“Fast Money” pros took defensive positions Tuesday, after stocks finished lower on the Federal Reserve’s unchanged monetary policy.
“The place I think you need to be here at the beginning of the year is in very defensive positioning,” said trader Joe Terranova. “McDonald’s is making 52-week highs for a reason.”
MCD closed at $98 per share, retreating from an all-time high of $98.95 earlier in the day.
Terranova pointed to other strong performers such as IBM, Pfizer and Exxon.
“Markets aren’t trading on fundamentals,” trader Tim Seymour said.
“Dis-inflation” was a big concern, he added. “I don’t know if it’s deflation, but that’s the big concern here and maybe that’s what has people worried.”
Trader Guy Adami said he was more inclined to buy than to sell.
“Although I am in the bear camp and have been for a while, you have to allow the trading action to dictate what you do and we’re right here at levels where I believe you can still trade against,” he said.
Good news out of Europe could “easily” push the S&P 500 to 1,250, Adami said.
Even as the VIX was down 9 percent, trader Karen Finerman said it was a good idea to buy some protection.
“I don’t know that you can be all in or all out,” she said.
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Trader disclosure: On Dec. 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: Karen is long PLCM; Karen is long GOOG; Karen is short SPY; Tim Seymourhas positions in AAPL, BAC, INTC; Joe Terranova is Long VRTS; Long LQD; Long MUB; Long IBM; Long EMC; Long SBUX; Long SU; Long CAT; Long SWN; Long TRLG; Guy Adami is Long C; Long GS; Long INTC; Long MSFT; Long AGU; Long BTU; Long NUE; Jon Najarian is Long CBOE; Long CME; Long GIGX; Long AAPL call spreads; Long CSCO call spreads; Long TRGT call spreads; Long PAAS call spreads; Long MBIA call spreads; Long NTRI call spreads;
Karen Finerman
Fund is long AAPL
Fund is long JPM
Fund is long IBM
Fund is long MSFT
Fund is long PLCM
Fund is short SPY
Fund is short IWM
Fund is short RTH
Fund is short MDY
Fund is short IBM calls|
Fund is short AAPL calls
Fund is short MSFT calls
For Dennis Gartman
Long Equities in EUR terms
Long crude oil futures
Long Canadian dollar
Long Asian short term govt. bond
Short S&P 500
Short FTSE 100
Short Euro Stoxx 50 futures
Short Euro
Short Pound Sterling
Short Japanese Yen
For Brian Marshall
No disclosures
For Paul Sankey
Important conflict disclosures can also be found at https://gm.db.com/equities under the "Disclosures Lookup" and "Legal" tabs. Investors are strongly encouraged to review this information before investing.
Deutsche Bank equity research analysts sometimes have shorter-term trade ideas (known as SOLAR ideas) that are consistent or inconsistent with Deutsche Bank's existing longer term ratings. These trade ideas can be found at the SOLAR link at http://gm.db.com.
For Ed Aaron
No disclosures
For Diane Swonk
No disclosures
