Oil Spikes On Latest Mideast Developments… And Opportunity In The Volatility 5/4/26

Summary

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CNBC's "Fast Money" — Episode Summary

Episode Title: Oil Spikes On Latest Mideast Developments… And Opportunity In The Volatility
Date: May 4, 2026
Host: Melissa Lee
Panel: Karen Feiderman, Tim Seymour, Carter Braxton Worth
Special Guests: Megan Casella, James Castillas (Charles Schwab), Kate Rooney, Seema Modi, Katie Koch (TCW Group), Wendy Feinerman

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Main Theme / Purpose

This episode centers around the global energy market's dramatic reaction to escalating Middle East tensions, with a specific focus on how oil and gas price spikes are rippling through financial markets. The panel breaks down how the volatility provides both risk and opportunity, explores the resilience of U.S. consumers and retail investors, evaluates recent corporate moves by giants like Amazon and GameStop, and brings in special guests to offer insights on private credit, AI regulation, and the movie business rebound.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Energy Price Surge amid Middle East Conflict

Timestamps: 00:59 - 10:18

• Market Reaction: WTI crude jumps 4%; Brent hits highs not seen since March; U.S. gas averages $4.46/gallon, diesel $5.50/gallon, both multi-year highs ([00:59], [03:34]).
• Geopolitical Catalysts: UAE intercepts Iranian missiles; Iranian attack on US warship; UAE threats of severe retaliation heighten market nervousness ([02:16] - White House correspondent Megan Casella).
• Equity and Bond Market Impact:
  • Tim Seymour: “Our bond markets [are] picking up what equity markets don't want… We’re in a situation where you definitely have concern and bond markets are pricing this in.” ([03:55])
  • Higher for Longer on Oil: Suggests oil prices will “continue to set new closing highs” and “that’s higher for longer” ([04:32]).
  • Volatility: Despite recent low volatility (VIX at 16), panelists foresee higher risk ahead ([05:58]).
• Panelist Concerns:
  • Karen Feiderman: Wonders whether the renewed conflict resets the 60-day War Powers clock in Congress, possibly requiring action ([05:17]).
  • Carter Worth: Notes that although energy is the only sector up, the response in big oil stocks was “fairly muted” and tension in markets is palpable ([07:32]).

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2. Retail Trader Sentiment and Engagement

Timestamps: 10:18 - 15:01

• Guest: James Castillas, Head of Trading Services at Charles Schwab
• Key Findings:
  • “Bullishness is waning, but confidence is still up. We’re seeing super high levels of engagement from retail.” ([10:42])
  • Retail investors are “buying the dip, selling the rip,” exercising risk management ([10:42]).
  • Shift away from full-tech focus: moving into metals, energy, and defensive sectors like utilities and consumer staples ([11:57]).
  • Despite high oil prices, trading activity has not slowed: “Trading has continued to go up… people are trading more because of opportunities… not not trading because gas prices are higher.” ([14:33])
• Risk Management: Trades are smaller, more covered calls and put strategies; margin use moderate compared to the go-go bull runs ([12:48]).
• Cash Balances: “Retail investors have a lot of dry powder and they are deploying it… selectively and intelligently.” ([13:48])

Memorable Moment:

• Tim Seymour on retail: “Buy the dip, sell the rips. This is what guys that are getting 2 and 20 are paid to do… I salute.” ([15:10])

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3. Washington Eyes New AI Model Oversight

Timestamps: 16:07 - 19:57

• Reporter: Kate Rooney
• The Biden administration is considering vetting new AI models before release, possibly via an executive order ([16:21]).
• Cites security worries after Mythos model’s surprise capabilities in cybersecurity.
• Government wants more partnership with industry; balancing not stifling innovation and not risking national/cybersecurity issues ([18:05]).
• Panel Reaction:
  • Karen Feiderman: Uncertain how disagreements or process would work logistically ([19:08]).
  • Tim Seymour: “It's a little ironic that we're referencing China because this feels a little bit Chinese. I mean, can we vet the AI model and make sure it fits the state?” ([19:25], [19:34])
  • Panel acknowledges need for some oversight, but worries about overreach and stifling progress ([19:38]).

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4. Amazon Opens Its Logistics Platform

Timestamps: 21:47 - 25:02

• Amazon launching “Supply Chain Services,” letting outside firms like P&G, 3M, American Eagle use its expansive logistics infrastructure ([21:47]).
• Transport Stocks Plunge: UPS and FedEx both drop sharply on fears of lost business ([22:55]).
• Panel Reactions:
  • Karen Feiderman: “They're an enormous competitor... One thing about Amazon, they know how to scale in a huge way” ([22:55]).
  • Carter Worth: “Dropping and gapping in both stocks, news related or not, is a negative… If one at a minimum is long, one should take measures.” ([24:24])

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5. Palantir Earnings: Strong Results but Tepid Stock Response

Timestamps: 26:56 - 31:09

• Report by: Seema Modi
• Palantir beats top and bottom line estimates; raises guidance but stock barely moves ([26:56]).
• CEO Alex Karp:
  • “We have more free cash flow this year than revenue last year and with the war ongoing, it’s incredibly busy... I just am in the trenches here building Palantir.” ([27:14])
  • Believes the “market is often off by six to eight months… I don’t think there will be a disconnect very much longer.”
  • Called large language models "commodities" and emphasized Palantir is “agnostic” to models ([28:33]).
• Commercial Revenue: Up 133% YoY, but slightly missed street estimates ([28:27]).
• Analyst Takes:
  • Tim Seymour: “Quarter was actually excellent… analyst and the market are more pivoted towards commercial growth.” ([29:00])
  • Karen Feiderman: “Just on valuation, too expensive for me.” ([29:40])
  • Carter Worth: On risk: “With great reward comes great risk… structurally, is this a bullish-to-bearish reversal sell? …If I were long, I would trim eggs altogether. Sell calls, take some measures.” ([30:10])

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6. Private Credit & Credit Market Opportunities (Milken Global Conference Segment)

Timestamps: 32:15 - 39:27

• Interview with: Katie Koch, CEO of TCW Group
• On Private Credit:
  • “A lot of money was being put to work. There was a lack of discipline and we did get sector concentration. That's probably not something we want in leveraged finance. …Maintain discipline and… better portfolio.” ([33:21])
  • No software exposure; seeing a “huge amount of demand in the distressed space… Managers who maintained discipline should do well.” ([34:25], [35:10])
  • “There is tremendous opportunity here because you’re going to get better terms at better returns.” ([34:28])
• On Broader Markets:
  • Equity risk premiums “should give people some pause… being active and selective important there.” Bonds: overweight agency MBS, underweight credit, waiting for dislocations ([36:16]).
• Panel Takeaway:
  • Karen Feiderman: “I'm long private credit… All of those are good things.” ([38:53])
  • Tim Seymour: Notes that this is a time for opportunistic buys in private credit; “charts are interesting” in the big alternative asset managers ([38:55]).

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7. Box Office Rebound: "Devil Wears Prada 2"

Timestamps: 40:38 - 47:04

• Guest: Wendy Feinerman, Oscar-winning film producer
• “Devil Wears Prada 2” opens to $234 million worldwide, the biggest for a non-blockbuster in a decade ([40:38]).
• Trends:
  • Theaters hosting themed events; older and new fans returning
  • “We need to escape… Just want to be having a good time.” ([42:33])
  • “It’s the first time over a decade where a movie like this has started the summer season.” ([41:53])
• Industry Headwinds:
  • Pandemic, strikes, consolidation and shrinking studio pipelines; “most challenging [industry environment] I’ve ever seen.” ([43:47])
• On Disney (Distributor):
  • “Never in my life have I seen a machine… the amount of financial support and advertising support that Disney commands is 200% better than anybody else… They are just fantastic.” ([45:35])

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8. GameStop’s Bid for eBay

Timestamps: 47:18 - 49:24

• Deal Details: GME launches unsolicited $56bn bid for eBay—over 5x GameStop's own market value ([47:18]).
• Cautious Reception:
  • Karen Feiderman: “I… think he needs to come out with more details… That was one of the more curious interviews I've seen ever.” ([47:47])
  • Tim Seymour: “How much stock is such an open issue here… This doesn't make the foundation of eBay's platform look any different than it did the day before. So nothing to do.” ([48:29])
  • Carter Worth: “We can always issue shares. It's a bit flippant… Of the two [stocks], I'd say stay on the sidelines for all of this.” ([49:09])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Megan Casella on the White House: “The White House today did not respond to any questions as to whether the US considered any of this a violation of that cease fire.” ([02:16])
• Tim Seymour on energy risk: “You can't just say no big deal. And when the energy companies themselves are telling us you haven't seen nothing yet.” ([03:55])
• James Castillas (Schwab) on retail engagement: “Bullishness is absolutely waning, but confidence is still up… buying the dip, selling the rip.” ([10:42])
• Tim Seymour on AI oversight: “It's a little ironic that we're referencing China because this feels a little bit Chinese. I mean, can we vet the AI model and make sure it fits the state?” ([19:25])
• Wendy Feinerman: “We are giving people some relief… You want to walk away and feel enlightened and better and not feel worse and just be a little happy.” ([42:33])
• Katie Koch (TCW Group): “There is tremendous opportunity here because you’re going to get better terms at better returns… an opportunity to buy.” ([34:28])
• Karen Feiderman on GameStop's deal: “I don't agree that he said it's in the document. It's not… That was one of the more curious interviews I've seen ever.” ([47:47])

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Investment Calls and Final Trades

Timestamps: 49:42 – 50:19

• Carter Worth: “I like Apple here. After gapping up on earnings, it's filled that gap. Buy Apple.” ([49:42])
• Karen Feiderman: “I want to buy some protection because I'm always on—buying some spider puts.” ([49:51])
• Tim Seymour: “Disney. Nice to hear how the global prowess in the machine as Wendy talked about, but they report tomorrow. I'm a shareholder.” ([50:09])

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Episode Flow and Tone

• Energetic, fast-paced, practical: As always, the tone is lively, direct, and highly actionable, with traders offering quick, digestible insights and banter—mixing deep-dive segments with coverage of the day's moving headlines.
• Balanced perspectives: Both risks and opportunities were covered in energy markets, retail trading, tech, and even Hollywood.
• Humor and warmth: The panel takes occasional light-hearted jabs (noting May 4th and Star Wars references) and celebrates guest achievements (applauding Wendy Feinerman).

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For Those Who Missed It

This episode of Fast Money offered critical context on oil’s rally and the ripple effects through markets—bonds, stocks, transports, retail, and even Hollywood. The panel dissected why volatility is back, how retail investors are tactically adapting, and why some sectors (like private credit and select tech) may offer smart opportunities even in periods of uncertainty. Bonus: interviews from the Milken Conference and an in-studio Hollywood guest reveal how investing and pop culture intertwine in a volatile world.

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For more actionable news and breakdowns, stream Fast Money weeknights at 5p ET on CNBC or visit cnbc.com/fast-money.

Transcript

[Schwab Representative]

Trading at Schwab is powered by Ameritrade, giving you even more specialized support than ever before. Like access to the trade desk. Our team of passionate traders ready to tackle anything from the most complex trading questions to a simple strategy. Gut check. Need assistance? No problem. Get 24. 7 professional answers and live help and access support by phone, email and in platform chat. That's how Schwab is here for you to help you trade brilliantly. Learn [e-mail] trading before we had ATT business wireless coverage, our delivery GPS wasn't the most reliable. Once our driver had to do a

[Tim Seymour]

14 point turn to get back on route.

[Melissa Lee]

A 14 point turn. An influencer even live streamed the whole thing.

[Carter Braxton Worth]

Not good for business.

[Schwab Representative]

Now with AT&T business Wireless, routes are updating on the fly and deliveries are on time.

[Karen Feiderman]

And the influencer did get us 53 new followers though.

[Tim Seymour]

AT&T business Wireless Connecting changes everything.

[Melissa Lee]

Live from the NASDAQ marketsite in the heart of New York City's Times Square, this is fast money. Here's what's on tap tonight. Pain at the pump, energy prices spiking and gas hitting levels not seen in nearly four years. How the conflict in the Middle east is weighing on markets and what it means for consumers. Plus, Amazon takes a big bite out of transport companies. Bitcoin hits three month highs. But GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen had to say about his bid for ebay and it was a big haul at the box office for haute couture and high drama. We'll talk to the producer of the Devil Wears Prada. To Karen, Karen's own sister, Wendy Feiderman. The dish on opening weekend and what it means for the movie business this year. I'm Melissa Lee, come to you live from Studio B at the nasdaq. On the desk tonight, Karen Feiderman, Tim Seymour and Carter Braxton Worth. We start off with that massive move in energy prices as tensions in the Middle east flare again. WTI crude jumping more than 4% while Brent hit its highest level since mid March. Gas prices meantime, soared to their highest since July 2022. The average cost of a gallon of diesel now stands at nearly five and a half dollars, almost two dol than it was a year ago. That's according to aaa. All this after the UAE said it has intercepted a number of missiles fired from Iran. There were also reports of an Iranian attack on a US warship. For the latest developments out of the region, let's bring in Megan Casella who's at the White House.

[Megan Casella]

Megan, Melissa, some real escalation in the region today and real questions about what the status of the ceasefire is after attacks were reported in the UAE and in the Strait of Hormuz. So President Trump about mid afternoon confirming that Iran had taken some shots at unrelated nations, including a South Korean ship. This came after he announced last night that the US Will be helping guide neutral ships through the Strait of Hormuz. The president said the US had in exchange shot down seven small Iranian boats, but that other than the South Korean ship, there had been no other damage going through the strait. So that served to sort of downplay tensions over activity in the strait. But separately, the UAE also reporting today, as you mentioned, it had intercepted missiles fired from Iran and that its air defense systems were fending off Iranian attacks of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and of drones. It was the first time the UAE activated its missile alert system since the cease fire was struck just a little under a month ago, April 8th. That took effect. Now the White House today did not respond to any questions as to whether the US Considered any of this a violation of that cease fire. And President Trump did not address that in his post or in a public appearance. He just wrapped up. But Emirati officials did tell our colleagues at MSNOW that it was preparing a severe retaliatory response toward Iran. The biggest question for now, though, is whether the US Will look to respond as well. Melissa?

[Melissa Lee]

Megan, thank you. Megan Casella, we cited the rise in the price of diesel compared to a year ago. It is worth noting to Triple A says the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States is $4.46. And I know we say, oh, the U.S. consumer is not as dependent on the price of gasoline, the price of energy, etc. At the same time, yields care because yields are moving higher along.

[Tim Seymour]

I was going to say our bond markets picking up what equity markets don't want and equity markets will pick up with the bond market market's doing. And so I understand, and Carter's going to rightly point out that we've been in a trading range for a long time, but this is the top end of the trading range. And there's no question to me that we're in a situation where you definitely have concern and bond markets are pricing this in. We've seen the correlation between oil prices and bond yields. You can make an argument these are highest gas prices ever, highest gas prices ever, outside of, you know, a small period in 22. This is a case where you can't just say no big deal. And when the energy companies themselves are telling us you haven't seen nothing yet.

[Melissa Lee]

Right.

[Tim Seymour]

And. And supposedly ushering a couple ships through the straits is exactly what's triggering Absolutely not a cease fire. So equities are doing a fantastic job because we've had an even better than expected earnings season. You've had mega cap tech stocks lead the way. It brings up the indices. It erases a lot of bad news that we've seen all, we had seen all last fall. But it's hard to feel like we've made any progress. Oil prices continue to set new closing highs and we know that that's higher for longer.

[Melissa Lee]

I mean 1 of 5 on WT is pretty close to the Iran conflict era high on wti. So even though equity markets want to believe that the end is closer, the oil markets are not telling us that.

[Karen Feiderman]

Right.

[Melissa Lee]

At this point.

[Karen Feiderman]

Well also this sort of makes you wonder, I don't know what you would call this skirmishes or not. Does that get the issue of whether or not this, this war needs to go before Congress again? You know, we're on this 60 day clock, but if we're at a stalemate, they're sort of using the ceasefire stalemate as a timeout.

[Melissa Lee]

Right, right.

[Karen Feiderman]

Does that, I don't understand how it works actually. Does that restart the clock? Does this then become an issue for Congress? I don't know. But I wonder if that is sort of. That's the language we hear is very, you know, I mean these calm. I don't know if that's what that's about. I don't know. But I mean the move in oil is, is real.

[Melissa Lee]

Yeah. Right.

[Karen Feiderman]

So I know Tim's point you were talking about. A lot has been made about energy as a part of the overall spend now is much smaller. But the market has ignored it until now. The VIX we had a 16 handle on Friday. This, I feel like this is a short term pause we've had. We've made a. Just a huge, huge run up. Volatility has come way down and yet oil is high and still things could go wrong. I'm getting a little, a little more defensive. I'm always long though things go terrible.

[Melissa Lee]

I'll be long oil higher relatively. Yields are at the top end of the range and we're already through the bulk of earnings season. So the catalysts on the horizon are kind of limited.

[Tim Seymour]

That's this point. Look, we've gotten extraordinary numbers and the equity market is now. In fact, if you listen to Mike Wilson over at Morgan Stanley, I hear, you know, they've kind of raised 26 by another 3%. They've raised the 12 month rolling by another 4%. I mean you have a dynamic here where as we've said the market multiple may be coming down a little bit as it, you know, it's certainly not going back to the old highs because earnings are supporting this. I find it hard to believe also and I look at the impact even on some of the copper companies. So Freeport Southern, Southern Copper, I mean these stocks are down 20% in 10 sessions. So there's certain parts of this that should be performing. In other words, you would think materials overall would be rallying aggressively. Obviously gold is selling off on the other side of this. So I think there is growth concern on the other side somewhere.

[Melissa Lee]

Carter, what's your, what's your take on all this? And especially you know, yields being at the top end of that range that you talk about.

[Carter Braxton Worth]

Yeah, you can, you can feel the tension even though not much has happened, how it could quickly sort of get out of control. I mean a couple of things stood out in my mind basically. One of course the move in energy you would think would be a lot more. I mean it's obviously only sector that's up on the day but big names like exxon up maybe 50, 60 basis points. Schlumberger down, Baker Hughes down second biggest in the oih. So fairly muted response to the one area that is the most sensitive obviously to the move in crude and to the point about yields. I mean we continue to just be here but as you in your question and Tim pointing out earlier we, we are at the top of the range where it wouldn't take much to sort of set the apple cart in the wrong direction and get you, I mean put it this way, the market is not ready Id believe and I think most would agree with getting into the five and a half and higher yield zone for the, for the 10 year certain. And we're not there yet but it

[Melissa Lee]

wouldn't take much and the 30 years above five.

[Carter Braxton Worth]

Well yes, 30 years, that's yeah, sure.

[Tim Seymour]

And we have a, we have treasury refunding this week so we were going to hear more. There was a time, you know, a year ago really a year and a half ago especially when there was a lot of pressure on the treasury market because of just concerns around Liberation Day that the, those TRA announcements were a big deal and I think the size of what needs to be refunded, we shan't, we should not lose sight of that.

[Karen Feiderman]

I think to that point there they're going on the short end.

[Melissa Lee]

Right, right.

[Karen Feiderman]

Yeah.

[Tim Seymour]

As much as they can.

[Karen Feiderman]

As much as they can. Right. Yeah, I know it's, it's temporary band aid. Many administrations of, you know, of either party have done that. I think that's what we'll see.

[Melissa Lee]

Yeah. But it feels at this point like the markets want to believe that I could be the south for them. I mean it could be the real driver could paper over any sort of weakness.

[Karen Feiderman]

It was the south look at. I mean it was enormous and it

[Melissa Lee]

still is with the S&P570,200. But at some point, you know, you have to look through like the sort of papering over sort of the slower areas of growth. And if you took AI away, right, what GDP growth would actually be, what Capex spending would actually be, it'd be a much different picture.

[Karen Feiderman]

I think we're going to start to see that picture. May is a month. We see a lot of retailers report.

[Melissa Lee]

Yes.

[Karen Feiderman]

And we haven't seen that yet. And I think sadly we're going to have some trouble there.

[Tim Seymour]

I just think on a day like today, let's, let's not forget where we closed on Friday. And this is a 21% move on the NASDAQ, a 21% move off the bottom and in 32 sessions or something like that, all time highs, all time highs, people didn't expect. So with fantastic earnings and not an economic impact. And I know we want to all call that, that Armageddon that will come with higher oil prices. But right now we're all we're hearing from everyone is, is that their businesses are strong.

[Melissa Lee]

That's true. For more on how retail traders are navigating the market volatility, Charles Schwab's head of trading services, James Castillas, joins us now. James, great to have you with us. What is the pulse at this point of the retail investor? I mean, I know that you had a recent survey out and it showed that investors are getting less bullish, but that was through the end of March and it feels like a lot has changed since the end of March. And so what is sort of your on the ground like the current pulse?

[James Castillas]

Yeah, it certainly has. I think bullishness is absolutely waning, but confidence is still up. And I think what we're seeing is super high levels of engagement from retail as well. So last quarter, you know, 10 million plus trade, today, another quarter of a million plus new accounts and over 550 million digital logins. So the bullishness is waning. Historically that would have meant engagement was waning. Also, but we're not seeing any signs of engagement slowing down from retail clients. And there are also feeling confident, more confident this quarter than they were last quarter in their decisions. And that seemingly antithetical historically in a bearish market, retail technically gets less confident. But I think they're, they're doing a lot with buying the dip and they're doing a lot with selling the rip. That doesn't get, I don't think as much conversation as the buying the rip piece does. And so they're, they're taking risk off the table when things are moving up.

[Melissa Lee]

How do you measure confidence? Is that just through survey work or is that by size of the trade or.

[James Castillas]

So we do both. We do confidence work through a sentiment survey and then we have the Schwab Trading Activity Index that measures their actual trading activity and that looks at size of trades, that looks at leverage they may be using to place trades. That looks at all of it.

[Karen Feiderman]

Have you seen their focus Change away from Mag7 and where is it now?

[James Castillas]

Yeah, so I think retail is moving sort of sector by sector. So it was all tech all the time, forever. You're still going to see the Mag Sevens is the most traded both on the sell side and on the buy side. But we've seen migrations into metals, we've seen migrations into energy, we've seen some migrations into retail. And so as people have gotten a little bit more defensive, they've moved a little bit more into utilities and into consumer staples as well.

[Tim Seymour]

James, how about the size of the consumer of the retail traders balance sheet? So we talk about this in the hedge fund community all the time and not to over, kind of get, get technical on it, but using leverage, using margin, sometimes it can really drift higher. In bullish markets, people kind of forget about that and suddenly a little bit of leverage goes a long way and accentuates downside. And it sounds like a group that largely has fared well and is feeling relatively confident here. What's the size of the retail traders balance sheet right now?

[James Castillas]

Yeah, we are seeing more trading, but we are seeing smaller trades. Notional values are down in the derivatives space. Contracts per trade is down a little bit. And in talking to our clients, they're saying, listen, I want to be active in this market, I want to be engaged, but I don't want to go too big on any one position or too big on any one strateg strategy. We're also seeing a lot of risk off strategies as well. So we're seeing a lot of covered calls. We're seeing a lot of maybe put buying to ultimately, or I'm sorry, put selling to ultimately want to get into a position that may be a little bit of a lower price, but without committing the full amount upfront. And a lot of the rise we see sort of overall in the margin book, a lot of that is in the hedge, long, short space. So not the big sort of increase in overall leverage that we saw maybe since back in Liberation Day in April.

[Melissa Lee]

What are you seeing in cash balances? I mean, we hear, I hear at least a lot that the reason why the markets can go higher is because there's so much cash on the sidelines, including from the retail investor. Is that what you're seeing?

[James Castillas]

Retail investors have a lot of dry powder and they are deploying it though selectively and I think intelligently. If you think about certain things like using options as stock replacement strategies, that's going to obviously conserve a cash position. And then we see clients who are, you know, still have decent sized cash positions and what we would call investing cash and purchase money funds, sort of maybe waiting for the market to come down a bit. Obviously, you know, three weeks in a row, all time highs in the S and P, probably a little bit more cash deployed. And then we'll say once it gets to where they perceive to be the top, you'll see some selling and then maybe some, some cash holdings for a little while.

[Melissa Lee]

Do you notice any sort of correlation or relationship with rising energy prices and the amount of trading?

[James Castillas]

You would think there would probably be a negative correlation. Obviously we've seen since the conflict in the Middle East a huge spike in energy prices and trading has continued to go up. So it actually, I mean the beta would be high. I don't think it's actually a true correlation. I think people are trading more because of opportunities that they see in the markets, but they're not not trading because gas prices are higher.

[Melissa Lee]

All right, James, be interesting to see what they say in about a month.

[James Castillas]

Amen.

[Melissa Lee]

James Castillas of Schwab. Interesting read there. In terms of getting more conservative. I mean, as this conflict goes on. Yeah, I'm not surprised when I hear

[Tim Seymour]

buy the dip, sell the rips. You know, this is what guys that are getting 2 and 20 are paid to do. And no, I salute. And as we've said, we've seen a retail trader community and a retail investor community that, that is so different in terms of their approach to having patience and being well informed and doing the work. They're not only watching fast money but they don't feel like they have to move on big times out there. And so I think energy stocks for the reasons that the fundamentals that we just talked about in the higher for longer, they were better run coming into this. I think retail wants to own more energy and I think they realize that they've been underweight.

[Karen Feiderman]

You know, one thing is interesting. He was talking about the retail trader there. I was thinking about Robinhood.

[Melissa Lee]

Yeah.

[Karen Feiderman]

And they showed a decline or lower than that. Guess the street expectations were. And I wonder if that. I would have thought he would see that as well. But now different. It's a different.

[Melissa Lee]

Different customer base.

[Karen Feiderman]

It is a different customer base, yes.

[Melissa Lee]

Meantime, the White House looking at potential new checks on AI. Kate Rooney confirms the administration is considering vetting new models before they are released. Kate's got more on that. I don't know how that would work. It's interesting plan, Kate. Yeah.

[Kate Rooney]

Now that's what I'm hearing at least from a source close to this situation. The US Government, from what I'm hearing again is considering a new working group on AI so it would bring together tech executives, government officials to look into possible procedures for releasing some of the most powerful AI models. One plan being floated is a formal review process or a possible executive order. New York Times was first to report these details today. The White a White House official, I should say telling CNBC that any policy announcement will come directly from the president. That's any discussion about potential executive orders is speculation. I did also reach out to OpenAI and Anthropic. No comment yet, guys. And one person that I did talk to said it is part of a move by the White House to try and get more visibility in advance of some of these models being released, especially for the most capable models. We think about what's gone on with Mythos and the capabilities in cybersecurity. I'm also told the government has been strongly encouraging some of these tech companies and AI labs to participate in these types of partnerships with the U.S. i mentioned mythos. That has really caught the attention of the US government and CEOs out there for its cybersecurity capabilities. Another headline just crossing mail that I do want to bring you. The Wall Street Journal now reporting that Anthropic speaking of Mythos and the payment giant FIS are now building an AI agent to help banks police financial crimes. That is the latest AI banking partnership to develop some new tools for Wall Street. Mel, I think FIS shares, if I'm not mistaken, were higher on that news.

[Melissa Lee]

Back over to you very Interesting. Kate, just going back to Mythos, I mean, is the thinking perhaps there that they would have caught Mythos in some way, that they. I mean, what is the plan?

[Kate Rooney]

If.

[Melissa Lee]

If something doesn't pass the vetting, would they. Would they throttle the model and would they limit the capabilities? I mean, it's puzzling to me.

[Megan Casella]

Yeah.

[Kate Rooney]

Reading between the lines, Mel. And this is one person who's confirming that it is happening. And some of the details, I think, are still sparse. A lot of the reporting from the Times is coming out of Washington, D.C. but the. The idea here is that Mythos was released to a small group of people. Going forward, they want visibility, they want a heads up and to be able to give it the thumbs up to go out there. But, you know, you have to think of, you know, there's the government side and there's the technical side and the people that are releasing this, they would have to come to an agreement. The issue here is speed. You know, one of the sort of specters in this entire industry has been China and the risk from China and wanting to keep ahead. And so the US Government has said repeatedly, we don't want to lose to China. We want to make sure we're not hampering innovation and that we're able to let these companies move quickly. But at the same time, they don't want a big cybersecurity issue on their hands. They want to make sure they're not actually letting things out in the public. They're dangerous. So it's a fine line. And I think that is still very much being worked out from what I'm hearing.

[Melissa Lee]

Mel. Yeah, that's a tough balance, Kate. Thanks. Kate Rooney. I don't know, Karen, what do you make of that?

[Karen Feiderman]

I mean, I don't know. I feel like something could go wrong. Yeah. You know, and what if there's disagreement? You know, does everyone have to agree before you could send something out? I don't know. Well, and logistically how that would work.

[Tim Seymour]

It's a little ironic that we're referencing China because this feels a little bit Chinese. I mean, you know, can we vet the AI model and make sure it fits the state?

[Melissa Lee]

And what if it doesn't?

[Tim Seymour]

And if it doesn't, we'll.

[Melissa Lee]

We'll.

[Tim Seymour]

We'll make sure that.

[Karen Feiderman]

I guess.

[Tim Seymour]

I don't know. I don't know. It's concerning. And I think we all recognize we're in a new era where there could be a need to police financial crime activity and the computers are going to be a step ahead of of of the cyber. But this is a place where how much regulation is too much regulation? I don't know.

[Melissa Lee]

Coming up, all the after hours action, the details and numbers moving Palantir, Paramount, Pinterest and more. But first, a supply chain drain for the transport trade. How Amazon is expanding its logistics network and why it's weighing on names like UPS and FedEx. Do not go anywhere. Fast money's back into

[Schwab Representative]

trading at Schwab is powered by Ameritrade, giving you even more specialized support than ever before. Like access to the trade desk. Our team of passionate traders ready to tackle anything from the most complex trading questions to a simple strategy gut check. Need assistance? No problem. Get 24. 7 professional answers and live help and access support by phone, email and in platform chat. That's how Schwab is here for you to help you trade brilliantly. Learn [e-mail] trading men are struggling with

[Carter Braxton Worth]

their mental health at some of the highest rates we've ever seen. But most aren't getting the support they need. And that needs to change. I'm Dr. Guy Winch, your host for season three

[Schwab Representative]

of the Visibility Gap, presented by Cigna Healthcare.

[Carter Braxton Worth]

This season we're focusing on men's mental health, bringing together real stories and expert insight to explore the pressures men face every day and why opening up can feel so difficult. Join us for the new season wherever you stream your podcasts.

[Melissa Lee]

Not every sale happens at the register. Before AT&T business Wireless, checking out customers on our mobile POS systems took too long.

[Kate Rooney]

Basically a staring contest where everyone loses.

[Melissa Lee]

It's crazy what people say during an awkward silence.

[Kate Rooney]

Now transactions are done before the silence takes hold.

[Melissa Lee]

That means I can focus on the task at hand and make an extra sail or two.

[Kate Rooney]

Sometimes I do miss the bonding time.

[Melissa Lee]

Sometimes.

[Tim Seymour]

AT&T business Wireless connecting changes everything.

[Melissa Lee]

Welcome back to fast money. UPS and FedEx plunging today after Amazon announced it will open up its supply chain and logistics networks to other businesses via Amazon Supply Chain Services. The new initiative has already inked deals with names like Procter Gamble, 3M, American Eagle Outfitters and more. Those companies will now have access to Amazon's 100 plus cargo planes and its massive network of warehouses. Excuse me. Andy Jassy speaking to her Jim Cramer earlier today

[Karen Feiderman]

saying transports aren't the only

[Tim Seymour]

people around the world with no broadband connectivity. And there are many, many thousands of companies and government entities that want visibility into those assets where they can't get them. There's going to be more than one successful company. I mean, they're going to be multiple now I think when we get our Constellation up and we have, you know, about 300 satellites that we've launched with 20 more launches coming this year and 30 more launches coming next year. But when we have our Constellation up, there really going to only be two companies with this leading edge technology.

[Melissa Lee]

So how bad is it? Is it as bad as the declines in UPS and FedEx?

[Karen Feiderman]

I think it is. I mean you do. I'm trying to think what, you know, what are some bad headlines you could wake up to. This would be one of them. If you're, if you're the CEO of either FedEx or UPS, they're an enormous competitor. You know it's, it's, I think there could be a lot more to it. It's interesting as an Amazon shareholder, you know the retail business, logistics business is sort of a sideshow now relative to us. But this is an enormous, enormous business. And one thing about Amazon, they know how to scale in a huge way. So I don't own FedEx or UPS. I wouldn't start today.

[Tim Seymour]

It's not the headline you want to hear especially at a time when you, you know, FedEx and you. UPS have been about margin accretion, UPS especially, they're not going to spend the way Amazon has and will and you know, Amazon's already devoted a ton of capex and focus on this. This is what Amazon does. So while we've been getting used to UPS actually moving on in a world without Amazon to their benefit ultimately, although it's been part of I think a reassessment, I, you know the other part about today in the transport space though, it's not just this headline, it's, it's what's going on with energy prices. It's, there's no question, I mean obviously the airline component of the transport index don't like it. The Rails had an incredible earnings season for the most part and I think some of this is just a little bit of a give back. So, so let's, you know, overall the group I think had reasons to be selling off as well.

[Melissa Lee]

Carter, I don't know if you want to take from the transport side or the Amazon side.

[Carter Braxton Worth]

We'll try to tackle all of it but I mean the main subject being these two that are under pressure based on prospective news and change in the landscape. UPS has been obviously the one that's been the idiosyncratic problem obviously down some 60% from its highs of two years ago and not much above its own Covid low which is quite remarkable. FedEx different story, but either way I think one has to and this is always the idea to respect price action. The dropping and gapping in both stocks, news related or not, is a negative. They're dropping and gapping on very heavy volume and if one at a minimum is long, one should take measures.

[Melissa Lee]

All right, and catch Jim's full exclusive interview with Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. Mad Money at the top of the hour. Coming up, shares a Palantir on the move after reporting the details and numbers out of the latest quarter. Next watching Fast Money live in the NASDAQ Markets site in Times Square. Back right after this.

[Schwab Representative]

Trading at Schwab is powered by Ameritrade, giving you even more specialized support than ever before, like access to the trade desk. Our team of passionate traders ready to tackle anything from the most complex trading questions to a simple strategy. Gut check. Need assistance? No problem. Get 24. 7 professional answers and live help and access support by phone, email and in platform chat. That's how Schwab is here for you to help you trade brilliantly. Learn [e-mail] trading start the spring season

[Tim Seymour]

off right with a new pair of Tocovas Western boots. Handcrafted in over 200 steps from genuine leather, they're built to last and feel broken in the moment you put them on. From cowhide to exotic leathers, Tecovas blends timeless style with all day comfort. Pair them with premium denim Western shirts and accessories for an effortless, polished look. Shop quality Western goods in store or [e-mail] not every sale happens at the

[Melissa Lee]

register before AT&T business Wireless. Checking out customers on our mobile POS

[Kate Rooney]

systems took too long.

[Melissa Lee]

Basically a staring contest where everyone loses. It's crazy what people will say during an awkward silence.

[Kate Rooney]

Now transactions are done before the silence takes hold.

[Melissa Lee]

That means I can focus on the task at hand and make an extra sailor too. Sometimes I do miss the bonding time.

[Tim Seymour]

Sometimes AT&T business Wireless Connecting Changes Everything.

[Melissa Lee]

Welcome back to Fast Money Earnings Alert on Palantir, the software stock beating top and bottom line estimates. Shares, though, are up just barely. That's call kicked off at the top of the hour. Seeming Modi joins us here on set with the very latest almost a head scratcher, how little the stock is moving given its history of moving big and given the report, it really is.

[Seema Modi]

Melissa, We've been on the call and what's clear is that as the Department of Defense continues to lean into technology, Palantir is emerging as a clear winner. And that's clear from the company's guidance raise Alex Karp telling CNBC he plans to grow sales 100% next year and that the company is doing it with less people, adding, we have more free cash flow this year than revenue last year and with the war ongoing, it's incredibly busy. Karp sharing quote I just am in the trenches here building Palantir. I barely go out now. As to why the stock perhaps is not fully reflecting Palantir's growth story. Karp said the market is often off by six to eight months. It's not off by six to eight years, adding, quote I don't think there will be a disconnect very much longer. He also went on to talk about the large language models, calling them commodities and said Palantir remains agnostic and that it can plug and play any in and out of its platform. He adds, though we are not agnostic to leaving soldiers on the battlefield, we will use whatever technology is available. We've been watching shares move just fractionally here after hours. Melissa One thing to also mention is while government did grow, commercial also grew by 133% year over year. But the street was expecting 137% year over year growth. So a slight miss on that front.

[Melissa Lee]

He seems to be calling for the stock to go higher though. I mean you read between the lines and that was the message.

[Seema Modi]

Oh, absolutely. That's been one of the challenges for Palantir even going into this report is distinguishing the company from the broader software displacement fears. While it is a company that primarily sells its technology to defense contractors, it is at the end of the day a software company. It is in the IGV software etf. So that key distinction is what the company has been trying to do with this very strong report and these numbers. We'll see if it starts to resonate state.

[Melissa Lee]

Yep. Seema, thank you. Sima Modi, what'd you make of the quarter?

[Tim Seymour]

I think the quarter was was actually excellent. The the commercial growth as Seema pointed out, you know, triple digits and in some sense I think the analyst the market is is more pivoted towards that. We know that the US Government opportunity, the maven deal, usda we're hearing about a couple of these other things that are big, big opportunities. I think they stay as big as always. The thing is I just, I can't chase this one here. What makes me feel best about it is this one actually was and Carter may have a view. The price action during the software route I thought was better than I would have expected for this kind of a high flyer and I think software trades very well over the last couple of days. Look at Oracle.

[Karen Feiderman]

This one is just on valuation. Too expensive for me. I know I could have said that so many, you know, 100 points ago, but I don't know. I still, it's not for good quarter though. Interestingly, the straddle, the 146 straddle at 14 bucks, which is expensive tomorrow for whatever May 8, that would go to zero. That would be a good trade.

[Melissa Lee]

I didn't have that on Carter. Does it look like this one can escape IGB or does it will it trade along with.

[Carter Braxton Worth]

Well, it's surely on its own. I mean with great reward comes great risk. We know that. I mean, just to put it in context, palantir in the 2022 bear market where the S&P dropped 27%, the QS dropped 30, it dropped 87%. We know that in the tariff kerfuffle it lost 46% in a matter of weeks. We know that it's down right now 41% from its highs of October. But it also, one could say it came from 5, 6 on the lows of the bear market three years ago to 200. Meaning, you know, you get sort of what one anticipates when you get something that can win this much. It also has setbacks that are epic and major. The real question structurally, of course, is is this. And the chart really defines it. A bullish two bearish reversal sell. A great and important advance that has lost its way uptrend. No longer. And the question does it have downside risk? That's my hunch. If I were long, I would trim eggs altogether. Sell calls, take some measures.

[Melissa Lee]

Yeah. The conference calls ongoing and the stock is now down by about 1.1%. So it has moved in just the past few minutes. We'll keep an eye on that one. Coming up, the sounds and sights in the Milton Conference in Beverly Hills. We hear from TCW Group CEO Katie Koch about where she sees the market heading next and where she is finding opportunity in the volatility. Fast Money's back into. Welcome back to FAST MONEY Stocks. The losses to kick off the week. The Dow falling 557 points. The S&P down 410 of a percent. The Nasdaq with a small loss down 210 of a percent. Bitcoin breaking above the $80,000 mark for the first time since January after lawmakers reached an agreement on the Clarity Act. New language would preserve stablecoin reward programs if used to incentivize things like trading and staking. And some more after hours action. Shares of Paramount beating estimates on the top of the bottom lines. Pinterest surging after its own earnings beat. Vertex Index Pharma missing revenue estimates on semi topping estimates and posting better than expected guidance. And Duolingo falling as monthly active users came in below estimates. Let's head now to the Milken Global Conference in California.

[Katie Koch]

Cnbc.

[Melissa Lee]

Sarah Eisen is the TCW Group CEO Katie Koch in a first on CNBC interview. Sarah, take it away.

[Kate Rooney]

Thank you so much, Melissa.

[Melissa Lee]

Yes.

[Kate Rooney]

Here with all the, the heavy hitters in the markets. Joining me is Katie Koch. She's head of Trust Company of the west, one of the biggest bond investors in the country. It's great to have you here.

[Katie Koch]

Thank you for having me.

[Kate Rooney]

And I did want to start on private credit because I remember at this conference three years ago, we were on stage together and you were out there saying private credit's getting frothy, everybody's jumping into this, people. I mean that was like the golden era where everyone was in. So now that we're really starting to see a cycle here, you must not be surprised. What do you think's happening?

[Katie Koch]

Yeah, we are not surprised to see a cycle. We saw cracks previously and we're vocal about that. And now we see a lot of opportunity. So it's important to know at tcw, we manage credit across both public and private markets. And in private credit, just for context here, we've done it for 26 years. We've maintained the same discipline. So three to four times leverage, the market's much higher than that. We have covenants, we have documentation. We say no a lot. We maintain pricing discipline.

[Kate Rooney]

You don't have any problems.

[Katie Koch]

So we, of course, this is leverage finance. So there's always problems. But for an example, we don't have any software exposure. And people ask us like a lot. Why is that? Why did you.

[Kate Rooney]

Everybody else seems to.

[Katie Koch]

And it's not because we predicted the, how do we say that? SAS pac, I always say apocalypse. We did not predict that, but we just maintain the same discipline for 26 years. And if you did that, you would have not made loans to those companies or they wouldn't have wanted your money because it was expensive with a lot of strings attached. And that has led us always to have highly differentiated exposure. Exposure and to right now not have software exposure. And just one other thing I wanted to say on that in terms of, you know, what, what did we see? I said it before. A lot of money was being put to work There was a lack of discipline and we did get sector concentration. That's probably not something we want in leveraged finance because in leveraged finance something is always going to go wrong and always go sideways. You have to be able to work out of those situations, have the documents, have the experience to work out. You never want those all concentrated into one sector. And I think that's going to be a. Learning from this is to maintain discipline and also maintain better portfolio.

[Kate Rooney]

So now that it's getting washed out, is is it a buying opportunity?

[Katie Koch]

I absolutely. We absolutely think that there is tremendous opportunity here because you're going to get better terms at better returns. This is the time when everyone's heading for the exit in our view that people should be entering the asset class and in two specific areas, areas new vintage private credit shouldn't be a vintage sensitive asset class. But now that people are retreating, you are going to get the opportunity for better returns. And this could be actually the first distress cycle in this asset class really since the global financial crisis. And we see a huge amount of demand in the distressed space for private credit. And we think that's going to be a great opportunity to buy.

[Melissa Lee]

And that's absolutely.

[Kate Rooney]

So it's going to get worse than that.

[Megan Casella]

Better.

[Katie Koch]

Yeah.

[Seema Modi]

I think if.

[Katie Koch]

Well, first of all, if you've maintained discipline through this whole period, your portfolio is going to be able to navigate this well. What you're going to have is a lot of manager differentiation. And we really haven't had that in private credit before because rates were zero, it was easy to lend money and people weren't differentiated. Now we're going to have an environment of differentiation and obviously we think we'll be on the right side of that and we're excited to deliver for our existing clients on that. And then new vintages should have higher return opportunities. And again, there's not going to be an opportunity in distress for private credits different than Cusip liquid distress. This is going into private credit senior secure for lending. And you get a pick component, you get a high coupon, take warrants on the equity. This could have returns in our view that not only out returns, the credit markets broadly, but also out returns, private equity.

[Kate Rooney]

Okay. I want to ask you about the public market too, because you guys are also huge, huge in the bond market there. And just, I mean the equity market, the bond market, do you think it's priced correctly given, you know, oil prices have surged and there's increased geopolitical risk?

[Katie Koch]

There is. And we are value managers. So our observation would be given how much current negative news flow is out there and potential for future disruption, a lot of which is really outside of our control. In the near term, there is absolutely going to be more moments of volatility and dislocation ahead. It would not be our view that equity risk premiums should be negative right now, which they are and that credit spread should be as tight as they are. So across all of our big equities are overvalued. I do, we do writ large. There are parts of the equity market where we see long term opportunity. I not, not the index, some of that is overextended. But in the companies that are actually going to use that to transform their business models. Lots of opportunities there and we're invested in that, in one of our ETFs, AFD and in the power transformation that is going to support AI and the electrification of everything. So not only AI, but also the fact that we are electrifying everything with vehicles and that we're bringing some of this manufacturing home, that is still great opportunity in the equity market. But overall for equity risk premiums to be negative at this point, I mean that should give people some pause. That and some concern in our view and being active and selective important there. And in the bond market, we are overweight agency mbs where we see better value and good liquidity. We're underweight credit and we think the market's going to give us the dislocation opportunity to lean in and buy more credit. We're actually half our pure weight and credit and very underweight. The benchmark and our view in this world of probabilities that we live in is that we're going to be able to be given the opportunity to lean in and do more in credit and in the private credit side, we're going to be out there deploying when other people aren't.

[Kate Rooney]

Yeah, well, that's how we love to talk to you. A lot of contrarian ideas there and thank you for putting it for putting the the view out both on public and private credit, what you guys are doing.

[Katie Koch]

I always love talking to you, but it's my favorite to talk to you when we're in my hometown and not on the road somewhere exotic around the world.

[Kate Rooney]

I know last time was Riyadh, but

[Melissa Lee]

I hope we get back in la.

[Katie Koch]

Lot of reason.

[Kate Rooney]

Land of the big bond fund managers. Katie, thank you.

[Katie Koch]

Katie, always a pleasure.

[Kate Rooney]

I hope we get back there too this year. That's Katie Koch, TCW CEO. Back over to you, Melissa.

[Melissa Lee]

Sarah, thanks. Sarah Eisen with Katie Koch a lot to unpack there. I don't know if it's, that's good news in terms of the, there's a buyer out there for a lot of these assets.

[Karen Feiderman]

There's a buyer. So there's two things. There's sort of all right, what happens to the portfolio that's existing and then what happens to the business? Right now it's changing where the businesses and there's more opportunities, the better pricing. All of those are good things. You know, I'm talking my book, I'm long private credit.

[Melissa Lee]

Yes, yes, yes you are.

[Karen Feiderman]

Yes, I am.

[Tim Seymour]

Well, I think what's interesting is, is this is a chance for people that are being opportunistic to actually go in and buy private credit. I thought the, the story about the public credit side was interesting. Like not, not, not that interested. Looking a little concerned about where we are on a credit cycle which ultimately for equity folks, that's not going to go well. If you look at the KKRs, the, the Blackstones, even the Owls, those have all kind of, you know, the charts are interesting and again, we've got a guy that can probably comment on that. But you know, owl to me is the one everyone is watching and it's now back above the 50.

[Melissa Lee]

Hey, guy who can comment on chart.

[Tim Seymour]

Who's that guy?

[Carter Braxton Worth]

Who, who, who would he anyway. And everyone's entitled to have a judgment on the price action. But if you want mine, I concur. Tim is making a point that they have stabilized and in fact each has this slight look of a curling up circumstance and I would embrace them as speculative longs.

[Melissa Lee]

All right, coming up, a box office bonanza for the Devil Wears Prada sequel. How the film delivered one of this year's biggest debuts and how legendary film producer Wendy Feinerman brings the magic to the silver screen. She will join us next when FAST MONEY returns. Welcome back to Fast Money. It was a blockbuster weekend for the Devil wears Prada 2, the highly anticipated sequel making its theatrical debut 20 years after the original. With its star studded cast, Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, Stanley Tucci, the film strutted way to number one at the box office worldwide with 234 million in ticket sales, beating out the Michael Jackson biopic and the Super Mario Galaxy movie. Joining us on set is the film's producer, Academy Award winner Wendy.

[Tim Seymour]

And let's clap her in. Let's clap her in. She's family, Hollywood royalty, otherwise known as

[Melissa Lee]

Karen's sister also and I'm known as Wendy's sister. Exactly. Exactly. What an extraordinary opening. Today is May 4th. So everybody's saying may the 4th be with you because of Star Wars.

[Tim Seymour]

Well, you just did.

[Melissa Lee]

I know, I know, I know, I know. I'm embarrassed.

[Tim Seymour]

Trekkie.

[Katie Koch]

But.

[Melissa Lee]

But actually a film like Devil Wears Prada, I mean, it's remarkable in that you think it's a huge budget film because it did so well. And it's actually not.

[K]

It's not a huge budget film in terms of what usually would be is what called the beginning of summer. And what we don't realize is we look at things globally now. The film business is globally. It used to be what was released here and then it would be released internationally later. But globally, this is most of the world's Memorial Day. For some of the world, it was on Friday was off. And for some of the world, Monday today is off. And usually the movies that kick off this kind of weekend are what I like to refer to as cape movies. They're superpower, you know, people with massive talents that are going to jump and dive and do everything. And they're not our kind of cape movies where you take off the cape and you're more powerful.

[Tim Seymour]

And yet these women in Prada all have superpower.

[K]

They have superpower. So it's the first time I, you know, there's so many different numbers, but the first time over a decade where a movie like this has started the summer season.

[Melissa Lee]

We were talking over the weekend about the fantastic weekend box office. And you're saying it, you know, it sort of brings out people who saw it 20 years ago. I mean, I can remember watching it back then and people are going back to the theaters and it's the perfect movie, I think for this time where people want to stay away from politics. If you don't want something political, you don't want something violent, you don't want this is it.

[K]

I've gotten so much feedback in such a positive way of this is like what we need right now. We need to escape. We just need to be entertained. We just want to be having a good time and not having to think about it. And they also want to walk away and feel like enlightened and feel like better and not feel worse and just be a little happy. And the other thing that's amazing is the amount of people. That is just what you said. Melissa, who went, I mean, there was a group of people from, you know, Boston, friends of mine, 30 women went together. You know, somebody who's been on the show many times, a really high powered woman and one street said, I'm going with the person I saw 20 years ago. We are going together. Families are going, sisters are going. And the other thing is, and it's not just here. All over the world, people are dressing up. It's become an event. They're wearing red shoes, they're wearing makeup. They're looking like different characters. They're saying certain lines. So it's become an event versus just going to the movies. And, you know, I'm very happy about that right now because I think we're giving people some relief.

[Melissa Lee]

You are such an extraordinary film producer, but how tough is a movie business, even for somebody like you these days?

[K]

The movie business is probably the most challenging, at least in my career, I've ever seen. And I think probably for anybody who's ever been in it. You know, aside from the massive change in markets and the way people view things, and streaming cost, you know, we had the pandemic. People really kind of never fully came back to those numbers. Once in a while, we'll get to a weekend where we'll look at it and say, almost back. It's like pre pandemic numbers. And then we had the writers and the actors strike, and they were all back to back. And our pipeline still has been affected because of that. And on top of it, we've had, you know, we'll see if they're all approved to go through. We've had a real reduction in the amount of studios that are, you know, supporting, producing, you know, and financing films. And they're finding it a lot more financially, you know, kind of diligent to do it in other ways. And that may be streaming, that may be direct to video, that may be only releasing the movie for a week. And people are forgetting that the essence of people do want to go be entertained. They want to go get out of their house. But the safer way to do it, because of the amount of costs that are involved with the theatrical release, is let's play the safe bet. Let's let them watch it at home.

[Tim Seymour]

Wendy, first of all, congrats. It's great to have you here. And I'm sure Andy Sachs is a fast money fan. Is that correct?

[K]

Andy Sam, as a fast money fan and an Arsenal fan.

[Tim Seymour]

Okay, so it's a global industry, as you talked about. Global sales were fantastic. Talk about Disney as a global partner here and distribution. And, you know, I mean, I just love to hear, you know, I mean, as a shareholder in Disney, to kind of their role here.

[K]

This is the first film that I've ever made with Disney. And I've got to tell you, never in my life have I seen a machine. I like to think of myself with long career that I've had and different kind of products and branding and stunts that we've done. I'm looking out over Melissa's shoulder at some of the films I have. Might have some restaurants over there and some other things that we've done. They are a machine.

[Tim Seymour]

Yeah.

[K]

There is something to be said for them. I my hat is off to them. Anytime I would would look to think of an idea because I really do enjoy the marketing part of it the most because that's kind of sometimes where you can get free opportunities. You know, how do we find the synergy? Who do we put together? Whom? What do we do? They were already ahead of it. They have this machine that is fantastic. And you know, on top of it, what they did, which really helped is and I didn't understand the whole process until you really go through the whole movie with them. Because it's hard to see understanding how they have their partnerships until you come out. And I would be like their partnerships. All these partnerships are so important and are the partnerships. Partnership is going to impair our filmmaking. You know, we all know that when you watch a movie or something, oh, it's so obvious that so and so paying the money to put in there. And they were so discreet with their partnerships. But the amount of financial support and advertising support that Disney commands is 200% better than anybody else. I mean, they're just fantastic.

[Melissa Lee]

Wendy, it was a privilege to have you here on set. Thank you so much for stopping by.

[K]

Thank you. Thank you.

[Melissa Lee]

Busy woman.

[K]

Happy 20, by the way. I'm 20. I heard they're 20 soon.

[Melissa Lee]

Yeah, we're getting there anyway. Feinerman.

[Tim Seymour]

Thank you.

[Melissa Lee]

More fast money into. Welcome back to fast money. GameStop closing 10% lower after the video game retailer made an unsolicited bid for ebay. The proposed $56 billion cash and stock deal is worth more than five times GameStop's market value. Cohen avoided specifics on how he plans to finance an acquisition. His company can issue stock to get the deal done. Sure, they can be very dilutive to shareholders at the same time, but yes, you can do that. That is a way.

[Karen Feiderman]

Well, that was an interesting interview. He was a bit combative, I think. I don't agree that he said it's in the document. It's not. If you're going to issue cash and stock. We know what cash is worth. We don't know what stock is worth. We don't know if it's a fixed ratio. We don't know if there's any collar. It would need very. It would need a shareholder vote for sure. And so that part I, you know, I think he needs to come out with more details and that also. Do they have any advisors? I don't know. I found that that was one of the more curious interviews I've seen ever.

[Melissa Lee]

Maybe curious is one word that people have said to me. Well, there's other words. Yeah.

[Karen Feiderman]

But I wouldn't, I mean I wouldn't buy ebay on this, I think.

[Tim Seymour]

No. And again, as Karen pointed out, I mean how much stock is such an open issue here, here. Especially when there's some speculate, there's just some concern about how much in this deal is triggered by his own cash position there. So I don't think either are interesting. And you know, we've been watching GameStop do nothing for a long time with a fair amount of cash. But I. This doesn't make suddenly the foundation of ebay's platform look any different than it did the day before. So nothing to do.

[Melissa Lee]

Yeah. Carter, I don't know if you have any thoughts on the GameStop chart or maybe the ebay chart because the ebay is actually a turnaround story. Sort of getting excited on the comment.

[Carter Braxton Worth]

We can always issue shares. It's a bit flippant say the least. But ebay said a good steady uptrend. It's been performing well and I would say of the two it's the one that. But generally speaking I'm with Tim. I mean I would say stay on the sidelines for all of this.

[Melissa Lee]

Yeah. I mean it is, it is. He kept saying how ebay is such a strong business, is such a strong business business. It really just makes you want to buy ebay yourself. And not gave sort of an interesting sales pitch on his part. It is time now for the final trade. So let's go around the horn.

[Carter Braxton Worth]

Carter Braxton Worth like Apple here. After gapping up on earnings, it's filled that gap by Apple.

[Melissa Lee]

Karen.

[Karen Feiderman]

Yeah. So I know you had somewhat of a sell off today. If you just, you know, look at the chart over the last six weeks, this was absolutely nothing. However, I feel like the market's still frothy. I want to buy some protection because I'm always on buying some spider puts.

[Melissa Lee]

Tim.

[Tim Seymour]

Well, you're a team player. I think you're playing hurt today.

[Kate Rooney]

Yeah.

[Karen Feiderman]

Five hours is on the field.

[Tim Seymour]

No question. It's impressive. No, I in the word. Melissa Disney Nice to hear how the global prowess in the machine as Wendy talked about, but I they report tomorrow. I'm a shareholder.

[Melissa Lee]

Thanks for watching. See you tomorrow on Swap Fox Mad Money with Jim Premier starts right now.

[Katie Koch]

All opinions expressed by the Fast Money participants are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC or its parent company or affiliates and may have been previously disseminated by them on television, radio, Internet or another medium. You should not treat any opinion expressed on this podcast as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a particular strategy, but only as an expression of an opinion. Such opinions are based upon information the Fast Money participants consider reliable, but neither CNBC nor its affiliates and or subsidiaries warrant its completeness or accuracy and it should not be relied upon as such. To view the full Fast Money disclaimer, please visit cnbc.com forward/fastmoneydisclaimer.

[Tim Seymour]

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[Tim Seymour]

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