u.s. putting the nation's turkey supply in jeopardy. it's thursday april 9th 2015 and squawk box begins right now. >> live from new york where business never sleeps this is squawk box. >> welcome back. we'll tell you what's going on. the central part of the country is bracing for dangerous storms today. this could be the most severe outbreak this season and 30 million people are in the path. reports of tornadoes in kansas last night and dark clouds dropped baseball sized hail over parts of missouri. people on the ground said the thunderstorms looked more like a mini meteor shower. if you're waking up this morning take a look at what's going on in the markets. you can see what's going on as we put that board around.

things don't look great. all in the red. dow would open off 23 points. s&p 500 off about 4 points and the nasdaq off about 5 points. it's great to see all of you. i haven't brought bird flu back but i brought something back. >> probably that our immune systems have not seen. >> it's right here. >> i heard you were sick and almost gave it to becky last week. >> i think i did but you never know. you had to do dna testing or rna test testing. you think this might be a hong kong. >> no i was fine there and then i made it to bangkok. >> oh bangkok. always the problem. >> you always catch something in bangkok, do you know what i'm saying? >> then from bangkok to hong kong and once i hit hong kong is when i started to feel something. >> it was like hangover2. >> we had drinks on the roof of

a hotel. >> at least you didn't get a mike tyson. >> remember if we were really fast -- they actually had the picture of me with the -- >> that's right. we need to talk we have to -- tornadoes in kansas shows you the world we're living in right now when tornadoes start occurring in kansas. >> is that a global warming reference. >> yeah. >> wasn't it wizard of oz. >> yes. >> in the 40s or something. >> but you would not like it because all they do is talk about global warming and greening. there's no smoking allowed. everybody haze solar everything. it's all very green. >> my question to you is you were much closer to the -- the higher that you get the closer that you are -- >> the himalayas. >> did you meditate up there? >> i did do a little meditation. a couple of times. >> was it hard?

>> no it's easier up there. >> you have to focus on nothing. >> after about a week of vacation you could start to think. in the beginning, no. >> and you talked to some monks and they speak english. >> yes. >> did you ask them for tips? >> on the stock market? >> the lifestyle, the meditation? the eastern philosophy. >> no, i got in trouble i was on a temple called tiger's nest and you have to keep your legs criss crossed. you can't say indian style. you can't say indian style. >> american style. >> i don't know what you're supposed to say and i stuck my feet out and apparently i was sticking my feet out and that's something to the gods. >> you got like size 13. >> we saw the sid owe yesterday. >> you have some big dogs. they would notice those immediately. >> they came right over me and said i have -- you know.

>> you probably had the biggest feet at that time. don't you think? >> which is saying something. >> yeah it is. >> not true. >> you know what they say about guy with big feet. they wear big socks. >> big socks. big shoes. >> i told you inside this head is a 15-year-old. >> working with you, you never know what might happen. >> here's the big stories we're watching today. greece confirming it will pay a $485 million loan installment to the imf today. they're in talks with international partners over reforms and hopes it will unlock more bailout aid. we'll talk to the the chief european economists about the situation there. in the u.s. two economic reports of note. weakly jobless clalims out at 8:30 a.m. eastern time. animal spirits could be back. the wall street journal report ifs the current pace keeps up volume would top $3.7 trillion and that would make 2015 the second biggest year in history. >> among our stocks to watch today, alcoa had a mixed

quarter. now we're calling it a former dow component. the earnings and revenues were a bit short. many retailers are going to report monthly sales with costco dropping 2% in march. but same store sales rose 4% but both numbers were short of estimates estimates. full year same store sales guidance was a little bit light. that's got the stock down a little and shares of zynga are under pressure. the ceo is re-signing and the founder is going to return to lead the social gaming company. 33 cents is not a lot but it can't go down 33 cent toos many more times i don't think unless

it welcomes like swiss interest rate which is are negative. >> for ten years. >> for ten years you pay someone to hold your money. >> you give your money to the swiss government and ten years later they give you less back. >> you agree to that up front. >> and then in mexico. 100 year bonds at 4%. they're in euros so within a couple of years when the euro is gone they'll go what? we don't have to pay it. >> euro is gone. we don't even know what you're talking about. >> but why would anybody do this. >> based on inflation and you get your money back if it's deflation you're ahead of the game getting your money back. >> you think prices are go down 4% getting negative 1% is good. >> are they actually based in switzerland? >> well there's a shortage of high quality collateral all over

the world and treasuries and sovereigns in particular so it's much more than the swiss as well. >> this plays into -- do you remember before yellen there was a chance if the left hadn't hammered him that he would have been fed chairman. he had a more hawkish position and i was going to say now you don't want to raise rates. suddenly you changed but with what's happened in europe the situation has changed from when he was being considered for that. >> when i read the notes it suggests he doesn't want it for a long time. >> before he seemed more hawkish but if we ask him about it -- did you see rand paul listing all the things he changed on. >> he did the interview. >> with savannah guthrie. >> with savannah. >> he said why don't you do it this way, request don't you ask

me have your opinions changed and let me tell you what they are instead of all the grilling. >> did you watch it? >> did it get pickrickly? >> way too early. a little quick. >> they were both talking for -- that would never happen here where people were talking over -- interrupting and all of that stuff. not on this show. >> jp diamond pinning a letter to shareholders as part of the annual report. he defends jp morgan's size saying that the company is not not necessarily more risky because of its size. the potential of additional regulatory and legal costs is holding the value down among his other headline grabbing comments warning there will be another

crisis. market reaction could be even more volatile. diamond argues that the rules will interfere with the bank's abilities to act as a buffer against shocks in the markets. he writes regulations will make it more likely that a crisis will cause more volatile market movements with a rapid decline in valuations even in what are very liquid markets. he says recent activities in the treasury markets and currency markets is a warning shot across the bow. >> he goes through great data points about the level of inventories and how the size of the market increased dramatically and the amount of trading has dropped and your ability to trade has dropped. >> the bond crash flash in the fall. >> october 15th. that date is going down in history as something the whole market sees as important and frightening. >> i think greg is just on the growth of the shadow bairnging again. that's where it will come from next time. >> he also talks about the clearing houses which is

actually consensus when you start really talking about market structure right now. >> also talked about -- he has been on the thing for seven years now but arguing that if the government called him in another crisis he said i don't think my board would allow me to pick up the phone. >> right. >> so. >> yeah -- what's the say something no good deed goes unpunished. >> i've seen that. it happens again and again and again. >> andrew showed you earlier the futures were slightly negative. the dow would open lower. s&p by a little more than 3. nasdaq lower by 5. show you what's happening over in europe. not very interesting. kind of flat. generally positive. even greece is positive. i just are received confirmation from a spokesperson that yes greece made the payment to the imf. i believe that's a 15 year high. gain of 147 points overnight. the hang seng is higher by nearly 3%. we're seeing more influence of

this movement from shanghai into hong kong. energy is higher across the board. a gain of more than $1. brent is at 57.02. the ten year yield is at 1.88. i feel like that's exactly where it was 24 hours ago and the dollar is stronger against the euro. 10738. weaker against the yen. stronger against the pound and the price of gold this morning is lower by $6. all right. greece, the big market story today as we have mentioned athens making a key imf payment this morning but the country is still running out of money. joining us is the chief european economists at bank of america merrill lynch. good to have you here. >> good morning. >> i don't know if you've seen the wall street journal today. the lead editorial is the case for letting greece go. do you agree? >> no i don't. >> why? >> i think it's not worth it. i think that it would still be fairly complicated to control the consequences of this.

it's probably not as bad as one or two years ago because we have more instruments to deal with that but it's a risk that is not worth taking. >> they acknowledge there are risks. it would be complicated and devastating to greece but the cost of keeping them in is what is too high because it could unralph unravel reforms. >> it depends on what we end up with in greece. if you look at what's the strength of both parties there, he had one chance to really get concessions from the europeans. it was so elicit so much that this has failed. fortunately for europe qe came before the greek elections. the greek government will probably accept quite a lot of where we used to be the program. he was not elected to take greece out of the area. he doesn't have -- we don't

think he has a democratic mandate to do this and honestly all of this is profoundly frustrating. now it's clear to everyone that greece was always sustainable. this country had market access last year. we were that close. >> they blew it. >> of getting greece -- it would have always been complicated but we were that close of getting in. i don't think the europeans are ready to give up on greece. >> you're an economist. you build models. what do you do with greece? when you assume make assumptions or try to project what's going to happen to european gdp? do you care ultimately what happens to greece when you're putting in all the data points? >> on gdp, clearly no. this is creating some sort of minor vent. this has become minor related to the kind of tail winds we're getting right now. really decline in oil prices and

decline in the action's rate. the end of physical austerity in the rest of europe all of this is probably minor. for me greece is not an issue for the next few months. it's not going to decide the fate of the european economy within the next six to nine months. it can be a medium term issue. >> qe determines the fate at this time it seems like. >> qe is crucial because even if it's normally motivated by monetary policy what it really does is that it brings back actual market rates back to where the interest rates are in countries such as italy. even at 2% where we were in november before the market started pricing qe. we were still at the level of interest rates. it was too high to where potential growth is and where inflation was. so the only solution was to deliver all the time and this had become impossible. so you have two options there.

either you wait you think structural reforms will bring it higher or you don't have the luxury to wait and force market rates back to a level sustainable for this country. this is what qe is achieving. it's a major change in the way it's working. >> sounds like you're optimistic. we'll leave it on that note. right. >> i am. >> all right. >> always good to be optimistic. >> thank you. >> coming up when we return it's a marathon not a sprint. the race for the white house is heating up. a sit down conversation talking with candidate ted cruz next. but first as we head to a break here's a look back at this day in history. ♪

>> we sat down with senator cruz for a cnbc digital original. >> went to a wall street guy the other day and said how does wall street feel about cruz. they said they think he's dangerous. >> i get portrayed in a lot of outlets as a wild eyed lunatic. at the end of the day, that doesn't bother me.

i've got real confidence that the american people make their own judgment. >> you're well-known in texas but nationally people don't know that much about you. you were the guy mt. middle of the shutdown and you were reading green eggs and ham on the senate floor. everybody has seen that clip. >> you mentioned your buddy on wall street that said cruz won't raise the debt ceiling. i said i wouldn't agree to raise the debt ceiling without meaningful structural reforms. history was on hi side. of the last 55 times congress had raised the debt ceiling it attached meaningful conditions to it 28 times. now your wall street buddy might say well that was irresponsible for congress to use the debt ceiling to force that. that's how you stop bankrupting our kids and grand kids.

>> when historians write 30 years from now when they write that government in the form of george w. bush ben bernake and bar ram obama saved the world from depression you say what? >> i don't think anyone is going to write that and if we don't stop the path we're on. >> they're saying it right now. >> well yes but they're the same liberal academics whose answer to everything is more and more spending. >> so you can watch the entire video on cnbc.com but guys you can see with the $31 million that ted cruz amassed in recent days he is going to be heard in this race and we'll have to see how much of a factor he is. he is certainly competing with rand paul that announced earlier this week. >> how much of a factor. if you were to handi cap the

line-up as it is today? >> i think bush is the favorite to win the nomination despite the vulnerabilities he has which are are considerable. scott walker is probably his chief competitor but somebody else is going to emerge as a third wheel in the race. there's many more wheels in the race now but the thing tends to funnel down to a small number of people. that's just the physics of it. it happens cycle after cycle so i would expect that -- let's put it this way, from the cruz and paul ben carson wing i would expect one of those to be a serious player and i would think that cruz may have the best chance of that group to be the player. the one who is the rival to jeb bush and scott walker. >> you spent time with him before right? this wasn't your first time? i was going to ask you your

impressions instead of telling you what your impressions were. but what were your impressions? >> i found ted cruz to be more charming in person than i expected. >> that's what i'm talking about. >> i've had democrats sit with him, big time democrats. big time friends of bill and they came to me they had exchanged e-mail with the senator. loved him. made so much sense. he's very -- i don't know whether it's what the media would like everyone to believe about cruz. >> that's his argument. >> there's some truth to that. princeton, harvard. >> he is incredibly smart. >> i've seen people -- was it jerry brown or something saying this guy is a clown. he has no business even thinking he could ever be president and it's like do you know anything about ted cruz. it's weird isn't it? >> but here's what i would say on that this is is where he has

an advantage over paul. he is more fluid and better at connecting one-on-one and that's going to be a challenge as he's on the trail is establishing a personal connection. ted cruz is better at it. >> rand paul got really pickly really fast yesterday. cruz is disarm you fairly quickly on a one-on-one conversation conversation. >> look. he was a champion debater and he talks really well. >> didn't he call him the best student he ever had at some charts. >> he said he was off the charts brilliant. >> but historical irony here. we're on the verge of reestablishing relations with cuba and you have two cuban americans running for president at the same tile. >> you're exactly right.

>> one other thing. he told me when he was a kid in houston he loved acting and theater. he noted one of his favorite roles was the bad guy in oliver. he said it's fun to play the bad guy and get killed on stage and everybody is cheering. he briefly considered. >> he likes that. >> yes. he briefly considered moving to hollywood and trying to start an acting career. >> would he consider it a win even if he doesn't win the election but just to even pull the party one direction or another? >> sure. >> is that considered a win in his -- if at the end of the day jeb bush wins but has to pivot toward his direction. >> yes. i don't think jeb bush will do that in a meaningful way but you're right andrew. let's say there's a dozen guys out there right now and women looking at running in this race.

one will get nominated. they get their name out there and become known and may influence the process and force the paertd to the party to consider issues or consider them in a way they haven't done in the past. that's one me tricktric for judging campaigns. hilary is the overwhelming favorite to win. but if there's someone else a sanders or martin o'malley they're going to be trying to influence what she says. >> you two cuban americans and a welsley grad. you don't know what to do. >> italian american and we'll be all good. >> thanks john. coming up the 2015 master's tees off this morning. he joins us to handicap the contenders next. but first a look at yesterday's s&p 500 winners and losers.

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i care deeply about the gulf. i grew up in louisiana. i went to school here. i've been with bp ever since. today, i lead a team that sets our global safety standards. after the spill we made two commitments. to help the gulf recover and become a safer company. we've worked hard to honor both. bp has spent nearly 28 billion dollars so far to help the gulf economy and environment. and five years of research shows that the gulf is coming back faster than predicted. we've toughened safety standards too. including enhanced training... and 24/7 on shore monitoring of our wells drilling in the gulf. and everyone has the power to stop a job at any time if they consider it unsafe. what happened here five years ago changed us. i'm proud of the progress we've made both in the gulf and inside bp.

heres jack at number four. >> par 3 across the water. really a good golf hole. what a beautiful play. come on jack. yes. >> yes! >> oh! >> still has it. no one ever said he couldn't still hit irons, you know like 8s and 9s and wedges. jack nicklaus adding to his legacy yesterday at the par 3 contest at the masters. he gets a hole in one.

75-year-old has 6 green jackets. winning back in 1963 when he really wasn't supposed to that first time and geary said it doesn't matter who you talk about today jack was still better than any of them. and 50 yards further. the masters will tee off this morning. you probably heard that. the first major of the year and bubba watson hasn't played since finishing 3rd on march 8th at the world championships. he was voted the least liked player. it was a weird poll. if you came out in the parking lot and there was a fight going on. >> who are you not helping. >> who are you not going to help in the fight. >> that's going much further than the least liked. that's a guy you're not even bailing out of a fight. you're not even helping your guy. letting him get your butt kicked. >> peel know you because of that thing you do on weekend whens

you come off of the sports desk. >> people know because of you joe. >> this is the awesome dave briggs of nbc sports. >> i like that. >> one person we haven't talked about him much maybe not having that great of a year. this is the wheels up add but it features rickie fowler who is awesome and he's a guy you don't know. last year he finished in the top five of every major. >> that's who rick is. he's easily a top five golfer in the world. he's a guy that's going to finish 2nd or 3rd but he's the bridesmaid. >> he's the bridesmaid until he isn't. >> one win. >> right okay. how about speith. >> we talked about jordan about a month ago when he was under the radar starting to play well. now he's the second favorite to win the masters. the guy i like to win the masters is jordan. 21 years old. two second places but he has the

swagger. he's not at all phased. >> he doesn't get nervous. >> incredible putter. >> i think he looks at 35 foot putts and says i'm going to put this in the left side of the hole. >> he thinks the hole looks about 12 inches wide. >> it's huge right now and don't forget last year he was second place. he had a two shot lead in the masters last year. he is fuelled by that. >> you have to go through that. that's why it's so hard to win the masters. in any tournament a guy can get hot but to close it at augusta on a sunday. >> don't underestimate the long shots shots. definitely an underthe radar but i like speith. >> they say tiger looks react. >> this is tiger 2.0. this is a different guy than we've seen. we've never seen him embrace fatherhood on the course.

here's his two young kids. one finishing off a putt for him which eliminated him from the par 3. >> on the range you couldn't look him in the eye. you would get in trouble as a journalist. if you looked him in the eye. so he was so focused. i wondered if maybe that's one of the problems is he's not as focused as he used to be. >> ten days ago he was a 60-1 shot. it went down to 45-40 and this morning he's a 16-1 favorite to win the masters. better than the guys you and i like a lot. better than patrick reid. better than jimmy walker. tiger woods. a guy in three events this year that shot an 82 the last time we saw him on a full field and with drew in the first tournament of the year. if he even makes the cut that would be a successful weekend. no way he's going to win this thing. >> he's been in front of cameras his whole life but augusta if you have -- if you're yippa at all. >> you can use that word. he had it the last time i saw

him two plus months ago. >> i've tried everything but you need a psychiatrist at some point. >> that's what he looked like the last time we saw him. like he did need a psychiatrist but look the course sets up very well for bubba watson. somehow people are forgetting about him. two jackets in the last three years but the fact that he is the guy that no one would bailout of a fight in the parking lot is interesting for a guy that the public loves. >> i thought he was class sy in his response to that. did you read it. >> he said i'm working on that. that is good for me. he also said he voted for himself in that poll. >> he said he wouldn't throw anyone else out of the bus. >> he's the guy that's got his caddie in public. complained about the weather in front of an open microphone. complained about a long drive contest. complained about pace of play but he is long he is playing well. he cuts the course well at augusta. he could easily make it three out of four. don't be surprised.

>> you didn't mention rory mcllroy. >> isn't it interesting that we haven't talked much about rory mcllroy that is the favorite at 8-1. i think tiger woods plagueying takes the pressure off of him a little bit. but then again he's also not played that well at augusta. his best finish last year 8th place. he hasn't shown the ability when there's a tiger fuelled field that he can step up and reclaim number one in the world. but he's always capable. he's the best player in the world by a long shot. >> something about this tournament tournament tournament. i love the u.s. open and the open. >> there's nothing like the maers masters. clear your weekend. >> i'll be lying in bed watching. >> please. you're not going to watch any of this but even at 7:30. >> we have about an hour until we see jack arnie and gary

player. >> everybody is around and all the pros come out to watch. all the current guys get up early even though they'll be teeing up later in the day. >> there's nothing better than that moment when those three tee off. the coverage doesn't kick off until 3:00. you have to wait to see it all unfold. >> number one might be -- number one is one of the hardest holes down there. you see where they drive the ball, they don't -- they're probably not -- they may have that as the par 5 at their age. >> the par 5s will be the key for rory. he struggled on the par 5s last year and struggled at augusta. he does get his first green jacket and completes the career grand slam and a lot of people will be pulling for him. >> i will be watching. >> will you? >> i will. i will. >> just clear sunday. >> i'm going to clear sunday. >> friday looks like a rain out. that will play into the tournament. awful weather friday.

>> aren't you watching all show time all the time? >> all the time. >> i'll be watching show time. >> we'll be tweeting you on sunday making sure you're watching. >> all right. >> you know he has a show on. >> he's a big stair. >> 2016. you have to wait. patience. patience. >> but i can't wait. >> right. we also need your help this morning, thank you sir. we need to know what story that you're buzzing about today. is there something that you have read or you think that the rest of our viewers need to hear about? tweet to us about it at squawk cnbc and use the #keep squawking. we'll post them on the facebook page. we'll read them all and share the best of the bunch. we'll do that at 7:50 eastern time. >> coming up earnings season is open for play but the forecast is anything but bright. we're going to handicap expectations next and later formerform former treasury secretary treasurer will join us. plus squawk is called to order.

republican senator jornhn barrosso will join us on set at 8:15 eastern time. stick around. [ male announcer ] your love for trading never stops. so open an account with schwab. and when a market move affects, say a cloud computing stock you're holding, we can help you decide what to do. with tools that help you see how market activity is affecting your positions. so when the time comes to decide whether to scale in or scale out... you can make your move wherever you are. and start working on your next big idea. ♪ ♪

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welcome back. making headlines this morning there's an outbreak of a deadly strain of bird flu. a flock in minnesota has been affected in less than a week. minnesota is the nation's top turkey producing state. i didn't know that. expert sas the number of infections is climbing as ducks spreading the disease return to breed after spending the winter farther south. so they come up and here we are. >> here we are. i missed that.

85 companies have issued negative earnings guidance compared to 16 positive. expectations for the s&p 500 and all sectors have fallen significant significantly. you're more negative than anyone. year over year down 4.6%. i have been wondering why people aren't negative. do you feel comfortable down 4.6. >> down 4.6 but if you take out the commodity plays energies and materials you'll be up 5%. so it's not all bad news but obviously there's been -- even the sector we figured without benefit from lower commodity prices consumer discretionary has seen a hit as well but analysts are setting this up for -- we'll have a descent earnings season. the numbers from a psychological standpoint are negative but i think earnings will outperform

expectations. >> as you point out, 85 companies issued negative earnings per share guidance. 16 issued positive and you'll call it a good earnings season. >> it's cynical. >> it is. that is true there will be pockets of strength but weakness as well. >> let's say you keep it simple stupid and someone tells you when we have people on they call it negative growth which is hike -- does that mean down? that means down. so there will be negative growth in earnings. if multiples will expand because interest rates are headed up and if earnings are going down why would you stay in the stock market. >> it's a one to two quarter phenomenon. we expect earnings to pick up in the third and fourth quarter. i think once the currency stuff

plays out and things become more stable there's good opportunities. >> it's like inflation. if you don't drive and you don't eat there's no inflation. >> well how do you take out. >> i think you can make a case. right now on a 12 month forward multiple the s&p is trading at five times earnings. if you look at the five year average it's about 14.5. yeah if you look at it from that standpoint. from a strictly valuations standpoint we are expensive but where are investors going to put their money. >> why do you think things get better later in the year? >> you less head winds. >> might get new head winds. >> energy comps would be easier. if oil stays at this level at least things don't keep going down. >> they don't keep going down and you figure generally the market sentiment is positive. more positive in the second half of the year. earnings comparisons are a little bit better than they are in the first and second quarter of this year but you never know.

you really don't know but that's what the market is forecasting for the second half of the year in terms of earnings expectation but valuation is an issue. we're 16.5 times where as we have been down to 14 or 15 but we have also been over 20 in different markets like this. >> this is amazing. the estimates for earnings in the energy is down 29%. it's now down 64% is the estimate. even the good ones like health care was supposed to be up 15. it will be down 10 but consumer discretionary ended up 14. now up 6. >> 6%. that's the interesting thing because you think they would be the winners of this. >> oil. >> exactly. >> with these terrible numbers they would be crazy to boost interest rates in june. >> in 2015? forget it. >> just the other day i was saying they have to. maybe i'll switch. anyway thank you. >> thanks guys. >> coming up when we return can

a super hero help netflix battle hbo now? netflix shows based on marvel characters launching this week just as hbo starts it's new service. media fight with the cape included. we'll talk about it, next.

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heros as part of its battle with services. >> that's right. get ready. netflix is enlisting a lesser known marvel super hero in it's for sub skriekers. hitting at midnight tonight. the first of a partnership with marvel. he expects the new show to appeal not just to fan boys but also to marvel's broader audience. ahead of netflix earnings shares rising 4% yesterday on analyst expectations on the company will be guidance. daredevil launches just before hbo now. it goes head to head with netflix. drawing subscribers with their new season of "game of thrones." that costs $15 a month compared to netflix at $9. hbo working to appeal to millennials. the target age group now because they're less likely to pay for

cable. it's giving away an episode of "silicon valley" on twitch. which company will win this content face-off? hbo now is called quote, validation of the internet tv model. he says it's not a winner take all situation. >> thanks julia. let's bring in anthony de clemente. when you look at what marvel is going to do to netflix, how many new subscribers do you think you could actually put on this new show and what -- when you model out hbo now over the next six months, what does it look like? >> i think it's not about one show driving subscribers. it's about what they're trying to do is diversify the content to appeal to so many people. >> you don't think "house of cards," when that first started it was -- >> maybe on the margin you could say 150,000, 200,000 could be

driven in that quarter. but i think if more broadly what it is is driving retention, driving if there's a diversity of product on your platform it's less likely you're going to turn. trying to get to 60 to 90 million subs in the u.s. can't do it by only appealing to fan boys or only affluent women. >> and on the price point? we saw what a dollar was worth. >> here's the main thing on the price point. netflix just said this week that 20 billion hours of netflix were streamed in the first quarter. that works out to be two hours per subscriber per day. that's why higher than hbo. it indicates there's pricing power for netflix given the value of the number of hours per its subscription. for us every dollar additional to netflix it's half a billion dollars of operating income. >> opportunity to netflix not as downward pressure on hbo.

>> no. because i don't think it's -- i think it's showing that the validation of the price of power of internet video. i think hbo now's strategy is different than netflix. right? because hbo still has -- they're still tethered to the ecosystem in there. they want to ensure they're not cannibalizing those subs. netflix strategy had been stand alone. >> how do they make sure of that? if i can subscribe directly without -- >> if they undercut themselves. say you have time warner cable in new york. you're already paying 15 bucks a month. if it were priced at 10 they would undercut themselves. >> i see. that's what's behind that price opposed to -- >> yeah. they want a price for a premium product. correct. >> still, we should mark this moment, right? here we are. it's finally arrived. hbo establishing hbo now. to julia's point, a quote from the netflix executive, validating this idea of cutting

from cable eventually and buying the content you want directly. >> it's not like a -- it's basically seen plain as day in the data. we talk about the 50% increase in viewing hours at netflix year over year. those ratings are down 10%, 12% consistently. everything is moving to internet video, it really is. and for netflix, one last point is that the parent company of this organization could be ultimately 30 million subscribe subscribers subscribers. talking about media over time, we talked about content versus distribution. comcast was thought to be the biggest distributor. well netflix has more and is growing much faster. this is going to to be the most powerful media company in the world. >> netflix. >> julia is in l.a. get her involved. julia? >> i think it's really interesting when you look at netflix programming for its 57

million or so subscribers, it makes sense to invest in a wide variety of products. because if you have content that's like "house of cards" to a certain demographic. but then there's other shows like "hemlock grove" which is just as popular with others. he says it's not the idea to create a new show to add new subscribers right away. you rarely see a boost in subscribers for a certain show in its first season. it's about the idea they're investing in these brands for the long-term. and so it's really more of a long-term play. >> people don't talk about it enough, but i would argue and bet that those two hours, a large part of those is kids programming. they invest in what hbo does not have. >> glad you brought that up. because the margin -- reminder of the relationship, the positive relationship that netflix has with disney.

we know with all the robust disney content, we're reminded of that deal that was signed a couple years ago. we're starting in january of 2016 netflix will have the exclusive paid tv content for disney films. including, you know, pixar and "star wars" films. i agree, that's a huge edge for them. for my daughter all she wants to watch is netflix. so that is a huge thing. it's one of the demographics she's talking about. >> julia, we've got to run. anthony, thank you. >> thanks. closely watched retailers reporting monthly sales today. consumers are more confident in the u.s. economy than they have been in a decade. names like macy's and target are trading near all-time highs. a look at why the american shopper is more important than ever to economic growth. that's next.

the fed should hold its fire. that's according to larry summers summers. why he thinks a central bank needs to pump the brakes on rate hikes. cutting uncertainty on the retails. wall street top analysts picks.

and one of the first apps on the apple watch. he'll give us the good bad, and ugly for apple's latest offering. the second hour of "squawk box" begins right now. ♪ live from the beating heart of business, new york city, this is "squawk box." >> welcome back to -- it's darius. but before he left. launched his own country -- welcome back to "squawk box" here on cnbc first in business worldwide. good golfer by the way. plays in the celebrity tournaments. i'm joe kernen along with andrew ross sorkin and michelle caruso-cabrera. becky is off today. equity futures at this hour were down a bit. now only down 4 points. make no determination about what happens throughout the session. it's been a weird week.

you know initially on monday we were supposed to be down 150 points. closed up a hundred. tuesday it was closing well off the highs. so i don't know whether it's fed relates or earnings related or what. but kind of having a hard time to decide what to do. >> it will fluctuate. the bank of england just announcing it will leave rates unchanged at .5% as expected. and the cac is up nearly 1%. and greece higher by about .5%. they have made their imf payment. among the other stories we're watching at this hour greece confirming to the installment today. over reforms that it hopes will unlock more money. iran's president says the country will only agree to a nuclear accord if sanctions are lifted. he says he wants a win/win deal for all parts involved. and for iran that means removing

all the sanctions the same day a nuclear agreement is implemented. june 30th is contradictory to what we've been hearing from our negotiators who say it would be gradual when it comes to lifts of sanctions. samsung says it expects record shipments for its new galaxy s6 phones. the new device gos on sale in 20 countries starting tomorrow. jpmorgan's jamie dimon defending the bank's size saying it quote, not a conglomerate. and not risky because of its size. citing the regulatory and legal costs holding down the majority of the shares. also continues to blame the acquisitions of bear sterns on so much of their troubles. we're getting same store sales for the big retailers throughout the day today. l brands just reporting rising

9%. that was better than the 6% increase that was expected. retails have fallen for the past three months and the data this year has been mixed. but stocks of companies like macy's and target they are trading near all-time highs. plus the cnbc all america survey says our view on the economy is at an eight year high. mixed messages though. joining us now is our consumer and retail panel. jan kniffen and matthew boss. we should probably also talk at some point about the apple watch which from a retail perspective i think is what everybody is looking at. >> everybody is worried about pipt it. everybody's looking at it. i'm wearing a fitbit. i'm not getting an apple watch. but i'm sure many are. right now low end are rolling over anyway. i think this is going to put a stake in the lower end watch

market. i think the high end watches are still doing well. i don't think anybody is going to be out buying the very high end apple watch -- >> big shopping weekend because people are going to be out to either apple stores or any store to buy -- >> you can't preorder it. you have to look at it physically. >> it's going to be big at the apple store. and the fallout traffic from the apple store is not that good. >> they're not in many shopping malls. >> they are doing $5,000 a square foot in shopping malls. but they're a funny store in they don't create drift traffic. whereas if you're a department store and people come in in the mall, people go to the apple store and then leave the apple store. >> matthew, let's get you involved. when you look at the stocks of macy's and target at an all-time high. you say they still go higher from here or this is the high and this is a little too high? >> yeah it's a great question. and i agree with a lot of the points that your survey made.

we actually had macy's yesterday in philadelphia boston the day before. i think you have some near term noise in the numbers. you've had weather -- wearing winter coats after easter is not a positive for apparel sales. some shift in spending. consumer electronics, a lot of the durables doing better than apparel. i think underlying that when you look at gas prices down 35% year over year. when you think about home prices have stabilized. when you think about wages, a number of retailers talking about potential wage inflation. i think it sets up well for the back half of the year. we look for some of the near term noise. we want to own the names into the back half of the year and into 2016. >> i actually agree with matt on that. and i also think we had a strong easter selling period. that's not going to really be reflected until we see april because it jams the business into march. until you get past the next easter selling period you don't know how well it did. but i believe we'll find out that we had a very strong finish to the month driven by easter. >> is there a retailer out

there -- give me the dark horse retailer that's doing better than we think. >> i don't know if there's a big surprise on the upside. i think today you're going to see disappointment with the numbers costco put out. since i think they're the best retailer in the world, i'd be out buying them. that is a gas story and a foreign exchange story. they would have been more like 6% had it not been for those two items. but they reported negative numbers. that will be -- >> so their stock dips you're buying. >> if their stock dips any time i'm a perennial bull on costco on macy's. any time those two dip, i think you should buy them. >> you guys are captain obvious. matthew, i need a -- i want to company that i think is terrible but is much better than it really is. >> so i think your best in class compounders are nike and dollar general. that doesn't fit your dark horse though. i think your dark horse out

there is jcpenney. and it fits this low end profile. i think if they put up a first quarter that's a little bit better than expected you have the new ceo going on the road post earnings in may and june. i think that one sets up pretty well. 45% short interest still. a stock that's down and out. i think that's your dark horse. >> jan's making faces over here. jan? >> no, i'm actually -- i'm agreeing with matt on everything he's saying. i think jcpenney is going to have a better 2015 than people expect. it's driven by the fact people think they'll have tough comps through the year. but in fact the things they were doing is starting to show up in the store to work for them. i think the low end consumer with better gas prices is going to be right there with them. i do think they're going to have a better 2015. >> i'm just amazed they survived. >> i think everyone is. i think you can attribute that to the beauty of the fed. as long as money is free retailers survive even in tough times. had we been looking at a

recession or high interest rates, they'd have a tough time surviving. >> this whole minimum wage debate and the shift towards higher wages, going to impact a lot of lines. do you think it matters in a good way or bad way? >> i said when walmart raised wages that barack obama should have written a nice note thanking them for raising the minimum wage. following them target. following them mcdonald's. we're going to see wages come up -- >> does that mean margins are going to go down? >> it means margins are going to be pushed and people like mcdonald's will have to work hard. walmart is already pushing to offset it. it also means where are you going to spend that money when you get more money in your paycheck? walmart gets that side of the spending as well as the cost side. so i think their spending improves when you raise low end wages. they also have to offset the costs and they're the best prepared to offset the costs. >> we've got to run. give me a dark horse on the

downside. who do you think is better than they really are. or worse than they really are in this case. >> good question. i think some of these apparel names have some near term headwinds to push through. we're more concerned on big lots over the multi-year period just given a move away from the closeout niche they have. otherwise, again you want to own this consumer. we like dollar general and nike. i think lulu is your higher beta play. >> coming back from the dead. okay. >> i'm negative on lieu lieu.ulu. >> why? >> nike is the winner always. >> oh. thanks, guys. >> we will leave it there. thanks so much. coming up markets in focus. brian belski joins us on set next. he says fears of a strong dollar are misplaced. then larry summers makes the case for the fed waiting to hike rates. we'll talk to the ceo of a news

site that will have one of the first apps on the apple watch. stick around. financial noise financial noise financial noise

fed minutes from the march meeting showing some seeing june as a possibility. others saying 2016 may be the first time to raise rates. joining us now to talk this and more is brian belski.

good so have you here. >> morning. >> i want to start with what was in the tease. the fear of the strong dollar is overrated. why? >> we have now reared an entire generation. that's all they know is dollar goes down quantitative easing, buy stocks. and it's not that way. i think that 2015 is the start of a transition phase for the next several years where we recorrelate fundamental investing in the dollar earnings, stock market economy all working together. what a novel concept. now, why is the dollar going up? is it a process or as we say in canada process of the u.s. economy being stronger than everyone else? is it a process of the overall economy just strengthening longer term? we think that's the case. >> it has nothing to do with the fact our central bank relatively speaking is more hawkish than

the european central bank the japanese central bank. >> we're exporting qe, right? qe's left right? i think america can go it alone for awhile. we're not ready to start saying decoupling. last time everyone said that in 2007 and 2008 how that happened. now it's kind of the reverse now. we just think that america's done its job from the corporate side during the lost decade between 2000 or 2010. we had quantitative easing the shock and awe of the crisis. now it's the rest of the world's turn to do that. i think america is showing signs it's solidified to the rest of the world. >> your point is when people say the dollar has everything to do with central bankers, they're wrong. hence why stocks are going to go up at the same time. >> that is right. the other thing, too, is we have to remember in the '80s and '90s we had major companies in america that were in the beginning stages of becoming more diversified globally. and remember that we had major

hedging operations in the '80s and '90s. it's the 25% move that everybody talks about and the dollar weighted index the last 12 months or so. companies have not gotten too aggressive enough with respect to hedging their dollar like they had in the '80s and '90s. we think that's the major trend going forward. >> so what do you do? >> well from a developed market standpoint, america is underperforming this year. and from a six-year bull market as joe likes to tease me when i come in i still believe we're in the midst of a 20-year bull market. we're six years in. stocks are rarely linear for long. we're dealing with the shock and awe, michelle, of the unwinding of the commodities cycle. i think stocks have actually done very very well considering all of these data points with trying to diagnose when the fed's going to change rates, dealing with this higher dollar u.s. corporations have been

guiding lower which is -- >> i was going to say, the earnings season, we just had a guy on and it looks pretty meh. >> two points on earnings. it's reminiscent to last year on guidance. number two, this whole notion of a -- what happens is you have to look at the last 12 months of earnings. when you see a trough there, that's a better signal. think about the fundamental structure of u.s. companies out of the last decade. we are now set to under-promise and over-deliver. it's a game. now they've guided lower and no one's talking about lower input costs the second half of the year. it's helping the consumer but what about manufacturing and this manufacturing renaissance? if you have lower natural gas prices and lower oil prices that's going to help the manufacturing sector. >> back to your original point, we have this whole generation reared on easy money. we're not even bothering to talk about s&p 500. all german dax. we are long germany.

they're cutting rates over there. they're doing qe like mad over there. lesson from the united states is get in front of that train. >> here's the lesson there. do you think wall street and stocks and investing, is it easy? >> no. >> okay. so why are you applying the easy template onto that? right? think about this. >> because it's worked for years in the united states. >> it works until it doesn't work. the fundamentals of companies in 2009 and 2010 in america are different than in europe right now. do they have the balance sheet strengths, the management, the politics. no they don't. so yes, undeniably the developed markets around the world relative to the u.s. are going to out-perform this year because everyone is chasing the same trade. when they start looking at the actual faculty construct of these companies, they're going to be left holding a bag. guess where they'll come back to the u.s. and the strong companies in america. >> all right. compared to everybody else, we've had so many people say go long europe. you would say no.

go long the united states? >> this is what i would caution you. consensus has been wrong for six years. be very very careful. >> whatever you do don't buy the long end of the curve for the last 17 years. what should you have done? buy the long end. >> yes. >> so we won't have any 20% correction in the next 14 years? >> why do we throw out 20% correction? we've had rolling corrections for the last few years. >> if the bull market is going to go another 14 years, you can't have a 20% pullback because that would be a bear market. you're redefining what it means? >> no. >> all right. will we not have a 20% bear market at any time for the next 14 years? >> 20% bear market and 20% pullback are two different things. >> will we have a 20% selloff of stocks from highs in the next 14 years? >> probably not. >> okay. that's a big statement. we'll see.

means nothing like what we see most of the time. bull markets don't die from old age. >> bull markets never die when everybody is looking for a death in a bull market. and everybody is looking for the death of the bull. >> it would be a repeat like of the '80s. and even in the '80s we had 1987. >> but the correction is dangerous too. >> that's not a correction. that's bear market. correction is 10% to 20%. >> you can have a bear cyclical market like in '88. >> make up your mind. >> let's get the dictionary out. >> you'll be invited back 14 years from now when you're still hosting. >> we know stocks go up over time. we get that. it was 700 in 1982. we understand they go up. but to say we're not going to have a 20% bear market is i don't think you know that. well. all right.

anyway. >> thank you, joe nice to see you. >> great waking up early to come here, right? >> yes. coming up, what it takes to get millennials interested. >> you've got kids out there. >> the millennials are there waving at us. . >> they are. no idea who we are. how about online fantasy golf contests with a million-dollar grand prize? dominic chu will have that. >> of course. ep breath in. . . and . . . exhale. . . aflac! and a gentle wavelike 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?

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now the answer to today's av flack trivia question. what is the most expensive music app on apple's app store? the answer cybertuner at $999 per download. 2015 master teeing off in augusta this morning. many fans are hoping to win big. dominic chu tells us about this growing fantasy golf trend. i need to know about it. >> it depends what kind of game

you've got now. the draft is interesting here. let's talk about some of the growth. right? because daily fantasy sports provider draft kings say the number of weekly users has grown by tenfold in just the last year. and they're spending eight times more money on golf-related fantasy games than they were just last year. in the month of february alone, draft king users doled out $3 million in fees for those golf-related games. fantasy sports it's evolved so far beyond baseball and football even though those are the sports that have the highest and biggest markets for fantasy. serious golf fans are a target rich environment for these companies. some say because the demographic is really seen dishing out more of their disposal income for these games. you had to put an entry fee up front. they limited the number of people in there. the competition sold out so quickly that they're going to do the same thing for the u.s. open

in june. chambers bay. and yes, this is the same draft kings guys that reportedly got the $250 million investment from the likes of disney just to give an idea of how many people really want to play these types of games, guys. that's the reason it's so important. hypergrowth in an area that at least for millennials could be the next frontier for sports when it comes to entertainment in viewing, guys. >> see. golf. i mean there's fantasy everything now when it comes to sports. amazing. >> it's crazy only because if you think about what the reason why some of these companies are doing this, it's about that second, third, fourth screen experience. you watch something, you also want these guys to participate and interact with you. companies like draft kings may be seen doing this because what it does is give a captive audience with you. then it allows them to engage in the sport through your side. then you, of course, take your cut of the particular entry fees, the rake on profits, that kind of thing. for draft kings, for a lot of

fantasy sites it is really about whether or not they can capitalize on all those people who have cut cords and don't just sit there and watch tv the entire time. they want the second intertiary type of experience. >> so who do you like? >> i was just having this conversation with our editor in chief. he likes spieth. but everybody likes spieth and rory. i'm going to go out there and say i think it's maybe time for rickie fowler. all bets are off in this kind of thing. i have no idea. i heard dave briggs he thinks bubba could win his third green jacket in four years. those are all obvious bigs. i like dustin johnson. >> he just won. he's had -- you remember what happened in -- what was the name of that place at the pga? it was horrible. the thing that was a sand trap bunker but wasn't. >> yeah. rounding the club. >> and then you remember at pebble it was number three or

number two where he hit it far left and he imploded at we believe. he's won pebble a couple of times. i think it was the u.s. open at pebble that year. he's had the time when he didn't win the major. then he won earlier. having a baby and everything. he's more settled down. he went through the problems from last year. you might be right. >> i think that the field is so tough. if you've been invited to play in the masters, you have got a shot. even remotely at winning this thing. >> except on sunday on like 15 that shot. >> any part of -- >> down hill. >> i want nothing to do with those. >> the downhill the green is very shallow. there's water beyond and there's water before and you're in downhill and you've got like 90 yards. i don't think i've ever not gotten like a 16 on that hole. >> you're lucky. i've never played augusta. i hope to some day. the one thing i will say from watching all the masters i have is that i will go into that course and pretty much never

fire or aim at any pin on the entire course. just going to take the easy way out. >> it is magical. it's something special. anyway, dom, so are you. >> thank you. >> play the bromance music. >> yeah. another bromance before we head to a break. check this out. a spring break booze bust. here's what happened. four underage college students from lsu were pulled over in mississippi on their way to the beach for spring break. they were driving with expired plates. police found liters of wine multiple bottles of whiskey, vodka, and tequila. that's not all. they had 2,000 cans of beer in the trailer that they were pulling. deputies say the teenagers cooperated and were released. they said they cooperated and then released. they just go? we'll take the beer and have our own party? >> didn't you say they were going to spring break? >> that's what you need for spring break, apparently. >> i don't understand the problem here.

2,000 is good. did they have enough wine is the question. >> underage. >> were they underage? >> that's the issue. >> expired plates. they're not the brightest bulbs. let's say that. >> nitpickers. >> how do you get the girls to come over without beer? >> how old were they? >> i don't have the ages. >> did you ever drink before you were of age? tell me the truth. >> i may have to run for election one day. no. >> you never exhaled, right? >> inhaled or exhaled. coming up larry summers. he doesn't want the fed to hike rates. he says the central bank should hold its fire until it can see the white of inflation's eyes. he'll explain what he means next. take a look at futures at this hour. dow looking to open 5 points higher. and the s&p 500 down marginally.

♪ welcome back to "squawk box." among the stories front and center this morning, a new

survey from bank rate finds 52% of americans aren't currently invested in the stock market. the most cited reason a lack of cash. so it's not they're worried about the market or think it's too high. that's a good sign. gm is considering a $1.3 billion expansion of its arlington, texas plant. a a apache exiting australia. in a group of pe funds for $2.1 billion in cash. thank you, andrew. the fed should keep rates low until growth seems more stable. that's according to our next guest. we're joined by larry summers economics professor at harvard university. recently wrote an op-ed calling the united states' role as a global power player into question. i could go mr. secretary, i could go -- mr. president i would use. if i was president of harvard, i

would use -- do you have a preference, larry? >> larry will do just fine. good to be with you. >> good to be with you. i want to talk to you a little bit about all the stuff we've talked about in the past. remember when -- i think you might have been chairman of the fed until i got behind you. which may have ruined it. you remember i was supporting you for the yellen job. at that time i had the perception you were more hawkish about where we were and how long we had stayed at the party in terms of accommodative policy. at least that was the perception i got. now, things do change and we just had ten-year negative interest rate bonds in switzerland. i understand things change is that why you seem more dovish now or think we've really got to go slow on rate rises? >> i've had a pretty consistent position for six years now. which is that the greater risk are on the side of slowdown and

stagnation rather than on the side of overheating and inflation. and we obviously got to be worried about both of those risks. but you have to pay attention to the asymmetry risk. and i look at economic data like the economic data for the first quarter of gdp's got a good chance of coming in below 1%. i look at what global bond markets are telling us. there is nowhere in the industrialized world where bond markets are looking for 2% inflation over the next decade. there is nowhere over the industrial world where they're looking for real interest rates, anything like 1% over the next decade. and that is telling us that an issue of a chronic excess of savings over investment is going to be important defining of our financial environment at least many the judgment of markets. i think there's a basis for supporting market's judgment for

quite some time. and i think that reality which is associated with what i called secular stagnation with what ben bernanke has called a savings glut. but if a defining reality is a tendency towards more savings over investment that's something that economic policy has to adopt to. and rushing to raise rates would not be an appropriate adaptation. that doesn't mean we don't need to -- i'm sorry. >> no it's not like a new normal where the old relationships break down. just simply saying 5.5% unemployment and zero on fed funds sounds crazy compared to past periods. but if you're saying it's like a new paradigm, it makes sense. let me ask you one other thing. >> joe, let me just say one thing. >> okay. >> i think it's a big mistake to start elevating the curve to be

newton's law of gravitation. you look back over history, economists' views about the curve has changed radically every 10 or 15 years. the idea there's some mechanical transmission from some unemployment to some inflation rate, i think, is not something we should rely on. we need to be all over the inflation data. and there's -- it may be that before long the inflation rate data will start to show an acceleration. or even some slight hints in that direction. look at what's happened over a variety of big retail and food establishments that have started raising wages. but that's got to be the test. this is preemptive wars don't work and preemptive wars on inflation would be a big mistake. >> i'll tell you the other thing we talk about constantly here. and not necessarily -- it's not split down ideological lines necessarily. but guys like jim grant, and

that is just the notion of price control in terms of interest rates and the misallocation of capital. and moving risk out to curve which engendering spirit is what the fed wants to do. sooner or later there's a day of reckoning. not even inflation, but some kind of bubble we're not thinking about because people are induced to do things they wouldn't do if the market was setting rates. and there are others that think the reason that the economy -- the recovery has been so slow is because we've been holding it back because rates are unable to be where they wour. there's been a misallocation of capital. >> joe, let's get something straight. whatever this is it's not price controls. price controls are when you set a price. you don't allow that price to change. and then there's excess supply or excess demand. we don't have that. the bond market clears every day. at most what you have is a

question of in what ways should the central bank participate in the bond markets. and, look, i've been very clear for years now that when you have an insufficiency of investment it is a safer bet to try to ramp up public investment to try to take structural measures to spur private investment. than it is to try to create a super low interest rate and hyperliquidity to stimulate demand. i would much rather that support come from fixing kennedy airport. i would rather see that coming from the united states no longer having an air traffic control system based on tubes. i would rather see that support coming from allowing us to export oil and doing what we can to promote investment in searching for oil and natural gas. i'd rather have that --

>> mr. summers. >> -- about building a broadband arc tuckture. >> let me get your views this morning. i don't know if you saw jamie dimon out with his annual letter saying that he thinks another crisis could be upon us. he points to what was the falls that would happen once every 3 billion years or so. he said a future crisis could be worse because of the greatly reduced supply of treasuries to go around. do you agree with him? >> i think what jamie actually was addressing was not quantitative easing question. it was around liquidity in markets. i do think that needs to be a preoccupation of regulatory authorities. and i think there's a danger that in their enthusiasm for keeping each individual

institution safe that regulatory authorities will lose sight of keeping markets open and liquid. and i think that is a legitimate concern that is raised. now, the one in 3 billion years, i think that's got more to do with the quality of the risk models that reached that conclusion than it does with some failure of regulation. so whenever i hear someone in finance say a 1 in 2 billion year event just happened i say to myself you just demonstrated that you had a model for judging tail risks that wasn't any good. >> larry -- >> that would be the inference i would take from that. >> larry, you've advocated for punishing the banks in a post-crisis world. dimon points to bear stearns and said they would not allow him to

take the phone call the next time there is a crisis. and what do you think the impact of that is? >> i'm not in any position to judge what jamie dimon will or will not do in the next crisis. i'm not familiar with details of -- >> can we go back then to the whole issue -- >> i am going to say something. >> sure. >> i was going to say something concrete there. which is i do think that it is hugely important that we stay aware of rule of law issues in the wake of crisis. >> you don't dispute what he's saying with the lack of liquidity in the markets when it comes to treasuries and what corporate bonds in general and what could be the implications of that? have you started to put your head around what could happen as a result?

>> i think i said that there was, i thought, serious issues around liquidity. that i thought that regulatory authorities made a mistake when they looked at each institution and they said you'll be safer if you withdraw from the markets a bit. and then forgot that if all institutions withdraw from the markets a bit, the markets will be less liquid. the markets themselves will be less safe. and that will in the end hurt all the institutions. so i think there is a real issue there. and i think that frankly a lot of the effort that's going into what's called macro credential should be shifted towards making sure that we have market liquidity. >> who do you like at the masters, larry? >> i think it'll be a tussle. i'm for phil. >> are you? i love phil too. we'll see. and he's closer to our age, maybe, and we kind of pull for

him. we're still good at this age at some things. i think. i don't know. >> his short game is a lot better than yours, joe. a lot better than mine. >> talking trash. >> phil has pointed that out, as a matter of fact. he has. anyway, thank you, mr. secretary, mr. president, mr. larry. we appreciate it. >> good to be with you. >> thanks. the ceo of fresco news will join us. we're going to get a look at the apple watch experience. next. 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, too. ♪ ♪

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♪ it's dubbed the instagram of news. fresco is a photo sharing app that licenses photos from amateur photographers at the center of breaking news events. the app is one of the first to be released on the apple watch. joining us this morning, john meyer, the 19-year-old founder. >> was. i'm 20 now. >> goodness. >> thanks for having me. >> thanks for coming in. tell us about both the experience of trying the watch and also building an app for it. >> yeah. so first with building the app. we've been working on our app

for the watch for a good month and a half or so. what's interesting is all the developers working on them up until it's really released can only test their apps in a simulator on the computer. so what they developed called watch kit for developers is fantastic. it allowed us to really get our app going fairly quickly. >> what does your app do? >> what fresco does it's almost like instagram for news. it lets you get your photos from real people at the center of news events with captions below. and that's what we sort of did for the watch. we shrunk that down a bit, create a nice interface that lets you flick through using the damageal crown on the watch our feed of photos and really quickly get a sense of what's going on. >> you now tried the watch. >> yeah. >> and the verdict? >> the verdict is i was very very impressed with the sheer fluidity of the os. i think it's one of the best

examples that apple has done in recent past. real attention to detail of the operating system. battery life is fine. it lasted the whole day i used it. but one of the issues that is going to be solved over the next few months is sort of the loading time of apps. and the reason why in reviews some of the apps take long to load, is for the next few months all the apps are not running natively on the watch. they are being loaded on the phone. all the processes are happening on the iphone. what actually happens is the data and the interface is sent to the watch. that's what takes a bit of time. >> and that's going to change? >> that's definitely going to change. i'm very close, you know with a lot of the ways apple starts things out and introduces such products. and one of the things i've learned is they do really try to keep things simple for developers early on. and for me you know i like it. and i know it will be there with the experience. for the users, the experience will always be increasing. >> if you were to throw out a number of people you think will

actually buy this watch. you're going to buy it. joe is not buying it. >> i'm buying two of them. yeah. >> and you're going to buy one or no? >> i'll buy one. if we have the cash i'll buy one for all my team. i think it's a great first generation product. i really do think that obviously with apple, you know the expectations are always monumentally high. but i do think it's a pretty solid first gen product. we've got to take a bit of a chill pill. people are more -- >> little sound bite. john thanks for coming in. >> appreciate it. coming up we asked you to tweet us the stories that you're buzzing about this morning. coming up next, the topics you want to hear about in our new segment keep squawking.

♪ earlier we asked you to send us some stories that have you buzzing. now it's time for us to share some of them. the ones that you wanted us to talk about. rich tweeted us that bird flu is spreading and andrew's comment on squawk had me reading about the top turkey cities and

states. and it's not clear. we know about minnesota, but there's a lot of claims. it points to a minnesota website on two towns claiming the title of turkey capital of the world. it's not scarsdale. you grew up in scarsdale. >> i did. >> washington, minnesota, hosts a king turkey day each fall. but the city of fuero texas also claims to be the nation's turkey capital and holds its own annual turkey festival. so there's a face-off called the great gobbler gallop pitting the birds against. this is not our fault. we just go where the viewers tell us to go. >> there you go. >> hitting in the topic of my

world, this tweet asking how will corruption in chile affect economic growth there and the u.s. and global recovery? chile is deeply influenced by one of the most advanced free market economies in the world and has done so well while the rest suffered. and had been free of a lot of the corruption scandals. now there's several involving all different parties. the son of the current president. so it's -- >> it seems minor. he got a deal on some loan or something. it doesn't seem like good latin-american -- >> in the scale of scandals it's small. but the fact it's in chile, it's a big deal. >> right. i like the big house in mexico. that was a good one. just got married to a soap opera star. >> you could make that house any color you want. >> chile's got some work to do to raise to the other latin-american scandals. >> i can't even tell you my story.

it's about activist bad for bonds. >> that goes without saying. buybacks and all that other stuff. naturally some of the companies get -- >> when we come back how would you life be different with the apple watch? we've got the today tor in chief of verge to talk to us about the good, bad, and ugly. the conference call. the ultimate arena for business. hour after hour of diving deep, touching base, and putting ducks in rows. the only problem with conference calls: eventually they have to end. unless you have the comcast business voiceedge mobile app. it lets you switch seamlessly from your desk phone to your mobile with no interruptions. i've never felt so alive. get the future of phone and the phones are free. comcast business. built for business.

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apple watch mania front and center. you may really want one, but the question is do you really need one? we'll go inside the reviews and find out what impact the watch will have on one of the world's largest companies. is the iran deal about to blow up? news about tehran and what they're demanding. senate foreign relations committee member john barrasso will join us. this time the bailout for for frankfurt's shabby euro statue. is the 46 foot tall icon worth saving? we run the numbers as the final hour of "squawk box" begins right now. ♪

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. nothing like a little german tech techno to get you going in the morning. i'm joe kernen along with andrew ross sorkin and michelle caruso-cabrera. we're 90 minutes away from the opening bell on wall street. the futures right now have turned around and now showing positive movement up about 33 points on the dow. about 3 on the s&p and up about 9 on the nasdaq. while we check the german dax, we'll play more of the techno music. >> going to go to a rave. >> the ftse up about just .8%.

and i like that editorial in the journal, michelle. i mean why cave to greece for the same terms? >> case for letting greece go. >> i'd rather let greece go. >> you give them a better deal everybody else wants one too. >> you saw that horrific euro statue in frankfurt? i yungsed to mention it every time. the symbol is ugly. but that statue the colors -- >> but they've got the building there. >> it's always got graffiti and it's falling apart. it's a metaphor for what's happening with the euro. and they're going to spend money to rebuild the thing when the euro's going to be gone anyway. >> they play that music the whole time. pass out ecstasy in the back and then you've got a rave. >> i'm told this guy is going to play the music for the entire

hour. >> it's german techno. it really is. >> yeah. >> all right. in the headlines at this hour -- >> do you remember those three guys? >> that's what i was thinking. >> go ahead. >> in the headlines at this hour, we are less than 30 minutes away from the labor department weekly report on initial jobless claims. economists looking for claims to rise to 280,000 from last week's 268,000. greece has made a roughly $485 million payment to the international monetary fund that we skewed today. whether the country would make that payment. and the bank of england has left its key interest rate unchanged as expected. the central bank has its policy meeting next wednesday. joe? >> thank you. i'm trying to find out the -- they did have a band in "the big lebowski." anyway, some wicked weather to tell you about.

the central part of the country is bracing for more storms today. forecasters are warning this could be the most severe outbreak so far this season. 30 million people are in the path. that's the new thing we do all the time now. we measure the storm system and we always tell how many people are going to be affected. that's new though. that was never done before. >> probably a technological advancement that allows us to do it. >> it is but makes it sound more important. reports of tornadoes in kansas last night and dark clouds. in this case we're talking about -- i'm seeing baseball sized hail all week long and they show pictures of it and it's not. it's like maybe golf ball. >> that was bigger than a golf ball that we just showed. >> i don't know if this is -- >> it was big. that was big hail. it was. >> i think golf ball size hail is pretty big too. it'll mess up your car. people on the ground said the thunderstorm looked like a mini meteor shower. it's weird to see it on a warm day. >> there it is.

look. that's big hail. that is baseball. >> yes. >> all right. let's catch you up with earnings reports out this morning. walgreens boots alliance first share for the quarter beat estimates. revenue below estimates. however, the drugstore chain also announces plans. and constellation brands beat estimates with a $1.03 per share. also a quarterly dividend of 31 cents per share. the apple watch hype is in overdrive with preorders starting tomorrow. the users do that early access to the device almost universally believe it's a transformative moment for mobile technology. but they add they don't expect everyone to run out and buy just yet. the editor and chief at the verge here you spent a day wearing the watch. even when we say will you buy but do you really need it?

i mean after food and shelter didn't we learn about 2,000, 3,000 years ago just about everything we buy we don't need. we buy it because, i mean especially in technology. we buy it because we want it not need it. >> i think it's clear the watch is at the top of the hierarchy. clearly don't need it. >> but people are going to buy it. >> some people will buy it. i think what's clear -- i had it about a week. it takes that long to understand how it works. >> you have it on. >> i have it on. you can get all my e-mails. got mickey mouse on the face here. >> you get a bunch of different faces here. >> you can customize them. i think what's important about this is apple has validated the market for these guys. there have been smart watches out there. i think people will be interested to see it to play with it to to the apple store to try all the different combination. this piece of technology right now is not quite ready. they have a little bit more work

to do to make it more useful to make it faster to really figure out a narrative thread as to why you'd want to wear another computer on your wrist to take care of and more importantly charge every single night. >> i charge my phone every night what's wrong with charging your watch every night. >> a watch you're used to lasting for years, for days. >> a lot of people take them off at night. >> another charger, another cable, another computer is really -- computers are demanding objects. >> you just set it down on the charger. >> i have it. i got all the stuff. it's a little mat, but it's a usb cable. >> i'm kind of digging this. >> can you get an apple band? look at that bracelet, by the way. >> it clicks onto the back. >> so it's definitely another usb cable. >> you just set it down there. >> right. you've got to have this. if you travel you've got to

carry another cable. what i mean to say is the amount of utility you get out of it versus the amount of care and upkeep to put into it and learning about how to use it at this point is about roughly even. if you like toys you'll like it. >> these guys are going to roll their eyes but i wear this fitbit. i got new software and suddenly this thing tells me when my phone is ringing but buzzing on my arm when the phone is in the purse. that is tremendous functionality. i absolutely love that. the fact this will do that and -- >> what if you get a message? >> it doesn't have messages. it only taps phones. so it's even more functionality. i would buy it just for that functionality. and it's prettier. >> it is. you can spend anywhere from $350 to $17,000. and this thing will do all the fitness tracking of a fitbit. >> the band is easy to use. a bunch of different bands. >> this is the leather loop.

it's magnetic. >> okay. then i've got your calendar here. >> see what meetings i have. i've got cnbc going on right now. >> good day new york. >> yeah. i'm going on a whole media tour this morning. >> there's a crown movement. >> it's funny. there's not many objects in your life that now have knobs. apple made a knob. so the whole face of the thing is a button. there's a button on the side that opens the digital feature. >> push something or other. >> apple is a unique place with naming. that's what you're not supposed to do to your brother or other children at school. you push it down and the whole face is a force touch. so they push it down. >> you make jokes. >> all the time. >> do you polish that? no? >> did you clean it before coming on? >> i get it. >> make it pretty? >> you don't need to polish it. i'll say that. it polishes itself.

>> she's -- >> i will go back and watch it. [ laughter ] >> just forget about it. >> he started it. you started it with the force touch. that's what you don't do to your brother or kids at school. >> technology is supposed to be fun. it's supposed to enhance your life. it's supposed to reveal something about who you are and how you want to live. >> well the single most utility that you get out of this thing? is there one thing that is the killer app at the moment? >> the one thing and it's the killer app for all watches. this is what i mean by apple validates the watches. all let you keep your phone in your pocket. when it beeps, it shows you what's going on. they all do it. >> what's the most promising thing that's on this that doesn't work well now but in a year or two from now it's life changing? >> so they've built a system called the taptic engine.

it's a vibrator. it shakes your wrist when you get a notification. it feels like it's poking you. >> and like with the iphone you wouldn't want it going like that every time something happens. and it's a gentle tap at this point. >> yeah. they have to build it out. >> when you're sitting with your family and you're constantly getting tapped? >> better than keeping your phone on the table. >> sometimes when i go to dinner with my friends and we put our phones away or put ut upside down and make a conscious effort not to look at it. that thing's on your wrist. it's going to be tapping all the time. >> i saw a fellow at "the new york times," he said he actually was surprised he doesn't look at his phone as much. >> he was more present. >> yes. >> yeah, but looking at your watch has a unique -- going like this in a meeting is just as bad as looking at your phone. a lot of people asked me if i

had to go. >> thank you. >> thank you for the watch. i appreciate it very much. >> why don't we play more german music? up next congress' role in dealing with iran. john barrasso joins us on set to weigh in on the final agreement. before we take a break, here's a look at the futures right now. we'll be back with senator barrasso barrasso.

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welcome back to "squawk box" this morning. the battle goes on between nelson peltz and dupont. trian is urging them to vote for peltz and others for the dupont board. accusing them of misleading stockholders about the performance. dupont's response they say tri trian. a story going on for quite a while. iran's president saying the country will only agree if sanctions are lifted. he wants a win/win deal for all

parties involved. for iran that means removing all sanctions the same day nuclear agreement is implemented. the deadline is june 30th for agreement. joining us now, one of the members working on the policy. senator john barrasso. >> thanks for having me. >> you got a plan? >> i do. the senate wants to review the deal. we have a bipartisan group. chuck schumer from new york is one of the cosponsors of this. before any sanctions are released and you know what this is about. iran wants the money. they say show us the money. it's because it's tens of billions of dollars. when you lift the oil restrictions, when you lift the banking sanctions, there's a lot of money to use to support terrorism elsewhere. but the president's deal doesn't even meet his own standards. the president said early on was that he wanted to end the iran capacity to their nuclear program. yet, that's not what's in this frame work. >> you know the number right

now? 66 or 67 do you know? >> we haven't been in session for a bit. i talked about corker yesterday. we're continuing to work for -- we clearly have the number to get it out of committee, the bill -- >> but not the override? >> the committee and bill which will be tuesday. then the flor of the senate. we will continue to work in a bipartisan way to bring more people in. visited with john kerry ahead of time as well as joe biden. they were both chairman of the foreign relations committee in the senate. they know it's important for the senate to have a say in this. we're only talking about the sanctions congress has imposed in the first place. >> you're going to get unbelievable -- not you but the senators on the democratic side are going to get unbelievable pressure from the white house to not go along with this. "fast" a funny position because of israel and the close ties with the community. they've got to look at their constituents, they don't know what to do. this is a tough spot for them. >> the sanctions that are an

now, the president opposed having those. but we passed them 100-0 in the senate. you would think the president would want to come to the senate because it would strengthen his hand. it would give additional validity and credibility to a deal if he had the senate buying in and approving it. before any congressional sanctions are relieved we want 60 days to review the final deal and say yes or no. >> we're afraid to say you need to recognize israel. we've given up on saying that. we're afraid to say you have to stop your terrorist activities? no, go ahead. we can't even get that. >> or afraid to say stop enriching. >> but we won't even say that you need to stop your terrorist -- >> president doesn't seem to want to say any of those things. for something that was supposed to stop the iranian program, the president's now talking about how to manage it. you know how to delay nuclear war. i worry about the safety and

security of the united states. that's my number one concern here. i'm just concerned that this deal would allow iran to get -- >> policy is the purview of the prt and it needed to be that way to get treaties. this isn't even a treaty. in theory it doesn't have to go to you. if you start setting precedent of congress getting involved in a dramatic way, it really shackles future presidents and future deals. >> when you look at this president's ability in foreign policy, the red line in syria. you look at what's happened with the reset with russia. the pivot to asia. in all of these things this president's foreign policy has failed. around the world now are friends -- >> even if everybody agrees -- [ overlapping speakers ] >> the congress needs to be able to weigh in on this deal. because these are congressional sanctions -- i'm not talking about the executive actions the president's taken.

i'm not talking about the united nations sanctions. i'm talking about the sanctions put on by congress. that's the specific issue of the bill in front of the foreign relations committee next week. the one the president has threatened to veto. look what the iranians are saying now. all sanctions have to be lifted day one. even the explanation we have from the white house. i had a briefing with samantha powers the other day. they're talking about a gradual release of sanctions over a number of years, not everything happening immediately. now iran is saying we want them all relieved immediately. >> one said yesterday it appeared it was from a position desperate to get a deal done opposed to negotiating from a position of strength. why is the white house just so so intensely focused on getting a deal done at this point? when there's so many questions about it. >> i agree exactly with him on that position. met with him a number of times. he's a forceful leader.

the white house seemed to be fixated on getting a deal. even a bad deal. all we've seen in a framework. the iranians said it's just spin. that's not what we agreed to. but it does seem from what i've read that number one, nothing's shut down. they're going to continue to have in iran the equipment, the very secure location and bombs can't penetrate. that's going to continue. research and development may be able to continue. so it's the exact opposite of what the president promised a few years ago when he set his goal. >> is the world changed in the past couple years? that's the real question. what he said three years ago to now. >> the world's changed in a lot of ways i think for the worst. it's a much more dangerous place. you've seen the antagonism of putin and his efforts -- >> any more dangerous or less dangerous than they were. this is what that's all about. >> i think iran continues to be dangerous. and iran with a nuclear weapon is much more dangerous than it is today. you're going to see an explosion

of a nuclear arms buildup in the middle east if iran does proceed with a weapon. i visited with saudi arabia. i was there earlier this year. they want nuclear weapons. you're going to see the same thing in turkey and in egypt. and i had a chance to meet with some of the freedom fighters the from syria, the syrian free army. what they said was when sanctions were lifted a little bit, the temporary relief they got, that money didn't go to build hospitals and roads. it went to hezbollah. >> free leader still says yes death to america. not that much has changed. >> thank you, sir. >> everything around iran has changed. >> saudi arabia thinks things have changed with iran. i'll tell you that much. >> iran's warships have been off the coast of yemen. >> but they're helping us with isis. >> thanks for coming in. >> thanks. >> he is a doctor. >> take a look at that ear.

>> i'll give a second opinion. still to come boxing back on nbc. ceo of me barclays center brett yor mark will join us. but which team own this highest priced ticket in the game? the numbers are next. "squawk box" back after this. [ male announcer ] your love for trading never stops. so if you get a trade idea about, say organic food stocks schwab can help. with a trading specialist just a tap away. what's on your mind

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♪ okay. before you head to the ballpark you may want to grab a couple of extra dollars to bring along with you. according to secondary ticket site tiqiq.com, the average cost is $83. that's an increase from last year's price and the biggest percentage increase since 2009. combine that with some beer a hot dog, and parking and you could be paying an additional $25 or more. that's just for the hot dog and a beer. >> that's for one person? >> i think. according to data compiled by a sports marketing firm where we got all this. which team's tickets cost the most on the secondary market? the red sox. average ticket price for fenway

is $120. the tigers will run you about $116. the cubs $112 and the blue jays $107. the giants they keep winning world series $105. note to new yorkers, it will cost you more to go to a mets game this year than a yankees game. $104 a ticket. $101 to see the bronx bombers. and my reds cheapest ticket at $55. and parking is easy. and, you know you can have some chili. >> the yankees, if you wait on stubhub until 6:30 in new york city, you can get tickets for nothing and then just take a cab over and you're there. coming up jobless claims data and market reaction. plus a sign marred by bumper stickers dents, and scratches looking for a bailout. will they save the giant "e" in frankfurt? as we head to a break, look at

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this is jim iuorio for "squawk box" on the floor of the america mercantile exchange in chicago. we expected 283. it's a little worse than expected. last time was revised, down a hair as well. the continuing claims number came out at 2304 from expected 2350. that's not good either. the last labor data point we saw was friday and it was a disappointment. a week ago we believed that the u.s. was the pillar of the whole globe's economy and that within the u.s. labor was the thing that was the most strongest. that's called into question now. the thought of june tightening is way off the point at this time. the stock's come in heavy. the 10-year yield was about 1.88. kind of stayed the same. the thing i'm watching today is i don't think our stock market knows whether it wants strong

data and the fed tightening or the weak data and fed easing. looking for clues. i don't think we're going to get them today. >> all right jim. thanks so much. weekly claims data. joining us now head of u.s. equity strategy. thanks for being here. >> great to be here. >> you are bullish. >> we are. i think near term you're probably looking for a range bound trading environment just because people are skittish in the earnings. >> you also think you've reduced your earnings expectations. >> we have. i think you need to be realistic of the impact of a stronger dollar and energy on earnings. the flipside of that is what is on multiples. >> you assume you get multiple expansion for the theory to be true. >> correct. >> what's the best place to be there. >> in the u.s.? >> yeah. >> at the end of the day you want to be where the growth is. we have a lot of clients looking at rich sectors.

>> those stand out to me as not being nearly as affected by a strong dollar. is that correct? >> and of course energy. you can't overlook what's going on with the consumer now. we hear more about wage increases. i think walmart's wage hikes hit this week. you'll see people start to spend. we haven't seen that come through yet. we think b that's the dark horse for the year. >> you're not worried about the strong dollar? >> it matters, i think it matters more for the first two quarters of the year. then we start lapping over. the stronger dollar will matter for earnings. it's not going to change the way they sell their products. if you have a great drug it's a great drug regardless of the dollar. >> you're still bullish an u.s. equity markets. we have all these people on talking about europe. you know what? they're doing qe buy european stocks. it's that simple. >> i think it is that simple. we are bullish in europe. the difference is there's one market where the economy is much further along in a recovery standpoint, that's the u.s.

in europe they're in the early stages. it's going to suppress rates. that means dividend stocks exporters. >> what do you do as a u.s. dollar investor? >> hedge. >> hedge. right. but it's so expensive, isn't it? >> it is. we do a lot with our clients to hedge. the best stories that will benefit from the weaker euro you might be able to offset. already moved significantly. but there are still some stocks you might be able to buy unhedged where they are so high. >> they'll be that good that it doesn't matter what happens with the dollar. >> what do you tell them at this point? >> i'm the equity person. of course you want to be diversified. at the end of the day -- >> if you're in equities, forget bonds. >> i like to joke about that but it's not true. you're not getting paid as well as in europe to have as much exposure. >> yeah. that's an understatement. are you worried at all? i mean do your clients call you up and say why is there so much

negative yield in the world. what do you tell them? >> i think people wonder what happens when the states start to go in the u.s. you look back when rates get to a higher level, it is generally worse for equities. but that low to moderate rate environment is good for equities. i think that's the difference a lot of people miss. because we haven't been at rates this low so long. >> are rates going up in the united states? >> we think so. back half of the year. >> officially about the fed or are you talking about eventually the curve rising? >> the fed back half of the year. >> why? >> at some point you say is it strengthening? at the end of the day when you think about the consumer look at what's happening with m&a. corporate extremely bullish. i think that tells you about the underlines of the economy. >> m&a has always been a looking indicator. i don't know if it's -- >> signal the peak of something. >> i was on a show like this is

a year ago. these deals are happening and here we are and u.s. markets are a bit higher. >> and we're still getting big deals. >> you have to look at the deals. are they all stock? are they paying cash? what are the multiples? we don't see them through that stretch today. you look at where the m&a is you see smart people trying to pick up assets. that's interesting i think. >> you telling clients to buy energy stock? >> the difference between what the commodity will do to oil. but equities are going to look forward. you're starting to see the stocks start to price that in. i think you want to get through earnings. you would start dipping a toe in here. >> thank you. >> thank you. okay. you may think we're insane probably, but with this music we're playing. but if you're a viewer of "squawk box," you've certainly seen frankfurt's euro statue. there it is. this is german techno.

that's in frankfurt. we've talked about this thing a lot. it's hideous, number one. but it's also in disrepair. there's graffiti all over it. it's often standing behind our cnbc colleagues as they report on the euro. but now, it's 46 feet high and this symbol is falling apart. kind of like the euro currency. story in today's "wall street journal" notes that vandals recently painted a star red, light bulbs need to be replaced some are out, and there are bumper stickers on it. ecb doesn't en own the sculpture but it discloses euros for the upkeep. now asking frankfurt banks to help by becoming a sculpture sponsor. earlier this year the ecb moved its headquarters to another building in frankfurt leaving the poor statue rundown at another -- >> a relic. >> -- another location.

it is a perfect metaphor for the currency. and this music, we mentioned the big lebowski. the name in the movie was autobonn. and it's actually the name of it meant nail bed. right behind it when they take it out, is what it feels like. when they take it out, right behind it was the girl in just whipped cream. remember that withone? >> yeah. >> they thought of everything, the cohen brothers. you are not a niliste istnilist are you? >> still working on it. coming up boxing returns. we'll have a preview of this weekend's main event. check out european markets right now. take a look at what's going on. seeing green arrows across the board. "squawk box" returns in just a moment.

the golden bear can still play. that's for sure. jack nicklaus adding to his legacy yesterday at the par 3 contest at the masters. he gets a hole in one. the 75-year-old has six green jackets. he won his first way back in 1963. that's a great event before the big event which starts -- we don't get to watch it yet.

i think those guys teed off i think at 7:30. the masters -- here we go. the masters has now officially teed off. yesterday's par 3 tournament struck a lighter note. rory mcilroy turned to one direction's neil horan for help as his caddie. tiger had his two kids caddying. but the 1d heart throb is apparently an avid golfer. i'm trying to get over zayn -- is that his name? he left. do you know about this? >> no. >> zayn left. not harry styles but the other one that all the girls love left and immediately released a single. anyway. professional boxing is back in primetime on nbc. six title fights scheduled for this year. the second of which will take place this saturday night at the barclays center in brooklyn. fighting for the middleweight

world championship. joining us now to talk about the fights returning to nbc and brooklyn is brett yormark. he's ceo of the brooklyn nets and the barclays center. perfect fit for brooklyn and the barclays center. >> absolutely. boxing is back on primetime. very excited to be part of it. and certainly excited to go primetime on nbc on saturday night. in fact, the broadcasting team is a dream team. think of bob costas and marve albert and sugar ray leonard. boxing really started at the barclays center when we opened. it's a part of brooklyn. it's got a great history. and we're building a great program. this is our 11th night of championship boxing in brooklyn. and for us it's also been about cultivating the young boxers in brooklyn. but also bringing some of the more recognizable boxers to the borough. this saturday night should be big-time boxing in brooklyn. >> big boxing with hispanics.

you go down to texas, it's unbelievable. >> a kbigbig multicultural following. you'll see a device crowd in brooklyn saturday night. >> highest paid athlete in the world? >> that's a big event on may 2nd. >> not on nbc. boxing is back. and when you see that how many fights has he had to be the highest paid athlete? >> i mean, he fights a couple times a year. >> boxing never went away. >> showtime and hbo are charging 90 bucks. most they've ever charged. >> i think they're going to get close to 3 million buys. the most ever was a little north of 2 million. i think they're going to get 3 million. this is one of those where you say i watched i or i was there. >> i always hear people who love boxing say you know what we really need? america needs another

heavyweight again. another muhammad ali or a mike tyson. >> he's married to an american isn't he? >> klitschko. >> married to hayden panettiere. >> oh his brother's fighting. >> work with us. >> the american heavyweight champion is deante wilder who won it in the fall and at some point in time he'll probably fight klitschko. he's a rising star. probably number one u.s. ranked. >> do you remember his brother in davos? do you remember how big he was? klitschko. >> yes. >> he was like eight feet tall and like this. his brother is just an animal isn't he? >> yeah. both of them were great. obviously vladimir is the only one that still boxes. >> and you think we need an american heavyweight? >> i just -- we need a super famous heavyweight. and klitschko is well known, but

he's no mike tyson. he's no muhammad ali. >> deante wilder will be that next big time heavyweight champion. and you'll hear more about him. >> let me ask you a fighting question. it's about fighting but the wrong sport. the nba. i don't know if you saw this story in the new york post. you know about it. >> i'm aware of it. i read about it and heard about it yesterday. >> but seeing all this come -- this is just one example of it. there seems to be more and more of it. i don't know if we're making too much of it or making too little of it and what it means to the sport. >> i don't think it's -- it means in iganything to the sport. you read things like that every day here in new york. it just happened to involve some nba players. but from our perspective, we meet with our players. we're mindful that they're public figures. and obviously there's places they should be and places they shouldn't be. >> right. >> this was unfortunate.

>> he was out at 4:00 a.m. in the morning, he was supposed to play the next day. >> correct. >> shocked. >> they're young. they can, you know -- >> i know. but then the question is are there things the coaches need to be doing? these are sort of some of the questions from a team perspective. >> teams provide oversight. you know we have our own security people that work with our players and tell them where they should and shouldn't be. >> is there an nba policy? >> there's not. >> there's not a policy on -- there's no curfew the night before a game? >> no. >> so what has nbc signed on for for future boxing at the barclays? is it just -- >> well, nbc is part of the premier boxing champion platform which is boxing. we're fortunate to be hosting the next one. the first nbc event was last month in vegas. this will be number two. but saturday night should be great. we're almost sold out. there are some tickets still available.

>> sports content -- and you watch espn with all these things locked up. nbc gets hockey. everybody's vying for long-term deals to do all the long-term deals. >> very coveted. and i think the one sport that's been underdeveloped for lots of different reasons has been boxing. and i think al haiman and other leaders in the sport are really trying to build a bigger platform. and it really starts in primetime. >> andrew it's long-term, not good for people there's concussions. >> like the nfl. >> you think football is going to fall by the wayside. you're going to have a field day. >> generationally boxing lost its way somewhat. people worry 25 years from now -- >> they're deliberately hitting each other in the head. you realize that. that's got to change right there. >> by the way, on the nfl, do you have a view? do you think generationally

years from now it won't be around? >> it's going to be in stadiums -- >> it's going to be simulated. >> it's going to be cgi. >> my sun playson plays basketball. he just gravitated to basketball. >> pretty fun. >> thanks for coming in. >> thank you. >> it's the end of everything. end of football. end of boxing. end of basketball because the guy was out late. >> no. i love basketball. >> i just hope it survives. you can catch the fight live from barclays center saturday on nbc at 8:30 p.m. eastern. coming up next we're going to head to the new york stock exchange. we're going to catch up with jim cramer. he's standing by to tell us what you should be watching today in today's trading session. take a look at the futures at this hour. you're seeing the dow open up about 4.5 points higher. nasdaq up 5.5 points.

and the s&p we'll call it slightly down. i care deeply about the gulf. i grew up in louisiana. i went to school here. i've been with bp ever since. today, i lead a team that sets our global safety standards. after the spill we made two commitments. to help the gulf recover and become a safer company. we've worked hard to honor both. bp has spent nearly 28 billion dollars so far to help the gulf economy and environment. and five years of research shows that the gulf is coming back faster than predicted. we've toughened safety standards too. including enhanced training... and 24/7 on shore monitoring of our wells drilling in the gulf. and everyone has the power to stop a job at any time if they consider it unsafe. what happened here five years ago changed us. i'm proud of the progress we've made both in the gulf and inside bp.

welcome back to "squawk box." linkedin buying skills educator

valued $1.5 billion. it offers courses for individuals and the tie-up will bring more video to linkedin. >> the new york stock exchange. jim cramer joins us now. larry summers on earlier. i don't -- maybe i need to change my tune jim. i guess it's not june now, is it? >> yeah we're just -- look i was on the alcoa conference call last night, they cover different industries and every industry's pretty strong. it's such a difficult read because there are some businesses very, very very very good and then emerging markets coming back maybe we shouldn't worry about the dollar. and and we just get employment. it's like, well i thought we were coming back. i think it's mixed enough that i'm not as concerned. but i would point out that there are a lot of companies reporting good numbers this very morning, and that does matter. last night we left thinking bed, bad and alcoa, uh-oh.

this morning everything's good. something we have to pay close attention to. >> perry go is now elan and it's in ireland. i'm trying to figure this out. you've got insight into the mylan/perigo -- >> the cold and flu season wasn't strong. they lost a lost a lot of business in supplements. this united states a company, i think, is uniquely undervalued by the market. the structure was difficult to understand. i think that it makes a great deal of sense for mylan to do it. it joins acty vift. it's where all of the action is focused on another one, a takeover target in a couple of months. >> been a while, maybe somebody else comes in here too. remember we had gulf and stuff, the good old days they kept coming back and the other one

would come back? >> people should be excited. you know it i know it. they should be saying, wow, i can believe we've got a stock up 30. people saying i guess i can't catch those. or i've got to be in an etf in oil. and they're missing great opportunities whether it be with apple or perrigo, accessible ideas. >> watching the masters? it's not your thing? >> this weekend's when i kick it. i always watch it. we put it on. look it's in the background until the last day, boy, yeah anyone who doesn't watch it? honestly. >> looking at me jim. i'm going to watch. >> i'm going to watch. >> everybody watches. >> jim, see you later. >> coming up how j. lo inspired google images that you search for. but won't admit it. we'll be right back.

73% of americans try... ...to cook healthy meals. yet up to 90% fall short in getting key nutrients from food alone. let's do more...

...add one a day 50+. complete with key nutrients we may need. plus it supports physical energy with b vitamins. one a day 50+ welcome back to "squawk box." today's watch list wholesale trade numbers, 10:00 a.m. eastern time. analysts believe inventories will continue to look heavy in february but slightly lower than in january. ruby tuesday's out with results after the closing bell.

analysts believe rising commodity costs and competition in the casual dining sector to weigh on the top line. president obama is in jamaica, first president to visit the island nation since reagan in 19827 he's attending a summit of caribbean nations there. >> there's some nice great golf courses. i hope he brought his clubs. >> bring your sticks? did you bring your sticks? there's a new ad campaign ad campaign for beer popping up on the internet. the message, let's grab a beer. the catch, there's no corporate branding associated with the campaign. turns out, that is intentional. anheuser-busch created the campaign and exec from the beer division -- mmm beer -- say they want to start and continue a conversation about beer and make sure the market for beer stays

healthy for the long time. maybe they could have actually called it duff beer. homer's favorite. >> we have another fun story. before kim carl icahnkardashian broke the internet j. lo, her iconic look then spirration for the advent of google. eric schmidt revealed j. lo in her green dress the most popular search at that time. this spurred the idea users were interested in more than just texts. >> interested in a dress, that's really weird. >> it's the dress. i don't know what's great about. i guess the color's nice. andrew, you're back. see you tomorrow. >> see you tomorrow. >> hope your cold is tomorrow. >> join us tomorrow. "squawk on the street" is next. ♪

good morning, welcome to "squawk on the street." i'm carl quintanilla with jim cramer david faber at new york stock exchange. relatively steady premarket this morning as earnings start to hit from bed bad,th, alcoa. oil rebounding after 6% decline. ten year's below 1.9. four-week average is at a new