A Businessman's View

It was everywhere in the news on Monday, August 24:  Salesforce was replacing Exxon on the Dow Jones Industrial Average .  (To be completely accurate, Salesforce, Amgen and Honeywell are replacing Exxon, Pfizer and Raytheon.) "Wait," my wife said.  "Isn't the Dow Jones Industrial Average meant for companies that produce physical products?" "I think I have a typo in my Excel formula..." That's a great observation, I thought, especially considering that Exxon has been a part of the DJIA in some form since 1928 and Salesforce has "only" been around since 1999 and produces software exclusively.  Ignoring the word "Industrial," however, the DJIA has been the most recognizable, the most frequently reported, and the most easily "understood" (using that term loosely) measure of America's economic health.  And since Salesforce, which is the industry leader in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and related solutions fo