Schaeffer's Daily Market Blog Features Palm, Medtronic, The Finish Line, YRC Worldwide, and Canadian Pacific Railway.

CINCINNATI -- Among the stocks featured in the March 24 edition of Schaeffer's Market Blog are Palm (NASDAQ:PALM), Medtronic (NYSE:MDT), The Finish Line (NASDAQ:FINL), YRC Worldwide (NASDAQ:YRCW), and Canadian Pacific Railway (NYSE:CP). 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 Friday, March 24, 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 .

9:11 AM PALM Indicated Higher on Solid Earnings Forecast

Handheld-device manufacturer Palm (NASDAQ:PALM) is indicated more than five percent higher in this morning's activity. Last night after the close, the company reported third-quarter earnings of 28 cents per share, up from four cents per share in the year-earlier period. Excluding items, PALM earned 19 cents per share on $388.5 million in sales. Analysts were expecting per-share results of 16 cents on revenue of $374.7 million.

Looking forward, PALM forecast a fourth-quarter net profit of 33 to 34 cents per share on revenue of $400 million to $405 million. Excluding unique items, PALM expects to bank 22 to 23 cents per share. This is above Wall Street's current consensus view of 20 cents per share on revenue of $394.5 million.

The news and the stock's subsequent move higher might have the added bonus of shaking loose some bearish players who have taken a short position in the shares. Currently, more than 17 percent of the equity's available float is devoted to the short side.

10:49 AM Call Buyers Step in on Medtronic

Implantable biomedical device company Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) saw some relatively heavy call activity yesterday at its in-the-money April 50 call (MDT DJ). Looking at the activity, 1,061 contracts traded, causing the open interest to jump from 361 to 1,255. It looks like the trades all executed in the first 33 minutes of trading and nearly all of them traded at or near the ask price. That suggests that they were the initiation of bullish long call positions. MDT has fallen sharply from its mid-January high of 59.87. However, it appears the trader believes that the stock will find support near an area of chart congestion at the 53 level. The stock is currently up 0.3 percent to $54.01.

1:09 PM A Poor Finish for Finish Line

The Finish Line (NASDAQ:FINL) athletic wear retailer has gapped nearly five percent lower today. Last night, FINL reported fourth-quarter net income of $28.1 million, or 58 cents per share, a penny above year-ago results. Excluding unique items, the company would have banked 63 cents per share, or four cents better than the Street was expecting. Sales rose 10 percent to $399.2 million during the reporting period.

So why the dramatic decline? The answer lies with the future. Looking ahead to the first quarter, FINL expects per-share earnings of 18 to 20 cents, down from previous expectations of 23 to 25 cents. The consensus expectation among analysts called for first-quarter results of 25 cents.

1:24 AM A Strong Looking Railroad Play

Yesterday was a rough day for nearly anything related to transportation - thanks to trucker YRC Worldwide (NASDAQ:YRCW) falling roughly 15 percent after slashing its earnings guidance. You pick it and it was lower: trucking, airlines, or railroads. But after looking around I found one stock that actually bucked this trend. Railroad Canadian Pacific Railway (NYSE:CP) actually gained six cents yesterday. Sure it's not a lot, but compared with everything else in the group - that's pretty good. Technically the shares look very nice here - as they have support from their 50-day moving average and gap from February. This is an interesting look play and one to definitely keep your eyes on going forward.

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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 .