NEW YORK (AP) – Miles per hour – out. Bits per second – in.

Dow Jones & Co. said Monday it would add Cisco Systems Inc., the world's largest maker of computer networking hardware, to the 30-stock industrial average, replacing General Motors Corp. The change takes effect June 8.

The automotive giant filed for bankruptcy protection Monday. Meanwhile, Cisco has been weathering the recession without major layoffs, and has kept acquiring companies to expand its technology portfolio.

Shares of San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco rose 78 cents, or 4.2 percent, to $19.28 in morning trading. Meanwhile the Dow Jones U.S. Technology Index was up 2.5 percent.

Investment funds that track the Dow Jones industrials are now forced to buy Cisco shares to match the index.

The addition of Cisco reflects the increasing importance of information technology in the U.S. economy. IBM Corp. was added to the list in 1979. It was followed by Hewlett-Packard Co. in 1997, then Intel Corp. and Microsoft Corp. in 1999.

Intel and Microsoft were the first Dow components that are listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market rather than the New York Stock Exchange. Cisco will be the third.

The Dow Jones industrial average also includes the two largest telecommunications services providers in the U.S., AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc., which both are major Cisco customers.

Meanwhile, Cisco on Friday said current fourth-quarter earnings per share will be 2 cents to 3 cents lower due to a tax-related charge.

In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Cisco said that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit changes the company's tax treatment of certain stock option expenses before 2005, even though Cisco was not a named party to the case.

The court's decision overturns a 2005 ruling in U.S. Tax Court that said Xilinx Inc. did not have to share stock option costs related to the company's research and development and cost-sharing arrangements.

In the filing, Cisco said it will record a charge of $130 million in the quarter. It also said the decision reduces its paid-in capital by $310 million to $320 million, or the amount investors put into the company during stock issuances.

Cisco said the decision will not have a material impact on future operations or finances.

Shares of Cisco fell 1 cent to close at $18.50 in Friday's regular session, and lost 7 cents in after-hours trading.