Today on Taking Stock | A Relief Rally Builds as Oil Eases

Added: 2026-05-23

[00:00:49]Hey, this is John Starks. You be down here on the street and you watching Taking Stock.

[00:00:59]>> Time to rock and roll. Two minutes to go into the closing bell on this Thursday, May 21st with the Dow Jones Industrial Average well more than 100 years old.

[00:01:07]Set to close once again at a fresh all-time high. Shares of IBM. It may only be the 15th most weighted name in the Dow, but up 11% on the day. good enough to push that particular index and its other 29 components to an all-time high close around 50,312.

[00:01:24]Peter Tuckman, the Einstein of Wall Street joins us now. You say spectacular. What' you see in the tape today?

[00:01:28]>> You know what? It was a really odd tape.

[00:01:30]I think we were there was a lot of news coming out, mixed messaging on the news side with between uh some uh Pakistani parliamentary people going to meet to do a ceasefire and then it was negated by some of the Iranians. So that's why you see that sort of jagged movement. But we did end up in positive territory. Now look, I was not here when the Dow was incepted, but I've been here for a long time, and this is a huge moment for me.

[00:01:53]I I'm a big fan of the Dow. I think it's spectacular, even though it's only 30 stocks. Obviously, the S&P is more significant, but hitting a Dow record.

[00:02:00]I'm the guy who has been making hats since Dow 12,000 8,000. So, this is a big deal. And it's the market is strong.

[00:02:08]It shows the resilience in an amazing way.

[00:02:10]>> It's a day to acknowledge history because we also got Bank of New York. as the first ever company to trade at the New York Stock Exchange in 1792. The Dow at an all-time high >> and that I was not here for either.

[00:02:20]>> You were not here for 1792. Founded by Thank you for being here. Time now for the closing bell from the exchange.

[00:02:50]That is awesome. Let's rock and roll. Hi everyone. That was a lot of fun. Am I doing turn around? All right. Down here.

[00:02:57]Oh, Josh. What's up, Matt? I don't want to be on your way, bud. Uh down here, everyone typed up for Bank of New York Melon, a company that first traded down here at the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in 1792.

[00:03:12]That's that's what it's all about.

[00:03:16]I've been down here many years. I've done many closing bells. This is about as good as a closing bell. Group, thank you all for being here on this history setting day for the Dow. Your final tale of the tape on this Thursday, May 21st.

[00:03:27]The S&P 500 eking out a gain. Let's call it 2/10en of a percent. The Dow in record setting territory up about half a percent. The New York Stock Exchange Composite Index up half a percent as well. And the small caps in on the action up about 9/10. IBM, Honeywell, Cisco, your Dow leaders on the day. Your Dow lagards. However, Walmart, Salesforce, and Nvidia. We'll talk about probably a couple of those names with our first guest who joins us now, the great Jay Woods, chief market strategist at Freedom Capital Markets and a CNBC contributor. My man, good to see you here. Hey, that was great applause to start your show. That was for you, I assume.

[00:04:02]>> No, no, no. I told them before the show.

[00:04:03]I said, "Bny, thanks for being here. Jay Woods is on the broadcast."

[00:04:06]>> Exactly. Well, you know the significance of BNY at the New York Stock Exchange.

[00:04:10]Let's talk about it.

[00:04:10]>> It is the first stock ever listed here at the New York Stock Exchange, founded by the great >> Alexander. Alexander Hamilton. Yes. So, uh, not a great shot, but a great leader of the Bank of New York and, uh, changed the face of the economy, if you will.

[00:04:24]>> Yeah, absolutely. 1792. And shout out to the archavist because down in if you saw downstairs all the BNY the old dividend stock books. It's amazing what they pulled out from the archives.

[00:04:33]>> I did not for this visit today. Maybe we'll take the camera down later on. Uh give me your take on the market today.

[00:04:38]Investors maybe a little bit too complacent about inflation related risks. What do you see?

[00:04:43]>> Yeah, I I definitely think we are complacent. We have been moving on headlines uh with the straight war moves and oil price still remains elevated. We saw in the PPI and the CPI numbers last week that yeah inflation it's not just you know the core it's headline risk too. So energy is causing us the biggest you know tax of the consumer but uh we are seeing inflation creep up across all sectors services being one to keep an eye on and that will focus us on the PCE next week and then of course Kevin Worsh how he handles it when he steps into the Fed chair role officially in the coming days or weeks depending on when he gets to put his hand on the Bible and gets sworn in. So >> how is Wall Street uh pricing geopolitical risk? We talked a lot about it several weeks ago and then it kind of tends to fade to the background a little bit.

[00:05:30]>> Well, Bruce Springsteen has a great song, one step up and two steps back.

[00:05:33]With this market, it's one step back and two steps up. So, when we have geopolitical headlines that, you know, give us jitters, we move back one step, but we rebound quickly and then on hopes that the war will end, what are we doing? We're challenging or making new highs. Uh, and what is this? It's a techfueled rally. 15 of the 20 stocks, 15 of the top 20 stocks in the S&P 500 are guess what? Technology names. And what is tech doing? It's hitting it on all cylinders. Nvidia, which we'll talk about in a second, had its earnings today. They crushed it. It yawned. It was down a little bit. It had a tremendous run into it, but everything they spend on, everything that spends on them is humming in all cylinders. And then quantum stocks, uh, the hot stocks of the day because guess what? the uh the government is going to be putting money to invest in these quantum names as well.

[00:06:25]>> Yeah, that's right. We're going to talk a little bit more about D-Wave, quantum, cubits, a few other names on the broadcast as well. Uh what you see in Nvidia earnings is this kind of routine now where hey, they may crush the cover off the ball, but the sellers are a little louder the next day.

[00:06:37]>> It really is. I don't know what it's going to take for Nvidia to say, "Oh my god, we're going to skyrocket even higher from this $5 trillion valuation."

[00:06:46]But when you look under the fundamental hood, and I'm a technician, I don't like to look under, but I know price to sales, price to earnings, it's relatively cheap compared to some of its peers. So you compare it to a micron, even a Cisco, it's kind of cheap. So Nvidia not getting the love it may deserve, but it's still up there 8% of the S&P 500. Uh it's been lifting us nicely, and we're seeing the technology stocks continue to follow. It's not a bad thing. Let me ask you while I have you about WMT. That's Walmart. It was down 7% earlier in the session. RSI was hovering down around 3435. Is it just a bit of a profit taking situation or a bigger trend change?

[00:07:26]>> This is a red flag. Uh this is a concern. Walmart, the biggest retailer in the world, biggest employer in the United States by the way, um they warned that inflation is a concern and they're seeing it that gas prices are affecting people coming into the stores. They may have to raise prices. Oh no. When the biggest retailer in the world is worried about inflation, it could have a domino effect. Target, if you're looking at the two of them, much better quarter, better guide. Walmart was not in the camp where we were going to guide. So, I think it got under uh covered by by your world, not your world because we're talking about it, but by the other networks.

[00:08:04]Let's, you know, let's be clear, JD's on his game, but uh Walmart uh down 7% at one point today. Technically broken down. Let's watch this uh 220 level. See if it can hold. Uh but uh is it 220 or 120? My brain is a little fried today, but this uh this level right here is a good support level. Uh but it is uh a stock to keep watching because that is really dictating what the consumer is doing.

[00:08:29]>> Jay, how lucky am I? I had the great Frank Capillary on my show this morning, a CMT, and now you two CMTs in one day.

[00:08:35]>> Frank's a good man. Yeah.

[00:08:36]>> Who's luckier than I? Thank you for being here.

[00:08:38]>> Yeah. Listen, happy Memorial Day. Um, and thanks for all that serve. I'm heading to Sele. I hope you have a great weekend yourself.

[00:08:44]>> Thank you my man. It's good to see you as always. Skyler, grab your mic. Todd, if we can fit through the crowd, we'll bring our viewers the top analyst calls on the day. Pardon me everyone. I'm going to squeeze right through if you don't mind with the camera. Thank you.

[00:08:53]JP Morgan first upgrading public utility company Amber to overweight with a price target of 126. Next up, Morgan Stanley reiterating Nvidia as overweight, lifting the price target to 288 a share following earnings. The stock was down today, but analysts still call it the best value in the world of semis.

[00:09:10]Finally, City reiterating or excuse me, reinstating FedEx as a buy. Price target 443.

[00:09:17]Let's take a look at one New York Stock Exchange notable that calls the big board its home. Jay Wood tonight were talking about it. That's not a typo on the screen when you see D-Wave Quantum up 33.37% after reports that the government is planning a $2 billion award to nine companies and taking equity stakes.

[00:09:35]D-Wave Quantum up still down about 10% or so on the year. Names like Inflection, Regetti, and Arcade Quantum all exploding on the day as well. You don't have a lot of days on Wall Street where you see a stock up 33%. We had to bring it to your viewers here live from the trading floor here on Taking Stock.

[00:09:52]Early this morning on the JD Derkin show, I spoke with the great Ian Dunlap of Earn Your Leisure about why he waits before buying into IPOs like SpaceX and why AI public listings could create the next magnificent seven.

[00:10:06]>> What is one investment lesson, Ian, you wish you had learned sooner in your career?

[00:10:12]>> That's a great question. um controversial, but for the first 10 years of your investing journey, you need to put 50 to 60% of your money into the market. Like I remember when I first started investing, the thought was maybe 10% to even 25 was a lot. But the way inflation is going and if we're gonna be very honest, every investor that I talk to and I'm sure the same as you, >> there's a certain level of concern over the next 24 months. Like the Microsoft AI head just said, "Hey, we have 18 months until the workforce can be completely obliterated. Um, if you're not investing in the greatest companies in the world, you may not have income security the way that we once had. So the debt to GDP ratio scares me a lot.

[00:10:59]Like we're now spending more on the interest of the debt than ever. That's terrifying to me. Like once our debt payments are higher than what we're spending on our military, that's quite concerning to me. So put uh a great majority of capital into the market. Let the money work for you and put the money into the companies that are much better than you.

[00:11:20]>> Yeah. Spending more money to finance the debt than the original cost of the debt itself. Like I mean >> scary. And and we just saw with the bond vigilantes this week demanding more to hold on to that government debt with the 30-year Treasury yield reaching 5.2% the highest we've seen since 2007. Man, the bond market's flashing us some signals right now.

[00:11:39]>> Absolut and the interesting part I've been telling my community since 2020, the bond market has been falling apart.

[00:11:45]But all of a sudden, you start to get some signals of there's a lot of concern. Like even two months ago, um I had the fortune of being at Nvidia's headquarters. Even just the way that the greatest companies in the world are working feverishly. I know a few people at Meta, the layoff thing there is concerning. I feel like entrepreneurs and investors are working harder than ever because we don't know what's to come. And I think this is different than 2008 and maybe even 2022.

[00:12:13]And that and that's what Frank was discussing like the energy rise. I think the three sectors that matter the most always are tech, healthcare, and energy.

[00:12:21]But to even see the tumult that we've had in this crisis, how much energy has taken off and gold has paired down and Bitcoin some some people thought at this point Bitcoin will be at 175 and we see how quickly a geopolitical issue can restructure how people are deploying capital. So it's a very interesting time that we're living in right now.

[00:12:41]>> Yeah, of course all the leverage, it's whole power. We could do an hourong special just on like cryptocurrency leverage on the exchanges alone. Um, and Dunlap, how would you invest $1,000 right now?

[00:12:52]>> Um, the first half you would have to put into indexes. So, I think um, one of the most important things that people forget about indexes is that you don't have to focus on allocation because they're going to take care of it for you. You don't have to worry about company selection because they're going to take care of it for you. And if you look at a 20-year cycle, if you invest in an index fund or the S&P 500, you're undefeated regardless of what 20-year period you pick. Um, the second half of the allocation, I would focus on two tech companies that I love a lot. Um, I'm really biased towards NIA. I've been a fan of theirs and invested in them since 2016. Um, and I really love what Google has done. And if I can be very honest, the iterations that I've seen Google make in AI, they've done everything I wish Apple would have done. Um, so those are two companies. Even though I'm not giving a a particular recommendation, personally, those are two that I love a lot.

[00:13:52]>> Welcome back to the show. You are watching Taking Stock live from the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Our next guest is Joe Bram. He is the CEO of Field Digital Corp. It's nice to see you here today.

[00:14:02]>> Thanks, JD.

[00:14:03]>> Uh, so talk to me first and foremost, what is Field Digital and why do you think the capital markets world really is in need of a company like this right now?

[00:14:11]>> Field Digital is a cryptonative fintech conglomerate. Uh, we're focused on the picks and shovels business of the industry. No matter where token prices go, we're buying assets and businesses that are making the whole system work.

[00:14:20]And so, in general, uh, right now, most people haven't had access to crypto outside of Bitcoin, ETH, but larger ETFs. We're really focused on the growth strategies that are empowering this whole industry. Private markets have exploded and retail investors out there want access to the next big thing.

[00:14:35]>> Correct.

[00:14:36]>> Where does Field Digital fit in to that ongoing shift for retail investors?

[00:14:40]>> It's a big deal, right? Cuz like the access to this stuff really hasn't been had outside of like a friend that has a startup or a hedge fund that you have to be an accredit investor to invest in.

[00:14:48]Right. With Field Digital, we're going to be able to give access to all of retail and everybody to have access to to these financial products that haven't existed before in the public markets.

[00:14:55]How does field digital help open the door to parts of the economy that maybe for far too long felt off limits to people?

[00:15:02]>> That's a great question. I think in general, right, it's been really spooky and scary. Um, like you know, crypto, you hear all these crazy hacks and like what's happening to my money, this that and the other. You press send, does it where does it go? This is like the way for us to really establish the infrastructure, give everyone access, bridge the gap between traditional Main Street and Wall Street into onchain essentially and tokenization, all the cool things that come from that. and we're building all the future products that are enabling this ecosystem.

[00:15:26]>> When you look for a so-called field target, how do you go about separating signal from noise? How do you know it's just the shiny things out there and what's really deserving of your proper attention?

[00:15:36]>> So, I've been in the space for 15 years now and a lot of the people that I know are true missionaries, not mercenaries, right? Crypto has a bad reputation.

[00:15:43]People are like buying and selling, leaving, coming back, whatever's going on. The people that we're bringing and rolling up into the business are true believers that have been in the space just as long as I have and are really building like the best people to build the next generation of the infrastructure are probably the people that built it before and we're bringing those people on.

[00:15:57]>> A lot of companies have been pretty hesitant to go public over these last few years. We're starting to see the IPO pipeline in general pick back up. But a lot of companies wait patiently on the sidelines. They want to see who else is going to dip their toes into those markets first. Why do you think right now might actually be more of a mature moment for that conversation? Well, what we're seeing in general, right, crypto is very cyclical and there's a little little bit of malaise right now.

[00:16:18]Institutions are ready. People are starting to to position like we have a mandate from the White House. Like everything's starting to happen and they just want to make sure that what they're investing in and what they look at is legit. Checking the boxes, making sure compliance is all there and now is the right time given where prices are and everything's at the fervor has died down and the real uh cream is rising to the top. And so we're bringing those into the public markets and as everything rerates and gets usage again, this is going to be exciting. You know, Joe, one of my favorite questions to ask people is, "What is one lesson for the world of investing that you wish you had learned sooner?" Let's say you got someone watching this interview right now.

[00:16:47]They're in their 20s. They're starting their investing career. They're trying to figure out the dos and don'ts. What are some best tips and tricks that you would best advise them? Things you wish you knew when you were a younger investor?

[00:16:58]>> I really do think it it comes it's it's your gut, right? Like at the end of the day, you have to really know what you're investing in. And ultimately like you overthink things and there's a million different ways to analyze an asset but really like at the end of the day you do all the homework and at the you just think to yourself is this the thing that I want to hold on to through all the ups and downs and I think that's the question everyone has to ask theirel and that's usually what wins.

[00:17:18]>> Finally what most excites you about where your industry is right now but even more importantly where you most hope or think it will be tomorrow.

[00:17:26]>> I'm most excited about having the big conversations with Main Street Wall Street. everyone's interested and my big job right now, you know, CEO doing the marketing, all this stuff, but really it's education and it's the job of like the people in my industry to go and teach everyone that this is a transformative asset class that is going to change the world and I really do believe that.

[00:17:42]>> Joe Bootram, you crushed this interview, my man. You're welcome back on the show anytime. Joe is the CEO of Field Digital Corp. Don't go anywhere. We got a lot more taking stock coming up live from the big board right after this.

[00:20:06]Welcome back to the show. Our next guest joins us now. Say hello to Dermit Mcdana, the CFO at BNY. What a historic listed company down here on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

[00:20:18]BNY, the NYSC, go all the way back to 1792. You rang the closing bell. I'm really grateful for your time. Thanks for joining us today.

[00:20:25]>> Yeah, look, it's quite a historic day.

[00:20:27]Um, as I was walking in earlier, you see the big flag outside here from the start, which really is for our firm, 242 years old, a very, very historic day.

[00:20:36]And for many people in the firm who are here with us today, quite an emotional day. We had several people down here who have worked at the firm for more than 50 years. So to ring the closing bell, have the stock close at an all-time high at 1389, I think, or 99.

[00:20:53]>> You nailed it to the number. Yeah. Oh, it's just really, really brilliant and important day for us. Why are we here?

[00:20:59]We're here because we changed the ticker to BNY from BK. Um, we had the opportunity to pick up the ticker BNY.

[00:21:07]We rebranded the firm a couple of years ago and that's how we show up to the world as BNY, modern, resilient, trust, innovative. That's how we want to be in the world. And we had the opportunity with the NRC to change the ticker today.

[00:21:20]So, really happy to see that. And how appropriately so because all of us who are fans of history, we've worked at the New York Stock Exchange for a long time.

[00:21:26]That's how we refer to the bank. We call it BNY. So all all the more exciting.

[00:21:30]You're wrapping up a huge three-year transformation. Talk to me about the things that have changed inside the institution. What does that look like given that it is well over 200 years old?

[00:21:39]>> Look, we've put a great team together at BNY under Robin's leadership, chairman and CEO who's here with us today. And you're seeing the results in this year.

[00:21:48]uh Q1 was a record earnings, record sales, record pre-tax income and a 46% EPS growth year-over-year. So, a lot of good things happening inside the firm.

[00:21:59]We have three strategic pillars. Be more for clients, run our company better, power our culture, but really it's the power our culture that's making the difference and 47,000 employees around the world aligning under Robin and the leadership's team drive.

[00:22:14]>> And so far year to date, you've really knocked the cover off the ball. Q1 2026 your strongest quarter yet. What is driving the specific momentum for the bank inside this particular market environment?

[00:22:25]>> So actually I think it's how we show up for clients. Um in the earnings call we had a couple of real highlights but notable was um our partnership with the administration on Trump accounts. Uh real privilege to represent uh and be part of that going live on July 4th celebrating uh America's 250th. And so it's a real privilege as America's oldest bank to partner with the government on something as important as that.

[00:22:51]>> Yeah. Talk to us a little bit more about the Trump accounts. I feel like maybe it's something a lot of our viewers have seen the headlines of, might not know all the specifics. What most excites you about it aligning with the 250th anniversary and really BNY's role in that process.

[00:23:04]>> So it's really giving um I would say the kids of today a stake in the future of America tomorrow. And it's uh babies born this year getting $1,000 to invest so that when they come of age and want to go to college, they've built a little nest egg. And so at that time, the money grows over time. And it shows for America who want to stake in the future of the country how to save and how to build a nest egg to to invest in their own future.

[00:23:31]>> And as if all of that weren't enough, BNY continues to land some major institutional deals. What does that say about the success and the momentum of the underlying business right now? Look, um, I would say I've been at the firm a little bit over three years. I feel like I've been here a lifetime. I love every minute of what I do with the team. We've built a great team together. Uh, employee first culture, really kind of working for everybody, working for our clients, and that really is feels like there's tremendous momentum in the firm.

[00:24:00]And before I let you go, what most excites you about representing such an iconic brand, one of the arguably one of the most important historic brands associated with the New York Stock Exchange itself?

[00:24:09]>> Uh, one of the things that attracted me to the firm really is the sense of history. Uh, its place in America, its place at the heart of America's financial ecosystem and the opportunity to push it on and help it to grow and to be better for our clients and shareholders. have founded by Alexander Hamilton. That's a pretty cool legacy for you to help uh carry on.

[00:24:30]>> Yes, feel very proud and privileged.

[00:24:32]>> Derma Mcdana, CFO at BNY.

[00:24:34]Congratulations. Thanks a lot for joining us.

[00:24:36]>> Thank you.

[00:24:36]>> Really good to have you. Don't go anywhere. A lot more taking stock coming up live from the floor of the big board after this.

[00:24:41]>> Awesome. Very good. Very good. That was great.

[00:26:35]Let's do it today.

[00:26:51]>> Welcome back to the show. Time now for the latest headlines in the worlds of fintech, crypto, and artificial intelligence for your Thursday afternoon. The crypto majors are in positive territory at this hour. Also, the White House postponing a planned executive order on AI oversight, saying the president does not want new rules to slow down US in its AI competition with China. And finally, at this hour, SpaceX telling IPO investors it wants a piece of the$26 trillion AI market, positioning itself as a significant AI player as it prepares for what could become the largest IPO in history. And now, Money2020's very own Scarlett Sieber is back with a whole new edition of Jargon Translator, putting complicated fintech terminology into language anyone can understand. Take a look.

[00:27:43]Welcome back. I am Scarlett Sber with money 2020 and this is how fintech companies actually make money where we stop asking whether something looks modern and start asking whether it actually works as a business. So today we're going to be talking about apron and this one sits squarely in the part of finance everyone underestimates paying suppliers. Invoices don't get headlines but businesses don't run without them. Apron helps companies manage, automate, and execute business payments, especially accounts payable inside workflows that are usually fragmented, manual, and full of friction. So, how does Apron actually make money, you ask? Well, first, payment execution fees. Each supplier payment process through April generates revenue. Not flashy, but it's predictable and it's recurring. Second, workflow. Workflow value, and it's not that flow. Apron doesn't need customer balances to monetize. It makes money by removing friction from a process companies already have to do. Third, process lockin. Once onboarding, approvals, and supplier details live inside Apron, switching back to spreadsheets and emails, that becomes operational risk. So, here's the part that people miss. Accounts payable isn't about sending money. It is all about that control. As companies grow, payments become governance problems, not just finance tasks. Apron doesn't monetize growth stories. It monetizes the moment organizations get serious about discipline. And that, my friends, is how Apron actually makes money. By sitting quietly inside the workflows businesses can't afford to break. If there's a fintech you keep hearing about and want to watch the real take in the breakdown here of how it actually makes that money, drop it in the comments and it just might make the cut. In the meantime, back over to you, Tomorrow on Wall Street will be Friday, May 22nd, and we actually have a few important quarterly earnings calls to get you caught up on in the morning.

[00:29:41]We'll get the latest quarterly results from names like Booze Allen Hamilton as well as BJ's Wholesale Club. A bit uh economic data for investors to digest on the Friday as well. The latest consumer sentiment survey figures from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor for the month of May. And your final tail of the tape on this Thursday, May 21st, the S&P 500 up 2/10en of a percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, speaking of making history, another all-time high.

[00:30:07]The New York Stock Exchange Composite Index finishing up half a percent. Thank you, Peter Tuckman. And the Small Cavs up a full percent on the day. But before all of that, tomorrow, Knicks, Cavs, game two tonight, the world's most famous arena. Go New York. Go New York.

[00:30:22]Go. Thank you for watching today's edition of Take It Stack. Have a good night. We'll see you again tomorrow. Oh, hey.

[00:31:03]All right.