ha to divest hulu? don't know the answer, but e.at's anothsibility we'll see where this goes. but you know, i think people are going to step back and also just wonder given the speed of this approval, how it happened so quickly. and whether it -- because we have come to expect that everything takes forever >> sure. >> not the other w around. look what time warner ran into 18 months, obviously, it included a court case, but man, six months, beginning to end, that's pretty quick. >> on the last, the announcement at comcast most recent bid, jim made the point we were closer to the end of the process than the beginning. does it feel that way to you >> yeah, listen,'t have a new shareholder vote date yet, and that's a key again, don't expect comcast necessarily to come back this week, but still expect them to come back. it will elongate the process, but we're going to get it figured out in the not too distance future and the next bid from comcast may be the all-in bid if you get it. sort of this is as good as it can be they might not say best and

final, but we'll have to see the numbers. >> implications for sky, that whole elemout of this. >> you know, yes, there always are. the question will be if comcast feels as though it really has a losing proposition on its hands, does it go all in on sky or does disney/fox back off to some extent that's going to play out under uk takeover law, and that in and of itself in the way the law works there invites an auction down the road, probably august or so. even though fox is expected to get the actual approvals very soon >> all right story moves on thank you, david thanks foroming back to the set. dow up 165 let's get to melissa and the half >> and welcome to "the halftime report." i'm melissa lee in today for scott wapner we start today with whatre calling the trump put. is the white house providing a win-win situation for investors? here to debate that, steve weiss, pete najarian, carrie firestone. and this is what got us thinking

about this secretary of the treasury, steven mnuchin, was on "squawk box" thimorning. as he spoke, we saw a massive turnaround in the futures. let's take a listen. >> we're very pleased it has been passed on a bipartisan basis. yesterday, 400-2 at the house. that's just an overwhelmin bipaan response. and we have looked at the issue of protecting technology is very, very important and we will use these new tools very carefully >> so mnuchin speaks what came out of the administration was less stringent in terms of china than what had been previously anticipated on monday when we saw the selloff. this is what happened on monday. peter navarro comes out on the closing bell he speaks, the market starts to lift nce that navarro bottom on monday, the s&p 500 is up 35 points so carrie firestone, i ask you this question. the administration has always

looked at the stock market closely. is this just more evidence that trump has our back >> i think it's clear that the president cares about the stock market's performance we also know that since the peak in january, the market is do 6% so the administration cannot talk about the performance of th in a positive way right now. but what they are talking about is incendiary comments and then pulling them back so we get the effect, we can see the effect that the white house has positively and negatively. is this a way to just test that? to see how much can the white house influence the market we're seeing a lot of that effect this week does it really matter over the longer term? i don't know the answer to that. i wouldn't suggest, but we're really seeing how it waves up and down because of what comes out of their mouths. >> i think you're giving the white house a little too much credit in saying, in saying they're testing the market to

see how far they can go. they're not. it points out the difficult nature of being able to charter this market, where one day we're going after china, everything we have next day, well, maybe not. so the volatility is just tremendous most of it coming from the white house. so you have to look through it you have to decide what you want to do, what names you wants to be in. it's no longer a rising tide lifting all stocks it's very specific where you have to be there's still a lot of carnage out there. look at micron today, still coming down a lot. >> i get the point about volatility and looking through it, but are we able to look through it knowing thaif the market goes too far down, they will come out and they will say something supportive of the markets, as we saw with navarro, as we saw with mnuchin today to carrie's point, this reminds me of when people would float trial balloons for markets and mergers and see how the market reacts it feels similar to that >> obviously, we know the administration is watching the

market that's absolute because it comes up in almost every speech we hear but the idea that this is a negotiation is exactly what this is each and every time. i'm not necessarily they're trial balloons, but i think it's part of this whole tactic that the white house has been using in terms of they'to . they're going to be very aggressive then if they have to walk back, they will. if it's something they don't want to walk back from, they're not going to we have to sort of parse our way through that volatility spikes have been incredible i mean, in just two trading sessions, we went from basically that 12 to 14 area all the way up to 19 we pulled back, we get toward 16 now remember, i say it every time, but everybody should remember, volatility index at a 16 is a 1% s&p move every single day. not ju one day here, one day there. every single day so if we're going to maintain a 16 vix, which i stiln' believe we'll sustain those kind of levels for long periods of time, so i think that's something you have to keep an eye on >> no way these are trial

balloons they can't be that ignorant of what the market is going to react to and economies by saying we're going to ginto a massive trade war. they didn't know that was going to call a sell-off in the market it's just that they're impulsive. trump comes out and says these things and then says, wow, what did i say? and then has to walk it back >> ian't remember administration that had this style of reacting and responding to thearke it's too much. i mean, i feel as if we really need to react to econoc data, earnings from companies, what's going on overseas. all kienlts of economic factors that should be affecting decisions investors make for the long term and not a day to day movement >> it all comes back to the fundamental story. when we see the entire market start to sell off, 200, 300, 400, 500 points, opportunities are there, mel they're there because we understand the idea of the

fundamental story of these stocks >> the markets sell off on monday, do you g and dipnd buy ont dip knowing that either somebody from the administration will come out and/or the fundamentals are good in the economy >> i don't know you know they're going to come out, that peter navarro is going t the commentary he had that pushed the market higher. i think you have to look at what we get in front of us, the fundamental stories themselves >> i think to me the real key now thao asinvestors in t mark day, but i aeog to plan for the ture - >> you get scared. >> how do you respond to this administration >> and doesn't that at some point impact investment, spending, doesn't it impact the economy, which you cite as something we have to look towards as sort of our north star when it comes to investing? at the end of th itrade continues to be an issue, it will have that impact. >> i think we have to avoid the noise. >> the markets are a function of earnings a mule of earnings

if the ceos aren't going to spend, if they're going to retrench because they lookt saes saying one thing and the next day something. can i put brls of dollars at work and get paid in my stock price, and they own stock, a lot of them, or do i sit back and wait >> last word, carrie >> yeah, i think it's best to put blinders on. focus on the companies that you own and the stocks that you want to and try to avoid listening to all of the noise outside >> all right, we're talking about the impact of trade, moving the markets here's the man who's got the data behind all this senior economics reporter steve liesman has the latest numbers you knos getting rich off l trade talk? chiropractors. deep massage therapists. we have the data to show you the kind of head spinning, back breane jerking trade created by the administration's pronouncements on trade. there have been 17 moves of 1%

or more this year in the dow jones. of those, looking at a variety of news sources, eight were substantially trade related, costing the dow over my left shoulder here 3,258 points to the negative what about the upside he lelook at the other one. 19 moves of 1% or more this year according to our news sources, five were substantially trade related. not counting today, that's the flaw in this, is a day like this would not so far show up in our data and that has added back 2,122 points increasingly, guys, guys on the street are tracking this trade i'll show you one particular day that might have created some najarian like opportunities here mah 22nd "wall street journal" headline u.s. stocks sell off on talk of terms of trade that's the "wall street journal. ysater, the biggest, by the way, percentage gain oft.

not quite erasing that u.s. stocks surge as trade worries ease, said the "wall street journal" on another day so melissa, take the trade story, put that in your pipe and trade it, i guess, is the best way to say it. >> we'll do just that. steve, thank you steve liesman with the numbers how do you trade this, p we askhis question because there are a lot of stocks and sectors that really have gotten taken down because of this trade rhetoric >> right >> and so if we believe that the administration in some fashion is invested in keeping the stock rket stable, then maybe those are great opportunities right now. >> yeah, and care brings it up it's a lot of noise. there is a lot of noise. if you're able to look through or not listen to as much you have to hear it and understand what that's goi mean for the market that day, but i think fundamentals that's not so much a daily thing. that's something you know quarter after quarter, year after year when you get those ops,hether it's a micrt or some names i think the desk generally tends to

like, when you see those get sond up with the market that doesn't make rational sense of why they're hit at the same time, those are the great opportunities and the opportunities i think mr. liesman was trying to allude to there >> i think if we're talking about the market as a whole, we know earnings are strong this year estimates anywhere from 18% to 20% s&p earnings next year, they're going to be low teens, let's say you look for where there are great names selling at prices that are reasonable. and if you get hit, for example, we didn't do any big buying in energy, but over the last month, when the price of oil was a little rocky, the energy stocks all kind of were up and then they started to suffer if you realle that oil prices are going up, then that was an opportunity to buy. when the financials have been weak so far this year, if you believe in the financials, you look at the pes and don'k they're expensive, you feel interest rates are going up, that gives you an opportunity. so we have to just take those as

we see them, and this kind of action gives you chances >> i don't equatlatility with ris they're two separate things. a lot of people do but i'm not one of those so volatility will generally present opportunities, both while up to sell and while down to buy i don't mean the vol going down, but driving the markets down however, here, there's an exhaustion from people at trade because you're waiting what's next anything you buy today, so you turn the world into day traders. or exceptionally long-term investors. compounding that, you have the quantity traders in relative value funds that are really driving the market the point is all you can do in my view is be a long-ter investornot even look at your sn most days because who knows -- >> even the long term investors, there are always opportunistic entry point. have you seen that entry point

based on the trade fluctuations have, but they have actually been -- it's more asymmetric risk and asymmetric issues like alle whe it's up from $140 or so, it's still way down. i don't think, maybe it will get a tick down because of trade pretty much, it's trading on idiosyncratic events you have a couple big sts in there you will get an opportunity eventually in the chinese net flex flix names. you just don't know what china is going to say. so those are the difficulties. those stocks were rocketships and now they're boulders >> we're seeing sharp selloffs in alibabawisally as baidu as shanghai goes into a bear market are you seeing opportunities there? >> absolutely. i look at something like alibaba and say i understand all of the backdrop of what we're facing

and why it's sold off, and some of it makes sense. this is a stock that technically had an absolute skyrocket run over time. is there an opportunity there? yes. am i in it now no >> what are you waiting for? >> i would lovee thefire up. they did a littlbit the other day, but i would like to see a little more, mel, because this is something that i think going on, when i see the huge volumes that have come in, and we'll talk abo a couple la today, but there has been massive volume in names we haven't seen msive volume in before, and i think when that happens in baba because we don't see that, when we do, i'll be back in. >> you have to be a macro investor to get involved in baba if they devalue the yan, this is going down now there's a big, you know -- >> when you look at the valuation of the name, when you look at the actual fundamentals, you lookt the growth - >> the idea is the currency gets undervalued, the fundamentals go to crap.

some of them >> the fundamentals aren't at a crap level right now relative to some of the other names. >> that's another point on trade-me stocks. i sold the stock a little lower, a couple points lower from here, and it's trading to a nine, i said i missed it and here it is, i have my opportunity again. >> do you use it >> not in baba, because of the macro issues l move on to another topic. we're keeping an eye on oil. oil hitting its highest lel since no 2014. carrie mentioned this. supportive is this of your trade in the names you like, carrie >> well, we own phillips and slumbergy. and i think this is an indication, if in fact we have oil prices that are not going to drown again, and inventories are low, which we know, that we might have a sustainable through the summer move of energy stocks and we could start to feel more comfortable. we're making that investment

people have for now two years worriee energy trade would be temporary you start to see move up and then the price comes down. people sell on a dime. but it looks -- it looks solid to me. you've got wtir 70 you have brant over 80 we understand opec is trying to keep that growth of production moderate and so i think that it's reasonable place to start adding positions if you don't own them. >> where are the best opportunities? what subsectorn oil? >> i'm probably way overweighttd this something that if people have been tracking what we have been talking about in unusual activity, every single day we have seen something. presently, i'm holdi on to exxon, to chevron, halliburton, so many other different etfs it's a lot of exposure adding one more today, that will be on unusual later. when you look at the grind of where oil is in this band, yeah,

we're now getting back towards the higher end, but it hadn't broken down to the down side it had pushed down, but it's like volatility index where it's been in a e. i continue to see this range now we're up at the upper end of the range. some of these names, but really look at the beta names today some of those names that have been off forever, you know, the ptens of the world, the smaller names, look at the reaction we're seeing out of some of those names today. unbelievably big >> i would agree with that i have been, i would say, neutral on energy for a long time, which made me bearish because i haven't been involved since it moved up, but doing some work on it the last couple days and i think i have to take some positions you look at dnr, this stom had an amazing move. i think the smaller stufwill keoingnoonly are they retail oriented but the leverage to the stock price is much greater. >> okay. >> i think you can get in there. >> moving on treasury secretary mnuchin said this morning he's expecting a big gdp he was on "squawk" this morning.

take a listen. >> we're excited, this is the six-month anniversary of tax cuts we're expecting a big second quarter gdp number let me just say i have no advance notice of what it looks like, but the atlanta fed is projecting 4.7%. i have no idea whether it will be that high, but a year ago, people were laughing when we talked about 3% gdp. >> steve liesman is back with a rapid update ahead of the release tomorrow you're over there, over there. go ahead >> they keep me moving around. well, you know, i'm together with the treasury secretary in expecting a big number for the second quarter here is the rapid update that's the median of 11 economists who have tracking forecasts. that is they have a gdp forecast and they change it as the data come in. we're now up to 3. just a hair's breath or a tenth below 4% with a range of 3 5%. g1 gdp, 3.3%

add the top and bottom, running 3.1% on average for the first half let's take a look at who's working because there are interesting forecasts. oxfo oxford, a new entrant. welcome to the oxford folks at 5% that's a 5%, not a misprint. bank of america, 4%. the bottom is 3.7% even the most pessimistic shop on the street is at 3.7%. the story here, melissa, has been as the data has come in, b much it's served to confirm the buoyant forecast of the third quarter, of the second quarter the question is whether or not it remains in the third quarter with a question as to whether or not we just are having a temporary bump up from all the additional deficit spending or indeed are these tax cuts changing the dna of the economy and lifting that underlying potential growth rate? that's the real trade in my opinion. >> steve, thank you. steve liesman with the rapid update of course, it's all about expectations so is the market expecting a

great gdp number is the market expecting a change in the dna of e econom because of the tax cuts? are we underestimating that and will it therefore have an upside jim lebenthal joins us on central time today, but go ahead, jim >> anything going on okay no, but listen, a great question i was listening to steve and thinking to myself, that's great for the second quarter, but like all stock investors. it's looking forward that matters. here's the problem i said this yesterday. i'm going to say it again. we're going to get into the earnings season and you're going to hear from ceos and cfos how they feel about this china trade war, yeah, i'm calling it a trade war now, and whether it's going to affect profits and for that matter gdp going forward. and it's really kind of a crap shoot. there's no way to know at this had folks like daimler, like harley davidson say there are effects from what is going on. and that's the look forward that you have to worry about, if it spreads further than just the

automotive and manufacturing industry, you could see what looks like a very good second quarter gdp number become very punkish by the end of the year it really hangs on trade war right now. >> it's impacting it already i s talking to somebody who sells maritime bonds, which any company bringing in goods has to pay, you know, the duties. and the bond, for example, on what was a $300,000 bond on steel, has gone up to $3 million. >> wow >> exactly wow so that's because the duties have gone up what they have to put up has gone up. it's impacting things right now. eventually, maybe u.s. production catches up to it, but think of the increase to inflation. and that's just one example. there are many more. >> here's the other part of the question for the markets, at least for traders point of view. if that's the case and we're seeing an increase in inflation because of things like that, the increase because of the spike in oil, is the fed in a box to

raise interest rates no matter what, even if we may be on the precipice of something else because some of these things will negtfatively affect the economy? >> if you take it apart and we started with where gdp is or where it could be, and let's say it's 3.5% or 4%, people would today be very excited about that if we didn't also have this issue about a trwar. have to ta grain of salt. it's not so great if this quarter it's 4% and nextquarte it's 1.5% because suddenly everything falls off a cliff >> paradoxically - >> that could happen people are weighing that the market is up, it's not up a whole lot more >> paradoxically, is that a good thing? if you have 4% gdp, people would be worried about rates you would see the ten-year move up >> and the yield yufrb the yield curve has already been a headwind for financials. 12 straight days of losses ahead of c-car results, which are supposed to be the biggest catalyst out there

>> is that then more of that gody locks because then you have the fed that may not be so aggressive because of the headwinds. >> the two things going on right now. you have, yes, i think to answer your question originally, is the market discounting the growth, yes, it is absolutely think so. but we have the trade wars going on that you brought up, jim, as well there's some evening out there there's the nervousness of one side of it and the excitement of the other, of the growth and there's sort of, we're finding ourselves in this. that's why we find ourselves grinding around, finding different leadership >> here's what worries me about this , you've got the fed funds rate still at a very low level. so if you get into a trade war where inflation goes up meaningfully, and gdp starts to punk out, get down towards zero, there's no ammunition. there's no monetary policy ammunition to fight a recession. >> you sound like you're in a bunker right now >> you're very bullish that sounded pretty negative >> i'm catching my tone as well. so look, i'm saying what is

true there could be a very bad outcome of this trade war. and what it really means i president trump, this administration, his cabinet, his advisers need to be aware of this, and i think steve mnuchin is, and i think jay powell is very aware of this hopefully he will listen to those people around him saying don't take it too far. it's just that simple. don't take it too far. >> we mentioned banks. let's talk about them now. they're about break even ahead of thursday's ccar results, where they'll find out how much capital they'll return to shareholders taking a look at what you guys own, you own a lot of financials what caught my eye, jim, is you own goldman stacks, soldman sacks and morgan stanley are at the crosshairs of the concern of how much they can return to shareholders versus how much was telegraphed. >> that's a good point, an accurate point i'm sorry to keep harping on this, but i think they too are

in the cross hairs of the trade war issue. the reason to own goldman sachs or morgan stanley is the believe there's going to be repatriated earnings and m&a activity, that animal spirits will be lifted. those animal spirits wil down the tubes if some of the negative things we're talking about come to fruition again, it's the trade war. the situation has to get resolved quickly >> nobody cares about the results. that's the last thing. >> really? >> i do. >> okay, but are you doing -- will you do anything depending upon how the results are >> which results >> in terms of payback, more capital, returning more capital to shareholders through dividends? >> i care about earnings i sure care about earnin>> ccar. does anybody care? that's my point. so that's the least of it. >> nobody has cared about anything when it comes to financials except for the yield curve. that's the problem with this trade today. >> i own mastercard and visa as

well the latter two i'll keep >> pete, you own financials. >> i'll continue to hold on to these. >> why you trade in and out of stocks you're in stocks for like a minute >> some stocks i just like to hold for longer term something like a bank of america or citi, and we bring this up all the time, but from the valuation perspective, i think sooner or later they're going to, it seems to be latsure, buth up in terms of the multiple ofw and we look at some of the names and i still think those names have more upside and that's whwant to be >> we want to get to josh lipston in san francisco with a news alert >> breaking news here on lyft. dow jones is reporting that lyft has raised new capital that in fact doubles its valuation from last year to now billion, specifically lyft raising $600 million in a row led by fidelity as well as the capital g unit of alphabet, we remr that carl

icahn, also an investor here more money for lyft as it does battle with its bigger rival uber, which remember, is valued at around $62 billion. back to you. >> josh, thank you josh lipton in san francisco here's what's coming up next on "the halftime report." several big calls of the day. we're talking medical devices, big food, and big pharma picks from each sector coming up plus, we want to know what you're trading today join the conversation and weigh in with e traders. send us your questions use #askhalftime on twitter. we'll get you on tv today. >> before the break, the markets and indepece day our data partners at kingso show just before july 4th, stocks shoot higher like fireworks. for more, go to cnbc.com/kensho. "the halftime report" is back in two minutes. ♪ feel that? that's the beat of global markets, the rhythm of the world.

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halftime report. time for the calls of the day. bernstein initiated on the medicme meddevices they're calling for double digit upside each of these names, by the way, beating the s&p 500 year to date intuitive surgical rising 33%. boston scientific gaining nearly 31%. and abbot labs up almost 8%.

carrie has been looking into the space. what are you looking at? >> we own boston scientific. we like it a lot and like it right here we like is, intuitive surgical it's a little expensive here abmd, there valve company, a pump, really great pump company. it's on the expensive side we like to get it lower. but i think some of these names represent a good opportunity considering that health care has not been a strong sector tech is where everything has been energy has been strong this gives people an alternative. i think these are good ideas and i support the trade. >> one of the names that came up as well is medtronnic, and we had unbelievable option activity they're going out to august, buying the august 90s, looking for them to maybe start to give back some of the mojo. it lost some of the mojo it really sold off, not to the abslult lows but hanging around the lower end of the ran i think this is a name that can

recover absolutely and start to move again to the upside i bought the calls, i didn't buy the stock. i thought about it i always wrestle with this idea. do i want to own the stock, because if so, i'm selling calls against it, or do i just like the calls? >> part of the call involves m&a activity i don't know if you like this space? >> i do. i own boston scientific as well. ultimately, it happens, but it's important for growth this is one of those areas that keeps growing and growing. intuitive surgical is like amazon, not in terms of the business model, but always looking expensive. you always get an opportunity to buy it so i would love it to come back down >> opportunity >> right because of the multiple, that stock is very volatile sometimes they miss by like a penny on earnings. that's when you step in. >> i always looked at intuitive surgical as a great measuring stick of the economy as a whole.

when you look at it, if the economy is rolling, it seems to me that intuitive does extremely well we start to see any kind of rollover whatsoever, that isot a name, because like you say, the multiple is extremely high i'm surprised joe was looking at that from a final trade. i like it, but going forward, when you look at the multiple it's trading at right now versus its peers -- >> that's where the bears come out. that was the big bear story that the economy is falling apart and nobody is going to buy these million bucks apiece, but the facts are they're additive to revenues and hospitals are funded on a different basis so the economy, these stocks are somewhat resistant the biggest issue to the economy, biggest issue is what the insurance companies will pay. everybody knows that game. they come out at a higher price and negotiate it down. >> let's get to this other call. ptig turning bullish on young brands $92 price target, 15% upside from current levels. shares are nearly flat for 2018. is this worthwhile here?

>> i think it is look, people are going to have different opinions on the individual names in this sector. some people love mcdonald's. i get that but yum is straight down the middle of the fairway as far as e sector goes. the valuation is terrific, and there's no reason to not like the sector there was a year or two ago. these were the tina, there is no alternative, and you played them for the dividend yield they have become more rational in their valuation, and i like yum for this sector. >> yum is interesting because it spun out its china business recently, or not recently now, but the stock is down by about 5% today, session presumably because of what is going on in china. is this a stock we should be worried about getting hit by some sort of a trade war it seems like it's being swept up in this >> it's somewhat swept up in it, but also it's facing tough competition in the united states mcdonald's is giving them a run for the money. >> yum specifically, not yum china. >> u.s., and comp sales in the

u.s. for aot of restaurant chains have been weak. they're battling the starbucks number read-through is also not good for yum. >> yum china, is that an opportunity? >> no. i would stay away from that right now. i like yum i like this upgrade, and the grubhub app, the piece there, i think makes t of sense because why s no's dominated so well? it's because their technology has been so great. and the efficiencies has been such an incredible driver. this could be the exact same thing. they're able to gather the data, move them forward in terms of the digital, the ordering, and delivering, and all of that. this could be something very, very, this is a big moment i think for yum, and this could put the stock -- i understand why it's a buy now >> just to answer your question because i don't think we have about yum china. look, it's probably has to do with asset class flows more than anything, that this is held in a lot of china etfs and mutual funds. those funds are getting dumped a little bit today and this comes out with it. it probably is an opportunity. >> technology is most important part of this, as you mentioned

>> for all of these restaurants, it's make or break i say break because starbucks had difficulty, right, keeping up with orders on the mobile app. >> yes i agree. >> it goes either way. >> before jb and the manager of panera stole it from shareholders for a third less of what it was worth, their technology drove them. they were on a run rate of a billion dollars just from tech chipotle is going to get their tech going as well that's one reason the stock moved up it's critical. >> taco bell >> that will impact you. >> will it help starbucks which we saw yesterday at a fresh three-year low there. they have already been >> what you're seeing is all of these companies have to be there and are there. i don't think when we're talking about technology, this isn't like, you know, in e-commerce where you have amazon and walmart and really nobody else all of these restaurants have to have the technology. if you don't, you're on a level playing field. so with starbucks, starbucks has some specific problems and particularly with the pr

over the last quarter, both for investors and consumers, they have a lot to prove. >> pharmaceuticals surging more than 40% in the past three months, but citi thinks there's no room to run r the price is raised. >> it's a bold call. it could work. we don't own it. teva is a company that is in search for an identity it was a specialty pharma. it became a very big generic drug player. they bought an awful lot of assets they have shed some of those assets they bought others the stock came down. now it's coming back i think if they can produce some earnings, we could see this stock continue to move higher. >> all right, time for the trader blitz first up, conagra agreeing to buy pinnacle foods both companies' shares lower on the news >> conagra, there was a big school of thought they were going to trade up based on rumors they were going to be acquired by archer daniels and it didn't happen they paid a high multiple for

it pinnacle is a high quality company. now they have to be able to get enough synergies out of it to justify it you'll be able to come back to it, but not now. >> world wrestling entertainment hitting a new all-time high after signing a multi-year media deal with usa networks and fox sports >> well above what everybody was estimating so these numbers absolutely impressive this a part of the sports world, entertainment world, that everybody forgets about. it's unbelievable. the ratings have been great. they have been able to navigate everything so well this new media deal is a great deal >> sonic shares on track for their worst day since october 2016 after a disappointing revenue and comp sales >> i don't think there's ything long-term broken here a $1 billion market cap stock. small cap stocks can be beaten up i wouldn't read too much into this today >> let's get to the news headlines with sue herera. >> hello, everyone

by a 5-4 vote, the supreme court ruling that government workers cannot be forced to contribute to labor unions that recht them in collective bargaining the decision to scrap a 41-year-old decision dealing a serious financial blow to organized labor. president trump tweeting that it is a big loss for the coffers of the democrats. >> and the supreme court has adjourned for the summer without any sign that a justice is retiring chief justice john roberts announcing that the court will return to the bench on october 1st. >> white house press secretary sarah sanders has been assigned secret service protection on a temporary s. the security detail could start as soon as today but it's not clear how long it will last. >> and a new report from hud says a six-figure salary in some parts of california's bay area is considered low-income in san francisco, san mateo, and marin unties, a family of four earning $117,000 a year qualifies as low-income.

in may, the median home price in the bay area hit a record of $935,000 and that ie median price that's the news upda this hour melissa, back to you >> staggering. >> it is >> thank you sue herera >> next up, pete is seeing bullish options moves in a stock up 57% this year but first, the s&p 500 sector check. we have energy higher with t.i. up by 3% today session materials following that, and technology the only one in the red right now pot.a y just about a half in more "halftime report" back in two. (daniel jacob) for every hour that you're idling in your car, you're sending about half a gallon of gasoline up in the air. that amounts to about 10 pounds of carbon dioxide every week (malo hutson) growth is good, but when it starts impacting our quality of air and quality of life, that's a problem. so forward-thinking cities like sacramento are investing in streets that are smarter and greener.

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and see it through-with digital. shares of under armour on a tear up more than 55% so far. pete, what are you looking at? >> it's pretty interesting this is saname we brought up just a couple weeks ago. we talked about when are we going to see the insiders start to buy here. i put an x there, may 14th that's when we saw one insider put up 14,000 shares bought it, it was not kevin plank, but we saw that take a look at where we're going. i'll clear that up this stock was coming off multi-year lows. look at how much activity we're seeing now by the way, late july, they have earnings that's part of this as well.

but the july 23 calls, they're going right at it, right where the stock is stock was trading a little higher earlier today they were paying about a dollar for those calls. those are thjuly 2calls. pretty aggressive buying i like what i'm seeing there i bought along with them it's a great opportunity to just hold on to some of these calls see what happens if it starts to break out further, i think these calls will srt to really ratchet up and move faster. we were talking about energy at the top of the show and how unbelievable it's been seeing great activity today in conoco phillips. you can see the great reaction out of the stock it's really been on a tear, but then it's been in this bit of a range, this band now for a while. maybe it's going to break out of that somebody today buying very aggressively, july, once again, the 70.5 calls coming in here. pretty aggressive buying i love when i see that, already in exxonmobil, already in chevron, and now you're seeing nearly 7,000 of these calls bought i bought those just a little while ago as well. though hit just after we went or about the time we started to go

on air i love what i'm seeing here in conoco phillips as well. >> thanks for that >> up next, a proxy advisory firms holding corporate america hostage? washington is about wgh itoein on this, andt could change the way names operate. we're back in two. one second. barely enough time for this man to take a bite of turkey. but for cyber criminals it's plenty of time to launch thousands of attacks. luckily security analysts and watson are on his side. spotting threats faster and protecting his data with the most securely encrypted main frame in the world.

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welcome back to "the halftime report. proxy advisory firms are accused of holding corporate america hostage, and now lawmakers may get in and change the industry leslie picker is following the money and she's live in washington >> lets me start with an example of this, in both 27 d 2016, iss, one of the largest proxy advisory firms, urged investors to vote against at least one director at a company called cui global that's a microcap provider of power supplies ceo bill glove didn't understand the rationale, so he called iss. he says, and they encouraged him to pay thousands of dollars in consulting services to better understand their reports >> it feels like a protection racket, that's what it feels like >> like what >> a protection racket i was a police officer for 16 years and it feels like, you know, if you pay us $35,000 a year, we'll make sure this doesn't happen

until you do, every year, there's going to be some issue, some problem, something is going to occur >> that's one of several proported conflicts of interest that hundreds of companies have brought to the attention of congress they're also worried that the advice is slanted toward investors, including activists who pay them fees for their research now, a bill aimed at improving proxy advisers transparency passed the house in december and will be the focus of a hearing s and largpension fund opposed it >> the legislation and its sponsors pretend that there's not an existing regulatory process in place iss is a registered investment adviser. as a result, we have oversight by the s.e.c. and we owe fiduciary duties under the law to our clients in terms of accuracy and loyalty to their interests. >> iss says this bill would be harmful to investors by slowing down the time they can actually

receive that research, as it gives companies more power to fact check the reports before they're published, melissa >> leslie, thank you leslie picker in washington for us the futures now traders are th'sexonthndon the rise, a at nt "e halftime at nt "e halftime report." we're drowning in information. at nt "e halftime report." where in all of this is the stuff that matters? the stakes are so high, your finances, your future. how do you solve this? you partner with a firm that combines trusted, personal advice with the cutting edge tools and insights to help you not only see your potential, but live it too. morgan stanley.

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welcome back to the halftime report this is futures now. crude oil prices soaring 3% despite a decline in inventory

now at its highest level since 2014 scott nations, this follows yesterday's impressive rally as well what do you make of the move. >> i think the draw we saw, at 9.9 million barrels surprised everybody. how much is that that's about the amount of crude oil that saudi arabia produced in a single day. that's a huge number you add it to what we saw yesterday with all of the iranian crude 2.2 million barrels per day coming off the market surprisingly by the middle of november, i think everybody was caught wrong footed and that's why we see new highs. >> jeff, let's go to you crude oil hit 73 over that mark today s. 80 in the cards? >> i think the short-term answer is no. let's remember where we came from five trading sessions ago we were at $64.50 that's a 13.5% move in the last five days. are we going to see another $10 short-term

no all of 2018 has been range bound. i don't think it will break out of the range the answer to your question, no. >> we are back with the live show at 001: p.mow final trade for the halftime report, just ahead this is my headquarters. this is where i trade and manage my portfolio. since i added futures, i have access to the oil markets and gold markets. okay. i'm plugged into equities - trade confirmed - and i have global access 24/7. meaning i can do what i need to do, then i can focus on what i want to do. visit learnfuturestoday.com to see what adding futures can do for you. a hotel can make or break a trip. and at expedia, we don't think you should be rushed into booking one. that's why we created expedia's add-on advantage. now after booking younlock diss

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welcome back to the halftime report the number of tech companies going public each year is

shrinking. in the 1990s, 150 tech companies ipo'd on average per year. compared to just 21 today. let's look at how the drought impacts individual investors head to cnbc kam -- halftime report let's read some tweets why are these stocks tanking >> this is a risk off week, couple of weeks. it is the end of the quarter i think they are strong companies f. sales force vopd dropped any further we would buy more am is a cloud computing company, and google, alphabet, also is one of the largest. >> steve tweets, a pepsi having a debt cat bounce or is it onward and upward? >> he is one of the long term

holders. in the last year not so great for me i have been in it for a long time i tin to own it. i like the diversity and where they are moving. just like coke, moving away from cash nation into other areas i like the name. i don't know if i would call it a dead cap but i don't expect a whole lot more. >> this question, x -- is it time to get in on the stock. u.s. before you get into thesep names. the belt and road initiative in china over the next five years is going the place a lot of demand on steel stocks in that long perime it ll do war but in the short-term it's anybody's guess. >> carry tweets -- i built -- i

built a half position of micron at $54, how much lower does it go what are your thoughts going forward. >> that's a great question i wish i knew. >> you are useless>> i think on basis -- put it in perspective the company reported, beat the numbers, not by huge amounts, and raised guidance. you would think that the stock would move higher. what you have got are issues with china there is a copy write patent infringement suit going on with the chinese government there is a article in the "new york times" how china is stealing micron's technology a chinese sponsored company wanted to buy micron, and they said no, they said fine we will sue you for patent enfringement. >> final trades. >> bp. i think it's going higher. unusual activity. >> carry. >> first republic. >> steve

>> -- you made sewer trades so fast >> i will go with royal cap shell. >> that does it for us here on the halftimeort. i'm sah eisen. now ratcheting down the rhetoric, president trump taking a huge step to defuse an allout trade war with china markets are up on the news what the movans for trade talks and stocks straight ahead. home sales sliding to lows we will get a read on housing plus tell you where americans are making the most money selling their homes. world cup soccer every, but no beer to drink we will tell you which beer stocks will be impacted most pour a cold one whe you stil can. "power lunch" starts