After stocks traded sharply lower, erasing the previous day's rally, it was high time for investors to protect their portfolios, the CNBC "Fast Money" traders said Thursday.

Triogem Asset Management's Tim Seymour said it was important to know "what the beta-adjusted impact of a day like today is on your portfolio."

"It means that if you have a stock that is going to move three times the amount the underlying market, you want to be hedging and thinking along those lines," he said.

Read MoreBuy gold now, Brian Kelly says

Seymour's top pick was Lorillard, among the strongest names in the industry.

"What's actually happening is there's pricing power for all the core players now. It pays a very handsome dividend. These guys have diversified massively," he said. "They have significant stakes in other companies that are giving them dividends along the road."

The major indices were down 2 percent on global concerns, and the experienced its largest point loss of 2014.

Read More Stocks derailed; worst point loss this year for Dow

RiskReversal.com's Dan Nathan suggested looking for stocks that provide yield and no exposure to a strong U.S. dollar — AT&T.

"It's got 5.4 percent dividend yield, no overseas exposure here. They're obviously putting together some other assets and that sort of thing," he said. "I think this is one where if you get the stock between $34 and $33 in the next couple of days, I think it's a good buy right here."

Nathan said he had bought the stock recently.

Brian Kelly of Brian Kelly Capital looked to bonds.

"In this environment and in many, I use an approach where I balance the portfolio between bonds and equities and use leverage to up the bond part of it, particularly in this situation," he said, recommending the exchange-traded fund.

Read More'The herd should come back': US Trust CIO

Kelly explained why:

"In and of itself, it actually has some very good things going on for it. You have the yield differential. The interest rate differentials from the rest of the world should bring money into TLT, into U.S. bonds," he said. "If the dollar goes higher and you start to see those flows into the U.S., that'll also help TLT. And I think the Fed's on hold for a long, long time."

Private Advisor Group's Guy Adami said he was focusing on a different direction.

"It's been famously said, 'The best defense is a good offense.' I think you've got to play offense here," he said.

Read MoreSymantec plans to split into two companies

Palo Alto Networks was Adami's pick for its past performance and Symantec's announcement that it would split into two.

"This Symantec news is going to put the spotlight fully on these cybersecurity names," he said. "This has been a good name to buy. I think it continues to be one."