Shipping stocks gained Monday, and noted investor Dennis Gartman thinks investors should be ready to jump into the trade.

“Don’t be surprised if you get a correction for a day or two, but I think these are stocks you need to own for the very longer term,” he said on “Fast Money.”

Although the Baltic Freight Index, which is used as a barometer of international trade, was down 95 percent, the editor and publisher of The Gartman Letter noted it was a lagging indicator.

“Now we’re seeing the share prices move up long before the Baltic Freight Index does,” he said. “That happens a lot.”

Gartman said he would want to focus primarily on dry bulk and containers.

“Right now, the action in the shares tells me that’s what’s going on,” he said. “I want to be there first, tankers later.”

Gartman said he liked Genco Shipping

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[GNK  Loading...      ()   ], Diana Shipping

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[DSX  Loading...      ()   ] and DryShips

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“Pay attention to what’s going on and be ready to buy any breaks that you get,” he said.

On the options desk, Scott Nations said the names to watch were Genco and Diana.

“Calls in both names were really hot today,” he said.

Genco saw calls at six times “what you’d normally expect,” while Diana saw activity at 12 times normal for February and March $10 calls.

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Trader disclosure: On Feb. 13, 2011, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC’s "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders; Terranova is long VRTS; Terranova is long LQD; Terranova is long MUB; Terranova is long IBM; Terranova is long EMC; Terranova is long AXP; Terranova is long AAPL; Terranova is long TRLG; Terranova is long JOY; Terranova is long SNDK; Terranova is long MCD; Terranova is long MA; Terranova is long OXY; Terranova is long SU; Terranova is long CNX; Terranova is long CSCO; Terranova is long SBUX; Terranova is long FXE; Terranova is long TBT; Nathan is long AAPL outs; Nathan is long BAC puts spread; Nathan is long DELL puts; Adami owns C; Adami owns GS; Adami owns MSFT; Adami owns AGU; Adami owns NUE; Adami owns INTC; Adami owns BTU; Nations is long SPY; Nations is long BAC; Nations is long C

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