Schaeffer's Daily Market Blog Features General Motors, Wal-Mart Stores, E*TRADE Financial, and...

CINCINNATI -- Among the stocks featured in the April 20th edition of Schaeffer's Market Blog are General Motors (NYSE:GM), Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT), E*TRADE Financial (NYSE:ET), and Rambus (NASDAQ:RMBS), 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, April 20, 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

10:25 AM General Motors Moves Higher on Earnings News

This morning, General Motors (NYSE:GM) issued its first-quarter earnings report, and it seems that the Street is a bit satisfied. During the quarter, GM's loss contracted to 57 cents per share, including a charge of $1.20 per share for a healthcare settlement for its retired workers. GM also stated that special items of 37 cents included a gain on the sale of its stake in Suzuki. Including the healthcare charge, but excluding the special items, GM's earnings came in at 94 cents per share. The automaker also announced that sales reached $52.2 billion. According to Thomson First Call, the Street was expecting a loss of 44 cents per share with sales of $39.4 billion.

So far, GM has added more than seven percent and reclaimed the support of its 10-day moving average and its 80-day moving average. In addition, GM moved above its 10-week and 20-week trendlines and looks ready to battle resistance in the 22 region. Watch for a bit of a short-covering rally on this news, as more than 20 percent of the car company's float is sold short, and it would take more than nine days to cover these shorted shares.

12:03 PM Wal-Mart Already Blaming Gas

Yesterday, Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT) executives told a group of reporters that short-term, same-store sales rise and fall with economic woes. The execs listed higher energy costs and unemployment as "economic woes." Furthermore, despite a host of operational and internal changes, the execs noted that the escalating costs of oil and government projections that gas prices will be notably higher this summer could put a "big crimp" in sales this year. The company's Chief Financial Office Tom Schoewe stated that as "fuel prices go up, that would dampen our same-store sales. The big question is it going to be less (this month). That's just a big wait-and-see." It sure sounds like the company is already floating out an excuse for worse-than-expected results. Same-store sales miss, and these same execs can say that they warned us.

Let's see how analysts react to this news, or to potentially poorer-than-expected same-store sales. According to Zacks, all 19 analysts rate WMT a "hold" or better. This configuration leaves a little room for upside pressure from upgrades, but the downside risk in the form of downgrades is exponentially greater. Furthermore, the Street leans to the optimistic side for WMT. The retailer's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio checks in at 0.69, in the 39th percentile. I am still not smiling when it comes to WMT. The stock has to overcome long-term resistance at the 50 level. Yes, there is long-term support in the form of the 45 level; however, WMT's 50-month moving average recently completed a bearish crossover of its 80-month counterpart. This sort of technical move often indicates a continued slump. Bottom line: we may soon learn how strong that support at the 45 level is.

12:38 PM E*TRADE Posts Earnings

E*TRADE Financial (NYSE:ET) posted first-quarter earnings of 33 cents per share (including a three-cent charge stemming from merger-related integration costs) yesterday, matching the consensus estimate. Today, the firm has dropped less than one percent, which may leave some of you scratching your heads. Not only did ET match expectations, but it also posted a sizeable jump in revenue ($598.3 million to $417.4 million) when compared to the prior year. In fact, ET also raised its earnings outlook for fiscal 2006 to a range of $1.35 to $1.50 per share, compared to $1.30 to $1.45 per share. All sound reasons for a stock to drop, right?

Don't let this drop discourage you ET bulls out there. The shares rebounded off their 10-week moving average. Since last May, the equity has finished one week below this trendline's support; and on that occasion it relied on its 20-week trendline. Watch for this support to try and put a stop to today's slide.

2:47 PM Rambus Drops Intraday

Rambus (NASDAQ:RMBS) is currently down nearly 20 percent and it's all happened in the past 15 minutes. This stock has a long history of being extremely volatile on patent litigations - and I'm willing to bet this is driving the move today. Stay tuned.

3:14 PM More on Rambus

Now the word is there's no verdict yet in the Hynix case - the jury is still deliberating. As of this second, Rambus (RMBS) is down about 13 percent. Wouldn't it be fun if the stock now rallied on positive news? We'll have to wait - but if it can, I don't remember very many stocks being down more than 20 percent in one day to rally to finish green.

For more information on these stocks or any stock in your portfolio, feel free to visit our Schaeffer's Equity Scorecard feature. Also, for more information on what makes up these scores, or if you want more filters and screens, take a 30-day trial to our Schaeffer's Gold. http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/redirect.aspx?CODE=PROB1C&PAGE=1

Take advantage of the timely Schaeffer commentaries by signing up for their free e-newsletters -- Opening View, Market Recap and Monday Morning Outlook. Click here to have the Schaeffer's commentaries delivered to you free via email every day. http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/redirect.aspx?CODE=PROB12M&PAGE=1 .

About Schaeffer's Investment Research (www.SchaeffersResearch.com)

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