charles: when i was a kid, there was a reading program called rif, and it encouraged kids to read, learn, to the enjoy reading and learning. my father was career army, so we always grew up around these cool army books and manuals, and they were easy to read too. apparently, the army wrote them for third graders. i want to give a shout-out to the federal reserve. apparently, the fed has gone on the a mission to make it easier to the understand their statements. so guess what? all you need is ten years of education. just a couple years ago, you needed 16 years of education, so they're doing it right. you still need a lifetime of learning to understand why they do the things they do, right, liz? liz: sorry -- [laughter] got 12 people talking to me in my ear. charles: i been there. liz: you know what? i know, i know, that's right.

charles, thank you very much is. we begin with a fox news alert. so we are minutes away from a federal reserve bank of dallas event where fed governor michelle bowman, who is a voting member of the fed's interest rate committee, will make opening remarks. the last time bowman commented on rates was back in february when she struck a hawkish tone, telling the american bankers association she expected increases to continue, quote, because we have to bring down inflation back down to our 2% goal in order to bring demand and supply into better balance. well, of course inflation is still running at 5%, so we've got a long way to go. as soon as we get any headlines from the event about rates or the economy from ms. bowman, we will get them to you. in the meantime, to the market, the major averages off session lows, dow jones industrials down about 137 points, and we flip it over to the s&p and the nasdaq, yeah, red on the screen once again. the s&p is down about 25 points, the nasdaq lower by 86 points.

at&t is the worst performer on the s&p. it is down 10.6%. s the on pace for its largest percentage drop in 21 years after reporting a quarterly profit beat but a miss on revenue and free cash flow. that's bad, but you've got to add to that slowing wireless subscriber growth, and suddenly it is a lot ugh uglier a picture here, and at&t's problem becomes verizon's shareholders' problem. down nearly 4% at the moment. verizon reports earnings next week but, clearly, it's getting dragged under by at&t's misses. if you go up to the dow leaders, they are including walgreens boots alliance after declaring a quarterly dividend of 48 cents a share. earnings though depending on the case appear to be major sector drivers even if names in the sector haven't reported. you'll see that with tesla which reported a 24% decline in

profit. the ev maker coming in with 85 cents a share, a penny lower than estimates. and tesla also posted a slight miss on revenue. the stock, though, is getting absolutely punished. it's down at the moment by 10% or $18.77 in great part because see owe elon musk is kind of going for the doorbuster strategy. he made it extraordinarily clear on the conference call yesterday that he is opting for price cuts on his cars to stoke demand versus keeping prices stable and operating margins high. as tesla goes, so goes sector. at this hour ec v makers are getting slashed, xpeng down 6%, lucid down 6.5%. nio, rivian also in the red. we are seeing that same sector slash in the regional banks. zions bank reported last night. revenue spiked but profits missed, the stock down about 4.6%, close to a 2-year low. and in the wake of the silicon

valley bank collapse, zions set aside $45 million in loan loss provisions. for a regional bank, that is a lot, and you compare it to the year-ago release of $33 million -- they weren't piling up, they had no worries back then. well, with the bank crisis fears still hanging around, a new bank of america fund manager survey is hitting the most bearish levels of the year. managers positioning for, i don't know, i guess you could call it the financial apocalypse by keeping their cash level elevated and the highest bondal vocation -- bond allocation since march of 2009. and i know most of you remember that was market bottom during the financial crisis. should you follow the position for the apocalypse or a bull market is? let's get right to the floor show. joining me now in studio, luke rivari and tom hayes. tom, sometimes extreme bearishness signals that the turn-around's already begun and maybe some of these fund managers are late.

but the x factor is the vapor trail that this bank crisis has left behind. i'm talking the most recent one in march. where are you compared to the fund managers in your bullish-bearish scenario? >> well, liz, the secret to happiness is low expectations -- [laughter] and that's exactly what we had coming into the earnings season. earnings were expected to drop 6.3% and what we've seen already from 16% of the s&p reporting is that 78% beat, and they're beating on average by 5% despite some of the earnings that you saw from tesla, etc., some of the one-offs. we remain constructive here. not only are our managers the most overweight stocks relative to bonds since 2009, they have the lowest growth expectations, they're the most pessimistic -- liz: and you're seeing that's a contrarian indicator right now. >> absolutely. you know, markets don't bottom when everyone's overweight cash and bonds. rather, they don't top. they top when everyone is overweight equities, and they're overweight equities with leverage. so that's why we're climbing

this war of worry. liz: i don't know, luke has a look on his face like, tom, let me get in in here. [laughter] i'm sensing a little bit more bearishness or at least concern? >> yeah, i've got a lot of concern about a lot of stuff. but to what tom says, we are staying invested. but as volatility gets lower to these levels, we put more volatility on. and as stocks are going higher, we're lowering our exposure. we're selling some calls against our positions. we think good times have kind of been over x there's a couple of worrying things. number one, the s&p and the nasdaq, the nasdaq is up 20% for the year. the s&p's up 7 or 8. the s&p's made up 50% nasdaq stocks. so over 50% of the s&p is nasdaq stocks -- liz: and haven't the leadership names been kind of the same, microsoft, apple -- >> all the same. liz: who else? >> all the same. and the interesting thing about them is the ones that have the biggest balance sheets, the strongest balance sheets, are the ones that have done well. even in the energy sector. look at exxon compared to some

of the other companies. microsoft, google, apple, although meta was really beaten up, they have a big balance sheet. so we think people are kind of -- and they're laying off people. they're not laying off people because they're expecting a lot of business. so even if the market doesn't crash, they have to ramp up, it's going to take some time for that. and, by the way, 2% inflation, i mean, if that happens, i'll be under 200 pounds again. [laughter] that is not happening. my personal inflation rate is easily over 10%. this 5% stuff is -- i wish it was 5% for me, but it is not. liz: tom, i think luke's right, you've got to know what you're investing in. i'm in the s&p 500, very diverse, it is, but there is a heavy weight to tech. when you look at the russell 2000, for everybody who says, oh, my gosh, i absolutely love the maul -- small and mid caps, 16% of the russell 2000 is made up of banks and not gigantic ones. and if you look at what the

russell has done since the recent high which may have been around february, we're looking at a one-week chart now, but you can see the big dropoff, and that was before the financial crisis, the mini crisis or the mini panic crisis that they're talking about. i don't know, can we put up since february? so there it is. you can see where we were, that was a 2-handle, 2007. we're at 1785 right now. so let's just say you remain bullish and you're saying, liz, so what? what do you love to salt in some of the cash at the moment? >> can it's a barbell. so we own amazon, we own alphabet, we own some of the bellwethers that have been beaten down, ask they still haven't ree covered nearly a lot. we also like the ones with a massive margin in safety, and i know luke's going to give me a hard time over this one. [laughter] not all reits are created equal. it's got to be the highest quality. we actually last month put on two trades to play the mini

crisis. we bought bank of america, and we brought vornado, commercial real estate is the most hated -- liz: well, nobody's going back. they're 20% vacant. >> no one's going back to the bnc crisis. we think this is like the mall crisis of four or five years ago, and simon property did very well. you've got madison avenue, park avenue, fifth avenue, sixth avenue like this, the best buildings in the best city in the world, and the stock -- despite revenues being down 5% since pre-pandemic, cash flow down 10%, the stock is down 75%. it's trading at a 40% discount to book. the worst case scenario is priced in. it will get worse, but as the lay more market loosens, more and more people are coming back to the office was they're worried about getting laid off.

liz: i was scrutinizing this bank of america survey, and they had the most heavily managed trades, the first one was long the tech the, short the banks. but the contrarian one is long the banks and short bonds. are you anywhere -- [laughter] in that alchemy? >> we also run a little bit of a barbell, but right now we have some of the same names that he's talking about. the other side where we want to take risks and get some returns we're doing through some structure products, taking two or three names. last time i was here, we talked about nvidia. that's gotten a lot harder because i think it's up $80. liz: yeah,st it's doing unbelievably well. >> looking at some opportunities there. but again, i'm being really cautious what i'm worried about are some of these reits, and i know i'm going to get killed for it, some of these agency funds. some of the reits are putting up gates. if everything is fine, why are

gates up? and i think some of these funds have promised maybe around 5-6%, they target it, and then they say we're going to have some upside. but why are your cds paying 5%? liz: that that's also an issue too. great to see you both, in studio. be still my heart, my etraders. [laughter] tom and luke, always a pleasure. have you guys noticed the kalb daughter today? i mate -- calendar today? it is the super bowl for marijuana companies. so in weed culture 4/20 is a big deal. and up next, tilray ceo, irwin simon, has a big deal he's announcing. he's going to weigh in on today's sales, the company's new product called grandpa's stash, tilray's burgeoning focus on beer and spirits and the future of the marijuana if business in the united states wheres it is still not legal at the federal level. closing bell, or 49 minutes away. dow is losing about 177 points

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liz: today's date, 4/20, is sort of the unofficial weed holiday with many people likely lighting up for a dance with mary jane. wait, do you guys even still say mary jane, austin? >> uh -- liz: i mean, people you know, not you. is that, like, dated? i don't know. it's also known as smoking marijuana. cannabis life style and consumer products maker tilray getting in on the action via its decade a january cannabis brand, good supply. good supply is introducing some new products including a prerolled joint called grand a pa's stash, that's a great name. [laughter] with tilray's montauk brewing company also launching a new craft brew calls project 4 to 120 -- 420, are they making a spirit is chul journey into a territory long dominate by constellation brands? joining me now on 4/20 is tilray brands chairman and ceo, irwin simon. happy 4/20 the, i guess. >> happy 4/20 the, it's not

fourth of july, but it's 4/to -- 20 the, you know? liz: how are you celebrating -- >> here with you, how else am i celebrating? liz: thank you, my friend. grandpa's stash, that's only in canada, right in. >> exactly. 4/20 started in california when, you know, kids used to sneak away and enjoy cannabis, and you being from california, you probably know about that. liz: oh, i have no idea about that. >> it's -- listen, it's a big day, but i think it's a big day always for cannabis. the whole world of cannabis has changed, and i don't use the word weed, marijuana, it's cannabis. in canada today it's legal recreational, it's legal from a medical standpoint, and we have over 12 brands in good supply, you know, and many other of our brands, you know, within there. we just announced the acquisition of another brand. so there's plenty happening in the cannabis world. there's plenty happening in the

cannabis world in europe many regards to medical cannabis. where the big stall has happened, liz, is in the u.s. and you saw a congressman this morning talking about potentially legalizing medical cannabis. my belief is this here, if when president biden became president of the united states, if i was sitting here on 4 $20 the -- 4/20/2023, i would have expected it to be legal, and it should b- liz: it was his push. >> and it should be. if you think about the tax dollars, you think about the control over concern control over cannabis. when you walk up and down the streets here in new york, you mel it on every corner, and most of it's coming from an illicit market. my belief is medical cannabis will get legalized in the u.s., and they'll leave it to even of the provinces. liz: what is the hold-up here? listen, i don't want a zombie culture of people walking around or driving or getting behind the wheel, but that said, if we're going to legalize it in colorado and some other states, end hen you really have to look at this and say get the tax revenue.

last are i checked, tax day was a couple of days ago, and we are light on revenue. >> it's not really the tax revenue, it's regulation, the quality. product coming in from the ill lis zit market -- illicit market is grown with pesticides, there's no quality control. let me tell you something, in our canadian facilities we have over 5 million square feet of grow today. the quality assurance it goes through, the regulatory or it goes through, you know what you're getting in poe ten potency, you know what you're getting in strains, okay? and that's what's important. in the canada tilray alone pays $122 million of excise tax with the acquisition, we'll pay over $150 million. we employ close to a thousand people. liz: i mean, if business is that good, irwin, why are we at a $2.32 the stock? >> well, listen, stocks don't always tell you how great a company's doing. if you come back and look at tilray, listen, i've been doing this for four yearses now, and you come back and look at it.

we're number one in canada in regards to recreational. we'll have 513 -- a 13 share, we just became the ninth largest craft brewer in america with our sweetwater, our montauk, our green flash and nelson. and stay tune to other stuff we're doing in the beer business. we have the world's top whiskey in breckenridge distillery. liz: let me stop you there. it almost feels like for now here in the u.s., and it's a smart business move, you're pivoting to become a spirits company. you're launching this, project 420. tell me about craft beer, montauk brewery. >> again, if you open this, there's no cannabis in it. liz: okay. >> you can smell it, and there's you are the peens in it that smell and taste like cannabis -- liz: it smells like it. what's in it? >> it's beer, it's operates, it's, you know, whatever, but we have it tates thing like cannabis, and it gives you a good feel. it's a great tasting beer.

and where tilray is positioned today is we have a beer business, we have a spirits business, we have a food business with manitoba harvest. we have a big medical business in europe in regards to medical cannabis and the distribution system. when cannabis legalizes, we have all these adjacencies to bring this together and infuse whether it's our beer with thc, whether it's to our bourbon with thc, but in the meantime, we've got all these businesses today that are contributing to sales, and they'll all hopefully come together one day upon legalization. liz: and it's legal in 20 states here in the u.s. and washington d.c. >> it's legal in about 35 states, 37 including medical cannabis -- liz: when you included medical. >> exactly. and you know what? if you come back and look over, what is it, 80% of americans want cannabis legalized. okay? it's the politicians that have got to step back and say, as you said before in tax dollars, the amount of money that we're losing on tax dollars -- liz: it's outrageous. -- going

through the illicit market and not having the regulatory. some of the best states, colorado legalizeed it pretty early on. washington state, california. the tax dollars coming in there is tremendous. liz: colorado's often a purple state, half red, half blue, and that means both sides must be at least on balance for it. >> and, you know, the big thing is how do we educate consumers about cannabis. knotts a drug, it's not concern it's not a drug, it's not a licensed drug. there's benefits from it. and there's a lot more benefits from cannabis than there is from some of the alcohols out there. liz: we've got our floor crew lining up, they want to try this montauk beer. >> absolutely. liz: great of you, irwin. >> great to see you with. thank you, it's great to be here on 4/20. liz: i know. [laughter] happy 4/20 the. joints are not the only thing going up in smoke. after a spectacular, historic takeoff, staffship made by elon musk's -- starship made by

spacex did blow up after a very successful initial launch. we've got the latest on that, plus from texas we are going to travel to florida's pace coast as cape canaveral makes a move from rocket ships to cruise ships. that's next. closing bell, we've got it about 37 minutes away. dow is down 20 the 8 points, getting closer to that session low of 217. s&p down 38, and we are at a session low for the nasdaq, down 137 points. don't move, we're coming right back. ♪ ♪ ya know, if you were cashbacking you could earn on everything with just one card. chase freedom unlimited. so, if you're off the racking... ...or crab cracking, you're cashbacking. cashback on flapjacks, baby backs, or tacos at the taco shack. nah, i'm working on my six pack. switch to a king suite- or book a silent retreat. silent retreat? hold up - yeeerp? i can't talk right now, i'm at a silent retreat. cashback on everything you buy with chase freedom unlimited with no annual fee.

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liz: fox market alert and, yes, we are pretty much at session lows for the nasdaq, down 141 points and dropping here. we've got the s&p down 39. dow jones industrials lower by 210. we got at&t that's kind of dragging down verizon which is the biggest laggard on the dow. let's get to las vegas sands though, we need some green to talk about here. shares are winning the jackpot after the casino operator reported first quarter earnings and revenue that beat estimates. the company credits a robust recovery in chinese gambling hub macau after covid-19 lockdowns were finally lifted there. shares up about 3%. and as we were talking about at the top of the show, as one company's earnings go either well or poorly, so go the sector. here we go, other casino stocks are gaining on the news. wynn reports up three-quarters

of a percent. raymond james upgrading capris holdings, the parent of the molson coors brand and announcing a price target of $60 for the storking right now we're at 45.69, off the session highs. raymond james says that the company has laid the groundwork for potential earnings beats in the next few quarters after a disappointing fiscal third quarter. the bears are circling buzzfeed, and they are abuzz after the online news site said it is shutting down buzzfeed news and will lay off 15% or about 180 members of its staff. members of the staff probably very upset because this is really sad, buzzfeed news had actually won prettier prize in 2021 -- pulitzer prize for its reporting on china's mass detention the of the uighur muslims. the job cuts will come from the company's business con end the administration and -- content

the administration and tech feeds. it debuted at the end of 20 2021 via a spac. busfield's -- buzzfeed's stock has gone up in plames, down 91% -- flames, down 9 is % -- 91%. >> -- the tower was icing on the cake. [applause] [cheers and applause] [laughter] liz: those are the cheers, perhaps a bit premature, of rocket scientistses at the company's headquarters in hawthorne, california, as spacex's starship rocket, the largest ever built, took flight. two minuteses later, and it was a very speck act lahr and successful takeoff, okay? the liftoff, perfect. right? again, about 200 seconds later, spacex's starship blew up high above the launch site this

texas. the rocket did lift off on schedule, successfully got up into the important parts of the orbit when there was the most stress on the rocket, but then it exploded in a cloud of flaming debris. space, and's founding, elon musk, did tweet that the company learn a lot ahead of the next test launch which actually could come in just next couple of months. no specific reason as to why the rocket ship exploded, but the actual spacecraft that was attached to the booster rocket did not disattach as it was supposed to go up higher into orbit. now, here's why this is a success. back in 2008 i went to then-space, and headquarters in el segundo, california. that is the original dragon capsule. and elon and i walked around -- my hair was a little shorter then -- [laughter] and we talked about this start-up rocket ship company he had. unbelievable. and back then the rocket hip

looked like, you know, i'm remembering it was like a science project. and i was very, very impressed, but i thought this is not going to work. well, he's had many successful launches, and, you know, to get there you have to see some of what we saw today. luckily, it was an unmanned craft. from liftoff to anchors away, let's take a trip down to cape cape canaveral in florida where ashley webster is standing by with a different kind of ship that's moving around there. >> reporter: yes, one that's on the water, liz. in fact, after losing billions of dollars during the covid lockdown, the cruising industry, pardon the pun, is definitely riding a wave. so much so that port canaveral right here has been named the busiest cruise line port in the entire world, and it is not slowing down. in fact, if you look at the numbers, there are expected to be close to 6 million passengers that will pass through here just this year. that would be a record. so the question is, what's the attraction?

well, the port's ceo says part of it is the fact that it's family-friendly but also easy to get to by car, taking the airport out of the equation. take a listen to. >> people drive in from all over the eastern seaboard, all in to port canaveral. we're an easy in, easy out port, and while they're here, they'll spend vacation time over in orlando with the theme parks. we're a family-oriented port, most of our cruise cans are family-oriented the it's a little different than the adult market in south florida. >> reporter: that would be miami. also interesting is the dude ships have actually become their own destination and ports of call, welsh maybe just a bonus. listen to the. >> so you're getting a good value even in relation to, like, a hotel the, you know? you buy a hotel, you still have to buy dip, then you still have to -- like in orlando you go to the theme parks. on a cruise ship, it's kind of an all in one thing. economically, it's good.

>> reporter: well, there you go. the cruise line behind me, this is the mariner of the seas, it's operate by royal caribbean. -- operated by royal crib caribbean. they're getting ready to leave in 25 minutes, and it is full, 4,000 passengers, so i'm going to have to talk my way on if i'm going to get a ride to the western caribbean. liz: you go to the lee doe deck and get a mow here toe. [laughter] >> reporter: it sounds so good. ashley: that's called research. ashley, thank you very much. rising rents have renters invoking one-time new york city mayoral candidate jimmy mcmillen's slogan, the rent is too damn high. while there's no clear answer to the stubbornly high price of shelter, one start-up making a process that involves helping you pile up rewards for an eventual down payment on a house. up next, built rewards founder

and ceo is here live on his fast growing business and why landlords, not just renters, are clamoring to sign up. closing bell, 5 the minutes away. dow is still down about 177 points, we're at 33,720. we are coming right back9 with the story of built and its rewards. ♪ ♪

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to level the playing field. bilt is the first loyalty program that allows renters to earn points on their biggest monthly expense, rent, to eventually take those points and turn them into a down payment on a home. joining me now in a fox business exclusive is the brain child, the founder and ceo of biht. >> it's good to see you. liz: it's great to see you too. people use the credit card, they charge their rent which normally i didn't think you could do, and then they get reward points, correct? >> just take a step back. the amount of money we spend on rent is staggering. and you get nothing back. i mean, every month you pay your rent on time, you get no are rewards points. i get points when i buy dinner. i pay my rent, i get nothing. you spend years renting, it does nothing for your credit history, and when you're ready to buy, they say, oh, great, i need $50,000 for a down payment. with what? i've been paying rent all this time. so we looked at, hey, can we turn your biggest expense into

your most rewarding? and up until now, if you ever wanted to earn points on rent, they would charge you a 3% fee, which is insane. liz: oh, people are still charging a 3% fee. >> so we went out and said, first of all, we're going to make it so that you can now pay your rent without the 3% fee at any apartment in the country, earn rewards points, build your credit, and then this was the exciting part. instead of just using points for travel which, by the way, every month you pay your rent are, you're earning points at all your favorite airlines, hotels. you can travel in the summer for free just because you paid rent -- liz: it's been a missing link when it comes to the rewards programs out there. aye had bitcoin rewards people here -- [laughter] you know, you can get a reward for your u-promise account for 529 simply by buying a six-pack of diet coke. so why not rent? but how does that convert -- >> and that's, i think, where it gets exciting. if you look at our generation

today, cost of living just keeps going up, right? so if we could say that your biggest expenses starting with rent are actually rewarding you and, even better, taking that next step in your life and career, homeownership is a huge part of that. and so we worked with fannie mae, with freddie mac, first of all, why is paying your rent on time not helping qualify you to buy a home? i mean, by the way -- the. liz: otherwise you're stuck in this horrible loop. >> and, look, at the end of the day, paying your rent is the single best predicter e of paying a mortgage on time. and then why can't you use your points to cover the down payment? liz: okay. so what about landlords? you said every apartment complex in the nation. now, you don't have every apartment complex. >> no. so what's exciting is bilt today has also built the largest real estate network of residential owners and operators. so there are 3 million apartments across the country

where when you pay your rent are, you earn rewards no matter how you pay. you pay by ach, by check, by american express, with your bilt card, you're earning rewards and building credit. you can also pay your rent at any other apartment in the country, so even if your landlord only takes a check, no one under the age of 35 should have a checkbook, right? [laughter] liz: or have a fax machine, but go on. >> now you can pay your rent with a bilt card, and we'll send your payment to the land board, so you can pay he can ronically -- liz: for a fee? where are you making money? >> what i realized six years ago, we realized that airlines, hotels, these massive, like, businesses make all their money on the loyalty programs. the rewards programs. united airlines and american airlines make billions of dollars on hair loyalty programs. and we said, think about it, that's a tiny fraction of your

spend. rent and housing -- liz: okay. so give me a success story. who has been able to, since bilt has been in business, bought a house or -- >> it's, i've got to tell you, we did not, we today already processed over $5 billion of rent in just the 12 months that we've been in market -- liz: that's you, what about the people waiting for the rewards? >> this is what's so exciting, already a small amount of time, over 150 people have bought with homes using points they've earned on rent, and tens of thousands of members already are booking trips to go on that summer vacation, on spring break, to visit their family by earning points on rent. and i think, look, rent's a huge part. we spend a lot of money on health care and student loans and on dining and groceries. and so with w -- bilt we said do what you're already doing and let us help you build your credit, earn rewards -- liz: what about commercial real estate? will people eventually be able obey their commercial real

estate -- >> that's a great question. right now we're just focused on the consumers. i think there's a whole generation of 21 to 35-year-olds graduating college, trying to figure out how to get ahead. liz: we've got to run are. you are a entrepreneur, you are a start-up kid. right now we still have the vapors circling from the bank crisis of march. >> yes. liz: credit's tightening. how tight is the world out there? >> i think this is such an important reminder. i actually think these things are healthy. we've run biht profitably. -- bilt profitably. we do not need capital. we raised $150 million out of $1.5 billion last year, we haven't even touched that capital yet. and i think there's something about these up and down cycles. i grew up as as a cot come baby -- dot.com baby. it's easy to raise lots of money and spending, spending, spending, burning cash. entrepreneurs need to take moments like in this to step back and remember these come every 5-10 years, and if you

don't build a sustainable, profitable company, you're going to find yourself -- it's just going to happen. liz: come back. >> thank you so much for having me. liz: i don't know, i could talk to you about 50 different subjects, my friend. the company is called bilt. remember when the top perk for female employees at tech firms was egg-freezing benefits? well, now wall street is getting in on that action. shar charlie -- charlie gasparino explains why when we come back. don't go away. ♪ ♪ ♪ the biggest ideas inspire new ones. 30 years ago, state street created an etf that inspired the world to invest differently. it still does. what can you do with spy? ♪ ♪

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♪. liz: for some woman on wall street the pressure to stay in the workforce longer is starting to become a talking point. many corporate giants are offering health benefits. they used to do this in silicon valley a lot. corporate giants in wall street regions, they're offering health benefits, including fertility coverage, covering cost for women to freeze their eggs. for female employees, for whatever reason, some believe it is that wall street wants them to put off having kids until they climbed the corporate ladder. charlie gasparino is here with more. >> i want you to chime in on this because i did a lot of reporting on this.

i'm obviously not a expert a at fertility benefits but it is interesting. there is two sides. i know plenty of women on wall street tell me, not only do you have to kick through the glass ceiling, if you have kids it is held against you quite frankly. about 10 years ago tech started, silicon valley started offering this sort of benefit that, it is expensive. they bill will pay for you to have the kids in vitro later on as you climb the corp. ladder, essentially establish yourself. it is easier to go on mommy leave when that happens. wall street in the last three or four years has been offering this, goldman sachs, blackrock, will pay. it's lot of money. it is tens of thousands of dollars. it is part of your perk. it is the way to retain women this is what i'm hearing. my producer and i did decent reporting on this, there is a feeling amongst some women in

their 20s, 30 or so, that those prime child bearing years that if they don't freeze their eggs, that they lack loyalty to the company. the company is saying oh, well, if they're not freezing, you know, they may be looking to go on mommy leave now, and that always has been an issue in terms of climbing the corporate ladder. now i'm not saying i ascribe to this, this theory. this is clearly being felt by young women. that i know. i'm not saying, i'm not saying it is absolutely true. point out hr, legal issue here. i don't think your manager can ask you -- liz: it is illegal to ask if you're going to have children or if you're pregnant. >> it is illegal from what i understand to say, are you going to freeze your eggs or not? that doesn't mean people don't find out about it. that doesn't mean it is not spoken about in the workforce, this is clearly an issue. there is some pressure here, at

least felt silently or felt intuitively or felt, just psychologically. it's there. there is no doubt. liz: i get that. >> spoke to a lot of people. i would like to hear your side of the story. liz: my thought is, wall street is incredibly generous with maternity benefits. >> right. liz: it is unbelievable. i can remember, when i worked at cnbc a measly six weeks an my friends on wall street were getting four months. >> right. liz: four months. >> some people have to be very careful looking a gift hours in the eye. maybe the managers don't know that this woman never wants to have kids. nobody is making assumptions here but to add that is for employee retention, a lot of women do want to freeze their eggs because they can't find an appropriate mate at that point. maybe that it. >> used to be used if you had cancer, you freeze your eggs to go into the cancer treatment, at that at some of the cancer treatments hurt your eggs.

this is something we'll talk about i guess for a while. there is two sides to this story. >> would they rather, wall street not offer that? i think it is generous. i think it's smart. >> i'm just telling you there is a feeling there is coerciveness here. liz: oh, please. >> just telling you. liz: sorry. >> just telling you. i'm not saying i agree with it. it is an interesting issue. liz: it is a very real thing when some women get pregnant in the work place, they are looked down upon, oh, she is not on the fast track. >> so suppose you're in an environment where you freeze your eggs, you don't think that is, that is going to be -- liz: read charlie's column on this. >> "new york post." liz: "new york post." thank you. interesting stuff. shares of philip morris international, let's take a look at those, minutes to go before the close. they are down 4.7%. the tobacco company cut its 2023 profit forecast due to rising cost of energy, labor, raw materials, inflation.

philip morris missed first quarter revenues estimates due to lower cigarette shipment volumes. why is the "countdown" closer saying buy the stock, bullish on it? henion, cio president kevin mahn, 7.6 billion in assets. make your case on philip morris. >> if we look out two years, liz the picture is clearer, inflation should be lower, interest rates should be lower and market should be higher. the economy has not felt the brunt of these 4.75 points basis hikes, soon to be 500 in may. where do we put assets? we believe go inn defensive periods that perform well during economic slow downs, does trees, consumer staples and health care. i like philip morris. yes they missed. they pay yield of 5%.

forward-looking pe is 16, during recession people continue to smoke. liz: because they're addicted. 5% dividend is generous, is it it not. >> absolutely. they have growing dividend, positive free cash flow to potentially lift the dividend even further. liz: what do you think right now? as we look at market consist, we know that, we don't know what the fed is going to do? >> yes. liz: we heard a lot of fed heads talking say we need to continue to hike rates. it is right out there, sky written, right? >> yes. liz: everybody knows it is coming. why is it such a shock every time you hear a fed person say we need to keep going on the rate path? >> liz, the fed has three tools to fight inflation, fed funds target rate, the balance sheet and their rhetoric and they're using all three of those. i think it is fair to say we're

near the end of the rate hike cycle. might they do one 25 basis-point hike in may? they might or might be done. if the economy goes into severe a downturn we will, we'll be talking about rate cuts early next year. liz: will the market rip higher or lower? >> markets rip higher at that point. especially areas beat you know up in 2022. technology, consumer discretionary, communications services. >> kevin mahn, great to have you, my friend. dow jones industrials off the lows of the session down 122 points. nasdaq in the red, same with the s&p. all off the lows. [closing bell rings] transports to the upside. that will do it for the "claman countdown." it is friday tomorrow, as always, final hour of trade is the most important hour of trade. "kudlow" is next. ♪. larry: hello, folks, welcome to "kudlow," i'm larry kudlow. so, in a world of outrages a