I';ve heard that when it goes down, gas gets cheaper, and when it goes up, its more expensive.
anyone have any info.....
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is the average price of 30 large companies in the US. It, and the Standard & Poor 500 index, are general measure of the expectations of the economy's general health.
The DOW can rise for a variety of reasons : better earnings by the represented companies (indicating better long-term company health), outlook for lower costs (but without deflation which lowers asset values) , or speculation (investors think better times are coming, so they bid up the stocks assuming that the stocks' underlying value will increase.)
Typically a rising stock market (especially the DOW, which is industrial and very large companies) indicates greater economic activity. Greater economic activity indicates greater demand levels for everythibng, which may be represented by higher prices for all goods and services, gasoline included.
Please note, however, that commodity prices (and gasoline is a manufactured commodity) can rise and fall based on reasons different from those that move the DOW : bad weather that threatens to shut down oil production can cause a spike in gas prices; a new oil field find being prough on-line can cause a temporary dip in prices; OPEC's moves to control production can affect prices. The relationship is not simple.
The "Pro" of a rising DOW or S&P is that most people have more perceived wealth, through increased values in their investment accounts and 401(K)s. When they feel wealthier, they are more likely to spend, which helps the economy. The "Con" of a rising DOW or S&P is that stock ownership becomes more expensive, and, assuming a stable earnings and dividend per share, the dividend yield on stocks will decline.
Try reading the Wall Street Journal or the Economist to get a good feel for how these things are interrelated.