tv Squawk on the Street CNBC January 20, 2022 9:00am-11:00am EST
9:00 am
then, as we so often see, they're all interrelated there's crude close to multiyear highs, or almost, almost 86.16 a lot of articles are being written that $100 a barrel is in the cards at some point. that will do it for us "squawk on the street" is coming up next. good thursday morning, welcome to "squawk on the street." making another attempt at a bounce here at wednesday's failed effort. american airlines a bit of a hit on earnings, but some downgrades today. the nasdaq in correction territory, as the street tries to claw back some of the losses. >> plus s.e.c. chair gary
9:01 am
gensler issuing a message to crypto, more scrutiny is coming. and tracking covid some early signs of omicron wave is waneing and what that means for the pandemic it's like, where are you, guys when you getting is good, why weren't you downgrading? it's -- amd was up another 40 points, someone downgrades nxpi, they have so much business, but that's a good time to downgrade? often we see a downgrade for
9:02 am
amd, it goes down tomorrow and then you say, wow, i wish i was nimble enough to have sold it at 126, and bought it at 122. but, you know, just facing the fact that analysts want to get out -- david, you know why is there a symbol faer is that a spac, fear >> fear? >> no one unfortunately has the name fear, but david, fear is motivating the downgrades. they can't take it anymore they're young, they can't take it >> there's any number of investors who feel like i can't take it that much more
9:03 am
i know last year, i'm hearing some of the names, and i haven't called these individual firms, but some of the names we know well, they got hit very hard on the meme stocks, let's say, are down dramatically again. into the teens, you know, approaches a 20% decline in january. >> it's january 20th >> i know, i know, but so many own these names. >> i had this graph ready, because i thought citi put something out that kind of shows where we are i think we may have it >> this is from citi >> it's a chart they put together jim, take a look that's shown what's gone on so far in the first 20 days of the year. >> oh, my god.
9:04 am
>> that's tells the story. >> we need tourniquets >> the question is good the rising rate environment we find ourselves involved in -- whether they go 50 -- >> the new fear is 50. >> continue to bring carnage to some of the names you've been talking about. >> look, you get these companies. i was looking an lemonaid, it's like a lemonade stand. stocks have to stop at zero, you can't go negative. that will save some of these spacs. >> the xrt, and igtv -- >> oh, pepsico deal. i have to tell you, carl when you see this kind of thing,
9:05 am
it's even worse for the individual, who is sticking with companies who are losing money, but look at procter & gamble i used head & shoulders for whatever i have. i'm thinking, geez, if i just looked at that rather than looking at jovie -- >> does anyone think about jovie? >> no. >> it's not just the non-profitable tech. >> no, someone said skyworks is a dangerous stock. i don't know, they're making a lot of money bank of america yesterday, when i was speaking to brian moynihan, they're making so much money and you want to root for rate hikes i'm not sweating the program at bank of america. >> apple, for example, katie
9:06 am
reiterates overweight, reits rates 200. in her words, jim, apple is now defensive in this rising rate environment. >> you know, i hate to see that word i also didn't want to see when she said this quarter in mind. i think someone downgraded c con-ed today i think each as we talked about, meta is, what, like 19 times earnings alphabet is unbelievable. >> that's why they find their way into so-called value portfolios >> it scares people to hear that, but is clorox valuable >> and p & g is high
9:07 am
>> are you going de-wack >> no, don't touch -- >> we're references a particular spac. >> yes, we are. >> when i go over st. cross, missed quarter, missed quarter, and then i look at apple, made quarter, made quarter, made quarter. it does seem defensive people, no matter what they do, the mccormick pickle spice wrecked my pickles, because it had too much allspice. >> you've trouble over the years on that. >> the reason i'm knoll going to pay it the time to pay it was almost 80 it just moved. a lot of the analysts are late
9:08 am
we're getting oversold you know that the sellers are going to come in and try it again, just because they're so happy to not have the news cloelg david, by the way, the group of people who like to fancy themselves as -- >> like the meme stocks? >> yeah. >> how are they doing? >> not particularly well right now. >> no, i mean, i haven't looked at amc today, but we know it's down sharply this year gamestop has been. robinhood, which i wouldn't say is necessarily a meme stock. >> you remember falstaff
9:09 am
>> yes, you've mentioned him so many times i looked it up. listen to this exchange between jim and gensler last night on "mad money. >> when i was also, i would get china letters. it was really cool, if you did this -- now they're called dogecoin and it's dressed up i can't just create something and call it money. that's not right >> when they're promoting to you they're going to make you money, that's exactly what our laws were set up to protect it was about disclosure and protecting against frauds. that's why president roosevelt called it the truth in securities act these tokens should understand that and disclose to you so you, the public, can decide what risk to take. >> a lot of talk about whether or not his communication is
9:10 am
getting more granular now on this matter. >> he didn't like to pick on individual securities, but i wanted to drill down on dogecoin it's the most popular thing traded on friar tuck -- i mean robinhood. first of all, it means you know how many shares are outstanding. you can buy back shares, how many dogecoin is sold every day? >> i have no idea. >> i'll tell you something, gary gensler doesn't know s. either >> are we going to know something soon i'm tired of the conversation. >> that's not fair. >> i've seen the same fireplace in his shot for a long time. how good going to the office, gary let's go >> that's a good takeaway. >> that's not the s.e.c. unless they have very nice offices -- -- i'm tired of
9:11 am
seeing that shot get to the office already! >> we don't know anything about dogecoin i know more, david, about wheels up than about dogecoin >> so does this mean everyone who mines will somehow have to register >> you bet yeah, i think let's put it this way. anyone who issues this stuff will have to explain themselves. i think the spacs is now you have to disclose the real dilution you have to disclose the fact -- >> are you going to disclose what your loss number is in fact, we as the sponsors will no longer be in the black if it gets down to three >> i think you won't see the crazy projections. i think a world of hurt is coming toward the wild west. >> it's already played out in
9:12 am
the spac market. maybe there's more to go,but w point them out all the time. >> are you saying the horse has left the barn? >> yes >> can i tell you gary -- he told me to call him gary -- there's a lot of young people right now saying i'm going to get back to even, then there's other people who are playing candy crush, but they think it's doge. >> draftkings, fanduel obo robinhood, it's all the same thing. >> do you think fantasy is a security what do you think of that? >> i don't know. >> it's the same >> what was the thing? people are saying you can make money, then it could be a security i don't think he'll over-reach but if you're trading dogecoin today, i think you ought to be
9:13 am
watching soap operas, make espn, catch up on your betting for the weekend, but stop it with the dog dogecoin, because you're an idiot. >> there's a piece that the russian central bank is drafting a paper that would ban cryptocurrencies characters stick of a financial pyramid. >> i mean -- see, putin is not d. they don't have a supreme court. they're not like habeas corpus they're just corpus. the russians the great patriotic wars, so i don't want to declare war -- >> it sounds like you're about to go to war again something we haven't discussed at all. >> yeah, i've got music in my ear, i'm not sure what that's all about.
9:14 am
>> it means we're going to talk about airlines after the break we'll talk about what they said about omicron and the impact of bookings, as we're getting signs of a peak in the uk certainly, maybe here in the u.s. a lot more "squawk on the street" continues in a moment. want it all. you have to deal with higher expectations and you have to lower wait times. with ibm, you can do both. your business can unify apps and data across your clouds. so you can address supply chain issues in real time, before they impact your bottom line. predicting and managing operational issues that's why so many businesses work with ibm. i am here because they revolutionized immunotherapy. i am here because they saw how cancer adapts to different oxygen levels and starved it. i am here because they switched off egfr gene mutation and stopped the growth of tumor cells.
9:15 am
9:16 am
new year, new start. and now comcast business is making it easy to get going with the ready. set. save. sale. get started with fast and reliable internet and voice for $64.99 a month with a 2-year price guarantee. it's easy... with flexible installation and backing from an expert team, 24/7. and for even more value, ask how to get up to a $500 prepaid card. get a great deal for your business with the ready. set. save. sale today. comcast business. powering possibilities.
9:17 am
the airlines' ceos commented earlier on "squawk box." >> we're actually seeing now net bookings back in the 80% level, where they were prior to omicron. so people are, i believe, certainly are getting to the point where they believe this will be beindependence us too long and they're making plans in the future. >> if they continue on the trajectory, bookings have started to come back, we certainly have bottomed from the omicron impact, and they're looking stronger, particularly at the end of february, march and beyond our forecast is we'll be profitable in the second quarter. of course, that depends on omicron. that could change. there's a lot of uncertainty related to the virus. >> parker over at american said domestic business travel still 70% of q4 19 >> and people -- gensler is
9:18 am
running one of the most powerful organizations in the world, from his fireplace and his living room there's no reason to go in >> no. listen, people -- well, to the point about business travel, which goes to the larger questions of return to the office and when people aren't going to go to the office. a lot of people are in the office there was an expectations, frankly that businesses were bringing people back this week, certainly in our region, originally was the plan. that got delayed i took a walk around the financial district yesterday it is depressing new york, for example, had come back a good deal i spend every day midtown and things have retreated a big deal one hopes the retreat of omicron itself -- i took that shot yesterday. that's nearby my house there used to be a line that would stretch down the block
9:19 am
nobody was there yesterday no, i'm not an expert on the virus. yes, i do believe don't test/don't tell, so clearly a reflection of a decline here so when are people going back to the office, jim? >> you read dr. minis, one of my favorite follows, one of the foremost about testing he got it. again, i say you worked at home for 15 months, because you didn't want to go. i look at this and say this is happening right now. why should i subject people to go to work right now when one of the foremost testing -- one didn't necessarily get the shots at the right time. >> i we can't to the knicks game this week, 18,000 in the stadium, most of them inside not wearing masks, but nobody can go to the office? come on. >> we talked with elaine becker last week. i'm gouncomfortable going to wo
9:20 am
in the office, but i am going to plan my vacation. >> i think what changed is we accepted the risk. we got our boosters. we know many people who didn't even know they were sick obviously -- my wife got a bronchial disease after she had it, because it went to her lungs. she had the j&j and one order. >> as omicron retreats and will do so differently in geographic areas. it's still calling hospitalizations but as it does retreat, do we get back to some level of normalcy again i know there's parts of the country that have been normal for a long time. >> i think we do back to pre-delta, where -- remember there was that window it was kind of like the roaring '20s, and then delta came? >> yes
9:21 am
yes. hopefully spot treatment -- >> they're doing what you said all the again new york city have agreed with -- this is what dr. topol said would happen. the government said it's a hard m molecule to make, but that was actually wrong we'll have pills not like tylenol, but i'm very bullish. >> it continues to be a key on when to return to office and what that looks like. >> you're focused on the office, when things are getting done >> they're not getting done the same way. >> well, productivity, that's still a plus. >> yeah, but -- >> did you read the bank of america quarter. >> i hear you. you noticed too. most business leaders do not believe that -- they have started to lose things over the last year, certainly in terms of attrition of their employees,
9:22 am
cultural attachment, innovation. so many different things we'll have this argument forever. when the metaverse comes along, it doesn't matter anyone, everybody will be 'home. about that will take a while we'll be retired by then >> gjensen huang is on it. i saw me, but sma art me. the opening bell is going to be in eight minutes. jerry is here! j! mate, how are ya!? it's so good to see you. good to see all of you, yeah! why is jerry so... popular? it's been like this ever since we started using workday. what do you mean? it makes it easier to develop great relationships with our suppliers.
9:23 am
now everyone, everywhere loves jerry. they sure do. they do. they really do. mmhmm. workday. finance, hr, planning and spend management for a changing world. at vanguard, you're more than just an investor, you're an owner with access to financial advice, tools and a personalized plan that helps you build a future for those you love. vanguard. become an owner. vanguard. ♪ ♪ ♪ digital transformation has failed to take off. because it hasn't removed the endless mundane work we all hate. ♪ ♪ ♪ automation can solve that by taking on repetitive tasks for us. unleash your potential. uipath. reboot work.
9:25 am
9:26 am
9:28 am
>> announcer: the opening bell is brought to you by - all right. we've got about two minutes before we get started with trading here at the new york stock exchange let's squeeze in a mad dash. >> before the holiday season, i said every kiss begins with favor, but every kiss begins with kay their numbers are amazing. they grew 22%, about $388 million, as -- before 280, came in 388 the old signet made their money through like, you know, kind of loan sharks? there's no credit involved this is actual jewelry
9:29 am
every one on their banner had strong performance this is about getting a whole culture to change. i think this, this person should be hailed as a person who turned a retailer around. this is a remarkable performance. she's on at 3:00 >> sara eisen, if i recall, has a relationship with her as well. sara has crushed you on this one. >> i didn't like the sayles number, or zaybar's number -- wow, she's on at 3:00? >> that changes everything for him, carl. >> i'm taking back everything i bought at jared for my wife. i can't believe she's on at 3:00 >> you'll get over it. >> do people understand i'm on "mad money"? >> yeah, everybody does. you don't win every single day every single minute.
9:30 am
>> i'll call in and participate. thank you, sara. wilf would be happy to have me on. >> that's as good a promo as any. the big board celebrating the acquisition, and the nasdaq wave energy technology company. i know you've been watching them as we get a bit of relief on crude today. it's pretty impressive outlook numbers. >> the permian is up private equity companies are doing it, it's not the devans, not the pioneer. i put it in the bull pen for the club, conoco is very interesting. very well run, very good marathon is very interesting they have cleaned up their
9:31 am
balance sheet, and devan has a -- i find it hard to do the service stocks, because they're doing much more less shall schlumberger, halliburton, the drill count is not as important, david as, say -- that's fine, go ahead, play that game for a day. what you really want to do is buy the companies that have decided to have discipline, return capital, and the best cases, devin, a $30 breakeven. that's also the case, to a certain extend, to the majors as well as they now look towards a carbon neutral future. that's a lodge ways out. citigroup, with this 80-page climate report, but the key takeaways is it is going to aim
9:32 am
for emissions from the company from the loan portfolio to drop 29% by 2030 from 2020. jane phraser saying our intention is to work with all our clirchts, including or fossil fuel clients, to develop credibility plans and transition to net zero together we'll also encourage the responsible retirement of carbon-intense assets rather than the divestment as part of these transition plans we will city to assess our client relatesships before turns to clients' exits as a last resort >> now you can read it. >> gary gensler is going to be looking should every one of these claims there's not going to be, i think, afew years from now, yo won't be the auditor of
9:33 am
yourself microsoft audits everything that's going on in terms of this area what happened if you need a third party? >> to assess, you're saying, whether or not these goals are being met? >> yes. >> right by the way, back to that point, you also have to look at the language when and you have microsoft or a koch saying they're looking to reduce their carbon footprint, they use different language than the fossil fuel companies. we have this for you as well the theicsen chevron says net zero -- you can see an intensity target exxon mobil announces its
9:34 am
mission. shellr shell's target is to become a net zero energy business their target is to become, and bp sets its ambition as well we all hope, but there's a key here to the language in terms of what they're trying to accomplish it's different from target, saying we're going to be net zero it's easier for them to do it, or apple, we'll be 100% carbon neutral. >> did you notice where the oil companies getting there are based? >> europe. >> so what's happening, carl -- >> to be fair, bp has an ambition they're using the same language as exxon. >> i think their companies are
9:35 am
scared i think they're afraid if they don't do it, the government will do it for them my charitable trust is in chevron, but i like they permian players, devan is the number one performing >> and i think it's not done >> let them come down a little today is obviously a bounce day for the stuff that's been crushed. and then go back, devin has a 7% yield. >> what is your thoughts about iff these days >> we need a new ceo there >> of course, it brought ed bream on the board
9:36 am
frank clyburn, 55 years old, i'm looking at a report, sharing some similarities with the ceo who prior to this -- in this case clyburn has been at merck, i believe, right and, you know, definitely knows the science part of the business very well, but will he be able to un-silo this business those believe historically, and there have been activists in here as you know ed bream has been dealing with thatened and very focused. >> they got caught up in a company that was -- >> yeah, that was terrible it was a poor cool we did want to mention, when it comes to activists i think scott ferguson has been in there, but icahn does own 4%,
9:37 am
i'm told i don't think it's indicative of necessarily anything by the way, there's going to be a guest later today. >> yeah, 15 years, congratulations to melissa by the way, one of the great long-term growth stocks, so this acquisition they got from dupont is very good i think the un-silo thing you mentioned, but what we have to see iff do is become the dominant counmpany. >> this is a result of the activists. by the way, whenever i talk about icahn, he's done great -- i haven't talked to carl in a while. if he had held the apple acquisition he made -- i think they would be worth something like $50 billion now that gets you to turn your head. >> yeah.
9:38 am
>> he owned a lot of apple >> i remember that >> he owned a lot of netflix >> he made a lot of money out of these. what about warren buffett's performance? you think that's from -- >> apple >> american express? though american express -- >> berkshire is as apple proxy at this point. the adjourn has a piece on walmart on the tape that the u.s. e-commerce chief is leaving the company. a lack of stimulus tailwinds, continued inflationary pressure may decent proportionately impact the middle of the middle consumer they prefer target. >> i think target has come down. the charitable trust own walmart. why? frankly it's really good, but this e-commerce news is shock to go -- shocking to me you had a previous guy who set
9:39 am
it up, and they were telling me over and over again not to worry, that the new team will be good he said, don't worry, we've got new people coming in well, hmm -- >> not leaving a good taste? what, have you got a mint? >> i was going for a lifesaver. >> no saltines today. >> i had those yesterday >> why you're doing that, come back to this story we talked about on monday, that incredibly busy news day the big deal was activision, but unilever said we're not going higher their shareholders did not like the idea of them trying to bike
9:40 am
glaxo's consumer -- >> everyone's a loser. >> you think it's going to be worth more on the market when you spin it. they're says 4% to 6% top-line growth, and at the same time unilever shareholders said, what are you doing? >> it's doing a pivot. it did come back you can see the decline, but it bounced a lot yesterday. >> they decided, you know what we want to compete more with procter. it's a juggernaut now. >> what do you do? try to get colgate to say, please buy us? >> unilever is in an existential crisis they don't know who they are maybe they want to be polident.
9:41 am
>> remember the martha ray commercials? >> you've got a great opportunity there. i mentioned that the other day i don't think they're thrilled wit way i characterized it. >> i know you've never been a fan, but today jeffries jumps in, cuts to hold actually their price target goes up $5, but their general -- is it's premature for what's a very tough business. >> we sold some higher, constitutionally 25, but i will say this that's the downgrade where a guy is making a victory lap. he believed this opposed to adam jonas, who kept it sell all the way up i think you get the tips you want, because people feel chips are now available, but you have an electrification line which i
9:42 am
think -- we talked about getting through that may business, but i will say if you leave ford, ford, gm, where mary barra is doing a good job, you're going into far more expensive stocks jim farley is not done it's an odyssey for him. it's an odyssey, and he's now going through, you know, he's strapped to the mass he's going to win. >> he was out there for a long time >> and a lot of trials and tribulations >> yes, he did, a lot. >> and so has farley he'll come through perfectly he 's --
9:43 am
>> which one is tesla? >> a mixed metaphor there. there's no achilles' heel on tesla. he has a good heel remember ajax is another, to get another one in there i think musk is totally for real i liked him very much. he's a great guy. >> really? what did he do that day that he gave you omicron what else did he do to you did he hug you what was it that turned you on to him >> he came in with his did i he talked el wently about space travel my wife turned to me and said this guy is a genius. >> nobody disputes that. i found him engaging, brilliant, exciting, and he's ours, he's america -- well, i consider him american no one in the world has hi vision right now
9:44 am
except for maybe jensen huang. things go through his head -- ein einstein, beethoven, mozart. >> and then they actually happen that's what's different. >> he has a pixie-ish grin, but he having fun. he's changed the world positive way i'm all in with musk. >> wow. the projections for this year's delivery -- >> he's in berlin, the capital of, you know, the machines, the bavarian motorworks -- the language you can't even speak. >> okay, back to musk in berlin. >> he goes to china, and he basically conquers the chinese market
9:45 am
marco -- >> polo. >> there you go. he goes to berlin, and they were trying to make -- they're trying to make it like he's cutting a forest down. he changes that. there's bombs in the ground -- >> he's going to fix everything. >> mars has an oxygen issue, he's going to take care of that, too. >> with plants that grow there. >> taking matt damon with him. >> most people would never enthink about going into berlin. that's where great motor cars are made it means nothing to him. >> we'll talk about the china satire -- >> bmw right now -- the the lamborghini guys, they think he's a blast they make unbelievable machines. five a day they make they have seamstresses sewing. >> trying to get back to 45 had
9:46 am
the 70 here. let's get to bob pisani. good morning, bob. >> good morning, guys. a nice bounce here we've had three crumby days. take a look at the sectors, nice to see tech bouncing, the cathie wood's stuff is doing better she's had a rough month. banks and energy, they're on the flatter side, so it's really tech rallying, semis are flat, though we've had a bit of an issue here this is a different earnings season i'm watching very carefully the early reporters. 76% of companies reported are beating. 88% was where we were last name for the third quarter, and the beat numbers are lower, 8% beats. we were beating 15% the other
9:47 am
quarters so they're half of what they were this is closer to a normal season that we're seeing last year was a bit of an anomaly. so we're in a bit of an earnings va vacuum right now the big problem is analysts aren't sure whether they should be raising or lowering estimates around omicron, an the fact that the federal reserve will be raising rates, around supply chains, nobody is really sure. you can see this in the analyst estimates. normally they start going up in the last quarters, they've been going up. recently they're basically moving down a little bit i think that reflects the uncertainty that's going on. that's a change from prior quarters meantime, the big numbers will be on tuesday. that's when you real earnings
9:48 am
season starts. we'll see ge, american express 3m in particular big global industrials that know what the global economy looks like i think the analysts will go one way or another right now, they don't exactly know what they should be doing meantime, the opposite of margin pressure around higher wages is operating leverage i know jim mentioned signet, but i want to mention strongly, the company themselves cited significant cost savings as a reason why they were raising their estimates overall. that's operating leverage. that's sort of the opposite that we've been talking about the companies are getting more efficient, as sales improve, the technical changes they made to their operating structure, fleet optimization they talked about as well. all of that has helped the bottom line. more profit, more money goes right to the bottom line here.
9:49 am
signet is now experiencing that operating leverage, and it's a major factor in terms of the overall market, trading desks keep saying, there are certain stocks in terrible shape. i keep pointing to the investment x here, at 22 even though there is some genuine concern around individual sectors this look at where we're all, it's always useful to point out up s&p is only 5% from its 52-week high so, carl, yes, we're seeing cathie wood down, but the market is in a modest decline from a few weeks ago. as we go to break, 'reminder, you can always get in
9:50 am
with cramer and the investing club sign up or use the qr code on the screen time for the bond report, as we may attention, two-year remains elevated, but the ten-year had settled back. we're still around those levels. we'll be right back. the 10-year settled around 1.83. still around those levels. we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ wow, we're crunching tons of polygons here! what's going on? where's regina? hi, i'm ladonna. i invest in invesco qqq, a fund that gives me access to the nasdaq-100 innovations, like real time cgi. okay...
9:51 am
yeah... oh. don't worry i got it! become an agent of innovation with invesco qqq esg is responsible investing. yeah... oh. who's responsible for building esg into your investments? at pgim, the pursuit is on for outperformance. as active investors, to outdeliver with customized strategies, integrating esg best practices into our investment decisions. as asset managers and fiduciaries, to outserve, with our commitment to better esg outcomes. join the pursuit of outperformance at pgim. the investment management business of prudential.
9:52 am
9:53 am
ugh. unbelievable. the nation's earnings scorecard, the impact on consumer spending, demand an the bottom line. protecting your investments, finding new potential, team coverage and analysis all day. watch or listen live on the cnbc app. shares of unp have managed to rally a bit the last couple days off six-week lows on the heals of the companies results will joius lern at this morning. >> [ inaudible ]. >> another one that cramer doesn't have tonight meantime we'll be right back.
9:54 am
your record label is taking off. but so is your sound engineer. 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 matching your job description. ♪ ♪ ♪ digital transformation has failed to take off. because it hasn't removed the endless mundane work we all hate. ♪ ♪ ♪ automation can solve that by taking on repetitive tasks for us. unleash your potential. uipath. reboot work.
9:55 am
9:56 am
as a business owner, your bottom line designed to help you keep more of what you earn. is always top of mind. so start saving by switching to the mobile service designed for small business: comcast business mobile. flexible data plans mean you can get unlimited data or pay by the gig. all on the most reliable nationwide network. with no line activation fees or term contracts... saving you up to $500 a year. and it's only available to comcast business internet customers. so boost your bottom line by switching today. comcast business: powering possibilities. jim, what's on mad tonight >> lance it froms from union pacific and jenna derosa from sig net. >> that's a joke. >> she knows more about amazon and worry houses bryan jordan will tell you business is great in the
9:57 am
country. i hope that's not considered bad by people. >> we'll see you -- >> tell lance i said hi. ask him about the number of women he's hired he's about the best in industrial america. >> we'll see if that comes up. a lot of stuff to get to with lance. d money, 6:00 p.m. gina raimondo on the supply chain. more "squawk on the street" is back after this.
10:00 am
. good thursday morning. welcome to another hour of "squawk on the street. i'm carl quintanilla with morgan brennan and david faber trying to get back some of what was lost yesterday session highs, dow up 350, s&p working its way back to 4580 or so we're getting some housing data to start the hour and for that we'll turn to diana olick. hey, diana. >> hey, carl existing home sales in december fell 4.6% to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 6.18 million units according to the national association of realtors sales down 7.1% year over year and that's a huge miss the street was looking for a
10:01 am
slight gain to 6.48 million units and inventory the problem, 910,000 homes for sale at the end of december. a drop of 14.2% year over year at the current sales pace that's a 1.8 month supply both raw supply and month supply are now at record lows that put pressure on prices. the median price of an existing home sold in december was $358,000 an increase of 15.8% year over year that's a slight re-acceleration of home price gains implying that demand is still very strong now december rounded out a year of continued strong sales at 6.12 million total that's the best showing since 2006 one note, though, on these december sales, they were based on october and november contracts when mortgage rates were about 60 basis points lower than they are now. realtors expecting higher rates will put a chill on sales going forward. morgue >> all right diana olick, thank you. here are three movers that
10:02 am
we are watching this morning we're going to start with travelers getting a nice boost after the property casualty insurer's net premiums jumped 10% benefitting from fewer covid-19 shutdowns and disruptions. higher net investment income as well thanks to private equity and real estate returns that helped fuel an earnings beat you can see the shares are up 4.5, almost 5% plus, shiny, preliminary results for signet jewelers as the jewelry and diamond retailer says holiday sales surged and signet announcing a an accelerated share repurchasing plan up 1.5%. don't miss an interview with the ceo later today on "closing bell" which kicks off at 3:00 p.m. eastern finally aluminum maker alcoa topping expectations as well benefitting from rising aluminum prices commodity aluminum up 50% over the past year. and shares have followed suit.
10:03 am
al al coya up almost 2% in the trade. airline stocks among the big earnings movers. phil lebeau is looking at american and united for us hi, phil. >> hey, carl both of those stocks are trading lower. american reporting its earnings this morning we had united last night we'll talk about that in a bit for american, this was better than expected results for the fourth quarter on the top and bottom line. it's the guidance that people are focused on they're facing headwind in the first quarter with revenue down 20 to 22%, capacity down 8 to 10%, and their costs per available seat mile excluding fuel up 8 to 10% here's ceo doug parker from "squawk box" this morning talking about the current booking trends. >> the near-term bookings are still soft, net bookings we look at there are still people canceling trips they've made but that has gotten better here as we've come into january what looks really quite strong
10:04 am
or relatively strong are bookings outside 30 to 60-day period, so that we feel good about. those numbers, again, are back above where they were pre-omicron. >> let's talk about united airlines which reported its result after the bell yesterday. like american, it beat on both the top and bottom line, though it was a loss for the fourth quarter. it expects a greater than anticipated loss for the first quarter, one reason it might be under a little bit of pressure this morning with regard to the 5g issue when we talked with ceo scott kirby he outlined how it's going to take some time to resolve this, not just for united, but the entire industry. >> the manufacturers of the altimeters along with the aircraft manufacturers will work with the faa and the telecoms and create essential lay road map, a rule book, of how you deploy near airports, what the power levels are, and that will give clarity to all of the
10:05 am
telecoms of where they can put them >> by the way, guys, that's going to take some time. right now the faa says just 62% of the planes that fly in the united states are cleared to land at airports where they may encounter, you know, a low visibility but keep in mind, what you're noticing also at the same time is that we don't have 5g deployed at all the airports around the country it's going to be a combination of working with the manufacturers, working with the airlines and really going plane by plane to make sure that the equipment is okay to work at particular airports when 5g comes back up. >> yeah. phil, the 5g thing continues to be a talker, although from a sheer cancellation viewpoint, it hasn't been dramatic, at least the last couple days, right? >> no. but keep in mind that the airport, about 80 of them, most of them do not have 5g within a
10:06 am
two-mile radius of them. there's a buffer zone around those airports we haven't seen it deployed completely and as a result, the airlines are able to generally keep their schedule going. i think that we may see an occasional cancellation here or there. i don't think we're going to see the widespread cancellations >> phil, you know, we had an fcc commissioner on yesterday who made the point that this all should have been fine, the fcc had the science behind it in terms of protecting the bandwidth. france is doing it any answer from the airline ceos has to why this has become an issue. >> he they want to be careful to not point fingers at the faa and the biden administration nips goes back to the previous administration there was very little integration between all the parties involved once the bandwidth was sold everybody agrees that the bandwidth, made sense to sell that bandwidth for 5g and verizon and at&t, along with sprint, paying more than $80 billion, but there was no
10:07 am
integration or a lack of integration, which is not surprising because at certain points, there were not always all the positions filled within the previous administration that should have been filled, and when you talk with people they say the same thing, not a lot of integration between the faa, the fcc, the airlines and the wireless companies >> got it. thanks, phil phil lebeau. let's turn back to the broader markets now. our next guest forecasting a 10% drop for the s&p in the first half of this year. joining us now is wells fargo securities head of equity strategy chris harvey. as of today you're about 4% there. why do you see another 6% coming for the remainder of the let's call it until the end of june? >> yeah. so let's just talk about the here and the now okay a lot of people are asking us, can we see another 5% right here right now. the answer is maybe yes, maybe no, right. as you know and most of our viewers know, you're sitting on very important technical levels for the s&p and for nasdaq, 100
10:08 am
and 200 day we could see a ball bounce if we see that what we tell clients this is an opportunity to reposition. we think at some point in time we get that 10% pullback, an the reason being, it's pretty simple growth is decelerating, a lot of speculation in the marketplace, the fed is getting more aggressive, and at the end of the day this has been a bend, not break, market and at some point we are going to break. that mentality is dangerous and at some point the market is going to go down 10% >> and earnings are not going to bail us out this time? >> i don't think so. earnings have been good. one of the things we talked about last year, you were going to see the market follow earnings and earnings revision because companies had removed guidance, strong recovery, and we were expecting numbers to go higher and go higher quickly that was true. but now, after a year of that, you carve that out people now understand it's a much more efficient market the opportunities are less the recovery has already happened growth is beginning to
10:09 am
decelerate we're talking about margins peaking and possibly good will be bad this year in other words, if the supply chain begins to improve at the margin, pricing power may become more difficult and that has significant ramifications for margins and multiples. >> almost feels like reading your notes, chris, it's a tale of two halves, 2022. you will see a 10% pullback, what you're forecasting in the s&p, and maybe in the second half of the year, you see a rebound as well, in part because ofs going on in d.c. and midterm elections. is that how you expect this to play out or does so much hinge on the fed and also the trajectory of this pandemic? >> morgan, i think that's fair i think it is a tale two of halves one of the things we keep saying is, this is not like '07 where systemic risk is through the roof and no price for risk there's a price for risk we think it's lore the underlying fundamentals are fine, we need to normalize once we uncover that value an
10:10 am
get the 10% pullback, get rid of some of the speculation and frothwe think there's opportunity and then in the second half one of the things that we see is a catalyst potentially a red wave and typically when we see the senate t turn republican that's a good sign a rough first half, but improvement in the second half of the year. >> supply chains and freight flows are one of the things many investors don't pay that much attention to until something goes wrong of course, we're seeing that play out now, right, with inflation and supply chains and what's means for margins and earnings and where the s&p goes from here. you can make a similar argument for geopoliticals. whenever we see geopolitical risks investors shrug it off unless something hits the fan. the fact that we have this situation that is escalating, dare i say, given some of the comments we heard from president biden yesterday where russia and the potential to invade ukraine is concerned, how big of a potential risk or black swan
10:11 am
event could that be this year? >> i wouldn't call it a black swan, but you're right, the geopolitical is a risk it's something that's a wild card it's very hard to handicap the bigger issue, when we look at where we're coming, from we had a massive amount of monetary and fiscal policy last year. that smoothed out volatility and risk you don't have that this year. the markets are going to swing on a lot of these marginal risks and events, and it doesn't have that backstop of the fed, doesn't have the backstop of fiscal accommodation these are more impactful we're going to see more volatility and the markets are free to trade, not bound boun a lot of excessive stimulation if you will or accommodation. >> finally, chris, i wonder, people are starting to watch revisions to earnings and specifically guidance which is
10:12 am
net/net turning more negative as you see wages continue to bite into margins do you expect that to get well reflected in q4 reports in the coming weeks >> so, carl, i don't think it's reflected in q4. i think it gets reflected in the guidance one of the things that's interesting the first time in years, people are talking to us about the fundamentals of technology stocks and maybe the fundamentals of actually peaked and maybe margins can expand from here and that's very different. what we've been seeing is technology and growth has rolled over because of rate, because of the macro, but maybe there's an underlying factor which we'll find out in this upcoming season and we expect to see that in guidance >> chris, thank you. >> thank you >> as we head to a quick break, here is a look at our road map for the hour including commerce secretary gina raimondo talking everything from supply chain issues, inflation, and president biden's first year in office
10:13 am
>> speaking of supply chain, lance fritz, ceo and chairman of union pacific is going to join us after topping earnings estimates this morning. and how one company is using waste water to help cities and hospitals respond to the latest surge in covid cases a big show ahead with the dow up 260. don't go anywhere. two out of three guys experience
10:14 am
10:16 am
everything to do with the supply chain and i think what you're seeing is that we've been able to make progress on speeding up the access to materials. for example, one third of the increasing cost of living is the cost of automobiles. the reason automobiles have skyrocketed in prices is because of the lack of computer chips. we have the capacity and we're going to do everything in our power to do it, to become self-reliant on the computer chips we need to produce more automobiles. that's under way. >> that is the president in that news conference yesterday marking his first anniversary in the white house. a year filled with continuing covid challenges, supply chain bottlenecks and surging inflation, impacting consumers and businesses alike joining us is the commerce secretary gina raimondo to talk about all ofthose things madam secretary, great to have you back good morning. >> good morning. >> the president talks about
10:17 am
some of the longer term structural remedies that we can take to alleviate supply chain challenges and inflation, but shorter term, are you continuing to see incremental improvement, the likes of which we've talked about the last couple times we've had you on >> we are, absolutely. we are seeing improvement. i talk to business leaders every single day, big companies, little companies, we've seen significant improvement in the ports, the administration's efforts there have clearly led to reduced congestion at the ports. we're having good success getting more truck drivers trained and on the road to move goods. we're seeing a little bit of improvement in the semiconductor supply chain respect to transparency, although the president is right, the solution here is for congress to take action to pass the chips act, which will stimulate more domestic production of semiconductors you know, you can't -- we cannot overestimate how vital
10:18 am
semiconductors are to our economy. u.s. automakers made 8 million fewer cars last year than they thought they would you're seeing that in prices so i just can't say that enough. we need to make more chips in america, and congress needs to do its job and get that bill to the president's desk >> i've heard a couple people look at the president's comments yesterday and also lin na's comments on our air, somehow it's seen as an argument that corporations are using broad-based inflation as cover to inflate their own margins for self-serving use is that what the president is arguing? >> i do not think that that is what the president is arguing. look, here's what i would say broadly, we have a very strong economy. we're the only economy in the world that is stronger now than prepandemic. however, we're also dealing with inflation. that's a fact, as the president said, a huge driver of that is the supply chain, lack of
10:19 am
supply so we are going -- we're being very disciplined, methodical every day in the biden administration, industry by industry, what is it going to take to increase labor supply, get people back to work, train people, and what's it going to take to increase productive capacity that's what we're doing. look, i'm not saying we're there yet. we know folks are struggling with inflation but i am actually optimistic that what we are doing now will yield fruit. >> secretary raimondo, yesterday president biden said in regards to russia and fact that it's amassing military forces on three sides of ukraine, that this, quote, will be the most consequential thing that's happened in the world in war and peace since world war ii if russia and putin were to invade. i realize it's a national security issue and geopolitical one, but national security issues can quickly become economic ones because depending on how this plays out it could affect trade flows and
10:20 am
investment dollars and inflation, especially when talking about something like energy prices. so from your standpoint within the administration, how are you gaming the scenario out right now? >> yes so the president is very clear about our position and he's been very clear with russia about our position, and we will be prepared for every eventuality the united states of america will stand up as the president has said and, of course, we're doing our planning now we've already been in touch with business leaders my department, the whole of government response, we're preparing for every eventuality to make sure we protect the american people and american businesses >> secretary raimondo, you know, in speaking to leaders of organizations, as you obviously say you do regularly, i can't imagine that the topic of return to office doesn't come up often. i know it's top of mind for so many leaders these days, in my conversations. what are your thoughts
10:21 am
are you sensing frustration on the part of leaders who are not seeing their offices full and where does commerce come down in terms of what you would like to see and when you would like to see it >> yes so that's a decision for every company to make on their own i will say this, i think we all realize, every corporate leader i talk to, realizes covid has changed forever the way that we work, and that has created disruption and also created opportunity. i think that the corporate leaders of big companies, little companies, startups, who adjust to the change, who innovate because of the change, and figure out ways to attract employees, give them flexibility and enhance their productivity, they're the ones who will be successful i certainly -- i don't have an opinion and the commerce department doesn't have an opinion around how companies should take folks back into the office i think we all recognize that more flexibility is going to be
10:22 am
necessary and it's up to every leader to figure out how to manage that. it's certainly a challenge i also think it's an opportunity. these are transformations and from that will come innovation >> yeah. how are you approaching it at commerce do you have people coming to the office >> we do we have folks coming into the office we get tested every day. we wear masks in the office. and, you know, but it's not mandatory and we're allowing for that flexibility >> finally, madam secretary, he was asked about easing tariffs on chinese goods, says not there yet, and the ustr is working on it that might take a little bit of -- that might relieve inflation i guess on the margin. what do you think it takes to get there? >> yes i will say, i agree. last year i was very pleased to have announced we were able to get rid of the tariffs on steel and aluminum coming in from the
10:23 am
eu that absolutely affect inflation to the positive. we've already seen steel prices coming down. of course steel and aluminum are in everything. we have -- we're still working as you say with china. that is a much more challenging situation and is going to take time, but as we said before, president biden has been crystal clear with us -- use every single tool in our toolbox to combat inflation and so looking at tariffs and getting rid of them where appropriate is one of the tools in that toolbox. >> gina raimondo, commerce secretary, appreciate it very much it's great having you back thanks so much. >> thanks, guys. >> still to come, we'll check in with union pacific ceo lance fritz after reporting results for the railroad this morning. first, check out the biggest gainers on the nasdaq 100. chinese tech names that are leading the rally this morning as you can see right there,
10:24 am
10:27 am
welcome back to "squawk on the street." it's time for our etf spotlight taking a look at the regional banks up almost 30% over the last year of trading it's about flat right now. top holdings include m&t bank, peoples united financial, signature bank, but regions financial in the opposite direction, reporting lower than expected quarterly results you can see those shares are down 5%. we focus on the big banks but the regionals have been micong out with their quarterly numbers as well. case inpoint, we're going to take a quick break right here and don't go anywhere. ♪ ♪ wow, we're crunching tons of polygons here! what's going on? where's regina? hi, i'm ladonna. i invest in invesco qqq, a fund that gives me access to the nasdaq-100 innovations, like real time cgi.
10:28 am
okay... yeah... oh. don't worry i got it! become an agent of innovation with invesco qqq hey lily, i need a new wireless plan for my business, but all my employees need something different. oh, we can help with that. okay, imagine this. your mover, rob, he's on the scene and needs a plan with a mobile hotspot. we cut to downtown, your sales rep lisa has to send some files, like asap! so basically i can pick the right plan for each employee. yeah i should've just led with that. with at&t business. you can pick the best plan for each employee and get the best deals on every smart phone.
10:30 am
this hour. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken promising what he calls a swift, severe, united response from the u.s. an its allies if any russian military forces move across the ukrainian border and commit new acts of aggression. he's in germany for meetings with that company's foreign minister president biden was criticized a minor russian incursion would prompt a smaller response. a new poll shows biden approval rating down 43% it has helped steady at the lower level since october. a statute of president theodore roosevelt in front of new york city's museum of natural history has been removed. it showed roosevelt on two horseback with two african and native american men walking behind them that communicated a disturbing racial hierarchy. roughly 30 blocks to the south lights on broadway were dimmed to honor sidney poitier the
10:31 am
first black man to win an academy award. he was 94. david, back to you >> thank you. shares of ford are under pressure again today this after dropping more than 7% in yesterday's session dom chu is looking at the autos. >> that's right. consumer discretion nare ray day after its worse day since april 2021 ford is trading higher today despite analysts at jefferies downgrading it from a prior buy. they did raise the price target from 20 to $25 they have to given the price movements there. jefferies analysts believe that ford shares are, quote, in good shape and in good hands, citing the reviable or reinvention of many key franchises. those analysts also argue the company has leapfrogged newer electric vehicle companies in the u.s. and europe and that ford's major redesigns have closed some of the gaps between it and general motors as well. despite its 10% decline just so
10:32 am
far this week, ford has still hanley out performed other automakers recently up more than 100% over the past 12 months general motors meanwhile is basically flat over the past year ford even outshines tesla during that time span with the ev maker up 20% in the past year from a market cap perspective, tesla still dwarfs the other you can fit more than 10 ford market equity caps into one tesla sitting at a value north of $1 trillion so interesting, carl, if you take a look at the ford versus tesla argument, i could imagine a year ago, if you would have asked an investor would you rather ford or tesla, i think a lot of people would have said tesla. back to you. >> fascinating that trip above 20 got a lot of people's attention. thanks coming up after the break how one company is using waste water as key data in the latest omicron surge and, of course, tonight "fast money" turning 15.
10:33 am
don't miss a big episode with special guests including carl icahn and howard lutsnick, at 5:00 eastern time. the dow, s&p and nasdaq enjoying their best day of the year so far. you're a one-man stitchwork master. but your staffing plan needs to go up a size. 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
10:36 am
tween omicron and winter weather it's been a tough start to the year for restaurants. kate rodgers is here with a look at more and what stocks are getting hit the hardest. >> hey, carl new data from blackbox intelligence show the week ended january 9th saw sales and traffic hit their lowest levels. year over year sales up 12.6% for the week, down 10 percentage from the week prior and traffic dropping from plus 1.9% from plus 5.4% the week prior in addition, all industry segments saw sales growth drop compared to their average during the first three weeks in december the regions with the biggest drop in sales were the
10:37 am
mid-atlantic, new england and new york and new jersey. segments that saw the biggest declines in sales growth were upscale casual and casual dining black box says more consumers are focusing on value and the perception of costs when out this is particularly true of limited service and fast casual brands, where customer reviews pointed to growing negativity around value take a look at how that's playing out in the restaurant stocks the worst performers this month to date are more premium priced offerings compared to fast food. names like sweet suite green, starbucks and chipotle down. it is worth noting their customers are often willing to pay a bit more for goods it remains to be seen how this plays out in earnings season for the restaurants which will kick off next week with mcdonald's. >> you will be all over it kate rodgers, thank you. the omicron surge is easing in states hit early by the variant according to johns hopkins, but some scientists are saying data shows a different story. where positive cases are being
10:38 am
under counted and they know because of what you're sending down the drain joining us now, a public health analytics company powered by public waste water before get into what the data is yielding at your company, first a little bit about what specifically biobot does, how you're able to collect that data and what those implications are? >> yeah. absolutely well, thank you so much for having me this morning, morgan so biobot analytics is a waste water epidemiology company, so we're -- what that means is we're building a public health monitoring system by tapping into and analyze wag we flush down the toilet every day. that contains a ton of information on our health and well being, and we're really leveraging that to understand, you know, how are people doing >> so how are people doing especially when you think about the east coast which got hit by omicron first, from a u.s.
10:39 am
standpoint, what is that trajectory showing based on the waste water analysis >> yeah. so what we saw particularly in the northeast was that in late december, early january, the virus concentration in sewage, waste water, was rising very sharply and that rise was actually happening before we saw a similar rise in the clinical case data. and then let's say about two or three weeks ago, we started to see that data actually declining, so what that tells us is that likely, you know, the peak for cases and hospitalizations is coming very soon >> okay. well that's very promising to hear i mean is this a situation where, like, as we've seen with variants in the past, it essentially starts on the east coast and makes its way westward >> yeah. that's definitely a trend that we've seen earlier in the pandemic, and i would say the
10:40 am
waste water data is, you know, showing something similar based on the geographies we're working in. >> what other applications are there for what you do in terms of studying not just omicron, but perhaps other pathogens and things of that nature? >> yeah. so we can really leverage sewage to look at all sorts of human health biomarkers, so infectious diseases and viruses like the sars cov-2 virus and other variants, but we can start to expand to other public health priorities like looking at the consumption of various high risk drugs, so looking at the opioid crisis across the country, and we can ultimately use this technology to prevent really the next pandemic. that's really our goal. >> now the cdc has said recently that it's going to add waste water data to its online covid data tracker but in general this has been a piecemeal effort
10:41 am
where waste water analysis is concerned across the country what is it going to take to see something more broad-based and i guess looking around the world who is doing this really well already? >> so you're right, there's been a lot of individual or piecemeal efforts with waste water across the country. we're seeing efforts led by local municipalities, county, states, and the federal government by the cdc. the netherlands actually has an incredibly robust public dashboard platform where they're showing data that covers the majority of the population frgs, waste water data, and this is incredibly impactful when you make this data public because local residents, citizens, local businesses, elected officials, public health officials can all use the data in real time to make very impactful decisions.
10:42 am
>> so, of course, i'm going to ask, what does this mean for biobot for better or worse in the midst of a pandemic this type of data analysis is becoming more commonplace and more, dare i say, household discussion? >> yeah. so the company has seen a pretty incredible growth over the last say two years, 20 months or so we started the pandemic with five people. we're now pushing 65 employees we've raised about $25 million in venture capital and are looking to raise a growth round this year because we've seen such incredible success here in the u.s. that an objective is to start expanding internationally. >> all right biobot co-founder and president, thanks for joining us today. >> thank you after the break, don't miss
10:43 am
a first on cnbc interview with union pacific ceo lance fritz, that stock up over 2%. we're back in three minutes. of my workplace benefits. voya helps me feel like i've got it all under control. voya. well planned. well invested. well protected. at fidelity, your dedicated advisor will help you create a comprehensive wealth plan for your full financial picture. with the right balance of risk and reward. so you can enjoy more of...this. this is the planning effect. what if you could have the perspective to see more? at morgan stanley, a global collective of thought leaders offers investors a broader view. ♪♪ we see companies protecting the bottom line by putting people first. we see a bright future, still hungry for the ingenuity of those ready for the next challenge. today, we are translating decades of experience into strategies for the road ahead. we are morgan stanley.
10:46 am
the major indices. the dow, s&p and nasdaq, the nasdaq closing in on a near 2% gain still on pace, though, for a third week down, as we are trying to reclaim about 4590 on the s&p. >> that's right. union pacific is one of the largest freight companies, freight railroads, in the u.s. reporting a 24% rise in quarterly profit this morning thanks in part to higher industrial shipments shares are up about 2.5% right now. lance fritz is chairman and ceo and joins us to break the latest results down great to speak with you again today. >> morgan, thank you very much for hosting me this morning. it's a pleasure to join you. >> the railroad had its most profitable year ever that being said, car load volumes have been under pressure given what we've seen in terms of supply chain woes inflation in general, more broadly, very much in focus right now. the strong pricing environment that you've been able to realize, does that continue through 2022 >> i think it does, morgan
10:47 am
when we look back on 2021, you said it right it was a record year, fifth consecutive year of margin improvement, but as we look into 2022, one of the three main pilars of that operating margin improvement, which is price, it looks like it's going to continue, at least in the first half of the year it's a really good pricing environment against some really tight truck capacity >> so what is the read through there in terms of supply chain issues and transportation bottlenecks we've been talking about so often for so long now in the midst of this pandemic? are you starting to see, for example, uneasing at the west coast ports where your trains operate? how long does that process take to normalize >> yeah. morgan, so there's still a need to put more truck drivers in seats and to make sure that
10:48 am
warehouses and transfer facilities have enough labor when you look at the west coast ports, that's still a lot about transoceanic shippers wanting their international box to get back to asia as quickly as possible, and not allowing that box to go inland with the load that means it's not on the up railroad as it goes inland, quite to the same extent it would be normally. that's why in the fourth quarter and really in the second half of last year, our international intermodal business was down year over year, even though port volumes were at record levels and u.s. consumers were buying a lot of imports we look at 2022 and see that that is starting to change, starting to go back to normal. i think it's going to take a while before it gets back to normal. >> you mentioned truck rates which we've just seen skyrocket and when those go up, when things like fuel prices go up, it means railroads become that much more competitive against
10:49 am
the truckers how much business are you able to pull off of roads right now, and i guess how is that dynamic in general evolving, given the fact that you did just strike this deal with snyder for intermodal service >> yeah. our domestic intermodal business is quite healthy and it's a good environment to beat with trucks. we're very proud of the franchise that we represent and the business floproducts that we can bring to the table for something like snyder. we have a strong existing intermodal partner in hub, onboarded night swift starting this year and onboard snyder next year. that's a hell of a strong stable to compete and bring more trucks off the highway on to the railroad as we look forward. it's a really exciting environment for us >> lance, i don't think we've had a chance to talk to you since that video of rail theft got a lot of attention is that reflective at all of
10:50 am
what's going on on the ground and if it is, who is responsible for trying to remedy that? >> yeah, carl, to a degree it is the issue is, a handful of years ago, theft out of an intermodal box was a nuisance, happened every once in a while, last year and a half that theft has become very well organized you have a concentrated in the basin, in the industry of industry we've got our arms around it we've maxed out putting more our own police force on the ground we're cooperating with the lapd. they're helping. we've got cleanup forces what you saw in that video is largely cleaned up at this point we're working with the governor's office, they have an event today, on property, to show their support and we're working with the district attorney in l.a., to help them see there's a need to prosecute this crime for what it is so, you know, technology,
10:51 am
manpower, we've got our arms around it, but it is real and it's a pain in the neck that has to be addressed. >> yeah, i mean, lance that video is really shocking to look at you said at the time, this is only actually very recently, at least the company said you were considering changes to your rail operation including and considering los angeles county is that the case, or is enough being done to avoid doing that >> enough is being done that we don't want to implement action like that. that's kind of the nuclear option and we'd like to avoid that one of the things we're doing, we're accelerating our own investment in security fencing you're going to see security fencing that includes high-security metal fence, and razor wire where we need it. it won't be attractive but it will be effective. and the biggest issues, we want
10:52 am
to protect our crews, protect u.p., that kind of innerelement interacting, that's not good for any of it. >> and another thing, vaccination, people being out as a result of omicron. i think three quarters of your workforce is fully vaccinated. what are you saying in terms of absences at this point obviously, the federal mandate is no longer in place. what is your approach in terms of vaccinations as well? >> i thank you very much for asking that question we took the federal contractor vaccination mandate seriously. we got started in october. and as of the middle of december, we had about three quarters, a little over three quarters of our entire workforce fully vaccinated, both doses that continues to uptick just marginally over time now we paused because that federal mandate has been stopped in courts i think that had a real impact
10:53 am
on just how badly omicron got into us. we definitely saw an uptick in our positives, and presumed positives, having to quarantine. you know, in your mind, you think, boy at its worse, that was a couple hundred people more than it was kind of in steady state in the summertime. overall, a handful of a hundred employees not available to us. but if we look at the communities that we serve, the positive test rates were orders of magnitude, right, factors of four, five, ten times what they were at steady state that tells me that vaccination and our other safety protocols did keep our employees at least safe from the significant impacts of covid if not, a little bit of immunity to keep some of them from being infected directly. >> speaking of federal policy, lance, i mean, yesterday president biden in his discussion in his press conference on inflation mentioning different industries
10:54 am
where steps are being taken by this administration to increase competition, put pressure on pricing. you mentioned railroads again. i know there's an executive order last summer that was focused on among other industries railroads how do you expect -- and we have some new folks in place for the rail regulatory agency here in the u.s., as well, in the last couple of weeks. how do you expect policy to evolve on a federal level? and how do you think it affects the industry that you operate in >> yeah. first, morgan, our industry is very competitive both with other class one railroads, but more importantly with truck virtually everything we ship has an opportunity to be shipped by another mode a very competitive mode in truck. so, when we work with our primary commercial regulator which is the service transportation board, we help them understand both the competitive dynamic that's real in our marketplace, our need to be able to continue to invest in the railroad
10:55 am
we put 3 billion plus every year into our railroad, as a private asset, so we can continue to serve our customers well and build the economic fiber of the u.s. economy and we help them see those issues as they're thinking about things like forced open access or the cpkcs transaction or this concept of final offer, rate review. we're engaged with the std virtually every day, to helping understand the rail economy what it looks like, how they can go about their job of regulation where they think to in a sensible way >> always great to get your insights thanks for joining us, lance fritz of union pacific >> thank you still to come. it has been a rough start for amd, down double digits to start the new year, and now the latest on piper, the analyst is going
10:56 am
to join us on "tech check. getting close to 4600 on the s&p after that failed attempt at a bounce yesterday stay with us new projects means new project managers. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. when you sponsor a job, you immediately get your shortlist of quality candidates, whose resumes on indeed match your job criteria. visit indeed.com/hire and get started today. competition beat us again. how? they have a better finance system than we do. i feel like they might have a better finance system than we do. workday. how do they make better decisions faster? workday. it's got to be something workday. i think i got something. work... hey, rob, you're on mute.
10:57 am
hello! hey, rob, there he is. workday. the finance, hr and planning system for a changing world. the pursuit is on. the pursuit of outperformance at pgim. with deep expertise to outthink across multiple asset classes, actively managing investments in the world's public and private markets. outscale, with the resources to serve 1,500 clients in 52 countries. and outlast, with long-term conviction that looks beyond today's volatility. join the pursuit of outperformance at pgim. the investment management business of prudential.
10:59 am
welcome back to "squawk on the street." we've got two big earnings reports that we're watching after the bell there's actually a bunch of them but two in particular. csx, of course, netflix. both of those names are trading higher david, as we know, netflix will kick off the big meg that tech earnings that we're watching gimp the fact that we have seen the nasdaq, well, up until today, move into correction territory. of course what's in focus there is it's expected to be lower profit as the streaming service continues to spend more on content. >> yeah, they spend, what, at least $17 billion a year at this point. >> it's incredible >> morgan, it is and of course, we'll be looking through those. they usually give you a pretty good visibility on a number of different things on the call there. and what the implications are for the other stream platforms always becomes an important
11:00 am
component of our conversation as well we're looking forward to your analysis on csx. that was an interesting conversation with lance fritz. man, that video of those packages all over los angeles. >> stunning, isn't it? >> it's stunning we're in rally mode with s&p 1.4% nasdaq almost a 2% gain. that does it for us with "squawk on the street" "tech check" starts now. ♪ good thursday morning. welcome to "tech check" i'm carl quintanilla with deirdre bosa and jon fortt. our first guest says the cloud is next. reasons that sector might be right for consolization. amd gets the downgrade, we'll
123 Views
IN COLLECTIONS
CNBC Television Archive Television Archive News Search ServiceUploaded by TV Archive on