Europe Eagerly Awaits German Bailout Vote
All eyes are on Germany, with investors wondering if German parliament will approve the nation's 150 billion EUR contribution to the euro-zone support plan, but Germany did tighten financial regulation earlier this week.
On Tuesday, a finance ministry spokesman announced a ban on naked short-selling and credit default swaps, as a way of countering volatility in euro-zone bond markets. The ban went into effect at midnight Wednesday and will remain in place through March 31st.
An equity strategist at Miller Tabak, Peter Boockvar expects expects the bailout to pass, but doesn't believe it will work and told the Fast Money traders "intervention is a waste." He said countries like Spain and Portugal will contract over the next few years and "they will not be able to grow out of it."
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EUROPE'S WOES HIT AMERICA'S WALLET
Speaking of Europe, if the euro continues its decline against the dollar, which US companies would suffer the most? Patty Edwards of Storehouse put together this list:
Company % Revenue Coming From Europe
SunPower 60%
McDonalds 40%
Activision 40%
Electronic Arts 40%
Itron 40%
Adobe 32%
Look into how much of this is factored into their guidance and then place your bets accordingly, Edwards said.
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FEELING A TAD CONTRARY
If all the negative headlines out of Europe have you thinking about making a contrarian bet, Steve Cortes of Veracruz suggests longcrude and long Goldman Sachs for a bounce, but only with tight stops.
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Trader disclosure: On May 19 2010, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC’s Fast Money were owned by the Fast Money traders; Jon Najarian owns (GS) puts; Jon Najarian owns (JPM) puts; Jon Najarian owns (XLF); Jon Najarian owns (SPY); Jon Najarian owns (NYX) and (CME); Jon Najarian owns (NYX) and (CME) puts; Jon Najarian owns seats on NYSE, CME & CBOE; Grasso Owns (BP), (NDAQ), (DYN), (LPX), (ASTM), (ABK), (BAC), (BGP), (C), (CVGI), (JPM), (PRST), (PFE), (BA), (T), (CSCO), (X); Najarian Owns (AMD) Calls; Najarian Owns (C) Calls; Najarian Owns (CAT) Call Spread; Najarian Owns (DELL) June Calls, Is Short (DELL) May Calls; Najarian Owns (HPQ), Is Short (HPQ) Calls; Najarian Owns (MS), Is Short (MS) Calls; Najarian Owns (MCD) Call Spread; Najarian Owns (NOVL) Calls; Finerman's Firm Is Short (IJR), (MDY), (IWM), (SPY); Finerman's Firm Is Long S&P Puts; Finerman Owns (AAPL); Finerman's Firm Owns (BAC), (BAC) Leaps; Finerman Owns (BAC), (BAC) Preferred; Finerman Owns (GOOG); Finerman's Firm And Finerman Own (HPQ); Finerman's Firm Owns (JPM), (JPM) Calls; Finerman Owns (JPM); Finerman's Firm Owns (TJX); Finerman Owns (WFC) Preferred; Finerman's Firm Owns (YUM); Terranova Owns (PFE), (GLD); Cortes Is Long Euro; Cortes Is Long Crude Oil; Edwards owns (VXX)
For JoeTerranova
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