Standard & Poor's Announces Changes to U.S. Indices

NEW YORK, March 23  /PRNewswire/ -- Standard & Poor's will make the following changes to the S&P 500, S&P SmallCap 600 and S&P REIT Composite indices:

  * Google Inc. (NASD: GOOG) will replace Burlington Resources Inc.
    (NYSE:BR) in the S&P 500 after the close of trading on Friday, March
    31. Burlington Resources is being acquired by S&P 500 constituent
    ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in a deal expected to close on or about that
    date, pending final approvals.

  * Tuesday Morning Corp. (NASD: TUES) will replace UICI (NYSE:UCI) in the
    S&P SmallCap 600 after the close of trading on Wednesday, March 29.
    UICI is being acquired by a group of private equity firms in a deal
    expected to close on or about that date, pending final approvals.

  * Matria Healthcare Inc. (NASD: MATR) will replace Hughes Supply Inc.
    (NYSE:HUG) in the S&P SmallCap 600 after the close of trading on
    Thursday, March 30.  Hughes Supply is being acquired by S&P 500 and S&P
    100 constituent Home Depot Inc. (NYSE:HD) in a deal expected to close
    on or about that date, pending final approvals.

  * Tronox Inc. (NYSE:TRX.Bwi) will replace Meade Instruments Corp.
    (NASD: MEAD) in the S&P SmallCap 600 after the close of trading on
    Thursday, March 30.  S&P 500 constituent Kerr-McGee Corp. (NYSE:KMG) is
    spinning off the Class B shares of Tronox to shareholders in a deal
    expected to close on or about that date.  After the close of trading on
    Thursday, March 23 Meade Instruments had a float-adjusted market
    capitalization of roughly $52 million, ranking 600th in the index.

  * First Commonwealth Financial Corp. (NYSE:FCF) will replace The Town and
    Country Trust (NYSE:TCT) in the S&P SmallCap 600, and S&P MidCap 400
    constituent Potlatch Corp. (NYSE:PCH) will replace Town and Country in
    the S&P REIT Composite, after the close of trading on Friday, March 31.
    Town and Country is being acquired by a joint venture investment vehicle
    formed by affiliates of Morgan Stanley Real Estate, Onex Real Estate and
    Sawyer Realty Holdings LLC in a deal expected to close on or about that
    date, pending final approvals.



Standard & Poor's will monitor these transactions, and post any relevant updates on its website: http://www.standardandpoors.com/.

Google provides Web search and online advertising services.  Headquartered in Mountain View, CA, the company will be added to the S&P 500 GICS (Global Industry Classification Standard) Internet Software & Services Sub-Industry index.

Tuesday Morning is a closeout retailer of upscale home furnishings and gifts.  Headquartered in Dallas, TX, the company will be added to the S&P SmallCap 600 GICS General Merchandise Stores Sub-Industry index.

Matria Healthcare provides disease management services that offer cost- saving solutions for costly medical conditions and chronic diseases. Headquartered in Marietta, GA, the company will be added to the S&P SmallCap 600 GICS Health Care Services Sub-Industry index.

Tronox produces and markets titanium dioxide pigment products. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, OK, the company will be added to the S&P SmallCap 600 GICS Commodity Chemicals Sub-Industry index.

First Commonwealth Financial operates as a state chartered bank in numerous counties in central and western Pennsylvania.  Headquartered in Indiana, PA, the company will be added to the S&P SmallCap 600 GICS Regional Banks Sub-Industry index.

Potlatch is a producer of logs and wood products, and also has interests in pulp, bleached paperboard, and tissue products.  Headquartered in Spokane, WA, the company will be added to the S&P REIT Composite Specialty property category.

  Following is a summary of the changes:


                      S&P 500 INDEX - March 31, 2006
            COMPANY       GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR           GICS SUB-INDUSTRY
  ADDED     Google    Information Technology Internet   Software & Services
  DELETED  Burlington          Energy                  Oil & Gas Exploration
           Resources                                        & Production


                 S&P SMALLCAP 600 INDEX - March 29, 2006
            COMPANY         GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR      GICS SUB-INDUSTRY
  ADDED   Tuesday Morning  Consumer Discretionary    General Merchandise
                                                           Stores
  DELETED      UICI             Financials          Life & Health Insurance


                 S&P SMALLCAP 600 INDEX - March 30, 2006
               COMPANY           GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR     GICS SUB-INDUSTRY
  ADDED     Matria Healthcare      Health Care         Health Care Services
  DELETED   Hughes Supply          Industrials           Trading Companies &
                                                           Distributors


                 S&P SMALLCAP 600 INDEX - March 30, 2006
            COMPANY      GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR         GICS SUB-INDUSTRY
  ADDED     Tronox           Materials               Commodity Chemicals
  DELETED   Meade       Consumer Discretionary        Leisure Products
          Instruments


                 S&P SMALLCAP 600 INDEX - March 31, 2006
             COMPANY        GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR        GICS SUB-INDUSTRY
  ADDED       First              Financials               Regional Banks
           Commonwealth
            Financial
  DELETED  Town and Country      Financials                Real Estate
                                                         Investment Trusts


                S&P REIT COMPOSITE INDEX - March 31, 2006
               COMPANY         REIT TYPE              PROPERTY TYPE
  ADDED       Potlatch          Equity                  Specialty
  DELETED   Town and Country    Equity                 Residential




Additions to and deletions from an S&P equity index do not in any way reflect an opinion on the investment merits of the companies concerned.

About Standard & Poor's

Standard & Poor's, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE:MHP), is the world's foremost provider of independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research and data. With approximately 6,300 employees located in 20 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/.

About The McGraw-Hill Companies

Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies is a leading global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands such as Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education, BusinessWeek and J.D. Power and Associates. The Corporation has more than 290 offices in 38 countries. Sales in 2005 were $6.0 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/. 

DATASOURCE: Standard & Poor's



CONTACT:  David M. Blitzer, Ph.D.

Managing Director & Chairman of the Index Committee

[phone]



Web site:  http://www.standardandpoors.com/

http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/ 

Copyright