MORNING UPDATE: Man Securities Inc. Issues Alerts for AIG, FRE, TEVA,

CHICAGO, Feb. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Man Securities issues the following Morning Update at 8:30 AM EST with new PriceWatch Alerts for key stocks.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020214/MANSECLOGO )

Before the open... PriceWatch Alerts for AIG, FRE, TEVA, A, and WAG, Market Overview, Today's Economic Calendar, and the Quote Of The Day.

QUOTE OF THE DAY "The Fed is totally committed to price stability." -- Janet Yellen, President, San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank. New PriceWatch Alerts for AIG, FRE, TEVA, A, and WAG PRICEWATCH ALERTS - HIGH RETURN COVERED CALL OPTIONS -- American International Group Inc. Last Price 71.49 - AUG 70.00 CALL OPTION@ $4.70 -> 4.8 % Return assigned* -- Freddie Mac Corp. Last Price 66.91 - JUL 65.00 CALL OPTION@ $4.60 -> 4.3 % Return assigned* -- Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. ADR Last Price 30.37 - JUN 30.00 CALL OPTION@ $2.05 -> 5.9 % Return assigned* -- Agilent Technologies Inc. Last Price 24.02 - MAY 22.50 CALL OPTION@ $2.45 -> 4.3 % Return assigned* -- Walgreen Co. Last Price 42.25 - JUL 42.50 CALL OPTION@ $1.90 -> 5.3 % 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, Nortel Networks Corp., Alcatel, and Agilent Technologies, Inc. lead the list of companies with the most news stories while Vasco Data Security International and Molex Inc. are showing a spike in news. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Medco Health Solutions Inc., and Apple Computer Inc. have the highest srtIndex scores to top the list of companies with positive news while Qwest Communications International Inc. and Concord Camera Corp. lead the list of companies with negative news reports. Flextronics International Ltd. 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 markets are doing well, as 12 of the 15 markets that we track are currently higher with the cumulative average return standing at plus 0.254 percent. European markets are doing well this morning thanks to some good economic data from Germany and solid earnings out of Sweden.

At 8:30 a.m. today, January retail sales are expected to come in at minus 0.4 percent. Excluding autos, it should hit plus 0.4 percent from plus 0.3 percent last period. Also at 8:30 a.m., the Empire State Manufacturing Index is expected to jump three points to 23. Then at 10:00 a.m., December Business Inventories should increase by 0.2 percent, below last period's 1.0 percent. In terms of earnings, Applied Material and Reynolds American are the largest names reporting.

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DYNAMIC MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

The strong trend of mergers and acquisitions from 2004 is continuing into 2005, with frequent significant deals. Monday saw America's largest phone company -- Verizon Communications agree to buy MCI for US$6.75 billion. The decision is interesting, given that fellow telecom company Qwest Communications tabled a US$7.3 billion bid for MCI. But it appears Qwest's somewhat unpredictable financial status deterred the MCI board. The executives decided to accept Verizon's lower offer because the company is in a much stronger financial position than Qwest (market cap of US$100 billion versus US$8 billion and 2004 sales of US$71 billion versus US$14 billion). Qwest famously had many financial problems several years ago, and its debt is still rated at junk bond status. But MCI has endured plenty of problems itself. In the corporate scandal-ridden days of July 2002 when the company was more famously known as WorldCom, it filed the biggest bankruptcy case in American history following US$11 billion worth of accounting irregularities. Former CEO Bernard Ebbers is currently on trial for securities fraud. MCI is craving stability and solid growth opportunities and has been a potential buyout candidate ever since emerging from bankruptcy protection in April 2004. It has US$6 billion worth of debt, but also US$5.6 billion in cash. However, there could be boardroom changes, as MCI's current CEO, Michael Capellas, could take over from recently-deposed Carly Fiorina as CEO of Hewlett-Packard. The deal allows Verizon to assume MCI's broad business subscriber base and Internet business, and is an immediate response to SBC Communications' recent acquisition of AT&T. Meanwhile, MCI gains a financially solid partner and provides value for its shareholders. The company will pay a special US$4.50 per share dividend. Although it will take about a year to ratify the agreement, it is expected to save both companies a combined US$1 billion by the third year. But the buyout will also result in 7,000 job losses -- 2.6% of the combined workforce.

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TODAY'S ECONOMIC CALENDAR 7:45 a.m.: ICSC-UBS Store Sales Index (last plus 2.2 percent) 8:30 a.m.: Retail & Food Sales (last plus 1.2 percent) 8:30 a.m.: Retail & Food Sales, Ex-Autos (last plus 0.3 percent) 8:30 a.m.: Empire State Mfg Index (last 20.1) 8:55 a.m.: Redbook Retail Sales Index (last plus 0.6 percent) 9:00 a.m.: Treasury Intl Capital Flows (last $81 billion) 10:00 a.m.: Business Inventories (last plus 1.0 percent) 1:00 p.m.: NAHB Housing Index (last 70) 6:30 p.m.: ABC/Washington Post Consumer Confidence Index (last minus 10)

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All stocks and options shown are examples only. These are not recommendations to buy or sell any security and they do not represent in any way a positive or negative outlook for any security. Potential returns do not take into account your trade size, brokerage commissions or taxes which will affect actual investment returns. Stocks and options involve risk and are not suitable for all investors and investing in options carries substantial risk. Prior to buying or selling options, a person must receive a copy of Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options available from Sharon at 800-837-6212 or at http://www.cboe.com/Resources/Intro.asp. Privacy policy available upon request.