♪ >> live from new york where business never sleeps, this is "squawk box. all right. good morning welcome to "squawk box" here on cnbc we are live from the nasdaq market site in times square. i'm becky quick along with joe kernen and andrew ross sorkin. let's look at the u.s. equity futures. yesterday a big day for the markets. dow up by 2 55 points after the senate moved the tax bill through committee. you can see this morning the dow is indicated to open up by 55 points s&p indicated up by 2 points the nasdaq down about three. jp jpmorgan was the lead of the advancers yesterday. s&p was up yesterday by 1% financials up by 2.6% overall. and that was the best session for the sector since march 1st look at overnight in asia.

the nikkei closed up by a half percentage point stocks were mixed in china hang seng down by 2% if you look at what's happening in europe and the early trading, things are mixed there stocks down in london with the ftse down by 0.6%. stocks up across the board in the other countries. the dax in germany up by 0.9%. a gain of a half percentage point in france. crude prices, wti around $57.50. >> we are up another 55. yeah, market was up 255 yesterday. think if the market was down 255. think of what we would do with 160 point observe a down day or 190 -- >> as far as the sentiment in this market right now, if the market were to go down --

>> we take it in stride when we hit new records. >> yeah, the market is going up. maybe it's powell or tax reform. that's 300 points this morning, if we went down 300, you would be -- every newspaper, they would have picture traders going -- >> stock shot. >> stock shot. >> is that what they call those? >> stock shot. >> stock photos. >> not about stocks. >> no. >> about something that you got on file that was not taken yesterday. >> it was taken yesterday. the same guy who just always puts his hand over his head. >> maybe i've seen on twit their there's a whole bunch of, like, little -- what with those things >> gifis >> maybe that's what they are. >> people use those to show surprise or satisfaction is there a stock guy looking -- >> we should have a set of "squawk" gifis

>> we could have had a couple of gifis last night we had a celebration of our new set with all the important people people that have been around "squawk. guests -- phil has been on for a while. orlando. you stayed here. >> i went home >> you did >> i left around 8:00. >> there's a the coright here. >> 20 years, right >> 20 years on this show >> tom lee paulson. >> we'll speak for him >> we'll talk more about that. >> i just think that's representative of the sentiment in the market, which means it keeps going. >> we're taking it in stride >> 255, but if it was down, 255, it's over. it is. wow. oh, my god >> we will see we'll have more on the markets in a moment. first we're following a developing story out of korea the north's test launch of a new intercontinental ballistic missile that it says is capable

of hitting washington, d.c president trump condemning the launch yesterday afternoon >> a missile was launched a little while ago from north korea. i will only tell you that we will take care of it we have general mattis in the room with us we had a long discussion on it it is a situation that we will handle >> the launch came a week after president trump put north korea back on a u.s. list of countries that it says supports terrorism, which opens the door for more sanctions. then you have to think about how this -- will this situation man fest itse manifest itself in the market? >> it did yesterday. it was up, then down 80, then the senate got on board -- that makes no sense >> is there a moment at which this takes hold of the psyche of the market >> the 255 was after this

missile supposedly went ten times higher than any of the other ones, which puts the entire mainland, supposedly, within range this is also ironic. that was years ago, there was a cartoon, the market sold off after an asteroid was headed for the earth, but rallied in the afternoon after the money supply was down you get a missile launch, you go down, but we get corporate taxes a little lower, and the market goes from -- >> right >> it's just -- i don't think at this point the mutually assured destruction, no one thinks that this is something he would do. it would be the end of his life and regime and everything else, right? >> you have to believe everybody is a rational actor. >> i know. when you say that, you're not talking about the guy in north korea, right you're more worried about -- >> thank you for playing

>> eluding to some other character that may not be rational, right? >> there's a lot of irrational characters in the world. >> here are the big stories today. bitcoin surging past 10,000 two days after it hit 9,000, nine days after it hit 8,000. that's going up too fast is it hyperbolic what is it -- it's one of those. one is a fraction of, the other is the right word. >> almost 11,000 >> hyperbolic maybe? someone in twitter will write in up 1,000% since the start of the year the rise has been -- >> a little bit. >> the rise has been a global phenomenon, more than 60% of the trading volume is denominated in yen. that's weird 20% in u.s. dollars. in washington, the u.s. direct court denied a temporary restraining order that would have prevented president trump from naming an interim director of the cfpb.

as a result omb director mick mulvaney will lead the agency now until a permanent director is named hole eman jenkins said the first time in 243 years, an attempted coup in the united states that was thwarted you like him >> i like him. >> don't smirk at me >> holman is one of the great thinkers of our time you don't have to agree with everything, but he makes you think. that's what a great columnist does, he makes you think >> okay. on today's wall street agenda the second estimate on q3 gdp is out at 8:30 a.m. eastern that's followed by pending home sales at 10:00, and the beige book at 2:00 janet yellen is testifying before the senate joint economic committee at 10:00 a.m., we'll hear from new york fed president bill dudley and san francisco fed president john williams today.

tiffany reports quarterly results before the opening bell. after the close, we'll hear from workday and box. >> at&t pleading its case in that fight against the justice department it's trying to avoid the lawsuit blocking its more than $85 billion deal with time warner. in a joint court filing, the companies said they operate in highly competitive markets that will remain competitive after the deal they cited rapidly growing digital competitors like netflix, apple, google, facebook saying americans have changed the way they watch television rapidly. they pointed out how much money is being poured into developing content. at&t's general council saying we offered the department of justice a variety of solutions, and we believe any divestiture of assets is not required under

the law. i'll sit down with randall stevenson today, that's happening at noon. we'll take some of his comments live during that conversation. >> the most interesting piece which i had not appreciated in that filing yesterday was that they effectively already agreed to the equivalent of a consent decree for the turner stations in terms of carriage fees. they basically agreed to what comcast agreed to with the -- >> seven-year arbitration or something? >> seven years of lock on price, arbitration, all of this so that basically for the next seven years you can't begin to make the argument they could use -- they had market power. >> when did they lose you? you thought it was vertical. you thought it was fine. >> they didn't get to me >> you think it's okay they get together >> i think it's fine they get together i think the judge in this case is not necessarily going to be helpful. >> what is he thinking

is that based on -- >> that's based on the fact that the judge, from what i understand, relatively unhappy with the comcast/nbc transaction. >> he must not be in an area that gets xfinity. he doesn't have the cable i have >> my understanding is that he may give this a tough time and the other piece of it that has never been tested over the last 40 years, while vertical deals have been approved, the largest ones have always come with some kind of behavioral remedy and typically when you go to the judge, there's -- the prosecutor -- the government agreed to a deal there's been no judge recently that has had to approve a deal cleanly. meaning, without any -- it's an -- it's a thumbs up thumbs down situation it's not you come to the judge and say let's make a deal now. >> the supreme court has ajude

adjudicated a merger they did have behavioral remedies they put in >> they are stuck in the media world of 1972. that's what gets me. directv will be lucky to survive. with all these new players and facebook, google, these two guys, you should hope they pool their resources. it reminds me of worry being sirius xm, that merger with spotify, pandora, my iphone, i just stick in the stupid -- the bluetooth thing, i have all the music i wanted how is sirius and xm going to monopolize the music >> the other thing about the filing, how they had to some degree undermine the strategic value of the vance action in the legal eyes -- >> at&t did. >> at&t did. >> this really sucks what we're doing. >> they didn't say it was a

terrible deal. >> not selling it the same way you would sell it to wall street >> we're not that competitive. >> merger doesn't make sense we're paying a lot but that's funny that -- >> sell it differently than you sell it to a wall street analyst or investors we'll hear more about this today. we'll talk to randall stevenson later today as well. a full senate vote on the tax bill could happen as soon as tomorrow ylan mui has more on that story. >> some key republican holdouts appear to be getting closer to yes. senator ron onson said johnson assurances that small businesses will get benefits. >> so whether it's full think fixed in this bill or in conference, i've been given assurances the recognition, everybody says

this is a problem, that helps me support this measure >> senator bob corker is another one who has been on the fence. he put out a statement saying he's reached an agreement in principle on a trigger for tax hikes if nick groweconomic grows not materialize. and susan collins of maine is reportedly working on a proposal that would allow a $10,000 deduction for property taxes in the senate bill. that's the same limit that was adopted in the house so, senators are expected to vote today to officially begin debate on this bill with hopes of final passage by the end of the week president trump heads back to missouri today to make his pitch outside the beltway. he'll focus on the benefits for small businesses and treasury secretary steven mnuchin will be traveling with him one person not there, claire mccaskill. several red state democrats at the white house tried to get on board with this tax reform plan and say they still have serious

concerns with the bill right now republicans are focused on making sure there is enough support within their own party to pass this bill. mitch mcconnell compared it to a rubiks cube, but he appears to be getting closer to solving it. >> thank you very much let's talk markets joining us now, michael tyler from eastern bank wealth management and on the set, phil orlando from federated investors. hanging out with us last night can we just talk about the north korea piece for a half second. >> sure. >> it seemed to be a blip on the radar of the market. is that right? is that the right way to think about this >> we do our view is somewhat similar to joe's. we think this whole north korea thing has been an elaborate kabuki dance north korea's military people have got to explain to them that there's no winner here there's no positive to the end

game so you rattle your sabres a bit. we think they're trying to extract economic concessions from the west. and that's the end game. and things have been quiet over the past couple of months so this was an opportunity to bring us back into the spotlight if you're north korea, and try to resurrect that the focus has been on other things we don't think this ends up as a nuclear holocaust which is why the market has sort of ignored this >> taxes >> you got your tickets yet? >> to south korea? >> going to the olympics andrew working on his wardrobe you're not that concerned about what's happening 50 miles from -- >> i'm a little concerned. i am concerned >> though we're all within range supposedly i don't know if it matters if it's south korea or -- >> i shouldn't -- well, i will knock on the glass or the wood i'm less concerned in a way, if you talk about the irrational actor and given all of the people who will be there at that particular time, it seems less

rational but maybe i could make -- a flip argument >> talking about trump, the irrational actor also that other guy in north korea, he could be irrational, too. >> you said it i didn't say these things. >> i'm looking at you. >> i don't know who you're referring to let's go back to the markets in terms of upside down side at this point in the ball game. >> we're excited we thought we would have a 60%, 70% chance this would get done those odds go up based on what's happening this week. and the important thing is this increases our target price in the market corporate earnings last year, $118, 130 this on fundamentals, we were estimating 140 next year, 150 in '19. that's how we got our 3,000 target on the s&p. if this tax plan goes through, we have to add $10 to earnings that will move our 3,000

forecast into the end of next year that's what the market is focusing on. corporate tax reform will create better leverage and move shares higher >> michael, you in agreement >> essentially, yeah i wouldn't agree on necessarily the specific market target that might be a bit aggressive the markets are already pricing in some tax reform, or probability of tax reform. that has gone up so at this point, yeah, 70%, 80% likelihood we will get a bill coming out the senate is getting closer to the house bill once they go to committee, they will have so much positive momentum it will be hard for one senator to step in and say i'm out and kill it. i think the markets are probably recognizing that you will see some tax reform, and that will help raise earnings to some degree $10 a share may be pushing it. >> just so i understand, in

terms of the -- is there a downside scenario at this point for you? >> yeah. there are a few things that i would worry about. one is the possibility that we don't get tax reform that will show once again how dysfunctional washington is and cast appall on a lot of what expects are for next year. if we see consumer confidence paling for any reason, that could be a problem i don't see that coming. that's the least of our concerns now. the consumer is doing fine valuations are not the problem if there is a problem, it's going to be whether people believe earnings growth can continue or whether interest rates will start to be a problem. you know, the contrarian bet here is that the ecb decides to stop its qe program a bit ahead of schedule or tail it off ahead of schedule, in which case you could see long bonds beginning to show higher yields. if so, you have problems in the

stock market as well that's the contrarian trade. i'm not saying that will happen. it probably won't. >> final word to phil orlando. >> there's an issue that we have to watch that special election in alabama on december 12th. we would like this wrapped up before the republicans potentially lose that seat >> thank you for coming in michael, great to see you. >> you bet coming up, nat republic sh,e republicans advancing their tax plan out of committee. a full vote could come this week axios executive editor mike allen will join us on set next from squawk square to talk politics and a new axios op-ed from snapchat ceo evan spiegel is this a phone?

or a little internet machine? [ phone rings ] it makes you wonder. shouldn't we get our phones and internet from the same company? that's why xfinity mobile comes with your internet. you get up to 5 lines of talk and text at no extra cost. so all you pay for is data. choose by the gig or unlimited. and ask how to get a $200 prepaid card when you buy any new samsung device with xfinity mobile. a new kind of network designed to save you money. click, call or visit today. >> major tax reform hurdle cleared. the bill passing the senate budget committee, a full vote could come this week joining us is mike allen, executive editor from axios. almost the liz smith or the late great liz smith -- you know everything about all the stuff happening. we'll talk about tax reform.

let's talk about what you broke this morning, that is that some insight that no one has into this book coming out about trump by people that know him well >> yes so there's been a lot of trump outsiders that have done and are doing books. some of them pretty good the first real insider book, this is let trump be trump so the title gives it away their dedication to the president and first lady gives it away. this is by corey lewandowski, the campaign manager who was there from day one, and dave bosse that ran the campaign in the fall the two of them did this book together in secret most people in the white house didn't even know they were working on it. >> the dedication, thank you to the president, the first lady, and the whole trump family for making america great again that gives you an idea this is about homers, moonies,

people who are agreeing with a lot of what's going on >> either that or gambling that the president won't pass the rededication >> can we glean anything about trump himself, the man himself that throws a wrench into what we see from his enemies in terms of that he might be demented or deranged or challenged >> irrational. >> irrational. are there anecdotes to show this guy to be human, compassionate that we should believe what we do see is the president's habit. we see he treats people as comfort food he just has a couple people, close people that he can sympathize with and see the world through his eyes like the smart people in the west wing have figured out how to do that >> not just family not just ivanka. >> the treasury secretary, steve

mnuchin. comfort food each morning. no he's--people he can tell stories to someone that has sort of lived the most recent years of his life, they can have that shared experience you see in the book that a dinner on the campaign trail, he liked to have the kids, as he called hope and cory sit down with them. he would tell stories about what do you think donald trump told stories about at dinner with the kids donald trump >> golf. >> donald trump. he told stories about himself. his life a fun twist here we see the president, the one person who really takes a beating is paul manafort, who started as a delegate strategist, became the campaign chairman, now under indictment but we have a moment where the president, april 2016, early on, he's in his personal chopper,

going to a campaign rally in delaware the president orders them to land the chopper, pull the chopper down so he can get in cell phone range so he can call up and chew out paul manafort. paul's offense was telling trump he shouldn't go on tv and donald trump said to him, i know people like you, i know people with hair and skin like you >> hmm >> wow >> you're under the president's skin when he goes after yours. >> wow >> and you know in terms of epithets per square meter, more than lbjo or less than lbj. >> and still have. that's not something the president lost >> any insight into the process this week that we'll get to even spiegel in a second. any insight into the process used to be called the gang of eight. eight questionables, two of them less questionable after

yesterday. collins maybe less you still have flake and the lead story on drudge today, which is no axios, but the lead story on that, again, mccain could be the one to throw a wrench in this >> sure. if you think this through. this will be a climatic vote for john mccain. he thinks in cinematic terms, legacy terms there was a great drawing in esquire with a new interview with mccain. it was senator mccain chiselling himself on mount rush more this is the big debate, does he want to lock in years of defense spending and vote for this or say this is an all-republican bill, democrats not involved one of his big -- >> didn't vote for the bush tax cut. >> that's right. >> he goes from -- except for

com comey, i have never seen anyone where the republicans love him, the republicans love him he used to be a maverick until he ran for president, then the left hated him then he came back. it's time for him to go back and maybe throw a boep to the republic bone to the republicans it's time for the flip back to being remembered as a republican for -- to try to push forward the republican agenda, no? >> i like the theory if you're in his head and thinking are you really going to vote for all these deficits -- here's the big one and the tough decision i agree that's probably his instinct this gives donald trump everything this saves donald trump. >> he is still mad about i like people who don't -- >> rightly so. >> i want to talk about that

evan spiegel piece in axios. how did this come together >> the co-founder of snap inc has been under pressure from the street for not explain his vision or product. he did his first op-ed ever. he came to axios he knows you read it, and that we have an audience of smart, curious, professional people who want to get smart fast he came there with a message that we have been mixing up social and media he wants to split them he's saying rather than just have your friends determine what's in your feed, also have the algorithm do it. have that mix of friends and the computer a lot like netflix. so what he's doing here, he's kind of subtly, kind of directly taking shots at facebook saying that our feed is polluted. saying the very things that facebook rewards, more likes, more friends, leads to the

clutter. he's saying the snap could be more human he's trying to say to investors, users, publishers, snap can be a safer, saner place to consume and chat that's his big message with this op-ed on axios, where he says let's separate social and media. >> interesting >> you been on any other morning shows recently this is basically it for you >> you look for trouble. >> no. i'm just wondering >> he does look for trouble. >> could you bring this business story to any other -- is this more of a unique -- let me ask you this the response you get from really smart, knowledgeable, together people, is it greater when you're on this show or one of the other morning shows? >> i will say people go on axios.com, dip into our stream, they love our smart brevity,

they love your wink that not everybody caught >> so you're saying basically this show. >> i will make trouble in a different way. one other story we haven't talked about can we talk about the access hollywood story for a second >> about the tape? >> whether it's real or not? >> the president is trying to socialize the idea after admitting that he obviously was on that tape -- >> locker room tape. >> with billy bush, that somehow this didn't happen and it was somebody else's voice or something. >> this is an example of the president sort of willing his own reality. this is why he'll have such a hard time if he's interviewed by mueller. in his mind probably a lot of these things are real. but this fascinating story on the front page of the new yo"ne time times" -- >> wait, he believes this? >> it says that he not only is talking about the access hollywood tape and the birthers, but -- >> he's back to that all over again. >> he tells people he won 52% of

women, when he won, like, 42%. this is partly in manhattan, you lived it and saw it, he by projecting his own willing became donald trump. now it's on such a different stage with such different consequences we hear in the story that senators in their public meetings, they try to steer him to safer ground. one senator talking about president trump's rabbit holes and an incredible line in a story, it says his friends didn't bother to contest the idea that the president was going down these rabbit holes. >> when will we -- we saw also earlier this week, it's gone now, that the renewed assault on the press may have been in anticipation of some bad news coming out about anyone. will they call you

will they leak to you? who do they leak to whether flynn has anything who would get that first >> i would love to get that. we've seen that. that's been this sort of implicit part, the subtle part of the president's strategy from the beginning. undermining the press -- >> not that they don't deserve it in some cases >> many cases. >> but so that his people will mainly distrust or disbelieve what they read think about the long sweep of history, though. there will be a time when this president wants people to believe what the president is telling you, when there's a time the country needs to come together that will come -- he'll want to have a national press. but for the moment, he's -- >> he can get that now on fox. he actually said that the other day. they'll rank everybody else, but fox isn't in the survey.

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♪ welcome back you're watching "squawk box" live from the nasdaq market site in times square. good morning look at u.s. equity futures at this hour. dow looks like it would open up higher 73 points higher nasdaq up 2 points s&p 500 up about 3 points. in large part on the expectations of this tax bill. most investors brushing off what could be some concerning news out of north korea also opec ministers gathering in vienna for a crucial meeting to

decide how long price cuts could last steve sedgwick joins us now from there. >> i am standing outside one of the key hoe petels where the ministers are meeting. i just came out of a press briefing and i spoke to someone, and the big question coming into the meeting is opec and russia going to stay the course what had been baked into the price and had taken it up to $63 for brent and high 50s for wti is the fact that opec thought, yeah, we'll go the whole way, the whole of 2018, extend for nine months, then this contention has been built in because some oil producers-like rosneft, not particularly happy about giving carte blanche to others like the shale producers in the united states >> looks like we're taking some

hits from steve sedgwick who is on the ground in vienna. we'll check back in with him later. for more on the price of crude and opec expectations, we're joined by matt smith you think opec is winning here >> from the perspective that saudi arabia is really leading the charge, and is basically helping them to win. tomorrow's decision, whether we get a concrete decision or whether we just get positive rhetoric about production cut deal in the bigger picture, really doesn't necessarily matter because we're seeing saudi arabia cutting back on its exports, particularly in the second half of this year we're hearing from the saudi oil minister they want to extend those production cuts through next year. so saudi is leading the charge what saudi wants to do going forward is what opec will end up doing ultimately i hear you, i see what's

happened with oil prices recently i have this idea that opec can control things when we're at the lower end of the spectrum, when prices are in the 40s or 50s once opec gets the price up to the 60s and beyond, maybe that's when the swing producers back in the united states take control again because they turn the spigots back on and that increases supply and brings prices back down is that theory correct or am i missing something? >> that theory is correct. that's the biggest concern, if prices continue to move higher that's only going to kick start u.s. production growth again but really saudi arabia is the one cutting this production. those other members in terms of cutting back exports really have not been doing it as a conscious decision it's really been as a matter of force. so, with venezuela, their production dropped to a near 30-year low here

that's why their exports have dropped. iraqi exports have dropped because of the conflict in northern iraq. iranian exports dropping because of production issues there that's a coincidence, not an effort to cut back production. it's the burden taken by saudi arabia here that is helping to rebalance the market here. yes. i do agree if prices do move up into the 60s for wti, that will kick start that production growth and we'll go into a vicious cycle again where you have too much oil coming on to the market >> what's crazy to me, we're still talking about oil below $60, we've been talking about how great the economy is around the fwloeglobe. how things are firing on all cylinders. where would we be if we didn't have that huge demand? >> demand would be around 1 million barrels a day because of the growth in emerging markets because of various pockets of economic growth coming through

from the likes of europe and the u.s. as well, that's helping to spur on that demand growth on an aggregate basis. so that's really where that support is coming through from >> okay. matt, thank you very much. good to see you. >> you, too. thanks coming up, a ceo triple play first the chief executive from polycom will join us to mark their 25th anniversary and the ceo of snap-on tools is here to talk tax reform, and later the ceo of volvo's car group will join us live from the auto show. they're doing all of that autonomous driving with uber and others stay tuned to cnbc

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. earnings just out from tiffany. the luxury good retailers with profits of 80 cents a share, had cents above forecast comp store sales were unchanged, that's better than the decline of 0.2% that analysts were

anticipating, but not reflecting any great feelings in the stock so far on that seems like most of the numbers were pretty much in line the stock is unchanged when we come back, if you have been in the corporate world in the last 25 years, there's a good chance you have been on a conference call on a polycom machine. the company's ceo will join us next to mark a quarter sentry in business right now as we head to break, a quick check of what's happening in ahe european markets. thgsre mixed down in london, but up in germany and france ove irrigatio. remote moisture sensors use a reliable network to tell them when and where to water. so that farmers like ray can compete in big ways. china. oh ... he got there. that's the power of and.

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♪ >> welcome back to "squawk box." making history today on its 25th anniversary. the first original conference phone is going into the smithsonian museum of history. joining us is the ceo, mary. you have brought us -- this is not what you were doing 25 years ago. >> no, this is the latest and greatest the polycom trio the very first was about voice quality. full duplex. you could talk at the same time and actually hear each other people didn't have to scream in

meetings really made it possible. pop into conference ooms, and you'll see this iconic shape fast forward this does fantastic audio. it does video. also content sharing it's a full suite of collaboration capabilities >> so is your whole world changing i wonder how it is from a competent tiff landscape given that people now, the goggle phone, whatever apple is about to do. we were talking off air. apple earbuds now, and everyone has -- has that changed the dynamic for you? >> we've been changing our dynamic. as you know, we went private last year, and one of the changes we've made is to look at people that we once thought as competitors as partners. we have a deeper engagement with microsoft, and we actually have some concepts with amazon and alexa. you can say alexa start my meeting, and your polycom video

conference will start up >> how much of the business is a hardware business versus a software and services business given that there are companies that use blue jeans, for example, or any of these others or even just a google hang-out >> right these end points are a great combination of hardware and software there's a lot of intelligence, actually machine learningthat goes into these devices. they can balance the sound out, know who to focus on in terms of speaker. it's really a system, not just a piece of hardware. autocould it be that everyone sits around a table and has ear phones in? >> you want to have good interaction with participants in the room as well as with the people sort of participating remotely >> every participant has their own personal microphone on them

effectively, and sound will this -- you see where i'm going? i'm sorry. >> no, no, no. the array of microphones in the room does the balancing and knows and links into the video, so it says, oh, you're speaking, foek in on you the two of you are having a conversation, let's bring that up that's machine learning. that's embedded in these devices. essentially taking the production capabilities from your show and embedding it in a device >> what about the idea that these are using a business content e text >> right >> in the sort of consumer context, i can imagine a whole world where people are going to start communicating even, you know, over social media. not as a one-on-one situation to make a phone call to each other or texting each other, but literally three, four, five, a dozen people jumping in to some kind of conference call -- what might be described as a conference call, but maybe even it's related to school or something else >> that's absolutely right certainly the explosion of video in the consumer markets is heavily influencing what people want to see at work.

video used to be something that was in boardrooms and executive conference rooms, and now people that use facetime at home want to have that same keepability even for small meetings. you mentioned group things as well as people like blue jeans and zoom that's an example of what i was saying earlier about these people that we used to think of as competitors, we're now partnering with. >> does this open up opportunities or close them off? >> absolutely. zploog only insofar as what i'm anxious about is with the consumerization of all the stuff and what seems like a freebie -- like the fact that you can do a google hang-out for flee or facetime for free as long as you have the software and people will have more of these devices in their homes or offices on the consumer end, they may not need the same professional device in the same way >> if you want to have an actual meeting where you get work done, you are going to want to have excellent soupd quality. ure your i.t. guys will care about the security, and you are also going to care about the reliability. there's a fundamental difference between enterprise grade equipment and consumer

equipment. >> having it in year ear doesn't make it better >> you are all in the seam room anyway you couldn't really -- so you think that you wouldn't even be in the same place? >> sometimes everybody would be in different rooms >> the equipment everybody has a headphone on >> i don't know whether -- you are stuck on the ear buds. how do you keep track of them? do you carry a case? >> he just lost them >> i just lost them. >> i like the wire i really was whether you carry the case around >> i have not migrated to that >> i took them out of my ears and lost them. >> i don't think that's progress >> i think -- what did you call it you said it looked like a dental floss case >> it does or like ear plugs for swimming

or something that's a pain. is the wire that bad >> it's life-changing without the wire i'm telling you. i'm so depressed when i can't find them. >> you're my guy for the migration, so you think i should -- i haven't tried it >> i have the iphone 8 >> i have a suggestion for sim cook there should be a way -- you know how you can do find my phone? i want to do find my ear phones. >> you can put one of those tags on it that are bigger than the ear phone themselves yes. >> that's the reason to have the wire it's so big, you don't lose those, and then there's two of them i don't know, andrew >> i have lost them in the case. >> you can put one of those things on the case >> i lost the case too >> they fell out of my pocket in a cab, actually, is what i think happened oversharing. thank you. coming up, we're going to talk market centrality after yesterday's big rally and the dow, tom lee will join us next plus, the ceo of snap-ol tools

is here to talk. we'll be right back.

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zbliefrmt stocks soar at record highs as investors cheer a big step forward on tax reform i don't know according to liesman, it was jay powell's performance at his confirmation hearing in the senate yesterday that helped as well the bank index was up a lot. we'll find out if the next stock is dow 24,000. not far. senate republicans, as we just alluded to, one step kroers clo passing their version of the tax bill we'll talk to the ceo of snap-on about what it would mean for his company and what the phenyl version could look like and how

it could affect jobs in america. bitcoin giving andrew something to smile about this morning. probably worth more than $79 for him now. the crypto currency smashing through $10,000. what is driving the move higher? we'll discuss that as the second hour of "squawk box" begins right now. ♪ live from the beating heart of business, new york city, this is "squawk box." zbloinchts good morning. welcome back to "squawk box" here on cnbc we're live at the nasdaq market site in times square take a look at the futures right now. we are in the green again this morning. here's what's happening. dow looks like it would open up about 73 points higher s&p 500 up about three points. nasdaq up as well. close to a point all shrugging off the news out

of north korea about that test ballistic missile. nonetheless, tax reform seems to be the issue of the day and has continued to push the stock market higher. here's what's making headlines at this hour a fresh snap shot of the u.s. economy ahead in about 90 minutes. the second look at third quarter gdp will be out. economists think the figures will show a 3.3% annual growth rate, and that would be faster than the initial reading of 3% now, fed chair janet yellen has a date on capitol hill this morning. she's going to testify for the joint economic committee in congress at 10:00 eastern time on the state of the economy. also, a milestone for bitcoin. check this out the virtual currency exceeded the 10,000 mark for the very first time ever. it's now up more than ten-fold just this year we have a guest that we're going to talk a little bit more about this with who is even more bullish seated to my right that's a little tease. we'll be there in a sec. >> we're following a developing

story out of north korea that nation test launching a new intercontinental ballistic missile that recordly capable of hitting just about everywhere, including washington d.c president trump condemning the launch yesterday afternoon >> a missile was launched a little while ago from north korea. when we tell you that we will take care of it, we have general mattis in the room with us, and there's been a long discussion on it. it is a situation that we will handle >> that launch comes a week after president trump put north korea back on a list of countries that the u.s. says support terrorism, which opens the door for more sanctions. it was also pointed out yesterday that it comes after the most recent moves by china to send someone reportedly to north korea to try to get them to -- >> put a little pressure >> to put pressure

then either it didn't work or china didn't -- wasn't really ernest in trying to accomplish that >> there have always been questions as to how much power china actually had in a situation like that. >> we'll see in the meantime, at&t pleading its case in that fight with the justice department to try and avoid the lawsuits blocking its more than $85 billion deal with time warner. a joint court filing, the two companies said that they operate in a highly competitive market two competitive markets that will remain competitive after the deal they cited rapidly growing digital competitors like netflix, apple, google, and facebook and all the money that's being poured in by those companies into creating content. at&t's general counsel said we have offered the department of justice a variety of solutions that are consistent with decades of precedence and vertical mergers, and we strongly believe that any divesture of assets is not required under the law the general counsel said they have never offered to divest cnn. we've been hearing that from randall stevenson in the past.

we also saw at&t pushing for a court date of february 20th, so they're looking for a very quick turnaround on this i'll be sitting down with randall stevenson at the new york economic club later today it starts at noon, and we'll bring you some of the comments as they occur. the president's pick for the next fed chief making a splash at yesterday's senate confirmation hearing jay powell supports raising interest rates at only a gradual pace also, talking about a desire to ease rules on the banks. that's why the financial system did so well yesterday. the best performing sector steve liesman is here. >> it's a good word. there was a lot of things happening. there was the tax cuts and beginning by committee there was a brexit deal sort of. there was also a engineer opjer showing markets that he is the fed chair. continuing on the current track of monetary policy, but support more deregulation in the banks >> honestly i can't really think of a place where we are lacking

an important rule. i think we filled out the rules that we need, and it's a question now of dealing with things from a supervisory standpoint >> so of all the rules the fed has issued during your time here, you've been here for five years, on capital and leverage, on liquidity, on the stress tests, you don't think a single one should be made tougher >> honestly, senator, i think they're tough enough >> well, okay. got to say this worries me >> didn't worry stocks they were higher especially regional bank stocks. they took off as powell indicated support for lifting regulations. especially on small and medium size banks powell sounded a bit dovish on monetary policy, suggesting policy more slack in the job market than appears from the low unemployment rate. ultimately, he supported the current path of gradual -- >> we have low unemployment. 4.1% unemployment. we have strong growth. the very low settings of interest rates that were appropriate during the crisis and after to support economic activity are no longer

appropriate, and that's why we're raising interest rates now on a gradual path. i expect that that will continue >> powell looks headed for bipartisan confirmation sometime before janet yellen's term is up in early february. >> maybe not 100% support. maybe senator warren not necessarily -- >> maybe senator warren. you know what's interesting is more people on the -- more republican senators on the bank committee voted against him when he was a nominee of president obama. remember, he was that compromise candidate? they had a more democratic leaning and now a more republican leaning person there, and i think 22 or 23 republican senators voted against him i don't think that's going to happen this time around. >> you're coming along slowly. not going to challenge you i heard you, you know -- i heard you say that he indicated that deregulation is something he was in favor of, but you are attributing that as a positive rather than what you normally do i don't expect you to say it's all about tax reform in the

market yesterday, but these baby steps that i've got you to admit the deregulation might be a positive you know, markets. >> we're making small gains, which is what -- right we're making -- slowly you're turning into -- >> if you are listening on the radio, i think this is a situation there. joe doesn't really want an answer >> no. i don't. no i don't have to say anything i thought i was complimenting you. >> i have to sit here and advocate row leaf for small and medium size banks when it comes. >> maybe -- >> and it's hard to look at the regional bank index. guys in the back, if you like. >> that did go up yesterday. >> oh, yeah. while powell was talking >> the market is up -- >> okay. all right. >> by the way, interestingly

enough, here's what i showed you. not with any indicated change in interest rate. >> here's -- what did he say >> powell said no change he will stick to the current monetary policy and market goes up 300 that makes no sense. no one thought of a change no one thought it was going to change >> i know. they don't necessarily price in until they see it happen yesterday i think to see the market rally was, oh, he really is the guy who we thought he was kind of thing. i think that's ultimately what happened he is a little bit of dovishness i think it is what it is, and the market moved up for the reasons it moved up. it moved up -- >> many people, many people, thought wireless has changed they're all coming to your -- i have never seen this before. they're all agreeing with you and saying -- >> wireless is a big -- >> wireless ear buds, which are amazing. the ones i lost. by the way, i was wrong. you can actually use your find my iphone. >> you can find your ear buds?

>> to find your ear buds >> the tiny thing? s? >> at 7:59 >> no idea where you went after the party. >> i think i dropped them in a taxi >> okay. >> stick around. joining us right now -- global advisor and tim is also the director of global mock row investments, global asset allocations. we're going to talk markets for just a minute. then we're going to get to the action of the day, which is bitcoin. this guy over here has some pretty fascinating predictions about where this is all headed let's talk markets for a moment if you would indulge me, which is given where we are on the tax plan, how much upside do you think there is over the next 12 months, and how much down side is there still then there's something called the real economy as well >> well, you know, i think

yesterday in the hearing tax reform had really positive milestones for the market. one, i think it supports a positive narrative for owning expectations you have a supportive administration a central bank that doesn't want to change the course of markets, and i think underlying growth is picking up it's all generally positive. >> you in in the same place? >> tell me something else. >> this has been a very bullish cycle since about the first quarter of 2016. it's been a synchronized expansion mostly led by china, but also in the u.s., of course, and i think the taxes are the icing on the cake, but the real story is, you know, global earnings growth and a fed that's been able to normalize policy not only without any collateral damage, but also while allowing liquidity commissions to ease even further, and not many people expected the fed to even be able to normalize policy

without creating, you know, a chaos, and here they are doing it, and financials are getting easier the big question for next year is really what is the multiplier effect of the tax plan, and our analysis suggests because it comes so late in the cycle that actually the multiplier would be relatively low for the economy maybe not for earnings then the next question is how quickly or slowly will the fed normalize policy, and, you know, we saw the hearing yesterday, and it looks like it will be on the same track as what we have seen if it inflation comes back up, which we don't see any signs of right now, but if it does, it might push the fed to go a little faster than the market expects, and that could cause a rerating in the market to some degree >> steve >> there's a legitimate question out there as to whether or not the market is paying attention to what the fed is saying. the fed is saying -- if it goes in it december, by the way, it will be the first time in a number of years it's actually followed through on this forecast for three rate hikes. it will delivered what it

basically forecast i think there's every reason to think it's going to do the same next year as well. when i look at the fed funds market, i see one and a half rate hikes priced in, and it looks more like it will be three. yuri could be right. it could be more like four if that is delivered to the market, it could be potentially a yawn the market has to reckon with that there was a lot of talk. the conversations i hear are as follows. north korea on one end bitcoin on the other end it's almost like the same conversation i know you want to get to bitcoin. tax cuts and uncertainty in the middle to me it comes down to earnings, and if earnings continue to deliver, it's hard to see too much down side in the market >> okay. let's talk about -- we just keep mentioning it. bitcoin. it feels like it's been on this tear some people think it's the modern tulip of our age.

>> at $10,000 it's valued as if it's a small company today we think this new jrgs of millennials will be trust as a replacement for gold bitcoin is a digital gold for another generation.

>> it's a digital store value. >> do you spend time on this >> i like bitcoin sort of like -- it's like this really intriguing idea, but it's reall hard to figure out what it is and the learning curve is extremely high these people are into business it's moving so fast that it's hard to keep up with certainly at the bottom of the stack and, you know, bitcoin, those are stores of value, and they have their own thing going on where there's an actual value, but at the top where you have all these ico's, who knows what those are worth, and a lot of them are not even worth anything it's sort of like broadband or

the internet revolution. you know it's real it's disruptive. it's a game changer. what these things are actually valued at is very difficult to assess, and for the average investor, do you play in that space? >> if you are watching this morning, you are an average investor out there trying to figure out what to do with your money, do you go on to coin base or one of these sites and buy some of this stuff >> this is like a shoot the money lottery situation. >> it's uncorrelated to stocks or bonds or gold, so it's actually a good way for them to get diversification. >> you also direct now it is very possible -- 10,000 or 1,000, right it's possible we could be having a conversation -- >> we published a series of

papers on this that if you took two variables, which is just a number of and the transaction value per wallet and you apply -- 94% of the bitcoin moves in 2013 those two variables. >> gentlemen, thank you. a lot more to talk about come back. we almost need to do a whole show dedicated to bitcoin. it feels like something we have to >> folks, we have some breaking news from nbc this morning nbc news announcing that it has terminated today show host matt lauer for inappropriate workplace behavior here's what nbc news chairman andy said in a statement on monday night we received a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by matt lauer. it represented after serious review a clear violation of our company standards. as a result, we've decided to terminate his employment while it is the first complaint about his behavior in the over 20 years he has been at nbc

news, we were also presented with a reason to believe that this may not have been an isolated incident. our highest priority is to create a workplace environment where everyone feels safe and protected and to insure that any actions that run counter to our core values are met with consequences no matter who the offender is. we are deeply saddened by this turn of events, but we will face it together as a news organization and do it in as transparent a manner as we can coming up, middle east tensions running high as opec meets in vienna. what to watch for in the oil markets. that's next. then the president's tax plan front and center from the ceo of snap-on they make, like, 00,000 different, like, little tools. every one of them i've either used or been pretty good at, and he is hoping -- not really true at all, in fact. he is hoping the tax reform will boost manufacturing jobs we'll hear from him in just a bit. we know life can be hectic.

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we polled analysts, traders, and hedge funds. they think we will get an extension out of vienna tomorrow, and crude prices have reflected that sent mept up roughly 25% in the last three months leading up to this meeting. now, the russians won't be at the meeting, but more than 80% think that they are on board with an extension as well. let's explore the scenarios here for a moment if there is a deal, probably going to be through the end of 2018 maybe with an option to re-evaluate next june. there's probably limited up side from here in terms of oil prices almost all those surveyed, thinks that eti will close between $50 and $60 a barrel it's already priced in still, there are some events that could drive us higher next year problems in venezuela. almost 70% think that production will suffer, and the pockssibilt of reimposing sanctions on iran. half think there's a chance of that at the same time more than 80% think that some sort of supply-demand rebalance is happening. that's supported as well that confidence can be

challenged the market can rebalance with u.s. production on the rise, but it can't rise much more. remember, it's already well over 9.6 million barrels a day. taking out its 2015 high another thing that stood out to me, more than half said it's possible for crude oil to fall back into the 40s next year. they're not ruling that out just yet. the oil market, of course, watching vienna very closely as will be equity markets on the rise less worried about energy dragging them down than they have been over the last couple of years >> jackie, a couple of things. i didn't realize that production is at this high, so we haven't seen it drop down. >> nobody is really talking about it you have seen this before in opec meetings before we get the job earnings, the headlines that come out. people forget the fundamentals for a second, and allow the analysts to do two things. don't do that. >> the other issue, with the people who are looking at these prices, with everybody that you surveyed, did they ever bring up the idea of demand being maybe not as strong. is that something they worry about at all, or do they think it's like -- >> absolutely. >> you bring up a great point. it's a huge issue right now.

there's not necessarily a problem with demand, but it's not growing at the level production is growing. it can't consume the excess production >> we're looking at a strong global economy if things were to turn down, have you a risk there as well. >> jackie, thank you very much >> great to be here. >> economic e when we come back, snap-on ceo nicolas will be joining us to talk about corporate taxes and the big affect it could have on both small and large businesses that's coming up at 7:30 eastern time in the meantime, check out the futures this morning big day yesterday. dow up 255 points. now indicated to open up another 75 points this morning s&p 500 up by about three. nasdaq up by one "squawk box" will be right back. you always pay

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good morning welcome back to "squawk box" here on cnbc we are live from the nasdaq market site in times square. among the stories that are front and center today, shares of tiffany are rising the premarket trading.

>> mac osi-seara lets -- apple says that it is working on a software update to try and address that issue in breaking news from nbc this morning nbc just announced it has terminated today show host matt lauer for inappropriate workplace behavior here's what nbc news's chairman andy lack said in a statement. on monday night we received a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by matt lauer. it represented after serious review a clear violation of our company's standards. as a result, we've decided to

terminate his employment while it is the first complaint about his behavior in over 20 years he has been at nbc news, we were also presented with reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident our highest priorities to create workplace environment where everybody feels safe and protected, and we insure that any actions that run counter to our core values are met with consequences no matter who the offender we are deeply saddened by the turn of events, but we will face it together as a news organization and do it in as transparent of a manner as we can. this news just rocking the news world, but also just the entire industry with so many people it's -- it's a workplace story i mean, it really is it's a business story. both in terms of economics of all these businesses and the people associated with them. >> and changing standards of behavior >> changing standards of behavior inside workplaces and the culture inside workplaces. >> it's hard to figure out how to put eventually a legacy on all the great work matt has done

over the years it's sad it's just really sad to see that this is the end of -- i know imhad. i golf with him. golf buddy you sort of echo the same thing that i guess his co-anchors are echoing right now. you compartmentalize it, i guess to some extent, right? >> it's happening on a broad scale. we don't know any details. we don't know any details. >> it hits you, you know, out of left field the senate budget committee unanimously voted to pass a vrgs of the op tax plan on tuesday. it clears the way for a final vote by the full senate as soon as this week joining us now to discuss the tax plan's impact on manufacturing is snap-on ceo nicolas. it's great to see you, sir >> good to see you >> what's snap-on's tax rate in the u.s. >> 31 %. >> give or take. >> the u.s., though, it's more like 34%

we pay over 30% simply because most of our value added in terms of design and manufacturing is in the u.s., and it's far greater than any of our competitors. >> we had another economist yesterday, i don't know, he, again, talking about no one -- this is a faux argument, but four manufacturers in the united states, you -- >> manufacturers here in the united states all -- >> that's why it's a false narrative. >> it gives -- >> that means they're -- >> the average person on the street is still going to hear that you know, they don't look into it closely, and all they're going to say to be against the plan is that no corporation pays 35 anyway. that's -- >> actually, we're paying that you can see it in manufacturers in the united states you can ask the association of manufacturers about this they will say they hardly endorse this plan because it changes the asymmetric burden we have put on the operations in the united states. this is not rocket science if you think about it. for a long time america has risen because of the fact things

like organizations like manufacturing have utilized the middle class and given them great jobs and utilized their energy to drive society forward, and we have through our tax rate asymmetrically burdened that activity versus people outside the united states as if the competition weren't tough enough >> right >> this changes a lot of that, and it's -- i think it's -- >> you've got cheaper labor abroad, and then you have cheaper taxes, and what do you expect to happen >> exactly >> do you think capital is going to go where it's -- >> and they ask people, okay, they ask i think one of the questions that always comes up is what's going to happen with the cash well, first of ll, if you step back from a broad sense, i mean, fundamentally if you strengthen one sector, i don't think i have to say this because people are listening within earshot of my voice or in this sector of the country that the operation, the sector, the industries that have higher returns are going to attract capital more snap-on has always said that the best place we can have capital is in our business we got lower tax rate. we would be investing more in

our business it wouldn't necessarily have us higher tomorrow or invest in new capital expenditures tomorrow because we have brand names and 200,000 schools, as you said not quite that many, but i'm glad to hear you use them. >> i'm adept at all of them. >> i would expect nothing less from a guy from m. i.t i'll tell you. that is our advantage pattern. if you ask the national association of manufacturers, you say what's going to happen when a tax break occurs. 65% say we're going to invest more on capital expenditures 57% say my business is going to grow 64% say my wages are going -- i'm going to hire more people, and 52% say i'm going -- my wages are going to go up sf in general you're going to see this it makes sense the morrow bust the sector is, the better it attracts capital, the more it will flourish. a vote for tax reform is a vote for the american worker.

>> ron johnson, he is your senator. are you behind this push for -- small manufacturers, small companies are rock grid important for the american economy and for american jobs. he has made that point is encapsulated in both the senate and the house bill in fact, any of those bills are not going to be perfect for either the large corp. c corp.s or s-corp.s or pass-through people i think, yes, he has a point pass-throughs have to be taken care of, but if we believe -- i think national association of manufacturers believe this is a great compromise, and we ought it on move forward with it the other thing i think that's worth thinking about is people i think view this economists, i have seen a couple of economists on the show and try to talk

about the direct effect of investment and employment and so on it's not just that it's the intent of the government we talked to technicians the fact that the government would pass taxes, the tax reform bill, says that the government is finally serious about emoting jobs the problem with saying you're behind jobs is occasionally you have to act like it, and this would kind of say that i think animal spirits effect. >> what do you make of the argument that you look at the unemployment rate in this country right now, and it is about as close to employment -- full employment as you can get >> except for 34% of manufacturing jobs have blown off off shore in the last 20 years. what we know and what i believe, honestly, is this country has risen by enlisting the energy and activity of the 300 million.

the great middle and these are the makers and fixers i don't think we can depend just on the fruits of ideas we can't rely on that. >> don't you need to pay them more to induce them to go to a different job, and isn't this the wage gains that -- you're begging for for income inequality for the past ten years. isn't this your opportunity? >> the other piece of this, though -- i'm curious to where he lands on this, but the technology piece, which is to say that, yes, off shoring has been a part of the --

>> 70% of what we made off the trucks is right here, and that's because we have a complex product line joe talked about it before the idea is we take advantage of the one inalienable advantage that american manufacturers have and that's the proximity of the world's greatest market. you have capable people who do this manufacturing has, you know, moved through several technology changes. i think part of the reason you have this view is you think of manufacturing in some ways as dumb and dirty it's no longer like that our people are quite skilled and capable and can defend themselves against automation, and wield automation in their benefit. now, there is a question of skills, and we talk for hours about that itself. we have to make sure that there's the education available and training people and call in air strikes, and we have to work off, restore the respect for the dignity of work and kind of reverse the idea that manufacturing jobs is a consolation prize of our society because they are not

>> i could make the argument that corporate taxes, if you cared -- if you cared at all about revenue and potentially trying to be even closer to revenue neutral, could you do it at 22% or 23% and still the corporate world capture the benefits you could. >> you have admitted you want zero if you could. >> i would go to zero. >> if you could get it somewhere else >> if you told me -- you could make it revenue neutral, and you could capture it on the other

end from the individual. i have no problem with that. >> sure, i agree with that i agree with that. some people are making points that they need this and this and this certain things in terms of all pieces of the deal other people are working to make a difference i think it's in the hands of speaker ryan and leader mcconnell and so on to make the balance. we think, though, this is a historic problem a historic time. i believe that the energy around the economy is understated in terms of dynamic scoring you can feel it when you walk through the garage to manufacturing. >> what about the idea that senator corker and a few other senators have had that we're concerned that if we don't get the boost in the economy that we're anticipating, that they want a guarantee that the

deficits aren't going up they want to raise rates -- >> you know, okay. i think that's right look, if you ask me about something you should take on faith, i would say that one of the things i think that is probably the things we should take most readily on faith is that investment in manufacturing, investment in the american worker, investment in the mechanisms which utilize the energy of the american worker and has done that over decades and continues to do so today and, yet, it's burdened, unburdening that would be a for sure good over a long time frame. whatever happened in one or two years, i think as a matter of faith, we would believe that would be good for our country in the long-term. many administrations have embraced the idea, but they just haven't been able to dpet this done >> given the rhetoric from the left and from their.

>> david brooks talked about the anywhere's and somewhere's i'm a representative of the somewhere's. the people like murphy, north carolina, and milwaukee, wisconsin. these are the people who can defend themselves if given the chance because they have the energy and the dedication to do this, and i don't think -- i think there's -- one of the things that makes me sad, this is a kind of rhetoric that says unless you are gull inl, unless you have a ph.d. or something like that, you are not really going to be a player in the future society i'm here to tell you, technically trained people in manufacturing operations can find pride and dignity and keep their family warm and safe and dry in places like murphy, north carolina >> i think you have wasted at snap-on. i think why don't you run in arizona for senate >> i'm enjoying myself at snap-on. it's a great place to be, i'm telling you. >> you are a great advocate.

i'm referring to you can you come back tomorrow >> no. some other time. >> thank you coming up, are investors ready to shop for retail stocks? we have a couple of names you should be considering this holiday season that's right after the break check out the futures ghnorit w. we are in the green. dow up about 75 points now moving up marginally there squawk returns in a moment gglobal bonds, and high-dividend strategies. sure, these are investments. but they're not what people really invest in. what people really invest in, is what they hope to get out of life. but helping them get there takes a pure focus. because when you invest their money

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with black friday 2017 and cyber monday in the books, we have a better read on the state of retail and a new vantage point on what we can expect in 2018 joining us right now for his take on what's working in retail is deutsche bank's paul trustel and paul, thanks for being here today. we had been looking at retail all year as a horrific disaster scene kind of writ large across the board. anybody that wasn't amazon looked like they were in big trouble. amazon or wal-mart, i should point out. this gives us an idea that there are some other not just survivors, but thrivers in this field right now. you have a stock you actually like what did you learn with what we saw from black friday and cyber monday >> absolutely. retail is better we don't want to suggest that it's back 100% of full strength, but certainly i think that we

had overshot to the down side. there were a lot of doom day scenarios that would be coming a part of the narrative regarding massive store closings or a need to cut dividends i think at least for now we can put that narrative to the side, and i think what you are seeing in terms of the retail stock rally over the past month has been a revaluation to, you know, assess and say, hey, you know, some of these retailers still have the ability to actually drive positive >> you have some stocks that you like in particular two of them are discount retailers. dollar tree and dollar general why those two? >> we like sustainable earnings growth stories in our view the discount space is definitely a healthier group. convenience, in particular, is what we think really helps the dollar store sector still be very relevant. >> meaning you can pull into a strip center, run in and be out. >> 50% of the customers at a dollar store, family dollar, for

example, which is owned by dollar tree, are within an eight block radius that in our view is probably about the only -- >> of their shoppers >> that amazon, you know, prime shopping >> i need it, and i need it right now. i don't have time to wait. >> correct also, if you think about what's happening from a grocery or just food consumption standpoint, there's disruption in the marketplace. instead of the traditional saturday one stop shopping trip, we are moved to a landscape where we're buying a few things on-line, we're buying a few things at the bodega, the convenience dollar store we're buying, you know, a few things from an aldy or trader joe. we think this really plays well into that dollar store becoming more and more relevant and getting incremental shopping trips. >> let's talk about two other stocks that are related. nike and footlocker. we've had other people who have come in and said, okay, i'm concerned about what's happening there. even though you have seen competitors disappear from

footlocker still concerned that maybe the shoppers aren't there in the middle of the mall why do you like footlocker, and then in turn, why do you like nike >> absolutely. look, we think the sneaker cycle is still very strong we think that there absolutely was a pause that we saw over the past year in terms of the pace of innovation, and that really impacted and affected the ability to sell product at full price. we absolutely think that we're turning the corner over the next four to six months in that regard we think footlocker stands to really benefit not just from nike what we think will be an ak segment rags inning north american trends, but also they continue to be able to sell whether it's. >> we are watching the retail story very closely

coming up, there are stocks to watch. the latest market rally is moving on. jim paulson is here, chief investment strategyist who will be our guest host starting at 8:00 a.m. eastern. "squawk box" will be right back. real time inventory. virtual changing rooms. that's why retailers rely on comcast business to deliver consistent network speed across multiple locations. every corporate office, warehouse and store near or far covered. leaving every competitor, threat and challenge outmaneuvered. comcast business outmaneuver.

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take away a couple of stocks to watch this morning. wing stop, i'm not even going to venture a guess. is it like a buffalo wild wings or is it a tech? it is a buffalo wild wings it could be a tech company might be cloud-based wing stop was downgraded from neutral to buy based on valuation after a gain of 35% so far this year. it is a restaurant chain >> could be wing tip shoes >> could have been private aviation i don't know >> wall street may not like chicken wings this morning, but it does like pizza domino's was upgraded at instinet to buy from neutral based in part on opportunities for international expansion. regal entertainment is in talks with the group about possibly be

being acquired, and the movie theater operator says the current offer of $23 a share and no agreement has been reached. there's no guarantee they will reach that agreement or finalize it >> gem paulson chief investment strategist, and then, later, bogo entering the highly compact suv market our own phil lebeau catching up with the company eights ceo at the l.a. autoshow to discuss that plus, the compy's alande with uber to create self-driving taxis. squawk returns with a big hour just ahead

a new read on the trump economy. we'll bring you the numbers and the market reaction next stocks power high are. the dow and s&p on track for a eight straight month of gains. plus, the bitcoin surge. the dilk tal currency crosses the 10,000 mark despite comments like this. >> i think this is enron in the making >> the final hour of "squawk box" ginds right now

>> this is "squawk box." zmo good morning welcome back to squawk bok here on nbc live from the nasdaq market sites. i'm joe kernan along with becky quick and andrew ross sorkin our guest host this morning, jim paulson, chief investment strategist more from him or something from him in just a bit. >> have you been on the surf board? >> i'm wobbling. >> all right let's check out the futures. they're up again this morning.

>> some breaking news this morning. fed chair janet yellen will be testifying about the economy today. steve liesman joins us right now with a few highlights. >> second day of testimony one a fed chair nominee. the existing fed chair fed chair janet yellen saying the gradual increases in the federal funds rate will be appropriate, and the current level of the fed funds rate is somewhat just somewhat below neutral. that means the fed doesn't really have very far to go to get to the neutral rate, unless that neutral rate comes up with a stronger economy she says the economy has strengthened further this year and notes the higher growth that we've had up to the 3% rate, says it appears to have stepped up its pace of growth. though wage growth remains relatively modest. the expansion, she says, is increasingly broad based and it is increasingly global she expects the economy to

continue to expand and the job market to strengthen further mentions asset valuations. says they're high by historical standards, but doesn't seem all that concerned about it because she says financial vulnerabilities in the financial sector appear to be moderate she's really concerned about what's going on in the regulated sector.

>> i thought he was in favor of keeping korea forms. he was in trump and in the middle between the president and elizabeth warren on the issue of financial regulation maybe a little bit closer to the president. >> you know, a lot of times people say he is somewhere between someone and president trump on certain things. >> it's a bit of a mystery, joe. >> it seems to be a common -- very few people would cop to being right with trump on very many things. >> he think that's right that's also the person you want in the job >> the president >> no, no, no. the fed chair. >> i knew what you meant the president pointedly, joe, rejected more radical people for that job, and i happen to know there was an internal trstruggle

on this. there were people in the president's orbit who put forward more radical folks for that job, and the president -- in what i understand to be a very considered process, the way this thing works, and i know some of the folks who worked on this for the president these were all smart, very experienced people it looked like it was a well run process to come up with the idea of appointing jay powell >> he had the angel here devil over here. he is, like, wow, i would like a -- interest rates are too low. he knows this tough is really important. he cares about the market and what the market thinks, and he made what looks to be -- given the reception that stocks gave powell yesterday, he made the right choice >> it's a real -- he took a dove and still make people think you did the right thing. >> he is looking to the left and headed to the right. he is a republican with a hawkish idea sounding a little dovish >> k on. an enigma wrapped in a riddle.

whoever said that said is first. >> churchill on the soviet union. >> he said a lot of things >> restaurant chain said that steve ellis will become executive chairman once the search for a new ceo is completed. a search committee has been formed, and he will be part of it is team he says i'm bringing in a new ceo and it's the right thing to do for shareholders at this point. >> okay. breaking news this morning hometown story for us. or the homers. nbc news announcing it has terminated today show host matt lauer for "inappropriate workplace behavior." julia borestein joins us to talk about this julia. >> yes, a lot of surprises this morning. nbc news firing today show anchor matt lauer after a review of sexual misconduct nbc news chairman andy lack saying a detailed complaint by a colleague prompted the review

and represented a clear violation of the company's standards. >> nbc signed a new two-year deal to continue paying his salary, which is reportedly up to $20 million per year through 2018 now, lauer's firing is a major shake-up of the "today" show, which is the most valuable ad time in the nbc news line-up, bringing in a reported over 334 million dollars in ad revenue through september of this year that's according to smi. lauer has -- his absence, starting today, will be a focus for the more than four million americans who watch the "today" show every morning guys >> k on. thank you, julia we will continue to follow this story. we talk about it's a business and economic story, workplace culture story, and there's going to be more fall-out over the

days and weeks ahead new this morning, we should also tell you tiffany out with its own earnings reporting a profit of 80 cents per share. 4 cents above estimates. revenue exceeded analyst forecasts, and even though comparable source sales were unchanged, that was better than the decline of .2% that analysts had been anticipating. let's get back to the broader markets. the futures this morning have been indicated higher once again. even after the dow closed up by 255 points yesterday to another new record this morning it looks like it would open up by 73 points s&p futures would open higher. nasdaq is slightly lower right now. joining us to talk all about this is jim paulson. he is the chief investment strategist at the liphold group. thank you for being here >> thank you for having me this morning. >> you mentioned that you are getting a little nervous, maybe wobbling a little bit on this entire situation, but you also don't think that there's a recession coming >> i don't primarily i don't -- we've had bear markets without recessions, but not many

it's a calendar old recovery, no doubt. i do think we're probably going to set the longest recovery ever 2018 might prove to be more challenging. we could get a correction. if we do, i think at this point i think it will be a whale of a buying opportunity for another leg after that it could be gut-wrenching, and scary when it happens, if it does >> what are the force that is are piling up to make 2018 a tougher year potentially >> the biggest one to me is one of the biggest drivers, becky, of this last rally over the last 12 to 18 months, i think, has been just increasing surprises on the economy

next year it will no longer surprise because everyone is caught up. >> unless you see the tax reform bill going through we had phil orlando here this morning. he said you would have to rachet up earnings by 10% if that happens. >> yeah. >> we'll see i think something will get passed on the tax bill, but i think it might be pretty watered down as far as the force i also think expectations have been pushed up a fair amount as far as expectations. >> you don't think corporate rates will be at 20% >> i don't think so. they might end up negotiating that higher. they need a victory is what they need more than anything now, and i think they'll get something passed, but it might not be that significant. >> they made it through committee yesterday, even with ron johnson and bob corker having some concerns about it.

>> even if it does, it's still five or six percentage points from the effective rate. it's not as big as it sounds from the statutory rate, if you will i think if you put that in play, to go 25 basis points away from a four-year high right now, i think wages will break 3% next year, and if they do, i think bond yields will break to a four-year high, and suddenly higher rates and higher -- >> rates a four-year high because the fed will be raising -- >> well, the bond vigilantes will be raising rates. not by much, and, yet, it looks entirely different real financial liquidity for the first time in a long time has contracted in the last six months because the economy is taking more of the liquidity

cents meant is not bullish, but it's complacent. >> there are forces enough to give us a good gut check next year, and we'll see if that happens. at this point if it does, i would be tempted to be a buyer again. >> our guest host will be with us the rest of the show. we have a lot more to talk about. thanks coming up next when we return, breaking news on general motors we're going to check in with phil lebeau after the break. plus, bitcoin closing in on now, if you can believe it, $1 1,000. we'll talk about the controversial bitcoin trade after the break. stay tuned you're watching "squawk box" here on cnbc is the monolithic view of emerging markets obsolete? at pgim, we see alpa in the trends, driving specific sectors of out performance. where a rising middle class powers a booming auto industry. a leap into the digital era draws youthful populations to mobile banking and e-commerce. trade and travel surge between emerging markets. everyday our 1,100 investment professionals around the world search out opportunities for alpha.

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want to get to phil lebeau at the l.a. auto show. we have breaking news on gm. phil >> andrew, after months of testing a self-driving electric chevy volt in san francisco, general motors is now taking the wraps off of that project and

giving some journalists, including myself, a chance to go for a ride in this self-driving vehicle. general motors is involved in a race with wamo, other automakers, to take self-driving cars from the test phase to the deployment where the public will actually be riding in these vehicles zbloof we are here in san francisco, and we have a test fleet that's operating in scottsdale in arizona. we have a very good comparison between the two locations. we'll see more in one minute in san francisco than we'll see in one hour of driving in scottsdale i think it gives you a sense for the exponentially greater level of complexity that we're taking on in this environment >> there is a specific reason that dan referenced testing.

>> also, we'll be watching its own ride-hailing service as you take a look at shares of general motors, keep in mind that tomorrow mary barra, ceo for general motors, will outline the company's autonomous drive strategy it will be interesting to see how quickly gm can get this up from the test phase to deployment we had the ride yesterday. it handled all the trickiness that did come along with a self-driving vehicle and maneuvering through the streets of san francisco we'll have more on this over the next couple of days as well. back to you. >> very cool, phil lebeau. we look forward to hearing more about it in the meantime, we're getting a look inside uber's latest financial. the financial times reporting the ride sharing company adjusted losses. 743 million. it's up 14% from the previous order.

that offer -- >> that's the company at -- >> valuing the company at $48 billion. that offer below the high on the valuation of the company, which was at one point at $68 billion. i also wanted to say a quick thank you to the cinnabon folks who sent us -- yesterday we were talking about rork, which owns arby's, which is a deal for buffalo wild wings we were talking about cinnabon and how great it is. guess what arrived this morning. cinnabon by the way, while we're on the food topic -- >> greatest thing in the world >> smells like an airport right here right now >> now we know that like celery, what's in cinnamon actually -- it impacts fat cells you actually lose calories by eating cinnabons cinnamon can help you lose weight you are actually better -- you actually lose calories by eating cinnamon buns. is that right? >> keep telling yourself that. >> by the way, in food land

another big deal this morning. mars, which is a privately held company, snickers, m & m -- >> peanut m & m's. >> they are taking a major stake in kind bar. we've had -- >> oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. >> we've them on >> valuing kind bar at $4 billion. >> it's turning kind bar into a health and wellness food it's also -- >> it satisfies your low sugar requirement. >> they try to avoid added sugar. they do natural sugar. >> jalapeno type thing and a barbecue type thing. i like them. nuts and stuff like that it's good. >> anyway, big deal for them bitcoin is the other big news of the day. check out the share of bitcoin just crossed the $10,000 mark.

fed chair nominee jay powell weighing in on the digital currency and passed his senate testimony yesterday. >> i don't have a view on the appropriate level of the valuation, of course, but, again, crypto currencies are something we monitor very carefully. we look at block chain as something that may have significant applications in the wholesale payments part of the economy. it's something we pay close attention to >> so you are watching what alibaba is doing in asia today >> we are watching all of those technologies it's something we have to do i think and it's something that's enjoyable and interesting to do. >> joining us right now is william -- the general partner at virtual capital ventures and author of the business of block chain. we've spent a lot of time. really only the past couple of weeks, though, trying to dig in and understand the block chain and how bitcoin exists and how

it's different from etherium and other crypto currencies. at $10,000, if not $11,000, you say these are the new tulips, and it's only going higher >> bitcoin right now has a lot of momentum. both from a psychology point of view and technically speaking. we should stay away from just talking about value wags because all it does is it gives you a new headline in the newspaper. it does create some visibility and marketing. what we really should focus on more than the price itself is a fact that this is about a new parallel financial system that is in the works.

>> you heard of the likes of jaime dimen or prince all walid before he got was part of that arrest talk about it as a fraud talk about as the next enron when you think about the down side to a bitcoin, one of the things that you don't hear people talk about the way they did even a year ago is the the ability for it to be forked. the idea that potentially the rule for the game and the chain itself could change. people always like to talk about it as sort of this self-correcting system these are always be trying to go against something new. that is a good thing they are criticizing the currency the currency has been very resilient. it is a better system today from an efficiency point of view, and it's getting traction from

bigger companies and getting attraction from funds. i would say that the banks need bitcoin more than bitcoin or crypto currency needs the banks. >> i'm trying to understand how it can be mined and how limited a number of new bitcoins really are going to be it in the world. my question to you is from a technological perspective could that change? >> there have been issues with forking of all sorts of different crypto currencies. that's okay. this is normal right now bitcoin is half of all of the crypto currency

>> yok it's a problem. it's the way you see the grass half full or half empty, and right now despite the fact that bitcoin and crypto currency has been getting lots of head winds, and the head winds are from the big enterprises, they're from the big regulators, and the head winds are from the traditional establishment that doesn't want it to move despite that, it is moving imagine if some of these players start to become more positive on bitcoin. lately the cme decided that they will have a product based on bitcoin. all of these will help it. >> k on. fair enough. great to see you thank you. >> i'm sorry i'm -- >> i kw.no >> new jersey if anybody missed it >> is it market to market?

even $79 now you are giving $90 now that it's -

>> check out the shares of chipolte, if you will. >> it's beginning to search for a new ceo. if i ever left, then that's what happened to the stock, i would feel horrible. >> current chief executive and founder steve ellis is going to

be part of the search team, but he is -- they are now seeing that a search for awe new ceo he is the founder. he will stay on as executive chairman e coking economic news thsend read on third quarter gdp. i'm pretty sure that's true. i hope it's not the third read on the second quarter gdp. we'll bring it to you when we return nah. not gonna happen. that's it. i'm calling kohler about their walk-in bath. my name is ken. how may i help you? hi, i'm calling about kohler's walk-in bath. excellent! happy to help. huh? hold one moment please... [ finger snaps ]

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>> welcome back. rick santeli live from the cme group with breaking news this five seconds our second look at third quarter gdp. we've got two quarters back to back with a three handle maybe tax reform coming. here we go up graded to 3.3 3% moves to 3.3. even better than we were expecting. many were expecting the tenth or two in the northerly direction if we look at consumption, 2.3, that's one-ternt versus our last look if we look at the price index, that's 2.3 that's also a tenth wider. that's 2.1 personal consumption expenditure, quarter over quarter is up 1.4.

that's .1 heavier on that quarter-over-quarter number. let's boil it down quite simply. gdp, like employment, it's one of those big numbers everybody can grasp into it and understand this is a good sign. it's another good sign that looks like all the preopening futures markets for the equities are running pretty high with solid price to action following yesterday's very solid price to action hey, we're on the way. just trying to balance and go with the flow. things look pretty green light at this point. back to the "squawk box" gang.

>> to a tenth of the des e-mail point, which the government reports does not exist folks, let's just pretend it does for a moment, and i'll tell you what happened here what happened was a little bit worse on the consumer as rick said notably a little bit better on business investment. up 4.7% versus 3.9% with equipment doing even better. government doing more than originally reported. with state and local doing a little less worse. that was where that came from with the federal government doing a little bit better. those were the main things with a little bit of an inventory boost. we did get -- i think this is an interesting conversation to have the corporate profit numbers, up 5.8% we do get that with the second read of each gdp report. the broad corporate profit numbers for the entire economy, private and public ian said from pantheon with an interesting note this morning. he says the mix of income in this country is about to shift from being very high towards the profit scale and being much more

towards labor and wages. he says that's what's coming in the next year, and the question becomes is the market prepared for this is the market prepared for the shift? it doesn't mean the nominal growth goes down every economist says it's a horrible idea. >> it's not the right time to cut taxes. >> they don't like to bill even the conservative guys don't like it. >> it's always going to be people that don't like it. >> i'm not commenting. i'm simply passing it along. >> what about the eight economists that wrote the thing in the journal the other day that did like it those are the guys you talked to so they don't count? >> they didn't actually -- increase the bill. >> larry kudlow -- >> they -- >> the corporate side is great, but -- >> they hate the individual side everybody hates the individual side

>> you know who does get a state write-off? >> they keep their state right write-off where. >> now i'm really angry. >> figures >> they make as much as you. >> why would you >> just kidding. not really joining us now kevin -- >> it hooks right in with your suggestion for that particular -- why would i? >> i work a longer day >> true. >> i provide probably more added value. >> no doubt. >> in terms of actual information. >> yep >> and i have, you know, better hair >> once again, it is about hair. >> senior u.s. economist tells us -- i'll tell you where i want to start on this is that we are at 4% unemployment

is it the wrong time to juice the economy, or is there never a wrong time to juice the economy? i mean, we want wage gains, don't we isn't this how it works? >> we do, and i believe in lower taxes are better for the overall economy. get it back to the corporations to add cap x and be more productive economy >> do people forget that -- i mean, it is the private sector that gifves us the job that we want to generate every government job that we add, you need tax revenue from a private sector job to pay the salary of the government person. the job growth in the last few years has been very solid. in fact, one thing despite, you know, talks about 17 and any kind of tax plan getting done and the odds of that being reduc

reduced, as steve mentioned, business investment was revised up in today's report that is pretty encouraging that the overall economy is moving in a very solid direction as we head into -- >> in the past people have noted that -- we all want -- i heard, you know, that capital was going to switch to workers versus corporate profits. >> incomes >> immediately i say good because i buy in to some extent that you can't have income inequality forever without there's going to be some come-uppin''s in terms of society. there's some evidence that they start to shrink, and it's not always good for the financial markets when that shift occurs could this time be different where it is okay for finances? do you think it will be okay, it or will it -- >> i think what's required to make this okay, joe, at it point in the recovery, breaking into the three's in unemployment and having a fiscal tax cut, it's going to require that this tax

cut stimulates business investment and productivity. if that happens, then we can have greater growth and not have a lot of overheat pressures. >> right >> but unless it stimulates business investment productivity, i think it's -- >> because it's prematurely end to the recovery. >> the argument is made that raising the minimum wage would allow people that do spend their money to put that money back in the economy as consumers, and that would help, and that's always the argument that people say. do it a different -- i'm not saying that's true because i think it crowds out people that would work for less. i don't think it's a good idea if this does eventually end up going to workers rather than the profits, that does filter back through the economy, and then growth suddenly, you know, companies need to add jobs, need to make more stuff, need to make more plants, and it seems like it's a virtual circle, no? >> here's the thing. i was with you all the way to

the point of the workers getting more because here's the thing. >> you said that was going to happen >> i didn't -- that's what happens, joe >> if it's 3.5 then why don't they get a better job? >> you have greater capital investment and that leads to better productivity. the idea that that means money in workers' pockets, there are a bunch of wejz between why a company would make more and why it would pay workers more money. >> because -- i'm not even talking about companies doing it on purpose i'm saying there's demand increases because -- >> if you keep tight labor markets, it should -- >> >> it's -- i love the way you

are, like, the average guy so sorkin's rich guy. >> got billions. got new york time. >> let's not do this i have no idea what anyone else make sure. we're all well compensated >> you are clearly less concerned about the rise in state and local taxes than i amle by the way -- >> no, i'm not >> this is a concern that i have not just personally on this, but what happens to the economies of new york, new jersey, california, oregon >> we're doing okay.

>> minnesota there are a lot of -- >> right the system we have works >> my problem is we haven't had neglect that shows that happens with this, and every time i ask the question, everything will be fine >> people live near the water. >> let's undo this >> by the way, i think -- this is going to be -- >> this is a big issue takers, gives. taxation without representation. there's a lot of issues here >> unfair subsidies. if you are saying this is an unfair subsidy, then by that standard, no state should be paying for any other state issues on anything >> that's not why we are a union.

>> on a totally different subject related to nbc, our parent, this morning nbc news announcing it's terminated today show host matt lauer for inappropriate workplace behavior here's what nbc news chairman andy lack said in a statement. this is verbatim on monday night we received a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by matt lauer. represented after serious review, a clear violation of our company's standards. as a result, we decided to terminate his employment while it is the first complaint about his behavior in over 20 years, he has been at nbc news, we were also presented with reason to believe it may not have been an isolated incident

our highest priority is to create a workplace environment where everyone feels safe and protected and to insure that any action that runs counter to our core values are met with consequences no matter who the offender we're deeply saddened by this turn of events, but we will face it together as a news organization and do it in as transparent a manner as we can >> up ne, xtfirst on cnbc interview with the ceo of volvo. stay tuned "squawk box" will be right back. at cognizant, we're helping today's leading manufacturers make things that think and do automatically. imagine that, a world of new digital products and services all working together for you. can i borrow the car when it's back? get ready, because we're helping leading companies see it- and see it through-with digital. you myour joints...thing for your heart...

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sfleefrmgts let's get to phil lebeau he is at the l.a. auto show. he joins us with a special guest. good morning again >> good morning, becky let me bring in the ceo of volvo, and we're going to talk about this gorgeous vehicle behind us in just a little bit let's start, first off, with the deal that you announced not long ago with uber where volvo will be supplying vehicles to uber that ultimately will be self-driving uber vehicles tell me a little bit about the deal >> i have to say a driving car is important to have the redid you understand answery the brake system, electricity, steering when will we see the day i can call up an app and it doesn't show up with anybody behind the steering wheel? 2020

2022 >> i think you have to ask uber about that we will an agreement that we will deliver this base cars from 1920 and 1921. it could be up to 24,000 cars. timing-wise, i can say we will use that car where it will be more a highway autopilot where you can sit back and relax, read your mail or whatever, and very realistic time frame could be 2021 that's what we are seeing. >> and you believe the market is ready to embrace this? >> absolutely. i think there is a lot of people who would like to use the commute time for something more productive than sitting watching the steering wheel i mean, reading e-mail, participating in video conference i mean, all of that are things that will be possible. >> let's talk about your expansion in the u.s you have the plant that you're building in south carolina, which you recently announced, look, you're going to put another $1.2 billion into that plant to further expand it any concerns that you are

ramping up that production at a time when the market is plateauing here in the united states >> i think you have to -- i mean, if you look at the business cycle, you will always be in the wrong time >> we have a design center we need to come closer so we really know what they want and then deliver the right product >> the ceo of volvo. guys, i'm impressed. he did media interviews not long ago in china today in china just flew in just landed and he is talking with us now. back to you. zroo we appreciate it. thank you for bringing that to us, phil talk to you soon when we tu, m amrernjicrer will

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and not being in debt for it for the rest of our lives. but we're only as strong as our community. who inspires and pushes us to go further than we could ever go alone. sofi. get there sooner. lng back a new development, at&t pleading its side of the case brought by the doj, trying to block the $85

billion with time warner in a joint court filing they say they operate in highly competitive markets that will remain competitive after the deal and cite the rapidly growing digital competitors like netflix, apple, google and facebook at&t's general counsel saying we have offered the department of justice a variety of solutions that are consistent with decades of precedent and vertical mergers and strongly believe any divest tour of assets not required under the law and repeated at&t never offered to divest control of cnn. i'll sit down with randall stephenson and we'll bring you his comments today. >> jim cramer joins us now do a tops up or bottoms down, jim? another big gain yesterday in the market but then we got things like chipotle today and other things happening what got your interest most? >> first your news set because of last night's celebration and

congratulations certainly worth noting -- >> thanks for coming, jim. >> no, it's a really big deal. i tried to put pictures up it was hard to grasp how cool it is and congratulations, you guys deserve it what i'm looking at is a company called auto desk, which is very much cloud based company they missed really badly and i really -- it missed because of a slowdown and obviously if there's anybody who thinks the cloud is slowing down, there's a lot of stocks that are way ahead of themselves. i don't think that's the case but i think that auto desk is going to reverberate because it had been a company that was thought to be on fire. i think that randall stephenson's interview is going to be very important because there's been so many mergers happening that look a lot like time warner at&t but they are not as big i want to know whether those would be thought about as not important. walgreens is up two bucks because of this thinking they can merge. i don't know, i see some

negatives out there and getting a little nervous that we talk a lot about bitcoin and holy cow, i mean, geez, anything connected with bitcoin, ryan, block chain, whatever, is going up too much so i'm kind of stunned i know i'm going to get hate mail because i said maybe bitcoin is going up too much does anybody not think that? >> yeah, it's a lot of money sloshing around, makes you wonder if it's going into bitcoin, some of that is going into stocks that shouldn't be going into stocks maybe too i guess zpl that's my thinking i want to know how much is being borrowed to be into bitcoin? >> i had square on with sara fryer saying bitcoin is not important. then jack comes out and he says that it's really important so i don't know, guys, i'm stuck trying to figure out bitcoin and what it means for the market but it can't be dismissed. it just can't be dismissed

because it's too crazy it means too much to this market and i'm concerned about that and when dorsey came out and said that it's really good for square, why did he have to do that it's a very small part of square anyway, anything connected with bitcoin is going higher and i don't like that. it feels like it's a dot com in 1999. >> what did you decide -- >> i'm worried about it. >> what did you decide about the carson wentz, is he the next tom brady, is that a top who do they play sunday -- >> tom brady is 40 i don't know, look, i'm an eagles fan but respect the giants institution i was floored -- i was near tears yesterday. i think he's a -- >> don't start and then put him in. >> that was disgraceful. >> college is big this week, jim, college is huge. >> stanford and auburn, georgia and wisconsin, ohio state. >> wisconsin underrated.

one of our best running backs was at the eagles was a guy undrafted free agent from wisconsin. i think that's a great program but i'm still reeling from eli and another elephant in the room that is just -- >> exactly, i hear you thank you. we will see you in a couple of minutes. coming up on "squawk alley", an ssy usive interview with andy jaat 11:00 a.m. eastern time we'll be right back. you always pay

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okay, folks we have breaking news, bitcoin officially over $11,000 and depending on who you're listening to, it could be going to 40,000 or on its way to zero but this is definitely keeping folks in the market on their toes this morning. >> up another $1300 today alone. >> and jim paulson, when asked about he thinks the next 10,000 could be tougher sledding and could be a correction at any time in bitcoin, does that work for you? >> that's fine the way this thing moves that's probably a bold forecast, joe. >> parting thoughts would you

like to leave us with today at the end of the show here. >> i'll throw it out i think that we're -- the economy is going to increasingly be taken over by capital or business spending as opposed to being driven by consumer spending -- >> and business spending has been weak. >> business spending down last two quarters has been doing better as steve reported this morning in the revision. but i think that means you want to maybe tilt a little bit towards capital good stocks and to me it would be technology and industrials and energy as overweights and maybe take a little off the table from the consumer sector, the balance of this recovery. >> again, what you told us at the beginning is that you wouldn't be surprised if 2018 was a little tougher sledding but if there is a sell-off, you say it's a buying opportunity? >> i do. right now i think it's a buying opportunity. i think the 10-year treasury will get over 3% next year and market will struggle but i don't think the recovery will end so in the midst of that fear during

a struggle, i think there will be good-b buying opportunities. >> thanks for being here. >> you still in minnesota, where you're headed today? >> oh, thank you >> yay minnesota >> "squawk on the street" is next ♪ good wednesday morning, welcome to "squawk on the street." david faber at the new york stock change, records likely at the open for the dow and s&p after the biggest gain for stocks in three months on tuesday. yellen is on the hill for what's likely her last congressional testimony. europe has got healthy gains, yields higher as q3 gdp revised up to 3.3. road map begins with the rally that keeps on rolling, dow