Better Buy: Johnson & Johnson or All 30 Dow Jones Stocks?
Shares of healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) have lagged the broad market since last year's low, but they've been outright poor performers since peaking in August of this year. The stock is down 10% for the past three months, and back within sight of multi-week lows hit in early October. Not even word that the company intends to spin off its slow-growing consumer health business was able to light a fire under the stock.
Ergo, investors with some idle money ready to be put to work could easily conclude that something more broad-based like the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSEMKT: DIA) is a better bet than the individual component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI) itself is right now. After all, the Dow remains within reach of record highs hit earlier this month, and is seemingly still going strong.
That simple performance-based comparison, however, looks past a couple of important investing lessons nobody can afford to ignore.
Source Fool.com
