Shaky auto market . Well hit the car lot as our special series rolls on. The long wait is over. The blues hoisting thestanley cup for the first time in franchise history. In case you missed the big game, we have all the highlights on this thursday, june 13th as Worldwide Exchange begins right now. Good morning welcome from wherever in the world you may be watching. Im Brian Sullivan thank you very much for joining us we begin with breaking news. The u. S. Navy fifth fleet assisting two tankers reportedly attacks in the gulf of oman south of iran. The u. S. Navy in the region received two separate distress calls. One at 6 12 a. M. Local time, the other at 7 00 a. M. Local time. No word yet on who may be responsible if these were attacks, this comes a few months after four other ships were struck or attacked in that region neither of these ships were carrying crude oil, but oilrelated products still because of it oil spiking on that news news started to break a couple hours ago. We got oil that was flat and then a pop crude oil up 2. 5 , there is a lot of tension and nervousness in the market. Lets talk more about this with the chief oil analyst at energy aspects. Still a lot of questions out here about what may have happened whether these were attacks if it turns out they were, as they appear to be, what could that mean for the oil market i think its important to first, like you said, we need to figure out whether these were attacks or not but yes, definitely heightened tensions in the region there were similar incidents a few weeks ago when two other tankers were attacked. So clearly we know there has been an escalation between u. S. And iran we also know over the last few weeks theres been back channel talks through the oman, through the swiss, through abe, the japanese Prime Minister who is there right now, but it doesnt look like there are any quick resolutions, especially given the u. S. Just put additional sanctions on iranian crude sales. Exports have dropped to a trickle, much lower than we had expected we expected 500,000, 600,000 barrels a day effect, but they barely managed to place 100,000 barrels a day. Nothing in june so far so clearly tensions are high two of these ships according to marinetraffic. Com, one was a japanese vessel. The other one was a norwegian vessel they were not saudiflagged vessels. The reason i bring that up, if they were saudi vessels, one could assume this may be part of the continued fight between yemen and saudi arabia neither was a saudi vessel is there any way to read in what might be the motive here if these were, again, attacks, as they appear to be . I would say neither side wants an escalation to the point that there is an allout war these are clearly skirmishes, if you were to call them that just the fact that they are essentially these are if they are attacks, just warning shots from well from whoever takes responsibility, theres regional tension and theyre trying to prove a point. I dont think theyre targeting any specific tankers or flagged carriers, this is purely to do with disruption. One tanker was carrying a chemical product, neither were either crude tankers this is not just about targeted attacks, its just about saying this is just creating noise in the region to prove a point. One was carrying an ingredient you put in to refine oil, napa. So it could have been purely random were not sure if these were indeed sort of attacks its unusual that two ships within an hour, both with distress calls Iranian State tv saying 44 crew members have been taken to a port in iran they left the ship in one ship, the crew members jumped off there was an evacuation of that ship it was so serious, more serious than the incident we saw with the four different ships on may 12th overall the oil market is well supplied inventories in the United States are huge we could be pumping 13 Million Barrels a day. We have an opec meeting coming up in two weeks, theoretically, if they can figure out when theyre going to meet. If this calms down, should we expect oil to resume itself downturn given the high levels of supply and slowing Global Demand i would say the main reason the market is oversupplied at the prompt is demand rather than supply yes, u. S. Stocks are high. But in the rest of the world we have started to draw down inventories. Its come later than we expected or later than seasonally its known for, but the reality is iran, like i mentioned, hardly exporting anything venezuela production still down. We had the con tam anything that issue in russia. The u. S. Is where the crude stocks have been building partly because of rising production and you know theres been huge floods in the midwest. Weather has been problematic issue in the u. S. This year and refineries havestruggled to come back. Right now demand is a huge concern. We are seeing slowdown across the world. Asia, europe, its all to do with the trade war people dont have clarity. If thats the case, we can see an oversupplied market quickly if demand doesnt pick up. Thats why opec has a challenging meeting ahead. I would expect a rollover given where prices are, but questions are being asked do they need to cut more if demand will collapse thats the fear in the market. If they cant agree on a date, theyre still up in the air its supposed to be june 25th well see if that happens. I wonder if they can even agree on a production cut. Thank you for joining us rising tensions in the middle east just one of a number of macro risks to the markets and your money joining us is jay jacobs i know youre not an expert on middle east oil. I want to put this in perspective because this is a big story. You have this and ships attacked a month ago. You have protests in hong kong, brexit the vix is still at 14 or 15 we are we seeing a relative measure of calmness in the market ultimately because the market cares more about the fed actions than global macro risks. The macro environment is not great, but every time the fed says well start lowering rates again, be supportive of a Global Growth environment the market gets excited its showing people are much more excited about fed movement than about the risks in the market is the fed that powerful . Do they have the ability to supersede with Interest Rate policy all of that i think they are. This is the most powerful institution in the world whether we look at bonds, foreign bonds, equities, this is one of the most powerful bodies in the world if we see some of these risks materialize it will hurt some earnings and credit around the world which will be a negative it is powerful, but that doesnt make it immune to risks. Do we hold our nose, hold our breath and hold on if were Equity Investors people need to be aware theres two kinds of risks in the market theres the known risks. We talked about slowing global glsh gdp, u. S. china trade wars, but what worries me more are the unknown risks like the tanker attacks, geopolitical tensions, these are not priced into the market because we cant see them coming that can really derail returns do you think well end the year higher or lower u. S. Equities. I think well be flat from here i dont see a ton of upside. Any place in the world that looks really good to you still were not looking at broad market indexes but corners of the market that are attractive like cloud computing, robotics but these are for longterm invests. Buying the Broader Market looks less attractive than it has the last few years thanks for joining us. When we come back. More on the developing situation outside of the persian gulf. Two shipping tankers reportedly attacked what the navy is saying and how the Energy Market is reacting. And hong kong remains on high alert and Dozens Injured during another day of protests. And then the one stock that investors are clamoring to own this morning after a spectacular first qutearr. Its a retailer. Hard to believe but true systems and also be able to use apps to book superpersonalized trips on shiny new phones from the future. Plus, i need freedom to move my workloads wherever, whenever but manage it all from right here. And thats the cloud i want. Simple, right . Expect more from your cloud. Ibm cloud. Be go[ laughing ] gone. Woo hoo. Welcome to my house mmm, mmm, mmmmm. Ball. Ball. Ball. Awww, whos a good boy . Its me. Me, me, me. Yuck, thats gross. You got to get that under control. [ dogs howling ] seriously . Embrace the mischief. Say get pets tickets into your x1 voice remote to see it in theaters. Welcome back its 5 13. Dow futures are up 87 despite the developing story not only out of the middle east but out of hong kong another day of protests leaving Dozens Injured chery kang is there live for a second day the government buildings do remain closed. People there are a lot calmer than yesterday thats right. The Hong Kong Central government is going to be shut for the rest of the week. But that does not mean that the Legislative Council will be shut as well. In the meantime we are seeing a standstill outside the hong kong Legislative Council. There is no meeting today. We do see hundreds of protesters scattered around in this vicinity a lot calmer, but i will call it an uneasy calm given what we saw yesterday, that unrest, some of the worst violence in hong kongs history, especially in recent years the Hong Kong Government is not backing down hong kongs chief executive, carrie lam is staying defiant as far as pushing ahead with this bill this comes despite that violence that led to dozens of injuries in fact, 79 people were injured and hospitalized with two in serious condition. So that goes to show how violent things got yesterday one local media is reporting on some arrests as well so what does this really mean . What does this say about the Hong Kong Government in fact, we got some reaction from the hong kong bar association, an organization not usually vocal about hong kong politics, they expressed grave concern and called on the Hong Kong Government to question itself in pushing forward with this controversial extradition bill what is the ultimate end game for both sides what are they both looking for the protesters are calling to retract the bill thats the end game. And a minor group of them are calling on hong kongs chief executive, carrie lam, who is behind this proposal, to step down what is the end game for carrie lam and her government many experts who we have been speaking to on seasons in seasons cnbc asia have saying there is not much flexibility on her part because this is an idea that is mandated by the mainland Chinese Government and this is in fact something that the Chinese Government has been really fully supportive of and in the latest reaction as wellwell a double dose of rare retail winners. The two sides that need to be on your radar today. And later, our continued series, the rate shock and your money. How falling rates could kick car sales into overdrive the founder of true car is here to talk about why rates matter the first survivor of alzheimers disease is out there. And the Alzheimers Association is going to make it happen. But we wont get there without you. Visit alz. Org to join the fight. You mighyour joints. Ng for your heart. Or your digestion. So why wouldnt you take something for the most important part of you. Your brain. With an ingredient originally discovered in jellyfish, prevagen has been shown in Clinical Trials to improve shortterm memory. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. Oil is popping on those reported attacks near the gulf of oman. Lets check on some of the big stocks on the move today lululemon reporting better than expected First Quarter numbers thanks to strong groewth from is online business. The retailer is also raising its guidance for the year. Lululemon up 6. 5 . Shares of rh, formerly known as Restoration Hardware, up 27 right now. A retailer the company posting First Quarter numbers that beat forecasts. It is also raising its outlook for the year the company is also down playing the impact of higher tariffs on chinese imports saying it has renegotiated product costs, raised prices and is shifting some production aware from china. On which what network and show may you have heard that retailers may be able to adjust to these higher tariffs . Also keeping an eye on crowdstrike. The Cybersecurity Company is hiring today shares closing up 70 yesterday from the ipo price the stock up 1. 5 . Coming up, amazon, walmart and now target all upping the ante again in the retail delivery wars. The details ahead. And the 100,000 pay day that everybody is talking about this morning. In this case the house does not always win it has to do with hockey stick around. Good morning welcome back its 5 23. Dow futures are up 81 points the sun is just trying to get up there. Lets check the other top headlines. Phillip menna has those. A stunning admission from President Trump this morning it may reverberate throughout the 2020 election. During an interview with abc news the president claimed he had no problem accepting incriminating information about a political opponent from a foreign power. That was his response when asked whether donald trump jr. Should have contacted the fbi after a russian lawyer promised dirt on Hillary Clinton in 2016. Okay. Lets put yourself in a position, youre a congressman somebody comes up and says hey, i have information on your opponent do you call the fbi . The fbi director said thats what should happen the fbi director is wrong if russia, china, someone else offers you information on an point, do you accept it or call fbi i think you do both i think you my want to listen. Also nothing wrong with listening. If someone calling from a country, norway, we have information on your opponent oh i think i would want to hear it. You want that kind of interference in our elections . Its not interference its information. A new bombshell in the alleged murder plot against david ortiz. The bounty to kill him was less than 8,000. They say the second suspect arest are arested has confessed to shooting ortiz. An allergy attack led to a nearly fatal car accident in tennessee for one driver this guy was driving in his suv, he began sneezing excessively, that caused him to run off the road, flip over and hit a culvert. A group of construction workers and golfers were there to help flip the car upright moments later that car went up in flames. The driver surviving that crash and now hes doing fine. A sneezing fit nearly ended someones life scary video im glad the gentleman is all right. Still to come, well go back to the gulf of oman where the u. S. Navicy iy cis assisting two ships. First, st. Louis may have won their first ever stanley cup, but boston is winning with your money well tell you why well show you our power city index coming up. A® works differ. Studies showed relief and remission, with dosing every 8 weeks. Stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. Some serious infections require hospitalization. Before treatment, get tested for tb. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or flulike symptoms or sores, have had cancer, or develop new skin growths, or if anyone in your house needs or recently had a vaccine. Alert your doctor of new or worsening problems, including headaches, seizures, confusion and vision problems. These may be signs of a rare, potentially fatal brain condition. Some serious allergic reactions and lung inflammation can occur. Talk to your doctor today, and learn how janssen can help you explore cost support options. Remission can start with stelara®. Just about 5 30 a. M. Eastern time here are the five things you need to know oil surging. Reports that two tanker ships have been attacked near iran hong kong is on high alert tensions are flaring in the streets. The sameday delivery wars just got more crowded. Well tell you which big retailer just entered the game tumbling rates, they could send car sales into overdrive. The auto rate connection is part of our special series, rate shock. And catheyre calling in si to work in st. Louis theyre probably still partying as the blues take home their first stanley cup. Its thursday, june 13, 2019 Worldwide Exchange begins right now. They are the champions. Good morning welcome from wherever in the world you may be watching. Good evening if youre in st. Louis because youre probably still awake. Celebrations are just wrapping up in st. Louis after the blues took home the first stanley cup title in team history last night. There you go more on that win coming up first, breaking news out of the middle east. The u. S. Navy he says they are assisting two chemical and oil tankers that have reportedly been attacked in the gulf of oman near iran the companies that owns one of them confirms an explosion occurred on one of its ships a couple hours ago it told the Associated Press its unclear what caused that explosion. And another company, bsm Ship Management confirms an incident occurred on one of its ships about an hour later, damaging the ships hull. That ship was loaded with methanol neither ship was carrying oil. The reported attacks happened here, this is the persian gulf that is the strait of hormuz near iran. That is where last month four different ships from saudi arabia, the uae and norway were damaged in the same area saudi arabia and the u. S. Blamed iran for those attacks iran denies any involvement. The Energy Market is moving on todays news crude oil here and brent overseas are both up big you can see this is where the news began to trickle out. There was a sizable pop in the price of oil we are up 3. 5. Even though there was not crude oil on either ship the idea that we have six ships in a month attacked outside the strait of hormuz off the coast of the uae and iran, it has heightened tensions. More on this breaking story coming up in moments on Worldwide Exchange. Joining us now to talk about the macro environment of this is drew mattis. Youre not a middle east shipping expert. I get that this is now, if confirmed as attacks, this would be the sixth one in a month we have hong kong protests and Everything Else. Do we have to ratchet up our expectation of volatility and ratchet down our expectation of return given the heightened tensions were seeing . What it does is inhe creases risk of yields moving sharply lower. If yields are to fall too far now, what would happen is people are expecting the fed to cut rates. That will put a floor on the longerterm rate as we think about it, geopolitical risk is that thing that can drive rates lower this is obviously a geopolitical risk. The Federal Reserve, like Everything Else, has its eye on a lot of things. Do you believe the Federal Reserve will cut Interest Rates next week or multiple times this year i dont think so. When you read powells comments, he had two choices choice one, ignore everything going on shortterm in the world that has volatility, which rate cuts cant help. Or address them when youre talking and then get on to your longerterm viewpoint. He addressed them and moved on to his longer term view point. He didnt mention the word rate cut. He said they would do whats necessary to keep the economic recovery going i thought that was his job wouldnt it be nice if one time the fed said were going to cut rates, used plain english. They never will do that. Guys like you get paid to dive into the language, guys like me get paid to interview guys like you. Seems inefficient it does we like the supply chain, things are working very well, just so you know, mr. Powell is the Federal Reserve, given the news with these tankers that may have been attacked in the persian gulf, is the fed big enough, important enough, powerful enough to override this, hong kong, brexit and all the other strains in the world i dont think so. Thats also something for powell to consideras you move into th next meeting if you move towards a rate cut, what happens if you cut rates and it doesnt work . We dont have a lot of room to cut rates. They dont want to expand the Balance Sheet anymore. So if you have those two things happening, for the fed they have got to focus on whats the disaster plan if theyre not successful what is that . Thats a great question i think the answer is dont cut rates and hope things get better do you think they will get better is the economy okay . I drove on the new jersey turnpike on my way up here my apologies. Did you see my hub cap i got stuck behind someone who didnt want to pass large trucks you drove up the turnpike as did i this morning, 3 00 in the morning. Packed with trucks all i could do is look out and think i have to weave through these big boys its hard to do that when you go fast. 66. 66 miles per hour. The point is theres so much traffic out there from a truck perspective. Its hard to look at that. I know its one area of the world. Its hard to say things are slowing down seems unrealistic if you look at everything going on if you look at the state of the u. S. Consumer, there is very little evidence that the u. S. Consumer should be slowing theres little evidence to suggest anything is going on and were not seeing layoffs if things are weakening, why isnt somebody getting laid off . The jolt survey showed the rate of hiring in april was the highest ever recorded by the jolt survey. Yes there are still many, many, many more job openings than unemployed in this country its been persistent for a couple months now. If something is going wrong with this economy, lets hope it keeps going wrong. Drew mattis, thank you. Be careful on that turnpike. Big celebrations in st. Louis. The blues winning their first ever stanley cup title with everything on the line in game seven in boston. The blues scored two goals in the first period they outscored the bruins 41. The bruins got a throwaway goal at the end of the game they are bringing home the first stanley cup title in st. Louis history. St. Louis may have won the stanley cup, dont worry, boston, youre still winning in the stock market and in football and in baseball. But according to our own power city index which are indexes we built of 39 different city and metro areas around the world with the biggest 12 market Cap Companies in each area the boston stock market, if you will, is up 21 this year versus just an 8 gain for st. Louis. Bostons pci powered by huge gains in sage therapeutics, wayfair and ge stock is up 39 up 39 this year struggling a bit in st. Louis. They have centene, edgewell and peabody energy, those are all down hockey title, st. Louis. Stock market title, boston time for the top trending stories. Rah rahel solomon has these. One blues fan is celebrating a big financial win. The fan placed a 400 bet on the blues to win the stanley cup back in january. And that is paying off with the blues victory that fan will take home 100,000. As you can see he celebrated accordingly. The way i wish the story went, two dudes had too much to drink. One guy is like i bet you wont bet on the blues, the guy throws down 400 all along people were telling him hes out of his mind, to hedge his bet. Good for him. Target making a move in delivery wars. They will expand delivery options with chip, a Delivery Platform it acquired two years ago. Shoppers can pay a flat fee of 9. 99 and have the option of choosing from from 63,000 itemn target. Com on this schedule, give me a sixpound bag of cheetos now. A new study might have you taking a second look at your breakfast, your lunch and Everything Else that you eat according to the university of new castle in australia, the amount of plastic we eat each week is equal to a credit card these things are in our food, water, air, and beer thats gross. Its about this size. We eat that much plastic every day . Every week. That much plastic yeah. Yeah. I will get it over with now i need that thank you very much coming up, the rate shock hitting the car lot. Will falling rates send auto sales into overdrive phillip me phil lebeau will break that down. And oil shooting higher amid hports that two tankersave been attacked in the gulf of oman well take you to that region when Worldwide Exchange returns. The first survivor of alzheimers disease is out there. And the Alzheimers Association is going to make it happen. But we wont get there without you. Visit alz. Org to join the fight. Welcome back 5 43 good morning dow futures up 75 points lets continue our weeklong special series rate shock. Today were hitting the car lot. Could rapidly falling rates help struggling car dealers sell more cars if the Federal Reserve cuts Interest Rates it could be a bit a good news for those looking to buy a new car but dont expect a huge drop in auto loan payments. Heres why since 2015 as the fed raised rates, the average rate for a new car loan climbed from 4. 73 to 6. 16 that has pushed the average new car payment up 65 to 554 a month. If the fed cuts rates those taking out an auto loan could see lower rates as well, but still monthly car payments may not go down much because new vehicle prices keep climbing which could offset slightly lower auto loan rates. Right now the average amount borrowed for an auto loan is at an alltime high that amount could go higher as consumers are increasingly looking to buy pickups, suvs and crossovers higherpriced models loaded with the latest technology which pushes up prices joining us now is scott paint painter, founder of true car and an early adviser to tesla. Good morning or good evening from los angeles thank you for joining us live on cnbc the average loan 32,000 you know this, you could pay 60,000 for a gm pickup truck today. Everybody is either leasing or borrowing the money. How much do rates matter to car sales . Certainly rates matter because 90 of people do not pay cash for their car doesnt matter if its new or used the average car for a consumer costs about a third of their net worth. Were all spending about 15 of our gross income on everything related to owning and driving a car. But lower rates historically help the new car business. The cost of a new car is nearly twice the cost of a used car when you have lore rahave lowere are good, people tend to flock to new cars. New car prices have been steadily increasing. The Consumer Price index on new cars is going up is the Consumer Price index for used cars has been going down by contrast inasmuch as the Interest Rate is going to affect what people pay for their car and their monthly car payment, nearly half of what we all pay on our car mamt gopa goes for paying for the money, not the car itself nearly half goes to the Interest Rates half the value of your car is simply interest paid to a bank thats correct. You have about 150 million Global Transactions for used cars on planet earth another 80 million new cars being produced on earth. The average Interest Rate paid for a car is about 10 that means half of what were paying for the car goes to the money used to pay for the car itself if rates rise for some reason theyve been going down they will probably keep going down if the fed cuts rates if we see a spike in rates, given the scary numbers you laid out for us, that has to terrify carmakers. What tends to happen when rates go up, leasing becomes a bigger part of the strategy. Leasing is a really effective way to get Drivers Behind the wheel of a more expensive car for less money because youre not financing the full selling price of the car youre financeing t hing the d c depreciation on the car. Today 40 of all cars are leased thats nearly double from 2009 when we went through a recession in 2009 and Interest Rates were high, as a way of invigorating the new car market, companies depended to heavily rely on leasing, that put more cars on the road, but then you have used cars becoming a great value because the cap costs tend to be low. Were going through a radical shift now in the industry where we have been at peak production for the last three to five years. So there is a glut of used cars coming back on to the market, nearly 6 million lease returns in the u. S. Over the next 12 to 18 months. Thats really good news for consumers looking to save money on their car payment because the glut of late model used cars in supply on the used car side will outweigh an Interest Rate plateau. If yyou are thinking about a car now, maybe wait a bit, you could probably get a two, threeyear old car with 30,000 miles on it, not on the cheap but cheaper. Used car prices will continue to fall based on the supply demand equation if you look at car sales, those new and used car sales over the last 100 years, they remained constant and almost perfectly correlated to population the cyclicality of the car market is dependent on the rates. 15 gross income on the autos. Unbelievable scott, have a great day. More on the top story, its one that is breaking and developing tensions continue to rise in the middle east. Reports this morning that two ships have been attacked near the Persian Gulf Oil spices more than 3 on the news dow futures up 70 points right now. Well give you more on this developing story when Worldwide Exchange returns. W . W . Uhi . Sono welcome back breaking news out of the middle east, the u. S. Navy says they are askisisting two ships that have been attacked off the gulf of oman. Dan has more on this developing story. I can tell you that right now there is a full scale smirnemer responding unfolding in the gulf of oman after this incident. We know that emergency dispress signals were sent from two vessels in the region after suffering what is feared to be a simultaneous sabotage attack the first shipinvolved is the kokuka courageous, it was moving methanol from saudi arabia to singapore. 21 crewmen on board were forced to abandon that ship and had to be rescued by a nearby vessel. The ships operator says the vessel is still afloat and the cargo is secure. The second vessel is front altair it is believed that a fire broke out on board that vessel, and the crew were forced to abandon ship but its unclear what its status is now. We still dont know who or what is behind this incident. But what we can tell you is that the u. S. Navys fifth fleet, based in bahrain, is still working to provide more information and it says u. S. Navy ships are in the area to render assistance. Uk maritime trade operations are also investigating and have urged extreme caution amid these mounting tensions between the United States and iran this latest incident follows a sabotage attack on four vessels off the coast of the uae on may 12th a u. N. Report recently said that limpert mines were used in a sophisticated operation carried out bay state actor. If you look at marinetracker. Com. It looks like there are two tug or support boats near these ships. You can watch in real time as other ships move away from these ships which are burning or did at one point burn. Unlike the four attacks that we had a month ago today, a couple of those saudiowned vessels, neither of these ships were saudiowned. One was japanese, the other norwegian. Thats right. Thats what makes this all the more complex as you point out the attacks that occurred, the sabotage attacks off the coast of the uae, at least two of those vessels were saudi flags with these ships that does not appear to be the case. That makes it more complex but it comes at an important time geopolitical geopolitically shinzo abe has been in iran attempting to open up a channel of communication between washington and tehran as tensions between the u. S. And iran continue to mount certainly a concern for many of us out here in this region thank you very much, dan. Appreciate it. Lets bring in paul hickey from spoke Investment Group welcome. Again, i know youre not a middle east security expert or an oil guy, but you are a market guy. This would be the Second Attack in a month in an important region strategically and geopolitical geopolitically do we have to factor that into market calculations . You cant ignore it the middle east has always been a hot spot that people have been worried about and factored into estimates. I dont think its a major thing to rein in risk. You were talking about may 12th were the last reported attacks, oil is down 20 since then you have to take it into account, see if we see another round of maybe attacks in a couple weeks, then that may become a trend protests in hong kong yesterday and today. Now this attacks a month ago. The vix at 15. Yeah. Does that make sense to you . I think you have to look at the overall market the vix is a reflection of what the market has been doing. The market has been calm here. We had a selloff and rebounded strongly you have to look at the whole broad market landscape and its certainly very confusing times for investors here because we have the fed and trade, which i think are two issues that are much more front and center than whats going on in the middle east i love you guys you do this we love you, too. Spoke, you guys do Customized Research you post these cool things last night you posted dividend yields we talk about how when bond yields come down, people might migrate to stocks. What i didnt realize until you posted it, the United States dividend yield is meager, 1. 98 , Second Lowest in the world behind india why do you think theres still so much interest in u. S. Stocks . Dividend yields are one thing. You have to take into account the tax treatment of dividends we tax them less. Dividends as investor dividends used to be treated much better for an investor to have the company buy back stock because you dont take the tax hit than it is for dividends so dividends, you add in the buyback yields, closer to 4 so youre looking at you have to compare it to Interest Rates. Tenyear yielding 2 when you have those similar yields on dividends and the tenyear, for the u. S. Over the past decade or more, its been a good time for u. S. Equities. Put that chart back up. To the left side of the screen is germany 3. 3 dividend yield. Were at 1. 9 the German Market they are up 14 this year. Are there better opportunities outside of america than inside america . We think u. S. Equities are still attractive but there are other areas of the world that are attractive. Emerging markets is an asset class thats been left for dead. On a relative basis, its back to where we were over 20 years ago versus the u. S so you see no out performance on that i think investors could look overseas the dollar is strong if we see the dollar weaken here, that will be good for emerging markets do you think it will weaken, the dollar we have seen some strength, but if we see easing on trade that will be negative for the dollar its been on the run. The president doesnt like it. Well see if king dollar becomes the court gesture. Thank you very much. Thank you dow futures are off about 65 despite the fact that there are two reports of ships attacked or on fire in the gulf of ohman squawk box will have more on that squawk box begins now. Good morning breaking news. Two tankers reportedly attacked in the gulf of oman south of iran the u. S. Navy is assisting retail ers surging. Well tell you whats driving premarket gains for lululemon. And the Company Formerly known as Restoration Hardware also moving up we are on unicorn watch for another ipo for tomorrow its thursday, june 13, 2019 squawk box