Dow 30 Is Now Dow 29 as Dow Inc. Does Not Belong

By
Richard Suttmeier
Full Bio
Richard Suttmeier has been an expert financial markets news opinion writer since 1984, and has been writing for Investopedia for four years. He has 20+ years of experience as a government bond trader, and he received his Masters of Science from New York University Tandon School of Engineering, previously known as "Brooklyn Poly."
Learn about our editorial policies
Updated June 25, 2019

S&P Dow Jones Indices, a Division of S&P Global, recently replaced DowDuPont Inc. (DWDP) with Dow Inc. (DOW) on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), effective at the start of trading on April 2. In my view, this is a huge mistake, as there is no historical price data for the spinoff.

Without historical data, Dow Inc. cannot be charted and thus cannot be analyzed using daily and weekly charts. Without this essential data, the stock cannot be analyzed using my proprietary analytics. Unless this changes, the Dow 30 has become the Dow 29.

In my opinion, when DowDuPont announced that it would be splitting into three companies, it should have been removed from the DJIA. There are many other companies that could have been selected as a replacement. For example, semiconductors have been outperforming, so a logical Dow component could have been Texas Instruments Incorporated (TXN), which has been around since 1930.

However, S&P Dow Jones Indices wanted to maintain the materials sector exposure in the DJIA. Looking at the components of the Materials Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLB), the benchmark provider could have replaced DowDuPont with Ecolab Inc. (ECL), which has a weighting of 7.06% in the XLB ETF vs. 6.61% for Dow Inc. Ecolab has been around since 1923 and is an American global provider of water, energy technologies and services in several industries such as food, health care and hospitality.

Here's a link to the Press Release from S&P Dow Jones Indices, which does not talk about the lack of price history! According to IndexArb, Dow Inc. has a dividend yield of 4.90%, which would make the stock a "Dog of the Dow," but I still could not provide a trading strategy. Seeking Alpha does not have a posted dividend yield for Dow Inc., which is not yet covered by Macrotrends as a separate entity from DowDupont.

In my opinion, any component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average needs to have at least nine years of price history! As long as Dow Inc. remains a Dow component, I will consider this average as the Dow 29 – unless the S&P can provide the exchanges with historical data.

Disclosure: The author has no positions in any stocks mentioned and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

Do you have a news tip for Investopedia reporters? Please email us at
Take the Next Step to Invest
×
The offers that appear in this table are from partnerships from which Investopedia receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where listings appear. Investopedia does not include all offers available in the marketplace.