The Mac-and-Cheese Economy

Interestingly, the last change to the Dow came in February, when Bank of America and Chevron supplanted Altria Group—the former parent of Kraft—and Honeywell.

Robert Thomson, managing editor of the Wall Street Journal and the man ultimately responsible for deciding what's in the Dow index, said he didn't choose another financial firm to replace AIG "because of the extremely unsettled conditions" in the sector.

He said he added Kraft because the index currently includes no food companies. Indeed, the addition of Kraft represents the first time a pure food company has been included in the Dow in 23 years. And right on time, too. "Apart from being a leader in the food industry, Kraft is a great defensive stock too," Ingarra
told Reuters. "When times are tough then these are the stocks that are going to hold up well-when people can't afford to go for dinner anymore they're more likely to eat Macaroni and Cheese at home."