Schaeffer's S&P 500 Index Hot Stocks Features Mylan Laboratories, UnumProvident, Autodesk, Novell and Applied Materials

Business Wire, Nov 19, 2004

CINCINNATI -- Among the stocks featured in the November 19 edition of Schaeffer's S&P 500 Index Hot Stocks are Mylan Labs (NYSE:MYL), UnumProvident (NYSE:UNM), Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK), Novell (NASDAQ:NOVL) and Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT). 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 Friday, November 19, 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 - 1171.16) as well as the bottom-20 names. Featured along with this table will be news that is moving some of the shares.

NOTE: Stocks trading under $5 per share have been eliminated from this listing of the top-20 and bottom-20 performing stocks.

Mylan Labs' (NYSE: MYL) jumped nearly 11 percent today, following a takeover bid for the company. Investor Carl Icahn announced that he is willing to buy MYL for $20 per share. Icahn already controls 9.8 percent of the company's stock, making him the largest shareholder. According to TheStreet.com, Icahn has criticized MYL's efforts to acquire King Pharmaceuticals (KG). He went as far as to call the purchase an "egregious mistake." Ichan continued to state that he would enter the acquisition contract with no breakup fee to let MYL continue negotiating with other companies. Icahn added that he would "stand by" the $20-per-share offer until MYL rejects the KG deal. Icahn has been a rather vocal detractor to MYL's proposal, calling it "dilutive" to shareholders and "too expensive."

According to an article in yesterday's The New York Times, UnumProvident (NYSE: UNM) has agreed to pay $15 million in fines and to reassess 200,000 denied claims in an attempt to spurn the wrath of New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. Today, the company received news that Standard & Poor's announced that UNM's debt rating has not been affected by the settlement. The estimated financial impact of the agreement comes in pre-tax at $127 million. According to CBS MarketWatch, this amount is considered "manageable." UNM received a debt rating of "BB ."

Last night, Autodesk (NASDAQ: ADSK) stepped into the earnings limelight, announcing strong third-quarter results and a two-for-one share split. For the quarter, ADSK earned (excluding items) 38 cents per share, beating the consensus estimate by four cents. The news prompted Credit Suisse First Boston to reiterate the company's "outperform" rating and to up its price target for ADSK from $65 to $76. Oppenheimer also reiterated the company, at "buy", and increased ADSK's target price from $63 to $69. ADSK has surged ahead slightly more than six percent in today's trading action.

Software maker, Novell (NASDAQ: NOVL), has seen better days. First, the company reported fourth-quarter earnings of six cents per share (excluding charges), beating the Street's estimate by one cent. Unfortunately, revenue for the quarter came in at $301 million, below the consensus estimate of $304.1 million. This triggered an analyst downgrade from "neutral weight" to "underweight." NOVL has lost slightly more than six percent today.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT) has also suffered from an analyst downgrade. The chip-equipment concern had its rating lowered to "underperform" from "in-line." Little news drove this downgrade, except for Goldman issuing a cut on the entire chip equipment sector to "cautious" from "neutral." AMAT has lost nearly four percent today.

Click the following link to see a Chart of the SPX 500 Index's Top 20 Percentage Gainers: http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/wire?ID=11805

Click the following link to see a Chart of the SPX 500 Index's Top 20 Percentage Losers: http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/wire?ID=11805

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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.>

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