Joining us right now for a check on the consumer and spending is Cameron Mitchell. He's the founder and CEO of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants. That firm operates 50 restaurant locations under 20 concepts, plus an events company, a food hall, and a virtual kitchen.And Cameron, correct me if I'm wrong. I think you're operating in 21 29 states at this point. >> Uh about actually half that about 15 states.29 different markets. Yes. >> 29 different markets.Okay. Thank you. Um Cameron, first of all, welcome.It's gr ...

is joining us right now on that. Plus, the Trump administration's increasing pressure on Venezuela, Council on Foreign Relations. President Michael Froman is here.He served as US trade rep in the Obama administration. Can also talk about so many other things that are going on in the world. But let's let's start with Ukraine.Do you think we're actually going to get a deal. What do you think that deal is going to look like. And is this ultimately the solution that everyone's been after.>> Well, look, it looks ...

LIKE RIGHT NOW WE ARE IN THE GREEN. DOW FUTURES UP BY ABOUT 20 POINTS. DOW THE DOW FUTURES UP BY 71 POINTS. THE NASDAQ INDICATED UP BY CLOSE TO 100.AND JOINING US RIGHT NOW IN THE MARKETS IS LORI CALVASINA. SHE IS RBC CAPITAL MARKETS HEAD OF U.S. EQUITY STRATEGY RESEARCH. WE'RE ALREADY LOOKING AT 2026.THINGS HAVE BEEN PRETTY GREAT THIS YEAR FOR THE MARKETS. EVEN THOUGH IT WAS KIND OF A SCARY RIDE UP. YOU HAD THE APRIL SITUATION WITH THE TARIFFS THAT SPOOKED EVERYBODY.AND, YOU KNOW, IT'S BEEN KIND OF A FORTT ...

want to welcome Dick Thompson to the broadcast. He's the CEO of The Atlantic magazine as a former editor chief of Wired magazine. I want to talk to you about media and AI and all sorts of things, but I want to talk to you about this book uh because I am not a runner. I have always wanted to be a runner and I read your book and it's actually quite inspiring because it's not really I want to say it's not really about running.>> That is correct. >> It's I mean there is a running element to it but you run almos ...

Investments & Partnerships - Amazon is in talks to invest potentially over $10 billion in OpenAI, with OpenAI possibly using Amazon's chips [1] - Whimo plans to raise $15 billion in 2026 from Alphabet and outside investors at a valuation as high as $110 billion [2] Mergers & Acquisitions - Spirit Airlines is in new merger talks with Frontier Airlines [2] - A deal between Spirit and Frontier could be announced by the end of the month [3] - Frontier shares are up approximately 4.7% [3] Policy & Regulation - The Trump administration is reportedly working on an executive order to potentially limit defense contractors' ability to buy back stock and pay dividends, aiming to speed up production [3] Company Performance - Homebuilder LAR missed fourth-quarter profit estimates [4] - LAR's stock is down by 4.3% [4] - LAR's co-CEO cites affordability issues and weaker consumer confidence as pressures on the housing market [4]

Market Trends & Economic Outlook - Rising oil prices due to sanctions on Venezuela and potential sanctions on Russia could impact the Fed's easing path, especially if it affects CPI data [1][2][3] - Rotation is expected to continue, with capital moving from high multiple mega-cap winners to small caps, cyclicals, and international markets [4][5] - Easy monetary policy from the Fed, including the end of quantitative tightening and rate cuts, along with fiscal policy, will likely support this trend [5][13] Investment Opportunities & Sector Analysis - Small caps, particularly the S&P 600, are favored due to undervaluation and historical outperformance during rate-cutting cycles [5][7] - Fiscal policy and tax bills are expected to benefit R&D-intensive small caps, but high-quality companies with strong balance sheets and consistent cash flows are preferred [8] - Financials are viewed optimistically, especially regional banks, with strong fundamental backdrop and potential for further growth [9] - Financials are experiencing the second strongest earning season in the S&P 500, with 25% year-over-year earnings growth expected, driven by steepening yield curve and capital markets activity [10] - Banks, insurance, and banks tied to capital markets activity are attractive within the financials sector [11] IPO Market - Increased liquidity and easy monetary policy are creating a positive environment for the IPO market [13] - The upcoming Medline IPO, the largest of the year, and the resolution of the government shutdown are expected to release a bottleneck of IPOs [12] Consumer Spending & Tax Refunds - Anticipated tax refunds in the range of $100 billion to $150 billion next year, or $1,000 to $2,000 per household, are expected to boost consumer-sensitive sectors [14][16] - Consumer discretionary, home builders, and banks are expected to benefit from the influx of tax refunds in early 2026 [15][16]

All right, welcome back to Worldwide Exchange. As we close on the 6 a. m.hour, a check on a few big stories that we're following this morning. Sources tell CNBC Open AI is in talks to raise at least $10 billion from Amazon and use its chips. Open AAI has so far declined to comment.A deal could value OpenAI at more than $500 billion and see it adopt Amazon's Tranium chip, a story that we're continue to follow throughout the morning. All right, Whimo is in talks to raise $15 billion in funding in the new year ...

We were talking thousands of people there, by the way. So, a lot of people looking to take advantage of deals. What is the environment right now when we're looking at holiday shopping.Are we seeing sales going into this last week ahead of Christmas or are retailers they holding on to price. >> So, Frank, the overall environment is pretty steady uh through Black Friday. Uh there was about a 4% increase in in retail sales versus the prior year.Uh some retailers indicated that they saw pretty good trends. For ...

Market Overview - Brent crude oil price has crossed above $60, while WTI crude oil price is up about 2% this morning [2] - The market is currently dominated by oversupply concerns [3] - The market is digesting a lot of supply, which is why a 15 million barrels per day supply loss isn't causing significant jitters [7] Sanctions and Disruptions - Potential sanctions on Russian oil are being considered if Putin doesn't agree to a Ukraine peace deal [1][4] - Approximately 40% of Venezuelan oil exports, equivalent to about 500,000 barrels per day, have been on US-sanctioned vessels [2][5] - There has already been a slowdown in Russian oil arrivals, down over 1 million barrels per day since the last set of US sanctions [2][6] - About 15 million barrels per day of supply is at risk due to potential sanctions on both Venezuela and Russia [6] - CPC (Kazakhstan) volumes have been halved due to Ukrainian attacks, but the market is largely ignoring this [8] Supply and Demand - The market is discussing 2 to 3 million barrels per day of oversupply in Q1 of next year [6] - OPEC has unwanted production, and there has been non-OPEC supply growth from Guyana and Brazil [6]

All right. Uh, you know, we don't talk a lot about oil recently. Uh, right now we're seeing oil move to the upside on on potential sanctions on Russia and sanctions on Venezuela.Does that change your view of the energy sector in any way. Yesterday, we saw every uh stock in the energy sector close lower. It closed down about 3%.Does it reshape any views for you. >> I think it's still a little bit too early to tell on that. I mean, we're certainly seeing moves, certainly seeing moves this morning on that news ...