Schaeffer's S&P 500 Index Hot Stocks Features CenterPoint Energy, Visteon, Maytag, Whirlpool, and E*TRADE Financial.

CINCINNATI -- Among the stocks featured in the August 8 edition of Schaeffer's S&P 500 Index Hot Stocks are CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP), Visteon (NYSE:VC), Maytag (NYSE:MYG), Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR), and E*TRADE Financial (NYSE:ET). Schaeffer's S&P 500 Index Hot Stocks 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. 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=PRSHS1M&PAGE=1 .

Schaeffer's S&P 500 Index Hot Stocks for Monday, August 8, 2005:

A daily feature available on SchaeffersResearch.com is the "SPX Hot Stocks" column. Each afternoon, we will provide a list of the day's top-20 performing stocks in the S&P 500 Index (SPX - 1,223.45) as well as the bottom-20 names. Featured along with this table will be news that is moving some of the securities.

NOTE: Stocks trading under $5 per share have been eliminated from this listing of the top-20 and bottom-20 performing stocks.

Oil has exerted itself, yet again, reaching toward new highs. At one point during trading, black gold had jumped as high as $63.90 per barrel. Accordingly, the market finds itself wallowing in the red; the SPX is not immune from this as it has lost 0.26 percent on the day. Currently 57 percent of the equities on the SPX are in negative territory.

On a day that is full of red, let's get that out of the way first. Our leading loser is CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP), which is suffering under the vengeful eye of earnings watchers spurned. CNP posted second-quarter net income of 16 cents per share, nine cents per share ex-items. These results matched the estimates set by the Street and beat last year's same-quarter loss of one cent per share. Nevertheless, CNP has lost more than four percent on the day thus far.

Although we ordinarily exclude stocks that are trading under five dollars per share, I felt that I may be doing a disservice by not reporting on the reason Delphi (DPH) found itself near the bottom of the hot stocks realm. This morning, the company posted a second-quarter loss of 60 cents per share, wider than the loss of 51 cents per share expected by the Street. These latest results include $49 million in restructuring charges. DPH stated that it was continuing talks with both of its unions and General Motors (GM) about restructuring. If DPH can't come up with what it deems as a satisfactory plan, it is going to consider other options, which could include reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. As if this wasn't enough, DPH also forecast continued lower production levels in North America during the third quarter.

Let's turn to the positive, shall we? Atop our hot stocks list this afternoon, having gained more than 15 percent is Visteon (NYSE:VC). The auto-parts company stated that it expects a loss of $1.2 billion ($9.49 per share) in the second quarter on sales of $5 billion. While this is a rather large loss, $9.01 per share comes from previously disclosed asset impairment charges. Using my University of Cincinnati math, it looks like VC expects to report ex-items earnings of 48 cents per share. The Street had been expecting VC to report a loss of 78 cents per share on revenue of $5.01 billion. While some have described these results as "poor," they were enough to drive VC shares higher today.

The next two stocks on our list are there because of a proposed relationship between the two. Whirlpool (NYSE:WHR) decided to raise its takeover offer for rival Maytag (NYSE:MYG) by two dollars per share today. What's more, WHR offered to pay $120 million should the merger not make it past antitrust review. This new offer basically ensures that MYG shareholders will reject a private equity group's lower offer at their special meeting later this month. WHR's new bid of $20 per share came in a day short of the deadline set by MYG and marks the second time that its offer has been raised. MYG has gained more than nine percent, while WHR has gained more than two percent thanks to this news.

Finally, we have some merger-and-acquisition news propelling a duo of stocks to the plus side of the hot stocks equation. E*TRADE Financial (NYSE:ET) reported that it will buy brokerage, Harrisdirect, from BMO financial Group. ET is offering $700 million in cash for the transaction. When the deal closes, Harrisdirect will pay $50 million more to BMO Financial Group, resulting in total proceeds of $750 million. According to ET, this will add 130,000 daily average revenue trades and more than four million customer accounts from Harrisdirect.

The other acquiring company that is climbing our list is Quest Diagnostics (DGX), which has agreed to acquire LabOne (LABS) for $934 million. The deal includes assumed settlement of LABS's convertible debt for $132 million. DGX expects the transaction to close in the fourth quarter and have material impact on its 2005 earnings with modest impact on 2006 earnings.

I would be remiss if I were to ignore the amount of oil stocks on our "up" list and the amount of homebuilders and real estate investment trusts (REITs) on the "down" list. By my count, there are five REITs and three homebuilders on the "down" list. Accordingly, with today's rampage by black gold, 10 of the 20 stocks on our "up" list are oil related.

Click the following link to see a Chart of the SPX 500 Index's Top-20 Percentage Gainers: http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/wire?ID=13842 .

Click the following link to see a Chart of the SPX 500 Index's Top-20 Percentage Losers: http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/wire?ID=13842 .

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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 .