'Fast Money' Recap: Impatiently Waiting on the Fed's Next Move
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Investors are waiting for the Federal Reserve'sstatement Wednesday and whether the word "patient" is removed regarding a potential interest rate hike. After rallying on Monday, stocks slid 0.3% on Tuesday.
Bonds yields still seem likely to go lower, said Guy Adami, managing director of stockmonster.com, during CNBC's "Fast Money." So he likes the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) - Get Report. He is also bullish on biotech and pharmaceutical stocks, as well as select financial stocks including Morgan Stanley (MS) - Get Report and Goldman Sachs (GS) - Get Report.
If the Fed removes "patient" from its statement, the S&P 500 will instantly decline and give up its recent gains, according to Steve Grasso, director of institutional sales at Stuart Frankel.
If the Fed does hint at a rate hike, it'll be bullish for bank stocks. But leaving "patient" in the statement will likely be bearish for the financial sector, said Karen Finerman, president of Metropolitan Capital Advisors. Banks are still relatively cheap, based on valuation, and for that reason she is staying long.
Tim Seymour, managing partner of Triogem Asset Management, expects the Fed to have a hawkish tone in its statement, meaning it would be leaning closer to a rate hike. That would weigh on energy stocks and emerging markets and ignite a further rally in the U.S. dollar. Energy stocks are good long-term buys near current levels, he added.
Oil prices seemingly bottomed over the past few weeks, but Adami seems them going lower still because of elevated volatility. On Tuesday West Texas Intermediate reached a new six-year low. That's why several energy companies are having to resort to secondary equity offerings because of their limited amount of cash flow, he added. Energy equities are cheap and will likely go lower.
Oracle (ORCL) - Get Reportreported in-line earnings per share and missed on revenue expectations but hiked its dividend payout by 25%. Currency woes weighed on the company's bottom line, but that didn't stop investors from pushing the stock higher by 2.5% in after-hours trading.
Investors want to own this stock, said Dan Ives, managing director at FBR Capital Markets. The company's cloud business is impressive, and Oracle now has the chance to grow its revenue and increase operating margins, he added. Ives has an outperform rating on the stock and a $48 price target.
Oracle is "best in class," Seymour said. While there isn't a ton of upside in the stock, investors should buy it near $41 as it is near current support.
"The quarter was good enough," Adami added. However, he reasoned that shares can climb to $46 and said investors should stay long the stock.
Grasso said Salesforce.com (CRM) - Get Report is a better play on the cloud and has been trading bullishly lately. He likes the stock on the long side.
Turning to MGM Resorts International (MGM) - Get Report, activist investor Jonathan Litt, founder and CIO of Land & Buildings Investment Management, says the company should convert to a real estate investment trust. It would allow the company to pay down its debt and take advantage of a recovering Las Vegas market. It would also allow for China to remain a small part of the overall business, he added.
Seymour said MGM could also sell assets to lower its leverage but either scenario is attractive. Adami said there is "limited downside" and "substantial upside" in the stock.
For their final trades, Seymour is buying Exxon Mobil (XOM) - Get Report for the long term and Grasso is a buyer of Intel (INTC) - Get Report. Finerman said to buy Finish Line (FINL) and Adami is buying MGM Resorts International.
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This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held TK positions in the stocks mentioned.