Schaeffer's S&P 500 Index Hot Stocks Features Interpublic Group, Colgate-Palmolive, U.S. Steel, Pulte Homes, and Johnson & Johnson

Business Wire, June 20, 2005

CINCINNATI -- Among the stocks featured in the June 20 edition of Schaeffer's S&P 500 Index Hot Stocks are Interpublic Group (NYSE:IPG), Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL), U.S. Steel (NYSE:X), Pulte Homes (NYSE:PHM), and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ). 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, June 20, 2005:

A daily feature available on SchaeffersResearch.com is the "SPX Hot Stocks" column. Each afternoon, we will provide a list of the day's top-20 performing stocks in the S&P 500 Index (SPX - 1,218.20) as well as the bottom-20 names. Featured along with this table will be news that is moving some of the securities.

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

Crude oil futures continued to saunter higher with ease on Monday. Black gold has notched a new all-time high of $59.52 and is well on its way to triumphing above the $60-per-barrel level. U.S. equities were paying the price for most of the session, as major market averages were in negative territory until about 3:10 p.m. Eastern time, when a rush of buying power sent averages just over the breakeven zone. Only about 36 percent of the 500 large equities in the SPX have managed to rustle up gains. Also weighing on the markets today was news from the Conference Board that its index of leading economic indicators dropped half a percent in May, below the 0.3-percent decline expected by economists.

Advertising conglomerate Interpublic Group (NYSE:IPG) has rallied more than seven percent today following a positive mention in the weekend's Barron's. The widely read financial weekly stated that IPG shares are trading well below the norm, even as the company is engaged in a turnaround. The article also asserted that revenue growth is on the rise for IPG. Ariel Capital Management's director of research says the stock is worth as much as $18 per share, a 48-percent premium over Friday's closing price.

Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL) has managed to be among the few stocks charging notably higher in Monday's trading. The consumer-products group owes today's success to Prudential, which upgraded the stock to an "overweight" from a "neutral weight" on valuation issues. The brokerage said earnings growth should accelerate for CL during the second half of this year and into 2006. Specifically, the covering analyst said earnings should rise 16 percent in the third quarter and 15 percent in the fourth quarter.

The steel sector is pulling lower on Monday. This move is partially attributed to news from Canada's Ipsco (IPS), which has dropped 10 percent after lowering its second-quarter earnings view. Other steel names are falling in sympathy, including U.S. Steel (NYSE:X), which is off more than four percent but testing technical support from its 10-day and 20-day moving averages.

Another starkly underperforming sector is the homebuilding group, which showed marked strength during last week's trading action. It was reported earlier today that Fannie Mae (FNM) has warned that certain U.S. regions now face a larger risk of a housing bubble burst, due in part to more lenient lending regulations. Pulte Homes (NYSE:PHM) is settling lower today, down more than three percent after notching a new annual high on Friday. KB Home (KBH) is in a similar predicament, down nearly three percent today despite reaching a new 52-week peak during Friday's session.

Guidant (GDT) is seeing red today after announcing Friday that rare defects have occurred in a handful of its implanted electrical heart-defibrillator devices. One malfunction, which occurred earlier this month, may have contributed to a patient's ultimate demise, GDT officials reported. As such, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is planning to recall some of these defibrillators. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), which is planning to take over GDT next quarter, is managing to cling to the breakeven point.

Click the following link to see a Chart of the SPX 500 Index's Top-20 Percentage Gainers: http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/wire?ID=13450 .

Click the following link to see a Chart of the SPX 500 Index's Top-20 Percentage Losers: http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/wire?ID=13450 .

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