I'm glad to see that our old friend Charlie Ergen got dumped

December 10, 2010
Annual Changes to the NASDAQ-100 Index

NEW YORK, Dec. 10, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) announced today the results of the annual re-ranking of the NASDAQ-100 Index® (Nasdaq:NDX), which will become effective prior to market open on Monday, December 20, 2010.

"The NASDAQ-100 Index is increasingly accepted as one of the world's most globally recognized benchmarks, the basis of more than 2200 structured products and 22 exchange-traded funds worldwide," said NASDAQ OMX Executive Vice President John L. Jacobs. "This re-ranking ensures the NASDAQ-100 Index's relevance as a global benchmark comprised of the world's most innovative large-cap growth companies that are recognized leaders across a broad range of industries."

The following seven securities will be added to the Index: Akamai Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:AKAM), Ctrip.com International, Ltd. (Nasdaq:CTRP), Dollar Tree, Inc. (NasdaqLTR), F5 Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq:FFIV), Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq:MU), Netflix, Inc. (Nasdaq:NFLX), and Whole Foods Market, Inc. (Nasdaq:WFMI).

The NASDAQ-100 Index is composed of the 100 largest non-financial stocks listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market® and dates to January 1985 when it was launched along with the NASDAQ Financial-100 Index®, which is comprised of the 100 largest financial stocks on NASDAQ®. These indexes act as benchmarks for financial products such as options, futures, and funds. The NASDAQ-100 is re-ranked each year in December, timed to coincide with the quadruple witch expiration Friday of the quarter.

On a cumulative price return basis, the NASDAQ-100 Index has returned 1594% since inception, although past performance is not indicative of future performance.

The NASDAQ-100 Index is the basis of the PowerShares QQQ Trust (Nasdaq:QQQQ) which aims to provide investment results that, before expenses, correspond with the NASDAQ-100 Index performance. In addition, options, futures and structured products based on the NASDAQ-100 Index and the PowerShares QQQ Trust trade on various exchanges.

As a result of the re-ranking, the following seven securities will be removed from the Index:

Cintas Corporation (Nasdaq:CTAS), DISH Network Corporation (NasdaqISH), Foster Wheeler AG (Nasdaq:FWLT), Hologic, Inc. (Nasdaq:HOLX), J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (Nasdaq:JBHT), Logitech International S.A. (Nasdaq:LOGI), and Patterson Companies, Inc. (Nasdaq:PDCO).