This article explains why the Dow is not the best benchmark for investors.

The Dow Jones industrial average is ridiculous

By Neil Irwin, 9/10/13

The big (symbolic) news out of Wall Street today is this: Three of the 30 members of the Dow Jones industrial average are changing. Alcoa, Hewlett-Packard and Bank of America are out. Nike, Visa and Goldman Sachs are in.

It is tempting to use this occasion as an opportunity to examine the symbolism of what this says about Corporate America, and the global economy…

But in reality, it really only shows the utter uselessness of the Dow Jones industrial average for measuring anything. It is an accident of history that the Dow is the most widely cited measure of how the overall stock market is doing, and a bad accident.

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