424B3 1 f424b3_013105-biotech.txt PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT FILED PURSUANT TO RULE NO. 424(b)(3) (To Prospectus dated October 25, 2004) REGISTRATION NO. 333-89355 [BIOTECH HOLDRS(SM) TRUST LOGO OMITTED] 1,000,000,000 Depositary Receipts Biotech HOLDRS (SM) Trust This prospectus supplement supplements information contained in the prospectus dated October 25, 2004 relating to the sale of up to 1,000,000,000 depositary receipts by the Biotech HOLDRS (SM) Trust. The share amounts specified in the table in the "Highlights of Biotech HOLDRS" section of the base prospectus shall be replaced with the following:
Share Primary Name of Company Ticker Amounts Trading Market -------------------------------------------------------- --------- --------- ----------------- Affymetrix, Inc. AFFX 4 NASDAQ Alkermes, Inc. ALKS 4 NASDAQ Amgen Inc. AMGN 64.48 NASDAQ Applera Corporation--Applied Biosystems Group* ABI 18 NYSE Applera Corporation--Celera Genomics Group* CRA 4 NYSE Biogen IDEC Inc. BIIB 26.95 NASDAQ Chiron Corporation CHIR 16 NASDAQ Enzon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ENZN 3 NASDAQ Genentech, Inc. DNA 88 NYSE Genzyme Corporation GENZ 14 NASDAQ Gilead Sciences, Inc. GILD 32 NASDAQ Human Genome Sciences, Inc. HGSI 8 NASDAQ ICOS Corporation ICOS 4 NASDAQ MedImmune, Inc. MEDI 15 NASDAQ Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. MLNM 12 NASDAQ QLT Inc. QLTI 5 NASDAQ Sepracor Inc. SEPR 6 NASDAQ Shire Pharmaceuticals Group p.l.c. SHPGY 6.8271 NASDAQ
--------------------- * The securities of this company trade as a tracking stock. Please see "Risk Factors" and the business description in Annex A for additional information relating to an investment in tracking stock. The share amounts listed in the table above reflect all previous stock splits, dividends and business combination transactions. The date of this prospectus supplement is December 31, 2004.