The New Dow Jones Service Average

According to the S&P Dow Jones Indices 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.

I wonder if these guys were on drugs when the keepers of the Dow Jones industrial average gave the boot to Bank of America Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Alcoa Inc. and replaced them with the consumer and service related Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Visa Inc. and Nike Inc.  

Now there are only six companies in the Dow that make industrial stuff that lasts for more than a year namely, The Boeing Company, Caterpillar Inc., E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, General Electric Company, 3M Company and United Technologies Corp. The bulk of the Dow is now related to consumer and service companies to include food, financial and health care - along with three technology companies and two energy companies.

So we have the likes of Visa (and American Express Company). Nike, The Walt Disney Company, The Coca-Cola Company, The Home Depot, Inc., McDonald's Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. providing “straightforward view of the stock market and, by extension, the U.S. economy.” The “new” Dow needs a name change: to the Dow Jones Service Average.

No wonder China is winning -