Not all major indices have performed equally well so far in 2024. Year to date, the Nasdaq Composite is up 22.3%, while the S 500 index has delivered a solid 16.7%. However, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is sorely lagging with less than a 5% year-to-date gain.

While it's typical for the Dow to underperform more growth-focused indexes during bull markets, this level of underperformance is a bit surprising considering outsized gains from Amazon, Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, and other large Dow components. Dig deeper, however, and there have been some significant sell-offs in reliable blue-chip stalwarts like UnitedHealth Group and Home Depot.

This could also spell opportunity. My preferred approach is to filter out the noise and focus on a path to recovery rather than getting too caught up in everything that is going wrong at the time. The Dow is a good starting point because many components have strong long-term investment theses.

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Source Fool.com