MORNING UPDATE: Man Securities Inc. issues alerts for ASKJ, CAH, MYL,

CHICAGO, Feb. 4 /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 ASKJ, CAH, MYL, PEP, and HOT, Market Overview, Today's Economic Calendar, and the Quote Of The Day.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Non-manufacturing activity is still expanding, but it's expanding at a slower rate."

-- Sherry Cooper, chief economist, BMO Nesbitt Burns. New PriceWatch Alerts for ASKJ, CAH, MYL, PEP, and HOT... PRICEWATCH ALERTS - HIGH RETURN COVERED CALL OPTIONS ----------- -- Ask Jeeves Inc. Last Price 26.94 - FEB 25.00 CALL OPTION@ $3.50 -> 6.7 % Return assigned* -- Cardinal Health Inc. Last Price 60.09 - JUN 60.00 CALL OPTION@ $3.60 -> 6.2 % Return assigned* -- Mylan Laboratories Inc. Last Price 16.16 - JUL 15.00 CALL OPTION@ $1.95 -> 5.6 % Return assigned* -- PepsiCo Inc. Last Price 54.33 - JUL 55.00 CALL OPTION@ $1.80 -> 4.7 % Return assigned* -- Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. Last Price 59.19 - MAY 60.00 CALL OPTION@ $2.60 -> 6.0 % Return assigned*

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NEWS LEADERS AND LAGGARDS

So far today, Cisco Systems Inc., PMI Group Inc., and Time Warner Inc. lead the list of companies with the most news stories while BSquare Inc. and Landry's Restaurants Inc. are showing a spike in news. Avid Technology Inc., Time Warner Inc., and Michaels Stores Inc. have the highest srtIndex scores to top the list of companies with positive news while Omnicell Inc. and Instinet Group Inc. lead the list of companies with negative news reports. Google Inc. has popped up with a high positive news sraIndex score.

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MARKET OVERVIEW

Overseas markets are looking good this morning, as 13 of the 15 markets we track are higher with the cumulative average standing at plus 0.368 percent.

The week is topped off today with the announcement of the January jobs report coming out at 8:30 a.m. Economists are looking for this to come in at plus 200,000 with the unemployment report coming in at 5.4 percent. Other than that, we don't have many earnings, so expect the jobs report to drive the day's (and perhaps the intermediate term) action.

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DYNAMIC MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

Having been stuck deep in the economic mire for a few years recently, the stream of good news continues to flow from Brazil. The national statistics bureau reports that thanks to the flourishing economy, the jobless rate sank 1% to 9.6% in December, the lowest in three years. And with the average monthly wage growing at a 2% clip in December, Brazilians are boosting their spending. That, coupled with strong exports of commodities like steel (currently in the midst of a strong bull market), iron ore, soybeans and beef led to a record current account surplus of US$11.7 billion in 2004. That's an enormous 178% surge over the 2003 surplus of US$4.2 billion. With that, it's no surprise to see Brazil's budget gap fall to the lowest on record - just 2.6% of GDP in December, compared with 5.1% of GDP in December 2003. This bullish run has left many investors wondering what to expect for 2005. And according to Standard and Poor's Brazilian president Regina Nunes, GDP growth should hit 4%. If so, there's a good chance it will result in S&P raising its credit rating for Brazil from its current BB- level. Brazil's western neighbor, Chile, is also enjoying a thriving economic period. Exports of copper, the country's most lucrative commodity, jumped to a new record of US$1.6 billion in December - double the figure from December 2003 - as prices soared 43% during the year. Given the massive expansion, state-run Codelco is also set to double its investment this year to almost US$2 billion as the country exports an estimated US$15 billion worth of copper. This run is affecting overall GDP, with the Chilean central bank lifting its growth rate to between 5.25% and 6.25% this year after last year's excellent 5.8%. As recently as September, it estimated a 4.5% to 5.5% pace.

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TODAY'S ECONOMIC CALENDAR 8:30 a.m.: Non-farm Payrolls (last plus 157,000) 8:30 a.m.: Unemployment Rate (last 5.4 percent) 9:40 a.m.: ECRI Inflation Gauge (last 117.9) 3:00 p.m.: Treasury STRIPS (last $468 million)

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