>> nvidia. >> costco. >> i'm going to give you macy's. >> joe >> macy's. >> pete, it was supposed to be joe, then pete so much for trying >> oh, okay. >> guys, have a great day. i appreciate everybody watching. that does it for us on "the halftime report. "the exchange" begins right now. that's right, scott. we appreciate them all watching. thanks for sticking around, everybody. even though i'm not kelly evans, i'm brian sullivan i'm in once again. here is what is ahead on "the exchange. the s&p 500 unable to hit the record closing high yesterday, but will today be the day? we are basically flat. we will see. or is the santa claus rally over plus, the building boom continues. searching for an inflation indicator and can the galaxy's most infamous bounty hunter get disney out of the ditch?

that's all on "rapid fire. plus, we've been looking at predictions for next year. lucky you, today i peer into my crystal ball and reveal the five things i see next year from the overseas index, outperforming the s&p 500. by the way, i went five for five for my predictions this year that's a brag. we begin with bob pisani with today's action could we get a rare unchanged day? stick around just for that >> we haven't had that in a long time we have had an enormous five-day rally that essentially stopped at the close on monday we've gone nowhere for the last day and a half, but that's kind of good news we are dramaticallyover bought look at the major sectors. remember, we are essentially at a new high on the s&p 500, but that five-day rally took us up about 5% so let's just call it borrowing from the santa claus rally dow has been holding up. nasdaq has been lagging a little bit because tech has been lagging. you see how defensive the market

is today defensive means health care, consumer staples and that's the three groups leading you can see other things like energy stocks. tech stock lagging a little bit. remember, we had beige run in tech this year, but some of the semiconductors are weak, so if you look at xilinx, amd, nvidia, they're on the downside. i pick those three names because all three are up 43% this year rather remarkable. we see nice advances we had a new high a couple of days ago on the semiconductor etf. there was something that caught my eye overnight though, and that was a statement out of samsung. they have a large chip plant in xi'an, china they made a statement overnight. this is samsung saying, due to the ongoing covid-19 situation, we have decided to temporarily adjust operations at our manufacturing facilities in xi'an, china it is not clear what temporarily adjust operations means. they've got two big memory wafe

fab plants in xi'an. it is not clear if it will affect shipments the implication is that it could affect shipments why is this important? the rally is based on the idea there won't be a global shutdown occurring again, and if that is a problem it could affect, of course, supply chains and inflation potentially. it disrupts the narrative that things will get better in the first half of 2022 this is very early and it may mean nothing, i'm just saying i'm paying attention samsung has had a tough year, down about 2%, but the semiconductor industry is ending the year just off new highs. back to you. >> interesting there digging through it, and we appreciate it, bob in the meantime investors have been pouring into value stocks, maybe in anticipation of higher rates next year look at the value etf, more than doubling the performance of the growth etf this month. the next guest is going with growth and says the recent dislocation may create great

opportunities, particularly in some of the smaller names. joining us now is raina hannaaway, portfolio manager of the poland u.s. small company growth fund. reina, welcome back. good to have you on. >> thanks, brian thanks for having me on the show haec happy new year. >> happy new year. is it going to be a happy 2022 for small cap investors? >> i think it will be. we are very excited for what we see in the small cap market today, especially as it relates to high quality growth companies in the small cap space many of the companies pulled back over the past quarter, and it is an opportunistic time to buy many of them >> i love your glasses are they - >> thank you >> are they warby parker's by any chance >> actually they are warby parker's and that's one of the companies we are particularly excited about. in this environment where everyone is spending more time

on their screens and as the population is aging, there is tremendous demand for prescription eyewear warby parker has had disruptive approach to the eyewear market, and they bought just 1% share today in this $35 billion market in the u.s we think that they could be as much as 10 times or greater the size that they are today >> wow >> and we know that their customers really love them they've got a net promoter score of over 80, compared to about 30 for other retailers. >> well, listen, knowing your stock picks, that was not a random question about the glasses, but i'm lucky i got lucky on that one. here is the thing though investors don't seem to care the stock is down 12% year-to-date what are people missing about the warby story? >> i think that investors really ought to focus on the long term. there are a lot of things that move stocks in the short term, and fundamentally warby parker is very, very strong

>> okay. revolve. this is not a name that i am that familiar with it is another stock that you like who are they why do you like them >> resolve group is an online fashion retailer, and they understand the millennial and gen z consumer better than any company that we have encountered. they are doing an incredible job as it relates to using data to make all of their merchandising decisions, which makes them really different from other retailers and really advantaged in this environment. the other thing that they do really, really well is they really understand social media marketing, especially influencer marketing. they have an incredible following. >> so is this kind of a -- american eagle has been super hot, by the way, going for that age group space, looking at it, it appears it is not a teen or a tween, but a millennial retailer your play in these growth

trends, maybe it is a demographic play as well >> it is absolutely a demographic play one thing that's important to understand today is that the millennial consumer and the gen z consumer, they have different behaviors and preferences than older generations do so it is incredibly important for retailers today to understand the new consumer. revolve just does that they have an incredible understanding of this generation and they know how to reach them. >> reina hannaway, poland capital. good picks warby parker, revolve, we are watching them. we will see if it is a happy year for 2022, but either way wish you a happy new year. >> thank you >> you're welcome. seven-year notes are up for auction. it is the last auction of the year all right. rick, didn't look like a great one. how are you grading it,

professor? >> i'm in a good mood today and i give a "d" as in dog it was not a good auction, brian. >> wow >> it was $56 billion, seven years. the when-issued market had a high of 1.46%. this priced at 1.48%, which means it tailed at three basis points sometimes right at the end they get a small movement, but in the neighborhood of three basis points that's a huge tail. we had tails on the twos and the fives and that took grades off being the last supply of the year, being december, it doesn't shock me what it really tells me is investors are a little nervous that these ill-liquid markets are going to see pressure pushing rates up overnight in europe that's why they shied away >> if you were in a good mood and give it a "d", good thing you weren't my college professor. rick santelli, thank you >> thank you >> appreciate everything you do. on a more serious note, the u.s. blasting through the

average daily number of covid cases over the past week, hitting a record high of more than 258,000 however, an oxford professor an uk government advisor today came out and said that omicron is, quote, not the same disease, end quote, as other covid variants what exactly does that mean and what are we seeing on the ground joining us for how things are actually playing out is d dr. parik, researcher at nyu langone. doctor, thank you for coming on. what do you make of the uk comments is this not the same disease >> yeah, those comments are accurate you know, it really depends on one basic thing, are you vaccinated or are you unvaccinated for those who are unvaccinated, it actually is very similar to the same disease we are still seeing these individuals in the hospital, in the icu, sadly passing away. but for those who are vaccinated

it is much more reassuring and promising. you know, it is a much milder form less people are getting admitted, especially if you have had both shots and your booster. however, it is not the same for children again, it is because the majority of children are unvaccinated to date with them we are seeing quite a spike in hospitalizations and even icu admissions. >> okay. can you take us into that little bit more because it is a sensitive subject. i'm a parent you are probably a parent. it is scary. we don't want our kids to get anything there was a stat - >> no. >> -- 395% jump in hospitalizations, and that's a scary stat then you dug into the numbers, it was 22 to 109 so overall still a very, very small number of children, thank god. what exactly are you seeing, at least at nyu langone about numbers and seriousness? >> right no, those are all very good questions. so absolutely there is an increase, especially in areas

like in new york city where i'm seeing a five-fold increase, up 35% from last week but, remember, to be a child who is admitted to the hospital you have to be pretty sick children are very resilient, so these are children who are requiring oxygen, they are dehydrated so they are the more severe cases, and, again, largely unvaccinated so it may be those children who are not yet eligible for a vaccine, those who have not yet gotten their vaccine so, yes, it is not all gloom and doom, but we cannot ignore it either nationally we are seeing the same thing the hospitalizations are up 50% in the pediatric population compared to this time last year. >> yeah. >> so, again, we don't want to ignore it either >> i posted something last night on twitter because it is also -- i don't want to create anything about a twin-demic, but the flu seems to be rocking. i mean we are at 600% higher than 2018 at the same time rsv is up as well. what else are you seeing with

the kids, doctors, and what is your advice to parents right now? >> yes, absolutely you know, flu and rsv historically are more dangerous in children than even the sars-cov-2 virus or covid-19 you know, last year we had a little break and reprieve from the flu, likely because everyone was still home, masking. >> yeah. >> this year we have already had pediatric deaths we have already had two deaths >> wow >> last year we only had one, only one in the whole season compared to 200 the year before the pandemic began, right, before everyone was locking down and doing all of the social distancing measures. so i would recommend to parents if your child is eligible for a flu shot, please get it because flu can be very dangerous in children, even deadly. we see that every year >> two pediatric deaths from the flu already this year, i hate to hear that. very quickly, you may not be able to answer this, doctor, but i have to ask you. the cdc director came out on abc news today and said that pcr tests may test positive for 12

weeks. in other words sort of suggesting they may not be a great vessel to know exactly what is going on do you have a take on that >> yes, we are seeing that pcr tests, especially with, you know, code 19, sars-cov-2, can remain positive even for months as you said. again, onset of symptoms is most reliable this is a little more tricky in the asymptomatic individuals but, again, you can't go only based on testing to see if your illness has resolved it really is - >> wow >> -- symptoms, onset of symptoms that makes it so difficult for contact tracing, as you can imagine. >> difficult or impossible, but we really appreciate your on-the-ground insights scary time for a lot of parents. dr. purvi parikh, thank you very much have a happy new year. >> thank you you too. before we go, check out the vaccine makers, they're all riding six-day losing streaks. moderna trying to avoid its worst stretch before the pandemic novavax, biontech and moderna down 50% from the recent highs

for more on the latest headlines and covid guidance catch dr. anthony fauci on "closing bell" today at 3:00 p.m. eastern time you won't want to miss that. coming up, i will share some bold, probably wrong predictions for next year. what i think will happen in the world of both business here and abroad and maybe some big implications for your money. top five predictions coming up next plus, oil prices spike briefly after inventories fell, but what should you expect for gas prices going into next year? your next guest says get ready to pay $4 a gallon by memorial day. we'll ask him why when "the exchange" is back after this this is "the exchange" on cnbc

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♪ welcome back, everybody, to "the exchange" it is time for predictions about what i think is going to happen next year every year for the past ten years or so i have come out with these. remember, they're meant to be fun, not investable advice, maybe a way to help you think a little differently of course, you can give me the business when i'm wrong about something. by the way, something you can't do this year because my predictions, they went five for five you're welcome i will post it soon. let's get right to it. this year it is all about the booms to come. prediction number one, inflation booms. i know, i think the consumer price index ends the year up 4% or more in annual rate

just wait until the crazy fertilizer prices start to trickle through the system food costs are likely to rise even more. prediction two, there's a baby boom in america coming it will reverse years long falling birth rates here in the states we will see a huge new group of cute little kids come our way next year. by the way, pregnancy tests are surging according to bank of america. hey, it is lockdown. prediction number three, japan is the land of the rising stocks i think japan's nikkei 225 will have a better return than the s&p 500 next year. their market trading about half our valuation. they've got pricing power and actually may be a little bit of a demographic shift there as well prediction four, electric car sales boom it is the year when the hype meets the hope, sales take off as more cars hit the market. you are say, sully, who cares, that's not a bold prediction here is thenumber. i think ev sales will hit 10% of the market next year they're 2% to 3% now

10%. prediction five, it is heavy metal time copper and palladium are likely to surge you want to build an ev? you need copper. you want to build power lines to plug in your ev in you need copper also, palladium being tested in new battery technology there you go, five predictions for next year. i will post them right now on cnbc.com as well what do you think? let me know where i'm wrong or may be right on twitter and link in please, as always, be nice one prediction i won't make, i will leave it to people smarter than i, is where gasoline prices are going. the national average kicked off 2021 about a buck cheaper than where we are right now at $3.30 a gallon what will it bring in 2022 your next guest says prices are likely to peak before the summer driving season and then cool off. we are joined by head of petroleum analysis at gas buddy. seen oil prices up 15% this month, patrick do you think gasoline prices

will continue to trend higher into next year >> well, sully, absolutely we are starting to see prices revert in some states as the omicron fears subside. oil prices starting to pick up momentum not a surprise another repeat really of 2021 in which we start very quietly like a lamb and we may see a lion come out in march or april as gas prices tend to go up every year by 25 to 75 cents a gallon between winter lows and springtime peaks i think it is a recipe that could see the national average eclipse that $4 a gallon mark as early as april or may. >> that's not the news everybody wants to hear. if that's the national average, patrick, and i won't go into the pad system, i see the map behind you, you have the state of my birth, california, all in yellow how high could we go there in the golden state, $5 >> well, conceivably easily into the $5 a gallon territory.

san francisco hit $4.80, throw in a couple of refinery issues on the west coast, which always causes prices to soar there, and quickly california this spring could see prices in san francisco approaching that mid $5 a gallon territory, sully nobody wants to see it, but keep in mind these high gas prices are not necessarily bad news more, they are indicative of a strong economy. >> they will be driving atomic powered go carts by this time next year in san francisco, patrick, so nobody cares let's talk about oil prices because they're related. you're not an oil guy, but i know you track us. you and i go back and forth on twitter. also value and insight what is the lag between the move in the price of oil and when our viewers and listeners have to pay that more at the pump, a couple of weeks? >> well, it tends to be. a refinery goes down, sully, it is really a degree in how sharply oil prices go up or down of course, increases are passed along by stations much faster.

but when we saw oil prices plummet after omicron was discovered in late november, it to took weeks and we never got to the point stations completely passed along the drop in price in fact, the national average had the chance of getting closer to the sub $3 a gallon mark but stations were reeling it in, doing pretty well. keep in mind it has been a pretty volatile year, but the answer is that it various. certainly i would think that five to seven days, you start to see the impacts, but they cannot be fully materialized for a couple of weeks. >> and demand. here is the thing. we talk about air travel affecting jet fuel prices, patrick. i don't know if you have traveled i have traveled extensively in the last year. the number of cars on the road is stunning. apparently everybody is eschewing mass transit and buying their own cars, probably for safety reasons, whatever it may be do you see any chance demand goes down? all i'm seeing is freeways packed with cars 24/7. >> absolutely.

in the holidays we saw the strongest start to the week, sunday through i believe thursday was the strongest start to any week of 2021. of course, as americans get in position for their holidays. then we saw demand plummet, leading to a weekly drop in demand as you mentioned, i really don't see demand going down. of course, you get the seasonal moves. january to february, nobody wants to venture out, especially if you are in chicago. it gets pretty awful then in march, april and may, look for that pickup, and that coinciding with refinery maintenance. keep in mind there's less refinery capacity this spring than what we've seen in years past you have a couple of catalysts for a surge in gas prices. >> the fourth biggest still running at reduced capacity. pat patrick in ahaan, thank you. cnbc surveyed some 400

investors for their quarterly stock report and here is where they see the price of crude finishing next year. 88 pearls of those surveyed said under $80 a barrel 10% said $100 or higher. 2% are down right bearish says it is going to end the year under $60 a barrel those wondering why i didn't make a prediction, i think it is too easy i think the price of oil ends the year around $75, but i will say i think it could touch 100 for a cup of coffee. we will tell you why disrupters are on thdeine cle and which incumbents are in the driver's seat. it is back after this. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire

♪ let's look at the market

board. you may say, sully, not a lot of drama going on there the s&p is almost unchanged. here is where the drama is if we end higher on the s&p 500, it will be the 70th record closing high of the year 70th that's kind of cool. the record is 77 we are not going to break that it would be the second -- we are already second most of all time. 70 is a nice round number. we are up .03 of 1%. the dow up 76, it's high was up 116. we will get more market movers at top of the hour online retail is struggling with the i buy etf, on track for the worst years since the inception five years ago the real real, chewy, doordash, overstock.com, they're all in the red today. chewy, up more than 4% we were just talking about black gold, but how about gold gold. the precious medal struggling to hold on to a slight monthly gain but still on pace for its worse year since 2015. it is down 5% since january. all right. now let's get a cnbc news

update for that we will to rahel solomon. rahel. >> hi, brian here is what is happening at this hour. president biden will speak with russian leader vladimir putin tomorrow this as russia continues to send troops to its border with ukraine. that force is now estimated at 100,000 soldiers ahead of tomorrow's call biden spoke today with ukrainian president zelensky and reiterated u.s. sport for ukraine's independence covid testing lines remain long in many parts of the country and new covid cases in the u.s. have risen to a new record high. new cases are averaging more than 265,000 per day that's according to data provided by johns hopkins university on "the news" tonight, more severe weather headed for the central and southern u.s see where the storms are likely to hit tonight at 7:00 eastern here is one way to recycle christmas trees. feed them to your elephants, brian, because that's what a zoo in berlin is doing reindeer and bison getting in on

the action a weird treat for the animals and a creative way to get rid of trees that did not make it into someone's living room. it is a rare treat for the animals and an annual tradition, brian. >> it is like a tooth pick built in >> for an elephant >> delicious bitcoin slides sinking some crypto stocks. the search is off for discounts, despite rising prices. disney, the worst dow stock this year can bobafet give disney a boost? that's next in rapid fire. ♪ get your tv together with the best of live and on demand. introducing directv stream.

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♪ welcome back some crypto getting crushed. the homebuilder boom rolls on, and cutting out, cutting coupons. also, can "star wars" rescue disney time for rapid fire. joining us today, kristina partsinevelos, mike santoli and danielle shay, vp of options at simpler stadium. three enter, only one may emerge alive. first up, the crypto crunch. bitcoin continues to slide, on pace for the worst month since may, currently below $48,000 and it is dragging anything linked to crypto down with it

marathon digital, riot blockchain, coin bacoinbase getting hit again. danielle, for investing advice i will go to you first on that what do you think? are you a believer of buying on the crypto crunch? >> well, historically when i'm looking at all of the names, they've really been thrown in with the meme stocks, right. so whenever my clients ask me about the names i say, hey, you know what? this has to be part of a yolo portfolio. it cannot be mixed in with your regular assets, right. however, that being said, if you do want to strap on for the ride, i am looking at mara if it can hold 35. it will be at the 50 simple on the weekly chart this company is showing a lot of sustainable growth and due to the investments that they've made recently i am looking for further growth in 2022 >> yes so, christina, do we know what is behind the recent -- volatility is the name of the game with these things

that's kind of the whole point you guy them, you sell them. >> yeah. >> but it has had a rough month. it may be the worst month in years. >> but so is tech, right some could say it is a healthy correction that was needed at this time and valuations are sky high more specifically with bitcoin and ether, we are thinking big picture heading into 2022, i think regulation should be a topic of conversation. you had the sec that rejected the bitcoin etf very recently and it has to do with how it is doing with stable coin there's a lot of regulations there's another republican senator putting forth a crypto proposal all of this means there could be much more regulation, a great thing for the industry as a whole but it is made adding to some of the sell-off we are seeing in the near term. >> all right we'll see what happens next here by the way, for all things crypto tune in to the cnbc special program "crypto night in america. that is tonight. did i know that, tonight is "crypto night in america"? 6:00 p.m. eastern. next up, home sweet homebuilders the ticker itb, continues to

outperform the broader market. up 8% in december. its fifth positive months in the past year. mike santoli, up 50% this year i mean who are you talking to? is anybody suggesting homebuilders are going to get weak any time soon this is unbelievable >> yeah, it is i mean it is certainly technically the charts look like they're pretty encouraging, so that does tell you there's a lot of sponsorship for this general theme in the markets even on the retail side, if you look at home depot and lowe's recently, they've been the strongest retail stocks in the market, maybe aside from costco. so obviously it is something that's not an unrecognized, you know, bullish case out there i do think you have to ask whether the supply/demand story longer term is a pretty good debate going on actually as to whether there is a genuine enduring shortage of homes out there. it is kind of like they're not in the right places. i think you have to give the benefit of the doubt to the trend, but i'm alert to the right, look, they look cheap but

cyclical groups like this look cheap on earnings when things are basically as good as they're going to get so i would say, you know, you have to defer to the trend, knowing that mortgage rates are very friendly, knowing the consumer balance sheets are in good shape, but i'm not sure it is recognized anymore. >> danielle, do you have a take on the homebuilders? >> i love the homebuilders here. i'm currently long home depot, lowe's, itb. i completely agree lowe's and home depot are the relative strength winners in this space both companies continued to be incredibly strong. the last three-quarters they've continued to beat earnings, and what we're seeing right now is we're seeing millennials buying homes. we are also seeing a major increase in home equity, and so that means that people have more money to spend on remodels so i'm continuing to look at both home depot and lowe's to the long side. i think they're going to make new highs pretty quickly here, and as for the rest of the homebuilders, i like toll brothers and dr horton >> i like that because it goes

to my predictions about the baby boom, because when you buy a house in the burb with four bedrooms and there's two of you, you know what you do you try to fill them up with little babies. >> yes >> yes next up -- don't give me that look, partsinevelos i can see you on this giant monitor over here. >> i'm right around the corner from you, too. >> by the way, can you hear me without the mic on, but so can the viewers. up next, inflation the cost of pretty much everything is through the roof right now. that must mean coupon clipping is at new highs. no new data shows searches for cheap and discount are declining. christina, i'm surprised there are still coupon, but electronic or paper, you get the gist what is going on here? >> you would think maybe we would be -- we complain about inflation all the time, we talk about inflation all the time, our surveys show we care about inflation, but google searches say otherwise. this is according to data trek they put out research saying

that the search has dropped dramatically one could argue wage growth. egg producer cal main said their egg prices have gone up 12%. you had general mills saying recently they had price hikes and they're going to continue the price hikes into the new year the same thing for that egg producer so we're willing to accept these costs. the big question is for how long, and this does not bode well for, i guess, the next six months or so because it could mean definitely more increase in prices >> yeah. >> especially when it comes to food >> mike santoli, we had a piece on cnbc recently done by this kristina partsinevelos who talked about fertilizer prices when those start to trickle through it is conceivable the price of food will go up from here, not down >> it absolutely is conceivable. i do think there's indications like this, you know, google search data that say it is bit of a more inflationary mindset that's spreading among the public i would offer one little caveat

to this interpretation though. one of them is, one, the shortage mentality obviously was broadcast throughout so people just felt like they needed what they needed and they couldn't necessarily shop as much by price. maybe during the holidays your anot necessarily looking for the cheapest maybe that's a generous view of how people approach buying stuff this time of year. >> danielle, inflation going to end the year hot next year >> yes i mean i think inflation is going to continue to be hot. of course, the fed is going to try to do their best i think they're a little bit behind on that front, but i mean as far as coupons go, when i look at that data i'm just looking at the fact that people are buying most everything online i mean there's not really a need for coupons at this point when you can simply go to google and you can find exactly what you are looking for on a variety of different sites. so - >> i tell you what, not promoting microsoft edge, the browser has a thing built in where it basically will automatically scan for discounts. it is kind of cool you watch and it is like a slot

machine. oh, 12% off on dog food. >> exactly >> finally, can boba fett, the bounty hinter, help boost disney shares the new streaming series "the book of boba fett" debuts on disney plus today. hopes are high that it will follow in the footsteps of the wildly popular "mandalorian" series the house of mouse could use a jolt the worst dow performer this year, off 14%. let's talk about recapturing the magic. mike, i don't know if you are a "star wars" guy or a boba fett i mean what an ignominious end, right, when he is hit by a blind hans solo, flies in the giant worm's mouth i thought he was supposed to be tough. anyway, is it going to help disney stock >> you know, unfortunately -- and you and i think basically with the exact perfect dates to be "star wars" obsessed kids i was not that much, but i think it is almost table steaks when it comes to disney plus right

now. they have to feed the platform with as much of the spin-off series as they can it would make sense to ask yourself who is a candidate to rush to subscribe to disney plus, who wasn't there based on "mandalorian." it is about the stock getting ahead of itself when people gave it credit for having a netflix inside when sub growth was so strong, and you realize it is not just a streaming company and economics are not quite there across the board it has been digesting that for about a year now >> danielle, you know, a limited series about an obscure character only favored by dorks like mike and i, i don't know if it will be enough. >> i don't think it is going to be enough in the short term. however, i mean i like disney. i think that in the long term this is a buying opportunity i have been buying disney shares pretty much for the last six months because i'mlooking at i with more of a long-term view, right. disney obviously a huge name they have a wide variety of

product segments at some point, if this pandemic ever ends, you are going to see cruise liners come back, you will see hotels come back and, you know, i think that at that point we will finally see disney move on to make new all-time highs, but it wouldn't be for a bit. >> kristina, i can see you over there. >> i wanted to interrupt >> it is like, ahh >> do we think disney is going to hit their goal of 260 million subscribers at 2024 when they're only at 118 million this past november yes, you have to get a lot of people on board in the next little while will the parks offset it the nice bright spot not so sure. most investors care about the subscriber numbers and they're not there. >> that's it what they need is a show where they basically vote off the worst characters of all time, ewoks, the one with the keyboard that's what we need, the worst characters of all time

appreciate that. >> thank you still ahead, meme mania has the street split on where the arocks are headed in the next ye 2022 biggest battleground is next on "the exchange. back in two. me arthritis. full prescription-strength? reduces inflammation? thank the gods. don't thank them too soon. kick pain in the aspercreme. when it comes to autism, finding the right words can be tough. finding understanding doesn't have to be. together, we can create a kinder, more inclusive world for the millions of people on the autism spectrum. go to autismspeaks.org.

♪ all right. welcome back the moves from the meme traders this year has analysts torn about where the names like gamestop and virgin galactic may be headed next according to goldman sacks, the ones with the largest disparity across price targets are gamestop, novo cure and c3pi gaim gamestop has been so volatile many pulled coverage for the full list of the contentious names you can get them at cnbc pro the street is asking where is the pricing power one analyst thinks he has the answer and it lies with

franchisees. he will be along to vegi us his top pick for 2022.

♪ all right. welcome back restaurant stocks faced a triple threat this year between rising

costs, labor shortages and the pandemic you might have heard about. kate rogers joining us with a look at the names the street is betting on though in 2022 and why. what is the street seeing will be the hot places to eat and invest next year, kaelt? >> hey, ryan after learning how to manage in an ongoing pandemic, the restaurant industry as we know is still continuing to face challenges due to the omicron variant spreading. analysts are looking to names that can perform well in open and more restricted and closed environments and, more importantly, have pricing power and flexibility as inflation continues to weigh on this sector the top pick for 2022 is starbucks. he says investors should own names that cater to a higher demographic in 2022 and that value will be in focus for customers in coming months and quarters for andrew charles at cowen, chipotle takes the top spot. it is a company that expressed room to run on pricing charles says it is justified by

the strategy the company is pursuing based on social responsibility, digital loyalty and manual innovation. other names mentioned as opportunities by charles, wingstop and newly public companies this year sweet green and dutch bros all of the names are digital focused remaining key as we move ahead with these digital platfos are key. domino's and papa john's are also tops on the list. >> a strategy to navigate inflation head winds he favors franchised restaurants over the company-owned wings joining us, an analyst covering restaurants at web bush securities let's get to your picks. one of them is dine global, applebies and ihop are those franchised

>> almost 100% thanks for having me, first of all. absolutely, abbellbys is comping 10% versus 2019. and i hop is during q3 now they are almost back to 2019 levels with basically the late-nate business being hobbled by lack of employees and so to me, looking forward, as that business comes back, as they gradually address the employee shortage situation, you have basically got top-line growth drivers here that should flow straight to the bottom line so you are not worried about inflation head winds because it is almost 100% franchised. >> are you that convinced the franchisees will be able to get the workers to make the comeback i mean, you can pay somebody $40 an hour, but then you have to raise your chicken endre to $35. >> that's the thing. if you are a franchisee, you are raising prices much more aggressively than if you are a company-owned model to protect your margins

you know, i mean, ironically, that's a good thing for the franchisor because you are basically taking a percentage from the top line. as the franchises take pricing, there is more sales to take that percentage from. >> now let's move on to what has been hot that is fast-food. we know of course some of these the only ones to remain open during the lockdowns, particularly out west. i always felt like jack in the box was a sideways cannabis play, i will leave our viewers to figure that out on their own. but you love jack. >> i love them, their market positioning, in the markets they are in, versus mcdonald's. they just acquired del taco. which i think is going to be accretive. now you have two sort of, regional brands that are poised to grow nationally with stellar same-store sales growth. primarily franchise names. the company-owned side in terms

of the margin trajectory is now baked into consensus estimates i think the risk is minimal in terms of the downside. you have got plenty of free cash flow. >> yeah. >> that will basic kiloflow back to shareholders through repurchases and dividends. >> i had no idea they bought del taco west coast thing nick, phenolly, wendy's, i know they are going right after mcdonald's they are spending a lot of money marketing these new fries they say never get cold, never get soggy. i know it is not a super analytical approach but they are spending a lot of money trying to take on mcdonald's. do you think it is going to work >> i think they have one of the best management teams in the industry and they have been able to do everything they have said they are going to do, including introduction of breakfast, right? i think breakfast is going to be a big deal in 22 as the world slowly normalizes. and absolutely, i think they are in a position to take market

share. i really like wendy's here at these valuations >> nick of web bush, appreciate your insight and views dine global, jack in the box, wendy's. >> happy new year. >> happy new year. up next they say fortune favors the bulls that was supposed to be for the likes of the fintech space but 2021 stock performance turned out dfentifrely what went sideways next

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welcome back let's go in the way back time machine. i mean way back, all the way back to likes six months ago when fintech was supposed to turn the entire payments space on its head. but the investors stuck with the tried and true names this year deirdre joins us with that story. what happened to all the hot young upstarts that were supposed to take over from the old guys >> things moved fast this year we have been talking about buy

now, pay later, crypto, digital commerce, the retail investors as we close out 2021, investors areshunning the upstarts and returning to the incumbents. lock at visa and mastercard. shares up 10% or more over the last month coinbase, robinson down double digits in the same time frame. what happened? the hype wearing off perhaps. certainly valuations they are coming back down to rert investors were excited about the young active user bases of the upstarts but it turns out, brian, robinson still relies on its users to trade on big meme stock events coinbase is tied to crypt prices neither have been all that successful yet in cross-selling products but even is he phi which has had success upcells selling or cross selling haas seen its shares tumble 50% from its highs. we checked with dan in tech check, it is going to take time.

the thinking is for now the legacy lay irs, visa and mastercard are going to benefit from old trends. long term, it could be an opportunity for investors like cathie wood who believes that technology, crypto, designalization will ultimately disrupt the models held by visa and mastercard you can see it flippeds on went. brian. we just track it. >> robinson was an $85 stock five months ago. it's at $17 and change now what are people saying about the future this company? >> one of the most brutal selloffs we have seen in the space, especially just going back and thinking about all the hype and excitement over that ipo. it comes back, i think, to this whole idea of upselling, cross-selling, investors so excited about the next generation that robinson is bringing into trading, into financial services but the financial services piece is still kind of missing i mean, what other products can

it sell these customers? or do they just want to trade on meme events? or crypto, right it is relying more on cryptocurrency trading for its business and the thinking is that may not be so sustainable. >> a rough ride for the investors in robinson. deirdre, thank you appreciate. appreciate it. thanks, everybody. thanks for watching "the exchange." i am out until 2022, except on the news tonight with shepard smith. "power lunch" starts right now thank you, brian welcome to "power lunch," i'm kourtney reagan. here is what's ahead going global, china, russia, irndia, well, mump of the focus in 2021 was on the u.s. markets, 2022 could be a year to look overseas for some big winners. we will tell you what is worth watching. a new competition. a european battery company is take aim at tesla, producing its first lithium ion cell battery it comes