It's been a crazy year for the Dow Jones Industrials (DJINDICES: ^DJI). The COVID-19 pandemic brought the average its first severe bear market in over a decade, and just as abruptly, the average bounced back. It's now getting close to reaching new record levels.
As if that weren't enough, S&P Dow Jones Indices decided to make major changes to the Industrial Average. Out are energy giant ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), stalwart pharmaceutical company Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), and defense contractor Raytheon Technologies (NYSE: RTX). In are software provider salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), manufacturing company Honeywell (NYSE: HON), and biotech favorite Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN).
The moves will have a substantial impact on the Dow overall. They'll reduce its exposure to energy and traditional pharmaceuticals in favor of tech and biotech, and will substitute the much-changed Raytheon with a former Dow component in Honeywell. Yet they'll also affect the other 27 stocks and their influence in the Dow. Here's how.