New Kids Join Old Boys

From USA TODAY:

Google’s stock will be added to the Standard & Poor’s 500 index, a long-anticipated rite of passage that lifted the online search engine leader’s recently sagging shares.
Google will replace Burlington Resources in the closely watched barometer March 31.
The inclusion into the S&P 500 provides Google’s stock with an immediate catalyst because so many large mutual funds are based on the index’s composition.
Joining the S&P 500 also is a symbol of prestige that stamps its members as a blue-chip company.
Google’s entrance into the elite club had been considered a foregone conclusion by many because its market value had already surpassed many of the nation’s best-known companies like General Motors and Hewlett Packard — both components of the even more exclusive Dow Jones industrial average.
Despite its stock’s recent downturn, Google’s market value has remained above $100 billion.