For as long as most of us can remember, we've seen a the Dow Jones industrial average as a proxy for the stock market. Of course we all know its only 30 stocks. We all know its an average as opposed to an index. But the power of the brand was such that the entire world saw as a proxy for the U.S. stock market and in a very broad sense for U.S. economic might in general.

So, I was as surprised to read that the brand is up for sale. I don't think the average itself will disappear. There's a whole lot of ETF and other business attached to the index. But it will likely be renamed. The NYSE 30 or the Bloomberg industrial average--not to speculate too much--will take some getting use to. But perhaps a branding change of this magnitude is appropriate given the era. I was also surprised to learn that the index unit was so profitable.

For more:
- here's a Financial Times article

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