gas. i think there's a lot of energy names that can work. i think this is one that can work in a hurry. >> operations entirely focused on the marcellus shale in the northeast corner of pennsylvania appreciate it all. thank you for watching "the halftime report. "the exchange" with kelly begins now. thank you very much, brian and we'll see you in just a moment hi, everybody. here's what's ahead in the next hour as we make substantial further progress toward the weekend. the fed is ready to start tapering, but apart from taper talks today, he spent most of the time talking about how inflation will be transitory we'll dive into this paradox and what it means for the markets. it's hard to build a bear when the supply chain is this messed up. apple's deals with developers, china's play and a popular stay-at-home play gets hit. stocks are higher across the

board. we have new records once again for the s&p 500 and the nasdaq nasdaq leading the way with better than 1% gain today. dow up 245 points. it's actually trailing if you want to call that of the major averages up just about three quarters of 1% tell me what picture you think is emerging here so, we have again the nasdaq leading the way. bond yields declining today. here's the 10-year yield powell started at 10:00 a.m. we were in the green meaning yields were moving higher until that point and we've been sliding lower to 1.31% we'll talk to rick about if we might break below those moves. gold is moving higher. why? powell is talk about transitory inflation, so we see this pop to 1,900 bucks an ounce you might think financials wouldn't be performs that well, but they're hanging on to about a 1% gain here and look at zions, up herely 5%

today. lincoln national, up nearly 2% and energy is the best performs sector today huge move in occidental here, the sector overall with crude adding about 2%. not so much a fed story here it's a story about hurricane ida barrelling towards the gulf of mexico we're going to have more on that in a moment. let's begin with the market reaction to powell dovish kind of looks like it with the exception of the regional banks for more let's go to rick santelli in chicago. rick >> we all like jay powell, but there was foul language in that. it wasn't eagles, it wasn't hawks. it was doves and not necessarily a bad thing, especially if you own stocks but the fixed income market's response was swift let's look at 8:00 a.m. eastern interday of twos, look how they dropped. five years at 80 basis points, they're down five. twos are down three.

as a technician and former trader, i have never seen such picture perfect technicals the yield of 137 intraday yesterday, which is a significant technical area right to the tick, and now it's backing off. right below the market over the last several days. 128 previous high, should hold but we are in a mode that most likely is going to see sudden drops in rate and when rates drop and dovish, stocks look it but the dollar index didn't like it dollar index is down on the day, down on the week but the long dated treasuries are still up six at 131 on 10s even though it's down four on the session. if you're looking to get a home mortgage, i don't think rates are going to be supervolatile, but i think they're going to be moving back down, maybe testing 1.12 to 1.25 level your insurance, you don't want to look for lower rates if the

10-year yield closes above 140 >> that's a long way from where we are, but good point over the past two days, we've had james bullard, esther george and rafael all hawkish on the fed's taper timeline the big question for investors was whether jay powell would continue that message or not here's what he had to say. >> at the fomc's recent july meeting, i was of the view, as were most participants, that if the economy evolved, it could be appropriate to reduce the pace of asset purchases this year >> so, that's the taper talk, this year. powell saying he was one of the people thinking that was appropriate. goldman sachs saying if the data hold up, the odds of november taper are rising, but the data isn't clear, like today we learned that consumer spending dropped in real terms last month. sentiment remained really weak here to make sense of it all,

the chief u.s. economist at morgan stanley ellen, it's great to have you. what's your guidance and reaction to powell's jackson hole comments. >> i love being on with you and wish i could see you in person so, the -- you know, chair powell basically said, look, we're there on inflation we've seen the substantial further improvement or progress on inflation so, it's still all about employment so, you highlight some of the risks around today's report, on july, personal spending, that was lower than expected, and especially in inflation adjusted terms. but it really is about employment and he's looking for a couple more good data prints on employment we think he's going to be satisfied on that front. we've got a forecast coming up for the august payrolls reported on friday the 3rd for 725,000 job gains.

and we think that puts them on track for that substantial further improvement by the end of the year. what i think is brilliant that chair powell did today was do what we love to see from chairs and give his own view. so, we now know, which we suspected, that he sits in the center of the committee. the consensus is formed that if things continue to come in as expected, they're likely to taper or announce taper before the end of the year. that really headed off the hawks. you talked about the handful of hawks that have come out pushing hard for an earlier start to taper, and we do think that's relevant that they're all onlying on record. it was more so for them to try to be sure that the timing of the taper did not slip into next year well, now with powell's acknowledgment the taper could start this year, the hawks may be pushing on a string >> oh, that's interesting. i'm looking at the market response, ellen, and thinking through all of this. is lower bond yields a good sign

or not in many ways we're dealing with such a low-rate environment that usually we see rates rise whenever it looks like the economy will be on better footing. so, what does that tell you that rates are declining today? >> i think a couple things here. chair powell did a more assertive job of being sure that markets understand that tapering is not tightening, which they mentioned in the minutes from the july meeting but that's the way the fed has always viewed it you're still providing a combination. you're just doing so at a slower pace the balance sheet is still growing all along that you're tapering and importantly we're seeing the message or reiterating the message that tapering has nothing to do with the timing of the first rate hike. for the fed to start tapering, they have to be confident that the markets understand that because that was why you got the taper tantrum in 2013. the behavior of 10-year yields tells the fed that the markets understand that starting

tapering doesn't say anything about when they actually will eventually start hiking rates. >> right, although i guess in a much more basic way, every time i see yields fall, ellen, i think this can't be a great sign for the economy. a 1.3% 10-year to me feels either it has no economic information or it's talking about inflation -- i don't even think stagflation, just slow economy, very few inflationary pressures over time, not the world we really want to come out of this living in, right >> right well, the fed would certainly like to see -- would not be uncomfortable with a higher 10-year yield because financial conditions are extraordinarily accommodative. and there's room to absorb higher yields. do they believe that yields are lower because of a growth scare? no and i don't believe yields are lower because of the growth scare either i think it is reflective that the markets still have a healthy dose of skepticism that

inflation will sustain above the fed's 2% goal. i think chair powell did a very good job of not just talking up the transitory nature of inflation, which they've done so many times over, but providing five firm bullet points on just why they believe it will be transitory, really taking the markets to school on that. and the markets obviously have heard the fed because the inflation expectations certainly have a lot more room to pick up. but i think where i do think yields can rise and be more reflective of the risk out there is that the path that we're pricing in for rate hikes once the fed does start to lift off looks low. our rates have been noticing this they're short duration yields should rise, and maybe it will take the september meeting when we see another year of the plot for markets to start to price in a greater risk that the fed could have a steeper path

once they lift off >> very, very interesting. i would say great to see you, but it's great the hear from you today. thank you for being here and explaining a little bit more about this market reaction richard clairida joins power lunch next hour. we'll see what nuance he wants to add to the messaging today. all this talk over the past two days has sent stocks jumping. the s&p and nasdaq hitting all time highs again bond yields lower. what is that messaging telling us abe, just a quick gut feel here as to why this is such a benign environment for stocks, why they're not more concerned about low rates and maybe a slowing or slower economy or recovery over time >> yeah, the interesting thing is today's speech takes off the table one of the main concerns

of the market which is the forward looking numbers look like they're starting to weaken from the economy on top of that you've had a majority of world's central banks already raising interest rates. the question was is the fed potentially going to raise into a slowing economy? that would kind of turn a routine downturn into a softening if not something worse. i think that belief today or last probably going for the next few months will be that, okay, he's not going to do the wrong thing at the wrong time. and that provides some relief. the small cap stocks, for instance, big cap stocks around the world, especially in the united states, really softens its march. it's kind of going nowhere with what's going to happen the immediate policy at risk is probably off the table >> very interesting. >> it helps a lot in asset classes. >> for those who say i'm fed up

with the fed speak, give me some plays. you have three really interesting names here, all of which -- mohawk and ico at least are up about 40% year-to-date. voe pack is down about 20% these are not names we're talking about every day. what's the idea here >> yes, the idea is that in the end i really don't know what's going to happen, and no one really can predict the future. so, we've all -- it's interesting we've all started to peculiar a meal path and tried to find companies that are cheap on it in term of value basis we don't have to worry about what's the fed going to do what's the economy going to do next month if it requires a low enough price, that margin of safety is there for us too and helps us manage through different challenges all three of these companies -- mohawk clearly has benefitted from the tight housing market. israel chemical from the tightness of fertilizer. and vopac, which has been

punished by a very healthy demand for energy and oil stocks, they store oil so, in the face of strengthening economy, some of these companies do well. some don't do so well. the idea is to have a mix of a lot of things so that on average you're okay. >> wow so, we're also showing markets that even as we talk are moving to fresh session highs it's interesting that despite falling yields some of the regional banks are rising and doing pretty well. do you want to get near those kinds of names because it seems like the traditional valuation arguments often don't hold up, that they tend to rise and fall with interest rates and that's been such a difficult thing to call lately >> yeah, so i think part of the weakness or the stabilization of stocks after things from last year is that there was the concern of the slowdown. that slowdown potential still exists, but the idea of it turning into a major credit problem is probably -- these regional banks are attractive.

we do own some exposure to them. and i think between that, there's also this correlation of regional banks, small cap, mid cap space, there's also a technical trade that goes -- you get one with the other, so to speak. but generally speaking i think it's a good place to be. >> all right interesting. that wasn't quite as much fun as real or read it. maybe one of these things will be the next one. thanks for your time as always coming up, oil is rising today, announced in part due to storms heading towards the gulf of mexico. it's not the situation in afghanistan, per se, and even though we often equate oil and geopolitics, there is another resource in afghanistan that could be disrupted wite'll hear how personal ad emotional this was to the scientists working on it stay with us

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a new samsung phone or upgrade your existing phone. learn more at your local xfinity store today. welcome back the u.s. has less than four days to meet the deadline to withdraw from afghanistan, and yesterday's bombings in kabul have made the situation a lot more complicated the taliban's control of the

country. here to discuss, cnbc's own brian sullivan is here today let me just start with you there has been a lot of talk about afghanistan's rare earth minerals i think lithium, there's a decent supply there as well. we hear this time and ago over the years. it seems leek it remains all talk and no action will this time be different? >> in 2010 the department of defense said afghanistan could be the saudi arabia of lithium it has incredibly large lithium deposits it also has copper, iron, the critical minerals that will be needed the problem is the security situation. the problems with governance have prevented the exploitation of that resource the question is do the chinese who control right now the value chain for renewables, do they seek to go into afghanistan and

help the taliban exploit that resource i think it's going to be very, very difficult for china to do that given the exodus of afghan officials. but this is the play to watch. >> brian, this raises an issue the entire country faces right now about its economy. you have most of the infrastructure, now the taliban taking over. the revenue raising source is completely unclear the head of the afghan central bank was part of the exodus before things got tragic opium is the best option they have how do you think they might try to play with things like rare earth metals do they have the capabilities to produce these? >> first thing's first, my friend's son just got deployed there at kabul airport, showed up last week so, shoutout to the soldiers and families that are there. they don't have any infrastructure there's no infrastructure. you read every report, they talk about it being minimal rich, but it's road poor

not only are there no facilities there are no roads she knows a lot about this because she was stationed in her government days in the democratic republic of congo look what china has done there because of cobalt. they came in they paid for roads. they literally built a port basically for themselves we're going to watch china if there are infrastructure investments to be made, it will be the chinese paying for them for their own benefit. >> i'm curious when you respond to that, reading accounts in "the times" or "the journal" or elsewhere, i see people saying afghanistan is becoming vegas for terror if china doesn't want a destabilized region on its borders that could spill over into its own country, how do they prevent that from happening while doing anything about tapping the vast mineral wealth? >> this is the fine line china is going to have to walk

they have real concerns about their uighur population, about their security threat. the taliban came out and said the uighurs are a domestic concern for china. we've had taliban meet with chinese officials in july. i think the chinese are hoping the situation remains stable, but after what happened yesterday we have a situation where we have isis-k targeting the taliban, targeting u.s. interests as we try to leave and then we have the very real risk that al quaeda will come home will their partners at taliban. and essentially that will be the reconstituted al quaeda base of plot operations. it absolutely is becoming a core terrorist threat right now >> and you're working yourself on some of these rescue efforts trying to get people out what can you tell us >> we're part of a group -- i can't give all the details -- trying to get out a significant delegation involving high profile young women. it is very, very challenging because of the situation at the airport.

even if you have a plane to take your people, a country that will take them and offer them asylum, the situation at the airport is incredibly desperate and after the attacks yesterday, it's that much harder to get your people through the gates onto their planes for sanctuary. the u.s. military has been very helpful, but it's very, very challenging. >> i wonder what the jet fuel situation is like. >> sure. >> by the way, quick final note, a lot of these minerals we talk about for the electrification of -- it's not just afghanistan. they're in a lot of weird, bad, dangerous places myanmar where there's lack of democratic control, the democratic republic of congo this is going to be a challenge for years and decades to come, not just afghanistan >> absolutely. and an opportunity for a place like afghanistan that perhaps will never be able to take advantage of thank you all. we appreciate the latest there let's take a look at some of the stocks involved in lithium a look at the lithium and battery etf ticker lit, just

below it's 52-week highs it's top holdings include young energy and lithium the north carolina based company has seen a huge jump this year up nearly 60%. it's up 365% from its march lows another big winner is lithium americas up more than 40% this year and it got a nice pop last week after tesla announced plans to open charging stations to other manufacturers' cars. lithium is used in the manufacturing of electric vehicle batteries. coming up two popular stay-at-home plays getting crushed today. the parent of grubhub down and peloton is the worst performer in the nasdaq after its results. we have those moves, rapid fire and more still ahead #1 for psoriasis symptom relief* and #1 for eczema symptom relief* gold bond champion your skin that building you're trying to buy, gold bond - you should ten-x it. - ten-x it?

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welcome back, everybody. we have stocks moving to session highs in the wake of jay powell's comments this morning the fed chair speaking about the taper, which he does see potentially taking place this year, but talks about why he sees inflation being trans toir. this is lev stating stocks, depressing bond yields the nasdaq up 1.25% right now. energy and materials leading the way. energy in part because of hurricane ida moving towards louisiana. take away grubhub, down as new york puts a cap on how much third party delivery services can charge grub is down nearly 7% right now. bill.com is higher after reporting sales expectations 27% gain there this stock has doubled year-to-date and check out support.com. feels like 1998 with some of these names.

it's a social media darling. it closed below $9 a share last friday you can see behind me it's over $50 today. it's up 156% don't look for fundamental news because we haven't seen it let's get to rahel salman for a cnbc news update here's what's happening at this hour. advisers have told president biden that another terror attack in kabul is likely, the warning comingbefore biden met with israeli prime minister bennet. commanders updated biden and vice president harris on efforts to develop isis-k targets. on "the news" what form the targets might take and evacuations tonight at 7:00 p.m. eastern. uk says two citizens and a child were killed bonn those in the attack britain will move heaven and earth to help stranded evacuees who are eligible to come to the uk the nfl wants to double

frequency for vaccinated player. unvaccinated players would get tested daily you're now up to date. >> rahel, thank you. rahel solomon. apple's big reversal, beijing's potential ban and a warning for people dumping peloton l osmors coming up in rapid fire let's get you on some antibiotics right away. you could have it brought right to your door, with free 1-to-2 day delivery from your local cvs... or same day if you need it sooner but at a time like this, aren't you glad you can also just swing by to pick it up? and get your questions answered. because peace of mind is something you just can't get in a cardboard box. that's healthier made easier. at cvs.

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welcome back everybody let's catch up on a few other stories that should be on your radar. it's time for rapid fire here to break down the headlines. deirdre, how much longer do we have you >> a few days, maybe, kelly. we'll see. we'll see. fingers crossed. >> down to the wire. all right. steve coe vac is hopefully with us for a while gina sanchez also. welcome everybody. we're going to start with this blockbuster move from apple, the about-face as they agree to concessions. they will let developers talk to users about alternative payment methods not in the app store previously app makers were barred from prompting users to

their websites, instead forcing purchases through the app store. is it going far enough should we expect further changes to come? we're going to have to wait to see how investors react to a change in a key part of their business model >> a couple things there, kelly. if you ask the developers who have been complaining about these commission fees, apple charges, the spotifys, the matches, the epics of the world, they don't think this goes far enough what they would like to do is instead of the narrow decision apple made where, hey, we can email you about these alternative ways to pay for service, they want to do it inside the app they don't want to have this alternative method of external communication. they want to tell you sign up inside the app, don't give apple the fee. we can even give you a discount if you go through our payment system instead so, this is not going to end the debate over the whole commission thing. we have the vote coming up next

week in korea that is going to really be the first major economy that could take a hit at the commission fee in a significant way. and then we have bills already in the works from senator amy klobuchar here in the u.s. senate that could do the same thing. so, this is very minor it's not going to hit app store margins any time soon. >> it's interesting to look at the shares of .75 of 1%. it comes down to the services business, the fast growth, the high profit margins. a lot of that goes back to the app store in some way. what would it take for investors to be more rattled by some of the changes that could be coming >> i think that the vote is really going to be important and i think what happens in the u.s. and in the eu because eu is also struggling on these issues, is important because if you look at where the growth comes from, i completely agree the growth comes from the services side and the question that regulators

are asking is can apple play the role of being a platform and also being a part of the system. and if the answer to that is no, then apple is not going to be able to bar the gate and they'll not be able to bar their margins. >> deirdre, what would you add >> i would add kind of similar to what gina and steve said. this thing is a bit of a side show it does nothing to reduce friction for developers within their apps you have to go outside so, potentially it might annoy users, lead to more emails from those developers so, i think that the other battle, especially the ones that steve mentioned, the bills and south korea's vote, i think that's going to be a lot more instrumental to the future of the app store. but it's no surprise the developers aren't happy or saying we shouldn't be duped by this one win because it's not much of a concession at all for apple. >> yeah, yeah. we'll see where this road heads

next meantime let's get the latest on the crackdown in china, which does also continue the country is said to propose new rules banning companies with large amounts of user data from listed in the u.s. regulators in both countries are announcing stricter rules on u.s. tech companies and moves for disclosures. despite the rebounds this weak, it's a sea of red in chinese tech stocks. alibaba, kweb and didi down this year we're focusing on the aspects that affect stocks directly but there's a lot else going on in china in terms of this crackdown. there are high profile social media stars that are kind of being -- i don't even know how to describe some of the things that are happening there's this -- it seems like there's more going on, including the regulators wanting to crack down on this 996 work model, which would -- people say you

work nine hours a day six days a week and so on and so forth. what is this all really telling us about what's happening over there? >> i think what it tells us is that no one really knows them. there's so much more uncertainty despite the bargain hunting that we have seen over the last week or so. one of the most interesting developments, kelly, is that you're starting to see or hear about more state ownership in the technology companies usually that's reserved for banks and utilities in china but the whole of bytedance perhaps getting a 1% ownership, the pvoc, that's really interesting because normally these technology companies have been able to operate more independently like alibaba so, you've seen a lot of innovation and growth. if they are further brought into the party machinery, that raises real prospects for long term innovation for these companies we spoke to someone who was starting a china fund right now.

so, clearly -- and there's also kathy wood who sees opportunity here but i think the long term picture is certainly changing. >> gina, are you saying we just don't know what that looks like. >> i completely agree with deirdre that this is -- there's a lot of uncertainty right now because if you look listen to xi jinping, this is not new howeverthe way that they're going about exacting how common is going to be done in china, a whole series dealing with unrelated inquiries into various tech companies practices, whether it's data, workers, which tells you that nobody knows how they're going to get picked they simply know they might get picked by virtue of being open to the process >> that's what we're warned about as well.

let's check in on what's happening with the chip shortage taiwan's semiconductor, which is one of the largest in the world and apple is announcing price hi hikes of up to 20% as the shortage persists. ta rising prices seem to be helping the industry taiwan semiis up 10% this week all components of the index are positive steve, i guess if people are accepting price all up and down the supply chain, then ultimately consumer prices will go up as well. i don't know if this is a major cost input, but it's just a sign that this is how they're going to have to allocate resources as the shortage continues >> exactly and this report made me think back to roku's earnings a couple weeks ago where they said they were squeezed by these tight component costs. and instead of charging more for a $50 roku device, they just charge the same. and they ate the cost. so, it's going to be really interesting to see as we enter the holiday season where all

these gadgets are coming out from apple and samsung and google and all the rest, when they price these devices, are they going to make the consumer eat the cost for the higher components, or are they going to eat it themselves. the bigger guys can afford betterto absorb this cost. >> deirdre >> that's exactly my question, apple being the biggest customer, are they going to pass along these costs to the customer i think that could happen. i think apple has levers to pull when it comes to the new iphone. that is going to be key here when we talk about the inflation debate >> i'm looking at the consumer spending report this morning you have jeffries saying they see consumers in a position to take price for the first time in 20 years a big macro change and input change as well we have to hit this move in peloton. a bigger than expected loss in subscriber sending shares down peloton lowering revenue guidance, slashing cost of basic bike again by 20%. the doj also subpoenaing the

company for documents related to its tread injuries but luke capital says selling these shares would be like selling apple when it cut the price of ipods loop is bullish saying the lower prices increased adjustments for peloton and the management has a history of overpromising do you buy peloton >> there's two parts to the story. one is the growth and the other is the long term where they've settled. right now they're growing into themselves thelockdown was an enormous tail wind for them they were able to increase their subscribers. now you're going to get into that churn and the tail wind is turning into a head wind this is a sign of saturation and if you get to saturation it's over. >> i was thinking -- i was going back to the history of amazon and costco

it is true you sometimes have to choose are you going to be a low price offering are you going to be a high price elite offering obviously peloton is an elite product, but at some point they have to be affordable to increase market share. i'll give you the final word today. >> yeah, i don't understand why there are so many complaints about this price drop in the bike that expands their market. that makes it more accessible. and the point of peloton is you buy the bike once and you're stuck on the service for several years. 40 bucks a month they will find a way to raise subscription prices by adding more thing so, it's such a sticky product, people are obsessed with it. why not make it affordable to more people? >> they could just give it away, right? >> free bikes. why not? >> it's the loss leader, so you get the revenue subscription, steve, but at some point, you know, they just can't cut it all the way to zero. i don't know >> right right. of course. and the bike still is not cheap. you're still spending 1,500

bucks or whatever it is even at this cut price >> deirdre >> i'm just upset because i just got my latest peloton a few weeks ago so i missed that price cut. but i'm with steve here. it's all about the subs. it's not about the cost. you've got the iphone se, the premium iphone it is still an expensive bike. >> it makes the current owners mad they paid more than they had to thank you for this edition of rapid fire coming up build a bear reporting record earnings. they also face major supply chain issues, wage inflation 'rgoto talk to the ceo about all that and more in just a moment

welcome back everybody build a bear workshop reported stronger than expected earnings. but executives noted head winds calling wanl inflation, supply

disruption and ongoing uncertain surrounding covid. it's great to have you here. this is such a recognizable consumer name and maybe a goodwin doe into what's happening with the global supply chain. so, can you talk to us about some of the challenges you're facing >> absolutely. i mean, it's not -- we're not unique in some of the issues that are going on from a supply chain perspective as well as some of the ongoing issues with covid. we do have some of our factories intermittently shutting down there are some challenges with the containers, challenges with unloading docks, all sorts of things going on. i will also note that we mentioned on the call that we had pulled forward a good portion of our back half inventory and have receded that and have a lot more on the water. so, we do feel good about our back half inventory. we just want to be sure that we're being realistic about some of those supply chain issues and there is some cost issues as

well, even though we've taken very strategic price increases to help mitigate what could make the margin squeeze i will say that all of that is contemplated in the upward revision of our 2021 fiscal guidance where we brought that from an ebitda upper provision from $45 million to $50 million versus the 28 to 32 where we had been prior >> i'm glad you mentioned that it's almost like we don't want to tell people your margins are 50%. cut the price of the bears it is amazing that you have that kind of pricing power. and i think this could be interesting for a lot of people to think about when we're talking about how much your costs are up, tell us what you mean by strategic price increases. how do you figure out where and how you can do that without alienating customers because that's separate from the whole challenge of making sure there are bears available so you don't have to forego sales because of

supply chain problems. >> one of the things that's important to understand about build a bear is we are a company that appeals to a broad away of consumers from children all the way to adult collectors. and we've been building and broadening that consumer base for quite some time. on the children front where we started almost 25 years ago, accessibility is very important to us. we do maintain entry level price point where people can participate in build a bear and come to our stores or go online and make sure they can get a furry friend of their own, a special furry friend we still have what we call our count your candles bear where you can come in and get a bear for the price of your -- how many candles you have on your birthday cake. so, that maintains an entry level price point in a natural sort of way for kids to come in and celebrate their most special day. so, some of the strategic moves

we make on the pricing often have to do with some of the more collectible type of bundles that are in the higher price range anyway >> and you know there's a little bit more room there. we appreciate it we'll be interested to follow your story thanks for joining me today. >> thank you we appreciate the time >> ceo of build a bear workshop. covid vaccines were developed in record time and we're going to get a sneak peek at a cnbdoc cumentary about the race for the shots and a heartwarming moment for the moderna team in particular we're back in a moment

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income...are federally tax-free... and have historically low risk. call today to request your free bond guide. 1-800-217-3217. that's 1-800-217-3217 welcome back cnbc digital is debuting a new documentary on cnbc.com and youtube called the race against covid vaccine. and our own meg terrell spoke to a research and ceo about getting the phase three results and a surprise phone call. >> i just got this text message, he was saying jump back on the line we're hearing the results. so i came on and our president had been invited to the closed session of the dsmb to hear the

results. he put it on speaker so that those of us that were in the room could hear it and then this muffled voice came through and said, you guys did a great job. now get to work. and that muffled voice was dr. fauci. >> and he was so happy, we were so happy we had ten minutes and said we're going to send you the data i went to see my wife and this time i cried a lot when all the work was done, we enjoyed some wine. i still have the bottle. >> this documentary is filled with stories from the very earliest days when all of these researchers and companies felt like they were in this alone, the world was doubting that, "a," a vaccine would be needed and, "b," a vaccine could be possible with this technology it had never gotten across the

finish line for mrna it's on cnbc.com and on youtube. >> how long is it, meg >> it's an hour long >> it is okay maybe we put it on -- did you get into how -- the science of it all or is this more the story and the people involved and that moment which you just brought us >> there is some science of it one of the most interesting conversations was with pfizer's chief of vaccine research who said we were told we need a vaccine and figure out the best way to go. she said we need to go with mrna, and he was like, really? we've never done a vaccine with mrna before. yes, this is the way that scientifically makes the most sense. it's fascinate to go hear about how they to go about these things early on. >> kudos thanks for bringing us a piece of that. our meg tirrell.

you can check out "a race against covid-19" on cnbc.com or youtube. let's get a check on the vaccine makers and how they've done since they received emergency use authorization from the fda. pfizer was the first to receive theirs on december 20th. it's up only about 13% since then moderna approved on december 18th of 2020, up 165% since then of course mrna the technology meg was referencing. and johnson & johnson received its own on february 27th of this year up about 10% in that time still ahead, the retail traders are getting smarter but that could increase the potential for new investors to getburned we're going to dig into what's called the graduation effect xt here's andy listening to my goals and making plans. this is us talking tax-smart investing, managing risk, and all the ways schwab can help me invest. this is andy reminding me how i can keep my investing costs low and that there's no fee to work with him. here's me learning about schwab's

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welcome back as they continue to invest, the reddit traders are getting into more complicated vehicles and learning to do it on social media, and now that's caught the

s.e.c.'s attention kate rooney is here with those details. kate >> reporter: kelly, last hour the s.e.c. putting out a request for more information and public comments on how brokerage firms use tech to engage with their customers and possible gamification of trading. the s.e.c. says the digital engagement can harm retail investors if it prompts them to trade too frequently or use the strategies that tend to carry additional risk that includes options trading. and this comes, kelly, as traders are moving to some of those riskier strategies analysts are calling it a graduation effect for those new traders, most started out with single stocks. they are quickly moving on to some of the more complicated trades with the help of social media and some of those low-cost apps over the past two years we have seen a spike in options activity and it's coincided with the rise in retail trading. since the pandemic lockdowns started back in 2020 you can see options activity going up about seven fold according to data

compiled by brokerage api firm tradier. retail activity has also moved up in lock step there. now makes up almost 30% of total trades one of the big factors at play is social media. traders are learning some of those strategies in places like reddit, youtube and discord where they find content and a sense of community as well the barriers to entry essentially have gone away it's now more accessible with hundreds of trading apps including robinhood now offering options, and it's a lot cheaper. commissions have essentially dropped to zero. kelly, back to you >> it's so interesting, kate, to think through does options trading mean the same thing as gamification, or does gamification refer to any kind of way that people might be trading? >> i think it refers to trading across the board robinhood has gotten dinged by other regulators, the state of massachusetts has gone after

them, and they have changed some of their strategies there, but i think it refers to other brokerage firms as well, the idea of enticing people to trade and just spend more time on their phone. does that eventually sort of move on to options that could be the case but it's sort of across-the-board cryptocurrency stocks in general and what goes on we've seen it happen with gamestop a lot of attention there >> i hear people talk to me about options all the time it's very funny. it is really a force kate, thank you very much. kate rooney reporting today. and that does it for "the exchange." "power lunch" begins right now kelly, thank you very much and welcome to "power lunch. an hour of power players ahead the fed vice chair will be here, one of the world's most powerful central bankers. we'll talk about the taper of purchases of securities by ed, we'll talk inflation, we'll talk th