Power Players with Brian Sozzi

Latest Episodes:

Memo to Nvidia bears: tech beast has a monopolistic profit margin Aug 26, 2024

Show notes

Bottom line is that the stock market remains obsessed with Nvidia. The company is seen as the hands down leader in AI chips. But does that make Nvidia a great stock to buy and hold right through its coming earnings report? Remember with a track record of greatness like Nvidia comes with its expectations for financial greatness every single quarter. Yahoo Finance executive editor Brian Sozzi chats with veteran tech investor and analyst Paul Meeks to get his thoughts on Nvidia’s coming earnings report and what its future may hold. Meeks reminds investors that there are other great tech stocks to own besides Nvidia such as retail investor favorite Super Micro. Meeks adds that humanoid robots may not be a big thing, and as such Tesla’s Elon Musk is simply distracting investors from bad EV results.

Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid, brings you a high-octane take on the freshest analyst calls, wildest stock moves and shrewdest commentary in the business world. Executive Editor Brian Sozzi puts Wall Street's finest through their paces in this essential conversation for every investor - before the stock market opens.

Find this episode's transcripts and more episodes of Opening Bid at https://finance.yahoo.com/videos/series/opening-bid/.

Thoughts? Questions? Fan mail? Email us at yfpodcasts@yahooinc.com.

00:00-Paul Meeks joins Opening Bid

04:00-What to expect of Nvidia earnings

09:00-Where to get in and out on Nvidia

12:00-How do investors know when we're hit the tech top?

16:00-Comparing AI 1.0 to 2.0 plays

Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid is hosted by Brian Sozzi, and produced by Alexander Frangeskides and Rachael Lewis-Krisky.

Paul Meeks has covered the technology industry as an analyst and manager since 1992, and has worked as the CIO and Portfolio Manager of Harvest Portfolio Management for 37 years.

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Why this major Tesla investor and Elon Musk supporter is pulling back Aug 23, 2024

Show notes

When isn’t Tesla’s stock a lightning rod for sharp opinions from both bulls and bears!? Now is one of those moments where views from each passionate camp are coming in hot and heavy. On the one side, you have a Tesla retail investor like Alexandra Merz saying on the Opening Bid podcast that Tesla’s stock is severely undervalued. “I’m very convinced this [stock] goes to $5,000 or $10,000 [long-term] once people understand what Tesla is all about,” Merz said. On the other side of the coin there are those less enthusiastic about the stock as Elon Musk voices continued support for former President Donald Trump. The company is also dealing with more sluggish sales of EVs as hybrids return to the forefront. So who is right and who is wrong on Tesla’s wild stock? Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi goes in-depth with Gerber Kawasaki Co-Founder, CEO and CIO Ross Gerber. Gerber is a Tesla investor, but has had no problems calling out the company’s problems…and Musk.

Find this episode's transcripts and more episodes of Opening Bid at https://finance.yahoo.com/videos/series/opening-bid/.

Thoughts? Questions? Fan mail? Email us at yfpodcasts@yahooinc.com.

00:00-Ross Gerber joins Opening Bid

00:15-Market Minute

03:00-Tesla evaluation on X is just wrong

08:30-How do we know the robots won't kill us?

12:00-EV loving liberals trumped by magas and Trump

16:40-Sensitive innovators

20:00-The Nvidia guy

Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid is hosted by Brian Sozzi, and produced by Alexander Frangeskides and Rachael Lewis-Krisky.

As the co-founder, president, and CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, Ross Gerber and his team oversee $2.2 billion in investments. He is also a regular media contributor, and his company is very popular on social media.

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Is a 50 basis point rate cut on the table? BlackRock’s Rieder doesn’t rule it out Aug 21, 2024

Show notes

A sense of calm has returned to markets after a volatile start to the month. But that doesn’t mean the coast is clear. Pros that Yahoo Finance are speaking with are gearing up for a volatile September for markets amid the looming presidential election and a new Fed meeting, where the monetary policy stewards may cut interest rates. So what’s the play for your portfolio with this unknown backdrop? Yahoo Finance executive editor Brian Sozzi and Yahoo Finance ‘Market Domination’ host Julie Hyman talk at length with Blackrock chief investment officer of fixed income Rick Rieder. In this Opening Bid episode, Rieder shares his top volatile trades and offers perspective into how markets may trade around the election.

Find this episode's transcripts and more episodes of Opening Bid at https://finance.yahoo.com/videos/series/opening-bid/.

Thoughts? Questions? Fan mail? Email us at yfpodcasts@yahooinc.com.

00:00-Rick Rieder joins Opening Bid

04:00-Evaluating the market calm

08:00-Looking forward to seasonal events

11:30-Early slowing signals

17:00-Breaking down BINC: BlackRock's Flexible Income ETF

18:00-Looking at Gen X at 'net savers'

Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid is hosted by Brian Sozzi, and produced by Alexander Frangeskides and Rachael Lewis-Krisky.

As CIO of Global Fixed Income and Head of the BlackRock Global Allocation team, Rick Rider talks across equities and fixed income.

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What Nvidia, Ford, and AI have in common: SPECIAL ROUND UP Aug 19, 2024

Show notes

Are Tesla and Ford friends or foes? What stocks doest Howard Buffett trade? Can Nvidia keep the trend moving up up up?

The summer might be coming to a close, but we're just getting started. This week marks 4 months and our 40th episode since we launched this podcast, so we're bringing you our favorite big moments from the pod so far: from interviews with Jim Farley and Howard Buffett, to big stocks wrap-ups! Like, follow, and subscribe to stay-tuned for more great content.

Plus, a new week means fresh market news to digest. We're looking at Goldman Sachs (GS), Chipotle (CMG), McDonald's (MCD), and more. Look out for that at the top.

Find this episode's transcripts and more episodes of Opening Bid at https://finance.yahoo.com/videos/series/opening-bid/.

Thoughts? Questions? Fan mail? Email us at yfpodcasts@yahooinc.com.

00:00-Special episode on Opening Bid

00:10-Today's market digest

02:11-Nvidia: EMJ Capital founder Eric Jackson

05:52-Elon and Tesla: L&F Investor Services CEO Alexandra Merz

09:35-Starbucks vs. Chipotle: Former Medtronic CEO Bill George

13:09-Ford CEO Jim Farley

15:49-Affirm founder and CEO Max Levchin

19:01-Howard G. Buffett Foundation Howard Buffett

Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid is hosted by Brian Sozzi, and produced by Rachael Lewis-Krisky.

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What new Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol must instantly do to address crisis Aug 16, 2024

Show notes

It’s not easy being a leader. Some would argue that you were either born a leader or not. The same could be said for being a great supporting coach to a hard-charging leader. Enter executive fellow at Harvard Business School and former Medtronic CEO Bill George. George is viewed by those in the C-suite as one of the most successful CEOs to ever have done it. While driving major growth at the healthcare device company, George has been able to also serve on the boards of the world’s largest companies such as Target and ExxonMobil. Since leaving Medtronic as CEO in 2002, George has focused on spreading leadership lessons learned from a career that started in the Defense Department in the mid 1960s. Based on his experience, George thinks Vice President Kamala Harris picked the right running mate in Minnesota governor Tim Walz. He believes Boeing just picked the right CEO in Kelly Ortberg, and Starbucks in Brian Niccol. And for good measure, he thinks CEOs make too much money! Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi goes in-depth with George on these hot-button topics and much more.

Find this episode's transcripts and more episodes of Opening Bid at https://finance.yahoo.com/videos/series/opening-bid/.

Thoughts? Questions? Fan mail? Email us at yfpodcasts@yahooinc.com.

00:00-Bill George joins Opening Bid

02:00-Addressing a company in crisis

08:00-Eyes on CEOs

12:00-Tim Walz tapped as Harris' running mate

18:00-'Trumponomics' impact on business

Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid is hosted by Brian Sozzi, and produced by Alexander Frangeskides and Rachael Lewis-Krisky.

Bill George is an executive fellow at Harvard Business School, where he was a Professor of Management Practice and Senior Fellow teaching leadership from 2004-2022. He is the former chairman and CEO of Medtronic, and earlier in his career, he was a senior executive with Honeywell and Litton Industries and served in the U.S. Department of Defense.

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Steve Jobs’ former intern on the AI and Nvidia craze Aug 14, 2024

Show notes

It gets no bigger in tech then legendary Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Jobs revolutionized how life is conducted each and every day with breakthrough products such as the iPod and iPhone. Over his storied career, Jobs was known to be an intense leader that obsessed over the smallest of details. The goal: to make darn near perfect products for picky consumers. Letting Jobs down was not a good survival strategy at Apple at any point, and still isn’t to this very day years after his passing. So what was it really like to work for a visionary such as Jobs? Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi chats with DataStax CEO Chet Kapoor. As a young intern at Jobs’ computer company Next (which he founded after being shown the door at Apple), Kapoor got to work a mere 20 yards from Jobs each day. That close proximity to Jobs changed the course of his business career and life, Kapoor says. Today, Kapoor is taking those lessons learned from Jobs to build AI player DataStax into a powerhouse.

Find this episode's transcripts and more episodes of Opening Bid at https://finance.yahoo.com/videos/series/opening-bid/.

Thoughts? Questions? Fan mail? Email us at yfpodcasts@yahooinc.com.

00:00-Chet Kapoor joins Opening Bid

03:00-Across the industry, how ethically is AI being built?

08:40-Emotionally connecting to a chatbot? Yeah, right.

14:00-What it was like to work as an intern under Steve Jobs

20:19-Bat signal for the next Steve Jobs

Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid is hosted by Brian Sozzi, and produced by Alexander Frangeskides and Rachael Lewis-Krisky.

Chet Kapoor is Chairman and CEO of DataStax, a real-time AI company.

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Has the stock market bottomed? Aug 12, 2024

Show notes

So much for smooth sailing for markets in 2024! After making a lot of money on the long side this year notably with hot AI trades like Nvidia, investors are battling through their worst stretch of turbulence in some time. Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi sits down with AlphaSimplex chief research strategist Kathryn Kaminski. Kaminski has decades of experience in the markets, and doesn’t approach assessing stocks and asset classes in conventional ways. To Kaminski, when everyone is yelling fire in the crowded theater that could be a great time to find exciting buying opportunities. With markets having a volatile August that has caught many investors off guard, what should be one’s playbook for success entering the fall? Kaminski reveals her top strategies.

Find this episode's transcripts and more episodes of Opening Bid at https://finance.yahoo.com/videos/series/opening-bid/.

Thoughts? Questions? Fan mail? Email us at yfpodcasts@yahooinc.com.

00:00-Kathryn Kaminski joins Opening Bid

05:00-Day in the life of an investor

07:20-Trend following as a strategy

11:00-Investor complacency

15:40-How do new investors build a portfolio in this environment?

16:30-Want to buy Nike...

18:40-Success of systematic investments

Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid is hosted by Brian Sozzi, and produced by Alexander Frangeskides and Rachael Lewis-Krisky.

Kathryn Kaminski, PhD, CAIA, is the Chief Research Strategist and Portfolio Manager at AlphaSimplex Group, focusing on quantitative and systematic futures trading. She is also the co-author of 'Trend Following with Managed Futures: The Search for Crisis Alpha.'

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Rate cuts vs. AI boom: the battle for investor attention Aug 09, 2024

Show notes

Is the US in a recession? Are businesses pulling back on transformation projects for fear of who wins the White House? And speaking of the White House, what is the aftermath internationally for businesses after a brutal election season cycle? Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi chats with Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar on the state of the world economy, especially in the United States with recession fears swirling. Kumar is also no stranger to the power of artificial intelligence. Kumar thinks AI will severely disrupt how business is done and by extension, the jobs market globally. The time is now for workers to get prepared for this transformational change.

Find this episode's transcripts and more episodes of Opening Bid at https://finance.yahoo.com/videos/series/opening-bid/.

Thoughts? Questions? Fan mail? Email us at yfpodcasts@yahooinc.com.

00:00-Ravi Kumar joins Opening Bid

05:00-India as an emerging market

08:00-How geopolitical uncertainty effects tech and business

13:00-AI is slow to pick up but sharp to take off

19:00-Let's look at rate cuts

Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid is hosted by Brian Sozzi, and produced by Alexander Frangeskides and Rachael Lewis-Krisky.

Ravi Kumar is the CEO of Cognizant focusing on success in the golden era of technology.

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Are we on the cusp of a black swan market crash? Not according to this investor Aug 07, 2024

Show notes

The stock market is going through a severe rough patch amid concerns on Fed policy and fears that AI stocks like Nvidia are crazy overvalued. Not helping sentiment are growing fears around the presidential election in November. So what is an investor to do when down seems like up and up seems like down? Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi chats with Wind Shift Capital Founder Bill Blain. Blain pulls no punches in this convo, voicing his concern on Tesla’s stock price and big-cap tech stocks like Apple. However, Blain is more bullish on the outlook for Boeing under its new CEO and thinks a turnaround could happen sooner rather than later. As for markets, Blain doesn’t see a stock market crash on the horizon amidst major volatility this summer. But that doesn’t mean he sees the start of a new bull market, either.

Find this episode's transcripts and more episodes of Opening Bid at https://finance.yahoo.com/videos/series/opening-bid/.

Thoughts? Questions? Fan mail? Email us at yfpodcasts@yahooinc.com.

00:00-Bill Blain joins Opening Bid

01:30-AI is slower and more expensive than we thought

04:00-The problem of compliance-written market commentary

08:30-Tesla to 10K? Simply unrealistic

13:50-Harris or Trump; who is better for stocks?

16:40-UK economy compared to global markets

Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid is hosted by Brian Sozzi, and produced by Alexander Frangeskides and Rachael Lewis-Krisky.

Bill Blain is CEO of Wind Shift Capital advising clients on alternative asset investments, and author of Blain's Morning Porridge—his say-it-like-it-is market commentary.

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Why this Tesla investor thinks the stock could hit $10,000 Aug 05, 2024

Show notes

Tesla is having a tough summer. The EV leader is fresh off a challenged second quarter amid slowing demand for plug-in autos and greater price competition from the Big 3 automakers. The company also delayed the unveiling of its robotaxi vision to October. As a result of these concerns, Tesla shares have dropped 16% in the past month. Injecting further volatility into the name: Elon Musk’s vocal support for former president Donald Trump in his latest attempt to secure the White House. Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi chats with Tesla expert and investor Alexandra Merz. Merz—who goes by @TeslaBoomerMama on X—is known for her in-depth posts on the fundamentals of Tesla. She is also viewed as a go-to ringleader for fellow Tesla retail investors, and puts forth thought-provoking ideas on how Elon Musk could further leverage his AI kingdom.

Find this episode's transcripts and more episodes of Opening Bid at https://finance.yahoo.com/videos/series/opening-bid/.

Thoughts? Questions? Fan mail? Email us at yfpodcasts@yahooinc.com.

00:00-Alexandra Merz joins Opening Bid

01:00-Market watch: tech stocks down

06:00-Merz on Tesla: "vision to action"

08:00-Robotaxis

15:00-Stocks go up and down, but the technology has to continue to grow

20:00-What happens to Tesla after Elon Musk?

Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid is hosted by Brian Sozzi, and produced by Alexander Frangeskides and Rachael Lewis-Krisky.

Alexandra Merz—a self-described Elon fangirl—is the Founder & CEO of L&F Investor Services.

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