start date but retailers are not exactly jumping for joy. retail federation estimates easter sales will total $22 billion, that's 7% decline from last year's record high. some companies attribute to the client and sales to fewer days to shop while others say customers are simply tired of three treat close to valentine's day and mardi gras and saint patty holidays. personal-finance site swalwell hub 70% of people are planning to spend less this year on easter than last. make sure you spend your time watching mornings with maria 6:00 to 9:00 on foxbusiness, johnny on monday. i will do it for us on foxbusiness, thank you for being with us. for those celebrating fox have a happy an weekend. i will see you again next time. >> barron's roundtable sponsored by global x etf's. ♪

>> welcome to barron's roundtable to get behind the headlines that prepare you for the week ahead. i'm in for jack r. coming up 50 years of astronomical returns. one firm is helping our roads retire comfortably a pension fund wrong for the billions. then, it could be a bumpy road for the car industry as new york auto show kicks off. look at what companies are doing to stay relevant in which carmakers are racing ahead. later, what's behind the trump truth social media as stocks door in the first week of trading? we begin with our expert panel and three things investors ought to be thinking about right now. on the barron's roundtable, my colleagues ben levinson, jacob and megan hundred. seller order. look at the next week, or we

seen? >> rotation, not rotation with tires but out of the stocks everybody loved the big winners into the ones that kind of stuff so we saw the s&p 500 this past week what up a little bit in that aspect went down a little bit and that that was the big winner. nvidia, meta- microsoft for down quite a bit this weekend things like utilities, small caps and banks went higher. >> you say stuff that skunk is working, tell me about thing we should be thinking about buying right now. >> i think about minors, particularly one andrew gary picked her couple weeks ago, and makes copper along with other things but right now nvidia has said they will use more copper and we note energy a huge thing for ai and that's requiring copper so they haven't done very well but prices go up because of demand, they will do well. >> try to continue enthusiasm, the estimate for third-quarter

growth is 3%. full year is 11%, is that realistic? >> it's a little risky, they have to go through with a celebration the latter half of the year end the one thing that makes it possible is a lot of companies haven't had much earnings growth and it they add to what the big tech companies have been doing, you can hit those numbers. >> i'm looking at payrolls expecting 180,000 new jobs at in march. if it comes around that number, it should be good for that. >> the bridge collapsed in baltimore, beyond loss of life, tell us about the economic effects. >> i think you have to key in on the idea that the baltimore suspended operations that is key and how things play out sector by sector so baltimore is containing a larger share of vehicle imports. most vehicles do come over the border from canada and mexico so the idea that this will impact

inflation is probably negligible but things like construction costs could be at risk, keep in mind lumber, key components of ports. things like : it could also be impacted and that's on the export side so we do see a decent amount of exports through the baltimore work. of course we are not talking about imports and exports, thinking about the crews industry so cruises use the portal baltimore, carnival and royal caribbean, carnival has said him maybe something in the neighborhood of 10 million hits when it comes to operations there mclean notice the effects on a national level if we talk about measures like inflation. >> it's likely consumers will see ripple effects of the key bridge collapsed so when it shows up in major inflation, indicators like cpi but shipping operations have become more nimble and resilient since the pandemic and that is going to help the situation. keep in mind this is one port.

shouldn't operators are dealing with many issues across the globe, the red sea disruptions and even for levels in the panama canal so something critical to watch but we could see bigger disruptions later this year when we sit there and see longshoremen potentially break on the east coast and gulf ports. >> traders have gone i think it's fair to say google for cocoa you wrote this past week cocoa is more expensive than copper, should i walking capital gains on the chocolate bunnies about from a kids went easter? what is behind this price run up for cocoa? >> absolutely lock in the games. it's tripled since the bottom in 2023. the big issue this is why of west africa where they have recently had fire -- there's a virus but also wildfires and weather issues. it's literally ruining the cocoa

beans and restricting supply. there is this component of the move-up and cocoa prices what people are speculating so i don't think it could go on longer. >> her she has to be hurting. you say it's a good time for investors to consider the stock, why? >> the assumption right now is hershey's profit margins have to come down and hurt earnings but the minute cocoa prices come down, i think they have to come down, the markets will say margins of fine the stocks will move back higher long-term, what you think of the business in general? >> the business operated the belt and stocks went down because of macro issues. >> not just chocolate bars with kit kat, you got reese's -- help me out. >> salty next, pretzels called the u.s. business is stable, you got pricing in the u.s. and internationally less than 2 billion cells, they could expand a little bit there. >> salty snacks gain share, i

thought i read this summer. i see cross promotion, everything coming everything else right now. reese's popcorn, this pumped with that. >> chocolate and pretzels with salty combo, that doesn't make much sense but it's a very good seller the last year or so. >> it's making sense to me. tampa is home to one of the world's largest retirement communities in the city's first responders are thriving in golden years thanks to one man helping grow pension funds by the billions. jay bowen joins me with his approach and psaki favors next. ♪

if you try vaping to quit smoking, it might feel like progress, but with 3x more nicotine than a pack of cigarettes - vapes increase cravings - trapping you in an endless craving loop. nicorette reduces cravings until they're gone for good. (qb) this is it. one play. this is when we find out... (luke) hey, quick question. student body math proficiency, would we say it's good? fair? satisfactory? (player 1) what? (luke) like a percentage, if you had to guess. (players) hey, get out of here man. get off the field. (luke) understood. (players) security! grab him! (marci) great student-teacher ratio... (luke) marci! we've got to go! marci! we have got to go! we bring you the real, in-depth school info. (marci) what were you thinking? (luke) i don't know. i. don't know. (vo) ding dong! homes.com my name's dan and i live here in san antonio, texas.

i ran my own hvac business and now i'm retired. i'm not good being retired. i'm a pain in the neck. i like to be able to have a purpose. about three or four years ago, i wasn't feeling as if i was as sharp as i used to be. i saw the prevagen commercials. after a short amount of time taking prevagen, i started noticing a difference-- that i'm remembering this, i'm remembering that. i stopped taking prevagen and i found myself slacking back so i jumped right back on it. prevagen. at stores everywhere without a prescription.

the all new godaddy airo helps you get your business online in minutes with the power of ai... ...with a perfect name, a great logo, and a beautiful website. just start with a domain, a few clicks, and you're in business. make now the future at godaddy.com/airo

pension funds around the u.s. are suffering from assistant underfunding but that's not the case for some of florida's retiring first responders. temples firefighter and police fund was up 21% over the last 12 months and land value now over $2.9 billion. at thanks to the success of their soul management company, the past 50 years the company's president and cio jay bowen joins me now. which will fund manager breaking one to three year or five year, yours is more like the fiber, tenure and 20 year and you've been at it 50 years. how are you outperforming over such a long time. >> it's great to be here and i wish i could provide you with something more endemic and provocative in terms of this, it's quite boring, at least somewhat boring. high quality phonetic long-term

balanced with an emphasis on equities. interestingly, no alternatives, no funds, no hedge funds, no private equity, we like to say we are unconventionally conventional. >> let's talk about ops, he mentioned top down, or's industrial revolution, tell me what you mean and how does honeywell fit into it? >> this revolution has -- we celebrate from top-down, we salivate when we get the opportunity to have a magazine like this with investable tren trends. it touches a variety of industries and companies from the industrial sector to the healthcare sector and financial sector. honeywell in particular, it is a play on industrial automation and rampant capital spending and

automation. honeywell -- we like these companies we call technology companies disguised as industrial companies and honeywell would fit into that category. >> eaton and tell it on, what you like about those? >> more play on industrial power management. the technology standpoint and there's a ramp up like capital spending on upgrading the grid, power management so that is play on that. interesting company, i think from evaluation standpoint, it looks quite good relatively speaking. they are sophisticated for industrial growth markets, aerospace and defense, digital energy, very strong balance sheet, strong free cash flow,

prospects looking out. >> i understand you are bullish on financials in general and american express in particular, tell me about both. >> impressed with the financial thing that would play into a couple of broader themes we are looking at from the market standpoint, a shift in priorities in a couple of key areas. the number one shifting court preserving and protecting away from the inflation story. american express, strong momentum, impressed with her last earnings report, they raise guidance, strong double-digit growth, top and bottom line. it's a strong financial -- >> bringing in young customers connect superior credit, 60% of cardmembers last year work millennial's and gen z and doing well and japan also which is

powerful. >> thank you jay bowen. next up, highlights of this weekend new york auto show and wife one car stock is outperforming tesl they're waiting for you. hey, do you have a second? they're all expecting more. more efficiency. more benefits. more growth. when you realize you can give your people everything, and more. thank you very much. [applause] ask, "now what?" here's what. you go with prudential to protect, empower and grow. with everything you need to deliver, you guessed it... more. one more thing... who's your rock? learn more at prudential.com jorge has always put the ones he loves first. but when it comes to caring for his teeth he's let his own maintenance take a back seat.

well maybe it's time to shift gears on that. because aspen dental has the latest technology and equipment. with a staff that goes out of their way to provide exceptional care. plus free exams and x-rays for new patients without insurance and 20% off treatment plans. making it easier to get started with quality care. it's one more way aspen dental is in your corner.

too new york kicks off this we week. it's going to be a bumpy road the car industry. electric vehicle growth has slowed and soaring prices cut into affordability but innovation and technology are racing ahead. senior writer joins right now, i know you had a dentist appointment just before this couldn't move and you say you have a numb tongue, who needs a tongue for television? he went to a peak peak of the

car show, tell us, what themes stood out? >> we went to the center and new york, two or three things stand out. one, you talk about this bumpy road. electric vehicles and growth is slow but the stone plenty of electric vehicles many automakers show, honda has a new one, general motors so the auto industry has an abandoned electrification but the broader theme of this idea of something for everyone so if you want a hybrid, we will tell you that. if you want conventional car, the industry will sell you that. if you want all electric vehicles, the options are proliferating. for the industry or the stock, one thing this means is there are so many technologies beating right now, it makes it one of the most difficult times to manage your portfolio for a car

company that i can remember in my history covering the industry. >> is it your sense that they have the right mix for customers right now or to electric heavy? >> i can answer in two ways, i don't think they have the right mix necessarily because as we pointed out, electric vehicles, the vast majority are luxury electric vehicles plus 50000. i sat in one of michael's start and one in the 60 to $70000 range, that will be in the 70 to $80000 range. the luxury ev market is saturated and from the mixed perspective, you'd love to see your price electric vehicles. that said, a company like ford, hybrid, electric vehicles, there mix is pretty good. toyota, mostly hybrids but that

is the road they've chosen. >> what if luxury, too cheap for me, what if i have a lot more money to spend and i want something really cool? what you think i should look at? >> this year all electric $2.2 million. however, cars that expensive is like 150 that will be made so get your order in. if you want to spend 2.2 million, just go to ford and you can prop 200,000 for the street legal streetcar mustang which i think is pretty cool. >> have been seen a lot of commercials for the volkswagen bus making come back, did you get to drive it? >> is the highlight of the show me. i got to drive in it, they wouldn't let me behind the wheel, probably smart. i think it is a great vehicle

and this verse to address the mixed question, a totally different form factor, it won't be popular, maybe it will but it is three wrote seating, you can comfortably eat seven in this. very quiet and driving in manhattan, 30 minute test drive, went about a mile and that. so many people stopping to take pictures and asking, what is this? is it available for sale yet? it will be available for sale in the u.s. later this year. >> is there anything that made you come away bullish from ev's and think about tesla? >> you know i tend to be bullish on ev's. we are way past the cycle of 21 and 22 when tesla was worse all the other automakers combined trillion dollar relation. the industry is so focused on

electrification. there are total cost of ownership, good vehicles. from the tesla perspective, that is good. the industry still goes down and believes in electrification, 30, 40% of the market, that's good. what the concern is, tesla's product line is getting aggressively older relative to the competition and no cheap ev. >> raised the testify on hundred percentage points over the past year because those people pulling back on ev growth, they want hybrids. toyota has tons, if you think it is outperforming for toyota to continue? >> i'm weary of buying any cyclical stock and toyota it's not, i feel like it is due for a pullback but talk is one thing

but on hybrids, hybrids are having a big year and part of the issue is all of this talk of electrification, you go into a dealership coffee ev is too expensive and you look at the hybrid option, it is cheaper and you don't have range concerns, i feel the ev battery people helped hybrids have a nice renaissance in the u.s. >> the tongue couldn't hold you down. thank you. ben and jacob have a pair of investment ideas and megan will take a closer look at what's behind trump's truth social media. stay right there. ♪ liberty mutual customized my car insurance and i saved hundreds. that's great. i know, i've bee telling everyone. baby: liberty. oh! baby: liberty. how many people did you tell? only pay for what you need. jingle: ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ baby: ♪ liberty. ♪

everybody wants super straight, super white teeth. they want that hollywood white smile. new sensodyne clinical white provides 2 shades whiter teeth and 24/7 sensitivity protection. i think it's a great product. it's going to help a lot of patients. business. it's not a nine-to-five proposition. it's all day and into the night. it's all the things that keep this world turning. it's the go-tos that keep us going. the places we cheer. trust. hang out. and check in. they all choose the advanced network solutions and round the clock partnership from comcast business. powering more businesses than anyone. powering possibilities.

-so, what's the code? -it says 547. 5-well, that's not working. dad, she really needs to pee. [baby crying] we're gonna get in in a minute, okay? -it's not opening. -well, i'll call. representative. [baby crying] speak with a person. [cs line] you are a valued customer. representative! we can go in the window. (♪) daddy! just a moment darling. meanwhile, at a vrbo... when other vacation rentals leave you hanging, try one where you can reach a human in about a minute. when you need to prepare for unpredictable adventures... (gasp) you need weathertech. [hot dog splat.] laser measured floorliners front and rear. [drink slurp and splat.] (scream) seat protector to save the seats. [honk!] they're all yours! we're here! hey, i knew you were comin'... so i weatherteched the car! can we get ice cream? we can now. kid proof your vehicle with american made products at weathertech.com.

trika fishing rods are the rebirth of the fishing rod industry. our carbon fiber reel seat, grips and ekkochamber technology, makes our rods twice as sensitive as high-end competitors. for more details, go to trika.com.

something called trump media and ecology group had its stock market debut this past weekend the price sort, tell us about that. >> something as if we don't kn know. the debut went really well, roughly speaking, fox soaring the shareholders approved debut monday the 26th so it's exciting obviously it's interesting despite optimism from the debut, certainly started to refer to this as a meme stock. note we -- is there no chance the stock market is right about this? maybe it's the next twitter, the next big thing. >> the fundamentals are just not there. trump media which operates truth social and the up, it's a tiny company. it only has revenues of just

over 3 million and in the first nine months of 2023, it had a net loss of 50 million so we are looking at this and saying hm. it's interesting because it is a loss, everyone does losses but even in the this, the folks say they don't expect, they expect to continue losses for the foreseeable future and it's not clear the company is continuing growing concern. >> if we are not buying that one, give us something we should look at. >> if i am activating, i would rather speculate and dateline but i'm looking at adobe, a stock lockdown of it because people worry it will not compete and in ai world, we had an ai summit targeting things that will hopefully bring in money. if it holds $500, is looking good. the semiconductor selling chips to our in office, it's been wrong for a little while, cheaper than the s&p 500 and the

company in the face of weakness in the sector range and inventory and keeping margins declining, long-term, it is valuable and other chips. earnings go up and it's a long runway. >> great ideas and thank you. this week marked one year since "wall street journal" reporter evan boskovich was wrongly detained in russia we all hope you support evans release. on social media # i stand with evan. read more, check out this week's edition at barron's.com. that's all for us. see you next week on barron's roundtable. ♪