BlackRock CEO Fink's Message to Investors, Baltimore Bridge Collapse, Trump Media Shares Soar 3/26/24

Carl Quintanilla (0:00)

Market Insight and Analysis. You're listening to the opening bell of CNBC's Squawk on the Street.

Good Tuesday morning. Welcome to Squawk on the Street. I'm Carl Quintanilla with Jim Cramer and Post 9 of the New York Stock Exchange. David Faber as the morning off. Bulls do look to snap a two-day losing streak and maybe take aim at some all-time closing highs. Healthy mix of eco data and corporate news today, including Amazon, Disney, Tesla, UPS and others. Our roadmap begins though with BlackRock's Larry Fink, his annual letter to shareholders, emphasizing the need to focus on the country's retirement crisis. This major bridge collapse in Baltimore, rescue efforts underway after the Francis Scott Key Bridge was hit by a cargo ship will take you live to the scene. And former President Trump's net worth rocketing higher, now reportedly among the world's 500 richest as Trump Media begins trading this hour.

Let's begin though with the message from BlackRock's Larry Fink in his annual letter to investors, the head of the world's largest asset manager, warning of a global retirement crisis, saying he's worried about the strain of an aging population on systems including social security. Jim, you spoke to him, we'll hear more tonight, but a remarkably personal letter this year.

Jim Cramer (1:09)

Oh my, it starts with his father and mother and talks about the old days when basically the money was put away for you and you could really make a lot of money if you kept compounding.

Then think about younger people now. They think that there's very little hope. That was one of the themes that was so sad about this.

We focused the amount of energy on helping people live longer lives, Larry says. Not even a fraction of that effort is spent helping people afford these extra years. So what's happened is we have this group of people who are lucky enough, our parents, to have money put away from them. And now we have this new group of people, Millennials, Shinzi, who don't know how to save, don't think it's worth saving because they don't have a lot of hope, and are going to go into, well, retirement. Who knows? Because they can't afford it. They won't be able to afford it. This was a must read for every single person in our country. This was his best letter yet.

And it's really just saying, listen, we got to rethink when we retire. We got to think how much we put away. And we got to get younger people to embrace the capital more.

Carl Quintanilla (2:14)

A sneak preview of Jim's conversation with Fink that happens tonight. Take a listen.

Larry Fink (2:21)

I write about fear and hope. I think one of the major components of fear is for so many people about how can they have financial independence? But more importantly, for so many, how can you live your later years with dignity and decency?

And we don't talk about the whole crisis of retirement. And this is not just a US phenomenon. This is a phenomenon worldwide now.

Last year, I traveled to 17 different countries. And I've never had more broad conversations about the need to think about retirement. Whether it's in a middle-class developing country or it's a very advanced developed country, they're rethinking about how should we be thinking about retirement.

Carl Quintanilla (3:07)

One of the things Larry's told us on this show is that in this country, our debates are pretty fiery and sometimes messy, but we do have them in ways that other countries don't.

Jim Cramer (3:15)

Yes, and look, he's very optimistic about the country. He is saying that we should be embracing hope, not fear. He thinks we can grow our way out of the situation we're in with the deficit, but he doesn't think that the younger people share that. And if you don't have faith in what's going to happen in the country, if you do not believe that you're going to be doing better than your parents, which is something that was a common theme of my generation, then you may not put any money away. And if you don't put any money away, well, you're not going to be able to afford retirement.

Now, when I first read this, I said, I decided I better start talking to some younger people. I haven't had the good fortune of talking to a huge number of people who are my kids' friends.

Carl Quintanilla (3:57)

You've been going on college tours for 15 years.

Jim Cramer (3:59)

21 colleges. And I found myself apologizing to Larry for not doing enough.

Carl Quintanilla (4:05)

Not doing enough?

Jim Cramer (4:05)

Not doing enough.