MORNING UPDATE: Man Securities Inc. Issues Alerts for RIMM, AXP, VZ, C

CHICAGO, April 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Man Securities issues the following Morning Update at 8:30 AM EDT with new PriceWatch Alerts for key stocks.

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

Before the open... PriceWatch Alerts for RIMM, AXP, VZ, COH, and FNF, Market Overview, Today's Economic Calendar, and the Quote Of The Day.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"We have seen earnings for the past three weeks and the market is down -- that's a sign the market is more worried about the next three to six months rather than 'old news' first-quarter earnings."

-- Peter Boockvar, equity strategist, Miller Tabak & Co. New PriceWatch Alerts for RIMM, AXP, VZ, COH, and FNF... PRICEWATCH ALERTS - HIGH RETURN COVERED CALL OPTIONS -- Research In Motion Last Price 65.52 - JUN 60.00 CALL OPTION@ $8.10 -> 4.5 % Return assigned* -- American Express Co. Last Price 51.55 - OCT 50.00 CALL OPTION@ $4.20 -> 5.6 % Return assigned* -- Verizon Communications Inc. Last Price 34.00 - JUL 35.00 CALL OPTION@ $0.75 -> 5.3 % Return assigned* -- Coach Inc. Last Price 27.76 - AUG 27.50 CALL OPTION@ $2.10 -> 7.2 % Return assigned* -- Fidelity National Financial, Inc. Last Price 31.35 - OCT 30.00 CALL OPTION@ $3.00 -> 5.8 % 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, Wellpoint Inc., Amerada Hess Corp., and Express Scripts Inc. lead the list of companies with the most news stories while Headwaters Inc. and Becton, Dickinson & Co. are showing a spike in news. Colgate-Palmolive Co., Baker Hughes Inc., and Praxair Inc. have the highest srtIndex scores to top the list of companies with positive news while Sony Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. lead the list of companies with negative news reports. Ultra Petroleum Inc. has popped up with a high positive news sraIndex score.

For the FREE article titled, "Earnings Season Decoded - An Essential 15 Point Checklist For Finding Winning Stocks." go to: http://www.wallstreetsecretsplus.com/go/freemu/

MARKET OVERVIEW

All of the foreign markets that we track are lower this morning. European shares declined earlier today, thanks to a second straight session of poor results from chip stocks. Leading the chip parade lower was STMicroelectronics, which reported a quarterly loss of three cents per share due to stronger price competition. Analysts had expected earnings of seven cents per share. London's FTSE 100 index dropped 0.3 percent, falling to 4,829, while the German Dax 30 also saw a drop of 0.4 percent, landing at 4,216. France's CAC 40 index dropped 0.5 percent to finish the day at 3,975.

On the earnings front, watch Amazon.com for weakness after reporting first-quarter earnings that missed the Street's estimate. In Amazon.com's defense, this year's results include a tax expense of $56 million in the first quarter, negating the $26-million gain for an accounting charge.

Be prepared for the investing week ahead with Bernie Schaeffer's FREE Monday Morning Outlook. For more details and to sign up, go to: http://www.investorsobserver.com/freemo

DYNAMIC MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

As the first quarter earnings season continues at a fierce pace, indications from Thomson Financial show that 2005 has begun strongly for many of the companies in the S&P500. Calculating the earnings reports so far, plus the current forecasts of those companies yet to release earnings, Thomson comes out with overall profit growth of 12.1% compared with Q1 2004. That's up significantly from the 8.6% earnings growth the company projected just last week. While this is undoubtedly good news, it's worth remembering that these figures are based on companies beating analysts' earnings forecasts -- a gauge that the Baltimore-based 247Profits investment group says can often be a somewhat unreliable measure of the market. Nevertheless, results through April 22 show two-thirds of S&P500 companies beating their earnings estimates -- about 7% higher than average. Of those estimate-beaters, they're surpassing projections by 6.5% -- more than double the average normal figure of 3.1%. With over 160 companies reporting first quarter results this week, it's highly likely that the combined profit figure is liable to fluctuate. Over in Britain, the corporate news is less upbeat. A report from accountants Ernst & Young shows that first quarter profit warnings jumped 20% compared with a year ago. The main strugglers included firms from the media and retail sectors, as market forces within both have recently become ultra-competitive. Bellwether retailers such as Marks and Spencer and Boots are among the heavyweights who have reported a slide in profits. Such news flies contrary to what is an otherwise healthy UK economy, with GDP growth this year projected to fall between 3% and 3.5%, and the job market still very strong. However, rising inflation (with the March rate hitting a seven-year high of 1.9%), several interest rate hikes from the Bank of England, and a slowing housing market have contributed to slower spending. Brits are also waiting for the outcome of the general election on May 5.

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TODAY'S ECONOMIC CALENDAR 7:00 A.M. April 23 MBA Refinancing Index 8:30 A.M. March Durable Goods 9:00 A.M. Fed Gov. Gramlich speaks on federalizing the laws against predatory lending in Philadelphia 12:00 P.M. March Chicago Fed Midwest Mfg Index 4:30 P.M. Fed Vice Chairman Ferguson speaks on the evolution of the central bank in the U.S. at the ECB Colloquium in Frankfurt

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