On Tuesday, investors were again trying to determine if stock market momentum was to the upside after a slew of new catalysts gave bulls every reason to run.
Looking at earnings, there seemed to be 3 good reasons to get long.
Coca-Cola, Goldman Sachs and Johnson & Johnson all posted profits that beat analyst forecasts and lifted expectation for earnings in general.
In fact, of the 39 S&P 500 companies reporting earnings so far, 74.4 percent have beat analyst expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Also the latest headlines out of Europe seemed to say 'buy'.
Better-than-expected results from Spanish 12-month and 18 month bill sales pushed yields on Spain's 10-year bond below 6 percent, suggesting the market had grown more comfortable with the nation’s financial woes.
Now what do you do?
Strategy Session with the Fast Money traders
Trader Pete Najarian find developments bullish. "I like what I'm seeing in the market," he says. “The materials space is moving – I like the space and think its undervalued. And big cap tech is working – I think that continues to work."
Trader Simon Baker is also bullish. “This is the kind of market I like. I think the US economy is moving forward –and I think you should be long equities. I’d play it by moving out of non-cyclicals into cyclicals.”
Trader Josh Brown is more cautious.
“Although I think yesterday’s Nasdaq sell-off provided a great trading opportunity – in the long-term I remain alarmed about Europe. It’s back in the picture – you can’t pretend it’s not there. It doesn't seem quite as extreme as it did last fall, but you have to be mindful of it. And of course we’re heading into May which is seasonally no-man’s land. I wouldn’t get really excited.”
Trader Steve Cortes tells us that’s he’s currently net long, but he’s waiting for Europe to derail the rally all together. “Spanish equities have made lower lows 10 sessions in a row – there’s a systemic problem there – and France’s upcoming elections could be extremely problematic.”
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Trader disclosure: On April 17, 2012 , 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 is long AAPL; Pete Najarian is long BAC CALLS; Pete Najarian is long C; Pete Najarian is long C CALLS; Pete Najarian is long JPM CALLS; Pete Najarian is long MS; Pete Najarian is long NFLX CALLS; Pete Najarian is long INTC; Pete Najarian is long YHOO; Pete Najarian is long SBUX CALLS; Pete Najarian is long COP; Pete Najarian is long PEP; Steve Cortes is long PPH; Steve Cortes is long SO; Steve Cortes is long RGR; Steve Cortes is long MO; Steve Cortes is long SVU; Steve Cortes is long WMT; Steve Cortes is long IWM VS. S&P SHORT; Steve Cortes is long FXI VS. S&P SHORT; Steve Cortes is short AUD/JPY; Steve Cortes is short EUR/JPY; Josh Brown is long JPM; Josh Brown is long COP; Josh Brown is long GLP; Josh Brown is long XLU; Josh Brown is long EMC; Dan Dicker is long SLB; Dan Dicker is long BHI
For Eric Jackson
Eric Jackson is long YHOO
Eric Jackson is long AAPL
For Andy Busch
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For Tavis McCourt
Raymond James expects to receive or intends to seek compensation for investment banking services from the subject companies in the next three months: QCOM
Raymond James expects to receive or intends to seek compensation for investment banking services from the subject companies in the next three months AAPL
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