may. it's thursday, june 10th, 2021 "squawk box" begins right now. good morning welcome back to "squawk box" here on cnbc i'm andrew ross sorkin along with joe kernen. becky is off today dow right now looks like it is opening up 65 points higher. s&p 500 up and nasdaq is falling down 31points. nasdaq saw a three-day win streak come to an end on wednesday. it remains one of the averages higher this week s&p 500, we should mention, did briefly come within a point of an all-time high yesterday

before finishing the day lower lets flip the board around with the treasury 10-year at 1.501 let's get the "squawk stack" out. gamestop shares. right now you have bitcoin which is pressing back up. we're up at $37,377. see if we can get to $40,000 territory. we have been floating in this area wti crude is $70 clean energy fuels which is the meme situation now up about 3% clover health is coming off some of the true craziness. now down to $18.24 gamestop which had earnings yesterday, joe, which we will talk about >> they didn't have earnings sdplc

sdpearnings >> you know the revenue picture was interesting. stock down 7% in the pre-market. interesting to see what reddit crowd thinks of some of the moves. >> probably shouldn't -- i'm sorry i mentioned it we'll do into what did happen. far be it from me to say anything about it. i was going to look at the lows on bitcoin it is back a little. i think it is up from the lows it is up more than 20%, right? >> the lows would be around -- lower than 31. it got to 31 i'm having trouble we are having connection issues. we got to 31 back to 37 and change. that's nuts in one week. just to see these swings we have to check in with katie stockton she said the selling wasn't done

at 42 or 43. it did not stop there. here is the gamestop news we were referring to. shares pulling back a little this morning i didn't see it. it was above 300 as people hold it it's down, as you can see, 21 points back below 300 the company says sales rose 25% in the recent quarter. the loss reported was 45 cents a share. the street was looking for 84 cents. beat by a wide margin. revenue was up by expectations the company declined to provide an outlook and filed a prospective with the s.e.c. to sell shares of stock it will use money for general purpose. >> you think that is what is

spooking people or no earnings the reason they have revenue at all is because of playstation and the consoles which you cannot get anywhere. they are all sold out. do you see the sales of games for them down down 5%. while the industry is up 14% >> i wouldn't call that -- i'm not looking to figure out something that's wrong when i see it at $281 i wonder what the end-game looks like. >> right >> i don't know. we've given up on trying to figure it out. >> trying to figure out the stock. yes. i'm saying as a company. >> what is gamestop in five years? it could be anything it literally could be anything >> they installed the whole amazon team. >> you have seen cramer's idea with nft and contests and bitcoin.

netflix was easy in hindsight. plug these in. send you the dvd you learn how to stream and the world changed. netflix only has to produce things that are interesting. do you have anything for me >> new shows we stopped because we're at that point. >> there are some which they slap together and send out and people watch >> because there is nothing else there is a pandemic bar television bar >> the train movie that people said you have to see >> which one >> a movie about a train adam sandler movie on a train. it was a while ago un-watchable jennifer aniston and adam san sandler. >> i did just watch the "friends

reu reunion. >> didn't they just talk >> i cried at the end. i'm admitting it right now i did at the bitter end. >> was anyone with you >> laura was. >> you are married have i ever cried in front of a woman? that was it. >> for a brief second. >> you felt good showing your sensitive side oh, my god this guy i'm out of here. >> i cry at car smecommercials. >> i know you do it makes me wonder let's get back to gamestop you are not going to cry over 20 points >> no. >> the company appointed former amazon executive matt furlong and former amazon executive mike recupero ryan cohen is chairman that's what this is all about.

meme stocks are just their own genre. almost like a cryptocurrency you don't have to understand it. >> will there be a day where you hear an announcement with all of these amazon guys in place of some radical business model shift? there will be a major presentation. >> that's what i'm saying. it is not selling little game cart cartridges. >> you think this is a shell company for something else >> is the real estate valuable leases that's nothing wouldn't you get -- do they need brick and mortar >> you have to sell the console. unless you have the consoles delivered by amazon. yeah i don't know let's talk about president biden. he is in the uk today ahead of the g7 summit.

it dpin begins tomorrow he is set to meet with prime minister boris johnson trade and travel and technology is what they will discuss and the cyber attacks and pandemic the biden administration is buying 500 million doses of the pfizer vaccine and donating to more than 90 countries over the next year. the u.s. will pay not-for-profit prices it plans to deliver 200 million doses this year and 300 million next year. they will distribute to 92 lower income countries and africa. they are also talking with moderna. what is the not-for-profit price? is that just cost to pfizer or cost plus?

i assume -- i want to look it up >> we're seeing how difficult it is when you have over 1 billion people if you do those numbers, what are you looking up you do the numbers on percentages not vaccinated and it is a big number in china pretty quickly the percentage of not vaccinated there is trouble as you know in lockdowns and almost as bad as it was at the beginning. we will talk about that a little bit later. coming up, get ready for the inflation number it is important. maybe that's what we mean. estimate is 4.7% the previous was 4.2%. we haven't seen prices like that in a while the fed is likely at 2% or above it it's transitory. we'll talk about that as we head to break here is a look at lordstown motors after the whip saw

session yesterday which fell 20%. the company is in active talks with new investors as it tries to reassure the market it hasn't run out of cash to produce the electric pickup truck. as we head to break. check out the ring of fire solar ecl eclipse. that means something different to me. partially visible from the northeast u.s. and canada right now. i remember johnny cash made that song famous. we'll be right back.

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on today's "squawk planner." inflation takes center stage cpi is due at 8:30 a.m. eastern. expect it to rise 1.5% in may. that brings us to a surprising move or not a move in rates. the price of just about everything is going up food, soybeans, corn, energy, materials, including lumber. the yield on the 10-year has been kind of trend-less. if you really look at it at the micro basis, it is headed back down as you can see. 1.5% instead of passing right through 1.6 or 1.7 on the way to 2, you have to give tepper a lot of

credit i don't know if we can figure out what is really happening and if it is manipulated by the fed and qe here to discuss this market dynamic is kevin nicholas at riverfront investment group. i think your view, kevin, you acknowledge the fed is in here, obviously, buying. a lot of these moves in prices and in inflation and commodities is likely very possibly could be transitory the 10-year may have that viewpoint? >> yes, i definitely think the 10-year has bought into the fed idea of it being transitory. we normally think of inflation when waej wages are rising persistently we haven't gotten that yet what we have got, joe, like you

said, prices of lumber and commodities go up. however, we believe that this is transitory we all knew coming into 2 22 2021 once we got to march and april, we would see, you know, inflation go up because 2020 was so low however, we think from a fixed income standpoint and 10-year standpoint is part of the reason we're in the range and yields have come down is because of expectation. the economic data that has come out recently has not met expectations although they have been good numbers. a prime example was the jobs report the report of 559,000 jobs they were expecting 675,000. so, that's why you kind of see

the 10-year right now actually not moving or not going higher >> do you see 1.8 to 2 by the end of the year? it is june 10th. i said that at the top of the show i have to remind myself because time goes quickly. it is june 10th. we don't have that much time left i guess we have six months left to get to 1.8 or 2 you don't think we make moves in the summer because there will be no tapering they will maybe have body language or a couple of fed officials will talk about it, but no concrete even plan to say they will start tapering we stay down here? >> that's what i believe i think you will not see the fed start to make a decision until jackson hole i've been thinking over the last

couple months that it was going to be this three-month period, june, july, august that the fed was actually going to look at all of the economic data that came in to really make a final decision if inflation was actually coming in as transitory or if they actually needed to start to taper i expect that they will start those conversations or have the first taper talk in september at that september meeting >> okay. kevin, we have seen the nasdaq and the tech waiting there dictating the actions. technology is very interest rate sensitive. if it takes that long, we're going to be quiet for three months and you think the tech is the place to go? nasdaq will benefit the most domestic equity? the dollar doesn't strengthen or does the opposite as rates stay

low. >> i think tech will resume its leadership position. in large part, tech is a long-duration asset class. with rates staying lower for longer, it is giving tech the ability to be able to actually show their growth rather than with rising rates which was dampening technology we saw yields get up to 1.7 and we saw you tech pull back. here, thinking that we're going to stay in this really tight range, i think this gives tech the opportunity to run going forward in the coming months >> as far as growth versus value, do you prefer one over the other or both? it depends on the names? >> i think it is important right now to have a portfolio that has

a blend of both. it's very did not to have growth in your portfolio because technology makes up so much of the s&p. i think right now it makes up roughly 26%. it is not something you want to underweight significantly in your portfolio also, i think value you has a role in the portfolio and the way we have been playing our portfolios is we had a healthy mix of value and growth in the portfolios over the last six months it has worked out. >> so, just overall in the summer, you expect it to be okay for the overall stock market not talking about necessarily tech or growth or value or anything else. if we stay at 1.5 or 1.6, there's not a lot else to invest in it might get quiet or players finally take a vacation this year you don't expect the 10% or 15%

correction that so many people talk about that is not going to happen in your view? >> i don't think so. i think we may get a slight pull back here. i don't think we will see a correction with rates staying in the 1.5 to 1.65% range as we have predicted, that is a good thing for the equity markets once you get above 2 is when equity starts to slow down i don't think in the summertime we will see equities takeoff what i think is going to happen is that we're going to have a continuous march higher. it will be a slower grind, but i think by the end of the year, we are going to be at levels much higher than we are today >> kevin, thank you. kevin nicholson. global fixed income. you do both in your portfolio. that's why we talk about both at

riverfront not in is cincinnati it's in richmond i can't help it. i can never forget that. it is now great american ballpark richmond, virginia no relation. thanks, kevin. >> thank you coming up when we return forget the hybrid work model facebook doubling down on remote work we have details on that next right now as we head to break. look at the biggest pre-market gainers in the s&p [typing sounds] 500 "squawk" returns after this. the very same year that we were married. that's 1958. [voice of male] the chili bowl really has never closed in our history. when the pandemic hit, we had to pivot. and it's been really helpful to keep people updated on google. we wouldn't be here without our

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welcome back to "squawk box. i don't know if there is a civil war going on in the workplace. here is what is happening. facebook doubling down on the flexible work policies announcing on june 15th, all workers can request to work remotely and full-time previously only certain employees on a level could request that remote work role. you can expect a pay adjustment based on market rates. in new york, it feels like hybrid will last about a hot minute if it doesseem to me, that pos labor day, there is a view that everybody in almost every industry thinks they will have to be in the office or want to be in the office or get called back in the office the hybrid thing will not be a

thing. on the other side of the country, it is the opposite. apple employees, as you saw, were asked to come back three days a week and sent a letter to tim cook and said thank you for playing. we he don't e don't like that i >> i think our return, unfortunately, has paid benefits it is better with us here sdphere >> looking at us here? >> and have no delay and the chemistry. >> chemistry >> which throws a wrench in the florida and six months and a day tax haven plans. >> i'm still planning on that. what are you talking about there is technology for the delay. i'm not worried about that. >> it is still not the person to person. >> i thought you were coming with me. >> that's an idea. do you prefer one coast or the ot other? >> i'll go where you want to go.

>> will you do jupiter >> there are good golf courses there. is that what you are thinking? >> you would consider that >> i would consider that maybe december through end of march? >> six and a day >> as long as i can do a couple ski trips. >> the weather can be okay >> a lot of benefits >> we have no guests in here what difference? we shouldn't be discussingthis now. we should discuss this -- >> your kids are now graduated i don't have that. i have to work out the school story. >> good question >> i don't know if i can move them around. >> do you want the type of education you are getting? you may not get what you get here it might not be what you get in florida, my friend what do you want that's my question. >> that's not our school i appreciate the sentiment coming up, meme stocks

helping lift the russell 2000 small cap index. we will dig into the big moves we're here we're happy to be here love the nasdaq. as we head to break, here is a look at the s&p 500 winners and losers >> announcer: executive edge is sponsored by at&t business our people and network will help keep you connected let's take care of business. loy something different. oh, we can help with that. okay, imagine this... your mover, rob, he's on the scene and needs a plan with a mobile hotspot. we cut to downtown, your sales rep lisa has to send some files, asap! so basically i can pick the right plan for each employee... yeah i should've just led with that... with at&t business... you can pick the best plan for each employee and only pay for the features they need.

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good morning checking the futures mixed. nasdaq's down 35 points. dow indicated up up about 80 points the s&p indicated up about 3 fresh inflation data is coming at 8:30 a.m. cpi. all bets could be off when that hits although, if what we have seen in recent months, i don't know how bad or how hot it would be

to be a surprise i think we are expecting it. should we talk meme stocks powering the russell 2000. small cap index up 54% over the past year. it is out performing the s&p over the same time gamestop shares soaring $6,000 as the yesterday's close. giving it a market cap of $21 billion. amc up 720% with the market cap of $25 billion joining us to discuss the meme stock phenomenon is jill carey hall at b of a securities. how do we think of this in a meme world >> it is a great question. this phenomena has surged back recently you know, i think it can impact the market over the shorter periods of time where you see

the monstrous moves. the good news is that the meme stocks within the russell 2000 or the small cap index is the largest stocks now with gamestop and ame among them make up 3% to 5% of the index. depending which one you are looking at versus the s&p 500 with the 30% of the benchmark. less concentration risk as the stocks move. >> has this changed how you move with investing in the range of stocks >> we're still positive on small cap. when we have tried to get a sense of how investors are thinking about this as well. we surveyed our clients after the volatility in january. we surveyed our investment management and merrill financial

advisers they don't see a risk to small caps 5% of the institutional equity sur veyed see this as a moderate risk private clients are bullish. we see room for small caps >> are you playing the meme stock game yourself? >> no. i don't invest in individual stocks >> the firm? the firm in how you advise clients? any conversation about it? we will try to start to identify the next meme stock? >> i think when we sur vveyed investors, they are interested in knowing for their portfolios which could be the next reddit stocks some may be hesitant to get in front of this. i think they want to know given the news whether that is the

upcrash to the stock or whether they are long or long/short. we try to publish the small caps and moves. they have been more fragile than the mid-caps >> i want to know which ones are the next big meme stocks too do you have a list >> amc and gamestop at the top in terms of the number of mentions on reddit and wall street posts looking at the latest data, wendy's and wwe. these are some of the new stocks we're starting to see a tick up in mentions. you know, whatever we see big changes in the list, we continue to publish it. as a group, you know, these stocks are see potential for outside moves. the data history for all data is not very long.

we think it is worth continuing to monitor and investors are interested in tracking >> you used a phrase upcrash. what's an upcrash? >> i guess when we think of crashes, we think of the market going down the pops and stocks we refer to upcrashes from what we have seen recently in january. >> amc has had an upcrash. have you heard of that, joe? >> i would come up -- i would use surge or something or manic phase. something. a crash is down. i guess if you are short, as it depo goes up, you're crashing. >> that is my other company. are your other clients shorting customers? >> a lot of the short interests. when we look at the full investor it is interesting. one reason we suggested this has

potential to occur more than once is long/short investors are not planning to shift positions around more frequently despite what happened in january the short positions get disclosed a few times a month. there is potential for it to happen again with that said, the overall retail activity that we are seeing has a potential to remain high as stimulus fades and people get back to work, there is regulatory risk. >> any potential that gary gensler does something from the regulatory perspective that, it tamps down the flow? that could impact robinhood and retail meme investing. is there something broader on the horizon? >> i think that is one potential

risk as i mentioned whether the s.e.c. announcing yesterday and looking at it from the stock side and the sides you mentioned. between the potential for regulatory risk and between the vaccines reopening, i think there are certainly some headwinds to whether we continue to see this happening again and again. i think the rise in retail trading may be a longer-term if he phenomenon. there is risk as we see the headwinds. >> jill, great to see you. i appreciate the perspective >> thanks. coming up, movers to watch the ceo of rh says we could enter the roaring '20s and don't miss the interview with alexis ohanian on the volatility of retail investing

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now. s&p 500 up 3.5 points for now. let's see what happens at 8:30 with the cpi number. that could move all of this around shares of rh are higher. the company known at restoration hardware benefitting from the strong housing and renovation market beating estimates and company raising the outlook well above wall street's expectations ceo gary friedman saying this could lead to a roaring '20s such a pull forward during the period for all of the stuff people are doing inside their house or whether this is just the beginning of the roaring '20s which is it? >> i don't know. i think back of the roaring '20s i'm looking forward to it reopening. i'm not saying i'm going to restoration hardware

>> if i was going to outfit my home for roaring '20s style parties as if i was gatsby >> you would have those things >> they have beautiful stuff >> i know you. you would be up in some of those places with all of the antique dealers. i know you know where those are in new hampshire and around. >> outside of my price range by the way, i can't say i have to stick with restoration hardware you have to take out a second mortgage to buy stuff at restoration hardware their prices are really high it is all high-end stuff it is not like pier 1. >> why did we say that if they're watching. >> they're different businesses. >> nothing wrong with pier 1 >> no. different strata >> i'm not a shopper

i would need aderol >> it is high. >> is it >> okay. upgrading it let's get to this. jbs paid $11 million ransom in bitcoin to cyber criminals $11 million. the company is responsible for processing about 20% of the nation's meat supply ceo said the ransom was paid to shield the company and plants from further disruption and limit the impact of restaurants and grocery stores and farmers the wall street journal was awakened at 5:00 a.m. on sunday when he was alerted. they shutdown the systems and used ievncrypted back-up systems

to get back online he paid the ransom to prevent further attacks. this is the business to get into this is the way to harden things to where this can't happen everyone hasn't done it yet. there must be, i hope. must be. >> if there is a way to harden it, there is a way to get around it >> always? >> pretty much. >> the ultimate question with bit bitcoin, can you make it a way where you can trace it and get it back and if you do, does that undermine the premise for why bitcoin exists in the first place? >> if you put in and know your customer rules around it, in the united states, you have get the entire globe you can't do any private wallets. if you get rid of private wallets, does that undermine the purpose? what do you do >> it messes up the

decentralized idea >> it does just saying. >> toothpaste can go back in the tube >> i don't know. >> you might be able to get toothpaste back in the tube. you can't unscramble an egg. i know that. right? >> you can't put toothpaste back in the tube. >> you can try if you had flufenough time and right stuff, you could get some of it back in. you can put a horse back in the barn >> that's easy i agree. >> you can't do that you can't put humpty dumpty back together again they tried all of the horses and all of the men. coming up, ian schrager will join us. co-founder of studio 54. >> i bet he has nice things to say about restoration hardware >> i have no idea.

i haven't been in one. i need a place to sit down when i shop >> the new ralph lauren. >> one pioneers in the boutique hotel industry we ask about the surgef othe travel demand and reopening of new york and maybe some stories about studio 54. this is the sound of change. the sound of a thousand sighs of relief. and the sound of a company watching out for you. this is the sound of low cash mode from pnc bank, giving you multiple options and at least 24 hours to help you avoid an overdraft fee.

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activity picking up here in times square across the city people are returning to restaurants, stores, and parks. the city's hotels which were hard hit by the pandemic are also starting to recover a unique view of the economic reopening. ian schraeger company.

we'll talk about the public. we're interested in that not everyone knows exactly what your concept is and what it entails, we'll get an update just in general, talk about new york, whether you think reopening will get us 3/4 of the way back 1 1/2 times the way back what's it going to look like in your view as time goes by? >> i think people are ready to go mad and i think we're there to help them achieve that. i think we're going to be returning to normal, not a new normal but the old normal we've grown accustomed to. the hotel reservations are swamped. i think the restaurants and the bars in new york will return faster because those are really geared towards the people who already live here. i think international travel and corporate and group will lag a bit, but i think we're on the road to recovery

i can't tell you exactly how fast i would look to september and the fall for us to be pretty close to where we are. i'm very confident and i've always felt confident that we will return to normal. >> can you find workers? have you had to pay more can you comment on that entire situation and what's causing it and whether it fixes itself near term >> well, it's very difficult the labor market is very constricted. i think with all of the government benefits that everyone has been receiving, people would rather stay home and do nothing rather than go to work i think that eventually will change once the benefits diminish, but the labor market is very tight and we're having to work with a lot less labor. >> so there are services that are being hampered at this point the demand might not be overwhelming your

abilities right now, but if the demand keeps going up, you aren't going to be able to provide the type of services you want to provide with the number of workers you have. are they working double shifts how is that working? >> well, we're -- everybody is working extra hard and everybody's working longer shifts i went to the hotel yesterday and i saw the kitchen and the chefs and they were tired. we're just now getting started, but we may have to limit capacity a bit until we catch up, but we will catch up it's a good problem to have. demand is definitely there and rising, which i think is the most critical fact i do anticipate the labor market is going to losen up because people are going to have to go back to work. >> you have been at the fore of a lot of changes in the hotel industry in what you think is your most important idea to date is

public, luxury for all how would you do that? it just seems like there's differences in -- depending on your price point on how much luxury you can have. how can you have luxury for all? what does it mean? >> luxury -- everything in life changes every day, and luxury has changed as well. we have to keep pace with what people want today. i don't think your goal should be piling on lavish luxuries from a bygone era that have changed and people just don't care about for me, luxury is humanity, egalitarian, it's been democratized it's how it makes you feel it's not a business classification, how much something costs, and i think we have to recognize that and i think everybody and anybody is entitled to luxury and entitled to feel good and entitled to get a sense of freedom and liberation by where they're staying by treating it

nicely and made to feel good and by very, very friendly, caring people the kind of people we all hope to marry some day. so the idea is to instill that into your staff and to make luxury, luxury that matters available to everyone. i just think it's probably the most important idea i ever had because it makes luxury and sophistication and all things that come with that accessible to everyone. egalitarian. just completely suitable for the times today. >> after maybe a brief bump in the road, i mean, that's -- the pandemic -- you're rolling this out and you maybe just had to put it on hold for a while, but this might be a great time if it's really going to be as -- demand is going to be as high as ever, maybe even above that because people need to get out. >> i think so. i don't think there's been a

calamity in the history of humanity that we haven't recovered from forget the bad, remember the good that's from the flood with noah, biblical times we always get through it i don't believe in pandemic shifts and i feel we will go back to where we were before and we always have and always will >> all right ian, thank you appreciate it. good luck. i hope you're right. >> andrew, thank you very much thank you. >> yeah. all right. you're welcome by the way, jim cramer tweeting that gary friedman runs rh is not the equivalent of ralph warren, he's the equivalent of bernard arnaud just compared him to bernard arnaud, just saying. >> you have terry lundgren.

>> you don't have to be nieman marcus to be rich.

wondering what actually goes into your multivitamin? at new chapter, its' innovation, organic ingredients, and fermentation. fermentation? yes. formulated to help you body really truly absorb the natural goodness. new chapter. wellness, well done. ready for key inflation reports. the big one. futures pointing to a mixed open as investors await the cpi data. look at what's moving in the premarket coming up. and a bipartisan bill made

to bolster competitiveness with china passing the senate one of the authors of that bill. chris coons is going to join us. new outlook from the national retail center. terry lundgren as the second hour of "squawk box" begins right now. good morning welcome back to "squawk box" right here on cnbc i'm andrew ross sorkin along with joe kernen. becky is off this morning. ahead of the cpi data, we'll get it in an hour and a half it will move all of this around in all sorts of directions as of now the dow looks like it will open up higher. 81 points higher, 82 points higher s&p 500 opening higher

it's running about 39 points a couple other headlines to tell you about right now. the world's largest meat producer jbs paid $11 million in ransom following the cyber attack jbs had halted production last week due to the attack the company says paying the ransom was a difficult decision but they say was needed to reduce risk for customers. meantime, video retailer gamestop has remade the executive suite. two former amazon executives, matt if yfurlong will become the and mike kutor will take over as the cfo. news coming after ryan cohen was named chairman of the company. gamestop reported better than expected quarterly earnings but declined to give any full year guidance and said the sec is

requesting information resolving the recent trading and amid the flood of trading, gamestop may sell up to 5 million more shares adding several recent stock sales to the list. you're looking at that stock down about 6% on all of that news the national retail federation forecasting a strong retail rebound. this as the pandemic reseeds it jumped from 10.5 and 13.5 this year after february had only seen a maximum increase of 8.2% the consumer is much more resilient than first expected. a number of stocks on the move this morning. dom chu is going to join us right now with more. 7:03 never early enough for me to get to dom chu seems earlier today. good morning. >> i'm sure you were listening in at worldwide exchange during the 5 a.m. hour. remember when we used to do the

cross talks. we tossed to you seamlessly. it was always kind of fun. let's talk about the stocks on the move we have a handful of them that are at least getting some attention here on the analyst front here we've got some decent calls and buy recommendations coming from the likes of mgm part nerts and deutsche bank and delta airlines that's helping drive the fractional gains united parcel service getting mentions and servicenow on the buy market delta, ups and servicenow some of the analyst calls, notable movers to watch there. you mentioned gamestop before with regard to the meme stock movement down 6% some other meme stock are showing down side move amc off 3% clover health has been all over the place. during that 5 a.m. hour it was down, up about 7%, now 1.5% up cleveland-cliffs and world wrestling entertainment are the

memish stocks possibly in the making they're getting more talk on reddit and wall street bets forum. then on the bitcoin check, pushing back up towards the $40,000 per coin mark. 38,000 37,914 up roughly 5%. still 284% gains for the year. remember during the lows we saw here, we pushed around the 50,000 mark. trying to break out. still a far cry from the record highs we saw earlier this year still, joe, an interesting move for bitcoin prices and the meme stocks, you just kind of wonder what the next one will be. i wouldn't figure it would be world wrestling entertainment and cleveland-cliffs. >> i don't think, dom, there will be meme stocks forever. i don't think that terminology is going to be around forever. and i don't really -- i don't

think you can understand what we're talking about, this cultural movement that spreads on the internet. now there are stocks that are based on that that may have no underlying -- i don't understand it. >> joe, this is -- i struggle with this is a pump and dump, right? back in those days, we can't say that these days -- >> dom chu, domino, don't send anything to me >> what i'm saying, i'm not saying it's a pump and dump this time around. when people talk up these things on internet forum, there was a level of regulatory scrutiny where people try to sell these types of ideas these days we can do it on internet forums and there are cases why they have cases for them but this is also a notion where they have a massive microphone to amplify these things with. that's like, what, 10 million users on some of these forms from wall street bets right now, right? >> i feel like we're going to see some day, you remember the

meme stocks, what the heck was that i don't know, maybe we don't maybe meme stocks become something that there's new meme stocks every year. i don't know, dom. we'll see. >> here's what i would say people said the same thing about cryptocurrency four years ago. >> yeah. yeah >> right >> i don't know. i don't think that's necessarily apples to apples you're probably right. we will know, dom chu. it was hot over the last couple of days, dom that's all i'm going to say. that's all i'm going to say. if you walk and it's hot and the humidity's up and you're in every single bunker, it can be a difficult -- you know, it's a good walk spoiled. someone said that once. >> yes, it is. by the way, you can drink as much water as you want and still feel dehydrated. drink up. >> you ever, dom, when you were in a deep bunker, i had to sit, turn around and that's what it's

come to in my life because of my knees. it's a little embarrassing coming up, united airlines is creating a venture fund. phil lebeau brings us an exclusive interview. before we head to break, check on the markets, "squawk box" coming right back. ♪ i wish that i knew what i know now ♪ ♪ when i was young... ♪ you need a financial plan that fits the way you want to live in retirement. a plan that can help grow and protect your money - now or in the future. with an annuity in your plan to help cover essential expenses, you'll have the freedom to live the retirement you want. this is what an annuity can do. find the right financial professional to show you how. learn more at protectedincome.org.

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welcome back to "squawk box. united airlines creating a venture fund the division will be run by mike leskanen manufacturer archer aviation is spearheading the boom supersonic jets phil lebeau is joining us. >> let's bring in mike leskanen new president of united airlines ventures joining us very early from out on the west coast. tell us a little bit about united airlines ventures how much money is really in the fund for you guys to spend how much should we expect you to do in terms of investments in various startups or new technologies >> good morning, phil. thanks for having me on the show united airlines ventures is going to be wholly owned by united airlines. we have initial funding up to

$200 million this is really exciting time in our airlines we've had two big deals over the last six months. first with archer aviation announcing their maker aircraft. i'm out here in l.a. today to tend the unveiling of the maker aircraft we're real excited that's an electrical vertical pickup landing aircraft. it's going to be really exciting to help our customers in congested cities and then the second partnership we announced here just recently is with boom supersonic. really excited to bring supersonic travel back to the flying public. >> you know, a lot of people look at this, mike, they'll say, look, we don't expect a company to sit still things change. companies evolve they make bets on future products they expect to pay off. at the same time you guys lost over $7 billion last year. you have $35 billion in debt there may be a few investors

looking at united's balance sheet saying, really, is this the time to start a venture capital fund what do you say to those investors? >> yeah, we did. we look at the demand returning from our customers, both leisure and now corporate is starting to pick up and it's very robust so we're really excited about the future the thing about the air travel business, aerospace, is that it's long cycle to develop innovation if you want to lead in the next five and ten years, you need to get started today. this is an exciting day for us, an exciting day for united and this is a tool that's going to help us continue to lead the industry in bringing innovative, new solutions to our customers >> mike, two of those bets, boom supersonic, which you guys announced last week and archer for them to unveil the archer aircraft some people look at those two aircraft and they say, boy, i'm not so sure we're going to see

either of them flying in regular commercial use by the end of this decade. how confident are you that we will see either evtols or supersonic flights >> each of these companies are leading their respective industries in innovating great technology that takes some time, but we feel really good about the path that archer has and really good about the path that boom supersonic has i want you to think for a second i lived in manhattan for most of my life. i want to think about walking across the street getting into an archer aircraft, maker aircraft taking a 10-minute trip to newark airport and moving from one gate to the next and taking a 3 1/2 hour trip to london the future is going to be really exciting these two companies are going to help united airlines stay in the lead in an innovative way. >> wanted to also ask you -- >> andrew?

>> i wanted to address a different question, which is taxpayers. as you know, united took close to $8 billion in taxpayer support during the pandemic, and i think there is -- beyond the question of your balance sheet and what investors may think of this, how we should all think about those bailouts now given these type of investments? these are not investments of a company that's having problems would be making. i know you paid some of that back, there were warrants that came with it on the order of $40 million that u.s. taxpayers might have made. $40 million on 7.7 billion doesn't seem like the right risk/reward mix. do you agree >> yeah, look, i agree i would say that we're really grateful for the government support that we had through the crisis and i would say that when it comes to the venture fund, this is about keeping united airlines in the lead that's a win-win across -- it's a win win win.

our customers win, employees win and shareholders win this is going to improve our profitability in the future. it will allow us to bring new products to our customers and frankly the excitement generating among our employee base is really tremendous. everyone wins with this and it helps united airlines continue to lead in this industry >> mike, it's phil here. one last question for you. you've had three fairly significant deals within the last six or seven months how many deals should we expect the united airlines ventures fund on an annual basis? are we looking at one or two four to five what would you expect? >> yeah, we have a deep pipeline of projects, phil, and, you know, we're going to bring the projects that make sense for united airlines and we're not going to hold ourselves to a specific number. i would expect a few more this year we're focused on electrification. decarbonization of air travel.

we're focused on technology that can help our customers have a more seamless travel experience. everything we do is going to be very related to the united airline business and bringing better product to our customers. so i would expect you would see a couple more this year. we'll bring deals as it makes sense strategically to the business >> mike leskinen, thank you for joining us very early in the morning out on the west coast. the president of united airline ventures he's out there, as he mentioned, because tonight archer aviation is going to be showing their first commercial production version of the evtol of which unite the is an investor in archer and they plan to fly those at some point in the future, perhaps by '25, '26. >> thank you for bringing us that interview fascinating stuff. i want to go on those planes. meantime, when we come back

propublica showed some of america's richest paid zero income taxes for years jon fortt to argue on the other hand later, former macy's ceo terry lund gren talking about the sales forecast and the state of the consumer. all of that and more when we come back after this. time now for today's aflac trivia question. what is the largest privately owned brewery? the sw wn bc "anerhecn'ssquawk box" continues ha ha. jill is certainly upset with that unexpected bill from her back surgery. aflac! let's see that one more time. ♪ ♪ (bleep) (wincing) oooh, right in the wallet! ouch! aflac! aflac would have paid jill cash directly to help with expenses health insurance doesn't cover. hold on, i think she's trying to give us a side-eye... because she can't turn her head! (laugh) get help with expenses health insurance doesn't cover.

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now the answer to today' aflac trivia question. what is the largest privately owned brewery? the answer, sierra nevada. welcome back to "squawk. an investigation from propublica showing some of america's richest people in the world have paid zero income taxes is this evidence that tech titans and others should pay a wealth tax that's the debate this morning jon fortt is here to weigh in. jon? >> andrew, clearly we need a

wealth tax i know the argument, wealth and income, assets and worth versus what you've actually cashed out. propublica showed us the top billionaires are playing this tax avoidance game at a level nobody imagined. ten years ago jeff bezos was worth $18 billion and reported enough investment losses that he got $4,000 in federal tax credits. meanwhile, the working stiffs, sure, many of you have investment losses but not enough to wipe out your entire tax bill we live in a time of game-changing technological change the list of billionaires reflects that. bezos and elon musk brought cars it's created challenges with robots and ai threatening to make many blue collar jobs obsolete at a time when we need 21st century resources to reinvent work, our earliest 20th century tax code allows them to escape

it that's the only way to make it fair. >> hold on one second. so you really believe that we need to move to a system where people are taxed on what they have, not what they make, not realized gains i mean, some of this is -- this is paper this is illusory. >> well, on the other hand, andrew, on the planet, he is on paper. it talks about how much income he reported in 2018 when as memory serves tesla was on the brink of collapse worth about 1/10 of what it is today if you tax him on the value of unsold shares, you give him money back when the price goes down this year, it's unworkable. what would be fair first you have to get rid of the whole idea propublica uses

wealth growth is the real measure of someone's income. estimated value, don't get me started on crypto, it's suggestive and epheephemeral. the way billionaires can borrow against their stock, get the money and it's somehow not income, that doesn't feel right. but this eat the rich welfare tax doesn't feel right either, andrew. >> where do you really come down >> well, i think it really is a matter of not letting our emotions get in the way of creating some fair tax law here. i mean, really you can't do a wealth tax in a way that i think translates to fair across all people but are there loopholes like this borrowing thing that just don't seem to make sense? sure there are so, yeah, there needs to be a tax code overhaul and right now some people are saying billionaires shouldn't exist i think that would be kind of sad, right, if you couldn't in a capitalist society create -- >> i want to trian idea on you,

jon. >> okay. >> i'll try it on joe. you have different views i think we can solve a lot of this and actually create even more wealth and raise even more money over time, it will take several generations, if you eliminate the step up in basis at death i believe that, you know, a lifetime of no taxes is long enough i think we can all agree that's a fair way to do it. there are people with farms and other things they want to send it to their families later on, i'm willing to give that up. i think you have to deal with the interest deduction expense so that you can't effectively take loans against this forever. and i know this is going to be controversial but it's actually a major issue in this when you look at the people that were on that list, the philanthropy piece. i think what i would do is have a limit. maybe 5 million, $10 million annually that you can give tax free after that if you're going to

give stock, you actually will pay first on the step-up effectively, josh. pay a tax effectively, the equivalent of capital gains tax and then transfer to philanthropy that would impact some philanthropies but it would mean the rest of us who are not spending all of that would not be subsidizing everybody else. that's my thought. what do you think? >> well, i mean, all of that sounds reasonable. i'd need to take some time to really look at it. the philanthropy piece, it really is a distribution into causes that the richest people get to decide versus what a democratic society with elected officials decide based on what the society needs. >> that's a blessing and a curse, jon i don't think i'd touch the philanthropy part. i would much rather pick where i get it and people that i would

trust a lot more i've argued in the past just philosophically against it i don't care about these billionaires they're not my problem i pay 50, 60% in taxes why shouldn't they pay i'm not going to defend them philosophically, you've paid taxes once i don't like the idea. i think it's con physician ka tori >> unless you haven't paid taxes once which is -- >> maybe you inherited it if you're lucky there's a lot of ways. but when your assets go up in value if you don't sell it but then again you point out you can borrow against it, write off the interest there what i do like, what i do like is all these virtuous signallers like buffett and others that pretend they're the nicest guys in the world they never use that little line at the bottom that says here's what i'm going to voluntarily pay. they never, ever, ever use that line.

>> i do want to say this about warren buffett and michael bloomberg. they are not living off of loans. they're not taking interest -- >> the bottom line. >> they're giving their money away in philanthropy warren buffett is not spending any money but he's not making any money either, except the idea of stock. >> i'm better at compounding this, never should have to pay any taxes until i die. >> that's my point if you deal with the step up at death and you deal with -- >> i don't like that buffett pays 24 million. he's a terrible person because he pays 24 million not a zero sum game. 24 million does a lot of good -- >> i hope people aren't saying that you're terrible because of this you think that's what's being said >> propublica, there was nothing in that article i didn't know. there was no new info in that

article. >> it raised an issue, a public policy issue it's funny because becky asked jesse yesterday whether it was to embarrass those -- >> of course it was. >> why do you think bezos is going into space he wants to leave the planet. still to come on "squawk box," the national retail federation making a big revision to the 2021 forecast they will see the fastest growth since 1984 we'll talk more about the rebound with terry lundgren. a bipartisan bill made to bolster competitiveness. one of the authors of the bill senator chris coons joins us. as part of pride month cnbc is spotlighting contributors, business leaders and our own anchors. here's cnbc's kevin flynn. >> here's my advice for the next generation be proud of who you are. be true to yourself. never be something you are not to please someone else your identity gives you power.

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retail industry will see the fastest growth since 1984. that's the outlook from the national retail federation which is making a big revision to the 2021 forecast. the nrf now expect retail sales to grow at least 10.5% to $4.4 trillion joining us to talk more about the retail industry's rebound is former macy's ceo and chairman terry lundgren he's chairman and founder of tjo. you were well on your way before leaving macy's to realizing the multi-channel, the move away from brick and mortar but it was just accelerated by what we've

seen for the last year and a half will there be malls? will there be brick and mortar places does there need to be? >> hi, joe back up to 2019 prepandemic and the online business was growing then it was robust in stores that i worked with had big powerful businesses but in aggregate it was still only 12% of the businesses it's now rocketed up to something over 20% this year, which is phenomenal to see that kind of growth having said that, still 80% of the business is going to be done in physical stores this year and next year, i believe so the answer is, yes, consumers will return to some of those pre-pandemic habits. on the other hand, more and more people are more comfortable with shopping for more products, including food products, online. >> would you like -- i mean, what are you advising people what is the line that most

retailers need to follow right now? is it obvious what they need to do or are there nuances in how to navigate the -- i don't even want to say new normal, but the post pandemic world? how would you -- what do you advise people? >> i always start, joe, with the consumer so you have to put your focus of your business in the mind of a consumer the consumer's going to decide how they're going to shop, who they're going to shop with and for what products. you have to start with that. for those companies who believe, there are many, that didn't really believe the online business was as essential, as important for them, they're just wrong. so you have to face that reality that the consumer's going to decide and the way that they're going to make their decision first is probably online their research is going to continue to be online. whether they go into a physical store or execute online, they're going to start by looking for businesses online. you have to have a robust and

great, positive experience initially online and then it's that overall omni channel experience they may want to buy online, pick up curbside or they may want to go into the store and pick up or they may want to directly deliver it today from one of the local physical stores as opposed to a warehouse 500 miles away so you have to enable your business to satisfy the needs of how the consumer is going to shop and that consumer has definitely moved towards convenience to me the way i want it you as a retailer need to be responsive to that that's my first bit of advice. you know what, there's been a bit of a shakeout, joe so a lot of these businesses have less competition than they had a year and a half ago because either companies have gone away or they've become less powerful because their balance sheet is not as strong as it once was so they're not on the offense. there's definitely been a shakeout and i believe those

retailers who have made it through the pandemic with a strong balance sheet are in a great position to arm themselves -- to satisfy those -- all those needs of the consumers that i just described. >> so, terry, let's say you're not a retail executive, you're just an executive, just a ceo. we have inflation. we're going to get a cpi number today. we're expecting a big boost in consumer spending because there's a lot of stimulus, a lot of government stimulus, a lot of government benefit that came from the pandemic. people are flush because they haven't spent anything how long does that last where we see better than normal consumer spending and why are interest rates, i just saw the 10-year at 1.49%, if you were a ceo somewhere, what would you be thinking about all of these conflicting sort of signals? >> well, first thing i'd say is strike while the iron is hot because, you know, to me there's just no question about this

period of time is a great opportunity for those in the business of selling to consumers, whether it's goods or services and so strike while the iron is hot. make sure you're out front and messaging to the consumer, you're in the game of satisfying what their needs and desires are and go now aggressively. so this is a moment in time when i think it's pretty much a no brainer for those who have a good balance sheet as i said to attack and grow their business whether it be baseline, online, however they're doing businesses, goods and services having said that to your question, how long will it last? you know, con ssumersamnts of ss point. historically they haven't saved. they haven't kept that savings they'll whittle that down over time 2.5 trillion there's a lot of room forex tension for this rally in my opinion to go on to next year. so i can't predict much more

after that, joe, but i think this year and first half of next year are all very positive on the subject of consumption which, of course, is what's going to drive our gdp. >> so, terry, we take requests at time on "squawk box." someone wants me to ask you about what's happening in china, particularly the southern area where a lot of the things that china manufactures, 25% come from down there. that's lockdown again. there are hundreds of millions of people and a lot of merchandise comes directly from that region. if it lasts long enough, can that impact the holiday season >> not the holiday season necessarily because most of the holiday purchases are longer lead time so basically those orders are in the till now so they have to be in the till for the last -- that last 60 days in order to be delivered by the october, november period for

the holiday season so i think this holiday season is okay. obviously if it lasts much longer, then it becomes an issue, but i do know this, and this is hard because china's such a big, powerful supplier for so many products, but there has been an attempt over the last couple of years to diversify that production around the world. not necessarily coming back into the united states for a lot of these products but other countries, other asia countries to diversify a bit so you're not quite as dependent on china as being your primary source for so many products. >> i don't have any questions for terry. when i see terry usually and we have a little guessing game in the commercial break about what he's wearing i've been studying the suit of yours, terry >> yeah. >> i have three guesses in this order. >> okay. >> because i'm looking at the lapels i'm going to go with --

>> by the way, good start. >> i want to say it's either a ralph, calvin klein or zenia but i don't know what order. >> i'm impressed by the way, you are as good as almost any retailer fashion person that i know on this game, and you are right but you were right with your third choice, zenia. >> okay. >> i'm impressed. >> take that to the bank i didn't think it could be ralph because of the lapels. i thought zenia but i wasn't sure >> ralph is a little wider but all good >> when i do finally get a suit, it's a zenia from cnbc i go to -- that's the store where i go i don't even go to macy's. different question are you down to a -- let me guess, are you a 6 >> you now, don't believe it don't believe it. >> what are you? >> i'm sorry, i'm still a 10

disappointing. >> you're still sandbagging. no, i figured you'd have more time -- you're still working too hard then. >> i've got -- my work-life balance is perfect i have to retire. >> you do. i'm not going to mention any names. you have a pretty good list of places you're playing, my friend we go way back been at that at&t together where that's rough i know when you go out there you're playing another pretty nice course, right >> you bet. >> tmi i feel -- too much privilege here too much privilege i'm feeling guilty all of a sudden. >> very lucky. >> we are very lucky that's what i meant. thanks, terry. >> thank you. coming up, crypto in your 401k one retirement account provider says sure. senator chris coons is going to talk to us about china and

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welcome back to "squawk box. this is -- a lot you'll want to know about this. do you want to put some crypto on your 401k, joe? here we go

retirement account provider has struck a deal with coinbase that will let workers invest 5% of the 401k contributions in cryptocurrency it's not disclosing how many of those have opted to give them cryptocurrency investment option seems to me now that we're at this point in the game this is when the sec and gary gensler. maybe that is the decision i think this is what changes the dynamic right here >> i don't know what the right answer is. >> what do you expect. what type of regulation makes sense. any regulation kind of removes some of it. >> i get it. then the question is every bank in america is running this know

your customer operation. there's anti-money laundering. we have lots of things going on in this country that banks are spending hundreds of millions of dollars a year complying with and yet we have this other thing going on over here called bitcoin and crypto that is virtually -- has no rules around it putting in 401k programs whether the sec or regulators want to deal with it they're forced to deal with it maybe that's the decision. i think there's going to be a conversation that i imagine has to happen. i don't know >> as time goes by we need to decide whether crypto is an answer to risk or just a very risky asset. >> and i don't know the answer. >> i know. it's going to play out and people that are on both sides of that what i would say, people -- dollars are pretty stable. dollar is a great currency if i live somewhere else and i was trying to keep what i earned -- >> it might be

it might be a better way >> think about the rest of the world where it costs 1 trillion zimbabwean dollars to buy a soft drink. if you were making money, had a smartphone, you could put money in, don't you think there would be a billion bitcoin owners maintaining what they worked for in that format instead of the local currency >> potentially someone else will come up with another cryptocurrency better than it. >> there are people that say that bitcoin is not invented, that it was discovered >> i think that's probably right. >> that it was always there. that was going to be the way to do it. so elegant the way it works. that's what the true believer thinks. >> there are people that are going to iterate on it. >> you can iterate on it i don't know if it's improvable. >> that's the question. coming up, a new bill to make america more competitive against china and has passed the senate with bipartisan support

we're going to speak with one of the authors of the bill, senator chris coons after the break. find out what it means for american business. later, 776 founder, reddit co-founder alexis ohanian. talk meme mania. >> meme, meme, meme, meme, meme. >> digital economy, talk about crypto and much more handsome and endearingelw flo and he'll be on. "squawk box" will be right back.

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welcome back to "squawk box. investing over $200 billion in technology it's making the ucht s. more competitive with china that's the hope. the authors of the bill joining us, delaware senator chris coons. senator, good morning to you president biden obviously in europe trying to figure out what it looks like to put together a group of folks or countries, i should say, to counter some of the things going on in china that will probably match up a little bit what you're thinking about in this bill what has to happen next? >> i'm excited about the bill that's been passed this week with a strong bipartisan vote in the senate it was led by senators schumer and young but had very broad bipartisan support it invests in next generation technologies, in our national

labs, science foundation, technology, innovation in partnership with the private sector president biden this week in europe will be meeting with our most important allies and pulling together the democracies who need to stand up to russia and its aggression and need to have a common strategy for how to out compete china in this century. >> what does that look like? >> what that looks like is coordinating our investments in new technologies i'll give you one example. 5g driving the next generation of communication in the last administration secretary pompeo went around the world and talked to our closest allies and said there are real security threats if you use huawei, a chinese company for your chinese backbone. what a lot of our allies said, well, that's interesting what is your alternative there wasn't an american alternative. there were some south korean and scandinavian offerings that were competitive but not organized, not coordinated. the investments this bill which

is going to the house will make in semiconductor chips, in 5g, quantum computing will make it far more likely the united states and our allies are ahead of the curve and not behind the curve in the next generation of technologies that are dual use in civilian and u.s. military. >> what should u.s. companies that are doing business in china be saying or doing to china? >> they should be saying, stop stealing our intellectual property this has been a challenge. one of the costs of doing business in china is they force you to transfer technology to your chinese operations and frankly steal them for you china is a direct get tore in technology they're not just forcing transfer or stealing ip, they're actually publishing as many papers, granting as many patents as we are. they're lower quality and challenged just like the vaccine competition between the west and china. western vaccines largely developed here in the united

states have 90 or 95% efficacy the chinese vaccine has 50% efficacy but they are competing with us in vaccine diplomacy and in fighting for the next generation of technology. >> senator, i'll give you a complicated one. i think about this all the time. apple. apple does a lot of business in china. manufactures a lot of the devices it makes in china. put in new privacy policies in the united states. the policies don't apply in china. i think to myself should they be pushing back on that in china? if they were to push back on that in china they wouldn't have a business in china. what is the right balance in that type of conversation? >> well, that is exactly the challenge. our largest global multi-national companies face. companies like google, cisco, apple that manufacture and operate both in the united states and china the most important great wall of china for this country is the great firewall of china that they use to block off the internet in china and require

censorship and use it to coordinate surveillance and repression of their own people the aggression against the uighurs in schenn jung province which they have called genocide. the oppression of democracy in hong kong. if you are like apple and google trying to operate in both countries, you are facing increasely difficult questions in the west to see what you're doing to facilitate this in china and by the chinese around the world. >> by the way as a point of clarification, i don't believe google is doing business in china. we can change it up and talk about starbucks or apple >> forgive me. one of the challenges that we're seeing is in the soviet era when the united states and soviet union were in a cold war, we had decoupling of our technologies and because of trying to get our technologies robustly in china,

we're deeply connected with china and the market there's gradual distancing a company like amazon has a major competitor in china that was grown in china and is directly competing with china around the world we need to invest in being competitive for this century with china. >> thank you for being with us this morning we look forward to seeing you again very, very soon. >> thank you. >> thank you coming up, our exclusive interview with 776 founder and reddit co-founder alexis ohanian to talk about the rise in the meme stocks because reddit fuelled, right crypto volatility and much more. plus, the yield on the 10-year following this month that was briefly under 1.5% earlier we're going to talk what it could mean for the broader market the dynamic funds and noah blackstein t 'cause you're only a man ♪ ♪ and a man's gotta learn to take it ♪

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earn points now to use on travel later. one of the many things you could expect when you're with amex. god almighty we are just 30 minutes away from some new inflation data and all of wall street is waiting. the latest read on the consumer price index with that big implication for fed policy and could be market moving

gamestop shares falling pre-market and from the company behind the original meme stock including better than expected first quarter results for a loss revenue is also up and revamped executive suite we talk about all of that, the return of the reddit trade with the co-founder of read did alexis ohanian will join us in a few minutes. "squawk box" begins right now.d alexis ohanian will join us in a few minutes. "squawk box" begins right now.d alexis ohanian will join us in a few minutes. "squawk box" begins right now.i alexis ohanian will join us in a few minutes. "squawk box" begins right now.t alexis ohanian will join us in a few minutes. "squawk box" begins right now.d alexis ohanian will join us in a few minutes. "squawk box" begins right now. d alexis ohanian will join us in a few minutes. "squawk box" begins right now.d alexis ohanian will join us in a few minutes. "squawk box" begins right now. ohanian will join us in a few minutes. "squawk box" begins right now.as ohanian will join us in a few minutes. "squawk box" begins right now. ohanian will join us in a few minutes. "squawk box" begins right now. good morning and welcome back to "squawk box" here on cnbc live from the nasdaq market site in times square. times square is back >> it's happening. >> it's back but it's also, thank you, mayor de blasio, back

to times square. >> that's true, too. yes. i agree. >> i'll tell you, coming in in the mornings, andrew, do you look around at the streets in terms of the garbage bags, just the -- it's like not good. it's happening. >> you know there's a mayoral race taking place in the city right now. >> is that happening >> who are you backing >> as you know -- i see it every day. >> if you ever smack this together and divide us, we're down the middle. >> i'm joe kernen, andrew ross sorkin becky is off today the treasury yield's kind of interesting. we're below 1.5 just briefly earlier. it will all change when we get the cdi. business stories that we're watching this morning. been a tough morning for the original meme player you can see shares of gamestop are sliding.

the video game retailer announcing two new executive appointments as it tries to revamp itself. former amazon investor matt furlong will take over as ceo. he most recently led the growth of amazon's australia business and mike recupero will become the new cfo. after the belle last night gamestop reported first quarter results. hosted a smaller than expected loss revenue higher than expected sales growth, 25% year over year taking note of a gamestop filing to sell up to 5 million shares in the future. the proceeds will be used for investing in growth initiatives, the balance sheet for general corporate purposes investors hungry for newest meme stocks the latest is natural gas

provider clean energy fuels which surged more than 30% yet, 30%. health insurance seller clover is a little bit higher this morning though it's not making the outsized moves we've seen. that stock dropped close to 24% yesterday after it had surged more than 80% the day before wendy's and world wrestling entertainment also being favored this week by reddit traders. crazy. what are they -- someone lights a small flame and it spreads on reddit, is that what's happening with all of these? >> a little bit. you would have i would argue the professional investors coming in >> how do they know? monitoring the reddit boards >> most of the wall street was not monitoring read dit boards our next guest by the way is the

man behind reddit. started a new early stage venture fund and is announcing today it's closing the fund because it's over subscribed at $150 million alexis ohanian is founder of seven seven six. the co-founder of reddit alexis, thank you for being here congratulations on the new fund. >> thank you. >> there is a lot to talk about. let me just continue where we were with joe before on this. >> sure. >> reddit fueled it feels like a reddit fueled rally in so many meme stocks but i would ask you the question we were just discussing how much of this do you think actually is the reddit community unto itself and for professionals i don't want to say taking advantage of the reddit community but riding on top of that momentum >> you know, not too dissimilar from what i told you all back in january. what this represents is just a secular shift in this

intersection of community and capital. so whether it's on platforms like reddit or others, retail investors have more connectedness, more information, more ability to trade than ever before and this is going to be the new normal meme stocks, it is a charming name but i think at the end of the day momentum investing is nothing new and really, you know, the existence of people getting whipped up and excited about a stock has happened -- you know, it's happened around barber shops, it's happened around bars. retail investors have never been able to jump on an opportunity in real time this is like in the age of ubiquitous social media. >> here's the thing. i know i'm going to get slaughtered on reddit and twitter on this. momentum trading, day trading typically does not end well. options trading -- this is not how people get rich. some people do but most people don't and so i just wonder in terms of how you think about that, how you think people on

reddit should think about it and how regulators will think about it when you look at some of the things happening, they are divorced from reality at this point. >> i think, you know, there are a lot of people who are doing their research i think anyone doing any investing should absolutely be making sound and financial decisions doing the research, et cetera i think we've crossed the rubicon and it doesn't matter one platform or another, this is how people are sharing content they're able to open an app and execute a trade and it's only going to get easier, right it's only going to get more normal for a generation coming up with this they're not even going to conceive of the idea of calling a stock broker or for a lot of folks hiring a professional. we need more financial literacy. a lot of people have talked about for many years, it's more true now than ever

the thing we have to keep in mind is this is here to stay to your earlier point, there are absolutely professional investors paying attention to these trends and putting dollars to work as well and i'd be naive to say -- >> if you are gary gensler running the sec, how should you think about this if this is toothpaste inside of the tube, what do you do >> i think, you know, there is a framework that exists today, and ultimately, you know, we have as a responsibility to ourselves the sort of personal responsibility to do our diligence, to be smart investors. you know, i think -- i don't know the ins and outs of the sec's sort of responsibilities around this. obviously they want to protect consumers but at the end of the day adults making adult decisions about what stocks to buy or sell is really up to them but we'll see. the one thing i am certain of is

that this doesn't go away. if anything, hopefully i think these markets become more and more efficient because more and more people are educating themselves, are engaging in trading and i hope we're all actually i think better off as a result but this transition period is going to have some quite wild swings, that's for sure. >> just go back to the we're better off as a result that's the part there's a huge debate about my question to you is why do you think we're better off as a result >> because i do think -- you can see these same trends with blockchain technology. decentralization can be incredibly empowering because it enables people who may not necessarily have had a way in through traditional gate keepers to show that they are good at what they do, to create value for what they do, whether it's making art or whether it's making investments and i think more and more decentralization which we're seeing thanks to

technology like this is going to push the culture further and further towards people finding more ways to have a more entrepreneurial mind set and that's going to allow for more great ideas to bubble up and traders to emerge. you mentioned crypto we've been having a lot of debate about crypto and bitcoin especially in light of the number of ransomware efforts taking place all of which seem to be involving crypto we were talking about know your customers and alm rules for banks. again i would ask in that regard, if you were the regulator, what would you be doing about this or not? >> this comes on the heels of countries declaring bitcoin the national tender, right i think this is a fascinating time right now in the world. the technology has proven itself

and there's certainly no shortage of people who believe in it. i think there is a delicate balance here we have an emerging technology that is incredibly challenging and can by and large do a lot of good like all technologies has down sides and consequences i would genuinely thinking not advocate for heavy hand any kind of regulation on this. at the end of the day these are opportunities for us to seize and we can lean in to the best parts of this and be a lot better off as a result a lot of countries are leaning in in a big, big way. >> would you advocate for less regulation around a customer and alm at the big banks >> no. no, i wouldn't >> no? >> i think it would be -- well, i mean, that is sort of the mainstay of what that banking structure provides there was a curious "new york times" headline talking about bitcoin recently

you know, the very point that bitcoin is actually in a public ledger actually means that it's fantastic for keeping tabs on the sort of digital paper trail because by its own technology bitcoin actually keeps a public ledger of all of those records and transactions, but i think certainly as we talk about banking structure, you know, kyc has a really important role. the thing i will stress, too, if you look, all the studies i've seen that cash, cash money usd is used forfar more illegal transactions than cryptocurrency, probably in part for that very reason you know, cash money can be rather untraceable for those illicit needs. >> i want to talk about this i want to follow up on that for a second which is this i don't disagree cash is used for illicit purposes and on a relative basis used in much greater ways, in part because there's much more of it, but in

terms of these ransomware attacks, for example, there's a reason that they're all being done in crypto it's hard to move that kind of money in cash. >> yes. >> in briefcases just is. >> yeah. >> so one of the questions i would ask about crypto is even though i recognize bitcoin lives on a ledger, why do you believe it's being used in every ransomware effort if it's so easy to trace? >> well, because compared to your alternative, getting millions and millions of dollars of cash money versus getting it wired is more complex. i think that -- the fact that it is used is an example of the sort of -- you know, the user experience part of it that makes digital currencies so interesting and so alluring. now by that same token you can start looking at wire transfer fees for all of the many legal transactions that happen every day and think, well, seems like we're better off in a system where, you know, that extra tax

that we're all paying just to move ones and zeroes around doesn't exist. it comes up on both sides. >> let's talk about the fund >> sure. >> what are you going to do with all of this money? what are you looking at? >> invest in great companies, great founders like a lot of thvcs, the big sty is ten years into building my previous venture firm and 15 years from founding reddit, i see seven seven six as a chance to combine my product background building software to my investing background we're a software building firm it helps us work asynchronously. i want this to be as much of a startup and venture capital firm. >> are you looking at consumer software enterprise software? what's the -- >> yeah, little bit of everything

you know, as the reddit guy i tend to see a majority consumer-type companies. my biggest investment to date was a fintech company called alt. it's making it easy to buy and sell collectibles as it is buying and selling stocks. bringing liquidity to these marketplaces is exciting i do believe we're at a start of a whole new world when it comes to financial technology and that's one piece i'm excited about. the best part is you get to be surrounded by great founders and who tell you what the future is going to be. >> crypto as well? >> yeah. yeah we led a round not too long ago in lalli a great on ramp for people who want to shop online. >> you own lots of different cryptos. is there a crypto we don't talk about that you think is pretty cool that we should be thinking

about? >> i'm not going to plug dogecoin here. speaking of now being harassed on twitter i think there's some interesting -- there's a lot of interesting stuff that is bubbling up, but i do think ethereum is at least for the next year or two really got the most to prove. at least the most potential to show something because there are so many interesting applications nfts are the start of what's getting built on top of the ethereum blockchain. that's where a lot of my holdings are and one of the most confident ones i am. >> i have a final question for you and it's a workplace issue, but i -- you know, i follow you on twitter i think we both follow each other and we write each other. i saw your support for naomi osaka after she dropped out of the french open. and, you know, it's created sort of a real interesting question about mental health in the

workplace, about parts of jobs, by the way, that may impact mental health, which is to say that i think in her case attending a press conference might have a real impact on her. and what parts of jobs should be part of the job and what parts shouldn't and can they be broken apart. what do you think about all of that >> i think -- so certainly what i said i really do believe mental health is health it's why we pledge 2% of every investment we make that an investor can use for their health and wellness. and then what i think we're seeing now is sorry to say a major shift in the role that media plays for so many people and for athletes in particular, you know, thanks to social media, they have their own platforms. the sort of dependency on media

has drastically shifted. we've seen this across industries how many businesses are now saying we're not even going to bother doing interviews. we're just going to create our own content. we're going direct to consumer this is -- again, this is another toothpaste out of the container. it's not going back in although this is a very different industry in sport, it's one other example of how much things have shifted even speaking for myself personally, there are definitely -- if i had to come out of every board meeting or every workday and do a press conference for 20 minutes, i would not be very happy. but that's one of the good fortunes of doing the work that i do, you know, we get to have a lot more sort of leverage about the media we decide to speak to. thanks for having me by the way. this is a bigger shift and i think we're going to see many more folks across industries talking about it i think it's an important

conversation to have. >> well, alexis, we appreciate you being with us. i hope this interview was okay for your mental health i don't mean to make light of that at all. it's a serious issue we appreciate that. >> thank you. >> congrats again. >> thank you, andrew thank you very much. coming up, new inflation data from the labor department and fed watchers going to watch this waiting for 8:30 stay tuned abou11t minutes you're watching "squawk box" on cnbc wondering what actually goes into your multivitamin? at new chapter,

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pork prices are soaring but hog farmers aren't happy jane wells is in iowa for the world pork expo. how could she not be and she joins us now to explain why. you've done bacon -- you and pork have a special relationship, jane >> reporter: we -- it's my -- these are my spirit animals, joe. hog farmers should be happy right now, but it's always something. i'm at burkwood farms in state center in iowa hog farmers are living, well, high on the hog. despite high tariffs and losing food service, pork prices have never been higher. we have a second camera here there you go at over $4.30 a pound and the

share of that going to the farmers has never been higher. while everyone is thrilled to meet at the world pork expo, there is a big worry a judge has ruled certain packing plants already dealing with labor shortages have to slow down line speeds for safety that will take out an estimated 2.5% capacity and that's a lot of pork. >> regionally we're going to experience more of a 20 to 25% capacity my concern is i'm in that region >> reporter: now hog farmers are squealing for ag secretary tom vilsack to appeal that they have been around for decades. they are listening as vilsack says he is going to improve it. >> my concern is the proposal will add 1% more capacity to the u.s. pork industry while we're losing 2.5% through the reduced

line speed >> reporter: okay. and there's one last thing in california starting next year, if you want to sell pork in the golden state you have to give your sows more room farmers say they don't have time or money to do that in time. joe, californians may have to eat more chicken in 2022. >> i honestly thought that was your stomach growling. that is the great sound track that you've got going. i mean, i love hearing that. that's live, right, jane that's real. >> reporter: that is live. no, so some of them are actually snoring and it reminds me of my husband. >> during your report? it's impossible! >> reporter: i'm just telling you. they're happy than a pig in you know what. >> oh, my god, they are. we need shih tzu for that, the dog. i think you can get away with that jane wells, coming up, brand new consumer inflation data.

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consumer price index headline number up .6. a little hotter than expected. if you strip out the all important food and energy, up .7. that's also more than expected but, this but's important. i don't see the revisions yet but until i do this follows numbers that were higher than last month

here's the money ball numbers. year over year with the base effect in effect and that number is up 5% up 5% on cpi year over year headline how does 5% stack up the last time we had a number that was higher, higher than 5% was august of 2008 strip off the all important food and energy year over year, up 3.8. last time we had a number higher than 3.8 was january of 1992 now let's go over initial jobless claims 376,000. 376,000 and, of course, this is a very good number because once again, we are now looking at post covid lows and, granted, it's not by very much. the previous record was, well, last week of 385 which still could be revised and if we look at continuing claims, finally, finally i get to say on live tv that we've made a lower number on continuing claim, post-covid

low. the last time we did that was on a revision, on the week we are talking about. 3.499 million. a whisker under 3.5 million. the previous record was 3.602 from the second week in may so these are very much numbers that are good for the economy we know that we could see more hiring, less claims but there are some sticking points to the reopening. i think the inflation data is very important but if you notice, interest rates have hardly ticked up we're at 151 on the 10 219 on the 30. i think the base effect is really what traders are paying attention to year-over-year comps are distorted by ultra low rates in the worst part of covid starting to take the side of the fed. if the fed isn't correct and the ultimate notion isn't transient, boy, you could see a big move but for the moment especially

with yesterday's robust 10-year note option, i totally think you aren't seeing a look at higher rates in treasury than four to six weeks ago. andrew, back to you. >> thank you, sir. i'm going to pass it over to steve liesman. want to get his take on all of this steve? >> yeah. so let me talk about inflation real quickly is rick still? rick has some used cars and that's under stating what rick has. rick has some awesome classic cars man, they're going up in value good investment. automobiles, used cars and trucks up 7.3% on the month of may after 10% in the prior month. rick, what do you have, some old fords as i understand it >> we have a lot of old ones, but the one i've been working on the most if you can see my fingernails, as a matter of fact until midnight last night, an old kennedy era lincoln, suicide

doors. '67 koptcontinental. it's funny you mention that. it's not only inflation on car prices, used prices, collectibles, lit thoughs. what do they all have in common? they're not paper. they're not paper. you can touch them you can sell them. you can look at them. >> right right. right. >> you can drive them. that's important >> but let's talk about what's going on, rick, and i don't want to take it from our fabulous anchors here, but is it the market trading like this is peak inflation? you look at the forward rate, implied inflation in the tip spreads. you look at what's happening with the 10-year you look at what's happening in the markets and with gold it looks like the market has taken on, i think you said it, has taken on the fed's case. i don't see fear in the markets. i think people are concerned when you see home prices going up, food prices going up, all of

this stuff going up, there's a lot that's palpable. to look at the markets, it's like, hey, been there, done that on these 5% inflation numbers. >> i couldn't agree with you more the market and traders have definitely decided that the fed has unlimited firing power they're still using the bazooka even though pretty much the covid war is over and they're going to quit kicking the tires. as much as i agree with you, that doesn't mean the fed is correct, doesn't mean investors are correct. what it means is you go broke trying to challenge the fed. ultimately we're going to see where inflation pans out ultimately we're going to see which policies are going to come back to haunt us, but for the moment i would think that today's 30-year bond auction might find a raft of aggressive buyers >> and just real quick, we've got to wrap it up, rick. i'm just looking at the total jobless claims they're inching down very slowly

we will see if the effect of some of the states that are ending the benefits early in june and july has a more palpable effect on reducing those numbers, but i'm still seeing, remember, we have to go back two weeks for this number here, 15. -- where did it go 15.3 million americans still receiving some form of benefits but the input, which is the weekly jobless claims, continues to go down i've heard some -- andrew, some amazing stories on the wages that people are paying i heard a story last night about a garage door company that had to bid up local hourly rates to $48 from 18 although it was just a three-month period to get workers. >> unbelievable. unbelievable what's happening. the question, of course, is that transitory or is that going to stay we'll see. rick and steve, thank you. joining us now to talk about inflation and the economy is tiffany wildman. good morning to you. i want to know if you are the fed, if you are jay powell and you just looked at those numbers

what you're thinking >> yeah. well, thanks for having me, first. i don't think that this number really changes the narrative if you did get into it, what you saw is as you eluded to, used car inflation continued to be quite firm i think it was up 7.3% month over month this is a huge increase. after 10% last month that accounted for about 1/3 of the increase in overall inflation for the month. so that is, you know, quite a concentration of the increase inflation into that used car component. as we know, there's some idiosyncratic issues going on in the used car market. auto supply has been constrained by the lack of semiconductor chips but in addition to that we know that rental car companies which reduced their fleets last year as a result of the pandemic are really racing to try to

build those fleets up ahead of the summer driving season last year they're actually buyers in the used car market whereas they're usually sellers. all of these idiosyncratic have gotten together to produce this extreme move in inflation categories this is not going to stay around we are going to see inflation moderate at some point i think this does not change the narrative from the fed this is transitory and ultimately they will look through it and continue to be patient. >> you think this is confirmatory that it's all transitory confirmatory -- that sounds a little ridiculous. that's your take on this the reason i ask, i guess we haven't seen it in some of the numbers, as you look at some of the wage growth across the country, a lot of that is going to turn out to be permanent. >> yeah. i think that that is the big thing, to understand how broad based these price pressures are or how broad based the wage pressures are and as i mentioned within the cpi, it does look

like, you know, that at least the extreme moves are concentrated on cars, not more broader based. within wages what we're seeing is it is more concentrated in low wage and lower skill jobs. there is an interesting academic research that came out of the atlantic fed that basically confirmed this it will be really key to understand are those wage pressures really broadening out? if they are, that could be a sign that inflation expectations are increasing and really that's what the fed is going to be caring about does this sort of shock in prices that we're seeing now, does it increase inflation expectations that will sort of dictate whether this is transitory or more persistent. >> if you're jay powell you're happy the lower wages are moving up that's a good sign for you, right? >> yeah. absolutely i think if you're the biden administration, that's a good sign as well by the way, higher wages may or may not actually translate into

higher prices. it depends on our businesses, are they being more productive we are seeing in the productivity statistics that they are that could dampen somewhat that would increase margins potentially that could dampen the extent to which this is passed on to consumers the other thing that's been a big deal is that labor share of broader economic income. labor share of income has declined secularly over the last, you know, call it 30 to 40 years. the biden administration certainly wants to try to reduce those trends towards labor share declines, increase them getting wages up at the bottom kwaur tile of the wage distribution is a way to do that ultimately i think that is a good thing. >> jill, you weren't here to see this chipotle said that because wages were going up, that they were going to have to start charging more, 4% more when you buy a burrito. i know how much you care about

the burrito. at the same time, tiffany, wages are going up for the ceo the ceo's pay went from $14 million to $38 million so little bit of a question mark there. tiffany, nice to see you we appreciate it >> thanks. >> thanks. >> you know -- >> it's important to you. >> no, you know, number one i like tacos more than burritos. >> they do tacos, don't they >> they do but not -- you can get a box o tacos for less than $1. >> tacos >> and sochi poll tai's pricing, for me it's -- it doesn't bother me >> okay. >> just if they move, there's not a close taco bell. it hurts me that we used to have one really close now i have to drive further. coming up, jim cramer's first take on this hour's new inflation data and the markets

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kick pain in the aspercreme crazy moves. now the dow's up 113 initially it went down. >> went down, went up. >> shares of micro vision rising right now. the company is being added to the russell 2000 index effective after the market opens on june 28th microvision has been a reddit wall street bets favorite.

let's get down to the new york stock exchange where jim cramer joins us now jim, you've been around so long. you know so much about the overall markets, bonds, interest rates and everything and you can't help yourself. i mean, gamestop and it's just what -- >> oh, yeah. >> -- we need to talk about. >> oh, yeah. >> no way around it. >> this is -- this is the big thing, gamestop. forget faang all we want to talk about is what are they going to do with this new found money, offering more stock just enough, at the market so it doesn't really hurt the gamestopers but what an exciting conference call, right it was maybe a minute and a half all of that, we go to see them all the time what a story >> unbelievable. >> story about nothing it's just -- it's just like seinfeld games story about nothing. >> we had a discussion earlier about do you predict that in the

future at some point we will say do you remember the meme stock era? or do you think we'll just be talking about the current meme stocks >> i think it's the latter there are things that catch fire when they catch fire, people get interested a true meme stock tends to be a stock where they buy out of the money calls where the market makers can hedge then you squeeze them by buying common in a very quick fashion it's a really great strategy if you are trying to squeeze people i don't think it's necessarily a fair strategy, but it is legal and it can really jack up a stock. and that's what i think is really happening some of these are not really meme stocks. wendy's had a good quarter shouldn't have gone to 30 but -- the chairman didn't sell any you guys have done an unbelievable job covering this stuff. it is exciting it's just exciting i don't think there's anything wrong with excitement, particularly with what we all

knew would typically be a very dull time. >> don't cover it at your own risk you know the average age for -- not that there's anything wrong with these people. you know the average age of cable. we have to change or die, right? >> oh, i think you're right. we can bring the average age for our shows probably down to 40. these people are -- i think it's great that they're youth full. they hate me that i'm a little bit older. they hate me that i wear a suit. that makes me feel terrific. you know what, it is a good suit a little bit higher level than terry's. i want to know, can andrew guess my brand. >> that one's harder for me, jim. the lapels -- >> it's brionne. >> brionne. >> older brionne these are rhs. they go up over time. >> can we talk about microvision? what do you make

what's happening here? is this active traders or active investing impacting passes. >> you take a miniature display company and you get it going and it's suddenly added to the indices. this is something, again, part of like really what joe asked me, which is you're really institutionalizing meme. there are people, for instance, who are trying to have price targets for amc, trying to catch up to that one, suddenly became a big company. gamestop, analysts caught totally looking the other way. that's new what we have is inflated stocks that don't go down because it really tends not to be a pump and dump it's just a pump a pump is legal. a dump is not legal. when they stay up they catch the eye of people who put together indices and they add them so it makes it they're more legitimized. again, it's exciting there's nothing the matter with

exci excitement when we see the volume, that's people having a great time they have a great time at the stadium. they have a great time at the racetracks they're having a great time with us. >> right i'm shocked that six months -- has it been six months yet remember when it started we're like, okay initially it did pull all the way back to, what, 40, 50? >> came back to 40 one -- >> back to 300 back to 300. >> if you go to the site, they're horrible -- you know, there's none of -- we can't use any of the words of what people call themselves. it is so exacta-- scatalogical they hate me, i hate them. that's fine, i'm imy chill i'll work harder than they will and they'll be blown out longer than before i retire they have to stop being a race to be as vicious as they are because it just isn't becoming

and i think we all know what they do. it's just disgusting >> right. >> i don't care to say that. it is. just get a little more legitimate, we don't call you meme, we call you investors. maybe they don't want to do that. >> i never knew elmer fudd, dou what elmer fudd, that silly rabbit. >> i don't mind that stuff, it's when they use words that i can't show my kids, my wife. look at this guy, the names and oh, my gosh. >> my kids know those words by now, i think jim, thanks. >> good to see you guys. keep doing great stuff on this i love it. >> we do our best. we'll talk more about the inflation data we just got, a couple of minutes ago, and what it could mean for equity investors. joining us is noah blacksteen, senior portfolio manager from the great north. dynamic funds.

noah, you got an etf of meme stocks for us this morning what's dynamic funds' favorite meme stock >> i don't have any meme stocks for you. i think people are doing just fine without an etf on their own for sure i guess i did hear an acronym yesterday, something like bang versus faang, which is blackberry, amc, nokia and gamestop, or something like that >> oh, yeah. >> i despise acronym investing i hated it when it was bricks, but we, i'm sure, we are probably a week away from some firm launching an etf. >> look, the inflation data that you saw combined with the 10-year being below 1.5 for a brief time today, how does that, what does that indicate, transitory that it is inflation >> listen, i think people should be trying to wrestle with this cognitive dissonance in the bond market a lot of us, you know, you hit

peak stimulus this quarter, and you probably hit peak inflation, i think a third of the spike in today's cpi number was trucks and cars, up 7.3%, so there's a lot of this, which is obviously base effects, that begins to fade and stimulus has sort of peaked out in here, that 10-year bond, that everyone was predicting, it broke below 150 yesterday and up a bit today, i'm not sure what that means, or what's going on. perhaps the bond market is beginning to look through this inflation, and looking forward we are all very dismissive of the bond market in 2018, when the yield curve was flattening and beginning to invert and of course, we are looking at the fed in september of '18, well beyond mutual and the fourth quarter of 2018 was an unmitigated disaster the stock market, the equity market seems to be looking at inflation. the bond market is sending a

little bit of a different of a signal break-evens are pretty much it today. >> noah, i always love having you on, because i can kid you a little bit about knowing how things work in your country, and you know that when people come from around the world, the united states, some of the most avid boosters of free markets and capitalism have come from places where it's not really like that, and they look around, and they don't understand a lot of times where some of this sentiment comes from like we don't appreciate what we have so i look at you that way, to some extent. do you see us sliding into something worrisome, some type of, just too big, government too big, taxes too high? too much regulation? are you watching it happen, watching it happen and ready to warn us? or maybe even be less bullish on the market based on where we're headed with this administration? >> well, it's a little odd from

obviously from the progressive left, i think, you know, to espouse marxist monetary theory, excuse me, modern monetary theory, and higher taxes and there is no need for higher taxes with modern monetary theory unless they're punative so it is not where we're following. and we have breaking up tech companies and pushing for higher taxes, corporate tax rates, more regulatory but i think that my concern as it relates to the market as we get into sort of the back half of this year, into 2022, clearly, the fed will begin its tapering likely in the mbs space. that's why some of the mbs has been a relative underperformer i think with powell and clarita in january and february, there is a great purge activity that has been circulating in the markets that perhaps the three top spots at the federal reserve

will be empty and who will be appointed, and sort of, you know, what will their political views align and how it goes and i think some of the institutions like the federal reserve have a little more heightened political risk with the top three jobs opening up and you know, an environment which is really suggestive of more regulation. >> i think it's weird that you shifted from fiscal and policy issues, that the government does, you think that the fed is more important, what happens there is going to be more important in the long term why? because you don't think are actually going to -- >> i'm saying that you're clearly looking at a legislature that wants to raise taxes and wants to have higher regulation, and so you obviously have these issues, and in a move away from stimulus, and extraordinary measures, during the peak, you have changing at the federal reserve, which could be interesting coming up. but you also have higher taxes, the purpose of higher taxes and higher regulations, so they're all concerns,as we look past,

as we look into the latter half of this year and into 2022, you know, higher taxes, and regulations have gone up substantially, that's for sure. >> noah blackstein, dynamic funds, thank you. >> coming up, the latest from the european central bank, after this morning's decision to leave rates unchanged. "squawk box" is coming right back up when everything shut down. ♪ but entrepreneurs never stopped. ♪ and found solutions that kept them going. ♪ at u.s. bank, we can help you adapt and evolve your business, no matter what you're facing. because when you close the gap, a world of possibility opens. ♪ u.s. bank. we'll get there together. ♪

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bond purchases, unchanged in the latest decisions, we have more from steve on the latest details. steve liesman. >> interesting comments from the euro president lagarde, she does see a gradual pickup in inflationary pressures but ultimately over time, we see in the forecasts, it is still going to run below its target over the coming year. she says she expects the economy to pick up and positive signs turning a little bit optimistic when it comes to the outlook when she sees the vaccination rates going on there andrew, i think the term in french, transitory when talking about inflation she was talking english of course. >> steve, thank you for that. we've got some news -- >> i guess stan had said this before stan drunkemiller and has said this before and he says the market is not speaking right

now, in terms of how it's reacting to the inflation numbers and will not, until the fed stops canceling market signals. and at that point, we will know, and not until then well, we know whether, so basically said so, and we can say the market is okay, and indicating transitory. andrew, i won't see you for a while and i'll miss you. make sure you join us tomorrow "squawk on the street" is next good thursday morning. welcome to "squawk on the street." i'm carl quintanilla with jim cramer and david faber at the new york stock exchange. future does reflect the impact of that hotter than expected may cpi, 0.7 on core, 3.8 year on year, fastest rate since '92 the nasdaq may start the day with a bit of a head wind. the road map begins with inflation watch. the internals a bit lopsided