While the S&P 500 is considered most representative of the overall market, and the Nasdaq Composite is the leading bellwether for technology stocks, when investors want to know what the market is doing on any given day, they often look to the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

It only includes 30 stocks, representing those of large, influential, blue-chip companies, as determined by a committee. Amid the current market slump, the Dow has held up a bit better than the  S&P 500, down 12% year to date versus 15% for the broad index. But over the long term, it has fallen short of the S&P 500, up 9% over the past 10 years on an annualized basis compared to 10.7% for the S&P 500.

The Dow has been a pretty safe bet for investors over the years, but if you are looking for a growth stock with a little more juice and the same type of stability and blue-chip pedigree, consider Charles Schwab (NYSE: SCHW).

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Source Fool.com