The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI) is one of the three major performance-tracking indexes in the U.S. stock market, alongside the S 500 and Nasdaq Composite. Unlike its two peers, however, the Dow Jones is a much smaller index, tracking just 30 of America's largest companies. These companies come from most major sectors, except separately tracked areas such as utilities and real estate.

Unfortunately, the Dow Jones has lagged behind the S 500 and Nasdaq Composite in the past decade. The good news, though, is that many of the companies within the index still are great investments on their own.

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Source Fool.com