you look at tjx and ross stores. ross stores has plenty of room to still grow in the united states and when you look at tjx if they want to get global they can get global in a hurry because they are another one just in the united states. there is room for expansion and obviously the discounters right now always have that advantage. that's the one area that still can compete very, very well and they've proved it time and time again against the e-commerce world an obviously we're talking about amwhen we say that. >> no big surprise when you look at the calls. look at the neutral. you can substitute neutral for what may be a negative from most observers. i mean, everything is a big box. nordstrom, kohl's, macy's, target, dillard's, big lots, all neutral. >> i bought macy's, got luck yrks worked out early. 3/4 last week, the rest this morning. but that's the big issue. what's somewhat of a boutique firm doing hiring an analyst who may be the best analyst in the world, she may be the best analyst in the world, no value ad

tjx, which owns marshalls, tjx and homegoods, plans to open another 1800 stores and the biggest online retailer of them all, amazon is building physical book stores. kelsey says retailers need both to grow. >> what you do see is if you close a store in an area, your online sales go down. online and physical stores are integrally connected. >> now trying to find the right mix to keep customers coming back. and the money coming in. ann thompson, nbc news, new york. >>> overseas tonight. there's been another shocking twist in the airport assassination of the estranged brother-in-law of north korean leader kim jong-un. you've probably seen the video by now. women allegedly wiping something on his face. and a short time later, he's dead. investigators now say they know what killed him. here's nbc's janice mackie-frayer. >> tonight stunning new claims from police, that the women seen attacking kim jong nam in this airport hay sass nation were using a deadly nerve agent called vx. considered a weapon of mass destruction. tasteless, odorless, and lethal. >> vx is the most deadly chemical weapo

tjx, which owns marshalls, tjx and homegoods, plans to open another 1800 stores and the biggest online retailer of them al book stores. kelsey says retailers need both to grow. >> what you do see is if you close a store in an area, your online sales go down. online and physical stores are integrally connected. >> now trying to find the right mix to keep customers coming back. and the money coming in. ann thompson, nbc news, new york. >>> overseas tonight. there's been another shocking twist in the airport assassination of the estranged half-brother of north korean leader, kim jong-un. you've probably seen the video by now. women allegedly wiping something on his face. and a short time later, he's dead. investigators now say they know what killed him. here's nbc's janice mackie-frayer. >> tonight stunning new claims from police, that the women seen attacking kim jong nam in this airport assassination were using a deadly nerve agent called vx. considered a weapon of mass destruction. >> vx is the most deadly chemical weapon ever produced. and literally, a pinhead amount of vx will kill y

among the companies reporting results before the open today, tjx, the parent of tj maxx and marshals, and theme park operator six flags. after the close, we hear from tesla, hp, l brands and square. >>> making headlines this morning, bank of japan governor says the boj does not plan to push rates further into negative territory. the central bank chief making the comments to parliament today. kuroda suggests that economic growth in japan is accelerating and that inflation will hit the 2% target during the fiscal year ending in march 2019. of course, this reflation trade and the rise of inflation in many parts of the world, including europe, will start to make its way to japan. that would be something that would be welcomed by the japanese, which have been in this long phase of deflation. >>> we continue to watch the peso today after mexico said its central bank will offer up to $20 billion in currency hedges. the move is designed to help mexico calm the volatility what has impact the tpeso thus far. the dollar is stronger against the paeso. >> since donald trump's presidency, the peso

beyond today's three big retailers, other companies reporting including tjx, tesla, phl brands, barclays, coles, gap and jcpenney. >>> kraft heinz is withdrawing its proposal forever a merger with unilever. kraft worried that it would be too hard to negotiate after the public disclosure of its bid so quickly. a kraft spokesman said the company intended to proceed on a friendly basis but found unilever did not wanted to pursue a transaction. seeing a bit of move. here. unilever basically flat this following a surge in shares on friday for unilever me. >> i was back in the uk over the weekend. a lot of talk about this deal. everything is politicized at the moment. i think that's a factor in kraft heinz's decision. they realize it's difficult to take a corporate takeover when people in the uk have experienced this before with kraft, when they took over cadbury, made a political promise that they would keep the factory in bristol open. that shut soon after. i think they realized there would be a lot of political wrangling. a lot of focus on this cross border pound has fallen type transaction

tjx on wednesday. and the recently controversial nordstrom on thursday alongside with game stores and foot lock order friday. i know it is not in the s&p 500 five hunt still. speaking of fireworks, check out the options market. nordstrom could move up or down by about 9.5%, according to options prices. macy's around 6.4%. consumer discretionary is the fourth biggest sector in the s&p. so we could see another read on the market direction that given what is happening next week with these retail earnings. they have been a focus for a lot of investors. back to you. >> and no one looks pocket square leak you do. there's one name in particular. simply unwill charitable. >> we know the biggest is walmart, then kroger. i thought it would set it up biffle looking at a chart from q-4, 2015 present. what you have here, despite the volatility at home depot. they are up the same amount. let's pull them apart individually. here the same time frame. price per share. earnings per share. leading. now let's do the s&p 5

tjx, which owns marshal marshalls, t.j. maxx and homegoods plans to open another 1800 stores, and the biggest online retailer of them all, amazon is building physical book stores. kelsey says retailers need both to grow. >> what you do see is if you close a store in an area, your online sales go down. online and physical stores are integrally connected. >> now trying to find the right mix to keep customers coming back. and the money coming in. anne thompson, nbc news, new york. >>> overseas tonight. there's been another shocking twist in the airport assassination of the estranged half brother of north korean leader kim jong-un. you've probably seen the video by now. women allegedly wiping something on his face. and a short time later, he's dead. investigators now say they know what killed him. here's nbc's janice mackie-frayer. >> tonight stunning new claims from police, that the women seen attacking kim jong nam in this airport assassination were using a deadly nerve agent called vx, considered a weapon of mass destruction

tjx on wednesday and nordstrom on thursday, and foot locker friday. jcpenney could have fireworks, although it's not in the s&p 500 still. speaking of fireworks, the options market overall and what's priced in for moves after earnings. nordstrom could move up or down by 9.5% according to option prices now. macy's around 6.5% now up or down. walmart and depot still volatile. 2.9% for home depot. consumer discretionary is the fourth biggest in the s&p, so we could see another read on the market direction given what's happening next week with the retail earnings. they have been a focus the past couple weeks. back to you. >> no one rocked the pocket square like you do. carter, there's a name you say in particular is uninsurable or close to it. >> it's a big name. take a look. home depot. the biggest in the country is walmart. costco, then kruger. fourth largest retailer in the united states, setting it up this way. looking at a chart from q4, 2015-present. what you have here, despite volatility in home depot is both home tdepot are up 22.5%. now, hold tha

tjx on wednesday. and the recently controversial nordstrom on thursday alongside with gap stores and foot locker on friday. i will throw in jcpenney because there could be some fireworks around that stock, even though i know it's not in the s&p 500. check out what happened with the options markets overall and what they're pricing in for moves after earnings. nordstrom could move up or down by about 9.5%, according to options prices. macies around 6.5% up and down. wal-mart and home depot a little less volatile. consumer discretionary is the fourth biggest sector in the s&p. so, melissa, we could see another read on the market direction given what's happening next week with these retail earnings. they have been a focus for a lot of investors for the past couple of weeks. >> thanks.com. no one rocks a pocket square like you do. carter, there's one name you say is unshortible. >> not unshortible, but a big name. it's home depot. the biggest in the country is walmart, then costco, number three is kroger. h

tjx companies up over 2%. walmart about 1% higher on this week. you can argue that the border tax stuff is driving the majority of the action, but still, those factor in information available to this point. earnings probably factor in the price. next week the retail parade continues. you've got notable reports including target on tuesday, best buy on wednesday, and then lowe's that day as well. as for what the options markets pricing for in how those stocks could move post-earnings, best buy has the largest implied move, over nip% up or down on the heels of earnings. target and lowe's each expected to move more than 3% in either direction as well. so melissa, you add earnings to the speculation on that b.a.t. and we could have some continued real action on the retail front. it could be exciting next week, melissa. back over to you. >> thanks so much, dom chu at the nasdaq. what are some of the ways to profit from retail right now? >> we're going to talk about selling a call spread. what we're looking for situations where we have a neutral to beari

then you have macy's up 3% since tuesday's report and then tjx companies up over 2%, walmart about 1% higher on this week. now you can argue that the border tax stuff is driving the majority of the action but still those factor in information available to this point. earnings factor in the price. next week the retail break continues. notable reports including target on tuesday, best buy on wednesday and then lowe's, that day as well. as for what the options market pricing in for how those stocks could move post-earnings you have best buy has the largest implied move over 9% up or downtown heels of earnings. target and lowe's each expected to move more than 3% in either direction as well. so melissa you add earnings to the speculation on that bat and we could have some continued real action on the retail front. it could be exciting next week. back to you. >>> what are some of the ways to profit from retail? here's the call to action. >> we'll talk about selling a call spread. what are the things we're looking for? we're looking for situations where we have neutral to bearish outlook. w

nordstrom is up 6% since reporting last night, then macy's up about 3% since tuesday's report, and then tjx companies up over 2%. walmart about 1% higher on this week. now, you can argue that the border tax stuff is driving the majority of the action, but still, those factor in information available to this point, so earnings probably factor in the price. next week, the retail parade continues. you have notable reports, target on tuesday, best buy on wednesday and then lowe's that day as well. as for what the options market's pricing in for how those stocks could move post earnings, you've got best buy, it has the largest implied move, over 9% up or down on the heels of earnings. target and lowe's each expected to move more than 3% in either direction as well. so, melissa, you add earnings to the speculation on that b.a.t., and we could have some continued real action on the retail front. it could be exciting next week, melissa. back over to you. >> all right. thanks so much, dom chu here at the nasdaq. so, what are some of the ways to profit for retail right now? mike khouw's at the smartb

. >>> maria: welcome back earnings this week focused on retail this morning we are waiting from tjx, yesterday we did get mixed numbers from walmart home depot macy's, let's talk about retail for a second here, bob, nardelli i know it has been business part of the economy that has been in recession, business managers have not put money to work with how is retail. >> mixed we saw yesterday, walmart same-store sales up maria but profit was down so trading profitability for customer transactions different in home depot costs up profitability up, as i said earlier because you've got consumers out there going from a maintenance mode only fix it if broken to investment mode where now investing in remodeling kitchens bathrooms able to flip those homes make money, kind of a return to where we were you know, in the -- 95 to 2000 period housing. >> isn't that part because economically low levels of homes valleys. >> yes depends on price range. >> higher price range not a lot available. >> not a lot returning right now, to your point earlier, you know you are seeing some of the -- first-time ho

. >> you go into tjx and you will find under armour. >> everybody is discounting. >> i'm just saying it's not the perfect group to be in. how about that? >> including nike and adidas. >> i don't want to touch nike right now. >> apparel in general, sports otherwise, there's no question about it. >> although lulu has done an outstanding job in competition because they're separated from the rest. >> i agree. >> it's men, they've got growth, children, growth. women are beating up under armour. >> it's a colt, too. i like colt. why are you doing so much better? mindfulness. i buy into that. >> it's not like this thing is way overpriced. >> 12 pe. >> only 15 times mindfulness. >> sure. >> it is a day of big movers, as you know already. coming up in the blitz, we'll hit chipotle, hasbro, newell. and star analyst covering the fang stock also drop by the set. facebook, amazon, net flix. what about alphabet? disney as well on these reports that maybe bob will stick around longer than thought. more "half time report" straight ahead. tubu in ireinotion.across t s growinthe econom heel thettas fi

tj maxx and marshall's owned by tjx companies have decided not to feature the brand. they're not pulling the brand entirely. a memo was sent to employees at the stores, asking them to take down signage and mix in the merchandise with the larger assortment. so, again, "new york times" is reporting that tj maxx and marshalls, which are both owned by tjx companies, have decided to no longer feature the ivanka trump merchandise but have not gotten rid of it just yet. >> what they put in their advertising circulars, how they announce online, all that stuff. >> that's right. >> got it, courtney. thank you. >> thanks, michelle. >>> tech is on a tear. trading at levels we haven't seen since the dot com bubble. remember those days? socks, sock puppet. tech names that got us here and what you should be buying right now. >>> plus stocks that gained the most for the election. these stocks are on track for the third straight day of declines. why the pullback? dear predictable, there's no other way to say this. it's over. i've found a permanent escape from monotony. together, we ar

all right, tjx takes on eye key a i can see is that happening. my dad's in the furniture business so i can tell you home goods has killed business from so many. manufacturing overseas, now everything being sold cheaply. they don't make a fine furniture any more. >> thank you, lauren, we appreciate it. >> it is true though. >> we love our deals, i just went shopping for furniture stuff, that's what i dtj max. >> thank you, thanks. >>> 7:26. so, the deadline is approaching. this afternoon, the question is: will jahlil okafor still be a sixer by 3:00? and is he still up for grabs after yesterday's trade with atlanta? what's this mean? what's going on? what's the plan? >> and also hey let's check in with jen. jen, kind of foggy. what are you doing? >> we are waiting for the 70s to come. the question s. speed or lent? if you're just starting what should you be focused on? be there nice out. ♪fast, rhythmic drumming it's coming soon to the poconos! america's largest indoor waterpark. kalahari resorts & conventions book your african adventure now! >>>

it's doing well because tjx can go to macy's or jp pennies or closing brick and mortar stores and buy merchandise from next to nothing and sell it below amazon if they are tjmaxx locations including the one in my building i like to visit a lot. let's understand each other. the sheer range of things you can do at home has never been broader. netflix -- my kids don't even have cable, darn it. they don't watch me. drives me crazy but the wife doesn't watch me, either. we'll talk about it after the show. anyway, the video games developed by activism electronic arts, the fabulous high-speed tip can create experiences more than anyone would imagine. certainly more exciting on our lives. now you can watch other people play games. people do that. e sports with the press of a button from twitch tv, the division of amazon and order them or take a subscription service from microsoft's xbox division. two more reasons to stay away from game stop. everything can be related to the stay at home economy. it's the ult my. which consumer pack caage goods company is doing the best of them all? pepsico wi

as we head to break, check out shares here of tjx, it's the parent company of t.j. maxx and marshall's. retail reporting better than expected earnings this morning. also announcing a 20% dividend hike. we have an earnings forecast just shy though of wall street estimates. the stock is looking a little flattish. and overall stocks at this hour have staged a bit of a turnarounds. the dow's gone positive just barely being lifted by chemical makers and nike. s&p 500 comes back. it's down a tenth of a percent as well as the nasdaq. much more "squawk on the street" straight ahead. >>> i'm contessa brewer. here's your cnbc news update. some 14,000 residents evacuated from homes in san jose because of rising flood waters. crews worked to help people trapped in homes and cars overnight. a stretch of highway 101 is closed in both directions south of san francisco. i'm sure a messy commute there. american airlines says computers are working again at philadelphia national airport. it has lifted a ground stop. its system failed to reboot correctly after a scheduled power outage

yesterday tjx, my travel trust owns it. fabulous quarter. stock didn't go up initially until people started realizing they have a great runway, good article in the journal about how great tjx is doing. but that's, you know, about it. >> the fallout from unilever's strategic review announced yesterday, which may result in them doing something as in something external continues to move some stocks. colgate is up again, guys, 74.46 up another 1.3%. >> interesting. >> you got a bunch of analysts now wading into this using the name outright saying maybe they try and buy colgate. who knows. unclear. certainly not clear -- don't expect anything to be happening now. but no shortage of speculation about what unilever might do including names such as that. >> well, look, i think when you get those bankers going. >> get the bankers going they're going to certainly try and focus for you on what might happen. but they've got decent margins already at colgate. we'll see. >> yeah. >> unilever maybe will. >> last quarter wasn't that good. emerging markets,

. >> still, do you just given on what your coverage group is, l brands, tiffany, tjx, urban, ralph, roz, give people the idea of the coverage that you have, do you think that people are willing, even with consumer confidence, at really high levels, and from the latest measurements, that they're willing to spend on apparel and other items they've been passing for so-called experiences, whatever those are? >> sure. and that's a great point. and that's very factually accurate point you're making. what i would say is i'm not trying to bottom tick names or fundamentals continue to wor sent and trying to catch a falling knife. coach and off price land, good quality businesses doing fundamentally well and they've kind of been a little bit lackluster as the babies going out with the bath water to some extent on the group. you want to look for those names, those quality names kind of getting beat up a bit. >> appreciate it. ike, thanks, talk to you soon. clear that demarkation line and you can tell as he discusses it in his tone and his message, he doesn't have to worry about the department stor

tjx. >> disappointing on guidance. this is a stock i think i bought the top tick of the stock in august 2016. i think i paid like $82.50. top tick was $82.67. crushed on it. disappointing i've since. the guidance this morning was weak. >> facebook in talks with mlb, major league baseball, live stream games. you own the stock? >> i do. you know i'm a huge facebook fan. >> yep. >> i don't care about the whole facebook streaming thing. i'm more interested in kind of what they're doing around what they're doing, how it's affecting snapchat, what's going -- or snap, let me drop the chat. how it's affecting snap and other things. but facebook, nobody is competing. let's be clear. >> it's going to crush snap. >> what's snap? >> instagram. >> no. >> guys, guys, guys, it's instagram. >> the gram. >> it's the gram and going live and it's the gram with recreating what snap -- snap is going to have a product issue and they're going to have an advertising dollars issue. >> you bet they are. >> part of the move in facebook is from i

. >> tjx, tj maxx, marshall's, when it comes to ivanka trump's stuff or signage, kind of throw it away. is there a hit they could take on the downfall? >> at this point, honestly, everything that trump does every day, we look at it and say that's unprecedented. that's all we say. oh, my god, what did he do now. i think the horror of the things he says is start to wear off. what will come down to it is the bottom line. if her pieces, her merchandise wasn't performing and not doing the sales they needed to do, now you have trump, who has a very low approval rating. that translates. who wants to have a product line that associates with the worst approval rating in history? >> you have companies taking the hit who went after trump and now those companies associated with trump. >> those hits happened prethree weeks ago. everybody saying give him a chance. now they're saying we gave him that chance. it's still not working. now there's a much more negative connotation with his brand. we're seeing that people protesting outside everything that has to do with trump, mar-a-lago, hotels, all arou

tjx reported a monster good quarter. it took this market a full 24 hours to realize how stupendous that quarter really was. i don't think it will require a full day to reward shareholders in burling stores when it reports. you might thing it's a bad time to own the company since we just had the warmest february in 40 years, but the new burlington sells a heck of a lot more than coats and people love to shop there. the numbers should be fabulous. we also hear from kroger on thursday and i keep wanting to recommend this supermarket chain, but there's too much price cutting to do anything other than hold on to the darn thing and maybe hope one day there will be an armistice day in the grocery war stores. this week isn't known for tech, but i see two worth owning that report after the close thursday. auto desk, which we profiled quite recently, and marvel technologies, auto desk has had a remarkable run. marvel's moved up gigantically since i've been pushing it. maybe it takes a breather, but you can either win with a takeou

i'm looking to dump some of my tjx at cost and by some johnson control below my cost basis. what do you think? >> frankly i got to tell you, michael, you know i like johnson control and my charitable trust, which you can follow along at ax a, finally took a little profit in tj. johnson controls is not moving like the others. i think you've got to think about another industrial. a 3m or a honeywell i think has more game than jci. listen to me, this isn't a rally. it's a sea change. we're captive to great forces and much of that rally has its roots in what was invented here. how about just around a few blocks? on "mad money" tonight, the future out here in cnbc one market in san francisco is bright, and the dow may have just logged its 22nd record close since the election. do not get too cocky. tonight i'm eyeing one rally that's worth some skepticism. plus it's at the intersection of some of the market's most exciting trends. my exclusive with vm ware is just ahead. but first, he stood side by side with president trump to anounls billions of dollars of investment in the u.s.

tjx posting better than expected earnings, rev nurenue, and same store sales. retailer also announced a 20% hike in dividend and stock buyback. >>> in tech news, the upcoming snap ipo will have a far-reaching impact on start-ups in what's known as silicon beach. julia boorstin joins us with more from venice beach, california, home of snap. hey, julia. >> reporter: hey, becky. that's right. snap's headquarters are right behind me here in venice. this ipo could be a game changer, not just for other start-ups here in the los angeles area, but for unicorns around the country. last year's ipo market was rough with the lowest proceeds since 2003 and the fewest number of deals since 2009. that's a 38% decline in ipos from 2015 to 2016 and a 62% decline from 2014, according to reconnaissance capital. other big unicorns we'll be watching to see how snap fares, including spotify, pinterest, and drop box along with air bnb. snap's ipo is a watershed for los angeles as ithe biggest eve for a company based here. while southern california has had a number of companies that h

>> we see tjx taking the signs down, and we see neimann marcus taking it off the website, keeping it in the store. people are marginalizing it. when you get the direct question and have a boycott group pushing you, you can't say yes we're keeping it, no, we're not keeping it, unless it's true. they basically took what i think may be an easier route than to say it's not doing well for us. >> what about fit bit, the other wearables? apple is dominating this category as well? >> you know what i said. i am shocked, shocked to hear there is gambling going on in this apple will own the space for a long time. will people make -- >> it's so much higher than a fitbit, the price point. how can they dominate a category so definitively with such a high price point? >> they've done the same thing with phones. arguably have the best brand out there. i don't think there's any magic with that. >> amazon, $10 bras. is this a threat to l brands? >> the bralette, which amazon is going to do. and since they're unconstructed and easier to fit, you can do it on amazon and at $10, they'll sell a lot. any o

maxx, the company is called tjx company, they own t.j. maxx, they've instructed their stores to mix her items in with other brands and to throw away signs advertising her brand. "at this time we continue to offer this line of merchandise. from time to time we communicate with our stores on how to handle communication. we instructed stores to mix the line in with racks." they're trying to get away from a boycott. >> hey, karma is a you know what. ivanka had two interns last summer who complained about not being paid. everybody deserves to be paid, especially when the owner is worth so much money. >> you've had the administration try to use ivanka trump to soften up the administration and make them all more likeable. is she in a position that's unfair in any way? >> no. she's a grown woman and she's making her endorsement out of family, but she understands, he's done a lot of fearmongering. he's trying to undermine american confidence, and they're trying to throw her out and say, soften this message. no. live with this message. people can't

tjx companies which a colleague seeine covers, continues to momentum from value seeking american shoppers that are choosing off-price over traditional department stores. many people remember president trump on the campaign trail holding up a chart about homeownership. how important will that be to this administration? what does that mean for home depot? >> homeownership ownership is bouncing off the bottom right now. it is amazing when you consider homeownership levels have come down so much. home improvement has done well but i would add it's been interesting to see home-improvement do well despite loan balance is going down. you are seeing home price appreciation which is driving most of that positive psyche for the american homeowner. there is a willingness to invest in an appreciating asset versus what had been a depreciating asset. we are multiple years into that now. interest rates will matter over time but right now, we are still at low levels and affordability is quite strong. brands --s and l kohl's was up and l brands was down. is there something going on that's having a disprop

as for the rest of the week, reports from tjx, tesla, hphl brands, barclays, coles, gap, nordstrom and jcpenney. tesla is a big one. everyone fascinated by the great elon musk. on this week's economic agenda, tomorrow look because we will get january existing home sales, and the minutes from last month's fed meeting. on thursday, weekly jobless claims. on friday, january new home sales and february consumer sentiment. >>> four americans and their pilot are dead after their plane crashed into the rof of of a shopping mall in melbourne, australia. this happened about 9:00 a.m. local time, an hour before the mall was due to open. >>> nearly a dozen passengers breached security at jfk story in new york. >> craziest story. >> 11 passengers walked through an unattended security line at terminal 5 around 6:00 a.m. eastern time and boarded flights. they say the checkpoint was about to open as a precheck lane, but because it wasn't fully staffed it shouldn't have let people through. tsa said all the carry-on bags were screened, so they are confident it presented little risk. >> this goes to the

tjx companies up 5.5%, also 73% positive. and for some reason, guys, seasonally speaking during valentine's day since 1980, the stock that's had the highest winning percentage of trades is chevron, believe it or not. up 2.5%. still, better than three-quarters of the time a positive trade. so hershey not the only stock that gets some love. if you want the full list, i'll be tweeting it out later on so you can see which of the 11 doesn't match up to some of these guys here. >> teasing us, making us sign up to make sure we're on your twitter feed. i already am. for anybody who isn't, it's @domchu, isn't it? >> @thedomino. >>> coming up, david ganek will join us to talk about his battle. tough to fight the government. here's how you do it. >>> also, more on the trump agenda. david schweikert will join us to talk about tax reform. >>> before we head to break, take a look at valentine's day facts. by the way, thank you for song recommendations. keep them coming. >>> welcome back to "squawk box." level global was a $4 billion hedge

. >> like a costco, tjx, think value. those are the retailer winning in this environment. >> in terms of political pressure one of the big issues for retail is the question about whether there's going to be a border adjustment tax. i know walmart -- doug in with the president a few weeks ago trying to push away from that. a lot of retailers doing that right now. what do you think a prospect is for border adjustment tax? >> i think it would be disastrous first and foremost for the retail sector. i think when you look at border tax adjustment, which has been much discussed in the market, it creates winners and losers. that's certainly an unintended consequence. you don't want that. any kind of law that creates winners and losers. if you look at it, i represent retail industry and they would clearly be a loser. >> net loser. any winner within the retail industry? anybody just manufacturing everything united u.s. >> winners and losers. sectors with lo margin negatively impacted. just as you said mass market retailers walmart,

you have to go to the tjx and that point passenger [inaudible] for the gtx is beginning to make sense of the private sector might actually chip in and say, we will do gtx is what i will leave it at that. thank you. >> thank you. >> that completes members of the public will want to address one that item. next item >> item 11 is discussion of the caution regarding potential invitation to a public agency to join the transbay joint powers authority as a new member. >> directors, as i mentioned i do of a meeting later this month with the ceo-arouse high-speed rail to discuss the steps it and what it takes to do it. we made out in the staff report the benefits of inviting high-speed rail to the board and steps that are required and the amendment that are required to do that. if the board wishes to proceed with that. i'll turn it over to >> yes., i think some of the issues here-there was some discussion about well and retake california high-speed rail, are we saying-how narrow to be wanted in terms of the specification as to who would qualify? would it be a board member or senior manager or