Street Chatter From SIR Highlights the Following Stocks: Albertson's, Merck, and Millennium Pharmaceuticals.

Business Editors

CINCINNATI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 12, 2004

Today's "Street Chatter" from SIR focuses on: Albertson's (NYSE:ABS), Merck (NYSE:MRK), and Millennium Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:MLNM). "Street Chatter" is a report that focuses on three stocks that are generating a lot of attention on Internet message boards. "Street Chatter" is published on www.SchaeffersResearch.com - the home of Bernie Schaeffer and Schaeffer's Investment Research. For additional information about this report or to have it delivered to you free via email every day click on the following link: http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/addinfo .

Street Chatter:

1. Grocery-store name Albertson's (NYSE:ABS), along with some of its rivals, are appearing throughout the financial newswires today. It came to the attention of the press that four days of secret, informal meetings between Southern California grocery workers and the major grocery chains resulted in little-to-no progress toward ending the strike that has been in place for the past three months. ABS shares, which had been on their way higher for the past month, pressing above their September peak, have today dropped almost two percent, breaching the 10-day moving average in the process. On Friday, options players were atypically busy at the January 20 call, resulting in a massive liquidation of bullish positions at this strike. The equity's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) subsequently rose from 0.72, in the 15th percentile, on Friday to today's reading of 0.90, in the 35th annual percentile. The short-interest ratio on ABS is currently hefty at nearly 20 days to cover, with almost 11.5 million ABS shares sold short, about six percent of the public float.

Click the following link to see the Daily Chart of ABS Since August 2003 With 10-Day and 20-Day Moving Averages: http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/wire?ID=9241 .

2. Merck (NYSE:MRK) is sliding lower today after CSFB downgraded its rating on the pharmaceutical behemoth to an "underperform" from a "neutral." The analyst said Merck's 2004 earnings-per-share guidance ($3.11 to $3.17) may be a bit optimistic, leaving the company prone to disappointing the Street. After enduring a relatively steep decline that began in September, the stock was just beginning to regain its footing and was attempting to hurdle long-term resistance in the form of its 20-week moving average. Today's pullback has caused the stock to gap lower, violating its 10-day moving average but catching support at its 20-day trendline. The sentiment picture reflects unbridled optimism toward the stock. Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) for MRK has been declining since early November and currently weighs in at 0.59, which is lower than 94 percent of the past year's worth of data. What's more, the number of shorted MRK shares dropped by 19 percent over the past reporting period to 10.7 million, a multi-year low. The resultant short-interest ratio is a paltry 0.80 days to cover, which signifies that any short-covering activity should not be a factor in the equity's near-term price action.

Click the following link to see the Daily Chart of MRK Since September 2003 With 10-Day and 20-Day Moving Averages: http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/wire?ID=9241 .

3. Earlier today, the Chief Executive Officer for Millennium Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:MLNM) said the company is on track to exceed its earlier 2003 earnings guidance, which projected, among other results, a non-GAAP net loss of $290 million, year-end cash reserves of $800 million, and revenue of $420 million. The MLNM official also estimated breakeven earnings results by 2006 and strong Velcade sales of up to $160 million during the current year. MLNM peaked last Monday before gapping lower on news that Velcade trials would be temporarily halted. The stock has subsequently been consolidating sideways and is losing the support of its 10-day and 20-day moving averages. Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) for MLNM currently stands at 0.44, which is near the midpoint of all readings taken over the year. A test on Schaeffer's Sentiment PowerTools (http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/powertoolsobs) shows that MLNM has historically underperformed its at-any-time price action following SOIR readings between 0.39 and 0.49.

Click the following link to see the Daily Chart of MLNM Since September 2003 With 10-Day and 20-Day Moving Averages: http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/wire?ID=9241 .

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Schaeffer's Investment Research, founded by Bernie Schaeffer in 1981, is a financial information and trading resources company. It publishes Bernie Schaeffer's Option Advisor, the nation's leading options subscription newsletter. The firm's contrarian approach focuses on stocks with technical and fundamental trends that run counter to investor expectations. The firm's website, http://www.SchaeffersResearch.com , is recognized as one of the leading information sources for stock and options traders and was cited as the top options website by both Forbes and Barron's. Click here for more details about Schaeffer's trading methodology: http://www.SchaeffersResearch.com/method .