Schaeffer's Daily Market Blog Features Las Vegas Sands, Advanced Micro Devices, Dell, Exxon Mobil, and KB Home

Business Wire, March 23, 2006

CINCINNATI -- Among the stocks featured in the March 23 edition of Schaeffer's Market Blog are Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS), Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD), Dell (NASDAQ:DELL), Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), and KB Home (NYSE:KBH). Schaeffer's Market Blog 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. The Market Blog is written throughout every trading day by Schaeffer's financial analysts and traders. They are quick insights to the day's most notable market activity from an options perspective. 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=PROB12M&PAGE=1 .

Schaeffer's Market Blog for Thursday, March 23, 2006:

Below are just a few of today's Market Blog entries. Click here to read all of today's Market Blog. http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/redirect.aspx?CODE=PROB1C&PAGE=1 .

1:42 PM Las Vegas Sands Marches Higher

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) owns and operates the Venetian Casino Resort. The resort stands on the site of the bulldozed Sands Hotel. Replete with gondoliers and a replica of the Rialto Bridge, the Venetian offers a 116,000-sq.-ft. casino and a 4,000-suite hotel. The facility also houses a shopping, dining, and entertainment complex. Las Vegas Sands operates the Congress Center conference facility that links the casino to the nearby Sands Expo Center trade show and convention center. The firm is building The Palazzo Casino next door to the Venetian, as well as another in the United Kingdom. It also operates a casino in Macao, China. The stock has been a stellar performer, gaining more than 32 percent in 2006. This ascent has been largely supported by its 50-day moving average. There is a significant amount of skepticism on LVS in the form of high short interest, a high Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio and lukewarm analyst stock ratings.

12:58 PM AMD on the Move

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD) is moving higher today on news that Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) is acquiring Alienware, a manufacturer of game and multimedia personal computers. An analyst with J.P. Morgan observed that this could have a positive impact on AMD, as it represents the first time Dell-labeled products have utilized AMD chips. AMD processors are currently used in 30 percent to 40 percent of all Alienware products. A like-minded analyst with Lehman Brothers noted that the acquisition could improve AMD's chances of acting as a DELL supplier.

AMD is currently trading higher by about 2.5 percent, while DELL shares are down a fraction.

12:23 PM Heavy Call Selling on Exxon Mobil

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) had some heavy call activity yesterday at the out-of-the-money May 65 call (XOM EM). More than 17,000 XOM EM contracts changed hands yesterday. Over 14,000 of those came in a few-minute span just after 3:00 p.m. eastern time. Those trades went off at 0.45 and 0.50, closer to the bid price at the time. Open interest jumped from 2,655 to 17,901 so most of the trades translated to new open interest. These new positions could be naked call selling or could be part of a covered call strategy. In either event, those taking these positions are not looking for XOM to move above 65 by May's option expiration. Though the stock moved briefly above 65 last September, it has not ever closed a session above that mark. XOM has been mired in a trading range, trading mostly between 56 and 64 for the last 13 months. XOM is unchanged today at 61.05.

11:49 AM Good News for Home Sector from NAR, KBH

In a shock to the bubble-watchers, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday that resale of U.S. homes rose by 5.2 percent in February, the biggest percentage gain in two years, to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 6.91 million. Economists were expecting sales to total 6.52 million. Analysts are chalking up the surprise increase to unseasonably warm weather in January, allowing home buyers to more comfortably visit properties that were ultimately closed on during last month. Since last February, sales of existing homes have slipped just 0.3 percent. In all of 2005, 7.075 million homes were sold; experts expect sales to reach 6.67 million in 2006.

Looking at the data more closely, sales were up 19.2 percent in the Northeast, 11.1 percent in the Midwest, and 5.1 percent in the West. In the South, existing home sales were lower by 2.5 percent. Single-family home sales increased 4.7 percent in the month, while condo sales rose 8.8 percent.

In related news, KB Home (NYSE:KBH) announced first-quarter income of $174.5 million, or $2.02 per share, compared with year-ago per-share results of $1.41. Revenue rose to $2.19 billion during the reporting period. The consensus forecast on Wall Street was for per-share results of $1.96 on $2.17 billion in revenue. The shares are currently up nearly 3.7 percent and have overtaken their 10-day and 20-day moving averages.