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tv   Worldwide Exchange  CNBC  April 19, 2018 5:00am-6:00am EDT

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it is 5:00 a.m. in virginia. here are the top five things happening now. president trump vowing to intensify trade talks with ja n japan. that's calming global markets this morning. another top nike executive is out this is the sixth high-level departure in a month the faa ordering hundreding of jet engines to be inspected following the southwest airlines jet engine explosion. amazon cracking 100 million prime users worldwide. and p & g buying merck's consumer healthcare business for
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more than $4 billion it's thursday, april 19th. "worldwide exchange" begins now. ♪ >> my team must be super man i was listening to this album on the way to work this morning they randomly played super man by r.e.m good morning i'm brian sullivan no real trend in stocks right now. here in the states futures are flat to maybe slightly down. but when you're talking about dow futures at this hour down 8 points, i wouldn't put a lot of credence in that earlier this year the ten-year note blasted towards 3%. for the last few months has been sitting around the 2.8%, 2.9% mark that's where we are now. no big move in stock futures or bond yields now.
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perhaps more important than bond yields for the markets now is trade. the negotiating continues on that president trump and japanese prime minister shinzo abe agreeing to step u holding a joint news conference last night eamon javers joins us with more. >> lots of warm words between the two leaders yesterday at mar-a-lago we had a round of golf a lunch. a dinner, a press conference, but ultimately the situation remains the same today as yesterday. that is that the japanese would like the united states to come back into tpp, the transpacific partnership, the united states signaling it doesn't want to do that it would rather a bilateral agreement with the japanese on trade. the japanese signaling that's not good enough for them the japanese also wanted some exemptions to the steel and aluminum tariffs that the united states put in place earlier this year the united states signaling that's not going to happen either despite those warm words and the
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bromance between donald trump and shinzo abe, we didn't get a break through here in the negotiations on trade no tangible takeaways here now that we're at last day of shinzo abe's visit to south florida the president yesterday didsay he views the tariffs he's been talking about and putting in place as a powerful negotiating tool >> i will add that the 232, having to do wialuminum and stel tariffs, it got us to the bargaining table in some cases in other cases they're paying. >> a lot of warm words here, but no hot deal on trade we'll wait and see what the rest of the day today brings. the president will be heading down to key west, florida for events at the southern most tip of the state of florida later this morning
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>> eamon javers in florida, see you soon now let's tie together trade with trading and bring in tim seymour. tim, it's national high five day as well. remotely -- >> let's do that let's do that. nice to hear fables of the reconstructioning this morning, a little r.e.m >> we got some fairly calm tones from the president and from japan. are you eased a bit on the trade worries we've been having the last couple of months? >> first, i think you have to give president trump some credit here on some level, as audacious as some of this was, some folks are falling in line. in japan's case, abe came here with a couple things that were important. north korea and regional influence was possibly more important than trade
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obviously for japan, historically known as the export center of the world, i think trade concerns have certainly hit that economy in the first quarter, if you look at the trade numbers, export numbers out yesterday. i don't know that's something the market should be trading on. ultimately, look, this is an important time for the relationships in that region i think north korea and influence in the u.s. and japan being tied in their interest is important to abe now >> not from a political perspective, but from a money perspective, do you think the world -- traders and investors are kind of getting used to the president's style. we've never seen it before lobbing firebombs on twitter to china and around the world it seems the effect of those tweets and the more bombastic comments are being sort of related to more mutedly by the markets. >> look, the reality is that there do seem to be constructive discussions between the u.s. and china. there seem to be constructive discussions between the u.s. and
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our allies so the folks that were concerned that we were striking broad-based trade deals, putting up tariffs, putting up impediments to global trade. that was a concern i think it's still a concern right now actions will speak louder than words. there are no deals really done yet. we have unwound a lot of the tension. that's bullish obviously there's a negotiating style that people see that's going on here. i think when it comes to some of these trade discussions, the u.s. does hold the cards i think in the case of some of these particular products, i think there was some inequity that needed to be rectified. but you're right i do think that people are calmer markets are taking this from a markets perspective we are not harping every day on trade fears the way we were. you have to remind markets or maybe they know that, growth fears are more significant than inflation fears. you started out talking about the ten-year note which is
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getting back to the levels where there was high anxiety but people are also more comfortable with the context of rates and the fed and how quickly the fed will move despite the fact that the yield curve is flattening, and that tells you people are concerned about the fed. >> speaking of twitter, i saw you tweet out something yesterday, tim -- >> oh, no. >> it wasn't about the mets. you said, gosh, more whining about the yield -- i've been one of those people whining about the yield curve. why are you not worried about that spread? why doesn't it worry you some people seem concerned >> i'm not worried about the yield curve as it relates to bank earnings. if we want to now just quickly address earnings season which has largely been as expected, strong, we have had earnings beats, banks have come in with record numbers they continue to show balance sheets are strong. despite anemic loan growth,
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they're making a lot of money. lloyd blankfein pointed out we're in an unnatural state between what central banks have done to the dynamics of the yield curve and interest rates and how the environment banks operate in as they walk that back, banks become more profitable my comments were about banks, earnings, and about people overly harping on a flattening yield curve. that was my point. >> the financials will be fine is your point,think, if we summarize it. >> i think we're getting good numbers, i think valuations are arguably the most defendable at a time when i think that equities are not very cheap. but i think banks are. >> but earnings look good. you have to admit. you guys every night on "fast money" are going through these numbers. they look nothing short of -- i don't want to say spectacular, but very good. >> i think the bank numbers the
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first quarter have been very strong this yield curve discussion, i like to say people who can't find the yield curve on a map are talking about the yield curve. if you look at how banks perf m performed during those periods where the yield curve was flat or inverted, 2006, jpmorgan was up 45% that year i think jpmorgan's business has never been more diversified and the foundation for banks looks strong, especially talking about a global economy, certainly u.s. economy, that is in an upswing if you believe that, you want to own the banks. that's where the operational leverage is. >> global markets are strong earnings are strong. mets are 13-4. things are good. >> my goodness thank you very much. >> see you soon. thank you. sticking with trade, it is not just wall street that has an opinion on the topic small business owners are also sounding off kate rogers covers small business for us. she's been speaking with small business owners everywhere and
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joins us now with more >> good morning. for small business owners like alice reid, tariffs on exports to china may mean make or break. this farm has been in her family for 100 years growing corn and soybeans a potential tariff on soybeans has her on edge. she was concerned about what president trump's might mean for main street at a time when the ag economy is really hurting >> well, we're a small business. we stand for american ways, we sure hope that he would help out the small guy instead of harming us we're hurting down here. the nebraska economy is dependent upon farms that's our business. we hope that he can come through and help us.
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>> but others like jason duff, owner of bell fountain, ohio properties did support trump during the election. he said he likes the idea of an even playing field when it comes to trade that being said, duff's business is in investing and renovating small businesses in his hometown, and tariffs have meant higher prices already. >> as there is greater uncertainty in the market, it's difficult for me to plan and take initiative and risk in doing future projects. >> advocacy groups have been split on mainstream. the conservative national federation of independent business has yet to weigh in on tariffs as a whole but pointed out trade ranked dead last on their priorities poll. it's interesting to see how these policies impact actual splaul b
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small business owners. we talk about them at a high level, but we see these examples and what it means. >> 95% of america works for companies under 50 employees small business is business you talk to these people all the time are they still feeling good, optimistic >> when you get into industries like farming, manufacturing, construction, you can see them getting nervous about some of these policies overall we've seen the optimism poll has risen, not only risen but maintained at these high levels a lot of the business owners you talk to feel good they're hiring, investing, but skilled labor is such an issue for them. >> huge problem everywhere it's amazing sometimes the differences on the front page of the paper and how people feel. thank you very much. >> thank you we are continuing to follow the latest on the fatal southwest airlines explosion and
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the faa is making a big move in response it's ordering ultrasonic inspections of 220 engines this comes as investigators found a broken fan blade likely caused that engine to explode. those inspection also take place over the next six months another top nike executive is out the vice president of footwear, greg thompson, has left the economy. this is the sixth high-level departure from the company in a month. his exit comes as ceo mark parker is working to clean up the corporate culture. amazon's big numbers just keep getting bigger. amazon says it has more than 100 million prime members globally that number came out in jeff bezos's annual letter to shareholders he added that amazon music also has tens of millions of paid subscribers. and the pace of addition
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growing, bezos saying they added more paid subscribers this year than any other year and they shipped over 5 billion items worldwide. wow. amazon stock up nearly 2% right now in extended hours trading. your big individual money stories also include american express. first quarter profits easily topping forecasts. an improving u.s. economy contributed to higher spending amex spent 2.3 billion on customer awards because they are seeking affluent customers. alcoa was helped by rising aluminum prices and they raised their full-year outlook but said there is uncertainty in the global supply chain due to trade and supply descriptions. prokcter & gamble buying merck kgaa for 2$2.4 billion
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p&g moving up its earnings report that's the german merck, unrelated to the u.s. company of the same name. they were related like 100 years ago. we are just getting started on "worldwide exchange." watch out, alexa china is coming for you. how china is making a bet on artificial intelligence. we'll go live to beijing and later, do alpha males deliver alpha in the markets how testosterone might be impacting your hedge fund's performance. bro, you have to stick around. "worldwide exchange" returns after this yes or no? do you want the same tools and seamless experience across web and tablet? do you want $4.95 commissions for stocks, $0.50 options contracts? $1.50 futures contracts? what about a dedicated service team of trading specialists? did you say yes? good, then it's time for power e*trade. the platform, price and service
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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,
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sure. still yes! xfinity delivers gig speed to more homes than anyone. now you can get it, too. welcome to the party. the newsmaking from netflix will not slow down netflix now saying they will greatly expand their original programming lineup in europe and double its european content budget to $1 billion let's go to peter spiegel, news editor at "the financial times." here stateside, every months net flex com -- netflix comes out with a new show, and they all seem to be a hit. >> for the first time in last quarter earnings, they announced subscriber numbers are bigger outside the u.s. than in the u.s. it's about half and half now about 75 million outside of the u.s. growing faster than the u.s.
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viewership what we reported this morning is that they are ramping up production it's not just english language they're doing production in france, turkey, the netherlands. this is a head to head take on of the local broadcasters, some of which are state-owned so clearly a lot of government backlash against some of this. they face regulatory issues. but they push that we are creating jobs in these countries. we are jobs for your local language speakers. so it's an economic and business offensive but also a political offensive, trying to win over some of these governments about an american tech company coming in and taking over things. >> the whole thesis is subscriber growth around the world. they say everyone in america pretty much has netflix already. we need european and asian
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growth as a resident of the uk, rather than a journalist, how big is netflix in the uk? do you guys talk about it with the obsessiveness that we talk about it here? >> let's remember one of the biggest if not biggest shows they have had is "the crown" about the early days of queen elizabeth's reign. that's filmed here that's on the front page of the big celebrity tabloids here all the time it's huge in the uk. to me the big thing is the move to the continent if you're an american company, britain is always the first place you come to because of the common language. france in particular, this is a company that's shove chauvinist aggressive push into europe is the big news here. the one thing we have to address there are still bears out there on netflix this is a company that doesn't make money they borrow a huge amount of money to do these productions.
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so there is still concern that netflix is borrowing money in an incredibly cheap interest rate environment in an era where we will see a rising interest rate environment. >> they're generating cash flow, but also generating costs at a greater rate >> bsolutely >> before we let you go, the imf warning global debt 1$164 trillion the u.s. on many levels is now more indebted than italy >> this is the point i was going to make. this is the nervousness when we saw the wobble in the markets about two, three months ago, the taper tantrum. this has been the unprecedented thing in terms of borrowing. we've been in a zero interest rate environment for six, seven years. negative interest rates. with the amount of debt loaded on to balance sheets, private and public, the imf bigger than
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2007 before the financial crisis, and in a rising interest rate environment someone has to begin financing that at rates that are market sensitive. the question is are we in a bubble environment with companies in the tech area but also in sovereigns the u.s. was a private debt crisis in europe the eurozone crisis was a sovereign debt crisis. both balance sheets have gone through the roof if people have to pay more money to service this debt, we could be in trouble. >> it's not new news necessarily, but it's a big scary shoulder by the way, look over your shoulder, are those four guys watching you >> we do have cnbc on our tvs all the time i will admit it. we do watch you guys >> they are watching closely we love that you have us on over there. >> i'm the boss man, they have to keep an eye on me >> they will and they are.
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let's go from europe to asia we are worldwide exchange. china making a big bet on artificial intelligence. the company startups are pushing forward in a battle to dominate space. eunice yoon has more on the ai story. thank you very much. you would expect the hottest place for ai would be silicon valley, but this week, we spoke to the ceo of a startup who said actually it's china. you may not have heard of sense time, but the ceo of the hong kong startup has a message for silicon valley the face of the world's leader in artificial intelligence may be changing. >> i think china really has an advantage. >> reporter: backed by alibaba and qualcomm, the 3-year old facial recognition company is the most valuable ai startup in the world. >> the government is encouraging differentsectors and maybe different industries to use
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those new technologies and this is very important for maybe for us for startups. >> reporter: the chinese government wants to be a leader in ai, pledging to turn it into a 1$150 billion industry by 203. >> facesense has an i.d. that should make life easier. all those companies are embracing facial recognition technologies. >> reporter: privacy issues have risen to the forefront in the u.s., not so in china says this veteran investor >> i think chinese users at this point in time are more willing to trade privacy for convenience. that will help the companies build up more ai applications. >> reporter: sensetime's xu believes people will be more comfortable having their movements tracked, but until then the privacy debate may prevent u.s. tech companies from competing. >> it takes time
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the u.s. and the world can see that there's no harm to use those technologies >> and i'm told that the other big advantage for china is the volume of data because of the size of the population, chinese companies are able to collect data on over 1 billion mobile devices brian? >> numbers everywhere. so big eunice yoon, interesting stuff on ai. thank you. a lot more to do on "worldwide exchange" including a double dose of space news. first up, spacex on a quest to find new planets it's the big launch that has everybody buzzing today. later, how one miami luxury apartment building is taking a page out of the jetsons. you have to hear this story. stick around ♪
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and while we make more e-commerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country, we never forget... that your business is our business the united states postal service. priority: you ♪ welcome back to "wex." let's check on news outside the world of money and business. >> good morning. for the first time in nearly 60 years, cuba will not be ruled by a member of the castro family. 86-year-old raul castro today is expected to hand over power to his hand-picked successor, the vice president castro will retain considerable power as head of the communist power. and we are learning nor about the pilot who landed ta southwest plane in philadelphia
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on tuesday she is being hail a hero for keeping calm during that chaos one real estate developer is taking new luxury miami high rise into the future with a flying carport atop the 700-foot tall paramount naomi world center it will be used as an observation deck until flying cars can become a reality. so soon will you have a new place to land your whip when you're in south florida. >> there's a practical application now, which is drone deliveries when that happens, if you're rich enough to afford that place, i assume you'll buy a lot of stuff on amazon, too. >> good thinking >> stand up there, drop it into my hands, the gold and caviar. still ahead on "worldwide exchange." do alpha males deliver alpha what science and maybe baldness
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have to say about hedge fund performance. we have that interesting story with leslie picker when "wex" rolls on get domo. it'll connect us to everything that's going on in the company. get it for jean who's always cold. for the sales team, it and the warehouse crew. give us the data we need. in one place, anywhere we need it. help us do our jobs better. with domo we can run this place together. well that's that's your job i guess. ♪ hello. give me an hour in tanning room 3. cheers! that's confident. but it's not kayak confident. kayak searches hundreds of travel sites to help me plan
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stocks continue their push higher today trump trying to temper trade tensions most stocks around the world are higher today but forget stocks, shall we? can you name the best performing real asset this year it's not a stock at all, it's your morning rbi and it's coming up. and performance problems,
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why alpha males may not deliv f testosterone and stock returns "worldwide exchange" rolls on. ♪ welcome back thanks for being with us on cnbc i'm brian sullivan so glad you're with us here are the stock futures not indicating a big move in the united states. most of the global markets are higher on an implied basis the dow is up 11 points. do keep in mind it's early let's talk more now about things longer-term. phil orlando from federated investors joins us now you have been bullish on earnings you've been right. you talked recently in your note about the market roller coaster, all this trade stuff the correction that was needed earnings, really, i know it's boring, but they're fundamental
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and they've been good. >> ultimately earnings will drive share prices we're early in the season. about 10%, 15% of the way in so clearly things can change we're up about 28% year over year so far with about 80% of the company surprising -- >> on earnings >> on earnings earnings per share, up 28% year over year. 80% of the companies are beating by an average of 6%. we don't think those numbers will stay that elevated. we could end up, you know, up 20%, up 22%, something like that even going into the season, factset was expecting an increase any way you slice it, earnings will be good the cyclicly oriented companies are driving the bus. >> it's an important point, up 28% year over year is not only really good lis tohistorically r
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surpassing some bullish expectations >> no question in 2016 we were in the midst of an earnings recession that lasted about seven quarters. we have swapped that now for numbers that are two handles estimates have to go up, ultimately the stock market is up 40% in the last year and a half reflecting the better earnings picture >> the trillion dollar question is how much of that jump is people, the smart money, already knowing earnings were better than expected and we already got the benefit of good earnings >> i think that's right. we think the stock market will continue to go up, but we won't be up another 20% 40% in the next 12 months we will continue to grind higher as the markets and the economy continue to do better. >> so a great year for earnings may not be a great year for stocks could it be an okay year for
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stocks >> we had a great 12 months. i'm talking about the next 12. >> one thing that makes the picture better going forward, we had a 12% correction from the peak in january to the troughs we established over the last couple of months if we got that behind us, and we think we're putting that bottom in, getting to 3100 by the end of the year would imply a 20% return from that trough. we're up probably 4%, 5% over the last three weeks this is what is supposed to happen >> it did run quietly, despite the trump brouhaha over trade, stocks are up. >> it's been very quiet. we may have more noise and nonsense over the summer, the mueller investigation. what is the fed going to do? what are the midterm elections looking like i will not suggest there will not be more volatility over the summer there probably will be but as we get past that and put that into the rearview mirror going into the fourth quarter, we could have a strong fourth
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quarter. >> those things you mentioned matter to the united states, matter to people they lead every news show for the most part every day all the time how much do they matter to stocks >> that's the $64,000 question our job is to separate the weak from the chaffed to take the noise, nonsense and stupidity in washington and put it on that side and focus on the things that drive stocks >> some say don't buy ibm, the mueller investigation is ramping up they're huge stories, but do they impact stock prices >> they are huge stories, but we'll get to 3100 by the end of the year >> phil orlando, appreciate it we are getting some new details this morning on why 21st century fox rejected a takeover
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bid from comcast a new regulatory filing last night shows that after extended talks, the fox board decided to pass on comcast's offer primarily due to antitrust concerns, despite a higher price offer. comcast also did not offer to pay a breakup fee if the deal did not go through comcast's offer, 16.5% li higher than disney's bid which fox went with. kinder morgan, their adjusted first quarter earnings beat forecasts the pipeline company also raising its dividend by 60%. our neighbor here, unilever, reporting a 5% drop in first quarter revenue citing currency headwinds and the impact of the sale of its spreads business they also launched a $7 billion stock buyback. nestle reporting better than expected first quarter sales
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getting a boost from consumer spending in america, because people are spending more on their pets it's not just a candy company, it's a dog food company. time for the top trending stories. kate rogers has more >> nasa's partnership with spacex was a success yesterday with the test research satellite. the satellite was launched with the help of a spacex falcon 9 rocket the rockets came back to earth less than nine minutes after liftoff furthering the goal of fully reusable rockets and spacecraft. cardi b was just being honest when she said for the record i set records in one of her latest songs she broke two guinness world records, both held by beyonce. since the release of her most recent album, cardi broke the record for most simultaneous
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billboard hot 100 entries by a woman. she has 13 back in january she already claimed the record for most simultaneous billboard u.s. hip-hop by top ten entries by a woman. "saturday night live" has announced its lineup of hosts and guests, and fan also see the return of an old favorite. tina fey will come back to the 30 rock stage on may 19th after donald glover and amy schumer finish their hosting duties. best remembered for her impersonations of sarah palin, she was a cast member for six years. this will be her sixth time hosting the show that's a can't miss. >> i like to put people on the spot on live international television at 5:40 in the morning. on a scale of 1 to 10, how obsessed are you actually with beyonce? >> it's an 11. i hope if i keep talking about her on tv, you know, maybe she'll sit down for a cnbc make it >> probably not at 5:40 in the
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morning, but we'll go anywhere for green bey. >> i've been in the hive, in formation for two years now. >> you should have gone to coachella. destiny's child had a reunion spontaneously on the stage >> i know. >> throwing a little shade at 5:40 appreciate it. >> thank you. still to come, alpha males delivering alpha no the science of success or lack of because of testosterone you have to hear this story. you will only hear it here on cnbc as we head to break, here is your national weather forecast from bill karins good thursday morning to you. once again watching snow and little bit of cold rain affecting areas from philadelphia to new york city especially southern new england. there will be a bit of snow, minor accumulations. southern tier of new york into central pennsylvania that's about it you will see some of those snowflakes they will be melting on the
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pavement on central portions of new england. at 5:00 p.m. this evening, the storm is just about gone leftover rain showers. friday is blustery and chilly. today's forecast, watching dry weather in the southeast, much cooler today in atlanta than yesterday. no problems in texas we have to watch that fire danger with gusty winds once again in arizona, new mexico and oklaho at your business travel forecast more "worldwide exchange" when we come back it's really not very important. i was in the stone ages as much as technology wise. and i would say i had nothing. you become a school teacher for one reason, you love kids. and so you don't have the same tools, you don't always believe you have the same... outcomes achievable for yourself. when we got the tablets, it changed everything.
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by giving them that technology and then marrying it with a curriculum that's designed to have technology at the heart of it, we are really changing the way that students learn. and i can't wait for ten years from now when i get to talk to them again and see, like, who they are. ♪
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but i'm not standing still... and with godaddy, i've made my ideas real. ♪ i made my own way, now it's time to make yours. ♪ everything is working, just like it should ♪ theseare heading back home.y oil thanks to dawn, rescue workers only trust dawn, because it's tough on grease yet gentle. i am home, i am home, i am home
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welcome back thanks for being with us on this thursday let's check on how the cryptocurrencies are doing stock futures are flat bond yields not moving ether up nearly 2%, bitcoin up 0. 0.72%. do alpha males really deliver alpha, alpha being how much money you make in the overall market a new study finds higher levels of testosterone in hedge fund managers may have an impact on stock performance. leslie picker has more what is this story >> reporter: after years of under-performance in the hedge fund industry, researchers may be looking for genetic reasons why. we went down to orlando to talk to a researcher who did a study to see how testosterone levels affect hedge fund returns. hedge funds, an industry synonymous with alpha.
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that's what most of them strive for, alpha, or outperformance. but it's also an industry spearheaded by a certain stereotype, straight out of central casting, the alpha males. a new study asks do alpha males or those with higher testosterone levels deliver better returns research conducted at the university of central florida and singapore management university found hedge fund managers with higher testosterone levels underperform those with lower testosterone levels by 5.8% each year on average. this researcher used hedge fund manager s facial dimensions as a proxy for testosterone levels. though studied over 3,000 hedge fund managers, all male. she measured the facial ratio to determine levels other studies showing the facial width to height ratio as a
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reliable cue to masculine levels >> we found the high level of testosterone can -- for human beings can bring fearlessness, risk taking, and these treat chores can also lead to unethical behavior >> reporter: other studies found testosterone has been beneficial in certain jobs, namely for ceos and high frequency traders for better returns in the hedge fund world, lu advises to avoid alpha male managers. the study found that managers with high amounts tend to trade more frequently, have a propensity for lottery-like stocks, and they're more likely to succumb to the disposition effect, so they tend to hold on to losing stocks for longer and sell winners >> okay. this story, i have so many
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questions, so little time. it's national tv, i have to watch myself so, is there any -- how do we -- if you go in to the hedge fund manager, he's kissing his bicep, how do we know -- you know back hair? you can't ask? baldness how did we know? >> i think kissing a bicep is a good sign. if your hedge fund mannier is ki -- manager is kissing his bicep, he may not be as focused. you're right, you can't take a saliva test, nor do most people have access to the software this researcher used in order to determine whether the hedge fund manager has high testosterone levels or not. you're right it's not something that the every-day person can really test and get an exact number for. i think there are some clues that you could use that you can maybe determine whether they're
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more of a manly man than not >> dumb be bebells next to the anybody is kissing their bicep, don't give them your money before i give you my money, give me a cup >> we may be getting to that point. >> this is the best -- leslie picker, thank you. i'll let you off the hook. good luck with the story on "squawk box. >> thank you i'll need it once again, speaking of hedge funds, cnbc is partnering with the ira sohn foundation, we'll be at the sohn conference on monday in new york this brings wall street's brightest investors together, they sit in front of an audience and say i'm announcing a short position on whatever, and the stocks move. we'll have cnbc coverage all day
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from the sohn conference. the big tech crackdown we'll tell you about facebook's latest move to protect users. and do you know what made investors more money this year than anything else it's not stocks. there's your mystery -- what is that it's your morning rbi. the most random but interesting [fbi this is your new name. this is your new house. and a perfectly inconspicuous suv. you must become invisible. [hero] i'll take my chances.
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wanted to talk about technology and regulation th traditionally europe has led the united states on regulatory issues around technology how high on the eu's agenda do you believe increasing regulation on companies like facebook or google might be? >> well, it's quite high on eu's agenda and there are different aspects to this. in a short time, the new data protection regulation will enter into force, which will then also provide rules on how personal data can be handled and shared we adopted a fintech action plan to deal with financial technologies we had cryptocurrencies roundtable to discuss how we approach cryptocurrencies, or crypto assets. so indeed regulating technology
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including financial technology is high on our agenda. >> personally, sir, do you believe the facebooks of the world and twitter -- whatever it might be, need or require more regulation right now >> well, it's -- i would say not so much. we're not concentrating so much on specific companies, but on different kinds of activities, which companies carry out. so one thing, which is certainly important, we see it in the case of facebook, which is the handling of personal data. and that's where our general data protection regulation comes into force when it comes to different fintech companies, of course it's important that also investors or consumers money is being protected. >> part of the key role that you got in europe is to monitor the developments and regulation and all issues around crypto
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commodities and cryptocurrencies, the bitcoins of the world this is a new industry, as you know it's a fast-growing industry it's widely traded what's the status of regulation around cryptocurrencies now in europe do you think we'll see more and more regulation of these cryptocurrencies >> first of all, we need to raise awareness of investors into those cryptocurrencies or crypto assets, that those are highly speculative assets that are not guaranteeing value it's a balance between demand and supply so there are risks, including risks of loses your investments in those assets. to this extent eu, european supervisory authorities held renewed warnings then in regards to examples of money laundering, we are now
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introducing rules that cryptocurrencies should also be subject to our anti-money laundering rules, to make sure cryptocurrencies are exchanging money for cryptocurrencies does not provide for elicit activities and we also raised this issue at the g20 level. because cryptocurrencies is international phenomenon, so there has to be coordinated international response >> appreciate your insight this morning. have a successful weekend of meetings thank you very much. >> thank you let's wrap it up with the morning rbi. what has provided the best real return this year is it stocks etfs no cocoa. that's right chocolate. cocoa futures up 48% this year that's better performance than any other major stock index or
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commodity. you may not care, but when the price of your candy bar goes up, you might. good morning i'm off tomorrow southwestern virginia, here i come see you monday you know what's awesome? gig-speed internet. you know what's not awesome? 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!
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xfinity delivers gig speed to more homes than anyone. now you can get it, too. welcome to the party.
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good morning president trump vowing to step up trade talks with japan. we'll show you how global markets are reacting dow component procter & gamble announcing a deal in the consumer health business and the company is moving its earnings release as a result to today. and are alpha males better at delivering alpha? we have the results of a new study on testosterone levels and investment performances as well as hair growth that's thursday, april 19, 2018. "squawk box" begins right now.
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♪ live from new york where business never sleeps, this is "squawk box. good morning, everybody. welcome 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. let's look at the u.s. equity futures. yesterday there was a bit of a pullback in the markets. only the slightest one for the dow. you did see the s&p 500 and nasdaq slightly higher mixed day. you can see that same story carrying out this morning in reverse. dow futures higher, up by 12 points s&p seeing a slight pullback of 1.5 points same story for the nasdaq. we'll see as we continue to get earnings in how this shapes i. look overnight in asia looks like the nikkei was up, just slightly. up by

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