Closing Bell - Closing Bell 5/22/25

Episode Date: May 22, 2025

From the open to the close, “Closing Bell” and “Closing Bell: Overtime” have you covered. From what’s driving market moves to how investors are reacting, Scott Wapner, Jon Fortt, Morgan Brennan and Michael Santoli guide listeners through each trading session and bring to you some of the biggest names in business.

All right guys thanks so much welcome to closing bell and Scott Watner live from Post 9 right here at the New York Stock Exchange and this make or break out begins with great fears and whether stocks can withstand an even bigger backup

well ask our experts including Ed Yardeni over this final stretch will join me in just a bit let's show you the score card here with sixty to go in regulation major averages continue to track the move in yields and as yields have dropped

today stocks have tried to get a little more going. Techs been the bright spot. Most of the mega cap names including Alphabet are higher in the session. Alphabet I mean Apple excuse me a notable exception.

We'll have a special report coming up on what that Johnny Ive Open AI deal might mean for shares in the months ahead. It takes us to our talk to the tape what that so-called big beautiful bill on the hill means for the markets and those deficit dangers.

Let's ask Adam Parker. He's Trivariet's founder and CEO. And he's here at Post Nights. Good to see you. Welcome back. Is it all about rates? Is that why you're watching more than anything right now or what?

You know, I just got back from three days of a bunch of meetings and I feel like every institutional event, that's what I talked to, is confused. It's like on the one hand, flows are positive, there's nothing that's gonna kind of break the momentum, people are afraid not to own equities. And on the other hand, they're worried about Walmart,

CFO saying prices are going up 8% in June, and they know there's some impact from the earnings. And so people are very, they said, afraid to not participate but talking very very negatively so it's like a very defensive rhetoric but people aren't positioned there yet I feel like there's a lot of tension in in the investment world right now. I'm glad you use the word tension right because it plays into where I wanted to go next you talk about invest you talk

to investors you talk to big institutional investors, hedge fund managers, and that's who the audience that you're speaking about. Most leaning negative, what's gonna be happening in the months ahead. You talk to the CEOs, like I did and heard from this past week at our CEO summit. They're not negative,

not nearly as negative as the investor class is. Sure, they see the soft data like everybody else, but until it starts to actually show up in their numbers, they're not really buying it. To a person, they're reasonably optimistic. You listen to what Marriott CEO Tony Capuano told me, and then we racked on the other side. Let's play that. I think the reality is this. Our business thrive in times of stability and high consumer confidence.

Neither of those have been in ample supply in recent months. However, the fact that you've seen this fundamental shift towards prioritizing travel and experience, we just did Q1 earnings. We beat on almost every metric. And we would have beat a lot stronger if not for March. January and February we came out very strong. Then you saw a little bit of shock to consumer confidence in March. Alright, shock to confidence. We all seen the numbers, but it hasn't shown up in the numbers.

What if it doesn't? If it doesn't, we'll definitely go higher. I think your T up of rates is the only thing that can stop it's probably right. I think there's definitely people talking about that.

But at the end of the day, there's a narrative where input costs are down, whether it's oil, metals, or logistics. Dollar weakening helps, maybe we get some AI proof cases. Top 100 companies generally have pricing power. And so maybe earnings estimates are too high, but they always come down and maybe we're okay.

And there's a probability you sign to that basket of things happening and okay. And then there's a- You're talking about it almost as if it's some far-fetched idea. Am I misreading your tone? No, 30, 40, 50 percent, it could happen. I think it's real, but I then there's a... You're talking about it almost as if it's some far-fetched idea. Am I misreading your tone? No, 30, 40, 50 percent, it could happen. I think it's real, but I think there's also a probability

that you got a little pull forward in demand, that companies raised pricing even though it wasn't on tariffs, and Walmart raises pricing from 50 to 58, you know, eight percent's a real number. And if that's the best they can do with all the power they have over their suppliers, we could see some weakness after this. So I think people were torn about, you know, how to anticipate kind of the July earnings season, the October guidance.

I think there's also some people who are concerned about whether they really want the Fed to cut. There was a narrative, oh, they'll cut, and that's good, but I think other people were saying, well, if they're cutting, it's because things really got visibly worse, and I don't know if we wanted to get it, like, pause might be the best scenario. And so there's definitely kind of perception about race, perception about growth tension. My view is I've gotta find some offense, I think the offense that people like are stocks

that are down from 52-week highs. Like, what ripped in January, sold off hard, and maybe if this keeps going, I should get there. Is it the... Where is that? What's the offense? Is it the alts who just kinda had to kinda stumble this week? KKR, Blackstone, Apollo, they were...

We were here on election night and they were like one of the top three things people like. Maybe it's that maybe maybe it's that you know maybe it's a select software where you know estimates more achievable. I think people are trying to find it on the defense side.

It's a totally different play book. It's you know you've got to buy waste and you've got to buy aggregate things that have no tariff no China and probably. What about mega caps you don't consider those a more defensive.

I think they are play. I think they are. And I think all of them are going to be trading very differently. As you know they're not even the top seven anymore. Can't wait to lose that moniker. I think it's all different. I think Google came out and kind of showed the perplexity search combo is a little bit better than people thought. It's not all of a sudden at that valuation it's looking a little bit interesting to some

people. Stocks up 15% since the Eddie Q comments sent it lower. Totally, although I was in a meeting yesterday and a guy said to me, hey, the losing share in search don't overcomplicate it. Like, I like other ones. So it's like there's still tension on the names. I think everyone's favorite at the current moment

is actually Microsoft, you know, just kind of parsing through the big names when I'm out talking to people. I think people just think that's a little bit of a cleaner story with pricing they can pass through. I do think the bull case is that if we do get a pickup in inflation in certain parts, the biggest 50 names don't really feel it as much. And so I could see that Mag-7 outperforming a little bit here, at least until July. How do you view the tax bill and what happened yesterday?

The idea that the market's kind of screaming like, okay, like when are you all gonna start dealing with this deficit? Not that we expected that the House was gonna do anything about it. I don't think that's a great shock to anybody. But now it goes to the Senate, and we'll have a report in just a moment, like when we think all this is gonna go down.

But are you not that concerned by this backup in the long end of the curve? I think the consensus view is that this is still directionally positive. That if they can get some of the focus on taxes and on less regulation, that that'll be enough positive that it could offset, I'll call it some modest continued backup and yields. There'll be some point where I think people will say, whoa, this is definitely bad for multiples because there is a historic relationship there where the price or earnings of the stock market will decline if yields get too high.

That number shifts though, and I know through the years, you remember a few years ago, people are like, what's the 10 years at three and a half? Equities can't work. And then things are better and they say it's at four, they can't work. And then, so I don't have some magic number in mind, like at five, everything's messed up. I don't know, if the economy looks a little bit better and all of a sudden the earnings narrative

shifts a little positive, five could be fine. So I'm not like panicked at the current levels. I think if we can get through earning, I'll be surprised if we don't have some misses in July earnings and I thought we'd see it in April and we didn't. Yeah, it's been better. Been better than I thought.

But now we game out what actually happens next with that big beautiful bill on the hill. Emily Wilkins is there and sets us up with that. Where does this proceed now and what kind of timeline can we expect? Sure Scott. Well as last night or actually rather this morning, House did pass that megabell. They made a handful of changes to get that done and get the support of holdouts. That includes that 4,000 cap state local deductions and

includes starting work requirements for Medicaid by the end of 2026, moving that up and of course phasing We have seen the paperwork requirements for Medicaid by the end of 2026, moving that up. And of course, phasing out some of the tax credits for wind and solar faster than it would have been done.

But really now the game is in the Senate. And to see what senators do with this bill over the next few weeks, we know there will be changes. And we heard a little bit about it today when I was

over there. Had Senator Tom Tillis tell me that the energy tax credits are going to need some work to make sure they're not disruptive to business and Josh Hawley told us that he was on the phone with Trump last night who is again pushing for closing the carried interest loophole It's a loophole it's beneficial to a very few people

Who are in his words already billionaires? And so you know I mean we ought to close that and use those savings for something else like tax cuts. Trump and congressional leaders want to make sure this is done by July 4th. That means the Senate is really going to have to hit the ground running when they return to D.C. next month. Scott? Emily, thank you.

That's Emily Wilkins. Now let's add into our conversation CNBC contributor of pain capital management, Courtney Garcia, Invesco's Brian Levitt, Trivariate's Adam Parker is still with us. It's great to see you here too. What do you think Court? Where do we go from here? Yeah I mean markets are clearly focused on what is happening with this new tax bill right. I mean realistically when you're looking at the federal deficit interest costs are the highest growing component of that. And if you're having to get new debt, that now at these higher rates, that's going to continue to be a problem. And that's what you're seeing the bond markets are telling you right now.

But you are continuing to see this dip buying specifically in your tech. That's really what's been leading the markets. The MAG-7 is up almost 30% since their lows in April. You're seeing some of that dip buying come back in here. But if we are starting to see some of these rates rise, as we are, I do think as an investor, you wanna make sure that you're not just chasing the MAG-7 rally, but you are broadening out and looking at those things that tend to do well if rates do stay

higher for longer here. So you are starting to see that the probability of the Fed is lowering interest rates keeps getting pushed out here. And if we have that scenario, I don't know how much longer the MAG-7 really can outperform the markets. And that's where you want to start to look at some things like your utilities materials energy, etc. Was the bond auction yesterday Warning shot didn't seem like it was it it didn't really seem like a warning shot at all The bid cover ratio was maybe slightly below average So I heard one rate strategist call it a meh auction, but it was certainly not anything that was particularly terrible. Why do we react the way we did? I think we're a little bit skittish right now. I mean the all I've heard about for a lot of this year

is debt and deficit and what are we gonna do about it and the challenges of it. I think the critical thing is I think a lot of investors talk about it as if it's there's an existential threat here to the US's ability to fund debt over time. No, that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about the premium that investors are going to require above the funds rate to hold intermediate term debt. So this is not an existential crisis, but it's a headwind to markets.

See, here's the deal. Yeah. Like you listen to the Fed chair who would agree and say, well, it's not an existential crisis today. Right. The trajectory of getting to the point where it becomes an existential crisis just keeps continuing and continuing and continuing

until one day it is, because nobody has the wherewithal, it seems, on the Hill to do anything about it. Yeah, they don't have the political will to do it right now. I mean, the critical thing is, I mean, people look at a debt number of 37 trillion. Let's also remember total household net worth in this country is 160 trillion. So it is a very wealthy country. Until recently, there's been an insatiable appetite and a very captive audience for U.S.

debt. The other thing to your point, Scott, is that we don't have to sit here and accept it. the where the bond market forces the hand, the collective hand, and something needs to be done. Is there a level in the back end of the curve that starts to get to the point where the market just can't stand it anymore? Well, we saw it. We saw a pain point for the administration twice after Liberation Day,

and there were these moves of the five-year over, the 30-year over 5%, and they backed off. It's a little bit of a different story with regards to fiscal policy. This isn't a Liz Trust moment where we change government, right? This bill's going to be our policy approach. But I don't think there's a moment here where rates get beyond. I think it's a repricing of the term premium, but I'm not expecting this to go meaningfully the wrong way. I mean, it's pretty clear what we're spending

over the next decade, and it's pretty clear that our growth is likely to be reasonably in line with what the interest payments are. Well, there is that view that you can, from certain corners, obviously, that you can grow your way out of trouble, and that part of the move in yields just reflects the idea that the economy is going to be stronger for longer than people think it already has to this point

and that's not going to go away. I know you were talking about that too, but what's your view on that? Yeah, and I think that's that there are some positives, right? Because if you are starting to see these tax cuts, that actually can be a stimulus. And I think that's what people are trying to weigh out here is what are the short term benefits of this going to be as we're getting back to tax cuts and maybe we're going to start talking more about deregulation, but longer term it's affecting the deficit. So I think that's really what investors are trying to weigh out.

And that's why the markets are actually holding up well, even though the bond markets are starting to signal that this is a concern. So I don't know if we have an answer yet and markets are clearly watching that and they're going to continue to do so. It's just like with the tariffs. It's like you have to be careful and you had to be careful not to get overly negative because the dynamic can change. So it's interesting listening to these guys who just do different things than I do and

their perspective. I mean, you said it comes up deficit and debt. I just did 15-minute meetings in the dinner the last two days. Didn't come up. Didn't come up. Didn't come up, yeah. Because I talked to portfolio managers, a big asset. It doesn't, nobody cares. And I think the bond yield backing up, I. Because I talked to portfolio managers, a big asset, nobody cares.

And I think the bond yield backing up, I've done equities my whole life, so I defer. But I thought it was just maybe the growth outlook's a little bit better, and that's why the tenure's up. But it's just that simple. That's what's up. There's plenty of argument that that is the case. And I'm not sure, I don't know how to fractionalize

how much it's up and what's the fear about the debt. I just think, you know what, there already has been a little bit, and I thought the growth's a little bit, and I thought, and now that probability that I laid out, I thought that was 20%, two weeks ago, and now I think it's 40%. Like, it could just be that, you know what there is been a little better thought the gross little bit and I thought and now that probability that I laid out I thought that was 20% two weeks ago and now I think it's 40% like it could just be that you know let's just say that that better growth supersedes that's part of

it you know the market is going to look through perceived near-term you know little bumps yeah to what the prize is at the end of of the rainbow the prize is what we suggested it's tax cuts it's deregulation, it's the prospect, the economy is going to grow better than people think, consumers are going to hang in, earnings are going to be better than expected, your margins are going to hold up, and then you're going to have a surprise by the time we get to the end of the year. Is that plausible? It is plausible.

And look, it's not only rates that are up in the United States, its rates are up around the world. So it's not just a US story. But one of the things investors can do, it's plausible that the US moves through this. Look beyond the United States. I know international markets have become trendy recently, but a couple of things of note,

international stocks are cheaper relative to the United States following this US exceptionalism story. And while the US central bank could be in a bit of a rock and a hard place right here, we know we're gonna see further policy accommodation, further easing in places like Europe and China, UK. If we don't wanna fight the US central bank, we don't wanna fight the Fed,

we're confused about policy in the United States a bit, there's other opportunities. So diversify, bring down the valuation of the portfolio. I just had one other thing to say about, I think what the street has learned, equity guys have learned is whenever Trump says something, you kind of want to buy the negative reaction to it because what he implements is not as harsh as the initial statement. That's what we've all been pre-programmed to, particularly since the 145 to 30 on China, right? So UK came out and they said,

oh, no tariffs on the first 100,000 cars. Well, last year it was 99,000 cars, is that an accident? So all of a sudden, what's being implemented seems less harsh than the initial statement, and that's now what the equity guys believe. They believe, all right, we're gonna say some stuff, we're gonna break some stuff, but then when actually we do it, it might not be that bad.

So right or wrong, that's what's currently in the price. The fact of the matter is, too, you can only say that it's somebody else's stock market for so long. At some point, you break it, you own it. And a couple of times, we've come to the precipice of breaking it. And you have to walk yourself away from the cliff, which maybe in some respects we've done.

Let me just finish on one other topic. Next week, when you look at market moving events, we've had a number of things move this market recently, Nvidia earnings are middle of next week. Is that the next line in the sand, do you think for this market? Markets are, I mean, as one of the largest companies that you're gonna continue to focus on,

especially because it's such a large part of the overall index. So yes, it is absolutely gonna be something that markets are focusing on. But I think some of the bigger things as we've been trying to figure out is that soft data gonna turn into hard data at some point? And I think that's ultimately some of the things

that are gonna be more important is our companies holding up on earnings, our consumer spending continuing to be strong or holding up, is GDP continuing to be better than people expecting it to? And I think for all those reasons, if you continue to see that, you can see markets hold up here. And I don't think it's going to be one company specific like Nvidia, but it absolutely is a piece of the pie.

Real quick, same question. Nvidia lurking. Yeah, it's important. I mean, it's important. We can even look back to 23, 24 with an inverted yield curve and challenges in small businesses and Nvidia earnings. Some of the other big company earnings boosted the stock market and boosted the fortunes

of consumers and boosted confidence. So yeah, it certainly does matter. Matt or I agree with Courtney, we'll be looking to see does this feed through into the harder data, but yeah, it's a big name and it's a big part of the index. For once the former chip guy doesn't get to comment because we got to bounce. No, they nailed it.

It matters, They're right. It's great to see everybody. Thank you. We'll see you soon. Adam, Courtney and Ryan. All right. Let's send it to Christina Partsanevales now for a look at the big IPOs that started trading today, both here at the New York Stock Exchange. Yeah. Big day for the New York Stock Exchange. Hinge Health Trading for the first time today. This is a digital physical therapy company

that uses software to help patients with chronic back pain, post surgery rehab and other just back issues essentially. And it raised about $273 million in its IPO after selling shares at the top end of the range. It opened at about 32 bucks. That's why that dotted line is here. And you can see it's trading at 37.86 right now up 18%. And not the only IPO we've got Mountain.

This is an ad tech firm popping on its public debut as well. Also counts Ryan Reynolds as its chief creative officer. He does all the commercials. Share is opening $21, hence the dotted line, up 50%, trading at 24 bucks. This is the top end of the range where it opened this morning. Big day. Scott. All right. Thank you, Christina, for us. We're just getting started up next. Apple under pressure again today. So what's at stake for that stock amid Johnny Ives deal with open

AI plus literally moments ago, some new news crossing about Apple that I will share with you. Big Technologies Alex Kanchewicz is joining us. We're live at the New York Stock Exchange you're watching closing bell on CNBC. We're back Apple shares hoping to snap a six day losing streak that's the longest in more than a year on concerns about tariffs and its AI strategy. And now, a potential new worry, what former Design Star Johnny Ive is up to in striking that big new deal with open AI. Our Steve Kovach joins us now with more. It's good to see you and this news that I teased just before we went to break that you

sent to me. We're learning more about what Apple might have up its sleeve next. Yeah, Scott, let's start with that. This just crossed in a Bloomberg report that Apple's planning to have some smart AI glasses that go on sale starting in 2026. This has been rumored for a little while now, and they sound a lot like if you've ever seen

those meta glasses that they partnered with Ray-Ban, has the camera, the AI assistant in there. Google actually showed their take on this kind of concept to not exactly augmented reality, but it does have that assistant built in. Of course, Apple's gonna have to get that Siri upgrade off the ground before they can launch a product like that. So they're giving themselves, what,

a good 18 months or so to do that. But let's talk about Johnny Ive, because that's been getting all the attention for the last 24 hours or so. We learned a little bit more about what this mystery AI gadget he's working on with OpenAI could be. I'm going to refer back to Ming-Chin Kuo. He's that star Apple analyst who always scoops what companies are going to be making months or years before they actually do it. He says he actually compares it to that iPod shuffle, that little device that you would wear around your neck

that came out 20 years ago that would shuffle songs on your playlist. He compares it to that since it's gonna have cameras and a microphone that can listen, it'll pair with your phone or your laptop, and of course have the OpenAI Assistant built in there. And this really just opens up a whole new landscape for how Apple can react to this

because they have their former design guru who left it to a much fanfare six years ago brought over some of the top design talent that he used to work with at Apple over to this company called IO that OpenAI is acquiring and they are saying we've created this great new gadget that is going to kind of take us away, in Johnny Ive's words, away from these legacy gadgets, the ones that he actually helped create. So now the question becomes how does Apple respond? We have one idea now with this Bloomberg report

just crossing, but again, that's not necessarily a new idea. We've seen this before from Meta and Google. We're gonna get Apple's take on it, but this sounds like something completely different, Scott. And it's going to be really interesting to see how Apple reacts in a couple of weeks here when we're down there in Cupertino at WWDC. Yeah, I can't wait for that. We keep talking about the stakes being raised. And it seems like incrementally, every single day, or every other day, it feels like it's going in that

direction, doesn't it? Yeah, it's either if it's not tariff news or the president calling out Tim Cook publicly and blaming him for not producing enough phones here in the United States, it's something on the AI front. And the way I read this announcement yesterday, just the way it was rolled out, it was just the subtext there is like,

we are taking on Apple. Yes, we partner with Apple. Yes, we're on the iPhone, but we're also going to go after this whole new category. The Wall Street Journal, by the way, reporting that Sam Altman told staff at OpenAI yesterday, we think this device alone, we're gonna sell 100 million of them,

and it's gonna add another trillion dollars to our evaluation, which is already at $300 billion, as we all know. So huge, enormous stakes, not just for how Apple might respond to how its former executive is working with OpenAI, but for OpenAI itself now to deliver on this enormous promise it's making to sort of revolutionize our idea of AI hardware, Scott. Well, stay with me, Steve. Let's bring in now CNBC contributor, Alex Kantrowitz of Big Technology.

It's good to see you. What is your take on this Johnny Ive Open AI deal and whether it's, or to what degree it's a threat to Apple? Well, I think it signals, Scott, that all of the AI industry realizes that AI is gonna move beyond that chatbot on your computer or on your phone.

At Google I.O. this week, the company's developer conference, they were talking about having an AI that is aware of the world as you move about it. This is the idea for them when you want to make artificial intelligence that's on par with human intelligence. It really has to experience the world as opposed to be confined to a computer.

And JohnEI moving over to OpenAI to me is like an exact signal that this is the way that Silicon Valley is moving. And OpenAI knows that ChatGPT is graded as hundreds of millions of users. But if we move to this world where AI is a companion with us, it moves about the world with us, it understands the world in fact the way that we do,

that they need to make a play. So I don't know how much Johnny is gonna add to OpenAI itself, Maybe he will. Maybe he won't. But I think the bigger news here is the fact that OpenAI is validating this idea and moving forward in a way that its fellow big tech companies are right now. I mean, you've got that feel when Ive himself used those words, legacy products yesterday. Some took that as a shot, Alex, at Apple, speaking directly about the iPhone. Not just I, by the way. Eddie Kew said that AI could replace the iPhone in 10 years. So, if you're,

I mean, I'm here in Silicon Valley this week. The talk has all been about agents, right? So, it's AI that embodies you in the world and goes about the world with you. And so, if we're going to get to that place, then do you really need a phone? I think you still will need a phone. I don't think screens are going away anytime soon. But this idea that our reliance on screens are gonna go down, I think that's probably gonna happen and it's probably a good thing,

given how many people spend their days like this. Yeah, I mean, well, they could put the glasses on now that apparently Apple's coming out with. But Steve, how do you think Apple is thinking about the issues that Alex brings up? Yeah, I think this is such a reactive, this idea of these glasses is a very reactive thing. We're seeing, now Apple has a history of this, right?

They'll go in and look at a product category that might need some improvement and put the Apple Shine on it, so to speak. And this seems to be one of their answers. But I wanna go back to what Alex was saying just now, that this always ever present assistant and things like that, Apple doesn't have that yet. Remember, Scott, they were supposed to launch that

this spring, that super version of Siri, and by the way, that was supposed to enable a whole bunch of other products, not just these glasses we're talking about, but there was also this smart home product that was supposed to launch this spring, as well, supposedly, where it was kind of like an iPad that you stick on your wall, it would have Apple intelligence in there, you could use Siri to control the smart appliances in your home with

that. That couldn't launch either because of this big Siri delay. So until they get their Siri house in order, we can't even begin to have that kind of hardware conversation and what that looks like. Now, if they are really on track to launch these glasses, there's your at least first indication that by the end of next year, they think they can finally have it ready. But again, who knows where Chachabi Tea is going to be by that time. Guys, we'll leave it there. Appreciate it from you both. Steve and Alex, we'll see you soon. That is for certain. Up next, We discussed growing NFL valuations and what NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told me about the future of the league closing bell is coming right back. Welcome back. NFL owners approving this week, the sale of a 6% stake in the San Francisco 49ers at a

record valuation of $8.6 billion. That number only underscoring how strong demand remains for entree into the league. I asked Commissioner Roger Goodell whether even he is surprised at the trajectory of team values during our conversation on Monday at CNBC CEO Summit. It's surprising to me and a lot of fronts in the context of how fast it's grown but on the other hand there's only 32 of these franchises. The business I think it's a statement about the business model itself and the popularity of it but you can't get caught up in that because that's you know you got to

look at the future. We're spending time and we focus on how is the operation going? Where are we in the future? And I think a lot of people are valuing our franchises because of the future and that's what we want to see and that's what we need to focus on. With me now to discuss senior CNBC sports reporter Mike Ozanian. Welcome, it's good to see you. Good to see you, Scott. With me now to discuss senior CNBC sports reporter Mike Ozanian. Welcome, it's good to see you.

Good to see you, Scott. So what's interesting here is, Cadell hits the nail on the head, obviously. Scarcity. And now they have the private equity angle. And all of that continues to drive valuations up as we learn yet again this week. And I feel like we learn each time a stake is sold. Yeah, I think one reason why the Commissioner is not totally surprised is because he predicted a few years ago the league was on track shortly to have 25 billion in revenue.

When you look at that revenue figure, they are on track to meet that. You look at these multiples of revenue they're selling at. You're talking about an average team value eventually of over 7 billion fairly soon. You get to private equity. You also asked them in that interview, which you didn't play, which I saw, was would they be willing to consider raising the amount of private equity to be let in. Now we've seen with the Celtics 20% private equity limit. Reportedly, foreign investors coming in, 6th Street coming in

with they're going to be the third largest investor. They have a 20% limit in the NBA that helped get that to 6.1 billion record value. I think they will let in more and I think that will push franchise values up even further. The commissioner made some news with us telling me that they're going to approve soon yet another private equity firm. So they love what they've done and they they're gonna obviously see more of it. And I think these LP sales, while not necessarily indicative of what a control sale would go for,

the order of these deals, you know, 8.6 billion for the 49ers, 8.3 for the Eagles, and so on down the list, they do give you a good idea of the order these teams would be valued in a control sale. The Niners, great stadium, excellent football team, led the league in ticket revenue. The Eagles won the Super Bowl.

Huge interest in these teams. Wait till foreign investors start to come in. I think that's one reason. Another topic you touched on was more international games. They allow foreign investors there really haven't been any. Once they get that that's gonna also push up franchise value. I mean the schedule just happened right they've been so adept at making the NFL relevant almost every month of the year so they

released the schedule last week they go seven international games that is the most ever and the commissioner told me there are plans for many, many more. Listen. The reason for it is I think the potential for us to grow is there. It's the greatest opportunity for growth. I mean, we already have 200 plus million fans

here in the States. So we're not giving up on the States and continuing to expand here. But the international is just, it just an open market for us. We're introducing the game. We're sharing our game. And the fans are reacting to it in an extraordinary way. So we're excited about our potential.

Yes, I do see 16 regular season games. I think that will happen sometime in the very near future. Imagine that, 16 regular season games. I think they continue to be, if not surprised, just wowed by the fact when they take these games overseas, the reception is unbelievable. Yeah, and it's not just the fans you're trying to get aware with, you're more awareness with, obviously,

it's the sponsors, right? So you look at the prices of NFL teams, they're higher than NBA teams, but the multiples of revenue that the NBA has been selling at their teams has been higher than NFL. There's real no accounting for that other than the fact that the NBA is more global. As the NFL gets more global awareness,

their multiples and their valuations will increase. Mike, thanks for coming here. Thank you. Sitting on the set with us here at the New York Stock Exchange. That's Mike Osegni. And for more on team valuations and all things sports and business, you can head to cnbc.com slash sport. We hope you do.

Up next, Ed Yardeni. He maps out how he is navigating this volatility in the market and the big backup in rates. He always has thoughts about that. Later, Bitcoin, another all-time high. We'll have more on that record run as well we're back on the bell after the break Welcome back. Big story in the market remains the backup in yields, which have made stocks more jittery

lately. For more, let's bring in Ed Yardeni of Yardeni Research. Welcome back to Post9. It's always good to see you in person. That's the story, backup in yields? Yeah, I think that is the big story right now. I've been getting calls from our accounts more often than not about what's going on in the bond market. What are you telling them?

Well, I'm telling them that our base case is pretty much intact. We're still looking for the 10-year bond yield to fluctuate around 4.5% plus minus 25 basis points. We get to either end of those range and we'll start getting jittery. But at this point the jitters are about the 30-year bond yield that yields over five percent. A lot of the jitters is actually overseas. It's Japan. Japan seems to be having a real sovereign debt crisis. But all in all I think the economy is going to remain resilient. I think the consumer will stay resilient, capital spending will remain resilient.

And if that's the case, then the stock market should hold on to these gains. It'll look through some of the moving yields if it deems that it's for enough of the right reason to offset worries about the deficit. I think so. I think so. And so far, the reaction to the big big beautiful bill getting through the House seems to be pretty muted. Maybe they're waiting to see what happens when the Senate passes it.

Muted? What was yesterday? That didn't feel muted. Well, you're right. But I'm talking about the level of the 10-year bond deal. We've been here before. We've been fluctuating around here for a while. So that's what I mean by muted.

The 30 years have been not so muted. The 20-year auction didn't go very well. So there's definitely signs that the bond market is stressed out in some areas and that's creating the jitters in the stock market. But you're still convinced that growth is gonna surprise, the consumer's gonna surprise, earnings are gonna surprise. And then that over supersedes just about everything else?

I think it does. I think that's exactly the way I'm looking at it. And in terms of the consumer, I think what people really have to appreciate is the retiring baby boomers. There's let's say 70 million of them. They're sitting on $80 trillion of net worth. It's the richest generation ever, and they're spending it. And on the capital spending side, the president has been fairly successful in bringing some

pretty significant sums of money to be invested in the United States. So put it together and yeah, I think the economy is going to remain resilient. Fifty-eight hundred and sixty-two is where the S&P currently sits. What seems reasonable for you between now and the end of the year? Sixty-five hundred. I mean, at the beginning of the year. Sixty-five. I mean, and the end of the year? 6,500, I mean at the beginning of the year. 65. I mean at the beginning of the year,

7,000 seemed reasonable to me. And then all of a sudden I, like everybody else, got hit by the turmoil over the tariffs. So I did lower it down to 6,000, but now just about a couple weeks ago I raised it back to 6,500, in reaction to Trump backing off on the tariffs on China for 90 days on most of them.

Thanks for coming by. It's good to see you as always. We continue to watch these markets, which are doing pretty well right now. That's Ed Yardeni. Up next, we track the biggest movers. We'll back after this. All right, we're 10 minutes from the closing bell. Let's get back now to Christina Parts-Onevalos for a look at the key stocks that she's watching.

Tell us. I got a big mover. Advanced auto parts on pace for its best day ever after beating Q1 earnings estimates, both on revenue and EPS. While keeping full your guidance intact, even with tariffs, the massive pop, and I mean massive, 58% higher today, likely getting juiced by shortcovering since there was significant short interest in this name, heading into the print, 17% of the float

according to FactSet, which would be a classic case of shorts getting squeezed on a solid beat, 49.56 right now. And switching gears, health insurance stocks following after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced more aggressive audits into Medicare Advantage plans. You can see Humana down almost 7%, CBS down almost 3%, United Health almost 2%, and Cigna down about 1% Scott. Alright thank you Christina Patsanopoulos. Up next solar

stocks getting slammed in today's session. We'll have more on what is driving that drop in the market zone, which is next. We're now in the closing bell market zone. CNBC senior markets commentator Mike Santoli here to break down these crucial moments of the trading day. Plus, Sun Run getting burned today. Peppa Stevens will tell us why. And Taneya McKeel on Bitcoin hitting yet another record high today.

Michael, I'll turn to you. We've managed to sort of turn away from yields for a moment they've turned down a little bit which probably helps exactly yeah I think the Treasury market kind of gave equities permission to relax a little bit today the heat continues to dissipate I mean the heat that was generated by the massive rebound rally that we had coming into this week it's happening mostly in a pretty low drama way. The S&P is still down 1.5% or something on the week. You were expected to have a little bit of churn.

Today is a good example of where the market just tries to sort of rotate into stuff that's not particularly vulnerable. You have some of the big NASDAQ stocks doing the work. Banks are up again today probably on that yield move. So it's all to the good. I still think it wouldn't be surprising if you pulled back more. There's definitely some chasing of the shorts out of this market. We'll see how much life there might be behind that. Yeah. We'll look ahead towards next week and Nvidia earnings of course a big event. Solar stocks Pippa getting a

hammer today. What's going on here? Yeah Scott. So Sunrun is getting crushed with the House's reconciliation bill, slashing credits that have been key to the industry and in a surprise move. Third party originators, which Sunrun is, will no longer earn the investment tax credit. Just last week, Jim Chanos, who was short the stock, hit on the bear case for the rooftop installer on this very program. Sunrun is going to get into financial trouble. We've said this now publicly for a few years, and we've been short Sun Run for a while.

And the economics of rooftop solar just don't work, even with the tax credits. Still, Sun Run CEO Mary Powell telling CNBC last hour that she remains optimistic as the bill heads to the Senate. It should land in a logical place

when what we're doing is delivering on what the administration wants, what America needs, and what Main Street America is asking for, which is also to have choice and to have independence in how they power their homes. Sunrun is pacing for its worst day on record, now 70% below its recent high.

Scott? All right, Pippa, thank you for that. Pippa Stephens, Naya McKeel telling us now about another new record high for Bitcoin. Yeah, Scott. So what's interesting is we didn't see Bitcoin this week spring to a new record like we're used to. It's been a slow, steady climb backed by corporate buying and institutions. Retail investors haven't even joined the party yet.

And it speaks to one of the big Bitcoin themes this year, which is reduced volatility. So now Bitcoin charting new territory at about $111,000. Rosenblatt saying this morning, buying Bitcoin at record levels, usually not a good idea, but this time it's different. That said, leverage and open interest are picking up. So there's risk of short-term pullbacks,

which could be dip buying opportunities, but more upside to come. And then Scott, in a completely different part of crypto land, Trump holding his dinner for the top holders of his meme coin tonight. He's been great for crypto so far, but his personal crypto dealings, obviously raising big ethics concern

that many in crypto say are sort of a bad look for the industry. So we'll be interesting to see what, if any, headlines come out of that event tonight. Jeff? All right, Taneya, thank you for that. This is Taneya McKee. I'll turn back to Mike.

You have a thought on Bitcoin's run now to 111,000 on different parts of the market moving as well, whether it's a hedge against certain. How do you look at it today? I don't look at it as much as a macro hedge or a kind of all weather store of value. It's kind of mostly magnified tech exposure. It's magnified we're buying a bit of the future.

Obviously it's got its own kind of rationale and there's some people who will just never sell one. I find interesting though that you've had this run. At the same time you had mag seven coming back to life At the same time gold is taking a rest So there's a little bit of that kind of re rotation around there And you know, I I really don't know if there's something that you know Is it the fact that it's rising as real yields are going up?

Is that telling me that Bitcoin is somehow resilient to some of those things that you would think would drag on gold. I'm not really sure. What it is clear is that risk appetites have been rebuilt. It's also channeling through interesting areas. The quantum stocks again are absolutely wild. IonQ, which Ben Talkington told us on halftime yesterday, she was buying, can we look at that?

It was up 30%, I think, today. Yeah. It's, think today. They're kind of unhinged a little bit here, it's not just buy on queue, it's Q bits, which is D-Wave, they've all got QC ticker symbols related to the actual subatomic particles and everything, all also heavily shorted. And so I do think that that's a dynamic in this market where you got pain on the short side, people feeling as if they have to squeeze their way into equity exposure and it's definitely looking for the

next thing. And some of the old next things are actually down. CoreWeave's down 6% today, Hims is down 8% today. So you have this kind of high energy flow that gets around the markets and it just sort of finds a new spot for everything. Meanwhile, I say this all the time, it was the case in the fourth quarter, the regular core of the market is kind of just perfectly stable and settled at the moment and kind of waiting to see if all of this rally

was deserved, if we do need to pull back and refresh it a little bit. 5,700 on the S&P, it would be a very kind of natural and no big deal pullback, but you might feel it. It's 3% from here. I mean, the other thing too, it's hard to imagine that the tax bill is going to grow larger in the Senate. Right.

That, you know, if anything, it might be cold a little bit, which could help the overall tone and tenor of the yield. Of the bond market, even as you're still getting fiscal expansion and you're not having to deal with anything that remotely looks like a terrible. Thank you, that'll do it for us. We'll send it out. The Dow and the S&P will be red.

Not exactly gonna hang in there though. Dropping yields, probably helping a bit. I'll see you tomorrow into OAP with Morgan and John.