Schaeffer's Street Chatter Highlights the Following Stocks: Advanced Micro Devices, Monsanto, and Cisco Systems.

CINCINNATI -- Today's "Street Chatter" from Schaeffer's Investment Research focuses on: Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD), Monsanto (NYSE:MON), and Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO). "Street Chatter" is a report that analyzes three newsworthy stocks that are generating a lot of attention on Internet message boards. "Street Chatter" is published on www.SchaeffersResearch.com - the home of Bernie Schaeffer and Schaeffer's Investment Research.

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Street Chatter:

Advanced Micro Devices

There has been very little news on up-and-coming semiconductor guru Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD) lately. However, with a technical spurt like AMD has had recently, you don't need much else to get the financial message boards buzzing. The stock's recent uptrend began in mid-October, and has been largely supported by its 10-day and 20-day moving averages. This strength has allowed AMD to set a series of new 52-week highs.

Pulling back for a longer-term view, we can see that AMD has enjoyed a rather lengthy, albeit somewhat rocky, uptrend since March 2003. During this time frame, the shares have enjoyed the solid support of their 10-month and 20-month moving averages.

However, despite this outperformance, investors remain rather bearish toward the security. AMD's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.94 indicates that puts nearly double calls in the front three months of options. Furthermore, this ratio ranks above all of those taken during the past year. The stock's SOIR has also been in a sharp uptrend recently, which is a positive development for AMD, as it tends to trend in the direction of this ratio.

Short sellers are beginning to feel the pain of AMD's meteoric performance. The latest short-interest figures for December reveal that these pessimistic investors decreased their positions by more than 50 percent. Some of the equity's recent run higher could be attributed to short-covering activity, and with more than four percent of AMD's float still sold short, there could be some fuel left in the short-interest tank for the stock to move even higher if this trend continues.

Even Wall Street is weighing in heavily on the bearish end of the spectrum. According to Zacks, 17 of the 25 covering analysts rate the shares a "hold" or worse. Naturally, any upgrades from this grim bunch could provide additional buying strength for AMD.

Click the following link to see a Monthly Chart for AMD Since March 2003 With 10-Month and 20-Month Moving Averages: http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/wire?ID=14865 .

Monsanto

According to Hoover's, Monsanto (NYSE:MON) is all about bioengineered crops. The company helps farmers grow more crops by applying biotechnology, genomics, and molecular breeding technology to herbicides and seeds. MON is slated to slip into the earnings confessional before the market opens on Wednesday, January 4. Currently, the Street is expecting a profit of 19 cents per share from the firm - a 46-percent improvement over the same quarter last year. Furthermore, the company has been a solid performer on the fundamental front, besting the consensus estimate in three of the past four reporting periods by an average of 23 percent.

Technically speaking, MON is also a rather stellar performer. Recently, the shares have enjoyed a nice rally along the support of their 10-day and 20-day moving averages. However, resistance has reared its ugly head at the 78 level, capping the equity's advance since early December. On a longer-term basis, however, MON's true outperformance shines through. The stock has rallied sharply along the support of its 10-month and 20-month trendlines since March 2003, having not breached this dynamic duo on a monthly basis during this time frame.

Sentiment toward MON is rather mediocre, leaving the stock's trend higher in question. Options players are rather nonplussed at the moment, as MON's SOIR of 0.70 ranks near the midpoint of its annual range. Meanwhile, short sellers decreased their positions by more than 15 percent during December, leaving less than two days to cover the 3.5 million MON shares sold short.

However, Wall Street could use some improvement. Currently, Zacks reports that four of the six covering analysts rate the shares a "hold" or worse. This particular indicator could use a boost from additional coverage, and as such, so could MON. Any positive initiations or upgrades from the remaining naysayers could potentially add lift of MON's rally.

Click the following link to see a Monthly Chart of MON Since March 2003 With 10-Month and 20-Month Moving Averages: http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/wire?ID=14865 .

Cisco Systems

Finally, we arrive at the neocon of networking, Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO). Much like AMD, CSCO has been sorely lacking in the financial news department, but this hasn't stopped the message boards from perpetuating the bull/bear debate for this technology bellwether. However, looking at the technical picture for CSCO, I find the bull side of the argument to be a rather moot point. Since January 2004, the equity has been plagued by overhead resistance at its declining 10-week and 20-week moving averages. Furthermore, staunch resistance at the 18 level, which has been doubled by its declining 10-month trendline, has held CSCO in check for the better part of the past year.

The stock's sentiment picture also speaks volumes for a bearish take on CSCO. The equity's SOIR has been in decline mode sine June, pacing the shares lower during this time frame. What's more, CSCO's current SOIR of 0.37 ranks below 94 percent of all those taken during the past year, indicating an extreme in bullish sentiment from the speculative options crowd.

Meanwhile, short sellers have shied away from the security, as it would take less than one day to cover the 50.6 million CSCO shares sold short. On Wall Street, love for CSCO fills the air. According to Zacks, 19 of the 27 covering analysts rate the shares a "buy" or better, with nary a "sell" to be found. Cutting to the chase, this wealth of optimism and poor technical performance has earned CSCO a lowly Schaeffer's Equity Scorecard rating of 0.5 out of 10. With energy prices rising, I'd rather have a lump of coal in my stocking on Christmas morning than CSCO shares.

Click the following link to see a Weekly Chart of CSCO Since January 2004 with 10-Week AND 20-Week Moving Averages: http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/wire?ID=14865 .

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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 .