You'll Never Find a Railroad on the Dow

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is just one of several Dow Jones market trackers. The secular index will never invite any tickers from the railroading, airline, or electrical utilities industries -- because there are separate Dow indexes for these sectors.

If you want to track these industries, you'll have to look for the Dow Jones Transportation Average or Dow Jones Utility Average instead. There's even a composite index that brings all 65 tickers together.

In the video below, Fool analyst Anders Bylund explains why you'll never see Duke Energy and its $48 billion market cap on the DJIA, nor the even larger Union Pacific railroad.

Here's one great way to use the plain old Industrial Average
The Dow Jones Industrial Average may not track the entire market, but it's still a great starting point when you're looking for blue-chip companies with solid fundamentals. If you're interested in some long-term investing ideas, you're invited to check out The Motley Fool's brand-new special report, "The 3 Dow Stocks Dividend Investors Need." It's absolutely free, so simply click here now and get your copy today.

The article You'll Never Find a Railroad on the Dow originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Anders Bylund and The Motley Fool have no position in any stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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