Hassett on Jobs, Tariffs and Pres. Trump's Meeting With Oil CEOs 1/9/26

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Squawk on the Street

Episode: Hassett on Jobs, Tariffs, and Pres. Trump's Meeting With Oil CEOs (1/9/26)
Date: January 9, 2026
Hosts: Carl Quintanilla, Jim Cramer, David Faber
Key Guest: Kevin Hassett (Director, National Economic Council)

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Episode Overview

This episode of CNBC’s Squawk on the Street dives into the latest December jobs report, upcoming Supreme Court decisions on tariffs, and President Trump’s anticipated meeting with top oil CEOs regarding Venezuelan oil. National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett joins live to give the White House’s perspective on economic signals, policy impacts, AI-driven productivity, and the administration’s plans for the housing and manufacturing sectors.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. December Jobs Report: Lukewarm Results and Mixed Signals

• Headline Numbers:
  • 50,000 jobs added in December, with private hiring at 37,000—below expectations.
  • Unemployment rate fell slightly to 4.4%.
  • The 10-year Treasury yield reached its highest since Labor Day.
• Sector Analysis:
  • Health care remains the main engine of job growth, while manufacturing and retail lagged.
  • Retail lost 25,000 jobs in December, despite strong sales.
  • October and November payrolls were revised downward by a cumulative 76,000 jobs.
• Quotable Moment:
  • Jim Cramer (02:41): “I'm going to say something that you're not supposed to say in this business: inconsequential. … The revision was a bummer.”
• Structural Weakness:
  • 2025 marked the worst non-recession annual job creation since 2003, only positive due to health care and social assistance.

2. Tariffs and the Supreme Court Decision (IPA Authority)

• The Supreme Court is set to rule imminently on the legality of President Trump’s tariffs under the International Powers Act (IPA).
• Hassett expresses confidence the administration will prevail but outlines ready contingencies using other legal authorities if not.
• Quotable Moment:
  • Kevin Hassett (14:36): “There was a big call last night with all the principals to talk about if the Supreme Court were to rule against this IA tariff, what would the next step be?...our expectation is that we're going to win. And if we don't win, then we know that we've got other tools we could use.”

3. Economic Growth vs. Employment: The Productivity Puzzle

• High Productivity, Modest Job Growth:

  • Hassett notes productivity is running close to a 5% annual rate, reminiscent of the 1990s tech boom.
  • Capital Spending Boom: A surge in capital goods imports reflects onshoring and expansion, but the manufacturing job renaissance isn’t visible—yet.

• Explaining the Gap:

  • The economy shows “puzzle” dynamics: high GDP growth (Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow at 5.4% for Q4), but lackluster job creation.
  • Hassett: Strong productivity growth allows GDP gains without proportionate employment increases.

• Quotable Moment:

  • Kevin Hassett (10:57): “With productivity like that, something we haven’t seen since the 90s, you’ve got a heck of a lot of economic growth and it doesn’t necessarily have to mean a whole huge amount of job creation.”

4. AI’s Impact on Productivity and Labor Markets

• Hassett points to academic research and current data showing AI is measurably boosting productivity.

• AI is seen as a “coach” for both managers and workers, helping companies operate more efficiently.

• Cramer and Faber probe the lag between the capital investment in AI/data centers and the realization of job growth in supporting sectors (e.g., utilities, skilled trades).

• The issue of insufficient skilled labor to realize new infrastructure projects is highlighted.

• Quotable Moment:

  • Kevin Hassett (16:01): “AI has become like a really excellent coach for managers and workers—to make them do their jobs better.”

5. Labor Participation, Immigration, and Wage Trends

• Labor force participation for native-born workers is rising, partially offsetting declines from deportations and federal payroll cuts.
• Wages are up significantly, with manufacturing workers earning almost $3,000 more over the year.
• Cramer is skeptical of official statistics, noting little change in labor force participation and employment-population ratio numbers.

6. Housing Market Intervention & GSEs

• President Trump plans a housing initiative, including a large mortgage-backed securities purchase by GSEs (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac), with a fuller plan to be unveiled at Davos.

• The goal: Boost affordability as downpayments and rates remain high, especially for millennials shut out of homeownership.

• Debate on effectiveness ensues: Is $200 billion impactful in a $13 trillion market?

• Quotable Moment:

  • Kevin Hassett (19:56): “It’s part of an overall plan… a really big comprehensive housing plan… this is just a little small part of it to help.”

7. Outlook for Manufacturing Jobs & Reshoring

• Hassett remains optimistic that factory groundbreakings will translate to jobs in the months ahead—but acknowledges the lag.
• Jim Cramer presses on the lack of immediate manufacturing job growth despite all the policy moves.

8. Defense Spending & Corporate Intervention

• Trump administration aims to increase defense spending with stipulations that funds must go toward weapons/systems, not just corporate profits.
• Historical parallels drawn to Kennedy’s 1962 pressure on steel companies.

9. Oil: Venezuela, Shale, and U.S. Refining

• Anticipation over Trump’s meeting with oil CEOs: Rebuilding Venezuela’s oil output is expected to benefit U.S. refiners, especially given Gulf Coast expertise with “sour” crude.
• Quotable Moment:
  • Kevin Hassett (25:33): “…by getting that stuff [Venezuelan oil] back to the U.S. … it’s going to be really, really great for gasoline prices in the U.S…”

10. Nuclear Power, Utilities & Data Centers

• Meta, Vistra, and Outlo are highlighted for major deals to supply zero-carbon nuclear power to power-hungry new data centers.
• Skepticism about 2030 timelines for new nuclear plants due to regulatory hurdles.
• Ongoing debate about the practicality and viability of nuclear expansion for AI/data infrastructure by the decade’s end.

11. Healthcare, Pharma M&A, and Pricing

• JP Morgan Health Care Conference preview: biotech M&A is heating up as Trump’s policy clarity on drug pricing enables new deals.

• Merck rumored to be pursuing an acquisition in oncology to offset looming patent cliffs.

• The emergence of price competition in GLP-1 weight loss drugs (WeGovy, etc.)—with Amazon selling at notable price points—could signal a price war, benefiting consumers, but posing challenges for manufacturers.

• Pressure looms for insurers next.

• Quotable Moment:

  • David Faber (40:32): “What are these companies going to do when these enormously successful medicines on which they have had incredible profit margins… come off patent? … How do you replace them? You buy an emerging biotech company that wants to get sold…”

12. Tariff Rebates and Consumer Impact

• If tariffs are struck down by the Supreme Court, potential for rebates to large corporations and, possibly, consumers.
• Uncertainty over whether companies (like Walmart/Costco) or end-users will benefit directly.
• Hassett reaffirms administration’s readiness to maintain the tariff regime one way or another.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Jobs Data

• Jim Cramer (02:41):
  “I'm going to say something that you're not supposed to say in his business: inconsequential.”

On the Productivity Puzzle

• Kevin Hassett (10:57):
  “With productivity like that, something we haven’t seen since the 90s, you’ve got a heck of a lot of economic growth and it doesn’t necessarily have to mean a whole huge amount of job creation.”

On Tariffs and Legal Contingency

• Kevin Hassett (14:36):
  “There was a big call last night…if the Supreme Court were to rule against this IA tariff, what would the next step be?...we've got other tools that we could use to get to the same place.”

On AI

• Kevin Hassett (16:01):
  “AI has become like a really excellent coach for managers and workers—to make them do their jobs better.”

On Housing Market Policy

• Kevin Hassett (19:56):
  “It's part of an overall plan…the President's going to announce…a really big comprehensive housing plan…this is just a little small part…”

On Manufacturing & Capital Spending

• Kevin Hassett (11:20): “It’s reshoring…we’re at 35 big factories…capital spending is looking really good…the economy is ramping up at a really, really high rate.”

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Key Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |-------------|-------------------------------------------| | 00:52 | Show opens—jobs & tariffs set agenda | | 01:51-02:49 | Jobs report discussion (Cramer, Faber) | | 04:24-05:17 | Worst job creation year since 2003 | | 08:35 | Kevin Hassett joins live | | 08:42-09:56 | Hassett on jobs data & productivity | | 10:09-10:57 | Imports, capital goods, and tariffs | | 11:20-12:23 | Manufacturing, reshoring, factory builds | | 13:01-14:07 | High growth without inflation (explained) | | 14:07 | Tariff policy—SCOTUS and contigency plan | | 16:01-17:06 | AI’s direct economic impact | | 17:30-18:48 | Labor supply, immigration, wages | | 19:56-21:02 | GSEs & housing affordability | | 21:39-22:23 | Manufacturing jobs outlook | | 25:33-26:32 | Venezuela oil, U.S. refining | | 31:17-33:37 | Data centers, nuclear power, timelines | | 39:06-40:14 | Pharma M&A, oncology drugs | | 42:23-43:56 | Tariffs, BYD cars, solar panels, trade | | 45:17-45:53 | Weight loss drug pricing (WeGovy) | | 48:24-49:38 | SCOTUS tariffs impact on consumer rebates |

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Tone & Style

The episode features CNBC’s signature fast-paced, bantering style. Cramer injects humor and skepticism; Faber and Quintanilla guide the conversations and probe for deeper economic insights. Hassett provides detailed, optimistic explanations—rooted in data and policy rationale, while also gamely responding to pointed and sometimes playful questions from the hosts.

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Final Thoughts

Listeners are left with a nuanced picture: America’s economy is running hot on productivity, but job growth is selectively weak. The outcomes of Supreme Court tariff decisions, shifts in housing and manufacturing policy, and the next phase of AI implementation and energy infrastructure all loom large. The Biden and Trump legacies—on tariffs, employment, and regulation—are under the microscope, with significant implications for investors, workers, and consumers in early 2026.

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Transcript

[David Faber]

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[AT&T Business Wireless Representative]

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[David Faber]

AT&T business Wireless Connecting changes everything. Market insight and analysis. You're listening to the opening bell of cnbc. SQUAWK on the Street Good Friday morning.

[Carl Quintanillo]

Welcome to Squawk on the Street. I'm Carl Quintanillo with Jim Cramer, David Faber at post nine of the New York Stock Exchange. Big consequential day between a possible SCOTUS ruling on tariffs, oil CEOs to the White House and of course December jobs which do come in light. At 50k unemployment drops a couple of tenths to four four ten year pops to the highest level since labor day. Briefly crossing above 4 to our roadmap begins with the first up to date in jobs number since the government shut down. Payrolls do miss the mark, but that unemployment rate does dip.

[David Faber]

President Trump is scheduled to meet with the top oil CEOs at the White House. That'll be later today. Of course they will discuss the rebuilding of Venezuela's oil industry. And the Supreme Court could rule today on the legality of President Trump's tariffs. Could be as soon as this morning. It's a decision of course that will have far reaching impacts on trade policy and even the US Fiscal situation.

[Carl Quintanillo]

Let's begin though with the jobs number this morning. Jim, we mentioned 50k total. Private 37 also comes in a little bit late.

[Jim Cramer]

Yeah, we just don't have, we have sectors that don't seem to grow. I mean health care, we do. And look, health care has always been regarded as a drag on the system, although I want to see what happens. ACA and Senate. But retail, I always look at retail and it's like down 25,000 in December. Not good at all. Food and drinking places not that strong. I look at these numbers, I just think and yet the there's no doubt about it, December was a strong month in retail. We're getting that over and over and over again. Matthew Boss today confirming that at JP Morgan So it's hard to figure out where the strength and weakness is. But overall, maybe that's why rates didn't move that much. I don't know, David. I look at this number, I'm going to take in a closer look.

[David Faber]

Yeah, I'm taking your number.

[Jim Cramer]

You looked at it before. I checked it out before.

[David Faber]

I was busy doing other stuff. All right.

[Jim Cramer]

All right.

[David Faber]

Well, I leave the jobs to you.

[Jim Cramer]

I feel better about that.

[David Faber]

Yeah.

[Jim Cramer]

So you tell me about this was. I'm going to say something that you're not supposed to say in his business. Inconsequential.

[David Faber]

Okay.

[Jim Cramer]

I mean the revisions. The revision was a bummer. They had the total non farm payroll. Employment changed little in December. Employment continued to trend up. Food service. But. But then start talking about this is what was weary. November was Revised down by 8,000. But David. October was revised down by 68,000. Government shut down. Or once again should we just give this to Salesforce Servicenow, have it outsourced.

[David Faber]

Right.

[Jim Cramer]

Palantir.

[David Faber]

We talk about. And we will. I don't know. I mean, you know, I do wonder especially what's coming in this year. I talk about it all the time for obvious reasons. Yeah, of course.

[Jim Cramer]

How can you not after what the SEC seems to endorse what Jamie Dimon did.

[David Faber]

I don't know. But how do you. And I just don't even know how you can appropriately gauge what the impact is going to be right. In this year. We don't know the impact in the enterprise. We know certainly it may be suppressing new hiring when and if it will lead to actual.

[Jim Cramer]

David.

[David Faber]

Not every jobs as a result.

[Jim Cramer]

Although I've seen a bartender that is a. I know.

[David Faber]

You know, robotic bartender. But I think it's a long time till we get humanoid robot AI and in bars.

[Jim Cramer]

But the category. I mean health care I've seen. I've seen in Stanford Hospital. They use robots to clean the rooms. I mean does that mean that there's. There's 21 instead of 25,000? I don't know. Maybe retail. I mean we know that retail. If you look at cvs, CVS has cut back. But that's for the call center. So I don't see it yet. But I know it's there, it's lurking.

[Carl Quintanillo]

Yeah. Well, what we do know is that for the full year, 25 was the worst year for job creation outside of recession since 2003. And if it hadn't been for health care or social assistance, we would have been read for the year.

[Kevin Hassett]

Yes.

[Jim Cramer]

And health care again Is not something we want to see manufacturing grow. The manufacturing jobs. I mean, look, I'm pro reshoring, but it was a list.

[David Faber]

No, we haven't. Manufacturing has not grown.

[Jim Cramer]

No.

[Carl Quintanillo]

Eight straight months. Eight straight months.

[David Faber]

And you've also had. And Carl, I don't know what the numbers are right now, but federal employees have come down rather substantially. Right. Hundreds of thousands. We're talking about.

[Jim Cramer]

Well, all I can tell you is, is that to see these end, these things that you thought should be booming. Mining, quarry, oil and gas, extract, construction, manufacturing, wholesale trade. If the president could look at this and say, well, geez, I thought that we were doing better than this. At least mentally say that.

[Carl Quintanillo]

I don't know.

[Jim Cramer]

He's not going to come out and say that. But we do have. We have a password that's going to be interesting because the wrong part of the economy is doing Is hot. Yeah.

[Carl Quintanillo]

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett going to join us in a moment. We'll talk about IPA, we'll talk about GSEs, we'll talk about the jobs number.

[David Faber]

Cow sheet.

[Jim Cramer]

Right.

[David Faber]

What about Kalsi?

[Jim Cramer]

I think he's like, what, Number two in calcium.

[Carl Quintanillo]

He's number. I think he's number one.

[David Faber]

You're talking about the prediction markets, which by the way, you can more or less wager on anything. There it is.

[Jim Cramer]

I haven't heard any time. Touchdown.

[David Faber]

Oh, no, I'm sorry, that's the. That's. That's the iepa. Excuse me, that's.

[Jim Cramer]

But you haven't heard any time. Touchdown or 70 yards first quarter. No, I do a parlay with. With Hassan. Well, you do parlay.

[David Faber]

A parlay with. Who's going to be The Fed Chief versus.

[Kevin Hassett]

Yes.

[Jim Cramer]

And it's got to be going to.

[David Faber]

Score first in the Eagles DraftKings.

[Jim Cramer]

You're on cow sheet. I'm on DraftKings.

[David Faber]

There it is.

[Carl Quintanillo]

There is. You're right. It's the other Kevin who's.

[Jim Cramer]

Yeah. So you got to be careful. Wash is just. Once again, he only has to go 10 yards.

[Carl Quintanillo]

Well, debate today.

[David Faber]

Sorry. The President has said he's made his decision, I believe. Isn't that correct?

[Carl Quintanillo]

Wasn't that a court of interview at the Times? A lot of news out of that Times interview, but that he has a favorite in mind.

[Jim Cramer]

He's been liking the Times lately. The President. I mean, he hated the Times.

[Carl Quintanillo]

Ton of news. Part of it involves what he expects. As far as Venezuela, we talked about yesterday, the news about potentially running it for years, the $50 favorite target today, this notion that executives might commit 100 billion.

[Jim Cramer]

Second day in a row the Financial Times has said that that oil men have been cursing.

[Carl Quintanillo]

This time it's shale.

[Jim Cramer]

Yes, this time it's shale. And I don't want to use any of the words David, but they're not, they're not suitable for our show. But the FT is just. They're not.

[Carl Quintanillo]

I mean the line is we're talking about this administration once again blowing it down like 2016.

[David Faber]

I mean we need Albert Bourla here to actually fill it in. That's a reference to CEO Pfizer who used the F word on our air. That was interesting.

[Jim Cramer]

It was different. It was different. I was you.

[David Faber]

You've done it too though.

[Jim Cramer]

Well yeah, but I merely took back. He actually made a point of.

[David Faber]

There's no take backs.

[Jim Cramer]

I also said once that I was bat dash crazy and I didn't want. I'm never taking it.

[David Faber]

Okay, I don't mean to divert us from our actual topic here guys. Sorry.

[Jim Cramer]

No, but the oil people, it really bothers me that there's this sense then you could have like 130,000 barrels a day. That's going to wreck the shale story. They're going to put and pump 13.5 and by the way they're starting to do a lot of natural gas liquids which is a terrific business. And the pipeline companies have lowered the price of natural gas liquids and natural.

[David Faber]

Gas powers a lot of our electricity.

[Jim Cramer]

Yes, well and the liquids are plastic doing great there. One of the reasons why the plastic any of these chemical companies done badly is that we're just overwhelming supply. Remember we had not gas at $4 not that long ago. So I don't want to. If they're complaining, if the oil guys are complaining, they ought to find something else to complain about. The recount is down. They're doing incredibly well. I don't think they're merely the complainers that the press portrays them. I think they say listen, if you want us to do it, I guess we'll have to do it.

[Carl Quintanillo]

Hopefully we get some readouts later today after this meeting. As far as that the jobs number. Let's get the first reaction from the White House this morning with the National Economic Council director Kevin Assad who joins us live. Kevin, good to have you with us. Thanks again for joining us.

[Kevin Hassett]

Great to be here again.

[Carl Quintanillo]

Let's start clean and just ask you how you think the street should be thinking about the jobs print.

[Kevin Hassett]

Oh sure. Well you know I think that the unemployment rate dropped. If you go to the second digit it was almost a 2% drop. The job number for the first time in three months didn't surprise on the upside. It surprised a little bit on the downside. But I think that the market reaction is about. Right. This is about what we expected. I heard you guys talking as, as I was getting wired up. And you know, the bottom line is that that the jobs numbers look a little bit different than every other indicator that we have. So we just saw trade data that for October we had the lowest trade deficit since 2009. And the Atlanta Fed GDP now number has kicked up their fourth quarter growth rate by 5.4%, which is really astonishing if you consider that our CEA estimates that you have that it's about a one and a half percent drop that you need to have to account for the government shutdown, which means that the GDP down number is sort of like seven. And so with numbers like that and GDP and jobs here, which are a little bit lower than you normally have in a boom, it's something of a puzzle for markets, I would guess. But the puzzle is resolved very easily if you look at the productivity numbers. So what's happening is productivity is through the roof. It's running almost at 5% annual rate. And with productivity like that, something we haven't seen since the 90s, then you got a heck of a lot of economic growth and it doesn't necessarily have to mean a whole huge amount of job creation. And I think that's the way I read the economy right now.

[Carl Quintanillo]

Right. I'm glad you brought up the trade numbers though, because the imports coming in 20% makes some wonder that maybe there's not such great clues about demand, at least in terms of consumption.

[Kevin Hassett]

Well, the thing that was really interesting about the import data for me, right. Was that it was a lot of it was capital goods. And so all of this onshoring of production because of the tariffs was really, really visible not only in the domestic data for capital goods, but, but in the import data because there's a lot of stuff, especially for like chip manufacturing and so on, that's coming from foreign countries. So the import data wasn't just like there wasn't just a consumption binge, which I know happens every weekend with Kramer on French wine. Right. It was a consumption binge on capital goods that are going to be going to make more, more chips and other things here in the US A mezcal trigger.

[Jim Cramer]

What that. All right, so our jobs created equal. Kevin. I mean, I was hoping to see maybe kind of flat in food services, drinking places, Health care and social assistance. And we start seeing some good growth in retail and steel, aluminum, the data center, utilities are just. It's actually the opposite. Now where is the reassuring. Where is it happening?

[Kevin Hassett]

Well, I mean it's reshoring is happening with the like we've got data on groundbreaking since September. There have been, I think we're at 35 now big factories that the President has negotiated with foreign companies and domestic companies that have groundbreaking so that the capital spending is looking really good. The orders and shipments of non defense capital goods, you know that we used to call it the M3 data back in the old days. That's very strong. And so again, everything is looking like the economy is ramping up at a really, really high rate. And I think that's one reason why markets are so pleased over this year with the progress that President Trump's policies have made. I was in the Oval last night talking with the President and I was there with the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and he asked us both to, to guesstimate what GDP growth would be this year if he hadn't changed any policies. And we both agreed that it would be kind of in the ones. And so I think all these things that we've done have really, really, really put I guess a shot in the arm to the economy.

[Jim Cramer]

Well, I was interested you gave a nod of course to Bill Clinton in the 90s. I guess he was doing something right first time. I always like to hear when the Democrats are praised by the Republicans. That's a good call by you. One thing I am trying to, I'm really struggling with. Okay, which is that if I early said percent, I know we got productivity gain. I'm trying to figure out whether we should take rates to four and a half, five, maybe five and three quarters. I don't know. You're more likely according to Kalshee than I am to be. You're in the Oval. Two years in the Oval damages and Oval. But I mean what do we do here with the higher rate scenario that I think most conventional Fed chiefs might be looking at when you have 7% GDP?

[Kevin Hassett]

Right. Well the way to think about it, and sorry to be the pedantic Stanford professor that I often end up being on tv, I'm a corporate guy, so go ahead. Yeah, I know, I know. So the point is that if you have a village with one apple tree and then all of a sudden they plant another apple tree, then the price of apples of the village goes down. And so when you have increase in supply, you can have growth. Right. The GDP of that town doubled because they have two apple trees. But you don't have inflation. And that's what could happen. That happened in the 90s. You go back and look, because computers all of a sudden were modernizing, increasing productivity, every business. Then you saw quarters of 6,7% growth without inflation. And it was really the brilliance of Alan Greenspan that you could have high growth without inflation when you get a really big positive productivity shock. And I think that we've got that, that happy thing happening right now. And so therefore, you can have high growth without inflation. Of course, it'll be really, really important for people at the Fed to monitor it and make sure that that story holds. But we're seeing it in the data for sure that we've got really, really high growth and we don't have accelerating inflation.

[David Faber]

Kevin, it's David, you know, you mentioned, of course, some of the key policies of the administration. One has been tariffs. You mentioned, of course, a trade deficit that we haven't seen this low since 09. That may well get reversed in fact, even hours from now. We don't know how the Supreme Court is going to rule. But I am curious as to how the administration is thinking about it. Should that come as a reversal of their authority under IPA and what you would do or the administration would do to continue those policies?

[Kevin Hassett]

Right. Well, you know, certainly there's a high level of confidence that the Supreme Court's going to side with us. We think that we're really on firm ground. But I know you expect us to say that. And so then the question is, well, what if we're wrong about that? And it's important to think about that, too. There was a big call last night with all the principals to talk about if the Supreme Court were to rule against this IA tariff, what would the next step be? And Jamison Greer is all over it. There are a lot of other legal authorities that can reproduce the deals that we've made with other countries and can do so basically immediately. And so our expectation is that we're going to win. And if we don't win, then we know that we've got other tools that we could use that get us to the same place. And, you know, I think the IPA authority is pretty clear. It's why it's the first choice of how to, how to use it. But if the courts disagree, we'll of course respect that. But we've got lots of other authorities that we could use to get to the same place.

[David Faber]

Okay, I assume we'll get some articulation of that. Should it go against you? I asked the same question of you, but I ask it because I think it is relevant. You know, you talk about productivity. I assume you're keeping a close eye on the impact of AI in the enterprise and what that's going to mean. What's going to mean for jobs, what it is going to mean for continued productivity. How are you viewing it at this point and what are your expectations as this year unfolds, as we all look to see whether there's going to be return on all that invested capital, for example, for the hyperscalers, not to mention benefits for the enterprise?

[Kevin Hassett]

Well, I think it's really quite clearly in the productivity data. There's also like case studies. There's a guy at Stanford, Erik Brynjolsson, who's like really hitting it out of the park, studying the productivity boom from AI and it's really quite impressive. I think that you remember back in the 90s, we're all old enough that we lived through that.com era that it was kind of the markets were really celebrating year after year the spread of the computer. But we had a hard time seeing the effect of the computer and the data. But now we're seeing it all over the place. We've got like measured productivity is higher. Do you remember our old friend Bob Gordon had all this work that said computers aren't having any effect on productivity back in the 90s, but now we've got AI productivity estimates that are up to four and a half percent. We had an earnings season where earnings surprise on the upside by more than they ever have in recent memory. And so AI is having a big effect on the operation of companies. And the way to think about it is that we've got AI has become like a really excellent coach for managers and for workers to make them do their jobs better.

[Jim Cramer]

So Kevin, when I talk to the people who are building the data centers, they keep going back to the same problem. We don't have enough workers in this country, both skilled and unskilled. And it's the gating factor, being able to put up all the different, say nuclear or NAT gas or just all the electricity to link up on the grid to all these data centers. What do we do about not having enough people?

[Kevin Hassett]

Right. Well, one of the things that's happening is that we're seeing a big increase in labor force participation. And as you saw in the data today, that there have been sort of two things that have reduced the growth of the labor market. One, one of them is the reduction in federal government employment. Precisely. Which is down about 250,000 this year. And then the other is the deportation of illegals, many of them who had jobs. But native born workers make up about 100% of the job gains that we've had this year. And the interesting thing is that, that the labor force participation of native born workers is skyrocketing. And so I think that people are getting back off the sidelines. They see the huge wage growth. Actually think about this. The wage growth this year is probably, given today's data, is about almost $3,000.

[Jim Cramer]

Tell me this actually works just wrong, this thing in the report. Both the labor force participation rate is 62.4 and the employment population ratio at 59.7% changed little in December. These measures have shown little change over the years. So this must be an accurate.

[Carl Quintanillo]

Well, Kevin, there's also native born unemployment for one, that's up 4, 10 year on year.

[Kevin Hassett]

Look, the native born employment in terms of the payroll survey is up by 650,000. The bottom line is labor force participation has been moving forward and it's not very long ago that it was way below this. And so our expectation is with wage growth as high as it is at about $3,000 this year for the typical manufacturing worker, that more and more people are going to come off the street sidelines. But you know that you're right that, that that's one of the things that's going to have to drive growth going into this year is more labor supply because we got all the capital spending that you could imagine. It's a capital spending boom. And you can see that in the trade data. With imports of capital goods and with the groundbreakings of the factories, there are a heck of a lot of people that are putting up, you know, workers wanted signs all over the place.

[Carl Quintanillo]

Kevin, I want to move you from productivity to affordability. This news about the GSEs yesterday is a couple of takes on the street. One is that it's very much within the President's control and it can work pretty quickly. The other side says what can 200 billion do in a $13 trillion market?

[Kevin Hassett]

Mm, right. Well, you know, it's part of an overall plan that the President's going to announce at Davos. We've been working on it, really talking on the show over the last couple of months with a really big comprehensive housing plan. The President's going to announce the whole thing at Davos. This is just a little small part of it to help. You know, we see that there's A kind of hole in the housing market where people, especially between like, the ages of 30 and 40, aren't buying homes the way they used to. If you look at why, then there are a lot of reasons, but inflation has made housing prices go up, and then, of course, mortgage rates have gone up. And so when President Trump was in office, the typical down payment for a home for the median family was $23,000. Now it's like $32,000. And so there's lots of stuff that needs to be fixed if we can get people back into homes. And one of them is to make sure that mortgage rates are not too high, and they've been way, way too high. And so I think this is a. This is an attempt to let markets know that we're keeping a close eye on mortgage rates so that we're going to take actions like this should we need to.

[David Faber]

Somebody that might have an impact on rates would be the Fed chair. Sounds like if you get the job, you're going to be lowering rates. Gavin?

[Kevin Hassett]

Well, you know, I'm really happy with the job I have here. We'll see what the President thinks about where I should be.

[David Faber]

I did want to come back to manufacturing. You know, Carl and Jim both sort of raising it. I'm trying to look through the numbers, but it doesn't appear that we're having the renaissance in terms of employment that we'd anticipated. You seem to think it's early, but I'd love to get a little more sense from you as to why and whether you really do believe we're going to start to see that reverse in terms of employment in that key area that was supposed to be a beneficiary of the trade policies.

[Kevin Hassett]

Well, well, let's be clear that three of the last four months, employment surprised significantly on the upside. Wage growth has surprised really significantly on the upside, with, again, manufacturing workers making $3,000 more in, in December than they did in January of the same year. And so that's the kind of thing that brings people off the sidelines into the labor market. But things are moving forward positively. What you guys are maybe worried about or griping about is that you want it to move forward faster. And that's something that we fully expect. We'll see in the second, second half of the first half of this year, because the bottom line is that the factories are being built, the ground is being broken, the machines are coming in, and some worker is going to have to run that machine.

[Jim Cramer]

When I ask about the President getting involved with the dividend and Buyback strategy, the defense of the defense companies. I know in 1962, President Kennedy did a rather radical thing. He came out against the steel companies. Execs were overpaid. He went after them. Antitrust just basically said this is the way it has to be. And it was one of those things where the right really felt overstretched. I think Kennedy looks placid versus what the President wants to do in terms of corporate intervention. How do we explain this? And when you were at Stanford, were you with. I don't do you in Ken Arrows classes? We didn't talk. This was not talked about.

[Kevin Hassett]

Right. Well. Well, the, the bottom line is that the President believes that we need. The American defense has to be the strongest in the world. And there have been foreign countries that have really doubled down on trying to compete with us by ramping up their defense spending. Under Joe Biden, the defense spending, I think, fell back quite a bit and in part because the spending was on stuff other than weapons systems and so on that we need. Should we actually have a war? And so I think that the President's view and Pete Hex's view is that we've got a lot of work to do to get back on track and that that's going to take increased defense spending. And you'll see as we go forward into the budget debate this year that we're going to demand more defense spending. And, and what the President wants to do is make sure that the increase in defense spending doesn't just go into the profits, but it actually goes into the weapons that American soldiers need to protect. Protect us all.

[Carl Quintanillo]

Kevin, if tax refund season comes in as much of a tailwind as the Treasury Secretary seems to think, do you think that money gets spent or saved? And if it does get spent, does it drive some reflation?

[Kevin Hassett]

Yeah, the history of it is that when you get a big refund season that about half of the money gets spent over the next six months and half of the money gets saved. Something about like that. There's a guy named Jonathan Parker at Princeton that's been studying this for his whole life. And so our expectation is it would be a positive for some consumption. And we're not really worried about the inflationary effects of that because we've got so much supply coming online. Again, we're looking at, you know, massive productivity gains in the US and really, really increased supply, which gives us, you know, that thing that we had in the 90s where there's a big productivity gain, positive supply shocks that could have growth without, without runaway inflation and so, so that the refunds are going to be great for the people to get them, because people who had tips or people who had overtime are going to get big refunds and those refunds will help them have a better life. But, but I think that there's enough productive capacity in the US to have that not have significant inflationary effects.

[David Faber]

Finally, Kevin, I don't know if you're going to be a part of the meeting later today between the president and oil executives, but I am curious as to your thoughts. You know, we've been speaking to those same executives, not on the record, but they've indicated just how much money it's going to take, the security guarantees. They would want so many other things that will take years to rebuild the infrastructure in Venezuela. What are your expectations from this meeting later today? To the extent you have any, I.

[Kevin Hassett]

Think that you're going to be very positively surprised at how quickly things move in a positive direction, in part because we've got the best secretary of Energy I've ever seen. The bottom line is that if you go into the sort of chemistry of oil, that there are some refineries where the main byproduct other than gasoline, gasoline, is kerosene, and then there are other refineries where the main byproduct for gasoline is asphalt. And so refining is a lot different depending on the type of oil you have. And in the southeastern United States, the refineries have really, over the years, especially, you know, given past history, been tuned towards the heavier sour stuff that they have in Venezuela. And so we believe that by, you know, getting that stuff back to the US and doing so in a way that rewards the Venezuelans and Americans is going to be really, really great for gasoline prices in the US because we have the refining capacity to take that particular type of oil and ramp up production right away.

[Carl Quintanillo]

Certainly explains the action we've seen in the shares of some refiners here. Kevin, appreciate the wide ranging.

[Jim Cramer]

Thanks.

[Kevin Hassett]

Always good to be here.

[Carl Quintanillo]

Kevin Hassett, the National Economic Council director. We'll get this opening bell on a very busy Friday in just a minute.

[Jim Cramer]

Hey, Fidelity.

[Kevin Hassett]

How can I remember to invest every month?

[AT&T Business Wireless Representative]

With the Fidelity app, you can choose a schedule and set up recurring investments in stocks and ETFs.

[Jim Cramer]

Oh, that sounds easier than I thought.

[AT&T Business Wireless Representative]

You got this?

[Jim Cramer]

Yeah, I do.

[David Faber]

Now, where did I put my keys?

[AT&T Business Wireless Representative]

You will find them where you left them.

[Carl Quintanillo]

Investing involves risk, including risk of loss. Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC Member NYSE SIPC.

[Julia Boorstin]

Oh, could this vintage store be any cuter?

[Jim Cramer]

Right and the best part, they accept Discover.

[Julia Boorstin]

Except Discover in a little place like this? I don't think so. Jennifer.

[David Faber]

Oh yeah.

[Capella University Representative]

Huh.

[Jim Cramer]

Discover's accepted where I like to shop. Come on baby, get with the times.

[Julia Boorstin]

Right. So we shouldn't get the parachute pants.

[David Faber]

These are making a comeback, I think. Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. Based on the February 2025 Nielsen.

[AT&T Business Wireless Representative]

Not every sale happens at the register before AT&T business Wireless checking out customers on our mobile POS systems took too long. Basically a staring contest where everyone loses. It's crazy what people will say during an awkward silence. Now transactions are done before the silence takes hold. That means I can focus on the task at hand and make an extra sale or two. Sometimes I do miss the bonding time.

[David Faber]

Sometimes AT&T business Wireless connecting changes everything. All right, minute before we get started with trading here to end the trading week. Mad dash real quick.

[Jim Cramer]

Yeah. JNJ announces a really breakthrough deal putting plants up here doing some you know keeping prices lower agreement with President Trump. But David, the next week is the JP Morgan health care commerce and you're seeing a lot of like I don't know if you going to talk about Mercury deals but well you're seeing a lot of deals and big news coming from that. Just want to point it out. That's part of it. Seeing lots of news.

[Carl Quintanillo]

Yeah. We got Lily today going to 1300 over Jeffries.

[Jim Cramer]

I know. I think Lily is in the CATB seat. We know David, did you see that there are people offering the Amazon.

[David Faber]

We'll talk about that in a second.

[Carl Quintanillo]

Let's get the opening bell here in the CNBC real time exchange with a big board professional bull riders Celebr Brady the PBR Monster energy buck off at.

[Jim Cramer]

Ms. Yeah the buckle today through the.

[Carl Quintanillo]

Weekend at the Nasdaq it's I urban online retailer of health and wellness products. Jim as we continue to swirl around here in the low 6900 but it's.

[Jim Cramer]

Again it's the is going to be another share donors Apple despite the fact that you've got a nice price bump is that going to be a share donor? We're seeing over and over again these big cap stocks that have just been sloppy. Right. Microsoft and Matter by the way spending a fortune on nuclear power. David which they seem to think that is going to be in 2030.

[David Faber]

Let's, let's talk about that a bit because we can take a look at old glow. We've had the CE on many times of course Vistra as well Again, these were big Vista, big beneficiary last year.

[Jim Cramer]

It did.

[David Faber]

The stock did come off a bit from its all time high. But it's going to be up this morning and this is the announcement. It's both for. Oh look, there he is. Jacob DeWitt's going to join Money Movers later as well.

[Carl Quintanillo]

So.

[David Faber]

Oh, Monday, right? Monday. See the Monday there. Wow, you guys really plan ahead on Money to go. Metta is going to be both adding additional capacity on sites that already are there and into the grid for them as well. That's through Vistra. And then also these deals with Outlo that are about spending money for future nuclear small nuclear reactors that are going to help power. Of course the data centers that Metta is going to be operating. Hyperion certainly is one of the key ones. We've talked about it so often with Meta, of course in Louisiana. Huge volume, what, 30 billion or so. I've talked about the capital structure there and the interesting. Well, not. I mean the way it is structured, it's, you know, Pimco, Blue Owl. Pimco for the debt, Blue Owl in part for the equity. Metta, the key, the lease. They are leasing all of it that it goes down. But they need, they need power, you pointed out all the time.

[Jim Cramer]

It's one of the key issues for the gating those. That's a term you must remember for.

[David Faber]

The power of AI and the data centers that are going to hold all the compute that's going to power it. And so these announcements are key to that. They are advancing all closed plans to develop 1.2 gigawatts of power in Pike County, Ohio to support Meta data centers in that region. And again, when it comes to Vistra, a 20 year agreement to provide more than 2600 megawatts of zero carbon energy from three different Vistra nuclear plants to support their operations in that region, again in Texas and the like.

[Jim Cramer]

So what do you think about this? I was talking this morning, I said, guys, don't set yourself up. 2030 for nuclear power is not something that I think is in the cards on whom I may have studied the issue because big position for G Renova, which is the one that I think has the best technology. David, you know, you can put out a 2030 number and it just flies in the face of everything that we hear. You can't get it done.

[David Faber]

Why not?

[Jim Cramer]

Because it's nuclear and it's heavily regulated. Unless you hear that we're going to hear lighter regulation. And even in Canada where the building is small, it goes on forever. I just think that when it comes to nuclear power, don't put a deadline. We learned that, didn't we learn that from Southern, from. So yeah.

[Carl Quintanillo]

You wrote this morning you thought Mark was better than this.

[Jim Cramer]

Yes, I do. I think that you don't put out that number. You put out a 2032 number a little more in sync with what happened. I do think he's better than this. You know, I admire the man greatly. I just say that you don't say 2030 because it's not in your hands. See, this is not. It's not in your hands about what's going to happen. Just like it's not in Boeing's hands to be able to make a lot of planes per month. There is no a nuclear regulatory commission which is highly recognized as being very rigorous, which means not 20.

[Carl Quintanillo]

Although right. Earlier this week at the Goldman conference said things like Three Mile island are on pace for some of their recommissioning.

[David Faber]

Yeah, yeah. And that's Pennsylvania, by the way. A lot of this is Pennsylvania as well. In terms of the announcement with Vistra, you've got quotes here in their news Release from Dave McCormick, for example, the senator, the senator from Pennsylvania. And the company. Yeah, and the company, excuse me, the state's governor, Josh Shapiro.

[Jim Cramer]

Empirically, their excitement is totally out of whack. Okay, well, empirically it's out of whack, but they are.

[David Faber]

I mean, these are 20 year power purchase agreements that matters entering into that are going to allow them to expand the capacity of existing nuclear generating facilities that extend their life over a long period of time. Then we are talking, as you say, about new, really new technology to a certain extent, I guess.

[Jim Cramer]

Right. With the small nuclear reactors also, it's unproven. They all are very, very hopeful.

[David Faber]

You feel like it's still unproven. Even though, even though.

[Jim Cramer]

Look, I'm so pro nuke it's crazy, but wow. I mean, I was against the anti nuke concert that Springsteen gave well in 80.

[David Faber]

So in this news release from OTLO where they say pre construction site characterization slated to begin in 26 and first phase targeted to come online as early as 2030. You're taking the other side of that.

[Jim Cramer]

I have to.

[David Faber]

You want to do it on Calci or on Polymarket? I think there might be a.

[Jim Cramer]

No, no, because I had information like the guy, the $400,000 the guy wanted Maduro. No, I don't. I just studied this issue over and over. It was so pro nuke. And I keep coming back and saying, why don't they improve faster? There are people in the government who want to look Secretary Wright I think so if you're pro fossil doing a great job but again they're not in charge And I keep remembering when Fannie came on from Southern and I felt so bad for him because these plants they had overruns of billions and billions of dollars. So I think that these people should use a little under promise and then over deliver. They're making themselves into people who we can look back and say what were they thinking?

[Carl Quintanillo]

Well that's, that's non residential construction And I'm curious what you think of the action in Rocket Open Door Lenox, Masco, Lennar.

[Jim Cramer]

Okay look I think that the idea of buying back, buying the mortgage, the mortgage mbs I think that's fantastic. I think that it can move it down, you get the rates down and then by the way everyone was so quick to say dismiss the president on forcing these companies to put their houses on the market. David, we might be at a tipping point where you start saying you know what, I got to sell my house right now for the last since COVID you said you know what? My house is going up, my house is going up, my house going up. So the psychology could change and the president is being ignored, derided and actually just being saying that he's befuddled with this is completely wrong. It's shock treatment to be able to make you feel like maybe your house is going to come down. So you better put in the market.

[David Faber]

Think it's going to work?

[Jim Cramer]

Yes.

[Kevin Hassett]

Really?

[Jim Cramer]

Yes because he's going to get a fed Sheep Fed. She's going to talk about teaser rates. We had a 1% and home equity short end.

[Carl Quintanillo]

You think that brings the ten year below four?

[Jim Cramer]

I think that. I think that you're going to stop Talking about the 10 year I think you start talking about special rates, teaser rates. I think that the new Fed.

[David Faber]

Oh that sounds weighting. That sounds great. Oh really? Adjustable rate mortgages where short term and why don't we forget hey if you're.

[Jim Cramer]

Going to add all the debt to Fannie and Freddie we should forget underwriting standards also.

[David Faber]

Why not Listen it'll be somebody else's.

[Jim Cramer]

Problem the cowboy hat.

[Carl Quintanillo]

It'll be somebody seen delinquencies on multifamily it's like 20 year highs.

[Jim Cramer]

Easy come, easy go. I am saying that when you listen to what the president wants to do I think it's pretty obvious that they want rates down and it may be a Malcolm X by any means necessary.

[Carl Quintanillo]

I mean the 10 year average for the 30 year fixed is 49 and we're at 6 to 3.

[Jim Cramer]

I know.

[Carl Quintanillo]

You think we can even approach those that that average level?

[Jim Cramer]

I'm going to say yes.

[Carl Quintanillo]

Really?

[Jim Cramer]

Yes, I do. And I think that you that if you listen to the president, President is just like oil. He wants housing down which is bad. He wants oil down and he's going to succeed in housing. This is not he just he's a builder. He understands the way rates go.

[Carl Quintanillo]

He's pretty sad builder who now says otherwise other private equity companies can't own property.

[Jim Cramer]

Well, I mean you know Blackstone was very quick to say remember they've been a seller.

[David Faber]

Blackstone has very little exposure to it. The stock was down. It came back quickly as we pointed out from that announcement from the president. We'll see how that pans out. Carl, to your point about an executive order and how it's enforceable but these.

[Jim Cramer]

Companies do sit on homes much more than the average individual. Corporations can't live at home, David.

[David Faber]

No, they can't rent them.

[Jim Cramer]

But no, I'm saying.

[David Faber]

Yeah but actually corporations can. They have speech. So maybe they can live at homes. The Supreme Court said they have the right to free speech.

[Carl Quintanillo]

They're a buyer in a free market.

[Jim Cramer]

Well okay, look I'm just saying that a president who wants to who says the Fannie Mae. Listen guys, 200 billion buy it and all right.

[David Faber]

So you're, you're basically saying Trump's going to win the battle.

[Jim Cramer]

Yes, absolutely. Yes, I am saying you may be right.

[David Faber]

He wins a lot lot of them.

[Jim Cramer]

You know calcium me where he wins a lot.

[David Faber]

Take the other side of your trade. I know. I think you should do the Oklahoma one. I have 20 30. Will Oklo have a working nuclear plant up or not? Put it on. I'll put it on Kalshee and let's we'll see what the odds are any.

[Jim Cramer]

Time open up after 2030 we'll make that one.

[David Faber]

But look investors are betting that that's a positive for much higher earlier.

[Jim Cramer]

The investors are coming to their senses.

[David Faber]

Wanted paper you mentioned JP Morgan health care. You're going to be there.

[Kevin Hassett]

Yeah.

[David Faber]

There is typically some M and A that is announced. I knew you'd go there around it and I did want to reference reporting now from the FTSE this morning that says Merck is in talks to buy cancer drug maker Revolution medicines for what they say is a price that could be between 28 and 32 billion.

[Jim Cramer]

Just key true.

[David Faber]

This is well this is their reporting. I'M afraid I don't have much to add here. I can give you broad thoughts about. Yes, key truth is coming off patent.

[Jim Cramer]

I know.

[David Faber]

And Merck obviously needs to figure out ways to extend that and replace it. And so it is not a huge leap to imagine they might be looking to M and A, and particularly in the oncology area where Revolution does have treatments for pancreatic cancer. Horrible, horrible, horrible disease. By the way, they still don't have a readout on a lot of the data yet. So that's, that's a question mark. But we'll see whether we get there in terms of a potential deal. And again, I'm relying here on the reporting of another organization. So I just can't, can't, don't have much to say. What I will say is what I've heard from broadly from participants in the industry, Jim, and I'm sure you'll pick this up next week, is, you know, they for the first six months of last year was all about what's the Trump administration going to do on prices? What are we going to be dealing with focusing on sort of Washington and on that battle around list prices and Trump bar ex. A lot of that is kind of over with.

[Jim Cramer]

I just hear the insurers are next.

[David Faber]

And so it's going to go after.

[Jim Cramer]

The insurer he made.

[David Faber]

The point I was making is that they now can turn to M and A once again. Yes, they can, these companies, because they feel like at least a lot of the uncertainty around pricing is behind them. And then you get to things like Keytruda coming off patent at some point. Eliquis coming off patent.

[Jim Cramer]

What are these different drug cardio and oncology?

[David Faber]

What are these companies going to do when these enormously successful medicines on which they have had incredible profit margins, of course, don't forget how much spending they have to go into the science that created them. Nonetheless, how do you replace them and how do you do it? You buy an emerging biotech company that wants to get sold because it doesn't have a sale. Salesforce and thank you very much, they'll take the money and usually they go at very large premiums, as we know.

[Jim Cramer]

It's one of the reasons why Thermo, Fisher and Gander keep going.

[David Faber]

Yes.

[Jim Cramer]

These companies finally have enough money to be able to a big one buys a smaller one, they start putting it to work. That's why this jj, by the way, is JJ Factory in Spring House, Pennsylvania. Watch that one. There's some revolutionary stuff that you're doing here. Again, the president Wants it. They're getting it.

[Carl Quintanillo]

Jim, we're about 20 minutes away from maybe a decision on IPA. We mentioned it with Hassett. A lot of estimates today on how much some retailers, for example, have paid already. Wal Mart buy Roth's estimates 8 billion. Costco 3 billion. Target 2 and a half billion sued.

[Jim Cramer]

I guess they're looking for a rebate for the. For us club members. David, I don't know. You may have the executive. I have just a regular card. My wife is the black card of Costco.

[David Faber]

I've never. I've never been a member. Sorry. You know, typically in New York, you don't have the closet space that might be a requisite for shopping there.

[Jim Cramer]

You like high prices?

[David Faber]

No, I just don't shop, as you know. I try not to consume anything disappointing.

[Jim Cramer]

Including decent clothes.

[David Faber]

Yes. I don't. I don't. I don't.

[Jim Cramer]

You can access that out.

[David Faber]

Thanks for the shot there. Thanks.

[Carl Quintanillo]

Appreciate it.

[Jim Cramer]

5. It's pretty good.

[David Faber]

These are nice jeans.

[Jim Cramer]

Yeah. Nice sweater was about 18 bucks.

[Capella University Representative]

All right.

[Carl Quintanillo]

Anyway, back to the Supreme Court.

[Jim Cramer]

Yeah.

[Carl Quintanillo]

Is any of the action last couple of days reflecting optimism that they would get refunds?

[Jim Cramer]

No, no, it looks like that.

[Kevin Hassett]

I don't know how.

[Jim Cramer]

I mean, I thought that the questioning by some of the justices was so negative about the President's position that I can't believe he can win on this. But the betting lines, obviously people think that you're home free. You know, the President did say it would be a disaster if they don't get this.

[David Faber]

Well, meanwhile, though, Kevin Hassett just said that they have alternative methods and they're going to rely on other authorities to basically keep the same. Let's call it, broadly speaking, same level of tariff.

[Jim Cramer]

Who's above the Supreme Court?

[David Faber]

No, no, no. They're going to rely on 232. They're going to rely on other national emergency. Other ways, other ways.

[Jim Cramer]

Other authorities that are available for your jeans and jack.

[David Faber]

A national emergency after coming back to that. Yeah.

[Jim Cramer]

Well, no, because I think that it's ridiculous. Most of the stuff that we bring in from China, there's not a lot of national emergency to it. There isn't trinkets.

[David Faber]

Well, we don't bring in nearly as much stuff from China anymore.

[Jim Cramer]

Do you see? That is a great.

[David Faber]

You know, sometimes you do wonder, wouldn't it be great if Everybody could buy 25,000 BYD automobile. Obviously, that's never going to happen. And I understand the implications of a lot.

[Jim Cramer]

Ford and gm would it be great to wipe out.

[David Faber]

But you're making a decision every day obviously to not do that. You want to talk about affordability.

[Jim Cramer]

We'Re ability right.

[David Faber]

$25,000 automobile. That's really nice.

[Jim Cramer]

What Claudia Scheibel I mean you know.

[David Faber]

We are making decisions country that very much are perhaps the correct ones to make sure that we don't frustrate suicide.

[Jim Cramer]

I mean that country's run on Benz and you know Beamer and the letting them in by the way we could.

[David Faber]

Also on that matter solar panels. I mean they cost nothing from China.

[Carl Quintanillo]

Yeah, it's okay. We're securing enough. We're securing 40% of Western Hemisphere oil production while the Chinese are going crazy.

[David Faber]

You know I mean we could just put those up everywhere. They cost nothing. We could instead of subsidize well we don't even care about solar anymore in this country anyway.

[Jim Cramer]

Nuke we're nuclear based alcohol Flip a switch.

[David Faber]

We're oil and gas baby. Oil and gas.

[Carl Quintanillo]

Hey Jim, how about a couple travel upgrades Marriott bmo.

[Jim Cramer]

Why isn't anyone now? No one Please a memo. I know, I know it's a little never downgrade Marriott. You're an idiot if you downgrade Mar an idiot.

[Carl Quintanillo]

And then the double Upgrade southwest where JPM goes from 36 to 60.

[Jim Cramer]

That was incredible.

[Carl Quintanillo]

I had a guidance what a turnaround.

[Jim Cramer]

There and then Matt boss by the way Macy's and favor fave Coles says the numbers are going to be beaten.

[David Faber]

All right, all right finally man if you want to lose weight and you don't want to spend that much money the numbers are coming down 149 bucks now a month to get WeGovy through Amazon. But if you have commercial insurance $25 for a one month supply then why.

[Jim Cramer]

Doesn'T Louis stock go down that Novo's.

[David Faber]

Up about 4 almost 5% on the take share and you know there could be at some point there could be a price war. I mean we're going to rich next.

[Jim Cramer]

Week and David's the man.

[David Faber]

He is the man.

[Jim Cramer]

He'd be the man.

[David Faber]

And the oral formulation from Lilly is going to be out soon. Not to mention what is next from them and the ability and what might even be a lot more weight loss from the next generation either injection and or eventually pill. But at some point you also may start to have even more of a price war. I'm 149amonth right now. 25 with insurance from Amazon for WeGovy.

[Jim Cramer]

Remember we're supposed to bust the budget deficit. Well capitalism.

[David Faber]

Well the other side of it is obesity causes a lot of other illnesses.

[Jim Cramer]

So the comorbidities.

[David Faber]

Right, the comorbidities.

[Jim Cramer]

It's going to be hypertension. Well, if they do anti liquor would be something. I know people are starting to get on Constellation again. If they do the study which says it makes it so that beer tastes like water. I mean, you know, water like holy spring water, like.

[David Faber]

Some people really enjoy the taste of water, so to speak. I don't hydrate enough. It's important as you get older you got to hydrate more. Well, actually I got my own as.

[Carl Quintanillo]

As we go to break a Dow's up 39 holding on to 6940s and P10 year four to a lot of discussion about whether if we broke above these levels, finally would we head to 44 or 4 5? We'll watch it closely as we still got you Mish and some potential SCOTUS decisions on the way.

[Keith Lansford]

This episode is brought to you by Schwab Market Update, an original podcast from Charles Schwab. Join host Keith Lansford for this information packed daily market Preview delivered in 10 minutes or less, including projected stock updates, monetary policy decisions and key results and statistics that may impact your trading. Download the latest episode and [e-mail] Market Update podcast or find Schwab Market Update. Wherever you get your podcasts, is it.

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[Jim Cramer]

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[David Faber]

I have no fear of failure.

[Julia Boorstin]

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[Carl Quintanillo]

Of the Supreme Court. We'll find out in just a few minutes whether we get a decision on some of these IPA tariffs. There is some estimates that if they were set at zero, profitability and staples and discretionary could go up 6%. Something like that.

[Jim Cramer]

We'll See, all I know is just that there are a lot of Americans who would get a rebate if they go goes the other way. The president should be very careful to be too negative about that. People like checks.

[Carl Quintanillo]

We'll keep our eye on SCOTUS obviously, as we cross the top of the hour. For now, markets relatively flat. Dow's up 11. Stay with us, Jamie. Got a big week coming up next week.

[Jim Cramer]

Yeah. First of all, just make sure if the Supreme Court strikes it down, the money goes to the companies. But I'm betting it only goes to consumers. But that's because I'm a big Costco user. I got to be careful. Some of the companies may keep it. Next week is the most important week in drug, in drugs and biotechs because it's when a lot of deals are done sitting down with 12 execs. These are the companies that I think basically are at the heart and soul of our health care community. And I'm going to find out how much really is how much prices are going to come down because there's a lot of people who feel that prices are coming down like you talked about with wegovia, the pill. And some of it is pressure from the government, some of it is just recognition you can't keep raising prices.

[David Faber]

Well, some of it is the competitive nature of a market where you have two entrants. Which is kind of why we like to not have monopolies sometimes.

[Jim Cramer]

Right? No, but I just think these are great companies and I got to find out what they're doing, what they're, who they're going to acquire, what they're after. I try to look at again immunology, cardio and oncology. That's where the breakthroughs are coming, particularly in oncology. You know, just be very interesting to see what they've got. They bring them out, they bring out the new drugs there.

[Carl Quintanillo]

It's interesting. Normally we like. I mean the market appreciates a strong pricing stance, but in this case we're fighting against that.

[Jim Cramer]

Yeah, look, I think it's amazing. This change a deal is a great template building here. Therefore making good deal with the president. And of course the, the Trump rates everything. Everything's supposed to.

[David Faber]

Well, I think it is interesting. I mean the. Yes, the Trump Rx, but yet. But nobody.

[Jim Cramer]

I need to know if Cuban thinks.

[David Faber]

It'S real Big pharma did not take their estimates down for 26 or 27. So it may be real, but it, it isn't in some of the key drugs.

[Jim Cramer]

That's right.

[Carl Quintanillo]

He's right, Jim. Look forward to it. We'll see you next week. Obviously, when we come back, the first Supreme Court decision day of the New Year. Tariffs might be among them all opinions.

[Julia Boorstin]

Expressed by Squawk on the street 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, rad, 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 his opinion. Such opinions are based upon information Squawk on the street 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 Squawk on the street disclaimer, please visit cnbc.com squawkonthestreetdisclaimer Real.

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