The bailout of mortgage backing firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac turned out to be good news for Fastenal Co., which replaces Fannie Mae on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, according to news reports.

Business software provider Salesforce.com Inc. will replace Freddie Mac on the index.

Stock prices for Fannie and Freddie plummeted more than 97 percent this year, with their market value slipping under $1 billion Sept. 9 after the U.S. government announced a $15 billion to $20 billion bailout.

The news bumped the Winona, Minn.-based fastener and MRO distributor’s stock price to a near-52-week-high of $54 per share in early September. Fastenal shares were trading at $52.84 as of 11:36 a.m. Sept. 18.

Fastenal ranked ninth on Industrial Distribution’s 2008 Big 50 distributors list, with 2007 sales of $2.1 billion.