it is 5:00 a.m. at cnbc. here is your top five at 5:00. stocks struggling to end the week on a high note as treasury secretary janet yellen lays out a rough road ahead for inflation and covid-19 on the pandemic case, the count is rising as the delta variant is spreading now states are looking to enforce more. and didi chinese regulators stepping up the probe into the ride hailing

giant. u.s. companies are under estimating the risk of doing business in hong kong. now he is preparing to take action over his concerns and jack dorsey doubling down on the future of bitcoin. it's friday, july 16th, 2021 you are watching "worldwide exc exchange" here on cnbc good morning tgif i'm dominic chu in for brian sullivan today quick check on the friday morning money. we are seeing stock futures showing very, very modest stability here you see the dow implied higher by 37 points at opening bell s&p higher by 3 points and nasdaq up by 5 the under performer yesterday. the dow is the only index still positive for the week and also on pace for the four-week

winning streak nasdaq is about to snap an eight-week winning streak of its own. breaking news from china regulators step up the investigation into regional ride hailing giant didi global. we have arjun kharpal joining us from beijing this is the next step to rein in the tech giants. >> reporter: absolutely, dom the timeline is days after the massive ipo. regulators opened a cybersecurity into the company they asked to pull the app from download they told didi they could not sign up new users. now seven regulators have raided the offices of didi and conducting it here including the top regulator and anti-trust regulator it is unclear how this review is going to play out or what they

are looking for. it will take a number of weeks to come to conclusion here what is happening is a few things a number of reports suggesting that regulators told didi not to go ahead with the u.s. ipo until it did a self examination of the network security issues. that is something didi ignored and went ahead with anyway you have seen beijing tying the o oversight to look into the overseas companies didi requiring the user data of over 1 million users will have to go through review and ask for permission before overseas moves. beijing trying to rein in the power of the tech giants didi is the latest target in the crackdown. dom, back to you >> arjun, can you take us

through you the ripple effects how are didi's competitors reacting to this raid? raid is maybe the wrong word the visit by regulators to didi hq in china? >> reporter: they are circling like sharks. didi has a 90% ride share in hong kong. it expanded aggressively it left not much room for other competitors. now many are seeing the opportunity to jump in the food delivery giant relaunched a stand-alone ride hailing app days ago offering discounts for new years. you are seeing that on a number of platforms one is backed by carmaker. they are offer ing discounts. another company backed by

tencent and alibaba offering discounts. they are aggressively coming in and grabbing new users that is what is happening right now in the china ride hailing users. they are smelling blood and trying to chip away at the market share dom, back to you. >> arjun, thank you. sticking with the china story. two developing stories with the u.s. regulations president biden will warn u.s. companies about doing business in hong kong amid the deteriorating situation in the regional finance capital this comes amid talks that the u.s. is attempting to reach out to china for lower level talks with a xi-biden summit eunice yoon has the latest from beijing. good evening, eunice >> reporter: good morning, dom the secretary of state is expected to come out to asia

next week. there has been rumbling it could be possible the u.s. officials were hoping she would have a meeting with her chinese counterpart in the port city it looks as though from various reports that the chinese have rejected that idea as you were saying, the whole hope for these lower level meetings was it would pave the way for a meeting with antony blinken and the foreign minister and that would lead to a summit with xi and biden. of course, this idea is coming at a time when china is quite sensitive about the u.s. recent moves, especially when it comes to a particular hong kong or other particular cities. there have been several reports that the u.s. is considering slapping more sanctions on chinese officials over the way beijing has been treating hong

kong, especially with national security and the u.s. is considering issuing a business advisory for american businesses in hong kong and how they operate. the u.s. alert about the quote deteriorating business climate is one of the key messages is the legal system and how the city's famously independent legal system could be subject to beijing interference the advisory is set to be issued on friday. dom, so you know how sensitive china is for the past couple days, the foreign ministry has been frustrated with this calling the campaign sinister. >> there has been a step up of china being more involved in what we think is an autonomous r region that is owned by china, but it is independent region

what is the crackdown look like? the new laws in place have led to police actions there. how intense is it for the anti-china protesters happening in hong kong right now >> reporter: from a business persp perspective, it created a lot of uncertainty. people are worried about what could happen and depending which sector they're in, people are starting to leave or reconsider what they are doing. this affects people in law or accounting anything where your industry is based on the rule of law i have spoken before to several businesses there and including the head of the american chamber of commerce in hong kong still, it hasn't had a massive affect in terms of exodus from hong kong. that is because hong kong's role is changing. instead of a window into china for the west, it is more of a window into china and to try to

really get hong kong more closely knitted with mainland china with the businesses there. >> a big development in the relations there. eunice yoon, thank you very much back home, new concerns rising over the risks of the covid-19 delta variant as case counts were double from one month ago. nbc's tracie potts is in washington, d.c. with more on that good morning, tracie >> reporter: dom, good morning a good news and bad news situation. the government is close to approving a vaccine for children before the end of the year, the briefing at the white house today, the president's briefing later today will focus on the recent surge in cases. s>> the deadly delta variant created a new surge in 40 states with covid cases doubling daily in the past three weeks. some hospitals are running out of beds again with vaccination rates dropping and 98million

americans still not protected. >> it spreads more easily. it will find the pockets where people are not vaccinated and it will do a lot of damage. >> reporter: the surgeon general issued a rare warning. >> health misinformation led people to not wear masks and turn down treatment and not get vaccinated this led to avoid aable illness and death. >> facebook needs to move harmful violating posts. >> reporter: facebook says it is taking aggressive action against misinformation removing more than 18 million posts and the counts local governments are taking action effective sunday los angeles county will require masks for everyone indoors even those vaccinated. >> we can stop the trend and level of transmission we are seeing >> reporter: the fda reviewing data for vaccine for children

underage 12. likely available this winter 4 million kids in the country tested positive, dom few of them hospitalized or died >> thank you, tracie potts, live in d.c. when we come back on the show, janet yellen is sounding the alarm on what she calls rapid inflation. cnbc takes a look at the wave of unemployment fraud totaling some $39 billion during the pandemic. later on, the 18-year-old who will join jeff bezos on his flight into space. a very busy hour still ahead when "rlidexan" wodwe chge returns after this break

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♪ ♪ i think we will have several more months of rapid inflation, so i'm not saying this is a one-one phenomenon i think over the medium turn, we will see inflation decline back to normal levels of course, we have to keep a careful eye on it. >> that was treasury secretary janet yellen on "closing bell" yesterday. fed chairman jay powell this week committing to keeping his foot on the pedal.

joining me is stephanie link cnbc contributor stephanie, the comments of powell and secretary yellen, they are putting a huge focus on the idea that inflation, yes, is a problem, but still transitory. he used the words, powell did. janet yellen saying it could be medium term. should markets be fearful of this inflation story >> good morning. i don't think it's fearful it is recognizing that what's your definition of transitory? how long if it is medium term or long term, it could last for a time it will take time to fix the supply chain issues. there is inflation, dom. you have a cpi at 5% 10% in the last few months ppi 7% annualized.

the prices paid and ism report and you are back to 1979le leve. you have wage increases and shelter now on the rise because moratoriums have been lifted part of this is going to be transitory whatever that means in terms of the timeline some of it is not transitory i think the wages and shelter are things to keep an eye on 9.2 million job openings out there. the economists in the jolt company is saying that you can't find jobs. they can't find people to fill the jobs they have to increase wages. you and i have anecdotal information about the pressures that we're seeing in terms of pricing. the key going forward is do companies have pricing power that is what is top of mind for me in earnings season. what do margins look like and how are companies passing along

the price increases? >> stephanie, as you look at the inflation landscape, are there certain types of companies that will weather the storm more? the ones who have pricing power? what kind of companies are you looking at with regard to who will benefit in the longer term because of the story >> that is interesting we heard from pepsi this week. they have pricing power. last quarter, many of the consumer staples companies says they would increase prices and pass it through. the staples can handle it. restaurants, certainly i will also say i think the industrial companies are going to see pricing power caterpillar indicated last quarter that in june of this year they were going to raise prices we have to listen to some of the industrial companies and how they are faring. i think they will be able to

increase prices as well. look, i think at the end of the day, step back and say why is inflation on the rise because growth is on the rise. that's a good thing that growth is on the rise we have a strong consumer. we have very strong manufacturing. inventory is at five-year lows the growth part of the story is good inflation, we have to watch it i think with low interest rates, this combination of all three is very positive for equity over the longer term. >> stephanie, before we let you go you mentioned growth and inflation. the good and the bad kind. why is it treasury investors will accept 1.33% yield for ten years if that growth story is in tact >> i know. that's the conundrum we are all scratching our heads. is it technical? was it record shorts everyone on the wrong side the fed? the boj? the ecb letting inflation run

hotter than expected is it the delta variant? a lot of things. at the end of the day, step back and stay low interest rates are pretty good for the consumer and corporations also risk assets it is something to watch obviously the bond market is a very good tell usually it is getting a bit distorted because of the monetary policies around the world >> all right stephanie link at hightower. have a nice weekend. >> you, too. still on deck, colonial pipeline may be back up and running, but a class action suit filed is just the beginning of the legal troubles details ahead en "rlidwhwodwe exchange" returns after this break. rtphones. that's right. but what if i'm already a customer? oh, no problem. hey, cam...? ah, same deal! yeah, it's kind of our thing. huh, that's a great deal... what if i'm new to at&t? cam, can you...? hey...but what about for existing customers?

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that's why the alzheimer's association walk to end alzheimer's is full of them. because flowers find a way to break through. just like we will. join the fight at alz.org/walk welcome back during the virus pandemic, a wave of unemployed made governments a target for fraud fraud payments amounted to $39 billion nationwide the bulk of identity theft more than 100,000 people reported a different type of fraud. transaction fraud. criminals steal the unemployment insurance from accounts. a cnbc investigation revealed a cost saving and out dated technology fueled this test. leslie picker has the report

>> reporter: when schools and venues shutdown, the part-time teacher azari moon was out of work unemployment benefits were a lifeline until october when all but a few dollars were stolen. >> without the funds, moon became homeless. >> reporter: living in his car for weeks. >> i'd usually lay against that side of the car and lay my legs over the center console. >> reporter: moon and millions of unemployed americans received their state benefits through debit cards like these but they lack chips, a common security barrier against fraud. still 45 states plus d.c. use debit cards mostly without chips although many also give recipients a direct deposit option our investigation found states like california and nevada found an outsized share of stolen benefits during the pandemic because they had a greater reliance on chipless debit cards. >> a card without a chip, that's really easy to copy.

>> reporter: criminals can then take the duplicate card to an atm for cash according to cybersecurity experts like charles henderson from ibm >> it's just a matter of picking up a reader,writer and duplicating it just like a photo copy >> and i would presume it would be impossible to replicate a card with an chip on it. >> it is extremely expensive and cost prohibitive to manufacture a card with a chip in it >> reporter: a big reason why these cards had a lower level of security associated to it. it comes down to cost. california hired bank of america years ago to distribute unemployment insurance on its behalf their contract show the state only requested cards with magnetic stripes, not chips. california recently extended its contract with b of a only the bank tells cnbc it would like to exit this business as soon as possible that's because the bank says it's lost hundreds of billions in 2020 alone due to transactions fraud in state benefits >> i was shocked

i couldn't believe it was happening to me. >> reporter: this single mom vanessa experienced it first-hand and blames the bank and the lack of security >> i had to break my son's piggy bank it was sad to have my son tell me he knows i'm stressing, he knows i'm struggling, that was the heart breaking moment. >> reporter: they're part of a class action lawsuit against bank of america alleging the firm failed to fully investigate their fraud claims and quickly credit their accounts when the funds were stolen. together they say they've lost more than $10,000. >> i developed depression, anxiety. >> reporter: she was at the grocery store trying to buy food for herself and her toddler when she discovered the missing funds. >> i was sobbing and i didn't know what to do because that was our life at that moment, and it was a really scary moment. >> reporter: they said in court documents between october 2020 and march of 2021 about 255,000 fraud claims were filed of which they approved payments to about half

in a statement to cnbc, bank of america said its number one goal has always been to ensure legitimate recipients could access their benefits. >> what was going on with bank of america at the time was really exhausting. >> reporter: after months of back and forth bank of america gave them credit for their missing funds but they say their lives have already been up ended. >> this is peoples lives you're messing with, this is my life you're messing with, his life, her life i feel very like punched in the gut. >> reporter: amid our questionings over the last few months bank of america and the state of california told cnbc they are in the process of transitioning to chip based cards pending california legislation would also add a direct deposit option for these benefits bank of america seized this type of work in kansas, maryland and nevada in recent months. we called other banks that provide these benefits like key bank and comerica. only key bank commented to us

and that's all they said d dom. leslie picker, thank you we have phillip mena in new york with the latest headlines. good morning >> good morning, dom 50 people are dead and 1,000 are missing after the flooding in germany. storms caused rivers to burst banks sweeping away cars and causing homes to collapse. in neighboring belgium, eight are reported dead after another river overflowed sending torrents of pawater through the votes. streets. and officials killed and four injured in texas. the suspect was taken into custody with a police robot. the other wounded officers have

been treated and relereleased. another pick for blue o origins flight the 18-year-old will travel to space. oliver damon is taking the place of the unnamed auction winner. the teenager will join jeff bezos and his brother and wally funk the tuesday flight will have the oldest and youngest people ever to go to space big week next week for all involved and the future of space travel >> phillip, would you takethe trip if someone offered it to you? >> absolutely. maybe not the first one, but, fifth or sixth i'd take it in a heart beat. >> not something i'd consider. phillip mena, thank you. soda cans, hunting and vaccinations your big friday money movers are

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call today. treasury secretary janet yellen painting a bleak picture when it comes to the global economy and rising risks of covid-19 variants. intel closing in on the biggest deal ever as it looks to supply an industry caught up in the throes of the massive

supply. and business issues for business owners across america right now. it is friday, july 16th, 2021. you are watching "worldwide exchange" here on cnbc welcome back to the show i'm dominic chu in for brian sullivan on friday morning here is how stocks are looking halfway through the 5:00 a.m. eastern time hour. gains are modest at opening bell if the futures moves into regular trading. dow implied higher by 40 points. s&p higher by 5 points and nasdaq higher by 20 points on the bond side, 10-year yields are still in focus here. they are ticking just slightly higher a hair below 1.33% for the 10-year. the 2-year note yield is above that .23% mark

on the oil side of things, watching what is happening with crude because we are seeing prices still lower on the day or the week you can see prices higher by half a percent $72.77 wti coming off the lowest since june 18th. it is on pace for the worst week since march 19th oil is a key focus for traders let's get to the top stories with bertha coombs bertha, good morning >> good morning, dom intel is in talks with foundry for $40 billion. this is according to the wall street journal the move would turbo charge the intel plans to boost chip output and the largest acquisition ever the deal is far from complete and global foundry could proceed with the planned ipo. jack dorsey is announcing

the new square division focused on financial services with the primary focus on bitcoin the series of tweets yesterday, the ceo of square and twitter said like square's new bitcoin hardware wallet, the development would be completely open open road map, open development and open source. the new business will combine the efforts of cash app seller and title in the same bowl of decentralized finance. canada will allow cruise ships to operate in november if operators comply fully with public health requirements the move coming earlier as the country earlier banned cruising through february of 2022. and wall street could close markets for juneteenth starting in 2022. the securities industry and financial markets association is

recommending bond markets close in observance of the nation's biggest banks and normally follow the holiday schedules the executives said the big board will close for the new federal holiday. bank holiday market holiday coming in june, it looks like, d oom >> thank you, bertha coombs. smaller businesses continue to struggle as they continue to face inflation and labor shortages. according to data out this week, half of u.s. small businesses have job openings in june they could not fill the numbers down two points from may with a record of 48% factors behind the employment shortage range from wages being too low and enhanced unemployment benefits to child care issues and concerns of

covid. for a deeper look at the sector, let's bring in john stanford executive of the small business round table. john, i'm looking at the government with regards to the job openings and turnover. in may, 9.2 million open job positions. why is it small businesses cannot find people to hire >> thanks for having me he back dom. you are laying out the key issues they face we talk about the role of unemployment insurance there are other things people are scared to come back to work in some places in other places, child care and transportation issues. we not fully humming as an economy. that means workers don't shave the support they need to get back in the door we see small businesses try to deal with this, but without the doubt, this is the number one issue holding back small businesses from releasing the

full recovery potential. >> i would say anecdotally, in the areas i live in now, there are help wanted signs everywhere what can the business owners do to entice people or get people back in the door to go back to work or full operations and get the economy really going >> well, you know entrepreneurs. we are a resilient bunch we see more flexible hours and giving part-time workers more time the number one thing is people trying to raise benefits of course, that is a cost and that's a cost that will get passed on to consumers we will see this tie into the feel of inflation and higher costs because small businesses have to pay workers more we are seeing things with new technology and same-day pay and other way where is small businesses are meeting worker

where is they are. you can only do so much. if people can't come back, it is the main street shops that can't get workers back in the door it is a crisis >> what happens if -- because we mentioned it before. small business in america is pretty much the backbone of the american economy we talk about the massive mega cap companies and what they do and how much they're worth when it comes down to it, the job engine in america is driven by small business. what exactly happens if, come the fall, and variant concerns going on what happens if those small businesses cannot get up and running? what does it mean for the economy in america >> you will see a tremendous pull in the economy. if small businesses cannot flourish, the economy can't flourish 1 out of 2 people are working for a small business it would be a traf vesty.

if we don't turn the corner and all of the support like ppp and others fade away, that means we're in a worse spot than in march or april of last year sdpyear >> how important is it for small business owners, john, this idea, enhanced unemployment benefits we gave out stimulus checks. that put money into consumer pockets to spend at small businesses and at the same time an argument has been made the benefits have kept people out of the work force where is the balance for small businesses where does your organization stand on how we should treat the unemployment benefits in the futures in this scenario >> well, i think where we are looking is these unemployment benefits, supplementary ones are coming to aen end.

we are looking at child care and transportation we know what humans are experiencing and workers are experiencing which is a host of issues we are focusing and we hope the congress will invest in work force training as much as we can't get workers in the door, we can't get qualified workers in the door. i think that is important. it is not just about finding anyone to fill the right position the thing i hear from small business owners is we are not finding the right people with the right skills we have to invest at the fe federal, state and local level. >> john stanford with the latest thank you very much. have a good weekend, sir >> thanks, dom. coming up on the show, remember the colonial pipeline an a an attack a couple of months ago. now one gas station is leading a class-action lawsuit against the colonial pipeline.

eamon javers will join us with the investigative reporting. as we head to break, some other top stories. american airlines cancelling voluntary leaves of 3,300 flight attendants calling them back in the effort to meet the growing demand for travel. the carrier plans to hire new flight attendants. and paypal boosting weekly crypto purchase five times to $100,000 paypal first started letting users buy cryptocurrency in october of 2020 and seen as a key step in the mainstream adoption of the asset class. servicemax, backed by silver lake and ge and salesforce.com is merging with a special purpose acquisition or spac.

the deal values servicemax at $1.4 billion check out the shares we are back after this

all right. welcome back t time for the three stock

stories. moderna stock added to the 1s&p 50 on july 21st. shares of alcoa under pressure despite posting record profits on surging aluminum prices it saw its equity rise 0.9% on better than expected second quarter earnings topping estimates of $1.29 the company with $2.83 billion which was above forecast shares of american outdoor brands are sinking ahead of the opening bell profits did come in better than expectations the shares down 9% in the pre-market trade. it has been two months since colonial pipeline was the victim

of the ransomware attack and now hit with a class action lawsuit. the gas station pump ran dry for eight days eamon javers has the story >> reporter: that's what he told his suppliers after the colonial pipeline ransomware attack he manages an ez mart in wilmington, north carolina, where he sells gas and runs a convenience store. for eight days he had nothing to sell his customers at the pump ez mart is the lead plaintiff in a class action complaint filed against colonial last month. according to the suit ez mart saw its sales dip nearly $8,000 in may, the same month ransom ware gang dark side attacked the company. >> the claim we seek to advance on behalf of the class is one of negligence, that is this company was using a system allowing remote access without multifactor authentication and had many warnings this could occur. >> reporter: john is

representing the plaintiffs in the complaint which alleges colonial failed to properly secure the pipeline. this resulted in fuel shortages for thousands of gas stations. in a statement colonial tells cnbc it can't comment on pending litigation but said the company worked around the clock to safely restart the pipeline. but it's colonial's planning prior to the cyber attack that's central to the allegation of negligence, an issue that came up in a congressional hearing here >> did you have a plan for cyber security response that included guidance about ransomware? >> senator, specifically, no no discussion about ransom and action to ransom >> reporter: the colonial case unlike most cyber breaches which deal with stolen data involves physical damage and that presents new legal questions >> the question that's raised with this is what liabilities and what responsibilities does colonial have?

colonial pipeline is the primary target and other people are impacted by it >> reporter: dom, a lot of questions to consider here this is just getting started a couple of details on this for you. one is this class action complaint was filed in the northern district of georgia on june 21st. colonial has until august 24th to file a responsive pleading. a judge will determine if it meets the criteria for class action if the case moves forward as a class, this could be a years long process they just getting started. it is early days here. dom. >> eamon, we know you are not a lawyer what is the law on this? has there ever been any precedent for something like this for a class-action lawsuit? >> they are sorting through this what is the level of cybersecurity you have to have to be adequate and below which

you are negligent? that is a fuzzy area and ultimately who has to pay. is this an act of god like a hurricane or is this something you could see coming and need preparation. all of that is sorted out. if this does go forward, which is, as i said, to be determined. if that goes forward, it has to be sorted out in terms of the details of the case. a lot of companies are watching this to see what their liability could be going forward this could be an important one >> not just this industry, but every industry eamon javers, thank you very much coming up, treasury secretary janet yellen warning that the delta variant warning is a threat to the economy. and if you haven't already done so, follow our podcast. check us out on apple or spotify or other podcast apps. we'll be right back. modern or reliable.

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i do think it's a risk i think it's not just a question of the united states, but it's a question of risks around the world. i am very concerned that although with advanced countries are making good progress with vaccination in many parts of the world and especially in low-income countries, vaccination rates are extremely low. as long as that's true and this virus easily transmittable across borders, we are really have to worry about the development of variants that could pose future threats. >> that was treasury secretary janet yellen yesterday the comments late yesterday saying the covid delta variant could hit southeast asia the growth forecast slashed by one full percent for indo asia

and the philippines. joining us now is john stoltfus. should we be worried about the economy in asia? >> john, i think so. that is one of the reasons we have seen some of the in international markets suffer in performance recently the question is how are they going to come out of this. between the questions related to inflation and the questions related to the variants, the market does have underlying concern and a wall of worry it will need to climb during this period >> all right so, in many measures of the emerging market, we show the etf. we are showing the ishares

market is the next leg lower if the delta variant starts to take hold we are seeing some under performance in key parts of the m markets. >> dominic, it would be the potential if that variant does take hold and begins to cause shutdowns. it depends the sense with the variant at this point is ultimately what it would do if it is left to run. it is open-ended to the damage we have to see thus far, what we could expect is we have to monitor the situation. we do not think it is at a critical point at this point especially considering the advancements in the vaccines made over the course of the last year >> john, if that is the case, i mean, markets are still -- they have seen some weakness. they are still within a stone's throw from record highs. is the market in a position

where it is vulnerable to possible down side given this uncertainty around the delta variant? >> dominic, we think the market is always vulnerable to down side if traders or nervous investors and skeptics can find a reason to enable them to take some profits at the high levels without fomo that said, earnings season is looking good stateside as we move forward so long as the variant can be controlled or stemmed. >> if we are heading out of the woods, that, to me, has signalled for the pandemic recovery trade places like travel and leisure and industrial and deep value cyclical and commodities and that sort of thing is that where you should go considering the places have

under performed in the last couple months? >> dom, when we look at this, we want a broader exposure. we want consumer discretionary we want to own technology. we want to barbell it with industrials as well as materials and financials the reason for that is we think this is a market that maintains a position day-to-day and week-to-week to rotate and rebalance very much between reopening trade and growth trade and growth versus value. it's broad diversification is the best way from what we're seeing here, thus far, we are seeing investors institutional as well as retail as well as private client using professional advisory really opting more and moreverin >> before we go, interest rates.

are they a worry >> interest rates are something to monitor we think they will rise gradually because we think there are secular opensffsets to inflation. >> john stoltfus, thank you. that does it for us on "worldwide exchange. "squawk box" is next ice works fast. heat makes it last. feel the power of contrast therapy, so you can rise from pain. need better sleep? try nature's bounty sleep 3 a unique tri layer supplement, that calms you helps you fall a sleep faster and stay a sleep longer. great sleep comes naturally with sleep 3 only from nature's bounty every day in business brings something new. so get the flexibility of gr the new mobile servicely designed for your small business. introducing comcast business mobile. you get the fastest, most reliable network with nationwide 5g included. and you can get unlimited data for just

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good morning the markets grappling with, among other things, the inflation debate yankees didn't help. treasury secretary yellen says expect several more months of rapidly rising prices. here is the other story. covid cases getting worse. los angeles is bringing back the mask mandate to combat an outbreak driving up hospitalizations mandatory masks.

inside even if you are vaccinated. meet the teen going to space next week. blue origin was planning to make history with the oldest person in space now the youngest it's friday, july 16th, 2021 "squawk box" begins right now. good morning welcome to "squawk box" here on cnbc i'm becky quick along with joe kernen andrew is out today. it's friday. we are watching the equity futures. we are getting ready for the weekend. futures are indicated higher this morning with the dow futures up 51 points s&p futures up 7 nasdaq up 27 it has been a pretty good week for the dow. up over .30% for the