While there are thousands of stocks trading on the stock exchange, only 30 can claim the title of “a Dow Jones company.”
When the Dow Jones industrial average was created in 1896, it had a dozen industrial stocks. There is only one company of the original 12 that still holds a membership in this prestigious club.
If history is any indication of what we can expect for the current 30 participants, the Dow’s roster will look very different in the future. For example, according to CNBC, of the 30 current stocks, fewer than half were members in 1989. Only five have maintained membership for 50 years, and as mentioned above, only one has been a Dow stock since the index expanded from 12 to 30 companies on Oct. 1, 1928.
Please take a look at the list below. At first glance, you might suspect they are the companies that comprise the current Dow Jones industrial average. Nope. If you count the names, there are 36 companies listed. Yep ... it is quiz time! Let’s see if you can select the six companies that should not be included in the list. Additionally, identify the company that is still a member of the original Dow 12 from 1896. Answers can be found on page…
Amazon
Apple
AT&T
American Express
Boeing
Caterpillar
Cisco Systems
Citigroup
Chevron
Coca-Cola
Deere & Co
DuPont
ExxonMobil
General Electric
General Motors
Goldman Sachs
Home Depot
IBM
Intel
Johnson & Johnson
JPMorgan Chase
McDonald's
3M Company
Merck
Microsoft
Nike
Pfizer
Procter & Gamble
The Travelers
UnitedHealth
United Technologies
Visa
Verizon
Wal-Mart
Walt Disney
Answer No. 1: AT&T, Amazon, Citigroup, General Motors, Google and Deere & Co
Answer No. 2: General Electric is the only company that survived since 1896!
