Rebels Edge · Thu, May 14, 2026
Trump’s China Trip Sends AI & Boeing Stocks SOARING
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The hosts attributed the market rally to optimism surrounding President Trump’s China trip and strong corporate earnings, while noting subdued volatility. They highlighted gains in Cisco, POET Technologies and ONDS, reported a prospective Chinese order for Boeing jets, and contrasted those developments with Enovix’s losses and cash-burn concerns.
- Retail sales rose 0.5% month over month, matching expectations; the hosts linked market optimism to China-related developments and earnings.
- The VIX remained below 18, with the hosts suggesting it could fall toward 16 absent negative news.
- Cisco reported revenue of $15.84 billion, up 12% year over year, and planned roughly 5% workforce reductions; the hosts highlighted AI orders and October $97 call buying.
- POET Technologies rose roughly 38–40% following an optical-networking agreement described as potentially worth $500 million; repeated unusual options buying was highlighted.
- ONDS gained roughly 25%, with the hosts citing backlog growth above 570%, projected annual revenue growth of 670%, and a nearly $1 billion US Army deal.
- The hosts reported breaking news that China would order 200 Boeing jets.
- Enovix fell as much as 18% despite strong revenue, with losses, cash burn and battery-demand concerns weighing on sentiment.
- The closing discussion covered Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani and rivalries among SEC football coaches and athletic directors.
Full transcript
Welcome back to the Rebels Edge. Coming to you live from Miami International Airport as I left Necker Island this morning and seems like I'm not the only one traveling, Pete. We got the president traveling with a whole bunch of those heavyweights and we've got some insights
to offer you about that on today's Rebels Edge.
>> [music] [music] >> Pete just reminded me this is the final Rebels Edge of the week. Yeah.
>> Because we do it Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.
Tonight, Pete, I'll be over at the Ritz in Fort Lauderdale giving some awards away to big hedge fund guys. That'll be fun.
But yeah, yesterday it was down to Necker.
Actually I landed in Beef Island, Tortola. Took a boat across to Necker Island and I'll post up some more pictures but it was pretty spectacular.
Yeah. And Richard Branson and the whole crew, all very fun.
Kite surfing, you know, I mean it is an adult playground. It puts Disneyland to shame. I'll bet you that.
>> [laughter] >> Ain't that the truth?
But you know what else puts Disneyland to shame? President Trump's Air Force One. Yeah.
>> Because He had the who's who on there.
You know, Blackstone, BlackRock.
He had Tim Cook.
He didn't initially invite Nvidia, Pete.
He didn't initially invite him. Yeah.
>> because he wanted China to ask for it cuz he said he ain't selling. He is coming because you want him.
>> [laughter] >> You need him. You you need him.
Yes, I think he picked him up in Alaska, Pete, as the plane went over. Yeah.
>> Yeah. Yeah. I I'd heard that, yeah.
Yeah. And all those Trump haters, I think right about now they're eating big-time crow, including our friend Kara Swisher, Pete. Once again. Yeah.
>> [laughter] >> The who's who of the world financial were on that plane. Yep.
>> And they are cutting deals, and China says, "We should be friends. We should be partners. We shouldn't be fighting." >> [laughter] >> Well, I'm sure she didn't like that, either, cuz Yeah. if it would have happened with some other president, she'd support it, but not with this one.
No.
>> [laughter] >> It's why it's one of my favorite lines from the Bible, Pete. Wisdom is justified by all her children.
In other words, they can come up with any excuse to not like this guy, and always point to something like, "Oh, he said grab them by the and so forth." Okay.
He says a lot of weird stuff, but he's getting stuff done, and that's what we care about. Yeah.
>> Let's dive into macro, Pete. I'll say retail sales released today indicated month-over-month increase of 1/2 a percent, which was in line with expectations. And I think what we're seeing on the rally today, Pete, is a reaction to all the good news coming
out of China and President Trump and all of those CEOs. What do you I think it's that. I think it's the optimism of that and and potentially, you know, obviously, the day in and day out of Iran is always going to be something. It's going to be newsworthy of some sort or another. But also, John, again, let's just talk for a second
about just how incredible these earnings in this cycle has been, with Cisco actually absolutely crushing it last night. I think the thing got up to like I think it was up over 20% right after the earnings. So, again, and I know we're going to talk about that one, but again, it's it's earnings and they're crushing it and and for all the folks
that say the economy's not this or it's not that, well, I don't know what they're looking at, John, but when we see a lot of these numbers, yes, there are some that aren't pretty, but 90% of them I would say are pretty damn pretty.
>> [laughter] >> Yeah, and we're going to dive right into that, folks, in just a sec, but first, Pete, the VIX uh under 18 and staying under 18 for now.
Yeah, not not really a whole lot of movement there, John. As a matter of fact, when you look at it, you'd almost say, you know, I would say rather that uh not only are we just below 18, but gosh, as we get closer to the weekend, there's a possibility we could get ourselves back down somewhere closer to 16. And I say that only because of the fact that yes, we are getting pretty
substantial moves and that that is the one thing that is that makes the the VIX actually makes a little sense above 16, but I'll tell you what, there certainly is a comfort level that people have reached, John. So, 17 what? Uh 75 to 1795 or whatever it is. It's a very very
tight tight range again and at some point it's going to move and unless there's some terrible news out there, I think the next move is going to be further south.
Well, what about uh this prediction market thing, Pete? I always like when I can find them and it was a little challenging because the uh the ocean between Necker and uh Miami is not too kind to uh Wi-Fi service, but I got this one for you. How long will Trump and Xi
shake hands when they meet?
>> [laughter] >> What a great thing to bet on. Yeah, and so, the range was basically, you know, 2 seconds up to uh they say it's a 96% chance that he'll hold on to Xi for at least 10 seconds. So, they're saying 10 to 15 seconds, 96% chance, Pete.
>> [laughter] >> You know what? I would take that. I I swear to you, John. I see I've seen enough of these where I'm sitting there and all of a sudden it catches my eye in the in the distance and I see the president shaking hands with whomever it might be he's meeting with.
He holds on for a hell of a long time. I don't know why what quite why it's so long, but you know, it's an op, you know, right? It's a photo op and all those things that go along with it, but uh Trump is definitely a guy who has got He's a a long-term handshaker. There's no doubt about that.
Well, what about Cisco, Pete? Yeah.
>> You already said they blew out the earnings, and boy, did they ever.
They're going to cut some jobs because, you know, hey, uh AI, one of the things that they support, of course, is helping them not have as many uh head count as they had beginning of the year. They're going to cut about another 5% of their workforce, Pete, but the revenue numbers just
spectacular.
And uh we happen to have a little unusual activity as well.
Um I know Pete's getting a kick out of the guys walking behind me towing luggage around, but I love this one, Pete. Just yesterday, somebody lays down a bet and says, "You know what? I'm going to buy uh the October calls at the 97 strike." They were in the money yesterday. Well, they're deeper in the
money today, Pete, and this stock has been up as high as 120 today.
Mhm.
Yeah, it's been absolutely incredible, John. As a matter of fact, after seeing that, I got a lot closer a lot closer in expiration and put a little something on in this one, lucky, uh but also, you know, controlled luck as well because we're seeing trades like that come into this thing. And it wasn't even just the trades, John. For me, it was also just looking at the earnings cycle and what
things have looked like so far and where those have been strong are very strong and those that are weak are pretty weak.
Well, that weak side of it's not very big, but I looked over at Cisco and they did not disappoint in everything that the expectations you have, I have, John, when you're looking at this thing. And they talked about restructuring the strategic side of things that you talked about the revenue. How about this? Up 12, again, 12% year-over-year. It's only
15.84 billion dollars, John, that they're putting up there. I mean, they reduced the workforce uh size force like you talked about about 5% or something like that. But, you know, the AI-related orders of nine billion dollars for the year. Uh I would say that these guys have made a
really, really nice move and AI being a big part of what's happening with Cisco.
Yeah, it's going to be uh uh a lot of flag-waving over in China, but it's also going to be a lot of happy uh workers here in America that uh we're open for business again, Pete. You know, they are. Okay, let's hit Poet Technologies. Um this one exploded. It was up I I one point I saw it up 40%,
Pete.
>> Yeah. Mhm. They unveiled a deal with Lumentum Lens for optical networking that could be worth half a billion dollars over the life of the agreement.
Um phenomenal and this one is a frequent flyer on our unusual activity list, as well, Pete. I mean, it's been on I don't know how many times, but uh certainly some of the recent purchases that people have been making, you know, look at these. When the stock was uh let's see,
the 12th That's only two days ago, folks. Stock was 14.53. Well, it eased back a little bit to 13.04 and they bought more.
>> [laughter] >> And, you know, they were buying May's that expire this week two days ago.
They're buying July's that expire in two months uh just yesterday. And uh look where the stock was and it was over 20 today, Pete. So, this was a big jump and another big winner. If you guys want to scan that QR code, you could be trading the same stocks we're trading.
Yeah, and this thing is is becoming very similar to some of the other stocks that we've been seeing lately, John, where specific names are just seeing incredible amounts of follow-up, follow-up, follow-up buyers, buyers. And POET being a great example of that, and you've got two of them right there that were already just this week. But, when
you look at this deal that they've made, John, with Lumileds, um that's going to be amazing. And like you said, it could be upwards of, you know, half a billion dollars. not so bad, and these guys are taking off pretty good, and that's why the stock actually jumped up 38, 40%, whatever it is to the upside. But, this partnership, John, is
kind of for the next generation chipset.
So, when you look at what they they're doing and and how they're advancing, it's very very interesting to see. I think POET um is one of those names that yes, it's going to have pullbacks. We saw that with the the examples that you put up there, John, where it had pulled back. But, the next thing you know, it absolutely explodes to the upside. So, this thing is an absolute mover. And I
think that they're doing um these deals is a great thing and a great opportunity for them to get even bigger and bigger and bigger into the future. So, yeah, this POET unusual option activity, um if people don't understand it, they need to get educated on options, number one, so they understand them much better. But,
also have to be able to have the opportunity to find out where this is, which is at Market Rebellion. I mean, it's just a fact.
Well, and then this one, Pete, ONDS.
Um what do they do? Autonomous systems, robotics, and uh stuff for mis- mission-critical connectivity is what it says on their website. And I take them at their word. It was up 10%, then 15%.
Then 20%. Now it's up 25% in a single day, and I don't think this CEO happens to be on Air Force One with Trump, Pete, but boy, uh I'm I'm not going to steal your thunder. I'm going to let you tell them about how big the surge was that this
stock had, but uh backlog surging, sales surging. I mean, you know, we're not talking like 20% or something like that.
We're talking hundreds of percent, right?
Well, to John's point, I mean, the backlog's up over 570%.
I [laughter] mean, you know, it's numbers that they're mind-blowing, right? I mean, you look at this, you go, "My gosh, these guys are are absolutely crushing it." And the full-year revenue, John, as far as the the guidance, the forecast they're putting out there, uh it's up 670% year-over-year as well. So, they are beating it in every way that you could
possibly beat it, and it's amazing.
Auten autonomous uh defense side of it, John, an almost billion-dollar deal that they put up with the US Army. So, these guys are doing things, they're doing deals, they're doing things the right way, and I'll tell you what, I I I haven't seen numbers quite like this in a while. I mean, this one
literally is unbelievably moving strong to the upside, and it and it's something that I think people better understand because they've got the product demand that uh that everybody would want to have. They have the strategic acquisitions that other people probably should have done, but they're executing and doing that, and that's why they're
doing so well.
Pete, just to throw it out cuz the news is just coming across the tape, China's going to order or it will order 200 Boeing jets. 200 [laughter] Boeing jets. We all know they could buy the Russian jets, they could buy their own Chinese jets, they could buy Airbus.
They're buying 200 Boeing jets. So, they're they're definitely trying to butter up Trump a little bit here, Pete.
Yeah. Woof.
Again, that's a lot of American workers that are very happy about that. Yep. All right, let's talk about Enovix.
This one is an advanced lithium-ion battery company. And of all the stocks that we talked about that are doing so great, this one >> [laughter] >> not so much.
Basically, we're seeing a lot of people that want a different architecture of those batteries.
And these guys are getting kind of caught in the middle. And the stock is down some 18% so far today, Pete. And against a backdrop of great news across the board, these guys aren't delivering great news.
Yeah, they they are not, John, unfortunately for them. I mean, they're just not able to do it. And you know, they continue to have losses. Yes, they had strong revenue, but they had strong revenue. And on the other side of it, they they had a loss of 14 cents. So, they're they're having issues there. I think investors are got some major concerns here as well, John. I mean, the losses are starting to add up. The cash
burn is something that I think is concerning to a lot of investors. So, when you look at that, and then you start start to you can understand why the shorts are actually having a pretty damn good day in this one. A lot of the time we talk about these shorts, we talk about the squeezes, we talk about that.
But it's not like they're always wrong cuz they're not. But I think in this case, they are absolutely right. And the shorts of 24% 28% are pretty damn happy about the direction that this stock has taken today. So, kudos to them for understanding and and and and seeing through all of the different things that they have to do to to figure things out.
But I'll tell you what, John, the stock was down as much as 18% last I looked.
It was down a little bit less than that.
But I I would say the reason it got a little less than the 18% was maybe some of those shorts decided to cover just a little bit and put some of that money in their pocket, right? Because those numbers that they put up were really, really bad. And the earnings themselves, not so good. Revenue, great. You can you
can have revenue all you want, but you still got to make some money, right?
Yeah. In other words, if you had to cut prices so severely because people weren't as hot on those lithium-ion batteries that you were selling, um you can get more money in, but it like you say, it's not profitability that people that are shareholders want to see. All right.
Well, what do you got as far as sports, Pete? Last sports of the week. Hey, man, last sports and we don't have any videos? I mean, what's going on? Hey, [laughter] man, I mean, I'm telling you.
I was lucky I could even get the the notes out today because that uh free internet on American was not so great. Yeah. But they have it. They said, "Okay, free." And I'm like, "Great." So, now the whole plane's on it, so I can't hard you know, I'm getting kicked off and everything else.
I liked it better when I paid for it, Pete. Yeah. Well, no big deal. I just was teasing with you anyway, but um there's two guys that are playing right now in Major League Baseball. One of them is a guy that you talk about all the time, John, and I think you've been on it not just for like a couple of weeks or this year. You've been on it for multiple years, and I think it makes a heck of a lot of sense, and I'm
talking about you know, in in this case, Aaron Judge. I mean, this guy, not only is he a big menacing dude, man, at 6'7 and and tough as nails, but here's what he's doing already this year. Again, this guy does it year after year after year, John, but he's second in Major League Baseball with home runs, got 16
of those, seventh in RBIs with 30 of those. Um as a Yankee career, he's got 384 career home runs. I mean, this guy is a pretty special guy. And and when I bring something like this up, I just think that people have to understand, these guys don't play forever. And if you want to see guys that are living
legends while they're playing, um you want to go to a Yankee game to the closest place where you are because Aaron Judge is that special and I would say the same thing about Shohei Ohtani.
I mean, this guy this year he's struggling with the bat, right? I mean, you know, and you know, it's going to happen. I mean, it happens to everybody. They hit a get into a slump and for whatever the reason they're just not hitting. I mean, we're talking about a guy who's hitting 400 and 500 foot, you know, home runs and now he's just having a really hard time
with it. Well, the good news is he's not just a guy who bats, you know, John up there on the plate. He's a pitcher and presently he's got a freaking ERA of 0.82, one of the lowest in the first seven starts of the wild card
era since 1994 basically. I mean, it gives you a little idea. There's only it's just amazing what this guy can do, right? And so, he's struggling with the bat, but he's coming back with the pitching. He had to sit out the pitching for a while, you know, not too long ago and now here he is back and he was saying he's 32 years old, which isn't
that old for baseball, but it's getting older for sure. He said he feels great.
He feels young. He wants to keep on playing and he's pretty convinced that at some point he's going to turn around with the bat.
Go see that guy, too. Go see that guy.
If you're a fan of anything in baseball, those two gentlemen are absolutely unbelievable living legends and I just think it it would be a really smart move to go to wherever they are because they're that good, John, right?
Right. Absolutely. And I do love, Pete, that uh Shohei Ohtani is also a pitcher as well as that great hitter that he obviously is.
Um, and you know who else was? Babe Ruth. Right? People forget that.
>> then they had to have him just concentrate on hitting later in his career and that's when he just racked up all those home runs, but he was hitting home runs all the time anyway. Yeah.
he was also a great pitcher, like this guy is a great pitcher. All right, what else you got? Close this out, please. I just had one last fun thing, you know, this is fun day Thursday. I mean, things are going really well. The market's going much better than all the bears that are out there have tried to tell us how bad the markets are, how bad the earnings are going to be, how bad everything is. And meanwhile, we're get
we're making deals, we're doing things, and everything is going great. So, I'll finish up the the sports with just something kind of fun. What in the world, John, is going on with the trash talk of Texas, Florida, Old Miss, LSU. I [laughter] mean, this has gotten pretty crazy. And here's the craziest part.
This isn't trash talk between all these players. This is trash talk between the coaches and athletic directors and all the rest of it. And by the way, the SEC's going to have their meetings. I think it's about a month away or something like that. And they're all going to be in the same spot, in the same room, talking about what's going on with the SEC and all the various
players. But, it might have started with Sarkisian, John, when he said, "All you have to do is take basket weaving when you're at Old Miss to get your degree." >> [laughter] >> You know, so he he fired out that shot.
Then Florida came back, they fired out a shot. Then the the Old Miss athletic director came back, and he gave the rest of them a shot. And then of course, there's Lane Kiffin, who by the way, he's going to be back. He's the head coach at LSU for the people who have forgotten. He He will be at Old Miss, where he was just the last couple of
years. He had a record of 50 and 19, John, from 2020 to this past year. He had a great run with them, but decided he was going to go to LSU. Hey, everybody should do whatever they want to be able to do, right? I mean, I'm not I'm not offended by that. But, how about the money they're paying him, John? I think I read that his contract is 14
million a year or something close to that. So, I I can't say I blame him for signing the >> [laughter] >> signing up for that with LSU. But, what do you think about these guys talking all the trash? Usually it's the players and the coaches come in and go, "Hey guys, take it easy. You know, let's let's do it on the field. Let's not do it with our mouths."
Yeah, let's not give them something for their uh bulletin board in the locker room. Right. Exactly.
>> but Pete, just like you said, Lane Kiffin this past year when they were beating Oklahoma, um he spotted this David Stone who's a big defensive lineman for Oklahoma. And uh he looked over at him and he said, "You're a little quieter now than you were at the beginning of the game, David."
>> [laughter] >> What the hell? I mean, what's going on, man? Yeah, when the coach is ripping the player for uh you know, trash You were trashing us then. Well, now you're not saying much, are you? And the guy's like, "Uh." >> [laughter] >> It is fun, man. It's fun that And it's great that these guys are doing that
because you know what? It makes that much more relevant, much more interesting to kind of watch that even the coaches are getting into it. The athletic directors are getting into this all the various rivalries and everything else. I mean, you know, is it a little juvenile? Of course it is, but it's a hell of a lot of fun, too. And I think I think this kind of, you know, it gets people pretty riled up, and I can't wait
for LSU to visit Ole Miss. I'll tell you that right now. Uh September September 19th, John.
>> [laughter] >> Jeez, we might have to go down. We might have to do that.
Well, thanks for tuning in, folks.
Um let's see. Uh I will be on with Liz Claman tomorrow, Pete. Uh she's in that 3:00 hour. Actually, it's somebody sitting in for Liz, but I'll be coming to you from uh I think from Cardone's, Pete. Uh the Cardone campus tomorrow,
and then we've got uh what? Uh the 10X wealth con on Saturday and Sunday. Pete and I'll be there.
>> [laughter] >> We don't just talk real estate. We talk a little bit ABOUT WEALTH, TOO.
ALL RIGHT. WELL, FOLKS, have a great day.
Um let's hope everybody gets back safe and sound from China. And uh we will be back on Monday, Pete, at the usual time, right? 1:00 p.m. Eastern time, John.
We'll see you then. Giddy up.
Thanks.
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