what we're trying to do is build an audience and one way to do that is lower your ticket prices. with the economy the way it is, is that a reaction to that as well. >> it seems to fit. it seems to make sense in this economy, you know? we don't need to be slamming people. >> that's from a conversation i had earlier this week with bob weir, former get tuitarist with grateful dead. for their summer tour, because of the economy, all tickets will be around $40. >> fabulous. >> further. >> you play with -- look at that. that's amazing. and for those of you who didn't know, steve plays a mean, mean guitar. you can see the rest 0 the interview -- >> and he's crazy about the grateful dead. >> he is. we'll bring you that interview about the dead and their business and all of that stuff. nice interview with bob weir,

who was gracious with us. >> "street signs" comes up next. it is 2:00 on wall street. stocks are down, nearly triple digits. well off the lows of the session. jobless claims, the reason for the fall. we've got ten sectors in the market lower. still all 30 dow stocks in the red. we're having a bit of a comeback. we'll be tracking it. meantime, we're facing a snowicane. record snow hurting american's economy fower homes sold. it matters to our bottom line. in washington, it's sunny there, snowing here. health care summit in full swing literally where the camera's taking the picture from. a special guest joining us. welcome to "street signs." that was a hint to our guest in case you did not know who that

was, you'll see. straight to the trading floors. lots of rumors going around. what i'm -- rick santelli in chicago. brian, i want to start with you. i'm hearing from some traders saying there are some rumor, i should emphasize rumors, that apple may be doing a 4 for 1 split. traders are saying that's what caused 70-point bounceback we saw. >> i will tell you that could have something to do with it but i'm having a conversation on the side with art cashin. intraday of the dollar index that might be what's behind the rally in stocks. well off the lows, under 100 points we were down as much as 180. if there's currency correlation the last couple of days, it's in effect right now. look at dollar index. that move we've got to find out what's behind the move. that's what's moving stocks now at this hour. want to move ahead quickly to a couple of things. coke and coca-cola enterprises because there's now ones here people aren't talking about. coca-cola taking over north

american operations, paying special dividend. they said they weren't going to do it. dr. pepper/snapple, they're getting 900 million from the pepsi deal with their bottlers. they could get least that from this deal in terms of licensing and distribution from coke. that stock getting bid up big time. big retail names doing well. tgx, all-time high, kohl's hit a two-year high. let's go to rick santelli in chicago. >> reporter: thanks, shack. we talked about all of the volatility in the euro currency. boy, look at an intraday chart. it's still going on. it's getting crazy in there. how crazy? well, we went below 135, boom, close to 135.75 almost in a blink of an eye. 135.5, they are trading 110 puts. somebody's paying for the right to make money if we get down to 110. we're at 135.

just to show you how much anxiety you could almost feel that in some place, somewhere in europe there's a meeting, we're going to help them this way, euro goes up. well, i'm not going to do that, it goes down. quickly, intraday to-year note yield, it's down a bit. july on and fed funds making record contract highs. there's no news in short-end rallying, they have virtually no rate. why? the fed isn't going to move liquidity. look at a european two-year, you can see its behavior. here's where the game is. contrast that, credit spread tearing up with a two-year greek note. you can see where all of the anxiety's coming from. so, we are on a roller coaster overall for the market and every day. today we did have a lot of fears about a double dip, particularly on the back of the jobless claims. paul hickey with us, our own steve liesman with us as well

and different points of view here. let's me start, paul, with you. and the rumor, i emphasize about apple, we were down 160, now down 89, and traders are saying it's a rumor apple may do a 4 for 1 split. apple's trade agent $200 a share. how unusual would that move be? >> well, typically when you see a company that is prone to splitting their stock, they would do it a 2 for 1. to see a 4 for 1, you haven't seen those splits since the internet days when stocks would go up 100% a week, so to speak. for the past year you had companies not wanting to split stock, for fear it's going back down. now there's a sense that things are stabilizing here, and that the stock isn't going to go down if they do a 4 for 1 split, $50 a share, they're not worried about it going to 10. >> we'll get jim goldman and get more on what's going on. apple, paying dividends or doing

buyback would not change the stock price. your view, paul, you're optimistic about the market. bad things people are pointing to, like jobs numbers, bad consumer confidence makes you say, we could be going up? >> yeah. i mean, the double dip fears are prepare ti premature. the s&ps were down heading into the report. right now we're higher before the initial claims. i think there are more of the worries considering europe and what's going on there. and what we have also noticed the -- when the dollar's rallying stocks have been holding up better than they were a year or two ago when the dollar's rallying and stocks going down. a look at bad consumer confidence reports one of the worst in the last 20 years, as far as the percentage decline. but looking at all of the prior occurrences, 6 and 12b mon mont late, the market's been up. a year later it's always been up

for an average gain of 20%. >> he makes me feel better. are you going to make me feel worse? >> well, i mean, one thing about the jobless claims, for them to be going up the last two weeks, it's more disturbing behind the scenes because there's a labor market churn. there's millions of people that get hires every month and millions more that get fired. both of those things, both the hiring and the firing declines substantially over the last year or so. and if we're starting to see more firing now, at a time when that regular hiring is going down, this trend in the jobless claim is disturbing. you know, additionally, on those consumer sentiment indexes, the present situation index for the consumer confidence number made a new low for the move and i think that one of the keys for the consumer, overall, and a theme of mine for a while the high amount of consumer debt. we're still quite high.

household debt percentage of gdp 94%. for reference sake, at beginning of the 2000s, this was 67%. in the 70s and 80s it was 54% of gdp. the deleveraging will be going on for years and not month or quarters. one of the keys to the stocks the last couple of quarters and the better result has been from cost cutting and not from an increase in sales. and because of that, i think that the consumer deleveraging will hurt because that secret cost cutting is going to run out at some point. >> yep. >> i just -- i think that the fundamental situation for the stocks going forward here, after all of the cost-cutting they've already done, is a little shaky. interestingly, we had polls beat today but warn for the rest of the year. >> we see apple headlines crossing. rumor's out there about apple

and the stock split were good for 60, 70 points for the market. what are you hearing from mr. jobs and the investor day? >> reporter: interesting stuff from steve jobs. his first opportunity to meet directly with investors since returning to the company after a medical leave last june. but this is the first chance that investors have gotten a chance to address him in person. one of the first questions that came up this $40 billion war chest that apple is sitting on, enormous cash position, what does this company plan to do with that money? would there be a stock dividend? a stock repurchase of some kind? steve jobs delivers an emphatic no. he says that this company is into taking risks, bold risks, fech cal risks, and he wants to make sure there is some earth beneath him when he jumps to the sky and he they have to come back down to the ground. he likes the position the company has financially. he says enables the company, an

enormous amount of flexibility when it comes to looking at possible deals without having to borrow cash as well as looking at potential new technical innovations. as far as cash is concerns, apple's comfortable sit on all of that cash, no plans for anything and that is direct message to shareholders. all of the hedge funds and everybody else wonder what this company would plan to do to keep the stock price bolstered. steve jobs says the stock will take care of itself based on the products it plans to release. >> the split, a rumor, very clearly, jim. paul, what happens your response to what jim was talking about when we talk about the cash balance? they're thotsnot known for big acquisition. >> i think that's another positive that we, for the market, companies have tons of cash on them. companies, tech companies, in the last downturn were in horrible shape, are in great

shape, amongst the highest cash levels. and it's bullish for the market, even if they sit on the cash it's a cushion for the companies about get back to what lou was saying, expectations going into a 27-year low on the consumer confidence that was 1983 the last time that happened. we'd be happy if we're back to a sent n sent ncenario like 1983. the bad consumer confidence reports best performing sector coming out is consumer discretion area stocks. we have consumer -- the retail sector hit 52-week high yesterday. >> right. >> the consumer stocks are holding up better than any other sector in the market this week. and the big worry is that the consumer's dead. so there's a divergence between the market and the -- what people -- and what the indicators are telling us. >> steve liesman, we've had two days of ben bernanke's testimony. sorry? okay. steve is gone. lou, i'll put this question to

you. yesterday steve had talked about the fed chief didn't appear to be optimistic about the economy and he continued to say rates aren't going anywhere. do you think, then, when paul's talking about retail stocks being at a one-year high and hearing positive signs on the consumer that means those names are in for a fall as opposed to where the broader mark would go, which would be up. >> as far as consumer names? >> back to consumer. i just think it's -- the consumer's in a difficult situation and i think that the stocks that have benefitted from their cost cutting and not from the consumer. just to reflect back on 1983 sentiment here, back then the beginning of the reagan revolution and deregulation of stocks, the begin ofrning of th credit expansion. the dow broke above 1,000 for the first time significantly since 195. a 16-year resistance that it broke through.

there's a lot of differences between now and 1983. also, there was a much more volatile situation for the consumer back then whereas now that present situation component of the consumer confidence index never really bounces. >> lou brine, thank you very much. paul hickey, i want everyone to know what's in front of you this pile of things. it's a game that you were kind enough to give me called collapse. commemorative game of the financial crisis. build this up as high as you can see which one knocks it out. put another one on here, we're building it up. hold on. we're going to see which one will break down so everyone will understand the point of the game. oh! what is it? >> greenspan pushes adjustable rate mortgages. >> build it up as high as you can, the one that knocks it down is the thing that caused the collapse of the financial system. i guess it was alan greenspan and adjustable rate mortgages. >> this time around. >> we'll play it again. we'll see if if bernanke

replacing greenspan as fed chairman. it's called collapse. today greenspan appears to be for blame. the president's bipartisan health care summit is taking stage in washington today. little the democrats and republicans can agree on these daze both sides are equally skeptical on what the summit will accomplish. they found something to agree on. john harwood, that doesn't seem like much. you're right across the street from where the summit is going on. what will the headline be? will it be more than they sat in a room all day and talked? >> reporter: i don't think so. i think what's going to happen a moment of importance for clarifying the differences between the two parties, not for bridging those differences. you can see each side from the very beginning laying out their talking point. the republicans explaining why we can't afford this and why it's too much government. the democrats saying why it's essential and it's paid for. it established in this exchange that you're going to see in a moment between president obama and republican senator lamar alexander a tone of contention right from the start.

>> so, lamar, when you mentioned earlier that you said premiums go up, that's just not the case, according to the congressional budget office. >> mr. president, if you're going to contradict me, i ought to have a chance to -- the congressional budget office report says that premiums will rise in the individual market as a result of the senate bill. >> no, no, no. no. this is an example -- >> we have breaking news. phil is with him right now in georgetown, kentucky. >> reporter: erin, as you see, the gentleman i'm shaking hands with, president of toyota, visiting the toyota plant here in lexington or outside of lexington, georgetown, kentucky, about to go visit the line and talk with workers. this where they build the camry, 6600 workers here at this point. toyoda in the second row. behind him the president of

toyota usa. this is all part of mr. toyoda taking his message that he delivers in washington to workers and dealers with toyota across the country. as they go across the country, the main thing they're telling people, we're going to get betty. let me ask you a quick question, what's the main thing you want to say to workers on the line here today? >> thank you for making the good product and we are the same team. we -- our mind is the same. i want to deliver from my heart to each one of those. >> reporter: how important is it that you had this chance to talk with the workers like this? >> oh, most important thing to me because we are making cars. we are -- a lot of people support, not only employee, suppliers and dealers, everybody, you know? at toyota making the good safety car. >> reporter: your commitment is that you're going to improve

from here? >> yes, i will. listen to the people and we will make a better car. >> reporter: akio, thank you for taking timing to talk to us. t president of toyota about to go out on the line and talk to workers here in georgetown. 6600 workers. i have to tell you for the workers this is a rare stretrea. they don't get to see the ceo of the company from japan come to the united states. we'll be following him throughout the day and talking with dealers here in kentucky. this is, again, part of a three-day swing that akio making starting in washington yesterday. they'll spend the day here with workers as well as with dealers. as they goes down there, some of the workers, as they walk by, waving to him. a few people applauded. all part of his commitment that he's trying to make to workers that they are going to be making the effort to improve the

situation at toyota. we also had a chance yesterday in an interview with him, first extended interview, one-on-one, to ask him about the commitment. time and again he made the point, during our one-on-one interview, that he understands the severity of the situation at toyota and that, yes, he gets it, that things have to improve. here what happens he lhe had to >> translator: i did have a chance to talk to several of our customers. i told them i amount so sorry to make you feel concerned about this, would you possibly consider buying the next toyota car. some of them would say that we are doing such a good job of fissioning them they would definitely consider toyota vehicle. >> reporter: akio, when wheen h we had a chance to talk to him last night. going to spend a half hour talking with employees before he moves on from here. you had a chance to hear from

toyoda, he understands the situation the company's facing. >> one thing when you were talking to him there, that stood out to me, reminiscent of what i saw yesterday when he testified, you know, you said how do you feel? he said, it's from my heart, i'm sorry. it appears to be incredibly personal. yes, he's talking about his name being on the cars. but he's used to the word heart, talking about emotions. what's your impression of him as a person, especially since he did have a chance to speak to him yesterday, too? >> reporter: well, first of all, he is sincere in his apologies. you know, you and i have done this long enough, you see enough ceos apologize when something goes wrong with the company, you can tell which ones are cans and which ones are genuinely. he understands the save veerty of the situation. he's try doing something that is culturally not natural for japanese executives and that's to be more open and personal when talking about situations. you know, if this happens with an american ceo, i think that

we'd see a far different reaction then we're seeing with mr. toyoda and that's not a reflection of how he feels but more reflection of the cultural differences there. and i think that's within thing that's come across both when i talks with him yesterday and a chance to talk with him here. >> he's coming off as very human. your point, that could be a challenge for him but he's doing it more so than we might have expected from an american ceo. appreciate it, phil. you're spending more time with him on his tour. thank you again. we talked about the bad job news. the market is down 102, off the lows of the session. retail stocks the reason for that, some of the apple news, but down triple digits. unemployment was the reason why. more americans filing more unemployment benefits way more than anyone anticipated. the hole seems to get deeper on that front. senators john kerry and richard lugar saying allowing more immigrants in the country could create jobs not take away american jobs. they're proposing a new visa for

immigrant entrepreneurs to spur jobs growth in america. what could this do for america's unemployment? why is immigration important to the job situation. joining us, senator richard lugar from indiana, ranking member on the foreign relations committee. >> thank you. >> this is, of course, an issue that's a third rail for many, american politics, talking about immigration and visas and some of the smartest business people we know have said we need more immigrants. you're trying to make it even easier than it's been before for immigrants to come into this country and be entrepreneurs. >> that's right, because we're interests in jobs. jobs is the big issue right now. and we're saying that an immigrant can get a visa, if he has a plan to hire at least five americans and he brings along capital of $250,000, 100,000 provided by venture capital in the united states. further more, incentive that if the plan succeeds in two years, and he's -- he has ten employees

or he's got $1 million worth of volume or investment he can get a permanent visa. we want entrepreneurs. we want jobs. this is a real breakthrough, strongly supported by the venture capitalists of the america and strongly supported by american capital. we need new ideas and jobs, and this is a great way to do it quickly. >> what do you say to those who say, well, sir, we have enough americans unable to raise money from venture capital or get loans now. now they have to compete with would-be foreign entrepreneurs for that same money? >> well, the ideas of the foreigners are going to have be good ones. in in order order to get that venture capital from abroad or here. they've got to be ideas that produce jobs as opposes to something that doesn't seem to be so likely to do so, whether it's american or foreign. we already have this in the

so-called hb 5 visa program, somebody puts $1 million into the country for a new business that person can qualify for a visa. this takes it down to a level of somebody that can employ at least five people with a brand-new idea and has incentive to expand to the million. >> how many jobs do you think you'll create? one program said if you're a foreigner, put $1 million in the u.s. and create a few jobs you can get a visa, that's an existing program. in your estimate that created 20,000 jobs over 20 years, but it doesn't sound like a lot but it's some jobs. how many jobs will it create? >> there are 160 venture capitalists supporting the bill, indicated strong support for it. it doesn't mean they'll all contribute to the situation. but i would see at least at the outset if we're going to talk about a few thousand jobs, i think that's important. and i think the ideas are good ones they take off and bring

about more prosperity in this country. there's talent that comes here, in addition to. ka t capital, this is what competition is about, capital and talent flowing the other way. >> senator lugar, this is on an issue that came to our attention today and links to a representative frank talking about on the other side today on compensation. wellpoint headquartered in indiana, and they own anthem, which announced rate hikes of 39% in california. we were joking in a sense that 39 must be the magic number because we found out there are 39 executives getting bonuses of $1 million or each as a health insurer. is that acceptable. >> the chief executive of wellpoint testified yesterday, tried to respond to question that were very pointed of the congressman. i have not gone to justify the

compensation plan for wellpoint but i would say that the points made with regard to the soundness of insurance were points well made. in essence, if you have hundreds of thousands of people dropping their insurance because they're young people, they don't want to pay the money and so forth, you skew the whole system and that is the real problem with the health bill that we're talking about now on the floor. >> so you're not concerned about bonuses? it would depend whether they're worth it? or in this environment they shouldn't be paying those numbers anybody at an insurer? >> i'm not going to make a judgment about compensation of a company that i believe is doing a good job of providing sound insurance and doing so in an actuarial basis that is very transparent. >> thank you, senator lugar. senator lugar and senator kerry proposing that bill to allow visas for immigrants who start businesses in this country. we have breaking news from steve

liesman on the fed and goldman sachs. steve? >> reporter: thanks very much. as you know, fed chairman ben bernanke earlier today said the federal reserve was looking into credit default swaps and trading. we asks if the fec was looking into this. they would not confirm or deny when they were investigate. they have been examining potential abuses and destabilizing effects to credit default swaps, which is what the front page of the "new york times" talked about today when it came to greece, cds, whether the banks were destabilizing that country. the s.e.c. will oh with congress on derivative legislation. john nest, these products cause financial system, cascading harm. as you know, this is regulation of derivatives bottles up in a broader regulatory reform in congress. as long as they wrangle about this, this derivative market remains unregulated.

>> steve liesman, thank you. ahead on the show, we'll have the latest on the breaking news out of apple in a shareholder meeting.

apple shares moving sharply on lots of news coming out of the investor day. jim goldman at apple h.q. as i was saying traders are talking of rumors of stock splits but sounds like no? >> reporter: you know, there were rum bors about a stock pla, maybe 4 for 1. i was at the meeting and it didn't come up. apple made no announcement of any kind regarding a stock place. there was discussion of apple's penetration in china, responding to a direct question from an investor, in charge of the retail operations said that apple does have plans to open up to 25 stores in china over the next 24 months but how many and

when and how soon the company is not saying. overall, the two-year plan would be up to 25 stores over the next 24 months. no stock split. regarding a dividend of a stock repurchase, steve jobs did answer those questions directly. the company's sitting on $40 billion in cash. he answered both questions with a resounding no. apple's happy with the $40 billion cash position in the bank and has no plans to distribute back to its shareholders. jim willup date us if there is more. down 98 points for the dow. a lot of the recovery due to apple. next on the show, get ready to stop trading. the crazy beast is ready for a little trash talking. plus, something foul.

jim. >> we're not preempted by toyota or the health care summit or snow or whatever else. >> yeah, i know, toyota's been on this hour. >> can you believe it? i love phil lebeau.

>> he did a longer one yesterday. i liked the sense you get of mr. toyoda. >> i think that the guy came to america and everyone wanted to beat the stuffings out of him. i think people say, you know what? honorable guy, he screwed up, they made a screw-up but it backfired those who wanted to hurt toyota. >> seems like it did. >> seems like a good, responsible man that was horrified. lebeau's interviews, it was clear the guy, like phil said, he's a sincere man and didn't want this to happen. he's the least glib executive i've ever seen, whoa. >> he seemed sin vesincere. >> we have great numbers out of magna and trw. talking about an 11 million auto build. i'm not going to mince words. it's still fill hmalawi's game .

>> what about the discussion of closer inquiry, shall we say, to not use the loaded term investigation. >> goldman sachs. >> and the greek situation. i mean, this is something, jim, that may not just be a little tiny something. >> there's nothing little tiny with goldman anymore. when i was at goldman, you had discretionary accounts and nondiscretionary accounts. discretion area meant you could buy something for a client. last i looked greece was a big country, it's 2% of the gdp of europe. they have their own people. it won't like goldman said we're jamming this into your account. with goldman, you -- are they supposed to go -- if they buy everything that they sell, would that get them off the hook? we're selling greece, we'll take some down, too. this is the way the market works. you hedge yourself. i was there when they didn't hedge themselves in the bp deal, one of greatest disasters i ever

seen. congress would have loves it! goldman should lose money every day and garner all of the support of everyone. >> well, the greece stuff, jim, to be fair, way some has been described and i'm not saying in "the new york times" which you may think some people say is going after goldman on this one, whether they are or aren't. some people are objective have said what goldman may have done there would have been inappropriate. >> well, why don't they outlaw credit default swaps so that after you sold one you can't take the other side. >> to conceal the fact it's a loan, when it's an obligation so that the ratios come out, it seems wrong, doesn't it? >> every country in europe from, say, 1917 to 1928, did this game. >> but it ended badly. just because everybody else jumped off a bridge i don't want to jump. >> i'm just saying that this is a long tradition of countries. france lost $500 million when

$500 million was actually $500 million in 1928. you know what? it was done by a derivative of some french bank. if you have to defend goldman every day, it's like goldman is very good at what it does and lays off risk. it's a risk manager. when lloyd blankfein said that you wanted to shoot him. but that's what goldman does. it lays off its own risk. it doesn't like that situation. it sells it. i -- they have always told you, as a client, listen, we don't like this piece of paper. i do not -- i never remember a situation where goldman put me in a situation and said we hate it but we're going to sell it to you from i hear your point. talking about today's it irration of it, creating structure too get a country more money, which is an obligation, forget the technical term of how you're accounting for it that's an obligation. >> all of the major banks -- >> you don't tell your lenders,

that's just wrong. >> i'm sure we'll discover whoever did spainne's financing also did this. >> just because other countries and other banks did it and goldman's getting picked on because they're goldman doesn't make it right or repeatable, that's what i'm saying. >> i'm not -- let the banks of internationals decide this or the czar, hey, the volcker czar, do it. >> jim, because we're getting heated here. i want to lighten the moment. look who's there. >> is that phil lebeau shaking hands? >> no, akia toyoda. >> i was there before that factory, where they picked that. georgetown, like its sister city, versailles had 780% unemployment. you can't blame these people for liking toyota. >> okay. jim, two other things.

>> burn down goldman. >> no. >> i wish i never worked there. i wish they wouldn't have given me my start. they had to business. >> if this is what happened everywhere, people took on debt -- >> how is lehman brothers doing? >> guess what? when push comes to shove, you still owe it all back. >> how about dick fold? how about jimmy cayne? he was unbelievable. come on. goldman's doing it right. we never hear about fold, cayne, all we hear about is a guy who -- how about killinger? he's a great man. >> jim, there's a special guest -- >> michael prairie. >> jim, one final thing i wanted you to know. are you going to switzerland soon? >> am i going to switzerland? well, no. that's a duck. >> takes a duck. >> yeah.

>> that duck is -- >> aflac. >> aflac. >> aflac. >> that duck knows how to say aflac. i'm not kid you. >> that duck knows the truth of goldman sachs. >> that's why they put a muzzle new york noise is coming out. he knows the truth of goldman sachs. >> how about the sea world whale? send it over to blankfein's office about a serial killer, three people. >> moammar w gadhafi called a j against switzerland. >> why do you need a winter hat if you live in libya? >> there might be something coming out on you, too. i'm distancing myself. good bye, jim. >> a pleasure. >> jim tonight. within one one with macy's ceo and the fate of the consumer and senator kaufman, 11:00 here on cnbc and his normal time on cnbc

world. a man who wants to become a rockefeller for the middle east. his plan to do that is next. of course our friend aflac.

citadel capital $8.3 billion private equity fund in egypt and betting the farm on farm and things to get things from farms to other places. we're going to explain. joining us the managing director and co-founder. we appreciate it. thanks for coming in. so, $8 billion to put to work, you it put it in a lot of places

and choosing to keep it in the region and not just infrastructure. in farm. why farm? z>> >>. >> keeping the glars in the region -- >> sorry, we have a plik phone issue we're fixing. there you go. >> are we good? $8 billion in the middle east, investing in the middle east and africa. why this region? we are seeing this region being driven by a lot of what's happening in other emerging marks, consumer growth, middle class. but also an area that has a lot in terms of national resources going from energy, the most obvious one, but also in particular in africa, natural resources that can be used for new cultural development. we like farms. we like agriculture for two reasons. one, this is an area where you have deficit markets, net importance of grain. >> right. >> despite the national resources that exist in these

countries and the view on the long term a sector that has significant upside in terms of pricing of stock commodities over the next three to five years or so. that's why we're investing significantly in agriculture and egypt and south from africa. >> you're investing in sudan. we spent quite a bit of time in africa talking about how places in the middle east are buying farms because there's a lot of farm land. suds z sudan might be one of the most fertile places in the world. so do you think it's true, sudan come become a bread basket for the middle east? >> i think it could. it's clear there are political issues and international issues that need to be resolved and as investors we're aware of that. this is a country that has a lot of land, water. it's a country today imports a lot of its grain and accordingly, we felt that it was

important to put a foot in the door, givin the fact it's going it the right direction in terms of resolving. >> part of the way you're buying farms, some would be exported but some you're guaranteeing will stay for the local population. >> correct. >> with that much land, they shouldn't be importing. >> absolutely. not only that, but out of the land that developing there, the way we structure the deal 15% of the land we develop goes for free to the local communities in the areas. we would not want to be perceived as land grabbers pushing people away but instead as people investing and at the same time supporting the local communities. >> interesting, over the past years people talk where you get return on money, they think tech, fancy things. we go back to, no, raw land, like farm. >> absolutely. what we do as a private equity firm in the region is build regional business. we think i it's an area, listen,

a little bit of the u.s. 80, 90 years ago -- >> when the rockefellers you were saying. >> or the jpmorgans or so there is this hope to build big reasonable businesses in basic industries. things like cement, industries like fertilizers, glass manufacturing, serving the local needs of the growing middle class of the country. >> thank you very much. appreciate you coming in and explaining it. a surprise to learn about sudan like that, we appreciate it. next, crying foul over the president's health care summit is ruffling feathers on both sides of the aisle. what does this guy think about it? he'll waddle his way up to our perch, next.

welcome back to "street signs" with your daily realty check i'm diana olick in washington. sale prices of homes with freddie and fannie homes fell 1.6% in december month to month and fell 1.5% year over year. the mountain region took the

worst hit. down 9% for the year. the 30-year fix average 5.05% in the past week, up from 4.93% the previous week, that according to freddie mac. the rate follows long-term bond rates which reacted to a higher than expected producer price index and a steep drop in consumer confidence. and a leading indicator for commercial and residential construction dropped again in january. the architectural billings index represents a 9- to 12-month lagging spending. researchers say it is mostly due to tough credit conditions. check back with the "realty check" update next tomorrow morning at 11:50. >> thank you very much, diana. the president is holding his health care insurance insuring aflac a stock that's up 300% -- 200% i am sorry. tripled in value in the last year. chief operating officer will explain a little bit more. i think that people know that there is another person or beast that's going to come into the picture in a couple of moments but i wanted to start first with

what's going on in washington. the health care reform bill, as it currently stands, plus or minus, right? but the kind of current thing out there. aflac is okay with that. i actually like it. >> yeah, actually, remember, 70% of our business is in jadan, where everyone has national health care. so we could thrive in an environment where national health care works. here in the united states, our policy's really aren't subject to the debate that's going in washington today. over and above. what they're talking about are the major medical policies that pay doctors and hospital it is. >> basic. >> right, exactly. >> you're talking about supplement supplemental. now when you talk about japan and it is interesting because we talked quite a bit about aflac national health insurance it's a single payer in japan. >> absolutely. >> you're putting all of your time and money in it which would seem to be the greatest national endorsement of a national health plan that you could get, but that's supplemental. a single payer doesn't provide you provide on top so your success could be a sign of a system's weakness, in a sense. >> you could look at it both

ways. today there a 30% co-pay for all japanese citizens. that's up from zero originally going to '10, '20 and now '30. there have been flaws in the japanese system and the aging demographic population. they have a negative reproduction rate and ultimately that happens. i can't comment one way or the other. there is no perfect health care system. what i know is the united states and japan represent two great markets for aflac and two great markets that we could continue to thrive in despite whatever health care policies they they would come pay. >> 30% co-pay, that would be high. different ways to structure it, in the u.s. what's your biggest concern about the health care reform that's out there? i know that you said it would not directly impact but what is your biggest worry. >> continuous debate. one of the things that we would like to see is settle one way or the other because i think that americans are confused about what's going on out there. there hasn't been a tremendous amount of education about what is going to ultimately pan out

and i think that's caused some consumer indecision. we would like consumers to feel stabile and the companies to provide the right kind of insurance to their employees. >> we're going to bring in the duck now. part of the reason that aflac was here not part of the health care summit bithat it's the ten-year anniversary of the duck being the mascot for the company. >> absolutely. >> interesting in japan, and there he is, he's pecking at you. ah, there he is, i want everyone to know he's very sweet. he's constantly talking and he can say, aflac? maybe not now but he can say it. >> the only thing that i've heard him say so far. >> can he do it. >> he can say aflac. >> can you do it? >> oh, maybe. >> he's quiet. he's quiet right now maybe he'll do it, he is a very, very sweet duck. can you explain how did you pick a duck as a mascot? one of the most successful business perspective brands, right, we've got the gecko for geico and you've got the duck for aflac. how do you come up with. >> >> we had 45 years of great growth as a company and then

2000 the wadelling duck duck named aflac. everyone wanted to know who aflac was so we hired an advertising firm, they went out ultimately came up with the duck. came out and said aflac, aflac, aflac. sounds like a duck ultimately that's how he came out. now he's on a new mission, not telling what our name is but trying to tell people exactly what we do. >> wow it's amazing in japan used to think that the duck was yelling at them and changed it a little bit but he's in there. i'm worried that he will peck me. >> no, he will not peck. >> he's not, he's not going to peck? there he is, he's very nice. >> he's trying to be everybody's friends. >> yes he is making friends down here. we have a final check of the markets which has not recovered a little bit.

host: could switco 15% or more on car insurance? host: is ed "too tall" jones too tall? host: could switching to geico 15% or more on car insurance? host: does a ten-pound bag of flour make a really big biscuit?

hi, ellen! hi, ellen! hi, ellen! hi, ellen! we're going on a field trip to china! wow. [ chuckles ] when i was a kid, we -- we would just go to the -- the farm. [ cow moos ] [ laughter ] no, seriously, where are you guys going? ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao!