PDG Placer Dome

CHICAGO, Jan. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Seven Summits Research issues the following Morning Update at 8:30 AM EST with new PriceWatch Alerts for key stocks. Before the open... PriceWatch Alerts for BAC, RIG, PDG, OXY, and MEL, Market Overview, News Leaders and Laggards, Today's Economic Calendar, and the Quote Of The Day. QUOTE OF THE DAY "I think the mainstream press has more of a tendency to go to try to find problems and harp on those." -- Dick Cheney, Vice-President, US New PriceWatch Alerts BAC, RIG, PDG, OXY, and MEL PRICEWATCH ALERTS - HIGH RETURN COVERED CALL OPTIONS -- Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC) Last Price 44.19 - AUG 42.50 CALL OPTION@ $3.35 -> 4.1 % Return assigned* -- Transocean Inc. (NYSE:RIG) Last Price 78.72 - MAY 75.00 CALL OPTION@ $9.00 -> 7.6 % Return assigned* -- Placer Dome Inc. (NYSE:PDG) Last Price 24.57 - JUN 22.50 CALL OPTION@ $3.10 -> 4.8 % Return assigned* -- Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE:OXY) Last Price 91.00 - MAY 90.00 CALL OPTION@ $7.60 -> 7.9 % Return assigned* -- Mellon Financial Corp. (NYSE:MEL) Last Price 34.98 - JUN 35.00 CALL OPTION@ $1.80-> 5.5 % 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) ** FREE Investor's Cheat Sheet - An essential pocket reference guide packed with the strategies, tactics, tips, and rules of thumb for smarter investing. For your FREE Investor's Cheat Sheet, go to: http://www.investorsobserver.com/FreeCSMU NOTE: All stocks and options shown are examples only. These are not recommendations to buy or sell any security. MARKET OVERVIEW Overseas trading is rather bleak this morning, with all 15 of the foreign markets that we follow in negative territory. The cumulative average return on the group stands at a 0.872-percent loss. In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei plunged more than two percent while the Hang Seng shed 1.3 percent in trading. Rising oil prices and weak trading on Friday on Wall Street caused the Asian market to lose ground. In Europe, both the CAC 40 and the London FTSE 100 has tumbled roughly 0.7 percent lower while the German DAX has slipped 0.5 percent lower. The March crude contract surged 1.83 percent during Friday's regular session of trading. The March contract became the most traded contract after Friday's close. Crude oil futures tagged a 20-week high to end the week, sparking concern that $70 barrels of oil might not be too far in the future after all. The February contract settled up $68.35 on expiration day, up $1.52 for the session, marking its highest close since September 1, which was three days after Hurricane Katrina made landfall. In early trading, black gold was down 46 cents at $68.02 a barrel. Get Free Stock Picks from Bernie Schaeffer, 3 time winner of the Wall Street Journal Stock Picking Contest. For your Free Trial go to: http://www.investorsobserver.com/freemo2 DYNAMIC MARKET OPPORTUNITIES According to e-commerce research group IMRG, Internet shopping among British consumers soared 50% to 4.98 billion pounds sterling in the ten weeks before Christmas, compared with 3.3 billion pounds sterling over the same period in 2004. The Christmas boost resulted in full-year spending of 19.2 billion pounds sterling -- a 32% rise over 2004. And despite gloomy sales forecasts for December, overall retail sales edged up 4% on the month over December 2004. For 2006, IMRG says the e-commerce sector is set to grow a further 36%, with sales topping out at 26 billion pounds sterling. Elsewhere, though, the latest jobless figures have sparked a fresh round of interest rate cut talk. In the three months to November, the number of unemployed Brits rose by 111,000 to a three-year high of just over 1.5 million. It was an ugly and somewhat unexpected rise -- in fact, the biggest in 12 years -- and pushed the national jobless rate to 5%. Perhaps slightly worse, however, is the news that a shade under eight million Brits are now classed as "economically inactive." That's the highest number since 1971 and this category also saw a rise (25,000) in the three months to November. It includes people like students, those looking after relatives and unable to work and those who have simply given up looking for work. With inflation recently dropping back to the Bank of England's target rate of 2%, economists are once again raising the chance of another interest rate cut. There was at least some good news from November, with the struggling manufacturing sector finally rising and recording a 0.4% growth rate for the month -- the best since April 2005. That reversed a nasty 0.8 slide in October. Nevertheless, overall sector performance dropped 0.8% in the three months to November, compared with the previous three-month period -- a factor that's likely to act as a drag on fourth quarter economic growth. Read more economic/market/stock analysis from the Taipan Group and 247Profits.com every trading day with the FREE 247Profits Dynamic Market Alert. Featuring: insightful economic commentary from the US and worldwide...profitable investment recommendations...and full access to the leading team of financial experts. Register for free here: http://www.dynamicmarketalert.com/signup/eletterspr.html NEWS LEADERS AND LAGGARDS So far today, Ford, Nike, and Bank of America lead the list of companies with the most news stories while CVS and Teva Pharmaceuticals are showing a spike in news. Albertsons, Yahoo!, and General Electric have the highest srtIndex scores to top the list of companies with positive news while Walt Disney Co and General Motors lead the list of companies with negative news reports. Olympic Steel 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/ TODAY'S ECONOMIC CALENDAR 10:00 a.m. Dec Conference Board Leading Econ Indicators N/A NY Fed Pres Geithner speaks on global financial imbalances in London Seven Summits Investment Research is an independent investment research group focusing on the U.S. equities and options markets. Our unique set of analytical tools, screening techniques, rigorous research methods and committed staff provide solid information to help our clients make the best investment decisions possible. For more information go to http://www.sevensummitsinvestmentresearch.com/ . CRD# 137114 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: Read more economic/market/stock analysis from the Taipan Group every trading day with the FREE Dynamic Market Alert. Featuring: insightful economic commentary from the US and worldwide...profitable investment recommendations...and full access to the leading team of financial experts. Register for free here: http://www.dynamicmarketalert.com/signup/eletterspr.html 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.poweroptionsplus.com/ 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, taxes or our subscription fees 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 Catherine at 800-698-9101 or at http://www.cboe.com/Resources/Intro.asp . Privacy policy available upon request. First Call Analyst: FCMN Contact: DATASOURCE: Seven Summits Investment Research CONTACT: Reid Stratton of Seven Summits Investment Research, +1-800-698-9101

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