Schaeffer's S&P 500 Index Hot Stocks Features Yahoo!, Motorola, Wyeth, Stryker, and Eastman Kodak.

CINCINNATI -- Among the stocks featured in the October 19 edition of Schaeffer's S&P 500 Index Hot Stocks are Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO), Motorola (NYSE:MOT), Wyeth (NYSE:WYE), Stryker (NYSE:SYK), and Eastman Kodak (NYSE:EK). Schaeffer's S&P 500 Index Hot Stocks 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. 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 Wednesday, October 19, 2005:

A daily feature available on SchaeffersResearch.com is the "SPX Hot Stocks" column. Each afternoon, we will provide a list of the day's top-20 performing stocks in the S&P 500 Index (SPX - 1,183.30) as well as the bottom-20 names. Featured along with this table will be news that is moving some of the securities.

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

While the SPX is off from its intraday high, the index is well ahead of its intraday low. The SPX's current gain of roughly five points has the index sitting 0.40-percent higher for the day, despite a majority of its components sitting in negative territory. Better-than-expected crude inventory reports have helped spurt the broader market forward. An alert just came through my email box noting that the Federal Reserve's Beige Book account of current economic conditions showed that the economy has continued to grow at a moderate pace in most U.S. regions after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Fed banks across the nation have reported that inflationary pressures are growing and higher wages were reported in a number of industries. Retail sales and housing were weakening in some areas, but mining, financial services, commercial real estate and manufacturing were solid in most regions. The Beige Book concluded that economic activity, "continued to expand in September."

I didn't have to search too far for today's hottest stock . . . pardon the pun. Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) claims today's top honor thanks to a third-quarter profit of 17 cents per share, or $254 million. This report is virtually identical to last year's earnings, which received a nine-cent-per-share boost from a tax benefit and the sale of some assets. Ex-items, the sultan of search earned 16 cents per share, two cents better than the Street expected. Net revenue increased 42 percent to $932 million, which topped the consensus estimate. YHOO increased more than five percent in today's trading action.

Joining YHOO atop the hot stocks pantheon is tech behemoth, Motorola (NYSE:MOT) . The world's second-largest wireless phone seller posted a net profit of $1.75 billion, or 69 cents per share. In the previous year, MOT gained $479 million, or 20 cents per share. The firm's sales increased 26 percent to $9.42 billion thanks to a record 38.7 million handsets shipped, which topped the Street's expectation of 35 million to 36 million. Taking one-time items out of the mix, MOT earned 30 cents per share, besting the consensus estimate by two cents per share. MOT has gained more than four percent in today's trading action.

Yesterday, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (TEVA) and Wyeth (NYSE:WYE) reached an agreement to settle patent infringement litigation over TEVA's generic version of WYE's Effexor XR. The terms of the settlement over the antidepressant weren't disclosed as definitive agreements are being drafted and will be submitted to the Federal Trade Commission for review. The settlement between the two also requires approval by the U.S. District Court in New Jersey. Shares of WYE have increased more than three percent and have helped drive the biotechnology sector higher today.

Turning to the bottom of the Hot Stocks realm, I see Stryker (NYSE:SYK). The firm has dropped more than eight percent after posting third-quarter earnings of 32 cents per share. Excluding items, SYK would have earned 40 cents per share, which is one cent shy of the Street's expectations. Near the open today, the shares were halted briefly then plummeted as much as 11 percent before gaining a bit of ground.

Zimmer Holdings (ZMH) has also decreased today, and the only news I could find for the firm dates back to Monday. ZMH announced that it has expanded its agreement with Hearaeus of Germany to include worldwide distribution for Palacos and other bone-cement products. ZMH will be the exclusive distributor for the products in 2006. The company expects to acquire the exclusive distribution rights for Palacos for the rest of the world by the end of 2005.

Finally we turn to Eastman Kodak (NYSE:EK), which turned in a third-quarter loss of $1.03 billion, or $3.58 per share. The less-than-picture-perfect results have sent the firm lower by more than five percent. The quarterly results included a one-cent gain from discontinued operations and a $3.13-per-share charge stemming from deferred tax assets. While revenue increased by five percent over last year, it still fell short of the consensus estimate for revenue of $3.69 billion.

Click the following link to see a Chart of the SPX 500 Index's Top-20 Percentage Gainers: http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/wire?ID=14419 .

Click the following link to see a Chart of the SPX 500 Index's Top-20 Percentage Losers: http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/wire?ID=14419 .

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=PRSHS1M&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 .