standard standard. well, that's it for this week. be sure to follow me on twitter, facebook and instagram, and i'll be back next week right here on "the wall street journal at large." thank you very much for joining us. ♪ ♪ ♪ jack: welcome to "barron's roundtable" where we get behind the headlines and prepare you for the week ahead. i'm jack otter. with a razor thin majority in the house and senate, can the democrats deliver on biden's agenda? greg ball area will handle -- ball year will handle cap the odds. but we begin, as always, with what we think are the three most important things investors should be thinking about right now. despite a covid scare on friday, tech stocks led the market

higher helped by a pause in the recent rise in bond yieldses. how will the coming fed meeting affect investor sentiment? netflix shares shot up, what to expect from next week's big tech earnings reports. and ford and gm stocks rallied on the automakers' electric vehicle plans. will nervous stay enthusiastic -- investors stay enthusiastic? ben leftson, carlton english and jack howe. so, ben, the markets had a pretty good week, but we were reminded once again that coronavirus is still in control. >> that's right. and it really feels like nothing can keep this market down. the s&p 500 rose almost 2% this week. but on friday there's some comments that fauci made that might have been taken out of context that caused the dow to open down more than 200 points. by the end of the day it was still down but not a lot, and it was just a reminder that the market is really focused on covid. but vaccinations are picking up, and i think that's what the market's looking for.

the other thing it's paying attention to is the fomc. the fed is going to make an interest rate decision, it'll probably do nothing, and i think it's possible that powell could spook the market, but it's unlikely he does anything to rock the boat because he's been spending so much time in january making sure the market understand is that the fed is going to be on hold for quite a while. and with interest rates not soaring anymore, big tech has come back to life. we had big gains from netflix after earnings and the other fang stocks, and that's really helped the market. it's hard to go down when those big tech stocks are going occupy. jack: so, carlton, when people are pricing these big tech stocks and their crazy valuations, investors are saying if interest rates are low, inflation will stay the low, so i'm willing to pay more for profits that may not come for many years down the road. >> exactly. and we're really going to see investors' appetite for that other the next two weeks when a lot of these big tech companies

report their results. microsoft, facebook, apple, amazon and also alphabet x that will be also if these big gains can be sustained, the big gains that we saw in 2020 as the economy reopens. and there's reason to think that it can for companies like microsoft because even though it benefited from work from home, it also helped to consolidate its position to as the economy reopens, there's still room for growth in a stock like that. jack: well, we saw a great example of the power of stay at home this week. i was thinking if you haven't subscribed to netflix three-quarters into a horrible pandemic, is there anyone left to subscribe? well, 8.5 million people, apparently, were left. and i think that bodes well maybe for the whole group. >> absolutely. and, you know, that person that may have subscribed in the fourth quarter, that was someone who was just waiting for a show like the queen's gambit. the thinking on some of these streaming companies was as you had the competition from the disney pluses and some of these other providers that netflix

would lose share. but when you look at the monthly costs, if you're looking at a large family of four, they can eat the cost of $12 a month plus $7 or 8 for something like a disney plus as long as they're providing relevant continue tent9. you look at netflix, a lot of original programming. there was some fear when they lost friends and the office, but they've just killing it with the queen's gambit, coke baa kai and -- cobra kai and a bunch of other tennessee. jack: jack, go ahead. >> it's jack howe. isn't that cobra kai based on, like, a 40-year-old karate movie? how relevant is that thing? >> it's a reimagining of it. i mean, i could go on and on, but i urge everyone to watch it. it's kind of a rell telling of -- retelling of the story. jack: jack, let's go to cars. you have been pushing this theme for a wheel, and i -- while, and i bought in.

building a car, why is tesla at 7 billion times earnings when these companies are to cheap? that's changing recently. >> it is. you know, ford and gm's stock are both up more than 30% just so far this year. jack, if you have people watching this show who are people of faith out there, i think this might qualify as a miracle. we've been writing in barron's for some time there was value in these stocks. our friend al root did a cover story in november saying he thought ford stock could double. you can call it a rotation to value, but you could also call it people looking for new ways to chase electric vehicles because both these companies are haley involved. ford has -- heavily involved. ford has this electric mustang coming this summer, it's got the electric f-150 pickup next year. gm says 30 lek trek vehicles by 2025, and two-thirds of those will be in north america.

it also has a big self-driving unit and has announced a deal this past week with microsoft. so, look, the case for these companies is that electric vehicles, that's the future. but it's nice to be able to fund that future by selling lucrative pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles right now. i think, you know, bank of america says there's a valuation tug of war going on right now between the incumbents and the insurgents, but, i guess, at least ford and gm seem to be having a pretty good few weeks. jack: i think that electric mustang might make ford cooler, and pickup truck drivers, once they get behind the wheel of an electric pickup, it might be attractive. >> yeah, i've heard the argument or i want a muscle, you know, gasoline vehicle are. go out and ride a roller coaster and ride the difference between an electric the drive roller coaster and a chain drive roller coaster. see which one pins your head to

the head rest, and that'll tell you about what some of the propulsion is going to look like. jack: they are speedy. coming up, democrats may have more control in washington, but with a 50-50 senate, a slim majority in the house, what are the chances they'll be able to deliver on biden's agenda? ♪ ♪ research shows people remember commercials with nostalgia. so to help you remember that liberty mutual customizes your home insurance, here's one that'll really take you back. wow! what'd you get, ryan? it's customized home insurance from liberty mutual! what does it do bud? it customizes our home insurance so we only pay for what we need! and what did you get, mike? i got a bike. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

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you are an astute observer, so biden and senate majority if leader mitch mcconnell, can these guys get stuff done? >> i think so, jack. good to see you. i think they can, but at the same time, there are big differences on a lot of policies. on a personal level, they've worked together for decades, they respect each other. i'm not sure they're best friends, although mitch mcconnell was the only republican senator who went to the funeral of beau biden, joe biden's son. is so there is a connection there, and i think on some things they can work together. i think the emphasis on unity this week was a bit cover done. jack: i want to ask you about a lot of proposals, let's start with the 1.9 trillion in coronavirus relief. lots of stuff, the $1400 checks everyone talks about, money for first responders, vaccines, testing, $10 billion for cybersecurity. how much of that actually gets

done? >> maybe 1.5 trillion, a mere 1.5 trillion. [laughter] maybe 1.4, something like that. i think 1.9 is unlikely are. a lot of republicans are gagging over the price tag, especially the $400 billion for state and local governments. jack: with split government, we'll start to hear the d-word again for deficits. for the moment, tax hikes are on the back burner, janet yellen said this, but going forward biden has talked about ordinary income rates for people making over a million dollars, raising rates over, i think, 400,000 in adjusted growth incomement does that happen? >> it happens, but i don't think at the level, jack, that joe biden and democrats are hoping for. for example, the corporate tax now at 2 the -- 21%, maybe it goes to 25 or 26. same with a lot of these taxes. i think maybe the democrats of

will have to take half a loaf or two-thirds of a loaf, you know, before the tax bill there's still another stimulus bill that they're talking about, this huge infrastructure bill bill with green construction, more health benefits. the price tag on that will be in the trillions, and i think that's going to have a hard time making it. jack: well, there are two sides of the same coin, right? a lot of spending and then gotta raise some money to get it. an interesting op-ed in the journal recently suggested that if they do go with the corporate tax increase, you exempt small business. they're not a big chunk of it anyway, they've been clobbered by coronavirus while some big businesses have actually done better. do you think that would help its passage? >> absolutely. our old friend ed finn who wrote that column, it's the small businesses that need assistance. and i do think both parties will go along with something like that. jack: let's talk about a couple sectors that are in the

crosshairs, the first and most obvious being tech. both parties have had complaints about tech. how do you think the antitrust -- the suit against google already, will we see more activity? >> well, i think, obviously, the republicans are angry over censorship, the democrats care more about antitrust or breaking up companies or looking at companies that try to take over competitors. so i don't see anything immediately. i would note kamala harris has lots and lots of friends and supporters in silicon valley. but i think this is one where maybe the big antitrust cases have to wait five, six, seven years before they're resolved just as we saw with microsoft and at&t. jack: yeah. these things take a long time. maybe we'll pivot to trade. you've got china, you've got europe. how does that change in a biden administration? i guess that's mostly the executive side, right? not too much congressional help there? >> yeah. i think, first and foremost, jack, the tone changes a lot,

even with china. beyond that, i wouldn't get too on theist mix about any kind of rapprochement with china. i think even the democrats in congress are leery of the chinese, the way they were not forthcoming on the virus, the way they treat their dissidents, the way they hack into our companies. i think u.s./china stays rocky. i think where you'll see a difference is western europe. jack: that'll improve. >> absolutely. not just the tone, i think it'll improven. and, you know, i think this will be an administration that will not rely on tariffs as much as the trump administration did. jack: greg, thank you so much. as always, great to hear your insights. i bet you're going to be right. >> great to see you. jack: coming up, mario gabelli will be here with his stock picks for 2021. yo

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♪ jack: earlier this month barron's held our annual round table of exprettier investors to discuss -- expert investors. mario gabelli joins us now with his tock picks for 2021. great to see you. infrastructure is one of your themes this year. >> i think it's important for the united states to have good bridges, good roorksdz good broadband, and there's no question it's been on our mind for a period of time, jack, good starting point. jack: so i think gcp and hy are two interesting picks. >> i've got a whole bunch, but tonight we're talking about for this show, we're going to talk about grace construction

products, about six months ago they're positioning it to be -- [audio difficulty] the stock's $25. they basically provide additives to concrete and cement and membranes for waterproofing. that stock, it'll earn a dollar next year, and they'll do quite well. so the second one that i like is kind of a derivative. it's basically a company that makes forklift trucks called heister yale low are candidated in cleveland. the family controls it, they own most of the voting stock which is, you know, of concern. but 16 million shares of a $70 stock or $80 stock, and you're talking about a billion dollars. one of the things they did was to invest in hydrogen, and they've been working on this through their -- and taking losses of about close to a quarter of a billion dollars cumulatively for the last five or six years. i think we're ready to break out. and you saw plug power -- they've got a 30 billion market cap. i like it, hy is the symbol.

jack: real quick, you're interested in betting and sports. clue us in there. >> well, you go back, jack, to basically the passion we would have for march madness. we shut that down, we've come back with bubbles. you've got the atlanta braves, madison square garden, the knicks and raiders, but you also have to own the companies that have the media for it. when fox -- when the old fox merged with disney, they had to sell their regional sports networks. they just cut a deal with bali's, they have rights to buy the stock. bally's stock has gone from 30 to 55. i think when people watch the game with the bucks against the packers, they've got to bet on it. and if they're betting on it, they're going to watch and it's great for advertise thing. you've got 32 small cap stocks, 80 million plus shares, and that's what we like. we also like the infrastructure for the betting industry which is a company called gan, it's a

$22 stock, be careful when you're buying it, it's very volatile. jack: aaron rodgers and tom brady, that is an exciting match ifup. we have got some otherral stars, and we're going to do a quick round with them. carlton, you've got a pick that caught your eye in this week's story. >> yeah. temple on the is looking at the emerging markets bond fund. it yields about 4.4%, that's definitely interesting. she also likes what she calls the option of dollars nominated and local currency denominated that that fund is holding. jack: and, ben, what caught your eye in the story? >> jack i'd like -- [inaudible] her pick was fill inmorris internarchlt she called this tesla of tobacco. basically, she said everyone knows that nicotine -- that cigarettes are bad for you. you smoke 'em, and you're going to get sick.

but what philip morris has is iko, a heated tobacco, you get the nicotine, but you don't get the smoke. philip morris wants it to be 40% of sales by 2025. the stock yields over 5% right now, so you get that nice yield as you wait to see if this actually works. it was an interesting pick. jack: cigarettes have a 100-year history of being strong. jack, you are looking at a scott black pick. >> yeah, at delphi management in boston. he likes magna international. this is an auto component supplier for both traditional and electric vehicles, and they specialize in body exteriors and structures. i don't care whether the vehicle runs on gas lean or battery ares or hamster wheels, you see need exteriors. this is one of the cheapest stocks in the bunch, it's under 13 times free cash flow. there's a delaware tend can yield of just over 2%.

jack: to get the rest of mario's and our round table's picks, everyone should pick up this week's magazine. yous also get a nice painting of mario gabelli that you can frame or to whatever. thanks, mario, nor joining us -- for joining us. it's great every year. up next, round table members give their investment ideas for (judith) at fisher investments, we do things differently and other money managers don't understand why. (money manager) because our way works great for us! (judith) but not for your clients. that's why we're a fiduciary, obligated to put clients first. (money manager) so, what do you provide? cookie cutter portfolios? (judith) nope, we tailor portfolios to our client's needs. (money manager) but you do sell investments that earn you high commissions, right? (judith) we don't have those. (money manager) so what's in it for you? (judith) our fees are structured so we do better when our clients do better. at fisher investments we're clearly different. there are many names for enthusiast. but there's only one way to become one... by going all in.

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♪ ♪ jack: jack, in a much-misunderstood bit of investor wisdom, the great peter lynch said you should buy what you know. i understand you know roadblocks a little better than you wish you did. >> yeah. i vaguely recall being an okay parent at one point, but the pandemic being locked inside with the kids every day has kind

of worn me down. my wife and i have started in the evenings to get a break, we put our kids on this video game platform called roadblocks. and i don't think it's going well because the littlest one has started trying to call me dude and bro, and both of them bet me for something called row bucks which i have to buy with actual bucks. anyhow, it's income from in-game purchases, that has doubled during the pandemic. direct stock listing in february. i think of that as securetizing desperate parenting, and apparently there's a lot of desperate parents out there, because the company's latest financing round valued it at close to $30 billion. jack: do not beat yourself up, jack. this company actually acts like they have kids, the word safety appears 121 times in the s1 as does the word parental, so they're doing a better job than

some of these other companies of taking care of our children. let's move on to actionable ideas from carlton and ben. carlton, what have you got for us? >> i'm taking a look at something that a colleague wrote about, lkq, a car parts distributer. it looks to take off as people actually start going out, be few company is in the midst of a multiyear turn around. they recently cut costs, and it's looking to pay down a lot of debt this year, and that should help shares. jack: ben, what's your pick. >> >> i'm looking at the energy select spider etf. energy sector got hammered this week because of concerns around what president joe biden is going to do in terms of limiting drilling. that actually down a good thing. any limitation on the amount of oil that is drilled could mean that there's less oil out there which means oil prices go up, and energy companies could do well. jack: thanks a lot, guys, those

are all great ideas. to read more, check out this week's edition at barron's.com. don't forget to follow us on twitter @barronsonline. wear your mask, we will see you next week on "barron's weekend, everybody, we'll see you monday. ♪ ♪ lou: good evening, everybody. i guess the question of the evening is, are we having fun yet? republican leaders have made the irreversible mistake of lining up with the radical dems to once again falsely impeach the president of the united states. the republicans dutifully buying into the left-wing narrative of the democrats. >> the mob was fed lies. they were provoked by the president and other powerful people. and they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the