Apple Woulda-Coulda Had the Dow at 15,290

Back in the lapsarian fog of June 2009, the keepers of the Dow Jones Industrial Average finally got around to tapping Cisco (CSCO), networking stalwart, to replace the bankrupt General Motors (GM). Cisco, remarked a managing Dow Joneser, was added because its products are “vital to an economy and culture still adapting to the Information Age—just as automobiles were essential to America in the 20th century.” Prescient catch: In the nearly two decades between its debut and Dow induction, a period that saw a router in every American garage, Cisco’s stock had already returned north of 22,000 percent.

So how did that 2009 decision turn out for the Dow? Depending on how you analyze it, either unfortunate or atrocious. Since its induction into the blue-chip average, Cisco has inched up 1.3 percent, substantially underperforming the Dow’s 48 percent rise.

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