Dow Theory

^DJI

Charles Henry Dow was born in 1851 in Sterling, Connecticut. Raised in modest conditions, Dow began his career not as an economist or a trader, but as a journalist. His sharp eye for detail and gift for clear, concise communication naturally led him into financial reporting — a field he would go on to transform.

By the 1880s, Dow partnered with statistician Edward Jones and financier Charles Bergstresser to co-found Dow Jones & Company. Their mission was to provide honest, timely, and accessible financial information — a vision that led directly to the founding of The Wall Street Journal, bringing credibility to a market long dominated by secrecy and speculation.

Originally created on 26 May 1896 with 12 companies:

1. American Cotton Oil Company (Predecessor to Bestfoods, later acquired by Unilever)

2. American Sugar Refining Company (Later became part of Domino Sugar)

3. American Tobacco Company (Eventually broken up by antitrust laws in 1911)

4. Chicago Gas Company

5. Distilling & Cattle Feeding Company (A liquor and cattle feed producer)

6. General Electric (GE) (Was in the DJIA for over 100 years; removed in 2018)

7. Laclede Gas Light Company (A natural gas provider, still exists today as Spire Inc.)

8. National Lead Company (Now known as NL Industries)

9. North American Company (A utility holding company, dissolved in the 1940s)

10. Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company (Later acquired by U.S. Steel in 1907)

11. U.S. Leather Company (Preferred shares) (Was one of the largest leather producers of the time; now defunct)

12. United States Rubber Company (Eventually became Uniroyal, later merged into Michelin)

Fixed at 30 companies since 1928

Current 30 component companies of the Dow Jones Industrial Average as of 29 May 2025:

1. Goldman Sachs – 8.79%

2. Sherwin‑Williams – 5.19%

3. Visa – 5.28%

4. Home Depot – 5.35%

5. Caterpillar – 5.13%

6. McDonald’s – 4.57%

7. UnitedHealth Group – 4.34%

8. American Express – 4.31%

9. Amgen – 4.14%

10. Salesforce – 3.88%

11. JPMorgan Chase – 3.83%

12. IBM – 3.77%

13. Travelers Companies – 3.53%

14. Honeywell International – 3.27%

15. Boeing – 3.03%

16. Microsoft – 2.69%

17. Apple – 2.92%

18. Procter & Gamble – 2.46%

19. Johnson & Johnson – 2.24%

20. 3M – 2.17%

21. Nvidia – 2.02%

22. Chevron – 2.01%

23. Disney – 1.63%

24. Walmart – 1.41%

25. Merck & Co. – 1.11%

26. Coca‑Cola – 1.04%

27. Cisco Systems – 0.92%

28. Nike – 0.90%

29. Verizon Communications – 0.63%