MORNING UPDATE: brokersXpress, LLC issues alerts for ET, MCD, VC, BBI, and OVTI

CHICAGO, Aug. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- brokersXpress, LLC issues the following Morning Update at 8:30 AM EDT with new PriceWatch Alerts for key stocks.

Before the open... PriceWatch Alerts for ET, MCD, VC, BBI, and OVTI, Market Overview, Today's Economic Calendar, and the Quote Of The Day.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"It isn't that the Fed strategy isn't clear, but it's whether the Fed strategy will work."

-- John P. Waterman, chief investment officer, Rittenhouse Asset Management

New PriceWatch Alerts for ET, MCD, VC, BBI, and OVTI... PRICEWATCH ALERTS - HIGH RETURN COVERED CALL OPTIONS ----------- -- E-trade Group Last Price 16.10 - OCT 16.00 CALL OPTION@ $0.90 -> 5.3 % Return assigned* -- McDonalds Corp. Last Price 32.14 - DEC 32.50 CALL OPTION@ $1.50 -> 6.1 % Return assigned* -- Visteon Corp. Last Price 9.85 - DEC 7.50 CALL OPTION@ $2.75 -> 5.6 % Return assigned* -- Blockbuster Inc. Last Price 8.01 - SEP 7.50 CALL OPTION@ $0.90 -> 5.5 % Return assigned* -- OmniVision Technologies Inc. Last Price 12.19 - DEC 10.00 CALL OPTION@ $2.80 -> 6.5 % Return assigned*

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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, Clear Channel Communications, Biogen Idec, and MCI lead the list of companies with the most news stories while King Pharmaceuticals and NRG Energy are showing a spike in news. Pixar, Time Warner, and AmeriCredit have the highest srtIndex scores to top the list of companies with positive news while Blockbuster and Amgen lead the list of companies with negative news reports. Walt Disney Co has popped up with a high positive news sraIndex score.

For the FREE article titled, "Earnings Season Decoded - An Essential 15 Point Checklist For Finding Winning Stocks." go to: http://www.wallstreetsecretsplus.com/go/freemu/

MARKET OVERVIEW

Overseas trading is cautiously higher ahead of today's interest-rate report from the FOMC, as eight of the 15 foreign indices that we track are currently in positive territory. This trepidation is reflected in the group's cumulative average return of a mere 0.169. In Japan, traders appeared to be largely unaffected by the political upheaval that followed parliament's defeat of the government's postal privatization bill on Monday. The Nikkei surged more than 121 points on the day, helped by better-than-expected domestic June machinery orders. In the rest of Asia, rising oil prices boosted indices.

The economic calendar is packed today, as we are set to receive the preliminary non-farm productivity and unit labor costs for the second quarter before the open. Also, we get a peek at retail sales for the past week from the Redbook Retail Sales Index. However, the report that every one is waiting for is the FOMC decision on interest rates. While the Fed is largely expected to lift this key rate by 25 basis points to 3.5 percent, the wording of this release is always carefully scrutinized. Keep an eye out at 2:15 p.m. Eastern time for that first tick after the announcement, it could indicate the direction of the market heading into the close.

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DYNAMIC MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

The second week of August started brightly, with George Bush finally inking the new Energy Bill, worth around US$14.5 billion. Since this is double what he originally asked for, the president looks to have achieved a significant personal victory. However, one look at the oil market to see crude prices marching to yet another record high over US$64 a barrel will deflate his mood a little. The spike comes as the US closed its Embassy and Consulates in Saudi Arabia, the world's leading oil producer. The US government said that it received terrorist threats against the buildings. Traders worry that if terrorists strike against US positions in Saudi Arabia, they will probably also strike against oil production plants there, forcing refinery shutdowns that would reduce supply. Oil prices are rising even though the OPEC oil cartel said it had increased production by 300,000 barrels a day in the past two weeks to 30.4 million barrels per day. But the market seemingly prefers to focus more on the streak of problems plaguing US refineries lately. More than half a dozen, including Exxon-Mobil, BP, Valero Energy, and ConocoPhillips, have experienced unplanned outages over the past two weeks, reducing output of consumer end fuels like gasoline. Since March, the companies have operated at more than 90% of capacity, in hopes of meeting surging demand for gasoline and diesel. That, coupled with a decade of under-investment, and with no new refineries having been built in the US for over 30 years, means many plants are now finally starting to fail. To add to the turmoil in Saudi Arabia, Iran said it has resumed work at its uranium conversion plant, risking sanctions by restarting its nuclear program.

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TODAY'S ECONOMIC CALENDAR 7:45 a.m. Aug 6 ICSC Store Sales Index 8:30 a.m. 2Q Prelim Non-Farm Productivity 8:30 a.m. 2Q Prelim Unit Labor Costs 8:55 a.m. Aug 6 Redbook Retail Sales Index 10:00 a.m. June Wholesale Trade 2:15 p.m. FOMC decision on interest rates 5:00 p.m. Aug 6 ABC/Washington Post Consumer Confidence Index

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