CNBCfix - Fast Money Review

[CNBCfix Fast Money/Halftime Review Archive — March 2025]

Weiss tries to claim whatever he was doing from 2008 to 2010 is relevant in April 2025

Near the top of Monday's (3/31) Halftime Report, Jim Lebenthal offered a stark revelation about his perception of the financial markets.

"I'm not comfortable ... things can get worse. ... It's this tariff uncertainty. ... I'm as uncomfortable as I've been in years," Jim said.

Joe Terranova asserted, "The personality of the market has changed dramatically over the last 8 weeks." Invoking hockey, Joe said you don't want to be in "power play" mode, but "penalty kill" mode. (Dennis Gartman and Fish used to call that risk on/risk off.)

Steve Weiss recapped the previous thoughts on the desk about April 2 being a buy-the-news-day, and apparently is now thinking otherwise, and in the process, Weiss ran headlong into some skepticism from Judge. Comparing today with Brexit and Donald Trump's 2016 election, Weiss stated, "This is different," claiming those were "one-off events," while right now, the administration is causing "havoc."

Weiss expressed skepticism that there's some grand plan to lower rates. Judge insisted the administration cares about the economy. But Weiss said, "They don't care about it near-term."

Weiss made some curious analogy about an offensive coordinator practicing a pass play during the week, and "9 times out of 10 in practice," it's a touchdown, but in a real game, it's a "toss-up," a possible touchdown, incompletion or interception.

"My call is, it's an interception," Weiss said.

Jim knocked market timing and said this is "exactly the wrong time to be selling."

Weiss took issue with Jim's "market timing" comments. Weiss went on to explain that he "did very well ... coming out of '08, but I didn't do very well until 2010, because I was short going into 2008, so I'm- couldn't make the turn. I flattened out but I couldn't make the turn. ... It's not called market timing. It's called preservation of capital. It's called controlling risk."

OK. It's NOT timing the market.

Judge argued with Weiss, correctly, that the White House is aware that it can change the tariff narrative in an instant, and the market would respond. (Tip: One of these days, he'll get tired of tariffs and an underwater stock market.) Weiss protested, "I don't know what he knows or what he doesn't know ... you're giving him more credit than I am. It's not Democrats, it's not Republican, it's just facts about what's going on. 200% tariffs one day, later in the afternoon, 'No, just a joke.'"

Judge suggested the prospect of deregulation and tax cuts maybe "outweighs" what Weiss is talking about. Weiss insisted "I think that the uncertainty stays."

On Monday's Fast Money, Karen Finerman pointed to the VIX. "The VIX will not stay around here, right? We're gonna see it higher before we see it lower. And so, this is sort of no-man's land."

Joe claims ‘significant’ underperformance by the Mag 7 for the entire year

In the 19th minute of Monday's (3/31) Halftime Report, Joe Terranova made this statement. "At the end of the day, if you're chasing beta and you're worried about the S&P, I think you're going to be very disappointed. Because I do think the Mag 7 are going to significantly underperform the other 493 this year."

(We'll see how long Joe is wedded to that theory.)

Judge noted that hedge funds have been unloading tech in high numbers. Jim Lebenthal suggested that there's been "good old-fashioned profit taking."

Joe reiterated, "I think it's the Year of the Bond" (snicker).

Judge said Wells reiterated an "overweight" on TTD. Joe said TTD is in the JOET but he doesn't know how anyone could have an "overweight" on TTD. Judge wondered if Joe would put a sell on it "Now????" Joe said, "How low is low. It can keep going lower."

Judge also asked Joe about APP. Joe said the "strategy" went into APP last July at 76. He (sorta) joked that he's been wondering if it'll give back all of the gain before the JOET can get out of it. He said the 200-day is down to 217. Joe said we may not be "completely washed out just yet on momentum as a factor."

Joe said he personally bought AMZN a couple weeks ago at 194; "I wish I didn't buy it."

Steve Weiss yet again talked about the strengths of NFLX but allowed, "I'm not adding to it here." (This writer is long NFLX.)

Jim said he continues to scratch his head about the reactions to ADBE earnings; "I see tremendous value here ... I'm gonna stick with it."

Weiss said UNH is the "gold standard of being a defensive company."

Jim suggests the uncertainty will get better, unless this administration is ‘absolutely lunicidal’

Early on Friday's (3/28) Halftime Report, Jim Lebenthal stressed "the facts," which Jim said are that retail sales and industrial production "are still growing," and though we've had a "growth slowdown," this week the market's just doing a "classic retest of the bottom."

Then, Jim got into the governance of U.S. foreign policy.

"It makes no sense. If presidential policy is to now crush the profits of the companies who employ your base. Makes no sense. At least not to me. So is he nuts? I don't think so," Jim said. "He's gettin' all of the bad stuff out of the way early, so he can get to the good stuff, not just extending the tax cut."

Judge wondered if the "bad stuff" has a more "punitive effect" on the economy than Jim's suggesting. Judge said, "I talked to a very big money manager this morning who says the market's delusional right now, that 20's crazy in this environment."

Judge also said the WSJ reported that "Trump warned U.S. automakers not to raise prices in response to tariffs."

Kevin Simpson suggested that the risk of economic confidence could be a "self-fulfilling prophecy."

Steve Liesman told Judge, "I can't imagine a tougher position for the Federal Reserve to be in right now," adding that Friday's data showed "goods inflation is now part of the problem."

Jim said, "Unless this presidential administration is absolutely lunicidal (sic), then I think they have to take the, the uncertainty down."

Stephanie claims ‘We all expected’ a slowdown since January

Undaunted by Friday's market slide, Forever Bull Stephanie Link on the (3/28) Halftime Report advised, "Now is the time to actually get your pencils out."

Then Stephanie got Judge's attention in claiming, "We have been talking about a slowdown in the economy since January. We all expected it."

"We did?? Wait- wait- wait- wait- wait- wait- wait- wait- wait- (not totally sure about the number of 'waits')," Judge said. "I don't think people expected it on January 1st, Steph, come on now."

Stephanie insisted she did. "I have been talking about a slowdown in the economy since the beginning of January because the fiscal stimulus that has been put in place over the last several years is just not gonna happen this year," Stephanie said.

Stephanie said there's a "pretty good chance" that next week, "we actually could rally."

NVDA finding takers

The market may have been sliding Friday (3/28), but it seemed like everyone on the Halftime Report has been scooping up tech stocks.

Jim Lebenthal bought more NVDA, citing what he says is an "almost 23" forward multiple. Malcolm Ethridge also bought more NVDA, saying the stock is at a "great positioning point" and is trading at a "severe discount."

Malcolm also bought AMZN and MSFT. Jim said he added to MSFT a couple weeks ago and acknowledged that there's been "concerns about the capex expenditures" (translation: How much it's sending to Nvidia).

Kevin Simpson bluntly said his "worst-case scenario" has been a 20% market drop, or another 10% from where we're at, and Kevin said that'd be a great time to buy great companies and that some great companies are already down more than 20%.

So Judge asked Kevin about selling TSLA. Kevin said it was a trade that "made a lot of money."

Malcolm also bought more CRWD and PANW. (This writer is long CRWD.) He said cyber spending is a "non-negotiable" expenditure for a lot of companies. He also bought more SPOT, stating Spotify is "just a couple years behind where Netflix is."

Kevin said he got stopped out of TOST at $36.

Malcolm bought PYPL on the strength of Venmo. Kevin bought AMGN after it was called away March 7. Kevin also bought HWM, a stock probably never mentioned on the show before. Kevin likened this purchase to his TPL buy.

Malcolm sold the XLF at the open Friday, questioning how long he'd have to wait for that trade to work. Judge noted CLSA has gone from 6,600 to 5,800.

Steve Grasso explains how Mary Barra can turbocharge GM stock

On Thursday's (3/27) Fast Money, guest host Sully asked the panel about the tariff situation.

Steve Grasso stated, "We don't know if they're ever gonna even take place ... He can't say it's a negotiating tactic, because then it's not a negotiating tactic."

Steve suggested that Mary Barra could pledge to build some American plants and get a "carve-out," and then GM will "take off."

Jim: It’s ‘policy chaos’

Judge said at the top of Thursday's (3/27) Halftime Report that Barclays thinks the market is "underpricing trade risks" and advises people to "switch preference to fixed income over equities."

Josh Brown gave credit to fellow Thursday panelist Jim Lebenthal for unloading GM weeks ago, after holding it forever, when word of tariffs came out. Josh pointed out recent headwinds across the board in auto stocks.

Jim said he likes GM, but "they can't get out of the way of this." (Ah, Jim should be listening to Steve Grasso.)

Jim said "it is policy chaos," and "we need some finality."

It’s a bear market, Josh insists

On Thursday's (3/27) Halftime Report, Judge said SocGen has decided we already might be "in a new bear market."

Josh Brown said, "I called this a bear market 2 weeks ago, um, possibly prematurely." Josh affirmed, "That's what we're in right now, and I don't think it's over."

Josh said that in 2018, we had tariff concerns sinking the market through February, then a recovery before more tariff concerns at the end of the year. Josh said we can be in a bear market without a recession, and that we didn't have a recession in 2018.

Josh reiterated, "I think we're in a bear market right now ... The median stock is in its own individual bear market." Josh said health care has caught a bid, but those stocks aren't "big enough" to carry the market.

Leslie Picker told Judge that the conversation about the Coreweave IPO is "changing very rapidly."

Shannon Saccocia said business confidence is a "much better leading indicator of activity" than consumer confidence. Shannon said optimism remains high in the longer term.

Josh says HOOD’s wealth management is ‘like gas-station sushi’

Kate Rooney on Thursday's (3/27) Halftime Report provided an update on Robinhood's new products related to wealth management. Its robo-advisor charges 0.25% annual management fee, and there's a $250 cap for Robinhood Gold subscribers.

Josh Brown said wealth management is regarded as the "crown jewel" business among financial companies. Josh said HOOD is "incredible" at finding new users, but "it's a horrible business, though; $250 for a quote-unquote wealth management. That's like gas-station sushi."

Brown said "what's more interesting" is HOOD's acquisition of RIA custody business (Zzzzzzzzz).

In other matters, Josh said ZS has joined the best stocks in the market list, though he doesn't own it.

Joe actually claims 2025 is the year of ‘ownership of bonds’

Judge opened Wednesday's (3/26) Halftime Report saying Bloomberg is reporting that "The president is preparing auto tariff announcement as soon as Wednesday" and that the market "moved" on that report.

Judge said Alan Blinder wrote an op-ed "entitled" (sic meant 'titled') in the WSJ, "Trump plays Rush- uh, Recession Roulette with the U.S. economy. Trump plays Recession Roulette with the U.S. economy."

Joe Terranova correctly said probably no one knows where the S&P equal weight is, but that's where the market should be "focused." Joe then claimed 2025 "is about ownership of bonds" and "looking away from the Magnificent 7."

Judge, to his credit, wondered in disbelief, "Ownership of bonds??? ... 3 months into the year ... this is gonna be the year of bonds???"

"Absolutely. I think there's been a dramatic reversal in the way the administration is administering (sic 2 admins) (snicker) fiscal policy and the effect on pricing," Joe said.

Judge asked Kari Firestone whether the bounce we've had is "sustainable." Kari responded, "In a word, I would say, not necessarily (sic 2 words)."

Kari curiously described the market as a "roller coaster in the kiddie park of an amusement park," it's moving "pretty fast" but not a lot of "up" or "down," just "within a range."

Jenny doesn’t see ‘anything good out there’ but is nevertheless buying

Early into Wednesday's (3/26) Halftime Report, when Judge was discussing S&P price targets, Jenny Harrington said "6,600 seems ambitious to me."

Jenny added, "I don't see anything good out there, in the near term," though "I don't see anything terrible either."

After some other commentary from other people (see below), moments later, Judge demanded of Jenny, "Don't tell me you don't like anything ... and then buy more Disney and TripAdvisor."

(Obviously, Judge has forgotten that Jenny either buys DIS all the time, or talks about buying DIS all the time, because it's like New York City, whenever it's down, it's always coming back.)

Jenny protested, "I didn't say I don't like anything."

Judge said, "You did!"

Jenny claimed, "I said worry," and what she likes are "things that are really well-priced."

Jenny claimed that DIS is "highly leveraged to the high-end consumer" who is "very different" than the consumer shopping at Dollar Tree.

Judge bluntly stated, "Disney is leveraged to every consumer."

Jenny argued that "American Express is more of the Disney customer," whereas Discover Card might be more "Dollar General."

In a great question, Joe "ownership of bonds" Terranova demanded to know if Jenny is buying DIS for the "growth story or the value story," because Joe thinks the growth story "went away."

Jenny said her DIS buy is "mean reversion to more of a historical multiple" (snicker).

Jenny went on to say that there are "areas of value" that are "trading at a fraction." Judge said some trade at a fraction "for a reason." Jenny said she's not buying TGT or F.

Judge questioned Jenny's "visibility" on DIS. Jenny said the "fair" (snicker) multiple provides a "decent margin of safety." Judge said the communication services sector is "3rd worst this year" and trying to avoid a "6th straight weekly loss." In came Dom Chu in one of Judge's attempted transitions to a sector recap, with Dom saying DIS is down almost 9% this year and Comcast/SpinCo (he didn't say "SpinCo") is negative on the year.

Jenny said META is her only megacap and it's down 14% from its high. "It might just be a math equation," Jenny said, about META's ... um, earnings growth, apparently. Joe questioned if it's not the META earnings but capex that's reliable.

Eventually we’ll get tired of tariffs and move on to Greenland, the wall ...

Brian Belski announced on Wednesday's (3/26) Halftime Report that "we remain at 6,700. Nobody believes us. And the more people that cut their targets, the better."

Belski noted he's been "underweight the Mag 7 ... that's why our stuff's outperforming this year, and that's why I think our portfolios will continue to outperform."

Joe "ownership of bonds" Terranova asked Belski, "How do you get to 6,600 without the Mag 7." Because if we get to 6,600, "the Mag 7 are a screaming buy right here."

Belski said "parts of the Mag 7 are screaming buys," and "I disagree" that it applies to the whole group. Belski predicted "massive rotation" still into the oversold areas that aren't "necessarily" the Mag 7.

Belski argued with Judge and Jenny Harrington as to whether there are any signs of a "recession." Joe said there are signs of a "slowdown." Belski said a "slowdown" is not a "recession" and that "a 10% correction is not a bear market."

Kari bought HQY and AMGN.

Kari Firestone again talked about KMX, a stock she seems to talk about in every appearance. She likes it.

Jenny bought more SYY and even mentioned RFK Jr. in her explanation for the "huge pullback" in staples.

Joe indicated he "can't wait," then backpedaled a bit, for maybe TTD to come out of the JOET. But Belski suggested the "longer-term thematics" are good.

Dee adds a zero

Late in Tuesday's (3/25) Halftime Report, Dee Bosa reported on a "Bloomberg headline," that Engine Capital has taken a stake in LYFT that Dee indicated was "$500 million."

(During Final Trades, Dee clarified that "a $50 million stake is what we are hearing.")

Judge said "there was really a comeuppance" for stocks such as LYFT when the Fed started hiking rates. Josh Brown suggested AMZN think about buying LYFT; "think about how much money Amazon spends delivering things."

Josh said TSLA should also consider buying LYFT.

Judge predicts show headlines

At the top of Tuesday's (3/25) Halftime Report, Judge said the show's "top story" of the day would be the "U.S. exceptionalism trade."

Stephanie Link said the market overdid it to the upside and is overdoing it to the downside. "I would fade Europe in a heartbeat," Link said.

Judge said, "That's gonna be a headline."

Maybe it would be, except Josh Brown said he doesn't think the Europe trade is over, though he's not chasing it. Josh opined that the "relative rally" is "still somewhat early." Judge also pointed out that Jeffrey Gundlach last Thursday was saying the Europe trade still looks strong.

Jim Lebenthal said he has international allocations for his clients, but "we are not adding to them."

RDDT was basically cut in half after Josh kept gushing about it

Rob Sechan dialed in to Tuesday's (3/25) Halftime Report to say he bought NVDA on Friday.

We have no beef with anyone buying NVDA, as many panelists have recently done, but we'll note that Steve Grasso has made the most provocative argument about the stock, stating that since DeepSeek, the projected AI spending by NVDA's customers quite possibly won't be that large and that Nvidia will have to make cheaper products. (This writer has no position in NVDA.)

Judge said Joe Tsai is warning of "some kind of bubble" in AI data centers. Stephanie Link shrugged that we don't have enough data centers. Jim Lebenthal said he doesn't see a bubble, but if there is one, it's only in the "inflating phase." Jim suggested there are "many ways to play it" such as ORCL or MSFT, which are much more than just AI stocks.

Judge suggested that maybe the bubble risk has "self-corrected."

Later, Santoli said the market's not going to give AI infrastructure stocks as much leash as it used to.

Josh Brown said he bought TOST yet again. Stephanie Link, as she's done every few months for literally years, talked about how BA is finally due for an uptick. Jim bought more LMT. Stephanie said "I'm a buyer" of CMG. Josh conceded RDDT is in a "massive drawdown" from its highs early in the year. He said he still likes it and is staying long but with a "small position." (On Feb. 13, Josh said "they bought the dip" in RDDT, then over $200.)

Judge suggests market will stop ‘paying attention’ to tariff proclamations

On Monday's (3/24) Halftime Report, CNBC's Eamon Javers discussed Venezuela-related tariffs (and actually referred to CNBC's Sara "Eisland" (snicker) before correcting himself).

Judge made a million-dollar observation, wondering if "the market just stops paying attention to a comment here or a comment there" about tariffs.

Eamon said markets love to buy the rumor and sell the news, and that "applies here."

Steve Weiss offered, "I don't disagree with a lot of the policies, I disagree with their- the way they're being communicated, and the way they're being changed back and forth." Judge said "that, in and of itself (snicker), has been the root of the uncertainty."

Joe Terranova wondered about the tax cut packages. Jim Lebenthal said Donald Trump is "softening up the beachheads" for the tax cuts with "all the nasty stuff" about tariffs.

Joe said the administration is "focused" on 2 "economic outcomes," those being lower oil prices and lower interest rates.

Jim, Weiss have a great conversation on national defense

Jim Lebenthal on Monday's (3/24) Halftime Report impressively discussed the Boeing-Lockheed military situation — and ended up having a very constructive conversation with Weiss about the future of military spending.

Steve Weiss asked a great question about shrinking costs in defense as far as combatting drones. Jim said the F-47 is manned and, "We're building F-35s because they're needed. Drones can't do everything."

Weiss said there's a movement toward "cutting back on all the big expenditures." Jim said those are headlines, but budgets aren't reflecting that.

The conversation, which was late in the show and kind of bumping against commercial time, probably could've used more details. Still, both made interesting points: Weiss asserted that military techniques are rapidly changing, while Jim asserted that the budgets aren't changing.

Larry Altman’s 2nd-week-of-March observation is looking strong

Judge opened Monday's (3/24) Halftime Report saying Tom Lee is suggesting a "potential face-ripper rally."

Joe Terranova acknowledged there's "a lot of positive momentum."

Joe said we saw "probably the worst" during the week of March 10, which is the classic Larry Altman 2nd week of March bottom observation (it was March 13 that we hit 5,504).

Steve Weiss correctly suggested there was "broad agreement" among the show's panel on Friday that April 2 would be a "buy on the news" day; on Monday, "we're pulling that forward," Weiss explained.

Judge observed, "The president can flip the switch almost anytime he wants."

Bryn Talkington suggested the "basic mechanics" can lift the market and that hedge funds will at some point stop being so bearish.

Jim Lebenthal said this is "a very jittery market" and he's "not in Tom Lee's camp," but of course he's "fully invested." Jim said he wants to be in the "juggernauts" now because the market can drop on a headline.

Weiss says companies he’s involved with are ‘all laying off people’

On Monday's (3/24) Halftime Report, Judge said the Mag 7 has looked more like the "Mediocre 7" recently.

Regardless, Joe Terranova bought more AMZN. He calls it the "No. 1 Mag 7 for me," followed by META.

Steve Weiss is already back into NVDA after selling it on the earnings. "It's a trading market," Weiss insisted.

Bryn Talkington said she bought more NVDA "at 111."

Weiss actually claimed, "I know the companies on the private side that we're involved with, we're all laying off people."

Joe said of AMD, "This is one of the more powerful reversals in momentum that I have seen in the last year."

Joe bought IBKR. Joe sold CVS. Joe bought MCK. Weiss bought VRTX.

Weiss bought more NFLX and made the same bullish arguments about the company he's been making for a few years (see below) (we don't disagree, but it is the same arguments he always makes) (this writer is long NFLX).

Joe’s ‘relaxed’ from Florida, refuses to ‘argue’ with Weiss when it really wasn’t even an argument

So who peed in Joe's Cheerios?

Joe Terranova on Friday's (3/21) Halftime Report sparked controversy when he said the "consensus" view tariffs as a "transitory, uh, variable in which it's a negotiation."

Steve Weiss asked Joe if Joe is saying that even if tariffs are applied, "that they'll go away."

Joe said, "I just said that, yeah." (Actually, Joe said the "overwhelming consensus" believes that, not that Joe necessarily believes that.)

Weiss said he disagrees, citing tariffs on China from Trump 45 that Biden kept.

Joe protested, "I understand that. I'm back from Florida, I'm nice and relaxed, I'm not looking to argue. I'm telling you — just listen — I'm telling you the reason why I think people are still buying equities, because I think that the consensus thinks- the consensus has skepticism that these tariffs are nothing more than a negotiation, and temporary."

"This is not an argument, and I suggest you go back to Florida if you don't want to have any discussion," Weiss said, prompting Judge to chuckle. "But here's the story. The story is, you said tariffs won't be permanent. Tariffs have been permanent ... people aren't buying stocks; stocks are continuing to go down."

Joe didn't say tariffs won't be permanent. Joe said the "consensus" thinks tariffs won't be permanent.

But even though Weiss was sort of misstating Joe's point, Weiss was making a fair point that Joe should've addressed — maybe the "consensus" is wrong about how long tariffs will last.

Anyway. Joe said, "Steve we just did a Bank of America study that showed fund flows, people buying stocks. Like, listen to the show! Scott just read it!"

"Show me what the correlation is between the fund flows ... and the market," Weiss demanded.

"So then why are we reporting it?" Joe wondered.

Josh Brown said "I'm a little bit on Joe's side," suggesting the market views tariffs as a "temporary annoyance" like "currency fluctuations." Josh also mentioned Tesla's business in China.

Judge said "charts" suggest "some level of detente."

Weiss conceded "maybe the magnitude" of 200% or 25% tariffs won't stick but pointed to BAH as getting a bump from false hopes. Weiss said he'd still favor the Mag 7 but not AAPL or the whole group "blanketly" (sic).

Bryn Talkington said she thinks Trump "wants a deal," and Bryn thinks "China is 10 times more important than Canada."

Judge seemed to envision himself as the referee of Joe and Weiss' conversation. At the end of the program, Judge joked that Weiss is "Tommy Hearns" and that Joe is "Marvin Hagler." Judge said, "I call this bout a draw."

On Fast Money, Steve Grasso tried to make a point about flexibility that came out like mush. But Steve chided the CEOs who talk about "lack of clarity," because there's "never" clarity. Grasso also predicted "3½" on the 10-year.

Josh says to take Jeffrey’s recession odds with a ‘grain of salt’

Bryn Talkington on Friday's (3/21) Halftime Report predicted a "range-bound" market and said investors should expect a "volatile year."

Joe Terranova is "somewhat discouraged" by this week's price action; he thought we'd bottom last week.

Joe said we've got a "very challenging environment" for the next month and that earnings estimates will "have to come down."

Steve Weiss said, "I just don't think that there's any real reason to put money to work here; any sale I've made has been a great sale."

Judge asked Josh about Jeffrey Gundlach's recession odds (50-60%) from a day earlier. Josh said, "All the bond guys, uh, were saying '75% chance of a recession' in '23, 100% chance ... people can change their minds, and you have to take recession calls with a grain of salt."

Megan Cassella reported on possible wiggle room on whenever the next round of tariffs is supposed to start.

James Demmert on Power Lunch was asked by Sully about CLF; Demmert said it’s been a ‘disastrous stock’ and he’d ‘be a seller’ now

On Friday's (3/21) Halftime Report, Josh Brown said Tom Lee was talking about the uncertainties around Brexit, which had a surprising outcome, so it seems like what the outcome is isn't important, it's just that we have an outcome.

Steve Weiss said he agrees with the notion of selling the positive news and buying the "negative news events." Weiss said this is a "great trading market, by the way."

Weiss bought more BAC, stating deregulation will affect the biggest banks, which could be a "safe haven."

Judge didn't seem to have a good grasp of what stocks are still on Josh's best-stocks-in-the-market list. Josh said CME and ICE are still on the list, but NDAQ isn't. Josh suggested CME and ICE are a "safe haven." Joe Terranova said IBKR could be added to that group.

Judge reported on how Fazal Merchant apparently got the Alphabet bid for Wiz to go higher. Josh said CRWD is up about 7% this year and made the case for cyber stocks. (This writer is long CRWD.) Bryn said BUG, the cyber ETF, is up 4½% this year.

Josh pointed out that gold has been more exciting than bitcoin this year.

Jim says customers start howling if he talks about selling AAPL

Early into Thursday's (3/20) Halftime Report, CNBC gave a lot of coverage to a ... Bloomberg story.

Steve Kovach discussed Bloomberg's report about upheaval in the Apple AI/Siri team, though Steve mentioned several times that according to the story, the top guy, John Giannandrea, isn't actually getting fired.

Judge suggested that maybe John Gruber's "critical blog post" about something "rotten" at AAPL was the "final straw" for Giannandrea. Kovach said, "I guarantee you it had influence in there."

Jason Snipe said there are "opportunities elsewhere" besides buying AAPL.

Jim Lebenthal said he's "underweight" AAPL and went on to relay an anecdote. Jim said AAPL has a "retail shareholder base that is borderline fanatic." Jim said that "about 3 months ago," he talked on the show about possibly removing AAPL from his portfolio. "I got so many howls ... I got howls from clients, I got howls from advisers; some of them said, you will remove shares from my portfolio when you pry them from my dead hands."

Josh Brown said he said earlier in the year that this wasn't going to be a great time to own AAPL.

Barry predicted late in 2024 that stocks were nearing ‘Crazy Town’ and a ‘crash’

Judge, back on Thurday's (3/20) Halftime Report, said Tom Lee thinks there's a "Fed put" and "still thinks the markets are OK."

Josh Brown said Jay Powell seems "still pretty upbeat on the economy overall."

Jim Lebenthal said he thinks there's a "cap on any rallies" and that the bounce isn't that "convincing." Nevertheless, Jim said a recession "would happen only if there was a banking crisis."

Judge said Barry Bannister thinks the "relief rally" will continue. The curious thing about that is that way back on Oct. 16, with the S&P at 5,842, guest host Sully said Barry's call is that the market goes up another 8-10%, then will "crash 25% from there next year."

In November, Barry's name came up again on the show, as Judge said Barry even suggested the market was heading toward "Crazy Town" (snicker) and the upside was only to the low 6,000s and downside to 5,250.

As far as we could add/subtract/multiply/divide, we think 6,147 on Feb. 19 is the peak, which is up a little over 5% from Barry's October call. We're not down 25% from there, nor have we yet slid back to 5,250; it looks like the recent low was 5,504 on March 13, or just over a 10% drop from the February high.

So Barry's calls in late 2024, as of now, look a little extreme.

It’s basically CNBC’s strategy now to throw the whole team into the story whenever a sports franchise is for sale

On Thursday's (3/20) Halftime Report, Josh Brown bought CVX (basically because the technicals and chart look good to him), though he conceded "2 major overhangs" of Venezuela drilling and "the acquisition of Hess." For the latter, Brown related interesting details about XOM's resistance.

Jim Lebenthal owns XOM and says either XOM or CVX is fine but you have to be in the "creme de la creme" of energy, or any sector.

Jason Snipe said Cramer had a "phenomenal" interview with Jensen; Jason's takeaway was the $1 trillion in capex spending ahead.

Josh said ABBV is a "strong stock and getting stronger." Jason said it's got a "follow through off that patent cliff."

Judge's chat with CNBC's Mike Ozanian about the value of the Boston Celtics was kind of a bust. (Sports is the new CNBC SpinCo initiative.)

On Closing Bell, Judge had Jeffrey Gundlach, who said he thinks there's a 50-60% chance of a recession. (A year ago, in the summer, he said September 2024 could go in the history books as the start of the recession.)

‘In no-man’s land’

On Wednesday's (3/19) Halftime Report, not in Miami Beach but the NYSE and guest-hosted by Frank Holland, Steve Liesman previewed the Fed decision and said indicators viewed by the committee are "not near recession levels at this moment."

Steve drew a stark distinction between a "slowdown" and a "recession." Jim Lebenthal said he doesn't see the current climate being worse than a "slowdown."

Jim said he was surprised that the response to the NVDA event wasn't "bigger." But he said we've got an "overhang" of April 2.

Sarat Sethi said "we're kind of in no-man's land" where "good news is not being rewarded."

Steve Weiss, who was remote, said "what we heard from Jensen Huang is what we've heard from him in every meeting," which is basically true. Weiss said Wednesday's market move was not "tied to" Nvidia but simply that the market was "oversold." Weiss agreed with Sarat that "we're in no-man's land."

C at 80% of tangible book

In what might well be an interesting trade idea, Jim Lebenthal on Wednesday's (3/19) Halftime Report said PCG is "mainly" a Northern California utility that has been "beat up on the perception that they are somehow responsible for the terrible L.A. fires; they are not." (This writer has no position in PCG.)

Jim explained that ADBE's results keep coming in above expectations. But Jim said the stock's been an "absolute disaster" because of fears of "significant competition." But "it's clear to me at least that the competition isn't as bad as people expected."

Steve Weiss knocked Oppenheimer's downgrade of GS. Oppenheimer, according to guest host Frank Holland, thinks the M&A rebound may even be "canceled." Weiss said "that analyst either started this week or was on vacation the last month ... the time to gra- downgrade was obviously a while ago."

Frank noted that Goldman downgraded other big banks. Jim said he "very much" likes financials and mentioned C and how much it's trading at tangible book (about 80%, Jim said). Sarat Sethi said "this is the time to buy the Morgan Stanleys, JPs of the world."

Sarat sold APA and said he'd "rather" put the money in SLB. Sarat said news of energy execs' meeting with Donald Trump is bullish for the sector. Frank wondered if "drill baby drill" will depress oil prices and therefore the stocks, and if there's a "slowdown" (the word of the day), wouldn't that hit demand. Sarat said, "It takes a long time to increase capacity." Jim insisted there will be a "middle ground" between drilling and "capital discipline" at energy companies. Jim's top energy pick is XOM.

Sarat backed the VMC upgrade by JPMorgan.

On Fast Money, Guy Adami said Santoli, who was guest-hosting, only found out he was hosting Fast Money "during his last show." Guy touted GM, which Jim bailed on because of tariffs, and suggested the GM bottom put in a couple weeks ago will "stick for a while."

‘I’m willing to call it a bear market’

It was golf shirts galore as the Halftime Report gang — a few of them, anyway — took part Tuesday (3/18) in Josh Brown's Future Proof conference in what Josh said is considered "Wall Street South."

That would be Miami Beach.

Joe Terranova said the market's in a "continuation of this recalibration story (snicker)." Bill Baruch said he's not as negative as Joe and that we're in the "later innings" of whatever's wrong with the stock market.

Josh, though, said a lot of stocks are down steeply from highs this year, and, "I'm willing to call it a bear market." (Remember a few years ago, when a buncha people thought "Rolling bear market" was a clever term?)

Josh doesn't know why Cowen is cutting its Berkshire target.

Joe noted that XYZ's outlook wasn't great; it had a "dramatic reversal of momentum" and he expects it to be "sideways to lower at best."

Brian Belski said his shop is maintaining its 6,700 target and believes the bull market is "alive."

Joe: ‘It’s time to reduce exposure’ to the Mag 7

Monday's (3/17) Halftime Report was guest-hosted by Dom Chu, who said he was on his way to Future Proof in Miami within a few hours (SpinCo still has a travel budget, apparently), and the show's most notable comment came in the opening seconds, when Joe Terranova (already in Miami) stated, "The Mag 7 are not the ideal place to be overweight. In fact, it's time to reduce exposure there. The equal-weight is leading markets higher."

Jim Lebenthal, not in Miami and not at the NYSE, revealed, "I really like the bond market (Zzzzzzzzzzz) where it is right now." Jim said the market's reaction to lousy data Monday may be a sign "animal spirits" are back.

Bryn Talkington said her "playbook" is a short-term rally, but "there's a ceiling though on April 1st."

Bryn reported buying TSLA "in the 100s" when Elon was taking over Twitter. Bryn said "the stock technically is broken," so when it hit 250 a week ago, she sold 270 calls expiring April 17 and "got $13."

Dom said Lori Calvasina cut her target from 6,600 to 6,200.

Dom said MoffettNathanson has just determined that NFLX "has won the streaming wars." (This writer is long NFLX.) Joe suggested this victory took place "years ago." Joe said NFLX's future "circulates around live sports programming."

(What Joe could've said is that it also sounds like SpinCo's future "circulates" around sports material, given the announcements from Max Meyers/KC last week.)

Jim had some satellite connection issues while apparently backing XOM. "If you don't own it, I would add it here," Jim said.

Bryn backed FANG even though Barclays cut its target by $10.

Bryn talked up HOOD, and Jim talked up BRK-B.

Sharon Epperson joined the set late to discuss the prospects of private assets in 401(k) plans. Bryn said people shouldn't have 100% of their assets "predicated" on stocks moving up and bond yields moving lower, so it's a "great conversation" to have.

Dom Chu announced a "CNBC Pro Live" event at the NYSE on June 12. Mugshots shown on the screen included Dan Niles, Dan Ives, Carter Worth and Tom Lee.

Dom promised to be at Future Proof in Miami on Tuesday.

The Fast Money gang was out of ideas and spent the show bantering about U.S.-vs.-rest-of-the-world.

‘I hate Harris. I hate Biden. They were disasters,’ Weiss says, as Judge warns Weiss to be ‘careful’

Friday's (3/14) Halftime Report was dominated by a discussion, shortly into the program, essentially about whether one person (that would be Steve Weiss) was talking too much about presidential politics.

Frankly, we heard a lot of consstructive points all around.

It got started when Weiss asserted, again, that there's "absolute certainty" about this administration. He said he "took a lot of guff" for not saying that Trump 2.0 would be a market positive.

Judge said, correctly, "50 days in might be a little early to declare 'I knew that Trump 2.0 was gonna be negative.'"

Weiss said, "I'm declaring it now." He said the first administration was "chaotic" but Donald Trump had "people that would actually stand up to him," but "nobody" is doing that this time.

(Um, we tend to doubt that. That assertion needed more discussion. Where are all these examples of first-term standups. It's possible Weiss may be referring to advisers such as Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump and Steve Bannon, whom Trump is not going to toss out of the Oval Office. They've been replaced, on some level, by Elon Musk. Weiss is certainly not referring to Wilbur Ross or Rex Tillerson or Reince Priebus or Jeff Sessions in terms of talking the president out of ideas.)

"It is amateur hour," Weiss continued, suggesting the president is making "knee-jerk" reactions to tariffs "out of anger, out of his weak personality."

Rob Sechan then cut in, "I wanna caution our viewers to not let your political emotions get too-"

"It's not political," Weiss insisted. "Rob. Rob. I was a registered Republican until-"

"That's great. I can tell you you're not that now," Rob said.

"That's not true. I hate Harris. I hate Biden. They were disasters. But here we've got a proven disaster," Weiss said.

"I think it's a little early to judge these kind of outcomes," Rob said.

That's a fair point made by Judge as well. At some point, the administration is going to get tired of tariffs — or at least changing them. And while Weiss is claiming a "proven disaster," it's only 2 months into the administration, and stocks survived the 45th.

Anyway, Judge advised Weiss to be "careful on the road you- you- you're goin' down." (Translation: Judge doesn't want the show to turn "political.")

"I don't know why. It's been the right road," Weiss said.

Judge then delivered a statement. "As I've said before on the- on the other program that I have the, the, the great privilege of hosting, um, one thing that makes us, this, CNBC, the name up there, special, is we focus on the policy, not the politics. At least we try our best, OK. This market is gonna be driven by policy, not politics. I want the conversation to be driven in the same fashion."

That's fine. But when it's completely obvious that stock market volatility is being driven by tariffs, then shouldn't foreign trade decisions be discussed on the program? And if one social media posting says the tariffs will disappear if another country becomes the 51st state, isn't that as much about "policy" as "politics"?

(And earlier in the show, despite his protestations about policy over politics, Judge said one Wall Streeter he knows who backs Donald Trump is "more negative" on the economy and market because of the "chaotic" nature of the presidency; "they told me that to my face.")

Weiss said, "And I am talking about the policy. Here's the issue. The issue is, you can't disagree with Trump without somebody saying ... Oh you're a Democrat, you're a liberal."

We're not sure where Weiss gets that. Maybe on his X account. Numerous people who support Trump — including members of Congress — have indicated since this administration began that they don't agree with every policy.

"That is not focusing on the policy," Rob told Weiss. "That is focusing on the delivery of the message of what the strategy's gonna be. Yes it's a little- it's a little disjointed, a little incoherent right now, but you are definitely in that statement not focused on the policy."

"That's not true," Weiss said. "Let me ask you this question. ... When you go out and you fire, without regard to their importance to the agency that they're at, without regard-"

"That's again- that's again a style point," Rob said.

"It's not a style point. That's policy. You're saying, we're firing these people for you, we don't want your input ... we're gonna fire for you. That's policy, Rob."

"The policy is skinning down government," Rob said, adding "I happen to agree with you."

OK, this one is really parsing. Weiss and Rob agree the government could stand some slimming down. Rob says that Weiss' complaint about how it's being done is merely a style gripe. Weiss is implying that willy-nilly reductions may be bad for the departments and the country. This subject is inevitably headed to high-level court battles, at which point we'll have a better picture of reductions' impact on the country.

"I'm all in favor of skinning down government," Weiss said.

"OK. Well that's the policy," Rob said.

8 years ago it was a wall; now it’s tariffs

Steve Weiss on Friday's (3/14) Halftime Report warned that April 2 could be "another ugly day," though he said Friday's rally can go "a little while." Weiss said the Mag 7 is the "place to go."

Josh Brown said it's "premature" to say the pullback is over. Josh actually mentioned "Dow Theory," a term that probably hasn't been heard on the show in many months and has barely gotten mentioned in the past decade, and gave a clumsy, elongated explanation for how Dow Theory may occasionally predict recession, but "more times than not," it doesn't happen. (Um, it's hard to see a recession happening again when those $1,400 checks are sitting there ready to go out.)

Amy Raskin said "I don't think this is over," though we're "oversold" and due for a bounce; the consumer is weakening.

Josh announced that Future Proof is doing a Miami event next week.

Amy Raskin said DIS is "challenged" in the short term and said "1.3 million, um, Canadians visited Orlando in 2023."

On Fast Money, Karen Finerman said valuations are "attractive," though there could be "another scare for sure." Steve Grasso predicted "another test" for NVDA but said other megacap tech could rally. He said the next leg up for NVDA will be making "cheaper chips."

‘One of the great kitchen-sinks of all time’

Judge on Thursday's (3/13) Halftime Report said Ed Yardeni cut his S&P target from 7,000 to 6,400, but Chris Harvey is "sticking with" 7,007.

Josh Brown said Ed is keeping his earnings expectations but reducing the multiple.

Kevin Simpson suggested current earnings forecasts match a multiple of 20.5, so, "Everything seems kind of reasonable here." Kevin suggested that Delta's outlook is what got the market "a little bit spooked."

Judge pointed out how Mag 7 forward multiples have dropped in the past month. (Whether that has anything to do with the nation's foreign trade governance, who knows.)

Judge said Scott Bessent was asked early in the day if his "detox" comment was a "euphemism" for "recession," and Bessent's response was, "doesn't have to be." (That's really going out on a limb.)

Bryn Talkington noted, "We have huge deficit spending, which by the way still continues, so that hasn't even remotely stopped." As a result, "This is gonna be here for a while."

Kevin bought more TSLA, he said he's "just harvesting a vol play." He wants to write a 1-year LEAP. Judge pointed out how Kevin "couldn't care less" about Tesla sales fundamentals.

Kevin also bought more HOOD, saying there's a "serious fundamental story" with this stock. Kevin got stopped out of ADBE; a "horrible, horrible stock."

Bill Baruch sold the RSP and bought QQQ. Bill said tech is a "great buying opportunity." Jason Snipe bought more NFLX, saying "nothing" has changed about the story. (This writer is long NFLX.)

Judge grilled Kevin a little bit for buying JPM. He also bought more LRCX. Jason Snipe bought more LOW.

Judge said MoffettNathanson appears to hate RBLX, but Bryn said the research note seemed "balanced." Josh touted AZO and its technicals. Josh called LYV "extraordinarily oversold." He also said SBUX remains on the best-stocks-in-the-market list.

Josh said the administration thinks it will "pull off" what Javier Milei is doing.

On Fast Money, Karen Finerman said INTC's next quarter "could be one of the great kitchen-sinks of all time."

Judge claims ‘I’m supposed to make people squirm’

Judge claims in a CNBC "Live Ambitiously" (SpinCo branding) promo (which aired during Wednesday's 3/12 Halftime Report) that "They call me 'The Judge' for a reason. I'm supposed to make people squirm. Get away from talking your book and tell me the real story."

Seriously? Judge is constantly asking panelists to talk their book and explain stock decisions. When has Judge asked anyone to tell the "real story" about how this administration is doing?

They do call him "Judge" for a reason — his last name is Wapner.

Joe’s getting flak for not talking up JOET stocks on the air

Midway through Wednesday's (3/12) Halftime Report, Judge asked Joe Terranova about airlines.

Joe revealed, "I wanna be clear about something. Because I had someone yesterday after our airline conversation call me up and say, 'You know, you sounded pretty bearish about Delta when you were speaking with Steve and Jimmy, and you own these positions, you're on CNBC, why are you not defending the positions in a publicly traded fund? And the reason I'm not doing that is, I'm going to be transparent. There's a quarterly rebalance in which these stocks can go out. ... I think the positive momentum in the airlines has been lost."

Steve Weiss had a good punch line that prompted laughs: "The good news is, Jimmy'll be there to buy 'em from you."

NVDA finding takers

Judge opened Wednesday's (3/12) Halftime asking Joe Terranova about Scott Bessent's "detox" again.

Joe affirmed "we're going to see a significant reduction (snicker) in government spending" (at least until it's time for the $1,400 checks to go out with someone's name on them). Joe said the market is still "searching for leadership." Joe again said we could have a "tactical bounce" this week.

Rob Sechan's been trimming "value" and has added NVDA and AMZN.

Judge aired a clip of Brad Gerstner saying on Squawk that he bought some NVDA. Weiss said he bought more META. "You can't market-time, it's impossible," Weiss said.

Stephanie Link dialed in to say she sold CRWD and bought PANW. (This writer is long CRWD.)

Joe said UBER "seems range-bound between 60 and 80." He does think it's a "$100 stock."

On Fast Money, Steve Grasso returned to one of his recent themes, that tech giants are spending "way too much" on AI and have to re-size those numbers. Steve said AAPL is the only one currently with modest expectations. "I think Nvidia still goes much lower," Steve said. Guy Adami suggested that the stock market was this administration's "report card" 8 years ago, but now the report card appears to be bond yields.

Back on Halftime, Judge said Goldman has come up with a "stable" (snicker) stock list. Rob backed AZO. Joe backed a handful of others. Shannon suggested this is a good time to look at HD; Rob said it could be "pretty interesting." Rob said it's the "right move" to be cautious with AAPL.

Weiss: ‘The administration doesn’t know what they’re doing’

Joe Terranova, Judge and Jim Lebenthal must've considered Tuesday's (3/11) Halftime Report a great success, because none of them revealed their thoughts about the governance of U.S. trade policy in 2025.

Josh Brown did call the situation a "mess."

Judge did a "New at Noon" (apparently that's the Halftime slogan for a scoop) (it wasn't about the governance of U.S. trade policy); in this segment, Judge reported that Millennium Management lost "900 billion (sic) dollars" (the screen graphic said "million") on a strategy "tied to index rebalancing."

Judge moments later corrected his 900 "billion" to "million."

Steve Weiss said firms like Millennium employ 3-6-times the leverage of the "multistrats."

Meanwhile, as far as investors having/not having clarity, Weiss stated, "They've got absolute clarity. And the clarity that they have is that the administration doesn't know what they're doing."

Joe suggested the "real economy" is "cooling," and "the Trump administration arguably, probably applauds that because it gets the Federal Reserve to move rates lower." Not a bad point, but that one falls under the category of Careful What You Wish For.

Josh again touted MCD and OTIS, stocks he praised last week, and we're not sure why they were brought up again. Josh seemed miffed that Judge wanted to "move on."

Weiss said he's been selling DKS, he lost a "nice percentage" of the investment.

‘3 years is irrelevant’

Jim Lebenthal on Tuesday's (3/11) Halftime Report said DAL has been an "outperformer" over the last 3 years.

It's that "3 years" part that got Judge's attention.

Joe Terranova said, in regard to DAL, that he doesn't care about using the word "recession," but companies are feeling the "economic contraction." Judge said, "That's why I said yesterday, it's just a word, 'recession.'"

As Jim referred to 3-year returns again, Judge said "3 years is irrelevant. 3 years is irrelevant."

"I don't know why you say that, but I don't care," Jim responded. "The guidance is intact for this year."

Judge explained, "If I own the stock today, do I- do I give a darn that- what it's up over the last 3 years, if I- if I bought it recently."

Jim said he'd try to make it "clearer," that over 3 years, DAL rises, then "comes back down to meet the S&P 500 return." Steve Weiss argued 3 years isn't realistic because of all the post-pandemic pent-up demand that doesn't exist now.

Bryn: NVDA a ‘no-brainer’

Bryn Talkington on Tuesday's (3/11) Halftime Report said that like 2018, 2025 will be "a really good year to tactically buy names."

Bryn thinks the wakness will continue "for the foreseeable future."

Bryn said it's a "great opportunity" and "no-brainer" to buy NVDA; only sentiment is holding it back.

Bryn also bought APO and KKR and called those a "great opportunity" also. Josh Brown questioned whether those stocks would work if this is like 2018. Bryn said everyone she talks to says they don't have "enough exposure" in that area. Steve Weiss said the IPO market is still absent and said names like APO and KKR have to be evaluated individually.

Joe claims business media is reporting ‘everyone’s making money’

In the strongest call on a day of market cratering Monday (3/10), Joe Terranova asserted on the Halftime Report that we're set up for a "tactical bounce," and you want to be a "buyer" this week.

Joe said we're 8% off the Feb. 19 high.

Other panelists didn't sound bearish at all; Stephanie Link, as often happens, seemed to rattle off a whole universe of stocks that she's interested in.

As for international stocks outperforming the U.S., Jim Lebenthal said "there isn't much juice left in that orange."

Jim said, "The average stock is not telling us a recession's coming."

Sarat Sethi pointed out that interest rates are coming down, and the Fed's getting back in the picture. Sarat said that "there will be at some point" a Fed put.

With all this market noise going on (which only intensified later in the day), it'd be nice to hear CNBCers telling it like it is.

For example, Judge obviously has opinions about how the first 2 months of governance of this administration have gone.

He just isn't sharing.

Joe??? Joe will hardly even volunteer whether the '27 Yankees were a great team.

Which means Weiss — agree or disagree (he wasn't on the show Monday) — is the only panelist at least trying to tell it like it is.

Judge brought up Scott Bessent's "detox" (snicker) in his opening remarks. (Apparently that term's got a 48-hour shelf life in business media. Or maybe more. We'll find out this week.)

At one point, Joe prompted head-scratching when claiming, "There's so many people, whether it's on social media or the business media, that have this inference that it's a great environment and everyone's making money. This is a very difficult environment-"

"I don't hear anybody saying that ... I don't know where that's coming from," Judge said.

"I said on social media," Joe said.

Late in the show, Judge asked Joe, "You OK? Sound a little down." Joe seemed surprised and insisted "I'm good."

Jim said he "fired off an email" to his "trading team" to boost his MSFT stake. Joe predicted AMZN will make a push into "live sports programming."

Judge has a habit of constantly saying "you" to a panelist, then clarifying he means "you" as everyone in general.

On Fast Money, Guy Adami insisted there was nothing "panicky" about the selloff on Monday.

Kind of funny to hear Scott Bessent warn about a ‘detox period’ with a straight face

On Friday's (3/7) Halftime Report that got slightly preempted by both Jerome Powell and Donald Trump, Bryn Talkington described this market as "2018 2.0" and mentioned Scott Bessent saying there's not a "Trump put" but there's a "Trump call."

However, right now, Bryn would be selling calls, not buying calls.

Bill Baruch though suggested "we're closer to a bottom" than the early part of this pullback and suggested the bottom could be "next week into that Week 3 options expiration." This page will totally agree with that. (See the long-running Larry Altman observation.)

But Judge wondered how anyone could believe that with tariffs threatened in April. (Evidently, Judge thinks every tariff threat ends up happening.) Bill pointed to how the market rebounded last August. Judge scoffed, "This isn't a panic attack ... totally different environment." Bill said his comparison is that August led to a bounce.

Jenny Harrington thinks the market needs "more pain ahead."

Both Bryn and Judge noted Scott Bessent, somehow with a straight face, warned that there's going to be a "detox period" (snicker) as we wean away from (sending out checks of $1,400 or even $2,000 with the president's name on them to people who ... haven't lost their jobs or taken pay cuts) government spending.

Bryn said NVDA is actually trading at a lower multiple than AAPL.

Jenny complained about having to change around her presentation in Harrisburg on Thursday because the tariff situation keeps changing.

Bill said 75-80 is the "real great sweet spot" for buying PLTR. Bryn though suggested "there are a lot of investors that bought this stock north of 81," and "how many" will hold on. Bryn said the 200-day is at 51.

On the other hand, Bryn talked up banks and wondered what MS has to do with tariffs. Judge said it has to do with the "slowing economy."

Steve Grasso said that in October 2023, "Powell creates this rally," and perhaps something similar could be true in March 2025. "The key letters in 'tariffs' are the 'iffs,'" Steve added.

Enough already on
tariffs and U charts

Those who may be quickly growing weary of twice daily statements about tariffs dominating the afternoon/evening news may be heartened by what Josh Brown said at the top of Thursday's (3/6) Halftime Report.

Josh said, "I don't believe that we're gonna be doing this tariff stuff come summertime. I think this is like the opening, uh, act of the reality show that is going to be this presidency."

Then he said, "I think we'll get through it." (How about starting this weekend.)

But hold on. Bryn Talkington disagreed with Josh, stating, "I think this is just the beginning" and pointing to 2018.

Judge asked if Bryn is thus getting more defensive. Bryn said no but she will "sit still."

Bryn said there's "too many headwinds for small caps."

Joe Terranova said the 200-day sits at 5,731. Joe said we've been holding, but, "In my experience, you actually need to see the flush below to get the tradeable bottom." (Translation: Joe wants the Big. Whoosh. Down.)

Joe said, for about the 8th time in a week (almost as much as we're hearing about tariffs/re-tariffs/delayedtariffs), that momentum right now looks like a U rather than a V. Joe "would love to see a flush below the 200-day moving average" because that'll get "everyone out."

Fast Money announces another ‘live’ show with audience on June 5 (Guy at first gave the wrong date)

For those seeking stock-market bargains, Bryn Talkington on Thursday's (3/6) Halftime Report said if you're buying TSLA on hopes of a big boost from Juniper, that's a "dumb idea." Rather, "when there's blood in the streets" has been an "exceptional time to buy this company."

(Later on Fast Money, Guy Adami said TSLA is at as good an "entry level" as we've seen in a while.)

Josh Brown pointed out, "The median name in the SMH is right now in a 34% drawdown."

Josh said he owns CRWD from the "low hundreds" and isn't adding, but it's "still in a major uptrend." (This writer is long CRWD.)

Bryn said PLTR "got way ahead of itself." As Josh and Judge chuckled about Joe's book called Buy High, Sell Higher (Judge later said "it's still available" but in paperback only), Joe said he's been saying that PLTR and APP are sliding because he knows how the "algorithms are programmed." Then Joe made the U vs. V argument again. (Joe said he's got "boxes" of the book in his garage.)

Josh said RTX may be an industrial but "looks great" and isn't overbought. He also predicted a breakout to all-time highs for OTIS.

Bryn is long IBIT and said of crypto, "the buyers come in on drawdowns and buy the dip every time." Josh though said "I don't know," he keeps hearing "pro-crypto, pro-crypto," but the price action seems to already reflect that, and he's not sure how much more "mileage" there is from tweets.

Bryn said 36-37 looks like a "good entry point" for FCX. Joe said "momentum is broken" in FSLR and he doesn't like it at all.

Joe said if there's a COST selloff, it's an opportunity to buy.

On Fast Money, Dan Nathan said "Today felt very panicky," and we're probably "near a time" when the selloff is "overdone." Karen Finerman found herself agreeing with Dan but thinks there's still "room" for the supercharged names to fall further. Guy Adami predicted the VIX would stay "elevated."

In a treat for viewers, Michelle Meyer, The World's Cutest Economist who could play Mikey Madison in a movie (and vice versa), took a seat at the Fast Money table and said the consumer has been "very nimble" the last few years.

Kari suggests everything we’re hearing about tariffs may not be what happens with tariffs

Surely the most provocative comment of Wednesday's (3/5) Halftime Report came from Kari Firestone on the subject of tariffs.

"Investors should understand that what is said is different than what is going to be implemented," Kari stated.

Judge referred to a JPMorgan note about tariff wars lingering into mid-April and asked Steve Weiss if things will be "unsettled" for another month. "At least April, and I think longer than that," Weiss said, adding, "There's no strategy behind the noise."

Weiss went on to explain that people in government are getting résumés ready, and the government will "lose the top people." Weiss said he's "not putting cash to work," even though the market is "oversold" for now.

Kari and Weiss argued over whether AAPL is a "defensive" stock. "I don't think any stock with a 30 multiple with flat revenues and flat earnings can be defensive," Weiss said. Kari cited yield and "huge amount of cash."

Joe Terranova said the market's been hovering around the 200-day and is trying to determine leadership.

Joe said CRWD is still above the 200-day, and the stock gets the "benefit of the doubt" for the back half of the year. (This writer is long CRWD.)

Weiss questioned if DOGE won't decide not to "double-pay for cyber" and just use MSFT's "very good" cyber protection. Joe said that's a fair "theoretical look," but it's not how he analyzes stocks.

Joe said he doesn't think PLTR has had a "strong enough bounce."

Joe said AAPL's suggestions of reshoring are one reason it's recently done better than other tech. Weiss pointed out that reshoring actually became a priority because of COVID.

Joe said Megacap Tech is in a "better position" with this administration than the last one. Joe suggested, "I think at some point, we're gonna come in, and we're gonna say, 'There we go, Mag 7, once again lead- leading the market higher."

On Wednesday's Fast Money, Guy Adami said the S&P 500 was around 5,700 on Election Day, so keep that in mind as a "benchmark" for this administration.

On Monday, Weiss described the crypto space in more colorful terms

On Wednesday's (3/5) Halftime Report, Steve Weiss said he got rid of the last of his bitcoin exposure, explaining that basically the momentum's gone.

Joe Terranova said APP looks like a U and not a V.

Joe said "I wouldn't touch Target right now," but he touted TJX.

Joe bought AMGN; Kari Firestone said it's a "good time" to buy that stock.

Weiss called UNH "very cheap" and a "safe port."

Weiss called NFLX, which is on a Wolfe list of stocks that supposedly offer a "safe port" during Tariff Wars, a "phenomenal story" even though it's down from recent highs. (This writer is long NFLX.) Joe questioned whether GRMN belongs on that kind of a list.

During Final Trades, Judge asked Kari to make another rest-of-the-day market prediction like she did Tuesday.

Karen says trading in bank stocks got ‘panicky’ (as Dave Zervos says tariffs are ‘minutiae’)

On Tuesday's (3/4) Halftime Report, there was no talk of the presidential speech to a joint session of Congress, or movie awards, or pro football (#notawholelotofsubjectsleft #Mag7stockperformance,maybe), but Judge seemed to be eliciting a lot of shrugs about Tariff Wars.

Josh Brown pointed out that, as far as tariffs, "This is exactly what they promised us would take place. They said, On Day 1! ... So I don't really understand, like, 'Oh, wait, they're really doing this???' They did this in 2018."

Judge said that's "right" but that people on Election Day probably weren't anticipating this kind of stock performance through the first week of March.

Brian Belski sees this as a "longer-term buying opportunity for Canada, but I think it's not time to leave the U.S. if you're a Canadian client." (Which sounds like basically, you can buy anything.)

Kari Firestone pointed out that NVDA was up and said she thought, as Justin Trudeau was speaking, "The market could end up positive at the end of the day." (Actually, it flirted with that, but nosedived in the final hour.) (This review was posted overnight Tuesday-Wednesday.)

Josh bought KNSL, saying it's been a good performer, "but it's early in the company's story."

Stephanie Link came through with at least one big-return report, saying she's "up 30% in the past year" and "up 65% in the past 2 years with AmEx."

Josh said health care seems to be filling up his best-stocks-in-the-market list, and he specifically touted GILD.

Belski said the selloff in airlines was a "pure overreaction."

Judge said CZR is having "11 straight down days."

On Fast Money, Grandpa Guy Adami said the "growth scare" is confirmed. But David Zervos came on and told Melissa Lee, who wore a chic charcoal heather/black sweater, "I just think we're missing the bigger picture ... the deregulation story, and the smaller federal government story and the movement of resources out of an inefficient federal government into a more efficient private sector. ... I think we're getting bogged down in a, in a tariff discussion that's just- just, uh, you know, minutiae in the grand scheme of things, to be honest with you."

That's really a provocative point. 18 months from now, will anyone remember Tariff Wars of the first week of March 2025?

Guy warned, "The market hasn't seen what I think we're on- about to be embark upon (sic grammar) in quite some time ... gonna have to get used to it very quickly."

Karen Finerman said the VIX was "not quite panicky yet," though bank trading was "panicky." Guy said, "For me, for the first time in a while, Nvidia actually looks nice for a trade."

Weiss is back

While we're not taking sides in last week's dispute (other than to say Judge was right), we were glad to see Steve Weiss back at his Post 9 perch on Monday's (3/3) Halftime Report. (Basically, it appears, just as this page speculated, that after the previous Monday's clash, Weiss was advised to take the rest of the week off and come back Monday.)

Weiss on Monday told Judge he's been selling IBIT, asserting bitcoin is "purely a risk asset" and it's "ludicrous" to call it a "reserve currency."

Weiss even said of the bitcoin space, "To me, this is pure corruption," citing Donald Trump's "crypto business," adding, "Call it for what it is."

Judge chuckled, "You can call it for what it is ... Steve Weiss' opinion is representative of Stephen Weiss only and not in any way an indication of what CNBC's Scott Wapner, Jason Snipe, Shannon Saccocia or Joe Terranova think about" (rest unclear).

Joe Terranova said he heard the bitcoin news over the weekend, and, "Everyone said to me, 'This is a reason to buy bitcoin.' I mean, are you kidding me?"

We’re paying close attention to Larry Altman’s observation about the market often bottoming in early March

Judge opened Monday's (3/3) Halftime Report saying that Krinsky is saying "we're not done yet" and that we'll test the S&P 500 200-day.

Joe Terranova asserted, "We have a very unsettled market."

Joe even said "unsettled is the perfect word" and noted "the Mag 7 are underperforming."

Shannon Saccocia suggested there's an acknowledgment that megacap tech stocks aren't the "bastions of safety" that they used to be.

Steve Weiss said he's "not bearish" on the market but is "still negative."

Judge told Weiss that NVDA "can't get any footing from earnings." Weiss said he's completely out and sold when it went red after earnings.

Jason Snipe agreed with Weiss that there's "3rd-party selling" of NVDA chips to China.

Judge said Adam Parker has gone "slightly underweight tech."

Joe said NVDA's current growth isn't going to bring the "exorbitant premium" that it got in '23-'24.

On Fast Money, Steve Grasso, whose recent 90-before-150 call on NVDA is quickly looking better and better, said the DeepSeek news has triggered the potential for buyer's remorse for the big spenders on NVDA chips.

Weiss: Tariffs will drive prices up

On Monday's (3/3) Halftime Report, Steve Weiss took up the subject of tariffs.

Weiss said GM has 6% margins, retailers are around 10-15% and grocery stores are "low single digits." Weiss wondered, "How can they absorb the price increases. They can't ... so prices will go up. It's an inescapable, logical conclusion."

Jason Snipe pointed out WMT is "guiding lower" and contended, "Tariffs are inflationary."

Meanwhile, Jason agrees with Evercore's bullish UBER call.

Joe Terranova questioned whether UBER could hold up in a weak economic environment. Weiss said there's "some cushion" from having affluent customers but said the "marginal buyer" might "think twice."

Joe said CHKP has a "reasonable valuation" and is "squarely in the cybersecurity theme."

Weiss made some interesting remarks on the private credit scene; he said he wouldn't invest in the ETFs as a retail investor, he'd have to get a higher yield.

Weiss trimmed PDD, saying it was because of stops, while Judge and Weiss chuckled over Weiss' remark that "not a lot of thought went into it."

The CNBCfix 2025
Movie Awards Guide

As this page knows that CNBC viewers care just as much about culture as they do about Tony Pasquariello's view on the consumer, we've once again felt obligated to come up with an awards-season movie guide, partly because, to be completely frank, Judge hasn't had the brass to do it on television. (Note: There are no spoilers here, but there are some details about the films in question.)

This review is posted Sunday 3/2 before the Oscars ceremony, but no predictions here. So here's to Siskel & Ebert ...

Anora — The awards votes come down to whether viewers take it as seriously as it probably wants to be taken. Amid some great filmmaking, the major lapse is the writer/director's decision to elevate the thugs over Mikey Madison.

A Complete Unknown — There are parallels to "The Social Network," talented dropout who hit the road in the early days of a new cultural trend. Entertaining, watchable more than once, more of a re-creation than movie.

Fly Me to the Moon — Extremely mediocre twist on redemption/bluffing that's almost worth seeing for the attempt to weave in a movie to a well-known historical event. Is it a warning about conspiracy theories, a satire of them, an endorsement of them ...

A Real Pain — Beginning and ending aren't strong. The middle is pretty good, even if it includes a jump-the-shark moment around a statue.

Saturday Night — Draws strong conclusions about the survival-of-the-fittest nature of television and the still-relevant concerns over what can and can't be said on public airwaves. Many great lines even better than those heard on the actual show, and a movie that could've lasted another hour easily.

Challengers — Too many scenes in hotel rooms; too many smashed racquets.

Conclave — For about 3/4 of it, it's a surprisingly strong hook, then becomes a checklist of priorities for those with a wish list.

The Last Showgirl — It's being compared to "The Wrestler" though the entertainment forms in each are on wildly opposite arcs. The payoff of "Showgirl" isn't earned and the big drama is relayed through conversations, but an effective contrast of fantasy vs. reality.

Kinds of Kindness — Promising, absorbing, gory, but too much to process over nearly 3 hours to determine how good it really is.

Small Things Like These — It's an important subject. It's not a movie.

The Substance — She could far more easily address her numerous concerns by simply calling a lawyer.

Daddio — Not nearly enough here for a feature film, and some dubious inclusions to produce an R rating, but the acting is outstanding, and it wouldn't be out of the question for the title to become the term to describe having inexplicable, lengthy personal conversations with strangers; "I got 'Daddio'ed' the other day."

The Brutalist — It has so little to do with architecture that it hardly wants to show us this great library, and at times may be uncomfortably stark. As a metaphor for many things including displacement, it's rightly among top contenders.

Bonhoeffer — A hero of an era often chronicled in film, he is not a person with a singular moment, and probably too much material is addressed here.

Here — Interesting only as a concept gamble that flops. Tells us very few exciting things happen in living rooms.

Babygirl — Her lack of satisfaction may on some level be a really huge deal, but it's not a feature film.

I'm Still Here — For the first hour, it's a gripping international thriller. Then it's ... not so strong.

The Return — It's Binoche and Fiennes, so how can it go wrong. It's actually fairly good, but evidently there isn't much appetite for a retelling of "The Odyssey."

September 5 — The title is a curiosity. It's the fastest 94 minutes at a theater in a long time and could've gone much longer, but whether this is a "fair" or "right" way to portray this event has been a subject of debate.

The Fall Guy — Be glad if you happen to see this on streaming/cable without the insufferable intro supplied by the director/star at movie theater showings.

Emilia Pérez — Why it's a musical, who knows. The overall adventure/thriller angle isn't bad.

Juror #2 — As a "Law & Order" procedural, it works for a while; as an issue of conscience, it's a bust.

One Life — Could be an awards contender except that it's too layered, a theatrical movie in 2024 about a TV show in 1998 about heroism 4 decades prior to that.

Maria — Angelina expands her range in a movie that probably no one was really clamoring for.

The Seed of the Sacred Fig — At first a strong international thriller, then ... critics correctly want to compare it to a famous Stephen King movie.

Drive-Away Dolls — Margaret Qualley in a rather explicit road trip that isn't funny enough.

Problemista — The fact Tilda Swinton somehow was able to play this one straight suggests she is the most deserving candidate for a best actress Oscar.

The Bikeriders — Austin Butler's momentum stalls as we're told the biker gang used to be a noble group until outsiders started muscling their way in.

Civil War — Maybe people can write their congressman.

Blink Twice — Very creative horror effort, struggles with tone, are we supposed to be entertained or alarmed or both.

Wicked — Didn't get a review here, partly because the preview(s), which aired for months and months, made no sense. It is what it is.

The Idea of You — The most underrated film of the year.

Megalopolis — Some would say it's so bad, Francis is actually defending it in court. Not as bad as some say; if it weren't for the reported price tag, no one would care.

Happy trading ... and Happy moviegoing!

Halftime Report gives way to extraordinary Oval Office video

About halfway through Friday's (2/28) Halftime Report, Eamon Javers delivered breaking news about the day's goings-on in the Oval Office.

Among many other things (too voluminous for a page recapping stock-market picks), Eamon called the exchange a "diplomatic meltdown." Judge noted, "S&P dropped about 20 points or so, uh, as all of that was unfolding."

Jim Lebenthal opined late in the program, "I'm disturbed by what I just saw." Jim explained, "If the policies (sic plural) in foreign affairs is now to empower Russia and Vladimir Putin, I don't think that's good for the stock market; I don't think that's good for the global economy."

Certainly, Friday's Oval Office exchange could be some kind of tipping point in global alliances and perhaps the outcome of the Russia-Ukraine war. We have seen so many so-called incredibly unprecedented incidents related to diplomacy and protocol take place in recent months and years that we'll wait to reserve judgment as to what Friday's event means.

Weiss absent Friday

Before things got very interesting halfway through, Friday's (2/28) Halftime Report was only notable for who wasn't there. That would be Weiss. This page speculated a day ago (see below) that it was probably mutually agreed on Monday that Weiss take the rest of this week off. But that's just speculation. Everyone will know more on Monday.

Jim Lebenthal said of NVDA, "I can't really explain why it was down 8%." Jim said that if people think it's because of gross margin projections, Jim finds that "absolutely trivial."

Jim though offered a "qualification" that "the market is heavy."

But Jim said "I wouldn't touch Tesla with a 10-foot pole," explaining it's "not just the valuation, it's the chart."

Kevin Simpson sold MSFT 420 covered calls expiring 3/21. Kevin also stated, "We're printing money writing calls against Robinhood."

It was the 13th minute when Stephanie Link finally mentioned a percentage gain, after Judge brought up GE Vernova; "I'm up 160% since it spun out, um, last year."

Stephanie was also "up 95% from the August lows" in CRWD (she mentioned that number twice). (This writer is long CRWD.)

Kevin also offered some numbers. He said he got stopped out of MSTR; "our cost basis on it's like a hundred and fifty; getting out at 240's fine." He said he'd buy it again if bitcoin falls to $70,000.

Kevin bought more CRM, which is one of those stocks that people always seem to like but are never hugely excited about.

Kevin sold a TJX 125 call expiring March 14. Kevin said at the end of the show that he trimmed UNH. Stephanie Link said UNH is down 25% since November, so the headwinds are priced in.

Guy owns the room, makes
‘live’ episode of Fast Money
a smashing success

Fast Money's much-ballyhooed "live show" (they probably should pick a different term, because all shows are live; this one just included studio guests) on Thursday (2/27) was a great success thanks to the one originally known as "The Negotiator."

Guy Adami negotiated hopefully a bonus from KC (who was on hand) for his rock-star performance while interacting with guests who had come a long way for the chance to join the Fast Money gang at the Nasdaq Marketsite.

On this subject, we could not agree more with the comments from Guy and other Fast Money panelists: That this is the best audience in the world, people who absolutely get it, who can talk about Jerome Powell or Marko Kolanovic at the drop of a hat. These are folks who may not agree with everything they hear on CNBC but they watch it, that's what matters. (This page merely tries to pass along some of what it hears on this channel, inform a bit; we're here because you are.)

Anyway, Guy so easily mastered the disjointed, overflow-room-like seating situation (they need to fix that for the next time) that it seemed like he's been hosting talk shows for decades. The perfect bridge between guests and panelists, Guy entered the gallery to handshakes similar to that John-Mack-returns-to-Morgan-Stanley clip that CNBC used to show all the time, kept the pace like a pro, ad-libbed better than Bob Hope and, maybe most importantly, completely gave the guests ample time to ask some fairly lengthy questions while keeping them on point.

Guy also gave shout-outs to Mary Duffy and KC Sullivan (who were on hand) and Jamie Dimon (who wasn't on hand).

Guests appeared to be having an awesome time, most mentioned Fast Money and/or CNBC as favorite show/channel.

(OK ... something that has to be noted is that surely the SpinCo ad reps had to be cringing at the amount of gray hair in this crowd. Whether 18-35s tried to get tickets to this event or just took a pass, we don't know.)

A few guests were hard to hear and some of the questions were less informative than others, also, no one asked to see Guy's UPS footage, unfortunately.

The questions were shown on the screen before guests actually asked them, so it's clear panelists had a bit of a heads-up. However, a few of the questions shown on the screen didn't match what was asked. The questions:

Dave from Florida: JPM or GS? (Guy says GS; Karen Finerman says JPM, citing "little more recurring" business model)

Shiraz from Ontario: Has "big chunk" of portfolio in META, what should he do with it? (Guy says "You went to the Peter Jennings class of question-asking, you know, the questions longer than the answer"; Steve Grasso's advice wasn't strong, said you have to ask, "How much am I looking to make off of this trade?," sell some to get back to original percentage and let the rest ride)

Ken from Tennessee: What's the future for quantum computing companies? (Guy deferred to Dan Nathan, who said it's "too far away" to make investment decisions)

Marian from New York: Tells Guy "You are my Taylor Swift," asked what to do with "dry powder" while screen graphic said question was about leveraged ETFs ... (Guy tossed question to Karen Finerman, "the dry powder queen"; Karen chuckled "I don't know what to make of that," said she's "always long" and really believes in dollar-cost averaging)

Al from Michigan: Asked for Guy's take on ARCC, Ares Capital, while screen said "what do you think about investing in Amazon." (Guy said "You might as well ask me what the winning lottery numbers are tonight"; Tim Seymour looked it up on his screen and claimed to "know" the stock, then gave a generic answer about not owning a stock just for a dividend)

Sheila from Massachusetts: What to do with Pfizer? (Guy gave it to Tim Seymour, who gave some recent background and kind of waffled on PFE's prospects but concluded he'd "stay long")

David from New York: For flight to safety, TLT or gold? (Guy tossed to Steve Grasso, who tossed to Karen Finerman, who said "I'm actually short the TLT")

Tom from Alaska: What do traders recommend to protect portfolio downside? (Guy mentioned Options Action and handed to Dan Nathan, who mentioned index ETFs and using put spreads)

Brian from Minnesota: Said "dream job" has been to be on Fast Money; what would Guy's dream job be? (Guy said either Melissa Lee's "protege" or "helper," or tight end for the New York Giants)

Raghu from Florida: Would you rather, HAL or SLB? (Guy said HAL; Tim Seymour would "absolutely" say SLB)

Mel hinted during the show that there will be another "live" event soon, with an announcement next week.

Tim Seymour closed the show with a "shout-out to the most passionate, loyal and smartest fans on any TV show, let alone financial TV. Thank you, Fast Money fans."

Steve Grasso suggests
90 for NVDA

The Stock of the Day on Thursday (2/27) was NVDA, which was naturally taken up on the Halftime Report and Fast Money.

On Fast Money, Karen Finerman said she doesn't think the NVDA story "unwound" on Thursday. But Steve Grasso said, "I think this thing dips below a hundred dollars. And I think it's a commoditized business." Steve later said he'd predict 90 before 150.

Has NVDA train ‘left the station’?

On Thursday's (2/27) Halftime Report, Josh Brown said of NVDA, "It's a beat; it's just not like the craziest beat ever."

Josh said that for those who don't NVDA, "Today is a great day."

Malcolm Ethridge, who often has been a guest of Judge's on Closing Bell but apparently is moving to the Halftime rotation, suggested, "I think realistically, all of the sellers -- the real sellers -- are out of that stock already."

(Presumably, that rotation still includes Steve Weiss, who's still on the Investment Committee page at CNBC.com and whose profile is stil at CNBC.com. He typically has been on the show Wednesdays, but wasn't on Wednesday of this week, so we're guessing there's some kind of mutual agreement about Weiss taking the rest of the week off. He typically is on Fridays too.)

Judge wondered "at what point" does someone who's not in NVDA, like Malcolm, start buying. "I think the train has left the station," Malcolm said.

As for the NVDA earnings report, "It was a great call," said Bryn Talkington, explaining that within a year, NVDA will be the "cheapest of the Mag 7." Bryn said the stock remains "firmly" in the range of 115-150, but this is a "great opportunity" for people who aren't in it to get in.

Judge said "the Street has a different bar, after DeepSeek." Rob Sechan said the "2nd derivative," or change to the change, isn't exciting investors as much as it had been.

Bryn buys HOOD

Josh Brown on Thursday's (2/27) Halftime Report sought to explain how ... apparently everyone can buy the lows and sell the highs.

Regarding the steep recent plunge in certain Nasdaq stocks, Josh said "Some of this is an education issue," explaining that people on Twitter claiming to be a "swing trader" actually "don't even know how to use RSI. ... You're not buying stocks at a 77 RSI."

Josh added, "A lot of what you're seeing in the markets is just due to this, um, misunderstanding about how to behave in stocks that have gone up 100%, 200%.

OK. Well, we thought the point of the show was for experts to tell people what to buy and what to sell and when. But if it's all just about reading an RSI chart, then ...

Rob Sechan, who's always qualifying things, said that you can be "selective" in stocks, though he's "not incredibly enthusiastic about the markets in general."

Bryn Talkington said "a lot of the froth" is out of PLTR but she thinks it could remain in the "somewhat short-term doghouse," because "there's just no support" until it gets "at least $20 lower than this."

Bryn bought HOOD at 45, she said it "bounced right off the 50-day" and isn't trading at a "parabolic level" but is "cleaning the clocks" of other "custodians." She said PLTR doesn't "remotely compare" to HOOD.

Malcolm Ethridge said "a lot of those momentum trades are widely held by retail," and he made the "escalator up, elevator down" reference that we've been hearing constantly on CNBC for a week. (Though we haven't heard the old favorite, the "tap on the shoulder" from the risk manager.)

Rob said he's "very happy" to own CRM and is also a customer. "The story's getting traction," Rob said.

Josh noted Berkshire's profitability and wondered, "Why aren't we talking about this stock; all it does is go up."

"We talk about it a lot," Judge said, basically incorrectly, before noting Josh isn't on "every day."

Bryn said she bought more UBER. That prompted Josh to bring up Jensen talking about Nvidia's "automotive" potential. (Oh, lessee, Nvidia's gonna get into driverless cars ...)

Rob sold MCD, but Josh said he thinks it's "goin' higher."

Steve Grasso: NVDA ‘looks like it’s rolling over’

On Wednesday's (2/26) Fast Money, Tim Seymour said NVDA "continues to extend its lead" over AMD and "that's really the story," and NVDA is "not expensive."

Steve Grasso, though, said he'd "take the other side," because the stock "looks like it's, it's rolling over," and 46% of NVDA revenues are from the "4 top hyperscalers."

The Fast Money gang was getting ready for its "live show" with fans and a cocktail hour on Thursday (2/27).

Liz bids farewell to Halftime, at least ‘for a while’

Judge stocked a 4-person panel even though half of Wednesday's (2/26) Halftime Report was preempted by presidential remarks at the Cabinet meeting.

Luckily, Weiss wasn't there for an encore, and no one said, "Hey Scott, what did you think of Weiss more intelligently answering a question than ..."

Joe Terranova cautioned that the "modest bounce" in momentum on Wednesday doesn't "confirm" the return to leadership.

Joe indicated that the JOET owns APP at "somewhere around 75 or 76 dollars since last summer," which doesn't do the holders of the stock any good in terms of directional advice. Joe claimed that he was saying last week that APP was the "1 name" that he was "ultimately concerned about."

Jason Snipe said there's "a lot riding on" the NVDA print. Jason said that despite the DeepSeek news, "Capex spend has not changed whatsoever." (This review was posted overnight Wed-Thurs.)

Judge said that Goldman is saying options were pricing in a more than 10% move in NVDA in either direction. Jim Lebenthal said he'd take that 10% to the "upside." Joe said it feels to him like "Nvidia is running in place." Judge said "it has been" and has been "dead money for a while."

As for broader market, Liz Young Thomas shrugged that we'll get some kind of "relief rally."

Jason said LOW has a growing "pro segment." Joe said TJX gave "conservative guidance" that he thinks they'll beat. Joe said it's a stock that has "really replaced Target" in consumer discretionary.

Joe said LLY has had 7 straight up days. Liz said she's standing by her call of health care as one of her sectors for 2025. Jim said it's not "unreasonable" to hang a 10 multiple on DAL.

Joe said CPNG is "gonna approach an all-time high." Jason said he continues to like NOW.

Late in the show, Joe noted that the market averages seemed to have "less life" than when the show began during the hour.

Near the end of the program, Judge announced, "This is Liz Young Thomas' last Halftime for a while. We wish you well. We'll be thinking a lot about you. You keep us in the loop." Liz said "Thank you" and offered IGV as her Final (apparently REALLY Final) Trade.

Jim takes the typical valuation-matters victory lap after PLTR gets slammed

Whew.

Viewers of Tuesday's (2/25) Halftime Report surely breathed a sigh of relief when they didn't see Weiss back for an encore heard Josh Brown point out what a rocky stretch momentum is having.

Josh suggested this could be a "good year for stocks" without maybe an awesome year for momentum.

Shannon Saccocia actually mentioned the Treasury Department "liquidity" that Jim Lebenthal always talks about.

Judge said data indicates "it's retail running for the door," which was sort of Joe Terranova's point a day ago that Steve Weiss disagreed with, opening the floodgates. (Sorta.) Judge on Tuesday said JPMorgan found in Monday morning's first 2 hours of trading "something they hadn't seen" since March 2020.

Jim said it's a "broad brush stroke" to lump in all retail investors with the selloff, rather, folks who fled APP and the "most momentum-oriented names" were sellers who "couldn't give a whit about what valuation is."

But Judge noted that "small caps are in correction." Jim said, "Your point is excellently made." (Whew, nobody said they were going to answer the questions more intelligently than Judge asked them (see below).)

Jim admits he has wondered if he’s ‘just being a useful idiot’ for CLF

After the A Block on Tuesday's (2/25) Halftime Report, Judge and Jim Lebenthal chuckled heartily over how bad the last year has been for CLF.

Jim asserted that the stock was down Tuesday because of the "miss on 4th-quarter earnings," but the "story" is not about Q4 earnings, but "steel pricing."

Judge bluntly stated, "I don't even really like talking about this stock anymore. ... It feels like it does nothing but go down, and, for lack of a better description, you continue to talk about it as if our viewers should buy it and, and believe in it when I'm not so sure about that counsel (snicker)."

Jim said Judge is being "gentle" and Jim could "take more than that." Jim admitted that previous calls JCPenney and Paramount "did not work out."

Judge noted that Jim knows Lourenco Goncalves, which would make it "more difficult" for Jim to ever sell. Jim said he'd sell it if he ever found it "appropriate" to sell.

Then Jim said it's occurred to him, regarding "conversations" with Lourenco, "am I just being a useful idiot? I don't think I am." Jim then went on to mention, as a steel-price catalyst, "the average age of cars on the road (snicker)" #backtothatagain #samenumberfor15yearsormore #ifthatnumbermattered,youshouldbuyAutoZone,notCleveland-Cliffs.

Jim concluded, "I deserve the heat."

Jenny says estimate of DOGE layoffs is ‘not that bad’

After the Chuck Grassley-UNH news on Tuesday's (2/25) Halftime Report, Jim Lebenthal complained that he'd think the U.S. Senate "would have much more to do ... than go after the company that is financing health care procedures for a lot of this country."

"You're just figuring out how D.C. works?" Judge wondered. Jim said "good point" (whew) but insisted that Senator Grassley is "trying to get a press release out there."

Jenny Harrington cited a study saying the number of federal layoffs is expected to be 300,000 "out of a hundred and 60 million employed people in the U.S. So the number's not that bad."

"Tell that to the people who are gonna lose their jobs," Judge said, adding that the biggest private layoff ever was 60,000 workers at IBM "many, many years ago."

Jenny mentioned some energy trades and made some reference to K-1s (ugh).

Bill Baruch bought PLTR, "starting a new position here" with a "1%" position. Bill also bought more AVGO and CRWD. (This writer is long CRWD.) (Because Bill utterly nailed the TSLA bottom last year, we'll keep close tabs on PLTR.)

Josh Brown said everyone seems to agree that NVDA's "commentary" is going to be more important than the numbers.

Josh said SBUX "has an incredible setup" and "looks coiled" and "could be off to the races." Brown also touted MCD and said the Gates Foundation "initiated a brand-new position."

‘Everybody up here is tired of that B.S.’ — Judge nearly throws Weiss off the Halftime set

Hoo boy ...

Steve Weiss' recent commentary on the Halftime Report, to be frank, has been wearing a little thin — so thin that Judge practically threw Weiss off the set mid-program on Monday (2/24).

Weiss had already tangled with Joe Terranova (see below) when Judge and Weiss argued about Tony Pasquariello's note about the Mag 7 vs. 493.

Weiss insisted he's got "decent exposure" (he always does, even when he's warning about the stock market, which is most of the time) and "I'd rather see panic selling" because he knows the market "overshoots." (Translation: He wants the Big. Whoosh. Down. like on Aug. 5 so it'll be super easy to buy great stocks.)

"This is a time to be cautious," Weiss told Judge.

Judge, referring to Weiss' last-week trade inspired by Dave Tepper, fired back with perhaps his best question in years: "Is dramatically upping your exposure to Chinese tech ... is that cautious? Is that cautious? ... Is that cautious?"

Obviously caught off guard, Weiss protested, "I'm not gonna answer the question that way, because that's an unfair question."

"Why? You talked about him in his hot tub last week, right, you can't answer the question?" Judge continued.

Then Weiss really raised the temperature with an "i" word: "I'm gonna answer it more intelligently than you asked it. So here's my answer."

But before he could unleash that answer (something about a "small position"), Judge cut him off: "OK, Steve, OK. You know what dude ... you can't help yourself by acting that way when somebody questions you on anything, OK."

Weiss said something about Judge giving him a "leading question ... that you want to fill your narrative."

Judge had had enough. "Everybody up here is tired of that B.S., OK. If you can't have a civil conversation ... without insulting people, then just be quiet," Judge ordered Weiss.

"It wasn't insulting"- Weiss protested.

"And just move to the other chair. Just move to the other chair. When you talk about people's intelligence up here the way that you debate people, we're not gonna do that."

"I'm talkin' about your question, not your intelligence," Weiss insisted.

"You SAID you were gonna ask- you were gonna have an answer more intelligent than the question I asked you. Right? OK," Judge stated.

"To get to the answer-" Weiss tried to say.

"Just slide down 1 chair. Or outside. Go there. Or over there," Judge said.

"You want the answer?" Weiss persisted.

Judge then carried on asking Joe about Berkshire's cash hoard. Joe tried to claim everyone was saying the same thing about being selective and that Judge was even "citing that as well." Judge cut in, "I'm not saying it's time to do anything. You guys know I don't manage money. I ask you the questions." Joe continued that '23 and '24 were "kinda easy."

(Sigh) With all due respect to Weiss, Judge won this one in a rout. Weiss' brand of Frasier Crane-like humor IS often among the show's best punch lines; Monday, Judge tripped him up with a superb question, and Weiss deserved the flak he got for the response he came up with.

We were curious if this fracas was documented in "business media" (snicker). We didn't find any articles on it, but we did get a couple X hits in which folks said (these are the 2 hits we got; we're not cherry-picking) "finally put Investor Steve Weiss in his place for often being insulting" and "FINALLY Scott Wapner THROWS Steve Weiss off the Halftime Report."

Joe tells Weiss, ‘With all due respect in this case, you don’t know’

Before he was getting nearly ousted by Judge, Steve Weiss on Monday's (2/24) Halftime Report found himself in a dandy little dust-up with Joe Terranova about what big institutional investors actually think about this market.

Joe started the show suggesting PLTR could fall to "84, 85." But Joe said it's a "mistake" to make a "binary" call on the overall market based on what momentum stocks are doing.

Weiss trimmed VRT. He said if he were "quicker," he would've bought some of it back on Monday in the 80s. Kind of out of the blue, Weiss claimed, "I think stagflation is a real risk."

On the other hand, "I don't see much problem with growth," said Anastasia Amoroso.

Judge said Tom Lee has 4 reasons (this page can't do more than 3) that last week's momentum stumble is just a "flesh wound." Grandpa Weiss said there are "other headwinds" that Tom isn't acknowledging.

That's when Joe tried making an analogy that Weiss disagreed with.

Joe asserted, "Momentum right now is driving the tape," but he noted APP and PLTR are not even back to their 50-day, while VRT is "below its 200-day moving average."

Joe said he cites that because the first 2 stocks show that "longer-term, non-discretionary institutional capital, they're not selling yet."

Grandpa Weiss argued, "I disagree with that Joe, they do have a reason to sell ... the valuations were egregious."

Joe said that's "statistically incorrect" and that Weiss is "not a multibillion-dollar institutional investor. That's what I'm talking about."

Weiss protested that Ken Griffin and Steve Cohen both are, and so are "many others" he talks to, but Joe told Weiss, "you don't know what they're doing at the moment."

Weiss asked Joe if those people are warning about "headwinds" while "leveraging up to overvalue technology stocks."

Joe, who generally doesn't look at his antagonists when he gets into arguments (which isn't often), said "that is an individual macro view" and "they have a team of strategies (sic meant 'strategists')" managing big portfolios.

Weiss said with Steve Cohen, "There is one risk manager there: That is Steve Cohen."

Joe said, "With all due respect in this case, you don't know."

Weiss said, "That's actually not accurate."

Joe then dismissed the debate as "ridiculous." Weiss said, "It's not ridiculous."

Judge scolded Joe and Weiss, "Do your thing out on the street when we're done," it's Anastasia's turn. Gorgeous in purple & black ensemble while sitting between an argument, Anastasia said tech stocks are selling off "because hedge fund managers, in aggregate, have been trimming them."

Aside from Joe and Weiss' debate, given this curious meltdown starting in late February, we're beginning to think 2025 may be a year of the classic Larry Altman (see archives) observation of the market often (not always, but often) bottoming in the 1st or 2nd week of March and the 1st or 2nd week of October.

Happy (Tuesday) birthday, Karen Finerman!

After the A Block on Monday's (2/24) argumentative Halftime Report, Judge asked Steve Weiss about trimming META as if nothing happened. ("Got a little sidetracked," Judge told viewers.)

Weiss said he trimmed META Friday but it's still his largest position. He "slightly" reduced his new DKS position. He also sold another 10% of bitcoin.

Weiss also trimmed UBER, saying he had a "really good gain in a very short time," and there's "some hype in the stock, uh, from a recent tweet by a, by a well-known hedge-fund manager." (But is that well-known hedge-fund manager his own risk manager, or does he have teams doing it on their own?)

Judge said a CNBC Pro survey found DECK to be among the most "oversold" stocks. Joe Terranova said it hit a 52-week high on Jan. 30 and now is near a 52-week low, which we didn't know and in fact is a remarkable statistic.

Joe agreed that WELL is "overbought" based on the CNBC Pro findings.

The Fast Money crew on Monday noted how strong TMUS and T have been.

Tom Lee sees ‘very positive set-up for stocks’

Friday's (2/21) Halftime Report had a lot of the usual commentary that anyone would've expected; Weiss complaining about the administration, Jenny complaining multiples, Jim insisting steel prices are just about to soar (actually that last one did NOT happen).

But a couple hours later, on Closing Bell Overtime, we got the good stuff, when Tom Lee opined on the stock market.

"This is a market that is very skeptical of these new highs," Tom explained, and there's a "wall of worry," so he actually sees a "very positive set-up for stocks."

Morgan Brennan brought up the ever-popular Michigan sentiment survey. Tom noted that "almost 7%" of Democratic respondents to the survey believe inflation is currently at "25%."

For years, Jenny has been unloading UNH shares out of new customers’ portfolios

The best discussion on Friday's (2/21) Halftime Report was the UNH debate.

Steve Weiss bought more UNH, even though, according to Judge, Bill Ackman said its market cap "makes no sense."

Weiss knocked Bill's "reactionary" tweet and terminology of "psychological short." Weiss rattled off a bunch of reasons for liking UNH, including the "arms race in terms of coding."

"To say this is a, this company is just evil to its core is really, really asinine," Weiss concluded.

Jenny Harrington, though, stated, "I want to get behind Bill's psychological short, because that's where I sit too."

Jenny revealed, "I frequently inherit portfolios with a large, low-cost-basis UNH position, and the first thing I do is cut it back. And that's been for years," because "at some point this is going to come into the government's crosshairs. ... Everyone I know who uses it, like, hates UNH."

Well, at the risk of being argumentative (this writer has no position in stock of UNH or any other health insurer), we would suggest that probably every health care insurer is disliked by many of its users. If anyone wants to change that, they can start covering everything, including back-pain treatments and anxiety, and double their premiums.

(No one suggested UNH customers might fear ICE raids.)

Jenny asserted that UNH has "too rich a multiple." That's when Jim Lebenthal cut in, stating, "It's not above market multiple anymore." Weiss said "it's very cheap" and noted growth of KO and PEP trading at a premium multiple "for perennially slow growth."

Weiss asked Jenny about cutting back those portfolios' UNH positions. Jenny affirmed, "If it's super big, and the capital gains are too big, then I cut it back." Weiss apparently questioned, correctly, why Jenny doesn't sell the "whole position" given her views, but Jenny was talking over him and we didn't hear it very well.

On Fast Money, Karen Finerman said the UNH situation is "ugly, but I think there's more to come here." Karen said it's "not expensive," but this is "sort of the first inning" with "more PR shoes to drop here." Tim Seymour said he wants to think it's a "buying opportunity"; he said "I don't know" if you should jump in on Monday, but "at some point, you're buying this weakness." Despite what Jenny said earlier, guest host Courtney Reagan said UNH is "trading at a 30-plus-percent discount to the S&P." Steve Grasso said UNH has a "bipartisan headwind."

Jim expects ‘positive’ year, but not a 25% year

Bryn Talkington described the Thursday-Friday-Jeremy-Siegel-Aug.-5-esque selloff with a physics lesson on Friday's (2/21) Halftime Report.

Bryn explained that "gravity is immutable," and that that particular law "applies to stocks as well."

Citing PLTR, Bryn said, "It's really dangerous to chase these names," and she thinks it'll "trade off headlines."

"I'll be a buyer of Robinhood if it gets into the 40s," Bryn added.

Bryn said "I'm not a big fan of P.E." but went on to cite the HOOD and PLTR P.E. ratios as a way to gauge what's been priced in. Bryn said 46 is the 50-day for HOOD, and that's where she'd "step in."

Steve Weiss said the momentum rollover is "symptomatic of a, of a bigger malaise (snicker) that's, that's affecting the market." Weiss said the stocks all went up on momentum and fundamentals and multiple expansion, not earnings.

Weiss didn't think the META 20-day run was "deserved," but his gains are "so significant" that for him, "it's a question of timing." (We think that means, he claims he thought it was overdone during the 20-day streak but didn't want to sell it because of the tax hit.)

Weiss then drew a stark comparison, saying other names were a situation of "the emperor had no clothes, or the clothes were a skimpy thong instead of a full outfit." Judge said "I can't unsee that now," and Jenny Harrington called Weiss' terminology an "interesting analogy."

Judge aired a clip of Ken Griffin airing concerns about tariffs and long-term U.S. alliances. In a lengthy speech, Jenny said she did a "really deep study" and found "the most likely worst case" would be a hit of "half a percent of GDP."

Jim Lebenthal said earnings growth is projected to be "enough to support this market," though "I don't think we'll have another 25% year, but still a positive year from here." Jim also said "deregulation is real." Jim again brought up the "esoteric" topic that he enjoys talking about, which is Treasury Department spending (Zzzzzzzzzzz).

Later on Fast Money, Steve Grasso observed that "Apple is the only one that's up since DeepSeek." Steve said AAPL is being rewarded for announced investments of only $10 billion in AI, whereas others are at $100 billion, "so DeepSeek has proven their, their base case ... you can do it on the cheap." Karen said the market's done some broadening, so NVDA's earnings report is a "little less important than it used to be." Karen said the only thing wrong with WMT was that it was "too high going in."

Tepper was in his hot tub in Palm Beach in a good mood

As Judge brought up China stocks, Steve Weiss revealed on Friday's (2/21) Halftime Report, "I talked to Dave as he was getting out of his hot tub last night, Palm Beach, um, so he was in a good mood."

(We're actually not sure Tepper's been on Halftime since a few years ago when he joined from home in shorts and a T-shirt and immediately irked Judge by responding to questions like it was "The Hollywood Squares," one of the funniest episodes this decade.)

Weiss said "it's kinda strange" that China stocks would be "safer" than those in the U.S. Judge questioned "safer." Weiss said they are, "absolutely" now, because "there, there's no uncertainty." Weiss bought KWEB and PDD.

Jim Lebenthal, Jenny Harrington and Weiss all speculated about Berkshire's cash pile. Jim said the conversation is kind of like finding "shapes in the cloud."

Jim trimmed C, which got "simply too large," and bought more WYNN; "this is portfolio management."

Jim sold DE, despite its great year (it basically bottomed on Jeremy Siegel Day, Aug. 5), saying the farm recovery "is more than priced in."

Judge said William Blair is downgrading defense.

Bryn: Buyers will scoop up any ‘meaningful selloff’ in bitcoin

Judge on Friday's (2/21) Halftime Report asked Bryn Talkington, who owns IBIT, about bitcoin.

Bryn said gold's "been getting a lot more shine" than bitcoin. But longer term in bitcoin, "If we got any type of meaningful selloff, people are gonna step back in and buy it."

Steve Weiss reiterated that bitcoin to him is a "purely momentum trade" and there's "no utility for it whatsoever."

Jim Lebenthal trimmed AMZN and GOOG and bought ADBE and AMAT. Weiss cautioned that ADBE "can be disintermediated very quickly."

Bryn predicted UBER has a "9-handle, um, sometime this year."

Santoli didn't make the Halftime Report but turned up on Closing Bell and said there's evidence of a "stutter step in, in growth"; Santoli was just getting going and turned up on Overtime also.

Guest host Courtney Reagan on Fast Money said weighted blankets (hers weighs 15 pounds) are "amazing."

Kari suggests customers at MCD or WMT might fear being around an ICE raid

On Profit-Taking Day on Thursday (2/21), the Halftime Report took up some high-flying stocks.

Joe Terranova said PLTR "probably can fall into the 84 to 85 dollar level," but if you're not in it, "that's the spot that potentially you wanna buy it."

Josh Brown said PLTR is a "highly specific situation" but "emblematic" of the markets. He said it's "one of the best-positioned companies in the world," but "It's a 528-times trailing P.E."

Josh said it's "kind of in a no-man's land" but that traders are "already out."

Joe said he's "a little bit more concerned" about APP than PLTR.

Kari Firestone offered a really curious explanation for WMT and MCD outlooks, stating it's a "difficult subject," but "perhaps their customers are concerned about being in a location where there's an ICE a- an ICE raid. The workers may be concerned about that; it is affecting their business."

Kari said SHAK is a "higher demographic" and didn't see the same pressure.

Joe said he wouldn't be surprised if WMT and COST move "sideways."

Josh said SHAK "should be like 150, 160" and would be having "a much bigger day" if the market wasn't so bad.

Judge asked Kari why she's still in BAH. Kari said she trimmed recently but it "would've been wise" to sell more.

Judge confused CVNA with KMX.

On Fast Money, Karen Finerman said WMT "seemed to be sandbagging somewhat" with the guidance, and she would not sell it.

Stephanie indicates that valuation doesn’t help stocks that are sliding

After the A Block, Stephanie Link joined Thursday's (2/20) Halftime Report remotely to say she trimmed CRWD. (This writer is long CRWD.)

Stephanie said she bought it last summer when it was "down 41% from its highs" (maybe the No. 1 metric for CNBCers) and is "up 97% from August 2nd."

Stephanie said "I got lucky" and "timed it really well" and added it throughout August, but "it's prudent to take money off the table." She moved those funds to PANW because it's a "laggard" in the space. (So the money's already apparently back on the table.)

Stephanie claimed, "Momentum is great on the- on the way up, Scott. But when the momentum turns and it's on the way down, the valuation support (we think it was 'support') is very, very hard to use as a tool."

Whoa ... that's a really curious statement ... so momentum is great going up ... but when momentum goes south, "valuation" doesn't protect anything.

At least that's what it sounds like.

Stephanie said if CRWD falls 20% "from here," she'd probably buy it back.

Bill Baruch noted CRWD's drop but said "the narrative is in place" and the need for cybersecurity is "extraordinary."

Stephanie bought more UNH with the intention of building a "very large position" this year. Judge suggested there's a "buyers strike" in that stock.

Judge, Santoli fail to explain how the Chiefs ‘Happy Feet’ quarterback played one of the worst games in NFL history

Well into Thursday's (2/20) Haltime Report, Mike Santoli curiously took issue with the slogan about great teams winning the close games, stating, "You know what great teams do? They play fewer close games. They are dominant."

Judge said the Chiefs "won like 12 1-score games and then got destroyed in the Super Bowl."

Santoli clarified he doesn't think stocks are due for the same "washout" that the Chiefs experienced.

Joe Terranova, who made a great buy in BABA, said momentum is "accelerating" in the stock and the "next stop" is 150.

Judge noted Howard Lutnick was putting cruise ship stocks under pressure.

Judge and Kari Firestone said EPAM had a "weak guide."

Joe said ADSK isn't really in a great place and its momentum has a "very strong yellow light."

Judge and Joe noted how far AXON fell Thursday after hitting a 52-week high this week. Joe said you have to wait for earnings.

Bill Baruch said WDAY is a "potential winner in AI" and it's "not a high-flier name." Joe said he likes ZM, which reports Monday.

Bill's Final Trade was LNG, which he said is "bottoming out."

Kevin Simpson on Closing Bell said Thursday is a "great day for Trade School" (snicker) (haven't had many of those for a while) about hedging high-momentum stocks.

Karen Finerman apparently realized on Thursday's Fast Money that one of the show's guests, Tanger CEO Stephen Yalof, was baseball coach for one of her sons.

Weiss draws strange analogy of government employees to people escaping New York

Early on Wednesday's (2/19) Halftime Report, Judge told Steve Weiss that "a lot of people" thought good returns this year would be "a layup."

But Judge noted that Weiss trimmed his bitcoin "holding," and Judge said bitcoin is "down 8½ percent in a month."

Weiss said he had previously said he'd start getting out "when the momentum dies," and he's sold 20% of it. He said bitcoin's stall is "the story of the market" (snicker).

Weiss claimed, "The government's bloated, unquestionably, every agency is severely bloated." But Weiss said CEOs want a "communicated strategy" about cuts, and he drew a strange analogy from people leaving government to people leaving New York: "So the richest moved, and you're left with those that are depleting your tax base."

Judge wondered what that's got to do with the market. Weiss said "it's got everything to do with the market, because there's instability."

Weiss insisted "this is not a political statement" and that he's not a Republican nor Democrat nor "archconservative" nor "liberal," but a "moderate."

Joe Terranova opined, "If you're bearish, you're frustrated right now." Joe said strength in China and Europe and Brazil and Mexico is "telling you something about the overall environment."

Judge demanded from Kari Firestone a "yes or no" answer as to whether the market is fading. Kari said "yes," though there's been "pockets of real strength" (that's called a qualifier).

Jason Snipe revealed, "I'm generally more bullish than I am bearish."

Still wondering how there can be ‘literally’ no reason to buy TTD

On Wednesday's (2/19) Halftime Report, Kari Firestone pointed to NVDA's earnings next week as a key moment for the stock market.

Steve Weiss shrugged, "We know what they're gonna say."

"No we don't," Judge argued.

Kari's new charitable trust has bought NVDA. Kari's trust also bought BMY (Zzzzzzzz).

Joe Terranova said ADBE is an "interesting value proposition," but "I don't think you can ignore the fact that AI is cannibalizing a lot of the existing products." Joe said CRM "is in a good place."

Joe said of APP, no one really knows "how high is high."

Jason Snipe owns DHI, which hit a 52-week low according to the screen graphic. Jason said "it's a wait and see moment" with the stock.

Joe articulated that homebuilding incentives have been increasing, and that what kept builders "elevated last summer" was the declining 10-year rate.

Kari told Judge the worst is behind KMX.

Weiss unloaded GXO.

Joe noted his "recent position" in BABA and given that it's reporting Thursday, "I'm either gonna look like a hero or a fool tomorrow morning."

On Fast Money, Grandpa Guy Adami complained that "U.S. consumers' serious delinquency rate — that's 90 days+ — it's at 11.4%. That's the highest we've seen in 13 years. And that's without us being in a recession. So we're missing payments at a rate as if we were in a recession." However, Guy did make a pretty good funny earlier in the show with a jab at guest host Dom Chu about the term keeping the "seat warm."

Joe’s argument that there’s ‘literally’ no reason to own TTD (other than, oh, it might go up) is challenged by Belski, Josh

Tuesday's (2/18) Halftime Report was rather humdrum, except when Joe Terranova claimed that people holding TTD "are not risk-managing your position."

Joe first protested to Judge that the JOET can't unload TTD because, as he states all the time, "The strategy can't exit TradeDesk until April 30th. Those are the rules. Can't rewrite 'em. SEC- SEC's not gonna allow me to do it for the narrative of the show (snicker)."

But Joe said, "If you own TradeDesk, and you are still sitting with TradeDesk, then you are not risk-managing your position. Because there is literally (sic) no reason to be in TradeDesk right now."

But Brian Belski owns it, "a small position," and said it's merely in a "2-quarter penalty box."

Belski said if you're a long-term holder, it's "too late to sell it," because he thinks it's "gonna work."

Josh Brown said he let a TTD profit turn into a loss as he was "blindsided" by the quarter. But Josh said he does agree with Belski about a "longer-term opportunity" with the stock.

Josh stated, "Comebacks happen more frequently than you think."

Joe should’ve sold TWLO a week earlier

Joe Terranova actually claimed at the top of Tuesday's (2/18) Halftime Report that "there's a compelling case Scott that can really be made for each and every (snicker) asset class."

Brian Belski said the demise of megacap tech has been "blown out of proportion," and he's "quite overweight the sector."

Josh Brown hailed the "communications sector" as the "most exciting" in tech, then rattled off a bunch of names such as FWONK and LYV that didn't really seem to have much to do with "communications," but whatever; he said they're "tech-adjacent."

Joe even talked up GWRE.

Joe sold TWLO on Friday at 125 after buying it Nov. 13 at "98 and a quarter."

Judge said Berkshire bought STZ. Sarat Sethi owns STZ but said it's in the "doghouse," however, it's at a decade-low multiple. Sarat said it's on his "watch list," he could add to the position, or sell it entirely.

Josh suggested Warren Buffett is being "contrarian" in selling AAPL and BAC and buying STZ.

Josh said Europe is in a "roaring bull market."

Belski said GILD has a "great pipeline," and he's doubled his position over the past year.

Josh Brown scoffed at the GILD chart as a "smile" and advised, "Let it break out."

Ideas: CNBC could use
a show like ‘The View’

CNBC has had practically the same Business Day lineup for 20 years.

Some show titles have changed; a lot of others remain the same. The closest thing to a new "concept" in the last decade was Mark Hoffman handing gobs of cash to Shep Smith to do a ... nonbiased evening news report.

There's basically been no recent blockbuster ideas at CNBC, unless you count keeping the "Shark Tank" rights holder/renewer on speed dial.

It's time for CNBC to break ground in Business Day programming with an all-women's show. While a lot of business subjects are universal (such as how much the Dow Jones Industrials are up or down), just take a look around Post 9 during any CNBC show that's helmed there, and you'll notice nearly all the folks in trading jackets are dudes.

Obviousy, there are probably a lot of female-centric topics not often getting attention. We've seen that CNBC's audience is 39% female. We don't know if that number is accurate. But it sounds right. How can there not be a bigger effort to reach that particular audience?

No one's saying, Turn Business Day programming into "The View." The show could be about anything from a Netflix earnings preview to algorithmic trading to financial advisor surveys to whether driverless cars will work to the price of eggs. The typical commentary on those subjects is majority male. This concept starts, like most others, as a 15-minute segment carved out of an existing show. There's a deep bench of talent that should be available for this type of programming, and not just current CNBC hosts ... can probably get, for guest appearances, Karen, Liz Ann, Savita, Diane, Cathy Wood, Dana, probably MCC, Jane Wells, maybe even Mellody, who could possibly even provide a soundbite or two from George ...

We're in the SpinCo Era now. CNBC needs some ideas. Fast.

Someone never told Josh who the other panelists were

Judge's Halftime Report on Friday (2/14) was so chock-ful of stocks, we couldn't begin to list every one that was mentioned.

But before they really got into that, they took up some of the goings-on in Washington, as Judge said the story of the day is the "resilient stock market."

Josh Brown said there's "been a vibe shift" since last fall and "I don't wanna get political (snicker)," but he thinks people give the administration "the benefit of the doubt" that tariffs won't crush the economy or market and that "we're sort of looking through that."

Josh said we're also looking through "inflation scares."

Jason Snipe said "the delay on tariffs is a big deal."

Judge said Piper Sandler thinks "a lot of investors" may think Trump is "more bark than bite when it comes to tariffs," but Piper thinks that's a "mistake."

Kevin Simpson, who recently has gotten a sharp haircut, said there's probably a lot of "exceptions" in the tariffs, but the "uncertainty" is the "real risk" now.

Josh seemed to think it was Belski on the program instead of Jason Snipe.

Stephanie Link argued that tech is lagging because of tariffs.

Kevin buys TSLA

In the day's biggest revelation, Kevin Simpson on Friday's (2/14) Halftime Report said he bought TSLA, saying he sold half the position Feb. 3 at 385 and bought it back. (Translation: He's successfully trading it.)

Maybe Kevin hit a bottom, but it'll be hard to top Bill Baruch's 52-week low buy last year.

Stephanie Link bought PANW. Jason Snipe said PANW was down because it didn't have a "blowout quarter," but he thinks PANW and CRWD can continue to work. (This writer is long CRWD.)

Judge said "new (sic redundant) record high" yet again, this time regarding the equal-weight Nasdaq.

Kevin said he owns META in both his growth and dividend funds. He noted the buybacks and said "all we need now is for Zuck to give us a stock split, and hopefully that's coming." (On Friday's Fast Money, Mike Khouw said of META, "On a short-term basis, it feels a little bit stretched to me." But "if you own it, I wouldn't- I wouldn't sell it.")

Kevin said ADBE is a "show me" story.

Jason Snipe noted that AAPL was down 14% "just a couple weeks ago."

Judge said TMUS is up 21% year to date; Kevin Simpson has it in his growth fund and thinks it will go higher.

Josh touted how great financials have done amid the current rate environment and stated "we don't need emergency rate cuts." #messagetoJeremy

Josh said GILD is breaking out.

Josh called 275 "realistic" for UNP.

Contessa Brewer joined late to trumpet DKNG and WYNN. (But the Super Bowl's done for 12 months.) (We think we heard, at one of those Super Hype press conferences in New Orleans the week before the game, Contessa ask Jalen Hurts about his investment portfolio, and Jalen saying he couldn't get into it at that time.)

On Fast Money, Contessa again spoke about gaming stocks. Guest host Tyler Mathisen (he's still doing guest spots) asked Contessa who she picked in the Super Bowl. Contessa said, "I didn't gamble on it, because I usually lose my sports bets, and I hate losing."

Back on Halftime, Josh called SHAK "very oversold."

The biggest chuckler of the day came on the next show, The Exchange, when Sully complained to Michelle Meyer about the nation's credit card debt and lamented, "Nobody. Seems. To. Care." Michelle said "the fundamentals are supportive."

Wonder if Al texted Judge about What In The World Was Patrick Mahomes Doing In Last Sunday’s Game

Judge on Thursday's (2/13) Halftime Report said TTD was "getting destroyed" on its "worst day ever" for the stock. That wasn't great news for Josh Brown, who on Tuesday (2/11) had made it his Final Trade at 120.

Josh on Thursday said he sold TTD, saying the company had "nothing positive to say," and "it was already a nosebleed-high momentum name with a crazy valuation" (which wasn't part of the Final Trade). Josh said it needs to be in the "penalty box" for "1 or 2 quarters." He said it was a "really easy sale to make" and he won't be back in "anytime soon."

On the plus side, Judge noted MCO's "new (sic redundant) record high" a week after Josh pitched it to Al Michaels.

Josh said "It's a strong story getting stronger" and suggested, "if you're a trader, you wanna play with the house's money" (that term is always problematic with stocks ... it's not the house's money, it's your money ...) and use $500 as a "pivot point."

Moments later, Judge reported, "Al says he bought some Moody's calls. He just told me that." Josh said he doesn't know where Al's strikes or expirations are, "but so far, so good."

Judge chuckled, "Obviously, he believes in you."

One thing we don't believe in anymore is the Kansas City Chiefs offense, given that their quarterback literally played maybe the worst game we've ever seen (at least by a player who's a respected starter) and his glorified-offensive-coordinator coach did absolutely nothing to change it except stare at his chart.

Judge claims META’s streak is a miracle

Liz Young Thomas and Judge agreed at the top of Thursday's (2/13) Halftime Report — a strong, crisp show — that this is a "resilient" market; Liz said the market "shrugged off" the inflation numbers from Wednesday and mentioned "hot" about 3 times.

Josh Brown marveled at the unprecedented META winning streak but stated "it's way overbought here, so a pullback, obviously, makes sense." Josh said if you're not in it and want to own it, "Let it cool off" and then get in.

Judge actually claimed, in an indication of stock market hyperbole, "The streak has been just miraculous."

Kevin Simpson said he expects a lot of money managers to trim META "because it's becoming such a big position."

Kevin said HOOD "crushed it" on earnings. "We bought it on December 9th at 40," Kevin said.

Judge said Tony Pasquariello's strategy is "long the market, with tail protection (snicker)." Bill Baruch said, "I think he's right" and "I'm pretty bullish right here."

A day earlier, on Closing Bell, Adam Parker defended his trim-Mag-7 theory, suggesting going from 30% of the portfolio to 22%.

Bill pins a $600 on CRWD

On Thursday's (2/13) Halftime Report, Kevin Simpson said he bought PANW and touted the whole cybersecurity space.

Josh Brown touted CRWD (this writer is long CRWD) and said no company is talking about cutting its cybersecurity budget, but "ultimately," instead of a number of successes, the cyber space will concentrate around a small group of winners.

Bill Baruch got our attention by bluntly stating, "As earnings grow, this is a $600 stock, CrowdStrike."

Josh was asked to explain the RDDT trading activity. "It's another outstanding quarter," Josh said, explaining it was down bigger overnight, to 185, because of "algorithms" that don't understand the "nuance" of the earnings report. Later, "They bought the dip," Josh said.

Judge said Goldman Sachs hiked its LYV target from 148 to 166. Josh said that one is an "extremely special asset," and he praised Mike Rapino for handling "such a difficult business to run."

At least ADBE wasn’t favored in the Super Bowl

Talking up European equities, Josh Brown pointed out on Thursday's (2/13) Halftime Report that "FEZ is up 14% year to date."

Bill Baruch observed that "it sold off in the quarter 4," but "I think there's some tailwinds here."

Judge told Josh, "you're basically playing the bottom ... that you've seen the bottom, in, in Europe." Bill said it could get "tailwinds from the euro" if the dollar is topping.

Liz Young Thomas said the "unpopular opinion is that international outperforms the U.S. this year," however, Europe is "not the first place" Liz would be looking. Josh said, "China beat the S&P last year, almost nobody you talk to knows that."

Kevin Simpson said he thinks DASH is going higher. Bill Baruch said he added to HUBS last week; he said he uses it "internally" and it's a "terrific product." Bill added that "this is a takeover target."

Kevin is "lukewarm at best" on ADBE and said its performance "befuddles" him because "all of us use Adobe." We agree. That's a great point. Adobe in the CNBCfix world is ... everywhere.

Kevin bought CRM, saying he sees "tremendous, tremendous upside."

Bill said he "doubled down" on T in late 2022 when it "had some fears." (In late 2022, he should've bought all kinds of META, which EVERY panelist on the Halftime Report just KNEW was way undervalued.) Josh said AT&T and TMobile "both look great."

Liz Young Thomas said she likes energy and "probably" will like it for the whole year.

Weiss claims to actually think the next Fed move may be a hike

Judge on Wednesday's (2/12) Halftime Report was really liking the term "Lag 7" and threw it around quite a bit, noting tech and discretionary are the only sectors down this year.

Steve Weiss said he's not troubled by how the Mag 7 has performed in a "moment in time."

Then Grandpa Weiss questioned if the Fed is "on hold" for a cut ... or a hike.

Judge said "I think it's on hold for a cut" and there's "no evidence at all" that it's on hold for a hike.

"That's not true," Weiss said.

"No it is true," Judge said.

Weiss mentioned "today's number." But Judge got Weiss to admit he's not investing as though the next move is a hike.

Weiss, who mentioned a "clown car" of the Cabinet, said Larry Summers and Ken Griffin (see below) are "not a fool" and Summers is saying "what's accurate." Judge said "the likely outcome is not a hike." Weiss said, "'Don't be sanguine' is my message."

Veering into DOGE-land, Weiss at one point said, "Look, I'm all for cutting costs. There are way too many excesses, way too much overspending in government. But I'm also for a cogent- cogently communicated plan of doing it, not sensationalism. And that's what we have."

Joe Terranova eventually cut in, "I feel like we're having a conversation about the Giants winning the Super Bowl next year, 'cause if we do have to raise rates ... you raise rates once, at best."

Joe said he disagrees with the term "Lag 7" and said you "absolutely" want to own AMZN, and stay with META. Judge stressed that no one is saying you should or shouldn't own the Mag 7 and protested that "as a group, it has been the Lag 7." Joe said some of those will do well, but he doesn't think TSLA's prospects are good, citing a "graphite issue."

Judge apparently got a phone chime during his "momentum" observations and had to "silence" the phone/device. Joe said he's beginning to see momentum names underperforming and "struggling."

Joe: Market flat since Dec. 12

Joe Terranova on Wednesday's (2/12) Halftime Report said it's going to be a "difficult game" in 2025 to "focus on where the overall market is."

Joe noted that over 60 days, going back to Dec. 12, "we're basically running flat."

Judge said Grandpa Larry Summers posted that this is "the riskiest period for inflation policy since the early Biden administration." But Judge said the market isn't "hung up" on comments by Summers or Ken Griffin (it was Day 2 of that story).

Shannon Saccocia echoed Joe about not focusing on "larger indexes."

And if steel prices go up ... AND if earnings go up ... AND we keep the same historical multiple ... then Cleveland-Cliffs is a triple!!!

Steve Weiss on Wednesday's (2/12) Halftime Report returned to one of his favorite subjects (no, not the difference between the 2 presidential candidates in 2024): how a robotaxi fleet is a lot more costlier than the current Uber model.

Weiss highlighted "the cost of putting robotaxis on the street; nobody's talking about that," and that there's not drivers paying for insurance or maintenance.

Even so, Joe Terranova said "momentum's building" in UBER and it'll be "going into the 80s."

Joe bought CVS and called it an "easy trade," buying it against Tuesday's close of 55.

Joe also bought BABA. #Tepper

Weiss bought more VRT, which was sliding.

Kari Firestone joined remotely and said she bought EPAM, which we're not sure we've ever heard mentioned on the show. Kari bought AVGO and CHE, the latter another one rarely if ever mentioned. Kari trimmed WAB and sold FTV.

Joe said BRK seems to like buying OXY "around 45, 46."

During Final Trades, Joe said he was "fixated" on Judge's "tie and jacket combination." Judge said that was "pandering to the host."

On Fast Money, Grandpa Guy Adami said "inflation's a problem" and knocked the use of "transitory," and claimed, "It's only, I think, gonna get worse."

Weiss says ‘nobody believes’ that 25% tariffs on steel are going to happen

About 1/4 of Tuesday's (2/11) Halftime Report got preempted by the Fed.

Judge asserted that the Fed has become "as inconsequential to the path of- of a stock market, um, that I can remember" and that "there's a general feeling that there is Goldilocks to be had."

Judge also tried to sing the praises of Jerome Powell, but it generally fell on deaf ears.

Grandpa Steve Weiss conceded "it's all working now" but predicted we'll stay in a "trading range."

Weiss said prospects for IPOs and M&A has "ground to a halt."

Judge tried to sell Josh Brown on the idea that the Fed's done a great job and just isn't taking credit. Josh said, "He's not taking credit, because he may be the firefighter, but he's also the arsonist."

Josh said it's "documented" how "absurd" it was to continue monetary stimulus "into the pandemic and beyond."

Josh asserted that "this is an incredible earnings season."

Weiss bluntly declared, "Nobody believes that the 25% tariffs across the board in steel, whatever, are going to come to fruition. Because if they did believe that, then the market would be a lot lower."

Judge asked, "Would it?" Weiss said, "Oh, without a doubt."

Weiss bought DKS, correctly saying management "continues to excel." (When that stock gets mentioned on Fast Money, you get Tim Seymour, Dan Nathan and Guy Adami making wisecracks and raising eyebrows for the camera.) (Karen Finerman, though, does NOT include that company on her list of "3 worst corporate names of all time," which includes The Athlete's Foot, Fifth Third Bank and the standard-bearer, Dress Barn.)

Weiss said he added to LDOS on the earnings-report pullback.

Judge hectors Jim over why Jim never predicted a tariff boost for CLF

Judge posed a great question.

Everyone on Monday's (2/10) Halftime Report, including Jim Lebenthal, chuckled when Judge brought up CLF.

Judge asked Jim, "Did you figure that tariffs were coming on steel and aluminum."

Jim claimed, "I feel like it- it had to come."

Then things got serious. Judge said, "If you thought that this was gonna happen, why weren't you pounding the table on Cleveland Cliffs. Which- whose stock by the way has traded like garbage."

"You're not joking," Jim observed.

"No no no, I didn't hear you come on and say 'Buy it because there's gonna be tariffs," Judge said. "Did you say 'tariffs'?"

"What I said, Scott, was- and I'll do this again for the umpteenth (sic) (hasn't really been "umpteenth") time ... this is about steel prices. It has always been about steel prices," Jim said, claiming that if a bunch of things happen, "it's a triple."

Judge continued, and scored points with a Wilbur Ross reference: "It traded like garbage. If- you- you were very quick to get out of General Motors when you thought that tariffs were coming there. I didn't hear you suggesting that well, 'Hey guys, remember the playbook from '16 will Wilbur- where Wilbur Ross held up the Campbell's soup can on CNBC and talked about aluminum and steel prices. Well I think Trump's gonna double down on that again, so this is the moment, for that reason alone.'"

Jim protested, "You have heard me say repeatedly, and I'm not even gonna get animated about this (as he got slightly animated), because it's factual and you will- you as the Judge will back me up that this has been entered into evidence. That multiple times over the last few months, I've said it's a triple from here. At $10 a share ... Now listen, listen, if I say it's a triple, I don't need to beat my chest and do monkey moves here, OK. That's all I need to say."

Actually, Judge was only wondering whether predicting a tariff bounce was all that Jim really needed to say (and Jim never did).

Judge asked if this is a "believable move in the stock," or whether it should be sold. Jim of course said "I am not selling a share."

Joe Terranova said tariff headlines will only "accelerate."

Jim said he was in D.C., and, "I can tell you, the Republican Party, their tentpole is tariffs. And it's not- it's not bluster."

Everyone’s on the UBER bandwagon again

Late into Monday's (2/10) Halftime Report, Joe Terranova said he "got back in to UBER on Friday," saying it was "rules-based, mechanical."

Judge wondered if Joe's move really was "Ackman-based."

Joe admitted "you have to attribute" the recent move to Ackman, then gave a speech about how he thought back in February 2023 it would go to $100. (At least he didn't say that he knew META was going to quintuple in November-December 2022.) Joe apparently had an "elective stop" to get back in once the price surged, as it did on the Ackman buys.

Amy recommends being ‘underweight’ the ‘overowned’ Mag 7

Judge opened Monday's (2/10) Halftime Report talking about Dave Tepper's interest in "several of the China internet names" (Zzzzzzz).

Judge cautioned that Tepper can be "tactical" and that 13Fs can be "dangerous" (snicker) because they're "backward-looking." But Judge said he understands this is the "real deal."

Joe Terranova said those names started to rally in mid-September with China's stimulus policy change.

Amy Raskin said her issues with China companies is that they're not necessarily run for profit but "sort of as extensions of the government."

Judge said Adam Parker is saying to "sell some Mag 7" (snicker). Jim Lebenthal talked about a broadening (snicker). Amy said the "right call" is to be "underweight" the Mag 7, which are "overowned."

Rob Sechan said he wouldn't be surprised to see "giveback" in META. Rob added, "We're up 500% since we added it in ... (drum roll) ... (you know which time frame he's going to say) ... December '22." (Tip: Everybody on the show in November-December 2022 knew that META was hugely undervalued and loaded up on the stock.)

Amy Raskin trimmed IONQ because it's a "very volatile name." Amy, who more than any other panelist tends to take fliers on some little-known tech names, bought more PI. From the chart, it appears to have done a round trip around $100 over the past 12 months, but somewhere in the middle, it managed to hit 239.

Amy likes ILMN long term, but she thinks it'll be "noisy."

Rob said he likes TSM because it's got a "reasonable" valuation; he said he added it on "DeepState (sic) Monday," which Judge corrected.

Jim said DE stock is doing a lot better than DE the company.

Al Michaels was right about a couple of things regarding the Super Bowl

On Thursday, this page kinda took issue with Al Michaels' not-terribly-specific Super Bowl outlook.

Al didn't pick either of the teams to win.

But Al did say, "I think defense prevails on Sunday." Honestly, you can kinda say that about nearly every Super Bowl. (Even 52, in which both offenses ran up gargantuan amounts of yardage.) Especially if you won't name which TEAM is going to prevail.

However, no question, Super Bowl LIX was about an LV-like shutdown of the Kansas City Chiefs offense.

Al also predicted that Jalen Hurts would win "at least 1" Super Bowl. Again, it wasn't a prediction specifically for Sunday's game ... but it's already true.

This page, which predicted a Chiefs 3-peat back in January (see below) (oops) (gulp) (we also predicted a Mag 7 3-peat; that one is still TBD), has to eat crow, but honestly, we have no idea where this game came from. If someone had told us the final score in advance, we would've assumed it was the Chiefs with 40.

Pro football may be 90% predictable, but not 100%.

Weiss correctly salutes Bill’s great buy of UBER on the dip

Judge on Friday's (2/7) Halftime Report reported on Ackman taking a stake in UBER.

Josh Brown said Ackman said he "started" buying in early January, but looking at Thursday's action in the name, "you could tell he was sucking this thing up like, uh, Daniel Plainview."

Josh said, "I'm telling you, this is a hundred-dollar stock."

Weiss correctly gave Bill Baruch a shout-out for buying UBER "on the dip." Indeed. Bill's announced buy of UBER on Wednesday evokes memories of last year's getting-TSLA-at-the-bottom call and could be a Call of the Year contender, depending on how things go. (We also know that every time a bunch of people start talking up this name, it seems to stall. But whatever.)

Judge opened the show saying META was trying for its 15th straight up day.

Jenny Harrington said META "deserves to be Magnificent 1." Steve Weiss merely said META "executed best" of the Mag 7 names in the last quarter.

Josh Brown said he's "just been totally wrong" in not having "excess exposure" to META.

Josh said CRWD is "the 5th-best performing stock year to date in the S&P 500," which puts it in the "pantheon of comebacks" since its "44% drawdown last summer." (This writer is long CRWD.)

Weiss said he's not selling any of his NFLX shares. (This writer is long NFLX.)

Jenny Harrington was asked about SWKS; this page hasn't paid attention to that name in a long time. Of course, Jenny thinks the selloff is "overdone." She said she's exiting the stock, "but not today," because the drop is just "too much."

Bryn Talkington said she owns RBLX "around 30." She said it's defied the skeptics and remains "a very sticky platform" in an "interesting ecosystem."

On Friday's Fast Money, Steve Grasso offered, "I wouldn't be buying Mag 7 right now."

Steve also suggested X has a "chance" to get into the "50s." (This writer is long X.)

Al Michaels doesn’t make a call on who will win the Super Bowl

The star of Thursday's (2/6) Halftime Report, as he always is whenever he makes a guest appearance, was sportscasting legend Al Michaels.

"This is my favorite show on television," Al told Judge.

Judge asked Al for a "deciding factor" in the Super Bowl. Al said, "Defense" (snicker). (Um, has Al noticed what happens in the 4th quarter/overtime of Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowls?)

Al said this game has "2 of the best defensive coordinators of all time." Honestly, that's a stretch.

Nevertheless, Al said, "I think defense prevails on Sunday." (We'll take the other side of that.) Al predicted Jalen Hurts will win "at least 1" Super Bowl.

Meanwhile, on stocks, Al made an indirect reference to FAS, which he called a "day-trading stock" but which quite frankly has been a phenomenal investment vehicle. (This writer is long FAS, a tiny bit, and had a lot more last year.)

Josh Brown offered MCO for Al. We don't think MCO has been mentioned on the show ... maybe ever.

Al also mentioned CLF (but not like in a bullish way).

Al said Andy Jassy is a "gigantic sports fan."

Judge jokes that someone tried to get between Josh and a camera

In what proved to be a bit of hyperbole, Josh Brown on Thursday's (2/6) Halftime Report suggested AMZN's report would be "The Super Bowl of the Mag 7 reports." (This review was posted overnight Thursday-Friday.)

Josh said, "I think she wants 300." Joe Terranova said he agrees and once again for whatever reason made his "you can't have it both ways with revenue growth" statement and said AMZN has the revenue growth.

Josh was able to crow about the rebound in UBER; he said there was "not one thing discussed" in the earnings call that changed his mind about the stock even though the initial reaction was selloff.

Josh said the UBER call was not the reason for the stitch around his eye. Judge said, "I was wondering a little bit about the stitch, I was wondering ... if someone tried to get between you and a camera or microphone."

Josh is already out of BMY (why he was in it, who knows, as this page already pointed out) and said 61 (maybe like MLB's home run record) seems to be resistance and he'll take another look if it gets there.

Joe said MRK is down 33% from its June high and "looks like a literal ski slope."

On Fast Money, Karen Finerman said she prefers META to PINS but acknowledged PINS could be acquired by somebody, while "META realistically could not."

Judge directs Post 9 cameras
to spotlight Joe

Things got humorous enough midway through Wednesday's (2/5) Halftime Report that it was actually the funniest episode in months.

Jim Lebenthal touted XOM and said that if you own energy stocks, you basically have to start with XOM.

Judge scoffed that Jim, in his extended commentary, was basically saying "the stock wins either way," that it's "stock great" whether oil goes up or oil goes down.

Jim responded, "The simple answer is, the starting point (snicker) matters here."

Judge asked, "What if their arms are twisted" by the White House to drill more. Jim said he'll take the question "at face value"; Judge seemed surprise that Jim might not.

Jim said, "If that happens, that's bad for the stock."

Steve Weiss, though, bluntly stated, "If the commodity goes down in price, the share price is going down. Period. End of story."

Weiss further posited that if Trump and his "good friend Putin" are able to "settle the war in Ukraine," and the embargo goes off Russian oil, that would be bad for Big Oil. Jim said, "What if unicorns start flying from Post 9 at the New York Stock Exchange ..."

Joe Terranova cut in to say "credit Tony Pasquariello" for reporting that energy was the only sector in the first Trump term to be negative. Judge scoffed, "All right, I mean, everybody knew that. ... We said that a thousand times in, like, during the election coverage."

The crew chuckled about giving Tony shout-outs. Perhaps making up for Monday's photo-op (see below), Joe mugged for the camera during a conversation about HOOD, after Judge demanded, "I want the camera shot on Joe individually."

Weiss actually asked Jim if the QCOM report was going to be a "win-win." Jim said "You are just a source of hilarity every day. And I appreciate it." Joe said "let's add to the hilarity"; he didn't have any more statistics from Tony Pasquariello.

Joe’s already dismissing a stock that the JOET just added

Joe ran afoul of Judge late in Wednesday's (2/5) Halftime Report when YUMC came up and Joe admitted, "I don't like where it is."

Judge said, "Wait a minute, you just added it to the JOET, are you telling me the momentum's gone? You add things on momentum."

Joe said it was added "more on quality" than momentum. Judge insisted, "You're telling me it checked the momentum box last week and then it doesn't check it this week? What am I missing here."

Joe said, "What you're missing is that there's no way you can own a portfolio of stocks and love each one of those stocks equally." Judge said "Thanks for the explanation."

Judge carped about Joe offering his Final Trade (AXON) without his name being called.

Joe demands panelists stop having it ‘both ways’ on Mag 7 revenues

Jim Lebenthal opened Wednesday's (2/5) Halftime Report saying one takeaway from Alphabet's report is that "you don't have to worry" about search. Jim said now's a "great price" and "opportunity" to buy it.

Steve Weiss said he agrees with Jim's commentary and added Jim's "omission" of YouTube as a strength and said that while he wouldn't mind a lower capex number, "it's fine." Joe Terranova said Alphabet positioning is "extremely bullish."

Bryn Talkington, who was remote and seemed bewildered by the humor occurring on the show Wednesday, said she likes META and AMZN better than "flat-for-a-year" MSFT.

Joe said of META and the Mag 7, "you can't dismiss if you see a slowdown in that revenue." Joe argued that "you can't have it both ways" of applauding revenue when it's accelerating and ignoring it when there's "moderation," which Joe said is "beginning to happen."

Weiss disagreed, saying though Joe is "factually" correct, a name like Alphabet for example still has 30% cloud growth rather than 35%. Weiss predicted a "reacceleration." Joe wasn't impressed by Weiss' argument and restated "You can't have it both ways" in terms of revenue growth.

CNBC's Steve Kovach said AAPL's China headwinds are "not going the other way anytime soon."

Bryn Talkington blamed UBER's Q1 concerns on L.A. fires and the southern snowstorm and a bigger fx hit; "those are all just like exogenous events." We thought Josh Brown, who wasn't on the panel, would make an appearance to defend this stock as he always does; instead, Bill Baruch joined remotely to say he bought more UBER on the "overreaction."

Steve Weiss suggested UBER is not yet a "truly great company" because it can't yet "navigate" any kind of "tough circumstance." He's not selling but is not excited about the stock.

Jim said the only thing that troubles him about DIS' earnings is the dip in Disney+ subscribers. (What about the Iger "succession" (er, 3-year extension) plan ...)

Joe said "you have to acknowledge" that financials are working and "there's a reason to be there."

Josh says Tariff Wars are ‘40 years of the same rant’

A day ago (see below) on the Halftime Report, Steve Weiss offered his opinion of the current presidency.

Early into Tuesday's (2/4) show, Josh Brown got a chance:

"Everyone around the world now understands that this is a reality show. The intention of announcing tariffs is to hold the news cycle in the palm of his hand. And none of this stuff is new. There's a New York Times article from 6 years ago talking about this moment in 1988 where Trump was outbid, way before politics, for a piano that was used in the movie 'Casablanca,' and he was so mad that the bidder was Japanese, that he went on TV with Diane Sawyer and said, 'We have to do tariffs, these countries don't respect us, we need to tariff, we need to tariff.' This is 40 years of the same rant."

Bryn says ‘Don’t look at P.E.’ in regard to PLTR

Bryn Talkington joined Tuesday's (2/4) Halftime Report remotely to discuss PLTR, a stock Bryn has talked about for a couple years (and a stock that this page unfortunately shrugged off for a couple years).

Bryn said the stock has surged this week and in recent months because it's "very underowned" and "people just don't really- did not really pay attention to what this company's doing." It's "in the square, perfect spot of AI, and they have zero competition," Bryn said.

Guest host Frank Holland said the valuation is "huge" and wondered about "DOGE risk." Bryn said it's more like "DOGE reward."

Bryn unfortunately also made a cost-basis reference, stating, "The viewers will know, if they remember, January 2nd or 3rd, I sold over half of my position in the 70s because I bought it at 25." The screen graphic showed a forward P.E. of 213. "Don't look at P.E.," Bryn advised.

Josh Brown said PLTR was one of the most heavily shorted stocks last fall. "I can't believe I don't own it," Josh said. Brian Belski said he bought it last May and "doubled our position before the election."

Translation: Bob’s going to get an extension into 2028

Josh Brown, a regular cheerleader for UBER, on Tuesday's (2/4) Halftime Report called UBER "the most mispriced security on the Nasdaq; I think it's 50% below where it should be trading." Jason Snipe predicted a "rebound" in "gross mobilities" for UBER.

Josh bought BMY for some reason.

Brian Belski said he bought NKE as well as SHAK. "I think Shake Shack is to Gen Z's what Chipotle was to the millennials," Belski said.

Stephanie Link made beaten-down DECK her Final Trade.

Guest host Frank Holland said to Angelica Peebles during a CNBC News Update, "I think the Eagles are gonna also win by a very large margin against the Kansas City Chiefs."

On Closing Bell, which was guest hosted by Sara Eisen in place of Judge, James Stewart told Sara that none of the internal candidates to "succeed" Iger at DIS is seen as having the "perfect set" of skills.

Weiss jokes about trash-talking CNBC, then getting hired by the Trump administration

Judge was probably disappointed he missed it.

Or maybe not.

Early on Monday's (2/3) Halftime Report guest-hosted by Frank Holland, Steve Weiss assessed the big international news of the weekend.

"This is a guy who's never had success negotiating publicly like this, nor privately. He did have 5 companies go belly up. So his negotiating skills just aren't that great ... I'm not gonna be somebody who minces on the political side ... definitely not Kamala Harris fan, definitely not a Republican fan. So this is just looking at it as an investor, as a businessperson. This is chaotic. The first weeks of this administration have been unlike any other because of chaotic. It's also been like (sic meant 'unlike') any other because of the incompetence, not only of the president, but the incompetence of many people he's put in."

Weiss said he was on a conference call with a "large defense company critical to the safety of our country," and "they have no idea," they say some agencies are contracting, and some aren't.

Weiss said "Nobody wants to say anything to offend the president, otherwise you get kicked out of the press room, or he sues you. I'm actually thinking of going to work for the Trump administration. First, I'm going to say something, uh, bad about CNBC. Then I'm gonna work for Trump and sell it for $25 million."

As for tariffs, "You have no idea what to do ... what's it good for. I don't know what tariffs are gonna do. Look at it this way: We've got all these sycophants in his administration saying that, 'No, the consumer's not gonna bear them.'" Weiss explained that GM has 8% margins, and "how can they tolerate 25% margins (sic meant 'tariffs')."

(This review was posted overnight Monday-Tuesday, hours after tariffs on Canada were "paused," which occurred hours after the Halftime Report aired.)

Joe: People’s positions in
NVDA are ‘extended’

Joe Terranova started off Monday's (2/3) Halftime Report stating, "First of all, it's clear, that the announcement and potential implementation of tariffs is part of a negotiating strategy. I think that's very obvious to all of us. I think in other situations, you can expect that tariffs will be implemented, and they will be held in force for an extended period of time."

For investors, Joe said, "I feel like we're in the same place we were last week. ... However, I think you're making a mistake if you make a macro call."

(Note: We can't help the fact that Joe was scowling, for some reason, in the introductory camera shots above. We take what's out there. This one's on Joe.)

Jim Lebenthal said, "We all know there's chaos out there. There's no question about it. You can just look at the back and forth on, on the tariffs. But underneath this, you have a strong economy."

"I think this is very much a stock-picker's market (snicker)," Jim said.

Jim said "today I'm selling On Holdings," adding "it may face tariffs."

Jim said of China, "They're trying to do a PR campaign here to get more foreign direct investment. I don't think they can just easily slap on retaliatory tariffs unless they wanna give up on that campaign."

"I think they should give up on that campaign. It's failed," Steve Weiss said, doubting any "responsible CEO" would move a supply chain there and share IP.

Joe recalled his bad-sale remark about NVDA of a week earlier. "I truly believe that positioning right now in Nvidia is extended. I think people are fully long the name."

Weiss predicted NVDA will "bounce," but "I wouldn't buy more here though."

Weiss predicts UNH makes new high

Sully wasn't the guest host of Monday's (2/3) Halftime (that was Frank Holland), but Sully nevertheless turned up halfway through the program and made a good Beatles joke about tariffs on energy.

Sully also observed, "If we're talking about tariffs, I think we can all agree, that like a bad movie, what matters is how long it lasts." (This review was posted overnight Monday-Tuesday, hours after tariffs on Canada were "paused," which was hours after the Halftime Report aired.)

Ooooohhhhh ... that's an interesting category ... bad movies.

(We shouldn't do this ... but if we had to nominate a "bad movie of the year" for 2024 that is not a totally obscure piece of junk but well-known movie with decent aspirations ... we'd have to offer "Babygirl" ... just. Did. Not. Get. It. ... Oh well ...)

Joe Terranova said that going into the JOET rebalance, it had 0% energy exposure.

Joe said gold is up 7% year to date.

The JOET bought GOOGL.

Steve Weiss made UNH his Final Trade and predicted it "goes past the old highs" (we think that's around 630); he said Jim wanted to make it his Final Trade also.

On Fast Money, guest Jens Nordvig correctly noted, "We get a new headline literally every hour." Grandpa Guy Adami said the market's trading at "excessive valuations." Karen Finerman noted the VIX went to 20 on Monday, and "If we were in an all-out trade war, 20 would not be the number where we were. So I think there was a great deal of skepticism going into the day." For whatever reason, confetti fell on Mel.

The Fast Money crew took up the remarkable run of PLTR. This page will freely admit we missed that one and in fact tired of hearing about it so often on the Halftime Report in 2022-23-24. Those that were constantly talking about it were absolutely right.

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