The term “Dow” is usually used to mean the Dow Jones Industrial Average, an index of thirty blue chip stocks that serves as the most widely used measure of the U.S. stock market. The term carries much weight in the stock market due to its popularity as a market index. To calculate the Dow, the trading prices of the thirty stocks are added up and divided by a special divisor that is weighted to account for stock splits and other conditions. There are several other indices with the Dow name: the Dow Jones Utilities Average, the Dow Jones Transportation Average, and the Dow Jones Composite Average, to name a few. Dow also refers to Dow Jones & Company, a major source of financial news. This company publishes the Wall Street Journal, the largest business and finance publication in the world. The company was founded by Charles Henry Dow, Edward Davis Jones, and Charles Milford Bergstresser in 1882. |
