good stuff. thank you as well, jon najarian. joe? >> thank you. t. rowe price, and trying to introduce new names as it relates to the pricing and you know i like goldman sachs and morgan stanley, and this is a new one, t rowe price. >> and you, scott? >> apple. apple. >> okay. "the exchange" begins now. >> thank you, scott and the gang. and hi, everybody. happy friday. i'm brian sullivan and welcome to the exchange. call it the short spac attack. all of the new investments are getting attention from the short sellers. will the reddit rebellion come calling, too another big wakeup call in the jobs number, and the american industry is still digging through a depression, and why millions of people simply can't

go back to work even if they want to. and doggie day care and free rides and paying off the student loans. no, it is not congress. it is companies. meet some of the new perks that corporations are using to lure in the top talent. all of that and plus the top five companies seeing the most insider buying of their own stock this week, and something exclusive only to us. that is all ahead, and look at this friday by hitting the money overall, and seema mody has all of the latest with the news behind us. >> and it seemed this time last week we were going to head into a week with the volatility, but we are on best week since november of last week. nasdaq and s&p 500 on the best week. and looking at the biggest gainers is the names in the leisure and the retail spaces and brands like l. brands and

casinos and resorts with the earnings out next week, and the roping trade seems to be a part of the conversation. on the flipside, look at peloton, and we saw the sales top $1 billion, but the company is saying they need to invest more to accommodate the strong demand it is seeing for the bikes. ceo john foley is saying that the investments are needed. and i don't know if you saw the conversation earlier on cnbc, but even with the vaccine coming out, the investment is strong. and so even with those of us who have invested in the bike, we are not going to stop using it. >> you have a peloton? >> oh, you have a peloton? >> yes, i was convinced by you, because you are a big fan. >> i was not going to ask the handle, because my stats are embarrassing. you like the classes or the solo rides? >> i like cody in the classes.

but looking at the last three month, you have seen a trade in this $150 sort of the price range, so we will see if it can get above, that and over the last six months up about 103%, brian. >> look, shout out to cody, and once you have the bike, you will pay the monthly fee or the treadmill, and seema mody wondering why i am on tv. thank you very much. the january jobs number is mixed with 40,000 jobs newly added because of the coronavirus, and the restrictions and the lockdown, and et cetera, and the interest rate-- and the unemployment dropping to 6.3%, and 4.7 million people prevented from working because of the pandemic or the lockdowns or their kid's school is closed. but the job markets are focusing on the positives and here they are. this is why the markets are ripping higher, and here you are. you have the vaccines up one, and the vaccines are up 15% in

one month, and $15.2 trillion in stimulus and we don't know the number, but some bill is going pass. and you have the easy fed, and tons of cash and trillions floating around the globe, and little bit less obvious, the yield curve. watch that. up seven days in a row, and we have only had one eight-day run on that yield curve tightening in a decade. joining us now with more is michelle meyer head of the u.s. economics head of u.s. america, and chief investment officer ernesto ramos, and you have seen the not wall of worry, but the wall of ripping, and you have seen all of these things factoring n and is there one of those more important to you and the team vis-a-vis the markets >> well, the most important one is the one that you didn't mention which is the earnings growth outlook. in 2021 the consensus has the

earnings for the s&p 500 going up by 30%. and at the end of the day, we think that is what is driving the market higher, and you are seeing the estimates going higher which is taking the valuations higher in the last few week, and that really appealing to the growth in the market right now. and not to mention the ones that you already did talk about. the yield curve is very interesting. the yield curve shows that the growth stock sector might be giving way to value stocks, because as the yields are going up, the value stocks are coming more into play in small stocks, and value stocks, and so that is one area that you want to have some exposure to. >> yes, and michelle, you would agree with that? the yield curve is won ki, but boring and mat force the banks and the financials which matter for the market, and to ernesto's point, the push or the result of this kind of the rotation that we have seen

>> so to me, i think that it is important to consider why the yield curve is steepinga and what that is telling us about the economy currently. the steep yield and the backup of rates is a story of stronger growth, and story of potential inflation pressures and a story that the economic recovery is going to pick up speed. we very much agree with that. we are forecasting 6% growth this year. we think that we will see a meaningful acceleration particularly in the consumer spending around the turn of the year provided of course that the bullet point that you laid out in the beginning end up proving to be right, and we get another round of stimulus, and the virus cases continue to come in and come lower and lower and people feel as though the coast is clear and start engaging in the activities that they had not before. >> and how much of the fed playing into that, michelle, because we say that we start to see a turn, and the virus cases

heat up again, and the fed and maybe pressure ri, treasury, too, and janet yellen and the fed has your back, and so how does that go forward >> the fiscal put, and if the economy were to weaken, there is a strong counter from both monetary and fiscal policy. on the monetary side, it means that they delay the tapering of asset purchase they continue to extend the balance sheet, and reembrace a dovish stance, and on the fiscal side, it would lead to a larger package and more timely package, and certainly, there is the counter that is really, really important, but in the baseline, you know, you end up seeing what is a very favorable situation which is this one-two punch which is a low virus number

coupled with the accumulation of stimulus, and it is powerful for the economy. >> yeah, it has been powerf ful for the equity markets here. >> and ernesto, anything that appears to be under or fairly valued >> well, i think that you want to get engsxposure to the broad market, and some small caps and large caps and we have exposure in all of the categories, but the key is not to overpay for the stocks, because the market is highly valued and so you want to make sure that the stocks that the funds are buying are under the bench mark. most of the funds are trading three to four points below, and this is a level of protection in the funds. one risk that you have not focused on is the corporate tax rates might be going higher as the democrats now control both houses, and of course, the executive. so this is something that fueled

the rally when trump cut the taxes, and a risk that people are not paying attention with, because they are giddy with all of the good stuff, and forgetting that there could be a big corporate tax hike on the way. so you have to be a little cautious and not get too carried away here. >> yeah, and michelle, i wanted to pivot a little bit, and i won't ask you the dive into the politic, and do not worry, because none of us needs that right now, and there is a huge political debate and it is hugely political about schools a lot of schools are open, but in the big cities like l.a. and chicago and new york, and the schools are closed and may be for the rest of the year, and 4.7 million people dislocated from the workforce according to the u.s. government, and they cannot work and that has to do with the kids at home, and you cannot leave your 7-year-old at home alone to go to the job. have you done any work on the importance of the schools to the macro economy and the job

market >> the linkage there is spot-on because when the schools are closed, it means that we don't have as much workforce engagement, because it is hard for two parents to be out of the home and working, and there is a lot of evidence in surveys, and research on the topic, and so when the schools are open more broadly which should come open with the broader economy, and that is going to unleash a lot more labor into the economy, and the people are waiting on the sidelines and waiting to get back in, and have to do so once the coast is clear, and that is going to impact specifically women, and looking at the labor force rate with women, and prime labor force working women, and the cohort, and that is going to resolve itself when the economy does reopen more broadly. >> and 2 million kids between

l.a. and chicago alone, and when you want to reopen safely for the teachers, but there may be 1 million parents who cannot go to work. and we can zoom in, but millions of americans who cannot zoom in, and we see them at the store and the restaurants, and we appreciate it, because they are out there everyday. michelle and ernesto, thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you. and now to another fascinating story developing in the markets. some short sellers are poking around the spacs and you know blank check companies popping up everyday and one big one has a big time market. and this is the black clover health that is back down again after a short seller health, and leslie pickering with this and the broader push. leslie >> yes, clover published a long response to that short seller report rife with homonym attacks

and sweeping inaccuracies and gross mischaracterizations and among the key findings of the report by short seller hindenberg research that clover is under active investigation by the justice department under a variety of issues that was not disclosed to shareholders until that report. that report took aim at the due diligence chops, and clover acknowledging that it has received a request for information from the doj but not in with subpoenas or with warrant of disclosure. the company did note it received a disclosure from the s.e.c. yesterday. hindenberg tweeting that it is preparing a response to clover's response, but we are starting to see a trend here. the short sellers are increasingly targeting the public spacs and we saw it with muddy waters and with hindenberg

and nicola before that and record amount of capital has been raised by these special purchase acquisition vehicles, and now $100 billion sloshing around looking for the deals, and the short thesis is that the competition can cause the spacs to ink deals hastily, but the efforts may be complicated by the recent backlash against the short sellers and even hindenberg who takes short positions did not do so with clover saying that it instead wanted to roll the short sellers play in exposing fraud and corporate malfeasance, brian. >> all right. leslie, stay with us, because i want to broaden out the conversation and bring in mr. herb greenberg, and cnbc krint or t -- contributor, and a old friend, and one who used to short since the raiders.

and so we have been through battles, and rocker battles, and tasers and overstock.com, and so talk to tus about the role that short sellers play, because they are not, sometimes bad, but they are not always anti-american, and anti-patriots trying to ruin corporate america are they >> well, look, every time i hear that, i obviously want to shake my head that is probably the most absurd comment that i have heard. and my response to that is always the same. if you don't want the scrutiny, don't go public. once you are public, you are quasi public, and you are open to scrutiny and these companies file s.e.c. documents and they have filings with the s.e.c. and they have all sorts of information. so if two people, and two smart people, and they both can come down very differently on how they see the company, and some people don't think that company is all that it is cracked up to be and they take a position against that. that is called the short

selling, but brian, they are detectives in the marketplace, and this is not some like hoo ha, because they are out there trying to get you ahead of the curve that they there may be a problem that may or will have a problem with the stock. we have so many examples of that and not that they are always right. nobody is always right. no long is always right. no short is always right. things happen. the reality is that you need people policing there, and they are among those policing >> a lot of the company, and we like them, because they come on the air, and they come on the air, and they have huge pr department, right, leslie? they can tell their story and it is one or two people poking around the balance sheet for a year that are some, you know, able to uncover something that is malfeasance or just plain out fraud and the market thanks them later, but at the time they are attacked. i am not saying that i am sorry for the short sellers, but some of them are punched in the gut

constantly. >> yeah, you have to have a strong stomach to do this like the type of the work of the nud di waters of the world and the hindenbergs. and last week we saw citron to be on the opposite end of that gamestop trade, and that marked the short sellers, and it is a small, small industry and smaller than it has been in recent years and short interest is a proportion of the overall market is at a 17-year low. there are not that many people who are even short selling now, whether it is for hedging or the directional bet. so it is just kind of remarkable to see these, you know, the changes in the response to what we saw last week with gamestop >> and herb, we have -- go ahead, buddy. >> well, i wanted to say something when leslie mentioned the below short interest, and one thing that people forget in

all of this is that the short sellers also provide, and help to keep an efficient capital markets and provide that natural buy-in when a stock starts to fall, because they are there buying if they are not there, it is a vacuum. it is walking into the elevator shaft while looking at the phone and not realizing that the elevator is there and you are straight down. so that is one of the concepts that sort of gets lost in the noise of all of this. >> okay. herb, let me flip ate bit, though. and the reason that the reddit army went after gamestop is because at 130% short, effectively it threw, and people said, it is not possible, and synthetic stop, and options and whatever it might be, but the fcc is supposed to prevent the naked short selling, and this is not exactly that, the but herb, should there be limits on the -- >> brian, whoa, whoa. >> -- and putting the caps on any product that should be percentage short against the float?

>> my response to that is go read reg sho which is 2005 by the s.e.c., and go down to i think it is section d or somewhere and there is a huge sek in that reg sho which is to prevent short selling and explains how there can be the appearance of short selling when there is none. this is a populist idea to glom on to when there were people who had no idea what they were talking about, and i have no idea of what the short interest was in gamestop was, and i don't care, but when i see people pulling that number out over and overagain without knowing what they are talking about, that is disturbing, because they don't understand how the markets work. i think that there has been very little discussion about that in the mainstream media. >> well, regulation sho, herb, while important, it is not exactly light reading, and maybe that is why not getting a lot of conversation about it.

>> it is not. no, it is no great seeing you, pal. >> and great to have you on, and leslie picker, thank you. and it is a conversation nowhere near over. and coming up former hedge fund owner and hockey team owner and baseball team owner, and jeff vinnie is going to join us to talk about his latest investments in one american city. plus, we are going to name the top five companies with the most insiders buying up their own stocks this week. the top five and something that you will not see next week. and this is the best of the best so far in the dow. and it is dow, amex, cisco and nike and big, big weeks. we are back after this.

i made a business out of my passion. i mean, who doesn't love obsessing over network security? all our techs are pros. they know exactly which parking lots have the strongest signal. i just don't have the bandwidth for more business. seriously, i don't have the bandwidth. glitchy video calls with regional offices? yeah, that's my thing. with at&t business, you do the things you love. our people and network will help do the things you don't. let's take care of business. at&t.

businesses today are looking to tomorrow. adapting. innovating. setting the course. but new ways of working demand a new type of network. one that's more than just fast. you need flexibility— to work from anywhere and manage from everywhere. advanced technology. with serious security. and reliable coverage, nationwide. forward-thinking enterprises deserve forward-thinking solutions. and that's what we deliver. so bounce forward, with comcast business.

welcome back. normally we do this next exclusive segment every friday on worldwide exchange 5:00 a.m. eastern and tape it if it too early, but since i am here today and it is important stuff we are doing it right here on "the

exchange" and this is the inside buying segment and highlighting the five companies with the most insiders buying up their own stock. this is not stock buybacks, but individuals with their own money buying their own stock. and the data is insider score.com with our gratitude. and counting it down five, two, one, and the fifth most insider buying is alliance data systems, and it is the second purchasesed by the director in six months. and next is t.i., texas instruments with the board member buying $197,000 exact on that name. the third most insider buying and this is fascinating intel's outgoing ceo bob swan, and that is right. on the way out of the door, he was buying up the intel stock, and picking up $1.5 million of intc. and the second two are lesser known names. the second most insider buying

is teledyne technologies. and 3$3.5 million insider bough, and so had sold 180 million worth, and now this is reversal. so the most is little heard of is industrial direct, and ticker is ssm. and so this is a tool cutting tools and such, and board member buying $5.2 million and get this accord oging to the insider too, the last time this ceo bought was 2008. so there you go. the top five companies with the most insider buying, ads, ti, and teradyne, and ndsc.

so now, covid with the restaurant recession, and we will talk to one of the biggest barbeque chains about what to expect coming up ahead. and don't forget to watch us on the go on with the cnbc app. this is what community looks like. ♪♪ caring for each other, ♪♪ protecting each other. ♪♪ and as the covid vaccine rolls out, we'll be ready to administer it. ♪♪

we're excited to do business with you but before we sign i gotta ask... sure, anything. we searched you online and maybe you can explain this? i can't believe that garbage is still coming in. that is so false! frustrated with your online search results? call reputation defender today to join tens of thousands who've improved their online reputation. get your free reputation report card at reputationdefender.com or call 1-877-866-8555.

welcome back.

well, not sure if you have heard, but there is a big football game this sunday, the kansas city chiefs and the tampa bay buccaneers facing off in super bowl lv held in tampa bay. so anything that tom brady really can't do, because it is not just about tompa bay and football and the city that is booming is bringing in big buck new developments and diana olick is bringiing us a closer look with a special guest. >> tampa ranked adds one of the top housing markets according to zillow, and clearly propelled from the work of anywhere world in the pandemic, and developmenters were taking big bets on the city, and $3.5 billion downtown development broke ground and it is still going up. 1 million new office space, and retail and residential, and water street tampa is a partnership of jeff vivek who

owns the tampa bay lightning, and he is joining us. and so, with the landscape and the development has changed dramatically from equipment delays to labor issues and a real spike in the price of building materials and how has that hit your project? >> it hasn't. we have been under way for constlunc construction now for two to three years and labor has eased up, and we have four to five million square feet of the phase one which is a little bit over $2 billion, and so this is all coming out of the ground now, and it is being topped off now. and 15 months from now, we will have 1,000 new residential units, and 1,000 square feet of office, and a new med school, and hotel a four-star and five-star, and retail and galleries and the whole thing, and so we are excited where we are at, and we are opening soon. >> but of course, timing is

everything, and as you are talking about millions of square feet of office and retail, it is a time when the two sectors are struggling badly. so what are you seeing in the leasing? >> we are seeing the outstanding interest. you are right, these are very difficult times economically, and a lot of people are hurting. but the fact of the matter is that for the overall u.s. economy, and certainly for the tampa bay economy, this is going to be a 18-month setback on the strong growth. i am extremely bullish about the overall economy, and even more bullish about the tampa bay economy, and people are moving in here at 2 to 3% per year, and you combine that with the construction and the activity going on here, and you are looking at nominal growth in tampa bay, florida of 7% plus over the next five to ten years and that is a booming economic growth. we are going to lead the country in the amount of economic activity, and you know, great

partner they have in cascade events, bill gates' company, and they see it too, as the place to be, and we are fortunate to have the super bowl to broadcast to the world what they are missing by not doing business here including tampa bay, florida. >> now, even before the pandemic hit, water street tampa was the first community to be given the well designation from the well institute, and given the hyperfocus, and what does that mean with people looking at wellness and how does that attract tenants? >> it is driving the interest of tenants and wellness into hyperdrive. people were moving already in that direction and strongly in that direction before covid, and we have designed all of the buildings as well as our overall district to meet the well building standard which, you know, which has really higher standards for air quality, for

water quality, for water features in the district, for trying to cut down on the pollution, and for having overall walking in the buildings, and bike paths and water fountains and you name it. we are the first well certified community in the world. you know, it is all about the quality of life to everybody that we are bringing here, whether it is the office workers or the people living here or people staying in the hotels it is going to be a distinctive district, and you know, leading to a vibrant downtown tampa and tampa bay. >> it is brian sullivan and joining you and diana, and jimmy's taco, and all of the other aside, we are talking about the wealth taxes in the united states, and also, estate taxes as well, do you think that the work-from-home thing that we are doing may not be lasting

permanently for everybody, it is going to accelerate the move, because if you are layering the wealth tax on top of that, you cannot avoid the federal government, but you can avoid a state government >> well, i don't know. i don't want to speculate on the politics and the wealth taxes, and the work from home movement, no doubt, 5 or 10 years from now, there are going to be more hours worked from home than the work week because of the pandemic. but having a home office location, and there is no substitute for person-to-person interaction, and stimulative and the collision of the ideas to create better, you know, to create better projects and stimulate thinking and a central part of business. so, you know, wealth tax or no, very bullish on the opportunities. >> well, you may not want to touch this next one either, jeff, but i will ask it, because you were around and you were

rolling it in the hedge fund back then, and do you see similaritys the between now and 1999 >> so, let me give a preamble, before i cautiously answer that, the preamble is that i am incredibly cautious of the economy, and with covid, i am cautious with that, and i think that things are going to be better, but i think that main street is going to beat wall street, and that is more equality, and better paying jobs, and the trends are going in that direction. in terms the of just the overall market environment, think that we definitely have pockets of activity that rival 1999 and 2000, and there is huge speculation going on in some areas of the market, and maybe i'd call it a mania in some areas of the market, and so i think that you do have to be cautious, but overall, when we have a really strong economic

outlook, in general for companies that have good money, and long term prospects, they will do fine in the market. >> and jeff, jumping off of that, the retail trading community is more engaged than ever thanks to the apps on the phone, and what warnings do you for the new generation of traders? >> yeah, i capitalism is a great, a great thing, and markets are a great thing. every so often, they correct every so often going with the territory, and the phenomenon where stocks were squeeze and the shorts were squeezed and stocks were way above their economic value, and i think that is one of the things where things went a little bit out of hand, and some were hurt by that. my fear is that the retail investors who were fueling it, they could not all buy low and sell high, because it does not work that way, so i am hoping that, my fear is that a lot of

them have gotten burned by that bought high and sold low lost quite a bit of money, and they may not want to come back to the market, and have had a bad experience so i hope that people did not get hurt by putting their finger, and touching the fingers down on the frying pan. but again, that is, what i would not call it a side show, because it is real money, and real activity, but the bigger picture is a strong goods, and we have an economic boom going to on, and the surface side of the economy is in the tank and more people are vaccinated and we come out of covid, that is going to turn up we have a ton of stimulus that has occurred and in the pipeline we have a trillion and a half of savings. so we are set up for just dynamic, strong economic growth over the next two to three or five years, and we have an economic boom right at our doorsteps. >> that is a great place to leave it then.

jeff vinik, thank you for joining us. brian, back to you. >> diana, too, if you are looking at the u-haul truck rates going to florida is triple than going north, because diana, everybody is going south, and whether they stay there forever, who know, but when there is two feet of snow on the ground and no state taxes. yeah, it is a big deal. and diana, a big interview s and thank you for bringing it to "the exchange. thank you. the vaccination push is plowing on, and j&j is one step closer to having their vaccination going to the market. and the government sending in the national guard to help, literally. and student debt crisis is topping a staggering $1.7 trillion and some in congress want it cancel and corporate america is stepping up to help. we wl veouheetlsp ahead. t dai u

turn on my tv and boom, it's got all my favorite shows right there. i wish my trading platform worked like that. well have you tried thinkorswim? this is totally customizable, so you focus only on what you want. okay, it's got screeners and watchlists. and you can even see how your predictions might affect the value of the stocks you're interested in. now this is what i'm talking about. yeah, it'll free up more time for your... uh, true crime shows? british baking competitions. hm. didn't peg you for a crumpet guy. focus on what matters to you with thinkorswim. ♪♪

and welcome back to "the exchange" and hope you are having a good friday wherever you are. the markets are having a pretty good friday. they were up on the dow, and now up just about 100 points. the nasdaq is sup more than 6%

for the week, and one of the best weeks in a long time. and as far as the sectors that are doing well, materials and consumer staples, and kconsumer discretionary leading the way. communications up as well. and i.t. is the only sector in the red. it would not be a show without showing you gamestop. that stock is jumping a little bit today after a wild few day ds and really a week of trading. the stocks are falling 81% this week, and of course, it rocketed higher last week, and gamestop is up about 11.5%. now, stepping out of the stock market and a check on the top world and national news, and for that we go to sue herera. >> good to see you, brian. this is what is happening this hour, everyone. the pentagon is deploying more than 100 active duty troops to five vaccination sites. two sites in california with troops to arrive in little more than a week. virginia lawmakers have voted to

repeal that state's death penalty, and the bill goes to governor northham who is expected to sign that. and now, there is ballots to go out monday to halt the union election. and now, nyggard is denied bail to the united states after charges of sex trafficking and racketeering and he is denying the allegations. i send it back to you, brian. >> and now, with the fight to get everybody vaccinated, john and johnson is requesting use and authorization for the covaccine candidate. if approved, this is the third vaccine in the u.s. market it is not only going to boost the overall supply of doses, but

it could simplify vaccinations for many, because it is one dose, and it does not have to be kept at negative 70 degrees celsius, and the pace of shots in the arms is picking up dramatically, and now more than 7.4 million have been administered and 30 million have received one doeshgs and little more than 7 have received both. and 10.9% over the age of 18 have been vaccinated. and that is the number to watch. and that is the daily vaccination, and the pace is 1.4 million shots in arms everyday. so coming up, with the student loan topping $1.7 trillion employers are taking steps to help the workers to pay off the loans. sharon epperson is looking at how much help is being offered and how it could bridge the

racial divide. as we head to the break, february is black history month, and we are honoring some of our cnbc friends and contributors. here is contributor tiffany mcgee with her personal story about taking risks. >> when i was about 5 years old, my dad quit his corporate job to be an entrepreneur, and so the next day he sold hats and gloves in the middle of a snowstorm, and so he then opened up a retail store, and so he taught me how the take risks. i opened up my business and i'm the first african-american and african-latino woman to have a this type of business in the country.

well, student loan debt in the u.s. is still on the rise topping $1.7 trillion. the gap in the debt held by

black against white borrowers is also growing, but some employers of the federal government are trying to take steps to lessen the burden of the racial divide. sharon epperson is here with more. >> all extra money goes towards the loan. >> 31-year-old aliyah gibson a human resources specialist for new york life pays one-third of her budget paying off the student loan, but she is not tackling it alone, and she is getting help from untapped source, her employer. >> the program pays out $10,200 over the course of five years and it is $170 per month. >> according to the society for human resource management, about 8% of organizations offer student loan repayment assistance as an employee benefit, and a platform that helps companies navigate the process says that employers now have a new incentive. >> this is a perfect time for

the employers to intervene. >> that is because the covid-19 relief package that passed last december allows the employers to make contributions to up to 5,250 a year to their employees student debt tax free through 2025, and the employees don't have to pay taxes on the contributions, and gibson says another big bonus. >> you are one, saving money by not paying interest and paying down the principle which is the name of the game to paying off the student loans. >> reporter: borrowers got a break from accruing interest and paying the student loans under the c.a.r.e.s. act, and under president biden's executive order, it is going to go until september 1st. >> that is only going to delay the inevitable which is that the student loan debt still exists. >> reporter: and it can play a

significant role in future death. so blacks start their career with more student debt than whites. and they pay it down faster. and so white millennials with a bachelor's degree is ten times more than blacks in this age group. having employers, government and individual borrows working on paying down the student debt is a strategy na gibson is hoping to close the racial student loan gap. >> for students of color, this is going to help to close the gap tremendously, because once again, you are able to take control over your financial situation. >> reporter: as companies compete to attract the best and most diverse workforce, offering student loan repayment service can be powerful for retention and recruitment, and the advocates are pushing to make the tax incentives around the

employee benefit permanent and that is going to encourage more companies to offer it as well, brian. >> yeah, i mean, a heck of a story, sharon, and a quick story follow-up, and other ways that companies and bosses are helping the workers to pay off their student loan debt other student loan debt other than the one you just laid out? >> in addition to this pandemic time, some companies are actually take paid time off that's not been used, using that money to allow employees to put that towards their student local debt there is also another really innovative idea of allowing people to pay down student loans on their own, but that money they're contributing, the percentage of the payroll, the company matches their 401(k) contribution, so they're not missing out on improving their

future >> i remember going on the to beers, and a classmate of mine showed me the debt, undergrad and law schools was over $300,000 i should follow up with her. it's a great and important story. on deck, parts of the country are in a recession many parts of the restaurant industry remain in a full-blown depression your next guest runs a huge restaurant chain ngsso autt.what you she wants core tdobo i how am i doing?

some say this is my greatest challenge ever. governments in record debt; inflation rising and currencies falling. but i've seen centuries of rises and falls. i had a love affair with tulips once. lived through the crash of '29 and early dot-com hype. watched mortgages play the villain beside a true greek tragedy. and now here i am, with one companion that's been with me for millennia; hedging the risks you choose and those that choose you. the physical seam of a digital world, traded with a touch. my strongest ally and my closest asset. the gold standard, so to speak ;) people call my future uncertain. but there's one thing i am sure of...

well, really no industry -- maybe hotels -- has been hit as hard as the restaurant business. the food services sector saul big job declines in january, losses pale in comparesing to the nearly half a million jobs lost in december travel, leisure and hospitality. the proposed $1.9 trillion relief bill could provide in much-needed help with the proposal on hold at least for now, and restaurants are really concerned about the future joining us is laura ray dickey, she is runs dickey's barbecue

restaurants. laura rae, thank you for joining us a lot of members watch cnbc with a platform, what would you like congress to know >>. >> thank you for the opportunity. i think i would want congress to know there's a real need and a way to impact directly, with respect, for example targeted aid that specifically helps the industry any sort of tax credit, any sort of payroll tax or incentives, also, after prioritizing our first responders,then prioritizing rontline workers would greatly restore consumer confidence. >> your restaurant's unique. i know you have some that are more dine-in than others

can you talk to us about the difference running a restaurant between a sit-down dickey's -- i think you have one in new jersey -- and more of a takeout and more open area geographically things are very, very different in america. >> they're very different. that is an absolutely excellent point about why we need such a variety in the type of assistance for example, our business is that type of he flexible space we have drive-in, drive-thru, delivery, to go. that's one of the reasons we're doing a bit better than our peers, because we have flexibility, but the folks that don't have that, they're suffering of most where you have, for example, waiters and waitress style for us that doesn't apply.

we have a pitmaster, and you go through after your smoked brisket and your sides, you're queued through, paying with a cashier and sitting down, or taking it to go or having it delivered. it's that flexibility that helped us, but it's that type of flexibility that many folks don't have that's why any type of relief for the industry is really helpful. >> by the way, making us hungry, too, looking forward to dining in with you. >> by the way, i'll be on the news with shepard smith tonight talking about new jersey opening up just a bit, and going out to dinner time. that's it for "the exchange." have a good weekend, everybody "power lunch" begins after this quick break. seismic or small, it continues. change is all around us. shaped by technology and human ingenuity,

we can make it work for you and your business.

welcome, everybody, i'm tyler mathisen seema mody will join us for the hour don't no call it a comeback. investors bet more on stimulus and a strong economic round, that in light of a fairly weak -- as binge