Fast Money Recap: Bullish on Brokers
The Dow ended the week up 2.5% raking in the best gains since April. The crew at CNBC's "Fast Money" are mixed in their expectations of the market.
Najarian positively states the global growth story is real and it's still here. Guy Adami counters that until the S&P 500 breaks above 1490 he remains bearish. Jeff Macke notes that the dollar rolled over and made everything look more expensive. Karen Finerman feels more defensive because every sector is working.
Research Call on The Brokers
Lehman Brothers
( LEH) and
Bear Stearns
( BSC) traded up 10% this week ahead of earnings. Lehman will kick off the brokerage earnings next Tuesday and Macke likes the idea of taking LEH as a trade. (
RealMoney
Take: Helene Meisler said recently, "That doesn't mean Lehman's stock can't go down or that the company's outlook for the coming quarters won't stink up the joint." To read more on what Meisler said,
Fox-Pitt Kelton was out on Friday telling investors to buy companies hurt by the mortgage crisis. The list for buys was Lehman Brothers,
Washington Mutual
(WM) - Get Report
,
Discover
(DFS) - Get Report
and
MBIA
(MBI) - Get Report
.
Adami would sell LEH and buy
Goldman Sachs
(GS) - Get Report
and
Morgan Stanley
(MS) - Get Report
. Goldman is his favorite name and he suggests owning it into earnings. (
RealMoney
Take: Steven Smith said recently, ""But Goldman probably has the least exposure of the big investment banks to the mortgage sector. To read more on what Smith said,
Macke would also go long GS with a stop at $185. Najarian points out that the options are pricing in big moves on brokers and investors can be buyers into earnings. Finerman is afraid of MBI.
Word on the Street
China remains on fire with the
China ETF
(FXI) - Get Report
trading up 6% this week. Adami reminds investors to be cautious, especially after Warren Buffet sold some of his stake in
Petrochina
(PTR) - Get Report
.
Research In Motion
( RIMM) received two upgrades in two days. Najarian and Adami like the BlackBerry maker. (
RealMoney
Take: Rev Shark said recently, "We have deceptive strength this morning, with a few big-cap momentum stocks like Research In Motion" To read more on what Rev Shark said,
Genseco
(GCO) - Get Report
fell 3% after news broke that
Finish Line
(FINL)
might lose funding for the takeover. The deal will get done at lower prices according to Finerman.
Rumor Mill
The rumor mill was swirling again on Friday with acquisition speculation surrounding firms like
Yahoo!
(YHOO)
,
Macy's
(M) - Get Report
and
Genentech
( DNA). How can investors capitalize?
Najarian heard that
eBay
(EBAY) - Get Report
will buy
Yahoo!
, but he that this rumor wasn't the only thing moving YHOO up. Macke counters that if eBay wants to kill forward looking momentum then buy YHOO. (
RealMoney
Take: Jim Cramer said recently, "How do you play Yahoo! here? How do you play the takeover chatter and the earnings chatter -- the so-called better-than-expected coming?" To read more on what Cramer said,
Najarian also heard rumors that
Roche
(RHHBY)
will buy Genentech, but the options activity on Friday wasn't exactly supporting it. Then there were the takeover whispers about Macy's. Najarian says he saw some options buying on this rumor for Macy's.
Fast Fire
The team reviews the ideas that didn't work out as planned.
Last week, Macke told investors to short the Dow using the
Short Dow30 ETF
(DOG) - Get Report
. Ed from Alabama asked Macke if he still wants to be short the Dow? Macke points out that the call was for a short-term trade and he was wrong.
In May, Adami told investors to buy
NYMEX
( NMX), and he said it was going to get a takeover offer by Labor Day. Morgan, from Penn State, wanted to know if he still thinks it will happen? Adami says yes, and he thinks the stock will go to $162 on a takeover offer. (
RealMoney
Take: Steven Smith said recently, "Some individual names to watch today include some the publicly traded exchanges such as the New York Mercantile, which is back under heavy takeover speculation but is still trading well below the $150 price being bandied about" To read more on what Smith said,
Mike wrote in via e-mail, and asked the crew why they continue to be bullish on
Under Armour
(UA) - Get Report
when the stock has done nothing of late? Najarian thinks UA is going to become the next
Nike
(NKE) - Get Report
. (
RealMoney
Take: Jim Cramer said recently, "With high-growth stocks, you often get a rest and then a spurt. I wonder if that's what's happening right now with Under Armour" To read more on what Cramer said,
Finerman recently recommended
Home Depot
(HD) - Get Report
, but the stock has fallen 7% since her call. She will not give up on this name and she maintains it's a long-term investment.
Quicker Then the Ticker
But some ideas did work well for the team.
On August 16th Adami was bullish on
Network Appliance
(NTAP) - Get Report
. The stock is up 7% since his call.
On September 6th Najarian said buy
Posco
(PKX) - Get Report
. He was right and the stock is up 5% since his call.
On August 3rd Finerman recommended
DaVita
(DVA) - Get Report
. She nailed this call and the stock is up 10% from where she liked it.
As recently as Monday, Macke was bullish on
McDonald's
(MCD) - Get Report
. He was right and the stock is up 6% since his call.
Pops & Drops
Pops-
Countrywide Financial
( CFC) traded up 7% this week after receiving another billion dollar cash infusion. Finerman notes Countrywide really needed that liquidity.
Yahoo
(YHOO)
traded up 4% after bullish comments from a Sanford Bernstein analyst. Macke says, "Yahoo is dead to me."
Monsanto
(MON)
popped 5% this week after wheat prices hit a record. Adami declares this stock is still cheap.
Rambus
(RMBS) - Get Report
exploded up 16% this week on takeover speculation. Najarian likes the action in the options and thinks it's a good speculative play for a takeover.
Dick's Sporting Goods
(DKS) - Get Report
popped 5% this week after the company announced a 2-for-1 split. Macke says this is an incredible long term story.
Safeway
(SWY)
popped 6% this week. Macke is long this stock for an investment.
Drops-
CSX Corporation
(CSX) - Get Report
fell 5% this week. Adami maintains $34 is the bottom.
Frieghtcar America
(RAIL) - Get Report
fell 9% this week. Finerman wants to buy this stock, but with the rail play trending down she is apprehensive.
DirecTV
( DTC) dropped 5% this week. Macke thinks the gap between cable and satellite companies is closing fast.
Leap Wireless
(LEAP)
fell 9% this week after key employees left the firm. Finerman feels that something is bad at this company.
Final Trade
The crew threw out their final ideas before signing off for the weekend.
- Macke likes the price action on eBay (EBAY) - Get Report.
- Adami remains bearish on the markets and he likes Short Dow30 ETF (DOG) - Get Report.
- Finerman continues to recommend American Standard( ASD).
- Najarian says that options activity and the price action in Rambus (RMBS) - Get Report could mean a takeover is looming.
Stockpickr is a wholly owned subsidiary of TheStreet.com.