thanks for having me on the show. >> not many ceos i interviewed at my previous job, because i've been at cnbc for more than ten years. he was one of them in the early days. >> 20 as ceo. >> pretty unusual. >> the market hesitating here ahead of the fed as you might expect. >> going back and forth, gains and losses on the s&p. >> march madness. >> it's fed day. we'll let the team, frank holland for scott wapner and "the halftime report." thank you, sara and mike. i am frank holland in for the judge, scott wapner. front and center this hour, a critical test for the market with less than two hours to go, our investment committee is standing by to break down what's at stake for your portfolio. joining me for the hour is joe terranova, steve weiss, bryn talkington and also with us today cnbc senior economics reporter steve liesman. first a quick check on the market ahead of the fed. the s&p opened flat, pretty much still there right now.

0.01%. the dow and the nasdaq similar, very muted. the russell as well. essentially flat. looking at treasury yields rising about 15 basis points since that hotter than expected cpi report. i think that's where we have to start. we know inflation is where the fed will start when it comes to inflation. how are you seeing this decision? no decision expected on rates, but we're looking at the dot plot, the commentary from jay powell, the summary of economic projections with their gdp. what are you focused on? >> i think we're trying to certificate. for some form of consternation in an environment that can absolutely be defined as tranquil. it's tranquil. the vix is below 15. >> it is? >> we have broad-based opportunities in the capital markets.

you can invest in various sectors. you can go outside the u.s. in terms of the federal reserve, the federal reserve comes out and says 75 basis points. we told you 75 basis points. 75 basis points is what you can expect. i think the market will be more than fine with that, and i think the market will continue on its prevailing trend, which is higher. >> so you say we, are you using the royal we? the s&p hit another record high just yesterday. so it seems like investors are feeling confident at least about the market. >> have every reason to. all the reasons are in place to feel confident about the market. >> there's a few people. >> there's the perma bears who are trying to find some form of, is this an inflection point? is the market going to roll over? oh, we see something here that might disrupt the rally. we see something there that might tell us the federal reserve is, guess what, they're not going to be cutting rates. they're actually going to raise

rates. there were calls at the beginning of the year from people saying the federal reserve, the next move they're going to raise rates. no, that's not what's going on. you have growth. you have an a.i. story. you can invest beyond the magnificent seven. the best performing equity sector year to date is communication services. two, three and four -- energy, financials, industrials. >> they're broadening. >> they're broadening. you have the nikkei, the uk, you have europe, you have taiwan. there's opportunities. i guess it's just human nature. i don't understand when you have a calm environment why is it we're always searching for the storm when the storm isn't there? >> all right. maybe that's human nature. bryn, are you in the consternation camp that joe was just referencing just now, or do you see this as a very strong situation, and also i want to ask, what are you expecting from the fed? >> i think investors need to remember you always sound smarter when you're bearish,

right? you can always point things out. but history will tell you that the s&p, going back to the '50s, goes up 75% of the time. i think what joe laid out, we do have a calm market. we have very low credit spreads. and so that's not telling you there's stress in the system. gdp is fine. inflation, you know, we have a three handle, a solid three handle around that. and so, to joe's point, the a.i. story is just getting started. and soap i think as relates to the fed meeting today, what investors need to know, what i think through is how relevant is this? and so in march they come out with their new summary of economic projections and the dot plot, but going back in time, frank, they've only been correct 47% of the time. and it's not -- i'm not saying this as an indictment against the fed. we as humans are terrible at predicting the future. if they were to come out and say, well, we're not going to do three, we're going to do two,

and the market overreacts that would be opportunistic to add to equities. the history is not very strong on the fed able to predict this because of human nature. >> steve weiss, i will come over to you. you always sound smarter when you sound bearish. >> a couple observations. first, joe should moderate his coffee intake before coming on the show. you're on fire today. >> i was excited because you came on set and are not remote. >> you feel very close to me. usually somebody is between us. >> let's go from the lovefest to the fed. >> from the fed, i don't think they will say two, three, four or anything. what you have to pay attention to is the narrative that powell has, is he going to stay on theme, which is that, hey, we're

poised to ease. not verbatim. he won't say that. or overly play out hotter inflation numbers, not meaningfully hotter, but keep in mind they've reversed the trend that was going straight down. so he's going to give a nod to that. the market shouldn't care because the economy is very strong, and so there is no difference, frankly, if he goes in may or june or july. >> you're in the camp, as long as the cuts are coming, that's all that matters? >> yes and no. yes and no, because we are seeing some underlying data that is weaker. jamie dimon says that soft landing is not a slam dunk as has david solomon. they're seeing it from so many vantage points globally. you can take what joe and bryn said as complacency, and bulls

always sound complacent, right, all the time. that's the bullish story, things are great. i think they can be okay here, but this may be a selling point. to bryn's point, if there is a sell on powell's comments, depending on the severity, i think it's a buying opportunity. >> we're going to come back to you. we'll go to someone else data driven just like the fed, our steve liesman, standing by. you've been looking at the fed's outlook compared to the actual data. what is that telling you about what investors should expect coming up later today? >> i want to side with joe terranova's equanimity, his calmness in the face of all of this. i was calculating some stuff there, frank. in the time since the fed last met, the ten year is up 40 basis points. the outlook for fed rates is up 74 basis points, in other words, they backed out three rate cuts

from the outlook. and the s&p is up 7%. it's paid to be cool. it's paid to be chill in the face of the outlook of a little bit higher inflation as well as less fed easing in the system here. it has been a pretty good bet. what we're going to have today is a little bit of frozen in time, i am interested, frank, i expect the fed will hold on to this phrase from the last statement, the committee does not expect it will be appropriate to reduce the target range until it has gained greater confidence inflation is moving sustainably toward 2%. if they repeat that from january, what does it tell you? it tells you they don't have the confidence yet, we need several more months of data to get that confidence to cut rates. there's going to be no change at all. we'll watch the projections. were you talking about that. some concern they go from three expected rate cuts down to two.

that's really where we're at. to me is the unknowable question, your guys around the table are more expert in answering than i am, how much does the market really care? better growth, better earnings on less fed easing and more stubborn inflation on the other side. it seems to have paid off so far to be terranova chill. just leave it there. >> terranova chill. i'm going to trademark it and make some t-shirts. i had a chance to talk to a reporter, who put out an article people wringing their hands over sticky inflation. she was pointing to headline cpi at 3.2%. ithought the preferred gauge was pce. that's a tick under 3%. it's a different story. why aren't we looking more to the pce number?

>> i think we are. people take the pce and the cpi -- the ppi and the cpi and come up with a forecast for i guess it's next week, the preferred indicator. that runs half a point cooler than the cpi. we're stuck at this 2.8 rate. it will flat line a little bit. it's not going to go down as it's been going and that is the concern. what i think will happen, i don't think powell will be too exorcised by the last two months. there's an argument january was a series of one-off price increases. a little bit of pressure. i don't think he will abandon his general forecast or the fed will abandon the general forecast that it's going to come down this year. core pce number, and if it's on

the way, that's enough for the fed to probably have confidence to begin cutting interest rates. it's just going to take, again, like i said at the beginning of this conversation, a couple more months of data to show that we're back on track to get there. and then, frank, there's this tussle that will happen, this idea of how much concern is there if they stay too high for too long it could cause something of a more severe downturn than anybody is looking for here. right now there is not the indication of that. the fed is sort of on its sheet and combing the data looking for just how severe the slowdown might be and whether or not it will have to react from a policy standpoint. >> the next report march 29. steve, joe terranova, terranova chill, has a question for you. >> keeping everyone nice and calm surrounding this meeting, one of the continual questions i get from financial advisers surround the regional banks and the question is, does the federal reserve have a handle on

it? i don't know if they need to have a handle on it, but do you think that's something we hear about? and how important is it to hear about it? >> he talked about this a lot in his testimony recently, and the word or the message from the fed is they have a handle on it. they told us they are looking extra carefully at those regional banks, at their exposure to higher interest rates out there, and that's something they're on top of. in general, the stuff that gets you is the stuff you're not aware of. cre is on the list of stuff they're looking at. the banks and their exposure to interest rates is something they're looking at and on the list of things they're looking at. i don't expect a shock to the system would come from those two areas. there may be a whole panoply of things that bites you in the you know what, but i don't think it

will be those two, joe. it's something investors have to be cognizant of, another bank may come up and have another surprise out there. so far it has not been systemic. one interesting question is that fund they created which allowed them to finance that, that is going away. we'll see how they operate perhaps without a net here. >> steve liesman, you have a hot date with the federal to get to. steve liesman, senior economics reporter. to the big tech story of the day, intel set to receive up to $8.5 billion to build chip plants. our kristina partsinevelos joins us with those details, kristina? >> i will use the word finally. finally getting the funding to expand semiconductor factories across the u.s., the largest award thus far. 8.5 billion with a big tax rebayed on capex spending, at

least $25 billion in tax savings along with $11 billion in federal loans. i asked the ceo, pat gelsinger, on a call last night if the money lagged and they weren't expecting any additional money from the department of defense. he was on cnbc earlier today speaking with jon fortt promising advanced capabilities next year with hopes to sign on amd and nvidia as customers. shares, though, stocks are off highs because much of this was already expected. it has a lot to prove on its foundry business and market share loss to amd. frank? >> you're saying it's not really an a.i. play. we reported on this earlier, saying it's leading edge technology. can you clarify?

what exactly does that mean? what's leading edge? >> it's more advanced chips that are used in a gpu, but that's manufacturing hubs will take several years to come online. pat gelsinger promised one will come online next year. talking a.i. play, right now. they're known for the cpus and other things in our electronics. it's not an a.i. play right now. it's geared to nvidia, amd launching its own gpu, marvell, broadcom. intel is going to be the guy that makes those chips for the other players. that's how they're going to play into this whole a.i. ecosystem but it will not be immediate. >> getting $8.5 billion. shares are slightly in the red. a lot was priced in. kristina partsinevelos, great to

see you as always. we'll hear more from pat gelsinger with our jon fortt at 4:00 p.m. eastern. steve, you own intel. what do you make of this news, about $8.5 through the chips act? >> i thought there would have been a slight uptick. if i gave you $8 billion, you would be popular. >> it was higher in the premarket. >> i know and then it sold off. this is a market just waiting on the fed. this was news despite the hiccup with the department of defense. nothing new here. i own intel because of the foundry business, they will be having pretty good capacity. a new euv product will revolutionize, shrink the chip in terms of what you can put on it. i think it will do quite well and gelsinger made strategic plays a few years ago when he first started.

>> bryn, you were actually not an investor in intel. you're not a big fan of the company. the chips act award right here giving the stock an early boost, but why are you in general not a fan of this company? >> it's not that i'm not a fan of the company. i don't want to own the stock. i think pat has been doing a nice job of turning this company around, which prior to him coming, had been frozen in time. they missed multiple chips cycles. the challenge is around execution. can they catch up? while they're catching up on the chip size, other companies are running 100 miles an hour. intel would never have built these foundries unless they got the $8.5 billion. it's incredibly expensive to build this in america. it's great to be onshoring.

it can be a great company. i'm just not interested in the stock because i don't see meaningful earnings growth over the next couple of years. broadcom's investor meeting kicking off just moments ago. joe, you own this one. i know you're keeping your eye on the stock in general. >> the reasonable alternative to the higher valuation semiconductor and a.i. stories. it has not recovered from the pullback. pulled back off earnings. you're looking for something to jump-start the stock. i believe you will see that opportunity present itself here. >> today? >> we're not mark timing today's events. i think the opportunity is in front of us where the pullback you're witnessing will be a pause that refreshes, and you go back to the preach highs up at 1438 ai see it, back earlier

in the year. i think you have to -- and brynn's spot on with intel. broadcom, amd, nvidia, they're spending their time, spending their effort, spending their capital dollars towards advancing generative a.i., right? i don't know that's what intel is doing. i know it's there, but intel seems, okay, they're building out chip plants, it's great for america, i'm not sure that's good for intel. down 16%, that's telling you something about it relative to its peers. i think there's clear winners. broadcom is one of them, lam research and certainly we all know what nvidia means. >> i want to respond to bryn's comments. you're going to see nice earnings growth from intel going forward. >> what are you basing that on?

>> maybe. not necessarily. >> basing it on 10% revenue growth that's forecast, on the earnings growth, and the fact that everybody is still so bearish on it, goldman has a sell on it. what am i paying for? what's assumed in the stock? really nothing. the highest expectations are possible. to me it's not a core position but is a good position. there are plenty other chips products to manufacture. you are seeing a rejuvenation in the laptop business that will be driven by a.i. >> you were here and we were talking about dell after their earnings, other phone makers including best buy. i know you are saying there are other chip plays but that doesn't seem to be where the trends are going? aren't you concerned long term?

>> that's where they are playing in it. i own a lot of taiwan semi. that is a core position. they're not developing their own a.i. chips. they are for nvidia, amd, everyone. >> i think with intel from an earnings perspective, year over year they lost 4 cents q1 of 2023. earnings come out q1 of 2024. looking to make 14 cents. it's moving in the right direction. pat was talking about being excited about the laptop pcs. that is marginal. i think execution will come one, two, three years out. nvidia is up 400. intel, it's too early to me.

>> it's not a cheap stock. the numbers, i have higher numbers, consensus is higher. it's not cheap but it's tough turning around companies. look what happened with ge, how many doubters there were, me being one of them. now look at it. >> that was quite a long turnaround story. >> so is this. >> i don't know if it's apples to apples. today's broadcom event, it's about enabling a.i. and infrastructure. that's something jensen huang talked quite a lot about. he was excited about the software and infrastructure. i'm not saying intel is on af island away from a.i. they're not talking software. that's getting investors excited. >> having the exposure to generative a.i. and the subsequent revenue growth and then just overall, universally, they want growth. they want growth from a semiconductor name. i don't know if you look at intem where you could characterize that company as a character company. >> we have to cap it here, guys. coming up next, chipotle

pops and bitcoin drops. the trades on these committee stocks and much more. much more "halftime" and conversation coming back in two minutes. >> announcer: are you following "the halftime report" podcast? look for us in your favoteri podcasting app. follow "the halftime" podcast now. amelia, weather. 70 degrees and sunny today. amelia, unlock the door. i'm afraid i can't do that, jen. why not? did you forget something? my protein shake. the future isn't scary, not investing in it is. you're so dramatic amelia. bye jen. 100 innovative companies, one etf. before investing, carefully read and consider fund investment objectives, risks, charges expenses and more in prospectus at invesco.com.

there's nothing better than a subway series footlong. except when you add an all new footlong sidekick. like the philly with a new $2 footlong churro. sometimes the sidekick is the main event. you would say that. every epic footlong deserves the perfect sidekick. you can make money the hard way as a bullfighter or a human cannonball... or save money the easy way, with xfinity mobile. existing customers can get a free line of our most popular unlimited plan for a year! not only will you save hundreds but you'll also be joining millions who have connected to america's most reliable 5g network. sure is a lot safer than becoming a stuntman for money. get a free line of unlimited intro for a year when you buy one unlimited line. visit xfinitymobile.com today to learn more.

welcome back to "the halftime report." let's hit committee stocks on the move. we'll start with chipotle announcing a, yes, 50 for 1 stock split. joe, you own this one in the joet. 50 for 1 stock split. i don't think you hear that too often. >> you don't hear that too often but this is phenomenal for stakeholders, for the employees. getting a one-time special equity grant that will be given to the longest tenured employees as well as general managers. it's making them shareholders in the company. that's what you want. as far as the stock split, negligible. i don't believe it has such a dramatic effect. >> even on sentiment, though? it trades at basically 2,900 a share. >> excellent point. yes, it matters for sentiment. i don't think it matters directionally for price. i do think you invite in a different class of investor that maybe wasn't there previously. if there is one element i think

is important, we don't talk about, is liquidity. i think it adds to the depth and that's important. >> we should calm down the moves you're seeing in it. but there's no economic benefit, right, and what a lot of retail investors still don't get is if they buy one share at 2,900 or 60 shares at, whatever, 50, it just doesn't matter. you get the same return. >> let's not get caught up in the stock split and what it will do to the price overall. look at what management is doing. i think this is really -- it defines the management of chipotle and how exceptional they are and why and if you pay the premium for this company, and, oh, by the way, they're seeing the traffic in the store. consumers are paying for the price hikes they implemented last summer and are bringing out new products as well. >> i've never seen a restaurant stock hold this kind of premium valuation for so long. and it's been deserved because

they continually beat. they surprised the upside. >> fresh food, perfect. >> bryn, any quick thoughts on the stock split, the burritos, the queso? >> the queso is great. why the stock split is so important, companies that split their stocks only split their stocks when they're successful. and so it is just validating the success of a company unlike a citibank and the financial crisis which does a reverse split. it validates the soundness and the growth trajectory of a company and it's exciting for investors. it doesn't do anything to the fundamentals but validates the strongness and the growth and theexcitement around the name which has a lot of positive sentiment. >> i disagree with you. it's a chain with so much gen-z followers, someone can buy one share, i think from the sentiment perspective could have a big impact. so what happens after the big stock split?

we have a story on cnbc pro exploring that topic. sq scan the qr code. now to bitcoin. it's down double digits, down 11% since hitting the record high. weiss, you own bitcoin. what do you make of this down side move? >> oh, i just think it's the price of admission for being in the space. such a meteoric run, by the way, this year. i just think it's selling off. i do think ethereum is interesting here. the trust is still trading at a 20% discount to ethereum. if that etf did come out, that 20% would collapse instantly. and so if you think it's going to come out, that's an interesting trade right now. >> i know you switched over to ether, but do you think the outflows we're seeing in particular is about -- >> for sure. the reason you stay in there is you have a realized gain. all the flows are going to ibit

and that will continue to go that way. i think they will be forced to lower fees to meet with the rest of the market. >> weiss, hit a record high last week. the decline we're seeing, it's a very volatile asset, is there a change in the way investors are viewing it? >> it was profit taking for me. st huge, huge, and to joe's point, you know, joet momentum buyer, i looked into joe's psyche -- >> or terranova chill. >> momentum is dying a little bit. it's going to keep going. there's still no use case for it. it's ridiculous. somebody on the air talking about how it's a historic value, except it hasn't been, but it will be. give me a break. it's a legit asset class, and i think my bet still is on the major marketing budgets of fidelity and blackrock and everybody else.

when those budgets dry up, that's when i'll get rid of the rest of it unless it doubles from here. >> it hit record highs. do you think some of that was bitcoin companies telegraphing they would lead to momentum and the momentum is gone, too? >> momentum is clearly gone right now. we've seen this before. it's very volatile and very emotional. there's no underlying fundamental case. so it trades purely on emotion. unless you're one of those who think the fiat currencies are going away, you can't ignore sam bankman-fried and the guy they found 33 million or billion or whatever it was of bitcoin in his house. >> it makes me so happy my good friend is finally coming around and acknowledging the fact that momentum matters in the market and in the future market. and i really believe that bitcoin trades most like a futures contract and momentum is the most significant indicator in that environment. back to what bryn is say, the

price of admission. the price of admission in the futures market is volatility, and that's what you're going to have if you're participating here. >> diamond hands, frank. >> you got me with that last week. jpmorgan raising the dividend by 9.5% to 115 per share. joe, you own this one. >> stock is at an all-time high. this is the classic example of the calm i see in the market. there are alternatives beyond the mag seven. great leadership executing. they narrowed the footprint in prior years to their advantage. they invested in technology billions of dollars to their advantage. it's a company i've been happy to own for the last year. and i will continue to own it even as it approaches an all-time high here at 195.59. goes well above 200. >> jpm shares up right now. time for our headlines. we'll be joined by bertha coombs. bertha, good afternoon. good afternoon, frank. donald trump will be allowed to

appeal the ruling that let fulton county district attorney fani willis continue to prosecute his election interference case. the judge granted the request today to ask the state appellate court to review his decision. judge scott mcafee allowed willis to remain on the case so long as special prosecutor nathan wade resigned, which he did on friday. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu said that the operation in rafah will take some time, and that he was close to approving an evacuation plan of palestinian civilians from the area. a point the white house says president biden expressed concern about in his call with netanyahu earlier this week. and the u.s. is no longer one of the happiest countries in the world according to this year's happiness report from gallup and oxford reporting the u.s. fell eight spots knocking

it out of the top 20 putting it behind canada and new entrants kuwait and costa rica. one of the reasons why the u.s. fell, the younger population was the least happy. >> our bertha coombs, thank you very much. good to see you as always. coming up next our "calls of the day." bullish analyst tity. we're going to see how the committee is playing them. (♪♪) but there's nothing like being there. at national, you can skip the counter... and choose any car in the aisle... even manage your rental right from the app. so you can give some quality time to a quality cause. swing by to see one more customer... [audience cheering] and really get down to business. go national. go like a pro.

you know what's brilliant? boring. think about it. boring is the unsung catalyst for bold. what straps bold to a rocket and hurtles it into space? boring does. great job astro-persons. over. boring is the jumping off point for all the un-boring things we do. boring makes vacations happen, early retirements possible, and startups start up. because it's smart, dependable, and steady. all words you want from your bank. taking chances is for skateboarding... and gas station sushi. not banking. that's why pnc bank strives to be boring with your money. the pragmatic, calculated kind of boring. moving to boca? boooring. that was a dolphin, right? it's simple really, for nearly 160 years, pnc bank has had one goal:

to be brilliantly boring with your money so you can be happily fulfilled with your life... which is pretty un-boring if you think about it. thank you, boring. (grandpa vo) i'm the richest guy in the world. if you think about it. hi baby! (woman 1 vo) i have inherited the best traditions. (woman 2 vo) i have a great boss... it's me. (man 1 vo) i have people, people i can count on. (man 2 vo) i have time to give (grandma vo) and a million stories to share. (grandpa vo) if that's not rich, i don't know what is. (vo) the key to being rich is knowing what counts.

welcome back to "the halftime report." let's hit our "calls of the day." netflix hitting a boost from keybanc. netflix's content quality is improving. weiss, you own netflix. >> i do. i do. i wish it were a bigger position. i bought it on a day it was dislocated in the market and didn't buy enough of it. when you go out a year and two years, mid-20 multiple on this, clearly is a leader, the only profitable streaming company and the only one not harmed by the other load. i'm not talking about how many

viewers they have but financial. i will continue to hold it. i'm not going to add to it because it's had such a nice move. they're the leader. >> bryn, over to you. weiss likes the financials. they also seem to be the winner when it comes to content wars. they come out with shows people like and continue to buy reruns or older shows people like as well. >> this is the difference between innovators that execute and fast followers, right? netflix is an innovator in the space. they were so smart during the writers strike. disney or paramount are just trying to catch up. that's never a good strategy to win. i think steve is spot on. they will continue to be the winner, to take market share and everyone else will try uns unsuccessfully to ride their coat coattails. joe, you're in delta. >> so normally my response to speaking about the airlines, and, yes, the joet etf owns both

united and delta. my response would be, well, it's a short-term rental position based upon momentum. it's not a study of fundamentals. i think most would agree with me on that assessment. my son is playing in the usa youth hockey championships in two weeks. >> congratulations. >> by the way, sponsored by chipotle. >> i admire how you snuck that in as a proud dad. >> now you're out there researching the airlines, looking for flights, and you see the unbelievable prices being charged for a seat on an airline, and there's no seats on the flights. the capacity is remarkable. the demand is there and, i have to tell you, norm he will i would just attribute ownership to technical conditions, but, no, there's clear factors that's benefiting the airlines right now.

>> you had the heyday of the airlines post covid. everything was phenomenal. it's where value money goes to die. and, joe is right. you're renting it. >> the championships are in las vegas. >> delta shares up 2.5% on that upgrade. we turn to an ipo, just started trading, astera labs. trading currently at 52.95. looking back it was priced at $36 and that was above the target change. right now at 52.82. just how bad investors want a.i., a lot of activity but at moving a bit, we're seeing a lot of upside move when it comes to that stock. up next, mike santoli with his "midday word." coming up tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. eastern, join the virtual cnbc

equity in opportunity forum. i will be speaking with corporate leaders. scan the qr code to register. ♪ ♪ this is not just another e-class. because it evolves with you. it adapts to you. engineering. it is the first e-class made just for you. for you. for you. this is not just design because your e-class... it adapts to you. it recognizes you. understands you. empowers you. energizes you. feels you. it evolves with you. the new e-class. ♪ ♪ how's the chicken? the prawns are delicious. oh, i have a shellfish allergy. one prawn. very good. did i say chicken wrong? tired of people not listening to what you want? it's truffle season! ah that's okay... never enough truffles. how much are they? it's a lot. oh okay - i'm good, that -

it's like a priceless piece of art. enjoy. or when they sell you what they want? yeah. the more we understand you, the better we can help you. that's what u.s. bank is for. huge relief. yeah... ♪

(jennifer) the reason why golo customers have such long term success is because we focus on real foods in the right balance so you get the results you want. when i tell people how easy it was for me to lose weight on golo, they don't believe me. they don't believe i can eat real food and lose this much weight. the release supplement makes losing weight easy. release sets you up for successful weight loss because it supports your blood sugar levels between meals so you aren't hungry or fatigued. after i started taking release, the weight just started falling off. since starting golo and taking release, i've gone from a size 12 to a 4. before golo, i was hungry all the time and constantly thinking about food. after taking release, that stopped. with release, i didn't feel that hunger that comes with dieting. which made the golo plan really easy to stick to.

since starting golo and release, i have dropped seven pant sizes and i've kept it off. golo is real, our customers are real, and our success stories are real. why not give it a try? and we are back. mike santoli joins us with his "midday word." got to imagine the word is fed. >> yeah. can't avoid it. i think one of the, maybe, silver lineings, it hasn't been a fed-fixated market. if they want to upset the projected rate path but the fact the market really, despite all indications that it was ready to have a bit of a break and a pause and a pullback, the momentum parts have been cooling off. other stuff is hanging in there. we'll see.

i think the key, to me, do yields use whatever happens later as an excuse to attempt a decisive break out of this range higher? if that's the case, maybe that's a gut check. if not, it's game on. >> let me answer the question i'm sure you've been answering. the market is expecting at least three cuts this year. if we get an indication it's two or one what does that do to this rally? >> i think we can make our peace. we've gone from six priced in to three. the s&p is up 8%. equal weight is up 4.5%. under the right circumstances, slow easing cycles are better. it's trimming around the edges and that brings you back to your '95 scenario where you had only two rate cuts separated by seven months. >> it echoes what wells fargo's chris harvey is saying. as long as the cuts are coming. >> it's the carrot out in front of the horse. >> mike, thank you very much for

the "midday word." coming up, the earnings set up on three key names in joe's portfolio. how you that should be trading accenture, darden and lululemon. much more after this. for me a changemaker is someone who forges their own path and makes it wide enough that others can come along with them. one thing i wish i had known when i started my career, there is a difference between something that is impossible and something that is just hard. and the reason that is important is people can do hard things. you have to ask yourself, okay, is this just hard, or is it impossible? impossible is impossible to do, but something hard is maybe a self-imposed constraint and people can do hard things. [busy street sounds] ♪(tosca, act ii: vissi d'arte)♪ ♪(artist: maria callas)♪ ♪(orchestra del teatro alla scala, milano)♪ ♪♪ hey, i'm at gate 6 wearing a gray shirt. i'll pick you up in 2 minutes. ♪("everybody get down")♪

♪♪ ♪♪ investment opportunities are everywhere you turn. but at t. rowe price, we're letting curiosity light the way. asking smart questions about opportunities like advances in healthcare. and how these innovations will create a healthier world tomorrow. better questions. better outcomes. personalized financial advice from ameriprise can do more than help you reach your goals. i can make this work. it can help you reach them with confidence. no wonder more than 9 out of 10 of our clients are likely to recommend us. ameriprise financial. advice worth talking about. to build the electric vehicle of the future, you need partners. mining partners. technology partners. education.

supply chain. energy. what if one partner could do it all? that partner is ontario, canada. with all the critical minerals to make electric vehicle batteries. 65,000 stem graduates per year. one of north america's largest i.t. clusters. a fully integrated supply chain. all powered by one of the cleanest grids in north america. ontario. your innovation partner. ( ♪♪ ) you founded your kayak company because you love the ocean- not spreadsheets. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire

stevens dribbles up the court... he stops! ...for the championship! nice shot, marcus! sweet, turn simulation off. tssk, tssk, not so fast. what, why? did you forget marcus? forget what? your chem exam? uggh? flashcard time! the atomic weight of boron. the future isn't scary, not investing in it is. 100 innovative companies, one etf. before investing, carefully read and consider fund investment objectives, risks, charges expenses and more in prospectus at invesco.com. welcome back to "the halftime report." taking a look at astera labs. its ipo began trading today. you can see trading at about 53.50 right now, up over 17%. a company that does intelligent

connectivity for cloud and a.i. seen as a test of just how bad -- excuse me, the percent change. up about 49, 50% right now. i smisspoke earlier. just how bad investors want to get in on this up justn't now to three key names in joe's portfolio. let's start with accenture, what is your outlook? >> first of all, this company, i think, it surprised a lot of people in terms of its size. this is a $250 billion plus market cap company. we have had ownership of it in the strategy since november of 2020. the high price point was in december of 2021 at 417. you're going to get into a glimpse of commercial i.t. spending, which has exhibited a degree of friction. so we'll need to see bookings

increase. growth is going to decelerate for this company. so expectations have been lowered on this, somewhat muted expectations going into this earning. this will be a critical earnings report, because this could potentially break the positive momentum that the stock has, or it just keeps it in place and takes out the 2021 high. this is a critical one. >> accenture was initiated as a buy yesterday, saying the company is well positioned for shareholder returns. bryn, any thoughts? >> this is a sleeper stock, great company that we don't talk about enough. actually, with the earnings estimates for 11.5% growth, the stock over the last five years is up 120%, outperforming the s&p. so you have a very captive audience, they're growing. so this is a name, if it is weak to joe's point, this could be a good entry point for people who haven't had the opportunity to buy it.

>> another one reporting, darden runts, known for a number of different grbrands. what is your outlook? >> expectations are high. they really have to commit with a strong quarter. i think a lot of it is already priced in. we know that the consumer is resilient and their business is doing well. they need to exceed the expectations for a continued price appreciation. >> a number of their brands, olive garden. are you an olive guarden? >> i can't stand olives. >> last but not least, lulu lemon. you own this one, as well. we've seen some of their rivals, nike a nike is under pressure, foot locker different business, different brant of consumer. >> this is a great example. what do you want to look at for

performance? lululemon up 39%. this is going to be about a gross margin story. that gross margin has to be in the high 50s. >> there you go. stay with us. we have "final trades" coming up on "halftime" and lululemon arshes down about a half pe percent. stay with us. so this is pickleball? it's basically tennis for babies, but for adults. it should be called wiffle tennis. pickle! yeah, aw! whoo! ♪♪ these guys are intense. we got nothing to worry about. with e*trade from morgan stanley, we're ready for whatever gets served up. dude, you gotta work on your trash talk. i'd rather work on saving for retirement.

or college, since you like to get schooled. that's a pretty good burn, right? got him. good game. thanks for coming to our clinic, first one's free.

♪ ♪ thanks for coming to our clinic, next. next. stop. we got it? no. keep going. aga... [ sigh ] next. next. if you don't pick one... oh, you have time. am i keeping you from your job. next. i don't even know where i am anymore. stop. do we finally have it? let's go back to the beginning. are you... your electric future. customized. the fully-electric audi q4 e-tron. ♪ ♪

[♪♪] your skin is ever-changing, take care of it with gold bond's age renew formulations of 7 moisturizers and 3 vitamins. for all your skins, gold bond. meet ron. ron eats, sleeps and breathes hoops. and there's not a no look pass, double double, or buzzer beater he won't wax poetic on. ad nauseam. but oh how he can nail a software solution like the best high screen pick and roll you've ever seen. you need ron. ron needs a retirement plan. work with principal so we can help you help ron with a retirement and benefits plan that's right for him. let our expertise round out yours.

they're waiting for you. hey, do you have a second? they're all expecting more. more efficiency. more benefits. more growth. when you realize you can give your people everything, and more. thank you very much. [applause] ask, "now what?" here's what.

you go with prudential to protect, empower and grow. with everything you need to deliver, you guessed it... more. one more thing... who's your rock? learn more at prudential.com we're back on "halftime." broadcom, we mentioned the investor meeting is underway right now. shares are up almost 2%. they just announced a third ai customer will begin shipping them products later this year. didn't name the customer but they have a third ai customer. shares up almost 2%. now time for "final trades." bryn, we'll start off with you. >> cowz. if you want free cash freelow yield, it does well. up 9% year to date. >> weiss? >> archer-daniels.

i like it because they're resolving the accounting scandal. >> steve obviously cheated and looked at my "final trade." fmc corp. >> that's going to do it for us. "the exchange" starts right now. thanks for watching. ♪ ♪ frank, thank you very much. welcome to "the exchange." i'm tyler mathisen. here's what's ahead on a busy wednesday. less than 60 minutes to go to the fed's decision on interest rates. no move expected on that front, but the markets could move on what chair powell says. and our panelists are looking for some very specific clues from him today. and we will tell you what they are. plus, reddit, the first major main stream company set to ipo this year in the tech area. one guest says he wishes it wasn't. he's here to explain what he means by