punches ott gut. not true, not true. this excess if savings thing, 75% of people have used them. they're using savings or relying on credit cardings. at some point this nation needs to escape the whirlwind of rate cuts, rate hikes, rate cuts. i know we'll never probably get back to a normal business cycle, but what's happening right now is one of the reasons you get things like fomo. who the hell can make long-term plans when powell and company are breaking things or trying to and then they say they can put them back together? so i'm hopeful for a soft landing. after all, today is good friday and a couple days from now will be easter sunday, so i'm going to stay positive. liz claman, over to you. liz: yeah. and i'm hopeful for a very large chocolate egg. [laughter] charles: is that a hint? i'll bring it to your studio. liz: can you, please? [laughter] and make it half dark, half light, because, you know, it's a guilt thing where you have to have part of the dark in there. charles, we're going to get some

credit card debt numbers that are live and breaking in just a minute, and it is a good thing we are live because we are just getting this breaking news. "the wall street journal" reporting moments ago that exxonmobil is in early stage talks with pioneer natural resources about a potential mega-keel. sources say the talks may not result in an acquisition, but they do, the tie-up could be the large largest oil deal in years. if you look at pioneer natural resources and that 1-year picture, if this were to happen, exxonmobil wouldn't be buying it at the highs of the year which would have been about $88 a share. -- 2 the 88 a share. pioneer, of course, a major shale driller here, is at $208. it closed there yesterday. exxonmobil, for its part, has climbed about 35% over the past year. it's got a $468 billion market cap while pioneer is at about a $69 -- 49 billion market cap. so it could swallow pioneer. we are going to get more on this as soon as the journal starts to put out some details, we'll get

them to you. in the meantime, we are also waiting on a crucial federal reserve report that is imminent, due out any moment now. it is the federal reserve's -- they call it a g-19 credit report, and it's going to reveal total consumer debt in the u.s. for the month of february. it includes student and auto loans as well as revolving debt and is expected to climb $19 billion. now, for comparison according to the fed, january consumer credit debt increased by 14.8 billion hitting 4.79 trillion in total. so we are also going to get a breakout for february's outstanding credit card debte to $1.2 the trillion. so to make sure you get this number, we've got ed regard lawrence standing by in washington, d.c., he's going to get the numbers and bring them to you the second they come out, so stand by, edward. investors won't be able to trade on it because the markets are, of course, closed for good

friday. that's why fox business, unlike the other business networks, is live all day because the fresh data including the march jobs report that came out this morning did move the futures market which was trading odd the and the fed funds futures. boy, did the they movement after the labor department said that the u.s. economy added 236,000 non-farm if jobs during march which was right there, slightly less than the 239,000 estimates and that the unemployment rate actually dropped a tenth of a percent to if -- 3.5%, the fed guessing game began. did anything about this report pull chair of the federal reserve jay powell and company off their interest rate tightening track? yes, hiring did slow month over month, but much of it met estimates which indicates a still-expanding labor market. the reaction by those betting on another rate hike at the fed's next policy meeting may 3rd, heres the: futures traders are now placing the possibility of a quarter-point hike at 67%.

folks, that number was in the 40s yesterday, and whereas yesterday 55% were betting that the federal reserve would pause, that number has now dropped to 33%. what does that mean for stocks coming off the holiday-shortened week where the dow gained more than half a percent, the s&p was down flat and the nasdaq was down the more than a percent? let's turn to our floor show live for what the monday moves could look like. joining us now, chief economist steve rah chute toe and our friday trader, keith fitz-gerald. guys, excuse me if we interrupt you for just a moment when edward gets the report, steve, i want to start with you. of we have a hint from the fed funds futures turning toward another quarter-point hike, but how do you believe the markets are/will react to it come monday? >> first of all, it's t telling them there might be a further upward movement in interest rates which, to be honest with you, is hess important what they do at the upcoming meeting than what people think they're going

to do by the end of the year. and the market has been vacillating between whether they begin cutting rates in june or july and when they go two or three rate cuts rather than just what happens in terms of the upcoming meeting. i really think the data that came out today tells you that the market's probably overanticipating the that transition in monetary policy from tightening to easing. whether they do or do not raise interest rates at the upcoming meeting. that's the real critical issue. if the equity market begins to take onboard that the fed is not going to be cutting rates, not pivoting policy, we could see a significant correction in the market back down toward the lower e end of the ranges we've been looking for. and our fair value range on the s&p 500 is 3700-4000. i think we have to go back down and test the bottom -- liz: we're 4105 as of yesterday. keith, i'd be remiss if i didn't show our viewers what the

treasury market was doing up until noon odd. bonds did trade until noon eastern, and both the 10-year and the 2-year yield were rising. keep in mind that it's coming off a pretty significant floor over the past week where we saw the 2 and the 10-year falling 10, 12 basis points depending on which one. keith, talk to me as a stock investor because that's your bailiwick, what you see come monday. >> well, it's interesting because what the bonds are telling us, and we do actually have a fixed income component to what we do, they're telling us it's going to be the a risky day. there's going to be volatilityity digestion. a i'm not particularly concerned about the short term as much as i am about the possibility of a fed blink. i still think that that's in the cards even though futures trades today really shifted radically in terms of a 25 basis point or even a reduction or a pause. that's really cuterrizations and arbitrage, so -- computerizations. i think we're going to get a look at what the fed might really do. liz: steve, when you look at

where the strongest job creation was, leisure and hospitality, 72,000 created in that era. biggest hiring wave there. mechanicals looked strong. you can see where else we saw hiring, but, of course, manufacturing shrinking. and not to mention the tech industry not looking so healthful, you know? can we still with the numbers that we got today anticipate what's called a jobful recession where you have a recession but not a jobless recession. >> yeah, this is going to be the interesting environment as to what type of recession. first of all, the labor market is clearly excessively tight. we have a 3.5% jobless rate. yes, there are some industries that aren't hiring as quickly, some industries that are shedding workers. that's the seasonal and cyclical flow inside of every business cycle. whether or not we move toward substantially higher employment

or not really comes down to the nature of the recession. a lot of people, i think, are mistakenly assuming that the problems with we have in the regional banking industry can manifest themselves into what they want to say is a hard landing. every recession is a hard landing, okay? there are some recessions that are harder than others, and i think if you're going to get a recession d and it looks like you are concern it's going to be a very mild, very, very small low -- shallow recession, one which hopefully just brings the unemployment rate back to where it expresses a better balance between labor command and labor supply rather than the one we're having now where it's a clear skew towards labor demand. liz: yeah. so the jobful version could possibly still be in play. keith, let's talk about where you would be going in equities in the next, well, i mean, monday you say is going to be a little bit itchy, i guess, and jittery. if you look at tesla, there is news, big news that hit late

yesterday that tesla, for the fifth time this year, is going to once again cut its prices. but this time here in the u.s. on all of its models. so are you worried at all? and here are the price cuts that we're expecting. aren't you worried at all that we may very well see some, you know, margin, profit margin compression here for them and that could cause a problem for the stock? >> well, respectfully, i've got to be honest, i'm looking at this as an opportunity, and here's why: tesla's profit margins are 5, 7 times the competition which means they can cut from a position of strength at a point where gm and ford cannot. that, to me, is economics 101. if it's going to go to profit margin, that gains market share. so i actually think that's going to be good for the stock. at 185, i hope i'm smart enough to buy some more come the opening bell on monday. liz: by the way, it's at 185 right now, but but it you look at tesla at the moment, yesterday and the 1-year picture, it's definitely up off the worst of, i guess --

[laughter] the real problems which were back in january. but nonetheless. and finally, steve, as we look at the overall picture of what you expect for inflation, here's what bothers a lot of people: wage growth was still up about 4.6% in the month of march and yet we know we've got consumer price index numbers from the most recent month that were 6%. so wages are not keeping up with inflation. next week we get the consumer price index number for march. give me what it's going to be and what you think will happen. >> well, i think energy's going to hold the headline number down. i think it's the core that's going to be a problem. i think the core's going to be in the 0.4% area which is going to show that we're holding ground on the year-over-year basis in the core. but again, with the energy coming off the mark a little bit, we're going to lose some of the top-line growth numbers. the real, real driver here is the core because that gets to the point we were making earlier about the wage component. and as long as people are plague catch-up -- playing catch-up in

their wages to what's happening in prices, it creates continued upward pressure on inflation, and that's why you look at the core so closely. liz: yeah, i get it. guys, happy holiday weekend. thank you so much for joining us and preparing our viewers live as we get all kinds of info and data for monday. thank you so much. by the way, so now we have it. we've got all kinds of issues when it comes to credit, and let's bo to'd e ward lawrence live in washington, d.c. the with the fed's most recent concern i believe it's for february, right? >> reporter: yeah, exactly. this is for february. we're talking about some huge numbers here. and the total overall debt has been increasing all through 2022 and now the first two months of 2023. i can tell you that february credit balances were up 5%. that's revolving credit is up 5% to a total of $1.2 trillion. you're talking about credit card debt, that's in that revolving balance there.

in january credit card balances were up 11.1%. so we're talking about a 5% increase from february, 11% from january. and december was a 6.9%. so that increases the percentage is coming down, but stills the an increase. consumer debt, we talk about total consumer debt which includes student loan, auto loans as well as resolve doing -- revolving debt, we're talking about $15.3 billion increase according to the federal reserve report. it's reached $4.82 trillion in february, and that's up 3.8% in february. so january was up 3.7%, december was up 2.7%. so, again, the trend of total debt is increasing here. now, these large numbers, these jumps in credit card debt, significant because inflation and that's what people are dealing with, having to use their credit cards when you talk about inflation. this inflation comes as people are suffering a as cpi inflation at 6%. quickly i want to get this in

here, 4.2% is year-over-year annual wages in the latest report for the jobs, so people's wages still aren't keeping up, and they're turning to that credit card. stuart: -- liz: thank you for correcting me, it is 4.2% for average hourly numbers, and you make an excellent point, wages not keeping up with consumer inflation. edward, thank you. that's why, folks, we are seeing billions added to credit card debt balances. all right, so while tech jobs are vanishing by more than 100,000 over the past several months, employers are still having trouble hiring workers in leisure and hospitality but also health and education. so workers there, they've got to be safe and sound, right? there's such demand for them. well, as some companies have been forced to opt for robots instead of to humans, maybe not. robot lab, aka the robot guys, are more than happy to step up. they have now deployed tens of thousands of robots in hotels,

restaurants, schools and hospitals. are their robots really as good as the real thing? some of them, along with the robot labs' founder and ceo, joins me next. and speaking of leisure, later in this hour frontier airlines ceo barry biffle on spring and summer travel, the impact of rising oil prices on his business and when the airline might reconsider a bid for spirit airways if its merger with jetblue comes along. much more news on this guy, this woman, this thing, whatever it is, on this friday. stay tuned, we're coming right back. ♪ ♪ you can't buy great conversations or moments that matter, but you can invest in them. at t. rowe price our strategic investing approach can help you build the future you imagine. t. rowe price, invest with confidence. sfx: [alarm] every day you get to choose.

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liz: even before the march jobs report showed a windfall of 72,000 jobs added in leisure and hospitality which we just talked about, well, the sector the already had 1.47 million job openings waiting to be filled. hotels and if restaurants have struggled mightily to attract workers since the economy reopened post-covid even offering bonuses and is wage hikes as they hunt for servers and concierges. now some are finding there's a new type of worker who will not ask for a bonus or even for a salary or time off. that is the bot that you're looking at right now. already there are thousands of these things that are roaming around all over restaurants and all kinds of hotels. and what they do is they will serve and they will clean up. oh, look, and this one is serving me a plate of fruit. dude, i wanted a chocolate egg. [laughter] free, i mean -- i'm sorry -- >> it's easter. liz: i wanted a chocolate egg.

okay. in the meantime, let us bring i- [laughter] joining us now is its maker, ceo and founder of robot lab. you make the software, the brains -- >> i'm sorry, please let me know if i can help in some way. liz: yes, isn't that amazing? hi, hi, it's incredible. we're going to get to this one in a second. but for the moment, as we look at this bot, let's talk about wherest the already being deployed in hotels and the leisure sector. >> so this is mainly for serving, hotels, hospitals, assisted living facilities, restaurants. we help business owners provide services where they cannot find employees. that's the biggest problem here. of. liz: okay. what task can it accomplish? >> so it's basically hauling away dishes either with food or dirty dishes back to the kitchen. liz: okay. >> it doesn't replace the server. we till want the personal experience with the customer, right? we want the server to present the food to the guests.

but at the end of the day, we still want the, you know, the ability to serve customers without, even when they have labor shortages and without -- liz: so it's here to take my dish back, right? >> you can. liz: let's do that, but can it also haul luggage rain deliver it to different floors? >> yes. we have robots that can go up to the 14th floor, all the way, whatever you need, to the room. it can be extra that towels, food or what not. liz: where are these being deployed already when i'm talking about specifically about leisure and hospitality, restaurants? >> in restaurants we have nationwide sushi chain calledded kura sushi, restaurants all over the country. we are in the biggest hotel brands, everything from marriott to hilton and so on. we have cleaning robots that can go and clean the carpets. no one wants to -- that's one of the problems that hotel owners have, no one wants to push a vacuum clean for 8 hours a day,

and robots can do that this. they have miles of carpets to clean. liz: let's talk about the cc1. that's the cleaning robot. it's almost a supercharged -- don't get mad at me, but one of the -- exactly. and so what can it do? it can clean, it can scrub? >> yep. it's a vacuum, it scrubs, it mops, dry or wet. so it's multifunctional. it can drain the dirty water, get new water, fresh water and just keep going in these tasks, and it does it continuously. that's the beauty of robotics. liz: and it can sense other things in front of it, correct? >> if there are people or kids -- liz: how about a shoe lace? that's my problem. mine always eats the shoe lace -- [laughter] >> again it's more for commercial environments. liz: now, the one that's here on the desk with you, this is called the now. this i find absolutely fascinating because it's for the educational sector. and specifically for maybe even

autistic kids and people on the spectrum because it teaches them social interaction? >> exactly. so this robot is called now, and the main thing is to engage students. for example, hey, now -- >> hi. >> what can you do? what can you co? >> i can listen, talk or dance and, generally speaking, i am great with humans but i will not bring your beer from the fridge. [laughter] >> >> it has some attitude as well. liz: how are people and kids on the spectrum relating to the a robot versus a human person? make the case. >> that's a reallying really good question. the thing that kids with, you know, autism, they're really intimidated by our body language, different tone of voice and everything, and they prefer to shut down because they don't know what's going to happen. when they interact with a robot, they perform the same routine

exactly the same way, you know, 100,000 times, right? if to so it gives them the confidence in what's going to happen. liz: i think our viewers are going to be very interested to know globally there are tens of thousands of these from robot lab, meaning you make the software and then to you outsource or the actual robots. roaming right now all over, making it the largest group of robots that anybody has out there the that you manage. cost. >> cost of the robots. so it depends on which robot. this one, for example, is around $13,000. the delivery robot that you have next to you is around $14,000. and the important thing is not the cost of the robot, it's the value that he brings to the owners or, you know, the educational value that we bring to the students, helping them succeed in their career or and college readiness as they graduate. liz: thank you, now. oh, little head nod. oh, that's so cute. listen, the company's called robot lab and elad, thank you

very much for showing it to the us. we appreciate it. all right, every company -- yes, i know, i need the chocolate egg. [laughter] every company knows a great product campaign has of the not only a great slogans, but a very compelling product and the person to push it. advance auto parts might just have the ultimate recipe for success with its new diehard battery campaign. their chi thehards choose die hards retired marine sergeant kirstie ennecessary. how diehard is she? despite losing her left leg sustained in a helicopter crash in afghanistan, she has defied the odds, scaling six of the world's famed seven summits and now on the cusp of her journey to the nail the seventh and remaining climb. the most fearsome of all, mount everest are. kirstie has big business backing her to help her make it to the top. next, this you guys can't miss,

hero kirstie ennis joins us live when we return. ♪ ♪ with a majority of my patience with sensitivity, i see irritated gums and weak enamel.

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because i think we looked... yes. right. yeah. and i don't think at that time- i think you're the one to tell me that we had the same birthday. yes. it's really unbelievable when you think about it, because it's been, like, really over 20 years that you were my mother and father's banker, you became my banker and now fran is in her third year of college and you're her banker. it's so unbelievable because i'm just 20 years old. [laughing] ♪ liz: okay. you want inspiration to reach for the heights of success? well, retired u.s. marine kirstie ennis has already pulled off more success miracles than we can count.

after losing her leg and nearly her life in a horrific helicopter crash in afghanistan where many of her fellow soldiers died, kirstie got up from multiple surgeries, got out of the hospital and started climbing mountains. to date, kirstie has summit ised six of the world's seven tallest mountains. but when she attempted to scale mount everest for the first time a few years ago, she came within just 200 yards of the a peak but had to turn around. in just over a week, she's set to tackle everest again, and she's got quite the business group here at home to give her a push. pepsi, bmw, comcast, the nfl, those are just some of the names partnering with kirstie to help e her share her story. yeah, she's chihard. so advanced auto parts has smartly featured her as the part of their diehards choose diehard battery campaign. kirstie is here with us now in a fox business exclusive ahead of the big challenge.

girl, you are crazy. i've known you for many years, and i, i don't -- how have you been training for everest? >> well, thanks so much for having me, liz. it has been pretty nonstop. fortunately with this seven summits endeavor, it's like building blocks. there's -- every mountain teaches you something different, and it's continuously even thing yourself new skill sets, how to work in a team setting, of course, glacier travel, ice planning, the tech call skill sets. it's pretty ruthless, and it's just a lot of time in the saddle to be able to mentally and physically prepare. liz: now, people can't do this with both legs. of you lost one leg above the knee. what kind of challenge does that present? >> when i lost my leg especially above the knee, it was like being a toddler all over again. i had to earn how to balance, how to walk, how to run and especially, you know, trying to literally chew my way up some of these mountains. i don't want to say that it's a handicap, quite figuratively and

literally it is, but it's something where i've had to develop all new technical systems, new prosthetic systems, medical device technology, the whole nine to be able to really create the tools that i need to be successful in the outdoors. liz: this is your second attempt at mount everest. can you justs give us the short version of why you had to turn around 200 feet from the summit? >> yeah, so i actually spent april and may of 2019 climbing the tallest mountain in the world, and 600 peat from the summit my partners ran out of oxygen, and we had to turn around. it was a tough call -- liz: wait, so this wasn't anything that you couldn't do. you could have done it. >> right. liz: oh, my gosh. i know it's a team, it is a team, right? >> that climb would have innocent nothing to me if my guys weren't standing alongside me. so in my heart i knew i had to go down with them. liz: well, you've got those partners, and is you've got all these corporate partners who have practically fallen over each other to be there to help you tell this story.

how are names like pepsi and bmw doing this? >> well, first and foremost, it starts at lowest level, you know, the employees. complete strangers standing behind me, believing in me even when i didn't believe in myself has really been the greatest motivator. but then, of course, the leadership behind the scenes, they've been really supporting my beliefs and being able to improve the quality of life for others. you know, obviously, building homes for heroes, advanced autotoe parts, diehard, all these names you see on the screen, they've been really pushing me to be able to, again, just be able to improve what the medical device technology world looks like, to be able to have representation in the outdoors. liz: right now and for those of you who don't the know what the nonprofit, the charity building homes for heroes means to me personally, i've done a ton of work with them, and we build customized mortgage-free homes for our worst wounded soldiers. you are sitting in the glenwood springs home that building homes

for heroes.org built for you. here's some video of you when you first walked into this new omaha that helped you get back on, well, literally your two feet of one of them may be metal but so what. what did that do for you to bring you to what is happening next week? climbing mount everest. >> well, my home really is my safe space. to be able to dream and to go out and really push my own limitations, it provides a security for me to be able to go forth, continue investing my life savings and going above and beyond for the communities that i've inserted myself into. building homes for heroes has done far more than just gift me four walls of a home, it really is my launching pad for the rest of my life are. they've also begin me a family to continue supporting, a purpose to give back to the veteran community. i'm very, very proud to be a part of the building homes for heroes family. liz: well, back on your feet and climbing, so much so that you made the cover of the espn body magazine.

[laughter] oh, my god. we had to pix late some of it, because you're totally until naked. [laughter] this is the most unbelievable diehard picture. i am so proud of you. our viewers are too. good luck and stay safe, kirstie, okay? the promise? >> thank you, liz. yes, ma'am. liz: okay. thank you so, so much. and, by the way, building homes for heroses, as i said, it's the organization that a gave kirstie and so many others that customized home to her injuries mortgage-free so she could get back on track and shoot for those goals and actually hit them. she's gotten three different advance degrees in teaching, she's going for her connect rate. i i mean, seven summits, please. go to building homes for hero pros.org and make a donation. as i always say, you can do the change in the couch cushions, $5, we'd take anything, anything. so thank you so much and good luck to kirstie. she's unbelievable. speaking of ascending to new

heights, frontier airlines gearing up for an extraordinarily busy spring and summer travel season. could rising fuel prices be a headwind for the industry? and is spirit still in play as its deal with jetblue feels turbulence? answers to the those questions and more when the frontier airlines see eau owe joins me live -- ceo joins me live next. when the cofounder e of war warby parker lost his glasses on a backpacking trip before business school, he was so shocked at the business price, he said, forget it; i'll just squint. so so he and three fellow instruments came up with the idea of eye wear you could try on and buy online, so warby parker was born. first, they faced negative feedback from professors and peers. it's a good thing dave and his pals didn't listen. the model is a huge winner, and now glasses are found on the faces of rhode island january narc reese witherspoon, jimmy fallon and millions of others

around the world. celebrities are not -- celebrity it is or not. boy, did dave have to go through some trials and tribulations. the warby parker ceo is my guest on my brand new everyone talks to liz podcast episode. you can hear it wherever you download your podcasts. we are coming right back live on this good friday.so ♪ft ♪ jay? jay's back? gimme a time out. huddle up! i call the time outs. didn't expect to see me so soon, huh? well, i invest in a fund that fuels innovation, like next gen video conferencing, and when i saw your defense in the first half, i had to step in! anyone can become an agent of innovation with invesco qqq, a fund that gives you access to nasdaq-100 innovations. coach, what are you doing?! this thing goes fast. before investing carefully read and consider fund investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses and more in prospectus at invesco.com

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i'm so glad we did this. i'm so glad we did this.

i'm so glad we did this. i'm so glad we did this. i'm so... ...glad we did this. [kid plays drums] life is for living. let's partner for all of it. i'm so glad we did this. edward jones liz: if you are planning on booking travel for the very busy spring and summer, united airlines is cutting flights at major u.s. airports. the carrier has been given the green light by the federal aviation administration to reduce summer flights at new york and washington, d.c. area airports cue specifically to an air traffic controller shortage. starting in may, united will slash flights on peak summer travel days to break up the congestion on the runway. so as one major commercial liner adjusts to the air traffic

control shortage, how will a low cost north american airline handle the alternative lance -- turbulence? let's find out, frontier airlines' ceo barry biffle. what kinds of challenges are you facing with this air traffic controller shortage? >> so we face the same challenges. we've seen things in florida, for example, for the last two years off and and on. but this is more acute in the northeast. and so frontier's not quite as exposed as many other carriers, so hopefully they can get staffed soon and travelers won't see much disruption. liz: but i know that you announced last month that you're cutting 14 route pros. to what do we attribute that? >> we're actually starting over 100 of routes a year, so there's a handful that don't make it. you shouldn't read anything into that. we continue to you. in first quarter alone we were up 40% versus 2019, so we're actually larger than we were prior to the pandemic. liz: well, that's interesting because, obviously, everyone has had a lot of demand. that's what i want to know, what are your bookings looking like

for the next couple of months? >> we've never seen an environment quite like this. i mean, the demand is extremely robust. i know a lot of people are concerned about the economy and so forth, but that's a little bit different than what's going on in the leisure travel segment because work are from home and this additional flexibility a lot of people have is creating a whole new segment of travel. we're seeing more leisure travel than pre-pandemic, and we still have close to 20% of the people that aren't traveling post-pandemic. there's 1-2% coming up every month so you have additional legs up in demand to come. i think we should pretty much sidestep the recession if it's not too heavy. liz: that is a big statement, to sidestep this possible recession which from many accounts is supposed to be shallow. that leads me to this question: if the demand is so big, you bays have some very interesting offerings that are coming up, one in may. we hear of all you can eat. you've got an all you can fly for a fixed price. how are you able to do that?

and at what price are is it going to be? what's the offering? >> we're offering this for $699. it's for five months the go wild class. so starting many may through september, all you can fly. and the flights have -- are available the day before, you can have it for a penny plus the fees and charges. our costs are so low. liz: are you ready? your site's going to crash. that is an unbelievable offer. >> it's been very popular. we expect it to be a big, a big opportunity for consumers but great for frontier as well. liz: well, you know, you missed out on the spirit airlines acquisition. that was going to be that merger, and then jetblue comes in and says we're going to do it, and, you know, you weren't picked, but now you've got all kinds of regulators saying that this deal might be scuttled. would you ever reconsider a push for spirit? >> i'm not going to speculate on that. our assumption at this point is this deal's going through, and

we'll take 'em at their arguments a that it's good for consumers. but i do think if this goes through, frontier becomes the kind of go-to carrier for low fares in this country. liz: you're already starting that with these offerings. barry, good luck. come back. i want to hear about how the demand goes for that. it's quite an interesting keel. deal. >> thanks for having us. happy easter. liz: and to you ooh. barry biffle of frontier airlines. the stock market may be closed but crypto is always trading. yes, open for business. how will the industry fare with the rollout of the new fed now payment system set to launch in july? charlie's going to break that next. stay tuned. ♪ ♪

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liz: here we are live. the cryptocurrency market is live as well. it's always trading. even when the rest of the markets are closed for the holiday. light trading at the moment. down with xrp moving higher at 1.5%. bitcoin was the best performing asset in the first quarter and

is up 68% year to date. we are a few weeks away from the federal reserve launching its interbank payment system called fed now. joining me now is charlie gasparino live. charlie: there is business news today even though it is a holiday and we are here to bring it to you. one of the interesting business stories getting some -- it's essentially broiling, the crypto industry. i found this out after doing a hit on the ingraham angle last night. this new fed now program. it's a first step to a digital payment system the fed is going to institute. what a lot of people in the

crypto industry believe, it's the back door way to take over the digitization of payments, the block chain technology that eliminates the middleman and have it all under government control. it's starting to become a huge issue in the crypto industry and it's weirdly becoming political. we'll put up a tweet by robert f. kennedy, jr. he's running against joe biden. the son of the famous u.s. senator almost president. the fed announced it will introduce its fed now central bank digital currency in july. it greased the slippery slope to political tyranny.

they are getting into a digital coin, a centralized way of payments through a block chain technology. you can see why this is roiling people. i'm not saying i agree with this. i am just saying this is a good chance for putting crypto in the elections. the fed is downplaying how big of a threat this is to crypto and how expensive it is. there is no digital coin right now. jerome powell is talking about it's something in the future. this thing is sort of limited. bitcoin through its block chain you can do as much as you want. but it's a step of the government getting involved and you will be hearing a lot more from crypto enthusiasts.

it has all the earmarks of the government getting into this business competing with crypto. gary gensler and the enforcement wields of the sec are looking to put a lot of these companies out of business. bitcoin is up, what did you say, 60%. liz: 68% year to date. it's been on fire. charlie: one of the reasons why, let's unpack that before i leave here. it's down from its highs in the 60s, i believe, but it's because you had the crypto winter that knocked out so many other coins and there was a flight to quality. there is a little bit of that going on. and ether is up as well after

the other bitcoins have bitten the dust. liz: happy holidays to everyone. commercial real estate. this was under severe pressure since the covid lockdown. workers found they can basically work from anywhere. our countdown closer says that's what makes the sector an attractive investment. joining me is is mark lipshultd. you say commercial real estate is a pretty good investment, why? >> thanks for having me, first, liz. at blue owl, let's be clear there is a lot of turbulence in

commercial real estate. but we are involved in providing private capital snriewghtss these dislocated market. what we do is provide triple net leases to very can strong counter parties like the amazons of the world. there are ways in the turbulence to have the flight to safety and quality and produce something interesting for investors question otherwise volatility takes hold. liz: are you concerned a lot of these gigantic buildings that are 2/3 empty might be taken over by the banks? >> i do share that concerns. we have commercial mortgages that have to be refinanced in the next couple months at radically higher rates than the past. the biggest business we are in

at blue owl is a solution to commercial users of capital. real estate companies that needs capital to grow. one of the sears of potential risk ahead lies in the refinancing of commercial real estate. liz: what are you avoiding? what are you finds is too radioactive right now. >> we try to focus on what we know well. we invest in places where there is safety and security in times of economic uncertainly and where you can perform in the inflationary challenges. senior secure floating rate debt to large corporate borrowers. so when rates go up, a benefit for investors. protect yourself. this is a time when real estate,

you go to triple net leases where you don't have that risk of a vacancy. you go to see year secured floating rate debt. liz: what is the fed going to do at the next meeting in may? >> the fed has been doing a terrific job trying to balance inflation. on expectations on employment 0 report, i wish i knew the exact answer. but either way it's okay for us. liz: mark, it's great to have you. and thank you for joining us on this good friday. and we'll be in full swing on monday. sean: welcome to a special edition of "kudlow." the labor markets are softening to the slowest rate of