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'Fast Money' Portfolios of the Week

James Altucher

03/27/08 - 04:40 PM EDT
Updated from 9:45 a.m. EDT

The traders of CNBC's "Fast Money" are a sophisticated and successful group of Wall Street professionals who scour the stock exchanges to find the best trading and investment ideas to present to viewers.

The gang recently highlighted trading ideas that play off a shortage in steel, crazy options activity and elections in Taiwan. Here are some highlights from over the past week as aggregated from the show.

"Fast Money's" $4-Gas Stock Plays: With prices at the pump expected to hit $4 this summer, the "Fast Money" traders have some ideas which stocks will benefit. On Monday's "Fast Money" show, CNBC contributor Addison Armstrong told viewers, "The best trade is to buy refiners that have cheap crude input costs -- that is, the ones that have bigger capacity for heavier, harder-to-refine crude oil." "Fast Money's" $4-Gas Stock Plays include Frontier Oil (FTO - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) and Tesoro (TSO - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) among others.

"Fast Money's" Wireless World Stock Picks: The wireless world is booming, with companies like Google (GOOG - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) seeing a 20% surge in mobile Web searches and China Mobile (CHL - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) forecasting it will have 450 million users by year's end. With such explosive trends, the "Fast Money" traders put together some stock plays to capitalize on the wireless expansion. On last Wednesday's "Fast Money" show Guy Adami told viewers, "I like Juniper (JNPR - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), with a stop out at $24." Fast Money's" Wireless World Stock Picks include InterDigital (IDCC - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) and Akamai (AKAM - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) among others.

"Fast Money's" Taiwanese Stock Picks: Recently, Taiwan held its presidential election, and the "Fast Money" traders think the results will lead to big profits for emerging-market stock plays. On Tuesday's "Fast Money" show, Tim Seymour told viewers, "The opposition party's win in the election is a bullish sign that the country is set up to pursue friendly relations with China."Fast Money's" Taiwanese Stock Picks include names like Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASX - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) among others.

"Fast Money's" Steel Shortage Stock Picks: Global supplies of steel are scarce, and the "Fast Money" traders see opportunity. On last Thursday's "Fast Money" show Guy Adami told viewers, "Steel, unlike gold, is a true commodity. Steel companies have pricing power and can benefit from strong global demand." "Fast Money's" Steel Shortage Stock Picks include US Steel (X - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) and Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (RIO - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) 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, "Williams-Sonoma (WSM - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) is on the Trader Radar! WSM dropped on more than triple its normal daily volume." Check out "Fast Money's" Trader Radar for more names.

"Fast Money's" Deal or No Deal Stock Plays: With the Clear Channel (CCU - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) buyout in limbo, the "Fast Money" traders took a look at some other deals that could be solid trades. On Wednesday's "Fast Money" show Pete Najarian told viewers, "The options trading suggests to me that that Fortress Investment Group (FIG - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) wants to walk away from the deal to buy Penn National Gaming (PENN - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr)." "Fast Money's" Deal or No Deal Stock Plays include Penn National Gaming and Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BFAM - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) among others.

Fast Money's Crazy Options Activity Stock Plays: Unusual options activity can often be a sign that a stock is about to make a big move. On Tuesday's "Fast Money" show, Pete Najarian told viewers: "I am seeing extensive options contrasts trading in two companies." Fast Money's Crazy Options Activity Stock Plays include OmniVision Technologies (OVTI - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) among others.