My Monthly Dow Review

By Dian Vujovich

This will be the last stocks-selling-under-20-bucks-a-share DJIA review blog this year. When I began my look, it was on March 4th and the DJIA closed that day at 6,875.84. Nine months later, on December 14th, it closed at 10,501.05. That’s up more than 3,625 points.

If you’re wondering why I started this look in the first place, it was because I was just plain curious. My gut instincts told me that the DJIA wasn’t likely to go much, if any, lower and after years and years of reading about gains after market lows, I figured I’d do a little research of my own.

So here we have it: If the investing world were to end today, anyone who had purchased 1 share of each of the DJIA components at their closing prices on March 4 and then sold them at their closing price on December 14 they would have enjoyed a gain of nearly 35 percent, commission costs not included. Has your portfolio done that well?

(My ego and gut instinct sides are now saying, “Perhaps you ought to be a money manager?” but, I think I’ll leave that one alone for a while.)

So here’s the deal for this month: There were no stocks selling for under $10 bucks a share as there were in March and four selling under $20 a share. They’ve been the same four for a while and include, in alphabetical order: Alcoa, (AA) at $14.82 a share; Bank Of America (BAC) at $15.63; General Electric, (GE) closing at $15.95; and Intel (INTC) at $19.98.

To purchase one share of each of the DJIA 30 stocks at last night’s closing prices would have cost you, not including commissions, $1399.45. On March 4th, $858.58.

The two most expensive stocks in the Dow at that time were IBM, selling for over $89 per share and Exxon Mobile trading around $65 per share. IBM closed yesterday at $129.93 per share and Exxon Mobile, $69.69.

I must admit, I’m a little surprised by the results of this research. It proves to any Doubting Thomas’, that yes, markets can and have recovered quickly.

But the big question that has and always will remain is “What will tomorrow bring?”