The changing Dow Jones average, Obama's contrarian advice
Good day for new blood, bad day for following the herd
Good day for: New blood, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average is adding insurer Traveler's Cos. and Cisco Systems Inc., and dropping Citigroup Inc. and General Motors. The updating of the Dow -- the best-known barometer of big-company stocks on Wall Street -- came as GM announced it was filing for bankruptcy protection under a government-driven restructuring that aims, among other things, to make the giant automaker much smaller. (AP in Yahoo Finance)
Bad day for: Following the herd, as an investor who followed President Obama's March 3 advice to buy stocks would have reaped 32 percent returns if he had invested that day in the Standard & Poor's 500 index. "This is one of the more visible examples of how going against the crowd and taking a contrary position works out spectacularly well," investment strategist Ed Yardeni said. (MarketWatch)
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
California mulls pulling health care from eligible undocumented migrants
IN THE SPOTLIGHT After pushing for universal health care for all Californians regardless of their immigration status, Gov. Gavin Newsom's latest budget proposal backs away from a key campaign promise
-
Is Apple breaking up with Google?
Today's Big Question Google is the default search engine in the Safari browser. The emergence of artificial intelligence could change that.
-
Music reviews: Eric Church, Blondshell, and Model/Actriz
Feature "Evangeline vs. the Machine," "If You Asked for a Picture," and "Pirouette"