Transcripts For CNBC Power Lunch 20140416

Struggling to overcome. So we have indeed had disappointingly slow recovery, and our consistent expectations for a pickup in growth have been dashed over a number of years. The labor market is behaving in perplexing ways and showing patterns that are novel. I agree with the points that you mentioned, and i mentioned some in my own remarks, parttime employment thats involuntary is remarkably high in comparison with any past recovery. The length of unemployment spells is higher than we have seen it during the post war period. And labor force participation, as i mentioned, has decline a lot. I think for our part, you asked what role can the Federal Reserve play, and it is as i emphasized to continue to use Monetary Policy and to adjust it in light of changing economic circumstances, as we have over all these years during the recovery to foster healing of the labor market, a return to socalled full employment, and i think thats the best contribution that we can make. I do think we are seeing very meaningful progress, although clearly we are not the goal has not been achieved at this point. You asked me also what role the private sector can play. I think we all know there are problems in the labor market that run deeper than merely a weak economy. Theyre not just cyclical problems. We have seen a rise in inequality and pressure on wages at the middle end below of the income spectrum rising, skill caps in wages at least going back to the mid 1980s. Economists, of course, debate exactly what the causes are of those unsettling labor market trends. And there are a lot of ideas that have been put forward skill bias, technological change, trends in the global economy, and institutional changes. I think almost on anybodys list of what the private and Public Sector can do to address those Disturbing Trends would be greater training and education, and clearly theres a great deal that the public can do and also i see state and local governments and private individuals obviously in making their own decisions about training are responding to those differentials in ways that i think will be helpful over time. Thank you very much for a very clear statement. As youve indicated, the fed has the two goals of low unemployment and price stability, and because inflation is now very, very low fed policy is focused on reducing slack in the labor market and raising inflation to about 2 . But at some point a stronger economy may bring higher inflation rates. Would the fed be willing to raise the fed funds Interest Rate above the rate of inflation if the inflation rate begins rising above, say, 2. 5 . Even if there is still slack in the labor market . So let me emphasize that our commitment is twosided. We dont want to see inflation run persistently below our 2 target, and we also dont want to see inflation run persistently above our 2 target form the fomc about two years ago wanted to make very clear that we have a very strong commitment to a 2 longerrun inflation goal, and we for the first time issued a clear statement that 2 is our longer run inflation goal and we remain committed to it. This continues to be the case. So although with inflation running at around 1 , at this point, as i mentioned, i think the risk is greater that we should be worrying about inflation undershooting our goal, and getting inflation back up to 2 . Of course, the fomc absolutely will be committed to protecting inflation if it threatens to rise persistently above 2 as well. And, you know, i hope its completely clear that while Monetary Policy is very accommodative at this point, and i focused on the need to keep it so or to adjust it to make sure the recovery remains on track, as the recovery proceeds and healing occurs, its obvious we will need to tighten Monetary Policy to avoid overshooting our target. We are very focused on that. This is a judgment call that the Federal Reserve needs to make in every expansion, overshooting that goal, we have learned in past episodes, in past recoveries can be very costly to reverse, thats something we dont want to happen, so, yes, we will remain very focused on removing accommodation when the right time has come, and i feel very confident that we have the tools to do that, and also the commitment and will, and by making our objective of 2 longer run inflation very clear, we did that in order to be transparent and to give the public a way to hold us accountable for achieving that goal. Madam chair, the Federal Reserve has been doing its difficult work during the Global Financial crisis and the aftermath, really in a global context, and as we look at the current and forward situation, the two largest economies in the world thats of the United States and the eurozone seem to have very significant differences. There are differences, for example, in the pace of economic growth, both cyclical and perhaps the longterm Growth Prospects in which the United States seems to be in better condition. And there also seems to be big differences in the condition of Bank Balance Sheets. In europe there has been the spillover of the sovereign debt crises, and some other factors. How do these differences in growth and the Current Health of the Financial System in the two regions complicate fed policy with regard to two Different Things . Number one, the decision on policies related to economic stimulus, but also policies related to supervision and regulation . So i completely agree that some of the economic challenges facing europe and the United States are quite different, and because we are seeing differences in economic situations around the globe, it is likely that the process of removing accommodation will take place at different paces in different parts of the world. This will be a challenging situation. Over the last year or so we have been very focused on potential spillovers of policies and challenges that this differences in the pace, likely pace of normalization of policies pose for develops economies for emerging market economies in a world where Global Capital flows respond to small shifts in policy and expectations about policy. We have seen that these shifting expectations have imposed some difficulties for emerging markets, particularly in managing policies. In the case of europe, obviously the european situation is one with very high unemployment. Theres been a return to growth, but its proceeding at a very modest pace at this point. There are challenges that we dont face in the United States across the euro area of readjusting competitiveness across countries, and shifting current account balances among the countries in the euro area. I think europe is being held back by adjustments in their banks sector and problems in the Banking Sector that i think we have a much stronger Banking Sector in the United States. You asked specifically about banks, Bank Balance Sheets and supervision. In regulation, we have been very focused, both the Federal Reserve and other regulators in the United States and globally, working with our colleagues, to strengthen with our Financial System in the aftermath of the crisis, to make banking organizations stronger and to more broadly reduce systemic risks so that we are at less risk of a financial crisis. I do believe that we are making very meaningful progress in that task. Theres much more and Higher Quality capital and more liquidity in the u. S. Banks system. We have raised capital standards very meaningfully, particularly for the largest and most systemic firms, and as my colleagues and i have mentioned, there may be some further changes that we will put into effect to raise capital standards. The large firms and banks organizations generally are well on the track to meeting those higher capital standards, and my perception of the situation in the Banking Industry at this point is banks look to lend. They want to provide credit and theyre supporting the recovery. In europe, i think the situation is different, but they have made very meaningful progress, i think, in trying to form a Banking Union that will be a pillar of strengthened european and euroarea economy. They are working very closely with us to enhance capital standards and to move forward with us to maintain a level Playing Field in terms of capital standards and regulations. I think their economy, however, at this point is somewhat more constrained by the need of banks organizations to build capital. They have made quite a bit of progress toward forming a banks union. As you know the ecb is in the process of conducting a review and stress test that is those were steps that were very important for us some years ago, i think, in putting our banking organizations on the road to health and recovery i think they will be equalitily important in europe as well. Thank you for the answer that you gave to my i found the answer very, very reassuring. I want to stick with the subject of inflation and ask how you will decide how the Federal Reserve will decide that the risk of inflation, that is, the risk of overshooting the 2 goal, is high enough to warrant a significantly positive real fed funds rate. That is, how will you make sure that you are ahead of the curve, not behind the curve . Al enkruger of princeton suggested that the shortterm Unemployment Rate. That is the Unemployment Rate for those out of the work for less than six months, might provide a good early indicator. I wonder if you agreed with that, and if not, what you would look at to try to anticipate inflation going above the 2 goal . Well p. We will certain be looking at a wide variety of indicators pertaining to the labor market p. And, of course, directly to the performance of inflation, inflation pressures, and inflation expectations. And one measure, as i noted in my speech, of labor markets slack is wage pressures, that can translate into price pressures and be an Early Warning indicator of impending up tick in inflation, although the relationship between Wage Inflation and Price Inflation has been less close and less reliability in recent years. Sill indicated in my remarks that one of the questions about the economy we will be focused on pertaining to the labor market in trying to assess just how much slack there is, and what the impact of the labor market is on inflationary pressures. As you mentioned al enkrugers work, there is a line of research that suggests it is mainly shortterm unemployment rather than longterm unemployment that has an impact on inflation. So says conceivable that with that line of thinking, even if unemployment high, longterm unemployment high, if that line of thinking is correct, so we could see that even with the Unemployment Rate high by historical standards, inflationary pressures would actually be rising, because the longterm unemployment, according to that reasoning are placing less downward pressure on inflation. Now, i think its premature, frankly, to jump to that conclusion that that argument is correct, and ive made some arguments in other remarks that i have given about why i think that the longterm unemployed are likely to move back more actively into the labor force and into the job market and exert pressure on wages and prices as the labor markets strengthened, but clearly we will have to watch unfolding evidence and evaluate it with an open mind in very carefully in the months ahead to make the assessments that will be necessary and i mentioned there can be surprises. One of the surprises we could see, i wouldnt rule out, its not what i think is most likely, but would not rule out the possibility that inflation could rise to levels where we would need to address it before we might expect at this point. So that is something we will be quite attentive to. It is not my it is not what i anticipate will happen, but again the purpose of my remarks today is to emphasize that there can be a lot of twists and turns. We need to be alert to what is happening in the economy, and to responsibility to what we see happening, and not a fixed idea that we perhaps held at some earlier time about what will come to pass. I guess thats it from chair yellen. I believe thats Roger Ferguson resuming the podium at the Economic Club of new york. Lets talk more about the speech we were just monitoring and the q a we just heard with my cohost michelle carusocabrera, who is at the new york stock exchange, and with our senior economics reporter Steve Liesman. Steve, let me begin with you. Did she break any new ground . Right there was a very interesting conversation, tyler. Let me give a bit of background there. Being debate in the Economic Community about the people who have left the workforce, people out of work 26 weeks or longer, are they coming back in . If not, is what you see what you get in terms of the labor fort . More people who arent working create downward pressure on wages, fewer people upward pressure, concerned about inflation, you heard the eminent economist argue the idea that maybe these people are not coming back. Janet yellen says ive heard that, ive seen that, i dont believe it. So that was an interesting comment about where janet yellen stood on a very important deb e debate. She tends to think theres more slack in the labor force. When i look at the intraday chart of the dow, i would like to also see the intraday of the tenyear yield. It seems that the market saw this as incredibly dovish. When i look at the two things that she talked about, i flation and labor, she basically said she is not satisfied on either one and its going to be a long time before she satisfied on either one. Do you think the market is getting it right . I think those two things are accura accurate. Theres a third element i would add when i read this speech, michelle, which is that she believes in these tools to get them back there. When you read her spiel she says i think i can have an effect. If necessary, we will use them and put them in place. You want to know how long i will remain low . As long as were not reaching or goals. And she certainly did not put any kind of six months after x date into her conversation today, as she did about a month ago. Steve, thank you very much. Yeah. Michelle, stick around. Well be joined by andrew slimmen, with Morgan Stanley Global Investment solution, and mike holland. Andrew, what did you hear that was in any way a depar from past comments or gave you encouragement . It was a departure from march 19th when she made a statement that was less dovish, and i think since then shes back tracked, so the markets like that. Mike holland . The markets voted immediately, tyler. She didnt make a rookie mistake again, and i think her performance was actually grade it is as an aplus by the market. She even sited it could be two years for the gap for employment to close, right . She did talk about a time frame, but four times the length she talked about before. And i think the market liked the twoyear comment bert than the sixmonth comment. Yes, right. It gives herment of leeway. What they have been saying is steadfast. And this was a bravo performance on her part. Lets turn if we might to another topic i know you follow closely, mike, the data out today alternately interpreted as a slowing . How do you see it . I think the consays for 7. 3 came in at 7. 4, talking to companies over there for the past 12 to 24 months, the governments slowing intention has had a major effect. Were talking to Companies Whose Earnings Growth and Revenue Growth in the past has been high double digits, thee down to mid single digits, so its having abeffect. Inflation is down where they wanted it to be. Theyre doing a lot of rems. They seem to be growing the economy well enough theyre going to continue to get growth. Andrew, if we could talk more specifically about what youre going to do as a result of the chinese data, or based on what you heard from janet yellen, or the fact weve seen some of these momentum stocks come back today, where are you putting money right now . I think youve seen a significant correction, the high beta or highrisk stocks. They have come done to a moderately premium to where they historically trade. I think thats offering an opportunity. Having said that, traditionally when the fed makes changes that surprise the market, you see a rotation. Last may 22nd, ben bernanke made a statement that surprised the market. The leadership at the time was in the dividend yielding stocks. Thats when it seemed to have rotated into the high beta stocks. Then we get to march 19th of this year, and we have another rotati rotation. So i would be very cautious about throwing out all these stocks that have come down significantly, but i think its safe to say that the growth over value leadership Going Forward is probably behind us, and i would recommend a more balanced approach, but be careful near term, because some of these stocks are down a lot, and the fundamentals are very good. A quick thought from you, mike, on the kinds of stocks you like at these prices . The big quality value companies, tie le went down with andrews momentum stocks. They are at a very good value today relative to just about anything else in the world. And i think that theyre probably better than any other asset category i can think of. Andrew, mike, thank you for being with us. We appreciate your time. Tyler, if you want to beat the market right notice, take a look at the transports. These stocks are considered by many to be leading indicators, but not all transcription stocks are the same, right, dominic chu . No, theyre not, michelle. Theyre all part of the broader industrial index, a real laggard so far this year. If you ship about i air or by ground, those kinds of stocks have divergent stock performances. Well talk more on power lunch. So keep it right here, after the break. Break. [ dog barks ] [ male announcer ] imagine the cars we drive. Being able to see so clearly. To respond so intelligently and so quickly, they can help protect us from a world of unseen danger. Its the stuff of science fiction. Minus the fiction. And it is mercedesbenz. Today. See your authorized dealer for exceptional offers through mercedesbenz financial services. See your authorized dealer for exceptional offers whoyour boss . Rk for . Yourself . Your parents . Your family . At baird, what matters most to you. Matters most to us. As an Employee Owned firm, our Financial Advisors have the freedom and resources to realize a plan to fit your familys unique needs. Well listen. Well talk. Well plan. Baird. Welcome backs to power lunch. The s p higher by nearly 13. Bob pisani joins me. This is a ringing endorsement of janet yellen, no . I mean, what more else can you hear from the woman . Quite palace able the fed hits the jobs and inflation goals by the end of 2016. And shes worried about inflation running below 2 . Shes holder her hand at this point. It doesnt get any better than this if you want to gauge the intention. If you believe the fed gives a push to the market and helps out stocks and assets. I couldnt think of a clearer statement. At any rate, fairly modest reaction, maybe that was the right thing. You can see down a bit, then back up. Same with the tenyear yield. We havent seen a big move in the tenyear so far this morning. That is a blank chart, a zen chart we call it. Thats a multimonth chart. Market leaders today, bifurcation, looks like january if you look like were having some trouble with the charts. Biotechs and airlines are leading, and were seeing semiconductors and gold stocks to the down side. Will the be i want to know, too, michelle, earnings havent mattered that much, but Interactive Brokers with great numbers. Charles schwab yesterday had great numbers. A lot of trading activity. Were seeing that reflected in very good earnings reports. Bob, thanks so much. To seema mody, she has a market flash. Check out regeneron, moving higher after a 350 price target say the biotech has an industry best pipeline. The stock had taking a hit following about 8 , but it is up nearly 40 over the past one year. Michelle . Thank you so much, seema. All right. Yahoo among the big names. We have sheila tracking all of those as well. Higher by more than 5 , up nearly two bucks. Sheila . Yeah, yahoo is a big winner, but the turnaround we saw yesterday is continuing into today. The nasdaq composite up about 0. 8 of 1 . If you look at where we are now, were talking about a rise of 3 , so basically in the past 24 hours, its been an uncriminal ride. The biotechs are rebounding. Priceline, amazon, all helping the nasdaq today laddic the index higher, and got to mention those earnings. After ali baba posted great results. After the bell, tyler, we have big tech earnings coming up. Well be tracking it all. Lets look at the transports so far this year. A decent run, not all transportation stocks are created equal, are they, dom . They are not. Check out it really is one if by land, maybe two it by air, a little poetic license. If youre playing for cargo and freight stocks in 2014. Within the industry sector, the road and rail instrument group, as well as the freight and logistics are two of the big ones. On the one hand road and rail up again, a nice move higher. This Group Includes Union Pacific, csq, ryder systems on the trucking side. Air freight and logistics is down as a group. Four stocks make up this group, u. P. S. ,fold ex, cq robinson, all in the red so far this year, but fedex is worth 39 billion as a exude thats massive compared to the 8 billion valuations for the other two companies. Now, on the road and rail side of things, four the the five stock are Rail Companies, with the lone exception by ryder. Csx may be lower on the day on the heels of their earnings, but far and away the largest influence is Union Pacific with a market cap of 85 billion. Rail companies will be a big focus, Kansas City Southern reporting earnings today, then Union Pacific is reporting tomorrow, and then forfog southern will report next week. So Rail Companies a big focus. The reason theres a divergence. How cool is that logo for nor fox southern . That is really cool. Dominic, thank you very much. Ukrainian troops and prorussian militants face off as tensions soar. How imposing sanctions on moscow could spark a lehmanlike moment for vladimir putin. Well explore that after this short break. Short break. [ banker ] sydney needed some Financial Guidance so she could take her dream to the next level. So we talked about her options. Her valuable assets were staying. And selling her car wouldnt fly. We helped sydney manage her debt and prioritize her goals, so she could really turn up the volume on her dreams today. And tomorrow. So lets see what we can do about that. Remodel. Motorcycle. [ female announcer ] some questions take more than a bank. They take a banker. Make a my financial priorities appointment today. Because when people talk, great things happen. Make a my financial priorities appointment today. Predibut, manufacturings a prettin the United States do. Means advanced technology. We learned that Technology Allows us to be craft oriented. No ones losing their job. Theres no beer robot that has suddenly chased them out. The technology is actually creating new jobs. Siemens designed and built the right tools and resources to get the job done. Welcome back. Check out lockheed and martin. The Defense Department has approved the first transatlantic flight of the f35 fighter jet. It will take part in two International Air shows in london in july. Thank you so much, seema. To the bond market where Rick Santelli is standing by. Well, i actually think there was, okay . Smart i think it was a very important reaction that nobody has brought up. Look at these. What do you see . I see the market doing this to Janet Yellens talk into, and thats what i see. You have a Federal Reserve chairperson who is promising to keep zero Interest Rate policy for a long time. What does the curve do . Fiveyear rates move up, tenyear rates move down. Thats the market not buying into it. Thats the reason that zero Interest Rate policy will be a problem and it will be the market pushing it on the Federal Reserve. Back to you. That is great insight, Rick Santelli, so a flattening curve. Weve been talking about it for so long. Well talk about that through the show. Many of the words automakers unveiling their latest cars. Phil . You know, ive been accused of being an antidiesel person. Why dont you cover diesels more . Well talk with audi about the newest diesel and the projection for perhaps taking off in the u. S. , when power lunch returns. Today is wednesday today, we greet you. Treat you. Care for you. Today, you can come to Cleveland Clinic for anything, everything or just to get that thing checked out. Big, small, and yes, the best heart care in the nation. Its here everyday, for everyone. Thats the power the power, thats the power of today. Cleveland clinic. Call today, for an appointment today. The new York Auto Show kicks off this week. Our phil lebeau is with a first on cnbc interview. Hi, phil. Hey, tyler. Diesel fans, listen up. This one is for you. Im with scott keough, in about a half hour youre going to unveil the clean diesel. Whats your perception . We think for oughti its very strong. Tdi is about 10 of our mix, but if you look at specify car lines, q7, and if you look at the former, a3, 50 of all sales are tdi, but for us it works. It works for you. German automakers, their history is steeped in diesel, so it works for them. When will america as a whole start to accept diesel more . Its a simple thing. I look at behavior and i look at infrastructure. If you look at the customer behavior, minimal. Move your hand, down the pump, put it in the car. Infrastructure is in place. Diesel is in gas station. Changing perception. I think the way it comes, get more cars on the road, and then you have it. The standard a3, if you will, is already out in showrooms. Whats the early acceptance . Its huge. The cars been on the market for a few weeks. A few thousand are on the road. Its a car thats a great value, 29,9, and its tearing it up. We talked with you . San francisco, and i asked about the u. S. Automarket as a how confidence are you that the rest of this year, sales build or are we at a plateau . I feel a lot better after march than in january or february . I feel good. I think were looking at 5 to 10 . Audi may be able to outpace that a about illustrate with our new products, but the market is sound, the fundamentals are good. Theres an aging fleet. Fuel and energy in america is priced right. Housing is stable, Interest Rates are low. We have great products. Scott keogh, the man who is going to be showing us the diesel verse of the a3 in about a half hour. Back to you. A lot to like about those diesel cars. Lets go to seema for a quick market flash. Hey, tyler e. Check out starbucks. The company will move the European Headquarters to london from the netherlands. As a result it will pay more tax in the uk. It comes after the low tax contributions in britain sparked criticism. Michelle . Thank you so much, seema. Tension tws russia and ukraine continue with the u. S. Considering new penalties. Is putin facing a lehman moment . Will sanctions work . One expert says yes, right after this. This. Opinions about stocks out there, how do you know which ones to follow . The equity summary score consolidates the ratings of up to 10 independent Research Providers into a single score thats weighted based on how accurate theyve been in the past. Im Howard Spielberg of fidelity investments. The equity summary score is one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. Call or click to open your fidelity account today. Geico motorcycle. See how much you could save. [ dog barks ] [ male announcer ] imagine the cars we drive. Being able to see so clearly. To respond so intelligently and so quickly, they can help protect us from a world of unseen danger. Its the stuff of science fiction. Minus the fiction. And it is mercedesbenz. Today. See your authorized dealer for exceptional offers through mercedesbenz financial services. See your authorized dealer for exceptional offers maestro of project management. Baron of the buildout. You need a permit. To be this awesome. And you. Rent from national. Because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. And go. And only national is ranked highest in car rental Customer Satisfaction by j. D. Power. aaron purrrfect. vo meeeow, business pro. Meeeow. Go national. Go like a pro. More now from robert pawn, on the council on foreign relations. Welcome. Thank you, michelle. What do you mean by a lehmanlike moment . What could we do and what impact would it have on russia . A lot of oorgts can be unusually powerful here. The reason russia is different is the complexity of russias ties to global markets. The opacity creates both opportunities and risk if we were to bring financial sanctions to bear that took them out of financial markets, made it impossible for them to buy and sell assets, to clear and settle their payments and the like, we could have the potential of forcing a large and rapid deleveraging. Just like the falling of lehman, we could have a lehmanstyle moment. Could we do it without the western european countries. We needed them with iran, but do we have more leverage in this situation . As your question suggests, certain the lessons from a lot of past experiences is they work much better if theyre multilateral. We spend many years trying to build the coalition so that everyone was on the same page. The reason why sanctioning can be powerful even if the u. S. Goes it alone is because of the central role of the u. S. Institutions . Financial markets because most of the major because payments are cleared and settled by institutions that have u. S. Ownership and participation, are sanctions by themselves, can have a significant effect in breaking down transactions. Even if its only one leg, if you can stop that piece of it, you can stop the whole transaction from Going Forward. What impact could that have on the u. S. Economy . Would it boomerang, because russia is so much more integrated in the world . I think thats absolutely right. There will be some significant cost for the United States. In fact or willingness to take it is part of the power of these sanctions. I think you would have to separate some of the losses that might occur, because transactions didnt happen, because assets were frozen, from some of the illiquidity effects we saw after the lehman failure. I think that what we have in the financial space that the russians dont have is an ability to provide liquidity into those markets. I think from that perspective, you question we would have to ask is good the feds 2008 playbook, measures they brought to bear after lehmans collapse work here as well . I think they do. Certainly very provocative, robert. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for having me on. Robert kahn is at the council on foreign relations. Bitcoin, boom or bust . Mary thompson has gone into the world of digital currency. Mare, . Tyler, boom or bust, a lot of the bitcoin faithful see that there are profits to be made. The economists that have looked at it, they said these a bubble and has the characteristics of a bubble. I believe them. That doesnt mean you cant profit from a bubble. [ hypnotist ] you are feeling satisfied without standard leather. You are feeling exhilarated with frontwheel drive. You are feeling powerful with a 4cylinder engine. [ male announcer ] open your eyes. To the 6cylinder, 8speed lexus gs. With more standard horsepower than any of its german competitors. This is a wakeup call. [ banker ] sydney needed some Financial Guidance so she could take her dream to the next level. So we talked about her options. Her valuable assets were staying. And selling her car wouldnt fly. We helped sydney manage her debt and prioritize her goals, so she could really turn up the volume on her dreams today. And tomorrow. So lets see what we can do about that. Remodel. Motorcycle. [ female announcer ] some questions take more than a bank. They take a banker. Make a my financial priorities appointment today. Because when people talk, great things happen. Make a my financial priorities appointment today. I hate when my computer gets grouchy. Its probably due to lack of sleep. Set your computers to hibernate after 30 minutes. The rest will do it some good, and save energy. The more you know. What was one the worlds very Largest Bitcoin Exchange will be liquidated. Mount gox reportedly failing. A lot of investors have a lot of money in it, but as cnbcs new digital documentary reveals, there are plenty of people ute there making a lot of money off of this Virtual Currency as well. Mary thompson here. One group thats making money are the miners, people who wield computers to mine for that digital gold. When the lights go on in the household, its time to rise and shine. Theres some more eggs. Reporter and mine for bitcoin. Is there a reason its better in the basement as opposed to on the main floor . Its lessen a newsens to the family, because its loud. 31yearold steve thibadeau heard of it two years ago. A friend said these crazy and im all in. We have two computers running. Now he runs a minimining operation he set up in his basement for him and a partner. He provides the power. Close to 500 president thats when we had most of these black ones online, not quite all of them. Hits partner providing most of the computer. They cost 1500 to 5,000 and will likely become obsolete in about two years. How much did she pay you for this space . When it was just the black boxes, it was 1,000 a month. Then i charge 250 for each of these other big ones. If youre not up to putting a minimining operation in your beg there are megaminers. One firm we profiled called cloud hashing. In return for that, theyll get a piece of that stake that they mine in bitcoin. If you want to watch the full documentary, it is on investigations inc. Cnbc. Com. Now to seema mody. Check out shares of gap. The retailer says it expects sales in china to hit the 1 billion mark in three years to become the second largest market. Last year gap opened 34 stores in china, bringing the total to 81. It will open another 30 this years. Gap shares currently trading higher or at session highs of up 1. 6 . Lets see whats coming up on street signs. I know youve been waiting for it. Its the beige book. Are things Getting Better . Were going to find out in a few minutes. Plus a leading biotech investor says, hey, some biotechs arent great. Hes got a few he thinks are still good even with their drop. Plus while politicians who speak out against guns often end up becoming the best gun salesmen of all. Street signs breaking news and the beige book right after the break. Power lunch will return also. Work with equity experts. Who work with regional experts. Thats when expertise happens. Mfs. Because there is no expertise without collaboration. Mfs. For what reality teaches you. Firsthand. E. In the face of danger, and under the most demanding circumstances. Experience builds character. Experience builds confidence. And experience. Has built this. The 2014 glk. The engineering, and the experience, of mercedesbenz. See your authorized dealer for exceptional offers through mercedesbenz financial services. Afghanistan, in 2009. Orbiting the moon in 1971. 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The beige book and Steve Liesman is here. The beige book, the collection of anecdotes from the renalants is chronically a rebound from weatherrelated declines in the prior months. What weve been telling you about the data. Economic activity sis the beige book was modest or moderate in eight districts. It picked up, though, in chicago, philly and new york, three places affected by the weather. It declined, however, in cleveland and st. Louis, Consumer Spending was up in most districts because the weather improved. Allo sales were up in seven districts. Manufacturing continued to improve because weather affects faded. Steel production was also up in several districts