Schaeffer's Daily Market Blog Features Google, Microsoft, Lear, Qwest Communications International, and USG Corp.

CINCINNATI -- Among the stocks featured in the February 13 edition of Schaeffer's Market Blog are Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Lear (NYSE:LEA), Qwest Communications International (NYSE:Q), and USG Corp. (NYSE:USG). Schaeffer's Market Blog 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. 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, February 13, 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 .

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3:04 PM Lack of Volume

Things are pretty ugly out there right now, with all three major indexes at their lows of the day. In particular, the Dow has dropped 65 points so far. Internals are pretty sickly as well, as the advance/decline line at the NYSE stands at 0.44, while the Nasdaq line arrives at 0.47. None the less, volume today is very light - suggesting that the big boys aren't dumping. Given the state of New York City and the blizzard, I don't think a low volume day should come as a shock to anyone. We'll have to wait and see what happens later in the week when volume should pick up.

2:19 PM Out-of-the-Money Put Buying on Qwest Communications International

Qwest Communications International (NYSE:Q) provides voice, video, and data services. What's more, Q is the number-four local telephone company in the United States. Q options have received enough attention to appear on our intraday unusual option activity list. In fact, Q puts are nearly 18 times more active than normal. The vast majority of this volume is coming at the out-of-the-money March 5 put (Q OA). More than 2,900 contracts have traded there. Between 11:15 and 11:39 a.m. eastern time, 2,853 contracts changed hands in many large and small trades. All of these trades executed at or near the ask price at 0.10. Open interest is just 17 contracts, so it appears that someone is buying puts and betting that Q will far sharply before March's option expiration. Q is currently trading at 5.90. The company reports fourth-quarter earnings results tomorrow morning before the market opens.

2:13 PM USG Options Tale

USG Corp. (NYSE:USG) has been a volatile issue of late; partly due to the back and forth game between legislators regarding asbestos reform. The shares have fallen significantly from their peak at the beginning of February, but USG is showing signs of stabilizing. Option activity on the stock is giving us some insight as to how investors feel about the shares. As far as February USG options go, put volume is outpacing call volume 2,500 contracts to 1,000 contracts at the moment. However, March USG options show call volume of 4,000 compared with negligible put volume. It looks like traders think the stock will fall in the short-term, but rebound in the more intermediate-term.

2:06 PM Still Ga Ga for Google?

Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) is once again pressuring the tech sector lower in today's trading. The culprit for the sell-off is a negative article in Barron's. The article warned that GOOG shares could be cut in half during the next year on competition from Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Yahoo! (YHOO), pricing pressures for online ad sales, and mounting concern over "click fraud."

The shares have a rather shaky technical outlook. Today's four-percent decline has stalled near the location of GOOG's rising 40-week moving average, but the damage may already be done. In the midst of this decline, the shares breached potentially key support at their 160-day moving average. This trendline could now provide a pretty hefty degree of resistance to any rebound for the equity. Meanwhile, sentiment is not too flattering from a contrarian perspective. The stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.56 ranks below 98 percent of all those taken during the past year, its short-interest ratio arrives at a paltry 0.72 days to cover, and 18 of the 24 covering analysts rate the shares a "buy" or better. Furthermore, we are getting a plethora of articles in the financial media touting GOOG as a bargain at these prices. Is this the beginning of an extended decline for the shares? Only time will tell.

1:50 PM Put Buying on Lear

Lear (NYSE:LEA) is major supplier of automotive interiors and is a leader in the global market for car seat systems. The company also makes interior components including floor and acoustic systems, door panels, headliners, and instrument panels, offering one-stop shopping for major automakers. Today, the stock's puts are unusually active. In fact, for all LEA put options with less than three months to expiration, more than 2,800 contracts have changed hands. Nearly all this volume came at the March 22.50 put (LEA OX). More than 2,600 LEA OX contracts have traded, with most coming in a two-minute span this morning. Several large and small block trades totaling more than 2,500 contracts went off between 10:22 and 10:24 a.m. eastern time. The trades went executed at prices from 1.35 to 1.43. This was closer to the ask price, suggesting that the trades were purchases. Since the volume far exceeds the open interest of 1,236 at that option, today's trades look to be the initiation of new bearish put positions. LEA was trading near 22.55 at the time of the put trades. LEA is now down 2.3 percent at 22.14.

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 .