The Dow Jones Industrial Average was founded by Charles Dow in 1896 in order to accurately assess overall stock markets trends, and was published in his newspaper, The Wall Street Journal. Originally it was composed of mostly railroad stocks, which reflected the most important industry of the 1890s. In 1928 Dow Jones increased the number of stocks listed in its average from twenty to thirty, which is the current number of stocks that are included in the composite today. The only stock that was originally listed in 1896 and is still listed today is General Electric.

Although the Dow Jones Industrial Average is by far the most widely used indicator of the United States stock market, it is criticized by many for not accurately depicting the entire stock market. While the DJIA is composed only of thirty stocks, Stand & Poor’s 500 stock index is composed of the 500 largest companies and gives a more accurate measurement of the stock market. Over the last few years, while the blue chip stocks have been increasing around 20% annually, many of the smaller companies have not experienced such outstanding increases. Since the DJIA does not include many of the smaller companies, it does not give an accurate representation of the growth of the stock market. However, the DJIA is composed of thirty blue chip stocks that are picked to represent their industry. Because of this, the second largest US company, Ford Motors, is not on the Dow, while until a few years ago Bethlehem Steel, a relatively small old fashioned steel company was listed on the Dow.

SBC, originally South Western Bell, formed after the breakup of AT&T in 1984, has recently made a slew of acquisitions to become one of the largest telephone corporations in America. The addition of Microsoft and Intel, which are listed on the NASDAQ National Market, show the growing importance of technology stocks. Until Microsoft and Intel were added, all of the stocks on the Dow were listed on the New York Stock Exchange. "The inclusion of these two NASDAQ companies makes the Dow more reflective of today’s global economy," said Frank Zarb, chairman of the National Association of Securities Dealers, parent company of the NASDAQ stock market.