Agriculture Is Still Growing - Fast Money Recap (5/15/08)

Recap of CNBC's Fast Money, Thursday May 15.

Oil Rolling Over

On oil’s rollover, Tim Seymour discussed Congress’ plan to curtail the buying practices of speculators, but thinks this news will have little effect on oil. With options expiration, there should be selloff in oil, and Seymour cites demand as a large factor. Pete Najarian says oil is being traded like a currency and while it finished flat, the oil services sector was strong. Jeff Macke expected a much bigger drop in oil on Thursday.

Potash (POT), Deere (DE), Mosaic (MOS), Monsanto (MON), Agrium (AGU), DryShips (DRYS), Bunge (BG)

Deere rallied on Thursday, but Najarian pointed out that many lack confidence in the ag sector. Najarian says the ag trade is still good and POT, MOS, MON and AGU have pricing power. Dry Bulk shipping may be an option, but Najarian thinks DRYS may be overvalued. Seymour thinks BG will profit from an extension of the farm bill.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNI), Kraft (KFT)

On Warren Buffet’s proposal to increase his stake in KFT and BNI, the stocks rallied. Adami noted BNI was at its 52-week high prior to the news and thinks the stock is still cheap. Macke noted that great investors seem to like KFT, but he wouldn’t chase the stock.

Amylin (AMLN), Isis (ISIS), Yahoo (YHOO) and Microsoft (MSFT)

Shares of AMLN jumped on the news that Icahn wants to invest. Najarian says AMLN is a well-run pharma and also likes ISIS. Icahn sent a letter to Yahoo’s board and says it showed poor judgment in the way it handled MSFT’s offer. Macke says MSFT should abandon the deal and while it is too late to buy Yahoo stock, the company will most likely be taken over.

Research in Motion (RIMM), Apple (AAPL), Cisco (CSCO), Juniper (JNPR), AT&T (T)

Najarian is excited about RIM’s touch-screen Blackberry and thinks the product will co-exist peacefully with Apple’s smartphone. He would buy CSCO, JNPR and T on the news.

Tiffany (TIF), J.C. Penney (JCP), Kohls (KSS), Wal-Mart (WMT), CVS Caremark (CVS), Temple-Inland (TIN)

TIF and JCP both rose on strong earnings, and Macke thinks the rally is a reaction to a previous decline and would take profits. He would not buy KSS, but says WMT is a different kind of company. Najarian discussed unusual call activity in TIN and CVS.

Coke (KO), Pepsi (PEP), Clorox (CLX), Molson Coors (TAP), Anheuser-Busch (BUD), Hansen Natural (HANS)

Big Idea host Donny Deutsch said companies like KO and PEP often buy smaller brands as an alternative to creating their own. When acquiring new brand names, the large companies need to meet the challenge of preserving the uniqueness of the brand. Some successes include Coke’s acquisition of Vitamin Water and CLX’s ownership of Burt’s Bees. Macke prefers TAP to BUD and Adami thinks HANS will be bought.

Celgene (CELG), Genentech (DNA), Medarex (MDRX)

On an upcoming oncology conference, Najarian would pay attention to CELG, MDRX and DNA.

Corning (GLW), Disney (DIS)

Zach Karabell, president of River Twice Research says the economy won’t affect flat screen TV sales and would invest in GLW. Americans will limit travels overseas and will opt for domestic trips; he thinks DIS will benefit from this trend. He would avoid buying casino stocks.

Trader Radar: BHP Billiton (BHP) traded unusual volume Thursday.

Intel (INTC), Sohu (SOHU), Imax (IMAX)

When discussing the future of the internet, Macke says he likes tried and true companies like INTC. Tim Seymour looks to China for the future of the internet and is bullish on BIDU and SOHU. Najarian recommends speculative internet play IMAX.

Final Trade: Macke: Short Dow30ProShares (DOG), Adami: Citigroup (C), Najarian: Sasol (SSL)

Seeking Alpha is not affiliated with CNBC or Fast Money

Comments

[deaverb]

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