Stocks -=- What is a "blue chip"

According to the New York Stock Exchange, a blue chip is stock in a corporation with a national reputation for quality, reliability and the ability to operate profitably in good times and bad.^[1] The most popular index which follows US blue chips is the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a price-weighted average of 30 blue-chip stocks that are generally the leaders in their industry. It has been a widely followed indicator of the stock market since October 1, 1928.^[2]

Source: Wikipedia

You can find the list of these 30 companies at http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/stocks/movers/dow/