Schaeffer's Daily Market Blog Features Marathon Oil, Exxon Mobil, Oil Services HOLDRs Trust, Beazer Homes USA, and Dow Chemical.

CINCINNATI -- Among the stocks featured in the April 27th edition of Schaeffer's Market Blog are Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO), Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), Oil Services HOLDRs Trust (AMEX:OIH), Beazer Homes USA (NYSE:BZH), and Dow Chemical (NYSE:DOW). 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 Thursday, April 27, 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

8:44 AM Oil Companies Report Disappointing Earnings

A pair of oil companies slipped into the earnings confessional this morning. Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) posted a first-quarter profit of $784 million, or $2.13 per share, compared with $324 million, or 93 cents per share, for the same period a year ago. Excluding items, earnings would have come in at $2.01 per share, falling short of the consensus estimate of $2.35 per share. Sales for the period climbed to $16.64 billion.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) also failed to meet the consensus estimate on the Street. The firm banked a first-quarter profit of $8.4 billion, or $1.37 per share, compared to its year-ago profit of $7.86 billion, or $1.22 per share. The firm stated that higher crude oil and natural gas realizations and improved marketing margins were partly offset by lower chemical margins in the latest quarter. Analysts had predicted a profit of $1.47 per share. Sales during the quarter rose to $88.98 billion.

Given these disappointing earnings, along with the government now looking into price fixing and oil-company profits, the sector could come under some pressure. Keep an eye on the Oil Services HOLDRs Trust (AMEX:OIH) today as a gauge of how the group is reacting to recent news.

8:50 AM Beazer Posts Profit, But New Orders Drop

Beazer Homes USA (NYSE:BZH) stepped up to the earnings confessional for the housing sector and posted a first-quarter profit of $104.4 million, or $2.35 per share. In the same quarter a year ago, the company suffered a loss of $84.3 million, or $2.09 per share. Sales climbed 30 percent to $1.27 billion, but new orders tumbled more than 19 percent to 4,224 homes. The company's backlog stood at 9,227 homes with a sales value of $2.79 billion at March 31 compared to 10,064 homes with a sales value of $2.90 billion a year ago. Looking ahead, the homebuilder expects fiscal 2006 earnings in the range of $10 to $10.50 per share.

11:39 AM Earnings Drop for Dow Chemical on Increased Costs

Dow Chemical (NYSE:DOW) was another company to step into the earnings confessional. The firm reported that first-quarter earnings fell 10 percent $1.21 billion, or $1.24 per share, compared to year-ago earnings of $1.35 billion, or $1.39. Sales for the quarter came in at $12.02 billion. Analysts had predicted a profit of $1.17 per share on sales of $12.26 billion. Profit margins thinned in the quarter: prices rose two percent from a year earlier, but that was not enough to counter an increase of more than $800 million in feedstock and energy costs.

The shares initially gapped lower on the open, but have since bounced back and are now down only five cents. The security is still above its 10-day and 20-day moving averages, which have been pulled into a bullish cross. However, the equity is still facing overhead resistance at its declining 10-week trendline.

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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.