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

NEW YORK, Oct. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- S&P 500 constituent Freeport -McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) will replace Schering-Plough Corp. (NYSE: SGP) in the S&P 100, S&P MidCap 400 constituent Priceline.com Inc. (NASD: PCLN) will replace Schering-Plough in the S&P 500, and MSCI Inc. (NYSE: MXB) will replace Priceline.com in the S&P MidCap 400, all after the close of trading on a date to be announced. Schering-Plough is merging with S&P 100 and 500 constituent Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) in a deal expected to be completed soon pending final approvals.

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

Freeport -McMoRan Copper & Gold is headquartered in Phoenix, AZ.

Priceline.com is a global online travel company. Headquartered in Norwalk, CT, the company will be added to the S&P 500 GICS (Global Industry Classification Standard) Internet Retail Sub-Industry index.

MSCI is a provider of investment decision support tools. Headquartered in New York, NY, the company will be added to the S&P MidCap 400 GICS Specialized Finance Sub-Industry index.

Following is a summary of the changes:

                                  S&P 100 INDEX -  TBA
                                  --------------------

                   COMPANY         GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR    GICS SUB-INDUSTRY
                   -------         --------------------    -----------------
     ADDED    Freeport McMoRan           Materials          Diversified Metals
               Copper & Gold                                   & Mining

    DELETED   Schering-Plough           Health Care          Pharmaceuticals

                                  S&P  500 INDEX  -  TBA
                                  ----------------------
                   COMPANY         GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR    GICS SUB-INDUSTRY
                   -------         --------------------    -----------------
     ADDED       Priceline.com           Consumer              Internet
                                      Discretionary             Retail

    DELETED    Schering-Plough         Health Care         Pharmaceuticals

                               S&P  MIDCAP 400 INDEX  -  TBA
                               -----------------------------
                   COMPANY         GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR    GICS SUB-INDUSTRY
                   -------         --------------------    -----------------
     ADDED          MSCI                Financials            Specialized
                                                                Finance

    DELETED     Priceline.com            Consumer               Internet
                                       Discretionary             Retail

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. Over $1 trillion is directly indexed to Standard & Poor's family of indices, which includes the S&P 500, the world's most followed stock market index, the S&P Global 1200, a composite index comprised of seven regional and country headline indices, the S&P Global BMI, an index with approximately 11,000 constituents, and the S&P GSCI, the industry's most closely watched commodities index. For more information, please visit www.standardandpoors.com/indices.

About Standard & Poor's

Standard & Poor's, a subsidiary 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 offices 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 nearly 150 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