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2007 Gains Almost Gone

2007 GAIN ALMOST GONE:

The headline: S&P 500 Drops 2% Today, Cutting 2007 Gain to Below 1%

“The numbers are looking very ugly right now,” Pete Najarian says. The ripple effects of the mortgage crisis are hitting the financials, including the Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF), and that is what is leading the market lower.

Dow 12,700, here we come, Guy Adami says, reiterating his prediction bottom for the market.

Karen Finerman typically likes to sell puts on days of volatility, but today she wants to hang on to those puts a “little bit longer.” She thinks more volatility is coming.



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Karen Finerman typically likes to sell puts on days of volatility, but today she wants to hang on to those puts a “little bit longer.” She thinks more volatility is coming.

WHALE WATCHING:

The headline: Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Boosts Stakes in Wellpoint, UnitedHealth, Bank of America and more

A regulatory filing that came out after the close shows that, as of June 30, Berkshire has been buying Bank of America (BAC), WellPoint (WLP), UnitedHealth (UNH), Burlington Northern (BNI) and Dow Jones (DJ) while selling Norfolk Southern (NSC), Union Pacific (UNP), H&R Block (HRB), Western Union (WU) and Pier 1 (PIR).

He’s making a big bet with the healthcare stocks WLP and UNH, Guy Adami says. There’s a lot of risk in them, but they should “obviously be on your radar screen” now.

Karen Finerman thinks Buffett is being a plain-old risk arbitrageur with his stake in Dow Jones. She also says it’s important to note that these holdings are as of June 30 – which was a “lifetime ago” with regard to the financials.

In addition to Buffett, Eddie Lampert has reportedly boosted his stake in Citigroup (C) to 25 million shares – an addition of 10 million shares – as of June 30.

Patience is paying off for Lampert, Pete Najarian says. He might be a little early but he’s still “on target on the right stock.”

Whale Watching


Jeff Macke isn’t so sure. The financials are “deeply troubled” and he doubts Lampert’s boosted position will do anything to help Citi.

Ed. Note: Buffett did not double his stake in Nike. There was a 2-1 stock split.

WAL-MART FALLS THE MOST IN 5 YEARS:

The headline:Wal-Mart (WMT) Plunges 5.1%, Dragging Down Retail Shares After Cutting Forecast Citing Weak Clothes and Home Goods Sales

Wal-mart Falls The Most In 5 years


Jeff Macke has three simple ways he thinks Wal-Mart could improve itself: Improve store maintenance, compete less on price and more on value and oust CEO Lee Scott, he says.

DEPOT DESPAIR:

The headline: Home Depot (HD) Tumbles On 15% Profit Drop

Karen Finerman thinks the financial restructuring at HD is still on track. She thinks the supply deal will still close, even if it’s at a lower price.”

Depot Despair


It’ll be lower, Jeff Macke says. “Much, much lower.” Jeff thinks the buyback will suffer as well.

NASDAQ – A SAFE HAVEN?:

The headline: Options Players Pricing NASDAQ Stocks As If They Were Safer Than The S&P 500

The NASDAQ 100 is far less volatile than the S&P 500, Pete Najarian says, and that tells you where the real risk is right now. It’s in energy, financials and the mortgages, which make up much of the S&P. At least for now, the safe haven is in tech – and the NASDAQ, he says.

AFTER HOURS ACTION: Applied Materials:

The headline: Applied Materials (AMAT), Barometer of Chip Demand, Drops On Lower Quarterly Profit

Applied Materials is having problems, but it shouldn’t be an indicator for all chip stocks, Pete Najarian says.

Jeff Macke thinks the idea of all of tech as a shelter from the storm is “overdone.” The chip stocks are shaky – he would rather own the big bellwethers like Cisco (CSCO), Intel (INTC) and Microsoft (MSFT) that have been declared “dead money” for years.

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Trader disclosure: On Aug 14 2007, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC’s Fast Money were owned by the Fast Money Macke Owns (INTC), (EMC), (ATVI), (DIS); Finerman's Firm And Finerman Own (HD), (KALU) Finerman's Firm Owns (GE), (PHM), (WMT), (KFT); NBC Universal Is The Parent Company Of CNBC