It is part of the extremely popular two hour timeframe on CNBC that teams with Jim Cramer and Mad Money to make for a very fast-paced and high-energy stock discussions.
Fast Money has a unique format with Dylan Ratigan serving as the moderator or 
"The Commish" as the show calls it. Ratigan moderates the discussion between the other four professional Wall Street traders. Jeff Macke is the "lone wolf", who has extensive trading experience and is particularly knowledgable when it comes to retailers. Guy Adami is "the negotiator", who worked at Goldman Sachs for several years and specializes in basic materials and industrials. Pete Najarian is known as "the Pit Boss". Najarian is co-founder of optionmonster.com and is a very successful trader. Karen Finerman rounds up the normal cast. Finerman is known as the "the chairwoman" and has been a hugely successful hedge fund manager.
Ratigan and the four professionals have a plethora of different segments that they may do from day to day. Many of the segments focus on arguments and discussions between the four traders as to whether specific stocks or industries in the news are buys or sells. The program is certainly viewer-friendly with the entertaining and upbeat style shining through. No one could possibly complain that there aren't enough individual stock ideas, since these are abundant on Fast Money. The Trade School feature is particularly helpful, as many viewers may not understand some of the jargon that wall street pros do, and this show helps these viewers decipher what is being said.
Like any show there are some negatives to Fast Money on CNBC. In my opinion Fast Money gears far to much to the short-term trader and does very little to inform viewers that are long-term investors. The panelists constantly speak of trading in and out of a stock very quickly, and change their opinions on stocks quite frequently at times. Also, the show can get a little too corny at times, as Ratigan and crew tend to goof around and become sidetracked rather often.
Is Fast Money a good program for you to watch to learn about the market? That depends on your perspective. If you like to trade options, trend or short-term trade, or even just like to watch an entertaining and informative show then yes this show is for you. However, if you are a long-term investor looking for ideas for long-term investments you will likely want to tune this show out. Though I wish the show had some segments geared toward long-term investing I believe Fast Money is pretty good stock analysis show with some interesting perspectives from some bright traders minds.
Comment Preview