‘Dirty Dozen’ put drag on Dow

Apple is just one sour apple taking a bite out of rally

The bulls celebrated the Dow’s push to another new high Wednesday. But investors taking a closer look can see the index is still full of sour apples.

There are 12 stocks in the Dow Jones industrial average, including Goldman Sachs, Apple and American Express, that have dragged down the widely watched market measure since it last hit its peak last year, according to a USA TODAY analysis of data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Not only are these stocks being left out of the Dow’s run to new highs this year but they have collectively erased more than 1,200 Dow points from the Dow’s former peak set on May 19, 2015.

The drag from these lagging stocks is a big hurdle for the rest of the Dow members to overcome. Fortunately for the bulls, the winning Dow stocks have been powerful enough to push the Dow up 50 points from its former high.

The Dow rose nearly 24 points to 18,372 Wednesday to a new high for the second day in a row.

The fact there are so many bigtime losers in the Dow signals just how cautious investors remain, even as the Dow retakes high ground, says David Sowerby, strategist at Loomis, Sayles.

“Skepticism, while challenging, is a good thing for stock prices to find higher levels,” he says. “It’s better than the bliss at a market top.”

Goldman Sachs continues to dog the Dow. The bank’s shares are off 23% from the Dow’s 2015 high to $157.92. Since the Dow gives a greater weight to stocks with the highest per-share prices, Goldman’s decline has wiped 327 points from the measure.

Goldman’s woes are symbolic of the challenges other economically sensitive financial stocks are facing, says Devin Ryan, analyst at JMP Securities. Low interest rates around the world and tepid global economic growth are hurting the banks’ shares. American Express is another example of a struggling Dow stock. Shares are down 22% from the time of the Dow’s high last year.

It’s hard to find a better example of a fallen apple in the Dow than Apple. The gadget maker’s shares are down nearly 26% to $96.87 from the 2015 high, which is a larger percentage drop than any other Dow component. Apple investors continue to lose their enthusiasm for the stock.