CINCINNATI -- Among the stocks featured in the August 17 edition of Schaeffer's Market Blog are Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ), General Motors (NYSE:GM), Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM), Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO), and Stage Stores (NYSE:SSI). Schaeffer's Market Blog is just one of the many free market commentaries written every day 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=PROB13M&PAGE=1 .

Schaeffer's Market Blog for Thursday, August 17, 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=PROB13C&PAGE=1 .

Posted 10:07 AM Hewlett-Packard Vaults Higher

Yesterday, Dow component Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) posted fiscal third-quarter earnings of 48 cents per share. Excluding charges and one-time accounting items, the computer company would have earned 52 cents per share, topping the consensus estimate by five cents per share. These results impressed analysts, who noted that the third quarter is typically one of HPQ's weaker business periods. HPQ's most profitable division was printing and imaging, which earned $884 million and revenue of $6.2 billion. The company's personal systems group earned $275 million on $6.9 billion in revenue. The company also announced that personal computer shipments increased 14 percent in the quarter.

In the first half-hour of trading, HPQ is more than five percent higher thanks to the news. What is more important is that the shares have jumped through long-term resistance in the 34-35 region. Now that this resistance has been broken, there is little overhead to hold the shares down. Keep an eye on the stock today, as my colleague Ed Stenson noted last week, "watch for a clear break above 34." It appears that has happened.

Posted 10:44 AM GM Downgraded

Earlier this morning J.P. Morgan downgraded American automaker General Motors (NYSE: GM) to "neutral" from "overweight." The brokerage cited valuation as the reason for the downgrade, stating, "we suspect the stock will be range-bound through year-end. But on an 18 to 24 month view, another step-change increase in equity value could arise if significant concessions are extracted from the 2007 labor contract."