automotive industry. they're doing really well. >> thank you steve weiss, what do you got >> ttec iota, they had a great quarter, great numbers who knows what happens in the future they've split the company. they've exalted, the fundamental is strong. i want to point out reports tonight and moderna tomorrow morning. >> thanks everybody. you as well. "the exchange" is now. thanks scott i am jon fortt in for kelly evans and here's what's ahead on "the exchange. the nasdaq holding on to a small gain, but robinhood soars on the return of meme mania perhaps we'll talk to a five-star fund manager and is refusing to get the covid vaccine the new smoking. health services secretary is going to join us to discuss how insurers should handle the unvaccinated and doing the pandemic pivot we will talk to two different

businesses who are evolving along a new normal we begin with the market action. >> thank you, jon. markets are reversing yesterday's gains when the s&p 500 closed at yet again another record high. the fed offering mixed messages about tapering, delta variants on the table along with a notable slowdown in june adp private payrolls adding to the downward trend all sectors are lower across the board. energy the lowest, down over 2%. that's falling with crude. i want to focus on consumer staples a bit. that's among the worst performers the sector was brought down by food earns from kraft, despite earnings toppings expectation. and shares of cvs, the company announced it would raise wages starting july 2022 when you think about the money involved with that it's going to $485 million extra than labor costs. let's talk about what's shaking on the nasdaq. amd and robinhood.

those are the number one and number two most active stocks, both trading, amd well over 50 million. but now robb over 150 million shares quarterly sales hit an all-time high it's been a wild ride for robinhood. you can see the drops right there. the stock hit a gain of 81% over yesterday's close. there's no major catalyst but i just checked, hood is the most fengsed stock on wall street bets today and kathy wood purchased about 89,000 shares yesterday. john, back to you. >> all good in the hood if you own it thanks joining me to weigh in on the meme trade and give us his best ideas is michael leeb ert, portfolio manager, barron opportunity fund the 5-star fund is up 10% this

year and about 130% since last year's bank low. mike, so, tell me what is going on you think in this market? over all it's a bit tough, but amd was under 100 until a couple days ago you know, before earnings. now all of a sudden it's got this attention which i guess is a short term good thing because a real company uses that too >> i would say about amd there's obviously a real company underneath and there's obviously big long term trends whether you think about what's going on with ai, artificial intelligence, think about building out data centers, what they're able to do in intel there's much more of a long term trade in amd than perhaps in robinhood. >> i guess what i'm wondering is you look at things like game stop, right, which had clear issues, clear problems there were a lot of people betting against it you look at blackberry or any

number of other stocks that sort of got caught up in this early on even robinhood, which is a relatively recent ipo. just a few days ago there's controversy around it. but amd is a different sort of stock. it's had this track record, as you mentioned, of really beating up on intel, stealing market share. what does it say that a stock like this is getting caught up in a retail frenzy, even as the overall market indices are treading water >> listen, jon, anything can happen in the short term so, we don't focus a lot on the short term dynamics or short term trading you can get a lot of retail trading. we do focus on secular growth, companies grow faster for longer, the power of compounding. when you talk about amd and look at what they've done over the last 20 years it fits more into that camp. >> what do you do with your top holding, microsoft, alphabet, strong earnings in the last cycle just a few days ago.

but with a rare exception here and there, alphabet in particular, they didn't move that much i guess because they had already been bid up quite nicely but it raises questions for me even with outstanding results, even with these big tech names how much farther do they have to run? >> i think it depends on the names you're talking about i think those are the kind of companies that still have big growth opportunities ahead of them when we think about faster belonging, think about the power of the secular growth trend, think about companies that have a large adjustable market and there's still a lot of room to penetrate. we think about companies that have multiple cams, multiple chapters some of the companies that have helped us over the past quarter are the companies of that ilk. and i would highlight multiple cams, multiple ways to win, investing longer >> i remember when they had

their ipo, nasdaq got to talk to the founders there it's sort of this area of dev ops in a way, the tools of building the technology of the future not as sexy in a way for those people wanting to buy stocks for things they actually use out in the world -- the apples, the microsofts -- but lassie the thing that's the real key for building technology of the future how do you expect those companies todo how do you expect those names to do as even this market cycle maybe comes to an end? >> listen, i want talk about all the names but i'll talk about dev ops. we live in a world of technology first, right the rubric over the last year has been technology transformation every company today is becoming a technology company you have to build technology you have to build apps you have to be able to interact with your customers where they

are at whatever time they need and at lazy and other companies but right in the middle of that. it may not be sexy to people at home because it's not the netflix they turn on or the amazon they buy products from but when you think about the information technology world today and how applications are being developed to help businesses interact with their own customers, they are very, very well-positioned and the other interesting thing about them -- we talk about second or third acts, they're not only focused on dev ops. they started in dev ops but they're expanding to work flow and helping teams collaborate across the entire organization, not just in dev ops. >> i want you to think about what i think is a trend i've seen over the past several weeks and maybe months, which is some of these high fliers during this pandemic period making acquisitions, makes bets in essence that are not quite as risky as you might think i'm thinking about zoom acquiring five9. i'm thinking about square going

after afterpay it would be one thing if zoom were doubling down on consumer or square was moving and making some big crypto acquisition, but they're not doing that what does that signal for investors? >> i think it really speaks to what i talked about. we've been technology investors for many, many years it's a colloquialism but faster for longer, the durability to grow is something i think most invss task force miss. it is what allowed google and amazon and apple to be great companies. that's what these companies are doing. so, zoom is the leader in video, but they understand that we're moving to a world of what's called unified communications, video and phone. and they also have to service the call centers so, they bought the best asset out there in terms of five9 and able to use the acquisition. when you think about square

where they're sellers and all of us using cashout, when they looked at what was going on with buy now pay later and they saw an opportunity to require an asset there, go to market faster, expand themselves internationally, to expand themss into market, we also thought that was a very good acquisition. >> all right we will be watching how that plays out. michael lip ert with the baron opportunity fund thank you. >> thank you very much meanwhile a different look after decades of avoiding politics at the fed, janet yellen is hitting the road to help promote the president's economic agenda. ylan mui has the details >> she's in atlanta today. it's her first domestic trip as treasury secretary her main message the is the trillions of dollars in spending are essential for the u.s. to remain the world's superpower. >> so, my largest concern is not what are the risks if we make

these big investments. it is what is the cost if we don't. >> now, yellen called out four destructive forces that threaten the nations long-term growth, declining force participation, rage polarization, racial inequality and climate change. >> fiscal policy can help unwind them or the lack thereof can intensify them and we know this because that's exactly what's happened over the past 40 years. >> yellen is hoping this trip will help rally public support for the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the democrats own package. john hope brian of operation hope, ryan marshal, and alfredo rivera, north american president at coke. j janet yellen did acknowledge there's a good faith debate over

how much government spending is too much but she said now is the most fiscally strategic time to make these investments. back to you. >> it's interesting. as you look at the various economic spokespeople that president biden has at his disposal, what is the benefit or liability of having a former fed chair who knows so many business leaders and is used to, i guess, the hot lights of, you know, perception and watching every word she says? >> yeah, so she is someone who has a lot of credibility i think both with business leaders and with law makers on capitol hill. so, when she talks she doesn't really sound like sort of a partisan player. she sounds like someone who's explaining the president's priorities, though she is making a forceful case for them on the flip side, she's not a wheeler and dealer she's not the person in the room haggling those last final details of the bills with lawmakers directly president biden, in fact, likes to do that himself quite often

>> all right we'll see if they can get their agenda across the finish line. thanks this auto maker is on pace for its worse day since march 2020 and threatening to break below its 200 day moving average. we will tell you what's behind the move lower first, should health insurers charge people who refuse to get the covid vaccine higher premiums? we'll talk to one of the architects of the affordable care act about that next >> announcer: this is "the exchange" on cnbc. age before beauty? why not both? visibly diminish wrinkled skin in... crepe corrector lotion... only from gold bond.

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welcome back to "the exchange." more than 70% of the u.s. population has received at least one dose of a covid vaccine, about a month behind president biden's goal and with cases back on the rise, some are wondering whether the threat of higher insurance premiums could help sway people to get the shot. bertha coombs has a look at whether that's even legal. bertha >> that is the question, jon under the affordable care act, health plans can't discriminate against you based on health status, but they can charge you more if you smoke because of potential associated medical costs. elizabeth rosenthal and stanford professor glen kramen argue

people who remain unvaccinated could also pay a surcharge because if they're hospitalized with covid costs could easily cost six figures health insurance plan says insurers are still very much focused on incentives rather than punitive measures to get people immunized but they'll make you pay more than last year if you get sick now. employers and insurers have mostly cut out those covid cost waivers, so now you'll face big co-pays for hospitalization. while courts have upheld vaccine mandates for more than a century now, texas sued a hospital, lawrence dossen told me the courts would likely reject a surcharge on the unvaccinated under the aca. he argues that kind of blame and shame would pose a slippery

slope. and the tracking poll finds while numbers who were hesitant to get the jab are coming down, outright resistance remains steady i doubt a surcharge would make those numbers budge. >> does this come down to the question of whether vaccine hesitancy and putting aside people who for medical reasons have concerned about whether the vaccine would work for them, whether it's a pre-existing condition or more like a choice, whether it's like a condition. if it is like smoking, which is a choice, at least at first, what would the issue be? >> but the issue is with smoking there really is no way to smoke and not really incur health effects, right there's no healthy way to smoke. if you're lucky you will not end up with heart disease or end up with a lung issue or -- and they're not going to charge you more when and if you do get

copd but with a vaccine you may not get the disease. so, it's not the same sort of deliberate cause and effect. the other thing is that right now it certainly could happen for next year. we are past that point the rates are set for 2022 so, it would be very, very difficult. and cynthia cot said it would be really difficult to track it down because there's no national registry for vaccines. and in some states it's a little bit still unclear whether someone gets one and they'll be registered on the state depending on whether they get it so, logistically it's also kind of difficult to do but most people feel like it's really not going to convince that 14%, 15% that is outright rejecting the vaccine. you really have to have persuasion >> all right, bertha thank you. so, are higher health care premiums enough to encourage enough people to get vaccinated? joining me now is a key architect of the aca, former

secretary of health and human services it's great to have you you know, i wonder about this because it seems to me that the insurance companies are going to have to calculate risk for the unvaccinated one way or another and what the potential costs are, whether they're doing it to pass along those costs, right, to the person with insurance or not. aren't they going to have to figure that out? >> well, i think they will the good news about insurance, most insurance now, is it doesn't take into account pre-existing conditions. and while there are a lot of encouragements around people getting preventive services, you waive copays, you waive coinsurance. there aren't really a lot of sticks at the end of the day so, i think here's one of the things insurers could do pretty quickly. most of them can place waivers for any kind of copay or deductible if somebody was hospitalized, if somebody was treated for covid. a lot of those policies have

ceased now that we have a vaccine. you could actually put them back in place for people who have break through infections, the very few people who end up in the hospital who have already been vaccinated. and make sure that people understand that you will not get any kind of break on a copay or a deductible even if you're insured you're going to pay the maximum amount. if you are unvaccinated and end up in the hospital i think it's much more complicated to talk about insurers trying to change premium prices because you'd have to collect a lot of information. and in most cases, in employee plans and others, you cannot individually medically underwrite people, which is what we would be talking about, looking at that specific thing >> so -- >> so but employers have a lot of vaccine mandates that they can put in place, which could be very effective beyond their insurance.

>> so, bottom line though, do you expect this pandemic to change either the questions that insurers askand maybe even employers ask or the incentives that they give when it comes to things like vaccines because it just really feels like this issue is going to extend beyond this particular pandemic whether it ends soon, which of course we all hope, or not >> well, as far as i know there is no current insurance penalty for the antivaxing community, right? the people who just refuse to get vaccinations, refuse to vaccinate their kids, whatever that could change with this. that could actually be something that is implemented on a go-forward basis i think it would be -- would require congressional intervention to change the rules for medicaid and medicare. as i say, you don't medically underwrite people. you don't ask individual

questions. but insurance companies definitely could make sure that if the very few people who have a break through infection continue to get waivers on copays and deductibles for their hospital stay, continue to be protected from out-of-pocket costs and, again, make it very clear that if you're unvaccinated none of that is in place for you. so, it's more of an incentive. that can be done very quickly. and i think that might make a difference it's hard to know what is going to make a difference with folks. i think also the fda moving as expeditiously as possible and getting to full approval would be very helpful. >> what about this movement toward encouraging insurance holders toward healthier living, encouraging exercise, working out, wearing technology that tracks that sort of thing. would encouraging vaccines versus penalizing the unvaccinated work in that same

frame? >> well, i think it probably could. again, there are lots of incentives in place around what is so-called preventive health if you are prediabetic and you enter a weight loss program and an exercise program, you often have an incentive offer bid your company or your insurer. if you, you know, get your screenings in a timely basis, you get incentives so, this is definitely preventi preventive health care, to get vaccinated, to make sure you don't have these expensive hospital stays and potentially death, which is the ultimate penalty. so, i think incentives fit into the category that has been tried for a long time and actually has had some real impact on people's behavior and smoking cessation programs work we know that so, hopefully vaccine incentives could work >> we hope that people make the healthiest decisions for themselves and their families is

the bottom line. >> you bet >> former hhs secretary. thank you. >> thank you coming up we are highlighting business owners who made a pandemic pivot and are now seeing things off. but we are look at the future of education also and entertainment. plus, viva las vegas, one land owner making a big bet on sin city's turn ouarnd we will bring you the details behind this multi-billion dollar deal that building you're trying to sell, - you should ten-x it. - ten-x it? ten-x is the world's largest online commercial real estate exchange. you can close with more certainty.

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♪ welcome back to "the exchange." i'm rahel solomon. the current surgeon general meeting with predecessors to answer questions about the latest surge in covid cases due to the delta variant surgeon general murthy saying there is a realistic possibility we will need vaccine booster shots. and on "the news" bans on mask mandates, we'll look at the governor's push to sign a ban he signed months ago. moratorium on covid vaccine boosters he wants wealthy nations to focus on spreading to countries. no one will be safe from covid

until everyone is safe at the risk of developing new variants is minimized in beirut protesters clashing. water cannons and tear gas were fired at protesters, throwing rocks at officers near the country's parliament you're now up to date. jon, back to you and coming up, how bitcoin investors who pay their taxes could benefit from the new infrastructure bill. and let's get a little show and tell before he to break. that's where we show and stock and the tell story share of lyft on the worse day since april. still plans on maintaining elevating new driver bonuses and incentives president john zimmer told squawk box he's not worried about a driver shortage. >> the supply and demand imbalance happens, but it is getting better quarter over quarter we welcomed

50% more new drivers than we did last quarter and again, we were able to hit ebitda profitability with driver earnings at an all-time high and demand growing as well if you're 55 and up, t-mobile has plans built just for you. switch now and get 2 unlimited lines and 2 free smartphones. and now get netflix on us. it's all included with 2 lines for only $70 bucks! only at t-mobile. it's a thirteen-hour flight, that's not a weekend trip. fifteen minutes until we board. oh yeah, we gotta take off. you downloaded the td ameritrade mobile app so you can quickly check the markets?

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welcome back bitcoin climbing higher after touching its lowest level since july 27th, still below 40k at the moment though. s.e.c. chairman gary gensler appeared on "squawk box" today >> if people want to take risk, that's all right but what we want to do is provide them some of the basic protections against fraud and manipulation the trading platforms they're on are not currently under regulatory regime that protects them like they're trading on the new york stock exchange. it just isn't. and i think those are gaps and i think that's not good for investors. and i don't think it's good for the technology >> and while the s.e.c. is working on regulations for crypto trading, the bipartisan infrastructure bill contains a new tax requirement for exchanges that could actually help some investors. robert frank, you got some

details? >> jon, we do actually the new infrastructure bill raises an estimated $28 billion cracking down on crypto tax evasion. but for investors who do pay their taxes, there is a potential upside to comply with the new rules, crypto exchanges like coin base will have to start producing tax forms known as 1099-bs rather than having to calculate their own taxes, crypto holders will get an easy-to-read form that's also sent to the irs. in some cases the rules could even help lower taxes. crypto holders who use tax loss harvesting -- that's where you take losses on money losing crypto positions to offset gains -- they will have much clearer records. right now if you move crypto from one exchange to the other, the exchanges don't provide any information on your cost basis that makes t a lot harder to track losses the new rules will provide a detailed history of each crypto

purchase or sale even if you transfer the tokens. bottom line here, the new rules will tell the government who is avoiding crypto taxes but could also help those who play by the rule imagine that, jon, a tax code that rewards those who play by the rules. >> i'll believe it when i see it, robert frank does it reward them as much as those who kind of played by the already of rules but managed to find some loopholes? and it also seems like there's some opportunity here both for specialists to deal with the ultra rich around crypto issues and maybe even for software. i don't know if you're hearing anything about that. >> no question i mean, there's a whole new cottage industry that's cropped up just in the last year, and i talked to a lot of them for this particular reporting of tax advisers to crypto holders because it's complicated as gensler just said there the rules are a little amorphous right now. it's kind of the wild west so, there is a brand-new thriving business around taxes and crypto and investing

>> yeah. that's who wins no matter what the people who are prepared to specialize in helping you pay as little as possible in the new, new thing. robert, thanks while the biden administration and congress are working out tow the tax digital assets in the infrastructure bill, the federal government itself has a secret stash of bitcoin. i bet you were guessing that might be the case. cnbc reporter has been following that story how big? do we know how big this stash is >> reporter: yes so, the government has a stock pile and they have accrued it from all of these different agencies so, the fbi does these raids and the irs does these raids and i spoke to someone at the irs who had a heads up this mission, and they say so far in this fiscal year 2021, they've taken in $1.2 billion in bitcoin. so, you know, it's not too small

a collection of crypto >> so, what are they going odo with that? it reminds me of cash seized or maybe contraband seized in government raids and they have to figure out ways to turn that into something that helps fund the government but with crypto, is there a government wallet? what do they do? >> yeah, so essentially what happens is you have all these agencies that are able to seize the crypto assets, whether it's bitcoin, whether it is light coin or e theer yum, and it goes into this digital wallet and then once the case is closed, once everything is settled, it gets passed on to the u.s. marshal service, and that is the group that's tasked with with auctions off this crypto currency it's funny because this is what they do when they have planes or cars take nn these seizure operations but they're selling their bitcoin. so, that's the next stage of the process. and then once they liquidate all

the cryptocurrency, it goes into two funds that are then reallocated to, you know, either congress stakes a claim over those funds or goes back to the agencies that collect cryptocurrency in the first place. >> there are numerous movie plots with this kind of what happens to this big stash of cash that the government -- either the u.s. government or some other government ends up confiscating, and does it end up on the back of a truck crypto itself being in some ways really easy to track but then in some ways really hard, i wonder if there are concerns about whether all of that money really ends up going where it's supposed go. >> sure. and there have been concerns about that and people have expressed that i reached you to see if there's any sort of comprehensive central database that keeps track of the cryptocurrency that's brought in during these raids but subsequently auctioned. that's one of the critiques over the past few years is there

isn't one standard database that you can go to and there are so many different agencies that are collecting this cryptocurrency and then it's also being collected at the state level so there are a lot of variables there to consider. >> yeah, there's a good movie plot in there too, i'm sure. thank you. and now coming up the pandemic has forced businesses large and small to evolve, to make changes we will talk to the cpo of a digital education platform for children and catch up with cofounders of a drive-in theater in newark, new jersey, about how they've pivoted the past year to lean into their missions and what's next for their businesses "the exchange" will be right back

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ hey google, turn up the heat. ♪ ♪ ♪ welcome back to "the exchange." markets mixed right now, the dow

the biggest laggard of the major ind deese. here are some of the movers this hour airlines moving lower as the summer disruptions continues for the carriers spirit is one of the biggest laggards after cancelling half of its flights today to reboot operations due to a mix of bad weather, staffing issues pet care rover are moving higher today after initiating the stock with outperform rating the analyst calls it the leading online marketplace for pet care in north america with more than a million unique pet parents and a prime beneficiary of the bet adoption trend due to the pandemic shares are up 15% since rover closed its spac deal on monday and our mystery chart of the day was gm, down about 8% and on pace for its worse day since march 2020 after missing earnings expectations despite a record operating profit. it also raised its guidance for the year but the auto maker took a big hit from warranty recall

costs including 800 million related to the chevy volt ev we're calling it the pandemic pivot businesses big and small have had to readjust over the past year and a half. we'll talk about the moves they've made and what's working next (vo) conventional thinking doesn't disrupt the status quo. which is why t-mobile for business uses unconventional thinking to help your business realize new possibilities. only one 5g partner offers unmatched network, support, and value-without any trade offs. ♪ someone once told me, that i should get used to people staring. so i did. it's okay, you can stare. when you're a two-time gold medalist, it comes with the territory.

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welcome back covid cases are surging across the country, but some businesses that readjusted or were started during the pandemic are prepared while school districts struggle to transition to a remote learning system, the education tech system has been working since 2015 to create a robust and diverse system with digital story telling to help kids learn through play even at home. and outdoor entertainment venues are also keeping people safer while also keeping communities it is back in action after its successful run last year let's start with education with us cofounder and ceo. steven, so, you started this company with your wife and friends back before ed tech was as cool as it is now

what kinds of pressures and opportunities have you seen during this time, especially as we get ready for back to school? >> absolutely, jon thanks for having us holy cow it took a global pandemic to make ed tech cool. i think when nine out of ten kids around the planet were stuck at home people were realized what our kids are learning they're not learning 21st century skills they're learning what they need to thrive in this century. we saw throughout the pandemic this incredible demand for things that are going to be focus on 21st century skills there was also demand for equality, diversity and inclusion. >> so, what's going to happen now as we move forward reopening? but it's probably not going to be smooth in the fall. it's going to be different by different geographic area. i think a lot of parents have realized there's an extra burden of doing more from home, whether it's getting the equipment or being more hands-on with the

learning material. how is technology and encantos going to play into that? >> absolutely. everyone talks about the k economy. what you're seeing is k education where parents have figured out how to take education into their own hands parents that had means, they hired private teachers, private tutors for their kids and they accel accelerated. but think about the parents and families who couldn't do that. you had the widening gap and parents are looking for new ways to continue the learning from the classroom into the living room. so, you're going to see demand for home schooling, enrichment that's where encantos comes in think of us as a global creator platform that's democratizing diversified learning >> is there more interest from investors coming to platforms like encantos ow, and what is

it they expect or hope to see in terms of growth both revenuewise and growthwise >> next week marks the beginning of the conference, everyone's going to be there. and the reality is ed tech has never been more in demand. so, investors are now realizing this is not going to be a one-time fad, that there's a credible need for things going to help kids learn at home so, the home school market, where that might have been a dirty word a few years ago, everyone is looking for ways to continue learning at home. there is incredible demand look at what has been happening in the market. think about kor sarah going public there's incredible demand for ed tech there's incredible demand from the greater economy and encantos is emerging both of those things >> that demand from consumers was reflected. steven, thank you. >> thanks so much, jon and last eastern "the

exchange" we met the team behind newark moonlight cinema, highlighting black filmmakers, actors and actresses to socially distanced crowds newark moonlight has added a second screen, a restaurant and more outdoor entertainment good to have you guys. so, i mean, a lot of people thought we were about to go back to movies dine rs, and now we're thinking again how is this uncertainty affecting your plans >> well, because we're able to allow our patrons to naturally social distance, we are a choice of movie goers you can come you can be with the people you're already quarantining with you feel comfortable with the people you live with you come in your car and have a great experience while you watch a movie. >> there's kind of a romance to drive-in idea.

like at the movies you guys are showing. it's movies we like. "the last dragon" in there we showed our kids that movie not too long ago "the glow" and whatnot what would kind of a community impact is this having and perhaps even when it comes to local businesses surrounding that have been hit so hard by this pandemic? >> i think that the community really perceives it really well. even during the construction we would have 10 to 15 people come through and thank us the community received it very well and are excited we were able to make permanent >> so what is your plan or your hope to make this something that as soon just convenient at a time of theater uncertainty but something that continues when,

you know, lord willing, we're out of this pandemic state are you in the process of figuring out how to either add enhancements over time or more first-run movies what >> yes so we understand that we are not operating in a healthy economy and calls for more marketing, more pivoting and adding to our outdoor entertainment venue experience it's our goal to get more first, do brown chls. we have a restaurant we want to highlight that. >> how does it work at this stage? i know the speaker by the stands, what do you hope and expect the drive-in experience becomes like over time for people who maybe haven't been to a drive-in ever or in a few decades? >> i would like to see the experience modernized.

i know that movie theaters are a thing. a nice combo of indoor/outdoor movie theater experience is a smart way to go. >> all right well, best of luck to you and to the city of newark i hope maybe i can swing by and see some of those -- >> yes, you'll have to come visit. >> it's a really good experience >> and check out the food, too thank you. and you don't want to miss cnbc small business playbook featuring a star-studded lineup designed to give you the tools and knowledge to make the most of the economic recovery you can register to attend and up next, a big deal in gaming earlier today one landlord is making a $17 billion bet on the loss vegas strip. the details of the deal are next ♪all by yourself.♪

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welcome back a huge real estate acquisition in the gaming sector today contessa brewer joins me now with the deal details.

hi there, jon. vici properties is acquiring mgm. that will give vici a market cap of $45 billion that is far larger than any of its casino tenants and the preeminent experience reach. looking to diversify its property portfolio when it was created caesars was its only tenant and it will remain its largest now it's adding 15 mgm properties that helps vici expand geographically and this deal likely will make vici the biggest landowner. in an exclusive interview with me vici ceo told me why he's so focused on casinos >> what's really been gratifying is the way in which gaming operators have validated themselves, what we believe the most dynamic, resourceful

leisure operators. no one else has come through covid like them, no one else was capable of paying 100% of their rent in cash on time >> in fact, caesars just announced second quarter results that broke all-time records. profit margins above 50% in las vegas. that's without any meaningful convention business. and that's typically crucial to the midweek revenues and it's with two months of 50% occupancy restrictions, mask mandates and social distancing caesars ceo told me he does not anticipate a significant hurdle from either rising infections from the covid delta variant nor from mask mandates reintroduced as they have been in las vegas and louisiana. one thing the casinos have not done as a group is reintroduce shareholder dividends. vici on the other hand just raised its dividend by 9% to

$1.44 annually >> educate me on the kind of gaming real estate business. i have this image of the las vegas strip as a place where they blow up a hotel every few years and build something brand-new there. if you're a big owner of a lot of that, does that then fall on you to have to destroy and rebuild your own property every few years? >> i mean, let's see if that continues to be the way that it goes for instance, we saw blackstone buying the property under bellagio you have real effort on the part of mgm to go asset light they want to focus on doing what they say they do best which is operating casinos and resorts and entertainment experiences. vici is coming in like they just did, they made a deal with las vegas sands to buy the property under the venetian, the expo for them it works well to own the land, to charge tenants rent and know those

tenants will be good for the money. this is sort of the way it's been going and it's not just in las vegas. it's happening with regional properties, too. so, for instance, vici will get mgm national harbor in the d.c. area it will get mgm springfield which is part of a deal that they just made, growth property, that it just made with mgm to buy the property under the springfield casino that's the way it's going in gaming >> quickly, if you can, how are they handling -- i know vegas is used to handling risk and coming out on top, but how are they handling covid risk? i'm sure a lot of people want to be out and about without masks but is there a danger they'll have to scale back >> basically what they've done is rolled out the signs again that say you have to mask up that's the mandate and they don't think it will interfere with the business because, again, if you look at caesars results they had two out of three months in this quarter where people had to wear masks

inside the pent-up demand is just there. and reeg thinks it's persistent. >> thank you and that will do it for "the exchange." coming up on "power lunch" they'll talk to venture capitalist about the swings in robinhood and the return of the meme trade over to tyler mathison and courtn courtney private companies added far fewer jobs last month than expected is it a sign of a slowdown in jobs growth? what the experts are saying. >> and robinhood rockets the company cashed in on the meme stock movement. now they might be one. retail investors are piling in and volatility has trading halts. and rough waters in the caribbean. wider than expected losses the ceo is here to tell us if its restart plans are being derailed by delta. "power lunch" starts right now