Bad news was good news in the stock market Tuesday. Fears of a major writedown at Merrill Lynch ( MER) and a bearish growth outlook from Wal-Mart ( WMT) couldn't stop the Dow from climbing 100 points. The team at CNBC's "Fast Money" analyzed the day's events for investors.
Fears for Financials
Investors continue to be worried about the future of Bear Stearns ( BSC). CNBC reporter Charlie Gasparino cited the following four reasons for concern about Bear Stearns.- The 6% stake by Chinese Bank Citic didn't push enough cash into Bear to provide the liquidity investors were looking for.
- Investors fear a large fourth-quarter writedown.
- Alleged improper trading at now defunct Bear hedge funds could lead to unfavorable settlements.
- Questions about the health and future of CEO Jimmy Cayne.
Wal-Mart Blunder
Wal-Mart is currently holding an analyst meeting, and Wall Street is buzzing with how poorly the company is responding to analysts' questions. CNBC's Margaret Brennan joined the "Fast Money" crew to discuss Wal-Mart. Brennan explained that the discount retailer cut capital expenditures to $15 billion, but Wall Street was looking for even deeper cuts. She expects CEO Lee Scott to calm investors when he speaks on Wednesday.
Jeff Macke pointed out that sales growth was down 9% on the year and the company cut square-footage growth numbers. Instead of jumping into Wal-Mart shares, Macke says he bought some Coach ( COH) Tuesday as it was trading down and he likes the technical action in the stock. (Looking to get into retails stocks? Check out the ProFunds Consumer Goods portfolio on Stockpickr.com.) 