RFK Jr. Impact on Vaccine Stocks, Stock Markets' Fed Angst, Musk's xAI Gets a $6B Boost 11/15/24

Carl Quintanilla (0:00)

Market Moving Insight and Analysis join Jim Cramer, David Faber and me, Carl Quintanilla, on the opening bell hour of CNBC Squawk on the Street. Good Friday morning, welcome to Squawk on the Street. I'm Carl Quintanilla with Jim Cramer, David Faber at Post 9 of the New York Stock Exchange. Stocks continue to unwind some of this post-election rally as Powell on Thursday suggest the economy signaling no hurry to cut. December cut odds fall below 60%, even as October retail sales pretty solid. A road map begins with the Trump transition trade. Shares of vaccine makers extending their declines after the president-elect nominates vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead HHS.

David Faber (0:38)

Plus, always keeping an eye on China. Shares of Alibaba are rallying. This is the e-commerce giant beat profit expectations with its latest earnings. And the chips boost. Taiwan Semi is securing billions in government subsidies. It's continuing to build out three big new fabs in Arizona.

Carl Quintanilla (0:56)

Let's begin with this Trump transition. The president-elect announcing vaccine skeptic RFK Jr. as his choice to become secretary of Health and Human Services. News of that selection weighing on shares of vaccine makers on Thursday, including Moderna, Pfizer, BioNTech and Novavax. Jim, it extends a bit to some packaged food, to some government contractors yesterday. Certainly Defense.

Jim Cramer (1:17)

Wow, Defense. I mean, they took aim at all these companies. Like the Lidos of the World, SAIC.

David Faber (1:24)

KBR as well.

Jim Cramer (1:25)

Yes, KBR. These are good companies. Look, I think that, let's just back up for a second before we decide to sell all stocks because it's kind of weird. We need to see the economic team. The economic team, I think, is, if they demonstrate a kind of a, not mainstream, I don't want mainstream, but if they demonstrate people who are of the orb of what we talk about, then I think we'll be fine because, otherwise, as Mayor Bloomberg wrote, the idea that this man is in charge of HHS or RFK, with this giant setback, and if you read the Pfizer Annual, the Pfizer Annual says that vaccines are the greatest single invention of the 20th century. David, that would seem to be at odds with what RFK is saying. Just saying.

David Faber (2:09)

Health and Human Services is enormous, too. Let's not forget it oversees, doesn't it? Oversee Medicare and Medicaid as well. It's important.

Jim Cramer (2:18)

I don't think that Musk can get rid of it like that.

David Faber (2:20)

No. Although it is the Musk's slash Ramoswami effort towards efficiency that was pressuring a number of those stocks that you guys just mentioned, or at least the defense contractors, the KBRs. That's not related to RFK. So there are a number of different areas that are getting hit as a result of potential appointments and or at least the focus of various... I don't know how to describe Musk. He's not a part of the administration.

Jim Cramer (2:49)

Well, you knew that there would be surprises. So then when surprises occur, why are we surprised?

David Faber (2:54)

Right.

Carl Quintanilla (2:54)

Well, we've been talking about RFK for a couple of weeks.

Jim Cramer (2:57)

Yeah.

Carl Quintanilla (2:57)

And yet this was not fully built in.

Jim Cramer (2:59)

No. I mean, I think that you're Moderna, right? And you're kind of in the vaccine business. I mean, don't you just have to have more of a haircut than it's getting this morning? Or do you say, listen, it's been going down pretty consistently for a long time.

Carl Quintanilla (3:11)

You said yesterday in your club meeting, you were going to talk about names that are not expected to do well under this White House. Is this all part of that universe?

Jim Cramer (3:18)

Yes, it was. I mean, we questioned, we knew that RFK Jr. feels that Lilly is gouging.

David Faber (3:26)

Who's gouging, sorry?

Jim Cramer (3:27)

Lilly is gouging. She'll be just one. So you can't like it as much now that you know that, because when you have the person who is basically in charge of the state of Medicare, whatever.

David Faber (3:38)

Well, that's where the real power is in terms of what you'll reimburse on or what you'll pay. For certain things or not.

Jim Cramer (3:43)

That's what we call them.

David Faber (3:45)

And I don't, you know, Carl, though, how you execute on your anti-vax position through this position. I guess I'd like to understand that process more in detail in terms of what he would actually do.

Jim Cramer (3:59)

But would it be operation slow speed?