four astronauts to the international space station. it marks the first full taxi flight for nasa by a private company. and history in augusta dustin johnson winning the masters with the lowest score in tournament history it's monday, november 16th, 2020 "squawk box" begins right now. ♪ good morning, everybody. happy monday and welcome to "squawk box" here on cnbc. i'm becky quick along with andrew the equity futures because, as joe mentioned, you are looking at some big moves once again this morning dow futures indicated up by 282 points the dow is only about 72 points from a new high. so if we were to close at the levels that we're looking at right now you would be looking

at a record high for the dow the s&p set a record high on friday up another 30 points and the nasdaq, an underperformer last week, is indicated up by close to 60 points stocks have been on a big run. if you look at last week's returns the dow was up just over 4% last week the s&p was up just over 2%. and the nasdaq was down only by half a percent you are talking about the third week out of four that is seeing negative returns and that has been the underperformer. really across the board a lot of strength the russell 2000 hitting a record high last week and big, big moves. remember, it's only been a week since we've heard from pfizer. that set things off especially ones underperforming as people stay home. the ten year is yielding 0.885%. joe, that was a wild ride last week, too, watching what

happened with treasury yields. potentially getting up to 1% but now we're back where we started. >> all part of, i guess, reopening. the market given the backdrop i will talk about right now the market is looking ahead to life after this whether it's a pandemic or whatever because we're right in the middle of a second wave, third wave. we continue to monitor the spread of covid and the impact on life, business and the economy. the u.s. now has hit 11 million cases, a million cases recorded in just the last week. more than a dozen states broke daily records during the weekend and new restrictions as we near the thanksgiving holiday in washington state indoor dining is closing starting today. illinois began a 30-day stay-at-home order michigan is partially shutting down restaurants, bars and schools. and in new york city mayor de blasio announced schools would remain open today but once again

set a positivity rate of 3% from below. we'll see. but that would trigger another shutdown we have much more on this story with former fda commissioner dr. scott gottlieb at 6:30 eastern, talking about in the hands of governors now. he's recommending closing nightclubs and bars. yeah they're open every time we say that, wait they're open the young people, they're sidling up to each other, talking and everything else. they probably aren't as at risk. you know you can do the contact trace to ing to a nursing home, whatever people are doing. there's a lot of people, maybe no one there is -- they probably are, too they should be worried about mortal risk, but you can connect the dots to a mortal risk

somewhere else that's the whole key >> it's reached community spread in a lot of places right now i have a good friend who found out she was covid positive just over the weekend she's got it i think her husband definitely has it it's spreading and they've been very safe, tried to stay in. it's reached community spread in a lot of places and that's concerning especially when you have the prospect of these great vaccines or medications, things that could help. you have the prospect of it but it's not here yet. the market may be able to look through that but a very difficult several months we're still going to be facing all of this it's not an easy solution. i don't know what governors do, what governments do in shutting down and what they choose to keep open. >> i read this in "the journal," the pandemic's disruptions of digital commerce >> yeah.

>> thank you it's the weekend okay, let's see. this guy -- this lady harriett doesn't have anything to do. how about writing this story again for the 1,000th time how do you make that a new story? how do you put that on the front page >> i'll tell you how you can come up with a new storyline on that i haven't seen the story but i will tell you the cdc has come out -- i haven't read the story but the cdc has said some of the risky things are going to include people shopping around thanksgiving and the holiday every time you are out in the stores you raise the potential for being able to pick up on this there's that, the idea stores are starting to limit and count the number of people coming in again. walmart hadn't done that in months when you reach community spread

levels like that even simple things like going to the grocery store can be risky >> a recent survey found that three out of four people have tried a new shopping method. >> there's a reason for front page news. doing my best to tap dance around this. >> i think -- four guys who got on a space ship, let's go. what thank god it worked and good luck >> yes >> reading that it's from kennedy space center, nasa is involved, it's just a private involvement with nasa involved going up to the space station. i'm amazed we've gotten to that point. maybe i wouldn't be sitting on

top of that. >> you're a nervous nellie so am i. we've admitted that. we're not going to be the first to sign up >> i fly i don't worry about planes >> neither one of us was going to be one of the guys signing up to do this first >> andrew talks a good game. we'll see what he's like >> he wouldn't do it either. >> no way. there is no shortage of news out there. china and 14 other asia-pacific countries signed the world's largest trade agreement yesterday. the trading bloc covers a market of 2.2 billion people and $26.2 trillion of global output. the deal will attempt to lower tariffs across multiple aareas this marks the first time they are in a single trade agreement. we'll have a live report from beijing later this hour. investors continue to monitor president trump's election

challenges kayla tausche joins us with the weekend headlines. kayla, there are plenty of them. good to see you that morning >> reporter: good morning, becky. there are plenty including president trump has begun to allude to a transfer of power. at a friday rose garden even he referenced another administration and in a tweet yesterday he began it simply with the words he won followed by some false claims about the election being rigged even as the trump campaign was dropping the majority of its legal challenges in pennsylvania, one of the last remaining challenges outstanding that a judge had not overturned several biden advisers were appearing on the sunday shows over the weekend airing a steady drumbeat of frustration about not being able to meet with the coronavirus task force and not getting real time information about pandemic preparedness because there has not been this official handover. ron klain, the chief of staff for the biden transition and the

incoming biden white house essentially said that he hopes they make this ascertainment this week to enable that show to get on the road. he said he did agree with senate republicans that there should be a stimulus deal in the lame duck session. here is what he said >> there's a lot of things that will have to wait until joe biden is president, but this is not one of them. getting help to people, to state and local governments, obviously we need urgent help to individuals. we're going to see layoffs in the next month in a lot of states and localities unless they get the aid they need >> he stressed the need for that urgency and said democrats are united in trying to push for that speaker pelosi has said her position from before the election has not changed she had been pushing for a rather high number that

republicans would not be able to get behind so it's unclear exactly how they would get to yes on that package. i want to show you a few of the companies the biden transition is in discussions with klain said discussions with pfizer and other vaccine candidates will begin this week and i've also learned that the biden team has been in regular contact with cvs and walgreens for months even preceding the election to figure out potential distribution of this vaccine because the expectation is you will need to be distributing tens of millions of vials of this vaccine, sort of dove tailing with the inauguration and the early days of this administration so they're at least trying to establish those lines of communication unofficially even as officially here in washington those keys haven't been handed over >> kayla, interesting to hear ron klain talking about what needs to be done in the lame duck session that doesn't mean anything is going to get done. there are some pretty high

hurdles. it's more difficult now to get a deal passed than it would have been before the election when you had an administration that was really pushing for that. they have stepped back and said that they'll let mcconnell and pelosi be the ones who determine this and even the calendar itself, there's not a lot of legislative time left because of the thanksgiving holiday and then the end of the year christmas holiday. they're not in session much. what are the odds something gets done before inauguration day >> reporter: well, they're not in session much but they do have one major priority and that is to continue to fund the government past december 11th. lawmakers in both parties have a history of getting in line behind these must pass pieces of legislation and being able to add things that pose urgent need to these legislative vehicles as they call them here. so there is a potential that depending on how bad the virus gets, how much funding is needed, that there could be an

effort to try to pass some sort of stimulus attached to funding the government because that is seen as a must do item on the to-do list before people go home for the holidays now certainly both parties have very different priorities when it comes to stimulus democrats want a very high number republicans have wanted a lower number democrats on multiple legislative priorities, drug pricing, throughout the summer we saw them hold their fire in anticipation of a potential democratic white house because their belief was they would get a multiple of the dollar figure, that they would get otherwise if they were to reach a compromise with republicans in the interim. that dynamic has not changed, but what has changed is the seriousness of the virus we saw in march partisan differences were put aside a major piece of legislation, the largest in american history, was passed we'll see if that presents itself again >> what do you think would be the bipartisan issues, extending

ppe, cleaning up the problems with that, making sure unemployment benefits were extended, the additional unemployment benefits, trying to make sure there was money for testing and maybe schools? >> reporter: so those are some of the core issues the white house has said over and over again it wants to see as sort of the nuts and bolts of any package that goes forward but, remember, republicans put together what they were calling a skinny stimulus back in september with the hope if they could prove that republicans could get behind a package like that then perhaps democrats could get behind something that would at least push forward those core priorities they all agreed on. that didn't work so it's unclear what would create or necessitate more votes on that this time around democrats have wanted to add more money for testing, for schools and for state and local governments. it was that line item for state and local governments that proved to be the death knell for

negotiations the last time around >> all right kayla, thank you it's good to see you this morning. >> reporter: sure. likewise when we come back, we have this morning's stocks to watch including a bank deal. but first as we head to a break check out this morning's biggest s&p movers you are watching "squawk box" on cnbc carnival corporation, norwegian and simon properties the biggest movers carnival up almost 5%. ♪ you can go your own way

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and i get to do that. i get to provide that for them. welcome back to "squawk box. among the top corporate stories pnc is buying spanish banking company bbva for $11.6 billion the second biggest banking transaction since the financial crisis in 2008 and simon will buy taubman in a revised takeover deal worth 43 cents a share down from an original deal worth $52.50 >> joe, thanks folks, let's get you set for the market week ahead. joining us now with his thoughts and stock picks is james mcdonald, the ceo and cio of

hercules investment and, james, it's good to see you thanks for being with us this morning. >> it's great to be here, thank you. >> so the market has been up all last week since we heard from pfizer about this vaccine. we continue to watch the covid count going up obviously we could be in for a rough few months before we get to that. when you start thinking about all of this, markets are forward looking. what are you thinking right now about markets being at all-time highs? would you buy in here? would you hold off for a little while? what's your thesis >> i believe that the rally that we've seen here in the past week or so isreally a recovery from a 9% pullback that we had at the top of the month and what's interesting about the current market it stopped going up we've been going higher since march and hit a climax, came off 9%, rallied back, came off again 9% and have rallied back i think we're at a tipping point for a continuation higher.

we do not believe the market will go higher in the absence of a stimulus package and in the absence of an abatement of the spread of the virus. we think the risk will overtake the upside potential we are buying volatility on the nasdaq as a protective measure as most of the gains we've seen in the market, over 78% of the gains in the s&p can be attributed to the top ten holdings in the nasdaq 100 the gains have been very narrowly focused around tech tech has shown weakness. we're cautious going forward and bullish on nasdaq volatility >> you forgot a few stocks that you're watching pretty closely that you like. one of them is next air energy is that because the biden administration coming in will change things up for the newer energy companies >> we'd like to see a pullback but in terms of stock ownership, in terms of upside, it will be a beneficiary. biden is expected to eliminate

tariffs imposed by president trump on solar panels from china. and president trump stayed firm to his stance on energy. that will put a lift on energy stocks and the overall sector. when we want to go long, we want to go long because it will get a tail wind from the biden administration >> people have figured that out especially lately and the stocks have been running higher is there a point where you think, okay, this is too rich of a valuation? >> it's a good question. we have to see what the macro environment looks like if it keeps the market afloat i do think it has potential to go significantly higher again these are a lot of new opportunities and while investors are flocking in that is actually going to be momentum for the sector and we like nextera, intuitive surgical to pivot away from energy for

health care. these are all shifts in terms of the inflex ctions of the new president. a lot of jobs, a lot of investments. >> intuitive surgical is an interesting call they control a huge part of the robotic surgery market, a massive part of that you are looking at a situation where hospitalizations because of covid at this point could force hospitals and local governments to say you can't go back for surgeries that aren't absolutely necessary at this point. does that concern you just in the short term >> obviously pressure from covid will continue to be an issue and we have to look at the risks if someone hires me today i have to make money going forward and we have to look past the situation which will end at some point and at that point we think there's a ton of upside there. intuitive is positioned to take advantage of that. all of the different impacts covid has had we have to look at

them as temporary and as difficult and as impactful in the short term our long-term thesis stays strong with that sector and that firm >> in other words, buy on any dims y dips you see, too? >> we want to see if we can get support at 3,200 if not we'll go another leg lower. we think these are good opportunities to come into nextera and intuitive where we'll see a secular movement both in terms of investment capital as well as upside potential. >> caught me off guard, 20% off the market do you think that will happen between now and the end of the year >> i think it's possible if you look at what's happened we've seen 9% pullbacks happen lightning quick. we got the risk presumably out of the way with the presidential election and we got the risk presumably out of the way with light at the end of the tunnel with covid but no stimulus package and we are getting more

infections we think as we get to the resistance levels here we think there's an imminent decline of 9%, 10% and follow through to 3200 this is not something that would be catastrophic, normal in the course of bull markets but the risks have not gone away as much as the gains have lifted this current market would imply we're stronger now than we were pre-covid and that is not the case we do think the market will turn over just a bit and when we get stimulus support we'll get a market where there are more buyers and sellers net over. >> james, good to see you this morning. thanks for your time >> thank you so much coming up, relaxed withdrawal rules around 401(k) the benefits and the risks up next first as we head to break check out spacex launch. we're going to look at that from last night we should probably look at a couple of those swings of dustin

johnson, too, if we're going to summarize all the news of the weekend. this launched four astronauts to the international space station and a taxi flight for nasa due to reach the destination late today and remain until spring. did you see tiger on -- let's not talk about that -- on number 12, becky. and then that guy, tiger, five straight birdies after that, or six straight amazing. stay tuned

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retirement savings can take advantage of relaxed withdrawal

rules around 401(k) but tapping savings even in hard times can impact your financial future am sharon epperson joins us now with more. if you ever needed an excuse, this would be it there's a reason, right, sharon, the rules are in place in the first place. i can't think of that. what would cause to you relax the rules? >> reporter: exactly right, joe. people are facing hardships and do need extra help when you take a look at the c.a.r.e.s. act, people affected by the coronavirus, they do have until the end of september to take up to $100,000 out of their 401(k) or their i.r.a. without penalty but not many people have done it. just over 5%, about 1.3 million people, withdraw from fidelity's

work place savings plans between april and october. at vanguard 4.5% of participants made a 401(k) withdrawal by the end of september and 7% at t.rowe price have taken a distribution the average was about $10,000. that could grow to be a significant slice of retirement income it could grow to $100,000 by the time you're 70 assuming a 7% annual return. that's why they warn jeopardizing your financial stability in the future, joe >> so what's considered a coronavirus-related distribution must be pretty wide latitude

>> reporter: you or a dependent must have experienced covid or financial hardship due to the coronavirus. the key is to check with your employer's plan and exactly what they're allowing you to do though this federal legislation is in place it is up to the employer to decide how to execute that for its employees and make sure you understand the tax implications as well you still have to pay taxes on the income you take out. >> so many people maybe have not had it directly in their frmly but a lot of hardship with people who haven't had a direct -- haven't had it themselves or a direct family member, right? still a lot of financial hardship >> reporter: a lot of people have had that. the issue, joe, and perhaps why more people haven't taken advantage they are working and do have some income. the people hardest hit have been

those who have lost their jobs this does not impact them if they are out of work or taking a loan from their 401(k) that's the issue >> all right, sharon thank you. i can't believe that every single one of those, a couple times, all those books behind you, right >> about five times each one >> amazing amazing. and raising a family becky? >> i do like sharon's books that she chooses to highlight because she moves them around. i check out which ones she puts where. she has good choices when we come back, dr. scott gottlieb on the rising covid cases we're seeing and what the nation needs to do to stay safe. stay tuned isx"nd watching "squawk bo a th is cnbc

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it's what we build that keeps things moving forward. so with every turn, we'll keep building a world that works.

the united states has hit 11 million covid cases with a million cases recorded in just the last week. former fda commissioner dr. scott gottlieb writing in "the

wall street journal" it's time for thegovernors to help slow the spread by working together or risk another shutdown dr. gottlieb is with us this morning. he's also a cnbc contributor and sits on the boards of pfizer doctor, it's not just that we are in the midst of a transition in the executive branch -- actually a transition across all of government really as we switch that's difficult to look for federal responses. so the governors need to step up every state is different, too. this should have always been participate of the solution. >> yeah, i think what you're going to see are the governors starting to work together at least on a regional basis and coming up with regional solutions. the virus doesn't respect state sovereignty. it crosses borders you're having regional kinds of epidemics.

if the states work together within the regions we are seeing the spread be more continuous, that's going to be far more effective. we saw michigan go first last night with some targeted mitigation i think more states will take those kinds of steps construction won't be stopped. we will target indoor settings where people gather in groups and can't mask, restaurants, bars, clubs, gym classes, things like that. that's what michigan focused on. also high schools. i think what you're likely to see are districts open they're losing teachers. teachers are in quarantine, they're getting sick it's more important and the younger kids are at less risk than the older kids. they're likely to close the high schools and middle schools to reapportion teachers back to the elementary schools. >> we want to do everything we

can and you've pointed that out in terms of sequestering, masks, testing, but we need to go to the most vulnerable people and use a special amount of attention to those that are vulnerable there will still