Schaeffer's Daily Market Blog Features: Pfizer, Applied Materials, Oracle, Pilgrim's Pride and Gold Kist.

CINCINNATI -- Among the stocks featured in the December 4 edition of Schaeffer's Market Blog are Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT), Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL), Pilgrim's Pride (NYSE:PPC) and Gold Kist (NASDAQ:GKIS). Schaeffer's Market Blog is just one of the many free market commentaries written every day at www.SchaeffersResearch.com - the home of Bernie Schaeffer and Schaeffer's Investment Research. The Market Blog is written throughout every trading day by Schaeffer's financial analysts and traders. They are quick insights to the day's most notable market activity from an options perspective. To have this report delivered to you free via email every day click on the following link and you'll also get an opportunity to win an iPod Nano. http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/redirect.aspx?CODE=PROB13M&PAGE=1

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10:37 AM Pfizer Falls on Cholesterol

If you jumped into a short position on Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) during the past couple of weeks, then you are probably sitting on a nice and tidy profit at this point. I really envy those investors closing out their December 25 puts on PFE today, as the option was up about 85 cents at last check with an ask price of 90 cents per option. A rather impressive jump for an option that was trading around a nickel on Friday.

Driving the stock to a more than 12-percent loss on the session is news that PFE has halted the development of cholesterol drug torcetrapib because of deaths and cardiovascular problems in patients who used it. Furthermore, PFE has been downgraded to "underweight" from "overweight" by Leman Brothers, which said the drug's cancellation means revenue growth may not return for the next seven years. There is room for more brokerage firms to follow suit, as eight of the 17 analysts following PFE rate the shares a "buy" or better.

Options players are unperturbed, however, as the stock's December 25 call has seen volume of more than 16,500 contracts so far today, on open interest of 27,505 contracts. This call activity could help hold PFE lower, should the shares rise to challenge this region during the short term.

1:30 PM Heavy Call Volume on Applied Materials

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) is near the top of its two-year trading range, and the level of optimism toward the semiconductor issue seems to be rising. Today's options volume includes more than seven AMAT calls for every one put. During the past month, short interest on the stock fell more than 30 percent. Overhead resistance at the $19 level will be key.

2:33 PM Call Volume Surges on Oracle

Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL) is the center of some extremely heavy call trading this afternoon. The equity's January 2007 19 call has seen more than 35,200 contracts cross the tape on open interest of roughly 48,300 contracts. The in-the-money option has seen heavy trading all day, but the bulk of today's volume crossed in two blocks of 10,000 contracts around 9:44 a.m. Eastern time. The two blocks changed hands at a price of 0.75 per contract for a total of $1.5 million.

This morning, the firm announced that it would release its quarterly earnings report after the close on Monday, December 18. According to Zacks, analysts are expecting a profit of 21 cents per share, compared to its year-ago profit of 19 cents per share.

Technically speaking, the security has rallied into overhead resistance at its 10-day moving average. However, the stock has enjoyed a long-term uptrend along the support of its ascending 10-week and 20-week moving averages since early March.

2:43 PM Pilgrim's Pride and Gold Kist Announce Merger

Pilgrim's Pride (NYSE:PPC) and Gold Kist (NASDAQ:GKIS) announced today that they have settled on a $1.1-billion deal that would merge the number-two and -three poultry companies. After a courtship that began in September, 67 percent of GKIS shareholders agreed to tender their stock at $20 per share last week. The GKIS board, who were resistant to the takeover, finally acquiesced after PPC upped their offer to $21 per share. In a news release, GKIS chairman A.D. Frazer said that "the Pilgrim's Pride enhanced offer is in the best interests of our shareholders, employees, growers and customers." The merger will result in the new company becoming the world's top chicken producer, taking that title from Tyson (TSN). The news has meant jumps in price for both PPC and GKIS shares. At last check, PPC was up 9.97 percent to stand at $27.91, and GKIS 4.5 percent to $20.87.

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Schaeffer's Investment Research, founded by Bernie Schaeffer in 1981, is a financial information and trading resources company. It publishes Bernie Schaeffer's Option Advisor, the nation's leading options subscription newsletter. The firm's contrarian approach focuses on stocks with technical and fundamental trends that run counter to investor expectations. The firm's website, http://www.SchaeffersResearch.com, is recognized as one of the leading information sources for stock and options traders and was cited as the top options website by both Forbes and Barron's. Click here for more details about Schaeffer's trading methodology: http://www.SchaeffersResearch.com/method.