Dow Jones Industrial Average ^DJI

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is a price-weighted index, unlike the S&P 500, which is value-weighted. The DJIA tracks 30 stocks traded on the NASDAQ and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The average was conceived in 1896 by Dow Jones & Company, which was founded in 1882 by Charles Dow, Edward Jones, and Charles Bergstresser. Originally, the index price was computed by adding together the share price of all 30 stocks in the DJIA and dividing the sum by the total number of stocks (30). The Dow divisor has been adjusted over the years to compensate for stock splits. Originally the Dow divisor was 30, representing each member of the DJIA.

As of today, the Dow divisor is less than 1. On June 10, 2016, the divisor was 0.14602128057775. The divisor is published daily in the Wall Street Journal, which is owned by Dow Jones & Company. The DJIA at its inception was made up of the largest companies in the heavy industry sector. Today, the DJIA comprises diverse companies spanning technology, entertainment, and financial services as well as the original sector, heavy industry. Each member of the DJIA is handpicked by the editors at the Wall Street Journal.