'Fast Money' Recap: The Market's Solar Power

A revenue miss from Oracle (ORCL Quote) and continued trouble in the financial sector held U.S. stocks back Thursday. The Dow declined 0.2%, the S&P 500 lost 1.2%, and the Nasdaq fell 0.9%.

On CNBC's "Fast Money" TV show, Pete Najarian observed strength in the solar sector. He also pointed out that the Energy Select SPDR (XLE Quote) and the Oil Services HOLDRS (OIH Quote) pulled back despite oil prices soaring above $107 a barrel. He also noted that steel names, which had been performing well this week, "took it on the chin" late in the day.

Karen Finerman said she saw more volatility in the market today. Tim Seymour observed that debt was down, the dollar was up, and equities were down today. He said that the fixed-income market may be lower for technical reasons. Liquidity is not there for the markets, he said. He said concern in financials has returned.

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Jeff Macke said that Oppenheimer analyst Meredith Whitney "took a bat" to financial stocks. He said that Google (GOOG Quote) performed poorly, Oracle was "a mess," and that the end-of-month rally ran out of steam today.

Najarian said that the volatility index never got above where it had been yesterday. He called the financials a disaster. Tim Seymour said the volatility index chart looked like it was ready to break out to the upside.

Former Bear Stearns (BSC Quote) CEO Jimmy Cayne liquidated his stake in the company for $10 a share, the price of JPMorgan's (JPM Quote) revised offer for the company. JPMorgan had previously offered $2 for Bear.

Finerman called the move "fascinating." She said the fact that Cayne sold his stake at $10 likely means there won't be a sweeter deal for Bear in the offing. She said that Cayne had too much inside information to sell his shares at any higher price. Macke agreed, saying Cayne would go to prison if he sold his Bear shares at $70.

Former AIG (AIG Quote) CEO Hank Greenberg was accused by the insurer's board of absconding with $21 billion of the company's treasury stock.

The crew spoke with CNBC reporter Steve Liesman about the Federal Reserve's actions to stem the credit crisis. Liesman said the Fed was exchanging $37 billion in liquid bonds for illiquid subprime paper. He said that the Fed is reliquifying the market. Holders of subprime paper, he said, could net savings of anywhere from 70 basis points to infinity, because some of the paper couldn't be financed. Macke compared the Fed's action to the gasoline fight in Zoolander, saying the government is just spraying money into the market. The crew concluded that the investment banks had successfully accessed capital to help fund the mortgage securities market.

Year to date, the tech sector has underperformed the beleaguered financials. Najarian said he still owns Oracle. He likes the stock at these levels, thanks in part to raised estimates for the stock from Friedman Billings.

Macke observed that large-cap tech stocks have gotten "smooshed" this year. Microsoft (MSFT Quote), Google and Oracle have all failed to post gains, and that makes them value stocks, he said. He said he likes Microsoft on a dip much more than he does Lehman Brothers (LEH Quote), for example. He said there's no rush on names like Intel (INTC Quote), and investors should expect that weakness in the financials will affect earnings from tech companies.

Najarian noted heavy options action in Nvidia (NVDA Quote). He recommended keeping an eye on the graphics chipmaker.

Oil was up to $108 today on a supply disruption in Iraq. Seymour said that the oil pipeline in southern Basra had been disrupted, marking the first time in a while Iraqi oil supply had been interrupted. He said that this news, coupled with a flight to quality, makes for a nice uptrend in oil.