Schaeffer's S&P 500 Index Hot Stocks Features Merck, Apollo Group, Burlington Resources, ConocoPhillips, and Intuit.

CINCINNATI -- Among the stocks featured in the December 12 edition of Schaeffer's S&P 500 Index Hot Stocks are Merck (NYSE:MRK), Apollo Group (NASDAQ:APOL), Burlington Resources (NYSE:BR), ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), and Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU). 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 Monday, December 12, 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 - 1,259.13) 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.

U.S. stocks are trading rather mixed as we head into the final hour of trading on this Monday session. A legal setback for Merck (NYSE:MRK) distracted many investors from a flurry of corporate deals, while concerns over tomorrow's FOMC meeting also have investors on edge. With slightly less than one hour left in the session, only 41 percent of the S&P 500 Index's components are gaining ground.

Oil-related stocks have come under scrutiny today, after ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) announced that it might buy Burlington Resources (NYSE:BR) for more than $30 billion. On the news, COP has joined our list of biggest decliners, with a loss of more than three percent. Meanwhile, BR has advanced more than eight percent. In fact, BR's stellar performance has lifted the AMEX Natural Gas Index (XNG) nearly two percent so far today.

Bright and early this morning, MedImmune (MEDI) announced that it has received positive preliminary data from a Phase III trial of its cold adapted influenza vaccine, trivalent. The report demonstrated a "statistically significant" reduction of 55 percent in influenza illness caused by any influenza strain compared to the injectable influenza vaccine. MEDI plans to request priority review designation in a submission to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration in the second quarter of 2006. MEDI was last up more than four percent on the news.

After a couple of flops on the mid-quarter update calendar last week, Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) has given investors something to bank on. INTU raised its earnings outlook for the second quarter to the range of 93 cents to $1.03 per share from a previous range of 80 cents to 90 cents per share. The company also expects the sale of its IT solutions unit to add 13 cents to second-quarter earnings. For 2006, INTU lifted its outlook to $2.12 to $2.20 per share from $1.99 to $2.07 per share. INTU was last seen up nearly four percent.

Large-cap pharmaceutical firm Merck (MRK) once again finds itself at the bottom of our hot-stocks list. The company stated that it's disappointed that a federal court jury could not return a verdict in the first federal case over Vioxx. The news prompted Hilliard Lyons to downgrade the shares to "neutral" on the grounds of "further increase in litigation risk." MRK has fallen nearly four percent on the day so far.

The brokerage bunch is also responsible for our final entry today, as Apollo Group (NASDAQ:APOL) was downgraded to "neutral" from "buy" at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey due to concerns that APOL's first-quarter report could be weaker than expected. "Our increased caution is driven by feedback from third party marketers who indicate many education companies are experiencing challenges in generating student starts, extending what the industry saw in the third calendar quarter," said Analyst Mark Hughes. He feels these tough conditions will likely continue for the industry due to an improving economy and increased competition from traditional institutions. APOL was last seen down nearly two percent on the day.

Click the following link to see a Chart of the SPX 500 Index's Top-20 Percentage Gainers: http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/wire?ID=14777 .

Click the following link to see a Chart of the SPX 500 Index's Top-20 Percentage Losers: http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/wire?ID=14777 .

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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 .