we'll ask if prices will ever, ever come back down. show me the money. new analysis shows skimping on salaries is bad for business and companies that pay up have higher stock prices. >> where the markets are this hour the dow up 247 points. similar gains about three-quarters of a percent. oil prices are also higher after industry data showed a larger than expected drawdown wti crude is approaching 73. natural gas was the first to pop. crude is following close behind here look at some of the names benefitting from this increase in cruise prices today all up between 6% and 7% going the other way shares of

electronic arts are lower. we see almost a 60% drop from ea stocks hitting new 52-week highs. broadcom, bio-techne we've gotten a lot of news on bitcoin and cryptocurrency. some of it is good and some is bad. in the battle of the headlines investors seem to be focusing in bitcoin above 47,000 up 7% or there abouts already this week. the big threat to the crypto has always been regulation earlier today on cnbc the s.e.c. chair said regulation will be coming >> i look forward to about how we bring basic investor protection to protect people against fraud manipulation this is an area rife with fraud

and abuse. >> one reason is more big names and hedge funds are getting invested in them hedge funds focused on cryptocurrencies gain 24% in august and have returned 145%. yeah, you heard me right according to eureka hedge the latest big name to dip its toe into the water is steve cohen. the mets' owner is investing in a crypto trading firm. maybe it will help him get some better players and bridgewater's ray dalio is making a big bet telling cnbc today he is holding some bitcoin. >> i think it's worth considering all the alternatives to cash and to some of the financial assets, and so bitcoin is a possibility i have a certain amount of money in bitcoin

>> that's the story on all of these cryptos, kelly there is a lot to cover today. >> the government is trying to close a loophole robert frank has that story. some are calling the eethereum killer >> reporter: the cryptocurrency that's linked to the block chain network up a and it did hit some technical snags this week. the network saw more than 12 hours of down time tweeted the network was overloaded they said they had to restart it this was a significant deptnt t

the narrative around solana. that has gotten a lot of traction the cryptocurrency has been a fan favorite among retail investors. while bitcoin was tumbling be last week, sol outperformed with inflows dwarfing any of the other digital assets at almost 50 million bitcoin saw 0.2 million. ethereum has been the big winner for developers and the go to especially with the rise of nfts and the decentralized finance apps most of the projects have been built on top of ethereum as ethereum has gotten more popular it's more popular to use and is slow compared to solana it's either ethereum, the more proven, expensive and slower

network or the new kid on the block or the block chain solana. it's more from child but is a cheaper and faster network >> a lot to keep up with, kate what does it tell us more broadly speaking it was interesting to hear ray daal yes talk about bitcoin. people are always looking for the next thing where they're going to make a done dalio's support suggests bitcoin is becoming more and more entrenched >> reporter: some of the mainstream wall street-type analysts are saying that bitcoin being boring is a bad sign jpmorgan pointed to the solana rally and other cryptocurrency they pointed to a share of the market dropping in august something like 78% and is now

67% lower. other fans and crypto enthusiasts say this may remind people of ethereum but a retail frenzy definitely a sign here that things may be getting back to some of the froth we saw a few years ago. >> that is -- now you're talking. all right, kate. thanks very much for years crypto holders have taken -- i like some of the music. save billions. robert frank is all over it. hi, robert >> reporter: tyler, the house tax plan would end one of the most lucrative tax holes they can sell those positions at

a loss and use the capital loss to offset tax bills. unlike stocks they don't have to wait 30 days to buy back the crypto the loophole has allowed crypto holders to harvest losses. the house has caught on. their proposal applies to crypto investors will have to wait at least 30 days after selling crypto and buying it back to get the direct tax benefit they estimate this plan would raise $17 billion. the house plan includes new tax rules around options and the proposed capital-gains tax to 25%. the good news, there's a little bit of good news here is because the infrastructure bill requires trading platforms to send 109 -b reports to crypto investors. it will be a little easier to

keep track of those gains and losses because they will get those reports. tyler? >> robert, this talks about moving a tax loophole involving sales but it doesn't do anything to change -- anytime you execute a transaction using a cryptocurrency you are creating a taxable event, aren't you? >> reporter: absolutely. even if you use bitcoin to purchase something or ether to purchase an nfk if that is appreciated crypto you have to pay. there is so much tax evasion not because of intentional evasion but a lot of crypto holders don't realize you do owe a capital-gains tax. >> these are assets. these are not solvent currencies thank you very much, robert. so where does this leave

investors? a ceo of abra, a crypto trading platform that raised $55 million of series c funding. welcome, good to have you with us you've heard a lot of words in the first seven or eight minutes of the program that crypto is the wild west, the s.e.c. chief calling it ripe for fraud and manipulation and for tax evasion. and mr. dalio saying if it succeeds the government will crush it how do you react >> i guess we can take a deep breath and take a step back. cryptocurrencies are the fastest growing technology in history, full stop. i worked at gamestop this is growing faster than that it's growing faster. the reality is companies like abra and exchanges are highly regulated today.

i heard sam on this morning talking about regulations, which is how most exchanges are regulated. we issue our high yield interest earning accounts through a trust bank and so we're overseeing in some ways by dozens of different state and federal regulators today. we run an aml program. we're compliant with the bank secrecy act. to say that it's the wild west is a bit of a stretch. to say there's a lack of clarity in certain areas is a fair point. but every cryptocurrency company i know and every ceo that i speak to in this space has multiple law firms working with them to be compliant in all of the different areas i referenced so, again, i take hum umbrage that it's the wild west. >> let's talk a little bit about the dalio point which seems to be the existential one here.

governments, which issue sovereign currencies probably don't have, well, some are saying they're going to use them and arias say they will have their own cryptocurrencies but many must feel threatened. what about the idea if these currencies really get successful or into wide use that governments will squash them >> there's this underpinning to the very idea that they can do anything to stop it. a truly decentralized currency or assess like bitcoin is unstoppable now. whether it's the supreme court talking about software as free speech or the fact that it runs on the global internet that has no off switch, then that's the beauty of this so-called proof of mining, when china said you can't mine here, it very quickly moved somewhere else and if the u.s. was to ban it,

it would go somewhere else so i think there are centralized currencies that you can shut off, have an off switch and the government may regulate. but bitcoin is here to stay. i think while i have huge respect with mr. dalio, i don't agree with him on this point and bitcoin is not going anywhere. maybe within their right to do it's here to stay. >> you mentioned you offered high yel savings accounts. >> yes yes, custody with abra among other cryptos. >> this is probably the area of most uncertainty, if you want to call it that gensler referred to it as stable coins and others employ more need for regulation.

whatever happened they have a wells notice now how are you able to offer the yield that you are offering? what happens if they regulate stable coins like money market mutual funds and what's the future of crypto centric banking if that happens? >> let's unpack that on the abra earn account itself, when you sign up for that account you're signing up for an account at prime trust, you go through their onboarding or bank kyc, know your customer process, and they approve or reject that application. then you can deposit or purchase in terms of where this is going for other folks who don't issue through a banking system, it's like chairman gensler has said himself. you have to look at every individual case and in some

cases there will be disagreements and maybe the courts will adjudicate and decide we're very confident in our position we'll be rolling out a series of funds. the retail investor wouldn't have access and that's a shame if we are not able to offer this account but, again, i think we're very confident in our position, this trust bank model. >> you are trying to use the trust bank it depends on the structure. is there a future if regulators classify stable kines and yield accounts as securities >> absolutely. if you look at how protocols, there are other aspects, the

protocols have no off switch there are certain websites that use them to offer high yield that have an off switch. i liken it to sharing music false. you can't shut it off. they could go after individual websites and that's what the s.e.c. is most likely to do. if i'm over time as an individual to use those protocols to earn yield that is crypto banking and it's coming this is the fastest growing technology adoption cycle we've ever seen in recorded history. it's coming. the idea it will be regulated out of existence is untenable. now certain companies in the short term are going to have a very hard time operating as

centralized entities but you can't stop what's coming, in my opinion. >> it is an interesting analogy including the crackdown on consumers versus providers bill, thanks for joining us. i know we had a lot to cover we appreciate it >> my pleasure anytime. >> bill barhydt. how hard is it to find a car how many vehicles in stock today and how that compares with the normal year. plus, what is the credit market signaling to investors a longtime market watcher tells us what he's seeing and if he's shifting his strategy. stay with us

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group 1 automotive is expanding acquiring 30 new dealersships in the northeast. it comes as inventory sits at record lows. the company has 12,000 vehicles in stock both new and used that compares with 40,000 vehicles in a typical year with supply down, prices at all-time highs. the affect price tops $42,000. the ceo of the fourth largest auto retailer in the u.s welcome. i always love to sort of play out these narratives where people go it's the very best of times and then the next moment it's the very worst of times could the spoiler for what sounds like a perfect story for you be electric vehicles or, in other words, selling direct from automakers, look at what tesla

is doing i know what you're going to say, 2% of auto sales, whatever the number is, but if we're suddenly hitting a big adoption moment in the next couple of years, could that be what suddenly changes this whole story >> well, i don't think the story is going to change as much as people think as you know, tesla has showrooms, delivery points and service outlets they choose to own themselves these are big pieces of metal that need to be delivered, explained, financed and serviced and some may choose to own their own distribution network but they are critical in the auto business >> have you ever seen anything like what is going on now? >> no, and i couldn't imagine anything like what is going on now. i never thought it would be difficult to build automobiles in any quantity.

very surprising to me. >> is what you're seeing good for your business or bad for your business? >> well, to a certain degree it was good to clean out the distribution channel and get it lean and bring it back to a demand situation which every brand is in now. that's a good thing. but, of course, we're all missing some sales now we have to trust that all of these auto mafrs are highly motivated to get their production back up and will triumph. it's been a healthy exercise >> i'll curious if we talk about prices where you think this is going. and what impact do you think it will have if the u.s. ends up offering $12,000 rebates for evs. how about that affect prices of cars that are at record highs

right now? >> the majority of the market will be for a long time. there's only 2.5% of the market in the first half were electric vehicles and it takes a long time to move that number up. electric vehicles are coming and the outauto manufacturers will have it's headed that way and there will be more competition and prices will come down accordingly >> let me turn to the invent story situation. often when you drive by an auto dealer, the cars are parked so close together on those lots, i can't get -- i couldn't fit into them you'd have to be very slender to do it. now those lots are 20% or 30% full put some numbers on how your

inventories across your system are compared with normal >> well, new vehicles precovid a little under 30,000. i can assure you we have less today than at the end of the second quarter >> as of the summer running at a sixth of your normal inventory >> that's correct. and virtually every vehicle is presold. >> i've been working with a sales person on this very thing because we lost a car in the floods here a week or so ago every car is presold are you finding customers who come in are annoyed they can't get the car they want? it's not there on the lot. i can't drive away today i'm having to go with my fifth

pick and you're selling at close to or above price and buyers are accustomed to, if nothing else to bargaining for a better price. >> they were very upset in the early months but this has receives so much publicity, most of the customers roll with it. we try to get them into a used car for a while if we can't deliver the new car they want. their trade-ins are worth more than anytime in history. used car values are correspondingly high and that helps people, also, if they need to dispose of a car or want to trade in >> if anyone has a car, tyler is in the market. call me. i'll make an offer >> i'm on it i'm on it. >> i'll email you. despite constantly growing risks for markets, stocks continue their climb one expert says credit conditions could be signaling a warning to investors

and we continue to follow shares of smile direct club the stock has been on a roller coaster ride we discussed yesterday that the short interest in the company has been growing, and we want to make a quick clarification following that report. the company was founded in 2014. yesterday we inadvertently said 2004

welcome back i'm rahel solomon and here is your cnbc news update this hour. president biden says that he has great confidence in general mark milley, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. the comment comes following a report that milley made two secret phone calls to his chinese counterpart to assure china that the u.s. would not attack the country in the wake of the january attack on the capital. portugal has vaccinated 80% becoming one of the world's most vaccinated nations around 8.2 million people are vaccinated six people were shot at a cleveland liquor store, one critically hurt and three others are in serious condition

they are still looking for the gunman and obesity continuing to be a problem in the u.s 16 states report obesity rates of 35% according to new cdc data the number has nearly doubled since 2018 kelly, back to you >> rahel, thank you. a check on the markets recently near session highs and that's still the case the nasdaq up two-thirds of a percent. crude is one to watch. and we're keeping an eye on yields a slice move higher after they were sent lower. now on that note let's head to an area we don't typically zaus but can be a big tell. it's the credit markets where investors snap up bonds.

so, jack, we're hearing a lot of bearishness. that is the signal from credit markets? >> actually credit markets are still pretty healthy, kelly, one of the early indicators i like to use that maybe now is the time to start to reduce risk if you look at, for example, the yield premium, the triple b bond spread, it's widened slightly but is well below its moving average. the other is, of course, lenders, right now banks are still pretty easy and that's a good sign, too >> one obvious connection they are used for funding, share buybacks and so on

what would happen if they would pass the buy back tax? >> that would be a big draw back we have looks looked at the proposals. there's nothing in there that we will see a buyback tax and i was surprised of no mention of the dividend tax either. potentially if it does go to 28.8%, when is it effective? is it effective last monday or some time next year? >> you think right now where the credit spreads are suggests a risk on posture. at what point would you switch >> sure, one of the metrics we love to use is really the 200-day moving average of the bbb bond spread. the yield premium that corporate

bonds carry. if that were to wide tone a pint it goes above the 200-day moving average, 10% above the moving average that's a signal we would combine with the fact val racials are very high and bredth is rolling over to confirm it probably makes sense to take some money off the table i want to replay back to the financial crisis and credit conditions deteriorated to recommend a risk off of 2007, nearly three or four quarters before we saw the impact on the stock market and then it actually, we got great credit conditions in early 2009 so we were able to use that to catch an up swing.

it's one that we know the credit markets are larger than the equity markets and there are a lot of people focused on those sprets >> what would be your specific pifx in terms of the stocks investors should kind of use the credit activity as a guide >> sure. so right now we believe with interest rates where they are, we're not going to enjoy that valuation expansion that we've enjoyed over the last ten years, so we're really looking for more just organic earnings and dividends. we're going to look at things like emerson electric. higher than market dividend yield. sherwin williams somewhat expensive now probably a little late because of the housing but exxon mobil, forward p/e in single digits -- no, i'm sorry, 12. but dividend yield of 6. it's a great no news is good

news equity to hold for the time being. >> jack, thanks for your time today. ahead on "power lunch" is skimping on salaries bad how you can invest in the stocks leading the way. "power lunch" will be right back yeah, i mean the thing is, people like geico because it's just easy. bundling for example. you've got car insurance here. and home insurance here. why not... schuuuuzp.. put them together. save even more.

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is raising the minimum wage good tfor stock prices amazon raised its starting pay it follows sam's club, walgreens, cvs health, and that is setting up new trades for investors. let's bring in head of research sciences at barclays ryan, welcome. let me make sure i'm understanding this is it the companies that have the highest wages, average wages, that do well, or the companies that rely a lot on low

wage workers but are raising those wages the fastest that do better than low-wage dependent companies that aren't? >> what we're seeing is that wages are rising more quickly in the lower ranges so if you are a lower wage worker there's a good chance the wages in the job you're working on are rising faster than if you're a high wage worker. with businesses and with the equities is that if you have more lower wage workers you're feeling under more pressure and that's where the pressure is coming either you haven't been able to hire enough employees that maybe is hurting your growth story or you are and are able to find people but it's hurting margins a little bit >> on what basis -- what did you do to come to the conclusion you came to, which is the higher the wages basically the better the

stock performance? what was the data sort look like >> our group handles alternative data and machine learning. and we used rebelio that has profiles of companies, who makes -- how many people make lower wages and higher wages we came up with a measure of how dependent companies were on lower wage workers over the last four months a good stock correlation between stock market performance and what percentage of your workers earn below median wage. >> let's bring it out of the theoretical and into the real world. this means buy what and sell what give me some examples. >> we think that selling sort of more traditional types of restaurants, as an example in

our report was cracker barrel where they paid people to the lower end of the range and then buying some of the food service companies that pay more. starbucks is one we had as an example there. they take a lot of prize in how they pay people and the benefits they offer as wages go up they will be less squeezed than the companies that have paid lower wages. >> it's interesting you say that because casual dining has been underperforming. i wonder if this concern explains that and i'm interested in your health care play the home care provider by mednax on the lower paid home health services side of it why is it you think this is poorly positioned >> that was one of the trades

that we had and sort of fits business that is are likely to underperform the other one was indiana tool works. this one for me is one i think the most interesting because you have two ways to benefit from the trend here what you have is a company not only that currently pays its workers more and has these higher expense workers and automate and find ways to work around the process that is the most interesting >> you have a buy on union pacific. and a sell on heartland express. within a similar industry in terms of distribution. thanks for your time and for the granularity here today marks the start of

hispanic heritage both, creating more access to capital for this community of business owners stay with us on "power lunch." if you're 55 and up, t-mobile has plans built just for you whether you need a single line or lines for family members, you'll get great value on america's most reliable 5g network. like 2 lines of unlimited for just $27.50 a line. that's our everyday price. plus, our plans always come with unlimited talk, text and data included. so, switch to t-mobile and get 2 lines of unlimited for only $27.50 a line. that's half the price of verizon or at&t. only at t-mobile. the leader in 5g.

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today marks thebeginning o hispanic heritage month, recognizing the achievements and contributions of hispanic-americans there are more than 4.6 million hispanic-owned businesses in the country. that's 14% of all u.s. businesses and growing but received only $3.7 billion in the ppp loans a year or so ago, less than 1% of total relief joining us is the u.s. hispanic chamber of commerce chair elect of the board and a cnbc contributor. welcome. good to have you with us >> tyler, thank you very much and thank you for this opportunity. >> you are very well one of the things that seems to bedevil not just hispanic-owned businesses but minority owned businesses is access to capital. why has it been such "inside

info" tractablintractable issue? >> having been part of a minority owned business we learn that is the oxygen for businesses you're seeing that access to loans are 60% less likely to get. a lot of times when businesses are starting, and by the way, despite those challenges that they have in getting access to capital we see that managing that cash flow is a challenge. these things are compounded and it's something we are looking to address by working more closely with our partners to get the assistance >> what lies behind the fact that those businesses are 60% less likely to get the loans

they seek than other people? why is that? one can jump to the conclusion that this is because of racism you can jump to another conclusion and say, well, maybe they are undercapitalized to begin with and don't have the ability to qualify for the loans. how do you explain >> i think you've touched on a lot of points. it's a number of factors i think it starts with some of those biases that are inherent in some of the conversations that happen when small business goes to get lending and get support because when we see the numbers before the covid, the critical impact that the large impact that hispanic owned businesses are growing at three times the rate of non-hispanic businesses, six times the rate yet they get 1% of the venture capital funding in the company so you have to wonder why such

imbalance. we have to do a better job of helping our small businesses, hispanic small businesses understand what they need to do to be able to access some of those sources that are traditionally difficult to get >> how would you describe the pandemic's on this community on those working in the service industries that keep this country going? >> kelly, thank you. the impact has been what it has been on the rest of our country, devastating. but even more so when you look at the rates from the cdc two times the rate for non-hispanics and then also three times the hospitalization and less than 50% are vaccinated and you compound that with the other factors tyler talked about, so many of the hispanic communities rely on hispanic-owned businesses to support them covid had an immediate and negative impact on them. we're hopeful the optimism that is hispanic culture will help

drive that economy back. and if we can continue working through the chamber to access the unprecedented amount of opportunity that there is in these federal stimulus programs as well as with corporate america, we have a conference coming up in two weeks and i would invite anyone that's interesting to come and be part of that coverings. we cannot see an economic recovery >> nelson, thanks for your time today. >> thank you very much >> the u.s. hispanic chamber of commerce up next, fedex is having a rough month, down more than 6% as covid continues to impact the shipping and transport space our "trading nation" team will weigh in next. as i observe investors balance risk and reward,

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welcome back to "power lunch," i'm seema mody fedex shares on the move ahead of earnings next week. analysts say fedex is well positioned heading into the peak holiday shipping season but the stock is not delivering recently at least down 13% this the third quarter. do you buy the dip here, let's

ask the trading nation team. bill baruk of blue life capital gina, you could argue looking at the valuation of 13 times earnings, it's fairly priced, you're still not sold on owning the stock, why is that. >> i agree with you. i think there's a lot of up side here but the environment is a challenge. fedex has positives and negatives. the positives are they made a huge investment into capacity going into the holiday season. some of the downs are ups is getting into the same space. more competition the valuation says there's up side from here except for the revisions for eps have lately been negative, and that means that the expectations are maybe a little ahead of expect taatios and that's a broad market problem. i don't think that goes way. the environment is not going away, though fedex is not expensive, i think it's cheap here, an interesting buy and a

lot of volatility in the middle. >> bill, you say the stock is trading at a key level, what is that >> well, right now the fedex stock is actually trading it's moving average, you're seeing the death cross, the 50 day moving average move below the 2 day moving average, and fedex has surrendered the 2018 high. the stock looks kpexhaustive at these levels ups had a surge but wasn't able to hold that, and left another gap down as well and as that chart played out, it's well below the 50-day moving average and breaking a trend line going back to may of last year. ups and fedex are looking exhaustive and there could be lower to go. in the transit space, one stock we do like very well is westinghouse air brakes, and that's held very well, holding out above previous highs, and i think there is some good legs on that, depending on the broader

market >> another way to play the transport space. bill and gina, thank you for more trading nation head to our web site back to you. thank you very much. steel stocks surging today, continuing some massive climbs this year, but higher prices could be bad news for manufacturers across multiple industries we'll displexplain why, next. and now, the latest from trading nation.cnbc.com and a word from our sponsor. while an elevated vix may imply the market is headed for big moves, those moves could be to the downder e si othup side. i'm randy frederick, and schaub is the better place for traders.

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[music stops] welcome back, everybody. wanted to give you an update on pfizer's push for covid booster shots. earlier this afternoon, fda stance declined a take a stance. they brief the fda committee which meets friday to approve the request to approve booster doses for the general public shares of pfizer are up about a third of a percent today, down 1 1/2% a week from a group of international scientists, including two from the fda, shows data says boosters are not

appropriate at this time. soaring manufacturers pinched. kristina partsinevelos here with the latest. >> peloton, campbell's soup, ford, sounding the alarm on high steel prices, and increasing costs are trickling down aluminum has surged 36% to 2,940 tons some of it has to do with output cuts in china, the world's top producer and we use aluminum in everything from canned soup to roof gutters to hvac equipment, and pushed up the price of household appliances which jumped 6.8% since august steel prices also rising on high demand for manufactured goods and tariffs on import, and think of all of those used cars flying out of the lots as of late steel up a whopping 100% year to date manufacturers are racing to stock up on these medals, and the rising costs could pose a continued threat to the sector, tyler. >> one way or another, doesn't

this all move through in the form of inflation, one way or another. it has to. >> it's not transitory anymore >> it's feeling more than transitory right now it really is. >> a big debate, right, yes, i agree with you, especially if you bought a used car. >> thanks for watching "power lunch. >> i was going to say, we're trying to buy a new one right now. >> it's going to be vegan lunch for me from now on "closing bell" starts now. >> it certainly does welcome to the "closing bell" i'm wilfred frost of the new york stock exchange. following tuesday's downturn, the dow, s&p, nasdaq all firmly higher as we head into the final hour of trade. >> i'm sara eisen, welcome, let's look at what is driving the action in the final hour energy, top performing sector as crude oil gets a bid, prices up around 3%, and chevron is among the dow's biggest winners. microsoft helping the dow after news of a dividend hike, a