maybe near 3.5%. so if we had wages on go up, and that is what we want, we need to have more product activity unfortunately that's not the things we have the tools for >> but is that true, mr. chair it seem that they're not unrelated, to the degree that you keep your foot off the break and allow unemployment tinge to fall. but to the degree we keep the food off the brack and allow you three or six or pick your measure, to continue to drop and continue forbes waite growth to continue, does that in and of itself incentivize xwroirs to

invest in labor-saving -- is it not possible that improved wages themselves can help lead to improved product activity, which can create a virtual cycle with wage growth officer time >> yes, that's exactly what we hope is happening right now. so you're committing to keep your foot off the brake? when i was getting ready for this hearing, i went back and read something that you said in your very first year on the fomc committee. you noted you haven't seen anything in the wage data yet to support that it struck me as interesting. it got me to thinking about my frustration, and how it's been 2 1/2 years since he hit the

supposed definition, yet it keeps dropping and the definition of full employment keeps chasing it it made me wonder, as it relates to what you said earlier, why don't we just use woo wage data to help define it. >> for a lodge time there was slack in the labor market. we've reached the point where the risks are really two-sided now. if we do get behind and the economy does overheat. if that does happen, we'll have to raise rates faster. and recessions tend to hit vulnerable pop lakeses the most. we're trying to balance the

risks of, you know, getting inflation up to 2% with the economy overheating. >> i would only observe that you tap the brakes at the expense of the people who have over a long period of time nod received. >> the gentleman's time has expired. >> thank you, mr. chairman thank you, mr. powell. i appreciate your long time here, and i think i'm at the end of the line here today you just to deal with a couple quick questions. in determining interest -- back in 2006, congress passed the relief act which authorized the federal reserve to pay interest on reserves at reserve banks however, when the bill got

amended, the federal reserve in determines authorities interest rates was left to the board of governors, not to the entire federal open markets committee we know this is a valuable tool, using the entire committee to determine monetary policy. my question for you is, would you support an initiative on legislation that would give the full role of determining what the competent at the -- interest on excess to an entire expanded fomc and the federal reserve >> the full fomc decides the range for the federal funds rate, and the ioe remember is set -- so the voting members of the fomc who decide that

i amount -- i would say as a practical matter, this is not a problem we need to solve, because there's no difference between the two things >> would you be supportive or not of legislation that would allow the district presidents basically to weigh in on that decision as well if not, why not? >> i don't think we're looking for legislation. >> obviously we all like less legislation, but in this indication we're looking for more stakeholders? >> i think the real decision that's maid is the one that they do take part in. if i thought it was unfair or a problem -- i don't think really think it is a problem.

>> i just wanted if you would consider support of that let me go to the next thing. and that would be the federal open markets committee blackout period and how you feel about that and whether we could restore some transparency to that period, whether it's necessary to go through that part, just so we know -- we have -- that eight times a year when the committee is meeting where we don't have an opportunity to hear from the stakeholders >> i would want to look at what you're proposing. >> okay. the whole idea of that period is we don't speak publicly to market participants, or anybody about monetary policy that gives us a chance to get in a room, do our thinking and come out of the that and make an announcement. >> do you they this would be

anywhere in there that would be make better off? certainly there's some you would like to see, but at least where we could speak out and now it's going to come out? >> i would be happy to discuss this with you off-line >> i have some legislation that would offer more transparency in that aspect of it. not to eliminate the blackout pertain, but minimize some of the issues that are not allowed to be revealed >> i have concern when we're thinking about what to do at the next meeting that we take a step away from our pup conversations. that generally has been seen by us as a healthy things. >> "wall street journal" recently reported that two monetary specialists will serve as senior advisers

you may recall that the act provides for each governor to have access to two senior advisers chairman, would you be willing to allow two senior advisers to help a more diverse sit of perspectives to your deliberations? >> i do remember that provision of the bill. but, you know, the board has changed really in the time since i've been there. we're back to where -- and we don't need legislation on that. >> so that's something you would support? >> the time of the gentle lady has expired. >> thank you mr. davidson >> thank you, mr. chairman before i get into my prepared questions, i have two follow-ups to previous questions. one, chairman barr asked you about intervention in terms of

selling asset where it might be -- where it might prevent a yield curve inversion. why wouldn't intervention to prevent a yield curve by see as good in terms of yield curve inversions the history is what it is, but i think most observers don't see that he problem. also going to the issue of

selling assets, though, i really like our current plan of allowing these treasury securities to roll off passively. the market has accepted it i would have a high bar for wanting to change something that's working very well four years is not a long time. i think my strong prior would be to let the successfully announced and -- just run its it course timplgts was the chairman asked you about the ioer payments. i think your answer was they're constrained by commercial raids, so things that are available in the marketplace, but i would note that an interest rate consists of generally two parts, and presumably ioers don't have a default risk, so i'm not sure that's the right metric. would you care to comment on

that >> what the law says, that we shouldn't pay interest on reserves that's greater than the general level of short-term interest rates. the real alternative for a financial institution in the market isn't a one for one rate. it's if they make loans out in the market play, they inherently have default risk that the ieer does not have. they really don't have a big one, though. >> all right thank you, chairman.

i do have a question about the two roles of the fed, as a regulator and monetary policy entity do you actually track the budget separately are there people generally involved in regulatory activity and different body of people generally involved in monetary policy >> different divisions do have different budgets, and we do look at it from a functional basis, but it's pretty intertwined. we do call upon what we learn in the supervise sore and regulatory space we do get a lot of input it informing our monetary policy i think our knoll of the transmission mechanism informs, so there's a lot of intertwining there. it's not a clean separation.

my particular curiosity involves a bill called hr-4746. and this would put the regulatory component on appropriations, which would so an executive apply to the regulatory side and so i hope that we can enact that later in the year informingal members that a vote

is currently pending on the floor. i want to ask some questions about what i heard a lot, as we continue to see them tick lower and lower, one of the questions we get is why aren't we see more wage growth. and what is -- as we push down on whether the curve is somehow incorrect or kinked, or what your views are on that oimplts and it's ampling about 0.5% per year, so we need to get that up. as you get this close to full

employment, you would think there will be some tightness in the labor market, you would think that wage would be a bit up i would have expected -- and frankly i do expected to see more increases and wages there's a great number of people that are currently employed that might be tempted to come back in, that higher waits might be lead to more people getting to the work force, or there a decay in the skill set that might lead to them not being able to participate and need some help getting back into it >> we have seen the rates go sideways, and that's a big game.

we have seen some of that, as it's gotten tighter. how much move of that can it be? i hope there's a lot more. actually a gain once you look at those on demographically falling out, but it seems like individuals are still swann challenged to get back into the workforce. actually labor force by prime age workers is still more than a full percentage --

>> two things where you're getting a signal that there might be more slack or wages it may be that it's to find out. with relatively low unemployment, we should by finding out whether we can keep these people, get them back in the labor force. >> i've read in our comments you've made, plea don't let me misconstrue them, that there might be a toll rants to continue to see more and more tightening in the labor market and a goal to try to drive more wage growth and get more people back into the workforce? i think we're engaged in a

process of discovering the natural rate what we say is we would look at persistent diveations, as being undesirable, and we'll conduct policy to move inflates -- when you think about the economy today, you think about it today, and maybe the future at well what keeping you up at night we're having a moment of global growth

the time of the jell -- there's no further members in the queue. i would like to thank the witness. without objection all members will have five legislative days to submit additional written questions for the witness to the chair. chairman powell, i would ask you respond as soon as you are ability. this hear now stands adjourned the chairman bringing to a close jerome powell's first hearings on capitol hill since becoming the chairman of the federal reserve. welcome, everybody we have a cast here, folks.

let's start with steve steve, take it away. what did you hear? what are the key takeaways >> tyler, i think the setting was made when his opening remarks used the term overheating. when he talked about the parameters of the debate, which is either inor overheating, looks very different from janelle yellen. by say we're going to meet in march and it's possible it could change >> and also increasingly confident.

i think the powell premiere may be marked by, you know, he was much less theoretical when it came to economics. he said, you know what that means it could be 3.5 to 4.5 period of time >> the market gets it, and he was asked several times by several democratic congressman, this idea about inequality and concerned about that or i guess saying much less of an issue, because it could do as much about it -- we will get to greg and larry in just a minute, but nancy and jack, how if at all did anything mr. powell say changing your investing partner? >> not for me.

i think stocks are in good shape. so real terms, let let's not forget the fed rain is anything you hear, change what you're doing or thinking? >> no, nothing i will say it did somewhat reaffirm some of the suspicions. i think that the powell legacy short tenure will be marked by normalization. i do think that just by shifting from a bernanke/yellen shift will be marked with a normalization. is there a powell put? the only think i gota sense, look, the stock market is not the economy, we're here to management the economy

at least that was the infers also back i find the market's react alternates vexing. no fed chief is going to say we're not going to raise rates he can't come out and say we're not going to do x or y look, this economy is in such great shape. we're going to see product activity finally, larry, i think. >> i mentioned productivity a lot. he kind of won my heart on that. he also linked the corporate tax

cuts, which i think is terrific. i also agree, i think steve said this, he's very market oriented. i like that very much. he was just assistant secretary of the treasury, and his own decree background. i think we need something like that, very pragmatic minded. and steve, you tweeted earlier today that the policy is good in part that the market understands it >> that's right. in fact you could almost say the opposite might more inskyline to be more

interventionist. he also didn't talk about the idea of letting poll remain low. that was something that anima animated -- that wasn't there, he talked about the dual mand e mandate. and larry, i do believe that tax cuts over time. >> i below not concede that. the in numbers show a huge -- back at the -- that is way beonoil and gas. >> it's been lousy the last --

>> in the system, he talked about, i would like to note monetary policy report, further discussion of monetary policy rules, and their role in the federal reserve policy process a lot about the taylor rule. no but in the past, in the past, he has talked about forward-looking. all i'm saying is monetary rules.

he was specifically and foreign demand, which has everybody noises has been very strong, very helpful to the export situation, and he went on to say that financial conditions are still very accommodative i think that you don't -- you have to read between the lines, but it's still pretty clear he did open to going -- to talking about four rate increases instead of three number two, you have lots of optionality. , where you have three to six more month we've had a run of a soft data that were kind of on the weak side if you're the fed chairman, you're happy to let the mark,

let weight run ahead of you. my question is, did anything. >> no, i don't think there was any reversal of some assumption that we've had any place i do think that, you know, if you take what larry is saying at face value, that if the fed is considering more rules oriented, then taylor rule would suggest that the fed funds should be double where you are now if that's the case and we get a quick normalization, so maybe a 3% overnight rate, chances are the stock market is not going to like it. i don't think it's going to collapse, but certainly will get tamped down. >> i think the old taylor rule, what they cause the adjusted

taylor rule, which think point out i don't see how the ten year in this stronger economy driven by lower corporate taxes cannot get to 4%. it's got to get to 4%. i'm going to give him a "b" so he has some room to move here. he's going to play politics a bit on the side to not let the

things that should be distracting the fed from its independence at its monetary policy, to be at the center of the focus. if congress wants to hear that they like rules a bit more, he's going to give them that. they sort of stay focused. i think the politics were have i interesting compared to the last chairs. >> i think, with his discussion of product activityand his mentioning of corporate taxes. i think basically, unlike the past chairman, he favors this policy on the fiscal side, and he favors growth he's not going to panic. >> we've got to go, guys >> larry, quick question, did powell take an oath of loyalty to trump before taking this job >> no, that's not the way it works, greg. you know that as well as i do. >> to be fair to jack. >> i'm sorry jack >> i -- i wasn't in the meeting, but when trump interviewed powell, he told associates the

guy looks like a central banker. so after -- >> that's confidence inducing. >> that's got to be the last point, guys. larry kudlow, greg, jack, nancy and our own steve liesman, a big thanks to all of you out there comcast making a $31 billion move for your sky disrupting fox's plan to buy it, what this all means, for fox, disney and investors. and what exactly is sky? a stagger stat, next

♪ ♪ wake up early, o. ♪ slap on some cologne ♪ i'm 85 and i wanna go home ♪ ♪ just got a job ♪ as a lifeguard in savannah ♪ ♪ i'm 85 and i wanna go home ♪ ♪ dropping sick beats, they call me dj nana ♪ ♪ 85 and i wanna go don't get mad. get e*trade, kiddo. so what else is new? humm..she's doing good. she needs more care though. she wants to stay in her house. i don't know even where to start with that. first, let's take a look at your financial plan and see what we can do. ok, so we've got... we'll listen. we'll talk. we'll plan. baird.

a russian-ordered pause went into effect earlier today to allow civilians to leave it plans to retire on friday,

just as signs are emerging that pong yang may be wells to talk since 2016 first lady trump has cut ties with an adviser whose firm was paid $26 million to help plan the president's inauguration it's a new york base-event planner and longtime friend of the first lady. stronger tobago laws to reduce smoking strongest measures had fewer -- >> you're up to day. that's the new updates >> the bidding is heating up for the comcast parent more than what rupert , why sky is so valuable, but began with julia boorstinwith more on thi bidding war. julia in.

>> melissa, that's right comcast making as all-cash offer of $31 billion for sky, a 16% premium. that company was appealing in part because of its 39% stake in sky. comcast o'brien looking to buy the 61% that fox does not yet control, and that he would like to buy from fox to own the whole company.

kiting that investors expect fog, and by suches as dis in to counter with a higher offer. it remains committed to the recommended cash offer for sky announced from the 15 december 2016 fox has said the deal would close by the end of june no word from disney on the bid, and comcast would not comment on speculation that it's potential interested in bidding for all of fox that originally made the bit on. busy day sky is a lot more than a tv company. let's dig more into sky and why companies are fighting to buy it will >> from the u.s., in fact, but either way, let's dive into it in contrast to many of the fox assets that comcast and disney have been fighting over, sky is not an entertainment content creator, but just a simple pay

tv company crucially giving comcast -- potential giving exposure to europe 19% from italy, 14% from germany, and austria it also delivers the content via satellite, now by capable. fox owns 39% already, made a 10.75pound per share offer bac in december 2016, yet the share price has traded significantly, albeit today, the jump has jumped significantly above the 12.50 offer. why the ditches? it was a highly politicized offer. investors now feel with murdoch out of the picture, there wouldn't be the regulatory pushback, and the deal could go through. another attraction is just simple pay-tv company synergies. and the timing is interesting here

just one week ago, sky managed to extend its rights in the uk for the english premier league soccer that's a very expensive piece of content, a very important piece of content, and of course nbc and the states owns the rights to the same important sports content, so there's synergies there it laze to high retention rates for traditional customers of around 90% despite threats from the likes of amazon and netflix. some people think that the technology they use for that could be exported back across and applied to any company like comcast in the states, guys? will, thank you. shares of comcast we should note down sharply after the announcement down 5.7% the next guest says it's a buys opportunity. let's bring in the managing

doctor can'tor good to see you. you say it's a buying opportunity, so you -- what specifically would comcast get from this deal the opportunity here is just to expand distribution. >> we have to look at it to see what price think pay, but under our calculation, with the current price, it only takes about 5% of synergies really to make this accretive.

hasn't had in the past, and a lot of folks liked the low ever leverage, because where it has lower margins, lower rpu, i think over time probably you could see comcast improve on that and it's a better way for them to diversify a lot of up side and controlling content and distribution with nbc and comcast, and there's also the potential to bring uk content over to the u.s. and see what they could get from that >> if i'm crazy, please let me know we know that comcast went after fox. disney looks like it's getting it comcast wants sky, there is -- where comcast goes after what fox really wants in the hope

they ask strike a deal and end up with the u.s. fox assets? >> it definitely could be. that's certainly not off the table, and i think they clearly wanted that asset. so we can see what happens the flip side is this is an asset that's been talked about in the past. i do think it's the type of expanding distribution that comcast would feel comfortable with, especially going internationally. rather than getting into a bidding war, you can't go after the distribution side. with a lot less regulatory scrutiny. >> who are the other bidders that might come in, one. number two, does this kind of bid from comcast or someone else solve a problem for uk regulators >> i can't comment to the uk regulators in talking with our colleagues, i don't believe there's necessarily anyone in europe on or the uk that would come after us. itled probably by just fox and disney but i do think comcast

has a good opportunity if you look at what would ultimately create better value, looking at a company that understands comcast, i think comcast is in a better position to do that >> frank, thanks for your time we appreciate it from media to the bond market rick santelli at the cme rick >> it's very interesting, because obviously we've been discussing the performance of jay powell now for several hours. the market, a parallel shift except for the long end. obviously it popped right around 10.38. what's interesting is it's currently up five basis points so is the five year, so is the ten-year, but it's come off a bit, only up a couple basis points it has been more aggressive in 2018the high and low close of

the year averaged out is right around 90.55 many dollar folksens change trader, we're not far away, but then again, we've been here before melissa lee, back to you. thank you, rick. the big ts, both up 3%, tech have been a -- the market sell-off in february we'll tre meadso of stocks leading the charge student. ♪

feel that? that's the beat of global markets, the rhythm of the world. but to us, it's the pace of tomorrow. with ingenuity, technologies, and markets expertise we create the possible. and when you do that, you don't chase the pace of tomorrow. you set it. nasdaq. rewrite tomorrow.

despite the big sell-off, and yesterday had their best day in more than six weeks. even though people may feel like there's things lie rates pushing up against the 3% that have changed. should you still be invested in techs in we have names that are very highly exposed, so the economy intersurprise spending is significantly up higher. and that's now 50% of their sales, so i think technology can

continue to move here. i think it should be defensive in terms of your tech pick, apple which hit a record high? >> there's still buys with record highing >> because usually they blow through those highs, once resistant it becomes more -- but if you look at the buff at the time bump, i think people that got over the hurdle, so maybe a bit of a reversion trade.

the we have the most gear to the economy. delta still trades as if we're -- where we're actually worried. 11 times next year's numbers gets you to be a 75, $80 to be i think people are overly emotional. fedex had great numbers, market multiple gets you to $300. united tills you that it's increasing -- >> but again, united has some of their owns issues. >> i think there's no question that some of this is also just a change in the reporting. kind of approach, they're moving into a gap approach, and also changing, et cetera. it gets kind of wonky in there the numbers for these companies i think are easier to defend than possibly united here. >> steve, let's revisit car, and i have advice. >> i knew you were going to go

there. >> of course i am. where do we stand on that? >> i bought the stock, right i started talking about around low 20s, let's say, i'm long, i averaged up, and in the high 20s. for me that's$70 that's my minimuminimum, my bas. we started talking about the double at $35, so the double is $70. every time you bet against the stock, you lose. every time it sells off on bad news, it retakes the old highs they have right sized the fleet, scaled down the workforce. they're getting it right on pricing. i think it's still higher from here >> tim, is steve crazy or is he prescient? >> i'm not sure. i am not getting that stock. i don't agree with the headwinds facing the company good job on steve being where he is saying the stock is going to double, there are many other stocks i would choose before avis >> see you tonight at 5:00 tim and steve. >> thanks. all right, the big calls on wall street that we think you need to know about

check this out there's one call that says a small cap oil and gas company could double or even triple from here what's the name? stick around to find out directv gives you more for your thing. your top-rated thing. that five stars, two thumbs up, 12-out-of-10, would recommend thing. because if you only want the best thing, you get the #1 thing. directv is rated #1 in customer satisfaction over cable. switch now and get a $200 reward card. more for your thing. that's our thing. call 1.800.directv

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to grow your business with us in new york state, i we worked with pg&eof to save energy because wenie. wanted to help the school. they would put these signs on the door to let the teacher know you didn't cut off the light. the teachers, they would call us the energy patrol. so they would be like, here they come, turn off your lights! those three young ladies were teaching the whole school about energy efficiency. we actually saved $50,000.

and that's just one school, two semesters, three girls. together, we're building a better california. welcome back to "power lunch. let's take a quick look at the markets. we had been up about 100 points on the dow earlier today, but then equities sold off during the fed chair jerome powell's testimony. right now, you see the dow industrials off about a third, maybe a little more than a third of a percent at 25611. 10-year yield also on the move up a little bit. as you see right there it is at 2.915%. that is a 20% gain in the yield so far this year your dow leaders are intel, boeing, chevron, and apple melissa. >> all right, time for street talk, analyst recommendations. we start off with chipotle

baird is upgrading the chain to outperform, raising the price target to $400 the analyst likes the appointment of brian nichol of yum. new price target impleas around a 23% move higher. >> i want to say thank you >> why >> you didn't say queso. >> queso, queso, queso >> now we're going second stock, goldman sachs up grating the aggregate, gravel and rock maker they say the tax structure enhances a solid tax return. upside guidance for the rest of the year, and a runway for more mergers and acquisitions, and underappreciated tax benefits. they have a $40 target that's about 25% upside. >> third stock is one of tim's stocks, intel, a buy naming the top pick in the semis space, claiming it's the micron of 2018. what does that mean? it is a combination of low sentiment, substantial upside,

similar to what they saw with micron in 2017 that stock was the firm's biggest positive surprise last year, and they are expecting the same to happen with intc >> final stock is the one we referenced, cnx resources. cnx is the ticker. canonsburg, pennsylvania saying you ain't seen nothing yet. it's a highly regarded boutique oil and gas research firm in houston raises it to buy from hold they raise the net asset value to $30, but they call a blue sky scenario, $44 a share. it's a $15.50 stock. as the value continues, they think this unlock is overlooked by the market, and the company may sell off non-core assets which they think could lead cnx to buy back a big percentage of their stock. the $30 target is effectively a double, but $44 is possible. march 13th is an analyst meeting, and that's very, very key. so a big call on cnx from tph or

dnoe tyler. >> thank you >> call it a fed duet. we heard from the new fed chairman earlier now we'll hear from his predecessors ben bernanke is about to interview janet yellen about the state of the economy and the challenges ahead they will both take questions after that e tcnsenr tethrry it live from thhuhe cteafr is at holiday inn express, we can't guarantee that you'll be able to contain yourself at our breakfast bar. morning, egg white omelet. sup lady bacon! fruit, there it is! but we can guarantee that you'll get the best price when you book with us. holiday inn express.

be the readiest.

we have three big stories all happening right now. number one, a meeting of former fed heads janet yellen sitting down with ben bernanke for a friendly q&a, we'll bring it to you live we're also watching the markets. following jerome powell, the new fed chairman's testimony, the dow is down about 100 points and moving away from the fed-a--palooza, comcast making an offer for sky in the uk, challenging 21st century fox's bid for that satellite company we'll get you more on what could be a $30 billion mega merger but right now, let's kick it

with steve liesman have we had a day -- >> and here are bernanke and yellen sitting down. >> where three fed heads have spoken >> i don't think so. i think it's meet the new boss, different from the old boss. different quality, different characters >> what would your first question for yellen be >> i would ask her about what she left for powell to do. what was undone. >> let's listen. >> i think the hutchins center that i'm affiliated with is doing terrific work on monetary and fiscal policy. and brookings, more generally, great respect for their quality of analysis, of public policy issues and i'm looking forward to being here, to contributing to discussions about good public policy >> great okay, well, we have time for -- we're going to do about 45

minutes of conversation and leave time for questions i thought we could go a little chronologically, and where would start off by asking you to talk a bit about how you got interested in economics and how you decided to make economics your profession? >> well, i decided in college to major in economics, and then stayed in economics from there and i guess i didn't really know a lot about economics before college. i was very interested in math and enjoyed it i suppose when i went to college, i would have written down that i thought math was my likely major but when i was exposed to economics, i was really impressed that this was -- >> that was former fed chair janet yellen telling us that she likes economics as a younger person >> that's why you don't send a fed chair to do a reporter's job. >> i got you, baby we're going to monitor it. when it becomes more germane to the most recent economic history and current policy, we'll dip back in.

i asked what you would ask her what did she leave for mr. powell to clean up but let's talk about mr. powell and his performance today. what did you hear either tonally or specifically that was different from what we might have heard right now had chair yellen been in the seat? >> two things that jump out. first is the use of the word overheating. i don't think he means to say the economy is going to overheat i think he described new pillars or goalposts for the debate right now. between inflation running a little below the fed's 2% target and overheating in the economy because of the new fiscal tax plan that's come through congress >> overheating is a fraught word >> it is >> in this context, and clearly% a carefully chosen one let's talk about that fraught word you could imagine a conversation where an aide, a media aide at the fed said, mr. chairman, you want to use that word, overheating? are you sure yes, i do. that's very different, remember when yellen took office, there was a palpable fear of deflation

in the economy and that was the tail risk, the more dominant tail risk in the economy. now it's a concern of how do the tax cuts work through the economy, how does the federal reserve respond? his answer, though, was more in the lines of he sees the tax cuts creating capital investment, creating product tavety, raising wages and not much of an inflationary threat, but he's biding for time to see how it works through the economy. the other aspect was opening the door to the fourth rate hike he said we're going to meet in march. >> is the door not open? i thought it was always open it may just be open now. i don't know the market accepts that the door is open. i think the market thinks the door is closed >> i think what we have come across a long time is you're too smart, i think is really the problem, because there's things the market can kind of know about, and then there's a different reaction when the market hears it. right? you knew that, i kind of knew the door was open, but then suddenly you have a new fed chair and he says we're going to meet in march.

we're going to look at our average of three rate hikes and maybe change them. he didn't say they would go if four, but he opened the door, but definitely - >> how is that data dependent? not very >> not very, but what we're listening for is how does he process this new stimulus, this better economic growth, both here in the united states and abroad into fed policy >> i'm going to pile on to melissa's door reference as opposed to opening four doors, is it possible he opens a bigger door. as opposed to the number, could we get a 50-basis-point increase one big door >> there's thinking in journalism, if you think of the story today, you do it today and not tomorrow there could be a point where the fed decides this economy needs 50 basis points. that's a big move. i'll tell you why. it's a big move because it would change the whole outlook for the path of policy so it's something they would do really cautiously and it would have to be a very extreme situation. i think we also heard a little

bit from fed chairman powell, the is some tolerance for inflation running above the 2% target that it's a symmetrical target if you run a little below, it's okay to run a little above >> 50 basis point -- >> that's a big deal >> that would be like fourth quarter 2019 stuff, right? if it's at all a possibility >> fourth quarter 1995 kind of stuff almost >> i think what brian is doing is channeling some of the hard money fed people who are out there that believe the federal reserve is well below target the economy no longer needs the accommodation, and if you're thinking about doing three this year, well, why not do one as a two? i don't think -- >> is the market going to revolt >> that's not the jay powell i know >> and that is antithetical to gradualism >> bringing it back to investing here, i still think that the downside risk here is that extra quarter point.

i don't know many good investors that are going to change their investment thesis on stocks because of an extra 25 basis points so what i'm going to be listening for from powell is not just this year but 2019 is where the clouds come in and how fast the fed goes and how far they go. i think that's when we get into a press conference with jay powell in march, that's where the question is going to be. not 2018, but really trying to game out what happens to rates next year and what happens to stocks relative to rates >> thank you, steve. steve liesman. let's get to meg with a news alert on america's opioid crisis >> attorney general jeff sessions just holding a news conference to announce new actions in the opioid crisis many of these targeting manufacturers and distributors that many states and several lawsuits and now even the federal government arguing exacerbated the crisis because of deceptive marketing some of those state lawsuits have been targeting

manufacturers including teva, endo, and johnson & johnson as well as distributors sessions saying today he's starting a new task force to examine these existing state and local government lawsuits against manufacturers and distributors to determine if they can be of assistance. saying that this crisis has cost the federal government more than $4 billion for the medicare prescription drug program alone in 2016. so they're taking a closer look at these lawsuits here, guys and of course, these companies have all said they disagree with these claims in the lawsuits we'll bring you more news. >> thank you very much big important story there. >> here's what's coming up on "power lunch." comcast challenging 21st century fox's offer to by sky of the uk. will there be a bidding war? watch out, airlines are looking to boost profits by reconfiguring planes with new seats and cabin class, including

one where you sit exclusively in the lavatory the last part is not true, but the rest is. >> and the number one retail analyst on the street will join us with his take on macy's big beat, and much more on "power lunch. had a coach in high school. really helped me up my game. i had a coach. math. ooh. so, why don't traders have coaches? who says they don't? coach mcadoo! you know, at td ameritrade, we offer free access to coaches and a full education curriculum -- just to help you improve your skills. boom! that's lesson one. education to take your trading to the next level. only with td ameritrade. at ally, we offer low-cost trades and high-yield savings. but if that's not enough, we offer innovative investing tools to prepare you for the future. looks like you hooked it. and if that's not enough, we'll help your kid prepare for the future. don't hook it kid.

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new york stock exchange with mike and bob bob, i'll start it off with you. what was the trader reaction to all of this? >> what we're learning, what everyone is learning, one guy said to me i couldn't believe that basis points really matter that much. we moved four basis points for the ten-year 2.87 to 2.92.911, we were doing that, you want to talk about, the market just fell apart all the momentum we had earlier on in morning just kind of died on us. so i think that's a concern. we have to start living with four and five basis point moves. my question is how long do we get these kinds of reactions >> the idea was we're going to get a respite prom the story of the ten-year yield pushing it. so i think it's kind of testing the resolve of stock traders in the context, let's remember, of an s&p 500 up 10 pest off the lows in two weeks. i think in the morning, it looks like a day where the fang stocks were going to take a rest and the bank stocks were going to be up and it was going to be a blah

day. then you had sort of a jay powell refusing an excuse to be more dovish and you got this i will say, the vix has been sticky at these levels above 15. now above 18 that's something that shows it's not quite back to the slow and steady calm of last year >> by the way, at least down here, most of the people i talk to, jerome powell got positive reviews, particularly for the lucidity of his answers. each new fed president seems to be getting simpler and simpler in his commentary. he's better than yellen, and yellen was better than bernanke and alan greenspan could you imagine if alan greenspan was interviewing mr. bernanke ten years ago this is how surreal it is to see bernanke talking to yellen, how different the fed has become imagine if greenspan would have interviewed bernanke ten years ago. you couldn't imagine it. >> powell said something to the effect that a good policy is one that the markets understand.

i would think that would be great solace to a lot of investor out there at the same time, he did seem, as steve mentioned, open the door officially to four rate hikes. and bob, talk about the reaction to four basis points in terms of move imagine another 25 >> i think that's what you were saying i love the comment about the door being open. they opened the door a little, and you saw what the market did, just a little bit. immediately, the market lost steam. >> i think it's a very straightforward way of addressing the markets that powell has it's very linear seeming he's kind of just going to be out there with, okay, these are the range of options this is what we know about how the data is likely to come through. there's not that apparent reluctance to kind of say the obvious thing that a lot of people are already thinking about some of the outcomes that might be out there maybe that is the new approach >> more powell thursday. we'll veer how he does then. thanks so much >> all right, let's bring in amanda, pnc financial services co-chief financial strategist, and joe, chief economist and a

cnbc contributor welcome to both of you glad to have you here. joe, steve liesman sort of said, you know, i liked powell, but he didn't really nail the quad jump, so he gave him kind of a "b." how do you grade him >> steve is a very tough teacher, but i would agree powell did a good job. the testimony was pretty bland i think that was his intention about half an hour after it came out, i looked at the market. the treasury market yields were basically unchanged. then in the q&a, the whole conversation of the door opening and you get a little more context on the things he was saying, the market got nervous, and rightly so i hope, tyler, the fed doesn't go four hikes. that would be a mistake. my guess is powell ultimately won't. >> amanda, did anything you hear this morning change anything you think or will suggest to do with portfolio positioning? >> no, not at all. you know, we felt very strongly

coming into the testimony this morning that the message was going to be fairly moderate, right down the middle. he didn't disappoint in that regard you know, we felt that three hikes was the right number for this year. and although he talked up an acceleration in growth and a healthier backdrop, we feel the same way, so we're not at all concerned about the potential for a fourth hike yet. a little premature >> did you like the level of clarity, the transparency? i remember a throw-away line that alan greenspan once used. if i had been exceptionally clear, you must have misunderstood me that was his approach. there was no policy that could be too opaque in the greenspan era. this is, to me, tonally a little bit different. >> it is a little bit different. but again, you know, we had kind of a pretty good sense of powell coming in.

and thought that he would be very moderate in his comments and remarks. and again, he hasn't disappointed and you know, they can't tell us precisely what they intend on doing, so we have to try to do the best we can to interpret body language and so on. but three hikes seems very reasonable i think the market is clearly starting to price in at least partially the fourth hike, so to the extent we don't get the move in the dot plot come june, that could actually reverse course things in the market a bit >> joe, as i observe today's action and i was off yesterday but paying attention to the nearly 400-point gain in the dow. to state the obvious, 2018 is not 2017 what advice do you have for individual investors who are watching a market, an equity market, that is yo-yoing back and forth with large intraday swings what's your counsel to them? >> there is no recession on the immediate horizon, meaning the

next 12 to 18 months and even if you think a recession is coming beyond that period of time, so you can still argue it's late cycle, taylor, the equity market tends to perform quite well the message would be stay long and stay the course. but at some point, it would probably be prudent to dial back the exposure to stocks or at least economically sensitive stocks because my fear is and this is what history shows, is when the yield curve, let's say the ten-year note and two-year note, when that yield is zero or negative, you almost invariably get recession. that would be the risk but the good news is that's unlikely to happen in the very short term, and i'm hopeful the fed will not go four times this year i hope they only go twice. let's not forget they're letting the balance sheet unwind that's worth some tightening >> thanks. >> well, fed chair jerome powell in that hot seat today it's always hot there in congress even in the dead of winter he made his first appearance

before congress. did he deliver we will talk to the chair of the house financial rvesseic committee, jeb hensarling of texas. he chaired the meeting today and he's straight ahead. alerts -- wouldn't you like one from the market when it might be time to buy or sell? with fidelity's real-time analytics, you'll get clear, actionable alerts about potential investment opportunities in real time. fidelity. open an account today.

for uk broadcaster sky

comcast, parents of this network, making a $31 billion bid. that complicate's disney's proposed takeover of 21st century fox. david joins us he's been on the phones all morning long >> i'll try to explain it all, but there's a lot to explain comcast and its aggressive ceo have made a habit of getting involve when there's merger and acquisition activity in their industry it's not a wholly unexpected move to see comcast as it did today make a premium proposal to acquire a controlling state in sky. now, the question is what move fox, which owns 39% of sky, and its deal partner disney, will make in response and whether comcast will be satisfied with the prospect of wrestling a controlled stake from the clutches of fox and disney or will keep applying pressure to try to bring their own deal to an end today's proposal by comcast to acquire at least 50.1% of sky's oud stntding shares at $12.50 a

share is 16% higher than the offer fox made to do the same in december of 2016 that offer has been in regulatory limbo for many months, giving comcast an opportunity it says it is happy to pursue. control of a contributor of content that has 23 million subscribers. shareholders of comcast don't seem overly enthused with a prospect of the deal it will take leverage up to about three times. it also perhaps makes less likely shareholders hopes of a stock buyback, but brian roberts has never shied away from opportunities to buy still, while today's offer might give comcast control of sky, it's not going to own it outright, even if fox should choose not to compete with this offer, fox's 39% stake in sky is part of the deal to sell most of the company to disney. and neither disney nor comcast seem particularly enchanted by the prospect of co-ownership of

sky, a fact that perhaps increases the likelihood of a binary outcome fox with disney's assent, increases its offer, or comcast figures out a way to own 100% of the company. while sky is not seen as central to disney's purchase of fox's assets, it is an asset disney likes, as much for the fact it has a lot of sports programming which we know is going to be very important to the future of disney, and its strategy, as well as its distribution assets. hanging over all of this, melissa, and you referred to it in the introduction, is the prospect this is simply comcast's first move in an unlikely attempt in some ways to try to break apart fox and disney's existing deal and get fox to sell the assets to comcast. that would face a host of potential obstacles. not the least of which, of course, is well, the murdochs don't want to sell, and they more or less control the vote and the company. still, we have to wait and see for its part, comcast can wait

and see. they can wait here with what is not an official proposal although it will become one when they get the finances and get board approval they can wait to see what happens with at&t/time warner in court and whether or not that affects their view of any opportunity they might have to try again as hard as it might be to get fox to reconsider and they can also, well, wait and generally see what the proxy that will be filed eventually by fox and disney has to say about the history that took place between all of them. none of that, by the way, is to say it would be easy in any way for them to deit even on a regulatory side, which remains a huge impediment, not here, though here, melissa, sky and comcast is certainly an easier deal to imagine than apparently sky and fox is for uk regulators back to you. >> all right, david, thank you david faber. >> so, what does this all mean for fox and for disney and for comcast and for everybody else

out there? do they fold and walk away from the table? a lot of questions here. let's bring in marcie, media analyst at wells fargo securities if i have butchered your last name, i apologize. i did, thank you very much i'm going to say it until it's right. let's talk about this deal first off, how surprised are you that comcast, our parent company, is going after sky, a satellite company, where, by the way, on the conference call this morning, comcast apparently never mentioned the word satellite because satellite is kind of old school >> i think initially this morning we were surprised. i think the market is still digesting the news if you go back to some of comcast's commentary, nbc's commentary over the last year, they have been looking for a way to enter into international territory. this is a good way i would completely disagree with the characterization that comcast is doing this to break up the fox disney deal i absolutely do not think that's the case i think they're very serious

about acquiring sky. and i don't necessarily think they want the domestic assets. >> but why is that comcast, primarily a north american company, comcast not a satellite company. this takes them outside of, a, their geography, and b, their sort of, i guess, transmission knowledge or base, if that makes sense. >> i think that's the whole crux of why this stock is down, because we keep calling sky a distribution company and we in the u.s., i don't think, truly understand the asset. it's a content company as well and it has a very good technology, it has ott streaming that is probably better than what we have here. so to me, it makes a tremendous amount of sense. if you listen to brian on the call earlier, it's best in class distribution in the uk comcast is best in class distribution in the u.s. there's probably a lot more synergy than we can currently quantify to me, it's probably going to end up being a better deal than what the market is currently suggesting >> in your view, what are the crown jewel assets of sky? is it the sports rights, perhaps? you were mentioning we don't

necessarily understand perhaps fully what sky can offer so what is it? >> i think part of it is the sports rights, but they have a ton of other content i think they also have 23 million subscribers. two times the subscribers of their next competitor, virgin media. i completely understand why comcast would be going after this now, especially after what they said today. >> we know that fox wanted sky or wants sky and their purchase of the portions that they don't already own have been held up by british regulators, number one what we kind of -- and we assume that disney wants sky because it was included in the deal that they struck with fox to acquire 21st century fox and a variety of its assets. do we have a sense what their next move might be together or apart or whether they're going to counter do they want it that much that they're likely to come in and -- there you see it, $26 billion. the bid is for north of $30 billion. what's the likelihood that they

come back and escalate >> if you look at sky's stock price, the market is telling us that there's going to be a bidding war. if you look at fox's statement from probably just a couple minutes ago, they said they are not doing anything else but their current offer because there's no firm offer from comcast. my gut tells me that fox and disney will have a conversation and they probably will come in, but remember, fox already owns 39%, so they would only be buying 61%, and comcast offers for 100%, and they already have a pretty significant offer on the table, so it's not that much incremental to the disney/fox deal >> marci, a great discussion there. welcome you back any time. thank you very much. >> thank you >> all right coming up, the unstoppable amazon the stock continuing to deliver, hitting an all-time high earlier today, further enriching investors. up 14% now since the recent lows up 80% in the last year. here's the question, we have asked it 100 times do you keep buying or do you

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hello, everybody i'm sue herera here's your cnbc news update at

this hour. house speaker paul ryan telling reporters there were colossal breakdowns by authorities in the months leading up to the florida high school shooting he says congress' top priority should be insuring background checks prevent purchases by those who shouldn't have a gun >> we shouldn't be banning guns for law-abiding citizens we should be focusing on making sure that citizens who should not get guns in the first place do not get those guns. that's why we see a big breakdown in the system here in this particular case, there were a - >> walmart is launching new private label clothing brands, unveiling four new lines for women, men, and kids, with items costing between $5 to $30. they will be available starting thursday amazon and target have also been building their own clothing brands >> and the bat that babe ruth used in the 1932 world series up for bid at leyland's evidence points to it being the famed shot called bat in game three of the series against the

chicago cubs bidding closes next months get your bids in that's the news update brian, back to you >> very cool bat if that's what it is sue, thanks very much. >> the oil market closing for the day. let's get to jackie. >> good afternoon to you, brian. crude prices taking a pause today, closing under $63 this is as equities move down to the red as well. a few reasons for this powell testimony caused a little bit of a stronger dollar today strauler daunger means weaker crude, but also, tomorrow morning, investors are expecting an inventory bill to be reported inside that report, u.s. production also expected to rise at just above 10.25 million barrels a day. in the last report, the u.s. is slightly under the russians but surpassing the saudis. the iea, the independent agency, thinking u.s. is going to overtake russia as soon as next year back over to you >> thank you very much >> american airlines redesigning its planes you may not notice a big difference when you fly, but you might see it in the profits.

phil lebeau live in everett, washington hi, phil >> tyler, this is what you call an airplane makeover what do we mean? we're inside an american airlines 777-200 they have taken off the cabin ceiling panels so you basically see the guts of the plane. why are they doing that? because they're going to be rewiring this plane. they're in the process of doing that it's one part of remaking this plane, if you will, retrofitting it, adding new seats these are new premium economy seats. they are wider, they have more leg room they have all of the television and everything that you would want in terms of the comfort and features the reason they're doing this is because they will now have four classes for seating that people will be able to buy when they're purchasing a ticket. and they're standardizing their fleet of 777s. you say big deal, don't airlines do this all the time uh- uh-uh, because of all the mergers, airlines fly so many different variations of airplanes that sometimes if you're at a get and you see that

a plane has been replaced because of a mechanical issue, they're not going to have the same number of seats therefore, people will get bumped what american is doing is saying we want one total in terms of numbers of seats on our 777-200s or 777-300s, that's way we can switch out the plane and there's no issues, no headaches for passengers in terms of rebooking. it's an interesting process, to say the least. you will see more airlines doing this but they're going to get this plane fixed, out the door, and back in the air within a week. that's how quickly they do these makeovers. >> all right, phil, thank you very much. phil lebeau in everett, washington fed chair jay powell on the hill today for his first report to congress about the state of the economy, and we saw yields go up on the two, ten, and 30-year treasure securitiys after he signaled the central bank could hike rates more than three times this year. jeb hensarling joins us from capitol hill with a reaction to

mr. powell's comments. welcome to "power lunch," chairman hensarling. i note this is, probably your next to last testimony that you'll chair, right? because you're sailing on out of town, right? >> i am sailing out of town. so yes, the next to the last one. i think he is my fourth fed chair. and listen, i was very happy to greet chairman powell. i think he presented, you know, as a person who is obviously smart and knowledgeable. and a steady hand, although i do believe there's a competition among fed chairs to see who can talk the most and say the least. and although he may not win that competition, he is certainly in the competition. >> you know, just for the viewers listening on satellite radio, when i talked about your sailing on, the smile on your face was very perceptible, chairman you said in your statement this morning, or your opening statement, that the fed must commit to a credible, orderly, and well communicated normalization policy, which i

gather both impacts interest rates and what happens on the balance sheet. do you think chairman powell achieved that objective in whole or in part this morning? >> well, perhaps in part so what i still have a concern about is apparently the caps on winding down the balance sheet, apparently are far more flexible than we were led to believe. and so what we want here, again, is a monetary policy that's most predictable. people need to know what the value of their money is going to be capital needs to go to where it could be utilized the best so number one, you know, there's a little more flexibility in the wind-down of the balance sheet i don't think i got a really credible answer on the composition of the balance sheet because right now, it's roughly two thirds treasury, roughly one third mortgage backed securities i asked the question, is that roughly the ratio we're going to end up with. you know, at least appreciated the fact that the chairman wants to be on a path that is at least dominated by a treasury balance

sheet. this is important because the fed has managed to get themselves into the credit allocation business, which is clearly fiscal policy, which is cleary the business of congress. the fed's been given immense power, but they have to stay in a very narrow lane to exercise those powers with respect to the inflation target, it appears that this chairman is committed to the 2% inflation target but again, some of us questioned, you know, if you have a statutory mandate for price stability, why are you setting an inflation targetin the first place? and the fomc minutes that have just been released show that some participants want to go with an inflation range, and how can that be commensurate with price stability? i'm not really sure those questions were quite answered. i look forward to having a longer dialogue with chairman powell to try to flesh that out a little >> did you get an answer, i heard one of your questions, i believe it was you, and correct

me if it wasn't, about where ultimately the fed's balance sheet will be in terms of scale? did you get a sufficient answer? >> i think so. i think the chairman sees it ending up at about the 2.5 trillion range, which is still far greater than it was pre-crisis i'm not sure that, again, you can have a balance sheet that size that doesn't have the fed have a larger footprint in the economy than ultimately maybe healthy. but i will say this, the chairman acknowledged that we're in a much better economy today than we were in december which is one of the reasons i guess he allowed for the possibility of a fourth rate increase in the fed funds rate, so he affirmed we have a good economy, and listen, if there was ever a time to unwind the balance sheet, it's in a good -- when the real economy is real. so, you know, you get concerned

about, is there potential stock market bubble? well, we're seeing some very healthy earnings reports >> absolutely. >> i'm not a stock analyst i'm a legislator i'm not a broker dealer, but what i do know is you have to unwind the balance sheet, and now is a good time to do it. >> let's turn back to where we sort of began, that is the departure of you, mr. chairman, and an awful lot of other senior gop members of the house, including quite a few committee chairmen why have so many of you decided to leave right now >> well, tyler, i'm not sure a better question is why did you stay so long i mean, i had only intended on being here maybe three to five terms. i personally believe in kind of the jeffersonian model of the citizen legislator i did not intend to do this for the rest of my life. it's been a great privilege to do it. >> but washington sucks you in, doesn't it >> well, it does and every time you turn around, you know, you're tempted by

another office and another gavel to make your mark. and you know, ever since i sat down and read friedman's capitalism and freedom, i have been committed to this cause it's been a wonderful opportunity. as you know, i am term limited as chairman of the house financial services committee so there's a number of reasons to go home, not the least of which is i got two teenagers left in the northwest. i would kind of like to spend the last few years with them, but a term limit also has a wonderful way of focusing your attention. but listen, there are great people to follow me, as chairman of the house financial services committee, but most importantly, we have important business to do you know, banking deregulation bill we have a bsa-aml relief bill, data security, and i have not given up on housing finance reform, gse reform it's going to be a bit of a stretch to get there, but it's not as long of odds as it used to be. a lot of important work still to be done. that's what i'm focused on

>> thank you for your time today. we look forward to seeing you a couple more times before you head off >> glad to come back >> thank you shopping for retail stocks the number one analyst in the sector joins us to talk macy's, big beat, and the names that should be in your portfolio right now. lots more "power lunch" still ahead. this is a diamond you can follow from mine to finger, and trust it never fell into the wrong hands. this is a shipment transferred two hundred times, transparently tracked from port to port. this is the ibm blockchain, built for smarter business. built to run on the ibm cloud. we cut the price of trades to give investors even more value. and at $4.95, you can trade with a clear advantage. fidelity, where smarter investors will always be.

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shares of macy's jumping today after fourth quarter earnings and sales beat estimates. is the stock a buy in its continued recovery or is it too late to get in matt is the number one ranked retail analyst by institutional invest investors. got a neutral rating on macy's and the $24 price target great to vuyorb neutral ratings right now. what is missing from the picture that would push you to an overweight >> the answer is sustained positive same-store sales. the fourth quarter was the first positive comp from macy's ipnearly two years they made nice strides, and they talked a lot about some of the merchandising initiatives. over the course of this year, they're rolling out a number of initiatives that are related to their investor growth strategy but we're still somewhat in early innings of this. they made a number of new hires, a new president, new head of digital. and so i think it remains to be seen if they can claw back some of the market share that over

the last two years they have given up to amazon and the off-price sector >> when it comes to backstage, the ceo of macy's indicated there could be an expansion of that backstage initiative. that's actually increased the ticket price for the shopper is that -- does that match up with what you're seeing, and are you as optimistic about backstage as he is >> i think what you're seeing is value is king. value and convenience are the two things winning in retail the off-price sector has shown that over the last couple years. you have seen improving same-store sales at burlington, as well as ross stores, tj maxx outpacing the department stores for the last couple years. the backstage concept i think makes a lot of sense they're seeing nigh results in the test stores so far they're rolling it out to 100 more over the next year. so i do think the idea of expanding the value, but i think more so the unknown here is the simplification of price. that's what the new head of marketing is working on over the next year. trying to limit the promotional

activity, focus more on the fashion, focus on macy's as a destination and what they have that's different and i think that will be really the key here in attracting back that customer and driving the foot traffic that, again, over the last couple years has faded away from macy's, but also the department store sector. >> you hit the key words what's the future of the department store that we grew up with or that i grew up with? most of them aren't here anymore. >> right, i think the future of the mall is tied to the future of the department store. i think a lot of the c & d centers that have existed for the last decade, we're seeing the consolidation. i think it's healthy i think the a and b centers for fine the department store sector will exist. you saw substantial consolidation over the last two years. i think you'll see now a paring back of the portfolio as leases expire, and i think what the department stores need to do is

focus on their strengths and what they can win at as opposed to being good at a number of different categories, they need to find out where they can be the best that's the focus of a strategy like backstage where can we win on price, where can we be that value king with real brand names that's how their -- to me, how they're going to fight back against the off price sector where the prices are 20% to 40% lower. that's how they're going to match the online sector or the convenience where you don't need to leave your home >> and last question, matt macy's gain, was that at somebody's expense >> you know what i think in the fourth quarter, you saw a rising tide. i think the consumer is very strong out there i think the retail sector, it makes sense to have exposure we like kohl's and the department stores, lululemon in athletic i think value remains strong i think dollar tree is a multi-year winner. pvh is the way to play the global brands. there's opportunities in retail. overall, holiday was strong.

i think this momentum has remained january and into february the question remains over the course of 2018, what does the consumer picture look like by subsector? but i don't think it's as much of a share gain as it is right now a little bit down session lows, disney, nike, merck beating. back in two minutes. you know what's awesome? gig-speed internet.

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taime for trading nation let's trade amazon the stock surging 12% since the lows of three weeks ago. let's trade it now with the trading nation team. gina, stock's up 78% in 12 months i understand amazon is a king. it's done great. does it deserve that kind of run? is there still money to be made?

>> obviously, i think stocks in general have had an incredible year amazon in particular, though, keeps rolling out new innovations. i think that's one of the things that's going to keep this going for some time. you look at where they are, up, they started off as just a book seller now they sell everything they went into web services, they just signed a deal with lion's gate. and they're getting into higher and higher margin areas. and i think that's also important. so, i think it's -- don't underestimate the innovation that's happening with an amazon because they're slowly and very surely crushing a lot of their competition. >> yeah, they have crushed everything, including pretty much every chart out there, bill i mean, every time it touches any kind of a moving average, it bounces higher i mean, for years it has done that technically, is there anything that suggests that amazon may slow down at any time? >> i have searched high and low for a reason to not like amazon. and i can't find it. i mean, ultimately, i think this

run here could test $1600. i think that's the next push ultimately, as gina mentioned, it's the innovation. you have the whole foods, you've got the prime memberships, it's all growing. they already own 18% of the share of online grocery shopping that's going to continue online grocery shopping in general is going to continue they redefined the supply chain management and they're going to continue to grow there's upside right now the market itself may see headwinds with rising rates, but amazon is here for the long run. i only think it's only going higher. >> higher and higher and higher. thank you very much. for more trading nation, go to tradingnation.cnbc.com >> announcer: now the latest from tradingnation.cnbc.com and a word from our sponsor. >> a double top is a chart formation that suggests an up-trend may be ending and ready

to reverse sometimes called an "m" formation. a double top consists of two well-defined peaks at approximately the same price they see a low as a bearish signal

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meaning i can do what i need to do, then i can focus on what i want to do. visit learnfuturestoday.com to see what adding futures can do for you. feel that? that's the beat of global markets, the rhythm of the world. but to us, it's the pace of tomorrow. with ingenuity, technologies, and markets expertise we create the possible. and when you do that, you don't chase the pace of tomorrow. you set it. nasdaq. rewrite tomorrow. check please it's been quite a month. there's one trading day left in the month of february. we started off with a major and tumultuous decline after that jobs report came out first half of the month second half of the month, i

think this february 2018 will be remembered as the month volatility came back to the markets. we had virtually -- what happened there there was some volatility with the microphone >> it's fine. >> we went all of last year without many if any 1% moves and swings either way. even today we've gone from way up to down on the dow by about 100 points or thereabouts. >> people who watch volatility say volatility has to remain well above 20. we're at 18, not historically -- >> not that high. >> we have to go back to the february selloff and stay there for this to be convincing. as far as today's session, we're off the session lows in the s&p. bob was talking about the happened-wringing going around, and we're about four basis points from the february high. that makes a big difference on the yields. >> i will see you and call you on that stat here's what's call from our awesome data team back there if the nasdaq finishes the month higher, it has to rise half a

percent tomorrow, if it finishes february higher, it will be the eighth straight month of gains for the nasdaq the longest streak since "kiss from a rose" by seal and "seven" was the hot movie 1995. >> wow >> a long time ago cool stat. thanks for watching "power." ♪ kiss from a rose >> "closing bell" coming up right now. >> sorry to interrupt that seal - >> i think this came out after 1995, though, right? >> this is the "closing bell," everybody. live from the new york stock exchange i'm kelly evans. >> i'm bill griffeth two big stories driving the markets today. first, the future of media, comcast making a $31 billion offer to buy pay tv company sky, that rivals bids from fox and by proxy disney since they want to buy that from fox. >> that's on