i'm here now with lightning's trainer and owner and everything else. enzo was kind enough to bring him in. statistics, how big will he get? >> somewhere between 50 and 100 pounds. >> and how long will he live? >> 50 years. >> he is only 18 and he has a long way to go to kick cactus' tail. time now more the "closing bell." is the equity rally running out of steam? stocks facing headwinds as the fear index spikes in the index today. should investors take cash off of the table? today is the final and most important trading hour of the trading day. >> oh, yeah, welcome to the "closing bell" and i'm simon hobbs on the floor of the new york stock exchange. >> i'm trish regan in for maria bartiromo. well, investors are taking a breather here as some of the rally loses the steam and key moves today and notably today in

the treasuries where we saw the 10-year note go to $42 billion in five-year notes. and big spikes in the victor fear indicator and sharp dip in the euro as a result of the portugal news and more on that in a moment. but first, take a look at the major averages. we have the dow right now trading down 54 points and of course, contributing to all of this is concerns about the housing market and home sales data coming in for the fourth month in a row and lower on the heels of yesterday's housing data with the existing home sales and taking a look at the nasdaq right now, because it is trading off 15 points, a loss of .06 of a percent. 2399 is the level, and the dow is down better than six points and loss more than .50%. and time now for the closing bell exchange and here to tell us the themes of the day that they are seeing in the trading session, we have mr. bob pisani

from the floor of the nyse, and bertha coombs at the nymex and steve leaseme liesman, and my c simon hobbs. so how much of the bond market is weighing on the equities right now? >> well, look, if yields are going up aggressively and considering what is going be on in the bond market recently, that will put pressure on the stock market overall. this move up in the ten-year has the attention of some of the stock traders, but steve, the question is, is this a start of a wider trend, i would note that the spread between the two have dropped in the last month, but i don't know if it has been dramatic. >> steve? >> well, it is up again today, bob. what everybody is talking about is the sloppy action this morning and some of the commentary right here on the jeffreys trading floor is that it is a shot across the bow of

the government when it comes to the debt being issued. they are asking the system to take on a lot of debt and $44 billion yesterday and $42 and $5 today and more in 7s which means higher yields. this is one of the biggest rises in yields since december 18. remember, we are up 14 basis points on the 10-year and other stuff is not going along. the yield for funding corporates really have come down quite a bit. >> simon, it is something that we have been talking about for a while here, because there is these problems coming out of washington for investors at least. a lot of concerns about mounting deficits, a lot of concerns about increasing taxes, a lot of concerns about health care. how much do you think that china and the google china situation might be playing into what we are seeing in the bottom line? >> well, china is toastly relevant to what is going on here. i don't know that we have to be so negative about it, because people who overweight treasuries and maybe cutting the overweight for good reasons.

the dow jones industrial average is up 0.05% this month. and some will move out of the market. don't forget at the end of the month, the fed will stop buying mortgage-backed securities and they crowded everybody out of that, and that is why a lot of people are overweight treasuries, so there is a temptation to get back into the area of the market where they have not been, trish, for a long time. >> and i don't believe it is google, because google has rallied late morning, because some perception that there is a detente between the chinese government and google. >> all right. all right. that is a question whether or not it is a retaliation from china as a result of the google situation, bob? >> but either way, no matter what is pushing it, you look at where the money is going and people are squaring up positions here when it comes to commodities, where we are obviously reacting to the euro dollar today and you have sell-offs across the board, so if money is not going into equities or commodities, people seem to be cautious today.

>> well, the dollar is getting stronger and the euro is weaker -- >> well, looking at the -- we have sat here and kind of climbed the wall of worry and angst ourselves higher. the nasdaq is up, and we are up 1% for the week even with today's pull-back. we are edging higher as people don't believe the rally. i don't know that i would say that people are not buying equities. >> oh. >> and i want to move on to this question of volatilitvolatility we love to look at the vix and it is looking calm in some ways. pisani, too much of a good thing? >> well, here is the problem. we have a 10% rise in the market in the last month. normally traders would be out buying protection and puts to protect against what they would see as a natural pause or drop in the market. i has not happened and that is why the volatility is so low, because a high amount of complacency in the market, and lot of people are trying to

figure out, why aren't there more options activity, and the immediate answer is a lot of people came in under invested in the market and still catching up. they are underperforming the benchmarks and they are essentially chasing performance and that is the explanation that most people are giving. >> bertha? >> well, one thing is that interesting is that starbucks hit a new high and off of the high at this hour, but issuing the first-ever dividend and paying out 10 cents starting april 23rd and expect to continue ish shug dividend at rate of 30% to 40% of profits or so. it is a very interesting trend. we had seven companies initia initiating dividends in the first quarter, though we are nowhere near in the s&p 500 back in 2007. we are seeing the companies starting to have a little more confidence to deploy the cash to get back to -- >> well, bertha, you ooet gore out to buy a company and we have seen it, an increase in the m&a

activity or give it back to the shareholders. simon, are you trying to jump in? >> yes, this is cryingly positive, it is not? you have excess of half a trillion sitting on the balance sheets, and con coe phillips today talking about raising dividends a and this is exactly why the market is so relaxed, because actually for the moment as we look to the next employment report, things are looking fairly good and people are looking upbeat about the no double-dip. >> so, over to liesman, about it? >> well, trish, it was one of the weaker ones, but there were 2.5 more bids than supply for and yesterday it was 3.0. simon makes a good point. at 285 right now, the 10-year yield is relatively low and still held for economic growth and not without worry and trying to issue a lot of debt.

there is not necessarily a plan from the government about how to resolve the deficit problem long-term. we just did a big health care bill, and there is a lot of skepticism about it, so, yeah, 382 is not the end of the world on the ten-year, but it is a warning sign for people to say, you know what? we have to be careful here, and we have to not ignore the bond market when it comes to the amount of issuance coming out of the united states government right now. >> the only reason it is capturing attention on the trading desk and normally does not with the bond market moves is people buying credit like crazy in the last month or so, steve, when you see a pop up in the ten-year yield, it makes people think, we may have a tougher time down the road, and that is the only reason it is attracting attention. >> down the road. and one thing, when i go over to the short-term funding desk, they are not asleep, but not excited. there is lots of liquidity in the system and no concern right now about funding on the short end, and funding overnight and compare that to '08 and '09 and

that is not an area of concern. the issue becomes further down the road. and by the way, what really matters for economic outcomes, corporations are out there funding at very, very cheap rates and certainly cheap rates relative to the 10-year and absolutely and that bodes well for the economy down the road. >> okay. stay with the positive theme and talk about the ipo market, because it is certainly has been picking up a lot of steam, has it not, bob? >> yeah. we had three os today, including a bank which we haven't had a bank in three years and all of them are trading above their initial price. two of them actually had numbers that were terrific today. i don't want to make too much of this, but we tried this, you know, five or six weeks ago and basically the market fell apart here. but when you are able to price three stocks today, all of them trading well above the pricing levels, that is a very, very good sign. two of them in a specific spot of broadband area of technology. >> well, of course, you think it signals a top, anyone want to

stab that? >> well, there is a long way from the ipos market. there is a long, long list to come. >> can i mention of the three ipos that first interstate is the one that cramer last night suggested that ordinary joe public might think of buying into of those three, and so it is the line strategy. >> and steve, two sides to the pam point here. >> no, no, ipo is the issuance of stocks and dividends or buybacks are the opposite. and so, trish, you have to be in a situation where the supply of new stock is outstripping the need for stock to be taken off of the market, and bob tell me if i am wrong, but we are on the cusp of a lot of announcements of buybacks from the s&p 500 companies. >> yes, that is a good stein and -- good sign and a lot of new stock to be issued.

>> bob, i know you track this and talk to mr. bederman from trim tabs so what are you seeing in the terms of the retail investor? >> nothing. >> they have been on the sidelines for oso long -- >> nothing. there was a brief pop two weeks ago where there was a moderate amount of money floating into equity mutual funds, but on balance, nobody is going into the bond funds and has been for two years now. >> brian schactman, i want to the bring you into this, and you are down at the nymymenymex, an is this for portugal oil? >> well, what is fascinating a tbt euro relationship to the dollar. oil is not reacting as much as o gold. it is a head-scratcher. the euro reacted to oil instead of gold. whether there are bullish figures or whether the report was bullish with oil, but it is important that the $80 level was

maintained in oil despite the strength in the dollar and peeking are looking at it from that perspective. >> guys, indeed the yen with big movement. and we have to leave it there and we move on with "closing bell," and on the board right now up 52 points, and slightly extending the losses there. up next, tick by tick. our technical view of the market and why mexico might be a screaming buy. >> yes, and a first on cnbc with the chairman of cftc and find out what he thinks about the financial regulation bill currently on capitol hill and does it do enough to approach the over the counter derivatives market? >> and after the bell, should the u.s. take a more aggressive approach when it comes to the chinese currency and in a trade war with beijing and answers today at 4:00 on "closing bell." firsts, the most active stocks on the new york stock exchange led by citi.

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wall street is anxious for the news on how regulators will

change one of the most lucrative businesses, privately traded over-the-counter derivatives worth $40 billion of fees worldwide. after the systemic reduce of aig, the regulator cftc wants them traded through clearinghouses that will take on the risk and institutions that will cover should there be a dealer going bust. in a first on cnbc, gary gensler joining me from the chamber of commerce capital summit he has just addressed. good afternoon, mr. gensler, and what was the essential message to crowd? >> well, simon, for 3 million of their members, trarnsparency is good and for a couple dozen of their members on wall street, they are fighting it, and they should side with 3 million members and bring transparency for the market and lower risk for the american public and their members. >> the sad fact of course is that negotiations on the retive side of things are getting

concrete at capitol hill between the republicans and the democrats broke down last week, so what are the prospects of getting some sort of legislation in that area by the end of the year now? >> well, simon, i actually thought it was a con struckative set. the senate banking committee voted a bill through the committee and the floor and the central agriculture committee has to take it up as well, so it is very high that we will get something to the president this year. >> specifically on at least getting all of these trades through a clearinghouse and therefore in effect covered risk-wise? >> woell, there is still a grea deal of debate, but it to bring them to trading venues and clearinghouses and the senate banking bill includes that, but there is a great amount of debate still to come. >> can you do it in the absence of legislation? can you cajole nem them to do i anyway? >> no, you can't. this is an unregulated markets that nearly brought the market

to collapse, and that is why we need to deregulate and advocating for strong support from congress. >> and beyond the clearinghouse, you are pushling hard for post-trade prices and for a print to be made on the tape as we have down here for example on stock trades. do you worry in revealing the traders' positions, you will damage liquidity and simply drive business away from america? >> not at all. i was in europe last week and the europeans agree with this initiative as well, but far more than that, i think that transparency increases liquidity. all of the economic studies really point to that along the securities markets, and we should bring it to the derivatives markets. >> you mentioned the europeans and i read that they have managed to force a u-turn here in new york and the wholesale body in charge of collecting data will make the positions on

greek kcredit defaults welcomed across the atlantic and do you welcome that and what activities are you seeking to prevent within those trades? >> well, there is public market transparency and also as you said the regulators have to work between europe and the u.s. to share information, so it is constructive with this development there that we can share amongst the reg you layers to information. >> is your feeling that if there had been greater transparency on cds when the situation in greece would not have been as bad? >> well, i think that the situation there has a lot of to do with their financial management and their debt, but derivatives did play some role in there, and it is just a reminder as to why we need to regulate this marketplace. >> tomorrow, you are holding a meeting on metals, and trading limits there. are you basically heading for the same sort of constraints as you have suggested within the energy sector? >> well, simon, i thank you for

raising it. we do have a proposed rule. we are looking to the public comments on the energy position limits. tomorrow, we are considering some of the same factors in the metals markets, and we will look forward to hearing from people on that as well. >> much more to talk about, mr. ginsler, but unfortunately, we have leave it there. thank you for the view there on trading in derivatives. we are now time to trade at the end of the bell. and 41 minutes, trish, and we are still down 49 points on the big board. >> okay. treasury yield is there surging after a $42 billion sale of 5-year notes and next we will hear from the head of jeffrey's income strategies on how to play the bond market. but first, take a look at bond prices today. 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.

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gloriously sunny day in manhattan today, and bank of america, one of the most widely held headed to the upside. and loan defaults decrease, and ge again making gains after a substantial run u7 recently, and general electric still on nervous television network. unexpected yield on 5-year

options sending the treasuries to a new lolow, and today, we a joined by steve liesman who saw it all happen there at jeffreys. hey, steve. >> well, trish, you can be good and lucky or just lucky. we ended up to be here on the biggest rout of the bond market. and i'm here with the head of strategy of jeffreys. david, what accounts for rout today? >> well, the rout came largely as the market is seeing a bit of a backlash as the government is expanding at a pace that people are uncomfortable with, and we are seeing a move toward 100% to a 100% debt to gdp ratio in the united states on the horizon -- >> why today? why today? we knew it was out there and you say, today, we woke up to this? >> well, today, it is the health care realization trade, that is what i am saying that we are coming to the grips with the facts that we have a congress that is ready to go, and ready to spend, and they want to set

up another agency to buy toxic mortgages and talking about a lot of things that don't necessarily respect the idea that there is some fiscal discipline and need of fiscal discipline, and that to me is come home to roost in the bond market, and it is showing up in the long end, and it is a fiscal premium that we believe is going to be around for a long time in the bond market. >> so at 382 today, how high does it go? >> in our world in next 12 months we are seeing a world with 5.25%, 10-year and that is where we are in 12 months, but in the short term, we didn't expect it to happen so quickly, because we didn't see the health care momentum and the fiscal train wreck happening so early. so for us we saw the train wreck out there, but we thought maybe toward the recovery stages, and now it is just coming quicker, because we are going to have after this health care bill, you have the numbers and we will have $10 trillion worth of debt out there, marketable. >> david, you used to be at the federal reserve. >> i did.

>> and tomorrow, the fed chairman ben bernanke will talk about exit strategies and what doesn't the bond market know about the fed and the exit strategies? >> well,t he has been clear on the exit strategies. one, is that the quickly go with the asset sales and one wants to wait. that is the primary debate. one or two that want to go quicker, but by and large, you have people in the same ballpark of extended period, six months, nine months down the road. >> what is your best guess of when the fed will sell assets and/or raising rates? >> well, one of the things here at jeffreys is that we believe they will do a test pilot asset program here in the early part of the year next year, and the exit comes in 12-months time and at the end of q 1, 2011 and all of it dependent on the unemployment data. >> thank you, david, with your help. thank you, folks at jefferies,

for allowing us to be there. >> yes, what a day there. >> we are hearing ap plautz pla the background. thank you, steve liesman. simon, down on the nasdaq trading lower down 13 as we get closer and closer to the closing bell. >> you get a round of applause when you are leaving, trish. and next the kotick by tick, and why the rally in mexican stock market is evidence and it is a true bear markull market and no in sight.

okay. with about 30 minutes left here until the closing bell, we want to show you how the markets are shaping up. you can take a look right now on the dow, we are trading lower there down 44 points. not quite as bad as it had been earlier in the session, but still, near the lows there, and down 14 over on the nasdaq and of course, treasury prices are falling today, and yields higher

and concerns about the overall economy and amid the economic factors with the housing front with new sales data coming out with the fourth month in a row it has declined. and also down half a percent is the nasdaq. and our next guest is bullish on stocks for the second quarter, but he is warning that we could see a pullback before the easter holiday. joining me now is jordan kotick, head of global strategy at barclays capital. and jordan, unusual analyst who would tell us where to trade. >> well, we want to be aware that there is a habit here, and we point it out to the fourth quarter and this is consistent, simon, since august, they have a pullback, and with a holiday weekend approaching, we want to warn of risk. so from august into the last week of the month with the exception of february, the market with a top. so, given that the market is 800

points higher and given that the s&p 500 is 80 points higher and seasonality suggests a pullback into next week given the fact that we are gathering into the market holiday given the extent of the pullback from the last couple of weeks. >> but other than saying that the market has risen, why it is going higher? >> well, it is ahead of the holiday weekend and people will take it off ahead of the holiday, number one. >> okay. but generally, you are bullish and why are you bullish, spell it out? >> the overall environment is compelling to the topside and markets around the world are breaking for not just new highs for the quarter, but some of them breaking into all-time new highs, and to us, some of the readings and looking at the nex can bolsa here and tel aviv and all new highs and this is a very good sign for the equi tes market.

>> if i look at the chart there, you are telling me that i'm at a high, and i was also at a high before. and we did back down -- when i was at a high in 2008 and if i invested then it would have been a disaster at 2009 and why atop of 2010, you tell me that the top is higher still? >> well, simon, not into a high, and breaking into new highs, and number two, the pattern is different than going to the topside, and three, this is not a mexican story, but stock markets around the world and multiquarter highs or many breaking into all-time highs, and that is breadth, simon, and in latin america, the ones that led it to the topside is very different from what you pointed out. >> okay. okay. you want to talk about india? >> we do. another thing that supports the bullish trajectory in the second quarter is the relationship between currencies and the local markets. so what you can see here, generally speaking, you can see that if we had dollar-india on the downside, when it goes down, the dollar goes lower and here

the sensex goes higher, you can see that the dollar india goes to the downside so that applies that the sensex has upside to it. so here, if tinldihe indian mon going high, that is a good sign that the markets are expressing further risk on the trading. >> so what do you suggest that people buy? >> one of strongest is lower dollar india here. and number two, the indian stock markets are doing well, and the sensex and the bolsa and other markets, and it is a good sign for stocks and therefore a good sign for global markets. >> okay. chart four? >> well, this is the most important chart we think this year, and it is interest rates as you have seen the move that we have seen just today. this is important, because what you have here is 2-year u.s. yields going to the topside, and european yields are going to the downside. why is this important?

you have seen the move in the euro and seen exactly how weak the euro has been and this is the market pricing uncertainty in the euro zone and bearish for the stock market in the u.s. and bearish in the u.s. but bullish for the bond market in europe, and this is an fx story and rate story that is important. >> so the european bond market in your view outperforming the u.s. is what you are saying? >> yes, from the bullish europe, and short the u.s. and in fx base bearish on the year in the cross and the major and this speaks to the lack of confidence still in the euro zone and trading applicability to this. >> i see eththat the last trade that you want to bring up or observation is the vix and that makes you bullish of the world stock markets given what you have said? >> no, a lot of talk that the vix is up 7%, but we are not reading into, that because the vix is going to look in simple math higher in percentage terms,

but the vix is falling, and volatility is falling, and still it is a good environment for equities in q2. >> well, some people think it is a contrarian play if the vix is falling, the market is complacent? >> well, it is falling for a long time, but vix is a good sign for risk, so the 7% uptick is off of the low number and no chart damage to the traject i have of a lower vix, and again, until we see it, it is confident in the market, and we are not levels that suggests an end to complacency trade. thank you for the view there. jordan kotick. trish, we now have to trade 24 minutes and not bad volume either. >> yeah, but still down, but coming back a little bit here on the dow off 31 points right now. gin r general mills is boosting the guidance and kendall powell will

tell us whether that is an indication of a come sumer comeback. and still the commercial real estate a shoe to drop or good investment? >> we will have answers for you coming up at 4:00 p.m. wednesday on "squawk on the street" we are closing in to 11,000 and what will it take to get there and beyond? and still time to make money in the market? watching the "opening bell" live from the new york stock exchange weekdays at 9:00 a.m. eastern.

okay. a look at some of today's under the radar stocks. uscc is one of the big winners today, the nation's largest supplier of enriched uranium getting a boost in funding from the energy department to help manufacture and operate advanced centrifuge technology. aerospace technology came in cutting the first quarter forecast well below wall street

forecasts, because a component of the air force failed in testing which will slow down shipments in the fourth quarter. and also, specialty allegheny tech because of higher titanium demands. and general mills is predicting higher profits for the fourth quarter. they reported a 15% jump in earnings while raising the full-year forecast yet again. so joining us in another cnbc exclusive interview is kendall powell, the ceo of general mills. thanks for joining us, kendall. >> good to be here, trish. thanks for having us. >> i want to know what are the primary drivers of the 15% growth that you saw in the quarter? >> well, trish, the 15% numbers is what we are guiding for the full year now after yet another strong quarter of performance, and the third quarter, and it was a balanced quarter for us. so, the u.s. retail business

grew sales grew 4%, and that was on the back of very strong performance from our cereal division so brands like cherrios and fiber one, and snack valley and others doing well in the u.s., and strong quarter for general mills with wan chanferi doing well across the globe. and this in spite of the chalg environment for, you know, food service operators right now, we did quite well, so it was a balanced quarter for general mills and good segment operating growth and margin expansion and we invested in the brand, so with the increases in marketing and it all played out in very high quality earnings. >> so you are saying a challenging environment, and you were able to excel, but my question to you is about the general consumer landscape and whether or not consumer spending at least when it comeses to the food products, what in fact this

is suggesting to you about the overall economy? >> well, trish, i think that consumers are still cautious. they are still looking for value. they are cooking at home, and, you know, eating at home. we know that they are eat morgue breakfasts at home. so, we think that they are careful and still looking for value in the grocery store, and, you know, i think that while those unemployment numbers are hishgs high, we will see the cautious consumer. >> and how low were the commodity prices for the quarter? >> well, we have had, you know, low commodity prices throughout the year and that is contributing to, you know, the sum of the margin gain we are seeing this year. some of it, we are creating through very good operating performance in the plants. we have a high focus on productivity, and we are driving very positive mix across our portfolio now.

i already mentioned the strong performance of the domestic cereal business, and you take all of those factors together, and general mills is doing a good job at expanding margins this year. >> how are you preparing for what might happen in commodities prices or do you anticipate them staying at the levels or hedging with a move of them higher? >> well, this is an unusual year in that, you know, we expect to see a little or no input in inflation. as we look forward, and you know, we will give more detail on this when we get to the end of our fiscal year in june, but we expect to see inflation of inputs and energy anywhere from 3% to 5% as we go forward into next year, and the way we plan for that is really the way that we have been, you know, working our business model for the last four or five years, very high focused on focus on operating efficient circumstances locie efficiencies, and looking for ways in the system to do everything we can to offset that

inflation that we are pretty sure is going to be coming here as we go into the next fiscal year. >> you mentioned the u.s. consumer being conservative and very smart when it comes to shopping right now, and also that the u.s. consumer is staying home a lot, so that benefits your company in that they are shopping on grocery store shelves for your products, but what you are seeing internationally? >> well, trish, it is a very similar story internationally, as we go to the markets around the world. having said that, we had good performance in all of the regions grew on an organic basis whether it is canada or europe or across latin america, so really, we are doing the same things and generating productivity and efficiencies where, we are supporting our brands with, you know, sampling and gooded ed advertising messao consumers can be there and doing everything we can to hold the

line on pricing, because that european consumer, that asian consumer is cautious right now. >> what happens, kendall, when the economy starts to recover and consumers say, well, i don't have to stay home for breakfast anymore and i will go to starbucks and i am going to go buy a fancy coffee, what does that do to the business model? >> well, our categories are so resilient and so, you can go back to literally decades, and look at the categories we are in, and they tend to grow 2%, 3%, 4% per year which is enough to generate shareholder return n. this environment, it is better than that, but i wouldn't say a dramatically. we have had a little headwind, and you know, frankly, we have seen over the last ten years, even before this recessionary environment consumers eating more at home and being more in the grocery store, so we are seeing boomers for example, you know, want to eat a little bit more at home, and looking for a

meals that they can cook in the grocery store, and obviously, that part of the population is going to expand. we think that the trends are pretty favorable for us going forward. >> well, with that in mind, are you looking to hire and expand your company at all? >> well, general mills is a company in the u.s. in our headquarters and r&d complex in the minneapolis/st. paul area, we have hired over the last couple of years, so our company and i would say our industry in general has been very resilient, and a good employer and not only in the u.s., but for us, you know, internationally around the world. >> before i let you go, kendall. your thoughts on the health care legislation? >> well, um, it is -- it's something that now a lot of it we really didn't actually get a good take on it until the very end. so we are reviewing exactly what it will mean for us, and it is

going to take aus whius a while that. so, i prefer to hold off my comments on that one, until we have fully digested that whap had there. yeah. >> so tell me what your focus is to drive revenue in the coming year to try and, you know, continue this 15% growth that you have seen. >> well, you know, we are a company that we compete in a terrific categories. categories that grow faster than the average food category here in the u.s. and around the world, whether it is breakfast cereal or healthy snacking bars or yogurt or dough or vegetables, i mean, we are in a great portfolio of categories, and we tend to have, you know, the leading or the leading brand in all of those categories, and so, we are going to stay very focused on brand building and strong advertising messages. we are focused on new product innovation and a terrific new

year of products this year. we have launched a product called chocolate cherrios which looks like the most successful cereal of the last 8-10 years, and that innovation is important. >> i have to prun, because run, have a closing bell coming up. thank you, kendall, and great to talk to you. >> thank you. and we have the count down of 12 minute or less here, and the dow is off 39 and the nasdaq off 13. >> chocolate cherrios, trish? >> i don't know about those, simon. >> well, still to come, the volatility index makes a welcomed show eto the show. and we will see whether you believe one word of it ahead on "closing bell." tomorrow, "closing bell" is coming to you live from london. maria bartiromo gives you the inside look at europe's hot button issues and what it all means for investors here and around the world.

"closing bell" live from london beginning tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. eastern, only on cnbc. ries...

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okay. it is time for the "fast money" final call and the volatility index surging over 7% today and still at the lowest level in two years, so what is it telling us about where the markets are headed? gary comiskey is here to join us to tell us how. >> well, i wish i could tell you that the bounce in the vix is telling us, but i don't think that you can. i don't think in the last several weeks with the meltoff and the vix on the downside, it is not uncorrelated and i would not read anything into today's move, because the biggest story today, which you have telegraphed quite well is that for the first time in six month wes have priced three ipos pricing strong and traded well. i have always felt that for this market to move higher, we needed the ipo secondary market to come back. to me, forget the averages

today, that is the story. >> what about starbucks a and the dividend? we have companies with the cash on the sideline and starbucks issuing the first dividend, what is this signaling? >> well, i said we need three things for the market to move higher, absorption of the interest rates and m&a to come back, and the high. it is not the friendly deals, and the carl icon deal with lions gate is bringing back the idea of hostile deals and we will have a couple of them on "fast money", and it will be interesting to see how it plays out. and companies raising the dividends or returning capital to shareholders is all good for equity valuations. >> how long will this play out? how much room to go, gary? >> i don't know. i think that the melt-up continues, trish. you had the worst quarter for managers of underperformance

versus the s&p 500 and that is forcing the action over the last several weeks. i think it will continue through april. >> all right. we will watch for it. thank you so much, gary cominskey. >> see you later. >> and exclusive interview with michael burns and icahn, and immediately following is the traders live at five. i am looking forward to seeing that one. we will be right back with the closing countdown. >> do you watch that one or -- do you watch cud lkudlow? >> well, i co-anchor a show with him. of course, i watch kudlow. >> what about cramer? >> i watch everything on cnbc all of the time. >> there is not much of the evening left, is there? it is a great show by the way.

>> thank you, thank you. >> after the bell, intel getting into smartphones or the smartphone chip market. we will discuss whether that could -- how that could shape up for the industry, and give google an edge over apple and rim. ahead at 4:00 p.m., you are watching cnbc, first in business worldwide. natural gas is a cleaner burning fuel,

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so, we are down on the today's session, but still over the month overall, we are up 5%. on the big board, we are getting into employment territory and tomorrow, we get the weekly jobless and already a debate about the weather effect and how it will knock on to march's figures ahead of the employment report the monthly one next week, and the whole question of how many workers will hide from the census or not. and still, strong jobs data as you know, and how to get rid of the idea of double-dip, and the market could rally strongly from here, and tomorrow, hate to mention it, but it is the european summit, and playing with fire by not coming to the aid of greece, and it is a huge issue of the euro and credibility and deflation effects and in portugal and everybody into the frame, and question marks over them if they don't come specifically