HR experts share the skills they say employees will most need in the future

As the future of work changes, it's more important than ever for employees to make sure they have the skills required to keep up. That was the message this week from People Matters TechHR 2019, Asia's largest human resources conference.

The remarks out of that Singapore event form part of a growing discourse around the impact technology and automation will have on the jobs landscape. It's estimated that by 2030, 75 million to 375 million workers (3 to 14 percent of the global workforce) will need to switch occupational categories, according to one McKinsey report.

While research from LinkedIn suggests that young people are more optimistic than any other generation about the shifting trends — after all, many of those jobs are expected to be replaced by new ones — the need to acquire new skills to keep apace with that change is undeniable.

CNBC Make It spoke to careers experts on the ground at the conference (as well as those responsible for the technology reshaping employment methods) to find out what they believe will be most important skills for the future.

"When I think about being a millennial entering the workforce," said Peta Latimer, partner and CEO for Singapore at global human resources firm Mercer, "I think the two biggest skills that we need are the ability to ask why ... and then, secondly, to listen."

The "why?" is important for questioning norms and developing new ideas, but the listening is also crucial for understanding those norms "before you start criticizing."

Nora Abd Manaf, group chief human capital officer at Southeast Asia's Maybank, agreed that employees of the future need to work on developing their skills, but she also said it's important to develop a future-proofed mindset.

"What I've found is that it's not just a learning ability but the ability to bounce back. So when you fail, know how to pick yourself up and continue your learning process," she said.

For Rudy Karsan, managing partner at Karlani Capital, a venture capital firm, it all comes down to one word: "Courage."

"It is the single hardest thing for young people to have because of the amount of time they spend on the screen. You forget the difficulty it takes to really, really get to know people," he said.

Meanwhile, Aileen Tan, group human resources officer at Singaporean telecommunications firm Singtel, who has been learning the programming language Python to future-proof her career, said the answer is threefold.

"For me, the three things are agility, curiosity, and a sense of divine discontentment," said Tan. "Because you've really got to be discontented with the current to change the future."

Once employees manage to master those skills, they can then start positioning themselves as leaders of the future, the experts agreed.

That will require drawing on some of the aforementioned skills, such as curiosity, as well as developing new ones, according to Duncan Hewett, a senior vice president of U.S. software business VMware.

"The key skill that leaders need in the future is both curiosity and a level of humbleness to reach down through the organization and tap into all the different skills," he said.

Morne Swart, vice president of global product strategy and transformation at U.S. software company SumTotal Systems, agreed, noting the need to value your team.

"For me the most important skill is to appreciate the value of people development in your organization," Swart noted.

Niraj Jain, group chief finance officer at Indonesian retailer Kanmo Group, meanwhile, said leaders of the future will need to be increasingly adaptable and willing to change what they think they know as the work landscape shifts.

"It's very important for future leaders to unlearn what they've learned in the past and continue to learn something new," explained Jain.

Don't miss: Mastering these 5 skills will be key to career growth, according to LinkedIn

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A heated battle between the US and China played out at the world's biggest mobile event

The Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona is an annual opportunity for tech companies to showcase their latest devices and compete for the attention of more than 100,000 gadget-lovers.

But this year a drama played out on stage and behind the scenes that had little to do with gadgets: a battle between American officials and Chinese tech giant Huawei.

The U.S. sent a delegation to MWC to protest the telecommunication firm's involvement in providing infrastructure for 5G, a fifth-generation wireless network that heralds faster speeds and response times for consumers and businesses. U.S. intelligence agencies fear Huawei's networking equipment could enable Chinese spying, claims Huawei has repeatedly denied. The U.S. has also accused Huawei of violating American sanctions on Iran and stealing trade secrets, which it also denies.

"The United States is asking other governments and the private sector to consider the threat posed by Huawei and other Chinese information technology companies," Robert Strayer, ambassador for cyber and international communications at the U.S. State Department, told reporters Tuesday in Barcelona.

Intelligence experts have been skeptical about Huawei's guarantees it isn't a security risk, pointing to Chinese laws that allegedly mean every domestic company is legally mandated to assist the country in intelligence gathering if Beijing requests it. China's companies are also thought to be forbidden from talking about any intelligence work.

Chinese government and media outlets have repeatedly claimed, however, that the American warnings about managing cybersecurity risk are really a pretext for a pre-meditated attack on Huawei because the world's largest economy feels its business interests are threatened by the telecom.

The U.S. has not warned of any security risks associated with Finland's Nokia and Sweden's Ericsson — Huawei's two main competitors in the telecom equipment industry.

Huawei's response this week was an aggressive campaign to prove its prowess in technology like 5G, and that it can't be stopped by the world's largest economy.

"Prism, prism on the wall. Who's the most trustworthy of them all?" Guo Ping, Huawei's rotating chairman quipped in a keynote speech on Tuesday. "We can't use prisms, crystal balls, or politics to manage cybersecurity. It's a challenge we all share."

In the speech, Guo claimed the company has never, and will never, use its equipment for spying. In a roundtable with media on Sunday ahead of MWC, the chairman took aim at the U.S., saying the country should implement 5G technology "as fast as possible" or it risks being left behind. Huawei is the biggest provider of telecommunications equipment globally and also one of the world's biggest smartphone vendors.

Beyond public remarks, Huawei's physical presence at MWC was hard to miss. The Chinese tech giant is a major sponsor of the event and typically operates several massive booths in the conference halls.

This year was no exception. Huawei's logo was brandished on the lanyards of thousands of attendees' badges and on posters and escalators around the conference. The company also hosted additional events in Barcelona throughout the week, like a cocktail reception Monday night at the swanky W hotel.

"What's playing out around the race to 5G is an exceptional marketing exercise from massive, multi-billion dollar companies, and two countries," Doug Murray, CEO of U.S.-based cloud software company Big Switch Networks, told CNBC in an email Wednesday. "Huawei has been on the defensive this week while the U.S. continues to push its agenda."

Murray pointed to more than 20 deals that Huawei announced this week at MWC to provide 5G equipment to telecom operators. In perhaps the biggest setback to the U.S., the United Arab Emirates said on Tuesday it had chosen Huawei to build out its 5G network through its state-controlled telecom firm Etisalat.

Meanwhile, Huawei's new $2,600 foldable phone, announced at a flashy launch event on Sunday, captured a lot of attention from the tech-savvy consumers at MWC.

"Everyone was kind of coming to the show thinking they were going to have a really, really tough time, and they smashed it with this new device," Ben Wood, a tech analyst at CCS Insight, told CNBC on Wednesday in Barcelona.

Still, uncertainty over Huawei's future in the U.S. and other key markets like Germany and the U.K. has shrouded the outlook of many telecommunications and tech firms.

Chang-Gyu Hwang, the CEO of South Korean mobile operator KT, told CNBC Tuesday the company was not using Huawei equipment in its 5G networks, citing security concerns. The CEO of Rakuten, a Japanese e-commerce firm that also operates mobile networks, said there is a "political risk" with using Huawei equipment.

"The risk I talked about is not about the fact that there will be a security breach," he told CNBC's Karen Tso. "The risk is that the government will try to legally or implicitly, kind of, force us not to use some hardware, especially from China."

Meanwhile, Nokia and Ericsson warned about an uncertain political environment as 5G starts to go mainstream.

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Mainland Chinese stocks are gaining influence on global indexes. That may drive money into China

Global index provider MSCI's announcement that it will quadruple the weighting of large-cap Chinese shares in its benchmark indexes is likely to drive more money into the still highly regulated mainland market, investors and analysts said.

In a widely expected move, MSCI said Thursday that it will increase the weighting of China A-shares — yuan-denominated stocks traded on the mainland — from 5 percent to 20 percent in three steps to November of this year.

Chinese shares, which slumped sharply in 2018, have been on a tear this year, rising 14 percent in February alone on factors including optimism over progress in ending the U.S.-China trade war and expectations for the expanded MSCI inclusion.

Investors and analysts welcomed the news as a significant step in the broader opening of Chinese markets to international funds. They still remain subject to tight capital controls.

"Overall, the final inclusion plan continues to look as aggressive as its proposal, marking another milestone in China's capital market opening up," Citi equity analyst Jerry Peng said in a note dated Thursday, adding that the U.S. bank expects "strong foreign inflows to China's onshore market."

Chinese A-shares were included in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index for the first time last year. Investors can access them through an arrangement between the Hong Kong and mainland Chinese markets.

Gao Ting, head of China strategy at UBS Securities, said in a note Friday that the MSCI changes would likely spur $67 billion in inflows to the A-share market this year alone.

Philip Li, senior fund manager at investment firm Value Partners in Hong Kong, said that the increased weighting — and expectations of more to come — are likely to boost investor appetites.

"When we get to 20 percent at the end of this year, would it be 50 percent, 80 percent in one or two years' time?" Li said to CNBC on Friday.

"And I think that's where people are thinking 'Okay, I have to have this exposure,'" he added.

MSCI said in announcing the changes that further increases beyond 20 percent "would require Chinese authorities to address a number of remaining market accessibility questions," which it said include "restrictions on access to hedging and derivatives instruments."

Some said, however, that the increases may have limited impact initially.

"It doesn't affect our view of whether a company is good or bad, nor do we feel any need to adjust our portfolios," Nicholas Yeo, head of China equities at Aberdeen Standard Investments, said in a Friday note.

"We take a long-term view of what has historically been a volatile and momentum-driven retail market," Yeo said.

But the trend in the increasing importance of Chinese shares ultimately can't be ignored, he said.

"As China's representation in global benchmarks grows, having little or no exposure to the market will increasingly become an active decision," he said.

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India and Pakistan still need to resolve two key issues, former US ambassador says

India and Pakistan showed resolve and restraint this week as tensions flared between the nuclear-armed rivals but crucial underlying problems still need to be addressed, according to a former U.S. ambassador to Pakistan.

Military planes from both sides carried out tit-for-tat air strikes this week in each other's territories while their troops traded fire along the de facto border in Kashmir. The escalation was triggered after terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility for an attack in India-controlled Kashmir on Feb. 14 that killed more than 40 Indian security officers.

New Delhi and Islamabad also claimed to have brought down each other's military jets and Pakistan announced an Indian pilot was captured into its custody.

On Thursday, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that as a "peace gesture," he would release the pilot, Abhinandan Varthaman, as early as Friday. The move was welcomed by the chiefs of India's three armed forces during a joint press conference Thursday evening — but they would not say if New Delhi considered the return a de-escalation in the conflict.

Still, Thursday's developments prompted many to hope that both countries will stop the situation from spinning out of control, especially into a full-blown armed conflict.

"I think both leaders had to show two things: Each of them had to show resolve, and each of them, fortunately, showed restraint. That is to say both sides said that they would not be pushed around by the other," Cameron Munter, CEO and president at the EastWest Institute, told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Friday. Munter was also the former U.S. ambassador to Pakistan between 2010 and 2012.

Both sides have presented conflicting information from Tuesday's incident: A senior Indian government official source told Reuters that 300 militants were killed, but Pakistan said there were no deaths from India's bombing.

Munter, who said India's air strike inside Pakistan did not lead to any casualties, pointed out it was a sign of restraint on New Delhi's part. "And the restraint on the Pakistani side was not to gloat but to actually come up with Imran Khan's suggestion to turn back the pilot," he added.

India and Pakistan's conflict over the mountainous region of Kashmir dates back to 1947 when both countries became independent from British colonial rule.

The entire subcontinent was partitioned into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan, which led to a mass displacement as people migrated from one country to the other. Outbreaks of communal and religious violence killed hundreds of thousands of people in the subcontinent during that time.

Jammu and Kashmir was a former princely state where a large number of people were killed and others were driven away by the violence during the partition. Since then, India and Pakistan have fought multiple wars over the region — both countries claim the region in full but control only parts of it. Many have raised concerns over violence and human rights abuses in both India-controlled Jammu and Kashmir, as well as in Pakistan-controlled Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan region.

Speaking about India-controlled Kashmir, Munter said: "You have a mainly Muslim population and you have many hundreds of thousands of Indian troops keeping order. That's really not a sustainable or good situation."

"It's not something that Indians want other people to interfere with but until that gets solved, there's going to be a problem in Kashmir," he added.

In a recent op-ed piece with Indian newspaper Business Standard, former Indian foreign secretary Shyam Saran said that after the Feb. 14 terror attack, India must examine why so many locals get recruited by terrorist groups operating in the area.

"There have been allegations of intelligence failure but the ability to stop terrorist incidents and apprehending terrorists is most effective if the local populace is ready to provide intelligence that is relatively specific," Saran wrote. "This is possible only if there is a high level of trust and confidence between the populace and the security forces."

Pakistan's problem, according to Munter, is that no one believes they've cracked down on the groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba — which carried out one of the worst terrorist attacks in India's history — or the Jaish-e-Mohammed, which operate in that region. India has long accused Pakistan of supporting those groups.

"Until the Pakistanis are credible in cracking down on these groups, they're going to have a problem. Because it's not every day that America and Iran, for example, stand shoulder-to-shoulder, criticizing the Pakistanis for not cracking down on terrorist groups," the former envoy said.

Political analysts agreed that this week's confrontation between India and Pakistan was a test of leadership for both Khan and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is facing a parliamentary elections in the coming months.

The developments did not turn out well for Modi, according to Moeed Yusuf, associate vice president for the Asia Center at the United States Institute of Peace.

"He was struggling politically already and he clearly miscalculated Pakistan's response to India's initial air strike. As soon as Pakistan retaliated, he was boxed in, with his domestic opposition all over him," Yusuf told CNBC.

But Pakistan's Khan gained "tremendously" at home, Yusuf said. "Not only in terms of where this crisis may end, but he's got a lot of praise for the way he conducted himself and the tone and tenor of his speeches. This crisis has provided him a much needed fillip politically."

Right now, analysts say, the question is how India responds in the coming days.

The government will likely be very careful and would not want to appear to be going soft or backing down against its arch rival, according to Michael Kugelman, deputy director and senior associate for South Asia at the Woodrow Wilson Center.

"It can be politically disadvantageous ... to appear to not be tough with Pakistan," he told CNBC's "Capital Connection."

Still, some experts have said Modi's "strongman" image could give him room to ease tensions with Pakistan without alienating his base when the captured pilot is returned safely.

— Reuters contributed to this report.

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Trump says North Korea can be a 'great' economic power, but experts say it's uninvestable

With U.S. President Donald Trump declaring repeatedly that North Korea can become "one of the great economic powers" in the world, risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft tested that claim and found that the rogue state ranks as the least investable country in the world.

Despite the president's claims, "Kim Jong-un's authoritarian regime has been classified as the world's most perilous investment destination for business," Verisk Maplecroft said in a report published before the talks began.

Other experts have also stressed that even if sanctions on Pyongyang were to be removed some day, risks for investors remain very high, as it is extremely unlikely that North Korea will overhaul itself politically and economically.

Ahead of the failed summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which ended on Thursday without a deal, Trump had dangled the prospect of a stronger economy for the impoverished state — tweeting repeatedly on the topic. Experts say that was part of a negotiating tactic.

Even after talks ended abruptly, the president continued to tout the possibility of the reclusive country becoming "an absolute economic power."

"I think he's got a chance to have one of the most successful countries — rapidly too — on Earth," Trump said of Kim, at a press conference on Thursday at the end of the summit. "There is tremendous potential in North Korea, and I think he's going to lead it to a very important thing, economically. I think it's going to be an absolute economic power."

In a bid to "stress test the US president's assertions," Verisk Maplecroft compared the metrics of 198 countries in a recent study.

To assess how attractive each country was to investors, the consultancy looked at a range of factors including respect for human rights, protection of property rights, and strength of the regulatory framework.

The report said the pariah state performed the worst across all indicators, including "the most severe forms of human rights violations."

Miha Hribernik, head of Asia at Verisk Maplecroft said: "Investors are of course aware of the challenges associated with North Korea, but our latest index data reveals an array of risks without parallel anywhere in the world."

"Even leaving sanctions and geopolitical risks aside, the barriers to investment are so wide-ranging as to be insurmountable for any responsible multinational organisation," he added.

Lifting sanctions on North Korea alone is insufficient. To be attractive to foreign investors, it would require Kim to make reforms to the entire regime — both political and economic, which is extremely unlikely, experts say.

"For the country to be able to attract foreign investors, its autocratic leaders need to show openness to deep structural reforms, which would mean loosening their grip on North Korean society as a whole," said Anwita Basu, country risk service manager for Asia at The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

Verisk Maplecroft said in its report: "If North Korea is to become a potential investment destination for even the least ethically sensitive investors, Kim faces a monumental task in which he personally has little to gain and everything to lose."

Closing the country's notorious forced labor camps would be the first step, it said. But that, combined with a complete overhaul of the country's regulatory system and state institutions, could destabilize the country and "threaten the very survival of the Kim dynasty," the report said.

Besides, putting in place reforms would require openness on the part of the pariah state, but its economic system is being strictly controlled by the military and the ruling Workers' Party of Korea.

If that fundamental transformation of the political and economic system does not occur, it would result in a "severe lack of investment security," said Andrew Gilholm, director of analysis for Greater China and North Asia at Control Risks. That would include non-payment, lack of basic infrastructure and compliance issues.

"That kind of transformation seems extremely unlikely," he added.

While comparisons have been made with Vietnam — and Trump himself has pointed to the country as an example that North Korea could follow — it only goes as far as their shared Communist history, Basu from the EIU pointed out.

Vietnam has undergone "significant" and "dedicated" reforms, and has been consistent in its policy — signs of which are limited in North Korea, she said.

To that end, North Korea seems set to remain off-limits to investors.

"Whatever potential Trump sees in Kim's regime, the vast majority of investors are unlikely to act on his claims," Hribernik added. "The stakes are just too high."

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New York may seem like a 'bargain' for some of Hong Kong's homebuyers

In recent years, Beijing has been restricting the amount of money invested abroad by its citizens after an earlier exodus of capital that had partially contributed to surges in money flowing into places like the U.S., U.K., and Australia.

"What it's impacting is really the very, very, very top, because the Chinese were buying the most expensive apartments," Allison said. "We're talking (about) the $30 million penthouses."

However, more and more middle-class Chinese are getting in on the home-buying trend. The median price of a U.S. residential property sold to a Chinese buyer went from just under $530,000 in 2017 to $439,000 in 2018, according to the National Association of Realtors, a trade association for those working in the real estate industry.

In contrast, residential property prices in Hong Kong are down about 10 percent from their peak in August, fueled by trade tensions between U.S. and China, and potential rate hikes.

Asia Bankers Club told CNBC several of the units inside 125 Greenwich Street were sold during the weekend event. Other buyers, however, said they wanted to visit New York first.

"If you look over the past 10 or 20 years, while there have been some small dips, overall it's been a straight upward trajectory," Allison said referring to the U.S. housing market. "If you're looking for a solid investment, you're looking to a country where you know your money is safe. How can you do better than the United States?"

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South Korea may be the biggest loser in failed talks at the Trump-Kim summit

South Korea — and its President Moon Jae-in — may be the biggest losers after a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ended without a deal, analysts said.

Trump and Kim met in Hanoi, Vietnam for a two-day meeting that ended Thursday. The summit was cut short on the final day after both sides failed to agree on denuclearizing North Korea and lifting economic sanctions on Pyongyang.

"South Korea loses the most from the Hanoi summit ending without agreement," according to Alison Evans, deputy head of Asia Pacific country risk at consultancy IHS Markit.

For Seoul, Thursday's developments dimmed prospects of re-starting inter-Korean projects that have been stalled by sanctions, Evans wrote in a Thursday note. Political support for Moon could also fall further, she added.

"Importantly, Moon's support rating has fallen steadily ... Without progress on North Korea, Moon's domestic agenda becomes his only metric of success for voters, who have already criticised his administration for failing to deliver on economic metrics such as unemployment," she added.

Since taking office in 2017, Moon has largely counted on his push for improved relations with North Korea to shore up political support.

The South Korean president met with Kim three times last year — their meeting in April was the first in more than a decade that leaders from both sides talked face-to-face. Moon also played a major role in brokering the meetings between Trump and Kim in Singapore and Vietnam.

In a Friday speech, Moon attempted to put a positive spin to the failed talks in Vietnam.

"I believe this is part of a process to reach a higher level of agreement. Now our role has become even more important," he said. "My administration will closely communicate and cooperate with the United States and North Korea so as to help their talks reach a complete settlement by any means."

Critics have hit out at the South Korean president, saying that his focus on their northern neighbor has sidelined more pressing economic issues at home. After Thursday's breakdown in talks between Trump and Kim, criticisms of Moon will likely grow louder, according to analysts from consultancy Eurasia Group.

"South Korean President Moon Jae-in will face even stronger criticism from conservatives at home who have long argued that he is too soft on Kim and too optimistic about Kim's willingness to denuclearize," the analysts wrote in a Thursday note.

"Disappointing news about the summit will likely further darken business, investor, and consumer sentiment in South Korea," they added.

South Korean markets fell on Thursday after the White House announced that the summit between Trump and Kim was cut short. The markets were closed on Friday for a holiday.

— Reuters contributed to this report.

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Southwest Airlines sues mechanics' union over grounded planes

Southwest Airlines on Thursday alleged in a lawsuit that its mechanics' union is encouraging the workers to purposefully write up minor maintenance issues in order keep jets out of service to gain leverage in contract talks.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Dallas, intensified the feud between the low-cost airline and its mechanics. Southwest has canceled hundreds of flights this month as the number of out-of-service jets more than doubled. The two have been in contract negotiations for more than six years.

The lawsuit against the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association called the action illegal and said that it would cause "irreparable injury" to Southwest and the public if it wasn't stopped.

Southwest normally plans to have about 20 planes out of service each day, a spokesman said. The lawsuit said it had 51 planes out of service on Wednesday and 45 on Tuesday.

The AMFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment but has recently denied Southwest's allegations after the airline said it would investigate the issue.

"No matter how small an issue we may find with an aircraft, we have an obligation mandated by operation of our [Federal Aviation Administration] issued licenses to repair it and make the aircraft airworthy," the union's national director Bret Oestreich said last week. "It is our hope that the Southwest management will join this commitment to restoring our safety culture and looking at this transition not as an 'operational emergency' but rather the beginning of a new normal."

The mechanics rejected a new contract in September after the proposed pay increase came up short of what they had sought.

"Today's action does not alter our goal of reaching an agreement that benefits our hardworking Maintenance Employees nor does it change the Company's unwavering commitment to Safety," Russell McCrady vice president of labor relations at Southwest said in a statement. "Southwest is — hands down — one of the best companies in the world to work for and we will not stray from our focus on rewarding our mechanics, while we work to shield our employees and customers from unnecessary disruptions within the operation."

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Chinese manufacturing shrinks for third straight month in February, a private survey shows

A private survey on China's manufacturing sector showed Friday that factory activity shrank for a third straight month in February.

The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) came in 49.9 for February.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected the Caixin PMI reading to edge up to 48.5 in February from January's 48.3.

A reading below 50 signals contraction, while a reading above that level indicates expansion.

The PMI is a survey of businesses about the operating environment. Such data offer a first glimpse into what's happening in the economy, as they are usually among the first major economic indicators released each month.

The results of the private survey came on the heels of official PMI China released on Thursday which showed manufacturing activity fell for the third straight month, dropping to 49.2 in February from 49.5 in January, according to data released by the country's National Bureau of Statistics.

Investors have been closely watching economic indicators from the world's second-largest economy for signs of trouble amid domestic headwinds and the ongoing U.S.-China trade dispute.

The manufacturing data come days before China's annual meeting of parliament which starts on March 5. Top officials are widely expected to announce more support measures such as sweeping tax cuts to reduce the strains on the economy.

Chinese leaders will also reveal Beijing's key economic and financial targets for the year which may provide clues on their future policy stance.

Actual growth in the world's second-largest economy cooled to 6.6 percent in 2018 — the slowest in 28 years — from 6.8 percent in 2017.

— CNBC's Yen Nee Lee and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Elon Musk just sent this memo to employees about the cheaper Model 3 and store closures

Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Thursday sent an email to employees explaining the company's decision to reduce its headcount in its sales and marketing divisions, according to a copy of the memo that was sent to CNBC.

News of the upcoming layoffs come as Tesla announced that sales of the $35,000 Model 3 were finally available, adding that all sales of Tesla vehicles would be moving exclusively online. As part of the announcement, Musk also warned that the company would not turn a profit in the first quarter, sending Tesla's share price down more than 3 percent Thursday night.

Here's the full memo:

Last month, I noted in my email that the fundamental issue Tesla must overcome is that our products remain too expensive for most people. We know there are many people who want to buy Model 3, but simply can't afford to do so.

That is why we're excited to announce today that we are now offering the standard Model 3 at $35,000. This is a significant milestone for Tesla, the culmination of years of hard work by employees across the company, and something of which you should all be very proud. You can read the details of the announcement on our blog: LINK HERE

In addition, we are also making the decision to shift all sales worldwide to online only.

Last year, 78% of all Model 3 orders were placed online, rather than in a store, and 82% of customers bought their Model 3 without ever having taken a test drive. Customers can now buy a Tesla in North America via their phone in about 1 minute, and that capability will soon be extended worldwide. We are also making it much easier to try out and return a Tesla without a test drive. You can now return a car within 7 days or 1,000 miles for a full refund. Customers are becoming increasingly comfortable making purchases online, and that is especially true for Tesla — which is a testament to the products we make.

As a result, over the next few months, we will be winding down many of our stores and significantly reducing our spend on sales and marketing, which will help make the price changes we've announced today possible. Shifting all sales online combined with other ongoing cost efficiency will enable us to lower all vehicle prices by about 6% on average, allowing us to achieve the $35,000 Model 3 price point.

A small number of stores in high-traffic locations will remain as galleries, showcases and Tesla information centers. At the same time, we will be increasing our investment in the Tesla service system and manufacturing, and I expect that headcount to grow next year.

Unfortunately, this means that some jobs will be impacted or transitioned to other areas of the business. This is a hard decision, but it necessary to make our cars more affordable. Our sales team has fought on the front lines of advancing our mission and has been our connection to hundreds of thousands of customers along the way. I want to express my sincere gratitude for all that you've done.

Kn the coming weeks, we will be evaluating all of our sales and marketing organization to understand where there are operation efficiencies, and how best to support the transition to online sales while also continuing to deliver a truly awesome and education Tesla buying experience.

We'll be sharing more information on this transition soon.

Thank you,
Elon

WATCH: Tesla launches $35K Model 3 with shorter range, new interior

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HBO boss Richard Plepler wanted more autonomy at AT&T, and his departure is an ominous sign

AT&T spent more than $85 billion to acquire Time Warner and its crown jewel, HBO.

Now, just two days after the U.S. government finally gave up its pursuit to block the deal, HBO's CEO Richard Plepler is resigning.

According to people familiar with the matter, this is an issue of autonomy. Plepler wanted to run HBO, and new WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey, an AT&T veteran, was effectively running HBO. Plepler had ideas about technology and international expansion that didn't jibe with Stankey's vision, according to a person familiar with the matter. The two are also "different people" and didn't have the closest relationship, another person said. So after six years of running HBO autonomously, Plepler told Stankey earlier this month he wanted to leave, two of the people said.

Plepler hasn't decided where he will go next, though he'll only entertain jobs where he has leadership autonomy, the people said. He is expected to stay at HBO for at least two more weeks, the people said.

Leadership changes are common in acquisitions. But it's concerning that a company with no experience in Hollywood or media -- a company whose core business is wireless networks -- has caused the CEO of the jewel asset it coveted to want out.

Turner president David Leavy is also planning to depart, according to a person familiar with the matter. AT&T is in the final stages of bringing in former NBC head of entertainment Robert Greenblatt to run a new combined Turner and HBO division.

Greenblatt is a well respected veteran entertainment executive who has had success at several companies running content divisions. But integration is frequently made easier when leaders stick around. Leavy and Plepler won't be there to help. And former Turner CEO John Martin has already left.

The departures conjure up memories of resignations from the last time Time Warner was acquired by a large company that didn't specialize in its business -- 2000's AOL-Time Warner merger. That mega-deal has gone down in history as one of the most disastrous acquisitions in history.

Not every Warner executive is departing. Content chief Kevin Reilly and Kevin Tsujihara, chairman and CEO of Warner Bros, for example, are sticking around. But it's hard to see Plepler's choice to leave as a boon for AT&T.

WATCH: HBO CEO steps down

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Ex-Fed's Dudley: Wall Street should stop blaming the central bank every time stocks drop

William Dudley, former New York Fed president, has a message for Wall Street: Stop blaming the central bank when the stock market declines. Dudley, who retired in June 2018, said Thursday on CNBC that the Federal Reserve's actions have become a "convenient whipping boy."

Many traders blamed the late 2018 market tailspin on the Fed's balance-sheet runoff. The program, which allows bonds in the Fed's portfolio to mature without replacing them, effectively reduces the central bank's balance sheet. The balance sheet had swelled to more than $4.5 trillion in early 2015 in the wake of several rounds of quantitative easing, or bond-buying, aimed at boosting the economy after the 2008 financial crisis.

The runoff is expected to end later this year, with the balance sheet at around $3.7 trillion. Reducing the balance sheet, like hiking interest rates, acts as a tightening measure on the economy.

"Look what happened. The balance sheet is still running off, and the stock market has recovered in the first quarter," Dudley told CNBC's Steve Liesman, in an interview from the annual conference of the National Association of Business Economics in Washington, D.C.

"It was a convenient whipping boy; the Fed's seeming inflexibility in the space of all these market developments for a while was a convenient whipping boy. The markets occasionally go down for a whole host of reasons," Dudley said.

The "seeming inflexibility" refers to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's early October remarks that indicated a more aggressive path for rates in 2019 and December comments that the balance-sheet runoff was on autopilot. After hiking rates four times in 2018 and projecting two hikes for this year, the Fed held steady at its January policy meeting, and the Powell Fed said it would be "patient" in determining further moves.

The Fed has always been data dependent, said Dudley, who argued that five things happened to change monetary policymakers' minds between October and January. "Number one, financial conditions tightened in the fourth quarter, quite significantly. Number two, despite strong payroll growth, the unemployment rate stopped declining. Number three, the tightness in the labor market didn't lead to much wage acceleration. And number four, inflation was a little bit on the soft side. And number five, there were questions about global growth, China and Europe."

None of those factors alone would have changed the Fed's stance, but all of them together pointed to more downside risk in the economy, Dudley said. "With inflation not being a problem, I think they decided to, why not just wait for more information. It doesn't mean they're done. They just want to see more information."

Despite the concerns about the global economic slowdown spilling over into the United States, Dudley said he does not see a recession in America anytime soon. Prior to joining the New York Fed, Dudley served at Goldman Sachs as chief U.S. economist and a managing director.

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The Navy just declared America's most expensive weapons system ready for war

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy has declared its fleet of F-35C fighter jets ready for war, the Department of Defense announced Thursday. The Navy joins the Marine Corps and Air Force as the third and final service branch to declare their F-35s ready for war.

"The F-35C is ready for operations, ready for combat and ready to win," said Commander Naval Air Forces, Vice Admiral DeWolfe Miller in a statement. "We are adding an incredible weapon system into the arsenal of our Carrier Strike Groups that significantly enhances the capability of the joint force."

Lockheed Martin, the Pentagon's top weapons supplier, designed three variants of the fighter in order to accommodate the unique needs of each sister-service branch: the F-35A for the Air Force, F-35B for the Marine Corps, and F-35C for the Navy.

"This milestone is the result of unwavering dedication from our joint government and industry team focused on delivering the most lethal, survivable and connected fighter jet in the world to the men and women of the U.S. Navy," said Greg Ulmer, Lockheed Martin vice president and general manager of the F-35 Program, in a statement.

The F-35, a fifth-generation stealth fighter, valued at an acquisition cost of $406.5 billion, has become one of the most challenged programs in Pentagon history. The laundry list of setbacks includes faulty ejection seats, software delays and significant helmet-display issues.

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AWS chief Andy Jassy says it's 'really easy to cut prices'

Amazon Web Services CEO Andy Jassy said that it's fairly simple to lower the costs of various public cloud tools that it offers to customers.

Pricing is a big part of the battle as Amazon goes up against big technology companies like Alibaba, Google and Microsoft, in the public cloud market. Companies moving storage and workloads to the cloud often spend a significant percentage of their operating expenses on infrastructure.

"It's actually really easy to lower prices," Jassy told Jim Cramer on CNBC's "Mad Money" on Thursday. "It's much harder to be able to afford to lower prices." In the past decade, AWS has cut prices 70 times, he said.

Other key areas where Amazon tries to stay ahead of the competition include geographic reach and the variety of tools that are available.

"We're much more focused on the long term than most companies," Jassy said. "We are trying to build a business and a set of customer relationships that outlasts all of us. And as such, we think if we help our customers get more done and are successful on their own, even if it means lower margin percentages, over time we'll drive more absolute margin dollars, and they'll be more successful, and we'll ultimately be more relevant."

Jassy pointed to start-up companies that have grown up on AWS, such as Airbnb, Lyft, Pinterest, Robinhood and Slack.

"I remember in 2007, 2008, when we had the recession, there were all of these very gloomy emails sent from a lot of venture capitalists, saying, 'Don't expect to get funded,'" Jassy said. "But actually, the number of start-ups kept growing, because as opposed to having to go raise money to pay for data centers and servers, people can try several instantiations of their idea on top of AWS.

"And if it isn't getting traction, you pay something like 80 cents a month or $1.50 a month, whatever your usage is. And so we have loads of companies that are trying to build businesses on top of us that really only pay anything meaningful when they have traction."

Pinterest spent around $190 million on AWS in 2018, The Information reported earlier this week.

Jassy said that Amazon itself is 88 percent finished with its wide-spanning migration off of Oracle database software and onto existing AWS technologies, and that the work will be complete later this year.

"We started the company at a very early stage, and we had Oracle, and it takes work to actually move away from Oracle," Jassy said. "Lots of customers are learning this, as so many people are trying to move away from the commercial-grade legacy database providers like Oracle or [Microsoft] SQL Server to newer engines like Aurora."

The core AWS services — EC2 for remotely performing computing tasks and S3 for data storage — came out in 2006. AWS now has 165 different services available, Jassy said.

AWS has become a crucial part of Amazon's overall business. In 2018, the unit generated $25.66 billion in revenue, or 11 percent of Amazon's total sales, up from 10 percent of overall revenue in 2017. Growth at AWS accelerated to 47 percent last year from 43 percent in 2017.

WATCH: How Amazon made record profits in 2018

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Cramer: I'm kicking myself for not recommending these stocks

CNBC's Jim Cramer reminded viewers on Thursday that he doesn't like to distract himself by second guessing things.

"I always say there's no room for 'woulda, choulda, soulda' in this business ... Always think forward—eye on the prize—never backwards," the "Mad Money" host said. "But at the end of a fabulous month capping off 10 straight weeks of gains, even when we pull a little back today ... I can't resist."

Cramer ran through a number of stocks that he's kicking himself over for letting them get away.

After trading long in the 1970s and 80s, Cramer said, Eli Lilly has received a string of good headlines in recent months. It defended its diabetes drug against competition, released a product for migraines, and most recently paid $8 billion in cash for Loxo Oncology last month.

The stock has gained less than 10 percent this year and more than 63 percent over the past year.

"I know other stocks have roared more than this one, and I've been pretty consistent in liking Eli Lilly, but the stock never should've been so low in the first place," Cramer said. "It was always safe and well-run and I should've been pounding the table every single day on Lilly."

Cramer said he also should've pushed harder on Twilio, the cloud messaging platform that serves companies like Airbnb, Lyft and other small companies to keep in contact with customers. Twilio's revenue has been gaining steam as it loads on more and more clients, he said.

The stock has gained steam as well, adding more than 36 percent in the last two months and more than 256 percent in the last year.

Intuit, the company that owns Quickbooks, is one stock that Cramer said he told viewers to buy $162 last year. Now he's kicking himself for not pushing it harder, he said.

The stock is now selling nearly 50 percent higher than it did a year ago. It dipped Thursday to close at about $247.

Cramer said he likes Etsy, but should have thought differently of it a year ago. When the stock was at $20, the online marketplace made a move that worried a lot of investors including the host.

"But this is a company that raised the price of its service and none of its customers balked. In fact, Etsy just garnered more business," he said. "So I should've been relentlessly pushing this terrific Brooklyn-based business. Instead, I was more enthusiastic about The Nets."

The stock price is up more than 181 percent over the past year.

Cramer said he was worried about Roku not because of its product but because of the competition. He thought that Amazon would destroy the video streaming service in a matter of time. But the streaming business is steadily growing as people cut their cable off.

"Around Christmas, when thousands of people were thinking about switching to Roku and the stock was trading at just about $25, why didn't I pound the table trying to tell you to buy? I guess with the stock at $66 now, the only thing I can say is kick me," he said.

When the trade war between the United States and China accelerated, many investors feared that Boeing would be in trouble. But it turns out that China needs those planes more than Boeing needs their business, Cramer said.

The stock is flying 36 percent higher this year.

Cramer also counted Workday, ServiceNow, Splunk, and VMWare among the stock picks he missed.

"The bottom line: It's not enough for me to be occasionally recommending a great stock. That's why I am kicking myself tonight and only tonight. This is over after tonight," the host said. "These are companies where someone in my family uses their products, I love their managements, I believed in the story—I should've been recommending their stocks every night."

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Michael Cohen and Felix Sater will testify in separate House Intel Committee hearings in March

President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen will testify before the House Intelligence Committee in another closed-door session on Wednesday.

And Felix Sater, Trump's former business associate who was a partner at one of Trump's New York properties, will testify before the committee in an open session on March 14, Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Thursday evening.

The scheduling announcements came just as Cohen finished up his third straight day of testimony before congressional panels. The former Trump Organization fixer, who pleaded guilty to campaign-finance crimes and lying to Congress, made scathing accusations about Trump in an explosive public session before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday.

"There's a lot more to discuss," Schiff told reporters after Cohen's closed-door hearing.

The Intelligence Committee also intends to call Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg to testify, a source with knowledge told NBC News Thursday. The Daily Beast first reported that planned testimony.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

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Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: Gap, Tesla, Marriott and more

Check out the companies making headlines after the bell:

Shares of Gap surged more than 20 percent after market close on Thursday based on news that the clothing company will split into two publicly traded companies, with Old Navy on its own. The other entity, not yet named, will include Gap, Athleta, Intermix, Banana Republic, and Hill City. The Old Navy company brings in about $8 billion in annual sales, while the new company will make roughly $9 billion in annual sales.

The news overshadowed Gap's mixed fourth-quarter earnings. The company reported earnings per share of 72 cents, versus 62 cents expected. Revenue was $4.62 billion, lower than the $4.69 billion forecast by analysts.

Nordstrom shares jumped more as much 6 percent after hours Thursday based on relatively strong full-year guidance despite a fourth-quarter revenue miss. The department store company earned $4.48 billion in revenue, missing estimates of $4.61 billion surveyed by Refinitiv. Earnings per share were $1.48. Same store sales increased 0.1 percent.

The company forecasts 2019 revenues to increase between 1 and 2 percent, below Wall Street's estimate of an increase of 2.7 percent. Nordstrom expects 2019 earnings per share between $3.65 and $3.90, in line with estimates of $3.67.

Marriott shares fell as much as 3 percent in extended trading Thursday after posting mixed fourth-quarter earnings. The hotel company reported earnings per share of $1.44 on revenues of $5.29 billion. Analysts expected earnings per share of $1.39 on revenues of $5.48 billion, according to Refinitiv consensus estimates. The stock has since lost most of its gains.

Shares of Dell rose more than 3 percent and then dipped negative in extended trading Thursday following the release of the computer company's fourth-quarter earnings. Dell posted revenues of $24 billion.

Shares of VMware jumped more than 3 percent after hours Thursday based on fourth-quarter earnings. Beating on the top and bottom lines, the computer software company earned $2.59 billion in revenue, compared to the $2.50 billion expected on the Street. Earnings per share came in at $1.98.

Shares of Tesla dropped more than 3 percent after being halted for volatility prior to news that the electric automaker launched its standard Model 3, starting at $35,000. Elon Musk's company also announced it is shifting all sales online and does not expect to be profitable in the first quarter.

Nutanix shares cratered more than 24 percent after market close based on dismal 2019 guidance. The computer software company estimates full year revenues between $290 and $300 million, well below the $348 million expected by analysts. They also see a full-year loss of 60 cents per share, compared to the forecast loss of 28 cents.

The full-year forecast overshadowed the company's second-quarter earnings beat. Nutanix reported a second-quarter loss of 23 cents per share on revenues of $335 million. Analysts has expected a loss per share of 25 cents on revenues of $331 million.

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Tesla shares drop after Elon Musk says he does not expect to turn a profit this quarter

Tesla CEO Elon Musk does not expect the electric car maker to turn a profit in the first quarter, he said on Thursday.

He based his expectations on one-time charges and other financial commitments, and added that he does expect the company to be profitable in the second quarter.

Shares fell more than 3 percent Thursday night.

The company announced it will sell is long-promised $35,000 version of the Model 3 mid-size sedan.

This story is breaking news. Please check back for updates.

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Gov. Cuomo reportedly pleaded to Jeff Bezos to bring Amazon HQ2 back to New York

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has been pleading with Amazon executives, including CEO Jeff Bezos, to reconsider their decision to abandon plans to build a new office there, The New York Times reported Thursday.

Cuomo was outraged at local politicians who had opposed Amazon's HQ2 build on Long Island City and eventually drove the company out.. Following Amazon's Valentine's Day announcement that it was abandoning its planned move to New York that would bring 25,000 jobs, Cuomo issued a statement saying, "a small group [of] politicians put their own narrow political interests above their community -- which poll after poll showed overwhelmingly supported bringing Amazon to Long Island City -- the state's economic future and the best interests of the people of this state."

In the past two weeks, Cuomo has reportedly been trying to do damage control by promising Amazon executives he would help them cut through New York's government bureaucracy, according to the Times, though Amazon has not indicated it's working.

Amazon executives reportedly learned of an open letter meant to be published in the Times on Friday and signed by a number of New York-based unions, businesses and community groups expressing support for Amazon.

"Governor Cuomo will take personal responsibility for the project's state approval," the signatories wrote, according to a version of the letter published by the Times in advance on Thursday.

Amazon and Cuomo's office did not immediately respond to CNBC's requests for comment.

Read the full report at The New York Times.

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HBO CEO Richard Plepler to resign amid restructuring under AT&T

HBO CEO Richard Plepler is out amid a broad restructuring of the company under new parent AT&T, according to an internal memo obtained by CNBC.

Here's Plepler's announcement:

My dad always gave the best advice. Whenever there was a difficult decision to make, he counseled that since no one could ever have perfect visibility into the future, the best thing you could do was trust your instincts. It has been a touchstone for me throughout my life, and I have found myself returning to it again recently as I think about what is an inflection point in the life of this wonderful company. Hard as it is to think about leaving the company I love, and the people I love in it, it is the right time for me to do so.

In the past weeks, I've thought a lot about the incredible journey of this company in the nearly 28 years that I have been blessed to be here. It's a journey of great pride and accomplishment because so many of you, and many others before us, have made HBO a cultural and business phenomenon. Thanks to all of you, we are today churning on all cylinders both creatively and as a business. Thanks to all of you, I can move on to the next chapter of my life knowing that the best team in the industry remains here to carry on our continued progress and success. As I have said before, this is the team of teams.

It has been the great joy of my professional life to share this ride with you over these many years. And the great honor of my professional life to be your CEO. I don't have the words to express my gratitude for the support and talent that made our success together possible. But suffice it to say, my love for this place, and for all of you, is deeply a part of me and will last a lifetime. I look forward over the coming weeks to thanking as many of you as I can for the thousands of contributions big and small that have made "this thing of ours," to quote Tony Soprano, so special. I have told John, who has been nothing but gracious since we spoke, that I would work closely with him to assure a seamless and organic transition.

We've created a great and unique enterprise and I know that you will protect its legacy and do all to enhance its future in the years to come. Know that I will always be cheering loudly, even when I am outside this building, as HBO continues to thrive.

With respect, admiration, and gratitude,

Richard

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

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Tesla is shifting sales worldwide to online only

Tesla is shifting its sales to online only, and giving drivers up to a week to return newly purchased electric vehicles if they aren't satisfied, the company announced on Thursday.

The move to e-commerce only will help Tesla cut operating expenses, and avoid dealing with local politics that have prevented it from operating its own stores (dealerships) in certain states including Connecticut, New Mexico and others.

The company said in a blog post that shifting sales to online only would also enable it to sell its Model 3 vehicles for the long-awaited base model price of $35,000.

Tesla also said, in that post, it would be shifting resources to improve its customer service systems, with the goal of providing same-day service to Tesla owners. The company intends to do as much as possible through its mobile service, rather than asking drivers to come to Tesla service centers, it said.

A small number of Tesla stores will remain open as "galleries, showcases and Tesla information centers," where customers can learn about the company's products.

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Nutanix plunges 25 percent on a sales forecast that's way below estimates

Shares of Nutanix plunged 25 percent in extended trading after the provider of cloud infrastructure technology gave a weaker-than-expected forecast in its fiscal second quarter earnings report. For the latest quarter, the company beat analyst expectations on the top and bottom lines.

Here are the key numbers:

• Earnings: Loss of 23 cents per share vs. 25 cents per share expected, per Refinitiv
• Revenue: $335 million vs. $331 million expected, per Refinitiv

Nutanix expects revenue between $290 million to $300 million in the third quarter, compared to the $348 million analysts expected.

In the earnings release, Nutanix CFO Duston Williams said he expects the next quarter to reflect "the impact of inadequate marketing spending for pipeline generation and slower than expected sales hiring."

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Gap says it will shut 230 stores over the next two years, posts mixed holiday results

Gap said Thursday it plans close about 230 Gap specialty stores over the next two years as it works to restructure its business.

The retailer said it plans to split into two independent publicly traded companies, Old Navy and a yet-to-be named company, which will include its Gap brand, Athleta, Banana Republic, Intermix and Hill City.

Gap said the remaining store fleet will be a "more appropriate foundation" for future growth, with about 40 percent of its future sales expected to come from online and the remaining sales a mix of specialty and value channels such as outlets.

The announcement came as the company reported disappointing sales for the holiday quarter. Its earnings, however, topped estimates.

In the fiscal fourth quarter ended Feb. 2, Gap said net income rose to $276 million, or 72 cents a share, from $205 million, or 52 cents a share, a year ago. Profits were higher than the 68 cents a share, analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were expecting.

The company's sales fell to $4.62 billion from $4.78 billion a year ago. However, it was higher than the $4.69 billion analysts expected.

Same-store sales fell 1 percent during the quarter.

Gap shares surged more than 18 percent on the news.

The company said the store closures will result in an annualized sales loss of about $625 million, and pretax costs of about $250 million to $300 million. The actions will save about $90 million on a pretax basis.

In fiscal 2019, Gap said it expects to earn $2.11 to $2.26 a share. Excluding the costs tied to the store closures, Gap will earn between $2.40 and $2.55 a share. Same-store sales will be flat to slightly higher in the new fiscal year.

Gap plans to buy back about $200 million of its own stock.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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Nvidia chart looks like stock could drop back to lows, but there's a way to take advantage

One stock has fell short of chipmakers' big comeback.

Nvidia remains nearly 50 percent below its 52-week high set back in October, while the SMH semiconductor ETF is around 10 percent from sealing its own new record.

Todd Gordon, founder of TradingAnalysis.com, sees a bigger break lower for the semis stock.

"You can see that we're in a fairly well established downtrend here in Nvidia," said Gordon. "I don't even think we've retraced a third of what we've lost since the 2018 high… not even a quarter of what we've lost from the high. That shows relative weakness."

The Nasdaq 100 QQQ ETF, by comparison, has retraced around 61 percent of its decline from highs in September, while the SMH ETF has seen a retracement of more than three-quarters its loss, Gordon adds. The QQQ ETF is less than 8 percent from its highs.

"On top of that, what we'll see is Nvidia has traced out the classic three wave corrective pattern," he said. "The primary trend is clearly down at this point. We've bounced from $130, you've gone up, the volume was ok, it wasn't great on the bounce, sold back down on a gap here and now we're coming back for a three wave move."

Nvidia looks to be in the middle of an Elliott Wave movement, a technical theory that maps out prices moves based on investor behavior. In this formation, it could see the last of the three corrective waves that typically form, meaning further downside.

"I want to just try to get down and retest these lows around the $130 level," he added.

A move down to $130 represents a 16 percent decline from Thursday's close.

To play for a move to the downside, Gordon is buying the March 150/145 put spread for $1.25. This is a bearish bet that targets a move to $145 in the new two weeks.

"That's a $5 put spread. Max potential profit will be that $5 subtracted from the premium that we must pay which is $1.25 so simply $125 risk to potentially make $375 reward. A very nice trade," said Gordon.

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Gap will split into two publicly traded companies, with Old Navy as a stand-alone; stock surges

Gap Inc. said Thursday it will split into two independent publicly traded companies — Old Navy and an unnamed company, which will include its other brands.

Its shares surged more than 20 percent in after-hours trading on the news.

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This is the big stock market level that everyone is watching

Investors everywhere are watching the 2,800 level on the S&P 500 to see if the stock rally will fizzle there, or break through, signaling the potential for new highs.

Stocks have been flat so far this week, with the S&P 500 mostly trading around 2,800, a technical level it has been challenged by four times since October, including this week. The S&P did rise above 2,800 on Monday and Tuesday but failed to close above it. On Thursday, the S&P closed at 2,784, down 7 points. The last time the S&P closed above 2,800 was Nov. 8, but it hit that level on an intraday basis Dec. 3.

As the market has been testing the bottom of a 2,800 zone, it's also been faced with a heavy dose of headline risk from everything from China trade talks, the North Korea-U.S. summit, Fed testimony and a Congressional hearing featuring President Donald Trump's former attorney, who called him a cheat and a conman.

"People seem to be very focused on technicals and...this will be the fourth test of this resistance since the peak of the market at the end of September," said Dan Suzuki, portfolio strategist at Richard Bernstein Advisors. He said after reaching the high of 2,940, it initially fell to 2,728 in a matter of a few weeks.

"Every time the market has gotten to 2,800 or thereabouts, it's fallen and so it's failed there," he said. "It hit 2,800 in mid-October and then fell pretty significantly. It retested it in early November, fell again, retested almost at 2,800 in December, and that's when we saw the bid December correction, and now we're back to that level. There's a huge amount of focus on it."

Suzuki said the S&P level is even more important because so many traders have set computer programs with key technical levels in mind. "If we were to break out, there might be some further impact of those players to push the markets higher," he said.

Even though he monitors the technical levels, Suzuki makes calls on the market based on fundamentals, and he says on that basis it also makes sense for the market to be pausing at current levels.

"It's interesting because sentiment has been improving while the fundamentals have been weakening. Part of the improvement in sentiment is a reflection of just kind of correcting the collapse in sentiment that shouldn't have happened in December," he said. "We're now at pre-December levels, so from here to see another leg up in the market, it's got to be supported by improving growth outlooks, which we're not getting any concrete signs of."

Most of the data is supporting weaker growth, he added. "The combination of the technicals with the fundamental resistance makes this an interesting and significant resistance point for the market."

Frank Cappelleri, Instinet executive director and a technical analyst, looked back at the S&P 500 chart over a longer period, and found 11 times the S&P has tackled the 2,800 zone since the start of 2018.

"As we saw last summer, once 2,800 was officially overtaken, it became support," he said. "And that support helped propel the market to new highs."

Source: Instinet

The S&P 500 is up 18 percent from its Dec. 24 low closing, so Cappelleri said it makes sense that the market could pause to consolidate its gains.

"I would think because we've gotten here so quickly, and it's a recognizable number, and it's so quiet right now. There's probably a reluctance to get overly aggressive on the buy side, after the move, and there's an equal reluctance to sell. We're at a standstill," he said.

The current standstill could be a set up for a big move on the upside, according to some technicians.

"It is a barrier...just in speaking in terms of resistance, there's a range from 2,800 even up to 2,815. That would be the high from the October/November period," said Air Wald, a technical analyst at Oppenheimer. "It begs the question can we break through?"

He added, near-term the market could move sideways.

Wald said he is encouraged by some of the positives he's seeing, like a broadening in participation of different stock groups, evidenced in a growing number of advancing shares versus declining issues.

"Our recommendation for investors would be investing for a break out and a resumption of the up cycle," he said.

Suzuki expects stocks to eventually break out this year and move higher, but it could be choppy and may take some time.

"Clearly there are a lot of events out there, the next being an update on the trade discussions with China, as well as Brexit. It's important to look for some signs of stabilization of growth. I think one of the more likely areas where we could see stabilization is China," he said, adding its stimulus should begin to work and boost economic data.

In the meantime, headlines could make the market chop around. For instance, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer emphasized in a Congressional hearing this week that there is still a lot of work to be done before an agreement with China can be reached.

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Tesla suspends orders on website ahead of 5 pm ET announcement

The wait is almost over, even if no one knows what we're waiting for.

Electric carmaker Tesla suspended all orders on its website and redirected users to a page teasing a mystery announcement CEO Elon Musk said is coming at 5 p.m. ET Thursday.

Users who attempt to go to any of the company's ordering pages are redirected to a site that says: "The wait is almost over. Great things are launching at 2pm."

Whatever Tesla will launch is still a mystery. Investors have been expecting updates on several fronts, including the arrival of Tesla's long-promised $35,000 Model 3, a version of the sedan Tesla has been promising since it unveiled the car in 2016.

This story is developing. Check back for updates.

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After slow start, tax refunds are ticking up, with the average check now more than $3,000

Close to a month into tax season, tax refunds are starting to increase.

The average check is now $3,143 for the week ending Feb. 22, according to the IRS. That's just about on par with last year's figures, reflecting a rise of 1.3 percent year over year.

The increase in refund amounts is a change from the recent downward trend of smaller checks.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in an interview with CNBC on Thursday that refunds were rising. "Tax refunds are up 17 percent week over week," he said. That basically gets us to the same level as last year."

More from Smart Tax Planning:
What taxpayers should know about the new Form 1040
Use your tax return to unearth your spouse's money secrets
Why the average tax refund is down 16 percent

This tax season is particularly notable for filers.

It's the first time taxpayers are submitting their returns under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which took effect last year.

Taxpayers have been grappling with the overhaul, which nearly doubled the standard deduction, eliminated personal exemptions and placed limits on itemized deductions.

Since the opening of filing season on January 28 and up until the week ending February 15, the average refund was down compared to last year.

Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), who had sponsored the tax overhaul as it made its way through Congress, had told CNBC that those refunds were smaller for 2018 because taxpayers received their money in their paychecks during the year.

He said filers can retool their tax withholding at work using Form W-4.

If you withhold too much, you're likely to get a refund.

However, if you withhold less, you'll see more cash in your paycheck in the immediate term. But the following year, your refund will be smaller — or you may owe if you withheld too little.

"The people who are most likely to be surprised this year are the ones who lost some deductions they had last year and who didn't make changes to their withholding," said Nathan Rigney, lead tax research analyst at the Tax Institute at H&R Block.

In 2018, the Treasury Department and the IRS updated the withholding tables to reflect the new law.

Major changes include the end of personal exemptions, the doubling of the standard deduction and reduced individual income tax rates.

These withholding tables are guidelines that your employer follows in order to deduct the right amount of income tax from your paycheck.

The tables are intended to work alongside Form W-4, which you can use to tailor your taxes based on whether your spouse works, whether you have children and other factors.

The tax agency has been reminding taxpayers throughout 2018 to take a second look at their withholding and make estimated payments, if needed.

Even retirees were encouraged to ensure they were withholding sufficient tax from pension and Social Security payments.

Last month, the IRS announced it would waive the estimated tax penalty for filers who paid at least 85 percent of what they owed during 2018.

Normally, you have to pay at least 90 percent of your tax liability in order to avoid the penalty.

If you owe this season, consider it a lesson learned and do what you can to head off the same troubles in 2019.

It's generally a good practice to review your withholding, especially if you've been through major life changes, including getting married or having children.

If you're unhappy with your 2018 results, talk to your tax preparer or accountant about running a projection of your 2019 taxes.

Also, don't get too tied up fretting over the size of your refund as a chief determinant of how you fared this tax season.

Instead, look at your tax liability last year versus this year and see how they stand against your income, said Chris Benson, CPA and principal at L.K. Benson & Co. in Towson, Maryland.

"You want to compare the tax liability to your income," he said. "Everyone wants to know, 'Did I save money or not with the new tax bill,' and the best way to check is to look at liability versus income."

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