--:-- [Theme music fades out]
--:-- Host: John Bickley: This episode is brought to you by LifeLock. When you visit the doctor, you probably hand over your insurance, your ID, and contact details. It's just one of the many places that has your personal info. And if any of them accidentally expose it, you could be at risk for identity theft. LifeLock monitors millions of data points a second. If you become a victim, they'll fix it, guaranteed, or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year at LifeLock.com slash podcast. Terms apply.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: President Biden and former President Trump have agreed on a time and place for at least two debates after Biden threw down his gauntlet. Make my day, pal. We break down the list of Team Biden's restrictive conditions and who's set to host and moderate.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with guest host Katie Pavlich, editor at Town Hall VIP.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: It's Thursday, May 16th, and this is Morning Wire. The latest inflation numbers are in, and while they eased slightly, signs point to more bad news next month. Rates aren't getting cut at all this year. The Fed is under no pressure to cut rates. And meme stock mania is back. But will the resurgence have as big an impact on Wall Street as it did the first time?
--:-- Host: John Bickley: I think the institutional people are probably a little embarrassed about what happened the first time.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: out to claim your free American Wagyu burgers for a year. Go to GoodRanchers.com and use code WIRE to claim your burgers. That's GoodRanchers.com with promo code WIRE today.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: After a stunning set of events Wednesday morning, the dates and times for at least two presidential debates have been set and agreed to by both the Biden and Trump campaigns. President Biden took to social media with a video challenging Trump to two debates, saying to the former president, make my day.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: And in response, Trump quickly accepted.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: Here to discuss where this whirlwind debate negotiation leaves us is Daily Wire contributor, David Marcus.
--:-- Host: David Marcus: Hey, Dave. So that happened fast. First, can you give us the timeline of how this all went down?
--:-- Host: David Marcus: Morning, John. Yeah, it was quite a flurry of activity that started with Biden's early morning video in which he mocked Trump while announcing he wants two debates, the first to take place in late June.
--:-- Host: David Marcus: Here's a bit of that audio. Donald Trump lost two debates to me in 2020. The Senate said he hadn't shown up for debate. Now he's acting like he wants to debate me again. So let's pick the dates, Donald. I hear you're free on Wednesdays.
--:-- Host: David Marcus: I hear you're free Wednesdays is, of course, a sharp-elbowed reference to the schedule of Trump's criminal trial, which has hump day off.
--:-- Host: David Marcus: It quickly became clear that the Biden team had sent a letter offering two debates, one in June, one in September, with some pretty severe conditions, including no live audience and having candidates mics cut off after their answers.
--:-- Host: David Marcus: There was initial skepticism that Trump's team would agree to these terms, but an hour later, Trump posted that the debate was on and about an hour after that CNN announced it will be hosting it in Atlanta on June 27th and ABC News announced a second debate in the fall.
--:-- Host: David Marcus: Later in the day we heard reports from Trump team of a third debate set for October 2nd on Fox News, hosted by Brett Baer and Martha McCallum.
--:-- Host: David Marcus: It's not entirely clear that Trump has accepted all of the conditions, but he did say in March that he would debate anywhere, anytime and that, quote, the corrupt DNC can run it, end quote.
--:-- Host: David Marcus: Instead, CNN will run it, which some conservatives might see as a distinction without much of a difference.
--:-- Host: David Marcus: Yeah. A June debate seems awfully early in the election season. Is this, in fact, unprecedented to have a debate before the conventions even happen?
--:-- Host: David Marcus: Yeah, absolutely. In the 21st century, no general election debate has ever taken place before September.
--:-- Host: David Marcus: And many observers see this as evidence that Biden feels he needs a bump in the polls going into the summer.
--:-- Host: David Marcus: Trump, who polls show sitting in the poll position right now, could be taking a risk by giving Biden this chance to shake things up.
--:-- Host: David Marcus: But back in March, when he basically told Biden he'd debate in any format the Democrats want, many Republicans thought Biden wouldn't debate at all, especially since Trump refused to debate in the primary.
--:-- Host: David Marcus: So there's an upside for Trump here. He's getting his debates.
--:-- Host: David Marcus: Yeah. In presidential debates, the expectation game is often very important. Where does that stand now, especially given that so many Trump allies have said that Biden is not capable of a debate?
--:-- Host: David Marcus: Look, painting Biden as senile for months may have helped Trump amass his current lead in the polls. But yeah, the bar has been set for him in a debate about an inch off the floor.
--:-- Host: David Marcus: And it does matter. This was sort of perfected by George W. Bush, who consistently set expectations so low that if he didn't get confused trying to tie the laces on his cowboy boots, he looked like Henry Kissinger.
--:-- Host: David Marcus: But it's possible that by agreeing to Biden's CVS receipt of conditions, Trump gives himself a bit of a backdoor if the sitting president does better than expected.
--:-- Host: David Marcus: And that includes giving Biden a kind of home field advantage on CNN and ABC News.
--:-- Host: David Marcus: Speaking of CNN, they were also very quick to say yes to this and have already chosen moderators.
--:-- Host: David Marcus: It's interesting. CNN's Chris Wallace moderated the first of two debates between Trump and Biden in 2020, though at that time he was host of Fox News Sunday.
--:-- Host: David Marcus: Media critics slammed Wallace's performance not only for bias against Trump, but just for losing control of it.
--:-- Host: David Marcus: On the other hand, some high-profile polls showed that Biden won that debate. So Joe probably wouldn't have minded a Wallace redux.
--:-- Host: David Marcus: But reports say that it will be Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, not exactly known as Trump neutral in their own rights.
--:-- Host: David Marcus: And I think American voters know that. And many, especially independents, will already have it baked into their debate night party cake.
--:-- Host: David Marcus: And they might also need a few stiff drinks.
--:-- Host: David Marcus: Dave, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Host: David Marcus: Thanks for having me.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: making the decision to prioritize health can be tough especially if you're not sure where to start that's why I love my lumen lumen is the world's first handheld metabolic coach all you have to do is breathe into your lumen first thing in the morning and you'll know what's going on with your metabolism whether you're burning mostly fats or carbs so if you want to take the next step in improving your health go to lumen.com and use code wire to get 100 off your lumen That's L-U-M-E-N dot M-E and use code WIRE at checkout for $100 off.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: Thanks, Lumen, for sponsoring this episode.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: According to the latest CPI report inflation cooled very slightly in April after months of coming in higher than expected but prices still remain high across the board
--:-- Host: John Bickley: Here at the details is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Host: Cabot Phillips: Cabot, a highly anticipated report. What did we learn?
--:-- Host: Cabot Phillips: Well in April inflation eased ever so slightly as the all-important consumer price index, which tracks the cost of goods and services across the economy, rose by 3.4 percent from a year ago.
--:-- Host: Cabot Phillips: At the same time, the core price index, which removes more volatile products like food and gas rose at 3.6% annually.
--:-- Host: Cabot Phillips: Now, the good news is that means the inflation rate is at its lowest point since April of 2021.
--:-- Host: Cabot Phillips: That report sent stocks soaring with the S&P 500 rallying to record highs amid optimism that rate cuts could still be on the horizon this year.
--:-- Host: Cabot Phillips: The bad news, though, is that prices are still going up on a number of critical goods and services.
--:-- Host: Cabot Phillips: Rent prices, for example, rose around half a percent last month and are now up 5.6% in the last year, while energy costs went up 1.1% in April as gasoline jumped nearly 3%.
--:-- Host: Cabot Phillips: So even if things have slowed, the cost of living continues to rise.
--:-- Host: Cabot Phillips: All told, in the last four years or so, grocery prices are up 25%, housing 22%, car insurance 46%, energy 36%.
--:-- Host: Cabot Phillips: You can read that list all day. It just goes on and on.
--:-- Host: Cabot Phillips: And for more on the numbers, I spoke with Kenny Polcari, Chief Market Strategist at Slate Stone Wealth.
--:-- Host: Kenny Polcari: So they're trying to flip the script and tell you we should be happy. Prices are only rising at 3.6 percent. They haven't been this low since, you know, 2021.
--:-- Host: Kenny Polcari: They're trying to get you to accept the fact that today's report was a good report.
--:-- Host: Kenny Polcari: Now, look, I'm not saying it's a horrendous report, but the fact is inflation is not slowing.
--:-- Host: Kenny Polcari: Now, we also saw a report this week on PPI, which had a bit more concerning data.
--:-- Host: Kenny Polcari: Yeah, while CPI tracks inflation from a consumer standpoint, the producer price index or PPI tracks prices for those actually producing the goods and services in our economy.
--:-- Host: Kenny Polcari: This week, we learned that in April, the PPI inflation rate rose half a percent, exceeding expectations.
--:-- Host: Kenny Polcari: According to Polkari, that spells trouble for average Americans who ultimately will end up footing the bill for those higher production costs.
--:-- Host: Kenny Polcari: What is important to understand is as those prices at the producer level increase, who do you think is really going to pick that up?
--:-- Host: Kenny Polcari: At the end of the day, the manufacturer is not going to say, oh, let me swallow these higher prices. They're going to push it onto you, the consumer, you, me and everybody else in terms of higher prices.
--:-- Host: Kenny Polcari: But it usually takes four or five weeks for those higher prices at that level to make their way through the system.
--:-- Host: Kenny Polcari: So what does all of this mean for potential rate cuts in the near future? That is the million or really trillion dollar question.
--:-- Host: Kenny Polcari: Throughout the winter, the expectation was that the Fed would finally provide some relief and cut rates from their multi-decade highs.
--:-- Host: Kenny Polcari: Most economists projected two or even three rate cuts beginning as early as June, but that now seems increasingly unlikely.
--:-- Host: Kenny Polcari: But look, it's important to note the window for rate cuts this year is continuing to shrink, in large part due to politics.
--:-- Host: Kenny Polcari: Historically, the Fed has avoided rate cuts or hikes just before an election for fear of influencing the race one way or the other.
--:-- Host: Kenny Polcari: Remember, the Fed is supposed to operate independently, so if cuts do not happen by July or August, it is unlikely they'll come until after Election Day.
--:-- Host: Kenny Polcari: That is bad news for President Biden, who for obvious reasons would prefer the Fed cut rates to give his economy a much needed bump ahead of November.
--:-- Host: Kenny Polcari: Well, the economy is certainly a big concern for Americans and will definitely be impacting their vote.
--:-- Host: Cabot Phillips: Cabot, thanks so much for reporting.
--:-- Host: Cabot Phillips: Anytime.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: Stock prices for GameStop, the video game retailer, experienced another spike early in the week before falling off over the last few days.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: This increase comes from the re of Keith Gill known online as Roaring Kitty who led GameStop and AMC theaters to increased stock prices in 2020 and 2021
--:-- Host: John Bickley: Here to discuss the latest developments is Daily Wire senior editor Ash Short.
--:-- Host: Ash Short: Hey Ash so break this down for us. What are we seeing with GameStop and AMC?
--:-- Host: Ash Short: Okay, so basically in 2020 and 2021, an investor, Keith Gill, rallied people into buying stock in GameStop and AMC, which naturally caused their stock prices to increase.
--:-- Host: Ash Short: In January 2021, GameStop stock rose 1500% before dropping to its regular share price.
--:-- Host: Ash Short: Gill believed GameStop was being unfairly targeted by Wall Street, who was betting on the stock price to decline.
--:-- Host: Ash Short: So they were shorting the stock.
--:-- Host: Ash Short: Chris Alexander, chief analytics officer at Pioneer Development Group, explained how this worked to Morning Wire.
--:-- Host: Chris Alexander: When you're shorting, you're putting money up, saying that the price of the stock is going to decline.
--:-- Host: Chris Alexander: And then you're able to make money on that based on a certain point in time when the stock's liquidated.
--:-- Host: Chris Alexander: Well, if you say, I think the stock's going to be worth 80 and it's currently at 120, you pay premiums on that.
--:-- Host: Chris Alexander: And then the day comes due and they look at the stock price.
--:-- Host: Chris Alexander: And if the stock fell, the person doing the short makes money.
--:-- Host: Chris Alexander: If it goes up, they lose.
--:-- Host: Ash Short: And it was big Wall Street hedge funds who did lose billions of dollars, in fact.
--:-- Host: Ash Short: Alexander also explained that venture capitalists appeared to be draining GameStop so that it would fail and be liquidated.
--:-- Host: Ash Short: But Gill thought the company was viable and worth saving.
--:-- Host: Ash Short: Same with AMC.
--:-- Host: Ash Short: And I mean, I worked at GameStop in high school and college, so I can see where he's coming from.
--:-- Host: Ash Short: So this was kind of a David versus Goliath situation.
--:-- Host: Ash Short: It certainly turned into that.
--:-- Host: Ash Short: Here was all these small investors sticking it to the man, so to speak.
--:-- Host: Ash Short: Alexander explained.
--:-- Host: Ash Short: So on the one hand, you had the quote unquote smart money, the institutional investors who were betting against the company, taking kind of a pessimistic view, as the Roar and Kitty crowd would say.
--:-- Host: Ash Short: and they were taking this optimistic, I believe in this company and we're going to help this company. We're going to make money and we're going to hurt the big money that's the so-called smart money.
--:-- Host: Ash Short: Now, all of this was in 2020 and 2021. This whole thing kind of started again this week.
--:-- Host: Ash Short: What are we seeing?
--:-- Host: Ash Short: Yes. Although it didn't see the same success as three or four years ago, GameStop stock rose 180% on Monday and Tuesday before falling 30% on Wednesday.
--:-- Host: Ash Short: AMC's stock rose 95% earlier in the week and fell 27% on Wednesday.
--:-- Host: Ash Short: Is it the same people buying the stock again?
--:-- Host: Ash Short: Gil is definitely behind it, but it's unclear if others buying the stock now also bought it a few years ago.
--:-- Host: Ash Short: Alexander explained what type of people are likely buying the stock now.
--:-- Host: Ash Short: I think this time around, you're going to see the same thing. You have his devotees, and they're going to jump back in.
--:-- Host: Ash Short: And the people with FOMO, you know, hey, this guy got it right last time. Maybe I should put some money into it this time.
--:-- Host: Ash Short: All right, so how are GameStop and AMC doing after these stock runs?
--:-- Host: Ash Short: GameStop is managing, still hanging in there, according to Alexander, who said they were surviving, and it seems to be the same with AMC.
--:-- Host: Ash Short: Well, really a fascinating development with AMC and GameStop.
--:-- Host: Ash Short: Again, we'll see where this leads.
--:-- Host: Ash Short: Ash, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Host: Ash Short: You're welcome.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with more news you need to know.
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