Down goes the Dow

Cool that the top 8 aren't actually in the index and have nothing to do with its performance...oh wait.

It’s obvious that Igy struggles with the truth.

Nice catch, Flagpole. The 8 stocks that Igy refers to are in the NASDAQ,, not the S & P.

They are in the S&P 500. At least most of them.

EDIT: confirmed that it includes all of them.

I should say further, that they are in both.

The Nasdaq 100 has as many as 79 stocks that overlap with the S&P 500 index.

You are right.

But all of the largest companies in the Nasdaq-100 are also included in the S&P 500 index, including Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Facebook, and (now) Tesla.

Yes, and likewise, all the 30 companies comprising the Dow Jones Industrial Avg. are included in the S&P 500.

I did not know that a stock could appear in multiple indexes. AAPL and MSFT are the only of the big 8 to appear in the Dow, which seems strange since it is the Dow Jones Industrials. Not sure how either could be considered an industrial.

I had a hunch that a few of them were in the S&P but had to check to make sure.

I think some company like IBM was probably the first or maybe one of the early non-industrial companies to get into the DJIA. The inclusion of tech companies has always been controversial for the reason you mention.

It amazes me that several regular and/or notorious posters on this thread don’t know the basic make up of the dominant US market indices. I’m gobsmacked

From a year ago...this poster foresaw a large downswing in EPS,leading the market down. Didn't happen. EPS did fall a smidge in 2022 but 2023 will likely be above 2021.

Teddy Vallee
@TeddyVallee
Nearly all of the equity drawdown YTD has been multiple based.
Our EPS lead (based on rates, oil, dollar, etc) implies large move lower over following 12 mos.
Next leg lower in equities will clearly be EPS driven, but only after price makes you think we're not in a recession.

This is still bugging me. How can people who come across as experienced investors not know what equities form part of the indices they follow? Especially misunderstanding those that dominate the movements of those indices?
On the positive side, this does offer another explanation for how Flagpole thinks he beat the DOW 35 out of 32 years.

For all his misplaced bets on the markets being on the verge of imminent collapse, Igy at least seems to have mastered these basic facts. Is la gente the only other regular poster with a basic mastery of such detail?

Igy doesn’t have a clue. He has made numerous misstatements about the market in the last week alone.

In the wrong hands a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

Did you know that both AAPL and MSFT are part of the Dow Jones and INDUSTRIALS?

I just don't think it's all that important for an individual investor to know every single company that makes up an index. Can anyone here name every company in S&P 500 off the top of their head? I could maybe name 10-15, but who cares? The whole point of buying an index fund is that you don't have to worry about that stuff, it's enough for me to know that it's the 500 largest cap companies in the US and will outperform the vast majority of stock pickers over the long term. Igy is a good example of someone who can read a chart and knows all the technical details but consistently makes the wrong predictions and reaches the wrong conclusions, just like all the highly respected and educated analysts that agip has been posting about for the last few weeks. If you want to nerd out over the details, go ahead and knock yourself out, but it won't help you beat the market and in the end that's all that matters.

Reread what I said there. I wasn't insinuating what you believed.

It absolutely is NOT important at all to know all of the companies in a given index. The Dow has just 30 companies, so while it's not important to know them, it is likely that most attentive investors will know most of them off the top of their head (I know most of them, but I wouldn't be able to name all 30).

Investing is not nearly as complicated as many like to believe it is. Too many attach bravado and intelligence to it when that's a bogus way to look at it. NO ONE can time the market. NO ONE can accurately predict what will happen to the market on a regular basis. Any calls that seem right on are just chance happenings and can not be repeated. The absolute best way to invest is to just do it...consistently and repeatedly. The market has proven to go up over time. You invest money you don't need today so that you have money later on when you no longer have an income. That's it. It's not sexy. It's not rocket science. It requires next to no knowledge about indices. If the market as a whole drops a ton and you have extra money to invest, it's not a bad idea to throw it in at that time (because the market WILL go north again), but that should always be EXTRA investing. You should have a set amount (at least 15% of your income) that goes into retirement accounts at all times regardless of market conditions. You should NEVER not be investing and waiting for a big drop before you purchase.

Those 8 not doing so well today.