MS, Intel to drive Dow Jones stock index

Microsoft and Intel, both traded on Nasdaq, will be included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average from 1 November. This is the first time companies not traded on the New York Stock Exchange have been included in the Dow. The intention is to give the technology and communications sector more representation on the 103-year-old stock average. Home Depot and SBC Communications are also being added. It's farewell to Sears Roebuck, Goodyear, Chevron and Union Carbide, which have been there since the 1920s and 30s. The only surviving original member is GE, whom MS displaced in asset value some time ago. The last change to the constituent companies was in 1997, when HP replaced Texaco, with three other changes. The index is not obtained by dividing by the price of the 30 stocks, but by using a divisor that is intended to maintain the historical continuity of the average. Currently it is 0.19740643. The DJIA reached 1000 in 1987, 5000 in 1995, and 10,000 on 29 March this year. On average, a $1 rise in the price of a DJIA stock would put the index up five points, if no other stocks changes. ®