we've been buying it. >> dr. "j"? >> williams-sonoma may 40 calls. i'm in there. >> mark cap in cash. i'm a believer. >> you're sucking up to the guy sitting next to you. catch more "fast" at 5:00. three hours to go in the trading day and the markets once again in rally mode. investors looking ahead to a fed decision a little more than an hour from now. meanwhile, bulls are rampaging. apparently low volatility and low trading volume doesn't mean you can't make money in this market, at least some people are. a chief strategist for barclays wealth is going to tell you exactly how. then obamacare on trial. the future of health care before the supreme court today. the stakes are incredibly high for the health care sector. we'll sort out the winners and the losers. what do babies, chickens and beer have in common? sounds like a bad rodney

dangerfield joke. they're all part of a sector that's certainly hot. we'll have money-making plays for you. i'm tyler mathisen, sue herera is here. so is brian shactman. "power lunch" begins right now. signs of an improving economy, retail sales climbing the fastest in five months. markets solidly higher. dow back about 13,000. s&p at its best levels since june of '08. the nasdaq at a solid three-year high. nasdaq outperforming at 1.1%. pulse of the markets, the vix, we've talked a lot about it, touching a five-year low this morning while the dollar index is up with those solid economic numbers and the assumption that the fed will hold steady. we're getting closer to 80 on the dollar index. nat gas down again, 2.5%. great wolf resorts being bought

by apollo management. midas being acquired by a private equity firm as well. and gnc up 8% after raising guidance. on the downside, urban outfitters, their earnings came out short of estimates. they were up in the premarket. but now they're down because people are starting to listen to that report and listening to what they have to say. cvs down and walgreens down as well. a merger is on track even if delayed just a bit. back to you. >> brian, thank you very much. the dow back above 13,000. nasdaq above 3,000. bob pisani in the center of it all at the new york stock exchange. hey, bob. >> hello, old friend. melt-up, that's it. folks, listen, you can moan all you want about the low volume. i don't like it either. but the s&p is up five days in a row. take a look. we're essentially at new highs here on the dow. essentially at new highs on the s&p. but remember what's been going on.

small caps have been lagging, mid caps have been lagging, the transports have been lagging. but today they're outperforming all of the big cap indexes. i like to see that happening. about time we see some of the small caps catching up and the transports. take a look at the major sectors moving today. we've had trouble in march with the old leadership groups. remember how strong financials, technology and industrials were in january? they're all lagging now. what's moving ahead in march? consumer names. pfizer, safeway, pepsi, colgate. these are the stocks holding up the big cap indexes. now what's been lagging? the big names we saw in january and february, all the cyclical names, global growth names. freeport-mcmoran, eaton, caterpillar, alcoa. you want to see the market's moving story, you have to resolve the global growth issue. what side of global growth are you on?

what side of china gdp are you on? 8% or below 8%? this is where the battle is being fought right now and today the global growth forces slowly improving are the ones that are winning. the consumer index versus the cyclical index. the consumer index, one year, the big drop about european concerns, consumers have outperformed the cyclicals on the bottom line. they tried closing the gap back in january. and now looks like they're trying again to close that gap. that's where the battleground is being fought. i get calls about the vix. you'd think it was the most important index in the world. here's a two-day chart of the vix. yesterday they were out buying protection in the middle of the day. today, there's a little less interest. but notice the vix has been going up here mid-morning as we have seen the stock market go up, isn't that interesting? the correct way to read this is to look at the vix curve. take a look at where the curve is looking. while there's not a lot of concern short term with the vix at 15, look further out.

april, july and october, this is where, of course, operation twist is going to be ending out here and also the elections. you can see, 27 here way back -- way out in october. bottom line here, sue, short term, not a lot of worries. a lot bigger worries a little bit further out on the vix. >> good point, bob. thanks. breaking news, more than $20 billion in ten-year notes up for auction on this fed day. rick santelli is tracking all the action for us at the cme. hi, rick. >> hi, sue. indeed, reopen tens, nine-year and 11-month. and $21 billion the final yield? 2.076%. we tailed about a basis point. the average bid to cover for ten auction arch is 3.10. this one is a bit higher at 3.24. 44% is a ten auction average. this was a smidge below there at 38.6.

we're going to give this auction a "b" minus. solid bid to cover, most of the metrics good. a little bit of tailing and that leaves tomorrow's 30-year bond auction. sue, it's all yours. let's switch on the "power lunch" "power surge". intel planning a new tv service. lu be consumers tune in? jon fortt has the details on this one. hi, jon. >> reporter: hey, sue. "the wall street journal" says intel's in talks to create its own virtual cable operator, a service you'd access through the internet. i can confirm intel's talking to hollywood about possible deals. but what's less clear is what intel really wants. it doesn't sound like they expect to create a full cable experience online, probably something short of that. the more important question, why is intel interested in tv? remember, apple has itunes where you can buy or in a few cases rent individual tv episodes. google has google tv. amazon has prime instant video.

and netflix has its streaming service. all of that's happening because in mobile, content is king again. remember, music made itunes. itunes made the ipod and that remade apple. a lot of companies are betting that video will play a similar role for the next generation of smartphones and tablets. we're already seeing that happen. at&t and verizon are throttling their data speeds largely because of video streaming. this is a defensive play for intel. if intel wants to be a big player in the next phase of the mobile revolution and it has to be, access to tv content could be key, even if this virtual cable service never materializes, intel needs to be at the table making sure it influences any other deal that might get done on a competitive platform. >> meanwhile, yahoo! jon, talk to us about why they are slapping facebook with this lawsuit. what do they really want? more involvement from facebook or do they simply want some money? >> reporter: well, this wouldn't be a good way to improve the relationship with facebook. yahoo! was already incorporating facebook across a number of properties.

it's one of the most shared properties on facebook in terms of yahoo! news. this has got to be about money. they did something similar with google right before it ipo'd. it got millions of shares of google, probably sold those, too. they're getting a lot of backlash from the technical community. they don't feel it's the right thing that yahoo! should be doing for its reputation. >> you get more with sugar than with vinegar. maybe they should try that. >> my mother used to tell me that. so-called obamacare heads to the supreme court. justices hearing arguments over the president's health care bill at the end of this month. who will be the big winners and losers if health care reform is overturned? bertha coombs is taking the pulse. >> everyone is picking their brackets. we're calling this march madness, supreme court edition. the key issue here is that controversial individual mandate. if the court upholds it and the

law, we're going to see implementation in 2014. if the court strikes down the mandate, it may also decide to strike down the entire law because there are arguments the mandate can't be separated from the full legislation. so that said, here are your brackets to the winners and losers looking at those scenarios. if the mandate is upheld, insurers win. they're going to get 30 million new subscribers starting in 2014. hospitals will win, too. with all the new insured, we're going to get pharma and diagnostics, they're going to see a lot more business as well. the big loser here is going to be medical device makers. john sullivan says industry didn't negotiate as well as etc. peers ahead of the legislation and they face steep fees starting in 2013. if the high court decides to strike down the mandate and the law, then device makers win. bye-bye to those fees.

but the new regulations get struck down for everybody. but the gains from the increased insurance pool also go away. the insurers, hospitals, pharma and diagnoses won't see the bump in business. the hardest hit could be the insurers in the medicaid space. they're the ones expected to gain the most from that new big pool that starts in 2014. so far this year, diagnostics, device makers, insurers have all seen double-digit gains. but the overall health care sector has lagged the market, dragged down by pharma. the court will hear the argument in a couple of weeks. but it's being said that's likely to keep investors cautious on health care until the actual decision which isn't expected until june. it could be a rocky road over the next couple of months for health care. coming up on the "closing bell," the court could choose a compromise option. why some analysts say that could be the worst-case scenario. >> as bertha laid out, seems as

though the medical device makers have the most at stake on the outcome of the supreme court ruling on obamacare. some stocks in the sectors are off the charts. joining us with his favorite picks to own is les funtlier. you have a number of picks in this particular area. you think if the supreme court turns down the reform overall the sector would benefit, correct? >> yes. if the supreme court overturns the rule, at least on a perception basis, pricing will improve and also the tax that's supposed to take place in 2013 goes away. >> so let's talk about some of the places to put money to work if indeed that is the case. you like intuitive surgical, why? >> i should point out that even if reform doesn't get overtur d overturned, one way or the other we're going to acquire cost control. ben bernanke says health care costs to the elephant in the room.

any company that lowers costs and intuitive falls into that bracket, if you will, is going to win regardless of the outcome of the court. however, intuitive improves the outcomes and lowers costs and is going to do well regardless -- especially with an improving economy or the assumption of an improving economy driving utilization. >> you're long in medical systems. the same reason? >> varian, probably way for a pullback. it's gotten a little ahead of itself. what we like about intuitive and varian is that they're innovators. they're creating new and better products. that's going to succeed in whatever health care environment comes next. >> all right. what are you short, then? i see it's medtronic and stryker. is it because they do not innovate? >> yes. they're less innovative and tend more towards a commodity business.

they're counting on utilization which may or may not come due to health care reform. obviously if health care reform law does not get overturned, they being the bellwethers in their sectors, will get hit the hardest. >> thanks, les. >> thank you. president obama ramping up his trade battle with china calling on the world trade organization to force china to ease its grip on rare earth metals which are critical to the tech sector and some say to defense as well. our chief washington correspondent john harwood is at the white house. john, what's the latest? >> reporter: tyler, one of the most consistent themes in american politics and discussions with the economy these days is the need for the united states to get into a better place with china and its economic relations with china. mitt romney sounding that theme on the campaign trial. and today president obama linked the need for a freer export policy of rare earth minerals to one of his favorite causes in the domestic economy, high tech and specifically advanced

battery manufacturing. here's the president justifying the new wto case against china today. >> if china would simply let the market work on its own, we'd have no objections. but their policies currently are preventing that from happening and they go against the very rules that china agreed to follow. being able to manufacture advanced batteries and hybrid cars in america is too important for us to stand by and do nothing. >> reporter: this comes against the backdrop of a slight depreciation of the chinese currency which quelled some of the criticism in congress. but as we get closer to election season, you can bet to hear more criticism of china from democrats and republicans. >> john, thank you very much. up next, markets rallying today hitting key levels. think about this, volatility and volume, as bob pointed out a

moment ago, both very low. sow how do you make money in this kind of environment? the head of investment strategies for barclays wealth is going to tell you. as we head to break, a quick check of the commodities complex where nat gas is down better than 2%. gold down a fraction. but overall, we have strength in the copper market, in the corn market and also in the sugar market. we're back in a moment. [ male announcer ] what if you had thermal night-vision goggles, like in a special ops mission?

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the bulls are running on wall street. we have a nice rally going on right now. the dow above the 13,000 mark and the nasdaq is above the 3,000 mark, aiming for -- with the s&p, about the 1,400 mark. pretty nice day for the bulls so far. let's check in with scott wapner and see what stock is on his radar. >> hey, sue. apple is making a quiet, if it's possible for apple to make a quiet move, it's making one today. apple's up more than $10 today. peter missic bumped his price target from $599 to $699. he's optimistic about the new ipad that's coming down the pike. he said supply concerns are totally overdone. he's also looking for a panel television from apple, not just a refresh of the apple tv that tim cook rolled out a the most recent event but an actual panel tv that's going to be a big catalyst. he thinks the iphone 5 is going to be just that. that's why i'm watching shares of apple.

apple up almost 2%. $562 is where apple is trading right now. ty? >> scott, thank you very much. the stock market's so-called fear barometer continues to free fall. the cboe volatility index sinking to its lowest level since mid 2007 and down 30% since last tuesday. that's volatility, down 30% since last tuesday. low volatility has also helped shrivel volume and investing among traders. but it's down 9% in the past week. how do you invest in a low volatility, low volume environment? let's ask today's power player. hans olsen with barclays wealth is with us. and hans is solo today. think about that. >> you must get that a lot. >> i'm sure that's never been tried on you before, hans.

we talk about a decline or low volatility and low volume. but, tell me whether it matters at all in my ability to make money. i'm sure there are ways i can take advantage of it to make money. but other things being equal, does it really matter? >> it does, tyler. i think you ignore -- you overlook the low volatility, low volume environment at the extreme risk of your financial health. we've seen this play out time and again when the market gets complacent about the events surrounding you. it ends up coming back and hitting investors rather severely. there's an interesting dichotomy in the markets right now. on the one hand you have improving fundamentals. and that's very clear and it's broadening out. that's all very good. but the market internals look to us to be weakening. so whether it be the vix, the level of the vix coming in the way that it has, the level of volume coming in, the relative

strength looking a little -- approaching overbought, number of insiders that are beginning to sell, these are all the internals that we have to pay attention to in order to get a sense of where the risks are. we're coming up on the first-quarter earnings season. this is going to be a big deal. whether the margins that are supporting the earnings that are driven from the revenues are maintained or not will determine whether we are entering a period of less profitable prosperity. to date, we've seen very good margins hold up very nicely. but whether that's going to continue in the light of increasing capacity to utilization, increasing employment costs, remain to be seen. >> so how do you protect yourself -- granted, perhaps the volatility has measured by the vix is low. but as tyler pointed out, you do get swings week to week in this market. for the individual investor, it can be a little bit difficult.

how do you put to work the money you have right now and make it work? >> if you have money on the sideline, if you held money in reserve, which in fact most investors have, pick your entry point carefully. buy equities when the market has pulled back. that's the first thing. use selloffs to your advantage. bring capital to it when there is a lack of capital in the marketplace. if you are already invested, that's a different case. in which case in that environment, you should be buying volatility, i.e., buying put spreads on the s&p. they're cheap right now. they're getting cheaper every day. so it's very cheap insurance against an environment that is far from settled. >> and you say buy the vix. how do you do that? >> well, i wouldn't necessarily buy the vix. what i would do is i would buy put spreads on the s&p 500, which is different than buying the vix. the vix is more difficult -- as

bob pisani hit -- mentioned on the top of the broadcast, the forward curve for the vix is very steep right now. so there is very little conviction that this low volatility environment will persist. so i wouldn't be a buyer of vix in this environment. but i would be a buyer of puts, for sure. >> if i was going to buy on the pullbacks, as you suggest, what categories of domestic stocks would you be looking at? >> sure. i would be looking at right now things such as utilities. they've underperformed. they're starting to see some momentum pick up there of late. health care would be interesting. consumer staples would be another area that i would look to as well. >> hans, thank you very much. see you again soon. >> good to talk to you. >> same here. straight ahead when ty and i come back, we're all saving for retirement and we're all hunting for yield at the same time. how about this? do you dare invest your i.r.a. investment money in foreclosed

homes? >> might sound crazy. but some people are pumping up their retirement portfolio by doing it. diana olick is going to be here to explain it all on the other side of this break. [ male announcer ] the draw of the past is a powerful thing.

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cicso up a fifth of a dollar at $20.05. and j & j at $65.29, up 19 cents. let's head to seema at the nasdaq. >> the nasdaq above 3,000 right now, here are three winners we're watching. apple hitting an all-time high. some of the component suppliers are also trading higher, broadcom up by 2%. also trading higher, dell announcing the acquisition of sonic wall that specializes in firewall products. source rs say it's a $1.2 billion deal. lastly, take a look at first solar. we always try to get our head around this name. it went from being the worst performer on the nasdaq 100 yesterday to the best performer today. the risk-on rally and the deal with ngr energy helping the stock outperform. sue? >> seema, as you well know, where to invest your nest egg has always been a big challenge, especially over the past few years. stocks and bonds having the go-to investments. but what about putting your retirement money in foreclosed homes? sound crazy?

well, our real estate reporter, diana olick, speaking with one investor who is doing just that. >> reporter: early today, we explained how it's possible to use your retirement funds to invest in the housing market, specifically buying distressed properties at a discount and renting them out. we'd like to introduce you to one investor in rena, nevada, who did just that. terry bought a foreclosed property for $105,000. put about $15,000 more in to get it ready to rent. >> i got tired of always having my money just in the stock market. you always hear you want to diversify and do different things. this was another way to diversify. >> reporter: so this is what he did and this is what you can do, too. first, you want to find yourself a property. and this must be an investment property. you can't live in it and you can't even use it as a vacation home. but run the numbers on how much it will cost and how much it will cost to fix it up. and set up a self-directed

i.r.a. only a handful of administrators will let you do this through the i.r.a. i.r.a. resources and a few others. check out their fees and services. then you want to find a property manager. that's a third party who's going to maintain and collect the rent and some administrators will do this. you can even do it yourself if you really want to or give it to somebody else for all the trouble. then you use the i.r.a. to pay cash for the property. and be sure, save money for repairs and contingencies. and do not take it out of the your 401(k) or your current i.r.a. you must roll it directly over into this self-directed i.r.a. because you don't want to incur any fees and taxes. >> we bought it for a good price. we've put some money into it to get it up to rentable specs. and now we'll see. we have a renter in. we'll see how it goes. you just never know. got to have the right renters. >> reporter: got to have the right renters. he says he's going to watch the

rental income compared to the stock market and he'll watch home prices. should the housing market suddenly surge back, he can always sell. and the gains would go directly back into his retirement fund. tyler? >> in my dim past, i thought that you couldn't buy real estate through an i.r.a. but obviously that's not true. what happens, though, to the rent that then comes into the i.r.a.? is it taxed or not? >> reporter: well, it's just like if you got a dividend from a stock, right? you keep this money. it all goes directly back, the rental income, into this self-directed i.r.a. it's a special type of i.r.a. when you take the money out when you retire just like any retirement fund, you will have to pay taxes on it. this is not a roth or something after tax like that. but you don't pay taxes as that income comes in. and if you decide to sell the house, the money goes back into the i.r.a. and you don't pay taxes until you retire. >> all right. thank you very much, diana. sounds tricky but very interesting. up next, brian shactman

who's got all kinds of guts is going to reset all the market action for you. sharon epperson, the final trades in the metals. plus, ben bernanke and company meeting right now, decision and statement in less than an hour. could the real action come at next month's meeting? are q.e. 3 and operation twist dead or alive? some answers in two minutes. americans believe they should be in charge of their own future. how they'll live tomorrow. for more than 116 years, ameriprise financial has worked for their clients' futures. helping millions of americans retire on their terms. when they want. where they want. doing what they want. ameriprise. the strength of a leader in retirement planning. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you one-to-one. together for your future. ♪

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welcome back to "power lunch." i'm brian shactman. the volume may be low, but there's a lot of dynamic things going on in the marketplace. we have the vix down right around 15. the dollar index now touching above 80. off to the races in the ten-year, 2.06%. what i want to point out, i want to get this right, this could be the first day ever that we close above 3,000 on the nasdaq and above 13,000 in the dow and in the nasdaq, we haven't had a close above 3,000 since december 11th of 2000. interesting things going on right now. names beat up lately catching a bid, first solar touched on by seema, that at the top of the s&p 500. as is u.s. steel, down 4.5% for the month but up 5.5% for the day.

there's cable and then there's cable. cablevision, the cable service you use to watch tv, talk on the phone and use the internet, that stock down .5%. they're not raising their prices. that's part of the reason. and coleman cable downgraded. that stock down 22%. i want to look quickly at hyatt. what happens all the time, here we have hyatt rolling out a new inroom tv system that focuses on the internet. netflix, facebook, you can do on a 58-inch tv. and then you have roomlinx, it's up 20%. it provides the systems going into the hyatt hotels. interesting play. if you're long that name, you're happy today. gold and other metal prices getting ready to close. at the nymex, sharon epperson. hey, sharon. >> the risk is back on whether we're talking about energy or

metals for the most part, even gold prices which are slightly lower right now are well off their lows of the session as we come into the close right now. we are looking at gold prices that are below $1,700 an ounce. a lot of folks think the fed is going to keep everything status quo. but we are looking at this melt-up in many of the metals. and keep your eye on what's happening with platinum because platinum prices have surpassed gold prices. they're above $1,700 an ounce right now. and that does not happen very often. we've seen platinum on a serious winning streak so far this year, up over 21% and up five straight sessions. this is the biggest winning streak we've seen for platinum since october. copper is the other metal i want to talk about because it is probably the best performer today in the metals complex and a lot of that has to do with the positive data we got on retail sales here in the u.s. and positive confidence data from germany as well. there's still some concern about china. but copper having a strong showing in today's session. back to you guys in the studio. >> thank you, sharon. the fed's decision on

interest rates is less than an hour away. what is the fed discussing and will we hear anything about q.e. 3 or operation twist? let's bring in vincent reinhart and we have kelly and steve liesman with us as well. vincent, what are you expecting to hear from the fed today? >> not a lot. they have to recognize the labor market is better. but the chairman will probably take it back by saying labor markets are far from normal. do they admit energy prices are higher and how do they characterize them? is it a hit to demand or worry about inflation. >> you're focused more on the april meeting, sounds like? >> pretty much so. in chairman bernanke's open market committee, they usually contest issues in advance in public. you really haven't heard much chatter from governors and bank presidents going into the meeting. what i think they're going to do is talk about an alternative

policy, that is, being more accommodative at this meeting. and if that's right, then you'll hear fed officials talk about it a lot because they're arguing the case before the public. so they're ready for the april meeting. >> steve, do you agree with that? >> you know, i don't think the fed is on the verge of additional policy accommodation, if that's what vince is saying. i think that the way the numbers have been running -- i don't think the fed wants to -- when it comes to now being really a judgment call, it's not apparent. i think the fed is not going to kind of give its enemies ammunition here. i don't think it's going to see it as being essential for the economy. i think it's going to decide not to do it. i know that's vince's call. enormous respect for vince. but i don't think it's on the verge of anything now. if anything, vince, it might continue operation twist. but an out-and-out balance sheet expansion is --

>> but that's our call. if they act in april, it will be to extend operation twist to be seen as fostering economic expansion. but then they've got may and june. >> kelly, you want to get in here and see which side of the fence you're on? >> i'm curious. vince, i think your outlook is predicated. as of last week, you guys had a 3 in 4 odds that the fed would do something. they want to front-run the political concerns later. but given the strengthening that we've seen in the economy, are you basically expecting still that we're going to get this growth rollover heading towards the middle of the year where the outlook starts to weaken again? how contingent is your forecast on that happening and what if it doesn't? >> it's all supposed to fit together. we do have growth softening, or in the words of the fmc minutes, momentum slowing. we had 3% growth in the fourth quarter. two percentage points was inventories. we see growth softening to the neighborhood of 1.25% in the current quarter.

that's going to produce enough headlines -- worried headlines, in fact rs about, is the economy cooling, that gives a favorable backdrop -- >> even with the increase we've seen in jobs lately, your forecast there hasn't changed? >> well, it's about spending. a feature is we're not getting a heck of a lot of productivity. >> that's true. >> vince, isn't that a concern right now because of inflation, which really the fed is calling for it to decline but it's not been behaving the way the fed's forecast? >> but they're most likely going to say it's energy price, you should look at core, look past that -- it's a risk. 1 in 4 chance we put on them not acting if the growth doesn't soften, if they worry more about inflation, you get a continued rally in equity market, they won't do anything, happily if it's -- >> i was going to say. >> steve, let me interject the idea of politics in here. the fed is supposed to be nonpolitical or apolitical. but it doesn't mean that they are politically insensitive.

i've never lived through a time where the federal reserve has been the target of so much political rhetoric, basically. does that at all stay their hand as we draw closer to the election? >> i think it does in general. i think -- some of it's a judgment call, tyler. and it can go either way. i think the fed would probably take the path of least political resistance. with the economics and monetary policy concerns coming in the first order. but, tyler, i would step back and ask myself about the broader political mood of the country. and i think it's broadly about inflation overall needs to be contained but at a time when inflation is not apparent, i think the fed is -- has a green light to execute monetary policy within certain constraints. i think that's the broad mood of the country. >> a quick question, vince, do you expect the fed's language

about housing to change? do you expect perhaps the decision about mortgage-backed securities to change at all given some of the headlines we've seen about improvement in the housing market or sit far too soon to say anything about that? >> it's too early. i would expect them to stay the course, admit the data are a little bit better but not get too ahead of themselves. my basic view is they want to buy a little bit of insurance. if the data don't get in the way so they can do it, they'll do it. that's 3 out of 4 chance. if it gets in the way, the economy looks better, they won't do it and they'll be pretty happy about it. >> thank you all. as you know, the fed releases its latest rate decision at about 2:15 p.m. eastern time. there will be instant analysis and reaction from bill gross and a number of five-star-rated fund managers as well. up next on "power lunch," a baby, a chicken and a bottle of beer, what do they have in common? they're all in a sector that has been lagging. but it is bouncing back big-time.

the hot stocks you should stock up on. today is gonna be an important day for us. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper. what's number two we wanna do? bring it up to 90 decatherms. how bout ya, joe?

let's go ahead and bring it online. attention on site, attention on site. now starting unit nine. some of the world's cleanest gas turbines are now powering some of america's biggest cities. siemens. answers.

coming up on "street signs," spotlight on the fed. today's decision and the impact on the recovery. "street signs" has the story covered from every single angle. and how do you play it now? insight and analysis from pimco's bill gross. plus, obama battles beijing as the trade wars heat up. ron kirk will weigh in with the impact on american job, all just minutes away on "street signs." now back to sue and tyler on "power lunch." consumer staples getting a bit of a bounce in march as investors get a little bit more defensive. the sector breaking out in recent weeks after lagging the market since the beginning of the year. is it time to be bullish on

staples? and if so, which stocks should you focus on? joining us, tim ramey, senior research analyst at d.a. davidson, and our bob pisani. tim, the three stocks you're going to center us on are mead johnson nutrition, tyson foods and constellation brands. there's a beautiful dietary progression from infant formula to the chicken fingers to the beer. >> i like your style. >> yeah. why staples today? >> well, i think we're seeing good growth out of some of these names. and the valuations are compelling. at least in terms of tyson foods and constellation brands, which we have buy ratings on. so they're kind of garpy names, growth at a reasonable price.

mead/tyson are so on fire in china. people want high-quality american infant formula there. they're willing to spend money for the big brands. >> and tyson? >> tyson has figured out they need to follow the yum! brands of the world and the mcdonald's of the world. those people really care about food safety issues and quality and traceability of ingredients. and i think tyson is going to end up earning margins that are double their domestic margins in china because they're providing something that's just really hard to come by. food safety and traceability of ingredients. >> bob, what are you hearing about this play for consumer staples, slightly more defensive names, the p&gs. i saw that colgate was at a 52-week high earlier today? >> i'm always delighted to hear the beer industry is doing well. that warms my heart. the concern for investors is the debate is a little broader than that. it's, what side of the global growth story are you on?

on the side that china's going to be growing bigger than 8% gdp, less than 8%, u.s., 2% or bigger or less? what side of this debate are you on? if you're on the side that the numbers are going to come in a little bit better than expected, europe is not going to have a severe recession, only a mild one, you're more interested in cyclical stocks. i'm heartened today because i'm on that camp, to see that there is some evidence that the cyclical group is going to be doing a little bit better. remember -- i think you got this right, tyler, the consumer stocks has been ascendant in the last six or seven weeks. there's the sectors today. transports, the cyclical index, these are cyclical groups here, are outperforming the rest of the market, the more defensive consumer and drug names, the pharmaceutical index today, that's certainly a very good sign. homebuilding stocks doing well. that's another classic cyclical sector that just recently has started moving to the upside. isz i'd ask your guest here, what side of that story are you on? do you believe if the global economy picks up a little bit more, don't you think that more

cyclical names might start outperforming? >> tim? >> bob, that's a macro view. my job is to provide a micro view. we want to look for growth where we can find it. constellation brands, wines above $20, growing 29% for 2011, that's growth. and it's going to stack up well versus even some cyclical growth names that you might be mentioning. >> they own mondavi, don't they? >> they do. they bought them in 2004. they have a terrific vodka brand that they've almost tripled in the last five years. it's now about half the size of jack daniels. it kind of came from nowhere. >> the observation about mead johnson in china is a very good one. there's a consumer stock so you don't necessarily have to buy cyclical stocks all the time to get the global growth story.

you brought up a very good point there. >> tim, bob, thank you very much. up next on "power lunch," taking your movie collection to the cloud, walmart teaming up with hollywood's biggest movie studiosed to do just that. what it means for you and what's at stake for the companies involved. we'll be right back. i've been riding since i was 17. flat out my whole life. ran into a pretty serious medical issue. i was prescribed one drug one place, another somewhere else. turns out if i had taken both drugs together, i'd have been in real trouble. but unitedhealthcare spotted the danger, and warned my pharmacist in time. we only get one shot, and i want to leave this life exhausted. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about the cookie-cutter retirement advice ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 you get at some places. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 they say you have to do this, have that, invest here

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welcome back to "power lunch." i'm brian shactman. want to focus on rare earth stocks for just a minute. earlier in the today, president obama had some pretty tough words for china, especially as it relates to the rare earth trade. china has 97% of global production and has been restricting exports for a couple of years. obama wants the wto involved to stabilize the market. he says it's hurting production of everything from hybrid cars to your iphone. right now, there is so little material outside of china that that country has a lot of control here. interestingly, take a look at all the rare earth names up big today, molycorp is the only major player in the western world, that stock up 6%. and lynas is a big one in indonesia. the key takeaway here counters today's gains actually. if china loosens exports, rare

earth prices would fall further, satisfying end-use demand like your iphone and your car. but it could be a net negative for producer names that you just saw. >> brian, thank you very much. walmart in focus at this hour. the retail giant and hollywood's biggest studios announcing a new cloud-based movie service, a move aimed at saving the dvd business. but is it too late? julia boorstin in los angeles with a closer look. >> reporter: tyler, walmart and five of the six major studios are hoping to beat the odds and keep a dying cash cow alive. they're unveiling a new service to consumers to access their dvd library wherever they are on whatever gadget they have. studios are teaming up with the nation's biggest dvd retailer to help their struggling digital system called ultraviolet. the goal is to drive dvd sales and to prevent piracy. here's how it works. consumers can bring their dvds to walmart, which will charge $2 to register them.

five bucks upgraded standard dvds into high-def. walmart will help customers create ultraviolet accounts to access their libraries through voodoo. walmart wants to make money on the 10 billion dvds and blu-rays that u.s. customers already own. but will it actually sell more new disks? richard greenfield says, quote, we still believe it would be difficult to encourage consumers to buy movies in the future. and, tyler, it also remains to be seen whether people want to cart their dvds into walmart and pay to be able to access them on different devices. after all, dvds are pretty portable as is. >> julia, thank you. minutes away from the fed's latest rate decision. and just over two hours left in the trading day. our charts of the day when "power" returns in two. what is it?

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i chose costco which earlier today was at a 52-week high. let's look at a one-year of costco. on this day where retail sales came out better than expected, that company up 23%. this is a double winner, as people return to shopping. but it also makes a fair amount of money in gasoline sales. >> i'm due for a visit, need toilet paper and paper towels. great wolf resorts, it's a small cap, getting taken private by apollo management. they have a lot of water parks indoor in the interior of this country -- >> great one in the poconos. >> yes, they do. i'm ready to take my children to it. but if you think private equity is smart money and they think this is a good investment when it's heavily reliant on the internal part of the u.s. and the consumer, it's something to look at. >> there's an icebed. you'll enjoy it. >> i want to go. i want my kids to get old enough. we have pretty key levels in the marketplace. the vix is bouncing a