======Dow Jones & Company ======
Dow Jones & Company is a cornerstone of the American financial world, a publishing and financial information powerhouse founded in 1882. The brainchild of three reporters—[[Charles Dow]], [[Edward Jones]], and [[Charles Bergstresser]]—the company set out with a simple yet revolutionary mission: to deliver unbiased and reliable financial news to investors. Its influence is felt through two main creations that have become part of the very fabric of investing. The first is its flagship newspaper, //[[The Wall Street Journal]]//, a globally respected source of business news and analysis. The second is the world-famous [[Dow Jones Industrial Average]] (DJIA), a stock market index that serves as a daily barometer for the health of the U.S. stock market. Though it has evolved over the decades and is now a subsidiary of [[News Corp]], Dow Jones & Company continues to be a primary source of data, news, and commentary that shapes financial markets and investor decisions.
===== The Three Pillars of Dow Jones =====
The company's immense influence stands on three core pillars, each catering to a different aspect of the financial ecosystem.
==== The News Titan: The Wall Street Journal ====
//The Wall Street Journal// (WSJ) is more than just a newspaper; it's a daily ritual for millions of investors, executives, and policymakers. Renowned for its in-depth reporting on business, finance, and economics, the WSJ provides the raw material for informed investment decisions. For a value investor, its pages are a treasure trove of information on company performance, industry trends, and management strategies. It’s where you go not for hot stock tips, but for the deep-dive analysis needed to understand a business from the ground up.
==== The Market's Pulse: The Dow Jones Averages ====
Before the internet and 24/7 financial news, how could anyone get a quick snapshot of the market's mood? Charles Dow's answer was to create an average. The most famous of these, the DJIA, tracks the performance of 30 large, established, and influential U.S. companies. While it’s not the only game in town, "the Dow" remains a powerful psychological benchmark for the market. Its daily movements are reported everywhere, from evening news broadcasts to barbershops.
The family of Dow Jones averages also includes:
  * **The [[Dow Jones Transportation Average]] (DJTA):** The oldest index, tracking airline, trucking, and railroad stocks. Dow believed that the health of companies that move goods was a key economic indicator.
  * **The [[Dow Jones Utility Average]] (DJUA):** An index that follows the performance of leading utility companies.
==== The Data Engine: Dow Jones Newswires & Factiva ====
Behind the scenes, Dow Jones operates a high-speed information service for financial professionals. Dow Jones Newswires delivers real-time, market-moving news and data directly to the trading floors and terminals of banks and investment firms. Its archival service, Factiva, provides a massive, searchable database of news and business information, serving as an essential research tool for corporations, academics, and financial analysts.
===== A Value Investor's Perspective =====
While Dow Jones & Company provides invaluable tools, a savvy value investor knows how to use them wisely.
==== Reading the Tea Leaves (Responsibly) ====
An intelligent investor, as [[Benjamin Graham]] would say, uses //The Wall Street Journal// not as a crystal ball but as a research library. The goal is to understand the long-term competitive advantages of a business, the quality of its management, and the fundamentals of its industry. Ignore the daily noise and market chatter. Instead, focus on articles and reports that help you answer one question: "Is this a wonderful business that I can understand and buy at a sensible price?"
==== The DJIA: A Snapshot, Not the Whole Picture ====
The Dow is a useful but limited tool. Its biggest quirk is that it's a **price-weighted** index, meaning higher-priced stocks have a bigger impact on its value, regardless of the company's overall size. In contrast, indices like the [[S&P 500]] are **market-cap-weighted**, offering a more representative view of the market.
For a value investor, the daily fluctuations of the DJIA are mostly irrelevant. A 500-point drop in the Dow doesn't automatically make every company a bargain, just as a 500-point surge doesn't make every company overvalued. Your focus should always remain on the //intrinsic value// of individual businesses, not the short-term sentiment reflected by a 30-stock average.
===== Fun Fact =====
When the Dow Jones Industrial Average was first published on May 26, 1896, it consisted of just 12 stocks. The list included companies in then-dominant industries like sugar, tobacco, rubber, and coal. Of those original 12, only one—General Electric—survived into the 21st century as a component of the index, though it was eventually removed in 2018.