Dow Jones Industrial Average

The Dow is a stock market index comprised of the average performance of 30 major American companies.Yahoo! Finance: Stocks Tumble, Lose 10 Percent in 2-Day Rout (November 6, 2008)

On March 2, 2009, the Dow fell below 7,000 upon opening for the first time since October 1997. Within 20 minutes of the opening bell, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 96 points, to 6,966.CNNMoney: Dow Falls Below 7,000 (March 2, 2009)

Fourth Quarter 2008

On October 24, 2008, the Dow Jones industrial dropped more than 400 points in the opening minutes of trading, amid fears of a global economic recession.Los Angeles Times: Stocks Dive of Belief of Global...

Between November 5th and 6th, 2008, the Dow Jones dropped nearly 10%, the two days immediately following the presidential election. The Dow dropped over 486 points on November 5, and 443 points on November 6, closing below 8,696.

On November 12, 2008, the Dow Jones dropped over 411 points to close at 8,262.66. The drop came in the midst of investor fears concerning the depth of the recession and whether the Big Three automakers would survive the downturn.The New York Times: Dow Down 411 on Investor Worries (November 12, 2008)

After a week of volatile trading, on Friday, December 5, 2008, the Dow was running fairly even. On Monday, December 1, the Dow plummeted nearly 680 points, losing 7.7% of its value, on the same day that the National Bureau of Economic Research declared that the nation had been in a recession since December 2007.The New York Times: Recession is Official; Stocks Take a Fall (December 1, 2008) While stocks recovered over 350 points in the next two days, the Dow fell again on December 4, losing more than 200 points.

September 2008 Banking Crisis

Between September 15 and September 17, 2008, the average dropped a combined 800 points.Newsday: Dow slips 450 as Wall Street turmoil deepens (September 17, 2008) On September 29, 2008, on news that the House of Representatives had voted against the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, the Dow plunged over 680 points.The New York Times: Stocks Plunge as House Votes on Bailout (September 29, 2008) The next day, the market rebounded somewhat, doing what observers have labeled a "Dead Cat Bounce."

30 Companies in the DJIA - Year Joined

Key Dates

1896: Charles Dow unveiled his industrial stock average, representing a total of 12 stocks
1916: The DJIA expanded to 20 stocks
1928: The number of companies expanded to 30
1929: Stock market crashed ensuing the Great Depression
1995: The DJIA closes above 5,000 for the first time
1999: The average hits the 10,000 mark for the first time
2007: Dow hits 14,164 on October 9
2008: Dow closes below 10,000 on October 6
2008: Dow closes below 9,000 on October 9
2009: Dow closes below 8,000 on February 10