Schaeffer's Daily Market Blog Features Best Buy, Google, Micron Technology, Sohu.com, and MCI, Inc.

CINCINNATI -- Among the stocks featured in the June 14 edition of Schaeffer's Market Blog are Best Buy (NYSE:BBY), Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), Micron Technology (NYSE:MU), Sohu.com (NASDAQ:SOHU), and MCI, Inc., (NASDAQ:MCIP). Schaeffer's Market Blog is just one of the many free market commentaries written everyday 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=PROB1M&PAGE=1 .

Schaeffer's Market Blog for Tuesday, June 14, 2005:

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=PROB3C&PAGE=1 .

10:31 AM Google Estimates Cut

Before you get excited about the title of this post, realize it is not as dramatic as it seems. Susquehanna Financial Group lowered its second-quarter estimates for Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) due to higher-than-expected seasonality overseas. Despite the lowering, the company's estimates are still higher than the street average. The revised estimate is for earnings of $1.29 per share while the average estimate calls for $1.19 per share. This earnings release is scheduled for July 21. Even though this lower target is still higher than the average, after numerous price target increases it is refreshing to see someone lower the bar. GOOG shares are down just over one percent.

1:34 PM Heavy Put Volume on Micron Technology

Options players have been increasing their level of pessimism towards Micron Technology (NYSE:MU) over the past several weeks. Six weeks ago there were more than twice as many call options outstanding as put options, but today the number of puts and calls are nearly even. After taking into account today's activity there may even be more puts than calls. More than 10,000 put contracts on MU have been exchanged thus far today. Given the stock has been moving higher recently, this pessimism could suggest the possibility of further upside potential for the stock over the near-term.

2:08 PM Sohu.com Sees Unusual Put Activity

Sohu.com (NASDAQ:SOHU) (Sohu means "search fox") operates China's leading Web portal and directory and offers a search engine, communication tools such as e-mail and instant messaging, and 20 content channels covering news, sports, business, and other topics. SOHU also operates Web sites devoted to alumni communities, gaming, and real estate. In addition, the company provides Internet access through its Hengda ISP. Yesterday the stock finished higher by more than four percent. Amid that rally, put buyers were quite active. In fact, for all puts with less than three months to expiration, puts were more than four times more active than normal. The bulk of that put activity came at the out-of-the-money July 20 put (UZK SD) yesterday afternoon when more than 1,900 contracts traded. These were mostly purchases and open interest increased by over 1,500 contracts. Today SOHU is trading down slightly less than one percent at 21.10.

2:36 AM Best Buy Blows out Earnings

Electronics retailer Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) announced first quarter earnings results of 51 cents per share this morning, easily topping analyst estimates of 30 cents per share. During the same period last year, the company earned 34 cents per share. Sentiment towards BBY was mixed coming into the announcement. The Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio was at 1.26, which is higher than 68 percent of the readings for the past year. The short interest ratio is at 4.24, which is leaning towards being bullish from a contrarian viewpoint. Analysts were indicating optimism with 13 "buys," six "holds," and two "sells." BBY has rallied sharply since mid-April, rising approximately 20 percent since that time.

As you might have noticed by looking at our homepage, we had a 627% winner on BBY today after earnings. Yet, even though the stock is making a new all-time high, coupled with the great earnings news, it actually was just downgraded intra-day by at Raymond James. This happened about twenty minutes ago and was just a few minutes away from the intra-day peak. I'm not saying that they're right or wrong, I just thought it was a pretty interesting call.

3:54 PM A Rollout of a Call Position on MCI

MCI, Inc., (NASDAQ:MCIP) in the midst of a takeover by Verizon Communications (VZ), saw some heavy call option activity earlier today. More than 31,000 contracts traded on both the June 25 call (MQI FE) and the July 25 call (MQI GE). The volume on both options crossed the tape in approximately the same quantities at the same times. Also, MQI FE expires this Friday and has open interest of 132,160 while MQI GE has open interest of only 265 contracts. This combined with the proximity of the trades to their respective bids and asks suggests this was a rollout of a bullish MCI long call position to a later-dated option. MCI is also rumored to be one of the additions to the Russell 3000 Index. This index will be finalized on July 1. Due to the pending acquisition, MCI P has closed between 25 and 26 each day since May 2.

The above are just a few of today's Daily Market Blog entries. Click here to read all of today's Daily Market Blog. http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/redirect.aspx?CODE=PROB3C&PAGE=1 .

Take advantage of the timely Schaeffer commentaries by signing up for their free e-newsletters -- Opening View, Market Recap and Monday Morning Outlook. Click here to have the Schaeffer's commentaries delivered to you free via email every day. http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/redirect.aspx?CODE=PROB1M&PAGE=1 .

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 .