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.
道琼斯工业平均指数(Dow Jones Industrial Average)最初的12只成分股全都是货真价实的工业股票。相当于蓝筹股集合的香港恒生指数(Hang Seng Index)包括33只成分股，因为恒生银行(Hang Seng Bank)成立于1933年。了解这些最知名指数的历史，就像证券业从业者一定会知道曾经的梧桐树下集会创立了纽交所，也和保险业的人熟稔这一行业是从爱德华•劳埃德(Edward Lloyd)的咖啡屋提供的船舶保险衍生来的一样。但如今，这些指数的成分股之所以关系重大，源于它们对市场情绪的影响。道琼斯工业平均指数以价格确定成分股的权重，这让该指数显得落伍。与此同时，恒生指数依然充满活力，但它需要增加更多的成分股。