← Halftime Report
Halftime Report
How to Play New Highs 8/13/25
00:44:26
Scott Wapner and the Investment Committee debate the record run for stocks and whether this is truly one of the best investing environments we’ve seen. Plus, Jim Cramer joins us on set to discuss whether Apple shares are in the middle of a turnaround. And later, the desk shares their latest portfolio moves. Investment Committee Disclosures
Loading summary
Transcript147 lines
- [00:00]
Scott Wapner
What does it mean to live a rich life? It means brave first leaps, tearful goodbyes and everything in between. With over 100 years experience navigating the ups and downs of the market and of life, your Edward Jones financial advisor will be there to help you move ahead with confidence. Because with all you've done to find your rich, we'll do all we can to help you keep enjoying it. Edward Jones, Member, SIPC For 140 years, MultiCare has been in Washington prioritizing long term solutions, partnering with local communities and expanding access to care. Together, we're building a healthier future. Learn more@mycare.org I'm Scott Wapner and you're.
- [00:49]
Josh Brown
Listening to CNBC's Halftime Report, the podcast the most profitable hour of the trading day. We record this live weekdays at 12 Eastern. Listen in. Carl, thanks so much. Welcome to the Halftime Report. I'm Scott Wapner. Front and center this hour, the record run for stocks and whether this truly is one of the best investing environments we've seen in some time. We'll ask the investment committee. Joining me for the hour today, Josh Brown, Joe Terranova, Carrie Firestone, Surat SETI will take you to the markets. Here we are extending those record highs as Carl and Sarah were just talking about volatility index, lowest level since December of 24. And just when you thought there was a lot of uncertainty in the bull market be in some form of Jeopardy, BlackRock's Rick Reeder came on closing bell yesterday and told me the overall investing environment is the best ever. Listen, but there's a couple of things.
- [01:43]
Joe Terranova
At play that are pretty extraordinary.
- [01:45]
Josh Brown
First of all, as you take the.
- [01:46]
Joe Terranova
Equity side first, the technicals and equities are crazy. I know we've talked about it before, amount of cash on the sideline, the amount of buybacks relative the IPO calendar that is the demand versus supply is pretty extraordinary.
- [01:56]
Josh Brown
And these companies, you know, we've talked.
- [01:58]
Joe Terranova
About on the show, the multiple is not that attractive. These companies are thrown off these earning the earnings growth. Then you take the other side of it is you've got an income in fixed income.
- [02:08]
Josh Brown
You're getting yield levels.
- [02:09]
Joe Terranova
I think the Fed can cut rates but for until then you got yield levels. You can create portfolio six and a half, 7% yield.
- [02:16]
Josh Brown
That's pretty good. BlackRock's Rick Reeder, some near term volatility obviously notwithstanding, what do you make of what Rick Reeder said? I don't remember him being as just fully positive about the big picture of this market like that Is he right?
- [02:35]
Joe Terranova
It's interesting listening to him because I'm thinking about all the people that told you over the last two years the right place to be was sitting in cash and getting four and three quarters. Yes, he's right. It's a healthy marketplace. There's more opportunity when you look at the capital markets, when you think about opportunities in taxable fixed income, when you look at equities and you say to yourself, okay, I just don't have to invest in the US like I need needed to over the last eight to 10 years. I could actually look at large cap financials. I could look at large cap industrials. I could go outside of just owning the concentrated mag seven which was the story of 23 and 24. So he's absolutely correct. And here we are today, a day in which momentum the leading factor for 2025, it's, it's having a difficult day. The NASDAQ is down, which has been one of the leading indices. But yet what do we see? We see the Russell stepping forward. We see areas of the market like homebuilders and biotech also stepping forward. Areas of the market the last several.
- [03:33]
Josh Brown
Months that have sat on the sidelines, Josh, the fundamentals are good, the technicals are good, there's cash on the sideline. You've got a lot of buybacks. The capital markets activity as we know, IPOs have certainly returned in a big way. And if that's not enough for you, you take a look at what exists right now according to reader and fixed income and you have a pretty solid investing environment. You want to take a shot at that?
- [03:56]
Carrie Firestone
Yeah, let me do like a little baby encomium for Rick Reeder. It's so refreshing to hear a fixed income manager speak positively about the opportunity in equities. I think what makes him elite and one of the best market commentators over the last few years is the versatility of thought that he has and looking behind, looking beyond, you know, what the rate picture is and trying to understand, well, why are people making all the, all this money in NASDAQ stocks in large cap US and where is the puck going to next? So I think that's what makes him stand out and why I always pay attention to his comments. And I thought you did a great interview with him yesterday. I want to build on one of the key points that I think we want to make today. The broadening out. Biotechs are up today. When was the last time you've been able to say that? Not just up, but the XPI is up 2.7% and some of the leading names in the space are up closer to 4 and 5%. The SBI is putting together a two day run of 5%. It's early, I wouldn't tell you that anyone is cheering but this is like one of the most left behind areas of the market. And if you want the small cap thing to be sustainable it's got to transcend value stocks, it's got to get into areas, speculative areas like small cap biotech. And that's what's happening. Another left behind area of the market. Homebuilders up another two and a half percent today. Homebuilders are up six, six and a half percent over the last two days. And again it's early, nobody's breaking out the champagne, but this is a really key area of the market that you want to see finally get some positive attention. Look at small caps broadly from the liberation Day low, small caps are now slightly outperforming the S&P 500. From April 8 through today, the Russell 2000 is up 29.7% versus the S&P up 29 and a half. The All Country World Index is up about 27% over that same period. So what you're not going to hear right now are the naysayers who would tell you it's all broad, common Nvidia, it's all AI CapEx. Yes, that is the most important growth driver for the big picture. But you are seeing traction in homebuilders, in biotechs, in all country world. All these developed nations are rallying and I think that's really important if you're going to stay bullish from today forward. So when Rick said this is one of the best environments for investing he could remember, I think I know what he means. He's not saying starting valuations for the S and P are great, he, he's just saying like look at all the different areas that are working and all the opportunities that are being created. And I think you'd have to agree with that so long as rates stay on this downward trajectory which today they're following through to the downside and we didn't have another inflation report. So it's, it's a really key point that he makes and I agree with it.
- [06:55]
Josh Brown
Carry btig is Jonathan Krinsky is looking at small caps asking the question is, is it different this time? They have had a surge and an incredible one. In just two plus days, the Russell 2000 is up 4%. That gives you an idea of what has happened this week. In terms of the reader perspective, Wolff today speaks about the fundamentals and they say the outlook looks strong and they point to earnings on the technicals. They weigh in there as well. They say the best internals in two and a half months for the Russell 3000. So the 2000 is solely representative of small caps. The 3000 gives you a much broader view of where we are. In many ways that speaks to exactly the kind of conversation that we're having on our desk today.
- [07:42]
Surat SETI
Yeah, well, if we look at the market beyond the Mag 7 and the other big tech names which, you know, we're talking about here, they've lagged. It's time for them to move. I think they've been waiting for a rate cut or the assumption that there's going to be a rate cut. And I think we're beginning to see that the jobs number, unless miraculously it comes out really strong, I think that would cement the, the idea that we're going to have a rate cut. And Josh was talking about biotechs, particularly the small ones who don't make any money. They need, they need money from markets. And the IPO market has been strong. Presumably the secondary market will be strong. And so, yes, I think that can continue. If you look at the Mag 7 multiple, it's about 30 times forward earnings. The rest of the market is 20ish times forward earnings. And small caps got to be lower than that, probably 15, 16 times. So, so this, this all makes sense. I would two words of caution if I could. One is that the ipo, the IPO market being very strong is good in the near term. Definitely good in the near term, because people have been waiting and we're waiting for four opportunities to invest other than in video and broadcom and medit, etc.
- [09:04]
Josh Brown
You'll get another one today, by the way. The bell may ring at any time during this program as bullish awaits a trade that is going to look pretty bullish. We think off the open price to 37, the range was 32, 33, and we'll follow it. So if you hear the big ding of the bell behind us and a bunch of cheering, that's what that's about. But you know the point you're making. What's the caution part of that story.
- [09:28]
Surat SETI
Going to say is that the strongest years for IPOs, if you go back in history was 1999, 2007, 20, 21, and you know, we know what happened in the years following.
- [09:41]
Josh Brown
We're not. We're not.
- [09:42]
Scott Wapner
No, we're not.
- [09:43]
Surat SETI
We're nowhere near that. People need to have that in mind.
- [09:47]
Josh Brown
I believe this is going to be, I mean it has the potential to be strongest year for IPOs in like, I don't know, a couple of years. We're not talking about in the annals of historic kind of years. So I'm not sure I go with that. Surat the environment fundamentally, technically, what do you think? How do we look?
- [10:06]
Rick Reeder
Definitely favorable. I mean if you're seeing this broadening, you're seeing the anticipation of rate cuts and to your point of hey, why are the Russell stocks doing well? Well, so many of them are financial services stocks. So many of them need capital markets, need interest rates to be lower. So if that's coming and it's coming for the right reason, Scott, which is, hey, maybe inflation is not where it is and it's coming down and if employment is going to be coming down, we need some more fuel in this economy that's going to really help the stock market, especially the broadening part of it.
- [10:37]
Joe Terranova
I want to give two stocks real quick related to homebuilders and the rally that we're seeing. Number one, Williams Sonoma. That's a name that we added to to the ETF in the most recent rebalance in July. And how about this name installed building products. Take a look at this. This is a small cap company, $7 billion market cap. What do they do? Residential insulation. And if we are actually going to see an uptick in improvements to homes and new homes being built, this company will benefit from it significantly and it's had a heck of a run since last Friday's jobs are given Rick Reeder's.
- [11:10]
Josh Brown
View and how he expressed it yesterday and I even at one point referenced as he was articulating it well, if anybody at the White House is watching, they're standing up and cheering like, yeah, that's the story we've been saying well nominate that guy.
- [11:27]
Jim Cramer
Exactly.
- [11:27]
Josh Brown
I don't know if they were but now he's made the list apparently of possible next Fed chairs. Steve Liesman reporting of course today that we're up to 11 now and readers on the list, Zervos, who's a frequent guest on this network obviously and David Zervos and Larry Lindsey have made it too. And speaking of the Fed, this Treasury secretary made some comments today that rate cuts could start with 50. He thinks 50 may be warranted in September, could have already cut in June and July, he said if the data was more reliable. In other words, if you had a more believable read on on jobs that maybe they've already would have cut and they should be. Interest rates should be 150 to 175 basis points lower. B of A says we're not buying any of that. The Fed's going to stay on hold until the second half of 2026, which is interesting. And you'll get Goolsbee in Bostic today as more Fed speakers hit the tape in the, in the one o' clock hour. But I thought Kerry, that, that was pretty interesting. That reader was here yesterday. He made those comments and then lo and behold his name is on the list. So I'm not saying there's a definite cause and effect, but I think it happens.
- [12:41]
Rick Reeder
Scott, your show was watched worldwide.
- [12:48]
Josh Brown
Seems a little fishy. All right.
- [12:50]
Carrie Firestone
In terms of cut rates by 500 basis points, am I on the list?
- [12:54]
Josh Brown
Yeah, well you might be. You might be.
- [12:56]
Carrie Firestone
I just, I want to say one thing. Look at the, look at the rate sensitive stocks. Look at the rate sensitive stocks even away from real estate directly that are like let's say in technology or in media. So let's take so my, my bet is Rocket. So Rocket, obviously the Rocket companies owns Rocket Mortgage. Look at what this stock has done over the last month and they're making some really big bets and some big acquisitions, acquisitions in the mortgage servicing market and the, the Realtor lead gen market. They bought Redfin. That acquisition closed. They have a transaction with Mr. Cooper. Hopefully that one closes as well. They're doubling down on a resurgence in real estate and look at what that stock has done now. You've got some big hedge funds in there. You've got Value Act Capital, which is an activist. I'll give you another one. Look at the difference. Look at the way SOFI has traded since reported reporting earnings. They were good. They weren't this good. That's a bet on higher rates. And then I'm going to give you the contra. The entire gain in Circle was wiped out after they reported. Circle is a bet on high rates, higher for longer. Think about what their revenue is. It's the interest for money market fund, basically. Lower rates means lower revenue. For Circle. That stock had a huge gain. Post reporting puked up the entire thing. And I think what you're seeing the market do is extrapolate this idea of lower rates not just in homebuilders but all over the economy. All these stocks that we're trading that are not real estate companies where there's a rate sensitive situation, if that has legs were probably only in the first or second inning the fed watch tool is now saying 100% chance of a 50 basis point cut. A month ago there was only a 57% chance of a 25 basis point rate cut. So look how fast the market has changed its expectations and my hat is still in the ring. I'll cut them. I'll cut them to zero.
- [15:06]
Josh Brown
All right, all right. Well you could be added to the list. Leaseman's on the case. He'll follow of course as the pool is growing ever larger circle you mentioned sofi, probably a fair amount of retail participation in those types of names. And an interesting note today out from Goldman Sachs on that very topic where they talk about how to play some of these retail heavy or meme like names at times. Christina Parzoneville is looking at that for us today. What'd you find?
- [15:34]
Scott Wapner
That the animal spirits are back. Scott, we're seeing retail investors, they're spreading beyond just the meme stocks into broader large caps. So prompting Goldman Sachs like you mentioned to warn there's a lot of upside in stocks with high retail participation. And their data shows massive retail inflows just over the last month in Palantir, amd, Keep Corp. Electronic Arts, ups, Warner Brothers, among others. The firm is actually recommending clients buy call options on these names you're seeing on your screen, betting these stocks will rise by purchasing the right to buy them at today's price. The risk appetite though really extends to short squeezes too. Fresh CNBC data from our team shows short interest across the Russell 1000 jumped to 4.6% in July from 3.8% just at year end. Take Kohl's for example. It's up 6% today and roughly a third of its shares remain sold short despite just the continuous rally. The department of searching is actually part of what traders call the dork trade. Scott. So Krispy Kreme's parent Open Door Rocket companies that Josh just talked about and Kohl's all driving drawing heavy retail interest. But for now Goldman's message is clear. If you're betting on market momentum, follow the retail money.
- [16:47]
Josh Brown
That's right. Christina, thank you for that. That's Christine. The parts of Nevilles they say buy calls on names like Palantir and Cummins and Electronic Arts and Transdigm. We don't need to talk about Palantir so specifically because we have on so many occasions. But what do you think about Cummins Electronic Arts which you have in the in the T? You don't have Centene anymore.
- [17:07]
Joe Terranova
Cummins is a reasonable valuation. Upper teens participating clearly in providing power in data centers. So I think there's a longer term thematic AI story there. Electronic Arts, look, they're having an upgrade ticket engagement. You have Madden 26 coming out for both football and hockey. They have the FC soccer franchise. So that's more about, I think in the coming quarters. Can they sustain that engagement? I'm not that excited about that one, but I think New record high.
- [17:37]
Josh Brown
Yeah, I mean it is a new.
- [17:38]
Joe Terranova
Record is a new record high. I will acknowledge that. And look, we own it, we're happy about it, but I also understand the fundamental driver behind it. So I'm throwing a degree of caution there. But I think overall it's about the momentum factor. And the momentum factor is the leading factor in 2025. Now today it is down 75 bips. That's something to watch because if you tell me that the momentum factor is going to roll over in the next 30 days significantly and have a, you know, 5, 6, 7% correction, I wonder if at that point the market will struggle to make those gains.
- [18:11]
Josh Brown
Feel like it would only be that way if there was a sizable broadening from here forward, which is why maybe you, you would happen. Transdigm.
- [18:20]
Rick Reeder
Yeah, this is one of our core holdings. I mean, stock had earnings last week where it was down 10%, but if you look at kind of what Transign does, which is airline aftermarket parts, they're levered four and a half times if rates are coming down. They just announced a 5% cash back dividend and the market for airline aftermarkets is huge. So I think this was a missing understood stock that got badly hit on earnings. And I can see why retail investors are coming after it because not only are you going to get the growth, but you'll get some dividend out as well.
- [18:48]
Josh Brown
Joe was just talking about momentum having returned. It certainly feels like it's returned to Apple. Stocks up more than 10% in one month. It is green yet again today. It's above $232 a share. You've been a buyer of it personally recently on several occasions, including again today.
- [19:10]
Joe Terranova
I will, yes, again today. Let me walk through all of it. I know Jim Cramer right now, if he's listening, is not going to be happy because, yes, I am trading Apple and I'm taking advantage of what I believe to be a significant rebuilding in portfolio manager positioning in particular for growth managers.
- [19:27]
Josh Brown
He may think you're smart by using the fact that there's some renewed momentum and life behind the name. So he can come down here, by the way, and Sit on the set. We have an empty space today so we'll find out if he's angry or happy with you.
- [19:40]
Joe Terranova
Okay. Last Wednesday the big bite was at 206 in Apple. I would say that somewhere near the upper 60% range of my entire trading. Apple position right now is at that level. Thursday 217. Friday 221. Monday 226. Today 232. We're getting close to my target. I think the target here is around 240. I think at that point a lot of the momentum for portfolio managers building their position that will begin to fade. I'm trading this. You have to put a stop in below 222. I would neutralize some of the more recent buys but I am going to maintain a longer term position here in Apple. That is for sure because I do think there's been a shift shift clearly in the relationship with Tim Cook. Apple and the President.
- [20:27]
Josh Brown
Tell you what a firm called Alpine Macro today says MAG7 stocks are quote unquote mania candidates because they've had a straight line run up starting on April 9th for the most part some of the reactions immediately after earnings weren't that fantastic but they seem to have picked up as NASDAQ in its own right has been hitting new highs like Meta, your meta carry hit a record high again today. They obviously had the, the threads number come out right this week which was really strong.
- [20:58]
Surat SETI
Huge.
- [20:59]
Josh Brown
What about this stock here now?
- [21:00]
Surat SETI
Yeah, I think it can go higher. Metta, Google, Apple and Nvidia all basically at all time highs. And I think when it comes to the fear that people have had about antitrust, anti competitive of behavior taking some of these companies apart. We just saw what happens if you make a deal with the White House. I mean there are, there are ways to get around your problems and media would be a beneficiary of that. All of them. Apple. I think the surgeon Apple has to do with the fact that they have been under attack by administrations over the last few years. Oh yeah, that's gone away.
- [21:37]
Josh Brown
You show a golden gift and you your stock tax takes off.
- [21:41]
Surat SETI
Let's make a deal.
- [21:42]
Josh Brown
Wash, rinse, repeat. The positioning helped Nvidia by the way speaking of this topic Target and the deal obviously that they've made to be able to sell their chips into China. Price target 225 from 180. It's overweight still at Piper Sandler. Everybody owns that stock. Semiconductors worth watching today. Broadcom hit a record today day the semi ETF hit a record today. Taiwan semi Hit your buy list today.
- [22:14]
Surat SETI
Yeah, exactly. Well, we bought it when I was on vacation, but first I'm back and they, they manufacture 50% of the world's chips and most of the high powered and more complex chips, all of the chips are pretty much coming from Taiwan. So. And we believe that there's a long Runway. We've got 10 years of growth that we think is exceptional to earnings and it's been discounted as a model because of the threat, possible threat because of China's invasion which we think is over, over discounting. So we made the purchase, you know, which we owned it earlier but we, we bought it now.
- [22:52]
Josh Brown
Okay, so semis again. ETF hitting another record today. And then there's software. Okay. Because that's the. Telling a different story. The IGV is on track to snap a four month win streak. If you look at the amount that some stocks in that universe are off of their 52 week highs, 2/3 of the IGV is down 20% or more from those levels. Names like Samsara, down 47%. Adobe, which we have hit relentlessly this week, is down 41%. Salesforce, Salesforce is down 36%. What's going on with Salesforce?
- [23:28]
Rick Reeder
So I mean we still like it. The bear case, what do you like about it? Well, Salesforce is embedded in almost every organization and they're going to be able to use AI to get efficiencies out there for their customers. The argument is that AI is going to allow customers not to use them. We think that the amount of information that Salesforce has on their customers, customers and the ability to help them grow is going to be much better than the other side of it, which is customers don't need them anymore.
- [23:55]
Josh Brown
What do you think the more, I mean, you know something that it's something that the market does not.
- [24:01]
Rick Reeder
Well, what I know is that Salesforce has brought down their growth rate over the last couple years and the market is saying that's going to, that's going to accelerate faster. We think that's not the case. We think it's an investment period for Salesforce and they're going to grow through that.
- [24:15]
Josh Brown
Josh, what we're going to say, it's.
- [24:17]
Carrie Firestone
It'S the employee, it's the, it's the employment rate that that's affecting Salesforce. This is the ultimate pro cyclical software company. When there's lots of hiring and expansion, that's when Salesforce has the most opportunity to rack up new wins with both existing customers and with, and with new customers. New companies and when that goes goes into reverse, it's not that it's catastrophic because to Surround Point they're extraordinarily embedded, not just with the Fortune 500, but with small and mid sized businesses all over the world. The problem is the growth rate. The expected growth comes down and you're paying a high multiple for this name. Not sky high, but not cheap. So look at the last three unemployment reports, look at the trends, look at, look at initial claims, look at continuing claims. Not the best environment for a company like Salesforce. That is effectively a call option on the growth in employment in the country.
- [25:22]
Josh Brown
All right, well my day was just made because Jim Cramer heeded the call.
- [25:28]
Jim Cramer
The judge can't be bought. That's right.
- [25:30]
Josh Brown
That's what you said earlier. I knew you were talking about me.
- [25:34]
Jim Cramer
All right. I just heard by the way, you know Josh is so great. He's got that program that been advertised which is so good. And I know the I hate the software Ben writes. It's a really interesting call and it's a problematic call because my chapter is a small position in Salesforce. I know that the perception is maybe more important than reality radio, so just put that out.
- [25:53]
Josh Brown
So I asked you to come down here because you know Joe has been buying Apple again personally for the first time in a while and they've been repeated buys. You've always made the case, own it, don't trade it. But you know, we've had a different environment around the stock over the last year or so. More questions than I think answers.
- [26:13]
Jim Cramer
Right.
- [26:13]
Josh Brown
What do you make of the move that he's done and how do you think about it?
- [26:15]
Jim Cramer
Well, first of all I'm telling you.
- [26:16]
Joe Terranova
Why I'm doing it.
- [26:17]
Jim Cramer
Obviously.
- [26:17]
Joe Terranova
Do you know why I'm doing it? No, because think about where everyone was last week position. Think about all the growth managers that said Apple.
- [26:26]
Jim Cramer
And yet it had an unbelievable week. It was the best in show.
- [26:30]
Josh Brown
Right.
- [26:30]
Joe Terranova
So what do those managers have to do? They have to buy. Think about all the momentum funds.
- [26:34]
Jim Cramer
How about There was up 10 on no volume and then you normally would give it up and then it came up town huge volume on Friday. Let me tell you why I think you're right. Okay, first the skepticism is pretty great because you know we're going to get a ruling. Judge Metta, not Meta AI is favored by we judge Metta, which it may say that look they Google can't pay him 20 billion, we all know that. But perhaps they can make more money. Maybe they can have others who want that Flow. But the thing that you know that I like the most about Apple the whole time, I mean literally the whole time is that it's still the best product. I am with Tim Cook it is still the best product. And until I start seeing people with Samsung which I still think by the way could get a tariff in the end that's high. It probably the press is watching and you might just say hey I heard that let's put a tab on. But I do think that it's as long as it's the highest quality I got to stay with it. And I know that seems soporific that you could just say you know what they have the best product but I mean try. I was out without my watch for a couple of days. Of course Apple saw it immediately and said what is the matter? I had a rash. Well, we solved that. But I mean I'm part of the ecosystem. If they fix Siri, even if by. By surrender so they just buy Serenity I. If they fix Siri and I can have a conversation with Siri rather than this miserable one way thing I've got going and you know, I don't know their devices are perfect.
- [27:50]
Josh Brown
They are but let me ask you this. Does do their devices, if you make an analogy analogy to a beautiful car, do they still have the best engine? Do they still have the best engine AI to compete with others who have seemingly not driven. Driven past them on the highway?
- [28:09]
Jim Cramer
No, not yet but they could write a check obviously for this Perplexity enough for it. Perplexity. Make the bid for the Google crime. Thank you. Very very smart equipment is very smart. But they can develop it. They have the cash if they want to. They could buy CERNs. I'm not. I had one last night. Certain say crazy Crozantus runs it. They have the best sound. It's in your car. Your car is really good two way. I think my car tells me what I'm doing and I tell my car what to do. But I just think that you can't rule them out. It did get cheap but I just think that he Tim negotiated with the president in a brilliant way. 500 billion. No. Okay, 600 billion. I don't even know if you could spend 50 billion over the course of four years.
- [28:48]
Josh Brown
How much of that move that we've seen recently do you think is a direct result of if a detente was needed?
- [28:54]
Jim Cramer
Okay, I'm going to give you what I think it was. And I know I wrote this to my investors my Bastion Club this weekend. I said listen Guys, I know no one will believe this, but this was the biggest short squeeze in history. Biggest short squeeze in history. I think that there were people who were sized size short sellers who realized, oh my God, we didn't get the ruling from Judge Mehta. We just got a deal with, with, with, with the president. I got a cover. You know, there were millions of shares sold short. It was the safest short in the world. It can't be a takeover. It's liquid. I want to put it. There were guys putting it out and putting it out and put, putting out. And let me tell you something, you know, they're like 12 furlongs behind.
- [29:32]
Josh Brown
I'm not saying that they were shorting it because no different conversation.
- [29:35]
Jim Cramer
But, but we know who they were. But they were who we said they were.
- [29:39]
Josh Brown
I know, but when the biggest of all. When the, when the biggest and greatest.
- [29:43]
Jim Cramer
Of all Goddess One all time has.
- [29:45]
Josh Brown
Been, you know, consistently selling down the position in Apple, I mean, it makes you sit back and ask some questions about what is really happening for a stock that was universally loved by everybody. And now I's changed the conversation.
- [30:02]
Jim Cramer
That is a check. Look at what happened with Amazon. They decided to go train him. They didn't spend the money. They didn't. And the growth was 17 and a half percent. Azure spent the money. Google Cloud spent the money. I think that Andy Jassy, who's not watching the show by the way, she's actually working, trying to get his food same day, which I love, would say, you know what, let's get everybody together. Maybe this is. Maybe we are being Pennywise and Pound fool is not writing the check to Jensen.
- [30:29]
Josh Brown
Let me ask you what.
- [30:29]
Jim Cramer
You must write the check to Jensen. Don't you have to write the check to Jensen?
- [30:33]
Josh Brown
Absolutely.
- [30:33]
Jim Cramer
How much did I love her in college? It's ridiculous. It's. It was me and Ballmer. All we were interested is one person.
- [30:39]
Josh Brown
Sir, I'm glad you made that.
- [30:40]
Jim Cramer
It's true. And you know that that leather jacket, we loved it. It was incredible.
- [30:43]
Josh Brown
I made the segue.
- [30:44]
Jim Cramer
I love your husband. I was a little off. I'm off course. I'm off course.
- [30:48]
Josh Brown
The whole family. Lastly, before I let you run because we got good, you got to go. And you made a good segue from Carrie because she just bought. Speaking of software and how some are suggesting that, you know, Gen AI is just. AI is going to kill software or it already is. Carrie bought Oracle and sold Autodesk.
- [31:05]
Jim Cramer
What do you think about this? So I am worried. Okay, you tell me, is Oracle eventually going to be over stretch cash wise and have to just, you know they have good balance sheet but oh my God, what they're doing.
- [31:17]
Surat SETI
I think the earnings over the next four years are going to grow over 20% then we really think the market doesn't appreciate them.
- [31:24]
Jim Cramer
I'm a double Ellison guy. Right. That and then what is with the, the meme is ridiculous.
- [31:29]
Josh Brown
Oh today 20% or something.
- [31:32]
Jim Cramer
Yeah. That was not, that was not favor. Yeah, it was not favor. I love you guys. Fantastic.
- [31:37]
Josh Brown
Remind us and our viewers what you have at six tonight.
- [31:39]
Jim Cramer
Well, we've got, I actually like to just mention tomorrow we've got our 12 o' clock meeting. Our club is going to be. That's what's really, really important to me. I know that what I think will happen is I have to go over some of the very things you guys are talking about. Particularly defensive Apple because I do think it is the most difficult one to defend in terms of price earnings multiple.
- [32:02]
Carrie Firestone
And in terms of there's Chinaman business.
- [32:05]
Joe Terranova
Turn is not priced in yet.
- [32:09]
Josh Brown
Thank you.
- [32:09]
Jim Cramer
Love the show.
- [32:10]
Josh Brown
Love you coming down.
- [32:11]
Jim Cramer
All right, thank you.
- [32:12]
Josh Brown
It's always there for you.
- [32:13]
Jim Cramer
Look, you know, I mean, come on, it was 1974. I mean most people weren't even alive then, not for it. All right, all right, all right.
- [32:23]
Josh Brown
You're going to wait a second. We're going to talk about Cava's big drop coming up. Brinker's a story today and it's of.
- [32:29]
Jim Cramer
Itself and I have pricker tonight.
- [32:31]
Josh Brown
All right, great. Awesome. Good timing for that. We're back after this.
- [32:42]
Scott Wapner
As a salesperson, the search for the right buyer or buying groups can feel like you're endlessly sifting through leads and hoping they're ready to buy. Thankfully, LinkedIn Sales Navigator is more than just a tool. It's your strategic sales partner. LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a sales intelligence platform that helps professionals effectively prospect and engage high value customers, drive higher revenue and increase sales performance. Sales Navigator helps you target the right buyers, surface key signals such as job changes or which accounts you should prioritize. And shows you hidden allies so you can find those buyers that are most likely to convert. Whether you're looking for new clients or strengthening relationships of current accounts, LinkedIn Sales Navigator has new AI features designed to help sellers find the right people and get right to the right conversations, all at scale. Fueled by LinkedIn's 1 billion-member platform, Sales Navigator gives you the most up to date first party data, enabling you to unlock conversations with the people that matter. Ready to get right to the right conversations, try LinkedIn's Sales Navigator now with a 60 day free trial at LinkedIn.com halftime report. That's LinkedIn.com halftimereport for a 60 day free trial. Terms and conditions apply. At Capella University, learning the right skills could make a difference. That's why our business programs teach you relevant skills you can take from the course room to the workplace. A different future is closer than you think with Capella University. Learn more at Capella. Eduardo.
- [34:13]
Josh Brown
All right, welcome back. Let's talk about some restaurant stocks today because many are ugly and that's following Cava 52 week low. Their same store sales growth was a disappointment to say the least. There's that stock, but let's show you. Brinker Eat man. Chili's is killing it. Their comps are up 21.3%. The guidance was well ahead of estimates. Josh. Shake Shack was down I feel like on the kava print and so many of these other restaurant stocks recently. The commentary's been terrible and so have the numbers.
- [34:51]
Carrie Firestone
Let me explain it in a very succinct manner. This is as simple as people staying home as opposed to spending five days a week in the downtown area of one of the 20 largest cities. Cava and Sweet Green, which already blew up, are highly reliant on people dressed like me, sometimes with a vest, depending on the weather, going to work, depending down the elevator, pre ordering a salad or a bowl of whatever on an app for 1750 and then bringing it back up to their desk to work. And with less people doing that than ever and that culture never really recovering and coming all the way back, tough to be those companies. Chili's killing it because Chili's is in the suburbs. Not that I know specifically where it is, but it is not reliant on on the urban professional who is 28 years old looking to order something for $17 and eat it in 15 minutes. Chili's is the opposite. The restaurants are where people live. You don't really need to know anything more than what I just laid out. That's what's going on. I don't see it changing.
- [36:00]
Josh Brown
Doordash is an interesting one. Today they along with McDonald's expand their partnership. Doordash is off today and you think you know why?
- [36:10]
Joe Terranova
Well, it's off 5% today because this Amazon story about same day delivery on grocery, it is a big deal and it's affecting not just dash. You pull up a chart of instacart cart, you'll see that's down about 10%. Uber's down a little bit here today and it's even affecting Wal Mart. And Wal Mart looked like it was breaking out ahead of earnings towards that Fed February high at 105. So Dash has been in the strategy for quite some time right now. They had excellent earnings. Those earnings exhibited that they are capturing market share significantly. I'll take the other side of this down 5%. I still think Dash has further to go here on the upside. Wal Mart as well.
- [36:53]
Josh Brown
All right.
- [36:53]
Joe Terranova
But overall, the Amazon story, that's a powerful.
- [36:56]
Josh Brown
Get the news from Silvano now.
- [36:58]
Scott Wapner
Hi, Silvana Scott, Good afternoon to you. All right. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he'll, quote, allow Palestinians to leave Gaza during an upcoming ground operation. And this comes as the Israeli backed Gaza Humanitarian foundation disputed reports today from witnesses and health officials of Israeli gunfire killing at least 25 people who were looking for aid. Officials are warning residents in Juneau, Alaska, to prepare for evacuation as the state state's capital braces for record flooding. The city said floodwaters from rain and melted snow have already escaped from a basin dammed by the Mendel Hall Glacier. Now forecasters say flooding is expected to peak today. And after spending months overhauling the D.C. institution, President Trump today unveiled the list of this year's honorees for the Kennedy Center. They are Sylvester Stallone, country music star George Strait, singer and actor Michael Crawford, along with disco pioneer Gloria Gaynor and the rock band Kiss. President Trump also announced he will host the December event himself. Halftime Report is back right after this. At Capella University, learning the right skills could make a difference. That's why our business programs teach you relevant skills you can take from the course room to the workplace. A different future is closer than you think with Capella University. Learn more at capella.
- [38:24]
Carrie Firestone
Edu CNBC make it's online course how to build a standout personal brand.
- [38:30]
Joe Terranova
Three industry experts will show you how.
- [38:32]
Carrie Firestone
To create and grow your brand step by step.
- [38:35]
Scott Wapner
There's no time like now to start.
- [38:37]
Josh Brown
Building your personal brand.
- [38:38]
Carrie Firestone
Register now@cnbcmakeit.com Personal Brand.
- [38:56]
Josh Brown
Josh Brown's best stocks in the market has some new names that he has focused on. They are.
- [39:02]
Carrie Firestone
So we're going to talk chip equipment. Most people are familiar with applied materials Amat not on the list right now, but KLA Corp. And Lam Research are. So I'll start with clack. This is this is one of the most important companies in the global semiconductor supply chain and they are just shocking Wall street with quarter after quarter of explosive earnings growth, 60% growth in earnings last quarter with a 30% jump in revenue lammer surge also about 120, $130 billion market cap. They're roughly the same size. Look, these are companies that do things that wouldn't occur to the average investor who's not paying that close attention within the manufacturing process that are critical process control, wafer inspection, edge tools, coding, cleaning. But you really can't do what Nvidia does without these companies and the areas of chip manufacturing that they are involved with. So that's why these names have been working so far. I think what's really interesting is what we just did on tariffs and for strategic reasons why it's so important for there to be more semiconductor manufacturing here in the United States. It's both a challenge and an opportunity for these companies. Both of them derive less than 10% of their revenue globally from North America. That's going to go up and I think Wall street is betting that that's going to be more, more of an opportunity than it will be a challenge. And that's why these stocks both look so good. I like Lamb better. I think that one still has more upside potential than KLA from today's levels, but I do like both and I do think the sector will remain in favor. In the piece I did for pro, I put in some stop losses and where you'd want to come out of these trades. But these are both incredible looking charts.
- [40:58]
Josh Brown
All right. Check it out on pro and you can see those levels that Josh is talking about. Mike Santoli's next. Welcome back to the Halftime Report. Our friends at Golf Channel following the PGA Tour's latest stop. It's this week at the BMW Championship. The playoffs are underway and reporter Kira K. Dixon joins us live from Owings Mills, Maryland with what to expect. Hi there.
- [41:38]
Scott Wapner
Hi there, Scott. Well, it's the second stop of the FedEx cup playoffs. The BMW Championship is the oldest non major event on the PGA Tour schedule. Keegan Bradley in the field, the defending champion, also the United States Ryder cup captain. This is the last week of Ryder cup points for Team USA to be finalized. So he's got a lot on his plate both in the tournament and trying to make decisions of what he's going to do for Team usa. But a lot on the line here this week. Those that made it into the top 50, they have all locked up signature events for next season. That's a big deal for them. Lots of FedEx cut points on the line, lots of money on the line. So this is a place where everybody wants to be all Right.
- [42:15]
Josh Brown
And we'll be watching. Kira. Thank you, Kira. Kate Dixon joining us live from Maryland today. Be sure to follow Golf Channel's coverage of the the BMW Championships tomorrow around 1 2pm Eastern Time. Up next, Santoli tees it up. Senior markets commentator Mike sent Toll. He's at the desk for his midday word. What jumps out to you today?
- [42:56]
Joe Terranova
Well, so yesterday it was a little bit of an everything rally. We were talking about it, right? You had the rate cut playbook that was initiated and that was by smalls, by the average stock bicycles, by low quality, by financials. Today it's more rotational. So you have the the big caps backing off and it's sort of the markets repairing the short term over concentration that everybody's been complaining about. I don't think it means it's a big decisive tidal shift involved. I'm also watching some of the risk appetite tells look a little tired. Robinhood's down 5% figma. The last huge IPO to open here is down 5%, making room for Bullish, probably bullish high Figma. So you know, it sort of seems be to like it's not the beginning of a move. But yesterday kind of confirmed that we have the the fundamental underpinnings to kind of stay supported here. And we'll see what if you're in.
- [43:48]
Josh Brown
The right spot like Bullish appears to be right now, you're going to have a big IPO day. They're giving credit for going to more than double.
- [43:57]
Joe Terranova
As I've been saying though, what you've shown is that a lot of that frenzy demand gets satisfied on day one or day two and then it has to find its level a little bit lower.
- [44:07]
Josh Brown
All right. We'll see what happens with the IPO when it opens. And we will see you again on closing bell. Mike Santoli, we'll do finals next.
- [44:37]
Joe Terranova
Are you following the Halftime Report podcast?
- [44:40]
Carrie Firestone
What are you waiting for?
- [44:42]
Joe Terranova
Look for us in your favorite podcasting app. Follow the Halftime Podcast.
- [44:46]
Carrie Firestone
Now.
- [44:49]
Josh Brown
We'Re getting closer on the IPO here at the New York Stock Exchange of bullish indicated now 89 to 90. It did price at 37. The range was 32 to 33. So you already had a pricing above and you're going to have a really big open for this ipo, which we think is getting ever closer. May not happen in the next minute of our program, but it certainly will in the several that follow the Halftime Report today. And we'll certainly bring you that as soon as it does open for business. Let's do final trades Josh Brown, what you got?
- [45:22]
Carrie Firestone
Post is down seven points from before it reported its best earnings quarter ever. I think the stocks are screaming by in the low 40s.
- [45:29]
Josh Brown
Okay, thank you for that. Surat. What about you?
- [45:31]
Rick Reeder
Sticking with transdimer. I think it's really cheap at these levels.
- [45:34]
Josh Brown
Thank you very much. Kerry Firestone, Thermo Fisher.
- [45:38]
Surat SETI
It's at the 200 day moving average and things will get better. Federal funding is restored to universities.
- [45:43]
Josh Brown
Okay. And Joe Taylor, I like you talking.
- [45:47]
Joe Terranova
About the 200 day moving average. Amazon breaking out towards the upside from here.
- [45:51]
Josh Brown
She knows a thing or two about the market. Wake up short. She's been Talking about the 200 day moving average for awfully long time. Used to run those funds. Used to run those funds of Fidelity. Kerry Firestone did. Thank you guys. We'll see on the closing bell. We'll see what this market does in that final stretch. You've been Listening listening to CNBC's Halftime Report, the podcast. You can always catch us live weekdays at 12 Eastern only on CNBC.
- [46:22]
Scott Wapner
All opinions expressed by the Halftime Report participants are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, NBCUniversal, their 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 half time report 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 Halftime Report disclaimer, please visit cnbc.com halftime reportdisclaimer is it time to reimagine your future? The right business skills may make a difference in your career. At Capella University, we offer a relevant education that's designed to focus on what you need to know in the business world. We'll teach professional skills to help you pursue your goals like business management, strategic planning and effective communication. And you can apply these skills right away. A different future is closer than you think with Capella University. Learn more at Capella Eduardo.