Bill Baruch, founder & president at Blue Line Capital, joins CNBC’s 'Halftime Report' to detail his latest portfolio moves. The Investment Committee debate the trades. ...

Market Outlook - HSBC chief multi-asset strategist Max Kettner discusses market outlooks [1] Expert Analysis - Max Kettner from HSBC provides insights on market trends [1]

Consumer Spending - Consumer spending is a key topic of discussion [1] - Higher priced tickets are also being examined in relation to consumer behavior [1] Industry Analysis - Morgan Stanley's senior retail analyst provides insights [1]

AI Investment & Strategy - US cloud giants are projected to spend nearly $700 billion on data centers by 2027, while China's major players are expected to spend just under $80 billion [4] - This represents a 10 to 1 gap in capital spending between US and Chinese AI development [4] - Chinese AI models are performing at roughly the same level as American top models despite the massive difference in investment [4] Market Trends & Financial Implications - The AI trade is experiencing a resurgence despite debt-fueled bubble concerns, exemplified by banks reportedly lending Oracle $18 billion for a new data center [1] - American AI development is being financed through private credit and bond markets, contrasting with a focus on efficiency in China [2][3] - The contrast in capital expenditure and financing models could make investors skittish and question the valuations of trillion-dollar promises from US giants [5][6] Company Focus - Oracle's $18 billion debt deal underscores the emerging narrative of AI development being built on borrowed money [1][2] - China's internet giants are about to report earnings, and their capex outlook could highlight the investment gap [5]

Yeah, I mean it's the 60th year of this conference. Morgan, thank you very much. First time that CNBC has been here because so much attention now is around electric and utility and this thing called AI, which apparently we've talked about a few times.We're pleased to be joined now by John Ketchum of Next Area Energy. First interview, by the way, since you guys announced that massive 25-year partnership with Google to restart the Dwayne Arnold nuclear facility in Iowa. So, John, great time to talk to you.Tha ...

AI Investment & Strategy - US AI development relies on substantial debt financing for massive data centers, exemplified by Oracle's $18 billion financing deal [1][2] - China's AI approach emphasizes efficiency with cheaper chips, open-source models, and leaner infrastructure requiring less capital [3] - Chinese AI models like Kimmy and Alibaba's Quen perform comparably to top US models despite significantly lower investment [4] - Moonshot's open-source model, Kimmy K2, outperformed on benchmarks with training costs under $5 million [4] Capital Expenditure Disparity - US cloud giants are projected to spend nearly $700 billion on data centers by 2027 [5] - China's major players (Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance, Baidu) are expected to spend approximately $35 billion [5] - The capital spending gap is 20:1 between the US and China, while achieving roughly similar performance levels [6] Market Focus & Potential Risks - The US aims for AI dominance, leveraging significant investment to achieve AGI first [6] - China is prioritizing scale and deployment in the AI race [7] - Wall Street currently favors the American AI model, but upcoming earnings from Chinese internet giants will provide insights into the efficiency of their approach [7] - Market concerns over large debt financing deals in the US AI sector could be heightened by observing China's development with fewer resources [7][8]

MP Materials Stock Analysis - Deutsche Bank upgrades MP Materials stock, citing its fundamental value and attractiveness for investors seeking exposure to a strong company in a promising sector in the US [2] - The current quarter is expected to be an inflection point for MP Materials in terms of cash flow and production ramp-up to commercial levels for magnets [3] - MP Materials is considered the best-in-class rare earth company due to its full integration from mining in California to refining, magnet production, and eventual recycling [7] Government Support and Policy - MP Materials benefits from a \$110 per kilo price floor from a government deal, almost double the market price [4] - The US government's support for MP Materials is seen as a unique situation due to US-China trade tensions, making similar deals for other companies unlikely [10] - Future government support for critical minerals may involve equity stakes or delayed interest payments, as seen with Lithium Americas [10][11] Rare Earths Sector - There is hype surrounding miners using the term "rare earths" in the US [5] - MP Materials is the only company that is fully integrated from mining to recycling [7]

Joining me now is Wolf Research's Tobin Marcus. Tobin, it's great to have you on. It's interesting because the managed uh care companies, those stocks are all trading pretty dramatically lower today.Is that the takeaway that these ACA subsidies or at least some sort of vote that gets put into place in time to add stability to that market that that is doomed. >> So certainly there will be a vote uh as uh as we just heard that has been promised to Democrats by uh Senate Majority Leader Thoon, but that vote I ...

CNBC's Becky Quick reports on the latest news surrounding Warren Buffett. ...

All right, we're watching Bitcoin today. Of course, it's trying to bounce after posting its fourth weekly loss in five. It is above 105,000, up about 1%.Bill Baroo, your move is that you bought more Coinbase because you think the worst of the Bitcoin slide is over. >> I I think there's a lot of support at the $100,000 level. Um, but we're also seeing data right now that's telling us that that crypto is becoming a real asset or a diversifier in portfolios.Those were the flows. And we wanted to add Coinbase. ...