there are now two stocks, apple and microsoft. in fact, take a look at these exposures. now, you must take care, right? authentic diverse theification means that -- with diverse by case means you have a lot of work another. 29% in these stocks, 30, 29, that's 29 percent, 27%, 24%, all of these funds more than 20% of your money is invested in just two stocks. so, listen, i'm not saying go invest in a caveman fund, right? you have to really do some digging because, remember, you want to be diversified, but you also want to be in enough stocks so that the winners can really shine, all right? and that's harder to do these days. i like microsoft and apple but, you know, liz, there are more stocks out there. liz: oh, yeah. and amazon after the bell. we've got a lot of big names. all you guys have to do is look at the lower ticker, and here come the bulls as we kick off the final hour of trade. stocks are roaring into a final-hour rally propelled by

strong earnings from a-- a broad spectrum of sectors. let's look at the dow, up 554 points. in fact, let's go to the dow heat map to show you who's leading the earnings charge. telecom giant verizon, it is up 4.7%. it beat on earnings per share by a penny, but the stock is gaining a pound of muscle from that. we do have it in the pole position, number one best performer on the blue chips and then to followed by honeywell which is up 4%. totally different business from communication services. but the maker of aerospace and. the control systems coming with an 18-cent beat during the quarter on revenues of $8.86 billion. that is also a beat. disney in the number three position, it is the having a solid season as well. coming up, we're going to take you live to orlando for the very latest on the battle between disney and the state of florida and, obvious, its governor, ron desantis. to the s&p and the nasdaq, they

are having an even better day hand the dow as far as percentages are concerned. after yesterday's 15-point loss, the s&p is gaining 80 points or nearly 2%, but look at the nasdaq. we are at session highs right now for all three major indices, but the nasdaq is a huge, glittering, sparkling winner here, up 2.5% or 286 points. yesterday it was the only major in the green with a 55-point gain, so now we're looking at a pretty significant 2-day win, and it is thanks in great part to meta. shares of the facebook and instagram parent are roaring higher by more than 14% after hitting a 5 2- week high of $241.4 #. we're just off that right now. they had better than expected first quarter earnings and revenue. and if these gains hold into the close, meta overtakes nvidia as the best performing s&p stock year to candidate with a 99% gain. okay. so earnings look good the in a lot of different sectors, but

what about the overhang of this one? if first republic. the regional bank is up 12% right now but has gotten absolutely trashed this week. down 54% so far, and yesterday it touched a record low of $4.76. it's at $6.37 right now. as questions about its viability multiply, we've got tim coffey, the analyst who knocked it down to a sell rating before this week's epic fall. joining us with his assessment of what happens next and whether the worst case scenario e could actually force the fed to pause its interest rate hikes. all right. take a look at the tech names that report after the bell. we've got a bull-bear debate on amazon coming up ahead of the numbers. for now, shares up 4.9%. chip giant intel is reporting as well, up 2% at the moment. it's expected to actually be the chip giant's largest ever quarterly loss. maybe they might surprise to the upside, who knows, but investors at the moment are feeling pretty confident. snap is up 4.7% but still down

about 63% year-over-year. the social media platform is expected to report a net loss of $358 million or 23 cents a share. that is wider than the previous quarter. for now tech trade appears to be beating the slowing economy trade, but what about the safe trade? let's get right to the floor show. we're joined by jpmorgan asset management's portfolio manager and david kudla, david, i'll throw you are the -- throw it to you first. does this rally surprise you? >> yeah. you know, there were a lot of predictions out there about a earnings armageddon, and and we are going to have a quarter of negative earnings. but the mega-cap stocks, the ones we're talking about this week that are reporting this week continue to deliver. they've cut their work force, they've made adjustments, and they are the places that we with

think investors need to have allocation to going forward. liz: going forward, phil, what do you see? because really about 40% of the s&p has reported, so we've got another big chunk of names although this week is just a very big week for both dow components and everybody else. what do you see here and how do you view the rest of the year for the markets? >> yeah. i think that the hard landing scenario, liz, and probability of that is falling really hard. and i think that's why you see days like this. for a hard landing, in our opinion, you need two things. you need really chaotic deposit outflows to shake the confidence of every consumer -- liz: which we have with first republic. >> yes, but it's not leaking into the economy just yet, right? the second thing that you would need is a very overzealous fed that says we have to break the back of economy in order to have any evidence of disinflation, and that's not happening. year-over-year, cpi is down 5%, we expect it to be closer to

3-3.5 by the end of the year. so days like this remind us why you can have a significant underweight many stocks in your portfolio because in order to validate that, you need the hard landing which we don't see. liz: if you are correct, phil, where would you have overweight equities. >> >> yeah. so the regional bias that we have right now, liz, isn't necessarily in the united states. it's outside of the united states. don't kill the messenger -- liz: it's a big world. where? >> it's a big world. specifically in europe i think there's tree things -- three things that line up there. very, very cheap, they have a central bank that's supporting their currency, and the third thing is god was very good to their continent this winter, as you know, by delivering the whole northern hemisphere a warm with winter can helps increase their earnings. our problem right now is that there's way too many people holding cash, okay? so the cash story for us, that's my biggest competitor. and, you know, whether you believe in a hard landing -- liz: and it's not really cash,

it's short-term treasuries, t-bills. okay, so to you, david, where do you see the opportunities at the moment if we still have the unknown about the federal reserve? we do expect they will hike rates once again next week, may 3rd, may 4th is when we get the announcement. we've got the 3-month treasury yielding at the moment 5.16%. why would any investor watching right now throw it at a company or at a stock that maybe yields 3.7% but we don't know what's happening with the economy and that stock may take a mitt? a hit? >> because there are people out there that have been shorting this market or have been in cash, and the market is up this year. we've got about 8 more months here to see where we end the year, and we have that fear of a recession out there. but in 'ems of the allocation, i agree agree with you, ultra short-term bonds are delivering a nice yield and should be part

of an asset allocation strategy because cash is no longer trash like a year, year and a half ago. and i'm with phil on europe. we've talked about it on the show. it's one of our overweights in our portfolios because the euro moves higher, as the dollar declines, we get the exchange rate working for us. expectation rates have been rising in europe versus being lored here. we beat about 74% on earnings that have been reported, but those are on much lowered expectations. and europe was undervalued coming into this year compared to the u.s. so it is a good place to diversify a portfolio -- liz: i mean, look at this etf, look at this etf which is a basket of european stocks. fez. s it is a gorgeous 3-month picture and, phil, i will say though let me be the yeah but when it comes to earnings. we've had some really good numbers when you're looking at microsoft and, obviously, meta's been very nice.

at&t a week ago reported a revenue miss. it got kind of hammered. tesla, southwest airlines. and sometimes those are the names that tend to pull down an entire sector. >> yeah, and drive sentiment because they're widely held. i think david said a key word or two words there which wases asset allocation. cash investors belong in cash. the ones we're looking for are the ones who are hiding cash at the end of last year because that was the only place to hide because bonds were the problem. liz: and you don't feel that way now. >> no, because if you slip into the hard landing, you're going to the love being in core bonds. you need a full year to get 5% in cash. up 3.5% year to date. and if we go to sort landing view where the fed stops in may, inflation gets to be between 3-3.5 by the end of this year, guess what? we don't need a 5.25 the % fed funds rate anymore. it's either/or if in your as asset allocation. cash is not the answer for folks who don't belong from a risk

profile. liz: and, david, is the reason that you like europe is because it has lagged what had been a vibrant market here in the u.s. just like what phil was articulating? >> that's exactly right. europe is following us in terms of their market, their fight against inflation. they have more work to do in europe. the post favored -- or the favored indicator for the fed is pce at 5% last, or two months ago, and we think we'll come in around 4-4.2% year-over-year. headline pce. liz: that's tomorrow, we get that number tomorrow. >> inflation is coming down. yep, tomorrow. and, you know, we think that, you know, we're on the, we're on the end of that night. i think the fed -- that fight. i think the fed should be done already, but we'll probably see a quarter point next week. they are bringing inflation down and bringing it down quickly. liz: great to have you both, david, phil. come back again. thank you so much. but next time don't agree with each other so much. [laughter]

all right. while meta platforms has nearly doubled this year, we were telling you that, first republic bank has watched 95% of its value vaporize over the same period. up next the analyst who slapped a sell rating on the stock after the bank earnings revealed deposit flight worthy of a financial def con 2. that's bad if you didn't see the matthew broderick movie "war games." what he's -- what he's saying about the odds of surviving for the california regional. he's next. we've got the dow jones industrials, see, this is the exact reason that you say in the market for the long term, because if you didn't, you miss a day like this. the dow is up a 532 the points. "the claman countdown"'s coming right back. ♪ ♪ at adp, we understand business today looks nothing like it did yesterday. while it's more unpredictable, its possibilities are endless. from paying your people from anywhere

to supporting your talent everywhere, we use data driven insights to design hr solutions and services to help businesses of all size work smarter today. so, they can have more success tomorrow. ♪ one thing leads to another ♪ sometimes you're so busy taking care of everyone else you don't do enough for yourself, or your mouth. but eventually, it will remind you. when it does, aspen dental is here for you. we offer the custom dental treatments you need,

all under one roof, right nearby. so we can bring more life to your smile... and more smile to your life... affordably. new patients without insurance can get a free complete exam and x-rays, and 20 percent off treatment plans. schedule your appointment today. if you wake up thinking about the market and want to make the right moves fast... get decision tech. for insights on when to buy and sell. and proactive alerts on market events. that's decision tech. only from fidelity. >> woman: why did we choose safelite? we were loading our suv when... crack! safelite came right to us, and we could see exactly when they'd arrive with a replacement we could trust. that's service the way we want it. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ (vo) businesses nationwide are switching to verizon business internet. (woman) it's a perfect fit for my small business. and i take fit seriously. (vo) verizon has business internet solutions nationwide.

(man) for our not so small business too. (woman) they've got plans and speeds to suit our needs now. and we can keep growing without outgrowing our internet. (vo) combine it with a business unlimited plan and save a bunch. switch to business internet that keeps your business ready for anything. from the network america relies on. these days, our households depend on the internet more and more. families grow, houses get smarter, and our demands on the internet increase. that's why we just boosted speeds for over 20 million xfinity customers, on us. so you get more of the speed you need for day and night streaming. more speed you need when you're work from homeing. and more speed you need as your family keeps growing. check in on your current speed through the xfinity app or upgrade to the speed that's right for you today. municipal bonds don't usually get the media coverage

the stock market does. in fact, most people don't find them all that exciting. but, if you're looking for the potential for consistent income that's federally tax-free, now is an excellent time to consider municipal bonds from hennion & walsh. if you have at least 10,000 dollars to invest, call and talk with one of our bond specialists at 1-800-217-3217. we'll send you our exclusive bond guide, free. with details about how bonds can be an important part of your portfolio. hennion & walsh has specialized in fixed income and growth solutions for 30 years, and offers high-quality municipal bonds from across the country. they provide the potential for regular income... are federally tax-free... and have historically low risk. call today to request your free bond guide. 1-800-217-3217. that's 1-800-217-3217.

liz: indeed. shares of first republic are recovering some of the 30% they a saw go up if smoke yesterday. amid 16 traiting -- trading halts. shares up 11.6% right now, but the regional bank has lost more than 50% since reporting earnings monday when the bank disclosed that clients pulled $100 billion many deposits from their accounts amid the march bank panic which, of course, as you remember was triggered march 9th when silicon valley bank collapsed. since then first republic shares have lost 93% of their value. now, despited today's 11% bounce there are some on the street who say an if frc collapse could stop the fed in its rate-tightening racks. ever corp. isi chair saying we cannot rule out the possibility that developments around first republic could unfold in a manner that would lead the fomc

to skip the may fed meeting while signaling that that they'd go back to a hike in june. well, right now fed funds futures are pricing in an 88% chance of a pause next week. sorry, no, a 12% chance of a pause. i flipped that, sorry. 12% chance of a pause. doesn't look like a lot, but that's significantly higher than just a week ago. with the federal reserve meeting five days away, how closely should investors be watching first republic's move to rescue itself in while a bunch of analysts on the street had started to say the worst was behind first republic, we're joined by the man who who put a sell on the stock, tim coffey. he is with us from walnut creek can, california. i'm the, let us cut to the chase. -- tim, leapt us cut to the chase. what does first republic need to do right away to survive this? >> number one thing is sell assets. one of the striking things about the report on monday was the

loan deposit ratio was near 170%. that's extremely high. what we normally see in the banking industry is somewhere around 90%, 100%. that's more reasonable. in order for first republic to get that level back down to what we think is a reasonable level, they need to sell assets. and you hear the reports about engaging with the big banks on wall street, well, that's kind of what needs to happen. and that's plan number one. the second part of this turn around is that they're going to have to raise capital, right? the they're going of to -- liz: well, who's going to give it to them? because that is the issue, tim. >> that is the issue. liz: right after the silicon valley bank collapse 11 big names -- wells fargo, bank of america, jpmorgan -- counseled together $30 billion worth of deposits, parked them many that bank, and it hasn't done much at all as you see from the long-term chart here. i don't think the cities of the world or the goldman goldman sachs, truist -- truist is

having its own issues -- i don't think they're going to step up once again. am i wrong or what do you think? >> so far they haven't been willing to. i think that everybody's waiting on what happens with washington. is the federal government going to step in and help recover some of these losses that are going to be, you know, occur when the assets are sold or even if the bank is transferred to new ownership is. of there's going to have to be a marking of their assetses and their loans specifically, and that -- i'm not sure if there's a lot of banks that are willing to take that loss into their capital onto their own balance sheet. so you're right, we're at kind of a stand still right now where we're not quite sure who is going to make up for this equity deficit many on first republic's balancer sheet. now, we saw in the great financial crisis there were full recaps of institutions that have gone on to survive and are healthyed today. this one is a bit bigger, clearly, but it is the possible for this to, this equity raise to happen. liz: we do have some breaking

news from the white house press briefing, tim, that is just coming in to the fox newsroom. basically karine jean-pierre, the head person there, since our administration took those actions -- meaning, the fdic back sopping all of the deposits for silicon valley bank and signature bank -- we have seen deposits sablize at regional banks. that is something that we've seen in the data as the president and secretary yellen and chair powell have said, we have used important tools to quickly stabilize the banking system. we could use those tools again if needed. is that a hint that first republic is going to get a government backstop or some i'm of bailout or rescue? whatever you want to call it? >> well, look, if they don't get anything out of the public markets, you know, help from washington is inevitable. in our opinion. liz: really. >> and with regional banks, you're seeing deposit outflows slow, that's true. things are stabilizing. the contagion was really

localized to three institutions after silicon valley bank that all had various, you know, business lines with the vcs and private equity industry. outside of those three, we really haven't seen a whole lot of problems. liz: okay. all right. now if we talk about selling off assets which you talked about, you look at the balance sheet, their loan book has $22 billion in unrealized losses. who wants to even touch that kind of stuff? >> and that's right there the linchpin of why negotiations haven't proceeded. certainly, in our opinion, the negotiations between first republic, regulators and wall street banks have been going out for a while, but they came out publicly once everybody knew what the us the was. but nobody really wants to come over the top and put those losses onto their own books, and that's why we're not -- we haven't seen a quick resolution of first republic, and we might not. this could crag on a little bit. liz okay. yeah, i would think so. how about this? the federal reserve, this is

been a report that it would limit first republic's options when it comes to rolling up to the discount window where any bank who feels they need to shore up their deposits can go to borrow money from the fed at very friendly rates here. would the fed limit the bank's use of the discount window and the emergency facility that was launched last month at the height of the banking crisis because they figure, you know, it's throwing good money after bad? >> yes, that is exactly what would happen. and first are republic did take down quite a bit of funding from the government. they took down about $13 billion true the bank term funding program. all in all, they've got borrowings, sources at the discount window about $105 billion. so they've been borrowing it. you know, the regulars -- regulators would make take a step back really speaks to the liquidity issues that became apparent to all ofs -- of us when they released their results

monday night. liz: and finally, beyond the specific regional banks that are really stumbling here, what does the loan picture look like out there? the credit crunch that people are are starting to see, tightening of lending standards, what are you hearing, what are you seeing? >> it's slowing. it's definitely slowing. pipelines that are in the second quarter are lower than they were having the first quarter for a variety of reasons, but mainly higher interest rates. certainly, banks are a lot more cognizant about future credit costs as we go into the higher unemployment rate environment. but borrowers are also self-selecting. they're looking at cost of borrowing, and they're putting on the brake a little bit, maybe i don't do that expansion project right now. maybe i wait to see how the economy's going to do and in the next 90 days or so, that's going to limit loan growth across the industry. liz: a week from now codo you see first republic getting some kind of lifeline from the government, tim? >> i'm not really sure. i think that we're heading that way.

the longer it takes to get anything done is, you know, we're going to -- it, we need to get this problem resolved. even if it survives, it's not going to be the same company it was before. liz: no, not at all. at the moment we're looking at a $1 billion market cap bank. the annual high had been $171, it's at $6 right now. tim coffey, thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you, liz. liz: we've got a live picture of mickey mouse at the gates of kiss world, florida. -- disney world, florida. while governor ron desantis used the world retaliate as he breaks the state's long-held contract with disney the, another presidential candidate is rolling out the red carpet for the mouse house and its 70,000 florida jobs. we're going to explain it all and show you the stock reaction, and we're going to take you to orlando next. closing bell, 36 minutes away. the nasdaq is up nearly 300

points, that is the new session high. s&p up 81, and if i talk slowly enough, maybe we will hit a gain of 300 points for the nasdaq of. [laughter] well, for the moment the dow is up 537 points. stay tuned, we are coming right back. ♪ people ready to support you when you need it most? christian healthcare ministries is an organization with over 40 years of trusted care who understands the importance of family. a group that sees you for who you are regardless of your health history. offering affordable healthcare cost solutions that could save you up to 40% on your healthcare costs. learn more today at your chm dot org about healthcare that puts you in control.

♪ you were always so dedicated... ♪ we worked hard to build up the shop, save for college and our retirement. but we got there, thanks to our advisor and vanguard. now i see who all that hard work was for... it was always for you. seeing you carry on our legacy— i'm so proud. at vanguard, you're more than just an investor, you're an owner. setting up the future for the ones you love. that's the value of ownership. ♪ the all-new chevy colorado is made for more. bring more. ♪ do more. ♪ see more. ♪ and be more. ♪

the all-new chevy colorado. made for more. ♪ if you have this... and you get this... you could end up with this... unexpected out-of-pocket costs. which for those on medicare, or soon to be, is a good reason to take charge of your health care. so consider this. an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan from unitedhealthcare. why? because medicare alone doesn't pay for everything.

and what it doesn't pay for, like deductibles and copays, could really add up. even thousands of dollars a year. medicare supplement plans help by paying some of what medicare doesn't... and making your out-of-pocket costs a lot more predictable. call unitedhealthcare today and ask for your free decision guide. learn more about plan options and rates to fit your needs. now if you like this... greater freedom... you'll love that medicare supplement plans have no networks and no referrals needed... see any doctor. any specialist. anywhere in the u.s. as long as they accept medicare patients. these types of plans also give you more flexibility when traveling in the u.s. your plan goes with you... anywhere you go in the country. even better, these are the only plans

of their kind endorsed by aarp. call unitedhealthcare today for your free decision guide. so if you have this and want less out-of-pocket costs... and more peace of mind... consider adding this. an aarp medicare supplement plan. take charge of your health care today. just use this...or this to call unitedhealthcare about an aarp medicare supplement plan. liz: fox market alert, we have 31 minutes before the closing bell rings.

green on the screen. new highs right and left. we do have the dow jones industrials just off the highs of session, still up 523 points, the s&p up 78, the nasdaq jumping 288 points, 89, up 2.5%. we're watching it very closely. gap announcing it has eliminated an additional 1800 workers in an effort to cut costs. the parent of banana republic, old navy already slashed 500 jobs in september. shares of gap have dropped 25% over the past year and are only gaining a third of a percent right now. of. layoffs at lyft, well, those were announced last week, but now the ride-hailing app is putting a number on it. lyft confirming it lay off roughly 26% of its corporate work force or 1,072 the employee ares. lyft shares have lost 68% over the past year going just under two-thirds of a percent at the moment. keurig dr. pepper ouch thing an 18 month if low after -- touch

thing an 18 month low, but the stock is losing fizz because pice increases offset volume declines. net sales of u.s. k-cup coffee pods dropped 1.3%, but there is a little bit of good news here. the snapple, canada dry and 7. -up parent expects overall full-year sales to grow 5%. at the moment the stock is losing 5.25. investors of the maker of nerf footballs having a ball at this hour. the stock of hasbro on pace for its largest percentage increase since july of 2021 after beating analyst estimates for first quarter revenue. the toy giant which also owns the dungeons and dragons franchise attributes the beat to strong demand for, yes, its digital games. hasbro says get ready for even better quarters ahead, promising business will continue to improve this year. no child's play at all between disney and the state of florida at this hour as the battle between the entertainment

giant and governor ron desantis continues to rage. disney shares are actually up 3.33% right now, bumping up against $100 per share. yesterday disney sued desantis himself after his newly-formed tourist board voted to nullify its long-held agreement with disney. that agreement has for years allowed the entertainment giant autonomous control over its theme park, expansion and utilities. today it was shoved right in the governor's face. a florida court issued this summons in the disney lawsuit against desantis which says very plainly, a lawsuit has been filed against you. if disney says the governor is retaliating against it for expressing its opinion on the don't say gay law, its first amendment right of free speech s and desantis claims the lawsuit has, quote, no merit. let's take it live to the home of disney world, orlando, florida, and ashley webster. you know, ashley, how bad could the get?

could disney in the worst case she e mare owe pull up and leave florida? >> reporter: well, probably very unlikely, liz, but it was unlikely that this dispute would get this far, and now we're headed to court which has surprised a lot of people. but neither side will back down. you mentioned disney leaving, and you know what? never let a good opportunity go to waste, and that's certainly what gop presidential candidate nikki haley believes. after criticizing florida governor desantis for fighting with disney, she invited the most magical place on earth to relocate to her home state of south carolina. take a listen. >> if disney would like to move their hundreds of thousands of jobs to south carolina and bring the billions of dollars with them, i'll let them know i'll be happy to meet them many south carolina and introduce them to the governor and the legislature that would welcome it. >> reporter: and the 70,000 jobs that come with it. but there has been no suggestion a disney would, indeed, leave i'll florida. but the dispute with governor

desantis continues to escalate. both sides accusing the other of plague politics. as you can see in the complaint, disney says it's the victim of, quote, a targeted campaign of government retaliation orchestrated at every step by governor desantis' punishment for the disney's protected speech. now, desantis says, as you pointed out, liz, that the suit has no merit, and now it heads to court with questions about free speech, constitutional rights and political retaliation. legal analysts say grab the popcorn, this is going to be very interesting to watch. listen. >> there are some really heavy constitutional questions that need to be wrestled with. it's in the federal court system meaning it could conceivably go all the way up to the united states supreme court depending how far this needs to go. from a legal commentator standpoint, this is a fascinating thing to be watching. >> reporter: interesting, isn't it? liz, some first amendment lawyers say they believe disney may have a pretty strong case,

but desantis said the state has every right to treat as it does every other company in this state, and now we're going to find out how this works out in the courts. it could drag on. liz: yeah. i'm looking at this right now and, yeah, i believe that he has about 60 days --en meaning desantis has 60 days to respond to disney. >> reporter: yes. liz: okay. [laughter] never a dull moment out of florida, that's for sure. >> reporter: never. liz: ashley, thank you very much. the last of this this week's tech titans are set to report, and it is amazon earnings out after the bell. ahead of that we've got a bull-bear debate on company's prospects, the layoffs and whether its head is truly in the cloud. and on my brand new everyone talks to liz podcast episode, famed tiktok influencer kat stickler, yeah, she was here the other day on the show, but she reveals so much about her personal triumph. how did this single mom who found herself divorced, without a job turn the her personal problems and obstacles into

laughter and a lucrative career? if you think you can't recover if perm pain or tragedy the, you've got to -- personal pain or tragedy the, you've got to the hear how kat pushed through the dark and difficult times to find major success. you can listen on apple, spotify, amazon, iheart radio or wherever you get your podcasts. closing bell, 25 the minutes away. we've got the dow up 502 points. the closing bell, yeah, as we said, just a bit away. you've got to stay with us though. anything could happen. ♪ ♪ i've spent centuries evolving with the world. that's the nature of being the economy. observing investors choose assets to balance risk and reward. with one element securing portfolios, time after time. gold. agile and liquid. a proven protector. an ever-evolving enabler of bold decisions. an asset more relevant than ever before.

gold. your strategic advantage. for back pain, i've always been a take two and call in the morning guy. but my new doctor recommended salonpas. without another pill upsetting my stomach, i get powerful, effective and safe relief. salonpas. it's good medicine. new projects means new project managers. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. when you sponsor a job, you immediately get your shortlist of quality candidates, whose resumes on indeed match your job criteria. visit indeed.com/hire and get started today. what are folks 60 and older up to these days? getting inspired! volunteering! playing pickleba...!

this small thing, is the next big thing in dia this s woah.hing, it shows your glucose, and predicts where it's headed, just like that. it's not magic, it just feels that way. i wanna make you go wow, make you go wow, make you go wow. ah, these bills are crazy. she has no idea she's sitting on a goldmine. well she doesn't know that if she owns a life insurance policy of $100,000

or more she can sell all or part of it to coventry for cash. even a term policy. even a term policy? even a term policy! find out if you're sitting on a goldmine. call coventry direct today at the number on your screen, or visit coventrydirect.com.

liz: all right, we are 20 minutes away from amazon's earnings after the bell. it's getting a boost right now. shares are up 4.5% at the moment, a very nice picture just off the intraday high as it gears up to deliver first quarter earnings after the bell. one of the most important things you, the investors, need to

watch for is the performance of its web services segment. awc, the high mar -- aws is expected to report 21.18 billion in we've knews. last -- in revenues. last quarter aws missed estimates. while it did grow 20%, that was 27.5% lower than the third quarter. also a must-watch piece of the report would be the e-commerce giant's core retail segment. a focal point not just for the company, but it is seen as a proxy for overall consumer spending. shares have actually performed nicely year to date, rising 30% or so here. big move here. but with a possible recession still a question mark here in this country, will its first quarter report deliver for the bulls or bears? and which side should you take? let's get to our bull-bear debate, senior research analyst daniel flax and our bear is director of education and product, jessica -- all right, daniel, right off the bat why

are you a bull when we don't know what's going to the happen to the consumer for the second is half of this this year? >> great to be with you, liz, as always. i like the stock here because even though the environment is difficult, the company is continuing to deliver value to customers in its e-commerce business, for example, more one-day delivery with prime. amazon web services, which you mentioned, is facing cyclical headwinds, but when we speak to customers, there's an explosion of new workloads in areas like artificial intelligence. so you put it all together, i think we'll see better growth later this year and into many next year, and the market will like that as we move through the year. so i continue to like the stock. liz: jessica, clarify why you are bearish on this company when everybody i know -- [laughter] orders from amazon or uses aws. >> yeah. so a couple reasons sparkedded really from a technical perspective. the way that this i look at a stock the really an analyzes security technically from

quarter to quarter, and it hasn't made that base that the rest of the market has, so that tells me that it's lacking. aws missed last quarter, and i expect deceleration again. with the most recent letter to investors, there was an indication of a prorobust pipeline, but pipeline is indicative of future value, not current revenue. and secondly and probably top of mind expect most important is e-commerce. mastercard, i looked at their earnings. mastercard told us that there is absolutely a resilient consumer, but that that resiliency or that more picky consumer, it's still a shift into services and experiences, not goods. so inflation goods are absolutely deteriorating, but a focus on services and experience is where we see that consumer spending, and that's not in amazon's business model. liz: that's interesting, or daniel, because jessica is looking at another company to deduce its sort of if then. if mastercard is seeing people

not spending on actual goods, then perhaps amazon is going to strug until that area. how do you counter that as a bull? >> i think think the results from mastercard and visa suggest that the consumer is in reasonable shape. sure, there's potential for them to the shift away from certain more discretionary items, but i think if we step back and look at what's going on, this longer term secular trend towards electronic commerce, towards the selection, the speed, the delivery, the value, the choice for buyers and, of course, we can't forget about the sellers on the other side. and so this transformation of the economy, i think, will endure and continue even in what is, of course, a difficult environment. liz: well, the environment's been so difficult, jessica, that andy jassy ripped the band-aid off, right? he announced unbelievable job cuts, thousands and thousands of them. i'm not even sure that they're done, but they claim they are. they have cost cut.

hay just shuttered the halo division, fitness tracker division. it looks like they are going around the margins and saying that's got to go, that's not big enough, i've got to cut here, there, everywhere, and doesn't that look like it's getting to be more of a lean, mean machine? >> it does, and that's great. that is helping with profit margins. but when i look at profit mar gins and even the overall earnings picture, you see sales and revenue is deteriorating faster than cost. so i'm going to protect my if profit margins. this isn't a meta story. meta gave us additional revenue based on reels and a.i. integration and, again, that's something that amazon -- perhaps they've surprised us with that, but i just don't see that happening with the focus on consumer goods spending. liz: you know, i'm with you, daniel, when you say that this is the kind of company that is not going away. it was beaten down terribly, but it has come back so much. would you wait for an entry

point? >> i like stock at current levels, liz. and part of what's going on is that amazon is demonstrating that they can both play offense and defense. sure, there's a focus on improving the cost structure. they're going to continue to do that over the course of this year and beyond. but it's really about the innovation, the growth that you have opportunities in high margin areas like advertising. and so when we look out to the balance of this year, into next year and beyond, we see a number of engines, of growth drivers that i think will change how people look at this story, and there'll be increased appreciation even -- depreciation from how the market looks at this. liz: jessica, would you change your opinion if gap with earnings come in better than expected? >> depends on the reasoning why. i would want to pay attention to what they're saying. the a. i. initiative that was announced within that recent

letter to shareholders, that's absolutely welcome, and i think that's innovative and absolutely the future and something that that amazon will certainly be a part of, especially with all the data they have access to. if there is a focus on that and we see a positive revenue based off of those figures, then, yes, that makes sense. however, it's the larger picture where we have a combative fed that is trying to tackle consumer demand -- liz: yeah. >> there's multiple revenue verticals here. liz: it's almost like scale, right? you've got amazon web services, and it's getting pulled down maybe by the consumer business. but we'll know after the bell exactly how amazon stands and what they've been able to do to mitigate problematic issues. khan, jessica, great of you. thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you. >> thank you. liz: okay. 12 minutes before amazon reports. and besides amazon, intel is set to the reveal its quarterly results after the bell.

we will tell you what investors or are expecting from the chipmaker which has just been so embattled over the past year and a half. plus, our countdown closer joins us with her sector pick when it comes to technology. tech's doing beautifully with the nasdaq up 2 the 99 3 points today -- 293 points and the dow jones industrials up a 534. we are coming right back. ♪ ♪ when the davises booked their vrbo vacation home, they didn't know about this view. or the 200-year-old tree in the backyard. or their neighbors down the hill. but one thing they did know is exactly how much they'd pay. because vrbo is different. you see the total price up front.

of course, it's good to leave room for some surprises. boo! ♪ i bought the team! kevin...? i bought the team! i put it on my chase freedom unlimited card. and i'm gonna cashback on a few other things too. starting with the sound system... curry from deep. [autotune] that's caaaaaaaaash. i prefer the old intro! this is much better! i don't think so! steph, one more thing... the team owner gets five minutes a game. cash bros? wooooo, i like it! i'll break it to klay. cashback like a pro with chase freedom unlimited. how do you cashback? chase, make more of what's yours. ♪ ♪ do the work, before the work. bodyarmor lyte. more than a sports drink.

central banks are buying gold at a record pace. . . visit galantas gold >> tech: when you have auto glass damage, trust safelite. we'll replace your windshield,

and recalibrate your advanced safety system. so automatic emergency braking and lane departure warning work properly. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ as a business owner, your bottom line is always top of mind. so start saving by switching to the mobile service designed for small business: comcast business mobile. flexible data plans mean you can get unlimited data or pay by the gig. all on the most reliable 5g network, with no line activation fees or term contracts... saving you up to 75% a year. and it's only available to comcast business internet customers.

so boost your bottom line by switching today. comcast business. powering possibilities™.

♪. liz: there are just not enough houses to satisfy the demand from buyers, yes, still. u.s. pending home sales dropped dramatically in march by 5.2%. this is the first drop in four months. economists, real estate experts are are blaming the drop once again on lack of supply. thin inventories, also rising interest rates. that has been an issue. according to freddie mac, the u.s. 30-year fixed mortgage rate hitting 6.43% this week. that is up from 6.39% the week prior. we're getting news, conventional mortgage face, a new pricing structure monday. the new rule from the federalling finance agency is

facing push back. live to grady trimble on capitol capitol hill what is means for homebuyers. explain the rule. >> reporter: basically means those with good credit score their fees for mortgages will go up come monday if this rule goes into effect. you can understand that is why republican lawmakers are rolling out legislation to roll back that proposed mortgage fee rule, which by the way the biden administration supports. under the rule proposed by the federal housing finance agency, mortgage fees as i said going up for borrowers with good credit scores and larger down payments. fees will go down for most borrowers with lower credit scores and smaller down payments. gop lawmakers make the case the rule penalizes homebuyers who have done the right thing by saving up and -- >> it is nuts. government has no business doing any of this stuff. this biden administration, this equity agenda is completely

upside down. >> this is manipulating the marketplace for a political outcome. it does not make the institutions safe, it is not fair to the american people. >> reporter: republicans also worry that the policy rewards risky borrowing, potentially causing a housing market repeat of 2008. the fhfa director is pushing back, she says in a statement out this week, because of this controversy, to be clear the series of steps taken by fhfa to update fannie mae and freddie mac's pricing framework will bolster safety and soundness. as i mentioned the white house supports this proposal which goes into effect monday but you're not finding a lot ever support even among democrats or those who are in this business. national realtors association as well as the national homebuilders association all say there has got to be a better way industry more equitable as

oppose the, got to be a better way than punishing those as the republicans put it, punishing those who have good credit scores. liz. liz: no, we work hard to get the good credit scores. talk to anybody who held back from the credit card. grady, thank you very. the closing bell is four minutes away. folks, we got lots of green on the screen. the nasdaq turned positive for the week. s&p 500 is positive for april. the big winner eight here, meta. markets are riding high from the report last night. the dow is up 522. the s&p up 78, the nasdaq up 285 but we are getting the core pce. this is the federal reserve's favorite inflation number, but you're looking at intel after the bell as we said, amazon, a bunch of technology. why not go into technology? well that is what our

"countdown" closer is saying. as far as intel is concerned we're looking at a loss. nancy diud private wealth advise for ameriprise fal, 1 1/2 billion dollars in assets under management. you like a subsector, nancy, tech is so huge. you will buy tech. we need to drill down exactly where. >> i think you have to be very cautious. also you have to make sure you're in it for longer term. tech clearly did extremely well if the first quarter and, showed the best results. and it is very exciting because i think that's where longer term, positive outcomes will be but we do have to be very careful with short-term volatility which i think is still very much here. larry: liz: okay but the subsector itself, you say information technology is the place to go. specifically why? >> well because clearly technology is not dead. there is still very much upside,

although you're also seeing much of the job market or where the biggest layoffs are, are in big tech as well. so that could certainly be part of the accounting for better corporate profits but it clearly is innovation and what is coming down the pike. >> health care, you like as well. a lot of people said health care is recession prove. is that how you're looking at that particular sector? >> well it is continuing to do well in this environment although it is showing some signs of pulling back a little bit but again in the near term i think that's a good sector to be in and perhaps the longer term but still in the near term we're sticking with information technology, health care and of course consumer staples. liz:ed fed, next wednesday, we will know the next decision on interest rates. the market widely expecting a 25 basis point tightening.

do you think the fed should stop after that? >> well according to mr. powell he did say that will be the first time after this next hike, that will be the first time he will consider a pause. so i pay very close attention to what he says. he has pretty much done everything he set out to do. so if he is considering the pause, that is going to be dependent on what happens in the market afterwards. liz: tell you what is happening in the markets today, a very big rally. nancy, thank you. markets finishing very solidly in the green. [closing bell] after the bell amazon earnings, intel as well and tomorrow could be a rockin' day in either direction because we are getting the fed's favorite inflation indicator. ♪. larry: hello, folks, welcome to "kudlow," i'm larry kudlow. house speaker kevin mccarthy notched an enormous victory last