Schaeffer's Daily Market Blog Features AK Steel, Citigroup, Google, General Motors, and Rambus.

CINCINNATI -- Among the stocks featured in the March 17 edition of Schaeffer's Market Blog are AK Steel (NYSE:AKS), Citigroup (NYSE:C), Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), General Motors (NYSE:GM), and Rambus (NASDAQ:RMBS). Schaeffer's Market Blog 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. 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 17, 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 .

2:09 PM Another New High for Steel

Another day, another great day for steel stocks. Not to sound like a broken record, but steel stocks are in a bull market and don't show any signs of slowing down anytime soon. In fact, the SIG Steel Producers Index (STQ) made another new all-time high today and is up about two percent. Yesterday afternoon AK Steel (NYSE:AKS) announced they were increasing the price for their carbon steel products - most market watchers anticipated this would be taken as good news, but yesterday did little for the group. Now today the news is starting to hit home as Nucor (NUE) is up two percent to another new all-time high, AKS is up 3.20 percent and Oregon Steel (OS) is up two percent.

1:48 PM Call Activity on Citigroup

In looking at the option activity today on Citigroup (NYSE: C) it appears that approximately 10,000 call contracts have been rolled out from the March 45 strike to the April 45 strike. If these are covered calls, then the implications are probably to depress the volatility of the stock, which can happen with excess option selling. If the options have been purchased, this just adds to what appears to be an overly optimistic sentiment picture toward the mega-bank. The current Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio on C of 0.67 is below 96 percent of readings over the past year. Short interest is down 22 percent over the past month, and is less than one percent of the stock's float. Analysts seem to like the stock as well given their eight "buy" ratings, six "hold" ratings, and zero "sell" ratings.

10:07 AM A Trifecta of Google News

It's been a good news/bad news kind of day at Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) today. On the plus side, The Wall Street Journal disclosed that a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit that accused the Internet search behemoth of copyright infringement, defamation, and other examples of wrongful conduct. The case had been initiated by Internet publisher Gordon Roy Parker.

On the less sunny side of the Street, GOOG officials said in the firm's annual 10-K form filed late Thursday that they expect capital investments in property and equipment to be "significantly higher" in 2006 than in 2005. Additionally, the firm plans to dole out a hefty amount of cash toward acquisitions and other investments. While growth is always good news, additional expenditure isn't always received well. The company noted that "We believe our revenue growth rate will generally decline as a result of increasing competition and the inevitable decline in growth rates as our revenues increase to higher levels." This statement echoes the poorly received statement made by Chief Financial Officer George Reyes earlier this month. Marketwatch notes that the firm's 2005 capital expenditures totaled $838.2 million, up from $319 million in 2004.

Finally, in one last nugget of news, the company said in a separate filing that it expects its acquisition of a five-percent stake in AOL from Time Warner (TWX) to close by the end of the second quarter. The bears are currently winning this fight, as the stock is down by about half a percent.

9:40 AM GM Revises its 2005 Loss

General Motors (NYSE:GM) announced late last night that it revised its reported loss for 2005 to $10.6 billion, or $18.69 per share, compared to its originally reported loss of $8.6 billion, or $15.13 per share. The company now expects a 2005 North American restructuring charge of $1.7 billion, up from the $1.3 billion it previously reported. What's more, GM expects to increase the charge for its contingent exposure relating to Delphi's Chapter 11 filing to $3.6 billion from the previous estimate of $2.3 billion. The automaker will delay filing its form 10-K for 2005, but that it plans to file in the next two weeks.

The shares are down more than three percent on the news, hitting resistance at the 22 level. However, the equity is still holding above support at its 10-day moving average, which it has not closed below since March 6. Furthermore, it appears that the stock will once again be rejected by resistance at its descending 20-week trendline. GM has not notched a weekly close above this moving average since the start of September.

9:02 AM Rambus Jumps on IBM Deal

Rambus (NASDAQ:RMBS) has soared nearly seven percent this morning in pre-open trading following the announcement that it signed a technology license agreement with IBM (IBM). As part of the deal, IBM will build broadband processors and chips based on Rambus' processor bus and memory interface technologies. Following a brief pullback in late January, the shares have crept higher, reclaiming the support of their 20-day moving average. What's more, the equity has enjoyed the intermediate-term support of its ascending 10-week trendline since the beginning of October. Today's positive news could help to push the security through long-term resistance in the 35 region, which has capped the shares since March 2001.

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 .

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=PROB12M&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 .