Tag: GS

Stocks Going Ex Dividend in February 2019

by Fred Fuld III

The following is a short list of some of the many stocks going ex dividend during the next month.

Many traders and investors use the stock trading technique called ‘Buying Dividends,’ also commonly referred to as ‘Dividend Capture.’ This is the strategy of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend.

This technique generally works in bull markets and flat or choppy markets, but you need to avoid the strategy during bear markets. In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can’t sell the stock until after the ex date.

The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has compiled a downloadable and sortable list of the stocks going ex dividend in the near future. The list contains many dividend paying companies, lots with market caps over $500 million, and many with yields over 2%. Here are a few examples showing the stock symbol, the ex-dividend date, the periodic dividend amount, and annual yield.

MetLife, Inc. (MET) 2/4/2019 0.42 3.69%
Boeing Company (BA) 2/7/2019 2.055 2.26%
Constellation Brands Inc (STZ) 2/11/2019 0.74 1.80%
Schlumberger N.V. (SLB) 2/12/2019 0.50 4.59%
Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) 2/14/2019 0.645 2.24%
Target Corporation (TGT) 2/19/2019 0.64 3.54%
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) 2/20/2019 0.46 1.72%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) 2/25/2019 0.90 2.79%
Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS) 2/27/2019 0.80 1.59%

The additional ex-dividend stocks can be found HERE . (If you have been to the page before, and the latest link doesn’t show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out some of the other high yield stock lists HERE . Most of the lists are free.

Dividend definitions:

Declaration date: the day that the company declares that there is going to be an upcoming dividend.

Ex-dividend date: the day on which if you buy the stock, you would not be entitled to that particular dividend; or the first day on which a shareholder can sell the shares and still be entitled to the dividend.

Monthly Dividend Stock List

Record date: the day when you must be on the company’s books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks at two business days before the record date.

Payment date: the day on which the dividend payment is actually made, which can be as long at two months after the ex date.

Don’t forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

Stocks Going Ex Dividend in November 2018

by Fred Fuld III

The following is a short list of some of the many stocks going ex dividend during the next month.

Many traders and investors use the stock trading technique called ‘Buying Dividends,’ also commonly referred to as ‘Dividend Capture.’ This is the strategy of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend.

This technique generally works in bull markets and flat or choppy markets, but you need to avoid the strategy during bear markets. In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can’t sell the stock until after the ex date.

The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has compiled a downloadable and sortable list of the stocks going ex dividend in the near future. The list contains many dividend paying companies, lots with market caps over $500 million, and many with yields over 2%. Here are a few examples showing the stock symbol, the ex-dividend date, the periodic dividend amount, and annual yield.

Signet Jewelers Limited (SIG) 11/1/2018 0.37 2.79%
Constellation Brands Inc (STZ) 11/5/2018 0.74 1.35%
Intel Corporation (INTC) 11/6/2018 0.30 2.67%
Pfizer, Inc. (PFE) 11/8/2018 0.34 3.07%
International Paper Company (IP) 11/14/2018 0.50 4.89%
KB Home (KBH) 11/14/2018 0.025 0.53%
Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) 11/14/2018 0.563 2.01%
Target Corporation (TGT) 11/20/2018 0.64 3.08%
Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS) 11/29/2018 0.80 1.44%

The additional ex-dividend stocks can be found HERE . (If you have been to the page before, and the latest link doesn’t show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out some of the other high yield stock lists HERE . Most of the lists are free.

Dividend definitions:

Declaration date: the day that the company declares that there is going to be an upcoming dividend.

Ex-dividend date: the day on which if you buy the stock, you would not be entitled to that particular dividend; or the first day on which a shareholder can sell the shares and still be entitled to the dividend.

Monthly Dividend Stock List

Record date: the day when you must be on the company’s books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks at two business days before the record date.

Payment date: the day on which the dividend payment is actually made, which can be as long at two months after the ex date.

Don’t forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

Stocks Going Ex Dividend for the Month of August 2018

Here is our latest update on the stock trading technique called ‘Buying Dividends,’ also commonly referred to as ‘Dividend Capture.’ This is the process of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend.

This technique generally works only in bull markets, and can work in flat or choppy markets, but you need to avoid the technique during bear markets. In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can’t sell the stock until after the ex date.

The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has compiled a downloadable and sortable list of the stocks going ex dividend in the near future. The list contains many dividend paying companies, lots with market caps over $500 million, and yields over 2%. Here are a few examples showing the stock symbol, the ex-dividend date, the quarterly dividend amount, and annual yield.

PetMed Express, Inc. (PETS) 8/2/2018 0.27 2.96%
Pfizer, Inc. (PFE) 8/2/2018 0.34 3.58%
Citigroup Inc. (C) 8/3/2018 0.45 2.51%
Intel Corporation (INTC) 8/6/2018 0.30 2.29%
Boeing Company   (BA) 8/9/2018 1.71 1.92%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) 8/9/2018 0.52 2.37%
Consolidated Edison Inc (ED) 8/14/2018 0.72 3.70%
Target Corporation (TGT) 8/14/2018 0.64 3.20%
Visa Inc. (V) 8/16/2018 0.21 0.59%
Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.   (GS) 8/29/2018 0.80 1.35%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) 8/27/2018 0.90 2.80%
Molson Coors Brewing Company (TAP) 8/30/2018 0.41 2.51%
Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) 8/31/2018 2.00 2.47%

The additional ex-dividend stocks can be found here at wstnn.com. (If you have been to the website before, and the latest link doesn’t show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out some of the other high yield stock lists at HERE or WStNN.com. Most of the lists are free.

Dividend definitions: Declaration date: the day that the company declares that there is going to be an upcoming dividend.

Ex-dividend date: the day on which if you buy the stock, you would not be entitled to that particular dividend; or the first day on which a shareholder can sell the shares and still be entitled to the dividend.

Monthly Dividend Stock List

Record date: the day when you must be on the company’s books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks at two business days before the record date.

Payment date: the day on which the dividend payment is actually made, which can be as long at two months after the ex date.

Don’t forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

 

Stocks Going Ex Dividend in May 2018

Here is our latest update on the stock trading technique called ‘Buying Dividends,’ also commonly referred to as ‘Dividend Capture.’ This is the process of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend.

This technique generally works only in bull markets, and can work in flat or choppy markets, but you need to avoid the technique during bear markets. In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can’t sell the stock until after the ex date.

The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has compiled a downloadable and sortable list of the stocks going ex dividend in the near future. The list contains many dividend paying companies, lots with market caps over $500 million, and yields over 2%. Here are a few examples showing the stock symbol, the ex-dividend date, the quarterly dividend amount, and annual yield.

Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) 5/3/2018 0.39
Citigroup Inc. (C) 5/4/2018 0.32
Intel Corporation (INTC) 5/4/2018 0.3
The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (CAKE) 5/9/2018 0.29
International Business Machines (IBM) 5/9/2018 1.57
GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK) 5/10/2018 0.525
Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) 5/11/2018 0.82
Target Corporation (TGT) 5/15/2018 0.62
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) 5/16/2018 1.32
Visa Inc. (V) 5/17/2018 0.21
Aflac Incorporated (AFL) 5/22/2018 0.26
Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS) 5/30/2018 0.8
Bank of America Corporation (BAC) 5/31/2018 0.12
Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) 5/31/2018 2

The additional ex-dividend stocks can be found here at wstnn.com. (If you have been to the website before, and the latest link doesn’t show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out some of the other high yield stock lists at HERE or WStNN.com. Most of the lists are free.

Dividend definitions: Declaration date: the day that the company declares that there is going to be an upcoming dividend.

Ex-dividend date: the day on which if you buy the stock, you would not be entitled to that particular dividend; or the first day on which a shareholder can sell the shares and still be entitled to the dividend.

Monthly Dividend Stock List

Record date: the day when you must be on the company’s books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks at two business days before the record date.

Payment date: the day on which the dividend payment is actually made, which can be as long at two months after the ex date.

Don’t forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

 

How to Invest in Spotify Before It Goes Public

Many, many years ago, I was able to buy stock in Apple (AAPL) before it went public. Around the time when Apple Computer [that was the original name] was considering going public, I noticed an article in Forbes Magazine which mentioned that many of the shares were owned by a publicly traded closed end fund called the Nautilus Fund.

So I immediately bought some shares of the Nautilus Fund, not being sure of whether the CEF would sells the shares of Apple when it went public or would spin the shares out to the shareholders.

As it turned out, Apple had its initial public offering and the fund gave its shareholders the shares in Apple.

Now there is another hot company that is planning on going public but not through an IPO.

Spotify (SPOT) is a Stokholm, Sweden based music, podcast, and video streaming service with 160 million users, 72 million of which are paying customers.

You may have already heard that the company is expected to begin trading on April 3 on the New York Stock Exchange. This will be a direct listing, which means that no underwriters will be involved.

The reasons that the company is doing this are several, and the company has laid them out in its filing with the SEC for Form FWP 1 Filed Pursuant to Rule 433 under the Securities Act of 1933.

Here is what Spotify said in that document:

Many people have speculated about why Spotify is pursuing a Direct Listing.
We think it is best that you hear directly from us why we think this is the right approach for the people at Spotify.
From where we sit, there are five key reasons.
First, to list without the Company having to sell shares.
Second, to offer liquidity for shareholders.
Third, to provide equal access to all buyers and sellers.
Fourth, to conduct the process with radical transparency.
And fifth, is to enable market-driven price discovery through the New York Stock Exchange.

So can an investor get in before the trading date? If you are an accredited investor, you can get in on some private deals. An accredited investor is someone who has a net worth of at least $1,000,000, excluding the value of their home, or have income at least $200,000 each year for the last two years (or $300,000 combined income if married) and expect to make the same amount this year.

If you are not an accredited investor, there are a few other options, which involved buying shares of companies that own stocks of Spotify.

For example, Sony Music Entertainment International (SNE) owns over ten million shares or 5.7% of Spotify, according to an SEC filing. Obviously, this represents a very small amount of the Sony’s assets.

Tencent (TCEHY) did a stock swap with Spotify, so it owns a small percentage of the company. Tencent is the Chinese Internet and entertainment company.

Other publicly traded companies that own a piece of Spotify. Coca-Cola (KO) invested in the Series E round of Spotify. Goldman Sachs (GS) participated in both the Series E and the Series G round of investments.

One other way is to invest in a closed end investment company that specializes in pre-IPO investments. One closed end fund that fits this category is  GSV Capital (GSVC), which owns $32.3 million of Spotify shares based on what they show as fair market value on the GSV website. Spotify represents 15.4% of the GSV portfolio, which also includes shares of Palantir, Coursera, and Dropbox.

Just remember, even though many hot IPOs have been spectacular, not every new issue stock is successful.

Disclosure: Author owns shares of GSVC.

Stocks Going Ex Dividend in February 2018

Here is our latest update on the stock trading technique called ‘Buying Dividends,’ also commonly referred to as ‘Dividend Capture.’ This is the process of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend.

This technique generally works only in bull markets, and can work in flat or choppy markets, but you need to avoid the technique during bear markets. In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can’t sell the stock until after the ex date.

The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has compiled a downloadable and sortable list of the stocks going ex dividend in the near future. The list contains many dividend paying companies, lots with market caps over $500 million, and yields over 2%. Here are a few examples showing the stock symbol, the ex-dividend date, the quarterly dividend amount, and annual yield.

Pfizer, Inc. (PFE) 2/1/2018 0.34
Signet Jewelers Limited (SIG) 2/1/2018 0.31
Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) 2/1/2018 0.39
Citigroup Inc. (C) 2/2/2018 0.32
PetMed Express, Inc. (PETS) 2/2/2018 0.25
Intel Corporation (INTC) 2/6/2018 0.3
Starbucks Corporation (SBUX) 2/7/2018 0.3
Boeing Company (The) (BA) 2/8/2018 1.71
The Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW) 2/8/2018 0.1
Consolidated Edison Inc (ED) 2/13/2018 0.715
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) 2/14/2018 1.32
Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) 2/14/2018 0.563
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) 2/14/2018 0.42
Alaska Air Group, Inc. (ALK) 2/16/2018 0.32
Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) (GS) 2/28/2018 0.75

The additional ex-dividend stocks can be found here at wstnn.com. (If you have been to the website before, and the latest link doesn’t show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out some of the other high yield stock lists at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com or WStNN.com. Most of the lists are free.

Dividend definitions: Declaration date: the day that the company declares that there is going to be an upcoming dividend.

Ex-dividend date: the day on which if you buy the stock, you would not be entitled to that particular dividend; or the first day on which a shareholder can sell the shares and still be entitled to the dividend.

Monthly Dividend Stock List

Record date: the day when you must be on the company’s books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks at two business days before the record date.

Payment date: the day on which the dividend payment is actually made, which can be as long at two months after the ex date.

Don’t forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

 

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the Fifth Week of November

Here is our latest update on the stock trading technique called ‘Buying Dividends,’ also commonly referred to as ‘Dividend Capture.’ This is the process of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend.

This technique generally works only in bull markets, and can work in flat or choppy markets, but you need to avoid the technique during bear markets. In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can’t sell the stock until after the ex date.

The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has compiled a downloadable and sortable list of the stocks going ex dividend in the near future. The list contains many dividend paying companies, lots with market caps over $500 million, and yields over 2%. Here are a few examples showing the stock symbol, the ex-dividend date, the quarterly dividend amount, and annual yield.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) 11/27/2017 0.84 2.38%
Goldman Sachs Group (GS) 11/29/2017 0.75 1.18%
Interactive Brokers Group (IBKR) 11/30/2017 0.1 0.73%
Kellogg Company (K) 11/30/2017 0.54 3.21%
Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT) 11/30/2017 2 2.35%

The additional ex-dividend stocks can be found here at wstnn.com. (If you have been to the website before, and the latest link doesn’t show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out some of the other high yield stock lists at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com or WStNN.com. Most of the lists are free.

Dividend definitions: Declaration date: the day that the company declares that there is going to be an upcoming dividend.

Ex-dividend date: the day on which if you buy the stock, you would not be entitled to that particular dividend; or the first day on which a shareholder can sell the shares and still be entitled to the dividend.

Monthly Dividend Stock List

Record date: the day when you must be on the company’s books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks at two business days before the record date.

Payment date: the day on which the dividend payment is actually made, which can be as long at two months after the ex date.

Don’t forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

 

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the Fifth Week of May

Here is our latest update on the stock trading technique called ‘Buying Dividends,’ also commonly referred to as ‘Dividend Capture.’ This is the process of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend.

This technique generally works only in bull markets, and can work in flat or choppy markets, but you need to avoid the technique during bear markets. In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can’t sell the stock until after the ex date.

The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has compiled a downloadable and sortable list of the stocks going ex dividend in the near future. The list contains many dividend paying companies, lots with market caps over $500 million, and yields over 2%. Here are a few examples showing the stock symbol, the ex-dividend date, the quarterly dividend amount, and annual yield.

Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS) 5/30/2017 0.75 1.39%
Interactive Brokers Group (IBKR) 5/30/2017 0.1 1.15%
Schlumberger N.V. (SLB) 5/30/2017 0.5 2.78%
Tyson Foods, Inc. (TSN) 5/30/2017 0.225 1.54%

The additional ex-dividend stocks can be found here at wstnn.com. (If you have been to the website before, and the latest link doesn’t show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out some of the other high yield stock lists at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com or WStNN.com. Most of the lists are free.

Dividend definitions: Declaration date: the day that the company declares that there is going to be an upcoming dividend.

Ex-dividend date: the day on which if you buy the stock, you would not be entitled to that particular dividend; or the first day on which a shareholder can sell the shares and still be entitled to the dividend.

Monthly Dividend Stock List

Record date: the day when you must be on the company’s books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks at two business days before the record date.

Payment date: the day on which the dividend payment is actually made, which can be as long at two months after the ex date.

Stocks Going Ex Dividend the Fifth Week of February

Here is our latest update on the stock trading technique called ‘Buying Dividends,’ also commonly referred to as ‘Dividend Capture.’ This is the process of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend.

This technique generally works only in bull markets, and can work in flat or choppy markets, but you need to avoid the technique during bear markets. In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can’t sell the stock until after the ex date.

The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has compiled a downloadable and sortable list of the stocks going ex dividend in the near future. The list contains many dividend paying companies, lots with market caps over $500 million, and yields over 2%. Here are a few examples showing the stock symbol, the ex-dividend date, the quarterly dividend amount, and annual yield.

Ball Corporation (BLL) 2/27/2017 0.13 0.71%
Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (IBKR) 2/27/2017 0.1 1.05%
Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) 2/27/2017 1.82 2.55%
McKesson Corporation (MCK) 2/27/2017 0.28 0.74%
QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM) 2/27/2017 0.53 3.65%
Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS) 2/28/2017 0.65 1.03%

The additional ex-dividend stocks can be found here at wstnn.com. (If you have been to the website before, and the latest link doesn’t show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out some of the other high yield stock lists at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com or WStNN.com. Most of the lists are free.

Dividend definitions: Declaration date: the day that the company declares that there is going to be an upcoming dividend.

Ex-dividend date: the day on which if you buy the stock, you would not be entitled to that particular dividend; or the first day on which a shareholder can sell the shares and still be entitled to the dividend.

Monthly Dividend Stock List
 

Record date: the day when you must be on the company’s books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks at two business days before the record date.

Payment date: the day on which the dividend payment is actually made, which can be as long at two months after the ex date.

Book now available: Buying Dividends Revised and Expanded

Book now available: Stock Market Trivia Makes a Great Gift!
Don’t forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

Stock Trading Hack: How to Game the Dow Jones Industrial Average

Most experienced stock market traders and investors tend to ignore the Dow Jones Industrial Average because it is not a true indicator of what the market is doing and it can be skewed by higher priced stocks.

However the media likes to refer to the Dow for several reasons. First, this index has been around for many years (actually since 1896). Second, it is close to an all time high benchmark of 20,000. Third, even though the Standard & Poor’s 500 index may be a more accurate indictor of how the stock market is performing, the Dow is still closely correlated with the S&P 500. Check out the comparison in the graph below, courtesy of Yahoo! Finance.

Dow vs. SandP

The Dow Jones Industrial Average contains 30 stocks, which are currently as follows:

American Express Co AXP
Apple Inc AAPL
Boeing Co BA
Caterpillar Inc CAT
Cisco Systems Inc CSCO
Chevron Corp CVX
E I du Pont de Nemours and Co DD
Exxon Mobil Corp XOM
General Electric Co GE
Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS
Home Depot Inc HD
International Business Machines Corp IBM
Intel Corp INTC
Johnson & Johnson JNJ
Coca-Cola Co KO
JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM
McDonald’s Corp MCD
3M Co MMM
Merck & Co Inc MRK
Microsoft Corp MSFT
Nike Inc NKE
Pfizer Inc PFE
Procter & Gamble Co PG
Travelers Companies Inc TRV
UnitedHealth Group Inc UNH
United Technologies Corp UTX
Verizon Communications Inc VZ
Visa Inc V
Wal-Mart Stores Inc WMT
Walt Disney Co DIS

So what is really wrong with the Dow? It is a price-weighted average, which means that the 30 stocks in the index are added up, then divided by a divisor, in order to account for stock splits and stock dividends. This means that a higher priced stock, such as Goldman Sachs (GS) which currently sells for over $230 a share can have a greater affect on the index than a lower priced stock, such as General Electric (GE), which sell for less than $30 a share.

The Dow differs from the S&P 500 in that the S&P is weighted by the market capitalization of all the companies in its index. The market cap for this index is calculated by multiplying the price per share times the float (shares available for trading).

Now you might ask, why is this all a big deal with the Dow being price weighted.? Here is one example. Because Goldman Sachs is the highest priced stock in the index, it can affect the Dow significantly. Let’s say that all the stocks in the Dow stay the same, but the price of Goldman drops from 232 to 200, or 150, or even 100. After all, it traded for less than 100 five years ago. In that case, the Dow would drop from about 19,800 to 18,891.

Of course, if Goldman goes up in price significantly, even if the other stocks in the Dow remain the same, the Dow average will increase dramatically.

Now lets say that GE drops by about the same percentage from 29 to 13, and all the other stocks, including Goldman, don’t change from today’s price. The Dow index would only drop from 19,800 to 19,685.

There are several ways that traders can use this information including using Dow related ETFs, such as the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF, in conjunction with or as an alternative to Goldman Sachs. There is also the ProShares Ultra Dow30ETF  (DDM), which has a goal of providing twice the return of the Dow. The ProShares UltraPro Dow30 ETF (UDOW) has triple leverage.

On the bearish side, there is the ProShares Short Dow30 ETF (DOG), which has a goal of providing an inverse performance of the Dow, the ProShares UltraShort Dow30 ETF (DXD) providing two times the inverse of the Dow, and the ProShares UltraPro Short Dow30 ETF (SDOW), which is a triple inverse of the Dow ETF.

So let’s say you think that Goldman Sachs is going to drop in price. You could short the stock, but you would have unlimited risk if you are wrong. Or you could buy the SDOW ETF where your risk would be spread among the 30 stocks and your potential loss would be limited to what you invest.

The reverse of the trade could also be done. Suppose you think that Goldman Sachs is going to 400. You could buy the UDOW ETF instead, and have the diversification of the 30 stocks, and still get decent upside if you are right about Goldman because of the amount of weight it has on the index.

Or you could have a long or short position in Goldman and at the same time, have an opposite position in the Dow using an ETF, in order to hedge yourself. I will leave it up to you to determine your own best strategy.

In order to see what the Dow index can do based on various changes in stock prices, we have provided a Free Dow Jones Industrial Average Analyzer, in the form of an Excel spreadsheet, which will allow you to do what-ifs to see what would happen if, say, Apple (AAPL) goes to 150 and Wal-Mart (WMT) goes to 100.

Or maybe you want to go through the list of all 30 stocks and enter how far you think they could possibly drop, then determine what the Dow index would be. Another option would be to play around with the stock prices to see what would be required for the Dow Jones Industrial Average to reach 20,000.

To see the analyzer, click on the link below:

Free Dow Jones Industrial Average Analyzer