Trade, right . Charles yeah. Liz it is, once again, a horse race or a bullbear paradigm fighting it out to the death, at least til the closing bell. Fox market alert, lets focus on the nasdaq for a moment. It is treating for a fourth straight retreating for a fourth straight session, we do have it down about 137 points, had been down 210. The dow down in the red by 22 points. It did overcome a 187point loss, but it hadn higher by 237. So big swings once again for the dow. The s p has been flipping between red and green. Right now its red, down 22 points. Earnings still have a command of a good chunk of the market action. Witness whos at the very bottom of the dow jones heat map, travelers getting pelted with baseballsized hail at this hour. Shares of the insurer falling 7. 5 after First Quarter profits undershot estimates. Or travelers reported catastrophe losses due to severe wind and hailstorms mostly in central and eastern u. S. Skyrocketed from 535 million a year ago to 712 million. It is the second worst performer on the s p 500 as well. But j. B. Hunt swinging an even bigger wrecking ball at the s p than the travelers. The trucking giant cratering to a 52week low, falling 7. 75 on ugly earnings it blamed on educed transport volumes as Consumer Spending shifts from buying goods to spending on services. We should mention tech is the worst performing sector on the s p. You could attribute that in great part to autodesk, falling 5. 6 due to an Accounting Practice which will delay its annual report file being. The chipmakers collectively a acting as a very big negative. The sox index falling 2. 7 at the moment in large part to asml this is on pace for its largest percent decrease since june of 2022. Weve got it down 7. This as the semiconduct orer this is the Semiconductor Equipment maker, reporting much weaker than anticipated first if Quarter Sales goals. Lets see some green on the screen because there is some here. Look at United Airlines shares, moving higher by 16. 75 driven by a Quarterly Report that sailed over lowered expectations as it overcomes boeings jet delay woes. Hey, look at a paramount. Weve got some green there, showing some life here, up about 3. 5 . No real news at the moment but, of course, weve got the potential pending merger with skydance. We dont know if its going to happen. No real news on that, but were about to make some news with mario a georgia ebellly who runs the firm that owns enough paramount if shares to make it the second largest shareholder behind National AmusementsShari Redstone. He want she wants to sell, he he does not want his clients on the losing end of any merger, how far is he willing to go to make sure that doesnt happen . Mario joins me in a fox business exclusive coming up. Folks, a tugofwar plague out on the tucker. At the moment the bears have the tightest grip, but lately this has been the final final hour game play. Why and whats going on . Oppenheimer chief investment strategist john stolings fuss and phil blancato. Phil, april showers i wouldnt say drenching the major indices is, but month to date they dont look healthy. Anywhere town from 1 to 3 . Giving investors a good soaking. What do you think is at work here . Generally, you have to understand that chairman powell came out and reiterated that that theyre just not going to cut rates anytime soon, inflation is still very high, and even if we get 3 Earnings Growth this quarter, its not enough to justify stock prices. Stocks were expense i, second quarters a very difficult time, generallies this is a tough quarter. Youll be seeing some cracks in the labor market, its time for stocks to sell off which, by the way, are totally normal. Liz okay. John, after 11 hikes were now at 6 skips or pauses as it were. Were about to get another one because theres another meeting in may. And we know that theres no move expected at this moment, at least thats what the markets are looking at. So why does the market continue to be shocked and grasping their pearls every time we have the chair of the Federal Reserve repeating what hes said a million times . You know, liz, you got me. [laughter] you know, ive been in this business since 1983, so i came in when volcker was just beginning his second term. Liz wow. So ive been through a lot of changes, a lot of different periods. But invariably, the traders never believe the fed. Even now with the bernanke legacy, theyre highly communicative, they say what hay mean and hay mean what they say, but thats been the same for a long time. Inflation remains sticky. Theyre not going to cut. They would like to cut. Theyd like to cut three times this year. I doubt they will get to do that. We have when the market initially expected at the beginning of the year traders were looking at 57 cuts, we were saying likely 2 cuts, and the fed was saying 3. Liz yeah. Inflation is stickier than expected, but the lumpiness in earnings season, this is inevitable, it happens. Last quarter, which turned out to be a really good earnings season, q4, had a lot of lumpiness at the beginning. I remember the financials came out, they were mixed, they sold off very similar to this last one with. And, you know, insurers, well, you know, with whats happening in terms of all the crazy weather that we experience, youre bound to have some losses. Liz okay. So 10year treasury yield pulling back just a bit, down about 8 basis points. But theyve been on a run. They believe what the Federal Reserve has been saying. Weve got the 10year at 4. 589 , a little bit higher yesterday. Phil, 8 out of 13 categories have been showing spending remains broad. Okay. So what do you buy, and we got a nice window. I dont know if its nice on behalf of 1kwr6789 b j. B. Hunt, but they said people are spending on experiences, not so much on goods. Thats why their numbers havent been wonderful. Isnt this just obvious, go invest in companies that give experiences like the airlines . And pay a dividend. Its really that simple. Youve got undervalued prices, undervalued stocks that pay a nice dave dividend in the dividend in the service sector, airlines especially you can do really well and some Insurance Companies who didnt get hurt, you want to be a place where people east really need or really want to be, and to me thats a great opportunity. Is and, by the way, you mentioned the bond market, i still bet you a buck it beats the stock market this year. As soon as we get past this nonsense of the election cycle, poor earning, we really see a reduction in interest rates, theres a hint that the feds going to cut, the bond market changes course. Buying bonds yields at 4. 5, if we end up at 3. 75 this time next year, youll is a guy significant gantic return. Liz okay, you like a Water Purification company. Im all with you on that. We all need water. Waters maybe the new silver. Practice not gold because golds been doing so incredibly well. Amazon, thats discretionary spending, you could argue. Theres three names. Youre having a cup of coffee, im going to give you coffee and a sweet nemplet e ecolab, its a return to office for asia and europe. Theyre going to be in the offices, and they need clean water. Sanitization, a very nice Global Company that has a really good, safe play. Second, amazon. Look at the numbers. When you pix in i. And mix in a. I. And their profitability on a 5year pe, they just got an alltime high, and crowd viek the crowdstrike, you need that to survive through this mess of cybersecurity and not pay a hefty fee, and theyre all recurring revenue. Liz stay with tech, obviously not a good sector today, but you say go into established Tech Companies that everyone whether its corporations or individuals need. Arguably, that could be crowdstrike. But as you look at that particular nut, whats at the heart of it . You want to find those that are deeply embedded in the lives of both the consumer and business on an a everyday basis, those familiar names. I manage money, the firm doesnt want me pitching stocks, but youre looking at within that magnificent fierveg okay . You might even stretch it into magnificent six, perhaps. But my point is when you look at this, its tech, consumer discretionary. We dont want to bet against the american consumer. We like industrials here. And we think financial stands a good chance, large cap financials, you take a look trading, m a looking good and then as we move forward and we establish that we are, indeed, in a sustainable economic expansion at a modest pace, this looks not so bad. Liz yeah, us it really doesnt. Dows now down 42 points. John, or phil, thank you very much for being here. [laughter] heres what were waiting to see better. U. S. Food inflation. So, yes, believe it or not, it has slid steadily since its high in august of 2022. So why are so many of you still paying so much at the Grocery Store and even more at restaurants . Were about to take it up with the celebrity chef and coowner of Major Food Group which operates more than 40 luxury restaurants around the world. From car bone to terisi, zzs club and more, chef mario ca bone deals in huge volumes of food and staples. Hes here in studio to tell us how higher rates for longer will impact his restaurants. Ground beef among the priciest foods. It gained 6. 2 in march compared to last march. Bacon up 2. 5 . Chicken up 2 . Claman countdown is coming right back. Stay with us. Its odd how in an instant things can transform. Slipping out of balance into freefall. the stock market is now down 23 . This is happening people. Where there are so few certainties. laughing look around you. You deserve to know. As we navigate a future unknown. Im glad i found stability amidst it all. Gold. Standing the test of time. The road to opportunity. Is often the road overlooked. At enterprise mobility, we guide companies to unique solutions, from our team of mobility experts. Because we believe the more ways we all have to move forward the further we all go. Is bad debt holding you back . The only limit is the sky its our time you dont want to miss it just a little bit louder its our time you dont want to miss it its your moment in the spotlight all your ambitions. All in one app. Low fixed rates. Borrow up to 100k. No fees required. Sofi. Get your money right®. Liz consumers should start getting some relief when it comes to food prices. Okay, look at a the numbers. According to the latest report from the organization for Economic Cooperation and development which pulls data from 38 industrialized countries, Global Consumer food prices actually came in at 5. 3 in price rises in february. Thats down significantly from the 16. 2 in november of 2022. Of course, keep in mind back then, in november of 2022, prices shot up when russia invaded ukraine which is known as the worlds breadbasket. Now, here in the u. S. Food prices in march rose 2. 2 yearoveryear. That is the lowest rate since may of to 2021 and down dramatically from its august 2022 high of 11. 4. So why are consumers sill getting hit hard still getting hit hard when they eat out in Major Food Group chef and coowner mario car bone, 45 restaurant the brands across 3 continents. Mario, the march Inflation Report showed the dining out category, that was way higher. It soared about 4. 2 yearoveryear. Why . Explain that when overall a food inflation has slowed down markedly. Yeah, i think, listen, i think dining out has become a form of entertainment. Its an outlet. Its a way to break away from whatever madness is happening in the world right now. And i think people willing to pay for that moment, for that experience, to just have that outlet. And i think food is one of those areas that that people willing to spend their money, or their hard earned money despite inflation, even though were get somewhat encounselinging numbers these days encouraging, its a category. And certainly for us as we feel it in the luckettly sector for that luxury sector, its somewhat elastic in that sense. Liz i know you guys like higher prices. They help your margins, certainly. But how do you like clientele in the eye and say im still keeping prices this high compared to 2022 . Im assuming you really havent lowered prices. No. Liz this is what im saying, you know . We just got the Federal Reserves beige book which checks out 12 different districts across the u. S. , and they marked out priens if sensitivity among consumers. Are you seeing any slowdown in sales at the moment or the numbers of people who come in . Because now theyre saying, wait a minute, why am i still paying so much . We havent. To be honest with you, sales havent been better than they are today. I think for us, our clientele realizes that were uncompromising with what were going to buy. So in a moment where its difficult, where inflations high and prices are expensive, were not going to go out there and start shopping for an inferior product to try the keep the previous price where it was. Were going to continue to stay steadfast with buying the very, very best ingredients that our customers have come to know. And, unfortunately, its going to get passed along, right . Things are getting expensive. But our customers have come to know and trust us. They know what theyre going to get. And the last thing i think theyre going to want from us is to start compromise being on what were buying. Liz tell me about customers in hong kong, paris, riyadh. You have restaurants in all those areas. You seeing any differential between what people are willing the spend . I think to spend . Liz whats the best, how about that . The best market right now . Certainly, south florida is booming for us, las vegas yet again booming. New yorks record numbers. And then as we start to look towards internationally, were, you know, were bullish in london again. And were opening a couple of places in london next year. And if we go far out east, hong kong has is coming out of a slumber, a multiyear slumber liz really . That is starting to see the beginnings of the breaks there. Theyve had a myriad of challenges throughout the last 35 years, and were starting to see the beginnings now of some sun shining over there. Liz you know, youre not just in the Restaurant Business where, i would imagine, you buy lots of input, you know, everything, fruits, vegetable, beef, pork in wig big, big numbers here, but you are also in food retail. Youve9 got the carbone sauces now. Yep. Liz tell me how that business is doing, and thats where you have to start to look at the cost of glass, steel, labor. Absolutely. The business is doing incredibly. Were doubling year over year right now. Were on record pace for our got choir category. To your point, we have to watch these margins to the penny. So that we dont price ourselves out of the category. Liz can i just say . Somebody told me one of those jars, i dont know which one, is 34 no. Liz no way, right . The pice key rigatoni in new york city, carbone. No, we retail around 1112 in new york. Liz i see, the actual entree, i am told. Dish at the restaurant. I would not be doing very well if that was 34. Liz i was going to say [laughter] thats even more than marios. All right. So your biggest challenge going forward, is it paying your workers higher wages . Are they demanding that . No, they should have that. They should absolutely have that. Were doing well, and that absolutely needs to be passed down to our people. Thats how we keep and retain talent and how we get new talent. So retention is number one, make sure we dont lose our people, and then beginning to find ways in which we can diversify what hospitality means. Like, it means hotels, it means consumer packaged goods. Thats where were going to start to see really interesting businesses laterally for us. Liz good luck to you. Thank you. Liz you started with one restaurant in little italy. Look at you now, all over the world. Congratulations. Thank you so much. Liz mario carbone. Inflation, of course, one of the hot e topics for investors. Robert herz covick is going to join us tomorrow to share his views on how to invest, how hes investing around that and so much more. Thats right here on the claman countdown, 3 p. M. Eastern tomorrow. Up next, part two of the mario brothers show, Mario Gabelli on deck in a fox business exclusive. His Investment Firm is paramount ifs second largest shareholder behind Shari Redstone, the woman who is angling for a merger. She wants to sell her shares. He is about to join us on why he is not angling for that and what he thinks needs to happen to nearly triple the stock from where it is right now. So where is it right now . Paramount at the moment at 10. 76. Its gaining 3 . And President Joe Biden calling for a tripling of tariffs on chinese steel products, this as he reiterates support for u. S. Steel to remain under american, not japanese, ownership. Weve got the details on his trip to steel city. Thats coming right up. Stay tuned the. Dow is down 57 points. Do you charge forward . Freeze in your tracks . Or, let curiosity light the way. At t. 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The all new godaddy airo helps you get your Business Online in minutes with the power of ai. With a perfect name, a great logo, and a beautiful website. Just start with a domain, a few clicks, and youre in business. Make now the future at godaddy. Com airo music unnecessary action hero unnecessary. Was that necessary . No. Neither is missing your daughters competition to do payroll. With paycom, employees do their own payroll so you dont have to miss your daughters big day. Time to shine. Get paycom and make the unnecessary unnecessary. Liz breaking news, we want to put steel stocks up on the screen here as President Joe Biden holds a Campaign Stop in steel city in the last hour. The president meeting with Steel Workers in pittsburgh as he announced new actions to protect u. S. Steel and shipbuilding from unfair if trade practices by china. The president calling to triple the tariff rate on chinese steel and aluminum imports and is asking the u. S. Trade representative to investigate chinas shipbuilding practices. Fox business Edward Lawrence has been following the president s 2day trip to the keystone state, hes got the details on todays focus on steel including, i guess, edward, comments on the potential sale of u. S. Steel to japans nippon steel. Reporter yeah, exactly. And as everybody knows, the u. S. Steel the shareholders approved that sale. But the president just now telling the Steel Workers that he guarantees, he says i promise i will keep u. S. Steel an american company. You know, there is a review coming on going on of this deal in the building behind the white house, the Treasury Department looking into that. No decision as of yet. But the president saying i promise this will stay an american company. Now, the president in pennsylvania, in pittsburgh saying that he wants to triple the tariffs on china dumping steel and aluminum on the global market. The president also announcing hes opening an investigation into with chinas practices related to Maritime Logistics and shipbuilding sectors. Public comment will be accepted on that from now jillion june until june 5th. Any action on these or the steel and aluminum tariffs would come at the earliest mid summer. Committee these chinese steel ends up dumping extra steel onto the Global Markets at unfairly low prices, and the prices are unfairly low because chinas Steel Companies dont need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese Government subsidizes them so heavily. Theyre not competing, theyre cheating. And weve seen the damage here in america. Reporter the Chinese Embassy in the u. S. Responding saying the u. S. Is making the same mistake again and again with tariffs and investigations into unfair if practices. Now treasury sec today yellen yesterday pushing this issue at a chinese economic working meeting group. You see it right there. Still, the u. S. Senate today, senator mike crapo yesterday why it took so long to make yesterday why it took so long questioned why it took so long to make this move. Can the ustr has yet to period whether the wto or under section 301 or under the phase i one deal, nothing. Todays announcement accepting section 301 shipbuilding petition which could take a full year to complete does not make up for over 3 here toes years of inaction on china. Reporter the president also directed the Commerce Department to continue its investigation into specific products being dumped on the market. Again, liz, the president saying i promise that this will be an american company. He does have the authority after the review to make sure this stays an american company. Back to you. Liz thank you very much, Edward Lawrence. Fox business alert, could the federal trade commission be about to commit a fax faux pas . If investors seem to think so is. Shares of Fashion Holding company capris and tapestry are both down anywhere from 2. 33 to tapestrys just under 1 following a report from if New York Times deal book that the federal trade commission is preparing to block tapestrys 8. 5 billion acquisition of capris. Tapestrys three major brands, coach, kate spade and Stuart Weitzman while capris is the Parent Company of michael kors, versace and jimmy choo. Meanwhile, keeping with the fashion theme or, urban outfitter s is going out of fashion on the wall street catwalk, shares dropping 3 after a jeffreys cut from the a hold to underperform. Jeffreys notes a deceleration in rolling 3month traffic to urbans brands which include Urban Outfitters and while competitors like abercrombie have seen an uptick in foot tracker, also cutting the price target from 42 to 32. Shares at 36. 9 right now. Lets flip it over to eli lilly. Those shares are on the move to the upside by just under half a percent. Earlier they spiked to about 771 a share, were at 749 now. This happened earlier in the session after after positive results from its sleep apnea trial came out. The companys weight loss drug, zep bound, showed significant promise in reducing nighttime sleep ap my ya events in people with obesity. Resmed, which makes medical devices that also treats sleep and breathing disorders, that is moving in the opposite direction. Kind of makes sense here. Down about 6 at the moment p. A major group of paramount if globals common share hold hers are steaming mad. They know that as the Entertainment Company is deep in exclusive merger talks with David Ellisons skydance media, they know that if this happens, they would not get a buyout premium like the largest shareholder, Shari Redstone, will. Whats the possibility of no sale at all . Thats what paramounts second biggest voting shareholder is pushing for. Mega investor and chair and ceo Mario Gabelli live in studio next on why he thinks paramount Ceo Bob Bakish is doing a bangup job at the firm whose stock is down 52 over the past year and what he thinks could be done better with than a merger. Its a fox business exclusive. Youve got to watch this. Were coming right back. Clems not a morning person. Or a. People person. But he is an i can solve this in 4 different ways person. You need clem. Clem needs benefits. Work with principal so we can help you with a plan thats right for him. You know what im saying . Let our expertise round out yours. The day you get your clearchoice dental implants makes every day. A lets dig in day. Mm. A chow down day. A take a big bite day. A perfectly delicious day. Mm. [ chuckles ]. A love my new teeth day. Because your clearchoice day is the day everything is back on the menu. A clearchoice day changes every day. Schedule a free consultation. I wanna hold you forever hey little bear bear. 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Call now for your free awning idea kit, with local dealer info and 200 discount certificate. life is better under a sunsetter act now and save liz as we were showing you earlier, shares of paramount are up today, now up 3. 7 . But with the stock just under about a 11 a share, its been kind of a dismal picture, down nearly 73 over the last three years. According to seeking alpha, paramount, albemarle and etsy were the most shorted companies in the s p 500 in march with paramount seeing the most Short Interest at 4. 7 . Clearly sorry, 14. 7 . Clearly, investors are betting hat stock is going to go down as the Company Light now is embroiled in right now is embroiled in a merger battle. The president of National Amusements, sharry redstone, is reportedly looking to merge the company with david el softens skydance media, something many shareholders are vocally against. Paramount is composed of 40 million voting shells. Redstone owns about 30 million of those, super majority here, leaving 10 million many common shared holders hands. Half of that 10 is million is own by Investment Firm gamco investors, and chairman and ceo Mario Gabelli has a lot to say about the deal and protecting his clients interests. Mario gabelli joins me now in a fox business exclusive. If you can help it, will this deal with Shari Redstone and skydance and the paramount shares happen . Well, id like it to happen but in a certain different way. Look, we love mergers and acquisitions. Financial engineering is 101. You just saw what ge was able to do with their spinoff. A Great Company, crane. The stocks tripled. So the notion of what is needed, National Amusements, nai, seems to have some financial challenges liz thats sherry redstones she runs national amuse ifments. Their companys had problems with can covid, with the screen actors guilt strike, so on. They guild strike. They own 30 million of the common and 30 million of the voting. They own 9 lets call it 10 of the economics of paramount, but they have 75 of the vote. So the question then is what is she doing to the help all of the shareholders and help the company. So skydance is basically a Great Company with regards to content capabilities. And the management at paramount is very good at managing the business of what they do with pluto, other company, but they need to have extra juice on content. You step back, liz, the content spend in 2024 by comcast, by disney is 25 billion. Then theres Companies Like clustered around 16, 17, 18. Pararah a mounts one of them, netflix is one of them, and theyre coming out with results tomorrow, today, whatever, and you have zaslav at a warners there. And if then apple. 1 billion. So the question is 11 billion. How do we energize the contentful im not going to say its Mission Impossible. But Mission Impossible is, by the way, what skydance came up with. [laughter] you know, is paramount a Mission Impossible to do a financial on the other side, the way i look at it is the following the debt has been reduced at paramount. T down to 11. 5 billion. I dont know the debt at national amuse ifments, but they also will have the benefit of a strong tailwind in broadcasting today. Every one of our viewers should give money to their favorite politician. Why . Because if theyre going to advertise. And theyre going to advertise on linear television. Liz but, on sherry, you said she should be thinking about everybody. Whined she have a fiduciary duty to common if shareholders . She has a fiduciary duty to herself x this has been public that she always had an outsized voice. That outsized voice, because of her holdings, enables her to change the whole board. Everybody knew that. Thats been the no, no, no, come on. He who has gold rules. Come on, weve always known the golden rule forever. Thats 101 of the Investment Business for the last 120 years. Basically, she has threequarters of the vote and, therefore, you know that she can rule. Independent of that, shes entitled to a premium for that. All i want is that everyone that owns voting stock, its traded the same way. And basically we have no liz but hay entered their deal when they bought their shares knowing that they didnt get that premium. Most investors, including i have a thousand clients that own the voting stock. I have a few that own the nonvoting because of historical reasons. Weve been in it since viacom was spun off from from the paramount from cbs. We were there when sumner bought viacom. Controlled it in a proxy fight. We were there when cbsviacom merger on and off, so we would like to be there in the future. Content is very good, and theyve got to figure out a way to do what netflix did which is get distribution, and thats a work in progress. Liz and David Ellison and skydance, lets say this is ready to go through. Right now they are in exclusive talks up until may 3rd. Liz up until may 3rd. How hard are you willing to fight to stymy this . None. Liz youre not going to sue . I thought you said no, no, no, no, no. We make love. We would basically wait to see whats on the table. As an example, as an example of m a, you take what a Company Called lionsgate was able to do. They have stardis, which is a small starz and then they have content. Theyre raising financing through a spac being merged into their content company. So lionsgate is a holding company. Theres a lot of Financial Engineering that could work. Were waiting to see the cards on the table face up. Liz what would look good to you . What would be palatable to you . Brian allen liz byron. Byron allen, sorry, and that is a certain amount for the voting stock, a certain appointment amount for the nonvoting and a deal to the entire company. I dont think thats a Mission Impossible transaction. However, they do bring an understanding and the culture of understanding content. And content over a long period of time is going to work. So well see when the cards are up. And if the cards are unfair, have to do whats right, and that is protect our clients interest and all the other voting shareholders interest and do whatevers right in a legal way. Are. Liz have you consulted subtled consulted lawyers ahead of it . We talk to a lot of people. I do research. Ive probably gotten 200 profit in the last 10 days, and we read that, and our analysts read it, and we do understand options in terms of the dynamics. Liz okay. Until, noah once said this, your cousin, years and years [laughter] liz my ancient cousin you dont Start Building a ship when it rains. You plan in advance. Liz well, its too late now. No, its not. Liz you sure . Bob bakish is running the company at the moment. Whats his big requested that you have felt will work considering the stock has not performed well . Well, a lot of stocks dont perform well and some do well, okay . Some are in transition. Weve owned john deere now for probably 45 years. Some years it goes down. Berkshire hathaway in 1999 liz okay. Youre a longterm investor. Im a marathon runner. Liz why not in the shoreshot short term allow some dilution if she sells to skydance can and then theyve got great ideas like you said, hes no idiot over at skydance. Im just playing devils advocate no, youre not, youre being fair. She has to take what he wants to do for National Amusements. I just want the same pice for my voting shareholders as shes getting for her voting shareholders. All were created equal. Liz what are your favorite opportunities right now of companies that you feel are well managed . Well, our ideal world is a well managed, a Good Business by a wellmanaged company and, liz, a reasonable price. Some of the ones that weve looked at in the past, gatx out of chicago, the rail business. Weve owned that for 45 years. They know how to buy equipment, they know how to rent it, heavy gone to be india, theyve gone to europe. Theyre now dealing with engines that are in short supply, and they are making money. The stock is, symbol is gat, an liz yep, its under there. 127 right now. And they basically will earn 8 next year, and they have 35 million shares out. Well run, theyre doing a good job. Second is at t itt, i invested when i was 13 years ol liz yeah, its an old company. The name is old. The companies are constant hi changing. Liz sure, sure. At one time they actually owned Madison Square garden. So thats an extraordinarily well run company with no debt and, again, 80 92 million shares and i may have to connect that to 82 million. Basically, thats a good one. Another one, crane, e mentioned. Techstron. Scott is doing a great job there. Theres 99 2 million shares, that one 92. And basically i think theyll earn 6. 50. The other one you should not ignore this time of year liz oh, you always bring this up, the atlanta braves. Well, good. Great memory. The stock is 40. John malone is going to think about it. But its more a subset of subset of entertainment. Think of what katie canlin liz caitlin clark. Yeah. Clark. And think about what do you call that thing, soccer and think about basketball with. Look at the fact that the president s cup was given to the rangers. Think about the fact that the knicks are in the playoffs liz yeah. And the rangers. Yeah. The rangers will do extremely well. So now jimmy dolan, who used to be beat up by everyone, has the sphere working in his favor, the knicks, the rangers and well know tonight are they going to may the team from philadelphia whose name i cant remember and the team [laughter] liz philliess. No, the 76ers. Liz oh, basketball. Youre thinking too too fast. No, im not if. Im basically ignoring what i want to talk about, which is m a and deals and what we see happening in the next year. And one of them that you talked about earlier was capris. Why would the federal trade commission worry about ladies bags . I mean, its crazy. Liz are you saying and you had a source guy liz yeah. We had the red sauce guy, mario car bone. No, and the ftc was make inquiries into campbells soup which we are buying, raos. Kwr06r i dont have a problem with everybody making increase, but they have to understand the impact on the ecosystem. Liz let corporate love making happen, is what you like to say. You know, as long as they dont cost me more money. Liz i tell ya look, adam smith and ricardo had this 200 years ago. [laughter] just have a policeman that does their job. But everybody should know the rule of engagement in advance. And that is the regulators are doing a great job. Gary gensler, lina khan, but they have to be a little more practical in the world. We want to compete against the chinese, and weve got to go fast forward. Sometimes we need scale. Liz we are not at the end of this paramount if drama yet no, come on. You love the movies. You want to never see the ending. You want to go and then have the sequel. The sequel will be when skydance is involved in the content part. Liz okay. All right, thats your prediction. Mario, great to see you. Thank you very much is. While mario was talking, the dow turned positive, how about that . Up about 4 points. We shall watching every tick of it for you. Charlie gasparino coming up next to react to Mario Gabellis view on paramount and what he is hearing on the inside. The claman if countdowns coming right back. You can stay around. If. After last months massive solar flare added a 25th hour to the day, businesses are wondering what should we do with it . Im thinking company wide power nap. [ employees snoring ] anything can change the world of work. From hr to payroll, adp designs for the next anything. I was only 23 when i was first diagnosed. Hi, im jason and ive lost 202 pounds on golo. So the first time i ever seen a golo advertisement, i said, yeah, whatever. Theres no way this works like this. And threw it to the side. A couple weeks later, i seen it again after getting not so pleasant news from my physician. I was 424 pounds, and my doctor was recommending weight loss surgery. To avoid the surgery, i had to make a change. So i decided to go with golo and its changed my life. When i first started golo and taking release, my cravings, they went away. And i was so surprised. You feel that your body is working and functioning the way it should be and you feel energized. Golo has improved my life in so many ways. Im able to stand and actually make dinner. Im able to clean my house. Im able to do just simple tasks that a lot of people call simple, but when youre extremely heavy theyre not so simple. Golo is real and when you take release and follow the plan, it works. Liz well, major paramount shareholder Mario Gabelli just making news in an exclusive interview right here on the claman countdown, he wants sky dans paramount merger to happen but not in the form that is being discussed at the moment. Charlie gasparino is here right now. He wants the content to move to them. He is fine with byron allen getting television stations. He doesnt want the deal . He doesnt want the deal . Liz he want his gamco shareholders get same as Shari Redstone. He doesnt want the deal. I love mario. Known him forever. He is such a brilliant investor. He sticks up for his clients, for himself. He will fight for every penny and thats what he is doing here. He knows that, you know, for a common shareholder theres not, i dont think theres a lot of you know alternatives here, you know. Okay, does byron allen have the money . We dont know. He says he does, just so you know. Im not saying he doesnt but a lot of questions about that. Is this, there is a case to be made here that the redbird, skydance, redbird, i guess kkr conglomerate, consortium, better word, will be, you know, will be common shareholders when its over. Be with him and they will be all working together to make this thing happen if it can with a new generation of leader, meaning David Ellison and a different Business Model and more capitalization. Thats, they will make that case at some point to investors. Heres the thing i will say as all the smoke clears on this thing, people will start saying les moonves was right. Liz former head of cbs. If you remember, ive been covering this for so long, this is when it was viacom and cbs. Shari, her own man, sumner, put this together, bear live but still alive. She wanted to combine this together. Les tried to turn around to launch incredible proxy fight and hired litell lipton, went to war to basically separate out cbs and sell it. That was his ultimate plan. He would have gotten taupe dollar for that then. Les was king of all media. He was a juggernaut. Les moonves got blown out eventually. Left in various scandals and this deal was shut down by shari because she is the Controlling Shareholder but he tried. He tried a way to dilute here. It was like wild stuff. When i talk to people who are into paramount, cbs, viacom orbit, they all say les was right about this, when it comes down to it. The most value for shareholders would have been that, maybe selling this. She still would have made money. Were stuck with a company that has a bunch of melting ice cubes, weird Ownership Structure and status quo and byron allen are not probably going to make it. Mario, he is a brilliant guy. He can read a Balance Sheet better than me. I dont know, man. There is not a lot of options left here. Liz by the way he said he wont sue ahead of it, but if he doesnt like the terms that come through he will sue, make mo necessary take. Mario is from the bronx. He will not get screwed on this. Liz we have to run. We should look at tesla right now. Right now tesla shareholders are asking to vote in favor of ceo elon musks 56 billiondollar compensation package at the companys annual meeting set for june 13th. That package was voided by a judge earlier this year. Lets get to todays countdown closer who says you know what . Corporate cronyism which is at the heart of this issue is a factor and important one in investment philosophy. He has list of companies he likes the good corporate governance. Ed, what names fall under that category if not tesla . We like teradyne. We like dbg and we like waste management. Corporate governance has become a very big thing for us in International Assets. Were sick and tired of board cronyism, capital, were capitalists but crony capitalism is almost as bad as socialism. We need pure capitalism. I like Mario Gabelli. I havent looked into this particular deal, paramount, charlie is talking about so much but i do know mario fights for the shareholder, the real shareholders. It is not like what happened look what happened at disney just a week or two ago. I mean blackrock, vanguard voted with disney. Hey, you know, iger appointed, he had his handpicked successor fail miserably. Now he gets paid millions upon millions of dollars to come back. All he managed to do coming back is get his butt kicked by ron desantis. Maybe he should go back to making movies families take their children to see, i dont know. Were looking at companies with solid boards with lots of experience. Liz that includes waste management,ppg and teradyne. Ed, come back again. We had a lot of breaking news. [closing bell rings] ed cofrances co, International Assets advise sy ceo. Tomorrow shark tank