Schaeffer's Midday Options Update Features Baker Hughes, Level 3 Communications, Motorola, Schlumberger, Broadcom.

Business Editors

CINCINNATI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 22, 2003

Today's Schaeffer's Midday Options Update features Baker Hughes (NYSE:BHI), Level 3 Communications (Nasdaq:LVLT), Motorola (NYSE:MOT), Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB), and Broadcom (Nasdaq:BRCM). The Midday Options Update contains a brief commentary on the day's most notable activity and a table listing the most active calls and puts for the day. The Midday Options Update is published every day at www.SchaeffersResearch.com - the home of Bernie Schaeffer and Schaeffer's Investment Research. For additional information about this report or to have it delivered to you free via email every day click on the following link. Each new subscriber will receive a FREE copy of Bernie Schaeffer's Options 101 CD-ROM (a $49.95 value). http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/addinfo.

Schaeffer's Midday Options Update

The market is bathed in red this afternoon following substantial weakness in the dollar. The U.S. currency is losing ground following a statement from finance ministers at the G-7 meeting that called for flexibility in exchange rates. On the other side of the coin, gold has shot higher and is now trading near its highest level in roughly seven years.

With economic news nowhere in sight, investors turned to the latest releases from companies. Baker Hughes (NYSE:BHI) that it would report a third-quarter report a loss of between six and eight cents compared to its previous estimate of a profit of 26-29 cents per share due to charges related to WesternGresco and lower-than-anticipated income from its oilfield operations. Level 3 Communications (Nasdaq:LVLT) also warned that third-quarter earnings would fall short of estimates. The firm expects revenue of $865-900 million versus previous expectations of $930 million. LVLT also plans to sell $500 million in senior notes.

Motorola (NYSE:MOT) is moving higher today following the resignation of its CEO Christopher Galvin. Several brokerage houses have also upgraded the stock. Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) announced that it is selling its IT services unit for approximately $1.5 billion to Atos Origin. In addition, InterActiveCorp. plans to acquire privately held Hotwire.com, a discount travel services company, for $665 million in cash. The firm already holds Expedia.com and Hotels.com.

At 1:20 p.m. eastern time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA - 9541.2) is down 1.07 percent and the S&P 500 Index (SPX - 1022.41) is lower by 1.34 percent. The Nasdaq Composite (COMP - 1877.7) is down 1.47 percent. At 1:21 p.m. in the options pits, 1,386,440 calls and 1,159,316 puts traded for a composite put/call ratio across all five exchanges of 0.84. The CBOE put/call ratio for equity options weighed in at 0.61.

Option activity has been brisk this afternoon at Broadcom's (Nasdaq:BRCM) October 25 put. This strike has seen more than 4,200 contracts change hands on open interest of 9,353 contracts. Options players are extremely pessimistic of the stock's prospects, with its Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio of 0.76 higher than all those taken over the past 52 weeks. However, not everyone is betting against the company. Short interest dropped eight percent in August to 19.04 million shares. This is only 1.21 times BRCM's average daily trading volume. In addition, 13 of the 20 analysts following the firm rate it a "buy" or better. This leaves ample room for future downgrades.

From a technical perspective, the stock is battling resistance at its 10-day moving average, which suffered a bearish cross of its 20-day trendline. In addition, the security was recently rejected at resistance at the 28 level. BRCM may be in for another test of support in the 24-25 area as potentially more short sellers jump on this tech company.

Click the following link to see the Weekly Chart of BRCM since September 2002: http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/wire?ID=8503 .

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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 .