down twice normal volume. there's a big mover, traders are playing, and big volume in the space there. how about the s&p financial index, the xlf here. again, here, this is almost a full day's volume, probably due, oh, 70%, 80% more than normal volume, that's getting attention. emerging markets, eem, etf area, that stock, e tf, has a full day's volume, also do 70%, 80%. japan index, rarely pops up on really high volume or well above normal volume, that, too, is getting that today. for the s&p 500, remember, the correction, the 10%, everybody keeps talking about it, we're not there yet. over 6%. 1030 is the correction area. that will be the big area you'll see a lot of flut, if we get down around there in next few days. lowest levels are not nasdaq since november. >> tech sector was leadership in

2009 and of course maybe profit taking, momentum on top of that, that's what we have, down 2.5%. looks like the middle of a haul of a ship. google down 2.5%, good for 13 bucks. apple, 2.9%. research in motion 2%. intel, clip as across the board, smacked. intel down 3.4%. something propping up the dow is cisco. still holding on a gain after earnings. propping up the nasdaq 100 a bit. it's a situation where relative to everything else, it's had a great day. but it's steadily lost momentum, too. bank of america, merrill lynch, chiming in on the for profit education sector. corinthian college down graded from a neutral to a buy, hit hard, 5%. one place where there is green arrows, erin, retail. january comp sales, children's place up 12%, supposed to be 1%. costco up. lieu lieu lemon down 4%.

retailers the only place where there's any green outside of cisco. back to you. one of the biggest problems for the market and the recovery is this, and, bob was talking about it countries are trying to borrow their way out of the crisis. too many promises made to too many people and the way to solve them is borrow more money. it isn't just america. it's almost everywhere. and the question is, if everyone wants to borrow, who is going to lend? we'll agree, lithuania be the domino that sets off another wave of the crisis, a wave that one fund manager told me is more frightening than banks failing would be countries failing. here is our own rick santelli, zane brown, and the strategist at lbp financial.san you. you've been talking about the so-called yves, issues with country's credit worthiness for a long time. this morning we started talking about lithuania, which got their

money today, 7.6%, pretty darn good. >> absolutely. as a matter of fact, first of all, thank some of my friends at ifr, thompson reuters, priced 400 over our ten-year which is right where we thought it would price. i can confirm, why does this matter? because it's good to see that they're getting some of those funds in, even though it's a big spread. but you know, all of these canary in the coal mines are important for the same reasons that subprime had issues related to the multiplier effect and derivatives, in this case, credit default. tenth on the list of highest probability of default, right below latvia and dubai is california. the issue hits home as well. >> what's your take on this, zane brown? you've taken a look, by the way, at all of these countries that are seen as potentially the

next, and i'm watching headlines below you on fed governor hoenig. hold on. i'm waiting for the next one here, rich. there it is. yeah. hoenig's say, he was dissent in the last fed vote. he said we need to change the extended period language, which is what it appeared had been the issue in the original dissent. but let me just ask you this, zane, you look here at portugal and greece and lithuania and ireland and everyone says countries are in distress. but if distress is lithuania, the worst, at a 7.6%, i guess i'm kind of confuseded. money's too cheap, isn't it still? >> certainly there are were a lot of interested buys are in the lithuanian debt. they wanted to raise $2 billion, they got bids for $8 billion. as you point out, you know, 7.625 but was pretty attractive rate relative to what you might have thought was a true zaftser.

that's cheaper than greece. much higher in yield than spain or portugal or some of the others that you mentions. people do have money they're willing to lend. but there is some concern there, and it's probably not lithuania, because they don't have to come to market again this year. >> right. >> greece, on the other hand, does. in april, in may, they have 10 billion and $12 billion, $10 billion in april, $12 billion in may that they've got to refinance. that's going to be a real concern later on in this quarter. >> jeff from your perspective, what is more concerning, a year ago when you had major banks at risk of failing, or now when you have entire countries at risk? >> i think these are more aftershocks of the global financial crisis. if we had every country in europe, for example in the same financial position as we had all of the banks in the u.s. in the same financial position a year ago, a year and a half ago, i'd

be concerned but that's not the case. a different picture between the haves and the have-nots in europe and germanys and france are willing to extend assistance to other members if they need it, like greece if they need it if they meet certain budgetary reforms. then that backstop is there, much like the fed ultimately put in a backstop to our own bank financial crisis. >> rick santelli, this gets back to the other point, which is, i know sometimes maybe perhaps art officially simple way to put it but raises a fair question, which is everybody wants to borrow, everybody. and there's really kind of one lender out there. and china, for example, says they don't want to lend to greece. i'm confused as to who is going to len all of this money. >> you know what? and that's why this discussion is so enlightening, because the reason we're having it, the reason you asked that question, and nobody wants to go there, is how does this play out for the best, powerful economy in the world, the u.s., as we're on

this horrible road to fiscal deficit staggering numbers, what nobody wants to say is, are we looking at our own future down the road? how does the world change when the final backstop has an issue? listen, it isn't something the u.s. should worry about today, tomorrow, next year, like we talked about yesterday. >> right. >> but we need to start thinking about it today, because issues, if they remain the same, these stories could be about us in three, four, five years. >> and that, zane, does appear to be a very fair issue, doesn't it? it could be us. >> absolutely, because what's concerning investors about the countries we're talking about, spain, portugal, lithuania, the level of budget deficit they have relative to gdp, and we are right there. we were there 10% last year. >> exactly. >> we have essentially the same level of budget deficit to gdp that they do. so it is a concern. it ought to be a concern right

now. we need to start thinking longer term, how we're going to reduce that. that's not really even on the table. we're still trying to create jobs. but at some point, we've got to face the deficit. >> jeff, final word to you, then. in this environment, again, i'll use the question, i may be confused, but with the market up 50% since its bottom and a massive debt problem around the world, how do equities go higher? >> you know, the fundamentals, erin, continue to be, you know, look at earnings season so far. labor issues are still -- labor markets are weak, tremendous productivity gains. we heard about it today, reflecting in the profits of u.s. corporations. so i mean i think the key is that we've got to rein in our expectations. earnings are way down from their peak, so are stocks. that's the gap that we should be looking at, not how far they are off their lows. how far they are from their highs. we've seen some healing and the process is slow going forward. but don't discount the rally that we've come so far, which is reflective of the fundamentals

in corporate america. >> thanks very much to all three of you, rick, zane, jeff. well, speaking of debt, the u.s. house of representatives voted a couple of moments ago on its first vote of the day, in they voted to increase the national debt limit by $1.9 trillion, that's a "t," trillion. there were 217 yes votes on the rule, 212 nos. not a single republican voted for it. debt limit $14.3 trillion, you saw on our favorite website, debtclock.org, still at 12. 3. we'll go up to 14.3. so let's talk a little bit about this and also about financial reform, and where we stand on that. joining us is republican congressman ed royce of california, senior member of the house financial services committee. good to have you with us. >> thank you. >> you voted against it but knew it would pass? >> yes. i think it's irresponsible to vote to increase that debt

ceiling unless you're going to do something about what's driving the increase. and the problem that we have right now york you saw moody's yesterday, come out with a report where they said, the aaa rating on treasuries is called into question, unless we do something about these unsustainable deficits going into the future. you don't see that as part of the budget -- part of the president's plan. as a matter of fact, it xo compounds the problem and see in outyears 5% of gdp, numbers 5%, and basically it takes 3% to get into the eu, right? so we are in excess of the standards to get into the eu, even in the out years on the deficit. we're not tackling the problem. >> are you willing to cut medicare, then? >> what we should be looking at doing is, across the board, figuring out ways that we bring this budget into balance. and we should not have a budget ten years out without it being closer to balance or without a

glide path which reduces this deficit. so the alternative budgets that the republicans are putting up, eventually leads to elimination of the deficits. and that's the dialogue we need to have with the president. he's going to be out of office, let's say, it's a year out or four years out, eight years out, he's out of the office and the budget he gives us calls for 5% of gdp. >> certainly that's an issue. but i mean, i must say, sir, that -- maybe i asked it a bit to be provocative -- >> i'm a deficit hawk. i have voted to cut everything, at one point or another. i'm at the table. how can you increase spending 24% this year, 8% in the appropriations bill next year, and add on top of that a new entitlement spending on health care and not expect this to be a major problem? this is the problem. >> the president tried to cut medicare in health care and that was the thing that the republicans resisted, which was

the spending cuts included. >> wait a minute. wait a minute. the idea that he's coming forward with a new entitlement for a government-run health plan and the reality is that that is not -- that entitlement is not going to reduce costs. let me just assure you that the long-term consequences of that would be a major hit. it will bend the curve up on spending. every time i've heard this in the part, where a president has said, don't worry, this new entitlement will save money, the exact opposite has been the long-term consequence, and i certainly believe that's the case here. i agree with the analysis that the "wall street journal" did on this, they show the true costs over the next ten years, probably more likely $2 trillion. so, i think we have to get down to not constantly growing government, but instead, figuring out ways to grow the private sector. and the only way to do that is not suck all of the money out into the government. >> fair point. let me ask, and i'm curious

about this, you say you're a deficit hawk. >> yes. >> earmarks, some may say, may not add up to that much but stand for a whole lot in terms of whether people elected to serve in washington care about deficits. would you sign on to something if it was i signed this and i will not ask for a single earmark for my district, that my district is willing to not get that special road or senior center, whatever is it, because we care about america's debt future? >> senator mccain and i co-chaired the pork busters coalition. i've got a lot of scars, so does mckarng going after these earmarks and it's 2% of the spending. i'm willing to go after earmarks. but at some point we have to do something about entitlements. you certainly can't add new entite millie entitlements for health care which envision the government basically taking over that share of the market and not expect it to have this profound effect on the anticipation of what future deficits will be.

it's going to add to the deficit in the future. >> congressman royce, thank you very much. appreciate you're taking time. next on the show, human piggy bank. could the passenger next to you be smuggling millions of dollars into the country? wait until you hear how it gets done. plus -- toyota's recall debacle opening frankly a can of worms. could all of the electronics in your car, talking about the most expense everybody cive cars be risk? what cars drive by wire? weave got the names. i drove my first car from my parent's home

in the north of england to my new job at the refinery in the south. i'll never forget. it used one tank of petrol and i had to refill it twice with oil. a new car today has 95% lower emissions than in 1970. exxonmobil is working to improve cars, liners of tires, plastics which are lighter and advanced hydrogen technologies that could increase fuel efficiency by up to 80%.

we are down 222 points off the low of the session and still above the psychologically, least, important level of 10000 for the dow. dave is faber is with us, peter thompson. mary, all of this comes down today, i guess, to the banks and to the countries. i mean, it's as high as it gets but you've been looking closely at the bank side of it and the effect there of these debt worries. >> that's right. you flow, where you see it most notably the european banks, worries reflects in the shares of the financial institutions, down 7% plus today. talking to a couple of trade ofs

they say the markets are trying to figure out how to price this in. they say, while if you have downgrades at pigs, what they're called, portugal, italy, greece, it may not have a massive effect because it's smaller economies. the problem is, will it be follows by contagion and that's weighing specifically on the european banks hardest today. >> and, david, what is your sense, when we talk about -- mary brings up the p.i.g.s. spains 12.5% of the european economy. yet, their ten-year treasury is trading at 4.14%, barely above ours. >> listen, spain -- they have a budget deficit like we do. it's not like we don't have the same problems that the either governments do. it's a question of whether they're able to borrow their way out of it the way we're trying to do. spain, i think, needs to raise, what $160 billion. by our measure, that would be nothing, right? but at same time, 12% of gdp,

don't hold me to those numbers but i'm more or less directionally correct there. it just is continues concern about these overall deficits, spain had a huge housing bubble, just like we did. and it also has had to help stave off a dire potential consequence for its own economy spending money, hence in a similar position to other european and, of course, our own country. >> peter kenny, what is the real reason for the sell-off today? i mean, are people overreacting to some of these concerns or is this just a beginning of a much broader sell off, because we came too far, too fast? >> a great question. we have come very far, and very fast. however, you have to look at fundamentals of our domestic economy. if you look at that, in light of the broader and bigger picture, there's a lot positive going on earnings season has been quite, quite solid. guideance has been sole is. macro data is solid, and

improving. gdp numbers were vong in the last two quarters, this past quarter in particular. not everything is bad. emerging market space is in the focus right now and it's not just greece or the p.i.g.s., grease, spain, portugal, look at south and central america, they're taking a beating today as well though they don't have the same issues, fis kelg issues that the p.i.g.s have there's a bleed into the emerging space and we may have this for some time to come. one thing this will do, drive the conversation towards fiscal responsibility. the markets will make, you flow, the european union come to chairs with fiscal or not. this has to be delt with. >> david everybody wh, what are from hedge fund contacts? are people getting burnt or a dream come true in the sense you're seeing dramatic moves.

>> hedge funds focused on this as a play. that is, sovereign risk. and as last year wore on, you well know, erin, that risk started to come down a lot in price. you had a huge narrowing, for example, between corporates and treasuries and investment grade and noninvestment grade. and so we're repricing risk back the other way, perhaps not a bad thing. a andersen number of hechbldge in the bonds or currencies at the same time our own market, i think, has hurt more than it's helps most of the guyize speak to out there. they did not expect this sell offthis quickly and early into the new year. >> mary, talking about how it's focuses now on the european banks but obviously the u.s. banks you've had a sell offas well, too. >> that's right. >> much more linked to broader market and the bank of america issue. >> broader market. another interesting thing that's happened in the regional banks, erin, they've outperformed the market significantly since the

beginning of the year. speaking to traders, they said what was happen, hedge fund were expecting, shorting these. that created short squeeze to drive some higher. but new concerns have been affecting the regional banks. basically, there was a move into them because of expectations for the volcker rule. now when it's expected make the volcker rule won't affect the money centered banks as much people are taking money out of the regional banks. add pnc going to raise money to repay t.a.r.p. does that mean or banks will do the same thing? we're seeing regional banks pull back on speculation as well today. >> thanks to all three of you. david, mary, peter. david reminds us someone, somewhere is making a lot of money. >> always. >> that's the way the world works. >> we need someone to lend to all of the people that have to borrow. your supposed to declare anything over $10,000 when you fly into the states. have you ever flouted that rule?

wait till you hear what people go to smuggle massive amounts of money into the country.

another problem for america's banks today in washington, as senate hearing on whether america's banks are involved in lawnering hundreds of millions for corrupt foreign officials. money laundering is $1.5 trillion global problem, some involves sophisticated offshore accounts but some involves smuggling money across borders. joinings now is a consultant who advise is on money laundering, co-founder of milferson and member of the financial crimes unit, both certified anti-money laundering specialists. appreciate you taking time to be with us. some of them out of angola, nigeria, may have laundered money through american banks like bank of america, who supposedly unwittingly went along with it. but this is a serious, and a

growing problem, right, kevin? >> absolutely. absolutely. the best estimates $1.5 trillion. and you have to understand that it's a three-part problem. it is not just a laundering, it's, a, what happened beforehand, what crimes were committed that they got that money? b, the actual laundering of the money and, c, now you are enabling them to continue doing the bad deeds that they were doing. >> which obviously is something you think the banks would go along with but banks are so global, i would imagine it's easier said than done. >> absolutely. >> in addition to these sorts of money transfers, some of which i'm sure involve offshore accounts, wire transfers, there's also the pure and simple way of doing it, which is taking cash and getting it across boarders. we've come into this country and checked that box, are you carrying10,000 of cash or more, if so, go to a special screening ploef most of us cash no because we

don't carry that much around. how do people sneak it in. >> this is your classic traditional method of smuggling currency or cash. we have been seeing, i would say, an uprise, especially in the latin american regions or that can refer to that as an example of human piggy banks not only swallowing wads of cash, whether it's dollars or euros, and they're bringing them into the united states. but they're also smuggling them, you know, south of the united states into south america and central america. so that's basically i your typical organized crime employee, organized crime organization employees who basicalliry trying to move illicit funds through international border but was you have cash couriers that work for the organized crime enterprises and declare the money that they're sending or they're

taking on them but instead of declaring $20,000, they're actually carrying $50,000 or $100,000 on them. so it's really interesting how they're doing all of this. of course we do have programs that law enforcement is working with where they're actually checking and var ferifying. >> one of the examples, problem put the cash into a condom, tie it, and swallow it, so that it doesn't explode inside them, obviously and kill them and that would be pass undetected. any way we can find that? >> tough to find that at airports when they come in with that. that's less likely, just because the volume of cash that's required to swallow. that's more for drug dealers using -- trying to smuggle heroin into the country. cash is mostly going to be come in bulk volume. quite frankly, cash weighs a

lot. if a million dollars or $20 bills weighs 110 pounds. tough moving it back and forth. it's not simple as swallowing it. you'll only get so much that way. >> i need to add something to kevin, i don't mean to disrupt you. we have two kinds of bulk cash smuggling. you basically have your bulk cash smuggling that is allowed because there's corruption and there's bribery and there's complicity, especially in te concern countries. but human piggy banks swallowing wads of cash they could swallow up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in their stomachs. >> wow. i mean does it bulge, literally? i know i'm being graphic here, but that's a lot. >> that's a lot. just like drugs, like kevin was mentioning, drugs can be put into a condom so these wads of dollars or euros and actually

there have been people who have smuggled more than $50,000 in their stomachs and have been actually caught at the airports because, you know, law enforcement and customs agents are able to detect they're kind of uncomfortable or more swollen. i know for a fact right now airports have the intention of improving their x-ray machines and with all of the x-ray machines it will make it easier to detect these people, if not at least deter what is go on in the sense. >> thank you very much for joining us. we've heard people put snakes next to their body. maybe america would support screening if we prevent snakes get on the planes. pandas have been getting on to planes in addition to wads of cash and bellies and vipers. cramer will break down the bull markets. 

what we saw in our numbers was an undeniable, across the board, dramatic up provement

largern than i've ever seen in my business career. >> all right, jim, what's the real story? what he just said or what the rest of the market's talking about? >> well, you flow, rest of the market's trading as if it's one big block trade where someone wants to move $10 billion of s&p. this is the most bullish i've heard john chambers, i've been listening to john chambers when wardridge was there. this is best he sounded. i think that people have to recognize that, when you see a stock that is barely up, it is a huge move in a down s&p day. in other words, chambers is right, and the stock will be higher six months from now, even though portugal's doing badly. >> you make fun of portugal but you have to fly in there to fly into spain. >> it's true. we've got a budget deficit, the world's coming to an end. the world's been -- my first trade in 1979. the world has been coming to an end so long, it's starting to sound biblical. >> it is biblical, jim.

i don't know where you're going. >> i can tell you if you think the world's coming to an end, buy cds because those are perfect. >> jim, oil is down nearly $4. >> right. >> linked to everything else. >> right. >> do you think that lasts? what's your oil trade? >> i haven't felt that oil holds $68, $70. i felt that when shum ber jay reported mr. goldman was optimistic that you never see that stock again, basically schlumberger would be off in the 70s. because of the s&p trade you're at a level where i don't think you have a right to get schlumberger again, it's that good. schlumberger does not trade on oil futures. it trade on big countries deciding it's time to drill. they are not looking at futures even as we are glued to the futures. >> so, jim, i wanted to ask you, did you see -- i don't know if

his name is tychin. you see him? >> panda, yeah. >> i am wondering, this whole issue of the u.s. versus china thing we have there is deal, right, where we get to borrow the pandas? >> yeah. >> people love pandas. they get old enough to have babies and they're supposed to go back to china, that's the contract, right? >> right. >> we decided we didn't want to send the pandas back, we started to fight it, we lost, we have to send them back. if we can't agree on pandas, what are we going to agree on? >> we rearm taiwan, for whatever reason. we do need to get them to revalue -- >> for whatever reason, there's a statesman's comment. i don't know what it could be. >> i was recently with powerful people in the australian government, and they basingicalbasingibasically told china, don't mess with us. we're respectful to the chinese.

but they need to revalue the currency. i don't care that they say, you know that they said last night, we don't take kindly to people who say we should revalue our currency. it's not about take kindly. i mean, we're a great country. they're an emerging country, they've emerged. but they have to revalue the currency. it isn't earth as china. there's lots of other countries in the world. >> i have a couple of questions for you about who you talked to in the australian government. >> yeah. >> but before we get to that, when it comes to the issue of the u.s. and china, jim, do we really want them to revalue? if they do or go too quickly, our prices go up, which we doesn't want right now. i don't know how to get it right, that's all i'm saying. >> everything should be done incrementally i don't think anyone outside china nshth world, thinks what they're doing with the currency is fair but i respect the fact that it should be done gradually. i'm not say week need to say, listen, here's the way it has to

be. i think there is a protectionist factor here that is not fair. i favor free trade. i really favor free trade, and they're not free traders, they're not. they're not free traders because of their currency. >> when you talk to the people you talk to in the australian government, you don't need to out names burke did you talk about the camel calling policy. >> it was about coal and china. i should have gone into the camel calling thing but i was trying to keep it at 30,000 feet. oops, no, that's where they're shooting them from. >> don't forget, where your heart is. >> spot on. >> jim cramer tonight 6:00 and 11:00 eastern on cnbc. next, toyota deals with fallout from massive recalls, we're going to turn a light on the broader question, is increased use of technology in cars making them unsafe for you? we actually know which cars rely the most on electronics and bet people who watch the show drive some of them.

more bad news for toyota, facing another class-action lawsuit, safety regular laters in america are opening a formal investigation. denying its latest recall. down i believe now about 20% since all of this began. phil lebeau in canton, michigan, with more. what is the latest denying of a recall? >> reporter: right, it all has to do with whether or not the company will recall about 270,000 prius models. we the report that there may be a recall has been filed by the japanese news agency, but both toyota as well as other sources that we've talked with have said there's no indication toyota

will be filing a recall. toyota officially denies. the company has no plans, no plans to suspend sales of the prius. nhtsa, it is opening an investigation into the brakes on 2010 priuses. 124 complaints and 4 accidents reported to washington involving prius brakes here in the united states. customers complain that the brakes do not immediately respond, particularly on bumpy roads. the delay may be up to one second. the implications of this has to do everything with prius popularity. it is the fourth biggest model for toyota in terms of sales here in the united states. it dominates the hybrid segment of the auto industry here. it is the only major play in hybrids. and it's a possible fourth brand for toyota. with all of that said, there are many questions today, at a press conference in japan, whether or not the prius problems, along with other ones that we reported on toyota are the result of a company that has started to cut cornters. executives denied that's the

case. >> we would not think of sacrificing quality for the sake of cutting costs. it would not make economic sense. >> reporter: by the way, toyota stock put under pressure again today. it's down about 18% since all of these problems started in the third week of january. for more on what the implications are, the prius problems, check out the blog, behindthewheel.cnbc.com. back to you. >> thank you, phil. toyota's problems got us thinking, is the increased use of technology in cars making them unsafe? only fair to say, as phil has said repeatedly, toyota denies that electronics and the malfunction of electronics were links to the recall of the accelerator brake. accelerator pedal, i'm sorry. many are worried about it. ihs global insights analyst, an automotive group. thank you for being with us. toyota says electronics are not part of the problem but when

people start to think about this and then they see brakes and brakes obviously have a complicated electrical system behind them they start to wonder about electronics. so, i guess let's just start with, what cars are the most electronic for lack of a better word? >> they tend to be the luxury vehicles, the highest priced vehicles on the market. cars like the bmw 7 series, mercedes s-class, as a couple of examples, probably the audi a-8 as well. generally new electronic technologies are tried out on the most expensive vehicles and then, as the cost of those technologies comes down the curve and is reduced, we see them on less expensive vehicles. >> so i mean, let's take one of the ones, you know, you have taken the time, we're going to show them, the most electronically rely ant, shall we say, vehicles the bmw 760-li sedan, i bet someone out there drives one. you're talking about all of these things, active role

stabilization, integral steering with power assist. i can keep going on. the rain-sensing windshield wipers. what if the sensing breaks? we can think of all sorts of problems here. do you think more electronics means more risk? >> certainly did does. i mean i was doing studies of automotive technology in the early '90s and, at that time we were concerned by drive by wire, which is one of the things suspected with troi right now, brake by wire, steer by wire, all technologies that were doab doable circa 1990 butt being considers back then. some are common. >> it's interesting now, for example, if you wanted to buy a manual car, you flow, something i wanted to do, i prefer manual, it's virtually impossible to get it. you can get this sort of like

it's kind of this and kind of that, i'll tell you one thing it didn't feel like a real manual. so are we go back to those days where, if i want a simpler car with a manual shift i can get one? >> i doubt it. the number of americans who know how to drive a manual transmission goes down every day and if you look at the fit rate on automatic transmissions here in the u.s., it's about 95% of cars and trucks. of cars and trucks. it's expensive to certify a manual transmission car for emissions. we're still heading more toward automatic. >> it's a tragedy, just because manuals are better. if everyone learned to drive them, they would love them. >> right. >> that's why you love to drive. at least i do. >> john, thank you very much. appreciate you taking the time. if you're looking for a silver lining, oil and gas prices are falling today. sure, sharon, i guess that's good for regular people, there's the silver lining.

>> that's good for regular people. but why are they falling? they're falling because people are so uncertain about what is happening with the job situation in this country, with what's happening with the sovereign debt issues in europe. as a result we're looking at the dollar strength weighing on commodities across the board including oim. oil close together day about $73 a barrel, dropped more than $3 today. 5% today. gasoline futures also down sharply, down more than 4% on the session. we're looking at the biggest one-day percentage drop in oil since july and gasoline since september. we'll see this at the pump. it will work its way in in a couple weeks. the reason behind it may not give comfort to a lot of consumers and drivers. back to you. >> thank you very much, sharon. heading into the home stretch, more on the sell-off. we've actually mitigated a bit of losses, only down about 204. we'll be back in a moment. you know, when i place an order, don't just fill it. get me the best available price.

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signs." i'm diana olick in washington. mortgage rates edged up so slightly. the 30-year fixed up just .03% to 5.01%. mortgage applications rose to a six-week high last week. sales of million dollar homes in california are still falling for the fourth straight year. mda data quick says about 18,600 homes sold for at least a mill last year, down 24% from '08 and down 66% from the 2005 peak. manhattan real estate is no longer ruled by co-ops. prudential douglas element found condo sales began the last decade with a 40% market share compared to co-ops and ended with a 54% market share. all that thanks to new development. check back. we've got an hour to go, down 210. what do you say, peter costa? >> what do i say? well, i mean, one of the things

you have to look at is we have pretty good volume. we're probably at a run rate of about 1.6 billion, 1.5 billion which is pretty good for a sell off. we have a significant selloff, but there's no volume to following it up or match it. this is volume to match it. this is falling into my whole scenario about the market is going to be retrenching back. i still think we'll have maybe 5% or 6% on the down sichltd i know that's not what the world wants to hear. i don't think it's going to happen that fast. this is happening very fast. i think for the next month and a half, you're going to see these relief rallies and it's going to sell off again. >> 5% or 6% all nm isn't that bad. it's not as if you're saying we're going to test lows. >> i'm bearish but not like the end of the world is coming. i think the market is mid december or mid november, between november and december the market got way ahead of itself. that's why i felt we were going to sell off.

now you're seeing the result of that. >> all right. there you go. weave got it. he believes in the sell-off, but it isn't armageddon, realistic, but not tend of the world. final check of the markets, first your trend of the day. boss: y'know, geico opened its doors back in 1936

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i was waiting to come up there. down about 210 points and well off the lows of the session. we'll cee csee if we can improv little bit. still off the 10,000 psychological level for the dow. oil down just shy of $4.00. becht e-mail to our show sadr rin,ly sell you my porsche for manual drive. if your porsche is not manual, i do not want it. thank you so much. have a wonderful dell. time for "closing bell." a major global selloff, the dow down triple digits and the dollar hitting seven-month highs as sovereign fears send shock waves across wall street. live from the new york stock exchange, this is the final and most important hour of the trading day. it is the final stretch. there's a live picture of the floor of the new york stock exchange. welcome to "closing bell." i'm maria bartiroma on the floor

of the new york stock exchange along with scott wapner. we have worries today about debt on the balance sheet of government, sovereign debt as well. an employment report out tomorrow. people are talking about that being worse than they expected as well. >> this is a dramatic day on the floor of the new york stock exchange. we're seeing the biggest decline ins the market since january 22nd or so. you have the dollar up and commodities are absolutely getting an nile lateed to day. >> we got the s&p 500. worst showing since last year, october 30th, and the nasdaq down 2.25%. s&p worst showing since october of '09 with a decline of better than 2%. >> technology continues to roll over, maria in the wake of much better than expected earnings from cisco systems and about as optimistic of comments you could ask from a technology ceo right now, that being, of course, john chambers. our team has the market covered from here in new york, up in chicago let's begin with bob pisani, our eye on the floor today. >>