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welcome to power lunch everybody. alongside contessa brewer i am tyler mathisen. markets are higher once again today, up through the week, and three major average is now higher year to date after a bumpy start in 2024. >> the s&p has just hit a all-time high. it will very likely set a new closing record two hours from now. our eyes are on it and we are watching for the countdown. and the nasdaq 100 also breaking, or hitting, an all-time high today. there you have the nasdaq 1.6%. chip stocks, the biggest driver of -- the smh and the stocks etf are up more than 5% and this week. but is this rally based on, i mean i guess i would call it a parlay, is it a bit that might not actually commit? think about this, the first leg the fed will have to cut rates. it's far from guaranteed given strong economic data that we recently received. leg to, second part of the

parlay. we have heard a lot about the 8.8 trillion dollars sitting on the sidelines, but even if rates on short term bonds and money markets fall, investors make still prefer their relative safety. and like three, tech has to continue to carry the markets again. that is far from certain given the layoff announcements that we have recently heard. and i would just add in here, let's look at the global uncertainty over macroeconomics. joining us now to wait on the odds on how this is ryan jacobsen, chief economist with mx wealth management, and our friend ron insana, cnbc senior analyst and commentator. he is also chief market strategist with dynasty financial partners. what odds would you give, or how much would you be willing to bet on this parlay, up things all lining up to really pay up? >> i would put all my chips in the center of the table on this one. it may not be 2023, but the presidential cycle, the fact i think that that will be cutting

interest rates by april or may. i think money will come off the sidelines. 8.8 trillion is a lot of cash. if rates come down just a little bit, and you get a portion of that coming into the equity markets, you are fine. for the rest of the world, the u.s. even by default looks better. so that it's good. >> if rates come down a little bit, do you think that is enough movement to persuade people who are enjoying whatever you are getting in your money market fund, or the safety zone, is it enough to get them to move their money into slightly riskier investments? >> yeah. there was a total return on the s&p 500 last year was 26%. that's a 21% point differential. look, it does not happen all in one push. it takes some time. >> we hear that a lot. >> yeah. >> that is the constant clarion call of the bull. there is money on the sidelines. it will flood the market. it will take things up. i'm not sure i buy that narrative. >> i'm not talking publicly either. if you get eight or 10%. >> yes, you did say a little

bit. marginal. >> okay. brian, what about you? do you think the money on the sidelines is going to burn coal in people's pockets and they are ready to buy stocks? >> no, i don't think. so i think what we are seeing actually is a lot of the, quote unquote, money on the sidelines never really comes off the sidelines. people try to reallocate their portfolios. so it goes off the sidelines, but then it goes back on to it. and will the sentiment improve? i think that's the key thing because the money will still sit there. in some form or another, and when you look at the dynamics behind what has gone into money market funds, it has really come out of savings. so i think for a lot of people this just represents a reallocation of what economists would call their precautionary savings. so it's not necessarily something that they have earmarked for more speculative or long-term purposes. it is more about a rainy day fund. in the end, when you really look at the total amount and checking accounts, savings accounts, and money market accounts, it's at about 10.4% of household assets.

that is the historical medium. so i do not think people are over allocating cash by any stretch of the imagination here. >> do you want to react, ron? >> i mean they are over allocated if they want better returns than they are getting. [laughter] and it doesn't take all 8.8 trillion to move, it doesn't have to be that much. and yet they are not the only buyers in the game. there's wealth advisers, professionals, all those individuals, who make allocations towards equities. again, when i think at the west, when i look at the fact that i'm 100% certainty that will start cutting rates, even just to get monetary policy closer to neutral. we don't need a recession. we don't need, you know, some sort of calamity to get us to move. i think under those circumstances, the market has a tailwind better than they had when that we saw it is coming into 2023. >> it's interesting, o'brien. you think that's a real wrestling match between the markets and the bit. >> yeah, i think there is still the wrestling match between what the fed is projecting and what they are likely to do, versus what the market is expecting. a lot of the volatility that we have seen new to date by think

reflects that wrestling that is going on. instead of the fed cutting early and often, it is likely going to be a little bit later, let's say maybe closer to summer. i don't think may is off the table, but maybe it's more like june. in fact, they probably want to take more of a two step approach to this, teaming up a tapering of quantitative tightening to get it done, get that underway, and then to the weight cut. so i think there are a couple of almost landmarks that you can look for as far as when the fed is likely to start cutting. they probably need to move from just talking about it in public speeches about quantitative tightening, to actually having a coherent plan. then we really t the rate cuts, but it's likely to be very slow and methodical. >> it is interesting that long term, you are supporting small emerging markets, foreign investments. i am wondering. i mean, i spent a lot of time looking at insurers and their global business is.

and this geopolitical uncertainty keeps coming up. it comes up in earnings calls. it comes up in my private conversations with them. that insurers, who are looking at risk and how much money it would cost them, to factor that in. do you think that should play a role whether people are considering foreign investments? emerging investments? >> yes, especially with emerging markets. historically, that is one of the reasons emerging markets have traded at a discount to developed markets. it is because of that additional political risk. i don't think that is going to go away. sometimes it does during periods of time, like 2004 to 2006, or 2015 to 2016. you had brief periods where emerging markets really outperformed, kind of closing the valuation gap, the discount that they historically trade at. then the reality of the political uncertainty slaps investors in the face once again. so when we lookhere at amex on our investment committee at the valuation opportunities, we

have to keep in mind that valuations are horrible timing as a tool. it might tell you what -- where you want to spend time in the market for the long term, but as far as getting those different terms, and when evaluation gets can begin to close, it's very difficult. that is more driven by shift in sentiment and liquidity. >> ron, last year was the year of the magnificent seven. all those big tech stocks. it will be hard pressed to do as well this year as they did last year. so far this year, in video is doing fine. >> they are doing fine. >> just fine! but if you had fresh money, of that 8.8 trillion dollars, which i know you have a big chunk of. >> yeah, because that's why i'm sitting here. >> where would you put fresh money today? what kind of equities? >> it is possible that the magnificent seven will be a source of funds at some point. small caps might have room to run given the historic underperformance we have seen their. having said that, i am still comfortable with the s&p --

just getting back to the fed for a minute because i think it will ultimately be a catalyst. the wall street journal published something interesting on twitter today. the consensus on core inflation now, which we will get the december numbers coming up in a few weeks, it's below 2%. both for the three month and a six-month annual x number. you get there and the federal reserve does not need an excuse to cut rates. >> no, no, they have made the goal. they would have made the goal. >> so in that regard i think a rising tide lifts all ships. again, to meet the u.s., i've had a homework bias for quite some time, i would still follow it, and i think whether you are buying the s&p or the nasdaq, i think a mixture is hedged bet on both small cap and large cap. and then the mixtures you get when you buy [inaudible] >> the same question to you, brian. where would you put fresh money now? quickly. >> the way we are looking at it is favoring some of the larger cap environments. there's -- they are also incredible as far

as the shareholder yield and cash flow generation. a bit more bias towards dividend paying or highly profitable stocks. if you think about s&p 500, but a slight bias towards more equity income. >> brian, thank you very much. we appreciate that. >> how cold is it going to be in buffalo this weekend by the way? >> [laughter] >> apparently people need to come out and start digging out the stadium again. >> is that right? >> more snow still coming this weekend. listen, you know where i am from. >> i know. that's why i'm asking. >> so we can only help but we pulled it off. and the interesting thing here is if the texans were too upset baltimore and the other divisional round. houston then would have to play in buffalo. >> they are a don't team. >> and there's nothing like bringing a warm weather team to a frigid place. >> same thing with miami and others. >> green bay. but then it could go the opposite way. >> go bills. we will see what happens. >> thanks, mom. thanks, bryant. we appreciate it. let's dive deeper into the tech length of the market partly. we mentioned optimism is high.

i said 100 at an all-time high, and chip stocks leading the way. we are joined for today's tech check. the? >> hey there, tyler. it's common knowledge that tech obviously led the way last year. after a rough start at the beginning of this year it continues to keep the leadership, let's -- let's dive into the different sectors. you see chips by far and away is the best performing sector. within tech itself this year, but also over the last five years. take a look at it versus the software etfs and internet etfs, the tech etf, and the nasdaq itself. it has just been an outdoor corner. up nearly 300% over the last five years. when you look at where the gains have come from this year as well, it's pretty much all the chip makers. the only one of the magnificent 7 that is sort of in the top percentile, the top performers at the s&p 500, is nvidia. but you have other ones like juniper, a np, palo alto, a wrist, broadcom, et cetera, et cetera. chip makers have just been a fantastic investment over the

last five years. and it looks like this year they could lead the way again. of course, at some point valuations get stretched, where there is opportunity elsewhere, but the idea that this generative a.i. shift platform shift is so big, and the need for chips and especially high-end ones like judy use, the ones that nvidia and amd will be making, he's going to continue to fuel this rally. and some evidence of that was zuckerberg's message yesterday, when he basically said that he is just loading up on these gpus, cpus, in order to develop their own large language models. it kind of gives investors an idea that this could continue to move. >> let's talk about on the one side these companies investing heavily in a.i.. on the other side, they seem to be cutting jobs. >> reporter: yes. so those two ideas are not actually at odds with each other, because you have to think that more chips and smaller workforces, they actually go hand in hand. if you are shifting your business towards this and we have talked about it, this

generative a.i. model, you are going to use those gpus and other advanced chips to make your workforce more efficient. you might not need those junior engineers that can be replaced with generative a.i.. so you can be spending a lot more on the back end, on the chips, on the infrastructure, while actually cutting down your workforce. i think that is what we have been seeing at google. we talked about their rounds of layoffs this year, and even zuckerberg yesterday said that they are consolidating their a.i. teams. that could lead to a -- layoffs as well. >> deirdre, we will keep an eye on that. thank you. we appreciate that. coming up, investors begging for several weight cuts. most big bank ceos just don't see us getting that close to that many. after the break, we will hear from the ceo of huntington bank about this and the sector at large. ♪ ♪ every day, businesses everywhere are asking: is it possible?

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lunch. the fed a hot topic among big banks. ceos at the worldwide economic forum in davos this week. let's take a listen to what was said about the likelihood of rate cuts this year starting with goldman sachs is ceo, then solomon. >> it's hard for me to see the markets view of seven cuts this year. i do think there is a reasonable possibility of some

interest rate cuts and easing, but it will really be dependent on what the data says and how the economy transitions. >> i do think we are probably past peak inflation. what is interesting though, becky, is that it's not inconceivable that we have to go faster. for example, 50 basis points, if you sort of price that as 5% or 10%. >> we have four rate cuts, not the six or seven in the market, for this year, 24 and 25. that leads you to 3% plus fed funds rate. that would be a normal rate cut for those of us who have been around a long time. >> more on hand going without the top code. all right, let's get reaction from stephen steinour, chairman, president, ceo, and lots of other things at huntington thank shares. he also served on the part of the federal reserve bank of cleveland. steve, we will get to your banks earnings in just a minute, let's start with the fed and see where you are on the speed, pace and frequency of interest

rate cuts this year. where are you standing? >> we model both the forward rate curve, and then we have an adjusted curve, and it's more in line with what you've heard from those three ceos. three or four cuts, generally later in the year. obviously, data dependent. >> what does that do to your business if rates come down at that level? >> well, if it's three or four cuts it's helpful. if it's six or seven, that might imply a soft economy. and that would it be helpful for us and anyone else. and either prevention we have a very tight interest margin. part of that through hedging. >> you are a major presence in the market you served, many in the midwest, ohio, west virginia. how is business? has the economy there? . >> business is generally good. the consumer is still reasonably strong. delinquencies, which can be an indicator, came in well below

2019 in terms of some of our core products. housing prices are stable. housing for sale is a very limited supply. so on many indicator, friends things look good and businesses are generally having a good year. not necessarily a great one, but a good one. this rate pivot by the fed will be helpful. >> i'm now looking at earnings today, steve. you had an earnings beat but a revenue miss. then what i'm diving into for the details here. your average total loans and leases increased $445 million from the prior quarter to 122.2 billion. and then increased from the year ago quarter. what does that tell you about your consumer and their economic health? >> well, the industry generally has pivoted a bit of what happened at silicon valley because of uncertainty. so you have heard expressions on things like our w 80th and

others. we did not do that. we chose to continue to support our customers and grow our loan portfolio. but it's awe. 23 was 2% for the year. 22 was 10%. we purposefully slowed it down with all the uncertainty about where weights were going and what the underlying economy would perform at. now, the certainty, or the confidence post if it, gives us a lot more confidence and growing the portfolio, and that is what we shared on the earnings outlook today. >> how does an executive like you, and other banks, prepare for what i think caught some more casual observers, perhaps, a little by surprise. that is the charges that the fdic imposed on banks. how do you plan for that? how do you prepare for the right markdowns that you have to take as a result of it? >> well, you can't plant per se because it's large bank

failures, and then its losses as a consequence of those. we haven't seen large bank tellers now for a decade and a half. you have to go back to 2009 or 2010. so there is not a budget in capacity for this. ultimately, the management and ports are responsible. the regulators do it in terms of oversight. the smaller those losses should be. that would hit the pond. and the banks support fdic insurance. not a taxpayer, the banks to. in this particular case, an extraordinary level of losses out of the two of the banks. we and others have to replace -- >> what did it cost you? >> it cost us a little over $200 million. >> $200 million. that comes right out of the height of the bank. >> that's right. that's right. >> steve, thank you -- >> a time expense that we and others have. you can't budget it. you just absorb it. we have net earnings beyond that, we grow capital, and continue to perform and meet our customers needs.

>> you see a lot of regional banks moving very nicely, including yours up 3.5%. stephen steinour, thank you very much for being with us. >> a pleasure. thank you. further ahead, insurance costs keep on climbing. travelers got a big rise in premiums. that was great news for travelers. boy, they really just wowed the crowd with their earnings. it is not so great if you have to pay the premiums. more on that when we come back. ameritrade is now part of schwab. bringing you an elevated experience, tailor-made for trader minds. go deeper with thinkorswim: our award-wining trading platforms. unlock support from the schwab trade desk, our team of passionate traders who live and breathe trading. and sharpen your skills with an immersive online education crafted just for traders. all so you can trade brilliantly.

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everybody. as we have discussed, we have records in lots of places today. stocks rising. the dow is up all-time high. the s&p 500, all-time intra day high. the nasdaq composite not an all-time high, but the nasdaq-100 is at an all-time high. it comes as economic data continues to show a strong economy. today's latest, the highest rating on consumer sentiment in two and a half years. rick santelli joins us now with the bought report from chicago. >> reporter: you know, tyler, it is really quite amazing when you think about how strong consumer confidence was today, and how it wasn't that long ago

that this metric was at 50. it's at 78.8! and, the split decision here, we have really nice strong confidence which most likely is reflecting the strong stock market, which is reflecting an economy that definitely is the best dirty shirt in the laundry basket with respect to global activity. while all of that is going on, we saw the inflation rates moderate. so from a stock market perspective, one would think it could be a bit of a goldilocks. but look what is happening with interest rates! a two year no yield, and you see it there, it is up nearly 30 basis points this week! and most treasuries, tens, twenties, 30s, or not only at the highest yield of the year, they are at the highest yield going back to the second week of december. as you can see on that chart. so what is very interesting here is that we will keep

talking about the 12th of december until we close above 420, but the thing that interest rates are so firm, and the equities so solid, all green all day, that it's going to make real tough decision for the fed. finally, five-year break. if you look at the two, five, ten, 30 year right even, they are all moving up. the five-year break-even is up for the sixth consecutive session, at a two and a half month high. granted, it is hovering around 2:30, but the implications here are important because the trend is your friend when you trade. it's not necessarily the front of the fed when the trend of inflation seems to be higher in certain metrics. contest, back to you. >> rick, i have a question for you if you wouldn't mind. i might run, but is the yield curve still inverted? and if it is, why aren't people wringing their hands over it? >> reporter: yes, it is inverted, but it's much less

important than it was. and today it's covering around minus 26 basis points, and that is because, to your note yields have really surged, converting it a bit more. what we spent a lot of time this week, tyler, under 20 basis points. and i think that really is the story that most of the big kinetic activity has been the inverting. i think that's why there is not as much hand wringing. as a matter of fact, i would still go on record saying that statement and the yield curve, watching it move more into positive territory, seems to be betrayed most of my sources think is the best trade up to 2024. >> very interesting. i'm glad i asked, rick. i knew you would have the answer. thank, you sir. which essentially. up next, a fine line. growing complaints from sportsbook customers about bad lines affecting their payout. mistakes and not getting paid for them. we will explain more when power lunch returns.

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lunch. check out the rounds bill sports betting it, up 4% this week. it falls strong results from fanduel parent, flutter, those shares sort yesterday after earnings. that helped boost its rival, draftkings. again, we were looking really good today. flutter up 22%. it was a good week on wall street and main street, but more and more gamblers are beginning to share stories of how betts got voided by their sports books. and maybe over using the obvious errors caused. for instance, if a site listed the kansas city chiefs at plus 20 points against the bills, instead of plus three, while it's an obvious error. any bets made on that line would be avoided, but there are others voided, they say like this bet, from danny moses. an investor who was profiled in the big short. moses says he bet on the baltimore ravens to beat the detroit lions in the super bowl. that bet was 500 to 1 odds.

three days later, hard rock in florida voided his bed. the bet, which is now listed at 13 to 1. he said when the void happened, he wasn't given an explanation. by the way, we reached out to hard rock and they said that 500 to 1 is an obvious error. that the odds were ten times what they should have been due to a pricing mistake by a third party, and the fact they named the third party, for radar that is involved with a lot of these sports books. danny moses joins us now. did you know it was an error when you made the bet? was it obvious that this was an anomaly? >> it was a great line, i will tell you that. so when i made the bet, it's a friend of mine, bryan from jacksonville, a friend i went to school with. had me go look at this and he said it doesn't seem right. and if it is, maybe we can get it together. i said okay. i will take it. the max path for a 500 to 1 is $50, so 25,000 dollar payout.

detroit beating baltimore was sitting at 60 to 1. so it's clear it wasn't some type of anomaly. the interesting thing, contessa, so i went on twitter, my friends at wager wire, we put this out there and i got an immediate tweet back from hard rock bet saying, good luck. confirming that the bet existed i thought. we learned some of our friends in new jersey, they put their bets in there at those bets are still alive as we speak right now. >> okay. so i went to hard rock to get some answers. first of all, on the reply you got from hard rock, they say a social media staffer replied wishing you luck before realizing people content of the clear and obvious error with the wager, and then deleted the tweet. secondly, they say you could have known that it was an error because you could have looked across the other sports books to see that it was in the neighborhood of 50 to 1 on. in fact, they said it wasn't just the matchup that you found,

that there were errors that extended to multiple nfl futures matchups, and that 117 players made 225 beds across these obvious terror markets. were you interested to learn that your friends and new jersey, they still have active bets that haven't been avoided? >> yeah. let me just say that the only way to gamble in florida online is hard rock. so i don't have access to those appliance. in new jersey, there's a lot of competition as you know. so they probably have one of two reasons. from a marketing perspective they did not want the bid to be avoided or canceled. second, i think the regulators in new jersey are a little tougher when it comes to protection laws. i have since filed a complaint here down in florida with the gaming commission as well. so obviously, it was an outlandish mine, but at the same time how could they not know that i had been hedging all the way through, and maybe trying to hedge that bed through the end of the super bowl.

to me, i think it falls on the line that was obviously high, but also like a customer service. there is no one on the hard rock bit. i've tweeted at them. you can't get anyone on the phone. it would have been nice to get an explanation of some kind. >> they said they don't have a record of u contacting customer support team, via email or chat, and salesforce records. i want to say that i have reached out to other sportsbook operators to ask how you handle it. they all have it on this book. that basically if there is a vet figure error, if it's an obvious technical mistake, that you should know that it shouldn't exist. however, in new jersey they are not allowed to just avoid it. they actually have to apply to the regulators in order to avoid it. so you are right, the regulation, and this is what hard rock told me, the difference is that regulators in florida look at those mistakes differently than the regulators in new jersey. when you and i talked on the phone previously about this, i was interested because all the sports books i have this.

i asked whether that figured mistakes apply to the customers as well. in fact, hard rock said yeah. we get lots of customers calling back saying, that is not that i met to make. and they look at the history, and if it looks like it's not in abusive situations, they will allow, out of goodwill, the customer toward the bet. however, if you think the rows should be different across gambling. >> yeah. i think if you want to be regulated markets, like wall street is, when there is a fat finger on wall street, depending on the parties. if you meant by 100,000 shares and buy 1 million, they are not taking that off. my issue is twofold. one, customer service and black there up. second, there's a lot of times where these bets, if the team had lost, there was probably no need to avoid because they lost. am i to believe that if they had not avoid the bed and it hadn't materialized, and the lines may have lost the first front of the playoffs, for the

people who have the better live in jersey, would they get their money back? i don't know. so the whole part that bothers me is that they launched quickly in florida. they are kind of figuring it out later here. that's the frustrating part for me. >> that might be a lesson for other states were considering who to allow in, and whether a monopoly -- there's indication and we switch that there -- are more competitive marketplace lands the states more licensing fees and more in tax revenue, when it's a more competitive plane field. the american coming association says that basically the illegal offshore businesses are more risky for customers, and they say 5000 regulators nationwide, to establish the markets and enforce the rules, and that they definitely want to ensure the integrity of the market. and they want to protect consumers and deal with consumers and potential complaints. i just want to be clear here because you are well known as an investor. you mentioned wager wire, which i understand you are an

investor in the business. is any of this about getting draft kings, like, do you own draftkings stop? >> not at the moment. flutter i do. >> if any of this about giving a boost to your other investments? >> not at all. i have been involved in this after four years. i am standing up for what is right. i obviously did that during my years on wall street. trying to help people through the investment process. this is just more of the same here. so i think as you make the consumer aware of this, it can obviously help everybody. i think this is a nascent industry. i love the industry from a macro perspective. it's a huge sector growth area, so there will be mistakes that are made along the way. it's not a question. i just don't feel like this was made whole. one of the things you could have done just create a free bet on the side, the potential payout of $25, 000, maybe with the right of that should've

been, whether it was 30 or 40 to 1. >> you know, the romans said caveat mturk. it sounds too good to be true, it probably is that bias should be where. at least chapter 50 bucks back. denigrated, have you on with us today. thank you. >> thank you for having me on. let's get to bertha coombs for cnbc news update. >> reporter: tyler, a granary has indicted actor alec baldwin today in connection with the deadly shooting of the movie set of rust. it comes after prosecutors had dismissed earlier involuntary manslaughter charges against baldwin back in april. the convened a grand jury in the poll to look into whether to re-file those charges. baldwin's attorneys say they look forward to their day in court. he could face up to 18 months in prison if convicted. thousands of opponents of abortion braved the cold weather and snow to demonstrate today in the nation's capital. today's march for life is the

second -- 2022 supreme court overturning roe v. wade, which ended federal protection for abortion rights. much of the country has been under a cold snap this week, but ice has been the biggest issue in the northwest. one oregon county reported nearly 200 visits to the e.r. footballs yesterday, which is the highest number in nearly eight years. ice and when has knocked out power to more than 110,000 customers in oregon today according to the state utility provider. seems like a good weekend to stay in and watch the movies. >> for football. whatever you like. bertha, thank you. still ahead, insurance endurance. shares of travelers on the rise thanks to higher investment returns and lower claim losses, we have the full story went power lunch returns. [♪♪] your skin is ever-changing, take care of it with gold bond's healing

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unpack once and get closer to iconic landmarks, local life and cultural treasures. because when you experience europe on a viking longship, you'll spend less time getting there and more time being there. viking. exploring the world in comfort. traveler shares up 6% on a massive earningsbase. they said record quarterly highs in court income, earnings per share and return on equity at 24%.

they are now writing more new policies and then charging more for premiums. plus, they are keeping the customers they have even when the premiums go higher. net investment income up 24% over the same quarter last year, driven of course by higher rates and fixed income. catastrophe losses were lower last quarter. it was a reversal from a much higher catastrophe cost earlier quarter. -- was out yesterday with a report on the catastrophe damage around the world in 2023. what they found was it is the fourth year in a row that global insured losses were more than 100 billion dollars. more than half of those came from convective storms, things like thunderstorms. and the united states. the thing is, and ensure like travelers would look at that and none of those individual thunderstorms would create so much damage that they could go

to their own ensure and say you have to kick in part of the damage here. so traveler just had to shoulder that. it makes it all the more impressive when, in one quarter, they can set of these records because catastrophe costs are lower. climate risk is a real headwind for insurance premiums. and people who are paying that homeowners premiums are noticing it, their car insurance, but that is a big part of it. >> definitely. definitely what's going on. all right, folks. still ahead. a good connection. oppenheimer upgrading shares of at&t to buy. 25% upside from here, saying the challenges are finally, quote, in the rearview mirror after its years long transition back to keep your telephone play. in the last three-stock lunch of the week, that's next. the watch is sponsored by gray scale.

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three-stock lunch. we look at the big movers of the day. out here with our trades, gina sanchez, chief market strategist -- also a cnbc contributor and a member of our stock draft. first is ipm. that one getting an upgrade from evercore isi to outperform from in line. also raising the price target here to $200. the stock is up about 2% today. during its highest level -- nearing its highest level since 2014. that is ten years. you train on ibm? >> we have been holding the stop. it has been a great holding forest. however, it's now above its p e average, and that is a challenge, but it's growing. and it is continuing to put one foot in front of the other. we are seeing a slowdown in terms of tech spending, and and consulting to vision has not really had to feel it as much as the rest of the industry. >> okay. up next we have at&t. they got an upgrade from

oppenheimer. the stock has been laggard, but analysts think it stands to benefit from to -- several tailwinds. shares of at&t up about 2% this year -- today. jim, how do you try this one? >> this is a challenge. this is a stop we. like we do not currently only except in our passive strategies. it is -- it has definitely had a rough ride, making those investments into capacity, their wireless and wireline businesses. and they should start to get some expected earnings out of that, but if you look forward, the expected earnings for this are still somewhat below, under the 4% to 5% earnings range. so it is coming down in a slump environment. so that is the challenge for it, but it is trading really cheap. so that is the advantage. >> all right, let's move on to s l b, which is nowhere -- the oil field services company lift its dividend as strong international drilling boosts shares earning about 2%. your trade?

>> this is also mistrusting one. this is very highly tight to boil. since oil prices have been lagging, so his drilling, but if you look at the earnings report, it's international drilling that supported this really. you know, they continue to tail risk of unrest in the middle east continues to be something that could cause immediate need or oil drilling. even the longer term it is that, as interest rates start to a least stabilized, and eventually we start to get some pets maybe in the second half of the year in 2024, we should get past the slowdown and we should see demand pick up. that is good for oil. that will be good for slb. >> thank you very much, gina. before we let you go, just three weeks away from the super bowl. that means the end of our 2023 stop draft competition. the leaders as we come down to the wire arc charlotte flair with a commanding lead of 86 percentage points thanks to her

top pick, nvidia. that's followed by tory done lap and ryan reynolds, that guy again. gina, you and diamond to shields are in fifth place, up 11% since the draft, with your picks of paypal and google. if you only hand google, he would be in even better shape. paypal has been the drag here. >> absolutely. i feel like we have been the fulcrum around which everybody has gone. [laughter] you know, google is a great performer. our thesis there is even if we saw slowing, the ad spending, law had spent would go to the strongest advertising platforms, and google's desk. they also have a cloud play that is definitely a big part of their story, and we think that continues even though it is slowly. they are a leader in artificial intelligence and will probably continue to be. that is the story there. it was a higher price to stop, and higher interest rates it was a challenge, but it performs really well.

paypal on the other hand, we were sort of banking on the fact that it is still one of the cheapest ways to access payments. it's expected earnings were still very strong, and quite frankly over the last three months it has been a stellar performer, but it just has not gotten over the losses that we endured at the beginning of the stock graft. so it is strengthening up, but it may not get there in time. >> it's like it's going to touchdown down 45 to nothing like the cowboys did last week or whatever it was. there you go, cowboy fans! >> go back to! >> all right, jim accession is. thank you. >> still ahead, what does that have to do with the price of eggs? we will reveal the reason why almond and eggs are rising again. power lunch is back in two minutes.

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for all your skins, gold bond. we have a little less than three minutes the program, and we have several stories we want to tell you about. so we will get right to it. more corporate layoffs coming, this time in two of the nation's biggest retailers. wayfair is cutting more than 1600 workers. macy's plans to cut more than 2300 jobs across its various platforms. and to also close five stores as part of the and coming -- incoming ceos strategy to move the company forward. obviously, retail is not all

the same. here are two that are trying to cut the head count. in macy's case, really trying to stay ahead of the grim reaper. >> the cost efficiencies matter if you are going to try to make of business that is changing and transitioning into -- continue to make sense. egg prices on the rise again thanks in part to a resurgence of bird flu. the average price jumped 8.9% from november to december. according to the latest cpi report, and we should note, a dozen large great eggs costs on average $2.51 last month. that was more than, when, more than $2 less than the peak of $4.82 back in january of 2023. did you get that? more than less? >> i followed you. >> still, they are cheaper compared to what they were. >> they are cheaper than they were, but higher than they were, but eggs. >> more or less. >> they cost a lot more than they did five years ago. >> there you go. >> okay.

hot housing cooling up. sales of existing homes dropped at the lowest level in nearly 30 years. we covered that earlier this hour. i can't remember. i'm losing track of the hours. it happens you know. the prices remain stubbornly high, inventory remaining low, interest rates not helping. the national association of realtors say existing home sales dropped 19% year over year in 2023, just over 4 million. that is the lowest figure since 1995. maybe some interest rate cuts will help, but who knows? >> and also having more homes to buy, especially those entry level homes. diana olick has sort of been preaching this to us for a year or more, but if there is no availability on entry level homes, and how do you get your first time? if it's just not there. one more layoff announcement to tell you about. sports illustrated laying off nearly all its staff and the staff of the magazine is into. i used to work for the company

that owned it. the company that licensed the magazine for publication missed a payment, and therefore the company that owns the brand revoked the licensing agreement. sports illustrated! in my house since i was a young boy. thanks for watching power lunch. >> closing bell begins right now. welcome to closing bell. i'm mike santoli in fourth got rough in. today stocks are barreling higher. the index is up by more than 1% across the board. the dow ahead by 400 points. they are a french entry day highs. we've got you covered as we head towards the. close scott walker is live from the american express pga tour event in look into, california. he will join us shortly with a big interview you will not want to. ms. energy founder and ceo west eaten. 's we begin here at this make-or-break hour with the most important u.s. stock market on track for a new all-time high fo