effectively a fallacy. these guys have gotten tons of free content on to their platforms. they've been able to learn from their audiences and use that to create great user experiences. media companies can do this themselves and when they do, they'll turn into huge profit centers online. >> iris.tv, thank you, field >> thanks for having me. >> that does it for us here. we'll send it over to the half fed minutes on the way at 2:00 we'll see you soon welcome to the "halftime report." i'm scott wapner our top trade this hour, apple's record high. the stock has been on another tear, pushing past more milestones how high can it keep flying? with u.s., josh browne, steve leventhal, jon najarian. let's start with the most-loved stock up 10% this is restarted the apple run. here we go 162 and counting >> right and the way they release them is

right with one or two days left in the quarter the announcement comes yerba buena center in san francisco and it's available to the public with just one or two days of actual data, if you will and so i think that's likely to still be the case. i think they will still announce it and still have it available with just those one or two days at the end of this quarter >> josh, 200 bucks is that the point that investors and apple should be setting their sights on at this point? >> i don't know what market cap that would imply is that $1 trillion? >> that's over $1 trillion >> they're doing buybacks. 190? all right, listen, if the history books were written and apple became the first company in world history to be worth $1 trillion, i don't think i would fall out of my chair that's not a prediction or a price target, but i do own the stock. i've owned it forever. i've cackled with glee at all the various upgrades and downgrades over the year i continue to receive my dividend and rejoice in all the

new technology this company provides me. i would be fine with this being the first one to get there i know a lot of technologyists think it will be amazon, not apple, but apple looks closer. one point i want to bring out is that if you look at charts right now, it's as if last thursday's alleged market top never have been happened. every major index is back above those thursday levels, except for the russell 2000, not that far away transports, a luxurious bounce over the # t200-day. that's where everyone pointed to and said, they have to find support. boy, did they. and look at the f.a.n.g.s, the semis, all of xlk, back to basics it's almost as if nothing happened and this is a repeated pattern so eventually we won't resolve this way, but why bother playing this game where you think this is going to be the one >> weiss, i go back to what david tepper told me yesterday about tech, specifically, quote,

the multiples are still low. they just look cheaper than any other part of the market, even though they've moved meaning, he's talking broadly, obviously, but you can put the stocks that josh just mentioned and technology f.a.n.g.s or at least some of them into that area >> and it's important to understand that dave's not just looking at today, and now, he's also looking out two years and three years, and the phenomenal growth rates that you have in alphabet, for example, 26% topline. >> in other words -- >> where else are you going to get that level of growth, with multiples that are still in the low teens. >> and you're not in a stretch, nasdaq either. and then you've got to look where cash always finds a level, right? is cash going to find that level in credit, with a 220 ten-year, gundlach says go 220, 230. you're not making money there. and i would say your risk is much greater there than it is in

performance, obviously not no risk loss of capital. but than in equities because i think equities can keep going where the global economy is improving and to josh's point, that wasn't even a correction. we were down a few percent it's a blip. >> it had people thinking that something was coming >> it does, underneath -- the same people every time so let's just stay on the apple thing. $200 for the stock is that inevitable, jim? >> well, i do think it is. now, look, predicting the future is kind of tough, but let's talk about this >> no, it's not. >> if -- you know, if sellside analyst jim lebenthal puts out a note on apple, is that the headline look at this new record run. is $200 inevitable >> here's what i think is going to happen, scott i think the next 10% is based on the iphone 8 coming o out ae ii being a supercycle upsale. we've had analysts that disagree but when you get that next 10%

and you're above $900 billion on the market cap, i think there's going to be an enormous amount of hype about the possibility that this is the first $1 trillion stock -- excuse me, $1 trillion company ever. and you're going to see a lot of talk about it, probably see a little box in the lower left of this screen, that says, countdown to apple $1 trillion that hype -- now, this is not scientific, this is not fundamental analysis, but that hype is probably going to suck it up to the $1 trillion valuation and then get it another 10% higher i do think 200 is in the cards >> i find those levels, actually, take a while you go through them and then fall back, as you've seen -- >> we did that withapple a while ago. >> i'm talking about trillion, but i'm talking about amazon, big round numbers. >> i hate to tell you, that's technical analysis, though there's a reason why that happens. >> we're talking about 20% upside i think you need a cooperative market to help that, right because there is a pricing and a valuation umbrella to the market and you need the fundamentals to continue to go and with the iphone 8, i think there's a lot of expectation

people will buy it they'll buy it in droves and you've had no pushback from the wireless carriers. you've actually had an accommodative -- >> one other thing, too. we're talking about global businesses which in the 1980s and '90s, it's not like companies weren't doing business overdose, but not degree when apple stares at the chinese opportunity and the india opportunity, both at the same time it's almost like a whole other market's worth of consumers coming online, not today, but in the ten years, in the next twenty years and that's different from prior bull markets where you just didn't have companies with this much green field in front of them doesn't mean they'll capture it all. doesn't mean it will be great for earnings in every country they go to, but we have to stop thinking about this -- you know, markets as just a u.s. phenomenon, when we look at the degree to which the s&p is harvesting profits and revenues overseas >> i go again to the tepper

comments he's looking at world growth, right? world earnings >> which is reaccelerating >> stocks being cheaper -- >> and he points to one thing, he would say that it's global economic growth. >> right, that's driving the market -- >> but he paints a scenario that plays right into what you're saying, weiss, of a market that enables apple to continue to go up and hit that $200 level that people are now saying, you know, that nice round number straight ahead of us. >> absolutely right. and you've got a company that's arguably the cheapest of the f.a.n.g.s on a p/e basis, might not be the best topline grower, but there's nobody coming into their space. you've got samsung and apple, sure, you've got some chinese brands coming in, but they'll be in a very tight band in chooina and you'll still have the competition with the iphone. >> "wall street journal" says apple is readying a $1 billion war chest for hollywood's -- >> you don't -- >> they're making a big push there. >> they put $3 billion into dr.

dre, forgod's sake >> let's bring in tony sag knacky of bernstein joining us today. welcome back >> thanks, scott >> what do you make of this reboot and this run again for apple. these new record highs >> well, look, we've seen in advance of iphone product announcements that the stock does very well and statistically, on average, if you look back over all iphone product cycles historically, the stock has outperformed by 15 percentage points in the three months prior to a product announcement and we think this is investors bracing themselves for a new product, potentially revolutionary in terms of its form factor. and so we see this pattern it's a big liquid stock. it's really important in terms of institutional investor benchmarks and so when there's news about this product coming, about what the bill plans might be, about what feature functionality it has, you have institutional

investors move to market weights or move above market weights because of the importance of the stock. so this is a phenomenon that occurs despite the fact that this name is so well followed and. it's a pattern we've seen before and are seeing it again. >> it currently deeps you sellside analysts on your toes when you look at your price targets and your notes the stock continues to blow through price targets. not yours, quite yet 175 bucks is what you're looking at but to answer the question that we've asked our guests on the show today already, 200 bucks, foregone conclusion? >> kbroyou know, look, certainl over time, whether we get there before the end of the year or not, i think is more difficult to say how i frame it is, if you go back to the peak relative multiple that apple got during the last big iphone cycle, the iphone of and apply that multiple to $11 in earnings, you

get about $182 stock price fe if you were to believe that earnings could be closer to $12, you come up with a $200 price target so if initial data points, which, you know, we'll start to see in october, november, in all likelihood, is that this cycle could be really significant, and then on top of that, you know, you likely have potentially a new apple watch, in time for the holiday season, apple's home speaker starts selling in december you have the new high-end max coming out and you have news on the content front, collectively, those could be things that push the stock. but first and foremost, 70% of the profits of this company are driven by iphone what people are going to be focused on is how significant is this cycle how rich are the asps and how significant are the units. >> in all of the things you just listed tony, you didn't even

mention buybacks, dividends, a debt offering, and a big one, to fund that sort of activity we can call it financial engineering or whatever you want, but that combined with the fundamental things you just mentioned, a pretty powerful story. >> it is look, the stock is very inexpensive. it trades at about 11 times free cash flow, if you give them credit for their net cash position but that said, you know, apple has never really, in the last four or five years, traded at a markup multiple or higher, because there is a belief that the business is really concentrated on iphone and the history of electronics products, you know, particularly the pc market place, is that it's very difficult to sustain both pricing power and unit growth once a market becomes saturated. and so that has always been, and i think, rightfully so, sort of the ceiling on the multiple. and you know, it tends to go to

the high end of the range, when there are big product cycles the question will be, do investors become increasingly convinced that there's something beyond the iphone? whether it be services or whether it be, you know, a new -- whether the apple watch ultimately breaks out and becomes a very, very significant product over time. >> yeah, tony, as always, appreciate your commentary look forward to having you back. >> thanks, scott >> bernstein's tony sagonacci. sun trust out today, initiating with a number of buy calls on stocks. on amazon, 1220 target >> tepper's doing great with the baba call, because he added to that pretty significantly, steven, with this latest -- >> not to mention facebook >> not to mention facebook i will point out that a lot of the folks that are trading apple right now are getting more

realistic, not so much about 200, even though we tossed it around here on the desk and time frame on that, but about the 175 level. in other words, with the stock here at 161ish, 162, they're looking at about 175 as a top, for most of this year, because they're out there in november, they're aggressively selling calls at about that level, again today. >> scott, if i can make one quick point. we're obviously talking about the amazons, the apples, the real bellwethers of tech but this rally over the last month is far more broad-based than that. and a lot of the things that have been left by the side, the old-line technology for the last month really has performed well. if you look at intel, if you look at cisco, even qualcomm over the last week, now it's got some specific problems that hold it back, but even these older-line technology stocks have been performing along with this and what it may well be indicating is that money is coming into the etfs and the nasdaq 100 has to have a certain weighting in these stocks and they get sucked up with it but it is a broad technology --

>> i want to also mention that it's not only a broad technology rally, it's international. look at what ten cent reported last night ten cent is essentially the number one mobile gaming platform in china, combined with the facebook of china, which is we chat. 1 billion users and growing. this is one of the biggest winners you'll ever see. already up 70% year-to-date, continues to go higher no one talks about it. it's an enormous market cap, globally take a look at k-web here in the u.s., if you're afraid to wade into things like baba and ten cent on their own, k-web is an etf that owns chinese internet stocks it's up 60% year-to-date one of the most pristine uptrends you will find for a sector of international names. and there's this misnomer that there isn't tech outside of the u.s. and it's absolutely wrong and these companies are going to be multi-billion-dollar -- >> forcing people to focus there. call this the dance with new

brunian trade. if you think this is going to come back and tech is the place to be, it's the place you should have been already. it's carried the -- it's been the best-performing sector in the stock market and why wouldn't it continue to be so? >> well, particularly if growth is continuing to move higher, globally because if you have money and you're a business, you upgrade your technology. if you're hiring more workers, you buy more technology. if you're a consumer, you add to what you own whether it's air pods or tv -- >> echo dot. >> yep >> so, so, it should continue to go >> all right i want to make note of some moves you're making in your portfolio, outside of tech but we want to let our viewers know, a couple of interesting moves that you're making as well, that they may be interested in following. what is it >> well, so i got out of xle, which was really just occupying space in my portfolio at this point. hasn't been a losing trade, just really not much going on with it it's paying a decent dividend.

but i saw better opportunities i bought a couple of reits one is invitation homes. this is an incredible story. it's essentially starwood and blackstone merging their single-family home businesses into one it will be the number one landlord of single-family home rentals in the united states and yet have less than 2% market share. this is an enormous asset class. extremely fragmented i think this combination is going to be killer it'snot a high yield, because it's a growth reit the other one is historic capital. warren buffett just bought a direct stake from them last quarter. store is getting tarred, but the market has it wrong. they are a triple net lease operator, but it's stand-alone properties and very, very small exposure to retail what they're actually owning is the buildings that house things like petcare, salons, gyms,

movie theaters this is a 3% yield right now buffet's in, and this is a company that is not exposed to disruption via amazon. they are exposed to the hottest part of the consumer spending opportunity, which is experiences and services so i don't think this is being appropriately valued it should not trade with simon properties and the mall reits. they don't own malls they have no malls these are two ways to be a very lazy landlord, collect a nice yield, and the great thing, scott, about reits, just to wrap up, if there is inflation, if there is an uptick in yields, commensurate with that, reits raise their lease rates and so you get that inflation hedge with real estate this is a really kind of low-touch way to get that exposure >> can i add one name to that. >> both of those reits that you mentioned, josh, move nicely higher >> agree realty, adc, also triple net, also not exposed to malls. they buy essentially and build,

develop for walgreens and ore companies like that. have been a major transition in the company since the new ceo, joe avery, took over a number of years ago. >> what's the yield on that? >> the yield is over 4 about 4.6. and families have not sold any shares of the stock at all >> keep your eye on that and we basically threw in the towel on energy. >> it's not a call on oil prices as howard marks like to say, there is nothing intelligent to be said about the future of oil prices i don't have any edge there on what crude's going to do but i already have exposure to the major integrateds through indexes and things like that >> i want to stop you on something that you just said how can you be invested in the xle or get out of something like the xle without, in essence, making a call on where you think oil is going to go >> because what i'm actually doing is i'm saying, energy equities have recovered a great

deal multiples are still low, but that's because growth is low >> but if you thought that oil was going to go -- >> i have no idea what oil is going to do. i don't think anyone does. >> if you thought oil was going to go, say, to 60, would you necessarily be selling out of the xle today? >> no. no if i thought oil was going to go to 60 and i thought there was any reason for me to have confidence in that forecast. >> i don't >> that's my point you have no confidence in the future direction in crude, which is in essence -- >> show me someone who does, they're lying. it's a global commodity with a million inputs >> it's not only supply and demand, it's speculators trading every day. and you're looking at some who have done so well. i can show you hedge funds that have done incredibly well. they're losing their shirts. >> look at the oil god, what's his name >> andrew hall >> that was a misnomer i know he's smart, but since he -- >> fine. >> -- i don't know if investors made as much money as he did from management. >> no, of course not so he has all of the ability in

the world to have an edge on the price of oil nobody has gotten it more wrong for as long as and so if eckn't do it, what do i know? so you invest in energy equities, not because you know what crude's going to do you're looking for a margin of safety looking for companies that are trading at a low enough valuation that even if crude fa falls, they'll still be okay i did fine in xle. i have no reason to complain but there are better opportunities and so, when you have a portfolio, you only have so many slices of the pizza pie. >> 20 minutes in, we're just getting started. here's what else is coming up on "halftime. >> our call of the day the home builder stock raymond james upgraded to buy. expecting an 8% upside move from here plus, retails bounce the sector having its best day in nearly a month. our desk debates some of the day's biggest muirs. the "halftime report" with scott wapner and the traders is back

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fast internet to small businesses. but for many businesses, it's out of reach. why promise something you can't deliver? comcast business is different. ♪ ♪ we deliver super-fast internet with speeds of 250 megabits per second across our entire network, to more companies, in more locations, than centurylink. we do business where you do business. ♪ ♪ welcome back to cnbc i'm michelle caruso-cabrera. the ceo of ceo is resigning from the president's manufacturing advisory council a statement just coming out from the company saying, i joined the manufacturing jobs initiative in jab to advocate for policies that align with our values and encourage even stronger investment in job growth in order to make the company

stronger, were mental health he prosperous i'm resigning from the manufacturing advisory council add it to the list of ceos who have stepped down in the wake of the situation in charlottesville. >> let's change gears for a minute and get back to retail. home depot is on the move today after raymond james upgraded that stock to outperform it is our call of the day. we have talked about this stock this week, wondering what in the world is going on with home depot. raymond james, because the stock has not traded well. raymond james goes to outperform they go to 165 on the price target citi says, what's not to like? the stock pullback presents better buying opportunity. do you guys agree with that? >> i do. i think it's in the sweet spot right now with regards to, you're coming out of the summer, which is the end of home-selling season it was a decent home-selling season nationally. that means people are in new

homes. they need to buy everything from home furnishings to snow blowers. and that's going to keep home depot sales going for the next several months what happens next spring is a long way away. we'll have to see how interest rates are and how that crimps or does not crimp home sales. but right now home depot is really in the sweet spot, as i see it >> normally you would look and say, 21 times for a retailer, any retailer, is kind of expensive. but yet, how many retailers can you buy and feel as good about owning and that are executing like management has done here? not just from a store standpoint, and your same-store sales, i thought it was a great quarter. but in terms of financial engineering, paybacks and buying back stock i think it deserves the multiple and i think it goes higher and they know how to guide the street and surprise. they underpromise, overdeliver >> the stock has been selling at a premium multiple for seven years and they earn it every quarter. >> so target, right, they beat -- >> doesn't earn it

>> they raised their full-year outlook. and look, we are probably as guilty as anybody over the last many days of almost writing this company off, in that the conversation had been, it's amazon, it's walmart, and everybody else can take their lunch pail and go home >> you should still write it off. >> maybe it's not so simple. >> i'll give this to you in a second, josh but there are clearly just a handful of halves this in brick and mortar space about two months ago, they preannounced that their same-store sales were going to be up. that caught the street by surprise positively, but it's an industry that has such negativity on it and josh, i'm going to guess you're going to bring this up. but the industry keeps going down and that's the algorithms piling it on it's a tough space to invest, but target is in one of the halves target is in the hail mary phase of retailing they're going to do a lot of stuff with ecommerce now and hope something sticks.

>> they had increased online sales. they had increased customer traffic in the stores, as well >> at a lower -- listen. listen this is a company that guides lower and then they beat their lowered guidance >> sometimes >> and you have enough amateur shorts in the stock that they would go run out and cover and ultimately, a month later, you're at new lows that has been the trend. this has been going on for years. there is nothing exciting happening at target. there's no reason to think the multiples should be higher earnings are not going to grow to the extent that would justify this downtrend breaking. it's not that the company is an existential death warrant tacked on, just do something else look at the chart of walmart right now and explain to me why you would prefer to own target here's a stock that's breaking out, dramatic results in the ecommerce division i don't know what the earnings this week are going to be. but the jet acquisition being integrated having concerns be able to pay for their open goods using their phone, in the store. this is a company that's ahead of target in figuring out the

tl technology side. and the street is trying to reward the stock and i think it could break out here and this is a name, i think, has a lot more momentum than target. so if uh yo like the space, it's just a better place to be right at the moment. >> we want to pivot back to a story that michelle caruso-cabrera was bringing to us ask you to indulge us on this. we want to bring in richard fisher, the former head of the dallas federal reserve he's also a senior adviser at barclays and a cnbc contributor. i also want to note that mr. fisher is on the board of both at&t and pepsi richard, welcome back. it's nice to have you back on the show thank you. >> so sill ask your indulgence on this story that is just developing now yet another ceo is leaving one of the president's councils and ask you, as a board member of at&t, and pepsi, whether you believe that either randall stevenson or indra knewy should do the same as some of these other ceos have done and leave

>> you know, i never comment on the boards that i sit on, or on the ceos that i have the privilege of working with. so i'm not going to comment on that how's that but i will say that i though that the statement by the ceo of 3m was appropriately directed purely to economics, purely to tax policies and i thought it was quite articulate >> you're not going to share with us whether you've had any conversations or any of the board members of either of those firms have been discussing those issues and i would ask you why not? i mean, if you know, part of being on a board, one would think, other than collecting a handsome fee is in times like this, to discuss difficult issues with the steward of the company that you are there in a sense to in some respects oversee. >> you know, i think the greatest responsibility of a board member is discretion and focusing on the company's

business and that's what i do as a board member as my other board members do so again, i'm not going to comment on this subject at all i'm sorry to disappoint you, but happy to talk about monetary policy, the economics of the country and the world. but this is just not my forte. >> do you think that other ceos -- let's -- if you don't want to discuss stephenson and newy, that's fine. i get it, unfortunately. >> this is the first combative interview i've ever had on cnbc. >> it's just the news that's happening, richard i feel compelled to ask you about it >> thank you for asking. and i would hope that you would expect that i would. >> yeah, well, there you have it what else can we talk about? >> do you think other ceos should do the same >> i think it's up to them i think it's up to their searching as to whether this committee and advisory committee serves a purpose and it's up to them and up to their reading of whether or not there's utility to this committee.

so, we'll just have to stay tuned. >> i was reading a story in "the new york times" today and there was a quote in there and i'm going to read it to you. this is one of the toughest times for the consciousences of corporate boards and corporate ceos do you feel as though there's a lot of soul searching going on today in board rooms >> i think what people are looking for is some kind of tax treatment that unleashes capital gains, that leads to further employment, that gets topline growth going and i think that's the focus of most boards and most publicly traded corporations as well as private corporations so what they have been hoping for is for executive action and, by the way, you cannot just focus on the president of the united states. you have to focus on the congress, the upper house, the lower house. get your act together. deliver some kind of positive tax treatment that gets this economy pushing through this now ninth year of economic expansion. we have very good consumption

numbers. we're seeing good growth elsewhere in the world we are growing a little bit faster and i think what most people are focused on here, when you serve on these boards, as i do, is just the economics of the company and how they can prosper, grow their top line, increase their bottom rhine, retu return to their shareholders, what shareholders expect and this comes down to raw economics, as far as i'm concerned. and that's what people are hoping for if they feel the committee does not serve a purpose in pushing that envelope further, which is what everybody has been hoping for, then they have a decision to make, whether or not they're actually making a positive contribution so that's the way i look at it i think that's the way most business operators, men and women who serve on these boards look at it and i don't think that the social issues are the primarily cutting edge really, what you're trying to do is provide advice, hopefully it will be taken. that will help us expand the economy further. we're pushing the envelope now of economic growth

we're in our ninth year. there's only two that i can think of in post-war history that have gone into the tenth years. i think that's what they're focused on if they don't feel they're getting results, the committee is not serving their purpose but that's up for them to decide >> steve weiss is on the desk with us today and he would like to ask you a question. >> sure. >> just going back to your time on the fed, how much would you take into account or have concern about a political issue that's unstable? i don't think we've every seen one quite like this. and i'm not going to ask you for your political comment on it but in terms of that, how much would that factor into you at what are inflection points, such as we're seeing with the fed now. >> you know, the beautiful thing about the fed is you check were politics at the door and by the way, it saves you a lot of money, because no one will ask you for campaign contributions, because you can't give it. >> aisle ni'm not saying that. >> what enters the discussion is

what's going to happen with the budget whether or not the debt ceiling is going to be expanded. what kind of impact might be resulting on the real economy. and you're trying to develop monetary policy and keep politics out of the room i don't remember a single instance of my ten years of serving at the fed where politics entered the discussion. that's the beauty of this institution. >> and i'm not suggesting that, i'm saying, if you were on the fed right now, would you be handic handicapping, not whether you're a republican or democrat or anything like that, would you be handicapping whether or not a tax plan or an infrastructure plan gets passed or you dwoewon't do it until yoe the whites of their eyes, so to speak? >> of course, you're always thinking about what's going to impact the economy a tax plan is an important initiative so, yes, that would be part of your discussion. i don't consider that politics

what i consider it is macroeconomic stimulus here's the bottom line the central bank has been carrying the ball this entire time our congress, i used to say, when i was at the fed, is guilty of misfeasance they haven't delivered on their job. it's up to the committee to work with the congress to get things done of course, if you're changing a tax regime, you have to understand how that's going to impact the real economy. and similarly for an infrastructure project and so on but they're at a very interesting flex point, as you know, trying to decide whether they're going to proceed with paring back uber slowly the balance sheet and whether they'll move another quarter point on rates and i don't think anything to do with raw politics has to impact that discussion. but whether or not you're going to have something that helps generate more capex, more growth, more employment, yes, that would clearly, in a fully employed economy, have a bearing on your discussion >> let me bring it back to the

initial reason, richard, why you were booked. and let me ask you about a comment by mr. dudley yesterday, who said, he sees -- he's in favor of doing another rate hike later this year. do you see it that way, as well? >> the way i see it is president dudley of the new york fed is an important actor. he's premiere interparis among all the federal reserve banks and bank presidents. i weigh very carefully what he says i interpreted that discussion that he had the other day, his comments, as indicatie ining ti going to start on quantitative tightening rather than quantitative easing, but it's a very gradual process it takes ten ponce to take grip. and as a first baby step, i viewed his comments as saying, we're going to start moving in september. as far as another rate hike, i thought his comments on employment were very interesting and i would very carefully what bill dudley says because he, again, is the leading federal reserve bank

president. and i knew that when i was at the dallas fed my successor, mr. kaplan, knows that while he's at the dallas fed. the head of the fed knows that these are important inputs, but you can't set aside when bill dudley mentions anything by the way, he's very well scripted and tied into the board of governors and the board of governors staff. i don't think bill says anything that hasn't been fought through by several people, including people in washington >> richard, we appreciate it, as always talk to you again soon >> all right thanks so much richard fisher, the former dallas fed president, joining us up next, john tracks unusual activity in a chip stock that 'll ed 96% over a year wefind out how he's playing it now straight ahead on the half

hello, everyone. i'm sue herrera. here's what's happening at this hour senate majority leader mitch mcconnell releasing a statement condemning hate dwrugroups and reports of a rally in lexington. he said the messages of hate from white supremacists, kkk, and neo-nazi groups are not welcome in kentucky or anywhere in america the border between northern ireland and the irish republic is under the spotlight as the uk prepares to release proposals on

what should happen when it leaves the european union. it says there must be no border posts or electronic checks after brexit the u.s. and japan conducting joint live fire drills in northern japan japan's defense ministry announcing that ospreys, an american tilt-rotor aircraft, will join the ongoing military exercises. and 40 years ago today, elvis died in memphis. thousands of fans gathering at the singer's famous eat a tistao remember the music legend, but for the first time, graceland is charging a $30 entry fee they have enhanced security measures and the fees are going to cover that. that's the news update this hour now over to michelle with what's coming up on "power lunch" >> which starts in about 18 minutes, sue coming up, ceo dilemma, when it comes to the president's councils is it better to stay on or does it hurt a company's image and shareholders the former wells fargo will weigh in plus, the president goes after amazon on taxes again.

what's at stake for the company and is the president right and apple the buying a $1 billion war chest to produce original content are they too late? everybody else in silicon valley seems to be doing that what does it mean for the streaming war. that and much more ahead when "power lunch" starts in just about 20 minutes "halftime report" is back after this so don't move. oh yeah. no. at cognizant, we're helping today's leading manufacturers make things that think and do automatically. imagine that, a world of new digital products and services all working together for you. can i borrow the car when it's back? get ready, because we're helping leading companies see it- and see it through-with digital.

welcome back to halftime dr. j. made his way over to the telestrator for some unusual activity what is it today >> today it's micron one of the reasons is, unusual activity at the september 33 call strike. here you see the stock moving up almost 3%, when it was virtually unchanged this morning, they started aggressively buying the 33 calls, september, as you can see, judge, they've moved up to just shy of 50 cents i think they'll go a lot higher. i'll probably be in the trade 1 to 2 weeks by the way, stevie cohen's point 27, they announced they added to their maicron stake. >> this is one of the stocks that david tepper and i talked about yesterday, as well >> exactly >> remember, he talked about

that one and western dig >> yep >> talking about incredible increases in dram and flash capacity, because of autonomous vehicles, smart devices, et cetera >> exactly and micron tech, as you already said, had a very strong year over year performance. and people are betting that it continues well into 2018 at this point. >> i'll back them both, actually western dig and micron western dig is one of those that had a correction that's down more than 10% off its high but as tech moves, that should be moving as well. >> and the market got too negative there other reasons to like those. doc, come on back this way we're tracking more stocks on the move in the blitz. we'll give you the trades on biogen, freeport-mcmoran and we'll do"halftim report" comes right back after this

welcome back, everyone i'm sue herrera with this breaking news. sourcing telling cnbc that the president's top council, basically, the council of the strategic and policy council, which has a number of very high-level corporate hitters is on the verge of disbanding reportedly, there has been a conference call. we believe that conference call is still ongoing our andrew ross sorkin is working the story for us hays head he's headed to a camera. he's making calls. some of the members on that committee, steven schwarzman,

also one of the president tease chi chief advisers jamie dimon is on the call as well there have been several ceos who have left that policy group. bob the conference call is coming after the president's remarks at the news conference yesterday we understand it is on the verge of dissolving. this comes as a number of ceos this left the manufacturing council for the president. these are various groups that the president has put together the strategic policy committee is undergoing a conference call. we do have andrew ross sorkin working the story. he has been involved in "the new york times" story and others >> thank you very much

>> the meantime, let's bring in our own amon javers. the president's relationship with corporate america appears to be deteriorating. >> reporter: that's certainly the appearance this is a bit of a moving target we believe this conference call is still on going right now. i have been texting with members of this council. i just spoke with a spokesperson it is not sure which members would be in and which would be out. >> i want to go back to our sue herera >> we have now confirmed with several sources that the

strategic policy committee is going to disband the conference call has been on going. they are going to disband and dissolve the strategic policy committee. >> i apologize for interrupting you, amon. the group disbanding, some of the names, specifically steven swartzmen, who has been one of the president's closest confidants and at the white house on numerous occasions and part of this group and otherwise. >> i have talked to steven schwartzman at the white house i can tell you he was full of optimism at the beginning of the year when i spoke to him at the white house. enthusiasm they would be able to do regulatory cuts and tax cuts and other probusiness initiatives. he took great pride in being at the white house.

this would be a dramatic rebuke by the business community if members of this council have re-signed in protest we are going to have to wait to see why they are re-signing and who is staying on. it gives you the sense that the business community can't be part of this trump administration right now. that is a dramatic thing to be happening. ceos have been wrestling with this during the course of the week you can imagine the level of conversations to figure out where they come down on all this yesterday's press conference here at trump tower was the breaking point for many of these ceos >> reporter: as you know, we have been in touch with many of

the members of the committee, many are posted in the white house. we are trying to get the statements as quickly as we can. >> speak to the fact, amon, as you have been around this white house, the real sense of pride, i think that was evident on almost photo app the president had of being surrounded by corporate leaders, some of the biggest and brightest names. he continually spoke about that. he liked to go around the room and hear from all of these folks, introduce themselves, say why they were there, the hopes na they h that they had for the president's agenda as it related to business. >> reporter: i think you can say the president reveled in this. this is his community. he sees the ceo community as his group. was bringing the perspective of the business person to this white house. we will have to wait and see what the reaction is from the white house. he has reacted very angrily with

some of the ceos that left his manufacturing council earlier in the week not clear what the white house will say in the wake of this development. he very much sees the business community as his audience. covering those early meetings, it was early week there was a group of ceos from a specific industry being brought in. this steven schwarzman group and others, coming to the white house ta touk aboo talk about i policy and how to create jobs. this collapse would indicate a lot of that has come to a grinding halt for now. >> amon, i would call your attention to that.

the ceo of campbell's soup company. denise morrison has put out a statement saying she is leaving the council. racism and murder are not morally equivalent to anything else that happened in charlottesville. i believe the president should have been and still needs to be unambiguous on that point. following yesterday's remarks from the president, i cannot remain on the manufacturing jobs initiative i will continue to support all efforts to spur economic growth and advocate for the values that have always made america great she is leaving that council. one key point is she says the president still needs be unambiguous that there is no moral equivalent to racism or

anything else that happened in charlottesville. >> we wait for our own andrew ross sorkin, who is making his way to a camera. he has been writing and certainly commentating about this very issue. steve, i'm wondering, as we see now sort of in mass corporate leaders run awhich from the president, what the broader implications may be for an agenda that this very community had such high hopes for. >> this shows what we have been saying, collectively there is nothing in the market for any of trump's initiatives or policies. if there were, you would have seen the market have a massive sale to me, it makes it much more doubtful that anything else

happens. >> i don't think there was a blanket expectation that this would be a slam-dunk, specifically when we started to hear noise out of the freedom caucus these people are not going to cooperate with each other given the back drop. it is a death sentence for democrats across the aisle and it may be questioning for some republicans whether or not they can be seen having these types of discussions absent a blanket condemnation that's not read off a sheet of paper but heartfelt i agree with what steve said >> is there a point as the dow has only lost about 20 points as this news is developing. is there a point where the market fully loses its patients, even looking out to 2018, john, of parts of this agenda that kevin brady was on our air this morning saying was still on track for even this year >> i mean, i think these guys make great points, scott

both steve and josh. i don't know that a tax adjustment will be something that is abhorrent to any congress, republicans, democrats. will they work with the president? perhaps not. i believe this will work its way through committees and at least go to votes. >> won't be revenue neutral. >> nobody is going to give this guy a win at all >> it is infrastructure week we are going to do $1 trillion worth of infrastructure that can't be paid for. >> there is a point where the president has to look and say, can i effectively govern the nation and get the objectives done i think we are past that point >> let's start with pence. i think wall street's reaction would be jubilant. no offense that's just reality.

as far as my generation, there is no way we are having any of this >> let me correct something i misstated earlier in our conversation with richard fisher, the at&t ceo, randall stevenson, served on one of these committees in fact, he does not most of you may know he was in the room at least on one occasion with the president and other business leaders this is brian sullivan joining us as power lunch is underway as well this is a significant moment given the number of ceos leaving on this one council and the big names we are talking about >> we are. campbell's soup, 3m. the rolling stone may gather no moss this has gathere