Walmart, Johnson & Johnson Join Dow Jones Industrial Average On This Day In Market History

Benzinga takes a look back at a notable market-related moment that occurred on this date.

What Happened? On this day in 1997, Walmart Inc (NYSE: WMT), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE: TRV) and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (NYSE: HPE) joined the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Where The Market Was: The S&P 500 traded at 795.71 and the Dow traded at 6,955.48.

What Else Was Going On In The World? In 1997, Princess Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris, France. The average cost of a new house was $124,100.

Modernizing The Dow: The 1997 shuffle of the Dow Jones Industrial Average components represented an updating of the index from the old industrial U.S. economy to the modern tech- and health care-driven economy.

The four new additions replaced Westinghouse Electric Corp., Texaco Inc., Bethlehem Steel Corp. and Woolworth Corp.

Westinghouse, Bethlehem and Woolworth were original Dow components.

At the time, Johnson & Johnson was the ninth-largest U.S. stock with around an $85-billion market cap. Walmart was the 11th largest with an $81-billion market cap.

By late 2008, Walmart had grown to a market cap of more than $200 billion and was the second most valuable stock in the market.

Today, Johnson & Johnson is the 12th-most valuable public company with a $400-billion market cap and Walmart is the 14th-most valuable with a $371.43-billion market cap.

Westinghouse changed its name to CBS Corporation (NASDAQ: CBS) later that year, Bethlehem Steel filed for bankruptcy in 2001 and was dissolved in 2003. Woolworth pivoted to athletic apparel and changed its name to Foot Locker, Inc. (NYSE: FL) in 2001. Texaco was acquired by Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) in 2002.