the session, but now it is sitting in the red just by about 18 points or so at this point in the session, but getting close to that flat line. >> everybody watching the yield on the 10-year, it's above 1.6 i think it's at 1.63, 1.62 we'll watch tomorrow the results of the fed meeting and chair powell's press conference. court, great to be with you. thanks, everybody, for watch the "power lunch." "closing bell" right now. >> welcome to "the closing bell." i'm wilfred frost along with sara ieisen. the nasdaq had been clinging to gains but also just fell into the red moments ago. let's have a look at what's driving the action faang tech stocks were in the lead but less of a lead. energy is the big decliner today. that sector down over 2% a notable decline in month ly retail sales the xrt down 2% off the back of that industrial production, housing numbers a bit soft as well we're see momentum plays lag,

off by 3% or 4%. hotels, cruise lines losing steam as well. the dow down 0.4%, 130 points or so, sara, midsession lows with 59 minutes left in the session. >> drifting lower all afternoon. coming up on today's show, a rare sitdown with the ceo of palantir it's been a hot stock. plus a stern warning about esg. we'll talk to the former chief investment officer for sustainable investing at blackrock who now says the financial world is green washing the public with pr hype about climate friendly investing let's focus in on the big stories we are watching. mike santoli tracking the market action steve liesman with a look at today's soft retail sales number and a preview of tomorrow's big fed decision mike, start us off with the

market feeling kind of soft across the board. >> we sagged a little bit over the last hour. large tech stocks, the big growth stocks were able to get a little bit of a bounce as treasury yields receded a little bit. after a bond auction, treasury yields inched higher inflation compensation within the bond market was going higher therefore people are wondering if they're getting prefed jitters. really not a lot of net movement we're still within that zone of what had been the top end of the range. 3950 was the all-time intraday high so it's not as if we've got an any escape velocity definitely still shows you the acute sensitivity right now of big growth stocks to the treasury yields. take a look at a longer term view as we get up toward 4,000 on the s&p the highs of the day were half a percent below 4,000. this is a log scale chart so each percentage move is the same

distance i want to show how the market has taken a chance to pause around these thousand point levels it took two years to get free of the 2000 level we got there first in late 2014. it was after the 2016 election before there was a release to the upside from that 2,000 area. th 3,000 was not all that dramatic but january of 2018 we got within 4% of 3,000 then it was much more a 2019 story when it was give and take, finally in the fall got above it i don't really consider that to be a struggle with a big, round number that was just a crash from a source so that doesn't mean there's technical significant to 4,000 or fundamental but sometimes it's an opportunity to hang out a little bit. we spent much of the day below 20 the last time we were above 20 for most of the year, you got be below it in 2010 april of that year is when you

saw that spike the first serious correction after that huge ramp off the low. nothing says it happens necessarily synchronously but something to keep in mind in terms of how these cycles have tended to go, guys. >> i would just note today, mike, it is technology and communication services leading us on the upside and groups like semis, biotechs, software, all the groups that were caught in the cross hairs of those rising rates. are people breathing easier now because we're not seeing a spike in rates >> to some degree. i think a combination of rates stopped going higher at a fast pace and you got a 20%, 25% pullback in some of those areas. so it self-corrects a little bit. i think it's still the case, you're sitting on a decent-size drawdown from the highs and things like semis and the cloud software stocks. turning to today's big data release, retail sales for february missing estimates, dropping 3% in the latest reading.

steve liesman has more on the economic picture ahead of tomorrow's all-important fed decision steve, what can you tell us? >> yeah, the cnbc survey shows the market has sped up the timeline for fed tight line, potentially putting the fed and the market at odds our fed expectation charts so it starting in november 22 and ending asset purchases in november of 2021 63% of our 43 respondents say what the fed is buying every month is not needed. 83% saying it's too big. the meeting comes with a report of disappointing retail sales, but there really wasn't much reason for concern about the consumer because their pockets as we speak are being filled up with a new rounding of relief. retail sales down 3% in february it came with a huge revision to the january numbers.

in fact the best way to think about it is to take them both together motor vehicles down 4.2 in february but up 5 in january electronics down 1.9, up 17 in january. internet, down 5.4 but 17 in january. the question for the fed is not whether consumers will spend too little, it's whether they'll spend too much in the months ahead, potentially sparking inflation. today the 10-year holding steady inflation break-evens have been holding steady we are down 0.2% on the s&p. still ahead, shares of palap palantir have climbed since the company went public. we'll hear from alex karp about the company and his issues with silicon valley you're watching "closing bell" on cnbc.

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i sat down with the co-founder and ceo alex karp at a virtual event held by the kexecutives club of chicago where we discussed how big tech and silicon valley are positioned to evolve over the next decade. >> america has made great strides. i'm very optimistic, much more optimistic than we were years ago, precisely because we've changed procurement and the realization that people running these things in clandestine military services realize that america can do very well and win but not if it's bringing 50,000 hours of services instead of rallying our very best of the best to our cause. the real problem on how america does in that context comes down to the unwillingness from my optic perch totally impossible to understand on a number of tech companies and engineers to support the u.s. government. now, i don't think everything the u.s. government is right

i'm a citizen and like many people i'm sure everyone has agreements and disagreements but the odd reality that many in silicon valley are not willing to support the u.s. government in military cop text is something that should be a source of great discussion i for one always wantin to heari that's the case how do you justify building your company in the u.s., driving on our highways and getting help from companies that don't want to offending the u.s. government and our taxpayers. so that's an issue that many of our software elites have a very different view on how you should support the country that has supported us. >> why do you think that is? please call out company names if you want to. but even if you don't -- >> well, there's a long answer i think the short answer is that some of them just don't have the sense god gave a goat.

and they confuse having a high iq with being sensible in any case, the longer answer would be something like i think there's just not an understanding of the historical reality of tech. we get away, those of us who are entrepreneurs, for looking weird and living our own lives and not being particularly conformists because people in america see that we're creating value for them the silicon valley of the first generation was building things that americans understood would help them. if you're sitting on your perch in silicon valley and you're only creating value for yourself, monetizing the natural resources of your fellow americans and others in the form of monetizing their data and providing no value to them except for disrupting the businesses that people work out, you're going to find that your level of trust goes really down really far quickly

and i don't think this is something you can iq your way out of essentially one of the problems in silicon valley, they just think that they're so smart, that they can smart their way out of this. it's just so obvious. >> who are the worst offenders >> well, you know, they shift. i don't know if it's helpful it comes in a rolling -- in a rolling set of offenses. and by the way, i'm hopeful there at some point could be some reform because now there is something that really most people are very, very aware of and by the way, it's a reason why a lot of us -- as i mentioned, i believe we were the first company to leave the valley when we left the valley, it was look add at something crazily ridiculous now lots of people are leaving the valley part of the reason they're leaving the valley is that the brand of the valley is not good. and it's not good because it can't answer simple questions. what does your software do to help somebody? the answer is i give a lot of

money to philanthropy. i'm all in favor of philanthropy but there has to be a more direct answer. or maybe our company does nothing to help humanity and we're okay with that so in any case i think there's a rolling set of offenders i think that rolling set of offenders will probably change over time simply because it can't go on like this. >> to what extent do you blame them personally versus that they have a duty to their shareholders an also if regulation doesn't exist they have every right to continue operating in the way that they are? >> i don't dispute anyone's right to work within the context of the law and i very much believe these things should be regulated so people can work within the context of the law. but if you are on the cutting edge, just to take the very

simple example of helping the western world stay strong and become stronger in the future so the west structurally wins the battles of both software battles but also the narrative battle of what it means to organize a society where there's wealth provision, education, civil liberties are protected and we can have open discourse. if in fact you are profit maximizing in your country and that country is protecting you, you have a duty to protect the country. so i mean i love academic debates of this sort and i'd be more than happy to go down the rabbit hole of at what point is it incumbent upon someone to diverge from their actual economic interest and do good. that's a really, really important debate but in the context of we are the global winners of x and we are partly the global winners because we are in a country, the

answer cannot be we do not support that country so that would bemy first baseline after that we can have a more debate. >> i'll try one more time to ask you, and again i understand if you don't want to say it which company or ceo is the big offender today on that front >> i'm not trying to evade the answer in evading the answer i think it's a cultural problem. they're sitting in their perch in silicon valley. they don't understand how they're viewed in society or how that's viewing our society then when asked can they help america, they tend to think this is a super difficult question that should be litigated with one or two or five engineers in their company that don't agree with helping the u.s. government that's why it's a cultural problem and why so many of us have left this culture. >> let me ask about being public you've mentioned the short termism that can come out of wall street by having to report

every quarter and clearly you're more in the public eye and crosshairs once you're a public company. do you weigh out going public and wonder sometimes whether it would have been better to stay private or not >> to some extent, battling away with short termism on wall street, which i think is one of the most destructive, corrosive attributes of an otherwise interesting and largely system, we told the wall streeters that we will -- we will focus on building the long-term health of our company. that we are going to invest in our product development and in our clients. then you just have to battle it out with them. but i would say from the perspective of palantir, we've been at this a long time i have a lot of people who have been there a long time because they believe in our company. i struggle to believe that they believed in me unlike many people in tech, their share price was both going

in the wrong direction and they stayed for years and years and years and years. now those people have shares that are actually quite valuable and i'm very proud of that despite the fact that we have to battle it out. we've been battling it out with silicon valley and venture, we have to bajtsttle out the short termism, not all people on wall street but the fact that these people at palantir that have been there a long time that stayed while all their friends who may not have been helping the world very much were making big money and their share price was both in the wrong direction and liquid, i'm very happy for them and it makes my life better too because i feel even freer. >> it's been good for you on the share price front, and you've been in the crosshairs in a good way on the wall street bets, is there an aspect where you worry it's been too hot in the short term and that means next year people will be asking why the

share price is falling do you worry about that? >> of course you worry about a lot of things when you're somewhat neurotic and introverted. i have a lot of other worries that worry be a lot more first of all, unlike many people they're investing their own money with no safety net many of them are engineers so they actually evaluate our product. they dispel slanderous critiques wrip by people that don't ever seem to have engaged with our pr product. when you dpo you give investors a chance to make money and not just hedge investors on wall street i'm very proud of people investing their own money with their own risk making their own opinion made a lot of money. i am working and we are working at palantir no a long-term

outcome. i would say we're in this for the long haul. if you are speculating or you're thinking about this short term, there are plenty of other things to invest in we're building the company we believe in we're going to do it for the long haul. there will be ups and downs. my lawyers won't let me say more than that, but it's obvious. if you want something else, it's a huge world buy some other stock you don't have to buy palantir, nobody is forcing you. we're completely lingquid there are a lot of other great companies. i'll see you in a couple years we'll see how we've done we're busy working in our shop sbiskally building products of the future >> it's been on an absolute tear more to come in terms of their business, particularly on the defense side as well in the second hour of the show. but i just thought really interesting to get him there on

the record about silicon valley culture as a whole saying the brand of the valley not good what's your software doing to help people, and many of the companies there at the moment are failing to get that message across i pushed on names, specific names of course and he wouldn't quite give them. >> you tried. >> but we could guess some of the companies that he was implying. >> that's why it's so funny. i kept thinking -- he didn't name names but facebook, peter theel, is one of the early board members and investors and still sits on the board, i believe, of facebook maybe that's why he wouldn't name names i also thought it was a great conversation, wilfred, because you revealed a lot about him and just his personality, however introverted and neurotic he claims himself was we don't get a peek at him that often and it was interesting to hear how passionate he was on drawing a distinction between palantir and silicon valley and really on the patriotism, which

is what he laid out in his letter to shareholders in the very beginning they're working for the u.s. military and the u.s. government and they're proud of it and he really does call out there i think in a number of ways in your questions why other silicon valley companies don't do that and why that's a bad thing. >> he's also proud of his eccentrics i do believe the chicago executive club will be posting later tonight but first there is another segment to come in the second hour of the show, particularly on their work in the defense space. >> really good stuff haven't heard from him since they went public more to come from alex karp and wilfred. take a look at the markets down 100 on the dow. s&p 500 is flat.

the nasdaq is positive now, which shows you what's leading today. technology, communications services, semi conductors are up, biotech is up, software stocks small caps down 2%. up next, moderna opens up its vaccine trials for children and the european medicine agency weighs in on astrazeneca as we head to break check out some of the top search tickers on cnbc. the 10-year yield up there again. gamestop a regular on thelist, only down 5% it's a minor move. apple, amc and oer me themstock and tesla down 4%. we'll be right back.

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35 minutes left of trading time now for our virus tracker despite the vaccine rollout accelerating, 111 million doses have been administered, the u.s. is still recording at least 55,000 new covid cases and at least 1300 virus-related deaths each day according to the tsa at least 1 million people have passed through airports every day since thursday as travel begins to rebound. in vaccine news, ohio says everyone in the state will be eligible for the state by march 29th, less than two weeks from now. moderna says it's studying the effects of their covid vaccine on children in a mid to late stage trial. stock is up 7% astrazeneca.

more countries pausing their rollout over fears of side effects. now europe's regulator is weighing in saying that it remains, quote, firmly convinced that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks of the side effects. sticking by the astrazeneca vaccine. boy, this has become so controversial. whether justified or not, it has to be doing a number on public opinion of it. >> and yet we're still waiting for the full, final decision from the ema in their review, which is expected probably on thursday this week when maybe we'll see those countries lift their temporary ban. it does feel extraordinary when you see cases spiking there and at least temporary guidance from the ema and w.h.o. to say people should keep using it, but politicians know best. after the break, time for a cnbc news update rahel solomon has that. a new u.s. intelligence report says russia and iran spread misinformation in an

attempt to influence the 2020 u.s. elections intelligence agencies investigated multiple attempts to manipulate the election results and found no evidence that vote tallies had been compromised. the group that puts on the golden globes -- more than 100 pr firms have called on the hollywood fpress association to end discriminatory behavior. the firm says if changes are not made, many prominent actors will refuse to attending. and six ncaa officials who were getting ready for march madness have been benched. they have traveled all the way to indianapolis and all had dinner together. one later tested positive for the coronavirus. be sure to watch the news with shepard smith to see how they are being replaced and what's being done to avoid infections during the tournament. sara, one is the only one that tested positive but everyone else has to go home because of tracing and exposure

>> of course rahel, thank you rahel solomon. a potential rival to robin hood will debut. it will go public by a spac. it is already available in dozens of countries and plans to start providing stock trading services in the u.s. this year the company offering zero commission trading, but unlike most popular trading platforms, it does not make money by selling trading data to hedge funds. earlier today betsy cohen discussed the business model listen >> this is a year in which eturo added 5 million new registrants to its list, topping 20 million altogether, which is a significant increase and shows the acceleration of growth and acceptance of the product in the

marketplace. as you've seen with other companies like robin hood and stripe and some of the others, valuations can grow quickly because the businesses are growing quickly. >> etoro going public, starting to expand business on robinhood's turf how do you see that? >> the end market is growing so fast i don't see it as a really sq scarce resource. everyone is feasting on a pretty strong market here zero commissions you know, it kind of grows on its own. it seems in the numbers that they had this great trajectory in revenues overseas without being in the u.s. market more than 100% revenue growth without a lot profitability but still cash flow positive what's fascinating about etoro is in addition to having tools

and having a spac, you can essentially plug into somebody else's trading strategy and automatically copy it. i don't know how much that's going to necessarily take off but it formalizes a lot of this kind ofwe're on the same team and we're all going to run in a herd at certain ideas and you can surf from one or many other kind of lead traders to another, so that's an interesting wrinkle versus what robinhood offers. >> it also has spread betting which is a way a lot of europeans invest in stocks anyway because then you don't have to pay tax on the gains in the same way you can offset your gambling losses against other capital gains. that doesn't apply in the u.s. where gambling wins are taxable. but the spread betting ability is interesting if that can be applied into the sports area as well and whether we start to think of one of these companies as not just retail trading but also sports betting. a long way from that but it's a

slightly different platform. >> well, it's all interesting because people have made the case if you look at robrobinhoos screen on the app, it looks essentially like fanduel it gives you the payoff amounts and all the rest of it so it's functionally on the back end not a very different thing by the way, the fact that they don't sell order flow in the same way because it's not allowed in most of their markets, it doesn't really mean that the customers get all the benefit. it means they keep the spread. somebody earns the spread, whether it's a wholesale market maker or the introducing broker itself. >> by the way, unsurprisingly good first day for etoro much more on the markets as we approach the close. there is the dow for you, down 0.3%. 100 points or so the low of the session was about 25, 30 minutes ago, down 175 points so we're off the low at the moment. let's check in on bonds. still hovering around that 1.6 level on the 10-year

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improving here into the close. s&p has gone positive. up next, when it's bad to be green. a former blackrock exec is speaking out about the flood of esg messaging on wall street saying the financial world is green washing the blpuic with deadly distraction he'll join us next to discuss. you got to move the phone in front of you like..like it's a mirror, dad. you know? alright, okay. how's that? is that how you hold a mirror? [ding] power e*trade gives you an award-winning mobile app with powerful, easy-to-use tools and interactive charts to give you an edge, 24/7 support when you need it the most and $0 commissions for online u.s. listed stocks. don't get mad. get e*trade and start trading today. the aflac post-pain show! aflac!

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a provocative new op-ed from blackrock's ceo of investing claims, quote, the financial services industry is duping the american public with its pro environment sustainable investing practices. in the piece he calls out wall street for green washing the public and making sustainable investing, quote, merely pr. he joins us now to discuss thank you for joining us you were at blackrock which is front and center in promoting socially and environmentally friendly practices for investing. why are you calling out the industry >> well, i think that having had the experience of being there, i can say quite confidently that

esg is not as good for investing processes as people claim and that's very important because it effectively is financial jargon does it pay to be responsible? the reality is it doesn't. it works in a few instances, a few strategies and it's being blown out of proportion. none of it has any real social impact it got worrying to me enough that after i left, i left for personal reasons, and i started to wonder if -- at first i thought this was like giving wheat grass to a cancer patient, right? the world is suffering from the growth of climate change and other ills and, you know, wheat grass is a nicely marketed idea but there's no reason to believe that it will help stop the cancer but at least it might make people feel better or whatever after i left i started wondering the messaging was so aspirational and out of touch about what i'd seen about the reality of that thesis i started to wonder if it actually works

is it wheat grass convincing a cancer patient to delay chemo chemotherapy so i talked to the president of a university i know in canada and we teamed up and did a study. it showed the more you give people messages around a whole bunch of ideas, around social purpose, business will do the right thing, all by itself, all voluntarily, all stakeholder capitalism, the more you mislead the public into believing free markets will correct themselves and we don't need government regulation and that comes at the expense of the youngest and the poorest in society. >> i just want to stop you, because we did reach out to blackrock on this. got a very long statement from them but what blackrock says is they believe green washing is a risk toinvestors and detrimental to the asset management industry's credibility which is why we support initiatives. so it sounds like what you're saying they say they have launched some etfs that do remove all fossil fuels which is one example you called out, that some of these

funds do still invest in oil companies or other nonsustainable businesses. so what exactly -- what specifics are you pointing to here >> first of all, blackrock is not the worst offender in the industry i would tell you probably we're better than average. the issue is that the entire system doesn't work. where blackrock is culpable is that it's promoting a thesis that tells people that these products, whether done correctly or incorrectly, whether they're sloppily made and include a name they shouldn't or the appearance, they're telling people these things have social impact i can't stress enough, there is no evidence that any esg etf has any positive social impact that i've seen. there's no evidence that by buying a low carbon etf you are actually going to lower emissions. there is evidence that fixing the rules of society through government regulation actually can do that. doing it through wall street makes no sense

they're capital allocators and will chase profitability they will adjust portfolio to a changed reality. if you tell them that fighting climate change makes money and that this is great for the world and you should increase your carbon footprint because it's disti good for the world, the vast majority of the exstrategies dot do it. it matters very little and creates social impact. it's creating a giant societal placebo and i think that that's irresponsible. we're 13 years after the financial crisis, decades after we've known that climate change is the greatest market failure in history right now business leaders are peddling a silly markets correct themselves idea and that i have a problem with when larry says in january that i refer capitalists self regulate, i think he's doing a

massive disservice to society and the people left holding the bag as we delay are going to be the youngest and poorest >> what about the rhetoric, tariq, when certain asset managers say it's better to keep holding these stocks and engaging with the companies and trying to get them to change do you think that's disingenuous given how long we've been broadly talking about esg. if that was a new initiative and you try for a year and then sell, perhaps. but this has been going on for a while, even when you were at these companies. is that fair >> yeah, it is look, selling a company is even worse. divestment has absolutely zero impact whatwhatsoever if you sell a company doesn't stop what they're doing that's objectionable. the issue that i have with the message coming out of wall street is it's implying they can do things that they can't. they're capital allocators and react to the reality on the ground if you want to make changes, you have to regulate the companies doing it you have to regulate emissions

now, if companies are paying employees at levels where, you know, they can't have a living wage and most of them are on food stamps, there's probably a solution that includes higher taxes or other such things it's not a private equity fund that claims to fight inequality. wall street should just be honest, we need regulation climate change is the greatest market failure in history. right now we're facing a systemic crisis that science has told us is going to kill us quickly if we don't move fast. when it came to bending that curve, every single business leader understood we needed government action. we need restricted travel, we need to make masks mandatory, we needed to close high-risk venues like bars. now, a young person who's 25 years old and works at blackrock would be forgiven for wondering why it's not a conspiracy that when it comes to something that science is telling us will kill us slowly, we have to bend down

a curve, the greenhouse gas emission curve, those exact same leaders that agree with government action with something coming quickly suddenly think that the free market is a good enough answer for future generations to preserve their livelihoods. >> tariq, thanks for joining us today. appreciate it. >> thank you so much. we'll talk more when we're joined by the ceo and invest manager of nuveen. home builder confidence takes a tip. tose stories and many more as weake you inside the market zone nasdaq positive and s&p just negative

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11 minutes left in the trading day. we are now in the closing bell market zone. commercial-free coverage of all the action going into the close. mike santoli is here to break down the crucial moments of the trading day. today we've got virtues invest partner joe terranova back as well welcome, joe we'll kick it off with the broader market we've seen a little bit of a lift in the final hour of trade. the s&p 500 is basically flat. you've got groups like communication services, technology, staples, utilities and real estate all in the lead, mike those are all sort of the low yield plays. energy, industrials and financials which had been working all year, they're at the bottom of the pack today what does the action tell you? >> it's defensive. i think this is just the pendulum has swung back and forth. the decline in treasury yields this morning did open the way for this little defensive -- big tech is defensive. faang is defensive nasdaq 100 is defensive.

what's not is the arc complex which is down today, cloud stocks which are down today. so that's your nuance there. that big established profitable tech acts in a defensive way in a little bit of a bond proxy i think that's what it is. broadly speaking, the markets are idling right at the highs of a fed meeting which a lot of people are starting to consider consequential. >> joe, are you worried about the fed meeting? >> i think it's very consequential. i agree with mike's analysis overall on the market. the s&p is trying for its second consecutive day to close higher. i like what we're seeing here where the established growth is actually acting very resilient mikementioned mega cap names i would add to that the semis are trading very well here today. so i like what we're seeing. i think market is getting a little bit more comfortable with the yields on economic optimism but tomorrow is absolutely consequential. we need to hear from chairman powell what is he going to do as

it relates to a tapered timeline that is critical is he going to push back against inflation? clearly the momentum is there for treasury yields to rise to where they were to begin 2020. >> palantir has been under scrutiny long before it's public debut with questions around the company's secrecy and path to profitability. i asked the ceo about his take on investor speculation and short termism. >> we're in this for the long haul if you are speculating or you're thinking about this short term, there are plenty of other things to invest in we're building the company we believe in we're going to do it for the long haul. there will be ups and downs. my lawyers won't let me say more than that, but it's obvious. and if you want something else, it's a huge world. buy some other stock you don't have to buy palantir, no one is forcing you. we're completely liquid.

do something else. >> joe, if we do get rates up to 1.92 on the 10-year as you suggested, can stocks like this that have done unbelievably well over the last six to 12 months continue to rally? do we go into a world where valuations get pressured or do the growth and momentum names perform regardless >> first of all, that was a fascinating interview, great job by you unfortunately for palantir, it is pulling back here the fundamentals really will not crystallize if we're going to see a rise in yields towards 1.9% why? because long duration assets will remain vulnerable in that environment. i would have liked to have heard a little bit more from palantir about how we're making the pivot here towards the commercial platform, the foundry platform, versus where we know all the revenue is derived from the gotham government platform that's where your 40% growth is going to come from

i want to buy palantir, i like it but i've got to know i've got more visibility on a little more diversification of the platform and that it's not going to see vulnerability towards mow meant um stocks being pared back. investing in travel stocks may not be the only way to play the reopening trade. shares of starbucks jumping and the stock was upgraded from buy to neutral citing the pace of restaurant reopenings along with federal stimulus coming through. the firm expects sales at starbucks to materially accelerate this year on that note, don't miss a first on cnbc interview with starbucks ceo kevin johnson tomorrow noon, "halftime report." do you like this idea, joe, starbucks as a reopening play? is there room to run there >> well, i think it's a repositioning play versus reopening play they repositioned themselves throughout 2020. full disclosure, i own the

stock. i added to it throughout 2020. it's been about repositioning toward the digital experience for the customer mobile order and pay has grown significantly. it's now 30% of the revenue in the u.s., it's 25% of the revenue in china the availability is 99% in all of the stores. and just think about it, sara, they have done such a tremendous job with the digital engagement with their membership program. so the growth in membership domestically has been 15%, 50% in china it's been a remarkable pivot that management has made i'm very much looking forward to that interview on "halftime" tomorrow i'm remaining long 130 is the price target, easily achievable let's make it 150. >> there we go upgrade on the spot. rising interest rates are hurting home builder sent meant. diana olick has the details on that for us. >> home builder sentiments fell

2 points anything above 50 is considered positive but rising interest rates and higher costs are weighing on the builders supply shortages and high demands have caused lumber prices to jump 200% since last april adding $24,000 to the cost of a new home. home prices are lakely why current sales conditions fell. sales expectations are improved and buyer traffic was unchanged. lennar is out after the bell builders are definitely in a sweet spot heading into the spring back to you guys. >> mike, clearly a sweet spot has been at play for these names for quite some time. i guess the question is when do mortgage rates get to a level where that could start to change the bargain a little bit. >> i guess it probably could start because affordability issues are starting to squeeze some parts of the market but for new construction, i think most things should be pretty conducive what we have is a shortage of available homes on the market. i think that's a very well

understood, very well established reality. that's probably largely in a lot of the stocks. also on the other side one of the bigger benefits for the economy is this wealth effect that's filtered through, you had some reports of a big rounding of cashout home equity refinancings and that's continuing to refresh the system, even if the home builder side of the direct housing plays have already been pretty well exploited. >> it will be interesting to hear lennar's comments joe, rising rates, headwind for the builders >> i agree with mike i don't see that it's going to dramatically impede the housing demand i still think there's further to go i do think material costs rising is going to be a concern i have exposure to louisiana pacific, ticker symbol lpx that's a second derivative play on that. i also think the comps will be much more difficult for these home builders, the ones that are

outperforming year to date which is toll brothers and d.r. horton >> we've got two minutes left now, a little over that, in the trading day. mike, what are you seeing in the market internals as we head into the close? >> well, on the weak side in terms of market breadth, now it's been pretty much the case all day, this is one of those days where very large stocks are flatter and on the surface it's more than 3 to 1 on the downside to the new york stock exchange volume however, if you want to look at new 52-week highs versus lows on the new york stock exchange and a lot of people who study the kind of box scores of the market like to say look at this enormous number of new highs 388 against 21 new lows. this continueses a streak of the last several days. we're almost 52 weeks past a market crash so a lot of stocks just by sitting still are getting to 52-week highs because they're managing to eclipse the first price back in that study so i think it's helpful.

on a forward-looking basis it's a good thing but not too surprising considering where we are in the calendar. the volatility index mentioned earlier it had slipped below this 20 mark which is very widely watched it ended up being the support for this indicator not surprised we're not crashing ahead of a fed meeting even though the market has basically been sitting still but looks like right at 20 right nows athe s&p pretty much goes at the flat line. >> just before 24 the vix. it had been lower earlier in the session. the s&p is down by 0.1%, the dow is down a third of 1% or 106 points, the low is 175 points. the nasdaq is hold on to slight gains, 0.1%. the nasdaq up 0.6% communication services and tech the two best performing sectors. the only two sectors meaningfully higher. about half of the sectors are negative today energy down nearly 3%. industrials down over 1% as is

financials those three pulling back day 10-year yield pulling back to 1.608. oil slightly lower, gold slightly higher. at the bell, sara, we are down 0.1% on the s&p, a third of 1% for the dow and the nasdaq holding on to 10 basis points of gains. [ bell ringing ] >> the nasdaq only one there to close in the green welcome back, everyone, to "closing bell. i'm sara eisen along with wilfred frost and mike santoli take a look at how we finished up the day on wall street. the dow closed down 128 points it looked like we were recovering through the final hour of trade and dipped lower there in the end of the day, breaking the winning streak we had. we're coming off seven straight up days for the dow so taking a pause today. s&p 500 closing lower, a little less than that because you did have strength in the s&p in

groups like technology and communication services weakness, though, in energy, industrials, financials, consumer discretionary helped lead the index down. earlier we hit an intraday high on the s&p but couldn't hold that momentum throughout the day. the nasdaq closed positive which speaks to the gains we saw with the chip stocks. moderna had a very good day, 8.6% after announcing trials for young kids software starts, big cap technology worked today. as mike was saying, a little di th defensive today. coming up this hour, nyu finance professor on why the current market rotation will continue to gain steam as long as interest rates keep rising. plus, we will bring you quarterly results from crowdstrike, coupa software and lennar as soon as they are released. first, let's talk about this market joe terranova is still with us,

michelle mier joins the conversation first to you, mike on what we learned today, you called it a defensive feel certainly if you look at sectors like utilities and consumer staples, they were at the top of the pack. >> right and it really reflects this benign rotational action we've had for a little while right now. you mentioned seven days up for the dow was it well, it was prime to pull back. you had the financials ready to probably ease back because they had such a good run. when that happens, is it about defensive sectors like the nasdaq 100 and utilities and such taking up a little bit of the slack or a broader pullback. today it was just rotational the market often likes to glide into a fed day kind of in neutral, not laying heavy bets on either side it looks like it did that. >> michelle, why were the february retail sales so weak? is it easy to explain it away or

something to be concerned about? >> it's very easy to explain it away three factors stand out. first you have a payback after the stimulus-induced increase in january, which by the way was revised even higher, so exceptional growth in january. you ending up seeing a bit of a pay back we had a winter blizzard that hit places like texas and there was considerable weakness in spending as a result of that and finally and people may not realize, tax refunds this year were delayed about two weeks typically the low income consumer receives quite a boost in february as a result of the tax refunds and this year it's pushed into march. so as we look ahead, we think we'll see phenomenal spending in march as stimulus checks kick in, tax refunds kick in and you have a weather reversal. >> how do you expect fed powell

to address what's happening in the bond market and do you think he'll change his tune at all with regard to his policy? >> yeah, so chair powell has to strike a very delicate balance on the one hand the outlook has become more positive and he has to allow that to be reflected in his comments certainly the forecast will be revised higher and the risk profile has changed. when you think about the sentiment last year it was concern about downside risks and those concerns have abated given the economic data and progress on covid at the same time, he doesn't want to come across too hawkish where interest rates spike and you get too much tightening of financial conditions earlier than the fed would like to achieve. so to me it's about acknowledging better data but also reinforcing the idea that there's asymmetry in the reaction function right now and that they are trying, you know, quite, quite determined in fact

to get this inflation overshoot and a broad and complete recovery. >> mike, what would spook the market tomorrow from chair powell >> i think the main thing the market is on alert for, maybe clenching up against is a lack of concern, which he's already established, about how high longer term bond yields might go in other words, saying that, look, the market has to find its own pain threshold if yields are going higher so perhaps that's the area of concern. i'm not sure that bond yields are set to rip higher no matter what obviously there's all the fundamental reasons for them to do so, but in the short term there's a lot of people short treasuries right now so i'm nod sure if yield positionwise yields are going to fly but it does seem as if that's the main area really powell can say our mandate and our self-appointed mission is not gdp forecast for this current year, it's not is the economy going to feel like it is running hot, it is

employment, getting back to full employment and there's still a long way to go on that, years an years. so there can be a little flare-up of concern. actually the market says after all of that nothing has changed. so you never know what we're positioned for in terms of a reaction but i guarantee you there will probably be more than one reaction afterward, whether it's up and then down or down and then up. >> joe, is there anything powell could say or do that would change your thesis on stocks here or your positions >> well, no. listen, i'm bullish as it relates to equities, and i do think as i said before the momentum targets another 20 to 25 basis points higher for a 10-year treasury i don't think that takes the air out of equities overall. i think we're growing comfortable to normalizing the environment. the one concern that i would have is that we make a policy mistake and the policy mistake wouldn't be monetary but fiscal.

there seems to be a eagernesst be introduce a higher tax structure for individuals and corporations let's make sure the economy has fully healed an we're on the path to restoring labor to where we were previously before we enact what is going to be a fiscal tightening by raising taxes. >> michelle, what is your forecast for inflation for the rest of the year, and when do you have it peaking? my point if it does pick up more than expected, will it only be temporary? >> yeah, so i think it's extremely important to think about your short-term forecast for inflation versus longer term short-term inflation is heading higher you have a lot of inflation bottlenecks that can lead to increases in inflation so we can and very likely will be at or above target in the next few months but much more important to that, especially to the fed, is how much can -- what is the path forward for inflation. can you see a continued above 2% target and that, i think, is going to

be a function of, one, a broad-based improvement in the labor market they have redefined their target for unemployment it is this broader measure of maximum employment with wages are rising across the economy. number two, it's inflation expectations are they elevated and are they rising if so, i think you can reasonably argue that inflation in the longer term will be higher so yes, the trending is higher for inflation but at the moment we don't see alarming signs yet. >> how high -- what do you think powell's threshold is in terms of an inflation rate because we are seeing expectations rise, and we could start to see these numbers come in hot so how high can he tolerate it >> i think in the short term he's going to ignore the spikes and i think that's the right thing to do. you can look at the components and see what's driving inflation. that's not going to be worrisome. in terms of medium term outlook or even the next few years, i

would say between 2% and 2.5% is probably a reasonable range for the fed before they start to get really concerned about a troublesome inflation environment. also it's more specific measures again, what are survey measures of inflation expectations doing pause that will tell you what will happen. >> cooper software earnings are out and frank holland has the numbers for us. >> up 8% after a beat on the top line and surprise beat on the bottom line. estimates are for a penny loss and instead they posted eps of 17 cents a share koupa focuses on business software helping the supply chain and inventory. full year guidance was very strong and you're seeing the result right now again, shares up over 8% in after hours trading. back over to you. >> frank, thanks. crowdstrike earnings also

out. let's go to josh lipton with those numbers. >> 13 cents earnings per share is a beat of 8 cents revenue also a beat. for q1 they say looking for between 5 and 6 cents on the bonds, they were at 4 cents. they are well above on the top line in their q1 guidance calling for 287.8 and 292.1 million for the line they are well babove the top. the ceo saying combined with strong secular tailwinds, including digital transformation and an unprecedented threat environment in our expanding tech portfolio, he says we believe in an ideal position to further extend our leadership in a category that we pioneered this stock had come under recent pressure, was down about 10% so far in march but keep that in perspective

up about 500% in the past 12 months back to you all. >> josh, thank you don't miss jim cramer's interview with the ceo to talk about it on "mad money." coupa is up 7% to josh's point, for a name like a crowdstrike, it had gotten caught up in the sell-off and concerns about valuations after being a big winner. >> it's a little bit of a test for whether there's still the nerve to get aggressive in some of these very high value names that did get caught up in the sell-off there's still a lot of grounding to make up the highs in both cases are back during mid-february. >> we will have to lee the conversation there joe, michelle, thank you very much f joining us. >> thank you. >> thank you. nyu finance professor on why he thinks the market is delusional when it comes to the fed's ability to slow down rising interest rates. plus nuveen's ceo responds

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a recent run-up in interest rates and recovering economic numbers has boosted -- has been boosted by the rollout of vaccines, excuse me, and it's put eyes on chair powell while change to the fed's accommodative policy stance is not expected, the meeting will produce forecasts for the economy and interest rates

a finance professor from nyu's school of business joins us now. thanks for joining us, good to see you. >> glad to be here. >> let's start with your outlook for rates and the ability that the fed has to control them. what is your take on that for the rest of this year? >> ultimately i think the fed can influence rates. the simple rule is if growth goes up to 2% or 3% and inflation kicks up to 2%, i don't see how the fed keeps rates at 2% or 1.5%. i think the market if it believes the fed can keep rates at whatever it wants them to while getting the good stuff, the earnings growth and the economy coming back is being a little dysfunctional and delusional in its expectations. >> so is your expectation that they will get the growth and the earnings but rates will follow or they won't get the growth and the earnings >> i think we're going to get the growth and the earnings, growth to the economy and rates will follow. that's not deadly for stocks as long as earnings keep up with

the rates going up, i think the market will be okay with it. after all, that's what we've had since the start of this year the t-bond up is up to 1.61% that's a pretty hefty rise so i think the fed can live with rising rates, but it depends on why rates rise now, it could be because of inflation, which is much more deadly than i think growth in the economy. >> you're always asked about tesla. we need to know what the professor thinks about the valuation of tesla no at 676 it's certainly come off the highs. it had a pretty steep sell-off i know you've been in and out of the stock. what do you make of it now >> well, i'm sorry i sold so early but at the same time i think the stock is on a momentum ride that's been unmatched, i think, in market history but i think it's time to give back some of those gains, and i think there will be some consolidation. i think with tesla, you get five steps forward and two steps

back but you look back and it's always net three steps so i think at 676, it's too richly priced but what do i know the stock went up to 900. >> in terms of rates and their impact on different types of stocks, are you confident that rising rates will hit maybe tesla aside some of those more richly valued momentum names or is it possible for the next decade we see growth and momentum up once gain. >> i think in general growth companies feel the pain more than mature companies. their earnings and cash flows are way out in the future and higher rates make them less valuable but if you add to the fact that growth stocks have had a tremendous decade, you know, you're looking at gains that have mounted over the years. i think they have a little more price appreciation to give up, so i don't think no growth is going to beat value or that

value is going to beat growth. i think the steady state now is you're going to go back and forth. i wouldn't be surprised to see value have its moment in the sun, at least in the near term >> what do you think that's going to mean for some of these ipos and spacs which have received so much attention and a warm embrace from wall street. do you see that as frothy? >> i think that depends on what the overall market does. if you get an overall market that's not dropping -- if you get a pull back i think you'll get a re-examination of these growth stocks so i think that's what's going to drive the reception you're going to get for growth stocks and for ipos and spacs going forward. >> what do you think of the traditionally negatively correlated assets to equities in the year ahead it seems like bonds aren't going to be rising in price even if we

see a bit of a pullback in stocks are there any other assets that will act as good protection in the year ahead >> i was going to ask what negatively correlated assets last year i looked at the correlation between every conceivable asset class. there wasn't a single asset class that was negatively correlated with stocks gold at the lowest correlation, but still positive bitcoin behaved like very risky stocks there's no place to hide if you think financial assets are overvalued, there's no place to park your money right now and that's the reality we face as investors. when we secure tiesed every single real asset on the face of the earth, we got what we wanted, which is everything holds together >> what about bitcoin, have you taken that up as a valuation case study and attempted to put any sort of number on that you've spoken before and said it's speculative, but what do

you think now? >> it's a pricing case study, not a valuation. whether bitcoin is a currency or a collectible, it cannot be valued, it can be priced the question we can ask is 50,000 or $60,000 as a fair price for bitcoin? from my aspect it's not. as a collectible it's gone up a lot but not gone up at the right times. last year when stocks were collapsing, bitcoin went down even more. that's not what you want in a collectible. so based on what it's done so far, i don't see why people are so upbeat about it the only pitch i have for bitcoin is i've made a lot of money on it, but that's not telling me much about why i should be holding bitcoin in the first place. >> well, there are those that say crypto is going to change the world and that the u.s. dollar is going to eventually become more worthless. >> and i don't have a problem with that.

there will be better designed crypto than bitcoin. bitcoin is a crypto designed by paranoids for paranoids. it's not a thing that you can use as currency on a broad basis. >> not a believer. thank you very much for joining us >> thank you >> good to get your take up next, mike santoli looking at what happened the last time wall street was all in on value stocks. you may be surprised by the answer plus, home builder lennar set to report in just a few minutes. the stock has been a big pandemic winner, up nearly 150% over the past year we'll break down the results coming up on "closing bell."

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minor declines today for the dow and s&p. nasdaq closed positive let's go back to mike santoli who's looking a little deeper at the value trade. mike. >> yeah, sara, a little slippage in that value trade but coming off a great run. let's say the s&p 500 value versus growth, while it has a great advantage the last six months, this is where you take the s&p, split it in half and assign companies to growth or value. look at the pure value index s&p 500 pure value, think about

the 100 cheapest stocks statistically based on price to book, price to sales, price to earnings, all of the metrics that people were saying it's broken, it doesn't work anymore, now it's been flying this is from the b of a global fund managers survey today, how many people think that value will outperform growth from here on out look at this, it's a record high percentage of managers saying that's in fact going to be the case it's obviously chasing this trending the last time we saw this was late 2013. the fed rwas tapering that was almost the birth of faang and growth did take over from there i'm not saying that's what we're poised for here. however, there has been a big comeback in a short period of time for value on a 10-year basis value is still way, way, way behind so if you believe in mean reversion over the long term, there's some inversion that could make these managers look

good for a little while. >> so you're saying it's getting crowded. >> it's getting crowded at least psychologically. it's not clear to me that people have their positioning in the same place as their minds, but i think everyone has bought into the notion that they should be in more cyclical and value stocks what's interesting is this week a lot of analysts are saying is it time to get profits and signals and lighten up on the value trade. that suggests there's not a lot of high conviction behind this trade, it's much more about making sure you don't get left behind. >> the other big difference to that 2013-2014 peek in this chart is the market cap comparisons. in that sense you could argue there's a lot of catch-up for the cyclicals versus some of those growth names. >> that's right, yes, because in the intervening years those growth companies became so enormous so it is pretty lopsided i think in the short term a lot of times this is just predicting the last few months as opposed to being very forward-looking. >> mike, thank you.

up next the ceo and asset manager of nuveen on how the pandemic has changed esg investing and the big three risks his company is focusing on. plus march is women's history month and we're spotlighting some of our contributors here is brynn talkington with advice from famous texas women. >> ann richards, former governor of texas, used to say in a crowded room that ginger rogers did everything fred astaire did she just did it backwards and high heels beyonce always says never let success go to your head and more importantly never let the failures go to your heart. finally some dime store advice from me, work smarter, not harder most important, believe in yourself, because if you believe, you will be believed. we see access to fresh food being the global norm, not the exception. at emerson, our cold chain software and technology keep perishable food at proper temperatures, to assure its safety and quality.

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however, the latest data from morningstar shows there is still strong support for these funds with more than $51 billion in new investments added last year. for more let's bring in nuveen's ceo. you manage more than $33 billion in esg-focused strategies. jose, you're the perfect person to ask about this claim that a lot of it is just nonsense and it makes higher profits for asset managers like yours with higher fees but that doesn't really address the problem. >> sure, and thank you for having me. look, i think that narrative and the term around greenwashing, it has been accelerating over the last several years but you've got to understand it's a byproduct of demand. as you mentioned what we are seeing today is significant demand for esg-labeled products. there's also been a different narrative around clients wanting to understand esg risk factors better how does it impact the returns or potentially even hurt their returns. just about every inquiry we get

from a new client today is asking us for information around how do we deploy that, how do we look at these risks. what is our approach to esg as a firm so that, of course, is leading a lot of firms to go out there and make statements, whether you're an issuer or asset manager trying to respond to that need for transpair antrency and accountability and that's a good thing. it's a good thing these things are being called out it's a lot harder to do greenwashing what you'reseeing is individuals like tariq and now you're seeing consultants, whether it's a morningstar that's rating managers in providing transparency on how they do this, you're seeing policy makers, regulators looking at this issue. i think what you're seeing is a sophistication in the industry in bringing this more to light and i think it's needed. there's a lot of acronyms, whether it's esg, responsible investing, there's a lot more we need to bring in terms of consistency and what it is and

what it's not. for nuveen, we would never claim to own the cleanest companies on the planet but we claim to try to drive and understand those risks, drive engagement and transparency >> so you mentioned the regulators the s.e.c. does have a new task force devoted to looking at esg disclosures and transparency there and make sure that the commitments are followed up and are not misleading do you expect that to work what do you think is going to be the result of that >> i think this is the process of any industry and kind of the maturity of it as again what's driving this today is demand, and it's there. one, it used to be that narrative of i'll get lower returns, higher fees, i just don't want to invest in sin stocks now people can look out and see forest fires, national disasters, and these are impacting portfolios and driving demand policy makers are waking up to this and the flows are coming

in there is a lack of transparency. as asset managers, what we do is manage risk. that's our job and our fiduciary duty to optimize returns regulators can help drive consistent standards, have the right language and transparency so we can all play on a level playing field. >> jose, as you look at the decade ahead for your broad industry, what do you think will see the largest inflows, individual stock trading by retail investors or others, actively managed funds that may command a 1% or higher place or etfs >> i think you'll continue to see a trend towards active and passive. the next ten years there will be more volatility and lower rates. i think you'll see active managers kind of do better than they have done in the past but it's going to be around more outcome driven solutions clients there no longer asking a question around this particular bond or this particular stock,

they're looking for outcomes so how that plays into the mix, and they're looking into things that drive alpha so i think you'll see increased flows in esg you'll see increased flows in alternatives and less liquid vehicles it's hard to hit your targeted returns in your 70/30 or 60/40 type portfolio they'll be looking for better correlation and better income. i think over the next ten years you'll live with more volatility and lower returns. and there's going to be a lot more uncertainty in the markets. >> how are your clients positioned overall now that we've had this tremendous run-up from the march lows last year, one year ago to the week, and a bit of a pullback here on fear of rising rates. how would you say they're positioned >> i think the advice we gave along the way to all our clients was, one, as we saw the massive volatility back in march of last year was to stay the course.

it's about keeping a long-term view then as the market started moving, we said it's time to rebalance. it's hard to look and drive diversification across your portfolio. but the two big things we push with our clients was something we were already pushing in january. it's about yield what are the different ways you can go out and increase yield in your portfolio what's the type of dynamics and the diversification that you can get. alternatives as a source of bringing in and bringing down that volatility profile and increasing your income profile so it's about staying the long course and being truly diversified in your portfolio. >> jose mineya, thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. lennar earnings just out diana olick with the numbers. >> lennar has blowout earnings of $1 billion or $3.20 a share while the earnings are strong the company's huge quarterly

gain is from its investment in open door, one of the original i-buyers these companies give you cash for your home so you don't have to go through the selling process. they fix them up and sell them for a profit open door was acquired late last year and taken public via spac i spoke to chairman stewart miller who told me while the profit is sizeable, what's more important to us is that these tech investments are all about taking a company that has been in business for a lot of years and modernizing it, keeping in touch with where the world is going. new orders up 26%, but again, it's that open door spac that gave us the big numbers this quarter. back to you guys >> diana, thank you. it's been called the drizzly of marijuana coming up, the ceo of dutchie on the demand for pot delivery and big-name investors like howard schultz that are betting on this

company's growth. as we head to break, here's a look at the big winners and losers in the dow, which did close lower, breaking a seven-day win streak ♪ ♪ it's not "pretty good or nothing." it's not "acceptable or nothing." and it's definitely not "close enough or nothing." mercedes-benz suvs were engineered with only one mission in mind. to be the best. in the category, in the industry... in the world. visit your local mercedes-benz dealer for exceptional lease and financing offers. mercedes-benz. the best or nothing. ♪ ♪

time for a cnbc news update. >> hello, everyone here is your cnbc news update. president biden is meeting with small business owners in pennsylvania to promote his stimulus package he promised more help for small firms who were shut out of earlier pandemic relief plans. kansas senate majority leader has been arrested for driving under the influence, speeding and fleeing an officer. police say he was driving the wrong way on a highway in topeka he has since been released. alaska's gop reportedly does not want senator lisa murkowski to run for re-election as a republican next year they censured her for voting for convict former president trump at his impeachment trial and have said they will seek someone to challenge her for the republican nomination. this is a pretty cool sight. in japan, a bullet train put on a light show to mark the anniversary of the line that runs through the southwest part of the country the aptly named shooting star bullet train was seen by

thousands along a route that runs more than 150 miles pretty cool. guys, i'll send it back to you >> all right, thank you. rahel solomon. up next, dutchie raising $200 million in its latest round of funding, valuing it at $1.7 billion as the company pushes to bring marijuana mainstream it's now got a brand new valuation and we'll talk all about it with the ceo right after the break.

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access to cannabis you know, it's a great time to be a part of this industry it's an explosive industry the pandemic really, really accelerated this industry. and dutchie has always set lofty goals and been a very ambitious company. we're happy to exceed those expectations >> you've attracted howard schultz in previous rounds, kevin durant, snoop dogg, a lot of famous investors in your company. so is it -- is the goal here to be like a grubhub or an uber eats for marijuana >> yeah, it's a similar business model. we're streamlining the operations for dispensaries and bringing an omni channel solution to the consumers. really it's important in this day and age to meet the consumer where they feel most comfortable. so they have the ability to order online from the comfort of their own home for delivery or pickup or consumers can choose to go into a local dispensary and order through a self-serve kiosk or at the cash register

with the dispensary staff. >> how much people ordering in one go for it to be worthwhile paying for delivery or for you to be offering delivery for free >> yeah, so it's the dispensary that actually offers the delivery delivery is a trend that we're seeing pick up not only in cannabis in this industry, but industries across all sectors. you know, it's a very convenient way to order, but also having local brick and mortar we believe will always be successful so powering the dispensaries and consumers going to stores is definitely a strong option as well >> so you're involved in the payments and banking side of all of this. how difficult do you find that, given that the federal law, it's still illegal in this country, marijuana. obviously states are changing that, but big banks aren't touching it, so how do you navigate that? >> it's a very fragmented and nacent industry. i think the world is waking up to the positive changes that

cannabis as an industry as a whole is bringing to the world with that regulations are allowing for -- there's a lot of movement on theregulation fron so we're excited to see acts like the safe banking act passed in the coming year which will allow payment processing and this industry to normalize like other industries. >> we've seen a lot of competition, a lot of players in this space and their stocks have been volatile but pretty strong. do you see yourself as sort of agnostic as to the manufacturer, to the brand, because of the shape of your business and, therefore, kind of able to just ride the broadly positive theme in this sector and not be involved in the competition so much >> yeah. dutchie really stands for the industry we're here to be the backbone and infrastructure that allows the industry to come forward i came from the online food ordering space and i'm bringing a lot of those learnings and education onto this space. we're excited. we're here for the industry. as the industry rises, dutchie

will be there to support it. >> in that industry, the restaurants end up having to pay big fees for those delivery services and the consumer also has to pay big fees. have you learned from that model, is it different when dealing in the pot industry? >> yeah. so our tree north metric here is to provide value to the dispensaries and consumers and we'll always make sure our business model supports their economic piece of the puzzle the industry is in its infancy it has a long way to go. it's evolving an changing very fast we'll always look to provide value to the industry as a whole. >> finally, ross, tell us about these acquisitions and the latest fund-raising. >> we're excited to announce the close of our series seed we brought in $200 led by tiger global with participation from dfj growth and dragoneer investment group really a landmark deal and testament to this industry and

the positive change it's bringing to the world. we're also announcing the acquisitions of leaf logics and green bits, two leading point of sale and enterprise planning tools for the cannabis space we'll combine all of these companies together to create an all in one technology platform to streamline operations for the dispensaries and ultimately makes this industry more successful. >> ross, thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me. still ahead, green across the screen we just got numbers from crowdstrike and lennar what's driving those stocks higher two 7% movers. plus more from my interview with alex karp. his take on the defense race and the united states military power when "closing bell" comes back

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quick check on this afternoon's biggest movers, crowd strike shares moving higher coupa software, up more than 7%. issue oohing strong guidance as well home builder, len are, reporting a big earnings beat, the open door ipo helped to boost results on new orders up 26% good gauge on future activity.

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now more from my interview with palantir ceo alex carp i asked how important for united states to maintain its lead when it comes to tech innovation specifically as it relates to the military power. >> i believe the west, america in particular, needs the best software enhanced systems, or software systems, precisely so we don't have conflicts because if in fact our adversaries have the best software-empowered systems, or in the end pure software which you can call advanced a.i., often a.i. is a jargon term, but in this context, military technology powered by somewhat or completely autonomous systems or human-powered systems guys autonomous capabilities, those capabilities are not going to be even it's not going to be one is

here, one is here. it's one is at the moon and the other on a skyscraper range. in the country, this is where i flat out have a disagreement with most people in the val y but often others and it's a legitimate disagreement, i guess, i believe if one country has a nuclear bomb and the other country has a set of dull knives the country with the nuclear bomb is going to define how the world works. >> is there a country close to being ahead of the u.s. on this front, china perhaps >> i think just because we have so many disagreements with china and russia on so many fronts we should not ever under estimate how cover assist -- softist katded they are -- soft sophisticated things including software and weapons systems an technology these are highly-developed and highly-capable in the sense they

can produce what we can produce better if we're not better adverse air y sfz. in both carries we'd be remiss not to but our best foot forward. i'd say in this context one thing we believe, i believe, at palantir in my years of building a company and running it is you really have to focus on your own business so it's like, the most helpful way it beat our rivals to put our best foot forward not to run around how great they are. we obviously have to be aware of how strong they are but america is more than capable especially in the software context of winning. >> talking there of course about military and contracts they do have with defense and governments. but also he's very optimistic during the interview about the potential to build more contracts with medium-sized businesses across all sorts of commercial space and that will be a key factor for them in the

next five years with 40% top growth of the stock has been on a tear since ipo six months ago but has pulled back alongside tech names. >> yeah, in fact, the strength of the performance shortly after its listing was quite mysterious in terms of what had really given power to it. wasn't as if there was frequent fundamental updates. it did catch up with the whole disruptive tech theme and atmosphere around the business and end markets and the fact arc was a big holder, all of that working in its favor, it's has the pull back, he wants to draw the distinction between old silicon val y and not caring about wall street sounds like jeff bezos and founders of google on that front. >> also so great to get his insights into the military and world powers they don't do business in china

and they are missing that as a growth factor because he has such strong beliefs on siding with your country. the theme in both interviews with him. >> quite scary to hear some aspects how close it could be in the next decade on important battles of military innovation but also reassuring to hear him suggest they're on top of it we're out of time on "closing bell." thanks for watching. "fast money" starts now. >> i'm melissa lee this is "fast money. today's trader lineup, guy and -- tonight on fast following lennar and crowdstrike. on the move. we're dive into their quarter straight ahead guy is stepping up to pitch his next best idea why he thinks this chip stock is ready to rip. later move over jim rayburn, google him if you don't know him. we're playing the mismatch game, pairing up stock that ha