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. stuart: good morning, everyone, and welcome to "varney & company." investors, you've got to like in this. the fed raises interest rates, but the market continues to

rally with big tech clearly leading the way. the dow has gone up for 13 if straight sessions. if it goes up again today, it'll be the longest winning streak since 1897, and premarket action shows another gain. gdp of an annual 2.4% in the second quarter. that's a plus for stocks, and it means the economy is again expanding. look at this, the dow up about 80, s&p up 30, but the nasdaq taking off, up over 200 points. why? look at this. meta reports strong advertising revenue and says it will continue, strong revenue will continue. the outlook, good. the stock up a whopping $28, that is 9.5. here's a trend we picked up on yesterday, rising gas prices. don't hear much about this, but they're taking off. the average for regular is now $3.71, up another 3 cents overnight. diesel moving too as oil prices rise, now averaging $3.94. that's up another 2 cents. that's the markets.

politics. oh, do we have a lot to go at. the judge i toulouses out hunter biden's -- judge throws out hunter biden's deal. as of now, hunter has to get a job. he can't use drugs or alcohol, and he can't own a gun. the judge has questions with about the extent of hunter 's immunity to future charges. if she gets into hunter as a foreign agent with his father as vice president, all bents are off. there will be testimony on that from devon archer next week. on the show today, 81 is-year-old mitch mcconnell freezes mid-sentence and is led away by his colleagues. 80-year-old joe biden loses his train and thought and mumbles incoherently with israel's president. generational change appears to be coming to politics. thursday, july 27th, 2023. "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪ ♪

♪ everything falls apart, then i get to try to put it back together ♪ stuart: what's this? everything's falling apart? yes, it is. dog's eye view. an original name for a band, i guess. [laughter] >> one-hit wonder, stu. one-hit wonder. stuart: evidently. let's get to the major political story of the day, the week and maybe the month. hunter biden pleaded not guilty to federal tax charges after his plea deal just fell apart. the judge concluded the hearing by saying, and i'm quoting now: mr. biden, i know you want the get this over with, and i'm sorry, but i need to get more information to do justice as i am required to do. todd piro with me. what more information does she want, and how big a threat does that pose to hunter and the president? >> i'll get to the second question, a big threat. what she is seeking is some form of precedent for what hunter's lawyers proposed which is this novel theory that you can absolve me of a crime before i

either commit it or am accused of said crime. she has constitutional questions about that. you want to know why? because that's not a thing, stuart. you don't get a get out of jail free card. this isn't monopoly. specifically, to boil down, she questioned how the federal government and joe -- and hunter biden's defense team could come to an agreement that he could not be charged on the fara claims when she then went back to hunter's, the doj and said, well, are you investigating, and the doj said, yes. that had her scratch ising her head being with, like, well, if he could still be charged, how can i sign off on something that says he can't? if it doesn't make my sense, you're right, this makes no sense. it's unprecedented. he's in trouble. stuart: so the foreign agent angle could be investigated and probably will be, and there'll be testimony to that event next week from deafen archer. >> i'm going to go a step further -- stuart: that's the threat. >> that is the threat that we know of. but as devon archer testifies

and as you get more information from congress that was put into the count record, there's going to be more. mark my words. stuart: todd, listen to how the white house responds to questions regarding hunter biden. you have got to watch this. roll it. >> i'll repeat this, it's what i said at the top, which is the president loves his son. i appreciate the question, i've been asked this question multiple times, different variations, different can ways, i don't have anything to add. i just don't have anything else to share on this. i would refer you to department of justice. again, this was done independently, and i would refer you to hunter's representatives. as i stated on monday, nothing has changed. nothing has changed on this. stuart: at some point doesn't the white house have to address this? >> from our perspective as journalists, yes. stuart: yes. >> however, if i'm counsel for kjp, for hunter and certainly for joe biden, i tell her you keep dancing. you do not answer a question because you do not want to say anything that could be an

admission if and when this comes back to joe biden. stuart: got it. todd, you're with me for the hour. got it. back to the markets, please. we have a huge gain for meta this morning. [laughter] why -- what's so good about their report late yesterday that investors put that stock up $20 the-30some. lauren: advertising. advertising, period. this is like the rocky balboa climbing the stairs comeback moment for meta after their terrible bet on the meta verse last year. ad revenue up 12% in the quarter, and they forecast it is going to go even higher because of artificial intelligence. it will help them personalize ads, target consumers for those brands. stuart: that's the thing. they look forward to more gains from a.i. that's it. lauren: let me tell you just one thing. treads, obviously, first five days very successful, then it started to slow down. they're not i trying to -- there's no ads on threads. they're not monetizing it yet. but mark zucker bloomberg is

open -- zuckerberg is open to that, so there are so many catalysts for the future how they can make money off of you and what you do. we're talking revenue of $32 billion, stock is up 9, almost 10%. stuart: we'll take that. that's meta, growing strong. angelo zino is a tech analyst, he covers meta. welcome back to the show. tell me, meta is at 327 now, what's your target price for meta? >> yeah. so thanks for having me. so our 12-month target price is $350. clearly the move this morning has gotten us a lot closer to that target price. but that being said, i mean, there are plenty of opportunities ahead for this company. and given what we've seen here over the last kind of couple of quarters and what we expect here in q3, and that is really the acceleration now that we're seeing in the ad spend anding landscape -- spending landscape, we're looking at about 2-3% growth in q1, accelerated to

11-12% in q2. we'll be closer to 19-20% growth in q3, so that acceleration is happening much quicker than we anticipated and the street anticipated, and that's why you're seeing the gains in the stock premarket. stuart: just straight then me out on this one. on the call looking to the future, they're suggesting that a.i. will significantly improve their returns on their platform? if they're putting their faith in a.i.? >> yep, absolutely. i mean, we do view meta as a potential a.i. winner out there among some of the other big cap nameses out there. but when we kind of think about meta specifically and their opportunity as it relates to a.i., we really see two big opportunities out there. and i'd say, you know, the first is more kind of just improving kind of the rankings, recommendations on their existing ecosystem across real speed, stuff like that. and and that's something that's been going on for a couple of quarters now. but some of these enhancements

that they've made are going to even further improve, you know, some of those kind of recommendations and rankings and, thus, potentially lead to significantly higher revenue potential on that side of things. and then the second opportunity is for more emerging a.i. opportunities have via opportunities through a.i. agents among other things, and that's more of a longer term opportunity, 3-5 years down the road. stuart: okay. let's see, by the end of the -- next 12 months, meta hits 355. angelo, thanks for being with us. see you again soon, i hope. >> great. stuart: adam is with us, adam johnson, yeah, do you realize i just forgot your last namesome. >> well, stuart, you've got a lot of people coming on the show. stuart: it was a senior moment, i just know it. [laughter] >> stu, i forget my kids' names every single day they're in front of me -- stuart: don't try to be nice to me. lauren: what's his name? stuart: piro, todd.

lauren: do you still know my name? stuart: lauren. [laughter] lauren: no senior moments. stuart: big tech rally this morning, are we off to the races again? >> i guess everyone's become an a.i. company, and, yes, everyone is off to the races. angelo talking about meta, facebook, whatever you want the call it. i would say it's about monetization. that's the story, no longer the metaverse. and everyone has figured out the best way to to monetize is to customize, and you customize by using artificial intelligence. if you want to connect the dots, that's where it's going. stuart: 2.4% growth in the economy on an annualized basis, this economy's going places. >> yes, it certainly is. stuart: is that good for stocks? >> oh, it's great for stocks. it's why a company like meta went from $82 less than a year ago, right, to 350 today. microsoft got knocked down 15%. look at it now. google got knocked down 30%,

amazon got knocked down 50%. apple? no, apple just keeps going up. but with this is where the growth is. and this is very exciting. and now, finally, not only do we have an economy that's actually growing, we actually have people starting to realize, oh, my gosh, the economy really is growing. and they're been sitting in cash. or the professionals have been short. and in each case whether you're sitting in cash, you got to put money to work. the train has left the station and i'm not on it, oh, my gosh. or you're a professional trader, and is you're saying i can't afford to be short anymore. there's additional buying in each case. stuart: i like that, adam johnson. thanks a lot. appreciate it. we also received the latest read on the economy. go through that again, please, 2 2.4? lauren: in the spring, yeah. the economy expanded at a remarkable 2.4% pace. consumer spending did pull back a little bit, but it still expanded 1.6. the consumer is chang -- hanging on and so are businesses.

i looked at business spending, up almost 5%. what are they spending on? all sorts of things. equipment sales up 10.8% in the quarter. so what is the bottom line here? the economy's resilient in the face of 5.25% rates, a 22-year high. can the fed have its cake and eat it too? are we going to be okay? stuart: i sure don't see any recession. lauren: and neither does the fed. stuart: thanks, lauren. check those futures again. you'll like what you see. dow up about 90, nasdaq up over 200 points. coming up, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell gave his are republican colleagues a scare. watch this. >> good bipartisan cooperation and a string of -- [inaudible conversations] stuart: well, that is raising questions about the 81-year-old's, the minority leader in the senate, there were

questions about his continuing in that position at some point. and there's this, hunter's plea deal collapsed. our next guest was in the courtroom as it happened. he's going to tell us how it all went down. very interesting stuff. we'll be back. ♪ ♪ my life is falling to pieces, somebody put me together ♪ ♪ ♪ 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? ♪ ♪

this is american infrastructure, a prime target for cyberattacks. but the same ai-powered security that protects all of google also defends these services for everyone who lives here. ♪ 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.

that's why comcast business de is launching theal. mobile made free event. with our business internet, new and existing customers can get one year of unlimited mobile for free. it's our best internet. powered by the next generation 10g network and with 99.9% reliability. plus one line of free mobile for an entire year. it's the mobile made free event-happening now. get started for just $39 a month. plus, ask how to get one free line of unlimited mobile. comcast business, powering possibilities.

♪ ♪ i'm going down in flames ♪ stuart: well, well, well, we're playing going down in flames, and is we're looking at rehoboth beach which is president biden's summer beach house place.

it's in delaware. and i should also tell you that it's 85 degrees right there. interesting combination of music and location there, producers. watch out. [laughter] hunter biden's plea deal has collapse. we know that now. prosecutors say he's still under investigation. lucas tomlinson has more from the white house. all right, lucas, now what? >> reporter: well, stuart, this was supposed to be just a 5-minute pro forma, quick in and out deal, and instead this hearing lasted over 3 hours. the whole deal began to unravel when the judge asked a very simple question of the prosecution, is the president's son still urn criminal investigation, and the prosecutor said, yes. the judge replied, quote, i have confirmed -- i have concerns about the agreement. i can't let him plea to something if he thinks he has protection from manager and he doesn't. now, here at the white house katrina jean-pierre said the -- karine jean-pierre said the following: >> hunter biden is a private citizen, and this was a personal matter for him. as we have said, the president,

the first lady, they love harrison and they support him ay support him as he continues to rebuild his life. >> reporter: so hunter's plea deal is not over. hunter switched his plea to not guilty which was not the plan walking into the courtroom. he can still change that back to a guilty plea when both parties return for a follow-up court date on august 25th. the judge assigned some homework for both parties before that court date. here are the conditions hunter must follow: the judge says he must, quote, look for a job, not possess weapons, not use alcohol , not use narcotics, submit to testing for prohibited substances. the republican house majority leader weighed in during the last hour. >> it was a bombshell, but it was also a signal from the judge, and i applaud the judge, that there is something that stinks in this plea agreement. >> reporter: now, stuart, this is a sticking point here, of

course, immunity, are any other charges coming to the president's son including registering as a foreign agent. of course, hunter biden was a well-compensated board member of that giant ukrainian energy if company, and there's a sports analogy here, stuart, that's why in balling you play to the last out. that certainly is the case in that delaware courtroom, stuart. stuart: got that right. lucas, thank you very much, indeed. that's the hunter biden angle. now let's turn to the impeachment issue. democrats say there is no evidence to justify an impeachment inquiry into president biden. watch this. >> reporter: i just want to know if you would support an impeachment inquiry looking into president biden's possible involvement in his son hunter's business? >> no. and, again, i'm running to vote, so -- >> why would we want to impeach him when there's no -- >> reporter: why don't democrats seem to care about my of this evidence that has come out suggesting that he might have been involved? >> there's no real evidence. >> reporter: wouldn't an inquiry help democrats get that evidence you say you don't have

at this time? >> it's not that democrats don't have evidence, it's that republicans want to do an impeachment9 without evidence. that's the problem. stuart: okay. i suggest that if there is an impeachment inquiry, then you'll get the evidence because they're looking for stuff that's not yet been revealed. it's an inquiry. that openses up the doors. >> great point. it is not an impeachment at the outset, it is an inquiry. you will get evidence. but i will counter what you said and say based upon the lay of the land as we have it now, there is evidence. there are connections. and just wait until if monday when devon archer testifies. those connections connecting what hunter did with joe biden are expected to become much stronger. i think then little by little the impeachment calls in d.c. will grow. stuart: just relate me bring this up, supposing he is classified as a foreign agent. he did sit on the board of burisma, which is a foreign company and he's american, son of the vice president.

it is classified as a foreign agent. he happens to be living in the white house as we speak. a foreign agent living with the president of the united states in the white house in washington d.c. can you imagine a headline like that? it might happen. lauren: heading into the high point of campaign season. this drags into the biden campaign for president. and it's more than a distraction, it's a new talking point. stuart: it is. now, look at "the view." we always go to "the view" to see what they're saying about things. roll it. what's whoopi goldberg saying? >> what bribery scam? if i'm sorry, i'm -- it's always, it's so different every day. i mean, you know, they're either freaking out about barbie -- [laughter] or heir upset about, you know -- they're upset about budweiser beer -- >> just bud light. >> bud light, okay. now -- that's right, you don't want the wrong thing to get out. what is really happening here? how much punishment does biden need because he won and they

lost? >> well, that's the problem. stuart: just making light are of this thing. lauren: completely dismissive that this could be potential corruption, pay to play. and they did do it to trump. trump went through all of this because he won and hillary lost. you didn't hear it in that bite, but sunny hostin basically threw a pity party for joe biden. she feels bad for him that they're weaponizing hunter against joe. stuart: some passion on the set this morning. >> such a false equivalence, equating the backlash with bud light to potentially selling out our nation. stuart: it's called desperation. look at future, please, we're going to get more into the markets momentarily. dow's up 90, nasdaq's roaring ahead, over 220 points higher. the opening bell is next. ♪ ♪

thinkorswim® by td ameritrade is more than a trading platform. it's an entire trading experience. with innovation that lets you customize interfaces, charts and orders to your style of trading. personalized education to expand your perspective. and a dedicated trade desk of expert-level support. that will push you to be even better. and just might change how you trade—forever. because once you experience thinkorswim® by td ameritrade ♪ there's no going back.

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. stuart: all right, check those futures. dow up 50 # -- look at the nasdaq, up over 200 points. ben is a microsoft analyst who previously ghei us a target price for -- gave us a target price of $420.

all right, justify that after the selloff the other day. is it going to go to 420? [no audio] ben, can you hear me? i think the video froze. is he back? hey, ben, justify -- >> hi. stuart: justify a price on microsoft of $4202. that's your -- 420. that's your call, tell me how we get there. >> 430. well, we think that as we go through the year this year, you'll see a.i. get into the model more. we think there is up to 60 cents of upside just from pricing with regard to these a.i. co-pilots as we go through, throughout the next year and a half or so. we should be able to, as we get to the end of this calendar year, start to see the co-pilot that they announced get into the models of wall street and some more excitement around a.i. stock sold off a little on high

expectations. stuart: what you're talking about here is the application of a.i. through microsoft for business. >> that's right. stuart: what do they pay, $2020-30 a month or something like that -- 20 the-30 a month? that's not been fully monetized yet, has it? >> not at all. and these are come into the model throughout the year and next. and we'll see what the adoption is like. but i think it'll be a meaningful percentage because the product's really excellent especially for the 365 co-pilot that they just announced. stuart: what about the cloud? that was, a lack of growth in the cloud or a lack of future growth, that was the reason given for the selloff in microsoft the other day. how do you address that? >> well, they still grew 26% or so. maybe the whisper numbers were a few points higher than that, but i think cloud reaccelerates as more folks use their platform to run their a.i. models. and i think that they have some of the best services and a lot of the best mind hair right now

among not just start-ups, but real enterprises, real established companies that are going to be putting a a.i. into their businessed models more and more as we go out into the future. right now there's a start up-up land grab, real companies that are established that have been around forever are still evaluating their strategies, and microsoft's in the pole position to get their workloads into their cloud. stuart: we like to hear that, especially myself who has a little piece of microsoft. ben, great to have you on the show. come back soon. we'll check up on that $430 target price for microsoft. thank you, ben. all right, the opening bell is about to ring, and i think we're going to see a very solid gain for the nasdaq composite. right-hand side of the screen, that's the nasdaq markets. you'll see the guy press the button, and off we go. and i do believe we're going to be straight up there, maybe 200 points higher for the dow industrials within a couple of seconds. let's see. first of all, have they pressed the button? press it, ladies, please. thank you. i think he did.

we're off, we're running, the dow has opened with a gain of 72 points. most of the dow stocks have opened, most of them are higher. that is a rally on the new york stock exchange. the s&p 500 also opening higher to the tune of nearly three-quarters of 1%, and look at that level, 4,600 on the s&p. the nasdaq, i'm waiting for this one. you're up 1 is.33% -- 1.3%, a

y salad rally. 14,3 is your level. this is what i want to to look at, big tech. meta is now up $5. amazon or nearly 3. alphabet, nearly 2. apple is at $196, and microsoft, the laggard amongst the big tech this morning, 340 #.

microsoft faces a fresh challenge from the european union. yeah, it's not going up like the rest of big tech. what's the challenge? lauren: yeah. the e.u. opened an antitrust investigation into their bundling of their teams app for video conferencing into their office software. so essentially, that doesn't give customers a choice. you kind of have to get it, it's built in. and it infers that microsoft is giving their product a competitive advantage and not giving consumers a choice. i know with their acquisition of activision blizzard they've been in the crosshairs, but it's the newer tech companies like meta and amazon gets all the attention where microsoft got it back in the '# 90s. stuart: all they want is our money. why don't they just go out and do it themselves? of course, they never do. i'm on my high horse. [laughter] let's look at meta. lauren yes. stuart: still in with a huge gain, only up $23, 8%? lauren: only in this stock is up

158% this year. it's about a.i., the monetization of it to better target consumers for advertisers across all of their brands including reels, that's the tiktok competitor, the videos. i've not to give you a negative though. remember the metaverse bet last year in it's a big disappointment. it's housed in the reality labs unit. and they reported another loss of 3.7 billion in the quarter and lower sales. so there's your negative -- stuart: they lost $3.7 billion in meta -- on meta in 12 weeks. chipotle are, i'm pretty sure they're straight down. whoa, 7% down. what's the trouble? lauren: they stopped raising prices, and that pushed their revenue down to $2.a 5 billion. -- 2.5 billion. hair prices keep going up, they're just not passing it along. and wells fargo in a note says they're really worried about rising beef prices, higher avocado prices.

that will pinch margins in the second half of the year if they don't get aggressive with price hikes. and that's why, remember, we did the robotic avocado peel per at chipotle and they have special grills, that's why they're investing in technology, to save money in the long run are. stuart: as i recall, i vetoed that story saying i wasn't interested -- lauren: i think i prepared it, and i think you said i don't like it, all your work, i'm dismissing it, lauren. i think that's what happened. stuart: i did that. let's move on. mcdonnell's, i know they -- mcdonald's, i know they reported. what's up? lauren: cheap meat, that's attractive with high inflation -- stuart: cheap meat, that's the last thing mcdonald's wants to hear you describe -- lauren: affordable burgers and delicious fries that are also affordable. [laughter] let me give their prices. i mean, all the kids are talking about the purple milk shake. are have you guys heard about this? >> heard about this. lauren: have you had one?

>> no. lauren: it's based on one of their characters in their ads, it's being talked about on the social media channels -- >> when i hop in the drive through, i just say no purple shake, give me the cheap meat, i'm moving on. [laughter] lauren: seam-store -- same-store sales up 10%, so i am surprised mcdonald's stock is not moving higher. stuart: that is big. in my opinion, that that is big. moving on, bristol-myers, they're down 2.5%. lauren: -- competition for key medications like their blood cancer treatment and their blood thinner. they also expect their full-year revenue to fall as a result, so their outlook, not positive. stuart: southwest airlines. lauren: you know, record revenue in the quarter, just over $7 billion. record revenue. travel boom. why is the stock down 8.5 percent? if there's the one metric, we spoke about this, it's called revenue per available seat mile.

they think it's going to fall in the third quarter. so this travel boom, yeah, it's still a boom, but it's slowing down. and when you're looking at a company like southwest, our largest domestic carrier, maybe they're going to suffer a little bit. they can't bring in as much money. they're paying more in labor. think of all the strikes by pilots, the flight attendants and the kansas cost of jet fuel. -- cost of jet fuel. stuart: jet fuel is going up. oil is up, gasoline has gone up 12 cents in a week, i have to believe jet fuel is up as well. probably we'll see the oil companies go up today because i think $79 for oil as we speak. oh, bud light, catastrophic sales. are they a laying people off? lauren: less than 2% of their roughly 19,000 u.s. workers, so around 300 corporate staff. this will not affect the breweries, the drivers, the field sales. their overall -- their bud light sales have been down substantially since dylan mulvaney transgender controversy, but they're down in

stores and at the bars and restaurants and the stadiums. that's a loss of market share. we'll know more about how they plan to recover when they report earnings next week. stuart: i'd love to know what heir going to do eventually with bud light. ebay. i saw their report, i thought it was pretty good, why are they down -- lauren: they're spending future money. i don't know, do -- too much money. collectibles, that's a huge market for them, and then they're spending money for what's called authentication so you know you're getting a legit product. so all of that spending is why they forecast current quarter profit below expectations. when the forecast isn't rosy, when you spend too much money, your stock goes down. stuart: i know why boeing is looking good. lauren: tell me. stuart: because rtx has a problem with the jet engines they build and which they sell to air bus industries. lauren: yes. stuart: so boeing looks good because there's an engine problem -- lauren: with a competitor. and they got an upgrade by bank

of america, and they forecast shares could rise to $300 #. i'm just looking into this report now. they believe the 787, which is a wide-bodied plane of choice, it will hold its market share of that market. and they just see demand continuing. stuart: i remember buying boeing at $3000 a share. lauren: oh, sorrily -- 300. [laughter] stuart: it dropped all the way down to 85, i sold it. of course it's bouncing back. check the big with board with, please. we've been in business for 7 minutes -- you were speechless for the -- lauren: no, the purple milk shake. stuart: dow winners, top of that list is salesforce again, mcdonald's now doing well. intel's up there. apple, 196. cisco systems on the list. s&p 500, lam, meta, gotta get that one in. nasdaq composite --

lauren: align. stuart: i don't see the big names up there. what's microsoft? lauren: meta's on there. stuart: thank you very much, indeed. he can see, i can't. [laughter] do you remember the tv show the newsroom? roll tape. >> what makes america the greatest country in the world? >> well, diversity can and opportunity and freedom and freedom. >> you don't look satisfied. it's not the greatest country in the world, professor. that's my answer. stuart: whoa. definitely silence there. well, a lot of people agree with that. american patriotism fell to a new low amongst youngsters. only 18% say they're extremely proud to be american. new york city prepares for its first official heat wave of the summer. fox weather says this could be the hottest week of the year. we have a report on that for you next. ♪ girl, i'm gonna make you sweat. ♪ sweat til you can't sweat no

more. ♪ and if you cry out, i'm going to push it, push it some more ♪ i was told my small business wouldn't qualify for an erc tax refund. you should get a second opinion from innovation refunds at no upfront cost. sometimes you need a second opinion. [coughs] good to go. yeah, i think i'll get a second opinion. all these walls gotta go! ah ah ah! i'd love a second opinion. no. i'm going to get a second opinion. with innovation refunds, there's no upfront cost to find out. so why not check like i did for my small business? take the first step to see if your small business qualifies for the erc.

stuart: see plenty of green, especially on the nasdaq, up 200 points. dow industrials up 74, s&p up 37. across the board stocks are up. the extreme heat wave in the south heading up the eastern seaboard. uh-oh. janice dean with us this morning. hey, janice, how high are temperatures going to get? janice: yeah. we're going to be into the 90s, stuart. 96. but with the humidity, it's going to feel over 100 degrees. right now in new york city we're at 80, and with the humidity you're at # 9%, so it makes it hard for our bodies to naturally cool off, and that's why we say you have to the take care of the you would orally and your kids and make sure your -- elderly and your kids and make sure pets are inside. excessive heat warning for the

new york city area, that has not been in place for two years. and that means, you know, we've got consistent days of heat and humidity when it feels like9 with the heat index is 102 for new york and then 10 is 6 in washington d.c. 91 in boston for tomorrow and then look at richmond, 108. 98 in new york for saturday. this is going to be short-lived, so three days of extreme heat and humidity for the northeast and then things cool off back to more seasonal temperatures. but, you know, folks in the southwest and the southern plains, it has been relentless for them, so we don't have a lot to complain about. officials here in the new york city area are making sure that cooling centers are open, we have hundreds of them open today. the pools, the local pools are going to be extended so kids can cool off. so 102 for today, 100 for friday. and if also want to make mention, stuart, that with the humidity we've got an area of low pressure to the west of us, that's going to spark thunderstorms. we could tail see some severe weather along the the i-95

corridor. so not only the heat, but the potential for hail, damaging winds, isolated tornadoes and heavy rain. that's going to bring the temperatures back down a little bit for a short length of time, but then tomorrow and into saturday, back into the heat and the humidity. but again, the good muse is short-lived. -- good news is short-lived. new york city officials anyway are taking all the precautions. people are urged to stay inside in the air conditioner. there's the forecast highs for today. 95 here in new york but, stuart, we have been watching the the heat across the southwest and the southern plains. phoenix, arizona, weeks and weeks of 110 degrees plus. so again, for the northeast and the new york city area, nothing to complain about because this is the our first major with heat wave. it's t only going to to last for three days and then back to more seasonal temperatures. back to you. stuart: i'll make sure to complain if it goes to 105, and we'll see about that. janice, thank you very much, indeed. we consider ourself warned. thank you. look at these headlines.

they're all about the heat around the world. they focus on climate change. "the new york times," 101 crees -- degrees ocean, florida temperature. the economist, climate change is speeding up. "the new york times", a grim climate lesson from the canadian wildfires. stephen moore, come on in, please. the media is full of extreme weather muse. what's your take on -- weather news. what's your take on this? >> stuart, i was just listening to that weather forecast, and right now i'm in florida. you know, it's amazing, it's cooler in florida right now than it is in new york city. [laughter] how often does that happen? look, the point i was making in my column that you were referring the is, yes, this has been an incredibly hot summer, one of the hottest summers we've seen in a long, long time. but we have very, very hot summers in the 1930s, probably hotter than the ones we're seeing now. and, by the way, that was before 90% of the carbon was released into the atmosphere. so what caused that heat situation? the other thing is that i find

almost comical is that, a lot of those newspapers that you just had on your screen are making the case that this is not just the hottest summer in 100 years or even 1,000 years, they're saying it's the hottest summer in 100,000 years. stuart, do you actually think they had therm sates back in 90,000b.c.? how ridiculous is that claim? stuart: i think what a we're looking for is an explanation of why we do have extreme we've. ate may not -- it may not be as hot as it was in 1930, i don't know about that, but we need some explanation for what's going on. the left says it's climate change. what do conservatives say? >> well, look, i mean, the climate has been changing as long as this has been a planet, so there's no question that the climate is changing. stuart: is it speeding up? >> the point that i -- well, you know, maybe a little bit, but here's the thing that i think is really important that people

need to realize. did you know that fewer people around the world as a percentage of the population die today from extreme weather than at any other time in the history of the world? and why is that, stuart? well, because we have something called electricity. electric power. and what does that give us? that that gives us heat in the winter, and it gives us air-conditioning in the summer. it gives us refrigeration. it gives us transportation so we can leave places that are excessively hot and cold. so innovation and the free market system is -- now, why do i say that? because what the left's saying is, hey, the way we're going to deal with climate change is take away people's electric power. well, you know, they're talking about having blackouts and brownouts in many places because we don't have electric power. i guarantee you a lot more people will die from that than will die from climate change. stuart: all right. i'm going to have to leave it are there, steve. i'm totally out of time.

interesting debate, and i think we should pursue it. stephen, thank you very much, indeed. >> stay cool. stay cool, my friend. stuart: guaranteed. all right, i sense -- coming up, i sense the country, our country, wants a new generation to take political power. there's frustration. the current leadership is bogged down with legal challenges and scandal, not to mention the problem of age. that will be my take coming at you at the top of the hour. ♪ does it ever drive you crazy -- ♪ just how fast the night changes? ♪ everything that you've ever dreamed of ♪ -dad, what's with your toenail? -oh, that...? i'm not sure... -it's a nail fungus infection. -...that's gross! -it's nothing, really... -it's contagious. you can even spread it to other people.

-mom, come here! -don't worry about it. it'll go away on its own! -no, it won't go away on its own. it's an infection. you need a prescription. nail fungus is a contagious infection. at the first signs, show it to your doctor... ... and ask if jublia is right for you. jublia is a prescription medicine used to treat toenail fungus. its most common side effects include ingrown toenail, application site redness... ... itching, swelling, burning or stinging, blisters and pain. jublia is recognized by the apma. most commercially insured patients may pay as little as $0 copay. go to jubliarx.com now to get started. this is american infrastructure. megawatts of power, rails and open road, and essential services of every kind. all running on countless invisible networks, making it a prime target for cyberattacks. but the same ai-powered security that protects all of google also defends the systems running america's infrastructure. for these services. for the 336 million of us living here. ♪

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 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.

stuart: yes, the federal reserve did, indeed, hike interest rates again. question is, is this just one and done? edward lawrence at the white house. is jay powell's rate hike campaign over? >> reporter: i wish i knew for sure. now, he says he could go again in september or not, but maybe the gdp number coming in a little hotter than expected might push towards a yes. there might be an increase, we'll have to see. but inflation is the word of the year in economic circles. inflation has hurt the president's poll numbers, hurting across the board. inflation forcing the federal reserve there into its is 11th rate hike of this cycle. jay powell believes inflation

will not hit the fed's target until 2025, and a possible nod to the fact that rates will remain higher through all of next year. listen to this. >> core inflation's still pretty el elevated, you know? there's reason to think it can come down, but it's still quite elevated, and so we think we need to stay on task and certainly hold policy at a restrictive level for some time. and we need to be prepared to raise further if that, if we think that's appropriate. >> reporter: so in an exclusive interview this morning with mornings with maria, the chairman and ceo of bank of america said we see a recession, but the strength of consumer spending has pushed it off until next year. >> so we look at the consumers in july, they're spending about 5% more than they spent last year in july so far through the 24th. if you look at that 232-21, that was 9. so the consumer spending's slowing down, and it's more in line with a lower growth, low inflation economy. that's why you're seeing the inflation start to tip over.

>> reporter: he thinks inflation is coming down because people have slowed spending a little bit as interest rates move up. one point on interest rates, stu, this is the highest several since march of 2021, the same year that both michael jackson and queen were inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame. back to you. stuart: thanks very much, edward. still ahead, ben domenech on hunter's failed plea deal. dr. ben carson takes on a report that says black people need safe spaces in order to enjoy outdoor act divot -- activities. good lord. south dakota senator john thune, and chris or if rue foe on governor desantis defending florida's new school curriculum. my thanks to todd for being here for the hour. we'll be back. ♪ something in the way you move. ♪ something in the way you do it. ♪ something in the way you move, oh ♪

.. i did have hearing aids from another company... i was just frustrated... i almost gave up. with miracle ear it's all about service. they're personable... they're friendly. i'm very happy with them. we provide you with a free lifetime of aftercare. meaning free checkups, cleanings, and adjustments.

i see someone new... someone happy... it's really made a difference. call miracle ear at 1-800-miracle and schedule your free, no obligation hearing evaluation today.

♪ stuart: this is for you,

lauren. a little elvis. 1950s. good morning. 10:00 eastern. to the money please. the dow comes to 100 points. s&p up 36. that is 0.7%. the nasdaqin