<P> The Dow Jones Industrial Average ( DJIA ) , or simply the Dow ( / ˈdaʊ / ) , is a stock market index that shows how 30 large , publicly owned companies based in the United States have traded during a standard trading session in the stock market . The value of the Dow is not a weighted arithmetic mean and does not represent its component companies ' market capitalization , but rather the sum of the price of one share of stock for each component company . The sum is corrected by a factor which changes whenever one of the component stocks has a stock split or stock dividend , so as to generate a consistent value for the index . </P>
what is one point in the stock market
the sum of the price of one share of stock for each component company