Schaeffer's S&P 500 Index Hot Stocks Features Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, Newmont Mining, Ashland, Ford Motor, and Lowe's Companies.

CINCINNATI -- Among the stocks featured in the August 21 edition of Schaeffer's S&P 500 Index Hot Stocks are Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE:FCX), Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM), Ashland (NYSE:ASH), Ford Motor (NYSE:F), and Lowe's Companies (NYSE:LOW). Schaeffer's S&P 500 Index Hot Stocks is just one of the many free market commentaries written 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. http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/redirect.aspx?CODE=PRSHS13M&PAGE=1 .

Schaeffer's S&P 500 Index Hot Stocks for Monday, August 21, 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 - 1,296.80) as well as the bottom-20 names. Featured along with this table will be news that is moving some of the securities, including a look at Newmont Mining.

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

The SPX has slipped 0.42 percent this afternoon, as only 166 of its 500 components currently rest in positive territory. Stocks have shifted lower today on the back of some weaker-than-expected earnings news and renewed strength in the oil patch.

In the plus column, mining stocks are leading the rally as gold has rebounded this afternoon. By the end of the regular session, December gold rose $13.50 to close at $635.20 an ounce. The yellow metal notched its highest close since Wednesday as international tensions, particularly those related to the nuclear stand-off between Iran and western nations, made gold attractive as a safe-haven investment. Meanwhile, September silver climbed 31.5 cents to end at $12.345 an ounce and September copper jumped 8.5 cents to finish at $3.5195 a pound. Among mining stocks, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE:FCX) has jumped 4.6 percent on the session, while Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) is up almost 3.5 percent.

Other commodity-related gainers include members of the energy sector. At last check, September crude oil futures were up 0.9 percent at $71.75 per barrel after hitting an intraday high of $72.05. Black gold has trekked higher after Iran vowed not to submit to United Nations demands that it stop enriching uranium, reigniting concerns about prospects for supply disruptions tied to the world's number-four oil producer. Some of today's top-performing oil companies include Marathon Oil (MRO), which is up more than three percent, and Murphy Oil (MUR), which has tacked on 1.6 percent.

On the other side of the coin, Ashland (NYSE:ASH) has retreated 4.6 percent on news that it has agreed to sell its Ashland Paving and Construction unit to Oldcastle Materials for $1.3 billion. The firm reported that the final price will be adjusted for changes in working capital and certain other accounts from September 30 until closing. It expects the after-tax proceeds of the deal to be about $1.25 billion. ASH expected to close the deal by the end of the month. Its management team plans to recommend to the board that substantially all of the net after-tax proceeds from the deal be used to complete the company's existing buyback authorization, and to fund an additional repurchase of up to 10 million shares and to pay a special cash dividend.

Ford Motor (NYSE:F) has relinquished nearly five percent this afternoon following a downgrade by Credit Suisse to "underperform" from "neutral." The downgrade follows F's Friday announcement of plans for a 21-percent year-to-year cut to fourth-quarter North American production. The firm announced the deep production cut as part of its ongoing acceleration to its North American restructuring plan.

Finally, Lowe's Companies (NYSE:LOW) reported a second-quarter earnings this morning of $935 million, or 60 cents per share, as sales climbed 12 percent to $13.39 billion. Same-store sales rose 3.3 percent during the quarter. Analysts had predicted earnings of 61 cents per share on sales of $13.38 billion. For the year, LOW forecasts earnings between $2 and $2.07 per share on 11-percent revenue growth. The Street is currently calling for earnings of $2.05 on revenue of $48.45 billion.

Click the following link to see a Chart of the SPX 500 Index's Top-20 Percentage Gainers: http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/wire?ID=17179 .

Click the following link to see a Chart of the SPX 500 Index's Top-20 Percentage Losers: http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/wire?ID=17179 .

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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 .