'Fast Money' Recap: A Super Low Mortgage Rate

Ratigan got into a discussion with William Fleckenstein, president of Fleckenstein Capital, about his decision to get out of the business of running a short fund.

Fleckenstein said it just got to the point where it was too dangerous to be in stocks "in the face of all the liquidity facilities being trotted out by the Federal Reserve." He also noted the fiscal stimulus is coming.

He said he is doing "a lot of nothing now" except for some gold he owns.

Finerman sympathized with Fleckenstein. "I have some shorts. It can be painful on a huge up day. I do think there are some catalysts for those shorts to unravel --- debt that can't be repaid, that's a big one."

Fleckenstein said it's a trader's market right now. "I don't know if you can call it a market," he said. "Let's not try too hard until some sanity returns."

Pressed by Najarian to name some cheap stocks he would consider, Fleckenstein said there might be some trading opportunities in businesses related to the commodities such as service companies in the oil patch.

For the state of Big Pharma, Ratigan brought in Mike Huckman, CNBC reporter, for his assessment. Huckman said the stock to watch tomorrow is Merck (MRK Quote) when it gives its 2009 financial outlook. The stock, he noted, is the worst performing one in the pharma sector, down 55% for the year.

Huckman said Merck is suffering from a dearth of products in the pipeline as well as regulatory and political challenges. He said the company desparately needs a drug development in the pipeline and/or a merger or acquisition to give the stock an upside surprise.

In general, Huckman said many of the biggest names in the sector are sitting on piles of cash. Pfizer (PFE Quote), for example, is sitting on $26 billion in cash.

Najarian said Pfizer needs to replace its best-selling drug Lipitor and "snap someone up" and replenish its pipeline.