be outsized demand for these a.i. systems, yes? >> yes, and there was a recent note from loop capital. the analyst says that supermicro is the vendor of choice for nvidia's blackwell, so, talk about reputation. the biggest player in the game, they still go to supermicro, among the others. >> all right, well, that's driving a lot of the market on the day when the market was higher, record for the s&p. that's going to do it for "overtime." "fast money" starts now. live from the nasdaq market site on a day when the s&p 500 closed on a fresh all-time high yet again, this is "fast money." here's what's on tap tonight. china flooding their economy with all sorts of stimulus, electrifying stocks on the mainland, and causing one hedge fund titan to tell cnbc he's buying everything he can get his hands on in the country. is it too late to piggy back on that trade? plus, smooth skies ahead? after a bumpy year, is southwest about to find its footing?

we'll hear from the ceo and go inside the numbers coming up. and why energy stocks were at the bottom of the barrel today. is costco a name you can still buy in bulk? and hi-ho silver? charting a milestone for the precious metal. i'm sara eisen in tonight for melissa lee, coming to you live from studio b at the nasdaq. on the desk tonight -- tim seymour, carter worth, dan nathan, and guy adami. we're going to start with another big boost for china. the fxi surging 7.5% today, hitting its best level since february of last year. combined with its move tuesday, the fund is pacing for its best week on record. the kweb trades here in the mchi, also far outpacing the broader market today. the latest gains as top chinese officials affirmed the government's efforts to support the economy, including rate cuts and a one-time cash allowance for those in extreme poverty. all that stimulus has david tepper breaking his own rules for how much he invests in one

place. listen. >> i went over that limit on the fed announcement, okay? you know, in the last week. i went more when they said a day or two ago on their fed, and last night, i did more. >> just alibaba -- >> everything. >> jd, baidu? >> everything. everything. etf, you know, how we do futures, right? everything. everything. this is incredible stuff. for that place. okay? so, it's everything. >> and everything includes u.s. companies that get a big chunk of their business from china. casinos like las vegas sands and wynns. consumer names like ralph lauren and estee lauder. so, is it time to go all-in on china and will its rising tide lift all boats, tim? >> for example, on estee lauder, and we know the troubles they've had, and they've had trouble for probably a year and a half to two years. we heard it from ulta, we heard

it from lvmh, burberry. you name the company, especially luxury, we've heard it. i think this reaction in the stock, and that's a 21% move in estee in three days, that tells you these stocks weren't trading on fundamentals at the bottom. we know about china. i'm not telling you estee at the lows was a cheap company on valuation, i'm telling you the sentiment around their core business and where you had priced in china, i think, is extraordinary. the move we've seen in alibaba, it's about 25% over the last six or seven sessions. you've got a dynamic that all of these -- and this is what david tepper said. really since the fed, it's been a green light for emerging markets. emerging markets which continue over a multiyear period to make relative lows against the s&p. at least since that fed, have outperformed the s&p by about 5% in an environment that's been good for the s&p. so, i don't think china changes overnight. i think when you get the

politburo responding to fiscal policy to the monetary policy discussion, you have rates coming,a a 5% target. that impact on the rest of the world, the commodities, we can talk about the chinese internet names, and i think that are very interesting here and i think they go higher, but i think it's the other parts of this. it's retail, it's commodities, the broader global play is what makes it interesting. >> positioning was pretty ripe for a big move in china, right? >> 100%. >> the chinese market underperformed for the last three years, so, there's that, when you read into the magnitude of the move. but it also, they're sending a powerful signal. >> 100%. i think it was jpmorgan that said a year and a half ago that china is uninvestable. that's a built oit of a bell. but we've been sitting on this desk, saying fxi, look where i traded down to in february of this year, the same low in

october 2023. we said, there's your opportunity. that proved to be correct. and all this alibaba trade took a lot longer than i thought. over the last 4 1/2 years, sara, there's been seven or eight 35% to 50% bounces in this name. so, when david tepper says that, people will say he's talking his book, yeah, he is talking his book. and historically, his book is pretty damn good, so, i agree. >> you buy china? >> i think you stay with -- this is something we've talked about for awhile, you're getting an axel rant now, you stay with this on the long side. >> what about you, adding exposure? >> listen, who is going to, you know, argue with david tepper? the one thing i'll say, the last bit of that, we're buying futures -- he has the ability to hedge with futures, too. so, you have this huge hoouf in a short period of time, and i think tim said, the jury is still out for what this means for the economy. we know this stuff takes awhile to cycle through. so, from a sentiment standpoint, it sounds great. the stock's ran ahead of it. i guess i would be more focused on u.s. multinationals, you mentioned this at the top of the

show, that have a lot of exposure there. apple in the last quarter. sales in china was down 6.5% year over year. you think about gm, they get -- they sell more cars in china than they do here. and we know they have a lot of problems here right now and that sort of thing. i think there's -- starbucks has 7,000 stores there. >> nike. >> nike, you know, 11% year ore year. so, you're likely to see a turn there, probably. we definitely think that aspirational sort of u.s. brands should get a bid off of this fiscal stimulus, that sort of thing. i would be more focused on u.s. names that you can put together a narrative here, given our monetary stimulus. >> and one thing -- if you're going to buy a theme, and that's what tepper is really saying, maybe don't try the idiosyncratic name. so, i would do it as an aggregate. that's the beauty of the etf. but the casino stocks -- that's different. we can look at some charts if we want, but i don't think that's a

place to go. >> why? they have the macao exposure. >> right. one thing to note, if you took the s&p 500 casino and gaming index, you know what it's done for ten years? flat. >> nothing. >> nothing. so, what's the problem? that's the opportunity? that's the problem. these are as sets -- now here's a two-year comparative. you can see how poorly those major stocks have done, relative to the s&p. let's look at a couple charts that put this in context. so, there's a five-year comparative chart, two lines, two colors, pretty straightforward. the orange line is not the pick. let's look at a longer term chart. this goes back to '09. unchanged. if you have an asset class that has done nothing, it's lost 50% of its value. either that's the great opportunity, or there's something wrong. i think they've rallied already too much. we have two final charts here we can look at. the two gaming stocks. and if you see here, you got has says ga sands, a big move, right to the penny to that downworld sloping trend line. i'd fade it. and that's the same for wynn. >> china exposed x casinos.

>> well, carter's right -- there's no arguing against that relative underperformance. i'll say this, macao, i think, is a trade. i think it's a trade here and i think it's a trade of people assuming we were never going back there. i was buying melco last week, buying some earlier this week, i didn't know they were going to make those announcements. part of this is -- at those lows, it was trading two times adjusted ebitda. i don't think macao suddenly starts booming. there are a lot of dynamics at play here. so, i think there is a trade here. and itgets back to some of the positioning. baba is more of an investment. i will say, if you are trading, and this is for the options guys and dan probably has a view on this, but the implied vol in baba -- i sold weeklies for next week at 115, where i was paid, you know, i was paid over 10% in the stock. so, it's a dynamic where i think in the short run, the move they've had, i'd be a seller of baba at $115 next friday. >> i was going to say, is the

trade already gone? las vegas sands is down 24%. >> that's why you're selling upside vol here, i think, because the market doesn't price in the last 25, it looks at it and says it could do that going forward. not in all names, but a name that's such a coiled spring. i think that's interesting here. >> have you ever been to macao? >> yeah. >> serious. >> you say that as if you had a fun experience there. >> it's very serious, very different than vegas. >> it kind of sucks. >> whoa. >> it really does. it's like -- >> it's like a lot of little room, high rollers. >> we don't need to -- >> can i ask you one thing -- >> i want to say one thing. we're nine minutes into the show. >> we haven't properly welcomed sara. >> i thought you guys were being a little serious. >> no, it's great to have you here. we welcome you back to "fast money." >> happy to be here. here's my question on china. everybody's excited, they're finally talking about stimulus, they did it on the monetary side, they're hinting at fiscal stimulus which is what

economists think they really need there. but one of the reasons people have been skeptical about china hasn't just been growth. it's been geopolitics, and it's u.s., china, getting worse, they are a punching bag in this election, tariffs being thrown about on both sides. and potentially more restrictions on investment, too, so -- how do you process those risks with the excitement we're feeling now? >> i'll say this, i don't think this is necessarily going to be that much to help their economy, i think they are probably past that a little bit. what i do think -- and i do think a lot of this is targeted at their markets, and if you listen to some of the press conferences, they've specifically said, we've done this to help our market. so, you can divorce yourself, i think, from whether or not it's going to help the economy and whether or not you the u.s. relations with china are going to improve. and whether or not alibaba can continue to go higher from here. i'm with tim, i understand why you take some money off the table, selling upside calls -- >> i don't know if we're going to get there in that vol trade. >> fxi, i think, can surprise

people to the upside, much more so than it's done over the last couple weeks. >> the chinese currency, all -- going up. >> and that's something that i think you have to always be watching, because again, when policy makers in china, they have never going to act like they're scrambling, but this feels like a scramble. i don't know -- when policy makers start scrambling, you start buying. and this is a case where they're not going to structurally change the dynamics of their economy overnight. i think sentiment on china, positioning on china, and alibaba's case, i think the fundmentals in the company are things i can own here. >> i think the fed bought them a little breathing room with their super ease. our next guest is a little more skeptical that the china rally is sustainable. david reedle joins us now. david, welcome. >> thank you. >> what are you watching as far as the sustainability of a move like this? >> this is obviously good news, it's great for traders, it's good for people that have to sixs positions in china. i wonder what this looks like in

2025, 2026. this really doesn't change the structure of their economy. it doesn't fix anything. it sort of band-aids things and makes for a good trade. it makes them probably hit their numbers for this year, but does it really make them more competitive and better positioned for 2025 and 2026? it remains to be seen. >> competitive relative to the u.s.? >> relative to the u.s. or other emerging market opportunities. do you think other economies have the opportunity to surprise to the upside? like an india, for example, in the coming years, more than china. i think maybe. >> there's still talk about -- they have a 5% growth target and feel like the measures in the last few days indicate that they're pretty serious about hitting that, and that's still very decent growth, even if you look across the world right now. >> absolutely. second largest or maybe the largest economy in the world, posting 5% growth. but this is a little late in their year to make such a dramatic set of policy changes, and really, the language that i picked up on through the readout

was, they stand ready to do whatever it takes. whatever it takes to bail out the banks, whatever it takes to save the real estate investors, whatever it takes to save consumer sentiment. so, i think they've got -- they still have a lot of dry powder, but i just wonder if they're tinkering around the edges and really treating the symptom. >> markets love when it takes, tim. >> i was going to say, david, investors are saying, whatever it takes, i will not be in china. you spent a lot of time in china over the years. you have a lot of institutional clients at times that don't have to invest in china, but are certainly able to. where are they now? because again, six months ago, guile referenced the jpmorgan node. china was so far out of the radar, because people were doing whatever it took to not be there. >> yeah, we walked our clients back into it the second quarter of this year. we thought the big tech pressures were behind us at that point. so, we saw people taking, improving positions there, and larger positions there. in some of the names we've

already talked about, baba, some other ones where the fundamentals really make sense. but people were underexposed last year in china and the year before, which was right, when beijing was really targeting those big tech names that were so easy for people to trade. but you know, china is a huge economy, they already have a lot of control over levers of their economy. they can do a lot of things to make their economy work. i just wonder if this is -- tinkering around the edges, rather than making the fundamental changes to make them more competitive. >> david, though we're in the nbc family, i occasionally watch other networks. "60 minutes" did a story about china, singapore, the fact that nobody is talking about it. you have been talking about it and you are concerned about the markets, i don't know, just lack of focus on what potentially could happen. thoughts? >> that's exactly right. i mean, we've been watching the south china sea for a long time. i think, especially the philippines, it's a real flash point right now. every week, you get some sort of

blowup between the chinese coast guard, or fishing fleets, and the filipinos, and any one of those could go sideways, could turn into a fatal accident, a sinking of a boat, so on and so forth. and the u.s. has stated they have a security interest in the philippines, not a guarantee, not an article v, like nato, but they will make moves to protect their allies in the region. and i worry about that. i think everyone's been districted by the middle east, rightfully so, and by ewe crain, and they're missing a huge section of risk in the south china sea. >> i mean, just today, there's a headline, china test fires i intercontinental ballistic missile into pacific for the first time in decades. david, thank you. dan? >> we're in economic war with china. it's not going to get any better any time soon. none of us know when it's going to happen, it's been on the offing for a long time. so, you think about some of the

restrictions we have from a trade standpoint for them for our high end tech knonology and like. they've been ripping off our technology for a long time. the trade war started in 2017 doesn't look like it's going to ab abate any time soon. this is probably as good as it gets right now. if you tell me they're going to throw fiscal at this, and it's structural, they're not going to be able to fix the housing debt bomb they have, that's the thing. we just had a conversation with dan greenhouse, and he put it in a really good fashion, it's like, you know, there's no wealth effect when the chinese stock market goes up, because a lot of their citizens don't own it it. they own a lot of housing and real estate that's under water. so, to me, i just don't find it particularly interesting. >> they made moves on mortgages, incentives for second homes, at least signal they understand the problem, and they are finally ready to do something about it. that's what wall street has been waiting for for a long time. it doesn't feel like they had the will to fight it.

>> i think that's right. and remember, china has the ability to paper over a lot of their problems. it doesn't change the structural issues at hand here. that's why i would get back to the commodity space, because china will -- if left to their own devices, just start building stuff again. look at the move in copper, look at the move in freeport. freeport's moved 16% since china made that first announcement. we do believe, guy talks about this, i think copper has -- has real supply/demand dynamics that will support copper prices even without china here. if china is reassertive, you want to guy commodities. >> you're going to hate this, sara, because you know where i'm going. >> i don't. >> you do. >> gold. goes up every day. >> i don't hate it. happy for you. >> the thing about what central banks have been guying gold in a meaningful way the last couple of years -- >> china. i feel like every story we talk about, you bring it back to gold. >> i just do it -- you try to get under my skin, i do the same thing with you. meanwhile, you should bring it up, because it's been doing extraordinarily well. and the gold mining stocks are

finally catching a bid. and the resource trade, they've just given you the green light for, i think, all these resource trades, as well. >> 41st record close of 2024, gold. congratulations. >> outperformed the s&p since october of 2022. in a world where the s&p had maybe its greatest bull market, gold's done better. let's turn to chips. that's been part of the story. micron surging 15% for its best day since 2011. the move coming after last night's earnings where the company beat estimates, raised guidance, easing some concerns over the resilience of a.i. demand. and then there's supermicro, dropping 12% on a wall street journal report that the justice department has opened a probe into the company over its accounting practices. this, of course, follows hindenburg research's report that raised similar education. kind of a mixed bag for the chips today. >> yeah, micron, we were talking about it last night, it was a pretty decent beat and raise. >> you're not impressed by 93%

revenue growth? >> well, no. well, first of all, this company -- >> priced in a lot more than that. >> think about their revenue growth declined from the prior year. this company, again, we know it's a commoditized product. we know there's a lot of demand for memory as it goes into these servers that are going to these data center that are training these models, but the stock was in a euphoric sort of state just a few months ago, it sold off 40 some percent because the guy daunt wav guidance wasn't good enough then. they have signaled better demand situations, but the stock closed 5% off its highs, or, you know, it opened on the highs there and didn't see too many upticks for the rest of the day. >> a rally to a difficult level, right? to the penny, to a declining 150-day moving average, and i think point dan you're making, it fraded. it didn't follow through. i think you fade it. >> fade it? >> fade it. >> does anyone like micron? >> look at the bounce in micron.

look where it traded up to by the middle of august and look where it sold off to again. look at what the high was today. basically, to carter's point, just traded up to that prior high a month or so ago and it did it on four times normal volume. the quarter was fine. there was nothing not to like, but again, this is a stock that's roundtripped the entire move this year. people will point to valuation, it's always cheap. i mean, i look at this and say, maybe it's a little too much too fast, maybe that trajectory to the downside is still intact. >> and it's crazy cheap on a trailing multiple. their business has changed, sure. but i don't think there's that moat around their business. i still think they're in a built of a come momoditized business. i think the management team has been less than conservative about what they forecast for their business. i mean, i think they've been cheerleading. >> did you see sanjay on the show this morning with us? >> every time. >> he was so bullish. >> every time. and i think this is a company that, at times, suffers from being oversold. so, the opposite, and it's prone

to that, is true, as well. >> you know who else has been that way is amd. throw up the amd chart. you can overlay it with micron. they were talking a really big story, as a percentage of their total sales, you know, high end gpus were not particularly great. it roundtripped the entire move. so, people are going to go for the stuff that hasn't moved. you have taiwan semi, which has 85% of the manufacturing of these high end chips, you have nvidia that has 85% -- they're almost back towards their prior highs, but some of this other stuff, the garbage trade in the space, i mean, i think you kind of fade it a little bit, because i don't think the result and the guidance are really meaningful enough, as we see a move like this up 15%. i said last night, final call, i wouldn't chase it up 15%. so, we'll see. >> okay. when we come back, bad energy. crude oil, not guy, falling on the potential of a ramp in production, and energy's top names are taking it hard. just how far could they fall? atnee going to drill down on th o next. but first, costco earnings are out. shares are lower. the numbers and the latest from

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welcome back. shares of costco lower. the retailer reporting a beat on

earnings. eps coming in at $529 versus $508 expected. but a miss on revenues, reporting just short of the expected $79.9 billion. we have more on the quarter, so, gabby, what stood out to you? >> what stood out to me, sara, this is the first inkling we've got on the impact of costco's new membership changes. in july, they upped the cost of the membership for the first time in seven years. this is something they usually do about 5 1/2 years, we had to wait a bit longer for that. investors were keen to see, you know, are we going to have a lot of churn? and how are they going to reinvest in profits back into the business? we did get a little bit of color on that. they did say there was no meaningful changes to the renewal rate in the u.s. we don't know how they're going to be reinvesting that. total cardholders grew 7%, we had membership income growth up 6.5%. paid memberships up 7.3%. so, maybe this is not going to be such a bad thing for them.

>> okay, gabby, thank you. so, tim, i mean -- we'll get to carter on the chart, because it's a nice-looking chart, certainly in the long-term in the last year or so, but on earnings, it doesn't trade that much, because we get so much information on sales ahead of time. >> yeah, i agree. there's no major surprises in here, but again, carter's going to talk about the chart, but i'll just say, after 110% move in two years, a.i. stock or costco? i mean what's going on here? dynamic, i get where they sit in terms of both the customer and the tradedown and those people that actually are helping to make the margin story better, their investment in digital. obviously, the membership is a -- annuity that is something that the analyst community loves. at some point, valuations are going to struggle here. and this may be that point. >> what do you do with the stock, dan? >> well, you know, there's a lot of folks who are saying sell walmart, buy costco. we heard that a couple times this week. and walmart has put up a consistent amount of beats over the last few weeks. so, to me, maybe it's the sort

of thing where you buy walmart and sell costco here. >> walmart's had a strong run. >> yeah, i think it trades better on valuation and the like. so, to me, i don't know. i probably stick with walmart. >> now the chart. >> well, we got a couple charts, but concept accept chully, these the biggest by market cap and by sales, and this morning, we published a note, this is the note. it's a two-stock equal weight basket of walmart and costco. it's a trillion dollars plus, and that, to your point, sara, is just up and to the right. it's a gorgeous 45-degree angle. however, look at the second iteration. we are literally to the penny at the top of this 2009 to present channel. in every single instance it's hit that, it hit its head and fell. let's look at the funnymentals. >> ha-ha.

>> this is costco, walmart, 1.2 trillion, the pe is 45. is that a steep chart? seems pretty steep to me. look at the price to sales chart. is this just a chart? doesn't have to be pricey. it's priced to sell. it's 1.3. your highest at any point. look at the price to ebitda chart. so, the funnymentals and the chart are the same. is this full? the word expensive can never be used. valuation is a terrible timing tool and no one thinks. some analysts think the stock is cheap, some think it's expensive. it's full. who is the buyer here? not me. >> sounds like target. >> well, look at the move in july. from the beginning of july to that august 5th, the stock went down 10%. almost in a straight line. so, it does go down, too, and valuation has always been a concern. so, if they don't crush, the initial reaction is to sell it off. but if you were to get -- costco is one of these names, i think, where you are always trying to find a place to buy the stock. i don't know if they are getting another 10% move.

but if this settles in around $875 or so, you buy with both hands, sara. >> okay. a lot more "fast" to come. here's what's coming up next on the show. southwest shares are feeling the love, after the airline boosted its revenue guidance and cleared a buy-back plan for takeoff. but are the big moves enough to convince a big-time activist investor that it's clear skies ahead? plus, crude oil under pressure, as a potential saudi production increase threatens prices. we're drilling down on the trade, next. you're watching "fast money," live from the nasdaq market site in times square. we're back right after this.

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welcome back to "fast money." news alert on a potential merger in the media space. angelicathe latest. >> directv and dish are in advance talks to merge. they're saying an agreement is close and could be announced in the coming days. back to you, sara. >> okay, angelica, thank you very much. we'll watch for developments on that. meantime, let's talk oil. the oil trade on the skids. wti dropping almost 3%, closing below $68 a barrel.

both it and brent having their worst day in more than two weeks. the weakness coming amid a report indicating saudi arabia's moving forward with production hikes. it sent jimmers tjitters throug patch. names like diamondback, apa, devon energy among the biggest losers. so, where does the oil trade go from here, tim, even on a day where china stick lates, you would think. >> that saying on a week where we ignite the potential for that story. the oil was so weak today, and i tell you what, i bring it back to the oil investments, because i'm not someone that trades brent or wti, but i trade and own the underlying oils. th they're pricing in on 2025 $65 brent. are we going to go there?

we might. but they are also pricing that in at $65 and giving you a 12% free cash flow yield. they have break even in their div payouts in the mid to upper 40s. that pullback in headline oil is giving you an opportunity, needless to say, chevron is the c in blicep. >> the headline on the saudi story, is saudi ready to abandon $100 crude target, which -- >> they need market share. they don't need it -- they want to defend it. >> sure. that's a change in the psychology, i guess, around what happens with supply. >> and if you are trading the energy stocks on the back of the underlying commodity, i see what's going on. then you look at the fundamentals, you say, the price shouldn't matter as much as the market thinks it should, and you real ease that some of the stocks are just ridiculously cheap. compared to themselves and compared to the broader market. and i look at exxon, which, again, hasn't really gone -- it's not like it's falling off a cliff. the all-time high was $123. at 113, it's sort of hanging around here, and if they ever

catch a bid in terms of rotation, you absolutely got to be in some of these big cap integrated names. >> it's safe, right? and there are other ones. it's the drillers that act so poorly. but i mean, i would point out, look. for the past four, five years, crude has been very range bound. $65 the low, and $95 the high, but for that brief spurt up to $130 after the ukraine invasion. we're at the low of a four, five-year range. i think it breaks lower. but the shares market is the opportunity. they're way out of favor. only 2.5%, 3% of the s&p at this point. i think you buy some. exxon, lng, pick your picks. >> even with the weaker dollar, oil went down today. when we come back, southwest shares taking off, as the airline feels some love on its investor day. plus, a trio of fast movers hitting fresh all-time highs today. which of these industry titans are our traders most excited about? find out right after a quick break. missed a moment of "fast?" ll th us any time on the go.

foowhe "fast money" podcast. we're back right after this.

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nate jones... lines things up... checks his fidelity app... looks to outside analysts to get a second opinion. nate likes what he sees... and he places the trade... talk about easier investing. welcome back to "fast money." stocks rising on the back of

strong jobless claims and gdp data this morning. the dow gaining 260 points, notching its fifth positive day in the last six. s&p hitting a fresh record, gaining half a percent, and the nasdaq jumping 108 points. its fourth winning day in a row. meantime, wells fargo shares surging more than 5%, following a bloomberg report that its submitted a review of the steps that it's taken to address regulatory concerns. it's a key step for thebanks to get out from under that asset growth cap that's been in place since 2018. southwest shares notching their best day of the year. the stock rallying more than 5% after the company detailed changes to its business plan during today's investor day. the event coming as activist investor elliott investment management continues to call for new leadership. cnbc's phil lebeau has the latest after his conversation with the ceo. phil? >> sara, we'll talk about elliott in a little bit. but let's run down the news today from southwest airlines. the new initiatives they

outlined today, basically a growth plan over the next three years. and it comes down to this. first, new revenue initiatives. things like adding a vacation package company within the company. things that they believe they can do to bring in more revenue. they're going to have 500 million in cost cuts, so they don't spend as much capex on the fleet over the years to come. the target is $4 billion in earnings growth by 2027. how do they get there? well, a billion and a half they expect to half next year as they drive greater efficiency through the system, and then once they add things like assigned seats, premium seating, red eye flights, that really kicks in in '26 and '27. that's how they get to $4 billion. here's the problem for bob jordan. take a look at shares of southwest since he became ceo. and we're comparing them with the industry leader delta. when you look at this, you understand why bob jordan says, we've got to do better, we're at a critical inflection point. here's what he had to say about

his performance within the last hour. >> making no excuses, it's been a very tough couple of years. coming out of the pandemic strike, staffing issues, and now a lot of issues with boeing. that's the number one thing effecting our plan. and self-inflicted revenue management system issues that are now being fixed. >> those self-inflicted wounds, that is the main reason why elliott says bob jordan has got to go, and there needs to be new leadership at southwest. so, here's elliott's game plan, if you will. they may request a shareholder meeting where they want to have some of their people elected to the board. remember, they put up ten possible candidates. there are three new board members who will join southwest in november. elliott, by the way, has not requested a shareholder meeting yet. if they do, it's likely going to happen in november or december. we're aways from that actually happening.

but as you look at shares of southwest, keep in mind that this is a company that -- they know they've got to move quicker, sara. and, yes, they had better news today, racing their guidance in terms of revenue for the third quarter. that helps. $2.5 billion stock buy-back helps, but they have a long ways to go. >> did elliott respond to some of the moves and announcements today yet? >> yes. yes. >> and they're still not happy? >> too little, too late. bob jordan's got to go. they're not happy. you know how elliott operates. they're in for the long haul. they are not somebody who is going to say, you know what, they made a couple of nice moves, we're done. no. i think elliott has, you know, its teeth dug in on southwest and i think they're going to be in this position, calling for changes for some time. >> well, the pressure certainly is working for shareholders, at least on a day like today. phil, thank you. phil lebeau on southwest investor day. tim, do you buy it? >> well, airlines -- that's not

the one i'm buying. and the dynamic within the sector, we've had a lot of different things driving airlines, and i go back to delta, if you think about what happened with crowdstrike, that stock between that and then some of the cyclicality of what was going on in transportation, hospitality, you had the lows that we hit on august 5th. since then, delta is up 40% in 35 sessions. and this is kind of how airlines go. i think delta is best of breed, i think it's a balance sheet that i can trust. i think theygave decent guidance and they guided where the analyst community has been able to upgrade 2024 eps. so, i like it. southwest is not the one i'm chasing here. and it is a chase. they've had a big move. >> anybody? >> if you look at delta quick, tim talks about this, it's been in this $35-52 change for the last three and a half years. so, at $51 and change, we're at the upper end of the stock -- the stock trend. with that said, it's a better company, but i don't know if it's a better stock at this price, and southwest, which traded down to the 2020 lows at

the end of 2023, 20 bucks or so, you might, as a trade, this actually might be interesting, given the news we just talked about. >> i'm with you on that. street hates it. probably got three, four buys, 16, 20 sells. >> maybe why the move was so big today. >> what about that delta stock? >> it's a much better stock. >> running into that for three years. at some point, you break through that. >> yeah, they are both -- circumstances have come a long way, where as southwest is just bottoming. i would do southwest. that's my thought. >> all right, luv. coming up, a couple titans or their industry hitting all-time highs today, but will the good times last? how the traders are playing the moves in ibm, mcdonald's, and cater pillar. and some chatrts with a silver lining. what the chart master sees in silver, when "fast money" returns in two.ets

did you ever worry we wouldn't get to enjoy this? [jeff laughs maniacally] (inner monologue) seriously, look at these guys. they are playing great. meanwhile, i'm on the green and all i can think about is all the green i'm spending on 3 kids in college. not to mention the kitchen remodel,

and we'd just remodel the bathrooms last month. with empower, i get all of my financial questions answered. so i don't have to worry. so you're like a guru now? oh here it comes— join 18 million americans and take control of your financial future with a real time dashboard and real live conversations. empower. what's next. we've got a news alert on casava sciences. one we don't talk too much about. what's going on? >> that's right, sara. the s.e.c. is charging cassava sciences and two former

executives over misleading claims related to its alzheimer's drug that's in development. and the company and the two former executives will pay more than $40 million to settle these claims with the s.e.c. that stock down about 11% right now, sara. >> okay. thank you very much for pointing it out. meantime, a trio of titans of their industry hitting fresh all-time highs today. for ibm and caterpillar, it's the latest milestone in a great year. both stocks up more than 30% so far this year. mcdonald's, meanwhile, only up 2% for the year, but the fast food giant is seeing its sixth straight day of gains. the company announced its raising its dividend yesterday and three of the four traders on the desk today think it's the most compelling pick of the three, dan, why? >> well, it's kind of random, the three names, other than the fact -- >> titans. >> i don't love buying breakouts. when you look at this mcdonald's chart, it failed at $300 two times before this. it just picked up -- >> dan, who likes the trade, is explaining why he doesn't like the trade. >> if this thing was in a long, narrow base, i'd say yeah.

>> i'm with you. >> buy it, let it break out here, but this has come a long way from $250 to $300. yeah, it's picked its head up, but i want to see it back and fill and then i'd buy it. i don't like the other ones, either. >> ibm? >> no. i ibm? >> it's had a great year. >> which chart do you like the best? >> mcdonald's. ibm's steep, had a great year. and cat pillar is a very cyclical business. a lot of risk/reward. the stable one of these three clearly is mcdonald's. and it is just now, whether it's a false breakout or not, is now moving above well defined prior tops. >> caterpillar gets the cyclical china momentum. ibm and mcdonald's, think -- i mean, ibm, it's cyclical, too, in terms of enterprise spending, but it's had the a.i. tailwind and they keep saying, what you're seeing on tech spending is 2%, 3% more than gdp. >> goldman sachs just added ibm to the conviction list.

$220 price target. i will say that ibm is the most compelling here. number of different reasons. valuation maybe stretched a little bit. they've integrated that red hat deal really well. okay. >> when we come back, some heavy metal technicians are heading your way. tech technicals, i should say. the chart master mining in silver and gold, but which shiny substance is his favorite? the show. love the writing. find out right after the break. "fast money" yo," back in two. citi's seamlessly connected banking, markets and services businesses, deliver global financial solutions. so our client can keep investing in innovations for patients around the world. without pause. for the love of moving our clients forward. for the love of progress.

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so you can be there for your customers. with comcast business, reliability isn't just possible. it's happening. switch to reliable comcast business internet with security and get started for $49.99 a month. plus ask how to get up to a $500 prepaid card. call today! welcome back to "fast money." gold settling at a new record, 41st of the year. silver hitting its own 12-year high, trading briefly above $33 an ounce. copper up more than 3%, but is there a shimmering feature for the commodities? >> oh, my goodness. shimmering. >> or will they lose their luster? let's ask the chart master. >> let's do it. before we look at the charts, it's important to know, year to date, of course, the s&p is up, what, 20%. and we know that gold is up 30%,

the gold miners are up 35%. there's been the beta associated with the operating business that's making all-time highs. let's look at several comparative charts of gold and silver. and so, the first here, they are -- a dead heat in this timeframe. look at the next, it's a bit longer. and you'll see the same thing, two lines. they match up eidentically. we go even longer to make a point about this. and the answer -- and then final chart, going back some 20 years, they are even money. now, the gold/silver ratio takes about 83 ounces, you can buy 83 ounces of silver with one ounce of gold. if you want beta, you play silver, but the truth is, gold is good, silver's good, gold miners are good. and silver miners. so, sil, slv, gld, gdx, i think you want to own the theme. >> the question is why. guy? >> well, because -- >> because you always make the case. >> central bank has been buying gold hand over fist. >> what about silver?

do you like silver, too. >> the market is not taking it into consideration. silver, look, gold's at an all-time high, silver is probably half. even if it just got to 75% of it, that is a huge trade here. so, yes, and i'll say this, i think people have been reticent to buy gold miners because they've been burned so many times historically. gold has proven itself. gold mining stocks still have a lot of catchup to do. >> sara doesn't like -- even if toto wolf was on the desk talking about gold -- >> he's like a formula 1 guy. >> he's -- he's -- >> he's a "fast money" fan. >> he's a looker. >> team owner and principle. i'm a fan. >> talking about gold, i think it goes higher. the beta he's talking about is finally not inflation in your face. it's gold and deflation, or disinflation that helps the miners start to outperform. >> there's a documentary on peacock called "inside track" that i did and he takes me for a ride. >> excuse me? >> yeah. >> in a car, or just --

>> hot lap. >> excuse me? >> that's what it's called. when you go around the track. we're going to hit your final trades next. -you the man! -actually, he's a box. cologuard is a one-of-a-kind way to screen for colon cancer that's effective and non-invasive. it's for people 45+ at average risk, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your provider for cologuard. ♪ i did it my way ♪

before we get to final trades, we want to let folks know that carter worth has joined cnbc pro, where he'll be providing subscribers with technical insight. >> tune in for that. >> for more info, go to cnbc.com/pro. how exciting. congratulations. now it's time for final trade. let's go around the horn. tim? >> i think this china move for estee lauder is not a game changer. this is the catalyst to go for it. >> carter? >> costco. it's full.

expe expensive. sell. >> lulu. tim, you are wearing two pairs right now. you got the shirt and something else. i think sentiment is really going to rally. >> guy? >> catch sara on "money movers" each day. i'm into tgog ake a few hot lap money." "mad money" with jim cramer starts right now. my mission is simple. to make you money. i'm here to level the playing field for all investors. there's always a bull market somewhere. and i promise to help you find it. "mad money" starts now. >> hey, i'm cramer. welcome to "mad money." welcome to cramerica. other people want to make friends. i'm just trying to make you a little money. my job's not just to entertain but to teach you. so call me at 1-800-743-cnbc or tweet me @jimcramer. in a bull market there is nothing worse than watching the averages roar higher while your portfolio sits there barely moving. it makes you feel like a complete dope,