CC: How One Man's Audacious Move Birthed a Radical New Company in a Crisis

 By SIMON CONSTABLE

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• Wall Street photo courtesy of Carlos Delgado, 
• CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

WSJ: FINANCIAL FLASHBACK: 25 YEARS AGO - 'New Economy' In the Dow

WSJ: Financial Flashback November 4, 2024

It was a long time coming, but 25 years ago this month the “New Economy” joined the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The change, as of trading on Nov. 1, 1999, came in the form of adding chip maker Intel, and SBC Communications, which cemented the role of both technology and communications sector in the index. Home Depot, was also added to the Dow that day.

As those stocks joined, out went old-economy stalwarts: Chevron, Goodyear Tire and Rubber, Sears Roebuck and Union Carbide. The changes were also notable because it was the first time that stocks from Nasdaq (Intel and Microsoft) had joined the Dow. Until then, all 30 Dow industrials had been listed on the NYSE.

“If that change didn’t happen, there would have been a big discrepancy between that index and it would have been a big oversight,” says Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown. The index is designed to reflect the major sectors of the U.S. economy. Read more here.