apply the code in a consistent way across the board. and that's probably something we should take a closer look at to see, are we treating capital gains as capital gains or are we treating carried interest as capital gains when it's more like carried income. >> governor, thanks for coming on "squawk box" after the big night last night. we appreciate it. >> thanks. good to be with you. >> thank you. tom, thank you very much. join us tomorrow. thank you, becky and andrew. >> you're welcome, joe. "squawk on the street" is next. good wednesday morning. welcome to "squawk on the street." i'm carl quintanilla with melissa lee and jim cramer live at the new york stock exchange. david faber is on assignment. a day after the dow's worst drubbing of the year, markets trying to stabilize this morning helped by an adp number that came in almost exactly on target. 216,000 private equity sector jobs.

some green arrows and green stomachs in europe as we await the results of the greek psi participation rate ahead of tomorrow's deadline. >> a bounce back we're seeing this morning, not just equities. crude, gold trading higher this morning and adding to the optimistop optimism. walmart saying it is pleased with sales and traffic so far this quarter. >> hours away from the unveiling of the latest ipad, we believe. we'll go out to san francisco for the latest on what's expected from apple. could there be a surprise seven-inch killer kindle tablet as well? >> mitt romney wins a squeaker in ohio but fails to knock his rivals out of a race that will continue. >> a big mover in premarket trade, pandora shares slumping on dismal forecasts, rising royalty fees. it is gaining listeners but will rising costs drown out profitability. >> and peyton manning's days as an indianapolis colt are over.

where does he go and should mark sanchez be worried? >> jim doesn't look convinced. >> no, i think he goes to the dolphins. my analyst work dsays dolphins. >> stocks looking to recoup losses after the dow's first trip triple-digit drop of the year. ge says dividends will keep pace with earnings. jim, you wrote a piece last night saying, brace yourself potentially for another day of pain. >> yes. i still believe while greece can be resolved, the underlying decline, i don't believe it's europe. i believe it's gasoline. >> really? >> yes, i still think that oil has to come down. >> but it has come down. we're at 1.05 on -- >> wait a second, melissa. have you paid less at the pump?

you haven't. you went up again this week. >> but this decline we've seen over the past few trading sessions -- it has been a sizable -- >> it translates to perhaps some decline. but we are still in an advanced phase. they have not put through the last increase from $115 to $125. what i worry about is that we could solve everything greece. but when i listen to that press conference yesterday, it was iran/israel missile crisis. and that is going to be with us even if we solve greece. >> the president gave them the yellow light to do what they need to do as they see fit, which of course netanyahu appreciated. but does leave open the possibility of some sort of military action. >> did he not say point-blank, i will not let iran have nuclear weapons? we're doing these talks, the civilized nations of the world are doing these talks.

but i keep coming back to listening to a press conference where the questions were not about greece. the questions were not about the economy. the questions were about war and whether the republicans might push us into a war. i keep thinking, look, i'd love to see greece go away, i think we all would. but i need to see iran go away. >> but when the eu's foreign policy chief, which represents the united states along with many other countries, say, i am open to reigniting talks with iran, that dropped oil to a two-week low yesterday. >> benjamin netanyahu is worried about a second holocaust. he's worried about iran deniers of the holocaust. and i think it's entirely possible that oil on a given day can go down because china signifies that its economy is a little weaker. europe has no "no growth" policies. most importantly, i think that after greece goes away, anytime

that israel says anything at this point, you're going to think, endorsement of our president? that's what's changed in the last 72 hours. >> you're saying beware of the market bounce today? >> yes. >> ge and honeywell can say, earnings will be at the top end of the range. walmart said same-store sales and traffic look pretty good so far this quarter. but still beware of the bounce today? >> beware of the bounce. i think that every weekend between now and father's day, which is when a lot of people feel that iran will be hardened and you can't attack them, i think we're going to go in and say, is this the weekend? that's what i think is going to replace the worry of europe. i want that worry away. but when the president says, it will not stand to have nuclear weapons, that's what jfk said in 1962. and russia was a rational country. the soviet union pulled back. does anyone think iran is run by rational people?

>> does crude need to come back to some level -- >> i think we need to see iran say, we're going to give up this plan, we're giving up our program. then oil can come down dramatically. otherwise, i think we've found a new level here. >> you think we've topped out for the first half of 2012? >> unless -- look, if oil comes down, we could go to new highs. but oil's got to come down. >> when you say come down, by how much? >> 20 bucks. >> 20 bucks on ti. >> no. wti will be ri eaalleviated by seaway. by this time, there will be enough oil coming out of cushing that there will be no differential. but i need to see brent at $100. analysts saying that apple is likely to reveal its next ipad today at an event in san francisco. the product is expected to have

modest upgrades, 63% of the tablet shipped last year were ipads. the only competitors with more than 5% market share were amazon and samsung. i believe that's as of september of last year, according to a r forester report. >> my paper of record for apple is always "usa today." they have the grip of the consumer. more ipads for everyone. they're talking about giving your kids your ipad 2. >> mine got co o-opted by my ki. you i need one for myself that i have business apps and not toddler apps. >> did you not tweet about toddler apps? >> this morning, i did. >> i thought that was a good one. it said, once again, the demand -- this is no longer an ipad in every pot.

this is three ipads in every pot. i think this is a juggernaut. cypress announces they are the supplier to the kindle and the samsung. >> really? >> yeah. so maybe there's inventory build in the system. >> a lot of discussion about ipads replacing the tertiary device in your home. i think it's likely. but it's also been positive this week that you sell on an announcement today. >> look, can't be too glib. satchel an unbelievable company. what i found with the iphone s4 was initially people say, it's not that big a change. becky was referencing my siri love affair. i'm going to try to get siri to play my "words with games" -- >> she is the other woman in jim's life. >> she told me she lived to serve when she woke me up at 4:30 this morning and i thanked her.

she lived to served. i thought that was a pretty good endorsement that there's more going on here -- >> my wife has never said those words to me. >> no way! >> it was a throwback to the 1950s, like the mad man era, "mad money," mad man, siri. >> do you worry about an amazon getting trounced today if there is a "one more thing" ipad? >> a very good piece came out yesterday about how it's a crowded short. i worry those who continue to bet against amazon are not going to hear a new data point from amazon that says, amazon's bad. this is a short squeeze going on. the kindle, boy, i'll tell you, it's going to meet its match if ipad does the right thing. >> if it does the seven-inch tablet -- >> would you switch? >> would i switch? probably not. >> you wouldn't. >> no. >> this is coming from a woman who just got a brand-new bold.

this is melissa's new bold. >> my biggest problem with the ipad is i keep switching back. if i'm reading, i go back to mlb or nba.com -- it's a distraction. and the scramble with friends, i got a 367 last night. well, my second daughter let me win. >> here's the stat when it comes to product launches and the average performance of apple one week after a product launch. after all the iphones and ipads, excluding the original ipad, the shares were down 3.5% in the week following a product launch. >> interesting. >> well, you know -- >> that's what history tells us. we don't know if it's going to come true this week. we'll see. >> aren't you guys amazed that steve jobs had -- what did he have? i'm told from people at a high level at apple, he had ipad 4, he had an ipad 5. the man was obviously able to see four or five steps into the

future beyond anyone else. and tim cook, i think s a great implementer of what was in the pipe. >> it's been said, his greatest invention was i-cook, creating tim cook and developing him the way he has. it was quite an eventful super tuesday in the battle for the republican presidential nomination. mitt romney won six states, including a squeaker in ohio over rick santorum. newt gingrich won in georgia and says he's not planning on dropping out of the race. that will be the issue for romney, jim. failing to land that knockout blow. he won the math. but he has not won the argument. >> and i'm riveted last night, like you. i've been listening and just saying -- here's an interesting issue, tennessee, oklahoma. romney's outspending these people. huge amounts, huge amounts. and remember when money used to talk? what is going on that all of romney's money is not translating to big popular votes?

look, there's a lot of game, set, match talk for romney. but when you listened to santorum last night versus romney, santorum's giving winning speeches. and then gingrich, winning speeches. these guys were supposed to go home. it used to be win big or go home. now it's win big or call shelton adelson and get more money. >> romney on "squawk box" about half an hour ago was asked about the notion of an open brokered convention. here's what he told andrew, becky and joe. >> we've got the time and the resources and a plan to get all the delegates. and we think that will get done before the convention. one thing i can tell you for sure is there's not going to be a brokered convention where some new person comes in and becomes the nominee. it's going to be one of the four people that are still running. >> if it is one of the four people, are they really running a race against obama? isn't it just obama versus obama at this point with the economy? we're going to get a jobs report on friday.

many people on the street expect it to be in line or better than expected here. that puts more points in the president's column. >> i'm with you. i think one guy is focused on the economy -- there was a moment last night where romney said, and we're going to get rid of the death tax. i have a team of lawyers who are trying to get around the death tax. maybe i should be thrilled. most people -- their families are never going to be affected by the death tax. this is the kind of thing where it says, look, i know the rich people's worries. and then santorum, you've got a lot of cultural issues going on. where is the guy who's saying, like obama, okay, look, job growth coming back, i'm doing this? it all seems very ethereal about job growth. it's like a battle for the soul of the republican party, not unlike during the democratic party. i remember when i worked for mcgovern. and i was conscious that i thought he represented a resolution. i was in massachusetts and don't blame me, 49 other states voted against mcgovern.

>> that didn't go the way you probably hoped it would. >> not a win. it was the biggest landslide like, wow. >> we'll see what happens as the races go south. we're watching pandora slipping sharply in the premarket session, reporting a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter lost hurt by an increase in cost, revenues missed expectation. they went public back in begin june issuing current-quarter giant well short of wall street estimates. they increased the number of listening hours. but they also have to pay more royalties. so their expenses go up along with listening hours. >> did you see they're hiring? they're on a hiring binge. this reverses greek mythology logic. >> how long did you spend working on that line? that's a good one. >> you introduced me to the concept of spotify. but i don't hear it mentioned on the conference calls. is that the achilles heel to

continue with this greek mythology position. >> i think pandora is its own achilles heel. the business model is not set up to make money. they increase the number of hours and they have to pay more royalties. their expenses go up along with their revenues. >> huge share of the online internet radio service, 60%, right, of the top 20? it still gets listened to but it's hard when you're spending money on content. >> i prefer siri when it comes to apple. and sirius when it comes to radio. i really believe that this is the worst thing that could happen for this dot-com era. that pandora can come out of the chute and make you feel like, wait a second -- holy cow, groupon sent me a spa laser treatment to go to staten island, save a couple of bucks -- >> in the middle of the day. >> i'm sorry, groupon, that doesn't fit into my busy schedule. >> as you said last night, people who try to get in on the

ipos early, knock it off! >> i got guys who think that yelp is like meow mix, it's something you give to dogs. no, it's something that loses money regularly. >> finally, the indianapolis colts holding a news conference at noon today and are expected to announce the team will release quarterback peyton manning. he missed the entire season last year after undergoing neck surgery. manning would have received a $28 million bonus on thursday if he were to remain on the colts' roster. the team owns the top pick in the upcoming draft and is expected to select stanford quarterback andrew luck. >> i defer to jon najarian who you introduced me to. i would never go against najarian when it comes to football. outlier is denver. hardly thought to be the case. >> tebow goes free agent soon? >> yes. and you could go, mechanics from the master, quoting najarian.

interesting outside choice, denver. >> you think jets is a no go? >> no. i think sanchez -- having bumped into sanchez multiple times in new jersey where he likes to dine, i would tell you he's there to stay. i see him all the time. all the jets like to go there. and they're really big. >> i'm sure you've already seen this, jet player tells "the new york daily news" get him, he has to be a jet. >> the center of the new york jets bumped into me. he's 9'7" tall. where was he in the playoffs, though? no, they didn't make it. still to come this morning, a lot more on today's big product announcement from apple. hear what our panelists are expecting from that new ipad. and a potential downside for the strategy in cupertino.

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♪ welcome back to "squawk on the street." rick santelli here on the floor of the cme.

whether you look at our ten-year over the last couple of months or the european bund, granted, the bund might be more in the lower end of its range or the gilt in the uk, it is home in the range for these three major safe-harbor securities. we continue to see all the news of the day, as questionable as it may be, doesn't break us out of the range. this is a good number, not a great number, we'll take it. but it isn't altering the landscape of many markets. if you look towards greece, it's a lot like a home closing. ever been through one of those? the seller, they have leaky pipes, they're trying to keep the deal together. we're going to see how much pressure the greeks have to exert to make sure those leaky pipes on the financial side don't make this thing come crashing back down. back to you. >> thank you, rick santelli. as you know, apple's getting ready for a big product launch today which many are saying will be a sharper, faster ipad. it's been one success after the other for the tech giant.

so we're asking you, at apple's product event today, what could tim cook have to say to make people run away rather than buy its latest gadget? run away instead of buying. maybe no ipad for you? >> is there anything they couldn't market at this point if they put their mind to it? i think that's the question. >> the eco system is so powerful. i plug in everything into it. all of my systems talk to each other and my systems talk to my kids. it really is pretty seamless. >> comes on a day when samsung is widening their patent litigation against the company. the battle continues but it hasn't borne a lot of fruit for the likes of samsung. >> no, it hasn't. the one thing that i know that jobs was really perplexed by, battery life. touch screen battery life, i feel like i have to have my devices plugged in at all times if i'm really going to go game central because i just find myself without a battery at 9:30 at night. >> it's true. >> it's really tough. when we come back, cramer's

mad dash is next. take a look once more at futures. will we recover from yesterday's worst selloff for 2012? doesn't look like it so far. the dow's indicated to open up 46 points. stay tuned.

♪ 4:30 before the open on this wednesday morning. got a couple of big names, jim, that are affirming the current scenario. got walmart talking about how the quarter's been so far, pretty good. and ge.

>> this general electric is very important, obviously. i own shares in je electric because ge is so wide-ranging. they're everywhere. they are talking about terrific revenue growth, double digit -- they use the term growth areas. i call that emerging markets. we have been so worried -- brazil guided down gdp the other day. china guided down. ge made me feel better. of course, ge is making energy cheaper in these countries. that's a very big deal. i get solace from this, that's the way i look at it. >> div hikes, they say they'll keep coming. >> this stock was here -- basically this is a company i think could easily go to 20, on just one big change. >> we'll talk about it more after a break. for now, melissa, over to you.

>> about 3:30 until the bell rings here on wall street. another big day of trading. much more "squawk on the street" straight ahead.

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♪ "the voice," a smash show. >> it's much more uplifting and constructive than the other guys. i'm tired of guys belittling. >> let's talk about walmart. you mentioned gas prices. we're getting color from that conference where walmart are making comments about same-store sales. they're saying their consumer has reset their budget

expectations in terms of getting used to higher gas prices but still at $4 to $5 a gallon, that is a problem for our customers, that's what walmart says. >> david faber yesterday made a good point yesterday. he said there are a lot of cars that are now getting better gas mileage, we know the average car is 11 years old in this country. so there is some impact. all i'm saying is -- go back and play the tape about what i didn't do right in 2008. and what i didn't do right was until i was slapped in the face by some retailers saying it really did hurt, i thought things would be okay. i know we're used to $4. but yesterday i was speaking with a booker from the "today" show in california, you pay $4.50, that is a stumbling-block of whether to go out to red lobster or to panera. i'm concerned. put me as concerned. >> we mentioned cypress semi

earlier this morning. >> they may be on the wrong horse. ciena is up, by the way. they both say good things about the next quarter. but cypress has aligned itself with everybody who's not apple. seems like that would be a big army. but apple is winning. talk about kindle, samsung, these are all cypress clients. i know that kindle is a great instrument. but apple has been doing so much better. >> apple is up 1.25% ahead of the big product launch in san francisco. you know, speaking of najarian, dr. "j" did some interesting math for us on "fast money" last night putting apple's rise in perspective. if you had bought an average house ten years ago, the average house costs $228,000. you bought the average house today, that same amount of investment would be worth in the form of a house $28,000, if you had spent the same amount of money instead of buying that house and bought shares of

apple, you would have $9.9 million. and i rounded down. >> people at home, i know you think it's a mug's game so often, all you do is lose. this is one where you saw the kid by the second ipod because they wanted a fashion statement, that was your signal. the older generation are still thinking hewlett-packard. if you look at that stock, that has to be unone of the worst performers i've ever seen. still $120 billion in revenues. those can go away. >> shares of wynn climbing this morning. filing to hold a special shareholder's meetings on the possible removal of kazuo okada. >> i think that issue is going to be with us for a while. watch wynn-macau revenues, they won't be as good as they are right now. we often talk about netflix.

in this case, reports of some discussions reed hastings is having with cable companies to stream through your set top box. so the threat that cable companies thought they posed may actually turn out to be just the opposite. >> when i read that story -- this is that frenemy issue again. netflix had been the sworn opponent in a zero sum game. what kind of filing is this by reed hastings? >> why would a cable company need a netflix? who would pay whom in this instance? why can't netflix be disintermediated? why can't the content provider who's selling netflix go straight through the cable company? why does netflix have to be in between? do they have one series and another in the works? >> i'm not championing netflix. i think that time warner cable, comcast, parent company of this network, had unbelievable numbers, putting away cablevision.

i think the cable companies are in charge. they really do have the momentum. i don't know about netflix other than the fact that it's down a lot. >> interesting to see yesterday, ko coal stocks got hammered. up only about .5% today. consol is up .3%. alpha -- >> i thought consol should have been up. this is a major push. sierra club, if you get the house, going democratic, the epa is going to run rampant or if you're an environmentalist, the epa is going to have its way. that means plans decommissioned for coal ahead of time. mary thompson is here on the floor in for bob. >> a different tone to the markets today.

yesterday, the biggest selloff for the dow since november. hopes that greece will be able to avoid a disorderly default by getting enough bondholders so sign on to this debt swap deal. the adp jobs report was in line with expectations. gains were seen in europe currently. and also providing some support were positive outlooks from general electric and honeywell. we want to start with ge. jim was mentioning it earlier. but the company reaffirming double-digit earnings growth outlook for its industrial companies as well as its finance companies. and also basically talking up latin america and the middle east, two big growth areas which they expect to outpace the middle east as far as growth goes for general electric in 2012. honeywell also raising its first-quarter earnings forecast dr or raising the range of that forecast to 98 cents a share. earlier the range was 93 to 98. the company's been benefiting

from strong demand for a number of its aviation components which is helping to offset weaker demand for its automation systems used in larger commercial buildings. we want to touch on pandora. sees first-quarter revenues below estimates and first-quarter loss wider than expected as well in a range of 11 to 16 cents a share. analysts were looking for two. lastly, we want to touch on american eagle outfitters. their first-quarter adjusted earnings were in line with estimates at 35 cents a share but it gave positive comments in the second half. its stock is higher. the dow jones industrial average well off its highs of the day, which were about 28 points or so at the open. now holding on to a gain of about 12. carl, back to you. >> mary, thank you very much. jim, i want to read something you said last night about the markets overall. you said the wall of worry is too armed and dangerous, too electrified and barbed to scale

for even the most bullish of investors. >> i don't like this bounce call. we have more behind greece. we have china slowdown, we have brazil slowdown. yes, they need to cut, i know that. we have the gasoline prices higher. let's not forget, cypress semi and merck preannounced. this is an earnings-driven market. i don't want to see that. pandora, i don't want to see that. talking about seasonality and new companies shouldn't have seasonality. i need to see earnings stay. i like what ge had to say. but is honeywell reacting well to that narrowing in the range? no. if we don't have earnings and we have gasoline going higher, these are things that worry me. they worry me. let's shift to bonds and the dollar. rick santelli is at the cme group. rick, how are you? >> hey, welcome back. as i watch the dollar index, if

you consider where the dollar index has been sense december 31st, we're roughly right in the middle of the 2012 range. many articles written about how the dollar isn't necessarily its weakness associated with what's going on in commodities. and we know why. you just heard the gang talking about it. a lot of this has to do with china. in many of the issues regarding commodities in china, might be more into things like certain metals whether it's copper or some of the metals used in batteries like lithium. however, the things that we use every hour every day, every week, every month, like energy, might be off on their own little tangent. and indeed the fed might have to make some adjustments to what level of certain commodity inflation it's willing to tolerate, which is fascinating because next week, we're going to hear from the fed. we have supply next week, not this week. right now, yields object long end or a couple of basis points lower and not moving very aggressively. back to you. >> thank you, rick.

good to talk with you. i like interacting with you. you make a lot of horse sense. let's check out the latest news in energy and metals. bertha coombs is at the nymex. >> we have a mixed picture here as far as energy. a little bit of a bounceback yesterday in part on nice headlines coming out of china. china says it is going to boost energy imports in 2012. it's helping brent. but at this hour, wti nymex crude under some pressure. we have negative negative for nymex crude from api, the industry. their industries showed a build of 8.6 million barrels. third straight week of a build. take a look at gasoline, which i know everyone is worried about, continuing to move forward here as the drawdown in gasoline, according to api was bigger than expected notwithstanding the fact that we continue to see demand at fresh 11-year lows, according to mastercard spending pulse, last week demand was down at 1.5%. over to you.

>> thank you very much. fresh from the opening bell, john williams is the president and ceo of domtar corporation. over the five-year period, the stock is down about 10%. if you look at a three-year chart, shares of the company up more than -- it says 1,000%. is that possible? >> about that. >> nicely done. we talked off-camera about paper business, north america heavily exposed, top line's been difficult. >> yeah. we think there's about a 3% to 4% decline in the paper business every year. so we can manage that. we've managed that very carefully. now we're building out to other businesses. >> the other businesses, i guess are related to paper. >> they are, indeed. we've gone into fluff pulp, it goes into adult diapers and baby diapers. >> unlike depends or something like that which is heavily sold

on a retail counter, it's largely institutional business. >> 60% of the business worldwide is institutional. >> long-term demographic play. what are the long-term opportunities? >> it's an $8 billion business globally, growing at 5% to 6% a year. it's going to keep doing that into the future. >> finally, what do -- we always love big macro pictures we can paint using micro metrics. is there something about the u.s. economy you're seeing through the prism of -- >> increasing employment will lead to more paper usage. that long-term decline is softening a little bit at this moment. >> we use a lot of paper here. >> thank you for that, by the way. >> john, thank you very much. congratulations on five years at the big board. john williams with domtar. at apple's product event, what could tim cook say to make people run away rather than buy

its latest gadget? tweet us. we'd love to hear from you. take a look at this morning's early movers on this wednesday session on wall street. we've got fashion, yes, we do. all you have to do is win it. guess friday's nonfarm jobs number and you can win a tote bag autographed by the "squawk on the street" gang. tweet us your guess. and watch friday to see if you're the lucky winner. ♪

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wynn resorts up by more than 2%. the company filing a preliminary

proxy for a special meeting of stockholders to vote on the possible removal of kazuo okada as director saying he may be an unsuitable person for the board. keep in mind, the casinos overall having a nice day. lvs is up as well as mgm. >> great piece in "the times" about that fight and questioning whether or not they were ever real friends or if they just used each other when it was convenient for each side. >> i know. there was a lot of glib talk by steve wynn. i'm a huge wynn fan. bit seemed like these guys were not as joined at the hip as he was saying. "squawk on the tweet" today, apple getting ready for its big product launch which ma are saying may be a sharper, faster ipad. it's been one success after the other for the tech giant. what would tim cook have to say to make people run away rather than buy? we got some great answers. michael writes, retractable antenna.

that would do it. another one, we're coming out with the ipad 5 next week. long tweet that is it was manufactured by r.i.m. in waterloo, ontario. and josh writes, we did nothing new so come buy one at a higher price point. it shows how well people understand corporate personality, right? all those things ring true. >> it is so true that we all expect to pay more for an apple device each time. but they have pricing power. remember when hewlett-packard was giving away their tablet and no one really wanted it? apple is a company that you don't haggle price when you go to an apple price. you say, okay, i want it, let's do it. >> you either want it or you don't. the trading day is young, a lot more "squawk on the street" is still ahead. coming up, it's not exactly ocd behavior. but it's certainly something

requiring order. and nobody does it like jim cramer. six stocks in 60 seconds when "squawk on the street" returns. [ female announcer ] it's time for the annual shareholders meeting.

♪ there'll be the usual presentations on research. and development. some new members of the team will be introduced. the chairman emeritus will distribute his usual wisdom. and you? well, you're the chief life officer. you just need the right professional to help you take charge. ♪

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coming up in the next hour of "squawk on the street," the morning after the selloff, what the charts are saying about where to put your money right now. and speaking of selloffs, pandora getting hammered this morning. should you tune out when it comes to the internet radio service? plus, the home of the silver bullet going for gold in its meeting with investors. we'll talk exclusively with the ceo of molson coors. time for "six in 60." six stocks in 60 seconds. sba communications mentioned by morgan stanley as a tactical long-term -- >> you need antennas if you're going to be able to expand your cellular experience. i also like american tower. >> rg energy.

>> david crane had been the foremost proponent of nuclear power. that was a negative piece for them. >> manpower rated a buy. >> do you upgrade that if you really think the economy is getting soft? they have a big french business. you have to look international. >> credit suisse upgrades lululemon to outperform. >> what a battleground. this is the anti-stink pants formulation. high multiple stocks not doing that well. >> automated data. >> i prefer paychecks. a higher yield and more levered to smaller business. >> finally, chesapeake midstream. >> i have them on tonight. they're talking about cng in a box. >> as people try to make sense of energy these days, the cost to a household of rising gas prices is offset to a degree by the lower cost of natural gas. >> and i think that's important

that the overall price of energy in this country has not gone up a lot because of gasoline. can i point out that chesapeake f they get this dream come true, you'll be able to plug if, if you're house is heated by gas, natural gas, plug it into your car someday. i like that. electric cars. natural gas cars, i'm ready. >> we talked about europe a little bit earlier. and you said greece could solve the issues -- >> yeah. >> but we haven't talked about what happens if greece is a tough situation tomorrow, friday, next week. >> if that's the case morgan stanley and goldman sachs will go back down. a lot of people like the regional banks fearing that greece does something that is not good. i still believe that bond exchange is going to work. but i understand. if you have savings bond and suddenly you're told, you're going to get 30 cents on the dollar, you might say, i'm just going to hold off. i think a lot of people are saying, maybe if i hold out or if i don't subscribe, i'll get a

better price later if greece drops out of the euro. >> are you paying strict attention to this participation rate today? >> i think we have to. but i really -- i care more about the oil inventories at 10:30. look, i feel that if gasoline -- once again, walmart's comments, i know costco does well if gasoline goes up. but the market consumer does not need this right now. if we pretend it's not happening, i think it's going to hit us in the face when we see quarterly earnings. >> adp came in almost exactly where people expected. >> i like the services component going up. i like america. we're going from not-so-good to good. i don't want to see that to be hurt by gasoline. a lot of other things are going well in this country. >> trim tabs had a soft jobs number last night. but online postings up 10% in

the past couple of months meaning there's some demand for jobs coming back. >> that would be good. monster worldwide up for sale. >> do you think friday is going to be a good number? >> i actually dochlt when we go into weekends, i fear, is that going to be the iran/israel missile crisis. that's what i fear every weekend until we resolve this. we need a political issue. >> how do you go into weekends? >> raise a little cash. i think you have to have a little cash. i've been very, very constructive about this market. my charitable trust raised a lot of cash. i worry about greece. got to see itdown done. i worry about gasoline because it can keep going higher if we don't get a resolution in iran. >> just when you were really starting to feel good about is not just the economy but the markets here, this iran situation really blew up. >> i watched the president's speech this weekend on sunday. it was very hawkish. the press conference really rattled me yesterday.

our president is saying they will not get a nuclear weapon. how do you stop them, carl? how do you stop them? how do you stop them other than with soldiers and bombs? >> tough discussion. see you tonight on maria menounos. mis see you tonight on "mad money." coming up next, the technical take on the markets and an exclusive with the molson coors ceo. choose control.

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let's get the roadmap for the next hour. yesterday, steep selloff, dow slid over 200 points in its first triple-digit loss of the new year. as thursday's greek deadline looms, are we on the verge of another big pullback? the street's anxiously awaiting today's big apple product unveil. what's in store in we'll tell you what you need to know ahead of the big launch. in the mood for a cold one? molson coors announcing the launch of an iced tea-flavored beer. is the new initiative enough to win back consumers in the growing competition? we'll talk to the ceo of molson coors in a few. and the super tuesday results are in. we'll break down the results of

the race with dick gebhart. pandora shares are down by 23% so far in today's session. want to bring in rich chulo. rich, great to have you with us. >> thanks very figure me on the show. >> can the model for pandora actually work? if they're going to increase the number of listeners and the number of listener hours, can they continue to pay increased royalties to capture those customers? seems like their expenses are going up as well? >> it's tough. i think the problem is they have to migrate the sales process to more of a traditional media sales process from an internet sales process relying on the networks to deliver ads to them. they have to actually go out, put boots on the ground, get those big ad contracts from the

procter & gambles of the world. they have yet to do that. they need to do that to make their guidance. >> sounds like -- they're going to be hiring more people. is that part of this migration where you add people to go out and get these customers? >> absolutely. the last quarter just reported, costs were up about $3 million above what we were looking for precisely because they hired 90 new people. >> they're still paying increased royalties every time they add another listener hour to the mix. they're going to have to fight that battle. you hope that ad revenues go higher because you can capture the bigger customers? >> the two levers they need to pull and they haven't pulled them yet is migrating that ad revenue to a higher scale. second, what i think they need to do is monitor the usage of the system and regulate the amount of songs being played in an hour. it's a tough trick.

increasing the time difference by nanoseconds helps. they haven't done that yet. but once that happens, then they're on the road to achieving their goals. but for investors right now, it's a tough slug because they just guided to down sequential revenues in the first quarter. and the revenue guidance for the last few months of the year is loaded. so it's taking a risk. >> do you ever see it being a buy? what's your rating on the stock? we spoke to the ceo as soon as the company went people here on the new york stock exchange. he basically said that he was not concerned about profitability. that's not what you want to hear from a ceo at all, especially as their goal is to migrate more towards mobile ad revenues. and those revenues actually have lower margins. >> that's right. do i see it as being a buy? if they're able to do what they need to do over the long term, this model can be successful.

but what they really need to show is they're able to execute. we have a market perform rating, $10 price target. it's a little bit below the level right now. but the reason why we don't have a sell rating on it is because the cost to borrow the shares to initiate a short position is very high. so the downside has to be more than 20%, 30%. the downside has to be above and beyond what it costs to borrow the stock. >> okay, rich, great to have you with us. >> thank you very much. stocks suffering their worst losses this year. yesterday, the dow fell over 200 points. investors jumped to the sidelines as global growth fears came back into play. i guess the question is, where are we going from here, technical side? >> that's a very good question. luckily, we have a technician to help us here. investors maintaining a cautious tone on the back of yesterday's steep declines. time to see what the charts are telling us. katy stockton is with mkm partners. good to see you. >> thank you.

>> let's take the s&p first and talk about what damage was done yesterday, where support lies at these levels. >> there was no damage done yesterday, in my opinion. we saw a 1.5% decline, obviously. but no support levels were broken. we have about 30% of the constituents of the s&p 500 oversold from a short-term perspective. so that's constructive, especially to the extent that it did not damage the long-term positive momentum behind the market. >> so 50-day remains support at 1,300? >> it does. support around 1,300, 1,320. the 30-day moving average is 1,320. that's where i expect the uptrend to resume. >> transports putting in a new low for the year. even when they confirmed things were good, what about the transports? >> in my opinion, the transports have not broken down. to me, the pullback has been affected by the rally in oil crude prices.

it really just looks like a pullback to me. we have not broken any important support. in fact, we're back to the breakout point from last october. >> you're referencing the far edge of the screen where it's turned it sideways since late last year. >> that would be support. we have not broken out above the 2011 high. but we've not broken any support. >> one reason it may not have broken out is obviously because of what crude's been doing. >> exactly. >> what do the charts tell you about that? >> crude oil has broken out. we have very important resistance on the chart. that projects a target of about $120. there is resistance in that $114, $115 per barrel area. but $120 could be a level from that breakout that we have right here. >> where are we at these levels? >> at current levels, right around $105. this was the former resistance, $103, $104. the target is about $120 from that based on the distance ahead of the consolidation phase.

>> $120 troublesome or not in your view? >> not troublesome in my view. >> why not? >> to me, you'll see the energy sector strengthen on that. also, i expect cyclical leadership in general, basic materials, industrials keeping the market lifted. >> gold's had a wild couple of weeks, especially after the chairman's testimony the other day when it seemed like q.e. was suddenly off the table, in some people's views. what is this chart telling you about gold? >> what the testimony did was -- we have two highs in place. from a long-term perspective, that's an issue. it reflects the loss of long-term momentum. gold could be losing strength in here. and i look at it more than just a short-term development. >> so no technical damage done to stocks this week but maybe some damage done to gold -- >> exactly, right. >> katie, always good stuff. great to see you. >> you, too. >> katie joining us from mkm.

>> let's talk about today's market. art cashen is the birthday boy today. what do you make of today's bounceba bounceback? it's not very strong. thinking of coal, copper, the rails, not good signs. >> we're back to where we were several weeks ago where the euro controls everything. and the fact that the euro is somewhat more stable today, the greek authorities have been parading people out to say, yes, i will participate in the greek swap. you've got some major banks talking about it, pension funds. and that's going to calm the euro down. that's allowed us to try and take back a little bit of the losses. the losses in europe are twice as bad as they were here. >> when we do have word, if we do have word, that there is the required 53.5% in the psi, will

we rally on news or are we on hold until friday's jobs report? >> i think the greek bailout is right now the number one item. if we get actual agreement on it, it will be fine. if we've got a target date of tomorrow afternoon, there's already talk -- and what scared the market yesterday is they might postpone it for one day. and then there's the question of will there be a collective action clause invoked and will that lead to credit default swaps. >> cramer put forth the theory that the headwind is higher gas prices. but crude dropped to two-week lows in yesterday's session. at what point do we move that to the front burner for the markets to pause or maybe pull back? >> what you have to do -- a good broker or a good trader is a detective. you take all the little different pieces and put them together. so far, you look and you see the

european markets, you see the commodities all reacting to the euro so far. gas has not come to the floor. when you begin to see evidence that people are worried about people driving anywhere and you fall off in restaurant sales and other items, then it will come to the floor. but for now, unfortunately, it is the euro and the greek situation. >> art cashen -- by the way, what are you doing to celebrate your birthday? >> well, i may do something strange like mar nainading an ea ice cube or two. but it will be fine. >> love doing that. >> only in moderation. >> thank you very much. happy birthday from all of us here on "squawk on the street." apple is a few hours away from taking the wraps off its latest product unveil. how will it fare in the face of growing competitors and is the street's love affair with the tech titan on the verge of taking a stumble? we have your apple trade right after this.

coming up, it's 5:00 somewhere. so we'll take a beer, please. the president and ceo of molson coors will join us next. he'll discuss the state of the alcohol industry. we'll drink to that. "squawk on the street" will be right back. ♪ oh!

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♪ stocks to watch, about 45 minutes into trading, jack in the box upgraded to a neutral from underperform at credit suisse. the firm also raising the price target to a neutral -- raising the price target. the stock is up by more than 1%. deckers outdoors estimates a price target reduced at stifel nicolaus saying the company faces challenges this year. f5 networks, price target raised to 1.35 from 1.26 at think equity. it sees a recent pullback as a buying opportunity. apple's big unveil three hours away, 1:00 p.m. eastern time. our jon fortt has more on what to watch for. we've been speculating about that day for weeks and months. >> reporter: it's a little bit like a crime scene out here

always before these things, a bunch of tv trucks, a sign behind us that we're trying to decipher. it's an apple and a splash of color. does it mean high definition? that's some of the speculation out there. this is the first big apple event of the year. it sets the tone. we expect a sharper screen on the ipad, a better camera. the same general price structure is what they tend to keep. maybe they will keep the ipad 2 around and make that lower priced in order to keep up their market share, maybe even gain a bit. the question is, will the availability be next week? last year, what they did was they did a nine-day pushout. so that would mean next friday is when these would appear in stores. and the feature questions are, will this have an a6 chip, the next generation of the chip apple designs or will they do a souped-up a-5. and will it have at5.

it will affect margins. the will thee components cost a bit more. but they will affect competitors, like amazon. if they put more power in this thing and unveil the chip, it could make the kindle fire less attractive. on the other hand, if they don't, with microsoft windows 8 coming later this year, microsoft has a chance to show some performance on that side and try to compete. very interesting in how it sets the scene, not just for the tablet market but for the pc market later this year. >> jon, i have a question as to when it's going to be released. you mentioned nine days after the launch in stores. how about online? is that going to be anytime sooner? >> reporter: usually they do it at the same time. you can preorder ahead of time online. there's a question of whether the new feature in the retail stores they allow you to order ahead. they might even do that with this product. some of it could depend on how heavily carriers are involved. if verizon and at&t are going to really push this as well. perhaps even subsidize it. that hasn't been something

they've done in the past. >> jon, i've heard -- there are so many rumors going around, wild theories about what they could introduce, a version with no home button, some version of microsoft office that would work with apple. are there things you're discounting as too incredible to believe? >> reporter: well, there have been a couple of things about the home button. someone claimed to have gotten their hands last week on a front and back plate that they think is to the new apple ipad. it did have a space for the home button on it. take that for what it's worth. as far as the other rumors about microsoft office, microsoft seems to have been holding off on office in order to give its window 8 a boost. i'd be surprised but who knows? >> it would be weird for apple to cede stage time on their big day. can't wait, jon. thanks. molson coors announcing it will launch coors light iced tea, amid other new products as the company looks to gain share

of the struggling beer market. we have a sitdown with the molson coors president and ceo right after this break. we've got fashion, yes, we do. we've got fashion, now so can you. and all you have to do is win it. guess friday's nonfarm jobs number and you can win a tote bag autographed by the "squawk on the street" gang. tweet us your guess, @kr guess, @cnbcsquawkst with the #nailthenumber. and tune in friday to see if you're the winner. presenting an. both are used to treat men with low testosterone. androgel 1.62% is from the makers of the number one prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. it raises your testosterone levels, and... is concentrated, so you could use less gel.

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siemens. answers. ♪ molson coors is looking to make beer more attractive to wine and cocktail drinkers. the company rolled out new products yesterday in including coors light iced tea. peter swinburn is president and ceo of molson coors and joins us for an exclusive interview.

peter, great to have you with us. >> thank you. >> who is your target demographic for the coors iced tea? >> well, it's beer drinkers but also drinkers that don't currently participate in the beer market. to put it into context, like any consumer goods company, we need to increase our earnings. and we also need to increase our margin. so the first job is to make sure our core brands are strong and growing and that things like coors light and miller lite -- like any other consumer goods, innovation is our lifeblood. coors light iced tea comes into that. and we need to expand our footprint in emerging markets. coors light iced tea addresses some of the occasions that currently beer doesn't go into. and it's a great proposition. we've got the world's most refreshing alcoholic beer sort of meeting up with the most refreshing nonalcoholic drink in the world. those two things go really well together. >> what is going on in your

industry? three straight years of volume declines in the united states. can the company make the beer picture work if we're continuing to see volume declines here in the united states by offsetting it with sales abroad or is that trend of people going to wine and spirits also happening overseas? >> no, i'm absolutely convinced that we can bring both back into our markets. as i say, innovation is part of that. but we really do have a great position in all of our markets as well. we have the number one beer in the uk, number one beer in canada, number two beer in the u.s. making sure we focus behind these brands and keeping them relevant, investing them behind -- we announced an increase in our marketing span yesterday specifically to do that, absolutely we can grow these markets. >> peter, other brands have tried to flavor beer with lime in some cases. can you walk us through some of the market research that led you to iced tea? is this going to be targeted mostly at women as opposed to men? >>. >> if you're doing any line

extension or renovation, it has to reflect the brand proposition. rocky mountain cold refreshment is the brand proposition. iced tea is recognized as the most refreshing nonalcoholic drink in the world. consumers play that back to you. putting those two things together reinforces the brand message. the other point you raise is consumers have been moving into more experimental areas, be that in terms of flavor or in terms of comfort and what have you. so it plays into both of those. so we hit both consumer trends. >> there's been such a trend within the broader spirits industry of flavoring alcohols, obviously there's a whole line of vodkas, raspberry, blueberry and marshmallow flavors. in terms of beer, are you find you're going up against a wall because there are only so many flavors you can match with beer or am i being close-minded about beer's possibilities? >> no, not at all. flavors are only one aspect of it.

the reality is although the beer market's been challenged in some of our markets, the overall alcohol market is actually growing. consumers are actually finding occasions where beer doesn't satisfy them. we need to understand what those occasions are and develop beers that actually satisfy those occasions. our innovation program is pretty full. we have beers like batch 19 which is a pre-prohibition beer. it's a recipe we found that we made before prohibition that plays into that authenticity part of the market that currently we haven't really played into very well. that's doing exceptionally well for us. i don't think it's just about flavors. it's about finding out the occasions that consumers are using alcohol that are not beer. and by and large, beer is still very much the alcohol drink of choice. >> peter, pleasure to speak with you. >> you, too. >> the president and ceo of molson coors. the intrigue over the new ipad that apple is ostensibly unveiling today is getting a

little bit richer. this is a shot of the apple store website right now. you can see the post-it note says, we'll be back soon, we are busy updating the store for you and will be back shortly. a few hours in advance of their press conference in san francisco, you might think somebody is at work on something as this website has gone dark for the time being. >> it's remarkable to think of the apple site being dark. there it is. >> if you want to buy, you can clearly call. but something is going on in cupertino. meantime, traders are watching this week's many central bank meetings. will they signal the end of easy money and what's your risk-off way to play it? time for our "money in motion" trade. andy busch is in chicago. my understanding is there aren't expected to be many cuts or changes in central bank policy or rates except that the ecb is the one that's really going to be watched very closely. >> yeah, that's right.

there's ten central bank meetings this week. it started off last night with the rba. they left interest rates unchanged. with the exception of the brazilian central bank, all these central banks are leaving their rates unchanged. that's the key thing. the bank of england tomorrow and the ecb are meeting. but neither one's going to cut rates. and mostly like they'll walk back market expectations for additional liquidity. >> so in terms of the ecb, obviously it's not just the statement that comes out but it's more likely the press conference. is this a reason to stay away from the euro entirely this week? >> no, i think there's going to be some great opportunities, especially surrounding the announcement from the greeks on their psi. so overall, the euro looks extraordinarily weak right now. we've seen a big selloff in it. and i think it's going to continue. >> so if you're saying it's going to continue, want to sell. walk me through the levels. >> we want to take advantage of a perceived rally that i think is going to happen when they announce that greece has enough

people to do their bond swaps. we want to sell that rally. so i'm guessing we should see maybe 1.3275 or somewhere up in that area. we want to sell there. leave a tight stop around 1.3380, 1.3375 and take profit at 1.2975. this is an opportunity with an event coming up where you can take advantage. you should get a pop to the euro and have it fade out. >> you're looking to put this trade on it looks like post-results of the ltro. we'll see a slight pop in the euro. you put the trade on and we'll see a decline going into the ecb meeting? >> it's whenever they make the greek announcement for the psi. >> all right. andy busch, thanks a lot for that trade. you can catch more "money in motion" currency trading every friday at 5:30 p.m. eastern time. when we come back, some breaking news on oil inventories. we'll break down super tuesday's big race to the gop crown with former house majority leader dick gebhart. we're back in just a moment.

want more "squawk on the street"? no problem. talk to us anytime. e-mail us at sots@cnbc.com. follow us at facebook.com/cnbc. and get our twitter updates, . s [ man ] predicting the future is hard. but i have this new smartphone. and now i can see everything more clearly. ♪ i can organize the analysis.

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i'm bertha coombs at the nymex. eia inventories show a

smaller-than-expected build when it comes to crude inventories, up 832,000. we saw a bigger-than-expected distillate drawdown and a smaller-than-expected drawdown in gasoline of about 400,000. just shy of 400,000. refinery utilization was up about .3%. one of the problems that continues to dog wti is the fact that we are seeing builds at cushing with all that production coming out of the bakken. this week we saw a 2.36 million barrel build at cushing. the response, fairly muted. we've had crude oil flat pretty much on the session. a little bit lower on gasoline. we've gotten a better number from api with regard to gasoline. carl, back over to you. >> bertha, thank you for that. some of the stories we're squawking about, 7:32 on the west coast, 10:32 on wall street. bank of america is today's biggest gainer on the dow.

shares of wynn resorts also on the rise. announcing plans to hold a shareholder vote on whether to remove kazuo okada from its board. wynn deeming the japanese billionaire unsuitable as defined by the company's articles of incorporation. and one day after surging past its 50-day moving average, the vix is pulling back, falling some 3%. we know what a big day it had yesterday. and speaking of which, let's take a look at the markets as well as the internals a day after the biggest selloff of the markets this entire year. seeing the nasdaq, the best gainer helped in part by apple. but the nasdaq itself is up to 2,925. the dow adding about 25 points. and the s&p 500, 1,346 is the level, up 3.5 points. taking a look at the internals of the markets and the advance/decline line. advancers leading declines there. about a 3 to 1 on the nasdaq of the advancers leading the decliners.

jack bouroudjian joins us right now. jack, what's going on in the markets today? are we just waiting for friday at this point? >> we're waiting for friday, waiting for thursday. everybody's talking about what's going to happen with greece. are they going to trigger some kind of credit event. but the key is going to be this jobs number on friday. it's going to be three good numbers in a row. everybody keeps talking about this mountain of cash sitting in the ten-year and on the sidelines. usually it takes about three numbers for that cash to start working its way back into the market where nonbelievers, those unconvinced start becoming convinced. let's see if that's going to be the catalyst. whatever it is, it's going to take this market from what is right now an undervalued level -- let's face it -- >> why is the market undervalued? >> ten-year under 2%. we're looking at a lot of stories coming out that are bullish. the china news -- 7.5% is bullish. it's sustainable growth.

and more pormt, these are the types of things that you need for the further easing we're going to have to see for the chinese to see that flow of capital coming back in and see that cycle of manufacturing really kick in. all of these people, the 20 million cars that were sold in china last year are just a trickle. that's the tip of the iceberg. i don't subscribe with the ubs peak commodity theory. i think laszlo birinyi is on the right track and larry fink is on the right track. there's going to be an expansion of this market over the next couple of years and earnings will stay stable. the market will likely go up. undervalued especially when you look at it in historic terms. >> s&p 1,700 this year. you said laszlo birinyi was on track. that's his track, s&p 1,700. >> that might be a little overambitious. i'd be looking more at a 1,400 or 1,500 s&p move. at that, we're looking at a 14 or 15 on earnings. that is a sustainable multiple as far as what we're doing.

>> last quick question. we have the rurlts of super tuesday. it wasn't a clear sweep for romney. is it market positive or market negative for obama to win or romney to win? does it matter at this point? if obama wins, that means the economy is improving, which is trait great for the stock market, right? and if romney wins, may be more pro-market in terms of his policies, that means the economy isn't doing as well? . >> the truth is this, melissa, this market has been going up. and we've been seeing job creation in spite of policy that's coming out of washington, not because of policy that's coming out of washington. with a romney victory, more than likely we would see that expansion that i was talking about in multiples happen much faster. you'll see the recovery happen much faster and more importantly, the confidence level that seems to be lacking in the market will come back. yes, does the market want a romney victory, especially that he's talking pro-growth, absolutely. god bless him. >> says the man with the gop badge. >> yeah, really. should have known the answer i would get. jack bouroudjian, thanks. mitt romney still leading

the race for delegates by winning super tuesday contests in six states, including that squeaker in ohio last night. rick santorum won in three states. newt gingrich won in his home state of georgia. for more, we're joined by dick gebhart who ran for president in 1988 and 2004. leader, good to see you again. good morning. >> good to be with you. >> so the conventional wisdom this morning is that romney got the math accomplished. but the perception is going to dog him, especially as we study what happened in ohio. where is your head this morning? >> well, i think mitt romney probably slid into third base under the tag, to put it in baseball parlance. he survived in iowa, which was critical, i think. but having done that, if you look at the math going forward, i think even if newt gingrich dropped out and it was santorum versus romney, santorum would have to get about 60% of the delegates going forward.

that's a tall order. so i think the best intelligence today is that probably mitt romney can wrap this up with the requisite number of delegates in the weeks ahead. >> of course, the question is then, in what shape is he to compete in the general? you mentioned the notion of gingrich exiting the race. apparently he's already said this morning that if he thought santorum had a shot at taking out romney and then obama, he would do it. he clearly doesn't believe that and so he won't. this morning, joe trippy said romney may end up being the gop's dukakis. is that possible? >> anything is possible. i think the big factor in the general election will be what you were all just talking about, and that's the economy. i've thought for the longest time that whether or not president obama can be reelected really depends on what's happening in the economy over the next six months.

and if we knew the answer to that i i think we'd know the answer to the election. so i think the nomination is romney's and i think whether or not he can defeat president obama really depends on what goes forward with the economy, jobs, all the other indicators that you all look at every day. >> a lot of people obviously at this time -- titterring about what sarah palin said about throwing her hat into the ring. could we have more fireworks? >> it's possible. if rick santorum could get more delegates going forward to keep mitt romney from getting the requisite number he leads, 1,100 and something, you could have that at the convention. i think that's a hard scenario. this process is set up to produce a winner.

and i think the likelihood is that in the weeks ahead, it will do that and probably mitt romney will be the candidate on the republican side. >> but when you say there could be some drama, what's one likely scenario? >> well, again, if he was short the number of delegates he needs, it's 1,130 or something like that, then you can have some horse trading and back and forth in the convention like there used to be in both parties. and that could be a dramatic thing that most young people have never seen. but, again, i doubt that that will happen. i think he'll probably get to the finish line here in the next weeks and months. >> as the contest turned to the south, obviously people talk about challenges for romney in dealing with the tea party, in dealing with people for whom religion is a top priority. what advice to you give his campaign? how do you compete in a mississippi or an alabama?

>> he's got a tough job because the further right he goes and the further right he stays in these primaries, the harder it is to get back to the moderate voter that he's going to really need to compete for in the general election. so he's got a tough assignment here. and if you really step back and look at this, the interesting thing to me is that the republican party of today is really very different than the republican party of even four years ago when john mccain was the candidate. the right wing of the party is much more active and enthusiast enthusiastic. you've got the tea party group, which is kind of a subgroup of the republican party. so the party is really more split than it's been in modern times. and that makes the job for any candidate, and certainly the ultimate nominee, much harder because he's got to weld those two parts together to really be strong in a general election. so he's got a tough assignment

ahead of him. >> it's good news for political junki junkies, people for whom politics isn't a fun game, it's going to go on for a while. leader, thanks for your time. >> thanks so much. norway stat oil in the news after reportedly clocking in as a front-runner to buy an car koe petroleum. the ceo has previously promised to be out of iran by this year. will the company live up to that promise? we have an exclusive with the ceo right after this. [ male announcer ] the draw of the past is a powerful thing. but we couldn't simply repeat history.

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the price target over there, $130. statoil has been a big beneficiary of brent's rapid rise. sharon epperson is in houston with the man at the helm of statoil. sharon? >> reporter: that's right. we are here with helge lund who is the ceo of statoil and of course norway's largest oil and gas company. much of your production comes from the north sea and the norwegian continue 9/11 shelf where there's been a decline in production, many say that's why we're seeing brent's rise in addition to geopolitics. >> right now, it's driven by the geopolitical tension and the uncertainties in the market about how that will develop. as we see it, the market is well-supplied. right now, i think it is driven by the uncertainty as to the prospects. >> reporter: there are analysts out there saying we could see

brent crude at $145 a barrel. do you see perhaps prices rising to that level? >> i don't want to speculate. but i think we historically have seen that oil prices have been volatile. i think they can go down. they have to be prepared also for periods with higher oil prices. but right now, i think there are no reasons in the market as such beyond the political uncertai y uncertainty -- >> reporter: the geopolitical uncertainty, iran of course, and the concern that we're going to see a choke-off of supplies is a big reason for the run-up in price. in terms of statoil's involvement with iran, you did have fields there, you've exited all your projects in iran. there's still debt repayments that need to be made. where does that stand right now? how much more are you owed and how are you being paid? >> i cannot talk about numbers. but we had an historic project in iran.

that activity is now closed down. we have no more industrial activity in iran. so the only engagement we have for the time being is to make sure that we are repaid for the services that we have made historically. >> reporter: do you expect that you'll be repaid by july, by the summer months, or do you have a timetable there? >> i have no timetable publicly. but we expect that the partners that we have had in all countries, they honor the obligations to statoil. >> reporter: one of the major themes here at this conference has been global oil companies exploring in south america, particularly in brazil. there have been reports today about statoil, in fact, being in a prime position to buy the brazilian assets of anadarko for $3 billion. where does that acquisition stand right now? >> we never, ever speculate or comment on speculations related to individual transactions. what i can say is that brazil is a for important area for statoil. we are now, as we speak,

wrapping up the first field in brazil. we just made a new big discover that would be adjacent to the current field, which would be a new field development. and we've partnered with petrobras in brazil. we have a very exciting portfolio in brazil. >> reporter: maybe we'll hear down the road that you're expanding that. what about the expansions and explorations in other areas? where are you looking right now? exploration is a big goal of yours here in this year. >> we have had a tremendously good journey in exploration the last 12 months. we have made six high-impact discoveries, giving more than 100 million barrels to statoil. made a giant discovery in norway, in the north sea, a big one in the bering sea up north. and just a few weeks back, we made a big gas discovery, the biggest ones in tanzania so far. that comes on top of the major

discovery together with partners in brazil. exploration, i think, is very important part of any oil and gas company's activities. so it has been a very good period for statoil. >> reporter: we look forward log more about exploration, acquisitions perhaps down the oil from statoil. thank you very much. thanks for joining us here at the conference. and please log on to for more of our reports here. >> thank you very much, sharon epperson in houston today. super tuesday's results are in, but the race for the gop crown is far from over. we're breaking down last night's battle from our all-star panel in a moment. first, though, not sweet home, alabama, sweet home, chicago. rick santelli and what he's working on for "squawk." >> it might sound anecdotal, there used to be a time when the markets gave you a glimpse down the road. that's not so easy now.

how many lines of rationing did you see growing up at the gas station? why is it different this time? and, of course, we have to talk a little bit about greece. what kind of a day would it be if we didn't hit on greece? at the top of the hour. ent oppoy you didn't see before. fidelity's next generation ipad app lets you see what's trending around the world, as well as what over a million fidelity customers are trading throughout the day. and advanced charting lets you customize your views and set up your own comparisons. our ipad app can help refine your strategy or even find a new one. i'm velia carboni, and i helped create fidelity's next generation ipad app. it's one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. get 200 free trades and explore your next investing idea.

the dot com ipos falling sharply. downright now by about 24%. the guidance was well below consensus estimates. groupon, meantime, down by 2.5%, $17.87, linkedin is lower. >> i was in chicago, but i was able to see it. that was amazing. it must have felt really like an event down here. >> it was this whole floor was filled with people. it was amazing. but that stock is trading lower, it's throwing together a few losses since debut, down 2.5% today, but still above the offer price of $15. >> cramer had harsh words for

anybody who bid early on. groupon and any of the big ipos. >> and it would have been a losing trade -- >> with the exception of linkedin, which has held on better than most, but not absolutely. also got a touch on the news yesterday that cupcake shop sprinkles is rolling out atms in l.a. how does this work? you push a button. >> how long do these cupcakes hang out in this box? >> that's a good question. >> what if nobody buys them? >> i would eat it -- >> they're custom made, i'm told. >> a little elf is inside the box ordering them? that makes no sense. >> there's a crumbs every ten yards in manhattan. >> i think this is the top. the top of the cupcake. >> i like that. >> it's tweet time. apple's big unveil two hours away after two successful past product launches, we're asking you today, what would they have

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squawk on the tweet today. many say they're going to roll out the sharper, faster ipad. it's been one success after the other for the tech giant. we're asking you, what should they say? what could tim cook say that would make people run away rather than buy their new product? stay at work dad tweets the new ipad is snooki-licious. and mark tweets, we'll be using a windows operating system. you know, you can definitely tell where people's -- >> very snarky. >> where their prejudices and biases lie. >> yeah, there are a lot of apple lovers out there. >> what's coming up tonight on "fast?" >> we have the ceo of a company on. tonight it is edward cohen of atlas energy.

the players will give you a buy, sell, or hold. also shelby clark, the cheapest way you can sort of rent cars on the street by yourself. sort of an interesting next big thing sort of business. >> some said it looks like dave grol from foo fighters. we'll see you tonight, melissa. meantime, markets holding on to their gains. here's what you might have missed if you're tuning in this morning. welcome to hour three of "squawk on the street." here's what's happening so far. >> we're one of the last countries in the world that tries taxing global income. the results of which big companies are leaving billions of dollars overseas and not bringing back the united states to invest in jobs. >> adp reporting that private payroll added 216,000 jobs in the month of february. >> the reason i think i did so well last night across the

country is that people understand we've got a pro-growth plan that will put people back to work and scale back the size of government. >> i still believe that while greece can be resolved, the underlying decline, i don't believe is europe, i believe it's gasoline. >> really? >> yes. i still think oil's got to come down. they're talking about giving your kids your ipad 2. >> i'm sure. >> for heaven sakes, now i need to get one for myself to put business apps on and not toddler apps. >> this model can be successful, but they really need to show they're able to execute. we have the market perform rating, $10 price target, it's a little bit below the level right now. good morning, welcome to the third hour of "squawk on the street." let's get a check on the markets on this wednesday. of course, after a big rubbing the dow took yesterday, s&p's up

almost five, and the nasdaq almost 16. bank of america, citi, jpmorgan, morgan stanley, and morgan all solidly in the green. gold's trading higher after three days of losses. but the mina miners falling tod an effort to increase domestic ownership. let's get to our road map. after battling it out on super tuesday, mitt romney solidifies his role as front runner, or does he? his performance was weaker than some expected. are we in for a surprise come november? plus, after getting hammered in yesterday's selloff, the big banks are battling back. if financial stocks are good for your money or too volatile. gearing up for apple's big event. no matter what the tech giant says today, sure to be the talk of the street. what tim cook needs to say to push that stock to $600 and beyond. by the way, the apple store's website with a message

saying we're busy updating the store and will be back shortly. just building more anticipation. and the former mayor of new orleans mark morales speaking out about voting rights in america. all that is coming up in the next hour. let's head out to rick santelli with the wednesday edition of the "santelli exchange." >> i like wednesday's split in the middle of the week. you know, the future is now. sounds kind of like something you'd read on a card or something, a hallmark. but i'll tell you why it's important. because whether you're talking about tax policy, health care policy, regulatory policy, energy policy, there's breaker bars, okay. how can we price beyond 2012 november when so much is up in the air? or even april of this year. elections in europe, in france so be specific. so the future is now. we're not worried about markets giving us a glimpse two quarters or three quarters down the road.

even ten-year notes and five-year notes in various countries, you're best off looking at the short maturities like two-year. it's all about what's going on right now. whether it's oil prices, gas prices, or labor prices in china or tax policy, it's all about an equilibrium. doesn't matter if a chinese person is making "x" below an american. the system is as the system is right now today. and you could argue everything's fud -- maybe it doesn't change the prices immediately, but what it does is send a signal that we're not completely subservient to supply outside the u.s. and specifically the middle east. many are saying it's speculation. what's speculation? if i buy a mutual fund, they happen to have a component that deals with inflation, their presence and commodity speculation, why is that any different than any market? you know what? it's all about the market's

rationing. who do you want to ration? bernie sanders? congress? speculation distorts market prices and energy by 10%. consider this, what happens to water supplies and plywood when there's a hurricane? do they only go up 10%? they go up multiples. is it because there's a shortage in the entire country? no, it's about the logistics of it all. and the energy prices in the '70s, i had to wait in line. i'm glad i'm not waiting in line. there's only so much of this stuff and maybe if we did a better job of procuring a strategy down the road, it would be less. you know what greece is really about? it's a referendum on red tape. this is the smallest of many problems in europe. look how long it's taken. if anything happens, italy, spain, and portugal, there isn't enough red paint to paint the tape red. back to you. >> you sound like you've lived there for a while. you've nailed it, rick. we'll talk to you soon. rick santelli in chicago.

squawk on the beat this morning. mitt romney taking e ining prize in ohio while rick santorum claims victory in three. our chief washington correspondent john harwood up late last night following those results and up early this morning. john? >> carl, what last night means is that mitt romney's taking another step toward becoming the republican nominee. it is highly likely that's going to be the outcome of these primaries. but he didn't put the thing away. he didn't score well enough to create strong pressure on rick santorum and newt gingrich to get out of the race. why? because newt gingrich won the state of georgia comfortably. so he is claiming a mandate to keep going. next week they go south to two states, alabama and mississippi, that newt gingrich has reason to think ought to be reasonably favorable territory. rick santorum won in tennessee and in oklahoma and in north dakota. he has that same mandate. and it's going to make it more difficult for mitt romney to rapidly pull this party

together, which is an issue that's on his mind. he talked about it this morning on "squawk box." here's mitt romney. >> we're going to come together because we really believe that he needs to be replaced, that he's over his head, that the dead he's amassed, the jobs he has not created suggests this is a guy whose time has come for early retirement. >> so that's the wish. but rick santorum and newt gingrich aren't buying it right now, carl. and they're going to have more money after tonight's results -- after last night's results than they did before. >> yeah, and from this point forward, john, does the sledding get tougher or easier for romney? >> well, in the near term, it's going to get tougher because kansas, which votes this weekend, alabama and mississippi are a territory that is favorable to rick santorum and newt gingrich. later, when we go to states like wisconsin and other big industrial states, rick santorum would have a chance. but that might be a little bit less favorable to him than

michigan and ohio. you go to the state of maryland, which is a good romney target. and then you get to the northeast where there are lots of big romney targets. the bottom line is mitt romney's got to lead. and the structure of this process doesn't make it very easy for either of these guys, santorum or gingrich to wipe out that lead. you know, they have three-point shots in basketball, they don't have ten-point shots and that's the difficulty for santorum and gingrich. >> you've consistently said no way to a brokered convention, but at what point, john, do you see a two-man race happening? >> ask newt gingrich that question. newt gingrich did not finish second anywhere. he won in the state of georgia. santorum's campaign is trying to ramp up pressure on gingrich to get out of the race because they believe since they're doing very well among conservative voters, that's the heart of the republican party, if they can get newt gingrich to step aside, they can consolidate and begin winning a lot of these big states against mitt romney, that could change the dynamic, change the atmospherics of this race,

but newt gingrich isn't buying it. and if sheldon adelson keeps writing checks, no one's going to make him get out. hanks for that, john harwood, in new york. given the race for the nomination is expected to go on for a couple more months. what impact will the bruising primary have on the results in november? the former deputy assistant secretary for banking and finance under tim geithner. a cnbc contributor that served as white house political director under george w. bush. welcome. >> thank you. >> damon, we've heard all the challenges that john laid out for the romney camp. but in a way, their campaign has been built to withstand this process, hasn't it? >> i agree. he's raised a ton of money from the very beginning. and he's always had the financial advantage over all of his candidates. obviously the ability of the super pacs has enabled some of the other candidates to continue to stay in the race. you see the investments by people like sheldon adelson.

he's the champ right now. nobody's been able to knock him out. >> he's going to have a couple of black eyes come general time, sarah. to what degree is he withstanding unnecessary criticism from rivals in a primary process that would weaken him in a general? >> that's the challenge right now is that he's taking on a lot of water at the expense of other republicans. if you look at the super pacs by santorum, by gingrich, they spent almost $20 million -- $40 million total, but a big chunk of that has gone to attacking romney. his numbers are falling among independents, which is a problem in the general. and things will get worse for romney before they get better. he's likely to lose kansas, alabama, mississippi in the coming weeks, but then he can turn the corner in late march in illinois and i think not look back. >> you think that's the point he

sloughs off gingrich or santorum or both? >> i think he starts to slough them both off. people are going to start calling publicly for him to get out, party leadership. and in concert will start doing that. march 20th, illinois is a big day for mitt romney. he's got to dominate that primary and head into the winner take all states and start winning states like california, new jersey, new york, which he's expected to do. >> yeah. you agree with that, damon? the idea that gingrich may have the dollars but not the mandate to be in this race still? >> i agree. even if you look at the map, somebody like rick santorum who is in second place and has the second most delegates, he's going to have to win 60% of the delegates remaining in the contests. and at a certain point the math works against both him and gingrich. >> would you argue he has more credibility in this race than gingrich at this point? he said i would come in first or second in super tuesday and did

all but two states. >> newt gingrich, obviously, georgia's his home state and represented himself very well there. he won that state. for a lot of people he remains the standard bearer for the conservative issue, particularly on economic affairs. within the race, i think he feels if he's not there to put these issues forth, who else will be? and obviously there's going to be a little bit of push/pull between him and santorum to appeal to those socially conservative voters, particularly in the south. i think there's going to be a lot of momentum for him personally to stay in the race, but also a lot of pressure from party leaders who want to say, look, let's try to narrow this thing down, shut it down, let's begin to focus on mitt romney. let's try to reintroduce him to the american people so that we can get ready for this contest with the president. >> it's amazing, sarah, last night, how close we came to a much different conversation this morning. 1.2 million votes cast in ohio. romney wins by 12,000 out of 1.2 million. if thad gone a little differently, we'd be having a

much different talk today. >> here's where you're seeing santorum's lack of early organization and lack of early money really take its toll. even if romney would've only outspent him, santorum, 3 to 1, santorum would've won last night. but because he failed to put together the necessary resources early, he's put himself in a position now even if he gains momentum he can't catch romney. >> it is a money race and resources do dwindle over time. fascinating stuff. i hope to have you both back soon to talk about the next wave, which is coming around. >> thanks. take a look at the nasdaq this morning, highs largely based on the back of apple, of course. they're holding the press conference in san francisco today to unveil what we believe to be the ipad 3, ipad hd, whatever you want to call it. most of the nasdaq games due in part to what happened in coopertino, and a large degree for weeks and months as apple

makes up a bigger part of the nasdaq 100. next the latest read on jobs, the economy, and a lot more. we're back in just a moment. we've got fashion, yes we do. we've got fashion, now so can you. and all you have to do is win it. guess friday's nonfarm jobs number and you can win a tote bag. tweet us your guess at cnbcsquawkst #nailthenumber.

also better than expected private sector job gains will be contributing to the bounceback does this mean we're moving in the right direction? and what can we expect from the payroll number on friday? goldman sachs's chief economist, he joins us this morning in a first on cnbc interview. always a pleasure. good to see you again. >> thank you. >> you put out a very interesting note looking at the state of the labor market in states where they suffered the worst damage in the crisis. and the theme appears to be they're coming back in a way that's not undoing the damage that's done. >> where the unemployment rate or payroll, california, you know, arizona, other states like that, florida, nevada suffered

the most in 2009 lags the national recovery in 2010 but actually did a little better than the nation as a whole in 2011. seems like there's a gradual healing process underway and that is not actually primarily driven by construction. >> and wouldn't necessarily result in bottlenecks or labor inflation, right? >> i think it basically says there's quite a lot of room to grow in the labor market if the improvement comes mainly in places where there's still a ton of slack. the level of the unemployment rate is 3 percentage points higher in these places. >> if things are improving in those states, why still looking at a moderate number for the year in gdp growth? >> we still think it's going to be moderate basically because there are some head winds. the normalization process in the labor market is a gradual one. and we are seeing some drag from high oil prices, and we also

think there will be some fiscal restraint. that's admittedly more of an issue for 2013 than for 2012. we do see some in 2012, as well. >> are we at a point where energy costs are inflicting damage? are we at that stage yet? >> we are seeing some drag. quarter to half point to the increase in oil and gasoline prices that we've seen since december. there was a very small offset from the lower oil and gas prices. we think oil's more important. >> we should point out, by the way, markets right now at the highs for the session so far today. we did bounce around a bit ever since humphrey hawkins and people began to put forward notions that were in this era where qe is over, not just here, but central banks around the world and any rally is an opportunity to sell. do you think the world changed when bernanke spoke last week? >> i mean, i still think that the fed's going to be very easy. they're going to keep rates low for a long time. and i think it's more likely than not that they will actually

engage in another round of quantitative easing. i do think that he's more noncommittal than he was at the january press conference. it does depend on the data. but in the moderate growth environment, i think they will want to give the rekcovery an extra push. >> jobs number on friday, keep watching crude like a hawk every day, what's your number for friday? and to what degree does it offset with what we're seeing with gasoline at $3.76? >> i think the labor market has been a bright spot. the labor numbers have been very good. and friday we're at 200,000 for payroll, a slight decline in the unemployment rate to 8.2%. so, you know, more of the same relative to what we've already see and i would view that as generally encouraging. of course, we'd like to see much stronger job graiains because there's a lot of slack out there. >> well, your report suggests it may be starting to happen in

some selected areas of the country. thanks for your time. >> all right. thank you very much. when we come back, peyton manning, a colt no more. the quarterback and his team parting ways after 14 years, one super bowl win and four mvps. will he play for another team or quit for good? optionsxpress, where you can trade your favorite products,

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peyton manning's career with the colts coming to an end. choosing to release him. darren rovell with all the details on this. good morning. >> good morning, carl. >> they're calling him potentially the most sought off free agent in the history of the league. >> well, and that's very possible. and it's going to depend on how healthy people think peyton manning is. four neck surgeries, he says he's about 90% and, you know, a 90% peyton manning is probably better than almost any quarterback out there. you know, this is a financial decision.

the owner of the colts would've had to pay him a $28 million option tomorrow plus another $7 or $8 million. they'd be paying him about $35 million for next year alone. and at the same time, they have andrew luck dangled in front of them, who will probably be the number one draft pick. you can't have both because that's going to cost you another $5 million, $6 million a year. i think in three years, we'll know whether this decision is a good one and we're expecting them to -- >> like most corporate investments, if it does take years to determine if it paid off. if you're miami or denver or seattle or new york, a, how do you confirm the health of his neck? and, b, what do you do with your existing starter? >> well, i assume there's not going to be any games here. each team is clearly going to have to look at him. i don't know how much peyton manning wants to do the 1998 nfl combine again.

but there's going to have to be extensive looking by doctors. and at the same time, you have arizona, he has a great relationship with ken. you have -- i would say the owner that probably most wants him is potentially steven ross, dan snyder, i'm not sure that peyton would play for him and the redskins. you have denver, which as you know as a fan, carl, of the broncos, that's extremely intriguing given the business of tebow, but i think he has a good relationship with john elway, and that's going to be interesting. this story is just multilevel, very interesting, and we're going to have to see what happens. >> yeah. you're not going to make a call on it, i can tell. >> i'm not going to make a call on it now. but i did enjoy the doctored photos on the web last night of eli and the giants shirt, peyton in the jets shirt, and archie in the middle. that would be incredible. >> darren, we'll talk to you soon. >> okay. >> minutes away from the close

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looking at how the markets are closing here ahead of tomorrow's big day. the deadline to take part in greece's debt swap. here's a look, on a day when we got a lot of economic data, germany factory orders were

down, swiss unemployment at a ten-month high. banks among the big winners, though, including germany's commerce bank, italy's unicredit, battling to remain below that all-important 5% mark, and the spanish ten-year. >> markets are closing now. >> here's a look at the map. mostly green today as you can see with the exception of greece. also, take a look as we look at the spanish ten-year at the one-week chart of the euro versus the dollar. sentiment surrounding the likelihood of this csi reaching some sort of ammicable conclusion. let's bring in michelle to talk about that. michelle, and the term participation rate being thrown around a lot today. >> yeah, that's just how many bondholders are going to agree to this. and we keep hearing more and more institutions coming forward. pension funds, the members of the iif who have come forward

and the numbers getting higher and higher, and every time we hear one of those institutions come forward, you start crossing some key thresholds. if you get 50% of the greek jurisdiction bonds to be tendered, thenou've got the first threshold you need necessary in order for greece to retroactively impose collective action clauses. that means even more bondholders. so there's a step-by-step process that we're watching here. most analysis says, carl, they're going to get high enough to impose a collective action clause. that means they're going to have to trigger the credit default swaps. they're not going to get to the 90% number in order to declare this voluntary. >> yeah. you're on the ground, yes? >> yes. >> what -- give us some color on sentiment surrounding tomorrow and this deadline. >> well, the executives, the officials in town are optimistic it's going to get done because they're pretty confident that nearly all the greek banks are going to go along, the pension

funds. people on the ground, i have to tell you, have been coming here now for nine months straight and it's getting sadder by the day. the downtown area looks worse and worse. there's more and more graffiti. it very much looks like a city in decline in some ways. it's pretty tough to see. they're hoping that this is the first step to recovery. they've got a lot to do when it comes to actually transforming the economy, liberalizing it, making it so you can actually hire people and start a business. those are the struggles they face now once they get through this deal. >> and we looked through some of their isms at the beginning of the month. and numbers you rarely see anywhere, michelle. looks like an economy imploding as you speak. >> oh, it's a full-on depression. when you look at the decline in gdp, when you look at 20% unemployment. it's absolutely extremely tough. youth unemployment is

unbelievably high. the disenchantment of the young is terrible. this is, carl, you saw this in arj tin that, you've seen a debt crisis before and what it does to the people on the ground, it's devastating. >> finally, michelle, i saw one bank declare a 10% chance in a hard default in their words. was that a number you'd go along with? >> yeah, it's absolutely a possibility. to go through the decision tree on the numbers and the percentages you have to get on various jurisdiction bonds is way too complicated for cable. but there is the possibility that enough hedge funds muster enough votes that they can somehow put a stop to this. we have to see. that's why everybody's on tender hooks for tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. new york time to see what actually happens. >> all right. we'll be talking to you then if not before, michelle, thanks so much. michelle caruso-cabrera in greece. looking state side on a morning, mary, when we're close to session highs.

>> just off the session highs by about three points. what we see is this rally -- well, i wouldn't call it a rally, but modest gains we saw accelerating on the day progressed. talking to traders, what they're concerned about is the default. there's a bit of optimism growing that will happen. that's providing some support to the markets. also perhaps as investors start to put greece in the rearview mirror, that won't be fully into the rearview mirror until tomorrow, they look ahead to friday's jobs report and some people talking about the very warm weather that we've seen lately. the noaa just saying this winter is the fourth warmest on weather. whether that might help the data. quick check of some of the sectors we're watching today and that are actually driving the markets higher today. we're seeing strength in industrials, financials, of course, some of the laggers yesterday. energy as well as consumer discretionary stocks. digging a little deeper into those. ge is the best-performing stock

in the dow today on a percentage basis. and of course, a member of that industrial group. the company's vice chairman making positive comments about the outlook basically reaffirming double-digit earnings growth expectations for their industrial as well as finance business. but more importantly, talking about the growth prospect and some of the emerging markets specifically latin america and how latin america in the middle east will be growth drivers for ge businesses in 2012. basically outpacing china, which has been an engine for ge's growth lately. on the downside, though, another dow component. this in the news but this time under pressure is kraft after being cut to hold at jeffries. not a lot of catalyst this year, but once it splits, 2013 and '14 should look better for it. financials, of course, improving today as i mentioned earlier. yesterday's session just a note on wells fargo, the company's ceo speaking at the city financial conference today saying the company continues to look at selective acquisitions,

basically picking off some of the loans and other business units that are being sold by european banks who have to trim their balance sheet, recently buying the trading unit earlier. buying about billions in loans i should say from some irish banks, i think the number is $3 billion there. retailers also in focus, american eagle outfitters out with results in line with expectations. disappointing first quarter forecast, but making positive comments about the second half of the year because they expect costs to come down and margins to improve as the company and some of the discounting there. that's giving a boost to that. and walmart looking for more ways to cut costs and selling more at checkout lanes. and dick's at 52-week highs and the dow up 73. >> thank you very much, mary thompson. let's hop over to rick santelli in chicago who is being joined by the wolf man. >> absolutely. wolf man was able to extricate himself to join us here.

you know, eric, do you still trade in fed funds? >> no, i haven't been trading fed funds in about a year and a half. >> what do you trade now? >> over in the green room right now. >> i'll tell you, the government could print dollars, the government could print ten years, two years, five years, but the government can't print corn, wheat, and soybeans. the markets are a little more volatile. >> they are more volatile. they haven't been following along with the currency. but with the dollar move down late today, you're starting to see grains move a bit. >> here's a question for you. you know, if we had back-to-back 500,000 jobs numbers and we saw the labor force participation rate move up so it was really the real deal, how much action all of a sudden do you think could spring up in fed funds? >> well, the way things are going right now, i don't think anything's going to happen. it's still out into the 13s where they have maybe a 25-basis point hike coming in. but for the most part, that

market's dead right now. nobody has any inclination that bernanke's going to do -- >> i'm going to take my life in my hands and disagree with the wolf man here. it sounds to me like you are hanging in the camp that the fed is truly going to keep rates at a certain level for a certain period of time. so even a big number, a surprise number on jobs, jobs, jobs, you don't think it moves, and i do. >> no, i do think it'll move. if the numbers start to change. right now, we haven't seen any good economic data necessarily. we've got the adp that came out as expected, but for the most part, we've seen prices paid go up and it's going to put bernanke on the back burner for quantitative easing. and the only thing he has to do is leave that rate unchanged. yeah, then everything will change. bernanke might have an inclination to raise that rate or start, you know, throwing it out there to people. >> if we look at all the global metrics for inflation.

i hate using that word. higher energy prices. let's stick with that theme. that no matter what reason. if energy prices remain reluctantly high, i can't imagine how that front-page story isn't going to put the brakes on to any more printing by not only our center bank, we already see it in europe and the uk. >> i completely agree with you. it's a hidden tax really is quantitative easing. the person public has to pay for it in the form of commodities when they're rising. >> or at least one aspect. >> about aspect. >> we have to leave it there, but we're going to pick this up again next week after the meeting. >> thanks. straight ahead, the economy may be slow, but the iconomy may be booming. what it all may mean for the broad economy. as someone who uses insulin,

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are oil prices headed right now? we are exclusive with the ceo of royal dutch shell. next on the "fast money" halftime report, but now back to carl on "squawk on the street." all eyes on apple as the company's widely expected to unveil a new ipad at an event this afternoon in san francisco. we have a special panel with us now. we count down to that announcement that everyone's waiting for. the senior technology analyst just raised its price target on apple from $550 to $620, and molly wood. shaw, you've written about what we may be seeing today. what do you think will be the highlights? >> yeah, we see four key features of which we think the 4glte is probably the largest. but we're hearing there's going to be a better screen and faster processor. >> you argued that they've made some notable progress in your words in that problem that

bedevils every tech company, and that's battery life. >> yeah. so one of the things that's plaguing the 4g smartphone space today is definitely battery life that lasts only a few hours. and we've heard apple's made substantial progress there with the suppliers. and the key thing is that apple has co-ownership of battery formula in terms of software. so we've heard they've made substantial improvements there enabling them to put 4glte in an ipad. >> molly, interesting, you raise the point that it sort of doesn't matter what they do because any -- it's all up to them. whatever they want to do, it seems the crowds are going to line up for and that's a position that very few companies find themselves in. >> it's true. not only a great time to be apple, but a great time to be making the ipad. when it comes to the tablet market, there is only one tablet. even if apple did come out with incremental upgrades, something that might seem disappointing at first, they're still probably going to sell ipads if only to

people who don't have tablets yet. >> what are you hearing about this new touch screen that -- i don't know, may involve some other senses other than seeing and hearing. >> we're hearing rumors that could be a touch screen technology that gives a little bit more so-called tactile feedback so maybe when you type you actually have the sensation you're touching keys that feel a little bit more like a real keyboard. i think that's a bit of a long shot, but apple has been obsessed with touch screens for a long time. if anybody's going to move that technology forward, it's this company. >> walk me through your price target going to $620, raised your ipad forecast from 51 million to 55 million. why did you make that move? and to what degree are you worried about ipads cannibalizing macs? >> yeah, so the main reason for our price target increase is because of our more bullishness on the ipad. namely this new ipad going to be

announced today. and, again, we hear it's going to be pretty substantial in terms of the upgrades and compelling for people to upgrade. also as molly mentioned, new users flocking to the platform. so when we arrive at our price target, we're assuming a 12 multiple in our raised numbers. we don't think it's outrageous on our numbers, and that's how we get to our price target of 620. >> and everyone will be listening to the end of this event at the scene if there is, in fact, one more thing. do you think we're going to see multiple sizes of pads today? >> you know, i -- all rumors seem to point to in some of our sources seem to point to something extra. maybe a new device that we haven't seen before, there's speculation about an apple tv, and so, you know, it's a long shot that we would see a 7-inch ipad, but frankly it's, i think, a possibility. >> well, not too long from now.

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♪ looking into friday's jobs report for an update on the economy. the fight for jobs, education, voting rights to capitol hill this week, as well. the group is looking to promote the plan to educate, employ, and empower the americans out of work. here's marc morial the president and ceo of the national urban league. good morning. >> good to be with you always. >> i take it it's not a coincidence this report comes out on the anniversary of selma which we know moved civil rights in this country forward in a big

way. >> and it was about particularly voting rights and that's why we had a focus issue on occupy the vote. the idea of protecting and defending democracy. you know, carl, yesterday in ohio, paul carroll, u.s. army veteran went to vote, presented his veterans card that had his photo on it and was denied the right to vote. what's to point? there's an avalanche of new legislation across the nation which will make it difficult for people to vote. not only african-americans, but seniors, disabled citizens, and many young people. so we're saying to americans that we don't need these kind of new restrictions on the constitutional right to vote in this very important election year. >> yeah. you also write largely about the unemployment rate among african-americans in this country near 16% for all of 2011. and you say any attempt to help them comes at a time where washington is obsessed with cutting the federal budget, what you call premature at best.

i'm sure you know you're on a business channel where people come on. is it getting tougher to make this argument? >> i think -- and to your viewers, what i would say is i don't think anyone's opposed to fiscal austerity. the idea's not to balance the budget solely on the back of domestic programs like education and job training, which represent less than 16% of the overall budget that fiscal austerity requires tough choices on defense, tough choices on tax loopholes, tough choices on a wide variety of things. so it's important that we don't say the nation doesn't need a fiscal plan. we just have a problem with trying to do it exclusively or solely or disproportionately on the backs of those programs that lift up those americans who have bore the great brunt of this recession. >> and education, as well. looking at the percentage of which blacks are either

suspended or expelled from school, sometimes three times the normal rate. do you think we've made any kind of progress in that area? >> well, you know, there are wide educational gaps, certainly the high school graduation rates are up from where they were 40 years ago. the college graduation rates were up from where they were 40 years ago. but the great recession has forced us backwards. when we're laying off tens of thousands of teachers in the name of fiscal austerity. i don't know what that says about a nation's commitment to education in the future. so i think the debate in the country has to be able what our priorities are. our plan this year focuses on education and employment because we think jobs and education are where the nation's priority and investments ought to be for the future. and that's why in this plan and we'd encourage your readers to go to i'm in power. later today they'll be able to look at the whole report. the statistical index and find

that the national urban league doesn't just diagnose problem, we've also prescribed ideas that we think people should consider. one silver lining in some of the information is that the rate of entrepreneurship and business development is up in african-american communities and there have been a good deal of successes. and we want to encourage investors to take a closer look at those businesses in urban communities because their performance numbers i think would be surprising to many. >> finally, there's been this motion that for some reason african-americans will not turn out for obama the way they did in 2008. do you think that's anywhere near being true? >> i think when this race heats up, i think we'll have a record turnout in 2012. more people who vote, the better for democracy. what we've got to ensure is we're not placing barriers or making it more difficult for people to vote. we've got to stand up strongly for democracy. if we can fight for democracy in iraq, we've got to make sure that we have the best system. but i think we're going to have

a vigorous election and i think people are going to turn out, that includes african-americans who i think will turn out in record numbers again. >> thanks for sharing the report with us. marc morial, president and ceo of the national urban league. the dow awfully close to the highs of the day, up 83 was about the high, we're almost there now. s&p nearing the intraday high, as well, up 8.5 points. apple's holding the big product event today. we want to know what tim cook would have to say to make people run away rather than buy the product. and we'll get some of your answers in a moment. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about how some companies like to get between ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 you and your money. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, we believe your money should be available ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 to you whenever and wherever you want. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 which is why we rebate every atm fee worldwide. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 and why our mobile app lets you transfer funds, ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 execute trades, even deposit checks just by ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 taking a picture, right from your phone.

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[ cheering ] [ tom ] i wanna see that again. ♪ squawk on the tweet this morning. we're about an hour away from apple's big product launch, which many are saying will give us a sharper, faster ipad. one success after another for the tech giant. this morning we're asking at today's event, what would tim cook have to say to make people run away rather than buy? gary tweets, throw out that junk ipad 2, this one is much better. the ipad hd we made the battery pack as small as possible. and john writes, gotcha suckers.

we'll see what happens in san francisco at 1:00 p.m. eastern time. in the meantime, rick santelli, the markets have been moved to a large degree by this report i'm sure you've seen from "the journal" raising the notion that if the fed is going to do more bond buying, could they do it under a sterilized process? the dollar's moved on that news. >> i'm not buying into it. and if you had to ask me the tweet question of the day, i'd say all i have to say is good morning. i don't wait in line for anything except for voting. and that brings me to the final thought of the day. you had marc morial on. i've been on "meet the press" with him. i like him. i don't get it. i can't buy snowballs without a picture i.d. you can't rent a video, you can't do anything in life without an i.d. the greatest right in this country is voting. i don't get it. if people don't have picture i.d.s, then we need a drive to