Visa, Goldman, Boeing add to Dow doldrums

Investors can overlook troubles in the Nasdaq, seeing that as just a problem for speculators. But the Dow Jones industrial average is the "stock market" for many who rely on the measure's movements to tell them how stocks are doing. And the Dow is telling investors that something is not quite right.

The Dow tumbled 167 points to 16,246 on Monday, which marks a cumulative loss of 327 points in the past three trading days.

DOWN 300 IN 3 DAYS: Here's what's killing the Dow

Dow drops tend to get the attention of individual investors, who had been gradually getting the courage to leave the safety of the bond market and hop back into stocks. More problems with the Dow might unnerve investors just as they were getting interested in stocks again.

Stocks at large are rolling over a bit as investors take off some speculative bets from last year, and blue chips are taking a hit, too.

But there's a group of Dow stocks that are the biggest contributors to the downfall. Visa, Goldman Sachs and Boeing were among the biggest drags on Monday, falling 2.1%, 2.9% and 1.4% respectively.

Weakness in these stocks is especially problematic, since the Dow gives greatest weight to the stocks with the highest per-share prices.

At $203, $159 and $126 respectively, Visa, Goldman and Boeing are the stocks that really matter to the measure. The trouble in these stocks isn't just today. So far this year, Visa is down 8.7%, Goldman is off 10.5%, and Boeing is down 8.0%.