Today as republicans look to fast track her nomination before the election day and in the gulf, clean up from hurricane delta continues this morning as nearly half a million residents still remain without power and technology under fire yet again this time from across the atlantic its monday october 20t12, 2020 youre watching Worldwide Exchange here on cnbc. Sh good monday morning kicking off this morning with a hearty congratulations to the Los Angeles Lakers you can see them there jumping around they won their 17th nba title beating the miami heat in game six last night 10693 lebron james helping lift the lakers over the top with a triple double himself while Anthony Davis logged a doubledouble of his own you can see the dow jones implied higher by 16 points and the nasdaq up by 134 Big Technology in focus yet again. And with fridays 160 point advance the dow is now positive for the First Time Since september 22nd you can compare that with the s p 500, the dow transportation stocks and the s p cos populati composite which is up 29 . Today is columbus day and markets are closed for the holiday. Japan the only major index as you can see there really ending in the red things just getting warmed up over in europe as well plus major news for one very wellknown British Airline karen is standing by in our newsroom with the latest there good morning to you, karen. Good morning to you we have seen some of the positivity in the markets in recent weeks its been challenging to hold on to some of the green what we have witnessed bounce across all the markets recently but its back to where it started out the session down by about a tenth of a percent modest gains still attached to the french and german stock market but a tach fbit for spai. They contend with the second wave of infection. Also watching Brexit Developments this week with talks in the background of brussels take a look at the sectors you can see patches of red coming from the oil and gas sector and also were witnessing this morning in the travel leisure space, thats down 1. 1 . One of the big stocks in the sector, iag. What we heard this morning, alex cruise, the ceo since 2016 has been replaced by sean doyle who is the boss. All of this as British Airways looks to cut 13,000 jobs and is embroiled in a dispute with the union but it does mark a big change since iag took the helm so he is putting his stamp on the business but the stock you can see down 1. 25 as markets focus very much around the second wave of travel restrictions back to you in the studio. New this morning, the ceo of regeneron says the companies promising treatment for covid19 must be rationed he says theres not enough of the experimental antibody cocktail that President Trump received to treat the Many Americans that may need it theres currently doses for just around 50,000 patients the ceo says President Trumps case is merely a case of one and the treatment is still it will need to be tested more for its efficacy before its really known whether or not it can be deployed out more broadly. You can see regeneron shares up in the premarket section the Financial Times reports the company that makes software to help companies build website hired a cfo from booking holdings, the Online Travel group but square spaces founder and ceo says the company hasnt filed confidentially for an initial Public Offering and decided whether or not to do a direct listing instead and the drug maker filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today. The move comes amid a flood of lawsuit. It also lost a court battle to avoid paying higher rebates to state Medicaid Programs for its top selling rug. All of this as we are just 22 days away from the big election. Tracie potts joins us with the latest and the headlines keep coming but what is the priority for a lot of folks what are they watching in washington d. C. . I would have to say this priority is going to be what the confirmation hearing looked like she talked about her family and even talked about her views of the law. She did not talk about her religious views which is one of the things that could come up in the questioning today. In her opening statement, she says the judge must apply the law as it was written. Even if they dont like the result the Supreme Court hears that case one week after the election. She was being sent on assignment to the Supreme Court by President Trump and we know what that assignment is, eliminate the Affordable Care act. Theyre asking whats missing from her application a 2006 letter of opposing womens reproductive rights. Its very simple, its a vote to take Health Care Away from 20 million americans. Its a vote to strip protection. She is expected to attend in person at least four lawmakers will attend virtually. We managed to have hearings for months in a way that has been safe, that has protected everyones safety. T President Trump is back on the campaign trail with a rally in florida declaring himself covid free. Not only that it seems like im immune. The president has been cleared by his doctor who did not say if the president tested negative for the virus he has the rally in florida today and events tomorrow in pennsylvania and wednesday in iowa. Things are heating up for sure thank you very much. Well, back to the markets now despite the headlines over the past week, President Trumps health as we just heard, the fight between the white house and democrats over a stimulus package. All of that playing out. The russell 2,000 with its best week since june and were just three weeks ahead of the election and earnings season is going to kick off at the big banks. He is also a cnbc contributor. Good morning to you. You heard tracys update should investors really be paying attention to all the stuff happening in washington d. C. Well, of course, they have the physical spending drama is whats the focus im calling it fiscal spending instead of fiscal stimulus its not really stimulus its filling up holes and buying time until we get to 2021 with hopefully an effective vaccine which im actually hoping for on an effective vaccine so this is just another fiscal Spending Program now, i think the market is taking the assumption that even if it doesnt happen now, or within the next couple of weeks, it will happen in some fashion regardless of who is elected on november 3rd and that will happen afterwards. The individual 1,200 payment and help for restaurants and travel all the other stuff i think is much less of a focus on the markets. So if youre saying that the fiscal stimulus, thats the number one thing on the front burner, whatever cliche you want to use, if its going to happen no matter who is in power, does it then really matter . Im just curious about whether or not no matter if President Trump wins or Vice President joe biden wins, either way, why should the markets then care well, i dont think the market has and thats why were at these levels. 3,500 in the s p and you just look at over the past week, yes, we had one day when trump said okay, negotiations are off so i think the market has reflected that assumption that were going to get something regardless and whether it happens in october or maybe in a lame duck session. Well, of course, if biden does win that spending may not happen until january. There is a timing aspect to this but theres assumption that if biden wins come january or february it could be even bigger. Peter, i get your note every morning. Some other folks out there do not but i see how much attention youre paying to the Economic Data based upon what you have seen so far, is it safe to say that the u. S. Economy is still on an upward track, you know maybe not the steep angle that we want but that its still being constructive right now as opposed to maybe us seeing another leg lower in the economy with the data coming out in the coming months . Were only talking about 3 growth after 30 decline in q2 and 35 increasing q3 but its obviously happening in starts. Its trying to recover just as the rest of the world is asia is much further along because theyve gotten in much more control of the virus. So theyre trying to get back on track. Its almost back to where it was precovid and europe and the u. S. Are still trying to deal with this virus but i do think that progress is going to be made and of course that will depend. Thank you for your thoughts this morning have a great day, sir. When we come back on the show, highlighting another unlikely winner. Winner amid the recent economic downturn as consumers look to comfort food and drink we speak with the new ceo of a and w. Plus much more on the stimulus stalemate in washington d. C. And what President Trump is saying about his latest offer to House Democrats and later on, tech is under fire again this time on the European Union side as it prepares for a crack down on those names you know a very busy hour straight ahead when Worldwide Exchange returns after this welcome back to Worldwide Exchange despite mass restaurant closures and a lack of consistency with Indoor Dining across the country, franchise chain a and w restaurant says it outperformed the Quick Service sector with year to date sales hitting the highest numbers since 2011 joining me now on the Details Behind the surge is ceo of a and w restaurants. Thank you for being with us this morning. Take us through what exactly is the driving force behind why americans are going fast casual in bigger numbers. Well, marchand april was very concerning starting late april and really into march our business began to recover. Drivethru in particular the majority of our restaurants, drivethrus or drive in restaurants and so when people get tired of cooking at home and they started coming out for carry out orders and drivethru orders, we were well positioned for that and then in march, or in may, in subsequently up through september our sales have been quite strong after a fairly scary time. Were looking at stats behind your operation now 550 locations, 39 states have you noticed any trend with regard to where it was coming from either geographicly or is it broad based across much of america . Its fairly broad based but the majority of our locations in smaller communities, vacation areas, more rural areas, actually outperformed. I think a lot of staykagcationss we got into the summer we still have 40 restaurants that drive in and our operators converted all of those drive ins to all of those carry out orders so those stores performed the best unfortunately, we have about 8 of our locations that are nontraditional locations, mall, Airport Locations that have not faired quite so well and were continuing to support and help those operators get through this one of the other things thats been interesting to see develop among fast food and fast casual chains is menus i remember going to an a and w filling station when i was a small child. But are you expanding or are you trying to streamline because theres maybe demand issues with some of the more complex items yeah. We we didnt have to limit any of our menu items through the pandemic we are always looking to add some interest. So we have some things now thats really the pandemic thus far, we have not had to reduce menu items, supply chain, it has been able to keep up with the pace of business before we let you go, i know that many of us americans are optimistic covid is going to be a thing in the past. Are there trends you see continuing even after the threat of covid goes away well, certainly, safety, certainly, personal protection masks, hand sanitizers, plexiglass i think a lot of that stuff is defini definitely here to stay. We add on to that delivery and curb side pick up. For now its carry out business and we expect that to continue for quite sometime safety isthe new buzz word in hospitality. All right thank you very much. We appreciate your thoughts this morning. Cheers. Thank you. Cheers. Well still on deck for the show, a report from the heart of the bayou where residents are once again trying to pick up the pieces from yet another devastating hurricane. At cdw we get youre always looking to modernize. Yeah. Im just not sure Office Drones were the way to do it. [ laughing ] drone voice lol. Our market share looks good, but. Drone voice where are the bagels . Well, cdw can help you modernize your company the right way, with a scalable infrastructure from hpe, making you more efficient and secure. Great. Oh. [ drones buzz angrily ] lets find a different room. For transformation that works, you need Hewlett Packard enterprise and it orchestration by cdw. People who get it. Welcome back lets get a check on this mornings other top headlines francis is in the new york newsroom with the latest there good monday morning. Good monday morning to you. We start with tomorrow which marks three weeks until election day and President Trump is getting back on the campaign trail amid his recovery from coronavirus. North korea has released a new Ballistic Missile claiming its the biggest yet. The missile highlights how the north has continued to expand its military capabilities during a stalemate with the trump administration. And the Los Angeles Lakers are nba champions. The lakers ran away with game six against the miami heat they combined for 47 points. Miami tried to rally in the Fourth Quarter but it was too little too late. The lakers win the series with a 10693 victory its the first time the lakers have hosted the trophy since 2010 now tying the Boston Celtics for the most championships of all time and its a special night for lebron james named finals mvp for the fourth time in his career james is the first player to win the award on three different teams and i tell you what, you know what, you dont have to be a lakers fan to cheer for them because they need it being out west with the wildfires, after the death of kobe bryant, they could use anything to lift those spirits. Not just that hes one of the best athletes probably in the history of sports theres no doubt you go from miami to cleveland to los angeles and just keep racking up the championships so a huge congrats for sure. Theyre still celebrating. Im sure they will for awhile now. Francis, thank you. Sure thing. Coming up on the show, with 22 days to go until the general election, we look at the stay of play in washington d. C. And the Ripple Effect it could have on the markets and your money plus how billionaire ceo richard br branson is looking to follow up on the success of Virgin Galactic public listing. Orbit anyone were back after this. Bal collective of thought leaders offers investors a broader view. We see companies protecting the bottom line by putting people first. We see a bright future, still hungry for the ingenuity of those ready for the next challenge. Today, we are translating decades of experience into strategies for the road ahead. We are morgan stanley. You can go your own way f go your own way your wireless. Your rules. Only Xfinity Mobile lets you choose shared data, unlimited or a mix of each. And switch anytime so you only pay for the data you need. Switch and save up to 400 a year on your wireless bill. With the carrier rated 1 in customer satisfaction. Call, click, or visit your local xfinity store today. We are talking with the reporter that broke that news its monday october 12th, youre watching Worldwide Exchange on cnbc. Heres how futures are looking as we are halfway through the 5 00 eastern time hour you can see the dow open higher by 45 points the s p by 16 and the nasdaq higher by 132. All the major averages by the way coming off three Straight Days worth of gains and with fridays 161 point advance, the dow is now positive. Yes, positive for 2020 for the First Time Since september 2nd you compare that with the s p 500, the dow transportation stocks and the nasdaq, the latter of which is up, yes, a whopping 29 since january and reminder, bond markets are closed for the holiday today, so keep an eye on that. From wall street to the gulf coast, more than 300,000 people, from mississippi to texas are still without power. Some 48 hours after hurricane delta tore across that entire region regulators say 90 of u. S. Gulf Oil Production remains shutdown though some are starting to restore some kind of output. Oil remains a little bit under pressure this morning. You can see there the futures 42. 31 cents 1. 5 declines for wti u. S. Based crude around 40 barrel. Nbcs sam brock is in storm battered lake charles, louisiana with the latest there. Hey, good morning we are now more than 48 hours removed and theres hundreds of thousands of customers in the state of louisiana that dont have any power were also learning tragically about the first storm related death from delta one of the dangers when it comes to these storms. 30 people have died. Only one of them was a direct result of the show 29 deaths coming from afterwards were standing right out into the gulf of mexico these areas saw double digit storm surge coming through here. Damage to homes and usinesses. They have been completed between lafayette and lake charles those efforts primarily focussing on lake charles and lastly a gut punch for some people that live here. That was all kinds of homes over south western louisiana. Many of those did not last through delta. Put down for laura and theyll be requiring reapplication and assessment theres a program to try to help those people in need back to you. All right thank you very much for that now turning back to washington d. C. And the continued stalemate over coronavirus stimulus for millions of americans. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi along with Senate Republicans are rejecting the package further stemming hopes for a deal. Theyre now calling on congress to immediately vote on a bill that would release 135 billion in previously unspent aid to Small Businesses in america. Speaking yesterday, President Trump blasted democrats over that continued stalemate. We want to help the restaurants and hotels we want to help businesses that really its not its not their fault. Its chinas fault and we want to help them and frankly, you know, were ready to go. Were all ready to go. We cant get nancy pelosi to sign the document. Well, as if the stimulus negotiations werent enough, confirmation hearings for President Trumps Supreme Court nominee judge amy coney barrett, kick off later on this morning the Senate Judiciary committee is expected to hold hearings through tuesday with confirmation both expected by the committee and the full senate later on this month all of this coming with just over 3 weeks until the election day with recent polling data showing former Vice President joe biden maintaining an apparent lead over President Trump. Lets talkabout if there could be an issue or is this just longterm. Certainly, weve seen that multiple times markets tend to respond by reassessing risks. Reassessing where they expect those to go. Where they expect fiscal policy to go. Now markets are starting to shift and see that as a net positive it will actually drive some what of that but the deficits do matter longterm for some people. Is the u. S. Going to be able to recover from this . I think that we certainly are. The way that were looking at this and the way that a lot of our clients look at this is to say yes, there should be concernsand social ability and things like that, those all outweigh the negative deficit. Now, certainly that doesnt mean they should go off and spend it. In a normal election cycle we would be talking about the industries and the types of companies and sectors that could be doing better or worse given certain administrations or congressional make ups, what exactly does it look like . What are the odds and what businesses tend to do better or worse given possibly either a President Trump win or a joe biden win . I have to hand it to you, thats a very expansive question i would say that to really give you an exact answer, it seems right now that you might see some gains thats real plan, i think. In general, i could tell at this point more stimulus and more support for spending so certainly we expect that as well. All right thank you for joining us we appreciate it. Thank you, sir. All right coming up on the show, the European Union reportedly facing a hit list of Big Tech Companies hit with new regulations were talking with a reporter that broke that story. Thats coming up next but first as we head out to break, some of your other top stories tiktok rival triller is looking at a deal to go public theyre looking at a possible merger as they look to capitalize on tik tok woes meanwhile, astrazeneca said it would need 486 million from the government to fund its Covid Research program it will go toward the antibody combination which is set to move into phase 3 trials in the coming weeks and sir richard bransen, virgin orbit is looking to raise up to 200 million in a funding round in a move that could value the Satellite Launch Company at roughly 1 billion the move comes as the commercial space indury h bstaseen hit hard by the covid outbreak. Worldwide exchange is back after this ront of you like. Like its a mirror, dad. You know . Alright, okay. Hows that . Is that how you hold a mirror . [ding] power e trade gives you an awardwinning mobile app with powerful, easytouse tools and interactive charts to give you an edge, 24 7 support when you need it the most plus 0 commissions for online u. S. Listed stocks. Dont get mad. Get e trade and start trading today. Welcome back to Worldwide Exchange one week after the house released in a scathing report targeting u. S. Tech companies and their monopolistic power. Theyre making a quote hit list of up to 20 big u. S. Tech Companies Including facebook, amazon and apple and curbing their market dominance. Javier good morning to you take us through why this is going to be important. We know that the European Union has always targeted big tech. Thats right. The european eun always has targeted big tech but we seem to be at a moment in brussels theres definitely a lot of political will to get these new rules of the internet going. Theres a feeling here among regulators and among people in the industry, google and facebook and others that the Current System that we have has moved too slowly and by the time you see antitrust investigation into facebook or google its already too late for people who are operating in that space. So the story that we have now is that brussels is coming up with what we call a hit list of up to 20 Large Internet Companies very, very likely to include google, facebook, apple, amazon, microsoft. So its going to be a list of up to 20 companies and its going to be just merely by the size of, you know, the Silicon Valley giant, heavily weighted on the u. S. Company that some argue have become too big to care. So in that kind of a scenario how exactly does this kind of a campaign resinate with the population or the citizen ri in europe do you think that the regulators are doing this because theres a outcry because of these types of things or just because of the strict numbers around market dominance or possibly monopolistic behavior. Theres concerns about monopolistic behavior and theres a sentiment that these companies have become too big and too present in every single bit of our lives like if you just think about your morning today, you know, you were checking the news on your smartphone. Its likely that if you pick up your phone right now youd see a lot of these, like, companies that are being targeted by the eu the feeling here is that these corporations pay little tax. That they have become very invasive they have become too big to care and they need to be reigned in because by the time these investigations are the whole lifespan, they have been going on for a good part of a decade and its simply not enough so essentially, this is a new rule book over dos and donts. Large platforms are expected to do it is singling out big tech that has become too prominent in our lives. Just like the Banking System or any other sectors it needs to be regulated more there is a thought right now that if you pursue these types of policies in this current u. S. Administration you will get a response some what in kind do you feel as though theres any context around whether or not the u. S. Government might retaliate in some way against european interests because europeans targeting u. S. Companies even though we know our own congress here in america is targeted big tech itself. Yes this has lead to quite a number of people in the brussels bubble but beyond to raise concerns and may feel targeted. Because obviously its not to overexaggerate we have other companies that may be chinese or european but definitely for my conversations there, in brussels, the target is big corporations in the u. S so obviously these regulations is not going to be ready in the next few days or weeks and well have to see what happens after the u. S. Election. That may shift a bit of dynamics but even with the biden presidency, theres a risk that this might escalate into some sort of transatlantic fight. All right big tech, a big deal for sure here on both sides of the atlantic javier espinoza, appreciate it coming up next, stocks have to kick the new trading week off with modest gains as you can see there, patrick is standing by to break down what investors need to be watching in this coming week and coming up this evening on the news with shepherd smith the on going coronavirus outbreak and controversy over the new Trump Campaign ung hsiis comments thats 7 00 p. M. Eastern time right here on cnbc all right welcome back a knew analyst calls of note this morning systems getting a downgrade from buy to neutral the company will shift to more m a deal shares unchanged premarket Atlantic Equities is downgrading pfizer to neutral. The firm says it sees limited upside to shares which rallies 15 off the lows in late june. Failed again in early Clinical Trials so shares off a quarter of 1 premarket and Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse citing how draft king is the Market Leader for Online Sports betting. Modest gains at the opening bell this as investors keep a close watchful eye out of stimulus talks in washington d. C. And earnings season kicks off into high gear. And cnbc newsline. And your equity strategist at Credit Suisse. Whats the most important thing on investor radars this coming week the past couple of months, its going to give us continued insight into how companies are functioning and operating in this current environment, last season we saw a spectacular earnings season over 20 it racheted up expectations. Its warranted and we think Companies Continue to grow in this environment or at least many of them continue to function in this environment and whether or not we do see relative strength or relative weakness in key parts of the market that might tell us what the coming weeks or months can hold given the Market Dynamics right now. One of the key things, its how quickly companies can recapture their lost profits right now investors are concerned that growth is overextending and running too hot and theres likely to be a rotation but what we see is many of the growth companies, for example, the technology companies, internet retail communication companies, theyre actually regaining the lost profits and theyll be above 2019 and 2020 on that basis and theyre tremendous operators really functioning and its part of the reason why were seeing success in many of these areas like technology, communications and retail theyre benefitting from this. I look at a market right now. Were showing the charts over there. Viewers can see as listeners on sirius xm can see right now, were not that far from record highs. That implies the lost profits are already forecast to be gotten back by the time this is all said and done. So with that in mind how do you think it gets c if it moves ad we already think the economy is Getting Better and the markets recover. We see continued stimulus benefitting those names is really in that sort of value camp those industrials and materials and financials, the areas where theyre doing okay certainly the financial backdrop is much better than what we saw in the crisis but in reality we do need a little bit more support because those companies are the ones that are lacking. We just happen to be in a world where the largest portion also happens to be in an area where we see success and thats what is driving the benchmark higher but in order for the more cyclical sectors like industrials and materials and financials to anticipate we need to seize it around further stimulus or another boost in economic activity. So what exactly then, if youre looking at the way its moving now, there has been a broadening out modestly of the rally. It seems to be getting slightly better the number of companies and sectors participating in the rally seems to be getting beyond just big tech, but is that going to be the case Going Forward what do you need to see . Say hey, lets all buy facebook, amazon, netflix again as opposed to maybe theres some industrial names we should be getting into now. And look, we think those Technology Growth names are going b to the winners oh the longterm. To your point, over the near to intermediate term, broader success will be a helpful driver in pushing the market higher i think ultimately, right now, the focus is on the election to the extent that people see or at least the narrative goes, its going to result in further stimulus and thats the reason why youre seeing further participation for some of these names. I think in reality, were really dealing with the covid backdrop and its going to be the environment that were going to be able to do next at least probably year or longer thats really going to be your determinant of success over the longterm and thats why we think the eck the notechnology e where you want to be. Theres been talk about a possible market sell off if Vice President joe biden wins and democrats sweep congress because there will be a higher tax regi regime is that something that youre fearful of or how short or longterm is it . If you go back to 2016 and we saw the implementation of tax code then, the difference of performance among Similar Companies with different tax rates was almost minimal so to the extent that there is a sell off, its going to be around Something Else other than taxes. It could be stimulus, or passing a lower measure rather than just passing itself dont focus on taxes focus on the policy backdrop. All right big policy backdrop for sure thank you very much. We appreciate it that does it for us on Worldwide Exchange squawk box picks up the market coverage coming up next. The dow posted its best week since august. Supreme Court Confirmation hearings begin today for amy coney barrett. 22 days left before the election and were just 24 hours from major market events including an apple Product Launch and amazon megasale and the kick off of earning season everything you need to know is straight ahead, monday october 12th, 2020 and squawk box begins right now. Good monday morning, everybody. Welcome to squawk box here on cnbc the u. S. Equity futures this hour, take a look at things. Its up by 23 points s p is up and the nasdaq up by 122. This is coming after a strong week for the markets up by about 3 just for the last week nasdaq was up for the week too