'Fast Money' Recap: Playing Defense

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The markets fell again Thursday on troubling economic data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 93.87, or 0.90%, to 10,332.44, while the S&P 500 dropped 1490, or 1.34%, to 1,094.90. The Nasdaq tumbled 26.32, or 1.66%, to 2,156.82.

The markets sank after reports showing a continuing high level of initial jobless claims and a growing number of foreclosures and mortgage delinquencies.

Guy Adami said on CNBC's "Fast Money" TV show the "entire quarter was a mess" for Dell(DELL Quote), which was down sharply in after-hours trading. The company missed on both the top and bottom lines as well as its gross margins.

For a breakout of some stocks from a recent "Fast Money" TV show, check out Dan Fitzpatrick's "3 Stocks I Saw on TV."

3 Stocks I Saw on TV

Joe Terranova said Dell, with 60% of its revenue coming from PCs, has failed to diversify its operations while its rival Hewlett-Packard(HPQ Quote) has. "They need to do more to diversify," he said.

"Michael Dell should have stayed retired," said Gary Kaminsky, adding the company's direct marketing strategy has been "wrong." "This company has a long-term fundamental decline ahead of itself," he said.

Pete Najarian said the stock was getting crushed because it failed to do a good job of controlling costs, as reflected in its gross-margins miss.

Jim Goldman, CNBC reporter who was listening to the company's conference call, agreed, saying the company has a poor job of cost-cutting.

Shifting to a discussion of the overall market, Terranova said that with the fall of the S&P below 1,100, the "market is telling you to cut your positions."