Power Lunch - Stocks reach record highs 10/3/25

Episode Date: October 3, 2025

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Thank you very much, Mike. Thank you, Melissa. Welcome to Power Lunch. I'm Dominic Chu. Brian and Kelly are both off today. The markets, though, mostly shrugging off any fears of a D.C. shutdown dragging on. The Dow is the biggest gainer. Surging, you can see you right now. The NASDAQ, the NASDA, down about 100 points or so. And all the major averages are hitting some fresh highs at some point in the session. We're going to bring you the latest news out of Washington, D.C., and with your money as well. And speaking of money, Jim Kramer has the tools to help you make money in every. any market. He's going to join us to talk his new book where he invest right now and much more. Plus, the AI boom is in full effect. And the promises and the skills of chat bots seem to be just growing by the day. But can AI actually beat your financial advisor? We're going to speak to the head of one Wall Street firm using artificial intelligence to give you an investing edge. And what Jim Kramer is to Wall Street, this power player is to marketing. She is the creative mind behind brand overhauls at Apple, at Uber, and PepsiCo, and now she's teaming up with NBC's Jimmy Fallon on network television rebranding and branding everything out there.

Marketing legend Bozimo St. John will talk to us about the future of marketing and media as well, including where the industry is heading next. But we're going to begin with the shutdown in Washington, D.C. The Senate sets a vote on a funding bill, which would end the impasse. Let's head now to Emily Wilkins on Capitol Hill with the latest there. just how optimistic should we be about this vote? Not that optimistic, Dom. Look, within the hour, senators are going to once again try to fund the government,

but most Senate Democrats are still holding out for some progress on a health care provision, meaning that we're expecting this vote to fail, and we're expecting the shutdown to likely drag into Monday. It's really not clear at this point how this shutdown is going to end. Republicans are, of course, hoping that Democrats are going to start feeling the pressure of the shutdown, the longer it goes and they will eventually change their position. But there is another off-ramp that's emerging. We do know that a bipartisan group of senators, they have started discussions about a partial extension of those tax credits for health care premiums under the Affordable Care Act.

But as Speaker Mike Johnson pointed out today, even if there is eventually a deal to be had, it's going to take weeks, if not months, to hash all of that out. And some of the, and I think we've got a A clip of Speaker Johnson discussing that. Some of the issues that they're bringing to the table and they're demanding immediate easy answers for are not easy answers. And they take a long time to deliberate. That is the process. This is a deliberative body and a very large one. We got 435 over there and 100 over here.

We can't snap our fingers and he and I and two other leaders in a room go, oh, well, this is the resolution. Democratic Senator Jean Shaheen, one of the key senators in these bipartisan discussions just told me that while Republicans are focused, on potentially agreeing to a process for talks to find a solution over tax credits, Democrats might need something that's a little bit more concrete before they are going to be voting to reopen the government. You know, one thing we are going to be watching for here,

lawmakers, they're voting right now, we'll have a couple different votes before they get to that shutdown vote. Last time they voted, only three Democrats crossed the aisle to vote with Republicans. The key thing to watch today is if more Democrats wind up joining them, if they do, That's a sign that the pressure from the shutdown, the pressure from some of the cuts the White House is making is getting to folks and that we could see a quicker resolution to this shutdown.

Don? All right. Emily Wilkins with the latest on the government shutdown vote that's going on. Thank you very much for that. We're going to stick around in D.C. We're also monitoring developments out of the White House. The OMB chief is freezing federal funding to a number of key projects. Our Aiman Javvers is at the White House with more on that story. Amen.

Hey there, Don. Well, this White House is in threat. mode, both in terms of layoffs and also in terms of cuts to projects that Democrats in particular really like. They're threatening to do both of those things if the Democrats don't come around, trying to use what leverage they have to force those votes across the aisle that Emily was just talking about. White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt just a short time ago was asked about the prospect of major layoffs coming in the federal government, and here's what she said. Maybe if Democrats do the right thing, this government shutdown can be over. Our

troops can get paid again. We can go back to doing the business of the American people. But if this shutdown continues, as we've said, layoffs are an unfortunate consequence of that. And Russ Vote has been in contact with our cabinet secretaries at their respective agencies to discuss that. And you heard Leavitt there mentioned Russ Vote. He's the OMB director here at the White House. Take a look at this tweet that he put out earlier today. It gives you a sense of some of the projects that they're hanging over the Democrats' heads here. Russ Vote posting $2.1 billion in Chicago infrastructure projects, specifically the red line extensions and the red and purple modernization project, have been put on hold to ensure

funding is not flowing via race-based contracting, more info to come soon. So that funding, he says, is on hold, not clear for how long or what that exactly means. But interesting there, Dom, that he's not citing the shutdown in that social media post. He's citing what he alleges a race-based contracting preferences, which may be an indication that the administration feels it has a stronger legal leg to stand on and going after what they see as illegal or unconstitutional DEI rather than simply slashing the funding and citing the shutdown as the reason for it. That might face a more robust legal challenge, Tom. All right. Amon Javvers in Washington, D.C., with the latest there on that particular story out of OMB. Thank you very much for that. Now, despite all of the uncertainty we've just addressed in Washington, the major averages all hit new record highs today. Our next guess says the bull market is going to run and continue, but points out if the shutdown persists, it could potentially be more disruptive than usual. So how should you position right now?

We have with us, Joseph Tanius, the chief investment strategist at Northern Trust Asset Management, which has more than $1 trillion in assets under management. Joe, thank you very much for being here with us. You heard Emily's report on what's happening with regard to the continuing resolution, getting something done to keep the government going. You heard the stuff out of the White House with regard to OMB and cutting funding for certain types of projects in certain locations. All of this is happening. How are the markets really at record highs right now, given all the uncertainty? Yeah, I think there's a lot of noise, which is ultimately creating some volatility and obviously the uncertainty around the government shutdown and how this resolves itself, how long this is going to take until we can final. reach some agreement in Washington is clearly weighing on investors' minds. But at the end of the day, Dom,

I think the underlying fundamentals are what's carrying markets and lifting them to these record levels that we continue to see. I mean, we've talked about numerous times over the course of the past couple of weeks leading into this government shutdown, that if you look at the government shutdowns that we've seen over the past 20, 30 years, the markets largely, generally speaking, shrug them off because there's always a light at the end of the tunnel. You had mentioned that this time could be different slightly. What do you mean by that? I think it could be slightly different in the sense of just where we are in terms of the economic cycle. And if you think about the Federal Reserve and just monetary policy and that inflection point, if you will, moving more towards accommodative monetary

policy as the Federal Reserve tries to decipher what's happening with the economy given the labor market, I think that creates a little bit of uncertainty around it. I think the longer we go without government data, official government data being released, again, creates a bit of anxiety. Now, as it relates to the labor market, there are other data points that we can look at to triangulate, if you will, what's going on with the economy. And I think everyone knows that the labor market is softening, and the Fed certainly knows that. But the longer this goes on, I think it certainly highlights, if you will, the political polarization that we have in Washington, and that can certainly erode investor confidence.

There's a strange irony at play here. the more uncertainty there is, the more certainty there will be of Fed interest rate cuts down the line. Is that a fair assessment? And what is your House view right now on interest rate cuts vis-a-vis the Fed, vis-a-vis the shutdown and the economy? Yeah, I think the Fed, look, the Fed's, I don't envy them, clearly, right? Their dual mandate are clearly at odds with one another. You have the labor market on the one hand, which is continuing to soften.

And on the other hand, you have inflationary pressures, which are likely to creep up a little bit higher in the months ahead as a result of these tariffs. Our view is that you are going to see a continuation of Fed rate cuts. Now, the cadence of which that comes, I think, remains to be seen, and we'll have to just wait and see as it clearly is data dependent. But over the next 12 months, I wouldn't be surprised if you see the Fed funds rate about 100 basis points lower than where it is today. Where exactly then would there be the most attractive parts of the market to you right now, based upon the good set of fundamentals that you alluded to earlier.

What parts of the market should people be tilting more towards, and then which parts of the market should they be tilting more away from? Yeah. I think when you look holistically at a balanced portfolio, which includes exposure to risk assets and defensive assets, meaning stocks and bonds, we continue to favor those risk assets. Most recently, we've added some exposure to the U.S.

As we have more confidence around a soft landing here in the U.S., we think that economic growth is moderate. in the months and the quarters ahead, but the odds of a recession, an outright recession, from our perspective, have come down. You also have some pretty meaningful earnings estimates coming forward into 2026. I think you just look at what happened last quarter, right? Companies basically doubled earnings estimates, and I think that trend is looking strong into the year ahead. You also have a meaningful amount of fiscal stimulus here in the United States. And then, of course, we can't have this conversation without talking about AI and just what that means.

Okay, so let's go there right now because you open the door, for this. I've heard a number of experts that we've had on air, traders and investors I talk to who talk about this idea that there might be a different paradigm now for valuations. Valuations on a trailing and forward basis are elevated compared to historical averages. Yes. But there is a justification there that perhaps there has been a shift upward and the total band of valuations because of the growth of things like AI and the revenue and future profit growth anticipated for these types of companies. Do you buy into that? I do. And I think it's really

important to recognize where valuations are today. I don't think anyone is going to pound the table and stay that socks are cheap, because they are not. If you are a believer in some mean reversion, you have to look at where prices are today and say things have gotten a little bit frothy. But again, what mean are we reverting to? You just mentioned looking at historic standards and thinking about the S&P 500, how that has materially changed just over the last 10 to 20 years, right? A lot of people say, well, is this somewhat similar to what we saw in the late 90s in the tech boom? And I think there are clearly some similarities, but one of the key differences that I think we have to focus on here is not just the size, the magnitude of technology,

for example, but it's also the contribution to profitability, right? These tech companies are accounting for nearly 50% of profits in the S&P 500. We're seeing some pretty meaningful and significant cash flow. And these companies are also turning around and deploying this money through capital expenditures in the U.S. economy. So there are some differences, and so long as these growth rates remain elevated, where they are today, I think you can argue,

you can argue, Dom, that these valuations or perhaps these historic valuations become less relevant. All right, one final question before we let you go. If you take a look at the way things have evolved in the markets right now, we've talked about the broadening out trade, we've talked about the concentration of the mag-7 or mag-10,

whatever they want to call them these days, is it your opinion that the markets are healthy, even if it's just a handful of stocks that are driving all of the profit and growth in the market overall? Or does a broadening out need to happen? I think a broadening out needs to happen to feel a little bit more comfort and confidence in the sustainability of the market. No question, no question. It's been a handful of companies that have really dominated the markets.

Now, we take some comfort in looking into 2026 that we are expecting to see a broad, out, if you will, of participation as it relates to earnings growth, as it relates to margins. So we need to see that come through, I think, to have more conviction in the sustainability of this rally, and it's something we'll have to keep a very close eye on and monitor. All right, Joe, thank you very much. Thank you very much. All right, Joseph Tanius over at Northern Trust. Thank you very much for that.

Now, let's head over to the bond market with yields on the rise, despite some weaker than expected economic data out this morning. Rick Santelli is in Chicago with our bond report. Happy Friday, Rick. Happy Friday, Dom, and indeed you summarized that the service sector data, which is still coming through the pipeline, was indeed disappointing. And the one that was a little bit higher than expected and sequentially higher than last month was prices paid. That's not the one you want higher. Of course, that means both sides of the Fed mandate were in question with respect to not only labor market and some of the employment reports embedded in these indices.

But look at how the markets reacted. We basically made the low yields of the session, at least up to that point, right after the data that hit the wires. Then we proceeded to see yields move hires. As a matter of fact, right now as it sits, two-year yields and 10-year yields are both up on the session several basis points. But on the week, they're each down about eight basis points, and that kind of summarizes what's going on. And if you take it a step farther as you look at those weekly charts, what's very important is that we tried to get down. towards that 4% level on a 10. Didn't quite make it.

The low yield close of the year, of course, from early April is 4%. And there's something else for you technicians out there to pay close attention to. The NASDAQ index right now has a higher high and a lower low than yesterday. Should it close below yesterday's low, that would be a key reversal from all-time highs. That is hugely technically significant and could be bearish. If you get a green close, of course, it isn't necessarily going to change that it's an outside day, but it will change the notion of it being a key reversal. Dom, back to you.

All right, Rick Santelli out in Chicago for the bond report, watching the charts very closely. Coming up on this show, AI may be smart, but can it beat your financial advisor? We're going to speak to a tech expert using artificial intelligence to help folks gain an investing edge. That story's coming up. Keep it right here. Welcome back to Power Lunch. AI chatbots have become really good at doing specific tasks, like summarizing text or offering recommendations and generating some creative content, be it pictures or videos or anything

else. But what if there is a chat bot that's really good at giving financial advice and picking stocks? There is one that is trying to do just that. It is called reflexivity. It aggregates financial data from around the world. And earlier today, I asked this tool, this AI tool, what the S&P's 500's performance is six months after the end of a government shutdown. So what you're looking at on your screen right now are its answers.

It generated some real-time charts, stats, summary lines, while showing the sources of where it was searching for the answers, giving you its thinking process, showing you its work, so to speak. So let's dig deeper into its capabilities and its limitations for right now. Jan Szilagi is the founder and CEO of Reflexivity. You may recall he's been on this show before for our market navigator segments, talking to us a little bit about how the tools you use can shine a light on certain parts of the market that are maybe indicative of things to come.

So, Jan, thank you very much for being here with us. Thank you for having me. All right, let's talk about AI and whether or not the headline case here is, can an AI tool like Reflexivity or something else replace my financial advisor? So I think ultimately the answer will be yes. I think in the interim, it's quite important to note that a lot of the capability is really enhancing what humans are very good at. So it's giving you the ability, as you're mentioning, to very quickly sometimes do a bit of analysis, try to look at the market through the lens of data analytics. Now, if that's the case, I had asked it before about showing the performance of the S&P post shutdown.

It shows me every single government shutdown instance. It looks at the S&P 500. It tells me what it was at the end of it, what it was six months later. It shows me a chart of all of the performance, averages it out, shows me best parts of the market and everything else. To me, that seems like a fairly robust tool.

We're showing it right now on our screen. The mean return is roughly 11%. And its best performance, six months after a shutdown, according to reflexivity, is an almost 30% gain. This is data mining for right now. But what's the next step for AI?

when it comes to helping you manage your money? Yeah, so, you know, the use case for us, we currently have reflexivity news across a lot of hedge funds, also wealth advisors, large asset managers and so on. And I think the next frontier will be the system actively highlighting dislocations that are happening and then say, you should pay attention to this, this is the likely evolution of this market trend,

that market trend, and so on. So it won't wait for you to ask the question. How is it? that hedge funds, wealth managers, financial advisors are using a tool like this? What exactly are they doing with it in servicing their clients? Because this is a product that has a financial cost to it. So advisors who use it are paying for a type of service. What kind of value are they extracting as a financial advisor for a tool like reflexivity?

So the main one really is when you are making financial decisions, accuracy is extremely important. And so you really care about the ingredients that go into business. this, right? They don't want you to just cast a very wide net and give back just any answer. What reflexivity specifically is focused on is combining best-of-breed data sources with analytical capabilities that give you that certainty, accuracy, and as you sell yourself, transparency into where the sources came from. Now, here's the other question I have. If everybody starts using, let's say hypothetically in this kind of new world, everybody starts using an AI tool to gain that edge,

To me, that says that the edge disappears over time, spreads compress, because all of the same data that's being used in mind and calculated is being done so across multiple, multiple, multiple users at this point. So the arbitrage is gone by the time it's done. How far are we away from an edge disappearing because everybody is using AI for their financial decision making? I think still quite far, in part because the quality of what you get out of a system like reflexivity does depend on the quality of your questions. And so there will be people who are better at asking questions, looking around thinking, anticipating, and then using reflexivity to give them either supporting facts or to affect you disagree with their thesis. Over time, as they become more autonomous, yes, there will be a degree of convergence, no question. All right. In the last couple of minutes that we have here, because I could go on for hours about this.

In the last couple of minutes, as you've been analyzing the data with reflexivity and the tools that you have, is there anything that you've gleaned or have learned? about what the market could look like in, say, the next six to 12 months, is there anything that you are analyzing, the questions that you are asking reflexivity right now, that say, hey, these are probably the best sectors that you should be looking at, or these are the stocks you should be paying attention to. What are the stock picks and what are the sector picks that you have been generating so far? One thing that has been top of mind, not just for us, but I think for the market as well, is to what extent can the economy suddenly and surprisingly slow down? And so in that

environment, of course, you could get a response from the Fed, but assuming that that might be slow in coming, the sectors that reflexivity has started to really focus on are much more of the defensive nature. So it looked at health care. It looked at things like utilities and so on. And de-emphasizing things, let's say more consumer staples, less consumer discretionary, fewer industrials and so on. And I think amongst the stocks that keep coming up are the likes of Johnson and Johnson because it's part of the health care story. And then also Costco, part of the consumers, staples story, and so on. That's been a lot of the focus of the analysis recently. And will the analysis actually tell you why a company like a Walmart or a Costco or a

Johnson & Johnson rises to a pick level from a tool-like reflexivity? Yeah, of course, because you'll have looked at very bad and just regular recession scenarios and find for Walmart, for example, that it just actually typically has even absolute positive return, right? So we'll look at the facts, it'll also look at and look through the financial statements and say, these are the drivers of this business and they tend to outperform in a recession, or at least I should say, they're more robust to recessionary conditions. beginnings of a brave new world for robo advising on steroids. Yes.

Jan Salagi at Reflexivity, thank you very much for joining us. Have a nice weekend, sir. Thank you very much for. Please come back and see us again. I certainly will. All right. Well, speaking of AI, don't miss the CNBC AI summit that's happening in Nashville, Tennessee. Coming up on October 15th, you're going to hear how AI is changing the nature of work,

the nature of the workforce, and customer interactions as well. Just scan that QR code on your screen or visit CNBC Events.com slash AI to learn more and get an invitation. We'll be right back after this. And by the way, we're going to highlight some key stock downgrades of the day on Wall Street today, including this mystery chart. It's a tech giant. You know it well. And you likely own it yourself.

Stay tuned. We'll reveal that mystery chart when we come back after this. All right, welcome back to Power Lunch. It's time to get you caught up on several key analysts moves, downgrades in particular, that are hitting the markets today. Now, first up, you got the calls of the day. Analyst at Jeffries are downgrading Apple to an underperform saying the better demand for the new iPhone 17 is already priced into the stock, and investors already have lofty and perhaps unrealistic expectations for the next iPhone 18 replacement cycle. And by the way, that was the mystery chart that we brought you up there. Next up, you've got PayPal.

Wolf Research is downgrading this stock to appear perform, stating that the shares may remain range-bound until the company is able to demonstrate its ability to consistently deliver branded growth. On the energy front, Morgan Stanley is downgrading Valero to equal weight following the massive run-up oil refinery saw during the third quarter compared to the rest of the energy sector. As a result, the firm believes some of those names may be

overvalued compared to their historical levels. And finally, Piper Sandler is downgrading, Instacart to neutral, citing that increased competition from other grocery delivery names like Walmart, Amazon, DoorDash, and Uber could be very much a part of the mix. Well, coming up on the show, Jim Kramer says there's always a bull market somewhere, and he wants to help you make some money, and he'll join us to how, explain how he's going to do it. And speaking of our CNBC colleagues, tickets are still available. for Fast Money, trading the holidays, live at the NASDAQ market site on December 11th.

Join my good friend Melissa Lee and all the fast money traders where you'll get to watch the live broadcast of Fast Money, ask the traders your investing questions and share a cup of holiday cheer with the whole team. Plus, you've got some great surprises and giveaways, swag, all that good stuff too. Just scan the QR code on your screen. Go to CNBCEvents.com slash fast money, get your tickets now, trading the holidays with fast money. We'll be right back. Welcome back to Power Lunch. Your next guest really needs no introduction, but we're going to give one anyway. He's a bestselling author and one of the sharpest minds on Wall Street. Joining us now to talk about his new book, How to Make Money in Any Market, is our dear friend and

colleague, Jim Kramer of Mad Money fame. Jim, it's so great to see you. And thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to be with us here. It's not too busy and be with you, Dom. I love the show, and I think that we're talking about all sorts of things, including individual stocks, what's going on with the market, and I'm happy to lend my hand whatever you need. All right. So let's talk about this book. I've got a copy in my hand right now, which, by the way, I'm going to send you to autograph right now at some point because I need an autograph copy of this. All right, so the name of the book is how to make money in any market. What exactly kind of was your muse? why exactly this book right now? And what have you done with it, given all the years that you've had with market experience under your belt?

What do you pick to put in this kind of a book? Okay. It's a great question. And what I emphasized throughout is that the stocks that work in any market are the class of growth stocks, not just the classic, but also even some of the speculative. The reason I say that is because I studied all stocks from when I've been in the business for 42 years. and the ones that always come back are the growth stocks. The cyclicals do not. And I also don't want any trading. I don't believe in trading. I think you should buy and do homework. And the non-cyclicals, they're the ones that tend to be okay, the classic growth.

And I found this to be the case in every decade, Dom. So that's what I'm trying to emphasize. And I think that you should own index funds and stocks. That's a novel and radical view on Wall Street. So if you take, say, a core position of something, like an index fund or a portfolio of index type funds, and then you kind of bolt on some of those growth pieces around it to kind of give it the extra juice. What kind of factors have you looked at over time that have led you to some of that superior outperformance? We can say growth,

but what exactly are the factors within growth that you are looking at specifically to help pick those stocks and those types of stocks that go into a portfolio that outperforms? Absolutely. Looking for companies with scale that have had not any big, degradation during any of the recessions or the the slowdowns that we've had. I'm looking for companies that don't have a lot of debt. I'm looking for companies that I think we would all listen to and recognize on CNBC as companies that are in areas that are not cyclical, except for what I do say, that groups that used to be great, the food stocks are no longer good.

But I try to just tell you how to do it. I also say, look, if you don't know how to read a balance sheet, even though I have a lot of pages on how to read a balance sheet. There is chat sheet BT. There's perplexity. There's grok. There's all these different new systems that allow you to be so much smarter than I was when I got started. And that way you can say, look, I mean, just go in and say, look, what's kind of growth rate does this company have? How does the growth rate compare to the S&P? What has been the stock's performance during downturns? All those are now easy to find. And that's why I think it was worth it to say, look, in the old days you couldn't get it. You got it now.

there's true democracy on Wall Street. Don't let people tell you you can't pick some stocks. Pick five stocks. And then the rest of the index funds. And I think that's nice to marry individual stocks with index funds. Think about what we do all day. We just have people come on them when they talk about stocks. And maybe you're interested, but you can put them through the grid that I suggest

and find out whether you think that they're really right for you. Now, Jim, one of the chapters that resonated more with me because you brought up the idea of doing your homework and kind of getting into understanding how these companies work. And you've known so many of them brand names, even ones I've never heard of before. But it's chapter 15 in particular, Jim, and I want to read it. It's because the chapter is called the conference call, understanding exactly what the big wigs are saying. And the first line in there says, when I first started emphasizing, quote, unquote, buy and homework,

I always stress that you had to read the conference call transcripts. What exactly has been the takeaway for you in reading decades' worth of conference call transcripts? in your investing career. All right. The chief witness is what the CFO says, not what the CEO says. The CFO gives you the actual bones and gives you the forecast.

A lot of people just wait and they go through what the CEO says and they start trading. Well, that's ridiculous. Stop that whole process. You're going to get it wrong. But the CFO sets the boundaries, tells you what can happen,

and then you measure what the CFO says versus what you were looking for. And that's how you determine what's going to happen with the stop. And then I like to listen to the calls and try to figure out the zeitgeist of the analysts. I show you how to do that by talking about the zeitgeist of the analyst, say, on an Amazon call versus a proctor call.

Because if they're all kind of negative and asking tough questions, look out. It means it's going lower. But I do try to tell people, look, this is the fundament. If you want to do research, you have to do the call. If you can't even spend the time doing the call, then I really just think you have to be all index funds. All right. Now, if that's the case, you mentioned before the use of AI

and how a lot of people now have tools that, you didn't have back when you were crunching all these numbers and putting stuff into spreadsheets and trying to analyze all these things with pivot tables and whatever else is out there. We just had on the CEO of Reflexivity, which is one of these big AI tools that's being deployed on Wall Street right now. My question to him was spread compression. When a lot of these people who are using these tools all have access to these tools, eventually some of those profits start to get slimmer and slimmer. You were operating in a time when spreads were still pretty big and returns were pretty big as well.

How exactly then do you separate the investing paradigm you used to deal with, say, 20, 30, 40 years ago with what you see developing in the next 10 to 20 years here? Well, sure. I mean, what used to happen I described it is I used to go to the Mercantile Library in New York. They would have a series of microfiche about SDC that were tend to be like three to six months old. Nothing from the companies themselves. That's all changed. You can go right to the website. I get what you need. But what I, I'm going at it from a different way.

I'm saying, look, here's what you want to do. You want to observe what a company. If you're curious enough about it, then you go to what I just described, all the financials, and you go to the website, and you watch the videos, you get comfortable. And then if you check in every quarter and let's say the stock goes down, you buy more. But the idea is compound. I think that you can great, the best performance comes from compounding, and you can do that as long as you keep checking it every quarter to see everything is okay. I only want five

stocks. I want it to be so that if you don't like one, you can put in another. Not more than that. One stock can be speculative because I know our viewers like speculation, whether it be nuclear, whether it be quantum, look at quantum today. I think that's okay. I'm probably the only person on Wall Street that embraces speculation, but it's something that younger people want to do, and they're getting $100 trillion big crossover from the baby boomers to the younger people. people, but I just think it's a very personal thing investing. And I'm trying to make that something that people don't believe anymore, Don, but I do. What you like, what you believe in, what can go down, you buy more, you buy it over time. It does well. Very antithetical view to what most

people say you should do on Wall Street. And yet, if you're watching Mad Money or any of our shows, stocks are constantly being mentioned. You may find something you like. And now I tell you what to do, rather than just say, oh, I'm going to buy that. I even talk about how I made that. I even talk about how I made that mistake. I like watch something or read something. So I got to buy that without even thinking about where the stock is or what the company really does. So this is a personal way to get rich and I really believe it. And by the way, I'm not ashamed. I have a whole chapter about invidia. And I meet so many invidia millionaires. I met millionaires when I did my book signing last week at Barnes & Noble. My wife has mescal and people come when I do bottle signings and they're

Nvidia millionaires over and over and over again because we discovered the stock when it was $3. Well, we also remember when you named your dog in Vidia as well. I remember that one. So I met someone yesterday who said to me, look, I want to thank you. I took $10,000, everything I had. I said, oh, that's dicey. And bought Nvidia when you named your dog after him, and now I'm wealthy. And I was like, I know you're near tears to tell me, but that's okay. that's the way it is. I met a police officer the other day who told me he made a million dollars in NVIDIA after I named my dog NVIDIA. This is fine. This is what I want. One out of five can be speculative. I just want people to realize that they're not so. First, it's not that hard. And second,

Dom, the street looks down on so many people. And I hate that. And I've been on Wall Street for 42 years, and I cannot stand how people are denigrated or look down upon except for the rich people. has a right to this information and to learn how things are done. And our viewers deserve to be treated better than just saying, look, you can't figure it out. You should do index funds, which is the prevailing view on Wall Street, and I despise it. Well, Jim, I know that you have to go get ready for your show Mad Money to help impart more of that wisdom on our loyal fan base here as well.

So, Jim, thank you very much for taking the time to be with us. And here's the book, guys. We're going to show it to you again, and they're going to show your graphic. But Jim, good luck with the book here, how to make money in any market. and we'll see you later on on Mad Money Tonight, Jim. We appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you very much. All right.

Let's get over to Christina Partinevus now for a CNBC News Update. Good afternoon, Christine. Hi, Dom. Well, Defense Secretary Pete Hegeseth said the U.S. killed four people in a strike off the coast of Venezuela against a vessel allegedly carrying illegal drugs into the U.S. This is the fourth known military strike in the Caribbean since the beginning of September. The administration has claimed all of the targets are a film.

affiliated with drug cartels. Denmark's Defense Intelligence Services said today the Russian warships have repeatedly provoked tensions in the Danish straits that connect the Baltic Sea to the North Sea. Officials say the ships have sailed on collision courses, aimed weapons at Danish naval vessels, and disrupted navigation systems. The White House said this afternoon,

it is taking these reports seriously. And FIFA released the official matchball of the 2026 World Cup. It's being called Trianda, which means three waves. It has a section for each of the three host countries, a star for the U.S., a maple leaf for Canada, and an eagle for Mexico. The ball is also equipped with a motion sensor clip that tracks its every movement and feeds data

to video assistant referees to help make game calls. In other words, AI is going to be helping with the refs. Dom, back to you. Strike zones in baseball and now in soccer too. Thank you very much, Christina. We'll see you later on. Up next on the show here. at a time when corporate branding is more in focus than ever, we have a marketing legend right here in studio.

Bozum of St. John joins us next. Keep it right here for all things, marketing and media. All right, welcome back in a world where brand value can make or break a company. Our next guest has forged an unprecedented path through the sea suites of global powerhouses. This is the executive who drove consumer engagement at PepsiCo before shaping Apple Music's brand, identity, launching it worldwide. She was brought into overhaul Uber's brand during its most turbulent period before navigating the complex world of talent, sports, and media as the chief marketing officer for Endeavor. Most recently, she served as the global chief marketing officer for Netflix, helping the

streaming giant maintain its cultural dominance against a wave of new competitors. And now she's taking that expertise to the airwaves, starring in NBC's series on brand, with Jimmy Fallon. We are now joined by a true architect of modern brand building, author, and entrepreneur, Bozema, St. John, thank you so much for being here. And this is crazy because I've watched you over the years. I just reeled off literally a laundry list of brands that you have been identified and associated with that you've worked for. Yes. What exactly has been the driving force behind why you've tackled this line of endeavor? Yes. Into doing what you've done for all of these major powerhouse brands.

Oh, wow. When you read it like that, it feels very overwhelming. It's big. It is big. It is big. But, you know, I love pop culture. I think at the center of everything I've done has been a deep curiosity and intense obsession with what's happening in pop culture.

So whether it is in sports or fashion or music or movies, TV, all of it runs the gamut. And I think every brand could benefit from really understanding what's happening in pop culture and then responding to it. So every brand deals with pop culture in either very different or nuanced ways. That's right. So when you're talking about brands like Apple to Uber, to Netflix, to PepsiCo, some of them have commonalities and some of them have market differences. Yes.

What exactly separates those differences and similarities for a person who's worked across all of those different types of brands? Well, the similarities are that each of those companies and brands have to operate within the relevant time. And so what I did at Apple 10 years ago would not work. today or what I did at Uber eight years ago would not work today. I think for marketers and for brands, their constant evolution is to be along with the times.

You know, whatever is happening in pop culture and figure out a way to communicate with consumers and audiences based on what society is doing, thinking, loving, hating, you know, all of those things. But how do you stay on top of that? I mean, that would say that's the hardest part of the job, right? Yes, yes. It needs homework. It needs research, but it needs a certain amount of intuition and

perhaps even impressions to kind of understand where things are going. How do you get that? So all the CMOs and aspiring marketing execs out there, what exactly would the advice be to be how you get to that level of knowledge? Yes. Well, I mean, look, it is practiced. It's very much a research job, meaning that you have to constantly be engaged in what's happening in pop culture.

I find it very much like any specialized field where you have to stay sharp in your expertise. So I would expect for a plastic surgeon to continue practice on various patients in order to get better at their craft. And that's the way you do it in marketing as well, except for the fact that you are paying attention to a very wide range of topics to really understand what's happening in the market. In this current business environment right now, as you look across the various brands that are out there, what do you think has been the one that stood out the most to you in a positive? positive way. Yes. That they've really done it right. Right. Well, you know what? I think consistency is really key. I mean, I could point to Nike, which is a company that I have long admired in terms of how they are positioned, but also how consistent they are, regardless of the time, that of course they are evolving and changing their brand narrative based on what's happening. But at the core of it, it is the idea of excellence, you know, and greatness and making sure that you are the best version of yourself that you can be, regardless of if you're a professional athlete or you're sitting on your couch? What, before we let you go, this is also a launch day for a very, very big album

from a certain Ms. Taylor Swift. That's correct. Right. She has done it right. I mean, I don't think many people can argue with it. She's done it right. What exactly has been, in your opinion, the biggest force behind why she can launch an album on vinyl the way she has done today and have it just resonate as much as at hand in pop culture?

Yeah, yeah. Well, I've had the pleasure of working with Ms. Taylor Swift when I was at Apple Music. She helped launch the brand. And so I know what it is like to work with someone who has perfectionism at the center of her own brand. And so even though she is relatable, even though she loves her audience and makes sure that she is engaging the swifties, she's also evolving as she matures and grows. And so this album is markedly different from others in that she's talking about a different version of her relationships and how she is approaching womanhood.

And I do respect that very much. All right. Bozema, St. John, got to watch the show On Brand with Jimmy Fallon. It's amazing. It's pretty fun to watch. So thank you so much for bringing it here with us now. And be sure to tune in tonight to episode two of On Brand with Jimmy Fallon. It airs at 8 p.m. Eastern Time on NBC and also, of course, streaming the next day on Peacock. On Brand. Jimmy Fallon, Bozma, St. John. They're both right there. We'll be right back after this.

All right, welcome back at our closing moments. We want to bring your attention to an interesting write-up from our own Robert Frank on the one percenters. Their total wealth swelled to a record $52 trillion in the second quarter, according to Federal Reserve data. The total wealth of the top 10% also grew by $5 trillion, up to a record $113 trillion. Gains for the wealthier groups have outpaced other economic classes. However, the bottom half of Americans still saw their wealth grow by 6% in the past year. Most of the gains for the wealthy have been fueled by the record rally that we've seen in the stock market. Speaking of the stock market, we hit record highs across the board for each.

of the major indices. Keep an eye on that. And again, record highs intraday so far. Thanks for watching Power Lunch. Have a great weekend. Closing bell starts right now.