See The "Fast Money Madness" Brackets From TV
It's time for more Fast Money Madness! As the NCAA tournament marches on, we're pairing off the most-talked about 64 companies on the street. The guys will determine the winners through debate, and end up with a national champion -- Fast Money's favorite stock.
First we review how we got here: The 6th seeded Target(TGT) sent Starbucks (SBUX) back to Seattle - to work on, what coach Howard Schultz calls, consumer experience issues.
In round 2, Target's well executed game plan - proved to be too much for UnitedHealth (UNH).
As for the 7th seeded Procter & Gamble (PG), it beat Allergan (AGN) in the first round - and in round 2, the defensive play minded P&G - beat the upset minded 15th seed Nordstrom (JWN).
Now, The first big match-up, Target (TGT) versus Procter & Gamble (PG).
Jeff Macke goes with PG because TGT hasn’t had a tremendous year.
Eric Bolling says both companies are great companies. But he goes with PG.
Karen Finerman prefers TGT because it’s just under 17 times earnings.
Guy Adami goes with P&G because of the Gillette synergies.
Dylan Ratigan says Procter & Gamble advances, sorry Karen.
The next big match up - Pepsi (PEP) versus Altria (MO), soda versus smokes.
Taking a look at how we got here, top seeded Pepsi, led by the Pat Summit of Fast Money Madness, Indra Nooyi, easily beat a Merck (MRK) squad distracted by its courtroom appearances and Vioxx related questions. And then with steady, fundamental play, advanced to the sweet 16 by beating McDonalds (MCD) in round 2.
As for Altria, they ruined our chances of a Duke-North Carolina like match-up for Pepsi by eliminating its rival, Coke (KO), in the first round. And in round 2, between Phillip Morris and Kraft, Altria had too many weapons for Barr Labs (BRL) to handle..
Here we go... Pepsi versus Altria.
Eric Bolling says he likes Pepsi. They’re doing everything right and he’s sticking with the soda.
Guy Adami says MO gets a bigger valuation once Kraft is off the books and he likes MO.
Karen Finerman says MO – after the Kraft spin-off, it’s cheap.
Jeff Mack says gotta’ go with MO.
Dylan says, looks like a good pack of smokes beats a Pepsi.
