- 英语听力
- 加入收藏
- 听力课堂 www.TingClass.com 最大的在线英语听力网站，为了下次能再来学习，请牢记本站 www.TingClass.com 的网址
This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.
 |
| A ChartIncluding the Dow JonesAverage. |
Doctors always measure theheartbeat of a patient when examining the patient's health. Theheartbeat of America's stock markets is the Dow Jones IndustrialAverage. No other measure of stock value is as widely known.Sometimes it is simply called the Dow. It is published by the DowJones Company, an influential publisher of international financialnews.
The Dow Jones Company is a product of Wall Street, the area inNew York City that is the financial center of the United States.Three reporters, Charles Dow, Edward Jones and Charles Bergstresser,started the company in eighteen-eighty-two. At first, they publisheda handwritten newsletter for financial workers. It was verysuccessful. By eighteen-eighty-nine, the newsletter became the WallStreet Journal newspaper.
The Dow Jones Company began publishing the Dow Jones IndustrialAverage in eighteen-ninety-six. The list had twelve stocks. Itrepresented the biggest industries in the American economy at thetime. Today, the Dow lists thirty stocks. They are often called"blue-chip" stocks. These stocks represent an ownership share incompanies that are considered strong. These well known companiesinclude Coca-Cola, Eastman Kodak, McDonald's and General Electric.
When you read the Dow Jones Industrial Average, you quickly seethat it is not the average price of thirty stocks. For example, theDow recently increased to more than ten-thousand for the first timein more than eighteen months. Ten-thousand does not seem like theaverage price of thirty stocks.
In fact, the Dow Jones Industrial Average does not represent aprice but a mathematical average. When the Dow goes up, it gainspoints, not dollars.
The Dow Jones uses what is called a flexible divisor to keepchanges in individual stock prices from affecting the whole averagetoo much. The Dow system generally divides stock prices by theflexible divisor. The result is the number we see in newspapers andon television news reports.
Today, the Dow is just one of many stock averages. The Standardand Poor's Five-Hundred Index averages five-hundred stocks. Stillothers measure foreign stock exchanges.
While stock averages are good research tools, many peopleconsider them the heartbeat of finance.
This VOA Special English Economics Report was written by MarioRitter.