Apple Inc (AAPL.O), the largest U.S. company by market value, will join the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI, replacing AT&T Inc (T.N), in a change that reflects the dominant position of the iPhone maker in the U.S. consumer economy.
The decision to nudge aside
AT&T, which has been part of the Dow for the better part of a
century, is a recognition of how communications and technology have
evolved.
It's also a marker of Apple's transformation, from a struggling company with a small, fervent following two decades ago, into the nation's predominant consumer tech company.
"This is a sign of the times, and it might get everyone to look at the Dow more than they have been," said Richard Sichel, who oversees $2 billion as chief investment officer at Philadelphia Trust Co.
"It would be difficult to pick any 30 companies that would cover the entire economy, especially compared with the S&P 500, but it does give the Dow more credibility."
The action, by S&P Dow Jones Indices, had been widely expected since Apple split its shares seven-for-one in June of last year.
AT&T declined to comment on its removal from the average, of which it has been a member for most of the last 100 years. The stock was added to the Dow in 1916, the year after the first-ever
transcontinental telephone call. It was removed in 2004, but after SBC Communications renamed itself AT&T following a 2005 merger, it was reinstated.
"It was a new way of life: telephones, back then 100 years ago, these talking machines," said Howard Silverblatt, index analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices. "Back then, AT&T was it, end of story."
It's also a marker of Apple's transformation, from a struggling company with a small, fervent following two decades ago, into the nation's predominant consumer tech company.
"This is a sign of the times, and it might get everyone to look at the Dow more than they have been," said Richard Sichel, who oversees $2 billion as chief investment officer at Philadelphia Trust Co.
"It would be difficult to pick any 30 companies that would cover the entire economy, especially compared with the S&P 500, but it does give the Dow more credibility."
The action, by S&P Dow Jones Indices, had been widely expected since Apple split its shares seven-for-one in June of last year.
AT&T declined to comment on its removal from the average, of which it has been a member for most of the last 100 years. The stock was added to the Dow in 1916, the year after the first-ever
transcontinental telephone call. It was removed in 2004, but after SBC Communications renamed itself AT&T following a 2005 merger, it was reinstated.
"It was a new way of life: telephones, back then 100 years ago, these talking machines," said Howard Silverblatt, index analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices. "Back then, AT&T was it, end of story."
No comments:
Post a Comment