good morning it's 8:00 a.m. in seattle, washington, 11:00 a.m. on wall street, and "squawk alley" is live ♪ good thursday morning.

welcome to "squawk alley." i'm carl quintanilla with morgan brennan and jon fortt at post 9 of the new york stock exchange giving back about half of yesterday's relief rally as breadth remains poor and the volatility continues >> and we are going to begin this morning with today's market sell-off stocks remain volatile, the dow falling sharply after yesterday's gains, and that's the coronavirus concerns that continue to ramp up. organizers around the world canceling conferences an trade shows over the outbreak. ibm joining companies like facebook and google in canceling their own events yesterday evening whul others like apple and netflix have pulled out of conferences that are for now still moving forward like south by southwest we're joined by jeff richards of ggb capital and j.j. kinehan of td ameritrade. good morning >> good morning, jon >> j.j., first, what do you make of this volatility, the market

reaction especially given we've been through months and months of trade concerns that didn't lead to this type of reaction? sounds like we don't have j.j.'s sound. we will try to get that. jeff richards, you can answer that market question if you like, but i'm also wondering what you see from the corporate perspective, your own meetings, your own communication, your dealing with start-ups and companies globally trying to continue to do business in this environment. how are they adapting as the headlines change day to day? >> yeah. i mean, as you can imagine, it's a little bit of a realtime question we're getting questions daily from portfolio companies and monitoring what apple and sales force are doing. the one thing that's interesting

and perhaps a silver looning, a lot of private companies in the last five to six years have built virtual teams around the world so this idea of work regular mote or from home is sort of built into the companies like zoom and slack. that's been happening for a while. i don't know that there's as great a shock to the system for private companies, saying we need folks to work remotely or perhaps do a conference remotely it's definitely causing a lot of fear, uncertainty, and doubt in silicon valley >> j.j., i believe we've got better sound for you now so we can actually hear you, not just see your lips moving i'm talking about the continued volatile market reaction to certainly coronavirus, perhaps some political headlines as well given the fact we went through such a long period of market reaction, but nothing like this. >> i got done seeing all this brilliant stuff, jon honestly, you can draw so many

parallels between this and what we went through in tariffs in that we have something that is going to last an unknown period of time and people aren't sure how it will affect them. the bigger difference here is tariffs for people were a little bit of an esoteric concept the coronavirus, everybody can personalize what could happen to them or their families if it continues to grow bigger i think that's why you're seeing the extra level of volatility. one thing about that, you know, for so many of your retail traders watching now, people are like what should i do, things are moving so quickly. the first thing is cut down on your size a little bit if you're normally trading 400 shares, maybe you make that 200 because we'll have bigger ranges that's what volatility means, bigger ranges, particularly for anybody using stop orders or things like that because if you keep your ranges where you were before, you're probably mathematically setting yourself up to not do as well

hi v it's important to take a breath and cut down on the size you were trading so you can withstand more of these moves throughout freaking out so to speak. >> jeff, volatility in the public markets for sure but also the ten-year below 1%, 0.931% right now the yield on the ten-year what does that do to funding and capital in the private markets and what does it do to potentially valuations and demand for some of these software names, the growth names? >> it's a great question obviously, we have a lot of folks refinancing so anybody in the mortgage business is probably overworked right now. in our world, we haven't seen a big shift yet in terms of financing in the private markets. you saw a shift in china last year and a shift in the consumer sector at the end of last year with some of the challenges around we work and softbank. but we're still seeing a ton of demand for software companies reflected by the fact most of those companies have held up very well despite the market volatility

look at the average ipos from the last two years, the average from 2019 is still up over 50%, the average from 2018 is up over 100%, and you have folks who went out in december, a tech company went out in december is up over 100% from its ipo price. normally in a super volatile market we expect the recent ipos to get hit a bit because they haven't yet built trust with investors. we're not seeing that, which i think is an interesting dynamic of this market and may speak to just the insatiable demand that investors have for new high-growth names and may portend well despite the market volatility for the ipo market the rest of this year. >> j.j., i'm interested in something that you just said about just the tactics around trading in this environment. i also wonder, in your view, has anything fundamentally changed when you're thinking about the levels which you would buy in on the s&p or major index or individual stocks or just how an

investor should be allocating money globally, kind of having a balanced portfolio, i know this is a short-term concern. we were all understanding that but have you seen anything with coronavirus fundamentally changing how investors should be looking at this market >> i do think you have to reconsider what's going on right now is a repricing of assets so to speak, more so than normal. we have things that affect individual stocks repricing them now we're affecting the whole market with that, jon, earnings, we know drive stocks. we're basically saying we know first-quarter earnings will be affected second-quarter earnings will most likely be affected. what it comes down to is what's your time frame. for those authorwho are traders is a great time. you're trading all night but for people who are watching you, longer-term investors, what i would say is how do you think this is going to affect your company going forward?

you look at apple, having a rough day today but overall said they think they're getting the factories back to work in china over the next few weeks. with that being said, if you have a longer time frame, sure, this may be a very nice time to, you know, buy some, but as i said, probably smaller than you normally do because if we have another downward move it allows you to buy more at a better price. the number-one thing people should be asking themselves right now is what is my time frame for this investment and if i'm willing to hold on to what may be noise but the next quarter or so or at least we know through the fed meeting next week, there should be some extended volatility. can you hold on through that and that's the primary question you have to ask yourself right now. i don't know that you have to completely reallocate your portfolio until a little more is known. >> okay. quickly, j.j., i get it, volatility is something that traders like, a bigger opportunity to make or by the way lose money in this environment. one of the other things you track closely is retail investor

activity what are you seeing given this volatility >> to jon's question, we are seeing people on names they traditionally like, the apples and teslas of the world, particularly our millennial clients. as they've fallen, we've seen people come in and pick some up at these levels. not crazy or out of control. it's been fairly balanced. i would say that's what we're seeing this week >> all right great intelligence thanks for helping us track it, jeff, j.j. >> thanks, guys. >> meantime, investors turning to u.s. residential real estate as a safe haven. diana olick has that story for us from washington hey, diana >> reporter: morgan, yeah, investors are looking for the calm in this storm and u.s. residential real estate appears to be it specifically single family rentals. roof stock is a company that launched about five years ago.

it facilitates sales of single-family rentals to investors and manages the properties for them. buyers can go online and do the whole thing without ever going to the property. in the last few week, it has seen traffic from investors in asia on its site jump 500% ceo gary beasley says it's a direct result of the coronavirus. >> i think people look at hard assets, things like real estate, which are uncorrelated generally to the stock market, there's a flight to things like treasuries, which are now down in the 1% range, the ten-year and things like real estate and specifically u.s. housing, that tends to perform quite well on a relative basis during times of market volatility. >> reporter: and they noted a 50% traffic uptick from germany, a 250% jump from australians and

a 100% jump in traffic from the uk >> generally in the past it's been people don't want to have to travel, but if they can't travel, being able to invest remotely is terrific so you can put your money to work without jumping on a plane. it's a combination of not being able to travel but also wanting to place capital in areas that are deemed to be potentially more stable. >> reporter: beasley also said given the shortage of homes for sale already, we could see current landlords listing theorenal home, hoping to get higher prices from all this demand back to you guys >> diana, thank you. let's look at where we stand about two hours into today's trade. another day of dramatic market moves, this time to the downside the dow is down 567 points or down 2%. the s&p is also down nearly 2%, 3,070 is your vethe.lel er nasdaq, all the sectors in the s&p are in the red as are all

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people everywhere. >> when people cough, they don't cover their mouth. i open the window. >> they just cover their business and that's it >> reporter: now, the biggest companies in this space are pushing out sidelines based on cdc recommendations like washing hands, instructing contractors to stay home if they're at risk. but a number said that isn't enough as independent contractors they're not entitled to sick days or benefits and have bu disinfectants and masked investors are focused on something else -- profits. lyft and uber shares have surged this weekend both companies, when asked about the impact of coronavirus on their businesses, said it will not be material. we spoke to several gig economy workers who say they are feeling the impacts. one uber driver said his business has been cut in half over the last couple weeks and another said he won't pick up people who appear to be sick

a shopper told us that customers are getting agitated because the company was slow to provide updates on shortages. the company says they do notify customers of low or out of stok items. we are hearing different things from the company and the contractors that make a thirty businesses run it tells us that coronavirus may be just another point of tension as lawmakers figure out how to regulate this huge space back to you. >> yeah, going to be a big one to watch, especially thinking about how closely linked ride share is with airports deirdre bosa, thank you for bringing us the latest now the coronavirus risk to the u.s. health care system. cleveland clinic's ceo joins us. >> thanks for having me. >> no confirmed cases of coronavirus in cleveland right now. but as the ceo of a major global health care system, how are you preparing and how have you been screening? >> well, preparing for

coronavirus as an epidemic or pandemic is something that is part and parcel of any large health care integrated system, so cleveland clinic as well. our preparation, our caregivers, meaning we're going through the drills and preparing to receive the first patients who are inevitably going to come, educating our staff, our public, making sure we have everything we need to take good care of our patients >> the w.h.o. and alex azar are holding an event, have been holding an event this morning. one of the headlines out of that is that 75,000 tests are expected to be shipped here in the u.s. by the end of the week. is that going to be enough >> well, it is certainly good news this is something that we warmly welcome. it is not going to be enough for the entire population, but it is a good first step.

>> in terms of some of the other changes, whether it's streaming and the regulations around that, some of the safety protocols that are now being implemented, including at airports, how much more needs to be done? is this enough is it happening quick enough >> a lot will depend upon our knowledge about the disease and with the passage of time we will have much more information right now the situation is relatively fluid however, we are communicating very well with the health care community, and we're tailoring our measures based on a knowledge that is constantly emerging from all over the world about covid-19 and the epidemic. >> tom, what kinds of precautions make the most sense for travelers for business to be taking that the point? avoiding gathering more than 50 people, cutting down on domestic

trips on airplanes are you more hesitant to fly right now because of the spread of this virus, or are you simply perhaps more careful about being sanitary when you do fly >> first and foremost, we should treat this particular disease just like we do treat flu. so staying away from people who are coughing and sneezing, making sure you respect cough etiquette, that we frequently wash hands is very important another very point measure for everyone is if they feel ill, they should stay at home then they can prevent the spread of the disease to others when it comes to travel, the question is fairly individual i have to say when it comes to private travel i would suggest that every

person should assess their reason for travel. they should ask themselves where am i traveling to? is that location at risk and who am i traveling with? so those decisions are highly individual most businesses are restricting business travel to what is really necessary, and i think that that's an important measure. >> i realize it's a fluid situation, still a lot we're learning or don't yet know about this virus, but in terms of what we do know, what do you find are the most common misconceptions >> the most common misconceptions is that every infection is uniformly life-threatening that is simply not the case. the vast majority of people who get infected or get exposed to the virus will have only mild symptoms, and the disease will go away. and the second very common misconception is that the mask affords complete protection from viral exposure >> tom, thank you for joining us

today. >> thank you very much for having me. >> as we head to break, take a look at the worst performers on the dow this morning now on your screen boeing, exxon, milobe, united technology among them. we'll have the latest on this morning's sell-off after a quick break. stay with us

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welcome back earnings estimates are way down in europe since the coronavirus outbreak bob pisani has that story from the floor. >> what's the situation for u.s. earnings concerning coronavirus? we don't know yet. it's changing and fluid. we can look to europe for a clue because in northern italy they're dealing with real-world situations and not theoretical this is european earnings, europe, up 6.7%, today down 1.4% analysts over there are seeing

real-world problems. they're taking numbers down faster than in the united states look at industrial earnings estimates for -- this is europe -- up 5.4, end of january, down 16 look at the huge gap here. that's people coming to realization that the factories could have a real problem if you involve any kind of large shutdown let's move on. is there any reason -- you're in two scenarios, a short-term scenario, people who believe we could have modest changes in the gdp and only last one quarter, we could be down another 10%, 11% in stocks. that's short term. longer-term significant issue, five, six, seven months, the earnings could come down even more here. short term or long term, we don't know here's what the optimists are doing. they're passing around naps of nitrogen dioxide levels in china. it measures pollution level. this red showing up, this is just today higher red levels means pollution levels are going up. you say, see, people are going

back to work two weeks ago this was no red at all. there was nobody going to work so the optimists are saying, look, things are going back to normal in china. if that's true, that's a good sign this is the chinese stock market this is the u.s. stock market year to date you see the china stock market it bottomed at the end of january. that was the peak of the coronavirus concerns over in china. you see the united states? we have bottomed so far at the end of february. one month later. the optimist are saying aha, you see? once they quarantined it and implemented aggressive measure, things got better. you see the chinese stock market has been moving up in the last few days as people are going back to work we don't know if the same pattern will happen in the united states. we don't know if this is going to get worse i personally think that the news is still being disseminated in the united states and people are still increasing their awareness, but this is certainly optimistic of the camp that believes we can get our hands

around this and this will follow the historic pattern where these viral outbreaks tend to be big effects for one or two quarters but don't last long term we'll see unanswered questions but you see the optimists. the low was at the end of february and that number was the close, 2,954 and we're well above the close on the s&p back to you. >> bob pisani, thank you time for a news update bru contessa brewer has that for us. the former president of the united auto workers has been charged with corruption. federal prosecutors allege gary jones conspired with others at the union to embezzle more than a million dollars. the type of document used to announce those charges indicates a guilty plea is likely. minority leader chuck schumer is trying to take back negative comments he made about conservative supreme court justices yesterday >> now, i should not have used

the words i used yesterday they didn't come out the way i intended to. my point was that there would be political consequences, political consequences, for president trump and senate republicans if the supreme court with the newly confirmed just e justices stripped away a woman's right to choose. >> south korea is limiting people to buying two masks per person per week. south korea reported 438 new coronavirus cases today, pushing the total above 5700 in new york, the mayor is saying people don't generally need to wear masks out and about, just health care workers and those who are sick back to "squawk alley. >> save it for the health care workers. europe is going to close in about a minute and a half. seema has a breakdown of the action overseas. >> markets in europe are trading

lower by around 1% to 2% the sector getting hit the hardest, the european bank, trading on average 20% off recent highs rbs, loild's posting the biggest losses some of the financials getting hit the hardest today are credit suisse and deutsche bank across the continent in europe, more than 4,800 coronavirus cases have been confirmed with the outbreak most notable in italy. hsbc evacuating its office in london due to a confirmed case of coronavirus, and ey also sending home 1,500 employees from its madrid offices after a case was confirmed there back to the u.s. amid the sell-off we're seeing on wall street, it is worth pointing out the cruise line stocks getting hit the hardest as we watch another cruise ship, the "grand princess" held off the coast of san francisco fewer than 100 people identified for testing after displaying

influenza-like symptoms. it was on its way to mexico from a port in hawaii but diverted. we are seeing shares of carnival down 10% when you look at the travel space, it's worth noting royal caribbean, carnival and norwegian all down nearly 48% so far this year. certainly some financial damage there when you look at the stock prices >> major moves seema mody, thank you. as we head to break, look at the worst performers on the s&p this morning this is those travel and leisure names including the cruise stocks seema just mentioned, yarol, carnival, norwegian, and alaska air and american airlines down more than 8%. to infrastructure, we're creating state of the art, 21st century transportation hubs, constructing new bridges, bringing high-speed internet to every corner of the state, and committing to low-cost clean energy.

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changes lives everywhere. everywhere. everywhere. everywhere. everywhere. welcome back to "squawk alley. watching to contain the coronavirus outbreak steve patterson is live in kirkland, washington, at the epicenter of if outbreak with the latest steve? snoo >> morgan, hi. this is where so much anxiety has emanated this nursing care facility behind me, we're hearing there is an investigation that will be conducted today by the cdc, by federal officials, by medicare, by people who are coming into the state to see what's happening on the ground here, specifically in this care facility i have to tell you, if you're talking about the business impact, spechbt time in downtown seattle yesterday, in pike place. i'm not an authority on seattle

but you can tell by being in the grounds that things are a lot thinner than they usually are in talking to people like uber drivers, saying business is down there as well, talking to people that have spent more time in seattle, producers that i work with, saying that the crowds are looking a lot sparser. you see more people wearing masks. of course we're looking at the wilder ramifications of this, businesses telling workers to stay home if you can big businesses as well microsoft, facebook, amazon, facebook had their first case of coronavirus, and they're shuttering their seattle office for the time being as well more anecdotes on the street, people reporting sells down 10%. this could echo into the tours and business when you look at cruise ships this is a huge hub for cruises to alaska here in seattle. that business lives and dies on tourism. if that slows down, it could hurt a lot of people in this

area just looking at broad tourism and people on the street in seattle, there's a huge cause for concern, not to mention the recommendations from the public health department telling people over 60, people with pre-existing conditions, people who are pregnant to avoid crowds and public spaces in general we are starting to see a real impact on everyday life in this area at this time. it's scary for a lot of people back to you. >> steve, couldn't help but notice just north of you, the north shore school district, which has 22,000 students, shut down today and will be shut down for at least two weeks because so many of the employees fit into that 60-plus category, even though the district largely serves students. there are a lot of people at the local level having to make these calls about mitigation measures as the headlines change so fast. >> reporter: yeah, absolutely. talking about a school district that houses some 22,000 to

23,000 students. imagine the impact on people's lives from that. 33 schools there were reports that, you know, students may have had contact with people that were being tested for the coronavirus, and so out of an abundance of caution they shut that district down that is only one, though there are multiple districts with schools that are looking day by day some schools we know are shutting school down today for deep cleaning out of an abundance of caution the ripple effect, we have yet to see, but it's starting now. >> steve patterson, thanks very much back to the volatility we're seeing across the major averages today as a result of what steve was just talking about dow is down 575. baron's bruce vilens and matt farone joining us to talk about the impact thanks for the time. bruce, let me ask you, when do you think at least from a corporate behavior standpoint we start to see some relaxation of rules? even in the last half hour,

walmart, headquarters nowhere near seattle, has instituted some travel restrictions >> well, that's going to impact the markets, but we entered early january, there was a lot of optimism that the global economy was improving. we had three straight months of improving pim nu-- pmi numbers earnings estimates for growth for the second half of the year were the consensus view. and then the virus hit and the initial reaction by the markets was cavalier the markets continued to go higher but once the virus was spreading outside of china, suddenly corporations like apple were downgrading earnings and then we had a rush to safe haven assets like treasuries and exits on risk assets. the key question really is, is the virus going to be a

temporary impact on the economy or is it going to have a more lasting impact and by that, i mean passed into the second quarter, into the third quarter. that's the reason why the markets -- that uncertainty is making the markets unstable. >> is your outlook for stabilization in q2? >> well, two things i think have to happen here one is we need to have evidence that the virus has been contained outside of china and that the global economy has stabilizedd a big break in the market on friday the 28th of february. we had a very oversold condition. then we've had a reflux rally this week. typically 80% of the time the markets will go and retest the lows, which were around 2,850. if that retest is successful, we should see the markets explode

to the upside in terms of breadth with two days where upside buying exceeds downside buying by a ratio of 10 to 1 or more if those two things surface, then we believe the worst of the decline is over and that the long-term trend of the markets will resume. but we're waiting on those two events >> matt, i realize stocks are down today, but we've had these dramatic moves in both directions in recent sessions. it has not been confirmed by either the treasury market or the gold market. what are those asset classes signaling right now and how important is it to see more correlation between some of these different markets in general to see something like a more sustained rally >> that's a good question. i'm sorry. >> matt. >> i'm sorry we're really watching the credit markets as well. i think that's a strong indicator when you talk about

the other markets to watch spreads there have been pretty well contained and orderly more than the equity markets. that gives some comfort. backing up to the big picture, there is a wide range of ub certainty especially in the short run, but our main message is that when we get through these episodes and we're a year out, markets are typically higher from either a buyer's epidemic or episode like this or just a volatility spike that we've had. so if you can be a long-term investor, we are, then this is an opportunity to take the long view and of course because of the uncertainty, there will be some volatility in the short run. we could go down further in the long term we feel we'll be in a stronger position and will be higher in the markets. >> so, matt, in light of, that if you're a longer-term investor, would you be buying into pockets of the market right now have at these levels and given the fact there is so much volatility >> well, you know, we came into

the year at pretty high valuation level, and some of that has been corrected. we'd be waiting for lower levels to really start buying, especially given the near-term uncertainty, and you may get an opportunity if there are lower prices or more volatility coming in but i think there are sectors you can start looking at now, such as dividend-paying sector, especially l with lower rates. those are going to be more resilient in the face of volatility, so we like that sector now, and you can start nibbling there now or averaging in, but slowly, patiently, and be disciplined, but prepare for more volatility. this is going to be a wild ride for some time. >> finally, bruce, i've seen a bunch of analogs to 2011 when we got the initial correction starting in august we chopped around for a couple months and eventually had that pretty dramatic october low. is that a fair comparison to where we are today >> yeah, i think that is a fair comparison simply because

historically after you've had this kind of volatility, the market tends to have a reflux rally, then it has a retest of the lows, and you may have several retests, but that's the reason why we have suggested to our clients that they don't buy this dip until we get evidence that the virus has been contained and that the technical condition of the market has improved by that we mean we need to see a breadth thrust to break this downside momentum. once we get a day or go of upside volume exceeding downside volume by a ratio of 10 to 1 or more, that would be evidence that a bottom is in place. we're waiting on that to happen. >> certainly today is not accomplishing that bruce, matt, thank you, guys talk to you soon >> thank you >> thank you >> let's get to chicago and rick santelli has "the santelli exchange." rick >> thanks, jon we say so many things and i mean me as well, but sometimes we

should stop and listen to exactly what we are saying over the last few sessions, a lot of things have occurred. just think about it this way we all made a really big deal when the tens went below 1%, justly so. a very big deal when 30s went below 2%, and that's important but maybe we should connect the dots here a bit. the s&p 500 dividend yield is now above the entire yield curve including 30-year bonds. i'll tell you what, it didn't happen just this moment but it's part of this whole move and things that are so large we sometimes don't even think about them the other thing is one of my favorite groups, the eagles. "hotel california. you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave. to me we all say flight to safety and there's this generalized assumption that once you get there, life is golden, you've reached shangri-la, and

to some extent, maybe today, maybe for many sessions, when you're hunkered down in a treasury, maybe you're getting a little bit of money out of it because the move to the upside and price has been so large, but you look at all the neighbors of yours that are trading their positions in stocks and you say, i'm so much smarter than you you go out and buy a new car and put the key in, and the minute you do that the car depreciates 15%. go to the electronics store, you don't like it, you take it back. you don't get your original price or nearly as much, and that is the safety issue people should be concerned with to be in treasuries at these yields doesn't mean you're making the wrong move if you're happy with that move would you lend uncle sam your money for 30 years for 1.57% ask any of your neighbors that i guarantee you they're going to shake their heads and think

you're crazy yet the whole globe is willing to do so because it's safe, and it is safe for now there used to be a trade on this trading floor many decades ago we used to call it the roach motel trade for the same reason. unlike the song, it isn't as pretty, but once you got into the trade, you could never get out. i think investors ultimately are going to see that and it will make a difference. and finally, liquidity everybody's talking about liquidity. there's a great article in "the wall street journal" that the liquidity in s&p futures is not representative of the record volumes, and people scratch their heads, but it's so true. my answer to that is, i'll be back machines have learned. they have learned. just in the 12th and 13th centuries when armies faced each other right across the way and they were just at each other strategies change, militaries evolve, same with the strategic approach to trading markets.

it isn't that there isn't enough horsepower per tick. it's that the machines have gotten smarter morgan, back to you. >> rick, thank you rick santelli thanks you the worst performers on the nasdaq 100 this morning, which is down 1.6%, travel and leisure names. american, united, marriott, but also splunk. imagine traveling hassle-free with your golf clubs.

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i'm scott walker here's what's coming up. jeffrey gundlach with us with rates and where your money is headed and the investment committee debating time to buy stocks or be aware of bigger drops we'll also find out from our gang what moves they are making in this market all at noon "on the half." see you then >> looking forward to that meantime, looking to buy a bottle of purel? it could cost you a whopping $500 amazon and other online retailers are struggling to deal with potential price gouging as some sellers on their platforms are trying to capitalize on the coronavirus crisis, charging

eye-popping prices for products such as facemasks and lysol wipes. joinin >> good morning. thanks for having me, really appreciate it. >> bob, i am curious about this because there are normally three components to price gouging as i understand it. is it a period of emergency? do there need to be price ceilings on these items? are they necessary items that's the piece i wonder about here is hand sanitizer a necessary item or might it be okay -- i mean, not necessarily ethically, but legally okay for people to take advantage of demand for a particular item that people want but don't need being really high >> sure. a couple thing number one, different states have different laws and define price gouging differently. in washington state, we are at the epicenter, we have deaths, school districts closing it is a real crisis obviously n. washington state it is

straightforward. we have a consumer protection act that says you cannot engage in an unfair business practice i think there is a strong argument that at the time of a major public health crisis that jacking up exponentially the price of hand sanitizers and wipes and masks 25, 30 times during a crisis like that constitutes unfair business practices. that's what the courts would have to sort out >> would this apply to canned goods, foods, even if they are not purchased in a traditional retail establishment >> potentially what i am responding to right now is non-academic debate amongst economists about hey is price gouging a real thing or is that just the market doing its thing. i was looking at complaints from senior citizens saying i am trying to buy hand gel and when i go on line or into a store it

is going cost me $50 or $100 that's outrageous, not right, and we need to help those senior citizens it is about making sure the senior citizens can get a product they need to maintain their health in a real crisis. >> when you investigate e-commerce vendors for the potential of price gouging, how effective can you be if you find that it exists how can you enforce it. >> as the attorney general i am the enforcer of our state consumer protection act that gives me broad investigation authorities. my office has issued what are essentially subpoenas to a number of bricks and mortar stores and on line entities as well asking for information about their product and their price asks they have to trp those documents over my office that may take time in the meantime i am getting word out that we are doing this investigation. i want the public to notify my

office if they see what had he consider to be price gouges and i want businesses to bet their prices right let's dial it back, get it back to the right frame for our seniors and people in the community who need access to the products and not paying exorbitant prices. >> if you find price gouging on amazon's platform, is that something that -- the responsibility falls on amazon or is that something that you go after the vendor specifically for? >> we wouldly our options open i would say we take a wrod view of the consumer protection act we take a broad view of what constitutes price gouging in a time of a crisis of this magnitude. what i can say without identifying any particular business or on line entity we have a number of investigations out there, and we want the message to be loud and clear to those businesses they need to get their prices to a reasonable level, and they need to do it right away. >> bob, really quick, just moray

suggested we are losing valuable time in implementing what he called tough mitigation steps in high risk areas like seattle tough measures where you would sacrifice local activity for the sake of the nation if we did something like that, even with economic aid to cities like seattle would there be legal pushback >> from my standpoint as the chief law enforcement official in washington state is making sure that folks in your mount are safe we have to make all sorts of adjustments for that school districts are closing here as you reported earlier, the senior home where my mom lives, no more visitors are come to visit at that senior home those are appropriate steps. i keep an open mind about that my focus though is on unlawful activity that impacts consumers like price gouging i am trying to stay focused on that larger policy decisions are made by policy deciders if they move into what we consider to be illegal activity like price gouging that's when they will hear from my office. >> bob ferguson, the washington

state attorney general "squawk alley" returns in less than three minutes with lobster mac & cheese. it's gone again! it's back, with shrimp now! steak & lobster starting at only $16.99. and try our everyday lunch combo starting at $7.99! outback steakhouse. should they downsize? nesters now. probably. will they? not as long as thanksgiving is a holiday. planning for the future is about more than just money. let equitable be your guide.

welcome back to "squawk alley. publicly traded cannabis companies are facing a double whammy thanks to the coronavirus. jane wells explains from los

angeles. >> morgan, yeah, you are going to have to smoke a lot of weed to make this stock chart look good the dan business account is down more than twice this year. canopy growth is shutting down greenhouses in canada. now as you say, they are facing two threats besides market pressures. one, a lot of san business equipment weather lamp testing or packaging for stores come from china second, are americans going to stop going out shopping at dispensaries i spoke with two guys with skin in the game. one from a fund with investment in more than 20 cannabis companies. >> while we haven't seen the full effect of it, we are starting to see the beginnings of tightening supply of things like vape car trinls or packaging or various inputs to the supply chain

but everything we are hearing regarding china is that china is coming back on line. it would be more impactful what happens here in the u.s. than what happens in china. we are operational in 12 states f consumer trends and schools if shopping and thing change, that's going to impact what happens. >> green thumb up today last i checked for some reason. don't know why they said they are not seeing people stop come to dispensaries neither is he seeing people stocking up yet. one thing that's not a product. they have got plenty of it why? because it is all grown here >> unbelievable jane to pop. our jane wells on the cannabis beat today's story remains unbelievable. down almost 700 points here. cruiselines continue to get pummelled. royal caribbean is now officially half of where it started the year and of course jobs number tony is backward looking but certain

not something you want to ignore as claims did hold up today at 216. >> meanwhile, blaeb and jd chinese stocks that were suffering are higher >> let's get to the judge. -- alibaba. welcome to the "halftime report," where witnesses again we are in the midst of a wild day on wall street another big move for stocks, this time high -- this time lower because of the coronavirus. jeffy gunned lack joins us at the bottom of the year with us, joe terranova, janet reno, steve wise, and meghan shoe, jon najarian it is a volatile day big swings becoming the