that could be playing chicken also, if indeed we get a great number tomorrow. >> i'm thinking about the wage thing just for a second. even if it comes in strong, i wonder if it spooks people that much >> i don't know that it has to spook the stock market that much i do wonder if it's going to jog the long end of the memory curve. >> thank you, that does it for "closing bell. "fast money" starts right now. "fast money" starts right now. live from the nasdaq market site overlooking new york city's times square i'm melissa lee. tonight on "fast," full steam ahead for the crypto craze has bitcoin takes a break and its rivals surge how much is the crypto world worth? $10 million according to one analyst, he'll be here to explain. and a major crypto announcement

later on in the show, you won't want to miss it. first, the dow had a major milestone that even the president had something to say about. >> we did in fact break 25,000, very substantially break it, very easily. so i guess our new number is 30,000 but what it means is every time you see that number go up on wall street, it means jobs, it means success, it means 401(k)'s that are flourishing >> it also means americans are getting richer from the stock market the s&p 500 opening the year with three straight record closes this is the first time that's happened since 1964. 54 years ago, for those keeping score. the dow and nasdaq on their own record-wreaki record-breaking rallies. could 2018 be better than 2017 how long can this euphoria on wall street last >> i remember 1964 like it was yesterday. >> it was yesterday for you. >> ha ha ha. >> ha ha ha. >> dow 25,000 is a big deal. why? people that typically won't be talking about the stock market are now talking about the stock

market people that haven't looked at their 401(k)'s are saying, what's going on on here, maybe they're tuning in for the first time to answer your question, what works, things that worked at the end of last year i think will continue to work they come in the form of the financials, the banks, which on a price to book i still think are cheap. these industrial names, like a boeing, like a roper, for example, have done well. i think they continue to do well defense stocks, which were on their rear end when president obama got elected the first time, have now quadrupled. you'll say they're expensive, but you look at a lockheed martin and there's tremendous potential to the upside there. >> someone watching will say, valuations are high, historically speaking, why should i buy up here at record highs? >> the argument for buying up here is we've seen global growth continue to accelerate the dow in the u.s. is fine. while valuations may appear to be -- i don't even know if i would call them stretched. let's call them at the high end

of the range here on some of these things, you still have to say, okay, but am i going to have economic growth not only will i have economic growth, but look at the bond market what are your alternatives, what would you pay for stocks given this yield environment and yields are still relatively low. and even if they creep up a little bit, you still have some room here in the stock market. so i've got low yields, i've got a high growth or a growing economy globally i mean, to me it sounds actually pretty good for stocks >> the other piece of the puzzle is the earnings part of it if the earnings haven't come up yet. >> they haven't. >> then that's going to expand >> if you think about companies, i don't think companies will do their best to cheer lead, if anything they'll try to tamp down expectations. they're not sure what they'll see in terms of the demand profile. if you look at auto sales as any indication, i know this was yesterday's story, but we've had 24 hours to think about yesterday's auto story

the auto companies, which a year ago at this time we were talking peak autos, we'll never get above 18 million sars again, if anything the numbers show gm has started the year up 8% so the global trade, yeah, the nikkei got through all-time highs, got through the january 1992 high, now has been taken out in japan and seriously, the reason i bring that up is if you think about emerging markets and you think about japan, they have not made new highs japan is now making new highs. but if you think about the catch-up trade and how long the tail is on these things, i would believe there's a lot more to go for some of those markets that have lagged in the u.s >> we're seeing eye to eye tonight. >> weird >> we talked about this on the desk today you look at the upside surprise, the surprise index when it comes to economic data in the u.s. since the fourth quarter, the past several months, we've surprised to the upside, versus

from a relative perspective, e.m. and europe. the catch-up will be e.m. really catching up. >> the other side of that trade is that e.m. does well when money is expanding away from the u.s. and out, right? so we know we still have a fed that's going to start contracting the money supply why wouldn't i want to be here where the money is staying you won't have it like an out. >> i 100% agree with you right now growth is going to outperform value on a relative basis, considering the catch-up we've seen from the fourth quarter. >> what does that mean for somebody at home, growth versus value? >> do you want to stay in the facebooks of the world, the googles, the big names that have had growth >> if you want to put money to work now, would you say put them in facebook? >> i would much prefer to be in a facebook, a google >> look at where energy is i think at the top end here, we've got buyers on the desk of energy that are reluctant to put more money to work

if anything, all we're seeing is short coverings. >> they're the momentum trade over the past month. >> the dow performed today, materials were up 2.2% and handily beat every other sector. what's happening in the resource sector we're actually at a place where companies that for three or four years spent a lot of time downsizing, trying to restore their balance sheets, getting to a place where they're controlling inventories. now we have underlying commodities that are higher. you have companies that are leaner and meaner than they've ever been. those are names that have lagged, and as i like to say about commodities, you don't buy them when they're cheap, you buy them when they're running and there's momentum and growth behind them. >> tim has said that for a while. going back to google or alphabet, whatever they're calling themselves now, the stock is really not expensive. it trades 24 times forward earnings they'll probably grow at 31, 32%, made an all-time high today along with other names, by the way. if you're looking for value, as crazy as it may sound, i think

alphabet provides value. >> that's an interesting question value within a growth sector like technology. >> i like ibm. >> so a dog. >> i don't know if it's so much of a dog >> it's a growth stock >> listen, it is within a growth sector i don't know if it's a value track. look at what's happening >> come on >> look at what's happening with ibm. rbc came out the other day with an upgrade you have everybody he also wels going to follow along. they have a lot of growth areas in the space it has been a turnaround story if i look and say, what is the news everybody knows, everybody knows that facebook is doing well, google is doing well where is the surprise going to come ibm. >> the reason you're buying ibm here, i appreciate the contrarian in you, bk, two days ago when you said it, the stock has moved 4% since then, good for you. i ultimately think ibm has a lot to prove for a company that for a decade was financially engineering numbers. >> buying back their shares. >> doing what they could to keep

this company chugging along when in fact they were finding no way to brgrow the software business, the security business, i do believe they've put some flags in the ground to grow on. cisco is the opposite. i think cisco is cheap and i think cisco is a real company with a real business right here and now infrastructure buildout and technologies all coming with this capex, this stock is cheap to its peers >> i think intel should be bought aggressively. >> even with the security flaw >> that will be plugged up and fixed. we saw this in equifax, that was an even worse scenario, and remember what i said there, the solution will occur. it's not a detrimental scenario to their model >> why wouldn't you want to own the two hottest areas in tech, ai and blockchain? that's what ibm is >> i get it. ibm has legacy businesses. >> but that's the growth >> the upgrade from rbc, to be fair, cited legacy mainframes which will lead to software and services revenue they said the legacy was a good

thing. >> i have not liked ibm for years. collectively we've been right. the last quarter in ibm was shockingly decent. so you have to ask yourself, to bk's point, do people want to sell ibm to january '18 when they report next, with the potential to build upon what was a pretty good quarter? because if they do, instead of being $161 stock, where it currently is, you're probably back to that $182 level. i hear what tim is saying. i'm with bk on this one. >> if you want to go for high quality here, it's a new year, i know people want to try to reinvent themselves. you don't have to necessarily find a new idea. find the ideas that make sense find the companies that have the growth you can make an argument that on a p.e.g. ratio, it's pretty attractive, this is a company trading roughly 40 times, it's probably growing around that too. i think that's very interesting. and quickly, i think if you look at the broader market, you have to pay attention to the things that have underperformed that make sense here. and that to me includes telco

and some of the utilities plays which have to be part of every portfolio. people want to sell these things down but i think they deserve to be held. >> what did you do today >> ibm was the play, to me it has the most upside. i hear tim on the at&t and verizon. those type of names. if you want to get some yield, probably not a bad place to be >> i bought some cannabis names on the weakness. >> auto nation, if you want to play the second derivative like tim said, auto nation had a decent run, probably grows at 13% or so. a.n., that's bk's mike jackson, a leading indicator. coming up, general electric with a shocking start to the new year the stock is up 6% in the past three days is its long national nightmare behind it? plus $10 trillion, that's how much one wall street analyst says the crypto universe is worth. the man behind this bold call,

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welcome back to "fast money. do not adjust your tv. ge shares are on fire this week. and that kicks off our top trades the industrial giant surging more than 6% in the first three trading sessions of the year that's tops in the dow and it's on pace for its best weekly performance since november '16 the stock plunged 45%, ending the year as the worst performing dow stock. is this the beginning of a ge return >> no. >> that was fast >> we're 18 1/2 now, great maybe we hit a bounce from here. but wait a second, ge is trading 18 times forward earnings, they have literally zero eps growth why are you paying a premium

valuation for that company when names like honeywelltrade at a little bit of a premium, but they grow. there are better places to be than ge. >> ge owner. >> ge owner, around 8% higher, and very comfortable owning it here, because i think what are some of the things that can happen in 2018 one includes a baker hughes either -- valuation accretion back to ge, that could be through a spinout, it could be the energy sector. they top ticked on this one, folks. to say that it's worthless is to totally miss the boat. that is the issue with ge. this is still a massive company with massive investment, with massive technology and trademark and intellectual property. they don't serve a high valuation. but i'm very comfortable only this name at this valuation. people realize the perceptions are low as they can be >> 93 cents in free cash flow.

this is a $17 stock at best, it's dead money. i wouldn't be investing in this. there are so many other places to put your money in now ge isn't one of them they made terrible investments this is a stock where there are so many other places in the market to put your money >> let's go to the other side of this if you gave management, mr. flannery, an opportunity to kitchen sink it, he will take it, he did take it there's no question that at $105 a share, which is where the street is in 2018 earnings, they didn't leave themselves a lot of room to miss that's as low as it goes i could be wrong when i look at the broader business, they've streamlined, they've decided we're not going after all these far-flung businesses >> we don't know what it's really going to look like at the end of the day, do we? >> that's the issue. >> that's the overwhelming concern. investors need to have clarity turning the ship is like turning

the millennium falcon. >> i'll even go so far, i don't think you get hurt in ge, and i understand tim's rationale, but you have to have the same type of faith to buy ge as you do tesla. you have to believe that at some point in the future -- >> what? >> yes >> i thought you were going to say ibm. >> no, tesla the reason why you buy tesla is because you think five to ten years down the line it's going to be not just a car company but it's going to disrupt the electric grid. >> there's a path to grow. >> ge, you have to think the same thing, that they're going to be able to do something they can't do today >> there's a path to growth. there's something in their business outline ge doesn't have that yet >> you have to have the same type of faith-based investment >> as you have said so eloquently >> i have said it eloquently, thank you. >> well, sometimes

in terms of the way we get energy to our homes, elon musk has a vision i don't know what ge's vision, using the parallel you're using. >> true, i guess so. listen, ge is not going away you have to think that they're going to figure it out if you're buying ge, you have to have the same type of faith that they are going to come up with a path to goethe >> that's a big leap >> millennial -- what is it? >> millennial falcon they turn that thing around pretty quickly >> good movie. that was sean penn, sure >> do you have a point about ge or no? button it up all right. i'm going to have everybody yelling at me. still ahead, it was a record christmas shopping season. why are a number of retail stocks getting slammed today the chart master has the answer. if you own any of these names, you may not like it. i'm melissa lee. you're watching cnbc, first in business worldwide in the meantime, here is what's coming up on "fast."

>> no, i'm not i pass on grass. ♪ puff the magic dragon >> so does attorney general jeff sessions who is contraction drao legal marijuana. tim seymour says now is the time to get in the weeds. he'll give us the name plus how much do you think the whole crypto space is worth? >> $1 million. >> nope. according to a top brokerage firm, it's more like $10 trillion >> whoa. >> yeah, whoa. and the man behind that call will be here to explain how he got to that number and the currency that will lead the way. when "fa meyrernston" tus.

welcome back to "fast money. wall street's love affair with all things crypto is picking up steam. just how big is the crypto market so big that the co-founder of ripple, a leading cryptocurrency, is now richer than mark zuckerberg our bob pisani is at the nyse breaking down the latest in the crypto boom. >> reporter: hello, melissa. the crypto market is getting bigger but not because bitcoin is getting bigger. bitcoin has been fairly quiet in the last few weeks, while the upstarts have made impressive gains in the past month, even in the past week. look at this ripple and ethereum combined are almost 85% of the market capitalization of bitcoin. that's a huge change from a while ago. and the total market cap of the top 100 cryptocurrencies now roughly $686 billion hoo boy, that's a big jump from even a few months ago. it's still small compared to the

broader market for example, small cap russell 2000 stock market is a market cap of about $2.5 trillion cryptocurrencies are one fourth of the size of the small cap stock market and it's way below the $25 trillion value for the s&p 500, and roughly $38 trillion value of the u.s. bond market, even way below the value of all the gold in the world, maybe a little more than $7 trillion the big issue is this. how big will federal and state regulators allow these cryptocurrencies to become before they step in with even more regulation? back to you, melissa my guess is you start seeing two, three, four, $5 trillion valuations, that's going to be a trigger. >> bob, thank you, bob pisani at the new york stock exchange. wall street firm rbc is so bullish on the crypto craze, it's calling it a $10 trillion opportunity. yeah, you heard me right, $10 trillion let's bring in the man behind that bold call, mitch steves of rbc capital, he joins us from

san francisco. mitch, great to have you with us >> nice having me, thank you >> can you kind of explain how you came up with that number what percentage of that $10 trillion is cryptocurrencies and how much of it is sort of the related ecosystem around blockchain and crypto? >> so i think the fast majority is actually on the ecosystem what i'm trying to describe in that report is creating a decentralized world computer i think what people misunderstand babout the crypto space is it's not just a store of value but it allows you to secure the internet. essentially right now we trust third party providers such as icloud or dropbox to hold our storage and photos and things like that. in the future we'll be able to do this for free by using a file coin or a different type of coin, whatever it's called that sort of market, you're starting approach i.t. spending. when i think about that market

as well as the store value which alone is already a $30 trillion tan, if we include the amount of money held in overseas banking, we get to a very small number of $10 trillion, which is basically 33% of just the store value use case >> i think the example in your report about dropbox is a very interesting one, because most people can relate to that. the notion that dropbo centrali centralized, because anybody with access to the server has access to your photos or whatever you're storing. no longer will that person with access to that server have access to your information >> correct >> how fast can we see this ramp because implicit in this call for this decentralized information is sort of the a displacement of a lot of other companies and business models out there like a dropbox >> right, exactly. so that's why i see a lot of companies not really interested in talking or investing in the

space, because they'll essentially become a node in the network long term. this is obviously a multiyear call, 10 to 15 years or something like that. we'll see a lot of ups and downs, a lot of decentralized companies will essentially be worthless. one thing the bulls and bears can agree on is we have a $700 billion market that has never been hacked. so what people are now doing is building on top of that network, and that increases the value tremendously, because now we've built a new level of the internet that's why they call it web 3.0, that won't be hackable now you'll be able to get rid of not only the middleman in the center but you're also able to monetize that through the coin network, essentially >> mitch, it's brian kelly so interesting report that you came out with today, because mark zuckerberg came out today and talked about decentralized computing. how vulnerable is somebody like facebook to this phenomenon, to a decentralized world computer >> i wouldn't say they're really vulnerable, right, because they have a different ecosystem and

that's covered by a different analyst at rbc i would say the decentralized network in general is going to be a very big topic because you can essentially now have anybody have secure computing, right i think that's a very big topic. a good example i gave you from a social media perspective is twitter, right we had a rogue employee take down the president of the united states' twitter account because he was upset when he left. while that's funny to some people, we have to ask why are we putting ourselves in that situation in the first place if we can get rid of the middleman, now we've created a secure layer for everybody to get value out of >> another part of your report is the whole mining aspect of it and the computer chip company, the chip companies that specialize in these mining chips. but in terms of investing in publicly traded companies now, mitch, are there ways to invest now, or is it simply too early is really the cryptocurrency itself the best pure play way? >> so the best pure play way is certainly just getting involved

in the cryptocurrency space, because at the end of the day, if you're going to invest in something related, you have to go the mining route. amd and nvidia chips are used to mine several currencies, not bitcoin, while asic is being used to mine bitcoin if you want exposure to the mining aspect, there's dental ways to do that. but from a public company perspective, we're rebuilding the internet if we're rebuilding the internet, what does that mean for compute, for networking equipment, for devices we have today? demand will increase for that across the board >> what does it mean for companies like a dropbox or equivalent publicly traded companies like a dropbox because this is going to mean dislocation of these companies >> yes they're going to see significant competitive pressure now, because essentially people are going to decide do i want my storage to be centralized or do i want it to be decentralized. and i think this is going to be a very big topic over the next several years, because now it

seems like people are starting to understand the difference between protocols and realize that it's not the same thing as a bitcoin or a litecoin or things like that wall street is waking up to that companies with centralized computing or centralized storage will have to adapt to the new ecosystem. >> so cloud companies? >> sure. so cloud companies, yeah, exactly. so cloud companies would definitely be impacted by this >> all right mitch, thank you fascinating report mitch steves of rbc. $10 trillion opportunity for the ecosystem including the crip owe currencies >> great job by mitch, because what we're seeing unfolding before our eyes is not only the education of the broader investor into -- these aren't even subtleties, right, brian? you have a massive difference between the platform itself and the tokens themselves and how they have usage.

so far we've been speculating in things that people aren't largely utilizing. 90% of the people investing in crypto in any form are probably nowhere near a transaction in crypto ultimately this is a concept, so, you know, this really helps understand why these value chains are being created >> what's also interesting is the differentiating the cryptos. ethereum is probably the best one to own right now but there are disrupting companies that are called cryptos like blockticks which are selling concert tickets that have authentication, which is amazing. >> you think of all the other companies whose business models were built on centralized information. >> think about google, right i didn't understand this whole decentralized internet until i thought about it in this particular way if i came to your house every day and looked at all the pictures in your house, walked out, and then the very next day sent a salesperson to your house who knocked on your door and

said, i saw you have a picture of fishing, do you want to buy a fishing pole you would say that's insane. but on google, we allow them to do that every day. in the longer run google could even be threatened >> guy buys that fishing pole, right, guy >> he goes to his house too. >> he's laughing because he knows -- >> because he bought one last night. >> i saw it was going to snow. >> a company will allow you to monetize essentially your value from a marketing perspective, from an advertising perspective. those are companies that will disrupt the facebook or google >> i like that >> that's a good metaphor. >> is this when bk makes his big announcement >> that's later on >> kudos to steve grasso, overstock is trading in the 20s. chicago mercantile exchange, you ask me is it a cryptocurrency play, it's not, but that's the cherry on top for a very

significant business, cme. ahead, our very own crypto baller here, bk, brian kelly, has a special announcement to make he's doing something he's never done before. plus retail stocks tanking today after holiday sales numbers had investors hitting the sell button. and the chart master sees more nein ahead for the space and o of those names right there he'll break it down when "fast money" returns you might take something for your heart... or joints. but do you take something for your brain. with an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is the number one selling brain-health supplement in drug stores nationwide. prevagen. the name to remember.

welcome back to "fast money. it was a record holiday season for retailers. some names in the space getting left out in the cold courtney reagan is at the nyse to break it down hi, court. >> reporter: hadi there, melissa november sales were particularly strong that was a reversal of what we saw for most of 2017 which sent the xrt higher by 15% in the last two months of the year. now as retailers start to release those holiday results today and the days to come, investors are not so impressed, partly because there are still big secular issues with the group that weren't fixed over the holidays, and partly because of that two-month rally that we've already seen for shares.

macy's did rise 1.1%, the first positive holiday sales result since 2014 but the department store does still expect comps will fall between 2 and 2.3% for the full year macy's did increase its full year's earnings forecast and go ahead and named those 11 stores that it's closing as part of the 100-store closure program it announced in 2016. when we see shares ended the day down more than 3%, they had been down about 7% at one point in the session. over the last two months, though, for context, macy's shares have gained 33% jcpenney's holiday sales improved more than 3%, leading the company to reaffirm its full year forecast. but shares did end down slightly today. but also had been down about 7% at one point in this session the department store shares had gained about 54% since early november so again, part of that run-up. no holiday results yet from nordstrom or kohl's. both of those department store

shares fell in sympathy today with the broader department store group. l brands released comps. they grew 1%, slightly below the street's consensus l brands also giving disappointing margins and disappointing earnings guidance. shares shed 12%. those too have gained almost 20% since its last earnings report lastly, sears continues to close those stores, today identifying 100 kmart and sears stores it's going to close between march and april. they closed 350 stores last year those closures just continue we all kind of know the fate, we just don't exactly know when >> court, thank you, courtney reagan at the nyse i'll go to tim here, what did you make of the move in macy's in particular? >> you can't be surprise affect that move. this is still a company that has structural challenges that aren't going to change overnight. half the savings from the tax bill will be essentially chewed

up by store closings they adjusted up on revenues this is good it's a very different run company than it was a year ago this is nothing to do with real estate but to say you want to be bullish on the stock at 25 bucks i think is actually wrong. this was about a stock that was overtraded remember, the entire retail sector outperformed the s&p by 15% since the lows in november we've had a big run here, folks. some of these businesses are better than others i have a small position in macy's at this point i have no problem holding on, although, you know, i'm not falling in love with it. >> minor pullback or a reversion to the down trend? >> i know carter worth will come on and say something else, maybe. but jpmorgan just raised their numbers for target i understand the space got smoked after what tim and courtney pointed out was a pretty ridiculous run. i think there's some runway left in target and maybe still with jwm. >> stocks getting wrecked today,

the chart master says the nightmare is far from over for the group. carter worth is at the plasma. >> i'll go with guy and just use the word "smoked." he knows when you drop and gap on any volume, it's not good i think it's not good. let's try to figure out the way forward. the xrt is a great etf for anyone who wants to trade and not be stuck with individual names. it's got jcpenney and macy's, it's got them all. $1.8 trillion market cap, 7% of the s&p. let's look at some charts and try to figure out whether this is good or bad we know we've got a five-fold increase you're talking about 10 to 50. there's no debating that that's excessive how excessive? a five-bagger that then ever since, based on the last 2 1/2 years, has been stalled.

i want to key in on this level take away the long term trend line and put in the new trend line what's happened here is we've rallied consistently next chart and we have failed one, two, three. it touched to the penny and backed away. in the context of the news of today and recent days. all right. here is the up close again, i'm making the bet that we have failed on the line, on the line and we failed again on the line. and i want to make the bet that we're going to go back about 8%. hold this in context you can say, but wait a minute, the market itself is way up here why would i want to get short something that's underperforming? is it underperforming? this tells you the whole story this is xrt, way ahead of the market this is the prior bull market peak in '07. it's still got so much room to give back. it's way in excess of the s&p. all right. now let's talk about sort of the crime of the day this is the one that got hurt the most, down 12%

what we know is over a two-year period, you decline 65%. and over a four-month period, you rally 80%. and then what did it do today? watch the next chart it gaps down right to that line. right here there's the little trade and it's stopped on that line, not random charts matter, trends matter the question is, do you buy it for a balance? if it had come down quietly. but it didn't. it dropped, massive volume something's wrong. stay away from this thing. >> carter, come on over. >> scary >> i was scared too. >> captivating >> you were a trader on the desk too, what did you think? >> i totally agree on the xrt. i'm a seller the sector is a tradeable sector, not an investable sector the secular headwinds are way too strong >> there are other good ones, dollar tree acts pretty well

when you drop in gap as macy's did, its typically a giveback as it is a reset, which undermines the premise in the first place >> my question on an l brands, you had it break above that trend line before today, we got back to that line. what makes you confident that this is really the place where it breaks below? if anything -- everything was going against l brands noticeably and understandably, it priced it in and then made a move >> not to not answer your question, and i will, but isn't it fascinating looking at the dcf value, hmm, it breaks above the line >> it's part of that voodoo of the chart that you live in >> algorithms and so forth the issue is, having gapped right down to that line, is that a reference point? because it broke above it and revisited. now the question is does it hold because of the way it came down, the drop in gap, my thinking is it doesn't hold, it's the beginning of trouble, not a

point at which you buy >> which way would you go? >> dan nathan has said on this show, didn't he say the xrt -- >> worst chart in the world. the universe, maybe. >> he said it for three months >> that's true >> dan has acknowledged that but i think carter's point was very powerful. carter is pointing out a trend that goes back to 2008 this is the one thing people miss retail, for all it's maligned, and it should be, for secular headwinds, it massively outperforms the rest of the bull market >> giving back here or over the last two, three years, is perfectly normal >> carter, you did a lot with trend lines there. when i look at a lot of these retail names, i see it starting to trend up. when did you say the 200-day moving averages are 200 averages are from the same thing? >> rather than drawing a line yourself, you try to add up a number of days moving averages are slow to turn, they're just trend lines

i used to stay up all night doing it with pencil >> that sounds wild. >> an exciting guy back in the day. >> thanks, carter. >> thank you >> carter worth. ahead, stocks taking a hit on a potential crackdown in washington these stocks have been flying high but are they about to go up in smoke that's three pot puns in a row plus our resident bitcoin expert brian kelly has a big crypto announcement to make this is the bitcoin equivalent of an lebron james decision. he'll give us all the details when "fast money" returns. ted. show of hands. who wants customizable options chains? ones that make it fast and easy to analyze and take action? how about some of the lowest options fees? are you raising your hand? good then it's time for power e*trade the platform, price and service that gives you the edge you need. alright one quick game of rock, paper, scissors.

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welcome back to "fast money. the white house cracking down on federal pot laws, just days after california legalized recreational marijuana use let's get to kayla tausche in d.c. with the very latest. hi, kayla. >> reporter: hi, melissa despite eight states and washington, d.c. legalizing marijuana, a memo from attorney general jeff sessions firmly reiterated marijuana is against federal law, based on the controlled substances act and statutes against money laundering from which doj says congress concluded, quote, marijuana is a dangerous drug and marijuana activity is a serious crime, end quote effective immediately, the sessions memo reverses orders from the obama administration beginning in 2009 for federal prosecutors to shift resources away from marijuana-related offences

senior doj officials told reporters today that they wouldn't answer any questions about whether companies who grow, dispense, or sell the drug are being put on notice. they say they won't discuss the economics of the issue that said, whatever congress passes is what the department would follow lawmakers from states where marijuana is legal are already striking back. senator cory gardner, republican from colorado, said he would move to stall nominations for justice department nominees and spoke out about the impact on the industry >> they're operating now under a cloud of uncertainty thousands of jobs at risk. millions of dollars in revenue and certainly the question of constitutional states' rights is very much at the core of this discussion >> reporter: the doj says u.s. attorneys will now have discretion over which cases to bring. the u.s. attorney for colorado said today there will be no change to its existing policy. melissa? >> kayla, thank you, kayla

tausche in d.c many of the pot stocks, as you can imagine, which trade both here and in canada taking a hit off the potential policy changes. but these names have been smoking in the past month, soaring 139%, 92%, 80% tim, you actually own some of the names. >> i own some of the names a biopharma/cannabis play. if you think about it, the attorney generals in every one of these states, especially california, have been very outspoken in favor of, and their states are developing an enormous amount of revenue -- i'm hearing from sound effects, maybe it's just in my ear. >> it sounded like a toilet flushing what is that >> it's turkey gobbling. >> what's fascinating about the move in the cannabis stocks is not only did it coincide with the legalization of recreational use in california, probably a 5

to $6 billion market, it's certainly coincided with the move in crypto if you think of what we just heard about, the criminalization, and where a lot of u.s. cannabis plays have some risk, is related to that, and why the industry is literally being starved in the united states, and why the bigger plays are in canada where

>> melissa thought it was a toilet >> it sounds like a toilet but i don't understand that relation anyway >> i think they're saying that's where your life will go if you do drugs >> just say no mike khouw is out in tampa, florida, with the melodious sounds of peter, paul, and mary. >> smg scott's miracle grow is a business that has been focusing on this sector

the ceo of the company had actually said he hoped that they would earn 20% of their revenues by 2020 from hydroupon pouphydrx where we saw most of the activity was the january 100 puts, over 1500 of those traded at 30 cents. that would be a bet that the stock would fall another 7% plus by january expiration. i'm kind of with the guys on the desk on this one, this is a company that trades 23 times earnings eventually this business probably is going to take off. these guys are poised to benefit from that. it's probably not a bad way to play the space >> does he see what's going on behind him >> i like it, it's like a cal aid o kaleidoscope . >> i have the same setup in my dorm room. >> what did we start the show with, 1964 i bet you that song was released

in -- >> peter, paul, and mary ♪ puff the magic dragon >> it's a great song >> it's a terrible song. >> check out "options action," the full show, tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. eastern time. coming up, bk's big announcement, all the details when "fast money" returns. well, it's earnings season once again. >>yeah. lot of tech companies are reporting today. and, how's it looking? >>i don't know. there's so many opinions out there, it's hard to make sense of it all. well, victor, do you have something for him? >>check this out. td ameritrade aggregates thousands of earnings estimates into a single data point. that way you can keep your eyes on the big picture. >>huh. feel better? >>much better. yeah, me too. wow, you really did a number on this thing. >>sorry about that. that's alright. i got a box of 'em. thousands of opinions. one estimate. the earnings tool from td ameritrade. duncan just protected his family with a $500,000 life insurance policy. how much do you think it cost him?

$100 a month? $75? $50? actually, duncan got his $500,000 for under $28 a month. less than $1 a day! his secret? selectquote. in just minutes a selectquote agent will comparison shop nearly a dozen highly rated life insurance companies, and give you a choice of your five best rates. duncan's wife cassie got a $750,000 policy for under $21 per month. give your family the security it needs, at a price you can afford. since 1985, selectquote has saved over a million families millions of dollars on life insurance.

we interrupt this program for special news bulletin. >> that's right, bitcoin expert brian kelly is launching a suite of crypto etfs, veryexciting stuff, why don't you explain it. >> contrary to my friend charlie who just asked me if i was satoshi nakamoto, no, i did not create bitcoin we're going to launch a suite of etfs that will give exposure to the entire ecosystem so across multiple different asset classes, rbc is talking about the fact that we're now looking at a new asset class and it's going to start disrupting some of the equities that we talk about every day this suite of etfs will allow you to get explore osure to thiy easily, hopefully with one click and be in and create a crypto portfolio for yourself >> we'll be watching this, very exciting, bk up next, final trades.

final trade time >> emerging markets, southeast asia, malaysia, ewm, very undervalued. >> tim and i are once again on the same page. emerging markets, eem, outperforming the u.s. >> brian kelly >> we're going to do triples here ewz, brazil, an emerging market. >> very international here >> bk has been at the forefront of this crypto thing, not for months, years.

i think we should give a "fast money" round of applause we don't have any time, david. >> i'm melissa lee thanks for watching. see you back at 5:00 tomorrow. "mad money" with jim cramer starts right now 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 some money my job isn't just to entertain you but to educate and teach you. call me at 1-800-743-cnbc or tweet me @jimcramer. you get market in beast mode like this one, you got to feed