good morning. breaking overnight, an italian bank on the brink again. bmps forced to admit no anchors have taken up its share sale. a u.s. flurry of economic data. will the numbers push the dow past the 20,000 milestone? and the trump transition. the president-elect calls on carl icahn to combat excessive regulation. it's thursday december 22, 2016, "worldwide exchange" begins right now.

♪ >> good morning. welcome to "worldwide exchange" on cnbc, i'm sara eisen here with dominic chu in for wilfred frost today. >> good to be here again. >> throwback thursday, of course we throw back with holiday classics. >> mariah carey. >> let's check in on the global markets this morning after stocks took a pause yesterday on the march to 20,000. pulled back a bit. not much. the dow futures now down six. s&p down two. nasdaq futures down seven. >> much like it was yesterday at this time. >> the losses were fractional. >> we were at 40-point trading range for the dow? 50 trading points? >> tight ranges, lower volumes, holiday lull. just when you thought we would get up to the 20,000 number. not that far away. >> we're not that far away. 20,000 good morning. number is kind of like a psychologically important number, maybe for some out

there. it's a march to bigger better things down the line. you wonder whether or not people are paying attention to that mark. >> it's a technical level. it is sort of a point that represents confidence in the market. we are on watch again for 20,000. as for the treasury note yield, let's see how sentiment is shaping up. 254. a bit of buying this morning. also pausing near recent highs, highs for the ten-year that go back to 2014. >> as you look at the macro picture, let's look at europe. a bit of a mixed picture there. similar to what we saw yesterday. the german dax flat. it's very, very fractionally down today. cac in france off about that same amount, ftse 100 off 0.1%. the ftse mib in italy, and sara

mentioned the banco monte dei paschi situation in italy, up a third of a percent right now for the overall index. the ibex 35 in spain, down about a quarter percent. in asia, their markets are closed. hang seng and hong kong off by 0.8%. shanghai composite pretty much flat on the day. nikkei pretty much flat. >> one fact their didn't help stocks yesterday is that oil turned around and went lower on that surprise build in inventories as reported by the department of energy during yesterday's session. oil also down again this morning, just barely. down 0.2. it looked like crude would be strong yesterday, towards the strongest level of the year then the pullback. brent, 54.34. net gas popping by 1 %. as for the u.s. dollar which has been strong and a head wind for commodities. the euro bounce a bit this

morning. 104.44. off the lows 123in the 103 regi. the dollar/yen off the highs, they've on the strong dollar. 117.58. the dollar is a bit higher. we'll see if that dictates sentiment. the pound weaker, 123.27. gold prices little changed. the dollar has paused in its march higher. gold is down about 0.1%. >> that downtrend very much in tact from the election. today is the busiest day of the week for economic data. weekly jobless claims coming out. november durable goods coming out. the final estimate on third quarter gdp out at 8:30 eastern. growth is forecast to be revised slightly higher to 3.3%. then at 10:00 a.m., look for november personal income and spending numbers. those numbers part of that overall theme that we have,

whether or not the economic data is starting to validate some of these things happening were the overall market. is the market ahead of itself? we spoke about it yesterday with michelle meyer at bank of america. this is something where all these data points will be key. >> absolutely. especially as we watch the big, round numbers like 20,000. it's been a search for catalyst to some extent. did have strong existing home sales yesterday. the data for the most part has looked solid. can it keep up? the question there is with all the of this pro-growth policy potentially in the cards from trump and congress, does that lead us on a path to more sustainable higher potential growth rate than we've been used to in this fits and starts recovery? >> what does that mean? broader, bigger picture for the fed and other central banks around the world. how many rate hikes does it mean for 2017? all of that playing a part. >> goldman sachs warning this

could be a self defeating rally. the fed maybe hiking interest rates to prevent inflation and overheating. is that a good thing? you want that in a healthier economy. >> a balance like that. >> but we've been caught in this sort of fear trap of rising interest rates. today's top corporate story, bmps shares in italy dropping and suspended from trading after the lender admitted there are no anchor investors taking up the share sale. andrea cabrini joins us from milan with the latest. does this mean italy will coto come and bail them out? >> it means this day will mark history not just for monte dei paschi but for the entire banking system. the market failed to respond to the 5 billion euro bid after the

qatari investor declined to participate in the capital hike. at 2:00 european time, the board will meet in milan and ask for an official intervention of the italian state, which has already gotten approval from the parliament for a 20 billion fund that will serve as a safe net not just for monte dei paschi but for the other italian troubled banks. this is in prices that you mentioned, share prices of monte dei paschi which has been volatile. they are trading in positive territory, basically based on the european rules of the berlin sharing, capital increase, precautionary capital increase by the italian government will be joined by a price paid by junior bond holders and shareholders, but details are not clear. the italian cabinet meeting in

rome which launches this evening will guarantee bonds of monte dei paschi. allowing the bank to go through the tensions of liquidity that were announced yesterday and basically scared the market. now this was already in the price since the end of november. the banking sector revamped on the italian intervention with the state. >> how will it go down publicly if the state has to come in and bail out the bank? may have to bail out other banks after that. sets a pretty dangerous precedent. what will be the public reaction? >> there's a lot of debate. yesterday they said we'll safe investors and italian savers, especially the 40,000 italian retail investors that gave 2 billion in 2008 to monte dei paschi to allow the bank to buy anton vinetta, but the position is they're just saving banks, not people, not investors and

savers. so a huge debate on this. in the end, the presence of this 20 billion fund as a safe net for italian banks will allow other troubled banks to have a future without bailing, which is the most scary option for italian investors as a whole. so, yes, respecting the european rules there will be more of this in the future. >> thank you very much for swroi joining us, andrea. to politics and the trump transition. the president-elect tapping carl icahn as a special adviser, he'll work on rescinding excessive regulation on u.s. business. icahn will not be a federal employee, and will not be taking a salary. i guess that's key because it doesn't get caught up in the conflict of interest. >> right. carl icahn has a lot of business ventures, including in energy. >> which he railed against the

obama administration regulations, correct? >> yes. >> this is a strong signal to business that we're going to make due on our pledge. hopefully open things up so businesses can feel unfettered. another well known face to cnbc viewers is also getting a job in the trump administration. peter navarro will run a new national trade council. the group will be based in the white house. navarro is the author of "death by china" and criticized china's military policies in the past and backs a hard-line approach with relations for beijing. navarro has been fairly trade protectionist with his views towards china. >> way outside the mainstream views of economists. >> it begs the question of whether or not you're stacking the cabinet with enough voices of varying spectrums, as opposed to certain magnetic sole voices.

>> we know this is a key signature policy of trump, he talked about it on the campaign trail, talking about china, fairer trade. so far the picks reflect that. wilbur ross is said to be the lead trade negotiator. unclear what peter navarro, the trade council, i don't know. he will be tasked with crafting policies and regulations. we know he takes a hard-line view on this trade. that's why the wa"wall street journal" is backing larry kudlow. so there will be a debate. >> we're still looking for a trade rep. the question is what that trade rep will do if you have people like wilbur ross and peter navarro dominating the trade conversation. >> absolutely. fedex was asked about it on the call, worried about it. trade is so important. nike was asked about it on the

call. said it was too soon to tell. president-elect trump says he will work with boeing and lockheed martin to reduce costs on defense projects including a new air force one. he met with both yesterday. >> we will get it done for less than that. we are committed to working together to make sure that happens. i was able to give the president-elect my personal commitment on behalf of the boeing company. this is a business that's important to us. we work on air force one because it's important to our country. we'll make sure he gets the best capability and that it's done affordably. >> in a statement, lockheed martin's ceo called the meeting productive. said she conveyed lockheed's commitment to delivering an affordable aircraft to u.s. military and allies. looks like trump got what he wanted from boeing. lowering the costs on that. it's so unusual.

he's in mar-a-lago, on vacation, negotiating with these big companies, boeing and lockheed, who he called out on twitter. and getting a better deal for taxpayers. >> i would say with trump, the conversation always goes along the line of anything he says, the first salvo is always jumping off point for that negotiation. it's the whole part of the deal. >> but he's following through with it. look how many companies and businesses he has already engaged before even taking office. >> yes. >> i think the idea with the defense companies, dom, you know better than i, that the outlook is bright. trump promised to spend more beefing up defense. many countries around the world are as tensions rise. >> that's the conventional view, with a trump administration you are looking at a possible build up or revamping of the u.s. military and the spending program. >> stocks have been strong. stocks to watch today, you

have bed bath & beyond. third quarter profit fell there. growth in online sales could not offset a drop in traffic at brick-and-mortar stores. the company expects full-year earnings to be at the low end of the usual range. shares off about 2.5%. micron's first quarter profits beat analyst profits. the company expects second quarter earnings to come in well above expectations. 10% rise in premarket trading. herman miller's second quarter results and third quarter outlook missed forecasts. the maker of home furnishings citing weakness in the north american market and pointing to geopolitical climates. as a result, those shares which had been in an uptrend are down 7% in extended after-hours tradi trading. shares of actelion surging today after johnson & johnson is back in talks with them. yesterday they said they are in

exclusive discussions. reports say a deal would be worth $30 billion. red hat's third quarter profit rising 45% on revenue. the fourth quarter outlook did come in below forecast. the stock down 10%. redhat saying its cfo is leaving. and hershey naming michelle buck as coo and ceo. hershey rejected a $23 billion takeover from mondelez in august. this move was widely expected. she was the number two and has been with the company for more than ten years. when we come back, shop until you drop. we'll talk holiday retail and the prospects for the consumer in the new year. and continuing to monitor the dow 20,000 climb as we head to break here. here's a look at the companies adding to the index since it hit 10,000 back in 2009. apple, united health, goldman

sachs, nike, visa. those stocks added to the dow. at&t, alcoa, hp and kravft have been removed sense 2009. you're watching "worldwide exchange."

welcome back to "worldwide exchange." with just a few days left in 2016, cnbc is breaking out its

traditional 2017 playbook. today focusing on the retail sector. here is courtney reagan. retail was all about online shopping in 2016. and in 2017 it may be all about leadership and policy changes. here are three predictions for the new year. long-time macy's, starbucks ceos have announced they're retiring next year. they won't be alone. as the pace of change accelerates, look for longer-term ceo seats to change as well. look for new ceos with more diverse experience to step in. retailers that source clothing and shoes from overseas may have to go back to the drawing board when it comes to the supply chain. if trump talk on major change on trade, tariff and import regulations are realized t could increase costs and compress

profitabilities because passing on costs to consumers will be nearly impossible. many are looking for inflation under a trump administration, you won't see it in the prices shoppers pay in the near-term. for more than 30 years prices consumers pay have been flat or lower compared to the year prior, even when cotton prices doubled. price pressure from newer players like prime arc and forever 21 and stalwarts like walmart and tj maxx make it too hard. >> there's no doubt that courtney and the retail industry will have a busy year. >> that border adjustment tax, that's something -- the more i read about it, the more it looks like it has congressional support. will be a big deal. >> could be, especially when it comes to our wallets. what we pay for goods and services. >> higher costs. coming up, the top political stories. >> as we head to break, here is the national weather forecast from the weather channel's

reynolds wolf. >> good thursday morning to you. let's look at that forecast across the country. beginning in the northeast, we could see rain, sleet or snow in parts of new england. new york will see some showers earl early. atlanta, drier, 63 degrees. the central rockies, decent snowfall possible for you. steam boat springs back over to butte. seattle, showers, 44 degrees there. los angeles, showers, 67. the colder air is back in bismarck, denver, north platte. more "worldwide exchange" after this. eforyx

welcome back to "worldwide exchange." let's talk politics. edward lawrence has the latest on the trump administration, and there are so many headlines out there. take us through what we need to know. >> president-elect donald trump spoke twice from his resort, mar-a-lago. he spoke policy and defense contracts. president-elect trump called the attacks in germany and turkey an attack on all humanity. he used this to reaffirm his plan for a muslim registry or temporary ban coming into the country. >> you know my plans all along.

they've been proven to be right. >> reporter: mr. trump also took aim at the aerospace industry. he met with lockheed martin and boeing executives to talk about the rising price tag on some government contracts. >> trying to get costs down. costs. primarily the f35. trying to get the costs down. it's a program that's very, very expensive. >> boeing's ceo admits there may be wiggle room for the $4 billion price tag on the new air force one. a plane mr. trump said he would cancel because the cost was too high. >> we'll get it done for less than that. and we're committed to working together to make sure that happens. >> reporter: the president-elect is holding on to one of his main campaign promises. renegotiating. the president-elect also met with generals you saw there. on twitter he said that meeting focused on military plane capabilities and pricing. back to you, dom, sara? >> thank you very much for those updates. we'll always watch what's happening with the trump administration and working

before the holidays. donald trump's son-in-law, jared kushner is reportedly looking to sell his newspaper, the new york observer. women's wear daily is unsure how much he hopes to get. he bought the paper for $10 million had 2006. he may be focusing on his political career. sara, another high-profile perhaps rejiggering of things -- >> we know he's way involved and will be when trump goes to the white house. to sports a new development in the feel-good story of the week. the kettle leap heard around the nfl. fanprint.com made shirts licensed by the cowboys and the players association showing the play from sunday night when e! e! elliott jumped inside the red kettle after scoring that touchdown. all the proceeds here from the

zeke kettle leap sales will go to the salvation army. elliott himself donated 21,000. corresponding to his jersey number 21, and is encouraging fans to donate 21 bucks, enough to feed a family of three. it's sort of a nice surprise. >> it's a great story for this time of year. >> i don't know if it was on purpose or accident. >> i thought he was caught up in the moment, and the red kettle was there. he made the salvation army a lot of money. >> he got find for it. >> he did not get fined for it. >> excessive celebration? >> he got a flag, but not a fine. bmps shares swinging wildly in europe. the reason straight ahead. stay tuned, you're watching "worldwide exchange" on cnbc. is the stuff that matters?

the stakes are so high, your finances, your future. how do you solve this? you don't. you partner with a firm that advises governments and the fortune 500, and, can deliver insight person to person, on what matters to you. morgan stanley.

good morning. developing story here overnight. shares of embattled italian lender, bmps swinging wildly now. the chances of a state bailout are increasing. a flurry of u.s. economic data. will those numbers push the dow past the 20,000 milestone. and horrible news for eggnog lovers. why there could be a shortage of the holiday favorite this year. it's thursday, december 22, 2016, you're watching "worldwide exchange" on cnbc.

♪ good morning. welcome back to "worldwide exchange" on cnbc. i'm sara eisen along with dominic chu. >> i forgot how good the music is on this show. >> always. especially on throwback thursday. we throw back today with some holiday classics. dj sophia, all over it. >> absolutely. >> checking on global markets, the dow pulled back away from the 20,000 level yesterday a bit. closed about 58 points away from the milestone. >> we were down 26 points. >> we got as close as 13 points on tuesday. it's quite dramatic. the much heralded 20,000 level. yet to be hit. will today be the day? >> i think every newspaper in america wants to get this headline on the front pages over and done with and move on. >> we have a lot of economic data today. maybe that will be the ticket. futures now, dow down 8.

s&p down 2. nasdaq down 7. not a lot of action. early action in europe, subdued considering you have this major banking crisis in italy with the world's oldest bank not securing private money. the dax is flat. look at italy. actually popping 0.3% on hopes that the state will come there and rescue on word that there are meetings happening in milan and across italy now. there is the bank, it is up about 1.2%. it's been all over the place this morning. it fell 18% yesterday. now it is up on hopes of a bailout. asia overnight. after u.s. stocks stalled, we did see a similar reaction in hong kong, down about 0. %. the nikkei closing flat. it's been taking its cue from the yen. shanghai comp closed higher. it has been an underperformer in terms of global stocks. europe and japan joined the party with the u.s. stock market in terms of the rally.

europe near the highest levels of the year. not so much emerging markets or china. questions about the fed rate hike making life more difficult there. and if the trade tensions heat up by all accounts, trump is looking for a bit tougher confrontational stance. >> as we talk about often, the currencies are a driver behind that stronger dollar, perhaps bad for emerging markets. also the weaker yen, good for exporters. >> great for them. >> a lot of cross currents. speaking about those cross currents and the macro picture, let's look at the broader markets. oil is a focus. again, weakness for wti crude. $52.37 the last trade there. off by a quarter of a percent. ice brent crude futures, $54.33, also off by one quarter of a percent. let's take you to the interest rate picture, the u.s. government ten-year treasury rate note yield, 1.55%. just about where we were yesterday at this time. you can see here just over the last couple of months, a severe

uptrend in the u.s. benchmark interest rates. taking you to those currencies, seeing movement here with regard to the dollar, dollar weakness against the euro. the euro gaining strength, 1.0464 to buy the euro. gold prices, checking in on that. gold showing some marginal weakness, very, very marginal weakness. 1,132 the last trade for gold. if you're looking for catalysts on wall street. the busiest day of the week for economic data. jobless claims, november durable goods will be out and the final estimate on third quarter gdp. growth is forecast to be revised slightly liar to 3.3%. that was a strong quarter. that was a strong quarter for growth. at 10:00 a.m., the november

personal income and spending numbers. now to washington news, a number of big stories at the intersection of business and politics again today. president-elect trump meeting with the ceos of boeing and lockheed martin yesterday, also tapping carl icahn as a special adviser to work on regulatory issues. and hiring peter navarro to run a new international trade council. trump using his vacation productively to renegotiate some deals with the federal government. talk us through the strategy here. >> well, it's clearly a strategy of jawboning these companies into golfing the government a better price. trump meeting one-on-one with the ceos, he also met with a group of admirals and generals yesterday, military top brass were at mar-a-lago yesterday. as they were walking out, i was

watching the feed, he shook every admiral and general's hand as they walked out, he singled one person out, saying these are great people, great negotiators, pointing to one admiral leaving the building. clearly he wants those folks in the pentagon system to cut better deals. he's encouraging them to negotiate in a better way for the taxpayer. that's something that the pentagon has been bad at. cost overruns at the pentagon have been legendary. donald trump thinks he can do something about it. >> eamon, we have news that he's putting together some more top lieutenants for his overall cabinet scheme. it involves carl icahn, a billionaire investor, a man supporting him for the better part of the last two years. also peter navarro on the trade side of things. what is he hoping to achieve with these types of appointments? >> with carl icahn, you get the sense that what donald trump is

doing here is putting some official window dressing around the role that icahn already played with trump. the two men are very close. trump relies on him for advice and council. he was an early supporter of donald trump. also a millionaire. donald trump respects that, his business accomplishments. this gives him a role as special adviser, where icahn won't take a salary but will be able to continued to play the role that he's been playing so far, which is putting a bug in donald trump's ear on issues that he thinks are important, particularly on regulation. the danger for the trump team and this pick is the conflict of interest question which continues to swirl around the incoming trump administration. if carl icahn is giving advice on regulatory issues, i think a lot of people will want to know what advice is he giving and how does that impact carl icahn's businesses? he has a host of businesses which would be impacted by regulatory decisions. is he giving advice that lines

his own pocket or giving advice maybe that is the opposite, that causes his businesses some discomfort but good for the company. >> we picked a quote from peter navarro, who has been a guest on cnbc. a known economist and published author. his book "death by china" is relevant here to his new appointment. here's a quote. if money is the root of all evil, then china's manipulation of its currency, the yuan, is the tap root of everything wrong with the u.s./china trade relationship. for more than a decade, america's growth rate and spiked our unemployment rate, it would be impossible for china to keep sucking the life blood out of the american economy without its fangs of currency manipulation. it's widely known in the past

china manipulated its currency to keep it lower, experts chugging along. this is tough talk. i wonder if it indicates that trump will be more confrontational or is gearing up for more of a trade war with china than the markets and companies expect. >> this will be seen in beijing as a real poke in the eye. they're already wary of trump and his rhetoric. they'll want to know what this means. what exactly navarro's role will be here. this is a new trade council that he'll be on. it's not something we've seen before in previous administrations. it's a signal that donald trump is raising trade to a very significant white house level of influence. but what exactly will navarro advocate here? the obama administration has been wary about naming china as a currency manipulator for fear of provoking chinese reaction. now we'll see if the trump

administration goes through that and what kind of reaction we get. it could destabilize relations in a bad way or be the kind of thing that resets the relationship on terms that are better for the united states. >> if he can get a better deal. eamon, thank you for jumping on the phone today. >> you bet. switching from that politics side of thing to the media entertainment business. if you look at one of the biggest weekends of the year for the box office, this time around for christmas, moviegoers are expected to turn out in droves for the holiday season. landon dowdy has more on what we can expect for the holiday movie season. >> that's right. hollywood kicks off the christmas weekend a few days early with "sing." it opened in theaters yesterday, stars matthew mcconaughey, reese witherspoon. it is predicted to be the biggest of the new holiday movies and described as a cross

between "zootopia" and "american idol." it is expected to take in 65 million to $75 million through monday. that would make it the latest success from universal's animation arm which also produced mignons and the secret life of pets. the force is still expected to be strong with "rogue one" which last weekend got $155 million domestically. third highest opening of the year. "passengers" starring chris pratt and jennifer lawrence will rake in 30 million to $40 million. putting it in a close race with "assassins creed." the year-end holiday stretch is the most crowded at the box office. films opening during these weeks rack up strong multiples. back over to you. >> thank you very much. i know i will be watching the assassins creed movie. the gamer in me. >> i saw lala land. that was fun. time for top trending stories. our daily update on the bachelor.

we have news, it's heading to snapchat. programming kicking off on january 3rd with a show called "watch party, the bachelor." as part of a deal between disney and senate chat there will be ten original episodes, one live story exclusively on snapchat every tuesday morning after the episode of the bachelor airs on monday nights. no additional titles have been announced. gearing up for a new bachelor premiere this show has been on the air since 2002. >> i promise, sarah, if you vow to be more into football, i will be more into the bachelor. >> now we can do fantasy leagues on both. >> yes. though i think one of them is fixed. >> the bachelor. it's not live. another interesting one here, the first ever ihop applebee's combination restaurant is opening its doors in detroit. the co-branded restaurant will

feature favorites from applebee's and i hhop as well aa coffee bar. my mom loves the swedish pancakes with the lingenberry syrup. >> you don't have to make the choice anymore. >> spain's annual christmas lottery taking place today with a whopping $2.4 billion on the line. better known as el gordo, it's dubbed the world's richest sweepstakes. the catch? nobody walks away with billions. it's about 4 million doctor taxes. some people buy many tickets with the same number to maximize potential earnings. >> seems like a statistically improbable way of maximizing earnings. bad news with eggnog.

for the eggnog lover, i love egg n nog, the u.s. is facing a major shortage of the drink. producers underestimated the high demand for the drink. organic valley saying egg not sales are up 60% over last year. compared with a 5% increase over the course of recent years. you are an eggnog drinker? >> not really. i like cider. i know eggnog is good. >> rum or bourbon in your eggnog? >> was about you? >> bourbon. >> i'm a bourbon gal, too. >> before break, let's check out the trading picture in europe. italy hopes of a state bailout for the world's large effort bank, giving hope to the troubled banks over there. you're watching "worldwide

exchange" on cnbc. eforyx

welcome back to "worldwide exchange." good morning. it is time for our must-read stories catching our attention in the papers today. my pick is in the "wall street journal" titled the keynesians versus the kudlow. kudlow gets a backing to be an economist in the white house in part because it reads his

selection wednesday of economist -- trump's here, petpeter navarro puts another protectionist in the ranks. mr. kudlow is a free trader and it would be useful to have one inside the white house. this is not the only reason the journal backed him but stood out to me in light of the pick of navarro and the tough talk he's had in his books on china. the journal lays out kudlow's views on taxes, supply side economics, he doesn't have a ph.d. as an economist, and that may not be such a bad thing. >> i remember hearing larry kudlow all the time saying capitalism is the best path to prosperity. my pick is in the "washington post." happy holidays, donald trump. now, it reads my parents taught my sister and me back in the

1950s, long before anyone heard of political correctness that we should respect our jewish friends and neighbors by saying happy holidays or happy hanukkah. we proudly celebrated christmas and were one of the few on the street with wis mass lights but also wanted to honor our jewish friends and neighbors. it was a way of taking everyone's religion seriously. donald trump has been saying i'm bringing christmas back. merry christmas should not be something you're ashamed to say. i say merry christmas to everyone, regardless of religious views. it's what i like to say. but i'm not offended if someone were to say to me happy hanukkah, i just say peace be with you. it's the season for being warm. >> not criticizing. >> that's right. >> the holiday greetings. we are approaching the top of the hour. the team is getting ready for "squawk box." kayla tausche joins us from new

york city with a look at what's coming up. >> we'll give you a retail snapshot so far in the christmas spending season. i'll say christmas because dom just said christmas. it's not a bad word anymore. we'll have a snapshot and talk security. i'm most excited about a conversation with mohammed el-erian, dow 20,000, whether the economic data, the market and whether it can get there. merry christmas to both of you and happy hanukkah to all of you. >> happy holidays to everybody out there. el-erian saying he's a lot in cash right now. coming up, we have an investment strategist joining us. we'll see if he sees dow 20,000

in santa's bag this time around. stay tuned, you're watching cnbc.

welcome back to "worldwide exchange." a check of u.s. equity futures at this hour. little changed to slightly negative. dow futures down 9, s&p down 2. nasdaq down 7. does this pause on the march to dow 20,000 continue? joining us from philadelphia is bill stone, chief investment strategist from pnc asset management group. a real twitter -- you nailed the twitter gift situation when it came to teasing your appearance today. congratulations, bill stone. after all the christmas and holiday cheer that you sent on twitter, when it came to the markets, do you expect the rally to pick up here? >> i would say, you know, some people laugh about the santa claus rally, it's a statistical anomaly that you do tend to get

a good rally and it starts in technicalities tomorrow through the end of the year and the first two trading days of next year. on average, interestingly enough, we looked back to 1896, and on average you got about a 1 1.9% -- 1.7 return out of the dow. so we would get to 20,000 if those seven days if we got to that. forget about the 1.7, think about 75% of the time the dow is up during that time. we don't need much up to push us up over the 20,000. my bet is on we make it. >> bill, let's say we do make it and we have the dow 20,000 mark, we hit it, it's in the rearview mirror, can we say at these levels the dow is fairly valued, overvalued, undervalued? should we be buying stocks now

because the dow is at 20,000? >> we would argue the stock market is pretty close to fairly valued. for us fairly valued means you can still earn a fair return, but not undervalued. our thought is you'll see something like single digit price returns next year with the dividend on top. so, i know, mid to high single digits. i'd say for the first time in a while, well, you do have some upside to earnings in the sense that if we get repatriation, you might get that buyback that gets earnings up. that could boost us more. i think you're fair to say that you probably should have more muted expectations next year. not bad. relative to cash and bonds, it's still an attractive place to be. what if you've been in big cap technology or in consumer staples, both winners, and have

missed out on this record setting rally. what would you tell those folks to do? rotate into the trump-related stocks or stick with what they have? >> i still -- we still like technology. i think that one in mrparticula will pass. the staples are tougher, not that long-term staples are a great place to be, it's tougher if we do get better economic activity, they probably continue to lag to some extent. not to mention they're a bond proxy to some extent. that becomes a problem as well as we expect yields to move up. that's one where i would consider a shift into financials, something like that. i know that's a trump rally favorite. >> yes. >> but i still think that's one to think about. >> all right, bill, thank you. bill stone with pnc asset management group. "usa today" nearly half of

americans miss out on the trump rally. >> for the retail investment. >> from 10,000 in 29 a009. that's it for "worldwide exchange."

good morning. the dow pulling back slightly from its approach to 20,000. a flood of economic data could push it over that milestone. on the brink of a bailout, the world's oldest bank will need help from italy's government after it was forced to admit no anchors have been found to pick up the share sale. and carl icahn will be advising trump for free in the new administration. it's thursday, november 22, 2016, "squawk box" begins right

now. ♪ >> live from new york where business never sleeps, this is "squawk box." good morning. welcome to "squawk box" here on cnbc. i'm melissa lee along with joe kernen and kayla tausche. let's look at u.s. equity futures as we continue the march to dow 20,000. about 58 points away at the close yesterday. right now we are indicated to open lower across the board. s&p looking to lose about 2 at open. nasdaq down about 6 at the open. worth noting that yesterday was a very, very tight trading day. 45-point range. that was the tightest in about two years. looking at the action in asia, hang seng saw the most action, down by 0.8%. in europe, the picture there, big news there is on monte dei paschi. we are seeing red arrows across the board except in italy, thanks to the gains in that