For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – July 22, 2009 – Zacks Equity Research highlights VimpelCom (VIP) as the Bull of the Day and Regis Corp. (RGS ) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Merck (MRK), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Wyeth (WYE).

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2676

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

VimpelCom (VIP) is the second largest cellular carrier in Russia with over 25% market share and continued expansion in regions of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), operating GSMbased wireless services.

We are encouraged with VimpelCom's successful sales growth trend and the company's ability to retain subscribers on a recurring basis, even as overall economic factors remain weak.

Additionally, the ongoing expansion initiatives into emerging Asian

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Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #1 Rank ("strong buy") List today:

Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc (ACHN) Advance Auto Parts Inc (AAP) Advantest Corp (ATE) Agree Realty Corp (ADC) Aluminum Corp of China Ltd (ACH) Amkor Technology Inc (AMKR) ARYx Therapeutics Inc (ARYX) Barloworld Ltd (BRRAY) Bio-Reference Laboratories Inc (BRLI) The Buckle Inc (BKE) California Pizza Kitchen Inc (CPKI) Cerus Corp (CERS) Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc (CMG.B) Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc (CCE) Crucell NV (CRXL) D R Horton Inc (DHI) Dana Holding Corp (DAN) Delhaize Group (DEG) Diageo Plc (DEO) Distribucion Y SVC (DYSVY) Emergency Medical Services Corp (EMS) Gen-Probe Inc (GPRO) Healthcare Services Group Inc (HCSG) HLS Systems International Ltd (HOLI) ICU Medical Inc (ICUI) Keppel Corporation Ltd (KPELY) L'Oreal SA (...

Sales Decline at Sell-Rated Regis Corp. (RGS)If you happen to be a fan of long hair, the economic recession has some upside for you. With consumers looking to cut back on expenditures wherever they can, it seems that delaying their next haircut might be a popular option.Sell-rated Regis Corporation (RGS), the largest beauty salon company in the country, announced this morning that third quarter revenues declined 2.5% versus the prior year. Excluding the deconsolidation of its European salon operations, revenues would have been down 1.7%.More importantly, in our opinion, is the fact that same-store-sales decreased 4.5% year-over-year.The company recently opted to divest its Trade Secret brand, which had been posting the largest same-store-sale declines of any chain in the company's portfolio. Absent this divestiture, same-store-sales would likely have been down even further.With more than 12,800 system-wide locations ...

Regis Corp. (RGS) was trading above a short-term level of resistance at $12.32 on Monday morning. Trading with a P/E of 6.8X, this Zacks# 1 Rank (“Strong buy”) stock is still cheaper than its peers.

Zacks Investment Research

Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #1 Rank ("strong buy") List today:

Aaron Rents Inc (RNT) Alliance One International Inc (AOI) Altair Nanotechnologies Inc (ALTI) Best Buy Co Inc (BBY) BioReference Laboratories Inc (BRLI) Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc CL 'B (CMG.B) Citi Trends Inc (CTRN) Claude Resources Inc (CGR) CNS Response Inc (CNSO) DRDGold Ltd (DROOY) Elbit Systems Ltd (ESLT) Empresas ICA SA (ICA) Ezcorp Inc (EZPW) Gander Mountain Co (GMTN) Harmony Gold Mining Co (HMY) Idera Pharmaceuticals Inc (IDRA) InterOil Corp (IOC) Metabasis Therapeutics Inc (MBRX) Nile Therapeutics Inc (NLTX) NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc (NPSP) Park National Corp (PRK) Penwest Pharmaceuticals (PPCO) PetMed Express Inc (PETS) Radio One Inc (ROIAK) Radvision Ltd (RVSN) Regis Corp (RGS) ResMed Inc (RMD) Silgan ...

We continue to rate shares of Regis Corp. (RGS) a Hold. Given the current challenging operating environment and the recent weakness in same-store sales, we believe that a multiple nearer the lower end of the company’s average historic range is warranted at this time. The positive comps in the third and fourth quarters are an encouraging sign.

However, we believe the outlook remains challenging. RGS is the dominant company in the industry and its platform should allow it to leverage its position should operating trends turn in the company’s favor. But we believe that investors will have time to react to such a move. Our twelve-month price target of $25 equates to a multiple of roughly 12.5x our 2009 EPS estimate.

Although Regis is by far the largest company in the industry, with annual sales at least eight times greater than the next competitor, the company still controls only 4%

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Dow components Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and Home Depot (HD) headline the last official week of second-quarter earnings season. Joining them will be S&P 500 members Gap (GPS), Lowe's (LOW), Limited (LTD) and Target (TGT).

Overall, we have confirmed reports from 106 companies, 13 of which are in the S&P 500. Retailers will again be prominent, with 40 listed to release results.

There is not much on the economic calendar, though we will get inflation numbers on Tuesday. Key data will include: Tuesday: July producer prices (PPI), July housing starts, July building permits Wednesday: Weekly crude inventories Thursday: July Leading Indicators, August Phili Fed survey, weekly initial jobless claims

The Kansas City Fed will hold its economic symposium at Jackson Hole, WY. Fed Chairman Fed Ben Bernanke will speak about financial stability on Friday.

Volume could be modest through Labor Day as traders try to get in late

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