The first part about institutional investors deciding which company gets to be part of a market index and which not (thus defeating the purpose of “index following”) is also very interesting. But for now everyone is happy that the “tide is lifting all boats”, that the “fundamentals are healthy” and all that, even though to me it looks sketchy as hell and reminds me of how the rating agencies were doctoring their ratings pre-2008, for “the good of their clients”.