>> welcome to bloomberg markets. i'm sonali basak. the u.s. supreme court has upheld a law that bans tiktok. updates continuing to come out of washington around the story. we will bring you the latest. first, check on markets. s&p 500 is hitting a session high just a moment ago, firmly above that 6000 level. the last day of trading before president-elect trump begins his next term. it is the best week for the s&p

500 since the u.s. election. nasdaq 100 also just flying, up 1.8%. the 2-year yield hang around 4.27. the 10-year yield have been fluctuating a bit throughout the day but standing at about 4.61. one of the big stories as we've been talking about that we are following today, that u.s. supreme court decision upholding the decision to ban tiktok. with that, in the future of the app is uncertain and president-elect trump says that he will try to save tiktok but the law now says that the company must be shut down or sold by sunday. we talked about why the story is very far from over. >> there is another lesson for investors to go well beyond what is happening with tiktok. there is no other app in the world that i can imagine what caused this a prize. the reason is it is because of

the power of a strong, addictive product. the power of, i think, people, and in this case, people influencing political decision. what does that mean for broader investing? companies that have that leverage, nvidia, for example, it is really hard to displace. sonali: for more, we are joined by kailey leinz in washington. given that we are handing over from one administration to the other in the united states, the band would be in effect the day before inauguration. what do you expect to happen over the weekend in terms of posturing, rhetoric, and what happens after monday? kailey: technically, yes, the ban goes into effect on sunday after the supreme court cleared the way for that to happen, however, the biden administration is not actually intent on implementing the law in its final days in office.

we got a statement from the white house today that underscores the president's feelings, that while the app should be available come he wants to see it divested. they acknowledge they will not be enforcing the law given the trump administration is coming in on monday. that is putting the ball into the next administration's court. donald trump has signaled that he wants to save tiktok. he has warmed up to the platform, sees it as something that helped him in his campaign. he said today that his decision on tiktok will be made in the not-too-distant future but he must have time to review the situation and told everyone to stay tuned. he also said that he spoke with xi jinping today and tiktok was one of the items in the agenda which could signaled that he is trying to do some kind of deal making, knowing that china will likely have to sign off on any divestment bytedance makes. sonali: i want to go back to the trump conversation with chinese

president xi. i will use terry haynes' words from this. he called this a great game. tiktok is part of the negotiation power between the u.s. and china moving forward. of all the things that two have to discuss, where does tiktok fall on the priority order? kailey: i think it tells you a lot, with donald trump issuing his summary of the call, said they discussed trade, fentanyl, tiktok, and other subjects. clearly he was a high priority to discuss with the chinese president ahead of him attending the inauguration on monday. it could be used just as the threat of tariffs, as a negotiating peace. it was reported that china is looking at what a divestment of tiktok in the u.s. could look like, discussing the prospect of elon musk absorbing the operations with x.

elon musk and donald trump have an incredibly close relationship. musk will be attending the inauguration, as will the ceo of tiktok. we will see what that does to attendance. clearly, donald trump is trying to do some kind of deal making, knowing that if there is a buyer, it will only be 90 days that they can extend the implementation or delay that sale. time is short here. a lot in the interim will be dependent on companies like alphabet, google, apple, whether they will continue to support the tiktok platform in the united states. sonali: looking forward to your coverage not only on this supreme court case but also the inauguration, just days ahead. more on tiktok. we are joined by caroline hyde. you and i look at this.

two different perspectives. there is the dealmaking under the surface which is where my fascination lies, and then there is this broader technology issue of carrying the platform moving forward. what is of critical importance to you now that we have this decision? caroline: what happens on the 19th? does tiktok take itself dark? like you saw with uber trying to push itself into new locations and stir up the emotions of the users to push it further on lawmakers. or as mandeep singh would say, this isn't going to work anyway. if you have oracle, rather than the law of the land as it stands, they cannot host the website or the app. then the videos are not going to work if the content distribution networks cannot make the video appropriate. it's not going to work.

whether or not it is still there as an icon on the app store, apple or google. sonali: the tiktok ceo who we've been talking about has responded in a video message. i will read some of it to you. he says, i want to thank president trump for his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps tiktok available in the united states. that is a promising message coming from him. we know that he will be around the president-elect as the inauguration is underway. what does this mean that you already have a foot in the door with this company in the next administration? caroline: as clearly articulated, the previous administration, the one that currently has ownership of the situation until the 19th, has kicked it to trump to take over. chou has already been to

mar-a-lago, we know that they have been forging a closer relationship. but is it up to him or is it up to china? we know the reporting was that it was the chinese government that potentially want to see it becoming a bargaining chip in the future with u.s. and china relationships. sonali: other apps relying on content creators could stand to benefit from a ban. one of them is klapper. joining us now for more is the head of operations at klapper. caroline hyde is sticking with us. what have you seen in terms of uptick on your platform? one thing that's been fascinating, a lot of people thought people would be moving over to existing platforms and you have seen actually platforms like yours get much more notice as the threat of tiktok leaving u.s. operations has been more of a reality. >> first i would like to say

thank you for having me on today to talk about klapper. how we feel right now and what is going on, we are seeing a significant increase in our downloads and usage. we are seeing about 400,000 new users every day with about 2 million new users within the past week or so. it has been very exciting to be able to have more people notice us. even before these tiktok earrings occurred, we were very much available and around. we have been here for about five years. entering our fifth year as clapper. it is nice to have more light shined on us. we are just here to provide an alternative option for people that don't want to use those other platforms. caroline: the other platforms being written note, lemon eight, chinese owned ones. what is the distinction of

those people coming to you? >> there are a lot of people that have anger toward the decision of tiktok being banned. but with clapper and the users we are seeing, they are excited to have an american platform. we are based out of dallas, texas. what is great, people are excited to know there is an alternative in america will be focused on keeping our american data safe, making sure that our users know the core focus of our platform rather than focusing on ads or things like that. caroline: i want to go to your operations experience. if you suddenly were unable to be sustained by the hosts such as oracle, would you app work overnight, tell us what you think would happen overnight on the 19th if this stance? >> we are preparing with our server space, moderator teams, making sure we bring on more support, also utilizing ai

technologies so that whenever the 19th takes place and as we experience more of a boom, we can welcome everyone and focus on managing the massive amounts of new users we are taking on. sonali: the other question i have, even just your initial reaction to the supreme court news, what does it mean to have that much more uncertainty around such a large rival over the next coming days let alone weeks, months, years? bita: to be frank, we believe in more competition the better, providing users more options is the key to bringing more success to the industry. we really focus on providing more options for creators and by doing that, we end up converting more people to our platform which is very exciting. with this supreme court hearing, it is a surprise to us. we didn't expect tiktok to be banned, for that to follow

through. but we will keep on focusing on what we are doing and provide better opportunities for creators all over the world. caroline: you have international growth in mind. do you differentiate yourself in any other way? how is the experience on a clapper different from tiktok? bita: one of the first thing that will differentiate us, we are 17 and up. we want to make sure there's a place for adults to connect with one another without the interference of underage individuals. when you go to tiktok, instagram or facebook, you sadly have to come across those under age accounts, and it can be frustrating for an adult that wants to make those adult friendships of any type to want to connect, not use tiktok or instagram or any of those platforms. our platform is for those over the age of 17. also we are creator-centered, so we don't have any ads on the platform. we focus on promoting creators

and helping them grow in ways to monetize, and you can monetize as soon as you join clapper. going back to the ad situation, we partner up with creators and build those partnerships, but we will never be having ads on our apps. that is one of the big things that will differentiate us from tiktok. sonali: you think about both sides of the equation, national security concerns coming from many lawmakers, united states at large, but then you have the free speech argument being made by tiktok. you have heard social media executives over the years concerned about government control over free speech. if you think about this from a birds eye view, which are you most concerned about being a bigger threat? bita: i think data security is something that is very important. the supreme court has made their decision for what is best for americans.

i think moving forward, freedom of speech is something that we must consider as well. as americans, we are proud of our first amendment rights. finding that balance is important but i think our leaders can work together to find the right solution. we definitely want to be a part of that conversation to help lead the way not only with our data security with our platform being based in america but also that we promise our adult users for that freedom of speech. sonali: bita motiie, head of operations at clapper, caroline hyde, thank you. massive story. not the only tech story today. intel shares have been on the rise all morning amid reports that the tech giant is not an acquisition target. we will talk about that next. this is bloomberg. ♪

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sonali: this is bloomberg markets. i'm sonali basak. let's get a look at movers midday. for that, we bring in isabel lee. >> looking at shares of intel, popping on reports that the chipmaker is a target for acquisition. a tech news letters saying the company was trying to acquire intel "whole and have the resources to do that. intel has been one of the most dominant chipmakers but it has struggled with nvidia becoming the king in the space. last month, the ceo of intel being forced out after the board lost confidence in his plans to turn the company around.

shares falling 65%, putting the market cap that just $85 billion. this is moving in the opposite direction. a fire broke out at one of its power plants in california. one of the largest factories when it comes to storage. this has prompted evacuation orders. vistra has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of ai, investors banking on the fact that its facilities will really soar as ai boosts energy consumption. last year, soaring as much as 300%. last, i'm looking at shares of novo. the u.s. is planning to slash what it pays for these drugs. more than $200 billion in a decade. treatment for obesity and diabetes really leading the list

of medicines that will be targeted under legislation that will encounter price negotiations over the next year. this is a part of the biden administration's effort to reduce costs for medicare. rivals will not be eligible for negotiations until 2029. it is unclear whether trump will respect or honor the list but novo nordisk is scheduled to report earnings next month. for now, shares lower by 5%. sonali: thank you, isabel lee. homebuilders have been moving in the session. today we got u.s. housing data showing new construction in december climbing at the fastest pace since early 2024. all of them ripping quite a bit. we will talk real estate with bess friedman. stick with us for that conversation next. this is bloomberg. ♪

sonali: new u.s. economic data today showing housing starts in the u.s. climbed in december to the fastest pace since early 2024. for more on the real estate market as rates stay high, we are joined by bess freedman, a leading luxury real estate company. rates above 7%. you were talking about how they needed to be below five to unlock the market. it looks like people can't wait. bess: there is volatility right now. it feels very frothy, the environment. it will take time before rates start to come down. people assume that when the fed cut the last time before the end of the year that we would start to see mortgage rates come down but there has been so much volatility in the market, so many things going on, it will take time before we start to see a real shift. sonali: hard for me to know from where i'm sitting but you will know, is this a buyers or sellers market?

bess: i don't know which one it is. i used to say to someone, you would go to the dances as a kid, girls on one side, boys on the other. nobody wants to get involved. there is just gridlock right now. 2024 was one of the worst housing market since the mid-90's. it is taking real time. a lot of people are saying potentially, i think greenspan said there was some irrational exuberance during the.com, when everything exploded, and it feels like that right now with ai. the housing market, we need to start to get buyers and sellers in the market. sellers are holding off because you locked in a rate at 5%. people don't want to give up their lower rates for higher rates. why would they? there is no inventory, prices are high and rates are high. people are sort of -- sonali: what will move the

needle? what level of rates do you think will be the new unlocking level? bess: there was a survey done that i read about, people said they would get in the market around 5.5%. that doesn't mean everyone but people feel like that still feels comfortable. last time i was here, we talked about that. it is slow and steady. all progress is incremental. let's hope the economy holds, let's hope there is not more inflation. if those things happen, it could be even more challenging. sonali: are there hopeful signs when it comes to inventory? bess: i cannot lie to you. we are seeing a bit of a pickup, so it will take time. people are somewhat optimistic. there is optimism in the air right now, you feel it. we have all of these things in the economy where people are feeling positive but inventory is challenged. connecticut is one of those

places. last year in the country had the lowest inventory in the united states. sonali: less than a minute left. will salt change the game for anybody? bess: it will be a positive influence, will be a good thing. it expires this year anyway but lifting that will keep new yorkers here. i know we have less than a minute, but all eyes -- i know we are talking about housing -- but i feel like they are on the hostages and what will happen this weekend. for jews around the world, people are hopeful. just a lot of good things are happening despite housing. sonali: for people in the markets, eyes are around the world. thank you, the ceo of brown harris stevens. i'm sonali basak. that does it for bloomberg markets. we have ended the week with the s&p 500 looking like it will and above 6000 once again. and that the week on the s&p 500 that has been rising at the best

rate since we have seen in the election. the last week of bidens term. next week, we will bring you back the markets under president trump's term. this is bloomberg. ♪

>> from the world of politics to the world of business, this is "balance of power.

live from washington, d.c. >> the inauguration will take place under the dome. welcome to the fastest show in politics as donald trump makes it official, monday's ceremony is moving inside the capital because of bitter cold temperatures. much like we saw a ronald reagan do 40 years ago. i'm joe mathieu alongside kailey leinz in washington. thanks for being with us. it will be nine degrees out on monday. this sounds like a logistical nightmare. >> the real feel will be even lower than this. one can understand why not everyone is willing to spend hours outside on a freezing monday morning. capital one arena will now be a place that needs to be coordinated as donald trump, according to his post, says people can watch his rem