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

NEW YORK, Feb. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Standard & Poor's will make the following changes to the S&P SmallCap 600 index:

* Frement General Corp. (NYSE:FMT) will be removed from the index after
the close of trading on Monday, March 3. As of today's close of trading
Fremont General had a market value of approximately $79 million, whereas
the minimum market cap a company must maintain in order to be eligible
for addition to the index is $300 million.

* S&P REIT Composite constituent Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust
(NYSE:PEI) will be added to the index after the close of trading on
Wednesday, March 5, taking the place vacated by Fremont General.

* Orbital Sciences Corp. (NYSE:ORB) will replace Respironics Inc.
(NASDAQ:RESP) after the close of trading on Thursday, March 6.
Respironics is being acquired by Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE:PHG)
in a tender offer expected to expire on or about that date.

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

Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust is a REIT primarily engaged in the ownership, management, development, redevelopment, acquisition and leasing of retail shopping malls and power and strip centers. Headquartered in Philadelphia, PA, the company will be added to the S&P SmallCap 600 GICS (Global Industry Classification Standard) Retail REITs Sub-Industry index.

Orbital Sciences develops and makes small space systems for commercial, civil government and military customers. Headquartered in Dulles, VA, the company will be added to the S&P SmallCap 600 GICS Aerospace & Defense Sub- Industry index.

Following is a summary of the changes:

S&P SMALLCAP 600 INDEX - March 3, 2008
COMPANY GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR GICS SUB-INDUSTRY
DELETED Fremont General Financials Thrifts & Mortgage
Finance

S&P SMALLCAP 600 INDEX - March 5, 2008
COMPANY GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR GICS SUB-INDUSTRY
ADDED Pennsylvania REIT Financials Retail REITs

S&P SMALLCAP 600 INDEX - March 6, 2008
COMPANY GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR GICS SUB-INDUSTRY
ADDED Orbital Sciences Industrials Aerospace & Defense
DELETED Respironics Inc. Health Care Health Care Equipment

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 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 21 countries, 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 (NYSE:MHP) 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 280 offices in 40 countries. Sales in 2007 were $6.8 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/.

Source: Standard & Poor's

CONTACT: David M. Blitzer, Ph.D.
Managing Director & Chairman of the Index Committee
(212) 438-3907

Web site: http://www.standardandpoors.com/
http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/

2008-02-29 18:01:01 0302093 PRNEWSWIRE