24.5% certified. >> and this is a huge industry. go to northern california. literally thousands of people growing it in homes, in tents. legal under state law, illegal under federal law. >> well good luck on monday. see you later. that does it for us on closing bell. >> we'll turn it over to "fast money," which starts now. "fast money" starts now. our traders tonight, playing the bullion bounce. gold staging a big comeback this week. the best since august of 2011. after six weeks of gains, and

it's not just the yellow metal itself. just how high can it go, and is it a safe trade again? it's the worst week for stocks in three months. yields have fallen. >> well, let's acknowledge the grandfather of rock, neal young, bringing us in with heart of gold. but there are some factors that may be a little concerning. an import ban, and ultimately, that wasn't a real help. global hot spots, a run to fear for gold not helping either. i think this shows you, some

people think the fed is behind the curve. but gold is in a very vicious bear market really. >> and that's a good segue, because i would ask if it's a fool's rally. >> fool's gold. well, gold got so, so down this year. and the gdx is up 28%. a technical breakout. and someone buying 20,000 of the december 35 culprits. but it's a leveraged trade. if you get the gold move to 1 4 1,400, it should move.

>> and reports that everybody is panicking, that pushes gold up. >> do you buy it or sell it? six straight weeks, you think it keeping going? >> yes. i think the gdx, the gold miners are starting to act like the airlines, changing their business, running it differently. >> learning and doing it are two different things, though. jimmy? >> well, gold is the anti-central bank trade now. >> not behind the curve? >> on the curve. not ahead of it either. >> wouldn't that mean that gold is too high here? >> that's exactly my point. and sorry about that, b.k., but

it looks like a bear market rally. it was oversold in june and may, and they're buying it back. >> but these are people that are going to hold it in their accounts and in jewelry. >> i'd rather hold copper and iron ore, i think there is going to be intrinsic demand. >> russia, a new real buyer of gold, too. >> and central banks, they're going to continue to buy gold. i get that. but the term that gold was go g ing to be a savior of fiat

trading. >> well, there are other reasons to buy gold. that's what i'm saying. >> well, gold rallied, but small cap stocks took a beating. our next guest thinking the selloff is a healthy correction. eric, welcome. good to talk to you. down 4%, does the bleeding continue? >> i think, you know, small cap stocks do tend to be a little bit more volatile. when you get a selloff in the market, they react more to the downside. and small caps have taken a rest this year, as the rest of the market played catchup over the last two years.

one of the things that's unique, you can always find growth opportunities. and there's always somewhere within the small cal space to find a opportunity in just about any type of market. this is a small cap company that's involved in corrugated cardboard, and they basically make boxes and so forth. this is an area dominated by a lot of large players. the industry has consolidated. they position themselves as a low-cost provider, they're able to raise prices. and now market expansions, bigger earnings. it's done really well so far this year. >> energy also has done well. the oil and gas company bonanza.

>> these guys, in the northern colorado. we like the production growth and earnings improvement. >> and in 2006, 2007, i know bonanza creek is a name you guys like. seems like there's plenty of space left, in names with plenty of room left in the next nine to 12 months. >> there's a real renaissance coming up in the energy sector, and it's not yet recognized. the broader investors haven't recognized it yet.

it's about new supplies of oil in new parts of the world. >> is this a buying opportunity? >> well, the market is still not that far off its 52-week high. so, you want to pay attention to valuations here. in the russell 2000, you can find opportunities. this is time to be an active portfolio manager. >> thanks, eric. what do you guys think about the small cap buying opportunity? >> well, he talks about being a stock picker, this is hard. people at home, doing their work -- >> or less. >> the margin for error is different. russell was down 4% this week.

and there wasn't a lot of u.s.-specific news that could have caused it. and that has the makings of an epic, epic double top. >> well, if you're worried about the economy, small caps can be a place to do some work. >> well, the liquidity isn't often. when the market turns down, there's not as much room to move. you know, the other times haven't been that far off from this. we do a lot of work in this space, and you got to be prepared. but it also corrects in the opposite way. >> and it's been built off of the fact that the fed was out of

play. they're in play next week in the proverbial sense. people are looking for value here. and the market's churning around. a lot of money that want to play, but not at that multiple. >> next, tobacco stocks up, as two cigarette manufacturers talk mergers. more "fast money" is up, next. did you remember to pay the dog sitter?

yeah, citi mobile. and deposit that check? citi mobile. pack your bathing suit? wearing it. niiice bank from almost anywhere with the citi mobile app.

♪ >> welcome back. lorillard on our radar. soaring after confirming they're in talks with reynolds american. and tim is a happy american. do you see some sort of consolidation with this company? >> well, lorillard, the reason i

piled on to this stock, i think people were underestimating the growth of menthol smokes. they could be a very real number two, and the whole cigarette space is changing. the shakeout of this, it's good for imperial tobacco. they're going to get some of the spoils of this. divestitures could play into their hand. lorillard, the dividends are why people stay in these investments. >> and the semiconductor index

is on fire. seems to be, there's no top. but qualcomm, with $100 billion-plus, they have a multibillion-dollar buyback, expecting to grow at 15% this year. trading one times that expected growth. i don't get why it's left in the cold. >> because of the overhang. that may not be appropriate, but these guys are going to have to start to deal with royalty issues. >> and they slightly missed their fiscal q 2, they've been in the penalty box. it's a cheap stock, and a lot of thi good things going on there. >> and amazon, asking for

permission to fly drones. >> well, channel advisors said that amazon and ebay are having rising sales. you buy amazon because of revenue growth. i think this stock goes higher. >> well, amazon has been dead, dead, so, i think this is a catchup rally. >> citi and goldman, some reports coming next week. what do you read from the reports? >> well, i think it's a lower volume version. if interest rates do go up, they

gain. citi is the whipping boy. they could be facing $7 billion hard, $3 billion soft. i do look for value, and i do think their global business is exciting. this is a no-brainer to me at these levels. >> do you buy this stock? >> potentially. >> well, a worse regulatory environment, the dividend issue there. >> who cares about dividends? >> it could be priced into the stock. that's why everybody likes ci

citibank. >> well, the problems started from europe. and the regulatory issue, another thing. but the issues are bad. >> in europe. >> no, no, here. when we get a look at bank america, and they've already talked down their q1 ratings. >> do you like this? >> well, j.p. morgan, there's no news. >> up next, yahoo's marissa mayer, and tim armstrong spotted in deep conversation in a bar. what were they talking about? we're going to hear from someone that was actually at the scene, next. if you have moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, like me,

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♪ yahoo ceo marissa meyer got caught out with tim armstrong late night last night. could aol be an acquisition? january jarks a-- john jannaron with us. >> well, marissa has been elusive all week. and about 11:30, we look in on her at a bar, and with tim

armstrong. they were there for over an hour, and among the last people to come out. >> any reason to think they could be talking some business together? >> we don't know. i asked, and they both kind of laughed and shook me off. as you might expect. but this is the kind of thing that happened in the past. looking to last year, bezos talking to the owner of the "washington post." boom, a deal, $250 million. and look, we don't know anything based on what we saw last night. but this is a deal that's been speculated over. right now, yahoo not looking great, and aol has been better. particularly on the advertising side, which is what yahoo needs to improve on.

>> thanks, john. well, they're former google colleagues. >> well, numbers are going to be out for yahoo on tuesday. people looking to understand the ipo. >> that's the issue. that's the problem with the stock, it's all we're talking about. >> and people worrying they're going to bank money after ali baba, and go buy aol? >> well, just like a pinto and a yugo. nobody wants to buy it. >> time now for pops and drops. the big movers of the day. the gap, down 1%. >> well, this is one to avoid. they're not going to report earnings until the fall.

i'd stay out of it. >> and chevron, down 1%. >> i think it has to do with crude being down 2%. they had a massive run after 2014 lows. they just rallieied 10%. >> how about modelez? >> well, this is one of the great ways to grow, in the e.m. food come sumgs trade. i would be cautious. and finish line. >> i would stay away from this. >> and a drop from missing pets. how about this one. a lost spider? fliers placed around brooklyn to see if anybody has seen this

tarantu tarantula. she's pregnant. >> how do spiders get pregnant? >> i missed that day in the birds and bees class. and lebron going back home to cleveland. value of the cavs, already back over $1 billion. ticket prices are going on the among the most expensive in the nba. it's the ticket. >> the way the athletes are taking the power away from the g.m.s is in some ways a model for other sports. >> on monday, we're going to be live from the delivering alpha

event. i'm going to be with carl icahn as well. and time for final trades. >> i'm short crude oil. >> sticking with it. >> and blackberry, i sold mine today. >> have a great weekend. you can catch more "fast money" on monday. next, "options action," in two minutes.

this is "options action." tonight, high bar. investors are expecting a huge jump in tech earnings. why they could be in for a shock. plus, who just got in bed with bed, bath, and beyond? and the stock that could be on the verge of a major

meltdown. what is it, and how could you profit? we'll reveal. the action starts now. >> live from the nasdaq market site, on a rocky week for markets. a new concern starting to crop up. that being, the u.s. consumer. companies starting to warn about consumer spending. what problems does this pose for the rally. lumber liquidators. more of them, what's the problem here? >> this has been going on for over a year. a lot of situations where investors have explained them as one-off situations.

but at some point, it becomes a trend. we started out, costco, with june sales slightly better than expected. that was the good. but then, family dollar missing, and guidance down. and the ugly, limber liquidat s liquidators. down 26% on the week. at a certain point, you have to think about it as a trend. >> well, when the ceo of container stores says it's a retail funk. and the walmart guy says it, not a lot of materializing here. >> well, it's good and bad. what has been good, auto sales. that's supported by low interest rates. home sales, the values have gone up. the number is not that great.

that's going to affect lumber liquidators. asset prices have gone up, but wages have not. they're buying cars. a very old fleet going into this, and an incredibly low interest rate. that's what makes them more affo affordab affordable. i think this is the tip of the iceberg. >> and car sales, that's an outlier. they were missing sales right up to the beginning of this year. and didn't we hear about this in december and february and january? people weren't going to the lots because of weather. but look at the blow-ups this year. bed bath and beyond, coach,

stoc stocks trading at multi-year lows. they're getting destroyed. we're going to look back on this and say it was a canary in the cole mine. >> what do you think? >> well, let's look at two charts. the xrt versus the consumer spending. and here we see, this is the market. these very discretionary names have outperformed the sector. so, let me show you this long

term. here's the s&p. no sector has outperformed the market for more than five years in a row, going back to the '80s. and this has outperformed the market for six years. so, we'd like to have some convergence between the performance and the market. >> and talking about discretionary spending, on more premium type brands. you can put starbucks in there. spending $4 on a cup of coffee. >> well, it's a cult stock. but it's priced for perfection. trading at many times earnings. and the same reasons why, it's

an expensive, large-cap stock. so, it's like nike. trading at a premium. but to me, the stock is priced for perfection. i want to do this trade next week. i want to make a near-term bearish bet. i think it retraces a little bit of this move. you can get a max risk of $1.25. down a little less than 3%, and $72.50, i can make up some money. i think the stock is at a very important technical level.

so, to me, this is the sort of trade i want to do in this type of market. >> i definitely feel you on the overvaluation of starbucks. but there alternatives. other grocery stores are starting to provide what whole foods does. there's not an alternative for starbucks. >> well, look at panera. stocks can stay, diverge for a while. >> well, we did have a little bit in panera that could bleed

into starbucks. and next week's tech earnings could determine the next market. and some big companies reporting next week. >> there are. i am going to talk a little bit about the tech earnings. big giants like intel, and yahoo. ebay, google, ibm, all reporting in this coming week. so, what are the analysts expecting? on the earnings side, a 7.4% increase from the prior period, from the prior year. that's higher than the 4.6%

expected from the s&p as a whole. and a 5.4% bump in sales, double the 2.7% expected from the s&p. analysts expect to see growth in semiconductor stocks like intel. so, semiconductor stocks very much in focus. >> so, could wall street be getting too optimistic? let's check in with the chart master. >> here's smh. the semiconductor itself, and smh next. but what's important is the outperformance of the whole. semis are important for all of technology. from july 12th to july 414th, a

two-year run almost double than the rest of the s&p. so, a lot of outperformance. and now, we're above, and this is the point of trends. they're not my trends. and take a look at this. this is well-defined, no way around it. you're at the top of a channel. another way to do it, use a moving average. the smoothing mechanism. checks back, checks back, and you're due for a check back. >> and you're going to make a bearish bet here, very much in the same way that dan did with starbucks, right? >> right. and there are times when the fact is, options prices are not that high. it still can pay to do a spread.

49-45 put spread. and i would put a limit order on this. but a $1 spread, the different between the two put spreads. and this's where you get the $1 debit. one of the things we're seeing, it's coming more recently from multiples. guess what, they're not at such a huge discount anymore. intel, still vulnerable, and right now, looking a bit extended. >> well, intel, they already preannounced this quarter. and smh, 20% of the weight of the smh is intel. so, make a bearish bet against

intel, diversify. >> you like intel, or the bearish bet? >> i like the bearish bet on the semis. >> well, just a few weeks ago, there was a huge bearish bet on the smh. they did a similar trade. in august, which we're not going to do here, but i think we traded 20,000 times. >> well, intel right now -- earnings and sales are only expected to grow low single digits at best. no growth. so the point, if we get a do downturn in the cycle, stock is going lower. >> tweet us and check out our website. optionsaction.com. here's what's coming up next.

to infinity and beyond! >> that's what some hope an activist will do for shares of bed bath and beyond. plus, some investors are expecting a big meltdown from one high growth name. we'll they will you what it is when "options action" returns. when the world moves, futures move first. learn futures from experienced pros with dedicated chats and daily live webinars. and trade with paper money to test-drive the market. all on thinkorswim from td ameritrade.

[b♪ll rings] time and sales data. split-second stats. ♪ its so close to the options floor, you'll bust your brain-box. all on thinkorswim, from td ameritrade. here's a question for you. is a big activist getting into bed with bed bath and beyond? a rumor of this sent shares up more than 2% today.

and call volume was two times its average daily volume. where do we see this stock going? mike, what do you think? >> well, we're seeing a whole lot of activity. 50s, 61s. all of the near-dated calls, trading. the ones expiring today, next week, and in august. so, they're all obviously expecting a short-term bump to the upside. and looking at some other distressed names, take a look at petsmart. look at what it did. a quick, short pop there. family dollar. carl icahn involved in it.

popped up. and i think the important thing to remember is, all of these names have some real distressing things before it. the street hates this name. revenues are flat. buybacks doing more than cap backs. so, you're looking for a short-term pop. but look out below in case they get this wrong. >> and they're trying to figure out who the activist could be. not a surprising target. retailer under some distress. >> well, this is the quickest way for people at home to lose money, chasing these calls. here's the thing. i'll give you two examples, whole foods and lulu. who knows what it was?

restructuring coach, too. all of them are back down to the lows. and family dollar has almost filled in that entire gap since carl icahn made that accouncement. >> 6 million shares. >> look at the options market, though. >> well, no involve today. 6 million. a week ago, it was 19 million. >> well, the point, people can't help themselves. if a big name is going to get involved, and they think they can get ahead of it. the probability of success is low, but at least you're going to be risking less. >> we did call bed bath and beyond, but they didn't return our phone calls.

and on wednesday, we'll be at delivering alpha. i will sit down with none other than carl icahn. we'll talk about everything. up next, which high-growth stock will be the next to fall? we'll discuss, when "options action" returns. time and sales data. split-second stats. ♪ its so close to the options floor, you'll bust your brain-box. all on thinkorswim, from td ameritrade.

[ bell ringing, applause ]

five tech stocks with more than a 10%... change in after-market trading. ♪ all the tech stocks with a market cap... of at least 50 billion... are up on the day. 12 low-volume stocks... breaking into 52-week highs. six upcoming earnings plays... that recently gapped up. [ male announcer ] now the world is your trading floor. get real-time market scanning wherever you are with the mobile trader app. from td ameritrade. it's been a bad week for sales force, down 8%. but they didn't fall enough to make dan's bearish trade work out, and here's why. >> on "options action," sometimes risk less to make more isn't enough. sometimes we need to fix our trades, and that's the case with

dan's trade on sales force. he thought it was about to slide. but just going short? >> are you going out of your mind? >> good question. it could keep rising forever. so, to define his risk, dan bought the august 50 strike put for $2. now, he needs shares to fall below by more than $2. but it gets even better. because that but will gain value faster than the stock will lose value. meaning, more money in dan's pocket. since that time, it's been falling and rising, and now falling sharply. but not enough to make the trade

a winner just yet. >> i hate when that happens. >> and "options action" fans have only one question. how can dan fix his trade? so, despite this week's decline, the trade still not looking good. >> well, i still have a low probability of success. so, i want to get out as early as possible. so, if i get a move back towards my strike, i'm still going to be down on the trade but i'm going cut my losses. >> mike? >> i want to spread and maybe go out a little bit further, and put out a lot of options. a lot of high-flying names gives

you a little bit more time, and the decay ends up being upset. >> i hate this one now. >> so, if you can do it again, do it another way. terrible chart. >> and is this a broader issue? zillow, linked in, yelp. twitter. >> well, there are a couple of skeptics on this desk. maybe a lot of them. but the fact of the matter, they can't stay at these valuations forever. and they're likely to crack sometime soon. and i've been trying to look out about six months for my bearish bets. i think that the party is over. >> and all the m and a chatter. off the lows in may, a lot of the stocks were ripped hard.

yelp, acquisition for priceline. but that's not going to matter sooner or later. it's not going to work anymore. so, crm is one of the ones, i believe there's something really secular going on. it is. but they're going to come home to roost, but i'm not sure this month or next month. >> well, the burden of proof has shifted. it's been a very bullish market, but the burden of proof has shifted. >> we'll be back after this. when the world moves, futures move first. learn futures from experienced pros with dedicated chats and daily live webinars. and trade with paper money to test-drive the market.

all on thinkorswim from td ameritrade.

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go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again. inclu[b♪ll rings] and a digital scale. time and sales data. split-second stats. ♪ its so close to the options floor, you'll bust your brain-box. all on thinkorswim, from td ameritrade. welcome back. time for the final call. the last word from the options pits. carter? >> time to realize gains in semiconductors. >> i like starbucks.

>> google. >> i think earnings will be high. the market is up. go online to check out our my mission is simple. to make you money. i'm here to level the playing field for all investors. there's always a bull market somewhere. and i promise to help you find it. "mad money" starts now. hey, i'm cramer. welcome to "mad money." welcome to cramerica. other people want to make friends, i'm just trying to make you a little money. my job, not just to entertain but also to educate and coach you. so call me at 1-800-743-cnbc, or tweet me @jimcramer. wipe the slate clean, folks. it's now earnings season.