it is 5:00 a.m. here at cnbc worldwide headquarters. the bounce back from the longest losing streak in four decades. this morning, futures are higher. nearly 100% of investors say the fed will cut today. a large number think they should not. lawmakers unveil a new plan to avoid another government shutdown with just days to go. plus, why the global government shakeups matter to the markets and to your money. breaking down united health groups slide, and why investors may be able to get insight. we'll explain that one. it's wednesday, december 18,

2024, you're watching worldwide exchange right here on cnbc. and good morning, thanks so much for being with us, i'm frank holland. let's get you ready for the trading day ahead. a down day for stocks on tuesday. take a look. stocks in the green across the board right now. s and p up. dow looks like it would open 75 points higher. nasdaq up almost 40 points right now. the futures may be in the green. it's nothing but red for dow. the blue chips on a nine session slide. that is the longest daily losing streak since 1978. yeah, a couple decades. much more on that later. why one stock is the blame, you see the slide right here, going back to december 5. you can see down over 3.5%. closed down just over half a percent yesterday. we're also checking the market. what bank of america calls the last hurdle before the year end

rally. take a look at the bond market, the benchmark at 4.4%, right now. again, similar level to what we saw yesterday. however, yields are currently at their highest level in nearly a month. and we have to take a look at bitcoin. below 107,000 this morning. pulling back about 2.5%. trades around the clock, this morning, trading at 104,000 per coin. all right, that is your morning money setup. let's see how europe is shaping up ahead of today's fed decision. sylvia, good morning. >> very good morning, frank. look, it's been a very busy trading day thus far. thanks in fact to deal making news. before i give you the latest details on that, let me show you how the different areas are fairing at the moment. we have seen a positive session so far. as you can see to my right, indexes trading higher and

indeed, with investors waiting to hear from the fed, no doubt. but in the meantime, also digesting news within the autosector. nissan shares accelerated as the japanese automaker confirmed a media report that is considering a merger with honda, former a bigger entity that can compete with larger rivals and invest more in the growing ev market. the newspaper actually first reported this possibility which could see mitsubishi bought into the fold as well. this story has had an impact on shares of rena. this european car maker has a stake in nissan, too. there's implications there. so far though, the announcement is actually boosting renault shares in european trade. briefly to finish off, what unicredit is saying, the italian lender has increased

its stake in commerzbank. we'll see how this will unfold. no doubt, a lot of activity at the moment in europe on the deal making front. let's see how this is going to pan out and whether we'll see more of it in 2025. >> all right, sylvia, thank you very much. live in our london newsroom. turning back to the markets here in the u.s. and this week's big event. that's the latest rate decision by the federal reserve. it's coming out at 2:00 p.m. eastern time. widely expected to cut rates by another 25 basis points. more focused on signals on the rate path for next year. expectations are, we'll see fewer rate cuts because the economy has certainly remained strong. for much more on this, founder and ceo of new street advisers group, and a cnbc contributor. good morning, always good to see you. >> thanks, frank. >> everybody is expecting to get the quarter point cut today. i want to see the commentary from fed officials. a lot of them sounding hawkish. if we get that cut today,

widely expected. what do you expect from the commentary and what do you think will be the impact on the markets? >> yeah, i think one thing is looking at inflation. that's one thing we focused on, if you're looking at inflation from 2021 to 2024, from the period of october to november. it didn't budge much, around the 21% range. i think one thing for investors to look at, that the fed will be tracking obviously, if there's any spikes in the data that they are tracking. the cpi headline data and unemployment. if we get spikes in the data, we potentially see the fed make some sort of turn in the policy. some sort of turn in the strategy right now. if we don't see that, they will continue on this path. i think 25 basis point cut as you said, potentially see, will fair move for the fed to move at this point. >> what do you think about the market reaction? they put out research, looking at the market performance and

the fed deunder jay powell, when you look at this, you'll see a stark difference between dave dowel's days, and afterwards. you can see the last hour of the trading day, after that fed decision, a decline. are you expecting a similar pattern to play out today? a lot of people believe we'll get that quarter point cut. there will a lot of questions about what will be said by jay powell after that. >> the commentary from the fed is very important. the strategy going forward is very important. for me, the two risks i've seen is any sudden movement or sudden triggers or spikes in our two data points, right? looking at unemployment, if that spikes above 5%, and looking at head inflation, if that starts to creep back up or get hotter again, those are two areas you can see fluxuations of s strolltivety in the

volatility in the market. that's what i'm planning to do and planning to do for investors here. >> right. let me ask you this. if we get this hawkish cut that a lot of people are anticipating. where are you going to advise people to put their money? if we get that hawkish cut that a lot of people think we're going to get, where are you advising clients to look for opportunities after that? >> i think there will be a few areas. for some younger clientele, and high net worth, the thing they are able to do is one, have a lot more time, and two, you know, have a different risk profile. right? so, a lot of them are looking at things like tech and things that have been doing really, really well over the past year, as a potential trend into 2025. so, hawkish cut, or if the fed -- they are looking for those opportunities and that's what we're positioning them. we like what has been going on. it will still continue in 2025,

you know, barring any two risks we see to the market. >> ask you how you feel about bonds. if you want to kind of take advantage of the bond yields, you need to lock it in. questions about the rate cut path forward. do you think now is a -- a lot of people think maybe inflation, when we could be seeing the spike now. >> so, we had those positions and locked in those positions way in the past. i think right now wouldn't be the best time for investors to pile back in. we're seeing different movements, as you mentioned earlier at the top of the show. we've been releasing some of the bonds and because we're looking at more equities and obviously the positions at equities. we feel like that's a position versus bonds. those positions are locked in much prior, our strategy has changed and shifted toward those equity positions. >> all right, always great to see you. thank you very much. >> thank you, frank. all right, turning our

attention to capitol hill and a developing story as lawmakers race to get a deal to fund the federal government with days to go until the deadline. nbc joins us with the latest on this story. bre, good morning. >> good to see you. the clock is ticking for lawmakers to act here. the bill that is currently on the table would avert a holiday shutdown and throw a new funding deadline into the first 100 days of president-elect trump's new administration. giving the gop more leverage. overnight, republicans unveiled a short-term bill that would keep the government funded up and running until march 14. among other things, the bill includes $100 billion for disaster relief funding for damage caused by hurricanes helene and milton. and $10 billion in aid for farmers. top democrats say the bill provides funding for some key priorities, including childcare and work force training. but the overall size and scope of this measure is drawing

pushback from some republicans. either way, lawmakers say getting this measure through congress before friday's deadline is a top priority. the bill also addresses rising concerns about recent drone sightings that have shut down u.s. air space. one provision in this funding bill would reauthorize a bill to coordinate and counter threats from drones. frank. >> brie jackson live in washington. we have a lot more to come, first, it was fang, then the magnificent seven. now why batman is prowling wall street. we'll explain that one. first, breaking down the dow's nine session slide and the biggest culprit. plus, more on the fed's decision, and donald trump could throw a wrench in the fed's policy path forward. and later, what is behind a premarket shift? we have a busy hour ahead, when worldwide returns. stay with us.

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including meta, google, and more than triple what it bought last year. and we add uber ceo to the list of those donating money to president-elect donald trump's inauguration. a company spokesperson telling the wall street journal, he contributed $1 million last month. now, this is his largest donation to a political candidate or inauguration fund. and we're watching shares of health insurers, which dropped yesterday on comments by pfizer ceo, saying president- elect trump is very committed to reforming pharmacy benefit managers. making the comments on an analyst call after the company issued new guidance for 2025. shares of united health and signa. they close down more than 2%, after cvs fell 5%. those stocks are recovering some ground today in the

premarket. we're seeing fractional gains. trump has a very strong views on pbms, adding he wants transparency, frank. >> all right, thank you very much. we'll see you later in the show. right now, we'll stick with healthcare. that trade specifically united health, so with yesterday's, more than 2% drop, the stock is responsible for nearly half of the dow's losses during the nine session losing streak. started back on december 5. i'm now joined by founder and president of cnbc pro contributor. frank, thank you for joining us. bridge the gap for me. we're talking about united health. we're seeing a boeing chart. what does boeing have to do with the healthcare company? >> nothing. however, we have signs how they nationally rally. boeing is a good example of a stock moving lower for most of the year, and finally you saw indications of accumulations. from a pattern perspective, we need to see the stock stop

going down. next stop is to see a follow through, and of course then, we can see a higher low from here, and if you go and connect all that together, this is a bullish pattern. you have a breakout year. >> technical analysis. we saw boeing go down, but you are using this to demonstrate a technical pattern. i want to get a sense. we're looking for the bottom and some new higher lows. how many higher lows do we need to see to have a clear up trend from a technical basis? >> we need so see one. we need patterns to form for uptrends to happen after a big down trend has taken place over the last year or so. >> we see the thesis. let's go over to united health right here. again, united health, selling you on news, everybody knows the news about the murder of its ceo. so give us a sense. here's the down pattern. we are seeing a sharp decline. what do you need to see, to see a buying opportunity to go back

into this stock? >> very similar to boeing. now investors sometimes get enticed. the problem is, lows can get lower. the first time, we have to see where support will come into, and then phone issuely again, higher low, and take it from there. we don't want maybe wait until it comes up to this point, but at the same time, it's better to get the best spot to buy as opposed to the lowest. the best is the pattern starts to form. and this won't happen right away. you have to wait until the beginning stages of 2025. we don't have to press the issue. we have to be patient, especially when some are involved. >> again, this is an event where stocks are on news, we see the low here. does this low over here, does have have any relevance on the opportunity to buy again? >> could be. like you said before, support can be established at any point. that is a good spot to look at. again, what could possibly happen is, we come back down

here. it's good to be patient. >> so, again, you're looking for at least one higher low, and you see that as a potential signal of a buying opportunity. >> we'll move on to the material sector. why don't you clear that for us. the weakness that i'm disappointed. we're talking about material weakness. we haven't seen quite the performance of this sector. a lot of investors expected. what are you seeing on the charts? >> extremely over sold, it is down 12 straight days, which is the second longest losing streak in history. but for me getting courage, and we need to retake 95 area here, because same type of thing. this was one big pattern that broke out from earlier this year, but failed. so, yes, we do expect to snap back and rally in the short- term. so it can reclaim this year. because you think about it, there will be rotation trade. you saw how well it worked by

the breakout to new highs. didn't quite get it with materials. i want to be encouraged so we can get above new highs and how long-term breakout haves been awarded. >> maybe hard for the people at home. you start the chart back here. during the pandemic, and we're seeing this up trend over here, and like you mentioned, we're seeing a lower low right here, and an upswing here, is that material to the technical analysis that you're doing over here back in 2024? >> i think it's an important point. a lot of times, it's difficult for traders to think about buying the highs, but at any point down here, it was a new high. we have seen again, whether it's industry, financials, buying near the highs at the big multiyear pattern, has seen a breakout, has been rewarded. >> you're saying there's an opportunity to buy these highs

as well. you have to see the technical signals. >> some people may care more about the short-term. >> clear that off for us. you're a pro for us. great to have you here. thank you very much. go to cnbc.com/pros, some interesting stuff if you're into technical analysis. why the latest wave of government upheaval, why it matters to the markets and your money. we're back right after this.

welcome back to worldwide exchange. the global markets and canadian dollar hovering at the lowest level since march of 2020. this is justin trudeau, faces a crisis following the resignation of his finance minister. hold talks to form a new government and work through political divides in an effort to get a controversial 2025 budget approved. france and canada on the list of countries facing political upheaval. over rising lack of confidence and leadership. for more on the investor impact for all of it, let's bring in political analysis, policy advisory, terri, good morning. good to see you. >> good morning, frank. >> we're going to bring that graphic back. we're seeing different places around the world where there's some lack of confidence and leadership political. i want to start with one we haven't mentioned, that's germany there. i want to get a sense of what you're seeing. trading close to the all-time

high, we have seen yields rise at the same time. how do you view what's going on in germany and the investor impact? >> in two ways, one is that there's a lot of talk at this point, that germany economically is beyond the pail. and no rescuing it. how i see it, two-month election campaign in which what you're likely to see a stronger center right candidate, and much more serious focus on economic recovery and then we have to consider both germany and tkpraápbs in the broader content of the european union, which essentially is kind of slowed to a full stop, and may even start to reverse under some analysis. yo u have a real serious problem in the eu, which is one of the biggest trading blocks in the world. the other thing is that you're looking at western ally as, and there is certainly a lot to go around in the western allies. i don't need to tell you or the

audience about the difficulties in china right now. so, that kind of doubles up the problem. >> we're talking about issues in south korea as well. i want to stick with germany and europe for a second. an article is the average german household has $2500 less in spending power due to some of these economic problems. how does that impact the rest of the euro? >> well, everyone knows that the german and french economy have been for the last generation, the twin engines of economic growth in europe. if you have political instability in france that leads to a negative economic picture and you already have that going on in germany, you know, that's going to have much wider impacts on the euro zone generally, and make it that much more difficult for the

region to recover. >> all right, so if i'm a u.s. investor, how should i read all this, or someone investing in companies invested in other countries. >> sure. there's two ways. one is, to be craft about it is simply that anything bad for the rest of the world is good for the united states. because what you have is you have a combination in the united states that is unique. kind of economic exceptionalism and geopolitical exceptionalism. the other way to look at it is, those are shifting sands and could shift very quickly. it is much more in the markets interest to have a much more stable political situation in france and germany and south korea, because what that will do is not only improve those economies, but also improve the investing environment. but also improve the united states even further. >> so let's go back to the

canadian dollar again, trading at one of the lowest levels since back in the pandemic. key trading partner for the united states. some of the reasons are budget issues. the idea of these tariffs that the president-elect proposed. if you're a u.s. investor. does it have an material impact on the u.s. companies or sectors? >> sure. you know, canada is one of our largest trading partners. one thing i would tell investors is that i think the dimensions of the canadian political situation are a little -- are a little too soon to breaking just enough to make sure that it is difficult to figure out what the economic impacts are going to be. it's not clear whether or not the trudeau government going down means that there will be a party shift in canada or

whether that freeland and some of the other liberals will take up the bid on the party. there is temporary weakness in the canadian dollar. that is refracted by much more worldwide than the incident canadian situation. >> all right, great to have you here. appreciate your time and your insight. thank you again. come can go up here on worldwide exchange, 75 basis points since september. the con serum borrowing picture just not looking rosier. why today's cut may not make a difference in the short-term. we'll be right back. stay with us. ♪ ♪ whether your phone's broken or old, we've got you. with verizon, anyone can trade in any phone, any condition. it's your last chance to get iphone 16 pro with apple intelligence, on us. and, ipad and apple watch series 10.

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i think our team thinks we'll cut today. and a couple times next year. think about what they are really saying is the end state of the fed funds rate will be in the 3.5 to 4% range. that was the big change over the last six to nine months. inflation doesn't get down to lower 2s, they have until '26. so, that length of time, they have to stay higher than they otherwise would be. >> that was bank of america ceo yesterday, weighing in on today's big fed rate decision. central bank largely expected to issue a cut this afternoon, but the big focus is on 2025 and there are expectations that

they may dial back plans for policy easing moving forward. welcome back to worldwide exchange, i'm frank holland. lays out the economic curve ball that could possibly complicate the fed's plans. but first, we kick off this half an hour with a check of u.s. stock features. all three indexes up a quarter of a percent. s and p, it's up 14 points. also for the nasdaq, 50 points. the biggest gainers of the dow. take a look at the top of the list, it is nvidia, a pop in the premarket. goldman sachs. united health bouncing back a bit, almost half a percent. verizon, a third of a percent. back to the dow for a second. we're talking about the slide of the dow. it's a nine session slide. it's looking to break that. it's the longest daily losing streak since 1978. take look at the downside move since all the way back on december 5. unh, nearly half. accounting for half of that

slide since december 5. you can see the chart down more than 20% over that time. all right, we want to check the market this morning ahead of the final rate decision of this year. the benchmark holding steady at 4..4. and bit coin, backing off of the record high this morning. you can see pulling back 2%. trading at 104,000. about $200 per coin. week to date up, just about 2.5%. all right, that is your morning money set up. now we want to turn to the fed of 2:00 p.m. eastern time today. investors are counting with nearly 100% probability that the central bank cuts the prime rate by another 25 basis points. looking ahead to 2025, and into january. hit pause after three likely straight cuts. ahead of today's decision, the rate picture and borrowing cost

has not really improved. 30 year mortgage, fixed 30 year mortgage, i should say. sitting at 6.9%. back in september. average rates for credit cards, used cars, and home equity loans changed very little since september. you see them right there. the s & p 500 is 420 point jump, and near 1% move higher on the ten-year yield. joining me now is chief economist, mark zandy, good to see you. >> good morning. >> mark, i want to ask you, what are you expecting? bond traders tracked are expecting a cut. what kind of tone are you expecting in the news conference? >> i expect a cut. the fed hasn't disswayed us of that, and i think that's a very likely. i think the tone will change, frank. i think powell will in the press conference, in the statement after the meeting, make the case that the fed should go much more slowly in

the rate cuts going forward, and even lay the foundation for potential pause here for an extended period. you know, there's a lot of uncertainty with regard to economic policy under the new trump administration. tariffs and deportations, what's going to happen with fiscal policy, tax spending policy, and i think the federal reserve needs to get a better fix on that before they make decisions about future rate cuts. i think that is likely the message that will come through with the statement and the press conference. >> it will be a conversation all day. you get to take the first crack at it. according to steve leesman and his fed, 90% of people believe the fed will cut. they actually should cut. we'll show the audience the graphic in a moment. do you think they should cut with the strength we are seeing in the economy? in the last jobs report. is now the time to cut in your mind? >> i do. i think they should cut. they achieved their mandate. the goals, at least close

enough. i mean, the unemployment rate is 4%. inflation is coming in gracefully. it is still a bit above their 2% target, but that's because of the growth and cost of homeownership and that's trending lower. so it feels like we're going to get back to the 2% target in the next few months. and so if you achieved your goals, the federal funds rate should be at their rate, and that is not where it is right now. i would cut in december. at this point, think about a cut early next year. after that, given the economic policy and uncertainty, i would suggest they pause and take stock of what they have in mind. >> why are we hearing, again, you think they should cut. why are we hearing hawkish

commentary. being inclined to say no cut. jerome powell says we can afford to be cautious. why are we getting this tone from the fed in your mind, and what will this signal, not only this commentary, but what you are expecting today from jay powell. what do you see the market reaction to be? >> i mean, we'll get a clear sense of what the fed members think about rate cuts, with their plot, and you know, i suspect we're going to see a couple three rate cuts next year. the consensus view on the fed is they should be lowering interest rates, that rate, which is consistent with policy, and again, we achieved our goal, so, you know, why not get back to something that is closer to equal librium. i think it is certainly embedded in ten-year treasury yields. that's one of the reasons they

are up. markets and the fed are pretty much on the same page. and i think after today's meeting, they will be on the same page. >> what do you expect from jay powell? he has no plans to step down. we heard from scott saying that he doesn't have any plans to interfere. at least in the surface level. he doesn't have plans to interfere. do you expect powell to elude about the incoming administration, or despite what jay powell said, some of these proposals could happen, and the job market? >> i think powell will touch that one. i think he made that clear in the last meeting with his country of response to some of the questions around his tenure there. so i don't think he is going anywhere, and you know, as long as interest rates are headed lower, there won't be a lot of attention between the new president and the federal reserve. we need to start raising interest rates, i think that's when the tensions will start to

rise. i don't expect that to happen in 2025 or early '26. i think jay powell will finish out his term. >> all right, mark zandi, great to see you, thank you very much. >> thank you. coming up, nissan and honda send shock waves through the global autoindusy. w the stocks are reacting. we'll show you. stay with us.

welcome back to worldwide exchange. time for your morning call.

a $45 price target, davidson says they expect to see an updated cycle to more premium tiers of the box platform leading to higher growth and margins. dow to out perform. calls an attractive risk, reward scenario around the stock and less bad setup for next year. and double upgrade from city on ollie's bargain outlet. from 64 to $133. ollie's is well positioned to win. today's consumer searches for value. following a report to honda and nissan are considering about operating under a holding company and sign a memorandum of understanding. taking a look right now. you see nissan is up more than 23%. honda pulling back more than 3%. the pair would bring mitsubishi motors is, which nissan is the

top shareholder, and taking a look at mitsubishi and other global automakers. mitsubishi shares are up 20%. shares of other companies moving higher, including kioxia. the computer memory manufacturer raising more than $800 million in the ipo. turning to europe, inflation in the uk rising 2.6%. the bank of england will hold rates steady. that's coming up tomorrow, and raising stake in commerce bank to 28%. the italian bank revealing it required contracts tied to the rival, unacredit can launch a mandatory takeover offer. coming up, we have the one world that every investor has to hear, plus, a financial advisory gold rush. courtesy of some record breaking contracts in the world be fnkor. ional spts rortra is here to explain

coming up after this.

welcome back to worldwide exchange. the new york mets is not only great for his bank account, but good for his agent, scott boris, also for the financial advisers of the financially well off sports world. robert frank joins us how soaring salaries are creating a new gold rush. robert, good morning. >> good morning. you're the frank, you're the

frank. good morning, frank. rising salaries at the top, for the top athletes. college athletes now making six and seven figures. and the rise in women sports, all creating the next big gold rush for wealth management firms who manage all that money. the median salary for the top 30 nba players, over $40 million in the mlb, it's $29 million. the nfl, $14 million. all those salaries creating a lot of wealth. not to mention, the even larger sponsorships and brand deals. you have morgan stanley, ubs, goldman sachs, the private banks, the trust companies, adding to the sports and entertainment groups. many hiring former athletes as advisers to hire clients, and special units just for athletes. fifteen years ago, 3/4 of nfl players were in financial trouble. two years after retirement. now advisers say athletes have

much better education and financial advice to hold on to their wealth. now wealth advisers help them with everything from paying taxes in all the states they play and that can get very complicated. turning down deals, they are pitched by friends and family, and of course, for athletes earning most of their wealth at such a young age, which is a very challenging situation. so for more on where the wealthy are investing and the new gold rush in wealth management. frank, you can take a look at my newsletter at cnbc.com/insidewealth. that's cnbc.com/insidewealth. all the information out tomorrow morning. frank. >> robert, question for you. these are younger people getting large sums of cash. where do they generally invest? equity markets, bonds, as you just mentioned, private equity, where are they looking for opportunities? >> so, it's really interesting.

it used to be that they would want to do on the side, maybe a restaurant or a car dealership. now they all want investments in tech firms. they want equity, and they want board seats. so, today's athletes are really very quite sophisticated when it comes to not just conservative investment portfolio, but also the private equity side and they want to use their image and their status as brand ambassadors to leverage those investments, especially in tech and crypto. they have a broad diversification right now in their portfolios with stocks and bonds as well as the private equity side. >> moving over to equities, techenings, and things like that. the restaurant business is a risky business. robert frank, inside newsletter, thank you very much. good to see you. coming up, forget the mack 7, it's all about the batman. the one member, we'll be back.

we'll explain this batmmaan accran, stay with us.

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welcome back to worldwide exchange. we close in on the 6:00 a.m. hour, we're checking in on a few stories this morning. microsoft has been the biggest

buyer. microsoft bought nearly half a million of the hopper chips. more than twice as many of the biggest rivals. an uber spokesperson says the company and ceo each contributed $1 million to president-elect donald trump's inauguration last month. : and mastercard is buying back $12 million in stock. raising the quarterly dividend. also watching shares of palantir. the long standing partnership to support the army's vantage program platform. the four-year deal could be worth up to $600 million. and bloomberg says a trade association representing u.s. graphite producers is asking for an invest into whether chinese companies are violating antidumping laws and looking for tariffs on 9 00% on chinese graphite. it is used in ev batteries. jay powell's news conference this afternoon. the dow now on its longest

losing street. i'm assuming that is staying alive. jay woods is here. >> we continue to see a lack of breath. the s and p for the 12th straight session. that is a historical session there. let's bring in jay. the jacket. holiday jacket. >> merry christmas. >> merry christmas, happy holidays. >> it's good to be here. >> staying alive. there are so many. >> forget about songs. what is your word of the day? >> word of the day, we've been talking about breath. the market has bad breath with a d. and halitosis is my word of the day, what we have when we have bad breath. we're talking about the ad line. the advancements versus the decliners and how negative that has been. when you see this, maybe things

are falling apart. when you look at it, what we've done with the a.d. line, we're in an over sold company. the equal weight has been down, just like dow jones, 11, 12 straight days. the percentage loss, the dow is down less than 4%. the s & p 500 is 2%. 1.1%, as we take this. so, the breath is concerning, but i don't think this bad breath is going to be, you know, lasting long for this market. >> i want to go back to the chart. the s & p 500 equal weight for the start of the quarter. you see a sharp divergence for the equal rate, right after thanksgiving or so. so, when you see a chart like this, does this signal to you that this is a bearish trend? it seems like it would, but you don't think so. >> no, i'll spin it bullish for you. it's concerning. we saw this happen before. we saw it when it was the

magnificent seven stocks that took this market up. >> it still is. >> it is, it is. but what did that do? this is the story of this market, rotation. so, now we're rotating back out of some of those stocks that kind of lifted us. and the three sectors that have been leading this leg up, discretionary and communications technology, this is fantastic. it is just rotation. this is the leadership you want to see in a market. your leaders lead. so, they are starting to take us to the next leg. >> it wasn't just the max 7 stocks. give us a sense. do you believe in this batmmaaan acronym? >> it could be antman, because it's the symbol of roadcom, and a better superhero. i love antman. you know, it is enough with these acronyms.

broadcom, tremendous run. it is leading semiconductor chips. down 17%. again, pop today. we'll see what happens. but yeah, i love broadcom, the second best performancer in the semiconductor index. you saw rotation. what is up since the election? tesla is up 100%. so, we were about to kick tesla out of that acronym, and now it is back. >> weeks ago, people were ready to kick it out. now it's one of the better performers. >> i don't know how many letters we have yet. one we're not focused on. >> let's get to it. when we're looking at the batmmaan trade, what is your pick and why? >> i'm going apple. apple is just a giant killer. it is slow and steady over time. it's the jim kramer, own it, don't trade it. the other stocks you may want to trade more aggressively in that acronym. but apple, this apple

intelligence is revolutionizing things. what they do consistent with apple. slow, steady rollout. they are going to integrate it. when you say ai, you say artificial intelligence. in two years, we may be calling it apple intelligence. they did it with the phone. they did it with music when they took over music. they do it with my ear buds when i talk on the phone. now, the integrations are going to be unbelievable. >> i do want to point this out. he says there are 300 million iphones that need to be upgraded right now. is apple intelligence going to be the catalyst to get those upgraded? i have a fairly new phone. i'm not going to upgrade it. >> it's going to be the key factor. it won't be the driving factor. the battery life has gotten better. now it's about every three years. once these enhancements come. people don't have it in their lives that will need it. to me, it will be a key factor. it won't be the only factor, and if dan likes it, then i like it, too. >> important to note, apple

trailing the rest of the mag 7, the bas coat since the apple intelligence event back on june 10. that's why we're looking at it. jay woods, thank you. here's what to watch. weekly mortgage app, followed by november housing starts at 8:30 a.m. a number of earnings. one more last look at futures. that will do it for worldwide exchange. extend government funding, but the bill sparking controversy on freedom caucus, those people, and others in the time line to pass it is tight. shares in nissan are soaring in tokyo after reports of the companies in merger talks with honda. and the countdown to the fed decision is on. that's happening today. we'll talk strategy ahead of

the opening bell. as maybe some of our concerns are being born out, dow down nine straight days. wednesday, december 18, seven days, ♪ good morning welcome to "squawk box" right here on cnbc we're live at the nasdaq market site in times square, i'm andrew ross sorkin along with joe kernen becky is off today u.s. equity futures, though, take a look, as joe just mentioned we have had some not so great days, nine straight days down, but right now things would open higher, about 110 points higher. nasdaq up about 60 points, the s&p 500 would open about 16 points higher. of course, all this have comes