it hasn't worked all that well. sales have been down almost every single quarter, each of the last four quarters. the stock is up 10% in the after hours on the news that we're breaking to you right now that ron johnson is out as the ceo of j.c. penney. certainly a lot to go through here when you figure out what it means for his pay structure. when he took over at j.c. penney, he got $50 million in stock to make up for some of the apple stock that was going to vest in a short period of time, that he was leaving behind at apple. he bought nearly $50 million in warrants at that time to buy seven a a quarter million shares of j.c. penney stock, exercised six years later at a price of $29.92. the stock has been sitting at about $15 and change at the close of trading today. certainly getting a spike here. but ron johnson's tenure at j.c.

penney appears to be over now according to a source familiar with the situation. >> the stock rose the day he took over the job and it's rising big time as he leaves the job. we'll turn it over to you guys and let you guys on "fast money" chew this around and see what it means for this stock going forward. over to you guys. >> thanks so much. welcome to "fast money." let's go straight to the breaking news in the after-hour session. j.c. penney ceo ron johnson is out. is out. this after the stock has been beaten down to a pulp. as we see the stock popping sharply in the after-hours session. >> this certainly has people running to cover what's been a great trade. i think people will say, this is a guy who came from apple, where it was a product specialized place and you couldn't do that in j.c. penney, even though it seemed like a great idea. traders trading this news and should be.

>> there are a lot of missteps along the way, declaring that promotional strategy was out, alienating a lot of customers. never moving to where j.c. penney is located and then reversing on the strategy. >> that's part of the problem. he came from apple where anybody could have sold that product. the question for j.c. penney, what's next? is there anything left for a new ceo to turn around? there was chatter, private equity firms looking at this, maybe this is related to that. but i wouldn't go off running and buying j.c. penney because ron johnson is out, because i don't know what's left of the company. >> it's after hours right now, a lot of people are covering their shorts. tomorrow morning, you have to see how it reacts, middle of the day. i would take your profit if it's still popped, i don't think it will be. >> remember, so many of the

retailers have reaped the benefits of j.c. penney's missteps when it comes to strategy. macy's really gaining a lot of market share. do we see that trade now because there's a belief there can be recoup of market share lost under ron johnson. >> what people don't understand in this pop is obviously the shorts that are starting to cover. this isn't something that's fixed because ron johnson is gone. the other interesting thing, you look at the weekly option expiring on friday, they were behind 17 strike calls today. trading 3,000 against open interest less than triple digits. so something was out there today that folks were starred starting to wonder when and if j.c. penney would move to the upside. did somebody know about him leaving before this came out? >> that's what you would think. >> there was a report out there that there was private equity. that could be a little bit of it too. it could be the combination of the two.

johnson out, private equity coming in splits up the assets that are left. that's what you do with the company. >> let's bring in courtney who spoke to ron johnson at the beginning of february. courtney? >> that's right. i did speak with ron johnson beginning of february and you know the trial is ongoing. all indications that he gave me and his people gave me was that this was not expected, at least at those times. i think the big question now, is what do they do now? they're in the middle of this very big plan. i don't know what they do as far as backtracking. does whomever take over continue with what he was doing? we know there was some reports, obviously that some of the board members were unhappy. we know mr. roth sold off half his shares but remains a board member. acman made negative comments on friday. perhaps it was board pressure. we just don't know.

there's always market speculation, because look at the stock, how could you not speculate that a change needed to be made when you see these tremendous losses over and over and over again. i think this one might pop the stock for a while. but we might see some shock value. i think it's possible you can see the stock retreat, because it's the what now that we're in the middle of this turnaround? who has a better idea? shouldn't they have spoken up earlier? >> we are sort of seeing that what now reaction in the stock after hours. we saw a pop of 11% initially and now down to about 4%. trade is jumping all around. >> in replacing ron johnson now, because there isn't a clear replacement at this point, so in the course of trying to find a replacement at this time, are they putting themselves at a disadvantage for the back to school buying season? don't they have to be ready for that the back-to-school season and christmas right after that? >> that's a really good

question. some of those products have been discussed and some of those products are in the pipeline. but back-to-school is a really important time. lots of analysts said they thought j.c. penney would give mr. johnson through back-to-school to get through the turnaround, to start making some positive changes. because like you said, it is a really, really important season. they had one back to school season. they had christmas, still within the first couple months of the transformation. i really don't know what they do now. like you said, there's not really a clear replacement. what are they going to do in the pipeline, the product that is for back-to-school? if johnson leaves, does his strategy leave to? i'm sure the market is taking some time to figure it out. as you mentioned, the stock is it jumping all around. >> courtney, we're going to leave it there for now. j.c. penney ceo ron johnson is in fact out. the stock is popping on the back of this news. let's bring in the chairwoman.

karen finerman joins us, an expert in the retail space. what do you make of this news? >> it's interesting. there's a couple things. back-to-school is pretty much set probably, but holiday is not. so i don't know if they'll be rudderless for holiday. that's important. it also makes you wonder what's happening this quarter? things can't be getting better this quarter for them to fire him right now. so i'm not surprised that the stocks running in the short-term. i think they're still left with a gigantic mess and a strategy that is in disarray. so it doesn't make me very optimistic in the short-term about a turnaround plan. i think it's sort of a salvage plan at this point. so we'll see where it trades. but i think a short squeeze, i

wouldn't be coming into it, actually. >> there are reports and a lot of rumors around this stock, but there are reports to private equity might be interested. can you see any sort of play like that, now that j.c. penney has booted its ceo and seems to be rudderless, as you say? >> you could never say zero, but it seems highly, highly unlikely. if it were to happen, it wouldn't be at a price remotely close to here. and i don't see -- i don't see why they would do that. they wouldn't get a good price at all. i don't know why anyone would want to come in the middle of this giant fix-it situation and the stock is not reflecting a fire sale price at all. without the acman ownership, but it wouldn't be trading anywhere near here. >> in terms of taking it to the other retailers, for a name like makey's, hitting a new 52-week

high, are there still gains to be had because of the disarray at j.c. penney? >> i hadn't thought that through, but that makes sense to me. that's a good one. that seems reasonable. although i think a lot of those gains have been made. but just a little more gravy for the other ones and macy's seems to be one of the big beneficiaries. less co-is kohl's, but maybe target a beneficiary as well. >> are there any trades that you're looking to do based on this news? >> in a really big spike in j.c. penney, i would probably sell some more. >> so you would short some more? >> i am short. if it gets high enough, you know, i suppose they could do some sort of secondary, but i don't see that -- it's possible. but now we'll look to valuation. now all the magic of ron johnson is going away.

look at valuation. it's crazy expensive here. >> we'll leave this there. thanks for phoning in. we appreciate it. really critical point here that karen made and that is j.c. penney might not have a ceo in place for the all-important holiday season. which is make or break probably for j.c. penney. >> and this is a company that somewhere at one or two quarters is cash flow issues. they have to invest in merchandise in a period where they don't have someone to make the call. karen's defaulting to, this is not a cheap company, a special situation where you have a place where private equity would be the one place people would be latching on to. >> we've had analysts on this show talking about how j.c. penney might be a going concern. what kind of cash do they have? what is their cash burn? and without the ceo there. it will be a problem. >> and the cherry on top, so to

speak, is the court case going on. if they don't have the martha stewart line and they're betting on this home goods turnaround in the face of increasing competition in this space, what does that do to the store? >> the initial reaction was a gut reaction. they jumped in and figured everything's clear. now it seems more calm as the stock is pulling off some highs. it was up above 17. so it makes sense people are now looking at this is ai, saying t doesn't change everything about the economics at j.c. penney. >> ron johnson is out at j.c. penney. who is next? who will be filling in? what's next for the company? and what is the trade? we'll have all those angles next on "fast money," stay tuned. egiving her the confidence to pursue all her goals.

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>> welcome back to >> welcome back to "fast money." breaking news in the after-hours session upon jcpenney ceo ron johnson is out. the stock is spiking on the back of this news. back to scott walker for more details.

>> thanks so much. i just got off the phone a short time ago with alan quest rom, the former ceo of jcpenney. few people as critical of ron johnson and the board than mr. quest rom telling me, not surprising, the news is not surprising given the performance. in his words, it's too bad to see somebody fail. is hoping they turn it around. this is a retailer that he still cares deeply about. he says a lot of people depend on the success of the company. he does tell me he thinks it can get turned around. but a lot of that will hinge on who the next ceo will be. they have to find the right person, at least to this point. i do not know who the next ceo of the company is going to be. i can just confirm to you, again, the news that we brought to you at the top here, that ron johnson is out as the ceo. >> did mr. quest rom have any ideas who would make a good ceo and would he be willing to step

in if he were asked? >> you can bet i asked him if he'd be willing and he said no, in his words, and i don't think he'd mind me saying this either, he said he's too old for that stuff. >> it's quite a headache to take on in the midst of your retirement. >> been there done that for a guy who's done everything in retail. he didn't want to speculate on any 2345i78z as well of people who could be out there. this was news to him when i called him and told him the news. i think he was getting his arms around it as well. but we'll continue to follow it and bring you new developments as we have them. >> scott wapner at headquarters. and to mr. quest rom's point, disappointing ron johnson's tenure. stock is down 51% since he took over in november of 2011. the market cap has fallen by about 49%, a loss of more than $5 million in market cap there.

so quite a disappointing run for shares of jcpenney in that time period. meantime, lots of news to kfr. we'll stay on top of this store, but let's talk about alcoa, the company's results may make the start of earnings season, but there's another name on our next guest radar that you should be paying more attention to, because it is earnings that could hold the key to the rally. let's bring in paul hikey. paul, we make so much of alcoa, you're saying forget alcoa. ibm is the one to watch. >> alcoa is almost 50/50 based on earnings season. we looked at every s&p 500 and found which one correlated to how earnings played out five weeks after the stock reported. and ibm is the highest in the s&p 500. when ibm beats estimates, 80% of

the time the stock -- s&p trades higher over the next five weeks. and vice versa. when ibm goes down, the s&p 500 goes down 75% of the time over the next five weeks. >> what are you anticipating for ibm's earnings? negative revisions and positive revisions? if you're saying watch ibm and how it reports, has the bar been lowered enough so ibm can come out and beat? >> well, ibm, i think they had a strong report last quarter. they have an international presence, could be a problem for the stock and how the market perceives it. but what we've seen in revisions in the last month, companies that generate a hundred percent of their revenues in the u.s. are evenly matched, positive and negative. companies that generate -- >> sorry, breaking news. back to scott wapner at headquarters. >> what we have now is a press release from jcpenney.

the news is as follows. mike you'llman is the one coming back to take over as ceo. he was the man that ron johnson took the job from. he's being named the interim ceo. he's in his mid 60s, so it's an interesting move for him to come back. he says, and these are some comments attributed to mike you'llman. while jcpenney has faced a difficult period its legacy in american retailing is an asset that can be built upon and leveraged. let me point something else out from the press release that i think is interesting and will play into the conversation over the next several dayings, perhaps factoring into the pay structure of ron johnson. it says ron johnson is stepping down and leaving the company, not in fact that he was fired. so it's the terminology that's being used in the press release. more to figure out over the coming days. but mike you'llman is coming back to jcpenney to see if he

can turn things around. we'll continue to follow the story. >> so ron johnson is stepping down. probably wanting to spend more time with his family. come on! stepping down. >> at least they'll have a fresh perspective, a new vision for the company. >> that's not the case either. >> do you have to take into consideration in things like this, the way management contracts are written, whether he's fired for cause or resigns or steps down and how all of that factors into the pay structure when a ceo leaves an organization or a major company like this one. so they're using the language that he's stepping down and leaving. >> all right, scott. thank you very much. the appointment of mike ullman is a fascinating one. >> back to the future. >> exactly. >> wasn't there something wrong with jcpenney that caused them to bring in ron johnson? so now they're going back because everything was okay back then. >> now you know why we wanted to short more in case the stock pops. the only buyers you see tomorrow are still afraid of it, still

covering their shorts. >> you wonder about it right now is the board size. the board has made a lot of the decisions that have gone along in this process. you have to scratch our head and say, are these guys the right guys to get this moving in the right direction? they're not just losing to macy's. they're losing to a lot of different companies. they have to get that back. it's not the easiest thing to track those customers. >> we're down on mike ullman at this point, but could there be a possibility this works? they have brought back past ceos, we have many examples of it. >> like who? >> steve jobs. >> but those are people who had vision. >> howard schultz. >> these are people that were founders of the company, that were entrepreneurs, they have the ability to come in and change the situation. not knowing what mr. ullman is going to do, we don't know yet. he was there before, maybe he continues to the path.

but they said he's interim ceo. so now you have to wonder, what bill ackman is thinking, did he have a role in this ousting at all? perhaps maybe the only thing he's -- >> i think they're going to be some real questions when it comes to the board and how they've acted throughout the whole thing and the appointment of -- >> he's a face-save for now, because as karen pointed out, it's chaos going into an important time of year. >> he knows how to get it done. >> this guy has a fantastic resume, hasn't been showered in glory in the last few years at jcpenney, but he knows how to play this. >> back to paul -- sorry about that. >> paul is still here. >> hi, paul. >> it's like one of those vp picks that everybody first scratches their head, see how it plays out. what we were getting to in earnings revisions. companies with more than whafl their revenue outside the united states have seen 65% more

negative revisions. whereas the domestic ones were evenly matched. >> based on currency or -- >> it's the businesses, it's the currency. mmi is all over the rest of the world. >> give us the bottom line for ibm and what we can expect from big blue so we know what to expect in the five weeks after big blue reports for the s&p 500. >> the key is to watch how big blue reacts. if big blue has a positive reaction, that's a positive sign for the market. they have a presence in every fortune 500 company. so if they're doing well, all their customers are doing well. on the flip side, if they miss, or the market reacts negatively, then avoid the market. >> paul, thanks for bearing with us. of course we're going to continue to follow the story. again, ron johnson is out. mike ullman, the ceo in office before ron johnson, is back in. the stock has retreated from his after-hours gains. we'll be following this. meantime, it's a world of sex,

power, and money, what mad men's new season means to lion's gate bottom line. michael burns joins us next. stay tuned. power, and money, what mad men's

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built to keep you moving. see it in action at blackberry.com/z10 >> welcome back to >> welcome back to "fast money." we are live at the nasdaq markets. straight to the breaking news, ron johnson is out at ceo of jcpenney. mike ullman has been appointed the new ceo. ullman had been the ceo before ron johnson took over. let's get more on this news. bring in liz dunn. great to have you with us. >> thanks for having me. >> what's your initial take on -- does your opinion of the

stock change dramatically based on this news? >> well, no. i think the announcement suggests to us that things are in flux at jcpenney. i don't think they can return to the old strategy and all will be well. they have big questions to answer and i think the release hinted to that when ullman said, he's got some work to do to figure out what's salvageable. >> why do you think they brought ullman in? the initial reaction here amongst the traders is why would you bring back the guy who steered jcpenney to a point where they thought they needed to bring fresh blood in? >> yeah, i think it's probably pretty awkward. bill ackman has made a big deal in his presentations about how the stock didn't perform under ullman's tenure at the company. and so i think -- i mean, just guessing as an outsider, it looks to me like there was probably a little bit of disagreement among the board of

directors. but i think that having followed the company when ullman was there, i think he felt a little pigeonholed by jcpenney's positioning, and this may give him enough of a clean slate to say, okay, where can we go from here? i don't think they can walk away from the strategy, because they've dramatically reduced inventory. they can't commit more capital to building that inventory back up. i think they've made commitments to some of the new brands who's opened shops and committed their own capital. so i think they need to proceed forward with the shops. >> so in the after hours session, jcpenney has given up all the initial pop on the back of ron johnson's depart your, now that mike ullman is in. what is your extrapolation of the situation to the rest of your space? frns, does macy's continue to gain share? does jcpenney continue to bleed? what are some of the ramifications here? >> there's no white knight to fix this story at this point.

i think it's going to be hard going from here. i think we can expect expect peney's to give up market share, some to macy's, maybe some to off-price channel and others. doesn't look like kohl's picked up any during peney's worst year. but for the time being, we'll see the retailer continue to flounder until they set a new strategy and begin to execute that. >> that's your best prediction for jcpenney a year out? where is it? >> i think a year out, we will probably seep them return to positive comps -- >> it's just terrible. they're terrible numbers. that would be the base minimum on the stock unless it goes out of business. >> fair enough. i don't think they're going to get back the $4 billion in lost sales that happened in 2012. but i do think we'll see some return to positive comps and probably a strategy that keeps

them as a going concern, you know, for the foreseeable future. perhaps scaled down real estate footprint would make sense. i think they get a little bit of a clean slate here to make some bigger decisions that they couldn't make before. >> all right, liz, thanks for joining us. jcpenney shares now down 3% in the after-hours session. back to scott wapner for more details on mike ullman, the new ceo of jcpenney. >> the stock is unimpressed with mr. ullman being brought back to jcpenney. it would appear based on the move it's making. but he's no retail slouch. he has extensive experience throughout the retail. mid-level department stores, he's been there, he's also been at other posts, at federated as well, served on a number of corporate boards, most recently

starbucks and saks as well. so i know what the stock is doing here, maybe we're looking for a more exciting name, at least for today, but the fact of the matter is mike ullman, in his considerable years in the retail industry, has a wealth of experience that clearly the board is hoping he can help bring back to jcpenney and right the ship. >> the question at this point is, bill ackman made such a big deal with ullman and the stock price not responding under his tenure and ackman advocating for change, has ackman used up all his cards? if not an activist investor, what gets the stock going? if it doesn't work with ron johnson, is that part of the story over? >> it's hard to say. i would assume they'll be looking for, again, as an interim ceo, so bill ackman you got to believe is going to be working hard with firms and looking on his own and talking

to other people to find the right man to take this job. i've spoken with sources over the last several months in working on this story, asking what kind of names were out there for people to start considering if this day was to come. there aren't that many names that were mentioned to me. the people out there are either running other companies or unavailable or perhaps their better days are behind them. in the right time, would allen questrom be the right guy? maybe. but he told me he's not the right guy for the job. so i don't think there are a bunch of blow you out of the water names that are going to come to the top of mind of most the people i've spoken with in the last months. >> scott, thank you very much for that. jcpenney shares now down 4% in the after-hours session on the news that mike ullman will take over the home. >> the market would almost

prefer tracy ullman at this point. >> that would be quite a talker. what did you do last night? anything good. >> some hoops. >> i tuned in to watch the highly anticipated premiere of mad men, shares of lion's gate up 43% to date. continue to seduce investors. lion's gate chairman joins us on the fast line. always great to speak with you. >> thanks for having me again. >> any initial number on how the premiere did last night? last year's premiere set new records. >> very comparable numbers to last year's premiere. amc just put out a press release, 3.4 million viewers, but don't forget in this world of c plus 3 and 7, we expect the numbers to go up when you count the dvr viewership. >> i wanted to ask you about the impact of netflix. i'm sure i'm not unlike many people out there who just binge

watch entire seasons of "mad men." i did that to get myself geared up for season six. does that bring in more viewers. obviously you think you're better off allowing that to be streamed on netflix. >> we sold all seven seasons to netflix in syndication. we're pleased with that deal. my partner and i used to joke around with josh and charlie at amc, we talked about years ago, this is going to hurt you us, and we think it helped the show in a dramatic fashion. it's a digital world. we're not ignoring that. it's nice to see that the premiere last night is number one on itunes. >> all right, michael, we're going to leave it there. thanks so much for calling in. busy night tonight. we appreciate your times. michael burns, vice chairman of lions gate. this is one we've been all over

since that battle with our friend. almost a triple. >> if you look at the stock, there's one school of thought, which is this looks a little overpriced right now, a little bit in front ofs its piers. then you look at the international growth, the revenue, they've done a great job with some acquisitions. if they continue this kind of growth trajectory. then potentially it's not overpriced and there's still some upside. >> michael has always brought up that streaming is needed. so now you have content providers that everyone slaps this old-time valuation on. and the pipeline for lions gate is tremendous. i love mad men, but there's a lot of stuff -- >> you never even watched the show. you're a liar. i called you in a bald-face lie! where did megan and don go onivation? >> hawaii. >> what else you got, sister? >> all right. >> know the answer before you

set this stuff up. [ laughter ] >> still to come on fast, first there were 64. now there are two. we are minutes away from the "fast money" championship final. it's bank of america versus google. find out who wins, that's ahead. ron: i'm never alone with scottrade. i can always call or stop by my local office. they're nearby and ready to help. so when i have questions, i can talk to someone who knows exactly how i trade. because i don't trade like everybody. i trade like me. that's why i'm with scottrade. announcer: scottrade- proud to be ranked "best overall client experience."

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from >> from the pop of 11% in the after-hour session to now a decline of almost 7%, this is the roller coaster ride jcpenney shares have been on since it was announced that ron johnson is out, mike ullman is back in. the story we are all over and following here on "fast," so stay tuned. [ indistinct shouting ] ♪ [ indistinct shouting ] [ male announcer ] time and sales data. split-second stats. [ indistinct shouting ] ♪ it's so close to the options floor... [ indistinct shouting, bell dinging ] ...you'll bust your brain box. ♪ all on thinkorswim from td ameritrade. ♪

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back to back to our breaking news here. jcpenney shares are down 7%, ron johnson is out at ceo. mike ullman is in. let's get to stacy witless of sw retail advisers on the fast line tonight. stacy, i want to ask you about mike ullman here. during his tenure, december 2004 and october 2011, jcpenney shares were down about 17%. annual revenues were flat. is this the guy who will turn it around for this company? >> i think the question is, who is going to turn around the company? who wants to come in and take responsibility of turning around the company now all the damage

is done. as much as the stock price was down during his tenure, i think he has experience with their core consumer. so con johnson had tried to change this company, then he said, i made a mistake. now he's trying to back to the core consumer. at the end of the day, who are they going to get immediately to come in and take this responsibility? >> so he's the lesser of evils. that's what it sounds like. he's the best that they can do given the departure of ron johnson. the question, though, for investors tonight, is, did you like the jcpenney of mike ullman preron johnson? because if you didn't, are you getting more of the same at this point? >> right. that's the question. you're right. and i think we know they have a real estate problem. we know this company is a bit of a dinosaur. so what is the answer here? we know there's more competition in the market. we know that they're trying to get a younger, hipper customer

in the store. and none of these things have worked so far. so ron johnson had tried to change this company. what he did was scare away the core consumer and not get the new ones in. so going forward, i think, again, the damage is done here. the only good news is that ron johnson, who, as i said last week on your show, he had a circle of yes around him. he had nobody challenging him. so now you bring in somebody who's open to other people's opinion and who won't just act unilaterally. >> i guess the question is, is jcpenney going to go out of business here, or is there a mr. or mrs. awesome with a great plan, or are they just done? >> yeah, i think that this is a continuing dwindling market share story. it's like theater. you look at these companies that have too much square footage and the real estate isn't great. their customer is outdated.

they fall by the way side to target and other companies that have younger, hipper, exciting brands. and the question is, is it just too little too late, particularly now that the core consumer is out the door? >> what do you say, is it too little too late at this point? >> i think it is. i think they continue to lose market share here. and interesting, last week they launched the home business. they brought in michael graves, john sadler, we still don't know what the fate is. but michael ended their alliance with target a while back. that's just not enough. jcpenney's carrying the brand. it's not enough to drive in the new consumer. now, we have all these shops under construction with the internet to get the new consumer in, if that's not working, we spend all this money to accomplish nothing. >> stacey, thanks for phoning in. stacey wid lits of sw retail

advisers. interesting situation. quite a roller coaster ride for jcpenney shares in the after-hours session. if you're an investor out there, are you worried bill ackman is going to look for an exit? >> i think you're looking for clarity on the core shareholders and clarity on what this company will do. what will they do with litigation expenses and pension costs? the balance sheet would have me concerned. this is about shoring up a company people feel is not in great shape. >> scott, what is it? >> news on the compensation for mr. ullman, who is taking over. he's going to be paid a million in salary in connection with serving as chief executive officer, an annual base salary of $1 million. i don't have anything in the release that talks about any kind of bonus, but you can bet that our crack staff over here on the news desk will be going through any filings to try to figure out that information.

initially, a base salary of a million. >> not too bad there. scott, thank you very much. mike ullman getting a million dollars here. i was looking up what ron johnson was being paid. i believe it is more than that, but we'll get confirmation. >> one of the headlines is that he left without any major disagreement. if he's done a bad job, i don't know why he doesn't get fired and serve the shareholders money on exit costs. >> this is the moment we've all been anticipating for the past three weeks. the championship game of our fast money competition. one stock will take home a trophy tonight. it's very big, almost too heavy for me to hold up. so i'll wait to the end and do it once. we start out with 64 stocks from four regions. our traders and you wittled the competition. only four names were left standing.

google, disney, bank of america, and honeywell. but only two of these will duke it out for the championship crown. who will take it all? it comes down to the number one seed from the financials region, bank of america, and the number one seed from the technology region, google. so we turn it to the traders. >> you know what, both these stocks have been on a tear through the whole tournament, but i think that bank of america has peaked too soon and this one is google's to win. i like that one much better. >> google was my pick at the start of the competition. so i'm staying with the horse, google. >> wow. >> bank of america has been range bound since speaking earlier in the corner, if you look at their valuation, earnings, what they get from merrill lynch, i think they're in a much better place. bank of america, no question. >> tim's 100% correct. >> really? >> when you look at what's happening with google, spent it in the first quarter, big run-up, pulling back, alleged

issues with the android. i think you have to go with bank of america. i like what the financials are doing. i still think many of these names can double. >> giddy-up. >> we're going to sudden death right now upon twitter votes have to determine it. we tally the twitter votes. and you all out there, picked -- bank of america! bank of america. >> yeah, baby. >> i thought you guys had google to be honest. >> just raise it like it's supposed to be. >> it's filled with champagne by the way. >> are you guys taking credit for the whole bracket? >> we did what we could. we played within ourselves and didn't try to do too much out there. >> it's a very nice trophy. "fast money" madness, it's very attractive. >> hey! [ all speak at once ] >> you should apologize.

>> come on! >> that's really something. >> that is disappointing. i have to send it out to be engrafed, groso! still to come, after his actions, we're falling developments from jcpenney, so stay tuned. ♪ [ cows moo ] [ sizzling ] more rain... [ thunder rumbles ] ♪ [ male announcer ] when the world moves... futures move first. learn futures from experienced pros with dedicated chats and daily live webinars. and trade with papermoney to test-drive the market. ♪ all on thinkorswim. from td ameritrade. all on thinkorswim.

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>> welcome back to >> welcome back to "fast money," we are tracking shares of alcoa, the conference call has been going on for about an hour now. the stock is a little bit lower in the after-hours session. it was in earnings revenue miss. largely positive on the call talking about demand in europe holding steady, as well as tightening supply and that had been a major issue for them which has reduced production capacity by 12% in 2012. they also talked about engineer products and solutions their high growth business, making bolts and screws that go into aerospace, as well as automobiles. that segment was up 24%, holding up in terms of a bright spot

there. >> he's always positive. the one thing he should be positive is that the u.s. auto business is soaring. the u.s. auto has 15 pounds or 14 pounds more aluminum than it did a year ago. when he's telling you to think about his comp as value added, don't think of this as upstream. they're doing a great job, running the company efficiently. he's a fantastic ceo. but the reality is, this is not a company people are fired up because of their core business, the demand is not there, even though the industry is in better balance. >> we were talking with it being correlated to the average price of aluminum. >> there are some segments that are going to work, but the segment everyone relate it to it aluminum. >> is it lum minium. >> it would be aluminum because we're in the united states. >> people don't think of it as the ceo -- >> aluminum prices have improved

a little bit, up 3% -- oh, down 1.4% year on year, but sequentially is the trend here. >> base metals in general have been fairly week. when you look at alcoa, looks like they're running it better. but the demand, i know you're saying auto sales are up, but since september, they've plateaued, let's call it seasonaly jaufed. i'd be concerned. >> unusual activity going into the close in aloea. >> definitely interesting, but the global oversupply, we talk about it around the earnings season. but we're looking ap jp morgan -- >> and ibm. >> we'll be right back. stay tuned. ♪

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time for time for the final trade. pete? >> best stock of the 64 bank of america, buy it it's going higher. >> i'm going with citi by american market. >> we talked about it enough tonight, stick with macy's new anmall highs day after day after day. keep it on a short stop, $41. >> i thought you were going to say jcpenney. >> it's been only one