Schaeffer's S&P 500 Index Hot Stocks Features McKesson, Marsh & McLennan, Crane,...

CINCINNATI -- Among the stocks featured in the October 22 edition of Schaeffer's S&P 500 Index Hot Stocks are McKesson (NYSE:MCK), Marsh & McLennan (NYSE:MMC), Crane (NYSE:CR), Broadcom (NASDAQ:BRCM), and Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD).

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Schaeffer's S&P 500 Index Hot Stocks for Friday, October 22, 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 - 1123.33) 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.

Thursday night, healthcare services concern McKesson (NYSE: MCK) announced a 19-percent increase in second-quarter revenue. Meanwhile, earnings per share totaled 29 cents, a nickel above Wall Street's consensus estimate but considerably below last year's results of 53 cents per share. This morning, MCK enjoyed an upgrade from J.P. Morgan, who lifted its rating on the stock to an "overweight" from a "neutral," based on valuation. The stock has rallied more than eight percent today.

Also gaining eight percent during today's trading is Marsh & McLennan Cos. (NSYE: MMC) Today's Wall Street Journal noted that the company's outside directors have approached New York's attorney general (office of the newsworthy Eliot Spitzer) with the suggestion for MMC's chief executive's resignation, expected sometime today, according to the paper. Such a move could lead to settlement proceedings in the charge that the insurance firm earned bids in a dishonest manner.

Asbestos claims resulted in a third-quarter charge of $4.04 per share for industrial manufacturing firm Crane (NYSE: CR) . As a result, the firm posted a loss of $3.48 per share. Excluding this and various other items, however, the company collected 56 cents per share, topping Wall Street's expectations by four cents. After being halted for the first 20 minutes of trading this morning, CR gapped higher out of the gate. In late-afternoon trading, the shares are up six-and-a-half percent.

Moving to the negative side of the fence, Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM) has dropped nearly 13 percent after issuing a lackluster fourth-quarter earnings outlook in combination with its third-quarter report. The semiconductor firm expects fourth-quarter sales to slump as much as 18 percent (compared to the third quarter) due to reduced business from Pentium giant Intel and a series of order delays. As such, revenue is targeted at $530 million to $540 million, below analysts' view of $655 million. In the third quarter, BRCM collected 14 cents per share on revenue of $646.5 million. Other semiconductor stocks, such as Xilinx (XLNX) and Altera (ALTR) , are spiraling lower today in sympathy.

Last night, Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD) visited the earnings confessional and declared third-quarter results of 25 cents per share, a 47-percent improvement over year-ago figures. Revenue climbed 63 percent to $326 million on a year-over-year basis. On the downside, GILD officials said it had cancelled the studies of two experimental HIV drugs, rendering its pipeline virtually empty. This news, coupled with a downgrade from Legg Mason to a "sell" from a "hold," as sent the stock reeling today. GILD is off more than nine percent this afternoon.

Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) is nearly eight percent below the break-even mark. The company collected 72 cents per share in the first quarter, which edged above the Wall Street estimate by a penny per share. Revenue ticked marginally higher during the quarter. This wasn't enough of a positive surprise for investors, who have sent the stock lower today after it was briefly halted at the open.

Click the following link to see a Chart of the SPX 500 Index's Top 20 Percentage Gainers: http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/wire?ID=11531

Click the following link to see a Chart of the SPX 500 Index's Top 20 Percentage Losers: http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/wire?ID=11531

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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.