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>> a gorgeous evening as only the brits can do as president trump arrives for the black tie dinner with prime minister theresa may. there'll be a bunch of business leaders, the band, the pipes >> canon, i thought we might see it go off. very impressive. a very impressive arrival ceremony there let's bring in wilfred frost who's in london. >> charlize is standing at attention. >> and wilf, a couple of days of the president's visit there. >> reporter: before we come to the days ahead let's touch on that arrival ceremony at bl blenheim palace.

winston churchill was born there. it's also thought that president trump was a fan of his why was he born there, because he's the first duke of and the first duke had it built for him in the early 1700s by queen anne after he led the allied forces to victory in the battle of 1704 so that's the reason for the setting there tonight. as you've said it is hosted by the prime minister and attended by business leaders. heres some notable names of people we're pretty confident are attending, some leaders of banks like goldman sachs in europe, and the question is can tay convince the president to remove tariffs on the eu or perhaps get him to commit verbally to a free trade deal with the u.k. once it has left

the e.u. on that note the ceo of tatter steel said he will be coming that moons president trump can avoid protists, particularly the protests here in london, a taste of which he got when he was leaving the u.s. ambassador's residence at winfield house at regents park in london not quite the thousands of people that are expected in the square tomorrow morning the focal point will be the square for those protests and we will get to speak to the mayor of london on that particular topic tomorrow as well guys >> yeah, the mayor who actually was criticized, right, by president trump himself before for being soft on terrorism. i'm just wondering on the

protest note, london voted against brexit if you go out to the countryside do you think you'd find more support for the president. >> that's a totally valid point to bring un. london tends to vote labor yeah, there are some similarities between brexit and the president. so a clear point to draw there i'd even say walking around london as i have the last couple of days even here in london it's been much more balance than you'd expect certainly not in much support of the president that could be the case the other point i'd make rather than just rural england versus the metropolitan areas the the government versus the opposition theresa may and her government is from the conservative party, and when i spoke earlier to the u.k.'s new foreign secretary

hunt he was resoundingly supportive of the president. so it's protesters but it's not the government itself. and the government will hope the protests won't derail the optimism of the visit and stop them agreeing anything positive and forward moving with the president in his time here >> good to have you there, wilfred. we'll be seeing a lot more of through the next few hours in your home, in your element as we watch that magnificent shot stocks have held up despite the threats of a trade war why they're stepping in to buy today. >> and we're knocking on the door of the 2800 of the s&p. first, again, trade issues, there is some vague hopes maybe we'll restart negotiations with china. the big movers, of course the president convincing allies to spend more, that's moving

markets here but the most important thing is the trade as we knock at 2800 for the s&p, the market bend for the start of this earning season is a strong economy and a fiscal stimulus will top the fraid wars that's essentially why the markets have held up so well tax cuts, $200 billion, adding federal spending, $100 billion the profit repatriations $500 billion. we just don't know, but the bet from the market is the fiscal stimulus will be more powerful than any trade issues we'll see. meantime let me show you the faang stocks the s&p is going to go up no matter what the rest do. >> let's talk more about it in

the "the closing bell" exchange today. gentlemen, thanks for being with us peter, let me start with you the markets really seem to want to kind of wall off the potential tariff threat or at least look on what is perhaps going rights that we can kind of touch and feel in front of us in terms of earnings. but where do you think we're setup for more broadly than that >> i'm most trinterested in hearing guidance for the first quarter. what do people and companies have to say about the impact of tariffs? any service business does business with a manufacturer and maybe they get affected too. maybe it's too early to gauge or quantify, but i think that's the important thing as we talk about earnings the next couple of

weeks. >> and it seems there's a debate about that guidance is going to look like. the optimists say 20% earnings growth, companies are hiring like they haven't in years although there's the worry about trade. >> at least that is the story, but peter brings up a valid point. you don't know what those tariffs are going to be, so you can't quantify them yet. you can give a bit of guidance around them, but i don't think it's anything firm we closed slightly above it a couple of days ago and now we're knocking on it again the door of resistance, the weaker it gets i would believe with 25% of the xlf reporting to -- you have jp morgan, wells fargo, together they're roughly 20% of the xlf, the etf on the finance sector,

you have to cover this market. we saw them sell-off financials, but prior to tomorrow's opening when you get these companies that should perform pretty well you should see the market overtake that 2800 level >> rick, we did get oflk the cpi report this morning, some elements of it looking a bit hotter than expected, higher than its been some time. but what's your take on how the markets are absorbing that and really how to characterize that as part of this overall trend. you see buying is still pretty range bound but lifting just a touch today. >> absolutely. all i need to do is look up and see where a two year note is the two year note yields paid close attention to the inflation data the rest of the curve not so much so what it boils down to many traders is j powal is going to look at the inflation data and most likely continue tightening.

everybody's that's nuvervous abt inflation would say that the way to go. would it inflate the curve, that's a possibility larry kudlow expressed slow is better if he goes slower they find themselves in the box. no matter how you slice it there's no place to hide for the federal reserve. >> what's the expectation in the stock market and the bond market for that matter, peter, in what the fed is going to do and how they would react to this escalating trade fight >> i think the stock market is not going to react until the problem is right in front of their face markets are now reactive than a discounting mechanism. until the stock market sees it incorporating earnings and in the economic data, i don't think they're necessarily going to react. whether that's the right thing or not, that's a different thing. but something i think the stock

market would respond to. to the inflation point, the inflation numbers we saw today is before we will rising transportation cost filter into higher consumer prices and before tariffs filter into consumer prices. as rick said, it'll keep the fed continue to raise interest rates. hawker on the fence, maybe would be willing to raise two more times this year if the inflation numbers continue to tick higher, which i expect them to >> steve, it would seem the stock market would react to the tariffs, before we even find out if it gets into earnings, if other markets around the world ur were upset somehow and you saw a spike in the numbers that tells investors there's a disturbance here >> and when you look at the other markets they've been subpar to what the united states

and indices has been there's going to be a big opportunity at a certain point when you see turkey 0%, 35% year to date, there's going to be a buying opportunity. and i think we're really on the precipice of that happening. i do believe that the best market -- >> are you going to be on fed or trade headlines? >> i think it's going to be on both but if we see anything subdued to what the rhetoric is right now, and i think we're getting there and i do also believe the fed will back off a bit. we heard powell state today, i think they're leaving the room a lot more empty -- >> we'll see if we get it. steve, peter, rick, thanks a lot for your time. see you guys meanwhile shares of cvs

trading higher today >> a key question, though, is weather it will pass anti-trust scrutiny our report today suggests that it might reorg research, a subscription market intelligence service says justice department staff is expected to support approval of the cvs take over. the companies declined to comment. shares of both cvs and aetna are higher those two companies are also planning to combine. cvs and aetna aren't direct competitors. the two companies do have some direct areas of competition. it's still not trading at the level of cvs' offer. so out of 190 there implies

maybe investors don't believe this is done deal quite yet. >> i remember when amazon announced its buying pill pack, a small deal mag he said this should speed up the regulatory action on some of the deals like this one. i wonder if that has anything to do with it >> you have to wonder. you have to wonder speculation on amazon has a lot to do with it a lot of pressure is on the space and you're seeing them respond this way speaking of deals, one stock down on the deal wall street down on broad com and the chip maker's stock price is following suit. up next we'll look at the deal that's caused this big decline >> something like $15 billion in market value and last season the nba generated more than $7 billion in revenue that's up 25% over the year before how high can the basketball

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welcome back to "the closing bell." the dow is up about 205 points they're the leaders in the dow right now. cisco, intel, microsoft the big tech components of the day >> one stock that's not joining that party, broadcom plunging today. the chip maker's acquisition remember comes on the heels of its failed bid to buy qualcomm and other deals before that. >> joining us now to the discuss the rationale or lack of it from this deal. guys, i guess for one thing there was a lot of sort of confounded reaction to this deal obviously ca is a mainframe software business, kind of slow

growth, not really directly connected to broadcom's business >> they're thinking about taking dollar sheet and convert it into earnings per share that's not what i think investors want if you go -- just to put things in context if you go back about a year ago broadcom tried to buy toshiba's business and then they went after qualcomm very aggressively, and that didn't go through. and now they're buying a software company i think what you're seeing today is the straw that broke the camel's back >> so i went back to the press release, john, when they announced this deal. always get a quote from the ceos it's quoted as saying this represents one of the biggest

building blocks as it represents the infrastructure of the technology companies >> something they've done when they've done smaller acquisitions, but the argument on the other side of this and i was looking through, a lot of analysts don't like this deal. some hate, some are neutral on it and they're angle on this is, well, the customer bases, the core customer bases of a broadcom and a ca are slooactuay similar, when you're looking at the way they're doing data transport and the importance of data software to these customers. argument being if you're selling to the same customers they'll be able to save in the sales force as they try to deliver the technology, that should bring up

the margins. over on the ca side of it, so maybe it's not or maybe it's just a pure cash flow play, and this is going to help them do their net acquisitions and they'll end up selling off parts of ca. we'll have to see. >> is there any way to extrapolate from this deal, any implications for the other big software companies, mature businesses it recently changed hands, but is there any way you can sort of say, okay, here's what it means for valuations of other software businesses >> i'm not a software analyst, but i'd say this deal is about 10% creative, which is okay. the big thing, though, is that investors want management teams to do what they say. and ever since the bid for qualcomm failed, this management team has gone around and told investors that they were

committed to growing their fantastic businesses that they have within broadcom organically, enhancing capital return they announced a $12 billion buy back a month ago, and doing tuck in aqcquisitions. and this announcement yesterday runs completely counter to that narrative. and to me, you know, irrespective of the asset that they're buying, that's the biggest issue that people have you know, john mentioned that they're not hosting a conference call, which is very unusual. their head of investor relation from what i understand is no longer with the company. so there's just a lot of question marks about this company and how they're sort of messaging to the street and to their larger shareholders and thou they've handled this tra e transaction. >> one thing that's not a question is the regulatory

scrutiny this time around. >> it seems like we're going to have other chapters in this story, guys. and maybe this is why a lot of companies decided to just buy back stock you do a missalication of capital like this at least in the way it's perceive asked your stock gets killed. for more on wall street's reaction to this deal head over to cnbc.com. when we come back, victoria secret's tv fashion shows and commercials get plenty of attention, but turns out their sales are a different matter it is the focus of mike s santoli's post up. and someone who really knows about posting up down low that's nba charles barkley. and he's coming up as well until the day you leave for your trip. add-on advantage. only when you book with expedia.

the annual american century championship golf tournament happening today in lake tahoe with celebrities ranging from nba's steph curry to broadcaster tony romo on the greens. >> obviously our don chu has made his way there as well >> we are here with charles barkley as we are here every year at the american century because, charles, you're a mainstay, you're probably one of the main events here is that a fair assessment? >> unfortunately, yes, that's a fair assessment. but you know what, this is a wonderful week

the people of lake tahoe in this area rollout the red carpet. it's just a great week of c camaraderie with all the other players and fans >> this time last year you were talking about a lot of different things there, social income injustice, that sort of thing. so take us through, have your views evolved over the course of the past year? how do you feel in the current environment we're in with regard to the political and economic situation for americans in general? >> well, the political situation is just in the crapper what these democrats and republicans are doing to this country is a disgrace. but to get back to your original question is, america is really the greatest country in the world but it'si become rich people and poor people my number one goal is to do everything possible i can to help poor people right now i've got a couple of things going on in alabama

i gave black women a million dollars to do i.t. startups, i'm excited about that and i knave young black men a million dollars to be electricians and carpenters, so they can make a great living so inequality is a brig problem. america is the greatest place in the world but it's rich people against poor people. >> the nfl has some issues it's trying to work through, national anthem protests and we know the nba is dealing with some things on its own as you look at the national basketball association right now, do you feel it's in a good place growth wise going forward? >> it's in a good place, but as long as we have quote-unquote the super teams and stars that want to play together it's working right now, but it's not going to work in the long run. because at some point fans are going to say why am i going to

watch if my team has no chance of winning the fans who are the most important thing who we have, they're going to say my team is not competitive, the nba is not competitive, it's not going to work in the long run that's the biggest problem we have yeah, it's the short-term, but it won't work in the long run. >> i know you've got some questions for sir charles over here >> how are you mike back in new york, on the subject of the super teams obviously we have the add the lakers back into that and with lebron goes in there -- >> no, we don't. >> tell us how it's going to shakeout >> well, in fairness i think the houston rockets lost riza who i think is the most underrated player in the nba.

the rockets were really cloeel close last year. listen, lebron is amazing, amazing, but the lakers are probably the fifth or sixth best team in the western conference right now. >> what about kuwai leonard? >> he's a great, great player but i don't understand why you would trade probably the third best basketball player in the world and have to compete against him in the next five to ten years? that makes no sense whatsoever so i don't see the spurs trading to the lakers. i would be totally shocked >> don referenced the nfl protesters, and i just wanted to get your thoughts. the intersection of sports and

politics right now seems much higher than it's been. a lot of those lines are getting blurred between the eagles and the nfl and steph curry and lebron james why do you think that is do you think it's this president or more social activism in sports or what >> well, i think it's a combination of everything you just said. listen, i think that -- listen, i'm a democrat i'm not a big fan of the president. i respect the office i think anytime you get an opportunity to go to the white house you should accept that unfortunately, this situation we got now where people don't want to go to the white house because of the president i think is sad and unfortunate. listen, the president of the united states is a big deal. i wouldn't want anybody not going there when president bush was there, or president obama. it's an honor and privilege to go to the white house. like i said i'm not a big trump fan but i think if you're invited to the white house you should go. >> charles, we're sitting here

on the floor of the new york stock exchange you mentioned give away some of your money do you do anything on the investment side? you got any favors we can talk about here on the stock market show >> listen i have two great, scott guthrie in alabama and hamilton in atlanta, georgia, two great guys and let them make those decisions. if you're asking me my opinion, i should do it myself. but i've got two great investors scott guthrie and stuart hamilton in georgia. they weren't like my first financial guy who was a crook. >> glad you learned your lesson there and glad to get your opinions >> now, my first financial advisor was a crook. i don't want to mention his name his name was lance lesnik.

>> all right, charles, thank you. >> thanks, guys. all right, let's head over to sue herrera for our cnbc news update this hour >> here's what's happening this hour fbi official peter struck vigorously defending himself during a joint house hearing surrounding the investigation into the 2016 presidential campaign it was the first time he has testified publicly since being removed from special counsel robert mueller's team. >> not once in my 26 years of defending our nation did my personal opinions impact any official action i took this is true for the clinton e-mail investigation, for the investigation into russian interference and for every other investigation i've worked on paul manafort is now being housed at a different detention center in virginia a judge ordered him moved after reports that manafort boasted

about being treated like a vip where he had access to a phone and a laptop and chaos at build a bear stores across the nation apparently as the company offered parents the chance to pick out a plush toy for the cost of their child's age during a special promotion. and they've been promoting it for some time. so it was so successful they closed the store lines down citing crowd and safety concerns that did not sit well with customers. some of whom drove more than 100 miles to take advantage of that promotion. and you can just see the police officer there on the inside of that door. yikes. >> i don't know get it, so if you're one you get it for a dollar >> yes, exactly. >> what about six months >> 50 cents, you get it for 50 cents. >> 80 cents. >> i guess not anymore because they're out. >> i can't imagine what that was like

but anyway you're up-to-date guys >> on a list of places you wouldn't expect a riot up next our colleague wilfred frost in great britain for the president's visit. what do you have coming up there? >> it's not just been president trump and nato on the agenda this week, also domestic policy where brexit has caused a tumultuous week of events including high profile resignations after the break i asked the new u.k. feiorgn minister jeremy hunt how she's holding up. that's on "the closing bell" next tripadvisor helps you book a... ...hotel without breaking a sweat. because we now instantly... ...search over 200 booking sites ...to find you the lowest price... ...on the hotel you want. don't sweat your booking. tripadvisor. the latest reviews. the lowest prices.

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with president trump in the u.k. earlier wilfred frauts sat down with the newly appointed u.k. secretary jeremy hunt hi again, wilfred? >> reporter: hey, sarah, yes indeed so brexit development have caused a tumultuous week for the u.k. prime minister theresa may in the domestic policy politics as members of her own party have clashed clashed on the best way forward with brexit. that culminated in the coronation of --

>> i'm going to a few hot spots. we have nato, the u.k. and then we have putin. and as i said putin may be the easiest of them all. you never know but i'm going to a pretty hot spot right now, right, with a lot of resignations. >> now, earlier i sat down with boris johnson's replacement, the new u.k. foreign secretary and asked him how the prime minister is holding up. >> this prime minister has been through many, many tough weeks and people always underestimate her resilience, but she is one of the toughest, strongest people i've ever met and i have to tell i've been with her for the last couple of days in brussels, you wouldn't know she's been through a tough week at all. she's just amazing >> now, a resounding vote of confidence there from the new foreign secretary for prime

minister theresa may but nonetheless she could really do with a victory from president trump's visit. something like a verbal commitment to a free trade deal with the u.k. once they've left the european union guys >> have you heard anything about president trump meeting with boris johnson? he made some odd comments before his trip that he was friendly with him, and wouldn't that be a huge slap in the face to prime minister may who is currently hosting him at his black tie dinwer a ceremony fit for a king >> absolutely right, sarah if that did happen, it would be a big slap in the face and as you said he teased the possibility of it before he left the white house for this european trip. interestingly enough the visit at blenheim palace was planned by borren johnson. all of those reasons sort of come together as to why this evening's dinner was there for the president. i doubt boris johnson is now

attending. if he is as you say it would be high profile and a big slap in the face for the u.k. prime minister theresa may but as it stands we don't think that particular meeting has materialized >> so much intrigue, wilfred at this moment. i can't wait for a wrap up narrative how this has gone. wilf, we'll talk to you soon thank you. with just about 16 minutes left before the bell, the dow is up 210 points, not too far below the highs of the day the s&p 500 up about 0.18%, and russell 2000 lagging at a bit of a change of the recent trend up next shares of l branch which are shares of victoria's secret are plunging today and still to come, we're talking media mergers with liberty globals o.ce he's going to join us

exclusively from sun valley. that's coming up later on "the closing bell." you'll get clear, actionable alerts about potential investment opportunities in real time. fidelity. open an account today.

we are here on the floor for post up. you can see l brands down, really a new market kind of

abandoning the stock here. it's down by two thirds since the then the catalyst here is disappointing sales trends at victoria's secret. oesh all company comp sales up something like 3% almost entirely because of bath and body works victoria's secret down 3% in terms of comps timing of a big half annual, semiannual sale. it's interesting because there was a line that said the leaders of certain categories like victoria's secret could reel thrive in this retail world, not really the case here for bed, bath and beyond for example. >> they've got a traffic problem and that's why the extension of the anniversary sales didn't go as well. bath and body works did pretty well comps up 10% on their semiannual sale but they also have a margin issue.

as far as bras are concerned, people can buy them online and there's a whole lot of competition out there, and the malls. >> exactly, they're in every mall they have tremendous exposure to mall shoppers. >> and i guest they're just not getting the boost. much more on l brands, why one analyst does say this is broken brand, that's on cnbc.com as we speak. all right, we are 11 minutes before the bell, 213 points on the dow, 22 points on the s&p 500 right now. up next we're going to go back to london, hear from wilfred frost where he talked to the newly appointed u.k. foreign secretary. and later on the show we're talking mergers all coming up on "closing bell. ones that make it fast and easy to analyze and take action?

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comcast up against offer from european group sky escalating the bidding war for the company. hi, julia. >> well, mike, sky shares hitting an 18-year high today on that series of new bids plus an upgrade to this potential target

stock price by jeffries and ko this morning british regulators gave the expected approval for fox's long-standing offer for sky that opens the door for the murdics to counter comcast bid about $34 billion that it made just last night topped fox's offer from earlier in the day yesterday and that $34 billion is about 18% higher from comcast's initial offer back in february all the key players are here he would oversee sky and he was head disney's cheap maker before getting that new roll. bob iger is here but he has managed to avoid the cameras the murdochs are also here both of those sets of moguls are awaiting the british take over announcement what price disney

would be willing to pay for sky assuming that fox goes through that announcement from the take over panel could come any day now. if fox in concert with disney do not counter comcast's bid then this sky deal could wrap up pretty quickly comcast's latest offer was approved by sky's directors and they say this deal is actually on track to close by the end of the october. we'll have to see what happens or if the murdochs come back offering more. >> and julia, that would kind of be the first stage we have a lot going on with the contest for fox's assets does that imply sky may change hands in some way down the road? >> no, i think that the other -- yes, the other stake of sky could. but i think what's interesting now is sky is very much the focus right now.

fox is almost on hold as this sky situation gets sorted out. the bidding is very much happening right now. and i think that the next deadline for the future of fox is when we have that vote on disney's offer and that's coming up on july 27th so comcast has plenty of time before then to figure out if it wants to make another offer for those fox assets which does include 39% of sky but for now the focus is really on this battle for sky and it seems because of this quirky british rule that ties the value of sky and fox together that there would be an incentive for whoever ends up getting sky to not make another -- you know, if comcast were to get sky, there would be an incentive not to make another bid for fox because that would end up pushing up the price they're committed to paying for sky. >> fascinating british take over law, always interesting twists when it comes to that. we'll be right back with the closing count down and after the bell, bank earnings kick off. tomorrow morning we're going to

debate whether they could kick start the lagging financials whicarh e indeed lagging again today. we'll be right back. with expedia's add-on advantage, booking a flight unlocks discounts on select hotels until the day you leave for your trip. add-on advantage. only when you book with expedia.

add-on advantage. your neighbors. you like them. they always remember everyone's names. your kids love swimming in their pool. you like them. if you forget your trunks, they'll loan you some. they have a section in their stock portfolio just for pool stuff. everyone likes them. you like them. but you'd like them better if you made more money than they do. don't get mad at your well-liked neighbors. get e*trade. welcome back to "the closing bell." we have to dow up 225 points it's been a pretty nice rally all day. more than recovering yesterday's loss, which looking like a bit

of a shakeout on the new trade headlines. a little bit of suspense going to the s&p 500, we're at 2798 right now. this 2800 level has been a bit of a sealing for the market. this is the fourth rally sense march when we made the run at 2800 it looks like we're making a bit of an attempt to -- >> i think we're going to get to 2800 here. i think what's helped us of course tech doing great, paypal at a new high, microsoft, sales force and then we've got other faang names, but you've got amazon and facebook. they're hitting 52-week highs as well just a great week overall for the faang names. >> and nasdaq at an all-time

high >> regional banks are down generally, but some of the big cap bank, jp morgan will start it off tomorrow. they've had a good week, but regional banks not doing much. >> ringing the bell here at the new york stock e change. and up at the nasdaq we have green pro capital corps. the second hour of "the closing bell" starting right now welcome to "the closing bell." let's take a look how we are finishing the day on wall street a strong rally really since the open stayed strong all day, resumed after yesterday's sell-off the dow, s&p, nasdaq all up.

also groups like health care and industrials rallied hard watching the banks, big banks getting ready to report earnings tomorrow morning a bold debate is coming up this hour and the president has dinner right now with the british prime minister theresa may and business leaders, we're going to have a lot more of wilfred's interview with u.k. foreign secretary jeremy hunt coming up. we've got market strategist barbara duran and nancy taylor from heartland capital the biggest winner by the way was cisco, and ca technologies was the biggest winner and the acquirer broadcom was the biggest -- >> how often does that happen? >> we'll get more on that in just a moment. let's start with the nasdaq, record flows today are you encouraged to see this

action in spite of the sell-offs yesterday? >> my head's spinning but i am we need technology to do well obviously to keep the market moving it's not that expensive. nasdaq is trading at 24 with 24 earnings i'm still finding value in the group. >> how do we characterize the market's trading sensitivity to some of the trade stuff? obviously it's made an effort over the last few months to try to minimize it or set it aside or focus on some fundamentals. where do we sit with that process? >> i think with earnings coming up, this is getting the market focused on what's coming up. we're looking at 20% plus growth, and it's not going to be the ent of the growth and earnings so i think that's what's happening. you also had no response from china on that $200 billion threat, so that's interesting. i think some people are hopeful on behind the scenes talk. you had three tech names making intraday highs

people are putting money back to work when there's an opportunity. >> you suggested earnings growth is going to be good and it will continue to be good. but i think a question a lot of people are asking is has it peaked for now especially with rising challenges for margins? >> that's that's the question, a legitimate question. and it may very well have peaked but it's not falling off a cliff. i think that's the real thing to focus on it's going to continue no one sees a real recession until 2020 so what happens until then lots of volatility, but you're going to continue to see strong earnings >> anything you feel that's a blind spot, we did get the cpi number today i'm just kind of looking between now and recession what are going to be some of things investors are going to fight to worry about? >> listen, i'm worried about the fed, and i think inflaegz is there and could potentially rise quicker than we expect but we've been saying that for

five years so i'm concerned about margins peaking, but i do agree with barb i think earnings have a long way to go. i think tcja, the tax cut jobs act is the gift that's going to keep on giving and that is not the consensus view, but i've been through this once before. and there are exponential follow through in earnings and margins. >> for how long. >> i think we'll get a couple of years of growth. i think it's trickling through middle america is booming, and our company is based in middle america. they can't find people to hire, but companies are growing and there's a lot of lending going on so i think all of that is positive but this trade noise and the fed are the worries that i have. >> well, we talked about one of the deals that got a lot of attention today broadcom and ca. i wonder how you think this is going to play out. broadcom shares taking a huge hit today after the company

announced it's going to acquire software company ca technologies for $18 billion in cash. comes on the heels of broadcom's failed bid to buy qualcomm ca shares obviously up a lot ca, big slow growth mainframe software company broadcom is rolling off the chip industry does it say anything about broadcomwreck about semiconductors or about the appetite for mma what are the take-aways? >> it is interesting everyone's scratching their head over this. the ceo is very good at execution. the guy has not made a misstep this is plot in your wheel house, not mart of your core business, and there hasn't been yet an explanation i actually bought some today i've had it in all my portfolios for quite some time. you look at this morning four different houses downgraded but when you look at the price targets there's still 30%, 40%

upside here. >> why do you think -- we don't know what his plan is, but why do you think he's not earned that kind of respect from wall street at this point having spent the last decade building brands and really pushing up margins for this company >> i love your view, but i don't think it's not so much to do with him but what's the strategic rationale for this this one doesn't seem on the surface to make sense, and we need to learn a lot more >> i agree, but i don't think you can go from lauded aggressive deal maker in the technology space and increasing your free cash flow by 58% in one year and then just to be -- he's an idiot, and that's what wall street does they kind of say we don't get it -- >> are you buying, too in. >> it's in our buying range and we're looking at it right now. so i think it's an opportunity >> i just wonder if people say

does it mean that he felt otherwise cornered in other words, he didn't really have some of the obvious opportunities of the companies more adjacent to his business or is he playing chess four steps ahead and somehow this makes all the sense in the world >> let's just put in the context of jeff bazos, it doesn't matter what he does and the market loves that i think management gets benefit of the doubt when they've had that good of a track record for that long. >> semistocks have been underperforming, caught in the cross hairs when it comes to trade concerns and i wonder if that says something about the broader tech sector and the broader market, which usually companies tend to leave, right >> and maybe it does texas instruments and intel, and intel struggled clearly. but texas instruments has been bold so i don't know, i'd defer to you on that one. >> agree

it's been trade pressures on a lot of these names you look at the tech group as a whole almost 60% of their sales comes from abroad. i don't think things are derailed and other deals new talk about today sharesotches cvs and aetna both jumping today take a look at the shares. up almost 2% for aetna do you guys own any of these, and do you like these kind of deals where the narrative around them was hopefully to create some defense against amazon when it finally entered the sector, which it just did? >> well, we had unh and bought optim rx it changes the landscape because it does give them tremendous power. buttheoretically it could lead to much more efficiency,

innovation and higher customer service, so it should be a good thing if it goes through >> we're having our first fight, we are >> we like that. >> i just think with it the pressure on faarma prices, with the pressure the president is going to continue to put on farma prices and then you've got the amazon sector. so i don't like the deal very much, but we'll see. it might be an opportunity to get back in in a little bit. >> it seems like it's a defensive move, ipterms of the middle man part of farma >> i think you've got to try it. we'll see how it works out and meanwhile president

trump visiting the united kingdom for the first time since taking office as that nation faces turmoil over a brexit deal wilfred frost back in london again with some of the details. >> reporter: as we know the president of course at that black tie dinner at blenheim palace as we speak we saw him arrive an hour or so ago. it's hosted by prime minister theresa may and attended by various business leaders the bbc reporting as we speak that the prime minister is pressing the case for a free trade deal with the united states she's reported to have noted that 1 million americans work for u.k. owned firms, and then said to mr. trump, quote, as we prepare to leave the european union we have an unprecedented opportunity to do more it's an opportunity to reach a free-trade agreement that creates jobs and growth here in the u.k. and right across the united states. that taking place as we speak at blenheim palace according to the b b.c. now, tomorrow, of course,

the focus switches to his trips elsewhere. he will go to the prime minister's country residence and then onto windsor castle to meet with her majesty the queen a lot of people noting, of course, all of these agenda items taking place outside london some protests taking place in london today that we observed outside the u.s. ambassador's residence. and tomorrow london expected to be the epicenter of the protest for his whole trip 50,000 expected in trifalga square that said earlier when i spoke to jeremy hunt he spoke a decidedly supportive tone for the president, and we'll hear more from that interview later in the show. it is tomorrow ultimately that will decide the overall tone of his visit, whether it's one of protest or support and progress.

>> wilfred, on trade since this is such a major issue certainly for prime minister may and the president, what happened to that bilateral trade deal they were supposed to start negotiating as soon as britain left the eu? i mean the u.k. needs friends and trading partners as it tries to renegotiate what that looks like with europe and there's a lot of hope that a u.k.-u.s. trade deal would be helpful. >> absolutely right, and i think that's exactly the reason the dinner tonight is attended by so many business leaders. the prime minister there hoping the case the president that tariffs should be removed once the u.k. has left the eu it is plausible when you look at the numbers that the president could verbally agree to some positive steps on that if we look at the numbers the u.k. is is the u.s.' largest

export location within the eu, and the level of trade is fairly balanced as well total trade, $230 billion per year of course hands are tied on the u.k. side at this point. that's one of the arguments for brexit and a win for cureetherea would be getting a verbal commitment a free trade deal could happen in the future >> thank you very much for bringing us the updates from london, which does not look like 9:10 in the evening there. >> it's pretty far north i wonder if there are investment implications to this meeting, whether it is on the trade front or on the brexit that you think we have to be focused on, nancy? >> that's out of my pay grade range. clearly we want to have the u.k. as a partner and we want to be able to export and import without tariffs, but i don't see it impacting directly very much

in terms of corporate earnings and growth in the near term. >> any argument? >> no, i have to agree we love england, but it's a small change in terms of the broader picture we're talking about whether europe or canada or china so i don't see this having much of a big impact for us earning seasons, of course, is under way the big banks starting to report tomorrow up next we'll have a debate. and later is liberty global going to get into the media mma frenzy we're going to talk to the company's ceo on "closing bell."

it's been a rough year so far for the bank stocks. they've fallen more than 1% year to date compared to a about a 4.5% gain by the broad s&p 500 so will earnings be able to turn things around for the banks? leslie picker joins us now with a preview of some of the results of the banks >> to understand why banks have become so beaten down i want to turn your attention away from the stock market and towards that of u.s. treasuries. the yield curve has spent much of the last few years flattening, which can be harmful

to banks because they fall less when yields fall on dated treasuries this pessimism has created what analysts consider to be a low bar when it comes to second quarter earnings we'll see results from jp morgan, citigroup tomorrow analysts believe the banks simply have to report numbers that are in line with expectations of potential surprises to the upside stemming from a recent shift in the yield curve, a potential pickup in loan demand and a benefit from regulatory reform. one problem spot could be mortgage revenue which analysts expect to declean year over year due to the impact of higher rates. even with pockets of weaknesses banks could be poised to break out to the upside. the industry is trading right now at a multiple that's only two thirds about 8 percentage points below historical level.

again, that's a low bar, guys. >> absolutely. we'll see what the banks do and more importantly what the stocks do for more what to expect jason goldberg is with us and the president of the jewel finances. you expect a turn around in this stock? we were asking this around the stress test and there still has been some pressure >> agreed. but we do expect positive results. we just the majority of the bank stock covered will see positive estimates despite a flattening yield curve. we look for controlled curve varying on asset quality and an acceleration over the next four quarters as the bank's recent passing of the stress test kicks in >> jason, obviously it's been kind of the inputs for the case for a little while now what do you think it's going to

take for kind of investors to embrace this does it just have to be sustainable as far as people view it or do buy backs have to exceed expect agdations or trad? >> certainly there's a lot of expectation on loan growth if you look loan growth actually increased actually the last five weeks. we think that will be well received and, you know, starting after earnings the recent buy back approvals kick in with a lot of these banks buying back 73% of their stock coupled with two or three year dividends is going to put in nice support. we don't think that signals a recession, and we think margins can expand and on top of that obviously there's been some concern around global growth and what the new trade restrictions could imply but we've rounded that the

majority of bapg earnings are tied to the u.s. >> you're not as optimistic. looks like you just sold out of jpm, which was your last of your holdings of the big banks. why? >> we're in an environment right now where everything is positive for the banks. i mean you have a strong economic recovery. you have shortage restraints going higher you have deregulation. you have buy backs everything that jason said i agree with there's one problem, the stocks are not responding and in 20 years of me doing this when i view the stock market and sectors i have to watch the money. and right now look at today. markets up 80 bits, the financials were barely green that's telling us something. the market is a discounting mechanism. all of these things that jason said are already priced in, and i believe the financials are giving us a warning sign that's something's coming that's not being reflected in the other sectors. so we are absolutely taking

heed we sold out of our big banks for now and we're being very cautious on the rest of the market >> let's see what happens tomorrow guys, we've got to cut it short for breaking news. all right, let's get over to sue herrera. we do have that breaking news on at&t and time warner >> and here's what's happening, mike the u.s. justice department is going to appeal the at&t time warner merger approval they have filed a notice of appeal in federal court. the justice department is basically appealing the court's loss on the at&t-time warner merger we can see that at&t is down just under a percent in today's trading session. so far we don't have anymore details other than that, but the justice department is going to appeal the approval of the at&t-time warner merger. >> julia with us from sun valley covers the stock i think you're talking to the at&t's ceo tomorrow. didn't judge leon specifically

warn the government not to do this in his ruling in favor of the deal >> yes, absolutely, sara this is a huge surprise because judge leon's ruling was so clear and definitive in ruling in favor of this merger there were a number of potential outcomes in the way judge leon could have ruled, but he made it very clear he was approving this merger with no conditions. that's what makes this so surprising because if he had ruled with conditions or raised questions it would have opened the door for a lawsuit. that's why i'm so shocked by this news. i am scheduled to sit down with stevenson tomorrow morning i expect he would be surprised with this as well. i've been hearing from a lot of folks here that at&t-time warner deal going through really indicates it's open season for mma right now, and there shouldn't be regulatory concerns so we'll have to see what

happens. >> also, julia, isn't this a company that has already plowed forward the combination of at&t and time warner? we've had a number of reports of some of those meetings to the new hbo team from the boss i mean this is already in progress >> the integration is moving forward. you've seen a rearranging of executives you have john stenki taking over, townhalls, discussions whether hbo is going to have to create a higher volume of content. so this merger has happened. and i sort of am specifically using the past tense of that and now the integration is under way so this is pretty surprising >> there were some reports there was disagreement on the government side whether in fact to go ahead with an appeal the judge specifically said don't you dare kind of apply for an injunction of this ruling, so

the deal did manage to close so i guess the question now is what basis are they going to appeal this? what element of his ruling are they going to pick at to say it should be overturned >> i'll be really curious to hear that, mike. i also think it's worth noting because this was a vertical merger there wasn't much precedent for challenging this type of deal and randall peterson said he always felt they had every legal precedent to go forward with this deal. and really closing the door on potential for challenges to his ruling, i think he was trying to prevent this from happening. and so that's why the merger and the integration of the companies is already well under way. >> lot of questions for the government, for the head of the anti-trust division, how they're going to appeal, on what basis, why, julia, and what it could mean for the rest of the sector which you've been reporting for days is actively involving right

now in deal merger talks >> yeah, absolutely. i think whatever happens next is going to have huge ripple effects just like the at&t and time warner deal had huge ripple effects. as soon as the department of justice, that lawsuit and the ruling came through from judge leon, that's when comcast decided to go through and put in that official bid for fox. that's what set that off comcast got the indication that if at&t and time warner can go through with no conditions, then they had every ability to go forward and pursue that aqua wusitiw aquasition of the fox entertainment assets >> just one other wrinkle. we'll have to see if the markets decide this has bearing on comcast prospects for the fox assets it already has some regulatory clearances for its deal. >> and how far the doj is going

to go to not let these conglomerates grow with these acquisitions we were looking forward with your interview with the ceo of at&t also now more so and we'll head in the other direction to london to hear what the new british secretary jeremy hunt says. mpanies are reporting today. and, how's it looking? >>i don't know. there's so many opinions out there, it's hard to make sense of it all. well, victor, do you have something for him? >>check this out. td ameritrade aggregates thousands of earnings estimates into a single data point. that way you can keep your eyes on the big picture. >>huh. feel better? >>much better. yeah, me too. wow, you really did a number on this thing. >>sorry about that. that's alright. i got a box of 'em. thousands of opinions. one estimate. the earnings tool from td ameritrade.

shares of at&t are falling here in the after market on that news that just broke, somewhat surprising news that the department of justice is set to appeal its merger with time warner at&t's merger with time warner that was already gone to court and approved by john leon. >> meanwhile julia borsen in sun valley in a cnbc exclusive julia. >> reporter: mike, thanks so much for joining us. we really appreciate it. you were sitting here when we heard that breaking news and the reaction to it as a ceo of the biggest global cable company, what do you make of this? what is this going to do to the mma industry >> well, it's surprising it's surprising what all of this will attempt to achieve, negotiate some kind of remedies or conditions. it's a big surprise. i'm not sure it'll have a huge impact

there are some deals it'll impact, of course, maybe comcast and fox. it won't impact disney and fox and deals in europe. disney has already received approval so clearly some types of mergers are different than others. >> what would this mean for comcast and fox? >> unclear but i do know for the board of sky -- the board of fox to think about conditional approvals and things of that nature, it might sway them one way or the other and price not be the only issue they consider, but i'm not an expert on that >> do you think it'll dampen deal making in general >> not so sure it was a pretty strong opinion you read it. andit was pretty clear there should be no conditions. let's see what the appeals process results in i think everyone in our business is trying to figure what their alliances are and should be. there's technological change, business models change >> and you don't think that's

going to impact sky at all >> i think that's a totally different approval process >> what do you think it's going to get make thadetermined >> prossibly. >> so you have a company a direct compet ter to sky in the u.k. >> we do compete with sky, we pay them a ton of money every year for their content, and the market there is healthy and vibrant and competition is fine. so i'm not concerned about either buy, whereb really. >> you have all the international access that makes sky so appealing but on a bigger scale. >> well, our business in the u.k. we think is better than sky. it's the fastest broadband network in the u.k >> you met with brian roberts when you were here did you talk about him having him buy your company >> of course not i think there's only going to be one winner in this process

between disney and comcast and whoever does it will be certainly geared up to do something else because they've made the decision growing internaeinte internationally or having more scale is important to them we've got a great organic business we're growing at 5% a year, building out networks that are the fastest in every country we operate in we're strategically complete in the u.k. so we're not thinking about exits but growth in germany we put $2 billion euros of equity in >> this huge deal with vodophone, what are you going dowit that capital >> it's a great question i will tell you that we are focused on just one thing and that is doing what we do well, which is buy, build and grow

businesses sometimes exit those businesses at premium multiples we'll stay largely in our swim lanes. we're not going to build driverless cars or things of that nature. but there are opportunities we should be focused on in europe today our stock trades at about 5 1/2, six times >> seems like it could be a buyer or a seller. thank you for your perspective in this. >> you're also in the middle of everything happening there thank you very much and thanks to mike fris as well nice rally kind of build towards the end of the day the dow up by 0.9% and s&p

closing and the russell lacking a bit, up about 0.4% and the s&p pushing a 5% year to day gain so not at all clear but not a bad day. let's get to some other big stories today in our rapid recap. >> reports from the white house now that president trump is about to make an unscheduled statement to the press >> i believe in nato i think nato is a very important, probably the greatest ever done, but the united states was paying for anywhere from 70% to 90% of it depending on the way you calculate. that's not fair to the united states and now we're very happy and have a very, very powerful very strong nato. much stronger than it was two days ago >> comcast of cnbc's parent company increases offer for sky to $34 billion >> the u.k. government says it will not oppose a bid by 21st century fox to buy a part of sky it does not already own. >> delta, the company reporting

a profit of $1.47, a nickel about expectations >> on international particularly transatlantic we're seeing improvements on revenue. >> meanwhile the founder of papa johns resigning as chairman of the company following the use of a racial slur in a conference call which he admitted yesterday. as the president coming off air force one in the u.k. of course going to be discussing trade with business leaders later on today. >> the dow up triple digits and on pace for its biggest weekly gain in five weeks >> and with all of that it is time now for cnbc news update with sue herrera >> hello again, guys here's what's at this hour the fcc taking the first step towards easing rules on the amount of children's programming that broadcasters must provide to maintain their licenses the move drawing criticism from democrats and some parents groups the proposal will now be open for public comment, and the final decision is expected in the fall

a u.s. navy destroyer has officially been named after senator johnmccain in an induction ceremony in japan. the destroyer was commissioned in 1994 as part of the u.s. seventh fleet and already carries the names of mccain's father and grandfather former new york knicks basketball player charles oakley has been arrested in las vegas accused of trying to add to or reduce a wager after the outcome became known that is considered a felony, and oakley could face jail time if convicted. and build a bear stores around the country were forced to shutdown after a promotion got out of control take a look at that. it was so successful it closed store lines citing crowd and safety concerns. and people were not happy. that is the news update at this hour, guys i will send it back downtown to you. >> when your promotion is too

good to be true. >> maybe they should just do it on a child's birthday. >> i'm not sure they're going to be doing it again, period. >> sue, thanks president trump visiting the u.k. for the first time. our wilfred frost is in london for thedetails on how the president is being received there. wilfred? >> reporter: yeah, well, sara, we all know of the potential for protests against the president but coming up a surprisingly positive tone of support for the president coming from the new u.k. foreign secretary jeremy hunt that cinomg up when "closing bell" returns.

breaking news. just moments ago the department of justice has appealed the court ruling that allowed at&t and time warner to merge a deal that has closed joining us by phone is former doj anti-trust lawyer paul denis. we need your wisdom here the government lost this case. how are they going to appeal it? >> in order to appeal this successfully they need to focus on an issue of law that they believe that the district court got wrong.

if this is factual dispute the standard on appeal is decidedly against the government they really need to make it an issue of law >> and when you say make it an issue of law, the government can't go and say, well, since this deal closed at&t has offered subscription packages, in other words they can't say, look we were right they're engaging in a competitive behavior like we argued? >> that's correct. the question is whether the district court judge got it right on the record that was before it at the trial and having read his opinion, he wrote a very factual opinion he clearly was thinking about the prospect of the government appealing, and he wrote the opinion in a way to make it very difficult to appeal. i'm surprise the government chose to appeal this one >> so what are their chances of getting anything

>> i think the best -- the most likely outcome here is that they're going to get an opinion that they do not like. i don't see -- >> the government that is. >> the government is i do not see them having a strong chance on appeal. i think it's more likely to backfire than to get them anything they want >> why do you think the department of justice is doing this do you think there are political considerations here? >> no, i think they firmly believe in their case. >> but is there a secondary m t motivation if not political to send the message you're not going to sit back and perhaps allow further mergers to engage. obviously you don't want to throw out an appeal you know is going to fail, to do that. but it seems the consensus is well, it's wide open for mergers, no challenges from the government in this area. so maybe the department of justice wants to push back on that thought >> certainly they would resist

that thought and they have when they've spoken out since the loss. but losing the appeal does not help them. >> paul, what is the pres dependent for this i mean does the government have a track record here of appealing these decisions that they've lost >> well, the government whether it's the ftc or the doj, both of which enforce the laws against mergers -- the government has been successful on appeals in the past it's not unusual for them to win on appeal. however, here as i said, they have a very well written decision that will be difficult to appeal. >> yeah, nearly 200 pages. we might all have to go back to it here we go again paul denis, thank you for jumping on the line. formerly from the department of justice. >> glad to join, you thank you well, at&t ceo randall stevenson will be on squawk box

tomorrow morning in an exclusive inrvw 5 teieat15:1eastern. up next we'll head back for the latest on president trump's visit to the u.k

we have a news alert on johnson & johnson. >> more news in the ongoing litigation for j & j for its baby powder talc products. a jury in missouri has ordered

them to pay $550 million in damages that talc caused cancer in 22 women. this is according to reuters reporting from this trial. this has been an ongoing issue for j & j. and the many times we've talked about this they've said the science shows this product does not cause cancer but i believe these damages are probably the largest they've seen yet u.k. foreign secretary jeremy hunt met with president trump as part of his visit to great britain. and our wilfred ross sat down with the man to get his take on that meeting. >> reporter: u.k. secretary jeremy hunt of course took over from boris johnson who is a friend of the president's. therefore i asked him how that initial introduction to the president went >> it went pretty well

he was kind enough to say he had nice things about me, so i've got something to live up to. but if boris johnson was a great patriot and great believer in what it is possible for britain to do on the world stage, and i am exactly the same. i am passionate about a britain that is strong and confident and really stands for the values that britain and america stand for. >> do you regret the expected level of protests against the president for his time here in the united kingdom will that make it harder for you to impress on him the messages you want to get across >> not at all. because, you know, what brings britain and america together is that we are the strongest believers in the world in democracy and democratic values. and yes we have lots of leaders who visit london from countries that aren't democracies, and we have to explain to them, yes, we do allow these protesters, and

there will be people waving flags you don't like, but we don't have to explain that to president trump. >>imposing on the european union >> well, i'm very confident that we'll be able to get to our position because we share so many values with the united states, alongside the united states we have been a country that has championed free trade across the world more than anything, and we do understand the president's view that free trade has to be fair trade and it has to be on the basis of deals that work for ordinary americans and sometimes you need to reset the dial and so he can be very confident that when it comes to the united kingdom, what we want is fair competition and borders that are as open as possible when it comes to buying and selling each other's products

>> a very supportive tone there from jeremy hunt we will speak to the mayor of london, sadiq khan to get a different perspective from the one we just got from the foreign secretary. >> what's the main protest, wilfred from president trump he interjected with terrorism or re-tweeted one of the far-right parties that offended a lot of people or is it just his policies in the u.s. >> it's a very good question, and i think, you know, a minor one is when any foreign leader starts to get involved in domestic politics that always ru rubs individuals the wrong way and ultimately, they're divisive

policies whether they're domestic in the u.s. or whether they influence the rest of the world and immigration is just a great example of that. today, earlier the president says he thinks people in the uk like his policies on immigration and probably a good chunk of them do, and it's also a very polarizing wear and it's a policy that a lot of other people really detest, and i think things are polarized here whether we're talking about brexit or president trump or immigration itself and things are polarized and we'll get both ends of the spectrum tomorrow. >> president trump got a ton of grief when they voted for brexit thank you. nice work. >> rest up big day tomorrow >> shares of papa john's, big story today, surging after the company ousted its founder over the use of a racial slur and what's next for the company? >> this one group of stocks who

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at the fallout from the racial a ur controversy involving pap john's founder, plus more on this breaking news on at&t and time warner. don't go away.

>> papa john's founder is out after using a racial slur on a conference call. kate rogers joins us >> john schneider resigning as chairman of the board of the company he founded last night after confirming on a statement that he did use a racial sure on a conference call earlier in the year he said news report attributing the use of inappropriate and hurtful language to me during a media training session regarding race are true. regardless of the context, i apologize. racism has no place in our society.

forbes had first reported the story that the conference call was an executive in a marketing agency and was during a role playing exercise intended to prevent future public relations snafus this after schneider had made controversial comments during the nfl protest last year he partially plamed the league for slowing sales at the chain schneider stepped down and steve richie, the company's former coo took his place and he is currently the company's lead independent director and the company also says it will appoint a new chairman of the board in the coming weeks. major league baseball suspended the promotion it had with papa john's last night and he resigned from the louisville board of trustees and today the miami marlins also announced they were cutting ties with the company. the stock did hit a 52-week low and today it's been surging on this news that he's resigned up over 10% on this news. >> a history of controversy. kate rogers, thank you >> tomorrow, busy agenda

>> it's going to basically be can the earnings fundamentals going to get that group moving and sub starubstantiate the ral. >> the government is not done yet challenging the merger >> it will allow the at&t time warner merger to go through. that deal is closed and the businesses are operating together big story there. >> thanks, at&t and a little bit of uk with president trump that does it for "closing bell." "fast money" starts right now. >> live from the market overlooking new york city's times square i'm melissa lee, and tonight on fast it is judgment day as they kick off earnings season tomorrow morning and analysts aren't expecting much from wall street and that might be a good thing from the stock plus the nasdaq surging to a record high today as tech stocks are going wild, but it's not just the bank stocks the traders will give you the alt trade that could heat up your portfolio, but first, we start off with the bombshell

breaking in just