MORNING UPDATE: Mankus-Lavelle Group Issues Alerts for HPQ, SPLS, BEAS, KR, and TJX

CHICAGO, May 18 /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 HPQ, SPLS, BEAS, KR, and TJX, Market Overview, Today's Economic Calendar, and the Quote Of The Day.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Our overall performance leaves room for improvement in many of our businesses."

-- Mark Hurd, chief executive and president, Hewlett-Packard Co. New PriceWatch Alerts for HPQ, SPLS, BEAS, KR, and TJX... PRICEWATCH ALERTS - HIGH RETURN COVERED CALL OPTIONS -- Hewlett Packard Last Price 21.55 - NOV 20.00 CALL OPTION@ $2.55 -> 5.3 % Return assigned* -- Staples Inc. Last Price 21.56 - SEP 22.50 CALL OPTION@ $0.90 -> 8.9 % Return assigned* -- BEA Systems Inc. Last Price 7.98 - SEP 7.50 CALL OPTION@ $1.05 -> 8.2 % Return assigned* -- Kroger Co. Last Price 16.92 - OCT 17.50 CALL OPTION@ $0.85 -> 8.9 % Return assigned* -- T J X COMPANIES Last Price 23.36 - OCT 22.50 CALL OPTION@ $1.90 -> 4.8 % 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, Hewlett-Packard Co., Altria Group Inc., and Talbots Inc. lead the list of companies with the most news stories while Photronics Inc. and Eaton Vance Corp. are showing a spike in news. Nordstrom Inc., Yum! Brands Inc., and Panera Bread Co. have the highest srtIndex scores to top the list of companies with positive news while Catalina Marketing Corp. and Applied Materials Inc. lead the list of companies with negative news reports. Jack in the Box Inc. has popped up with a high positive news sraIndex score.

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MARKET OVERVIEW

Overseas markets are trading solidly higher this morning, as 13 of the 15 foreign indices that we track are currently in the plus column. Asian markets were mixed, however, after the Chinese government released that the country's industrial output rose 16 percent from the prior month. Economists were expecting the figure to slow to 14.6 percent. In Europe, stocks were largely higher following Hewlett-Packard's earnings report, leading technology concerns into the plus column. Elsewhere, the June contract on crude was advancing in overseas trading, and was last seen up 23 cents at $49.20 per barrel.

U.S. futures were languishing just below breakeven this morning, as traders remain somewhat cautious ahead of this morning's release of the Consumer Price Index. However, Hewlett-Packard will add a buoying force to the tech sector following its earnings report.

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DYNAMIC MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

The OPEC oil cartel meets again on June 15. If crude prices remain below US$50, production will probably be cut. As summer approaches, recent talk about a 500,000-barrel per day production increase is history. If OPEC goes ahead and cuts production, it will likely add a little more fear into the market. And this is not a stable market by any stretch of the imagination. A couple of OPEC ministers already feel the oil market is oversupplied -- and should remain that way through the rest of 2005. The fact is, OPEC's output is currently the highest in history -- a point noted by Qatar's oil chief, Abdullah Hamad al-Attiyah. His concern is that if the cartel continues to pump furiously now, that might prompt a production cut during the fourth quarter -- a scenario that would arguably generate a whole lot more fear. At the moment, OPEC has made provisions to pump 300,000 to 500,000 barrels per day more than current levels in order to cope with the fourth quarter demand surge. And while some media outlets are excitedly hailing the recent decline of oil prices, a CNN report interestingly notes that, "the latest round of price falls was driven more by the strong Dollar than high US inventories." Not exactly the best news that supports a continuation of oil's declining trend. In truth, the quest for cheap oil is over. Sara Nunnally, technical analyst at the WaveStrength investment team, says: "The only thing that will lower the price of oil is more domestic drilling -- but not even that will bring it to US$25 a barrel, as the White House desires. I expect oil prices to continue their decline while the dollar grows stronger, and while OPEC pumps at record numbers." Just because prices have dipped recently, it's very unlikely that OPEC will allow this trend to continue for long.

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TODAY'S ECONOMIC CALENDAR 7:00 AM May 14 MBA Refinancing Index 8:30 AM April CPI 8:30 AM April CPI, ex-food and energy

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