would you be leslie picker 2 exactly the same vr?t have the power of a perfect memory. >> i remember that. >> sleep less. you would like that, too. >> impossible. thank you. thank you all for watching "power lunch." "closing bell" begins right now. ♪ >>> it does. thank you. welcome to "closing bell." i'm wilfred frost at new york stock exchange major averages rising. gaining steam throughout the session. on record close watch for the s&p 500. >> for the 69th time of 2021 welcome, everyone. i'm sara eisen consumer discretionary stocks up today as new data showed the strongest pace of holiday sales growth in 17

leslie picker. we should point out two ipos that did particularly well this year were roblox and applovin. strong debuts, strong 2021 >>> up next, a look at the top tech stock of this year and an argument against bitcoin stay with us (swords clashing) -had enough? -no... arthritis. here. aspercreme arthritis. full prescription-strength? reduces inflammation? thank the gods. don't thank them too soon. kick pain in the aspercreme. you're a one-man stitchwork master. but your staffing plan needs to go up a size. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire when it comes to autism, finding the right words can be tough. finding understanding doesn't have to be. together, we can create a kinder, more inclusive world for the millions of people on the autism spectrum. go to autismspeaks.org >>> let's get a gut check on alphabet the top performing megacap name. up 70% with just five trading days

leslie picker has that story for us hi, leslie. >> yeah, that's right, carl.day of trading for buzzfeed today. as you mentioned, shares surging nearly 30% at the open, only to plum met to trade lower by 8% currently although the day is still young. buzzfeed marks its debut after completing a merger with a spac known as 890 fifth avenue partners nod to the address of the avengers headquarters. the volatility, though, is the result of a small amount of shares being floated in the market after the spac received an abnormally large amount of redemptions. 94% opted to sell their shares at the ipo price that proportion more than doubled the average redemption rate for spacs this year and means that buzzfeed receives only 16 million dollars in cash. >> having a lot of cash would be nice, but it's important to use your cash in a way that -- where you really are understanding inputs and outputs of your business and investing wisely. and we've been able to do that and be able to -- being able to have a business that generates cash is more important than just raising a t

. >> we've got a couple of interesting stories that leslie picker is following for us a new spac goeslic plus, anctis aivt investor is targeting khol's i promise our relationship will be one of partnership and trust. i am a fiduciary, not just some of the time, but all of the time. charles schwab is proud to support the independent financial advisors who are passionately dedicated to helping people achieve their financial goals. visit findyourindependentadvisor.com reducing our carbon emissions to net zero may be our biggest challenge yet. there's no single action that will lead us to carbon neutrality. but there is a single source of essential sustainability intelligence. s&p global sustainable1. >>> welcome back a digital media company goes public via spac. our leslie picker, of course, is following the money for us on both stories let's do buzzfeed first. it got out of the gates great. 14.77. the highs of the day now it's barely above 9 bucks. >> there's a lot of volatility in this debut today. buzzfeed surging as much as 30% when it first started trading. then it traded -- down 13

. >>> i'm leslie picker. here's your cnbc news update at this hour.imony today from kim potter the former suburban minneapolis police officer standing trial for killing and shooting a black motorist during a traffic stop she said as he was trying to escape she thought she was using a taser. >> we were struggling. we were trying to keep him from driving away it just -- it just went chaotic. it -- and then i remember yelling "taser, taser, taser" and nothing happened and then he told me i shot him >> and news in the last hour, southwest airlines says its ceo has tested positive for covid with you is experiencing only mild symptoms. just two days ago, gary kelly testified along with other top airline executives at a senate hearing. southwest says he is fully vaccinated and tested negative multiple times before that testimony. >>> one of the biggest concerns for investors is covid and the rapid spread of the omicron variant. officials are urging people to take precautions, expands testing, all of this ahead of the holidays meg tirrell is following the lat

i'm leslie picker. herself your cnbc news update. white house blasted democratic senator joe manchin for apparently giving up on president biden's stalled build back better bill today a softer tone with press secretary jen psaki saying also no doubt there will be more negotiations. >> we believe that the -- that senate manchin has been engaging with us over the course of time and months in good faith the president believes they are friends. they can work together we need to work together to get this done. they have some disagreements but there is a lot of things they want to get done our focus is on -- is on moving forward. >> as president biden was meeting virtually with ceos on supply chain issues, the white house announced a pcr covid test he took today had come back negative his second negative result since being i go posed to an infected staff member five days ago. >>> sod south dakota reported its first omicron infection. all 50 states have now at least one case of the quickly spreading variant. it has been 21 days since the fi

our leslie picker joining us with what it means for the playbook for 2022.er of ipos that we had this year, and then the way that spacs factor in so heavily to that, too. >> you wouldn't think the two things go together, the fact there's been a record issuance as well as under performance, but to your point this year was one for the record books, companies and spacs raising $318 billion, the largest ever even after adjusting for inflation. on average the debuts popped 22%. since then the market has shunned them the mean performance for companies that went public this year not including spacs is negative 11% only 22% of new listings this year were profitable the market sold them off along with other high-growth money-losing stocks in a shift amid fed policy that could mean highest interest rates next year a weighted basket producing negative 3.7% in a year the nasdaq is up 23% that doesn't bode well for companies in the pipeline for 2022 since it is harder to coax investors to put money into a negative for 2021. next years deals will be all about return to fu

now let's send it over to leslie picker who's got a cnbc news update good afternoon, leslie >> hey, dom's what's happening at this hour in minneapolis the jury at the kim potter trial has reached an outcome according to court officers it will be read into the record at least an hour from now. the white house says it is still hammering out contracts to order hundreds of millions of at-home covid tests. press secretary jen psaki says she has no doubt the deals will be struck. she expects the first batch of covid tests in early january >>> in wisconsin, dangerously icy roads causing multiple crashes in the closure of an interstate highway freezing rain created the hazardous conditions one pile-up involved about 40 vehicles >>> on "the news," traveling for the holiday. how americans are dealing with rising covid cases and surging prices for hotels and car rentals. that's tonight at 7:00 eastern >>> and a giant of american literature has died. joan didian was a key critique of turbulent times her work ranged from novels to essays she succumbed to complications from parkinson's disease at the

it's getting more expensive for equity investors our leslie picker has more on that hi, les. >> lotssses are passing on costs to customers, it appears that equity is no exception. the p-e model charges investors and their funds and a management fee usually at 2% to keep the lights on plus a percentage of performance, but ancillary fees have also been rising according to a new report the by the institutional limited partners association. the trade group limited partners who invest in fund, these are endowments and family offices and things like that, and a quarter of them reported administrative expenses like inhouse, legal accounting and computer software had shifted outside the traditional management fees. fun formation costs have jumped 123% over the last decade to 3.6 million dollars, the report showed, but private equity firms continued to smash records for fund-raising indicating they still have the upper hand in coaxing investors to hand over their cash to manage and their public market investors are along for the ride shares of the four big publicly traded firms each more than

commercial and personal bankruptcies sank this year, but 2022 could be very different leslie picker isory, and a sector to watch closely. leslie >> kelly, the number of consumer and business bankruptcy filings is on pace this year to be the lowest annual amount going back to 1985 and may record even fewer than that year for the first 11 months of the year, there were just over 373,000 total bankruptcies, the low figure can be attributed to a number of macro factors, including covid-related stimulus, lender forbearances and low interest rates looking ahead to next year, there likely will be no more pandemic relief. plus inflation and higher interest rates will be sources of economic head winds for consumers and business as american bankruptcy institute director says. according to reuter's, the proportion of u.s. loans trading below 80% of face value, an indicator of likely default was just over 1% in november that's according to an index compiled by s&p glebl's leveraged a commentary and data unit n. junk bond prices gained in december looking to recoup losses in november with yields of

those deals have been soured by the current market environment what's in store for 2022 our own leslie picker for your to 22 playbook. "worldwide exchange" is back after this >>> welcome back the rise of spacs help public offerings surge to new heights in 2021. but post i.p.o. valuations and a dropoff from china leaving some big question marks for the year ahead. leslie pickerjoining us with what to expect l lesslessly, good morning. >> this year was one for the i.p.o. record books, companies and spacs raising $318 billion, the largest figure ever even after adjusting for inflation. wh debuts popped 22% since then the market has shunned them the companies that went public this year, the mean is negative 11% according to capital markets group. only 22% of new listings this year were profitable according to the university of florida so the market sold them off along with high growth money losing stocks and fed policy that could mean higher interest rates next year. a weighted basket of 2021 i.p.o.s, produced returns of negative 22.1%, in a year the nasdaq is up that duchbt bode well for compani

leslie picker spoke with them. >> j must a year since the firm was started engine number one has takenutes to try to further esg goals, a white paper supporting gm's electric vehicles pivot and several etfs. exxon is what corporate america thinks about when they hear the name engine number one and start to assess their esg vulnerability. the c suite can take a deep breath, though. >> exxon is an outlier you may as investors, and we feel like we were able to go and make this argument, make an economic argument be the tip of the spear on this conversation and a lot of people came with us and followed us that we took on activist approach. in everything else we think it will be more of a constructive approach like what we do at general motors. >> i asked whether she was happy with exxon's recently announced goals to reduce greenhouse gas intensity by 30% over the next eight years. >> well, we are glad exxon is starting to make some progress on these issues. since we started the campaign a year ago but our perspective is still that it is a company that has work to do on governance and work

i'm leslie picker. here's your cnbc news update at this hour.al of former police officer kim potter is coming to a conclusion. the outcome of the jury's four days of deliberations will be read in court late they are hour potter is accused of manslaughter for fatally shooting daunte wright at a traffic stop. >>> lawyers for donald trump are taking their fight over white house records to the supreme court. they are appealing a lower court's ruling that a house panel is entitled to get documents related to what trump and his team were doing during the january 6th attack on the capitol. >>> ukrainian troops are conducting military exercises with u.s.-supplied javelin anti-tank missiles as russia continues to deploy thousands of troops along its border. today the white house says there is still no agreement on a time and place for new talks to begin between president biden and russia's president vladimir putin. >>> and within the last half hour, word that new york city will not cancel its 2022 knew year's celebration in time's square but it will be s

great news, i hope, i will be sticking around for "power lunch," leslie picker joins us for the entirenother big hour as markets continue to make record highs, the s&p on pace for its 69th closing record high of the year. ♪ >> welcome to "power lunch," i'm brian sullivan, i wa

, even if it is a little bumpy over the next three to section months >> mike, i believe cnbc's leslie pickeras tell using a few days ago that short interest was at relative historic lows lately. boy, i wonder if that's changing right now. have you noticed anything about short activity in these markets and do you expect it to do anything different from here given what we've seen? what historically has happened or what are you seeing so far? >> yes, there was absolutely a very low short base in terms of outright positioning in the underlying stocks. now, that's basically very much in sync with what you were saying before, high-margin debt levels and generally low cash levels that's what a bull market engenders. that's kind of the way you adjust to prices going up, 25% in the s&p, with nothing but a 5% pull back so it is understandable. i don't know that i have seen a lot of people getting super aggressive, newly on the short side, except in certain areas. a lot of new ipos really are greeted by heavy short interest from the gate. you know why it worked. you look at sweet green recently, you lo

i'm here with scott wapner and leslie picker. the dow -- another gain today would be the first six-day win since march, keeping a close eye on china supply chain. our road map this morning begins with, quote, not the same disease. oxford scientists signaling the omicron variant is less severe, but companies appear to drop out of in-person events such as ces next month. >>> elon musk compaleting his sale >>> where we're watching covid cases set record, global now a million plus for the second day in a row, u.s. printing 441,000 yesterday, seven-day average almost a quarter million now interesting, leslie cdc director what lents can i i think was on five morning shows this morning, talking about their changed guidance her general point was, look, we're trying to give americans what they think they can handle. part of the challenge to her is it sounds like the decision was based as much in business at in science, when they're talking about societal function, making sure employees are not removed from work for ten days >> they've got

would you be leslie picker 2 exactly the same vr? >> no. >> impossible. >> i don't have the power of a perfect memory. >> i remember that. >> sleep less. you would like that, too. >> impossible. thank you. thank you all for watching "power lunch." "closing bell" begins right now. ♪ >>> it does. thank you. welcome to "closing bell." i'm wilfred frost at new york stock exchange major averages rising. gaining steam throughout the session. on record close watch for the s&p 500. >> for the 69th time of 2021 welcome, everyone. i'm sara eisen consumer discretionary stocks up today as new data showed the strongest pace of holiday sales growth in 17 years energy making a move higher. wti crude back above $75 a barrel the nasdaq outperforming big tech stocks leading higher and semis doing the heavy lifting today. 59 minutes left to go in the session. every sector is green. >> quite comfortably we'll speak with the ceo of check point about the vulnerability and how companies protect themselves and supply chain challenges and opportunities with

of kohl's jumping today as an activist investor pushing the company to explore a strategy shift leslie picker the story. after they made another deal with an activist investor. >> yeah. a new activist investor in kohl's for those of you out there who feel like they've seen this movie before. this time engine capital which is different than engine number 1. they have about 400 million under management they're pushing forral alternate including separating the businesses and potential sale of the company to private equity as an option for the company to consider kohl's recently reached agreement with investors in april. that group which owned just shy of 10% focused on compensation, inventory management, monetizing real estate and et cetera. they believe that the e-commerce business to fetch more than $12.5 billion which is about 40% higher than where the value traded on friday kohl's says in a statement to cnbc the kohl's board and management team examine all opportunities for maximizing shareholder value. our strategy is gaining traction and driving results. strong performance today with share

i'm here with leslie picker er d mike santoli there you go we're down on the dow, down on the s&p, marginally higher on the nats gab our road map this morning starts with the bull market of 2021, the s&p 500 on pace for its third straight year of gains with the energy sector leading the way. >> plus it's been a wild ride for ev names rivian and lucid motors joining the crowded field. >>> and warren buffett refusing senator bernie sanders's request to enter -- intervene at a strike at a berkshire-owned company. >> we do begin with the markets, of course. what a year it's been. s&p for the year, up 27.2%, that is the best year for the s&p broad stocks since 2019. >> remarkable. i don't think a lot of people ants pailed quite this much up side at the index level. just a few observations of kind of the path along the way is, you know, it wasn't's easy as it seemed arguably, not to say you didn't have pullbacks. you had multiple kind of boom/bust, you know, cycles within this market i not visible on the s&p chart it was the first quarter l.a. years, all about ipos, spacs, ark, speculative growth,

i'm leslie picker. here with your cnbc news update.rivate sector workers the move aimed at preventing a spike in covid infections. the mandate goes into effect on december 22nd and expanding vaccination requirements for indoor dining and entertainment venues to include kids 5 to 11 >>> the georgia republican senator who lost his re-election in 2020 is running to become the next governor of the state david perdue will take on current governor brian kemp in next year's election perdue has the endorsement of former president trump. >>> in virginia the last officer of the regiment that inspired "band of brothers" has been laid to rest. 99-year-old edward shane was a member of the easy company and was involved in some of the most important battles of world war ii and also the first member of his regiment to enter the concentration camp days after its liberation remarkable that mini series is two decades old already. but sad news on that front a life well lived in those 99 years. back to you. >> leslie, thank you very much. >>> taking a look

and worst performing years for ipos the question is, lu be able to get some discounts in 2022 leslie picker >> this was one for the ipo record books companies and spacs raising $318 billion, the largest figure ever, even after adjusting for inflation. investors were receptive to new listings on average their debuts popped 22% since then the market has shunned them the mean performance for companies that went public this year not including spacs is negative 11% only 22% of new listings this year were profitable so the market sold them off along with their other high growth, money losing stocks amid a shift in fed policy that could mean higher interest rates next year a weighted basket of 2021 ipos produced returns of negative 3.7% in a year where the nasdaq is up nearly 23% that dramatic under performance doesn't bode well for companies in the pipeline for 2022 since it's harder to coax investors to put more capital into an asset class that's been a negative source of alpha capital markets experts say next years deals will be all about return to the "f" word, fundamentals tech and biotech wi

i'm david faber with leslie picker and jim cramer.rning off let's give you a look at the markets right now at this 10:00 hour we are down 1.38%, call it 1.4% on the s&p and the nasdaq as well, along with the dow also down rather sharply. leslie >> good monday morning we're 30 minutes into the trading session. here are three big movers we're watching starting with moderna, moving higher although given back a lot of those gains after the drugmaker said its booster increased protection against the omicron variant 37 fold. shares up almost 200% year to date the omicron outbreak hitting the cruise lines royal caribbean off their lows, the company docking a ship in miami over the weekend with 48 cases of covid canada's producer canopy growth sliding after piper downgraded from underweight to neutral citing sales pressure under trends that name down 60% since the start of the year. david? >> leslie, thank you >>> and again, coming back to the broader market, jim, we're hanging around down about 1.25%on the s&p. we started at 9:00, there may

i'm scott wapner with leslie picker take a look at markets trying to keep the street going as we endr eight in a row, up nearly triple digits as we speak s&p 500 looking for its 71st record close of this year. it's back above 4800 >> that big 7-1. we will keep watching it 30 minutes into the trading session here are three movers we're watching today starting with biogen. shares sinking after samsung denied a report it is in talks to buy the company the stock giving up most of yesterday's gains after the initial report said deal could value biogen at $42 billion. >>> kroger getting a boost with the company's board of directors approving a $1 billion stock buyback plan that name up more than 40% year to date, up about 1% right now and a dip for chip giant micron, warning that a covid lockdown in the chinese city of xian would impact production. samsung issuing a similar warning. scott? >> leslie, the dow thihitting another record high as we close out years. for more on the markets let's bring in harris associates partner, cio of international equity, david herro, nice to see you again.

i'm carl quintanilla with david faber and leslie picker. morgan brennan has the morning off.rns to a third day and we look for some more tools in the toolkit to fight covid. >> that's right. merry christmas eve eve. we're about 30 minutes into the trading session. here are three movers we're watching today starting with nicola, shares getting a boost after saying it completed delivery of the first electric vehicle and more were on the way. the stock still down more than 30% year to date >>> jd.com shares sliding on news that china based social media company ten cent would distribute its stake to shareholders in the form of a $16 billion dividend las vegas sands with company operating shares in macau rising following the end of a 45-day public gaming result that might hurt industry profits. >> thanks. another name we're watching this morning is merck with the fda authorizing its covid-19 oral antiviral pill meg tirrell has the latest, they're both approved, pfizer and merck. >> we saw the second clearance just in the last real hour from the fda for merck and ridgeback's molnup

. >> i'mle leslie picker in for sa eisen. the fed and am omicron variant, sparking shut down fears again that's as fed officials are reiterating the hawkish pivot jay powell announced earlier this week, and it's the financials under pressure today with goldman sachs the biggest loser in the dow >>> coming up, tony dwyer and how he thinks the market will perform. and concerns about the omicron variant weighing on vaccine sentiment. >>> you know it's been a volatile week. when we need to bring mike santoli in on his day off, that's a sign. mike, we've missed you as always it's great to see you face on that picture and to hear from you. what has been your take from afar this past week? i mean, we've had a pretty volatile -- we got a nice bounce in the middle of it. it seemed like we took the fed's pivot in our stride at least temporarily. >> for sure. i mean, i think there's some value, unintended value in actually unplugging a little bit and looking at what has changed and what hasn't changed over the course of a week or severa

i'm here with scott wapner and leslie picker.six-day win since march,

up about 2% to 68.2% a barrel >> big story today buzzfeed set to go public despite some drama leslie pickers right, set to make its debut after americaing via spac. that doesn't mean investors and employees are happy about it a mere $60 million remains in trust. the name apparently comes from the address of the avengers headquarters in a marvel comic the company will have gross proceeds of about $150 million in connection with this merger >> the redemption is the highest and more than double this average rate of 42%. share holders were casting the ballot, the leader walked off the job for about 24 hours they've been bargaining contracts and were seeking more than 1% the annual raise a spokesman telling cnbc in response, quote, a bargaining session where we look forward to making more progress becoming the first publicly traded company in our ranks and equity for more deals ahead. nbc, the parent company of cnbc is an investor today's debut will be watched as a proxy for interest in big tall media companies. >> quite the story, leslie we'll be speaking with buzzfeed's founder how much did yo

i'm here with leslie picker er d mike santoli there you go we're down on the dow, down on the s&p, marginallymorning starts with the bull market of

commercial and consumer bankruptcies plummeted in 2021 will that trend continue into the new year leslie picker>> good morning, becky yeah, the number of consumer and bankruptcy filings is on pies to be the lowest annual amount going back to 1985 and may even record fewer than that year. for the first 11 months of the year, there were just over 373,000 total bankruptcies the low figure can get attributed to a lot of macrofactors, covid stimulus and lower interest looking ahead to next year, there will likely be no more pandemic relief and there will be economic head winds for consumers and businesses says american bankruptcy institute director but the markets don't appear to be pricing into potential for more distress quite yet. according to reuters, the proportion of u.s. loans 80% of face value, an indicator likely to fault over 1% in november according to an index smiled by s&p's commentary bonds looking to recoup some of the losses they had in november, guys >> so we got that going for us it didn't blow up last year. along out for next year. >> i feel we have been saying that a few years, b

. >> absolutely leslie we appreciate it less low picker reporting. that does it for "the exchange," everybody. thank you for your time, i will be joining frank holland for "power lunch," which starts right now. ♪ >>> thanks a lot, kelly and welcome to "power lunch. i'm frank holland. here's what's ahead on the show. russia risk. president biden and putt continue to speak this afternoon amid heightened tensions over ukraine. at stake the natural gas market and potential for higher prices. >>> forget faang, there is a new basket of stocks to watch in 2022 we will talk to the investors who is betting on a new acronym. >>> 2021 was a record year for ipos but there were many disasters, which are still worth owning we will tell you later this hour let's first send it over to kelly with a check on the markets. >> the dow is up, trying to go eight days in a row higher for the year we haven't had a stretch that long since 1919 when we had nine right now, it is up 40 the skds is up 7, the nasdaq is up 77, outperforming tel aviva facing an poilt relate related

let's picker with the story. leslie> hey, sara exxon perhaps the standout proxy fight of the year but activism ticked down in 2021. there were 746 companies targeted worldwide, a 7% decline from 2020 lefts and smallest numbers in at least seven year just activity picking up in the fourth quarter headlines that john & partners is pushing to reengage before a planned spinoff. that story by reuters citing people familiar with the matter. yesterday starboard with stake in godaddy and also pushing for macy's to separate and third point wrote a letter to shell urging the major to breaking several into units as for 202, i'm speaking with advisers saying there's activity percolating in secret that hasn't been made public yet and likely to see that at the surface in 2022 but people say we're so busy and we'll see. >> we will leslie, thank you so much. >>> we are just about on record close watch for the dow. but some way off need to get up by about 50 points or so s&p anything positive would be a record coming up the forecast for