maria: we have been enjoying this incredible meal with chef david burke. look at a this, he's cooking -- i asked can he make my piece of meat a little -- he's doing it right now. final record, chef. >> safe and happy holidays. thank you. maria: how is it, cheryl? >> oh, my gosh. i'm e telling you right now, it's fabulous. [laughter] i'm not talking, i'm just going to eat. maria: you've been enjoying the pancakes. >> i really want to get into thatday. maria: it looks amazing. cheers. thanks so much, mark, kaylee, cheryl and, of course, to all of you. have a happy company. varney and company's picking it up now. stu, take it away. stuart: good morning, everyone.

well, where do you start? blockbuster rally, impeachment, a border invasion, it's all happening. let's go with the money. no more rate hikes, three rate cuts next year. stocks way up. today that rally continues. the dow industrials up 550 points -- 500 point points, that was yesterday, could be up another 200 this morning. the nasdaq, that was up 200 points wednesday, maybe up 70-odd points at the opening today. now look at interest rates. yep, down some more. the 10-year well below 4%. we're at 3.96 right now. you know, or mortgage rates could be coming down soon as a well. as for the 2-year treasury, that's all the way town to 4.63%. it had been lower than that, 4.36 on the 2-year. bitcoin, 42,500. gas all the way town to $3.10. it was down 2 cents overnight and, by the way, there are now 26 statements selling gasoline below $3 a gallon. diesel, $4.06.

that's down 2 cents. all right, politics. the house has voted in favor of an impeachment inquiry meaning the republicans will get to subpoena witnesses and documents. this will spill outal -- all over the primary season. the democrats are divided over ukraine and immigration. "the wall street journal" says biden may betray ukraine if he can't compromise with the republicans on immigration. the democrat left vigorously opposes any compromise on migrants. look at this, thousands of migrants trying to hitch. a ride on a train to the border. thousands of them. 10,781 came across the last 24 hours, and that's just the ones with -- we know about. i'm prepared to use the word invasion. on the hoe today, the mayor of boston throws a christmas party for electeds of color. the white folks were told, sorry, you can't come. a small example of the mindless racial divide. and harvard plans a course on how to be the a college

president. $,9000 -- 9,900 for 66 days, rotten timing as harvard's current president faces withering criticism. we cover it all. thursday, december 14, 2023. "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪ jungle -- jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock ♪ stuart: will you look at that? >> if well, they're all shopping. you saw the retail sales numbers. they're in the stores. [laughter] stuart: well, well, well, i won't comment to on the music, just the empty sixth avenue. news out of d.c., heavy duty political news. hunter biden showed up on capitol hill. he defied the subpoena. lauren, what is the president saying about his son?

lauren: defying that subpoena amid mounting legal issues, but the bidens say they are proud of their son trying to rebuild his life. >> the president was familiar with what with hunter wiz going to say today -- was going to say today, and, you know, look, he's proud of his son, he and the first lady are proud of his son, how he's rebuilding his life back. he's going to focus on what is needed on the american people. hunter, and i've said this many times, is a private citizen. so, certainly, i would are to refer you to his representatives. i'm just not going to get into private conversations, because what you're asking me is actually a private conversation. lauren: okay, private conversation. it was a publicity stunt. a press conference outside while lawmakers were inside waiting to ask hunter questions like what does your family do to net tens of millions of dollars? republicans in the house are taking steps to hold hunter in contempt of congress. they say this highlights the

double standard. donald trump's son, donald trump jr., answered five subpoenas. stuart stuart showed up. got it. thanks, lauren. the house approved the impeachmentment inquiry into the president, and according to a new poll, listen to this, nearly a quarter of all democrats support impeachment. david avella with me now. this may be a crazy theory, but is this how the democrats push biden out? impeachment gets so bad, he's gotta go? >> probably not, stuart, because 25% of democrats are for the impeachment inquiry, and yet not a single democrat in the house including dean phillips who's running against biden will have the courage to actually vote to convict him or, well, send it to the u.s. senate for a child -- for a trial. they will stick behind this president because they know they have to. it's also interesting, you think about this, we know biden has already are been caught in lies when it comes to his involvement with hunter and, two, this is the first president -- think

about this. can you think of a president who people in his own administration were outside the white house protesting against his foreign policy? if that's what's happening to biden right now. you add to that, that americans don't just dislike his policies on the economy, they believe it's his policies that have caused inflation, has caused people to face the higher prices that they do. biden is in big trouble. stuart: yeah, but, david, you're right, he's in big trouble on all fronts. you don't think the democrats will move heaven and everett somehow or other to get him out? -- heaven and everett? you don't think so? >> stuart, if someone were strong enough that they thought they could beat biden, they'd be in the race right now. even you think about we've dawninged -- stuart: it's not a question of someone beating him, it's a question of senior democrats and maybe his family saying, look, there's enormous pressure from all kinds, you can't be the president for another five

years. step aside. >> they can put all the pressure they want on him, stuart. until he says i'm doing -- look, keep in mind, think about how many times joe biden ran for president, stuart. do you think he's going to just walk away now that he is president? if no. he's going to have to be pushed out. stuart: yes, exactly. anyway, let me move on to something else. donald trump, commanding lead in the primaries. according to real clear politics, this is a polling average, he is 30 points ahead in iowa, he's 25 points ahead in new hampshire. i say by the end of january he's got this thing sewn up. what say you? >> he wins the first three contests, iowa, new hampshire and south carolina. there is no way to beat him. if and the reality is no one has presented a vision for where they would take the country that makes republican voters say we want that vision versus what donald trump talked about. and ever since 2016 # we know that donald trump knows how to get attention. i'll give you an example. the other day while the media

focuses on his e comments about he'd only be a dictator on day one, what did he say after that? he said i'm going to close the border, and and i'm going to drill, drill, drill. donald trump knew exactly who he was talking to when he said that. he knew if he was talking to primary voters in a very specific way that had them say, yes, that's what i want. and nobody else running against donald trump is speaking with that type of clarity. stuart: that is true. david avella, thanks for joining us. see you again soon. now back to that retail sales report. it's strong. up 4.1% in the past 12 months, that's retail sales. perhaps more importantly, a strong gain reported for november. what does that tell us, lauren? lauren: that this is a trend, that the economy is stronger than we thought and, yes, it is the start of the holiday season. so retail sales from october to november rose .3%. they rose the most at bars and restaurants because what do people do right now? they go out with friends. 1.6% and even online up 11th.

1%. if you look annually, a huge decline in furniture, down 7.3%, and that is a sign that the housing market has stalled because of high mortgage rates. stuart: fair enough. lauren: not much inventory. stuart: okay. let's get to the markets because the market was up. then the retail sales figures came out, and it went up some more. i'm looking at a gain of 200 points for the dow industrials at the opening bell. it was up 500 yesterday. adam johnson with me now. too late to get into this rally? >> not at all. i think the rally has only just begun. we're still well below the all-time highs -- stuart tooth we are? if. >> yes. stuart: 37,69000 -- >> on the s&p 500, we're still below, on the nasdaq, we're still below. and, by the way, on the russell 2000, the most number of stocks out there, we are double digits below. still below the all-time highs. stuart: is that the area of best growth? >> i think so, yes, and i'll tell you why. because if you can make the argument that inflation is what

took interest rates up, and, therefore, stocks down. especially small caps which are more sensitive to interest rates. then the opposite should be true. inflation coming down, rates coming down, stocks go up. so i think we've only just begun to see the shift, the pivot back into small caps. that's where the risk is, and i certainly own plenty of them miamis. stuart: let's talk reality. the 10-year well below 4%. that implies 30-year with fixed rate or mortgage rates, they're going to come down soon, probably below 7%. >> i hope so. stuart: that going to put a shot in the arm for real estate and the whole economy? >> it should. mortgages at one point ticked above 88%, that's just painful -- 8%. so, yes, if you could actually get a 6 handle, that would make a big deal. there's actually a shortage of housing in this country. because of, all the home builders stopped building, right? they no longer built for spec, they only built what they thought they could sell in a current year. population growth is such that that we now have a housing

shortage, and that's parking lot of the issue. stuart: you know, this is kind of fun, isn't it? >> what? stuart: the market goes straight up, 500 points yesterday, it's just exciting. >> it's a lot more fun than this conversation a year ago. remember, right? it was, like, today after day we got hammered and hammered and hammered, and i was long so many stocks that just kept going down. people would say, adam, when are you going to sell? it's time in the market not timing the market. just bear with me. and i actually added in the hole. i didn't get them all right but, yes, we're finally getting the payback. stuart: and it's got some legs. >> i do think so, yeah. the economy is stronger than people believe. stuart: you look skeptical. lauren: i'm just thinking that the nasdaq is up 40% this year. >> right. lauren: it just -- i have to check that number, is it really up that much this year? because it hasn't felt like it. >> i know, i know. and i sound like i'm interrupting, and i don't mean to, lauren, but it was down about, what, 38% last year. so if you're down 38 last year,

actually being up 40 -- you're still not back to where you were, right? you've if the to make that back and then some because of the law of percentages. i know it sounds crazy that, yes, we are up 40%, we can keep going, but, yeah, we can. we're still below the all-time highs -- stuart: you're on tape. >> i'm on tape. i'm also long stocks, and i'll have clients call me. i get it. stuart: the mayor of boston sends a holiday party invite to all city council members. problem is, she retracted it. she says it was only meant for lekkeds of color -- electeds of color. oh, dear. would you send your kid to a school founded by elon missing? -- musk? he wants to launch a s.t.e.m.-focused k-12 school. details coming up. the house approved an impeachment inquiry into president biden. it came just hours after his son hunter defied and skipped a scheduled deposition. california congressman darrell issa very unhappy about that, and and he's next. ♪

♪ -- go to hideaway. ♪ i'm a good, good girl who needs a little company ♪ (sfx: stone wheel crafting) ♪ the biggest ideas inspire new ones. 30 years ago, state street created an etf that inspired the world to invest differently. it still does. what can you do with spy? ♪

teeth sensitivity is so common. it immediately feels like somebody's poking directly on the nerve. i recommend sensodyne. sensodyne toothpaste goes inside the tooth and calms the nerve down. and my patients say you know doc, it really works. trading at schwab is now powered by ameritrade, unlocking the power of thinkorswim, the award-winning trading platforms. bring your trades into focus on thinkorswim desktop with robust charting and analysis tools, including over 400 technical studies. tailor the platforms to your unique needs with nearly endless customization. and track market trends with up-to-the-minute news and insights. trade brilliantly with schwab.

elevate your portfolio with reyna silver. harness the enduring power of silver, a vital industrial medal and inflation hedge. backed by strategic projects and a seasoned team. secure your silver investment. reyna silver.

the power goes out, and we still have wifi to do our homework. and that's a good thing? great in my book. who are you? no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up. plus, now through december 31st, eligible xfinity rewards members can get 25% off a storm ready wifi device. the power goes out and we still have wifi to do our homework. and that's a good thing? great in my book! who are you? no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up to keep you online. only from xfinity. home of the xfinity 10g network. i suffer with psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis.

i was on a journey for a really long time to find some relief. cosentyx works for me. cosentyx helps real people get real relief from the symptoms of psoriatic arthritis or psoriasis. serious allergic reactions, severe skin reactions that look like eczema, and an increased risk of infections, some fatal, have occurred. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine or plan to or if ibd symptoms develop or worsen. i move so much better because of cosentyx. ask your rheumatologist about cosentyx. ♪ ♪ stuart: hunter biden defied the house subpoena opting not to appear for his closed door testimony. hillary vaughn on capitol hill. all right, hillary, what happens to hunter now? >> reporter: stuart, he could be facing jail time if he's prosecuted for defying that subpoena, but he decided to show up here on capitol hill and make his case to the press. he insisted that he is innocent and claimed that his dad had no financial involvement in his

business. this morning axios is out with an interview with hunter where he says, quote, republicans have weaponized my dad's love for me and turned his e great greatest strength, his compassion, his empathy, his authenticity, into ed of corrupt complicity. hunter says he ditched the deposition because it was in secret, but he also wouldn't take our questions on camera in public east. either. mr. biden, was it worth with it trying to sell the family name? do you want president biden to pardon grow, sir? -- you, sir? worth it selling the family name? if. [inaudible conversations] [no audio] >> reporter: hunter biden's lawyers blasted the subpoena as ill legitimate because the house had not passed that formal impeachment inquiry. now they have. and if hunter biden dodging the subpoena was him trying to buy

time for his dad to bail him out with a presidential pardon, the white house is saying, don't hold your brent. >> reporter: if i called my dad and said i am about to violate a congressional subpoena, he'd probably say is, son, you shouldn't do that. was there the any attempt by president biden to talk hunter out of it today? >> the president was familiar with what hunter was going to say today. >> reporter: why doesn't president biden just pardon him? >> i've been very clear, the president's not going to pardon -- >> reporter: but the house scheduled to go home for the holidays today, so any vote to hold hunter in contempt is next year's problem. but 2024 might hold more problems, the oversight committee is hoping to still hear from president biden's brother, james biden, about the family business. he also got a subpoena. we'll see if he complies. stuart? stuart: hillary, thanks very much, indeed. california congressman darrell issa with me now. now that you have impeachment power, can hunter avoid

testifying? >> you know, to be honest, of course he can. he could have come yesterday and taken the fifth. instead what he did was he us used his middle finger to the american people. the vote yesterday on impeachment inquiry had nothing whatsoever to do with the validity of the subpoena. i've issued a lot of subpoenas, and as have democrats, without impeachment inquiries. the fact is anytime we see any wrong doing including violations of foreign lobbying acts, violations of international law all of which we have every ability and right to investigate even if it includes the vice president, so the subpoena was legal, enforceable, and and hunter biden is in contempt. and, by the way, so is eric swalwell who facilitated bringing him onto the capitol grounds with secret service protection, federal cars. so the president and his secret

service facilitated this contempt. eric swalwell reserved the facility and walked with him and stood with him in violations of his own ethics. i've written to theth thicks committee, i've made it very -- the ethics committee, i've made it clear that i want an answer about that conduct because it's clearly outside what any of us have the right to do. a congressman cannot facilitate the contempt of congress. but back to hunter. hunter has done what others have done, and they're always lost in court. without impeachment inquiries, you might remember years ago the white house counsel, harriet miers, she was held in contempt. the white house tried to not produce her, and a reare palin-appointed judge -- republican-appointed judge, judge bates, found bush had no such is right. this wasn't an impeachment inquiry. so i want everyone to understand what he did yesterday was contempt. if the president stays out of it, our referral on contempt would lead to criminal charges. i don't expect the president to

stay out of it any more than i expected the truth out of hunter biden yesterday. stuart: can we just deal with this one too? the white house is trying to blame republicans for the border crisis. roll the tape, please. >> the immigration system is broken. we've said that over and over again. the president has put forth an immigration, a comprehensive immigration policy, legislation on his first day to teal with this issue. republicans refused. they said no to border agents, they've said no to new technology to fight fentanyl, no to additional troops, and they voted on eliminating 2,000 customs and border patrol agents. that is what republicans have done. stuart: can we get this straight, congressman? we're being invaded, and the president who arranged this invasion blames the republicans. your response. >> well, exactly. and the challenge is our agents are overwhelmed just taking people who present themselves at the border because the president opened the border and bringing

them in. they don't have the time and bandwidth, and no amount would give them the bandwidth to go after this massive amount of fentanyl. raising the penalty for trafficking in fentanyl. and lastly, he has not done what he could do overseas, particularly with china, to stem the now of these deadly -- the flow of these deadly chemicals. stuart: congressman, thank you very much, indeed. i'm sure you saw the train with all the migrants waiting to jump onboard. it's just like this -- >> he loves public transportation. he's the king of trains. no surprise. [laughter] stuart: congressman issa, see you engen soon. white house officials reportedly considering title 42-like restrictions at the border. lawyer lauren mandatory detention and she veil of policies similar to title 42. some democrats are opposed to in any restriction at the border

including bob menendez. he says it's truly e shameful that president biden and his administration are considering selling out migrants is and asylum seekers in order to placate extreme republicans who are jeopardizing our national security and that of our allies just to tore score a political a point. guess what, senator? biden needs a political point, and the border isn't working for him. it's one of his more toxic issues. speaking of title 42, can i just say that was a completely ineffective policy? stuart: you can say it. lauren: what it did was allow, because of covid, the administration to expel migrants back to mexico, but the very next day, they would try to cross again. a revolving door. what they could do is send them to the south of mexico so it's harder to make the trek again. >> actually, may i propose a crazy con incident if build a wall -- cop sent? build a wall. stuart: let's not forget menendez is the gold bar senator. lauren: i know. stuart: the rally continues.

the dow was up 500 yesterday, up 170 this morning. the opening bell is next. ♪ joy to the world, all the boys and girls. ♪ joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea ♪ you can't buy great conversations or moments that matter, but you can invest in them. at t. rowe price our strategic investing approach can help you build the future you imagine. t. rowe price, invest with confidence. this is your season to smile with new dentures from aspen dental -- to raise a toast and gather together, to wrap up the fun and round up the gang. to help get you ready, your aspen dental denture team is celebrating 25 years of affordable care with an epic anniversary savings event. don't miss enjoying a moment with fast repairs in our onsite labs and 20% off your custom dentures. plus, we have a denture money back guarantee so you can smile with confidence.

aspen dental. book today. - when did doing business become more about culture wars and less about well, business? some companies today bring politics into the boardroom, then into our living rooms. that's why i use spotlight reports from 1792 exchange. here, i can search more than 2,000 companies, to see if they care more about divisive social issues than about running a sound business. isn't it time we got back to the business of business? learn the risk to your company or family at 1792exchange.com. i'll be home for christmas. you can count on me.

please have snow and mistletoe. and presents under the tree right now, all over the country, kids at shriners hospitals for children® are able to go home and be with their families for the holidays. and it's only possible because of the monthly support of people just like you. thanks to a generous donor. every dollar you give can help twice as many kids like me and have double the impact. with your gift of just $19 a month, only $0.63 a day, we'll send you this adorable love to the rescue® blanket as a thank you. and a reminder of the care you'll be providing so kids can be with their families. christmas eve will find me.

where the love light gleams. it only takes a moment to call the number on your screen. or you can visit loveshriners.org right now on your phone or computer. thanks to a generous donor, your gift will go twice as far and help more kids like me. because every child just wants to be home for the holidays and your gift makes that possible. your call is the best gift of all. your gift will be my favorite christmas present this year. thank you for giving. please call the number on your screen or go online right now with your monthly gift. and when you do, your gift will have two times the impact. stuart: on the markets, the rally continues. we're two minutes from the opening bell, and the cow's up

another 1690 -- dow's up. is 160. i want to talk i e bm p. you liked it two months ago at 130, so are you buying more at 163? >> no, stuart, we have to go back to june to find that $130 price when i was on and said that that was one of, one of the behind the scenes a.i. stocks. remember back in the day when they talked about watson? they still are doing a lot of a.i. work. they're doing a ton of services and consulting work. i think we could see over the next 18 months them heading back up to that $200, 206 all-time high. stuart: i want more than $206 in the next 2 years if i was going to put my money anywhere. anyway, sis eco. i me you like 'em -- cisco. what about 'em? >> yeah. another one of those old school picks and shovels kinds of stocks, stuart. why i like them, they are still throwing off huge amounts of

cash. 60% of their money's coming from networking, and the switches, the win jilt -- win jet es that go into these data centers and all the refurbishments we're doing when we have to upguyed for cloud or -- upgrade for cloud or a.i. processing. so they're still throwing off $15 15 is million a quarter after tax cash, that's e a pretty good number. stuart: okay. d.r., we'll check 'em out. thanks very much, indeed. 25 seconds til the opening bell on wall street, and here's the backdrop for today. the fed says no more rate hikes, three rate cuts next year. enter rates come way down. interest rates. the yield well below 4% -- lauren: market pricing six rate cuts next year. stuart: and retail sales strong in november indicating a solid holiday selling season. not bad. boom, 9:30 each time. he presses the button, the market is open.

we've got a gain, not as high or strong as we thought it was going to be, the dow is up -- now it's turned south is. what happened? i don't know. now we're up -- a little jockeying for position in the if early going. about two-thirds of the dow 30 on the upside this morning. s&p 500, where did that open? i'll tell you immediately, it is up about .4%. it was up strong yesterday as well. and now the nasdaq compos if sit, a 200-point gain yesterday and another half percentage point gain this morning, up another 75 points. what an opening bell with. 14,8 on the nasdaq. big tech, we've got meta and microsoft down, i'm sorry to say, amazon, apple, alphabet on the upside. show me adobe, please. that's way down. they reported -- was it this morning they reported? lauren: i want to say last night. stuart: last night after the bell, and they're down 6%. what's the problem? lauren: well, this is the maker of photoshop, just to remind everybody. their outlook was the problem. antitrust scrutiny over

allegedly making it difficult if you subscribe to photoshop, for instance, to cancel that subscription. they're trying to buy a company, the u.k. authorities are saying, well, maybe not. so there's a lot of issues in addition to the disappointing outlook. stuart: i don't think it's widely held, adobe. lauren: it's up 90% this year. institute is it? >> yeah, they tried to rebrand, trying to rebrand themselves as an a.i. company. i think it's a little bit of a reach. lauren: remember you did the story if i had adobe's foe e to shop, i could make all my kids' smile if %ly? -- kids smile if perfectly? if. stuart: an experimental cancer vaccine. lauren: moderna needed a shot in the arm, and they're getting it. this is custom cancer treatment. so it's using the mrna technology from moderna with keytruda from merck, together, and they co-developed a custom the vaccine for melanoma. a study shows that it halved the

chance of getting cancer again or dying from that cancer. and that after three years of use. that suggests durability. but even with this very positive data, it'll be some time before they can file for approval of the treatment. the ceo is saying they're looking for 20225 to get it on the market. stuart: you're right, moderna did need a shot in the arm because covid vaccines are not going well. general motors, robo-taxi business. the stock is up. lauren: nine more executives leaving. reportedly the head of legal and policy on top of the cofounders and the ceo last month as west virginia been reporting. so my question is, is this the ceo, mary barra's, way of starting fresh? get all new people in to rebuild trust? because, you know, you have cruz is rolling over pedestrians -- stuart: they tried it out in san francisco. row bow-taxis -- eau rebow-taxis. they withdrew the whole lot. that's the failure of that experiment. the executives are got to go.

you're right, she has to. lauren: so do they try this again with a new team? because they initially wanted to take on uber which does not hav- stuart: well, you'd have to see if a new team could correct the faults and get it back on the road. lauren: to or if it's a money-losing event again for gm. >> may i pose a question? would you get in a car not driven by anybody? stuart: at this point? in? no. >> exactly. thank you. lauren: because the culture is not ready for something doesn't mean a company stops working on it because eventually you get used to it. stuart: etsy. they're cutting jobs. lauren: yeah. and that 's why they're up. cutting 11% of their staff, 225 employees. i'm blaming this on temu and shein, those chinese apps, the amazons, if you will, but they sell stuff really cheap. you can get anything in the world. and the issue is that etsy's work force is oversized for the size of their business. they're saying all these cuts, each though the stock's up a

little bit, aren't going to fix the core problem which is there's no growth. and they actually call it etsy the next ebay. stuart: oh, dear. the barbie movie, that was from -- mattel makes the barbie doll stuff, right? that trillion role in the movie. are they capitalizing on it? lauren: well, mattel, 125 million in barbie sales because of the movie. stuart: $125 million? lauren: yeah. so now mattel is saying, well, what if we teamed up with paramount, we also own american girl, and do another toy-centric, live action film? and so they are. the american girl movie is coming from paramount. that'll be a big win for mattel. if you look at mattel versus hasbro, has hasbro doesn't have these popular dolls or movies. hasbro is down for the year. stuart: adam, you've got some stock picks. i'm surprised to see this, disney. >> i bet you are, right?

disney, you know, defines woke right now. stuart: we've been bashing it. >> yeah. but that's the whole thing, they're getting over it. ceo bob iger said about a week ago we need to get back to storytelling. we've been too worried about messaging. stuart: mysedded that. that's a -- i missed that. that's a retreat. >> i'm thrilled to hear it because they have all these different moving participants from the cruises to the hotels, to the movies, to the merchandise, they just need the make the thing work together. lauren: all that depends on the story. >> and he recognized we need, we lost our way. and, by the way, we're not going to sell espn if or abc because he realized they need distribution. it's a recognition they need to get back to basics. i'm good owning disney here, it's still way down. stuart: what's united rentals? >> number one representer of equipment in the -- renter of equipment in the world. they have probably call it 1%

market share in this country -- 18%. we've become an asset-light economy. we don't own stuff, we rent stuff. so if you're a warehouse, go rent the thing that lifts people up or rent the finishing lifts or rent the equipment. they're very good at keeping the equipment working and turning it over and reselling it so it's constant capital flow. trades at 12 times earnings. stuart: 12. >> yes. stuart: that works. it's cheaper than the market. i don't know what this company does. >> auto parts and specifically electronics. it's not just that you need electronics for electric vehicles, you need them on all these sophisticated vehicles that connect with the internet. this too trades at 12 times earning, and it's usually traded at about 22 times earnings. it's a value play and a growth story. i think it's very exciting. people are still writing off the auto sector because of the uaw strike. ancient history. the sector can afford to pay higher wages. stuart: got it.

thanks, adam. it is friday tomorrow, i should say. you know what that means, friday feedback. and as we close out 2023, i want to know what your favorite moments of the show were. lauren: oh oring or dear. stuart: this year. we have -- nice moments, please. e-mail us at varney viewers@fox -- lauren: do i get to do it? stuart: why not? >> there's a lot to choose from. [laughter] stuart: 2012 had a good year. >> it's ap may amazing year. stuart: flattery is the mother's milk -- here we go. former obama adviser david axlerod has more bad if news for biden's re-election campaign. watch this. [no audio] e. >> the wall street -- poll was, you know, very, very dark in terms of, from a biden standpoint. job approval down, ratings genre down -- generally down. most of the comparatives with trump not good. stuart: he was obama's guy, so what role does obama have in all

of this intrigue in the white house? we'll ask the question. the fed held rates steady, indicated three rate cuts coming next year. too good to be true? economist peter morrissey on that -- peter morici on that next. ♪ too good to be true ♪ ♪ students... students of any age, from anywhere. students in a new kind of classroom. ♪ using our technology to power different ways of learning.

♪ harnessing ai to plant new beginnings. ♪ so when minds grow, opportunities follow. -hey there. -hey. -hi. hey there. how are you? i'm with disabled american veterans. i was wondering if you had a quick minute to thank america's veterans for their service and sacrifices -of course, why not? -oh, sure. -absolutely. -sure. all right. well, come on in here. i'm just going to hit record on this. i would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart. i can't even think of the words to say of how grateful i am. i want to tell you guys how much, how much we appreciate. but most importantly, i want to thank you for your courage and bravery. wow. thank you. someone here who'd like to say something to you? oh god, you guys are awesome!

someone has something they want to say to you. oh my goodness! how's it going? awe! so i will let you know how much appreciate it. how much we appreciate it! just feel honored, for everything you've done. thank you for myself, thank you for everybody. i get to live every day, you know, in peace because of you. a lot of people thank us, but we want to take the time to thank you, honestly, for giving back. and when you gave to dav, you are supporting veterans like dave and myself. so thank you so much. thank you, you guys are amazing. thank you. thank you. you can say thank you to our nation's heroes, by calling the number on your screen right now, and giving your monthly support of only $19. say thank you by going to helpdav.org right now, and give just $19 a month. when you do, we will send you this dav blanket

as a thank you and a reminder that you support those who serve please call or go online to helpdav.org right now. your support says thank you to our nation's disabled american veterans

stuart: the federal reserve has penciled in a three rate cuts for 2024. edward lawrence with us now. all right, edward, does that mean the inflation fight is over? >> reporter: you know, and it's always hard, stu, to go that last mile. that's what the federal reserve is trying to do, from that 3% in front of the inflation number to a 2% fed target there. the federal reserve itself is saying that inflation will not

reach no 2% -- reach that 2% target until at least 2026, that's two years from now. here's the spin though from white house press secretary karine jean-pierre. listen. >> prices are down for eggs, milk, toys and tvs, gas prices down by $1.90 from the peak after putin's war began, and wages are rising and and higher than before the pandemic. >> reporter: we hear the facts under president biden on inflation. since january 20221, the month president biden took office, the price of everything is up more than 17%. let's look at what she listed there there, the price of food overall up about 221%. it's true -- 21%. egg prices are falling recently, but they're up 24% since president biden came into office. milk is up almost 17% since january of 2021. the price of all types of gas up 37 since that time -- 37%. since people are paying for housing in rent and to own, that price is up about 199% since january of -- 19 since january

of 2021. so the fed chairman saying yesterday out loud what the president refuses to acknowledge and what people see. listen. >> it may be a, a common theme is that while inflation is coming down and that's very good news, the price level's not coming down. prices of some goods and services are coming down, but overall in the aggregate the price level's -- so people are still living with high prices. >> reporter: and this is why president biden's had trouble messaging that economy. the people are still feeling the pain under this president, and that's showing in his poll numbs on the economy. stu? stuart: edward, thank you very much, indeed. economist pete wear morici with us this morning -- peter. the fed says we're looking at three rate cuts next year. that's too good to be true? >> well, i think the fed is going to take a gamble that it can raise rates to keep the economy from -- excuse me, lower rates to keep the economy from slipping into a recession and have inflation continue to taper down.

the history of these things looking across many economies over many years is that doesn't work. i think that we're looking at a world where the economy continues to grow, but we have to settle for 3% inflation if. you say, well, what's wrong with that? well, then that becomes your baseline, and you go up from there in the section nike if -- next cycle and so forth. stuart: retail sales out this morning showed surprising strength in november. looks like a strong hold day season to you? if -- holiday season to you? >> stronger than we expected. the bottom line here is the economy is simply much more resilient despite to casual stories you hear about -- the occasional stories you hear about this sector or that sector having trouble, ernst & young firing people and all that business. the economy remains particularly resilient and strong. it would be nice if corporate profits were larger and if wages were keeping up with inflation which they're not. so my feeling is that we're not going to have the a recession, we're not going to get down to

3%. the fed's going to to cut rates. remember, this is an election year. you're hard pressed to find a lot of people other than republicans in congress who want donald trump reelected in this town. therefore, my feeling is we're going to settle for 3% inflation, and we're looking at a pretty healthy stock market. stuart: okay. do you think that jerome powell by talking about lowering rates next year, do you think he's trying the help biden's re-election campaign? >> i don't know that he gets up and says that's what i want to do, but when you look at some of the people that biden has sent over there, jill cook rain goolsbee and so forth, they are inherently political creatures, inherently people who will put their allegiance to wokism before just about anything else. and right now, you know, an article of faith is that donald trump will bring a dictatorship to america, so whatever it takes, they'll do. now, they don't say that in a meeting, but they tend to spin and see the numbers in the most positive vein. you basically get the typed of -- kind of talk that you got

at the white house this morning. the reality is prices are up more than wages. people are feeling it. the other thing is in the service sector, prices are still rising at about 5-6% a year. overall inflation is down because gas prices came down. do you think china's going to be depressed forever? i don't think so. once china starts firing up again, what's going to happen to oil prices? they're going to go up again. so just as gasoline prices have been giving mr. powell and mr. biden a cushion now, they're going to work against them next year. you want to see a guy with a headache, come june this could all backfire, and if gas prices are rising, then those inflation numbers are rising again, and there's president biden out on the campaign trail trying to explain himself, and there's jay powell in front of, you know, a press conference trying to explain himself. stuart: it'll be an interesting year. peter morici, thank you, sir e. >> take care. stuart we talk about tipping fatigue, but it is the holidays, lauren. lauren: yeah. and that's the exception.

i don't think there's tipping fatigue during the holidays because we're in the holiday spirit, we're an american culture that likes to reward people for hard work to say we appreciate you. so 15% of people say they will tip more for the holidays than they did last holiday season. that's according to bankrate. but overall, yeah, we are, have is tipping fatigue, and it's showing up. customers are tipping less in the service industry the excluding restaurants. tipped workers are making 7% less this year than last year. stuart: look, this is america. this is the season of goodwill. if you've got it, increase your tip percentage. spread it around a little. you with me in. >> i am totally with you or yeah. lauren: i am too. >> and, by the way, it doesn't change your life if you give somebody a little bit more, but you know what? it brings a smile to that person, and that person is nicer to others -- lauren: it goes around. like in the south when you go through a drive-through, you buy the customer's order behind you not knowing the bill, you just

pay it back. stuart nice thing. love it. thanks, adam, for being here. >> thank you, stuart. stuart stu coming up, it's coming to this, chaos and division at the white house. you can't run a government, it doesn't funk if well like this. that's my take, top of the hour. the downturn in tease -- downtown d.c. struggling with vacant office and retail space and now the wizards, the capitals, their sports teams, they may be saying farewell and heading to virginia. a report on that is next. ♪ hey, hey, hey, good bye ♪ (fisher investments) it's easy to think that all money managers are pretty much the same, but at fisher investments we're clearly different.

(other money manager) different how? you sell high commission investment products, right? (fisher investments) nope. fisher avoids them. (other money manager) well, you must earn commissions on trades. (fisher investments) never at fisher. (other money manager) ok, then you probably sneak in some hidden and layered fees. (fisher investments) no. we structure our fees so we do better when our clients do better. that might be why most of our clients come from other money managers. at fisher investments, we're clearly different. municipal bonds don't usually get the media coverage the stock market does. in fact, most people don't find them all that exciting. but, if you're looking for the potential for consistent income that's federally tax-free, now is an excellent time to consider municipal bonds from hennion & walsh. if you have at least 10,000 dollars to invest, call and talk with one of our bond specialists at 1-800-763-2763. we'll send you our exclusive bond guide, free. with details about how bonds can be an important part of your portfolio. hennion & walsh has specialized

in fixed income and growth solutions for 30 years, and offers high-quality municipal bonds from across the country. they provide the potential for regular income... are federally tax-free... and have historically low risk. call today to request your free bond guide. 1-800-763-2763. that's 1-800-763-2763. municipal bonds don't usually get the media coverage the stock market does. in fact, most people don't find them all that exciting. but, if you're looking for the potential

for consistent income that's federally tax-free, now is an excellent time to consider municipal bonds from hennion & walsh. if you have at least 10,000 dollars to invest, call and talk with one of our bond specialists at 1-800-217-3217. we'll send you our exclusive bond guide, free. with details about how bonds can be an important part of your portfolio. hennion & walsh has specialized in fixed income and growth solutions for 30 years, and offers high-quality municipal bonds from across the country. they provide the potential for regular income... are federally tax-free... and have historically low risk. call today to request your free bond guide. 1-800-217-3217. that's 1-800-217-3217. i suffer with psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis. i was on a journey for a really long time to find some relief. cosentyx works for me. cosentyx helps real people get real relief

from the symptoms of psoriatic arthritis or psoriasis. serious allergic reactions, severe skin reactions that look like eczema, and an increased risk of infections, some fatal, have occurred. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine or plan to or if ibd symptoms develop or worsen. i move so much better because of cosentyx. ask your rheumatologist about cosentyx. stuart: the owner of the nba team washington wizards and the washington capitals hockey team announced a plan to move from d.c. to virginia. rich edson joins us. what's the mayor of washington, d.c. saying about this? she can't be happy. >> reporter: no, she's not happy, stuart. mayor muriel bowserer says d.c. is still in the game. the city has a half billion offer on the table to improve the arena, but if those two teams move south, the city's ready to move toward. -- forward. >> we have to look at our assets, and we're talking about

five acres in the center of the district of columbia. it's a great asset. and we are going to think deeply and broadly about that vision, and we'll make the necessary investments to make it happen. >> reporter: d.c.'s downtown faces some snap challenges, 'em. ty federal offices, rising crime and now two professional teams that draw more than 80 home games a year combined say they are leaving. the wizards and capitals say they're moving suggestion miles south to build a $2 billion complex in alexandria, virginia. monumental sports owns both the caps and wizards. they told us d.c. crime was not a major factor in their decision. monumental reportedly asked the d.c. government to spend $6600 million to -- $6000 million to -- 6000 million to update the arena. the company says they are moving forward on their virginia plan. 600. >> we have a framework for a pickup and agreement with the

commonwealth in alexandria, and that's where we're going to focus our attention right now. >> reporter: the alexandria city council, the virginia legislature all controlled by democrats next year still have to sign off on governor glenn youngkin's plan. stuart, back to you. tieu stuart all right, adam, downtown washington, d.c., sort of finish. >> sad situation. stuart: can they recover? >> if they do it right, you know? they should probably look to what detroit did. and create bulldoze canned places that were -- detroit bulldozed places that were falling apart and actually incentivized private businesses to come in. that's what it takes. you need a partnership. stuart: and that's not on the horizon. >> certainly not in a democratic-controlled area like d.c.. stuart: thanks for being with us for the hour, appreciate it. still ahead, will cain. art del cueto reacts to what the democrats are calling title 42 on steroids. pete hegseth on his alma mater, that would be hard saturday. pete is not happy. and florida congressman mike waltz on whether hunter biden

will ever testify. the 10:00 hour is next. ♪ -- down the avenue. ♪ holiday dreams are come coming true. ♪ a choir singing songs of cheer. ♪ carols we all love to hear. ♪ (adventurous music) ♪ .. ♪ be ready for any market with a liquid etf. get in and out with dia.

trading at schwab is now powered by ameritrade, giving traders even more ways to sharpen their skills with tailored education. get an expanding library filled with new online videos, webcasts, articles, courses, and more - all crafted just for traders. and with guided learning paths stacked with content curated to fit your unique goals, you can spend less time searching and more time learning. trade brilliantly with schwab.