couple of weeks, but they all gave reports last week at one of the investment conferences. i like alaska. >> joshua brown? >> onon. i sold this stock at 17. i'm looking at it close to 30. i knew it was going to work. i just didn't have the guts to hold on. that's a lesson. >> that does it for us. see you on "fast money" at 5:00. "the exchange" begins right now. >> thank you, melissa. hi, everybody. i'm kelly evans. here's what is ahead. two meetings of high importance are happening in washington over the next 24 hours. first, major bank ceos starting today. the fate of first republic front and center. then, of course, there is the most complicated and high-stakes fed rate decision in recent history. hike, pause, or pivot. what takes priority?

paul is here to say it's time to pause and evaluate. plus, did the fed mishandle the banking turmoil? yes, says professor brown. he explains why it may be time to strip the fed of their supervisory role. first, let's get the latest on the markets. hi, dom. >> so kelly, we have some green across the screen, and it's been generally positive all day long. the outperformance, if you will, has shifted a little bit throughout the course of the day. the dow sup about 160 points, and just to give you an idea where the highs were, at the highs of the session, it was up about 349 points. so we roughly have our gains so far on the dow. but the s&p trying to go back up towards that 4,000 mark, 3979. and the nasdaq taking that leadership role, up about 1%,

110 points to the upside, 11,785. if you are looking for a trade that's developing on the even more bullish side, check out the action in solar stocks in general. canadian solar, you can see up 32% over the course of just the year-to-date period. but on that today, end phase energy, canadian solar, two of the bigger trades that are very positive to the upside. canadian solar on a more positive report, with some of that analyst coverage picking up steam. and if you take a look at some to have regional banks, kelly, i know it seems like a broken record, but we have to keep talking about them. the volatility just doesn't stop. first republic is up 43% in trading today. pac west bank, western alliance, charles schwab, all seeing upside moves. we'll see if this is the stability that could kick off tomorrow's fed rate decision. >> thank you, dom.

one year ago, companies were citing inflation on their calls. today, that number has dropped and now deflation is a concern. let's get to steve liesman. steve? >> yeah, respondents to the latest cnbc fed survey, trying to figure out what the banking turmoil means for the banking industry and broader economy. 78% say it will be disinflationary or inflationary. give the win to the disinflationary side of things. 100% say it will mean moving from small to larger banks. 97% say tighter lending standards. 93% say reduce profits, because 72% say higher deposit rates must be paid.

now, as for their support for what the government did, 62% say it was right to back up silicon valley bank and signature with government intervention. but 52% say support for future -- only 52% support future bank failure protections. why? we'll hear some of the commentary. one respondent says it may not be that palatable, but not guaranteeing uninsured deposits guarantees there will be runs on many more banks. another correspondent says the government has eliminated any responsibility in the banking system. as to what they think the government will do with rates tomorrow, 72% say hike by a quarter point. 52% think the fed should hike by a quarter point. >> steve, stay with us, as we bring in our next guest who says the fed needs to throw in the towel on the whole rate hiking cycle. this is paul mccallie, professor

at school of business. good to have you here, paul. >> thank you, kelly. >> i'm glad to see you, because talk and speculation is making the rounds. you probably saw this. i think it was morgan stanley saying look, we have to watch out in times like this, because these things can quickly come to a head is. that the kind of stance you're coming from, you have to be careful not to break things? >> i don't think that is going to happen. but i think it's a back tail that's gotten larger. that informs how i look at where the fed is right now. as this shock, as steve's survey was showing, is looked at as a disinflationary shock. at the same time, you have the situation of increased fragility in the system. so you're looking at it from a

risk management perspective, i can't come up with a table pounding reason or a non-table pounding reason for tightening tomorrow. i recognize that the market price is diskoumtsd ingdiscounti look at this at the end of an incredible tightening cycle that is gripping the financial system and economy. enough is enough! >> enough is enough. so, you know, listen, i agree with you, but i'm nobody. so explain to everybody out there, paul, who says, you know, we have to keep going, because inflation. we have to keep going because the uk did it. we have to keep going because the economy is still solid. we have to keep going because foot locker. we have to keep going because of nike. explain why pausing right now suspect just bailing out people at credit suisse who will still get their bonuses this year. >> i think taking a time-out now is the right thing to do. fundamentally with respect to

the fed's mission. it has a mission of price stability. it has a mission of financial stability. most of the time we look at them as two circles. but right now, i look at them as a diagram. we're living in the oval and the risk are askewed too much on the inflation. when i look at it from a risk management perspective, all of this notion that they have to tighten to prove on inflation, it just doesn't cut the mustard with me. >> steve, let me bring in rick santelli. rick, how did it go? >> charlie minus, c minus is the grade. let's go through it, kelly. it was $12 billion, reopened 20.

technically, it was -- all the metrics were roughly in line. one on the weak side, that was indirect at 67%. that was the lightest since october of last year. and direct bidders like mutual funds, pension funds at 21.1 was the best since march of last year. but it all comes out, about a third of a basis point and some of the other metrics could have been a bit better. i do think, with the fed meeting tomorrow, it doesn't surprise me that this was a middle auction. you don't see much movement, which goes along with the idea that if you look at the year-to-date real quick, we didn't take out the fall high yield close. we only did that in 2s and 3s, and with regard to what the fed may or may not do, it seems as though the market has 25 priced in, whether that's right or

wrong, it almost doesn't make any difference at this point. back to you. >> except it makes all the difference. i know what you are saying about the market. it's clearly made up its mind. steve, which group of people meeting in washington is more consequential, the fed or the heads of the major banks who are reportedly gathering there as well to hash out a response? >> i think they're all related. kelly, i'm glad i was never a student of rick santelli's, because he grades very tough. i'm surprised anybody is looking at the 20-year horizon. i think that getting the banking system on better footing is a key part to allowing the fed to do what i think it wants to do, what paul thinks they will do, which is to raise rates. i think they want to do that

quarter. i think also the market, kelly, is giving them that quarter. you're up at 80% probability. it expected. so if it's priced in right now, and these are the levels of the market, these are the levels of fixed income yields that they are getting with expecting the fed doing that quarter, i think powell will take it. what i think he'll do, kelly, is he will message that the uncertainty is very high around the band of what they are expecting and say look, we have a point in our dot plot, but there is a lot of uncertainty around that. we're going to wait to see what happens with the issue of this. and before you go back to paul, he is not objective, because he had a boat called the minski moment. >> that's why people want to hear from him. he said, we're not there, but -- >> he's not objective. >> paul, respond to what steve said, and i might say that for

all of last year, the market arguably gave the fed the rate hikes it wanted only for that to blow up. so just because we expect it doesn't mean there's not going to be fallout for it being the wrong move over time. >> i think that's true, but i agree that the market is giving the fed permission, if you will, to do what it wants to do tomorrow. but the market is not giving the fed permission to bless the existing dot plot up, which has a peak rate north of 5 through the end of the year. when you look at the fed funds future contract out at the end of the year and the beginning of next year, what the market pricing is, is totally out of line with what the fed is saying with their dot plot. i know that chair powell has told us to take the dot plot

with a grain of salt, but i think that's where the rubber meets the road tomorrow, is where are they going to put the dot plot? are they going to reduce the marketplace for the pricing that is out nine months and say we're doing to do the dot plot or not or have some kind of rhetoric associated with uncertainty? >> if they don't lower the dots, in other words, if they don't blink and meet the market where the market is, what's going to happen, paul? >> i don't know is the honest answer. but what i do know is that if you have more conflict between the fed's messaging and where the marketplace is pricing, that leads to an increase in uncertainty and volatility. and that's not particularly good for these particular times. particularly given the fact that the big part of the debate right

now is not jamie dimon and what the fed is going to do. it's what congress will or won't do with respect to expanding and modifying the administration, the uninsured deposit regime. >> gentlemen, thank you. paul, a pleasure. steve, real quick? >> yeah, i just wanted to say that paul is right, that we're 436 on the back end of this thing. if the fed hiked a quarter point and the market doesn't like it, you could have the long end of the curve rally while stocks suffer as the market believes the fed is making a mistake, which has been the call all along. there is that back end. i just want to illustrate what paul was saying. all the cuts built in, and that gap between the fed at 5 and 8 and the market right now is quite high. >> oh, yeah. was even higher on friday. guys, thank you. steve, paul. and don't miss our full fed

coverage tomorrow beginning at 1:00 eastern. we'll lead up to the 2:00 decision and the news conference at 2:30. we leaf in those financial stocks is pushing them higher for a second day. joining me now are my guests. it's great to see you both. david, i'll start with you and you're the one i believe warning a little bit about whether these names are investable for the long-term here. what are the caveats? >> i think the issue is that, you know, everybody's kind of rethinking what the value of these deposits are. historically, these deposits could be funded below treasuries and you turn around and make loans above treasury, and that was your margin. that's how the banks grew. the smaller the bank is, the more sensitive they are to the spread. but now i think because of the digitization of the system, which has gotten so big, it's

made a difference. there's no way that kind of money would have left the bank, if you had to go into the branch. it all left electronically. so people are looking at price. frankly, the bank products are not that good, meaning the yields are relatively low compared to treasuries. so if you are earning 10, 15, 20 basis points, it's a joke relative to what you can get. it's gotten so wide, people are moving away from it. it's like a $10 cup of coffee at starbucks. nobody is going to buy it. so we're in this situation where liquidity is being trained out of the system. the question is what impact does that have long-term? if you have to raise the cost of deposits to be competitive, it would impact the long-term profitability of the industry. >> michael, i'll go to you. you are starting to sniff or nibble, i don't know what action you have taken on these regional

banks. where would you be looking to buy? >> it depends on your outlook of what the fed is going to do. if the fed has done its job, and we think they have, of sort of refencing this thing and minimizing and slowing down the contagion, clearly, clearly the deposit issue and the issues just raised about more mobility, if you think the fed has done its job, there are some interesting places to invest that don't have some of those same dynamics at the same level. >> such as? >> for example, bank of the ozarks. >> big commercial real estate exposure, if i'm not mistaken. >> they do. the banks have clearly taken on a higher level of risk here.

the point is, they're simply cheap enough, and there is enough fear and loathing in the market that it's reasonable to think about making some investments in this area. not saying load up your portfolio and sell your microsoft and apple and buy ozk. value case plays a role here and they have been penalized significantly. as markets have calmed down and people are feeling better about where we stand from a bank lender's perspective. >> you mentioned ozarks. i know, david, you are focused a little different. why these three banks? >> well, i'm trying to lose -- i'm trying to stop losing money. they're just trying to buy a traditional franchise that is hopefully going to get through this cycle. remember, the cycle is now --

there's a right cycle, a yield curve cycle, and now the yield curve has been difficult for the banks, there is a potential credit cycle to come, and then you've got the constant sort of issue of digitization and consolidation. so i think you're trying to stay with the companies that can beat back that, and have some chance of gaining market share, by taking advantage of a beaten up company. i think these other companies are in a position where they can take share. they just need to say look, we're bigger, safer, come work for us. and so they acquire people at no cost. you know, they don't have to pay a premium for them. so i think we're in a situation now where there is a lot of uncertainty which, again, it's a nice trade. some of these stocks are cheap relative to the history. maybe they bounce a little bit more here. but then you will be sitting on a fed decision, you still have

the yield curve, you still have credit concerns and loan growth concerns. so there is a lot ahead of us that we have to work through. from a relative point of view, why own financials when there are so many other options out there to buy? >> fair enough. you're still sticking -- are there any other names or any of the three that david just mentioned that you would be a buyer of? >> we were actually really interested in new york community bank shares until it was up 37% yesterday. so yeah, there are opportunities. you need to be selective and careful where we are in the cycle. but we do think the fed is doing the right thing and the right job here. at some point you'll get some value out of these. >> fascinating to hear from both of you. we appreciate it. >> thanks, kelly. coming up, while the fed and financials have taken center stage, another big story is developing overseas.

president xi and putin meeting in moscow for talks. their joint statement released just a while ago, saying relations have reached the highest level in our history and calling for a halt to any steps that could push the ukraine crisis into an uncontrollable phase. the dow 200 points off the session high. the russell, almost a 2% gain. back after this.

the hiring process used to be the death of me. but with upwork... with upwork the hiring process is fast and flexible. behold... all that talent! ♪ this is how we work now ♪

[ engines revving ] fire 'em up! behold.[ cheering ]talent! you ready? let's do it. ready. i know you're ready. let's race. boom. introducing the 10g network only from xfinity.

welcome back to "the exchange." stocks are higher after treasury secretary yellen's assurance that a banking crisis is contained. is the contagion risk really over? for the answer, one of my next guests says this is the chart to watch, the financial spider, sitting just above the $30 level, about $31.94. that was the peak it hit before the great financial crisis. if it breaks the low, could be a big warning sign. for more, let's bring in ryan detrick, and joining me here onset, paul hickey. welcome to both of you. ryan, cue the doomsday music. we'll start with you. is this one of your top concern it is we break back below 30?

>> yeah, happy marsh madness. we think it would be. i don't have any doomsday music, because we think that 30 level, that should be a big area of support. you talk about march. i've got any xavier pen, i'm a xavier fans. good things can happen in march. stocks bottomed in march, but things were worse then. sentiment is just as negative now as it was then. so one final thing here, april, in a preelection year, has been higher 17 of the last 18 times. that's 94% of the time. april is higher in a preelection year. lots of other factors, yes. but with negativity high, with some potential positive seasonals, s&p is still up 4% for the year. things aren't great, but there are some positives out there. >> paul, do you see it the same

way? >> brian brought up some great points, just the fact is, the market, the financials are down 14% over the last two weeks. the s&p is down a percent or two. so the whole market isn't falling apart. sentiment is very weak. and then just leading indicators, we folks on the semi conductors, the relative strength hit a 52-week high this past friday. when you look back, that has always been a precursor for a positive market over the following 6 to 12 months. the negative side of things, high yield spreads come out, and some -- in that respect, those are things you want to watch. you have had a slight expansion in the number of highs. overall, things stay volatile. secretary yellen said things are contained. hopefully, these were the last dominos rather than the first dominos. but even if that is the case,

we'll probably see some volatility going in the next few weeks. if i were to come on and say this is -- the market is going to go higher from here, everyone would call me out for being a liar. we just have to play this out and watch it day by day and look at the signals that the market is giving us. >> absolutely. one caveat i want you to react to, ryan, you tweeted about this, but i've heard this from a number of people, and they say the stock market is the best economic forecaster that they know. so going back a couple of weeks when some of us were talking doom and gloom, they were like, i take my signal from the stock market, and it's had a pretty good year. so that's always true until it's not. even during this little banking crisis, can you just talk through the dynamic of the market itself? the stock market itself, or maybe if you want to go back to

commodities, at least paul, like you mentioned, what do you think the market is telling us here, aside from the normal seasonals that we see? what are the things to you that are giving us a clearer read on what the next move might be? >> yeah, i love what paul said. semiconductors, 52-week high. you look, we haven't had a recession two years after that's happened in history. you've got industrials, 5%, an all-time high. ge breaking out to five-year highs. industrials are one of the most correlated sectors to the market. so it's tough for us to think that a big recession is coming, when semiconductors, the new transports and industrials are strong. again, things aren't perfect. one more thing here, the two ten-year yield curve inverted last year on april fool's day.

credit is coming back, it's going to be tighter, we get those things, kelly. but the consumer is still pretty strong, and as the yields keep coming lower, the fed is going to have to pivot as we have talked about. those are positives, we think. >> and lumber is up year-to-date. i love ryan's comment about semis are the new transports. nvidia has been out with these headlines about the work it's doing, parter inning with amazon, partnering with oracle. this whole economy has a lot to thank nvidia for in terms of how it is holding us up. the high yield spreads have started to widen, just trying to figure out if there is a way beyond -- i look at the economic data. the leading indicators are telling us this is rolling over. i don't know if the market is looking past that. >> so you look at the -- is the market looking past that, we did

have a 25% peak-to-trough decline last year. semiconductors, it's not just nvidia. every stock except for one or two, is outperforming the s&p 500 so far this year. they're up four times more than the s&p 500. sentiment has gotten very weak. so every single person you talk to says look at what's going on. things are so negative. why isn't the market going down more. so when things are that negative and people are expecting one thing to happen, and the opposite happens, that's when you have to take that into account. so that's -- but tomorrow we have the fed. if the fed continues to overhike into the environment, that could cause problems down the road. >> you don't think they should pause? >> i think if you looked in a textbook, an economic textbook and you saw two of the three

biggest bank failures in u.s. history, you saw the most volatile treasury markets since the '80s. record borrowing, and then you said the next paragraph is the fed would be aggressively raising. so what is the harm in waiting six weeks to see how this plays out to go forward and see? if you look at inflation indicators, the trajectory of the way down that we have seen from the peak matches the trajectory. >> impressive. >> if you look at all these indicators, the -- we have seen -- we have seen improvement in inflation. we need more to go forward. we have had, again, tightening like we have never seen in a decade. >> ryan, do you agree with that? >> yeah, inflation is coming back faster than people give it credit for. rent and things like that in the private sector has come down a lot. that's going to get to the

government's data. again, i think the fed will hike 25 basis points. i don't think they need to. >> gentlemen, thank you very much. coming up, what if mansions were sold at auctions just like were sold at auctions just like monaes? [office sounds] ♪upbeat music♪ ♪♪ ♪when the day that lies ahead of me♪ ♪♪ ♪seems impossible to face♪ ♪a lovely day (lovely day)♪ ♪(lovely day) (lovely day)♪ ♪(lovely day)♪ a bank that knows your business grows your business. bmo. - double check that. a bank that knows your business grows your business. eh, pretty good! (whistles) yeek. not cryin', are ya? let's tighten that. (fabric ripping) ooh. - wait, wh- wh- what was that? - huh? what, that? no, don't worry about that. here we go. - asking the right question can greatly impact your future. - are, are you qualified to do this?

- what? - especially when it comes to your finances. - yeehaw! - do you have a question? - are you a certified financial planner™? - yes. i'm a cfp® professional. - cfp® professionals are committed to acting in your best interest. that's why it's gotta be a cfp®. find your cfp® professional at letsmakeaplan.org.

welcome back to "the exchange." the nasdaq, 1.2% rise to drive us forward. let's get another check on first republic.

reuters is reporting the bank is considering down sizing if they fail to raise the capital. they are trading just under $19 a share. now to tyler for the cnbc news update. >> thank you very much. tiktok's ceo posted a video on the platform this morning, asking american users to leave comments telling washington lawmakers what you love about tiktok. he's scheduled to appear before the house on thursday amedicals for the app to be banned because of national security concerns. the norfolk southern ceo will make an appearance tomorrow before the senate commerce committee, saying the railroad is providing what he calls "tailored protection for home sellers if their property loses value because of last month's derailment involving toxic chemicals."

and senator elizabeth warren is asking janet yellen to crack down on what she calls the ultrawealthy use of trust to dodge paying their fair share of taxes. kelly, back to you. >> tyler, thank you very much. >> tyler, thank you very much. coming up, the seven day what if you were a major transit system with billions of passengers taking millions of trips every year? you aren't about to let any cyberattacks slow you down. so you partner with ibm to build a security architecture to keep your data, network, and applications protected. now you can tackle threats so they don't bring you to a grinding halt. and everyone's going places, including you. let's create cybersecurity that keeps your business on track. ibm. let's create

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.

welcome back. everyone from biden to black rock, asserting that the current bank instability is not a repeat from 2008. but if the solution 15 years ago was putting the fed in charge of bank oversight, what went wrong in 2023? my next guest says the fed has mishandled the situation in seven different ways and overreacted to the failure of silicon valley bank, or the banking system is so woefully fragile that a single bank will throw us into a fed-declared financial crisis. let's bring inpeter conti-brown. >> thank you very much. >> you trace this to an issue of fed oversight that suggests what should have been done or should be done now. >> that's right. fed oversight is of a group of people, not the oversight of bankers. the first recipient of even more quotable ire should be on the bankers that mismanaged silicon

valley bank top to bottom. but bank supervision is about the collaboration and sometimes the confrontation between government and banks over these very questions of risk management. the fed so far, based on the information we have right now, which is limited, we can say that the fed supervisory process is badly broken. >> so all of that may be the case, and i want to circle back to it. but it's interest to look at what happened in 2008 and say, along with many other things, money market funds lost money and broke the buck and there were some runs and people took their money out. in 2023, who would have thought that all played out again but in bank deposits. the banks lost money, the depositors took their money and ran. >> what i didn't hear you say is

that we should apologize to these wealthy people to the inconvenience they had for a few hours before they received the government support. we should be right sizing the kinds of risks they are taking and the benefits they received. they received insurance from the government and a suite of financial services that was valuable to them. in exchange, they subjected themselves, initially, and all of us eventually, to outsize the risks. so we need to get the regulatory system much better in place. part of that is making sure that these insurance products are well priced in such a way that there will be buyers and will not be buyers. >> i guess the reason i raise this, if this can be fixed with more or less a tweak by congress, changing the rules of engagement to make sure this doesn't reveal a systemic weakness, how much of it is the

fault of the fed regulators? they obviously did fail. this was -- the problems go back to 2015. there was no risk manager in place for a while. so it's more -- i'm just saying if i'm so cynical i expect them to fail, i think this -- it sort of -- isn't it better to set up the law, because we trust the law more than we trust the people who might be interpreting it? >> i like that invitation there. we need to be a little more utilitarian. it's not cynical to recognize there's important government slippage in which congress can write rules. we created an entire bank supervisory system to recognize that whether we're talking about amazon or the local food truck, the government is not similarly situated to businesses everywhere. with banks, it gets to ask

questions to second guess about risk management. the entire reason is because there is slippage on these issues. what does it mean for a bank for safe and sound? we don't even have any kind of sense of that. >> we do have a sense, though, because we saw the big banks and post financial crisis. we're saying great job, everybody, and you are riding to the rescue. so that change did help. if we are going to strip the fed of supervisory authority, as you joked you are getting close to doing, what should that look like? >> you're asking the most important question. that's why i'm not yet ready to support stripping the fed. it's always a question compared to what? compared to whom? the reason why i think the fed -- there are all kinds of things we could say. i wasn't being colorful when i said the fed failed in seven different ways.

i have a list and it's getting longer by the way. one of the biggest issues that affected silicon valley bank and may affect others, enough to justify it, if we can justify the systemic crisis, is that the fed's own monetary policy has increased and introduced more financial instability on the asset side of the balance sheet. if the fed is not aware even of this, the fed knows this conceptually, of course. this is banking 101. but what we don't seem to have is a lot of conversation across two sides of the house. the parents aren't speaking to each other. they need to sit down and have a conversation. we are on this trajectory of aggressive rate hikes, and bankers thought this will be self-implementing because we're loud and proud about the fact this is happening. it turns out that was not the case, at least for all banks.

they sustained positive net interest income, but not all banks did, and that is a failure of the fed's supervision, because it was a predictable and predicted consequence of the fed's monetary policy. >> i'm thinking in the future, they say both of you should be answering these questions, something to kind of maybe raise the profile of that role and have those conversations that you are emphasizing. peter, thank you for your time today. >> thank you. >> peter conti-brown of warton. still ahead, art, wine, jewelry and luxury homes. jewelry and luxury homes. more mnsions area

♪ this feels so right... ♪ adt systems now feature google products like the nest cam with floodlight, with intelligent alerts when a person or familiar face is detected. sam. sophie's not here tonight. so you have a home with no worries. brought to you by adt. - hiring is step one when it comes to our growth. we can't open a new shop or a new location without the right people in place. i couldn't keep up until i found ziprecruiter. ziprecruiter helps us get out there quickly and get us qualified candidates quickly. they sent us applicants that matched what i was looking for. i've hired for every role, entry-level technicians,

service advisors, store managers. ziprecruiter helps me find all the right people, even the most difficult jobs to fill. - [announcer] ziprecruiter, ratedthenumber one hiring site. try it for free at ziprecruiter.com

existing home sales surged last moment but prices also took a dip. it was the first year on year drop in more than a decade. thanks in part to the luxury end dropping past. that drop has some buyers heading to the block, the auction block that is. robert frank, here now with that story. tell us about this. >> kelly, luxury sales as you

said were down 45% in the most recent quarter. wealthy buyers and sellers staying on the sidelines until rate and prices stabilize, so more sellers are turning to auctions. southerby's auctioning off properties in one hour totalling $38 million. they aim to sell mansions, just like monets. concierge sales up to over $520 million. >> there are buyers interested in purchasing, and they don't have a lot of real estate to look at. so an auction can bring all the buy sboers one place at one time and allow them to compete on the property that they wish. >> a little scary for sellers. all by one property was sold with no reserve. so it sells to the highest bidder, no matter the price. bids came from 14 countries. this estate on paradise island in the bahamas sold for $15.7

million. the buyer bid online against 15 other bidders. the other hot property, or cold this time of the year, was this ski and golf chalet in utah that sold for over $12. luxury homes in other areas also sold. there are no contingencontingen you place the highest bid, you own it. >> no home inspection? >> no. >> do realtors get paid for their involvement here? i always felt the traditional house buying process is broken as it is. >> it adds more fees. the seller pays the brokerage fee, because it was listed. and then the buyer pays a 12% premium for the auction company. >> wow! >> it's pricey. but the seller gets the exposure and marketing, and they get a deal. if this deal was sitting on the market for years, this gives discovery in minutes.

>> fascinating. robert, thank you. still ahead, presidents xi and and lily! welcome to our third bark-ery. oh, i can tell business is going through the “woof”. but seriously we need a reliable way to help keep everyone connected from wherever we go. well at at&t we'll help you find the right wireless plan for you. so, you can stay connected to all your drivers and stores on america's most reliable 5g network. that sounds just paw-fect. terrier-iffic i labra-dore you round of a-paws at&t 5g is fast, reliable and secure for your business.

russian president vladimir putin and chinese president xi jinping holding a multi-day meeting in moscow this week. it's aimed to strengthen relations between the two countries, as russia's war in

ukraine enters its second year. a joint statement out an hour ago says they'll deepen cooperation between their armed forces but also asserts this does not constitute a military political alliance. what does it constitute then? joining me is president and ceo of the atlanta council and cnbc contributor. thank you for coming in today. >> great to be here. >> a lot to unpack in the statement. what jumped out? >> first of all, huge meeting coming at a time in history where putin is on his hind legs in the war. he needs china. putin in 2015, when asked whether he had allies, he quoted czar alexander ii. he said, i have two allies, my army and my navy. his military has failed him. without china's support one way or the other economically, but indirectly, militarily, working with the armed forces, putin will not be able to continue his

war. with that support, he can continue the war of attribute. it's crucial. the other thing worth saying is putin's desperation leads to xi's opportunism. they get along, like each other, but xi is getting cut rate energy prices. he is going to get some new markets that he'll pick up in moscow, where american companies, european companies, other companies have stepped away. you'll see a real shifting of tectonic plates economically. >> what are we to make of the reports that ukraine is preparing for a big counteroffensive this spring? they're amassing planes, tanks, artillery. if we know about this, surely putin does, as well. how much will the chinese support that? we're hearing the chinese leader is reaching out to ukraine's president possibly for a meeting. they tried to broker something in the middle east recently that they may have done successfully. are they taking sides with russia, or are the chinese trying to rival the u.s. in

terms of global power? >> russia is not a neutral party in this war. russia is on the side of putin. there are two reasons for this trip for xi jinping. three days, three hours of meetings today. the one is to support putin in this war so that he does not lose the war. whether he wins it or not, at this point, he's tying down western troops, tying down the u.s., western support. the second to portray himself as a peacemaker, particularly in the eyes of the global south which doesn't like this war. what he is doing in the shadows, the support, and the other he's doing publicly in the light of day. >> you think china's direct interest is in russia winning this war? >> direct interest of russia not losing this war. >> what's the difference? >> winning this war means they get all of ukraine, they get control of ukraine as a sovereign country. russia put together a 12-point peace plan. one is territorial respect.

china may survive, perhaps ukraine doesn't get its territory back, but the west doesn't get what it wants, which is a fully in tact, fully sovereign and free ukraine. he looks at taiwan. well, if the porcupine strategy worked for ukraine, if putin has failed in ukraine, my chances in taiwan may be more difficult. he's taking lessons for taiwan, as well. >> very interesting. do you think russia has a shot of winning here? do you think ukraine does, as well? i mean, they are certainly preparing for a big counteroffensive. i forget exactly how the ukrainian president put it. he said this will be the year, more or less, of our victory. how likely is that victory? >> we're talking about the ukrainian side, then the russian side. ukraine is going to put together a major spring counteroffensive. it's putting together everything it can to achieve that.

so far, we're not delivering military support fast enough, ammunition fast enough, long-range fires, reaper drones, many of the things that they need. they don't have enough of it. but they're going to go ahead with the offensive in any case. part of the reason for that is that putin is weak at the moment. if they can get more territory -- right now, putin has 20% of their territory. until they win more territory, putin won't think he needs to change. the west gets fatigued. ukraine gets fatigued. we get into our u.s. elections where we're already seeing governor desantis not supporting the war. it gets a little messier. so russia has to play for time. ukraine has to play for speed. >> very well said. fred, great to have you here. like we said, especially on a big day like this. we appreciate it. >> thank you. good to be here. >> fred kempe with the atlantic

>> fred kempe with the atlantic c 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

what if you were a global energy company? with operations in scotland, technologists in india, and customers all on different systems. you need to pull it together. so you call in ibm and red hat to create an open hybrid cloud platform. now data is available anywhere, securely. and your digital transformation is helping find new ways to unlock energy around the world.

good afternoon, everybody. welcome to "power lunch." with kelly evans, i'm tyler mathisen. glad you could join us. coming up, we're 24 hours away exactly from the fed's big decision on interest rates. this time, it really, really is one of the most important meetings in recent memory. will the fed raise or will they pause in light of all the turmoil in the banking system? coming up over the next hour, we'll discuss that. what will the fed do? what impact will it have on the markets? how should you invest ahead of it? should you be? first, let's check on the markets. stocks rising for the second straight day. the dow trying to hang on to a 100-point gain. we were up 300 at the high. the russell 2000 is once again

leading the