good morning it's 10:00 a.m. at south by southwest at austin, texas it's 11:00 a.m. on wall street and "squawk alley" is live ♪ busy, busy morning a lot of big stories on tap.

we'll start with the markets nasdaq hits another record high today. apple, amazon, netflix gets all time highs netflix has come off that. we're joined by the chief investment strategist jim paulsen today and portfolio manager dan morgan good to you have both. dan, even in the face of some markets indices falling off the initial highs, the dow is a good example here now down 90, it's been hard to knock tech off this pedestal what's going on? >> there's been a lot of good news on tech a recent statistic came out, $21 billion went into the spider etf tech securities. so that's a huge positive. you obviously had good earnings that rotated out of the fourth quarter. they've been invested to upgrade

the it infrastructure. i think you have a lot of really good things going on in tech what i'm encouraged by is what's going on in the stocks with the chip stocks in terms of the new highs. they're hitting the chip sector in terms of profit growth is up 48% in the fourth quarter. so that's kind of the plankton of the technology sector if they're doing good, you expect the whole sector to do well >> jim, i'm looking at the othe names that are hitting all time highs. it seems like pretty much across the board all of tech along with the nasdaq doing pretty well here what if any potholes are there potentially ahead? none of this trade stuff seems to have really hit them. >> no. they do hit the sweet spot we're shifting the economy being led from consumption to being led to business spending and probably sits in the sweet spot

for technology in general. they got unbelievable price momentum and a lot of approaches are based on that momentum my concern, john, is i still think we're more in a range this year than going back up for good and as we go back up close to the highs of january here, i would probably be peeling away a little bit from some of the most popular areas like technology and consumer discretionary in favor of the out of favor defensive stocks i think there might be a better buying opportunity from lower levels, maybe back challenging the lower lows we had in february sometime later this year and inflation and tightening have gone away i still think the problem is momentum to the upside is going to be tech if the market cracks again, i think you're not going to want to be as heavily invested as most are >> jim brings up that inflation

word we sort of got a little relief or at least not further fear from what we saw from the jobs report on friday like we had the previous month but there are certainly signs that we're in an inflationary environment. what you are watching there and how do you make sense of that with your portfolio allocation if we're moving into an inflationary environment >> well, i think the big news that came out on the unemployment number is wage growth it was up 2.6% that's the big fear number when it relates to what the fed expected to do where they raise two times, whether they raise four times so, you know, i think that's a factor i guess i differ a little bit where i feel the economy is still very strong in terms of gdp and as long as that's going well, i expect good things in technology so in terms of, you know, repositioning the portfolio, i don't know if i would go quite into a defensive mode right now. you know, all out concerned about inflation. i think that's wage growth has been benign over the last eight or nine years. we're getting a little bit of an

uptick but i still feel strongly about, you know, companies like the technology sector that are still growing, you know, at a very fast pace. it's the second in terms of overall profit growth. so in terms of positioning, i'm not really doing anything at this point to guard myself against let's say unemployment or rising wages. >> jim, to the degree we do retest those february lows, what takes us there i mean it is another bond tantrum? if that's true, why have bonds sort of trades -- we've been in this 2.8 range for 15 days you know, the wange number came off. that was a sigh of relief. that allows us to charge the highs here the basic underlying issues haven't changed a lot. the ten year yields are close to 2.9. it actually went up friday and the embedded inflation expectation stayed near its three year high. commodity prices also went up friday and remain near highs

the dollar is still in a downward dre downward draft it puts inflationary pressure in the economy. i think we can get that strong jobs number comes with strong reports for the month that that's also going to affect strong cpi and ppi reports as well and then you've got the fed tightening conditions. financial liquidity is contracting. all this comes when the market is still traing trade 2g ing 223 times. the ten year goes above three and multiples have another challenge to the down side this year yet the same thing that brought the initial correction i think those conditions are still there for another one maybe later this year >> yeah. it was that jobs number in february that gave us the scare. then this one was good maybe we'll get the other kind again. guys, we'll find out jim, dan, thanks we'll talk to you soon >> thanks. >> jim paulsen and dan morgan. >> new this morning, david solomon is going to take over as

president and coo at goldman sachs as harvey schwartz announces his retirement wilford frost joins us now >> this simplifies thing he is already president and coo. he'll now be the sole president and coo as harvey schwartz is retiring the timing is not announced this means that david solomon is anoinlted as the heir to lloyd blankfein. the other co-president and co-coo harvey schwartz will retire this was decidedat a board meeting on the 21st of february following a recommendation by blankfein. solomon and schwartz were told soon after gary cohn was never considered the rest of the management committee where there was significant level of surprise that things were moving so fast. the final date, of course, of the transition at coo level yet to be decided. solomon's power internally has

jumped already today solomon's background is in the investment bank. its no the just pure m & a and advisory he also built the debt capital markets business and that meant greater interactions with securities businesses than perhaps otherwise would have been the case. he is liked very much internally and by all ages not just because of his deejay background and excellent with clients now given that he doesn't have that pure trading background, talk already now internally and externally moving on to who might get promoted into the president role, of course, with harvey schwartz vacating that and at some point david solomon vacating it to the upside. but timing not yet decided but he has been anoinltted to b the next coo. >> switches gears to an update on broadcom's bid to acquire qua qualcomm this got interesting. >> yeah, involving intel we have the u.s. government basically getting even more

upset with qualcomm in a letter sent to -- excuse me, getting more upsweet with broadcom with letter sent to that company yesterday. the concern is with sfius that reviews deals for the national security concerns. as we already know given an interim order issued by cfius on the fifth of march, there are significant national security concerns with broadcom acquiring qualcomm and we got more today. or when we were able to review this let let's good to the letter itself. in it cfius indicates they believe that broadcom violated portions of the interim order by which they were supposed to give cfius five days notice before doing anything towards redomiciling here in the u.s preb, broadcom is a singapore-based company. it is redomiciled in the u.s they want to acquire qualcomm.

following issuance, they took a series of actions in vie lafgs the order, specifically broadcom on three separate occasions took action toward redomiciling in the u.s. without providing five business days notice to cfius as required in article 1.3. they go on to say as well, this perhaps even more important for those trying to understand the likelihood of broadcom's being able to get through the cfius investigation. to say since transmitting that letter on march 5th, that being the letter and order as well that we've been talking about, cfius conducted investigation of the transaction associated national security risk that investigation has confirmed the national security concerns that cfius identified to you and the expected close of that investigation very soon. what does all this mean? it does seem very likely that cfius at this point would be citing national security concerns as a reason for not allowing broadcom to continue

its pursuit of qualcomm in terms of trying to take a majority of the directors on the board and get them to vote in favor of or at least negotiate a transaction favorable to broadcom and to qualcomm shareholders. we'll see. broadcom is now going to be in washington, d.c., today meeting with members of cfius, trying to understand their potential concerns when it comes to national security to the growth of 5-g in this country, to relationship that's they referred to and they say are classified in terms of the information but to third party foreign entities that they say broadcom has it's a lot of things dwoenwe dot fully understand we did ask stephen mnuchin about it on friday treasury plays a lead role in the cfius reviews. here's what he had to say. >> this was a unique situation we did come out publicly where we don't normally do that. i'm not going to comment on all the specifics of why we did

that but this was a unique situation. and i as the rest of the committee are fully prepared to use our powers to protect national security. >> broadcom has moved up its date for redomicile in the u.s. to april 3rd it originally had been may 6th and that will now be prior to what is at least scheduled for the next vote by shareholders at the annual meeting of qualcomm that is now scheduled for the 5th of april guys, it's unlike anything i've ever actually seen i got to tell you. >> for investors playing along at home, first looked like qualcomm versus broadcom >> correct >> now it looks like broadcom versus qualcomm and maybe the u.s. government and perhaps intel which has an interest in not seeing a combined broadcom and qualcomm is this deal, you know, the chances of it happening good or not? >> i don't think they are, jon i think you have to say -- it gets even more complex because if as seems to be the case there is an order issued by cfius to

say can you n say you can acquire qualcomm it depends who you talk to, frankly of the experts in this somewhat arcane area of law. it very well could be. it does have a perpetual effect meaning that broadcom can never acqui acquire qualcomm and then raise a larger question. can anyone ever acquire broadcom so you know, we're dealing in unchartered waters it was a more traditional battle now it's gone into an entirely different realm. >> some crazy action today we watch broadcom and qualcomm and intel as well. i'm sure we haven't seen the last of you today. we're going to take you to china where steel companies are threatening to retaliate against the u.s. for the newly announced tariffs. take a look at the major averages dow is down 120. half of that is boeing which is

selling off about 2% amazon within 30 cents of $1600 this morning more "squawk aeyin mutll" aine.

steel companies in china are calling on their government to retaliate against the u.s. in light of the president's tariffs. we have more from a steel factory in lansing, china. >> reporter: i'm at a steel fact riff a company that just won, within the metals industry that is calling on their government

to retaliate against president trump's tariffs. the associations that represent china's steel and aluminum industries issued statements strongly opposing the tariffs and they're now recommending that the chinese government take action against american imports in their sectors and beyond. for metal products, the manufacturers say beijing should star target stainless steel, seamless pipes and strapped aluminum n other industries, china should punish agriculture products, consumer electronics, luxury goods, and coal. this is the first time that coal has been mentioned as a possible target china has ramped up the imports of american coal to 3.2 million tons last year five times more than the previous year and worth $420 million. based on the strong reaction, some analysts believe that beijing could face pressure to take greater counter measures against any further u.s. action that could impact china's

companies. >> thank you very much for us in china there. an important piece of this story. the president announcing his next move on tariffs on twitter this morning writing, "secretary of commerce wilbur ross is speaking with representatives the european union about eliminating the tariffs they use against the usa. not fair to our farm aerers and citizens." for more on the fallout, we're joined by two guests, former commerce secretary and former ambassador to china gary locke and investor of international economics on the council on foreign relations. i'll start with you, ben there is a lot to unpack here. not the least of which japan, south korea, maybe others going to the wto saying, hey, you can't do this. what do you think the chances are that they're right >> and retaliatory tariffs so we're looking at the potential for a global trade war. of course, china is at the heart

of the global steel industry over capacity but it's important to recognize that they only represent 2.9% of the u.s. steel imports globally and it's already subject to tariffs. so we're not really focusing on the problem here >> so it's a misplaced tariff? >> we need our allies to take on china. we should be the ones using the wto. >> and ambassador gary, you know, some said initially that they did not think that china would retaliate because this steel imports are so small but now others are saying yes they will. and we've gotten some information over the weekend from a commerce minister saying we don't want a trade war but at the same time we're prepared to do what we have to do. what do you think china's actions are at this point? or what will they be >> china will take some sort of retaliatory action and minor and small. it may be in a completely unrelated sector we've seen that before when under president bush or

president obama tariffs have been raised or penalties imposed on the flooding of chinese goods into the united states and so they're going to take some reaction. they can't let this sit by -- let this go idly by. as was pointed out, chinese steel into the united states really accounts for almost 3%. and so if you're really trying to target china, why you are really punishing our key allies, japan, canada, mexico or the european countries because we really need them to be working with us to get china to really address some of the major complaints that foreign companies have had towards cheen ey chinese policy. >> ben, it's such a small percentage less than 3% why is china even bothering to threaten all this retaliation? the initial response is doesn't really matter. do you put any stock in the argument that china is generally flooding the global market with steel and even if the direct imports into the u.s. are small,

they're causing this oversfli is causing others to dump into the u.s. >> without question. china is at the root of this problem. but in terms of national security, we've got to recognize that this action just doesn't make sense if you look at eight of the top ten countries from which we import steel into the united states, eight of them, we have an alliance with or a deep security relationship also when it comes to aluminum, for example. a lot of the components that we use to manufacture it like boxite are not made in the united states. >> is this a way to put pressure on them to resist chinese dumping and creating this global supply chain issue donald trump can still get a winning narrative out of this. if he steps back, says we're going to exempt our allies and we're going to take unified action against the cause of this

problem which is china, he's going to find a lot of friends abroad. >> so you think his tweet this morning about eu and the unwillingness to give japan and eu a direct answer on exemptions is just shadow boxing for the moment >> i don't know. he may be shooting himself in the foot as we know, he wanted to go down this route for quite some time now. he does have issues with the eu. he does have issues with our nafta counterparts and he's looking for concessions. >> mr. ambassador -- >> we should point out -- >> go ahead. >> the problem is that once we get into a trade war, once the eu and some of our allies impose retaliatory measures, it's going to be the consumers and the workers and u.s. companies and everyone who will suffer no one wins in a trade war what will happen is that you're going to lose jobs on both sides of the conflict. europe, canada, mexico and the u.s.

and ultimately the counsnsumers will pay higher prices if the u.s. companies have to pay higher prices because they buy american made steel or aluminum or they pay higher prices for the stuff coming in from other countries because of the tariffs, it means the price of the goods that american companies make and sell within the united states or sell overseas will go up. that will make their products less competitive overseas against foreign competitors or less competitive against products that are now sold into the united states from around the world. and so american companies will hurt and we'll suffer and we'll lose jobs we may gain some jobs in the aluminum and steel industry in america. but all the other companies that depend on steel and aluminum whether from america or outside will suffer. >> a lot of x factors going into this we appreciate both of you joining us today to sort it out.

thank you for being here today >> by the way, programming note, we'll sit down with justin trudeau today at 2:10:00 p.m. eastern time to discuss this exact topic. by the way, jon, boeing, cat, utx, a lot of aerospace and heavy industry leading the dow lower. now down almost 150. >> that will be an important interview as well. when we come back, the ambitious time line elon musk laid out for at least starting travel to mars we're live at south by southwest where he made the comments in main plus, we sat down with ashton kutcher in austin. we'll tell you why he hates when companies go public. stay with us ♪ feel that? that's the beat of global markets, the rhythm of the world. but to us, it's the pace of tomorrow. with ingenuity, technologies, and markets expertise we create the possible. and when you do that, you don't chase

the pace of tomorrow. you set it. nasdaq. rewrite tomorrow. i'm not really a, i thought wall street guy.ns. what's the hesitation? eh, it just feels too complicated, you know? well sure, at first, but jj can help you with that. jj, will you break it down for this gentleman? hey, ian. you know, at td ameritrade, we can walk you through your options trades step by step until you're comfortable. i could be up for that. that's taking options trading from wall st. to main st. hey guys, wanna play some pool? eh, i'm not really a pool guy. what's the hesitation? it's just complicated. step-by-step options trading support from td ameritrade

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southwest. >> elon musk drew a packed audience to the q&a in which he updated the time line to put a human colony on mars. >> we're building the first ship, the first mars -- or interplanetary ship right now. i think we'll be able to do short flights, short up and down flights probably in the first half of next year. >> musk drew laughs when he acknowledged his time lines can be ambitious he said that after mars has infrastructure in place there ln an explosion of entrepreneurial opportunities. mars will need everything from iron foundries to pizza joints by the end of next year, self driving cars already 200% safer than human drivers he said that artificial intelligence is much more dangerous than nuclear warheads. ashton kutcher was also in austin hosting a start-up

competition for a sound ventures fund people applied for a spot to include the sales force ceo and matthew mcconaughey. the winner is financial platform called learn lux which drew 200,000 investmentes from sound ventures now with one of the investment's spot fi ready to go public, he's happy for the limited customers. he said he thinks some companies should stay private as long as possible. >> when the private markets support the companies to the extent that they have, they can really focus on doing the necessary things to change the world that they're trying to do. as opposed to trying to make stockholders happy >> in the meantime, kutcher says he sees great value in coming to austin and in looking outside silicon valley to find the next generation of great start-ups. back to you. >> all right thank you, julia normally at this time we

would bring you the european close but we sprung ahead because of daylight savings time the european close is going to happen during the halftime report today and so you can look forward to that when it comes around. news update. let's get to sue herrera at hq >> good morning, jon good morning, everybody. here's what's happening at this hour secretary of education betsy devos says president trump's proposal to leave the legal age to buy a gun at 18 and suggesting teachers carry guns into the classroom is just the first step of many when dealing with guns. >> everything is on the table. and the commission that is being formed of which i will lead is going to be looking at this issue along with a number of other issues and the point being that we have to get much broader than just talking about guns and a gun issue where camps go into their corners. >> russia says they successfully tested a hyper sonic missile

from an airborne plane russian president putin earlier said that missile flies ten times faster than the speed of sound. and southwest airlines ended the $5 happy hour menu drinks cost 1 to $2 more however, if you participate in their frequent flyer program and use their drink coupons, the new charges will not apply cheers that's the news update this hour back downtown to "squawk alley." courtney, back to you. >> thank you very much, sue. appreciate it. we're heading to break as we head there, you want to get you a look at the major averages here. the dow jones industrial average is lower at this point we're going into the break the nasdaq 100, however, is slightly higher. still ahead, john oliver comparing bitcoin to beanie babies over the weekend. another sign that ypcrto speculation is going mainstream. no, please, please, oh! ♪

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welcome back breaking news outs of d.c. for that, we're going to turn to jim krayemer in san francisco. jim? >> yes, i have a pretty good, carl that, larry kudlow is now the leading contender for the job to replace gary cohn the leading con tender now larry and i were partners for a very long time at cnbc for kudlow & cramer. i think if he was offered it, he would take it. this is a very big deal that obviously nothing's been decided.

but he's talking to the president and wants the job. a lot is because he softened the stance on china. you know he is against tariffs i think the president believes the market would really like this because it shows the flexibility that he's looking for. >> wow, jim. that does move the ball forward. we're seeing some action in equities already do we think he is "the" leading c contender or "a" leading c contender. >> "the. >> and your own thought on what larry brings to the table. we talked about the disagreements and he and navarro have on free trade how much he can infuse into the white house that appears to be slowly pivoting into a different direction? >> right well, secretary mnuchin likes this mr. jarrod kucher

mr. jared kushner likes this they believe that larry can do the details. remember, he's a little more pro europe, more pro i'd say germany and japan over the car issue has not fought the steel issue does not like tariffs. i've known larry for years larry is the ultimate free trader however, if you've been listening to him both on the radio and on cnbc, he is much, much harder of late on china and i think that stands well with the president because china's viewed to be a not great actor when it comes to defense and not great actor when it comes to doing things with america that would weaken us. but again, i would just call him leading contender did speak to the president as recently as yesterday. i would say that he would absolutely take the job if he's offered it again, speaking as a friend only i think he would take the job. and as a friend from way back, he is much softer than the

market thinks the president is which i think is viewed as being very, very positive for stocks would it be viewed as very positive for trade i know i personally have come out and said i think that we've been a pushover. larry has changed his view a little more to be able to say that he thinks china is a pushover -- that we've been pushed over by china so this is a change. again, not offered the job again, a -- "the" leading contender. there are others and i think it would be a faction there is a faction that i think say, wow this is way too soft. but i think he has the insidetrack. >> jim, many of us remember the kudlow creed, free market capitalism is the best path to prosperity and we also remember the president just last week saying gary cohn perhaps a little too much of a globalist. you talked about larry's free market bonnafieded how do you think he would compare to gary cohn in the

globalist tag? >> great question. i think that it's absolutely true that gary cohn was a globalist and that is not a position that the president can argue with the president would be able to argue with larry kudlow. larry kudlow is much more flexibility. larry kudlow is a seasoned hand when it comes to the media larry kudlow understands the nuances of foreign policy. he's afraid to some degree, there is me speakingas his partner and kudlow & cramer fo many years and watching him. he'll be not on the -- let's say he'll -- it's a different disagreement it's not a globalist disagreement it's a disagreement over tactics, a disagreement over how to get the job done. most infavor of america. and i think that larry kudlow does have that interest. i know that there are others who are tougher on this. larry knows i'm tougher on this but this is important can you butt heads with the president, stand up to the president but ultimately it will be about negotiations and larry

can help the negotiations to get something done if he does get the job. again, i believe that he is -- you can call him a leading co contender. i say he's a leading contender he is better for the stock market because of the stability he brings in terms of being in line with the president. >> jim, cat pierpillar and utx coming off the lows. how much does this matter for individual sectors and -- >> it makes sense. >> aluminum companies. >> that is the reaction. yes that, would be the reaction. i think it's correct given the fact that larry is a free trader and will be in there arguing exempt for when it comes to china. because i think that larry's stance on china is much closer to the president's than it was even let's say six months ago.

because he has seen enough and he knows that the president has big points to be made. but not against european allies. certainly not against those industrials which he will defend larry i know lovers those companies. larry obviously when i worked with him, no doubt about it, patriot through and through who believes that the u.s. should beal mighty but also knows that our allies in europe are allies and it would not lead to any sort of trade war. those that think there is about to be a trade war in europe if larry gets the job, i think that's gravely mistaken. larry is a believer that our allies are our allies and not to be targetted but china may be as bad an actor as the president says so i think this is a signal that is good for the stock market because i know larry for a long time what does larry want higher stock prices like i do. that was our common ground when we did "kudlow & cramer" all those years. >> do you know him well, jim

i thank you for that i don't know if you want to sfik arou stick around or get back to work. >> again, no decision has been made but president, i believe, is listening to larry kudlow on our air and likes what he hears and i think it's important that he would get gary cohn's job, my opinion, if things played out the way it is. >> jim, thank you for that i want to turn to washington really quickly predicted had a running list of contenders and larry was number two as of a couple days ago behind knight who is a tax deputy under cohn what does that mean for the white house right now? >> there are people inside this building who are rooting hard for larry kudlow to get this job. i just spoke with a white house official just moments before coming to the camera here on this news. the white house official telling me that larry is on the list but insisting that there are no personnel announcements to make at this time not clear whether this announcement could come. they had been saying going into

the weekend and this morning that they were in fno rush to fill gary cohn's job we have seen a number of the trial balloons over the past week or so we saw knight and chris ladell being mentioned as somebody who might get that job and now we're hearing jim's reporting on larry kudlow being at the front of the list a lot of moving parts here but clearly there are people here in this building who like larry kudlow a lot and the thing that they like the most about him is he brings an outside perspective. he's not been in the trump administration it demonstrates they can bring in a big name from outside the campus here and also somebody who brings an outside perspective. i'm also told that the president would welcome somebody who doesn't necessarily agree with him on tariffs because the president likes, as he said last week, he likes conflict among the top aides.

but the president does expect that once he makes the decision to go forward whether it's on tariffs or anything else that his aides and top staffers salute and get behind him once that decision is made. but before that point, the president likes to have everybody airing all the different views even if they're at odds with what the president's line is at the moment carl >> that's great view from the white house. let's bring in john harwood as well for his perspective on kind of the race to replace gary cohn john >> jon, i think if the president selects larry kudlow to replace gary cohn, he's going to reassure wall street that you have somebody who has a more recognizable kind of conservative economic approach that they're used to so larry is not somebody who would count against a trade war. he is very much a supply side on

the tax bill and he's getting somebody of high integrity and somebody with a high comfort level with people on wall street it seems to me early to be calling who is going to be picked for this job. and it's an incredibly demanding job. and if larry wants to do that job and is selected, i think he would do fine. but i think it's important not to get too far ahead of ourselves on this. >> we don't want to get ahead of ourselves, john, but at the same time we're talking about larry kudlow being a possible successor to gary cohn if not the successor. there was a lot of discussion about the staff under gary cohn if larry kudlow is the new boss of that group. do you think that they stick around is that a comfort level for them as well as wall street >> yes, i do i think that's a big difference from somebody like peter navarro

who is pretty far out there in terms of his views on globalization and trade policy larry would be a more conventional choice and make it much easier for people on that nec staff to stick around. >> jim, one difference between larry and some of the other would-be contenders like navarro, even ladell larry understand how's processes work in a white house. he's famously at omb under reagan and it's about a lot more than just arguing for or against individual policies say on trade. it's about how fed chiefs get vetted and things much broader than individual white house policy >> he is not asked yet but he's a top contender. people within the white house sphere who would say oh, my! this is not where they thought

we were going. meaning that the tariffs could be tougher and larry, of course, has said over and over again on air he doesn't like tariffs. he thinks those are bad for the worldwide economy and won't change his tune on that the idea that germany could be let's say targeted, that's not the kind of thing he would do i know that he softened the stance on china. i know there are other people who don't want this. i understand from, say, peter navarro wing, let's call it that i've known peter for many years. this is not the pick -- this say pick that would be not a globalist like gary cohn but certainly a person who after the president spoke loudly about across the board tariffs would tell wall street, wait a second. we know more tariffs is tough. there is going to be a nuance. there is going to be a negotiation. the president likes negotiation. i think are other people with who have the president's ear who are thinking, look, this is not

negotiation. this is the way it's going to be and they are losing out. the people who felt that the negotiating power of the president was going to be limb itted becau -- limited, i think they are potentially the losers even if you think they should be the winners. i had distance between layery. i think china is much worse actor than i think larry does. but larry is -- larry has changed his stance and has come close to the president on china but is definitely a free trader and it is not what the let's say the navarro wing is about. it would be a change it would be a change that would be greeted very, very positively by wall street again, i've known larry for many, many years did my show with him for long. it is hard for me to imagine wall street would not be appeased if not excited about the idea of larry kudlow getting a job that he's not been asked

for but would take if offered. >> jim, appreciate that. we're here with art cashen as john pointed out, it may be early. but if this were to be announced at some point, what would the market reaction be >> let's go backward first larry is a good friend i go back far enough to remember when he was at omb under reagan. and he and david stockman worked together and larry with his articulate nature was sent by reagan time and time again back to wall street to kind of negotiate and explain and so he's got a lot of those talents. that having been said, he's an extraordinarily talented man this rally is equally about the fact that it's not navarro and so the sigh of relief is there. as you aptly noted, the rebound was led by the trade sensitive issues and they came back and so

i think they think that this would be a great idea. but it's also a sigh of relief that it's not navarro or the navarro wing >> jim cramer, you got more on this >> i've been telling larry this is the job he's training for his whole life i agree with that i think he has always had a position that is certainly of the wing which says that we have to be free traders but tough, navarro wing is a wing where it has been something like what dave damico who is very opposed to larry which is, you no he what look, it's a trade war we haven't seen tried to fight it last was starting to get tough. a tariff on steel, tariff on -- how far do they go if they don't extend to cars and make cars more expensive, then the japanese cars coming from mexico, the german cars which are going to be just blasting in new mexico from plants that were

built in the last two years, let's say they come in nothing special in the agenda to try to hurt them that would be a little bit different from nthe navarro wing that would say everybody had a run of the joint and that's done i don't want to say that larry o wants anyone to have the run of the joint against america. aplarntly the president likes what he hears when it comes to how he can help wall street through this he doesn't want the market to go down this is very good for the industrials. those who have been selling the industrials, including on thursday and friday, may find themselves on the wrong side of the trade given the fact larry wants these companies to do incredibly well and the president does, too. so this is a a to be able to get around the idea that our big companies are going to get hurt, but seeing china in particular, stop stealing our intellectual

property 301. time to stop it. get the chinese not to be able to take defense secret not to be able to supply our defense industry and i think larry patriot would agree that's the patriopatriot, that's a compliment he tends to pay people rick, let' bring you in. perhaps a replace for gary cohn sooner than some expected? >> i can't weigh in because i don't have my ear to the grindstone the way many have with regard to d.c., but i can say i think larry would be a wonderful choice, but let's keep in mind with that means. in my opinion, it shouldn't be about stock prices it should about the long-term health of the u.s. economy the second issue is this isn't about peter navarro. so if larry gets appointed and

like i said, i would vote for hand downs, peter isn't going mir i don't think he wants the job and i think this issue has been oversimplified. if larry is picked, the president will most likely set up u a good cop bad cop scenario because in my opinion, to try to understand this president, you need to understand he is very opinionuated i think just because we have advisers you interact is doesn't mean their job is to their his mind i don't think his mind is going to be changed. how he ends up, i think larry would be the perfect choice. >> one of thothose voices he's listening in mnuchin. here's what he said. >> i like gary a lot we're sorry to see him go. we have a deep economic bench. gary was the only person talking about trade. we've had a lot of economic analysis from kevin and others

and i can assure you, president trump is going to be no herbert hoover >> eamon, i believe you're still with us here how hornet important is all of the messaging larry brings he's a nope media when it comes to media art cashin brought up the point about how he was sent previously by administrations to bring the administration's message to wall street does that make him a more solidified choice in the eyes of president trump? >> i think that's exactly what the president would think about him. he's been active on cable news for years. he can be a public face of the administration he's vocal he knows the talking points. he gets television media generally. and that's something that a candidate like a knight wouldn't have she's more of an inside track person a player here in the white house to be b sure on taxes, but not mb who's a familiar face to wall street that point that jim cramer was just making about how kudlow

will be perceived on the street, i think that's vitally important to the president of the united states this president has talked about the stock market and its performance more than any other president we've seen, at least in my adult lifetime that's an important metric here. so the idea he would be welcomed on wall street would be welcomed here in the white house as well. i'm not getting any indication this is a done deal yet. just that larry kudlow is on the list and that they have no announcement at this time. and of course, that can change subject to any notice at all >> you know, jim, it seems to me the thing about larry is he's a contend er for whom posing arguments to the president would not be a new exercise. he and steven moore worked on the trade platform during the campaign told us stories ant whisper ng the president's year on an airplane ahead of a rally speech

to insert a line or some language about trade this would not be a fresh xherz. >>. >> no, exactly m look, he has said that the tariffs would be a prosperity killer. he has talked about the notion that our allies are not, should not be hit with this but remember, he's been tough on china. back to something rick santelli said i was larry's partner for years. he did not say these stocks would go up. i said these stocks would go up, okay that's not r la rry's job. he's a multiyear thinker he's never been about individual stocks one of the keys to prosperity in the country is the stock market, so if he was brought in, it would not be about you know, this is way the industrials are going to go. my partnership with larry was based on when i said say something then what it would be good for i want to make that clear.

if the stock market goes up, that's good. if tariffs hurt 6 million people, that's bad this is not about buying the stock of the united technologies, it's about my saying boy, if you were selling those, be careful because larry is not the guy who's going to do anything other than butt head on free trade, soften the president's stance so this is b about big thing my job is to try help people make money that's not larry's job his job is to try the make the country stronger and more prosperous he has one way to do it. the president has another. there will be comp miromise larry free trader, prosperity killer i think in many ways, really, ideally suited for wall street that will be worry about this, but remember, the president's the president. not larry kudlow he's a top candidate

no doubt b about it. he would take the job. eamon's right. there are o m other people being considered some close, but this is my understanding as an old friend of larry that larry wants to job. he would be the guy. he's a patriot, not a stock picker i sure don't want him going down as that. >> jim, i think we know what you meant. it's clear to me when you talkeded about larry and his impact on the markets potentially. of course, we talked to him directly about cohn's departure. this is from march 7th >> i don't like blanket tariffs. i don't want to punish our friends and allies and let the real bad ak r tctors get off i have preferred different actions. i urged gary cohn to stick around >> john harwood, want to bring you back in. you heard larry there and of course, we have no timeline from the white house and when they're going to make this announcement and cohn's replacement

how important is it they do it sooner or later? >> honestly u i don't think it matter that is much. the president has made a sti decision on tariffs. a decision to allow excepses. so the fact larry has similar views to gary and tariffs doesn't attach a lot of urgency to getting in there quickly. i think the point eamon made was the krek one which is the fact that larry kudlow served in the reagan white house to donald trump is going to be a critical element of assurance that he knows thousand play this game. again, as i said earlier, i think we should get ahead of ourselves. it's early to say that larry is going to be the choice but i think that the president clearly ra lly values larry's ae

took it during the campaign. and i think the fact that larry has been through this process before in the reagan white house is something that donald trump would put a lot of stock in. >> you know, one thing would be interesting to see is how he and the treasury secretary differ. larry is famously king dollar. some said the secretary's comments late last year suggest on overt policy. >> i think larry would stay out of that one. we must remember it's thin tradingd around a couple of times. when it looked surer it was beginning to be a rally, larry then things moved up now they're backing and filling. >> industrials are town about a percent. should we be watching that as news gets more solidified?

>> no, i think you want to keep an eye on that you'll see it waffle and you'll take the lead from that. >> art, thanks eamon javers in washington appreciate you john harwood on the phone and to jim cramer who brought brought us this news that larry kudlow is the leading contender to take gary cohn's job. to the half. >> cart, thanks very much so much welcome to the halftime report our break iing news continueses with reporting by jim cramer that larry kudlow is the top contender the replace gary cohn. the r report moving stocks off their lows we're going to discuss all of that with our panel today. joe, steve, sarat, ian, we want to get back out west though as a reset of