CNBCfix - Fast Money Review

[CNBCfix Fast Money Review Archive — June 2016]
[Thursday, June 30, 2016]

70, 17, whatever

Joe Terranova on Thursday's Halftime Report praised Kourtney Ratliff Gibson's TWLO buy last week and endorsed the name.

Guest host Melissa Lee asked if Joe was concerned about the "70% number from WhatsApp."

Joe said that's "17%." Mel said, "I would still be worried about 17%." No one should worry about Missy's dynamite outfit, her 3rd in 2 days (see below).

Josh willing to dump clients who disagree once a year; Doc won’t let customer decisions sully his trading record

In a(n unfortunately rare) public service on Halftime/Fast Money, guest host Melissa Lee on Thursday's Halftime pushed Josh Brown to explain what happens when a client demands that an investment advisor buy stock with the client's money.

The conversation centered around the Betterment chief's argument a day ago on Fast Money about suspending trades last week. Josh said Betterment "fulfilled its fiduciary obligation" after Brexit because it didn't want its customers to do a wave of selling.

Mel asked about people who wanted to buy on the lows. Josh insisted Betterment is an advisor and isn't a broker such as E-Trade or Scottrade.

Mel asked Brown what would happen if she called a real-life fiduciary such as Brown and "at the end of the day" (Drink) demanded he buy stocks in her account.

Brown said, "I'm so glad you asked that question. ... You would not be a good client fit for us going forward. It is your money. We would have to honor your- you know, buy it, sell it, I'm panicked, I'm excited, whatever it is. ... We'll do the trade, and then we'll ask you to leave."

Jon Najarian weighed in, stating the Betterment move raises questions as to what any robo-advisor aims to do and said when clients want to time the market themselves, he sets aside a percentage "for them to trade."

"It's not gonna be part of our track record," Najarian said, because his firm believes it's superior to its clients at timing the market.

Josh said Americans are free to choose whichever advisor suits them. Mel pushed Brown as to what happens if a client simply wants to make one trade a year at a time like last week. Brown again responded that you're not paying this company for order execution.

Pete Najarian said his "only concern" about this subject is, "They seem to have changed the rules a little bit from what they had been doing as the advisory."

But Joe Terranova asked a good question, what did Betterment do on Aug. 24. Brown said Betterment claims that on that day, "they enacted the same thing."

Um ... if European banks don’t ‘make it through,’ no stocks are going to be worth buying

Kevin O'Leary on Thursday's Halftime Report pointed out that a week ago at this time, P.E.s of European stocks plunged 20%, and they've already "fully recovered."

O'Leary said over the last 6 months (translation: all of 2016), all his "value screens" keep turning up European large-caps as better buys than U.S. equivalents, such as GSK.

O'Leary also touted a FTSE value dividend quality index that "basically X's out all the banks," then uncorked a jaw-dropper:

"I mean those banks, it's- people should question whether they'll make it through this whole cycle," O'Leary said.

Evidently seeking more detail, Josh Brown asked O'Leary about European banks. O'Leary said they are "toxic waste" and "way too early" to buy.

Mel and O'Leary agreed the wall decor behind O'Leary was "shameless."

Citing the Katrina Dudley recent visit (she's the one who told Pete she doesn't play the volatility game in her "plain-vanilla" fund), Joe Terranova said if you have to be allocated to Europe, Germany looks like the best option.

Jon Najarian said he likes RDSa. Josh Brown mentioned VGK and called it "unsexy."

Pete Najarian said he loves O'Leary and thinks O'Leary's ideas are "great," but he'd prefer to stay in the U.S.

A scare. Er, weakness.

Jon Najarian said on Thursday's Halftime Report we're "hearing more and more" that Brexit isn't going to have a big impact on U.S. investors.

Pete Najarian said the plunge in the VIX is "amazing" and "absolutely incredible."

But, "I don't think that everything- the dust has settled and everything is clear right now (Drink)," Pete said, so he'd buy volatility.

Joe Terranova said the "environment of uncertainty" (Drink) will maintain a "sideways market" (Double Drink).

Rich Saperstein said, "We clearly have a global growth scare. I mean, a, a weakness in global growth right now."

"I hope we have a Brexit once a month," said Josh Brown, adding, "This has just been phenomenal."

Mel interrupted Brown's "monologue" to ask him what he actually did with the Brexit. Brown said it allowed an opportunity to "rebalance" (Zzzzzzzzz), as the Halftime gang extends its 4-day streak of refusing to call the market a buy during one of its biggest win streaks ever.

Doc said comparisons to Lehman were "decried widely here on the desk" because it was just "crap." (But nobody said on Monday to plunge into stocks while the rest of the punditry was making up Lehman "crap.")

"That was a systemic. Financial. Crisis," Mel agreed.

Joe said profit margins could be the next tailwind, this quarter or the next quarter.

Options trades you should’ve made (cont’d): HSY 100 calls on June 9

David Faber on Thursday's Halftime Report cogently explained the details of the Mondelez bid for HSY and why HSY was trading at 112.

Pete Najarian talked about how someone bought HSY 100 calls on June 9. (That train has left the station.)

Pete said, "You look at my disclosures (snicker), when people show those (double snicker)," it "often" shows that the "bulk" of what he's got are option trades.

Doc said the "volume has been building" in WWAV options activity. And if this site had a dollar for every stock that is mentioned as a possible takeover target as soon as a similar company receives an offer and then never does get a bid, we'd be Facebook.

Josh Brown suggested CHD, and everyone had to snicker and use air quotes (that would be Mel) and make indirect joke references (Drink and Double and Triple Drink).

Jackie DeAngelis had a Shields & Yarnell moment when music initially played over her hit. Moments later, Brian Stutland told DeAngelis he'd buy on any pullback down to 45. Scott Nations predicted crude tops 50 again and pointed to the June 9 high of 51.67.

Joe Terranova said nat gas "very quietly" continues to rise; he "definitely" believes it's a real trend. He suggested, somewhat halfheartedly, SWN and RRC.

Phil LeBeau warned that the NHTSA is telling drivers of Hondas from the early 2000s recalled over Takata airbags not to drive unless they're going to the dealer for a fix "free of charge" (sic last 2 words redundant).

"Great warning there," said Mel, who doesn't drive.

Josh Brown pointed out XOM is up 20% on the year, the type of interesting fact that isn't heard on the show often enough.

Doc said he likes PCLN but would rather trade EXPE because of the nominal share price. Pete said there are "better names" to be in than PCLN. Josh Brown said PCLN is at 2013 levels.

Eric Chemi reported that Apple Maps sucked during a driving test.

[Wednesday, June 29, 2016]

Red to blue: Mel switches outfits
before 5 p.m. Fast Money

Unable to say "buy" or "sell," the Halftime Report gang on Wednesday was once again sitting on its hands, this time with Melissa Lee as guest host.

"I think we're range-bound between 1,900 and 2,100 for the foreseeable future on the S&P 500," said Jim Lebenthal.

"I don't think the shock and awe is over with," said Pete Najarian, offering to tighten Jim's range to 1,975 to 2,100.

Steve Weiss said the market has gone "nowhere" for 18 months, and "you have to come to the conclusion" that since June 23, "the global economy is worse off."

"I'm in the risk-off mode," Weiss reiterated.

Jon Najarian said he "loaded up" Tuesday on the GDXJ. But, overall, "I did not see the flush that I thought we would see," Doc said. "The money just came racing in" with stocks down small percentages.

Weiss predicted fiscal stimulus from Europe and a strengthening dollar. Doc said he disagrees on the dollar and doesn't see it as a headwind.

Missy knocked viewers' socks off with her smart new red dress, then went to the bullpen for the 5 p.m. show Midtown.

Apparently couldn’t get any worse than a ‘deep prolonged recession’ affecting Europe

Jon Najarian on Wednesday's Halftime Report got to share his successful NKE trade with viewers, explaining he bought the 52.50 calls in Tuesday's afterhours and then did a 1x2 put spread.

"I was not happy when it was trading down at 49 bucks last night Mel," Doc revealed, "but then as it came off of that, started buying as soon as it got to basically 50 again ... flipped out of my stock ... I still have about 50 calls left."

Jim Lebenthal predicted "another opportunity" to own NKE at 50 and said he would wait.

"I think Nike's OK," said Stephen Weiss, though it's "never a cheap stock."

TJX watcher John Morris said the "worst case" for U.K. impact on the company would be an "elongated kind of a downturn" and "deep prolonged recession" that could spill across Europe.

Morris said department store pain is discount retailers' gain. Jim Lebenthal questioned why that wouldn't be Amazon's gain. Morris said "there's a lot of share to be picked up."

Mel cut in with remarks from President Barack Obama, and the camera operator sure had a dilly of a time getting the president in focus.

Jim Lebenthal noted the retail sector recently has outperformed the S&P, suggesting Brexit shouldn't affect U.S. department stores.

Somehow, we didn’t get into Under Armour on Wednesday

Pete Najarian on Wednesday's Halftime Report said GE Capital no longer being dubbed "systemically important" gives GE room to the upside.

Stephen Weiss said he likes biotech and thinks the sector will be "back-burnered" in the election.

Jim Lebenthal said MON is only trading on takeover news.

Jon Najarian said SWN is too tough to buy after this big of a run.

Weiss said MCD is in a range; he can't buy it at current levels but would have to see a pullback. Jim Lebenthal called it a "great company" but said he doesn't like the stock.

Pete Najarian said he's not sure Brexit will hurt MCD and stated Steve Easterbrook wants to "simplify the menu" (Drink).

Citi’s tangible book (cont’d)

Anthony Grisanti on Wednesday's Halftime said with stocks so high on the day, he would've expected a lot more 10-year liquidations, but it hadn't happened, so he thinks Brexit fallout is not over (Drink).

Jim Iuorio said he thinks the 10-year will get bought down to 1%.

Stephen Weiss and Jim Lebenthal quibbled over how Weiss was "pricing" the U.S. 10-year.

Mel flummoxed the panel with her question about TINA.

Pete Najarian hailed CSCO for another acquisition.

Jim Lebenthal said he's "frankly" underweight banks, but that said, he likes C for 2 reasons; the most potential from CCAR and that it trades at 65% of tangible book (Drink).

Stephen Weiss said he likes the bank companies but doesn't like the stocks. However, he bought MET. Doc said NTRS "should be on your short list."

Weiss said we're in a "trading range" in crude. Pete Najarian and Jim Lebenthal said they're playing oil through KMI. Doc said he sees oil "trading sideways."

Doc said there was heavy December call buying in the EWZ. Pete backed that and said somebody was selling December 23 puts in the GDX.

Doc suggested CCE and said he's long.

Stephen Weiss rattled off Activision's big hits and said it has "a lot of upside."

Halftime forecasters tripped up by stock market boomerang

It's basically been a package bungle.

Nearly the entire Halftime crew has been sitting on their hands while stocks produced some of the biggest 2-day gains in recent memory.

Monday afternoon, which was actually the time to back up the truck, Steve Weiss (who'd been taking a victory lap over his "risk-off" approach pre-Brexit) was declaring, "I think we go lower."

The Liquidator on Monday claimed that from a "trading perspective," the place to be is on the "sidelines" and then cautioned Tuesday that positions were still being "neutralized."

The Nardashians on Tuesday scoffed down the rally, with Doc stating "it doesn't feel like real stability" and Pete declaring nobody was saying, "You know what, that was the bottom."

The 5 p.m. gang, with possible exceptions of Tim Seymour and Karen Finerman, was hardly any better, except we've kinda stopped paying attention to that group and everyone's 10-year U.S. economics agenda (on a purported daily trading show) in which they cherry-pick nightly data to justify why it's 1) 1937 or 2) 1987 or 3) 2000 or 4) 2008 or 5) 2011 all over again.

Oddly enough, a couple weeks ago we chuckled when Colbert Narcisse said that over 20 years, the market has returned about 10%, but if you somehow missed only the 90 best days, you would have a -4% return.

We're starting to figure out how that happens.

Results from Wednesday's Halftime later.

[Tuesday, June 28, 2016]

How would the markets like a Brexit revote that ends 52-48 Leave

Jon Najarian wasn't terribly impressed with Tuesday's rally, stating on the Halftime Report, "It doesn't feel like real stability."

Joe Terranova suggested the world was caught long last week (what about all the negative sentiment in the market) and said we're seeing "positions being neutralized."

But Doc said there was an "awful lot of hedging" prior to Friday. Joe said he doesn't disagree, but "that's a short-term orientation, as far as a trading mechanism."

Stephanie Link said there's a "hope trade" in progress about a 2nd referendum.

Link said she's buying IYR, LOW, V and ... yes ... AMZN.

Pete Najarian said he was playing the volatility.

Pete said it doesn't feel like people are saying "you know what, that was the bottom."

Joe again emphasized DPZ, citing Latin America.

Sara Eisen reported from the pro-EU rally at Trafalgar Square, but it didn't seem very highly attended.

Not a word about
the LNKD synergies

Stephanie Link on Tuesday's Halftime Report said she has been trimming MSFT and adding to ORCL.

Jon Najarian said he's got a "defined amount of risk" (Drink) in MSFT via call spreads.

Link said June is a big month for tech companies, so you have to be "very selective" (Drink).

Pete Najarian said he prefers CSCO over MSFT.

Joe Terranova said $49 has "historically" been a "great level" for MSFT.

Sounds like Katrina hasn’t ordered the free copy (just pay shipping and handling) of How We Trade Options

Katrina Dudley on Tuesday's Halftime Report said some U.S investors are removing money from Europe on a "general level."

Dudley endorsed RDSa. Jon Najarian said "Love that" and said he was "taken by" Dudley's calls.

Stephanie Link asked if Royal Dutch will do more asset sales. Dudley said "that's exactly what they said," and by 2020, "this company is gonna be a free-cash-flow machine."

Pete Najarian asked Dudley, "are you using the volatility?" (translation: options). No, "We're a plain-vanilla mutual fund," Dudley said.

Julia Chatterley told Simon Hobbs, "I apologize for the wind here." Vitor Constancio told Chatterley that Brexit is not another Lehman.

Katrina Dudley agreed it's not a "Lehman-style event."

Pete didn’t mention UA on Monday, made up for it on Tuesday

Jon Najarian on Tuesday's Halftime said he would pound the table for DKS, calling the Goldman Sachs endorsement "spot on."

But Joe Terranova said he's "not sure" if he wants to buy DKS, citing "some challenges inherent (Drink) to retail overall."

Stephanie Link said online competition will "put a hold on the multiple expansion" of DKS. But Pete Najarian said Goldman points out that DKS is going to "in-source their ecommerce." Pete also mentioned the overhang of Golf Galaxy (Drink). But he said "they've got Under Armour (Drink), they've got Nike, they've got everybody."

Stephanie Link would "certainly" not sell LB but isn't quite ready to buy. Pete said it needs a "trigger" to go higher but doesn't have it yet. Joe said the stock is "cheap enough," but that's not enough reason yet to buy it.

Doc called NKE a buy ahead of earnings. Stephanie Link said Nike may have some "struggles" with guidance and would buy under 50. Joe said he "spent quite a bit of time" analyzing the stock but just doesn't know where it will trade.

Pete stressed again that out of the usual suspects, he'd take LULU "all day long." Stephanie Link said she's not in LULU because she took profits (Brag Trade), but the "inventories are getting better," which might be the case at UA.

TSLA above pre-Brexit level

Anthony Grisanti on Tuesday's Halftime Report said the July 4 holiday will support oil; he said he's a buyer this week, but "next week, not so sure."

Jeff Kilburg said oil is range-bound from 45-50 but indicated the Brexit volatility has just begun.

Joe Terranova said CCL began to dip once the conference call began and they talked about pound exposure.

Stephanie Link said she added V on Monday.

Jon Najarian said SCTY "from a regulatory standpoint" had to form a committee to mull the TSLA "bid" (snicker).

Pete said spectrum value is behind the DISH downgrade at MoffettNathanson.

Bob Pisani explained how companies might be able to buy back shares through blackout periods. Joe said February is a "very strong month for buybacks" but he doesn't see the same for August because of the "U.S. political (sic redundant) election."

Stephanie Link called CI "interesting" from a risk/reward standpoint but complained that "someone's yelling in my ear." Simon Hobbs told Link she could take the earpiece out.

Joe suggested allocating U.K. holdings to Germany. Doc endorsed the GDXJ. Pete said there's some "huge call-buying" in VMW.

[Monday, June 27, 2016]

Judge should’ve devoted a whole show last week to which stocks would be most hurt by a Brexit

He talked guns with Richard Shelby.

He talked Uber rides with Glen Senk.

He talked Tesla with Ronnie Moas (who issued a sell April 7 at 261).

But Judge never allocated serious time last week to the question of, IF there's a Brexit, what's going to get walloped the worst.

Such a dialogue might've helped Sarat Sethi, who said on Monday's Halftime (in which Judge was not present) he owns DAL, AAL, UAL and even LUV; "it's been a lot of fun."

And Steve Weiss, who said he's "perplexed" about the extent of the airline selloff.

Karen thinks its’s funny that Chubb is ‘entirely U.S.-centric’

Jon Najarian on Monday's Halftime revealed the details of his BCS long trade from Friday.

Doc said he took a "scalp" Friday on the BCS he bought around 8.30 — but unfortunately wrote puts at $8.

"We bought more of Barclays this morning," he said, at "6.90-something."

Doc even confided to Simon Hobbs, "Oh, I make mistakes every day in trading."

Bank watcher Chris Whalen cautioned that investors shouldn't "overreact" because the impact of the Brexit vote isn't known yet.

Pete Najarian said European banks have been "absolutely terrible," and he's not buying. Pete said he's long BAC and has puts in C.

Steve Weiss said the banks are like those lines of troops in the Civil War.

Joe Terranova suggested CME, NDAQ, ICE and VIRT.

Karen Finerman, who tried a dazzling new ensemble (below) while Mel turned up in a legendary outfit on the 5 p.m. show, said "Friday, I sold some financials" because she thinks the slide will continue. Finerman said the fact volatility was down was "very interesting."

Tim Seymour, who didn't like the hectoring he was getting from Dan Nathan at the top of the 5 p.m. show, held a grudge the rest of the program.

Karen shot down Tim Seymour's claim that Foot Locker and Sports Authority are the same business.

Karen cracked up touting Chubb and mentioned Josh Berger's 50th birthday.

Joe: It was Dewey vs. Truman

Stephen Weiss, who didn't make a call last week on the Brexit vote but was impressively cautious, said on Monday's Halftime, "I think we go lower."

"I was in a risk-off situation actually before the vote," Weiss explained. "There's really no way of knowing where value exists."

Joe Terranova admitted "I made a very incorrect call" on Thursday and said the bull trend since February has been "neutralized."

Joe said it was a "Dewey verse (sic pronunciation) Truman moment," and he fell for it.

Joe said from a "trading perspective," the right place to be is on the sidelines.

Sarat Sethi said the market was having an "overreaction," then clashed with Weiss over whether U.S. regional banks are buyable.

Pete Najarian said "the markets have always hated uncertainty" and pointed out the VIX was actually falling Monday.

Gillian Tett, suddenly a much-in-demand guest, said "the U.K. is in a state of political anarchy, frankly."

Tett said she talked to a "leader of a big financial company" last week who predicted that, if there was a Brexit, British stocks would collapse and they'd organize a 2nd referendum, just like with TARP.

But Tett said that's just "total speculation" at this point.

Kayla Tausche said there was drinking at "relatively jovial" British bars on Sunday.

Pete goes a day without mentioning Under Armour

Pete Najarian, as he always does, on Monday's Halftime called DIS a buy (Drink).

Stephen Weiss said he wants to wait until the "smoke clears" in the market before buying LEN.

Joe Terranova said he's not sure he agrees with a negative call on MCD and suggested "why not" own the stock.

Sarat Sethi said he's long INTC.

For Brexit plays, Joe suggested "Toyota Motors (sic plural) (Drink)," while Weiss said the 10-year could go to 1% and lukewarmly mentioned biotech. Pete offered telecom. Sarat Sethi suggested you could "hide out" in utilities, but "I'm not saying to go buy them."

Our favorite Brexit selloff was AMZN, suddenly only deserving a 284 multiple rather than 300-plus.

Netflix is ‘basically thought to be a risk-on stock’ (and isn’t for the ‘faint of heart’)

Bill Nygren, who often has interesting stock calls on the Halftime Report (though some are just "it's too cheap"), said Monday that bonds and bond proxies are expensive and that non-U.S.-based income streams are cheap.

He said GOOGL is his top holding and said that if Youtube was valued "the way cable networks are valued based on hours of TV watched, that would be another couple hundred dollars a share."

Joe's question to Nygren about what to rebalance was kind of a bust.

Nygren touted financials and said "Citi is one of our favorites" (Drink) and suggested it will have a lot of buybacks this year.

Steve Weiss said of banks, "You can't argue that they're not cheap." (But are they cheap if there are negative rates?) Nevertheless, Weiss said there are more attractive places to invest his "dry powder."

Directors show up when Rebecca Patterson goes to movies, thank people for buying tickets instead of watching at home

Joe Terranova on Monday's Halftime declared we're back to "flat is the new up" and suggested there will be an opportunity for high-beta energy names (but we're not sure what happened to nat gas, "the new trade in energy" as of last week).

He also said he's looking at DPZ.

Pete Najarian touted TJX for some reason.

Stephen Weiss touted ADC while revealing he knows the CEO. "It's just gonna keep going," Weiss predicted.

Jon Najarian predicted gold crosses $1,400.

Doc said somebody put a big bet on HYG puts.

[Friday, June 24, 2016]

Doc crushed it

So, stocks plunged Friday to their lowest level ... in a month.

If there was something really dangerous about it, they wouldn't have taken a vote.

People marking a ballot doesn't change anyone's purchasing plans.

Basically Britain will end up with all the same deals but just won't be taking in 50,000 Middle Eastern refugees.

(OMG ... it's going to take SO MUCH TIME TO NEGOTIATE NEW AGREEMENTS!!!!)

On the Halftime Report, Jon Najarian stands tall with a phenomenal call on Wednesday's show, surely the show's call of the year, twice stating Britain would leave.

Joe Terranova owns the week's bungle, asserting Thursday that "the risk is not being invested on this" (because even if they vote to exit, the ECB will step right in).

Friday's show, helmed by guest host Simon Hobbs (who obviously wasn't aware of Doc's prediction), wasn't even dubbed "Halftime Report" but "Market Sell-off;" afterwards Josh Brown and Guy Adami hung out with Mel during the usual Power Lunch hour.

Doc said it might be a buying opportunity right now overseas, but not yet in the U.S. "because we came off the bottom so quickly."

Josh Brown said he agreed with Najarian and that the best trade would have been to buy overnight with Dow futures down 700 points.

Doc said he took profits on gold but at the end of the show said to keep buying.

Late in the program, he said he bought "about 10,000 shares" of BCS during the show and had sold puts.

Brown said he's looking to buy FEZ and DXJ and JPM, but lower.

Jim Lebenthal contended, "This will be a buying opportunity, but today is not the day to do it," citing "3 days' worth of news items" ahead. (So if everyone agrees the market has farther to fall, why aren't they all urging viewers to sell?)

Anastasia Amoroso, who looked great in green, curiously claimed "there is a law of near-term uncertainty that we expect," then asserted "this is not going to be the end of the selloff here" and that you have to find the "sweet spot," which she sees in the credit markets.

Alan Greenspan, overreacting

Ed Yardeni on Friday's Halftime hour questioned the "over the top" comments by Alan Greenspan and said he doubted the vote will lead to a recession in the United States.

Yardeni predicted the "Federal Open Mouth Committee" will congratulate itself for not raising rates at the last meeting and end up having a none-and-done year.

Former Sverige Deputy Finance Minister Bo Lundgren told Simon Hobbs he was astonished that Brits could be so "negative" and noted some concerns in southern Europe.

Lundgren said Britain was never a staunch ally of the EU, so he doesn't expect a "big crash" of the union itself unraveling.

Larry McDonald said he has a model that measures capitulation globally and that European banks have a greater score than on Feb. 10. "So I think you could buy the European banks here for a trade for the next 3 or 4 weeks," McDonald said.

Jim Lebenthal noted C surged 1% yesterday afterhours only to tumble on the Brexit vote. Jim said "the worst is in," so he thinks you can own C, but contrary to Larry McDonald, said he'd stay away from European stocks.

Josh Brown said the TLT/SPY ratio is having its strongest day since 2011 and said VGK is having its worst day since Lehman's fall. Nevertheless, he said European banks probably haven't finished falling, despite the fact Doc was buying.

Anastasia Amoroso said "rock-bottom" rates are priced into banks, so if there's "incrementally positive data," there could be a "significant risk reversal in financials."

Sara Eisen, from London, said she "really can't understate (sic) Simon the- how historic and monumental this vote is."

‘Still an element of indeterminacy’

Anastasia Amoroso said on Friday's Halftime hour that she'd look at U.S. high yield and said she wore green "to stand apart from the tape here."

Scott Nations told Jackie DeAngelis he wouldn't get into gold right now. Anthony Grisanti said gold "continues to rise," and he'd want to buy around 1,300.

Jim Lebenthal said utilities are a "bit too defensive" but suggested GM (snicker) (Drink) or MPC.

Eddie Perkin said he's not surprised at the market reaction on Friday and pointed out stocks had been rallying into Thursday night.

Perkin said there are a "tremendous number of risks now unleashed on the market."

Jim Lebenthal "there is still an element of indeterminacy (sic) to what's going on" and predicted Monday's open to be "choppy."

Jim finally seized on the key issue, "what actions the EU will take in order to quell the dissension within the ranks." (Translation: everything the same but no immigration.)

Jim said that for central banks, "The toolkit is basically empty" for combatting recession.

Josh Brown said, "I'm still worried about what we're gonna have to talk about all summer."

[Thursday, June 23, 2016]

If M is just now focusing on the customer experience, what has it been doing all century?

Stephen Weiss on Thursday's presidential-abbreviated Halftime Report said Britain staying in is "baked" into the market and has been for days.

"I think you wait," said Weiss, suggesting the market would sell off on a leave vote and may be a sell the news anyway if Britain stays.

Joe Terranova countered that "the risk is not being invested on this" and that if there were an exit, the pound might fall 10-20% and the market might get hit, but the ECB would come "right in" to support the markets.

Paul Richards said if there's an exit, the pound could be 1.30 Friday.

Kourtney Ratliff Gibson said "no one knows" how Brexit will go.

Phil LeBeau said TSLA watcher Adam Jonas is "not somebody who just screams out ridiculous ideas," so Jonas' downgrade is significant.

"I'm surprised the stock's even at 195," said Weiss, calling it a "textbook case of poor corporate governance (Drink)."

Joe said optimism for "Tesla mobility" is waning, and combined with an "awful deal," it's hard to see upside for the stock.

Jim Lebenthal, who had a quiet show, said Jonas is taking down Tesla automotive estimates, and there's a "deep air pocket here."

Judge stressed that SpaceX holds SolarCity debt and then tripped over his own lack of details on the subject.

John Rogers said there are some "extraordinary bargains" in financials such as LAZ and KKR.

Weiss unsuccessfully tried to convince Rogers that the exits of top bankers from LAZ and KKR are a headwind on the stocks, as well as the length of the bull market and prospect of rising rates.

Kourtney Ratliff Gibson said "it's a stock-picker's market (Drink) right now."

David Harding told Judge he's "proud" of Britain's role in Europe; that wasn't nearly as exciting as Sara Eisen's up-close update on the situation.

Kourtney Ratliff Gibson bought TWLO "immediately" and called it "my play on Uber."

Joe said TWLO is a "very small float."

Steve Weiss said it's "about time" for a change at Macy's, though he meant that as though the time has come, not that it's overdue. Kourtney Ratliff Gibson called the leadership transition "a great, great move" but curiously asserted enthusiastically that M is now "focusing on the experience in the stores."

[Wednesday, June 22, 2016]

Judge — not rude

So maybe he's not going to get the highest rating from the NRA.

But Judge wasn't rude to Sen. Richard Shelby.

Tuesday's Halftime Report included (see below) a testy exchange between CNBC's Scott Wapner and Alabama Republican Senator Richard Shelby that ended with Shelby pronouncing Wapner "very rude."

The interview was actually crisp and highly productive. Shelby graciously fielded questions on several subjects just moments after the testimony of Janet Yellen.

Judge asked about the failure of the Senate to ban gun sales to people on the terror watch list. He asked a follow-up question. Shelby answered both, no problem.

That should've neatly prompted Judge to end the interview.

However, after the 2nd answer, about people forgetting the 2nd Amendment, Shelby told Wapner, "I hope you won't."

That justified Judge adding that this is a "serious issue ... after what happened in Orlando."

And that's when the "very rude" yada yada yada stuff came in.

Honestly, we're not sure why Judge is venturing into gun control. This page has long argued that the program needs to address more political issues (Melissa unfortunately takes pride in shooing politics out of her show) given their impact on the market; Judge has been practically tone deaf to Trump/Clinton/Sanders this year while folks like Joe Terranova have virtually needed to purchase airtime to wisely point out the campaigns' overhang on the markets. But guns/2nd Amendment, unless referring to SWHC or RGR, are a good way to end up in a pointless fight. We don't know enough about anything in general this subject to know why it failed to pass. (This site doesn't follow the issue and prefers to let politicians sort it out.)

Regardless. Shelby graciously answered several pointed questions. He was wrong to say, after pushing that tiny little button, that Judge is "rude." Judge ranks extremely high in allowing guests to speak and complete their points.

Should Judge sometimes ask different questions? Yes, many times sometimes Judge should ask better questions. We used to outline far better questions that should've been asked after numerous CNBC interviews. But, stuff like that erased our limited free time, and by the way, while we're happy to help out the channel, we're not exactly getting paid for it.

If anyone's concerned that the door has closed on a possible friendship between Judge and Shelby, note that Carl on Jan. 25, 2013, told Wapner: "I didn't get on to be bullied by you ... I don't give a damn what you want to know ... I'll talk about Herbalife when I goddamn want to and not when you ask me. I'm never goin' on a show with you again, that's for damn sure, OK."

Tesla’s ridiculous purchase:
Doc knocks it out of the park

The universal reaction is a scoff, which is good and correct, but nobody told it like it is regarding the Tesla-SolarCity deal like Jon Narian on Wednesday's Halftime.

"This appears to be a no-brainer in that, nobody with a brain cell would wanna put these two together," Najarian said, citing 2 possibilities: "To mask what's actually going on at the company," and "SolarCity desperately needed a bailout."

Judge said Jim Chanos told him moments before the program that Tesla's move is a "shameful example of corporate governance at its worst."

Doc said, "I gotta give Jim Chanos credit," because a lot of folks like to go along with Musk when he has his "reality-distortion field working."

Colin Rusch questioned the "use of capital" at Tesla and then the "corporate governance (Drink) issues."

Josh Brown told Rusch about how "probably the biggest bear uh on the sell side for Tesla on the Street" (without naming him/her) thinks SCTY is merely a "specialty finance company" and asked Rusch if that's "way out of bounds." Rusch said "there's a whole another (sic) leg to that business model" besides the specialty finance, but he's not clear about the "synergies" that SCTY might offer.

Judge told Rusch "thanks for being here," and Rusch didn't respond. (But he didn't look mad and didn't imply Judge was "rude.")

Next up, taking a victory lap, was Ronnie Moas, who said he put a sell on TSLA on April 7 at 261 and has a 180 target. "I have no reason to change that after the news yesterday," Moas said, suggesting not getting long until it hits 140.

Moas said the deal is a "bailout" of a company that was on "life support."

Judge questioned if "we're all missing something" on the deal, stating Musk is "not an idiot" and maybe not getting enough credit.

Moas said we're not missing anything.

Judge said the crew "reached out" to Tesla for comment but hadn't heard back.

How about Greece?? Remember when CNBC couldn’t stop talking about that?

Stephanie Link on Wednesday's Halftime Report said she's "been kinda slowly picking this week" because nobody knows the Brexit outcome. If they do leave, Link said, the market will sell for a few days, then "cooler heads prevail."

Doc said some VIX volatility derivative was the highest of all time. "I think it will be a leave," Doc predicted, citing James Dyson's argument that there's no reason to stay. Judge said the CEO of Ryanair was on in the morning and said there's every reason to stay. Doc said he wishes that CEO could "elucidate" (Wow) (Sic) (Drink) his argument.

Josh Brown said if leave wins, it'll be a "shock."

Meanwhile, Jeff Kilburg said he doubts gold will go much lower. Jim Iuorio predicted gold would "easily" reach 1,330 on a "leave" vote.

Jon Najarian admitted he has spreads in the GLD and reiterated he thinks the vote will be a "leave."

Melissa Lee said on the 5 p.m. show that Jo Cox was "brutally murdered" (as opposed to those folks who are "nicely" murdered).

Stephanie’s the latest to fall for the C value trap

Stephanie Link on Wednesday's Halftime Report said she recently sold MCD because it's fairly valued; she put the money in YUM.

Josh Brown said if YUM breaks through the low 90s, "there are no sellers at that level." Brown said SHAK is the "Tesla of burgers," but he remains long. Jon Najarian said he likes JACK.

Doc said he likes the move in GILD and that he's got it for clients but not himself. Stephanie Link said to be "selective" (Drink) in biotech and health care.

Doc said there was "nothing not to like" in the KBH report.

Link contended FDX is behind UPS in ground.

Josh Brown said the selloff in ADBE is "totally ludicrous."

Stephanie Link said she added C.

Doc said he bought July 19 PAY calls but already took off half (Drink).

Josh Brown at one point questioned whether Judge was reading the prompter.

Josh offered a "teachable moment" in "SJ (sic) Smucker," stating that while it's not a sexy name, consistency can pay off. (He didn't mention that Joe used to talk about the stock nonstop a couple years ago while pronouncing the company title correctly.)

[Tuesday, June 21, 2016]

Judge told: ‘You’re very rude ... you shouldn’t be rude’

Fireworks erupted on Tuesday's Halftime Report — not from Janet Yellen's testimony but when Judge tangled with Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby over, of all things, gun legislation.

After a crisp series of questions about the Federal Reserve, Judge asked Shelby why a bill banning gun sales to people on the terror watch list failed.

Shelby said a majority but not 60 senators supported a 72-hour waiting period on those sales but that there's also a 2nd Amendment.

As Judge pushed, the two talked over each other.

Judge said, "With all due respect, sir-"

Shelby said, "With all due respect to you sir-"

Shelby continued, "Sir, you're being very rude."

Judge said, "No sir. I wasn't being rude at all sir."

Shelby added, "I think you're very rude. You're- you're very rude. You, you've got your point ... you shouldn't be rude."

Judge said, "I wasn't making a point, with all due respect."

Meanwhile, Steve Liesman said Yellen was "maybe a touch dishonest" on the question of Brexit's impact on the United States and that one of the questioners allowed her to walk back her "warning."

Jon Najarian said Yellen didn't move the markets at all.

Stephen Weiss said of the stock market, "We're not bubble-like."

Jim Lebenthal said the market is stating "very clearly" that it doesn't expect a Brexit and that it's "possible" there's no rate hike this year.

Judge accurately quoted Josh Brown from last week stating that the markets might not care about Brexit. Brown said Tuesday, "That's not what I said. I'm saying the opposite," specifically that "the market has already decided" a Brexit is unlikely.

Stephen Weiss also sparred with Brown over the subject; Brown protested that the lack of a Brexit is being factored into today's market.

Brown on Thursday did say a "big bounce" is coming within a couple days, which has basically been correct.

Doc said he's not in FDX.

[Monday, June 20, 2016]

Not sure what happened to those July 1st C calls people were buying in anticipation of a Brexit

In a bit of overstatement, Glen Senk actually said on Monday's Halftime that "this is one of the most exciting times ever in the history of retail."

Senk said he has an "exceptional experience" almost every time with Uber, so he claims he's actually expecting it from "every retailer" and "every restaurant" and "every airline." (Not sure about the odds on that.)

Joe Terranova said brick-and-mortar stores are "still clearly challenged" in the "Amazon universe."

Brian Stutland said oil was moving Monday with risk assets. He said he was "skeptic" (sic) that it could go much higher. Jim Iuorio said "53.80-ish" is his next target if crude holds 49.

Rebecca Patterson said she's been underweight energy but has increased her stake in emerging market equities.

Joe said getting out of high-beta energy was the "right strategy" this month. Joe called natural gas the "new trade in energy."

Jon Najarian said he's long FB calls.

Rebecca Patterson said "no one seems to care" about the yuan move, and that seems like a good thing.

Doc said July 49 calls in CAG were popular.

Missy opened the 5 p.m. Fast Money with — you guessed it — a Brexit poll. (Mel had a dynamite new outfit, and Karen had a dynamite new hairstyle.)

At the end (and beginning) of the day, sick of CNBC’s countdown to Brexit vote

Enough already.

If you had CNBC on at any time Monday, you were reminded about every 40 seconds that there's another one of these annual U.K.-bloc-might-secede-from-something votes coming up this week — AND HERE'S WHAT THE BOOKIES ARE SAYING!!!!!!

Stephen Weiss on Monday's Halftime made the most cogent observation, stating if stocks keep running up before Thursday, it'll be a "sell on the news event" after the vote.

"I'm keeping lots of dry powder," Weiss said.

Joe Terranova said he'd be looking at Europe's corporate debt market for a trade.

Joe said the tragedy of the Jo Cox shooting "changed the dynamic and the narrative" in Britain.

Weiss said there have been 18 straight weeks of outflows in European equities.

Jon Najarian was once again playing his greatest hits album, stating he was "lucky, uh, with timing" on his UVXY play last week and that based on the pound, volatility and gold, "it's gonna be Bremain."

Doc reminded Judge that Doc scoffed about DB being the "canary in the coal mine" last week. (Basically he was taking credit for calling it a buy around the lows.)

Rebecca Patterson said she went underweight U.K. stocks "some time ago" but is overweight U.S. equities. Judge said the U.S. market, "at the end of the day" (Drink), for American viewers, is the "most important story."

Flash: Netflix a ‘risk-on’ stock

Anthony DiClemente on Monday's Halftime Report said "we see a little bit of a slowdown since January" in Netflix subscribers, and he thinks the Street is a little "aggressive" in its forecasts.

He also said the pending price hike in the U.S. could drive some "incremental churn" or "marginal cancellations."

But DiClemente waded into humor when actually stating with a straight face, "It's basically thought to be a risk-on stock" and one that at times is "not for the faint of heart" (Drink).

Judge took forever with a long windup to ask DiClemente for an opinion on DIS. "I've got a buy on Disney," DiClemente said, calling ESPN concerns "relatively well documented." Both for some reason spoke as though the NBA Finals Game 7 is some kind of game-changer.

Rebecca Patterson saw "Finding Dory" with her daughters and said the director showed up and thanked moviegoers for watching the movie at the theater.

More from Monday's Halftime later.

[Friday, June 17, 2016]

Surprised Gundlach wasn’t asked whether Under Armour has an inventory/online problem or whether MCD has to simplify its menu or whether AAPL’s best days are behind it

Some are a little pessimistic about Donald Trump.

Others, however, seem kind of impressed.

Jeffrey Gundlach seems to be in the latter camp, predicting on Friday's Halftime that Trump "will, uh, be, uh, quite a bit like Ronald Reagan" and that he's even started calling the GOP nominee-in-waiting "Ronald Trump."

Forecasting a "rough summer" with a "global growth scare," Gundlach also predicted Trump would "move ahead in the polls" despite a "big blowback" from the "establishment media" that opposes him and has already started publishing "scare articles" about global economic pitfalls if Trump is elected.

Gundlach predicted Trump would initiate "a very large deficit-spending program."

Meanwhile, Gundlach said it'll be "Bremain," not "Brexit," and suggested buying European banks on weakness.

He said the Fed has kind of "given up" on the notion of GDP surging past 2%.

"I actually think they gained a little bit of credibility, although confused, this week by at least acknowledging reality," said Gundlach, who has correctly questioned the necessity of a rate-hike cycle.

Gundlach spent several moments suggesting the S&P 500 chart in the last few years matches the Fed's use, and ending, of QE. He contended that negative rates don't stimulate consumption but savings.

"Negative interest rates are the definition of deflation," Gundlach said.

"I don't think they should raise rates at all," he added, pointing to a "massive psychological shift" on Wednesday.

He said he doubts the 10-year yield goes much lower. And, he said "it's been 6 months to the day" since he had a Halftime chat (for those keeping score).

Judge insists to Josh that they’re not reporting ‘made-up’ stories

Friday's Halftime Report brought in CNBC's Josh Lipton to help sort out the Apple situation in China.

Lipton said "reports are accurate" that a Chinese court ruled last month that Apple infringed on a local company's patents, but as Apple fights the order, its products are still available in China.

Sarat Sethi said "we've seen this story before," pointing to QCOM.

Jon Najarian suggested that this news "could end up having the opposite effect" on sales in the short term as people fearful of the phone being blocked rush to buy it. Doc said he bought AAPL just before the show started.

Josh Brown suggested Tim Cook talk to Bob Iger about doing business in China.

Brown said, "Maybe it's not really news." Judge interrupted, "Well it is news ... this isn't a made-up story."

Stephen Weiss, who didn't mention his AAPL short this time, said "it's more to come" and by the way, AAPL is having trouble putting stores in India.

Sarat Sethi predicted ORCL has a "good run."

Josh Brown said GOOGL has support from 680 to 685.

Weiss said Elliott has a "lights out" track record and that LOCK should listen.

Doc said SWHC's guidance was up 35-40%.

Take out the best 90 days of 2016, your annual return will really suck

Jon Najarian said on Friday's Halftime that playing the volatility ETFs a day ago "worked out pretty darn well."

Doc said if the pound is going down while volatility and gold are rising, then "that vote is a lot tighter than people thought."

"There's no playbook for anything that's happening," said Steve Weiss, adding, "No way to hedge the Brexit whatsoever because it's a true binary event."

Josh Brown asserted that "everything was better than expectations" in economic data this week.

Sarat Sethi said "it's so easy to be negative right now" but "longer term, things will be better" (Drink). (However, he didn't mention a "2nd-half story.")

Weiss said it looks like a "low-return environment" this year and next year (especially if you're not invested in the best days).

David Albrycht said he wants a "barbell approach" in bonds to the Brexit vote, mentioning 30-year bonds from AAPL, T, INTC, LMT.

For high yield plays, he suggested Boyd Gaming, Station Casinos, Toll Brothers and Marathon Oil.

Albrycht called the Fed "very confused."

Hopefully we’re not the only ones tuning out Sumner Redstone stories (if you miss one, there will be a recap the next day)

Rich Greenfield, long one of the best CNBC guest analysts, on Friday's Halftime called VIAB a "fascinating situation."

He said he upgraded the shares to a $55 buy because he was waiting for "clear and decisive action."

"The board, and the senior management team, are getting fired, like it or not," Greenfield contended.

He said things are "moving at a fairly rapid pace" and said there's "a lot of pent-up desire" to own the shares.

Then he outlined his vision of a revitalized Viacom, suggesting a recombination with CBS in which Les Moonves would be the "obvious choice" as CEO.

Greenfield said Tom Preston is "having the time of his life," and probably the "last thing" Preston wants is to get into the day-to-day corporate game.

Steve Weiss said he's not a buyer of the name; Josh Brown said MTV isn't connecting with millennials, but somebody eventually will figure it out.

Greenfield explained CBS would give Viacom a boost: "CNBC would have a hard time being dropped because it's got the protection of the NBC television network behind it," Greenfield said.

[Thursday, June 16, 2016]

See if you can avoid the market’s best 90 days

Colbert Narcisse on Thursday's Halftime pointed out that being in the market over the last 20 years "consistently," you would've made "close to 10%."

But, "If you missed the 90 best days of the S&P's returns, it would've been negative 4½%," Narcisse said.

Hmmmm.

If someone had actually TRIED to be in the market for the last 20 years except for the best 90 days, is that even possible to accomplish?

Obviously, Narcisse was attempting to make a point, as money managers tend to do, that by leaving the market, you are risking missing the big gains.

But by exiting, you are also presumably missing some of the big losses.

So if the argument is that you shouldn't be trying to time the market, then Narcisse is curiously implicitly advocating index investing — curious for a wealth management honcho.

Buy calls for a stock about to fall — Doc’s report on C makes no sense

Jon Najarian on Thursday's Halftime said somebody's buying July 1st calls in C.

But he never said what the strike was, and his explanation — that the February lows "could happen again" because of Brexit — doesn't quite explain why someone would be buying calls of an unknown strike rather than puts.

Pete Najarian said TJX July 75 calls were being bought aggressively while the 77.50s were being sold. Pete said he'll be in it "at least a few weeks."

Doc can be seen skulking around the set while Josh Brown grumbles about the VIX.

More unusual call activity

Judge on Thursday's Halftime Report said the Fed was "double down on dovish" on Wednesday. (Wasn't there just a guy on the show a couple weeks ago suggesting 7 hikes by the end of 2017?

Joe Terranova said if the Brexit vote is a stay, then expect a "massive bounce" within the next 10 days.

In a how-to-play-volatility suggestion, Pete Najarian suggested owning JPM and "sell calls that are up 30% from where they were last week." Why those calls are up 30% while the stock is down this month is beyond our comprehension (probably should buy How We Trade Options).

Josh Brown wanted to stress that he doesn't think the VIX is a big deal, stating the 10-year average is 20. "Nothing, I repeat nothing, mean-reverts like the VIX," Brown said

Pete countered "that 20 used to be a 14 forever until the financial crisis." Brown threw in an "at the end of the day" (Drink).

Jim Lebenthal said he's troubled that Janet Yellen threw "a bucket of water on the U.S. economy."

Josh: ‘Big bounce’ coming

Pete Najarian said at the top of Thursday's Halftime that the VIX is up 40% in a week, and Colbert Narcisse said "volatility is clearly on the rise."

Josh Brown contended, "We're about to get a big bounce," calling TLT "way overbought." Brown said IBB has been down for 8 straight days and suggested it won't make 10.

Joe Terranova suggested raising cash and said the issue with the bounce is that no one knows whether it'll happen tomorrow or within weeks. Brown said it's "imminent, like within the next couple days."

Jim Lebenthal said this is a "show-me" market. "I don't see us going anywhere, and there's a lot of risks to the downside, which is why I wanna be in more defensive names," Jim said.

But they can invent some new products and bundle them in a hardware/software subscription

Judge on Thursday's Halftime brought in AAPL watcher Rod Hall and began by not asking him a question but merely stating Hall has cut his Apple Watch estimates in half.

Hall bailed Judge out, stating the Watch is a "great product" but has "demand weakness."

Hall said lowered iPhone expectations are based on a "broader market problem" and not anything Apple's doing wrong.

Jim Lebenthal asked Hall what the next product might be that might "come close" to the iPhone. Hall called the car "a little bit of a red herring" and said the "more interesting" future projects include the "augmented reality glasses."

Joe Terranova said YHOO can "easily get back to 40."

Still wondering about the Led Zep concert’s effect on the economy

Jim Lebenthal on Thursday's Halftime said the AAL chart is a "beatdown" and suggested "the worst might be in here."

Josh Brown said you can stay long in KR with 34 support, but it's "kind of in a no-man's land."

Pete Najarian said he's had a "nice ride to the upside" since getting into VIAB a couple months ago, if that helps you make a decision on the stock.

Josh Brown said he's in the "friend zone" with DIS but if you're a long-term buyer, this is your chance, down 20%. Then he threw in an "at the end of the day" (Drink).

Joe Terranova said the Chinese economy is "not as strong as we think."

Jeff Kilburg said gold was surging in the wake of the British shooting tragedy because of thoughts the Brexit vote could be delayed. Kilburg said gold could stay at Thursday's level or even go higher, but Jim Iuorio seemed to think it's getting tired.

Pete Najarian said he has exited "most" of his GDX stake but he's still in some miners.

[Wednesday, June 15, 2016]

Central banks’ stairway
to heaven

Pete Najarian opened Wednesday's Halftime Report referring to "Jamie Dimon's bottom" (sic).

Josh Brown said "there no reason to own" the financials unless we're getting a rising-rate cycle.

Stephanie Link said the debate is, "Why is the yield curve flattening?"

Doc said those viewing DB as a "canary in the coal mine" should know that "this bird is dead" (and repeated that thought about 2 or 3 times). But Doc said now is the time you might want to start looking at banks to buy.

Rich Saperstein said the stock market valuation isn't appealing and questioned whether policymakers will ever get back to a normalized economy.

Saperstein pointed to Europe and curiously claimed, "Led Zeppelin is actually reappearing and having a comeback concert in Europe; that's what we should be looking at."

Steve Liesman said the Fed was having a "pretty important meeting today" and questioned if we'd be hearing "I Got You Babe" (that's not a Led Zep tune) (nor a Grateful Dead tune) at 2 p.m. Eastern.

Judge (and Bob Pisani) again referred to "mainland China" shares not being included in the MSCI. Pete said the "halts" are an issue. Josh Brown said he won't name names, but there's talk that MSCI "may have been influenced" by some very large investment firms. Doc said it's a free country and MSCI could put in its index what it wants but questioned if regulators would've blessed the inclusion of Chinese stocks being authorized on some level for American investors.

Anthony Grisanti said if the Fed doesn't move and the dollar weakens, he's a buyer of crude.

Judge asked Nicole Glaros to explain what she does. Glaros, who has beautiful hair (if it's OK to say that) that will turn heads, said "we are basically a seed fund" for early-stage software companies. Glaros said they choose "somewhere between 1 and 2% of those companies" that apply.

Josh Brown said GE is making its 3rd attempt at a breakout and said it could be a "historic move." Stephanie Link touted the year MGM is having. Pete Najarian said he's in WYNN and touted MPEL too.

Josh Brown said TWTR should've given its $70 million investment in Soundcloud to charity instead.

We’re not at the point yet where we have to talk about Facebook bundling new products into subscription services

Quickly becoming one of the Halftime Report's best guests, Andrew Left said Wednesday he's shorting FB because "there's a few disturbing trends that you cannot ignore."

One of those is that social media use is declining, and another is that Snapchat is making inroads, but "the most important thing" is that a company this size has to launch new initiatives to keep growing, and there's no indication these initiatives are needle-movers.

Paul Meeks, who took the bull side, said he wishes FB had bought Snapchat years ago but insisted that FB and GOOG are the long-term winners.

Left said Facebook is not a bad company but has to move the needle from here. Meeks said Facebook's RPU is growing not just in the U.S. but every region. "This is not an Apple story," Meeks said.

Josh Brown claimed "the real threat" is musical.ly because of its popularity with the under-16 crowd and just sort of floated a non-question out there, leading to dead air as neither Brown nor Judge specified someone to respond; Left impressively jumped in.

Left made fine points that this could be a peak of sorts for Facebook, but he didn't offer enough of a convincing catalyst to short it right now.

[Tuesday, June 14, 2016]

Pete: UA has inventory growth problem

Tuesday's Halftime was abbreviated by extensive presidential remarks, but Pete Najarian still got to talk about Under Armour. (Drink)

"Inventory growth, that's the problem," Pete said.

Meanwhile, Pete said it seems like the whole world is getting amped up about Brexit.

Jon Najarian suggested that the Orlando tragedy could somehow weigh on the Brexit vote. Doc said he sold out of his VIX long positions and said Pete took his off a day ago too.

Mamoon Hamid told Judge that when he heard about the MSFT-LNKD deal, it didn't actually make sense to him because it's "so non-overlapping," but he's interested to see what they do.

"Nobody saw it coming," Hamid said.

Mamoon said Uber's IPO will be a "'17 story."

Judge asked a good question of Hamoon, what's the most exciting thing in tech, offering VR and AI. Mamoon eventually suggested space travel and drones.

Brad Gerstner, famous in the Halftime Arena for resolving a battle with United Airlines and declaring it a curriculum-changer for Harvard Business School, predicted "dramatic urgency and change" from the revamped board.

Gerstner pointed out the vast difference in airline profitability from 2005 (oil at 55, industry lost $30 billion) to 2015 (oil at 54, industry made $20 billion) and credited technology. Judge scoffed that technology isn't causing people to pay more for a seat.

Gerstner said the president's commentary "reminds us all what's important."

Doc said he bought SFUN for himself and his Halftime Portfolio.

[Monday, June 13, 2016]

Don’t call it a ‘hardware company,’ subscribe to an iPad (cont’d)

In a quiet Halftime Report Monday on location in San Francisco but interrupted by the sobering FBI press conference on the Orlando tragedy, viewers nevertheless got Round 2 from Toni Sacconaghi on this curious notion of "subscribing" to Apple products.

Here's what he said:

"Our belief is that Apple needs to assemble a compelling bundle of services, perhaps including an over-the-top television service, that Apple could then use to sell a bundle of hardware and services on a subscription basis."

Sigh.

For the 2nd time, Judge failed to help us (and all other viewers) by clarifying what the heck we're talking about here.

How does someone "subscribe" to hardware?

We've learned that iTunes is considered "services." How is buying a U2 album considered a "service"? How does one "subscribe" to a U2 album?

Whatever.

Meanwhile, Sacconaghi said WWDC guests would be neither enthusiastic nor underwhelmed by what they hear.

He mentioned the importance of the "home-based ecosystem" and "Internet of things" (Zzzzzzzzzzzzz).

Pete Najarian said he was "shocked" by the MSFT-LNKD deal and said the "brilliance" of the deal is financing with cheap debt.

Jon Najarian actually claimed with a straight face that MSFT is building a "moat" with the LNKD acquisition.

Pete at least noted that LNKD's all-time high is 258.

Pete said the deal doesn't necessarily eliminate salesforce.com from Microsoft's possibilities.

Guy Kawasaki, who spent the program smiling and chuckling, predicted of MSFT, "As a professional, you don't exist if you're not in LinkedIn, so they're gonna get every professional."

Kawasaki said that when he read about the deal, he actually thought it was "The Onion."

Eamon Javers actually said the political candidates examine what happened in Orlando "before saying ah-ha, this is what proves that I was right all along."

Jeff Richards said Silicon Valley is "healthy" right now.

Trying to fit in with the Silicon Valley vibe, Judge went open collar.

[Friday, June 10, 2016]

Doc: ‘No chance’ of June or July

Friday Halftime Reports tend to be laid-back programs, and this Friday wasn't much of an exception, although Doc threw down the gauntlet on the Fed's schedule.

"December is the soonest that they're gonna move on interest rates," Najarian contended.

Doc said he didn't want to take credit from Carl or Soros for triggering the late-week dip, but he thinks it's other factors.

Rob Sechan said the move in global yields is a sign of "derisking."

"You do have sellers here," said Josh Brown, pointing to the failures over 2,100 and saying no one should be surprised at the day's selloff (even though the graphic behind him said "This sell-off should (sic) surprise anyone").

Jon Najarian predicted money coming into the U.S. and exiting Europe.

Jim Lebenthal said if money does come in, it's going to cyclicals. But, "This recovery is long in the tooth," Lebenthal cautioned.

Rob Sechan said we're at a "pivot point." Like virtually everyone in the program's history, Sechan predicted a "re-acceleration in earnings in the 2nd half of the year" (Drink).

Jim Lebenthal contended that the Fed tapping on the brakes isn't enough to stop the market in its tracks.

Doc said he doesn't believe the Fed has the "guts" to go in July and that such a move would send the dollar "just skyrocketing."

He insisted there's "no chance" of a June or July hike based on the big money that forecasts these things.

Judge and Josh haggled over whether Judge was speculating about a "rotation away from risk" or just into other sectors that haven't been leading.

Josh Brown couldn't answer Judge's excellent question about whether it's best to put $25,000 right now in bonds, gold or stocks. "How old are you; what's your time horizon?" Brown said. Judge said it was just a "benchmark" question.

Stop calling it a ‘hardware company;’ start subscribing to iPads (cont’d)

Brian White, who has a 185 target (snicker), said on Friday's Halftime there's a lot of "gloom and doom" surrounding AAPL but that there's a new cycle coming up, and the stock's "dirt cheap."

Jon Najarian questioned when the catalyst comes and asserted it won't be at the Wordwide Developers Conference. White predicted the market will start to anticipate good things.

Jim Lebenthal said he's long AAPL, but he's "actually worried about the iPhone 7" because it won't be much of an upgrade. White conceded it won't be as much of an upgrade of the iPhone 6 but then predicted "a lot of iPhone 6 buyers come back" and upgrade to 7.

White resorted to the typical refrain of Apple bulls, predicting great new stuff somehow and somewhere in "VR, robotics, the auto market or something in television."

Josh Brown asked White about the "dearth of information" ahead of the WWDC. White conceded that but failed to make a point about it besides the "ecosystem."

Doc said White made great points (actually with all due respect, he didn't really make any point) but suggested White is out ahead of the catalysts.

Josh Brown said the "momo people" have been gone from AAPL for 4 years.

Steve Grasso on the 5 p.m. Fast Money, "I don't think there's any excitement" in Apple. Guy Adami, who does a good job with these sidewalk chats with passersby, pointed out most of them don't really know what Siri is.

While Judge shrugs at adidas, no one yet can explain if jock endorsements cause people to buy shoes

Jim Lebenthal on Friday's Halftime Report reaffirmed he likes GM but admitted it's a lot like "Groundhog Day."

Jon Najarian said the "dropoff in coal shipments" is too dramatic for the rails.

Doc said HRB's move indicates Morgan Stanley is wrong.

Jim Lebenthal said Urban Outfitters' sales outlook is an Amazon casualty (Drink).

Josh Brown, who said he still has a TWTR stake (unclear how whether the stock goes up pertains to his age or time horizon), said Instagram and Snapchat are trumping TWTR in advertiser demand even though the whole presidential race is "taking place on Twitter. … It's weird; I don't understand it."

"It's not one of my better holdings," Josh admitted.

Judge suggested that adidas (pronounce it any way you like; that's what they did on the show) is an afterthought in the athletic apparel world. "Adidas is the name in soccer," insisted Jim Lebenthal. Judge trumpeted that there are a bunch of "global, iconic sort of soccer teams which are with Nike." Jim said NKE "spent like crazy" to get that.

Doc did the Rocky Balboa thing (with 10-pound dumbbells) in clips featuring the Wall Street Decathlon. Andrew McOrmond explained why he's motivated to compete against NFL guys.

McOrmond suggested the Japan trade might fire up, but he said to make it the EWJ, not DXJ.

McOrmond touted the AGG, but Jim Lebenthal questioned if that could reverse and suggested it has a 7-year duration.

Sue Herera said Peter Thiel "backed Gawker" (sic). Judge at least issued a non-correction correction. Judge and Sue this time didn't speculate as to the direction of VIAB.

[Thursday, June 9, 2016]

Judge, Sue stump each other over direction of VIAB

While Thursday's Halftime crew noted U.S. Treasurys are yielding a lot more than a lot of other bonds, Steve Weiss had a warning for those who get giddy on the trade.

"When it turns, that bubble's gonna burst like you've never seen before," Weiss said.

Pete Najarian said "some of the smartest guys on Wall Street" are plunging into gold.

"The momentum is there; the trade is right," added Joe Terranova.

"I think gold will work," Weiss said.

Jon Najarian made a curious point, that the Brexit risk is underestimated but won't happen anyway.

Weiss reverted to one of his favorite subjects, "massive overcapacity" in steel and iron ore (Drink).

Joe again mentioned that he decided to "ring the register" in energy (Drink).

But, "Right now I wanna play offense in the market," Joe said.

Weiss called DIS a hold. Pete Najarian, as always, called DIS a buy (Drink) and said ESPN continues to be "way overblown."

Jon Najarian couldn't remember that Tom Staggs is the guy exiting DIS and questioned who the new leader will be. "Is it gonna be Sheryl Sandberg?" (Drink) Doc asked. (It better be, because there are a bunch of people on CNBC who have never met Sandberg and have little clue what she does who will nevertheless say "Oh man, that's a great choice" if she indeed gets the job.)

Scott Nations said crude "technically" is in no-man's land and called it a "coin flip." Anthony Grisanti said he'd be a "big buyer" at 48.

Judge and Sue Herera asked each other how you trade VIAB, and each decided, "I don't know."

Given a seat at the table, Rohan Oza asked for and received a "10-second thesis" and took 20-30 seconds to say 80% of the food in the middle of grocery stores is bad for you and that everyone is looking for something better that tastes good.

Oza said his new cottage cheese is so good, he can have it for breakfast.

Judge gave this fellow Bernie Sanders a campaign commercial from the White House. Sounds like the country's got a lot of problems.

Mary Thompson, with hair back, reported on the benefits of the wider Panama Canal lane. Joe Terranova refused to back the rails. "I don't think shipping is the place to be," Joe said. Weiss called the rails "expensive."

Doc said someone was aggressively buying a 27.50/25.50 put spread in EWZ. Pete Najarian said July 56.50 SBUX calls were popular.

Stephen Weiss said to sell FIT; the space is "completely commoditized."

Judge said the Wedbush note declared FIT a "status symbol."

[Wednesday, June 8, 2016]

Third World solutions: Hire ‘somebody from the University of Chicago’

Guy Adami on Wednesday's 5 p.m. Fast Money said it's actually possible for the S&P 500 to have an "outside year to the upside," which he doesn't think he has seen in his lifetime.

Karen Finerman, who stopped traffic in her black-V ensemble, said if the Fed raises, "I don't get the gold play there."

Meanwhile, on the Halftime Report, Josh Brown said the show kept viewers out of LC. (Even though Pete was recently touting the calls.)

Jon Najarian said Bill Pulte is probably happy with PHM's gains and said "if you hold it," then continue to hold it.

Joe Terranova said the steel names can go higher, but it's just a trade.

Pete Najarian said LULU (his new favorite name now that he's apparently done talking about UA) is clicking.

Brian Stutland said gold's move is suggesting there's "fear" in the market. But Jim Iuorio argued it's a "currency question."

Virtu chief Doug Cifu said it's been a market of "muted" volatility and said there isn't "significant conviction."

Cifu decried "overfragmentation" of stock trading.

Josh Brown said not to get too selective on India stocks; "own it as part of a broad index."

Pete Najarian suggested AMZN and AAPL as India plays. Joe Terranova said "you're clearly seeing a turn" in India's business climate. Josh said "somebody from the University of Chicago" is helping with India's monetary system.

Kate Kelly, who looked superb, reported from the Pork Expo. Joe said lack of packaging capacity tends to take a bite out of soaring lean hog prices.

Doc plunged into GILD calls and also added WFT to his Halftime Portfolio. Pete gloated about tripling his investment in TSLA calls overnight.

Judge promised Toni "Subscribe to an iPad" Sacconaghi next week when the Halftime Report is in San Francisco.

Guest: Valeant story a lot worse than people thought

In a crisp discussion on Wednesday's Halftime Report, David Maris unloaded on VRX and had a response for every one of Judge's and Doc's good questions.

"A lot of things that people didn't expect a day or 2 ago" just occurred at Valeant, Maris said. "Things are a lot worse than people anticipated just a couple days ago."

Maris said a bankruptcy reorganization is "potentially in the cards."

"I think they're gonna have to sell core assets," he said.

Judge questioned if Joe Papa would jump aboard a sinking ship. Maris said Papa told him his goal is to help Valeant turn around the image of the drug industry.

Maris said no one will take out this company at a premium.

Doc questioned if Valeant might get more out of its asset sales than Maris thinks. Maris conceded they "could get people excited" but doubts they would make a long-term difference.

Fair enough, but at some point the stock's a buy. We just couldn't say where.

Meanwhile, Jon Najarian said "a lot of folks have mischaracterized" how much ordinary Americans would save from gasoline prices and said many of the E&P plays are "topping out."

But Joe Terranova said money managers are playing "catch-up" in energy. Judge waded back into the famous Judge-Joe argument over whether Joe 1) got out of energy too soon or 2) is bearish on the space; Joe admitted, "I might've gotten out a little bit too soon."

Josh Brown pointed out the gains in emerging markets. Pete Najarian scoffed that Brazil has really turned itself around but said he's got EWZ calls; "I'm in there for the trade."

Pete Najarian said "I got a little bit lucky" getting into CHK a day ago and predicted "much more" in the "trash" names in the energy space.

Bob Doll said there are "2 reasons" to fear a Trump presidency, citing uncertainty and Trump's apparent willingness to start trade wars.

We'll have more from Halftime and the 5 p.m. Fast Money in a bit.

[Tuesday, June 7, 2016]

Wondering if AAPL is going to be the next Twitter, screwing up by not obtaining (the greatest acquisition of all time) Instagram

Pete Najarian on Tuesday's Halftime Report said "I feel better" every time he realizes he's not in VRX.

Both Pete and Steve Weiss said they don't know why you'd want to own the stock.

Judge pushed Josh Brown to opine on whether VRX will be "forced" to sell key assets but didn't get very far. Sarat Sethi said "creditors are lining up at this point." Pete tried to squeeze in an FCX reference but never really got there.

Weiss claimed the "vast odds" now favor SRPT "going 40 to 60," so evidently, the $4 low isn't going to happen.

David Martin explained how he scored intellectual property for the CNBC Disruptor 50. Judge referred to the list "in and of itself" (sic but not "literally").

Josh Brown said ZG is not his kind of stock.

Weiss said Carl was "averaging down" in HTZ and said the rental-car business is hurt by Uber and Lyft.

Sarat Sethi said you can own CSCO for the long term.

Pete Najarian said TSLA could be a "huge, huge winner."

Steve Weiss said RL is "clearly clearing the decks." Josh Brown said it "could be literally (sic) hammering out a bottom" and would prefer a long position to a short position.

Jeff Kilburg said oil has made an "absolute tear" and said it will "stay elevated" as long as the Fed keeps the lid on the dollar. Jim Iuorio said the trend's clear, and oil is going higher.

Deepak Chopra talked about self worth and net worth. Chopra said Weiss needs a "consult."

Seema Mody knocked the world's socks off in fuchsia when outlining the Obama-Modi agenda.

Not sure how Weiss’
AAPL short is working out

Tuesday's Halftime couldn't have had a sleepier opening.

Josh Brown said the market's gain has expanded into more than just a handful of stocks.

"I'm not euphoric about this," Stephen Weiss said, though the market "clearly wants to go higher."

Pete Najarian said June is "most likely" off the table.

Brown doubts the 7-year bull market could end on a Brexit, but Najarian said it's "one of the bumps" out there.

Weiss said he'd sell the emerging markets.

Weiss stated again that China is a "ticking time bomb."

Weiss told Judge that paying attention to surveys is a "great way to lose money in the market."

[Monday, June 6, 2016]

SRPT range clarified

Monday's Halftime Report was Yellen-land (or, for a bit, ASCO-land).

Stephen Weiss said Yellen won't "definitively" kill June because the Fed never "definitively" kills anything.

Weiss said the "good news" is that the jobs report will cause them to wait (not sure why that's "good" news), but the bad news if it's a "real number." Which means Weiss has identified the market goal since 2009; lower for longer.

Pete Najarian said all we've had so far is "jawboning."

Josh Brown said "the market doesn't care," prompting delayed carping from Judge, who called that "flat wrong." Brown rattled off a list of investing heavyweights and suggested none of their decisions is based on Fed predictions.

Joe Terranova referred to the Dec. 16 hike (and we thought beforehand according to many that "the Fed won't raise in December") and asserted, "Everyone in that environment would think bond yields would go up and the S&P would go down. Bond yields have actually gone down 60 basis points and the S&P is around 2%-"

Yeah, but, the S&P didn't exactly rocket to the moon in January and early February.

Joe said a place to be is investment-grade high yield.

Josh Brown said if there's a "melt-up," then "nobody is long enough."

Jeff Saut said of Yellen, "I don't think she's gonna say anything." Saut contends there won't be a hike before the election (we've heard that one before too).

Saut couldn't resist a Brag Trade, stating he put "a lot of money" into stocks at the February lows and then more during the mid-May lows.

Weiss asked how Saut justifies a 2,300 S&P target. Saut said that's a "point and figure target" (sic) (scratching our heads at that one and trying to figure it out) if we make new highs; he doesn't know if we'll make it or not.

Saut predicted one of our all-time favorite CNBC refrains — the 2nd-half story. "I do think that earnings are gonna pick up in the back half of this year," Saut said. (Which keeps the virtually unblemished record of no stock picker on CNBC in the spring predicting an autumn disaster intact.) (That doesn't count the professional gloom-mongers who predict a disaster every month.)

Judge briefly shifted gears to ASCO, where Meg Tirrell chatted with Daniel O'Day, who is CEO of Roche Pharmaceuticals and hardly said anything more than there are a bunch of great drugs that will someday be discovered.

O'Day said political outrage over drug pricing is "something we take really seriously."

Stephen Weiss said he still likes "way, way undervalued" AGN and mentioned the TEVA cash (Drink). (This writer is long AGN.) He also said he bought ENDP. "There's some hair on it," but he likes the upside.

Pete Najarian mentioned BMY, which has "morphed itself into a biotech." And Gilead.

Josh Brown invoked Joe's favorite term, stating BIIB has been in the "penalty box" (Drink), but he likes the name and also touted BMY. Joe likes AMGN and GILD.

A previous mystery (see below) was thankfully clarified when Stephen Weiss told Judge, "I still own Sarepta," calling it a stock of high risk/reward that could go to 60 or as low as 4. We think that range is likely way too broad but appreciate that Weiss hung a definitive low on the name.

Judge was not heard to say "literally."

[Friday, June 3, 2016]

Judge wakes up, apparently maps his route to work in expectation of getting there

You'd think 10 minutes at the top of the program would be enough.

But Steve Liesman's breaking Fed news prompted Round 2 of Judge's Fed roundtable (Zzzzzz) on Friday's Halftime.

Liesman said Lael Brainard is calling on the Fed to wait.

Judge pointed to recent, more hawkish comments from Fed members and questioned why the central bank seems so willing to walk itself into a "credibility crisis."

Liesman curiously said the Fed is doing the same thing as Judge leaving his house intending to go to work and "make progress" in getting there.

"The Fed every morning wakes up and thinks its policy will work," Liesman explained.

"I don't know that they need to be so explicit," Judge protested.

"It is fair enough to say that the world changed a lot at 8:31 this morning," Liesman conceded. (It did? Seriously?)

"We could go on forever on this," Judge grumbled, accurately.

"This was the 2nd jobs report that was horrific," Doc stated.

"It's one month; let's not fling ourselves off a bridge," said Josh Brown.

Wonder if any OPEC ministers got mobbed like Kim Kardashian

For the many on CNBC who believe the Fed needs to slam the brakes on this runaway growth — Friday wasn't quite the greatest day.

Steve Liesman even said on the Halftime Report that it's hard for the Fed to call this a rate hike cycle if it's gone more than 6 months between hikes; "it almost isn't" the same cycle.

Josh Brown said the stock market reaction to the jobs report was "fairly muted."

Judge said the market thinks "June is off the table."

Liesman made a point of saying "where the jobs aren't."

Jon Najarian suggested Jamie Dimon's lobbying with U.K. employees is a sign the Brexit vote is no sure thing. (Yep. And we're going off the fiscal/sequestration cliff any day now.)

Stephanie Link protested that the jobs number is just one number. Jim Lebenthal asserted, "The Fed just can't afford to have a strong dollar," because it would kill these "fragile cyclicals."

Jeff Kleintop predicted Japan would be in for a nasty surprise on Monday. "The Fed is still likely to hike rates," he said.

Kleintop told Josh Brown that wage growth is slow but steady but at least isn't in "deterioration."

"There's still a lot of stimulus around the world" that could stir markets to the upside, Kleintop said.

Steph Link said to "monitor the dollar" and that she likes cyclicals.

Tell your boss where
to move company HQ

Steve LeBlanc told Judge that unemployment of college grads is 2.5%.

"50 years ago, you had employers decide where employees needed to live. Today, employees decide where employers need to live," LeBlanc claimed.

Courtney Reagan said it's estimated that 5% of WMT's sales come from online. Doc said he likes the stock, though he's "not sure" Lyft and Uber deliveries will work but at least they're not "ceding" the space to Amazon.

Josh Brown said Amazon using Uber and Lyft "smells of desperation."

Brown and Stephanie Link haggled over whether WMT's truck/transportation fleet can help compete in deliveries.

Jon Najarian said there was some "real strong upside activity" in CIEN, "a ton of October calls." Jim Lebenthal parlayed it into another recommendation for CSCO. Josh Brown said AMBA looks like it wants to break out, but he would "wait for confirmation."

Once, not twice — Judge halfway to meeting daily quota of his favorite word

Judge on Friday's Halftime said Meg Tirrell was "literally" (Drink) heading to Chicago in a couple hours for the ASCO conference.

Meg Tirrell on Friday's Halftime previewed the ASCO conference and mentioned ARIA will be closely watched, as well as a bunch of big pharma that doesn't need to be mentioned. Tirrell said not to expect a lot of M&A announcements at ASCO, but there could be "precursor information."

"Have fun," Judge wished Tirrell.

Jim Lebenthal questioned if ASCO is as big a deal as 10 years ago. Tirrell conceded that there aren't a whole lot of groundbreaking drugs this year.

Josh Brown touted BIIB and BMY, "which just looks incredible … there are no sellers in this name."

Doc said ABBV is "No. 1 for me."

Wonder if Tesla will get on the ‘heroin’ of fleet sales

Sterne Agee's Rob Cihra asserted on Friday's Halftime that "Tesla's a really important company."

Cihra called Tesla a "technology company" (Drink) and explained, "I'm valuing this thing on 2019 numbers."

Cihra argued, "If the demand's there, they'll be able to get there on the supply."

More interested in making a statement than a question, Doc told Cihra it took "guts" to make the call. Doc said he can own it for a trade but can't put it in customer accounts. Then Doc called it "ludicrous" that Musk moved up his production numbers.

"They don't have to take over the car market; they just have to get their small slice of it," Cihra said.

"There's a lot of things to question here," said Jim Lebenthal predicting rivals would "eat into the demand for Tesla."

Lebenthal said TSLA has "execution risk" but couldn't really explain why GM is a better investment. Steph Link said GM could have some things go right for it, such as "less losses" in South America (snicker). GM expectations are "so low," Link said, but she would own the parts companies instead.

"Everything has to go perfectly" in TSLA, said Josh Brown, indicating he's not interested in automakers. He said BMW and Porsche aren't going to sit around and watch Tesla make electric cars.

[Thursday, June 2, 2016]

Doc pins Apple’s future on Echo, and just how great is Safari anyway?

It's hard to say which argument was loopier.

Jon Najarian actually spent minutes on Thursday's Halftime linking Apple's future to Amazon's Echo-whatever … only to have Joe Terranova (in an admittedly lesser statement) claim that Apple does a great job of following other people's technology.

Judge opened with the Mary Meeker note, but Steve Weiss got things rolling stating he shorted AAPL on Thursday for the 2nd time this week, citing the prospects of a 3-year refresh cycle rather than 2-year.

"It's purely a momentum trade," said Weiss, who called the stock longer term a "hold."

Doc said Meeker wasn't talking about the refresh cycle. "I don't think anything she mentions in that note Scott is new," Doc asserted, before he went off the deep end.

"Do we believe that Apple is the next Twitter," Doc actually asked. "In other words, do they screw up and not get Instagram."

Um, OK, seems kinda late to get (the greatest acquisition of all time) Instagram right now.

Najarian continued. "I think uh with what Echo is for Amazon, that's Siri," he said, as though Echo apparently is the next Instagram.

Judge said Meeker's note was about other companies being "much more exciting."

Weiss said it's "cast in stone" that AAPL is just a "follower."

But Doc said AAPL is going to "exploit some of the connectivity issues with the cars, and that also plays into Siri."

Pete Najarian went the geographical route, saying something about Under Armour (Drink) (Zzzzzz) questioning if smartphones have really reached a "peak level" and indicating no.

Pete mentioned how many people live in China and India. "That's a lot, Scott."

Joe told Judge he's "going to do exactly what you don't want me to do," which is agree with both Weiss and Doc.

That would've been fine, except Joe took issue with Weiss' notion of AAPL being a follower. "It follows others in the capacity that it notices their failures and then re-creates what others have attempted in a much better capacity. … They will be in cars in some way," Joe said.

Well, here's the deal …

We have no clue if Internet browsers are important.

But we do know that Microsoft, Google and Apple have all plunged into the space big time.

So there must be something to it.

And Apple's entry is pathetic. Awful. Unusable for many. Not even upgradeable on certain machines if our HQ device is to be believed.

Anyway, Judge brought in Ian Winer, who called Mary Meeker "absolutely spot on" and then said it's "most interesting" to hear the Halftime panel make AAPL's bull case while it's "all over the place" and "changing."

He questioned the average salary in China and said the bull case is a "sign of desperation."

Doc said Winer will be right if Apple doesn't do with Siri what Amazon is apparently doing with Echo.

Weiss told Najarian, "You're defining Apple's future by another product created by another company."

"As far as Echo, I mean, to me, it's like, whatever," Winer added to the mix.

Doc protested that such a device would be a "game changer."

"I don't know. They've- they've got Apple Pay. That was supposed to be- remember the services thesis? Wasn't that the reason Goldman was positive on it?" Winer responded.

Winer said to "stay short" and expect 85 in 2016.

Joe said Winer is saying "in essence" (Drink) that "Apple is going to be the biggest and largest value trap in the history of the equities market."

Judge said he "literally" (Drink) was just going to ask if AAPL is a "value trap."

Later in the program, Jon Fortt spoke with EBAY's Devin Wenig, who inadvertently revealed what some have in abundance that AAPL doesn't — free labor, in the form of users informing EBAY what they're looking to buy, when they buy it, how good the product was, how good the seller was, and how much they might pay for it.

"We have purchase intent data and actual purchase data," Wenig said.

Judge pronounced his guest's name "Why-ner," but Doc pronounced it "Mr. Weener."

Was he talking about business-class flying … or the Harvard business class curriculum that’s being rewritten in the wake of the United board battle?

Fresh off that 95% call-spread gain, Stephen Weiss on Thursday's Halftime admitted he's long SRPT, and it's been a "painful day."

But he remained unfazed. "Look, I don't think anything's changed," Weiss said.

And so it remains unclear if the downside is $4-$8, or all the way down to $4.

Bill Baruch said "the sellers have already sold" in gold and said it could run $50 if the jobs number is below 164,000. Anthony Grisanti said, "I wouldn't buy gold right now," especially if the jobs number is over 200,000.

Brian Sullivan said despite the "happy talk," it's "every country for itself" in OPEC.

Rob Thummel said the OPEC meeting had a "pretty boring outcome." Thummel said crude was climbing because U.S. production was down for the 12th straight week.

Thummel touted EPD and SXL. He told Joe Terranova he also likes PXD and EOG. Weiss said he's still in PAA, which is not waiting on an FDA ruling, to the best of our knowledge.

Doc said BOX beat but still had a loss and Credit Suisse cut the target.

Joe said the JOY bounce was "nothing more than short covering."

Mark McClusky said techies are operating NBA teams more like businesses than as hobbies. Joe said when he's watching basketball at home, he's following on Twitter and that there's a "synergy" between sports and social media.

Seema Mody, in jaw-dropping white, reported Citron's argument against CC.

Pete Najarian said June 32.50 calls in M were popular. "I'm gonna be in there for a few weeks," Pete said.

Doc said somebody bought "a whole bunch of 70s" in MAR, and he's in the calls too.

Weiss said some of the Brexit polls have actually "pulled even."

Judge aired a clip of Oscar Munoz telling Phil LeBeau, "We've set out to just completely reinvent the whole business-class experience." Pete Najarian said United is finally cutting back on unsuccessful routes.

[Wednesday, June 1, 2016]

Judge obviously hadn’t done any research on last year’s Boston weather

It's basically staff policy around here not to mention Marc Faber appearances on CNBC simply because they are irrelevant.

On Wednesday's Halftime Report, Faber started chuckling when Judge asked where the market goes from here. "I basically think that the market is fully valued," Faber said, not answering the question until admitting, "I don't know for sure."

So there you go. (Better than another guess that misses.)

Faber pointed out the markets are "to a large extent manipulated by central banks … so stocks are kept artificially high."

He said some gold stocks still offer "huge upside potential."

He also made it a point to say the weather in Boston is a lot nicer than a year ago at this time.

Weiss beats Judge in scoops, 1-0

Well, just a day ago, this page noted that Pete Najarian got to talk about Under Armour (Drink) twice in a day.

Barely a moment into Wednesday's Halftime, Pete explained, "We were talking about Under Armour; we'll talk about it again now." (Drink) (Zzzzzz) (Maybe he'll get to talk about it again on the 5 p.m. Fast Money.)

Pete said NKE may actually be losing shoe share for the first time since 2010 and that UA's shoe revenues could rise and affect Nike. (But there was evidently nothing in the options market on either name, so we have no idea where the stocks are going.)

Why anyone cares about these stocks with ghastly 1-year charts in a ghastly retail environment, we have no clue. (Definitely don't take this page's financial advice, but it's a mystery why anyone feels the need to buy either one of these before Labor Day.)

Jim Lebenthal said NKE has been "in a distinct downtrend for several months now" but nevertheless called it a "great buy" under 50.

Pete noted NKE was barely 52 in afterhours the previous night. Pete said he'd "love to get it under 50."

Doc bemoaned that Sports Authority is having a going-out-of-business sale at a mere "10% off." He said the folding of Sports Authority is "gonna affect Under Armour; it's gonna affect Nike."

Steve Weiss called UA still too expensive and said management could've "managed the quarter better" given Sports Authority's long decline.

Doc actually said Brexit is "not being properly accounted for" in sneaker estimates.

Nobody questioned how Nike is somehow considered one of the nation's 30 leading "industrials."

Weiss said he has heard from a "somewhat reliable source" and "pretty reliable sources" that Nike is telling retailers they can't discount more than 25%, which Weiss thinks may cause retailers to cut back on orders.

Remember when Alan Mulally was going to be running MSFT?

Brian Sullivan on Wednesday's Halftime Report actually said with a straight face that OPEC ministers get "mobbed like Kim Kardashian."

Sully said Iraq has been "pumping like mad."

In an interesting assessment, Stephen Weiss said the OPEC meeting "matters if news comes out."

Jon Najarian said if the Saudi minister "digs in," then we could see 44 crude "in a heartbeat."

Jim Lebenthal said Iraq's production is significant, and he sees "downside risk" to oil.

Phil LeBeau and Judge agreed it's "fashionable" to say we've hit peak auto.

As is typical, LeBeau defended GM's sorry May sales (down 18%), citing "production issues" and cutting back on "fleet sales … by design."

But Stephen Weiss said getting out of the fleet sales is a "constant refrain" he has heard "so many times during my career," and then the automakers always get back into it.

"It's like heroin, man," Weiss said.

LeBeau did question demand for certain vehicles. "Who's buying a Dodge Dart right now," LeBeau said.

Jim Lebenthal said of GM, "I can identify it as a great value … I can't tell you that, today because I'm saying that, it's gonna go higher today … you just have to be patient with it."

Weiss said, "I don't know about that," calling it a "value trap."

LeBeau said Chinese manufacturers are entering the "low end of the SUV market."

"Subprime auto is a bubble," said Weiss, which means they've "stolen future demand."

Judge suggested Sohn was "6 weeks ago or so" (sic actually May 4).

Almost made it through another day without talking about how awesome AMZN is

Judge on Wednesday's Halftime hardly found any takers to talk when bringing up the MKM assessment of Amazon as "the best growth story, period."

"I don't know what they're lookin' at. What's their sampling?" Stephen Weiss asked.

Jon Najarian said he loves AMZN as a trade but not so much as a long-term buy and hold.

Weiss mocked (value guy) Jim Lebenthal's vow to buy AMZN on the next pullback, questioning how that jibes with the GM multiple.

Jeff Kilburg said warm weather is going to cause resistance in natural gas. Jim Iuorio said he's not quite sure that this "5, 6-year period of pummeling nat gas is quite over yet," but he has 2.45 as his upside target. Also, Iuorio's summer attire was mentioned.

Judge gave Erinn Murphy a victory lap on KORS even though Murphy wasn't on Wednesday's show.

"Erinn was right," Doc confirmed, except Erinn's price target is 67 (snicker), and we're not exactly there yet.

Weiss said biotech is back, "the tourists are out." Doc said he likes ABBV and RLYP.

Back to CNBCfix home