The Dow Jones Industrial Average comprises 30 blue-chip stocks that most investors are familiar with. It’s an index that investors use to gauge the position of the stock market as a whole, similar to the Nasdaq and S&P 500. The Dow has risen by 18% over this past year; earlier last week, it reached 40,000 for the first time. The Dow’s rise to 40,000 was mostly due to the stocks I mentioned below. These companies have all performed very well this year due to impressive earnings, business expansion and growin ...