Dinner Topics » Dow Jones

Dow above 11,000

admin — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 17:13:00 +0000

Call this one a lunch topic. If you run into someone and they’re asking how the market’s doing, you can tell them the Dow is above 11,000. Then give them some perspective.

On March 9, 2009, just 13 months ago, the Dow closed at 6547. At its current level (11,022), we are talking about a 68% increase! Unfortunately, by the time the market became cheap enough to begin investing again, few people had the money to actually invest.

Read on:

Bloomberg.com

Dow flirts with 10,000

admin — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:58:38 +0000

Back in February, Dinner Topics gave you the quick rundown on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. After dropping to as low as 6,470 in early March, the Dow is now flirting with 10,000 – just 15 points away as of this post. When the 10,000 is eventually passed, you can tell everyone that the market is a ridiculous 54.5% higher than its low just 7 1/2 months earlier.

Of course, when 1 out of every 10 people you tell this to are still unemployed and your salary is currently still in the dumps, no one’s going to want to hear how a simple $10,000 investment in a Dow index fund in the spring would have made a quick $5,000 already. That’s the horrible reality of the economy – the best buys are usually available when no one has the money to invest.

Whether you’ve made money or not on this recent upswing, at least you have some numbers at your disposal for your next dinner party, even if it’s just chili night instead of a trip to that fancy steakhouse down the street.

Read on:

TheStreet.com – DJIA quote

(graph taken from http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/stocks/movers_index_dow.html)

Dow(n) Jones Average

admin — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 03:52:55 +0000

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed today at its lowest level since October, 2002. You frequently hear that phrase, or simply “the Dow” on the news, but what does it really mean? Dow Jones publishes many indexes, but the most popular and easiest to reference is the Dow Jones Industrial Average (or DJIA). The DJIA is an index of just 30 stocks, but they are selected as a way to properly reflect the overall U.S. market and the economy. When a company becomes less relevant (such as Goodyear Tire), it may be removed and replaced by something more reflective of the current overall market (Intel, Microsoft, etc.). Also, the index began in 1896 with just 12 stocks, expanded to 20, then to 30 in 1928. (Source: djaverages.com)

“Roughly two-thirds of the DJIA’s 30 component companies are manufacturers of industrial and consumer goods. The others represent industries as diverse as financial services, entertainment and information technology. Even so, the DJIA today serves the same purpose for which it was created – to provide a clear, straightforward view of the stock market and, by extension, the U.S. economy.” (Source: djaverages.com)

All of the stocks in the DJIA index are well known and actively traded, including Proctor & Gamble, Coca-Cola, ExxonMobil, and WalMart to name a few. Because of splits, stock additions, removals, etc., the numbers in the index (currently sitting at 7,465) are arrived using a divisor from the actual point fluctuations of the underlying stocks. Currently, a 1-point move in a Dow stock accounts for about 8 points in the DJIA. (Source: djaverages.com)

Other popular U.S. indexes are the NASDAQ (over 3,000 stocks) and the S&P 500 (yes, 500 stocks).

Bonus info: Finance reporters and people in the industry are afraid to say anything is “down” which implies losing money, so you’ll often hear the phrase “the Dow is OFF 100 points.” ”Off” means “down” but nobody says “on” – it’s still just “up.”

Read on:

djaverages.com – DJIA Overview

djaverages.com – Calculating the Averages

CNNMoney.com – Current 30 stocks in the DJIA