As we all know, the mining companies dominate the FTSE 100 at the moment, meaning the leading index is hardly representative of the UK economy. That dominance looks likely to increase following next week's quarterly index changes.
According to the Edinburgh Tracker team at Aberdeen Asset Managers, three new companies could join the FTSE 100, two of which are miners.
The Czech coal group New World Resources is likely to be included, provided it satisfies all of London's listing requirements, as is Mexican silver miner Fresnillo. The non-miner on the verge of entry is engineer Invensys.
Under threat of demotion are Argos and Homebase owner Home Retail Group, mortgage bank Alliance & Leicester and housebuilder Persimmon.
None of these predicted changes exactly come as a surprise, given what has happened to retailers, builders and banks as the credit crunch has bitten and consumer confidence has plunged.
