CNBCfix - Fast Money Review

[CNBCfix Fast Money Review Archive — November 2014]
[Wednesday, November 26, 2014]

Doc regrets not asking guest a non-question even though Doc went ahead and delivered the non-answer anyway

Demonstrating impressive knowledge of the analyst community once again, Jon Najarian on Wednesday's Fast Money knocked the CLSA analyst who said "get out of Intel" despite having "missed the entire move."

But Doc then resorted to one of Judge's tired favorites, the Barron's bull case (snicker), but said it's OK to take profits.

David Strasser, who has championed BBY for a couple years, was reluctant to concede any toppiness on the stock, suggesting the 4K TV cycle may be "pretty powerful" and benefit Best Buy through this holiday.

Doc lamented that he "spaced out" and didn't ask Strasser "how long it extends towards that Super Bowl buying period for the 4K TVs ... and that's why I think it's beyond just a Christmas trade" ... which is like someone saying "I sure wish I hadn't spaced out and had asked Mr. Doe what 2 + 2 is, because I'm under the impression it's 4."

Asked for his next great call, Strasser offered BBY again, then lukewarmly mentioned TGT even though his rating for that one is a "hold."

‘Disconnect’ claimed between the physical and ‘paper’ gold market (Drink)

In the category of What's the Use, we have the Switzerland gold vote.

Axel Merk conceded on Wednesday's Fast Money that the vote is "leaning no" but asserted there's been a "great debate" and the real purpose of the vote seems to be to "create awareness."

Guy Adami brought up demand the "physical" metals. That prompted Merk to draw a distinction between "paper gold" and utter one of the magic words ("disconnect") (Drink).

Merk even uncorked an oldie but a doozy that we actually haven't heard for a long time, "Kick the can down the road" (Double Drink).

Tim Seymour emphasized that his gold target is 1,100.

Possibly $70 ‘very rapidly’

Andy Lipow on Wednesday's Fast Money put himself in the camp (Drink) of OPEC making a 500,000-barrels-a-day cut and predicted, if that is the case or it's something weaker, "the market would decline to 70 bucks very rapidly."

Mel should've had the panel entertain a "would you rather" between crude and GoPro, given that they're close to the same price, but that didn't happen.

Lipow said he likes the transports.

Tim Seymour contended that "oil is way oversold" and mentioned "stochastics."

Guy Adami said the SDRL shellacking on Wednesday "maybe" is a reason to buy; if it's the first to take a dividend hit, it might be the first to rally when others do.

Guy Adami predicted JBLU will play catch-up with the airlines. Doc offered retailers (Zzzzz) as his "winter weather trade," Brian Kelly said the obligatory CMP and Tim Seymour said HOT.

Guy Adami, by the way, endorsed GPRO, based on an Ambarella earnings surprise.

Mel runs fine show, doesn’t get bogged down with inside jokes

Melissa Lee, who subtracted 10 years in that dynamite outfit Wednesday, unfortunately gave Brian Kelly's bitcoin book (snicker) free publicity on Fast Money, then declared, "It's like a 7th-night Hanukkah gift."

Guy Adami said that even though Agco has been "awful all year," he could get long with a $40 stop.

Doc said there was high call volume in BRCM.

Tim Seymour weakly called CTRP an "opportunity" but indicated that opportunity is not now.

Guy Adami said you can "stay long DWA" (snicker) (this writer is long DWA).

Mike Khouw said 3 calls were traded for every put in GMCR and the 144 call either for December or an upcoming weekly was particularly active.

Jane Wells, from Culver City, reiterated her Halftime feature on Thanksgiving prices but this time showcased an app that helps people cook, which Mel said sounded "sultry."

Tim Seymour's Final Trade was HAL. Doc said XLE puts, Brian Kelly said SLW and Guy Adami said PPC.

‘The whole energy complex is going to be taken down’

In the most provocative call of the day on Wedneday's Halftime Report, which was guest-hosted by Mel, who looked great, No. 386 claimed that for the short term, "the whole energy complex is going to be taken down."

Doc spent much of the opening theorizing with if/thens about how we'll know when crude has bottomed based on the market's reaction to whatever OPEC does ...

Steve Weiss simply said the USO indicates there is "zero expectation" of an OPEC cut.

Helima Croft joined the gang and said Kuwait has "no need to cut" and predicted a possible 71.50 by Monday.

Phil LeBeau said to "expect" airline stocks to do well into the end of the year. Stephen Weiss re-affirmed his bullish outlook for the stocks.

Josh Brown had a good one, stating Stephen Weiss "actually fits into most overheard compartments on all of the airlines we've mentioned on today's show."

In a pair of hedged calls, Jim Iuorio called a yes vote on the Swiss gold referendum "a low-probability event" but said gold would jump if it passes. Brian Stutland he'd be a buyer above 1,210 and a seller below 1,180.

In one of the most helpful stock calls of all time, Josh Brown said you'll want to be long DE once the stock stops dropping.

Market-toppiness report came at very end of program, demonstrating how seriously show takes it

Josh Brown at the very end of Wednesday's Halftime Report contended we are running a record 28-day streak of the S&P 500 closing above its 5-day average, suggesting it fuels "complacency" and could lead to toppiness.

Dominic Chu played catch-up with Kensho (Drink), picking a regular subject (how does AAPL do from when to when after such and such happens) and then declaring AMZN typically does better in the 30 days before Black Friday than in the 30 days after.

Doc said AMZN is boosted by "people buying Labor Day, selling into Black Friday" (Drink).

Stephen Weiss said GPRO stands alone in the electronic gift space and so "you want to own this thing through Christmas."

Weiss grumbled that Toys R Us and its lack of an IPO is an indicator that BBY faces serious headwinds.

Weiss called HPQ "range-bound."

Fidelity's Peter Dixon likes DIS and LB. Doc said he likes KSS, and of course, after the holidays, TJX (Drink).

Sexy Jane Wells reported that Thanksgiving dinner prices aren't up much over last year, but beware of rising beef into Christmas.

Mel aired a canned interview of Judge enjoying a tour of Daniel Boulud's kitchen.

Final Trades became "trades your thankful for;" Stephen Weiss said AAL, Josh Brown said PFF and Doc said KSS.

[Tuesday, November 25, 2014]

Until the market knows what exactly he’s buying and how much he’s paying, it’s hard to get an accurate reax

Steve Grasso opened Tuesday's Fast Money asserting that the Twitter DM bungle was intentional and that everyone knows it.

"I think they're testing the waters," Grasso said, suggesting Anthony Noto and Dick Costolo were merely trying to cleverly gauge market reaction to an acquisition.

But Karen Finerman wasn't necessarily on board, demanding (image above; Mel in USC colors and Karen sporting UCLA back when the NCAA (snicker) actually let both schools wear "dark" for the big rivalry game) Grasso explain why Noto wouldn't just tell Wall Street that Twitter was thinking about an acquisition instead of making it look like "he made a mistake and doesn't know how to use his own product."

So we either have 1) an important executive who doesn't know how to use his own product, or 2) an important executive resorting to silly, embarrassing gamesmanship to dupe smart people into rendering an opinion as to what he might be up to.

Sounds like impressive management. (But here's where Guy Adami will say that everyone thought Zuckerberg, Page and Brin were knuckleheads and they turned out to be geniuses and the same will be true with Twitter.)

Tim Seymour said TWTR holders are "well-protected at 36."

Mel Kensho-free for a day

Andrew Uerkwitz on Tuesday's Fast Money gushed about the prospects of the iPhone and suggested the "iWatch" (sic) could catch on with runners who now tend to have Garmin watches.

Uerkwitz said the smartphone space is being affected by ecosystem more than anything else.

Steve Grasso said the other phone makers will eventually ride a tailwind but that AAPL is OK as long as people don't get preoccupied with the market cap, "that does scare a lot of people, for whatever reason."

Grasso said you can still buy GRMN despite Tuesday's fall.

If going private worked for DELL, why doesn’t HPQ try it?

Amit Daryanani on Tuesday's Fast Money told Mel that the question for HPQ, split or no split, is how it gets to revenue growth.

But Daryanani told Steve Grasso that 3-D printing isn't enough to "move the needle" for HPQ.

Grasso said the stock has moved based on the split, so now's the time to lock in profits.

Tim Seymour hemmed and hawed and waffled like l'eggo my e'ggo as to whether HPQ is worth holding through the split (first he indicated yes, then said he'd never "agree to that" so far in advance).

Nobody interested in agreeing with Brian Kelly’s contention it’s ‘game over’ for NFLX

Karen Finerman on Tuesday's Fast Money contended that Black Friday is "merging into Cyber Monday" and said that because XRT has surged so much since October, "you've gotta take some money off the table."

Steve Grasso said somebody he knows is predicting 50-60 for BBY in 2015.

Grasso predicted "a breather in energy for a couple days" and suggested buying those stocks next week as the chase into year-end begins.

Karen Finerman lamented that she's "missed the boat" on TIF.

Brian Kelly actually said he'd short BID on the heels of TIF's results.

Mike Khouw reported a big buyer of January 50/57.5 calls spreads in LULU.

Brian Kelly reiterated that he thinks "the game's over" for NFLX.

Karen sorta seems to think HTZ has low-hanging fruit, and sorta doesn’t

GNRC chief Aaron Jagdfeld first told Tuesday's Fast Money there are summer storms and winter storms, and then he got a smile out of Mel simply for saying he's not a meteorologist.

Steve Grasso said owning a Generac generator helps him "sleep better at night" but noted he pays an electrician to service it.

Brian Kelly said owning GNRC is "trading the weather," a valid point.

Karen Finerman said Carl's move in HTZ is clearly an "encouraging sign" if you're long the name, but Carl has his "work cut out for him." Finerman then clumsily said she's long the name, and emphasized Carl has his work cut out, but she thinks the bigger gain is in the longer term.

Tim Seymour avoided taking a stand on QIHU other than it's a company to "take a look at."

Steve Grasso pounded the table for KBH, assuming rates stay low.

Karen Finerman re-endorsed FL (that was clumsy a day earlier, see below) and PLCE (Double Drink).

Tim Seymour feebly called TWX sort of a buy but not worth chasing past 84.

Tim Seymour's Final Trade was to buy OIH. Brian Kelly said GDX, Karen Finerman said to sell out-of-the-money M calls and Steve Grasso said to be long KBH.

Judge eager to demonstrate he’s hip with college sports slogans

Julian Emanuel sat in with Tuesday's Halftime Report, hung a 2,225 on the 2015 S&P 500 and pronounced the market in a "roll tide" scenario.

That prompted Judge to make a couple references to a certain university, to prove his athletic chops to everyone. (Or at least make clear that Emanuel isn't recommending Alabama stocks and if you can name more than 1 or 2, you're not real.)

Josh Brown suggested, with a long treatise, that retail investors actually are back in the market despite what they say on surveys. Emanuel responded that falling gas prices "spur this extra confidence." Steve Weiss insisted "the retail investor is not back; what's back is an appreciation of their assets that are in the market."

In the howler of the day, Jeff Kilburg actually said, "If you like gold, you have to love silver." Jim Iuorio, in the same trading jacket he always wears (see below), said "we could have a bounce here" in silver.

Doc pounded the table for SLW and PAAS (image above) and grumbled that he was just trying to pick up SLW earlier in the program on his iPad but didn't. Josh Brown scoffed that these are the worst of the commodity charts and should be avoided.

Stephen Weiss makes
a 1-year call on NFLX

Josh Brown opened Tuesday's Halftime Report stating that inflation-adjusted, AAPL's market cap is still $170 billion shy of MSFT at the end of 1999.

Steve Weiss scoffed at Brown's contention that people lagging the market will play catch-up into year-end with AAPL.

Risking the wrath of the AAPL-philes on Twitter, Mike Murphy said "this stock looks overbought" (he also said a bunch of things about how awesome the company is (Drink) and that he's only referring to technical trading of the stock, but no need to report that).

In not the most helpful analysis, Stephen Weiss predicted NFLX will be higher a year from now.

Mike Murphy said to take profits in NUAN.

Josh Brown said of P, "this company's window is closing" and needs to sell itself. He said the last time the stock was at 18, "there was a big insider buy."

Judge introduced the Weather Channel's Jen Delgado (above) for an update on holiday weather. Delgado instantly ended speculation as to what would be the Greatest Thing on Tuesday's Halftime Report or Fast Money in her form-fitting scorching mustard-yellow dress, but the CNBC graphics crew couldn't spell her last name correctly or get her preferred first name right.

No mention of Juicepress

Tuesday's Halftime Report got an update from none other than Melissa Lee, who said the SEC is interested in PBR (that's Petrobras, not Pabst Blue Ribbon).

Josh Brown, who did make a great trading call on PBR a week or so ago, wished Mel a "Happy Thanksgiving."

Doc stumbled and stammered through a bull case for TIF that really had no catalyst other than momentum. Mike Murphy questioned if the 59% margins are going to 69 or 79, then called Japan's results "a major chink in the armor."

Bill Pulte told Judge "we're having some gross margin compression across homebuilders," then predicted 2015 will be an "all right year."

Pulte likes MAS, FBHS and AMWD. (Pete Najarian wasn't around to question the composition of the XHB.)

Mike Murphy pronounced housing stocks "great trading vehicles."

Jon Najarian crowed about a Brag Trade in DSW.

Mike Murphy suggested DB has put in a bottom.

Josh Brown said BA "could be coiled to break out."

Jon Najarian said weekly December 86 puts in the XLE were hot.

Stephen Weiss, sounding like Dennis Gartman, said OPEC members "cheat."

Stephen Weiss' Final Trade was GPRO. Mike Murphy said IP, Josh Brown didn't explain whether he was calling AAPL a buy or sell though he said you can keep owning it, and Doc said WMT.

[Monday, November 24, 2014]

First Dress Barn mention
in a long, long time

Karen Finerman opened Monday's Fast Money declaring, "It was a very good day for retail" and asserted that many of the popular names aren't expensive.

Tim Seymour though wondered if the KATE upgrade is "a little dangerous" because "the comps are insane."

Dan Nathan suggested, "looking at it holistically," that chasing KATE is "kind of a monkey trade" in "what has to be probably the most promotional holiday season on record."

Guy Adami admitted he bungled his AAPL-88-camp call but said north of 110 is "uncharted territory."

Guy suggested ANF "could catch a bid."

Melissa Lee invoked Kensho (Drink) and mentioned SAH and FL being the top retail performers over the last 10 years from this period of time into year-end.

Then Mel got to the really good stuff, stating Ascena, "which is formerly Dress Barn," is the 2nd-best performer behind Conn's from now until year-end over the last 10 years.

Guy Adami said FL needs to recapture 60 to be a buy again. Later on in the program, Karen Finerman, in a "Chinatown" moment, seemed to make an it's-a-sell/it's-a-buy call on FL that made very little sense. Yet Finerman suggested selling upside calls in the stock as her Final Trade.

Ben Kallo fails to answer
Karen’s question

Dennis Gartman, who specializes in calling yesterday's tape like Ray Walston calling that bogus horse race in "The Sting," contended on Monday's Fast Money that OPEC has "no choice" but to announce a production cut.

Dennis insisted we'll see oil in the 60s before oil in the 80s. "Any bounces that you get are to be sold," Gartman contended.

Meanwhile, Ben Kallo said "sentiment's improving" on SCTY and that the company can gain share in the post-subsidy era (snicker).

Karen Finerman asked Kallo when oil prices and solar stocks will "decouple." Kallo first sounded like a solar CEO, insisting "fundamentally, there's very little relationship," and then spun off on tangents that had nothing to do with the question, but Karen was too nice to call him out on it.

Guy Adami said SCTY has "a bit of a double bottom" and can be played long. Tim Seymour said to use 50 as a stop, and Dan Nathan said SCTY options are appealingly at 52-week lows.

Tim Seymour said to keep a $10 stop on TSL.

Yes, that’s Melissa Lee, who had hair & everything clicking on Monday

Inovio Chief Dr. Joseph Kim visited Monday's Fast Money to do what most (but not all) biotech CEOs do on Fast Money, tout some recently positive drug trials.

Kim told Mel his company is prepared to go alone on its prostate cancer test but is always open to newer and better partners. He also reported "fabulous data" on HPV treatment.

In not the most convincing endorsement, Guy Adami cautioned that INO is "extraordinarily volatile" but that you can try it long as a "binary" trade.

Guy Adami said DDD actually isn't that expensive and that the risk/reward is appealing. Dan Nathan agreed and said it could top 40 next year.

Guy suggested if PANW holds 110 on Tuesday, it'll rev back up.

Dan Nathan said not to buy the WDAY dip. Guy Adami said he likes NUAN.

Silicon Valley bigwig’s personal life gets dragged into Fast Money conversation

Bank champion Karen Finerman indicated on Monday's Fast Money that she's not exactly thrilled by the possibility of a flat yield curve or worse.

Harkening back to the early days of Fast Money, when engineering stocks (not to mention coal stocks also) somehow were the BABA of their time, Guy Adami called CBI "dirt cheap" with a bit of a double-bottom and said it's even a "coiled spring."

In a point that would've been more useful on the Halftime Report (see below), Dan Nathan said there's no need to buy VZ.

Google Glass critic Lance Ulanoff, perhaps the star guest Monday, visited the Nasdaq and contended that wearables are the future but until they become subtle and unnoticeable, "it's not going to work."

That was when Dan Nathan uncorked a New York Post-style comment, informing the gang and viewers, "It cost Sergey Brin his marriage ... he ended up leaving his wife for the woman who was like one of the big salespeople at Google Glass."

Guy Adami said the way GOOG has been trading "concerns" him.

Dan Nathan said IBM options (snicker) were hot, "in parturkuler (sic pronunciation)" the weekly 165 calls. But Nathan said if you want to bet on an IBM recovery, use longer-dated calls.

Tim Seymour's Final Trade was EWQ. Dan Nathan said to sell XRT. Guy Adami said GPS.

Joe: Fed waiting for ‘discourse’ in other economies to abate

John Stoltzfus got the lead role on Monday's Halftime Report, stating he's "fairly confident" about his 2,311 S&P target for 2015 because (this was his argument) he predicted 2,014 in 2,014, and the market beat him to that number in October. (Translation: Folks who were right about something in the past are right again.)

Stoltzfus said we're transitioning to "the Great Recovery" from "the Great Recession."

Jon Najarian didn't doubt Stoltzfus' S&P target. "We could easily get there Judge," Najarian assured.

Stephanie Link "would've rather preferred" that Stoltzfus based his target on rising EPS and not a rising multiple.

Joe Terranova contended that the Fed will watch the rest of the world and won't act on rates until it's certain "some of the discourse (sic) in those economies has abated."

Anthony Grisanti meanwhile said the market will view the Fed "on the sidelines at least for the next 6 months."

Gemma Godfrey said that for risk, she likes Italian banks, but for safety she likes European pharmaceuticals and defensives. (Would "defensives" ever not be a safety trade?)

Stephanie Link shrugged that European banks aren't as appealing as U.S. banks. Josh Brown contended "European small-caps are the best play."

In the day's most startling comment (which got little follow-up), Jeff Kilburg predicted an inverted yield curve in 2015.

Crude ‘close to a bottom’

Pavel Molchanov told Judge on Monday's Halftime Report his "sense" is that OPEC won't cut, or won't do a sizable cut, "but generally speaking, we think oil is close to, uh, a bottom."

Molchanov likes HES and OXY and doesn't like CVX so much. He told Joe Terranova that HES as a takeover target is "in the realm of possibility."

Mr. New World predicted a 1-million-barrel-a-day OPEC cut and said if it doesn't happen, "we're looking at 68, 69, 70 bucks in the near-term for oil."

Josh tackles Joe’s contention that Tesla prospects will connect with oil prices

Reacting to Jeff Gundlach's endorsement of TSLA, Josh Brown said on Monday's Halftime, "I've studied the greatest stocks throughout U.S. history" (you wonder why he didn't just create an algorithm for that, or summon Kensho) and found, "they've never been cheap."

Dr. New Land revisited his argument that TSLA is tied to oil prices. Josh Brown butted in, claiming studies actually have been done to show the amount of Tesla buyers who mention the price of gasoline is "slim to none." Joe and Doc — who last week basically said the same things as Brown — suggested that will start to matter as Tesla gets beyond its core buyers.

Stephanie Link said she's willing to give AMZN "a pass" for its lack of margins because revenue growth is strong.

Doc said there was aggressive buying in ADSK December 65 calls. Doc said he's in the stock for "probably 2 weeks" (Drink).

‘Electronics will be popular’
this holiday season

Jon Najarian on Monday's Halftime Report touted VZ under the argument it would be "huge" if it does a wireless REIT.

But Josh Brown scoffed, "Nobody's trading this name."

Joe predicted a good quarter for VZ but said he "could create alpha a lot differently" than being long this name.

Kathy Welch joined the gang and told Judge she's optimistic about Black Friday and suggested "electronics will be popular."

Welch said "it's very important to offer experiential retail" to draw crowds to malls. Joe likes KORS, KATE "not as much." But Stephanie Link likes KATE.

Joe bemoaned that falling gas prices propelled DRI for weeks after he expressed pessimism about the stock.

Stephanie Link's Final Trade was SPLK. Joe said F, Josh Brown said MBLY and Doc offered ABBV.

[Friday, November 21, 2014]

Mel fascinated by the shake

We had no idea what RRGB has been doing recently, so score one for Friday's Fast Money.

But it was hard to tell from Melissa Lee's questions for Red Robin chief Steve Carley whether RRGB's recent performance has been any different than FEYE.

Lee pushed Carley several times on whether traffic isn't all the way back, whether the Royalty (or is it "loyalty") program is below expectations and whether this quarter is weak. Carley said he doesn't give mid-quarter guidance.

Tim Seymour said RRGB is actually in "value territory." Steve Grasso said it has to hold 65 after such a rapid ascent.

Meanwhile, Steve Grasso said RENN trades the opposite of BABA and he wouldn't be a buyer.

Guy Adami said to take profits in FL.

Tim Seymour suggested this is the time of year that solar tends to run.

Tim Seymour dubbed MSFT a "6-months-ago stock," which means there still might be time for Heather Bellini to jump aboard (see below).

Mel did the obligatory Kensho reference related to everything that happens after MSFT makes a 30% gain over 6 months.

Tim Seymour said he doesn't like Stifel's buy rating on CAT.

Grasso: No OPEC cut

In a spirited but light-on-material episode of Fast Money on Friday, traders came up with a binary outcome on crude.

Tim Seymour predicted OPEC would cut by half a million barrels; Steve Grasso predicted no cut at all.

Guy Adami said he thinks SLB wants to break out. Steve Grasso suggested MHR, which was also his Final Trade.

Brian Kelly asserted the market was "completely wrong" to buy commodities on Friday. Thankfully nobody bought Kelly's conspiracy theory about something being horribly amiss to prompt the Chinese cut; Tim Seymour asserted "there's nothing new" about the data.

Steve Grasso wondered whether the gains from China's cut will hold and indicated the concerns are demand-driven.

Guy Adami endorsed the TLT, which curiously was Brian Kelly's Final Trade.

Tim Seymour's Final Trade was to sell IWM. Guy Adami said CMCSA.

Doc slams Heather Bellini without mentioning her name

Usually, it's only Stephen Weiss — and not even very often — who singles out analysts for sorry calls.

So it was refreshing on Friday's Halftime Report to hear Jon Najarian body-slam not just Heather Bellini on MSFT, but "that guy from (sic) Netflix that thinks that stock should be 40," even if he mentioned neither Bellini nor Pachter by name. (That image above is not from Friday but from a long-ago Bellini appearance.) (See, that was when Heather was at ISI; Goldman Sachs people don't turn up on Fast Money very often.)

We've gotta give Doc props for maintaining an active scorecard on at least some analysts; at least it's not just all about unusual activity in options.

Doc also said CLSA's call to sell INTC is "full of bull."

It seems that of the 3 controversial sell calls, the panel agreed with 1 (EBAY) and scoffed at 2 (MSFT and INTC).

Mike Murphy contended, "You can make a fundamental case for why eBay doesn't need to exist anymore."

Real purpose of the interview was to give Mike Murphy a chance to mention Juicepress

A complete skeptic during his interview on Friday's Halftime Report with Bai founder Ben Weiss, Judge said he looked online at a popular grocery business in NYC "and there were literally 17 different brands of beverages that portend (sic) to be organic or healthy or whatever."

Weiss admitted there's "a lot of noise" in the space and insisted his company has separated itself from that noise, "with a lot of tenacity."

Investor Rohan Oza said of Weiss, "I hate saying this on TV, last time I'm saying this, but the guy has vision."

Weiss told Judge, "Our name is Bai, not Sell."

Dana Telsey: LULU
capable of a comeback

Permanently cute retail watcher Dana Telsey, despite one of those annoying time delays, told Judge on Friday's Halftime Report it will be an "active, accessories and athletic Christmas," favoring H&M, LB, UA and NKE, plus BBY in the big-box space.

Telsey said LULU is capable of a comeback and could be a big story of 2015.

Josh Brown said "the consumer is pent-up" (Drink) and set to "go nuts" this Christmas.

Stephanie Link said not to chase ROST and suggested playing catch-up instead with her and Pete's favorite, TJX.

Mike Murphy said he wouldn't jump into GME.

Doc pointed out that people were selling FL but dodged a call himself.

Not trying to knock Kensho ... but so far none of the reported stats have been highly actionable

Judge wasted little time on Friday's Halftime delving into the "new relationship" CNBC has with Kensho, reporting financials have a 2½% median return 1 day after Chinese rate cuts.

Doc credited Mike Holland for pounding the table for DVN.

Josh Brown said ag stocks are "pent up" and suggested MOO; he also thinks XLB "looks explosive."

Stephanie Link advocated CMI, YUM and FDX "because these stocks have not taken off."

Mike Murphy actually endorsed JOY for those believing in a China rally, but Stephanie Link questioned the company's "structural issues."

Josh Brown explained why he thought PBR might've bottomed short term but then was forced to admit he didn't get into the trade himself.

Stephanie not sure that DOW merits agitation

Mike Murphy, who recommends HTZ rain or shine, contended on Friday's Halftime Report that the new CEO is "one of many catalysts that are gonna come for Hertz" and hung a 30 on the stock "near term."

Stephanie Link said it's "kinda curious" to have activist involvement in DOW.

Stephanie Link endorsed Dave DeWalt (that would be FEYE) as well as SPLK and FTNT.

Mike Murphy predicted "a lot more upside" for AA.

Josh Brown said it seems like there are "no bids" for crude.

Doc said he cashed in "about 75%" of his MPEL position after collecting a "windfall."

Stephanie Link's Final Trade was DG. Mike Murphy said HTZ. Josh Brown said XLF and Doc offered RLGY.

[Thursday, November 20, 2014]

Doc assures viewers that Kensho is ‘not a garbage system’

Kensho co-founder Daniel Nadler visited the Nasdaq on Thursday to help Melissa Lee promote Kensho, CNBC's new statistical tool that is basically duplicating what Paul Hickey does so far invisible to viewers.

Nadler said "our primary business is around enabling very large global banks and, and financial institutions to make better, faster decisions with statistics," but the trend is toward "increasing ubiquity."

"Kensho is a Zen Buddhist name," Nadler clarified, referring to noticing repeating patterns in nature.

Jon Najarian curiously assessed Kensho as "not a garbage system," then tried to sing its praises while suggesting success is about asking the right questions.

Guy Adami stressed, "You can get addicted to this thing very quickly."

Live Nation, like most restaurants and cruise ships, is basically a wine/booze shop

LYV chief Michael Rapino, an undeniably elite CEO in an industry people like to criticize, joined Thursday's Fast Money to tout his deal with Vice, stating that with all the concert bookings, the company's been trying to "monetize those shows."

Mel called Shane Smith "an absolute genius" but wondered about "cannibalization" of concert attendance by the Vice partnership.

Rapino explained that "80% of our shows don't sell out," and there is a "ton of unused inventory," and the best way to get someone to buy a concert ticket is to "show them a live video of the band."

Any visit by Rapino is going to coincide with the stock's biggest fan, Karen Finerman, being on the show. Finerman on Thursday called Rapino "no pun intended, a rock star in this business," the 2nd reference of the day to "no pun intended."

Mel elicited an intriguing footnote from Rapino, who said, "80% of our concession business, which is a hundred-million-dollar business, is actually what we call wet, and it's actually mostly alcohol."

Mel at one point in the broadcast said Live Nation and Vice are starting a "joint vij- (sic) digital venture."

Dan Nathan wasn’t around, or else we’d hear about how it’s probably going to close on the highs of the year

Bob Peck said on Thursday's Fast Money that he's right and Pachter's wrong about whether Jeff Bezos only cares about stock price or cares "not a whit" about stock price that what he loves about BABA's bond sale is that "they're taking their costs lower." (This writer is long BABA.)

Peck also spoke favorably about the purported prospect of BABA buying LGF.

Doc seemed at a loss for words for making a call on BABA, then referenced "Stingles (sic) Day," then suggested there's "potential" for selling out of the money puts.

Doc said December 37 calls in LGF were active.

Karen Finerman called BABA a "tough one to trade around," although there's no evidence it has been.

Karen said she's long and likes the name and the "asset lightness" and suggested that if you like it, don't worry about the daily price moves but just "buy it and own it for a long time."

Guy: GME buyable at 37½

Thursday's Fast Money crew took up a lot of retail names and found itself endorsing a lot of dogs.

Guy Adami said GME is "not ridiculously expensive" and predicted a Friday flush and said it's a buy if it holds 37½.

Steve Grasso offered a far more stark prediction for GME; "I fear that it's becoming a Blockbuster stock." Karen Finerman said she would've believed the same argument about GME years ago and is impressed by how the stock has held up.

Grasso reiterated his bull call on Best Buy, citing strength in 4K televisions.

Karen Finerman, who used to pound the table for shorting mall REITs under the theory that they're getting killed by Amazon and will have to pay less rent, said, "I've sort of been wondering if the Amazon effect has plateaued."

Mel downplayed Guy Adami's joke about the Geek Squad; we think Guy was referring to that prime-time show on cybersecurity that Mel did in which a couple techies appeared to be interested in a date.

Karen Finerman, shown in sexy jeans and doing a hair flip, admitted she's "not delighted" by the GPS news because she's long but predicted maybe a "kitchen-sink quarter" (Drink 1).

John Kernan (sic spelled differently than Joe Kernen) got Mel to smile by stating he's a longtime fan of the show. Kernan said Gap was being hurt by being "highly leveraged to denim" and there's too much of that in the malls.

Steve Grasso said ANF may be at "a good, technical entrance" and evidently actually believes it because he made it his Final Trade.

Karen Finerman said she wouldn't buy DDS "on the REIT-only hope."

Doc had to stare into space when Mel asked him for his top play in retail, finally offering Amazon (but not with the buy-on-Labor-Day-sell-on-Black-Friday refrain (Drink)).

Guy Adami credited Mike Khouw for nailing the GME move on Wednesday.

No update on why N.Y. Post critic gave Michael Burns’ movie such a bad review

Guy Adami on Thursday's Fast Money conceded GPRO traded poorly on the "75ish" secondary and called it a "no trade" until the shares close above 75.

Steve Grasso said GoPro lockup expirations are going to be trouble, and he also thinks hardware isn't an appealing business.

Jon Najarian though said he likes GPRO "into this, their Super Bowl season."

Mel noticed that FB has been having a bad month; Karen Finerman said the company's done well and deserves "some benefit of the doubt."

Steve Grasso suggested MBLY was selling off on profit-taking. Guy Adami said it must bounce at 44 to be worth owning.

Steve Grasso said INTC has "probably room to move higher."

Longer the show goes, the longer Doc is convincing himself that LOCO might’ve already had the washout

Thursday's Fast Money was a crisp, impressive show, even discounting the subpar, sloppy showing of Jon Najarian, who looked about as prepared as the Chicago Bears before that Lambeau Field game a couple weeks ago.

Early on, Doc likened LOCO to CMG and suggested viewers "wait for that big flush."

Later, Mel asked Doc if he prefers YUM or LOCO. Doc said he prefers LOCO and tried to make a joke that "LOCO" has a "limited number of locations, no pun intended Mel," one of 2 of those on the day, prompting a funny eye-roll from Mel.

Steve Grasso warned LOCO is "definitely a broken chart."

Karen Finerman said YUM's China stigma may not be completely behind the company but she views it as a "blip" in the "overall China growth story."

Guy Adami predicted MCD would "figure this out" and "by definition" get better.

Continuing his l'eggo my egg'o theme for the day, Doc said GMCR might have even more to go despite the "flush" Thursday.

New CFO, new CEO, sounds like this company has got all its ducks in a row

Karen Finerman on Thursday's Fast Money suggested "we could see a kitchen-sink quarter" (Drink 2) in DRI although it was confusing as to whether it's getting a new CFO or CEO or both (apparently).

Jon Najarian said he'd buy BID on the succession news. Karen Finerman said BID needs to "evolve."

Doc said he liked SPLK only after first waffling and suggesting it might go higher.

Guy Adami said to remain long LEN with a 45 stop.

Mike Khouw said there was a big buyer of January 29/32 call spreads in SPWR.

Guy Adami said FEYE is a better "beta trade" for year-end than solar; Steve Grasso said solar.

Jon Najarian's Final Trade was LGF, Karen Finerman said GPS and Guy Adami predicted BID goes "significantly higher."

Unclear if Jim Iuorio
wore the man fur Thursday

Jim Iuorio, who wore the same trading jacket for Thursday's Halftime Report that he wore yesterday (and every day), told Jackie DeAngelis he'll pay whatever Tim Hortons or other coffeemakers charge and predicted higher prices are here to stay.

Scott Nations suggested cattle prices are a much bigger deal for consumers.

Doc admitted he missed the GMCR trade but said he's neither going to chase it or fade it. Joe re-endorsed a longtime favorite, SJM (Drink).

Meanwhile, smiling Japan watcher Melissa Otto told Judge she was surprised in a negative way by -1.6% but said that suggests to her "the worst is over."

Dr. New Land warned Otto that a rebound in the yen would be big trouble for equities. Otto said she's into exporters, whose guidance ranges from yen 100-105 and so as long as it's near 120, she wants to be "part of that trade."

Remember all those times Karen Finerman was shorting the retail REITs because online shopping was going to sink all the brick-and-mortar tenants?

Hessam Nadji sat in with Thursday's Halftime Report to say theoretical REIT conversions are a popular topic for retailers now because of "the strength in commercial real estate in general."

Nadji told Joe, who invoked Mel's hand signals when asking if the S&P REIT sector creation is marking the top, that of course he's "not really" concerned.

Not asking a question but making a statement, Doc told Nadji that while a lot of people think rising rates are bad for REITs, he thinks 3, 4 and 6 percent yields are "still incredibly attractive."

Nadji said he likes AHT and BEE because they're undervalued based on NAV.

Kensho era has arrived

Thursday's Halftime Report got a visit from none other than Melissa Lee, who was evidently given the company nod to tout CNBC's adoption of the "amazing" Kensho, which helps confirm the general notion of how stocks act on certain data by giving you "the numbers to back it up."

Mel then pulled a Paul Hickey, showing the top 3 winners and top 3 losers after 10% rallies in the dollar over 3 months. "These are all surprising, right?" Lee asked a quiet panel.

We'll withhold judgment on this contraption until we see more.

Mel didn't say whether Kensho agrees with the Nardashians that "the PC is not dead" (Drink), as Jon Najarian contended Thursday, and thus INTC is just so absolutely phenomenal.

Doc also said he's out of BABA but he'd be "more than happy to get back into it." Pete said he'd put it in the "drawer" and is thinking 150 in 2015. (This writer is long BABA.)

Pete averages down in LOCO

In another sleepy opening to the Halftime Report, Stephanie Link on Thursday cautioned Judge not to get "totally crazy" about the Philly Fed.

Steve Liesman said "guys might be rethinking" Q4 GDP estimates and boost from 2.7% to 3.0%.

Doc reminded viewers about the retailer trade: "You buy 'em Labor Day. You sell them going into Black Friday." (Drrrrrrrrrrrrink.)

Doc said he sold 75% of his COH stake.

Stephanie Link likes DG and hung a 70 on the stock.

Pete Najarian said the met coal move is "worth noting" (Drink) (see yesterday's report for why he isn't pounding the table).

Stephanie Link said MAS is "poised to move higher." Doc lukewarmly offered NBR as a "stealth" stock.

Padma Lakshmi told Julia Boorstin that the chefs are the key to success of her show, but the real highlight of the interview was Boorstin's form-fitting red dress.

Pete Najarian tried to supersede his LOCO Fast Fire stating "I bought it today" on the secondary.

Stephanie Link likes BBY. Joe predicted the Street raises estimates on the stock.

Link's Final Trade was CCL. Doc's was MPEL, Pete's was DIS and Joe's was DECK.

[Wednesday, November 19, 2014]

Michael Burns suggests critic so childish as to write bad review because he wasn’t invited to premiere

Usually when LGF chief Michael Burns chats up Fast Money, 1) there's a big movie coming out (check) and 2) the discussion centers around how Jennifer Lawrence is the world's biggest movie star and otherwise is generally pointless.

Actually, Point 2 did not happen on Wednesday's Fast Money, refreshingly.

Host Melissa Lee grilled Burns as to whether the latest "Hunger Games" installment is being delayed in China over censorship concerns; "I certainly don't think so" was Burns' answer.

Burns actually singled out the New York Post's "horribly dull" review and suggested it stems from not being invited to the premiere, a dubious assertion not challenged at all by Lee or the panel. Burns then directed viewers to Rotten Tomatoes.

Burns dodged Mel's question about what kind of investor partner BABA would be for LGF by citing Singles Day sales numbers as a smokescreen.

"We don't comment on speculation," Burns said to the DreamWorks questions.

Guy Adami chided Mel for giving Burns "a hard time."

Mel doubles down
on air quotes

Downplaying Model X concerns, Carter Driscoll visited the Fast Money set on Wednesday and said his TSLA estimates are in line with the Street and that if you own the stock, you're owning it for the gigafactory and for the "Model 3" down the road.

Mel called Adam Jonas "an influential analyst" and invoked air quotes to point out Jonas has issued a "clarification" regarding his notes on both the F-150 and Tesla doors recently.

Tim Seymour, who kinda found his voice (unfortunately) on Wednesday, praised Driscoll for purportedly regarding Tesla as an auto company, allowing an indirect dig at TSLA's valuation (Drink).

Melissa also used air quotes in asking LUV chief Gary Kelly where he draws the line on "fee friendly."

Kelly told Lee, "All the research that we've done says that charging for bag fees would make our revenues go down because we would lose more customers than we would gain in bag fees."

Pete Najarian called LUV's policy a "huge mistake" in trumpeting no bag fees, which has now "put themselves into a corner."

Guy: X returning to $43

Tim Seymour on Wednesday's Fast Money said he's in CLF but warned against rushing into the name on the big drop, suggesting the washout won't come for a while.

That's a fine and honest point and refreshingly contrary to "talking your book," but then it's a head-scratcher as to why he's going to continue to hold.

Guy Adami predicted X returns to BMO's $43 target but suggested it might reach 31½ first.

Pete Najarian hesitantly trumpeted WLT (translation: Kinda like it, but so risky, don't blame me if it goes bust), but Karen Finerman wasn't around to point out WLT's debt is trading atrociously (would-be Drink).

Meanwhile, Marc Chandler suggested the euro is "beginning to carve out a small bottom" and that the market is fixated on 120 for the yen. Tim Seymour said to "sell short the Aussie, sell short the Canadian dollar."

Wonder if there’s time for another ‘Muppets’ investigation

Tim Seymour on Wednesday's Fast Money pronounced Carl Levin's most recent bank crackdown as "ridiculous," stating the government is singling out old news in just another "attack upon the banks that continues and continues."

Pete Najarian said he'd be a "big-time buyer" of banks, specifically GS, if they sold off on the "old news."

Guy Adami said he doubted that and declared, rightly, that government seems to only target speculators when commodities go up without recognizing they also go down.

Khouw: Big move
expected in GME

Tim Seymour on Wednesday's Fast Money suggested CZR's REIT news will give it a little more oomph but rightly wasn't excited about the fundamentals.

Mike Khouw said the options market is anticipating an 11% move in GME rather than the typical 5%. Khouw also singled out buyers of the November 40 puts.

Khouw did a nice job of ad-libbing with that balky telestrator that never works.

Pete Najarian and Guy Adami trumpeted $55 for YHOO.

Guy Adami suggested CRM gets to the 54.50 or 55 level.

Guy Adami endorsed GILD over Agios. Just like at Halftime, Pete Najarian said to take profits in TGT (Drink). Pete Najarian, just like at Halftime, said he likes GMCR (Drink).

Pete suggested you probably don't want to chase WSM but that it looks good heading into the holidays.

Tim Seymour's Final Trade was BAC. Pete Najarian said FL, Brian Kelly said sell HYG and Guy Adami said DECK (as opposed to "dreck").

Judge bungle — doesn’t realize Jim Iuorio wears the same trading jacket every day; clueless about the ‘man fur’

Jim Iuorio on Wednesday's Halftime Report told Jackie DeAngelis he expects nat gas to actually pull back to 4.25. Jeff Kilburg suggested a range of 4.05 to 4.55.

All well and good, except Judge came up with a head-scratching question for Iuorio about the same trading jacket he wears every day.

Iuorio apparently thought Wapner was talking about some goofy "man fur" he'd been wearing earlier in the day but didn't have available to show on camera (yes that is basically how the dialogue went).

(The 2nd photo above shows Iuorio wearing the same trading jacket last week while speaking with Jackie DeAngelis.)

Mike Murphy bragged that he exited HAL in the "56, 57 range" but "jumped back in" at 50.

Josh Brown reiterated that he thinks PBR is finding a short-term bottom. Sexy Michelle Caruso-Cabrera questioned if the equity could go to zero. Brown in turn questioned, "Does the state allow the equity to go to zero?" Judge suggested the answer is no.

What exactly are people asking him — whether he has called Dave DeWalt?

Recently installed TGT CEO Brian Cornell enjoyed the company of a Courtney Reagan interview on Wednesday's Halftime Report ... and succeeded in his obvious goal of stating nothing even remotely controversial.

Reagan asked how to restore the "tarzhay" (sic) to Target. After a couple cliches, the first thing Cornell offered was, "We're very committed as you've seen to building out our omnichannel experience."

Cornell said that in his first 99 days, he gets asked about Target's data security "almost every day," and then insisted it's an industrywide problem but without offering a guarantee asserted, "We've upped our game."

"I think the data breach is now behind them," said Pete Najarian.

Early in the show, Pete gloated that he sold TGT after he "bought it pretty much- huh, quite a significantly lower area (sic grammar), underneath $60 a share."

Pete said he also trimmed LOW, protesting he didn't short it; he just took profits.

2,230 possibly too high

The clock's running out on Tony.

It's almost been impossible to be too bullish of this market, but Tony Dwyer on Wednesday's Halftime Report had to concede his 2,230 year-end target is probably too optimistic.

Undaunted, Dwyer said if it doesn't happen by year-end, "I think it'll be in early January."

Dwyer pronounced stocks, not the economy, as being in a sweet spot. "The last thing you want is very high consumer confidence, very high growth rates, because that brings in the Fed, ultimately inverts the curve and shuts down credit," Dwyer asserted.

Steve Liesman said October hiring suggests a "strong" holiday season.

Pete Najarian said the only airline that doesn't get his engines revving is LUV because of the promises it's made about not charging bag fees.

Why Adam Jonas issues notes on TSLA without making major changes to his outlook

Josh Brown declared on Wednesday's Halftime Report he normally doesn't like buying stocks into earnings, but he thinks GMCR "is doing everything right."

Mike Murphy, the skeptic, said the last move in GMCR was really pushed by an overly optimistic Goldman Sachs note suggesting 15% of U.S. households in 2017 will have a Keurig machine.

Brown nevertheless called the GMCR chart "a trend follower's dream."

Doc said December 40 calls in MDLZ were hot. Doc said he didn't get the calls but he does have the stock and will probably hold it "2 weeks" (Drink).

Josh Brown said Adam Jonas' TSLA notes produce buy/sell orders for the MS brokers and credited Jonas for being bullish on TSLA from the early days.

Pete Najarian said he still thinks there's something going on with MNST. Josh Brown said TSO "technically looks fantastic." Mike Murphy called KMI "a great company to own."

Jon Najarian's Final Trade was MRO. Josh Brown said TGT, Pte Najarian said KO and Mike Murphy offered HAL.

[Tuesday, November 18, 2014]

Flash: Fast Money
renewed for 2015

Melissa Lee, in fetching yellow Tuesday, gave Fast Money viewers a tour of the Nasdaq's 2nd floor, which Lee said will become the show's set in January.

That implies many things, including "Vacancy" on the 1st floor.

Lee had a chance to go there, telling CEO Bob Greifeld, "For a long time the Nasdaq has had the knock of being primarily a TV studio downstairs," but then asking him about the 2nd floor and not the 1st, which would be an intriguing site for Gasparino, who can never seem to get Greifeld to do an interview.

Greifeld told Lee that spending $10 million on the 2nd floor adds value for listed companies in that "we can give them information; they can be here, get it directly." (For all those listed companies who don't own 1) a computer or 2) a telephone.)

Greifeld also asserted, "When you go public, uh, part of that is to seek publicity. And this is a great visibility event."

Mel, whose producers didn't get her close enough to Greifeld for an adequate shot amid all the open space, asked the CEO about the IPO pipeline. "we're gonna have a very strong calendar," Greifeld predicted.

OK. We're not going to fault Lee, as this was obviously set up as a chummy type of interview, but given that Mel is constantly asking other CEOs if they're going to buy or be bought, you'd think that'd be a fair question for this individual and entity at every opportunity.

Nobody mentions that solar stocks trade in the same direction as crude

Uh oh, another solar interview.

CEO Ahmad Chatila joined Tuesday's Fast Money and said SUNE bought First Wind to "supercharge the company" even though the solar side is healthy.

After that, there was a lot of yield co chatter that we chose to ignore.

Guy Adami suggested SUNE is exciting for investors but expects the stock does a "back and fill."

Dan Nathan, totally playing the jockey (that's correct based on Stephen Weiss' quote, not the underwear although that part we don't know), suggested SUNE's "probably" a buy on any pullback because David Einhorn's in the stock and seems to really care about it.

A bounce for Marissa

Tuesday's Fast Money was so exciting, 3 of the first 4 panelists did a go-round recommending QCOM (snicker).

Guy Adami insisted it's a buy, after the "flush."

Dan Nathan predicted BABA would be "scooped up" if it falls another 5% and, referring to his strange price target, "probably closes towards (sic new word added to the expression) the high of the year."

Steve Grasso helpfully predicted that AAPL will record "more and more purchases going into Christmas." But Dan Nathan said AAPL talk "seems like a little bubbly."

GoPro watcher Brad Erickson told the gang he is seeing a couple of "incremental" positives in the company.

Erickson also told Guy Adami he views GoPro as a "traditional consumer electronics company" that has "potential" to turn into "something else down the road." (Translation: Not ready to dub it a "media company" yet.)

Steve Grasso called $50 a "trampoline" for YHOO.

Someone muzzled Tim Seymour, unusually quiet and didn’t even tell viewers he doesn’t like TSLA’s valuation

Corinna Freedman, who is very pretty, told Tuesday's Fast Money she has concluded that "the runway for Under Armour is significantly greater than the runway for Nike."

Freedman suggested her target "is pretty conservative we think at $80."

The panel split 2-2 on whether UA is better than NKE.

Steve Grasso called EA a buy but said to be "very careful" with the rise it's had.

Guy Adami said there's "no reason" to own IBM.

Dan Nathan said not to chase VA.

Nathan said if you want to play 3-D printing names, "make a basket of some of the smaller ones" (how exciting).

Steve Grasso said "going forward" (sic redundant) (Drink) he expects competitive headwinds and less of a Chinese tailwind to put the clamps on TSLA.

Just because: Camera glitch allows rare side profile of Mel

It's a lost cause for Mary Landrieu.

Even so, Steve Grasso intriguingly said on Tuesday's Fast Money that PWR, which would build the Keystone Pipeline, "has only upside risk in my opinion." (Except when people start thinking it's going to happen and then it doesn't or gets delayed.)

Dan Nathan said someone sold January 2016 GDX puts at 12 & 13 and used the proceeds to buy a January 2016 call spread at 20/26. (Probably someone who thinks the ruble will be the strongest currency once Vladimir does a gimmick with gold.)

Guy Adami said he thinks NFLX goes higher but doesn't care about the Australia news. Tim Seymour said, "I wouldn't touch it."

Tim Seymour's Final Trade was TM. Dan Nathan said to (Zzzzzzz) buy AAPL puts. Steve Grasso said to buy P and Guy Adami said QCOM.

Go Big Red

Some of Tuesday's Halftime Report was peppered with Eamon Javers' reports about Mary Landrieu struggling to find the 60th vote in the Senate for Keystone XL.

Brian Stutland hilariously said that even if Congress OKs Keystone, "we still need approval from the state of Nebraska."

Scott Nations said OPEC might try to "drive down" U.S. crude prices to pressure the shale providers (Drink).

Across another pond, Josh Brown shrugged that Japanese elections and political machinations are nothing; his advice is to "follow price; ignore headlines." Mike Murphy though sought to squelch whatever enthusiasm might've stemmed from this conversation, urging viewers to wait for a pullback.

Still no word on Dan Dicker’s assertion that falling oil will kill the economy

Phil LeBeau on Tuesday's Halftime Report opened his hard-hitting, pointed, incisive interview with Toyota's Jim Lentz about the company's fuel-cell car, the Mirai, with, "Tell us a little bit about it."

Viewers learned it's a 4-door sedan that goes 300 miles on a charge and takes 5 minutes to refuel.

In a possible uh-oh, Lentz admitted, "We are relying on Takata's data frankly" in assessing air bag woes.

Pete Najarian said if you play TSLA, "you've gotta play this through options" (Drink).

‘Sea of sameness’ at the mall

Former URBN chief Glen Senk, impeccably attired in bowtie, said on Tuesday's Halftime Report that the teen customer is "very healthy" but that teen retailers aren't so healthy.

Senk quibbled with Mike Murphy's contention that footwear isn't a fashion business; as it happens, "I think we're in a sneaker moment," Senk said.

Senk said there's a "sea of sameness" in the apparel world.

Stephen Weiss said of GPRO, "I think the stock keeps going."

Pete Najarian called HD a "great buying opportunity."

Josh Brown offered DIN as a strong-dollar play (snicker) and hung a $100 on the stock.

Steve Weiss, barely heard from

Tuesday Halftime Report guest host Melissa Lee and Pete Najarian scoffed at Carl Icahn's newfound revelation of a severe correction in 3-5 years; Mel even scoffed twice but in the process didn't explain why, if it's so scoffable, she chose to discuss it on her/Judge's program.

Judge dialed in to inform everyone he spoke to Ackman.

Josh Brown said he'd be "more likely" to sell SUNE than continue owning or buying it (Karen Finerman notes that's the same thing) on Tuesday's pop.

Mike Murphy predicted SNE rises but said to use a stop at 20.

Mel said VA's spike Tuesday "seems suspicious." Josh Brown said "this is just momentum guys" in the name (as opposed to the Halftime Report guys).

Pete Najarian actually said choosing BABA vs. AAPL (sic as if anyone really has to do that) "is like deciding between your children," but he thinks BABA has more international growth ahead.

Pete Najarian said MAS January 23 call holders were selling and trading up into January 24 calls. Pete said he "tagged along" and would hold his calls "at least a month" (snicker).

Pete Najarian said to keep an eye on TEVA. Mike Murphy said to ride TEX's momentum. Josh Brown suggested the day's PBR chart is "really interesting."

Pete Najarian's Final Trade was DB. Mike Murphy said F (Drink). Josh Brown said DIN and Stephen Weiss said HTZ.

[Monday, November 17, 2014]

Karen fails to scare CST chief into fearing a Texas recession

Halfheartedly offering the illusion of considering something she hasn't already considered, Karen Finerman on Monday's Fast Money spoke again about her discovery of convenience-shop chain CST and asked the chairman and CEO, Kim Lubel, if she's "afraid" of CST's exposure to Texas, whose economy could take a beating if oil's slide lingers.

Lubel said she's "certainly not" afraid.

Finerman said CST is intriguing because it's "so direct" as a play on gasoline.

Meanwhile, Karen expressed "kudos" to AGN management for apparently doing well for shareholders after initially appearing to not act in their best interests.

But unlike Joe, Karen also broke our heart in bashing DWA even though it deserves to be bashed. "Why are they so desperate to sell themselves? And what's gonna- I'm glad that Hasbro didn't do this deal," Finerman blurted. (This writer is long stench-filled DWA.)

Finerman called GPS "decent value right here."

Finerman said not to chase AET.

Karen Finerman said she likes SUNE (Drink) and made it her Final Trade.

Karen says LNKD-FB sounds a lot like RIMM-AAPL

Martin Pyykkonen on Monday's Fast Money insisted LNKD has a "very different business model" than FB and didn't seem too concerned about competition.

Pyykkonen indicated LinkedIn has quite a moat, stating "it's game over already" in the corporate HR field.

Apparently implying skepticism of Pyykkonen's argument, Karen Finerman said the LNKD-FB battle is "very reminiscent" of the old AAPL-for-consumers/RIMM-for-business rationalizations.

Melissa Lee's intro about Japan was so sleepy we barely made it past the first 8 minutes of the program, but Guy Adami happened to say, "I'm convinced they've lost total control" (Drink).

Dennis Gartman remembers 365 yen to the dollar and 250 yen to the dollar (Drink).

Guy Adami said GE needs "to make a move in the energy space" but made the stock his Final Trade.

Guy Adami said to sell AMZN and claimed YHOO is now "impervious" to BABA moves.

Guy said LOCO's valuation is a little "scary."

Dan Nathan said you can be long GM with a 31½ stop.

Nathan warned that GOOG has started topping out and made sell GOOG his Final Trade.

Nathan said someone bought November 66.50/63.50 put spreads in TGT.

John Jannarone said JD.com's lockup expiration is "something to be, you know, concerned about."

Brian Kelly's Final Trade was GDX.

Shocker from Joe:
DWA-HAS deal will happen

DWA holders watching financial news last weekend probably felt a lot like Steelers fans watching last week's game against the Jets (double trouble don't dare go there) and are probably resigned to writing off this embarrassing, decrepit, suck-ass stock by year-end. (This writer is long DWA.)

But hold on — Dr. New World on Monday's Halftime Report predicted the HAS deal is anything but done.

"I think it's gonna happen ... I think the synergies make sense," Joe told Judge.

Stephen Weiss said he doesn't see "a lot of risk" in owning DWA now that it's been shellacked again.

White House’s tough talk seems to have dampened inversion enthusiasm

In a pharma/Ackman discussion that gets more confusing by the hour, Kate Kelly said on Monday's Halftime Report "it makes sense" for VRX to weigh in to Ackman's latest gambit, ZTS; "I expect to see Ackman go through another one of these again."

Dr. Mark Schoenebaum said when an activist such as Ackman takes a position in a name like ZTS, they generally want cost cuts.

But, "I don't know if Zoetis is gonna get taken out by somebody," Schoenebaum said, insisting the issue is whether cost cuts can be made without gutting the business.

Schoenbaum punted on Stephen Weiss' question about what VRX's next target would be, "You'd have to talk to my colleague," etc.

Not a word about Dan Dicker’s contention that falling oil will kill the economy

Monday's Halftime Report was soooo sleepy that most of it deserves no mention.

But Pete Najarian did say "crap."

Pete decried "the laws of large numbers and all that crap that we always hear" in regard to AAPL and said the stock goes "a lot higher."

Mr. New Land wondered if GOOG needs to try "financial engineering" to get its stock moving. Josh Brown asserted that "Very quietly, Google killed Wallet last week" as an example of AAPL strength.

Joe said health care is a "growth play" and not a defensive play.

Addressing Judge's favorite every-other-week subject, Keith Banks said the "U.S. is the global driver."

Jon Najarian said he thinks "there's more gas in the tank" with BHI.

Pete Najarian said he's starting to think all the bad news is priced in to GM. Stephen Weiss asserted, "I"m not negative; I'm just not buying GM."

Josh Brown said he doesn't see what the "rush" is to buy GM at 32.

Joe Terranova suggested "OPEC has to cut" for oil to find a bottom.

Pete Najarian said he hasn't dumped BZH from his Playbook Playoffs portfolio because "I still believe in the story."

Pete Najarian likes FB's move into workplace connections even if it takes time.

Josh Brown suggested PG selling was little more than profit-taking.

Joe predicted TSN moves higher.

Eric Jackson called for Marissa Mayer to "unlock" $15 in YHOO's price by announcing a Reverse Morris Trust.

Josh Brown suggested ITW, his Final Trade, could be "the next 3M."

Pete Najarian re-pounded the table for GPRO, his Final Trade. Stephen Weiss said VXX and Joe said SJM.

[Friday, November 14, 2014]

Fast Money crew 3 times claims ‘disconnect’ between ‘paper’ and ‘physical’ gold

One common gripe we hear about CNBC's Fast Money is that it's pretty sad when both Pete Najarian and Josh Brown have to do 2 shows in 1 day serious investors, people with real "skin in the game," find the program useless, if not downright bogus.

Surely those suspicions were heightened Friday when bitcoin champion Brian Kelly actually claimed the ruble becomes the strongest currency "if you back it with gold, absolutely."

That made Josh Brown wonder, "Am I having a dream right now?"

Kelly was given an opportunity to explain gold's tailwinds, including the Swiss referendum and assertions that Russia is secretly buying more gold than has been reported, but ended up offering little more than the typical global mumbo jumbo of gold bugs.

Then, it was Guy Adami's turn to once again bring up the (mythical) "disconnect" between "paper" gold and silver and the "physical" commodities.

He even brought it up again moments later.

Brian Kelly even brought it up during Kelly's Final Trade, GDX.

In other matters, Pete Najarian said "BABA goes higher."

Guy Adami credited Pete Najarian's $60 YHOO target.

Guy suggested AMZN is in "nosebleed area."

Dr. Yaron Werber said "there might be a correction at some point" in biotech. Werber trumpeted Tesaro (TSRO), predicting a "blockbuster" in ovarian cancer treatment.

Pete Najarian called NOK a "no-touch."

Brian Kelly called HTZ a "no-touch."

Josh Brown predicted HOG goes higher.

Guy Adami said to stay with TRLA.

Pete Najarian said there was a big buyer of April 35 DB calls.

For the 2nd day in a row, Mel was smoldering Friday, which is why we put that picture above even though Brian Kelly was making a knuckleheaded, lame-brained argument.

Pete Najarian's Final Trade was long AAPL. Josh Brown said TWTR and Guy Adami said MCD.

Person who trades oil for a living says economy suffers from lower gasoline (then says it’s just not 100% positive)

Talk about chutzpah.

MercBloc chief Dan Dicker, who hasn't spent much time around the Halftime Report since he kept calling RIG a buy in the 40s, contended on Friday that "a lot of the passive investment" has "disappeared" from the oil markets.

Dicker actually claimed he would "push back very big" that lower energy prices are better for the economy than higher energy prices. (Seriously. That's what he said.)

Dicker cited jobs in the energy sector, "corporate, um, um, problem in profits ... there's a shareholder problem ... there's a problem in the bond market."

That drew disbelief from Josh Brown, who said 47% of the country lives paycheck to paycheck and that cheaper gas is a huge benefit.

Backpedaling like the Pittsburgh secondary against Michael Vick, Dicker then said he was only questioning "the idea that this is ultimately 100% good for the American economy," citing the "losses in growth and the losses in jobs."

Pete Najarian said WMT will be one of the "beneficiaries" of lower oil. Steve Grasso strangely endorsed AMZN for the same reasons.

Grasso suggested WFT, CJES and SPN are the names that could run as the HAL-BHI deal gets worked out.

Mike Murphy suggested SLB could get a pop.

World Series of Poker must be sponsored by Comcast

In a staggering bust of a booking decision, Judge on Friday's Halftime inexplicably found himself trying to elicit life out of poker champ Martin Jacobson, who likewise probably wondered why the heck he agreed to appear on the Fast Money Halftime Report.

Jacobson told Judge he started out playing poker with his buddies, then he "made a transition to online poker."

Elsewhere, Jerry Storch issued a remarkably stark assessment of the retail space, "traffic is down at all of these stores across the board."

Doc tried to impress upon Storch that Wal-Mart is putting together a "5-day" Black Friday, but Storch scoffed "that whole thing is PR poppycock."

Storch does like KORS, JWN and COST.

Doc said JWN's EPS guidance "was a little soft."

Storch said a HAS-DWA deal is "brilliant in theory," but the execution would be a challenge. (Evidently we'll never find out, given Friday's afterhours news reports.) (This writer is long DWA.)

Doc: Dick Costolo has
‘made his own coffin’

Bob Peck on Friday's Halftime Report said he actually graded Dick Costolo on "10 different (sic redundant) components" of Twitter's analyst day and came up with an "A- or so" grade.

Jon Najarian, in a remarkably cold assessment, said Costolo has "made his own coffin" with his guidance and "built it, nail by nail."

Josh Brown said not to get excited about P's pop.

Mike Murphy claimed the HTZ story (snicker) is "still intact."

Pete Najarian said there are better airline plays than VA.

Doc said December calls in EMC were hot, and he bought. Doc said he'd probably hold them for "2 to 3 weeks" (Drink).

Mike Murphy claimed Judge was just as negative on SHLD as Murphy was.

Josh Brown said "all the bad news is probably out" of JCP; that was his Final Trade.

Mike Murphy's Final Trade was F, Doc said RFMD and Pete said AKAM.

[Thursday, November 13, 2014]

Mel knocks it out of the park

It wasn't her best show of the year (see solar observation below).

But there's no denying Mel looked dynamite in navy on Thursday's Fast Money, and she refereed the program with a refreshing crispness that avoided most of the dreaded bickering-married-couple-routine jokes.

Hopefully she celebrated with a big night Thursday.

Pete: Oil stumbling on
‘margin calls being called’

Guy Adami at the top of Thursday's Fast Money questioned whether the SLBHAL-BHI deal "gets through the Justice Department."

But Pete Najarian was turbocharged to talk up something else: oil's slide.

It's not about demand, Pete claimed, but in fact, "this is all to do with guys that have been levered up, and there's margin calls being called (sic last 2 words redundant)."

But Guy Adami, while for some reason feeling the need to tell viewers what Pete thinks even though Pete just told them himself, insisted, "I think it's more demand than anything."

Anthony Grisanti said it's "probably 50/50" within OPEC as to cutting production. But, Grisanti thinks "we are at or near a bottom for crude oil at this point."

The real question is whether HAS should’ve waited for the stock to possibly drop far enough to do the deal at $25, risking chance shares might improve or someone else tries to buy it first

Well, here we go again.

Not too long ago, this page was lamenting how DWA needs the Jefferson Starship treatment (that would be "Miracles") (sic plural) (listen here on Youtube) to ever escape its sorry, staggering, decrepit and downright embarrassing slide in 2014 from the lofty mid-30s. (This writer is long DWA.)

Somehow the Softbank break emerged — for about 2 days before everyone realized it was bogus and sent the stock from its precarious hint of the upper 20s crashing back to the basement like Greg Brady being grounded.

Now, there's a curious new suitor, HAS, which sounds more like the real deal, although DWA price action Thursday suggested either the Street doesn't believe it will happen or doesn't expect much of a premium.

The truth is that this seems a bit of a reach for HAS. But there aren't many content providers available, and what both Fast Money and Halftime panelists utterly missed is that media can be streaky — for example, you buy NBC in the 6th year of "Diff'rent Strokes" and sell it as "Frasier," "Seinfeld," "ER" and "Friends" are wrapping things up — and it makes far more sense for HAS to be nibbling now than in, say, January-February when DWA hovered at 35.

It's also possible — nobody on either program thought to mention this — that the Softbank report in fact triggered these talks, as HAS indeed might've been waiting for the shares to sink lower but decided it couldn't wait any longer.

However, Fast Money's analysis of this situation was marred by Pete Najarian's stumbling, bumbling, off-kilter analysis that, once he enunciated the correct words, amounted to "HAS shares fell so it's a terrible deal."

Pete actually said the talks are "extremely confusing" without explaining why that is, referring simply to HAS' drop as an indication the Street doesn't like it.

Oblivious to what's going on here, Brian Kelly actually said "it's great to be DreamWorks" and that "of course" HAS wants this content, and the stocks acted "exactly" as they should've.

Then Pete sought the need to clarify for viewers, after Kelly spoke, that if HAS had traded higher Thursday it would show that the Street likes the deal. (Ya think?) Kelly made this mess of a conversation even worse, claiming his point is really that DWA doesn't "necessarily" agree to this deal and HAS might have to pay up, even though nobody could specify a purchase price narrower than "somewhere in the 30s."

Guy Adami called LGF the beta play in the space.

Note to No. 386: CEO says solar sensitivity to oil is ‘de minimis’

SPWR chief Tom Werner visited Thursday's Fast Money to calculate his EPS forecast for viewers and say he wants to offer conservative guidance because his company is a "blue chip" name in the sector.

Mel, whose questions for Werner were extraordinarily long and involved visual-aid hand gestures about stuff hanging on the sides of buildings, got Werner talking about yield cos again, and our eyes started glazing over.

Even though Steve Grasso just said solar CEOs all insist their stocks don't trade with the price of oil but they actually do, Werner sounded like he didn't believe it or never heard it, stating "it doesn't make any sense" and that sensitivity to oil is "de minimis" and in the "long run," the correlation won't exist.

Brian Kelly actually suggested he'd buy SPWR at $16 (it was $28 Thursday). Guy Adami said SPRW "makes as much sense as any of the other ones."

Mel says people ‘most sensitive’ to gas prices are ‘not buying Michael Kors bags’

Liz Dunn, who used to champion Ron Johnson' turnaround plan, visited Thursday's Fast Money and suggested consumers could save an average of $50-$60 on gasoline in the holiday quarter.

Dunn also suggested outlet stores could get a boost because they tend to be out of the way and require long-distance driving.

Waffling like l'eggo my egg'o, Dunn said she was "encouraged" by WMT's report but isn't ready to wholeheartedly endorse. And she suggested the holiday quarter will be "make or break" for ARO.

Guy Adami endorsed TIF.

Guy Adami questioned whether 24% y-o-y inventory growth for JWN matters then shrugged that it apparently doesn't because the stock was up afterhours.

Pete Najarian said monthly AAPL 115 calls were hot.

Dan Nathan said some fat cat bought January 2017 300 calls in AMZN for $72.

Dick Costolo really
wowed ’em on analyst day

Dan Nathan on Thursday's Fast Money predicted a 35-45 range for TWTR "for the next few months." Pete Najarian said he likes the stock at 40.

Dan Nathan said he wouldn't chase KING.

Continuing a bizarre fascination, Dan Nathan continued to complain that PEP is trading too high given its growth.

Guy Adami called BABA's move down Thursday "a lot of noise."

Brian Kelly called SNDK in "no-man's land."

Pete Najarian stumbled through a GILD analysis but called the stock a "great opportunity."

Dan Nathan complained about European banks and said Pete Najarian's on a different investing planet than he is.

Brian Kelly saw fit to pretend to chide himself for a BBRY decision while actually trying to give himself a Brag Trade.

Pete Najarian said he likes DOW and suggested having Dan Loeb in the space "shakes things up" a bit.

Dan Nathan cracked up Melissa Lee with his reference to "Chortals" (Chinese Internet portals).

James Regan spoke about the Jimmy's Run for fallen veterans.

Pete Najarian's Final Trade was MSFT and predicted Miami would "crush" Buffalo on the sorriest TV franchise of 2014, Thursday Night Football. Brian Kelly said to short JJC. Dan Nathan said long QCOM calls and Guy Adami said SLB.

Jeff Immelt continues to avoid CNBC CEO ‘hot seat’ discussions even though he doesn’t own the channel anymore

Judge unleashed a rather intriguing dialogue (no, not about whether BABA's IPO marked the top or whether the U.S. is the best place to invest right now) at the top of Thursday's Halftime Report, asking panelists which CEOs are on the "hot seat."

Josh Brown said of Dick Costolo, "I really don't think that he's done anything wrong," and added Josh doesn't understand the "drama" surrounding the stock.

Doc predicted Dick Costolo's "revenue" assertions will extend his job security.

But Zach Seward rightly pointed out, "I'm not exactly sure what they did yesterday except put some numbers on a slide."

Mr. New Land referred to "Dick Costello (sic)" but said nothing about Abbott Labs.

Mr. New Land carped about Ginny Rometty, "she was handed a championship team, and now they can't even make the playoffs."

Josh Brown complained that John Chambers has converted a "great business" into a "compensation machine." But Doc said the institutions aren't telling him that Chambers is on the "hot seat."

Joe, who quoted Bill Parcells twice, scowled at Judge's notion that Jeff Bezos should be on the "hot seat." (But, he didn't address the Bob Peck/Michael Pachter split over whether Bezos only cares about share price, or cares "not a whit" about share price.)

And, the whole crew virtually laughed Judge out of the stadium in suggesting Jamie Dimon.

While we stated above this is an interesting topic, we will also note — and have noted many times before — that it's an utterly useless dialogue for making stock buy/sell decisions.

Judge notably hasn’t brought in Fish to discuss oil’s slide

Dr. New World on Thursday's Halftime Report contended that oil's slide could bring "the headlines from Ukraine back in the marketplace again," when in fact sliding oil is probably part of the Western world's punishment for exactly that Ukraine meddling.

Anthony Grisanti actually told Jackie DeAngelis crude has a lot more upside potential than downside potential. But Jim Iuorio asserted "there's no reason" to buy it.

We couldn't figure out why GE exec John Rice was tapped to speak about the company's drilling investment in Brazil. (Maybe that's one reason his boss isn't on the Halftime Report's CEO "hot seat.") Judge told Rice "this is a technology story in and of itself (sic last 4 words redundant)."

Doc said the Virgin America IPO float is so "razor thin" that he thinks the shares will only go up.

Joe cited Vincent Viola's "resurrecting" Eastern Airlines as evidence that the airline story continues.

Joe: HAS-DWA a ‘good deal’

Joe Terranova on Thursday's Halftime Report pronounced a DWA takeover a "good deal" for HAS. (This writer is long DWA sadly.)

Stephanie Link suggested it's "a good thing strategically long term" but is expensive. Doc said it's OK to disagree with the deal as MKM does but seemed chagrined that someone would say it doesn't make sense.

Herb Greenberg said Warren Buffett is interested in Duracell because Joe Barton finally went "on the record" Spectrum Brands said the battery business brings "spectacular cash flow."

Stephanie Link called WMT a little ahead of itself.

Joe Terranova indicated he likes WMT, TGT, COST over KSS.

Josh Brown said if JCP holds 7, you want to buy it.

Doc said he's still in "half" his DNKN trade.

Doc said PEP November 100 calls were popular.

Judge fed the publicity for Al Roker's curious endeavor, and everyone noticed the jackass in the background playing for the camera.

Josh Brown's Final Trade was SPWR, which he previously had to defend to Judge. Stephanie Link said DG, Mr. New Land said to short IWM and Doc said DSW.

[Wednesday, November 12, 2014]

Silver Wheaton CEO: ‘Paper’
market is ‘house of cards’

Suddenly, after a long hiatus, we're at Day 2 of the "disconnect" between the "paper" precious metals market and the "physical" precious metals market.

SLW chief Randy Smallwood joined Wednesday's Fast Money to say his company has margins "in excess of 70%" and claimed (b.s. meter should be going off here) that lower metals prices merely "open up opportunities."

That's when Guy Adami, as expected, elbowed in with his long-running assertion that there's a "weird disconnect ... between the paper market and the physical market."

From that we expected the usual mumbo jumbo agreement, except Smallwood uncorked a head-scratcher in dubbing the "paper" market a "house of cards" that may "fall down soon."

He explained moments later that such a collapse would produce a "spike" in silver prices.

(Yep, that's what he said.)

Smallwood insisted he's confident "we're close to a bottom" in prices.

Guy Adami said he likes both PANW and SLW.

Mel badgers spokesman for a kid, suggests ‘flash in the pan’ and ‘fad’

We had never heard of 2 of the 3 individuals in the picture above ... and after watching Melissa Lee's conversation with both on Wednesday's Fast Money, we still honestly don't really have a clue, except that the dude in the middle seized an excellent opportunity for his apparent guidance-of-young-celebrities business the way Mike Murphy promotes (the next Chipotle) JuicePress. (Don't forget Josh & Barry's Liftoff contraption.) (Skip that; nobody cares.)

Apparently the youngster on the right, Alex Lee, became a Twitter hotshot when a photo went "viral."

Lee humbly told Mel his fame is "pretty overwhelming actually."

Having millions of girls/young women wanting to take your picture is not at all a bad thing. Yet Mel utterly missed the real story here, which we discovered in the New York Times profile of Alex From Target, reinforcing Steve Weiss' afternoon assessment of Twitter with this stark passage: "In addition to death threats, people have leaked the family’s personal information online, including Social Security numbers, bank accounts and phone records."

Whoa.

(Note: We're hesitant to even reference that material because the last thing we need is to ignite some crazies (crazies don't actually read this site), but it's obviously an important part of the story that Lee should've brought up as well.)

Embarrassingly, in one teaser, Mel actually referred to the teenage Lee as "the now infamous (sic) Alex From Target."

Neil Doshi unable to answer Mel’s question as to how TWTR monetizes non-logged-in users

Evidently they didn't discuss it enough at Halftime, so Melissa Lee's Fast Money crew opted to open Wednesday's show with a continuation on Twitter.

Steve Grasso said it remains to be seen whether Wall Street gets the "new metric" of TWTR but asserted it doesn't really matter if users are logged in or not. Grasso said he remains long the name.

Guy Adami reiterated that people "killed" Zuck, Brin and Page and now they're geniuses; "I think Costolo will be a genius as well (snicker)."

Karen Finerman said TWTR is not her type, but "I would not short this thing at all."

Neil Doshi asserted "there's a lot of things" Twitter can do to monetize those who look at it but aren't logged-in users but, even given a couple tries, couldn't explain how.

Doshi didn't seem as enthusiastic as Steve Grasso about GOOG buying TWTR but pointed out several other big-cap tech names that have a lot of money.

Don’t tell the Nardashians, but Adam Parker referenced the Microchip forecast

Adam Parker, who seems to give himself credit for being bullish further back in time than he actually was (we need to look up if he indeed was pounding the table "2 years" ago as he suggested), visited with Wednesday's Fast Money and suggested we could be "in the middle of the longest expansion ever," perhaps to 2020.

Parker scoffed that it's "very astrological" to say the rally's due to end simply because it's been going 5 years.

Refreshingly, Parker utterly stiff-armed Guy Adami's contention that Japan has "lost control" of its markets, even re-phrasing Guy's question into a U.S.-slowdown-is-the-biggest-risk mantra.

Parker predicted small-caps would outperform and he said he likes health care, software and (yes) retail, based on oil's price.

Karen Finerman said she's "agnostic" about small-caps but wouldn't want to be short them anymore.

Karen impressed by M (Drink)

Karen Finerman on Wednesday's Fast Money relished the chance to discuss why M (Drink) was up Wednesday, sensing a "classic sandbag" from management's lowered guidance.

Guy Adami predicted M goes higher (Double Drink).

Mel suggested the possibility of "kitchen-sinking it" (Drink) at JCP. Steve Grasso said there's no catalyst but also said he wouldn't short it.

Mark Sue said CSCO's weak guidance is related to soft spending by carriers. Guy Adami said if you're long the stock to think about getting out and buying it cheaper. Steve Grasso questioned how long CSCO's margins can avoid sinking.

Steve Grasso asserted "there are a lot of synergies" (snicker) between YHOO and AOL and said he's still got a 20% YHOO position (Drink).

Guy Adami stated YHOO is "beholden" to the price action in BABA.

Karen Finerman insisted she was "lucky," not "smart," to exit Softbank when she did.

Karen Finerman merely summarized BID without making a call.

Guy Adami said to buy JBLU "in the aggregate."

Steve Grasso said not to buy FOSL.

Mike Khouw said DNKN December 50 calls were popular.

Steve Grasso's Final Trade was BBY. Brian Kelly said YCS. Karen Finerman said RNF and Guy Adami said FEYE.

Stephen Weiss was well-prepared for Steve Milunovich’s AAPL price target upgrade

Steve Milunovich told Judge on Wednesday's Halftime Report that UBS conducted a "proprietary UBS evidence lab survey" and that "a fair amount" of the rationale in hiking his AAPL price target to 125 is based on China.

Milunovich suggested the Street is "probably too low" on iPhone sales, and that a "huge amount" — 19% — of Samsung subscribers "are looking to switch" to Apple.

Stephen Weiss scoffed that 1) the iPhone is expensive and won't get the China share Milunovich predicts; 2) Milunovich's price target is only about 10% upside from here which is basically nothing for any stock, and 3) once COH and ANF started talking about China, that was the top.

"No offense Steve, good guy," Weiss said.

Halfway through season, Joe Theismann already into his 3rd and 4th Super Bowl picks

His football calls are momentum trades, but his stock picks are anything but.

Joe Theismann, once knocked by Eric Bolling on Fast Money for "averaging" down into Six Flags stock (strictly because Joe was buddies with the ESPN guy who was taking over), visited with Judge's gang Wednesday and actually endorsed KOL while faulting the Obama administration for hurting the sector.

Theismann also likes AMLP, for its dividend and its role as a "toll road" for moving oil.

Josh Brown, like Lyle Alzado in Super Bowl 18, bore down on AMLP by stating holders don't get the full effect of the MLP structure. Joe brushed that off, insisting AMLP is a long-term play.

Theismann told Pete Najarian he doesn't invest in rails or airlines because he doesn't follow those sectors.

Joe admits he liked Cincinnati and San Diego for the Super Bowl but "put the curse" on both teams, so now he likes the Packers and Patriots.

‘Host of folks’ want to buy TWTR

In the most bone-headed TWTR endorsement heard recently, Josh Brown asserted on Wednesday's Halftime Report, "You know Carl Icahn added 18 billion onto the value of Apple in 15 seconds with a tweet."

As if he wouldn't have added the same amount by calling Judge on live TV.

Stephen Weiss took issue with Brown and Pete Najarian for making Twitter sound like the invention of the telegraph, grumbling that it's "kind of a shock" to think that "in 140 characters, you're gonna set foreign policy."

Furthermore, Weiss speculated that Twitter is "a place for negativity" that he doesn't like very much, except for his "notification page," perhaps because he's "self-absorbed."

Nevertheless, "Short-term, I actually think the stock's bottomed," Weiss said.

He seemed to find an ally in Jon Najarian, who professed that traders rely on Twitter but that in general, "Quite frankly, not a lot of people get the- the quick back-and-forth at 140 characters or less."

Doc said "kids at Stanford and at Berkeley and at MIT, are not using Twitter, they're using Facebook."

Even so, Doc insisted there's a "host of folks" willing to buy TWTR if there was a "significant whoosh" to the downside.

Later, Julia Boorstin, who looked dynamite, reported that TWTR was rising because Dick Costolo said new users can access an "instant timeline," and the company is making it easier for users to "communicate on a 1-on-1 basis."

Josh Brown pointed out that Twitter launched Twitter music, then "very quietly put a pillow over its face." Stephen Weiss said he likes the new enhancements.

Rebecca Minkoff says
‘half-naked’ on CNBC

Rebecca Minkoff, whose hair was remarkably perfect, did a cute little sit-down with Courtney Reagan on Wednesday's Halftime and said that for a female shopper, her eBay partnership means "she can have her own personal store" and get almost a VIP-like experience without having to summon clerks only partly clothed.

eBay exec Steve Yankovich said that deploying this system in brick-and-mortar shops is "a natural progression" with "incremental revenue potential."

Doc said he likes EBAY because Carl has been in it, but Doc isn't in it because he hasn't seen recent options activity.

Weiss playing the jockey in ZTS

Stephen Weiss on Wednesday's Halftime Report said "it sort of makes sense" to follow Bill Ackman into ZTS, failing to note that sounds like the same "jockey" type of recommendation that Weiss called out Herb for a day ago.

Pete Najarian pounded the table for FL and said its tailwind continues through 2015. Doc trumpeted TJX for no apparent catalyst. Josh Brown really pounded the table for WMT and TGT.

Pete Najarian thinks "there's room" in JBLU and that all the airlines are a buy.

Doc summarized the YHOO news and utterly failed to make a call. Pete said he expects the stock to reach 55.

Doc said people were making "almost a binary bet" on SPLS November 14 calls. Doc is anticipating holding his own calls for 2 weeks 1 week.

Anthony Grisanti told Jackie DeAngelis he sees upside in nat gas at 4.20. Scott Nations said he doesn't think we'll see 6.50 this winter.

CNBC's Sister Golden Hair reported that Goldman Sachs named 78 partners and now has 467.

Pete Najarian made a lukewarm case for homebuilders and even cited "pent-up demand" without really making a buy call on the space. Stephen Weiss insisted "The housing stocks are done, period."

Stephen Weiss said OCN has a Lawsky catalyst. Josh Brown said BAC made a "contrarian" call on energy and likes HES, XEC and OXY. Pete Najarian likes OC.

Jon Najarian's Final Trade was DNKN. Pete Najarian said SPY long. Josh Brown suggested "Gene (sic) Murray Dance Schools" and apparently TWTR. Stephen Weiss said GILD.

[Tuesday, November 11, 2014]

Guest floats $30 a barrel; Guy Adami doesn’t mention the fund(s) he was sure were ‘blowing up’ over the Nikkei’s surge last year

Raoul Pal, who for some reason was given 2 hits on Tuesday's Fast Money, first said oil has supply and demand issues. (But Dennis Gartman thinks crude has "whale oil" issues.)

Pal said a dollar breakout could really stick it to oil; "it looks like it's only just started," suggesting possible $30 a barrel.

Later, Pal pointed out that Japan's total central bank assets as percentage of GDP, compared with the other big economies, has "positive divergence on a gigantic scale." He predicted the euro could fall to .86.

Guy Adami asserted that Japan has "already lost control," and it's a "scary thing" that won't be "pleasant at all" when it eventually unravels.

Steve Cortes insists the entire solar space is a ‘joke’

Vivint Solar chief Greg Butterfield said on Tuesday's Fast Money that "people are misunderstanding" VSLR's revenue mix.

"The bad news is, there is seasonality," Butterfield admitted, in a performance that isn't making anyone forget Dave DeWalt's impressive bounce-back of a week ago.

Tim Seymour and Karen Finerman simply endorsed SUNE.

Steve Grasso said "every" solar CEO insists crude doesn't affect solar-stock prices but in fact "they trade down in lockstep."

Trade School bust: No. 386 mistakenly refers to a pairs trade as a ‘catch-up trade,’ confusing Mel

In an opening Tuesday even more tepid than the Halftime Report's, Fast Money decided to tackle the raging topic of ... housing recovery.

Steve Grasso predicted a continued KBH run into year-end.

Karen Finerman said USG "is interesting to me," while Tim Seymour got to trumpet MBT CHL Cemex (Drink).

Guy Adami said "Now's the time to sell Home Depot, buy Lowe's."

Steve Grasso insisted the "catch-up trade never works;" he was referring to pairing companies against each other but Mel mistakenly thought Grasso meant "catch-up" as in trades going into year-end.

‘Benign tape’ sighting

Tim Seymour, in classic doublespeak fashion (Drink) on Tuesday's Fast Money, said the growth "stays" in BABA but "there's not a ton of value here."

Karen Finerman said she'd like to buy more BABA "somewhere south of 110."

Steve Grasso said he's got a 20% position in YHOO and plans to let it ride.

Guy Adami noted AMZN was up on a "pretty benign tape."

For Singles Day trades (sigh), Tim Seymour backed MBT CHL YNDX, stating it will outperform Russia and emerging markets. That stock became Tim's Final Trade. No. 386 said INTC, Karen Finerman said FINL (which also became her Final Trade) and Guy Adami said QCOM.

Instead of just saying it’d be like Time Warner buying AOL, Karen reaches deep into pop culture playbook

Steve Grasso admitted that the Business Insider article claiming Apple should buy Tesla — which once again found a Fast Money time slot hook line and sinker — "does sound kinda crazy."

Karen Finerman called the idea "idiotic" and likened it to Jacko marrying Lisa Marie.

Paul Hickey said retail stocks underperform from Thanksgiving to New Year's, which is basically Jon Najarian's point for several months running into late August.

Hickey likes a Karen Finerman favorite, PLCE, plus CATO and (Drink) AMZN. Karen of course endorsed PLCE. Steve Grasso pounded the table for BBY.

Tim Seymour said not to buy GRPN.

Guy Adami picked MCD over LOCO.

Karen Finerman said she likes DRI.

Steve Grasso said not to short CZR, but don't buy it either.

Mike Khouw said January 41 calls in CCL were active.

Steve Grasso's Final Trade was CMP and Guy Adami said QCOM.

Weiss could’ve just told Herb, ‘That’s exactly the blunder I made with my Floyd Trade’

Herb Greenberg, not known as a money manager, sat in with Tuesday's Halftime Report crew to recommend Intrexon (XON), which purportedly only came to Herb's attention after Joe Barton called him and said, "I wanna go on the record." #wow #ohjoy

The company is a "DNA assembly line," Greenberg explained.

"Highly speculative," Judge cautioned.

Stephen Weiss was the only one calling out this farce, getting Herb to admit he knows little about the company and so "You're playing the jockey here."

"It's what you guys do every single day," Greenberg protested, implying he's actually thinking about a career switch.

Josh Brown warned Greenberg that the risk is that "if this guy now turns around and dumps a spot secondary on the market."

The real question is whether Pimco’s CNBC appearances, not AUM, go to Janus

In an unbelievably lackluster opening to Tuesday's Halftime Report, the most exciting discourse was Pete Najarian and Mike Murphy tangling over whether BABA's stunning drop of $4 in one day amounts to a "dip."

Josh Brown is suddenly all aboard with the "internals."

Phil McConkey contended that oil's slide is "almost like a big tax break" (Drink).

Mike Murphy advised keeping a "list" and waiting for a pullback.

Pete Najarian said he might buy more LOCO.

Josh Brown wouldn't buy ZNGA.

Mike Murphy said he doesn't think money will chase Bill Gross to Janus, but Stephen Weiss said it takes time for that kind of transition.

Steve Weiss called RAX "worth owning."

Brendan Ahern said there's a "real macro tailwind" benefiting e-commerce and predicts a positive surprise from Chinese October real estate numbers.

Futures Now wasn't exactly chock-full of information about the Brent-WTI spread.

Very sobering observation is made about the corporate approach to veterans

David Gerstenhaber, who barely moves his head when he speaks, told Judge on Tuesday's Halftime Report he is "very impressed" by the Japanese central bank and likes the Nikkei.

Gerstenhaber, who was referred to as a "Tiger Cub" about 14 times during the broadcast, called DAL a "relatively easy, uh, pick."

Jan van Eck hailed the debut of his China bond fund and gushed with Bob Pisani about how starting next week, Shanghai stocks will be open to U.S. investors.

Col. Jack Jacobs contended that industries say they want to hire veterans, but mostly because they "feel guilty," when in fact "veterans are the best people you can find," so actually "it's not charity."

Pete Najarian's Final Trade was GS. Josh Brown said RYF, Stephen Weiss said THC and Mike Murphy said F.

[Monday, November 10, 2014]

At the rate she’s going, Meg Tirrell is going to be curing cancer

Meg Tirrell, on fire on so many levels, on Monday's Fast Money breezed through a staggeringly thorough discourse on liver disease and the state of Dendreon so impressively that host Melissa Lee was compelled to attempt a 1-up afterwards, adding that Provenge can cost $93,000 per treatment.

Guy Adami said the play is GILD (Drink).

Dick Costolo’s ‘logged-out users’ continues to perplex

Mark Mahaney told Monday's Fast Money gang in person that valuation does matter with BABA and thus, with a $130 target, he considers it a "small buy."

But where Mahaney raised eyebrows was in his contention that AMZN has more upside than BABA, under the notion (Drink warning) that the former is "at the end of an investment cycle." (Drink)

Karen Finerman said she was surprised to hear Mahaney rank AMZN ahead of BABA, because in the case of AMZN, "This valuation seems crazy."

Melissa Lee didn't sound convinced either, stating there are so many "obvious things" that favor BABA over AMZN.

Meanwhile, regarding TWTR, Mel told Mahaney, "I don't understand this whole notion of logged-out users being valuable."

"That's a darn good question," said Mahaney, though it was a statement, not a question.

Dan Nathan, great defender of TWTR, cited Facebook's purchase of WhatsApp (snicker) as a reflection of Twitter's worth.

Nathan said things are "a little frothy" in BABA.

Tony Wible, invoking "an at the end of the day," told Melissa Lee that the president getting his net neutrality ideals through the Republican Congress is a "long shot."

But Wible asserted it's a bigger deal for the cable companies to be linked to utilities than it is for NFLX to be freed of higher fees, claiming those are "relatively trivial" to the $9 billion Netflix has in content commitments and also would serve as a buffer to competitors.

Dan Nathan said NFLX should've been up more on the news, then he kind of dissed Mark Cuban's buy recommendation by claiming the stock hasn't filled in enough of the gap. Tim Seymour on the other hand thinks Barack Obama's statement is a different kind of trouble for NFLX in that it would keep the barriers to entry low.

Dennis Gartman is predicting
the price of natural gas

This page was just saying a couple weeks ago, man, it's been a while since we've heard the old "paper gold" excuse.

Bingo.

Guy Adami on Monday's Fast Money claimed there continues to be a "weird disconnect" between "physical" gold and "paper" gold.

Meanwhile, Dennis Gartman is "not at all" interested in nat gas at 4.50.

Gartman insisted that lower prices will not prompt Iran and others to cut oil production, but rather increase it.

Tim Seymour claimed oil has "more risk to the upside than it does to the downside." Guy Adami endorsed XOM.

Nouriel Roubini, who said he just tries to tell it like it is and not label himself (snicker), predicted the Fed would eventually start to raise rates "slightly later than otherwise" because it wouldn't want to risk getting ahead of the recovery and then have to backpedal.

How many times did we hear ‘all the bad news is priced in’ at $34?

Karen Finerman spent much of her day on Monday's Fast Money opining on 3 stocks, AMZN, M and GM.

Finerman said it was "groundhog day" at GM and bemoaned that in her "2nd time in" with the stock, she "lost money again," and now she's done with it.

(Nobody asked her for her cost basis.)

Much more enthusiastically, Karen got 45 seconds to gush about M; her top argument is that it has "the best management team in the business." But scowling Dan Nathan countered that the M bar is lower because they lowered the bar, and in fact he made sell M his Final Trade.

In his patented, classic doublespeak, Tim Seymour said he doesn't see the catalyst for M but agrees with Karen.

Dave DeWalt’s ‘disruptor’ speech could’ve been just the catalyst FEYE needed

Melissa Lee thought it noteworthy on Monday's Fast Money that S&P is adding an 11th sector, real estate. "It's like learning there's a new planet," Mel said.

Guy Adami said SFM would be "really interesting" if there's a big flush.

Dan Nathan said not to chase TOL.

Guy Adami predicted FireEye goes higher still.

Tim Seymour's Final Trade was JD. Karen Finerman said to sell JPM out-of-the-money calls, and Guy Adami said LGF.

Judge is called ‘dude’

Pete Najarian, credited as the biggest BABA bull among the Halftime Report crew, not only gave the stock a 150 target Monday, he insisted he's not going to trade around with the stock but will put it "in the drawer."

Judge said that BABA has "even beat Apple handedly (sic) over the last month."

Josh Brown, who said "mobilely" (sic), said people mistakenly view(ed) BABA as a retailer, but actually "it's a payment and retailing platform."

Joe mentioned BABA's "specific foc-fus (sic) on the infrastructure" of Alicloud and said it "easily" could reach Pete's 150.

Meanwhile, David Schick said he upgraded TGT because he realized that the inputs to his model were making his numbers better than the Street.

"We like these companies that realize that they strayed away from what they did well; they say they're sorry," Schick said.

Reynolds Wolf of The Weather Channel, reporting from Rapid City, hung a "dude" on Judge.

Far from a rousing endorsement, Mr. New Dude said he would "look with (sic), look at" old favorite UPL (Drink) and SWN as cold-weather plays.

Pete boasts Ferragamos (so much for not trying to appear wealthier than your wealth-management-clients)

John Stoltzfus said on Monday's Halftime Report "it remains a good environment" for stocks, which is why he raised his year-end S&P target (that's known in these times as a short-term call) to 2,080.

Stephanie Link called CMCSK a "gift" down 4%. (This writer is long CMCSK.)

Link asserted MCD is "gonna make progress" and predicted the stock "inches higher."

Mr. New Land said BID deserves to be at 40, only because of the special dividend, and he wouldn't touch it in either direction.

Pete Najarian said not to chase DF on Monday.

Kate Rogers referred to GPRO as "GoPo" (sic). Pete Najarian, who's never bothered by anything going on with GPRO, predicted the stock goes higher (Drink).

In good news for Dave DeWalt, Brian Sullivan reported that FireEye disclosed it notified Apple on July 26 about a potential vulnerability in apps installed from 3rd-party sources.

Pete Najarian said November 35 calls in LGF were hot.

Josh Brown was able to deliver a commercial about Ritholtz Wealth Management's new product for millennials called "Liftoff" and said "at the end of the day" (Drink) twice.

The show's highlight was a visit from Joseph Abboud, who contended "men buy clothes as an investment."

Abboud said the fact Joe Terranova was wearing a striped tie show's he's "sincere" about how he's "really intelligent, really smart."

Abboud recommended a "gray, flannel suit" for Pete Najarian and the others.

Judge carped about the caliber of his panel's shoes, stating "The Mayflower is parked outside," whatever the heck that means.

Judge said he was "surprised" to learn Men's Wearhouse owns a factory in Massachusetts. Josh Brown told Abboud that someone else bought a textile factory in Massachusetts — Warren Buffett.

[Friday, November 7, 2014]

Jon Najarian: TWTR up 5-10%
if Dick Costolo is ousted

If you're a CEO, this isn't exactly what you want to hear.

Jon Najarian, who owned the day, said on Friday's Halftime Report, "If indeed Mr. Costolo is pushed out, this stock gets, uh, 5-10% pop that day."

Najarian identified TWTR as one of 2 stocks "where the CEOs are not feeling real comfortable," the other being IBM, "where I think Ginny is, uh, wearin' out her welcome with that company."

Stephanie Link said TWTR "reminds me very much of Facebook" (Drink) and argued that it is a buy because ad monetization is up and "the stock is hated."

Mike Murphy conceded "I was one to say also that it reminded me of Facebook" (Double Drink) but that the user base in Twitter isn't enough to lift it like Facebook's did.

Murphy would've found himself at odds with Friday's Fast Money crew (below), which after talking each other into it seemed on the verge of canceling the show so they could put in afterhours orders for the stock.

Everyone says they like it; no one actually owns it

Tim Seymour said on Friday's Fast Money that TWTR has support from 36-40 and proceeded to gush about the stock like Sparky Anderson talking about Mike Laga.

Pete Najarian and Brian Kelly also endorsed buying the stock.

However, according to the disclosures at CNBC.com (snicker), none of them actually owns the name.

Guy Adami doesn't either, though he claimed the same criticisms of Dick Costolo were made about "Brin" (sic) and Zuckerberg; "I think he's fine in that spot," Guy said, but he predicted the stock sees 38.

Scott Devitt, who apparently has a sell rating, indicated TWTR has user growth concerns but sidestepped a question about whether Dick Costolo is a help or a hindrance.

Tim Seymour claimed Twitter will never have the RPUs of Facebook. Guy Adami protested that all the traders use Twitter as their "news source" and it's Facebook that's the "noise."

Now your dinner date with Mel has to include not just the panelists but 3 of your friends

Melissa Lee noted with savvy on Friday's Fast Money that Brian Kelly was trumpeting GDX calls just days after his loopy "vomiting-camel" argument against gold, then tried to define "rhombus" (she described it as "4 equal sides").

Pete Najarian called KO a "great opportunity."

Pete Najarian also said MNST goes higher. Tim Seymour warned not to touch ANF and Guy Adami said not to touch SLXP.

Pete said April 60 calls in YHOO were hot.

Guy Adami said that in the wake of SHLD's move, take a look at JCP.

Mel said that for a $30,000 bid to the Lulu & Leo Fund, the Fast Money gang will treat the winner and 3 friends to dinner. But there was no reference to what bidders really want, which is Mel to agree to spend time on the dance floor (particularly if she wears that hot navy frock she had Friday).

Tim Seymour's Final Trade was T. Pete Najarian said YHOO is going "much further" than 50. Brian Kelly said to short FXF and Guy Adami said FFIV.

Stephanie’s move illustrates how useless the Playbook Playoffs are

We don't want to sound like curmudgeons bashing an idea.

But the closer we get to year-end, the more Judge's 2014 Playbook Playoffs looks like worse than an utterly useless enterprise.

Yes, you can take it seriously and regard the contest as a useful indicator of the caliber of investing that these people do.

But first, note that if you suck at this endeavor as Simon Baker did, you simply get erased from the program, as though your losses aren't real (to the extent these make-believe accounts are real).

Note that the traders are only allowed 5 stocks at a time, and only 5-10 trades a year (we lost track), and have virtually no way to hedge, etc.

Not only that, in real life, unless you're going to die Jan. 1, the notion of making the most money you possibly can by Dec. 31 at perceived higher risk of losing it than sticking with your favorites that might take longer to pay off makes no sense.

So we're now into the artificial beta chase, evidenced by Stephanie Link's revelation on Friday's Halftime Report that she dropped GOOG from Cramer's her Playbook Playoffs portfolio in favor of URI, strictly because URI is seen as having more explosive move potential in the next couple months.

The goal and the rules of this contest bear almost no relevance to reality.

We said from the beginning, for a variety of reasons, we wanted Dr. New Land to run away with this title, or perhaps if that couldn't happen then Simon Baker.

But the Patriots in this case (that would be the Najarians) have only competed with certain rightful indifference toward the contest (Pete hasn't made a single trade), so victory (not that we're trying to taint it) is sort of like winning a preseason NFL game.

Judge needs to let this feature quietly disappear and not resurface.

Judge’s opening Friday on tired energy conversations and moderate-to-enthusiastic bull market calls was a bust

No. 386 told Judge on Friday's Halftime he "wanted to see the S&P give a little bit back," but that's not happening, so he predicts a "beta chase going into year-end."

Grasso called DIS a "no-brainer" going into the end of the year.

Dave Kudla said it's risk-on, and those waiting for an encore to the October correction should know it's "all we're gonna get." Kudla wasn't any more specific than that he likes financials, technology and small-caps.

Doc hailed the fracking plays while Stephanie Link contended that certain energy stocks are doing better as spot crude continues to do worse.

Pete Najarian got tangled up in calling NSC "Northrup."

When margins are weak,
it’s always intentional

Hardeep Walia, one of the Halftime Report's best guests even if we're not really quite sure what Motif investing is all about, told Judge Friday that a hot Motif is the "Kings of K Street," which features "companies that lobby the most as a percentage of assets."

"This is a pretty consistent performer," Walia said, suggesting it pays to lobby, rather than the more likely explanation, that the most successful companies have the most needs in Washington and are most able to pursue them.

Rounding out his top 3, the Taking Flight Motif is a fairly obvious airline trade, but Walia said the shale play got on the radar because of Election Day.

Meanwhile, Andy Nahas said his winning stock strategy begins by eliminating companies with harmful products. Then he looks for companies that have the potential to expand revenue 10 times. Then he looks for companies with recurring revenue.

Nahas likes VIPS, a stock Judge has brought up recently. Steph Link asked Nahas if he worries about the margin story. Nahas said VIPS has made a "conscious decision" to invest more in hopes of more market share.

Doc dabbles in FSLR

Michelle Caruso-Cabrera joined Friday's Halftime Report to explain the slide in the ruble and how it's hurting the Russian economy, but it's unclear whether Vladimir will change his ways. Doc called the RSX a "falling knife" and doesn't think you can jump in.

Doc said he sold puts in FSLR and will find out next week if he caught a falling knife.

Pete Najarian predicted LOCO can raise prices as Chipotle can and will go higher, an argument endorsed by Doc.

Pete also suggested "all the pieces are in place" for TGT to perhaps start buying back stock.

Mike Murphy said NEM got a "dead-cat bounce."

Harkening back to the top 25 dinner, Judge and the gang told everyone how great Kevin Plank and Mickey Drexler are.

Jon Najarian's Final Trade was EMES. Pete Najarian said UAL and predicted 60, Stephanie Link said MRO and Mike Murphy said DIS.

[Thursday, November 6, 2014]

Karen sure had her troubles getting wired in that foxy black dress

They sure looked great.

But Thursday's Fast Money felt like an afterthought as the gang was already in party mode before the program even started.

Guy Adami, who was earnest enough, opened the show stating the afternoon's BAC news is another signal to buy MS.

Karen Finerman insisted BAC's move is just a "tiny blip" that won't even be remembered in a few months.

Despite a lengthy BAC report/explanation from Kayla Tausche, Finerman insisted it's all just "noise."

Chris Rolland visited the set and insisted QCOM is a buy under 70 despite the "3 grenades" that were dropped on Wednesday. "It's not the end of the story," Rolland said.

Pete Najarian called LOCO a buy "at lower prices."

Karen Finerman said DIS is richly priced and that she intends to sell some spreads on Friday.

Tim Seymour said he would stay in TAP. Karen Finerman said the shale story is not over for LPG. Pete Najarian said TSLA is an "option-only." Guy Adami called WBMD a "no-touch."

Karen Finerman said LGF is too expensive for her but might climb in the run-up to the next "Hunger Games." Guy Adami admitted again he thought TKMR would hold 23 (Drink).

Any excuse for a formal banquet is fine. Honestly, we're getting kinda tired of the 25-year celebration at CNBC (oddly enough, in a year that has produced virtually no innovation except buying a batch of "Shark Tank" episodes), specifically in the manner of all these lists of greats who have influenced/disrupted the world for 25 years, and the ones who are going to influence/disrupt for the next 25 years ... yeesh. Can't superrich entrepreneurs and visionaries just be humble about their success instead of having to be put on a list every 5 minutes ...

So we didn't get terribly excited when Narayana Murthy asserted that India is going to be more accommodating to U.S. companies.

Pete Najarian said DFS January 70 calls were hot.

Mike Khouw said there was 9 times average put volume in BZH January 2017 10 puts but suggested it could be someone hedging a bond position. Tim Seymour invoked air quotes when saying "bubble time."

Regis Philbin offered KORS as a Final Trade. Tim Seymour and Karen Finerman said to sell DIS, Pete Najarian said FL and Guy Adami said QCOM.

Guy Adami asked Regis Philbin what he likes most about Fast Money. Philbin's answer was, "These 2 women." Humma humma.

Doc: Gasoline prices have no impact on Tesla sales

Rather evasive on stock selections, Steve Kernkraut told Judge on Thursday's Halftime that the 3rd quarter in retail has been "sluggish" and advised keeping a list of names to "cherry pick" in a couple of weeks.

Kernkraut said the iPhone is siphoning discretionary dollars and in the process, women's apparel and teen retailers are "just getting slaughtered."

Jon Najarian endorsed KORS as a play on lower gas.

Doc said he bought TSLA and sold puts and disclosed it "to all of our subscribers yesterday," but he has already sold the shares, "Knock on wood."

Semi-addressing the intriguing point that has only been raised by Dr. New World recently, Doc insisted no one is buying a Tesla based on gasoline prices.

Average actively managed mutual fund is underperforming index funds in 2014

After a technical glitch, Paul Richards affirmed on Thursday's Halftime he's still "very, very bullish" on stocks.

Doc said "lower for longer" works for him, and Mike Murphy offered "seasonality" as a reason to like stocks.

Gillian Tett said "the pressure is mounting" on Draghi because inflation is below the ECB's target.

Dom Chu reported that "the average mutual fund that's actively managed is actually underperforming index funds so far this year" and even invoked Gary Kaminsky's morning comments about all kinds of closet indexers lagging in which Kaminsky boldly claimed, "There is no way you can have a correction, a major correction when you have that many people trailing the benchmark." (Funny how no one ever cites Joe Kernen's morning comments, especially the ones about Ireland using the pound.)

Doc claimed people long ETFs aren't flipping them "the way they get panicked out of stocks."

Oh joy — buy QCOM to hit 70

Jon Najarian on Thursday's Halftime Report argued that QCOM should be down as much as it is but predicted it tops 70 "probably by early in January."

Mike Murphy argued "Qualcomm was a great company," stressing "was." Pete Najarian first called the stock a "no-touch" but, parsing like late 1990s Bill Clinton, said if he had to do something, he'd be a buyer rather than a seller.

Stephanie Link said GS is "very much at my target price," so Cramer sold.

Link picked KR over WFM.

Brian Stutland told Jackie DeAngelis that the dollar is "suff- suffo- suffocation" for commodities.

Doc explained the difference between "worth less" (sic 2 words) and "worthless" (sic 1 word) and stressed it's only the former for GNW.

Pete Najarian advised staying away from GNRC.

Mike Murphy said NDLS looks a little rich, so only use options.

Another elite guest uses Halftime to trumpet Juicepress

Michael Karsch on Thursday's Halftime Report told Judge that in stock-picking, "you need to be more selective than the last time I came on the show."

Karsch also referred to discussing the gap between the cost of debt and equity in his last appearance.

The problem with all that is that we don't remember his last appearance.

Karsch likes PFE and VRX and explained he bought DNKN franchises, rather than the stock, in Austin because while the franchise might take 3 years to pay off, it's a cheaper valuation, and also because Austin is "specifically a great city."

Karsch hailed Juicepress and even likened it to "Chipulte" (sic pronunciation).

Sara Eisen sighting

In a rare treat for Halftime Report viewers, CNBC superfox Sara Eisen reported Thursday that GMCR is a "disruptive" company and mentioned "sexy" (yes-yes-yes) at least once.

(Actually, Eisen spent all day talking about GMCR, and later in the day revealed, "I'm a whiskey/bourbon drinker myself. I like it with a little ginger ale or ginger cocktail.")

For "sexy" staples picks (groan), Mike Murphy offered PEP, Stephanie Link said UL, Doc said TAP and Pete said COST.

Doc's Final Trade was DFS. Mike Murphy said CBS, Pete Najarian said MSFT and Stephanie Link offered UTX.

[Wednesday, November 5, 2014]

(Why we’re virtually certain) Judge doesn’t think HLF is a pyramid scheme

We are not putting words in anyone's mouth.

This site reviews television, and we are merely inferring from what we saw.

(This writer also has no position in HLF and has never had a position in HLF.)

Tuesday, this page singled out Jim Lebenthal for a spectacular question on the Halftime Report after Scott Wapner's interview with Herbalife CFO John DeSimone, asking Judge, "Do you think this is still a pyramid scheme? Is that- is that where you're goin'?"

Caught off-guard by the question, Judge could barely sputter, "No. 1, It's not my job to answer that question; No. 1 (sic "No. 1" twice), I don't know ... I'm gonna dodge that one."

In the final years of the network news triumvirate, Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather and Peter Jennings, some observers used to complain that this most-respected trio of broadcasters did little more than read the same teleprompters that low-paid staffers at Headline News were reading at 4 a.m.

Surely, people at the forefront of the news business should have valid opinions to share.

Unfortunately, too many view themselves as little more than a traffic cop, evidenced by Scott Wapner's protestations Tuesday that "it's not my job" to assess whether HLF is a pyramid scheme.

Seriously?

Here's the reality: One person, whose opinion is respected, says HLF is a pyramid scheme. That makes it a story.

Nobody at/affiliated with CNBC has investigated Herbalife as much as Herb Greenberg. Greenberg does not call the company a "pyramid scheme," either in his big 2013 profile of multi-level marketing, or his most recent article on the subject, in which Greenberg claims the FTC is "probing whether the company is operating a pyramid scheme."

Yet, this WSJ article only says the FTC "opened an investigation" and "confirmed" it and does not indicate what the investigation is about.

Greenberg uses the term "reset" multiple times, as in a "reset" for the HLF business model. That's a far different claim than "pyramid scheme."

Greenberg and Wapner and everyone else at CNBC is aware of Ackman's presentation(s). If Greenberg won't declare HLF a "pyramid scheme," Wapner certainly won't.

If Wapner believes HLF to be a pyramid, he would've said so. "It's not my job" and "I don't know" are euphemisms for "not to my knowledge."

Why does this matter? If this company is not a "pyramid scheme," there is absolutely no reason to discuss it. Lebenthal understood that perfectly. Wapner did not. To pretend that earnings misses and price targets matter in this name at this point is seriously missing the boat.

Lebenthal spectacularly called Wapner out for that. In fairness to Wapner, he was likely not expecting such a query from a panelist. (And if that panelist is not invited back for a while, this page will notice.) If in the next HLF interview Judge isn't prepared to make "pyramid scheme" the first question, then best to drop the interview entirely and move on to Gemma Godfrey.

How many times did Dave DeWalt use the term ‘disrupt’?

It wasn't too long ago that longtime Friend of the Show Dave DeWalt was telling Fast Money's Brian Kelly that he humbly wants to re-earn trust.

Wednesday, that approach had made a U-turn from defense to offense as DeWalt shrugged off McAfee and Symantec and insisted "We are kickin' their butt," and then actually knocked the investor base.

"Sometimes they don't get the model. Revenue is a trailing indicator of this company's business. Billings is the leading indicator," DeWalt explained.

DeWalt began the interview insisting FireEye is still one of the fastest-growing companies. He also spent a fair amount of the conversation asserting his company is "disrupting" the space, and "there's a lot of chop on that" (whatever that means).

DeWalt told Missy Lee, "I can't yet" buy shares of the company.

Mel used air quotes around "good enough" when referring to DeWalt's competition of Palo Alto.

Tim Seymour said he's "neutral" on FEYE stock. Guy Adami said, "I think you buy the stock here."

Dan Nathan said he'd buy FEYE in the mid-20s. Steve Grasso cautioned that if you get long PANW, use a tight stop.

Guy: Buy TSLA

In a stark assessment of prevailing charts, Dan Nathan on Wednesday's Fast Money predicted 200 for TSLA "over the next couple weeks."

But Guy Adami called the stock a buy. "I think you can chase it here," Adami said. Steve Grasso agreed.

Jamie Albertine, who has a $400 target, contended that TSLA is going to be able to "upsell" its cars with new enhancements, then tangled with Mel over the definition of "air pocket."

Tim Seymour, who shouldn't even be asked to opine on this topic, said, "I'd never chase this stock" (Drink) and then criticized road-mapping production through 2017.

Phil LeBeau said Elon Musk said he's not going to give out monthly sales figures because "the media read nonsense into numbers."

Been a long time since we’ve heard a gold bug claim on Fast Money that the selling is only in ‘paper’ gold

Jens Nordvig, who was crowing a few weeks ago about how his March Fed rate hike is becoming consensus (except it's really not), visited with Wednesday's Fast Money to say he's waiting for a tiny tick higher in the euro before shorting again. And, he thinks the dollar's move isn't over.

Guy Adami said it's QCOM guidance that looks "disastrous." Dan Nathan called the company "massive activist bait."

Guy Adami predicted WFM can climb to 45 on a short squeeze.

Steve Grasso said CBS has a double-digit decline in content licensing, and he prefers DIS.

Tim Seymour suggested EWG long and even said "surmised."

Dan Nathan said to wait for a washout in SSYS. Tim Seymour said "Toyota at 135 looks interesting," whatever that means. Steve Grasso predicted BABA can go even higher. Guy Adami said of AMZN, "Now this stock gets very, very dicey."

Daniel Gamba contended that everyone should hold a basket of commodities amounting to 3-8% of his/her portfolio because they tend to go up when fixed income goes down but are not highly correlated to equities.

Dan Nathan said someone bought a big December call butterfly in the XLE.

Melissa Lee urged viewers to bid 5 digits for dinner with the Fast Money gang, to benefit the Lulu & Leo Fund.

Here's the only issue with that: It's not just dinner with Mel, it's the dancing. And there was no suggestion of such. (Nor was it guaranteed that Mel will wear that smoldering green-striped top she donned on Wednesday.)

In any case, the bid now stands at $13,000.

Tim Seymour's Final Trade was OIH. Dan Nathan said to sell TSLA. Steve Grasso said long SO and Guy Adami said MDT.

Pssst: There’s nothing to do

Judge asked Wednesday's Halftime panel to entertain life under a new Congress, and as might be expected, totally missed the forest through the trees.

Mr. New Land said people don't think gridlock is good for markets, but "Why can't it be?"

The obvious response to that is that so-called "gridlock" exists because there's actually, with the exception of pet projects on party margins that don't have broad popular support, nothing to do — ship out the Social Security checks, keep Medicare funds flowing, stop doing wars — and the problem to society is not the "gridlock," but when people in power get bored with gridlock and invent their own projects.

Stephen Weiss said there's a "potential Goldilocks setting" for stocks, at least in the U.S.

Pete Najarian predicted "corporate tax rate" would be a "main focus" (snicker) of Congress.

Doc said Congress will be taking up the XL pipeline, so he likes CNQ but not the tar sands plays like SU. He also likes medical devices.

Fidelity's John Dowd, who experienced yet another of Judge's video delays, told Judge he's got a lot of investments "in the lower-cost companies" that can grow profits in this energy environment.

Dowd likes EOG because it has the "dominant position in the Eagleford." He also likes APC and XEC.

AMZN in the ‘bubble basket’

Kate Kelly joined Wednesday's Halftime to report that Greenlight was down in the quarter ... but up on the year.

More significantly, Kelly said AMZN has been added to Greenlight's "bubble basket" of short stocks.

Doc, who twice cited "368" as the AMZN low and only corrected himself once, said he bought AMZN on the recent disappointment and he's still long because he wants to hold it into Black Friday (Drink). But Mr. New Land said he has shorted it "from time to time" this year and wouldn't buy it now.

Stephen Weiss said he would let AMZN drift higher and then sell it after the holidays and then, taking a page from Brian Kelly, added, "I just think the story's over."

Peter Thiel said he wouldn't bet against Jeff Bezos, "one of the great founders ... of our time," and that Amazon is somehow a "super-hard company to evaluate in general."

Thiel even claimed, "Wall Street is always ... biased against, um, long-term growth," apparently because AMZN's multiple is based on expectation of a windfall in the next quarter.

On other matters, Thiel said Bill Gurley is "quite circumspect" in his comments on Uber growth. "On a relative basis, I think Uber's overvalued," Thiel said.

Thiel praised Tim Cook for his "very courageous move."

Thiel described himself as "probably somewhat more sympathetic to, to the Republicans" but that both parties are in the "Middle Ages" and don't realize solar panels don't work at night and wind farms don't work when the wind doesn't blow, and that government "has become a reactionary force in our society. It's basically something that slows down technology, that regulates it, and that stops it- uh, that stops it from happening."

OK ... it's not always that this page is defending government, but ... exactly what is government doing to stop technology ... is government blocking the Apple Watch? The Amazon Drone? The Tesla Model D? Yahoo's hire of Katie Couric?

Not surprisingly, like so many guest conversations on Halftime/Fast Money, this one went unchallenged.

TWTR’s space ‘gets more
crowded by the day’

Prof. Aswath Damodaran, one of our favorite Halftime Report guests, on Wednesday knocked GPRO as being "priced like a social media company."

Which, to be totally honest, wasn't much of an argument, and the interview surely wasn't one of the professor's most convincing.

But, Damodaran cautioned, don't get "crazy and sell short."

Damodaran also knocked Twitter at 40, conceding he might have an "inherent (Drink) bias" against the company, but he thinks "this space gets more crowded by the day."

Pete Najarian insisted GPRO has a lot of room internationally.

Mr. New World said EXPE is "much better" than TRIP.

Doc called KORS a "gift" on the selloff.

Joe, the only one with the foresight to suggest this angle, reiterated his intriguing comment that TSLA isn't a buy with oil falling.

Jeff Kilburg still thinks
there’s ‘opportunity’ in gold

Jackie DeAngelis, caught a bit early by the camera for Futures Now on Wednesday's Halftime, did a minor hair flip.

Jeff Kilburg, who always says now is the time to buy gold, said it "could be a good opportunity" here.

"I don't own a single ounce," said Brian Stutland.

Doc predicted a big flush in gold but isn't sure whether it might be $1,050 or $1,000. Dr. New World said it would take foreign central banks jumping in to be bullish on gold.

Steve Weiss said to avoid NUS.

Pete Najarian suggested other names in the security space besides FEYE but predicted an "interesting interview" with Dave DeWalt on Fast Money.

The Nardashians said it's time to get out of AMAT options. Doc said JBLU January calls were hot.

Stacy Rasgon told Judge "there's been worries that Intel has been overshipping the market for a while." Rasgon insisted to Pete Najarian that his sell-INTC call is not related to the PC market but what Intel is shipping.

Stephen Weiss' Final Trade was THC. Pete Najarian said MS, Jon Najarian offered CNQ and Joe offered DVN.

[Tuesday, November 4, 2014]

Mel beaming on birthday
(reported 1st at cnbcfix.com)

Tom Kloza on Tuesday's Fast Money earned a gold star right off the bat by wishing Mel a happy birthday, then said companies selling gasoline actually "love this" because of high margins.

"Goldman Sachs being bearish on oil is like Donald Trump endorsing Rosie O'Donnell," Kloza said.

Jamie Baker affirmed that there's no getting around the fact cheaper oil is a plus for airlines. He said the purest play on sliding oil is AAL.

No. 386 parsed like Bill Clinton in the 1990s in trying to explain which oil names you should play (eventually he got to HAL).

Karen Finerman suggested CST Brands (CST), which runs convenience-store gas stations, as a play on falling gas.

In a celebratory drink at the end of the program in honor of Melissa's birthday, Nicholas Pollacchi said "whiskey drinkers are much more promiscuous" than "every other drinker."

Still no word about when Fleck is going to restart the short fund that was promised in early 2014

Nutrisystem chief Dawn Zier said on Tuesday's Fast Money that "about 10%" of her company's business is related to the diabetic market and said she thinks her company has "good momentum heading into diet season."

Karen Finerman said she noticed NTRI at 8 and now thinks she might've missed the boat at 17.

Bob Peck hailed BABA's margin as better than it seems.

Dan Nathan once again mentioned BABA "closing at the highs of the year," and we're still scratching our heads as to what exactly that means, other than, presumably, if you buy it now, you're guaranteed not to lose money on Dec. 31.

Karen Finerman said KORS was "overdone," and that "most retailers would be ecstatic to have these kinds of numbers." Karen chalked up KORS' stumble to "a change in the investor base."

Steve Grasso said BBY looks good.

Dan Nathan likened GOOG's death cross to what happened to the IWM over the summer, claiming he bought a December put spread in GOOG.

NXP chief Rick Clemmer said his company is into the "Internet of things." Steve Grasso bragged that "I've made a lot of money in the stock" but admitted he's not in it right now.

Dan Nathan said to take profits in TMUS.

Karen Finerman said of HLF, "You can't play it."

No. 386 predicted THC would be used "as a source of funds."

Dan Nathan for some reason had to go stand at the chart to explain that options players expect a 9% move in TSLA.

Dan Nathan's Final Trade was to sell GOOG. No. 386 said NXPI, Karen Finerman (like Pete Najarian) said FL and Brian Kelly said to sell EWC.

Judge refuses to say whether HLF is a pyramid scheme

Jim Lebenthal, long one of our favorite Halftime guests, seriously boosted his TV street cred on Tuesday's Fast Money by doing something to the host that the host never does to his panelists: demanding accountability.

The star guest was Herbalife CFO John DeSimone, who insisted HLF is "still a growth story" but not up to previous standards.

Judge questioned why HLF is changing a business model it's defended. DeSimone said the company is constantly making adjustments, and then, parsing like Bill Clinton in the 1990s, explained, "It's not a new change, it's just enhancements of that change," DeSimone said.

DeSimone said he's "not at all concerned about what's going on in China."

Judge told DeSimone, "I feel like you're spinnin' me."

DeSimone then upped the parsing while insisting to Judge the company hasn't been predicting legal resolutions but is merely "confident" in its model and practices.

He also said it's possible HLF will buy back more stock.

Lebenthal, in a staggeringly confident assessment, pulled no punches, praising Judge for a "good interview" with DeSimone in which Judge "raked him over the coals."

Then, Lebenthal asked Judge if HLF really is a pyramid scheme. "It's not my job to answer that question," Judge answered in a total cop-out before balking at the notion of whether his interview with DeSimone amounted to "raking him over the coals," clarifying, "I just asked the questions that investors want to know today."

Here's the verdict: DeSimone was not terribly impressive. However, he didn't seem particularly shady either, which means his appearance will presumably help HLF with its immediate goal — survival, not a blowout quarter.

Judge unable to unzip Dropbox chief

And you thought it was frustrating getting answers from the HLF interview.

Judge on Tuesday's Halftime Report admitted the "substantial delay" in his interview with Dropbox chief Drew Houston, who told Judge they don't "share details on any of the commercial terms." Fortunately Judge didn't have to trip over Sister Golden Hair (see below) this time.

Judge asked Houston if he could at least answer whether he'll make money on the Microsoft deal. Houston couldn't.

Judge flagged Pete Nardashian's glowing description of BABA as a "mature" company. Jim Lebenthal thinks there's a "lot of runway left" with the stock.

Jim Iuorio included an "at the end of the day" (Drink) when predicting $65 crude. Jeff Kilburg though told Mandy Drury he expects a "range" of 75 to 86 for the next month.

Jim Lebenthal backed SPLS over ODP.

Pete Najarian singled out FL as an "oversell" and called it "an awesome buy."

Steph Link called S "way too expensive" even after the slide.

Doc said he'd "stay away" from PCLN in the short term.

Doc said he bought KORS Tuesday for himself and clients. Stephanie Link called multiple compression in the name "justified."

Stephen Weiss embarrassment: Floyd Trade HK plunges to $2.75; Judge won’t even mention

Bereft of new material, Judge on Tuesday's Halftime reverted to a new old standby: asking panelists if stocks can go up if oil sinks (Drink).

Jim Lebenthal repeated that it can and pointed out everyone already answered that one.

But, "No one really gave me a good answer," Judge claimed, which is basically a reference to Joe, who had a rocky October and we don't mean Balboa.

Anyway, Pete Najarian on Tuesday agreed with Lebenthal; "It's almost like a trick question."

John Harwood said the consensus is that Republicans will hold the U.S. Senate. Harold Ford actually claimed "there's still a path" for Democrats to find 51 seats (snicker).

Jon Najarian's Final Trade was KORS. Stephanie Link said UN, Pete Najarian said FL and Jim Lebenthal said SJT.

[Monday, November 3, 2014]

Birthday goal: Get Mel Hinged

Tuesday's the big day.

Nothing was said on Monday's Fast Money about Melissa Lee's birthday, but much was said (or, better put, snickered) about online dating.

Justin McLeod, who is chief of Hinge, which we'd never heard of, told the gang he doesn't really consider Tinder a competitor, but that his service is more for people who are "into relationships."

Amid the chuckles and CHD jokes, Missy asked McLeod if he is wanting/expecting to be bought out (Drink).

McLeod said Hinge is only accessible via Facebook. Guy Adami called FB a "steal" at Monday's price.

Dan Nathan must’ve said to buy a BABA pullback at least 3 times

Neil Doshi suggested on Monday's Fast Money that BABA has benefited from a "flight to safety" and predicted an "upward trajectory in the stock" if the quarter exceeds what the syndicate predicted.

Pete Najarian predicted "they crush the number" at BABA.

Missy carped that comparing BABA to AMZN is the "biggest fallacy" because BABA doesn't carry inventory.

Dan Nathan said if BABA pulls back, you should buy it (that's 1).

Dennis’ cash position in newfound bull market left unasked

Dennis Gartman, who is wrong about virtually everything, shucked off the embarrassment of admitting his start-of-a-bear-market call a couple weeks was wrong to visit with Monday's Fast Money and tell Mel he likes AA and propane and steel.

This time, he didn't say anything about being 95% in cash, then warning people not to "misquote" him and changing it to "north of 80%."

Presently, Gartman said the world except Europe is "doing OK."

Dan Nathan said he found that comment "fascinating" because he disagrees.

Fastest-growing network
in prime time

Brian Kelly on Monday's Fast Money said ... this is actually what he said ... that gold is in a "vomiting camel" chart, on top of a rhombus, and is therefore headed to the "splat" depths.

We're not about to waste a moment of anyone's time assessing this cockamamie presentation, however, we will point out that Kelly actually did an impressive job of dealing with a missing chart without enabling dead air.

Pete Najarian, meanwhile, contended that oil's move was attributable to folks who got "blown out" in the energy space.

Opining on JPM's disclosure about legal risk, Guy Adami said "news stories like this reinforces (sic) why Morgan Stanley has risen to the top of the crowd."

Pete Najarian singled out long UTX as his "catch-up" trade, while Brian Kelly said to short XOP. Dan Nathan said BABA (that's 2) based on "pent-up demand" (Drink), and Guy Adami offered FFIV.

How have stocks performed in the past when Russia was creeping into Ukraine, Ebola was spreading in West Africa, a CEO came out as gay and a Democrat was in the White House?

Paul Hickey, a fine chap whose Fast Money appearances grow weaker by the day, explained Monday what happened the last time we had a Democratic president and Republican-controlled Senate and House; it was in the late '90s (guess what happened then) (#usefulsamplesize) (snicker).

Hickey suggested medical devicemakers could benefit if Republicans control the Senate but didn't answer Brian Kelly's question about what kind of election scenario would not help health-care stocks.

Dan Nathan said he wouldn't go fishing for S.

Guy Adami and Pete Najarian referenced the "iWatch" (sic).

Dan Nathan said you can "take a shot" at GM around 30.

Pete Najarian said he saw "extremely active" December 47 calls in DKS. "I think that feeds into Dick's," Najarian said.

Pete Najarian said Pacific Crest made a "gutsy" call on NVDA.

Guy Adami predicted GPRO goes higher.

Mike Khouw reported a big seller of December 55 CBS calls.

Pete Najarian's Final Trade was YHOO. Brian Kelly said to short SLV, Dan Nathan said to buy BABA under 100 (that's 3) and Guy Adami said MCD.

Joe admits October bungle

Kate Kelly visited with Monday's Halftime to report that Dan Loeb and Mike Novogratz had a rocky October, but that Ackman's having a good year.

In a more interesting topic, however, Kelly found herself in an inadvertent scrape with Stephen Weiss over whether hedge funds are riskier than long-only funds or private equity, but the conversation ended unresolved.

That followed an extremely clumsy interview in which Judge got tangled up with CNBC's Sister Golden Hair as to who would ask Visa's Ryan McInerney a follow-up question about Monitise.

Mike Murphy (bear) and Stephen Weiss (bull) tangled over V's direction.

Dr. New World, with a notably neutral game face this time, suggested at the opening that maybe the "Santa Claus rally came in the form of a hallowed- Halloween treat," and then rattled off his scorecard of October calls that you already read here (see below), that he was going to be "amazed" if the S&P topped its BABA high and not knowing the direction of the "next 50 S&P handles."

"Ultimately it just all comes back to central bank policy," Joe said, which sounded a bit like a cop-out, adding that oil's relationship to stocks has "got everyone massively fooled."

Jay Bowen said stocks are "very much a monetary story" and said oil's plunge gave consumers a "multibillion-dollar tax cut." As a result, he likes IP, NVS, Nestle and LEG.

Pete Najarian claimed synergies in LH's deal but said you'll have to wait "a few months" to buy (mark that one down for later).

Joe said to stay with HLT and MAR.

Pete Najarian and Mike Murphy agreed now is the time to downgrade HD.

Pete Najarian pointed to "monstrous buying" in December 42 BRCM calls and said he'll "probably wait at least a couple weeks" (Drink) to unload his own calls.

Craig Kanarick told Judge that we're not seeing anywhere near the IPO level of 1999, and that he likes Uber and Airbnb. Mike Murphy, desperate for a WFM nod, asked Kanarick about the food "niche." Kanarick said he thinks it's more than a "niche."

Pete Najarian endorsed BABA; Stephen Weiss and Mike Murphy said they wouldn't buy it right now.

Pete Najarian says he's got the most stocks he's had in his portfolio for a long time, maybe ever.

Mike Murphy's Final Trade was HTZ (Drink). Joe said CHRW, Stephen Weiss said AAPL and Pete Nardashian said INTC.

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