legendary golfer gary player will join us. he's in the first group tomorrow with arnie and jack. it's wednesday, april 8th 2015. squawk box begins right now. >> live from new york where business never sleeps this is squawk box. >> good morning, welcome to squawk box here on cnbc. i'm here along with joe kernen. becky and andrew are off today. it's going to be a family affair at the master's today. tiger woods will be using a much younger caddie than normal. his kids will be there for the traditional par 3 contest. he hasn't played since 2004 and injuries kept him from competitive golf for the last two months. we'll talk a lot more about

augusta in the last pu minutes. he'll be here in studio. futures are suggesting we'll have a positive open. dow would open higher by 24 points. nasdaq would open flat by 2. the corporate story of the morning, shell's mega deal. it's the biggest energy tie up in more than a decade. seema mody joins us from london with all the details. seema. >> hey becky. good morning, it's one of the industry's biggest deals in a decade. shell paying $70 billion which represents a 50% premium to bg's closing price yesterday. now the ceo of shell earlier this morning on cnbc europe explained why this deal makes since and how it's not a bet on lower oil prices. >> this is not a bet on the oil price. this deal works in a whole range of oil and gas prices. of course we still believe in the longer run in a few years time we will see the long-term fundamentals will assert themselves. we see higher oil prices than

what we see at the moment and this deal will look not just very good. it will look fantastic. >> this deal gives u.k.'s royal dutch shell which has been investing heavily in oil and gas reserves access to bg's multibillion dollar projects in east africa australia, brazil among other markets and now the bet on further m and a in the oil and gas space is providing a boost to other european oil names. it's one of the best performing sectors here in the u.s. total, eni, tullow oil all up in today's trade. >> thank you seema. >> i saw in doing our pretapes i saw that i was saying 70 billion and i thought i better check this. a lot of times there's debt. we want to just talk about the equity value of deals like this and it really is 70 which is surprising because it's a 50% premium. >> it's a huge premium. >> that's why the ceo is like yeah -- it's a good idea for him to say yes for shareholders.

maybe it's good for royal dutch shareholders as well. >> i'm thinking that you have to do that in order to fend off other bidders if you're thinking that somebody could come in. >> for the big premium. >> say it's a big, big premium. >> it's all fine and well for the ceo to say no no no. this is not a defensive move because oil prices dropped too much. what causes mergers and acquisitions is things are so good or they're so bad that you need to get together to save money to be able to survive together and that's the environment we're in right now but big move this week in oil so far. >> true but still around $50 so as a ceo you think what do i do?

build or buy? with oil at the price that it is exploration is so expensive you need oil to be at a much higher price if you're going to make money. >> boost reserves 25% for royal dutch and boosts production 20%. okay. there's crude down today. some of the other big stories we're watching the minutes, we have to know. we haven't talked about -- i haven't talked about the fed since, well let me see, what time is it? we got to know what they're thinking with these minutes because they are the most porn thing in all of our lives, what they do. not the overall private sector economy. it's really the fed. the march meeting will be released at 2:00 eastern. we'll look for more details on discussions it could lead to a quarter point interest rate above zero but we'll see if they do signal a move toward raising rates. we have two guests and i'm going to talk the same way to them because i'm sick of hearing

people say what they should do or what i think they're going to do. why is there a difference? we just assume they're clueless? so they aren't going to do the right thing. they're going to be so dovish -- yeah they should raise in june but i don't think they will. why don't they think like everybody thinks? why don't they do what they should do instead of what they're going to do. i don't feel strongly about it. >> tell me what you really think. weekly mortgage applications will be out at 7:00 eastern and alcoa will post quarterly results after the bell and it is long viewed as the unofficial kick off season to earnings season and -- >> not baseball season. >> no but it happens -- we do this four times a year and every single time i say the symbol is aa so like in the, you know phone book it's the -- that's not why they do it though. i also say it should be kicked out of the dow because it's so small at this point and it's

been kicked out for awhile but it's a $16 billion company. it's or not to some extent although whether it gives you any insight into the overall global economy i'm not so sure. you're our international correspondent. >> i should produce it correctly. if only it had an r in it. >> yeah you look for things with rs. just to do it. >> s&p capital iq reports -- you're like alec trebec. everybody has to know he speaks french. >> really? >> oh every french question it's like alex we got it. you're urban, your witty. oh god, he's insufferable. >> the idea that i watch jeopardy. >> it's good. >> me lineals never heard of it. overall profits will shrink 3%

from last year. >> the bank of japan sticking with it's monetary stimulus program. there was some suggestions out there that perhaps they were going to make the program bigger. it didn't happen. in other news out of asia chinese investors use the entire daily investment quota for buying hong kong stocks under the stock connect program. that helped boost the hang seng index. greece has not asked russia for aid and says athens want to solve it's financial issues within the euro zone. the greek prime minister is in moscow to meet with vladimir putin. >> industrial machinery company pent air cutting it's first quarter guidance. the company citing the strong dollar and we might hear a lot of that. kick off to the excuse season is also there. it's going to be strong dollar.

we'll hear it a lot. >> which is better than the weather. >> there will be a little bit of that too. lower than expected oil and gas industry demand. dave and busters with guidance above consensus. air gas raising it's di dend. look likes positive open. dow would open higher by 16 points. we'll show you what european shares are doing in the wake of the big oil deal. you know that's flat. ftse is higher by half a percent. france is doing almost nothing and greece isn't worth mentioning half the time. >> still below 100. >> overnight gentlemanjapan higher.

we told you about that with the ability to buy shares. the price of oil was going to be important as we talk about this huge deal. 52.80 for wti. brent is lower by .77. $58 $58.33. we wait for the all important fed minutes. we're back below 1.9. 1.88%. we saw huge surge yesterday to 1.9%. being mischievous. the dollar is weaker across the board. 1.0875 is what the euro will cost you. 119.7 yen for every dollar and the price of gold at the hour. >> i referenced these two individual doing this on set. joining us they're already here. michelle garrard and the director of global macro.

>> a dutch man. maybe he's here to talk about the deal. >> that's true. >> talk about the fed. >> i'll start with michelle because she's an enabler. >> oh come now. you're an enabler because you're going to say, i know but i'll just let you say it. but it's like why rush? just stay low. >> joe. you're being facetious. >> do you think they should go in june? >> they should have gone last june. >> i'm thinking of you. you're the enabler? neither one of you are enablers of this walk on egg shells policy. >> one of the most bullish thing is for the fed to lift rates and the world not come to an end and then all the skeptics that think this is a fed induced bubble will have no choice but no conclude there's something fundamental going on. >> you're enabling them in a different way. you think their policies have

been successful and not just marking up assets but in conjuring up animal spirits in the economy. >> what the central banks have tun is buy time for the system to heal itself. and then had to go step up this year. >> i don't know whether you're right. it's so jarring i guess they have been so involved. >> in justifying the need for this accommodation, we have talked about repeatedly sent the message you need us. we can't back away which made it difficult to convince everybody

it will be okay but you said we're six years into the expansion. the unemployment rate is tenths of a percent. if you can't get off zero now when will you ever get off zero. >> what about that weak jobs report. >> yes but i said to people i didn't believe any more than i believe the trend was close to 300. 300 looked too strong. this 126 is almost so weak it's not 100% credible. i think looking through some of the noise you're still growing around 200,000 a month and that's still going to bring the unemployment rate down. that level is -- i don't even think the new trend is 200. the right answer is probably 2 to 250 which is consistent with an economy growing around 2.5%. >> what do you think of the deal. i don't ask because you're a dutch man but because a wave of consolidation about to happen in the oil industry or markets?

m and a is a good sign for the overall market. >> it is and also for the market in skren rahal in general usually earnings growth is twice as high as revenue growth and part of that comes from share buy backs and the other part from cost cutting so a lot of people are asking haven't they cut all the costs already and isn't that going to shrink earnings growth closer to revenue growth which is around 4% and the answer is that companies are going to start buying other companies. really for cost cutting purposes if not for other reasons and that could actually continue this trend of sort of earnings growing faster than revenues. >> doesn't that speak to joe's criticism about what's been done through all of this is financial engineering? it's not about increasing employment but if it's about cost cutting it's about reducing employment. >> well financial engineering has been a consequence of sort of zero interest rate policy. companies are issuing cheap debt. they're buying back shares. they're buying other companies. that's definitely been a

phenomenon for sure. >> what does this say about the quality of -- >> i was going to say but that's also one of the problems of course is that companies, we talk about the fact that all the fed accommodation isn't getting through to the real economy in the way that you would normally think and to some extent companies are using cash to do things other than increase employment and increase investment. that's been one of the issues that we faced for the last three or four years when you try to scratch your head about why aren't we getting more bang for our buck. >> the whole idea of the yellen put is not like moral hazard but it's not a good signal to be sending when you got no ammo left. no arrows left. no dry powder. i can come up with more anlages. so what i'm most worried about is that they don't have the -- we use stones now. are we allowed to use stones. they don't have the stones. they may be stuck.

the minute we have a little slow down they go up a quarter or a half and all of a sudden we have a slow down and they stop raising or cut again or something and the thing that most people are worried about is we'll never get out of this and that starts kooming throughcoming through. >> i always thought when you go to zero you're out of ammo but we're beyond the zero lower bounds. central banks are printing money and have negative rates. >> that's not a good place to be. >> a agree but there's no zero lower bound anymore and the fed ultimately is just following the markets as it usually does. >> no. that's not their mandate. >> but they're trying to overmanage the markets i sympathy the problem. the markets start to jitter and they back off. it's like a parent with a bad

child. who is driving the bus here to some extent. the fed has to have the stones to -- >> you are really good. >> as soon as you decided i wasn't an enabler that put me in a whole different. >> i'm painting you with the same brush of all the people that come in here. i'm tired of hearing -- and the whole left they're all enablers. >> but those of us that aren't are also dismissed as wackos. who is is listening to that guy. he's been wrong about inflation. anybody that's talked about raising rates looks silly. >> it's interesting. everyone is like once they start we can stop talking about this. that's when the discussion will be getting started. if you look at the funds curve the mashlth isrket is giving the fed the green light to start june or september but they he go 25 in june. 25 in december.

maybe another 50 or 75 in 2016 but really once they start it's still going to be the same discussion o of when is the next one. it won't be like greenspan where there's 25 every meeting. >> there's a lot of talk about how this will all play out. >> when they think they're in charge of both employment and inflation ever since bernake, the weight of the world is on his shoulders. it's not on the ceos or obama, the whole world is resting on the fed. >> it shouldn't be but it takes a tough man to say we're not doing anything more on rates. >> or woman. >> exactly right and force congress or force the president or whoever to take fiscal action

that's been so necessary -- >> and for the fed it's really relatively easy right now because their dual mandate in the inflation side is not doing anything so they can afford to kind of dismiss that for now and hope that the unemployment rate comes down and then eventually -- >> so you're .3 below 2? we'll have plenty of inflation down the world. >> this is the world we live in. for three decades the mandate was pushing it down and now it's bringing it up. >> you're asking about the front page article about your boss. >> apparently not. >> yeah. >> we got a commercial break. >> do love that family though. they start from scratch. >> i've been there 20 years. i wouldn't be there. >> it is. i love it.

>> and johnson, weird. franklin, you got both johnsons right? >> franklin i think, right -- oh you never heard of them. sorry. anyway -- >> thank you guys. and lady. all right. coming up the numbers behind the masters. we're talking rory tiger. next as we head to break though here's a look back at this date in history. ♪ there's nothing more romantic than a spontaneous moment. so why pause to take a pill? and why stop what you're doing to find a bathroom? with cialis for daily use, you don't have to plan around either. it's the only daily tablet approved to treat erectile dysfunction so you can be ready anytime the moment is right. plus cialis treats the frustrating urinary symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently, day or night.

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for $70 billion. the number of other energy companies also rising on that news. primarily european companies. shouldn't just call it an oil deal. it's also an oil and natural gas deal but as you can see total eni tullow are all high on this deal as well. >> the head of the master's nike is rolling out an add titled ripple. it features two of golf's biggest names. it opens with what is supposed

to be a young rory mcelroy watching tiger woods on television and it goes on to show the young boy practicing and finishes with the older mcllroy teeing off with his rival. we last week had video of the actual young rory mcllroy on with a talk show host over somewhere across the pond and showing he was 8 or 9 years old and we said that rory had written a letter to tiger saying i'm coming after you. >> really. >> when he was very young and it showed him. he had more talent than probably either one of us have now. >> at 4 years old. >> well, tiger at 3 did. anyway the masters does start tomorrow. tiger is back. rory. bubba. some people are picking bubba again. he drives over everything. dominic is here to tell us who vegas likes. i said the great golfers in the world are all in augusta but you're here. >> that's sweet of you to say.

i'm not even as good a golfer as you are. >> and i was thinking -- i'll let you get to your report but it's hard to do reports when we have so much to talk about. >> we do. >> tiger is playing in the par 3 tournament but if you're going to get a couple of things out of your system down there, i don't want to say what he has because i have it and i don't want to bring it up. >> it starts with a y sometimes. >> something that cause mess to claw my chips or to do left hand low. i thought left-handed. i thought about getting a left-handed club to do chips. >> i think you're thinking too much. >> you do? >> any teacher out there would think that you are way overthinking this. >> every teacher i've ever had said you don't need me you need a psychiatrist or drugs. >> it's that space between the ears. if you think about it the masters is such a great event because it kicks off the golf season. it was a family tradition for

myself and my father growing up. we'd sit there. >> i'm not a golf fan. >> it's the flowers it's the pageantry. everything is so gorgeous about augusta national. >> bobby jones. the three guys that are going to tee off tomorrow with the chairman there and just -- >> let's go through the numbers. some of the names you may remember, the odds the money is already flown as we start before the masters kicks off. the favorite is rory. everyone thinks he's the odds on favorite to win. overnight he is now a 13 to 2. >> what is jordan spieth. >> 9-1. he was 8-1 and bubba was a 10-1 maybe two days ago. those are your top three. dustin johnson in the top five.

these are your favorites to win and then a whole log jam of people. money has been throwing toward tiger woods in the last 48 hours. there's reports he's starting to get a hot hand. his practice rounds started to look good. playing in his par 3. >> still 25-1. >> it is 25-1. remember three or four years ago he was tiger against the field. >> right. he was the odds on favorite every single time. >> right. >> but remember if you want the lottery ticket i threw these in there because i thought it would be fun. they're part of the master's mix. the guys are 5,000 to 1 odds you need to go walk by vegas right now. >> if i put down a dollar. >> yes this is a lottery ticket. crenshaw would win the last

time. >> you're welcome to put money down. >> it's one of those things where if you had a couple of drinks and you're walking by a sports book in vegas and you say to yourself -- >> who else jason day always stays well. >> another johnson, dustin johnson, he has been showing signs of life. >> i think he has a baby now. >> jason day, yes. >> dustin he is also married to paulina. >> i don't know if he's married but i know there's a baby. >> that's how people play right. >> his wife of fiancee wayne gretsky's daughter.

>> no kidding he's so fantastic. >> wife is a good golfer. >> cool have to say i'm not placing money on this thing but there's great guys out there and the thing about is it is if you get a great one going and you add tiger to the mix. let's say he manages to make the cut and is on the first three pages of the leader board going into the weekend 18 year highs for the final. sports is getting more and more valuable. >> you need a rivalry in the game of golf the likes of which we had back in the day. >> phil's not playing bad

either. >> but if you can get the rickie fowlers and jason days, if two pronaggists can emerge in this venue, in augusta then you reignite some of the excitement for the game. >> could be rory jordan. >> ultimately you would love to see a rory tiger thing start to emerge. >> tiger is no spring chicken. >> he's in a show me position. it's been injuries but there's questions about the 8 foot and the chips and everything else. >> we're not going to talk about that y word. >> no that's like the s word which is worse than the y word. >> i had both of those. >> they're begging me to tease. >> i haven't heard. they're not talking to me. >> oh, they're talking to me. it's pointless, right. >> it's going to be great. thanks for coming on. >> you got it guys. coming up mcdonald's new ceo looking to turn around the

struggling fast food chain. could his latest menu addition be the answer? first a look at yesterday's s&p 500 winners and losers. ♪ ♪ [ radio chatter ] ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] andrew. rita. sandy. ♪ ♪ meet chris jackie joe. minor damage or major disaster, when you need us most, we're there. state farm. we're a force of nature,

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♪ good morning. we're mt. chairs this mortgage and my segment of the chairs is i was deeply saddened to hear about the lost of james best 88

years old that played rosco rosco p. coltrain. one of my favorite characters. >> he's 88. that's how people remember him. he was really good friends with burt reynolds and he was in a lot of the smoky type things. >> smoky and the bandit. >> you do a great imitation. >> yeah i do. i remember him. do you remember the guy to his left. >> boss hog of course. >> do you remember he became a congressman. >> daisy duke. >> can't forget daisy. her sister was married -- daisy duke i think her sister married ringo star. barbara bach. >> you remember ross west gate. what are the european markets

doing and he knew despite being british he knew who it was. >> do you know who that was singing? >> wayland jennings. >> are you going to talk about mcdonald's sirloin burger. >> we can go to your -- >> sirloin burgers. one thing you don't know at mcdonald's but you do at wendy's, we'll tell you what the fish is that we're serving, mcdonald's, they're trying to figure out what it was -- i think it's called hack or -- it's something that is very common but wendy's said we serve cod. dewayne the rock johnson which is starring in fast and the furious. >> huge numbers. >> the rock is -- he has built -- we have similar builds in that we both have two arms

and two legs. >> and a head. big head. >> yeah big head. but he eats 821 pounds of cod per year in case you were wondering. he eats 7 meals a day. 2.3 pounds of cod every day. 12 eggs every day plus steak and chicken. also a couple of potatoes. >> he eats ten pounds of food every day and most of it very few carbs. almost all of it -- not much fat either and i'm doing something where they tell you have to keep the burn going. so you have to eat five or six meals a day. smaller meals, mostly protein and that way, supposedly if you -- i don't know i'm just gaining weight but supposedly if you eat more of the right stuff. >> you don't get gravings later. you don't overindulge et cetera. >> maybe i just need to do this longer to try to get -- because it works for dewayne the rock. >> he probably works out a heck

of a lot more than you do. >> probably. >> you have less time to workout. >> you're giving me excuses but it's hard. it's an hour. >> i remember when jennifer aniston said she did four hours of yoga a day. wow, i would love to find time to do four hours -- but when your job is to be in the movies your body is everything you can workout. >> i've done it -- i have some time. so i can show you there are the seven meals. it's quite phenomenal the way these guys that are in this shape and how many calories. >> now is the sirloin burger on there? the new offering from mcdonald's. >> no but you're supposed to do -- he eats like 5200 calories a day where the average person should not eat. >> not even close. i try to keep it to 1500 and it's hard. which is why i will not be eating 3rd pound sirloin burgers

from mcdonald's. there they are. look at those. >> he eats -- >> yeah you're not looking. don't they look delicious. >> yeah. i don't know what mcdonald's needs to do. keep it fresh. keep it fast. don't change everything. don't make kale burgers. >> and they're not. they're going with a third of the pound sirloin. speaking to the core. >> they are but they're raising the level of the meat. they think that people don't -- >> higher quality. >> exactly. coming up on squawk box the american entrepreneur behind the increasingly popular kind snack bar and the unique story of his company. then later former israeli prime minister, why he says iran has escaped a noose. this will be interesting to talk about. he's a little bit left of netanyahu but still probably -- >> head of the labour party. >> and we'll get ready for the

masters with gary player. one of the greats of all time. he's a grand slam guy and won at augusta. he'll be joining us in the next hour.

welcome back to squawk box. if you're just waking up this morning, you're late. >> we've been up for hours. >> we've been up since 6:00 but okay at least you're here now. we have a mega deal out of europe. the biggest energy tie up in

more than a decade. royal dutch is buying bg group for $70 billion in cash and stock and a number of other energy companies are also rising on the news. it was a 50% premium and it will increase the proven reserves for rd by 25% in production by 20%. mostly natural gas. with this company bg which is british. >> they're going to do a big buy back and also dividend as well. if you didn't like the deal you have other things you can do. >> this is british gas i think. >> exactly. >> all right. the man behind the popular kind granola snack bar says the key to new business is kindness and failure. he has a new book out called do the kind thing that described the mistakes that paved the way for his company's success. joining us is the founder and ceo of kind healthy snacks famous for the kind bars of which i eat many and we have kind granola in the house as

well. >> good to have you here. >> thank you for having me. >> granola. why this idea and why this book. >> it's not just granola. it's whole ingredients you can see and pronounce. it sounds very obvious today but 11 years ago when i was traveling and on the road i was very frustrated with my own snacking options and i'm lucky that i have the idea of trying to come up with a snack that you could feel good about eating and nutritionally rich ingredients nourishing your body. >> the name kind it reminds me of the early days of google don't be evil. >> kind's proposition is to do the kind thing for your body fur your taste buds fur your world. kind for your body is real foods, taste buds is don't sacrifice taste. it has to be delicious also and kind to your world is homage to my father.

he was a holocaust survivor and he survived thanks to the kindness of others. >> it's not in your face either. i one even aware that it was used in that context. when you look at the way that the packaging is its not -- >> you are totally right. it's something that's important to us but what drives our sales and success is our product. >> when you look at the package itself you see a lot of the bar which i think before you actually didn't see much of what was inside the package and all the snack bars beforehand. >> the transparent packaging was an insight that we had when we realized we had something beautiful to show and we invested in the technology for people to be able to appreciate what they're eating. >> you're from mexico? >> i'm a confused mexican jew trying to get all of these -- >> and recovering lawyer. >> recovering lawyer.

>> starting business in the united states. >> very proud american capitalist. >> is there any other place in the world do you think you could have done this? >> no coming from mexico and having worked in the middle east and sri lanka and indonesia, i appreciate what we have here. it's not just capitalism. it's a culture of innovation creativity initiative and a lot of what we talk about in the book is connected to the values that brought us here which are very american values. in particular the concept of creativity and innovation and thinking outside of the box. >> you think the american dream is still possible and achievement. >> i started this thing -- >> i am actually sorry that andrew is not here. we argue about that all the time. you haven't talked to him about these things. >> he thinks the american dream is gone. >> yes. >> incredibly difficult to achieve. >> it's difficult and i should say i'm very very blessed and i had 11 years of mistakes and failures you mentioned that in

the intro and yet if you persevere you do have a chance. a previous failure doesn't mean you're always a failure. here the failures are considered learning experiences. >> as long as you learn from them. i can mark and connect a lot of my mistakes -- i explain that in the book. a lot of the things that are helping us succeed today are things we did wrong in the past. >> kraft come calling, this is a brand that came out of nowhere. >> we have a lot of the big companies that reached out for us but we're just having so much fun doing it and we're just getting started. >> we'll wait to talk to you about your exit strategy some other time. congratulations for your success. >> coming up, call him the one man forbes of china. we'll talk to the authority on the chinese wealthy. that's coming up next. ♪

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welcome back to "squawk box." robert frank joins us on set with the new look at the chinese wealthy. the chinese rich under pressure these days. i government crackdown on corruption. joining us is the founder of the huron report and the leading expert on the chinese.

good morning, rupert. >> good morning. >> this crackdown on corruption the u.s. wealthy talked about being targets but here we're seeing thousands of chinese arrested. a billionaire executed earlier this year. how serious is this? what's been the impact on the minds of many of the chinese wealthy? >> well i think the anti-corruption has been very popular in china. a lot of it getting themselves stalled out because they're sort of wondering who's next -- they're waking up in the morning and looking at who is being arrested next. is there a connection. there's even a website now that actually links a lot of the government officials. and you can see everybody whose been linked to them from high school, even university in the same class as well. you consider who is next to go. but in fact china has been relative healthy comparatively. we do a rich list in china.

we've only got 1.1% of the rich list that's actually braevnteen arrested. >> you publicshed a study that found that 60% of china's millionaires have left or plan to year in the coming years. we've obviously seen that with the eb 5. >> i think there's a big picture going internationally. it started with the children sent overseas to study in america. the big attraction in the great schools. but then it's gone into the chinese wanting to divert their assets. the chinese marketing stagnating. still making more billionaires than anywhere in the world but nonetheless, it's stagnating. so they're looking for a fast

growth market. and that's where the u.s. comes in. they're looking for substantial systems. they're looking to put their money here. remember, the biggest wealth trade in china has been real estate. the real estate tycoons are where's the next growth coming from. let's see if they shake up the u.s. real estate. >> you mentioned billionaires how many in china right now? >> we estimate about 478. we've missed at least one, if not two so you can bet your bottom dollar you're looking at 1200 billionaires in china. >> you mentioned only 1% have been targeted. so 99% of the wealthy haven't been targeted. clear that up. >> they're not necessarily haven't been targeted. you know they appear to have a healthy running business. >> okay. but 99%, we must look that the other 1% and say, oh my gosh

that could be me if i have the desire to come by real estate in new york or london or wherever right? >> yeah there's a sense of wanting to get themselves a nest egg. it's security. as the markets grow they want to divest their assets we estimate the average millionaire in china has probably got about 5% of his assets internationally. the preferred place to put the assets is real estate. 40% of that is real estate. and international. and the preferred places l.a. san francisco, new york. so i mean in america, it's got such an overriding advantage here. >> so the richest man in china, i want you to tell joe what industry the richest man in china is in. >> it's soda. unbelievably. so this is a guy that just bounced out of nowhere. and he -- he went public about two -- well about a year ago. and since then his stock has doubled and doubled and doubled. it's given him 26 u.s. billion dollars now. >> that's more than the movie

guy. >> would it be like here a lot of people got rich in the soda industry here. although it's not necessarily that. is the government subsidizing it there as well? >> i'm not sure. but it's another -- it's another example, i mean jack maher was number one last year. and it's not that these guys are stalked or have problems. they've been overtaken. the new kid on the block, a very ambitious bloke who is the soda king. >> thanks for bringing that robert. coming up a veteran only analyst reacts to the huge deal of the day. maybe a decade. shell buying rival bg for $70 billion. check out the futures. and "squawk box" will be right back live from the heart of midtown manhattan.

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$70 billion deal in the oil industry. shell by buy rival bg. plus, reaction from the street coming up. russian hackers breaking into the west wing. the president's private schedule among the files accessed during a cyberattack last year. no one is sure if the intruders have been kicked off the system. the latest details straight ahead. and one of the most revered in all of sports. golf's masters tournament tease

off this week. grand slam winner gary player with us live to break down the field and talk about tiger's return as the second hour of "squawk box" begins now. ♪ ♪ he said he's going back to find going back to find ooh ooh ooh ♪ >> announcer: live from the beating heart of business, new york city, this is "squawk box." welcome back to "squawk box." on cnbc. first in business worldwide. i'm joe kernin along with melissa, becky is off today. the stock in a couple sessions. a company making changes to its model lineup. >> hi joe, we're talking about the new base model of tesla. more in the range added into the vehicle. you're also paying more for the

entry-level version of the ls. here's what tesla is introducing. it used to be 60 kilowatt hours. the change 208 miles up to 240 miles. it will have dual motor all-wheel drive. it used to be rear wheel drive. now the base motor will be dual motor all-wheel drive. up to $74,900. now what are you getting with the upgrade on the base model of the model s, the new 70-d version? autopilot and supercharging highway. remember, they're expecting autopilot software within the next six to seven months. that latest software will be an option with the 70-d. but also adding three new colors. here's an important point. is there an insane mode with the new 70-d. no you only get that with the

p-85d you do not get that with the entry level model s 70-d, here's something to look at. the quarterly sales. you see the increase in sales. the most recent number for the first quarter, 10,030 model s. a few more than analysts are expecting. most are expecting 9500. remember the target for this year is 5500 vehicles that will include the new suv that's going to be rolling out starting in the third quarter. and then they're going to ramp up production in the fourth quarter. again, guys as you take a look at shares of tesla, the base model s is being replaced. the 60 kilowatt hour model s. that's going away. you'll now have a base level known as the 70d with dual motor all-wheel drive. guys, back to you. >> when you say autopilot? is this self-driving first model car self-driving? >> well michelle that is the

plan. the question is whether or not, regulators both at the state level and the federal level will say, hold on a second. it's one thing to have this technology. the another thing to put it in to vehicles that people can use out on the high bayways. this will allow them to steer. not in city traffic. >> it's like full cruise control? >> it's driving control. >> yeah. absolutely. >> full cruise control instead of just -- >> but, joe, joe, it's state by state, the laws are different, guys state by state. zbrts go >> it's going to be a full-on -- >> but it will brake as well. >> it's not just cruise control, it's steering and everything else. why not an insane mode? what is an insane mode? turbo boost? >> that's the ultra acceleration. we tested about two months ago. you hit that button boom

you're gone. i don't know the exact time from zero to 60. 2.4 seconds. it's something ridiculous. >> you said yourself, everyone is asking that well -- why didn't they do it though? >> well i think you want to have something a little special for that p-85d. the starting price point on that p-85d, you're looking at somewhere in the 585,000 range. >> it's up about two bucks now. you know the stock has moved in the last week or so. did you hear anything about it did you know this was coming? >> we didn't know that this was coming remember you had quarterly sales announced on friday when the market was closed. and that was a switch in their tactics. they used to wait and do this when they did the quarterly earnings. now, they're doing quarterly sales much sooner. so you had numbers coming out, that's why the stock was up a little bit on monday. it's been up over the last four

or five days. >> what are the colors? the new colors? >> the new colors? i knew you were going to ask. silver is one of them. a version of silver. a new version of blue. i'll have to check and see what the other new one is. i will find out and get back to you. >> please do. >> i have no interest in the insane mode. i am interested in self-driving. >> why wouldn't you be interested in insane mode? >> because i may be insane but i don't want -- >> acceleration is good. let's talk about the huge deal this morning, royal dutch being bought by b.g group. since exxonmobil in 1988. shell ceo joins our clearance at cnbc new york earlier this morning. and explained. >> this is not a bet on the oil price. this deal works in a whole range of oil and gas prices. of course, we still believe, in the longer run, in a few years'

time, we will see the long-teller fundamentals reassert itself. we will see higher oil prices than what we see at the moment. of course this deal will look not just very good it will be look fantastic. >> joining us oppenheimer senior company analyst, good to have you here. huge premium, $70 billion. this deal is it a good deal? >> yes i's a good deal. it will be become the largest gas filner the world. and it's cheaper. and the company and the new ceo, he's an aggressive guy, he's a focused man. >> b.g. you mean? >> no shell. he's a great guy, very focused guy. and he pulled off one of the best deals so far. but it will continue until the big lady sings and that's exxon.

so didn't right it yet. >> you're saying they could step in or do another deal? they could do as big a deal. >> who's next? >> we don't want to do speculation but exxon has the market stock. $300 billion of stock. theoretically speaking exxon can buy the richest chevron or shell. but we do expect we see a lot of mergers and acquisitions after every cycle. we see -- >> yeah i remember in 1998 bp acquired amoco, chevron bought texaco, all in the space of three years. >> correct. >> so you're expecting that same kind of wave now? >> absolutely. absolutely. the industry is overdue for one.

and there's so many players, the field is so crowded. of course inflation has skyrocketed. and now we're going to revisit the industry. >> b.g. was a troubled company, right? didn't have a ceo for a good chunk of last year. it's deeply involved in petro glass which is mired in a huge scandal. what kind of risks are there here? >> well it's a business risk basically. >> would b.g. wipe down enough to take that risk off the table? >> from what i heard, they are going to set assets at $15 billion, obviously, to meet all the government rules, regulations, antitrust and all of these things. but this includes a deal that would make shell assets more valuable. it's not you know big for the sake of being bigger. but big for the sake of being better.

>> great to have you here. >> the full-figure gal sinking at the opera, as you just talked about, that is not -- it's necessary, but not sufficient. i've been to an opera, they sing out there the entire opera. there are full-figured gals singing out there. it's necessary for them to end but not sufficient. they sing through the first act. >> correct. >> just to be clear. >> is this a reflection on the oil price? >> no it's not a reflection on anything. i've been to the opera and there are full-figured gals singing through the entire opera. they should change the impression expression because it doesn't describe it. >> and anyway earnings season is about the start. and the fed will release minutes this afternoon, here to handicap the market for us the chief market strategies at jeffries. you talk about a lot of stuff,

the people in the pre-enter view not a lot ash earnings. we'll talk a little bit about earnings. i like what you're saying about the fed. at this point, you put hawk and dove together that's what fed is one minute they're hawkish, the next minute they're dovish. how do you pronounce it? >> like staten island. dowk. >> i like this. the only thing about our domestic markets that you can count on to go along is volatility? >> i think at this stage in the u.s. it's entering that next stage of the cycle where we don't have the tail end driving us. a stronger dollar say harder dollar to earn. you're going talk about that a stronger dollar is also a harder dollar to pay back. if you borough weak dollars in

the, say, in the oil industry -- >> and you're in another country? >> -- and you're in another country, you've got a problem. you're not participating in that business cycle upswing. every business upswing is the start of good stuff and bad stuff. there's guys that participate and guys that don't. that's stronger currency that usually come with that business cycle. that creates the default cycle. that creates the sort of next potential problem that leads us. >> you think that the fed is in a very -- in a position where they only have a very small margin of error in terms of empathy? >> this is the greatest monetary policy experiment in the way in. >> what would it mean if they screwed it up? how could they screw it up and what would happen? >> well two things. they could be like sweden where 93 prematurely tighten -- they tell us they're going to fight some bubble. housing bubble or tech bubble. who nose what the next one is.

they do what sweden did. they raise rates. all of a sudden, they realize, oh my that's not a good idea. deflation sets in. and they have to go back with the qe. and the swedish are getting a lot of flak about it. and the other side waiting. they tell us every quarter they're going to do a small amount. they've got the hawkish guys saying you're going to fuel the next level, you're going to create the next level. >> do you think they get it right? >> i think it's difficult. the odds of getting it right are very low. and inevitably there probably will be another bubble and they'll be blamed for it. and inevitably, there will be another recession and blamed for that. i think they're postponing the inevitable and acting very irrational here. >> what should they have done raised rates? >> wait a minute he said they're acting rationally -- >> exactly. >> to cover their own rear. but not rationally in terms what

they should be doing. because they're scared but it's not necessarily -- >> i don't know that it's scared. it's just irrational behavior to protect themselves and the institution, and when you don't know what the future is. but it shouldn't give you a lot of -- which is why you have have the volatility. >> what do you think they should do? >> so i think at this stage, i'm a big fan of getting off zero. understanding what it means to be off zero. >> yeah. >> and understanding how the money markets will work. the reverse will work. all the complicated stuff. >> where there's been a problem with liquidity and concerns et cetera? >> i would prefer to see us up 50 to 100 basis points. if there was a mistake if that was too early, maybe we make mistakes, we make mistakes every day. come on. then up sort of say to the market use the dots and say we're probably not going go that much that quickly until the data tell us. i think you get off zero.

and stan fisher has probably been the one who has at least pushed that view the farthest on the committee that this idea -- you know he spoke at the atlanta fed conference last week. i think he pushed the idea it's probably not an unreasonable idea to think you that go a little earlier and you wait. >> tease that you talk about, is the last quarter the one that we report the one to pay attention or the one that -- >> it's hard to know. it could be delayed. in most of the fed economic models, the dollar kind of hits the economy with a pretty big lag. a three or four-quarter lag. you might start to see the tip of it. i would bet the real nasty part if the dollar were to stay below 110 and head towards parity this year, the big nasty stuff is going to come towards the end in qe. >> are you set up for an up year in the equity markets this year? >> we're focused on europe.

we like the dowks on dollar trade. for five years we've had a long s&p trade. a hedge somewhere else usually along in the treasury market. this year we have no s&p trade. >> no s&p trade. >> wow. >> we're not really focused at all. you take the qe playbook. the work for five years. take a transatlantic flight. it's nice and cheap over there. >> so expensive for the individual. >> yeah. >> yeah. all right. coming up russian hackers infiltrating the white house. yes, amon will have the details on the attack. former israeli prime minister is going to weigh in on the nuclear deal with iran. and gary player breaks down what it takes to win the masters.

welcome back to "squawk box." watch the show for the rest of the day, please. the fda with the hepatitis c

breakthrough. gying it breakthrough designation. the fact that it will help us get to it quicker. u.s. officials confirming to nbc news that the russians were behind the white house attack last year. >> the white house talked about this attack last year but it wasn't until yesterday that u.s. officials began to confirm that it was in fact the russians behind that attack. the officials saying now the attack hit only unclassified systems at the white house. although those unclassified systems do include sensitive details including the president's private schedule. that's the one that they don't release to the media or public about who the meeting is with intelligence matters. and the white house pushed back against that cnn report. here's a statement from the national security council which they put out yesterday in the wake of cnn's reporting. they say the report is not

referring to a new incident. it is speculating on the at transition of the activity of the concern on the unclassified. eo network that the the white house disclosed last year. and as we made clear we took immediate circumstances to mitigate that activity. it doesn't say that the activity has ended. it said that the white house is mitigating the activity. i talked to sean henry, former fbi agent and now ceo of a company called cloud strike. sean said he has no idea if the russians are in the unclassified networks. he think that the chinese are as well. so guys some questions here about whether the white house is fully able to fend off this attack. it began, apparently inside the state department systems. and it's still unclear whether they've been able to eradicate this attack inside the state department systems as well

guys. >> what are we talking about aiming locations at it -- >> presumably. >> the schedule they know all about the schedule and -- >> well the president's schedule is part of that detail but the unclassified systems -- >> we're doing the masters. that was a althoughlow blow. there would be golf tee times on there? >> there would be golf tee times. they don't tell us where the president is playing golf. and the white house pool is surprised to find themselves in virginia maryland wherever they are. when you're talking about unclassified systems you're talking about e-mail appointment logs for a lot of people not released publicly until much much level. all of that e-mail back and forth between low-level officials even e-mail back and forth with reporters. all of that presumably would be unclassified systems at the white house. it's a treasure trove for

systems. >> and potentially physically dangerous for the president, right, to know where he is at certain tiles? mes? >> yeah, i mean in theory yes. we know a lot about where the president is at any given time anyway. because he's followed by television cameras everywhere he goes. but, yeah, it it gives insight into who he is actually meeting and things that we don't get to see. >> eamon, maybe the answer is to keep a personal server with personal e-mail? has anybody talked about that? >> that has been tried in recent memory. i'll tell you, joe, what the swiss bankers do to keep their information secret. >> tell me. tell me. >> the swiss bankers keep it all on paper on index cards. they don't use computers all. because computers aren't secure. >> i'm going back to that. thank you, eamon. coming up a million-dollar pie. that's next. plus grand slam golfing

legend gary player will join us to break down the field at the masters. stay with us. >> announcer: time now for today's aflac trivia question. who hold the record for the most wins at the masters golf tournament? the answer when cnbc "squawk box" continues. elike motion... ahhh- ahhhhhh. liberate your spine... ahhh-ahhhhhh......aflac! and reach, toes blossoming... not that great at yoga. yeah, but when i slipped a disk he paid my claim in just one day. ahh! so he had your back? yep. in just one day, we approve and pay. one day pay, only from aflac. [duck snoring]

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>> announcer: now the answer to today's aflac trivia question. who holds the record for the most wins at the masters golf tournament. the answer -- jack nicklaus. when is a pie worth million dollars? when it's the original manuscript of john mcclain's "american pie." christies auctioned off the manuscript complete with lines. and the buyer was nonidentified. the auction house says that's the third highest auction price in american literary. names like bob dylan. for the manuscript "like a rolling stone" which i also didn't understand for $2 million.

i have no idea this is about buddy holly. and ritchie valens. >> it's almost like a happy song. >> it is. >> you dance with it. >> you knew it was -- >> my father had told me. i didn't know based on the words. >> you wouldn't really call him a one-hit wonder. well, the world was no longer -- >> this song mired by the enduring -- >> it's iconic. >> it is iconic. >> yes, it is. coming up former israeli prime minister said united states showed weakness in relations with iran. as we head to break, take a look at u.s. equity futures at this hour.

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♪ ♪ the best day of my life my life ♪ welcome back to "squawk

box." among the stories that are front and center today, royal dutch shell is buying smaller rival b.g. group for $70 billion in cash and stock. the price tag represents a premium of about 52% to b.g.'s 90-day trading ring. and rahm emanuel will serve another term as chicago's mayor. he won chicago's first ever runoff capturing about 55% of the vote. and by the time it was all said and done wasn't going to be as nearly as close as people thought. >> no, we talked about it yesterday afternoon. >> i know a certain person who has a certain agent who was probably there in chicago. just as -- >> that would be you, right? >> yes. for a fact. >> that is an incredible family isn't it? >> yeah they are. >> all three brothers so famous in their own way. >> and i actually love them all,

but the word it's like why is it that word that comes before eemanual brother. >> did you know rahm emanuel used to be a ballet dancer? >> is it linked to that? rahm has a big future. if you notice he can sort of get the two -- remember with obama care that didn't endear him in the white house because he wanted to do it in a mar -- >> bipartisan way? >> bipartisan. >> and that doesn't work does it? >> no it doesn't. and you see who goes up and -- mr. kovellic.

>> really. >> you actually have to make actual decisions based on logic rather than idealism. >> president obama's got big decisions to make. let's talk about that in fact in a recent opinion piece in "time" magazine former prime minister ehud barak addressed the deal saying there is say perception across the middle east that america is weakened i believe that perception is wrong but perception these days works as reality. but a common view america negotiated not out of strength but out of an appetite to obtain a deal. this allowed iran an advantage in negotiations. joining us to talk about what this means especially for its reels. former israeli prime minister ehud barak. sir, good to have you here. >> thank you. >> as you can see, there's a little bit of a saddletellite delay. let's start with this point that you make. the iranians seemed desperate

for getting a deal done for the sake of getting a deal done. i assume you conclude that has led them to make many more concessions than they would have if they had negotiated from the position of strength? >> well it's clear that by now there is no agreement, basically. and understanding about future agreement and when the negotiation comes right now there's no symmetry. the iranians are led by a senior people, in the ways of democracy, you cannot change an election. all around the world and back home, to pass this agreement, the high intensity that we've seen between what zarif would describe has been understood and what kerry would say has been understood. and the concessions might continue. so it's the last moment to stand firm and to shape a position.

and make sure that iranians understand that either they dismantle their military nuclear program or else. >> should the senate defy the president and actually pass legislation to try to stop the deal? >> i'm not in a position to tell you how the american legislature should act, but i think that what is really needs is a clear message, it's not too late, to send. an authoritative role of the president to come to khomeini and tell them we fully understand you, we're not going to embarrass you, we're not going to humiliate you. you have to understand either you agree to dismantle once and for all your military problem or else. and the military option doesn't serve the case. the reason that they're here is exactly the fact that they with the dissension they were so

clearly the big stick in the ground. and they felt the simmering tension from underneath. and they will never -- >> the president has said several times, he makes it sound like it's this deal, or what do you want war? he's taken the military option off the table completely. you're say that's a false choice in your op-ed, that there could have been a military strike and there still could be? >> i think -- once again, all of us prefer a solution that might be reached through negotiation. but order to negotiate, the other side should understand and believe, not just fakely believe. we should understand and strongly believe that if they will not come to terms with the real demands to put all of the enriched material out of iran to close and stop all working or

representation of making the preparation for the nuclear weapon. if this is not agreed right now, they face alternative. now, the administration uses the term "war" and people are thinking probably something like a war on iraq. or a war on afghanistan. that's not the case. technically speaking the pentagon and the forces of america, under the beckon and probably the direction of the president to aid extremely effective means to destroy the iranian nuclear military program over a fraction of one night in an operation which is much closer on the spectrum between the war on iraq and the killing of osama bin laden. it's much closer to killing osama bin laden and that some things should be understood. the iranian can do nothing about it except for talking to

israel. >> mr. prime minister united states and israel very long close relationship. and i understand at this point that the security concerns of the united states and israel maybe are not exactly the same. and maybe they have diverged. but should it be surprising to me to hear an american president, president obama, reject out of hand a provision that iran recognizes the state of israel's right to exist, and says, no that will not be part of this deal that we're arranging, that no, i don't even want to -- they do not have to acknowledge that israel exists? is that just a pragmatic approach, or does that signal a

shift in relationship between israel and the united states? >> no, i don't think it represents any shift. i think basically, the administration, the previous administration, but in certain areas in an unprecedented way that the administration supports israel. the depth of commitment the amount of financial to the most critical systems. missile defense system as well as extra support. we can know long enough before any iranian missile can regis real, we can know about it ten minutes or more beforehand just because an american operator is -- the support of the administration to israel in security of the corporation is unprecedented. i don't question for a moment the commitment of president obama and everyone in that administration for the security

of israel. >> so prime minister it wasn't that long ago. >> we see at the last moments they change position. >> it wasn't that long ago that israel received bipartisan support. it was a win-win for democrats and republicans. now israel is seen as seen as very much being a product of the right. and has put the country in a very different position. should that change in some way, should benjamin netanyahu do something to try to fix that at this point? >> i hope that immediately, after the new government established in israel we are a democracy, you remember church and state. the worst government system. so basically, we're in a democracy, we've elected a government. and i hope immediately after the establishment of new government a series of contacts with the white house will somehow iron out at least the style and some

of the content of the dispute and bring it behind closed doors. i think part of the deterioration was brought on by the high profile dispute. the dispute should be clarified behind closed doors. directly eye to eye with the president and top administration leaders. >> mr. prime minister thank you for meeting with us. we really appreciate it. former israeli prime minister ehud barak. and coming up he's a golf legend. gary player checks in from the masters tournament. but first, upgraded to buy lululemon, agy says it will gay off sooner than estimated.

he's just one of five golfer to achieve golf's hardest feat at the grand slam. gary player celebrating that 50th anniversary at the masters

this year. he joins us at the masters and his thoughts. who is going to do it whether rory can do it? mr. player, great to see you? >> thank you, joe. nice to speak to you and michelle. >> we played -- we haven't played a full round but at the floridian, you've seen my swing, you weren't that negative about my swing, actually i was on number 10 when it was a par 3 and you designed that course. >> i was very concerned about you, in fact perturbed, i thought, here's a man who plays five times a week. >> yeah. >> you got to get back to the office. you got to get back to that office man. >> you just -- i wonder about the way you see these guys hit the ball now, too. before we get into specifics. i always remember you, i remember when you were swinging it floridian. you'd end up sometimes standing in your divot because you were moving so well to hit the ball forward because you didn't have

that much weight behind it. you can imagine competing with one of these guy hitting the ball these days? >> i would love to have the opportunity. you got to remember joe and michelle that ball today goes 50 yards farther than what we played. we never played in golf conditions like this. i think jack nicklaus would have beaten them all. in fact i know i've seen them all play and have great admiration for the players today. but jack nicklaus was unbelievable. we've got to think, we had our own private jets when i first came to america. 40 hours, six children stopping four times. no jets. sitting with no deposable diapers, we used the all crappy style of cleaning. things have changed with the price of survival. what amazes me joe and michelle, you see the growth of the game it's unbelievable. and it comes back to sponsorships. this is what athletes must never

forget. and golf is say great catalyst at raising money for charities. i represent a bank called barrenburg bank in germany. highly conservative. one of the oldest banks in the world but not interested in golf. they've gotten to sponsoring golf. playing in events. they love it. that's what's happened with rolex. they've put in millions and millions into the game of golf. i never thought i'd ever live to see a day when we were play for a first prize of $1 million a week. we, if we went to $2 million in a year it was quite an achievement. it's great to seat growth of the game. women and men, all around the world. well, it's exciting for me being a pro for 63 years. >> you're right, for kids too. learning that if a kid goes out and plays alone that i'm going to improve my life. really, who are you cheating if

you improve your life if you don't follow the rule that teaches you so many great lessons in life. as far as charity, you think about the at&t pebble beach is probably tens of millions of dollars. so it's all good. i can't think of anything negative about the game itself. and the principles of the game and what it teaches. who do you like this week? who's bringing in the game? and i follow you on twitter. i see you follow globally everybody who is playing. who has the game right now to really contend and maybe win down at augusta? >> well wouldn't it be exciting if rory mcilroy could join the five of us as a grand slam winner. it would enhance the title of grand slam. it would be great for ireland. it would be great for international golf. and global golf. and golf say global game but there's as stenson, jason day and jordan spieth and a host of others. but you know the thing that wins

golf tournaments is still the best putter. and the best putter playing on the tour today is jordan spieth. so we're in for a very exciting masters this week. the course is in great shape. it gets better and better. i'd love to know what they spend on this golf course every year for maintenance. >> spieth hits -- he never is short, as far as i can tell. and in the last few tournaments, the ones he's contened in. we've seen what you're talking about 35 and 40-footers which he thinks he has a chance of making them. i think that has something to do with being 21 years old, doesn't it? >> that's aptly put. you know when you're a young man, the hole looks the size of a bucket. when you get to my age of 80 the hole looks the size of a bayer aspirin. >> gary if i know i have five feet coming back -- i don't want five feet coming back. i want to stop this short of the

hole. if it counts. and you're going to do this tomorrow morning with billy payne. we watch it every year. there's dew on the ground. and it's you and jack and arnold again this year? >> it is. and we look forward to it very much indeed. it's a wonderful introduction historically, it's been very very popular. and today, we play the par 3 which is quite unique on this beautiful golf course with 20,000 people there. and it reminds me when i go back to our first run in 1961 i'm playing -- i'm leading arnold palmer. this great icon. and here's this little south african foreigner trying to challenge an icon. and 20,000 people. there was only one person pulling for me my wife and my dog and i went on to win. >> even tomorrow there's competition. will you hit it past those guys tomorrow? should i count on that? >> well jack beat me one time.

and i beat him the other time. tomorrow is the playoff. you got to catch it. you got to catch it. >> mr. player we appreciate it. great to have you on. great to see you. >> take care. >> so charming. >> isn't he? >> yeah he's great. listen up appleonans.

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the parade for preorders for the new apple watch begins friday. more than six months after the tech giant unveiled the new watch. let's get a sense of what consumers can expect. john ford is cnbc's technology correspondent. you've actually tried it on. used it, worked with it. tell us about it. >> i got kind of the try-on experience that a lot of customers will get in the store. i haven't reviewed it. it's not like i spent all day with it so my impressions are like this. it's a lot nicer than it is in photos. it has a premium feel lower end sports version at 350 bucks with a band that's kind of like a rubbery plastic. it's got a premium feel. >> it achieves the jewelry status? >> it does. but it costs $350. apple is trying to make sure i

think, that they buy it with the right expectations and that they have good things to say to their friends. the first six months that this thing is out it's going to crucial for apple to shape perception. >> i expect it will be easy to answer the phone on the watch. is it? >> i think it's going to be decently easy, yes, to answer your phone on the watch. when you're dealing with incoming information, pretty easy. what's a little harder from what i've read and from what i've seen is say, creating a brand-new message and sending that out. the method from doing that is different from any other device that apple has come out with because it's a tiny little screen. >> it's crucial for me because of the fitbit. >> that is not high-end jewelry. >> i know. >> it's crap. i have one and i won't wear that thing, it's embarrassing. i can just tell you, i'm getting shaken down by both of my

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happening this morning -- a mega deal in the oil patch. shell is buying rival b.g. group for $70 billion. the latest in the wave of tieups in the energy crisis. we'll find out. more deals are in the pipeline. the jobs are out. hiring slows. what gives? a closer look at jobs trends. and talk about a bracket buster. the 12-year-old who beat out 11.5 million others on espn. denied. we'll hear his story as the final hour of "squawk box" kicks off right now. ♪ >> announcer: live from the most

powerful city in the world, new york. this is "squawk box." welcome back to "squawk box" here on cnbc. first in business worldwide. i'm joe kernin along with michelle caruso-cabrera. the futures right now are not up a lot. up about 20 points. with the s&p up just under 2. nasdaq up above 5. the session monday up ahead of monday's session. that's what's happening in europe this morning. not a through the hang your hat on there either. >> we're waiting for the fed minutes. >> waiting for the fed minutes. unfortunately, that's true. every waking thought from the fed is important to us. >> even sleeping. we begin with the corporate story of the morning, shell's mega deal to buy b.g. group. for $70 billion in cashing and

stock. it's the biggest energy tieup in more than a decade. let's get details from cnbc's seema mody who joins us. is it the old british gas scene, isn't it and they changed a little bit to call it b.g. group to make it more inclusive of their operations or something? >> yeah it's these two big uk honchos coming together, joe. the sheer size of this deal. royal dutch shell paying $70 billion. that's a 50% premium to the price b.g. closed out yesterday. this deal comes as oil prices have declined about 45% over the past one year but the ceo of shell told cnbc europe this morning that the merger is not purely a bet on oil prices. >> this is not a bet on the oil price. this deal works in a whole range of oil and gas prices. of course, we still believe in the longer run in a few years'

time, we will see the long-teller fundamentals reassert itself. we will see higher oil prices than what we see at the moment. then of course this deal will look not just very good. it will look fantastic. >> now, this deal gives shell access to b.g.'s assets in east africa brazil and other markets but matt beasley at henderson global investors warns that the significant fall in the oil price have reduced a value of these key assets. and beasley says this deal potentially puts some strain on its dividend as shell redirects cash flows to pay down debt ahead of growing the dividend. michelle and joe, back to you. the ripple effects out there today. other stories, applications for mortgages rising in the last week. and the season unofficially begins today. alcoa posting results after the close.

analysts expect overall profitings from the s&p to shrink 3% from last year. and the minutes of the fed of march will be released at 2:00 p.m. eastern time. and few of stockings on the move tesla announcing upgrade of its flagship model s featuring larger battery pack. and motor drive. and self-driving software. and noble energy with half of the jobs in the colorado operations. apples, the analyst suggests difficulty issues for handset sales could weigh on apple's shares. governor jerome powell speaking in new york this morning. among the highlights he said the fed should look for a little more proof than usual that labor markets are tightens. powell argues economic

standpoints can help move gradually to help the fed make up lost ground. job openings have surged to the highest level in 14 years. the sold jolt report showing over 5 million job openings in february. but a number of americans actually hired, the jobs declined. let's talk about the labor and the market and the x-rays gap. joining us alan krueger, professor of chick, and former council of the white house economic visors and eric spiegel, president and siemans usa. let's start, with the work or lack thereof on the labor market, has your take on it been borne out? i think it has over the past year or so? >> i mostly agree with that. i think we're seeing the dow

market get tighter. ethink companies have not necessarily adapted to the any environment. i think we should see it going forward given how much unemployment has decreased. >> and obviously, that has a lot of implications for the federal reserve. it has implications for how quickly sort of this complacency we have in terms of inflation, i mean that could change relatively quickly. i've been arguing that most people think that we'll have never have an issue again with deflation in europe that we're never going to have to worry about it again, couldn't it change fairly quickly in a tight labor market? >> it could change. i don't suspect that it will change quickly. i think the history of inflation is it tends to move up somewhat gradually. and i think a little bit of inflation now would be a good problem to have. i'd rather see that than a

reversal in the recovery that we're seeing in the economy. but i do expect to see wages pick up. and i think that will be healthy for the economy. >> will you answer me honestly if i ask you whether they should raise in june? because your work would indicate that they should but i bet you'll be too politically correct to tell them what to do. >> well i've been saying for a while, i think they should look for clear signs of inflation. you know the fed have made it pretty clear that they want a 2% inflation target. and i would wait for signs that either wages are pushing us up towards that target. or that places themselves are going fast enough that will be at that target. and frankly it doesn't matter all that much. >> and is that -- >> it doesn't matter all that much if they move in june or july or september. i think it's important that they start to normalize. but if they miss a little bit by moving later than earlier, i think that's a mistake i'd rather see them make.

>> i know you worked in government, isn't 1 1/2 for government work -- really we're going to micromanage 50 basis points on inflation to make sure we get up to 2? we need to do this kind of stuff? i would think 1.5 is pretty good. if it's coming down the road if gives you breathing room. anyway, i understand what you say. eric as a technology concern, do you have to pay more to get people you that want? >> well i think in some markets, in some types of jobs it's clear that there's wage pressure. if you take a look we have about 2,000 job openings now. most of those are in engineering various i.t. jobs like davis science and cybersecurity. and also in production workers. people working in the plants. the plants are getting much more sophisticated these days. things run by computers and robots and lasers.

so the skills are much higher. we're getting down to the point with 5 million openings out there, we do have a skills gap. we're having trouble finding the people. when you're looking for people with skills of course there's more pressure on wages. more turnover people leaving, going on hiring. the s.t.e.m. jobs science, technology and engineering jobs we did a study on the round table, 200,000 jobs on business round taiblble companies which is 250 companies. takes twice as long. quantitative jobs various i.t. jobs and engineering-type jobs. those are jobs that hold high skills even with production workers in plants there's a lot of pressure on those jobs. >> and we have seen at least, it's a start, but a lot of companies that in the past would have an assumption about wage increases for the next year for the coming year. a lot of companies have

ratcheted those up for 2015 that hadn't done it before. has semans raised that component for a forecast? >> you mean wages in general? >> yeah do you think wages will go up 3, 4, 5 6? have you been boosting the expectations for the coming year? >> i don't think we're expecting any faster increase than we've seen over the last couple of years. we don't have -- as you would expect we don't have many minimum wage-type jobs. >> no i'm sure. you can't hire the people you need. and it wouldn't help if you were to offer more money for the s.t.e.m. guys because they're just not around, are they? >> i think that's the big problem. i think the skills gap is real. if you take a look at all of the facilities, there aren't people with the skills.

that's why we've actually started up several apprentice programs now at manufacturing facilities because we're struggling to find people really in these middle skills. i think that's where we're seeing pressure on wages as well. people who are machinists welders. we started a program with welding out in sacramento, because we've got a lot of orderses in the rail sector. we've started a technicians program in alabama and atlanta. of course we have a big megatronic, machine program. >> that is great to hear the companies take on the workers they need. so often you hear there should be a government program for that, and to see it i think it gets you more of what you need. let me go back to you, alan when he talks about the skills mismatch, as we wait for the fed to raise rates here if they're waiting for improvement in employment, it's not like easier

money or cheap money for longer or necessarily takes care of the problem that eric's talking about alan? >> well it's interesting that eric said that he's not raising wages which makes you wonder how severe the problem is. i think from the fed's perspective the job market is getting tighter. i'd like to see companies respond by raising wages. i think that would help put pressure on the fed to move. and i think it will also help to strengthen the recovery. >> all right. >> i didn't say -- actually i didn't say we're not raising wages. we are raising wages. i think on average they're going up higher than inflation. i'm saying that's not the problem we're having finding the right people. >> you're saying you're not raising them any more than before, which means or suggests you're not finding the problem more severe? >> well, i think we're finding it across more sectors more severe. especially in certain areas. i think the issue is even if

you raise wages you're not going to find the people with the skills you need in a lot of these locations. >> alan krueger, eric spiegel, we appreciate it. imagine beating out more than 11 million people to win your brackets in march madness but not being able to claim your prize. that's exactly what happened to one 12-year-old. we're going to hear from him and his dad. later, a trifecta facing investors. oil has declined. the fed posse and the earning season. russ koesterich is here to tell us where he's putting the money. stick around.

out of 11.5 entries on espn's bracket challenge, a sixth grader came in at the top spot. but he won't be eligible for the grand prize drawing of $20,000 and a trip to maui because he's under the age of 18. sam holtz had had that top bracket. he joins us with his dad butch holtz. i was hoping that my son would

get back to me. my son is also in sixth grade. how many points did you get, sam? 150? >> i got 1,830. >> okay. that's your ranking. my son was 18,000. but he got 145 points. the winner of our pool here got 150 but for tv news. my son had duke and wisconsin. all the way down. how did you -- was it a feeling? or did you watch enough basketball to actually have a good feel for who was going to win each game? >> well i watched a little bit of basketball during the season. not a lot. but just a little bit. a lot of notre dame games. and right before the brackets came out, i went on espn and was just studying a little bit on them the teams and stuff like that. and looking at all the stats and players on each team. >> let me ask you, sam, i had had notre dame going a long way.

and if that last three three-pointer would have gone in they would have beaten kentucky. if you're a fan of notre dame why didn't you stick with them? or did you stick with them? >> well i like notre dame a lot. but kentucky is better. >> i know. that's what i'm talking about. but know what i'm talking about, i don't know what to do half the time. notre dame beat duke didn't they? within the last couple of week. so you know i messed up by picking teams i liked. i picked -- i love iowa state. and i love wichita state. and then end up looking like an idiot. >> i feel bad for sam, he didn't get any money. >> he's on tv. he's in sixth grade, he's on tv because he's a sports genius. >> i'd want the money. dad, how do you feel about the fact that he didn't get the

money? >> well, you know when you think about it, if they had to say, sam, if you can find your way down to connecticut, pay your own way, we'll put you on air and we'll give you a gift basket with a few goodies. you think about espn even being owned by disney might want to come up a little bit more for a kid. a kid sure would love a best buy gift card loves electronics. >> is there some kind of law, probably within the rules of the contest, but i wonder if there's just some kind of -- it's too close to gambling to let someone under 18 to do it maybe? >> well yeah but you think about it how many people would have their kids fill out a lottery ticket with numbers. the parent still has to go in there and, you know buy the lottery ticket. so it's kind of the same thing but, you know i guess espn felt it shouldn't give to kids. >> i'm on board. let's start trashing espn.

they're not owned by us those cheap s.o.b.s. i'm not going to explain ma thatwhat that means? >> you'd get free passes to disney. >> disney would be good. it's actually a best buy gift card. you think that they could step up. that's okay. >> sam, are you actually going to get any money? >> well i feel pretty bad about it. i mean i came in number one. being that i still can't get it because i'm under age, being that i beat everyone older than me i still should get the prize that everyone older than me is getting. >> too many government intervention rules. >> so if you had done it under -- you could have filled out a bracket and put it on -- that might have been your fault, butch. >> exactly. you should have done that for him. >> there's been a lot of haters

out there saying i screwed this up. but, i mean they really didn't think he was going to come close to winning this thing. i didn't even really know about it until last thursday. i didn't even know that he was even in the running of this. he filled out a bumble ofnch of them. i kind of teased him about his picks. >> i probably would have too. like what are you thinking. >> sam, what's the best part about this being better than everybody else? >> well the best part is probably, you know saying to everyone that hey, i'm the number one bracket. bragging rights and all of that to my friends. >> i'm not convinced that big corporations, they like to -- you know they don't like bad pr. maybe you're going to hear something after this interview. health us let us know, if you do, sam is and butch.

>> brags sging rights are worth a lot. >> did you have all four? >> how many of the elite eight did you have sam? >> i had every single one right? >> and all four too, i guess. >> yeah. >> whoa. >> great having you on, guys. >> i did not. i did not. >> yeah, we figured that out. >> guys thanks. i'd still be happy, though. coming up tesla easing anxiety for potential customer details. check out the shares of tesla which is now at $6 up 6 bucks. we'll be right back.

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tesla make something changes in the model s, possibly easing a little bit of the anxiety. phil has the details. >> yeah premarket, joe, people are liking what they're hearing from tesla. keep in mind we see this a lot from tesla. news comes out, you see the spike, a nice pop in the premarket and comes down once the session begins. tesla releasing a new base model s. especially replacing the 60 kilowatt. replaced by a 70 kilowatt

version auld the 70-d. the d is important here it stands for dual motors all-wheel drive vehicles. the current 60 kilowatt hours is rear wheel drive, now the new 70d will be dual motor, all-wheel drive. i've had a few people say well is there is an insane mode on this as in the p-85d. no, you do not get insane mode with the new 70d dual motor all-wheel drive version. it starts at $74,900. that's about $5,000 more than the version model s. it comes with supercharging hardware. the latest software will be on here. if you want that autopilot software introduced in six months that's going to cost you another 2 grand. the bottom line joe, they have raised the base price up. you now get 500 horsepower the

old 60 kilowatt as about 340, 360. more range on this than the model s. guys back to you. coming up -- earning season in focus. "squawk box" discusses expectations. and futures, a slightly positive open. good. very good.

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♪ welcome back to "squawk box." stocks to watch this morning, rite aid is on the list reporting earnings and revenue above estimates. and the company results say they were boosted by 5% increase in pharmacy sales. lululemon, a buy. systems and processes will pay off sooner and more than anticipated. and goldman sachs is downgrading web m.d. saying that

the web operator may be hurt by the reluctance of pharmaceutical advertisers to embrace mobile ads. and the new york rangers are headed to the nhl playoffs with the league's best record. the club captured the presidents trophy. it's the first time a team has won the award since 1994. it was not but for the last time they won the stanley cup. they went a long way last year only to star in the stanley cup finals. so this is good for the rangers fans. may have to become a rangers fan. >> my husband is very excited. a market triple threat. slumping oil prices. the fed's wait and see policy. add on top of it an earnings season. things do get volatile over the next two week. we're joins by ross koesterich.

mats the most what the the most important thing today? >> the fed. >> we have a three-hour show without the fed it would be an hour. >> i think we would have a better economy and the market is no longer going to be about multiple expansion. that has not happen we're seeing earnings supposed to be down 3% yield over year. once again investors are relying on easy money to push the market higher. does is that a bad thing? >> well it's not a bad thing but it can't go on forever. you'll get to the point where the multiples start at a danger point. with a multiple expansion you will be. >> so regarding that, you still you can still buy the market for a year or two? >> i think you can. lower oil is actually and as you get into q-2 and q-3 there will be enough to start the job earnings.

>> where do you put the expectation of the fed? based on what you said you assume the fed goes when or does it matter to you? >> it does matter to you, but after that initial high collateral after june or september. all the best guests is september. since last week we had an official last week under his terms a shower cycle which means we're not going to get that steady pace of a quarter point, a quarter point. it's going to give the economy time to wreak havoc. >> what do you make in the huge deal in the energy sector? is that a sign of anything but extremely low oil price or an spirits? >> this is an environment where it's easy to do deals. and in some cases, you're actually getting paid to borough. >> are you going to buy more on that sector with the consolidation or does the lower oil price keep you out of there?

>> we actually think the large energy are the places to be. one, they're cheap. the cheapest we've seen in decades. it's a reasonable yield play. and you've got downstream operations which at least a part of that business lower oil price, supportive. >> do you give people advice owen i always say cnbc is an equity shop. >> absolutely. >> are you encouraging anybody to do anything? >> i think the reality is you're going to have bonds in a portfolio. and then it becomes a relative buying discussion. where with fixed income do we see values. stating the incredibly obviously, fixed income is expensive. but oil pockets look better than others. we focus on high yield. you go out 20 years or more in municipal base you get a 20 or 30-points pickup on income from the comparable treasury. >> but you've got to take industry risk? >> you are taking risk.

some of that is appropriate in the portfolio to the extend the long end of the curve is fairly well anchored given matswhat's happening in the rest of the world. >> what is high these days 4.5%? >> a whopping 6%. if your choice is zero it's relevant. >> what kind of junk are you guying? >> without going to the junkiest parts of the market you can still get 5%. high-yield spreads are 470 over. this is not cheap. but no fixed income is cheap. on a basis as a carry trade we think this makes sense. >> go back. you think the long end of the curve is long ended. to put it simply you're not worried about inflation in a big way, right? >> we're not worried about inflation for a bunch of reasons. one you've got a number of

secular forces keeping it down. you've got an ageing population. and very inflationary monetary measures are improving but nowhere near the level of getting you near the inflation picking up in a meaningful way. >> yeah but, still, that portfolio can go so wrong, so badly, if things go even a hair off of expectations? >> well you have the risk on duration. if you think about that on a multiportfolio, that should hedge against equities. and within bonds you pay at least a little bit to post other parts of the bonds market you're not get the paid. >> we had a guy on earlier, the german dax is going all europe. >> hopefully, it's hedged. >> that is my question as individualed eded buy german stocks it's really expensive for an individual to hedge the euro. are you putting clients in the

european stocks how do you do it? >> if you have -- >> like three. >> three months ago. >> six months ago, right? >> to edge up the currency that's the way we think about doing it right now. >> i don't think we're -- >> we don't talk corporate bonds very much. >> we talk about interest rates. on "squawk box," we have once in a while, we say here's some stuff to watch. 459s it. that's it. the rest of it has nothing to do with stocks. out there the rest of the day we have stocks. but the market is not trading right now. >> you talk about high yield. >> we don't put up charts and bonds. >> but certainly, we talk commodities, we talk oil, interest rates. short end of the curve.

long end of the curve. european, crease. >> i stand corrected. >> thank you. >> i don't want to be some stock shop. just that we're hawking stock. >> i didn't say that. thank you. coming up next when he's not rubbing feet the founder of quirky is looking for the next awesome product. we're talking about ben coffman right after the break. take a look at oil prices. they're lowered by the wti 52.70 a barrel. see you after this break. financial noise financial noise

financial noise

welcome back. to "squawk box." we've got media news. disney and imax signs a three-year deal to extend a partnership that covers including a new "star wars" movie. the release of movies from studios such as disney pixar, lucas film and mohar. quirky is back. the platform teaming up to develop the headphones of form. the first with general electric. let's talk about the campaign with ben kaufman. he's founder and ceo of quirky. let's establish where you are

for everybody. you're a crowdsourcing dewhere you help inventors who come up with cool ideas come up with backing? >> we're a community company. everyone hates consortium. we're a community company. we find the best products every week and turn them into consumer products. >> you're working with harmon with headphones of the future. >> we're working with harman with an evolution of how quirky sort of progressed. we started as a company people submitted ideas we brought them to life under the quirky brand. about two years ago, we partnered with g. efrlgts.e. >> i was getting to that. you make quirky things for the house. >> like the egg tray. sold out like that.

and the power strip. our staple g.e. line, now, know has every single thing you need to live in a smarter home. >> you're holding that up. >> a security system that we can stall for $20. this is i think, an outlet that you can control with your phone. this has all the functionality of nest for $50. >> nest has done very well. you can control your thermostat from your house. way out, wherever you are. et cetera. remote. this is a getcompetitor product? >> it's i competitor product that we built with ge. >> what is this here? >> that is a multipurple sensor in a questionable color. >> it senses what? >> so it senses light, sound, acceleration, all sorts of stuff like that. >> you would do what with it? >> you could use it to trigger events in your house. let's say acceleration.

when your washing machine is done washing it starts vibrating and sends a signal to say your laundry's done. again, it's a community company. my opinion is completely irrelevant. >> somebody who invented this how much money do they get? >> last summer the inventor of that air conditioner made hundreds of thousands last year. >> because you rubbed his feet -- i wasn't going to bring up rubbing andrew's feet. >> they have the clip and they play it every time i come out. >> he's not the only person that gives up. >> i rub the inventor's feet. >> really? >> what did you think, we're centipedes? what do you think of "shark tank"? >> i like "shark tank" i don't

know that it necessarily paints the real picture of what's difficult about product development. i think it sort of says -- >> i don't think that's the right answer. anyway everything about it is great. especially what we have. >> right. it's a great show. >> would you ever want to be on it? >> would i want to be on it? >> would you want to be a regular? >> pitching or receiving? >> i think you'd have to be a person deciding on ideas. isn't that what you do? >> i find money to invest in these people. but i think it's generally a cool thing to get ideas out there. >> and good for a millennial, sort of -- who is the youngest on the show now. that might be cuban. >> yeah. >> we have the inventor of kind bars. >> a great company. >> great company. very interesting. born in mexico. came to the united states. talked about in this country and

another country, is this is a great place to found a company? what do you think? >> i think it can scale to other parts of the world. but i think starting with here is the only place he could have possibly gotten the foot hold i think the openness of the ideas given the fact of twitter and facebook, people are willing to share their ideas with the hopes of bubbling up to the top and being commercialized. >> check out the harman challenge. we're excited about the challenge that the community is coming up and working with global initiatives. >> cool. >> thank you ben. when we return we're heading downtown to get jim's take on the oil patch. and much more on the futures this hour. we'll see if they've improved. they haven't. they've done nothing.

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let's get down to the new york stock exchange. jim cramer joins us now. jim, we've gone back and forth. do oil mergers like this happen when oil prices are -- can they happen when oil prices are strong? or do they happen when people get together and look for cost savings and oil prices are weak? >> i think it's the latter.

i think dutch was challenged from that point of view. with b.g. guys they've got a lot of natural gas. they have a lot of world dutch can drill. andrew gould was on the call this nothis morning. but world dutch declared the dividend for two years and people were worried that world dutch would cut the dividend. therefore, the stock doesn't go down a lot or up a lot. i expect to see them at this price for the duration. >> what about the chances of somebody else coming in? >> at this price? >> yeah. is that the whole point of the premium? >> i guess so. geez. i don't know. i mean i think the whole point of the premium was they did a better job negotiation than world dutch did. they must have been just looking for assets bad. they paid top dollar. honestly, i like the idea but i don't like the price. >> do you see -- >> if someone else comes in they're more stupid i guess. >> what's your latest thinking on tesla and you see the stock

is going to be up today. >> tesla, press releases that i don't think they sell any more cars because this is just kind of a switch of cars. tesla has the shorts on the run and when the shorts are on the run, stock can actually have a pretty good -- pretty good move here because i think the car's great and people are going to say that range anxiety is the issue and they take the stock up. is it good for earnings? earnings are an abstraction. tesla doesn't have earnings. >> jim we had a guy from jeffries on. i get all of his stuff. i don't know if i've interviewed him before but i get all of his stuff in my e-mail. he says that the -- what the fed is trying to orchestrate is such a narrow sweet spot forgetting it right that the only thing he's long is volatility in this country and then he's long europe. i mean is there -- is it tough to go up in u.s. equities this year, do you think? >> look europe is on fire. that market goes up pretty much every day. we're like this polar opposite.

until the dollar stops going higher, i think it's going to be very hard to make money here other than a couple of domestic plays. if the dollar stops going higher, joe, this money is going to reverse. there's just too many that are going to disappoint with this dog going up. if they can get the dollar to go down a little then the ceos can have something to say that's not cut numbers. only 30% of the analysts have cut the numbers yet based on the dollar. then i think we can reset the table. right now if it's domestic it could work. if it's international, it's not going to work. >> okay. jim, we'll see you in about seven, eight minutes. when we return your morning watch list and then also a look at what's moving before the bell. tomorrow on "squawk box," larry summers is our special guest. we're going to talk fed policy, the dollar strength and his economic outlook. "squawk box" will be right back. nothing more romantic than a spontaneous moment. so why pause to take a pill?

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list. it's not the apple watch. >> how do i respond to that? >> the fed is in focus after last month's meeting minutes are out this afternoon and they're looking for more insight with more internal debate with the fed on the rate hike. last week's weak jobs report have economists speculating the fed will wait until at least september. alcoa reports first close earnings after the close today. s&p 500 to release results. watch for demand levels for aluminum in the aeroand auto space markets. bed, bath and beyond reporting after the bell, analyst expect to see slow revenue growth due to the weak housing recovery. higher operating cost and fierce competition from online retailers. futures this morning, suggesting a marginally positive open. other stocks to watch today. merck, the fda -- merck is another one. the fda granting the investigational connick hepatitis c therapy breakthrough, therapy

designations. noef novo insulin drug preceva, it was rejected by the fda two years ago. a lot of talk about the apple watch in the excitement building ahead of the start of the presales this week. the first device reviews are coming in. "the new york times" writes in his words it took three days three long often confusing and frustrating days for me to fall for the apple watch. but once i fell i fell hard. >> i just read that and he calls it an extension of the body basically. >> really. >> yeah. >> "usa today's" ed baig says, now that i spent more than a week wearing the apple watch, i'm reserving a prominent spot on my wrist. apple watch is an elegant combination of style and purpose, even if it indeed often serves as a stand-in for the iphone tucked away in your

pocket or your purse. >> that's the whole point. it's not a watch. it's a phone. >> right. but your have to have your phone with you. >> still. >> but you have a -- theoretically you have -- and i usually have the phone. it's not that much different from me to go to the phone or to go to the -- >> for women, it's tougher. it's in your bag, walking around. so i think that's going to be crucial. >> i can't imagine that it's not going to meet the average expectation. >> in terms of sales. >> in terms of sales, and everything. >> about how good it's going to be et cetera? >> if you thought, well, i've seen the samsung watch and that didn't really get much trkz and i didn't want one i don't think that necessarily applies. >> not even close. even looking a the pictures, the samsung was so clunky et cetera. this looks more elegant already. >> i wanted to hold one and see what it's like too, because i don't think a little small two dimensional picture can -- on

computer can do it justice for what it might feel like. >> it will replace two things for me. >> and you know that apple -- obviously steve jobs was known for the elegance of the design and this simplicity of it and all that but they've managed to continue with that legacy with everything else they've done. i don't see any reason to think that tim cook is not going to do it as well. although i'm not -- you know i don't adopt quickly. i'm not a quick adapter. i have other people who definitely will be adopting these. i mean i would like to say no too expensive, but i know i'm going to lose here. >> from your kids? >> yeah. >> and your wife. >> i don't know. she won't have one. she's got a blackberry. anyway no don't say no but she's a slow adapter, too. she's still with me right? drivers can expect to see lower gas prices at the pump this summer according to the u.s. department of energy. the national average price -- >> what are you doing? >> put this story in just to

show this. that was a joke. i'm not an obnoxious driver. anyway gasses forecast to fall 42% from a year ago between september and april and that's when most americans do their driving. anyway, thanks for joining us. i don't know who is going to be here to tomorrow but make sure it doesn't matter. i'll be here. join us tomorrow. maybe you will be here. "squawk on the street" is next. ♪ >> good wednesday morning. welcome to "squawk on the street." i'm carl tintquintanilla. what a morning, earnings season unofficially begins tonight. the reviews of the a lt watch are out. futures steady but asia had a nice breakout session overnight. the saudis maintaining output in march. mortgage apps are