us in an exclusive interview. there's talk of a bubble in the retail industry. now being acknowledged. biotech boom. moves from 25 to 30 to 74%. and we'll see whether there might be still more up side for the companies you're looking at. >> but we start with the big news out of washington. you've been watching it on cnbc. fbi director james comey testifying on capitol hill about the investigations underway of russia's influence in the u.s. elections. eamon javers has been following along. he has more details on what was said today. eamon? >> reporter: bill, that's right. going into the hearing there was some question about whether fbi director james comey would, in fact, confirm that there is a federal law enforcement investigation into russian influence in the 2016 elections. james comey did exactly that today to the surprise of some. here's what he said. >> the fbi as part of our counter intelligence mission is investigating the russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election and that includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the trump campaign and the russian government and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and russia's efforts. >> reporter: so there you see comby laying out sort of the scope of the investigation. what he wouldn't do is say specifically who is under investigation, what exactly the fbi's doing to conduct this investigation or when it might end. he said they're simply going to follow the evidence where it leads. republicans on the committee also very concerned today about leaks of national security information, particularly concerned that a lot of that information had made its way into some of the nation's major newspapers. congressman tray gowdy hammering that home. and whether reporters had broken the law. >> you're not aware of an exception in the current dissemination of classified information statute that carves out an exception for reporters? >> no, i'm not aware of anything carved out in the statute. i don't think a reporter's been prosecuted certainly in my lifetime though. >> reporter: the other question we had going into today's hearing, bill, is whether or not comby would say anything specifically about the president's allegations that he was wire tapped by former president barack obama during the 2016 campaign. comby did in fact say that the fbi doesn't have any information to back up the president's tweets on that so on two fronts here today the white house facing some concerns. sean spicer taking to the press briefing room to push back on all of that. there's simply not enough focus here on hillary clinton, not enough focus on the leaking. so the white house very frustrated this afternoon about the way all of this is being covered, bill. >> i have a question and i don't know if the answer is knowable at this point, but early on in his statement director comby said -- reminded the members of the committee and told the public that he had already briefed the members of the committee with whatever they had found so far but he was not going to mention anything publicly which is understandable since the investigation continues. do you know once the investigation is complete if they're going to make the results public or not? >> reporter: that's a really interesting question. we do know that there have been classified briefings with james comey up on capitol hill. that's done in the sif, sensitive information area. we don't know how much of that information will be ultimately declassified. if it's classified they can come to a finding without ever releasing the full information. they could simply release some amount of the information and say that's all we can tell you because we've got to protect our sources and methods in terms of what we know about putin and the russian oligarchs. >> as a reporter, we're always pro leak. >> eamon, put your e-mail out there, phone number. >> reporter: call me. call me. >> thanks, eamon. >> thank you very much, eamon javers in washington. meanwhile, the g-20 meeting took place over the weekend in germany. steve mnuchin used the time to push back on protectionist trade policies. the summit culminated admitting a trade deal. >> we do have a new administration and we do have a different view on trade but, again, i want to emphasize that view is making sure that trade works for the american workers and works for our counter parties, that it's a good deal for both. >> so what impact could this have on the free trade versus protectionism debate that is heating up these days? let's bring in jimmy petlakukis and alan tonnelson from reality check. good to see you guys. secretary mnuchin said he wants something that benefits american workers but something that also benefits our trade partners. i mean, how does that differ necessarily from the trade policy we've had in the past? >> it doesn't necessarily differ, but here's where i think that secretary mnuchin could have done a much better job of drawing attention to a big threat not only through the world trade system but to the entire world economy that the g-20 and various other international fora keep on kicking down the load and trying to taper over and that is the growth of the same kinds of lob sided trade and related investment patterns that helped lead to the last decade's financial crisis. i'm very worried, we should all be very worried that the entire world seems to be heading down that road once again. the g-20 could be a very effective tool for helping to bring those lopsided trade patterns back into a more sustainable balance. they failed once again today and i think that that is a point that secretary mnuchin could have made much more effectively. >> jimmy, one of the lopsided things the administration wants to point to is the fact they don't think it's the u.s. that's being more protectionist than anybody else out there who's not getting called out for doing so. is that a fair critique? >> listen, you know, there has been a rise in protectionist measures over the past decade, you know, sort of across the board which is super concerning. we've also had this sort of decline in global trade growth so there's a lot of protectionism out there which is why it would have been fantastic had the treasury secretary, you know, agreed to this language saying we will resist protectionism in all forms. mnuchin said the administration's view, but i think it's fairly clear at this point that the administration has multiple views and sort of multiple camps in issue. i think broadly you have a pro trade camp which i think actually is the treasury secretary and national economic director gary cohen on one side and on the other side i think you have steve bannon, i think you have peter navarro of course and wilbur ross. they're all vying to have their policy preferences manifested by this administration by president trump. so it's like kremlinology. you're looking for every little data point and trying to figure out where this administration is going to go. i think it's wide open at this point. >> then you have a third constituency which would be major corporations. apple has been making the case for globalization. tim cook writing that piece to make the case for globalization to continue as it has to benefit major companies that do business around the world. >> however, i have to say. >> go ahead. >> jimmy, go ahead. >> here's my quick point. my quick point is, you know, the tech community has tried to make nice to the trump administration but i think a key moment here was treatmently when peter navarro trade advisor to president trump said they would like to sort of repatriate all the global supply chains and if you're a company like apple that you have to make all of your products in the you states. i don't know if it's an existential threat but they'll come forward and oppose the protectionism. >> let me make two points here. one, when we're talking about global supply chains, we have had statements from ceos ranging from ge to terry gou to fox con to fiat chrysler 2that have sai if we're facing more of a protectionist world to produce products in our own country or those countries where we sell them, that's what we're going to do. so that tells me that, in fact, global supply chains can be moved around pretty quickly. second, i do think that secretary mnuchin -- >> i don't think that's what they're saying. >> that secretary mnuchin's performance at this g20 meeting was very important for undercutting the idea that there is this near civil war that's royaling the trump administration regarding trade policy. in particular, there's this sort of goldman sachs clack that's been pushing forward with the status quo because secretary mnuchin made it very clear that change is going to come to u.s. trade policy. >> and -- >> i have a -- >> you were shaking your head at that, jimmy? >> listen, i feel fairly confident that what people at this point say in public may not always be exactly what they're saying behind the scenes. i think they're apt to -- >> the fact that -- >> they struggle on this issue. >> i'm even more confident that we should put no faith whatever into what the white house press core puts out regarding this a lblgdly nearly dysfunctional -- >> for my own conversations i feel very confident that this administration is not of one mind that reflects the views of death by china peter navarro. i do not think it is a universally held attitude in the trump white house. >> there is never universal accord, but i think the main direction is really pretty clear. >> we have to end it at that point. us and the media do have to pay the bills. thank you so much. >> god bless you. >> thank you so much. see ya later. let's get to our closing bell exchange. bring you up to date on the markets. the dow down 9 points. casandra troy from bell rock capital is with us today. peter from empire communications and rick santelli checking in from chicago as well. peter. >> yes. >> you know, i've been gone a week. i come back. market -- the stock market itself. >> nothing. >> is sideways. you could either argue that it's waiting for the next step of the economic program out of washington or that it is just run out of ideas at this point. which camp are you in? >> i'm going with running out of ideas. i think that if you look at where the stocks are trading, i mean, is there anything out there that's actually compelling for investors to jump into overall? i'm not talking about, you know, an individual stock, i'm talking about an idea. there isn't. there are no compelling ideas. i mean, people have blindly put money to work and it's been successful since mid november but at some point that money is not going to -- it's going to have no place to go. it's just -- there's nothing to be gained. there's no percentage gain going forward so people -- you know, they're pulling back a little bit. they're waiting to see if there is some story. >> casandra, i know you're still long of this market. what do you think is compelling about that? >> well, we think that there are a lot of compelling reasons to be sticking with this market, and we're finding plenty of individual ideas to put new money into. again, our thesis is to look at what's happening geo politically, and we take that as the large sort of 50,000 foot view and extrapolate from there, and so, you know, yeah, you do have to put your thinking person's cap on to find the right ideas, but if you haven't been invested in this market, you have done your clients a huge disservice. frankly, i don't care if the market trades sideways. i can always use, you know, a cover call strategy for a little while while it does that until it takes its next leg higher. >> for example, you like a couple of the airlines out there right now. we're going to do a report later in the hour about how the expectations for the spring are for higher customer loads on these airlines. you like jetblue and hawaiian air. why those two? >> well, we like those two because, a, they're just domestic primarily and the valuations are good. they've reported recently they've had growth in, you know, number of passengers per month and, frankly, we think because of deregulation that's going to be a good thing for both of them but also we think that maybe one of them, if not both, may be an acquisition target because they are missing the broader scope of being international in some way and we think that that's becoming more and more important to stay competitive in terms of pricing. >> yeah. >> so that's definitely one area that we think, plus just domestically we think given what's going on in the world people are staying more local if not, yes, the euro is cheap but that doesn't mean people want to go there as much this summer. so that's another reason why we think they're going to benefit. >> and aecom is an infrastructure play there. rick, let's bring you into this. this morning there was a lot of talk about the dollar. we're still kind of, you know, dealing with the fallout from the federal reserve's rate hikes. we're looking at it now to the point you were making last week, we're barely sitting over 100 on the dollar index. >> exactly. as a matter of fact, i found it very fascinating when you consider the notion that the dollar index hasn't closed under 100 since the 6th of february, but enter today, we did have a violation. a nice u-turn as we sit 1/5 to 1/4 above that. very significant level represents pretty much down 2% on the year because we said last year just a whisker above 102. on interest rates, similar sort of notion we're seeing some bad filling on light volume. not a huge range. only down 2 or 3 basis points on the curve but it looks to be right now where the ten year sits right around 347. the lowest yield close since the first of march of this year. so consolidation in both those markets. the dollar index to the point where maybe it's going to have a mid trend reversal but the equity markets are still king down here and everybody understands what peter and casandra have been talking about. it's not easy to divine exactly why it's hovering here without any retracement. that still seems to be the single biggest factor of what's keeping many traders down here looking for higher rates and a bounce in the dollar. >> before we go. >> yes. >> i know we're out of time. her seeming criticism here of those who are sitting this market out. you're not alone in that. there are a lot of people like that. you do feel like the may tag repair man here, don't you? >> i think i'm becoming more and more of that individual leading a path and discovering things that people haven't discovered more. i think the market we go over 21,000 on the dow, i think that it's a short and i think that i'm going to go out, if we do reach it, we probably will at some point this week, i will definitely start to short the market because i do think that we are going to am could back. >> you've got 86 points left. >> i'll take the other side of that. >> i love that. >> i want to know about the maytag repair man. >> i'll explain at that later as well. thank you for joining us. see you later. >> 45 minutes to go. little bit less than that. dow's a little bit positive. we've been bouncing around this afternoon. the volume has been light. quad reaching day on friday. still dealing with the fallout on that. small declines across the other major averages. the russell down 7. we're just getting started. hope you can join us, coming up ebay's ceo will join us about the battle to conquer industry leaders amazon and walmart with guaranteed free shipping. up next, is the biotech boom back? we'll highlight three biotech stocks and see if today's gains are here to stay. you're watching cnbc, first in business worldwide. is it because so many go after it the same way? chasing after short term returns. instead if getting caught up with the crowd, the investment managers at pgim take a long term view, teaming specialized active investing with risk-management rigor, to seek out global opportunities. we manage over a trillion dollars this way, attracting many of the world's leading investors. partner with pgim. the global investment management businesses of prudential the power of a low volatility investing approach. the power of smart beta. power your client's portfolio with powershares. before investing, consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. call 800-983-0903 for the prospectus containing this information. read it carefully. distributed by invesco distributors inc. we cut the price of trades to give investors even more value. and at $4.95, you can trade with a clear advantage. fidelity, where smarter investors will always be. welcome back. meg tirrell is here. >> first, some deal news. san francisco based biotech cytomx is soaring on its expanded partnership with bristol-myers squibb. the partnership which started in 2014 has focused on immun immunotherapies which have had incredible results but only in certain patients. we talked with shawn mccarthy about how it's aiming to change that. >> we're designed to make safer, more effective, more localized therapies which allows us to combine more effectively and get more patients into long-term remission. >> combination is really the future in immunotherapy. next, we're looking at clinical trial news. it's designed to provide pain relief that can lead to abuse and they're up 40%. guidance from the fda driving up esperion. today recovering and then some on news of a potentially quicker path to market than some had worried. so esperion out there 71%. >> i have a question on that. a gain like that, does that speak about the profit potential on what we're hearing on the drug or how thinly traded that stock may be? any idea? >> probably a combination of both, bill. they have had such a dramatic move on friday based on some competitor data from amgen. guidance from the fda may be soothing some investor fears that they would have to go through long term, onerous time consuming studies to get the drug on the market. >> when we see the pops like this, obviously they wonder, a, tell me what the other one is going to be so i can get in on it. b, are these sustainable? when we see these reactions, do we drift lower? it's probably different for each one. when you have positive results like for nectar, that does set an expectation. additionally with cytomx, showing a lot of confidence, esperion we could see fluctuations. we haven't seen the across the board positive reactions from biotech and people might be taking that from a good sign. >> they will fluctuate. >> commandments. >> yeah. thanks, meg. >> see you later. >> 37 minutes left in the trading session with the dow now up 7 points. we've been fluctuating a little bit on either side of unchanged. the s&p you can see down four points. the nasdaq if we wait a minute here. i thought it was going to go unchanged. the russell is down 7 points. there it is. >> attention shoppers, report of an early merger is moving shares of a couple of organic grocers. we'll have those details next. also ahead, why airlines could be heading for a boost this spring. stay tuned. with e*trade's powerful trading tools, right at your fingertips, you have access to in-depth analysis, level 2 data, and a team of experienced traders ready to help you if you need it. ♪ ♪ it's like having the power of a trading floor, wherever you are. it's your trade. ♪ ♪ e*trade. ♪ ♪ start trading today at etrade.com what's critical thinking like? a basketball costs $14. what's team spirit worth? (cheers) what's it worth to talk to your mom? what's the value of a walk in the woods? the value of capital is to create, not just wealth, but things that matter. morgan stanley welcome back. there are shares of apple that hit an all time interday high of 134. could y cowan raised its estimates. bernts also reported the stock could rise another 10% over the next six months thanks to the growing services business. >> 9.2% to go or thereabouts. meanwhile, sprouts farmer's market surged in today's open although shares have since pulled back. the organic grocer has reportedly held early stage talks with grocery giant albert son's. that recently happened. bloomberg said a plan was discussed to take sprouts private and add it to albertson's stable which includes safe way and shaw's. albertson's says it does not comment on rumors. they delayed plans to take albertsons public in 2015. sprouts for its own account picked up steam towards the end of last week. sprouts rival whole foods is getting a boost from all of this talk about sprouts. >> still fighting deflation. >> exactly. >> and we also had word today that target got a new head of its grocery business after the last guy left. it's an extremely tough business to be in. >> what they're having to do is to diversify. you've got now a company like albert son's which is very big out west. they've bought other chains, vaughans and safe way. now they're going after the organic market that's so hot. >> whether the deal happens, you have to wonder about the prospects to go public. time for a cnbc update. >> hi, guys. here's the news update at this hour. british prime minister theresa may holding a joint prime minister briefing with the first minister of wales. her government announcing it would trigger article 50 on march 29th signaling brittain's departure from the european union. a south korean government spokesman says there has been significant advancement in north korea's rocket engine capability. on sunday north korea conducted a ground test of a new type of high thrust rocket engine that leader kim jong eun called a revolutionary brake through. billionaire philanthropist david rockefeller has died. he led j.p. morgan chase. he was the grandson of john d. rockefeller. he was 101 years old. a remarkable individual. and nfl spokesman says two tom brady jerseys including one from the patriots super bowl last month have been recovered. the other was from the team's super bowl win in 2015. the associated press says a former executive from the mexican tabloid was involved in the case. they haven't named that person yet though. so details still to come. that's the news update this hour. bill, i'll send it back down to you. >> thank you, sue. i remember in 2005 we interviewed mr. rockefeller when they reopened the observation desk at "30 rock." >> what a great guy. >> yeah. real tight in the business. that's the end of a generation right there. i'm here with a new generation of business titans. >> i thought you were about to say the end of a generation. >> kenny plca-- polcari. what is left to be known to move the market? >> the only thing i see is earnings that will start in a couple of weeks. the macro data seems to be what it is. we're on target for an improving economy. earnings will start in 2 1/2 weeks. you're starting to see some revisions of those earnings coming down from what they were. i think the issue behind that, the catalyst behind that is going to be if the monthly numbers start to get too strong is janet yellen going to talk about either an additional rate increase this year or a bigger increase for the two that we're going to get? i think that's going to be the catalyst that's really going to move the market. >> playing the cat and mouse game with the fed? >> absolutely. >> how about health care? health care stocks have suffered greatly. >> with every -- every word that comes out about the health care bill, either they're going to rally or get hit again. until there's some clarity on what that bill. >> you don't want to touch it? >> i think if you touch them you have to go in knowing that there's going to be a lot of volatility depending on who says what today and tomorrow. therefore, they'll remain volatile until there's some more clarity. >> meantime, the dollar, you know, suffering a little bit after last week's fed rate increase. yields have come down. >> which is very interesting that the dollar should be under a little bit of pressure because it wasn't like she said we got one increase and no more. then you might think the dollar is going to get weak. in fact, she said we're going to have two more. evans came out and said he'd support possibly three more. quite honestly, i think this is a little blip in the dollar. i think you're going to see the dollar turn around and get stronger. >> thank you, kenny. less than half an hour to go. the dow is now up 19 points suddenly. it only just turned positive. see if the s&p can join suit. the russell is still lagging. up next ebay's ceo speaks with us exclusively about taking on amazon and walmart and guaranteeing speedy three day deliveries. later more executive departures at uber. we'll see the impact on uber shares in the private market. stay i with us. u know how ge technology allows us to fix problems before they... they slow production, yeah. well, no more catchy business acronyms. wait, we don't need to smooch? i'm sure we can smooch a solution! we just need to "hover" over the candice, problem until... just let it go... hey, sorry i'm late for team building. smoooooooch! that felt right. what's wrong with you!? he's so trusting... hthis bad boy is a mobile trading desk so that i can take my trading platform wherever i go. you know that thinkorswim seamlessly syncs across all your devices, right? oh, so my custom studies will go with me? anywhere you want to go! the market's hot! sync your platform on any device with thinkorswim. only at td ameritrade welcome back. online shopping driving down the brick and mortar sales. as online sales grow ecommerce are at increased competition with each other. >> yeah. starting to hand out some of the goodies out there. e. pay has ebay says it is going to take on amazon prime. joining us from the shop talk conference ebay ceo with courtney ragan. >> i am here with devin wenig. you just finished speaking on stage at the shop talk conference. let's start first with the new guaranteed delivery. how is this really a step up when 2/3 of your products are already delivered free and in two days or less? >> i think people shop ebay with their passions and the things they love. we know there's a group of our buyer segments that want certainty. they want speed and they want certainty. for us 20 million items will now be in a guarantee of three days or less. i think when you couple that with our extraordinary inventory advantage and our price advantage, that was a really important announcement. i think our consumers are really going to love this new service that we're rolling out. >> ebay is trying to compete in many markets around the world. india is one of them. is ebay investing more in flip cart? >> we run ebay india. we don't comment on rumors. we're always looking a the the possibilities to win in every market that we compete in. e. pay india is a major market and we'll continue to invest in it. >> devin, we talk to brick and mortar investors about ecommerce. i get to ask you your view about the brick and mortar world which is struggling. you have a lot of the department stores that are closing stores. there's talk that there are too many retailers out there right now. how do you think this plays out? does it necessarily benefit the online retailers out there? >> you know, i think the complete death of stores has been greatly exaggerated. with that said, the fourth quarter, the last holiday season was a really important moment. i think it was an inflection point where that was the end of retail as we know it. i do think the restructuring of this industry is going to happen faster than a lot of people think. the entire world will not be online. there are, quote, capacity and utility issues in retail. people don't like poor store experiences and the fourth quarter was the moment people will look back on and say that's when the current structure of the industry is irretrievable. i think it's going to move fast enough, i do. >> got a question. >> devin, let me follow up with that. by restructuring, what do you mean? most people are referring to the fact that a lot of the stores have to go away. you seem to be getting at something much deeper than that. >> first of all, i'm not sure that all the retailers are going to make it in a healthy economy to this holiday season. i do think you're going to see drastic changes in store footprints and also what stores do. if a store is not providing a great entertaining customer experience. if a store isn't in many ways a mini distribution center, i'm not really sure what its purpose is. i think a lot of retailers are getting their head around that but it's not easy if you've built up a store footprint over decades because the pace of restructuring is happening super fast right now. >> i've got a question. there are sort of a couple layers to it. it will probably have to be our end point. i haven't heard president trump mention very much at this conference at all, but there are very big potential consequences to some policies that have been proposed. you wrote a very passionate memo to your employees after the inauguration. you have a t-shirt on today that sends a message. do you think that president trump is something that is positive or negative for ebay? what about cash repatriation? what about the border adjustment tax? there's a lot in there. >> i'd separate out the president of the united states with issues we're passionate about. i absolutely want the president of the you states to succeed. i'm a ceo of an american business and i'm an american businessman. i really care that our president succeeds. with that said, we're going to speak up about issues that for us aren't about politics, they're about our business. we have employees from all around the world. they come from countries all around the world. responsible immigration matters to us. trade matters to us. we're not going to be shy about those issues. we're really trying to separate out the politics of democrats and republicans which isn't important to us from the issues which are critically important to us. us and the rest of the tech industry have been vocal and we will be about issues that directly impact our business. >> your shirt says a quality trade inclusion in ebay for those that can't see it. thank you very much. i appreciate you being with us. ceo of ebay. kelly and bill, back in new york. >> great stuff. thank you, court, very much. devin, thank you as well. >> remarkable comments there. >> i agree. i think we are -- i remember last year at the holiday we thought that was an inflection point as well. we're going through that. >> really when we came out of it, you started to see the closur closures. and devin said i'm not sure all of these retailers are going to make it to this holiday season, even if the retail spending numbers in aggregate are very strong. perhaps a lot more news to come from that sector. >> very, very interesting. 20 minutes to go to the close. dow is holding on to a gain of 14 points. s&p lower. nasdaq 5902. up two points. russell is still lagging. today is the first day of spring. >> really? >> flowers aren't exactly blooming. they did that in february. but the planes are flying high and that may be better news for airlines than flyers. that story is next. hasbro shares are higher today. it may have something to do with the new friends, the band queen. the band, queen. what the toy maker and classic rockers are doing on "closing bell." we'll take it all again when we come back. ♪ ♪ she can't become a guitar legend just by playing air guitar. the baby's room won't build itself. and her paw won't heal on its own. we're all working forward to something. synchrony financial can help your customers make it happen sooner. so she can plug into her dreams... and they'll have a new addition for their new addition. whatever you're working forward to, even if it's chasing squirrels, synchrony financial can help you get there. ( ♪ ) it just feels like anything is possible here in upstate new york. ( ♪ ) at corning, i test smart glass that goes all over the world. but there's no place like home. there's always something different to do like skiing in the winter, jet skiing in the summer. we can do everything. new york state is filled with bright minds like samantha's. to find the companies and talent of tomorrow, search for our page, jobsinnewyorkstate on linkedin. search for our page, the power of a low volatility investing approach. the power of smart beta. power your client's portfolio with powershares. before investing, consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. call 800-983-0903 for the prospectus containing this information. read it carefully. distributed by invesco distributors inc. containing this information. read it carefully. i love the smell of napalm in the morning. no, this is double espresso. hodor! hodor! ehhh, hodor. you guys watch game of thrones, right? inconceivable! surely, you can't be serious. i am serious. and don't call me shirley? stream all your entertainment. introducing at&t's new unlimited data plans. plus, get the amazing new iphone 7 on us. ♪ what we do every night is like something out of a strange dream except that the next morning it all makes sense. to power global e-commerce fedex networks are massive far-reaching and, yes a little magical. ♪ joins us now for what's up in the skies. phil? >> it's going to be a very busy spring in the airplanes, in the airports and if you are flying somewhere this continues what we've seen, kelly, really for the last several years. take a look at the number of people, record number of people flying on u.s. air lines. the bulk of these are in the united states but there's some international flights as well. 823 million last year and that's continuing this spring. airlines from america, that's the industry's trade group out with its forecast from spring travel. it says 145 million people will be taking a flight in march and in april. that is a record high for spring travel. by the way, the math works out like this. an additional 89,000 daily travelers. that's how many people will be flying and that brings up the question, well, what can you expect in terms of the airplane? will they be more crowded? yes, they're going to be crowded. keep in mind the airlines have been adding flights, particularly here in the united states. airfares, they're expected to go up as they usually do in the spring. right now they're around $233. supposed to go up to $256 on average for a domestic ticket in june and when you take a look at the airline index versus the s&p 500, one reason why the airline index has been outperforming the s&p 500, the expectation that you've got deregulation under the trump administration and you finally have the airlines because of those increases in ticket prices, they should be back into positive territory with the passenger revenue per available seat. that's what drives a lot of the near trade when it comes to the airline stock. so, guys, it's going to be a busy couple number of months. >> phil, i'm just wondering. we've come off a slew of reports about them adding food service back to the cabins and how the trans atlantic carriers now have a bunch of whole discount thing going there. so, you know, is it not the case that the competition is heating up and pushing prices lower? is it instead that -- >> it depends. it depends. you often see ticket prices move higher in the spring heading into the summer. that's traditional. what you do not notice and we don't have the chart right now, but if you compare spring ticket prices this year going back over the last three or four years, they're lower than they were, let's say, three or four years ago in part because you've got greater competition. real quick, regarding this, these stories are out there all the time. discount carriers going to europe. there are a few with select flights to a select number of airports on the east coast. certainly a story worth watching but we are nowhere close to seeing a discount fare war or airfare battle in the sky. that's the way it's being portrayed. >> i've donor weej bege norwegi >> those are select, select, select flights. very few. >> i like it they're going to hartford airport now. it might be easier to get to hartford or j.f.k. >> try westchester. that is a very good airport. >> tiny. >> thanks very much, phil. >> you bet. >> i was in arizona last week, part of spring break. the flights were all packed, packed. but then it was spring break. >> i won't ask for any crazy stories. >> i'll tell you later. 13 minutes left in the trading session with the dow now up eight points. it's a mixed day. s&p and russell lower. nasdaq is higher. when about everybody else? the u.s. versus the rest of the world. which is the better place to invest? we'll have that debate when we come right back. various: (shouting) heigh! ho! ( ♪ ) it's off to work we go! woman: on the gulf coast, new exxonmobil projects are expected to create over 45,000 jobs. and each job created by the energy industry supports two others in the community. altogether, the industry supports over 9 million jobs nationwide. these are jobs that natural gas is helping make happen, all while reducing america's emissions. energy lives here. we were informed that the market on close orders showed a bias on the buy side of $150 million. not a lot. we've moved a little bit. the dow up five points. meantime, the trump rally has been on pause so far this month but global stocks have led the way higher. the s&p 500 is up just half a percent since march 1st. the japanese nikkei is up 2%. vanguard's european etf is up 4% and emerging markets are up over 5%. you see where we're going. >> emerging markets up 14% this quarter. where is i don't remember best place to put money, u.s. or overseas. >> he likes global markets while chris martin says stay here in the u.s. chris, i'm going to start with you dwr n you. why miss out on it? >> emerging markets dropped off. there are a lot of question marks over what was truly going to happen. now we're seeing a little bit of settling in the volatility. the emerging markets have gained some of that strength back. what's going to happen is we're going to see clarity on the side of domestic markets. we'll see where the policies are going to go. bottom line is i think it's going to give consumers here in the united states more confidence along with investors which is going to help us outperform the stocks in '17. >> you're back, steven, from a whirlwind tour of some of the markets that you like. >> yes. >> what did you see and what do you think? >> i think it comes down to valuations in many cases. having been in china, japan, europe, i come from the perspective from a u.s. dollar based investor, it's been a great market. been a great eight years. economy looks okay. we think europe is attractive to diversify globally. emerging markets are looking attractive. these are positions we've been in for a while. a lot of the capture you've mentioned -- >> what about the dollar? do you just embrace the fact that you have to accept, you know, x volatility? you're not just making a naked bet on the direction of the stock markets? >> exactly right. if you look at japan, that is a nikkei trade. if you've got the currency right, you want to be hedged depending where you live. we think that the dollar rally's probably 3ish percent, 5ish percent, not plus 20. the dollar will work less hard on you. you have to get the currency right. that said, the fundamentals down side projection gives you a little bit of projection. >> chris, what's the catalyst that will make the u.s. market attractive again? we've been sideways here for a while. what are you waiting to happen that will push us higher again? >> stephen is mentioning valuations when you look at the european markets. last year they got negative 1% growth in earnings. this year they're expected to get still more than 14%. when you compare that to the united states we're expected to get 10% and we're on pace right now to possibly see 9% year over year in the first quarter. i think that the expectations are much too high when we look overseas right now when we look at the earnings picture. bill, that's where things are going to happen. that's going to be the catalyst. one last thing when steven mentions the u.s. dollar, this is the strongest rally and it's going to continue since the turn of the century. that dollar really is going to turn into a head wind and that's still going to be something that international investors are going to have to go against them. >> wish we had more time. >> only been 17 years. >> yes. stephen wood, chris johnson, thank you both for your thoughts today. up next coming back with the closing countdown with the dow down. freezing ad space on google and youtube after being placed next to controversial content. coming up, you're watching cnbc first in business worldwide. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i looked at my options. then i got a medicare supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call now and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, it helps pick up some of what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. to me, relationships matter. i've been with my doctor for 12 years. now i know i'll be able to stick with him. [ male announcer ] with these types of plans, you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. plus, there are no networks, and virtually no referrals needed. so don't wait. call now and request this free decision guide to help you better understand medicare... and which aarp medicare supplement plan might be best for you. there's a wide range to choose from. we love to travel - and there's so much more to see. so we found a plan that can travel with us. anywhere in the country. [ male announcer ] join the millions of people who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp, an organization serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations. remember, all medicare supplement insurance plans help cover what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. call now to request your free decision guide. and learn more about the kinds of plans that will be here for you now - and down the road. i have a lifetime of experience. so i know how important that is. i'm in vests and as a vested investor in vests, i invest with e*trade, where investors can investigate and invest in vests... or not in vests. this is my retirement. retiring retired tires. and i never get tired of it. are you entirely prepared to retire? plan your never tiring retiring retired tires retirement with e*trade. inside the two minute mark as we head towards the close with the dow down four points. i've been gone for a week. spring break. you know how it is, i get back and want to review how things have been going. last week obviously the big move was after the fed rate increase, but an interesting move. not the one you might have imagined. the ten year note was getting pretty comfortable earlier in the week 2.60 and then it slid. we're back below 2.50 right now. the dollar index, we were just talking about that moving lower after the fed rate increase and that served to push oil higher which made a run at $50 which used to be the support level, now it seems to be a resistance level of sorts and we're at 48.25. through it all my dear friend bob pasani, the stock market continued sideways. >> very low volume. typical of a day after triple witching, quadruple witching. the ten year is a problem. another tough day for retailers. kohl's and dillard's down. >> the ebay ceo, major infliction from retailers. >> it looked like that was going on today. again, there was not a lot of news to move these. nat gas up 4% on a day where oil is down. market's hardly notice it. we did timely get some of the nat gas stocks moving. >> good to see you. going out with a decline of 8 points on the dow. hope you did hear those comments from devin wenig from ebay. if you didn't, we're going to recap them on the second hour of the "closing bell" with kelly evans. see you tomorrow, kel. thank you, bill. welcome to the "closing bell", everybody. i'm kelly evans. here's how we're finishing up on wall street. the dow was positive until the bell but it dropped 7.5 points. 20,907 is the level for the blue chips. the s&p 500 dropping about 1/5 of a percent. 2373. nearly five-point decline. the nasdaq looks like it managed to stay positive. earlier in the session it actually hit an all time intraday high, 5912. so the nasdaq has been out performing the other averages the last couple of weeks. the russell has been doing the opposite, under performing down half a percent drawing some attention in the wall street journal about the way small caps have lagged so far this year. 1384 is your level there. again, fourth straight day of gains for that nasdaq. apple today hitting all-time high. we'll have more on all of this in a moment. uber's president is leaving just six months on the job. how could the brain drain affect the private market valuation? we'll talk more about that coming up. joining me on the panel today, cnbc's market columnist michael santoli, sarah ketterer along with deutsche bank strategist larry adam. welcome one and all. mike, first of all, as mentioned, we're coming off a big day. a lot of volume on the close on friday. ch quieter today. the action was kind of all over the place. >> it's kind of holding steady. it's hard to call it a cautious tone. the financials are down. small caps lagging. it seems as if the market is resting or it's taking it more seriously. that's what we have to sort out over the next week or so. >> blah action. >> it pretty much is. it's hard to really make too much trouble at the index level. there's a lot of give and take underneath. >> sarah, we've got so much drama happening in washington. we had confirmation hearings taking place and then we turn our attention maybe thursday gets a little bit more interesting with jay clayton at the s.e.c. in terms of the catalysts, consumers feeling like more deal making can happen. does all of this factor into your investments? do you hope the train's moving along and we get to something more substantive in terms of the tax plans? >> we may have to keep waiting for the tax plan. the market's already anticipated. the u.s. market is three times book value versus efa. i differ with your previous guest and say the u.s. market is discounted quite a lot of good moves already. >> all right. larry, what about you? how do you assess things? >> no, i agree. we've become cautious on u.s. equities. we've gone for neutral weighting on u.s. equities. valuations are the most expensive that they've been since 2004. when you look at the events, that's creating a log jam down in washington which may prevent washington from focusing on the more substantive policy issues like tax reform. if that doesn't happen, that will disappoint the market. >> want to go back that shares of apple were trading at an all time high. google looked like it was going to snap a nine day win streak. snap got a buy rating from the street. then there's the food names, things happening there with albertsons and with sprouts. unilever might be selling some food brands, for example. there's a lot of activity under the surface. >> you mentioned apple, google, those types of companies that have been leaders. maybe it's too much to ask them to actually continue to carry things forward, but i do think deal making should be a little bit of a subtheme going on on an ongoing basis right now just for all the conditions basically that are in place for that. by the way, also when it comes to sprout, one of the things at mna, be careful shorting stocks that are expensive or too trendy. that was another heavy short that might be in play. it's been tough on both sides of things long and short to really find the things that are going to work. >> do you think we're going to see a pickup in retail deal making? >> that is a tremendous question. i think in past cycles you would have see the valuations. wow, the buyout would be there. it's not here today because you don't know where the bottom is in terms of the overall top line trends. that's been a big question. how are you going to define what being washed outlooks like. >> department stores also got hammered in the session. down 3 to 5%. that includes nordstrom, macy's and kohl's. we spoke to ebay ceo devin wennig. he spoke about the whole retail landscape. we could be seeing a huge shift in the model right now. take a listen. >> the fourth quarter, the last holiday season was a really important moment. i think it was an inflection point where that was the end of retail as we know it. and i do think the restructuring of this industry is going to happen faster than a lot of people think. first of all, i'm not sure that all the retailers are going to make it in a healthy economy to this holiday season and i do think you're going to see drastic changes in store footprints and also what stores do. >> so pretty interesting remarks there from the ebay ceo just last hour. larry, you know, do you expect that there's going to be -- you know, how is this going to happen? is it attrition? will we have grapes withering on the vine or will there be more of an active plan to consolidate the retail sector? >> i think you're going to see more consolidation. you have to take a look at the trends. as he mentioned, if you're looking at what people are spending on, they're not spending on apparel, they're spending on technology and entertainment. you look at how they're spending money. everybody is looking at a deal. that means you're looking at offline retailers and you're looking at the internet where you get the best pricing. i think this is a secular trend. the footprint is too big and you are going to see more consolidation in that space. >> mike? i do think it makes sense to have consolidation but at what level and at what sense kind of desperation for some of these players right now. we're not yet down from all of the stocks to last summer's lows, which i think for some of them you're there. the big question is, you know, are we seeing some kind of a blip? is it just a matter of we had this kind of stutter step in store traffic and obviously the overall secular trend is not friendly, we're just trying to get the stocks cheap enough or if people will stay away and see if you can pick up some of the wreckage. >> sarah, i don't know if you wanted to add anything. you seem to have your focus elsewhere, abroad in fact. >> that's correct. as george was speaking i was thinking why get involved in retail as it structurally adjusts when you can look abroad. for example, both are international and global fund are very over weight stocks listed in the u.k. and the indigenous companies, the ones that do business locally, the likes of balfour, global construction company with a lot of u.k. presence, travis perkins supplying plumbing and heating equipment, these aren't going away. retail has to adjust massively. we still need plumbing. those stocks thanks to brexit have been hit pretty hard and on the recovery path. we still can look forward to a pound sterling approving over time as the uncertainty alleviates. so there's some great things happening that people aren't noticing. >> by the way, the u.k. saying it's going to trigger article 50 to begin those exit talks from the e.u. on march 29th. is the idea the companies should be insulated they do a lot of domestic business? >> let's say the domestic environment could very well improve. it will go through several months of uncertainty. 18 months for the u.k. once they trigger article 50 to negotiate their way out. side tracked, they've also got to negotiate trade with the e.u., but the two are completely interlinked. we expect a rational outcome and that will become apparent to the markets and should rerate these stocks upward. >> larry, before we let you go, did you see "beauty and the beast" over the weekend? disney a buy after $170 million at the box office? >> well, i don't talk about individual stocks but i will tell you i have three daughters and all three went to see the movie with their mother. i think they helped add to those box returns. >> what was your excuse? did they -- were you fixing something at home or -- >> i'm -- believe it or not, i'm actually a professor at loyola university. i was preparing the exam which is going to happen tonight. >> that's hard to argue with. >> larry and sarah, thank you for joining us. fbi director james comey testifying in front of the house intelligence committee today. for much of the morning in fact. let's get over to eamon javers. >> it was a lengthy hearing today. more than five hours on capitol hill. we learned an enormous amount about what's going on in terms of russia and the 2016 election. the first thing we learned is the fbi is in fact conducting an investigation into the 2016 election and russia's role in it. the fbi isn't going to back up trump's allegation that barack obama wiretapped him. the director saying he doesn't have any evidence to substantiate the tweets that the president made substantiating that. we learned exactly where all of this is going in terms of what the russians tried to do. comey was asked directly about were there any efforts to influence voter rolls and here's what he had to say. >> efforts to penetrate voter registration databases, state boards of election at that level, we saw no efforts aimed at the vote itself. >> but you did see efforts to penetrate registration rolls? >> correct. >> reporter: so efforts to penetrate registration roles but no efforts to affect the vote itself. that's an interesting distinction from the fbi director who said there were attempts by the russians to hack both political parties and to retrieve data from both parties but only data harmful to one of the parties was released during the presidential campaign. kelly, a dramatic day today here on capitol hill. this leaves the trump white house now with some political damage. they're going to have to spend some time now explaining all of this. sean spicer began that process this afternoon at the white house press briefing but you can expect more of that tonight and through tomorrow morning, kelly. >> that's for sure, eamon. thank you. eamon javers in washington. meanwhile, the gop plan to replace obamacare is facing plenty of intraparty resistance. hugh hewitt says president trump and his party can save with out of the box thinking. another high ranking exec is leaving uber. how could this impact stock in the private market? you're watching cnbc first in business worldwide. ♪ it's been over 100 years since the first stock index was created, as a benchmark for average. yet a lot of people still build portfolios with strategies that just track the benchmarks. but investing isn't about achieving average. it's about achieving goals. and invesco believes doing that today requires the art and expertise of high-conviction investing. translation? why invest in average? welcome back. president trump holding a key meeting at the white house today as he tries to convince republicans to support the bill to replace oake. our ylan mui has the details. ylan? >> reporter: kelly, the countdown is onto the floor vote in the house on thursday to repeal and replace the affordable care act. i have confirmed that president trump will be on capitol hill tomorrow morning as he tries to drum up support among republicans for this legislation. today he met with secretary tom price here at the white house to discuss the path forward. he also met with house speaker paul ryan and also zeke emanuel who is the brother of ram ee ra emanuel. >> it's not about ideology or party, it's about instituting a patient centered, drug centric health care system that benefits the american people and gives them the a being ses and price point that they can get health care. >> reporter: the president's challenge is to win over conservatives without jeopardizing the bill's chances of passing in the senate, which is more moderate. one of the changes that's currently being discussed is whether or not to increase the tax credits for older americans and for low income americans and one of the points that the president has already conceded to to conservatives is the ability to grant states block funding for medicaid payments. also granting the state the ability to establish a work requirement in order for beneficiaries to qualify for medicaid. so some negotiations already underway. the president heading to kentucky later on today where he'll be holding a campaign style rally. he'll be in his element as he tries to sell this to the american people. we'll see if he's able to do that. >> we look forward to that in louisville tonight. thank you. as we get closer to thursday's votes in the house on this bill, our next guest said this can be saved with tax reform and deal making from the president. hugh hewitt outlines how the tax code can be used. he joins us now. welcome. >> hey, good to be with you, kelly. i'm right in terms of the president getting it out of the house. i think it's almost certain to get out of the house because of a manager's amendment that paul ryan is putting together with the new york delegation and others today and the president's going to go up to the hill to close the deal tomorrow it was just reported, but in the senate there is this very odd rule, reconciliation rule, that an amendment has to be germ main to budget to spending and taxes in order to change it. that's where the republicans have to get out of their box and get creative if they want it to get out of the united states senate. >> let's talk about that. it's not often you hear republicans say you have to do more taxes, tax penalties. explain why you would take this approach in order to advance the bill along and what that would mean. >> some of the conservative critiques of the bill is that it does not do enough to repeal the worst features of the obamacare essentially the led and essential benefits rule. well, if you tax plans that go over a certain minimum essential benefit requirement, you will disincentive advise state commissioners from allowing such plans. so a tax amendment can do that. they want tort reform as well. if you tax plans that come out of the state that does not have a cap on pain and suffering damages, you can't incentive advise states to do that. >> yeah. >> both of those amendments would get through the parliamentarian i think under what is known as the bird rule. the bird rule says to get a reconciliation amendment which only requires 51% of the votes has to be germ main to taxing. they have to use that to accomplish conservative repeal goals. >> let me ask you this is especially as it sounds like there might be a way to glet th thing through the house. peggy noonan said this. she said a fix, and she's talking about the fix to obamacare which by the way seven years ago today was signed into law, she said a fix can't just spread the misery around in a new way emphasizing why she thinks a bipartisan deal is necessary saying it would be a boost to the national morale. it wouldn't be about constricting and cutting, it would feel expansive, constructive, even hopeful. hugh, does she have a point? are the republicans replaying all of the democrats' errors from a different point of view this time around? >> she might have a point but i deal with reality. ted cruz yesterday said the mythic call third bucket is a they can thecker's bucket. there is no third bucket. so republicans are caught in the same box that democrats were caught in eight years ago. a purely partisan fix to a bipartisan problem. i think they can get through most of what they want and then secretary price has administrative authority which is vast over at hhs so i'm very optimistic that they'll get some stuff done. donald trump is a closer. that's what developers do is they are permit centered people. i don't see democrats coming across the aisle. i think the judge will get confirmed with democratic votes but i don't think they'll help republicans repeal obamacare. >> some of the creative solutions might create a path to doing so, getting past this. i wonder if in the senate politically for these members it's actually a calculation weighing, trying to make good on a promise against the inevitable reports of people losing coverage. whether you think that's a manageable or acceptable issue or not. how does it get some of the members of being able to vote for something? >> it's political calculation. lindsay graham said why not go with collapse and replace. i think collapse and replace wipes out the republican majority in the house in 2018. if you run on one thing and the president ran on three things, the wall, the corporate tax cut rate and repeal. he's going to get two of the three. if they walk into 2018 without repealing the taxes of obamacare without driving down premiums, they're going to get slaughtered. they'll deserve to get slaughtered. >> hugh, as we let you go, what are the odds right now this thing gets through the senate? >> very good. i think that donald trump is going to go in there and twist so many arms. again, i go back to his developer. i always thought he was apolitical. they're critical path people, cpps. it will go to the senate. he's put rand paul in the box. susan collins is a second vote lost. he'll get the other 50 plus mike pence. i think they'll get something done. >> hugh hewitt, thank you for joining us this afternoon. >> thank you. coming up with out of the box things. as bertha coombs is pointing out, thursday is the actual office of them signing on thursday. >> taking the vote. >> exactly. google giving advertisers more control over where their ads appear. this after some ads on youtube in the u.k. showed up next to impressionable content. we'll show whether that could hurt google in the huge ad business. plus, the tax man cometh. strategies to reduce your bill to uncle sam. stay tuned. welcome back. snap has a price of 25 bucks. a dollar over its price. it has innovation with the camera. all those reasons to be bullish. snap closed up 2% probably because we have a buy from the street on the name. now wells fargo meantime reporting a drop in new account activity. checking account openings dropped 43% year over year. credit card applications down 45% year on year. wells has a practice that's come to light. and prices for used cars and trucks are on the skids. the nada used car guide index division of j.d. power falling for the eighth straight month. february prices dropping 3.8% from january. remember, they're dropping almost 4% in a month. that's the biggest monthly drop since 2008 obviously in the middle of the financial crisis. february crisis down 8%, mike, year on year. >> eight straight months of declines as well. to me it shows you that even though the overall economic cycle is kind of chugging along, it's kind of in this extended recovery period, it's not all synchronized. there is a lot of supply. we know that the new car dealers and manufacturers have been running incentives out. there's a glut and pressure on non-luxury and cars. >> i have my own angle which is the cadillac subscription model. for $1500 you can have an escalate on demand when you want it. why would you ever need to buy a car again? >> yes. i don't know if many people are saying am i going to buy the five-year-old honda accord or am i going to get an escalate subscription. >> for $1500 a month. >> to your point, there's a general sense you don't have your identity bound up in cars anymore. it's not that big of a deal. you're going to bias much car as the lender is going to let you buy or the lease is going to get you. it's not about passionately bidding up the value of the cars. the brain drain at uber meantime. the ride hailing services president becoming the latest exec to leave the company. how can uber right the ship. monopoly is about to get a royal makeover. the rock band offering a new way to pass go and collect 200 bucks. the rock band queen. welcome back. here's a look at the close today. a half point increase there. and this after marked a high during the session. not the same for the dow. the blue chips dropping 9 points. stayed above 20,900 today. they were fluctuating all day. s&p 500 dropping 1/5 of a percent or 5 points. russell small caps down half a percent to 1384. time for cnbc news update with sue herera. hi again, sue. >> hello. nice to see you here. let's tell you what's happening at this hour. the senate judiciary hearing starting hearings on kneel gorsuch. >> when i put on the robe i'm also reminded that under our constitutions for this body the people's representatives to make new laws, for the executive to ensure the laws are faithfully executed and for neutral and independent judges to apply the law in the people's disputes. a strong opening weekend for disney's "beauty and the beast." the live action adaptation of the animated film brought in $170 million over its opening weekend in north america. setting a record for family movies. analysts say its success could open the path for disney to pursue more live action remakes of their animated classics. the happiest place on earth is not disney world. it's norway. this is according to a united nations agency report. toppling denmark from the number one position. the rankings are based on gross domestic product per person, in other words, wealth, and a healthy life expectancy. there is very little income inequality. the u.s. was ranked 14th. >> i'll refrain from passing judgment on norway, you know. >> it's nice to have that much oil wealth that you have a windfall. >> yes. >> an endowment for everybody. >> that's exactly what it is. and in the 2008 financial crisis they really fared really well because they had stockpiled all the money from high oil prices so they didn't have some of the problems that other parts of that part of the world had. >> huge wealth fund. >> you've got it. >> norway envy. thank you, sue. >> sure. more bad news for uber as another executive departs. jeff jones president for six months resigned saying his beliefs don't coincide with the company's. investors are waiting anxiously for the company to go public. it's valued at $68 billion. the executive exodus is one of the issues they're dealing with. edmund lee, managing director at recode. how serious is this? >> i mean, it's certainly serious in the wake or context of all of these other departures they've had. in this particular case as we know uber's been looking for a number two, sort of like a sharyl sandburg like at facebook and be sort of the business grownup in the company and, you know, jeff wasn't going to get it. that's as much playing into this as his statement which the values of the company don't align with his. you have to give him credit for saying that out loud. there's definitely some internal politics to that departure. >> i have a brilliant idea. what if they go after sharyl sandburg, can you imagine? >> can you imagine? the thing is she's really happy where she is. she's working at a company that's very well managed and worth a lot of money. even more than uber, it's a good idea. sharyl sandberg didn't become sharyl sandberg until she came to facebook. they need to find the unknown or known quantity who can steer the ship for them. >> wait. i thought sharyl sanberg was going to go run disney or twitter. >> disney or state department if it was hillary clinton. she has all the opportunities, yeah. >> ed, i guess i wonder right now, i mean, what would this new person need to be doing? i mean, what's the job -- aside from just trying to interrupt of this drum beat of negative headlines that uber is dealing with here? >> there's definitely a pr factor here. a lot of uber customers are interestingly enough looking forex cus to delete the app. they certainly use it. they like the service. they like the value of it. given all the reputational damage that the company's had, they're looking forex cus. there has to be a pr fix and there's the business itself. they still lose a lot of money in markets where it's just not -- they're having to compete with lyft or others. some markets they're certainly profitable. they need to figure out how to boost this. that's the actual business side they need to sort out. >> i want to talk a little bit about this. as i understand it, they still benefit from negative churn. once you start using the app you're more likely to keep using it as opposed to the narrative deleting uber and all of that thing. if that's the case and they're still trying to build this for the long term, what's happening to the shares in the private market? it will be great if we can see an executive departs and immediately see what the shares are doing but we can't. what's your feel, ed, for the prospects there? >> well, so that speaks still to the benefits of staying private especially in these kinds of instances. your constituency is a much smaller one. you don't have as many people to worry about. investors are still really worried about it. it hasn't taken a hit about what shares are worth on the secondary market or if it were public. they've sort of stopped the equity investments right now. they did some leverage loans last year. about 2 billion, something like that. they've already raised a lot of money with the loans, with the equity about 15 billion. they're worth about 70. this in a lot of ways feels like the public company in the size and amount they've raised. investors want to get in despite the changes and hiccups. >> that's what i was going to say, mike, you look at snap's now gone, airbnb might gradually be coming. does uber, do we see them ripping the bell? >> at some point it becomes harder and harder to resist. if you have enough shareholders you have to report financials as though you were public. right now they do enjoy the benefit of the close investors who buy into the fact that they have a business model here. if you were going public it would be harder to make the case that this thing scales, this thing works. so i think they're going to try to resist it but ultimately down the road this much need for capital over time you have to think that they're going to at least set the stage for going public. >> you don't think any of this has contributed to a big speed bump for them. i wonder it's much less reported on but this seattle ruling about the drivers and how they're classified, whether they're able to unionize seems like it could be a bigger deal for the company down the road. >> there are definitely some bigger structural issues and the lawsuit that google filed, their self-driving issues. they have to smooth that out. they're going to go ipo. that's really of course the goal here. any investor now is looking towards that. any potential investor still wants to buy in for that reason. there are some structural issues they have to sort out. they're leaving the market in a lot of places. i think that's to their benefit for sure. >> yes. my parents are hooked. >> are they? >> part of the negative churn. >> the day they would go public the question is are autonomous vehicles going to up end the whole thing. they could be a player in that. >> i think they want to being. to be. they're going to rein higher profits. you're going to keep the full fare. the vehicles can run 24/7 practically. that's what they need. they need more volume. autonomous could give it to them and they'll get higher sales from each fare. >> going to be crazy. ed, thank you for joining us. >> sure. >> ed lee. tax day is april 18th this year. if you've waited until the last minute to file, don't worry. there's still time to minimize your tax bill. we'll tell you how coming up. ad outrage. digital ads showing up next to pretty questionable content. advertisers are not happy about it. we'll look at the potential fallout coming back. tonight on "fast money" chris verrone, a trstrategist will reveal some things to buy in the next hour. welcome back. shares of alphabet breaking a nine day streak. a report showed some of its spots were showing up next to what they deemed questionable and unsafe content. now the association of national advertisers is demanding tech firms allow for independent audits on a day they're providing it to advertisers. facebook and google continues to gain power in the digital ad space. digital ad spending is coming in this year at $83 billion versus $70 billion currently spent on television which has much stricter standards than the internet. what impact could it all have and how much control advertisers have on platforms like google, joining us are mike jackson ant matt britton at post 9 from crowd tap. welcome to you both. matt, it's understandable that now that the spend is so big, bigger than tv, there needs to be more accountability. so, you know, i can't imagine silicon valley firms will be able to argue against this. >> everyone says accountability, accountability. television has no accountability in terms of metrics, selling broad 18-49 cookie cutter demographics. with platforms like google and facebook you can -- >> we're talking about something slightly differently. >> content accountability. >> you placing something, you have a more granular sense of who's seeing it and where. >> sure. >> digital versus tv, but do you actually know where your content is going when it goes into some of these ad platforms? >> right. i think that this issue is somewhat of an easy fix for google. the issue with a platform like youtube, there's 300 hours of content being uploaded. it's hard to keep up with the content and be able to properly categorize it. we want to juxtapose this advertiser next to it. i think once new technologies come about where you can have facial recognition and content recognition and can see the fine of c type of content, it doesn't exist. it's a risk advertisers have to make. >> mike, in the case being referenced here there are established consumers brands might show up after a white nationalist. they were outraged. should there be more accountability that firms know if i'm putting my ads out here and they're putting it on platforms that that's not going to happen? >> yeah, i agree. i think they need to adopt a zero tolerance policy. when you look at the sheer amount of ad spend that is being shifted to digital, i think it's just going to be imperative for google and facebook to figure it out. irrespective of the amount of content being posted, if i'm an advertiser, i want to pay -- i want to know what i'm paying for. frankly, i want my brand represented on sites that i agree with. >> mike, what would it mean though to sort this out? obviously part of the move to digital has been the move towards these kind of programmatic ad exchanges. so essentially you're kind of putting it in the box and seeing what content your ads get put up against almost after the fact. there was going to have to be a higher touch process? >> it's funny because there are huge benefits in your ability to understand the data and use tools like dynamic targeting and the fact that these integrated campaigns, they really work. so, you know, if you just take a step back, i think if you went with a zero tolerance policy in the short term if you utilize kind of third party audits and ultimately provide some sort of window for a technical solution, i think advertisers could be satisfied with that. >> i'm also, matt, thinking about because you said your firm works a lot with influences. >> sure. >> tremendous power, perhaps one of the most powerful was puty pie. nazi imagery coming to light. that's another example. not that you can control how people behave but if you're relying on individuals to place money, content, ads, that's another example where there's not much control. >> the fact is that millennial consumer is on the phone. when they're looking at phone looking at content mostly from other people on social platforms. other people are much likely to be controlled than big networks. back in the day when you could place a magazine ad, that might have worked in terms of control but you didn't get the amount of measurability and accurate reach. i think a lot of advertisers and brands i work with they sort of understand that there's a give and take in terms of the amount of control and risks. a news program, you don't know if you're going to agree with the political climate. a commentator supports a political view that the brand doesn't. >> it is all going to change with magazines and tv. you know, right now as the ceo of news corps put it, we have standards, established controls and been doing it for years. we have a way of handling this. do you think the same kind of thing is going to happen where tvs or the magazines say we'll give you more granular data? we're able to collect it. >> print magazines can't collect it. i think television is becoming more programmatic. they will become an addressable collectible device. you can target john smith who lives ten miles away from joe's pizza the way you can on the internet. it is all coming together. the tv isn't that far away from being a giant ipad hanging on your wall. >> mike, will there be a peak, high water mark for the amount spent on digital? will this push people away from it all going forward? >> i don't think so. i think ultimately a technical solution will be at the forefront of really giving the advertisers kind of the trust, confidence and really transparency that they're looking for. as was stated earlier, i mean, the most effective way to reach people that are in market for your product is via their mobile device. >> yeah. >> i think it's a challenge but ultimately i think google and facebook and others will figure it out. >> mike jackson, matt britton joining us this afternoon. thank you so much. >> appreciate it. coming up, 29 days away from the tax filing deadline. we have some last-minute strategies for you. that's next. also be sure to tune in to "power lunch" tomorrow. i'll be speaking with ib ibm ceoginni romety. that's at 2:00 p.m. don't miss it. the command performance sales event is here. experience exceptional offers on our most refined models ever. get up to $2,500 customer cash on select 2017 models for these terms. experience amazing at your lexus dealer. at crowne plaza we know business travel isn't just business. there's this. 'a bit of this. why not? your hotel should make it easy to do all the things you do. which is what we do. crowne plaza. we're all business, mostly. this year april 18 is finding ways to help your taxes. you have an extra three days due to a federal holiday. you have until april 18 to file your taxes. you can use that extra time to make sure you're cutting your tax bill by as much as possible. one of the easiest ways to do that is to maximize your contributions or i.r.a.s. every dollar you put in lowers your amount of taxable income. you still have until the april deadline to fund them. the maximum you can put in each year is $5,500. for those 50 or older, it is $6,500. make sure you have the most updated version of payment work. this is especially for for 1099s which list various types of investment income. it is not uncommon for brokerages to send revised forms. if i file an outdated version, you'll need to amend it. and be on the lookout for scams. thieves' tactics are always changing. the most common is a caller claiming to be an irs agent looking for information or demanding that you pay a bogus tax bill. cost taxpayers $54 million. don't fall for them. rebel the irs will never contact you by phone, e-mail or text message. it only initiated contact by u.s. mail. they said the threatening tactics they're using, they're threatening to deport you, to revoke your license. so if you hear any type of threats like that, of course that's scary. i would be freaked out too but they're not going to initiate by phone. >> and another thing to keep in mind. identity theft tends to skyrocket during tax season. so do things to safeguard yourself. the irs says it is cracking down on people filing fraudulent returns. make sure you're not leaving your financial information around on your desk at work or the windows open on your computer. and they even say to lock your mailbox. >> your physical mailbox? >> that's not something i would think of but it's important to remember. just know i'm not maxing out. >> if my husband is watching this, feel free of. >> even if you leave it to the pros, last year i got a package in the mail. i thought it was a copy it was. the actual taxes to send in and i was a few days late. fortunately nothing happened. >> you didn't miss the april deadline. i'm the just saying for my deadline. >> thank you very much. forget being a real estate tycoon. monopoly wants you to be a rock star. opportunities aren't always obvious. sometimes they just drop in. 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. where's the car? it'll be here in three...uh, four minutes. are you kidding me? no, looks like he took a wrong turn. don't worry, this guy's got like a four-star rating, we're good. his name is randy. that's like one of the most trustworthy names! ordering a getaway car with an app? are you randy? that's me! awesome! surprising. what's not surprising? how much money erin saved by switching to geico. everybody comfortable with the air temp? i could go a little cooler. ok. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. on. yes, i'm doing this segment just so i can play queen. instill ahead on of buying real estate, people can build the band's career by building up. the tokens are queen songs and videos. they include a bicycle, a vacuum cleaner, a reference to the i want to break free video, and a guitar. the game is due out in may. >> there must have been dozens in the peep waiting for this. honestly, i see this as the premise of capitalism. wants and needs are unlimited. this is an example of that. and it probably says something about the demographic of queen fans. it's a board game. >> this after they kicked out the thimble. that's the other news for the game. they're bringing in a t-rex. let's talk about the market. you mentioned the s&p 500 closing at the same price it closed five day ago. it is more of a reminder of how steady it's been the. i don't want to say it has been uneventful. it hasn't. it has been very steady within this range. this gravitational pull toward the center. it doesn't really move much day to day and volatility has been so stubbornly low that i think people are starting to say, it's been low enough for long enough. >> by the way, that has not been true to bit coin. like you were saying, this justifies the decision tonight approve the exchanges. >> the whole protocol is not sorted out. what are the selling points, one of the selling points is that there are no rules anywhere. it is all about this free for all. to a fault at this point. >> we have a news lert. good to see with you those details. >> dow jones citing sources saying the federal judge in philadelphia is declining to dismiss the insider trading claims against leon cooperman. the decision allows the s.e.c. to pursue a case against hedge fund manager cooperman and the advisers and the u.s. district judge has put the trial date for november. that's the latest. back to you. >> all right. thank you. any thoughts? >> this case is most notable for leon keermman's insistence to take at this time distance. he could have settled this thing. he really thinks it did not amount to insider trading. >> at aig, you know, he just fought and fought against charges. and that was only resolved in the last couple months. >> so i don't know if it is a surprise, he wouldn't have dismissed dismissed given both sides. he has a great track record over time who has a lot to lose and not much to gain except his reputation. >> and the definition of insider trading has been fluctuating. it is going to stick around as an area for the prosecutors. >> we continue to follow the story and play more bohemian rhapsody. "fast money" begins right now. "fast money" starts right now. welcome. overlooking new york city's times square. tonight on "fast," the all time high today for apple ask that's great news. plus, car trouble. a number of auto and auto related stocks going reverse. could this be the first major track in the trump trade? and later the retail investors in full force even as the market hovers at near all time highs. first, we start off with a drama

Related Keywords

Norway , New York , United States , Westchester , Japan , Bell Rock , Fife , United Kingdom , Germany , Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , Kentucky , China , Washington , Russia , Seattle , San Francisco , California , Mexico , Arizona , India , Denmark , North Korea , South Korea , Capitol Hill , District Of Columbia , Chicago , Illinois , Hawaii , Americans , America , Hawaiian , Mexican , British , Russian , Russians , Japanese , South Korean , American , Theresa May , Zeke Emanuel , Lindsay Graham , Bertha Coombs , Travis Perkins , Sean Spicer , John D Rockefeller , John Smith , Courtney Ragan , Tom Brady , Peggy Noonan , Tim Cook , Chris Martin , Janet Yellen , Kelly Evans , Rick Santelli , Bristol Myers Squibb , Shawn Mccarthy , Steve Bannon , Peter Navarro , Edmund Lee , Wilbur Ross , Paul Ryan , Susan Collins , Chris Johnson , Hugh Hewitt , Stephen Wood , James Comey , Matt Britton , Devin Wenig , Kim Jong Eun , Larry Adam , Mike Jackson , David Rockefeller , Barack Obama , Jeff Jones , Gary Cohen , Hillary Clinton , Ted Cruz ,