Schaeffer's S&P 500 Index Hot Stocks Features Engelhard, Dow Jones & Co., National Oilwell Varco, Occidental Petroleum, and Tyson Foods.

CINCINNATI -- Among the stocks featured in the January 3 edition of Schaeffer's S&P 500 Index Hot Stocks are Engelhard (NYSE: EC), Dow Jones & Co. (NYSE: DJ), National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV), Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY), and Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN). 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=PRSHS12M&PAGE=1.

Schaeffer's S&P 500 Index Hot Stocks for Tuesday, January 3, 2006:

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 - 1,267.46) 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.

After a rough morning, the SPX has turned higher and staged an impressive rally with some help from the latest minutes of the December 13 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. Checking the report, a majority of FOMC members believe that the Fed will have to enact only a few more rate hikes to keep inflation in check. The minutes from the December 13 meeting revealed that views differed among members about how much more tightening might be required. FOMC officials did agree that the outlook for monetary policy was becoming "considerably less certain" and decisions going forward would depend more on incoming economic data. Heading into the final minutes of the session, the SPX is 1.53 percent higher on the day, while roughly 74 percent of the broad-market indicator's members are gaining ground.

Engelhard (NYSE: EC) has surged more than 25 percent higher so far today, after German chemicals company BASF (BF) offered $4.9 billion, or $37 per share, for the firm. The bid represents a 23-percent premium to the stock's December 20 close. Shares of EC were briefly suspended in trading today, but have since resumed on the open market.

Dow Jones & Co. (NYSE: DJ) was last seen up more than 10 percent on the day. The company has a plethora of news, starting with Chief Executive Peter Kann's plans to retire. However, Kann will continue as chairman until the annual meeting in 2007. DJ named Richard Zannino to succeed Kann as CEO. Additionally, the company said it now expects to exceed its previous fourth-quarter earnings outlook, citing improved results at The Wall Street Journal and in its electronic publishing business. The company now expects to report fourth-quarter earnings before special items and after about 40 cents per share. The company had forecast fourth-quarter earnings in the low-to-mid-30-cents-per-share range. Analysts are currently looking for fourth-quarter earnings of 35 cents per share on revenue of $476 million.

You may have noticed in the charts below that oil-related stocks are burning up the hot list today. Driving this surge in the sector is a rise in crude futures to the edge of a two-month high this morning. Traders looked to a dispute between Russia and Ukraine, which stoked concerns that Russia may use its energy resources as a political tool. Thanks to these concerns, February-dated crude has surged back above the $63 level, which has not been seen since late October. Some of the stock's receiving a boost from this development include National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV), Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY), EOG Resources (EOG), Marathon Oil (MRO), and BJ Services (BJS), just to name a few.

Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) is suffering a guilt-by-association plunge today, dropping more than three percent on news from Pilgrim's Pride (PPC). PPC lowered its first-quarter earnings outlook to a range of 36 cents to 41 cents per share, excluding items, citing "significantly worse" than expected performance in its Mexico operations. PPC also blamed the drop in earnings on European fears over avian flu. Apparently investors are taking a bit of their frustration out on TSN as well.

Finally, Sealed Air (SEE) has fallen more than two percent after Credit Suisse First Boston downgraded the shares to "underperform" from "neutral." The brokerage cited a recent 22-percent run higher in the shares for the downgrade. An analyst for the firm noted that while SEE should benefit in 2006 and 2007 from lower raw material and natural gas costs, the risks to greater stock gains have risen along with the share price.

Click the following link to see a Chart of the SPX 500 Index's Top-20 Percentage Gainers:

http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/wire?ID=14912 .

Click the following link to see a Chart of the SPX 500 Index's Top-20 Percentage Losers:

http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/wire?ID=14912 .

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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.