Top Takes From RealMoney

The RealMoney contributors are in the business of trading and investing all day on the basis of ongoing news flow. Below, we offer the top five ideas that RealMoney contributors posted today and how they played those ideas.

TheStreet.com brings you the news all day, and with RealMoney's "Columnist Conversation," you can see how the pros are playing it on a real-time basis. Here are the top five ideas played today. To see all that RealMoney offers, click here for a free trial.

1. Citigroup
By Jim Cramer
10:06 a.m. EDT

Citigroup (C) is so difficult here. It has momentum. The arbitrage is done. But there's such uncertainty even about issues like Phibro -- which none of us knew was such an important part of the business and could go away because of pay reasons...

No positions.

---

2. Markets -- S&P 500
By Timothy Collins
10:17 a.m. EDT

It would be so easy to be bearish here, but I can't flip the switch until we get through yesterday's lows. We basically bounced right off of it this morning with strong dip-buying. I'm seeing some technical signals of a possible rollover here, similar to what we had with the last two, but nothing is showing that it would be deep, long or profound.

No positions.

---

3. Arrow Off Target
By Tim Melvin
12:16 p.m. EDT

The mantra of "not as bad as expected" continues. Arrow Electronics (ARW), a stock I liked below book value last year, is up slightly today after what reads as a horrid earnings report. Revenue was down 23% and earnings 78%. The company said they need to make another $400 million of cost cuts. Margins fell from 14.1% to 11.9%. The stock has better than doubled off the lows even as business has worsened substantially.

Insiders must not like the near or long-term outline as officers and directors have been selling stocks. I have done well in years past buying this stock below tangible book and selling when it rises above that level. The current price is well above book.

I may be in the minority but I am going to focus on what I see happening instead of what I hope is coming. This report from a leading electronics component company, along with a weak guidance, tells me that the tech spending wave is looking for is probably not going to happen this year.

No positions.