is so strong. i think the markets, to your question, are already expecting there to be a sea change of events here maybe both in congress and certainly the white house, and i think's what, by and large, investors should be pretty excited about stocks here. kelly: yeah. obviously, we're seeing that bull market. i've only got about 10 seconds left, scott, so i'm going to put you on the hook for an answer here. fed, do they cut once, twice or none by the end of the year? >> i will sum it up in one year, the fed does nothing the rest of the year. and that's what you should want because the rates staying stable are a good thing for market, good thing for the economy. kelly: okay. scott martin, thanks for joining us. that's it for "making money." charles is going to be back on monday, and taylor riggs, one of my favorite people at this company, she is in for liz claman. taylor, i am sending you some very interesting bond data. we've got falling yields -- taylor: ooh. kelly: i know you are my bond

deal. taylor: you're breaking my heart. you're one of my favorites too. how fun is this? [laughter] can. kelly: love it. taylor: thank you, as always. fourth of july fire works may be over, but stocks are still popping on the final day of this holiday-shortened week. i'm taylor riggs in for liz claman. there's no shortage of news today. look at this, the nasdaq, the s&p 500 all a aiming for records while president joe biden campaigns in wisconsin at any minute. you also have the deadly hurricane beryl causing chaos in the gulf while crypto stocks continue to fall. so, look, any gain today for the nasdaq and the s&p 500 will be a record. they are up for the if fourth day in a row. it will be the 34th record of the year for the s&p and the 24th record for the nasdaq. meta ceo mark zuckerberg, look at this video, celebrating the fourth of july by waving the american flag. he's drinking, wake surfing, and he's doing it all in a tuxedo.

he's got a lot more to celebrated today as a well because big tech, meta, alphabet, apple, all of those leading the rally into new records. the big story though today, the june jobs report. the economy adding 206,000 job, but the unemployment rate is ticking up. president biden is touting the strong american economy. we are going to have a live report on that in just a moment. also finally cryptocurrencies, they are still struggling. bitcoin is falling to its lowest level since february. it's down about 3%. you have etherium and litecoin also down about 5-10% each. this is all a because the trustees of the bankrupt mount gox crypto exchange, they've begun making a $99 billion repayment -- $9 billion repayment to users in bitcoin. that has a crypto stocks also moving, coinbase, marathon digital, microstrategy to name a few all mostly lower on the day. meanwhile, market watchers are hoping that a cooling job market

will lead to fed rate cuts sooner rather than later. edward lawrence joins us live now from the white house with a deep dive on the june jobs report. edward. >> reporter: and, taylor, this jobs report may not give the federal reserve the ammunition it needs to make that first rate cut sooner rather than later. it still beat expectations, and we saw falling wages in this report year-over-year even as inflation is just stickier than ever, just won't go away. in the past 12 months wages are up 3.9% year-over-year. when you add in inflation, it wipes that twea. -- away. real wages actually down 2.2% since president biden came into office, and the number of unemployed people grew, but those entering the labor force grew more, and that's the reason the unemployment rate hit 4.11 percent -- 4.1% for the first time since november of 2021. >> it was at or under 4% for the longest stretch, it now remains at 4.% and labor force

participation rate has ticked up and real wages are still hire than inflation meaning working people have breathing room. >> reporter: but only for that short-term period over the course of president biden in office have real wages been underwater. look at where the jobs were, manufacturing lost 8,000 jobs, health care which relies on government added 48 ks 60 -- 48, 400 jobs. government hiring 70,000 people last month. >> over a third of the jobs came from government, and we've got to recognize again it's not evenly distributed. now, these numbers are despite the fact that we have 4.3 million baby boomers eligible for retirement. >> reporter: yeah. and he says that retirements mean more job openings at a time when companies may not want to hire more workers because of the uncertain economic future going forward. now, they're still concerned about the consumer and if the consumer can keep spending as this job market keeps softening.

back to you, taylor. taylor: well said. edward lawrence, thank you so much. meanwhile, let's get back to it. these markets all in the green. this is after that big june jobs report that you just heard from, from edward. meanwhile, one department store just adding another luxury chain to its shopping bag over the fourth of july holiday. after years of negotiations, hbc, you know them as the parent company of sak's fifth avenue a, have agreed to buy rival upscale retailer nieman marcus group in about a $2.7 billion deal. the new organization will be called sak's global. amazon and salesforce are also getting in on this retail action because they're taking a minority stake in that new luxury power heys. am -- powerhouse. amazon and salesforce shares also moving higher on that news. investors also were buying up shares of macy's, up just a little bit here, 10%. this is after arkhouse management and brigade capital management have -- their bid

to -- sweetened their bid by about $3000 million, bringing that full deal to about $7 billion. this is all a according to "the wall street journal." now markets on track to end this week in the green, but as a wall street kicks off the second half of the year with some retail m&a and a strong may -- labor market, what does this mean for a possible federal reserve rate cut in the second half? i'm pleased to say we can get right to it. our floor show happens now. joining me, trader keith fitz-gerald and huntington private bank's chief economist. if great to see you. olu, i want to start with you. did the jobs report today put a september rate cut on the table? >> thanks for having me, taylor. we think it's still very likely. we think what we saw from the jobs report today was a slowing in the labor market, so the headline number beat expectations, but when you a take a look at the reis visions, we saw big revisions for may and

april. and that's, again, implies that the u.s. labor market is slowing. we also saw a slowing in wage growth. and these are things which the federal reserve relies on. this federal reserve is currently focused on inflation. they'll be paying very close attention to the inflation report which will be released next week, so we think that today's jobs report is -- and the fed will want to see more signs of slowing inflation. and we think that it's very likely that it cuts the fed funds rate 1-2 times later this year. taylor: keith, do you see this market rally solely based on hopes of a few rate cuts this year? >> no, it's interesting. and i respect olu's opinion, but i think they're not going to cut because they're caught between a rock and a hard place. but the rally is entirely different. the rally is based on the dawning recognition that technology matters, that the great companies are still putting up numbers. and traders and investors alike trying to get ahead of that.

there's still a long way to go here. taylor: olu, it's interesting, keith just mentioned technology. from the fed if meeting minutes on wednesday, this was one of the first times i've heard the federal reserve mention a. a.i. and the disinflationary forces that it has. are you also hoping that a a.i. and the disinflation if not maybe flat-out deflation, is that helpful in this fight against inflation? >> yes, we think it's too early to tell. so, first, either there's insatiable demand if for chips and, you know, we're seeing the effects of a.i. in equity markets particularly last year. but i think that's going to take a while to see the effects of a.i. on productivity and gdp and inflation. so it's too early to tell if, you know, just the increased adoption of a.i. will make an impact to inflation. i think, you know, we need a couple of years more to see what the effects of that will be. taylor: keith, i was looking at a chart9 of concentration risk.

it's some of the most concentrated with all these big tech stocks leading all the gains that we haven't seen since about 2008. so it's concentration are risk, does it make you nervous? >> no, not at all. as a matter of fact, this is exactly what i want to see because, you know, as an investor and a trader, you've got to make some decisions like wayne gretzky did, where's the puck going to be? it's clearly going to be with the technology. this is the single best investing shift in human history. i want to get ahead of that, so we're going to stay right in the game. taylor: olu, on that note flip us from from a.i. back into yields. i've been reading a lot of notes that are saying gop, if that is happening, a full sweep, is reflation their. higher yields on the horizon -- reflation their. are you preparing for higher yields on the horizon? despite what we're seeing today, of course. >> so, you know, if you listen to fed speak and if you've been

following the fomc over the past couple of month, the fomc have been emphasizing a higher for longer stance. so we do think we're going to see interest rates higher in the near term, but we continue to expect a decline in the fed's rate later this year. again, the last inflation report was good. we think that the fed will want to see more of that over the next couple of month, but today's jobs report data showed a slowing in the labor market. that's exactly what the federal reserve would like to see. so as, over the next couple of months we hi we're going to see better -- we think we're going to see better inflation rates which should put the federal reserve in a great position to start cutting later this year. taylor: really appreciate both of you, love the conversation. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> thanks for having me, taylor. taylor: meanwhile, up next president biden's on the

campaign trail today in wisconsin, a key battleground state. we'll tell you what he's doing as he tries to right that campaign ship after it took some water following last week's debate. here's a look at how wisconsin's largest publicly-traded company are moving today, oshkosh and rockwell automation a little bit mixed as the broader market approaching those record highs. "the claman countdown" coming right back. ♪ muck from harlem has everything. but i couldn't find pilates anywhere. so i started my own studio. and with the right help, i can make this place i love even better. earn up to 5% cash back on business essentials with the chase ink business cash card from chase for business. when the sawdust settles and the engine roars the thing you care about is a job well done. but when you get your tools from harbor freight something about the job feels different - your wallet. whatever you do, do it for less, at harbor freight. ♪

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taylor: we have some breaking news, president joe biden holding a campaign rally at the sherman middle school in madison, wisconsin, at this hour. it is his fifth trip to the state this year. the president desperately trying to brush off concerns about his

fitness to lead following last week's poor performance in his debate against former president donald trump. now, the latest polls in wisconsin showed a dead heat between the two presidential candidates, but that was before the debate. it has 10 electoral votes, and those could be critical to securing the 270 electoral votes needed to win the election. fox news' mike tobin is live in madison with more on the president's rally. mike. [cheers and applause] >> reporter: and governor tony evers is on the stand right now, the warm-up act for the president. so far what we've heard from the warm-up acts really have been less about president biden, more about defeating donald trump. we're in deep blue deign county, so -- dane county, so people showing up were reluctant to admit their faith had been shaken bith president's performance, but some did say they were concerned. they wanted to see if he could hold it together f he's got what it takes to beat donald trump. so far what we've heard from the biden camp, everything is resisting the idea that he will

throw in the towel, everything from the $50 million ad buy to the comments the president just made as he was boarding air force one. >> reporter: can you still beat trump? >> reporter: now, in the gaggle onboard air force one, karine jean-pierre addressed a couple of issue, one that the president had talked to a doctor. she described it as a check-in over the phone, not a check-up with the doctor. and as far as the comments that the president -- [audio difficulty] democratic governors made that emergency visit to the white house -- [audio difficulty] kjp if played that off as a just a joke. taylor: mike tobin, thank you so much. appreciate the reporting there on the ground. meanwhile, hurricane beryl leaving a path of destruction across the caribbean as it makes landfall today on the yucatan peninsula. that is not good news for cruise lines. geelt you an update on that deadly storm. and then we'll talk to the ceo

of a new cruise line that plans to avoid the yucatan and is and caribbean altogether. victory cruise lines is heading north to great lakesful we'll tell you all about it in a fox business exclusive. the major cruise lines, et etf ticker cruz is up 3% in the last six months. we're coming right back. ♪ ♪ (♪) car, this isn't the way home. that's right james, it isn't. car, where are we going? we're here. (♪) surprise!!! the future isn't scary. not investing in it is. car, were you in on this? nothing gets by you james. nasdaq-100 innovators. one etf. before investing, carefully read and consider fund investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses

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taylor: budget airline carrier sliding after raymond james said there's a tough setup for that sector heading into third quarter earnings. the analyst downgrading frontier group and spirit airlines to underperform from market perform all on lower fuel outlook and weaker fare trends. it also raised its price target on southwest airlines. southwest, spirit, frontier all quite a bit lower today. meanwhile, a fox business alert, cruise stocks are also probably a little bit lower, this is after hurricane beryl slamming into mexico. it is a category the 22 storm. the deadly storm has already torn through -- category 2, the grenadine islands earlier this week as a category 4. eleven people have died. now it continues its path in

mexico, and it's forecast to hit texas early monday morning. meanwhile, texas officials are now warning residents to prepare for flooding and high winds but with severe weather events becoming more frequent in this warm atlantic waters and the gulf, could those cruise lines be looking for new places to sail with less extreme weather? let's ask the man joining us now in a fox business exclusive, victoria cruiseline founder and ceo johning wagner. recent -- john wagner. victoria recently purchased two ships which will start sailing around the great lakes starting next spring. great to have you. so i have to ask, why the great lakes? >> yeah. well, thanks, taylor. thanks for having me on the show. the great lakes just for one of the reasons you mentioned. number one, you know, not a lot of large vessels can go through because of constraints to the st. lawrence seaway. you have to be less than 78 feet wide to fit through and so, you know, you don't have a lot of

competition. the other thing is great lakes cruising coalition invited my wife and i to to to go up to the great lakes to cruise all five, and we were just amazed at the grandeur of the great lakes, the uniqueness, the prettiness. and so, yeah, we're excited about a cruising on the great lakes, taylor. taylor: are you expected to have as much demands a -- demand as, say, the caribbean? >> so not as much demand because, number one, we only need 7,000 people for the whole season, and we're 100% full. as you know, icon of the seas, what they will do in a single week takes us the entire year. but the demand is really very strong for the great lakes, up quite a bit, you know? they're predicting that there's nearly a 50 increase in -- 50% increase in demand compared to 2022 on the great lakes. so we're excited to launch next year. we have a great product.

we have ships that were specifically built for the great lakes, and all of our guests are excited that we're coming back to the great lakes. taylor: does more demand mane that you're able to -- mean that you're able to charge higher prices? >> well, we are. i mean, you know, we're about a $6000 per day -- $600 per day per diem and they're also 10-day chooses, our most popular is chicago to toronto where you get to hit all of the major cities. we're the only cruise line allowed to depart from chicago's navy peer, and we go to historic mack gnaw island, detroit we get to visit the henry ford museum and the innovation village and and off to cleveland and the rock and roll hall of fame, niagara a falls and then toronto. you get to hit all five great lake, and it really is a spectacular trip. taylor: it sounds wonderful. something going on in the

markets is the bifurcation between a low-end consumer that feels really stretched verse -- versus a high-end consumer where they feel like they can still travel because their wages are keeping. with inflation. with you noticing that same bifurcation in demand? >> yeah, taylor, we really are. i'll say, you know, mark grant who, i think, has been on your show once or twice, he was having dinner with me once on the boat and he said, john, i really like your business model. and i said, why is that, mark? he said, well, i think, you know, you're resistant to inflation and recession. i go, tell me what you mean by that. he says, well, look around at your population. it's baby boomers. you know, they're not affected by the job market because they're mostly tired, they're not affected by the stock market much because hopefully at their age they're in bonds, some equities. the stock market has been great for a lot of folks, so they get to travel more than once this year. and they're not affected by housing prices because their

house has been paid off so, taylor, we are definitely seeing a bifurcation in this market. taylor: well, don't age me because i'm not a boomer, i'm not retired, and i like cruises. and i'm not living on a fixed income, john. that being said, how are you guys expecting sort of demand with the travel, the summer pa peak travel season? >> yeah. so the summer peak travel season, i mean, looks great. i know you've interviewed some of the airlines and travel is up. clia indicates that travel from north america will be 17 higher right now in 2024 -- 17% -- than it was in 2019. so we see, you know, cruises as great. and, you know, cruising competes with land-based vacations, but, you know, the advantages, taylor, is you get to hop onboard once, you unpack your suitcase. you get to eat in several different restaurants. you wake up in a new port every day. and more importantly, you get to explore, you know, north america and our country. i mean, especially someone like

myself, a well-seasoned traveler, i really don't know much about lake superior, and i'm looking forward to we have a 14-day round trip chicago that explores lake superior. so really looking forward to that. taylor: you know, another big story we've been following has been the supply chain. you have these ships, but you still have to retrofit them, i'm assuming, to fit your specific needs. how was the cost of that and the supply chain within that? >> yeah, thanks, taylor. i mean, we are like everybody else. i mean, we see increases in the price of steel and copper, you know? certainly labor for shipbuilding. you know, on the operations side we see, you know, almost a 20% increase in, you know, the cost of fuel. it's decreased right now from 2020, but, you know, it fluctuates quite a bit. but i think our biggest surprise is an increase in the cost of labor -- taylor: yes. >> -- especially on the senior management side.

taylor: taye can we talk about that? it is jobs day in america, and we're looking at a higher wages still growing three-tenth of 1%, a labor market that's still expanding even though it is cooling. how difficult has it been finding qualified employees, and how much more are you having to pay them? is. >> yeah. so i'll answer the last one first. we're having to pay them about 20% more. and it's interesting, after covid and everybody worked from home, now people really do want to come back in the office, but they're absolutely demanding higher wages. for us on the labor side, we are in a very enviable position. you know, i'm a serial entrepreneur. this is the fifth business that i've started, and because of that we have a lot of contacts. and so, i mean, just last week alone we add had 300 resumés for about 30 jobs. and so right now we're in the enviable position where we get to hand pick each and every one of our crew members. you know, a lot of them that

have worked with me, you know, for 20 years. so we're a little bit different than the the normal market right now, taylor. taylor: okay. john wagonner, we really appreciate your time, wish you luck and i'm all in on cruises. i'm for them. [laughter] >> great, taylor -- yeah, thank you. thanks for having me and or, hey, can't wait to see you onboard. you'd fit in perfect with everyone. you'll have a great time. thank you, taylor. [laughter] taylor: there we go. john, thanks so much. fox business alert, higher tariffs from the european union on chinese-made evs all lead today. that has led to n if io, xpeng, they're all sinking. the e.u. commission is saying the new import piece will last at least four months. it's accusing china of unfairly subsidizing its ev companies. cost investors cranking up the volume -- costco investors, the -- the headphone maker,

right, they've become the latest meme stock to be boosted by posts from keith gill. you know him as a roaring kitty. remember back in may gill posted a video that featured emojis of a microphone and american flag with redditers interpreted to mean that he planned to target cost around the fourth of july holiday. at a one point the stock was up 50%. you're now up a cool 33%. sun power not looking so bright after announcing that ernst and young has resigned as its auditor n. a filing with the securities and exchange commission, the solar energy company disclosed that ernest and young said, quote, the company's internal controls needed for reliable financial statements did not exist and, therefore, it was unwilling to be associated with management's financial statement. sun power received a subpoena from the sec back in february all a relating to certain accounting matters, and those investigations are still ongoing. the san jose company said it

intends to cooperate with the sec's investigation. it has been a roller coaster of a ride for siriusxm investors today. the satellite radio company that boasts shock jock howard stern as a one of its highest draws shot up at the open, but it's lost some of those gains and is now only up 3% to $3.65. short interest was as high as a 25% indicating that a short squeeze could be coming. siriusxm has lost over many 34% of its value this year. the fireworks weren't just in the skies over america last night. u.s. shoppers got hit with another loud inflation boom as they checked out at their car register for their fourth of july cookouts. up next we have stew leonard jr. at his supermarket chain to find out if prices are finally starting to fall like a beautiful star burst. we're full of puns today. we can't get enough of them. it is a fox business exclusive.

meanwhile, here's how grocery stocks are trading, kroger, sprouts farmer's market and mostly mixed by lean -- but leaning towards the higher side. "the claman countdown," we're coming right back. ♪ ♪

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taylor: we have more breaking news for you. president joe biden has just taken the stage at sherman middle school in madison, wisconsin. he's campaigning in the crucial battleground state following the that fallout over his performance in last week's debate against former president donald trump. he just said he plans to win wisconsin this year. he's saying, quote, i'm running and i'm going to win again. he's showing no signs of backing out of the presidential race. we'll continue to keep an eye on the event and bring you any news that continues to break from that. meanwhile, americans are firing up their grills this fourth of july weekend, but are they getting burned by high prices at the grocery store? according to the american farm bureau, your holiday cookout is costing you more this year compared the last year. ground beef price up 11. potato chips up 8%. hamburger guns -- buns, ice cream, one of my favorites, also up 7%. this is as consumers continue to seek freedom from inflation. our next guest has suggestions

on how to save money at the grocery store and insight on how soon relief could be on the way. joining me now -- we'll get to him in a moment. you know him very well as the ceo of family-owned and operateo him in a minute once we reestablish that shot. i do want to get back to some of these markets though as we've been talking about. it has been a banner day. green on the screen. that is the dow trying to pop up into the green. we've been fluctuating between gains and losses throughout the day. the s&p and the nasdaq still on track for a record high. we mentioned the s&p record for about 34 straight days. the nasdaq -- not straight, in total for this year. the nasdaq could be looking at record for about 24 records this year alone. they're on track for about a 4 straight days of records. it's been pretty unbelievable. and remember, you guys, it all came from the jobs report that

we got this morning. it was about 206,000 jobs, but there were 111,000 fewer jobs in april and may. that's where a lot of the concerns were coming from. you had fewer jobs being created, is this an economy that is really starting to slow down? some of that you can see here with the dow, you have some winners, some losers. here's some of the big laggards on the day. some winners, it is all a big tech for the nasdaq, you guys. meta, advanced micro, global foundries, mercado libre, meta, we were talking about, at a record continuing to power all these companies higher. some of the losers, micron technology, mu a big one. a lot of people saying this was sort of a secondary nvidia, if you will, losing here on the day. i am pleased to say that we now do have the ceo of family-owned and operates grocery store stew

leonard's. city leonard jr. welcome -- stew leonard jr. welcome so much, it's great to have you on the program -- >> taye, taylor -- hey, taylor, look at us before we start. we've got a bunch of happy viewers. show 'em your ice cream cone. thame taye i love a good ice cream, but i don't love that prices are up 7% year year-over-year, stew, so how are consumers reacting this year? >> you know what? we've seen a lot happen since, you know, covid in '22 there. prices have gone up. you see the news, they're up 20%. a lot of that's baked in with labor costs. every one of our farmers i talk to talks about the increase of labor and also some of the government regulations on the farm have limited the workers where they used to have farm workers that worked 60 hours last year, they can only work 40 hours. now they've got to pay them overtime. so it puts an added cost to the

farm, fuel prices are up, egg prices are up because of chicken feed right there. beef prices are up a little bit because there's a drought out there and a lot of ranchers that don't want to invest in cattle right now. so you have a very low herd count in america right now. so those things are affecting prices. but the good news is we find here at stew leonard's prices are about the same as they were last fourth of july. taylor: okay. >> so we feel things have leveled out. hopefully, if you watch all the news with the presidential debates and everything and the elections coming up, we hope, you know, that prices will start coming down -- taylor: right. you know, stew, i want to know how families are still dealing with some of these higher costs. are you noticing that a people are trading instead of beef, they're buying chicken or pork if or something that's cheaper? >> that's a great point. they are trading down a little

bit. so maybe if you used to have porterhouse steaks on the grill last year, you might be serving hamburgers this years at $3.99 a pound rather than over $10. so you -- customers definitely are looking to save that that way. the other thing we're noticing, a little opposite trend is our prime beef sales are up and also a lot of our prepared foods are up. so customers are wanting to buy all the watermelon already cut for 'em, the corn already husked. salads already made for 'em. fruit platers already put together. -- platters. so we're seeing a lot of really the grab and go stuff that's been increasing -- taylor: okay. >> it's more expensive so so the9 of counter to what we're seeing -- sort of counter to what we're seeing in the inflationary time. taylor: that is a very interesting trend. and i do want to end on a positive note as well because

not all news is bad news, right? what rices are lower than they were a year ago -- prices? >> well, you're seeing like strawberries right now have dropped, corn prices have dropped. a lot of it has to do with supply and demand right now. you know, avocado prices spiked a little bit because of a problem they had with supply down there. so, you know, overall i'd say there's some things that have gone up, there's some things that have gone down. but overall, shop, eat good. don't sacrifice quality. if you want to save money, look at apps and the sales that are on every week. make it yourself. look for private label which is a great deal. i mean, we have cheese that's $1-$2 a pound less than the name brand. and the most important thing, we do a lot of demos at stew leonard's, walk away and don't eat any of the demos because usually it's impulse, and you end up putting one extra item in your cart.

[laughter] taylor: you know, i am one of those. my husband says we can no longer have memberships to some of those stores that a give you the free handouts, because i end up buying them. stew leonard -- >> hold on. if you want to treat yourself, look at this guy right here. taylor: okay. >> okay? if when our ranchers come back, they want to eat one of these. it's the the ribeye tomahawk steak. taylor: i'm going to take your word for it. well done. thank you, sir. thanks so much. >> have a nice day. [laughter] taylor: happy fourth. elon musk dazzling chinese artificial intelligence enthusiasts with his humanoid optimus robot, but what will power all the computers, batteries and digital nerve centers? we'll a take you to pennsylvania for a live report. and the global, and artificial intelligence and technology the etf, aiq, it is up 311% in the last 52 weeks -- 311%. "the claman countdown" will be

right back. mug. ♪

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taylor: tesla once again proving to be ahead of its times while showing off its optimus humanoid robot at the china a.i. conference yesterday in shanghai.

tesla's second generation robot caught many eyes as it's built with the company's neural and vision technology. with but how do tech companies plan to sustain enough energy to keep the power on? jeff flock joins us live in berwick, pennsylvania, at the susquehanna nuclear power plant all with the latest. jeff? >> reporter: oh, they're thinking ahead too, taylor. yeah, this is a nuclear power plant here in northeast pennsylvania, and, yeah, voracious ap a tate for data centers -- appetite. obviously, involved in a.i. so what they've done in the case of amazon web service, came here and bought a data center on the grounds of this nuclear power plant to get power directly from the plant not even going out to the grid. and this is a trend. multiple companies doing this sort of thing, contracting for the power right from the source, and it has had a tremendously positive impact on companies, energy companies that are invested in nuclear power. take a look at the numbers. year to date, if you had

invested in constellation energy at the start of the year or nrg or vistra or talon, you would have made between $50- 50- 140% of your investment right now. talon, the company that owns the plant where i stand, up 8 82% year-over-year. great thing, but they're taking a lot of power off the grid, not make it to the grid. and the pennsylvania consumer advocate says that's dangerous. listen. >> this is the first time that somebody can come and say i want 200, 300, megawatts or gigawatt of load in a really short period of time. this is the equivalent of multiple small cities being built in a a matter of years as opposed to a matter of decades. >> reporter: and as i said, taylor, it's a trend. take a look at the numbers from the real estate firm jones lang lasalle. they say so far, well n2023 4.3

gigawatts, that's what a -- in the movie back to future, i think they called it gig -- jigawatts, that would be enough to power 3.2 million homes. the consumer advocate says, among others, that's a problem because if we don't have enough power on the grid, number one, the grid becomes less stable and less reliable, and the price goes up to people like you and me that can't afford to go to the source, you know? they say if you need more milk and and it costs too much go buy a cow? i don't think we have that option. taylor: no, we do not, jeff. is and definitely gigawatt with. thank you so much. [laughter] enjoy your weekend. let's get right to it. the closing bell just five minutes away. you had big tech and favorable jobs report. markets reaching for fresh record highs. remember, any gain in the nasdaq will mark the 24th close of the year, and if the s&p finishes in the positive, it will be 34th

record close for this index this year as well. meanwhile, no record for the dow, but that index is still higher, on its way for a third day of gains all happening in the last four. for the week major with averages all up mostly 2,3 president or so -- 3% or so. nasdaq's fifth weekly win in a row. it is big tech and it is all the rage. meanwhile, after an incredible if first half, our next guest expects markets to take a little beeter, but he's still prepping his clients for the, quote, next generation bull market which he says will drive markets to new all-time highs in september and november. pleased to say joining me now, strategy asset manager ceo tom holek. what do you see driving that next generation bull market? >> thank you for having me, taylor. and happy fourth of july weekend to all the9 viewers out there. here's what i like right now. constellation energy group which your previous guest was just

talk about, and emerson electric. those are two of the companies we favor with our portfolios. and the reason why is because as you look at the markets today, you know, the technology advancements in a.i. have improved the efficiencies of three these companies. so we're looking at constellation energy group and emmerly electric right now -- emerson electric right now. taylor: some people say we are experiencing a little pullback this summer. do you see that? >> we do. we're going to expect volatility over the summer months, and that's quite the norm when you go into the summer from a technical standpoint. but we really like the markets going forward for the next 6 and 12 months and, as i said, it's my opinion we believe we're entering the next generation bull market for our clients. and so we've been directing them into specific sectors to participate9 with the next generation bull market. taylor: are any of those specific sectors related to a.i.? because we're talking about these record highs. if i'm sitting at home and seeing nvidia up 150% this year,

i'm wondering is it too late for me to now get in? >> no, no. i think that the advancements in technology right now are just paving the way for a lot of efficiencies in companies. you know and you've talked about nvidia, but the downstream companies that are participating outside of that are somebody like a constellation energy group and an emerson electric. so in my opinion, there's no way for this country to survive and maintain a leadership role in the world without our innovation and technological advancements, and we're leading the way right now for that new business cycle. and our clients turn to us, you know, for two reasons; wealth preservation and the ideas as to how to grow their money. and these energy stocks that i just mentioned as well as the technology stocks that we talked about are where we're going to focus. taylor: tom, concentration risk. a few days ago i was looking at a chart, the equal weight s&p divided by the market cap s&p. you're looking at the equal weight relative to the s&p. it's now at the lowest since 2008.

showing that concentration risk all a big heavy, all of those big tech stocks are at a some of the most extremes we haven't seen in a few decades. is concentration risk a wore -- worry for you? >> concentration risk is always a worry for any portfolio manager. as an active manager though, we look for the sectors that are going to outperform. so in comparison to an s&p 500 fund, we are tending to grow into the areas of looking for energy independence, energy group sector, the technology sector, how about the infrastructure sector. but in the concentration risk area, you'd probably be west of -- be best the to trim your portfolios at this time. but we're staying fully invested in the market, and we really like it going forward. taylor: even though we might be seeing a slowdown in the economy? i was looking at the atlanta fed gdp now forecast. it's slowing to about 1.4% to slowing gdp, does that a make

you worried? >> you know, it's some of the data points that we look at. we do see increased volatility. we do see economic activity that would lend to seeing some type of slowdown over the summer months. but whether interest rate as come down in the six six months or they remain where they are today, we're still very optimistic on where the economy's going. the economy's done quite well is and so has the market, and we're going to stick to that. taylor: well, that sounds like a pretty optimistic note to leave it on. tom, thank you so much for joining me. 15 seconds to those closing bells. again, new records for the s&p and the nasdaq. markets higher now closing out this it was a pleasure to be here. the claman countdown, stick around, kudlow is next. ♪ >> hello, everyone and welcome to a special edition of kudlow, i am david asman and for larry kudlow. joe bide