MORNING UPDATE: Seven Summits Research issues alerts for MOT, EMC, GILD, ODP, and MER

CHICAGO, Oct. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Seven Summits Research issues the following Morning Update at 8:30 AM EDT with new PriceWatch Alerts for key stocks.

Before the open... PriceWatch Alerts for MOT, EMC, GILD, ODP, and MER, Market Overview, News Leaders and Laggards, Today's Economic Calendar, and the Quote Of The Day.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"We all remember the bad old days of the 1970s ... the Fed's response went down as one the greatest monetary policy mistakes of my lifetime."

-- Janet Yellen, President, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco New PriceWatch Alerts for MOT, EMC, GILD, ODP, and MER... PRICEWATCH ALERTS - HIGH RETURN COVERED CALL OPTIONS ----------- -- Motorola, Inc. Last Price 20.17 - JAN 20.00 CALL OPTION@ $1.65 -> 8.0 % Return assigned* -- EMC Corp. Last Price 13.24 - APR 13.00 CALL OPTION@ $1.40 -> 9.8% Return assigned* -- Gilead Sciences Inc. Last Price 48.23 - JAN 47.50 CALL OPTION@ $2.85 -> 4.7 % Return assigned* -- Office Depot Inc. Last Price 27.01 - JAN 25.00 CALL OPTION@ $3.20 -> 5.0 % Return assigned* -- Merrill Lynch & Co. Last Price 61.21 - APR 60.00 CALL OPTION@ $4.60 -> 6.0% Return assigned*

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MARKET OVERVIEW

Overseas trading is looking positively wretched this morning, as none of the 14 foreign indices that we track are in positive territory. Furthermore, the cumulative average return on the group stands at -1.906. Asian markets were roiled in Wednesday trading, as traders fretted over U.S. inflation fears. Adding to these woes was a rather disappointing earnings announcement from INTC. The situation is much the same in Europe, as a late afternoon slide in the U.S. market sparked fears in early trading this morning.

The November futures contract on sweet crude oil fell 1.80 percent on Tuesday, as a change in Hurricane Wilma's path in the Caribbean eased fears about the potential for new disruptions to energy production. The latest track for Wilma shows it heading toward Florida. Later in the session today, the update on U.S. petroleum supplies from the Energy Department will be released, with most analysts expecting a second straight week of increases. Analysts at IFR Markets anticipate a build of one to three million barrels for crude, and a drop of one to two million barrels for gasoline and distillates. In early trading, crude has slipped a bit further, falling four cents to $62.40 per barrel in electronic trading.

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DYNAMIC MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

With bird flu spreading from Asia to Europe, specifically in Turkey, Greece and 12 cases in Romania, European Union ministers have realized that they've got a new battle on their hands, besides trying to stimulate economic growth. And on Tuesday, they issued a collective statement, saying the virus poses a "global threat" that requires international action if it shifts from birds to humans. In addition, the EU is apparently negotiating an arrangement with the healthcare industry, "whereby EU governments will increase vaccination for seasonal flu ... and the industry will invest more to build up manufacturing capacity" (according to CNN). While that sounds like a logical step, the fact that European Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou says "most of the 25 EU governments lack sufficient stocks of anti-viral drugs designed to boost resistance to the common flu" arguably makes the EU look sluggish and lacking in foresight in not preparing for the problem until now. It's worth remembering that the bird flu issue first originated several years ago, with the H5N1 strain that killed 60 people in Hong Kong back in 1997. This is the strain currently being tested for in Greece. Holland also experienced a crippling outbreak of the H5N7 strain in 2003 that resulted in the culling of 30 million birds and economic losses totaling 500 million euros. Ever since, the issue has gradually made its way to the front pages. And with avian flu fears about to reach crisis point, the EU looks unprepared, despite its claims to the contrary. The 25 nations have ten million flu vaccines collectively. But there are 500 million people throughout the region. Thus far, there haven't been many profit opportunities, because the disease has yet to take a firm, widespread hold and strike humans. The fact remains that scientists cannot create a vaccine for a virus that doesn't yet exist.

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NEWS LEADERS AND LAGGARDS

So far today, Yahoo!, Intel, and Bank of America lead the list of companies with the most news stories while MBNA Corp and Abbott Laboratories are showing a spike in news. Altria Group, JP Morgan Chase, and Honeywell International have the highest srtIndex scores to top the list of companies with positive news while SanDisk and Seagate Technology lead the list of companies with negative news reports. North Fork Bancorp has popped up with a high positive news sraIndex score.

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TODAY'S ECONOMIC CALENDAR 7:00 a.m. Oct 15 MBA Refinancing Index 8:30 a.m. Sept Housing Starts 10:30 a.m. Oct 14 US Energy Dept Crude Oil Stocks (in barrels) 10:30 a.m. Oct 14 US Energy Dept Distillate Stocks (in barrels) 10:30 a.m. Oct 14 US Energy Dept Gasoline Stocks (in barrels) 14:00 p.m. Fed Beige Book

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