Schaeffer's Daily Market Blog Features: Wal-Mart Stores, AT&T, Google, Lumera, and UnitedHealth...

CINCINNATI -- Among the stocks featured in the October 23 edition of Schaeffer's Market Blog are Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT), AT&T (NYSE:T), Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), Lumera (NASDAQ:LMRA), and UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH). 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. To have this report delivered to you free via email every day click on the following link and you'll also get an opportunity to win an iPod Nano. http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/redirect.aspx?CODE=PROB13M&PAGE=1

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10:41 AM Wal-Mart Stores Announces Good News

As I sit down to write this entry we're one hour into the trading week and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA - 12,076.3) is up 74 points. The biggest winner from the 30 members of the DJIA is Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT), up more than five percent at last check, to $52.00. This morning, the retailer announced its latest plans for growth, which appear to have gone down well on the Street. Global square footage is seen increasing by approximately 7.5 percent in fiscal 2008. However, the buyers seem to have run out of steam, and the gains have been capped by resistance from the equity's powerful 80-month moving average. Profit takers might now step in.

10:41 AM Short Squeeze on AT&T?

It seems that my colleague Mark Fightmaster hit one out of the park on AT&T (NYSE:T). On October 6, Mark wrote an article on T, stating that "...I think T could be an excellent bullish play..." Since then, the shares have gained more than eight percent, riding support at their 10-week moving average. Furthermore, following this morning's Street-beating performance in the earnings confessional, T has just tagged a fresh 52-week high. In case you missed it, the company reported a profit, excluding items, of 63 cents per share, compared to the analyst view of 58 cents per share.

The stock currently garners a Schaeffer's Equity Scorecard rating of 8.0 out of 10. This bullish reading is driven by a rising Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR), which indicates pessimism from the options crowd, and a short-interest ratio of 11.69. The later indicator could be helping T rally higher today, as short-sellers could be getting forced to buy back their bearish bets on this positive reaction to earnings.

I would keep an eye out for overhead resistance, however, as peak call open interest for the front three months of options resides at the 35 level. This build up in overhead options-related resistance could be what is keeping T in check during today's session.

12:00 PM Google Sets Another Record

On Friday, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) gapped higher on the open, on news that the search sage's third-quarter profit almost doubled as revenue surged 70 percent. The stock just hit a new all-time high of $475.89, as it passed its former record, set on January 11 this year, at $475.11.

12:52 Lumera Flashing on Dealer's Screens

A short while ago, I wrote here about Google's (GOOG) new all-time high of $475.89. Well, that didn't last long. The all-time high for GOOG now stands at $482.88. Meanwhile, one of the biggest winners on the Nasdaq is Lumera (NASDAQ:LMRA), up more than 15 percent at $7.67 at last check. The stock started to move last Monday after the Washington-based electronics and materials specialist said it has completed successful testing of its millimeter wave wireless bridge, which will allow the transmission of "vast amounts of data via a variety of high speed telecommunications networks."

The secret to pushing data around at high speeds is to use high frequency signals, and LMRA uses carrier signals as high as 140 GHz (that's 14 followed by 10 zeros). If you like tech stocks, this could be one to watch, because it doesn't seem to be on the Streetfolk's radar screens yet. Zacks does not know of any analysts at all who cover LMRA. In fact, investors are displaying considerable pessimism toward the stock. The short interest ratio, which tells us how long it would take to buy back all the shorted LMRA shares at the current average daily trading volume, comes in at a thumping great 21.75 days to cover. This bearish configuration provides ample fuel for a short-covering rally here. LMRA is trading today at the highest levels we have seen since November 2004.

1:23 PM UnitedHealth May Struggle

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) is struggling to extend the gains from the positive reaction to its earnings report last week. The shares traded as high as $51.45 on Friday, and after being in positive territory most of the day today have slipped 10 cents to $50.60. New short interest change information is out for NYSE stocks, and UNH showed a draw of more than 40 percent in short interest held on its shares. Occasionally, shorts have an uncanny ability of throwing in the towel at just the wrong time. We'll see what happens.

For more information on these stocks or any stock in your portfolio, feel free to visit our Schaeffer's Equity Scorecard feature. Click here to read all of today's Market Blog: http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/redirect.aspx?CODE=PROB13C&PAGE=1

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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.