Dow Dumps Bank of America, HP, Alcoa

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is ditching Hewlett-Packard, Bank of America, and Alcoa, it announced today, in what the Wall Street Journal is calling "the biggest shake-up of the 30-stock index in almost a decade." The Dow will add Nike, Visa, and Goldman Sachs to replace the three departing companies. The swaps "were prompted by the low stock price of the three companies," the company that manages the Dow said in a statement, along with "the Index Committee's desire to diversify" the index.

The Dow said the swap won't actually affect its current level—which, at 15063.12 is just off the all-time high it hit in August. The Dow is price-weighted, meaning components with higher share prices affect it more. The move comes on the same day as a Bloomberg report that Bank of America is planning on cutting 2,100 jobs and closing 16 offices. (More Dow Jones stories.)