Good morning. Welcome to Worldwide Exchange. Im sara eisen. Im wilfred frost. Good morning to you from me as well. Great to hear coldplay as we come in. I thought you were going to say great news cycle. Means we cant sleep. That, too. One of your favorites. Im booked to see them in los angeles in october. Better than elton john. Right to the markets this morning. We are starting to see a reaction to what is happening in washington. Were off the worst levels of the session, but check out dow futures, pointing to a lower open by 95 points. About an hour ago that was more than a triple digit decline. Saw that action overnight. S p futures down 13. Nasdaq down 22. Also saw a reaction in the u. S. Dollar. So lets go there. As for the dollar, weaker across the board against the euro saw that on yesterdays controversy. Seeing a Material Weakness against the yen. More than half a percent move there. 112. 50. There is flight to safety. Buying of yen, gold, treasuries. The dollar index taking a dip on the headlines of this comey mem mochl the dollar at a sixmonth low, 1. 1089. As for the tenyear treasury note yield, slipping below 2. 30 on the yield. That means buying of trefasurie in demand pushing yields lower. The economic back drop has not been exuberant for the u. S. We expect a Second Quarter rebound, the data has been meh. But painting the mixed picture on friday and the political noise is getting louder and more serious. Thats weighing on the futures. Even with this 100point decline in the futures markets, its only a half percent. Basically yesterday the markets were flat. Even with that decline. Im amazed at the lack of reaction, resilience of equity markets and bond market. Yes, were below 2. 3, yesterday where were we . 2. 32 . Not moving much there. The reason i say im surprised we have not seen more moves, not that i expect politics to move markets more, but moved the dollar market hugely. We have not seen that same reaction because earnings have been strong. Yesterday the dollar index down 0. 7 . Were now down 4 yeartodate in the broader dollar index. This is the dollar against all currencies. Not like a oneoff move. Just to paint that picture, you look at the euro. Back above 1. 11 overnight. Just above that again today. Thats an extraordinary move. I think theres a debate about what is moving the dollar. Its been weakening for a few weeks now. Been weakening all year long. The euro on the other side. The French Election went the right way for the markets. The European Central banks may be itching to taper off. All of this factors in. You have to be careful with the politics, but i agree, in the last 48 hours that move has been getting bigger, more intense. Credibility factor may be playing out in the dollar. The dollar wiped out the entire trump trade that big boost it got after the election on this idea that you would get a new burst of growth from tax cuts, infrastructure spending, deregulation. If that gets priced out or pushed forward, maybe looks impossible, the dollar is one place youre seeing that. Also on the fed point of view, this discussion that theyll use factors other than Interest Rate hikes to start to tighten. Thats why we have not seen quite as much dollar strength. Weve seen way more move in the dollar compared to other Asset Classes in recent weeks. Whatever the cause. If those correlations which have broken down in recent weeks kickback in, we could see a move lower in equity markets. When we had volatility so low, and volume pretty low, its something to keep in mind. The only other thing i would bring up, weve been in earnings season. Theres been big stars in the earnings season. Look at home depot yesterday. Some losers as well. Thats the focus for the stock market and perhaps the reason its been so resilient in the face of whats gk on with toing turmoil. Last night cramer was talking about amazon, alpha debt, tune out the washington noise. Stick with the winners. The results are being backed up. Its a good reminder. We have more of those earnings today. I agree with that as the explanation, but something to keep aware of. The fact that weve had earn pgs losers as well is reassuring. Its not like the market is moving off poor fundamentals, the fundamentals is being reacted to lets loo. Lets look around the world. Weve got about a half percent of declines for japan, hong kong and shanghai also in the red. European trade also a bit soft if we have that coming up. Down a half percent for france, germany, ftse 100 flat. As for the broader markets, oil has been a big support for this market. Its losing some of its recent gains after an api Industry Report last night did show a surprise build in inventories. Well get the Government Data this morning. We are looking for a draw down in inventories. Theyve been moving the markets. Wti, 48. 46, down 0. 4 . Brent moves lower by half of that. Down 0. 2. 51. 53. Gold prices are firmer for the fifth day in a row. This speaks to the flight to safety. Nothing extreme. But you take the dollar weakness, the fact that the yen is stronger, you have a 0. 6 rally in gold. Lets get to washington news. The top story, fired fbi director james comey wrote an internal memo saying President Trump asked him to drop an investigation into Michael Flynn. This according to reports. Sources tell nbc news the memo was part of a paper trail comey built to document what he believed to be trumps efforts to derail the fbis investigation into his campaigns alleged ties to russia. Much more on this story in just a few minutes. Worth going over the front pages, which dominates the front pages. Heres the new york post. I hope you can let this go citing the comey memo. No matter where you look. Heres usa todays spin, comey memo creates furor. That, it does especially if you were watching cable news last night. Which i was. The wall street journal, trump asked comey to drop the probe. An important oped by the edi r editorial boards. Which i will get into, but a bit scathing. Another word we pronounce differently. Furor. How do you say it. Furor. Thats absolutely wrong. I didnt know what you were trying to say. I picked it up to try to read it. Furor . Furor. We shouldnt be downplaying this story. I pronunciation. Another word on the list. Lets discuss the market moves and how this could impact the broader market. Cnbc contributor and founder of the gartman letter, Dennis Gartman fresh off writing the report. Good morning. Good morning. How are you . Im wondering how big of a deal this comey memo is for the markets. Feels like this is the first time were starting to see a crack. It really is the first time weve seen a material effect. Were seeing it in the Foreign Exchange market, equities market, in oil, in gold. Its as if finally weve reached a wrcritical mass on what comes out of the white house. The markets are paying attention to it. We shall see what happens today. In the past its always been buy the dip. Its always been we walked in and seen the dow down 100 points by 9 30, 10 00. By 11 00, suddenly buying starts to come in and the market trades higher. Lets see what happens today. If we get through 11 00 and were still down 100 points, that might be a game changer. That could change the psychology. One gets the sense that the psychology is beginning to change. So far the main way this has played out, the last week or two, the fear over politics has been in the dollar, as opposed to equity markets. I was listening to a conversation this morning, putting that down to the fact its International Investors reacting to the dollar, and then domestic investors are finally smelling the coffee, as it were, reacting. Is that something that in your eyes explains it as well . Why the step this morning into the equity market reacting as much as the currency markets . I think your point is well taken. Thus far it has been only International Investors that have paid attention. All of the activity has been in the Foreign Exchange market. Perhaps because of the better political circumstances prevailing in europe. Obviously the market felt globally the market felt better about mr. Macron winning the election in france. The fact that ms. Merkel carried local elections, setting up a likelihood that the european circumstances that had looked ugly for a while have gotten to be far better where here in the United States we seem to be deteriorating. It has been International Investors. But i think what well see today, as i said earlier this will be interesting to watch what happens between 10 30 and 11 00. When in the past buying had come in. What if buying doesnt come in today and i fear buying may not come in. Thats ultimately my question. Would you tell a longerterm investor you get in and out of these positions. Because longerterm investor in the market who has been watching earnings, watching the Growth Stocks, the amazing power of the nasdaq, do anything differently . Is the magnitude of uncertainty around this presidency now so great that investors should be rethinking strategy . It reminds me very much im old enough to remember what happened in 1972 with the impeachment proceedings that prevailed, and how deleterious that was to equity prices. I would tell people its not a bad idea to put hedges into place, to write covered calls, to buy some puts, buy a few derivatives, to reduce ones exposure at this point. I think being a buyer today and adding to ones positions would be illadvised. Being a seller today and reducing ones positions would be the wisest course of action. Wow. Clear words from Dennis Gartman. Thank you very much. Futures down 103. Back to politics. The report that is stirring up more controversy in washington. Tracie potts joins us with the latest on that story from washington. Good morning. Good morning a couple of big developments in the story. First a memo, according to people who are close to fired fbi director james comey, he wrote a memo after meeting in february with President Trump and talking about the Russian Investigation. In that memo he detailed their conversation. In that conversation he says the president asked him to back off then National Security adviser mike flynn. Flynn stepped down a couple days earlier saying flynn was a good man. Asking the fbi director to back off the russia investigation. And that part of the russia investigation. The white house responding that this did not happen. That the president has never and would not ask a federal employee to back off an investigation. So they are completely denying that this happened. Frankly we have not seen the memo. Its been described to us by multiple sources close to comey. Hes known to take copious notes and keep a paper trail of his conversations and those sources say he kept a paper trail of every conversation he had with President Trump. The other development, of course, 24 hours ago we were talking about President Trump revealing confidential information to russian officials at the white house. Now nbc has confirmed that information came from israel, from an israeli source. And there is fallout here on capitol hill with lawmakers now not only wanting more information about that, but also wanting to see the comey memo as well. They want to subpoena that memo and possibly get comey back in to testify. I will ask you the same question i asked yesterday, but it was a different scandal that we were referring to. Where are the republicans on this . Is this going to be too much for them or are they going to line up and support their president as they have been . Some are supporting him. We heard orrin hatchbacking the president saying that this is essentially much to do about nothing. But a lot of republicans quite skittish. The Top Republican in the senate, Mitch Mcconnell said he wishes there was less drama coming out of the white house. He also said that he has not lost confidence in President Trump. We have john mccain comparing it to watergate. They seem to be waiting to see when the next shoe drops. Not yet speaking out against the president. I think they need to see proof of this memo, not just reports. Tracie potts, thanks for joining us. Still ahead, amazons latest ambition. The ecommerce giant trying to break into another multibillion dollar business. Very interesting story. First, as we head to break, a look back at this day in history in 1792, two dozen brokers met under a buttonwood tree on wall street to set a commission rate. That led to the creation of the new york stock exchange. Another home for cnbc, where sara will be broadcasting from later today. Back in a couple minutes. Their leadership is instinctive. Theyre experts in things you havent heard of. Researchers of technologies that one day you will. Some call them the best of the best. Some call them veterans. We call them our team. 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 to Worldwide Exchange. If youre just getting up, markets are pointing lower. Marketedly so. For the first time in a little while. Only by a half percent. Triple digits for the dow, 104 decline, about a half percent. The nasdaq outperforming, up about a third of a percent yesterday when the dow and s p were flat. Until this moment, resilience once again from u. S. Equities in the face of quite a lot of political furor and also declines in the dollar. The dollar is down 4 year to date against the broader index of currencies. The euro did cross above 1. 11, it is just below that level. More dollar weakness today. 0. 6 down for the dollar. Furor. Furor. Furor. In corporate news, cnbc is reporting that amazon is considering whether it should get into the multibillion dollar pharmacy business. Cnbc learned the company hired a general manager to lead a new team and formulate a strategy and is in deep talks with industry experts. Amazon started selling medical supplies and equipment in the u. S. In april reports said the Company Expanded its prime now Delivery Service in japan to include sales of drugs to patients, with approval from a pharmacist. I for one, as an amazon user and someone who uses pharmaceuticals would love the idea. Glad you didnt say drug user. Would love the idea of it being delivered. Late night, need claritin, left it at the new york stock exchange. Do you think you can order your favorite British Drugs direct . That would be huge. Probably not. I will have to continue to be your drug mule. I only bring in the permitted amount each time. Which is only one per person. Speak in a little extra one. Some stocks to watch, jack in the box reporting Second Quarter results that beat analyst forecasts. The fast food chain hired Morgan Stanley to look into theqdoba qdoba. Stock sup 11 . Red robin posting better numbers than expected and issued strong guidance. Up 16. 5 . Bayer received approval for an experimental drug for a difficult to treat drug cancer. Regulators will shorten the review based on results from a phase two clinical study. Urban outfitters the latest retailer to report disappointing results. The company blaming the weak results on heavy discounting. Lloyds banking returning to private ownership after the uk government sold the remaining shares in the bank. The British Government will make a profit of about a billion dollars, 1. 2 billion, after spending 20 billion pounds rescuing the bank. This has been coming for a while, but a significant milestone. This is, you know this was the real eye of the storm along with rbs. No one went bust in that sense. We had a few before that, but, you know, the fact that government ownership is done and dusted for lloyds is a significant step. And a win for the government. Not being framed for that. But getting out in profit just about. Its good for the sector and good for lloyds banking. They dont have to be tethered by whatever the government wants. Blackberry is working with two automakers on an antihacking tool. The service would reportedly remotely scan vehicles for computer viruses and tell drivers to pull over if theyre in danger. Value act trimming its stake in Morgan Stanley. This brings the hedge funds total number of shares in Morgan Stanley down to 17. 8 million. Morgan stanley off 0. 6 . Shares of Fiat Chrysler falling in europe today after reports surfaced that the u is taking steps against italy for the emissions cheating. Alphabet reportedly in talks to hire president obamas former fda director. Robert califf is expected to take a joint role. He will Study Human Health by tracking 10,000 people over the next several years. Still to come on Worldwide Exchange, attention frequent flyers. Just got a little tougher to cash in on your rewards. Well tell which you airlines are making it the hardest. Were back in a couple minutes. Ready or not, here i come. Ek. anyone can dream. Making it a reality is the hard part. Northrop grumman command and control systems always let you see the complete picture. And were looking for a few dreamers to join us. Welcome back. Lets get you up to speed on the market action. It looks like stocks are set up to open lower. Were talking triple digits for the dow which is notable because the s p 500 has now done 15 days without a move as much as a half percent in either direction. That streak could be broken today. Well see. S p 500 futures are down more than 13 points. Nasdaq futures are down 22. We saw this move lower for stocks following the dollar after the reports surfaced that there has been a memo sent by former fbi director james comey that does reveal President Trump asking him to consider dropping the investigation of mike flynn. You are seeing a bid for safety across the board. Dollar is weaker against the euro and yen. More than a half percent move there. The tenyear treasury note yield slips below 2. 30. Buying of treasuries and gold this morning pushing yields lower. No Major Economic reports of note. Earnings from target and cisco later this afternoon. A Record Number of people are flying making it harder for people to cash in their frequent flyer miles. Reward Seats Available on 72 of flights, down from 76 . More seats on southwest, fewer seats on longhaul flights, flown by legacy carriers. I cant believe its over 70 either way. Feels like 10 ever at best. I agree. When we come back, the new report rattling washington. The memo by the fired fbi director claiming the president urged him to drop the investigation into formMichael Flynn. Good morning. The dollar drops and u. S. Equity futures point to a triple digit decline. Comey and trump go head to head as new details surface. And taylor swift has a new brit in her life. Details on that coming up. Its wednesday, may 17, 2017, youre watching Worldwide Exchange on cnbc. Good morning. Welcome back to Worldwide Exchange on cnbc. Im sara eisen. Im wilfred frost. Lets get straight to the gobel market action. Futures looking at a triple digit decline for the dow. Weve been hovering around that level for the last hour. Below it at the moment. 107 points the expected decline. About a half percent. Similar size moves for both the s p and the nasdaq. Around half a percent expected. This comes off the back of gains in the nasdaq, and the s p and dow flat. This is the first meaningful response that the equity market has had to the latest political developments. Most of the reaction has been in the dollar markets. The broader dollar index was down 0. 7 yesterday. So much so we did see the euro cross above 1. 11. Today the dollar against the yen 0. 6 . Down 112. 4. Now year to date the dollar index down 4 . Tenyear treasury note, back below 2. 3 on the tenyear. Buying of that safe haven asset. Though the move there more muted than weve seen in dollar markets. That tone of cautiousness procedingbread spreading around the world. The nikkei in japan down a half percent. Ha as for early action in europe, also seeing some declines potentially following in the footsteps of u. S. Equity futures. France down a half percent. Germany down less than that. Italy hit hard, down three quarters of a percent. Oil prices lost some gains weve seen. Not a ton. But we did get an api report yesterday showing a surprise build in inventories. Well see what the Government Data shows this morning. Analysts are looking for a draw down of inventories. Wti down 0. 3 . Brent down 0. 1 . Gold prices are higher for the fifth day in a row thanks to the weaker u. S. Dollar. Always goes the opposite way. A flight to safety across the markets today into the yen and treasuries and gold. All of this having to do with washington. James comey writing an internal memo saying President Trump asked him to drop an investigation into former National Security adviser Michael Flynn. John harwood joins us now with the details. John, when will this memo surface . Very soon, sara. Look, weve been building towards this moment ever since President Trump fired fbi director comey last week. His explanations later in the week got him in increasing trouble. Yesterday afternoon we had the news break, first reported by the new york times, subsequently confirmed by nbc and other news outlets that james comey kept contemporaneous notes of his interactions with President Trump that recorded that President Trump in midfebruary asked him to end the fbi investigation of Michael Flynn who had just resigned as President Trumps National Security adviser. That prompted an Immediate Reaction from republicans, which had a different tone than weve seen before. The white house denied that the president had done that. Look at the full screen reports of the president s or the white house statement, which said that at no time did President Trump, though he told the fbi director that Michael Flynn was a good man, at no time did he try to end that or any other investigation. Republicans reacted in a different way than weve seen. Jason chaffetz immediately said he was demanding all records of communications, all those notes from james comey. You had bipartisan calls for james comey to come to congress and testify. And Chuck Schumer called on republicans to reflect where weve gotten with this suggestion that President Trump had tried to stop the investigation. Take a listen. Concerns about our National Security, the rule of law, the independence of our nations highest Law Enforcement agencies are mounting. The country is being tested in unprecedented ways. I say to all of my colleagues in the senate, history is watching. The question for President Trump is does the republican ground beneath him which has been softening for a while suddenly give way an collapse and put us in a much different situation that threatens his survival in office . Not there yet. But that possibility exists. John, to what extent is mr. Flynn sort of separate from President Trump . We said before the Trump Campaign was being investigated. President trump himself wasnt. The fact that mr. Trumps tenure was ended quickly at the administration, does that offer a degree of separation for the president . I dont think so. Michael flynn was a close associate of the president. The question by the end of the campaign is why is President Trump, or president elect trump at that point so close to russia. The controversy that ended up sinking Michael Flynn is the idea that he communicated with the Russian Ambassador about sanctions which president obama had levied in response to russian interference in the election. Since the investigation was about the campaign, flynn was part of the campaign, trump was part of the campaign, so was paul manafort, he was the chairman of the Trump Campaign. This is all of a piece, and all about the central question of why so close with russia in a policy sense, and what connections might underlie that. Is it too dramatic to say tax reform died last night . Is that an exaggeration . Only slightly. Heres the reality. If you have a president who is fighting to remain in office, that becomes the only issue on washingtons agenda. It is not possible for congress to digest the effort required politically, policywise to achieve the repeal and replacement of obamacare, to overhaul the tax system, overhaul doddfrank, you cannot do those things while theres a mortal threat to the president of the United States. You cant. Some people say why cant congress walk and chew gum at the same time . This is like walking and wrestling an alligator at the same time. It wont happen. Just to come back to the facts on this, what were going on is just sources reporting to have seen a memo, that memo being just mr. Comeys own notes of a personal conversation with President Trump. It potentially could get to he said and he said back type argument. Thats true. The problem for trump is that he said he said arguments are to the advantageous to him at this moment. If you look at the most havent nbc wall street journal poll, only 15 of the American People said they rate President Trump highly for being honest and trustworthy. He is crippled with regard to his credibility as he squares off against james comey. Comey is a controversial figure. Some democrats and republicans have different beefs with him, but nobody alleged credibly that james comey is a liar. Could it be the first time . Is it possible that these things a have been made up . Sure. Anything is possible. But nobody would bet much money on the idea that james comeys word versus President Trumps would not be good. James comey has a stronger reputation for telling the truth than the president does. Finally, looking forward, we know the president is preparing for his first major overseas trip. How does this influence that . What will the next fewdays look like . Thats one rough trip for President Trump. Virtually the entire west wing is going with him whahim. What will consume their actual attention is responding to the threat back in washington. We had numerous reports that the president is dissatisfied with his team, not in a good mood, understands things are not going well. Taking him away from familiar surroundings and putting him overseas, for a president who notoriously has a short Attention Span t will be dsh sp difficult for him to have a successful trip. Well see. Its an extended trip. Hell have plenty of chances to get a few things done. But it wont be easy at all. John, great stuff. Thank you very much for joining us. Sara, one point i would add to that, the International Media has their knives out for President Trump even more pronounced fashion, particularly because of some of his comments towards International Policy in areas hes going. Certainly a trip to watch. Europe with the connections to russia. They included sanctions for cry knee e. Crimea. A lot of grief in a sort of nonpartisan way against President Trump. Im sure tough questions for reporters wherever he goes. Im sure it will grate him. Theres no Major Economic data on tap. The consumer is again in focus. Target will report Quarterly Results before the open. After the close, cisco, l brands, the parent of victoria secreted and bath and body works. Youre not familiar with that chain . No. I was going to say bed bath beyond. This is for your body lotion needs. Shares of jack in the box surging in the premarket on news its considering a shakeup. Landon dowdy has been following this one. Jack in the box telling investors it is considering spinning off the mexican chain qdoba. Shares jumping on news that the company retained Morgan Stanley to search for alternatives. Jack in the box says owning restaurant chains with different Business Models is hurting the val youll of tue of the stock. Investors eating up results from red robin. Shares popping as the burger chain posted better than expected earnings and sales. Total revenues rose 4 . Red robbins ceo says the companys moves are strength strengthening the business and helping it gain market share. Back over to you. Our top trending stories. Jimmy kimmel is getting a chance to redeem himself after the envelopegate. The Production Team from this year have been asked back for the 2018 show, about six months earlier than usual. The talk show host saying if you think we screwed up the ending this year, wait until you see what we have planned for the 90th anniversary show. Rare for them to be asked back so quickly. Latenight hosts are having a moment. The question is how much they do into the politics and satire which is helping ratings overnight at a place like the oscars. Right. After such an epic fail, amazing hes going back. Taylor swift is officially off the market. Sorry, wilfred. She has a new brit in her life. Shes dating actor joe alwyn. She has kept the relationship under wraps by wearing wigs and disguises. Who is this . I dont know at all. Not trying to downplay this guy, because im disappointed, which i am, but no idea. He looks very young. Hes not james bond. Not wilfred frost. Take him 25 years to become james bond. Its clear she likes brits. Theres still a chance. Just have to wait. Her type. The must reads coming up. Opinion writers are weighing in on reports of the memo rocking the boat. Check out european stocks at this hour. Weakness across the globe. This is a worldwide tell jaufr. Half percent declines in france, less than that in germany. Dow futures down 100 points. Sel. Half percent declines in france, less than that in germany. Dow futures down 100 points. Welcome back. Time for the mustread stories. My pick is in project syndicate, titled taking eurozone growth seriously. From jim oneill. His point generally is that gdp growth this decade has not actually underperformed expectations. There are a few areas where it has. Most notably brazil, russia, and the eurozone. But there are signs that at least one of those is picking up. Cyclically he said the wrurz is doi eurozone is doing well. Eurozone grew more strongly than the u. S. And uk and more Larger Companies have been showing stronger relative growth for some time. His bottom line point of view is despite this doom and gloom about global growth, now as we hit here 2017, you know most of the way through the decade, overall growth has been all right. If you do a catch up in brazil, russia or the eurozone, most likely the eurozone because they lagged, it will add. As he says, the eurozone growth story is very real. Congratulations, you picked the only opinion piece out there not on politics. Purposely. There was such unanimous discussion points. I thought we should break it up. I thought we should stick with the top story, i picked the wall street journal writing loose lips sink presidencies. The wall street journal has generally been supportive of trumps decision to fire fbi director james comey and other moves, but theyre losing pay shech patients. They write this eruption writes why the president s credibility is so important if people dont trust his words or judgment they wont give him the benefit of the doubt. Last week the white house spent two days attributing mr. Firing to a Justice Department recommendation, only for mr. Trump to insist in a tv interview the pink slip came regardless of recommendation. And now the president will have to defend himself here, but again that credibility factor comes into play. Something john harwood was talking about moments ago. As we discussed, starting to see a few crucial republicans having issues with this. That could mean a lot for markets. We will stay on the markets. Look at u. S. Futures now. Dow futures are down 103. As you mentioned, not a huge 110 now. S p futures down 14. Nasdaq down 24 points here. A few hours into the open. Well set you up for the trading day ahead. Michael purves joins us next. Can make all the difference. He it can provide what we call an unlock a realization that often reveals a better path forward. At wells fargo, its our expertise in finding this kind of insight that has lead us to become one of the largest investment and Wealth Management firms in the country. Discover how we can help find your unlock. You give us comfort. And we give you bare feet. I love you, couch. Backsweat and gordos everything. I love you, but sometimes you stink. New febreze fabric refresher with odorclear technology. Cleans away odors like never before. Because the things you love the most can stink. And plug in febreze to keep your whole room fresh for up. To 45 days. Breathe happy with new febreze. Welcome back to Worldwide Exchange. Were approaching the top of the hour, the team is getting ready for squawk box. Melissa lee has a look at whats coming up. Good morning. We will track the Market Reaction in terms of the fallout from this alleged comey memo. Also we have guy damey here to decipher the market moves, and target earnings which are due out in the next half hour. Its been a tough market for the retail sector. We have the j j ceo who will join us. Well ask him about the black box warning they found out they had to put on their diabetes drug. What impact that will have. And the great jack welch will join us. Hell give us his insights on everything from whats going on in dc and the impact on the markets. Big show ahead at 6 00 a. M. Well see wilfred of course later on. You will, indeed. Looking forward to that. Squawk box starts in about seven minutes time. Futures down just over 100 points. 110 points the decline for the dow at the moment. With us is michael purves. Thanks for being here. Today is the first time weve seen equity markets react to the political developments. Is that a concern for you . Ill be intrigued to see the pace of how the new cycle unfolds. Well have an overlapping news cycle coming out of washington, d. C. Theres so many different issues. Im not sure its a recipe for the vix to shoot up to 25 or 30 soon. If you go back to the 1963 64 time period, you had all sorts of the political events, including the assassination of a president. Volatility didnt move that much during that period. For much of 1963 64, volatility levels were almost half of what they were right now. As low as the vix is. So im not necessarily sure that, you know, well start seeing a massive correction here. Probably more focused on the dollar getting more weaker here. Not taking the brunt of the pain. Part of this depends on what pace the news unfolds. If we see a bunch more jarring headlines, more jarring than weve already seen that will be certainly an issue. One challenge for us here has been to take all of this noise and all of the headlines and putting them into sort of something that investors take away, or whether it moves the markets or not. Can you give us the investor read on the story last night . The alleged memo from comey that President Trump asked him to shut down the Russian Investigation . It certainly doesnt look good. And it calls into question the trump agenda that the market was buying. The way i would like to conte contextualize this is it the trump agenda or the uncertainty over his future. I call it the trump call, the basket of goodies from tax reform, infrastructure. Everything that is supposed to increase Economic Growth and specifically earnings. That has been pushed back a lot. If you look at his approval ratings, the probability of him implementing his agenda, you know, thats not going to be good at all. So that sort of falls further out of the money after this recent headline. I think it had already been falling far out of the money. Burr when you step back and think about why is the market still up and so resilient, you know, its almost in a way as if we dont have trump as president. Its like the good oldfashioned 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 rally where tech was leading, yield sensitive equities have been real star performers. Emerging Market Equities has been the best run year to date. Thats hardly a trump rally. You have to step back and say the u. S. Markets are succeeding in spite of these factors. Dollar down significantly, 4 year to date, down nearly a percent yesterday. Just quickly, is that something that could now derail u. S. Equities or should we see if the dollar continues to soften, which weve just seen in the last day is interesting, because real rates did not decrease yesterday and the dollar got smacked. You know, the funny thing is thats marginally good for u. S. Equities, to have a softer dollar there. Its also helpful for the economy. So thats one thing the Growth Stocks are the winners. Exactly. Mike, thank you. Thats it for Worldwide Exchange. Thanks for joining us. Squawk box comes up next. The new guy . What new guy . I hired some help. He really knows his wine. This is the new guy . Hello, my name is watson. You know wine, huh . I know that you should check vineyard block 12. Block 12 . My analysis of satellite imagery shows it would benefit from decreased irrigation. I was wondering about that. Easy boy. Nice doggy. What do you think . Not bad. The shlike a bald penguin. How do i look . [ laughing ] show me the Billboard Music awards. Show me top artist. Show me the top hot 100 artist. They give awards for being hot and 100 years old . Well take 2 [ laughing ] xfinity x1 gives you exclusive access to the best of the Billboard Music awards just by using your voice. The Billboard Music awards. Sunday, may 21st eight seven central only on abc. U. S. Equity futures pointing to a triple digit decline at the opening bell, largely because trump versus comey, a memo by the fired fbi director claims the president urged him to drop the investigation into former National Security adviser Michael Flynn. A live report from washington straight ahead. Jumping jack. The Parent Company of mexican chain qdoba surging this morning on news its considering a spinoff. It is wednesday, may 17, 2017. Hump day. Well get over this hump together. Squawk box begins right now. Live from new york where business never sleeps, this is squawk box. Good morning. Welcome to squawk box on cnbc. Live from the Nasdaq Market site in times square, im melissa lee along with joe kernen. Joining me is guy adame, a fast money trader. As joe was mentioning a bloodless coup happening this morning. Bloodless now. Its early. Im watching you two. Dont get any ideas. You have twothirds of the fast money until the end of the show. We have twofifths of fast money. Twothirds now of squawk box. Math i though is tricky. Were all cnbcers. I like that, were all team