125 years of the Dow | Cramer says FAANG names look cheap | Reddit favorites rally

Happy 125th birthday to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which debuted more than a century ago with 12 members.

VIEW IN BROWSER | SUBSCRIBE WED, MAY 26, 2021 EVENING BRIEF AS OF WED, MAY 26, 2021 • 04:53 ET DJIA 34323.05 +0.03% +10.59 S&P 500 4195.99 +0.19% +7.86 NASDAQ 13738.00 +0.59% +80.82   Most Active DOW NAME LAST CHG %CHG AAPL 126.85 -0.05 -0.04% CSCO 52.91 -0.40 -0.75% MSFT 251.49 -0.23 -0.09% S&P 500 NAME LAST CHG %CHG F 13.90 +1.09 +8.51% GE 13.40 +0.28 +2.13% AAPL 126.85 -0.05 -0.04% NASDAQ NAME LAST CHG %CHG AAPL 126.85 -0.05 -0.04% AMD 78.34 +0.48 +0.62% TSLA 619.13 +14.44 +2.39%   EDITOR'S NOTE Happy 125th birthday to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which debuted more than a century ago with 12 members.   The Dow notched a lackluster return on Wednesday, rising just 10.59 points. Its best year occurred in 1915 when the benchmark rallied 81.7%, while 1931 marked its worst year with a 52.7% loss.   "The interesting thing about the Dow is that despite its odd construction and price weighting, which is really unusual and odd, it basically beat the S&P 500 over the last 30 years," said Wharton School professor Jeremy Siegel.   He said from April 30, 1991, to April 30, 2021, the annualized total return for the Dow as 11.17%. That compares with the total return, which includes reinvested dividends, of 10.59% for the S&P 500. Stocks have continued to be in a choppy pattern for the last several weeks. The S&P 500 rose marginally, about 0.2%, on Wednesday as reopening trades lifted the overall average. Airlines, cruise lines, hotel operators and retailers registered gains. Technology stocks helped the Nasdaq Composite rally 0.6%.   The small-cap benchmark Russell 2000 gained an impressive 1.9%.   "We continue to look for a strong recovery in economic growth in 2021, with low interest rates and moderate increases in inflation," said Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo. "This backdrop should favor most equity markets globally, and especially those markets and sectors most closely correlated with economic growth."   Speculative pockets of the market also charged higher Wednesday, with bitcoin at about $38,700 around 4:49 p.m. ET, according to Coin Metrics, and several so-called meme stocks notching major gains. GameStop and AMC Entertainment rose roughly 16% and 19%, respectively. Investor Cathie Wood's flagship Ark Innovation ETF rose 1.8%. Maggie Fitzgerald | CNBC Markets Reporter @mkmfitzgerald TOP NEWS  S&P 500 ekes out a small gain in light trading, boosted by reopening plays Amazon to buy MGM Studios for $8.45 billion Engine No. 1 wins at least 2 Exxon board seats as activist pushes for climate strategy change At 125 years, the Dow is more relevant than some investors might think Meme stocks GameStop, AMC are popping again as speculative trading ramps back up CDC director urges caution over Memorial Day weekend for those not vaccinated as U.S. Covid cases, deaths fall Jeff Bezos to formally step down as Amazon CEO on July 5, Andy Jassy to take over Commodity prices are cooling off — here's why that could be good news for stocks Apple is looking to strike deals with 'alternative payments' providers Republicans call for Fauci's termination over shifting position on Wuhan lab funding   TOP VIDEO Thousands of volunteers sign up for Royal Caribbean's mock voyage   CNBC PRO These are the Cathie Wood stocks Wall Street believes have the best chance of roaring back   SPECIAL REPORTS CNBC's 'Haines Bottom' NFT just sold at auction for over $61,000 Here's why Jim Cramer says the 'FAANG' stocks look cheap right now   Unsubscribe Manage Newsletters Terms of Service Join the CNBC Panel Digital Products Feedback Privacy Policy   © 2021 CNBC LLC. All rights reserved. A property of NBCUniversal. 900 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632 Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes and Market Data and Analysis. Data also provided by THOMSON REUTERS