1884, DOW JONES PUBLISHES ITS FIRST STOCK AVERAGE

Today, The Grandma has been reading about Dow Jones, the American company that published its first stock average on a day like today in 1884.

Dow Jones & Company, Inc. (also known simply as Dow Jones) is an American publishing firm owned by News Corp. The company publishes The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, MarketWatch, Mansion Global, Financial News and Private Equity News. It formerly published the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

The company was founded in 1882 by three reporters: Charles Dow, Edward Jones, and Charles Bergstresser. Charles Dow was widely known for his ability to break down and convey what was often considered very convoluted financial information and news to the general public  -this is one of the reasons why Dow Jones & Company is well known for their publications and transferring of important and sometimes difficult to understand financial information to people across the globe. Nevertheless, the three reporters were joined in control of the organization by Thomas F. Woodlock.

Dow Jones was acquired in 1902 by Clarence Barron, the leading financial journalist of the day, after the death of co-founder Charles Dow. Upon Barron's death in 1928, control of the company passed to his stepdaughters Jane and Martha Bancroft. The company was led by the Bancroft family, which effectively controlled 64% of all voting stock, until 2007 when an extended takeover battle saw News Corporation acquire the business. The company then became a subsidiary of News Corporation.

It was reported on August 1, 2007, that the bid had been successful after an extended period of uncertainty about shareholder agreement, with the transaction finalized on December 13, 2007. It was worth US$5 billion or $60 a share, giving News Corp control of The Wall Street Journal and ending the Bancroft family's 105 years of ownership.

The company was best known for the publication of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and related market statistics, Dow Jones Newswire, and a number of financial publications. 

In 2010 the Dow Jones Indexes subsidiary was sold to the CME Group and the company focused on financial news publications, including its flagship publication The Wall Street Journal and providing financial news and information tools to financial companies.

In 2005, together with FTSE, Dow Jones launched the Industry Classification Benchmark, a taxonomy used to segregate markets into sectors.

The company's foundation was laid by Charles Dow, Edward Jones and Charles Bergstresser who, over two decades, conceived and promoted the three products which define Dow Jones and financial journalism: The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Newswires and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Dow Jones was acquired in 1902 by the leading financial journalist of the day, Clarence Barron.

In 2007, Dow Jones was acquired by News Corp., a leading global media company.
The Bancroft family and heirs of Clarence W. Barron effectively controlled the company's class B shares, each with a voting power of ten regular shares, prior to its sale to News Corp. At one time, they controlled 64% of Dow Jones voting stock.

Currently, Dow Jones is owned by Rupert Murdoch, owner of News Corp and several other major media companies.

More information: WSJ

The market is in an upward trend
if one of its averages goes above a previous important high
and is accompanied or followed
by a similar movement in the other average.

Dow Theory