Thats what im saying. And i think what were going to see happen, although its so remarkable and im not endorsing his candidacy, is trump is going to ride his way into the white house on a populist wave of anger at our government. And what does the market do if that happens . Goes straight up. You think it goes straight up. Yes, sir. And ill tell you why. He wants to solve the problems that we really have here in terms of straightening out the tax code which i think is a big holdback on these equity markets right now. It doesnt let our companies compete. I think well get a mandate in there, and look, im not endorsing the candidacy here. Im just saying whats going to happen. Well, as an investor you sort of are. Look at it this way. Im going long the anti hillary. Im putting up positions of biotech and phrma, because i think shes going to lose. All right. Im not quite in agreement with kevin. Ive got to disagree. First off, if trump gets elected youve got a real wild card in what has to be the most sober office in the world. How has that been working so far . How do you like the office for the last eight years . I hate it. Thank you very much. You want a change here . I dont want that much change. Who knows what hes going to do . What if he goes through these ideas of putting up a wall . Thats never going to happen. Thats what you say. But he says otherwise. He should say that. But when he actually gets the office, you know, smoother heads around him, if they manage this business for him. Thats what youre hoping and i hope it too. I would rather not elect somebody on hope. Im not endorsing clinton. I would rather have bloomberg run. My point is, with clinton, youve got a known commodity. And its a bad one. 18 months ago we were talking about a hillary presidency. And i think what has happened over the last six months is really the electorate is saying, none of the above. If there was if there was a poll, none of the above would win by 90 . That being said, i think theres two dynamics here. I think there is a trade once Hillary Clinton is actually the democrat nominee. I think thats in the financials. Thats a trade. There is no way shes going to have the path to the white house, continuing to beat up on financial use . S. To talk about what kevin is saying, i happen to agree. I actually think the time for change is 2016. I dont think donald trump as president would enact a lot of the things that the country fears right now. And i think there are very basic things that are pro growth, pro business that he would engineer that he would be the catalyst behind that the country needs right now. Gridlock is not what this economy needs. Pete. You know, i think the biggest problem that we all run into now is uncertainty, right . I think thats why what i think will happen, closer we get towards the election, were going to see a return of volatility. We have watched it come down dramatically, scott, over the last little bit. And we have talked about that for a while now. And its sitting on the 200day moving average. I wouldnt be surprised if we get underneath there and hold underneath there. The closer we get to the election, however, thats when i think the nervousness and uncertainty of this market were trading in right now really starts to jumble around. I think one of the things that actually stood out this weekend for me is when mr. Trump suddenly was able to get christie to back him. Because suddenly when you see that, scott, now you start to see maybe some of the politicians starting to move towards this man in the idea that maybe he could become president , and that way, he would be the ceo of the country. But hes going to have people there who politically would under the landscape. On that note, hps meg whitman comes out and calls christiane opportunist and says the following about donald trump. Donald trump is unfit to be president , she says. He is a dishonest demagog who plays to our worst fears. Trump would take america on a dangerous journey. Is Corporate America afraid of donald trump . I dont think so. And ill tell you why. Let me be an advocate for what he has done in business, having been on the other side, particularly in the debt markets he has maneuvered in. This guy gets deals done. I dont care what anybody says. And at the end of the day, the biggest business in america is america. Let this guy do some business. Let him start solving things we care about as investors that i havent seen anybody care about. You know, it really makes me sad to hear a politician beat up a sector like biotech saying theyre untrustworthy. These people hire hundreds of thousands of people, pay billions in taxes. And our politicians are beating them up. Im sick of it. Soshlths if hillary wins, could you buy a biotech stock or Health Care Stock . Im betting she is going to lose. I have nothing against her, she is a fine woman, i respect her but she has hurt me as an investor in biotech and phrma. Niece are Great Companies doing the right thing. The only reason theyre doingin version our tax code is screwed up. Jeff, immelt, of ge, the ce off speaking of the discourse writes in a new letter today, what is unique in this cycle is the difficult relationship between business and government, the worst i have ever seen. So maybe it boils down to who controls the senate in the house and thats ultimately going to be what the candidates ability to get something done is going to be about. Senate and the house. Stay in republican hands. Hillary wins the presidency. She is not going to be able to go after the Health Care Industry and biotech like she is intending on doing. So underneath flying under the radar, thats important. Go back again, if mr. Trump can win the presidency and have the senate and the house behind him, wow. Thats powerful. Thats change. Let me go back to the health care trade. I take the other side, which is to say the following. This is a classic sell a rumor by the news. Health care phrma and biotech has been hit really, really hard this cycle and happens every president ial cycle. Best deals ive ever seen. I agree. Some say the sector is uninvestable in the election cycle. Because of the rhetoric. By the news. When clinton first off, when you get the two primaries set, the nomination set, then youll start the jockeying, you know, to see who is really going to win it. If its clinton, i think you can actually buy the phrmas in particular the big cap phrmas at these prices. There is just no way were going to get price control. If you tell me trump wins, i win. If hillary wins, i win. You guys are both pharmaceutical investors. You bet i am. I have never seen a sector on sale like my entire life. Hillary, thank you very much. To john harwood in d. C. , as the candidates make their final push ahead of super tuesday. John . Well, scott, before we get to the general election, weve got to get candidates nominated, super tuesday, tomorrow. Hillary clintons favorite to do very well across the word against bernie sanders. But on the republican side, much more intense competition. Lets look at the super tuesday targets for each candidate. Ted cruz is targeting texas, must win his home state to survive. Polls show he has a lead there. Youve got john kasich targeting places that are more moderate, like vermont and massachusetts, trying to stay alive until march 15th. Marco rubio targeting states where you can get delegates under this proportional system like tennessee, like virginia. And donald trump is targeting everywhere, because hes leading across the board. But hes been dealing with this intense controversy over the weekend over his refusal to condemn david duke and the kkk. Marco rubio in knoxville this morning, was ripping him for that. Hes unelectable now. Hes he refused to criticize the clku klux clan. This morning on the today show, he blamed it on a bad earpiece, he couldnt hear the question. I dont care how bad the earpiece is. Ku klux clan comes through pretty clearly. And he refused to criticize it. Now thats exactly the kind of thing that meg whitman was condemning that Christie Whitman have condemned in terms of donald trump and Chris Christie endorsing donald trump. Republican party has some very serious fishers right now. Theyre going to have to work out. But all the signs we have externally tell us that Donald Trumps on track to be the republican nominee. New cnn poll, john, showing trump opening up a 30point lead in the gop race on a national basis. Stunning numbers with 595 delegates for the gop available tomorrow. Very stunning numbers. And as long as you have a proportional system, though, the other candidates, if they can clear the thresholds for getting delegates can amass some, and curb his ability to get an outright majority. But when we get to march 15th, john kasich is going to be on the ballot against donald trump in ohio. Marco rubio is going to be on the ballot against donald trump in florida. Those are winner take all primaries. March 15, at which point more than half the delegates are be selected. Thats really where well know for sure whether this is a race that will go all the way to the convention or whether it will be over that night. John harwood live in d. C. Thanks. Kevin oleary, the banks. Can you buy a bank, should you buy any of the banks based on what you think the election outcome could be . I dont think its going to have as much effect. My theory about the Financial Sector is this. I believe in the next couple of quarters or maybe sooner, were going to have a decoupling between the market and price of oil. The benefit to the rest of the economy as oil goes to zero about energy, if it went to 18 and stayed there, the rest of all the nine sectors of the s p would benefit. And those are all the banks customers. You go along the Banking Sector now and go long consumables or consumer, anything transportation thats going to benefit oil collapsing. And i think you are going to be rewarded. Yes, im long as a result of that. Pete . Well, i think the problem is going to be this whole talk about the curve, right . Thats what everybody brings up every time. I dont know whether or not our were sitting in a position right now. Weve heard were going to have four hikes. Then we have heard three. Now were starting to hear more and more about two, maybe none. I think thats going to be a headwind, kevin. But overtime, i agree with you. And i think to kevins point, that just shows you how many different sectors really could benefit from this. Talk about transportation, talk about airlines all of the time. There is a lot of beneficiaries of oil being down once we did he couple. Its a matter of when. If you look at sectors in the crosshairs of the political candidates as you get closer to november, its going to be health care, and its likely going to be the banks. The populist message that kevin oleary you told me a moment ago is helping to push donald trump in this populist wave. If you think the old crusty brands are going to work then you go long banks. There will be no bashing banks under a trump leadership. Hillary clinton talking about a risk fee for the banks. Thats unamerican. What are we talking about here . Thats nuts. And at the top of the show she is going to repivot, she is going to need to embrace wall street, going to need the dollars. There is a trade there just like in 2015 at the beginning of the year. There was a trade surrounding energy. Its a six to eightweek trade. In the Second Quarter this year youll get past the stress tests, past the First Federal reserve meeting and then surrounding rates. And then youll have does she pivot enough, though . Does she pivot enough for the markets to be able to say we live in a competitive world still are completely go the socialist routes where the banks and utilities she is going to pivot enough to buy a sector down materially that on a valuation basis is incredibly attractive. All this pivoting is hurting her. There is a lost of young people dont trust her now. You cant go negative for two months and say oh, just kidding. You get people upset. I think youve got to remember, though, she was first lady during one of the biggest waves of Bank Consolidation and Investment Banking we ever had, including the collapse of glass steagall. You may be right, kevin but i think joe is very right. There will be a huge pivot. She is absolutely pro banking here. Last point. The other thing she is doing is deterring what wall street needs. You watch Warren Buffett today. Who is next on wall street . Where is that person coming from . Intellectual capital is being deflected away from our industry. All right. Heres whats coming up on the halftime report. Still ahead, a battle over big blue. The oracle of omaha is sticking with it. Should you . And getting paid to wait. No way. Dividend stocks are the winning trade so far this year. Eve got some slow and steady stock picks the desk likes right now. Plus, jump in. The water is warm. Our resident shark, kevin oleary, grades the halftime portfolios. Which trader would he trust with his money . Its all ahead, on the halftime report. Theres a lot of places you never want to see 7. 95. [ beep ] but youll be glad to see it here. Fidelity where smarter investors will always be. If only the signs were as obvious when you trade. Fidelitys active trader pro can help you find smarter entry and exit points and can help protect your potential profits. Fidelity where smarter investors will always be. Serena williams. Hi watson. You are a fierce competitor. Ive heard that. I have analysed your biggest matches. Oh really . When down a point, you serve an ace 5. 8 times more than other top players. You sound like a coach. I am not. But i can customize Training Programs based on biomarker data. Watson, thats pretty impressive. You might say i am the Serena Williams of cloudbased cognitive systems. Nah, i wouldnt go that far. Welcome back to the halftime report. Prices for west texas crude up 2 . Near the best levels of the day so far. Here Energy Related stocks, though, not really participating as much in that upside. There are a handful of notable exceptions, refiners like va layero, phillips 66 up a percent each and some of the more beaten down names as of late. Also catching a bit today, inspect oil and gas company, new field exploration. Also Natural Gas Company one oak and nat gas and coal company. Some of the most beaten up stocks over the past year. The question becomes, fundamental buyers, maybe a bit of Short Covering or mix of both, guys. Back over to you. Dom chu thank you so much. Kevin oleary, do you buy Energy Stocks here . Yes. So i have been. My normal low occasion in a healthy market for energy was 20 . Im about 10. 5 now. The names just looking at some of the names we put on last week. Exxon, schlumberger, conoco phillips. Chevron. You know why . Theyre Balance Sheets. Theyre the best Balance Sheets in the industry. My theory, they will benefit from the consolidation that will occur as the smaller guys go out of business, their assets are acquired by the bigger guys. These guys have rocksolid Balance Sheets. This is how im entering back tippy toe. Would you buy an energy stock that cut its dividend . No. You draw the line. Well talk about dividends in greater context later. When you cut your dividend, you go down to hell for two years and live with the devil. Thats what happens. Joe . Yeah, i do think you nibble on them here. Im taking obviously a little bit more exposure, some of the high beta names. I believe the world was reminded over the last couple weeks the risk to reward on being short oil in 25, 26, 27 areas. Give me a high beta name or two. Pxd, the survivors of the shale play. And i think shale will come back into the conversation as the we get more towards 40 and 45 level and i think that can happen. I disagree with kevin in terms of the cut. I think the ones i want to go after are the ones who cut the dividend. The reason why, they are biting the bullet, kevin, and making sure their Balance Sheets are right, so they can do the kind of acquisitions youre looking for under those the distress situation. So you look at those names, the ones who have cut, theyre actually the ones that are really starting to outperform. Ill give a great example, if you go to the pipeline world. Look at kinder morgan. That made that huge cut, 70 on their dividend. Stock is bounced around auto little bit and now off 11, here we are in the 18s. I think some of those kind of names. Thats why i like the dividend cut. I dont agree at all. If you look over the next two years, theyre going to underperform the sector. You always pay the price. You have to go to hell for a while. When you do that, your shareholders are mad and say, ill let this trade retail. But you dont think that theyve gone to hell by not cutting them . Because what if theyre giving up the opportunity dont buy the evil stocks in the first place. Do your work on the Balance Sheets. All their Balance Sheets are terrible. Not so. The level look at the leverage theyre under. Even chevron. Any of these names if they do cut and come back here, youre going to fry me. Im telling right now, exxon schlumberger, conoco phillips. Conoco said they werent going to cut and did cut. If you look at it now and say to yourself, of those names, who has got the very best ratios, theyre the biggest so if you have to go by that theres no doubt about size. I understand what youre saying. What im saying is, i think conoco did the right thing. They needed to cut that dividend. So they cut that dividend, because they did, now their Balance Sheet, when the time comes, will be set for them to be able to make some of those how do you know a dividend cutter doesnt do it again . You dont. You never know if theyve taken enough how about the ones who havent cut, and theyre sitting there, and theyre leveraged to the hilt, and they have got some cash flow problems, their cash flow isnt the same as it once was. Prime example. We had sun corps ceo on last night. I think thats a different situation. Thats got political problems. The woman running the profits up there doesnt know what shes doing. You dont touch that. I think you guys are missing a key point. I dont think Energy Prices are going materially higher and thats still a pressure on all companies. So then they have to cut. Continue to cut cap ex and they are going to cut dividends. Whats your call on oil a year from now . 35 to 30. Only the big guys will survive if thats true. Thats true. But theyre not going to thrive. You know, youre saying no sectorial exposure . I buy agnostic for the price of oil. Guys, clearly, this is what makes a market. Nobody agrees on anything here. Thats just the way we like it. Lets continue. Five trades on five stocks making news today. First up, Icon Enterprises making a bid for federal mogul, arequiricquiring the rest. Its literally taking the rest. It was 18 or something. 1. 2 billion in terms of valuation. Carl oiwned the majority. You can understand why it lifted. But this stock has been under huge pressure. Great industry for carl. Thats why he wanted to make sure he had had the entire thing. Taser Beat Estimates on the top and bottom line, kevin oleary. You know, this name has been controversial forever. They do good numbers and then somebody says its the reason people get killed. And its a controversial product. These kind of stocks are, you know i just dont touch the stuff. I dont know what the next turn is going to be. Not for me. Cigna jewelers raising its dividend announcing a buyback, joe. This is a darling on the gold conviction buy list. This was a company that was looked upon when it was 150 six months ago. It was a consumer darling. Zales, jared. Now they are too levered on the finance side. Have they become a financial institution. Stock gets a bounce off earnings. I dont know if you play the bounce. I think this is a name you actually take the opportunity to get out of. Value yabt ceo mike pearson is returning to that job. A couple months away. Pete. There are so many new stories that swirl around this all of the time. And it just continues to be seems to me, anyway, that the negative activity is still there. There is no reason to jump on this thing. Mike pearson is back. They have to reschedule some of the q4 call. This is a very uncomfortable situation. Youve got to keep your hands away. Jimmy, jcpenney raises the price target to 12 bucks from 10. Pointing out what a lot of us know. A heck of a lot of momentum. Sales going up. Margins going up. The. Its up 50 . Should you buy it . There is one thing left to come, really important. Theyre going to be reworking their Balance Sheet. Generating a lot of cash. And thats going to improve the part of the enterprise value that goes to the equity holder. You definitely want to own jcpenney. You still own it . You bet. Jcpenney ceo, marvin ellison, is going to join power lunch today for an exclusive interview, the first interview he has done, as well. Thats today, 2 00 eastern, right here on cnbc. Coming up, jim already bailed on ibm. Warren buffett has not. Which move will prove to be a mistake . A debate on big blue is just ahead. And do nice guys finish last . Kevin oleary tells us why sometimes it pays to be evil. More half up next. Billionaire investor, Warren Buffett, sitting down with cnbcs becky quick today to discuss markets, and Berkshire Hathaways annual report. When asked about berkshires core position and ibm, buffett said he still sees more value ahead. Never sold a share of ibm. What you pay for a stock doesnt mean anything. What means something is where the company is going to be in five or ten years. And i think charlie is neutral. I think that ibm will be worth more money. All right. What was most interesting, i thought, guys, when he said, doesnt think its wrong to still own it. Could be a mistake. Could be a mistake. The stock down 25 from its recent highs. Kevin, what do you do with ibm . What ive learned as an investor over decades and decades, sometimes you get it wrong, no matter who you are. And Warren Buffett is the greatest vester in my lifetime. I always say that, because its true. But all of us make mistakes. I would think its time to take that position out behind the barn and shoot it. Its over. It just is. It missed the internet, missed so much of the way business has changed. Its an old company, its dino tech, all the negatives against it. From an emotional point of view, when you lose investors, 25 of the value, many have abandoned you for a long period of time. We were just talking about jcpenney. I donald trump dumped that stock three years ago. You owned ibm, jimmy, no longer, but you made a case for a turnaround for a while. The turnaround took longer and is taking a heck of a lot longer. Im with kevin on this one. The problem here, they do have some really excellent new business initiatives. The Artificial Intelligence work they do is awesome. So is the big data an lalyticna. I think Warren Buffett has the luxury of not having to answer to clients who say to me, why did you even own this stock . Is he wrong to still own it . I dont think hes wrong so much as his timing is off. Is it going to be a mistake . He said it could be a mistake. Over five years, not a mistake. I may be back into it. The next year, i dont think its doing anything. The problem is a core business. The transformational side, thats running really well. Theyre actually seeing growth in the analytics and cloud. The problem is, the core business is still such a significant part of what theyre doing. That thats whats dragging this thing down. So how come theyre lagging, for instance, on microsoft, on the transformational process . Thats the real problem for ibm right now, i think. And because of that, yes, five years from now, warren might be right. Are you surprised hes sticking with it as long as he has . From this perspective, the discipline not a big seller. I think the thing that keeps him going on this, the amount of share buybacks going on. And in the end, again, in five years, thats going to matter. Thats just pure financial engineering. Im okay with it. Look, at the end, he may be he says in his annual doesnt deal with the core issue. The core business is melting. You and i are in agreement on that. One of the biggest criticisms had been that ibm had been too focused on buybacks, rather than investing in the business to remain more competitive. All they can do right now. They have been doing it for years. What about microsoft . They whacked their head guy, changed into a new leadership and look what happened. All of a sudden the stock is sexy again. Maybe you take out, you know, the leadership of ibm and say, look, it was a good shot. Youve lost a quarter of the company, maybe the strategies are taking too long to execute. Maybe we change up here. Whats wrong with that . Maybe thats what the company needs. I think everyone is highlighting and underscoring the obvious. What has troubled ibm over the last 6, 12, 18 months. Its not a Dynamic Company any more. Whats going to be the catalyst . I think the real conversation you mentioned before, what keeps Warren Buffett in this . Its not ibm. Conviction. No, its the zeros at the end of his name. Its he has the ability to do what the professional investor or the professional trader or the Retail Investor cannot do. Its hurt his performance. Hes trailing the s p right now. Because of ibm. And think about this in terms of performance. Where is ibm today . Maybe the message of Warren Buffett is being lost a little bit. Were not seeing the bounce in ibm that you normally would on a day where he comes out and defends the stock. So vigorously. So he has got a strategy. I dont know if it was so vigorous. He did not come out and defend the stock so vigorously. It could be a mistake. Thats not vigorous. Exactly. Well, the reality is, okay, do you buy more here . He was asked that question. Okay . The reality is, no. You dont buy more here. You dont double down on the strategy. Thats the differentiation. If youre not buying, you should be selling. Its that simple. Okay. All right. Coming up, will slow and steady win the race . With the market on a wild ride already this year. Dividend stocks beating the s p. Well give the names that tell you to wait in a lowrate world. Plus, one area of the market is up 31 this month alone. Well tell you what it is, and how to play it, next. Welcome to opportunitys knocking, where selfproclaimed financial superstars pitch you investment opportunities. Ive got a fantastic deal for you gold with the right pool of investors, theres a lot of money to be made. But first, investors must ask the right questions and use the smartcheck challenge to make the right decisions. Youre not even registered; im done with you i can. I can. Savvy investors check their financial pros background by visiting smartcheck. Gov man 1 i came as fast as i man 2 this isnt public yet. Man 1 what isnt . Man 2 weve been attacked. Man 1 the network . Man 2 shhhh. Man 1 when did this happen . Man 2 over the last six months. Man 1 how did we miss it . Man 2 we caught it, just not in time. Man 1 who . How . Man 2 not sure, probably offshore, foreign, pros. Man 1 what did they get . Man 2 what didnt they get. Man 1 i need to call mike. Man 2 dont use your phone. Its not just security, its defense. Bae systems. Billions are spent to confuse and, dare i say it, flummox the american public. Save 16 on car insurance. Switch now. Well at compare. Com, we say enoughs enough. So weve created this mind boggling facility. Where were constantly scrutinizing millions of rates. Answering the question who has the lowest. Go to compare. Com, plug in some simple info and get up to 50 free quotes. Choose the lowest, and hit purchase. Its fast and easy. Compare. Com saving humanity from high insurance rates. Hello, everyone. Im sue herrera and here is your cnbc news update for this hour. Defense secretary Ashton Carter says the u. S. And allies now have the momentum in the fight against isis. A briefing with the joint chiefs of staff, joseph did you know ford, carter announced that iraqi forces have taken over the city of ramadi. Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev passed his u. S. Citizenship test just months before the Boston Marathon bombing attacks. The boston globe receiving the heavily redacted documents from the department of homeland security. A new york state prison guard who provided tools to two prison escapees has been sentenced to time behind bars. In a plea deal, gene palmer admitted to stug willing tools and frozen hamburger meat. He was fined 5,000. And pga golfer Gary Woodland hit a tee shot into the water sunday and didnt want to get his outfit dirty so he took off not only his socks and shoes, but also his pants. And proceeded to hit the ball out of the water and went on to par the hole. Cant make that up. Thats the cnbc news update. Anything for the game, scott. Anything for the game. Yeah, he could have kept his pants on. There was no splash in the water. A little odd, wasnt it . But look at the press hes going to get for, what, the next week . If not more. If not more. Sue, thanks. Turmoil in Global Markets this year has been paying big returns for dividend stocks, outpacing the s p. Our question to kevin oleary is, because we know dividends are near and dear to your heart, can this continue. The dividend aaristocrats index, up 2 . The total return for the s p is down 4. 3. Right. So heres a philosophical question we should have as investors. Were talking as if this is a trend or fad that maybe you want to be a dividend stocks only in periods where theres no fed increase in rates. I would argue thats not the case. I think whats going to happen here is a fundamental move back into an old philosophy that if a company doesnt return capital to you, you shouldnt own it. Because you know, weve gone into a very interesting place and were willing to buy stocks like amazon and facebook. These are Great Companies. But at some point, the management of those companies hasnt returned anything back to shareholders in what really matters in investing, i call it cash. And they lose their way by taking more of that asset and deploying into area that arent as fruitful. I dont want to get too technical. If you go back 40 years, 71 of the returns of the entire market came from dividends. Not capital appreciation. And the only thing i trust is cash. So i actually dont own a stock that doesnt pay a dividend. This is why im feeling really warm and fuzzy these days. Because everything i touch is working a lot better than Everything Else that isnt working, which is companies dont pay dividends. Dividends are going to be popular forever. And the only thing you have to watch for is companies that arent able to increase dividends. In rising rate environment, you want a Balance Sheet that actually allows you to increase dividends into the rate hikes. And youll still do better. You have long favored vidend growers rather than just dividend payers. Im a rulebased investor now. I put five tests on Balance Sheets. I look for sales accrual, like world com used to do. I dont buy stocks like that. I dont buy companies that use debt to increase flows. I look at asset turnovers in terms of measuring for productivity and above all, volatility. I go back ten years and study names. Thats what we do at shares. Im a rulebased guy. And my way of looking at t i have no style drift. So i mine for these companies. For example, i have to tell you the truth, i dont own apple any more. I ejected apple last september. And traded for microsoft. Its not because im smart, its because the rules said the Balance Sheet of apple is being changed. By selling bonds in europe. Thats bad, bad, bad, bad for what i do. And we dont own the stock. I still use the watch, though. Dont you think theyre going to increase their dividend . Apparently not so yet. Thats whats happened. Its really interesting. They want to be both things. A dividendpaying stock, they also want to be a growth stock. I think theyve lost a little personality right now. And some people, including those around this table, have been as bold to say that its turning into a Consumer Electronics play, which is a nasty thing to say about apple. That means motorola, know kia, sony. You guys are mean. There is still a lot of growth of apple ahead. Obviously, this quarter there has been talk in iphones and the iphone 7 coming up, should propel growth going forward. So you do have the ability to grow that dividend. Deflecting on the dividend story. Do you believe in dividends and dividends do you trust . Do you follow me in perpetuity . Do you need a bible . Yeah, exactly. Kevin, heres the only thing i think you probably agree with me on this. Its not just dividends. There has to be growth in the underlying story. Of course i agree with that. And you see it a lot in the tech companies. Look at the intels of the world. Cisco systems of the world. Both Companies Trading 11 to 12 times earning, 3. 5 ciscos case, 3. 9 yield and growing. But youre seeing the actual business grow, as well. The one thing i want to take exception with is i do like small cap stocks as a little bit of a portfolio. Up to a third of an equity portfolio. There youre not going to get dividends. There you want a Smaller Company if you want to spice on the side, if you want to cheat, thats okay. I dont think its cheating. Listen, im only married. If i bought a small cap, im cheating on my lover. Kevin, im curious. You went to microsoft from apple. Why not cisco . Cisco looks interesting when you look at the valuation. It did. But it didnt pass the asset test. In other words, how productive the company is. Its most productive days in deploying capital are behind it for some reason. It doesnt mean it wont change. Its just that i think that market, you know, some of their competitors are eating their lunch on margins. That shows up in my tests. I care about margins. And i think as a result its not as attractive as it was perhaps five, six years ago. Even after this latest for a rulesbased thing, you dont think the dividend pay should be thats not that is a factor. But sounds like kevin is on the same page. Its i dont care about the dividend. The loss of dividend stocks as the stock goes down because something in their business is starting to fall apart. Im talking about rules on the Balance Sheet, the derivative of is good dividend growth. Because im testing the ability so youre looking at growth, youre looking at the valuation levels. Youre looking at all the various things you own j j. And volatility. Look, these are all names i own because i care about their ability. Theres 144 names we mine out of the s p 500. The rest we wont touch. And look, we dont get them right all of the time. But the rules have no stoyle. There is no emotion, nobody sitting around saying im not selling ibm because i love it. We blasted ibm out of this a long time ago. Its Balance Sheet sucks. Do you believe in dividend atfs. Yes. Thats who he is go usa. Thats all i do. Thats Better Believe in it. The only way i invest now is through etf structures rulebased. No emotion whatsoever. I love guys calling me up totally jacked on a stock they love so much and heres the reason why. I apply my test to it, it doesnt pass, i say sorry, cant touch it. All right. Coming up, the shark grades the trades. Kevin oleary has been studying the laugh time port polos. And Pete Najarian with strange trading activity today. He unveils it next. Youre watching cnbc, first in business world. Hiim here to tell homeowners that are sixtytwo and older about a great way to live a better retirement. Its called a reverse mortgage. Call right now to receive your free dvd and booklet with no obligation. It answers questions like. How a reverse mortgage works, how much you qualify for, the ways to receive your money. And more. Plus, when you call now, youll get this magnifier with led light absolutely free when you call the experts at one reverse mortgage today, youll learn the benefits of a governmentinsured reverse mortgage. It will eliminate your monthly mortgage payments and give you taxfree cash from the equity in your home and heres the best part. You still own your home. Take control of your retirement today thanks. [ male announcer ] fedex® has solutions to enable Global Commerce that can help your company grow steadily and quickly. Great job. mandarin cut it out. See you tomorrow. We believe in the power of active management. Management, by debating our research to find the best investments. By looking at global and local insights to benefit from different points of view. And by consistently breaking apart risk to focus on longterm value. We actively manage with expertise and conviction. So you can invest with more certainty. Mfs. Thats the power of active management. Coming up at the top of the hour on power lunch, gold soaring in 2016 and rallying today at more than 15 so far this year. How long is that going to last . Well talk to the ceos of anglo gold on that very topic, so important to their business. Plus, big exclusive with jcpenneys ceo where the store chain is now in its big turnaround plan. And junk back in play, some of the highyielding etfs rallying quite strongly recently. Is it too late to get in . Is it too dangerous to get in . We look forward to that. A news alert from Julia Boorstin out in california. Julia . Thats right. The lawsuit against redstone is going to move forward. A judge in the stanley moss courthouse just ruled that the suit will, in fact, move forward. There will be a deposition of phillipe doman, the health care proxy, also the ceo and newly appointed chairman of viacom. And march 18th, a trial hearing on the unsealing of the documents involved in this case. There have been various people who have asked for those documents to be unsealed, including the Los Angeles Times and Hollywood Reporter and may 6th, the next trial date. Sherry redstone was in court in support of her father, and judge had interesting comments saying he finds it perplexing that redstone still puts the coo of viacom ahead of his daughter. The judge also saying the current person in charge of his care is doman who the court understands to be in new york city. The judge thinks it seems like doman does seem to want to be involved in this case. So some comments from the judge there, skplang why he wants this case to move forward. As soon as the hearing was over, we just spoke to manuela herzers attorney, and he described quite a bleak picture. He said sumner red stone is preyed upon those around him, including sherry and felipe doman, saying we develop more evidence to show he was brainwashed and essentially kidnapped in his own house. So some quite dramatic comments there from herzers attorney. Todays ruling was a victory for herzer and continues to move forward. But the story is far from over, and certainly involving some big media moguls. Back over to you. Julia, thanks. Live in l. A. For us. Coming up, kevin oleary weighs in on the battle for top trader. Which halftime trader would he trust with his own money . Plus pete brought along some unusual activity today and unveils that. Halftime report is back after this. We got another one. I have an orcogram for an owen. Thats me. You should hire stacy drew. She wants to change the world with you. She can program jet engines to talk and such. Her biggest weakness is she cares too much. Thank you. My friend really wants a job at ge. Mine too. Im a wise elf from a far off shire. And sanjay patel is who you should hire. Thank you. Seriously though, stacy went to a great school and shes really loyal. You should give her a shot. Sanjays a team player and uh. Weighs in on the battle for top welcome back. With najarian on the desk, you can count on something unusual happening. Today, pete is bringing in options trades in the Financial Sector. What do you see today . A couple of weeks ago the stock went up, theyre buying again and going out further, going to the september 28. You see the chart of the stock itself. Today buying the september 28 calls. First half hour today, over 8,000 traded. More have traded since then. Almost no open interest, about 61 open interest coming in to today. Very aggressive buy. Theyre buying these around this price level here. About this 175 level. So thats where the biggest buying that we saw came in. It is really interesting to see, scott, because were talking about the financials and nervousness. Different type of financial when talking about schwab. Someone is looking for the stock to go up to 30. What is your Holding Period . Im in it now and will be in it for the next month and a half or so. They went to september, gives me more time to be right. Thanks. Last day of the month in our halftime portfolio competition. Look at the leaderboard now. We have more traders in the green. Jon najarian ahead of john liebenthal. We have some improvement in the leaderboard. You had a chance to go over some of the portfolios. Well, all of these gentlemen are sinners because theyre buying stocks that do not pay dividends. Im telling you, that is a crime and thats whats hurting many of them. If you say, which one would i give my dough to, none of them. They dont believe the only thing that matters is the cash flow. Lets pick apart the holdings here. What about joes holding of amazon. Take the dividend thing out of it. The thing about amazon is the volatility freaks me out on this name. The truth is i know hes an ax on this, you talk about it all the time. But i think at the end of the day, you know, amazon is a crazy multiple and the ceo keeps saying cash, who cares about cash . I got a vision. I got a vision. It is true they built a behemoth, but when does this company give some back to shareholders . Am i going to die of old age. I dont like it. I dont like the volatility. Gave a lot back last year in the way of returns. Stock knocked it out of the park. You dont know when the market is going to change their mind about this thing and say it is just a retailer and ill give a retail multiple. I think the ceo is a visionary and all that stuff. You can get much better returns with lower volatility when you focus on the other thing that matters in investing, cash flow. Petes got gold, gold miners. I forbid him from holding that. Why would you buy it is the miners though, not gold. Let me ask you something, if you look at the history of the last five years of miners, every single one of them has been atrocious at managing costs. So if youre going to own gold, own gold. Why put an idiot between you. Because the company is being managed by guys who cant control costs. In every case, they got slaughtered. Billions of overruns, buying assets they to write off. Just buy the gold and forget about the miners. Theyre workers getting out of the ground. Only has value when put into the bar and can put it on your kitchen table. Jim, we know about jcpenney. Gm. Yeah. Automakers i have to admit the only the only concern i have about General Motors is, you know, my question about this stock is will it always trade at a discount of the Auto Industry globally because of its past, because of legal issues, because its it seems to have a constant dialogue with shareholders about some other issue besides cars, which bothers me. Im not saying it is a bad stock, but if you go on you dont have to the chart will tell you it has been. Im saying there is a reason. There is a reason anytime an institution tells me about a name and it is not about the product heres the thing. Admit the truth. Yeah, okay. Look down 20 . It is no longer in the portfolio, by the way. Im not sure why im getting beat up on it. I sold it. You know what im talking about. You want to keep beating me up on it it is a is there anything you can say to defend that stock . Why anybody should buy it . I think there is one key element to the story, the whole ignition switch fiasco is something that when you lap those comparables, they had a lot of expenses and thats the year youre in now, youre lapping the comparables and the growth rate will look tremendous. The fact you and i are talking about ignition is bad for that stock. And people had that dialogue for years now and never goes away. You know what i say, until it goes away, plus two years after that, then ill look at it again. 5 dividend yield. There is a reason, my friend. That does not pass my test. That one is howling at the moon. All right, remember, you can follow all the action at cnbc. Com pro. Today is leap day. Well go out on a limb with high risk and high reward plays. Leap of faith trades coming up next. Halftime report is back in a moment. Here at td ameritrade, they work hard. Wow, that was random. Random . No. Its all about understanding patterns. Like the mail guy at 3 12pm every day or jerry getting dumped every third tuesday. Jerry every third tuesday. We have Pattern Recognition Technology on any chart plus over 300 customizable studies to help you anticipate potential price movement. Theres no way to predict that. Td ameritrade. Weinto a new american century. Born with a hunger to fly and a passion to build something better. And what an amazing time its been, decade after decade of innovation, inspiration and wonder. So, we say thank you america for a century of trust, for the privilege of flying higher and higher, together. Frank abagnale. Convicted felon and con man. That was a long time ago. You know, they made a movie about it. You were shown to be quite skilled at fraud. Times change. Now i help catch the bad guys. Me too. I help banks detect fraud by applying cognitive analytics to public financial records and social media. So if somebody said, catch me if you can. . We can. Lets do a sequel. It could be a buddy movie. I would like to have a buddy. Ngo to ziprecruiter. Com and post your job to over one hundred of the webs leading job boards with a single click. Then simply select the best candidates from one easy to review list. And now you can use zip recruiter for free. Go to ziprecruiter. Com. Wont keep you up at night. N know you have insights from professional investment strategists to help set your mind at ease. Know that planning for retirement can be the least of your worries. With the guidance of a pnc investments financial advisor, know you can get help staying on track for the future youve always wanted. Kevin oleary is known for giving entrepreneurs a hard time on shark tank. This week he talked more about his principles for success. Hes on the cover with the headline, it pays to be evil. Explain. Basically the debate were having there is should every new business that is being created by young people that have a social mission or stay true to the dna of business, which is to provide profits and services for their customers. Thats a debate that that article touches on. I use a very simple example of a sock company that came on shark tank that came on and said were a sock company, but we take a dollar off every sale and give it to charity. Socks are a commodity. You want the best sock you can get at the lowest price, people arent attracted enough to the social mission to let them get market share, they get slaughtered. About trying to serve too many masters. There are success stories, socially conscious investing. Dont lose your way. Make sure you the shareholder gets a return and take their dividends and give it to charity. Youre auctioning off, speaking of charity, a photo for charity, we have 20 seconds left. This is me in 1974, one of the many photographs auctioned off this weekend or purchased by collectors on art dealer in palm beach. We take the proceeds, it goes to the perry j. Cone foundation, marvelous entity, google it, that gives money to teenage entrepreneurs. We did it in miami. Very successful. Moving it up the coast. I love what this does. It is all about kids that want to be entrepreneurs. Great having you here. Thanks so much. Power lunch begins now. Good day, everybody. Welcome to power lunch. Along with melissa lee, michelle carusocabrera, im tyler mathisen. Brian sullivan is in miami at a mining and medals summit, big interviews with the president of barrett gold, ceo of anglo gold, thats all ahead. Gold one of the best performing Asset Classes this year, up more than 15 . You cant say that about many other things. Rallying today as you see there, another 1 . Stocks also pushing higher