How Now the Dow

Created in 1884 by Charles Henry Dow, the first editor of the Wall Street Journal, the Dow Jones average of industrial stocks took its modern form in the late 1920s, just in time for the market crash and the Great Depression. Then as now, the index is an average of stock prices of companies in major American industries.

Only 13 of the original 30 stocks are still on the list. Dropped long ago were smoky, smelly oldies like American Smelting, Nash Motors and American Sugar. The three latest additions are IBM, Merck and American Express.

Despite last week's high, only General Electric at...

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