That mix makes Dell a particularly valuable barometer, since Dell competes with Apple in high-end PC market, Asus and Acer in the mainstream PC market, HTC and Samsung in tablets and smartphones, IBM in the data center, and HP just about everywhere.
The shipping industry, often seen as a barometer of global economic health, has been hurt by high fuel costs, a slump in trade, and the retreat of lending from European banks.
Aside from the Dow being price-weighted and therefore near useless as a market barometer the DJIA total return index has also long been above its prior high.