'Fast Money': Looking for Signs of a Bottom

The markets staged a rally at the end of the session on Friday to close mostly higher and end Wall Street's worst week in 2009.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 32.50, or 0.49%, to 6,626.94, while the S&P 500 eked a gain of 0.83, or 0.12%, to 683.38. The Nasdaq was off 5.44, or 0.44%, to 1,293.85.

Dylan Ratigan, the moderator of CNBC's "Fast Money" TV show, asked the trading panel what they would look for in the way of signs of a market bottom.

Pete Najarian said the market will hit bottom when the financials start to participate in a rally.

Jon Najarian said the bottom won't come until the Obama administration makes a policy move that isn't "class warfare or attacking Wall Street." He said one such policy move could be a repeal of the mark-to-market accounting rules.

Karen Finerman said it was important to look for a rate of decline in the bad news.

John Silvia, chief economist for Wachovia, agreed with Finerman, saying the important thing to look for would be the decline of the rate of change in the jobless claims and unemployment numbers.

He said it would be significant if jobless claims were to fall below 600,000 and for the number of jobless to fall below 600,000. Thus far, he said he hasn't seen any data to suggest the rate of decline is slowing.

Silvia cited the "confluence of two factors" that is driving unemployment higher --- the business cycle saying there is a recession and real fundamental structural changes in the retail, financial services and manufacturing sectors.