FAST MONEY FEATURES
FAST MONEY POLLGet in the post game. Respond to our "Question of the Day" right now.
FULL SHOWSMissed an episode of Fast Money? Watch the lastest show here.
TRADE SCHOOLGrab a pencil because school is in session and the Fast Money traders are teaching class.
FAST MONEY PODCASTSDownload Fast Money onto your MP3 Player.
FAST MONEY WIDGETGrab this all-in-one application and get recaps of the show sent right to your desktop or blog.
SHOP FOR FAST MONEY MERCHANDISEGet your game on with Fast Money gear.
FAST MONEY PHOTOS!Check out our scrapbook. These "pix" are guaranteed winners.
NEWSLETTERSign up and receive a recap email every Friday after the show!
FAST MONEY MOBILE ALERTSGet advanced information about the next Fast Money.
Text Size 
 |
You can add consumer giant Unilever [UL
Loading...
()
] to the growing list of companies no longer offering guidance. The maker of Knorr soups, Lipton tea and Dove soap, said it could not give a specific outlook for 2009 in current conditions.
And on Thursday morning Wal-Mart [WMT
Loading...
()
] announced it would stop providing monthly sales guidance.
That comes after Intel [INTC
Loading...
()
], Verizon [VZ
Loading...
()
], Kodak [EK
Loading...
()
], Starbucks [SBUX
Loading...
()
], Microsoft [MSFT
Loading...
()
] and Sun [JAVA
Loading...
()
] also dropped formal guidance – and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The number of companies declining to offer guidance has increased by 30% this earnings season.
How on earth can you value a company without guidance?
We’ve been raising that issue all week with top analysts. On Thursday we spoke with Sanford Bernstein analyst Colin McGranahan, the #1 ranked retail / hardlines analyst by Institutional Investor.
He told us the best way to determine the future of a retailer involves looking at leverage, as well as inventories because many products have short life cycles.
“On the one hand we look at what’s the direction of demand and how it’s changing then we take a look at see if the company is ahead or behind on inventory,” explains McGranahan.
Intrigued? To see our entire interivew with McGranahan watch the video now!
- Your First Move For Tuesday December 1st
- Web Extra: The Microsoft Trade
- Dubai: Casino Fallout
- Pops & Drops: American Eagle, Amylin
- Bold Call of the Day: Abercrombie
- Chartology – Year End Sell-Off Ahead?
- It's All About Jobs
- Cyber Monday Strategy Session w/ Gene Munster
- Bove: 26 Banks May Need To Raise More Capital
- Stocks Stage Bullish Reversal
______________________________________________________
Got something to to say? Send us an e-mail at and your comment might be posted on the Rapid Recap. If you'd prefer to make a comment but not have it published on our website send those e-mails to .
Trader disclosure: On Feb. 4th, 2008, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC’s Fast Money were owned by the Fast Money traders; Adami Owns (AGU), (BTU), (C), (GS), (INTC), (MSFT), (NUE); Finerman Owns (PAL), (MSFT), (BAC); Finerman's Firm Owns (DNA) & (DNA) Calls; Finerman's Firm Is Short (IYR), (IJR), (IWM), (MDY), (SPY), (USO); Najarian Owns (CAT) Call Spread; Najarian Owns (EEM) Call Spread; Najarian Owns (FCX) & (FCX) Calls; Najarian Owns (ENER) & (ENER) Call Spread; Najarian Owns (GDX) Call Spread; Najarian Owns (MSFT) & (MSFT) Short Calls; Najarian Owns (MS) & (MS) Short Calls; Najarian Owns (MOS) Call Spread; Najarian Owns (DLTR) Calls; Najarian Owns (PALM) Calls; Seymour Owns (BAC), (EEM), (FXI), (MOS), (PBR), (CBRE)
Accounts over which Bernstein and/or their affiliates exercise investment discretion own more than 1% of the outstanding common stock of the following companies AZO / Autozone Inc, HD / Home Depot, LOW / Lowes.
Bernstein currently makes a market in the following companies BBBY / Bed Bath & Beyond Inc, SPLS / Staples.
The following companies are or during the past twelve (12) months were clients of Bernstein, which provided non-investment banking-securities related services and received compensation for such services LOW / Lowes.
CNBC.com with wires
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes