maria: welcome back. make sure you tune in toking fox business in this around, coverage beginning at 1 p.m. eastern before the fed, and we'll get you full analysis when it drops at 2 p.m. eastern. fed decision day, take a look at where we stand, dow up 50 points, the nasdaq and the s&p 500 higher as well. real quick final thoughts, adam johnson to. >> the fed is cutting rights -- rates, thank goodness. maria: ellie in. >> does mike johnson have the votes for -- maria: we're all going to be watching. thank you so much for being here. stay with fox business. "varney & company" picks it up now. stu, take it away. stuart: good morning, maria. good morning, everyone. yes, it is decision day on interest rates. does the fed cut by a quarter point or a half point. we'll find out this afternoon.

s a very big deal because after four years we are starting a new era where the cost of borrowing money is going down. the markets are excited, stocks rallies to new highs -- rallying the new highs across the board. dow up 50, s&p up 9, nasdaq up 53. little change for treasury yields. we've got 3.68 now on the 10-year treasury, that yield's rising. we heard about 3.63 on the 2-year. bitcoin holding at $a 59,000 and change, 59,9. gold right around -- okay, let's do oil, i'll do that. $70 per barrel right now. gold up there right around its all-time high, at $2, 6003 per -- 2,603 per ounce. there is a lot happening in politics. a blockbuster from donald trump. he wants to restore the tax deduction for state and local taxes. this will be popular in states like new york, new jersey and california. is he making a play for those states? tonight he addresses a massive

crowd just outside new york city, restoring the deduction will be very popular with long-suffering new yorkers: yes, it's vote buying, but it may be effective. kamala harris again dodges questions and puts out a lot of disinformation. she was interviewed by the extremely friendly black journalists' association, softball questions, no follow-ups. she pallsly blamed trump for -- falsely blamed trump for high unemployment. when asked what she would do for the economy, she fell back on the old standby, i'm a middle class kid. the stunning attacks on hezbollah's leaders. a brilliant advance in electronic war far likely -- likely engineered by israel. sending a message, terrorists are not safe anywhere, anytime. this is wednesday, september 18th, 2024. "varney & company" is about to begin. ♪ ♪

♪ stuart: our price are explaining this, let's go dancing, because kamala harris is tap dancing around the issue. producers, i'm sorry, that's a little bit of a stretch. but, hey, you try. sixth avenue on a cloudy day. gonna start with politics. kamala harris in front of a fawning panel of black journalists could not outline even the simplest of policies. we do not know where she stands with less hansen weeks til the election -- less than seven weeks til the election. >> a question that has been asked of you and everybody that's on the democratic side is whether or not voters are better off now than they were four years ago. are they better off now than they were four years ago? >> four years ago when we came in, we came in during the worst

unemployment sense the great depression -- since the great depression, during the worst public health epidemic in centuries. we came in after the worst attack on our democracy since the civil war. and a lot of it due in the large part to the mismanagement by the former president. if. stuart: oh, boy, oh, boy. mary katharine ham joins me now. she's blaming trump for her own incompetence. have at it, please. >> you know what? if just memorize an answer, madam vice president. she doesn't get a lot of questions, so i understand she doesn't get practice on this, but this is a pretty important one, and she keeps getting caught flat footed, right? i'm a middle class kid does not answer the question. the reason she's not answering the question is, a, she doesn't really have the skills for but, b, the the answer is, no, people aren't better off than they were

four years ago. and she's right about the pandemic being part of the story, but the pandemic hit in 2020 when trump was president. and by the time they took over, inflation was still low. the thing that people are feeling in their lives that bothers them is that prices are so much higher for the goods they need on a regular basis to the feed their families, buy clothes for their families, to get school supplies for their families. they caused the inflation by dumping trillions into the economy when they shouldn't have. some reporting suggests she wanted to dump even more n. i think she wants to dump even more in again if she aches office. so she will -- if she takes office. she can't admit the hurt that people are feeling. stuart: i want you to listen to the white house once again calling trump a threat to democracy. >> so you're saying that the president and vice president believe that former president donald trump should be toning down his rhetoric? >> so i'll say this, president

biden has been clear-eyed about the threat that the former president represents to our democracy. >> how many more assassination attempts on donald trump until the president and the vice president and you pick a different word to describe trump other than threat? >> i actually completely disagree with the premise of your question. the question that you're asking. it is the also incredibly dangerous in the way that you're asking it because american people are watching. stuart: mary katherine, that kind of rhetoric is just not helping, is it? >> well, this is classic democratic theory on rhetoric, which is everything they say is fine and not dangerous, and, in fact, laudable and true, and everything that anyone right of center says is bad and dangerous and causing violence or is violence in and of itself, right? our words are violence, their violence is just fine because they can riot in the streets because that's revolutionary and good. sos this is, like, you can see her turn on a dime, right? sometimes relate rhetoric

matters when you say it, doocy, it's dangerous. when we do it, it's just the truth. the fact is we shouldn't chill people's speech by saying we're going to to blame any nutcase who does a shooting on their political speech, but these are the turn down the temperature people. they lecture the rest of us all the time. and when trump has been the target two times in two months, all they can say is, wow, he should really behave better. and, by the way, kamala harris' answer on the at the nabj gathering when she's asked about vet service coverage is nearly sews yo path inin the -- so much owe patrick in the way she doesn't bemoan the fact that we're here, she doesn't say that that's a threat to democracy which it actually is, she just bypasses it and said she feels safe. it is an appalling reaction to this. stuart: mary katherine, i think you got it dead right. come back soon. thanks very much. tulsi gabbard spoke about the possibility of joining a

trump administration. what did she have to the say, lauren? lauren: she told fox news digital she would be honored to the join that administration. >> if given the opportunity to serve in a trump administration, i'd be honored to serve in a position where i feel i could make the most if impact -- most impact in these areas of national security and foreign policy and work to bring about the changes that president trump talks about. lauren: she aligns with trump and that, of course, is her sweet spot, foreign policy. she wants to end the war in ukraine. she also said she fears a president harris would feel the need the prove her toughness on the world stage and that would push us further into war. stuart: but she would be a woman in the trump administration, and that's important. lauren: yeah, for some. stuart: all right. thanks, lauren. check those markets, please. a few minutes to go before we open up, but the dow's up 40 and the nasdaq's up 48. this is premarket action. mark tepper with me the morning. if we don't get 50 basis points

as a cut this afternoon, will the market sell off in. >> look, yeah. i think if we don't get 50 basis points, the market -- investors would initially throw a tantrum, the market would sell off. however, i do think the bull market would stay intact if it's a 25 basis point cut. if you look at the 2-year treasury, that would indicate that the fed's about 175 basis points behind. so the argument for a larger cut is there. however, when you look at the data, the data's been a mixed bag. we saw a slight uptick in inflation, economic data, growth has been, i guess, more resilient than recessionary. so i think the 50 basis point cut, you know, what that would do is investors would celebrate it and eventually have a bad hangover. i think it would call a selloff eventually. stuart: you've been rather cool about the rally. are you onboard with it now? >> we're defensive. we are tilted more towards defensive sectors. if you go back through history, the best performing sectors after the the first rate cut are

consumer staples, utilities, health care. so we want to make shower that we're still invested -- make sure that we're still invested but we're prepared for a steep selloff over the course of the next 12 months. stuart: it has been an extraordinary rally, isn't it? new highs daily. >> it is. and there's a chance it stays intact if the fed is able to thread that needle and softly land this thing. stuart: big decision -- sorry, lauren. lauren: the s&p 500 closed yesterday at the exact same level it closed on august 24th when jay powell spoke in jackson hole. so this has been the road to, essentially, nowhere. all this chant -- chatter about what the fed if will do at this meeting, 25 or 50, and arguably we're in the same place it started. it might not matter that much. stuart: what happens, mark tepper, if there's no if rate cut? >> oh, my god, a huge selloff. [laughter] investors are getting on it -- betting on it. there's over a 60% chance of a 50 basis point cut. if there's no cut, the market, i

think a 10% correction is certainly possible. stuart: the socialists want a 75 basis point cut. >> and like i said, the 2-year treasury's indicating we're 175 basis points behind but, still, i think that's too aggressive -- stuart: could it be the socialists got it right? >> no. [laughter] lauren: 25 the with dovish commentary. stuart: that would work for me. a reminder, please, we'll be covering the fed's highly anticipated decision day today 1-4 p.m., fox business, with no commercial breaks. coming up, trump has a vision for the economy, lower taxes and reduced government spending. he's tapping elon musk to head up that the effort. is that how we finally cut spending? we'll ask liz peek. when asked about her plan to the improve the economy, kamala harris has one answer -- >> so i was raised as a middle class kid. i grew up a middle class kid. i grew up a middle class kid.

stuart: that is, by the way, not a plan. kevin o'leary, mr. wonderful, is next. ♪ finish. ♪ the world keeps spinning around and around. ♪ this is the where it all goes down, down, down. ♪ that's why i love this town ♪ daughter: what are you doing? dad: i'm gonna clean the fence. daughter: it's a lot of fence. dad: you wanna help me? dad: aim at the wall, but get closer. daughter: (gasps) what the?! daughter: alright. dad: side to side. when you work with someone who knows a lot and cares even more... you can do this. ...you're unstoppable. (♪) wow... are you kidding me? you can do this. at truist, we believe the same is true for banking. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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stuart: it is decision day at the fed, and the premarket action implies a very modest gain. that could change, of course, when we get the decision, but right now dow up 50, nasdaq up 55. when asked hadn't aero-- about her agenda, kamala harris continues to furb an opportunity economy. hillary vaughn with us this morning. hillary, whatever her agenda is, she's going to face a lot of court challenges, isn't she? >> reporter: stuart, probably

considering that part of harris' student loan forgiveness was overturned by the supreme court. her plan to wipe away medical debt could also face some legal challenges or roadblocks in congress. but a common theme in harris' economic policies boils down to taxpayer-funded giveaways as her rem remedy to make away economic pain. >> my plan for the economy includes what i imagine and believe and call an opportunity economy. my plan is that no family, no working family should pay more than 7% of their income in childcare. we're going to eliminate medical debt from being on your credit score is. part of my plan under my opportunity economy is to give first-time home buyers a $25,000 down payment assistance. >> reporter: even harris' plan the tackle high prices, some have criticized, would lead to price controls on products. harris' pledge to crack down on grocery stores who she says are price gouging customers at the checkout counter, republicans

say harris could look in the mirror because it's actually her policies that are causing the high prices. >> we want federal bureaucrats in washington determining what the cost of eggs and milk is in your local store? it's crazy. the reason the costs are so high is obvious. it's because of their drunken spending habits and the regulations they've placed on every industry. >> reporter: and, stuart, harris' economic plan really is only as good as her congress is. right now it's a split if congress. after the election if republicans gain even more seats in the house, if they manage to flip the senate, harris' economic policy really could be dead on arrival. stuart? stuart: got it. hillary, thank you. harris as a -- has a set talking point when she's asked about her economic agenda. you've bot to watch this. >> do you believe americans are better off than they were four years ago? >> so i was raised as a middle class kid. i grew up a middle class kid. my mother raised my sister and me. she worked very hard. she was able to finally save up enough money to buy our first

house. i grew up a middle class kid. my mother was hard working. she raised me and my sister maya. she saved up, and it was the only by the time i was a teenager that she could afford to actually buy her first home. stuart: well, look who's here, the man himself, kevin o'leary. kevin, great having you back. look, i'm none the wiser about her policy. are you? >> no. this is getting challenging with, you know, less than 60 days til the election. and so if you're an investor, you face the reality of having to continue investing whoever's in the white house after november 5th. and so what i've been doing and others in the investment community are doing the same thing, we're going directly to her advisers to try and glean some information about what's really going on here. i'm not going to to expose their names because i don't want to lose are access to them, but i've been doing a lot of that in the last week. let me give you an example. in querying about this idea of

taxing unrealized capital gains which would basically destroy the economy and change the way every investor would invest and chase capital out of the country, i've been told don't worry about it, just be happy. there's no way congress would ever pass that. she has to keep saying that to keep her base happy and bring people out to vote for her, but that's not going to happen, don't worry about it. when i talk about some of these policies around student loans or controlling pricing, grocery and consumer goods which has been tried in many countries, venezuela, cuba, the old soviet union, we know that doesn't work. don't worry about it, be happy. that'll never happen, it'll be blocked in congress. so that's what her policy advisers are saying. and my question simply to them is why can't she say that herself? stuart: right. >> why do i have to get it new you? and if it count work out that way, don't i have a lot of risk particularly around corporate tax rates which would put us in the bottom quartile of

competition globally in the g20 the? don't worry ant it, be happy? -- about it, well, i'm not happy. and i think a lot of other people are not happy. we just need her to sit down and talk to the press which she has to do because it would be unprecedented for this election cycle to end with her never talking the to the press. in presidential candidate in modern times has ever cone that. stuart: that is true. i'm going to change the subject for a second. donald trump says he wants to bring s.a. a l.t. back. this lets you deduct the state and local taxes you pay, deduct them from your federal tax return. kevin, this would be a huge break for a lot of taxpayers in new york and new jersey. okay, it's vote buying, but, you know, it might be effective. [laughter] >> vote buying is an understatement if you talk about new york state, new jersey and some of these juris dixs where -- jurisdictions where he's challenged. i totally get why he's doing this, and it's 100% political.

s.a.l.t. has been so controversial in every tax plan. i mean, you just can go back to when it was first instituted, and it's had half the base hating it and the others just loving it depending on where you are. and i think if you're in new jersey and new york, you really want this policy. stuart: even, i want you to listen -- kevin, i want you to listen to john paulson. he's warning at a harris victory. watch this. >> if harris was elected, i would pull my money from the market. i'd go into cash and i'd go into gold. because i think the uncertainty regarding the plans they outlined would create a lot of uncertainty in the markets. stuart: -- onboard with that, kevin, i think. it would be bad for the markets, a harris win, right? >> well, it depends what happens between now and election. if she came out tomorrow morning of even this afternoon and said here's my 10-point plan specifically around a taxes, around these plans she's been talking about, the housing $25,000, i was just kidding

about that. that's so inflationary, it's stunning. i can't even imagine that ever being permitted in congress. even if she won more seats in the house, no one would ever do that. so these policies are crazy. i'm not that extremist. i do have gold, i do have a lot of cash sitting around because of uncertainty, but i have to invest the day after even if she is elected. and then the i have to hope, i have to cross my fingers, you know, this is the new boss, we won't get fooled again, and these policy makers that are giving me this just be happy, right now i'm not happy, and i really, really want some policy. i really do. and i think the rest of the market does too. and that comment gives you some idea about how much angst there is the out there. stuart: i'm not sure we're going to get this policy statement, by the way. kevin o'leary, always a pleasure. talk to you again later, thanks a lot. >> take care. stuart: billie eilish just endorsed kamala harris. lauren: came as no surprise, she

performed at the dnc four years ago. watch here. >> we are voting for kamala harris and tim walds because -- tim walz because they are fighting to protect our reproductive freedom, our planet and our democracy. vote like your life depends on it because it does. [laughter] lauren: and they called trump extreme, and that's the incendiary language. that's the problem. the country doesn't need that right now. you're looking at farrell williams, the -- farrell williams, he says everyone needs the stay in their own lane. celebrities, stop talking about politics. we don't care. i agree with him. stuart: i wonder if it changes any votes. lauren, thank you very much. check futures, please. we're up 40 on the dow, 50 on the nasdaq. the opening bell is next. we're going to take you there. ♪ you're a tough guy, like it really rough guy -- ♪ just can't get enough, guy. ♪

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stuart: fed decision day, not much price action on the stock market before the market opens. dow can up 20, nasdaq, not bad, up 58 points. shah ghailani with me this

morning. okay. if we don't get a 50 basis point cut, will there be a selloff, shah ghailani? >> i think there will, stuart. investors and certainly traders are anticipating that, and the federal funds futures are indicating now about a 65% bet that there will be a 50 basis point cut. i think traders have been positioning for that, the markets are touching on all-time highs. this tells me that they've been buying. if they don't get a 50 basis point cut, i think there'll be some instant selling and that could trigger, perhaps, some stops and trigger a selloff of some, i would say mean beingful level. maybe -- meaningful level, maybe 5%. i don't know about 10, but i'll say this about that, i hope it happens because it'll be a buying opportunity. stuart: oh, shah ghailani, don't say it. you know, we don't want a 5 president selloff here do -- 5% selloff here. come on, man. supposing the fed does what you want, and that would be a 25 basis point cut, if we get that,

is the rally continuing? >> yes. again, there may be something of a dust-up today, perhaps through the rest of the week, but markets will cam down if that happens -- calm down. there may be a can dust-up at the time of the statement depending on chairman powell's q&a. that might be over by the end of the day, might be over by the end of the week, and i think markets are going to get back to doing what they've been doing, which has been rallying. if we get a 252 basis point -- 25 basis point cut and we get a dovish forward, i would say, guidance, investors will let the dust-up happen and look to buy any dip and just continue i higher because earnings are great, the economy's still chugging along. yes, unemployment has prison aren, but we're still near -- has risen, but we're still near historic lows. stuart: 25 basis point cut and a dovish outlook, that would work for me and a lot of investors. shah ghailani, good stuff. it is 9:30 eastern time. we're going to open ever is

slightly to the upside, up, what, 2524 points from the get go -- 24 points. a practical gain really for the dow industrials. but we do have -- there's more buying, there's more green than red among the dow 30. how about the s&p 500? same story, not that much price movement up 6 points, that's nothing. and the nasdaq composite, where's that? it is up 29 points, .17%. some strength in tech. let me see big tech, please. right from the get go we've got mostly green. apple, meta if both higher, alphabet, microsoft and amazon are all down but, again, not much price movement for any of them. we have this news, microsoft and blackrock are partnering on a.i. taylor bigs with -- taylor riggs with us this morning. what are they doing? >> they're trying to raise $100 billion, so partnering together to raise money. remember, goldman sachs said a.i. data centers are going to rise 1600% by 2030 because

eventually it's going to consume 3-4% of our total energy con sedges. this is -- consumption. stuart: you're nodding your head. >> you've got to use your prif ifal vision when it comes to a.i. data centers, we need reliable energy to those data center, windmills, solar panels are not going to cut it. you need nuclear, so there's so many opportunities out there. stuart: jpmorgan aching the over apple credit card -- taking over the apple credit card. this is a big deal. >> it is because goldman sachs closed down their consumer division, so apple's shopping for a new bank because jpmorgan is the jpmorgan, right? jamie dimon. they'd get a cut every time someone uses an apple card or apple pay. apple also needs to find a new buyer, so we'll have to see how this shakes out, but maybe jpmorgan will step up to the plate. >> we own gold, and i like the fact they're wiggling out of that consumer business which has

more regulatory scrutiny. markets -- they're trying to get rid of their gm credit card, now the apple credit card as well, goldman is getting back to their core business, what hay to do well. stuart: let's see tesla, please. not sure where they are. they're up about 1%. don't they usually have some pretty wild swings around fed decision day? >> they're making fed day great again, fun again, right? on average, tesla can swing 2.5% in either direction on fed day, so it's a wild trading day for tesla. we did get some good fundamental news this morning as well. gm did say that their evs can now use tesla chargers with an adapter, so expanding a type of cars that can use their chargers. stuart: how do you feel about tesla? >> we don't own it. i think i told you last week the only way we're playing evs right now is aspen aerogels which has a thermal a barrier that goes around the ev batteries, prevents fires and makes them more efficient, so

that's the only way we're playing evs right now. stuart: tesla's had a nice run. musk must be worst about $230 tobillion right now. >> sounds pretty accurate. stuart: give or take 10 billion. [laughter] google. they got a win in the european antitrust case. tell me more. >> yeah. this is a little bit of a double-edged sword. they did get a win in terms of getting rid of the fine. it was about $1.7 billion, but the court said that they actually agreed with most of the ruling and the holding from the other court. so google still has that anti trust problem, but at least they don't have to pay the money. so if you're an investor, at least you're not seeing a $11.7 billion in -- 1.7 billion many cash outlay. stuart: would you buy google? >> we own google, we are overweight. google controls 92 of search, and three of the four most popular search terms on bing are google, youtube and gmail

which alphabet owns all three of those. [laughter] stuart: that's not good for bing, is it? if that's a microsoft product, you're killing me. sam's club, increasing their minimum wage to what? >> $16 up from 15. remember, sam's club is owned by walmart, and they need to the compete with costco. costco's minimum wage is $19.50, so sam's club saying we don't want to lose employees to costco, we want to the keep them, so we're raising our minimum wage to be competitive in the marketplace. stuart: look at costco, nearly $900 a share. you got costco? >> no, no. i wish we'd owned costco. that stock has been absolute fire over the course of the last several years but, obviously, consumers are looking for ways to combat that 21% increase in inflation stints this administration took office concern since this add administration took office. stuart: if i ever bought a retailer, i would buy costco. general mills reported this morning.

i guess they didn't do too well, down 30 to cents. >> it wasn't great. basically, profits fell 14%, margins are under pressure. sales also were below expectations, but they're only doing somewhat okay because they're raising prices. it's offsetting the lack of demand from consumers. they did reiterate that full-year forecast, but the ceo did cite the mack if coeconomic uncertainty through the rest of the year. stuart: taylor, thank you very much, indeed. now that moment in time when mark tepper veals his stock picks. he's -- reveals his stock picks. who is steris and what do they do? >> this is a health care play, as i mentioned earlier in the hour whenever the fed starts cutting, we want to be more defensive, consumer staple, utilities, health care. this is an opportunity to own a high quality compounder in health care. you look at striker, striker raised their guidance. they said there's strong demand for procedures. steris does, basically, the

sterilization in the hospital rooms, the disinfectants, all that stuff to make sure these procedures are clean, right? so when you see an uptick in procedures, you would hi steris would participate, and i think there's a good opportunity here. stuart: and you own it. >> yes, sir. stuart: got it. s&p global, that's not an index -- >> that's the bond-rating agency, and they also have the s&p 500. when you look at s&p global, right now we are about to engage in a fed-cutting cycle. and whenever that happens, companies decide that they are going to the issue more bonds because debt is cheaper. as that happens, that's going to be a big catalyst for their ratings business, and s&p global should benefit from this rate-cutting cycle. stuart: i can understand that. thank you. coming up, hezbollah promises to punish israel after a those explosions. is this this a new era of warfare? retired lieutenant general keith dell cog on that. the national association of black journalists treated trump

and harris very, very differently. >> you attack black journalists. why should black voters trust you? >> why is joy torrent important to to you -- important to you to the insert into this election? stuart: it's like day and night, isn't it? it looks like media bias to me. we're going to ask new york post reporter jon levine about that. one cbs correspondent was left baffled after searching for harris supporters in nevada. >> we could only find one harris supporter in every restaurant, and we left no stone unturned. i approached every single person. stuart: only one in every restaurant they went to. ben domenech will deal with it in the 11:00 hour. ♪ a little bit dangerous but, baby, that's how i want it. ♪ a little less conversation and a little more touch my body ♪

stuart: all right, 12 minutes into the trading session, it is decision day at the fed, of course. nasdaq's up 20. not much movement. the administration says they're not considering their power to block a potential strike at east coast ports. the port owners have until october 1st to reach a deal with the union. is a deal close are at all, lydia? >> reporter: no, not at all, stuart. it seems in that talks are actually at a stand still now with no new negotiations having been scheduled. the group that's representing the port employers say they want to get back to the bargaining table, they want to continue the talks, but it seems that the union for now, the international long shoremen association, is not open to more talks at the moment. the major sticking point for dock workers, wages and concerns about automation. and the union said yesterday with that they are confident they will get a landmark contract even if it takes a strike starting on october 1st

to get it. that would bring major economic consequences. the east coast and the gulf coast ports handle roughly 43% of u.s. 'em ports. so as you can -- imports. so as you can imagine, business groups are very concerned. the national retail federation sent a letter to president biden yesterday signed by 177 business groups. they write this: it is imperative that the administration engage with the parties. a strike at this point in time would have a devastating impact on the economy especially as inflation is on the downward trend. finish but a white house administration official yesterday said that president biden would not invoke federal law to block a strike. they write this: we support collective bargaining and believe it's the best way for if american workers and employers to come to the an agreement a. that's why we encourage all parties to remain at the bargaining table and negotiate in good faith. we've never invoked taft-hartley

to to break a strike and are not considering doing so now. as you know, stuart, it allows the president to order a cooling-off period if there were to be a strike to order those workers to get back on the job to allow negotiations to continue. if president biden, as he says, is not going to or exercise that option, that would leave another option, allowing an administration official to to participate in negotiations. but the problem there is, as a we've said, these talks seem to be at a standstill. no new negotiations scheduled for now, and the clock isic thing. that strike could start on october 1st. back to you. stuart: lydia hu, thank you very much, indeed. i have to to wonder what the retailers would do if there is a strike right before the christmas buying season. we have gerald storch with us who knows a thing or two about the retail business. what would you do if you were running a huge consumer retail chain and you've got a strike threatened? >> this has happened many times before. you start ordering early, you

change the ports you're -- stuart: so there's a way around it. >> well, you work around it. we used to to ship stuff into mexico and put it on trucks and take it across the border, so you work to get around it. no doubt, it adds costs. and then they settle it right before, and you wish you hadn't shifted. stuart: is it right consumers are spending more and getting less treat? absolutely. this has been happening month after month after month. you see these headlines, consumers still spending, everybody's happy. well, they're not happy. you can ask them. and i'll tell you why. the cpi, which came out last week, with us up 2.5% year-over-year or .2 month over month. retail sales were up 2.1%, and they're not adjusted for inflation, and they were up .1% month over month if you believe those numbers, because they change them all the time. the reality is that for month after month after many of month, for years now the growth in retail sales has been lore than

the inflation rate. so it's ridiculous. they're spending more, getting less , and they know it. stuart: i look at the retailers, the successful ones. seems to me you've got with walmart, tjx, costco, amazon. very successful retailers. and i think that's because all of them are offering deal, and all of them are simple up their e-commerce departments -- >> well, they're sure offering deals. walmart has had brilliant performance for years now, and it shows in the stock, by the way. and, you know, doing great in the stores, especially buy online and pick-up in the store, there's lines of people picking up their groceries at wal-mart. costco too, both great. great value. tjx doesn't have a great internet, they don't need to. you love going to the stores and sifting through it. doing fantastic. amazon is all about the internet on the other side, and they own it. the internet was one of the categories that grew the moat -- stuart: so those stocks on the

screen, they are winners in the retail sector. >> i've been recommending them on your show -- stuart: i know. >> -- for 5-10 years. if if you just bought those four, you'd be rich 678. stuart: okay. [laughter] we're going to leave it right there. thank you very much, indeed, gerald. tepper's still with me. would you agree with that, or consumers are spending more but getting less? >> absolutely. stuart: don't ever disagree with that man sitting over there. [laughter] >> absolutely. that's the by-product of inflation. obviously, consumers are spending more, getting less volume with. and to your point, tj maxx is one of the companies that we own, one of the few retailers we own because of the discounted pricing. again, consumers are always looking for deals especially given the rise in prices over the last several years. stuart: mark, thank you very much, indeed. here's a story which really worries me. it's a new study, and it says that physical bank locations may become a thing of the past. by when? lauren: bank branches will be extinct in 20 the 31.

2031 in vermont, oregon, maine and connecticut. that 2035 in new york, 20237 in california, but they'll stay around until the 202800s in states like pennsylvania and wyoming. what? there's data that shows a third of us actually go the a bank branch -- stuart: i do. lauren: -- every single month. i lost all my id, me license, everything in my wallet, it fell if out here, so what decide did i do? i went into my local bank. i said, hi, this is the an expired license, this is who i am, can i please get some cash in that nice person gave it to me. so i don't think banks are going away, but there'll be fewer of them. tiewfort stuart i might have to move to wyoming. [laughter] lauren, thank you very much, indeed. coming up, kamala harris is not equipped to be the president of the united states. now, that's my opinion. she can't answer even the simplest of questions with less than seven weeks until the election. that's not good enough. we can't vote blind, and we can't accept the blatant misinformation she's peddling. that's going to be my take at the top of the hour. harris' media strategy has

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♪ ♪ stuart: kamala harris continues to do softball interviews, that is an understatement. jacqui heinrich joins maine does harris have any if plan for hard-hitting, solo interview on a national tv network, any plan at all? >> reporter: well, stuart, the vice president does plan to do more interviews, but temper any expectations for big names on tv. new york times is reporting she's looking to podcast, radio stations, daytime talk shows and local and national outlets with niche audiences in part because voters are getting their news from less traditional sources and also because there is no urgency to the take any risks. that is how she handled herself yesterday addressing a national association of black journalists for nearly an hour. politico's headline, quote, harris refuses to the veer off script in her second high profile interview. if -- "the new york times," harris campaign says she will meet the press on her terms. although those reporters did try

to pin her down on israel, distinguishing between aggression and defense, harris did not break any new ground. >> i absolutely believe that this war has to end, that it has to end as soon as possible. and the way that will be achieved is by getting a hostage deal and a ceasefire deal done. >> is there a specific policy change as president that you would do in helping israel? >> we need to get this deal done, and we need to get it done immediately. >> reporter: notably, trump took the same approach e when he was asked about russia's war against ukraine in the debate. his answer, though, generated a cycle of critical news coverage. >> do you want ukraine to win this war? >> i want the war to stop. i want to save lives that are being uselessly -- people being killed by the millions. >> reporter: so today the vice president will address the congressional hispanic caucus, tomorrow she is talking to

oprah. while she's certainly sitting for more interviews lately, she's also getting more adept at filibustering in her answers or repeatedly dodging pointed questions, stuart. stuart: i think you're right. thanks so much for joining us, appreciate it. and thank you very much, mark tepper, for being with us for the hour. >> my pleasure. stuart: still ahead, hezbollah rocked by deadly page pager explosions. the attack is a new era in warfare, and lieutenant general keith dell cog -- kellogg will respond to that. harris keeps getting friendly, softball questions. county senator roger marshall looking into google's censorship of the first trump assassination attempt. he's with us in the 11:00 hour. do voters care about celebrity endorsements? the "wall street journal"'s iowa liberty, shah finley has that next. ♪ ♪

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