Schaeffer's Daily Market Blog Features: SunTrust Banks, Jackson Hewitt Tax Services, Noven Pharmaceuticals, Illumina, and Monolithic Power Systems.

CINCINNATI -- Among the stocks featured in the July 19 edition of Schaeffer's Market Blog are SunTrust Banks (NYSE:STI), Jackson Hewitt Tax Services (NYSE:JTX), Noven Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:NOVN), Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN), and Monolithic Power Systems (NASDAQ:MPWR). 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. For additional information about this report or to have it delivered to you free via email every day click on the following link. http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/redirect.aspx?CODE=PROB12M&PAGE=1 .

Schaeffer's Market Blog for Wednesday, July 19, 2006:

Below are just a few of today's Market Blog entries. Click here to read all of today's Market Blog. http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/redirect.aspx?CODE=PROB1C&PAGE=1 .

10:17 PM Free Stock Picks in our Podcast Interviews

Don't forget that many of our observations are available as audio presentations that you can hear on your computer or download from Apple's iTunes Music Store to play on a portable device such as an iPod. To see the full menu of observations, please visit http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/commentary/podcasts/.

10:04 AM Pop Quiz for Stock Enthusiasts

Good morning. Yesterday, I threw out a challenge. Which of these companies is not a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA)? General Motors (GM), Ford Motor (F), Coca-Cola (KO), Microsoft (MSFT), or Honeywell International (HON).

The correct answer is the company which adorns its products with a familiar blue oval. F is not a member of the Dow and it drew 30 percent of the "no" votes when I looked at the responses a few moments ago. HON drew 30 percent of the "no" votes, too. I can see what people were thinking, but HON is indeed a member of the Dow. MSFT received 28 percent of the votes, but Redmond's finest is also in the Dow. Just five percent voted "goodbye" to KO, and 92 percent of the voters knew that GM was a Dow component.

10:58 AM NYSE & NASDAQ New Highs/New Lows with Schaeffer's Equity Scorecard

Each day we look at stocks that have achieved new annual highs or lows while sporting an "extreme" Schaeffer's Equity Scorecard rating (close to zero or close to 10). Today we have

38 picks in our list. Three of the bullish picks are SunTrust Banks (NYSE:STI), Jackson Hewitt Tax Services (NYSE:JTX), and Noven Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:NOVN). These score 9.0, 8.0, and 7.0 out of 10 respectively, indicating they potentially have the strength to continue to rise.

11:03 AM A Guiding Light for your Portfolio

According to Hoover's, Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) develops instruments that measure genetic variations to help create new treatments for various diseases. Notably, the company's BeadArray technology facilitates multiple genetic assays by attaching microscopic beads to fiber-optic bundles. Yesterday after the bell, the company announced second-quarter net income of 14 cents per share, good news considering that it logged a loss in the corresponding quarter last year. ILMN said it sees third-quarter non-GAAP earnings of 22 cents to 24 cents per share on revenue of $44 million to $48 million.

Brokerage Baird upgraded the stock to "outperform" from "neutral" this morning, and shareholders saw an abrupt gap higher on the open, with heavy volumes. ILMN is leading the way on the Nasdaq, with a gain of 22.5 percent at last check, bringing the price to $35.35, the highest level we have seen since November 2000. I notice that the 10-month trendline has held firm on any pullbacks since November 2004.

Turing to the sentiment, the picture is rather encouraging. More than eight percent of the stock's float is sold short, after an 18-percent increase in short interest in June. The Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) for ILMN is higher than 98 percent of those taken during the past year, a level of pessimism that suggests money could be waiting on the sidelines. One to watch.

11:27 AM Monolithic Power Systems

Monolithic Power Systems (NASDAQ:MPWR) was upgraded this morning to "strong buy" from "buy" by Wedbush. According to Hoover's, the Californian chip shop is a fabless design company offering analog and mixed-signal semiconductors, especially chips for lighting displays. Its products are used, for example, in digital cameras, PDAs, wireless LAN equipment.

At last check, the stock was the second-biggest winner on the Nasdaq, after Illumina (ILMN). It is up more than 15 percent at $10.92. The stock had been in decline since April under pressure from its 10-day moving average. In fact, it lost about half its value. Nevertheless, MPWR recently made a six-day test of support at the round-number 10 level, which showed promise, but the stock slipped below 10 yesterday, which boded badly. Today's gains have pulled it well clear of 10 and I'm hoping for a close above 10.20, the site of that 10-day moving average.

For more information on these stocks or any stock in your portfolio, feel free to visit our Schaeffer's Equity Scorecard feature. Click here to read all of today's Market Blog: http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/redirect.aspx?CODE=PROB1C&PAGE=1 .

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About Schaeffer's Investment Research (www.SchaeffersResearch.com)

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 .