What is the Dow Jones Index?

11/11/11 - 11:11pm EDT

There is a group of 13 US companies controlling $2.5Trillion US Dollars.

Maybe you are someone who has never heard of the Dow Jones Industrial Index.  Or maybe you are someone who has heard the name, but you have no idea what it is or how it was started.

Usually an index for financial markets is a grouping of public companies that are tracked for daily performance.  The largest public US industrial companies are grouped as part of the Dow Jones Industrial Index.  Many international and domestic investors make daily decisions based upon the performance of these companies.

There are 30 companies of focus that make up the Dow Jones Industrial group (http://money.cnn.com/data/dow30/), but the top 13 companies seem to have had the highest impact and have the largest market capitalization:

Dow Jones 30 Companies

A few on this list are considered "Mega-Cap" companies (over $200B):

1. Exxon Mobil - http://www.exxonmobil.com/Corporate/
2. Microsoft - http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/default.aspx
3. IBM - http://www.ibm.com/us/en/
4. Chevron - http://www.chevron.com/
5. Wal Mart - http://www.walmart.com/

Charles Henry Dow established the basis for technical analysis through his research of the original Dow Industrials.  His partnership with Edward Jones and Charles Bergstresser was the beginning of Dow Jones & Company.  Dow Jones owns the Wall Street Journal, Barrons Magazine, and many other news services and products.  Dow Jones makes money by selling ads, which is typically more lucrative when investors are fearful.

Dow Jones & Company was controlled for many years by the Bancroft family, notably by Mary Bancroft who was involved with the US intelligence in Switzerland during WWII.  The family's control was taken over by Rupert Murdoch and the News Corporation in 2007 that also owns the New York Post and the Fox Media Networks, among other assets. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assets_owned_by_News_Corporation)

Trilateral Capital announced a breakout for equities on 10/18/2011 http://trilateralcapital.com/

The Relevance of 3

What does 3 represent in business relationships?

The 3rd wheel is often referred to as an unwanted piece of an equation. A 3rd person usually causes us discomfort because our comfort zone is one-on-one interactions. Having a third person creates a witness, a judge of how we interact. Only in a 3-person setting can true businees accountability be accomplished. A business science can be formulated around the relevance of 3 - The Trilateral Approach.

tri - lat - er - al /traɪˈlætərəl/[trahy-lat-er-uhl] adj. "Having or involving three sides, countries, or parties."

Origin: 1650–60; From Latin trilaterus : tri-, tri- + latus, later-, side.

Wikipedia describes the term "Trilateral" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trilateral and makes an interesting point: "Many businesses have recognized the internal progressiveness and trichotomy of 3 leaders".

Can we maintain a 3-point perspective to our business approach and internal relationships? It is often dificcult to be effective in a 2-point relationship, how can we possibly progress to 3?! Smarter not Harder. Sometimes you need to take a step back to see three positions so you don't get stuck in single or double vision.

Create a 3rd person as an "Accountability" partner to a two-person relationship where you have conflict. Bring the 3rd person in equally and you'll see how the problems of 2 quickly dissolve.