Schaeffer's Daily Market Blog Features Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Schlumberger Ltd., Reynolds American, Schering-Plough, and Williams Companies.

CINCINNATI -- Among the stocks featured in the January 30 edition of Schaeffer's Market Blog are Amylin Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMLN), Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE:SLB), Reynolds American (NYSE:RAI), Schering-Plough (NYSE:SGP), and Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB).

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 Monday, January 30, 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 .

10:39 AM NYSE & NASDAQ New Highs/New Lows With Equity Scorecard

One feature of our Daily Market blog is a set of tables looking at stocks that have achieved new annual highs or lows while posting an "extreme" Schaeffer's Equity Scorecard rating. Two of the stocks making the lists today are Amylin Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMLN) and Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE:SLB). To see the entire lists, please visit our website.

11:31 AM Reynolds American Gets a Boost from a Brokerage Upgrade

Tobacco firm Reynolds American (NYSE:RAI) is up almost three percent this morning as Citigroup raised its rating on the stock to "buy" from "hold." The broker also raised its target to $117 from $82 as they believe there are positive catalysts that should drive the stock price higher in the near term. RAI has been a stellar performer. It's gained 7.2 percent thus far in 2006 and is up 30 percent since the beginning of 2005. The S&P 500 Index (SPX - 1284.38) is up 2.9 percent and 6.0 percent, respectively over those time periods. RAI has even outpaced its peers in the AMEX Tobacco Index (TOB - 639.88). TOB is up 4.7 percent this year and 12.4 percent since January 2005. As I've noted before, pessimism is significant on many stocks in this industry. RAI is no different. Its short interest remains not far from a four-year high. The 10.16 million shares short amounts to 6.5 percent of the stock's float and generates a short-interest ratio of 13.4 days. Both are significant figures.

1:32 PM Schering-Plough Disappoints

This morning, Schering-Plough (NYSE:SGP) announced that sales of Remicade, Peg-Intron, Nasonex, and Temodar helped it post a profit in the fourth quarter. SGP posted a fourth-quarter profit of seven cents per share and revenue of $2.3 billion. The consensus was calling for earnings of eight cents per share on revenue of $2.39 billion. The shares have spiraled nearly two percent lower on the day, touching an intraday low of $19.53. SGP is mired in a financial turnaround following several quarters of losses thanks to differing regulatory and legal issues. In the earnings report, the firm noted that it has finally completed its obligations under a consent decree issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA's decree focused on the company's problems at its manufacturing facilities.

The drop discussed in the prior paragraph has the shares below the 20 level. This round-number level could provide quite a bit of resistance as it did in the past. However, a daily chart shows that SGP may just be on a trek lower through a trading range bracketed by the 19 and 22 levels. What concerns me is the equity's 10-day and 20-day trendlines. These moving averages have acted as resistance in the past and are currently entrenched in a similar role. All is not lost; the shares currently rest on the support of their 80-week moving average. This trendline could provide a bit of support for the shares, possibly even a springboard for a run higher. SGP's Schaeffer's Equity Scorecard rating of 6.0 out of 10 hints that SGP could be a stock to keep an eye on.

1:38 PM Unusual Put Activity on Williams Companies

Friday's option activity featured an unusual amount of put activity on Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) out-of-the-money puts. WMB is engaged in gas gathering, storage, processing, and transportation, as well as oil and gas exploration and production. Nearly 8,300 WMB put contracts traded Friday for all options with less than three months to expiration. That's more than six times the average daily volume for these put options. Slightly more than 7,000 contracts of that volume crossed the tape at the March 22.50 put (WMB OX). 6,706 contracts executed as several large and small block trades between 12:30 and 12:32 p.m. eastern time Friday. The trade all executed at the ask price of 0.60 and 0.65, suggesting they were purchases. Since open interest jumped from 928 contracts to 6,931 contracts, we now know that these trades were the initiation of new bearish long put positions. WMB is trading up 1.2 percent today at 24.19. The company is presenting Wednesday at the Credit Suisse Energy Summit.

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 .

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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 .