WEBVTT - Musk Commits to Tesla CEO Role and Plans Political Pullback 0:00:02.720 --> 0:00:09.040 Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news, and Android auto with 0:00:09.119 --> 0:00:12.240 the Bloomberg Business App. Listen on demand wherever you get 0:00:12.240 --> 0:00:15.040 your podcasts, or watch us live on YouTube. 0:00:15.520 --> 0:00:19.720 Elon Musk speaking with Michel Hussein, Editor at Large for 0:00:19.840 --> 0:00:23.560 Bloomberg Weekend at the Cutter Economic Form in a dotime. 0:00:23.600 --> 0:00:27.160 We're joined right now by the very same Michelle Hussein. 0:00:27.560 --> 0:00:33.240 Michelle Yeoman's duty interviewing Elon Musk. They're not the easiest 0:00:33.240 --> 0:00:38.600 subject to converse with. What's your takeaway as to I 0:00:38.600 --> 0:00:43.680 guess his kind of evolution back into corporate world away 0:00:43.680 --> 0:00:45.960 from some of his government responsibilities. Is that going to 0:00:45.960 --> 0:00:47.600 be a smooth transition? Is that going to be an 0:00:47.640 --> 0:00:49.839 immediate transition? What was your takeaway? 0:00:51.800 --> 0:00:55.560 Hello Paul, Hello Alex to from the Yeah, it's definitely 0:00:55.600 --> 0:00:58.240 quite an experience to interview Elon Musk, and for all 0:00:58.280 --> 0:01:02.440 your listeners, as anyone who saw it on Bloomberg TV 0:01:02.600 --> 0:01:04.800 or elsewhere on the live stream will know that it's 0:01:04.840 --> 0:01:08.840 a remote conversation. So I'm in Doha, he's in the US, 0:01:10.120 --> 0:01:12.279 but actually it's you know, it's probably a pretty intense 0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:15.480 experience interviewing him, whatever the format or the setting. I 0:01:15.640 --> 0:01:17.720 was very struck by the fact that he the thing 0:01:17.720 --> 0:01:22.000 he wanted to emphasize was very much his corporate world 0:01:22.040 --> 0:01:25.120 and his businesses, not his role with DOGE, despite the 0:01:25.160 --> 0:01:27.520 fact we know it's ongoing and he said he'll be 0:01:27.520 --> 0:01:30.400 at the President's side for the remainder of this administration, 0:01:30.480 --> 0:01:32.520 in fact, even though DOGE doesn't last for the whole 0:01:32.760 --> 0:01:36.520 duration of the administration. And when I asked him about 0:01:36.600 --> 0:01:39.520 whether this year is a pivotal year for that reason, 0:01:39.560 --> 0:01:41.560 he was kind of keen to characterize it as like, 0:01:41.600 --> 0:01:43.520 you know, he's seen many ups and downs in his time. 0:01:43.600 --> 0:01:46.399 But I feel, especially with the fact that he ended 0:01:46.480 --> 0:01:49.160 up saying that he is going to do a lot 0:01:49.240 --> 0:01:52.920 less political donations and spend a lot less money on 0:01:53.040 --> 0:01:56.440 politics in the future, I wonder if, really, as he 0:01:56.480 --> 0:01:59.480 said to me, I'm a technologist first and foremost, and 0:01:59.520 --> 0:02:03.360 I wonder of this, if if these political endeavors have 0:02:03.480 --> 0:02:05.680 not given him exactly what he wanted and have put 0:02:05.760 --> 0:02:08.640 him on more on comfortable ground than he never acknowledged. 0:02:08.960 --> 0:02:10.560 Yeah, I do have to give you a lot of credit. 0:02:10.720 --> 0:02:12.919 That was a tough interview. Anything remote like that in 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:15.760 a conference stage is tough, and it was also really 0:02:15.800 --> 0:02:18.440 tough You've handled it really well. You didn't miss a beat, 0:02:18.440 --> 0:02:20.480 You flawlessly picked up all those questions. So I just 0:02:20.480 --> 0:02:23.800 have to give real kudos to you on that. And 0:02:23.840 --> 0:02:25.840 you pushed him quite a bit on the in the 0:02:25.880 --> 0:02:28.360 EV sales and he seemed to really stand behind. 0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:28.560 No. 0:02:28.560 --> 0:02:32.079 No, we're doing really well with the exception of Europe. 0:02:32.560 --> 0:02:34.919 What was some of your broader takeaway from that part 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:35.600 of the conversation. 0:02:37.560 --> 0:02:41.280 Well, look, it's clearly incredibly important to him. You know, 0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:45.480 teslaism is a tutemic company, and he's changed the car industry, 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:48.119 not just electric bills. He has changed the car industry 0:02:48.440 --> 0:02:50.240 through what he's done there. It's also, of course a 0:02:50.360 --> 0:02:54.280 very very significant part of his wealth. So so therefore 0:02:54.320 --> 0:02:56.480 you can see that it's important on you know, on 0:02:56.680 --> 0:02:59.919 on lots of different factors. Of course, the sales figures 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:01.520 had them right in front of me for Europe and 0:03:01.560 --> 0:03:04.799 these are these are big markets and places where people 0:03:04.840 --> 0:03:08.680 are you know, very concerned about climate and have have 0:03:09.040 --> 0:03:12.720 you know, brought into Tesla and its vision for that reason. 0:03:12.760 --> 0:03:14.760 So it'll be very we do get month by month sales, 0:03:14.800 --> 0:03:16.320 so I was looking at the April ones. It'll be 0:03:16.440 --> 0:03:19.040 very interesting to see what happens in May and but 0:03:19.400 --> 0:03:21.800 you know, obviously he's saying Europe is our weakest market 0:03:21.880 --> 0:03:23.400 and look at the rest of the world, and he 0:03:23.440 --> 0:03:27.640 feels that Tesla has has turned turned a corner and 0:03:27.639 --> 0:03:31.120 his commitment to it, you know, the bit you you 0:03:31.240 --> 0:03:33.359 played about pay and and the you know, his pay 0:03:33.400 --> 0:03:36.839 award is you know, obviously he's kind of like had 0:03:36.880 --> 0:03:40.240 the words that everyone heard on the judge who ruled 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:43.960 against him in Delaware. But I think it's clear Tesla 0:03:44.000 --> 0:03:48.080 is incredibly important to him. And you know, while he's 0:03:48.120 --> 0:03:51.360 got you know, other businesses that are that are at 0:03:51.360 --> 0:03:56.400 this point, you know, growing strongly in all markets, Starlin 0:03:56.520 --> 0:03:59.000 being a prime example of that, and the number of 0:03:59.160 --> 0:04:01.800 countries that are keen to get a slice of Starlink 0:04:01.840 --> 0:04:05.760 action and give him access to their jurisdictions for Starlink. 0:04:06.320 --> 0:04:08.200 I think there is something too temic about Tesla, and 0:04:08.200 --> 0:04:09.720 I think it came out in that how keen he 0:04:09.800 --> 0:04:12.960 is for the brand to regain ground everywhere, whether or 0:04:12.960 --> 0:04:14.560 not you can do it in Europe, I don't. 0:04:14.400 --> 0:04:15.440 Know, Michelle. 0:04:15.520 --> 0:04:17.719 Kind of you know, through the election, in the first 0:04:17.760 --> 0:04:20.560 couple of weeks of the administration, Elon Musk was everywhere 0:04:20.600 --> 0:04:23.720 in every photo op and every video clip, and then 0:04:23.720 --> 0:04:25.960 he's really kind of gone radio silent for the last 0:04:26.279 --> 0:04:30.080 month or two. Where do you think he's how do 0:04:30.080 --> 0:04:31.240 you think this is going to play out over the 0:04:31.279 --> 0:04:35.000 coming weeks and months with him in terms of re engaging. 0:04:36.560 --> 0:04:39.040 Well, I think those q ON sales figures at Tesla 0:04:39.120 --> 0:04:42.680 really forced that. But I wonder if again, you know, 0:04:42.760 --> 0:04:44.280 not that he could not that he bit off more 0:04:44.320 --> 0:04:46.960 than he could chew. But politics and government is a 0:04:47.520 --> 0:04:51.120 very different world, and I think it's probably a mutual 0:04:51.160 --> 0:04:54.240 benefit that he and the President have been, you know, 0:04:54.320 --> 0:04:58.160 much less visible at each other's side. I'm sure they 0:04:58.200 --> 0:05:01.599 are still very close, although Elon Musk is been public 0:05:01.600 --> 0:05:05.039 about his differences with Peter Navarro, and in many ways, 0:05:05.560 --> 0:05:08.159 you know, where the tariff argument has ended up is 0:05:08.240 --> 0:05:11.640 much more in the in the Elon world and to 0:05:11.680 --> 0:05:15.040 Elon's worldview on trade rather than the Peter Navarro world. 0:05:15.600 --> 0:05:18.360 But I think what he said about political donations and 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:22.159 less political spending in future will be looked at with 0:05:22.320 --> 0:05:25.440 interest in other countries as well, in the UK, for example, 0:05:25.560 --> 0:05:29.880 where he where Donald Trump is close to Nigel Farage, 0:05:30.240 --> 0:05:32.479 though there would have been a lot of interest in 0:05:32.520 --> 0:05:35.359 whether at some point Elon Musk finds a way to 0:05:35.600 --> 0:05:39.440 donate to a UK political party, he finds a UK 0:05:39.760 --> 0:05:42.800 entity to enable that kind of donation to take place. 0:05:42.880 --> 0:05:46.159 Remember he's been seen a lot with the AfD leader 0:05:46.320 --> 0:05:50.839 in Germany. So I do wonder whether this intent and 0:05:51.040 --> 0:05:56.080 this his words on political implications beyond the US. 0:05:56.279 --> 0:05:57.760 Hi, Michelle, we got to leave it there. Thank you 0:05:57.800 --> 0:06:00.119 so much, really great stuff, Michelle Hussein. Thanks for doing 0:06:00.200 --> 0:06:03.120 US editor at Large for Bloomberg Weekend. Also to stay 0:06:03.160 --> 0:06:05.520 tuned for Bloomberg for everything from the Cutower Economic Forum, 0:06:05.560 --> 0:06:07.240 really wonderful interviews. 0:06:07.279 --> 0:06:12.560 There you're listening to the Bloomberg Intelligence podcast. Catch US 0:06:12.600 --> 0:06:15.640 Live weekdays at ten am Eastern on Apple Cocklay and 0:06:15.640 --> 0:06:18.920 Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business App. Listen on demand 0:06:18.960 --> 0:06:22.520 wherever you get your podcasts, or watch US live on YouTube. 0:06:23.080 --> 0:06:25.560 Earnings so home Depot coming out that stock up four 0:06:25.560 --> 0:06:28.520 tens of one percent. Home Depot maintaining its guidance for 0:06:28.520 --> 0:06:31.760 the fiscal year despite a three tenths of one percent 0:06:31.800 --> 0:06:34.960 drop in COMP sales and US ticket sales did tick 0:06:35.040 --> 0:06:37.160 up because of smaller projects, not the big ones, Drew 0:06:37.160 --> 0:06:40.040 writing as Bloomberg Intelligence, US home Building analyst joins us 0:06:40.040 --> 0:06:41.840 to discuss, all right, we got the macro, we got 0:06:41.839 --> 0:06:43.800 the micro. Let's start with the macro for a moment. 0:06:44.320 --> 0:06:49.000 Deferring large projects taking on small projects doesn't sound so bad. 0:06:49.240 --> 0:06:52.000 Do we get an idea of when deferring becomes non 0:06:52.000 --> 0:06:53.120 existent projects? 0:06:55.040 --> 0:06:57.560 So one of the reasons why home improvement and hope 0:06:57.560 --> 0:07:01.320 DIPO have been so resilient is because a large portion 0:07:01.360 --> 0:07:03.320 of the industry has to do with that maintenance and 0:07:03.360 --> 0:07:05.799 repair oriented work. So I think that's where they're seeing 0:07:05.800 --> 0:07:08.520 a lot of the lift now. It's homeowners who are 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:10.440 taking care of the things that they need to just 0:07:10.480 --> 0:07:13.160 to maintain their home. This really isn't now. It's been 0:07:13.200 --> 0:07:15.120 a couple of quarters now where we've heard from them 0:07:15.120 --> 0:07:18.840 that big ticket discretionary categories have been relatively weaker. So 0:07:18.920 --> 0:07:23.440 think about things like kitchenery models, bathroom models, flooring projects. 0:07:24.040 --> 0:07:26.720 These are things that tend to be financed by the consumer, 0:07:27.480 --> 0:07:29.360 and with rates as high as they are right now, 0:07:29.360 --> 0:07:31.800 it's just become a little bit prohibitive for them to 0:07:31.920 --> 0:07:35.040 undertake those projects. So I think in order to see 0:07:35.120 --> 0:07:37.560 more robust growth out of these categories, which is really 0:07:37.600 --> 0:07:40.160 the missing piece of the story, we need to see 0:07:40.400 --> 0:07:42.040 rates start to come back down a little bit. 0:07:42.800 --> 0:07:46.120 How about tires. Is that impacting the costs of their 0:07:46.200 --> 0:07:48.560 goods like getting lumber from Canada, for example. 0:07:50.120 --> 0:07:53.000 So we think home Depots pretty well positioned from a 0:07:53.080 --> 0:07:56.880 tariff perspective. They source about fifty percent of the products 0:07:56.880 --> 0:07:59.360 they sell from inside the US, and you know, like 0:07:59.400 --> 0:08:01.680 a lot of other retailers, over the last decade, they've 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:04.880 done a great job in diversifying their supply chain. They 0:08:04.920 --> 0:08:08.080 actually said that over the next twelve months, no single 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:10.040 country outside of the US is going to account for 0:08:10.200 --> 0:08:15.800 more than ten percent of their product purchases. So the 0:08:15.840 --> 0:08:18.559 fact that they're diversifying their supply chain should help with costs. 0:08:18.560 --> 0:08:21.160 At the same time, given their scale the largest home 0:08:21.200 --> 0:08:24.240 improvement retailer, they'll have the ability to push back on 0:08:24.280 --> 0:08:27.160 some of their suppliers in terms of cost. Now, what 0:08:27.200 --> 0:08:31.360 they said is that they're looking to generally maintain their prices, 0:08:32.240 --> 0:08:34.560 so I think people took that as a positive. You 0:08:34.600 --> 0:08:37.120 have to remember Home Depot sales about thirty thousand to 0:08:37.160 --> 0:08:40.120 forty thousand products in their store, so when they talk 0:08:40.120 --> 0:08:43.240 about pricing, they take a portfolio approach, so you may 0:08:43.240 --> 0:08:45.720 not see them raise the price on a particular item 0:08:45.760 --> 0:08:48.240 that was tariffed. But they look at the elasticities of 0:08:48.240 --> 0:08:51.040 their various products and they'll take prices they need to 0:08:51.080 --> 0:08:53.079 where they can, gotcha. 0:08:53.920 --> 0:08:56.600 So they're going to manage that margin, so they're not 0:08:56.640 --> 0:08:57.760 going to sacrifice margin. 0:08:57.800 --> 0:09:02.240 Then actually guided to an operating margin pretty much in 0:09:02.240 --> 0:09:04.959 line with what they were looking for at the end 0:09:04.960 --> 0:09:07.520 of last quarter. There are a couple puts in takes. 0:09:07.520 --> 0:09:10.600 They're doing better on shrinks, so they're managing their retail 0:09:10.760 --> 0:09:14.720 theft a little better, which is always a positive. So 0:09:15.360 --> 0:09:18.600 they're also you know, getting some more leverage from productivity, 0:09:18.679 --> 0:09:20.760 so you know, I think pricing is going to be 0:09:20.800 --> 0:09:22.720 a component of it, but they also have other levers 0:09:22.760 --> 0:09:24.640 within the business that are going to help to maintain 0:09:24.679 --> 0:09:27.400 their margins, you know, where they expected them. 0:09:28.000 --> 0:09:30.400 What's home Depot do with the number of stores? Have 0:09:30.520 --> 0:09:33.719 they added stores? Are they fully kind of where they 0:09:33.720 --> 0:09:35.680 want to be? What's the store count story? 0:09:38.280 --> 0:09:41.000 Yeah? So interestingly, Home Depot over the last year has 0:09:41.040 --> 0:09:43.680 actually returned to store growth, which is something we haven't 0:09:43.720 --> 0:09:46.559 seen from them in a very long time. They kind 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:49.400 of have had the established footprint in the US, but 0:09:49.440 --> 0:09:51.960 as the business has grown so much as they've grown 0:09:52.000 --> 0:09:55.320 their pro business, they've started to add new stores in 0:09:55.440 --> 0:09:58.080 markets where you know, populations are growing or where they 0:09:58.160 --> 0:10:00.440 want to kind of take some of the pressure off 0:10:00.440 --> 0:10:03.840 the existing store base to look to drive some additional productivity. 0:10:03.840 --> 0:10:06.920 So this year they're adding about thirteen new stores. They're 0:10:06.960 --> 0:10:09.240 going to do that. I think their plan was about 0:10:09.280 --> 0:10:12.160 eighty over a five year period. So the next couple 0:10:12.200 --> 0:10:13.880 of years they'll continue to add new units. 0:10:14.240 --> 0:10:16.680 So what does this mean for say Low's Is this 0:10:16.760 --> 0:10:19.000 a good signal or is this more of a competitive signal? 0:10:21.440 --> 0:10:23.800 So I think the story is pretty much the same 0:10:23.840 --> 0:10:25.880 for Home Depot and Lows. I mean, on a relative basis, 0:10:25.880 --> 0:10:29.080 home depots exposure to the professional customer at fifty percent 0:10:29.640 --> 0:10:33.439 versus only about thirty percent for Lows is driving out performance. 0:10:33.480 --> 0:10:37.640 So Low's exposure to softer DIY trends and there's big 0:10:37.679 --> 0:10:40.679 ticket discretionary categories, I think we'll drive a little bit 0:10:40.720 --> 0:10:43.240 of weakness. But you know, for both retailers, it's it's 0:10:43.280 --> 0:10:45.760 pretty much the same thing. You still have a weak 0:10:45.800 --> 0:10:50.200 housing market. You know, home sales are in the low 0:10:50.240 --> 0:10:52.800 four million range, which is about twenty five percent below 0:10:52.840 --> 0:10:56.599 what a normalized level looks like and both retailers, like 0:10:57.000 --> 0:11:01.360 many are dealing with just an increasingly cautious consus. You know, 0:11:01.400 --> 0:11:03.200 there's a lot of discussion on when does the soft 0:11:03.280 --> 0:11:05.640 data start to translate into the hard data, and I 0:11:05.640 --> 0:11:09.200 think in the broader housing and home improvement ecosystem, you know, 0:11:09.200 --> 0:11:11.839 I would argue that it already has. We heard from 0:11:11.840 --> 0:11:13.920 a lot of builders who are getting pushed back on, 0:11:14.120 --> 0:11:16.680 you know, buyers who are just reluctant to step into 0:11:16.720 --> 0:11:19.880 the market, whether they're concerned about their jobs or the 0:11:19.920 --> 0:11:23.520 direction of rates or the direction of home prices. And 0:11:23.559 --> 0:11:27.560 then like I mentioned in home improvement, just that financing piece, 0:11:28.040 --> 0:11:30.280 you know, and wanting to take undertake such a big 0:11:30.360 --> 0:11:32.240 project as giving people caution. 0:11:33.200 --> 0:11:35.120 Drew just talking about rates on like the thirty year 0:11:35.160 --> 0:11:39.120 mortgage six point eighty six percent is there? What are 0:11:39.120 --> 0:11:43.920 your homeboters telling me about consumers and mortgage rates. I mean, 0:11:44.080 --> 0:11:45.680 at some point you got to say, hey, this is 0:11:45.760 --> 0:11:47.880 the new normal, this is where we are, this is 0:11:47.920 --> 0:11:50.000 the interest rate environment. If I'm going to buy a 0:11:50.040 --> 0:11:52.600 house or sell a house and move down to Florida, 0:11:53.160 --> 0:11:53.920 now's the time. 0:11:54.160 --> 0:11:57.400 You know, Yeah, You're right, and I think higher for 0:11:57.480 --> 0:12:00.200 longer is the new normal. We actually rose back up 0:12:00.200 --> 0:12:04.360 above seven percent yesterday. So coming into the year, you know, 0:12:04.400 --> 0:12:06.560 there was a lot of expectations at rates were coming down, 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:09.120 maybe we'd see some more momentum in sales. But that 0:12:09.160 --> 0:12:12.360 magic number is somewhere with a five handle, maybe five 0:12:12.400 --> 0:12:16.120 and a half percent. And you know, as we've discussed previously, 0:12:16.120 --> 0:12:17.920 builders have been able to get there through the use 0:12:17.960 --> 0:12:21.040 of financing incentives, but they're having to work harder for 0:12:21.120 --> 0:12:24.119 each sale, and those incentives get more and more expensive 0:12:24.520 --> 0:12:26.760 as rates rise. What we've actually heard from some of 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:29.920 the builders is, you know, maybe now is the time 0:12:29.960 --> 0:12:32.720 to not chase volume as hard as we wanted to before, 0:12:32.960 --> 0:12:34.960 because we want to preserve a little bit of margin 0:12:35.760 --> 0:12:38.040 and get the best return we can on our land assets. 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:40.520 So you're seeing some of them dial back their volume 0:12:40.600 --> 0:12:42.600 expectations in favor of margin. 0:12:43.080 --> 0:12:45.480 Interesting. All right, Drew, Thanks lot, really appreciate your reading 0:12:45.520 --> 0:12:47.560 Boomberg Intelligence. You as home building analysts. 0:12:49.240 --> 0:12:52.920 You're listening to the Bloomberg Intelligence Podcast. Catch us live 0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:56.400 weekdays at ten am Eastern on Applecarplay and Android Auto 0:12:56.480 --> 0:12:59.520 with the Bloomberg Business app. Listen on demand wherever you 0:12:59.520 --> 0:13:02.600 get your pod, or watch us live on YouTube. 0:13:03.120 --> 0:13:07.040 John Creekmore joins us. He's chief investment Rofster Creekmore Wealth Advisors. 0:13:07.600 --> 0:13:10.680 John my notes, say you're from Morton, Illinois. Is that right? 0:13:11.600 --> 0:13:14.319 Morton, Illinois, the self brooklamed pumpkin capital of the world. 0:13:15.040 --> 0:13:15.560 That's awesome. 0:13:15.559 --> 0:13:17.880 Now I have to admit, John, I had no idea 0:13:18.000 --> 0:13:20.160 where Morton, Illinois was, so I Google mapped it just 0:13:20.240 --> 0:13:23.800 a minute ago. You guys are right outside of Peoria, Illinois. 0:13:23.840 --> 0:13:28.480 So there's nobody more Middle American than folks from Morton, 0:13:28.520 --> 0:13:30.599 Illinois and Peoria, Illinois. 0:13:30.240 --> 0:13:31.080 The salt mines. 0:13:31.280 --> 0:13:33.960 Exactly did the good folks out there? Do they care 0:13:34.040 --> 0:13:35.920 about tariffs and stuff like that? 0:13:36.760 --> 0:13:39.400 I'll do it cure minally. So Caterpillar Incorporated was actually 0:13:39.400 --> 0:13:42.520 founded in pure Illinois. There's about eighty five thousand employees 0:13:42.559 --> 0:13:45.160 of Caterpillar right here, just right across the river from 0:13:45.160 --> 0:13:47.720 where I sit. And obviously a large portion of our 0:13:47.760 --> 0:13:50.160 sales come over different parts of the world and over 0:13:50.200 --> 0:13:54.000 into China, and so obviously we care minally about tariffs 0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:55.960 and how it plays out as far as as far 0:13:55.960 --> 0:13:58.680 as our own economic security right here in central Illinois. 0:13:59.000 --> 0:14:01.280 How do you, John, then, as you think about when 0:14:01.280 --> 0:14:03.880 you talk to your clients, think about putting the tariff 0:14:03.920 --> 0:14:06.679 discussion and maybe some of the economic concernity that might 0:14:06.800 --> 0:14:10.440 result from a tariff world. How do you put that 0:14:10.440 --> 0:14:11.680 into your investment discussion. 0:14:12.720 --> 0:14:14.400 You know, it's been so interesting to watch over the 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:17.480 last year, especially as we saw more discussion even last 0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:20.240 year in the election cycle about trade and balance, about 0:14:20.600 --> 0:14:24.560 different methods to utilize and bring this trade and balance 0:14:24.600 --> 0:14:27.040 into a probably proper perspective. And one of the ones 0:14:27.080 --> 0:14:29.600 talked about was the blunt instrument of a tariff. And 0:14:29.760 --> 0:14:32.000 a lot of folks did not have much much knowledge 0:14:32.120 --> 0:14:35.320 or background of terrorists except for there remembering affairs dealer's 0:14:35.400 --> 0:14:37.640 day off and as far as the discussion of terroists 0:14:37.680 --> 0:14:40.480 in that movie, and so not real academic there. But 0:14:40.520 --> 0:14:42.240 all of a sudden then they recognize this could be 0:14:42.280 --> 0:14:44.720 a big deal for them as far as inflation. It 0:14:44.760 --> 0:14:47.200 could be a big deal them as far as overall 0:14:47.240 --> 0:14:49.920 economic certainty. So we really to hear, what a courage 0:14:49.920 --> 0:14:51.880 oot to take a step back. Let's go long term 0:14:51.920 --> 0:14:55.000 goal objectives. Ask yourself are you an investor or are 0:14:55.040 --> 0:14:57.640 you a trader? And then based upon your answer on 0:14:57.680 --> 0:14:59.640 that you can make decisions to make money in any 0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:02.520 invite fair. However, it's a little bit different methodologies. So 0:15:03.080 --> 0:15:05.880 number one was back in April. We encourage everyone. Actually 0:15:05.920 --> 0:15:07.760 before that, back in the middle of February, we saw 0:15:07.760 --> 0:15:10.320 the market hit at all time high and encourage everyone 0:15:10.400 --> 0:15:11.960 to say, hey, stay holm, there's going to be some 0:15:12.040 --> 0:15:14.680 uncertainties and the storms coming about. We're going to make 0:15:14.680 --> 0:15:18.840 sure to make logical decisions based upon facts. And whenever 0:15:18.840 --> 0:15:20.960 we saw the tariff announcement hit on April the second, 0:15:21.080 --> 0:15:23.760 it caused a lot of emotion and a lot of uncertainty. 0:15:23.760 --> 0:15:26.240 We know the markets do not like uncertainty, so we 0:15:26.320 --> 0:15:28.400 encourage them. Let's allow this to play out. Let's look 0:15:28.400 --> 0:15:31.240 for opportunities in the carnage, let's try to find ways 0:15:31.280 --> 0:15:33.640 to make money in the midst of and sure enough, 0:15:33.640 --> 0:15:36.560 whenever more information came out, cooler heads prevailed and we 0:15:36.600 --> 0:15:38.920 saw the markets bounce back, actually up twenty two percent 0:15:38.960 --> 0:15:41.840 from that low that we saw on April tenth. 0:15:41.880 --> 0:15:43.440 So what are some of the companies that you like? 0:15:43.720 --> 0:15:45.600 Top pick to it? 0:15:45.720 --> 0:15:48.880 Top pick right now is I love Lotos phenomenal company. 0:15:48.920 --> 0:15:52.280 Relative strength has been moving very mightily there strong mode. 0:15:52.440 --> 0:15:54.840 As far as the technology space of defense and as 0:15:54.880 --> 0:15:57.960 far as the medical research and development, and so love 0:15:58.080 --> 0:16:00.560 Litos and an early on investor in that this year 0:16:00.920 --> 0:16:03.760 and it's been a strong performer. You know, we actually 0:16:04.040 --> 0:16:07.440 look for opportunities right now. We saw tremendous opportunities overall 0:16:07.480 --> 0:16:09.600 in the tech space with the sell off there in 0:16:09.640 --> 0:16:12.600 April and so big names in there, Snowflake, d Dog. 0:16:13.120 --> 0:16:15.640 We're a couple that we actually loaded up on early 0:16:15.720 --> 0:16:17.520 on and very happy for those investments. 0:16:17.880 --> 0:16:22.280 Hey, John, I have to ask for a friend here. Enbridge. 0:16:22.600 --> 0:16:24.520 That's a name on one. 0:16:24.800 --> 0:16:26.640 So talk to us about energy and Enbridge. 0:16:27.600 --> 0:16:30.040 You know, in Bridge is very interesting and so we 0:16:30.080 --> 0:16:32.120 look at energy, we look at what part of the 0:16:32.240 --> 0:16:34.880 energy sector that they are in, and so we know 0:16:35.040 --> 0:16:37.040 for sure as far as a lot of the oil companies, 0:16:37.200 --> 0:16:39.240 the shelves, the vps of the world, of the exxons, 0:16:39.280 --> 0:16:42.680 the mobiles, they all saw some tremendous price pressures as 0:16:42.680 --> 0:16:45.240 far as on their equity prices whenever we saw the 0:16:45.280 --> 0:16:48.040 price of oil drop down. And yet at the same 0:16:48.040 --> 0:16:51.760 time those involved in distribution. So there's Enbridge, they're actually 0:16:51.840 --> 0:16:54.440 held very well. Their dividend is very strong and so 0:16:54.600 --> 0:16:56.440 nomemb HAPs in the economy. We know those still be 0:16:56.480 --> 0:17:00.080 moving oil through pipelines and through other distribution channels, and 0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:01.880 inn Bridge has been a long term player in that. 0:17:02.040 --> 0:17:04.680 So we see them as a strong cash position, very 0:17:04.680 --> 0:17:07.280 low long term debt. It's a great value holding if 0:17:07.280 --> 0:17:09.280 you have been served to as far as in the economy, 0:17:09.760 --> 0:17:11.680 those type of companies that does them Bridge really play 0:17:11.680 --> 0:17:12.720 out well. 0:17:12.840 --> 0:17:14.760 All right, John, thank you so much, Really appreciate John 0:17:14.800 --> 0:17:19.680 Creek Moore, Chief Investment Officer, creek More Wealth Advisors, Morton, Illinois. 0:17:20.040 --> 0:17:23.080 Check it out, folks just outside of Peoria. Again, it 0:17:23.119 --> 0:17:25.399 doesn't get any more Middle America than that. 0:17:27.240 --> 0:17:30.920 You're listening to the Bloomberg Intelligence Podcast. Catch us live 0:17:31.040 --> 0:17:34.120 weekdays at ten am Eastern on Apple, Cocklay and Android 0:17:34.119 --> 0:17:37.440 Auto with the Bloomberg Business app, Listen on demand wherever 0:17:37.480 --> 0:17:40.600 you get your podcasts, or watch us live on YouTube. 0:17:41.040 --> 0:17:43.320 So the big take today is one that terrified me, 0:17:43.520 --> 0:17:46.200 and I think every woman out there will echo my pain. 0:17:46.880 --> 0:17:49.080 It's a wonderful piece written by Anna Edney, and it 0:17:49.119 --> 0:17:52.200 talks about possible cancer and health risks that are lurking 0:17:52.280 --> 0:17:54.960 in a popular OTC drug. If you've ever had a 0:17:55.080 --> 0:17:57.720 urinary tract infection and you've ever gone to the drug 0:17:57.720 --> 0:18:01.240 store and gotten an over the counter medication. This part 0:18:01.240 --> 0:18:03.320 of the drug is in that and that's what's so 0:18:03.359 --> 0:18:06.720 scary because UTIs are extremely common and many treat it 0:18:06.960 --> 0:18:09.760 with these kind of drugs. Anna is national healthcare reporter 0:18:09.920 --> 0:18:12.800 for Bloomberg News, and she joins us, Now, Anna, walk 0:18:12.880 --> 0:18:15.639 us through what this drug is. What kind of brands 0:18:15.640 --> 0:18:17.160 it's in A start there? 0:18:18.720 --> 0:18:21.720 Yeah, sure, so probably the most popular one. 0:18:21.760 --> 0:18:25.680 I think a lot of our listeners will recognize as Azo. 0:18:26.720 --> 0:18:29.000 It's in over the counter drugs, So you can go 0:18:29.080 --> 0:18:33.679 into most any store, you know, Target, Walmart, anything like 0:18:33.720 --> 0:18:38.320 that and purchase it. You don't need a prescription. You're 0:18:38.320 --> 0:18:41.240 a stat Is another brand, but all of these stores 0:18:41.280 --> 0:18:46.680 also make their own generic version. So it's something that 0:18:46.840 --> 0:18:49.240 is supposed to treat the pain with your. 0:18:49.119 --> 0:18:50.440 Airy tract infections. 0:18:51.320 --> 0:18:54.320 A lot of people seem to think it goes beyond 0:18:54.359 --> 0:18:57.359 that and it's actually curing their infection. So one of 0:18:57.400 --> 0:19:01.480 the issues being that, you know, people might need antibiotics, 0:19:01.520 --> 0:19:03.720 but instead they're they're using this. 0:19:05.080 --> 0:19:08.399 Now, what's the drug in it that is causing some 0:19:08.440 --> 0:19:10.159 of the issues and how do we know? 0:19:11.520 --> 0:19:12.720 Yeah, so this is. 0:19:12.960 --> 0:19:16.280 The active ingredient in all of these drugs. It's what 0:19:16.400 --> 0:19:20.680 the generics will go by it. It's called naso purdine. 0:19:20.800 --> 0:19:25.400 I may still be butchering that name, but it's an 0:19:25.520 --> 0:19:29.800 unapproved drug, which was really interesting to me and something 0:19:29.840 --> 0:19:32.000 sort of new to me even though I've covered these 0:19:32.040 --> 0:19:34.160 issues for a long time that I came across. 0:19:34.600 --> 0:19:36.280 What it means is the FDA. 0:19:36.160 --> 0:19:41.240 Has never formally approved this drug, so you know, while 0:19:41.240 --> 0:19:45.320 millions of women are using it for decades that there's 0:19:45.440 --> 0:19:49.919 never been a true vetting of, you know, how this 0:19:50.040 --> 0:19:53.320 drug interacts with our bodies. One of the things that 0:19:53.880 --> 0:19:56.280 a National Cancer Institute study found, this. 0:19:56.359 --> 0:19:58.240 Was back in nineteen seventy eight, is that. 0:19:58.200 --> 0:20:03.680 It caused tumors to form in rats and mice. That's 0:20:03.720 --> 0:20:06.720