and welcome to "power lunch," alongside kelly evans, i'm dominic chu. joining us for the entire hour that guy over there, chris, chief market strategist over at mai capital. stocks are rising again today. nasdaq hitting a new record high above the 18,700 mark at this point. that's ahead of five of the so-called magnificent seven stocks reporting in the next three days alone. alphabet is on deck going first after the closing bell today, kelly. >> you know, our friend chris can be a bit of a contrarian. the nasdaq is on a seven-week win streak. you got to be shorting or something. >> well, it is troubling that there are no clouds in the sky, kelly. i am worried about that, but we live for this week every quarter. it's half the companies in the s&p are reporting and we're very excited. >> all right. >> consequential. speaking of earnings, we're waiting for am-d. company trails nvidia up 186%

this year. amd up only 11%. people often like to talk about whether you should play the catch-up trade in any kind of pair trade situation. it's not usually a good bet. but in an of itself, you could say, okay, if amd says a few things right, maybe investors get more excited about the shares. >> maybe. but expectations are very high for amd. so, it's a real important earnings report tonight. >> the paris trade would be a losing one so to speak for shorting nvidia and long amd. >> any pair trade situation, that's a tough one. >> from technology we'll stick there and go to bitcoin because it's getting near the 73,000 area right now today. just shy of its record highs. trump median technology shares are jumping today. they've tripled so far in october alone. we'll discuss whether this is a sign of the markets prepping for a possible, hypothetical trump victor. chris, is this a trump trade? a lot of folks have been

referring to it casually as such. >> i think it is, dom. but i don't know if it's right or not. none of us really do. >> exactly. >> engage at your own risk is what i would say. >> not just that, but you also have to ask, even if it's pricing it in, then it's priced in when it happens. you can't expect -- >> right. >> if it's right now, there may be less if that bears out. if that doesn't bear out -- >> trump victory might have been the biggest sell on the news thing. >> unless you want to buy bonds on it. do you think the long-term bond yield rise is in tandem with politics or other factors? >> i think the long-term bond yield is on the way because it's the economy is so good and not going to see the fed cuts. >> jumping back into the markets the major averages may be mixed but the bond yields are continuing their rise. the 10 year hitting the highest level since july earlier today. here to talk more about that move, deputy chief investment officer at bernstein advisers. dan, do you think it's on brighter growth fiscal problems,

inflation, why do you think bond yield have been on this relentless hike? >> is there a d, all of the above, kelly? i think it's really all those things. first of all, there's been a huge swing in the narrative in the markets from, you know, doomsday talk, just a few months ago to, you know, getting a high employment report, earnings coming in very strong. i think that's all telling you that the economy is doing better than expected at a time when the fed has just started to cut interest rates. i think that is a powerful combination of factors. that's all driving interest rates higher, not to mention people starting to play the policy game as the election nears. >> do we think, dan, do we think, that a steepening of the yield curve is actually something fundamentally that we are watching all over again? we've been talking about the validity of the structure of short versus long-term rates because of fed intervention. but if things are normalizing, if we are going to see a steepening of this yield curve, is that some kind of a sign yet

again in history of things maybe better or worse? is the fundamental case there. >> yeah. i think you have to put this fed cut into context rel ative to history. this is a very different environment. in fact, this is the only time the fed has begun a cutting cycle when profits were accelerating and healthy. we have never seen it before outside of two examples which were on the wake of bear markets, 1987 and 2002/2003. that was the only time. and so i think the reason that the fed is cutting rates today is not the typical one of slowing growth. it's actually one of inflation coming down and therefore actually think the fed easing and the subsequent sort of steepening of the yield curve is not sort of the normal negative implication that you normally take with it. >> chris, question, comment? >> i do. dan, it sounds to me like you

believe, like i do, that the fed may not cut as much or as deeply as folks are thinking right now. and i don't think that's a bad thing, but, one, do you agree with that? two, good or bad? >> yeah. no, absolutely, chris. we actually -- we took advantage of that. the bearish narrative that was taking hold in the markets we took the opportunity to lower duration in the portfolios move into the long end of the curve. that's been absolutely right. on this whole idea that people are way more pessimistic than the data suggests. i think that is a good thing. the fact that the economy is doing better than people think, that the fed -- even if the fed is not going to cut as mup the fact that the fed is cutting and in an environment where liquidity is still elevated, i think that is a good thing. >> i'll figure out where dan and chris have most joint conviction on the market. dan is proponent of smaller kaps. chris, i wouldn't say you have per se. >> i think you should call me

krissy sueky now. dan, buzz it worry there are no clouds in the sky? we were just talking about that. little higher rates, i don't think that will be a big deal. but you don't see them going to 5% or something like that? >> i think you really have to keep it simple, chris. and the reality is the number one driver of markets is corporate profits. and corporate profits are getting better. not only better but broadening out. that's creating tremendous opportunity. that's not to say there aren't rain clouds on the horizon as kelly alluded to. positioning, valuation, allocations are very high. household equity and allocations are at all time highs. the p multiple on the market is basically the highest since the tech bubble. you know, even is all in on risk and the same group of stocks. i think that's something to consider. we do have some important deadlines coming up on the political front, not just the election, but the budget deadline, the debt ceiling coming up and we have some

important tax cuts expiring. so it's not to say it's all roses and sunshine and unicorns. but for the time being, the fact that earnings growth is accelerating and broadening out, that's a tremendous support here. >> you know where there are roses, sunshine beams and unicorns in the nasdaq trade today. it hit a record high again. even as we're talking about all these worries, there's one key part of the market that envelopes the drivers that are the biggest influence on the markets, higher. and of course we sit right here on the eve of magnificent seven earnings season basically coming up. is it going to be enough to power the next leg, dan, higher in the markets if these magnificent five do well this week? >> i think it will be. i think overall these -- what people often forget is these big stocks, they're earnings are very cyclical. the fact that their earnings are coming in ahead of expectations, these are huge cap-x spenders in our economy.

so if they're coming in, their profits are strong, they're spending on growth. that will have ripple-through effects for the entire market globally. i think that's something you want to take advantage of, dom. >> chris a final word on this. correct me if i'm wrong, google is one of your favorite stocks right now? >> it is. there was a speaker in the last hour that said exactly what i think, which is, wow. really cheap. don't know what the earnings are going to be. hate to recommend a stock right before they're about to report, but really think the future is bright especially this valuation. >> air bus take two, why do those names come up? >> they're out of the mainstream. air bus, of course, is the pepsi to boeing's coca-cola. so, air bus has smaller problems and they not safety related. so i like that. and take 2 i think is really a great way to play a single event, which is the introduction of grand theft auto 6, which is going to be the biggest game introduction in the history of the world. so we're excited about that. >> there was a time in my life i was a big gta time.

>> i have too many kids around the house. >> dan, what about you? gt 6 fan? >> no. i don't have time for games. i have a 7-year-old and 8-year-old. >> see, he knows what i'm talking about. >> i'm not really a gamer to begin with. thank you, dab. appreciate it today. dan suzuki. >> thanks, chris suzuki. the 10-year-old note yield continuing to rise right now above the 4.3% level today. now it's 4.29. first time since july that happened. all ahead of inflation data on thursday and jobs report on friday. so with that in mind, let's get out to rick santelli in chicago for more on the state of play in the bond report, rick. >> well, you know, dom, i can't tell you what all the data will be moving forward, but today we had some quite important data. matter of fact, at 8:30 eastern we saw that the trade balance, the deficit, for september on the advanced look was 108

billion. that is the second highest since recordkeeping in the 1980s. that put rates up. then, of course, we had really solid confidence numbers. expectations was over 89. the highest level since dec of '21. then a seven-year note auction. that seven-year was the best of breed. we had soft auctions up to that point. it was a real oner, as you see on the intraday chart. now if you look at early july for that 10-year, i know everybody was talking three months. but when we were towards the highs of the session, we were flirting with the highest yield close since the 3rd of july. almost four months. and just because the auctions over all three doesn't mean that this move to lower rates will continue. there's a lot of drivers here. there's always this exhale after supply. finally, there was a big day today for another reason.

if you took 10 year minus boons we touched 200 bases points briefly today. that is the widest it's been in nearly six months. dom, back to you? >> rick santelli with the bond report. thank you very much for that. still to come on this show. we'll get a bit more micro on earnings. the trades on chipotle and pfizer and ford in a deluxe version of three stock lunch coming up. a bento box f you will. plus the crypto conundrum continues. ere few months we see a bitcoin rally only for the trade to get stuck in the mud. but some thing the election could be a true turning point. speaking of battle ground georgia. how the state's economic success could impact the results in that state. "power lunch" is going to be right back.

♪ welcome back. time for a deluxe three stock lunch today. we'll get the stories on three key names and then we'll trade each one of them. our guest host chris is our trader of record today. and we're going to talk a little more about the earnings side of things. first up, is chipotle. wall street is keeping a close eye on the third quarter results due out after the closing bell this around. investors patiently await the naming of a permanent ceo now that brian nickel, of course, has left to be the ceo at starbucks. and we're going to turn to kate rogers who has the story for chipotle. kate? >> reporter: hi, dom. analysts are looking revenues of 2.8 billion. same store sales increase by 6.3%. this is the first quarter since brian nickel departed for starbucks. investors will hear from interim scott boatright.

he hasover seen the tech pipeline. it's been gaining in recent quarters with all income cohort which is is a rarity in this environment. it's also been able to consistently grow traffic as ore brands see it fall. chipotle brought back fan favorite brisket this quarter to the menu, so commentary around that performance will be key. the stock is up over 30% year to date. while it's far outperforming other fast food competitors it is also being outperformed by sweet green and cava up over 200% on the year. a lot of comparisons drawn to chipotle, has a bigger footprint than those two locations. back over to you. >> chris, let's turn to you for the trade on chipotle. this is $83 billion company. >> wow. >> you think of how big that is. >> they can't be as quick as these smaller, like sweet green. all eyes on same store sales

here, dom. look at one number, look at that. anything over 6.5%, that would be met with pure joy as we say on wall street. it's a high hurdle, but they've been able to deliver, even with the departure of the ceo seen as real strong, the team is deep. the guys coming in has been there a long time. i'm a value guy. 55 times earnings is a little rich for me, but i urge my growth oriented friends to take a look at that same store sales number. >> of course. the same store sales for this current quarter won't show up for a couple months now because of the brisket promotion and everything else. don't miss chipotle's interim ceo scott boatwright, live on "closing time." 4:00 p.m. eastern time hour. we'll see the state of brisket and everything else on the menu. >> i've been going there more than ever. >> i'm taking the over. >> have you done the brisket? >> i didn't know about the brisket. >> it's something special. >> even better. let's move along to pfizer.

the pharma giant blowing away revenue. angelica is here with those details and the stock is lower, angelica? >> this looks like it was a great quarter and a great print for pfizer, but the problem is this strength is all coming from its covid portfolio. like you said, it's any viral paxlovid really beat the estimates here, up by about $2 billion past what the street was looking for and also covid vax seen came in $400 million ahead. so the problem for pfizer is that their trying to get people to look at everything else in this portfolio and move beyond covid, but that is the story today. and if you look at its cancer portfolio, some of the drugs there including some of the ones it got from its acquisition coming in a little short of estimates. so that's not helping their case that there is more to see beyond covid. they did also talk, though, a little bit about its obesity pipeline. remember, they had a few setbacks there. they do still have experimental

pill. they're expecting update from that drug in the first quarter of next year. they also talked about two other earlier stage pills in the pipeline. again, this is all really early and right now investors are looking for what else they can grab on to. remember, pfizer is facing pressure from activist investor starhorde and ceo directly addressing some of that pressure from starboard saying they're 15 months too late and pfizer has already taken numerous actions to right the ship here. things like cost-cutting and executive changes. but again, it doesn't seem like there's a whole lot of enthusiasm for that pitch. the stock today down about 2%. and jp morgan analyst this morning saying it will take more to really change the narrative here. they need more progress on the pipeline and also some stronger launches in its current portfolio. so again, more to see here. we'll have to see how this plays out between starboard and pfizer going forward, guys. >> angelica, thanks. they would have a stronger case

if the stock was reacting to this earnings report and backing up what he has to say. hearing the analysts echo the presentation, there has to be more done to show they have their arms around there. >> i do. pfizer is like the rodney dangerfield of pharma. they get no respect. now they have great covid sales. oh, it's just covid. and, but it's a very cheap stock. i like that. what's the catalyst? i don't know. but if we knew what the catalyst is, there wouldn't be selling for nine times earnings with a 6% yield. so i'm happy to take the 6% and wait. >> you're not worried about that 6%? >> no, i'm not worried at all about that 6% because the cash flow is quite good. easily covers the dividend. earnings are growing. their not growing fast, but they are growing. and this covid business, look, it's lumpy, but the check still clear. it's still money. so it's not a bad business. and, you know, we're one pandemic away from pfizer

stepping into the breach again, who know. so there's lots of ways to win here, including new discoveries, including buy backs, increased dividends. this is a name i like. i would use this as an opportunity. the ceo albert bourla will be at 6:00 p.m. eastern. the final name here is ford, which topped third quarter estimates when it reported earnings yesterday. but it also guyed on the low end of its previously-announced full-year earnings forecast range. phil lebeau has the story on ford. phil? >> yeah. rough day for ford, dom. when you take a look at shares down more than 8%, it's about the guidance. it changed in just three months. back in july, they said look, we expect to earn 10 to $12 billion this year. yesterday they said, well, it's going to be about 10 billion, which had been more than a few analysts saying, wait a second, what happened to 10 to 12, now it's 10? that's the primary reason why the stock is under pressure.

there's also the issue of warranty cost. they believe they're making progress here. they didn't detail it and talk about it at great length yesterday, though it's still too high. they said it's too high. finally, there's higher inventory. though that is an issue that ford believes should move down. should be a little more normalized by the time you get into early to 25. take a look at ev market share. i get a lot of people saying ford trading lower because their not doing as well in ev snz they cut their losses there. the loss per vehicle is lower now than it was in the second quarter. their market share, well, it was up -- their sales were up 12% in the third quarter there. the fourth year to date behind general motors, hyundai, kia and tesla. speaking of general motors, i want to show you this chart. this is ford versus gm other the last two years. why are we showing you this? historically, these guys trade pretty darn close to each other. almost exactly in tandem.

look at the split that we've seen especially in the last three months. but over the last year. you really see that general motors has outperformed while ford has struggled. guys, back to you. >> i was looking at the five-year chart and just in the last couple of months we have seen gm have a higher 5-year return than ford does. do you ever bet on the number two? this one has been a complete reversal, dom. >> this is interesting, too, for chris. we'll give you the final word here. phil lebeau, thank you very much for that. the difference or similarity between pfizer and ford, they both have 6% yields. >> and both trading at single digit pe ratios. i don't like ford here, however. high warranty costs are a real problem. obviously they hit earnings. we're seeing that today. but they also indicate manufacturing issues. that's a real concern multiquarters, i would stay away. >> chris, thank you very much for that three stock lunch. look at shares of engineering, surging by 8% on a bloomberg report that semens is nearing a possible deal to buy the software maker.

that deal could reportedly be announced as soon as tomorrow. altair expected to report earnings as well. may do not comment on comment on speculation or rumors. we reached out to altair. the boilerplate responses come back from at least one of the parties. >> shares up 8%. coming up, a breakout coming for healthcare stocks? that group lagging its peers today. our next guest has high hopes. market navigator is next. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

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help you choose the plan that's right for you. the call is free. and there's no obligation. you know medicare won't cover all your medical costs. so, call now and see why a medicare supplement plan from a company like humana just might be the answer. welcome back to "power lunch." a quick check on the markets right now. it hasn't changed a whole heck of a lot because we're still waiting for that big report out of alphabet later today. the s&p is up .25%. nasdaq up .75%. new high for the nasdaq. it is still the busiest earning season with many healthcare herbing reporting their results.

it's the second worst performing sector in the s&p 500. is the healthcare space headed for a possible turn around. our next guest is taking the temperature so to speak on the sector and he thinks the prognosis is good. joining us now is carter worth. looks at charts tfor a living. take us why you think they are about to outperform after underperforming. >> sure, don, chris. before we get into it, we know this is the third largest sector of course in the market. some 11%. and just as there is money flow for a while, tech is underperforming, then banks are outperforming and utilities come to life, hag lagged. semi-stalling. healthcare has lagged the market the past 7, 8 weeks. down about 7%. the market is up 4, 5. that spread is fairly extreme. let's look at four identical charts. this is the xlv that tracks the sector with no lines, drawings or annotations. the second iteration, what we

know if you see on the next chart is that we are down to trend. if you measure trend by a long-term moving arch, 150-day moving average, we have sold off since that july peak some 7%. and this is what a level of support looks like. so rebound potential is judged to be high. we might have other iterations of the same chart. but the point is, at this point, my thinking is one wants to be contrarian and some of the things that are steep and uncorrected look what happened to ibm, steep and uncorrected and got whacked as the expression goes. there are things that are vulnerable because they're extended. and there are things that are getting down two levels where they're overdone to the downside, whether one wants to use an oscillator-based phrase like oversold or just consider this a fairly mature eight-week decline to support. >> now, carter, what exactly kind of return could we be looking at if your starting to leg into positions around this 150 day moving average.

at what point do you say, hey, it's good. let's keep our position. when do you want to look at a trade or long-term investment? >> intermediate and major. run for 20 years. that's a major move. minor, couple hours, couple days. intermediate moves in principle is where alpha generated. so i think on an intermediate basis, this is, again, a trade for a bounce. and two or three -- to former high. >> march back possibly towards highs for the year. carter worth, laying out the charts. thank you very much. we appreciate it. we'll see you soon, sir. now, chris, you're a fundamental guy, a portfolio manager. let's talk charts are one factor. >> sure. >> you mentioned pfizer in our previous segment. >> right. >> is healthcare something that you're looking at? >> it sure is, dom. i view what carter does is a witch doctor. i've known carter for 20 years. a terrific witch doctor. we love it when we do our fundamental research and it's

confirmed by something that carter would do. so, we intuitively feel these stocks are cheap. underacquired. it's not just pfizer, health inshoers, biotech companies. other things. broadly he's right. all of healthcare is lagging. >> and we know chris is a value guy. kelly, i'll send things back other to you. >> thank you both. still to come, can anyone catch up to nvidia? amd earnings are on deck. it held lackluster product event earlier this month and the stock is up just 12% this year compared to nvidia's 186% gain. more when we return.

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welcome back to "power lunch." while 2024 has been incredible year for nvidia. the stock has nearly tripled. see mama mody is looking at tha today. >> it's a true david versus goliath for amd when it reports earnings tonight. the stock has underperformed with nvidia's dominance proving

hard to crack. the street was let wanting more. tonight, they have the opportunity to share what demand has been like for the mi 300 series, whether nvidia first-mover advantage is stalling amd's ability to gain more market share. ray mand james analyst says amd is making steady progress. their base case for the company to raise prior outlook for 4.5 billion to over $5 gl billion. in order to catch up with nvidia, amd needs to spend more time on marketing. something ceo jenson wong does a lot more. most recently in india, denmark and japan next month. when you compare public engagements of wong versus su. wong has been more active in recent weeks and coincided with

nvidia stock remaining near record highs. amd off 25% from its most recent high. >> seema mody, i appreciate it. thank you for that. our next guest expects amd to boost outlook for the full year but cautious that buy side sales estimates for ai accelerators are too high for the next year. so joining us with that story is christopher rollen, semiconductor analyst. covers the industry in depth. christopher, let's talk about whether or not this amd catch hp up trade is something that could have legs and what does lisa su need to tell investors today to make it happen? >> yeah. investors need to get comfort around double digit mi300 billions of sales? and if she can paint that picture, i think that catch-up trade at least that margin will start to narrow between the two. but nvidia is leaps and bounds

above a-md on this ai story. >> if they're leaps and bounds above them, that means there has to be a technological leap forward in order for amd hardware, its processors to then be competitor with the likes of nvidia. it has to be the case or this becomes a one horse race. what does am-d have to do? >> yeah. so believe it or not, on the actual processors themselves, the m-i300 and next gen 325 are absolutely incredible. they're really, really solid pieces of hardware. the problem is that amd does not have software in the same respects that nvidia has kuda which is the de facto standard that people are doing processing ai on today. additionally, amd does not have a systems approach just yet.

they bought zt systems in hopes of closing that gap. but they're still far away. so, on hardware, they're coming close to matching. actually at a price discount, but missing on software and systems. >> christopher, i have a question that dates me because i can remember back when intel was amd's major competitor back in the '90s. they got so far ahead that the question wasn't whether amd had just as good technology. the question is why would these companies that invested billions in this intel or in this case nvidia's chip, why would they ever switch? because even if it was just as good, even if it was a little cheaper, isn't amd really fighting an uphill battle even if they have as technology? >> yeah. the difference here is not let's say 20% in a pccpu or even 50% in a server cp-u. this is almost an order of

magnitude difference between the two processors. an mi300 and let's say latest blackwell from nvidia. that gap will likely close over time. it will take some time. and the key here is really software. amd has to get a lot better with their software. >> okay. christopher rolland coffers the chip sector, thank you. we'll see you soon, sir. >> you're welcome. don't miss amd ceo lisa su in a cnbc exclusive interview that will be tomorrow, 9:00 a.m. eastern time "squawk on the street." chris, kelly, if you want to date yourself. i remember when nvidia was just about video games. >> sure. and intel almost bought nvidia and turned them down. >> wow. >> there you go. >> wow. can you imagine. let's get to pippa stevens for the cnbc news update. a federal judge ruled against republican-led lawsuit that would have required stricter rules for overseas

ballots in pennsylvania. that includes votes from military members stationed abroad. six republican congress men from the battleground state argued election officials should be required to verify eligibility of overseas voters before adding them to the tally. but the judge dismissed the case on several grounds saying they filed the lawsuit too close to the election. right now in d.c., preparations are under way for vice president harris to make her closing argument to the american people. exactly one week before election day. she will give the address at the site of former president donald trump's january 6th speech. and trump's vice presidential running mate jd vance will tape an interview with podcaster joe rogan tomorrow, it comes just days after rogen interviewed trump and a couple of days after rogen posted online that abn interview with vice president harris is on the table. rogen has not made an endorsement in the 2024 election. as we head to break, the agony of defeat for two footwear stocks, crocs sinking despite

topping q3 estimates. investors spooked by a weaker than expected holiday shopping forecast and struggles for hey dude. shares of boot barn are tumbling 20% as well after the surprise departure of long-time ceo jim con roy will leave to take the helm of ross stores. both of these are the two picks of our 2024 cnbc stock draft. his team certainly stepping in it today. dropping him down to sixth place. we'll be right back.

♪ welcome back. take a quick look at shares of home depot, coca-cola an delta airline. what do they have in common? you atlanta viewers know. all three are based there. all three are also between 35 and 40% since president biden took office. so has business been good enough under his tenure that voters will want to stick with his vice president next week? megan cassella is in georgia with more on what could tilt that key battleground state? what are the latest figures, mega megan. welcome. >> reporter: that's right. the path to victory in november could head straight through battleground atlanta. both candidates have been

narrowly focussed here in the final stretches of their campaign. but they've been coming at it with pretty different strategies. for kamala harris, the polls have been showing that black voters who make up about a third of the electorate here and specially black men, they just haven't been supporting her at the same levels with which they were supporting president biden when he was able to narrowly flip the state four years ago. the economy is strong. booming in metro atlanta. folks feel it hasn't been working for them. harris is out with a new economic agenda aimed squarely at winning over the black men. offering things like small business loans, fully forgivable to $20,000. training for hard to find jobs and legalizing recreational marijuana. it's the policy gesture some black business leaders believe could make the difference. >> we've never had a policy geared toward black men. we never had a policy geared toward minorities. now we have a particular president actually talking our

language. so get excited about it. we can be mad. and your feelings are correct in what happened in the past. we're here now. let's take advantage of the programs. >> reporter: now, for donald trump, his strategy has been all about the atlanta suburbs. they swung big for president biden in 2020 and it's a huge reason why he was able to win the state by just about 11,000 votes back then. so for trump, rather than campaign in the redder, more reliably republican parts of the state outside of atlanta where he's already expected to win with huge margins, he has been focussed here in metro atlanta. his strategy has been to win georgia, flip this state back to red by losing the suburbs by just a little less. guys? >> where megan, a lot of the sort of hour by hour polling and the betting shows trump with a lead in at least a couple of the battleground states. remind me where things stand in georgia and what would the harris team say about this apparent momentum shift that has been playing out? >> reporter: in georgia, trump

has been leading pretty reliably by at least a couple points, usually within the margin of error. but generally with the lead. the difference here is that georgia is not really -- not likely to be a must-win state for the harris campaign. she is more likely to win the blue wall states pennsylvania, wisconsin, michigan. if she loses those, georgia is important. trump, he likely has to win in georgia. if things -- we will get the bolls first for georgia on election night. it's the first battleground state to close. we'll see early indications here. and if we see harris leading by a whole bunch, that would be an indication things are going well for her, not so well for trump who needs to do better in this battleground state. >> interesting. we'll be following that with much interest. megan cassella, thank you very much. all right. meanwhile, check out the price of bitcoin. now topping the $73,000 mark. is the crypto community perhaps banking on a possible trump victory? and deregulation for the industry to come. we'll discuss when "power lunch" returns after this quick break.

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of its all time highs. mckenzie segalis is joining us with a look at what's driving the trade. is it something that could be characterized as a so-called trump trade. >> hey, dom. bitcoin is trading at its highest point since march. trading volume topping $31 billion and more than $224 million in short positions liquidated over that same window. stocks tied to digital asset prices like riot platforms, coin base and microstrategy are rallying along with the wider crypto market as bitcoin breaks past the key 70 k resistant level. spot bitcoin etfs have seen a surge of inflows, $3.1 billion in just the last two weeks bringing the total market cap to $73 billion since they launched in january. analysts say with one week to go until the general election in the u.s. investors are bullish that no matter who wins it will be a net benefit for the

industry. already we are seeing options traders increase bets regardless of who takes the white house bitcoin is poised to hit that 80 k mark this year. >> for what it's worth, i'm sure he wouldn't mind me saying this, but i saw bill miller last week, bullish on bitcoin, i don't know if we will use the word retired, you are never retired in this game and a lot of people have said you told us ten years ago to buy this. is it too late? he said to them, chris, i'm curious what you think, that it's like buying amazon in 2014. yes, it was up a lot from the ipo but its big run was still to come. >> i tend to agree with that. look, i'm of the age where people believed in gold in the '70s and '80s and it is the gold for people 40 and under and also bill miller and me. i mean, i do think it's a hedge against inflation, i do think there's limited supply that's the whole gimmick, so don't scoff at it. >> mac, this is -- you mentioned regardless of who wins and that was part of your story. i would like to look at what happens beyond the election,

right? regardless of who wins, i'm not making a call, i'm not saying bitcoin is, either, but what happens to the entire ecosystem? is there a feeling like this is that 80,000, 90,000, 100,000, some people are calling for bitcoin 1 million in the course of the next five to seven years. what does the outlook look like past the election? >> part of the reason why the industry raised $278 million more than 18 x in the 2020 election cycle is they're trying to put cash behind house and senate candidates who are ultimately going to comprise the congress that's going to pass some of these crypto bills into law for years now we've had different bills that have come to the floor, nothing has been passed. the first two line items on the congressional agenda are trying to repeat sad 121 which is a bulletin standing in way of banks being able to cuss dough cryptocurrencies and passing fit 21. this is a markets legislation bill that essentially would lay

out jurisdictional authority between existing regulators like the sec and chgc. >> coin base is the other interesting play for those who work for the company or have owned the shares, they would love to see that -- i mean, they're up but they'd like to see it up towards the real highs. >> i think that two big questions for coin base, one, the session tension threat of spot bitcoin etfs, they are a custody partner for issuers but ultimately it's taking some of their business you would otherwise store on an exchange, the second question for coin base, they are in the midst of the protracted litigation with the sec. he did show up at a donald trump fundraiser in june but at the end of the day i think the question is will there be turnover at the top of the sec regardless of who is in the white house and what does that mean for existing litigation against robinhood and others.

>> does he think there will be turnover. >> donald trump has promised to unseat chair begins letter, kamala harris has not said that. typically we see a change in leadership when there is a turnover in the administration. >> chris, are your clients asking for crypto? >> they're asking about it. any asset that goes up as much as crypto -- do you think that trump or harris will be better from a regulatory standpoint for crypto? >> i think that with respect to the big institutions they would like to see donald trump because they know what they're going to get at the sec and then with respect to the crypto investor regardless of who wins they're very optimistic we will see bills passed that will open up the doors to institutional money and that's what the ecosystem needs to scale, they need a lot of wall street cash onboarded into crypto. >> nick, mac, thank you very much. for more you can watch our podcast at any time by following and lynch listening to "power lunch" on any platform. back with final thoughts right after this.

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welcome back. we have a news alert for you obvious is a. the stock is taking a dip on a report that it plans to lay off around 1400 employees and contractors by the end of the year. that's according to people familiar with the matter telling the "wall street journal." the cuts are reportedly part of a plan to streamline its international business. those shares off one quarter of 1%. in a statement to cnbc visa is saying we expect to glow the number of employees at visa this year, next year and the foreseeable future, however, we continuously evolve our operating model to better serve customers and ak sell writ innovation and growth which can lead to the elimination of some roles. the company is expected to report quarterly results today after the market close. >> we only have a couple seconds. chris, people loved having you

on. anything you wish you had said, final stock thoughts. >> i don't want to end on a boring note but i don't think things are that complicated. the earnings -- it's a great earnings season, we will see more in the next 72 hours, rates are coming down, economy is strong, the election will be behind us. >> are you sure rates are coming down? >> slowly maybe, but the election will be behind us in a couple weeks so that's a big deal. >> thanks very much, chris, great have been you here. >> "closing bell" starts right now. all right. kelly, thanks so much. welcome to "closing bell," i'm scott wapner live from post 9 at the new york stock exchange. this hour begins with the first mega cap to report earnings, alphabet in just about an hour. 60 minutes to go in regulation, for the most part a mixed day, stocks did get a little boost on a strong treasury auction that took the edge off yields a little bit which is helping just a bit as well. take a look at home builders, they're weaker after d.r. horton's