i'm curious to ask her how it's going and when we'll see results. >> we'll dive back into fed speak. we have williams tonight, i believe, and next week earnings aren't going to stop necessarily -- disney and uber, rivian and others as well. >> a back seat on economic data until the week after we get cpi on the 15th. >> enjoy the weekend. let's get to the judge. carl, thanks. welcome to "the halftime report." i'm scott wapner. front and center this hour, surging stocks following apple earnings and what might have been a perfect jobs report for the bulls and the fed. the investment committee debating that and the road ahead. joining me for the hour today, shannon saccocia, kevin simpson, and steve weiss. we're all at post 9. happy to see you guys. let's check the markets. we're green across the board. this surging stock market following yields, that's part of the story here. and what i suggest, weiss, really, i think, was a perfect jobs report for the bulls and for the fed. hourly earnings below estimates,

unemployment rate rises slightly. yields fall. stocks surge. is it really any more complicated than that? >> it's not. and, you know what, i thought we had -- i wouldn't call it a perfect press conference from powell, but i think we had a really, really good one, and i would say very dovish. so you take that, you take the report today, and that's why the market is up. the market has been up the last few days, and, frankly, now that we're out of the woods, at least for now, and we're always going to be, like the fed, data dependent, you sort of have the all clear going forward because there's nothing really -- something can pop up, and that's always what hits markets. but overall, the base case has to be the markets going higher. >>shannon, let's sort of take stock, if you will, pardon the pun, of where we were at the start of the week to where we are today. we came into the fed meeting thinking, okay, the risk, and maybe a likely risk, the fed claire will be more hawkish than

we really want. the market had sort of gotten ahead of that by looking not so great. mega cap earnings. what is amazon going to deliver? what is apple going to end up delivering? what's the data going to deliver? and we emerge on this friday with a sizable rally, and we seem to have gotten over the moguls, and now we're on the downhill heading towards a good spot in the race. >> i think there's two things, and you really touched on them. one, if we think about positioning -- and positioning in the bond market is positioned for a hawkish powell in the press conference on wednesday. and so we started to see some movement on the fixed income side of the coin within the bond market, seeing what yields were doing, and then coming into the print today, if you think about this is good news good news and bad news is bad news, this isn't bad news. i think that's the differentiator that people need to think about. coming in at 175,000 jobs added with a positive household survey

as well, adding in areas like construction, social assistance and in health care, in areas we anticipate there will continue to be some growth, those things aren't bad. then you look at the wage growth numbers, and the fact we're looking at a number that could potentially annualize a lot closer to 2%, the transmission mechanism of wage growth is much different than the transmission mechanism of all of the more kind of structural auto insurance, medical care. wages are what is sticky. wages created this problem for us in the first place, scott. to get at such a beat, if you will, quote, unquote, on wage growth in this report, that's really what i think is buoying the market right now in looking forward to what will be the next print and not anticipating and not positioning for a really disappointing cpi print. >> kev, is it time to be less fearful and more bullish again? >> 100%. this week could have been a completely different week. you used the mogul analogy. i think that was perfect because imagine if the fed had been

hawkish, which we all expected. imagine if he hadn't pushed back on rate hikes the way that he did. imagine if he didn't say there is no stag and there is no inflation. that was an awesome meeting. the jobs report today, and shannon nailed every point on it, it is a great way to end the week. are things perfect moving forward? we're priced to perfection. i don't know we want to be overly aggressive buyers, but you can be more optimistic when this week started. >> certainly not out of the woods. >> at this go to tony pasquariello's note where he says i think the market needs to do more work within this trading range. these are choppy waters. where i'm going with this, simplify your portfolio to highest quality and highest conviction assets and do not, in all caps, fight the freight train that is u.s. mega cap tech.

shannon, make sense? >> we talked about this on "closing bell," about the choppy waters. the combination of micro and macro is working in our favor this week. if you think about quality and you think about the continual long lags, those long lags are going to continue to impact lower quality businesses with less free cash flow, less weaker balance sheets and less of a competitive moat and they are stronger companies. i think when you think about quality and you think about a factor that's been fairly consistent this year, quality is that. >> you know, weiss, tony has been so correct on the direction of the market and the kinds of stocks that are going to carry you, a bit of a pullback in mega cap tech. he's urged investors and we've

told you what he has said about keeping your eye on the ball. go big or go home. stay with the freight train of mega cap tech and that trade is back because the nasdaq, as you know, is ripping, and the performance over one week, what a difference a week makes. look at apple at the top of the heap, up 8.5% on the week. amazon is up 7.5. alphabet, 6, meta, microsoft, 2.5 and 2 respectively. this trades back? >> i don't think it ever left. >> it looked dicey for a little bit. >> it was a little dicey. premega cap earnings, okay, is this trade going to have some struggle? do valuations need to correct more meaningfully than they perhaps had? and here we are back to go where the money is? >> that's a fair point. though they've struggled, the struggle has not been g gargantuan. 10% to 15%, take a look at where it's come from. so it's natural for these stocks

to take some gas at some point in time. i like that, frankly. but to kevin's point, and i should have made this point as well, we're back to where we were which is overvaluation in the market. so to tony's point, and he's phenomenal, he has a great track record, and more important than his conclusions is his thinking, his logic in getting there. i can draw my own conclusions, but i like hearing the thought processes. his is really good. he's right. we have to stabilize at this level. and then let's not forget, the world can change when we get to the week of may 13th and have ppi and cpi. there's no point in getting over your skis here. i don't see the market running away to the upside, and i think the debate is still valid that our higher rates for longer are going to derail the economy more than it has, more than just a little slowing, and you know

what can survive all of that is mega cap tech. but they can't be an island in valuation. >> let's pick onwhat you said, though, about market overall valuation, which i think you reiterated the belief the market is still overvalued. is that fair? okay. so is it, my comeback to you, if higher for longer today isn't as high nor for as long as we feared it might be on monday? >> yes. is it still that overvalued if earnings are coming in fine, i think we can say, the economy is still reasonably strong, i think we can say. the fed chair gave you the idea they really want to cut. they're just not going to do it today, and they're probably not going to do it in june. july? maybe. some firms are still sticking with july. some firms have four cuts. some with three. some with two. some with one.

today we can say, well, maybe rates aren't going to be as high for as long as we thought. a week ago our valuations overstretched as you make it out to be. >> sometimes it's a curse having too much experience because you're sort of a prisoner to what's happened before in economic and monetary cycles, so i like being the og and in other cases i wish i didn't have that perspective. when you have rates this high, and we talked about this a little bit on wednesday's show, it's unprecedented to have a multiple decide. this is a multiple you have with not accommodative monetary policy but easing monetary policy. i think we're in a new paradigm. i've been saying that for a year and a half. you turned over in your investment base and have an experience of v-shaped recoveries and agnostic to valuations, right, it could keep going. so that's what i debate. what i know, though, while i

believe some of the stocks i own are overvalued, i have no doubt they will grow into the valuation, so it's only a moment in time that they are overvalued. >> shannon? >> so i am so glad steve just said that. i do think it's about earnings growth. i think it comes back to what's happening in these underlining reports. what are we looking at from an earnings perspective? who is growing top-line revenue? growing into some of these valuations, maybe not for some of the tech names we're talking about right now, but i would acknowledge that perhaps they trade at a premium to market. in sectors outside of mega cap tech, that's really the thesis for the second half of the year, that all of this compounding of improving gross margins and the ability to maintain revenue growth even in a disinflationary environment, that will allow some of these stocks to grow into a valuation that, scott, in parts of the market, isn't all that demanding. so i think when you look at is the market overvalued, you're looking at it from a historical

perspective but in terms of what do you anticipate will happen for earnings because there could be this notion of growing into that valuation. >> earnings growth, kevin, it's no secret i'm not going to break my news near that mega cap earnings growth is accounting for all of the earnings growth or the great majority of earnings growth this quarter. which is no surprise why people continue to go to those stocks -- hello, apple. now i get their revenues have declined six times in the quarter. service revenues grew to a new record. china revenue, yes, it declined, but it was way better than feared. and then a mountain of a buyback, the largest ever by any company ever. $110 billion. it goes sort of, also, to what tony pasquariello suggests, the reason you want to stay with the stocks, they are buying back the most stock that matters. on the earnings growth idea,

where else are you going to go? >> i don't know the earnings growth for apple supports 26 in a week, right? it was last thursday we were talking about adding to the position at 165. today it's 185. that's a big move. i don't know the earnings will justify that. we're excited about the developers' conference and the prospects for a.i., $110 billion share buyback is massive, a 4% dividend increase. we own the stock. you know what we did this morning at the open, we wrote a covered call on apple because there's a big move, maybe a little bit too much too fast, so to harvest that volatility, it gives you a very modest hedge, and i think that's something anyone who owns apple should think about doing. >> let me ask you this. does a trough deserve a 20 stick? we're going to put our flag in the sand here and say this was the moment that we're confident that apple troughed both in their revenue, both in china,

both in -- they haven't even talked a.i. yet. they've sprinkled it. >> it's coming. >> if not now, when, is my point. >> sitting here bragging that it's up this much, we thought there was weakness there. we can never pick ultimate bottoms or tops. anywhere between 150 and 160, that stock is a buy. between 190 and 200, i would take a little off the table. >> you know, apple would have no earnings growth without their buybacks. it's all financial engineering, so while companies that have balance sheets and can do acquisitions of their own stock, that's great. but what do you pay for that? i pay a premium for the brand and that's it. so i don't have to own apple. you don't have to own apple. apple will be an underperformer in my estimation going forward.

they are not going to be a primary a.i. play. period, end of story. >> why not? >> because they won't. you have microsoft, who has pricing power -- >> they're a different kind of a.i. player. >> they are. if you ask the question, as you ask in the past, who will benefit most from a.i.? i'm paraphrasing. i would say apple is not even in my top five or six. >> yes, but you're talking as if it's an apples and orange conversation, i think. you're talking about a product company that -- i mean, and services obviously. a.i. may very well be what leads to the next great refresh cycle of a company with the strongest install base in the history of consumer products. >> see, i don't think it will. >> i think it will. >> i don't think it will. i think -- look, they have a big install base. they have big market share in some markets. >> they have the best. >> no, they don't. globally their market share is a fraction of what android is.

>> they have the best install base. let's not kid ourselves. >> they have a good install base. i will not argue that. despite that, that's my point, despite that, remember it was a disaster with the x. i would rather pay a software company like microsoft with recurring revenue with significant pricing power rather than relying on the telco companies to subsidize the phones. so my point is, look, i don't think -- when i look at mega cap, i don't want to own all of them. i nearly do. but if i have to pick and choose and you're classified as mega cap this is the last one on the list. >> kevin, i know you're taking the other side of that. >> you have to because the refresh cycle is the story. there is no debate. i don't know anyone who has an android. even my dad has an apple phone. i don't think he has a computer. the opportunity set is beyond anything we've seen before. i own microsoft -- i think that

there will be an increase finally in the revenues. if you look back six, seven quarters, it's done nothing. it just stalls. your point is spot on with the share buybacks. to think a.i. can't be a may juror contributor to apple's next phase, i think it can and will be. >> if you look at the big tech buybacks and the new authorizations -- so it's 110 billion from apple. google is 70 billion. that's a new authorization, steve. meta is 50. you own meta, $50 billion. microsoft is unchanged at $13 billion. >> i like buybacks, but i like the fact that meta has increased their spending in a.i. by $10 billion. that's going to be much more creative to earnings and have longer staying power than a share buyback which they also

have. if you rip out the share buybacks, they still have great growth. apple hasn't had that growth in a long time. we can say six down quarters. you can go further back and see it's been flat for a long, long time. >> injust think you're going to look at a moment like tony upgrading the stock for the first time in six years ahead of the earnings, by the way -- good on him -- buy the fear, is what he said. that's by virtue of the stock performance today and the earnings last night. seems to be a good call. >> i think the buyback buys them some time, scott. look at the second half of the year and the refresh cycle, the rationale for why. i think a.i. needs to become more relevant for the install base that apple has in order to support the eventual refresh cycle. and so i think if you think about product evolution and what they're working on, they saw what happened to meta. if they had gone out and spent a bunch of money or announced a huge capex to nowhere at this

juncture, that wouldn't have been the right thing for them to do. they introduced this enormous buyback. they buy themselves time so they can figure out what their a.i. story is going to be from a product perspective and how they can make a.i. relevant to their install base. services were up 14%. they need people to buy the new phones. i think this is asecond half story. i do think there will be a show-me aspect to this. i think apple management did the right thing to buy themselves time. >> the street is all bulled up today, by the way. citi has a 90-day positive catalyst into wwdc. morgan stanley, i will have first reaction on "closing bell" today, he raised the target. it's hard not to be more bullish. jpmorgan raised the target. time to buy, they say. ives is bullish. i know that's not a shock to anybody, but he's reiterating that. bofa reiterates it. goldman, evercore.

>> i get it. there's nothing wrong with owning apple but, again, i have to pick and choose where i will get the best performance. to me, if what you're saying -- to read into what you're saying -- if tim cook didn't come out and talk -- and wanted to talk about spending on a.i. but said, hey, look what happened to zuckerberg and meta, so i'm not going to do it, that's no way to run a company. he's running it quarter to quarter. think longer term. who cares what the market does in one quarter? >> you're telling me -- how many rabbit holes do you want to go into? you're telling me tim cook is running apple quarter to quarter? >> that was the comment. >> i think you're responding to what i was saying. i do think they have -- they're going to have a very well-articulated a.i. strategy. no doubt apple will have that. in this moment, however, the inflection point, they came into an earnings season where china wasn't as bad, where they had strong services and they had plenty of cash to announce this buyback which, to scott's point,

matters right now. people want to see capital coming back to them. this isn't eight years ago where people were like, why aren't these big tech companies spending. they want to see you back. >> now they're giving you dividends, too. and it's a different universe. >> almost all now. which is why barclays said that the earnings that have come out are going to continue to lift the growth trade higher and value's outperformance has reversed course and we expect this to sustain. that leads me to the broadening trade which, you know, again, felt good. while mega cap was pulling back, they say not so much now. maybe energy is a perfect example of that. have you seen that? it was a great trade. it's looking like, i don't know, is it done, weiss? the worst sector this week, the worst sector this week and month. >> take -- take a look at a ten-year chart. you've done an awful lot of work on chevron to be running in place over ten years. so you have to trade it, right? there are dividends that maybe

increase that, but look at the charts of any of the mega cap technology stocks. it's a new world we've been living in for the last decade, maybe more. and, you know, do you really want energy to broaden your -- do you really want to believe the thesis in energy? i'm not going to mention how many times i've heard $200 oil. think about that all the time. >> you don't need $200 oil for energy stocks to work. >> no, no. i know that. if energy -- if oil moves up in price, that's not a good thing for inflation in the market, right? be careful what you wish for. >> kevin, you have chevron, co conoco. >> it's just such a massive amount of money that's returned to them. we talk about apple, and there's no comparison to a $110 billion buyback. i get it. if you're invested in the names, you get great dividends, special dividends, share buybacks, low multiples, now, to steve's

point, we did trim chevron. we were a little bit overweight in it. i will not abandon it and try to run into technology because they have a lot of heavy lifting to do. it looks like they did it this earnings season. we have nvidia coming up. they're probably the behemoth in the room. i will not abandon the energy trade because i don't believe the broadening has ended. and i want to be diversified. >> so speaking of being diversified, the broadening trade, tjx, you bought more. we'll do that before we take a break. give us insight into why you leaned into this more. >> if we see consumer trading down, we like off brands -- looked at kel logg's, mcdonald', starbucks, tjx tried to catch up to the post-pandemic numbers. but we're seeing growth again. good dividend growth. only 1.6% yield. they've been increasing for the past five years, and they're a beneficiary of the strong economy and of the tradedown

con consumer. $4 billion over the past year. we're going to take a quick break. we have more committee moves. steve weiss, kevin simpson both making trades in two big banks today. we have those details straight ahead. later on, the countdown to the 150th running of the kentucky derby. we'll take you there live and speak with nbc sports legend mike tirico ahead of the big race. "halftime" is back in two minutes. >> announcer: are you following "the halftime report" podcast? what are you waiting for? look for us in your favorite dcti app. follow "the halftime" podcast now.

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♪ stocks and financials, steve weiss has bought more goldman sachs. new all-time high today. that stock has been on the run. why did you buy more here? >> actually, i bought it twice. i bought it wednesday after powell's comments. i thought, hey, who is going to do better -- who is more leveraged to a better economic environment, a better market environment, m&a and ipos and secondaries, than goldman? and then the reason i bought more late yesterday afternoon, i was at a goldman conference yesterday, and i have to tell you, they're just the best there is. every single they have i view as

the best in coverage, in knowledge. their strategists are phenomenal. >> are you trying to get a police vest or something like that? >> i did get a sweater. but that was, you know, from somebody else. they are the best in every single seat, have the best coverage, for me, and i think for everybody i spoke to, and why not? why not own more of the best? that's why i did it. >> kevin simpson, you own goldman, too. send him a vest, too. >> i got a free pen. the either/or story, we own both. we added to jpmorgan, because after their earnings, the stock traded down about 10%. we still think they're best in breed. 2.4% dividend. they increase by 10% every year. looking at a 12 times forward multiple. if we think about things -- i realize we're old and remember

p/es of 14 and 15, so 12 is attractive. for us in that broadening trade, we want to be in financials. they've been terrific the past year. i think it's a great time to add. >> one more comment if i could. there's always noise on goldman that people, they're leaving. they only have three or four but you would be hard pressed the next one up is as good as the last one and solomon, all the noise is gone. he's a phenomenal ceo and a great job reshaping the market. >> you get a pen then. >> i got a pen. >> what about financials? bank of america talks about the biggest outflows in eight weeks, one of the reasons is higher for longer is not necessarily good for banks. >> that created issues last year and it weighs on financials.

the flip side, some of the larger banks grow loans, certainly to have less pressure should we see lower rates. i wouldn't be surprised to see a change in leadership. we've been waiting a long time. to steve's point, transaction levels are increasing, that could potentially continue. >> and, also, weiss, most people we speak to in the venture world who play a vital role in the trajectory of where the ipo market will go, aren't looking for any gangbusters this year. it's our 25 story. do you agree with that? >> i do. they're so under water on their current portfolios and those companies have not been able to raise cash.

people like us that are active in the private markets, we're not in that position fortunately because of the vintage of our private investments, they've been using their capital. they've been picking and choosing which companies will survive and which to let go. before you see the appetite for new vc funds and new -- they just can't raise capital. >> there's always going to be something, but you're not going to get a, b, c and d in the same week. >> and not while rates are where they are. let's get the headlines with leslie picker. former trump confidant hope hicks is on the stand in donald trump's hush money trial testifying about her role as press secretary during the 2016 campaign. her testimony could give a glimpse of what was happening in the final weekends before the 2016 election as former lawyer michael cohen was negotiating the hush money deal with adult star stormy daniels.

and the bowling alley that was one of the sites of maine's deadliest mass shootings is opening today, just under six months ago a gunman killed six people before driving to a nearby bar killing ten more. he later died by suicide. the owners were originally against the idea of reopening until the community rallied behind them and convinced them to change their minds. and hall and oates are over. the group will not be getting back together. it comes after a public rift over john oates' attempt to sell off half of the duo's jointly owned company. back to you, scott. >> leslie, thank you. up next, mike santoli joins us with a special "midday word" live in omaha today ahead of berkshire's annual shareholder meeting.

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we are back. berkshire hathaway's annual shareholder meeting kicking off less than 24 hours from now. cnbc will have special live coverage of the big event tomorrow morning, 9:30 a.m. mike santoli is there, as he usually is, and he joins us now for a special "midday word." it's quite a day in the market. i'm sure it's quite a day there. it's going to be an amazing weekend. we're looking forward to watching tomorrow, of course. what's on your mind given all of that? >> yes, scott, they did just open the doors. the public will flood in any minute. it will be a busy meeting, i think with the apple news here, so many points of relevance. what i find remarkable, and this

is at the heart of the discussion you were having and the buyback and everything else, it's exactly what he said all along, he bought it, he was attracted to it, and, you know what, for as long as i've been doing this, people have had the same discussion. it's slow growth, financial engineering. they have a very high floor on their business. the fundamental support is there. whether you want to pay that much for it right now, i'm not sure. the buyback, $110 billion is business as usual. the market cap of apple was under a trillion and now you're at $2.8 trillion. it's a smaller percentage. that's what they do. they have enough capital to share it in various forms while also nvesting. to me, that's why the mag seven is what it is. they live in a world without difficult tradeoffs in capital

allocation. >> are your feet bothering you, mike? i don't know why we're taking a shot of that other than there's a famous berkshire shareholder in the live shot. >> i was like, is my mic line trapped on my feet? why is the crew grabbing me. >> that is bill murray -- he is a well-known berkshire shareholder. that's one of the great parts of this weekend, right, mike? one of the great parts of the weekend. >> yes. literally you never know -- >> you never know who will show up. shareholders from everywhere do, and he is and has been a berkshire shareholder. >> 100%, for a long time. it's good that he managed to catch a break in life and got into the stock at a relatively early time. it is an interesting feature of this meeting. there are so many side events and dinners and talks that do go on.

you have a collection all gathered here for a couple of days. >> you were a good sport. we might have known something was going to happen but i didn't want to ruin the surprise to you or our viewers. say hello to murray. that's mike santoli. i think we'll see you on "closing bell." tomorrow at 9:30 you can watch. amgen soaring. the company goes all in on an injectable weight loss dg.ru kevin owns the stock. we'll get his take next. to new adventures. -oh. mwah. -planned... -and unplanned. -surprise! -they lead to goals. -for you, mama. and connect us to family. i didn't get the part. your dedicated fidelity advisor can help you open those doors. but i did get waiter number 2. because they know you. they can help you create a comprehensive plan for your full financial picture and personalized money management with the right balance of risk and reward.

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♪ welcome back. take a look at amgen soaring today. the company announcing it's moving forward with an injectable obesity drug. it's really soaring on that drug

trial result, and you own the stock. can you give us context here? >> even we were pleasantly surprised with the stock price move. apple was great. looking at amgen, this stock is up 15%. they're a limb bit late to the party on the obesity drug admittedly, but they're entering phase three, and the advantage they could bring to market is a once a month shot as opposed to once a week or every other week, and i think any of us that have to take shots for whatever the reason, the fewer times we would need to do it the better. the other thing you need to look at under the hood, this acquisition is making them double digit growers in terms of their revenue, their earnings. this is something that is a credit to their bottom line immediately. they have three other top tier drugs. we really like the stock. we love the dividend and we love the dividend growth. >> what about the space in general, one of the worst year to date? you have more exposure through

united health and merck. >> we've been very careful, it's not a stock we're recommending adding to. there's a lot of risk with united health care. it's been a best performer year to date. we played the health care sector well. we went into amgen, scott, we rotated out of j&j. that's lower. amgen is higher. i think you called it dead money. >> too bad you didn't listen to me on united health and sold it. >> youropinion and positioning have really changed on health care, right, whereas you, you know, a handful of months ago, profitable health care -- how you described it -- and now decided it wasn't. now i'm interested in your view moving forward here. >> my view moving forward is when i broaden out the portfolio slightly, i went into defense and aerospace, and i stay away

from health care because, as we saw, predicting what cms would do with pricing is very, very difficult. and as the world -- and this gets too wonky -- switches from fee for service to value-based care, where the government wants you to be, it's difficult. you have to know your patient populations intimately to be able to manage the risk appropriately. i think it's worth waiting on the sidelines. >> shannon? >> having this news on amgen, i don't know that it helps the overall health care space too much. there has been this binary trade in terms of you're either in glp or you're not. the implications have weighed on the rest of the health care sector. i think steve makes a great point around managed care and the challenges there. if you think about consumables, instruments, those types of health care exposure, i do think there's still opportunity and value. coming up, we'll take you live to churchill downs ahead of

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that's a pretty good burn, right? got him. good game. thanks for coming to our clinic, first one's free. ♪ all right. welcome back. the road to the triple crown begins tomorrow with the 150th running of the kentucky derby. mike tirico will be hosting nbc sports coverage at churchill downs, as you can see he joins us live. we always love the first saturday in may, and it's great to catch up with you, mike. welcome. >> the same. good to be back. and the first friday, the kentucky oaks, happens later today. about 100,000 people here this is a great weekend and a milestone year for churchill downs. >> tell us what to expect tomorrow in the big race.

>> well, 20 horses, their one chance for glory and all-time history. two favorites have emerged as we've gone through the trail, the preps leading up. fierceness is one horse owned by a guy from queens, who had the favorite last year, that horse was scratched the morning of. came back with a favorite again this year. john velasquez and john pletcher are the jockey and trainer. and then the other choice is sierra leone and it's perfect to talk about the big investment and will it pay off, one of the top five prices paid for a yearling. over $2 million was the price point on this horse. the horse has done well. those two are separated from the rest of the horses as we handicap the derby. >> what else stands out to us since we're talking money like you just did, the purse, $5 million now, right?

>> they've bumped it up significantly. 150th anniversary. i think, also, trying to keep pace and in step with large sporting events. big horse races around the world, we've seen big purses attract races and some of the best horses. if thishorses, and this is to be considered the premiere race in the world, the price purse has to be commensurate with that. so $5 million is a very significant size purse. not the biggest around the world, but right up there in that neighborhood. >> other standout, i suppose, is who's not going to be racing, and that's bob bafford, the legendary trainer doesn't have a horse that's going to be running. you've been outspoken in what this means for this moment in this sport, particularly what it means for the future if people like mr. bafford who are iconic and legendary continue to have these sorts of issues. can you expand on that? >> sure.

simply put, he had the winner, he's won multiple times, triple down events. we'll see his horses in the preakness coming up in maryland. but bob bafford had the champ here a couple of years ago who, after drug tests, was removed and disqualified, and no longer was the winner of the kentucky derby. there that point on, there was a suspension. churchill downs put a couple of derby suspensions on him. we've gone through a lot of the legal cases, and even this year, churchill down says because we haven't seen enough contrition, we're going to suspend him for the calendar year. in any case, the larger point is, whether it's bafford or other folks that have been involved, in conversations of is the horse sport clean, are the horses drug free? are you having their best interest in mind? if this sport will try to find a way to grow in the next ten years, you need consumer confidence that's the betters,

that's the public. i think it's beholden on all the stake holders, the tracks, trainers, owners, jockeys to get on the same page and pull in the same direction, because the sports dollar has a lot of competition, especially with betting in other sports now. this isn't the only place where you can have fun wagering money. >> well said. let's talk olympics for a moment before i let you run, and watch some more racing. peyton manning, kelly clarkson joining you in paris. payson manning said, "wouldn't have even considered it without tirico." we're looking forward to this. >> super nice of peyton. something i think our whole company is looking forward to, top to bottom. the olympics, we've had three in a row in asia, two in a row with covid and no fans. the olympics need as jump-start. there are great stories with team usa, especially because they're only three years removed from competing in tokyo.

and paris is the co-star. when our set is on during the "today" show, during daytime and primetime, the eiffel tower will be behind us. iconic places and venues around paris are going to be used for the competition. so it's a great opportunity for the olympics to get a recharge, a refresh, and build momentum to four years from now when the olympics are in los angeles in 2028. so we are super excited, not just for the summer but what happens in june, making team usa and the olympic trials is going to be spectacular, as well. >> all the networks of nbc, including us, excited. mike, enjoy the weekend. we'll be watching, of course. >> will do. always a pleasure. >> that's mike tirico. 2024 derby starting tomorrow, 2:30 eastern on nbc. 12:00 on peacock, 2:30 on nbc, also available on nbcsports.com

and the nbc sports app. "final trades" are next. as a kid, i watched my mom struggle financially. her sacrifice allowed me to pursue my dreams. to create generational wealth. i'm partnering with sofi because they care about making your money work for your ambitions. just like my mom did for me. recognize a generational player. join the official bank of the nba. sofi. get your money right.

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weiss, "final trades." >> i bought more netflix for those experiencing jomo, joy of missing out. stock is back on its way. >> home depot, $18 billion in free cash flow. >> materials. >> good weekend, everybody. i'll see you on "closing bell." welcome to "the exchange." i'm dominic chu in for kelly evans. here's what's ahead on the show. we have a weaker than expected jobs report last month, a more dovish than expected powell, so did that just change the whole rate cut timeline, and is it presenting new opportunities in this market? we'll talk about all of that. plus, there was one thing in apple's report that makes our analyst worry a bit. we'll tell you what it is and how to trade that stock from here, and then starbucks,