The Dow just crossed 40,000 for the first time. The number is big but means little for your 401(k)

FILE - A screen shows the Dow Jones industrials at in Seoul, South Korea on Aug. 9, 2011. Through its long history, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has offered a way for people to get a quick read on how Wall Street is doing. But its importance is on the wane. NEW YORK — The Dow Jones Industrial Average just topped 40,000 for the first time, the latest pop in what’s been a surprisingly good year for Wall Street.

It’s a measure of 30 established, well-known companies. These stocks are sometimes known as “blue chips,” which are supposed to be on the steadier and safer side of Wall Street.The roster has changed many times since the Dow began in 1896 as the U.S. economy has transformed. Out, for example, was Standard Rope & Twine, and in recently have been big technology companies.

More than $11.2 trillion in investments were benchmarked to the S&P 500 at the end of 2019, according to estimates from S&P Dow Jones Indices. That’s 350 times more than the $32 billion benchmarked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average. That’s in part because the S&P 500 has more of an emphasis on Big Tech stocks, which were responsible for most of the S&P 500’s gains last year. Hopes for an easing of interest rates by the Federal Reserve and a frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology have pushed them to dizzying heights.No, the Dow and S&P 500 also take different approaches to measuring how an index should move.

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