Halftime Report

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Halftime Report

Halftime: Trading Tech with Larry Ellison on the Prowl

Semiconductor stocks pushed higher Friday following comments from Oracle's CEO Larry Ellison, who said the software giant is looking to buy a microchip company.

With mergers and acquisitions having been on the rise in the technology space, investors are speculating on the next takeover target.

Walter Pritchard, an analyst at Citigroup, expects Oracle's move will be very niche. Pritchard thinks Ellison wants get "very deep" in vertical integration, like enterprise information technology services for retail, financials or health care. Pritchard wouldn't speculate on what companies Ellison might be considering, but said they're likely small companies, not large ones. He also thinks the Oracle founder will be looking for the best value.

While the "Fast Money" traders never think it's a good idea to invest in tech on M&A, they did talk about names they like fundamentally.

OptionMONSTER.com co-founder Pete Najarian is seeing a lot of activity in ARM Holdings, which he said is being fueled to the upside. Najarian said there is also a lot of volume coming into NVIDIA's stock. For his part, Najarian recommends buying names that go into popular electronic items, like Apple's iPad.

Zachary Karabell, president of RiverTwice Research, noted that tech has rebounded from some negative news of late. Despite talk of a slowing PC cycle and light consumer demand, the space has benefited from stronger-than-expected demand from outside the US. He thinks there is room in these areas.

Watch the video to see the full conversation on tech—it starts at 1:45.

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GOLD HITS NEW RECORD

Gold rallied to record highs in Europe on Friday, with spot prices knocking on the door of $1,300 an ounce, as expectations grew that further quantitative easing could lead to volatility in the currency markets.

Even at these lofty levels, Steve Grasso of Stuart Frankel said his clients still want to buy the precious metal.

"As long as the Fed continues on this process of discussing QE2 and printing money, they're going to be bullish," Grasso said from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, adding that if the Republicans take control of Congress following the November elections, gold could drop by up to $200 "very quickly."

Joe Terranova, chief market strategist at Virtus Investment Partners, said fear is driving people to gold. He said it's not that they're worried so much about what's happening now, as they're concerned about four years from now.

Watch the video to see the traders' full discussion on gold.

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CALL TO THE FLOOR: EXPRESS

Shares of Express , an apparel retailer that targets 20-somethings, are down 11 percent since the company made its initial public offering in May. The stock, however, is on the rebound and CEO Michael Weiss appeared on Friday's "Fast Money" to share his plans for continued success. Watch the video to see the complete interview.

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CALL THE CLOSE

It's not often the traders are in unanimous agreement, but with Friday's market, they just couldn't resist.

RiverTwice Research president Zachary Karabell, optionMONSTER.com co-founder Pete Najarian, and Joe Terranova of Virtus Investment Partners all said the market could go higher.

Steve Grasso of Stuart Frankel agreed, but thinks there will be a little profit taking toward the end of the day.

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Trader disclosure: On Sept. 24th, 2010, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC’s Fast Money were owned by the Fast Money traders; Pete Najarian owns (AMZN) call spreads; Pete Najarian owns (NTAP) call spreads; Pete Najarian owns (WFC) put spreads; Terranova Owns (POT), (APA), (AAPL), (ARUN), (BMO), (C), (IBM), (HES), (JOYG), (XBI), (FTO), (OXY), (ORCL), (PEP), (RSH), (SU), (RIG), (UPL), (VRTS); Karabell owns (GS), (RIMM), (AAPL); Grasso owns (ASTM), (BA), (BAC), (C), (CSCO), (JPM), (LPX), (MO), (MOT), (NDAQ), (PFE), (PRST); Karabell owns (GS), (RIMM), (AAPL)

For Joe Terranova
Terranova is chief market strategist of Virtus Investment Partners, LTD.
Virtus Investment Partners own more than 1% of (ABAX)
Virtus Investment Partners own more than 1% of (ALK)
Virtus Investment Partners own more than 1% of (AMKR)
Virtus Investment Partners own more than 1% of (CASS)
Virtus Investment Partners own more than 1% of (CSVI)
Virtus Investment Partners own more than 1% of (IGE)
Virtus Investment Partners own more than 1% of (LDR)
Virtus Investment Partners own more than 1% of (LPHI)
Virtus Investment Partners own more than 1% of (MGRC)
Virtus Investment Partners own more than 1% of (NRCI)
Virtus Investment Partners own more than 1% of (DBV)
Virtus Investment Partners own more than 1% of (XLB)
Virtus Investment Partners own more than 1% of (XLP)
Virtus Investment Partners own more than 1% of (XLY)
Virtus Investment Partners own more than 1% of (XLF)
Virtus Investment Partners own more than 1% of (XLI)
Virtus Investment Partners own more than 1% of (XLU)
Virtus Investment Partners own more than 1% of (SUBK)
Virtus Investment Partners own more than 1% of (WDFC)
Virtus Investment Partners own more than 1% of (YDNT)
Virtus Investment Partners own more than 1% of (DLUEY)
Virtus Investment Partners own more than 1% of (DRYS)

For Steve Grasso:
Stuart Frankel & Co and it’s partners own (AMGN)
Stuart Frankel & Co and it’s partners own (BAX)
Stuart Frankel & Co and it’s partners own (COG)
Stuart Frankel & Co and it’s partners own (CUBA)
Stuart Frankel & Co and it’s partners own (GERN)
Stuart Frankel & Co and it’s partners own (HPQ)
Stuart Frankel & Co and it’s partners own (HSPO)
Stuart Frankel & Co and it’s partners own (MERC)
Stuart Frankel & Co and it’s partners own (NWS.A)
Stuart Frankel & Co and it’s partners own (NYX)
Stuart Frankel & Co and it’s partners own (PDE)
Stuart Frankel & Co and it’s partners own (PFE)
Stuart Frankel & Co and it’s partners own (PRST)
Stuart Frankel & Co and it’s partners own (RDC)
Stuart Frankel & Co and it’s partners own (TLM)
Stuart Frankel & Co and it’s partners own (XRX)
Stuart Frankel & Co and it’s partners own (SDS)
Stuart Frankel & Co and it’s partners are short (QQQQ)

For Walter Pritchard
Citigroup currently has, or had within the past 12 months (ORCL) as a client
Citigroup is a market maker in (ORCL)
Within the past 12 months, Citigroup has acted as manager of an offering of securities of (ORCL)
Citigroup has received compensation for investment banking services provided within the past 12 months from Oracle Corporation
Citigroup received compensation for products and services other than investment banking services from Oracle Corporation in the past 12 months.




CNBC.com with wires.