that's all ahead on this tuesday, march 6, 2018 "squawk box" starts right now. live from new york where business never sleeps, this is "squawk box. good morning, everybody. welcome back to "squawk box" on cnbc we are live from the nasdaq market site in times square. i'm becky quick along with joe kernen and mike santoli. andrews off today. our guest host this hour is steve grasso great to have you here >> great to be here. >> let's check out the u.s. equity futures it was a strong day for stocks yesterday. the dow was up by 330 points by the end of the day a swing of 500 points that we saw throughout the trading day this morning we are seeing that momentum continue with the dow futures indicated up by 72 points nasdaq futures up by 26. the s&p up by 4 points

overnight in asia, look and you will see the nikkei was up -- it did have a positive day after a while. up by 1.8% the hang seng up by 2% the shanghai up by 1%. in europe, trading is under way, green arrows across the board. the ftse up by close to a percent. stocks in europe up by three quarters of a percent. treasury yields, the yield on the ten-year is sitting at 2.884% >> a lot of dots to connect to go from tariffs to a slowdown in global -- >> to an all-out trade war >> you know, suddenly everything doesn't change suddenly the tax reform, that doesn't get canceled out

i think, you know, we ae leelud it yesterday with cramer will the sun come up tomrow even though we have these potential tariffs? >> it was caterpillar who was the biggest gainer the stocks hit by this were the ones that -- >> maybe instead of tariffs, get a better trade deal. everyone has a negative connotation with tariffs but to joe's point, we had these tax and they have fallen by the wayside. >> both steel and aluminum are important. but to go from putting those tariffs on to really, you know, somehow causing a slowdown in the overall environment that we have been seeing, there's a lot of positive things >> i do agree with what larry kudlow said, it's not the steel tariffs or the aluminum tariffs,

what happens if nafta falls apart. >> that's in the back of everyone's mind. that's why the market went down. is that a leap >> it is a leap to get there what it does do, all the naysayers with trump who said all along, i don't know, he's not a real republican, what about trade? for a year people have been worried, the specter of him doing something with trade it finally came true there he goes. so they're able to say that. >> he is on a counter push now >> paul ryan >> that's when the market started picking up, when paul ryan came out and said this. president trump says right now he's standing firm >> from the market's point o view, when the market had a rally yesterday, when it had a rally in the past couple of weeks, it's because of the removal of a perceived negative. so either that was interest

rates going 3% on the ten-year it was some kind of tariff that over so we're in a big wide range all these multi hundred point down moves, and it's because of where the perception is on the curve of tailwind to headwind. >> if they don't get in the way of themselves, this is almost back to old highs in the s&p feels like the market wants to get back there the market wants to move higher. this is a 10% to 15% tailwind. and people are getting in the way of themselves. >> that's one way to look at it. the other way is we priced in everything good in january now it's a matter of we're looking for the next thing >> if we priced it in we wouldn't have had that pop yesterday. >> we crossed the 2,700 mark in the s&p the last four weeks. this is the biggest bounce we've

had in a couple of weeks >> what was the s&p's gain in january? >> what will i talk about in the market segment we talked through all of this. >> if we ended up 7.5%, it would be called a win. >> you are not cutting into muscle yet >> ouch. did you see that weight lifter's face explode >> oh, stop. >> did you see how much he was lifting? >> every time i say don't tell me, please stop. >> just hold on. >> earmuffs. >> he was lifting 900 pounds lifting 900 pounds face exploded. >> i've seen other things happen with weight lifters. never mind >> some e soiled themselves i do that when something is stuck. that's an age thing. i think kayla might be in -- once again in like one of the greatest places on earth let me first read this

the president's decision to impose steep tariffs on steel. manufacturers are worried about higher costs producers would see the relief kayla tausche is at byer steel in cincinnati, ohio. a company that's cheering the new idea of tariffs. as long as they don't put a tariff on chilli in cincinnati >> exactly i don't think that is being talked about at this point this steel mill has been operational since the 1970s, so a bit before your time, i'm afraid it has been family owned for four generations they produce about 40,000 tons of steel bars every year that they manufacture from recycled train axles. those are used for steel bars in

construction and other purposes. the president and ceo of the company says tariffs would hav an immediate benefit to his business what he witnessed in his business over the last several years is a fact. >> we have been attacked for years now. the conversation is no people are now talking about a trade war, which is quite ironic because we've been in this war for years now and losing it's going to change things immediately for the betterment of this industry byer says over the last three years his margins have been cut by 30%, his work force has gone from 180 people to 95 people his clientele which used to be

wide-ranging in the midwest is regional in the ohio, indiana and kentucky areas and that he would hire those people back and be able to become more of a national seller if the playing field were more level. i asked what would hatch to hppi bottom line if the tariffs went into effect, he said some costs would go up but the bottom line would go from red to black >> wish we knew the future we never know what is negotiation, what's real, what's nafta posturing. fascinating. it's like a soap opera you have wilbur navarro against cohn if you go back and listen to him, for years -- >> the '80s. >> for years he has had this

viewpoint. i don't know do you know what will happen you have the washington chops now. >> yesterday, joe, when sarah sanders was asked whether allies and other people of interest on capitol hill were notified ahead of time about the president's intention to make a decision, she said if people have not been listening to the president for the last several years, that's their fault. this has been something that he has been vocal about, which he has been and so certainly this is top of mind for the president, even though everybody is clamoring to get their hands on the fine print and to create exemptions and calf-outs for different countries. we'll see what decides. if i learned one thing in the last year in washington, every story comes with the caveat that the president is the final decider and nothing is final until he makes the final decision >> that's the bush doctrine. he's a decider

strategery >> decider is a good work r. word >> he was misunderestimated. thank you to kayla tausche did you see supposedly dub wya ing apund sayinground saying i pretty good now, huh >> i'm sure he's joking. >> just plays into the whole caricature better not to say anything >> you say when trump is joking, we shouldn't take it seriously >> people now say -- these are people that used to be republicans, they say -- i read this quote yesterday any republican that doesn't believe trump wants to be president for life is a fool do you -- santoli, you seem reasonable do you think when you say something at the gridiron, do you think if president xi -- that's a good idea, swhwe shoul

try that here. do you think he's trying to be considered president for life? i like conspiracies as much as anyone, but is he willing on taking over -- >> i don't think so. >> he's supposedly a rational person that said this. >> probably lots of presidents might miss some things that are go along with. other presidents might wish they could stay longer. >> you know who was great at every white house correspondents dinner >> who >> the best at telling great jokes. our former president >> president obama >> his timing. he said stuff -- it was funny. things you were saying in jest you couldn't take him seriously. >> like what george bush said was taken in jest. i like pretty good now >> miss me >> let's get back to the markets. joining us is steve parker from jpmorgan bank. joining us as guest host still

is steve grasso. where do you think the markets stand right now and what's happening with trade and beyond? >> to us this is a story all about earnings underneath all of the noise around tariffs and policy, the fundamental story around global growth, the corporate sector here in the u.s. and abroad is strong it's not about this tariff specifically and what it means for the economy. it's not a huge impact but the extrapolatiogoing ouin terms of what will happeas a result back and for at does this mean for us in terms of globalized synchronize economy. >> so you think any wobble is a chance to buy? >> that's what we've did normal pullbacks for the markets. this is normal the fundamental drivers are

still strong recession, which is the thing that gets you nervous about equities, the thing that makes you change your course, we don't see that in the cards over the next two, three years. >> this almost seems like a consensus around the table, is that the consensus on wall street >> it is we saw buying opportunities where people said buy the dip, the dips were fewer and far in between. i'll push this back to steven, what we have seen that's not normal that people are not used to is the vix issue. you have everyone shorting volatility that unwind, whether it was risk parity or cta's, people were not ready for that people have no idea how to explain it when you don't understand something, when you're not ready for it, can't explain it, is that all rolled off? what levels do you watch in the s&p? the truth is it's trigger fufrg

sh functionali functionality. >> are you a trader or an investor if you're a trader, issues like that are important. as investors thinking out over the next three, five years, you have to put aside that short-term noise and go against it when you see dislocations like this, it's an opportunity. we focus more on earnings, valuation, policy sentiment as opposed to the shorter term issues >> we're at the nine-year anniversary of the bull market sounds like you think we'll make it to ten easily >> i think so. this was largely a u.s. story. today that expanded globally we think some of the best opportunities are in places like emerging markets, like europe which are much earlier in their economic and market cycle. >> those markets have started to underperfo as soon as you get volatility in

general into the global capital markets, it seems like outside the u.s. gets hit harder >> a little bi emerging markets have outperformed the u.s. this year. i think if you talked about the fact we would see a huge pick up in volatility, talks about trade wars, protectionism, you wouldi the first thing you want to sell and there's a different story going on, it's about global growth and some secular tailwinds which have been headwinds for the last couple of years. >> thanks for joining us today >> let's talk about some breaking news just hitting the wires. seoul says north korea and south korea have agreed to hold summit talks in late april. the two agreed to establish a hotline between leaders in an attempt to reduce military tensions south korea says the north has shown a clear intent to

denuclearize and will suspend all weapons testing during the talks. hard to even fathom, because we've been told so many times that that's the one thing -- >> they wouldn't -- >> that he wants, to be at the table as a nuclear power there's a picture, not the most flattering picture, of the north korean president on the cover of the "wall street journal." coming up, a newcomer, the infatratio infatuati infatuation, is buyer someone that you have probably heard of before but miss ppronounced business details straight ahd. finally. hey ron! they're finally taking down that schwab billboard.

oh, not so fast, carl. ♪ oh no. schwab, again? index investing for that low? that's three times less than fidelity... ...and four times less than vanguard. what's next, no minimums? ...no minimums. schwab has lowered the cost of investing again. introducing the lowest cost index funds in the industry with no minimums. i bet they're calling about the schwab news. schwab. a modern approach to wealth management. - anncr: as you grow older, -your brain naturally begins to change which may cause trouble with recall. - learning from him is great... when i can keep up! - anncr: thankfully, prevagen helps your brain and improves memory. - dad's got all the answers. - anncr: prevagen is now the number-one-selling brain health supplement in drug stores nationwide. - she outsmarts me every single time. - checkmate! you wanna play again? - anncr: prevagen. healthier brain. better life.

restaurant review site the infatuation announcing it will buy review brandt zagat from google google acquired the company for 1$151 million seven years ago joining us is the cofounder and ceo of the infatuation we have a lot of background, maybe not for everybody but for me to understand things. the way i get it, infatuation, a

lot of millennials have used that rather than zagat you will buy zagat, even though you'll remain separate entities, but there's a lot of crossover between the two that should be good for both entities >> yeah. we hope so we, like you said, we built an audience of largely young people over the years since we started. zagat has been around for 40 years and is still a household name we want to create two brands that can live side by side but serve different purchases. the infatuation has been editorially driven -- >> crowd sourcing? >> no. >> how is it sourced >> we have a small group of editors that dine anonymously and write reviews and guides i'm betting that most of you when you go out to pick a

restaurant, you don't start with who is the best chef i want to go there you start with who will i be with what part of town will i be in what kind of situation am i looking for? then yyou back into the best restaurant that fits those parameters that's how we write our restaurant reviews and guides. zagat is the original user generated content. even back in 1979 when they started, that was their friends writing out paper surveys and being compiled into reviews that were plished in guides we want to keep the infatuation editorially driven, single points of views and guides, but also build zagat into a user generated community platform >> is infatuation everywhere >> no we're moving as quickly as we can, but having a user generated platform will allow us to take zagat, continue to grow

that in markets as well. it should help the company overall grow and should help us reach more people more quickly >> how does gookal st google st involved >> would have to talk to google about that for us, we want a long-term relationship with them ideally continue to incorporate the zagat reviews and guides into their products. we had a great relationship with them thus far and lope that continu hope that continues. >> the zagat books, is that all online now this is the first year they did not print the published guides you can get everything at zagat.com. we would like to get back into printing guides. i think people like that we would love to start that again. >> i will have to look this up can i find a restaurant where i

can get a table near a waiter? >> a table near a waiter >> that's it >> we'll create a category just for you. >> it's a dad joke >> call someone. >> are you the kind of guy that appreciates a good restaurant captain? a host >> i thought there was -- what was that show, "i want to be a millionaire. they said the sommelier will help you with -- i thought it was soup you need a specific person to come by. >> it's a wine >> yeah. it's wine. did you know that? >> i did know that i heard that recently. >> chris, you're a millennial wannabe. >> no. >> i'm gen-x >> you're sneaky, too. >> i'm sneaky? >> i hope so >> the restaurants have no idea.

>> ideally not we come up with creative aliases. >> they go in with their spouse, sit there and pretend -- >> it's important as we create the reviews and guides that we have the same experience that anyone in the street would you have to avoid preferential treatment. if we would go in there and they're waiting, we would have a different perspective. >> it's like grasso going somewhere. the whole staff is there mr. grasso -- >> how is it when you go >> no. >> he gets in there, you're not dick grasso. >> that's right. >> chris, thank you. >> thank you good luck. >> how long will it take to put everything together? >> i hope extremely quickly. >> it's a big step for you

that is iconic >> ient idn't realize it was on 40 years old >> we're excited great brands take a long time to build. it's a huge opportunity for us >> thank you >> thank you let's tell you about some stocks to watch today. nordstrom reject an offer to take the chain private that bid of.4 bi 8.4 billion is% discount to yesterday's closing price. nordstrom formed a special committee to review the offer given the family's 31% stake in the company. the stock trading at $50.78. shares of smurfit kappa is soaring after rejecting an unsolicited takeover offer from international paper.

smurfit is not disclosing the bid, but said it undervalues the company. 3m naming michael roman as the new ceo. he replaces inga thulean who has led 3m since 2012 an is credited with steering the company through a global downturn and back to revenue growth. when we come back, target is expected to report in just the next few minutes we'll bring you those numbers and instant reaction from wall street. then analysis of president trump's trade policy we will talk to wendy cutler she worked as a negotiator for the u.s. on the transpacific partnership. right now as we head to break, a lock at yesterday's s&p 500 winners and losers

big thinking in the finger lakes is pushing the new new york forward. we're the number one dairy and apple producers in the eastern united states supported by innovative packaging that extends the shelf life of foods and infrastructure upgrades that help us share our produce with the world. all across new york state, we're building the new new york. to grow your business with us in new york state, visit esd.ny.gov when it comes to travel, i sweat the details.

late checkout... ...down-alternative pillows... ...and of course, price. tripadvisor helps you book a... ...hotel without breaking a sweat. because we now instantly... ...search over 200 booking sites ...to find you the lowest price... ...on the hotel you want. don't sweat your booking. tripadvisor. the latest reviews. the lowest prices.

sometimes, they just drop in. obvious. cme group can help you navigate risks and capture opportunities. we enable you to reach global markets and drive forward with broader possibilities. cme group - how the world advances. ♪

welcome back you're watching "squawk box" live from the nasdaq market side in times square. good morning u.s. equity futures were up about 50, 60, 70 earlier then it's always not necessarily correct to link it directly to news now up 150 after some comments came out about korea and the peninsula, north korea and south korea. amazing comments that north

korea has expressed a willingness to talk to the united states through south korea on denuclearization. north korea reportedly saying that there's no need to have nuclear weapons if there are no military threats against north korea. as part of an agenda and in talks with the u.s., kim jong-un said they will discuss denuclearization whether that has anything to do with the markets -- >> that's a lot to part. >> this is always hanging over, you know, modern living since the '40s or '50s, it's been the scariest thing climate change and all, but except for climate change, nuclear oblivion has been a little bit more -- >> cyberterrorism. >> that's bad, too

>> there should be another removal of a flegtive negative s the market going >> this is a preliminary report. i wouldn't take this to the bank, but it's better him saying this than something incendiary let's look at shares of retailer target. company just out with earnings the stock is down by 14 cents right now. came in with earnings of $1.37 a share on an adjusted basis the street was at 1.the reet ha before of 1.30 to 1.40 a lot of different numbers they're pointing to in this release including things like a 3.6 comp store sales number for the fourth quarter and things got better in january. comp store sales were up by 4%

traffic for the fourth quarter is up. they talk about fourth quarter comparable digital sales up 29 on top of a 34% gain from last year that yibt contributes 1.8% of comparable growth. trading down about 14 cents now in an up market. courtney reagan has an exclusive interview with brian cornell of target at 2:00 p.m. eastern time on "power lunch." let's get back to the global implications of president trump's proposed tariffs joining us is wendy cutler who is former acting deputy u.s. trade representative thank you for being here today >> good morning. >> we've been talking about what we can extrapolate from what we heard so far it's a lot to take in. the market seems to be trading higher today on the thought that maybe it's not the end of the

world. what do you think about what you've seen so far >> i'm very concerned. i think we're women headed to a trade war. the european union has already clearly said they are going to retaliate against u.s. imports should we go ahead and impose aluminum and steel tariffs and other countries, too, while they have not been so direct, we can expect they will respond as well in kind. >> we're probably not surprised to see some negotiating tactics take place there's been sense from both politicaparties that america's gotten the raw end of the al on many of these trade agreements, and we would like to see renegotiation. where do we cross the line from renegotiation to something that concerns you >> what concerns me now is we have apparently introduced the steel and aluminum issue into the nafta negotiations, and somehow linked the two and said canada and mexico, if you're

more forthcoming on the proposals we want to put forward in nafta maybe we don't need to hit you on the national security grounds. canada and mexico are probably scratching their heads they consider themselves close allies of the united states. they don't understand why they have been named under this national security tariff issue >> when you look at our imports of steel, 16% come from canada 2% from china. people you talk to say china donald trumps the dump their steel into other countries. i can understand why this would come as an additional negotiating tactic

do you think there is something toabout tightening those rules of origin? >> there's something to be said about tightening the rules of origin, but that's on their own merits don't conflate it with national security reasons >> wendy, did you -- were you listening earlier? you're at the asia society i want your comments on what's coming out of the korean peninsula and south korea and north korea. what do you make of that >> i just heard what you just heard about a minute ago i think we all need to take a deep breath and let's see what was said and what this means we've been down this road many times before let's take our time and see what was actually said and what breaks today >> the two sides are going to argue about cause and effect on what's happening here.

just how should we take it if we see someone say, for years we've seen with trade -- we've been -- people walked all over us on trade. north korea, we had no effective way of dealing with north korea for 10, 15, 20 years now you have trump who might be viewed by many as you're not sure what he'll do on any given moment he's taken an offensive posture in terms of north korea, got a lot of criticism from become bella koicose or inflaming the situation. suddenly are they willing to come to the table? is having someone as offensive that way rather than defensive, is it possible it bears fruit, maybe in north korea and maybe with trade down the road let's s . >> let's see what happens. we just concluded the seventh round of the nafta negotiations.

we have been talking to karnd i and mexico it's the new issues, the issues that the trump administration has put on the table where we have not seen breakthroughs. >> what if we did see one? would you say wow, maybe it helps to be unpredictable in negotiations where -- whe the other side is -- if the other side knows for sure there's no teeth in anything we'll do, suddenly they're looking at this guy going we have no idea has this guy might do. i'm just putting it forward. you will see it argued, what brought north korea -- if they are coming to the table, trump supporter also say it eers will treated them in a more aggressive machine manner >> we'll have to see with naft

tach nafta. we're close to the deadline that trump set and it looks like the de deadline will not be met these negotiating may go on throughout the year and into next year. what do you think is wrong with trade, if you could sum it up? is there something that needs to be done on trade that's where you have to decide, does trade need to be reconstructed and rejiggered, or doesn't it >> clearly we need to do more on trade. we need to address the unfair trading practices in other countries in that respect china should be our main target, not our allies on steel and aluminum we should present a united front with our friends and allies of the world and go to china and present a cogent case for opening their market, reforming their market and allowing our companies to compete in that market in the same terms under

which they come pete in our market >> wendy, thank you very much for joining us we appreciate your time. >> thank you coming up, the trade discussion will continue we'll talk to a former u.s. ambassador to mexico, james jones, about nafta negotiations. that's timely given the last conversation. and then kevin brady weighs in on president trump's steel and aluminumariffs later, dallas fed president rob kaplan will join us to talk interest rates, inflation and employment stay tuned, you're watching "squawk box" on cnbc

all right. welcome back time for the executive edge. we will start with the corporate response to president trump's steel and aluminum tariffs ray farreola made the case last night on "mad money" for broadening the case and not

focusing on china specifically >> the reason you cannot only poke us on china is because of the spillover effect china sends product all over the world. they then send it into the united states or the chinese steel so overwhelms the steel industries of other countries that they're forced to send into the united states. >> we will talk more about the tariffs with james jones >> and martin shkreli has been ordered to forfeit 7$7.3 million including his ownership of that wu tang clan album that he bought for himself for $2 million. he'll have to give up $5 million held in a brokerage account. that was from his stake in drug compa company. he also has a painting by picasso. he was found guilty last year of defrauding investors in two

hedge funds, but also raising the drug price of a drug by more than 5,000 percent he will be sentenced on friday >> the first time he sounded remorseful through any of this is in his comments to the judge where he was asking for more leniency >> i think it was like a big number, if they threw the book at him a number that would be like 15 to 20, 5 to 10, but prosecutors are asking for 12 to 18 months or something like that maybe six months ago you could go in cocky. but what would be a long sense for you, santoli >> six hours >> 12 hours? >> way high. >> if it's locked, and you can't -- >> it's locked >> the cell is locked. >> six minutes >> 12 to 18 mont hs yeah. >> i don't know. >> terrible story. >> he's been caught up in this

and hemmed in by it by longer than that already. >> but he's out. >> he's been in. he's been in for some of the time apparently they say he's done well in terms of he's popular. >> oh. >> would you stop? no never mind >> popular -- he's doing well and he's popular in prison that might not -- >> no. that's not -- >> okay. never mind this awkward moment -- >> he's giving advice. >> okay. let's go to break here >> i will get myself out of this. when we come back, new forecasts say oil demand will outpace supply over the next four years we'll talk crude prices and currencies after the break first a quick kek of tcheck of e european markets the dax is up by 1.1%. "squawk box" will be right back.

when this bell rings... ...it starts a chain reaction... ...that's heard throughout the connected business world. at&t network security helps protect business, from the largest financial markets to the smallest transactions, by sensing cyb-attacks in near real time and automatically ploying countermeasures. keeping the world of business connected and protected. that's the power of and.

at crowne plaza, we know business travel isn't just business. there's this. a bit of this. why not? your hotel should make it easy to do all the things you do. which is what we do. crowne plaza. we're all business, mostly.

crowne plaza. i thyou never got the brakes looked at?l... oh yeah. no. 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. oipric have en marching higher with crude posting its best day in nearly a month. right now energy newsmakers are gathered in houston for an annual summit organized by ihs

market and it is -- lest we show you, it is spelled that way cnbc's brian sullivan is there sat down with saudi aramco's ceo. they talked about the company's planned ipo to potential trade wars to the u.s. shale oil. >> in terms of demand, it is healthy. we're looking at 98 or 99 million gallons of demand. we're looking at millions of barrels of demand. with the national decline, i think there is a capacity in terms of supply to include the shale and the growth that we're seeing currently. >> the world is generally

reflating. united states is doing very well saudi is growing is there anything in your projections, sir, that you would see that would imply a slowdown in demand growth in the next couple of years? >> what you are seeing is healthy economic growth globally, healthy demand that we are seeing and forecasting going forward. the economy is doing very well not only in oecd country, in the rest of the world, and with that there will be a healthy demand that is our prediction. >> and be sure to catch more of brian's exclusive interview with the saudi aramco ceo today at 1:00 p.m. eastern right after grasso's show, "halftime report" this is on "power lunch" at 1:00 p.m. >> every day i see the show and i'm on the 5:00 p.m. >> you're on the 5:00 p.m. >> "fast money.."

>> don't play along with this. he does this -- >> let's talk more about -- >> he's having a moment. give him a bayer aspirin somebody give him a baby aspi n aspirin. >> let's talk more. demand strength will continue being driven by petro chemicals. that's the element driving 25%. >> is that an economic proxy, the petro chemicals is the same? it's not -- you don't just separate it out completely from

oil. it's based on a strong global economy, right >> it's ethane, propane. coming through there particularly in the u.s. seeing growth coming through in terms of manufacturingnding out those utilities here and in asia as well. >> nick, one of the worries about tariffs on things like steel and aluminum, they're commodities and we're already in kind of a bull market, aren't we is that a risk at this point >> well, it could definitely be inflationary we're seeing a situation where a lot of commodity prices have gone up and can add to the inflationary impact. what are the central banks going to do? what's that going to do with growth >> it reminds me when interest rates go up, it's good it means that the economy is rolling. if commodities go up, it means there's demand and we're firing on a lot of cylinders. >> yes, typically that's a question of whether those

commodity prices are reflective of underlying supply and demand. some regulatory changes, prices from u.s., some of the international trading partners it's adding on top of that does that change the growth inflation tradeoffs. >> the saudis are still the swing producer or they're competing now in the united states for the title >> saudi is still a swing producer opec in general. that said, as i mentioned that before yesterday, it said that 80% of production growth coming through the next couple of years is going to be coming through the u.s., 10 million barrels a day of production now. expecting it to get to over 12 million barrels as we get into the new decade so that's pretty crazy strong, huh? >> we had been obsessed with supply and whether we turn on or turn off and depending on price, are we back to demand is king atw or not cnghis now. >> in terms of the oil prices?

>> in terms of oil and then also commodities in general. >> i think it's demand driven. not only is the u.s. doing quite well, the tech is going to help. eurozone and china doing quite well overall, the u.s. dollar is under performing that's kind of adding an extra to these commodities. >> the fed can relax on being below the expectations >> i think we'll get -- >> some day they ought to -- >> they will perform and aramco, is that exciting >> it is exciting. >> trump was talking about how great it is to be on the new york stock exchange, right i saw a tweet. >> did you >> yeah. >> all right was that not his tweet was that a fake? >> i'm not sure that it's going to be -- >> on the new york stock exchange yeah >> yeah, we don't know thank you. so many donald trump tweets. >> i think he may have wanted that to be they haven't decided he did send a tweet saying he'd like to see it

anyway, guys, thank you for coming in. steve, thank you for being with us for the hour. >> thank you i grew up in the projects and so home ownership was not an option for us. i am taking the steps to own a home because i want my children to know it's all so that they can have a better life. oh my gosh. this is amazing. we're so much closer to home ownership.

this is amazing. but through goodt times and bad at t. rowe price we've helped our investors stay confident for over 80 years. call us or your advisor. t. rowe price. invest with confidence.

wall street pointing to a higher open as fears ease over an all out trade war why the president says he won't back down and what that means for ongoing trade talks and american steel companies. an eye on target the retailer's results are out we will talk retail and results straight ahead and getting fresh. what mcdonald's just did that's beefing up the burger battle as the second hour of "squawk box" begins right now. ♪ ♪ live from the beating heart

of business, new york city this is "squawk box. good morning, everybody. welcome back 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 sitting in for andrew this morning, mike santoli u.s. equie they have been actually picking up ite a t of steam today we talked about how we were up 75 points at 6:00 a.m., then we heard some news out of south korea that north korea may be willing to come to the negotiating table. not only that, they may be willing to put the nuclear program on hold and maybe even give it up at some point obviously a lot needs to be done to look into these headlines, but that initial news was enough to really boost the futures this morning. dow futures now up to close to 50 points above fair value s&p up by 10 and nasdaq up by 36 target earnings falling a penny short of estimates the revenue and the comp store

sales beat the street. the current quarter guidance brackets the street's consensus. the stock is down by 3.5%. we'll dig through some of these things mike, trying to read through what happens with these situations not incredibly disappointing news but not much up side. >> you see the stock up$20 fro 55 to $75. i think the fact that target reaffirmed fiscal year guidance as opposed to raising it potentially, maybe people are taking it as a negative given they said january was so strong. overall -- >> they talked about comp store sales for january being up 4%. that was better than earlier in the quarter. as you mentioned, not raising guidance. >> there is a theme that a lot of stores said january was good. >> courtney ragan has an exclusive interview with target's ceo brian cornell on our wall street agenda, january factory orders are out at 10:00 eastern time today. several fed officials are also speaking today with the new york

fed president bill dudley, brainerd and kaplan. steve liesman is going to be sitting down for a cnbc exclusive with rob kaplan. that's coming up at 8:00 a.m oil prices are marching higher with crude posting the best day in months the prices, wti up by about 38 cents to $62.95. just below $63 make sure you catch more of brian sullivan's exclusive interview with the saudi aramco ceo today on cnbc at 1:00. president trump says he's not backing down on his threat to slap new tariffs on imported steel and alumin president trump getting push back from fellow republicans fearful that the move could make consumer goods that use metals more expensive >> paul ryan wants you to back down on trade. paul ryan says he's worried about a trade war. are you going to back down on the tariffs? >> no, we're not backing down.

mexico is -- we've had a very bad deal with mexico, very bad deal with nafta. our factories have left our country. our jobs have left our country for many years nafta's been a disaster we are renegotiating nafta as i said i would if we don't make a deal, we'll terminate nafta. but if i do make a deal, which is fair to the workers and the american people, that would be, i would imagine, one of the points that we'll negotiate, it will be tariffs on steel for canada and for mexico. so we'll see what happens, but right now 100%, but it could be a part of nafta. >> deidre bosa is in hamilton, ontario and we start with eamon javers what have you got for us some of the networks went nuts with nunberg anything there do you think? >> reporter: you know, it's

really hard to separate the wheat from the chaffe in that sam nunberg interviews he was an early trump aide and later had falling out. says he's not a fan of donald trump now but he's not going to cooperate with the special counsel. got a subpoena that he waived around on television yesterday, said he wasn't going to turn over his e-mails and he was going to defy the special counsel. we'll see where that goes. you know, a couple of things that he said got a lot of people's attention he said he thought the president might have done something during the campaign just had a very difficult day personally >> then he went on a plane and took all of his clothes off. they had to land the -- no, actually, that was a different story. that was a different story but he -- i wouldn't have been surprised after -- no. so we -- >> yeah, he was asked -- he was actually asked if he was drunk or on drugs, right. >> i know.

>> because he was behaving so oddly. he said, no, i'm not on anything except my meds. >> antidepressants. >> he had antidepressants he was taking >> was he in a position to know if there was any -- >> i don't think so. i think he left too early. he said things like i believe the president knew about the donald trump jr. meeting with the russians in trump tower, but he's also said i don't know that i think that because that's the way things were going. it's hard to tell what he knows versuswhat he thinks he knows. >> so what were you planning -- were you going to talk about that, eamon? >> i was not goingo lk about that i was going to talk about the tariffs. >> okay. >> reporter: the sound bite you played from the president saying he's not going to back down. let me tell you what's going on behind the scenes inside the white house. there are rumors of competing events being set up in the white house for later on in the week one event would be a possible

signing ceremony for the tariffs, as early as friday, which would involve some ceos. the other event would be an event featuring ceos and executives who don't benefit both sides are sort of organizing their competing events and competing to disorganize the other side's events it's not clear where that's going to land and where the white house staff is going to come out on that the president was saying he's not going to back down this is what he's not going to back down to this is the statement from paul ryan's office, the speaker of the house, putting out pointed criticism of the president's position on tariffs saying we are extremely worried about the consequences of a trade war and are urging the white house to not advance with this plan the new tax reform law has boosted the economy. we certainly don't want to jeopardize these gains the president himself, as you said, doubling down saying that the united states has been taken advantage of by friends and allies as well as political enemies around the world and issuing another threat take a listen to what he said.

>> we can't do business in there. they don't allow it. they have trade barriers that are worse than tariffs they also have tariffs, by the way, but they have trade barriers far worse than tariffs. and if they want to do something, we'll just tax their cars that they send in here like water. so we may have friends, but remember this, we lost over the last number of years $800 billion a year >> reporter: so, guys, i want to highlight that sentence that the president just said. he said, we'll just tax their cars that they send over here like water that matches with some of other rumors that we've been hearing, that the president is considering a tax on european cars imported to the united states as an additional round of tariffs. i'm told that they are considering a number of options at the white house for additional tariffs and trade barriers it's not clear which are going to win out in this chaotic internal process that they have over there and what might be formally announced versus what's just on the drawing board right

now. that is one that we have heard might be under discussion and now we hear the president talking about it publicly so it may be that that's very much on his mind as well, guys. >> yeah. eamon, this is kind of parsing things i was in the newsroom yesterday when we started hearing the president said, no, he was not backing down, and he was asked a question that was very directly and specifically about tariffs i just heard that clip for the first time and his response to it >> reporter: yeah. >> that may have been the question that was shouted at him in the midst of all of those other questions that were being shouted at him, but what i heard him respond to was an answer on nafta and other negotiations. >> reporter: right. >> so that's not necessarily one and the same i've been under a different impression hearing the reports of this saying we asked him about paul ryan's statement and he directly shot that down to me that was -- this was more of a, no, i'm not backing down on wanting to get fair trade deals and fair negotiations. it didn't necessarily -- it wasn't necessarily i'm not

backing down about these particular tariffs. >> reporter: i think you hit the nuance exactly right, becky. he was asked about paul ryan and then that long digression afterwards he talked about nafta being a disastrous deal for the united states. he's also said that ultimately these tariffs are not coming off unless we get a good deal in nafta. that is, he might roll these tariffs for mexico andad anyway into the nafta negotiations and maybe provide some exemptions for them if he likes the rest of the nafta deal the white house has been at pains to suggest there are no exemptions for any country, friend, ally, neighbor or anything but the president in that sound bite and some of the other comments we've had from him seems to suggest well maybe there could be some exemptions here worked in if he likes what he gets in nafta. >> what i heard in that answer actually hearing it on camera rather than an interpretation of it combined with the tweet that he put out yesterday morning about this time where he said stand in less all of these ideas

are met, it feels like there's room for negotiation. >> reporter: it absolutely feels like it's a negotiation. it's not clear where it will land i can tell you gary cohn and the globalist contingent for lack of a better word in the white house are trying to finesse this and come up with a way to minimize what they see as the negative impact of it you have peter navarro and the nationalist contention trying to make sure this is locked down and solid. the president is sort of in between those two camps and it's not clear where he's going to land. >> can you ask around, eamon, while you're at it, you're there, can you ask about this april summit in korea? do you believe some of those comments that was deep, wasn't it did you see those? >> reporter: i did not, no. >> at this point south korea is saying north korea will hold a summit and talk about the nuclear relations. >> reporter: right. >> and talking with the united states if the regime were confident that it could -- that it was

safe, then it wouldn't need nuclear -- wouldn't need to be a nuclear country. i wonder if we really believe that. >> i feel more confident with the understanding of what's going to happen withhese tariffs. >> yeah, right. >> reporter: the president saturday night at the gridiron dinner, this is a traditional washington roast dinner. supposed to be very funny, ha, ha joking speech that you make as a president he did that but he also said the north koreans had called up a couple of days ago and wanted to talk he told them, you have to denuke if you denuke, we can talk we'll see what happens that famous trump phrase the president left open the idea that he's negotiating now with the north koreans behind the scenes about denuclearizing. it's not clear where that's going to go. i don't know if he intentionally made news on that or just kind of decided in the moment to let everybody know the president's been talking about that since the weekend. >> okay. i'm going to use denuke. >> denuke. >> the other one --

>> don't want to say nuclear. >> reporter: no you don't. nuclearization. >> all of the syllables. >> it's early in the morning. >> we've talked so long it's not quite as early as it was. >> reporter: happy to be here. >> thanks, eamon. >> right now let's get to deidra bosa who's in hamilton, ontario. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, guys. that issue of exemption which you were talking about with eamon, that is what everyone is talking about and waiting to hear more details here here in hamilton, ontario, the stakes could not be higher than here this is known as canada steel tap. the city's chamber of commerce says the tariffs represent a worst case he scenario and could impact as many as 40,000 jobs here they along with steel and aluminum executives around the country as well as politicians at the local and national level are all mobilizing they're lobbying to receive an

exemption. reportedly last night prime minister trudeau called president trump to forcefully defend canadian steel and aluminum workers and the industry now there's a twist. this is what you guys were talking about. president trump suggesting that canada could possibly win an exemption if it plays ball on nafta and agrees to american terms. canada, though, wants to keep these two issues, nafta and the steel and aluminum tariffs separate while they're threatening retaliation which would spark a bigger trade war if they do go into place and canada is not exempt all of this uncertaintis playing out in hamil ontario, at steel mills. we spoke to executives and they said the whole industry is worried and waiting for more details. have a listen. >> the trade is imbalanced we ship $6 billion there, we receive 6 billion, it works. it's actually a great trade. so we're hoping that's the case. we'll find out this week, i

hope >> reporter: and that's what everyone is saying they hope they'll find out this week, but because of the close cross border ties between canada and the united states, that sentiment is shared not just here but with a lot of -- among a lot of voices within trump's own administration guys >> all right this is a story that just keeps on giving, deidre. it's perfect for so many different facets and it's exactly, i think, what cnbc was really created for thank you. here we go we're going to continue. trade war worries eased a little bit late yesterday the dow gaining 336 points up another 150 this morning joining us david bianyo, chief investment strategist for the deutsch. so bianco, i hammered you about the 2650 target that you raised it and then the market went there. you were right you should have stuck with that

target, right? >> that's very kind of you, yes. our target forgt end of this year is what >> 2750. >> which it has been for many, many months. >> it's right there. >> in terms -- >> then you need to worry about in an ee boe ebolient market whh we've seen, you were right to be cautious let's be ready for something that happened like in february so i'm trying to say something nice. >> i'm speechless. >> ikillinme it's killing me. >> i think, you know, we try to be tactical from time to time around the market, but the big picture is still intact. we see several years of what's likely to be good economic growth and continued up side. >> your year end target, still not much happening between now and the end of the year. right? what is that, 2%. >> what are you going to prod him into -- >> he's at 2%. that's all we get between now and december is 2% >> i would tell you that there

probably is some up side to our earnings estimates and as long as interest rates don't jump from here, there's room for pe expansion. >> what's jump is that above 3.2% >> we're very comfortable with an 18 trailing pe providing it doesn't go above 3.5%. there's not a hard breaking point. don't forget, there's a pe which is connected to interest rates, and then there's the earnings. you'll have to keep an eye on what the earnings are doing. right this moment i think investors are feeling more calm about the risk of a trade war. they've seen the message, becky, i think you nailed it on the head president trump's not going to back down but president trump does negotiate i think that's what we're all beginning to realize, this is somewhat connected to nafta and ongoing trade negotiations a lot of these negotiation agreements do need to be revisited but hopefully in a constructive way for growth. >> can we go above 27 poi50. >> 2% is not tactically bullish.

you're not selling -- >> we believe the next move on the s&p is more likely to be up 5% plus than down 5% plus. >> all right well, that's more than 2%. >> yes so we do believe the s&p can be above our 2750 targets probably this spring and we'll keep an eye -- >> a weird target. >> targeting for the year -- >> kind of le a valuation. >> it's our fair valuation. >> fair value for what the s&p is worth. >> i hope you're going to tell us something, rob, because i'm -- no. that's good. let's talk underlying economy. are we at 2.5 right now? can we count on that >> the underlying gdp looks solid. >> what about the trade war? >> if there's a true trade war, that's a problem we're talking about tariffs. everybody gets worked up when you put a tariff here and there. tariffs are taxes. in the same sense we don't panic

when a state changes its retail sales tax, we shouldn't panic necessarily over tariffs if it keeps going up you have retaliation, shooting trade war on your hands, that's going to be very negative for both -- it's less than a tenth on gdp growth it's a tiny rounding error in inflation. it's simply too small, part of the aggregate economy. we still think we're shooting for 3% 2.9% for 2018. q1 is a weak quarter again we're tracking 1.6 that doesn't change though our 2.9 for the end of this year we think we see a lot of rotation into investments and ongoing energy story and always the households are there for us. >> go ahead. >> what are the stakes for friday's jobs at this point? in terms of are we going to see the eye catching wage gain

>> i don't think so. i think the eye catching wage gain we saw in last month's report was more or less an error by sick days and snow days in the month. you take out hours worked and you get the same pay it looks like a big bump in salary i think wages go back to normal. that said, we've got a lot of activity coming on board this year we see wages finally breaking out of that 2.5% range that they've sat in for five years and creeping up to that momentous 3% by the end of this year. >> i was going to ask you, you know, if fed ever got its way with inflation and it hit its goal of 2% -- >> yeah. >> -- should we hope for that or does that give them leeway to go up four or five times in terms of raising it? you get what you want, i'm not sure it's really great that they finally get it. >> there's always that aspect. there's always the risk that the fed over reacts to something we don't think so here we've got a forecast of four rate hikes we think the fed will show four

rate hike dots at the march meeting. i don't think that's anything to be scared of or worried about. i don't think they're in a position where they're starting to think of a pace faster than 4. easy enough. >> rob, thank you. >> david, you should have stuck with that 2650, you would have nailed it. i talked you out of it. >> 2750 for the end of this year. >> don't listen to him. >>on't listen to me. coming up, tariff turmoil putting pressure on nafta talks for trade representative robert leightheiser we'll run through the numbers and talk to joe feldman. you're watching "squawk box" on cnbc what are the ingredients of a life well lived? is it the places you go? the things you own? or the people that fill it with meaning? for 150 years, generations of families

have chosen pacific life for retirement and life insurance solutions. protecting what's most important to you. that's the power of pacific. ask a financial advisor about pacific life.

you know what's not awesome? gig-speed internet. when only certain people can get it. let's fix that.

let's give this guy gig- really? and these kids, and these guys, him, ah. oh hello. that lady, these houses! yes, yes and yes. and don't forget about them. uh huh, sure. still yes! xfinity delivers gig speed to more homes than anyone. now you can get it, too. welcome to the party. welcome back, everybody. president trump's announcement of tariffs oeel and aluminum is complicating nafta negotiatns here is u.s. trade representative robert lighthizer. >> as president trump has said, we hope for a successful completion of these talks and we would prefer a three way agreement. if that proves impossible, we are prepared to move on a

bilateral agreement. >> joining us is james jones he helped lead the effort to pass and implement nafta while serving as president clinton's u.s. ambassador to mexico. thank you for being here there is so much that we're trying to dig through and parse with all of this you just heard what robert lighthizer had to say. what was your interpretation of reading between the lines on this >> well, i don't have an interpretation i'm not a psychiatrist and we elected a tv -- reality tv star so that's the kind of program that's going on. in the final analysis we've got to have anagreement because it's more than just a trade agreement. it is a binding agreement for all the three countries, not only in economics, in national security, in trade all these kinds of things so it is a big deal for the united states and we have to have an agreement. i think ultimately we will >> what do you think the

sticking points are? we've heard so many things, maybe rules of origin where things are sourced originally is one of the biggest issues right now. >> well, i think that there's a number of issu and there seems to be some movement on those issues the rules of origin on automobiles. there seems to be some movement on that. there's sticking points on labor position in mexico particularly. so there's a lot of things that are hanging out there but the big factor is when you're in a negotiation you mentally prepare yourself to want to get a deal and i don't see that that -- at least on the u.s. part that mental preparedness to get a deal is there yet. on canada and mexico it is, and i think that they have some flexibility but in terms of the united states, i just cannot figure out where we are. >> well, i would say that's

definitely the difference this go around is the mental preparedness may be the willingness to walk away that's certainly what's been telegraphed to this point. >> right. >> i guess, again, you come down to it there's a lot of moving pieces what do you think about the idea of bilateral agreements, first between us and canada and a separate agreement between us and mexico what would happen under that scenario >> well, it's possible i don't think that's the best deal because what we're looking at -- one of the values of nafta is it takes north america, which is the most resource abundant region in the entire world, and if we can work more as an economic unit, we can be the dominant economic factor and national security factor in the whole world for years to come. and so that's -- that is a value of nafta if we do two bilaterals, they're going to be less potent in terms of what our region can offer to

the leadership of the world. >> ambassador jones, thank you for your time this morning >> thank you. when we come back, target shares under some pressure after the company's latest results and the guanhathidce tt e company has issued right now down by 3.5%. "squawk box" will be right back. 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 without distraction, hidden agenda or competing interests, something wonderful can happen. they might just get what they want out of life, and maybe even more. he gets the be deal ony the peect hotel by usird... tripadvisor! that's because tripadvisor lets you start your trip on the right foot... by comparing prices from over 200 booking sites to find the right hotel for you at the lowest price.

saving you up to 30%! you'll be bathing in savings! tripadvisor. check the latest reviews and lowest prices.

♪ ♪ good morning, everybody. welcome back to "squawk box" here on cnbc we are live from the nasdaq market site in times square. among the stories this morning, seoul says that north and south korea have agreed to hold summit talks in late april. the two have also agreed to establish talks between leaders to try to reduce military tensions south korea says that the north has shown clear intent to denuclearize those are their words on this. they say they'll cease all weapons testing during those talks. we're watching the markets the futures picked up pretty substantially.

we were up 75 points for the dow futures and now it's up to 124 points s&p futures up by 8 points and the nasdaq indicated to open up by about 31 points we are also watching a major energy summit in houston this week one of the most pressing subjects is what impact looming tariffs and trade tensions could have on the industry here and around the world brian sullivan sat down with the ceo of saudi aramco. >> would issues of tariffs change your economical cue lus about whether or not aramco would want to expand or invest more in the united states? >> at this stage, no we do have plans for expansions in the u.s we are planning to proceed with the side of the investment for our refineries

we are talking about an pansioprram that hopefully is proceeding very well. >> so does aramco plan to add more jobs in the united states in the next couple of years? >> definitely with the expansion program we are looking at that right now. and if everything can materialize as expected in terms of what we are planning, it will add jobs for sure. >> don't miss more of brian's exclusive interview on "power lunch" coming up at 1:00 p.m. eastern time. right now let's get back to retail and talk more about target courtney ragan is standing by at target's headquarters. courtney, that stock under some pressure after the earnings today. >> reporter: hi. good morning, becky. that's right target turning in a mixed quarter for the holiday quarter. shares are under pressure down 3.5% at least in the early going. target missing analyst estimates by a penny when we're talking about profit revenue slightly better than expected

comps much better than expected. target says wage increases was part of the drag on earnings and digital fulfillment costs pulled down margins the guidance for the current quarter is a bit weaker than consensus. target has a recent history of guiding pretty wide and ultimately conservatively. comparable sales of 3.6% for the holiday quarter though was stronger than expected november and december we knew had grown 3.4% january actually topping that with comps up 4% so the strongest month of the three. digital comp sales up 29%. online sales made up more than 8% of target's total sales so that does skew higher during the holidays, but it's also higher than last year now comp growth was split in half between brick and mortar scores and online. that is an improvement from last year when actually what happened in the stores proved to be more than a 3% drag on the overall comp traffic was nice and strong in the stores as well at more than

3% for the holiday quarter here we are today in minneapolis where target will speak to the investor community about its three year, $7 billion investment plan. give us an update on its strategy we knew that 2017 was the investment year. they had said that 2018 was the transition year. we'll see where that all stands. and we'll also sit down with target ceo brian cornell in an exclusive interview live on "power lunch" after the meeting concludes. so there's a lot to talk about here in minneapolis. for now, becky, joe, andrew, back over to you guys. >> courtney, thank you very much we will be watching that interview later today. joining us for now is joe feldman. he's on "squawk news line. joe, what gives? why are target shares under pressure >> i think everybody was pretty pleased with the sales number but they didn't do a little bit better on eps as courtney just said they tend to give wide guidance ranges and guide somewhat

conservatively i think people thought they could hit the high end of that eps range. they continue to invest in the business they had put a stake in the ground and said they're going to raise wages for their employees. as you remember, they raised everybody to $11 they're going to 15 by 2020 for an hourly rate and that definitely weighed on them in the quarter. higher compensation costs really was one of the drags on the quarter, plus with that strong comp you would have thought they would have gotten a little bit of leverage. i think that's why there's a little frustration today. >> joe, what about on the ecommerce side the over all levels look good. there's some thought that target's approach has the risk of stopping traffic and it's gumming things up. how do you think it's going right now? >> they've been doing a much better job on the digital side obviously with the 29% increase. very good results. the newer format of the stores which they showed off to the analyst community last night really emphasized how they can

do and leverage digital, you know, with buy online, pickup at store, ship from store, technology within the store to help make purchasing more easy and i think that that's really where they're headed with this it's like everybody else, like walmart, like home depot, like everybody in retail, they're working to make it more seamless for the customer and that's definitely on display in their stores, especially in newer ones. >> joe, if you were looking for any weakness, this is a pretty big selloff considering that they missed by a penny what's really coming into play here is this the same thing we saw on the street where it was real concern about what walmart has to say >> i think you have a situation where target's doing a lot of investing in the business. they're revamping their stores they want to remodel the stores by 2020. they're going to give the analyst community an update today at 10:30 with their

analyst meeting and i think there's some concern that there's a lot of expense related to this and, yes, you may get the comp line as we saw this quarter but will we see that flow through to the bottom line. while earnings work pretty good this quarter, i think the concern is that they could have been better. that's really where we're at the merging of digital and physical and making the store experience better, merchandising experience comes with expense. >> very quickly. they say expenses were way too high margins were terrible. what do you say about that >> you have very good top line and be you could argue with that gross margin coming a little soft, they mention it was promotional and pricing. was it somewhat degrading? yes, it was. >> thank you for your time we appreciate it. sure thank you. when we return, ushoe ways and means chairman kevin brady is our guest "squawk box" will be right back.

flexshares etfs are built around the way investors think. with objectives like building capital for the future, managing portfolio risk and liquidity and generating income. that's real f novation flexshar. buil investors,nd for investors.generating income. before investing consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. go to flexshares.com for a prospectus containing this information. read it carefully. at crowne plaza, we know business travel isn't just business. there's this. a bit of this. why not? your hotel should make it easy to do all the things you do. which is what we do. crowne plaza. we're all business, mostly.

>> bipartisan delegation the nafta negotiating. i haven't seen you in a while, chairman remember when i called you the north star >> it's happening. >>. >> they're waiting for it. on capitol hill. it is all set to go.

>> they liked the bill >> the job has been paid >> they built it. >> paul ryan has weighed in and a lot of republicans have weighed in you know, the president in terms of the tax bill, no one thought -- they thought 27 was going to be where it is so he seemed a little bit -- i'm not going to say unstable, but when he takes these positions that raise some eyebrows, look what happened in korea today. i mean, is there a chance that this is a negotiating tactic on

tariffs as well that ends up when it's all said and done where there was a method to the madness or is it a mistake >> look, this may well be a negotiating approach what i know is this. he's right to go after unfairly traded steel and aluminum. it is a problem. it costs jobs. he ought to be standing up for manufacturing workers. the problem, of course, is if you have blanket tariffs, you get in steel and aluminum. then it backfires. i know, we all know he cares about u.s. manufacturing workers perhaps above all else and so, look, i think the trick here is to tailor this action so it goes after the unfairly trade steel aluminum doesn't cost us jobs or customers like in canada, mexico, and around the world and so, look, that's why we're staying in the game.

>> chairman brady, be more specific with that how would you tailor these tariffs to make sure it hurts the bad guys and helps the good guys in terms of trading partners >> the good news is there are good, smart ways to do this. one is exempt fairly traded steel and aluminum we know generally where that's at and -- >> are you talking about canada? >> secondly, grandfather existing projects already underway have an exemption -- an exclusion process so businesses can come make the case, look, the country 234 austria like the navasota plant that sends from corpus christi to nova scotia, that's fairly traded, it creates multiple jobs here in america, let companies make that case there are some good, smart ways the president can, really, strengthen his hand. >> mr. chairman, very quickly,

there's been so much made and so many people trying to weigh where the president stands on this issue each of their own believes on this they're not down the question is very specific about tariffs. your conversations does it seem likely that the president might consider some of these exemptions and carve outs that you just discussed >> this isn't about backing down, this is about hitting your target in this case the president wants to go after unfairly traded products he's right there the other thing is i really think coming back from the seventh negotiating round in nafta, i was encouraged by what i saw. look, they made real progress on not just the nuts and bolts of good trade agreement but they're getting close on some major

economic wins certainly for the u.s. but more importantly for canada, mexico together, for us to be far more competitive as the gifts to the chinas of the world. i don't know that this is anymore incentive for canada, mexico to stay at the table with what i left with was an overriding impression that everyone wants a modern nafta and they're staying at the table to do it. >> where are you now on that is it -- is it more likely than not that we stay in some new nafta or revised nafta do you say that the -- >> oh, yeah. i don't think there's any question >> more likely >> oh, yeah. >> so is it -- >> the stakesare so high here, joe, economically this works we do need a modern one. again, i think there's big economic wins all across the board here, and what i'm seeing is a serious discussion of how we get there have been involved in 12 free trade agreements in one way or

another. the tough stuff always waits until the end. these are tough negotiating tactics through the process, so i haven't seen anything here that doesn't tell me i think we're heading to a good, positive conclusion. >> all right we've got to go unfortunately. so you think the tax reform and then i asked another question. so tax reform in the mid terms is going to end up being a positive and help republicans? >> yeah. >> in a big way, yes, sir. >> all right mr. chairman, figured you'd say that anyway -- >> thanks, joe >> all right want to see you again -- i want to see you again so don't be a stranger. >> yes, sir. >> what doesn't kill you makes you stronger you've heard that, right >> count me in >> he's great. >> he's the north star of tax reform >> when we come back, dallas fed president robert kaplan in the cnbc exclusive interview, plus the burger battle heating up what mcdonald's is doing to stay t ge. "squawk box" will be right back.

i know when i hand them the keys to their first car it's gonna be scary. but i also know that we're gonna have usaa insurance for both my boys. it's something that they're not even gonna have to think of. it's just gonna be in the family. we're the tenneys and we're usaa members for life. gglobal bonds, and high-dividend strategies. sure, these are investments. but they're not what people really invest in. what people really iesin, ishat they hope to get out of life. but helping them get there takes a pure focus. because when you invest their money without distraction, hidden agenda or competing interests,

something wonderful can happen. they might just get what they want out of life, and maybe even more.

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. coming up, the burger battle mcdonald's is looking to beef up

sales this spring. kate, she's like, oh, my god hi, kate. >> hi, joe. >> how are you good to see you. >> reporter: it's good to see you, too mcdonald's is no longer testing esefbe it's making it a priority this year we'll tell you more after the break on "squawk box." d to the . and the international brotherhood of electrical workers helped make that happen. the ibew's outstanding union professionals have the skills and training to get the job done right. that's good for our customers and for our bottom line. ibew members are our power professionals. they should be yours as well. that's it. i'm calling kohler about their walk-in bath. nah. not gonna happen. my name is ken. how may i help you? hi, i'caing about kohler's walk-in bath. excellent! happy help. huh? hold one moment please... [ finger snaps ] hmm.

the kohler walk-in bath features an extra-wide opening and a low step-in at three inches, which is 25 to 60% lower than some leading competitors. the bath fills and drains quickly, while the heated seat soothes your back, neck and shoulders. kohler is an expert in bathing, so you can count on a deep soaking experience. are you seeing this? the kohler walk-in bath comes with fully adjustable hydrotherapy jets and our exclusive bubblemassage. everything is installed in as little as a day by a kohler-certified installer. and it's made by kohler- america's leading plumbing brand. we need this bath. yes. yes you do. a kohler walk-in bath provides independence with peace of mind. call for a free kohler nightlight toilet seat with consultation or visit kohlerwalkinbath.com for more info.

you know what's not awesome? gig-speed internet. when onlcertain people can get it. let's fix that. let's give this guy gig- really? and these kids, and these guys, him, ah. oh hello. that lady, these houses! yes, yes and yes. and don't forget about them. uh huh, sure. still yes! xfinity delivers gig speed to more homes than anyone. now you can get it, too. welcome to the party. welcome back, everybody. the burger battles are heating up with mcdonald's making a bigger push into the fresh beef space. kate rogers got a look.

>> reporter: hi, becky mcdonalds said they would be maki making fresh beef a promise. they're making 100% fresh beef quarter pounders they're prepared hot on the grill right when customers place an order they'll be in nationwide circulation by may and what's more, they actually cook faster than mcdonald's frozen burgers. >> it's going to be about half the cook time so that's part of the secret of what we're trying to do here is how do you make sure we don't impact service times but as we elevate the food and the faster cook time was part of that. >> reporter: the company isn't making any changes with the burger recipes the non-frozen offerings, they're a part of their new better mcdonald's. that's the evolution they say this is the biggest change for the company since introducing all day breakfast. the burger competition as we know is happening nationwide

shake shack offers it delivered fresh. burger king has the whopper. wendy's came after mcdonald's because their beef is never frozen sonic rolled out a new mushroom beef burger. mcdonald's has to challenge all of these other players and the space is more and more competitive, but i did try the burger it's not available in this area yet but, guys, it was really, really good. >> kate, i was reading about not vicariously but reading about the oscar party, dom perrignon and in and out burgers. >> sounds like a good party. >> those are fresh, too. mcdonald's makes a lot of sense. could you tell the difference? >> reporter: i mean, i hadn't necessarily eaten one of their frozen offerings very recently so it wasn't like there was a taste comparison it was very, very good tasted very fresh.

i think it makes a big difference for sure. >> kate, thank you. >> reporter: thank you guys. >> good to see you. when we come back, dallas fed president robert cap lain and later -- >> goal! we'll be right back. whoooo. when it comes to travel, i sweat the details. late checkout... ...down-alternative pillows... ...and of course, price. tripadvisor helps you book a... ...hotel without breaking a sweat. because we now instantly... ...search over 200 booking sites ...to find you the lowest price... ...on the hotel you want. don't sweat your booking. tripadvisor. the latest reviews the lowest prices.

stocks jump and north and south korea agree hold summit talks. cnbc exclusive dallas fed rob kaplan, the rate hike time line and trade war worries. plus, you know his voice. >> score >> andres kantor brings us the play by play with the world cup just 100 days away final hour of "squawk box" kicks off right now. ♪ ♪ live from the most powerful city in the world, this is "squawk box." >> good morning. welcome back to "squawk box" on

cnbc live from the nasdaq market site in times square. a goal ever is scored you should say it like that, right? take advantage of it >> i was wondering what the limit is >> i'm joe kernen. i love soccer. andrew is off. the futures indicated up right now 132 on the dow up about 9 on the s&p and the nasdaq indicated up 36 treasury yields going up again today. i don't know what causes what to go up but market goes down, it seems like yields moderate when the stock market goes up, people feel a little bit better and the yields go up

a lot happening on the political front. >> in fact, president trump tweeting the new fake news narrative is that there is chaos in the white house, he writes wrong. people will always come and go and i want strong dialogue before making a final decision i still have some people that i want to change, foreshadowing. always seeking perfection, but there is no chaos, only great energy >> and i wonder if he'll tweet about this >> i'd like to see it. >> new this morning, seoul says that north and south korea have agreed to hold a summit in late april. the two sides have also agreed to establish a hotline between the actual leaders to reduce military tensions. we know on the dmz there's that phone that wasn't getting answered for a while >> yeah. >> south korea says the north has shown a clear intent to denuke to denuke. and during the summit will

suspend all weapons testing during the talks and there were even more details to this that if the regime supposedly in north korea felt that it wasn't being threatened, according to them, they see no need to have nukes. >> right >> which i have -- >> i've never seen them say that. >> i've always thought the rationale is that's their guarantee -- >> who knows what their definition is of as long as we're no longer threatened. >> exactly. >> who knows what the terms really are. >> for a long time part of the -- they have been suggesting is they don't want to see these joint military exercises between the united states and south korea. you do wonder what's on the table with this. as eamon pointed out -- >> something the u.s. would never agree to. >> as eamon pointed out, president trump was making comments at the gridiron dinner leaving the door open. negotiations could be taking place. >> denuking is part of it. >> take a look at shares on target back to business news. they are under some pressure

the company earning $1.37 sharet the stet was expecting revenue coming in at $22.8 billion. when you look at the comps the comp store sales for the fourth quarter came in at numbers for 3.6% they said for the month of january the comp store sales were 4% so it showed some improvement in the month they also talked about how digital sales contributed to over half of the overall fourth quarter comp sales growth with digital comps up 29% for the quarter. the retailer is guiding for the current quarter between 1.25 and 1.45 on eps. the street is at the high end of that at 1.40 bracketing analyst consensus the first quarter and full year comps are guided to low single digits you can see the stock is down 3.7% they were raising concerns about the margins. also making the point that this is the real conundrum that you see on wall street right now

analysts, the street wants to see additional sales online, that that's a huge measure of success, but you have to remember with online sales get compressed so it's a double-edged sword that the street is still trying to figure out what exactly they'd like to see. courtney ragan has an exclusive interview coming up with target ceo brian cornell on at 2:00 p.m. eastern time on "power lunch." ceos at the geneva auto show speaking out about president trump's proposed tariffs on aluminum, steel, and potentially european car imports here's what fiat chrysler sergio marchione told cnbc earlier today. >> we're not playing tit-for-tat. now i'm suggesting that we stop playing tit-for-tat, that we get our blood pressure to be back down to normal and we sit down at the table and find a way to resolve this issue i don't think we have to escalate this into a full blown trade war.

i think it's unwise for everybody. >> and as you may have heard by now, president trump tweeted over the weekend if the eu wants to further increase their already massive tariffs and barriers on u.s. companies doing business there, we will simply apply a tax on their cars, which freely pour into the u.s they make it impossible for our cars and more to sell there. big trade imbalance. the trade chiefs were considering whether or not to impose a 25% tax on u.s. impos. >> joe, you ask and the you said you'd like to see him weigh in on what's happening with north and south korea president trump, 38 seconds ago, just tweeted a link to the drudge report story saying kim jong-un with seoul envoy first time since taking power. president trump tweeted a link to that and said, we will see what happens >> exclamation point

>> one company though is cheering the idea of a new tariff kayla tausche joins us from beyers steel what part of cincinnati? is there a name for the tulo call there, kayla? >> reporter: we are northeast of downtown, a little bit north of the zoo, joe, for those of you who are familiar with the cincinnati layout. this is not the only company that is cheering tariffs you have the breakdown in the steel industry where you have companies that are producing the raw material and then companies that are using the raw material to make products who worry that their costs will go up beyers steel sits somewhere in the middle they recycle scraps of metal, like old train axle, to make rebar to the tune of some 40,000 tons a year. they're having to sell those bars for lower prices because of cheap competition coming in from over seas.

that's why burt beyer, the ceo, supports the tariffs he says it's not about the president himself, it's about his business he would rehire the 90 some people he had to layoff in the last three years, that his margins would increase again after falling by 1/3 and that his bottom line would go to the black from being in the red. but, of course, not all businesses would benefit the european union has suggested it would retaliate against harley-davidson by levying its own tariff against harley. harley put out a statement that that sort of activity would have a significant impact on our sales, our dealers, their suppliers and our customers in the market we asked beyer about the various forms of retaliation or unintended consequences that this might have on other industries he said getting the steel industry back to full employment would ultimately have ancillary benefit too. >> you want to talk about harley-davidsons give any one of my great

teammates a few more bucks and they'll buy all that you're buying. >> reporter: he said it's child's play to worry about some $3 billion in products that get exported to europe when gdp is in the order of tens of trillions. certainly those companies would argue differently, but that is the debate that we're having in this country right now guys. >> okay, kayla thank you. let's get to houston steve liesman joins us right now and he has a very special guest. steve, good morning. >> good morning, becky you know, i'd like to say i'm good, but really i'm lucky we're here with robert kaplan, the dallas fed chairman who sits on top of the region here that is the number one exporting state and mexico is the number one trading partner. >> right. >> thanks for joining us. >> great to be here. >> so let's talk about this whole discussion of tariffs and nafta that's going on right now. what is your opinion of the idea of putting steel and aluminum tariffs on countries like canada and mexico

>> well, the main thing i'd point out is our trading relationship with mexico and canada is critical to u.s. competitiveness and u.s. jobs. so i don't want to jump to what might actually happen, what might be implemented, but i would -- i would say it might be wise just to wait a little bit and see how this unfolds i'm concerned we're in the middle of a trade negotiation with both countries. this could have some chilling effect but it's so clearly in the interest of the united states to have strong trading relationships with both of those countries i'd be optimistic about how this actually gets implemented. >> the president sees trade deficits with mexico and the united states as a negative or with canada and the united states as a negative being on the border with mexico, is that a negative for the texas economy, that we have this trade deficit with mexico? >> yeah, so, by the way, if you include services, for example, we run a trade surplus with canada, so you have to look at both i would say our analysis shows

that the trading relationships with mexico and canada are actually primarily intermediate good relationships as opposed to final goods. what does that mean? these are goods that are going back and forth across the border which are part of logistics and supply chain arrangements with u.s. companies that make us more competitive, allow us to add u.s. jobs. if we didn't have those arrangements, we would likely lose jobs, probably to asia. and so it's not enough to add a job in the united states, it's he got to be globally competitive or the job won't sustain. those trading relationships allow us to do that. >> a lot of moving parts in the economy. we had a major tax cut passed. since you've had a chance to update your forecast formally. >> right. >> the threat of tariffs which could be a negative. better economic growth, better global growth. how do you put that all into the pot and give me your sense of economic growth in the united states right now >> so the trade discussion at this point probably won't change my economic forecast because as i've said, let's see what's

actually implemented it may be different than is being discussed right now. on the tax legislation, what i've also said, is it has caused us to markup our 2018 growth forecast and for '19 and '20 to a lesser extent. my concern is this. there are elements of this recent legislation that will improve sustainable growth in the united states but the elements of the recent bill and also this budget agreement, actually i'm concerned will actually turn out to be a stimulus funded by increasing the debt which will give us a bump in '18, less so in '19 and '20 and we'll return back down to trend growth except we're going to be highly leveraged i think that leverage at the government level and the future path of debt could become a headwind for economic growth in the united states. it certainly makes us a lot more interest rate sensitive which is a vulnerability we're creating. >> are you surprised by what's happening with the yields or is it along the lines of how you thought the ten year or the

longer term rates might have reacted given what the fed is doing in the short end >> well, part of the yield increase might be stronger economic growth. part of the yield increase -- my concern would be part of the yield increase may be the prospect of greater u.s. supply that has to get sold in the years ahead. >> right. >> that would be more ominous reason for the increase in yields and so my concern is when you add aging demographics, slowing work force growth, sluggish productivity and now a third issue which is the future path of government debt, i'm worried that that's a very bad combination for future growth in the u.s. economy >> i need to bring it back for investors who are trading today, tomorrow, next week and six months and talk about the path of rates here. when you talk about more growth in 2018 because of the tax cuts, what does that do to your preferred path or optimal path when it comes to monetary policy, which is a long way of aski three or four this year

>> so my base case, as you've heard me say, hasn't changed it's three for this year i think we should get started sooner rather than later though and we'll see as the year unfolds whether the base case should stay at 3 or it should be something more, something less but for now i'd say three and i think we should get started soon. >> what would be the thing that would bring over the top, is it the inflation rate is it the growth rate? is it the unemployment rate? is it the thing that says we're behind the curveball or -- >> the thing i'm particularly sensitive to, we think the unemployment rate is going to get into the 3s during 2018. i.e.,, below 4%. so we are either at or beyond full employment right now. i think on the bright side, it means more people will have jobs it should lead to some wage pressure, but the thing i'll be watching is the history of over shooting full employment in the united states and having a soft

landing, it's not a long history. the history is -- >> non-existent history. >> right that will give us the best chance to extend this longer. >> thank you for joining us. >> tossing back to joe at headquarters in englewood cliffs. >> all right, steve. thank you. appreciate that. what saudi aramco ceo told cnbc about the long awaited ipo. we'll hear from him next later, we're just 100 days away from the world cup tournament. and andres kantor joins us on set. stay tuned, you're watching squawk booooox on cnbc squawk booooox on cnbc goaaaaal and i was wondering if your brokerage offers some sort of guarantee?

guarantee? where we can get our fees and commissions back if we're not happy. so can you offer me what schwab is offering? what's with all the questions? ask your broker if they're offering $4.95 online equity trades and a satisfaction guarantee. if you don't like their answer, ask again at schwab. your insurance on time. tap one little bumper, and up go your rates. what good is having insurance if you get punished for using it? news flash: nobody's perfect. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise your rates due to your first accident. switch and you could save $782 on home and auto insurance. call for a free quote today. liberty stands with you™ liberty mutual insurance.

welcome back to "squawk box," everybody. cnbc's brian sullivan sat down with saudi arabia's aramco ceo. >> is there any chance the ipo does not happen? >> as i say with regard to -- so far we are working to join with

aramco aramco became effective january 2013 so all the signal that this thing is going and -- but ultimately it's a shareholder decision but all their signals in terms of changes by the government to prepare aramco for a listing is done. >> make sure you catch more of brian's exclusive interview with the saudi aramco ceo coming up today at 1:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnbc. coming up, we'll talk to the man behind the legendary call whenever a goal is lucky enough to be scored in soccer andres kantor will join us on set. then later don't miss the ceo of chevron and bp starting at 3:00 p.m. eastern time. we'll be right back. i think we should do that meeting tomorrow. well wait. what did you think about her? it's definitely a new idea,

but there's no business track record. well, have you seen her work? no. is it good? good? at cognizant, we're helping today's leading banks make better lending decisions with new sources of data- so, multiply that by her followers, speaking engagements, work experience... credit history. that more accurately assess a business' chances of success. this is a good investment. she's a good investment. get ready, because we're helping leading companies see it- and see it through-with digital.

welcome back to "squawk box. there's the futures this morning solidly in the green after a big gain yesterday, which was a little bit surprising because we were down for most of the morning. opened up a little bit higher. accelerated. up 400 points at one time closing at 330 another 140 today. the s&p indicated up about 9

the nasdaq indicated up 35 and the olympics are barely over we're already counting down to the other major worldwide sporting event of the year we're officially just 100 days away from the start of the world cup. joining us telemundo chief soccer commentator andres kantor >>reat t here.you on. >> we need to get updated on all the most important things. we'll talk world cup in a second first, when was the operation on niemar. >> last saturday he's going to make the world cup. we all hope he's going to make the world cup. we will know in about six weeks how he is. he will stay in brazil during the rehab and brazil hopes to have him because he's obviously one of the stars of that team. >> and his -- it was -- is the word -- the word is it was the worst injury than initially thought. it was a metatarsal? >> yeah, he thought he sprained his ankle. it was just an injury by himself. he twisted the ankle on the

pitch. then when they did the x-rays and stuff they found that he broke his fifth metatarsal they put a screw on it during the operation. it came out good so we will see. hopefully he will make it just in time but he will be there. >> well known that the u.s. did not make it. >> yes. >> and i know that's unfortunate and it would be nice to have the united states because, you know, it would be great to have fans in the united states as excited about it as the rest of the world but the world cup has been going on for a long time, has it not? >> the world cup is the greatest sporting event in the world. >> it will be fine without the united states. the united states, it didn't matter if we were there half the time or not? >> that's true lately there is a lot of cult following. there is a lot of people that follow low soccer on a weekly basis, the hispanics go crazy every four years during the world cup. >> they have other teams to follow. >> it's disappointing here though because viewership and

interest has been building and building. >> sure. >> this was a bit of a setback >> the world cup, i'm not going to underplay the fact -- >> not to world cup but to soccer interest in the united states. >> the soccer afficionado is going to watch. >> is italy a big loss >> italy was a bigblow obviously, but for us who live here, the u.s. national team not making it, we're not used to not seeing the u.s. in world cup but we will see great stars like reinaldo, messi, it will be a great world cup nonetheless. >> looking at the favorites here, germany, brazil, france, spain. >> argentina. >> is there a team -- >> argentina next, yes is there a team that you would particularly keep an eye on that would urprise? >> i don't think there will be any surprises. i think the title contenders are those that we just mentioned i think most of the star players for those teams are playing great. messi is having one of his best seasons at barcelona

hopefully he will have a great world cup. >> every single game th in spanish >> the olympics was a great event. compared to telemundo. the world cup. >> appreciate it it's great you know what, you're lucky though it's the same word, goal >> but, still, anyways, it's

that >> did they do it for you. >> oh, my god. >> did you say squawk. >> squawk. >> thank you >> we'll be right back today, innovation in the finger lakes is helping build the new new york. once home to the world's image center, new york state is now a leader in optics, photonics and imaging. fueled by strong university partnerships, providing the world's best talent. and supported with workforce development to create even more opportunities. all across new york state, we're building the new new york. to grow your business with us in new york state, visit esd.ny.gov.

he gets the best deal on the perfect hotel by using.e, tripadvisor! that's because tripadvisor lets you start your trip on the right foot... by comparing prices from over 200 booking sites to find the right hotel for you at the lowest price. saving you up to 30%! you'll be bathing in savings! tripadvisor. check the latest reviews and lowest prices.

♪ ♪ i see. not really -- good morning welcome back to "squawk box" here on cnbc live from the nasdaq market site in times square i'm joe kernen along with becky quick and mike santoli nordstrom is rejecting an offer to take the department store

private. the bid of $8.4 million or $50 per share is a 2% discount from yesterday's closing price. they have formed a special committee to refuse the offer given the family's 31% stake it already has in the company reports say the group is working on a new offer seoul says that north and south korea have agreed to hold summit talks in late april the two countries have also agreed to establish a hotline between the leaders to reduce military tensions. south korea says that the north has shown clear intent to denuclearize and will suspend all weapons testing during these talks. we have heard from president trump this morning weighing in via tweet. he responded to a link to the story on the drudge reportbo the very things we've just been tellingou the present said, we will see what happens and harley-davidson says that retaliatory tariffs by other countries onits motorcycles would have, in its words, a significant impact on

the company's sales. this statement comes after the european commission's president said the eu would impose tariffs on harley's motor bikes if president trump implements steel and aluminum tariffs president trump just tweeting, he's been tweeting this morning, lowest rated oscars in history problem is, we don't have any stars anymore, except your president. and then of course in parentheses just kidding of course, but we know in every guest there's -- you might think that >> do you think he thinks that's why? he could have said other reasons perhaps. >> that would have been -- >> it was kind of a low -- it wasn't a lot of -- i think they're slowly but surely learning their lesson a little bit. you have jlaw learned her lesson she was ranting and raving and said, wait a minute. my parents are in kentucky and hate everything i'm saying

i've got 50% of the country might not agree with what i say but i want them to come to my -- it's like, duh duh. you want everyone to come to your movies, right it's not the smartest thing in the world -- >> i'm more focused on the fact that the president chose not to cite that as the reason. >> right right. canada awaiting more details about president trump's aluminum and steel tariffs. ontario is the home to the country's two biggest steel producers and that's where we find our deidre bosa good morning again. >> reporter: good morning again, becky. this is really the heart of canadian steel, which is on edge right now. they're awaiting more details like everyone else, and the big question is whether or not canada will be exempt. now this plant in hamilton, ontario, nova steel processes coils for auto parts in this room alone there's about 5,000 tons of steel. that's enough for auto parts for about 5,000 vehicles

exutives at this company tell us that they're already nervous about the effect tariffs might have on them. >> might be a short-term win for american steel but then it's going to decimate the downstream manufacturers that the steel industry depends on. >> reporter: guys, so here's where it stands right now. canadian steel and aluminum executives as well as politicians at both the local and national level are mobilizing they're lobbying for an exemption for canada remember that these are two of the most interconnected economies in the world they depend a lot on trade from each other executives argue that the steel trade is very balanced president trump for his part has suggested that canada could win an exemption if it plays ball on nafta and agrees to american terms. canadian politicians for their part want to keep the issues

separate on a phone call last night prime minister trudeau spoke with president trump and said that tariffs would not be helpful to nafta negotiations back to you. thank you very much, deidre. all the major players in the oil industry are gathered in houston for the energy conference there. joining us from that conference is dan jurgen. he's vice chairman of ihs market dan, thanks for being with us today. >> sure. >> you know, we've been watching oil prices very closely, and maybe the biggest trend to those who have beewatchi frothe market perspective is the push high jer we' seen for prices what do you think is happening is that a demand picture because of the strong economy around the globe? is that a supply issue >> well, i think the number one issue is the strength of demand and that's driven by the strength of the global economy i think that's really what put the platform under oil prices. it's very striking that this

year demand will grow about 60% higher than it did in 2014, which is, of course, when oil prices collapsed >> we have also been trying to focus greatly on what's been happening with trade, tariffs, all of these issues, and while it may seem like it's a side issue for an energy conference, it is going to be front and center for you all too the difference between nafta and -- >> absolutely. >> that's something that's playing right there. tell us a little bit about that. >> well, yesterday towards the end of the day was all about trade, nafta, also about tariffs. nafta's very important because by far mexico is the largest market for u.s. natural gas and, of course, canada, the united states, and mexico are so integrated so nafta was there we had the mexican finance minister on the panel with the ceos of dow and abb, and then of course the tariffs the tariffs are quite significant because there's a

lot of grades of steel that the oil industry needs for drilling and also, by the way, that's required for pipe lines that's simply not made in the united states and so it was a -- both a shock but also a wait and see and let's see what this tariff really is. a lot of concern about trade and so trade is really a big issue here at cera week. >> i know you have another energy panel with secretary perry and his counterparts from canada and mexico. what's the consensus between the three? is there agreement on what should or shouldn't be happening with nafta >> i think they're very much emphasizing the integration of the three markets and how interconnected they are and how important that is to all three countries. i think there's a certain kind of carefulness of speaking about these issues, but for a state like texas, which i think is the largest exporting state in the united states, the market in mexico is very important and the

supply chains between these three countries are so integrated as things move back and forth across the border that there's a real concern about disrupting that. so i think governor perry was -- secretary perry, governor perry of texas, he's very aware of it, as are the other ministers, about how much these three countries are tied together by energy. >> dan, how much focus at the conference is there going to be on the long-term fate of this industry, both because of what technology is doing, in terms of supply and bringing prices maybe into a new lower range and also, of course, the run for alternatives >> well, i think in a sense last year there's a lot of talk about what was called peak demand. this year there's a fair amount to talk about transition, energy transition, but a very wise disagreement as to what it means, you know, in terms of looking out 20 or 30 years on friday we'll be doing a session on trying to look at the industry out a couple of decades, but i think that on the

one hand you see the strong demand, growth around the world. on the other hand, discussion about electric cars. we have an electric formula ecar here that -- and a lot on technology one of the other striking things for me is how much emphasis there is on innovation here, whether you're talking about conventional oil and gas, whether you're talking about alternatives, batteries, new things i think in a sense the future is more wide open than it might have appeared a couple of years ago. >> all right dan, i want to thank you for obviously we'll watching for more out of conference. all right. airlines are apparently not struggling to gain altitude with consumers despite a few missteps phil lebeau joins us now i have a question foryou at the end, phil, an important one, but tell us what -- so, actually, people -- people love to hate airlines so it's not as bad as what -- >> yeah. yeah it's like complaining about your taxes. people love to bitch about the

airlines just because they can, and i do believe that because i hear that on a regular basis when i'm flying, when i'm walking around people know that i cover the airlines you know what i don't like, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah the points guy puts together on a regular basis a number of factors, ten different areas he says, look, if you look at the airlines objectively, they are doing better there are fewer lost bags, strong on time rates not the best ever, but very high there's also been a drop in customer complaints at really all airlines, including united which has been a punching bag. >> even united, their customer complaints dropped by 17% last year so when you look at it from a data perspective, airlines are actually performing better than they were in the past. >> so what are the top three airlines according to the points guy? alaska is number one in part because they've expanded their route network with the acquisition of virgin america. southwest and then delta and then who comes in towards the

bottom this shouldn't be a surprise because we have reported on these airlines with the exception of hawaiian struggling spirit and jetblue hawaiian at the bottom might surprise people because they're always at the top when it comes to on time performance when it comes to the points guy, they have a limited route network. that is one of the things if you look at themverall, th's one of the things that holds back hawaiian interesting report, joe. strictly from the perspective that you always hear people complain about airlines. the fact of the matter is, in many ways they are doing better. >> here's my question, phil. you know, because of where i live, newark's a hub, it was continent tall, now it's united. i've been very loyal to that airline. and even my credit card, everything gets put through there for frequent flyer miles >> right. >> are my frequent flyer miles worth anything anymore i've got a lot of them i try to use them. you know what i hear any upgrades that you try to get, those are reserved for

revenue feeds. how about if i use the miles to buy the ticket no, nub of those seats are available. everything is a revenue seat now. >> joe, while i am not a representative for certain airlines, i know you and i have talked in the past about some of those airlines here's the bottom line when it comes to using frequent flyer miles. you have got to earn them every single year so it doesn't matter if you are a million miler if you stop flying on a pretty frequent basis and you are not accumulating those miles year after year, it's going to be tough for you to use frequent flyer miles. >> when can you use them >> all the miles you have done -- >> phil, what can i use them for? what can i use them for? >> what do you -- >> to get an upgrade let's say i want an upgrade. >> joe, that comes down to how much did you fly this year if you come into this year and you've got 10,000 miles and you go in and you say, in the past i've flown 850,000 miles, you know what they would say well, that's great for the past. we want to know what you've done

in the last 12 months. >> i don't know if that's it. >> what have you done for me lately >> i have pleasanty of miles but none of the seats are available. they're trying to sell the seats in the front of the plane for full boat and they aren't giving -- the miles are useless. the miles aren't worth anything anymore. >> well, i don't know what to tell you i'd have to know your specific situation. again, i don't work for these airlines, but i'm telling you -- >> it's not about you. >> we're proving your point. everybody has a story. >> yeah, i know. >> you're right. >> i'm a coach traveler, i guess. that's just my lot in life >> yeah. it might be good for you. >> probably it would anyway, all right, phil. i'm not blaming you. i'm not blaming you. i miss gordon. i'll say that much yeah yeah phil, thank you. up next, a new study out about equality and women in the workplace. what it found might surprise you. we'll bring you those results.

well, it's earnings season once again. >>yeah. lot of tech companies are reporting today. and, how's it looking? >>i don't know. there's so many opinions out there, it's hard to make sense of it all. well, victor, do you have something for him? >>check this out. td ameritrade aggregates thousands of earnings estimates into a single data point. that way you can keep your eyes on the big picture. >>huh. feel better? >>much better. yeah, me too. wow, you really did a number on this thing. >>sorry about that. that's alright. i got a box of 'em. thousands of opinions. one estimate. the earnings tool from td ameritrade.

international women's day is this week, and ahead of that two new surveys out taking a look at misperceptions in pay in the leadership gap julia boorstin joins us.

she has more on this story julia, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, becky misperceptions about the gender gap are massive according to a new survey by the organizers of international women's day that survey just out this morning finds that sexual harassment is still seen as the top issue facing women though people under estimate its prevalence and half still believe that reports of sexual harassment are ignored. the survey finding that nearly half of the people think that equality between men and women will be achieved in their lifetime people in the united states predicting equal pay by 2028 though at the current pace of change the pay gap won't actually close for another 31 years after that survey responders believe that nearly 1/5 of the world's top 500 companies have female ceos while in reality the actual figure is just 3%. another survey is out today with recommendations on what policies can close the gap in the workplace. accenture finds that companies that are transparent about

policiesgoals, statistics are lily to achieve workplace equality much faster there's one surprise there just improving maternity leave can hold women back in their careers but encouraging men to take leave improves women's advancement. women are more likely to advance if they're involved with a woman's network. interestingly over 80% of the respondents say their companies don't have them. abilities to help them should actually benefit everyone, not just women guys, back over to you. >> julia, thanks. when we return, jim cramer is going to join us live from the new york stock exchange. we'll get his take on the top stories. here are the futures right now up sharply not the highs of the pre-market session but up 130 we'll be right back.

♪ we're drowning in information. where, in all of this, is the stuff that matters? the stakes are so high, your finances, your future. how do you solve this? you don't. you partner with a firm that advises governments and the fortune 500, and, can deliver insight person to person, on what matters to you. morgan stanley. weeds. nature's boomerang. at roundup®, we know they keep coming back. you never invited this stubborn little rascal to your patio. so, draw the line. one spray of roundup® max control 365 kills to the root and keeps weeds away for up to 12 months. because patios should be for cooking out and kicking back. draw the line with roundup®.

trusted for over forty years. ♪ ♪ at the marine mammal center, the environment is everything. we want to do our very best for each and every animal, and we want to operate a sustainable facility. and pg&e has been a partner helping us to achieve that. we've helped the marine mammal center go solar, install electric vehicle charging stations, and become more energy efficient. pg&e has allowed us to be the most sustainable organization we can be. any time you help a customer, it's a really good feeling. it's especially so when it's a customer that's doing such good and important work for the environment.

together, we're building a better california. jim cramer is joining us now. yesterday i said the sun will come up tomorrow i said that yesterday but the sun came up yesterday. >> yeah, yeah, it turns out that the economy strong, there is a lot of reason to own stocks. these people have been worried

about trade, i guess they'll be worried of the 10-yr on friday can we find out what to worry on tuesday of next week remember we were worrying of nuclear destruction. if we can figure it out, what to worry about we can make sound inve investing. >> what did you get out last night that resonated with you? the whole idea is so one sided at this point. it is almost dogma that it is going to be bad. >> 750 million tons over production of china. what happens is they dumped it everywhere except for the united states and our trading partners dumping it in in our country china got most favorite nation status going on for ages and we are not allowed to criticize them we have to be able to sell

we got to sell pampers, man. you know all the steel guys, we are going to teach them how to write codes for google and intelligence for facebook. we'll take them to the at-home program where we'ldo it online >> let me ask you and this is going to require complete conjecture of the opposing side would probably object. do you think china is pressuring north korea, do you think we are bearing it >> no. are the chinese our friend our than trades? >> i remember they did not seem

to be in our team and i just think that we pressure and that's what happens. we are a powerful nation but most people think that we are not. we can determine a lot of things but people don't think we are. i wonder why people don't think we are not we made a decision that we'll sell stuff to china. that's just a way we'll let it be a profit decision rather than a working decision >> right >> that's kind of what's at stakes here. >> it is interesting korea news, i hope it comes to something >> do you think that maybe trump had something to do with it or mostly a decision by the chinese to crack down because we ask them to. >> i am afraid to say it because of trump >> did you say that? that's it, you are done. i am going right on twitter right now, i am going to be 47

different people and i am going to make you -- you refuse to recognize that this is all about selling. to me it is about selling almond milk milk supply is no good >> with twitter, i blocked so many people that it is only rare that one flips through and i block it quickly >> will they target economists, that industry. imagine if they target the economist industry, would that be something be shaken like all the otherl workers have their jobs taken away >> i want to try to get home quickly because i want to see "squawk on the street. >> don't forget. we got all the master programs online computer sciences, online. everyone is going to code for facebook, it is going to be

fabulous >> we don't know if those are the only jobs that we'll have left >> why not >> they can take the online course >> real quickly, target, what do you think? >> i think it is good. >> all right, jim, we'll see you in a few minutes on "squawk on the street" later. target shares are on the move. don't miss brian cornell will be live on "lunch on the street" on cnbc, we'll be right back.

a few years ago, me and my wife was actually saving for a house. but one day we're sitting there and we decided that, something needed to be done about what was going on in our inner-city. instead of buying a house, we decided to form this youth league. these kids mean everything to me and i just want to make sure i give something positive to do. ♪ ♪ wow, that's amazing. that's a blessing right there. to know that someone out there cares and is passionate about what we're trying to do in our communities. you excited? yes. yeah, we're gonna to look good right? yup. awesome. alright come on, bring it in man. love these guys right here.

alright come on, bring it in man. wow! record time.s. at cognizant, we're helping today's leading life sciences companies go beyond developing prescriptions to offering subscriptions with personalized, real-time advice for life-long, healthy living. honey? you almost done? nope. get ready, because we're helping leading companies see it- and see it through-with digital.

all right, welcome back everybody, amazon is expanding its two hours delivery service that service is free for prime members on orders more than $35. it is been available for about a month in austin and dallas, virginia beach customers will be able to order beer and wine in san francisco >> a final check, we have been in the positive all morning. right now it looks like the s&p would open up by 6.5 and nasdaq

by 30 points 10-yr is sitting at 2.844% >> nothing at all. >> not even a half percent >> it is like a 500 points swing yesterday. all right, thanks mike >> make sure you join us tomorrow safe flight back to chicago. "squawk on the street" is next good tuesday morning, welcome to "squawk on the street," i am carl quintanilla and david faber and jim cramer with the new york stock exchange >> now, this news that north korea told the south it is interested with direct talks in the u.s. in potentially denuclearization we begin with the market moving on with good news out of