MER Merrill Lynch & CO

NEW YORK, Dec. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Standard & Poor's will make the following changes to the S&P 100, S&P 500, S&P MidCap 400 and S&P SmallCap 600 indices: -- S&P 500 constituent Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) will replace Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MER) in the S&P 100, S&P MidCap 400 constituent SCANA Corp. (NYSE:SCG) will replace Merrill Lynch in the S&P 500, and Omega Healthcare Investors Inc. (NYSE:OHI) will replace SCANA in the S&P MidCap 400, all after the close of trading on Wednesday, December 31. Merrill Lynch is being acquired by S&P 100 and 500 constituent Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC) in a transaction expected to be completed on or about that date, pending final approvals. -- S&P 500 constituent Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ:COST) will replace Wachovia Corp. (NYSE:WB) in the S&P 100, and Owens-Illinois Inc. (NYSE:OI) will replace Wachovia in the S&P 500, after the close of trading on Wednesday, December 31. Wachovia is being acquired by S&P 100 and 500 constituent Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC) in a transaction expected to be completed on or about that date, pending final approvals. -- S&P MidCap 400 constituent FLIR Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:FLIR) will replace National City Corp. (NYSE:NCC) in the S&P 500, and Valley National Bancorp (NYSE:VLY) will replace FLIR Systems in the S&P MidCap 400 after the close of trading on Wednesday, December 31. National City is being acquired by S&P 500 constituent PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE:PNC) in a transaction expected to be completed on or about that date, pending final approvals. -- AMERISAFE Inc. (NASDAQ:AMSF) will replace FirstFed Financial Corp. (NYSE:FED), Actuant Corp. (NYSE:ATU) will replace BIOLASE Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:BLTI), American Physicians Capital Inc. (NASDAQ:ACAP) will replace Monaco Coach Corporation (NYSE:MNC), and Independent Bank Corp. (NASDAQ:INDB) will replace Libbey Inc. (NYSE:LBY) in the S&P SmallCap 600, after the close of trading on Wednesday, December 31. FirstFed Financial, BIOLASE Technology, Monaco Coach and Libbey all have market capitalizations below $25 million, whereas the minimum market cap needed to be admitted to the index is currently $200 million. -- Intermec, Inc. (NYSE:IN) will replace SI International Inc. (NASDAQ: NASDAQ:SINT) in the S&P SmallCap 600 on a date to be announced. Serco Group plc is acquiring SI International in a cash deal that is still pending final approvals. Standard & Poor's will monitor these transactions, and post any relevant updates on its website: http://www.standardandpoors.com/. Amazon.com operates retail websites. It is headquartered in Seattle, WA. Costco Wholesale operates a chain of membership warehouses. It is headquartered in Issaquah, WA. SCANA is primarily engaged in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity. Headquartered in Columbia, SC, the company will be added to the S&P 500 GICS (Global Industry Classification Standard) Multi-Utilities Sub-Industry index. Owens-Illinois is a manufacturer of glass containers. Headquartered in Perrysburg, OH, the company will be added to the S&P 500 GICS Metal & Glass Containers Sub-Industry index. FLIR Systems is engaged in the design, manufacture and marketing of thermal imaging systems. Headquartered in Wilsonville, OR, the company will be added to the S&P 500 GICS Electronic Equipment & Instruments Sub-Industry index. Valley National Bancorp operates commercial banks. Headquartered in Wayne, NJ, the company will be added to the S&P MidCap 400 GICS Regional Banks Sub-Industry index. Omega Healthcare Investors is a real estate investment trust (REIT). Headquartered in Timonium, MD, the company will be added to the S&P MidCap 400 GICS Specialized REITs Sub-Industry index. AMERISAFE is an insurance company. Headquartered in DeRidder, LA, the company will be added to the S&P SmallCap 600 GICS Property & Casualty Insurance Sub-Industry index. Actuant is a manufacturer of a range of industrial products and systems. Headquartered in Butler, WI, the company will be added to the S&P SmallCap 600 GICS Industrial Machinery Sub-Industry index. American Physicians Capital is a regional provider of medical professional liability insurance. Headquartered in East Lansing, MI, the company will be added to the S&P SmallCap 600 GICS Property & Casualty Insurance Sub-Industry index. Independent Bank operates a commercial bank. Headquartered in Rockland, MA, the company will be added to the S&P SmallCap 600 GICS Regional Banks Sub-Industry index. Intermec designs, develops, manufactures, integrates, sells, and services wired and wireless automated identification and data collection products. Headquartered in Everett, WA, the company will be added to the S&P SmallCap 600 GICS Computer Storage & Peripherals Sub-Industry index. Following is a summary of the changes: S&P 100 INDEX - December 31, 2008 COMPANY GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR GICS SUB-INDUSTRY ADDED Amazon Consumer Discretionary Internet Retail Costco Consumer Staples Hypermarkets & Super Centers DELETED Merrill Lynch Financials Investment Banking & Brokerage Wachovia Financials Diversified Banks S&P 500 INDEX - December 31, 2008 COMPANY GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR GICS SUB-INDUSTRY ADDED SCANA Utilities Multi-Utilities Owens-Illinois Materials Metal & Glass Containers FLIR Systems Information Technology Electronic Equipment & Instruments DELETED Merrill Lynch Financials Investment Banking & Brokerage Wachovia Financials Diversified Banks National City Financials Regional Banks S&P MIDCAP 400 INDEX - December 31, 2008 COMPANY GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR GICS SUB-INDUSTRY ADDED Valley Financials Regional Banks National Omega Financials Specialized REITs Healthcare DELETED FLIR Systems Information Technology Electronic Equipment & Instruments SCANA Utilities Multi-Utilities S&P SMALLCAP 600 INDEX - December 31, 2008 COMPANY GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR GICS SUB-INDUSTRY ADDED AMERISAFE Financials Property & Casualty Insurance Actuant Industrials Industrial Machinery American Financials Property & Casualty Physicians Insurance Capital Independent Bank Financials Regional Banks DELETED FirstFed Financials Thrifts & Mortgage Financial Finance BIOLASE Health Care Health Care Technology Equipment Monaco Coach Consumer Discretionary Automobile Manufacturers Libbey Consumer Discretionary Housewares & Specialties S&P SMALLCAP 600 INDEX - TBA COMPANY GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR GICS SUB-INDUSTRY ADDED Intermec Information Technology Computer Storage & Peripherals DELETED SI Information Technology IT Consulting & Other International Services About Standard & Poor's Index Services Standard & Poor's Index Services, the world's leading index provider, maintains a wide variety of investable and benchmark indices to meet an array of investor needs. Its family of indices includes the S&P 500, an index with $1.5 trillion invested and $4.85 trillion benchmarked, and the S&P Global 1200, a composite index comprised of seven regional and country headline indices. For more information, please visit http://www.standardandpoors.com/indices. About Standard & Poor's Standard & Poor's, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE:MHP), is the world's foremost provider of financial market intelligence, including independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research and data. With approximately 8,500 employees, including wholly owned affiliates, located in 23 countries and markets, Standard & Poor's is an essential part of the world's financial infrastructure and has played a leading role for more than 140 years in providing investors with the independent benchmarks they need to feel more confident about their investment and financial decisions. For more information, visit http://www.standardandpoors.com/. DATASOURCE: Standard & Poor's CONTACT: David M. Blitzer, Ph.D., Managing Director & Chairman of the Index Committee, +1-212-438-3907 Web Site: http://www.standardandpoors.com/

Copyright