Schaeffer's Daily Market Blog Features Dell, Applied Materials, Sharper Image, Ariba, and Isle of Capri Casinos.

CINCINNATI -- Among the stocks featured in the February 14 edition of Schaeffer's Market Blog are Dell (NASDAQ:DELL), Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT), Sharper Image (NASDAQ:SHRP), Ariba (NASDAQ:ARBA), and Isle of Capri Casinos (NASDAQ:ISLE). Schaeffer's Market Blog are 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=PRMOU1M&PAGE=1 .

Schaeffer's Market Blog for Monday, February 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=PROB1C&PAGE=1

9:58 AM Dell Closes Right at 40

After issuing an earnings report that failed to impress investors, shares of Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) closed at $39.99 on Friday, down 3.8 percent from Thursday's closing price of $41.57. Ahead of the report, I wrote an article about the sentiment backdrop, in which I questioned whether or not DELL would be able to break out of its range given the mixed sentiment views and the option open interest configuration. I thought perhaps there would be a big liquidation of the February 40 puts, but the open interest dropped by only 3,758 contracts. This still leaves 76,200 contracts open at the 40 strike, and these options will expire on Friday. For now, the option-related support has held, but remember, this support disappears as of Friday.

11:33 AM Applied Materials Calls Active Ahead of Earnings Report

As my colleague, Rick Pendergraft, discussed in the previous Daily Blog posting, many semiconductor names showed up on the unusual call activity list from Friday. One semiconductor concern that is set to report earnings after the close tomorrow is Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT). Analysts are calling for AMAT to earn 15 cents per share. Friday, calls traded briskly, as call volume was 2.4 times heavier than average. More than 22,800 contracts crossed the tape, with the most active being the February 16.00 strike (ANQ BQ). Nearly 3,500 ANQ BQ contracts translated into new open interest. Peak front month open interest, however, resides at the February 17.00 call, which is home to more than 32,000 contracts. There are currently 171,000 open AMAT calls in the near term, compared with 101,800 puts. The resultant Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.60 is lower than 88 percent of all readings taken over the past year. Today, AMAT is trading nine cents lower to $17.06.

11:44 AM Puts Pile for Sharper Image

On Friday, puts traded briskly on Sharper Image (NASDAQ:SHRP), as put volume was 13.2 times heavier than average. More than 3,500 contracts changed hands, with the most active being the February 17.50 strike (SAU NW). Investors traded nearly 1,300 SAU NW contracts on Friday. A look at front month open interest for SHRP reveals that peak open interest resides at the 17.50 strike level. There are currently 1,400 open calls at the 17.50 strike compared with 1,200 open puts. A look at SHRP's recent technical performance shows the equity has been quite a dismal performer since peaking in early February 2004. In fact, the equity has shed more than 57 percent over the past year and grossly underperformed the S&P 500 Index. Today, SHRP is trading 29 cents lower to $14.81.

12:53 PM Ariba Higher on Law Suit Settlement

Software firm Ariba (NASDAQ:ARBA) is more than 13 percent higher in midday trading after the company settled a patent infringement lawsuit. The company agreed to pay $37 million and signed a licensing contract to avoid paying as much as $450 to ePlus (PLUS). Early this month a jury ruled that ARBA had infringed on three PLUS patents. ARBA calls are much more active than puts thus far. More than 1,900 ARBA calls have traded across all exchanges versus slightly more than 550 puts.

1:59 PM The Turn of a Friendly Card

Isle of Capri Casinos (NASDAQ:ISLE) declared third-quarter earnings of $3.5 million, or 11 cents per share this morning, beating analysts' estimate by four cents per share. This figure was down from $7.8 million, or 25 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenues rose just 0.6 percent to $266.8 million on a year-over-year basis.

The stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) stands at 0.79. While this shows more calls than puts, the reading itself lies towards the pessimistic end of its 52-week range, falling in the 81st percentile. ISLE's short-interest ratio weighs in at 7.29, with about 4.5 percent of ISLE's float currently shorted. Peak open interest in the front-month series resides at the 25 put. Zacks lists 10 analysts who rate ISLE, almost evenly dividing their opinion between "hold," "buy," and "strong buy." The equity is up eight percent on the day, hovering around 29 right now, with solid technical support from its 10-week and 20-week moving averages.

The gaming firm's Chairman and CEO stated: "This quarter has presented some challenges; however, the results of our operations for the third quarter were above the range we projected. As we near the end of a period of construction disruption at many of our core properties, we continue to position the company to grow and develop."

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=PROB1C&PAGE=1

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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.