good morning it's 8:00 a.m. at google headquarters in mountain view, california and 11:00 a.m. in new york and "squawk alley" is live. ♪ good wednesday morning

welcome to "squawk alley." i'm carl sint nia. what a show this morning jonathan gray is going to sit down with david at alpha it is day two of the fed share's testimony on capitol hill. we'll take you back to washington shortly as the q&a continues. later on this hour, legendary investor jim chanos will deliver his best idea to the panel at alpha. all that coming up in the next few minutes. the dow is up 39 the big story is the eu, finding google a record $5 billion over android antitrust abuse. we spoke with the eu commissioner earlier on why the fine wasit in place. take a listen. >> the fine reflects the fact that this has been going on for quite some time. this is a strategy that has been into effect since 2011 and two of the three illegal restrictions, they are still in effect this is an ongoing abuse

>> sara eisen is here post nine. you said the money itself is not really material, it's the remedy in how that comes about. >> not material to google itself because google has a $100 billion cash pile, they are cash rich, but what the european union is telling google is because you're breaking the antitrust rules, you not only have to pay the $5 billion fine, which is a record, but you also have to change your behavior and get rid of some of this action the big allegation here is that google has android systems on 80% of the world's smartphones most of the smartphones in europe, and it doesn't give consumers trust because it pre-installs apps and search functions on their phones. and she said, that's a big problem. and it violates our values in the european union when i pressed her on whether this was some sort of protectionist action that was coming as all the trade figh was going on, she said, yeah, we're protecting the interest of consumers, which i thought was a

good line. and it is also pretty consistent with her other actions just last year they levied in more than $2 billion on google for abusing the shopping dominance, prioritizing its own shopping services in terms of search results so this really continues along history, not just with google, but with u.s. technology companies. john, we remember the apple case >> well, to me, the big deal here isn't the $5 billion fine so much as it's the remedy if in 90 days google doesn't change. they're saying, 5% of daily sales, up to 5% of daily sales, in what they are calling turnover in the release would be the continuing fight if you believe in sort of the rules of the road in europe as far as anti-trust goes, this makes some sense look, google specifically in this case, is talking about, look at all the competition that has flourished in the mobile ecosystem since android became a

thing. and if you're looking at devices, there are lots of devices. if you're looking at aptps, yes, there are lots of apps to build on top of android. but if you're looking at operating system choice, amazon's fire os was basically locked out because google said, hey, if you want to use our apps on android at all, you can't use anybody else's full version of android. so guys, don't think about using amazon's version of android. and if you are trying to compete with google and search on mobile with an android fork, forget about it or on android, forget about it so, you know, this is europe's way of saying, we don't like those rules. and if you want to sell in our jurisdiction, you have to change. >> part of the google counter argument is you are not including apple and ios as a major competitor, which i actually pressed the commissioner on that very point. here's what she said >> this is not about apple this is not about android. this is about google behavior.

a behavior that is illegal for a dominant company because it's unlocking down competition and disabled innovation and choice that we would all like to enjoy. >> so she clearly feels that this is a behavioral issue, guys one thing that i'm wondering is, does this make the united states take a harder stance against europe in trade negotiations or does it serve as a template for those that are calling for anti-trust regulation in the united states against big companies like a google or an apple or an amazon, you name it, because europe is so out front on some of these decisions >> it certainly does highlight the fact that there are differences in the way the antitrust laws are written here versus the laws in europe. one of the other things you asked her, well, in terms of competition, isn't this just a download away in terms of being able to get a competitor's app on the phone, she said only 1% of users download a competing

search so that -- >> search specifically but what other searches do we use, i guess, is some of the thing? and she would say, well, that stifles innovation all the europeans are trying to get to bing. >> well, i think back in the days of microsoft's antitrust case when they bundled internet explorer with windows, you could download netscape navigator. this completely knocked out their business model at the time, but it was not so much that you couldn't download something else, it was, why would you? and the idea that as a dominant company, perhaps they have a different level of responsibility in the market this one i don't necessarily see as being a u.s. company versus a european company one of the biggest come play innoce - complanents against them is being a google search. >> which is in reaction to this decision but to large extent, it is about almost turning back the clock because of the installed base so

entrenched and these are decisions that if they really wanted to change the world, should have been called on a decade ago. >> so who does this benefit? it potentially benefits samsung that already has a big critical mass in the android ecosystem. they are more free to do more with their own software services and apps on the platform and potentially in amazon, which might want to make another run at something like these services that compete with google's app store, you know, google's -- i don't know, maybe not maps, but even the operating system itself it might make another run with fire os and with europe forcing google to change the way things go >> it's not so much that it hurts googlele, the stock was higher a moment ago. >> it hurts to google >> you think because of the way they have to install the apps on phones >> it opens up another powerful party on amazon. maybe even facebook if they decide to do something to encroach on android either on

the phone or in the internet of things and the smart home. it just weakens the position that they have from which to leverage, search and their mobile dominance into the next thing. >> investors don't see it today. >> well, that's why they have us. >> sara, thank you for bringing that for us. >> great interview citadel's sitting down with our own andrew ross-sorkin he's joining us now with more. hey, andrew. >> hey, thanks i did speak with ken griffin this morning, one of the largest hedge funds in the world, one of the best performer this is year. and citadel securities now trading one out of every five stocks that crossed the exchanges every single day we talked to him about a lot of issues we started, though, with where the market was headed. and he was rather bullish. listen to what he had to say >> the current prognosis next

six to nine months is we are going to experience strong growth so i think that in the short-run, absent a material catastrophe in the trade front i think we're looking at very strong growth the next six to nine months. i think we have pulled forward through the tax cut and the stimulus that goes with that some amount a demand some out of capex, we'll see it play out this year it makes 2020 and 2021 much murkier. >> we talked about the fed interest rates and the yield curve. he has a pretty special somebody that has an opportunity to talk about these issues with. ben bernanke happens to be one of his advisers. this is what he had to say about the conversations they have been having lately. >> ben is in constant dialogue with my team on this topic constant dialogue. and i think it is very clear, we

have -- we have an incredible unemployment story in the united states the unemployment is now in the three-handle it is as good as it gets but here's what is interesting, we aren't seeing meaningful wage growth yet depending upon the metric you use for wage growth, it's somewhere between 2/3 an4 a percent. that's just given a low how low the unemployment rates are so there's an interesting question, there appears to be the continued flexibility for the fed to maintain a relatively accommodative monetary policy, even though unemployment is so stunningly low >> and a conversation delivering alpha would not be complete unless the topic of cryptocurrency and bitcoin came up let's just say they cat ken is

bull listen to this >> i don't have a single portfolio manager who has told me to buy crypto not a single portfolio manager and in a marketing business, we debated on whether to use cryptocurrencies and i have a hard time finding myself to want to be in the position of being a liquidity provider of a product that i don't believe in what people don't understand with cryptocurrencies versus, for example, the u.s. dollar, you have to have u.s. dollars to pay your taxes at the end of the year you don't have a choice. there's no need for cryptocurrencies they are a solution in search of a problem from my perspective. what is unfortunate is the amount of hype and the number of early investors who have been caught up in this hype i wish the 27-year-old wasn't buying bitcoin i wish they were investing in the companies that defined the future of our country and pushing capital in a way that will create jobs, create

innovation and will grow our economy. >> guys, ken griffin making headlines here, lighting up twitter and social media with those particular comments about crypto that's all we have for now i'm going to send it back to you guys. >> andrew, i thought it was so interesting the way griffin approached it versus what lazarie set investing his net worth at a slight profit. >> yes, he has a slight profit oh, we should say on mark lazarie, because he wanted to correct his own net worth, it's not his net worth but the cash on hand, which he says is a lot less so just worth knowing for those out there trying to do the math. >> people are watching closely, especially on this topic pretty fascinating thank you. it's been a busy morning so far. we have interesting morning takeaways this year that are only halfway done. >> absolutely. i actually thought some of the comments, well, the entire interview between jim cramer and

larry kudlow was fascinating, but some of his comments around productivity and the role that fiscal policy plays in that, especially on the heels of fed chairman powell and the comments he made about productivity and the link between that and wage growth yesterday in front of senators, really interesting, especially this idea that prolonged prosperity is not something that millenials, in particular, have experienced before as a millenial, i can, i guess, attest to that that's a conversation that i have essentially had with colleagues and peers >> interesting meanwhile, we're watching powell's testimony on the hill, who is making comments of his own regarding cryptocurrency, taking questions from house financial services, steve liesman is monitoring the testimony and q&a today. hey, steve. >> how about a ball over here? jay powell ripped into cryptocurrencies saying he's concerned about the use of money laundering and terror financing, and adding, quote, they are not a currency they are not really a currency because they don't have intrinsic value. he hadded they are investor and

consumer protection issues and not a lot of news when it comes to monetary policy in regards to this hearing. neither par to appears to have tremendous concerns about the fed's raising the interest rate. nothing powell has said so far has altered the outlook for two more hikes this year, but there are questions on what happens next year. one factor that could influence that is trade. and warn congress about the negative fallout >> we hear from our extensive network of business contacts a rising chorus of concern you pointed out, lots and lots of individual companies have been harmed by this. we don't see it in the aggregate numbers yet because it's a $20 trillion economy and it takes time to show up, but we hear many, many stories of companies that are concerned and now beginning to make invest nlt decisions or not make them

because of this. >> he added later once gun, trade disputes may not be so east and other topics like the fed does not see any potential financial bubbles, but many are elevated above their normal levels he's using the word elevated instead of the word bubble john, really quick, he was just asked whether or not the fed wants regulation of cryptocurrencies he said, we're not seeking that regulation so kind of a bit of a political football there, which agency particularly will regulate those cryptocurrencies john >> powell very much staying in his lane today as well, steve, thanks and coming up, blackstone's president and chief of rating officer jonathan gray is sitting down with us stay with us to buy or sell?be time with fidelity's real-time analytics, you'll get clear, actionable alerts about potential investment opportunities in real time. fidelity. open an account today. fidelity. overwhelming air fresheners can send you running...

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amazon wrapped up the fourth annual prime day after some glitches it was the biggest shopping day ever shares hitting an all-time high today. the market kept crossing above $900 billion i believe, getting within 5% of apple for the top spot courtney reagan is back at hq with a look at some of amazon's numbers. courtney >> hi, john. even though amazon's prime day did start with glitches that prevents some u.s. members from shopping for at least seven hours, the retailer says still record-breaking day. amazon says prime members bought 100 million-plus products making

it the biggest in history. sales pusurpassed black friday d cyber monday but it is a little hard to compare it exactly to 2017 it was in four more countries this year than last year and the metric given last year wasn't total products but sales growth of 60%. so we can't compare 2018 to 2017 exactly. now, the online retailer is a is more members joined on the first day of prime day than any previous day in its history topping the own record last year most retail experts agree this is the true goal of the event, because of the value of being a prime member now, the biggest day ever for amazon's devices like the amazon fire stick and others were at the top. the instant pot was at the top of the list. organic strawberries was the best selling deal at whole foods. that's all they told us about whole foods. amazon says small and

medium-sized businesses have exceeded more than a billion in sales, but without knowing how it compares to last year, it's hard to know what that means and not to be outdone, target says tuesday was the biggest online day of the year so far for both sales and traffic millions of shoppers on its website, the most popular deals on target.com included its own private 62 brand armchairs and wall mirrors like amazon, the instaypot was popular there, too back over to you guys. >> i'm glad you brought up target amazon is higher albeit just barely today target shares are down half a percent even though it was their best online sales day for the year as well why do you think that is >> it's always possible analysts are concerned about the margin of selling online. for most of the retailers, it is lower, it's a lower margin to do the sale online than in the store. but target said 90% of what was ordered will be fulfilled by the stores that next makes it a little

better sometimes without the clarity. maybe investors aren't so thrilled about the higher sales but at a lower profit. >> courtney, i was wondering, aside from foot traffic which does have some residual value, how have the targets and walmarts of the world, there are only two, have they figured out yet how to capture a loyalty benefit from prime day that's amazon's play you have to be paying the $100 a year plus or minus in order to get the deals. do you have to be loyal to walmart or target to get the deals? >> i'm glad you brought that up. i did get some data and what they said is when they looked at prime day, we don't have any for this year, but last year and the year before, in the foot traffic in major retailers like the ones you're talking about, they didn't see a change on prime day versus a normal foot traffic day. so it doesn't appear that people are going to the store less if they may also be shopping on amazon prime on prime day. so that's kind of interesting. but the loyalty is definitely a

stickiness factor that amazon has figured out, costco has figured out, there's not as much, but target does have the red card credit card to give 5% off purchases and free shipping with no minimum. so i think that might help but we don't have exact metrics on that all the time either. >> courtney, thank you courtney reagan back at hq back to midtown manhattan to check in at delivering alpha david faber is sitting down with the blackstone president and coo jonathan gray. let's take a listen. >> will it happen fast i don't think so there are a lot of big issues at stake. and there will be some volatility along the way but i do think if you look at the broader trade issue, the same underpinnings exist it sounds like there's probable more progress on the nafta front, maybe behind that europe and china given the scale of the issues is behind that. but if you step back looking at it from a long-term perspective, we believe there should be some resolution here.

but there is, obviously, risk for all of us as investors. >> right all right. but if it gets bad before it gets better, how do you -- i mean, obviously we don't know what is going to happen, but how do you view it from blackstone's perspective? >> well, for a lot of businesses that are domestically focused, the impact is less for businesses in the service area, less of an impact. but you start thinking about folks in the global supply chain, so if you're an exporter or you're a retailer, i think you have to start to factor in some potential friction. there could be some interruption your cost of goods could go up so i think you've got to incorporate that in investing. but not necessarily as broadly and i would say the bigger trend today, this is getting obviously the most attention today but the biggest focus probably should be on the strength of the u.s. economy, which has proven to be, i think, much stronger than most people realize so i believe fundamentally these

will get resolved. they will be volatility and there is risk. elselation could happen. but we are hopeful that in the parties will solve this. >> i hear this a lot and bring people on all the time on cnbc there's a continued belief that rationality will prevail but, i mean, steve schwartzman, the ceo who spent a lot of time in china on the earnings call on the 19th of april was saying china trade looked good. and that was just a few weeks away those are more or less quotes. seems to keep getting worse not better even though guys like steve who have great insight both into this administration in china feel otherwise i mean, do you feel as though perhaps you just don't really have a grasp of it >> i think these things are fluid. there's toing and froing, enemies can become friends, things can change quickly in

these negotiations i think reading too much again into the news of the day can get you very nervous and as investors, it may say, oh, my gosh, i've got to pull back, take everything out of the market wait for the all clear sign. and i think that's a mistake so maybe the problems are deeper and it sounds like based on the commentary of today, the distance between the u.s. and china, is further than people would hope for but i'm looking at it as i said with this long-term lens, which is it's in the party's interest to resolve this. >> are you seeing or hearing anything on top ground in china that gives you pause are you seeing hold-ups in investments that you were looking to make, and/or on the other side, money coming into the investment vehicles, is there anything you're seeing to share with us? >> we really haven't seen much that you can point to. obviously, in our conference room as we're looking at investments, we're thinking about a potential slowdown as you look at chinese investments, in particular.

and we're thinking about it, obviously, in the context of export businesses. but more generally we're looking at what we see certainly in the u.s. but across the world pretty good economic climate. >> and i want to talk about the economic climate here, but before we sort of move on, foreign investment to the u.s. has been important at blackstone, certainly when running real estate, you were a beneficiary, in particular, of chinese buying are you concerned at all about that >> well, the pull-back in chinese buying in the u.s. was driven by the chinese a couple years ago. when they put in place capital controls i think the question now is, and it relates to china more broadly, the u.s. is looking at foreign investment there's some legislation working its way through congress and what our hope is is that obviously they are focused on national security, which is really important and they've got to get it right, but we also want to make sure that capital that creates jobs gets into this country. so if a chinese company wanted to build a hotel here in new

york, hire a bunch of people on the construction side, hire people to work in the hotel, that's a positive. we want that to happen so we're hopeful that policymakers can thread that needle. >> do you think they will? >> i'm -- as i said, hopeful i think they recognize -- >> you've always been an optimist, john, and it worked out. >> yes, it's worked out. part of being an investor is taking the longer view and trying to understand why something may or may not happen. now, in this case, the technology side is really tough. so that's one where i would say, i don't see a clear path to how that gets resolved but foreign investment in something like real estate, i would think that should be able to get through >> and you're a coo, i mentioned steve schwartzman, he's a business participant from this community in this administration, is there any insight that you could share that he has in terms of where he sees things going? >> you know, steve has these conversations, and one of the

reasons he's trusted by all parties is because he holds them pretty close to the vest he has direct dialogue and is candid on these things i think all of us are watching this, obviously, concerned on the trade side because we believe in the importance of trade and investment, and as i said, i think all of us are hopeful there will be resolution here, but it's hard to be confident when these things will settle soon. >> right well, europe, perhaps, there's maybe, just at least judging from kudlow's comments, to be a bit more there looking at the first quarter, why? >> well, relative to the u.s., if european growth may be slower than the u.s., as investors, it's also about price. you know, where is that price relative to other markets?

and there's still some legacy distress in europe, in particular, we are big investors in spanish housing where we saw a large decline like the u.s. market where prices fell sharply. there was very little new building and there was a strong recovery in the spanish economy so we have seen that we also think in europe, interest rates are likely to stay lower for longer periods of time, which is one of the headwinds here in theunited states and there's just not as much competition in certain areas, large scale private equity, real estate, we found the investment environment on balance a little bit better, but again, u.s. economic growth certainly stronger than europe today >> you concerned at all about brexit is it in any way delaying investment in particular in the u.k. >> yeah, brexit, i would say, unfortunately has an adverse economic impact in the u.k we are long-term goals on the

u.k. given the rule of law, transparency, english language, tons of great talent there, but by creating the level of uncertainty that exists today, there's really -- there's a bit of a vacuum. and people are concerned about what therules are going to be going forward. and you can see it in the numbers, which is if you went back pre-brexit, the u.k. was growing 100 basis points faster than europe, i think in the last year, it's almost 100 basis points slower. and so we would be in the camp of more along the soft brexit, something that allowed a more seamless transition. something more abrupt. i think it could slow growth even more. >> you mentioned spanish housing, blackstone also the largest donor of office buildings in india, largest owner for invitation homes of individual homes in the united states what about spanish housing you're not a seller there yet or

are you still buying >> no, we are still buying we generally look for things where there's a favorable supply/demand fundamental. if you look at spanish housing, u.s. housing, we need this to keep up with population and household formation. when that occurs, you see better than inflationary growth so short answer, spain, we would continue to invest in. >> for the foreseeable future. >> for the foreseeable future. >> regardless of -- >> there's still a legacy, there's still lots of real estate there held by the banks that needs to be transitioned to private ownership, because it's been held by the banks, there hasn't been capital investment we say our motto is buy it, fix it, sell it. there's a lot of stuff in spain that still needs to be fixed. >> given already we are running during our time quickly, i do want to move through a number of other things >> that's blackstone's jonathan gray talking about the u.s. economic growth. you heard of the comment on brexit, interest rates, obviously a lot of questions all throughout delivering alpha on

tariffs and trade. even as we speak, markets are closer in the u.k. and across continental europe stocks hit a one-month high on track for the fourth positive section in five. erraticson with a surprise operating profit as the company turns around to gain momentum. asml is seeing better than expected earnings. the pound goes to a ten-month low on disappointing u.k. inflation numbers. it was softer than expected in june analysts say that reduces the chance of a voe rate hike next month. the dow is up 71, close to the highs of the session when we come back, a lot more from delivering alpha, including the best idea from jim chenos. and then later white house chief strategist steve bannon is going to sit down with michelle caruso-cabrera this afternoon. "squawk allie" continues in a moment

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twitter slumping after they raised their price target because of the recent run-up in the stock. it's currently down 3% still up 8% for the year ahead coming up, we'll have more from the delivering alpha conference. stay with us

a live shot of the white house with the president holding a cabinet meeting. we're expecting to get comments from the president as soon as we get them and we expect a press briefing at 2:00 p.m. with the press secretary. that would be the first since the helsinki and european visits we'll watch for that and staying in washington, let's get back to steve liesman for an update on day two of fed chairman jay powell's testimony on capitol hill. steve? >> yeah, john, some good old-fashioned partisan talks to break out. they are trying to get jay powell to agree of this being a direct result of president trump's policies powell really would not answer the question that was followed up by sherman from california who said, aren't these the policies of president to bobam obama?

he's doing his dance there, very normal for these types of hearing. much more in the house than in the senate pardon me. and on the issue of cryptocurrencies, i want to bring you the sound we have. we talked about it earlier where fundamentally jay powell has nothing good to say about cryptocurrencies have a listen. >> cryptocurrencies are great if you're trying to hide money or trying to launder money or if -- we have to be have been conscious of that. and the investors see the asset going up in price and think, this is great, i'll be this. in fact, there's no promise behind that. there's no, it's not really a currency, it's -- it doesn't have intrinsic value so i think the investor consumer protection issues are there as well and another thing i'll say is that we're not looking at this at the fed as something we should be doing, that the fed would do digital currency. >> critical issue of monotar

policy we're not getting much movement in terms of the fed's outlook for rates to rise twice more this year. and you look at the markets, a couple blips up in the two-year, not much change in the ten-year. the market seems to be okay with this fundamentally, both parties seem okay with it, not giving a lot of push-back to the fed chairman about the fed's plans to reduce the balance sheet or to raise interest rates >> steve, it seems to be one of the key things that traders and investors have been looking for is not just in terms of further rate hikes this year, but what that looks like going into 2019 and beyond and there seems to be a lot of discussion on whether the market is pricing in what the fed is anticipating, especially based on the comments from powell over the last couple of days. >> that's a great question i don't know if in the back they have my fed probabilities chart. if not, i can show it to you using my air charts here, which is that it's about 90% for the september meeting. it's about, i don't know, 70% to

80%, sorry, 60% for the december meeting. but then the next hike doesn't come until june. there's a bit of a disagreement between the fed's forecast for next year and what the market is pricing in i will say, jay powell is getting a lot of praise from congressmen for both sides for being very plain spoken about the uncertainties about next year he e points out he doesn't know how fiscal policy affects the economy. so, as a result, he's not sure about the outlook for what policy is going to do. they have the forecast, but that doesn't necessarily mean they will follow-through. they keep saying we're going to watch the data >> steve, the fed chair has been pretty adamant about staying in his lane, but that was from pretty direct and even strong, tough language about the value or lack thereof in cryptocurrencies is that because he views cryptocurrencies falling directly within the fed's mandate or something else you think? >> that's another great question what stay in his lane really means is, he doesn't want to

comment on the policy, but he's happy to comment on the way it would affect the fed and the job it's been give by congress for example, he'll comment on not the trade disputes but what potential impact trade might have or the trade tariffs may have on cryptocurrencies i think everybody is afraid of the football from the regulatory standpoint i think they are worried this will blow up and land in his court. notice he was asked, should the fed be given regulatory authority over cryptocurrency? he said, no, we don't want it. he said, and i think it's a bit of a financial hot potato out there, they don't want it to blow up in people's faces and don't want there to be huge investor losses. and somebody says, where was the fed on this? and they are going to say, it wasn't our responsibility. very interestingly, the same with the financial crisis, where the fed argued it did not have regulatory investment over the banks that blew up and said other agencies should have been

responsible. >> steve, thank you. steve liesman bringing us this headline and analysis from this hearing as it plays out in d.c. right now. the stocks gaining through the morning. the dow is now up 66 points. the s&p also turning positive up 4 points as you mentioned, president trump holding a cabinet meeting right now as well. we are expected to get some comments we will bring those to you as soon as we get them. more "squawk alley" after this break. you always pay your insurance on time.

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i'm scott walker today on "the halftime report," live from delivering alpha, we are live with famed short-seller jim chenos talking tesla, of course you'll want to hear about his two other positions as well. plus, what jpmorgan's exec says about the market and whether it is overvalued or not. en. "halftime report" starts in just a little over ten minutes from now john and today marks the 50th anniversary of intel as the company continues to search for a new ceo following the departure of ryan. we'll look at who might take over as intel's new ceo. josh -- >> john, there are a range of potential candidates for intel's top job, both internal and external here's some rbc that we should

be watching. one to watch would be the group president and chief engineering officer who came over from qualcomm just a few years ago. there's also the general manager of the data center group they both already have some pretty big important roles at this chipmaker experson exintern externally, watch sanjay jha and stacy smith. and renee james and diane bryant, the former coo of google cloud. pat gelsinger responded on twitter to say, thanks for the shout-out, john ford, but i love being ceo @vmware and am not going anywhere else.

he violated company policy by having a relationship with a coworker the next ceo, whoever that is going to be, will have to deal with complex challenges. one, manufacturing challenges with its next generation processe processers, so-called 10 nanometer chips. and they have been make iing moe processer processers and two, increasing competition from rivals like nvidia and amd. still, patrick morehead says intel has plenty of advantages of its own it's still a dominant powerhouse in the core market and is expanding into new markets that investors care about, like ai and self-driving cars. guys, back to you. >> i did say they should probably talk to him i didn't go so far to say he was a good pick. that could be a little outside of my area of expertise, josh, but as i look at intel's stock

over the past year, remember, the spectrum meltdown and stuff was an issue at the beginning. it's actually a bit higher i wonder if analysts feel that intel can hold on to its advantages despite these issues manufacturing and now who's going to be the leader at the top? >> yeah. i did hear analysts actually -- checked in with folks that actually cover them on the street and didn't hear that brought up they still remember a dominant force. look at their market share both in chips and pcs and servers talking nearly 100% for server chips. more than 90% isn't shifter pcs according to ivc analysts concentrate, though, first and foremost, the manufactures problems, with shipping, vast, big quantities of those 10 nanometer shifts and ship in 2019, they will. these new chips will deliver better performance, lower power usage and the big question, who

will lead the company right behind me here, jon. >> josh, thanks. not pat dellsinger happy about that chimed in on twitter, too. over to dom chu with an alert at delivering alpha. >> morgan, we have now, first up on this delivering alpha, best ideas panel, alexander rupert's over atlantic investment management call your attention to what's happening now with shares of huntsman, the chemicals company. they are spiking a bit up near session highs. up 1.5% you see here the reason, alex rupert is making comments about the bullish case for huntsman chemical thinking there's a $47 price target for the stock implying upside citing among other reasons its global diversified performance, chemicals trading and a low chemical valuation valuation argument there and end market growth is well ahead of gdp at this point and also going

to use their strong cash flow and balance sheet strength for merger activity and share buyback strategies the reasons he is thinking huntsman could be a bullish call reiterating upside targets he thinks about $47 a share based upon his presentation. we'll monitor this for any other comments that's the reason why, jon, right now those shares are on the move fon huntsman chemical back to you. >> wow thanks, dom. when we return, a live update from the best ideas panel going on right now at cnbc and ins stukesal iesnvtors eighth annual delivering conference more "squawk alley" after this break. you're awesome and xfinity would like to say, "thank you".

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you've got some serious watching to do. coming off of prime day blue or journey, jeff bezos other company performs another test on the spacecraft shepard, founded by jeff bezos, ran a motor test earlier in the hour pushing engines to the maximum limits in order to simulate what would happen if a problem with a launch vehicle during an ascent if people were onboard the launch was successful pup see that here. landing both the new shepard rocket, suborbital rocket and the capsule. the ninth such mission that new shepard is that product that this company is looking to use for space tourism sending

paying passengers just past the edge of space. the company has said to us in recent months it's still looking to do that hopefully before the end of this year safety and tests, you know, allowing for that. but, again, right here in west texas, the latest test from this space start-up. >> if you're jeff bbezos, better to have glitches now than on the primary launch primetime deals on space travel? >> we don't even know the price for travel with new shepard, reports of upwards of $200,000 we'll see. >> echoes, if interested dow's up 75. we do have s&p 2814. a fresh 5.5 month high more from delivering alpha in a moment stay with us with tripadvisor, finding your perfect hotel at the lowest price... is as easy as dates, deals, done!

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a check on markets a mixed picture. dow up near session heiss ofigh3 s&p of 6 holding above that 2300 mark nasdaq lower outperforming the dow transports

up more than 2.5%. led higher by united continental despite higher fuel prices >> if you're going to watch that, we will and ibm tonight. american expression, ebay. earnings machine turning on as we speak to wapner add delivering alpha in "the half." welcome to the "halftime." i'm scott wapner live today from cnbc and institutional delivering alpha conference here in new york city some of the world's finest investors and business leaders gathering throughout the day today. in fact, we will be joined momentarily by the famed short seller jim chainos, looking forward that ap our panel here pete najarian, steve weiss, josh brown with u