Facebook To Be Included in S&P 500 and 100 Indices

On December 11 the S&P Dow Jones announced that

will be initiated in the prestigious S&P 500 index as well as the coveted S&P 100 index. The news announcement is another chapter in the company's short lifespan as a public company. During the time span of less than two years, investors have seen their fair share of ups and downs. After an IPO debut full of technical glitches on May 18, 2012 shares of Facebook slumped as low as $17.58 in the following weeks. It wasn't until July 31 of this year that shares returned to its IPO price of $38.00. Facebook's addition to the index shouldn't come as a surprise to investors. The company has satisfied the guidelines for inclusion, which include a $4 billion minimum market cap, a 50 percent public float and four consecutive quarters of positive net income. Facebook will replace

in the S&P 100 and

in the S&P 500. Now that the company's inclusion in the S&P indices is official, the bigger debate can unofficially begin. When will the company will be one of the 30 stocks that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average? Shares of Facebook surged higher by more than 4 percent going in to Thursday's afternoon trading session at $51.50. Shares have been trading as high as $54.83 in recent weeks but retrieved following the company's third quarter results on October 30.