MORNING UPDATE: Man Securities Inc. issues alerts for MRK, HD, MER, BA

CHICAGO, Feb. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Man Securities issues the following Morning Update at 8:30 AM EST with new PriceWatch Alerts for key stocks.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020214/MANSECLOGO )

Before the open... PriceWatch Alerts for MRK, HD, MER, BAX, and FD, Market Overview, Today's Economic Calendar, and the Quote Of The Day.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Labor costs have been largely under control, and that's why we haven't seen any significant surge in inflation."

-- Joel Naroff, Naroff Economic Advisors. New PriceWatch Alerts for MRK, HD, MER, BAX, and FD... PRICEWATCH ALERTS - HIGH RETURN COVERED CALL OPTIONS ----------- -- Merck & Company Inc. Last Price 32.61 - JUL 32.50 CALL OPTION@ $1.80 -> 5.5 % Return assigned* -- Home Depot Inc. Last Price 42.02 - MAY 42.50 CALL OPTION@ $1.30 -> 4.4 % Return assigned* -- Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. Last Price 58.86 - JUL 60.00 CALL OPTION@ $2.25 -> 6.0 % Return assigned* -- Baxter International Inc. Last Price 35.42 - AUG 35.00 CALL OPTION@ $2.30 -> 5.7 % Return assigned* -- Federated Dept. Stores Last Price 56.72 - MAY 55.00 CALL OPTION@ $4.10 -> 4.5 % Return assigned*

* To learn more about how to use these alerts and for our FREE report, "The 18 Warning Signs That Tell You When To Dump A Stock ", go to: http://www.investorsobserver.com/mu18

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NOTE: All stocks and options shown are examples only. These are not recommendations to buy or sell any security.

NEWS LEADERS AND LAGGARDS

So far today, Allied Waste Industries Inc., Home Depot Inc., and Omnicom Group Inc. lead the list of companies with the most news stories while Omnicom Group Inc. and Hanover Compressor are showing a spike in news. Novartis AG, Eon Labs Inc., and Sina Corp. have the highest srtIndex scores to top the list of companies with positive news while King Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Gymboree Corp. lead the list of companies with negative news reports. Shanda Interactive Entertainment Ltd. has popped up with a high positive news sraIndex score.

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MARKET OVERVIEW

With everyone coming back from the three day weekend, expect a quiet day in terms of news driving events. The only major economic data due out today is the February Consumer Confidence numbers at 10:00 a.m. Expectations are for a 103.0 reading, just below last period's 103.4. So far this morning, Europe is lower across the board, the Dollar is getting hit and Gold is doing great as it's gained over five bucks.

The U.S. Dollar Index gained 0.02 points, finding support near the $83.50 area. The old greenback spiked clear up to 83.78 immediately after the inflation numbers were released, but fell steadily lower as the day progressed. The threat of higher inflation had traders thinking the Fed would increase interest rates more aggressively to combat inflation from getting out of control. These higher interest rates should in theory make the dollar more attractive to foreign investors due to its higher yield when compared with other currencies. Yet as the day went on, traders decided against holding dollars over the three day weekend and instead sold the greenback.

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DYNAMIC MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Just one week ago, Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said this to the Senate Banking Committee: "The economy seems to have entered 2005 expanding at a reasonably good pace, with inflation and inflation expectations well anchored." But news from the Labor Department at the end of last week suggested the opposite. In fact, it was a huge shock, with the announcement that "core" inflation jumped 0.8% in January. Ironically, this is the category that excludes the often volatile energy and food prices, but the rise was the biggest since December 1998. Besides the sharp rise in the core rate, the overall PPI also edged up 0.3% in January. Expectations called for both figures to rise just 0.2%. Even Greenspan himself appeared to be confused as to how the economy is performing. In his statement to Congress, he labeled the relationship between short-term and long-term Treasury bond rates as "a conundrum," and even "an aberration." So if the economy was as solid as Greenspan and other bullish economists in Washington and New York suggest, wouldn't investors be more interested in buying 30-year Treasury notes? Elsewhere, the resilient US housing market continues to defy those who believe the bubble is about to burst, with the news that housing starts jumped 4.7% in January to a 21-year high of 2.16 million units. That was much higher than forecasts that called for the rate to decline 3.5% to 1.93 million. This comes after December starts were revised higher to show a 14.3 % increase to 2.06 million, and also after a hefty drop in November resulted in many boldly predicting an end to the housing boom. For his part, Greenspan stated recently that he sees no evidence of a housing bubble. And although he expects prices to moderate, he says, "I don't expect we'll run into anything resembling a collapsing bubble."

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TODAY'S ECONOMIC CALENDAR 10:00 a.m.: February Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index (last +2) 10:00 a.m.: February Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index (last 103.4) 6:30 p.m.: ABC/Washington Post Consumer Confidence Index for last week (last -10)

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All stocks and options shown are examples only. These are not recommendations to buy or sell any security and they do not represent in any way a positive or negative outlook for any security. Potential returns do not take into account your trade size, brokerage commissions or taxes which will affect actual investment returns. Stocks and options involve risk and are not suitable for all investors and investing in options carries substantial risk. Prior to buying or selling options, a person must receive a copy of Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options available from Sharon at 800-837-6212 or at http://www.cboe.com/Resources/Intro.asp. Privacy policy available upon request.