In a reminder of just how big the computer industry is – and how big the companies in it are relative to other industries – next Wednesday, Standard & Poor’s Corp makes a change in the composition of the S&P 500 share index, which although less well known is almost as widely followed as the Dow Jones Industrial Index (which is hardly representative any more since it includes only 30 shares): out goes Ramada Inc, the hotel operator that is restructuring and selling its hotels, and in comes Autodesk Inc, the Sausolito, California personal computer aided design software specialist, where annual sales are running at some $170m these days; the move is good news for Autodesk shareholders because many funds are constrained to buy only shares in the S&P 500, and Autodesk will gain higher visibility and gravitas.
