looking at hormel trading 30 times. that seems pretty incredible, right?they have delivered and done an outstanding job, no doubt about that, but at 31 times i would think i'm not show sure i would jump in this name. i would look at kraft heinz, for instance, if i was staying in the food space. because buffet put these guys together essentially and you see some of the synergies that will come about in the next couple of quarters, not right now but off 10% from the highs and this is a name that can go higher. >> would you nibble on any of these? nobody else had done it. >> come on, i kind of like the restaurant space even though higher costs aren't good for them, but they do get a huge benefit from lower gas prices for the consumer, so i -- i think there's some value there. >> hormel is up 10%. it has the lowest and steadiest chart. tyson is up 22%. way too spiky for me. campbell's is up 15% and also spiky. if you're going to buy one, go with the slow and steady and the market is telling you something. they are safety plays and probably can continue to be s

hormell -- >> ex-cash. >> no, just straight up. hormel is trading at a higher forward pe and clorox is trading at a higher pe. >> that's spam, by the way. >> on nice white toast. >> so we're willing to reward the momentum and stocks that are delivering that had the momentum and on the other side of it we're playing this extreme defensive position here. >> throw apple on that extreme, throw that in on the google side of the equation as well. i think there's some -- i can't speak intelligently about hormell but i will say there's probably some takeout premium in that multiple given the environment we're in. >> clorox, kimberly clark, you go down the list. >> exactly. >> the question about the broader market, pretty good conversation on friday about the market and where we all stood. i will say this. on positive side of thing, you know, we traded down to 1920 today in the s&p, a day where the market could have given back a lot. held exactly level that we had flagged as a pivot point. what does that mean? well, past resistance becomes

hormel, the company behind spam that's remaking itself as a high growth food play. i want to be careful. the stock is on a tear around its all time high selling at 30 times earnings. this is a food company. hormel made very smart acquisitions including the applegate farms that really panned out. we also care about zoetis. not just because it is the premier animal health company. we are in a strange moment where people need to consider not just what a company does or how it does but also who owns the shares in it. right now zoetis is in a group of sell rs and short sellers banging it down because a recent look at the shareholder base shows pershing square capital owns 8.4% of the company with 41 million shares and some are concerned the fund which is really under performed may have to sell the stock in order to raise capital. we have no idea if that's true. we have no idea if the manager of pershing square has to be a poor seller. if you read "confessions of a street addict" it's standard practice for hedge funds to shoot at you when wounded. that happened to me. i t

according to hormel, las vegas, i guess there is a chili index? las vegas is the 15th top chili consuming city in the united states for the big game. number one was l.a number two was chicago. chances are we could go to number one this year because the game might not be on their televisions. if you love chili, hormel has the chili bowl 50 recipe you can find on thank you web site. go to the recipe tab. it leads us to our topic of the day. what are your must have dishes for game day? things that you absolutely have to have when the big game is on. >> i never eat chili during the big game or any game. it doesn't really come to my consciousness. i'm all about the wings. the wings, the guac, the chips, the salsa and all the side things. >> do you do buffalo wild wings? but i don't order from them. >> bone in or boneless? >> i have to have the bone and hot. >> what kind of sauce? >> hot. barbecue, hot, whatever. traditional. >> the normal buffalo. buffalo sauce to me tastes like chlorine. don't know why. it's the worse -- i got to go honey barbecue, bo

guys, we saw pretty solid results out of hormel.tew. >>> zika virus has now spread to more than 30 countries prompting the world health organization to declare a global emergency. the fda is now recommending that those who are at risk much being infected should not donate blood for our weeks. that includes those with zika virus symptoms. joining us right now to give us the latest on the battle to fight zika is dr. scott. this is something that is really starting to create a lot of concern here in the united states as well even though this is not one of the countries where you have seen cases that have developed from mosquito bites here in this nation. why don't you first of alltel bus how big of a concern this is for people in the united states? >> well, i think we should be concerned. we're going to see outbreaks, isolated outbreaks especially in the gulf coast region, florida, georgia, that's where the apologetic that carries this virus ranges. what's concerning here is the nature of this risk, the fact you could see a spreading i

not far behind is hormel, up 9%.ut carter says one of these hot stocks might be ready to cool off. >> we know staples are a place to be in an environment like this and they are getting morn some of them are literally off the chart. that's what's kind of a problem here. so let's just take a look at some setups and then get to soup. staples. what we have here is just the absolute chart going back to 1990 recession. and the performance, of course, of this group is stunning. it's quite good versus the market. in fact, close to double, not quite. what's interesting is through the entire bull market, actually staples have underperformed. we know this to be the case. these are defensive assets. so in a big bull market, staples actually underperform. in a bear market they outperform. right now this is the move, but they have not outperformed the market. so that's what's expected in a bull market, yes, because these are low beta names. the beta, the sector's half the s&p. what we're starting to get now is certain individual s

strongest stocks in the market are what i call the recession stocks, utilities, beer makers, gamble soup, hormelnd smuckers, like it or not the stock market is very seriously forecasting a recession. to be fair to janet yellen, she's a smart person. i have to believe if the global economy doesn't improve dramatically by the march fed meeting she probably won't make the mistake of approving another rate hike but i worry if the fed holds off on tightening they'll still flub the statement. it sounded like a temporary reprieve from the inevitable. i fear the fed will give us the impression that why it's too risky to tighten for the moment. and weakness around the globe. fed should be trying to figure out a way to reverse the rate hike. maybe going back to a quantitative ease again. i wouldn't mind qe-4. i hate inflation as much as the rest guy. and come on air and talk about this stuff and maybe we should have some inflation before we start fighting it tooth and nail. and to anyone who thinks rates need to go higher here, maybe because of the strong job market or rising wages, can i please point out

look at hormel or clorox.ot are trade at premiums. >> stairway to heaven is the most underrated/overrated song. people don't play it anymore. it's a great song. what we are saying here -- >> what are you saying? >> i think i made it clear and dom made it clear. you see things with relative value but not to themselves. >> oh, okay. >> i want to talk about transports. they are so beaten up and the expectation on the economy is so poor. these stocks trade 15% cheap to historicals. look at the best stocks year to date. some in transport. ch robinson and even u.p.s. the comes got bad in february of last year for rails, starting to look a lot more interesting relative to themselves, relative to history. >> ross, will you stick with utilities in the market environment? >> i totally agree with everything tim said. >> including led zeppelin? >> everything. >> i felt like you gave me an elevator to stupidity. >> easy, whoa. >> kidding. >> if you look at xlu it's up 7% year to date. i get the valuation comment but until

how does hormel, the maker of spam, trade literally at twice the price to earn ings multiple of this amazing company. the answer on wall street is simple. much of disney's growth comes from espn. though ieger tells us 95% of americans with a bundle watch sports with 81% of those viewers watching espn which engages more than 200 million adults across its platforms. the fact the espn doesn't have as many people watching over cable as it used to. about. just listen to the questions in the conference call after the presentation to see how laser focused the wolf pack analyst community is on this one issue. almost nothing else mattered. not the theme parks, the "star wars" down the park. not pirates. it got so bad that a respected analyst on the call asked eiger maybe it would be better to split the company to nonneed wra side. get it away. bring them value. i almost fell out of my chair. eiger was too restrained and said i don't want to talk about when you go on disney rides, it's two years after the movie and disney has to do with the integration of the business. eige r and i share birth

. >> campbell's and hormel. another day, another record high. it's either about chicken noodle soup or spam. some more stocks to watch today. devon energy is slashing its dividend and spending by 75% as low oil prices continue to weigh on producers. the independent oil company will cut about 20% of its work force in the first quarter. revenue dropped 52%. shares falling by about 5.5% in premarket trading here. boeing gets an order for a dozen 737s from china's ok airways at the singapore air show. the order is worth about $1.3 billion at current list prices. it's china's first privately owned airline. you can see those shares not trading just yet. rack space reports better than expected fourth quarter results, but the company is issuing 2016 guidance. that's below wall street analyst estimates. they expect full-year revenue of up to $2.16 billion. shares tumbling more than 6% in the extended hours trade. >> we've got some more stocks you might want to watch today because it's time for whale watching. investment managers releasing fourth quarter

so the place to do it, charles is in these really defensive names like the foods, whether it be hormelnned beans, canned meats, go for companies that have also been thrown out, the mid caps, small caps that are value plays. oln, 4% dividend yield, clean balance sheets, meaning there's no debt there to bring the company down and that free money that jim talked about, that has been the problem. >> well, and you can add to that the large cap consumer nondurables, people are going to brush their teeth, they're going to eat cookies, use soap, and those companies are global and have been hurt by the strong dollar, not only will the demand for the product continue to be okay in a recessionary or slow growth time but get the currency benefit. charles: i'm thinking the dollar is going to go down this year, it's telegraphing, i'm not sure whether it's policy related or whatever. i like the old blue chip names that have been crush. it doesn't make sense, the caterpillars of the world are going to have a good year, so that's what i'm looking at. paul, do i sound nuts there? >> so i think that the

. >> hormel doesn't go down? >> it was an amazing quarter.re 500 basis points better than people expected. >> coming up, quick check of the halftime portfolios, plus trades in the second half. back after this. we're the hottest young company around but if we want to keep the soda pop flowing we need fresh ideas! >>got it. we slow, we die. >>what about cashing out? no! i'm trying to build something here. >>how about using fedex ground for shipping? >>i don't need some kid telling me how to run a business! i've been doing this for 4 long months. >>fedex ground can help us save money and deliver fast to our customers. not bad, kid. you remind me of a younger me. >>aiden! the dog is eating your retainer again. let's take a short 5-minute recess. fedex ground is faster to more locations than ups ground. >>> stocks are at the highs of the day. s&p 5 hub, a gain of 27 points. the dow jones industrial average up more than 200 points, 1.2%, which takes us to our halftime leader board. geohas made another trade, joe has moved into positive territory. >

shares of hormel foods are rising the most in a decade today after the maker of spam increased its forecastated food. quarterly profits topped for sales. there is a lot of debate in the market as to how to read the yield curve. come inside the bloomberg here for a look at the curve. this is a cool function called a 3-d go. one-monthking at the versus 30 year curve. if you are worried about a recession, you're looking at an inverted yield curve. you are looking at a severe flattening of the curve, so what does that wind up meaning for what is freaking markets out about this? showing thehart is flattening we have seen since the beginning of year. the yield curve has indeed flattened and when it does that, it is indicating low growth and low inflation. people are looking at this and combining it with everything we may the world and say be headed for a recession in the u.s. low growth and people saying what we could be seeing. curvewe have the yield paired up with recessionary points in our history which professionted equal but a lot of people say we don't need an inverted yield curve and we mi

i know hormel has been talking price issues. in the system i believe the fed will be able to say this is as temporary as oil. the problem is i don't think oil's temporary. so that's good if you believe that there's going to be deflation. but i warn people this number is as true to a short term burst as others but the additional ad complex has been falling apart, all right? falling apart. >> what does that mean? >> the farmers. well, farmers never die in this country because they get a lot of -- they get a lot of aid. but if you're looking at farm equipment. i hadded adco on. i was trying to be positive. that's one of the largest farm equipment companies in the world. >> the broader market right now given these, what, last 2 1/2 days, are you a buyer here? suddenly we're not as worried about negative rates. deutsche bank bought back some of its bonds. >> how about credit agreeco. >> china came out. >> china was supposed to be down. when i was away, unfortunately every single person was a hedge fund manager with my wife saying cou

the strongest stocks, smucker, hormel, campbell soup. you know when you buy those stocks?ssion. yet i'm not -- that's why i mentioned the banking thing. i'm not seeing recession. but the stocks are screaming recession. spam is a recession stock. alphabet soup is a recession stock. they are getting more natural organic. smuckers did some acquisitions that are more discretionary food. but to see the charts this weekend, to see it was the food stocks, the old was wisconsin electric. i had aep ceo nick aikens on, that stock traded as if it was roaring industrial. that's entirely because of the ten-year. you mentioned banks. we started to see a bit of consolidation. first niagara, first financial, first merit. did want to note, doug braun steen and jim wool ry, two guys who started this nonactivist fund, bronstein was the cfo at jpmorgan. the fund is not that large. worth noting that they own comerica and cit. >> wow. >> cit has been one of the most disappointing stocks of this period. >> given their history and the fact they have a group of advisers that includes richard kavas

and you are having a great day if you are invested in hormel.financial and airgas, what do they have in common? all three of them are touching all time highs in today's session. >>> european banks surging higher earlier today after an extremely volatile week last week. lloyd's banking up 2.5%. society general up over 3%. nick nelson is head of european equity strategy at ubs and they have got a note out today saying they see six signs of ka patlation in the european markets. nick, great to have you here. >> hi there. >> it's cable, we don't have time for all six. but can you make your case. i mean, that suggests you may have bought them. >> let's hit three points. the first three points, firstly specifically around the banks, as you say, these things have been massively volatile in the last couple of weeks. we through our flows have seen the biggest net selling of banks for five years. that smells like ka patlation. secondly, the net leverage is down lower than it was in march of 2009 for hedge funds. that's where hedge funds are positioned now

another one i'm watching is the big mover in the premarket, hormel.kes skippy peanut butter, mostly known for its meat brands like spam. this is a stack that does not go down. that flight continues with a 5.5% gain in the opening market. it raised guidance for the year. it recorded better profit numbers. it's doing better thanks to lower input costs thanks to lower commodity prices and getting over the hump of bird flu. this is a stock that was up more than 50% last year, it split its stock. it's one of those consumer staples and defensive names that people can continue to flock to, even with worries about meat and the health benefits or the detriments of that. >> flock to. yes, i like that. with that avian flu -- that crushed enormous amounts of stocks of chickens and the likes. >> they're getting around it. >> they are. i wanted to mention community health. the stock is losing a quarter of its value, this after it has been down sharply through much of the year. a hospital operator. reported earnings, yeah, yesterday. so that can kind of show you wha

they include hormel, reynolds american and constellation brands, spam, palmol and corona. >>> puertove its creditors a huge haircut today as it tries to resolve the debt crisis. and washington is weighing in with the white house saying that president obama and republican congressional leaders may address puerto rico's situation during budget talks planned for tomorrow. trying to figure out if and when they can declare bankruptcy. house majority leader kevin mccarthy says house republicans plan to have a puerto rico bill on the house floor by the end of march. the bonds had high yielders for a reason. talk about other parts of the bond market which may be of interest. joining us is robert tipp, one of the world's largest fixed income portfolios with half a trillion in assets. >> good to be here. >> we heard liesman, steve liesman reporting on what stan fisher was saying today. right now, the u.s. federal reserve looks to be the most aggressive in the world compared to all of the other central banks out there. you think that's changing, and what does that mean for what you're doing wit

hormel and mccormick, the spice companies, off their highs. they're all consumer staples. bet on the consumer side of the economy? that's coming up on "power lunch" in a couple of minutes. ♪ there's a lot of places you never want to see "$7.95." [ beep ] but you'll be glad to see it here. fidelity -- where smarter investors will always be. if only the signs were as obvious when you trade. fidelity's active trader pro can help you find smarter entry and exit points and can help protect your potential profits. fidelity -- where smarter investors will always be. >>> consumer staples attempting to stage a comeback after a few positive earnings reports over the last week. joining us now to discuss whether that's really turning the corner is nick mody, managing director at rbc capital markets. good to see you. i was surprised to seat consumer staples sell off along with the market because i thought they should be defensive and then i think, well, lots of emerging markets, much more international and they're all getting hammered. how should we look at them and is the worst over f

hormel posting better than expected revenue. pork producers decline.ting street estimates. mobile products to energy industry customers fell. company has retrenched. community health systems posting an unexpected loss for its latest quarter. the hospital operator's revenue falling short of street forecast. total hospital ad misses up 3.6% for the quarter. and baxalta topped estimates. it led gains in treatments. ge is exploring potential business opportunities involving oil and gas in iran. this follow as recent visit to the country by the ceo of ge oil and gas. meantime amgen's drug met its goal late stage trials. the goal is to reduce the need for red blood cell transfusions in certain anemia patients. >> deposition are insisting president obama's choice to replace supreme court antonin scalia get an up or down vote but republicans are vowing to block it. so the next president can fill that vacancy. hampton pearson joins with us the latest. >> reporter: the supreme court will operate with eight justice for the foreseeable future and given that's poli