I was watching CNBC and noticed a scrawl at the bottom of the television screen –
Altria, Honeywell removed from DJIA, Bank of America and Chevron added
The DJIA is the Dow Jones Industrial Average – a stock market index.
The DJIA tracks 30 of the largest and most widely held public companies in the United States.
Click here to read the Wikipedia entry for the DJIA.
From time to time, the makeup of the DJIA is changed.
According to CNBC and this article over at Trading Markets, Altria and Honeywell will be removed from the average, and Bank of America and Chevron will be added.
This is the first change to the makeup of the DJIA since April of 2004, when 3 stocks were dropped and 3 others were added.
While some might make a big deal about the Dow, I tend to follow the S&P 500 and Wilshire 5000, indices which allow me to track the broader moves of the stock market.