face of of this bull market. he should be taking a victory lap this morning. >> well, he should. he deserves this victory lap. but let's not forget that we now have a near-full employment if economy. we're now looking at wage growth that is much faster than it was back in november 2016 when trump first won the presidency. we have a higher underlying rate of inflation. so if we do get this surge in growth in 2025 that many expect, we could be hitting an inflationary wall come the second half of that may -- that may bring back fed tightening. maria: all right. it'll be exciting, cheryl. cheryl: rfk jr. is there, howard lutnick, kelly loeffler and other distinguished guests. maria: anding of course, the why have of the owner of the new york stock exchange, kelly loeffler, with trump. thank you, john, tiana and cheryl. stuart picks it up. he's going to be all over this

opening. stuart: you should be there, maria. [laughter] maria: my old stomp thing grounds. stuart: exactly. good morning, mafia, and good -- maria, and good morning, everyone. another inflation reading. the producer price index more than expected, .4%, in november. and here's another surprise, up 3% in the last 12 months. that means we are looking at an increase in the inflation rate. you know, there's not that much reaction on the stock market. we've got to figure out why that is the case. but, look, you've got an uptick in inflation, both consumer and producer prices, and look at the dow. this is premarket, obviously. the dow is down not so much, 27 points as we speak. the s&p 500 also on the downside. the nasdaq off 110 points. but, remember, it hit 20,000 wednesday. as for bitcoin, it's the still hovering right around $100,000 per coin. i've got it at 100,800 at the moment. interest rates, well, they're

not going up that much despite the inflation report. we're at 4.27 on the 10-year. and on the 2-year, we're looking at 4.14. there you have it. all right, let's get the politics. new polling show voters approve of trump's election win. they approve of how he's handling the transition. as president-elect, he's enjoying a wave of popularity. in a few minutes, he will ring the bell at the new york stock exchange. he's popular with investors. the trump rally rallies has lifted all boats. he's also been named "time"'s person of the year after winning re-election and surviving a assassination attempts. the rawing august ration, the president-elect has invited china's leader to attend. that puts xi jinping in a bind. if he refuses, he's snubbing the new president. if he comes, it might look like he's paying the new president homage. trump wins either way. one congressman suggested

there's an iranian mother ship that's launching the drones over new jersey. the pentagon denies that. and president biden marking the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history commuting 1500 jail sentences and granting pardons for 39 others. president-elect -- is that president biden speaking? president-elect trump is speaking. let's go to him now. >> -- this honor for the second time. i think i like it better this time, actually. [laughter] but we did a good job. we had a great first term despite a lot of turmoil caused unnecessarily. but the media's tamed down a little bit. they're liking us much better now, i think. if they don't, we'll have to just take 'em on again, and we don't want to do that. but i do want to thank "time" magazine. i've been on the cover many times, i can only talk about 25 great covers -- [laughter] the others i sort of hide. and every time it's an honor, i

will tell you. thank you very much for doing it. and thank the whole group at "time." really very professional people. thank you very much. [applause] and to jeff and all of the people from the new york stock exchange, he knows how much i like it because many years ago i bought a building across the street. i wasn't going to buy it, and then i said, you know, it's right next to the new york stock exchange, i'm going to buy it. 40 wall street. we've had tremendous success with it. but you've really had success with the new york stock exchange. it's an incredible group of people, and you have done an incredible job, you and your group x. and what a beautiful speech you made, thank you very much. that was some introduction of all of us. but we've gone up since the election. i was just told by scott, everybody said you have to pick scott. scott bessent, he has to be the one chosen for treasury.

where is scott, let's see, he's around here someplace. [laughter] he told me we picked up $3 trillion since the election day. and i said, well, that's good, but what about before the election day? he a said we picked up some money there because with they thought you were going to win. i said, i like this guy, he's going to be my it's, i think we're going to have a tremendous run. we have the straighten out to some problems, some big problems in the world. it's -- when we left, we didn't have any of these problems. we didn't have russia with ukraine, we didn't have israel, october 7th. we didn't have the afghanistan disaster. we didn't have inflation. we had no inflation. and we had a very strong economy. and we're going to do that again. but i think we're going to even up it because now we have experience that we didn't have. now i know everybody. you know, when i first came in, we came down, melanne a ya and i -- melania, who's very popular, by the way --

[applause] she rang the bell. she rang in the bell. [applause] but we came down, and we're driving down pennsylvania avenue, and it was so beautiful. i said, you know, i've never done this before. of i didn't know anybody. i got to the oval office, and i'm picking all these big positions that i didn't really know the people in washington but, boy, did i get to to learn fast. [laughter] and now we do. i think we have an incredible staff behind me and others that aren't here, and we're going to do a fantastic job. we're going to create the incentive theory again. in fact, i just announced yesterday, anybody investing a billion dollars or more gets a very expedited approval process because, you know, the approvale into the country, it takes them in many cases 14, a 15, 16 years to get the approval. we have -- lee is around here someplace. he's in charge of the environment, and that's lee zeldin who ran an incred race for governor in new york -- incredible race for governor in new york. was very successful. before that he was a great

congressman, and he's a fantastic lawyer. he's in charge of environmental, and we'll try and push him as much as possible to get those permits very quickly, like a nuclear power plant, i would say a week would be enough time. what do you think? is that okay? [laughter] we're going to get fast approvals, and and it's great that that we have lee and all of the people behind -- they're all stars in their own way. but it is an honor, and this is a double because usually hay don't coordinate if -- they don't coordinate the man of year or the person of the year with the ringing of the bell. and brilliantly, you picked 'em both at at the same time, and you're all friends, and you said, let's do it. it takes one trip. [laughter] that's okay. we like to to say, we like to be the able to do it properly. but this is a special group. so many friends in the audience. john with, great job you've done at abc. i'm really proud of you. and you've been so nice the me, otherwise i wouldn't actually acknowledge you at all. [laughter] it really is it's a terrific job

you've done. but again, i want to thank you. we're going down to ring the bell now, and i can just say the economy, i believe, is going to be very strong. we do have to solve some problems. we have wars going on that we didn't have, a lot of things happening that we didn't have that would have never happened. but now they have happened, and i want to get them solved. we have to get them solved because, ultimately, the power of weaponry today is the biggest threat we have, in my opinion. it's not some of the other things that you read about, it's the power of weaponry. the weapons are so powerful, so devastating, and i rebuilt our military. i got to to know every one of them including nuclear a weapons. i hated to do it, actually. i hated to do it, but we did some nuclear weapons that are so devastating, it almost makes you very sad when you -- as you get them and as they come on line. it makes you very sad a because you know what the purpose of them is, and you just hope to god that you never have to use them. because if you do, the world will never be the same.

so we have to be verying very smart, we have to be very sharp, we have to be, we have to be very special to do a job. and i think we'll get it done, and i think we're going to get a lot of people in the room. we've seen it. we were in france where president macron did a fantastic job with the cathedral, an absolutely fan ta tsaic job of notre dame. it was beautiful. the opening, it was the opening, and i just got back, and it was something really beautiful and a lot of world leaders there. we had about 80 world leaders, different countries, and they were all coming together. they all wanted to meet us and meet me as representative of the u.s. and there was a a lot of goodwill. but we're going to get some really tremendous goodwill. i was even thinking about inviting certain people to the inauguration, and some people said, wow, that's a little risky, isn't it? and i said maybe it is, we'll see. we'll see what happens. [laughter] but we like to take little chances. here's a gentleman that's going

to do a great job at hud. good luck, my friend, right in. [laughter] he's been my friend for a long time. [applause] it's nice the see you. i haven't shaken his hand yet. [inaudible conversations] you're going to be great. and ben carson is your biggest fan in the world, you know that. ben has been with us for a long time, and he's done a fantastic job. thank you. so, ladies and gentlemen, go on, we're going to the put it straight -- to put it straight. we're going to give tremendous incentive like no other country has. we're cutting your taxes. we're going to cut them very substantially. we got them down from 21% from probably 42 or 44% depending on where you are, and we got them down to 21. everyone said that was a miracle. now we're getting them down the 15 but only if you make your product here. otherwise you pay 21 which is not bad. but 15 brings you down the among the lowest. [applause] and for those that are running

the big company, those great big, beautiful companies, you're going tock coming back. you're going to be bringing it back to the united states. we are incentivizing everybody to come back to the united states. we want you back here. car manufacturers, everybody. and we have one product that nobody has really to the extent that we do, it's called oil and gas. there is no country in the world that has more. we're number one. i brought it to number one during my first term in terms of production. we're going to be the number one miss. we'll do numbers that nobody will really see before. and when that happens, prices are going to start coming down because people can't afford their groceries. and they're going to be affording their groceries very soon. i tell the story about a woman who, an old woman, an old woman, no money, went to a grocery store, had three apples. she put 'em down on the counter and she looked and she saw the price and she said, will you cause excuse me, and she walked one of the apples back to the

refrigerator and came back to pay for the two apples, and she left with two apples. the woman at the counter said, that was so sad. and when with i heard about the story, i said that should never happen in america, and it's not going to happen in america. we're going to do it right, and we're going to take care of our people, and we're going to do things nobody ever thought even were possible. we're going to have an economy the likes of which nobody's ever seen before, and everybody's coming back to america. i saw that the other day at the cathedral. they're all saying, we want the come back. and with a couple of changes done by howard and scott and some of the great people up here with me, we're going the bring them all back. they're all coming back. so thank you very much, this is a great honor, and ringing the bell will be fantastic. go out and get 'em. we're with you all the way. thank you very much. thank you. [applause] stuart: he never misses an opportunity, does he? that was a brief 10-minute speech, but he covered all the bases as he accepted "time "magazine's person of the year award and as he goes off the

ring the bell. that will be in just about 20 minutes' time. he went through speedy approvals and permits, devastating weapons in the military, tax cuts, paris, tariffs, drill, baby, drill, energy prices coming down. it was a whole raft of things that he wanted to talk about, and he knows he's got a huge audience. adam johnson with me here this morning covering the markets. >> yes, sir. stuart: it's appropriate that mr. trump rings the bell because he's presided over the trump rally. >> it's very appropriate, yes. the market loves mr. trump. they love what he's doing. they love his vision for america. and, guess what? business loves the vision for america. not only are we making new highs in the stock market, stuart, but what we found out yesterday was that the small business optimism has risen by the most in one month since 2020. remember, we came out of lockdowns, we were so depressed, and all of a sudden, what a relief, we're out of lockdowns. you'd have to go back all the way to 2020 to find that kind of

enthusiasm. and we had it for the month of november because the month of november was when mr. trump was elected. so not only do markets support mr. trump by going to new highs, small businesses support mr. trump by voicing their enthusiasm. stuart: what do do you say, lauren? lauren: the new york stock exchange is iconic for capitalism the world over. how many times do we say from main street to wall street? wall street, the corner of wall and broad is the iconic new york stock exchange. that's the american spirit. it's where big public companies make money or try to, and investors have a say in that. and i think it's the perfect setting for him to say something like that after four years of businesses having their hands cuffed. we saw that with silicon valley under this soft authoritarianism under the biden administration. stuart: you got it. you got it all right exactly there. one more point. you got it all there, one -- [audio difficulty] quite a sharp upic, actually. and there's not much reaction in the stock market. >> stuart, that is because maga

matters more. yes, we have inflation and, yes, it might actually start creeping a little bit higher. but the markets are effect ifively saying the trump plan for america matters more than what appears to be a monthly uptick in inflation. and by the trump plan, what we're talking about is lower taxes, fewer regulations, drill, baby, drill. empowering our companies to be the best they can be. incentivizing them to come back to the u.s. it's a wonderful, wonderful story. stuart: all right. 20,000 on the nasdaq yesterday. first time it ever got there. >> yes. stuart: are more new highs on the way? >> yes, stuart. i am fully invested on behalf of my clients because i believe we will continue to see new highs. this is not just a honeymoon period that we're experiencing right now in the market. yes, it's been a wonderful first month since elections, but i think there is more to come because not only do we have gdp that's growing at 3%, not only do we have earnings growing at 10-12, not only do we have

unemployment very low, down to 4%, we also have a fed cutting interest rates and, most importantly, we have a white house that is coming in that is sensitive to the american people and to american businesses and providing the incentives so that they can prosper individually and collectively. lauren: and people are excited about that a. >> yes. lauren: the fox polling shows that 54% of voters said they're hopeful postelection. 50% relieved, 48% excited. >> excited. stuart: i believe there's a new mood in this country. lauren: yep. >> yes. stuart: it's a positive mood, andst because of trump and what he's doing. lauren: and we're seeing it in blue states and even among democrats like john fetterman. >> and, by the way, stuart, let's be honest, there's never a straight the line to anything. there will be bumps along the way. as mr. trump said, there are still some imperfect situations out there, countries warring with one another, but the deis we have an administration that is sensitive to the needs of this country, to the needs of businesses, and we are moving forward together. stuart: quite a way to open the

show, isn't it? >> yes, it is. stuart: an economic speech from the president-elect of the united states of america and a trump rally are. >> morning in america, stuart. stuart: oh, now, that's an expression i've not heard in 44 years. >> that's right. stuart: the great ronald reagan. >> yes. stuart: now i remember it, you don't. [laughter] congressman mike lawler is with us this morning. i want to talk about the drones. this is a real change of subject, obviously, mike, and i hope you'll go with me on this. do you think the government's hiding something with these mysterious drones? >> i have not seen any evidence of that. obviously, it is disconcerting and we do need to get to the bottom of it. obviously, when you look back to last year and the chinese spy balloon that flew over, you know, the continental united states and went near sensitive military locations, certainly there are concerns. and i think, obviously, we should take any threat seriously.

obviously, with the advancements in technology, drone technology, you know, this has become more prevalent. it does not always mean there's a nefarious purpose behind it but, obviously, we should get to the bottom of it and find out exactly what happened. stuart: somebody knows what's going on, but that somebody is not telling us. i'm going to change the subject again, congressman, with your permission. president-elect trump has reportedly invited china's leader, xi jinping, to his inauguration. that's kind of a gutsy move, isn't it? if xi refuses, he's snubbing the new president. if he accepts and arrives, it might look like he's paying homage to the new president. what do you say? >> look, there's no question china, russia a and iran are not our friends, and i think what the president is trying to do here is set a tone very early in this new administration, and, you know, outstreep his hand --

outstretch his hand, yes. but i think it'll be a very firm grip on the situation. and so the question for president xi is, is he prepared to deal with the consequences of what china has been doing to undermine is and destabilize the united states, europe, israel and the free world and what he has been doing the try to devalue u.s. currency, you know, the intellectual property theft that we have seen, obviously, the threats in the indo-pacific against taiwan. so there are a lot of challenges ahead. i think, obviously, president trump has shown in his first administration he is willing to take these challenges head on and put our adversaries on notice and put them back on their heels. and i think, obviously, after the disastrous foreign policy that we have seen under joe biden and kamala harris, it's going to be critical to deal directly and bluntly with our adversaries and, frankly, by inviting president xi to the inaugust a asian --

inauguration, you know, i think puts him on the spot. we'll see how he responds. stuart: the president-elect is now on the floor of the new york stock exchange mingling and circling around. he's got some dig the any tears with him including the treasury secretary, the upcoming treasury secretary, and various others. you happy to see him ringing the bell at the new york stock exchange, congressman? >> as i understand, he's the first president since ronald reagan did in 1985. and so, certainly, it's a great sight. i think, look, when you like donald trump or not, he is one of the most consequential figures in american history. and certainly, you know, winning a second term as he did, surviving multiple assassination attempts and, you know, really winning the biggest electoral vote for a republicanin 36 years speaks volumes. so we have a lot of work ahead of us, so i think it's a great day for him, obviously, being named "time" person of the year

certainly is a big honor, and i'm looking forward to getting to work in january and advancing the work of the american people, especially on the issue of affordability, the border and the international crises that we have to solve thanks to -- stuart: congressman mike lawler, i'm running out of time, but thanks very much for being with usen to an important day. >> thank you, stuart. stuart: we are waiting now for president-elect trump to ring the opening bell. that takes place in about nine minutes' time. lauren are, come in here, please. trump has promisedded a big day one when he takes office. what do we know what he'll do in his first few hours? lauren: reuters is reporting he will sign 25 executive orders on day one. they are the being coordinated reportedly by stephen miller, that that's his deputy chief of staff for policy. they will mostly deal with the border and energy. reuters says some potential executive actions will give border patrol more latitude to arrest migrants, end birthright citizenship and continue to

build the wall. he will also unleash america's energy potential, expediting drilling permits and lng export licenses. of course, executive orders often met by court challengesment i do want to point out president biden signed 17 when he first came into us a. and looking at the podium as we await president-elect trump to ring the bell with, if we could only get sound of the new york stock exchange. the traders and the crowd there will be applauding like you've never seen before. regardless of their political affiliation, they are the most patriotic crowd you have ever seen. i was down there on the floor when president george w. bush came and paid a visit to the stock education change. i had never seen anything like that in my life. i was not an an army a base, i was on the floor of the new york stock exchange. [laughter] stuart: exciting stuff. i'd like to be there today. i'd like to see the emotion on the floor in the crowd there. quickly, let's check futures moments away from the president-elect ringing the

bell. we've got a downside move, it's not that much. an uptick in inflation at the producer price level. dow's down 40, s&p down 13, 100 points down on the nasdaq but remember, it hit 20,000 yesterday for the first time. okay, are we taking a short break? if -- yes, we are. here's how i introduce the break, more "varney" after this. ♪ ♪ new york -- are where dreams are made of. ♪ there's nothing you can't do. ♪ now you're in new york ♪ patients who have sensitive teeth but also want whiter teeth, they have to make a choice- one versus the other. new sensodyne clinical white, it provides 2 shades whiter teeth as well as providing 24/7 sensitivity protection. patients are going to love to see sensodyne on the shelf.

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somebody just got their first debit card! ice cream on you? ooo, tacos! i got you. wait hold on, don't you owe me money? what?! your money is a part of your community, so your bank should be too. like, chase! stuart: check futures, please, a little bit of red ink on the left-hand side of the screen. we are, of course, waiting for president-elect trump to ring the opening bell at the new york stock exchange. you can see some of the dignitaries right there. gary kaltbaum joins me. i want to talk about the market latching on to to new technology. we've had the a.i. boom, now we've got the quantum computing boom. the market latches on real fast, doesn't it? >> yeah. and the best way i can answer the question is alphabet-google announces a quantum a.i. chip called willow, and the stock goes up $250 the billion of market cap in two days.

[laughter] there's your story right there. whether or not it continues, i don't know, but right now the game is on in that area. stuart: i'm looking at tesla, new highs. actually, in the background i can hear the crowd cheering and clapping as president-elect trump takes the podium there. he's about to ring the opening bell. >> usa! usa! stuart: usa, you can hear it on the floor there. they like this guy. why not? they've got a trump rally. tesla, new highs, gary. that's the trump effect, isn't it? >> at the close of business before the election the from today, tesla's market cap is up $550 billion. that is more than 480 plus of the s&p 500 stocks. that tells you everything you need to know between elon musk's tesla and the election. elections do have consequences for certain companies and, again, whether or not it continues, i don't know, but that is a stunning move if in a matter of six weeks.

stuart: it sure is. gary, thanks for being with us. it's an important day. we're going to go back to the new york stock exchange. donald trump is about to ring the opening bell. actually, that's about 90 seconds away. melania is there, and i can see j.d. vance, vice president-elect is there. and the crowd has been cheering, you can hear usa, usa. you can hear it. it's an electric atmosphere there and why not? trump has produced a rally on the stock market that's enriched millions of americans. >> well, the market loves trump, business loves trump. we talked about the biggest one month move in confidence among small business owners in five years. that is because of what mr. trump is bringing to the washington and, therefore, the rest of us. ms. -- [applause] stuart: the value of all publicly-traded stocks in america today is $61 trillion. >> yes. stuart: that's up between $5-10 trillion this year. >> incredible. stuart: stunning gain, actually. lauren: -- tax cuts. can and these are folks that

live in a really expensive part of country dealing with high prices no matter what the size of their paycheck is. they're excited for tax cuts, especially the small business operators down on the floor of the new york stock exchange. stuart: they're clapping, they're cheering, they're pumping their a fists. you've got 30 seconds to go until the president-elect -- i have to the keep saying that. lauren: from the regulatory standpoint, the exchanges are facing so much scrutiny from the s everybody c of the biden administrations, they're probably breathing a sigh of relief. stuart: they are, indeed. i've got ten seconds the go. there -- that's the bell ringing. [cheers and applause] and he's not, he's not rung the bell yet. he's got -- [inaudible] [cheers and applause] oh, policed the button. i'm sorry, folks. lauren: that was a trick. >> i think the gavel is a, you know, ceremonial item. stuart: i think you're right. i got that wrong. okay. a.

[laughter] >> the fully signifies business is back. it's been so indiana-business the last four years -- anti-business. of the fact that you have ceos on the floor welcoming him really signals people are ready for business in america to be open. stuart: can you hear that? usa, usa, that's the floor of the new york stock exchange, the cathedral of capitalism, ladies and gentlemen. >> and by the way, stuart, and you probably know this, they all wear the american flag on the side of their trading jackets. it's an incredibly -- as lauren are said, an incredibly proud if group of americans on the floor of the -- lauren: when he comes out of the podium, he'll likely go downstairs, and i'm assuming he will walk, with security, the floor of the new york stock exchange. he likes people. donald trump likes people. these are his sort of people. he will shake their hands. they're all going to take pictures. stuart: yeah. i wish we had a mic on him, because he'll be talking to the crowd finish. >> oh, sure. lauren: do you think maine january -- melania's saying, i

wish i got the cover of "time "magazine, she is a former mod to el. i'm jobing. stuart: -- i'm joking. stuart: the dow has opened to the upside, a gain of 30 pointsment some might be surprise at that, but adam has straightened us out. the market loves maga, the market loves business --? >> yes. stuart: and away we go. now we're up 12. have we got the s&p, please? can we take a look? it's down a fraction, 11 points, still above 6,000, 6,070. the nasdaq is on the downside 78 points. remember, it hit 20,000 for the first time yesterday. show me big tech, please. that's a mixed picture. microsoft is up 2.50, $4351 on microsoft -- 451. that's real chose to an all-time high. apple is up 85 cents. small losses for amazon, meta

and alphabet leadership lauren three maga a hats that i could see in that that one shot. stuart: any red hats there? yes, there are a couple there. you don't see many red hats in new york city as you walk ash. >> more than you did in to 2016. stuart: that's very true. let's start our coverage of individual stock movers, and i want to start with tesla. taylor, good morning to you. >> good morning. stuart: musk has just passed a big milestone. is he now worth over $400 billion? >> yeah. about 450 billion by some estimates. part of this is the trump bump, right? tesla massively up 70 since the election. the election -- 70%. the election was only five weeks ago, so it's up officially 70 forth further -- for the year. it has doubled since last year. it also has to do with the big fund raise valuation they did over at spacex as well, massive valuation which also increases

his net worth. stuart: actually, i saw system other business celebrities surrounding the president-elect. i saw bill ackman there. >> yep. stuart: brian cornell, jane frazier. j.d. vance, of course, he was there. the energy secretary of the future is there surrounded birdieing any tears walking the floor. back to individual stocks. nvidia. they're going on a hiring spree in china? >> yeah, which sounds interesting, right? a lot of nvidia's chips, the most advanced ones are banned because china is not to our friend, we don't want them having our best testimony. but nvidia did get about $5 billion of revenue from china, so they do have a presence there. they're hiring some researchers to work on autonomous driving. >> gm shutting down their robotaxi arm called cruise. microsoft had an investment. >> they did. stuart: the how much have they lost? >> about $80 million. a big writedown -- stuart: they're okay.

>> they can afford it. >> i mean, this was super tiny, right? this doesn't move the needle, but it does speak volumes to what analysts are saying who's going to be the binners and the losers from robotaxi. google's waymo, tesla clear clearly a winner. if gm's cruise division can't do it, lyft, uber also may be some losers. this is increasingly looking like maybe a winner-take-all situation. stuart: touch ouch. netflix, i believe it has hit an all-time high. not there. it was yesterday. what's going on? >> squid games 2 is coming out december 26th. analysts super excited about this. squid games came out in 2021 and added about $90 million in what they're calling -- 900 million in what they're calling total value given the viewership they got. j -- jpmorgan and citi giving

upward guidance. a little bit violence squid games 2. stuart: oh, okay. can't wait. costco, i know they report after the belled today. what are we looking for? >> a record high as we got a record yesterday and those gains extend. look, we're going to be getting the earning, stu. basically, everything we're hearing, this is more evidence of a massive, robust business model. look at new members, rising traffic. new store openings. costco is a company that shines on all cylinders, and we'll hope to see if they do that again today. stuart: okay. right-hand side of your screen, the president-elect is walking through the halls of the new york stock exchange greeting the traders. he's carrying an entourage with him, main members of his future cabinet are with him as is the vice president-elect, j.d. vance. i've seen various other figures from business there. david solomon, he's on the floor there, all walking around showing their approval of rump. there he is. of trump. he's walking just off the

screen. now, i'm sure as you said though, lauren, he's going to walk the floor -- okay, signing the book. lauren: he's signing the book. stuart: i wish we had a mic on. lauren: i would imagine they probably set up some red ropes, a little bit of crowd control as he will eventually begin to do that. stuart: it's just a very exciting time in business. >> yes. stuart: an all-time high for the nasdaq, stocks on a roll, the trump rally are. trump's ringing the bell at the new york stock exchange surrounded birdieing any tears and business people -- >> right. stuart: -- and he's now person of the year for "time" magazine. this guy's on a roll. >> and look at the changes that have already started to happen in washington. gary gensler are, who is the chairman of the cftc, is out. he was someone who opposed crypto. mr. trump, by contrast, no, this could be a way forward. let's embrace new, creative ways to possibly solve issues, so crypto's in. gensler's out, crypto's in. look what's happening at the

ftc. lina khan, who's been a thorn in the side of big business since she was appointed by mr. biden, she is out. she's going to be replaced over at ftc. so look to see mergers suddenly start to get approved -- start to happen and get approved. it's a complete regime shift in washington and, stuart, the market loves it, small business loves it, and i know that, certainly, you and i like it. stuart: oh, yes. lauren: do you know what else is in? stuart: what have you got? >> it's okay to the make money --? >> yeah, thank you. lauren: and it's okay to hire someone based on merit and if if they deserve it. >> not because of the way they look or what their sex is, the color of their skin. no, based upon their merit. of it's okay to go back to just the basics. if you're good and you get the job done, you deserve the job. stuart: all right. eight minutes into the trading session as we speak, and the dow has turned positive. it's up 30 points. small losses now for the s&p and the nasdaq. the future ambassador to israel, america's ambassador to israel,

former governor of arkansas mike huckabee, is with us this morning. governor, first of all if, what's your reaction to to trump on the floor of the new york stock exchange? if -- >> well, i love it. i mean, he is a business-oriented president. he's going to do, i think, terrific things for the economy. we're going to come out of inflation. we're going to start seeing prosperity again. products and manufacturing moving back to the states. it's a great day. stuart: one quick point. the president-elect has invited china's leader, xi jinping, to the inauguration. that's a pretty gutsy move, isn't it? >> well, it is but, look, the thing that donald trump has proven is that he stands up to china. he tells them he's hoot going tm the to run over us as some presidents have done, i won't mention any names. but we have to learn to work with them and get along with them. we're looking for a peaceful world. the one hinge donald trump has

been adamant about is he wants to see real genuine peace whether with china, with the middle east, with ukraine. and i think he's serious about that. stuart: now, you are america's ambassador to israel following the president's inauguration. i want to to draw your attention to a headline, an exclusive story in today's "wall street journal," and i'm sure you've seen it. it reads: hamas concedes on israeli troops in gaza raising the possible of peace talks or peace speeding up. that's a real development, isn't it? >> it's a significant development. it's the most significant thing really that's happened since october the 7th. but donald trump made it very clear in a statement that he leased and said that if the hostages, every one of them, are not released by the time he's sworn in on january 20th, that hamas if will have hell to pay. i think they know he's dead serious about that. and so, yeah, they're starting to move, and they'd better. because he's not kidding.

this is not a guy who plays games when you're talking about over 100 hostages still remaining in gaza. stuart: israel's troops advancing deeper into syria. they've completely destroyed syria's navy and its weapons arsenals. what do you think israel's goal is in syria? >> it's very clear they just want to peck themselves. they know -- protect themselves. they know that there's been a threat from syria for really 54 years of the assad regime, and now they're looking forward to having some relative peace. but they also know that it's sort of like meet new boss, same as the old boss. so they've got to be cautious. and getting rid of these weapons and especially the chemical weapons is a big priority. and it's, frankly, not just a priority for israel e, it's a priority for everybody in the middle east. those things should never have been existent, and certainly not used on the syrian people themselves as assad did. stuart: it seems to me you're going to israel as the

diplomatic, military map of the mideast has been rewritten in a very short time. am i going too far? >> no, i don't think you are. and, of course, i've got to get confirmed through the senate, so i respect that process. i hope i will be taking that post relatively soon. but it remains in the hands of the senate. but i'm grateful for president trump giving me the opportunity, because i think there's an extraordinary opportunity ahead. what donald trump got accomplished in his first term with the abraham accords was historic. he should have been given a nobel peace prize. i hope he gets one this time for the things that he will do in this coming term which i think are going to be the extraordinary. stuart: governor, thank you very much -- mr. ambassador, i should really say. mr. ambassador-elect. i'm not quite sure what the correct address is. i'm call you former governor is -- if that's okay. mike -- >> mike works great. [laughter] stuart: i can't be so familiar. you know, i was born and raised in england, you know how it is. thanks for being with us, sir.

see you again soon. >> thanks, stu. stuart: now this, a bill making its way through congress would add dozens of new federal judges. i guess biden wants to to accomplish that before he leaves office. quickly on this. lauren it's called the judges' act, it would add more than 68 federal judgeships over a decade, so this spans three presidents. it's not partisan and bipartisan. biden says he'll veto it even though there are 750,000 cases pending. if congress approves this, why is he suddenly against it? because president-elect trump will come in, and he would have the first take at filling some of the vacancies. stuart: okay. i do want to go back to the market. we have seen president-elect trump ring the bell at the opening of trading. we've seen him walk with his entourage across the floor of the new york stock exchange, and here's what's happening with the market right now. the dow is in positive territory. it's up 38 points. s&p down 14, nasdaq down 86.

that, despite the fact that we had a significant uptick in inflation at the producer revel. 3% -- level. 3% inflation now. prices paid by business up 3% in the past year. but the market not exactly taking it on the chin. coming up, we watch the rapid transformation of government. voters approve of it. there's a new president and a new mood. that's my take, top of the hour. rising consciouses -- costs. because of that, millions of car owners are fall behind on maintenance or learning to do it themselves. we have that story after this. ♪ i don't really know her destination ♪ an alternative to pills, voltaren is a clinically proven arthritis pain relief gel, which penetrates deep to target the source of pain with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicine directly at the source. voltaren,

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stuart: president-elect has, indeed, rung the opening bell for trading on wall street. that was about 17 minutes ago. he's take his entourage around the floor of the new york stock exchange. got a very, very positive reception. usa, usa, that was the cheer that was rung out all across the floor there. and he subsequently said he's going to meet with jeff bezos next week. that's important because the leaders of big tech companies are gradually warming up to

mr. trump, and he's getting together with them. i think that's an interesting deal. lauren: -- honorary traders' jacket from citadel securities. the trader just presented him with a jacket, and now they're chatting. stuart: that's the workers' jacket -- lauren: the construction vest? >> he said it made him look thin, and he may never take off -- lauren: which, by the way, nobody can pull off except donald trump. it works. stuart: is he going to put on the trader's vestsome they want him too. they really, really want him to -- they want him to. a citadel thing. that's' a nice commercial. is he going to do it? and. >> i don't think so. he gets the bear hug. stuart: he gets the handshake. noise try, mr. citadel. [laughter] trump's not going to go for it. >> he probably doesn't want to be seen as a favoring a particular company. i'm surprised goldman's not trying to give him a jacket and ditto everyone else.

stuart: there's the president-elect, he'll speak to anybody. he can work the crowd like nobody else can work a crowd. he loves them and they love him. could you see kamala harris walking the floor of the new york stock exchange? and relating to people like that? it's out of the question. lauren: his former enemies are trekking down to his home in florida and dining with himmal press coe on the patio. they love it. mark zuckerberg. stuart: he's got the crowd in the palm of his hand. they of love him, absolutely love him. >> think about those two over on an unspeakable network, but i'll say it, msnbc, joe and whoever her name is who went down do kiss ring because they realized they'd been on the wrong side of wrong for so long. yes, lauren, you're absolutely right, even his enemies are saying we want the somehow be close to him. and that is because he is such a charismatic person who has such a strong vision for this country, and that is why stocks are up. lauren: and they want to own the future. and the future is artificial

intelligence. and president-elect trump understands. that's and the way the u.s. owns it is not by government taking ownership and setting all the rules, it's unleashing their ability to do the right thing to advance a.i., which is going to set the foundation for education, every industry there is. he a wants to do it right and they're onboard. stuart: the billionaire or, bill ackman, he was one of those in the entourage meeting trump right there at the new york stock exchange, and ackman is saying i've not met anybody who disagrees with trump's business plan. so trump's really got business not wrapped around him, but he's got business on his side bigtime. and that's what he said a moment ago, he's going to meet jeff bezos, the amazon man, that's next week. lauren: who says he's optimistic about trump 2.0. stuart: right. not bad, is it? if. [laughter] now p are we going to go to thi. i'm going to really change the subject, okay? lauren: okay. >> all right. stuart: car owners are falling behind on routine maintenance and repairs.

[laughter] they're trying to fix the cars themselves. who better to coffer this than jeff flock who's in south hampton, pennsylvania? what kind of maintenance? oil changes, tire rotation or something more complicated? >> reporter: better not get too complicated, stuart, if it's you and me working on the cars. i've got a mechanic who tells you what can go wrong if people like us try. but first to the numbers, cpi just out this week, 54%, is how much auto repair has gone up in the past five years. and when you look at it and break the numbers down as the cpi does, it's actually mostly labor because parts, fluids, tires, that's more in the 20% up range. there's a guy on youtube, his name is scotty kilmer, we've got pictures of his youtube channel, he's got more than 3 billion views to his videos because more people are doing it themselves because they can't afford to take the car to the dealership. here's what he told us. >> the average dealership today

has about $3 million overhead a year, so they gotta pay $3 million before they make a profit. well, who does that come from? their customers. and a lot of people don't know, but car dealerships make the majority of their profit repairing cars, not selling them. >> reporter: okay, stuart. we're out of time. andre here though says if you and i try, that's the most dangerous thing. people don't know what the heck they're doing, so if you're going to replace your brake rotors, don't come to us. [laughter] stuart: don't worry, jeff, it's not gonna happen. believe me. jeff flock, thanks so much, indeed. i want to get back to the market. the president-elect has rung the bell. he's been given a great reception by the traders on the floor, and adam has been all the way through the it with us. i think it's time you told us what you should buy in the era of trump. >> well, you can buy practically anything. [laughter] but i'll tell you what i am buying this week in particular. i'm buying the tip in top-tier

tech, and i've got two names. we think that everything artificial intelligence-related is going up. actually, no, a couple of names have gone down. monolithic power systems, tell you why i like it, these guys are number one at modulating the power between all hose nvidia chips that are -- all those nvidia chips that are necessary to perform artificial intelligence calculations. there is a rumor, i believe it's the an incorrect one, that monolithic has lost the nvidia contract. the stock is down 40% in a month if of and a half. monolithic hasn't commented, nvidia hasn't commented and the two companies that could potentially take the business have not guided up. so there's no reason to think there's any truth to that rumor, i am buying monolithic. it's key to a.i., there it is today down another $11, i like it. stuart: the dip in tech. synopsis. >> number one in automated design software if you're trying

to design a semiconductor or another piece of electronic equipment. this is the company that helps you design it online. you don't just sketch the stuff out, you do it all on computer. they have beaten earnings for 62 consecutive earnings, and yet because people are concerned there the might be a down tick in the semiconductor cycle, you know, it's a cyclical business, it has come off. look at that it's down at 510. it's made three round trips from 500 to 600 over the past six months as people try to game the semiconductor cycle. buy it. it's back in the buy zone, $500. stuart: back in the buy zone. >> yes. i'm buying the dip on two apt i.-related companies -- a.i.-relate companies. stuart: okay. it's been a busy hour here on "varney & company." we've seen the president-elect ring the bell. just as important in many ways, the president gave a speech before he rang the bell when he was receiving the "time" person of the year award. he ran through everything. he ran through speeding up

permits. he ran through devastating weapons in the military, tax cuts, what happened in paris, tariffs, drill, baby, drill, energy prices have got to come down. it was a quick run-through of everything he wants to do in his second term. very interesting stuff. adam, thank for the joining us, we do appreciate it. >> thank thanks for having me on a me men talking to us day. stuart: it is a busy day. a whole lot more just ahead. more "varney" just after this. ♪ i like your soul, baby muck you got that harte made of gold, baby. ♪ i'm gonna love you til i'm old, baby. ♪ i just wannabe your baby ♪ ..

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stuart: some positive upbeat music, why not? a performance from the president-elect on the stock exchange floor. it is 10:00 eastern. donald trump ringing "the opening bell". we heard usa usa chanted all over the building, he has been greeting the traders on the floor and getting a good reception.