Need To Know: Billionaire Sam Zell Warns On Stocks And Real Estate: Wheres The Beef?

The Trump administration is delaying those steel tariffs for a bunch of allies, but there isn’t much letup in Iran-Israel tensions at the moment — or in North Korea-related posturing.

And the Dominican Republican is snagging a bit of the spotlight today, as it disses Taiwan and cozies up to China.

But the market just might shrug at all the geopolitical turmoil and instead focus on what really matters: How many iPhones has Apple sold?

“Given the negative bias to the markets, a downbeat guidance from Apple could prove too much,” warns London Capital Group’s Jasper Lawler, as he braces for the company’s earnings after the close.

Billionaire investor Sam Zell is also cautioning that stocks could face a reckoning. And he’s not sounding that bullish about real estate either — the sector where he made his fortune. He delivers our call of the day.

“The stock market, despite all of the gyrations, is still at an all-time high. Real estate is priced to perfection,” Zell tells Bloomberg TV, as the S&P 500 SPX, -0.27% stands 8% below its January peak.

“I’m a little bit like that old Wendy’s commercial: ‘Where’s the beef?’ ... I think it’s a very challenging situation, one that requires discipline.”

Zell agrees with the notion that there is a ton of capital chasing too few opportunities. He suggests investors resist urges to buy, buy, buy.

“It very hard to sit there and not pull the trigger, but it’s the guys who don’t pull the trigger who are around to pull it when it works,” Zell says.

The “Grave Dancer” notes that he and his lieutenants swooped down about five years ago on a Chicago-based REIT that owns office properties, Equity Commonwealth EQC, +0.06%  .

“Since we took it over, we’ve done nothing but sell. Today we have $3.2 billion in cash, uncommitted, and we’re just sitting there, waiting for the world to come to us,” he says.

He’s not tempted by the Amazon-fueled action around warehouses and distribution centers. It’s probably “getting too exciting,” he says.

You can get a seven-minute dose of Zell in the video below, and keep in mind the evergreen advice from A Wealth of Common Sense’s Ben Carlson — who says don’t try to emulate billionaire investors.

Read more: Trump gets kudos from billionaire Sam Zell

Key market gauges

Futures for the Dow YMM8, -1.01%  , S&P 500 ESM8, -0.43% and Nasdaq-100 NQM8, -0.13% are a little lower, after the Dow DJIA, -0.83%  , S&P SPX, -0.27% and Nasdaq Composite COMP, +0.00% ended a positive April on a down note.

European stocks SXXP, -0.05% are inching higher, with U.K. equities driving the action as most of the region’s markets are closed for May Day. Asia closed with gains, with some bourses there also shut. Oil CLM8, -1.33% and gold GCM8, -0.93% are falling, as the dollar index DXY, +0.59% gains. Bitcoin BTCUSD, -3.80% is back under $9,000.

See the Market Snapshot column for the latest action.

The chart

Ahead of Apple’s earnings, is there too much love for the FAANG stocks?

That’s the suggestion in the chart above from Bespoke Investment Group. It shows a low level of bets against Facebook FB, +0.36%  , Amazon AMZN, +0.29%  , Apple AAPL, +1.56%  , Netflix NFLX, -0.38% and Google parent Alphabet GOOG, +0.07% GOOGL, +0.17%  .

“There certainly seems to be a shortage of skepticism regarding these names,” Bespoke’s analysts write.

The quote

“The U.S. decision prolongs market uncertainty, which is already affecting business decisions. The EU should be fully and permanently exempted from these measures, as they cannot be justified on the grounds of national security.” — The European Commission is not cheering President Trump’s move on tariffs late yesterday — the French especially, despite the Trump-Macron connection.

Trump extended tariff exemptions for the European Union, Canada and Mexico for another month, giving them more time to negotiate deals to avoid U.S. levies on steel and aluminum imports.

The buzz

BP’s BP, +0.73% CFO said crude prices look “frothy” as the oil giant’s quarterly profit came in the strongest since 2014. Check out Mark Hulbert on the BP anniversary you probably forgot.

Is “Merger Monday” not over? Boeing BA, -1.70% says it will buy plane-parts specialist KLX KLXI, -8.89% for $3.2 billion, while Hasbro HAS, -2.07% plans to acquire the Power Rangers and other entertainment brands in a $522 million deal.

A bunch of big names reported earnings before the open, including Pfizer PFE, -3.09%  , Merck MRK, -0.54%  , Aetna AET, +0.47%  , Under Armour UA, -3.65%  , Archer Daniels Midland ADM, +0.79% , Coach parent Tapestry TPR, -11.34% and Cummins CMI, -5.22%  .

Beyond Apple’s earnings once the closing bell rings, Snap SNAP, -1.40% is posting results late today, too.

See: How many billions is Apple about to promise its investors?

The Federal Reserve is due to start a two-day meeting, then tomorrow Jay Powell & Co. are expected to leave interest rates on hold and signal no change to a tightening path of two more rate increases in 2018.

Don’t miss: Why the Fed could make 4 rate hikes this year

On the data front, watch for Markit and ISM’s reports on manufacturing, data on construction spending and monthly auto sales.

Check out: MarketWatch’s Economic Calendar

In political news, lots of people are eyeballing the list of questions that Special Counsel Robert Mueller reportedly wants to ask Trump. And John Kelly pushed back against a report saying he called the president an idiot, with the White House chief of staff describing it as “total BS.”

Random reads

It’s the baseball season when strikeouts overtook hits.

“Sabine Baring-Gould happens to have been the last man who knew everything.”

A Chinese suitor has backed away from Anthony Scaramucci’s SkyBridge Capital.

This glacier’s meltdown could raise global sea levels by 2 to 3 feet.

After merging with a Walmart business, Sainsbury’s CEO had a song on his lips:

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