Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac removed from S&P 500

Standard & Poor's says it will remove Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from the S&P 500 after close of trading Wednesday, following a dramatic drop in the mortgage giants' stock prices.

Standard & Poor's said Tuesday the companies' capitalizations have fallen well below the $5 billion required to list among the S&P 500. Freddie Mac will be replaced by customer relations management team Salesforce.com. Fannie Mae will be replaced by industrial equipment maker Fastenal Co.

The announcement came just days after the U.S. government took over the two huge financial institutions in one of the largest government interventions in the financial sector in history.

Additionally, United Therapeutics Corp., which makes therapeutic products, will replace Lee Enterprises Inc. in the S&P MidCap 400 after the close of trading on Friday. Newspaper publisher Lee, with a market capitalization of about $151 million, ranks 400th in the index.