MORNING UPDATE: Mankus-Lavelle Group issues alerts for KRB, MERQ, BSX, RHAT, and CTXS

CHICAGO, July 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Mankus-Lavelle Group issues the following Morning Update at 8:30 AM EDT with new PriceWatch Alerts for key stocks.

Before the open... PriceWatch Alerts for KRB, MERQ, BSX, RHAT, and CTXS, Market Overview, Today's Economic Calendar, and the Quote Of The Day.

QUOTE OF THE DAY "I don't believe $60 a barrel can be sustained because it seems to me that it would slow the global economy enough to generate a reduction in demand and, therefore, lower prices." -- David Resler, Economist, Nomura Securities New PriceWatch Alerts for KRB, MERQ, BSX, RHAT, and CTXS... PRICEWATCH ALERTS -- HIGH RETURN COVERED CALL OPTIONS ----------- -- MBNA Corp. Last Price 25.53 -- DEC 25.00 CALL OPTION@ $1.60 -> 4.5 % Return assigned* -- Mercury Interactive Corp. Last Price 37.96 -- OCT 35.00 CALL OPTION@ $4.60 -> 4.9 % Return assigned* -- Boston Scientific Corp. Last Price 28.60 -- NOV 27.50 CALL OPTION@ $2.75 -> 6.4 % Return assigned* -- Red Hat Inc. Last Price 14.56 -- SEP 15.00 CALL OPTION@ $0.80 -> 9.0 % Return assigned* -- Citrix Systems Inc. Last Price 21.94 -- AUG 22.50 CALL OPTION@ $0.70 -> 5.9 % 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

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NOTE: All stocks and options shown are examples only. These are not recommendations to buy or sell any security.

NEWS LEADERS AND LAGGARDS

So far today, The Walt Disney Co, General Electric, and Koninklijke Philips Electronics lead the list of companies with the most news stories while Elan Corp and American Tower are showing a spike in news. General Motors Corp, Business Objects, and Eli Lilly and Co have the highest srtIndex scores to top the list of companies with positive news while Qualcomm Inc and JPMorgan Chase and Co lead the list of companies with negative news reports. Google has popped up with a high positive news sraIndex score.

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MARKET OVERVIEW

European shares gained ground on Wednesday, thanks to optimism about the United States economy. A higher-than-expected increase in May factory orders touched off a buying spree in the American markets, sparking the same action across the pond. The European markets didn't run rampant on the day, crude prices that lingered near $60 per barrel served to cap the markets. Currently, 13 of the 15 foreign markets we track are in positive territory.

The August contract on sweet crude oil gained 0.84 to find support at the 10-day moving average. The contract still has the firm support of its 20-week moving average which currently resides a little north of $55. Natural gas showed the largest gains in the energy sector, but unleaded gas for August delivery was close behind, gaining 2.02 percent on the day. The American Automobile Association reported that the average price for regular gasoline was 2.223, against 1.892 a year ago.

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DYNAMIC MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Exchange-traded funds (ETF's) continue to be a popular destination for investment capital. ETF's are baskets of index-linked securities that trade on exchanges like stocks and have enjoyed an excellent run recently. Data from Financial Research Corp. says that trend continued in May, with ETF's attracting large sums of money. State Street Corp.'s SPDR 500 Trust led the way, receiving US$4.4 billion in new inflows. Over in Europe, government bonds are also enjoying their best run for a considerable time, as the economy continues to drag. With a 2.8% second quarter gain, 10-year bonds posted their best return since the third quarter of 2002. The news comes amid high oil prices, high regional unemployment, weak spending and monetary policy inertia from the European Central Bank. There was also some respite for the job market in May. According to the latest set of data, the Eurozone jobless rate fell from 8.9% to 8.8%. However, Germany and France in particular remain mired in gloom, with Germany's jobless rate inching down to 11.7% in June from 11.8% in May -- close to a postwar high. Meanwhile, France's rate sits at 10.2% -- the highest in over five years. So it seems hard to believe that anyone would actually support the European Central Bank's current monetary policy stance. Amid an economy in reverse and a jobless rate rising, frustrations have mounted because the bank has done nothing to alleviate such pressures by cutting interest rates. Contending that they don't have the power to change the region's fortunes, the bankers have left rates unchanged for the last 24 straight meetings. But the European parliament's monetary affairs committee just endorsed President Jean-Claude Trichet and his team for their strategy, arguing that they "reacted correctly to economic and financial developments in 2004" and that a cut would be counter-productive. It says weak growth is a result of poor structural reform and fewer working hours. In the face of almost non-existent consumer spending, Trichet says the benchmark 2% borrowing rate offers "considerable support" for fostering economic growth. But with unemployment rates so high, Europeans have little extra cash to spend.

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TODAY'S ECONOMIC CALENDAR 7:00 AM Jul 2 MBA Refinancing Index 7:45 AM Jul 2 ICSC Store Sales Index 8:55 AM Jul 2 Redbook Retail Sales Index 10:00 AM June ISM Non-Mfg Index 10:00 AM June Challenger Layoffs Survey 1:15 PM St. Louis Fed Pres Poole participates in a panel discussion at the Western Economic Association conference in San Francisco

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