News drop . Plus a big call in the financial space just aheard of earnings and were holding the investment committees feet to the fire with the Quarterly Report the Halftime Report with scott wapner begins right now. Welcome, good to have you with us on this tuesday. Joe terranova, steve white, jon najarian, and richard sapperstein is here, high towerer ceo. Shares of apple on the move today, down 16 from its alltime high. Doc, your biggest stock position, people say whats going to get stocks to break out of this range, were finally starting to move that next leg higher apple hitting that new high wouldnt hurt. It wouldnt hurt. As they basically cross the billion sales number as far as units out there in the field, scott, a billion handheads out there, thats huge for apple in terms of the Services Revenue that pete is always harping about. The issue for me is also that a lot of the services theyre selling now are bigger services, recurring revenue, for instance, from like the cloud and so forth, scott that is huge i bet virtually everybody here on the desk is paying that extra dollars per month to have that cloud storage. Imagine that multiplied across a billion units. Youve got jony ive leading, iphone sales slower than they once were, china trade, all the issues on that side of the business youve got a considerable part of revenue from that are those headwinds, are no . Theyre headwinds in terms of what youll hear on the Conference Call from tim cook. 30 from its alltime high. Okay. And i have stated not that i believe that the faangs are going enclosure, but i believe you did not have to be in the faangs to get the appreciation of technology that you could get out of some other names, names Like Motorola Solutions which is performing very well but youre talking about apple being 30 above the alltime high yes, thats the high from 2018 the low the low how about getting back above the may 1st high in 2015 in may apple went from 215 to 170, thats a 18 decline, because of the concerns as it related to was there going to be a brand image problem in china now, the question becomes was some fundamental damage done in china . The evidence suggests yes, possibly, it was so you might be looking at a valuation and a price for apple that is pricing in exactly where it should be we will not know the answer to that until tim cook tells us on the Conference Call how the business has looked in china weiss, how do you see this . I see it as i want to be short in the earnings. I bought some puts today, very small. Youre effectively short apple . No, im still long apple. I still have my stock position i dont want to sell that and pay taxes. But i do think the quarter is going to be disappointing. I think the new service they launched is going to be disappointing. I think its going to get very little traction. They havent jony ive who cares about the news service . Is that driving the needle its services, its supposed. Theyre supposed add more and more services. They need services to reaccelerate not that its not growing, its still growing. So yes, the news service is important. So look, so i think that handsets dont tell you what they are anymore, will be disappointing. I think china is an issue. So look, the stock rose not because of fundamentals. It rose because the market rose and because its a component of every index. And with maybe it rose because in part of the fundamentals werent judged to be as bad as some thought they might be. Right and i think thats a mistake in judgment. I dont agree with you. I think that apple was an inexpensive stock that was trading for below market multiple up to 15 times earnings if you look at it, where it is right now, its right above its 50day moving average, over its 200day. It looks technically as if its posed to go higher for this breakout thats what it looks like the only thing that i think can derail it is if the guidance is really weak, which is unlikely the market and investors have understood that this tariff is going to have an effect on the Current Quarter and perhaps the next quarter and if they can stick with where guidance is, i think the stock will trade higher for the next few months let me ask you, why should this company, and its a great brand, i own the shares let me finish why do you think youre saying below multiple, which means you bought it or you want to own it because it should be at market multiple or above yes so we are agree on that why should a company that has negative earnings should be at a market multiple . You have the s p growing at a certain level, that gives you your market multiple then you have companies that are slowing in earnings and particularly when their core business is slowing markedly, why should that give you market multiple i think the stock, both trades on the acceleration of the china business, on the Service Business which fell off again. Yeah, but you have to look forward. I am looking forward. Lets go to some numbers here, okay as jon said, theres 1. 4 billion handsets younoutstanding. Right theyre averaging 2,000 a month in services per unit their plan is to double, and there are several strategies they have to increase that they have a 63 margin on that business versus the hardware which is only a 30 margin as the Services Grow well see margins increase if you look at the Free Cash Flow of this company, its almost 7 . They bought back 70 billion worth of stock last year so the stock is where it is you know what, its a core holding for me, all right . Love the company the ecosystem, the financials, the balance sheet, i think its a cash cow that should be a core holding in everyones portfolio. The leadership . Okay, so people are going to come and go in every company, okay in the long term, sure, that could be an issue. No, im suggesting that youve left that out as a positive the only people at the desk who has an issue is that guy, weiss. And im the most insightful person we know that. Weve heard that before jony ive, heres jony ive, johnny live is leaving, hes the design chief the wall street journal writes this piece that says that ive had grown frustrated with cooks leadership and alleged lack of interest in the design production process, to which cook responded, which he rarely responds to this type of stuff. He called that story absurd. Quote, a lot of the reporting and certainly the conclusions dont match the reality. So we made the point the other day that with all due respect to jony ive, the notion that ive is the only person in that that beautiful new building that knows how to design anything ludicrous absurd. Ludicrous i agree with that. Theres a Strong Management Team there. And i think the conversation, the direction of what apple does, comes down to you philosophically, do you believe theres perceived weakness because of a slowdown related to a trade dispute with the chinese, and in addition to that, is there a fundamental slowdown in the business i feel like cook when cook told you, what was it, like a month ago now, when he said things in china had got enbetter, whenever that was, it sort of tipped the hand. Are we expecting that youre going to get a big negative . Correct right. In the next earnings . So therefore you have to believe that the fundamentals of the business is contracting, which i dont, i disagree. I dont believe thats in contraction. The earnings speak for themselves lets be clear. The earnings are down the iphone numbers, which are core to the business, are not what they were and may never be what they were in terms of the growth rate. They dont have to be exactly from an historically high level. How can you say its not deteriorating when the earnings are down that defines deterioration but it is contracting from a high level, okay i would argue that its a transitory contraction the business can reaccelerate once again, can it not my point is doesnt the acceleration the acceleration is now relied on from another part of the business, right . The Services Side of the business relative to the hardware side; is that right are you expecting thats correct, but i dont believe the phone business is in, as steven just said, a secular design i think its cyclical, it reaccelerates. Its improving to a Service Business which has a higher margin we talk about the multiple the global macro headwinds are reflected in the multiple. Its not always been a below market multiple. But at the end, okay, its an Electronics Manufacturer they manage consumer products. Agreed. Theyre buying back 7 of the float every year how Many Companies are sitting with 200 billion at 25 basis points, right, instead of going out and making acquisitions that could be meaningful thats a good point thats fair. Youre right about that. Thats my issue with tim cook who should they go out and spend all that money on . I dont know. But take a look. Take a look what zuckerberg has done with his cash those were all available to apple, right instagram. Any of those take a look at netflix, when it was a 50 billion maybe they wouldnt have sold take a look at what disney has done and what the stock has done since. Youre right on the cash. Im right on the lack of vision of the leadership i dont think you can make a case that apple is never going to bring to the market the product that has the wow factor that the iphone had. But they havent in 12 years. Do you think the watch is going to do it the wearable, i think that has momentum says the guy who sat down on the set with the air pods in his ear. I think that was phenomenal how do you like your new ipad it replaced the old one it doesnt have many more innovations. But you you bought a new one. Services, just to be clear, and now weve got coming up at the end of july, services in the last quarter were 11. 5 billion up from under 4 billion just 2 1 2, 3 years ago you look at this thing, and its up to 20 of revenue right now, not 17 anymore its 20 and going to be moving higher. And as i tell you, as we cross this billionuser threshold that we have now, i believe that these Services Numbers are going to crush and to your point, rich, these are margins that are obscene on the Services Side, scott thats why im so bullish. Thats why i hang out, if people want to bash it, let them bash it this thing is going higher does it have to crash through 232 a share maybe. I just think it just keeps going. Thats not that far from here thats the point. I was about to say, its not that far from here and we talked about last week how the market is really flat for 18 months. And so were talking about apple, which is trading up and down you know, its really done nothing for a year or more and you could say that if the market begins to pick up from here, so it has 10 more to go, if earnings pick up in the second half, why shouldnt apple participate in that growth if the china deal has happened . Or if apple you can frame it the other way too, which we have before, if apple picks up momentum, theres no reason the market wouldnt either maybe you have to wait until earnings get a boost to help lift all boats but its not Like Technology as a space isnt helping the market move higher. We do our stock survey and where do people say you want to be tech. 84 say tech. For the market to move higher, we have to have tech participate. If you look at where earnings might grow faster than expectations over the next couple of quarters, you know its not going to be financials because Interest Rates are too low. It cant be health care because they dont want to report great earnings because theyll attract too much attention you look at energy, its been weak, too much production. Consumer struggles, retail struggles. If the market is going to go higher, it has to be on the back of Consumer Discretionary technology largely the faangs have been beaten by other areas of tech. Or when you have the president and the doj saying, hey, were going to go after facebook, google, twitter, a lot of these social media and or broadcast names over the internet, thats a big thing look where xlk is still, up 27, 28 year to date, double what the dow is up year to date, scott. Theres also no marginal buyer. Who is the marginal buyer . Core position, i dont know if its core position core position for apple, who is the marginal buyer alphabet i have alphabet, ive sold a little, i may sell the rest because theyre not going to report great earnings either thats a good point who wants to come in. With the smaller companies, you get a marginal buyer everybody in the world knows the services story everybody in the world is bullish as jon is everybody fully invested no. Youre not. Im able to distinguish the star search, right you still own the shares, though i have a small position you own the shares youre the marginal buyer no, im not steve is the marginal buyer i dont own the shares, and im arguing you need more visibility im not saying the stock is going down, jon. I just think the stock, there are other why dont you own the shares . Because first of all, when jimmy didnt buy it, i bought it down at 150. Why would you use apple as the trading stock . Does apple have to shift their manufacturing out of china . Does anyone know the answer . She just shifted some in. There you go. Theres no further change to manufacturing. Are they going to have to raise prices because of whats going on in china . Do we know the answer to that . I dont know the answer are you going to get hit by a bus when you cross the street later . I would rather hold on i would rather be in other places in Technology Like i am thats fine that are performing well, because as it relates to apple, i just dont know the ainto teno that you wont own anything with china risk i own the smh, how could it be chinaproof when will you buy apple back not yet whats the level youre waiting for . There is no level i would not no. As i told you, you have a select theres no level . You have a Celebrity Group of technology holders do you believe that theres cook, cooks calling. You have a portfolio of technology holdings, key site, smh, microsoft, motorola solutions. If i lose one of those names and gain some confidence from what i hear from tim cook, i get some visibility on what the trade dispute is going to look like, and i understand what the path forward is going to be so you want all the answers before you buy got it you want all the answers im not afraid to buy high. Buy high and sell higher. You wrote the book on it im not afraid of it. Im waiting for cook moving the mac production, a small part of the business, admittedly, into china, thats a positive, and they wont be retaliated against by china and of course with their unique brand, they have Pricing Power, right . Yes yes you dont think they have Pricing Power . They have some but not complete, because sales are slowing. Who does . Nobody. Im going to broaden it out for a minute one of the catalysts was wha do we think about this story it relates to the broader buyback market decline and share buybacks deals blow to stock market, Share Repurchases recently contracted for the first time in seven quarters this has been a pillar of joes bullish case when hes made it about the stock market buybacks have been the fuel for this gosh, i mean it almost feels like for a better part of ten years, a lot of other factors, obviously, but buybacks have always been on that list. It shrink the size of overall availability in the market if youre a company, are you going to buyback your stock in the quarter that we just experienced, understanding what we just had go on in the prior quarter also with the possibility, the r word is still out there . You cant afford to lose buybacks theres another target here, because we had tax reform, which are enabled repatriation 1 trillion came back. A lot of that money was used for buybacks were coming off a peak as a result of tax reform buybacks are naturally going to go down as a result of less money being repatriated. But still having, what, 200 billion down from 223 billion still a lot still a lot of buybacks companies are shrinking their float. If its the start of a trend, then its something perhaps to be worried about and in an already somewhat uncertain market i would posit, back to you, scott, a lot of these companies that are borrowing at basically zero overseas have even greater incentive when they decide to commit that capital here, because of the borrowing costs overseas being so cheap. I think one of the issues also there are actually two issues one is that buying back stock clearly drives your earnings is it just coincidental that buying back is and its de minimis right now, but if the trend conditions, whats that going to do to sp earnings and then the pe valuation. It could be meaningful i dont think it will happen but you have to look at that chart next to m a. U. S. M a in the Second Quarter was 660 billion, down 3 from the First Quarter. Your talking about record quarters that also shrinks the market and drives the need to put that capital into other stocks. So i think were okay. Also remember, were at an alltime high. So perhaps companies for the first time in a long time are starting to think about the valuation of their own stocks. Hasnt stopped them before. I understand that but they also werent spending money on other things. We havent seen a capital segment really pick up since before the crash so its conceivable that they begin to theyve hired more people, we know that are they going to start hoarding cash because theyre worried about where they are in the cycle . They already have a lot of Cash Companies have a lot of cash it wasnt some thought it would be, if the money isnt going towards buybacks, maybe its m a as steve says theres still a very defensive mindset in the marketplace. Yesterday did nothing to change that dwechs miefensive mindset yesterday afternoon the market rolled back on change. You saw this shift, the market lifted why did it lift . Because reits, consumer staples, all the defensively oriented names came back once again the reit eff is leading today. And thats right back where we are today gold tire, its a defensive mindset. What do you make, rich, of the defensive posture of the market, gold up, bonds up, bond proxies up were still invested in equi equities, we havent changed our allocation theres two conflicts for the market one talks to the bond proxies being elevated thats the overreliance on the fed to be overly accommodative the second thing is tariffs, where, you know, we had the g20 resolution, but all the economic and strategic tension still exists and we dont see a resolution until 2020 so this sentiment in the market now, relying on the fed to be very aggressive, we dont think that its going to occur that way. You think the market is ahead of way way ahead of itself on the fed. We have an incredible environment economically right now. Sure, were growing, but were slowing. Were not going into recession i dont see the fed cutting aggressively like futures are suggesting do you think if the fed cuts in july, this month . I dont think so. I think we get 25 basis points at most this year. For the rest of the year. And the market is cool with that there is record low unemployment we have a million unfilled jobs in this country. Were still growing. I dont see a reason for the fed no give us insurance cuts here i say 50 50 i used to be with you and say its not going to happen i think its 50 50, just because thats the body language the ultimate powell put and what powell himself, when his words are more or less an insurance cut, scott, i dont know how else you read what his latest statement was other than that, steven he put it out there. The fed chairman himself this isnt us parsing, you know, through a variety of fed speakers this is the chairman himself that told us hes going to be preemptive here. And i think that means that thats why the market has basically 100 chance for july and four cuts in the next year its a good debate. If rich is right, you and the market are going to be disappointed i think if earnings come through, you dont need cuts what happens if the bond probsties, if the economy is stronger than anticipated and the fed is moving from very accommodative to just neutral, all of a sudden you have a good economy, the bond proxies are offsides because everyone is thinking the fed is going to be very aggressive in cutting, so be careful what you wish for here how do you change the impact of whats going on overseas . A negative 37 tenyear for germany. So how does the fed respond to that because in a sense, they have to 197 on the tenyear lower than the s p 500. The u. S. Is the only place you can get yield today. 13 trillion in negative debt. The u. S. Is where all the money is going if youre a global investor, youre in the u. S. Two weeks from earnings season, one analyst made a big call on a key player in the sector thats next. Jon najarian is watching unusual options activity plus the Quarterly Report, as we hold the investment committees feet to the fire see where they went right and wrong. And what theyre doing now before the break, our data partners at kensho on what happens after tech gains 10 in a month. The numbers show a monthly later, tech is up 78 of the time by an average of 1. 82 . Healmore, go to cnbc. Com kensho. T hftime report with scott wapner and the traders is back in two minutes tell him were flexible. Dont worry. My dutch is ok. Just ok . in dutch tell him we need this merger. in dutch its happening. just ok is not ok. Especially when it comes to your network. At t is americas best Wireless Network according to americas biggest test. Now with 5g evolution. The first step to 5g. More for your thing. Thats our thing. Welcome back, everyone im sue herera here is your cnbc news update at this hour. The house ways and Means Committee filed suit against the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue service as it seeks president trumps tax returns. The Committee Filed the lawsuit after treasury refused a request for Tax Information about president trump. Americas top diplomat in hong kong, curt tong, says the u. S. Was disappointed to see violence at a government complex today but added he is optimistic about the future of the territory. There is some conflict, its the struggle that makes me optimistic think about the history of america and about our constitution mistakes were made there was conflict but the intentions were good atlantas city council has approved a more restrictive began on smoking inside restaurants, bars, workplaces, and hartsfieldjackson international airport. The ban covers cigarettes, cigars and ecigarettes. If signed by the mayor, the ban will take effect on january 2, 2020 youre up to date. Thats the news update this hour scotty we appreciate that, sue herera financials, Goldman Sachs says its time to get out of one regional name. Theyve cut comerica to a sell its our call of the day good franchise, wrong part of the cycle, they say, joe. Play the regionals. I do. First of all,co m coamerica ha underperformed significantly goldman talks about regionals being an opportunity, better geographically located, i agree. Performance standpoint has done better Signature Bank is a name that i would look at. One of the reasons why i like Signature Bank is i think where we are in the cycle, with the margin pressure, you have to look at the real estate exposure based on geographics you want to be in banks that dont have the exposure to where real estate is in a decline such as new york. Signature Bank Provides you that opportunity. I dont see the lift for co comerica. I think its very tough, given where rates are and where the curve is, for them to make money. If youve cut rates, the fed is going to cut rates its bad. You get a steeper yield curve. Not necessarily bad. Its been bad margins can go up, right . Hasnt that been the principal issue, long growth in the economy . Long growth has been fairly funky, the shadow banking system, which has absorbed a lot of that. You just dont see the alpha really in the banks. If you have a hugely dedicated portfolio for some diversity, it can be there, but it cant be a big bet. We really like the Money Center Banks theres a couple of reasons. One is, regulatory relief is reducing their expense lines but more importantly, the return of capital to shareholders is just incorrectredible right now. Theyre averaging 10, 11, 12 return of capital through buybacks and dividends their cash flow is very strong return on entquity is elevated. Capital ratios are high. If you look at the money in the system, we have excess reserves decreasing at the fed. So the fed so the banks are pulling back capital they had on deposit and loaning that money out. So loan volume is increasing right now, which is another indication that the economy is actually stronger and not going into recession what are your favorite names, the ones you own jpmorgan, bank of america, and citigroup. You can buy iyg and get the mix. We like the banks because you have although Interest Rates jpmorgan cut their price target on coamerica today too you have folks saying its a nontouch the only one im really in, scott, as you know, is square. And i like it, i think the rest of them struggle up next, bill ackmans first half come back were following the money. Our leslie picker is, straight ahead. Plus betting on a biopharma stock up 20 in a month. Doc has the trade in unusual activities a sector check today, led by real estate utilities. Those are the defensive plays leading the way. S p down were back after this. Mars. 4. 95. Delivery drones or the latest phones. 4. 95. No matter what you trade, at fidelity its just 4. 95 per online u. S. Equity trade. You might or joints. Hing, for your heart. But do you take something for 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. I have one kid in each branch of the military, but im command central. Its so important to us that verizon is supporting military families. When i have a child deployed, having a Reliable Network means everything. So, when i get a video chat, and i get to see their face, its the best thing in the world. And ive earned every one of these gray hairs. Military moms, we serve too. vo the network more people rely on, gives you more. Like military plans with a special price on unlimited, 100 per line, and big savings on our best phones when you switch. Thats verizon. Welcome back to the Halftime Report. Traders are betting amerens activity continues dr. J . We were lucky enough to get into amaren in february. Now its making another move 2. 40, about 12 i wou. 5 . Traders are buying july 5th calls right at the money, these are theyre at the money now they were buying the 21. 50 calls, july 5th expiration, thats this friday, scott. Employment data coming out that day too. Obviously this one not being driven by employment data, but perhaps being driven by the possibility that somebodys taken a good hard look at the company. Second one, this ones longer term, but take a look at this. Russian stock, yandex, a play on the russian index, its up slightly today, 1. 24 . Theyre buying long dated calls, all the way out in january look at these january 45 calls right now. Theyve traded almost 10,000, a millionshare equivalent thats way over the top, unusual activity in this name. Doesnt get active much more than 3 to 5,000 contracts. To see 10,000, we bought this, scott, ill probably be in these one to two months in the future. Good stuff. Bill Ackmans Pershing Square fund posting strong returns in the first half of the year kind of an understatement. Leslie picker following the money is with us live. An understatement indeed, scott. Very strong yeah, closing out the first half of the year with some of the best returns in the entire industry, as Pershing Square is up 45. 3 in the First Six Months of 2019, according to new numbers disclosed last night thats the best return hes ever posted since he began disclosing performance on a weekly basis going back to 2014 and its a reversal from four consecutive years of losses. Consumer names drove ackmans return, largely chipotle, which served 70 in the first half of the year Restaurant Brands hilton, starbucks, each up more than 30 as well. In fact all nine publicly disclosed names in Pershing Squares portfolio are in the green for the year if ackman is able to eke out returns that are just five Percentage Points higher by the end of the year, hell have reached his High Water Mark, around 50 that means hell once again be able to generate an Incentive Fee of 16 on any returns above 50 . Most industry watchers have noticed that ackman has been quieter this year than usual, fewer public demands, fewer proxy fights but those close to the firm says he still has been active advising management in the companies hes involved in he wrote to greg hayes, ceo of united technologies, which had just agreed to ties with raytheon, he expressed his concern about the companys decision to sign a transaction with raytheon. Instead utx stood behindis decision to merge. So far, thats the extent of their disagreement, at least publicly one might expect if ackmans portfolio continues to do this well, there may be less to fight about. The second that changes, we could start to see more activist action from ackman at least publicly, scott. Youve been reporting consistently on whether its the First Quarter or a few months after that, how good his performance has been it reminded me of a conversation that he and i had had around my book when i was working on the book, and we were sort of talking about, you know, what the future was going to hold, this was coming off of the valeant debacle and the issues with losing money in herbalife i wanted to quote from a passage he quoted me, since he is quieter, this was a year and a half ago, reflecting on what was going to lie ahead for him the key is learning from your mistakes he told me, i had a very difficult moment in 2003 when we were short mbia and the stock was going up every day the company was all over us. They convinced eliot spitzer, the attorney general at the time, to investigate us. And i said at the time, this is a great experience, i will learn a lot from this. And i launched Pershing Square were going to come back well be fine. Now, six months does not a full comeback make relative to some of the issues that theyve had over the last many years but hes on the path hes on the path. And i did add up the losses over the last four years, which again, you know, not quite apples to apples, but he is looking at performance that supersedes the losses over the last four years. Doesnt quite recoup that money, because of course there have been redemptions its not quite the same investor pool thats been with him the last five years or so. But its worth noting, this is a manager who takes big swings he has a very concentrated portfolio, all equity names. It really requires those names to do well and go in his favor this year, they have, so far when we discussed what was going on, you expected that he was going to have a rebound of some sort, i recall you saying at the time. So his first fund got them, had to shut down because of performance. However, he did eventually make investors whole. Hes had this trial by fire a few times of this but look, you cant deny that hes a very smart guy, that he just had to rein himself back in, and he did that i think every huge fund manager that i know does do behind the scenes activism, does talk to the companies. Its the public stuff thats a distraction. You also had some personal distractions, to be fair, right . Went through a divorce, got remarried. Now hes happy in life that means hes happy at work. He came back one of the things that when he was on with us, we challenged him, he seemed to be spending so much mental capital and not getting the return on the investment and now hes able to spend the mental capital and get the return on investment i think hes been very successful in navigating a Public Relations pivot look at how he handled adp think about the entire saga with adp. Think about where adp is right now. He still has i believe somewhere around 650 million invested there. But he lost the vote he said, okay, i lost the vote, but i won. And he did win he won where it mattered most, in the return. As a Hedge Fund Investor who ran funds for a living, i would look at it and say, okay, where are those returns . I would dissect the returns. Whats amazing to me, as you mentioned now, the market is up, close to 20 , so you would expect, most of them but in terms of how much those companies are up, and how much each one, with the exception of maybe one there, is outperforming the s p. But hes also owned defensive names and consumer names its not as if he owns the faangs he owns fannie mae and freddie mac. He does a lot of research, nobody doubts that, he makes big bets and Big Decisions and hes very arrogant, i wholeheartedly believes in his positions, hes supportive of them this is a great result hes got to continue to do it, right . I dont know how many other managers would still be in business four years, major outflows youre going to a family office. 50 High Water Mark too obviously theres some patience and kind of love for the game at stake, if you want to stick it out and see this thing through rather than shut down again. One of the biggest changes, you say know as well, in what he said publicly too, and he may have said it on this program, no more big public shorts thats just not going tohappen again. Maybe hell short something again and hell do it quietly, and the whole world wont know about it, and all of the reasons why, you know, its a loser and all of that. Hes just not going to do that anymore. It will be interesting to see too when the market turns and were no longer in this bull market environment, whether we do start to see more public shorts, whether its from ackman or einhorn or some of these other managers who are famous for them maybe active management isnt dead just yet. Einhorn is having his best first half ever. Hes gone up 17, i think. He is as well, yes. Leslie, thanks. Thats leslie picker the Quarterly Report is ss f, a rundown of wins and loesrom q2, the Halftime Report is back after this dear tech, lets talk. We have a pretty good relationship. Youve done a lot of good for the world. But i feel like you have the potential to do so much more. Are you working for all of us, or just a few of us . Can we build ai without bias . Ai that fights bias . Ai that helps us see the bias in ourselves . We need tech that helps people understand each other. That understands my business. Dear tech, dear tech, dear tech, dear tech, lets champion data rights as human rights. Lets use blockchain to help reduce poverty. Lets develop new solutions with the help of quantum technology. Lets show girls that stem isnt just a boys club. Lets make a difference in peoples lives. Lets do it all. Together. Lets expect more from technology. Lets put smart to work. Hi, everybody, heres whats coming up on the exchange. Nike caught flatfooted with its planned fourth of july shoe. Well have the Details Behind the latest controversy investors are cheering the trade truce reached by the u. S. And china at the g20 yesterday is it a reason to sell risk rather than turn bullish the Rolling Stones have gone from a 19th nervous breakdown to preparing for retirement the latest coming up in rapid fire today see you then that and more is ahead on the exchange scott . Thanks, kell. Were taking a look back at some of the traders most memorable calls from the Second Quarter. Youre seeing biotech taking a big hit. Were buying home depot, down to a level of support. With Interest Rates down, we think thats good for the Housing Market abbott labs, mckesson, nothing to do with medical devices. Thats where the opportunity is. All right weiss, you first i wi illumina up 16 . Do you still own it . I do. Look, right now, bios is the key, i would say the key, its important. Thats been referred to european commissioner because of antitrust. But i think it passes. I think they make the acquisition. And theres no real competitor in the space so i love the stock. Home depot, up 9 since, stay with it . Definitely. Home depot is one of the few retailers that people actually like to go to. They have the whole contractor business with the Housing Stock in america having aged and appreciated, it means more renovations, more improvement. We think that theres many years of double digit growth ahead joey, mckesson, 19 im staying with it i think steven was with me on this as well health care provided an opportunity. You had the chance when you had the selloff related to the political issues issues in wash, stay with it though. Well, of course some of the picks havent quite worked out just yet. I got to go xpi still like bio tech, eve though i own some individual ones, id buy the xpi. Frc first republic, a lot of new millionaires in Silicon Valley. Fortinet. Why 6 down on the xbi . I still own the xbi i own a couple of bio tech stocks im sticking with it i still think its a great area of growth, a lot of Pharma Companies raise prices on a lot of drugs, so theyre not worried about legislation. First republics down 5 . What do you do yeah, well, we still own it what i said is true. There are a lot of new millionaires in Silicon Valley they cater to the High Net Worth client that market is growing their organic growth has been strong, and we still believe that over the next few years that this is the stock to own. Joe, fortinet, 17 . Really bad quarter was reported. You still in it no, got out of it experts as it relates to earnings have been reset stock at 78. I wouldnt sell it here. I think youd get some upside. Okay. Coming up, crude oil, getting crushed as slowdown fears weigh on that market seema mody and the futures now team have more there hey, seema. Oil is down more than 3 today as demand fears weigh on the market our traders are scott nations and jim murios opec says its going to continue to cut production, so why is oil down today i think there are a couple of reasons. One, fundamental weakness across the world, also russia was not really on board with continuing the cuts, and i also think theres Something Else going on. I think now that iran has exceeded their stockpile limit under the old treaty with us, i think the rest of the world sees that the way were approaching iran is wrong. I think theyre now going to establish some sort of separate peace with iran. Theyre going to say iran, if you stop now, well ignore the sanctions and well continue to buy all of your crude oil. That will bring another 2. 2 Million Barrels a day onto the markets. Jim, are all of these demand fears based on a potential global slowdown, or is there another story line keeping crude under pressure here . Well, theres always a lot of story lines that are pushing crude back and forth thats why i think to me its always more of a technical story, and we talked about on twitter yesterday when it went above 60 a barrel for not even a full cup of coffee, and then was rejected i thought that was a very negative occurrence and weakness today, and when it took out fridays low of 5775, i think it heads to 55. I think its going lower. We will leave the conversation there jim and scott thank you, for more futures now, check out our web show we will be joined by pncs cochief investment strategist Jeffrey Mills who says now is not the time to get greedy, plus why gold could be headed for fresh sixyear highs all of that and more 1 00 p. M. Eastern, futures now, go to cnbc. Com final trade and the halftime back in two minutes. A key trend suggests a summer rally is just starting. Go to tradingnation. Cnbc. Com now. [ dogs barking ] what about him . Lets do it. [ sniffing ] come on. This summer, add a new member to the family. Hurry into the mercedesbenz summer event today for exceptional offers. Lease the glc 300 suv for just 419 a month at the mercedesbenz summer event. Going on now. Has been excellent. They really appreciate the military family and it really shows. With all that usaa offers why go with anybody else . We know their rates are good, we know that theyre always going to take care of us. It was an instant savings and i should have changed a long time ago. It was funny because when we would call another insurance company, hey would say oh we cant beat usaa were the webber family. Were the tenneys were the hayles, and were usaa members for life. Get your usaa Auto Insurance quote today. My bladder leak underwear. Orried someone might see so, i switched. To always discreet boutique. Its shapehugging threads smooth out the back. So it fits better than depend. And no one notices. Always discreet. Welcome back to the Halftime Report were answering your questions now. First up kari fire stone from you from chris in new jersey you ready . Yeah. Whats going on with bio haven . Bio haven went down the reason it went down is because they did an offering correct, they did an offering when the market thought it was going to get bought out. This is a company theyve filed the job with the fda thats a very good sign. We think its going to get approved, but the market was anticipating a buyout. What they got is new stock i hold it. Rich for you from david in orlando, florida, what are the chances for an end of summer selloff . In the next 60 to 90 days, the markets going to realize that a trade deal is not happening in 2019, and that will be pulled out of the market as well as the fed will not be as accommodative as the market is looking for. Gee, thanks going to be a great summer all right, less than 30 seconds, final trade, what do you go boston scientific, lots of products, a lot of organic growth wed buy it right here. The joes trmb, software name. United air requesting to goi great quarter. Cyber, logistics, everything. The exchange begins right now. Thank you, scott, hi, everybody, heres whats ahead of us. Second half, headwinds, european tariffs, a slowdown in buy backs zero expected growth in this earnings season and global hot spots. Will one of those dominos eventually fall . Well get into all of that. And on the wrong foot, nike is finding itself in the hot seat over a new shoe that it has now pulled why does the company continue to get itself in these controversial situations, and whats it mean for the stock plus, biggest is still big when it comes to auto sales. Is bitcoin getting ready for a bust. And the Rolling Stone knows who their audience is thes