are super important for americans in the short-term and long-term. sustainable and digital. it can be used for payments around the globe. we have seen this takeoff in the last couple of years. >> live in the heart of new york city's times square, this is what is fast money. holiday hangover, stocks limping to the finish after another blockbuster year. another case of investors selling their winters? or ahead of the new year -- winners and losers, america's favorite game, is it time to keep games in the united airlines? we will spin trade it or hate i healthy returns turning to

healthcare, we will go around the horn to find what traders are watching in 2025. live in studio b, courtney garcia, steve brosseau, and mike, we start with the search for santa claus rally, has not materialized this year. ager companies off their loads in the session. 333 point pull back breaking a five-day winning streak. the only index in the green for december, the snp and dow both pacing for the worst month since april, with its worst month in over two years. steam coming out of the momentum trade in a big way, too. these are the big performers, all seeing outsized gains -- excuse me, outside losses. this is the sign of profit taking after this year.

is there more volatility and pain to come in 2025? you are a big believer of seasonality. where is it? >> yeah, if you think about it, though, what did the market do for the election? we had a tremendous amount of uncertainty. the market was up basically 8%, bitcoin up 35%. so, where do you go from here? so, january usually, what's the dynamic? january, half a month is positive, half a month is negative. flip a coin on that, you have a new president coming in, lower regulation, lower taxes, progrowth, so where do we go from here in the market? higher. and if you think about where we started from in october, we had no clue -- i should say september. we had no clue where rates were going to be. we had a surprise 50 basis cut,

then the markets rallied, then said, let's hold back on the election. we have no clue where anything is going to fall. so, let's see where the chips are going to lie. the market said, let's buy, let's buy anything and everything. and who pressed pause on the rally powell? so, when you really start to sit there and say, let me pull the rains back on the rally, that's where we are at. >> january 20th, obviously, is a big date. we are just about 10 basis points away from this year's high in terms of the 12 year yield treasury. we think that's what investors have been looking at. right? when you look at postelection, you bring up good points. all of the sudden there was a broadening and breath in the market.

right? we had risk on rally, right back to the max seven, we are looking at this higher for longer rates. we are not going to come down as fast as everybody hope. you are seeing the markets, they are selling them at seven, they are taking them really well, you have seen interest rate sensitive areas, think of commodities like oil. those are actually pricing higher or holding up better in this market. i think that's what you will start to see in early 2025. i don't think this is necessarily a concern where the temperature is, going forward, you will see some rebounds and profit-taking, absolutely. i know it's a bad thing for that longer-term, but you won't have the inflation edge. that will continue to be a story next year. today, volatility, they were up 8%, we can overlook that on friday. >> yeah, i mean, i have said before sometimes if you think a rally is overextended, one of the things you might want to look for are more of these unusual moves where you are getting, you know, one, two, a three standard of asian move within a given day. i don't know if i'm really that concerned about what happened today, steve was just pointing it out. i wouldn't expect to see a lot of people carrying their winters right before the end of

the year if it's taxable accounts, institutions don't typically take them off their sheets, you know, right before the end of the quarter, the winners, that is. i think i would be more inclined to be concerned about selling in some of those winters. i think it is a relatively thin time between christmas and new year's, we could contribute to it as well. if we have too many of these stacked up, we get these moves on a relative basis like we saw today and like we saw earlier, then i would get a little more concerned, to within the last 30 or 45 days, not a big deal. you start getting up to four or five moves, typically, that correlates to worst performance over the ensuing 30 days. >> right. so, in january, what are you expecting? >> i think you start to see a little fall through with pullback we have seen right now. then you're going to start to see those wild horses being set free. what does that mean? >> which structure for the wild horses? you lost me?

>> i lost myself. if i stop right there, no one will hold me accountable. unfortunately, you get pushed back into the max seven stocks. i don't think the mid-small names are going the rally every way people want them to. >> the pullback in the max seven is a pullback to buy? >> it's even -- we had the fed puts, the powell put, why did people by the max seven cash on ballot sheet? so, if you fear things are getting worse with the economy, where do you go, you go for those stores of cash. if you feel you are in a high- growth environment, you go for the highest growth companies. either way, that points to max seven. >> i thought you were going to say secular growth that is intact no matter what. if you think about a.i., that will grow and continue to be expanded and invested in. despite economic times, because that's what the next thing is to, you know, capitalize on productivity gains, etc. is that the mindset? is that your mindset that max seven is brave growth?

>>it somewhere we want to absolutely maintain exposure to. we talked about it for a while. if you have not made changes to your portfolio, most people are overexposed. more people have not taken in profits, why would i do that? it has done so well. i think there are a lot of areas of opportunity. i think energy has fallen off the sidelines, people are not paying attention to it. that's when beneficiaries have artificial intelligence. right? they need data centers for electric vehicles and all these other items, there is just not enough on the grid. i think there is secondary beneficiaries of artificial intelligence that are much cheaper. all that cash on the side points out there are other places to add it. i want to own max seven, not bear shot it, i want to have a broader portfolio in order to take advantage of that. >> are you looking to rotate some of the games in max seven, some of the underperforming areas? you mentioned energy for the year, materials, staples?

>> yeah, healthcare, and so, yeah, i mean, actually, energy and healthcare -- first of all, healthcare is a segment. we want to talk about this a little bit. but the fact is, this has basically been dead money now for a couple of years. the multiples have not expended. there are some reasons for that. some areas are under some pressure, you know, not very well-liked. you know? it's going to be a bigger segment of the economy in 2030 then it is today. and so, if we think it will be 20% of gdp, we kind of have to own it. it's going to continue to grow. some of the companies are looking pretty cheap for me. >> let's move on. the kbw anking is up, pays for its best year since 2011, m and a could be a big driver for the

group in the new year. let's bring jennie montgomery scott. he is the first director research. chris, always great to see you. you are a believer of that less regulation, a later touch, that will allow m and a . what kind of banks are going to join? >> i think the banks less than 100 billion are less likely to emerge. i think that mega bank deals are hard to do. they may eventually have that happen in the new administration in another year or two. but i think below the hundred billion dollar demarcation should be a fair amount of activity. what we have seen in the last two months is a pretty good precursor of the deal activity. >> the last two or three months in terms of which deals? >> in terms of deals announced in late october through mid december. there has been a fair amount of the small made suspects. >> when you take a look at the landscape, how are you thinking about how the deals would be pieced together? would it be geographically? would be kinds of lines of business, things that have a troubled real estate portfolio? all of the above, maybe? >> i would say it goes back to

deposits. deposits are the lifeblood of the industry. you have excellent deposits that could get you into the southeast, the southwest, perhaps in california. there are very ood places where max can take the funding and lend it out to a greater rate and make a bigger spread in the next five years. in the same time, they are taking on costs. the costs are meaningful earnings. >> chris, this is courtney here. when it comes to banks, we do get questions from clients saying, how should i be concerned about rate pressure and rates are not coming down as much as we originally hoped, and is that something we should be concerned about with the banks, or is the fact that the yield curve is normalizing should not be a concern? what would your take on it be? >> i think, first off, in september, it has been huge for deposit and funding costs.

you will see better margins in q4 and q1. the curve is turning positive the last three weeks, it's a big plus. it will improve confidence, it will bring more money back to the sector. i think overall, the fed slowing down is probably bullish because it allows banks to reset at a slower pace while the ost has come down much faster. that's what a large expansion is, really happening. >> chris, just a quick question. on the htn books, the long curve will stay a little bit elevated here. obviously, if banks are looking to merge, that will be meaningful, something they look at more meaningfully than sometimes investors do. >> well, you are correct in this quarter, as we finish on tuesday we should see the marks go right back to where they were at the end of the june. we are doing a complete reversal of the positive loss of september. at the end of the day, the banks are seeing pretty good payoff of the htn portfolio.

a lot of them are in presidential pushback's that are paying off 14% per year. so, those are coming off slowly but surely. a lot of the high issues on marks that were hurting banks from the 2021 purchases have started to come down and -- so, the more sort of important on the deals for sure, but i don't think they would threaten transactions like they would two months ago. >> wells fargo could have its asset lifted as soon as the first half of next year, chris. that has been reported. in wells fargo we seen the stock respond to those reports. i'm wondering if that clears away in your view for some acquisitions, even if it's smaller acquisitions just for deposits or other lines of business. >> so, i would see wells fargo doing other lines of business before they jumped into banking. they have a great deposit franchise around the country, really low cost for fundus. i see them adding on business lines before they go back. if you think about the next three or four years, could they do a bank acquisition? sure. the absolutely could. i'm not sure it will be a 2025 effect. >> chris, what are the minefields? we saw the bank region collapse a few miles back. what are we

not paying attention to now that could create some chaos, or is the rates issue off the table for them, and it's an all clear sign? >> i think at the end of the day, the banks have to grow, they have to have some kind of positive loan growth to maximize the lower funding costing that can get hours to expand. we see loan growth in the 3 to 4% range, banks with ive or 5.5 with midsize banks. that is sufficient. i think you do have to achieve that growth to be successful in the industry. there is credit, credit is always the issue in this industry, whether it is see ni or some surprise over the summer, we have to be mindful of that. the good news is, banks have great earnings. they can cover provisions they need to go there. right now, it has been stable the last few quarters on losses. if we get a surprise, earnings are there to cover that.

that credit landline is always something to pay attention to. >> do you think next year they can match their performance this year, chris? >> i think they can because of the m and a fame and the attitude that the investment spread business has improved. overall, the lower-cost funds are such a big cost for the industry that was really threatening the industry in 2023 and the first half of 2024. i think they can. the multiples are still low in history. ruffled du 60% of the s&p is a lot more that can happen on a relative pe. >> chris, great to speak with you. thank you. >> chris of janney, mike, you were asking about hdm helping maturity of portfolios, bank of america was one that really felt the pressure from its own portfolio. i wonder where you see the problems here, if any. >> yeah, i mean, obviously, bank of america against the money set of effects is the big one. when we think about the disasters and regionals, that was often where the trouble was. of course, that was a big part

of their problem as well. speaking to chris -- if you take a look at the regional base, obviously, they had a good run recently. take a look at where they are in the long-run. basically, you know, sideways to where they were in 2017 or there about. if they do catch fire, there is a lot more room to run than what we have seen over the course of the last 12 months. >> i know. when you look at the regional banking, it is up 50% or 16% year to date. you look at the bigger banks, xlf, 50%, j.p. morgan, up 40%. so, why do you have to make it complicated? because i think there always are more minefields in the regional banking industry. you might have more upset if you pick the right one, but there seems to be a lot of unknown for me. when i look at this, what is going to improve in m and a? if m&a improves, you get goldman sachs and morgan stanley doing better. >> i was going to say, i think

one of the best beneficiaries here would be some kind of goldman sachs, we talk of m&a, who is the buyer, who is the seller? who is doing all the transactions? there one of the biggest beneficiaries of m&a with a new administration coming in, so i like the bank space a lot here. that's going to be one of the biggest stories. >> all right, coming up, energies new year's resolution could still be negative in the xle with fairly in the green -- new energy turnover in 2025, patrick will join us next. plus, here are some names taking volumes to new heights, where is the focus after the ball drops? don't go anywhere. fast moneys ba ick after this. >> this is fast money with melissa lee, right here on cnbc.

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arissa's hair salon wants to expand their space, and steve's t-shirt shop wants to bring on more help. with the comcast business 5-year price lock guarantee, they can think more about possibilities for their business and not the cost of their internet. it's five years of gig-speeds and advanced security. all from the company with 99.9% network reliability. get the 5-year price lock guarantee, now back for a limited time. powering five years of savings. powering possibilities™. welcome back to fast money. the average price for a gallon of gas briefly falling below three dollars on christmas. that is the lowest cost on the holiday since 2020. on average it had been on the decline according to gas buddy.

but what is next for gas, energy and oil? let's bring in patrick. he is ahead of the analysis at gas buddy. patrick, great to have you with us. >> yeah, good to be with you. >> what surprised me was your prediction that the uto would be lower by a couple dollars or so. what are the dynamics behind that? >> there is going to be a lot of cost pressures on wci and pressures in the coming year, make no mistake. it is well known right now, there are others surrounding opec, taking the run down to april of 2025 for that loyal production. there are 5 million barrels of oil capacity globally, and that is on prices firmly, we suspect that will continue into the u year. in addition, the chinese economy is celebrating ev transition and likely to see a lower demand for oil.

overall, the price of oil, we are expecting it to be modestly lower in a year. there certainly are some risks with the potential of terrorists. at least with oil things will be pressure, especially when you see the capacity that lies dormant for now. >> how -- how should we factor in the administration and their push for less regulation, fewer costs fees, etc., for producing oil and gasoline? how does that factor into the forecast for gas products and the downstream? >> especially for the mistry of the downstream, pipeline operators are going to have a more conducive atmosphere for more acquisitions. on the upswing, you could see more consolidation as well as the downstream towards retail. there has been a lot of talk of major acquisitions from teams in the past year. i would expect that to accelerate. so, for the midstream and downstream, the future is rather bright. downstream retailer margins have been above-average ever since the covid pandemic. so, operators, pipeline operators, themselves, they are

likely to take advantage of what could be a positive environment for, of course, putting those risks aside. there are a lot of those you mentioned, deregulation likely coming, more fruitful environment for some of those mergers that potentially have been waiting the last couple years. >> patrick, only because you brought it up, opac, are they something we should pay attention to anymore? if you look at the us, brazil and canada, they basically produce the same amount as opac. so, in a lot of ways, we circumvented what opac's reliance used to be. with china, sort of as you stated, pulling back with mostly europe in recession, is it really even something to be concerned with? >> well, you know, i think there's a lot we are keeping an eye on him.

when you come to it, opac's relevance has been reduced. i mean, they are continuously fighting lower prices, wti is $70 a barrel, really struggling to get anything above that level and hold it . we have this potential of opac increasing production again in 2025. it would not surprise someone if they continuously push that to july or all the way to the end of 2025. but as you mentioned, canada is producing more. i think there is a lot with terrorists that trump is putting on crude oil, about 25%. how the door could open for a keystone xl pipeline to be resumed if tc energy even wants to see something like that, so there is a lot of potential wildcards there, but ultimately, i think next year could be a bit of a struggle for the upstream them the downstream. >> so, doing all that, what is your outlook for gas prices at the pump next year? >> i think an environment that is going to be weaker for crude

oil will likely deliver for consumers. in fact, next year, when we put our final numbers together, it's rather optimistic that aside from some of these risks, the talk of terrorists are factions that broadly speaking, provide a face for 2025 with relatively lower gasoline and diesel prices. that is good news for companies like airlines as well. any large consumer should be fairly happy with the environment we are looking forward to in 2025. >> patrick, great to speak with you, thanks. >> patrick from gas buddy, my coworker, we have to trade this to go in terms of names. >> you know, i think as far as the sector is concerned, it's

one of the sectors i think could be poised to rebound. book, the biden administration depleted the spr or a lot of it anyway in mid-2022 compared to the midterms. trump criticized that at the time. i can see if opac or opac plus countries decided they would go forward and get rid of those production cuts they have in place that he was talking about being suspended until april, if the prices fell substantially, i would hope they would talk a little bit potentially about putting more back in the spr. that could create a measure of support. we will see if that happens. to me, that is a potential area of stability that we have not mentioned yet. >> yeah. i think the idea that gas prices are lawyer -- lower is good for the consumer, stressed out for higher inflation. if we have low gas prices that's going to help. a lot of these energy companies think of chevron,their breakeven rates are lower, $30 a barrel depending on the company. we don't need oil prices to go higher for them to be profitable. they have to become so much

more efficient. it's a good thing for the consumer. it can continue to be a good thing for the energy companies. i think it would be a bigger part of the story who is the largest importer of oil. we actually pointed out they use a lot more ev's, so less damage toward oil. they have a high percentage for production. if any of the stimulus comes to fruition, that could be the catalyst that pushes it higher. that is something toat wch here. >> there is a lot more fast money to come. here's what's next.

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welcome back to fast money. another record year in options as volumes continue to hit unprecedented levels in some of this year's most popular stocks from behind increased interest. mike has the action here. mike? >> yeah, that is the max seven that has to be said. so, if you take a look at the unprecedented growth of the options market that they've been experiencing now for quite a number of years, what is also very interesting is the increased concentration that the volume represents. so, if you take a look at the max seven single stocks, they represent 17.6% from all daily options, and that includes ets

and indexes and things like that. if you take a look at just the s&p 500, they represent more than 50% of the contract volume over the last 20 days, or example, versus everything else. and if you look at it on eight notional basis, that means you are counting the contract volume in a $400 stock like microsoft than you would with comcast, and that actually increases to almost 68%. so what you are really looking at in terms of dollars moving

around, two thirds of it in the s&p 500 single stocks is happening in just those seven. >> is there a sense -- i imagine it's retail traders behind the continued search? >> i think that is definitely true. you know, one of the things we saw and we will remember this, for example, the stock split that happened in apple, and before that, names like tesla and so on, sometimes when the dollar price gets very high, people who are looking to trade a stock during the day and are trying to control a large amount of shares with a small amount of capital will turn to the options markets. so, i think that's certainly part of it. ith also think it's the fact that this is where the frenzy is. this is where everybody's interest is. i will save anything has to be concerning going into the new year, it's just the fact that there is so much concentration in a relative handful of days. >> mike, thank you. mike has options. coming up, the ups and downs of 2024, should you sniff at the winners? debating some of these biggest movers, and trade it or fade it? that's coming up. deadline in five! finished and sent. [sending swoosh] we have tight turnarounds. at&t business helps us deliver. okay! client wants his head bigger. wow, fast response. sent!

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that can evolve with new chapters. and they can proactively view your entire portfolio. with an eye on taxes and the impact of risk. so you can enjoy moments together. because doors were meant to be opened. welcome back to fast money. stock selling options to close out the week, the s&p falling more than 1%, the nasdaq down 1.5%, the dow dropping 300 points. it's not a five-day winning streak, but it was up at the first week in four, bitcoin clawing back as well, fighting off its record of 108,000. of course,what a banner year

for crypto. >> it's well above 65,000 pre- election level, too. so, if you think about it, t probably should revert back to a certain level here. you even have to hold it, have the stomach to hold it and believe in the long-term ability for it to move higher, this is the most pro-growth bitcoin administration we let her have. >> i imagine that the opportunities surrounding bitcoin ets, bitcoin products, it is pretty high. >> it is very high. you know, with the options kicking out on the bitcoin bts, this thing came out of the gates trading half 1 million contracts a day, 50 million shares, which is really substantial, so there is obviously a lot of activity there, there's a lot of activity and micro strategy as you would imagine because that's even more volatile itself since there is a letter to play on it, and options make your place on stock, so there's a lot of volume in there as well. we should expect to see some of

this -- that's going to happen. there was a lot of good news baked in. you know? you need some periodic sort of corrections to basically create a healthy market going forward. >> well, the market may be up in 2024, but not all stocks were treated equally. these are two of the top performers in the s&p 500 while humana and intel were the biggest laggards, cut in half this year. how should you tackle these trades now? trade it or fade it? let's kick things off, this power company, more than tripling in value at 260%, it is the second best performer in the s&p 500. courtney trade it or fade it, you are talking about plays adjacent to a.i. here is one. >> i would trade this for a lot of reasons. i think there's a lot of beneficiaries right now. there is not enough supply for the amount of demand of energy that is going forward. they had a merger earlier which increased their nuclear power. that's going to be something that i think is the answer to this. they have a really strong balance sheet, high cash flow,

they are likely to have strong buybacks over the next two years. the question is, has this been priced in? some of it, yes. there is a larger secular story that would play out. i would continue to play this. >> mike, what do you say? >> i agree with the secular story. i have to say fade it on this one. if you take a look at the overall utilities sector, one of the things, you can go back seven or 10 years, you can see these are a turn over for more expensive they have been during that period of time, they have not seen much evaluation expansion. this name is part of that index. but you could buy a lot of other cheaper ones as well. a lot of them are poised to benefit. i think you can take profits if you want. >> let's continue with united airlines flying high. shares up 140%, the best year since going public in 2006,

steve. trade it or fade it? >> i will say fade it. this was a one for me. they continue to outperform and vice versa with underperforming stocks. there's only so much you can get out of efficiencies and the rush to have everyone come to your airlines. they have outperformed the airline industry by a country mile . i don't think we can continue here. that's why it would be a fade it stock. >> mike , i don't know. they are tough in terms of curbing it. patrick was talking about prices coming down, jet fuel prices coming down next year. >> that can represent anywhere from 25 to 40% of the operating cost. a lot of the performance you have seen in united since august, the lows in that time were patching up in delta, which is arguably, one that people like most in the space. this thing is still cheap, though. they seem to be managing capacity very well, still trading it high, i think you can continue on this one. >> so, you are training it. humana down 40% in 2024, health- insurance piers, 25 billion dollars in market value. trade it or fade it?

>> fade it. this is a bipartisan focus. these types of companies have to pay out more with the tragedy we saw with unh, all of these will be kept under a microscope. i don't know if their margins can hold. >> mike? trade it or fade it? >> i say we trade this one. i get it. this is not a very well loved space right now. the pdm's are under a lot of scrutiny as well. so the care space in general is one that is not particularly well-liked i think by the public. but the fact is, it is very much needed, trading at a big

discount to the market. continues to grow. even if it doesn't, it is still cheap. i think you can on this one here. >> i am surprise. even before the scrutiny, medical operations continued to stay skyhigh. >> and what is interesting, both humana and probably united health, someone who has been getting the most scrutiny recently, but this is an area where you sort of have to take a look and say, is that a cyclical trend? will they ultimately get that under control? the answer to the question is, yes, they well. >> finally, let's get to intel. the stock is down 60% in 2024, hitting booted from the dow, courtney, trade it or fade it? >> it is down this year on a dip. i think they have issues in the short term. they are 50% exposed to pcs. the refresh cycle while we wait for it just keeps getting pushed out. they aren't competitive in the a.i. space right now. i think long-term, that will be there big beneficiary. it will be too far down the line at this point for me to be a buyer of the stock. >> i would say trade it. i know we have talked about the tailwinds -- >> [ inaudible ] dogs. >> i say i fight with myself. that is the best trader. a.i. has not been a challenge for them. quantum computing, i think,

they have a place in. some of the parts they want you to buy, it stabilizes. coming up, private credit has been a popular trade in 2024. ats in store for the loan market in the new year? we will weigh in. don't go anywhere. fast money is back in 2. custom ink helps us motivate our students with custom gear. we love how custom ink takes care of everything we need so we can focus on the kids. we make it easy to wow all your groups

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welcome back to fast money. financial heavy heavyweights have been -- easy money for risky loans, what could go wrong? a shadow we money ending -- our next guest is earning investors to tune down the noise, a very compelling asset class, senior investment strategist at churchill asset management, great to have you with us. now is a great time. what about the environment right now makes it a great backdrop for a macro backdrop? >> it's a really interesting time in credit right now. we are seeing a transition to the next air of growth. your evolutionary instructional, but the big-time numbers are retail, i would say, opportunity to bring private credit to the investors. if you step back and think about the origins of credit credit, it has been around for

three decades, long-standing managers like churchill and others have been advancing medium-sized businesses through rate environments. so, today, we are looking at 2 trillion, up 10 times from 2009. when going forward, we think the opportunities set here in the market, more like 30 to 40 trillion including investment gradeand balances of banks. on top of that, we see a lot of white space here, 200,000 businesses considered no market and size for the private space, and only 5% of those today with capital investments, so huge white space opportunity. >> you know, i think the headlines came out about when interest rates were very high, and you are thinking about 12% loans because companies can't get access to traditional credit. so, what sort of environment is it if the interest rate is more benign, and interest rates are falling? >> sure. i think the asset class is growing despite what we are

seeing in reits. while we did see acut, at least 100 base points now from 2024 here, we do think that investors do think that all the yields here are still quite compelling as you think about premiums or public alternatives. and if you think about that, the premium has generally been somewhat steady in the 150 to 250 basis points range. so really, the yield that may come down, but all conversations with advisors today heavily centered around education about why yields are at historical highs right now. it is really the lift of base rates, not necessarily spread out as much, but base rates, it's about when, not if rates come down, getting them comfortable with the long-term picture of an all in yield. >> where are all in yields now versus at their peaks, you

know, in the last year or two? >> last year or two, i would say we touched at 11 or 12% in the arena. if you think about the basis points of base rates coming down, you get that in there, plus spread time across credit asset questions. you are seeing rates, all in yields coming at 8 to 10% range in the arena, but historically, what we have seen in private credit delivering more 6 to 8% asset class, 13 to 15 years, really attracting a lot of interest in that low rate environment that we have been in. so i would say coming out with eight or 9% is still attractive to where we have been at before. >> even the worst case scenario, trump reverting to historic all in yields, it would still be 6 to 8%. it doesn't seem that bad. how does that compete -- how should investors view this as part of their portfolio? >> sure. what we think about at churchill is not necessarily

where rates are at, but really the best credit selection we can make. because what we want to deliver at most is minimize and limit the boss. with debt you will get your principal interest back. when you think about the all in yield, it's a relative game than absolute value. if you are 6 to 8 or 8 to 10, we want to make sure you minimize losses, and losses and defaults. this class historically over the past 2 years has shown resilience in terms of showing a much lower loss rate versus the syndicated loss of the public alternative for loans or high yields as well. >> alana, great to speak with you. >> thank you so much. >> all right, courtney. are you getting questions about private credit? >> yes, we are getting pitched this all he time as an ra, we have not been able to buy into this for our clients at this point in time.

when you are looking at this getting an 11 or 12% yield, there's a reason it's paying a higher interest, there is higher risk attached to it. that is something we put our investors into. i'm going to take risk, i will do it in the markets where i have better upside. this is something i use, but it has quadrupled in size over the last decade. we are a bigbusiness like the traditional banks. so, there's clearly a lot of value in here. those are going to continue to bang at our door and convince us why we have that undo that to the other ra's out there. it's not something i get into at the moment. >> michael, how about you? >> yeah, first of all, look, equities had above average rates of return over the course of the last several years. while it would be nice to think that could go on forever, it most likely wont. if you look at the market, the opposite has been true. there has been for a very long time despite the folio between fixed income and equity, and i think people should take a look

at this. you know, an important thing to remember is on the credit managers side, on the institutional credit managers side, i always found incoming investors tend to be looking for the cracks because they are much more exposed to things like credit risk where as equity managers are always looking for, you know, the next big thing and a lot of growth. you're going to start thinking about risk a little bit, i think going in a fixed income including allocation to private credit makes sense. >> all right. coming up, new year, new charts, laying out he names and spaces of who to watch in 2025. and their picks ring in games for your portfolio? we will take that investment when we return. power e*trade's easy-to-use tools, like dynamic charting and risk-reward analysis, help make trading feel effortless. and its customizable scans with social sentiment help you find and unlock opportunities in the market. e*trade from morgan stanley.

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welcome back to fast money, even with the recent volatility brought in, markets finished on a high note. what traits could be the big winners of 2025? we are asking each of the traders for their chart for the new year. the idea they are most excited about in the year ahead, mike, kick off. >> we have talked about a little bit already. you can take a look at something like xlb, that tracks the healthcare index. this is an area where you have not seen a lot of evaluation expansion. it is a rowing portion of the economy. if you are looking at the whole sector, you will get a decent amount of diversification.

you're not just getting a play on lilly which is the largest constituent. you look at the hospital operator, you know, companies like that in the mix as well. >> all right, steve? >> so, we have been doing this show for quite some time. >> eight years in january? >> think about this, what is the furthest back we could go with a theme. was it rare earth? >> that is an early fertilizer in the days of fast. >> right? we went to crypto, then a.i. >> then pot stocks. >> yeah, then it went to a.i. now we are seeing a little bit of a sniff on quantum. so, i think there's going to be a lot more quantum in 2025. >> even though that is so far down the road in terms of commercialization? >> that never stopped the market from buying things up when there is no profitability. >> it's not like next year. >> that is the beauty of quantum computing. it collapses on each other. maybe we are thinking a decade becomes a 2 to 5 year time span. so, there is not a lot of etf's. so, qt --

>> what is in this alphabet? >> i will tell you what it is. you don't -- there is d-wave, there is rick at -- i thought you could say yankees quite well. then you have ionic. there are a lot of things -- and there is not any one of them that has an outsized percentage. >> courtney, what is your chart of the year? >> wanting to take a look at is emerging markets. i know people have thrown it to the sidelines because everything is going on in china right now. it's only a portion of the index. they are always applying this with china. this is an index that trades at a 45 discount of the us markets. it has three times the yield of the s&p 500. when you look at markets in the 65% -- sorry, 85% of the worlds population, what is t right here? 10% of the market, right? this is something really well positioned here, especially if

this is trying to come to fruition, i think it's going to benefit. you should have a piece of this. >> up next, final trade. ♪

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fewer cuts next year. that is why the market reversed so hard. want to let you know we are nearly at the finish line of there year's acronym challenge. two on my panel, number one and number two with two days left to go. move in bitcoin is leading the way. up 35% and steve right now the runner-up. with sage the merger alphabet and ethereum as well. time for the final trade. let's go around the horn. >> albertsons you might not be hungry. but trading less nine times earnings and it is a good

dividend as well. >> courtney? >> goldman sachs we talked about the banks activity picking up. you want to make sure you have a piece of that. >> uber. the stock is where it bounces, uber. >> thank you for watching fast money i will see you in the now year. i am off next week. mad money with jim cramer is up next. my mission is simple. to make you money. i am here to level the playing field for all investors. there is always a bull market somewhere. i promise to help you find it. mad money starts now. hey, i'm cramer. welcome to mad money. just trying to make money. my job is just to teach. i am going to do a lot of teaching tonight. so call me or tweet me. when they come along you need to know