CNBCfix - Fast Money Review

[CNBCfix Fast Money Review Archive — June 2017]
[Friday, June 30, 2017]

Erin Browne calls Tom Lee’s
long trade a short

Tom Lee on Friday's Halftime spoke about the "CRAP" trade said investors have rightly been "pretty skeptical" of the telecom space.

But he thinks "telecom credits have held up really well," suggesting a bull case. He called the disparity with utility credit/stocks "sort of the setup here."

Whatever the top-line growth, "The companies can solve this, the cheapness of their stock by doing a huge buyback," Lee said.

Jim Lebenthal suggested there's a "heckuva lot of top-line pressure on these guys." Lee agreed and suggested consolidation would fix the "structure."

Josh Brown said it's hard for him to see real momentum in telecoms. Erin Browne bluntly called telecom a "source of funds" and looks at the sector as a "short opportunity."

Nike already was Amazon’s
most-purchased brand

NKE was the talk of Friday's Halftime, although this time at least there was a reason.

Jim Lebenthal has frequently mentioned wanting to fill the 2nd half of his NKE position under 50.

"I bought a little bit more," said Jim, who said he really wanted to "load up the boat" on the stock but wasn't going to chase.

"I've got a lot of dry powder left to go in this name," Jim assured.

Nobody was getting euphoric on the name. Josh Brown said the last 2 times NKE had a big quarter spike, "it kinda petered out around 59, 60." He added, "I don't know that I'd be buying it here."

Jay Sole of Morgan Stanley said "we continue to see sales trends decelerate" for Nike in North America.

Sole's most interesting comment was that, despite the Amazon hype, "Nike's already very big on Amazon. Nike is the, the most purchased brand on Amazon of any brand."

Erin Browne said she doesn't want to be in consumer discretionary right now.

Jon Najarian said that a day ago, people were "aggressively selling puts in Nike." He added, "I was short puts, long stock, short calls at the 55 strike, so I had to cover that today Mel."

Jim plans to buy TSCO next week

Jonathan Krinsky on Friday's Halftime predicted "a bit of a rotation out of growth into value."

Jim Lebenthal predicted the recent rotation will continue, with a "margin of safety in the valuation and yields."

Jim suggested TSCO for its "tremendous growth" opportunities. "I think next week I'll be in this name," Jim said.

Jon Najarian said he thinks DHI has upside.

Doc said someone who profited in LULU calls bought August 55s.

Doc said CBI made a 50% move in 3 days.

Josh Brown affirmed SCHW appears to be on the verge of a "major breakout." The only thing is, he keeps saying that, and we keep wondering, what's the growth in online (admittedly redundant) stock trading?

Stocks fail to celebrate
Judge’s ‘FANG Week’

Guest host Missy Lee only briefly took up the week's purported Halftime topic, FANG, and its disappointing week on Friday.

Erin Browne said she'd "probably be a buyer" if FANG is down another 5%.

Jon Najarian likes NFLX and AAPL.

Adding fuel to the notion that the Halftime Report could be/should be only a weekly program, Jim Lebenthal again said he's been "pretty specific" that FANG stocks actually have different PEG ratios.

Jim said this is a "good opportunity" to buy GOOGL.

Nobody on the panel owns TSLA; Josh Brown said "civilians" shouldn't be in the name.

Doc buys NVO calls

Jim Lebenthal on Friday's Halftime Report said the market thinks Coach "is gonna outperform on a fashion basis."

Josh Brown said MU found buyers at the 50-day.

Jon Najarian said the steel names are making "another slower grind to the upside" than the post-election spike.

Josh Brown said he's in KSU; "above 105, there are no sellers."

Erin Browne said she likes industrials, energy and banks and suggested a "barbell" (cliche) approach with tech when there's a selloff.

Browne predicted higher rates and a lower dollar and suggested energy.

Karen Finerman on the 5 p.m. Fast Money said she's staying in banks. (Zzzzzzzzzz)

Josh Brown reaffirmed his call for overseas stocks.

Doc said he bought NVO calls.

[Thursday, June 29, 2017]

O’Leary: Massive buybacks show banks don’t have anything to do

A day ago (hit PgDn), we pointed out how someone on the Halftime Report made, or walked into, the same point this page already made a day earlier.

Imitation is a wonderful form of flattery, so we were smiling when we heard Kevin O'Leary declare on Thursday's Halftime in terms more blunt than what this page used a day ago (PgDn), "These massive stock buybacks from money-center banks is (sic singular) basically telling every investor that they don't have anything better to do with their capital than buy their own stock back."

Exxxxxxxactly. (Despite how Karen Finerman portrayed it Wednesday.)

"I'm sorry, that sucks," O'Leary said.

Jon Najarian bought more JPM calls Thursday even though he said a day earlier he plays the XLF because "I've been burned trying to pick individual stocks in this space."

Doc: 2% FANG haircut possible

Kari Firestone on Thursday's Halftime Report curiously said that "part of the reason the market keeps going higher [is] because we haven't been able to substitute stocks for bonds."

Oftentimes Sometimes we have our own mental bungles here. But we have a hard time figuring out how the "market" (presumably stocks) is going higher because people are still buying bonds instead.

Jon Najarian said, "I think people just decided to take a little off at the end of the quarter" and that the U.S. market experienced some spillover from Europe.

Doc said he wouldn't be surprised if the FANG stocks get a "haircut" of about 2%.

Josh Brown said we're "seeing money rotating to some of the cheaper areas (snicker) of the market, and it's a good thing."

Kevin O'Leary said tech isn't going to correct, then he said it does correct every once in a while, but those are buying opportunities.

Mike Farr said the "key" is that the consumer has "cheap money."

Josh Brown got a round of applause (rare on the program) for an Investopedia honor.

Ackman presumably has found more worthwhile things to do than spend his time focusing on VRX going to 17

Guest host Brian Sullivan asked Thursday's Halftime panel about TTWO and ATVI, stocks that none of the panelists care about in the slightest because the panelists don't play video games.

Kari Firestone said, "If Activision was down 25%, I think we'd all find a reason to buy it." We doubt that.

Kari Firestone pounded the table for STZ, an undeniably spectacular stock of the last several years.

Jon Najarian said there was unusual activity 3 days ago in FOXA.

Josh Brown said EBAY is "just fine."

Kevin O'Leary said every player in the APRN space is losing money but that consolidation would help.

"Beer is a, is a zero-growth story around the world," O'Leary said, adding BUD is the best way to play it because of cost-cutting.

Kari Firestone: Government’s RAD position gives AMZN advantage

Kari Firestone made a bold statement on Thursday's Halftime, saying of RAD, "Oh, gosh. This is really tough for these guys. The government isn't helping them; they're helping Amazon. It's another case where the digital Internet players get the advantage, and these guys have a long way down to go still."

(And we thought we might go an entire program without a mention of "Amazon.") (We did actually go a whole program without NKE.)

Mike Farr will continue to hold GOOGL.

Sully called the SPLS deal a "head-scratcher." Jon Najarian said it puts "a lot of pressure on ODP."

Gene Todd said he thinks technology has a lot more room to run. "Most of the run is based on corporate earnings," rather than government potential (snicker), Todd said.

Kevin O'Leary took the opportunity to tout ETFs.

Doc said someone bought 13,000 July 30 calls in NFX (that's correct, NFX not NFLX).

Jeff Kilburg addressed a raging issue in the markets — the price of wheat — and explained there are 3 kinds of wheat with different levels of protein. He said there's a "kind of a double whammy here," but we don't know what the double whammy means. Jim Iuorio predicted higher short-term prices, "5 and a quarter."

Doc likes CHTR. Josh Brown said SCHW is "what a breakout looks like." Kari Firestone touted COST, Mike Farr said LOW, and Kevin O'Leary mentioned one of his ETFs.

[Wednesday, June 28, 2017]

After 5 minutes of conversation, still not really sure what Adam Jonas was talking about

Adam Jonas, who has an overweight on GM, told guest host Melissa Lee on Wednesday's Halftime Report that "the race to autonomous driving Melissa is a race for miles, quantity of miles and quality of miles."

Hmmmm, OK. So there's a "race" to acquire autonomous driving miles … and not just the highest "quantity" of those miles but "quality" of those miles.

Jonas (picture above is not from Wednesday) said Tesla does 5 million miles per day, Uber does 100 million miles per day, and GM cars collectively do 2.5 billion miles per day. (Um, if our reader-comprehension skills aren't too rusty, we'd point out that Uber doesn't actually manufacture automobiles to our knowledge, so part of the Uber total overlaps with GM.)

Jonas curiously said the challenge/opportunity for GM is to "harvest" those miles and "monetize" them.

OK. Any chance that's another way to say GM needs more market share?

How does an automaker "monetize" a mile? Charge you a subscription toll rather than a purchase price?

Jonas went on to categorize into a part called "GM Revolution" (snicker, that's what he actually said) and "GM Evolution" (double snicker, that's what he actually said) and then said it's about how to create "transparency" to get "paid for that."

He said that might involve tough decisions about getting rid of things.

Then he said "it's more creating structures, and, um, currency."

Say what? GM's creating currency now?

Jim Lebenthal praised Jonas for having an "edge to what you're putting out there" but noted Jonas' lower GM estimates for 2018. Jonas admitted, "If they don't do anything, this is not a buy." (Ah. Now we're getting somewhere.)

Pete Najarian said F and GM have been "value traps" and that it's about "execution." Stephen Weiss said he would "probability-weight that," and he'd rather be short those names than long.

Well, it's really as simple as this. People don't give a hoot about GM or Ford or Chrysler building self-driving cars. They only care about Tesla, Google, Apple and maybe Uber or Amazon building self-driving cars.

If AMZN or FB were doing ‘enormous’ buybacks, would that be a reason to buy the stocks?

Karen Finerman, outstanding in blue/white combo on Wednesday's 5 p.m. Fast Money, gushed about the "magnitude" of the "huge" or "enormous" C buyback. "That's really positive," Finerman said.

Prior to the stress test, guest host Melissa Lee reverted on Wednesday to the most tiresome cliche of the Halftime Report, the notion that virtually all the big banks are buys.

Steve Weiss said he owns C, BAC and LUK (Zzzzzzzzz). But, "I'm not adding to them."

Jim Lebenthal cautioned that good news is already built into CCAR. But he likes C and BX.

Jon Najarian said he's been only in the XLF, because "I've been burned trying to pick individual stocks in this space."

Nobody expressed any interest in buying XLE. But Kourtney Gibson said if you're in it for the long term, this is "absolutely" the time to buy, which really doesn't make any sense if you think it's going down in the short term. Pete Najarian said "everybody's trying to buy the bottom" in energy options.

Jim Lebenthal said the performance of gasoline vs. crude makes him believe refiners are cooking, such as MPC and VLO.

Doc had a great shirt & tie combo; Weiss had no reason to knock it.

This page: (Way) ahead
of the news

Guest Michael Lippert on Wednesday's Halftime Report told Kourtney Gibson, "I'm asked all the time now about, you know, quote-unquote whether we're in a bubble today like we were, you know, in 2000. But technology is SO different today."

This page called out that kind of nonsense (not Lippert's answer, but the question he gets, which cements the conclusion most people don't have a clue) a day ago (just PgDn).

Wednesday was Kourtney Gibson's day to say, "Absolutely, if Amazon drops, I'm in it all day long."

Steve Weiss mocked the Trump-Washington Post controversy, stating, "I'm sure Jeff Bezos approves every article, every byline and every picture" in the Washington Post.

Lippert declared the Trump-WaPost controversy "just noise."

Jim Lebenthal questioned if "legislative and judicial bodies" might find a "monopolistic issue" with Amazon. Lippert shrugged that it didn't change Microsoft; that company stalled because "they didn't understand how the Internet and mobile was changing," not because of DOJ fines, and he doesn't think government overhang will have "any effect" on these companies.

We're hard-pressed to identify "monopolistic" behavior by Amazon; nothing's stopping anyone from creating the same thing.

Pete Najarian told Lippert he's been calling the acronym FANGMAN. Lippert said BABA is like "the Amazon and Google of China." (Funny how nobody was really saying that $80 ago in the share price when the story was all about opaque accounting and faked goods.)

Jim touts MSG, suggests it’s bound to go private

Anthony Grisanti on Wednesday's Halftime Report said it's "hard to explain," but the reason gasoline is cheaper in June than January (this year and last year) is because of fracking.

Jim Iuorio predicted RBOB has broken the short-term downtrend and heads toward 152/153.

In the most interestingly effusive call of the show, Jim Lebenthal said MSG is "severely undervalued" and doesn't need the Knicks to move the stock. "I love it at this price," Jim said.

Jon Najarian said he's long GIS calls, "knock on wood." But, "I'm out of it here though" because it was $2 higher in premarket and not so high during the day.

Steve Weiss said KBH and PHM are doing well, but he's missed that trade.

Pete Najarian said WDC could be worth $120.

Kourtney Gibson said Loop Capital has had a buy on V and MA "for a while at this point" (sic redundant).

Jim Lebenthal said he doesn't worry about the FDX news. Weiss said "if it drops a lot, you buy it for a trade." Later, Jim even scoffed that the news would affect the stock at all; no one's fooled.

Jon Najarian said he's in CELG and BMY. Weiss likes XBI but not the PBMs.

Doc said August 65 calls in XPO were being bought and 70 XPO calls were being sold.

Pete said July 24 calls were the 8th time this month that X calls experienced unusual activity. But Pete suggested those buyers are "trading" rather than "investing." (Too bad, Weiss bailed when he thought it was oversold, presumably with a 20 handle.)

Doc said the notion that the delayed health care vote sank Monday's stock market was "complete crap."

Weiss touted AKAM, stating it's been "left for dead." Kourtney Gibson said the Loop analyst upgraded DLTR. Doc mentioned CBI and Pete said the XLF.

[Tuesday, June 27, 2017]

Really. It’s not 1999.

Pete Najarian on Tuesday's Halftime Report issued one of the show's multitude of cliches, stressing that this isn't like 1999; "it's not even close."

Some cliches are understandable. That one's idiotic. There's never going to be a "1999" market again … because it already happened.

Nobody's ever going to pay $5,000 for a tulip again. Nobody's ever again going to buy a bundle of mortgages rated AAA in which people are lent $500,000 and put no money down and lie about their income.

And nobody's ever again going to pay a 175 P.E. for the Nasdaq.

Judge promised FANG Week on Monday, hardly mentioned it on Tuesday

In a program chock-full of almost every cliche under the sun, Judge on Tuesday's Halftime actually refreshingly did something he rarely does — correct someone's on-air mistake.

Pete Najarian said someone bought 20,000 July 36 calls in AA. Judge noted the screen said July 37. Pete clarified it's actually 36.

Meanwhile, Pete called the financials a "2nd-half story" (cliche), even though that was the case last year.

Pete suggested picking a bottom in energy might not work (cliche).

Judge said "it's clear to me that people expect rates to go up" (cliche).

Jon Najarian agrees with the survey of 23 "of the Street's top strategists" that found 86% consensus that stocks will be higher by year-end.

According to CNBC's on-screen disclosures, Doc is both long SNAP calls and short SNAP calls. (This writer is long SNAP.)

Stephanie Link said you can "barbell" (cliche) technology as well as growth vs. value.

Sarat Sethi talked to a producer while Judge was trying to announce the SunTrust 110 call on CRM. Sarat would buy on a pullback. Stephanie Link apparently thinks it should be owned but said not to "chase" it now (which are basically contradictory statements). Pete said he's waiting for a "catalyst" in the stock. Doc said it has "at least 110" in it.

Josh Spencer of T. Rowe Price said of CRM, "They've just put up the numbers for so long," adding it's the biggest position in his fund. Spencer also touted BABA, but Judge said he's "very surprised, to be honest" that FB isn't on Spencer's list of largest holdings. Spencer said he hasn't owned it for the past couple of years, and it's just one he missed.

Spencer said NVDA is maybe a bit ahead of itself but touted WDAY. He thinks NFLX is "still very attractive."

Pete said if Congress could "focus" on tax reform more and get away from health care, then tax reform might happen (cliche).

Link said expectations for health care reform are "completely nonexistent" (cliche).

And we also got the obligatory, once-a-show-where-Stephanie's-present quota of "Omigod Stephanie was SO SMART to buy Amazon!!!!!!" (Because she hasn't bought any losers for TIAA).

Sarat Sethi said he owns Nestle and praised management; he said if Loeb can work with them, great, but he doesn't want a "clash."

Doc said people aggressively sold TMUS July 59 puts. He called it a "Buffett"-like trade. Pete Najarian said volatility's really low right now (cliche).

Scott Nations said Q1 GDP is the "only hope" for dollar bulls. Brian Stutland said he's looking for a bounce of a couple percent, but year-end, maybe even 90.

Doc's final trade was KO. Pete said XLF (cliche), Steph Link said SWK and Sarat Sethi said LOW.

[Monday, June 26, 2017]

Pete credits Zuck for beating SNAP … into a $20 billion company

Judge on Monday promised this will be "FANG (sic just one 'A') Week" on the Halftime Report. (As opposed to all the other weeks.)

Pete Najarian wondered if it's FANG or FANGMAN.

Stephen Weiss curiously hailed Mark Zuckerberg as "one of those unique individuals" such as Steve Jobs who's creating "an entire new asset class." (Really. Liking a photo is apparently a new asset class.)

Then Pete Najarian chimed in with a very strange assessment: "Look at what he has done to SNAP. Since the day he tried to buy them for $3 billion, and they gave him the Heisman, look at what he's done. He went after them, he's aggressive, and he's beaten them the entire way along as he's gone through this (sic grammar)."

OK. So he tried to buy at $3 billion. Now it's worth $20 billion. Really beat them good. (This writer is long SNAP.)

"Facebook has plenty of room to still grow," Pete said.

Jim Lebenthal said at 1.28, FB has "a very low PEG ratio." (In other words, plow into the shares whole hog right now. Oops, wait a minute — no one actually said that.)

Tony Dwyer admitted he's been "market neutral" on the FANGs.

Judge characterized Dwyer as "looking for a pullback." Dwyer said, "No, I got about a month, month and a half ago, I actually, I, I upgraded our view of the market." (He later clarified "it was actually April 27th.")

Lew Piantedosi of Eaton Vance said he views "all 3 of those stocks" (sic not clear which 3) as "today's blue chips." He said he owns a little AAPL; "it's hard to really get your arms around what- where- you know, what their growth rate truly is. … At the end of every cycle, there's a cliff."

Piantedosi said the new iPhone is being priced "at a huge premium to their competitors."

Tony Dwyer sorta says inverted yield curve should be feared and sorta says it shouldn’t

Employing rather stark terminology, Tony Dwyer said there's one thing he'd like viewers of Monday's Halftime to know.

Dwyer said at the top of the show you "never, ever" (it was actually stronger than that) get negative in this kind of market without an inverted yield curve.

But actually, it's deeper than that. Dwyer said people on TV talking about a flattening yield curve being a negative was "making me want to gouge my eyes out," rather, "the opposite is true."

Jim Lebenthal said "let's not get too scared here," noting the inverted yield curve has predicted "15 of the last 10 recessions." Dwyer said "I love Jim," but there's only one time (1966) the curve inverted and it didn't lead to a recession since 1954.

Dwyer said of his S&P-up-300 by year-end 2018, "I think that's way too conservative." Judge demanded the "right number." Dwyer said, "It depends on what the earnings are."

Perhaps Nestle can start working on self-driving cars

It's apparently FANG Week on the Halftime Report. But barely 11 minutes into Monday's show, Judge had moved on to Third Point's Nestle position.

Judge said he's told by sources that Loeb views European valuations as "more attractive."

Leslie Picker, wowing Englewood Cliffs with new hairstyle, said a lot of Loeb's ideas apparently are part of what the Nestle CEO is thinking anyway.

Picker said it's not like Loeb owns 50%, but "if the proposals are solid enough," then "it should be easy to get other activist investors- or other investors on board."

Steve Weiss started to stress that it's not a U.S. company; Judge butted in to say he had already reported that. Weiss said there's been "no results" from the Sony campaign.

Pete says COST fell too far but actually not enough

Pete Najarian on Monday's Halftime mentioned that options buyers somehow … somehow … are actually expecting a stock to FALL.

In this case, Pete said, it's someone buying July 75.5 puts in LOW.

But Jim Lebenthal said there won't be any housing data for 3 weeks, and no earnings for 3 weeks, so now LOW is in a quiet phase where "the trend is your friend."

Pete grumbled that Goldman Sachs has had a sell on AMD "forever" and that Goldman even had a sell on the name under $2 and that he follows analysts who succeed such as Katy Huberty and Mark Mahaney (except when Mark likes SNAP, which Pete thinks is going to single digits). Stephen Weiss said AMD has "never been a quality company" and said there are "easier ways to make money."

Tony Dwyer told Judge the most attractive sector is banks (snicker).

Kari Firestone touted MTSI as the "one-stop shop for data center chips." (Guessing that probably involves self-driving cars.) (Wonder if Pete thinks it's done its part to wipe out SNAP.)

Stephen Weiss agreed with Telsey's upgrade of PLCE.

Jim Lebenthal said CAR made a "really good move" to make an agreement with GOOGL on … yep … Self. Driving. Cars.

Pete said COST has fallen too much based on the Amazon-WFM news, but he thinks it's still a bit pricey and would be better on a pullback, if that all makes sense.

Pete said it's a "very difficult time" for DRI.

Pete's final trade was the financials (Zzzzzz). Jim said DVA continues down. Weiss likes XBI.

[Friday, June 23, 2017]

Jim crushes one
out of the park

This page has groaned recently at Jim Lebenthal's unending GM/QCOM/JCP/NKE calls on the Halftime Report.

But let's give major credit where it's due.

June 6, Jim touted WGO on the back of Thor's earnings. WGO closed that day at 28.50; it's solidly over 34 now — a gargantuan call and instant contender for Trade of the Year.

Judge actually thanks Tom Lee for skipping part of a meeting

Friday's Halftime opened the way Grandpa Judge always likes — someone suggesting the market's about to flop.

But even Judge had trouble making sense of "CRAP"-trade impresario Tom Lee's split decision … kinda claiming the whole market's under pressure but a bunch of sectors (including FAANG) look good.

Lee said, "Well, I think part of it has to do with a lot of folks recently talking about how low inflation is good for stocks because it's helping the multiple." But he said labor costs pose a threat to margins.

The S&P is at 2,438. Judge noted Lee has "the lowest S&P target on the Street," 2,275.

"I think it may be too low," Lee admitted.

Really.

Then Judge noted that Lee recommends FAANG, materials, technology, industrials, financials and energy.

"I just don't get it," Judge said, suggesting that to go higher, financials would probably need a higher yield curve that Lee doesn't see, and if FAANG rises, how does the overall market not go up.

Lee said FAANG is actually "less than 5% of total market cap" and said he's looking at "select stocks" within the sectors he likes and said that in the whole market, "the median P.E. is now 19.4."

Lee contended there's a "general problem with 50% of the market."

Trying to offer a cogent point to this dubious conversation, Jim Lebenthal said "we've been waiting for wage pressure to pick up for years, and it hasn't."

Somehow, Judge sneered, "Let's just stick to the, to the point we're discussing though."

"I thought it was the point we were discussing," Jim rightly said.

"I don't wanna get into a deep economic weeds question, I mean, answer. Or discussion," Judge said. "Is the market overvalued or not?"

"It's not," Jim said, though Lee "makes a very good point about the median P.E. being 19."

Rob Sechan somehow agrees with Lee's "barbell" approach.

As Lee exited, Judge actually said, "Tom, I know you jumped out of a meeting, um, to jump on with us, and I sincerely appreciate that," but if that's the case, Lee should be thanking Judge; "Scott, many thanks for giving me an excuse to sit that one out."

Jim gaining fund flows

Josh Brown on Friday's Halftime contended that Wall Street pros aren't getting euphoric about stocks because they're scared of losing their jobs to quants; "If you can't get the pros excited, it's tough to get euphoria amongst the amateur."

Jim Lebenthal explained that "all of our careers" are "enhanced" by rising markets.

"I'm actually getting fund flows because I'm doing well and markets are going up," Jim said (and we'll say that if he makes a few more calls like WGO, the cash will be raining in).

Kate Moore said there's not a growth stock bubble; "the earnings are coming through."

Moore said earnings could get upward revisions if there's actually "some sort of bipartisan agreement" (snicker).

Rob Sechan said the Trump agenda "is in slight jeopardy."

Josh Brown said that since Dec. 9, "the Russell 2000 has delivered exactly zero. But now that's starting to change."

Pete Najarian hailed the low VIX as a great opportunity to protect portfolios. Pete cautioned viewers not to write off a stock just because it's gone up recently; he touted WDC.

Judge called the Citi note suggesting a growth bubble "almost Greenspan-esque."

No one mentions Chanos
in CAT discussion

Jim Lebenthal on Friday's Halftime agreed with the Deutsche Bank downgrade of CAT.

But Pete Najarian pointed to the Goldman Sachs analyst who made it a conviction buy in April. Pete said it's a "smart" downgrade but he's not sure about lowering the price target.

Josh Brown said if you want to be long CAT, put a stop at 97/98, where the gap comes from. Rob Sechan said to own it, you have to have a positive view on a slew of infrastructure angles.

Pete Najarian said June 21.50 calls in MT expiring next week were being bought.

Josh Brown said X looks like it wants to make a "stand" at 20.

Doc bungle: Said just last week that back to school is ‘like Christmas’ for BBBY while touting July 38 calls

Pete Najarian on Friday's Halftime said BBBY is "getting Amazoned" and admitted the call buyers (that would be his brother last week who said he'd "probably" be in the July 38s for 2 weeks) "got it wrong, but at least the risk/reward's not quite as bad."

"At least the risk/reward's not quite as bad." Not quite as bad … as what?

Jim Lebenthal said "honestly" he's surprised FINL is up as much as it is; "I wouldn't own it."

Judge asked why FINL didn't get the FL treatment recently. Jim said expectations were sooo low. (This writer is long FL, partly because gorrrjus Karen Finerman pounded the table for it 10 bucks ago because it was then trading in "integers.")

Kate Moore likes specific health-care names over the ETFs.

Rob Sechan said Argentina's ability to issue 100-year debt shows the "epic demand" for yield.

Josh Brown questioned the short interest in RH and said the stock "probably" goes even higher.

Jim Lebenthal mentioned his "half position" (sigh) in NKE but revealed, "I'm not gonna be a hero in front of this quarter. … If I get a drop after the earnings report, I'm gonna be in with both feet."

Josh said 49, 50 has been "pretty substantial support" in NKE, but if it breaks that on a bad report, watch out.

Kate Moore is "still excited about the banks" (snicker). Rob Sechan likes XLK and IBB into the end of the quarter. Jim said he's thinking about getting back into BA, which he famously talked about trimming a while back.

Jim said JCP's exit from the S&P 500 is merely a "technical issue" and that the Amazonization "is already in there."

Josh Brown bought more SCHW.

Judge congratulated Jim for Jim's firm's inclusion in the FT list.

[Thursday, June 22, 2017]

Judge claims Immelt’s move was ‘surprising’

In CNBC's latest emperor-has-no-clothes moment, on Thursday's Halftime Report, according to Eamon Javers, Donald Trump actually congratulated Jeff Immelt for a "fantastic career."

This embarrassment made possible by media members who somehow don't have the brass to just say "he's a nice guy but sucks as a CEO"; seriously reporting that the president deems this a "fantastic career" is like titling the 1930s a "spectacular decade."

Judge actually said that Immelt made a "sudden and surprising announcement" to step down even though a certain rival scooped it months ago.

Judge said he's "hearing from sources" that Trian is optimistic about Flannery. (Wonder who from Trian is leaking such sensitive information to the news media.)

Josh Brown said the "pace of change" (that would be slow) at GE isn't for everyone; that's why he's out of the stock. Jon Najarian said GE September 31 calls were popular.

Regulatory-lite world: Surprised Doc didn’t call for an SEC investigation of ORCL call-buying

Joe Terranova on Thursday's Halftime said it appears "onerous pricing restrictions" are not going to be placed on biotech.

Jim Lebenthal said hospitals' gains suggest "they think the insurance mandates are gonna stay in place."

Jon Najarian cautioned there have to be exchanges, or "this thing's dead."

Meanwhile, Toni Sacconaghi said his AAPL note was a "bit more broad" than Judge indicated. Sacconaghi is "very constructive" on the stock and tech sector.

Undoubtedly making Joe and Jim happy, Sacconaghi suggested trimming expensive growth stocks and adding inexpensive value stocks.

Jim Lebenthal doesn't know why the Halftime gang doesn't talk about ORCL as often as it does MSFT.

Doc said someone bought 10,000 ORCL calls just a half-hour before earnings. (Must've been a coincidence.) Josh Brown said ORCL might finally eclipse its 2000 high.

Josh Brown unsuccessfully tried to talk Kevin O'Leary out of the VXX.

Scott Nations said "the bulls have thrown in the towel" in crude, which generally means a bottom, albeit a short-term one and a "great selling opportunity." Jeff Kilburg said there are "way too many bears" in oil.

Nations has written a book, on stock market crashes.

Judge congratulated Josh Brown for Barry's firm making the FT advisor list.

Doc thinks airlines go higher, though he wasn't exactly pounding the table.

Joe halfheartedly suggested CXO. Josh endorsed KSU. Jim likes PFE. Doc touted BX.

[Wednesday, June 21, 2017]

Judge has ‘a problem’ with Jim’s JCP recommendation

Stephen Weiss on Wednesday's Halftime said he buys things off the Nike website and that you can return shoes after wearing them for 6 months, maybe the show's most helpful consumer hint in months.

Weiss said Amazon should be careful not to "disenfranchise" other names by creating alliances. Josh Brown said Nike's product "looks like garbage" on Amazon because there are "unauthorized resellers" and "stale product."

Judge hectored Jim Lebenthal over Jim's tiresome JCP argument, wondering why the shares are down 13% this week. "I have a problem, uh, frankly, with continuing to tell people to buy this stock, that it's this great stock, undiscovered by the market," Judge stated.

Jim said it's the "same conversation" they had 5 weeks ago, and the stock's about the same price.

"I'd rather buy this at 5, OK, then own it down to zero," said Weiss. Hard to argue with that.

Speaking of rehashed, uninteresting themes, Herb Greenberg, who hasn't been on the show in ages, said frequent transparency target BABA is "dangerous" short or long. Herb carped about comments from Joe Tsai and grumbled that Tsai won't meet with him personally even though he supposedly lives near Herb.

Josh Brown said he doesn't get excited about TWTR moves; "wake me up over 20."

Jon Najarian said October 28 calls in SGMS were popular.

Jim Lebenthal touted WGO. Weiss likes AKAM.

Anthony Grisanti said "it's not looking good for oil right now." Brian Stutland cautioned about "credit issues" with shale producers if crude reaches a 3 handle. Doc, who in recent weeks/months has often mentioned call-buying in oil names, told Judge he's happy that he's finally "just washed my hands of all of this crap." Jim said the time to buy is when rig counts roll over.

Weiss: Value managers creeping into popular names to chase returns

Judge electrified Wednesday's Halftime with a … Zzzzzzzzzz … renewed discussion on growth vs. value.

Jim Lebenthal said ALXN is at the top of his biotech list for its "very attractive valuation."

"The last 3 weeks, value has definitely outperformed growth," Jim asserted.

"3 weeks doesn't make a trend on anything," Judge said.

"You said that after 3 days; now it's 3 weeks," Jim said.

Steve Weiss said Jim wouldn't have ever considered ALXN a "value stock" 3 years ago. Weiss contended the multiple is still "ridiculously expensive."

Jim said the stock is down from 200 to 120, but Weiss said that means nothing in terms of valuation. Weiss said his point is there's "a lot of creep going on" from value managers finding justification to start buying what's working.

Judge called Stephanie Link "the ultimate value investor."

Dubravko Lakos said he favors growth over value, citing in part the flow of money to passive investing.

Lakos called the recent high-growth selloff "mechanical."

Judge sounded aghast that Jim thinks of growth a "crowded" trade.

Josh Brown said there's "no serious resistance" in IBB until 320.

Jon Najarian said the European Hematology conference is getting under way, and it's a big deal.

Weiss said Scott Gottlieb is biotech-friendly and will "cut through the red tape." But he suggested owning a "basket" of names rather than single biotech stocks.

Josh said he's long AMGN, which he said is at the same price as December 2014, and he even suggested "200s" are possible.

[Tuesday, June 20, 2017]

World’s great mysteries: D.B. Cooper ... Judge Crater ... whether TIAA CREF owns more, or less, than 10,000 ALXN shares ...

Judge's Halftime Report put together a low-key show punctuated by the appearance of just one guest.

Joe Terranova said oil going lower will present a problem for names such as NVDA.

But Pete Najarian said the market focus hasn't been on oil.

Steph Link said the GDP rate is "not recession," and earnings should be "pretty good."

David Rosenberg, the lone guest, insisted the economy is barely producing 1-1½% growth, not 2-2½%.

Judge protested that Charles Evans and Lloyd Blankfein see good "fundamentals" in the economy. Rosenberg questioned how "good" it is, using the term "good" probably a dozen times.

Assessing Rosenberg's performance, Pete Najarian said "it feels to me like he's in a bit of denial because he's in terms of David's in denial in terms of (sic grammar) the earnings themselves. … How about housing today."

Joe said in the mall REIT space, "You really are picking a bottom at this point." Joe suggested ESS, AVB and EQR as better REIT names.

Pete said 25% of SPG's leasable space is allocated to M, JCP and SHLD. "That alone should make you scared," Pete said.

Jon Najarian said BBBY July 38 calls were being aggressively bought. Back to school "is like Christmas for these guys," Doc said.

Pete said there was "absolutely massive" buying in MU August 37 calls. He said ORCL 43 puts were being bought merely as protection. Steph Link said she took a "starter position" in ORCL and would buy more on weakness.

Doc said there were negative analyst calls pinching CMG.

Pete said DAL and UAL were ranked No. 1 and No. 2 airline stocks by Atlantic Equities.

Joe said "cook to order" is going to be "incredibly positive" for MCD.

Steph Link couldn't say if she owns more than 10,000 ALXN shares. But, "I do think this guy kinda gets it," she said of the CEO.

Joe Terranova at one point predicted volatility will increase and asserted, "Oil's not staying at 43 for very long."

Anthony Grisanti predicted a crude bottom right around where it's trading. Jim Iuorio predicted "low 42s before it bounces."

Pete's "not too happy" about DIS reaching a 2017 low, but he's selling upside calls. Joe, who seemed flummoxed that DIS isn't at 120, said, "I've been waiting to buy it, I have not bought it, but, but it can't just be specific to ESPN."

Doc mentioned the most important, not-priced-in element to the entire stock market, the "Star Wars" movie.

Joe said tax reform is the "self-preservation" legislation Republicans need. (Actually, it seems more likely there's nothing to do … which is why nothing is happening.) Joe said he thinks tax reform is actually "priced out" of the market now.

Doc bought more S. Pete touted GILD, MRK and PFE. Steph Link endorsed AXP. Joe said to "get yourself exposure" in health care.

[Monday, June 19, 2017]

But what happens after Marcato gets BWLD to unleash all those franchise locations?

Josh Brown on Monday's Halftime said GE got an "ostensibly bullish write-up in Barron's … but it was like every compliment was a backhanded compliment."

Brown said he doesn't want to "waste time" in the stock but sees promise in XLI names.

Pete Najarian though said he bought GE on the CEO news; "it's not gonna be the 16-year way that it's been."

Joe Terranova said he bought more PKI. Pete said there's upside in steel, though he's not sure the space has bottomed.

Stephen Weiss said he likes BIIB and the whole big-cap biotech.

Weiss said joining the VRX board is a "great bet" for Paulson.

Josh Brown said QQQ buyers on the chart have come in "exactly where they're supposed to."

Joe Terranova said in a low-vol environment, there are funds that "systemically trade" ETFs such as QQQ.

Weiss referred to Pete Najarian as "Tony Robbins, Joel Osteen here who loves everything."

Josh Brown trumpeted MCD as best of the restaurant stocks and called BWLD "the worst."

Joe touted DPZ and DNKN but scowled at EAT: "I wouldn't touch Brinker." Weiss said DPZ has the best technology but is too expensive (presumably the stock, not the pizza).

Pete said BAC calls were popular. Weiss' final trade was FB. Erin Browne likes KRE. Joe Terranova mentioned NOC. Josh touted JPM.

On the 5 p.m. Fast Money, Karen Finerman said the fundamentals in GOOGL haven't changed, so, "I'm just gonna ride it out. And that has been the right thing to do, every time, for the last I don't know how many years."

Pete buys KR

Pete Najarian on Monday's Halftime said he doesn't agree with the analyst call that the COST story is stale.

Josh Brown would buy COST weakness.

Joe Terranova bought COST in April. He has held onto the name; he said he'll wait for stabilization, then, "I am gonna go in and I'm gonna buy more."

Steve Weiss said AMZN will use WFM as a … can you guess it? … have you heard anyone on CNBC bring this up in the last 4 days? … "distribution center."

But Weiss is down on grocers. "Just avoid the space," he said.

Pete Najarian disagreed, saying he bought "Krogers" (sic plural) on Friday. (He said "Krogers" 3 or 4 more times on the 5 p.m. Fast Money.)

The KR trade is likely a good call; the grocery market is totally fragmented and there should be opportunity for a lot of names — over time — that aren't WFM (in fact many aren't publicly traded).

Pete said someone scooped up SFM December 25 calls and sold Decmeber 17½ puts.

Judge sorta tries to give SNAP skeptics on panel a facial

Judge on Monday's Halftime Report reverted to his new favorite stock to talk about (generally in a skeptical way), SNAP. (This writer is long SNAP.)

"I love this story just because there was so many naysayers, 'They can't do this, they won't do that, they can't compete with- with them. OK," Judge said, mentioning the Time Warner deal as if it were a big deal.

Josh Brown said he doesn't think anyone was a "naysayer" about SNAP's "ability to get big brands to commit to the platform." Then he claimed, "I'm rooting for SNAP, I don't wanna see them not succeed … but can you tell me what the NFL deal did for Twitter."

Here's the thing we don't get. From the moment this IPO occurred, we've been hearing how Facebook is immediately going to wipe out this company. But according to this article, Facebook tried to buy SNAP for $3 billion 4 years ago … so why didn't Facebook wipe it out anytime in the last 4 years before it reached $21 billion valuation?

Whatever. The reason to talk about this stock, up or down, is because it moves, it obviously is fast money (gained or lost) in either direction. Pete Najarian this time wasn't heard to mention "single digits."

Weiss thinks a portfolio manager found something cheaper than AMZN

Steve Weiss unfortunately struggled mightily on Monday's Halftime to make a quality point about AMZN.

Weiss initially said Josh Spencer, the portfolio manager selling AMZN, has presumably found something "cheaper." (Gee, ya think it's possible to find a cheaper P.E. ratio than that of AMZN?)

Both Weiss and Josh Brown contended that making huge money on AMZN from here seems difficult; Weiss tried to claim that getting a double in it from here will be unlikely and that DATA is a better option.

But who — other than NVDA owners — expects an immediate double in anything. If AMZN is $1,300 by year-end (we have no idea if that will be the case), that will be tough for DATA to beat.

Pete Najarian referred to FAANGMAN, apparently the last 3 letters for MSFT, BABA and (everyone's favorite/changing the world right at this moment) NVDA.

Joe Terranova said that if you want to buy selectively in your long-term portfolio now, he's "fine with that."

Joe credited Pete for touting MSFT 5 years ago. Joe said he recently has "been aggressively going after Microsoft."

Josh Brown said 300 has been longtime resistance for the IBB and said a breakout would be "massive."

[Friday, June 16, 2017]

Sounds like even Karen is drinking the AMZN Kool-aid

(Sigh.)

If you look at the AMZN stock chart from about 2004 to 2009, you'll see more than a few hiccups.

The stock has always had its defenders. But during those hiccups … honestly, we've probably got some of these on tape … the refrain is, "The valuation's so high, it can never even grow into it … it's never going to produce much cash … it's in all these commodity businesses … might even be operating at a loss …"

Then it starts showing movies, and everyone thinks it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. (Just wait'll it starts building self-driving cars.)

Now, it's apparently even greater … because it bought a fading grocer.

Karen Finerman, long a voice of reason on this stock, is now gushing, on Friday's 5 p.m. Fast Money singling out Amazon's "connection to the consumer. They didn't have that connection 17 years ago. They didn't have the pervasiveness in everybody's life that they do now. That's the jewel there."

They didn't have that "connection" 17 years ago? This is the most famous stock of the bubble era.

Karen, who admittedly looked not a day over 27 in chic blue short sleeves, claimed that somehow AMZN can make this industry work. "I think that if anybody can, Amazon can, just because of scale."

She indicated she's staying long WFM, in part on the potential of a higher bid. "Wal-Mart has got to be thinking about this right now … they bought Jet, they're changing the business," Karen said.

As for chance of another bid, "I would say, I don't know, 1 of 4."

She pointed out UNFI got crushed and said she was surprised it wasn't down more on the prospect of Amazon slashing margins. But guest host Sully said Whole Foods will still have to buy goods from somewhere; "they don't have Amazon farms that I know of," Sully said.

Sully tried to claim people have been hailing AMZN for being "asset light." Tim and Karen both said that's hogwash (though they didn't quite use that term).

Guy Adami suggested WMT. "Kroger's close to being irrelevant," spewed Tim Seymour, who typically says a lot about nothing and could use a trim in the back.

Dan Nathan made a tremendous point, noting less than 10% of all U.S. retail sales are online.

As for another WFM bidder, "Nobody else is gonna buy this company other than Amazon," Nathan asserted.

Why shouldn’t NFLX buy WFM? Can’t it squeeze the supplier just as much as anyone else?

Amazon Kool-aid was being served throughout the day on CNBC, including during Friday's Halftime Report.

Josh Brown said the WFM deal is "shocking to everyone" and that Amazon's apparent long-term focus on top line is maybe "a model that other companies are gonna start to adopt successfully."

News flash: Other companies are going to start trying to grow revenues.

Brown who this time didn't have Weiss telling him to tone down the arrogance mocked TGT "killing itself" to reach mid-single-digits earnings growth while being down 28% with a P.E. of 11 and yielding 4%.

Jon Najarian called it a "great deal" and said AMZN gained $15 billion market cap while paying $13 billion, a "brilliant play."

Ross Levinsohn called AMZN's move "stunning" and said the buzz had been about AMZN buying Slack, but now he could see a "run on big acquisitions in, in the media space … are cars off limit?"

Why not?

Jim Lebenthal, offering a welcome voice of reason, said "obviously this is a turn" by AMZN and pointed out other companies' attempts at "automating" the grocery business in the 1990s.

But (sigh) he said if anyone can do it, Amazon can. (So why don't they buy some biotechs and cure cancer.) (Oh. That's not enough "connection to the consumer.")

Also, Ross Levinsohn said AMZN previously has bought "discount" names, so WFM is "outside of what they do."

Jon Najarian also said he bought KR because in the last 30 minutes, because people were buying calls.

Kourtney Gibson predicted we'll see grocery margins "begin to squeeze." Doc started to break down the Aldi arrangement to Josh; unfortunately Judge didn't spend more time on this because we get confused by that too, and it's interesting.

Kourtney Gibson said something we didn't know, that Whole Foods doesn't sell Cheerios. Judge said they do but not the Honey Nut variety.

Then we got more hyperbole. "Could they buy FedEx," Levinsohn asked. Jim mentioned "autonomous cars" (Bingo).

Meanwhile, "The drumbeat of Apple-Tesla will start again," Ross said. "How does the stock react if Elon Musk is running Apple. It goes through the roof, right?"

Judge spends 17 straight minutes commercial-free talking about SNAP, which Pete Najarian and Guy Adami say is going to single digits based on options trading

Judge on Friday's Halftime told Brian White he's gonna be "frank" but wondered why anyone should buy SNAP before the lockup expiration, which, just being honest here, is so unbelievably priced into this stock already. (This writer is long SNAP.)

White correctly said, "They really do start to anticipate the lockup expiration," then offered, "Lockup or no lockup, I wanna own it at this price."

Josh scoffed that White said the company will grow "100%," insisting "definitely not" 100% in user growth or engagement metrics.

White said SNAP has entree to millennials, which is what's "very powerful" about the brand.

Ross Levinsohn said he's still a SNAP bull but was "frankly stunned" at the first quarter miss.

He also suggested he felt lanced like a bull in a bullfight, which means he's probably not the leading contender to be SNAP's Eric Schmidt.

"I think it's a rough quarter," Levinoshn said. But, "I'm in it for the long haul."

However, "If you're in this thing for a short-term trade, I'd probably get out," Levinsohn said, which is obviously a call that it's going below 17, which it hasn't done yet.

"Facebook has set its sights on Snapchat, which means it's worried about it," Levinsohn explained.

Noted technology insider Kourtney Gibson declared, "If you have a dollar as an advertiser … you are not getting a return on that by putting it into Snapchat."

Gibson added, "Give me 2 years, Snapchat's irrelevant."

Jim Cramer showed up and screwed around and talked over questions while Judge was trying to get his attention. Cramer said he always finds this kind of lockup "debilitating." (Really. Seems like it's massively priced in, given that people somehow can't stop talking about it.)

Cramer said his kids "love" Snapchat … but his beef is … he can't get around the corporate governance.

Ross Levinsohn, who was playing both sides of the SNAP debate, pointed out, "People were racing out of Facebook in the first year … given Evan credit. This guy has created something that, that even has Mark Zuckerberg scared."

But Levinsohn said "I hear things coming out of there, a lot of executives leaving, a lot of turnover."

Doc and Kourtney Gibson told Cramer that SNAP is more likely than TWTR to hit 25. Which would only be a 40% return from Friday's price.

Jim: 48-51 is ‘killer buy area’ for NKE

Matthew Boss on Friday's Halftime first crowed about upgrading NKE 4 years ago and claiming it "outperformed the S&P by 40% over that time."

In case you doubt the accuracy of his recent call.

Now, Boss said, the North American marketplace is in "consolidation mode."

"The norm is now that you can get Nike on discount. Under Armour is needing to follow suit," Boss said, calling that a "big change," even though we've seen discounts in sports apparel all the time for decades.

Jim Lebenthal, forever seeking to fill the other half of his NKE position under 50, said Boss' move "is actually helping me" get there. He asked Boss about international. Boss said NKE can't afford a "hiccup" in China.

Boss said FL has "a high degree of mix" with NKE. (This writer is long FL.)

Jon Najarian said "nobody on the desk is happy" about owning NKE.

Kourtney Gibson said she can "stomach" owning NKE "at the end of the day"; it will be fine, it's just a matter of "turbulence."

Jim Lebenthal said he doesn't think "this goes below 48." Jim called 48-51 a "killer buy area."

Josh Brown said it's wrong to focus on the distribution rather than demand for the product.

Sully reveals: ‘I’m extremely smart’

Jeff Kilburg on Friday's Halftime Report said "I think we go higher" in crude. Anthony Grisanti said it won't happen unless gasoline demand picks up.

Jim Lebenthal's final trade was MRK despite the downtrend since ASCO. Kourtney Gibson offered DIS and said Loop Capital has a 117 target. Josh Brown said COST, and Jon Najarian said POT.

On the 5 p.m. Fast Money, guest host Brian Sullivan said, "I'm just having trouble understanding. That was fake self-deprecation; I'm extremely smart."

[Thursday, June 15, 2017]

Weiss to Josh: ‘Tone down the arrogance for just 2 minutes’

It accomplished virtually nothing — except to curiously push the boundaries of panelist sniping on the Halftime Report, which admittedly is entertaining (when it's not cringe-worthy).

Josh Brown on Thursday's Halftime basically endorsed the stock market and said you should be cautious "no more today or no less yesterday."

Steve Weiss pounced, stating, "That's the definition of complacency."

"I've been right for, I don't know, 7 or 8 years, so I guess I'm complacent," Josh said.

"Congratulations. Let me know when you catch up to me," Weiss said.

Judge tried to cut in, stating, "This doesn't need to be a personal-"

Josh insisted "No it apparently does," then questioned why it's "complacent" to "accept" the occasional pullbacks that happen all the time.

Weiss said it's "complacent" to take all these data points "and saying that they can't impact the market."

"Who said that," Brown demanded. "I feel you showed up in the mood to argue, but I didn't say anything like that."

Weiss said he wouldn't "put anything in your mouth," then ordered, "Tone down the arrogance for just 2 minutes."

That's when Judge decided to put the foot down. "Here's what we're not gonna do. OK. We're not gonna have this personal nonsense," Judge said.

Brown and Weiss were arguing about basically nothing, but Weiss ended up wearing the goat horns with this loopy summary: "I think you have to be cautious, more than normal cautiousness."

Wrong. This market is what 1986 was to Mets fans, and even though not every stock is going to go up all the time, you're a chucklehead to stay out of it and guess at phantom crashes.

If Weiss actually reported WHEN the pullback was going to happen, that indeed would be valuable insight. Actually he has no clue about when his "more than normal cautiousness" will pay off if ever.

Unfortunately, Joe Terranova fell into the same trap, noting the market is "continuing a trading event" that started Friday and asserting that if you're overweight growth, "you're paring it back."

Kari Firestone got it right, saying "it's business as usual." Jon Najarian, who had a quiet show, expected "more of a bloodbath" in the FAANGs than what happened.

Judge said it's "astounding" that the market's where it is given all the "news" and "noise."

How much longer until the biotechs start working on self-driving cars?

Stephen Weiss on Thursday's Halftime said he "should be" invested in health care, but he can't tell you why he's not.

Joe Terranova said he's "amazed" by how well biotech has traded over the last 5 days.

Josh Brown said he'd "stay small" in the biotech space.

Kari Firestone touted BMY and AGN. Jon Najarian touted BMY's strength in rheumatoid arthritis, which he called "the next home run" for that name.

Doc once again says an option trade that goes bust is ‘a lot better than being in the stock’

Jon Najarian on Thursday's Halftime Report said August 24 calls in X were popular. He said there was also activity in AKS.

But Steve Weiss said he'd stay away from steel stocks.

Doc said owning KR calls on Thursday, as he is/was, "it's a lot better than being in the stock," a comment that (we've noted many times before) makes no sense.

Bob Iaccino said the dollar is driving gold as long as all the geopolitical concerns stay quiet. Jim Iuorio said gold may reach 1,235, "but not much below."

Joe Terranova said he's "very skeptical" about oil. "I think energy when you look at it specifically is in trouble here," saying he wouldn't be surprised to see a 3-print.

Richard Fisher said the Fed has been "clear as a bell" about its intentions.

Kari Firestone said GOOGL is "expensive by historic standards." Judge said the Canaccord analyst who downgraded it is maintaining the price target, which says something "in and of itself" (sic redundant) (Drink).

Josh Brown called UAA "one of my favorite risk/rewards, um, in the entire market."

Joe Terranova said what's "amazing" to him about MAT is that there aren't activists in the name.

Kari Firestone hung a 120 on V.

Kari Firestone's final trade was CME, citing a pickup in volatility (see, we're told the stock works regardless of volatility but that it really works when volatility rises (snicker)). Weiss said more than normal cautiousness FB. Doc said NFLX.

[Wednesday, June 14, 2017]

Andy Chase expresses
about 16% of his worries

Andy Chase on Wednesday somehow managed an invite to Judge's show despite expressing the opposite of the company line, which goes something like "Maybe it's time to get really scared about the FAANG stocks."

Chase said stocks look good because, "When interest rates go down, it, it inflates asset prices everywhere."

As for corrections, Chase doesn't see it. "There's no place for the cash to go at this point," he said.

Curiously, Chase said he's "1% worried about inflation and too much growth and 14, 15% or something like that about something going wrong in the world."

Also curiously, "I don't like to use the word 'stocks' any more. It's just the damnedest thing; I don't like using it," Chase said.

"I say 'equities,'" Josh Brown said.

Judge asked Chase about the Trump agenda. (Whew — afraid he might've asked Steph about that with Doc on the panel.)

Anyway, "I'm not sure I believe in the Trump agenda," Chase said.

Judge told Chase that tax reform, "in and of itself" (sic redundant) (Drink), could expand the market multiple. Chase acknowledged it's "pretty big" and not factored into prices "at all."

Jon Najarian talked about cash on the sideline or how "afraid" some people are as possible catalysts for further upside.

Struggling to coordinate D.C. interruptions, Judge snapped at Josh Brown for bringing up V and MA after a question about the banks; "You know where I'm going; don't give me the Visa and Mastercard …"

Brown said XLV and XLI were making new highs while he spoke. "This is not a bad scenario for equities," Josh said.

Doc predicted massive M&A "in spades" if repatriation happens.

"I think market's goin' higher," Chase said.

Aw, man, we’re still traumatized by that ‘showboat’ analyst releasing a report … on SUNDAY

Josh Brown, who said he remains long NVDA, said on Wednesday's Halftime it has a 1.5 beta, so "you could get knocked out, uh, in a day, if you can't name the CEO you're overly leveraged, or whatever."

"The buzz around Nintendo Switch is incredible," Brown said, "and every one of these units has an Nvidia chip in there."

Jon Najarian said there have been "several opportunities" to buy NVDA and others on the dips.

Sarat Sethi cogently said NVDA is appealing because this kind of growth is rare, "but it also will miss a quarter here or there," and the pullback then could be 25-30%. An excellent point, though we can't see this stock in this particular market remaining down 30% for more than … maybe 5 minutes. (This writer has no position in NVDA.)

Stephanie Link was trimming LRCX, even though it's not expensive, because "all of these stocks are so well-owned, and who's your incremental buyer?" But Link said AVGO is still "good value."

Link said she bought ORCL. Josh Brown backed the chart, but then Doc (uh oh) muscled into the conversation, stating, "Gartner's been saying, server shipments are gonna be down 4½%, that works against these guys, against Oracle," but Europe growth might offset it. Sarat Sethi contended there's a "floor under the stock."

Sarat Sethi said HRB was popping on margin expansion and low expectations, but he didn't tell viewers whether to buy or sell.

Doc said nothing about the BIIB/ALXN news that viewers couldn't already see in the graphic.

Steph Link still likes APC.

Josh said he would sell FIVE "with 5 fingers."

Doc said there was upside call buying in GIS amid Nestle rumors.

Sarat Sethi said to keep buying GOOGL.

Steph Link said HD, LOW, SWK and WHR will "continue to work."

Josh brought up the INDA again.

[Tuesday, June 13, 2017]

Gotta wonder if ‘Know the CEO’s name’ is even a chapter in How We Trade Options

As to recent trading in prominent technology stocks, Pete Najarian reported on Tuesday's Halftime that it "feels like the algos actually took over on Friday, right," adding the FAANGs were sold off "unjustly."

Jim Lebenthal said, "It does feel like this is over," a "2-3-day mini-correction."

Joe Terranova grumbled about talking to people over the weekend who bragged about selling NVDA on Friday with big profits while "they couldn't even name the CEO or tell me what Nvidia does."

Seizing an opening to issue another stock-market warning, Judge said that according to a B of A fund manager survey, "They say a record number of investors believe that equities are overvalued."

"I take it as a contrarian indicator," Jon Najarian said.

Traders assured us about 7 times in the first 10 minutes that the selloff really was algorithmically driven.

And that algos are a part of trading.

"None of us are demonizing it," said Jon Najarian.

Jim Lebenthal insisted the rotation "if it's happening" (snicker) from growth to value has lasted "2 weeks, not 2 days."

Joe Terranova said he watched Monday's show and thought Pete and Jim Cramer "did a fantastic job."

Joe: Market delivered ‘shot across the bow’ to growth overweights

It was just Thursday that Joe Terranova, earnestly making a point on the Halftime Report, made a rather confusing statement about the markets evaluating White House "behavior" and "judgment" but apparently blessing it (see below) that frankly left us scratching our heads.

History unfortunately repeated itself Tuesday when Joe was asked by Judge for some real-time investment strategy.

Joe first said, "In terms of your portfolio, a longer-term portfolio, the events of the last couple of days shouldn't sway you to do very much at all."

Fine point, we agree, just a blip of a correction, nothing to see here, move along.

But then Joe said, "If you have an overweight growth strategy … you take a look, you say, OK, I want more value in my portfolio, less growth."

So on the one hand, don't do much … but on the other hand, trim some growth names and replace them with value.

Judge asked why anyone wants less growth. Joe said overweight growth was supported by fundamentals since Jan. 1, but, "You look at what happened, you treat it as a shot across the bow in your portfolio."

But he also said, "This was all about trading the last couple of days," which doesn't sound to us rubes like much of a shot of anything.

Joe takes loss on TWTR (at least he didn’t buy SNAP, which Pete suggests is going to single digits)

In one of those statements that wrongly included a qualifier that made the sentence either 1) redundant or 2) contradictory, Steve Liesman on Tuesday's Halftime said, "If they want rates to go up, then investors in financial stocks should be excited."

Jon Najarian suggested rates could climb this time after a Fed hike. Pete Najarian touted the XLF.

Joe Terranova said, "I think banks go higher."

Jim Lebenthal predicted a higher 10-year yield and suggested TBT.

Doc said ETSY September 15 calls were bought in big numbers. Pete Najarian said AVGO call buyers were scooping up January 320s.

Doc said he'd stick with WYNN.

Joe said BABA fundamentally looks good, though a 190 target "is a long way off."

Pete said of WDC, "you'd (sic conditional) wanna be in this stock."

Brian Stutland predicted 1,300 gold based on Yellen's dovishness. Scott Nations said "below 1,240, it's really in trouble."

Joe said he bought TWTR around 18.50 and sold it around 17.25; it "wasn't doing anything for me."

Doc suggested FMSA, saying he bought it Tuesday.

Jim: AMZN, NFLX, NVDA bubbles

Jim Lebenthal on Tuesday's Halftime Report declared AMZN, and a couple others, a little frothy.

"I think it, Netflix and Nvidia are in a bubble," Jim said. Then he carped again about trading the FAANGs as a "basket."

Jon Najarian trumpeted selling AMZN puts over $13 that are now worth $2, for those who can go back in time.

Doc then said Ron Baron's $1,000 TSLA call is "late to the party," though somehow despite saying that, "I'm not gonna go against what he's saying."

Pete Najarian actually said of TSLA, "we always put it in the GM category." Seriously?

Then he actually seemed to claim the SolarCity acquisition was a positive.

Jim Lebenthal, incredibly, said "there's some seriousness" to the notion of putting a solar panel on your roof to charge your electric car.

Doc said TSLA doesn't have the "extra weight" of union deals like the Big 3 automakers.

Najarii don’t see a whole lot of short-term upside in UA

Pete Najarian on Tuesday's Halftime Report said the UA move was "probably more short covering than anything, quite frankly."

Jon Najarian said that under 20 was a "really great time" to focus on UA, for those viewers with a time machine. "Nike could be ready to break out," Doc said.

NKE fan Jim Lebenthal doesn't "get" why some people like UA more. (He's also probably going to buy the 2nd half of his NKE position when it drops below 50.)

Jim said you "can hold" FL, but he's not rushing out to buy it. (This writer is long FL.) "It's cheap, but it just stays cheap," Jim said.

More from Tuesday's Halftime later.

[Monday, June 12, 2017]

Cramer mocks analyst as trying to grab attention, gives him attention on TV

It's reminiscent of when Dave Barry wrote a column in the late '80s about Brent Musburger and Ara Parseghian broadcasting Notre Dame football games … "Hey, some scuzzbag TACKLED Tim Brown!!" "I'll kill the SOB!"

Well, someone else actually DOWNGRADED Apple.

Abhey Lamba, who issued the Mizuho downgrade, said on Monday's Halftime Report he thinks both AAPL's earnings and multiple "are towards the upper end of the ranges."

Lamba said the AAPL multiple, before Friday, "was at a 7-year high," a fair point.

Jim Cramer played Ara Parseghian this time, curiously asking Lamba with his first question why Lamba issued the note on Sunday rather than Monday, as if that means ... anything.

"You know what Jim, you look at the note. It's not put together in half an hour. It's not put together in 1 day," Lamba said.

Lamba said he downgraded the stock a couple years ago around highs and got flak on CNBC and upgraded it a while back when it was struggling and still got flak on CNBC.

Stephen Weiss said, "In China, it's tough to explain why their market share has declined so precipitously."

But Pete Najarian said "they're waiting for the next upgrade."

Jim Cramer, who asked Lamba a flurry of questions and kept cutting him off before he could fully answer, tried to claim at the end, "I liked the call, from the point of view of …."

So if he’s a ‘victim,’ surely some other company will snap him up right away, no?

Jim Cramer on Monday's Halftime said to hold GE because now that Immelt's on the way out, Cramer's "hearing nothing but good things about his successor … the guy is tough as nails."

Josh Brown said some of GE's comps with other companies in similar industries are "embarrassing." Brown said the stock is in "no-man's land."

Josh said he's not buying more GE because it doesn't seem like a Ballmer-to-Nadella moment; rather, there's a feeling "it's an in-bred management team."

Pete Najarian said he bought GE in the morning, an interesting trade. "I think changes will occur at GE at a much faster pace than they have been," Pete said.

But really, Pete was excited because someone bought a "massive options position" in GE.

Judge tried to float the notion of Immelt being a "victim of circumstances" (snicker), insisting, "Everybody (sic) praised the Baker Hughes thing when it happened. Everybody (sic). … Who knew it was at the top."

Things quickly went downhill for Steve Weiss as soon as he uncorked one of the clumsiest and most inaccurate analogies in recent memory, saying that to make "real money" in the market, you have to believe in "elements of concentration and volatility," which is why GE doesn't work because it's the "opposite of concentration" because the company is so diverse, there will always be units that aren't working.

Josh Brown quickly and impressively shot down this daffy notion, asking a good and obvious question, why isn't Berkshire Hathaway similarly hated. Weiss claimed, "He's selectively buying great assets."

"GE has 4 business units; Berkshire has 6," Brown said.

"But they're- they're- the visions- there are divisions under those divisions and he's recently just cut it down from (sic) 4 positions (sic)," Weiss actually said.

(Sigh) We're almost tired of pointing this out. Immelt's a likable guy. People think he's a great guy. That's important. CNBCers protect him because of that … and because he was their longtime boss. Everyone should wish him well; nobody should feel sorry for him. If you're hosting an Aspen conference where everyone wears sweaters and discusses the New Economy over $875 bottles of wine, he's your No. 1 invite. If he's running a company, he sucks. This tenure is an embarrassing disaster. So there you go.

Maybe the FAANG plunge was the 57th anxiety attack chronicled by Ed Yardeni since 2009

Grandpa Judge got the chance on Monday's Halftime to talk about his favorite subject, a crash in FAANG.

Jim Cramer, who monopolized much of the program (as CNBC seeks higher ratings), and the rest of the panelists mostly shrugged; Steve Weiss first said he bought a couple more tech stocks Monday, DATA and then AKAM, except then he said he wasn't buying AKAM on Monday but something else he couldn't remember.

Josh Brown quizzed his co-panelists on the Viking Global news in an effort to make a point about the possibility of a large tech holder unwinding, but before that point was fully made, Weiss cut in to claim "they are one of the best long-term performing hedge funds" and insist Brown give them credit.

Jon Najarian dialed in to say the mayhem in the QQQs happened in the first 15 minutes of trading, then people came in to get hedged, so this looks like some sort of potential bottom for the short term.

Weiss said there have been a lot of "tourists" who bought the "momentum" in tech. (Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz)

Karen Finerman, devastating in white turtleneck on the 5 p.m. Fast Money guest-helmed by Judge, said the last couple days' worth of tech-stock activity isn't nearly enough to change her thesis on some big tech names and sell them.

Wait a minute — did they go an entire program without saying it’s all over, right now, for SNAP?*

Pete Najarian on Monday's Halftime said June 67 calls in C were being bought, which made us realize that Mike Mayo hasn't been on for, oh, maybe 6 weeks.

Jim Cramer said the Ira Sohn champ is wrong about PYPL C is finally trading at tangible book.

Cramer and Josh Brown mocked the Pivotal downgrade of ADBE. Stephen Weiss wondered, "When does valuation matter," explaining, "It's gonna be down 20%; that's real alpha-killing." (But isn't it a "concentrated" way of making "real money" in stocks?)

Josh Brown's final trade was INDA; Weiss said CAVM. Pete said SBUX and Cramer said PLCE.

(*This writer is long SNAP.) (Ah. Pete Najarian on the 5 p.m. show said single-digit SNAP puts were being bought.)

AAPL down 7% in less than a week after Judge, Josh scoff at ‘dangerous’ downgrade

That was quick.

Andy Hargreaves last week dialed into the Halftime Report on Tuesday and said he'd rather be early than late on his AAPL downgrade.

Hargreaves had to fend off Josh Brown and Jon Najarian (augmented reality or whatever the heck it is) and Jim Lebenthal (India could be "very big") before Judge called such a downgrade a "dangerous game" and Josh said it's "worse than dangerous."

But 4 trading days later, the shares were already at Hargreaves' $145 target (presumably because the company hasn't said anything about self-driving cars in a few days). (And maybe the stock's just having one of Ed Yardeni's market "anxiety attacks," of which there have been 56 since 2009, which has caused "anxiety fatigue" among some.)

Normally, we wouldn't care about an analyst's long-term call, but when one of them outs the Halftime panel and even Judge (in and of himself) as (in this case) another wing of the momentum-trading crowd, it should be noted.

[Friday, June 9, 2017]

Is it possible for the probability of an unexpected event to rise? Doesn’t that make it slightly expected?

Steve Weiss on Friday's Halftime Report whined that he's an "intrinsic (snicker) investor" who can't "analyze" the intrinsic value of gold because it's an "emotional currency."

Rob Sechan though (photo above not from Friday) called gold "interesting" and "a hedge against unexpected outcomes."

But … uh oh … then he said, "The probability of an unexpected outcome has gone up." (Not sure how he could prove that particular statement. But whatever.)

"I think inflation's dead," said Ed Yardeni.

Jeff Kilburg said to "look for dollar strength" over 97. Jim Iuorio said "the downtrend is still comfortably intact."

Ed Yardeni keeps track of stock market ‘anxiety attacks,’ said his clients got ‘anxiety fatigue’ during fiscal cliff

Steve Weiss on Friday's Halftime Report claimed, "There's a lot of complacency out there."

Rob Sechan, who said he likes financials and energy (snicker), said that unlike Weiss, "I don't see investor complacency. I see invested skepticism. I see people looking for reasons not to be in the market."

"Animal spirits will come back," Sechan asserted to Weiss, which 1) is rather late to that concept and 2) was followed by this clunker, "I think what you're gonna see is markets going higher on a rotation from growth to value (snicker) and from U.S. to non-U.S. it's gonna happen."

(Say, broker? I’d much rather buy shares of Transocean than Nvidia.)

Weiss responded, "To me, that's the definition of complacency. Only seeing everything positive, positive, positive."

Ed Yardeni stated, "It's been a bull market for a long time and it's a bull- been a bull market uh that has been plagued by these uh recurring anxiety attacks. I've kept a diary of these things since March 2009; there's been 56 anxiety attacks. Some of 'em were just outright corrections of 10-20%, and some of 'em were mini-corrections."

Yardeni said that during all the 2013 fiscal cliff hype, "My clients were starting to get anxiety fatigue."

Judge, who too often has stumbled his way through this electric stock market by talking about Carl's "Day of Reckoning" (how'd that work out?) and bringing on Marc Faber and overall issuing the equivalent of a bubble warning on nearly every program (Friday it was "The Fang Trade: Buy or Beware?"), opened the show stating the market has "amazing resiliency."

Ya think?

Josh Brown pointed out that "tech is flat" recently (and that was before the late-day meltdown) and the small caps were outperforming the S&P again Friday, a subject bound to excite Jim Lebenthal.

Jim said that's "a subset of what I've seen for about 9 days now, which is that value is starting to outperform growth."

"Mid cap/small cap is blowing it out of the water," said Kevin O'Leary.

Judge somehow decided he didn't want to air any commercials for the first 26 minutes. (Too bad, we were hoping to learn of some pillow products that are out there.)

Weiss bailed on oversold X just before it cleared his initial 10% goal this week

In an absolutely useless conversation, Keith Meister told Judge on Friday that "I think today, uh, big picture, is a great day for Pandora shareholders."

"I think it's the beginning of Pandora 2.0," Meister added, pointing to the benefits of scale and stating Pandora's getting cash and intellectual capital.

And then he started talking about how Buffalo Wild Wings should franchise more of its stores. (That was a joke, for regular (snicker) readers of this page.)

We figure this would be a good time to relay the panel's commentary on either SNAP (it sucks) (this writer is long SNAP) or TWTR (it's just such a UNIQUE property). But there wasn't any.

Kevin O'Leary griped, "I don't understand why people consider Facebook a tech company. It is an advertising platform extraordinaire."

Jim Lebenthal contrasted valuation of AAPL with NFLX and told Josh Brown, who kept interrupting, "They shouldn't be an acronym. They're not the same company."

‘Comey’ not heard once just a day after supposedly explosive/damaging testimony

It's one of the things we love, and hate, about the stock market.

In the last 2 years, when BABA was in the 60s, we heard on CNBC (not from everyone) every negative in the book: counterfeit goods, opaque accounting, off-balance-sheet maneuvers, ties to the communist party.

Now that it's in the 140s, it's suddenly a great alpha play that's cheaper than AMZN.

Kevin O'Leary on Friday's Halftime grumbled, "I'm not saying it's a bad company, but I don't know how to read its balance sheet."

Judge rightly pointed out, "Somebody's buying it."

Josh Brown said hedge fund managers "love it" because "it's not in the S&P 500, but it's enormous." He also said the BABA story is "starting to catch on" with retail investors.

Stephen Weiss, who used to tout JD as a better option, called BABA a "microcosm of the market" and said he regretted missing this one.

O'Leary questioned how BABA can have higher margins than AMZN. "They operate in China," Weiss said.

How much has Ackman benefited from deploying his time somewhere besides watching VRX top 14

Strangely trying to thread the needle, Andrew Left on Friday's Halftime Report said the market has been "overreactive" to Nvidia.

While acknowledging it's a great company, "It's no longer a stock, it's a casino," Left said.

Jim Cramer, summoned 1) to talk about that Sohn champ's Paypal short 2) to boost ratings for no reason we could determine, said, "I would be afraid to be short this" because NVDA has "greater fool money" in it.

"Unfortunately it got way ahead of itself," Left said of NVDA.

Josh Brown said Left "nails" the "casino" point, "but I think that's temporary," which reminds us of when the 5 p.m. Fast Money was hailing the Nomura analyst's "thoughtful" downgrade to 90 a few months ago (how'd that one work out).

Kevin O'Leary scoffed at Brown's analogy of NVDA to INTC's big growth when Pentium sales exploded with Windows 95. Steve Weiss said, "This is exactly like Qualcomm was in the boom times of 99-2000."

Kevin O'Leary touted one of his own ETFs for his final trade. Rob Sechan likes Europe but not the U.K., which has "too much consternation." Jim Lebenthal said MPC and other refiners are in their "final euphoric push" with another 10%. Weiss added to AKAM.

[Thursday, June 8, 2017]

O’Leary: Zero chance
of impeachment

After the testimony of James Comey on Thursday that preempted most of the Halftime Report, Kevin O'Leary shrugged.

"My take on this is investors don't give a damn," O'Leary said.

Pete Najarian pointed to the VIX and said the Comey event was "fairly much of a flat thing."

Pete said there was "huge call-buying" in banks.

Jim Lebenthal contended, "The market is thinking the reflation trade is back on," offering, "the 10-year going to 2.20 doesn't exactly razzle dazzle me."

Joe Terranova curiously said "the market is telling you it's inappropriate behavior, it's bad judgment," but he said he's been buying the market and that the movement for tax reform "gains some momentum."

Indulging in serious hyperbole, Judge said the Comey event "absolutely lived up to its billing" as "political theater of the highest order."

O'Leary concluded, "The chance that Trump is gonna be impeached is zero."

[Wednesday, June 7, 2017]

Mel & Ken Griffin attended Harvard around the same time

Chris Whalen on Wednesday's Halftime Report apparently called out Doc in a tweet for suggesting a "bet on banks."

Doc said he doesn't disagree with Whalen on rates but thinks earnings are driving the stocks. Stephen Weiss said the most important thing Whalen tweeted was that the "credit cycle's peaking."

Bob Pisani at the Sandler O'Neill conference chatted up Thomas Peterffy, who indicated that precision options pricing has reduced volatility.

But later on Power Lunch, Ken Griffin told Pisani that "Volatility is low because of the interventionist policy of central banks around the world."

Peterffy said options are "too cheap now," and the right trade is to be buying.

Griffin said that regarding liquidity, stocks aren't splitting like they used to.

Peterffy said, "We cannot make any money in the market-making business because we refuse to trade against our customers' orders and we do not buy other brokers' customer orders to trade against."

Griffin said we need tax rates "somewhere into the 20s."

Griffin said "inflation I think is the big issue that we are all very complacent about." But then he mentioned health care cost structure and education as things that worry him.

Brian Sullivan teased Melissa Lee that Griffin went to Harvard and was trading high-yield bonds there; apparently making a "Good Will Hunting" joke, Sully told Mel, "How 'bout them apples."

Panel: SNAP sucks

Judge on Wednesday's Halftime reported Anthony DiClemente's call that SNAP isn't going anywhere in Q2. (This writer is long SNAP.)

Steve Weiss called SNAP's first public quarterly report "inexcusable." Pete said the competition SNAP has gotten from FB is "absolutely astronomical" and called the stock a "no-touch" (actually, "no touch" on CNBC occasionally means something is going up).

Judge said DiClemente mentioned the lockup (Drink). (If the business model is garbage, why do they keep caring about the lockup.) (And why do they keep talking about this name.)

"This thing's a pig in a poke," Doc said. "For ways that people communicate, this isn't gonna be one of them for much longer." (But maybe it would if the company started building self-driving cars.)

Doc noted, though, that he bought after the earnings disaster (he had been trumpeting the stock into that earnings report, but whatever); Guy Adami too made a great call on that as the stock plunged to 17 and change afterhours and was nearing 22 within a week or two. But Guy said this week on Fast Money if it tests 17 again, it'll probably crash through. Then again, after DiClemente's call Wednesday, the shares were still $2 higher than the afternoon of the barely-hazmat-suit-safe-to-approach earnings call.

Weiss: ATVI CEO unloaded half his stake in the high 40s

Sarat Sethi on Wednesday's Halftime quibbled with the BMO downgrade of PEP but said he wouldn't chase it here.

He said PEP is more diversified than Coke, but Pete Najarian said, "I like 'em both."

Jon Najarian said he likes DPS, but his "No. 1 pick" of the group is PEP.

Doc said someone bought a "ton" of October 62.50 puts in CTSH. Pete said someone was buying January 300 calls in AVGO and selling 200 puts.

Doc said he bought and sold AMBA but made only "a little bit" of money.

Steve Weiss said he tried to trade X but quickly got out because there was no bounce; he'd "stay away."

Sarat Sethi said UAL, which has a 103 from UBS, has a "great tailwind behind it."

Pete likes THC better than HCA but thinks UNH and HUM are better names.

Jeff Kilburg said "we will see $1,300" in gold, citing "global tensions mounting." Scott Nations said he doesn't think gold will get much higher than 1,300.

Sarat Sethi said GOOGL is "not like SNAP (the stock everyone was hating Wednesday) in terms of management" and also mentioned "artificial intelligence" (snicker) and … drum roll … driverless cars.

Weiss said not owning GOOGL from the IPO is "one of my bigger regrets in terms of stocks."

Judge brought up ATVI. Weiss said it's a "good lesson" in insider selling because the CEO "sold half his position I think in the high 40s."

Weiss' final trade was GIMO, citing Elliott influence. Pete trumpeted HA up 8.6%. Doc said SQ and S based on unusual activity, noting January 30 calls in SQ. Sarat Sethi said if oil approaches 40, there'll be "a lot more fear" in the market, however, he'd buy it at 40.

Good thing Soc Gen didn’t downgrade AAPL, that’s ‘worse than dangerous’

Somehow grasping for usable material in a great stock market, Judge, who can't just get to the point and call this an '86 Mets Market, opened Wednesday's Halftime with a go-round on whether Soc Gen is right about too much pessimism in the market and that there are higher prices ahead.

Jon Najarian said, "There's not pessimism in the markets, or we wouldn't be setting record high after record high after record high."

Stephen Weiss said Soc Gen is making the "right call," but he too disagrees with the pessimism "supposition."

Weiss contended, "Frankly, if the Trump agenda doesn't happen for a while, that's better for the market."

Sarat Sethi said he's in the Soc Gen camp but he doesn't disagree with David Kostin's 5% correction call (snicker) because "We all know these corrections come."

Weiss said, "5% is nothing in the total scheme of things. It's not even a definitional correction."

Judge stated that if Soc Gen is right, hedge funds who have the "biggest net short position in 6 years on the Russell" according to the CFTC are on the wrong side of the trade. Weiss said that we don't know "what that short is against."

Weiss said of Donald Trump, "It'll be a surprise if any of what he wants to do happens."

Weiss mentioned "Day of Reckoning" in terms of politics (but not in terms of Carl Icahn's call of a year ago) (how'd that one turn out).

Judge said the market seems to have a "big yawn" about the price of oil. But Doc admitted he's got a lot of energy plays, including XOP, that have "flipped on me."

Pete Najarian admitted all the paper he's been seeing in energy the last couple days has been wrong.

[Tuesday, June 6, 2017]

Karen ‘pulled the trigger’ on FL

Brian Stutland on Tuesday's Halftime Report said there's "definitely a possibility" for gold to rise another 5%.

Anthony Grisanti said as long as gold can keep holding each end of the channel, it should go higher, perhaps even $1,365.

Jim Lebenthal called gold a "referendum on the Federal Reserve right now. They are going to go in June."

Joe Terranova said the GLD keeps going up, but he has "no understanding why I'm long gold."

Jim Lebenthal, who made a great call on THO earnings a day ago, said he likes WGO ahead of its earnings later this month because, "When Thor outperforms, Winnebago just crests right into their report." Evidently, that comment helped give the shares some extra horsepower for the rest of the day (this review was posted after market close).

Josh Brown said "3M is the best-looking chart in all of industrial land."

Jon Najarian said "smart money" has been buying 25 calls in SQ.

Doc still owns calls in CRM.

Karen Finerman on the 5 p.m. Fast Money said she loves when stock moves occur in "integers," revealing, "I pulled the trigger today" on FL, citing a "superb" balance sheet and an "overdone" selloff. However, Karen unfortunately touted C during the program.

Downgrading AAPL called
‘worse than dangerous’

Judge told Andy Hargreaves on Tuesday's Halftime, "It's good to have you, um, uh, even on the phone."

Hargreaves said he "might be" early on his AAPL downgrade, but he'd rather be early than late.

Hargreaves, who said the speaker device from the WWDC isn't exactly a great profit-boosting product for AAPL, told Josh Brown that AR (snicker) is still "really, really early."

He told Joe Terranova he has "no issues" with the app store, but he thinks growth will decelerate.

Jim Lebenthal said he doesn't think the iPhone 8 is priced in, citing "a lot of pent-up demand" and stating no one's talking about India; "that could be very big."

Doc said he disagrees with Hargreaves because of the "potential of that augmented reality (snicker) on the iPhone" and growing paid subscriptions.

Judge said it's a "dangerous game" to get in front of this type of name with this kind of momentum as Hargreaves has. Josh Brown twice said, "Oh, it's worse than dangerous" and said the call has "nothing to do" with whether AAPL is a buy or sell for most investors.

But the AAPL conversation didn’t include anything about self-driving cars

Andrew Hsu, who runs an infrastructure fund, on Tuesday's Halftime called Donald Trump's push for air-traffic control privatization "actually a step in the right direction."

Hsu told Joe Terranova that infrastructure investors "are looking for safe, stable plays," such as U.S.-based power utilities.

Speaking of cell towers, Hsu mentioned self-driving cars (Bingo), explaining, "Clearly, we need to invest in this area" because of the bandwidth required.

Clearly. Matter of fact, we can't imagine NOT having a self-driving car. (And is there as much investment in the cancers discussed at ASCO as there is in cars that don't require hands on a steering wheel?)

Jim Lebenthal said he thinks auto sales will "plateau" at 17 million but not "drop off."

Jon Najarian said he's "not really feelin'" a washout yet in HDS, but the company's in a "world of hurt."

Joe Terranova said he's been building a position for days in MS.

Josh Brown said AMD was rallying on cryptocurrency angles, but, "I would not be a buyer here."

Jon Najarian said someone who made money on XOP puts just sold the puts and bought June 33 calls.

Missy Lee was dynamite in new dark gray dress on Fast Money.

Rick Santelli seems to complain about central bank decisions

In a clumsy, pointless opening of Tuesday's Halftime that served as little more than another soapbox for Rick Santelli, Jon Najarian said bonds can gain "several more basis points … there must be more shorts in this than shorts in Tesla."

Doc predicted the 10-year could "push all the way to 2, perhaps even under 2."

Rick Santelli, citing central bank buying, said it's an "impossible discussion" to find the "promised land" as to why rates are where they are.

"I totally getcha. I do," claimed Judge, obsessed with the 10-year.

Josh Brown said stocks and bonds have often risen together for 40 years, so it's hardly "bizarre" or "rare."

Santelli complained to Brown about central bank buying in Japan. Brown said in the U.S., the taper was 3 years ago, it's a "stale" story. But Santelli said they're buying "over a trillion thus far this year."

Joe Terranova tried to convince Judge, "Nobody knows the answer to when it cracks first."

Judge insisted he thinks it's likely that stocks will crack first.

It was originally Windows Azure, renamed as Microsoft Azure

Joe Terranova on Tuesday's Halftime tried to convince Judge that MSFT can outperform the FAANGS, but Judge didn't understand Joe's pronunciation of "Azure."

Judge even said at the end of the show that he owes Joe an apology because CNBC called Microsoft, and "they said it's as-yer."

The only problem was, Joe pronounced it "azzer." At the end of the show, he nearly said "difficultly" (sic).

Jim Lebenthal said the question with MSFT is whether the growth rate really justifies it given competition. Joe told Jim that ORCL is "nowhere near" where MSFT is in the cloud. Josh Brown said he prefers GOOGL to MSFT. Jim said it "may sound a little crazy," but things like furniture stores or groceries could be "the next leg of growth for Amazon."

[Monday, June 5, 2017]

Karen: AMZN crossing $1,000 is the ‘Roger Bannister Moment’ in big tech

Josh Brown on Monday's Halftime said it's "entirely reasonable" for Andy Hargreaves to deem the iPhone upgrade already priced in.

But Brown said if you can't handle a 10% drawdown in this stock or any other, "Then you shouldn't own it."

Stephen Weiss, stating he's no "sycophant" for AAPL, said, "I'm sticking with it. To me, it's a very safe stock."

Jim Lebenthal called AAPL a "long-term investment" and predicted the iPhone 8 will be a "blowout," questioning how Hargreaves can raise 2018 EPS more than he's lowering 2017 EPS and still arrive at a downgrade.

Joe Terranova said he'd buy AAPL on a 5% pullback. "You would think that this is overowned," Joe said, but he looked up the stats and found mutual funds actually are underinvested in the name.

Toni Sacconaghi, the only 1 of the 3 analyst-vs.-panelist contenders to kind of fizzle, said the prospect of AAPL 200 by year-end is a "tough bet to make." He said if it gets a similar multiple to a couple years ago, it could see 170-190.

Sacconaghi said it can take a couple weeks to get a Tesla appointment; "right now, the customer experience is strained," and he questions what that would be like if sales go to 300,000.

Karen Finerman, in dynamite blue, on the 5 p.m. Fast Money said she's not long AAPL and suggested pegging 10 as the "right multiple" for a hardware company. In Apple's case, "that leaves the rest of the company trading at an extraordinarily high multiple."

Dan Nathan said he doesn't get emails about AAPL anymore but that the heckling centers on Amazon comments. Karen said AMZN crossing 1,000 is the "Roger Bannister Moment" in big tech stocks.

Average 70-year-old takes 40 prescriptions a year; lingerie is 2nd-least-favorite online shopping item

We started to scoff at the "analysts-vs.-panelists" feature on Monday's Halftime Report — until it started producing gems of research.

Lisa Gill said "I would be a buyer of CVS," explaining, "North of 75% of prescription volume is with people that are over 70 years of age. You know, the average 70-year-old takes 40 prescriptions a year," and those in their 40s (she said "probably" the whole panel is in their 40s, which we doubt) "are taking somewhere around 12."

Kimberly Greenberger, who has a 61 on LB, said she found that "50% of Americans are buying their clothing on Amazon," and items at the top are casual tops and bottoms, shoes and athletic apparel. At the bottom are suits and … lingerie.

"It's just not that romantic to buy your lingerie on Amazon.com," Greenberger explained.

Jim Lebenthal asked Greenberger about the February retail sluggishness. Jim said it sounds to him like the stuff that's bought online is stuff in which "fit" doesn't matter so much, and he predicted that shoes, a popular online product, will revert to a store experience.

Greenberger said shoes are "a little bit of an anomaly" and that buyers tend to order multiple pairs on Amazon to ensure one pair fits. "So shoes are let's say a little bit easier to fit than a complex category uh like a suit, lingerie or a bra."

Greenberger said tax returns were sluggish and that people didn't have refund checks by Presidents Day or Valentine's Day.

Back to CVS and prescriptions, Joe Terranova said he's been a "frustrated" CVS long for a couple years but isn't in it anymore. Gill said CVS needs to adjust its square footage but that the mini-clinics are a "great experience."

Stephen Weiss asked if the power of ESRX has shifted to managed care, and he wonders why ESRX even exists. Gill said "there's hundreds and hundreds of small health plans out there today" that ESRX is aggregating.

Josh seems to argue that stocks are capable of trading at far different levels than where they currently trade

Judge on Monday's Halftime said he "first reported" HLF's sales-forecast cut on Sunday night.

Steve Weiss said of HLF, "This is going to be a battleground stock for as long as it's a public company."

Jim Lebenthal said the questions about Herbalife aren't "existential questions" anymore.

"The price does not look to be zero," Jim said.

Citing VRX, Josh Brown argued with his panel that stock prices may not be assurance of anything, curiously stating "there are technical and mechanical aspects of these types of trades that can give you a price that's way far away from what the market will ultimately be willing to pay."

Joe Terranova said HLF is "a highly illiquid type of name." He said analysts are raising HLF targets to 120, and "clearly the pressure is on someone right now who is short this name."

Meg Tirrell at ASCO spoke with LOXO's chief Joshua Bilenker; obviously that was the stock to buy last week.

Joe said he's "not ready" to buy LB; he's in COST.

In a fairly hilarious, sorta out-of-the-blue type of comment, Joe said he'd buy puts in either SHLD or JCP.

Jim Lebenthal, practically on cue, said "there's really no comparison" and that SHLD is the "obvious" one for buying puts.

Steve Weiss said he bought CERN during the show based on Donald Trump's remarks. Jim Lebenthal predicted a good quarter from the RV names Thor and Winnebago. Josh Brown said to buy V and MA rather than retailers. Joe said he keeps adding to MSFT.

Mel brought in gorrrrjus CNBC International superfox Hadley Gamble for a rare 5 p.m. Fast Money hit.

[Friday, June 2, 2017]

Jim notes value has outperformed growth ... for 2 days

Jim Lebenthal is a wonderful patriot and savvy investor who has much to offer CNBC viewers.

Last year, his astute picks impressively won the (apparently now defunct) CNBC Halftime Portfolio Challenge.

But his televised value refrain for at least the last 6 months is about as uninspiring as "Phil Packer's" date with Linda (below).

Every appearance, it's GM, JCP, QCOM and maybe CSCO and a vow to buy more NKE under 50 and a prediction that the switch from value to growth is just around the corner.

Friday's Halftime produced even more unconvincing predictions, including, "The Russell 2000 today is outperforming the S&P 500 by a full percentage point. … That's exactly where we should put money."

Judge finally took an overdue whack at this line of thinking, questioning, "So today is the proof that all of a sudden, the small caps are back?"

"No but you know what, it may well be," Jim offered.

Later, "Value has outperformed growth the last 2 days," Jim claimed, though Josh Brown dismissed that as "end of month rebalancing."

At one point, Judge asked Jim again why value is going to outperform. "Eventually it is (sigh)" was Jim's answer.

Jim's final trade was QCOM. He conceded there was no follow-through in that name after AVGO's report (supposedly because of a "Friday lull here"), but he predicted one next week.

Good stock calls matter whatever the market. But Jim's not gonna be Johnny Bravo with his macro insistence that the same collection of dogs is going to start outperforming the FAANGs or V or PYPL (surging since the Ira Sohn champ's short call).

Real bubble watch: Is there any industry in the entire world more hyper than (oh joy) self-driving cars?

Friday's overstaffed beginning of the Halftime Report nevertheless delivered a provocative thought from Steve Liesman (that photo wasn't from Friday's show), who said, "The only thing that's ever worked for me" regarding interpreting bond yields is that "bond yields reflect the outlook for inflation."

That sounds pretty reasonable to us. Josh Brown, on the other hand, offered, "Sometimes the bond market's not really telling us anything."

Jon Najarian said, "Low inflation right now is good for stocks."

Explaining today's 10-year yield, Rick Santelli told the story of Tom Baldwin leading the bond trade in the 1980s. "Traders always follow the biggest trader in the room," Santelli said.

Liesman said the jobs number is "about right." He made Santelli scowl by saying 2% growth for 20 years would be fine. Santelli scoffed that that's what they do in Europe.

Joe Amato said 2% is a "Goldilocks scenario" for investors, "but from a population standpoint," 3% growth "helps out a lot" in terms of "quality job growth."

Nobody seemed concerned with Judge's suggestion that maybe the economy's not really that great. Amato claimed there's more "synchronized global growth now than we've seen in 5 or 6 years."

Stephanie Link asserted that "earnings are getting better" and will continue to do so.

Link added, "I've been at conferences all week, and companies sound really good … across the board."

Addressing the nation's political-economic situation, Jim Lebenthal declared, "You have 1 policy in place. The end of the war on business. I'm borrowing it from Kudlow."

"Oh, stop. Oh, stop," chided Josh Brown, questioning if the stock market under Obama suffered from a "war on business."

Jim asserted that Boeing suffered under the NLRB over the opening of its Charleston plant, which didn't seem the strongest example. But this time Judge helped out Jim by pressing Brown if he doesn't see a "different tone" toward business from the presidency now.

Brown responded, "Oh, no question. But what does that mean."

Josh said you can't point to 1 stock, sector or index that is performing because of something the White House said or did.

Why are they talking about Tom Lee’s FAANG call rather than Tom Lee’s CRAP (snicker) trade?

Jim Lebenthal asserted on Friday's Halftime that it's "absolutely wrong to put Apple or Google in the same category as Netflix and Amazon from a valuation point of view."

"Who cares about the valuation point of view," snapped Judge, claiming Jim is "missing the point."

Steph Link told Jim she's a "long-term investor too" who cares about valuation, but, "There's a point in time though when you have to recognize category killers, disruptors. And all of the FAANG are."

Link said she's "trimming a little bit of Microsoft."

Doc said GOOGL and NFLX are highly owned by institutions, and he questioned where the "extra boost" comes from in those names.

Josh said it's interesting that Tom Lee is leaving out health care in his new assessment.

Looks like the CNBC label-typer left out a ‘TO’

Jon Najarian on Friday's Halftime Report said he loves the day's dog, RH, at the $38 level.

CNBC's Meg Tirrell said she was leaving for the airport "in mere minutes" to head to Chicago for ASCO (where they're probably going to talk about building self-driving cars).

Jon Najarian suggested TGTX as an ASCO play based on "some upside call speculation."

Josh Brown said 300 to 310 looks like resistance in IBB; if it can break through, new buyers may come in.

Steph Link said she owns ALXN. Jim Lebenthal said, "Alexion is a steal at these prices."

Jim said LULU is now out of the "penalty box." Judge questioned if the quarter was good; Jim said it was "good enough." Doc said he sold his whole LULU position Friday.

Steph Link said the prospect of going after Toshiba assets was holding AVGO back; she still thinks you can buy it.

Josh said W has been a "really really tough name for people betting against it."

Doc said there's unusual activity in NKE, next week's 53 and 53.50 calls. He also said January (snicker) 90 calls in CVS were popular, and the buying was "quite large."

But Josh Brown said "CVS is one of the worst-performing very large stocks that I, that I could find."

Steph Link somehow claimed NKE has an R&D budget that is "unparallel to any other company out there."

Link was adding to FDX on Friday. Josh Brown said BMY looks to be setting up for a big move; he thinks it might be up. Doc said ABBV September 70 calls were popular.

[Thursday, June 1, 2017]

Bove: ‘Banks have no vision’

While most Halftime Report and Fast Money panelists continue to tout owning bank stocks (for whatever reason), Dick Bove on Thursday articulated several convincing points as to why financials might not be taking off anytime soon.

"The ability to sell loans has evaporated," Bove said.

Bove scoffed at the notion that bank stock performance is tied to interest rates. "We just came through 6 years of the lowest interest rates in the history of the United States, and in that period, bank earnings went up every year," Bove said.

He downplayed "all this yield-curve stuff."

When these stocks get touted, which is all the time, one question this page occasionally asks, as it asks of the auto industry, is what are the new products that get people talking. What makes one bank stock different than another. (Yes, we know … Jamie Dimon's soooo great … and these other guys have a wealth management arm!!!)

To that question, Bove offered, "Banks have no vision. There is no vision as to where this company's gonna be 3-5 years from now, uh, this industry's gonna be 3-5 years from now."

He said managements "seem" to be selling the notion, "I'm gonna pay 100% to 125% of earnings in terms of payout."

Rather than regulation stifling banking growth, "It's the economy," Bove said.

Joe Terranova insisted regulation has forced banks to keep a "tremendous amount of capital" on their balance sheets. Bove said if that capital gets released, it's positive, "but you know, it's not as positive as I once thought."

In another interesting comment, Bove said he follows FRC, and rather than doing buybacks, that name "keeps issuing stock every year" and thus has double the multiple of the typical regional bank.

While we disagree with Bove's assessment that the ability to lend has "evaporated," there's definitely nothing exciting here, it's a very boring industry that's going to have trouble innovating anything deemed moderately risky, and we can't fathom why anyone would favor these stocks over whatever's working in Silicon Valley.

Karen: Stock market’s
got animal spirits

Jon Najarian on Thursday's Halftime said the time to buy banks is when a "great stock" such as GS tumbled $7 as it did a day earlier, because it bought Venezuelan bonds at 31 cents on the dollar and the market thought not that it might lose money on the bonds but had "questions about should you be supporting that particular dictator and so forth."

Judge said the bank-stock slump is a "simple story" of trading is bad and rates are low.

Erin Browne said, "Since the election, the bank stocks have traded with 85-90% correlation to the 10-year yield," a point later questioned by Dick Bove. Browne claimed rates are starting to "bounce back," but Judge questioned whether "1 basis point" qualifies as "bouncing back."

Joe Terranova said GS stock is a "specific company problem," and he's keeping his BAC.

Joe said the big banks are in a "consolidation phase since the beginning of November."

Joe added, "Kevin O'Leary is right," you want to be out of the regionals.

Karen Finerman and Guy Adami on the 5 p.m. Fast Money both endorsed banks. "I think they're out of the doghouse," Karen, in new blue/white top, said. Guy said he thinks the XLF against 23 works.

We wanted to high-five Karen for picking up a theme from this page, stating not our '86 Mets analogy that market excitement is more than just the prospects of Donald Trump's "agenda" (snicker) in Congress.

"I think that the animal spirits have been awakened," Karen said.

Doc: MCD hiding the cheaper inventory from customers (a/k/a Judge snaps streak of mentioning Robert Shiller’s loopy forecast)

Josh Brown on Thursday's Halftime said MCD is a great company with a "completely berserk" stock price.

Brown said it's "so easy" to play it to the long side with a moving average as your stop. "It's completely nothing to do with fundamentals," Brown said. "This is now one of the biggest momentum trades in the market."

Joe Terranova said he agrees with everything Brown said and has been "very skeptical" about MCD's rise. But Joe conceded that UberEats, foreign strength and the yield are contributing factors.

Jon Najarian said MCD customers are "upsold" into higher-priced items by the "new electronic boards" that make it "hard to find" the dollar menu.

Doc said he likes JACK and SONC in the space. Josh said, "There are a lot of names in this group that look like McDonald's."

PYPL up about 8% since Ira Sohn champ called it a short a month ago

In an iffy conversation that really settled little, Jeff Kilburg on Thursday's Halftime Report said he thinks there's support for crude at 48, that it's the bottom of the range. Jim Iuorio said he's still looking at 42.

Jon Najarian noted that NBR has slid since he mentioned the popular July 11 calls a week or so ago but said he's still in them, though he noted some buyer rolled down from 11s to 9s.

Doc said someone's aggressively buying June 10 calls in OAS. He said he'll probably be in for 2 weeks.

He also noted the gains in casino stocks.

Josh Brown said if you're long EXPR, what do you expect; "it's one of the ugliest charts I've ever seen in a sector that's known for ugly charts."

Joe Terranova said he's thinking about getting back in PANW, a name he used to mention often, but "the guidance wasn't that strong." He's in FTNT.

Erin Browne likes XLI.

Doc said DG beat and was holding onto gains.

Doc said he's going to stay long LULU calls into earnings and he was mulling whether to sell puts. After deadline, that decision looked awesome. (This review was posted after market hours.)

Erin Browne called small caps "underowned."

Josh Brown trumpeted the EFA as illustrating the global stock market rally.

Josh's final trade was SCHW. Joe said he added to PKI. Doc said he got long CBI during the show because of upside call buying. Erin Browne touted EWJ.

Jon Najarian noted that GM went up a dollar and a half since the lawsuit last week. Phil LeBeau told guest host Judge on the 5 p.m. Fast Money, "We're past peak auto."

Intel chief: Driverless cars won’t stop ‘way too early’ in traffic like human drivers do

Sitting down with Jon Fortt during Thursday's Halftime Report, Intel chief Brian Krzanich said something curious.

Krzanich said there are studies that show that if just 25% of the cars on the road are driverless, "the amount of traffic congestion will drop because the number of people who are stopping way too early, you know, at the car in front of them and causing you know, the next car to stop early, just that kind of chain reaction process, drops. So you'll get to work faster."

Seriously? The argument for driverless cars is that they won't slow down in heavy traffic as much as cars with drivers?

One definitely valid argument is that driverless cars won't slow down to view accident scenes and cause "gapers delays."

But the notion of less slowing among only 25% of the cars on the road getting you to work faster doesn't seem to hold water.

Then there was this: "You're not gonna be searching for parking as much because the cars will tell you where the parking is. Or, you know, you'll not, not, eventually not have to park the car, just tell it to go drive home."

So here we have cars that otherwise would be in a parking garage but now are on the highway with everyone else who's actually trying to get somewhere. And our commute times are going to shrink?

Krzanich said car cameras will help in searches and surveillance. He said climate change is a "real issue" the U.S. can't "avoid." He also assured Fortt it's right to think of INTC as a "data company."

Much more from Thursday's Halftime, including a great chat with Dick Bove on banks, later.

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