will go away, may soon come true. s&p 500 down by 7. below the 1400 mark which is cracked last week. stay tuned for the "closing bell" and thanks for watching "street signs." welcome to the closing bell. maria is at the conference in los angeles. we will be getting toener just a moment. taking a look at the stocks, holding on to modest losses in the home stretch on the back of weak u.s. economic data and concerns about europe, including spain. equities on track to finish the month on a down note. that ends six months straight gains for the markets. later we will see if you should bet on the sell in may and go away. in the markets right now, plus the man behind one of the nation's biggest pension funds, calsters talks about how europe

is impacting his investment strategy. later once of the world richest men talks about where he is seeing the best global opportunities right now. as i said, stocks set to end the month in red. but it sure has been a roller coaster ride for the market. bob, you've been looking at the markets today. i think we are looking at the tiest range for the dow in more than a year. it shows you how much the mark set waiting for the job's report before investors decide where to place their bets. >> yes. it is a little wider now because we hit lows -- >> not much though. >> no. >> you're right. the volume the be the late ef of the year. we add lot of uncertainty. today chicago numbers didn't help. dallas numbers didn't help. we will get the ism tomorrow. that will help a little bit. but i think people are pulling back because the data is very choppy now. er with in the worse scenario. this quarter and next, good heavens, 2% means -- well we

need 3% for job's growth. we need 1% or somewhere to get the feds involved. 2%, we are in the middle and nothing happened. i think that's the concern that a lot of people have. >> that's the note that yan from goldman sachs -- he is looking for 125, 128. but certainly below expectation answers would really underscore what you're saying. not enough of growing economy to add to the job market. then investors gauge, okay what happens next. what does that mean for the market. >> then the ecb on thursday, they will have their meeting and see if they can do more. i guarantee the ecb will push back and say, it is time for the national and federal government to do what they say they have been waiting for. very interesting comment from the euro group chairman saying germany and france act as if they are the only members of the group. that's a sign of internal dissension. the french elections are

mattering people people are feeling like maybe the southern european countries have to expert themselves more. >> maria is out at the conference in los angeles. very big name guests, maria, that uch coraled for the program. not only at 3 but at 4:00 as well. >> hey, scotty, thank you so much. yes we are coming to you from the 157b8g annual conference. it is the biggest name here. talking about investing, probably the biggest component of the audience here are managers with money. that is where we want it key into. the big issues, big head wind for investors and we see negativity on the street today. on the heels of deepening recession, now we know officially, we have a recession in spain. european sessions snap a winning streak. take a look at the last 30 days. we have seen losses across the board in the eurozone. meanwhile, the california state teacher's retirement system or calsteres with more $150 billion in assets today with us, the

nation's second largest public pension fund. we will talk to the manager of that fund to find out how they're investing for the long-term in this uncertain near term environment. joining me is cal sters chief investment officer. chris, we enjoy having you on the program. >> thank you. >> there is 1% cash levels in the fund but you're thinking about raising that. are things unnerving you in terms of what is going on in the markets right now? tell me about allocating capital. >> i think people understand that liquidity has a much bigger value. and the ability to be nimble. that's the challenge in this kind of market. can you move around and shift? you've got have cash to fuel that liquidity. >> and in terms of europe and of course, chinese economy, we are seeing a slow down, let me get to john har wood in washington. breaking news right now, at the white house. john, what can you tell us. >> maria, president obama just add press conference in the white house with japanese prime

minister noda and he was asked about the blind dissident in china. who has taken refuge with u.s. authorities. the president was asked if he is within the custody of the united states. he declined to answer. here's what he said. >> obviously i'm aware of the press reports on the situation in china. but i'm not going to make a statement on the issue. >> the president went on to say that he raises human rights every time he talks with chinese leaders. secretary of state clint yonl be ongoing later this week in beijing. the president clearly trying ton ruffle feathers in advance of that meeting, trying to deal with this quietly. a high level diplomats have gone to beijing to work it out. we will see how it gets settled, maria. >> all right, john, thank you so much. i'm sitting here with chris from

calsters. chris, i know that the emerging markets are a place that have made a lot of money. when you see a story out of china, chinese dissident where president obama is talking about it, what does that tell you in terms of allocating money for china? do you have money in china right now? >> very small allocation, part of the merging market portfolio. chinese is a challenge. if you are going there, you have to do it in size and stay for the long-term. then you get stories like this that make it very difficult. we have 21 risk factors. some deal with the environmental, social and governance. >> tell me how you get returns for the funds. your unfunded liability climbed to 64.5 billion in the 12 months ending june 30. you have to invest in the low-rate environment. where are you getting the return right now? >> that's the big challenge. in dividend paying stocks, in

master unlimited partnerships. as i said, the big challenge is, can you be nimble. with markets in the last couple of months, that have a nice strong run but then go flat for a period of time. a big large investor. we are used to buying and holding an entire market. passive investment doesn't work that well in this kind of a situation. >> i've got get your take on europe. of course we know that bush tax cuts are going to expire if president obama has his way. at the end of the year, that means dividends taxes go from what, 16% to 43%. >> right. >> does that change the dynamic in dividend investing companies? >> well i heard a comment last night about the fact that particularly in the fall, that's going to become a major issue and big uncertainly for people in dividend stocks, what happens in the early january time period. again, another overhang on the

market. >> so would you be poised to settle market going into the november elections? how do you want it invest around these changes? if we see tax rates go much higher. do you think we will have market sell off? >> i would be worried about that. we are long-term investors. i will be in the market no matter what happens with the election. but our focus and our portfolio will change again another uncertainty like the federal deficit. when new york has to turn its sights to washington, everyone gets very nervous. >> yeah, that's a problem. let's talk about new york here. how bad after situation is it? feels like once again the eurozone crisis is front and center for investors. now we recognize that sure, talking the urgency liquidity off the table. >> yeah, we will have mohamed up here in a second. i know he was on your panel this

morning. i watched it. he is optimistic but the europe zone is 17 countries. he think it will come out stronger and i'm not going to put words in his mouth. it might be stronger but not all 17 countries. clearly, europe will be in recession for a long time. >> but what about you? how does this impact your behavior in terms of managing calsters fund. how has that dictated how you allocate money right now? >> well we look at it two ways, like anything. risk and opportunity. it is a risk and we'reunderware europe. this is creating disruption up and down the capital structure. european banks are hamstrung and that means industrials in the western and northern part need money. that brings opportunity for strong credit, debt. the question about housing situation in europe and whether that comes up into the marketplace, so we are opportunistic. take advantage where we think we

can see distress prices, but you've got to do your homework because the rules can change overnight. >> tell me about the allocation of capital right now. are you looking to up the exposure to private equity. how much of the fund is just plain equities? >> right now the fund, about 52% is plain equities. publicly traded. >> that's global equities? >> right. we tilt the portfolio. we still have a home country bias towards the u.s. if private equity war stable consistent investor, what we are trying to be is opportunistic in some of the areas that lay in between asset classes. income paying ideas. some of the distress debt opportunities. senior debt, as i mentioned. because we want it find stuff that's long-term stable cash flows, to balance the variablity we see in the markets. >> what do you worry about right here? are you worried about volume and volatility and the lack of? >> i'm worried in this current

market, it had such a run from december through march. it needs to pause and so i'm not worried about how this mark set acting. what i am a bit worried about is with europe as a backdrop, every couple of weeks, another shoe will drop, the markets will get worried about it. and then just the u.s. economy. feels strong, feels like we're improvin improving. but you don't want to see a shock that allows that to go back. >> sure. thank pup chris joining us from calsters. >> fears impacting credit markets with treasurers val rallying. cnbc's rick is at the cme in chicago with these details. rick? >> absolutely. whether it was the income in spending, it wasn't bad, but inflation and higher prices a stubborn energy price answers on the chicago purchasing survey. if you look at the chart of tens, can you see they bump along 190.

if you open up a chart for one month on 30-year bonds, you will see last week they traded a smith lower but virtually like the rest of the cousins on the curve, the yield closing since february. a dollar index and even though the index is up one tenth after scent, it is now down close to 2% on the year. judge, back to you. >> rick, thanks so much. we do have a bit more than 30 minutes to go here. about 45 minutes to go before the bell rings on wall street. right now look at the dow industrials. incredibly tight range, down about 38 points in the final trading day, maria, of the month of april. >> all right. we are talking about navigating uncertain waters. rewrap up april on a down note for the markets. but who ma'amed el-erian is with us giving his view and why he thinks qe3 could still be on the table. >> and the oil and gas prices when i speak to one of the

biggest names in the business. boone pickens joins me. -- [ inaudible ] stay with us for that. and of course, a comment in the second hour of the closing bell, talking about the boom happening in brazil. scott? >> arizona and as we head to break maria, here is how the s&p heat map is shaping up on the last day of the month. a lot of red on the board. you're watching cnbc, first in business worldwide. looking for a better place to put your cash? here's one you may not have thought of: fidelity. now you don't have to go to a bank to get the things you want from a bank. like no-fee atms -- all over the world. free checkwriting and mobile deposits. now, depositing a check is as easy as taking a picture. free online bill payments. a highly acclaimed credit card with 2% cash back into your fidelity account. open a fidelity cash management account today and discover another reason serious investors

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well can um welcome back from los angeles. live in l.a., the major ind sees on track. on average the second best month of year, in the red, however, we should see a flurry of lackluster today and tomorrow we get more indications of investor head winds with greetings on manufacturing as well as the auto sector. along with the april jobs report due out on friday. by the way, jan hatzius at goldman sachs says there will be growth of about 125,000 new jobs

created. that would be well below the consensus expectations calling for job growth of 168,000. let's talk about how that may impact the strategy of one of the nation's most prominent market watchers. chief executive officer and co-chief investment officer at the largest bond fund manager and it is wonderful to have you on the program. >> thank you, maria. >> thank you for joining us. injury firm overseeing $1.8 trillion in assets which is why we love getting your insights on things. let me get your take on the jobs number and what you are expecting in terms of economic data in the united states. >> so recently, the economic data has been weakening, and that's a problem. the last thing we need is a repeat of 2009, 2010, and 2011 where we start the year strong and then slow down. the hope is you get consensus of 168,000 if not something beyond. but the recent data, addressing the bonds, is on the down side. >> if we were to get more weak data, do you change strategy in terms of how you invest in fixed

income or in equities as well? how does that dictate behavior in your part? >> our strategy today is based on a lackluster recovery. so we are assuming that it'll be a slow recovery. and that is why we are emphasizing in equity choices, with cash and strong balance sheets. and in a global investment, strong sovereigns that can with stand this rather bumpy road. so we are expecting slow growth. we also are expecting at this sm point the fed is going to have to do more. not because it wants to, but because it feels it has to. >> this whole idea of whether or not qe3 is on the table or not, is debated. i feel like everyday. but you think that if the economy weakens further, we will see more stimulus. in what form might we see that stimulus? what are you expecting? >> we will see renewed purchases outright or as some varience of

operation twist with sterilelization. i think the reason why this issue is debated so much, including here, is two. first as different views of the economy. those who believe that the economy is picking up momentum. and that we are going to get closer velocity. if that the case, great, and we do not need qe. the others we believe that the economy is nowhere near velocity and the head winds coming from the rest of the world are strong and therefore, the fed is likely to do something. so there's disagreement on the outlook. there there is also disagreement because people confuse with what should happen to what is likely to happen. the fed, other agencies, other government entities who should come in, but they aren't coming in. they are frozen because of the politics and therefore the feds feel it has more choice to come in as the economy weakens. >> the federal reserve will be with stimulus. it sounds like your best bet are global equities right here. particularly those cash-rich companies. >> yes and no. yes, that in the sense in the past, every time the fed has come in, it signalled

willingness, ability and effectiveness. no, because the effectiveness is slowing down. so we are not getting as much bang out of the fed adds in the past. so i think it is much better to invest on the basis of fundamentals and allow the fed to be the cherry on top of the sundae but not the sundae itself. >> let me talk to you about fundamentals happening in europe right now. once again the eurozone crises for investors, we now know that we have recessionary numbers in spain. and recessionary numbers in other areas. how do we play europe? >> germany will be the bright spot but even germany will face more head wind. you've got to be very careful. really very careful. a certain economy is like greece with be that face tremendous problems. and if you are a sovereign bond investor, we say, you know what, it is better to be void. better not to expose yourself. there is a chance of getting another hair cut. the other economies trying to

get their act together and that decision depends on whether they are able to go forward. so italy is an example of that. you need a very differentiated approach towards europe and you need to continuously factor in europe into other investment decisions. >> are you expecting to invest further into corporate bonds in the emerging markets? do you like the emerging markets corporate bonds? >> yes, we do. and we have found that we can get paid more return for the equivalent amount of risk because people have difficulty ascertaining that risk. but here again, be differentiated. look for companies that are exposed to growth markets and that have low financial leverage and high operating markets. and there is quite a few in there. >> some of the companies are technology names. the nasdaq is up 18% year to date. are they done or do you even like the companies that -- >> we like some, but technology again has a tremendous tail wind of people coming in. it didn't go to where the equity

portfolios are comfortable. companies like france, they have an incredible financial exposure. you have asia, incredible technology companies. so there are names and companies have to be differentiated. >> thank you so much, mohamed el-erian. we have about 40 minutes until the closing bell. nasdaq is off more than 20 points. scotty? >> maria, another big stock story, microsoft making a $300 million bet on barnes & noble. is it a good deal for share holde holders? we will break down the numbers. >> where is the one of the world's richest money putting his money? he is joining me at 4:30. we are also talking about argentina and the nationallization of the oil company there. that's today at 4:30 p.m. eastern prps. >> as we head to break, here is

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♪ some big surprises in the commodity sector for the month of april. the biggest gain on the metals market, up about 5% for the month. this is ahead of all other metals, most posting a decline. gas near $2.30 right now.

just a few weeks ago trading below the $2 mark and it made up nearly a third of its year to date losses. back to you. >> sharon, thanks so much. the smallest deal that everyone is talking about today. that of course is microsoft $300 million investment in the barnes & noble nook. we saw what it did to barnes & noble stock today. driving it up more than 60% on the day and barry rothstein, major barnes & noble investors told david faber that today's move might only be the start of the stock run. take a listen. >> doesn't fully factor in the growth prospects of nook and some of the opportunities that will provide. >> all right. what about microsoft? that stock is actually flat on the day. should investors look to buy in now? let's see what charts say. we will start talking numbers now with carter worthy as cheer market technician with oppenheimer. how is it going? it's not like microsoft hadn't been doing anything before this. this stock has been back in favor and is doing quite well.

>> for a large capital name, it's moved quite a bit. the first chart depicts that. >> it's going to come up, i promise. >> yeah. so this move -- >> that's what i'm talking about. >> you're talking about adding, 60, $65 billion. there are only a few companies worth that. tax that on in a matter of a ma and a half. it is a bit steep. it has that do more of this. consolidating. in order to rest or pause. the proceeding steep advance. and this is happening, not at a a random spot. look at the five-year chart. that consolidation is taking place quite precisely at well defined past tops. this is the range, the stock has been in for almost three, four years. >> hopes are high for what the stock can do from here. hopes are high because of windows 8 mobile. as you said, old style tech, if you will, has definitely come back into favor. this isn't just the only name. how can we get a good gauge on how this is going forward?

>> it is set up like this. a great period of eek will lib rum. it is at an all-time high for at least the 2007 market. not its nasdaq high, but the implications are around 37. dh ch is a descent run from here, 32 for now. >> thanks very much. maria? >> in the final stretch, 25 minutes until the closing bell sounds for the day as we wrap up the month of april, dow jones down 37.5 point right here. nasdaq down bet are than 20. do you want to sell in may and go away? not this year. thomas lee with us, to explain why he is still bullish on the outlook of stocks the rest of the year. well talk with him next. then the freedom tower at 1 world trade center, laying claim to a prestigious title. details coming your way next on close "closing bell." as we take a look, look the a the s&p 500. you're you're watching the

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welcome back live from los angeles today.

we are seeing a market on track to finish lower for the month of april. we have less than 30 minutes to go. let's look at what today's business headlines are that we are covering. we kick it off for the moneyaging index. today, 58.2 in the month of april. now this is the weakest reading. a decline in new orders as well as higher order expenses. consumer spending, inching up 0 .3%. a slight improvement from the prior month. take a look the at live shot here, freedom tower officially now the largest building in new york city. the tower at 1 world trade center now more than 1250 feet high, just taller than the empire state building observation deck. when the freedom tower is complete, it'll stand 1776 feet high, making it the tallest building in the united states and third tallest in the world.

now how does that not make you emotional? we are in the final stretch scotty. and the volume once again anemic. what are you seeing? >> what a great sight. a couple of blocks from where we sit today at the new york stock exchange. . the last day of trading for the month of april asthma ree why said. the s&p 500 has posted strong gains for the month of april. though we are poised to wrap up the month slightly lower, if things were to end where they sit right now. historically, the s&p has seen positive second quarter returns, more than half the time. however when april is negative, q2 returned an average loss of more than 4%. right now, the dow is down for the month. our next guest weighs in on a key question. tom lee, rich morgan. gentlemen, it is good to see you here. you guys are both bullish by and large, rich, why?

>> well, i just think that people have overestimated the risks inside the united states and actually underestimate the risks outside the united states. if you really want to be scared be you should look at the emerging markets and what is going on there. i think things in the united states are improving. albeit at an unsteady pace, but they're improving. >> brazil has add bad month of april. >> right. >> but tom, look, earnings, were really good this quarter. >> right. >> for lack of a better word. they were just good, right? you have 80% of the companies. >> exactly. have you s&p quarterly earnings hitting the highest level since the cycle, about 25, 50. you know, i think one of the other big surprises, durable goods is starting to come back and we are seeing it in the data. a census report comes out for household formation rates raits, hitting a million for the first time since 2007. yeah, and i think investor positioning, i think investors are too cautious right now. >> the other side of it is, friday, if you get a bad jobs

number, some of the economic number of late, chicago pmi is a rich disappointment. if you have a weak jobs number. an interesting thought for the day as well, if you get a disappointing jobs number, if growth slows or maybe slows so you can't fix the job market quick enough but it is not going to be bad enough to spur the fed to take more action, so you get in this languishing mode here. >> i think, look, there is a couple wayes it look at this. no doubt there is a risk and in the near term the economy is slowing and everything else. i think what you have to ask yourself is will the economy be stronger or weaker one year from today. when we come back, april 30 of 2013, is the economy going to be stronger? i think most people would say yes to that. if you answer yes, you have to believe that stock market will be higher. albeit, maybe a lost volatility in the near term. >> so if you answer yes, where do you want it put money to work today? >> i think you want to be focused on cyclic els and a financial.

i think if you look at asia, you know, there's policy easing. interesting, if you look at the stock market, the best performing groups are cyclical. the financials. >> you think that technology is a pretty good place to be? we were just talking about microsoft, right? and the thing that announced today, with barnes & noble. old tech has seemingly come back in favor, rich. >> i think that's right. i think, look, the one thing we have to keep in mind is profitability, though still very, very strong, the u.s. corporate sector is the strongest in the world. profits growth is slowing. there is no doubt about that. i would want to be more defensive than tom. therefore you go older tech as opposed to new sexy stuff. >> all right, guys. good to see you. we have about 25 minutes to go before we close it up. dow jones down 28 points. nasdaq is weaker today as well by about 20 and s&p, maria, under pressure as well. >> scotty, i think tom lee is my new favorite strategist.

i love his research on dividend payers. he really does good work. thank four that interview. sfrs. >> hey, rich bernstein is not chopped liver either. >> no, rich is fantastic. >> i hear ya. and rich is sitting here too. i don't want him to be offended. >> i'm telling you about boone pickens, scotty. he is explaining the energy policy and oil and natural gas prices. he is coming your way next. after the bell, carl icahn updates his attempt to require cvr energy and well get his take on how the controversy surrounding chesapeake ceo, audrey mclendon is inl pacting that stock. that's coming up, scott. >> all right, we look forward to that. as we head to break, here is are how the major commodities are trading. it is mixed picture on your screen. we're back in a moment. for a hot dog cart. my mother said, "well, maybe we ought to buy this hot dog cart and set it up someplace." so my parents went to bank of america.

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los angeles. we want to go to kate kelly right now. she is live at 30 rock with more news on delta. kate, over to you. >> thanks, maria. the news we've been chasing for several weeks about delta buying a refinery in pennsylvania not far from philadelphia is coming to pass. i'm told that deal of between delta and conico phillips, actually phillips 66, has come together today. delta will be spending $150 because they are getting 30 million from the state of pennsylvania. it a s a pretty unique deal. they are trying to essentially create about 80% of their domestic jet fuel needs by a combination of things. first of all, take the refinery which now produces about 12,000 barrels of jet fuel per day and take that up to max capacity, which is 52. they will also have swap arrangements with bp and phillips 66 in which those companies will provide jet you'll to delta in exchange for all product that come out of

trainer, maria. . a unique situation. >> it is. i'm sitting here with boone pickens. boone questioning, why aren't they getting subcy dies. >> in the reason is, this is a facility idle last september and hundreds of jobs were lost. this is a depressed area. there were three refineries around the area that are idle or are soon to be if they can't find buyers. this is add together regional job security. i presume, though i haven't spoken to them, that state is providing help here. >> i we understand. that makes it very understandable. the state doing those subsidies. kate, thank you so much. great stuff as always. kate kelly with the latest there. shares of chesapeake energy up. better than 3%. that's ahead of tomorrow's earnings that will likely be overshadowed by report that ceo

aubrey mclendon has been borrowing as much as $1.1 billion against his personal stake in thousands of company operated wells. texas oil man boone pickens depending mcclendon last week, saying my take on mcclendon is hard to be an entrepreneur if you don't have skin in the game and aubrey always has skin in the game. joining me now is the man himself, boone pickens, head of bp capital. he joins us for first on cnbc interview. great to see you, boone. thank for joining us. >> sure. >> first, the delta deal that kate just reported. 180 million deal total but as you heard, they are getting subsidies from the state. they will pay out $150 million. your thoughts on the deal. >> my thoughts on it, the state better get ready because other refineries will want to come in

too. how will they handle that one. >> good point. >> it is a refinery. people go bag to work. money is paid. taxes are paid and money goes forward. >> like you buying an airline or buying into the airline business. >> for dealt why to buy a refinery, it would be like me buying an airline. somebody is going to scratch their head on that. we'll see how it turns out. >> all right. let me ask you about chesapeake. why did you feel the need to tweet about the ceo of chesapeake? what do you think is going on here? investors want it know -- >> maria, the deal with aubrey, i think they call it a founders something participation in wells. that's been known forever, i've seen that i know five years ago, so that's not an unusual event. >> from an investment standpoint, given what we know and what we don't know, bit way, about this, would it be wise it steer clear of chesapeake right

now? what do you want to do in terms of an investment standpoint. >> investing in chesapeake? >> yeah. >> it is a big company. second largest grass producer in the united states. they is a lot of reserves and drill locations. i don't know, maybe aubrey needs to be more transparent in what he's doing or kwhawhatever. >> should he step down? >> should he? >> yeah. >> he has been a very successful guy. he started the company with very little ten or 15 years ago. he had times where he got pretty close to the edge. on being financial, having financial problems. but always his financial problems, the way i recall it, has been the price of natural gas. i have to say, me too. i've made some mistakes on natural gas prices. and all. but i don't know, i don't know the situation. but i'm. ready to throw aubrey out. >> let me ask you about

investing today and how you are aldati allocating capital. you are of the belief that natural gas will be increasingly in demand and being used. yet we don't have an energy policy supporting that. how do you invest right new and tell me what energies are most viable. >> well, first thing is, we don't have to have the government, you know, say use natural gas. but natural gas can be used because it is so cheap. america has the cheapest energy in the world today. we have the cheapest oil by 10%. we have the cheapest natural gas by 80%. and we have the cheapest gasoline. none of these politicians have guts enough to stand up there and say, hey, we do have the cheapest energy in the world. they won't say that. they talk about, we ought to tax the oil companies more. get out of here. the oil companies are doing a great job. they are employing a lot of people and paying a lot of taxes. they have exactly the same tax

structure as all other company nets manufacturing sector in america. >> what about the, you know, the guy or gal out there saying i'm paying way too much for goods lien right now. all i see are the oil companies buying back stock and increasing dividends and not necessarily investing the way i want them to invest in new energy sources. is that not true? >> in new energy sources? >> yeah. >> well we've got plenty of oil and gas in united states. if you're talking about renewables, wind and solar, it doesn't make economic sense. you saw what happens when the government put a billion dollars in a solar company. they lost the whole thing. >> oh, sundra. >> yeah. i'm not doing that. neither is any other ceo. they invest their money wisely and all. i like it when they increase the dividend. exxon increased theirs the other day. i'm an exxon shareholder. i like it. fine with me. >> where else are you investing right now? >> where? nothing but oil and gas is where i am. >> in term of your favorite companies. >> well, i'm trying to think.

i've got money in sand ridge. i've got money in pioneer. >> is there any reason to believe prices could reverse in the current levels. >> reverse? >> yeah. go down. >> no, i think they will go up. i think that the saudis are maxed out where they are. when they tell you they're going to produce 11 million a day or 12 million, they are coming out of storage. they can't produce that much. so it's going to get tighter and tighter and kwoconsequently the price will go up. >> all right. we will leave it there. boone, we appreciate it. closing bell about 10 minutes away. scotty? >> just about ten minutes before we do ring the bell on the month of april pf dow is down by 23 1/2. nasdaq is down by almost 21.

>> not just barnes & noble and microsoft striking a deal today. a couple other strategic acquisitions announced. we will get you the details on the pricing. how the stocks are reacting. right after this short break. stay tuned. >> 100th anniversary of universal studios. as we head to break, here is a quick look at one of the studios classic films. "jaws."

welcome back to the floor of the new york stock exchange. i'm at post 5h. that's where you find watson pharmaceuticals. stocks posting higher today. company's net income raising to $55 million. that was due in large part it strong growth from its ne eric

drugs. the ne generic version of lipitor helped revenue jump 74%. as a result the company raised its low end of the full year end guidance as well as full year revenue forecast. despite earnings, shares are lower, largely due to profit taking. the stock is red-hot with a gain of nearly 30% over the past two months. maria? >> scott, thank you. the barnes & noble and microsoft deal, not the only partnership. making headlines today. we have a couple of other deals in focus today. looking at those under the radar names, seema, over to you you. >> let's look at the buzz in today's market. first, sonoco, a natural gas line company bought for whopping 5.3 million. sunoco's move is helping the index outperform the market. sunoco up better than 20%.

and an all cash deal, now focussing on women's health but maria, back over to you. >> thank you so much. we will check back with you. we've got market right now that is o selling pressure and closing bell up next. we have the closing countdown right after this short break. stay with us, live from the milken conference in los angeles. i hope you will join us with carl eichon coming up. then we talk with eike bautista, the richest man in brazil. major averages traysing minutes before tclose the close. you're watching "closing bell" on cnbc. weefr got breaking news. we want to get in before we actually go to this break. >> thanks, maria. coca-cola issued a statement saying at this time, we are not

in discussions to acquire the monster beverage corporation. we continue to review the best ways to maximize the value of our relationship. there has been speculation earlier in the day that they were going to go after monster beverage, which is down significantly now, because they had not really been able to penetrate the energy drink market, which is growing at about 18 paers year. they have some brand like noz and full throttle, but have not been able to get to the top, to the red bulls of the year or monsters. but they, once again, say they are not interested at this time in acquiring monster beverage. now let's go to break. auto-bliss. with rent2buy from hertz car sales, you skip the lots... and pushy sales people... it's a fast, easy way to buy a used car. three days to try. zero pressure to buy. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz. the teacher that comes to mind for me is my high school math teacher, dr. gilmore.

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trade commission-free for 60 days, and we'll throw in up to $600 when you open an account. the stock exchange. time for the closing countdown. as we look at the major averages here, still down 23 point, so it looks like that six-month winning streak, at least for the dow, is going to come to an end for the month of april. the dow, s&p 500 and nasdaq see their first monthly drop, as i said, in 2012.

so there's how things look right now. still down about 22 point. we have to be down by more than 16.27 points at the exact close to be negative for the month of april. interesting day today, certainly with that microsoft investment into barnes & noble making a big play now on that barnes & noble nook getting into the ebook reader business, trying to take on perhaps amazon a bit. apple a bit. but an interesting move for a stock that has had a pretty good year. that being microsoft. of course barnes & noble shares rocketing today off that news. also, gap got a nice upgrade today. that's a stock that's done pretty well. we talked last week how consumer discretionary names have been performing quite well. gap is up over 50% year to date. all of this set the stage for tomorrow's ism report and the jobs report on friday. chicago pmi is dispointing today. and most of those regional reads of the