ASKJ Ask Jeeves (MM)

MORNING UPDATE: Man Securities Inc. Issues Alerts for RMBS, ASKJ, SDS, CCL, and BMET CHICAGO, March 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 RMBS, ASKJ, SDS, CCL, and BMET, Market Overview, Today's Economic Calendar, and the Quote Of The Day. QUOTE OF THE DAY "It's going to be very difficult for equities to mount any kind of substantial rally with oil sitting at $57 a barrel." -- Ted Oberhaus, manager of equity trading, Lord Abbett & Co. New PriceWatch Alerts for RMBS, ASKJ, SDS, CCL, and BMET... PRICEWATCH ALERTS - HIGH RETURN COVERED CALL OPTIONS -- Rambus Inc. (NASDAQ:RMBS) Last Price 17.03 - MAY 15.00 CALL OPTION@ $2.85 -> 5.8 % Return assigned* -- Ask Jeeves Inc. (NASDAQ:ASKJ) Last Price 28.67 - SEP 25.00 CALL OPTION@ $5.10 -> 6.1 % Return assigned* -- SunGard Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:SDS) Last Price 31.07 - JUL 30.00 CALL OPTION@ $2.50 -> 5.0 % Return assigned* -- Carnival Corp. Class A (NYSE:CCL) Last Price 51.59 - JUL 50.00 CALL OPTION@ $3.60 -> 4.2 % Return assigned* -- Biomet Inc. (NASDAQ:BMET) Last Price 40.25 - JUL 37.50 CALL OPTION@ $4.30 -> 4.3 % 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 (Note: You may need to copy the link above into your browser then press the [ENTER] key) ** For the FREE report, "Is Your Investment Portfolio Disaster Proof? - Insights, Stocks, And Strategies." go to: http://www.investorsobserver.com/FREEDP 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, Lennar Corp., Masco Corp., and Tessera Technologies lead the list of companies with the most news stories while Williams-Sonoma Inc. and Retek Inc. are showing a spike in news. Biomet Inc., KB Home, and Wyeth have the highest srtIndex scores to top the list of companies with positive news while Electronic Arts Inc. and Alcoa Inc. lead the list of companies with negative news reports. Oracle Corp. 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 The U.S. Dollar Index added 0.06 points in trading yesterday ahead of this afternoon's Fed announcement. Confidence is running high that the Federal Reserve will once again increase interest rates by 25 basis points at its meeting today. Another increase should prove to be a boon for the dollar, as higher interest rates makes investing in dollar-denominated issues more attractive. In early trading, the dollar is slightly lower against the euro. The April contract on sweet crude oil edged 32 cents per barrel higher on Friday. News was mixed in the oil pits on Monday, as threats of an oil-worker strike in Nigeria (a key crude producing member of OPEC) counterbalanced another prospective output hike from OPEC. Nigerian workers reportedly intend to strike for three days beginning April 11 in protest of working conditions. Saudi Arabia's oil minister -- Ali al-Naimi, stated that his country wants to relieve concerns regarding global oil supplies and has 1.5 million barrels of spare capacity that it could use to stem rising prices. So far this morning, the May crude contract is down eight cents at $57.38. 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 Just one day before the Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates for the seventh straight time since June 2004 (to 2.75%), the stock market spent Monday firmly in the red. This is interesting, considering that monetary policy has become carefully choreographed, with a lack of suspense accompanying each decision. In fact, futures contracts indicate the bankers will raise interest rates by 0.25% in May, June and August. Today and Wednesday will also see the US Labor Department release the latest set of inflation data. The figures are projected to show a 0.1% rise in the February Producer Price Index, with overall consumer prices climbing 0.3% last month, and a 0.2% increase in the "core" rate (which excludes heavily fluctuating items like energy and food). Elsewhere, there were interesting results from the latest survey of 172 members of the National Association for Business Economics. According to the results, what was the top economic fear among American companies -- that being the persistent threat of another terrorist attack -- has now waned and been displaced by the budget deficit. Over one- quarter of respondents said America's enormous deficit now poses the greatest risk to the American economy. That was up 4% from the previous survey, taken in August 2004. Those citing the current account deficit as the most serious economic risk tripled from just 5% in August to 15% today. However, just 17% said the government is getting fiscal policy correct, but over 75% believe spending and taxation is too stimulative. And while a similar number expressed grave concerns about the Social Security woes, the chances of the government pushing through major reforms within the next couple of years is a relatively low 36%. Somewhat surprisingly, the percentage of companies who put terrorism at the top of their list of economic concerns dropped from 40% to 24%. What isn't a surprise, however, is the rise in the proportion of people citing energy as a top worry -- from 6% in August to 11% now. Receive incisive economic/market commentary, profitable advice and access to a network of leading investment exports. Simply follow this link: http://www.investorsobserver.com/agora2 TODAY'S ECONOMIC CALENDAR 8:30 a.m. Producer Price Index (PPI) 8:30 a.m. PPI, ex-food and energy 2:15 p.m. Federal Open Market Committee meeting; interest rate decision expected Actively track stocks with Quote.com's QCharts and get the real time quotes and streaming technical charts you need to keep up with the market. For your free 30-day trial go to: http://www.investorsobserver.com/MUQuote1 Man Securities Inc. is one of the world's leading option order execution firms. Man's in-house broker team offers a level of personal service and experience unavailable from no-frills discount brokers. To improve your understanding of option pricing get Man's FREE Margin/Option Wizard software at: http://www.investorsobserver.com/mancd. Member CBOE/NASD/SPIC. CRD# 6731 This Morning Update was prepared with data and information provided by: InvestorsObserver.com - Better Strategies for Making Money -> For Investors With a Sense of Humor. Only $1 for your first month plus seven free bonuses worth over $420, see: http://www.investorsobserver.com/must Quote.com QCharts- Real time quotes and streaming technical charts to keep you up with the market. Analyze, predict, and stay ahead. For a Free 30 day trial go to: http://www.investorsobserver.com/MUQuote2 247profits.com: You'll get exclusive financial commentary, access to a global network of experts and undiscovered stock alerts. Register NOW for the FREE 247profits e-Dispatch. Go to: http://www.investorsobserver.com/agora Schaeffer's Investment Research - Sign up for your FREE e-weekly, Monday Morning Outlook, Bernie Schaeffer's look ahead at the markets. Sign Up Now http://www.investorsobserver.com/freemo PowerOptionsPlus - The Best Way To Find, Compare, Analyze, and Make Money On Options Investments. For a 14-Day FREE trial and 5 FREE bonuses go to: http://www.investorsobserver.com/poweropt 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. http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020214/MANSECLOGO http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Man Securities CONTACT: John Gannon of Man Securities Inc., +1-800-837-6212 Web site: http://www.mansecurities.com/mu.html

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