Transcripts For CNBC Closing Bell 20170518

Colombia where he will likely field questions about the russia investigation. Thats live as soon as it begins. Now, my exclusive interview with bank of america ceo, find out what Brian Moynihan of 21st Century Glass stegal may not be as bad. Thats coming up. Unrolling Net Neutrality rules, the Michael Powell tells us why this is the right move in a first on cnbc interview. But, we begin with a very Good Exchange between steven mnuchin. Ylan has the story. Reporter it was testy. This was mnuchin mnuchs first testifying. Most of the conversation was focused on financial regulation. It is also met he has to face senator warren. Now, mnuchin said in the testimony that he does not support a return to glasssteagall saying that that would cause significant problems for financial markets, the economy, and liquidity. But on the campaign trail, President Trump said he supportings a 21st century version of glasssteagall. Today, senator warren tried to press him on exactly what that means. To get it straight, youre saying that you are in favor of glasssteagall, breaking apart of the two arms of breaking i said regular banking and commercial banking, except you dont want to break apart the two parts of banking. This is something straight out of george orwell. You are saying simultaneously youre in favor of breaking up the banks. This is what glasssteagall is. I never said were in favor of breaking up the banks and separating. If we had okay. Let me i spoke to warren and the secretary outside the hearing right in the hallways to try to see if theres more clarity, but both of them pretty much dug into their positions. I just want to be clear on this. You cant be in both places at the same time. You cant separate the two and keep the two together. I was clear on glasssteagall, i thought in the meeting. We dont support a full separation. I thought i was clear on that. He said hed meet privately to discuss the issue, and the senator said shed take him up on that. Other things discussed is the Treasury Department is looking at long bonds of 50 years or more, and, of course, tax reform came up, and hes hopeful for something to happen this year, and reiterated he believes the economy could hit 3 growth. I also asked in the hallways about the pass through rates of Small Businesses saying he will not let people, quote, arbitrage the system and use it as a loophole. No details on how to do that. Back to you guys. Ylan, great stuff there, and im sure that went down as a big sigh of relief, those comments from mnuchin and the universal banks. I wonder if theres a move of the u. K. , what they did, reinvent the rules, but not break them up. Separately, did they clash on the issue of too big to fail . Reporter well, at one point, the secretary said he does not believe there are any banks currently too big to fail but believes there are banks that are too big to succeed, so, perhaps, caution there. I will also say as well that on the glasssteagall front, it is clear that mnuchin said in the confirmation hearing that he supports the 21st Century Glasssteagall, but no clarity from the administration what it means. Thank you very much. I caught up with bank of americas ceo in the last hour and asked what he thinks of the Trump Administration reference to a 20 glasssteagall. This is what he said. I think he means what you hear. Have a different set of rules and regulations for smaller less complex institutions, and another set for larger institutions. We agree. Interesting for us to do the work. Lets not take it to place where its not relevant and not as important, and the goal is to have a differentiated, as much as you can hear it. Its a small version, large issue, and the other thing, in terms of reports i saw out there is a u. K. Style issue where they retail banks and envestment banks that affect you guys, but you so do you think thats on the table . Back up more to what people were worried about. They are worried bowy eied abou deposito depositors money being used. That really doesnt happen. They have a Security Bank and firm, and always regulated about what you can do in each and how that relates to each other and how you can transact with each other. Theres a series of rules, actually, to protect them. Thats one debate. The other is just about size. Big institutions. Right. Complexities, and things like that, and that, to me, is a bod policy decision because, you nude lawyers and institutions to support the large economies. The reason why the u. S. Banks are larger is because the economy is 30 bigger than the next biggest, and the banks are bigger than the u. S. Banks is chinese banks, and their economys big. Response to warren who pressed mnuchin today effectively saying breaking them up is the only option she sees viable . I think the question as to what do you accomplish out of it, and the question of what was accomplished when the institutions were in pieces, do you want lee man brothers on their own or rather have lemman with barclays and merrilllynch with us, and have 30 billion dedicated to trading businesses that people are concerned about . I want that structure, especially as a person that at the end of the day pays for the cleanup. If this administration separates big banks from the small and lightens burdens on smaller banks, does that disadvantage you . I dont think so. Different Business Models appeal, but when i went into the business and business side 20 years plus ago, everybody said, oh k dont worry, all the banks will be five banks in 20 years. Did flnot happen. Theres still 5,000 banks. Always a different model. Could a small bank lend to a Small Business than a cheap erae than you could or make a mortgage at a better rate than you guys could . Balance that against the scale of the economy and stuff, but the question is, how does the banks help economies grow . The discussion about regulatory movement and change and thinking about resetting regulation of the balancing is how to help the economy grow. At the end of the day, the banks have a purpose, intermediate between customers and other customers in the economy or the markets. We are in the business of helping people accomplish Business Plans and growth plans. The goal has to be how do you help it happen . Too stringent rules around capital and liquidity that requires to hold too much in reserve versus the risk, then you slow down growth, and thats the discussion. Absolutely. So it sounds like you support then, what sounds like the 21st Century Glasssteagall act, big versus small, but what about the choice act, separately working through congress and would be an offramp from doddfrank. Is that a piece of legislation, a move that bank of america supports as well . I think i would, instead of that legislation, back up to the principles. Im not sure, you know, but theres nobody knows exactly what they are saying in all this, just description of all the views of what the words mean. What are we for . Safe and sound Banking System. We are for a balancing and looking at regulation to think about getting the riskreward right in helping, but youre doing that to help promote the economy. Going at 2 , stuck at 2 level growth. The growth we see today is consistent with that. Move that a little further. How do you help through smarter regulation, balanced regulation. Im sure they say, thats what im trying to do with the legislation, too, ultimately, boost growth and lighten the burden on the Banking Industry, maybe not quite that way. Well, i think put it that way or not, he can say, but they are trying to have riskbenefit analysis and things like that thought through. Whats in the acts is a series of things that ails you, so to speak, a series of things people pointed out needs changed. Theres a laundry list of items to be changed that would be beneficial to help the economy growing faster. Then theres fundamental questions about, you have this much capital, subject to this regulation. That really probably is the best use you see in the act appropriate for large banks. Idea of operating risk capital to be redesigned or frequency of the stress test processes doing it every year, and the answers are relatively similar. Those things are on the table, and thats getting the balance right. So a lot in there, and, of course, heavily policy focused, but in light of today, what you said earlier, the relevant question here, what is 21st Century Glasssteagall . Why call it that . Its a different discussion. Important to understand, he speaks as he understands it. The administration comes out and says Something Different tomorrow. Hugely important to see brians reaction to the treasury mnuchins comments earlier today, which was headline being that were the not planning to split up commercial and investment banks. Thats a massive step forward in terms of the sigh of relief from people like brian and seemed relaxed there reacting to that, and i think no one expected that to come. Thats part of that. No one really expected that to come. Its been discussed and aired and something a 20 worry in investors minds. Today, we have a significant revelation on that, unsurprising to see Brian Moynihan so relaxed there. Interesting in the point with him, is it more beneficial smaller versus larger banks, and thats the take on it, which is interesting, a general theme from the administration in terms of deregulation. Correct. And that from the fcc as well. Small Banking Industry has been pushing the case, heard from them time and again, and i understand, when you are a small institution, you have to comply with, you know, tons of regulations. I get it. So i dont know what the next steps are now, but it does sound like its steering away the series of hearings and discussions to that. Two more quick points from what he said, one, that hes saying that similar arguments about Lloyd Blankfein and others, disadvantage u. S. Banks against the rest of the world . Clever and geaccurate point. He said, if you want to look at big things in the world, look at the chinese banks. You want them to make end roads, go ahead. Right. The other point to take away in terms of all the Bank Regulation on capital again, seven ways from this, clear theres capital in the system. This coward come down, banks are saying that, and thats certainly a factor in the banks. Steve eisman said theres no systemic issue in the banking issue. Times changed. More in the interview to come in the next hour. Breaking ne inin ining newse house. Reporter this afternoon, the president had lunch with Top Television anchors, and theyve released a piece of what he told anchors inside the white house moments ago. This is reaction to the special counsel being appointed. That news breaking last night. Heres what the president had to say just a few moments ago inside the white house saying, i believe it hurts our country terribly because it shows were a divided, mixedup, notunified country, and we have very important things to be doing now whether its trade deals, whether its military, whether its stopping nuclear, all the things we discussed today, and i think this shows a very divided country. The president going on to say, it also happens to be a pure excuse for the democrats having lost an election that they should have easily won because of the Electoral College being slanted so much in their way. Thats all this is. I think it shows division, and it shows that were not together as a country, and i think its a very, very negative thing, and hopefully, this can go quickly because we have to show unity if were going to do great things with respect to the rest of the world. Thats the words of the president here moments ago at the white house reacting to the appointment of the special counsel, having this meeting on the eve of his foreign trip. Hes leaving tomorrow. Hes going to saudi arabia, israel, italy, belgium, a massive foreign trip with a big agenda. The president has on his mind the impression the United States is giving to the rest of the world here and concern about this special counsel. Back to you. Eamon, surprised at the severity of the words. Clearly, the counsel is happening, done, on its way, whats he gain from the idea of opposing it like an idea like this . The president was a measured statement put out last night released on paper by his staff. Today, weve seen angry tweets this morning, and now as you said, a Harsh Criticism on the record with Television Anchors at lunch today. This president , if anything, is very can decade. He tells you what he thinks, what his emotions are, and this is what he thinks about this special counsel. I think its nothing more to read into than that. This is not tactical or strategic, but the president telling the American People what he thinks about it, and he doesnt like it. Okay. Thank you very much. Thats sort of slightly defensive tone to it. Comes back to what jack welsh said on squawk box yesterday, criticizing communication, and other areas like communication. We joked this morning, maybe jack is the chief of staff if hes interested in followup. Were not getting into that again. 45 minutes to go, dow up 101 points today. Bouncing back off yesterdays declines, s p up 13. The nasdaq up 49 today, and the russells lacking a little bit relative to yesterdays drop. Up six. A bounce took us up, but now pausing at half a percent again. Meantime. President trump and president of Colombia Holding a joint News Conference in the hour. Thats live the second it kicks off. Sales after the bell today, a big mover for the markets all season, delivering numbers, breaking them down with analysts as soon as they are out. Keep it here. Youre watching cnbc, first in business worldwide. Millennials eat avocados rather than buying housing. So just our last break down about 25 points, whats going on in just a moment, and s p up 12, russell up six. Just again on specific Market Movers today. First up for you, cisco systems. Very much for earnings beat, lagging the dow significantly. Weaker than expected revenue guidance to the Current Quarter. The ceo, chuck robins, explains the downturn in the Public Sector business, and cryptic cut jobs in spot of transform sort ware focused company, and cisco aa noupsed 5500 job cuts, down 8 , similarly with the rally, came up 6 an hour ago, but bag down to the lows of 8 . Okay. Aethena health, disclosing a 9. 2 stake in the health care company. They called it significantly undervalued in an fcc filing. They said they have great confidence in the company and where its headed. Elliot representatives not available for comment. Thats up 22 today. Stocks coming back, dow up 100 points. Yesterdays big selloff just a oneday event . Joining our exchange today is peter, pete, and our own rick santelli, keith, starting with you, if i may, just explain to us what you think is behind this sort of rally in the afternoon, and then stepped back from it again. Sure. I have to enter it this way. Overall, were going to have a tough time moving out the range because the market really doesnt know what to believe now. Take a look at the antics from washington and trying to put that in a juxtaposition next to pretty good earnings this quarter, pretty good Economic Activity macro data we have coming out right now, thats why theres sloppy markets like this. One of the rumors around the street is people are replaying comeys testimony from may 3rd, no obstruction, never seen it, thats the pop in the rally, but fact of the matter remains, sold off so severely yesterday everything was oversold, vix overbought, and youre going to see a snapback on measures like that, all things being equal. In the market, what weve seen and see Going Forward is you sell the rumor, buy when they refute the rumor, and theres that back and fort for some time, and thats what we got today. Peter, this morning, when feature futures were weak, there was positive data, jobless claims, and silly fed number naegz, and i dont know if that has helped the turn around at all, but, you know, can the econ data come to the fore front here. The datas been miss. The headline great, but the eternals down, and jobless claims have been very low, which is a positive, but thats not a a new change. Auto sales are weak, retail sales mediocre, and exports are getting better, so its still a very much a mixed bag, but been the mixed bag, we have, obviously, whats going on in washington, and we also have a fed thats raising Interest Rates into a mediocre economy, and at some point, that will come to a head, in the latter part of the year, deeper into the rate hike cycle and get closer to quantity at a timive tightening. Rick, when we look at the u. S. Dollar, of course, today and this afternoon in particular, a slightly better time of things, but particularly weak over ten days or so, is that been driven by yields as the correlation remains strong or has the dollar sort of separated away from the fundamental yield differentials of other currencies because of politi politics . Sq you know, its the latter. You know, the dollars been on dee cline all year, will, if you look at 2017 with the notion we settle at 102. 20 and dollar index, the first 30 trading days of the year was positive, and thats where it ended. Its been on a slide. Today, in particular, i pay close attention to people trading. On the dollar index, while im talking, they put up the intraday chart, but after a big low we had, around 97. 75, a bunch of intraday tops. Sources tell me a few buy stops there of the when it went through, it went through spectacularly. I dont know that the dollar index immediately gets better, and Interest Rates are squeamish on the long evidenced by the flatten yield curve. Im happy about that we all want our country to succeed, and i think what what meeting with ag, rods a Rod Rosenstein did was brilliant. The president should keep quiet, if thats possible. Made appointments for the president , picked head of the fbi, thats brilliant, and i think that an adult in the room is why the markets reversed yesterday. Be honest here. Any of the older people remember dean martin or rump roasts on wednesdays like we did. It turned into a trump roast, and it was all a lot of politics involved. I dont think Robert Mueller will be that way. I think hes going to be an adult. Many have confidence in him and the market has confidence in him. The market today was mueller moved. Thats real and see more of it in the days ahead. All right, keith, i have to ask about another political crisis in brazil. The president just now pushed back against rumors he might step down after he was reveal to be on tapes involved with the bribery scandal. Markets whacked there, currencies whacked. Any risk for people that might have been that was one of the places to be as of late. Sure. Well, i think youll obviously see money rotate out of wbrazil. Capital goes where its rewarded. Its not brazil in the near term feature. Remarkable there, the brazil market is volatile on this news, dealing with political scandals for 40 years, and in a country like ours, not accustomed to widespreading political scandals, i think brazil and maybe the emerging markets in some of the countries that have Political Risk of a heightened nature is best to keep money away from there. Final question, as we get towards the end of earnings season, does the market then loose whats been an important proper in the face of otherwise weaker Economic Data . Well, the First Quarter had was a very easy comparison, particularly in the energy side, so lets just say we get 10 Earnings Growth this year. Well, last year, the target was up 10 , and we got no Earnings Growth. Weve seen a massive multiple expansion over the many last few years that i think pulls forward a lot of returns that the rise in earnings are now growing themselves into, so when pe multiple goes from 14 to 22, that discounts a lot of strong earnings recoveries in comes years, so i think weve may or may not have. Again, i want to focus on what sprawl banks are doing. I know its in the background, but its a dominant factor this year. Its not the fed, its the ecb, boj, bank of england, the peoples bank of china. Okay. Peter, thank you very much for that. Peter, keith, and rick, thank you very much for joining us. All right, 33 minutes set before the bell, we are in and around that half percent level of gains at this hour. Telco leading the market, down for fcc action, but otherwise most of the sectors in positive territory, energy and materials bring up the bottom of the pack. Hearing from the president again, a joint News Conference from President Trump and president of colombia due to begin shortly. Michael powell talks about rolling back rules to prevent Internet Services from charging extra fees. Thats coming up. Times up, insufficient were on prenatal care. Es. And administrative paperwork. Your days of drowning people are numbered. Same goes for you, budget overruns. And rising costs, wipe that smile off your face. Were coming for you, too. For those who wont rest until the world is healthier, neither will we. Optum. How well gets done. Whoa,i just had to push one button to join. Its like im in the office with you, even though im here. Its almost like the Virtual Reality of business communications. No, its reality. Intuitive one touch Video Conferencing is a reality. 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Breaking news from capitol hill. Heres the details, kayla . Briefing just wrapped up where the Deputy Attorney general Rod Rosenstein met with 100 senators to discuss the situation around the firing last week of the former fbi director as well as the decision to appoint a special counsel to lead the investigation into russia. Following that meeting, well catch up with senator graham who said there was general consensus because the type of investigation changed. Listen. It was a Counter Intelligence investigation before now. It seems to me now to be considered a criminal investigation, and what does that mean for the congress . I find it hard to subpoena records of mr. Flynn subject to criminal investigation because he has a right not to incriminate himself. Referring to Robert Mueller ra and the counsel decides what to get in the invest gagss ongoing. He said about questions asked about the terms of the firing of the former fbi director, that mr. Rosenstein deemed it appropriate given events of last july, but if he was demanded to write the memo, he said, youll have to ask hymn about that. Too quick other points to leave you with. He was asked about Joe Leiberman for the fbi, calling it a great pick and pillar of accountability and asked about the president s comments saiding this would hurt the country, and senator graham said fight back when you have the legal ability to do so. Kelly and will . All right. Kayla, thank you, very busy news afternoon in washington. Well follow the story, but sometime for a news update, sue . Thank you, kelly. Also in washington, the white house telling congress that it intends to renegotiate the north American Free trade agreement with canada and mexico. U. S. Trade representative sent a letter to congressional leaders starting 90 days of consultations of lawmakers how to revamp the agreement. Pope francis embracing weeping mothers, fathers, and children with huntingtons disease as he sought to remove stigma of the disorder causing devastating physical effects. He blessed and greeted each of the 150 people with that disease. United flight from toronto to houston blew a tire in an unscheduled landing in louisville airport. They landed after an inflight mechanic cam issue. 77 people on board, no injuries. Starbucks hopes to fix the problem of ice cubes diluting iced coffee and quietly testing the idea of coffee ice cubes at about 100 locationings in the st. Louis and baltimore markets, but it costs you an extra 80 cents. I dont know why because all you do is pour coffee and freeze it. I do it all the time. Easy. I agree. Still sounds like a Ground Breaking real innovation. I mean it. We need stuff like this every week, every this is brilliant. But thats what they need experts im serious. Set up a coffee ice stand out in the front lawn. Absolutely. As well. Absolutely. No problem doing that whatsoever. I already do coffee ice cubes, so im ahead of starbucks on that one, and i dont thank you very much. Sue for us back at hq. Switching tones, roger, the man who built a news empire that transformed american politics died at the age of 77. Julia . Roger passed away days after his 77th birthday reportedly from an injury remitted to a fall. He was founded fox news in 1996 and chairman of the station as well in 2005, and he was pushed out last july following a Sexual Harassment scandal and series of lawsuits. In addition to building fox into a giant transforming the cable news landscape, he was president of cnbc for three years before going to fox. He also consulted republican president s nixon, reagan, and george bush and advised President Trumps campaign, helping him with debate preparation. His wife, elizabeth, issued a statement posted this morning saying, quote, during a career that stretched over more than five decades, his work in entertainment, politics, and news affected the lives of millions, so as we mourn his death, we celebrate his life. 21st century fox and Fox News Channel executive chairman said, quote, a brilliant broadcaster, roger, played a huge role in shaking americas media over the last 30 years. At 21 century fox, we will be enormously grateful for the great business he built. Hes survived by his wife and son. More closing bell after this. [pony neighing] what . Hey gary. Oh. Whats with the dogsized horse . Im crazy stressed trying to figure out this complex trade so i brought in my comfort pony, warren, to help me deal. Isnt that right warren . Well, you could get support from thinkorswims inapp chat. It lets you chat and share your screen directly with a live person right from the app, so you dont need a comfort pony. Oh, so what about my motivational meerkat . Inapp chat on thinkorswim. Only at td ameritrade. Welcome back. The federal Communications Commission voted 21 today to begin rolling back internet equality regulations put this place by the obama administrati administration. The rules ensured no service should get faster speed because they pay for it. The fcc is examing what rule is best for the internet and joining us with more on this is Michael Powell, former fcc chairman and current president and ceo of the ncta, the internet and television association. Mike, thank you very much. Great to be with you, thank you. Were not over the line yet, but todays a significant step forward, and in your eyes, done now, or can investors celebrate or quite a long way to go. Quite a long process to go. The ad min straitive process is laborous. The commentary period lasts several months before final on the other hand. Given the composition of the commission and nature of the vote, its widely expected that the outcome will be whats predicted today. Looking to see if netflix or amazon shares down at all on this. The presumption is if youre not allowed to charge people more, biggest users of the bandwidth, share of the cost of the innovation, for example, they would be the ones to suffer the most. How do you read it if this were to go into effect . Its interesting. A few weeks ago, you would have seen Reid Hastings saying, rules go away, does not affect our concern because values would affect deeply in the Consumer Expectation monk the ics. We take the same position. You know, no rules for 20 years in the internets evolution, and none of the times created horrible, blocking, throttling priorization. What people often miss is its been profitable for isps to per sue open internet, a pipe loading the network with as much content as possible the way they advertise the cost of that. Heres the difference from 20 years ago, now we all watch tv on the computer. Right. Dial up, wait for the modem, load aol. Com, do an email. Its different today. If that data and video goes through the hype, and theres somebody who just wants to check email, is there a way to make it that netflix person pays a higher cost ultimately . Theoretically, but theres other forms of price differentiation. Many carriers offer tiers of service for consumers, so you dont buy a gig bit if you dont need it. You buy 40 if you need it, but the market segregates options that way opposed to going wholesale to a content provider saying you have to pay to get through the system. First of all, thats complex. A lot of market power with the companies. Imagine telling google you cant get your customers if you dont pay . The amount doom ourselves. Right. Unlikely. Does it, indeed, lead to more investment within the sector, and, therefore, better delivery for consumers . More risk taking in innovation. I think what it does is Shale Companies willingness to make high risk capital decisions, and while they do it in course and speed, i think the old rules retard the velocity of investment and intensity it. We have parts of the country still not reached. We are trying to reach Rural America where those economics there are really tough. You add a public utility regulatory layer, thats tougher. The interest thing about it is you have Wireless Company potentially competitors in the space. If you provide stable she was from effectively a cell tower, you dont need to go have that cable delivered into somebodys home. Does that change the equation, the competitive landscape, the opportunities for other people to be involved . I think you want that competitive landscape, and if you know the history of public utility regulations, its not particularly friendly to stimulating that kind of investment and competition. I think Rural America definitely multiple kinds of networks attempting to solve the problem. A cost structure for a wireless solution is different to a fixed wire. A satellite 28 miles in space is just a dot. You want all the people to be attracted to the markets, and keep them as economical as possible, and i think public e utility regulations, how we do roads, bridges, had a disaster run as infrastructure. Shouldnt be the way to treat the internet. Terms of regulation of the fixed line guys and mobile guys, its all the same now, and that continues today as well with the ruling in. It is the same. The original Net Neutrality rules in 2010 exclude the the wireless providers, but when the last administration redid rules, they brought the wireless providers in, so right now, theres us between the wireless provider and fixed dpies eed g regulatory front. Either all relieved of obligations or all wont. Quickly, the fcc is quick to deregulate versus other different regular laters across sectors. Is this the low hanging fruit for them, or more you can imagine them doing coming forward . Chairman pi made a commitment to comb through remember this statute. Its really old. Written in 1996. Before the interpret was really even fully commercial. Theres a lot of regulatory underbrush i think hes working to whack away, and, by the way, i think his charge under the statute is to do so, so i think theres more to go, and i think hes been thoughtful about it. And its a good example on a day like this concerned about the administrations agenda, theres plenty happening here. Oh, yeah. On the sidelines. Emphasized this is an independent agency. Its not an executive agency of the president. So, you know, theres a lot of room to do their work. There you go. Mike powell, thank you so much for joining us. Pleasure. And one of the worst performing, by the way, year to date. Exactly. Correct. 1 pennsylvan5 minutes into t. Our bounce is moderating, dow do down, and meantime, President Trump and the president of colombia are expected to start their joint News Conference. That as soon as it begins. Walmart showing signs its fighting back against amazon. Well tell you how after this. [ male announcer ] eligible for medicare . Thats a good thing, but it doesnt cover everything. Only about 80 of your part b medical expenses. The rest is up to you. So consider an aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. Like all standardized Medicare Supplement insurance plans, they could save you in outofpocket medical costs. Call today to request a free decision guide. With these types of plans, youll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. Plus, there are no networks, and virtually no referrals needed. Join the millions who have already enrolled in the only Medicare Supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp. And provided by unitedhealthcare insurance company, which has over 30 years of experience behind it. With all the good years ahead, look for the experience and commitment to go the distance with you. Call now to request your free decision guide. Welcome back, 14 minutes to go, looking at about 0. 4 for the dow, s p better, nasdaq leading the charge up, and the materials at the bottom of the back just in positive territory. And we are waiting for the News Conference at the white house where President Trump will be meeting with the president of colombia. Manual santos. Gracias. Well bring that to you if questions are centered around comey, we anticipate this if it happens before the close, 13 minutes to go. Shares of walmart are higher following mixed quarter results. A miss on revenue, but a beat on earnings and ecommerce saled increased by 63 year on year. Joining us to debate whether markets are fighting off the Amazon Effect is the contributor and founder of stocks 986, steven, and Wolf Research analyst, thank you for joining us, gentlemen. To what extent does it beat the oneoff and not sustainable . I think walmarts business over the last 612 months had momentum, but looking forward to the back half of the year, we expect just a retail blood bath as the two titans, walmart and amazon, kind of fight it out. The rest of retail needs to kick it into, you know, to gain back share their losing to both amazon and walmart. Our outlook in the back half of the year remains quite difficult, and we think walmart falls fate to that as well. You liked walmart. Before this quarter, do you like it more after the quarter . Sure. In fact, raised price target this morning from 77 at a time, a day high, around there now, to 79. 25. Walmart has been aggressive, taking the bull by the horns. They have acquired dotcom retailers that post customers say walmart does not necessarily have like jet. Com, talking to wayfair, and they are talking to they bought shoe bot and modcloth. They have been aggressive in that space. Then you go out west, and they have walmart labs in san francisco, store eight in silicon valley, project code numbering. They have a number of items that attack a. I. , machine learning. They are not just a retailer, anymore, although, the store traffic improved, thats not the only game they are playing. Are you concerned about the threat from not so much just online, we talked about that a lot, amazon, the likes, and the lower end parts of brick and mortar retailers like aldi . Sure. They are a head wind, no doubt about it. I love aldi, i go there myself. And little is coming, and its pronounced little. Thats true. German invasion in walmarts backyard, a darn good thing. Why . They are going after amazon. Face it, theres going to be from the ashes of retail rises a champion, and its target or walmart, and walmart is beating target. Why wont walmart get it right . Good points, but as we say, investing in ecommerce and losing, we estimate 150 million a month in ecommerce business. Look at the companies, u. S. Dollars, theyve dropped 4. 5 billion. Thats billion since 2014. They are likely to be the winner. I guess the question i say, is, what are you winning . When will i win . Outlook for earnings continues to be done. Their stores produced only 60 basis points of top store sales growth. Low end wages rise at 6 right now. Its going to be very hard for them to run the stores and not deteriorate economics. So we agree with steven wholeheartedly. The company made good and hard decisions. They are chasing after amazon with gusto, but at the same time, that chase is very expensive. We have seen return on invested capital drop precipitously and earnings have come in. We have to go. I will just mention, its not like you have 100 price torgts. 79. 25. Not a buck and a half here. We get it. Gentlemen, thank you both. Thank you. Talking walmart today as we head into the close. Weve dows been bouncing around today. Much more than we typically see. 98 point gain here into the close. S ps up 14. Meantime, President Trump set to address the media as well as the president of colombia, and that is the picture of the white house. S east room in the white house. Bringing that to you as soon as it begins. Back in a couple minutes. Y delll business advisor for tech advice. With one phone call, i get products that suit my needs and i get back to business. Your insurance on time. Tap one little bumper, and up go your rates. What good is having insurance if you get punished for using it . News flash nobodys perfect. For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise your rates due to your first accident. Switch and you could save 509 on auto insurance. Call for a free quote today. Liberty stands with you™ Liberty Mutual insurance. Weve done well in life, with help from our advisor, we made it through many market swings. Sure we could travel, take it easy. But weve never been the type to just sit back. Not when weve got so much more to give when you have the right financial advisor, life can be brilliant. Ameriprise a used car, welcome back, bouncing back from the big declines. Morgan . Kelly, great after logging the worst single day drop since brexit last june, today, the nasdaq rebounding, outperforming both the s p and the dow today. Big cap tech stocks lead gains there, facebook, apple, amazon cricketing the biggest point impact to the nasdaq 100. Each of those up over 1. 5 today. Semiconductors in focus after ubs raised a price target on nvidia. Skyward solutions, micron soaring as well. Big bounce in biotech, big winner in the 100 on the astro abstract. You can see the stock up 7 . Another story for cisco, the biggest loser today. That is down 7 , which decembss the beat, quarter current guidance announced 1100 new job cuts, biggest loser today. Guys, back to you. Morgan, thank you. Up next, right back with the closing countdown. President trump delivers a joint News Conference with the president of colombia any moment now. Well bring that to you live. Youre watching cnbc, first in business word wide. People, rtainmentlog want all our rooms to be tv rooms. Because those are the best rooms. Because they have tvs in them. And, when were not in those rooms, we want our shows to go with us. Anywhere . You got that right, kid show thing. Get a directv allincluded package for 4 rooms. Only 25 a month, price guaranteed for 2 years. Available for at t unlimited plus customers. Its not just a car, its your daily treat. Go ahead, spoil yourself. The es and es hybrid. Experience amazing. With e trade you see things your way. You have access to the right information at the right moment. And when you filter out the noise, its easy to turn your vision into action. Its your trade. E trade. Start trading today at etrade. Com welcome back, 90 seconds left in the close, nasdaq leads the charts. Nasdaq led the charge down on the selloff yesterday, biggest underperformer. Why . Because tech is also leading the rebound today. I wanted to show you the dollar chart intraday because this rally were looking at was late in the day in the middle of the afternoon where there was a spark, sparking equities higher than they had been earlier in trade. You can see that move halfway through the back end of the day, two hours ago, and, finally, look at this telco sector, best performing today, not all a trumprelated rebound, but off the back of the fcc regulatory change we discussed earlier, allowing them to be the only s p sector up over 1 , albeit, they are all in the green, but just on the pitfall. Important thing is yesterdays event was a oneday event so far, and thats what the markets are very happy about, at least the traders who want markets to stay on the long side. We were concerned that there was a big distribution day yesterday. This is when the big institutional sellers come in, you put together, three, four in a row, then markets convinced, streets dumping stocks in a big way. Thats not happened today. So as of now, what we saw yesterday, at least for the moment, is a oneoff event. That said, in terms of the rebound, not that pronounced yet. Theres the bell. Leaving if there. Ringing the bell at the new york stock exchange, aids walk in new york ringing at the nasdaq endsing with 60 points or so of gains for the dow. Kellys got the second half for you. Thank you, will. Welcome to closing bell, everyone, im kelly evans, rebound after a brutal session yesterday. How is the close doing . The dow well over the highs of the session, which we had this afternoon, up more than 100 points, but closing just a gain of 55 off yesterdays decline. Leaving us at 20,651. S p 500 up more than that,. 4 , and the nasdaq leading the way today, 6055, and the russells down big yesterday, and less of a comeback today than expected. A gain of less than. 4 . Much more in just a moment. Well have much more from the exclusive Interview Bank of america executi Brian Moynihan,d President Trump is expected to address the media with president of colombia. Well bring that to you as soon as it begins. Joining me in the meantime is senior commentator, michael santolli, chief strategist from jeffreys, and ceo and Founding Partner checking in as well, mike. Would have been a different narrative at 1 00 than 4 00, a stronger rebound. A little less open. I would say a modest bounce. 4 before yesterday would have been a decent little move. In the context of losing, you know, 1. 8 in the day yesterday, really just jarred this mark out of the slumber. I say its okay, nothing wrong with it. Yesterday, really, it was banks and big tech stocks that were blasted the most. Managing to come bam. We are in a wait and see mode. Just in a trading range with the upper bound leading the alltime high. Dave, you know, i look at youing and its not the good old days of janet yellen, jello t shots, long story, but whats the prism . How do you evaluate the economy and markets when, really, the trump white house, and, you know, good luck gauging that one, leading the way. I mean, trying to gauge the fed reaction function is a hard enough job. The trump reaction function is a whole new ball game. We spent a lot of time unpacking that for clients, but theres at least, four, five, six, seven more moving parts going on with immigration policy, trade policy, trade policy, fiscal policy, all the Political Risks in the tail events like in the last 48 hours. Differently, too, to say, this is a different landscape for investors in the last eight years in the obama administration, and so what is the relevance of fed policy from here . How much does it matter they are tightening a little bit and the timing of the hikes . I mean, we barely talk about it. I agree. I think thats kind of probably made the fed happier theyre not in the drivers seat, and i think it made the markets a little more of an interesting place to discuss because we discuss deregulations, discussing lower taxes, talking about trade policies that are interesting. Yeah. Just talking monetary policy, balance sheet, have the fed being a backstop to every s p move, but it was funny, yesterday, a big move, and straight away, what happens . Everyones, like, well, where does the fed come . 2300, 2250 . You know, when does the june hike go off the table . That was the number one question asked me at jeffreys. Excellent point. Seeing the president any moment, but, joe, before we do, what moves would you make in the market . I think all the politics are interesting, but when you have to see is whats happening in the underlying market, and what im concerned about is Interest Rates, trend of the dollar, the fact that small caps are not doing well. Youre seeing the hard facts, data is not encouraging, and you are seeing the Global Companies sort of participating in europe, doing much better than u. S. Based companies, and i think you dont want to ignore that as youre investing. The politics are interesting, but as long as it takes longer for the good stuff thats been promised to come comes to shore, its going to make the markets volatile and uncertain and make politics a lot more important. The facts are not looking that good so far this year. Theres the Vice President sitting down, secretary of state tillerson. Eamon, what are you listening for . Reporter a couple seconds left here before the president of the United States and president of colombia come into the room here. You saw the Vice President and secretary of state, also gary cohen here from the National Economic counsel and the president is bind the door here to my right. Usually the visits by a foreign leader are a topic that dominates the Washington News coverage of the day, but the day is a tail end of a week with a nail strum of political news, questions from the reporters here in the room to ask about director comey, the special counsel, about the russians, well see which way reporters here go. Theres a lot of president s plate, and pulled a group of anchors that think the appointment of the special counsel is bad for the country indicating that were a divided country, and well see if he comets along that line here in just a couple minutes, kelly. Do you get the sense of shifting the narrative . We had secretary of commerce ross talking about the issue of the nafta letter, getting the ball rolling on that, tax reform, and pence made comments on tax plans earlier. Is that a focused effort to say, look, were we know what we have to get done here . Reporter thats right. The other piece of news were waiting for is nomination of an fbi candidate. We heard Joe Lieberman could be in the lead for that spot. No indication when thats coming. Could be today. Typically white house is facing a series of negative headlines trying to put out news of their own to drive the headline in a direction theyd like. Well see if we get that strategy from the white house as well. A lot of information out there for reporters. Expect two questions from the Foreign Press and two questions of the American Press here of both president s. Is it requester point that the special prosecutor helped special counsel, i should say, calmed markets down a little bit . I doubt it. I think, if anything, the special prosecutors probably elevated the situation in the markets eyes and made it more complex. I think the market we took a lot of different beatings with what has gone on in trump policy, and it looks like hes about to come, so youll cut me off any time. Doing a fine job of cutting yourself off there. There you go. Im out. Heres the president with the president of colombia. Thank you very much. It is a great pleasure to welcome president santos to the white house, colombias one of our closest allies in the hemisphere, and, today, we reaffirm our relationship between our two great nations. President santos and i had a very productive meeting, and well continue to work very closely together to bring peace, safety, and prosperity to the hem hemisphere. Perhaps no area is more important in terms of cooperation than our joint effort to end the terrible drug crimes that plague both of our countries. Recently, weve seen an alarmed, and i mean, really a very highly ala alarmed alarming trend. Last year, colombias cocoa cultivation and cocaine cultivation reached a record high, which, hopefully, will be remedied quickly by the president. We must confront the dangerous threat to our societies together. Today, i confirm the United States willingness to assist colombias strategy to target and eliminate Drug Trafficking that works elicit financing of cocoa cultivation and cocaine production of which theres far too much. The drug epidemic is poisoning too Many American lives, and were going to stop it. Many different ways, one of them will be the wall. My administration is committed to keeping drugs and gangs from pouring into the country, already border crossings are down, 73 , secretary kelly is with us. Hes done a fantastic job. Thank you very much, mr. Secretary. And, in short, we have a tremendous group of people working with us in terms of i. C. E. , the i. C. E. Patrol, Border Patrol agents have done a fantastic job, and id like you to give them my highest compliments, mr. Secretary, and ms 13, likewise, a horrible, horrible large group of gangs that have been led into our country over a fairly short period of time are being decimated by the Border Patrol, by i. C. E. , and by our incredible local police forces, and they are getting out of our country, or, in some cases, going directly into prisons throughout our country, but theyve literally taken over towns and cities of the United States. They will be gone very quickly. I look forward to working with president santos as we target Drug Trafficking, both the United States and colombia have strong Law Enforcement and security relationships. Weve had it, and especially over the last fairly short period of time. Together, we will continue to fight the criminal networks responsible for the deadly drug trade that our people have a really strong commitment to getting rid of because they want a much brighter future. President santos and i also discussed the deteriorating situation in venezuela, and it is really in a very bad state, as you see, and as we all see through the media. The stable and peaceful venezuela is in the best interest in the entire hemisphere as america stands with all of the people in our great hemisphere yearning to be free. We will be working with colombia and other countries on the venezuela problem. It is a very, very horrible problem, and from a humanitarian standpoint, it is like nothing weve seen in quite a long time. The United States and colombia are strong Economic Partners that will continue to pursue trade policies that benefit both of our peoples. The nations common goals of protecting our citizens, expanding opportunity and confronting the drug crisis improves the lives of our people and many throughout the region. So many people are being so horribly affected by whats going on in terms of violence and in terms of drugs that were going to take care of the situation, and we both agreed to take care of it strongly and quickly. President santos, an honor to meet with you and your entire group of representatives, very talented people, indeed, who have been working with us and my representatives, and i look forward to many more productive meetings, such as the one we just had, and id like to thank you very much for being at the white house, being our guest, and id like to congratulate you on winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Thats a very great achievement, thank you very much. Mr. President , i want to thank you personally for this very warm and productive visit and the strong support we received from your administration and from congress and from the American People. [ spe translator as you know, our nations have had, for a long te extraordinary friendship. We believe in the same principles of selfdemocracy, freedom under rule of law. And we work so that the western hemisphere can be more prosperous and safe. The United States and colombia, they, both democracies of greater of longer standing in the hemisphere. We have supported each other, our soldiers stand shoulder to shoulder in the korean war, in the United States, we sent antidrug experts to afghanistan, and today, colombia and the United States Work Together to support Central Americans in their fight against drug cartels and the violence of organized crime. I can say, mr. President , based on our conversations this afternoon that i have no doubt that the United States and colombia continue to be, today, more than ever, a support one for the other. Our alliance will strengthen. Our most valuable cooperation has been colombia. We have taken some up in very simple terms. When clomia iacolombia was figh survive for our democracy to survive, actually, faced threats of terrorism and Drug Trafficking, the United States stretched out a hand and helped us win that battle. We will never forget it. Today, we live in a different country. Today, colombia is a more peaceful society, a more modern and fairer society. In november last year, we ended the longest Armed Conflict existing in our hemisphere. The guerrilla is putting down weapons at this precise time to the united nations. The security has gone down significantly. Today, we have the lowest levels of violence of the last 40 years. At the same time, we have had significant progress for our citizens, issues such as education, housing, health, and social services. Millions of colombians have been lifted out of poverty. Today, we continue next to you as partners in peace colombia to consolidate peace in the most affect eed areas. With strong support of your government, we are removing thousands of antipersonnel mines that murdered, mutilated children, women, and soldiers. We are healing their wounds of our vexing, and we are embarking on a big social development program. Such as we said today, we are working with your administration to take advantage of the unique opportunity peace offers to us to reduce permanently the production of cocoa leaf in colombia, and fight more effectively the other links in Drug Trafficking including consumption. We must continue to deepen this fight against organized crime, transnational crime. Not just for Drug Trafficking, but for Human Trafficking and illegal mining. Our shared agenda framed within high level dialogue that we colomb colombians value so much that includes cooperation has allowed us to have unprecedented progress towards quality education for everyone. This is a priority in the policies of any government. We wish to do more with regards to innovation and technology. With the active participation of the private sector, we have reached trade agreements, investment agreements that are mutually beneficial. This morning, we established the int interdisciplinarian counsel between the United States and colombia. We are and wish to continue to be the best nation in latin america for american businesses. Colombia will continue to be very proudly a close friend and a strategic ally of the United States. Dear President Trump, i hope you can visit us soon so that you can personally witness the transformation underway in our country. I hope to be able to welcome you to a colombia in peace, a more equitable colombia, a better educated colombia, that you have so much contributed to. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Does anybody have any questions . [ laughter ] im shocked. John, go ahead. Thank you. [ inaudible ] mr. President , id like your reaction to Deputy Attorney general rosensteins decision to appoint a special counsel to investigate the russian interfeerninte interference in the campaign. Was it the right move or part of a witch hunt . While i respect the move, but the entire thing has been a witch hunt, and theres no collusion between certainly myself and campaign, but i can always speak for myself and the russians zero. I think it divides the country. I think we have a divided country because of that and many other things, so i can tell you that we want to bring this great country of ours together, john, and i will also say very strongly that we had tremendous success. You look at our job numbers. You look as whats going on ased border as we discussed before. You look at whats happening, see incredible numbers with respect to the success of general mattis and others with the isis situation, the numbers are staggering how successful theyve been, the military has been. Tomorrow, as you know, im going to saudi arabia, going to israel, going to rome, and we have the g7, a lot of great things going on, so i hate to see anything that divides. Im fine with whatever people. To do, but we have to get back to running this country, really, really well. Weve made tremendous progress in the last hundred and some odd days, tremendous progress, and you see job numbers, you see all of the production thats starting, plants starting to open again, havent been open in years. Very proud of it. Thats what i want to be focused on because, believe me, theres no collusion. Russia is fine. Whether its russia or anybody else, my total priority, believe me, is the United States of america. Thank you very much. Translator President Trump, president santos, can we say that today we are expecting a new roads map in the relationship between colombia and the United States, which are concrete commitments . You are talking about the conflict time many friends are needed for that. Venezuela, President Trump, many human right violations. Theres plenty to be done. As well as a very, very serious problem. We have not really seen a problem like that, i would say, mr. President , in decades, in terms of the kind of violation that were witnessing. The president was telling me, and i knew that venz way la wez very, very wealthy country, just about the wealthiest in your neck of the woods and had tremendous strengths in so many different ways, and now its poverty stricken. People dont have enough to eat. People have no food. Theres great violence. Well do whatever necessary and Work Together to do whatevers necessary to help with fixing that, and im really talking on a humanitarian level. When you look at the oil reserves they have, look at potential wealth that venezuela has, you sort of have to wonder why is that happening, how is that possible . Its been unbelievably poorly run for a long period of time, and hopefully, that changes, and use the assets for the good and care for their people. Right now whats happening is really a disgrace to humanity. Johnings y john, you had a a question for the president if youd like to. Question about the commitment. Translator commitment on President Trumps side and his administration was shown through the approval of the budget, but for colombia, meaning an increase in the support to fund the conflict era. Last night, we received from a very important organization, the atlantic counsel, a report including both parties, presided by a republican senator and a democrat senator. We are recommending the governments of the United States and colombia to follow. This morning, we established the counsel of the United Statescolombia so that the private sector can also have a voice in that road map. It means we are working together on every front that can be convenienced for both countries. Well continue to Work Together. We have ratified that commitment today during our conversations. As i said before, we have the best of relations with the United States. We are strategic allies in the region, and well continue to be so. Thank you, mr. President. President santos, to you, you heard President Trump say that its critical to stopping the flow of drugs into the United States will be the wall that he wants to build on the mexican border. Do you agree with him, would that wall be a step, a positive step and step towards reducing the flow of drugs across the border . I believe that the best way to fight the Drug Trafficking is by collaborating. This is not a problem of colombia only or problem of the United States only. Its a world problem. And we have to all Work Together. We declared the war on drugs 40 years ago. The world declared war on drugs, and its a war thats not been won, so we must be more effective and more efficient. Now, we are doing very big effort because of the Peace Process to have a new strategy, coward and stick. Stick by force of eradication, we already eradicated this year only 15,000 hectres, the whole volume we eradicated last year, and were starting to eradicate, to substitute voluntarily through a program where the pes sa peasants, and we have 80,000 families already in the program that they are going to substitute for legal crops, and this is the first time this could be done because of the peace. Before, the conflict did not allow us to build roads and forgive these peasants an alternative, and now we have. We have to take advantage of the opportunity, and we have seen the production of cocoa. In the meantime, we will Work Together, the u. S. And colombia, with other countries, central america, to fight the other links of the chain. The intermediaries, destroying 22,000 laboratories in the colombia jungles, seizing the cocaine in the transit, received records amount of tons, last year and this year, and by working together, we can be much more effective, and thats the commitment just made or ratified this afternoon. That was a long and very diplomatic answer to your question. I will say its a little bit shorter. Walls work. Just ask israel. They work. Believe me. They work. We have no choice. Peter baker . Yes. Thank you, mr. President. In the light of a very busy news week, people want to get to the bottom of a couple things, giving you the chance to go on record here. Did you, at any time, urge the former fbi director james comey in any way, shape, or form back down from flynn no, no. Also as you no. Next question. Next question. As you look back over the past six months or year, have you had any recollection where you wondered if anything you have done has been something that might be worthy of criminal charges or impeachment as some to the left imply. Its absolutely ridiculous. Everyone thinks so. Again, we have to get back to working our country properly so that we can take care of the problems that we have. We have plenty of problems. Weve done a fantastic job. We have a tremendous group of people, millions and millions of people out there looking at what you had just said and said, what are they doing . Director comey was very unpopular with most people. I actually thought when i made that decision, and i also got a very, very strong recommendation, as you know, from Deputy Attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, but when i made the decision, i thought it would be a bipartisan decision. Because you look at all of the people on the democratic side, and not only the republican side, they were saying such terrible things about director comey, and had a poor performance on wednesday. That was a poor, poor performance, so poor, in fact, that i believe, and you have to ask him, because i dont like speaking for other people, but i believe thats why the Deputy Attorney general went out and wrote his very, very strong letter, and then on top of that, after the wednesday performance by director comey, you had a person come and have to readjust the record, which many people have never seen before because they were misstatements made, and i thought that was something terrible. We need a great director of the fbi. I cherish the fbi. Its special. All over the world, no matter where you go, the fbi is special. The fbi has not had that special reputation with what happened in the campaign, what happened with respect to the clinton campaign, and even, you could say, directly or indirectly, with respect to the much more successful trump campaign. Were going to have a a director whos going to be outstanding. Ill be announcing that director very soon, and i look forward to doing it. I think the people in the fbi will be very, very, very, very thrilled, and just in concluding, we look forward to getting this situation behind us so that when we go for the jobs, we go for the strong military, when we go for all the things pushing so hard and so successfully including health care because obamacare is collapsing, its dead. Its gone. Theres nothing to compare in addition to because we dont have health care in this country. You just look as whats happening. Aetna pulled out, other Insurance Companies are pulling out. We dont have health care. Obamacare is a fallacy. Its gone. We have to cut taxes. Were going to forget taxes. Forget what i wanted. It will be the biggest tax cut in the history of our nation. Thats what i want. Its going to bring back companies. Its going to bring back jobs. We lost so many jobs and companies. Two countries that are not so far from you, mr. President , they have close to you, actually, and to many other places throughout the world, were going to change that. Were going to have expansion. We already do. Look whats happening with ford and General Motors in michigan and ohio. Look at the tremendous number of jobs that are being announced in so many different fields. Thats what im proud of. Thats what we want to focus our energy on. The other one is something i can only tell you. There was no collusion and everybody, and even the enemies have said, there was no collusion. We have to get back and keep on the track were on because the track that were own is record setting. Thats what we want to do, break positive records. Thank you. You can ask a question. Mr. President , my question is, as someone who led a nation thats really done a lot of rebuilding, rebounded from an epidemic of crime and drugs over quite a many years, what do you make of mr. Trumps America First policy . And, further, you have had a tough time with conservative radio, called a punching bag, and you said you have to persevere. Curious if you have advice for President Trump on how to do so. I dont think im in a position to give advice to President Trump. He can take care of himself. [ laughter ] and what i what we do in colombia, you quite rightly mentioned, persevere. When you know your port of this nation, and you know that youre doing the correct thing, you simply have to persevere. Thats what weve done in colombia. Thats why we were on the verge of being a failed state some years ago, and now were one of the stars of the region. And thats through hard work, perseverance, and clarity of the objectives, and thats what we have done, and we have to continue because the trip is not over. Translator id like to ask about trade. You are about to restart the negotiation of nafta and colombia and like other countries in the hemisphere has a large trade deficit with the United States. Are you worried that contributes to the increasing that trade deficit. Peace process in colombia. Well, its been a long process, and its been a great thing to watch in the sense that the president did a fantastic job. Its not easy. Im very, very proud to get to know you, and i really congratulate you. Its nothing tougher than peace, and we want to make peace all over the world, and you are really a great example of somebody that started it. Farc was a long, tough situation. As you know very welcoming from the country. I think the president has done a magnificent job, but hes done a magnificent job. Translator clearly impossible. On the trade issue, our deficits with the United States is not so large. It is a moderate deficit. Which, of course, both countries will try to increase the volume of trade in both directions and investments, so in both direction, colombia is becoming an important investor here in the United States, and this is something not many people know, but we have considerable investments in the United States. We have attempted to give criticism to the flows of trade, of investment, pitting together those main players who are the investors in the private sector. I believe the foundations been laid. We have the free trade agreement, which is working well. The number of colombia businesses that export into the United States has grown, and we growth believe that we can take greater advantage of those agreements in order to place flows in both directions for the benefit of the growth of colombia and the American People. Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you, thank you. President trump and the colombia president juan manual santos wrapping up the conference, asked a number of questions, asked about the twists and turns in this comey c scandal, and well have eamon with more on that in a moment, but many other pieces of many other things touched on including nafta, venezuela, santos referring to the fact they were almost a failed nation and came back. A lot of emphasis on the peace, and santos received the Nobel Peace Prize and a few other things to pick from. And trump notably said, repeated what we heard in the past, but perhaps without everyomphasis t talking about the biggest tax cut in history. He made gestures to steer eyeballs towards jobs, obviously, good unemployment numbers today, what he claims will happen in terms of new jobs with gm and ford, when may or may not pan out, so, yes, we are trying to work, obvious way to say, look, i consider this to be a side show to russia. Anything jump out to you in addition, dave, you want to mention . No. You mentioned the kind of sort of off the cuff remarks about nafta and little dig at mexico. I think it was interesting that the colombia president said how his deficit with the United States was small to try to, you know, sort of be on the good graces thats how you win favor, like, hay, were small, were okay. Were good. I find that to be an interesting trade story. Other than that, i thought he was actually he seemed solemn and not as exuberant. President trump . Yeah. A few things are going on. Did no have the usual spicy self with him. Thats true. Eamon is at the white house with additional context on what we heard from the president , and, look, couldnt have been more clearer when asked straight out, you know, did he tell james well, ill let did he tell comey not to go after flynn, no, no, no, no, no. So what did you take away from all of that . Reporter well, that was the key moment of the press conference, asked if he ever asked comey to back down on the flynn investigation. The president said definitively, no, no, then he said, next question. He was prepared to answer the question, but thats all he was prepared to say and wanted to move on and get the next question as quickly as he could. We dont know whats in the president s mind when he allegedly in the former notes of the fbi director told the former fbi director he hope hed see his way in letting the flynn investigation. We dont know why the president said that, what was in his mind when he said that, and thats going to be a key part of the investigation. There is going to be an inquiry here whether or not the president was involved in any effort to obstruct justice in terms of russia investigation, in terms of steering the fbi director away from the investigati investigation, and now with a special counsel brought in, that investigation gettins all the m intense for the folks at the white house. The other point the president made, he respects the move to appoint a special counsel but think it is devisive and he said its something we all know having watched politics the past year and a half or so. Yeah. Hey, he managed to get a laugh in the room when he began. Any questions, and, of course, every hands shoot up. Reporter you know, usually, those questions are prechosen and the people who get the questions get a heads up. Everybody in that moment leapt out of the chair to get a question in, raising their hand, maybe he wings it today, but he went back to the preprogram questioners. The president picking two and president of colombia picked two, and thats how things go. All right. Leaving it there, thank you for know at the white house. Back to earnings, shall we . Gap results out with others. Getting to those with courtney reagan. Gap turning in a beat for profit, 36 cents. Street looked for 29 cents. Revenue also stronger than what analysts looked for. 3. 44 billion. Comps also posting increase of 2 . That was driven by old navy, continuing to be the strongest brand of the bunch. Old navy comps up 8 , far better than what analysts looked for. Though banana and gap brands comp sales were weaker. If you look at the guidance, gap is reaffirming full year guidance of 1. 95 to 2. 05 and interestingly, gap is raising the first half eps growth guidance. We already have half the quarter, so, perhaps, conser conservative in the second half or potentially see a slowdown. Either way, gap shares up after hours, and then we also have results from ross stores. Remember, this is that off price retake retailer with stores on the west coast beating on earnings and revenue. Comps up 3 . Another positive comp. Thats good. Although, their guidance for the Current Quarter is a little on the light side, still, shares up 3 there too. Kelly, back over to you. Better response than the initial response of tjx. Courtney, thank you. Results out this hour as well, josh, lipton, how did they do . Reporting eps here of 28 cents, burst expectations of 26 cents. Revenue 2. 39 billion. Street at 2. 35 billion. Deferred revenue at 5. 04 billion, a jump of 26 . Turning to the guide, kelly, 31 to 3 2 cents. Street at 31 cents. Revenue, guys, 2. 51 to 2. 52 billion, and salesforce raising 2018 guidance, basically in line with estimates. You know, kelly, headed into the report, salesforce, of course, on a tear, up some 30 year to date, trading roughly flat here in the after hours. That call starts at 5 00 p. M. Eastern. Back to you. Thank you, joshua. Coming up, more with the bank of america interview, and his take on the state of the u. S. Economy, tax reform, and whether he thinks millennials spend too much money on that avocado toast. Stay with us. And its also a story about people. People who rely on us every day to deliver their dreams. Theyre handing us more than mail. Theyre handing us their business. And while we make more ecommerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country we never forget. That your business is our business. The United States postal service. Priority you whoa,i just had to push one button to join. Its like im in the office with you, even though im here. Its almost like the Virtual Reality of business communications. No, its reality. Intuitive one touch Video Conferencing is a reality. And now its included at no additional cost with vonage business. Call now and see why 3,000 companies a month are switching to vonage. Business grade. People friendly. Thereit comes to technology, about my Small Business so when i need someone that understands my unique needs. My dell Small Business advisor has gotten to know our business so well that is feels like hes a part of our team. With one phone call, he sets me up with tailored products and services. And when my advisor is focused on my tech, i can focus on my Small Business. Welcome back, sitting down with bank of america, Brian Moynihan to discuss thoughts out the Housing Market and thoughts on u. S. Consumer broadly speaking right now. Take a listen. If you look through the first week of may for the year, consumers are spending about 5 more money than last year for the first, you know, four and a half months of the year, and the consumers healthy. 5. 5 more . 5 more than last year. 5, 5. 5 in debit and celt cards, and overall 3 cash, writing checks, and its almost a trillion dollars in spending, and its, you know, billions of transactions. Good signs for the consumer. Its been consistent. That level of spending has been consistent with, you know, 2 growth rate more or less that we have seen, and its actually a little bit stronger this year than last year in a period of 50 15 and beyond. So its picked up. Thats good. You saw statistics back to the levels, but reality is, at the percentage of income, the borrowing levels are down. You mean the fact in terms of the headline, were back at precris precrisis consumer indebtedness, well call it, but nots as worry as ten years ago . Because it was ten years ago. The economys bigger. The households are larger. You have we always worry about credit as a company that has a lot of credit risk. We worry about that a lot. We stick to what we do. Think about it, and you look back, the debt if you take out the bubble through the mid2000s, its on a fairly straight increase going back 15, 20 years. That is a relatively modest stagger. Youre bullish on the u. S. Economy . Solid. Its 2 . The question is, do we grow faster . Can we . When you listen to the stuff coming from washington, is that material to that answer . Well, theres some good things to that. One is, the other were sorting it out. We are growing 2 when europe was not growing. Now they are growing, which is good because if our relationship, worldwide economy is key. The other thing is, if we can do key reforms, itll help. The idea of tax reform helps boost growth. The idea of infrastructure work boosts growth. The idea of a tax reform infrastructure and, not only for the Banking System, people think i talk about our own trade, but in the broadest contest on this size of a company, our very intent get regulatory rebalancing in everything they do, permitting availability, you know, rules about what they can sell, so we feel good about the economy. Do you think millennials spend too much on avocado toast rather than taking out mortgages . I sent that story to my son. Ring true . I dont think so. Hes conservative, but at the end of the day, people get at different points in life and what you do in life requires you to think about housing differently as a place for you and your friends, as a place for you, and maybe your significant other, and, ultimately, a place for a family. That drives change, and, so, yes, its taken more time and, we talked about this four, five years ago, that if you acquire 20 down payment, that takes a little more time to accumulate 20 than 3 or none, which is what the rules were for a short period of time. Our rules back to regulatory reform, move from 20 to 10 does not enter deuce a ton of risk, but helps mortgages get done. Look at the difference between 80 and 90 is not fund to value is not much different as it is between 95 and 90. Thats when you see real differences in performance statistics, so we dont want to wish people to borrow money they have trouble repaying. Quickly talking about millennials, innovation is a big theme to get the next generation of clients. Zel is coming out, if you have not heard of it, the Banking Industry wants you to. Is this a killer . We had this payment for a while. This is a two core ethics, one is the functionality is more interesting, more easy to use, but more importantly, its networks together the Banking System so the transfers are made more easily, less costly. To other banks, the trig right now. Right. All the banks will be in here. We got eight, nine banks that cover a lot of this accounts, and then we get more, and for those two things, it makes it much more feature functionality plus instant settlement among the banks, speeding up security and soundness speaking up the safety and security and soundness of it as well as the fun stuff if terms of sharing a bill or Something Like that. We already have billions of dollars a month to go through on payments today. It is even faster and it will continue to grow. Bank of america ceo Brian Moynihan. I thought the downpayment stuff was interesting. You can have that conversation, its stabilized. You might have more recepttivety. Single family homes are coming back in terms of new build. You have that affordability issue. The 20 down thing . You go to that tradition . We did a while back. If it changes to 10 , are you going to feel, give me a break . Oh, no i dont think its a matter of having other people feel like you have an opportunity cause. Im just wondering. Besides, i dont think that, that doesnt matter. Those are changes you make, it will become a better deal down the road. Actually, if i were to sell a house, i want to be able to buy it. Thats true. I wonder how much it would make house prices go up. Interesting stuff. Breaking news, leslie has all the details. Thats right. Omega advisers settling with the sec. Few remember last year, the sec charged him and his firm for insider trading. Hes headlines, according to dow jones, the permanent thing to note here the settlement amount 4. 9 million. Thats not too much for mr. Cooperman, also the sec settlement is pending court approval, but as a part of the se settlement, omega does not admit wrongdoing. We will report back what we learned. Any quick thoughts here . It is remarkable that he actually fought it to this point. A lot of people thought a settlement was coming. Presumably if they not admit or deny faults. We will see if it improves. It doesnt seem like a bad outcome for him. Ibm having a pioneer, i should say, having employees work from home. But its changing its tune. We will tell you why coming up. Its on all my mobile devices, so it suits my mobile lifestyle. And it keeps my investments fully mobile. Even when im on the move. Sign up at etrade. Com and get up to six hundred dollars. Welcome to holiday inn whether for big meetings or little getaways, there are always smiles ahead at holiday inn. But weve got the get tdigital tools to help. Now with xfinitys my account, you can figure things out easily, so you wont even have to call us. Change your wifi password to something you can actually remember, instantly. Add that premium channel, and watch the show everyones talking about, tonight. And the bill you need to pay . Do it in seconds. Because we should fit into your life, not the other way around. Go to xfinity. Com myaccount. Welcome back. Opec is working to win over investors with low oil prices. Now its playing the blame game. Which oil group says its behind the drop in prices. Coming up, brazilian stocks were blocked by their president. Argentina funds down well. Hedge fund managers, why hes still talking about it . Mark yusko will talk about it after at fidelity, trades are now just 4. 95. We cut the price of trades to give investors even more value. And at 4. 95, you can trade with a clear advantage. Fidelity, where smarter investors will always be. And at 4. 95, you can trade with a clear advantage. Usaa gives me the and the security just like the marines did. The process through usaa is so effortless, that you feel like youre a part of the family. I love that i can pass the membership to my children. Were the williams family, and were usaa members for life. Welcome back. It is now time for fast take. First up today, ibm is culeing workers back to the office. It apparently led this whole work from Home Movement going back decades ago. Yahoo and others have been doing this lately. Is this progress . Its probably a rethinking of formats were for different part of your company. I know it can also be, i am fought saying this is the case for ibm, for companies that say we have this huge work force, we are kind of in trimmed down mode. Lets see who we want for a part of the team, who we dont. There are contractors out there. Were not sure if theyre fully accountable daytoday. Maybe they dont work with the team as well as they ought to. No more working in your slippers. Among other ibm offices, maybe thats something, too. Next up, blame the shorts. Opec is doing its best to keep it up. Telling the wall street journal we are hitting back at the shorts, as if theyre the reason its falling. Futures on crude oil is now a bigger part of total oil trading versus the physical trading than it ever was. Are you saying hes right . Im not saying hes right. They are so focused on every wilg in the Oil Price Saudi Arabia wants to keep this stabletohigher. In the positioning of future traders has really meant the dips of up and down. A couple bucks. Exactly. Not on a longterm basis. Theyre a symptom. Watch out, tesla, is it vivan or vivan id say vivan. They are teaming up for the solar cars. I think worried in the sense they are leading and shining a light in this area. Basically the question is, are there Competitive Edge there . Battery marches on, it gets better, cheaper, do you have one as mercedes . Is it an all in one solution . I dont know if its yes or no. It definitely tells you its just not customs idea. Two and a quarter percent today. This is friday, were closing out. Not too many. We had a bunch. We made it through retailer season with the scars to show it. I think its a brace for after the market news, we v had some every day. Thank you, that does it for requests cloeting bell today. Fast money begins right now. Fast money starts right now. We are live from the Nasdaq Market site. We are safe and sound after an accident shut down the area surrounding the Nasdaq Markets. You see a rare sight. Silence on the straid street. Tim seymour, steve grass jo, guy adami. Tonight on fast, stocks all on the move. Well bring you the latest headlines, plus emerging markets under pressure as brazil faces its own political turmoil. One is