Schaeffer's S&P 500 Index Hot Stocks Features Jones Apparel Group, NVIDIA, Electronic Arts, General Motors, and Harmin International.

CINCINNATI -- Among the stocks featured in the March 21 edition of Schaeffer's S&P 500 Index Hot Stocks are Jones Apparel Group (NYSE:JNY), NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA), Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS), General Motors (NYSE:GM), and Harmin International (NYSE:HAR). 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, March 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 - 1,298.73) 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.

At 2:49 p.m. Eastern time, the SPX is down 0.49 percent, slipping below the 1,300 level. Of the 500 components of the SPX, 28 percent are gaining ground.

Jones Apparel Group (NYSE:JNY) is a leader on the SPX today on news that its board has hired Goldman Sachs Group (GS) to help it explore the possibility of a sale. The stock gapped sharply higher this morning on high volume, and set an annual high. When we grabbed our figures, it was up nearly 13 percent. For the past two months, the stock has struggled to overcome overhead resistance at its 20-month moving average, but it broke through today, and it will be interesting to see where it ends the day. Anything above $32 would signal strength.

NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) gapped higher today and hit its highest level since March 2002. The jump was triggered by an upgrade from Lehman Brothers to "overweight" from "equal weight." The broker believes that NVDA will demonstrate revenue growth. The stock has been in a pronounced uptrend since August 2004, with very strong support from its 10-week moving average.

Meanwhile, Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS) was upgraded by Merrill Lynch to "buy" from "neutral," causing the stock to gap higher this morning. The brokerage said that the video-game developer is at an attractive entry point in the final year of the "console-transition period." Nevertheless, I'm inclined to the cautious side. The stock is in a downtrend, with firm overhead resistance from its 10-month and 20-month moving averages, and from its 20-week trendline. One to watch, certainly, but I'm not sure I'd be buying calls.

General Motors (NYSE: GM) doesn't frequently make it to our list of SPX outperformers, but it was up four percent when we grabbed figures today, on news that it could be close to reaching agreement with the United Auto Workers union, and with Delphi, its top supplier.

Turning to the dark side, Harmin International (NYSE: HAR) is the leading loser on the SPX at the moment, down more than five percent on the day following a downgrade from RBC Capital to "sector perform" from "outperform." The stock still has the support of its 10-week moving averages, which makes it an interesting one to check for the next couple of days.

Click the following link to see a Chart of the SPX 500 Index's Top-20 Percentage Gainers: http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/wire?ID=15596 .

Click the following link to see a Chart of the SPX 500 Index's Top-20 Percentage Losers: http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/wire?ID=15596 .

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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 .