CNBCfix

Fast Money: 2012 in Review,
biggest stock-picking busts,
and the Call of the Year

It's (past) that time of year again, when we try to make sense out of what we heard on CNBC's Fast Money/Halftime Report throughout the previous year.

Hopefully it somehow made you wealthier, or at a minimum, entertained.

Biggest sign of a top: Citi assigns 3 analysts to cover AAPL; Judge on Nov. 26 welcomes Glen Yeung, Jim Suva and Walter Pritchard to Halftime Report.

Fast Money/Halftime Ego of 2012: Stephen Weiss — A new category and instant favorite. To cull the list — and let's face it, there was ample evidence to cull from — we settled on about 8 contenders, and then a serious Final 4; you know how some folks like to talk, issue Brag Trades, refer to themselves in 3rd person, etc. ... but Short Hills Capital ran over the competition like the Crimson Tide running game.

Now, can Ego be funny? Yes, Ego can be funny. This is the part of the game Weiss still needs to work on, before he risks ending up being relegated to Worldwide Exchange hits at 2:30 a.m.

Best Fast Money Twitter account: Jon Najarian — It's definitely not "Gold 1663.80 +1.60 Copper 368.80 +1.60 Silver 30.470 +.005 Treasuries 2yr .2559 5yr .7869 10yr 1.8710 30yr 3.0729." Keith McCullough comes close and is the best with hecklers but tweets too often about the same subjects. Guy Adami merely tweets responses to unknown questions. Judge insists on stuffy corporate photo and laborious programming guides. Pete Najarian's endless football gibberish in fragment responses is practically indecipherable. Jane Wells would be a shoo-in were she considered a Fast Money regular. Patty Edwards was 2nd-best ... nearly got the nod ... was the emotional favorite ... unfortunately watches wayyyyyyy too much hockey and feels compelled to dis the yinz (leave that to the professionals). No one is close to the realm of Gasparino's trailer-park insults, but he's off the board.

Best addition to cyberspace: Karen Finerman's Twitter account and that gorrrrrrrrjus picture she chose.

Best under-the-radar quality performance: Scott "Judge" Wapner — While often on the receiving end of pointed critiques on this page, Judge more than held his own and sometimes delivered masterful work and proved to be CNBC's probably best-rising host of 2012, although there aren't a whole lot of nominees for that category and if the network doesn't start giving some fresh faces a chance, then anchoring CNBC programs (tip: give Meredith a call) is going to be synonymous with AARP membership in the near future. What Judge still needs to develop — like several others on CNBC — is an off-speed pitch; the high hard one is effective, but a change-up would help elicit something out of guests besides defensiveness.

Best guest: Barry Bannister, Oct. 12 and subsequent appearances: Telling Judge a flat "Hi" when he's introduced ... ignoring panelists' questions ... sticking to the rosiest stock forecasts ... Barry Bannister's too-cool routine embodies the post-2008 stock market; let the governments do the work for you, dismiss the skeptics, enjoy the high-beta; it's just going up, because it is.

Most comfortable with the camera: Keith McCullough — The Hedgeye upstart not only insists on a jacket at the Nasdaq, he lives for the moment when he can say "If you don't get growth right, everything else is wrong" into a camera. Runner-up (tie) is Steve Grasso and Jon Najarian; Guy Adami's once-famous faces have faded away.

Most tiresome Q&A: Whether AAPL or GOOG is the better pick right now.

Most even-handed: Josh Brown — Flowery declarations aren't really his thing, but no one on the show(s) explains both sides of a stock story with better clarity or objectivity.

Biggest executive botching: CNBC Fast Money/Halftime programming "decisions" — We're not sure who to pin this on, and it's undoubtedly more than one honcho involved, but we'll have to settle on "Melloy" since that's who everyone on the show(s) salutes ... Fast Money and the Halftime Report have almost totally lost their long-slipping-away identities, nobody seems really sure what types of programs these are supposed to be; quick-flip approaches (perhaps dubious but there's utterly nothing wrong with that by the way for people willing to try it and accept risks) which were once the supposed basis of the show are basically only expressed now by 2 people, Guy Adami and Jon Najarian, others are verbally piling into the same longs (and in a few cases, shorts) day after day, week after week, month after month, quarter after quarter with no regard (on TV or online either) to adequately expressing the real positions people are holding/not holding in the names they're mentioning; pop culture material constitutes much of the filler now; the panelists generally ask great questions but not when it's the buddy-buddy CEOs who increasingly are the guests; 2012 saw an explosion of Strategy Session-style guests who are high-quality gets for substantive underlying economic/financial themes but too often are fishes out of water on a purported trading show; the best productions are being done on "Options Action" and "Money in Motion" where the dialogue and informative explanations are tight; there is no way 2 hours a day is needed for the Fast Money/Halftime franchise; and oh yes, why in the world are 3 longtime high- quality contributors to Fast Money absent from the show since about the Fourth of July, surely that decision has totally goosed ratings ...

Most ridiculous repeated efforts to trade the same stock: Joe Terranova and Doug Kass and Jon Najarian on the AAPL merry-go-round; Keith McCullough shorting AMZN; Stephen Weiss shorting steel — Yeah, we're sure they all make gobs of money at it, buying on the bottoms and selling the rips. The worst is the AAPL trading, a stock so heavily scrutinized, the traders have about as much chance of successfully mining their own particular edge on this name as picking the day-to-day S&P 500 direction, yet you don't hear them chasing in and out of the SPYders every night.

Worst Fast Money clichés of 2012: “My kids own a bunch of pairs of Uggs.” "The machines are in charge." "They're going to kick the can down the road." "We can't afford any longer to kick the can down the road." “The analyst downgraded after the stock has already fallen 10%.” "Time's running out for your year-end S&P call to be correct." "They're selling the McRib again!" "Could be capitulation." “I can't get behind the Amazon valuation.” "How about those tanned legs in the UPS footage." “It's the Rodney Dangerfield of so-and-so — it doesn’t get any respect.” "Waiting for a big whoosh down." “At these levels, it’s priced for perfection.” “Good thing I’m not wearing the same shirt I was wearing for the Fast Fire.” "Maybe we can get Jon Hamm to stop by." “With the Flash Crash, the BATS IPO, Knight Capital and Facebook, the retail investor has lost confidence in the markets.” “I think the effect of QE wears off the more the Fed does it.”

Most Persuasive CEO to pushover panelists: Irwin Simon, Hain Celestial — Despite the stock's cratering since early September, Simon's bag of goodies had little trouble convincing so- called chart respecters Joe Terranova (Oct. 4, $63.77) and Pete Najarian (Nov. 26, $60.20, "I think at $60 a share, this is actually cheap") to embarrassingly tout the shares.

Most bogus feature: Guy Adami gets a ridiculously incorrect CBI Fast Fire and rightly balks, Aug. 29: “Actually was a decent call … pretty prescient. I don't understand the Fast Fire."

Most physically uncomfortable moment: Joe Terranova shucks off the hoodie before the camera even gets to his opening commentary on Facebook IPO night in May.

Most unimpressive celebrity reference: Joe Terranova said he was on a flight with Danielle Jonas (who?), Oct. 1.

Long time, no see: Mark Fisher, Carter Worth, Reggie Middleton, Jeff DeGraaf.

Fast Money/Halftime Report
best visuals of 2012: Mrs. Mody, you’ve got a lovely daughter

  
  
  

Fast Money quotes of the year

Steve Cortes, FB users, July 31: "If we go ask somebody who is 25 or younger, do you use Facebook, the answer is almost unanimously no."

Karen Finerman, June 7: “There's no more road to kick the can down anymore."

Barbara Marcin, stock market wisdom, Aug. 30: "That's one of the keys to making money in the long term is buying at a good price."

Stephen Weiss, Aug. 30: "It's the lingerie market ... the expectation is better than the reality."

Dennis Gartman, July 26, on visiting SBUX: "Never been to one … I've never owned a watch."

Brian Kelly compares 2012 to the Great Depression, June 13: Could be a "pretty severe economic contraction. That's what happened in '37-'38."

Shaquille O’Neal earns doctoral degree for analyzing CEOs and "whether they utilize humor or seriousness in their leadership styles," May 4: "No CEO, you know, uses one style. They have to modulate between using humor and being serious."

Jon Najarian’s private audience with Jamie Dimon at CNBC, May 10: "2 weeks ago, and he came over to me, Melissa, and we were talking about his quarter and so forth."

Joe Terranova, DKS, March 29: "I like Dick's."

Patty Edwards touts HLF with a touch of unintentional irony, March 9: "The hits just keep on coming ... I will be owning for quite a while."

Guy Adami overestimates extent of London Whale, May 10, with guarantee: "I can almost categorically guarantee it's not just JPMorgan."

Gene Munster defends Scott Thompson’s resume, May 10: "Does it really matter what the person did back in college.”

Patty Edwards claims taken out of context, April 16: "The second that I said that Apple was not a quality stock, which was not exactly what I meant, I got e-mail like you would not believe."

Brian Kelly, online shopping underpromises and overdelivers, April 27: "I know when I order something, and I ask for 2-day shipping, it comes the very next day."

Patty Edwards on Facebook IPO, May 4: "We deal with individual clients day in and day out, and I will tell you that we have gotten more calls from our clients saying, 'Please, buy me some shares as soon as you can,' than I have heard in 25 years in the business."

Patty Edwards on Facebook IPO, May 15: "I've actually had people calling me and saying, 'You know what? We'll wait. We don't want to go in'."

Jon Najarian scolds home viewers who sold week of March 9: "Shame on you. That's why, uh, I guess that's why you're watching rather than trading.”

Ron Insana buys “handful” of JCP shares based on wife’s experience at store, March 14: "I trust her shopping intuition implicitly."

Brian Kelly, Feb. 24: When WTI hits $108 and Brent hits $120, the savings rate skyrockets from 4% to 8%.

Joe Terranova on future of stock trading, Aug. 1: Wants to see exchanges “move a little bit away from the electronic platforms" and "repopulate" the floors.

Dennis Gartman complains feds watch his appearances, Aug. 1: Suggesting KOL as coal play “allows me to get by without the SEC getting on me for bringing up a specific stock."

Patty Edwards on Ron Johnson, Jan. 5: "It's gonna take 9 months to see what he can even begin to do."

Joe Terranova, Dec. 13: "Most of the viewers that watch this show, they're deficient in terms of risk management."

Melissa Lee indicates she does care about politics, with divergent views, Aug. 15: “Off air, I'm all over the place."

Joe Terranova, Sept. 21: “With Seema sitting right next to me Scott, so (sic) I'm happy to be alone right now with you guys away from me.”

Brian Kelly pronounces end of need to short, Sept. 13: "Very clear — buy everything that's not nailed down … I had a guy call me today trying to sell me research on the short side, and I said I'm sorry, but I think you're gonna go out of business because you shouldn't short anymore."

Joe Terranova, Sept. 12: "I know there's a blog out there that writes about our show that complains I talk about Louisiana Pacific way too much.”

Dennis Gartman, Sept. 10: Recommends being long gold in “soymeal” terms.

Pete Najarian on Seattle Seahawks rookie Russell Wilson, Sept. 4: "Gonna have a huge year this year.”

5 Most Contentious
Fast Money/Halftime debates

5. Gina Sanchez balks at Brian Kelly’s assessment of RGE stance, Feb. 28: “It was the beginning of February that, uh, your firm turned bullish.” "If you actually read the whole report of what I said, we were still cautious then as well."

4. Stephen Weiss assesses Brian Marshall’s method of counting iPhone 5 sales, Sept. 24: "It's all b.s. He's assuming they started manufacturing 3 weeks ago."

3. Jim Rogers tells Joe Terranova he’s unaware people buy on 52-week highs, heckles on oil-selloff call, June 11: "That's a new rule for me; I had thought it was buy low and sell high … How low is it gonna go? I wanna mark my calendar.”

2. Stephen Weiss vs. Stephen Roach on calculating Chinese data, Sept. 4: "That's not contracting ... let's go back to high school to figure out that when you have plus 7.6, that's growth, that's not a contraction."

1. Guy Adami vs. Larry Haverty on AAPL earnings, Oct. 25: "The earnings miss — if you look at the statement carefully, which heaven forbid, nobody has done that I've been listening to — the earnings miss was a function of the interest income turning to interest expense because of some charges." ... "Hey Larry I know you're- I'll clear you, if you wanna say it was us, you can say it was us, because the only thing you've been listening to has probably been us, which is fine, but, we talked about their guidance, which was an atrocity, we didn't even bring up the earnings miss, so if you wanna address that, that's fine, but don't sort of talk around, I mean, just if you've got a problem with us, just say, I've got a problem with you guys, don't say what you've been listening to."

Fast Money/Halftime Report
Busts of 2012

Once again, the criteria caveat: Hundreds if not thousands of stock picks are made on Fast Money/Halftime Report yearly (and only knuckleheads would try to keep track of it all). These picks are made with varying levels of decisiveness, interest and time. Furthermore, many picks are echoed repeatedly by multiple panelists. It's subjective. This page gives priority to the "core" Fast Money/Halftime ensemble (as opposed to the guests) and to the more unique suggestions. Some "bad" picks actually can prove profitable if 1) the person sold right away or 2) held forever until it went back up. That's life. The good picks tend to be echoed by the "herd" (that's a nod to Steve Cortes) throughout the year. First a scattering of honorable-mention busts, then the top 10:

Jeff Kilburg, gold, Jan. 18: “$2,000 is coming in 2012."

Ed Sprott gold, May 9: "Over 2,000 by year-end"

Guy Adami, gold, June 7: "Again, I'll say it again, I think 3 months from now, you come back, it's gonna be north of $2,000."

Michael Purves, gold, Sept. 21: "I'm looking for 2,000 by the end of the year."

Rich Greenfield, ZNGA, March 1 ($14.48): "I think this is a meaningful opportunity for Zynga … could see significant upside."

Carter Worth, GNK, Feb. 9: “Fairly well defined bottoming out formation ... we like it a lot."

Mike Murphy touts NAV ($39.27) based on EPA engine certification “big catalyst,” March 8: "At 10 times, you have a $50 number."

Colin Gillis, Feb. 8: “Yahoo's in for a difficult 2012."

Brian Kelly, Aug. 22: "QE3 is not going to do anything.”

Josh Brown, CVX, Aug. 17 ($111.70): "This is one of the most obvious layup breakouts I've seen in a long time ... there's nothing in this thing's way."

Karen Finerman, NFLX, Oct. 23 ($68.22): "The red ink here is pretty significant ... I would not step into.”

Guy Adami, HGSI, April 30 (sold to Glaxo for $14.25): "This has at least 18½ to 20 written all over it."

Enis Taner, CMI, Oct. 31 ($93.11): “I think Cummins is a value trap here.”

Stephen Weiss, TIVO, Aug. 29 ($9.36): “The stock's a dinosaur … just gonna continue to waste away.”

Michael Pachter’s FB target, May 22: “I’ve done my homework. The company's worth 44."

Guy Adami, Nov. 7: “Apple has no recurring revenue stream.”

Steve Cortes, May 22, FSLR: “Absolutely going to single digits.”

Guy Adami, JCP, Feb. 17 ($42.44): “Looks like it's on the verge of breaking out ... maybe up to 50."

Jeff Klinefelter, Jan. 27, ups JCP price target to $50 ($41.19): "The strategy is sound, we believe it's gonna work.”

Dan Dicker, CHK, April 27: “Gonna see a single digit."

Jon Najarian, FB, Aug. 31 ($18.06): "You don't have downside to 15, you have downside to zero."

Or neither: Guy Adami, CHK, May 1 ($19.42): "This is- has a 30 handle or a $5 handle.”

Keith McCullough, C, Oct. 11 ($35.51): Could be back to 33ish "in a hurry."

Pete Najarian, WLT and ANR, April 16: "We will see these names double I think over the next year or so."

Dennis Gartman, Feb. 13, GNK, DSX, perhaps DRYS: Still have “plenty of move.”

Dennis Gartman, March 30, pro-DRYS and DSX: “They are not making new lows, they're holding, and they're going higher on better volume."

Jon Najarian, Nov. 14: "By the time we finally get to the fiscal cliff, we could shave 2 or 3,000 points off the Dow."

Jon Najarian, Dec. 27: "For the first time in 31 years in the market I'm completely out of everything."

Dan Dicker, Aug. 29, insists SPR release is “coming”: The G-7 statement "was the tell."

Mike Murphy, Dec. 11, BAC ($10.51): “If you're still in the name, you need to take it off here because it's way, way, way overbought."

Whitney Tilson, BKS, April 30: "$37 combined, sum-of-the-parts valuation."

Brad Lamensdorf, shorting just about everything (including C, DB, GMCR) that goes up, on VALE ($16.63), Aug. 23: "I think the stock's going to 12 bucks."

Dennis Gartman, Aug. 17: "QE3 is, for all intents, off the table."

Stephen Weiss, Sept. 21: "Fiscal cliff, it's not gonna happen, there's gonna be no cliff."

Stephen Weiss, NFLX, Sept. 27 ($55.55): Actually "more expensive in the 50s than it was at 104."

Doug Kass, Aug. 14: "I think we've seen the high for the year.”

10. Dennis Gartman, June 4: "You cannot go to QE3 anytime after July … Sadly, I think we're in a bear market. Sadly, I think we're heading toward a recession."

9. Simon Baker botches GOOG just before early earnings release during Halftime Report, Oct. 18: "I think you go long before the earnings ... it's all about mobile ... go long Google into earnings tonight."

8. Joe Terranova, AAPL, Nov. 16 ($527.68): “I think Apple has experienced a March 2009 moment. What that means is it's a generational buy. … I am all in on Apple, I think it's going significantly higher."

7. Jon Najarian, RIMM, Sept. 18 ($7.42): "I think this is just dead money."

6. Abigail Doolittle, EBAY, Jan. 17 ($30.53): “That pattern's going to break to the downside, a big target down to 20, $20."

5. Jon Najarian eager for FB IPO, Jan. 30: “If you can get into this one Judge, you buy every share of it you can get.”

4. Pete Najarian eager for FB IPO, Feb. 1: "I would put up all the money I would get to get into this allocation."

3. Steve Grasso hangs a “par” on FB, May 3: "They went to MIT, they went to Harvard, they went to Yale, they go 'Yeah, I'm closin' my eyes and I'm buying it … before long it'll be trading at par. Par is 100."

2. Guy Adami, KCG, Aug. 1 Halftime Report (closed $6.94, closed $2.58 a day later): "Listen this Knight Capital move reminds me of the Jefferies move about a year ago, I think it's an opportunity."

1. Anthony Scaramucci on LNKD, May 4 ($117.30): "The momentum is not gonna hold here, uh, there's a ton of hedge funds short this stock, uh, this is the Netflix of 2012; when it goes, it's gonna go big ... right to the downside.”

Fast Money/Halftime Report
Call of the Year for 2012

See intro to the busts above. It's subjective, but impressiveness of the call is heavily weighted toward short-term timing and originality. Very important note: We disregarded most (but not all) AAPL calls, AAPL-derivative calls, FB calls, AIG calls, BAC calls, JCP calls, QCOM calls and homebuilder calls because there were simply oceans of these recommendations. So if someone made a hundred bucks a share on AAPL in a week, tough (they probably gave most of it back a week later). Furthermore: Stocks in general that were recommended in Jan-Feb and June-July tended to go up dramatically over a couple months, while buys recommended in April and September tended more toward the bust category. Here's a collection of honorable mentions, and then the top 10:

Joe Terranova, BAC, May 24 ($7.11): “By the end of the year, it's north of $10."

Pete Najarian, NOK, multiple references (some early): "Nothing but upside."

Joe Terranova, LPX, multiple references: "A blog out there that complains."

Mike Murphy, homebuilders, multiple references, though WHR marred by silly short: "I still think there's more to go," etc.

Guy Adami, HD, PSX, MA/V (along with many others), multiple references: "Still think it goes higher."

Pete Najarian, PSX, LLY, multiple references: "Goin' a lot higher."

Patty Edwards, HD, multiple references, multiple valuations of cost of rehabbing foreclosures from $5,300 to $6,800: "Absolutely, I would be all over Home Depot."

Stephen Weiss, C, Oct. 16 ($37.24): "He should've gone a long time ago … If I had to guess I'd say Vikram overplayed his hand … buy the stock."

Guy Adami, trade FDX against June 5 low of $84.07, next day bottomed at $83.92, Sept. 24: “Maybe can have a relief rally."

Scott Nations, Nov. 5, BAC ($9.74): Pays 50 cents for January 10 calls.

Patty Edwards, PVH, March 30 ($89.25): Took a bit of time to get there and not without dips, but "my price target on the stock is a hundred and eight."

Ron Insana says to skip social media, March 6: "Individuals shouldn't even go here ... I think they're all fad stocks ... too dangerous for individuals to touch."

Jon Najarian, CROX, Nov. 27: "Goldman likes 'em here, I like 'em as well ... big gap to fill."

Josh Brown, JPM ($39.86), March 9 (before the Whale): "We think it has no trouble getting to 48."

Karen Finerman, JPM, May 14 ($35.79): "1-time blunder ... it's compelling at this level."

Henry Blodget, May 22: FB worth $17-$24.

Tim Seymour's monster two-fer on Nov. 13; TROX ($14.93), "This is not for the faint of heart," but it's "ridiculously cheap to its history,"; JOY ($57.45), "Bad news is priced in here," could see a "major bottom in the stock."

Guy Adami AN, June 4 ($35.32): "Risk reward may be 34, looking for a 39 handle."

Guy Adami, NFLX, Oct. 24 ($60.12): "I think you can actually get long this stock tomorrow" with stop below 55.

2 that may or may not have paid off but were exactly the right idea: Mike Khouw, BBY calendar put spread, May 16; selling June 19 puts for $1 and buying Sept. 19 puts for $1.95, and Scott Nations, YHOO, May 21, July/October $16 calendar call spread, selling the July 16 for 75 cents and buying October's for $1.20.

Zach Karabell critiques a pundit, Jan. 25: "You know someone like Gary Shilling who's always predicting that things are gonna get bad is always right when he's right ... I don't see the global economy as getting nearly as negative ... odds have decreased mightily" for a Europe collapse.

Steve Cortes, DB, March 29 ($49.51): "I'm short Deutsche Bank."

Simon Baker, GOOG, June 18, ($570): Mini-tablet catalyst being "next hot thing."

Pete Najarian, BAC, Dec. 17: "I don't think it stops until at least 12."

Jon Najarian, P, Aug. 29 ($10.08): “The stock could be back at 12 bucks."

10. Richard X. Bove, March 12, BAC ($7.96): "I'm still a big believer it's gonna get to 13 by the end of the year, so yeah, I'd buy it."

9. Stephen Weiss, DMND, premarket and open with $21 handle, Feb. 9: "Sometimes you have to be a garbageman.”

8. Guy Adami's gargantuan overnight call hours before GGC offer ($24.30), (extended hours only as it closed next day at $32.26), Jan. 12: Calls Georgia Gulf the one buy in the chemical space.

7. Tim Seymour, AAPL, after being just a bit premature in calling "significant" top in late August that proved prescient, Sept. 24: "I think you've gotta cut and run on a, on a lot of guys ... I think end of the week it's uglier."

6. Stephen Weiss, short JCP ($38.99), March 1: For a while, the front-runner for No. 1, but covered a couple times, and way too many others piled into this. "I'll look at it back in the 20s."

5. Karen Finerman, DGIT ($9.05), May 29: She's gorgeous. She's funny. She's charming. She gives Einstein a run for the money. And, as you'll quickly see, Karen Finerman, if not for one particular day on the Halftime Report, would've posted back-to-back Call of the Year titles among 3 blockbuster 2012 candidates. DGIT took a week to rise 33%. "Today I believe is the bottom ... I think it actually will get sold."

4. Karen Finerman, RLGY after the IPO (closed $34.20), Oct. 11: The only panelist to tout this name; “We bought some on the open" at 33. "I really think there's a lot to like here … very levered to a real-estate recovery here."

3. Karen Finerman apparently turns down Facebook IPO allocation, Feb. 1: "We were offered an allocation of Facebook at a, at a valuation of, I think it was high $60 billion, in the last 2 weeks, which I ... don't really wanna participate on."

2. Jon Najarian calls ARNA ($6.62) possible triple-digit winner, June 8: One of the greatest Fast Money calls in history upstaged by ... another call in same segment.

1. Steve Grasso calls S ($2.98) a possible "triple-digit winner" on Halftime feature, June 8: He almost scooped up the title for predicting a return to S&P flat on year Feb. 15 ("At some point we are going to see flat on year, which is 1,257") and more impressively reiterating April 19; we came close but didn't quite get there. But In the same feature as Jon Najarian's landmark ARNA, this masterful call — and its successors — finally conquered what had been one of the most obnoxious Fast Money names for years ("It's just like buying an unexpiring option"). Grasso was not the only one to mention it: On April 24, Mike Khouw described Sprint as "almost an option itself" and having "unusual activity: in August 2½ puts, and Mike Murphy indicated he got long June 5 under the "option" theory.

But Grasso was by far most vocal on the name; on June 8, asked to predict a possible triple-digit winner, he said "It’s a "long haul for Sprint" at $2.98, which easily bested Brian Kelly's CLNE of that day and Patty Edwards' 2-months-early ES, which curiously crashed the next trading day. While Jon Najarian's ARNA got an instant pop, S went steadily up, prompting recommendations from Grasso July 27 at $4.31 (it's gone from "universally hated to universally loved") and on Oct. 2 ($4.90), it might "gain some traction back ... I would be a buyer underneath 5” ... ultimately unlike ARNA achieving that triple-digit return, on Oct. 11, and giving virtually none of it back to this day.

As always, thanks to our readers for putting up with this. Have a (slightly belated) Happy New Year ... and happy trading!

I-R CEO explains why company
is based in Bermuda, not U.S.

Herbert Henkel, chairman, president and CEO of Ingersoll-Rand, explained Friday, June 6, 2008, on CNBC's "Squawk Box" why his company is officially based in Bermuda even though it is run out of New Jersey.

"If we move back to the U.S., we would lose significant tax advantages that we have, and frankly we would lose some of the ability to move money around the world freely without having the regional tax structure of what the U.S. has got ... it would be a disservice to our shareholders if we did that," Henkel said to a question from Becky Quick.

He said that "more than half" of his company's profit comes from outside the United States, and the company would get hit by the 35 percent corporate tax rate if it would "repatriate" those monies to the U.S.

Shareholders approved the relocation to Bermuda in October 2001. Henkel defended the move in a Forbes interview in 2003. "If the tax laws were different, we wouldn't have moved in the first place." He added, "I want to be competitive."

Henkel, 60, who is also a director of C.R. Bard and 3M Co., attended Polytechnic University in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he received a B.S. in aerospace engineering and applied mechanics and an M.S. in mechanical engineering in 1970 and 1972.  He also earned a master's in business administration from Pace University. He joined Ingersoll-Rand in 1999 from Textron. He was elected chairman of the board of I-R in May 2000.

According to the Federal Election Commission, he has given political donations in recent years to North Dakota senators Byron Dorgan and Kent Conrad. Ingersoll-Rand's Bobcat construction division, headquartered in West Fargo, N.D., was sold in July 2007 to Doosan Infracore for $4.9 billion. I-R had acquired Bobcat in 1995. It is one of the few major manufacturing companies in North Dakota and said to employ 2,600 workers. I-R recently acquired HVAC supplier Trane.

Henkel on Feb. 15, 2008, reported owning 116,300 shares of I-R via acquisition.

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