Today's Dow consists of 30 stocks traded on not only the New York Stock Exchange but also the Nasdaq. The stocks represent the technology, pharmaceuticals, food and beverages, oil, utilities, chemical, commodities and retail sectors. When there's talk about the markets being up or down, it's referring to the Dow. The Dow 30 components and their rise and fall have an immediate and often dramatic impact on the markets.

Dow: +38.54, 10,211.07, +0.38%
Nasdaq: +24.89, 2,243.60, +1.12%
S&P 500: +4.76, 1,091.60, +0.44%