Schaeffer's S&P 500 Index Hot Stocks Features Monster Worldwide, El Paso, Toys 'R' Us, Robert Half International and U.S. Steel Group

Business Wire, August 23, 2004

CINCINNATI -- Among the stocks featured in the August 23 edition of Schaeffer's S&P 500 Index Hot Stocks are Monster Worldwide (NASDAQ:MNST), El Paso (NYSE:EP), Toys 'R' Us (NYSE:TOY), Robert Half International (NYSE:RHI), and U.S. Steel Group (NYSE:X).

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=PRSHS1M&PAGE=1.

Schaeffer's S&P 500 Index Hot Stocks for Monday, August 23, 2004:

A daily feature available on SchaeffersResearch.com is the "SPX Hot Stocks" column. Each afternoon immediately prior to the close, we will provide a list of the day's top-20 performing stocks in the S&P 500 Index (SPX - 1095.98) as well as the bottom-20 names. Featured along with this table will be news that is moving some of the shares.

At 3:34 p.m. Eastern time, the SPX was trading lower by 0.20 percent after colliding (unsuccessfully) with its 10-week moving average earlier in the day. Approximately 37 percent of the index's members are in positive territory this afternoon. NOTE: Stocks trading under $5 per share have been eliminated from this listing of the top-20 and bottom-20 performing stocks.

Monster Worldwide (NASDAQ: MNST), a leading online employment concern, has rallied more than four percent today, topping the $20 mark. The weekend's edition of Barron's said MNST could be valued at around $30 per share in the event that Internet giants such as Yahoo! or eBay make a play for the company. A former executive (and current shareholder) of MNST said the equity should reach the high-20s this year if the job market remains healthy.

El Paso (NYSE: EP) offered preliminary financial results for 2004 this morning and noted that its debt dropped by $1.9 billion during the first six months of the year. The company, which said it has benefited from the rally in commodity prices, also said it must restate its earnings results over the last four years due to a hedge accounting issue.

Toys 'R' Us (NYSE: TOY) reported second-quarter earnings of 28 cents per share, above last year's five-cent loss and beyond Wall Street estimates for a loss of four cents per share. Total sales dropped 3.9 percent to $2.02 billion for the retailer, but the Babies 'R' Us chain posted a 5.8-percent increase in sales figures to $454 million.

Many of the stocks at the back of the SPX pack today are faltering without any specific news to account for their respective weakness. Robert Half International (NYSE: RHI) can credit its pullback to UBS, which downgraded the equity to a "reduce" from a "neutral," saying that demand is waning for services related to the Sarbanes-Oxley act of 2002.

U.S. Steel Group (NYSE: X) made a mid-afternoon announcement that the firm appointed a new managing director who will take his post on September 1.

Click the following link to see a Chart of the SPX 500 Index's Top 20 Percentage Gainers: http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/wire?ID=10913.

Click the following link to see a Chart of the SPX 500 Index's Top 20 Percentage Losers: http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/wire?ID=10913.

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About Schaeffer's Investment Research (www.SchaeffersResearch.com)

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.>

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