424B3 1 f424b3_110505-software.txt SOFTWARE PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT REGISTRATION NO. 333-43766 (To Prospectus dated October 25, 2004) Filed Pursuant to Rule 424(b)(3) [graphic omitted] 1,000,000,000 Depositary Receipts Software 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 Software HOLDRS (SM) Trust. The share amounts specified in the table in the "Highlights of Software HOLDRS" section of the base prospectus shall be replaced with the following:
Primary Share Trading Name of Company Ticker Amounts Market --------------------------------------------- ------- -------- --------- Adobe Systems Incorporated ADBE 12 NASDAQ BMC Software, Inc. BMC 7 NYSE Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. CHKP 6 NASDAQ Computer Associates International, Inc. CA 17 NYSE Intuit Inc. INTU 6 NASDAQ Macromedia, Inc. MACR 1 NASDAQ Mercury Interactive Corporation MERQ 2 NASDAQ Micromuse Inc. MUSE 2 NASDAQ Microsoft Corporation MSFT 30 NASDAQ Openwave Systems Inc. OPWV 0.6667 NASDAQ Oracle Corporation ORCL 24 NASDAQ SAP AG-preference shares * SAP 16 NYSE Sapient Corporation SAPE 3 NASDAQ ScanSoft, Inc.(1) SSFT 0.77 NASDAQ Siebel Systems, Inc. SEBL 8 NASDAQ Symantec Corporation(2) SYMC 7.8694 NASDAQ TIBCO Software Inc. TIBX 5 NASDAQ ------------------
(1) As a result of the merger of Nuance Communications (NASDAQ: "NUAN") and ScanSoft, Inc. (NASDAQ: "SSFT"), ScanSoft, Inc. will replace Nuance Communications as an underlying security of the Software HOLDRS Trust. For the 1 share of Nuance Communications per 100 shares round lot of Software HOLDRS, The Bank of New York received 0.77 shares of ScanSoft, Inc. and $2.20 in cash. (2) As a result of the merger of Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ: "SYMC") and Veritas Software Corporation (NASDAQ: "VRTS"), a constituent of the Software HOLDRS Trust, Symantec Corporation has replaced Veritas Software Corporation as an underlying security of the Software HOLDRS Trust. For the 7 shares of Veritas Software Corporation per 100 share round lot of Software HOLDRS, The Bank of New York received 7.8694 shares of Symantec Corp. * The preference shares of this non-U.S. company trade in the United States as American Depositary Receipts. Please see "Risk Factors" and "United States Federal Income Tax Consequences--Special considerations with respect to underlying securities of foreign issuers" for additional factors to consider with respect to an investment in a non-U.S. company. 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 September 30, 2005.