Schaeffer's Daily Market Blog Features Motorola, United Parcel Service, Guidant, Johnson & Johnson, and Broadcom.

CINCINNATI -- Among the stocks featured in the April 21 edition of Schaeffer's Market Blog are Motorola (NYSE:MOT), United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS), Guidant (NYSE:GDT), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), and Broadcom (NASDAQ:BRCM). 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=PROB1M&PAGE=1 .

Schaeffer's Market Blog for Thursday, April 21 2005:

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 .

9:51 AM Motorola Beats First-Quarter Forecasts

Mobile phone manufacturer Motorola (NYSE:MOT) announced better-than-expected first-quarter earnings results last evening. The company earned 28 cents per share versus the 20 cents per share that analysts were expecting. The company also issued guidance for the second quarter that was above the consensus estimate. MOT expects to earn between 23 and 25 cents per share on revenue between $8.3 and $8.5 billion. Wall Street was expecting the company to earn 22 cents per share on revenue of $8 billion. The sentiment ahead of the report was somewhat bearish, with a Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.02, a 24-percent increase in the number of shares sold short last month. Twelve of the 28 analysts covering the stock rate it a "hold". However, the SOIR has declined and the short-interest ratio is still only at 1.89. MOT did get upgraded from a "hold" to a "buy" by Smith Barney this morning and the stock is up five percent.

10:48 AM United Parcel Service Tops Wall Street Expectations

This morning before the market open, United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) reported a positive earnings surprise and also raised its full-year growth expectations. UPS reported earnings of 78 cents per share, ahead of the analyst estimate of 73 cents per share. The company attributed part of its increased full-year outlook to positive effects from a change in its management-bonus program. The equity had a stellar year in 2004 but has struggled thus far in 2005. In fact, UPS is off nearly 18 percent year-to-date. A look at its sentiment picture reveals that investors are quite skeptical about the security and hold equal number of calls and puts in near-term activity. Short sellers increased their bets against UPS by more than eight percent over the most recent reporting period. UPS currently sports a short-interest ratio of more than six days. However, in light of the equity's poor price action, contrarians should not be too excited about this pessimism. We view strong skepticism as a bullish indicator only when it runs counter to stock price action. At last check, UPS was trading $2.84 higher to $70.10.

11:06 AM Guidant Beats the Street

According to Yahoo! Finance, Guidant (NYSE:GDT) provides therapeutic medical solutions for customers, patients and healthcare systems globally for patients suffering from cardiovascular disease. As of December 15, 2004, GDT entered into a merger plan with Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ). This morning before the market open, GDT reported first-quarter earnings of 65 cents per share, topping Wall Street's estimate by three cents. Revenues, however, were slightly lower-than-expected, as GDT reported $953 million versus the Street's revenue estimate of $964.3 million. The equity has been a strong performer over the past year, gaining more than eight percent and outperforming the S&P 500 Index by nearly seven percent. Options players are quite skeptical of GDT, as they currently hold more puts relative to calls than at any time over the past year, with 1.41 puts to every call. The stock has had a fairly muted reaction to its earnings report. At last check, GDT was trading 10 cents higher to $74.36.

1:38 PM Option Activity on Broadcom

Broadcom (NASDAQ:BRCM) reports earnings tonight after the closing bell, and option activity is heavy thus far today as speculators bet on which direction the stock will move in the wake of the report. Most traders are betting the stock will rise given that more than three times as many call option contracts have crossed the tape as have puts. Before today's trading, the options picture looked optimistic as well. The current Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) on the stock of 0.54 is lower than 90 percent of all readings on the equity over the past 12 months. Seems like the expectations bar for BRCM could be set on the high side.

2:48 PM The Market is Strong but Where's the Volume?

How's this for fun? After dropping 115 points yesterday, the Dow is in serious rally mode, currently up 173 points. Even though all looks great on the outside looking in, check out the volume on the Diamonds Trust (DIA). With a little over an hour to go, volume today has been nowhere near the level it was during yesterday and last week's sell-offs. Trust me, I agree that price action is all that matters, but to see volume coming in this light on a bounce this "strong" has me concerned about whether this is just a one-day or two-day bounce. Further proof of this can be found in the Semiconductor HOLDRs Trust (SMH).

6:10 Wow, What a Day!

Wow, what a day! It seems like we've been saying that a lot lately. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA - 10,218.6) had its first 200 point day since April 2003. In fact, the DJIA has moved more than 100 points in five out of the past seven sessions! Today's move was sustained and broad. Market internals were very positive with 2,414 New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) issues higher while 860 finished down. Ryan pointed out that volume was lagging behind. It made up some ground though and NYSE volume came in at 1.84 billion shares, just higher than yesterday. However, it was not quite up to last Thursday and Friday when 1.90 billion and 2.18 billion shares changed hands. Today's rally was somewhat encouraging but we have some overhead resistance levels to test now and I'm not a believer that we're back on track yet.

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 .