What is the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA)?
The DJIA is an index of 30 substantial stocks that are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq. It was designed to indicate the broad activity of the U.S. economy, and reflect its overall performance.
Only about 120 businesses, out of millions, have ever earned designation as Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks in the index's 123-year history. There, they've served as reflections of the nation's overall market health.
When index founder Charles Dow first calculated the Dow average in 1896, he used only 12 components, and each was an industrial stock.
But times have changed.
In 1916, 12 Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks grew to 20 – presumably reflecting the rapid growth of the U.S. economy. In 1928, 20 increased to 30, where it remains today.
The DJIA components have expanded from industrial stocks to substantial enterprises from various sectors like tech, energy, retail, healthcare, and more.
How Companies Make the Dow Jones Industrial Stocks List
The Averages Committee, which includes the managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, the head of Dow Jones Indexes research, and the head of CME Group research, determine which components become a part of the DJIA.
There are no set rules the Averages Committee must follow when selecting Dow components, only broad parameters to ensure those companies represent a large portion of the overall economic performance in the United States.
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Each average is reviewed at least once annually, but composition changes are rare for the sake of continuity. Since its beginnings in May of 1896, the Dow Jones stocks list has only changed 54 times. As of June 2018, the last remaining company of the original 12 components of the DJIA, General Electric (GE), was replaced by Walgreens Boots Alliance.
List of the Current Dow Jones Industrial Average Stocks
Here is the current list of all 30 DJIA companies, including each company’s ticker symbol…
The 3M Company (MMM)
The American Express Company (AXP)
Apple Inc. (AAPL)
The Boeing Company (BA)
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT)
Chevron Corporation (CVX)
Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO)
The Coca-Cola Company (KO)
DowDuPont Inc.(DWDP)
Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM)
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS)
The Home Depot Inc. (HD)
International Business Machines Corporation (IBM)
Intel Corporation (INTC)
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)
McDonald’s Corporation (MCD)
Merck & Company, Inc. (MRK)
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)
Nike, Inc. (NKE)
Pfizer Inc. (PFE)
Proctor & Gamble Co. (PG)
The Travelers Companies, Inc. (TRV)
UnitedHealth Group, Inc. (UNH)
United Technologies Corporation (UTX)
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ)
Visa Inc. (V)
Walmart Inc. (WMT)
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA)
The Walt Disney Company (DIS)
Don't Overlook the DJIA Rejects: Whenever we see changes to the Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks, some investors assume the dumped companies should be avoided. But a look at the record indicates just the opposite. In fact, in the years that follow, most of the Dow rejects actually outperform the companies that replaced them. Here's why it happens - and how you can use this phenomenon to profit...
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