MORNING UPDATE: Mankus-Lavelle Group Issues Alerts for RIMM, PLMO, NXTP, SKS, and STZ

CHICAGO, July 1 /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 RIMM, PLMO, NXTP, SKS, and STZ, Market Overview, Today's Economic Calendar, and the Quote Of The Day.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"With growth remaining strong, the Fed can and must concentrate on keeping inflation in check."

-- Joel Naroff, president, Naroff Economic Advisors. New PriceWatch Alerts for RIMM, PLMO, NXTP, SKS, and STZ... PRICEWATCH ALERTS - HIGH RETURN COVERED CALL OPTIONS -- Research In Motion Last Price 73.79 - AUG 70.00 CALL OPTION@ $6.70 -> 4.3 % Return assigned* -- palmOne Inc. Last Price 29.77 - AUG 30.00 CALL OPTION@ $1.95 -> 7.8 % Return assigned* -- Nextel Partners, Inc. Last Price 25.17 - NOV 25.00 CALL OPTION@ $1.50 -> 5.6 % Return assigned* -- Saks Holdings Inc. Last Price 18.97 - NOV 17.50 CALL OPTION@ $2.55 -> 6.6 % Return assigned* -- Constellation Brands Inc. Last Price 29.50 - AUG 30.00 CALL OPTION@ $1.00 -> 5.3 % 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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NEWS LEADERS AND LAGGARDS

So far today, Pfizer Inc., 3M Co., and Novartis AG lead the list of companies with the most news stories while Regions Financial Corp. and Danaher Corp. are showing a spike in news. Unocal Corp., Ford Motor Co., and MetLife Inc. have the highest srtIndex scores to top the list of companies with positive news while Pixar and Frontline Ltd. lead the list of companies with negative news reports. Qualcomm Inc. has popped up with a high positive news sraIndex score.

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MARKET OVERVIEW

Overseas markets are slightly improved over this time yesterday morning, as 10 of the 15 foreign indices that we track are currently in positive territory. The average return on the group stood at 0.224. In European trading, the markets have largely shrugged off yesterday's comments by the U.S. Federal Reserve that interest rate hikes may continue for longer than expected. Meanwhile, Asian markets erased early losses to finish higher on the day. The Bank of Japan's tankan survey of corporate business sentiment provided a positive touchstone for the Asian markets, as it revealed widespread improvement for the most recent quarter. Both large and small manufacturers and non-manufacturers were more optimistic about business conditions according to the report.

The August contract on sweet crude oil lost 0.76 in trading yesterday. Trading turned volatile ahead of today's early close in New York along with Monday's holiday. This is the first time that oil has closed below $57 per barrel in two weeks. In the past three days, crude slated for August delivery has lost more than four dollars per barrel. This may signal that investors have decided that supply is adequate to meet demand.

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DYNAMIC MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

While the Commerce Department's final gauge of first quarter economic activity showed economic growth rising at a 3.8% annual rate -- a significant upward revision from the 3.1% projected just two months ago -- the same strength doesn't apply to the UK. Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the British economy only managed to post a rather depressing 0.4% GDP for the first three months of the year. The ONS made a sharp downward revision to the full-year growth figure, slicing it from 2.7% to 2.1%. That would be the slowest rate for two years. The news comes as evidence that the Bank of England's tighter monetary policy has finally had the desired effect in cooling both consumer spending and the real estate market. But have the bankers done too much? Quoted on the BBC, David Brown at Bear Stearns says, "UK growth is disappearing in a puff of smoke." Besides the 0.9% slip in quarterly manufacturing activity, a big reason for this is the rapid evaporation of domestic consumption. Household spending crept up a poor 0.1% during the quarter -- the worst since the end of 2000. Naturally, that's led to some equally poor retail sales. The Confederation of British Industry just announced that retailers endured their worst year-over-year slump for 22 years in June, with 42% of companies reporting lower sales volumes this year than in June 2004, versus just 23% who said sales were up for the month. It was the worst negative balance since 1983. In addition, Nationwide Building Society said June was also a poor month for the housing market, with prices slipping 0.2%, following a 0.3% climb in May. On an annualized basis, June was the slowest month for price inflation since July 1996 (4.1%). With Britain's economic strength weakening, some are now suggesting that the Bank of England overdid things by raising rates five times. Calls are now growing for the bankers to cut interest rates to compensate, possibly as early as the end of the summer, but more likely by the end of the year.

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TODAY'S ECONOMIC CALENDAR 9:45 AM June Final University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index 10:00 AM June ISM Mfg Index 10:00 AM US May Construction Spending 2:00 PM US Bond markets close early ahead of Independence Day holiday

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