it is 35k a.m. here in cnbc. 6:00 a.m. in venezuela where we are following a developing story. the white house weighing new sectors against venezuela's sector as the u.s. sends a strong message to nicolas moduro to step down two key votes today to try to end the government shutdown is there any chance the government finally reopens carlos ghosn resigning as chairman and ceo of renault. hitting the brakes apple cutting more than 200 jobs from a its self-driving car unit, and bing blocked microsoft says the search engine

no longer accessible in china. we'll have more on this coming up, thursday, january 24th, as woshltdwide exchange begins right now. >> good morning, good afternoon, good evening happy thursday i am brian sullivan here there is a lot of big global macrostories happening right now. the world focuses on really two places venezuela and davos,turmoil there, futures are fairly calm to slightly higher right now dow futures at this hour up 46 s&p and the nasdaq are higher as well again, not a lot here changed. we are seeing a little bit of green on the screen, of course all of that could change dramatically either way over the next couple of hours we are following a major developing story in the oil market, and in the gft of venezuela. hundreds of thousands of people are taking to the streets of car ak yas calling for the ouster of

the authoritarian leader right now venezuela has two competing governments. it is white house weighing more tough economic sanctions again the moduro regime, including the possibility of an oil naval blockade it's a huge exrter this could have a huge ripple effect in the energy market as well venezuela and opec member. though its production ha tumbled in recent years it is still producing about a million and a half barrels a day people are tired of rule under moduro, and the economy has collapsed. inflation is running at 10 millio million% the question is what now and what happens to venezuela's prime asset? the u.s.-based oil company citgo. a man who has been following the story for years, as close or

closer than anybody out there. we really appreciate getting your thoughts this morning thanks for joining us. we have seen semi-cue attempts and attempts to push out chavez before they have all failed do you think that this new internal president, the u.s. is recognizing, juan guadeau and will succeed and become the official leader of venezuela >>. >> well, they are throwing a pincher movement at venezuela and moduro to try and make that happen shortly almost seconds and minutes after he nouannounced tt he was the interim president because of fraud leulent electi that left doubts about whether moduro had been rightfully elected, the united states and president trump immediately recognized him canada chimed in moments after then the rest of latin america

has also joined in most of the countries, except the cuban accolites like bolivia, and they're standing by their man. >> he has the support of a bunch of the world he has support obviously of hundreds of thousands, if not a million plus people in the country of venezuela, but moduro has something important. he has the army. >> you hit the nail on the head. that's what this is all about. it's whether they can get the army to switch their allegiance and go with guido and the opposition they tried to make a constitutional case. for years the venezuelan regime under moduro has been just scooting by and disregarding the constitution and the national assembly

they offered an amnesty for them for coming over to their side, and they're trying to force them because the situation in the country is so bad. the average wage has fallen to below $5 a month not an hour. not a day. $5 a month you cab feed your family you can't buy soap for $5 a month. >> the houston-based refiner it has been under siege in the courts it has been under siege by a hedge fund it has been under siege by creditors. now you have the possibility an oil blockade do you think this will signal the end of ownership by venezuela, and if so, is that the end of the venezuelan economy because citgo provides

nearly all of venezuela's government revenue at this point? >>. >> chevron, bolero and pbs they are still buyers. >> the biggest buyers are citgo and then volero and chevron, and that has joint ventures, and they're not necessarily buying it, but getting their share of their production and importing it to the united states. citgo is the lynch pin, and the united states is the only one keeping the lights on. their production has actually fallen >> in other words, over 20 years when they should have been increasing their production and had plans to take it to five and then to ten million barrels a

day. they are down to one-third of what they were producing 20 years ago. as a matter of fact, that 1.1 million barrels a day, they first achieved that as a nation in 1946. >> yeah. >> they have fallen so far behind that they're back to what they did in 1946 before we even had modern technology. >> if that number is even right. when i was at the opec meeting, russ, in vienna a couple of months ago, i looked the oil minister in the eye. i asked him, and he said one-sic. every other source has them much less than that we know opec is a game where they're going to put out the numbers that they want final question, russ, is this. ultimately, is there a possibility of an upside here in terms of production if the administration does succeed in becoming sort of the rule or the official leader of that nation where u.s. companies will reinvest in venezuela and put some much-needed capital into what are deteriorating oil infrastructure >> there's a huge upside, brian.

you can't imagine. you can walk around in venezuela, stick an umbrella in the ground and find oil. it's easy to get the oil out of the ground the sky is the limit it could be the gold rush of the 1840s in california and america. if the right government was put back into place. if we get a democratic government that follows legal, you know -- legal property rights and those things, which the current government has not that's why they've taken the country with the largest oil reserves in the world and brought it to bankruptcy >> it truly is an economic -- it's a societial disaster on certainly many levels here there is some optimism down the road, as you pointed out russ, we really appreciate your views. thank you very much. >> thank you, brian. right now oil is little changed. the market, though, does remain on edge about what will ultimately happen in venezuela meantime, around the world in asia, it was a mixed bag on trading. you had the chinese dpes

domestic market up a little bit. japon down a bit meantime, in europe the big focus today will be on the european central bank. the ecb out with its latest rate decision in just a couple of hours from now let's tie all of this together and get analysis and bring in anika, associate director of research at wisdom tree in europe thank you very much for joining us i know you can't talk directly to the venezuelan markets. by the way, there are very few people who can you add that to a world where there is looking like a hard brexit coming. obviously, the chinese economy is slowing the trade fight, the u.s. government shutdown. is there a case to buy equities globally right now >> i definitely think there's a case to buy equities globally. we're already seeing equities starting to stabilize. it looks like santa joined the christmas party a bit late, and, you know, we've seen literally four consec tiff weeks of gains on the equity market i think what markets really need

to avoid is getting into the trap of a self-fulfilling recession prophecy if they don't give to the negative feedback loop of the trade wars effecting sentiment, tightening liquidity conditions, i think we should be on a more optimistic track in 2019 >> effectively, if i'm hearing you right, you are suggesting that we could talk ourselves into it, that we could keep bringing up the risk so much that the fact of the global economy overall does remain pretty good and could become an ultimate negative, even though the numbers aren't that bad. snoo that's exactly what i wanted to focus on i mean, numbers are -- there's no denying the numbers are slowing down overall, we're still in a very, very good condition globally i think what we're seeing in most of the economic data is sentiment is starting to get effected you know, over the course of 2018, we've seen the ongoing

trade war saga between the u.s. and china to where the latter half of 2018 and as we enter 2019, we've started to see a bit more catalysts coming from these very trade wars that were dragging the markets down. i think that's supportive of sentiment going forward. it should start to help and give a positive catalyst to markets going forward. >> annika, we do appreciate your views from london. we'll have you back on again soon have a great day thank you very much. it is a very busy day, and we are just getting started here on worldwide exchange. up next, more on the shutdown showdown stateside the senate holding t browder worldwide exchange will be right worldwide exchange will be right back that's great. right now you've got your hands full with your global supply chain. okay, france wants 50,000 front fenders by friday. that's why you work with watson. i analyzed thousands of contracts and detected a discrepancy. it works with procurement systems you already use to help speed up distribution without slowing down your team.

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welcome back good morning 5:14 thanks for being with us here's how your money and investments are setting up their day. slig dow up 40 points right now on the futures. a lot, though, could change because there was a lot happening today. we're going to have more on the markets in just a moment first, we've got to go back to the world economic forum and send it out to sarah eisen live in davos sarah. >> good morning, brian with me now is bill browder, one of the most outspoken critic of russian president vladimir putin who is thrust in the middle of u.s.-russia relations. also, famously big proponent of the magnitski act, a law that

pishz human rights acts named after his lawyer >> ten years since vladimir putin has put a price on my head i'm not scared or backing down, and i'm going after them for the murder of sergei magnitski who was killed in 2009, and one of the main reasons i'm here in davos is to make sure that i'm talking to all the policymakers here to hold russia to account >> whatsoever reception are you getting this year? >> well, russia used to be the most welcomed crowd in davos they had -- they were putting money out here >> parties >> the biggest parties, the caviar, the champagne. now i'm sure they would like to have that, but a lot of western businessmen don't want to be seen associating with russian olagarchs. >> one of the olagarks we

mentioned that's been here in davos. even worse that, he and two others were kicked out of davos temporarily, and then they were somehow able to come back into davos, and so, you know, the russians are getting into a lot of trouble with a lot of stuff cheating the elections and olympics sanctions, et cetera then they just sort of slowly grind away and try to find their way back into the system so what's your relationship with the trump administration on this issue? >> well, there is -- i've had a lot of different relationships donald trump at the helsinki summit with putin wanted to hand me over to the russians. >> seemed open to it >> at the same time his administration has been -- some of the people in his administration have been highly supportive of sanctioning russians and sanctions russians under the act. it's a mixed bag as far as trump and his administration goes. >> want to bring in my colleague brian sullivan who is back at headquarters brian. >> hey, bill good to "see you" across the way there. thanks for joining sarah and the team i want to physical on up sar why's question you mention the president, but i

know you have done interviews about this as well, and, by the way, i saw you got ambushed by russian state tv yesterday i thought you had a nice comeback to them the question is this, what is driving u.s.-russia policy is it oil right now, defense, syria, is it that pipeline that is going from russia to germany? there seems to be a lot of questions about what the mutual goals might be.

>> does that make it a weaker geopolitical partner when it comes to all the other important ones >> absolutely. if you have a situation where you have a weaker economy that creates pop lichl, pop lichl then creates all these right-wing parties that putin can support, which he does support. he gives them money openly then that creates a situation when we call for -- when russia does something terrible, like chemical weapons attacks in the center of england, you don't have consistency on sanctions because you have all these putin accolites in different parties in europe saying, well, maybe we need to be more reasonable with russia and see their side of the story about poisoning people in salsburiy or whatever. >> where are we right now? we have populist threats all over prime minister may and president trump aren't even here in davos because of their own domestic crisis, and where does that leave the relationship in 2019 with russia and fighting off this threat? >> well, what it means is that

russia is winning because they've created all this chaos it's not just germany and france macron is not here either. one of the tweets i put out at the very beginning is with france, u.k., and the u.s. not here, you have a disproportionate number of dictatorships versus democracies here in davos, and that's true generally in terms of the voices of the world right now >> bill browder, thank you for speaking up on this important issue, as always >> thank you >> brian, back to you. i'll be back in a bit. ceo of bmo >> sarah and bill, thank you very much. sarah, key you in a couple of minutes. we have much more to come, including this guy, bono he is sitting down with cnbc that's a big interview he is yobviously a musician you might have heard of the band u2 they've been around for a while. an activist around the world bono live 7:30 a.m. eastern time all right. still ahead, a big red flag maybe for housing. a reno boom, and it's going bust, and it could have a major

impact on the real estate market diana will have that story ahead. first, the milkin institute is out with their annual list of mesh's best performing economic cities that list ranks cities on things like job growth, wages, and technology output. coming in at number five is dallas we're going to walk you through five, four, three, two, one. the rest of the show, who is the number one city for jobs and the economy in the united states you got to stick arod re ounhen worldwide exchange to find outa. which didn't quite cover the steinway. but what if he'd met pure insurance?. owned by members. he'd have met: lisa, your member advocate. who'd introduce him to gustav: leave it to me. a temporary address, temporary ivory, and help him get tickets to the mozart festival. excuse me, grant likes beethoven!

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skbro will do the address when the shutdown is over president trump tweeted overnight, i am not looking for an alternative venue house speaker nancy pelosi wrote that lawmakers would not

authorize his visit until government has opened. >> the shtdown must end and end now. >> one vote offering immigrant protections in exchange for funding president trump's border wall >> he shubt cave in to liberal democrat demands >> the other opening government temporarily to negotiate border security >> if we can get government open for 15 days, we can be here around the dlok and find the solution to this >> neither is expected to pass pressure to reopen government is mounting >> it can be done, but not while the president holds hostage all americans, including hundreds of thousands of federal workers >> air traffic controllers, pilots, and flight attendants say they're worried about safety with a record number of tsa workers calling out sick, and five former homeland security

secretaries, including three who work for republicans say national security is at stake. >> now, on that vote today, at least one senate republican says she will cross party lines and vote with democrats to end this shutdown, but, brian, that's not going to do it they need at least a dozen more to move it forward >> but you're saying there's hope there's one who will cross the aisle, tracy there's hope i like it. tracie potts one out of 12, but, hey, it's one. it's a start staying on the shutdown, does that shutdown mean that any hope for a multi-billion dollar infrastructure plan is officially dead for the third year, or can the states pick up the slack? one of the market's leading experts on that will join us coming up. first, we're counting you down to the milkin institute's number one top performing economic city in america number five was dallas coming in at number four, yep, home of the golden gate. san francisco, and we are going woonwheal three, t, e en

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zbliefrmt oil markets on edge. the white house weighing new sanctions against venezuela's oil sector housing alert. the remodel boom could be grinding to a halt, and we have three big reasons why. we are minutes away from revealing the best performing economic city. worldwide exchange rolls on. ♪

>> good thursday morning i'm brian sullivan as always, let's kick off the second half of the show with your executive recap and frank holland here with that frank. >> here's what's leading cnbc.com right now the u.s. and other nations are backing venezuela's opposition leader, juan guido as interim president. hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of venezuela, and they're calling for the removal of authority tarn president nicolas maduro. moduro has set a deadline for personnel to leave the country carlos ghosn resigning the french carmaker's board will meet today to find a replacement. ghosn has been behind bars since november he is accused of understating his income apple is cutting more than 200 jobs in its self-driving car unit, and apple spokesperson has acknowledged those lay-offs and says the company still sees opportunity in the mobility

space. one source tells cnbc some of the employees will be reassigned to other projects within apple brian, back to you >> thank you very much now let's get a check on this morning's other headlines outside of the world of money and other business, including a scary situation in florida phillip is in new york with that a suspected gunman is in -- after allegedly shooting and killing all five people inside a sun trust bank in florida on wednesday. police responded after the suspect called authorities and told them he had shot five people the suspects surrendered after a swat team stormed the bank he has now been identified as 21-year-old zeppin xavier. no word on a motive. there is no shortage of drama at the trial of chappo a new implication in his wife in his 2015 prison escape on ex-cartel member told the jury that emma cornell was essentially a messenger helping her husband trade messesk-out.

she has declined to comment. >> you might have trouble expressing how you feel this valentine's day. that's because "sweet hearts" will be missing from store shelves. the company was bought out by a spangler candy company, but there wasn't enough time to produce the sweet hearts in time for valentine's day. sixth graders everywhere can get back to expressing the way they feel to their school crushes >> no better way to do that than a hard piece of sugar that is dyed some unusual color. >> and tastes like chalk don't forget >> have you gotten your package for me yet >> not yet i'm waiting on it, though. >> it's coming you're good. >> i'll hold my breath >> now back out to sarah at the world economic forum in davos, switzerland. sarah. >> darrell white, the ceo of bmo capital markets. eighth largest bank in north america. nice to see you.

>> thank you for having me >> so 90% of the business is u.s. a characterize the north american economy right now? >> i find it's the big question. we're obviously in an inflexion point, but i think perspective is really important, sarah when i look at the dialogue that says let's compare everything we talk about today to one year ago today to the minute, and then you can paint one picture, but i'm going to paint a different picture for you because in that first picture, you could say, well, that the point in time we had the benefit of fiscal stimulus in the united states. we had some meerj ens and a growth story then you can say, well, we have a government shutdown today and brexit looks like it's on the rails, and we've got trade problems all over the world, and those are two drastically different stories, and, therefore, we have a huge problem.

we won't have inflation above 2% you would probably say, yeah, it's not bad you probably say it's a central banker's dream, right. they work their whole lives to work up that story that's where we are today. i'm less concerned about the conversation relative to where we are a year ago. the question is, of course, what's happening in the businesses that we service and our clients are still in pretty good spirits they're spending the consumer spending, the capital formation at the corporate level is good. it's real. there's no question weesh slowing down i don't see that we're slowing to a halt. >> if we have, let's say, 2% to 2.5% gdp growth in the united states, that's exactly the average of it seven years post-global financial crisis

when we grew recession risks. are we closer than we were of course, we are. it does not in any way, shape, or form feel imminent in the businesses that we serve >> u.s. m&a is the new nafta how is it affecting business and the economies of the u.s. and canada, and do you assume that it will pass congress? >> i do assume it will pass congress i assume that the agreement would be struck a year ago would i say that canada was relieved, and expectation that it will be passed. i think, like i said before, i think the most successful commercial trading relationship in the history of modern commerce fundamentals prevail usually, and they did in this case, and i think it will pass congress. for the fullness much tiechl, i think the relationships will survive, and i think they'll survive soundly. there will be twists in the road i think we're in one of those right now.

i think those -- >> you are talking u.s. and china. >> and i'm also saying that we are trading partners with each of them. in canada this situation that you are referring are to, we're monitoring it. it matters the relationships prevail over time >> brian has talked a lot about oil prices on the move as a result of venlz waila today. we had that big downturn last year how is >> the currency has gotten cheaper, and if you look at the canadian dollar relative to the u.s. dollar over time, it doesn't get very far away from the price of oil >> on the other hand, it puts $50 in the pockets of the consumer when the oil price is lower, so the canadian economy has been resilient the knock-on impact of that is on the export. >> which is good >> that's good we have a bit of a natural hedge in the oil currency right now. >> one more on cannabis. it i canada. is that an opportunity at all? is there anyhe sense that we we

banking and supporting select clients in the industry before you're referring to the legalization recreational perspective. when it was legal and has been for a very long time from a medical perspective, so we've been in this bess for a very long time, and we continue to be in it. >> do you feel that canada is going to lead the u.s., or are we going to go in different direction on this one? >> you know, i don't know. i don't know what the u.s. is going to do. i can't speak for the legislature, but i think there's some progress being made for sure >> darrell white, nice to check in with you. >> thank you >> thank you for coming by >> thank you the ceo of bmo back to you, brian >> sarah, thank you very much. meantime, our mysterious ways from the high elevation of davos will continue later this morning. we're going to find out if that guy, bono, has found what he was looking for.t it is our desire stay with us "mad money." on deck here is the multi-year, multi-billion dollag

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welcome back good morning it's kind of warm here it's, like, 50 degrees, but raining in new york. happy april. >> in the meantime, one of the great economic stories of the past few years has certainly e renovation americans are spending huge amounts of money to fix up their houses, but now home remodeling is expected to shrink to its weakest level in three years, and there are three big reasons why. diana joining us now from washington with this story diana. >> and here comes the drum roll, brian. it is slower home appreciation, rising mortgage interest rates, and fewer home sales that last one is key new homeowners usually renovate. flt first two, three years, they typically spend quite a bit more on home improvements and making that home fit their needs, customizing it, maybe doing some work even before they move in. >> new owners actually spend 30% more than long-time residents, so growth in renovation and

repair spending for owner occupied homes will fall from 7.5% last year to 5.1% this year that according to a new report from harvard's joint center for housing. spending, however, will rise slightly to about $350 billion, because builder costs are still very high. >> what we do as builders is we're looking to our suppliers, we're looking to the folks that are in ourndr prices down as mus possible that's a little bit difficult with tariffs being what they are, with the costs of materials being what they are. >> still, the slowdown in overall projects will hit home improvement retailers like home dep depot, lowe's, sher win williams, and sher win just reported a very disappointing fourth quarter "across the board" according to its ceo. sales growth barely 2% finally, we're already seeing weaker consumer sent meant in housing because prices have peaked when people feel like their home is losing value, they do not

generally want to invest more into it. brian. >> let's talk about government shutdown obviously, you are based in d.c. you live in d.c. you are actually living this what's going to be the impact of the government shutdown, day 34 on the home renovation market? the area around d.c. has been one of the fastest growing and is one of the wealthiest areas in the entire united states. it matters from a macroeconomic perspective. >> it absolutely does. i asked the contractor that, and he said, you know, contractors right now are starting to get nervous about the summer and the fall they have everything set for winter because that came from last fall, but what they think is that it's not just people around d.c it's basically anyone in the country because that's what he said if you think about consumer sentiment, about feelings about your home, it's the most emotional thing you own because it's probably the most expensive thing you own, and so when you feel kind of nervous about the government, you feel nervous about the direction of the economy, you don't necessarily want to maybe put in the brand new kitchen because that's a very discretionary spend maybe you want to wait a little, and that's what the contractors are concerned about. not just here in d.c., but

across the country >> i guess the question is, and, of course, tomorrow will be the second missed paycheck from government workers they will get the money back eventually the government, we hope, will have to reopen they'll get a big check. is there any indication that we're going to see a lagging effect, but that the money, like larry kudlow has said on this network, may ultimately be spent. >> it could ultimately be spent, but, look, these home renovation projects are six months in advance. i mean, you have to plan and get architects and permits the shutdown now, i don't know that it would affect any kind of surge perhaps six months from now, but if it does continue longer, you're definitely going to see a pullback in consumer spending in home renovations >> diane olick, we're glad you are on the job thank you. up next, pothole problems. you know that big hole you keep dodging on your way to work? well, it main be going away any time soon. is there any hope for a massive infrastructure bill this year? there may actually be. we'll explain why ahead. the countdown continues. the top five american cities for economic performance from the

milkin institute dallas number five, san francisco number four. austin number three, and number two, more california san francisco, suburban cousin, san jose, california, coming in at number two. what city is number one? i'll give you a hint it's not in texas or california. you're going to find out the winner coming up icarnd big, bold promises like... it'll find life on mars! but here's the thing. you don't live on mars. (beep) you build wind turbines. supply car parts to thousands of cities. answer millions of customer calls a year. like this one: no, i didn't order this. it's terrifying. and that's why you work with watson. hello. it knows your industry, protects your insights, and works with tools you already use. that's why it's the best ai for the job. and works with tools you already use. tremfya® is for adults with remoderate. to severe plaque psoriasis. with tremfya®, you can get clearer. and stay clearer. in fact, most patients who saw 90%

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now with shrimp. now that's eatin' good in the neighborhood. welcome back two big stocks to keep on your radar on this thursday microsoft. the technology giant saying its bing search engine has been blocked in china it has been the only major foreign search engine allowed to operate behind china's so-called great fire wall because microsoft complied with government rules to sensor sensitive search results google has been blocked since 2010 you also need to watch shares of ford the company reporting a lower fourth quarter operating profit, missing forecasts. did come in line with the outlook the company gave last week, though losses in every region, except for here, north america, of course, that matters the most.

>> coming in at the number one economic city, the great town of provo, utah. the second year in a row that provo took the top spot. the milken institute says provo and its surrounding areas are seeing big-time job growth, thanks if part to brigham young university's growing focus on technology.

>> you have definitely not been sanguin about this topic >> we are looking forward to this next year and looking at potential half a billion dollar infrastructure deal. here's why >> every year i say are we going to get this deal they say yes, and nothing has happened >> it's a little like shark week is it going to be infrastructure week infrastructure week was starting last week. >> with that, the head of the infrastructure committee has come oe options to help fund this bill

the key thing is everyone supports infrastructure, but it's just how do you fund it >> okay. because, well, first off, we need an operating government to get that done. assuming the government will at some point reopen here, all we hear about is so much other stuff besides infrastructure, so what you are saying is if i'm hearing you right, catherine, is that there are some wheels grinding behind the scenes >> absolutely. one of the key things is the federal highway bill, which is a multi-year six-year program will come to a close in 2020. you have to really as part of the reauthorization of that bill, you really need infrastructure bill.

>> a penny and a half increase in taxes >> do you think that's palettable the two most dangerous words i x >> or no new tacks >> read my lips. >> read my lips. >> to your point, that 18.5 whatever gas tax with inflation is now effectively 12 cents. it's not enough to even cover the cost of just the continued program. we're going to be driving on gravel roads >> pretty close, but here's the catch. what the fed hasn't been able to do, states are doing states have gotten -- >> we are a federalist republic, are we not states do have some power. are you saying, catherine, that the state -- if the federal government can't get their act together, that the states might be able to do this >> goes back to state's rights >> what you've seen over the past 31 states since 2012 have passed significant increases in funding. i'm not saying about 10% or 15%

increase in funding. >> what they've done is they've been creative about funding. it's not necessarily i'm going to increase the gas tax. they'll come up with a different menu of items or they'll take advantage of certain assets in their states if you look at a state like georgia, who is really diversified their revenues, they switched from a retail tax to an ekize tax for gas tax.e on elec vehicles >> if you look preand post just in the state of georgia, that funding, you have an overall structural change by 15% >> let's say defauzo's bill does somehow get through. in this day and age, who knows if it does, $500 million.

>> that's a sign you can get something done >> it's a little third world >> second world. >> maybe yes. we're there. >> but you've got multi-billion projects l.a.x., jfk will be starting up. la guardia nashville where we're based. the nashville project won't be even finished until 2026 just in terms of the magnitude on waterways you are seeing significant infrastructure build-out along the gulf in the southeast with the widening of the panama canal with the ships that are coming, the post panamac ships carrying

two and a half times the amount of goods as the pre -- with the -- >> that's why we've been to these ports and talked about drudging that's why they have to be deeper in savannah and new york because the ships are so huge, they become deep and they need to get in. where are the macroinvesting themes if you are -- let's get a deal, who is going to profit where are the ways to make money off of infrastructure optimism >> yepe great lakes drudge there's a really -- you got to think both in the materials and then on the services side. another company is granite construction gba. it does a little bit of both i think where you are going to get the most bang for the buck of where most of the dollars will be spend e spent is on more in the surfaceoads or rail, you

got to use rock. you got to use concrete. you got to use asphalt >> a lot of us here in new jersey and my car also hope that you are correct that we can get something done catherine thompson of thompson research group real pleasure. good names there as well >> thank you >> too many for your morning rbi. you probably heard this yesterday right here on this fine network billionaire ken griffin buying america's most expensive home. he paid $238 million for an apartment in new york. now, he probably paid cash it wasn't said how he paid for it, but let's have fun, shall we we're just regular folk here let's assume that griffin put 20% down that's about $48 million assume he took out, like you and i, a 30-year mortgage at roughly 4.5 percent.

>> we want to quickly recap your top story this morning really a major developing story globally and in the oil market hundreds of thousands of people continue to take to the streets of venezuela calling for the ouster of president and dictator nicolas e u.s. and other nations backing that country ace opposition leader juan guado is interim president. right now venezuela effectively has two competing governments, which in some ways means it may not have a government at all. some of the biggest importers of venz ailan oil are chevron,

volero and pbf those are stocks to watch. as an economic story, it is a humanitarian story as well the crisis of venezuela. much more on cnbc all day long at it for us "squawk box" live from davos right now.

good morning we have another stellar guest list to kick off our final days here in davos. i mean, file days, but the says last days we're going to be here ceos of goldman. hopefully. goldman sachs and morgan stanley ceos will be with us matt damon, one. u.s. -- u2 front man bono and his royal line esprince william. seriously. later, president trump's state of the union is on ice until the shutdown is over we're going to talk to commerce secretary wilbur ross about the shut did you know and the

progress of trade talks with china. it is 24, 2019bo this is a special presentation of "squawk box" live from the world economic forum in davos, switzerland. good morning, everybody. welcome to "squawk box" here on cnbc we are live from the world economic forum in davos, switzerland. i'm becky quick along with joe kernan and andrew ross sorkin. let's take a look at u.s. equity futures. you did see gains after stcoe n before this morning you are seeing some green arrows, but muted green arrows dow futures indicated up by 25 points s&p futures indicated up by three skaf, and the nasdaq indicated up by 26 points. let's take a look at what

happened overnight