Fast Money Recap: 3/26/08: Oil is Well

Recap of CNBC's Fast Money Program, Wednesday March 26. Click on a stock ticker for more analysis.

Oracle (ORCL)

Some were surprised by ORCL's revenue miss and drop. Najarian is still bullish and said he would buy on weakness if it is still down tomorrow. Macke said ORCLs aggressive acquisitions make the earnings per share number "fuzzy at best" and thought the stock was pumped up too much before earnings. Oracle's management spoke of a cautious customer base of which financials play a large role. He is concerned that if the company reduces guidance, the stock will suffer, but he sees great potential for ORCL with its substantial international exposure.

Durable Goods Decline

Karen Finerman said the news that durable goods orders were down did not affect the market adversely and didn't think the decline was so dramatic. Tim Seymour said this news is just another "small knife cut" along with terrible data on new home sales, and pressure on the dollar from the European Central Bank. Seymour is sticking with cash and is holding his long-term positions. Macke said the European Central Bank posed the biggest problem and noted the S&P 500 was at 1330. He thinks one can be bullish.

Merrill Lynch (MER), Financial Select SPDR (XLF), Citigroup (C), Wachovia (WB), Bank of America (BAC), Bear Stearns (BSC)

Financials such as MER, XLF and C were savaged on Wednesday, especially after Oppenheimer analyst Meredith Whitney cut estimates for C. Najarian is also bearish on WB and BAC. BSC spiked on rumors of another offer, Macke said if JPM ends up buying BSC, the purchase will be subject to intensive scrutiny.

Exxon Mobil (XOM), Transocean (RIG), Halliburton (HAL), Schlumberger (SLB), BJ Services (BJS), Oil Services HOLDRs (OIH), Chesapeake Energy (CHK), Apache (APA)

Refiners should reap the benefits of the rise in gas prices. Seymour named HAL, SLB and SLB as strong names in the sector. Finerman mentioned BJS. Najarian says it is not yet time to buy refiners and would take profits on OIH. He is bullish on CHK and APA. Seymour and Macke discussed the benefits of natural gas.

Motorola (MOT)

MOT announced a decision to divide its mobile-phone and networking segments, but Finerman doesn't think there is much value in the company.

ConAgra (CAG), Rambus (RMBS)

Najarian discussed intense put activity in CAG ahead of its earnings report on Thursday. RMBS had significant call activity between 2 and 4 pm, and then jumped. He suspects insider information might have helped investors and thinks the potential ruling on RMBS could be worth $100 billion. Najarian recommends using puts when buying RMBS.

Take-TWO (TTWO), Electronic Arts (ERTS)

TTWO resisted advances from ERTS, and Macke says the issue is TTWO's Grand Theft Auto 4 Game, which is expected to make the company money. He doesn't really think ERTS is very effective at negotiating without a CEO and would buy ATVI instead.

Calpers List: Cheesecake Factory (CAKE) and La-Z Boy (LZB)

Calpers has named CAKE and LZB as the worst companies this year, and Macke referred to Calpers as a "child with weapons" who doesn't like companies when they don't follow his advice.

Dennis Gartman The Gartman Letter

Gartman likes commodities for the long-term but would wait it out for now. He thinks gold will return to $1,000 an ounce this summer and would buy copper and steel.

Acquisitions: Clear Channel (CCU), Fortress Investment Group (FIG), Penn National Gaming (PENN), Inverness Medical (IMA), Matria Healthcare (MATR), Bright Horizons (BFAM), BCE (BCE)

Macke said banks could drop the deal to buy CCU because of price and thinks Citi, which plans to fund part of the purchase, is biting off more than it can chew. Najarian predicts FIG's offer to buy PENN for $67 a share (the stock is currently less than $43) will fall through, given options activity. Investors are also skeptical about IMA's intention to buy MATR, even though he likes it better than the PENN purchase. Najarian also sees problems with Bain Capital's plans to buy BFAM. Finerman is interested in Ontario Teacher's Pension Plan's plan to buy BCE.

Trader Radar: Pep Boys (PBY) Traded down on unusual volume on Wednesday.

Weak Consumer Plays: Apple (AAPL), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Nintendo (NTDOY)

The iPod might seem one of a kind, but Macke thinks HPQ might be able to compete, and prefers the latter as a trade as well as Nintendo. Najarian observed a $1 addition to earnings per share for every percentage of market share Apple adds.

Final Trades: Macke: Home Depot (HD), Seymour: Cosan (CZZ), Finerman: Kaiser Aluminum (KALU) Najarian: more puts in Oil Services HOLDRS.

Seeking Alpha is not affiliated with CNBC, or Fast Money

Comments

[Benny G]

@Macke with the call on Apple as a weak consumer play:

What many people like Macke don't seem to realize is that Apple is thinking way beyond the iPod at this point in their business plan. We can see this forward thinking embodied in the iPhone in addition to the continual upgrade of their computers.

There can be no doubt that the halo effect of iPod owners switching over the Mac computers has been a huge benefit for Apple's overall market share. (Which continues to far exceed the industry average). Besides, Apple is also in the software business and continues to push into new territories (i.e. video rentals and other multimedia projects like iTV).

Any company that is trying to compete with Apple at this point is, I think, well behind the game as they not only have to overcome iPod's domination of the market, these competitors also have to find a way to seize on Apple's momentum and figure out a way to transfer music player users to a larger array of more meaningful (and more profitable) products.

[maxbid]

Macke, just buy some AAPL sit back, and leave it alone for two years. Oh yea, by the way, lay off the caffeine a little bit.