Apple and Google potential additions to Dow Jones index

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has featured the same 30, large publicly traded companies since 2009. The stock market landscape has shifted significantly in the past three years, and now big tech companies like Google and Apple could be considered for a spot on the elite list, according to business publication Barron’s.

Taking on fresh blood would mean kicking out a few other companies to make room. Barron’s says the top three candidates would be Bank of America, Alcoa, and Hewlett-Packard.

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Deciding what companies are included is more complicated than picking the high-priced stock or most valuable company in the world. When choosing companies, the Dow looks at the absolute price of shares. Currenty, Apple and Google’s high share prices would throw off the index giving them a significant larger amount of weight. The solution, according to Barron’s, would be for the companies to split their stocks as much as 10-to-one. An alternative solution would be to put a limit on how much weight a single stock could have.

The Down Jones Industrial Average has been in existence since 1869.