Alphabet, Meta, Broadcom, and Micron are NOT in the Dow — even though they are among the most profitable companies. Ken apparently loves Google but was never in the Dow. Ken had over a decade to pick Google for the Dow but never did. Dow only has 4 of the big AI/tech winners (Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia) and still leans heavily on older industrials/financials like Caterpillar, Goldman Sachs, Boeing, Cisco, and IBM. Dow has underperformed the S&P 500 and Nasdaq for 20+ years on the PC/cloud/AI megatrends — it is slow to add (or never adds) the highest-profit, highest-margin growth names.

Ken Brown was part of editorial committee picked some stocks for the Dow. He was involved mid 1990s-2008 or so. Dow has underperformed tech heavier indices for decades. Tech-heavy indices have crushed the Dow because the U.S. economy shifted dramatically toward growth/tech. Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 (market-cap weighted) have annualized ~14–19% over the past 10–15 years in many periods. Dow (price-weighted) has lagged at roughly 10–12% annualized in the same windows, especially pre-2024 In 2024, Amazon added when it was $1.84 T. Nvidia when it was $3.66T. Microsoft added at $600 billion valuation (already number one company in the world). It underperformed for a decade under Steve Balmer. Cisco is still in the Dow.

Caterpillar has three times the DOW index impact as Apple. Boeing -is a major laggard. The Dow missed most of the runs in internet, cloud computing, and AI. Ken Brown is saying SpaceX is risky but Boeing is not? Dow index companies are for dividends.

Intel (INTC), Added 1999 (20 years after PCs started) removed Nov 2024 (25 years). By the 2010s–2020s it was a clear laggard — lost chip leadership to Nvidia/AMD, massive underperformance, earnings misses. Perfect modern Sears analog.

Cisco (CSCO) Added June 2009 (17 years so far, still in as of 2026). Cisco peaked in value and relevance in early 2000s. Networking growth slowed dramatically. Missed much of the cloud/AI hyperscaler boom. They could have picked Google.

IBM returned 1979 (47+ years). Stagnant growth for 20+ years, missed cloud/AI almost entirely despite still being profitable.
Boeing (BA) Long-time member (decades). Operational disasters (737 MAX, Starliner, strikes) for the last 10–15 years; major drag on the index.
3M (MMM) Long-time member. Conglomerate slowdown, lawsuits, and flat growth.
Verizon (VZ) Long tenure. Telecom stagnation, high yield but minimal growth.