Schaeffer's S&P 500 Index Hot Stocks Features Allegheny Technologies, H&R Block, Kohl's, Genuine Parts, Albertson's.

CINCINNATI -- Among the stocks featured in the February 25 edition of Schaeffer's S&P 500 Index Hot Stocks are Allegheny Technologies (NYSE:ATI), H&R Block (NYSE:HRB), Kohl's (NYSE:KSS), Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC), and Albertson's (NYSE:ABS). Schaeffer's S&P 500 Index Hot Stocks 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. 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=PRSHS1M&PAGE=1.

Schaeffer's S&P 500 Index Hot Stocks for Friday, February 25, 2005:

A daily feature available on SchaeffersResearch.com is the "SPX Hot Stocks" column. Each afternoon shortly before the close, we provide a list of the day's top-20 performing stocks in the S&P 500 Index (SPX -- 1210.12) as well as the bottom-20 names. Featured along with this table will be any news that is moving some of the shares.

The SPX has advanced slowly for most of Friday's session, leaving the 1200 mark in its proverbial dust. With just over an hour left in the trading week, the index is higher by almost one percent. A rising tide lifts most ships, as nearly 80 percent of the index's components are floating above the break-even mark today.

NOTE: Stocks trading under $5 per share have been eliminated from this listing of the top-20 and bottom-20 performing stocks.

Allegheny Technologies (NYSE:ATI) has rallied more than 10 percent higher today, tagging a new 52-week high in the process. Just before lunchtime, the materials concern announced a board decision to offer a quarterly dividend of six cents per share of common stock. The first payout will occur on March 29 to shareholders of record by March 21. Technically speaking, ATI endured a painful downtrend from September 1997 through March 2003 but has since pulled itself from the depths, rising 13-fold during the past 23 months.

Tax and mortgage maven H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) reported third-quarter earnings last night of 55 cents per share, a four-cents-per-share decline from the previous year. Revenue advanced 7.2 percent to $1.03 billion, as tax services revenue climbed 12 percent but mortgage service revenue declined 4.1 percent. The firm's earnings news was a happy surprise to Wall Street, which was expecting per-share earnings of 48 cents. Even skeptical comments from Morgan Stanley this morning couldn't dissuade HRB shares, which are enjoying an eight-percent rally in late-day trading on Friday.

Mid-line department-store retailer Kohl's (NYSE:KSS) is among the top-performing names on the SPX today thanks to a strong showing in the earnings confessional Thursday evening. In the fourth quarter, KSS collected 94 cents per share, up 32 percent from year-ago figures. Total sales launched 14.6 percent higher during the reporting period. Looking forward to the first quarter, KSS targets earnings-per-share of 35-to-37 cents, with 2005 earnings pegged between $2.40 and $2.50 per share. This morning, William Blair upgraded its rating on KSS to an "outperform" from a "market perform."

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC), which Hoover's defines as an auto-parts retailing concern, has lost more than three percent of its value today following Merrill Lynch's downgrade of the shares to a "neutral" from a "buy." Earlier this week, on Tuesday morning, GPC reported fourth-quarter earnings of 55 cents per share, a nickel above the previous year's results. During the same announcement, the company reported an 8.1-percent rise in sales during the quarter, and noted a planned four-percent boost in its quarterly dividend payout.

Increased price competition in California and hurricanes in Florida combined to create a bicoastal perfect storm that rained on Albertson's (NYSE:ABS) grocery-store chain in 2004. ABS officials said today that 2004 earnings per share would be worst than expected. In December, the chain targeted full-year earnings at the low end of a range between $1.40 and $1.50; ABS now targets earnings of $1.29-to-$1.31 per share. The stock is trading almost three percent lower today.

Click the following link to see a Chart of the SPX 500 Index's Top-20 Percentage Gainers: http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/wire?ID=12605.

Click the following link to see a Chart of the SPX 500 Index's Top-20 Percentage Losers: http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/wire?ID=12605.

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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.