The Dow Jones Industrial Average started with 12 stocks that really were industrial. The Hang Seng, Hong Kong’s equivalent blue-chip collection, included 33 because the bank of that name was formed in 1933. The history of the best-known indices is as relevant as knowing that brokers once met under a buttonwood tree or that Edward Lloyd’s coffee house used to be the place to insure a ship. But what the indices include matters very much today because of their effect on market mood. The Dow’s price-based composition makes it an anachronism. The Hang Seng, meanwhile, is alive and well, but it needs more stocks.
道瓊工業平均指數(Dow Jones Industrial Average)最初的12隻成分股全都是貨真價實的工業股票。相當於藍籌股集合的香港恆生指數(Hang Seng Index)包括33隻成分股，因爲恆生銀行(Hang Seng Bank)成立於1933年。瞭解這些最知名指數的歷史，就像證券業從業者一定會知道曾經的梧桐樹下集會創立了紐交所，也和保險業的人熟稔這一行業是從愛德華•勞埃德(Edward Lloyd)的咖啡屋提供的船舶保險衍生來的一樣。但如今，這些指數的成分股之所以關係重大，源於它們對市場情緒的影響。道瓊工業平均指數以價格確定成分股的權重，這讓該指數顯得落伍。與此同時，恆生指數依然充滿活力，但它需要增加更多的成分股。