Worldwide Exchange 6/13/25
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I'm Frank Holland, and you're listening to CNBC's Worldwide Exchange. Our show is live weekdays at 5 a.m. Eastern. Listen in.

Breaking news this morning, Israel strikes Iran in what some are calling the largest escalation of Middle East tensions in decades. Markets are reacting as U.S. stock futures slide, gold and safe havens, they are surging, and energy traders are on alert over supply concerns and what could turn into a wider conflict. It is Friday, June the 13th, 2025, and this is Worldwide Exchange on CNBC and streaming on CNBC+.

Good morning. Thanks so much for being here with us. I am Frank Holland. Let's get right to our top story this morning. We're following breaking news. Israel launching what it describes as preemptive airstrikes against critical nuclear military targets across Iran overnight. Iran State Media reporting two of the country's top military leaders were killed in that strike, including the commander in chief of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard. There was also infrastructure damage in that country. Israel and Jordan also reported they've intercepted drones and missiles heading for

Israel following the strike and a televised address. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he called Iran a clear and present danger to Israel. Moments ago, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival. This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.

And we're closely watching the global market reaction to these events this morning. We're going to start with U.S. stock futures. You can see a lot of red on this board. All three major indices down right around 1%. Looks like the Dow would open up almost 500 points lower. We're also looking at the sharp moves in energy prices. Oil surging double digits at one point. Right now you can see WTI right now up just over 7%. But you are seeing that big spike over here up 1%.

about 13 or 14 percent earlier this morning. We're also looking at energy stocks this morning and the movement in those names. Right now, you're seeing the energy sector up just about 3 percent right now. ExxonMobil up 3 percent as well down here. Chevron up two and three quarters of 1 percent. Total Energy, a European energy player, up just about 1.5 percent. BP up about 2.5 percent. We're also watching the action in safe havens, including gold. Taking a look at gold right now.

You can see gold's up about 1.25%, week-to-date up about 3%. Gold trading very close to its all-time high as well, hitting a one-month high right now. Also looking at the dollar this morning, seeing some action in the currency market as well. The dollar moving higher, up about a third of 1%, but you can see it's reversing a trend week-to-date. The dollar down just about 1%.

Okay, that is your setup. But first, we want to take a quick look at treasuries. Taking a look at treasuries this morning as well. Taking a look at the action in the bond market, we are seeing bond yields. They're actually moving lower. The benchmark at 4.34 up here. You're seeing the two-year well below 4%. We saw it touch 4% earlier this week. Also, the 30-year at 4.84. We had a 30-year bond auction yesterday as well. Okay, that is your setup. I want to turn our attention to global coverage this morning, looking at every angle of this story.

Chris Pallone from NBC News. He's in Washington. Our Dan Murphy's in Dubai. And Juliana Tatelbaum has the global market reaction from London. Dan, good morning. Let's start with you and the energy trade.

Frank, good morning to you. Oil prices surging as the fallout from Israel strikes on Iran continues to rattle the global energy markets. Earlier today Brent crude jumping above US$75 a barrel in the Asia session. That was its highest level since January. WTI also tracking at a January 2020 high as well.

as traders price in the risk of potential disruptions moving forward. Of course, not just disruptions to global energy flows, but also LNG flows as well. Of course, the prospect of a broader Middle East conflict also weighing on the energy patch right now and raising the alarm in the Strait of Hormuz. This is one of the most important choke points in the global energy landscape, about 20%

of the world's oil supply actually passes through that waterway each day. It connects the OPEC producers like Saudi Arabia and the UAE to the global market. So any disruption or even the threat of it sends immediate shockwaves through the energy landscape. And what we've seen here is the Iranian proxies, of course, threatening the straight in the past. So this most recent Israeli strike really changes the risk calculus for traders.

OPEC sources also telling us today that member states are of course watching these developments very closely but holding off at least for now on any coordinated response. OPEC members like Saudi Arabia and the UAE have both condemned these Israeli attacks while Qatar, which is of course a major LNG producer, also called this a "fragrant violation of Iranian sovereignty."

And analysts say that if exports are disrupted, we could see prices move higher. But that, of course, all depends on what happens next here, Frank. Back to you. Yeah, we're going to be talking about natural gas a bit later in the show with the CEO of EQT, our Dan Murphy, live in Dubai. Great to see you, as always. Thank you for that report. We're going to turn our attention now to Washington and NBC's Chris Pallone. Chris, good morning to you. What are we hearing from the White House?

Yeah, Frank, the White House and the administration and much of the U.S. government distancing itself from these attacks very clearly. Let me read to you what Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted in a statement to X last night. He said, "'Tonight, Israel took unilateral action against Iran. We are not involved in strikes against Iran, and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region. Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense.'"

President Trump and the administration have taken all necessary steps to protect our forces and remain in close contact with our regional partners. Let me be clear, Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel. When it became clear yesterday that these attacks were potentially imminent, President Trump was asked about the potential for these attacks.

He did say that he thought something was going to happen. The president also saying the U.S. Of course, you remember the U.S. has been engaged in nuclear talks with Iran. And and so the president said, we're pretty close to a deal. I don't want them to go in.

because it could blow it. So he added, though, it's very simple. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. We also heard last night from the House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers. He said in a statement, the U.S. was not involved in the strikes, but our forces stand ready to defend themselves and our ally Israel. So again, Frank, most of the U.S. government at this point distancing themselves, saying they were not involved in the strikes. But however,

issuing support to Israel in its ability to defend itself. Yeah, one big question. U.S.-Iran talks were supposed to continue this weekend. A question I think is if that's still going to take place. I believe it's supposed to happen in Oman. Chris Pallone from D.C., great to see you as always. Thank you for that report. Now turning to the market reaction all around the world, our Juliana Tattlebaum has the trade from London. Juliana, good morning.

Frank, good morning. Well, if I could sum it up, I would say risk off. That's what we're seeing in global markets this morning. European equities under selling pressure, and we are seeing a particularly heavy selling in those cyclical parts of the market. In contrast, investors putting more money into the more defensive sectors here in Europe. And

oil and gas, obviously the standout from a sector perspective, the key outlier here as Dan outlined, we've seen a jump in the price of oil and in lockstep with that, we've seen oil and gas stocks move higher. But outside of oil and gas, every sector is trading lower, led by losses in the travel and leisure sector here in Europe. A number of the airlines are off 3, 4% as investors price in the impact of

airspace closures around the region and what this will mean for the earnings outlook for a number of these companies and also the prospect of higher oil, which is a headwind for the airline sector. In terms of Asian trade, similarly, we have seen selling overnight in Asia as investors there react to the news out of the Middle East. You've got the Nikkei 225 over in Japan losing about nine tenths of a percent in overnight trade. Over in Hong Kong,

The reaction a little bit more muted, but still down about six tenths of a percent and selling in the mainland Chinese market and Australian market as well. So real risk off tone, I would say, Frank. Our Julianne Zetterbaum live in London. Good to see you as always. Thanks for that report.

Turning back to the markets here in the U.S. now, let's talk more about the potential downside risk for the equity markets and the premium for oil and safe haven assets. Joining me now, Patrick Armstrong, CIO of Plumeri Wealth and Gina Sanchez, CEO of Chantico Global, as well as a CNBC contributor. Great to have you both here. Good morning, Gina. I'm going to begin with you first. What do you make of the action that we're seeing in the pre-market here in the U.S.? We're seeing the major indices down right around 1%. Surprised we aren't seeing a bigger reaction.

That's exactly what I was going to say. I would have expected more. And I think that given what we're seeing, the potential rise in oil prices certainly complicates the desire for this administration to bring in lower prices. Inflation is already a problem. Margins within the S&P 500 are under a lot of pressure. And one of the things that oil brings in is it creates a problem with that

take away from demand as a consumer demand is hit and earnings growth is also under pressure at the same time. That's not a great combination and I would also kind of underscore that the concern around inflation isn't just around oil which tends to not to hit margins and also demand but also supply chain let's not forget that a significant number of goods are run through the Middle East in terms of.

chain routes and so this could add to an already complicated. Of scenario that we're looking at for anybody who is looking to supply. You know materials for for manufacturing and other services you know and other main right to other services really great point on we saw some disruptions in the Red Sea. Last year for a while and there was a lot of inflationary concerns about that on Patrick I want to come over to you.

So one thing that we've seen, it's been a bit of a trend, is that when we see these geopolitical events, we see panic in the market or at least a sharp reaction in the market. And then people seem to get over it relatively quickly. Even today, the oil market seems emblematic of that. We saw oil prices up double digits. Now they're down to about 7 percent. When you're going to be talking to some investors and clients today, how are you going to suggest they react to some of these developments that we've seen and respond when it comes to their positioning and decisions in the markets?

I'm actually thinking you should be looking through this. I think as we get forward, Iran's in a very difficult situation that it can't respond proportionately. It doesn't have control its own airspace. Israel does. It's responded with drones already. Ballistic missiles may follow, but they'll have limited effect. And

Iran would really be shooting itself in the foot if it actively disrupts supply chains through the Strait of Hormuz because it's getting its oil out to China through that strait.

I don't think this is something that is likely going to turn into a real economic shock. You have a natural response on gold and oil jumping today, obviously. But I do think, as we see Iran's limited response potential, we're probably going to get back into a status quo, an uneasy feeling where the Middle East is going to have these tensions. But I don't think this is the trigger of something that really disrupts oil supply.

All right, Gina, do you agree? And also, it seemed like the trade situation was calming down. Now these geopolitical tensions are ticking up. Are there any sectors right now, at least in the U.S. markets that you see as relatively safe to invest in? Are there areas of the markets that you just stay away from because of some of the questions, first and foremost, about how long these attacks from Israel will last? We just heard from Benjamin Netanyahu saying this is going to take as long as it takes, basically.

I do agree with the idea that the markets are clearly looking through this I I as I said right at the outset I was surprised that we didn't see a bigger reaction. And if you look at how the markets tend to react- to these kinds of situations. There are very few situations that actually kind of resulted significant- in the

price impact for a very long time in fact it tends to be a very short lived experience in the markets and I think the markets are certainly setting themselves up and the things that tend to complicate that would be a rising rate environment and we don't have that that was the one thing that did kind of impact you know during the Ukraine you know during the invasion of Ukraine that's not in place right now so I think that the markets are actually setting up for something that doesn't become

kind of a continued conflagration. Now, obviously, that could change at any point, but I think that that's what we're seeing in the markets. So, Patrick, I'm going to give you the last word. You're saying the market seems to be looking past this event. It sounds like you are as well. So is today an opportunity? And if so, what areas are the opportunities in?

I think naturally you want to look for safe havens and within equity exposure, you've got a lot of risk already. So gold, oil, that's where people will be looking. But I actually think structural spending on defense companies is a very nice tailwind. You actually see the benefits on days like this as well. So

European defense is something where you're going to see structural revenue growth as Europe rearms. It's got a less reliable U.S. partner in NATO, potentially ongoing conflicts and nationalism. But I have to say, in all fairness, right now we're looking at the ITA ETF. It's up about one and a half percent. So you're saying buy what everybody else is buying? Because if we're just looking past this, wouldn't you want to buy in some sector that's taken a decline today with the thought that the market's going to look past this and that sector is going to recover or that area of the market is going to recover?

You could if you're looking for a very short-term trade, but I'm talking about over the next few years, you're getting this geopolitical hedge with incredible tailwinds behind it. So we're not looking at extreme market movements today with futures down 1%. You can be buying the dip there, but that's a really small incremental gain. I do think you should be positioned for things over the long term that have structural tailwinds, non-cyclical earnings. Don't look for treasuries as a safe haven. That's a tarnished asset. If you do want treasury protections...

inflation protected bonds are a much better safe haven all right patrick armstrong gina sanchez thank you both for your time and your insight on a morning like this have a great day

We have a lot more to come here on Worldwide Exchange, including rising Mideast risk, the energy trade and U.S. energy security. The CEO of natural gas giant EQT coming up next. Plus, global airline fallout following the Israel-Iran attacks. Our Phil LeBeau has the very latest. You can see the stocks moving right now. United Airlines, four and a half percent down. Delta Airlines, three and a half percent down. Much more Worldwide Exchange coming up right after this.

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And welcome back to Worldwide Exchange. Right now we're taking a look at U.S. stock futures. You can see we're in the red across the board. The Dow down about 1.25%. The S&P the same. The Nasdaq the hardest hit down about 1.5%. We're going to take a look at the Dow gainers and laggards. First, the gainers right now. You're seeing an energy name right there at the top of the list, Chevron. Those shares up 2.75% to 1%.

Johnson & Johnson up fractionally. And then we have the Dow laggards, a number of names on that list, as you would imagine. Taking a look at Nvidia, pulling back about 2% right now. Amazon down about 2% as well. Sherwin-Williams and Nike also pulling back about 2%. Much more Worldwide Exchange coming up right after this. Stay with us.

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Welcome back to Worldwide Exchange. Turn now to a developing story in yesterday's crash of that Air NDS 787 jet. Still so many questions unanswered. Our Phil LeBeau is standing by with the very latest on that story. Phil.

And Frank, we do have an update out of India. The police at the location of the crash say they have recovered one of the black boxes. Unclear if it's the data recorder, the cockpit voice recorder. They have one. Remember, there are two on all airplanes. Those really hold the answers in terms of what happened right before the crash. When you look at the crash scene, it's amazing to think that one person actually survived this crash. But that, in fact, is what happened. 241 people

were killed during the crash. One person who was on that plane walked away, survived. He actually did some interviews and talked with reporters who were there at the scene or on social media as well. So here's where things stand on the investigation. The NTSB and FAA have investigators headed to India

If they're not there already, they will be there shortly. The search for the data and voice recorder, as I mentioned, one of those has been recovered. Wouldn't be surprised if we get the other one by the end of today or in the next day. And then you've got Boeing and GE Aerospace. They're technicians. They're engineers who work intimately with the Dreamliner, with the GENX-1B engine. They will be assisting in terms of help.

helping to analyze data, answer questions for investigators. Boeing, as you take a look at shares there, CEO Kelly Ortberg, in light of this accident, has decided he will not be coming here to Paris for the Paris Air Show, which starts on Sunday. And when you look at GE shares, also keep in mind that the company was scheduled to have an investor day on Tuesday, updating its guidance for 2025 and beyond. They are postponing that, again, in light of

of the crash that happened yesterday. That is the latest Frank and obviously the focus right now is getting that second black box.

So, Phil, a question for you. We're also looking at a global airline stock this morning. Look at Ryanair right now. Those shares down about 2 percent. Earlier, we were talking about Delta shares being down as well. And then, of course, you have that big news today about Israel striking Iran. Is that what's impacting these global airline strikes? Is it the attack or is it also the rise in oil prices, which impacts fuel prices and profitability for these airlines? It's both of them. It is the fact that the Middle East conflicts continue.

closing airspace. That's just going to weigh, especially on the European airlines, who are a little bit more exposed in terms of when airspace is closed to the Middle East. It's a destination for the people from the Middle East coming to Europe, from Europe going to the Middle East. And then jet fuel prices.

I mean, if they spike and stay high, that certainly has an implication for all airlines. Those are the two things that are weighing on airline stocks this morning. Yeah, we're looking at the moves right now. Delta down about 3.5%, United down about 4.5%. Our Phil LeBeau live from Paris. Phil, always great to see you. Thank you again.

All right, turn our attention now to the energy market. Traders on alert this morning following Israel's overnight strike on Iran. Oil jumping as much as 15% at one point. Right now you can see it has eased off those levels a bit. Right now it's up, WTI's up about 7%. Natural gas also getting some attention. Right now we're seeing some upside moves in natural gas. Natural gas up just about 1%.

But even before today, natural gas was already up about 20 percent over the past 12 months. Joining me now on this and much more is Toby Rice, CEO of U.S. natural gas giant EQT. Toby, thank you for joining us. Good morning, Toby. How does the action in the Middle East right now, the attack from Israel on Iran around counterstrike, how does that impact the natural gas market?

Well, it will just highlight the importance of American energy and why this is so important on the world stage. You know, natural gas, American natural gas is going to play a huge role in providing energy security to the world. And every bit of natural gas that we put on the world stage is

Every cargo that we put in the world is going to replace energy that's being provided by petro-dictators, which, as we've seen in Russia, as we're seeing right now in Iran, is leading to massive civil unrest and instability in the region. So American energy is going to be the key to American influence and global stability, peace and prosperity. We need to be doing more

bringing more American energy into the world, not less. As we mentioned, natural gas is up now. It's about one and a quarter percent rising, actually, while we're talking. We saw trade tensions begin, at least it appeared to ease a bit. Now we're seeing geopolitical tensions kind of spiking right now. One part of the president's trade talks is the idea that a lot of other countries with trade deficits with the U.S. that will buy natural gas from us. The events that we've seen over the last 24 hours, does that change that dynamic at all?

I think it's really important for people to understand how US LNG being the number two export for America is going to be a really key

trading tool for this administration to use to strengthen relationships across the world, lower the impacts of these tariffs. And it's really great to have an administration that actually recognizes the strategic importance of U.S. LNG. And we're really excited that this administration has lifted the pause on LNG and allowed us to be able to use this as a tool to bring more stable trade, which can allow

bring a lot more certainty to American business. So this is a great thing. It's a great tool. And we need to keep leveraging this to bring more peace and prosperity to the world. All right. So Toby, I got to be in all fairness. You're saying it's a great tool, but you're not really answering. I mean, some of these geopolitical tensions, does that change the dynamic of other countries wanting to buy natural gas from a U.S. supplier like yourself? The president went to the Middle East not that long ago and made a lot of different trade deals. Were you expecting to see a rise of natural gas buying from the Middle East, from other parts of the world? And does any of this change that?

Well, the Middle East is actually going to be a supplier of LNG, so less so on the buying. But the places that we're going to be seeing big demand for American LNG is going to be in Asia and in Europe. We are very supportive of Europe's roadmap to phase out Russian gas. Let's not forget that more US LNG is needed to replace Russian gas that is still flowing into Europe, which is remarkable.

then in insatiable demand for energy that's taking place in Asia America is going to play a large role in providing. That supply you know we're seeing. A.

massive increase in U.S. LNG. It's going to create a problem. We're going to see U.S. LNG demand here in the U.S. double by 2030, an incremental 15 BCF a day. That's a great start, but we can be doing a whole heck of a lot more because one thing is short. This world is energy short, and we need more American energy to fill that hole. Toby, one other question before we let you go. We got a soft and expected inflation read just a few days ago. How does that impact the energy market, specifically natural gas?

Natural gas is unique in the sense that it's not as sensitive to economic factors. And I'll give you one example. During COVID, where things shut down, we saw natural gas demand on the industrial front decrease only 1%. What that highlights is how critical natural gas is, and it's less...

prone to seeing demand destruction from the economy. It's a different story when it comes to oil. But natural gas, I think, is what's becoming even more clear now is just how important this role is going to play in providing a trading tool for our allies around the world.

And with U.S. LNG, it's certainly going to be something that we need to continue to turn the knob on and leverage. You know, really an amazing story. About a decade ago, I think we were natural gas importers. Now we're exporters. Your company, a big part of that story. Toby Rice, thank you for joining us, especially on a day like this. Hope to have you back.

All right. Thanks a lot. Thank you. All right. Coming up here on Worldwide Exchange, it's been one of the hottest trades of the week. We're talking the latest quantum stock pop with the CEO of IonQ coming up. But first, we're watching shares of global shippers on rising fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East and the impact on the sector. Take a look at these stocks right now. You're seeing mare shares up more than 3 percent. Hoppag-Loeig up about one and a quarter percent. Zim up more than 3 percent.

And down at the bottom, HMM, that's Hyundai Merchant Marine. Those shares up more than 5%. Much more Worldwide Exchange coming up right after this. Israel backs those words with action. We struck at the heart of Iran's nuclear enrichment program. We struck at the heart of Iran's nuclear weaponization program. This is a clear and present danger to Israel's very survival.

That was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this morning calling Iran a clear and present danger as it strikes nuclear and military sites across Iran. Welcome back to Worldwide Exchange. I'm Frank Holland.

We're going to begin with our top story this morning and some breaking news. Israel launching what it describes as preemptive airstrikes against critical nuclear and military targets across Iran overnight. Iran state media reporting two of the country's top military leaders were also killed in the strike, including the commander in chief of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard. Also, there was infrastructure damage across the country.

Israel and Jordan also reporting they've intercepted drones and missiles heading for Israel following the strike. In a televised address, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Iran a clear and present danger to Israel. Moments ago, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival. This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.

And we are following the global market reaction to these events this morning. Let's start with U.S. stock futures in the red all morning. All three major indices down more than 1%. The Dow looks like it would open about 500 points lower. Also, some sharp moves when it comes to energy. Oil surging double digits. Right now, you can see WTI crude's up just over 7%. We're also looking at energy stocks this morning in the pre-market. Take a look. You can see the energy sector's up about 2.75% or 1%. ExxonMobil, oil giant.

up more than 3%. Chevron up more than 2% down here. Total Energy is a European energy stock up more than 1.5%. Also looking at defense stocks this morning in the pre-market. Taking a look at those, again, following those strikes from Israel on Iran and Iran's counterstrikes

Those shares up more than 4.5%. Lockheed Martin up more than 4%. General Dynamics up more than 1%. Similar story for the ITA ETF that tracks a lot of aerospace and defense names. We're also watching safe havens, including gold, this morning. Taking a look, you're seeing gold's moving up more than 1%. Week-to-date gold up just about 3%. Also looking at currency, specifically the dollar this morning. We saw the dollar moving higher earlier. Right now, actually, we're going to switch over to bonds. Taking a look at the bond market, we're seeing bond yields move.

moving lower than levels we saw yesterday, the 10-year at 4.34, a move into safe havens perhaps, the two-year at 3.89, well below 4% that we saw it at earlier this week. Down here, the 30-year, 4.83. There was a 30-year bond auction yesterday as well.

Okay, that is your setup now. We want to turn to reaction from Washington, D.C. Our Megan Casella is standing by with a look at how the administration is responding. Megan, good morning. We saw Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, come out on social media saying the U.S. wasn't involved. What's the very latest from D.C.?

That's right, Frank. So the White House emphasized as these attacks were unfolding overnight that the U.S. was not involved and that it was not providing assistance. As you said, the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, he is the only official reaction so far from the Trump administration, saying in a statement that Israel took unilateral action against Iran. He went on to say, we are not

involved in strikes against Iran, and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region. Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense. President Trump and the administration have taken all necessary steps to protect our forces and remain in close contact with our regional partners. Let me be clear: Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel."

Now, President Trump had been made aware that strikes were likely coming soon, according to multiple reports. And NBC News has not confirmed that reporting. But earlier on Thursday, the president had told reporters that while he would not call an Israeli attack on Iran imminent, he did say that it looked like something that could very well happen.

But the decision to move forward with the attacks still appeared to be a significant break with the White House. They had been working to negotiate a diplomatic agreement with Iran over its nuclear capabilities. The next round of those meetings had been set for this coming Sunday. The president had also told reporters on Thursday that he would much prefer what he called the friendlier path to an agreement with Iran.

NBC News also reported, Frank, that the president's national security team monitored the strikes in real time from the Situation Room. And the president's schedule today shows a meeting with his security team back in the Situation Room at 11 this morning. Frank? I'm Megan Cassell, live from D.C. Megan, thank you very much for the very latest.

Let's keep this conversation going and bring in Terry Haynes. Terry, NBC News reporting just moments ago that Israel's attacks on Iran are ongoing, hitting an airport in one of the country's most northern major cities. Thank you for joining us. Just for edification of the audience, you're the head of political analysis at Pangea Policy Advisory. Really great to have you on a morning like this. What do you make of the fact that Israel's attacks, they are still ongoing? We did hear from Benjamin Netanyahu saying Israel's attacks are ongoing.

that basically it could take days or weeks and that Israel would continue. But what do you make of the fact that despite the U.S. kind of pushing back against these attacks, they are still ongoing? Good morning, Frank. And...

Yeah, it's a very difficult situation. Let me say two things. One, for markets, I wonder whether the holiday from history is going to be over or not. You know, we've had the highest geopolitical risk in 50 years going ever since the Middle East war started. And, you know, my instinct is this is not going to be a blip. It's when people are, you've got two countries that both think the other has existential threats, then the

The scene is set for something a little bit more than Rock'em Sock'em Robots. So this is a very volatile and difficult situation, and it's probably not going to get resolved quickly, and markets should look out for that. Secondly, you know, and Megan...

summarized this very well, so I won't go back over what she said. But you saw, I heard nothing in any of that exposition that indicated that the administration disagreed with the idea. They understand Israel's doing what it had to do and were advised and watched in real time and all the rest. And Iran has been warned by Secretary of State Rubio not to escalate. But at the same time,

We've seen in the past situations where President Trump or even President Biden have pulled the string on Israel and told it not to go forward. And that's not happening here. So you're saying that's not happening. Very interesting. There were talks scheduled for the weekend between the U.S. and Iran, I believe a sixth round of talks in Oman. How does this change the dynamics specifically between the U.S. and Iran?

Well, you know, Trump's perspective is – and you bring that up appropriately – Trump's perspective has been always that there are two paths, not one path. And his quote that, you know, he'd prefer the nicer path is indicative of that.

But the United States and Iran are going to be on tender hooks for quite some time. That was already happening with the evacuation of United States personnel from the Middle East in a variety of different areas. And I suspect that as Iran looks at its options, it's going to evaluate just how and where and when it can discomfort Iran.

or even attack United States interests. So we are by no means done here. And the danger zone hasn't passed either for Israel or, frankly, for the United States. All right, Terry, one last question, and we've got to get going after this. I think the question for a lot of investors is, what's Israel's ultimate goal? Is it to delay Iran's nuclear program or destroy it completely? And does Israel actually have the capability? Can they do it?

Well, Israel is opaque at this point. Uh, you know, they talk a lot about the, uh, degrading the nuclear capability and degrading the ballistic missile capability. And it would be interesting to see. And the answer is, I don't know, uh, whether Israel's objectives will change, uh, here over time, but you know, I'll end with this though. A lot of analysis that's happening today, uh, assumes that there are rational actors here acting rationally. And in that situation, uh,

one or more parties may end up acting irrationally to gain an advantage. So that's one reason why the situation is so difficult. All right, Terry Haynes, we've got to leave the conversation there. Thank you for your time and insight on a morning like this. Thank you. All right, coming up here on Worldwide Exchange, why the knee-jerk reaction in oil may not just be a short-term blip, at least not this time around. As we head to a break, here's a look at some stocks in the news.

For earnings, Adobe had record revenue and raised its full-year targets, but the stock is lower this morning. RH surging on strong first-quarter profit and reaffirming its full-year outlook. Chime giving back a little this morning after a 37% pop in its first day of trading. And Raw stores up on a J.P. Morgan price target hike. And GameStop up the size of a private offering to $2.25 billion. Those shares are higher. We're going to be right back. Stay with us.

Welcome back to Worldwide Exchange. Let's get more on the moves in energy following the Israeli strike on Iran. Energy stocks following oil's sharp move higher. Our Pippa Stevens joins us now with much more. Pippa, good morning. Good

Good morning, Frank. Well, oil is off the overnight highs, but still a big jump for crude, given how critical the Middle East is for global supply. Again, Capitol's John Kilduff saying we are in uncharted territory here. And Iran's response will determine oil's next move, with crude squarely caught in the geopolitical crosshairs. Now, Iran itself is not a major global supplier. They export about 1.5 million barrels per day, but

But the fear is that how they retaliate could prompt a military escalation that would impact the broader region's oil supply. For the time being, Lipow Oil Associates' Andy Lipow said a loss of Iranian oil could mean prices rise by about $7.50.

But the biggest possible impact could be a potential blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, with about 20 percent of global oil flowing through the key waterway every single day. CIBC private well, Rebecca Babin, said it's still a low probability scenario, but that the odds are rising as the situation evolves. The Strait has never been fully closed, but if it were, Lippau said we could see $100 oil once again. Frank?

Our Pippa Stevens. Pippa, thank you very much for that. For more on the potential risk premium for oil prices and the energy sector, we're joined by Richard Bronze. He's the co-founder and head of geopolitics and energy aspects. Richard, good morning. Good to see you. Morning, Frank. So, Richard, where could we see oil go? We saw earlier this morning it spiked. It was up about 15, 14 percent earlier. But we've seen this before where geopolitical events happen, the price spikes, and then it just seems to come right back down. Do you think this time may be different?

Well, I think the question really depends what happens next. And that's what the oil price is starting to reflect. How big is Iran's response? Is it only targeted at Israel? Or does it also extend maybe to US bases, to other allies in the region? Those kind of things could draw in...

the U.S. into a conflict, it could escalate. But we're not certain that that's going to happen. And so far at least there hasn't been any direct disruption of supply. So, it's going to be a case of watch and wait to determine whether oil prices are going to keep going up because the situation is escalating or some of that risk premium can start to come out once it becomes clear that we aren't going to see supply losses.

All right. So investors are watching and waiting. What about OPEC itself? How does OPEC view these events? Does it influence their decision to ramp up production or possibly cut production?

Well, I think OPEC had already set itself on this path of adding supply pretty rapidly month by month. And it will always be very careful because Iran is a member not to explicitly talk about filling or replacing any losses of Iranian supply, whether it's from sanctions or conflict or anything similar. But the OPEC group does have

uh spare capacity that it wants to bring online and so if we do see losses of Iranian supply later this year that will create more space in the market which OPEC other OPEC barrels can fill the knock-on effect though will mean OPEC will be holding less spare capacity so the market will be tighter if there's other supply disruptions or if fundamentals require extra supply Richard bronze thank you very much for your time and your insight on a morning like this thanks again

All right, coming up here with Worldwide Exchange, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Wong changing his tune on one area of the tech sector and shares there, they have just been soaring. The full story in a can't-miss interview coming up. Stay with us. There's an inflection point happening in quantum computing. The number of logical qubits are starting to grow. Well, just like Moore's Law would...

I could totally expect 10 times more logical qubits every five years, 100 times more logical qubits every 10 years. Those logical qubits would become better error corrected, more robust, higher performance, more resilient, and of course, will continue to be scalable.

That was a video of CEO Jensen Wong speaking at the Viva Tech conference in Paris on Wednesday, appearing to change his tune on quantum computing after saying in January the tech was something for the distant future. His comments, they're lighting a fire in a quantum stocks. Let's talk much more about this and the quantum computing space. Joining me now is Niccolo DeMasi, president and CEO of IonQ. Good morning. Thank you for joining us.

Pleasure to be here. All right. So in your mind, where are we at when it comes to quantum computing? In January, Jensen Wong basically said it wasn't ready for primetime. He said now we're at an inflection point. What's the real answer right now? Is quantum computing, is it ready for primetime? In that sense, I mean, ready for enterprise use.

Yeah, look, I think we're already doing things in the enterprise space that has helped Jensen see reality on this in the last six months. At the March GTC event in Palo Alto, we announced a 12% speed up on computational engineering using our current generation quantum computers in partnership with Ansys.

And then earlier this week on Monday, we made an acquisition obviously of Oxford Ionics, which is, we think, market-making and transformative, propelling INQ into the leadership position with the most aggressive and progressive roadmap to do useful things in quantum every year between now and 2030. We also announced on Monday this past week a partnership with Nvidia, AstraZeneca, and Amazon AWS. And in that partnership, we talked about a 20x speedup

in the workflow for computational drug design. And 20x speedup is very real, right? That's turning months of work into days.

All right. So a number of partnerships. I want to go back to that acquisition you made of Oxford Ionics over a billion dollars. I have to say that's a lot of money for a company that's not yet profitable. It seems like this is one of many acquisitions actually in recent weeks and recent days. And you're trying to consolidate. What is it that you're trying to consolidate right now? And this is an emerging tech. It seems like we're in the early innings. Why do you think it's so important to try to bring this company and other companies into IonQ?

Well, INQ has always been the biggest public company in the space. We're effectively the bellwether for the industry. We were the first IPO. We've always been the biggest player by pretty much every metric.

There's two pieces of our business that are both growing nicely. Our guidance range this year at the top end is not far off of $100 million of revenue. And our quantum networking business has advanced with acquisitions in the last year from Cubatech to IDQ in Geneva through to our LightSync acquisition in Boston and Capella, which is a satellite QKD company. Our quantum computing business, which is probably the majority of

you know, present excitement. But I think quantum networking is going to be pretty exciting as the coming years play out. Quantum computing, we've been advancing with acquisitions such as LightSync and Oxford Ionics. And we announced earlier this week a combined roadmap, which we believe leads the industry. So the combination of INQ and bulk optics, plus LightSync and quantum memory, plus Oxford Ionics, who have this unique ion trap on a chip,

technology allow us to not only get the most compelling unit economics in the next five years, but it allows us to effectively move forward those logical qubits that Jensen was talking about at a tremendous pace. We have projected 80,000 logical qubits by the end of this decade, next five years, and that allows us to unlock a fantastic range

of new enterprise applications. Not only computational drug design and computational engineering in general, but there's more work in material science to come, more work in logistics, more work, of course, in cryptography. And we're already showing early progress in all of those areas just with 36 qubits. Imagine what it'll be like when you have 80,000 logical qubits. Well, Nick, you're really taking me to my next question. You mentioned some of the drug applications. Some of your other customers are Hyundai, Automobile Maker, and also Airbus, a plane maker.

What are the real practical applications for this? When you talk about medicines, that's science, it's research. For these industrial companies, what's the real applications for quantum computing today? So it's quantum AI, which is very much a narrow application of AI to industrial uses. Things like how do you learn faster with an LLM by using a quantum computer on the loop?

to improve yields and steel production? How do you do cargo loading more effectively for Airbus? How do you improve ultimately that top of funnel in the drug design process for AstraZeneca? How do you look for fault and anomaly detection across everything that General Dynamics is doing, for example?

So these applications are getting more powerful continually. We're already showing tremendous progress. It will be not just exponential, but doubly exponential every year from here on out as we continue to expand the power of our machines by a tremendous rate on a generational basis. So it's not just Moore's Law where you double every year. We're actually increasing machines by 100 million times the power

in a single generation. All right, Nicola DeMasi, CEO of INQ, great conversation. I don't think this story is anywhere near from being over. Please come back. We want to continue the conversation. Thank you again. Look forward to it. Look forward to it. Thanks for your time. All right, moving back to the markets. One more check on futures in the red across the board, as you can see. Under pressure after Israel launches preemptive strikes against Iran. Let's bring in Stephanie Link, chief investment strategist at Hightower, also a CNBC contributor. Steph, good morning. What do you make of the action that we're seeing in the pre-market?

Well, it's a natural reaction. I think things will eventually calm down. But we are up 21 percent from the lows of April, Frank, as you very well know. So taking some profits, it makes sense today. But I do think eventually this is a buying opportunity. All right. So it's a buying opportunity. But in what areas? We had a guest on earlier saying you should buy defense stocks that are up right now and safe havens that are up right now. But you're saying it's a buy the dip opportunity or would you buy into that strength?

No, I think it's a buy, and I think it's a buy of winners and losers. And I have a couple of ideas. Snowflake is a winner, and I think it's going to continue to win. And if it's down today, that's the opportunity because this company is growing product revenue at 28 percent and operating margins at 9 percent. I think they go to 15 percent over the next couple of years, and so you're going to have positive operating leverage.

I also like a loser, which is the gap, because I do think that the new management team is doing an amazing job in terms of turning around key brands like Old Navy and the gap, where they're seeing 3% and 5% same-store sales, respectively. One other area I want to talk to you about are treasuries. We had a guest earlier saying that treasuries are not the place to be, that the safe haven isn't the place to be right now. How are you viewing bonds right now? Bonneau seemed to pull back on this news, people kind of piling in there again for a safety trade.

Yeah, I'm not sure. I'm not doing the fixed income side right now because I think eventually we will get past today and this kind of news. But we are chipping away at the unknowns, Frank. We have lower inflation. We have better GDP. We are getting some sort of clarity on tariffs. We don't like it, but we're getting more clarity. And that's why I think you want to be buying the dip. All right.

All right. So you want to buy the dip. So last question, we got to go stuff. Do you see this as a temporary situation for investors? I don't know about the geopoliticals. Nobody does. But for investors, where they're going to look past this, or do you think this is going to continue to weigh on the market going forward?

No, I really do think that this is a buying opportunity, Frank. The fundamentals are really good. Earnings are growing double digits. The economy is running something like two, two and a half percent. So I think you want to be looking at not the defensives. They're expensive. I think you want to look at some of these other names that I was mentioning. Stephanie Link, always great to see your pick for us today, The Gap. Have a great day.

We're also going to turn to a news alert right now. The Wall Street Journal says some big merchants, including Walmart and Amazon, are looking into issuing their own stable coins. The journal says the move would shift transactions outside the traditional financial system and would save them billions of dollars in fees. Right now, we're taking a look at shares of Walmart pulling back about a half a percent. Amazon shares down about 2 percent. But obviously,

A lot of other reasons for downtrends in the market and the pre-market. Again, after those strikes from Israel and Iran and Iran striking back. We're going to take one more look at futures. We've been showing them all morning long in the red across the board. Right now, it looks like the Dow would open about 500 points lower. That's going to do it for us. You've been listening to CNBC's Worldwide Exchange. You can always catch us live weekdays at 5 a.m. Eastern.

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