Is the DJIA the most useless investing tool available?

With the DJIA at record levels in the last two weeks, are stocks the "in thing" to have in an investment portfolio for making money of providing for retirement savings? That sentence was about as lame as a, well, duck -- because the immense amount of variables that goes into a solid financial plan these days does not just look at the stock market's recent performance for any kind of guarantee on present or future performance.

Some of us remember who lost their shirts in the crash of 2001-2002 and even 1987. See that graph above? Look at September 2001 -- that gives many of us pause when it comes to thinking how our portfolios were arranged at that time.

So, the argument of the day again comes to trust in the DJIA's highest-ever levels. As I'm writing this, the average is peaking at 11,863. What's in an average, so to speak? This great article over at SeekingAlpha pretty much summed things up about how the DJIA can take a piece of news -- seemingly any news -- and draw conclusions that have no hope of ever being proven.

After all, the market is based on such heavy speculation every day (crystal ball syndrome), that it's rare to see an investor take a long-term view of the markets, the U.S. and global economy and the litany of other factors that can cause incredible gains over the long term. I think Warren Buffett, however, knows something about this. So how does this writer feel about the DJIA? In his words, "I am now more convinced than ever that the Dow is the most useless, overused tool on the planet!"

One of the best points I've heard many times before is reiterated here -- "The Dow is 'price weighted,' meaning that weightings are determined based on the selling price of each stock, not the value of the company." Well spoken and well said.