1896年構成道瓊斯工業平均指數的12只原始成分股里，只有通用電氣仍位列其中。

然而，這個星期，情況就不一樣了。

通用電氣被踢出指數，由沃爾格林（Walgreens）取而代之。標普道瓊斯指數委員會在6月19日收市后突襲廣大投資者，宣布了這一決定。

這一舉動不但說明通用電氣近年來確實面臨多重危機，也說明推動美國經濟增長的公司性質正在發生變化。過去十年，加入道指的是蘋果、耐克等科技公司、消費者品牌巨頭維薩卡、聯合健康集團（UnitedHealth Group）等行業龍頭。

這個事實讓美國公司清醒地認識到，哪怕是企業寡頭，財富也不是永恒的（對于政府和個人而言，也是如此）。問問自己，十年前誰會想到會發生這種事呢？然而，曾經的難以想象，已成為今天的現實。

——穆罕默德·A·艾爾-艾瑞安

1986年查爾斯·道編制道瓊斯工業指數時，選擇的大多數創始成份股現在已消失在人們記憶里，但從這些公司名字里，可以窺見當時的經濟，其中包括美國皮草公司（U.S. Leather Company）、美國煙草公司（American Tobacco Company）、擠奶與養牛公司（Distilling & Cattle Feeding Company）。

通用電氣退出道指后，指數中連續存在時間最長的就是埃克森美孚國際公司（ExxonMobil）了，該股票1928年加入道指，當時名為新澤西標準石油（Standard Oil of New Jersey）。

通用電氣在過去兩年共下跌57%左右，而道瓊斯工業平均指數上漲44%。為應對種種財務困難，通用電氣的新CEO約翰·弗蘭納瑞推行了多種節源措施，裁員數千人，減少了一半股東分紅。

沃爾格林，又稱沃爾格林博姿聯合公司（Walgreens Boots Alliance，股票的原始名稱），過去兩年股票下跌22%。但道指管理委員會認為，將該公司納入指數更能反映美國的經濟動態。

“沃爾格林是一個全國零售藥店連鎖，出售處方和非處方藥、提供健康服務和日用品”，標普道瓊斯指數委員會的一名管理委員戴維·布利策在一份聲明中說。“加入沃爾格林后，道瓊斯工業平均指數更能體現美國經濟中的消費行業和健康保健行業。做出這一改變，指數能更好地代表美國經濟和股票市場。”

道瓊斯工業指數的組成發生變化時，有時會出現離場股票下跌，入場股票上漲的情況。上周二收盤后的交易時間里，通用電氣的股票下跌1.4%，沃爾格林的股票上漲了2.9%。

今年2月，弗蘭納瑞曾勸誡想放棄通用電氣股票的投資者，“請他們后果自負”。弗蘭納瑞在給股東的信中，承認擔任集團領導的第一年十分艱難，但他也表示，“許多人對我們失去了信心。我沒有。”

而現在看來，道指已經失去了信心，放棄了通用電氣。（財富中文網）

譯者：Agatha?

Of the 12 stocks that originally made up the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 1896, only General Electric remains part of the index.

As of this week, that will change.

GE will exit the Dow Industrial, to be replaced by Walgreens. The S&P Dow Jones Indices, the joint venture that maintains the stock index, took investors by surprise in announcing the change after the markets closed on June 19.

The move not only underscores the challenges that GE has faced in recent years but illustrates the changing nature of the companies that are driving the U.S. economy. In the past decade, tech and consumer-brand giants like Apple and Nike have entered the Dow, along with industry leaders such as Visa and UnitedHealth Group.

A sobering illustration to corporate America of how the fortunes of even the dominant firms can change. (True also for individuals and governments). Just ask yourself, who 10 years ago, would have thought this likely? Once-unthinkable, this has become a reality. @generalelectri pic.twitter.com/jVSPAQ2jpa

——?Mohamed A. El-Erian

Among the other originals to the first industrial index compiled by Charles Dow in 1896 were companies that few recall these days, but which offer a snapshot of the economy at the time: U.S. Leather Company, American Tobacco Company, the Distilling & Cattle Feeding Company.

After GE exits the Dow, the component stock with the longest continuous history will be ExxonMobil, which entered the stock index in 1928 as Standard Oil of New Jersey.

During the past two years, GE’s shares have fallen 57% as of Tuesday’s market close, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has risen 44%. Facing a series of financial setbacks, GE’s new CEO John Flannery has instituted a number of cost-cutting actions that have led to thousands of layoffs and cut in half the dividends it pays to shareholders.

Walgreens—or Walgreens Boots Alliance, as the stock is formally called—has declined 22% in the past two years. But the committee overseeing the Dow’s composition felt its inclusion in the index better reflected the dynamics of the U.S. economy.

“Walgreens is a national retail drug store chain offering prescription and non-prescription drugs, related health services and general goods,” David Blitzer, a managing director at S&P Dow Jones Indices said in a statement. “With its addition, the DJIA will be more representative of the consumer and health care sectors of the U.S. economy. Today’s change to the DJIA will make the index a better measure of the economy and the stock market.”

Changes in the compositions of stock indexes can sometimes cause departing stocks to fall and incoming issues to rise. In after-hours trading last Tuesday, shares of GE were down 1.4%, while shares of Walgreens were up 2.9%.

In February, GE’s Flannery cautioned investors who were giving up on the stock to “do so at their own peril.” In a letter to shareholders, Flannery acknowledged his difficult first year leading the conglomerate before asserting, “Many people have lost faith in us. I have not.”

But now the Dow indices, it seems, have done so.