they really want to try these over-the-top, decadent foods. and to them, that's their pair of louboutins and that's their bugatti. the food is what makes them excited, and i'm one of those people. breaking news, new data on how much oil the world is actually producing and using instant analysis and market reaction. banking on rolling back regulation the senate voting to ease dodd-frank rules we're live in d.c. with the details and what it means for your bank. and mr. kudlow goes to washington a familiar face to cnbc viewers will replace gary cohn as president trump's economic adviser. it's thursday, march 15, "worldwide exchange" kicks off right now. ♪

it is hard to imagin imagine dragons, isn't it? i'm brian sullivan, thanks for being with us. it is a good morning wall street pointing to a higher open for stocks. dow futures are up triple digits right now we have breaking news, oil and energy and paris-based iea out with their monthly oil number jackie deangelis has more details. >> what's key about this report, the headline, is the deman number the iea is revising up the demand forecast by 1.5 millionry demand right now is expected to absorb some excess supply and help with the rebalance we've been waiting for for a long time two other key headlines that i want to highlight. they talked about global i'll supply in february easing a bit. and they highlighted the fact that opec reported yesterday

it's monthly numbers for february production did go down slightly as well right now in terms of the supply/demand rebalance, though there are a lot of other factors impacting crude oil prices, the supply/demand rebalance shows us prices should stay around $60. >> let's bring in halene croft jackie said demand is supposed to go up but global supply may come down. you don't have to be a chief economist to know -- >> that's a bullish report >> that might spell higher prices >> the demand number everyone was watching we know u.s. shale production is coming back, the question is can the market absorb these barrels. the demand number looks healthy. is there an offset to u.s. shale from other producers >> everybody is watching the u.s. numbers we're over 10 million barrels a day in terms of production saudi arabia is just under 10 million barrels a day. this is a major change in terms

of global oil producers and what's happening >> i think they're committed to keeping prices higher. they don't want 80, but i think they want 65 to 70 for a whole host of policy initiatives in that country >> do you think they can do it, with the u.s. shale boom, does saudi arabia have the power and influence still in the oil market to make prices live within a certain range >> what the saudis believe they can do it with is with the russians when you have saudi arabia and russia working together, they think the policy will be effective and venezuela will be key. >> the question for you on the aramco ipo two schools of thought the first is a delay, we received multiple reports of this, a delay could be bearish for prices saudis can't jawbone the price of oil higher for too long a period of time the second school of thought would be, no, no, they're confident prices will stay high. that's why they're taking their

time which do you believe >> "a," i think the saudis have a whole host of reasons why they want the prices. given the political and economic change in that country, it is not good for holding the country together aramco ipo, they're committed to it they believe that the prices are trending higher. i do not see this as bearish >> following up on that, do you think the ipo at all has anything do with saudi ultimate output does the capital they intend to raise from that ipo, do they need it? are they fine without it >> i think they believe they need the capital from the aramco ipo, i also believe they think if they do this ipo they're committed to radically transforming the whole country >> we saw this at sera week, there was a different tone coming out of barkindo of opec they already worked with the russians on the supply cut, that

helped they're saying now, if we can work with the shale producers and make this is a global cooperative effort, we could get somewhere. >> how big a deal is that, that opec's minister is meeting with individual u.s. oil companies in the permian basin? >> u.s. producers and investors. they want as much market intelligence as they can get i think they're afraid to be caught by surprise they want to know what the production will be >> one question about tillerson, sort of walk us through what the policy changes could be with a new secretary of state >> look for the month of may, on may 12th donald trump has to make a decision on whether or not we remain in the iran deal if he doesn't extend sanctions or waivers, we're out of the deal pompeo will likely advocate for the u.s. exit. >> may 12th is the date. a little houston reunion here. >> yes >> 5:05 in the morning >> only for you.

>> talk to us in three months. thank you. it could be a good day for stocks equity futures indicating a triple digit jump at the hope but keep in mind we have a cornucopia of economic data rolling out later this morning at 8:30 a.m. eastern, philly fed, jobless claims. the ten-year yield is at 2.81%, but the two-year is the number to watch those yields yesterday hitting the highest mark in a decade and you crypto investors, right now overseas bitcoin down, depending on the exchange, down from 10% to 12%. bond yields are big for banks, but so is regulation. so keep an eye on the regional bank stocks today. the senate passing a bill late yesterday to roll back some of the dodd-frank regulations let's get to eamon javers in

washington with more on this story. >> good morning. the vote there was 67-31, the senate is not the final passage. the bill has to go to the house. it's a rollback of a lot of regulations put in place after the 2008 financial crisis and that dodd frank reform the white house signaled it would support the measure. we'll see what the technical details are once it emerges from the house. guys over there will want to put their stamp on it. speaking of the white house, we had the president yesterday signaling he may not be done with tax cuts. here's what he said. >> it's going to be something i think very special kevin brady is working on it with me. congress is working. the senate is working. unfortunately on the original we didn't have one democrat vote, which is pretty incredible we'll do a phase two it's going to be something >> so the president there saying he's going to do a phase two on tax cuts no details offered by anybody on

capitol hill or at the white house in what would be included in that phase two. a lot of observers are skeptical that congress can pass something in this election year, but it might give republicans a good talking point going into the november elections speaking of washington, larry kudlow will be in washington today to attend a trade meeting at the white house and for the formal announcement that he will serve as new national economic council chair. larry kudlow yesterday said on cnbc that his relationship with the president is such that he can disagree with the president on tariffs as he does but ultimately when the president makes the decision, kudlow's job will be to execute it. >> look, i've known the president a long time. we have mutual admiration society, he is the president, it's a different role, i will abide by that. there may be agreements, disagreements, we'll talk it through. but once decisions are made,

that's it. it's time to execute >> time to execute says larry kudlow the biggest test of this relationship is over those tariffs. that's an area where the white house has been particularly aggressive with reuters reporting they're considering about $60 billion in tariffs or tariffs on $60 billion of goods coming into china. the white house is also considering traveling restrictions on chinese individuals coming into the united states and investment restrictions on chinese money coming into the united states. that's the anti-free trader agenda in the white house. larry kudlow would not necessarily be in that camp. how he plays in that sandbox will shape this trump administration economic agenda whether kudlow and navarro will be in the same sandbox may be the story going forward. >> that was the story with gary cohn and peter navarro they struggled larry kudlow reminded me

yesterday that peter navarro used to be a gus on hi guest onw on cnbc. >> small world radio giant i heart media filing for bankruptcy protection >> they filed for chapter 11 today. the largest u.s. radio station struggled with $20 billion in debt and falling revenue they reached an agreement with the holders of more than half of that debt to refinance the balance sheet. the filing comes after john malone's lebity ne itliberty med a 40% stake in a restructured iheart media iheart media owns 648 radio stations across the united states it produces syndicated

radio shows for ryan seacrest, rush limbaugh the filing comes a decade after the company was bought for 27 billion, leaving it saddled with debt shares of iheart media lost three quarters of their value in 2015 and never recovered now trading at 48 cents. >> this was named clear channel communications prior >> at the time they changed the name to iheart radio. clearly the billboard company being separate from the bankruptcy filing means there's still a lot of value there they'll go back and restructure this debt. that is not the only bankruptcy an private equity related news item today. what we talked about yesterday is official, geoffrey the giraffe is hanging up the towel. toys "r" us will liquidate not all may be lost.

they could keep a couple hundred strong locations open. toys "r" us began three years after world war ii ended it's been in the current form since 1957, it was itself the subject of a debt-laden private equity buyout more than a decade ago. other companies to watch today include wells fargo. tim sloan getting a big pay raise despite the bank continuing to struggle with scandals sloan received $17.6 million last year, up 35% from the previous year. williams-sonoma reported fourth quarter results that topped forecasts the chain also hiking its quarterly dividend by 10% and will expand its share buyback program to 5$500 million. sears holding swinging to a fourth quarter profit with a smaller than expected drop in same-store sales that company, which has also struggled with debt loads announcing 540 million in new loan agreements.

sears market cap is below 3$300 million. up next, life in the amazon lane they just did something they have never done before the new numbers that you need to hear straight ahead. and do you live in one of the world's most expensive cities, if you live in new york, you don't. you didn't make the top ten. coming in at number five, oslo, norway we'll reveal the rest of the icst later on in the show. stk around "worldwide exchange" will be right back ip feat. iconapop ♪ woo! yeah! it's good! it's refreshing. ♪ this is what our version of financial planning looks like. tomorrow is important, but she's only seven once. spend your life living. find an advisor at northwesternmutual.com.

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welcome back to "worldwide exchange." 5:15 in the east stock futures indicating what could be another good day for equities the dow futures indicating just under a 100-point jump at the open, though it is still early and a lot of data to come. a callal night ov am night in a. all green. the dax in europe is the big winner up 0.3%. hit the treadmill, folks, get going, because it is going to be abusy day ahead on wall street at 8:30 eastern, a hat trick of data breaks down you get the weekly jobless claims, the monthly import and export prices and you get the philly fed survey. that's not all at 10:00, we'll get the monthly home builder sentiment numbers as well. as for earnings, dollar general report their numbers before the bell adobe systems and broadcom's

numbers after the close. more importantly we'll see if broadcom comments on the blocking of its bid to buy qualcomm 3-d systems reporting earnings and revenue that beat forecast citing growth in nearly all of its units. barnes & noble, they're raising their full-year profit for fiscal 2019. they point to improved sales and lower costs. and tailored brands reported a smaller than expected loss and revenue did top forecasts. talk about prime numbers for the first time ever amazon unveiling its numbers on their prime video service. and the numbers are pretty big internal documents show its total audience was 26 million customers as of early 2017 jeff bezos openly talked about the importance of using video to convert viewers into shoppers. amazon's original programs like

"man in the high castle" account for a quarter of what analysts estimate to be prime signups from 2014 to early last year new production problems for tesla. a report is raising doubts about the model 3 production goals former and current employees reveal the automaker has been manufacturing a high volume of flawed parts that need rework and repair that puts tesla under pressure as it tries to meet numbers. tesla has denied its manufacturing teams also rework the cars, saying employers may be conflating reworkers haves s rework versus remanufacturing. the i had hits keep on comi united airlines. after yesterday's tragic story, wait until you hear what they

did with another dog this one should have a happier ending first here's today's national weather forecast from bill ka n kari karins >> chilly temperatures not only in the northeast but the mid-atlantic straight down into florida. tallahassee, windchill at 31 there are people in spring break not happy. freeze warnings continue in the deep south as all those nor easters continue to send the cold north wins down into the southeast. at least the sunshine will warm you up very cold temperatures this morning into the low 30s today's forecast, middle of the country looks fantastic. snow and rain showers to deal with in the northeast, wet weather in the west. by the time we get to friday we watch warm air in texas but also that means a chance of thunderstorms. we have to watch out for large hail, damaging winds, arkansas id nlouisiana into mississippi frayight that's your business travel forecast more "worldwide exchange" when we come back

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the markets change... at t. rowe price... our disciplined approach remains. global markets may be uncertain... but you can feel confident in our investment experience around the world. call us or your advisor... t. rowe price. invest with confidence. welcome back i'm brian sullivan markets are looking good dow futures, s&p and nasdaq futures indicating gains at the open there's a lot of economic data out between now and -- heck, a lot of things will happen between 5:22 a.m. and when the markets open, but still some green on the screen. united airlines making changes to its pet policy after yesterday's awful story about the death of a dog which was put

in an overhead bin united airlines saying to prevent this from happening again, by april we will issue bright-colored bag tags for customers traveling with in-cab din pet in pets. hard to believe there is news outside the world of business let's get some of your top stories from frances rivera in new york we start with the trump administration who says the united states stands with the uk in its decision to expel nearly two dozen russian diplomats. ambassador nikki haley told the u.n. security council that the united states believes russia is responsible for the attempted assassination of a former russian double agent and his daughter. two u.s. navy aviators are dead after their f-18 fighter jet crashed in florida crews transported the two to a

hospital but they were pronounced dead. a veteran astronaut, scott kelly, he came back from a year in space with altered dna. the stresses of orbit activated space genes as they're calling it affecting 7% of his dna it no longer matches that of his twin, mark kelly, who stayed on earth. not quite a space alien coming back, but maybe close with that dna. >> so the kelly brothers, we know them, they are friends of cnbc i personally know them as well great guys i will call them out if we do this together, we might be able to get it done i want to see how far apart they now are. >> i know, right >> they did all the tests before he went off to space and a year later. they're both big tweeters. i follow them, maybe they'll reach out. >> they're twins, right? i have twin girls next door to us, they say are you from outer

space? they look the same but not act the same, now they may be. frances, thank you very much still to come, a morning moneymaking opportunity. morgan stanley unveiling a list of the new top most favorite stocks we'll have that for you. and you may need to make money if you live in one of these cities the economist is out ranking the world's most expensive places to live new york not even on the top list at number four, hong kong. we'll show you the rest of the list coming up let's begin.

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welcome back wall street pointing to a higher open today investors trying to recoup some open. another pr disaster for united airlines. white until you hear about the latest puppy problem. and the end of the line for geoffrey the giraffe toys "r" us makes it official, they will shut down their entire u.s. operations and liquidate nearly all of their stores ♪ good morning that's a good song to get us kicked off i'm brian sullivan, thanks for being with us. here are your top five the five big things you need to

know wall street rebounding from yesterday's slide. the dow pointing to a nearly triple digit gain at the open. toys "r" us liquidating its u.s. operations, submitting papers to a bankruptcy court. and the senate passing a bill to relax dodd-frank regulations on the regional banks. that legislation heads to the house for approval. president trump is eyeing phase two of tax reform. sources telling cnbc that phase two could include making the individual tax cuts permanent. and our friend and cnbc staple larry kudlow is headed back to the white house. he will replay gary cohn as the president's top economic adviser. larry sat down with the closing bell team yesterday to talk about everything from his appointment to his take on the stock market >> i love the stock market i love wealth. i think rising stocks helps everybody. let me finish this point many people critical of me or the president's tax cuts are the

very people who are being helped the most for example, my friends in the union movement, teachers union, government workers, they hate this stuff the lower tax rates and the faster economic growth and the better profits is the only hope they have of ever seeing their pensions let's talk more about all of this joining us is jeffrey kleintop from charles schwab. when i hear global, i think trade. larry is for the most part a free trader, perhaps a counter force to peter navarro in the white house. is this good news for stocks >> i was on larry's radio show this past saturday, and we talked about free trade and how tariffs can get in the way of that there was thought when gary cohn left maybe it was because of tariffs. this sheds light, it was probably about quite a few other

things this is a real focus not just that free trade is important to the country but that the stock market is an important report card for how well the administration performs. >> you have this free trader, capitalism is the best path to pros prosperity is this a bullish move for stocks now you have larry whispering in the ear of the president about the equity markets who pays great attention to cnbc and the stock market >> it's an important plus. those words turn into actions, that's another thing the dollar is weaker this morning after mr. king dollar himself is welcomed into the white house. it will take a few more things than words to turn around the direction of some of these areas of the market. this wall of worry for the market has gotten more slippery as concerns about trade have emerged. we have section 301 investigations with china's

intellectual property, theft coming up. what will those china tariffs look like? the market is on edge about those. >> that's an important point that you're bringing up. it sounds wonky. people hear things like section 301 at 5:30 in the morning, their eyes roll back in their head but this is a big deal and no group may have more to lose than the emerging market stocks, correct? >> that's right. emerging market stocks are hyper sensitive to anything to do with trade. they have been booming because global trade is incredibly robust just the other day the oecd upgraded their outlook for the global economy, upgraded every one of the g20 economies in terms of their economic performance except for russia. that's great news. what could kill it is trade barriers so we'll have to keep a close eye on that. we are think they're worth the risk clearly they're facing an intense risk environment here in the next month with those trade

sanctions. >> how about this. if we got more tariffs, let's say the president goes forward, he ignores larry, goes forward and does this. are global earnings strong enough to mitigate any potential slowdown from those tariffs should we get them >> i like to think so. the global growth backdrop is the strongest it's been in a decade, but it depends on the size and scope of tariffs. if it's targeted in the tech sector, 30, $60 billion of products targeted, sure. if it's a blanket tariff across all chinese tariffs, something that might invite retaliation, that's more of a challenge and will make this wall of worry more slippery to climb >> the next important thing you are watching on behalf of schwab clients, what is it? >> earnings. are we seeing this economic growth translate into earnings looking for wage growth, seeing

some of that what impact will that have on profit margins which have been so wide. we welcome growth, but it can come at a cost watch those profit margins >> jeffrey kleintop, thank you very much for joining us on "worldwide exchange. see you soon new this morning, one of the world's biggest media companies filing for bankruptcy. contessa brew hear ter 45 th eey >> iheart media filing for bankruptcy today the largest u.s. radio station struggled with $20 billion in debt and falling revenue they reached an agreement with the holders of more than half of that debt to refinance the balance sheet. day-to-day operations will continue as usual as they believe they have enough cash on hand the filing comes after john malone's liberty media proposed a deal last month to buy a 40% stake in a restructured iheart media for 1.2 billion united it with liberty sirius xm satellite

radio. iheart media owns 648 radio stations across the united states including z 100 in new york and kiss fm in chicago. it produces syndicate ed radio shows for ryan seacrest, rush limbaugh and others, and it owns clear channel outdoor billboard company which is not part of the bankruptcy filing. the filing comes a decade after the company was bought for 27 billion, leaving it saddled with debt shares of iheart media lost three quarters of their value in 2015 and never recovered now trading at 48 cents. >> they say video killed the radio star i won't say it killed iheart media, because the company is still around we look at debt levels, we talk about toys "r" us, private equity, all the debt they slapped on that company is in focus today. >> for sure. >> all right contessa brewer, thank you very much the iea this morning upping

its oil demand forecast for the year should be good news for saudi arabia and its hoped for saudi aramco ipo hadley gamble is here, you will be hosting a show from abu dhabi in may >> just a couple weeks >> we got the story from the iea, which is more likely demand, lower production i'm surprised oil prices are not moving more. this has to be welcomed news for the aramco folks >> don't know if it will push things forward faster, but certainly welcomed news, certainly welcomed news for the crown prince as he begins this journey to the united states to sell people on saudi arabia and the future of that country this is a country desperately trying to wean itself away from oil revenues as the main source of income and trying to go quickly, but how quickly they can do that is the bigger

question >> is there a magic number >> we ask this every time. >> i know. are we that much of a broken record i think they would probably prefer a 7 handle? a nice little 75 number? >> yeah. it's interesting we heard 60 to 65 is better to keep down shale producers, but at the same time saudis are saying 70 and above is better for them the energy minister saying anything they get above what they need for saudi 2030 which is the plan to diversify the economy, employ people under 30, nuclear energy, et cetera, anything over that will be put back into the state. >> here in the states, it is trump, trump, trump. that's your daily rundown on most news. how big is the mohammad bin salman trip to the united states playing in the media in the middle east? >> it's massive. you have to remember that the president's first trip was to saudi arabia

his first foreign trip was to an arab country. >> he took some heat >> he did. but in the middle east they loved it there was that famous president obama speech in cairo at the beginning of his presidency. over the next eight years it was said he never lived up to those expectations president trump traveled to saudi arabia and many felt like this was a turning of the page and i think we'll see major deals announced. the question foreign policy-wise is now that we've gotten rid of r rex tillerson and mike pompeo is coming in. >> should play well in saudi arabia >> yes the cover of the papers in saudi arabia is you're fired they're keen to work with mike pompeo, and not move at all on this qatar situation >> which is so fascinating, tillerson's previous job as head

of exxon, you would think there would be a relationship there. >> he was closer to the former crown prince, the guy before mohammad bin salman, and that man was tough on terrorism, worked closely on terrorism with president bush and president obama. now with rex tillerson out, the saudis feel they're full steam ahead. >> nobody is bringing the palace intrigue of the saudis like you are, hadley gamble. morgan stanley revealing its stock picks to clients predicting big gains for several stocks this year they call it their fresh money buy list it's new they are highlighting these names. continental resources, cisco systems, disney, etrade, qvia holdings, knight transportation, microsoft, nextera energy and t

mobile if you did not get all those names, don't worry, we'll post them up on our "worldwide exchange" page and my personal page morgan stanley fresh money top ten buy list on social media and on the web. coming up on "worldwide exchange," batman gets stuck the must-see video of a roller coaster ride that went wrong and we're revealing the most expensive cities according to the economist intelligence unit. we had oslo, hong kong, and number three, zurich, switzerland. the top two are still to come. don't go away, you're watching "worldwide exchange.

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i made my own way, now it's time to make yours. ♪ everything is working, just like it should ♪ good morning welcome back to "worldwide exchange." 5:42 in the east here's how the markets look. looks like a good day. we get a lot of economic data coming out as the morning rolls on 8:30 a trifecta of pieces of economic data. right now the futures opening up about 80 points. boeing was the drag on the dow yesterday. it was one of the best gainers for the dow over the past 16, 18 months not a big move in the ten-year note, but in the two-year, yields hitting their highest level in nearly a decade time for the top trending stories. contessa brewer is back with

those. >> i will set the tone today for what you will be talking about >> set the tone. >> we talked yesterday about the dog in the overhead bin. another black eye this morning for united airlines. yesterday we told but a puppy that died on a united flight after being forced to fly in an overhead bin today another pet problem. a family goes from oregon to kansas they expect to pick up their german shepherd at the wichita airport. they get to the airport, they find not their german shepherd, but a great dane that was supposed to go to japan, and instead their pet went to japan. united confirmed the mix-up. the airline promised to return the animal as soon as possible yesterday after they found out their dog was in japan, they didn't know where it was, when it wascoming home. >> where is the dog now? >> unknown at this point >> the dog is okay that's the key >> the dog is alive.

they know it went to japan they were having a vet look at it in japan. now the issue of trying to get it and reunite it with its family by the way, this is something a colleague brought up, usually if you have a big overseas flight, you put food and water in a kennel for a dog on a short domestic flight maybe not. was there enough food and water for that dog? we don't know. >> great danes and german shepherds, not small dog somebody needs to see this hopefully the dog is okay. has some dog food, enjoying a saporo i'm kidding, don't give your dog beer duo lingo is offering an out of this world course, star trek's clingon. the site had a wait list of over 170,000 people live long and prosper in

klingon. >> in case you care about speaking it -- [ speaking foreign language ] this klingon does not understand english. >> do that again [ speaking foreign language ]. >> look what i have, brackets. former president barack obama filled out his basketball bracket. he picked michigan state over virginia in the men's tournament and uconn over mississippi state in the women's tournament. it doesn't take a lot to pick uconn for the women. the current president has -- he didn't fill out a bracket last year 38% of those poled in a recent poll say they want him to, but golf is his thing. i filled out my own bracket. i tried. the "wall street journal" has a cool thing where you can -- it makes it up for you. >> mm-hmm. what do you think? >> this -- i love your strategy.

to win your brackets you have to pick names that other people don't. you have to pick some upsets, they have to happen. that's why it's impossible to have a perfect bracket i love the fact that contessa brewer is going with the s.e.c.'s tennessee why tennessee? >> it's what the "wall street journal" thing came up for me. i did it three times i was trying to get syracuse to the winner, it never worked. they came up with auburn, virginia, finally landed on tennessee. >> i love it you have to have this strategy tennessee, duke, villanova, gonzaga. you never know >> okay. >> this is scary trouble at the amusement park. roller coaster rides at six flags in texas got a larger thrill than they bargained four when their ride stalled for 45 minutes. passengers on batman the ride were stuck near the top of the initial hill because a safety sensor went off.

guests were unloaded safely for a much longer trip than they anticipated. that ride is one of those ones where you sit, open. look at the far left those people -- if you're on the radio, they're at the top. these people are sitting facing down for 45 minutes. >> okay. that's -- that's the way i would look at it but an optimist might say you waited for 45 minutes to get on the ride, at least you got your money's worth. no >> unless the flash pass didn't wait tennessee. we're approaching the top of the hour the team is getting ready for "squawk box. joe kernen has a look at what's coming up. what's your day like >> i don't see tennessee anywhere close to -- i don't know >> joe kernen says you're horribly wrong >> i can hear him. >> anything is possible. better than they've been in recent years after saying that, ihave no

idea you know i said yesterday i'm going with my heart, not my brain if i were to pick the team that i think really has a good shot, i have been rooting against this team, the one i'm talking about, i won't name names, begins with a "v." could be virginia orvil ville f havevillanova or vanderbilt. >> you are rooting against somebody you have the anti-bracket. >> i can't in good faith have them winning it all. i put xavier winning it all, but i think that's a low probability. you never know michigan state, president obama -- >> he loves them >> they have the strongest -- if you go one through nine, they're all good supposedly xavier is the other team with the great -- not just five or six good guys, but a

deep bench you want to talk about a deep bench? hello? cn cnbc how do you talk about one of our colleagues, suddenly we have carte blanche to talk about kudlow, kudlow it's bizzare he's our buddy, a cnbc guy, and we knew him when yesterday you mentioned boeing that was it. china fears, market down, boeing gets some problems selling over there. larry is a free trader today we'll see maybe part of the upswing. he will have to go up against president trump like cohn did. larry is persuasive. he is the ultimate free trader maybe we get a bounce back but then pompeo, people think he'll be tough on china. >> you recently spoke to the president, kudlow is in. i demand to be named ambassador to sea land. >> can't you shoot higher? i've been pushing for malta.

ever been to malta >> their chocolate covered balls spectacular. >> very manageable malta. >> i love their dogs, too. >> beautiful part of -- i think it's nice. i've been there. small. manageable i think i can handle it. i want malta ambassador to malta. e! my son's birthday look at this tie look at this scottie dogs >> joe kernen, thank you up next, the big reveal. we'll tell you the world's most expensive two cities number two, paris. very expensive what is the most expensive cy it in the world stick around to find out

dad! dad! can you drive me to jessica's house?

(groans) ♪ "welcome to my house" by flo rida ♪ this is what our version of financial planning looks like. tomorrow is important, but so is making the most of the house before they're out of the house. spend your life living. find an advisor at northwesternmutual.com. welcome back it's time to unveil the world's most expensive city according to the economist intelligence unit.

the list took into account prices for items like cheese, smokes, gasoline, things like that quickly recapping the list oslo number five hong kong four zurich, three. paris, the runner-up the most expensive city is singapore. singapore is the world's most expensive place to live. taxes on stuff like automobiles, you buy a $60,000 car, it's going to be like $200,000 after taxes. singapore, the most expensive place to live. futures looking good gain expected for the dow based on futures talk more about the markets and your money, karen calf knew from voya investment management you say the abcs are so key right now. what are the abcs about? >> "a" is accelerating corporate earnings indeed they are accelerating we just wrapped up q4, had 15% growth year over year.

and q1 looks about 17%, 18% growth how can you argue with that? earnings are continuing to move forward. "b," broadening manufacturing. we've seen a manufacturing renaissance even before tariffs. and we see ism numbers over 60 that's good news "c" is consumer. the consumer, we had a tick back in retail sales yesterday. if you take out autos, the consumer is still strong labor market is extremely strong and consumers are in good shape. reaching almost 100 trillion in household wealth so if you look at those abcs, it's easy to keep the washington drama and some of the trade war fear on the back burner. >> that's -- you're making such an important point if you go out around the country, you talk to people. i don't think anybody out there is saying, let's not buy a house because rex tillerson just got fired. that's not happening it's intriguing, but people are not changing behavior, are they?

>> no. at the end of the day, companies are to the changing their earnings trajectories either companies are taking advantage of a global economy continuing to move forward. right now we have pro growth policies, pro business policies, and that's unleashing underlying growth that we haven't seen in decad decades. i'm thinking all this bad stuff with the trade wars, and potential inflation, i think investors are mispricing the good things. not pricing good things in, that growth we're starting to see we'll start to see companies spend capital investment, that will be good for productivity. that is when we'll see some wage growth we had a great labor report last friday but not a lot of wage growth there's not that inflationary pressure if we get to see capital spending, that will move forward. >> karen cavanaugh, go to the

grill and get a big nasty, great way to start the day down there in charleston. >> thank you. thank you for watching "worldwide exchange. have an awesome day. "squawk box" is next to change y 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.

good morning toys "r" us making it official it's planning to close or sell all of its u.s. stores details ahead. another day, another puppy problem for united this time the airline sent a dog to japan instead of kansas city. and mr. kudlow goes to washington a familiar face to cnbc viewers will replace gary cohn as president trump's top economic adviser. what he means to the markets and your money i know what you're thinking, where can i get a tie like this? you have to go back in time 16 years, it's a scottie dog tie

because it's scottie's birthday, my son, and "squawk box" begins right now. live from new york where business never sleeps, this is "squawk box. good morning welcome to "squawk box" on cnbc. we're live from the nasdaq market site in times square. i'm becky quick along with joe kernen and andrew ross sorkin. equity futures indicating a positive open for the dow and s&p 500. nasdaq a little under, i don't know how much faith i would put into it, for three days in a row we've seen stronger futures in the morning, only to see a selloff by the end of the day. s&p futures up by 3 1/2. yesterday the dow was down by 1%, a also of 250 points, th