Indices
Dow + 23.45  I   Nasdaq + 16.78  I  S&P 500 + 3.04 

Market Wrap
(Briefing):

Follow-through bargain hunting after Friday's excessive decline, exacerbated late in the day by further deterioration in crude futures, helped investors grapple with a mixed batch of earnings reports. Eight out of ten economic sectors closed higher as above-average volume provided some reassurance behind the session's broad-based moved to the upside.

Of the five Dow components that posted quarterly results Tuesday, DuPont (DD 39.26 -0.29) was the only one to report better than expected earnings. However, copper prices hitting record highs helped Phelps Dodge (PD 148.91 +5.56) -- a suggested holding in Briefing.com's portfolio for active investors -- lead Materials to the session's best performance, offsetting DuPont's ensuing downside FY06 guidance.

McDonald's (MCD 35.85 +0.14), another suggested holding, merely matched analysts' forecasts, but investors took into account that MCD raised guidance a week ago, sending shares to an intraday 52-week high and helping Consumer Discretionary turn in the day's second best performance. Strength in retail, after Target (TGT 54.25 +1.50) implied Jan. comps will hit the high end of guidance, as well as media, amid reports that Disney (DIS 25.99 +0.47), another holding, is very close to a deal to buy Pixar (PIXR 57.57 -0.70), provided additional sources of sector support.

Industrials were also in focus following in-line reports from 3M Co. (MMM 74.20 -1.50) and United Technologies (UTX 56.45 +1.98), but 3M's uninspiring outlook was no match for an revenue growth across all of UTX's divisions. Strength in railroads, following strong Q4 earnings from Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNI 74.80 +3.17), a suggested holding, and aerospace, following Northrop Grumman's (NOC 62.08 +1.32) solid Q4 report.

Financial also provided some upside leadership, following upbeat analyst remarks regarding American Express' (AXP 52.82 +1.38) Q4 report (Monday) while Consumer Staples benefited from analyst upgrades on Wal-Mart (WMT 45.72 +0.47) and Coca-Cola (KO 40.90 +0.40). Even though Texas Instruments (TXN 30.69 -1.01) missed overly optimistic revenue forecasts, strength in semiconductor coupled with gains in storage and hardware, following strong Q4 earnings from EMC Corp (EMC 13.65 +0.39) and Lexmark (LXK 51.08 +5.18), respectively, helped Technology close higher.

Health Care, however, nearly erased what little gains the sector has made in 2006, as Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 59.36 -1.83) hit a 52-week low following lighter than expected Q4 sales and downside Q1 guidance. Energy also lost ground, failing to recover from a late-day sell-off in crude oil (-1.5%) which removed leadership from this year's best performing sector but in turn sidelined a key inflation concern for 2006, given the commodity's effect on the duration of Fed policy tightening.

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Trade system guidelines (edited):
Only available to Newsletter Subscribers.

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Today's Picks - January 25, 2006

1.   BTU - PEABODY ENERGY

Entry Date	Exit Date	Position	Entry Price	Target Price	Stop Price	Max P/L
01-25-06		Long	Above 15 high	Sell 1/2 once risk covered	Below LOD at time of setup
	* Please Note: If the stock gaps down at the open not enter the trade unless it trades above 93.12

2.   SBAC - SBA COMMUNICATIONS

Entry Date	Exit Date	Position	Entry Price	Target Price	Stop Price	Max P/L
01-25-06		Long	Above 15 high	Sell 1/2 once risk covered	Below LOD at time of setup
	* Please Note: If the stock gaps down at the open not enter the trade unless it trades above 20.03

3.   GGB - GERDAU S A SPONSORED ADR

Entry Date	Exit Date	Position	Entry Price	Target Price	Stop Price	Max P/L
01-25-06		Long	Above 15 high	Sell 1/2 once risk covered	Below LOD at time of setup
	* Please Note: If the stock gaps down at the open not enter the trade unless it trades above 19.46

4.   ROH - ROHM & HAAS

Entry Date	Exit Date	Position	Entry Price	Target Price	Stop Price	Max P/L
01-25-06		Long	Above 15 high	Sell 1/2 once risk covered	Below LOD at time of setup
	* Please Note: If the stock gaps down at the open not enter the trade unless it trades above 50.46

5.   HIG - HARTFORD FINL SVCS

Entry Date	Exit Date	Position	Entry Price	Target Price	Stop Price	Max P/L
01-25-06		Short	Below 15 low	Cover 1/2 once risk covered	Above HOD at time of setup
	* Please Note: If the stock gaps up at the open do not enter the trade unless it trades below 84.57

Previous Trades

PKD - PARKER DRILLING

Entry Date	Exit Date	Position	Entry Price	Target Price	Stop Price	Max P/L
		Long	Above 15 high	Sell 1/2 once risk covered	Below LOD at time of setup
	* did not setup

THE - TODCO

Entry Date	Exit Date	Position	Entry Price	Target Price	Stop Price	Max P/L
01-24-06		Long	47.18	48.73	Below 45.51	up to + 2 cents per share (47.20)
	* 01-24-06 - stock gapped down

CRK - COMSTOCK

Entry Date	Exit Date	Position	Entry Price	Target Price	Stop Price	Max P/L
01-24-06		Long	33.56	Reached (33.80)	Below 33.56	up to + 69 cents per share (34.25)

UNH - UNITEDHEALTH GROUP

Entry Date	Exit Date	Position	Entry Price	Target Price	Stop Price	Max P/L
		Short	Below 15 low	Cover 1/2 once risk covered	Above HOD at time of setup
	* did not setup

HAL - HALLIBURTON

Entry Date	Exit Date	Position	Entry Price	Target Price	Stop Price	Max P/L
01-23-06	01-24-06	Long	75.56	Reached (76.55)	Closed Below 75.56	up to + $1.79 per share (77.35)

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EOD = End of day.
LOD = Low of day.
PDC = Previous Day's Close.
S/R = Support/Resistance.
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