House Economic Advisor larry kudlow someone we know and love worked here a long time. Saying that the u. S. And china are getting close to an agreement. He described the talks being very constructive in his words saying the mood music is very nice that has not always been so in these things. He sded that the president is not ready to sign the deal just yet. Also getting word in china, vice premier lu will be holding principal level calls today we are up 60 points about all it is worth, i would say. Right now, hong kong confirming overnight that they have plunged into the first recession in a decade. That marks the second straight quarterly decline. The Financial Hub has been suffering from violent protests, the u. S. china trade war the week of rage continues to boil over. Well get over to matt bradley for more on that andrew, yes you are right. This has been six months of protests this started with the extra diction bill that started over the summer that has been drawn. You can see universities like behind me they are becoming citadels theyve put up cameras to block video. Students here, especially foreign students are having to leave. Other students in hong kong will be taking courses on line. They are basically ending classes for the year protesters are learning things like how to make a maltov cocktail and how to throw one. The entire city, we are seeing a slow down as the six months of protests are really taking effect on this business. Behind the university is the cross harbor tunnel connecting calhoun and the main island of hong kong. That has been closed now at least more than a day. Protesters have threatened to shut that down now we are really seeing a lot of the infrastructure taking a hit. That decline, the first time in 10 years, it is unclear whether hong kongers are going to continue to stand with the protesters if their pocket books are affected in terms of being on the ground there daytoday, what percentage of people going to work are going about their daily lives or not you know, it is surprising. When you see these images, they look like les miserable. It really is quite dramatic. The reality is less so the protests here are easily avoidable. You can walk around them for the most part, it is mostly an optics issue. It is not so bad protests come from time to time but you can avoid them mat bradley, fresh your report this morning. Amazon says it is challenging the pentagons award of the cloud contract that could be worth up to 10 billion to microsoft accusing the government of deficiencies and errors and unmistakable bias amazon was seen as the front runner of the contract known as jedi it was known the bid was under review it was later awarded to microsoft. Microsoft said it would have been challenging for a u. S. Agency to be objective in the process after the president disparaged the amazon ceo jeff bezos. I have not heard that recent claim by whoever made it with regard to the jedi competition second, as you know, i recused myself from the involvement. But i am confident it was conducted freely and carefully esper mentioned he removed himself from the deal because his son works for ibm who was also bidding for that contract ed lee is going to come on and say immediately because of bezos hate from trump. It is a very longdrawn out story. Microsoft 13 months ago could not have gotten it theyve also designed something that is supposed to be really good and there is also something known as the resolving door relationship that amazon has you definitely cannot prove that we shouldnt even be having a conversation about whether the political process has corrupted these government contracts unfortunately, thats where we are. Weve talked about it before the book by the speech writer where he gets the phone call, literally from the president the president says on the phone. How do we screw amazon out of this do you think if jeff bezos didnt want any appearance, do you think it was a good idea to buy the post in the first place. If you are a share holder of amazon, you could make the argument that theyve made amazons life more difficult you could make the reverse argument that theyve given them more power and more sway. The problem is it would be much cleaner if we didnt have to deal with improprieties. There are all these legacy guys getting a piece of the pie. They decided all of this jedi thing around am son. You think amazon does everything above board. Did you get talking points last night i knew what i would be up against. It is why do we even have to have a conversation . Microsoft is a Great Company. To say amazon was cheated, it is not fair to microsoft. The warning by the president on twitter about his own hatred of amazon. Why did they go to the court and not go together gao. The same as elon musk you would be much better off if you werent making all these public comments. The gao would not allow for this do you believe the gao is truly independent . Let me ask you that. This gives them more time to get their act together microsoft has made great strides. This is not a knock of satya nadella. This is not what it is about at all. Is it possible to push back against the knee jerk and everything that goes on with this guy as a voice in the wilderness quid pro quo. Now withes bribery. They got nothing on the entire Obama Administration was it bribery then . We have talked about that people in politics should be stay ago bof board i had the interview last week about antitrust issues he wants people to think he is using his mind and brain to make the right decisions. Why did he go after comcast after saying it was a perfectly fine deal. He was caving to the president on that too. The point was that he was completely within his rights because the president is out there saying these things. When we get pressure from our government to use boeing and in europe, all those countries pressure people to use airbus. You never know what is going on behind the scenes. The same argument with powell it looks like hes caving to his influence. It would just be easier if there wasnt so much noise. Just live in the real world and be happy with where unemployment is. Coming up, we are going whale watching well tell you about the biggest moves of some of the stocks reacting well tell you after this. When i lost my sight, my biggest fear was losing my independence. Mmm. Good. So ive spent my life developing technology to help the visually impaired. We are so good. We built a guide that uses ibm watson. To help the blind. It is already working in cities like tokyo. My dream is to help millions more people like me. Also revealed a new stake in Restoration Hardware it was relatively small. That caused the stock to pop about 7 last night. The firm also disclosing it bought a stake in Occidental Petroleum and about 300 shares of oxy that stands in contrast from kacarl icahn who said he is planning a process to, quote, right this teetering ship. He sold shares because it has become too risky an investment confirmed the shake in hp worth about 1. 2 billion as the Company Value waits a take over by xerox which is again another icahn investment you know what shocked me was the berkshire move the first time youve seen berkshire own less than 9 you have to wonder is that a move away from Portfolio Management or does that say hes becoming sour. That is a move as charlie sharp becomes ceo. If you like charlie sharp, you would think. I dont know what the answer is but that struck me as probably the most significant move the apple one, i know people look at but that is relatively small number of shares that could be anything happening. Any of the managers making a move the wells fargo thing jumped out. Thats a big move. Joining us to talk about some of the things working or not in the markets right now. Senior vp and Portfolio Manager. Thank you for being with us. You have a take on what Warren Buffett is doing i think it is always good to watch what hes doing in terms of apple i agree that looking at the timing with charlie is interesting. He has such a good reputation on wall street. It does strike me as a little interesting but i havent looked closely at the filings from yesterday. He joe, what are you thinking nothing im minding my own business as you should mind yours. Nothing. Nothing. Not everything needs to be shared help us ellen with how you think the market is looking at faang stocks and apple is one of them what we are seeing right now is that it is slowing. Weve seen that with the gdp and indicators when you see slowing growth, what you want to own are secular growers. Faang has historically been secular growers. I like to separate out those two things if it is the case that profits are going to be impaired, revenue will be slower, then they may not be the secular growers they have been that has historically included the faang stock and oernls within tech like . The hoe retailers home depot walmart had a great record do you buy into walmart we had an analyst say yesterday, that is going to fall in do you prefer to be walmart or target prefer to be target the other place is in technology not only in the faang stock but other areas that enable the cloud adobe, sales force, intel and microsoft which are growing quickly with the cloud and 5g related why do you prefer target over walmart . Merely a question of looking at the relative growth rates you are like the third person who said this to us . If you look at the forecast of earnings growth, target is a few points hire. Thats the main reason ellen, thank you for coming in only once a quarter actually. Not any time once a quarter. With whales, i wonder whether warren is on his way to zero hes loved it forever. He loved it for one specific reason because it was the best bank in the country because of solid management and the beyond reproach ethical behavior of wells fargo. I just think i doesnt like fielding questions about something so tainted i think hes woke to an extent you think seize back a little bit . Hes saying it is not what i used to be that is not zero but it is a big move it is significant i wonder if hes saying it is a tainted name now we are 12 years old. Thats the problem meanwhile, by the way i know what you are thinking. Hes always loved jp morgan and jamie dimon. But you probably then should like the new ceo of wells fargo. Charlie is really part of the jamie dimon news coming up, the average price of a new york city town houston has dropped 32 . Robert frank, what do you have coming up . Is. Joe, we are going to take you inside of the rental rich inside this profit that rents for 123,000 a month why the rich are choosing to rent ratthher an buy and what it means for new York Real Estate after the break. Beyond the routine checkups. Beyond the notsoroutine cases. Comcast business is helping doctors provide care in whole new ways. All working with a new generation of technologies powered by our gigspeed network. Because beyond technology. There is human ingenuity. Every day, comcast business is helping businesses go beyond the expected. To do the extraordinary. Take your business beyond. Ladies and gentlemen mini is a different kind of car. For a different kind of drive. Ladies and gentlemen for the drive to create a new kind of family car, that became a new kind of race car. For the drive to rebel, zag. For the drive thats inside you. And inside us. Thats the drive under the hood of every mini. Because every mini is. For the drive. But in my mind im still 25. Thats why i take osteo biflex, to keep me moving the way i was made to. It nourishes and strengthens my joints for the long term. Osteo biflex now in triple strength plus magnesium. Doprevagen is the number oneild mempharmacistrecommendeding . Memory support brand. You can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. Welcome back. Luxury retail steals may be shrunking but rentals may be booming. Robert joins us from inside one of those as you know, Luxury Real Estate sales have been declining but there is huge demand for highend rentals prices have gone up 4 the very high end up 14 in contrast to luxury sales down 10 . Why would the wealthy who can afford to buy. It has gotten a lot more expensive with the mansion tax a lot of uncertainty with all of this uncertainty and prices coming down the wealthy would rather camp out in a rental and wait for prices to drop on the seller side, a lot of sellers with big fancy new units that they cant really unload, so theyd rather at least rent them giving rise to the 100,000 a month rental like this one this is 6,000 square foot penthouse in tribeca in manhattan. 4. 5 bathrooms, four bedrooms 14foot cellings, incredible views. An Art Collection that comes with the apartment even at that crazy prize of 123,000 a month, theyve gotten a lot of interest for people to start renting the first of the year. 123,000 a month, thats almost 4. 5 million a year do you have to lock it up for at least a year theyve had a lot of offers for shortterm rentals theyve turned down. They are going for something at least six months but refer a year rental. You could buy a small house in some Communities Just for one month. We are on the 56th floor, the views of downtown, uptown, both rivers are just amazing. Until recently, you couldnt find an apartment like this that you could rent but because the sellers cant get the prices they want, they are putting them on the market. Did you hear that music you were playing did you pick that out . Lifestyles of the rich and famous is that what that is . That was very gray pupon that music. I would ask for that to be played whenever you are like walking on the set or doing your reports. You know they play hail to the chief for the president. Why not do that when you enter the official wealth guy anthem robert frank who cover the wealth for joe, we play darth vader. Or the simpsons, maybe. Thats a good one love and marriage sometimes i sit like bundy so glad we have higher chairs bring back the ticker. I think we should do that for robert did you hear the music . I did what do we play for you . Some kind of rent controlled apartment music. I knew you were thinking about that im going out looking why not . Buy on the dip, baby in florida . I know you but there is no taxes. How would you feel it i did this show from florida and fake it they dont even tell people they are down there. Lets go to commercial break. Taylor swift taking her feud with record executives public. She is asking fans and the carlise group for help as we head to the break, lets look at yesterdays s p 500 winners and losers that was wonderful. I loved it. It was great. It wasnt that bad. Alt here was parts i didn rely like. It was bad. It was awful. Boo through the at t network, edgetoedge intelligence gives you the power to see every corner of your growing business. From finding out whats selling best. To managing your fleet. To collaborating remotely with your teams. Giving you a nice big edge over your competition. Thats the power of edgetoedge intelligence. Sometimes, they just drop in. Obvious. Cme group can help you navigate risks and capture opportunities. We enable you to reach Global Markets and drive forward with broader possibilities. Cme group how the world advances. vo the flock blindly flying south for the winter. They never stray from their predetermined path. But this season, a more thrilling journey is calling. Defy the laws of human nature. At the season of audi sales event. Good morning, everybody u. S. Equity futures looking higher dow and nasdaq were down a couple of points each. This morning, dow futures look up about 67 points, the s p up about eight and the nasdaq up about 26 taylor swift saying borchetta and braun wont allow her to perform her old music where she will be honored with the artist of the decade award. They refuse to allow her old music to be used in a netflix document meantry she plans to rerecord versions so she can use them. She says the message is clear basically they are saying be a good little girl and shut up or be punished. Shes asking for help from the carlise group who put up her contract for sale. Angry taylor swift fans i dont know how to feel about this i remember when it happened you were very empathetic and sad. I feel terrible for her she said she never got the opportunity to buy it for herself. I feel terrible for her at the same time, i recognize she originally sold the rights to these things to these people. They are contracts it is the contract at the time she was young. You get rolled when you are younger. These guys, Scooter Braun is being a jerk about it. He is trying to twist the knife when it goes in with this. Also, shes trying to twist the knife on the other end shes trying to buy control of it. I can imagine as the artist, you want it to be yours. She wanted to buy it to have it go to somebody who thinks misled her and who did not do right by her would be particularly painful i would assume the rational thing to happen right now is shes threatening to go make copy cat versions of this. If you think can you do this legally, you would think braun would say lets have a different conversation lets consider selling this to you. Even if he turned a profit, that would be the smarter move rather than to let this play out. It doesnt play well anyway around shes going to garner more fans and support than he is hes got clients standing by him. Why would you mess with this because of what she is saying, isnt this bad business for Scooter Braun . What could carlise do is it possible carlise has any resource if they said we are going to help you, what can they do negotiate with her. They provide some of the money for scooter. Could they call they could call scooter and say, look, we dont want to be in the middle of this. You got to do this thing the question is does david reub reub reubenstien do that. It is interesting. She gets the rights to do this a year too early for her to perform it. Something losens up next year . Right i saw both camps on twitter defenders of twitter and others. I read through all of this because i was interested if she is able to reorder all these songs, that would completely devalue right. Then the question if you are a spotify, or apple music, who are you buying the copy cat song. And risking alienating her and ticking her off. Or are you going to tick off skooter braun. Nobody wants to take sides more coming up in a moment. Now going Stevie Ray Vaughn cant say anything he was great. That was a long, long time ago. Amazon strikes back contesting the jedi contract in court to microsoft next. Stay tuned you are watching squawk box on cnbc she wanted to move someplace warm. But he wanted snow for the holidays. So we built a snow globe. Ill get that later. Dylan but the one thing we could both agree o