'Fast Money' Recap: Lots of Options
Technology stocks ripped higher on Monday even as the market traded sideways. The crew at CNBC's "Fast Money" reviewed all the high flying tech stocks and the heightened option activity.
Technology stocks are going crazy. Pete Najarian noted that
Hewlett- Packard
(HPQ) - Get Report
hit a 52-week high Monday and
Research In Motion
(RIMM)
,
IBM
(IBM) - Get Report
and
VMware
(VMW) - Get Report
all traded higher.
Stacey Gilbert of Susquehanna Financial Group prefers
(GOOG) - Get Report
and tells viewers that call options are very active on the name. Najarian agreed with Stacey and mentioned the Google December $750 calls were active on Monday.
Speaking of Options
The S&P 500 is at record levels, but extreme amounts of put option buying has traders worried that a market fall could be in the cards. Gilbert notes that the put call spread on the S&P 500 is trading at 6-year highs. Trader's expectations for a 10% move down by the end of the year are twice as likely, in her opinion.
Tim Seymour of Red Star Asset Management also points out that the short interest ratio is at 3-year highs for many emerging markets. Najarian views all the put buying as very bullish because it will not force the market down with so many people betting on a decline. Macke likes that expectations are low and many companies will be able to say good things about the future. Many bears are coming into the market right here and that makes Macke happy.
Najarian noticed some very unusual options activity in
TJX Companies
(TJX) - Get Report
on Monday. He saw 10,000 October $30 calls trade and also stepped-up activity in the November $30 calls. He finds it curious and wonders what is going on. Gilbert also thought the activity was very interesting. Macke predicts a big winner with TJX.
Happy Hour Trade
Keith O'Malley, a trader with Hold Brothers, joined the "Fast Money" crew to discuss his trading ideas ahead of the Fed minutes on Tuesday. O'Malley plans on shorting the financials into the minutes. He declares that the Fed is done cutting interest rates. Having said that, he likes
Cisco Systems
(CSCO) - Get Report
and
Fluor Corp
(FLR) - Get Report
.
CEO Hot Seat
CNBC's
Charlie Gasparino joined the "Fast Money" crew to discuss his thoughts on CEOs who could lose their jobs. Gasparino gave out odds for how likely Chuck Prince, Jimmy Cayne and Stan O'Neal will lose their jobs. Prince is CEO of
Citigroup
(C) - Get Report
, Cayne runs
Bear Stearns
(BSC)
and O'Neal heads up
Merrill Lynch
(MER)
.
Gasparino is giving Prince 2-1 odds, Cayne 6-1 and O'Neal 10-1. O'Neil has to grow Merrill Lynch going forward, but Gasparino says he has no strategy to do it and he will be gone in a year. He feels if Prince screws up one more time he is gone. Cayne's health issues will have him out in 6 months at Bear. Gasparino also mentioned that rumors are flying that John Thain, CEO of
NYSE Euronext
(NYX)
, is a candidate for CEO of Citigroup. Citigroup will get a big pop if Prince leaves. Macke disagrees on Prince and doesn't see him going anywhere. With regards to the stock, it's is a value trap. Najarian tells viewers to buy the stock, and then buy the put and also sell the upside call 3 months out to create income and collect the dividend.
One CEO has already stepped down.
Sprint Nextel
(S) - Get Report
CEO Gary Forsee has left the telecommunications firm. Jeff Macke expects this stock to work higher now that Forsee is gone. Gilbert suggests that this is a takeover stock and possible buyers are Chinese companies.
Word on the Street
Yum! Brands
(YUM) - Get Report
traded higher after hours on a strong earnings report Monday. Macke points out that 41% of sales came from China and he recommends investors to buy the stock here.
Aeropostale
(ARO)
traded lower ahead of same-store sales numbers set to be released Thursday. You can sell retailers ahead of the numbers, according to Macke.
Emerging markets continue to be on fire. Seymour found some value names in the emerging markets. His plays are
CTC Media
(CTCM)
,
Central European Media
(CETV) - Get Report
and
Cemex
(CX) - Get Report
. Seymour is committed and long CX.
Alcoa
(AA) - Get Report
is scheduled to report earnings Tuesday after the bell. The options market is pricing in a 5% move on Alcoa. However, Gilbert sees better plays in the titanium makers like
RTI International
(RTI)
and
Titanium Metals
(TIE)
. Gilbert owns TIE.
Communist Trade
The Shanghai Index has gone up a whopping 300% in the past 5 years. The Communist party is set to meet in one week from Monday. Seymour ponders an interesting fact that the Communist party has grown 10% over the last 5 years. The Communist party will try to control the rise in food prices and make comments on the income gap between the wealthy and poor in the region. He cautions that this will make for negative headline risk. Seymour suggests buying dips in the
iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index
(FXI) - Get Report
on any negative headlines. For some ideas on Chinese stocks check out this Stockpickr portfolio
Happy 52-Week High
Chipotle Mexican Grill
(CMG) - Get Report
. Ole.
Pops & Drops
Pops-
Research In Motion
(RIMM)
traded up 4%. RIMM is just getting into China and Najarian sees that it has more room to go higher.
Valero
(VLO) - Get Report
traded up 4% after Citigroup upgraded the stock. Seymour counsels that it's a sell into the upgrade.
AK Steel
(AKS) - Get Report
popped 11% after settling a lawsuit. Gilbert advises taking profits here, but warns about getting short because it's still a takeover target.
Apple
(AAPL) - Get Report
traded up 4%. Macke tells investors to buy some stock of the iPhone maker due to it's strength.
China Digital TV
(STV)
exploded higher by 41%. Seymour likes STV for a play on digital TV growth in China. China has plans to make all TV digital by 2010.
Drops-
Ryder Systems
(R) - Get Report
fell 7% after missing profit estimates. Macke urges viewers to stay away.
Freeport McMoRan
(FCX) - Get Report
dropped 2% as copper prices fell on Monday. It's just a pullback to Najarian and he isn't worried.
LDK Solar
(LDK)
plummeted 26% after Barron's ran a negative story on the Chinese solar play. Najarian sees that LDK is done.
Final Trade
The team signs off with their best and last trades of the day.
- Macke recommends McDonald's (MCD) - Get Report for a play off the strong numbers out of YUM! Brands (YUM) - Get Report.
- Gilbert feels positive about Titanium Metals (TIE) .
- Seymour says sell Banco Itau (ITU) .
- Najarian likes ValueClick (VCLK) for a play on online advertising. Najarian holds a long position currently in VCLK.
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