like today) and hoping it can go up otherwise “the market is in trouble.” Then I kick myself and try to remember how silly this index is in today’s world.
The Dow is made up of some of the worst moving companies in the world. In their search for stability, the Dow has given us consistent lethargy instead. Since the Dow is still the key index that drives all news, people get a very false impression of “what the market is doing” by overemphasizing this index.
We have companies with unions problems aplenty, companies that are generally over 100 years old with most of their growth behind them, companies with hundreds of thousands of employees who are, for the most part, ill suited in today’s rapidly changing business environment.
Some of these companies cancel each other out, like Dupont and Exxon, while others are practically twins: VZ/SBC, Pfizer/Merk, Citigroup/JPM, UTX/BA, P&G/J&J…
If this were your virtual portfolio, you would surely want to swap either Merk of Pfizer with DNA or GENZ. Altria has been in years of litigation and should have gone years ago. Disney, MSFT, IBM, KO and INTC all dominate spaces in such a way that real growth is hardly possible.
I would certainly replace GM with Toyota but I’m sure I would be arrested under some clause in the patriot act. The reality is that Toyota will soon employ more Americans than GM.
So don’t let the Dow get you down but also remember, it has that effect on everyone else. On a day like today when I am hoping for a turnaround, I watch the Nasdaq and the S&P – the Dow is a follower of those stocks, it hasn’t been a leader since the 70’s.
DJIA Components:
SBC – SBC Communications
GM – General Motors
MO – Altria
MRK – Merck
VZ – Verizon
JPM – JP Morgan Chase
C – Citigroup
DD – DuPont
PFE – Pfizer
GE – General Electric
KO – Coca-Cola
HON – Honeywell
XOM – ExxonMobil
BA – Boeing
AA – Alcoa
PG – Procter & Gamble
JNJ – Johnson & Johnson
MMM – 3M
MCD – McDonald’s
CAT – Caterpillar
HPQ – Hewlett-Packard
INTC – Intel
UTX – United Technologies
MSFT – Microsoft
WMT – Wal-Mart
DIS – Disney
AXP – American Express
HD – Home Depot
IBM – International Business Machines
AIG – American International Group
