RealMoney Silver - 'Fast Money' Portfolios of the Week

'Fast Money' Portfolios of the Week
By James Altucher
RealMoney.com Contributor
5/15/2008 12:01 PM EDT

Updated from 9:06 a.m. EDT

The traders of CNBC's "Fast Money" work to offer viewers the right information needed to attack the markets with confidence on a daily basis. The crew looks for news that can lead to a profitable trend for a specific stock or an entire sector.

The gang recently highlighted trading ideas that play off robotic surgery and falling oil prices. Here are some highlights from over the past week as aggregated from the show.

Fast Money's Energy Stock Picks for the Future: The future could hold some big advances for the energy sector. On Tuesday's "Fast Money" show, Guy Adami told viewers: "Check out Hexcel (HXL) . They manufacture the composites to make the blades on the wind turbines longer." Fast Money's Energy Stock Picks for the Future include Canadian Solar (CSIQ) and AES (AES) among others.

Fast Money's China Earthquake Stock Picks: A major earthquake hit China this week, and on Monday's "Fast Money" show, Tim Seymour told viewers: "The quake posed another challenge to a government already grappling with discontent over high inflation, as well as trying to prepare for the Beijing Olympics this August. If you want to play China, be selective. I recommend the Internet plays." Fast Money's China Earthquake Stock Picks include Baidu (BIDU) among others.

Fast Money's Falling Oil Price Trades: The traders also spoke on Monday's show with John Roque, a technical analyst at Natexis Bleichroeder, on what he would trade if the oil run ends. Roque told viewers: "Although many investors recommend moving to early-cycle stocks, I don't think that's the right way to play it. I recommend sticking with leadership groups, which are commodities." Fast Money's Falling Oil Price Trades include DryShips (DRYS) and El Paso (EP) among others.

Fast Money's U.S.-Based Firms With Global Growth: The weak dollar is penalizing some great American companies. On last Friday's show, Zachary Karabell, president of River Two Research told viewers: "I like undervalued U.S. companies that are trading underneath the market and are generating growth from outside the U.S." Fast Money's U.S.-Based Firms With Global Growth include Manitowoc (MTW) and IBM (IBM) among others.

Fast Money's Robotic Surgery Stocks: Robots are being used more than ever in the medical field for surgery. On Monday's "Fast Money" show, Pete Najarian told viewers: "Doctors are clamoring to get their hands on Intuitive Surgical's (ISRG) da Vinci surgical systems." Fast Money's Robotic Surgery Stocks include Hansen Medical (HNSN) and Accuray (ARAY) among others.

Fast Money's Defense Stocks With Bullish Options Action: Is the options action in the defense stocks suggesting these stocks could make some big moves higher? On Wednesday's "Fast Money" show, Jon Najarian told viewers that Raytheon (RTN) trades with a price-to-earnings ratio of 10 and traders were buying upside calls in the name above 52-week highs. Fast Money's Defense Stocks With Bullish Options Action include General Dynamics (GD) and Lockheed Martin (LMT) among others.

Fast Money's Trader Radar: In a segment called "Trader Radar," the crew highlights stocks with unusual volume that are lighting up screens across Wall Street. On Tuesday's "Fast Money" show, Dylan Ratigan told viewers, "On the trader radar tonight we're watching Washington Mutual (WM) . Shares of this bank were among the most active names on the NYSE today. Check out Fast Money's Trader Radar, which also includes Ann Taylor (ANN) .

At the time of publication, Altucher and/or his fund had no positions in stocks mentioned, although positions may change at any time.

James Altucher is president of Stockpickr LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of TheStreet.com and part of its network of Web properties, and a managing partner at Formula Capital, an alternative asset management firm that runs a fund of hedge funds. He is also a weekly columnist for the Financial Times and the author of Trade Like a Hedge Fund, Trade Like Warren Buffett and SuperCa$h. Under no circumstances does the information in this column represent a recommendation to buy or sell stocks. Altucher appreciates your feedback; click here to send him an email.

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