brian? would it work with other professions. if you're a woman and it's contract renegotiation time, you know what color i'll be areaing. >> thanks for watching, "closing bell" is next. hi, everybody. we're into the final stretch, welcome to "closing bell," i'm maria bartiromo were the market is up again even though there is no clarity in europe, no fed action, and no fix for the fiscal cliff. >> the bulls keep running and we don't know why. the dow and s&p 500 both in striking distance of a four and a half year high. keep it here because anything can happen as you know in the home stretch. >> let's take a look at this market as we approach this final stretch. hanging on to gains, 80 points

higher on the dow industrials. the blue chip average there pretty steady this afternoon. and the s&p 500 looking higher as well, up about 9.5 points. it happened quietly, but the s&p 500 is up about 14% this year. we have bob pisani and michael jones, it's the rally with no respect. >> if you're a stock guy, that's kind of what you want to see. traders hate the market, short interest is very high, the public doesn't even believe there is a stock rally, and yet we're moving up. things have been calmer since europe and we all know that,

draghi painted himself in a corner and he laid out a road map. there's a lot of expectations for the meeting in september. so under that circumstance, you can see why there is a move up in the market here. >> it's certainly something that the technicians will say, and r ralph is one of the people who said it. so tell me, do you want to buy into the market or sell it? >> we would be cautious to put a lot of capital to new work here. s&p around 14 or 1405, august is typically a weaker month. we look the stock market, it's nicely valued here, but we're not going to put a lot of new money to work here at these levels, we'd like to see a pull back. >> it is all about putting a floor under the market.

they think the fed will act and they certainly believe there is more credibility coming out of europe >> i would buy into credibility, but no one believes -- >> the market believes there is, rick. >> and people believe they're going to win the lottery every day and someone does, but the chances of the person thinking it are astrononically high. put up the chart of the dow, we had three weeks where everything was down on the year. just eight and a half weeks ago. june 1st, june 4th, june 5th. volume has been smelly, the fed and the central bank's friends, they can move things based on how computers see the momentum their words create. even if there is no follow up. to me this is an easy one.

i'm not bearish in stocks. i have not been since 7000 in march of 2009. i can once these wild ranged ten days down and one day make it's up, i can certainly understand why people are not comfortable with the ultimate percentage gain on the year. >> but it's a quiet bull market again. michael, where are you on this? >> we have been lightening. we think the market is overinterpreting the groundhog like day. we run into trouble in the summer, pull back, give up half of the gains, and a central bank rescues us. this year the market is so anticipating that central bank rescue they're not allowing the pullback to occur. the problem is with the s&p near 1400, ben bernanke goes into the

meeting in september without a lot of pressure on him to be aggressive. i think that lack of pressure is the missing ingredient to get the fed engaged. >> do you see the market pulling back, and does it pull back harder than people are expected? >> let's ream we're at the top of the range. i think we're due for a pull back. we hold around the 200 day moving average. when you get that kind of pressure in the market, the banker wills respond ultimately. i think the bears are overly focused on -- the folks that think we're going to crash again like in 2008 and 2009, what they're focused on is the fiscal cliff, and we believe the political dynamics have so changed between now and last summer, that the fiscal cliff will be resolved in the lame

duck session. >> are that catalyst on the horizon that will send this market lower? both of you say the investors in the ground said you probably want to be more cautious here, do you see a catalyst on the who ri zone? >> spanish yields. they're up about 13 basis points today. what has been the historical pattern is when you break away -- >> unless we get some program from the ecb that keeps rates in check, right? >> that's the point. >> yeah. >> the multiples on the s&p can expand if europe calms down. not only will the earnings go up, but the multiples might go up, so we could do 14 times forward earnings if europe calms down. the fiscal cliff gets better. europe calms down, that's why we're getting these bullish tones to the market right now.

>> thanks, everybody. >> rick, we promise, we'll get together after the show and get tougher questions for you next time. we promise. >> thanks, everybody. we'll see you later. the dow and the s&p 500 close to hitting multiyear highs. we have jackie deangles. >> the multiyear highs still in sight before the close. the s&p added about nine more points on the day. interms of the large cap sector strength, energy and industrials are leading higher. most of the areas are higher by a percent or more. the laggards are the utilities and the consumer staples, driving energy high sere chesapeake. they rose 91%, they were beginning from asset sales that brought more than half a billion to the bottle line.

other movers include tosoro, and you're seeing movement in crude oil and gas moving higher today. the financials also moving up, jpmorgan one of the leaders and morgan stanley and citi are performing quite well. some of it is attributed to the hopefulness from europe. and look at the financial sector etf hitting the highest level. this is up six tenths of a percent right now. >> the dow is holding on to it's gains off the best levels. >> don't go anywhere, we're just getting started here. still ahead -- >> we asked the middle class to

pay more to we go give tax cuts to people making more than a million dollars a year. it's like robinhood in reverse, it's romneyhood. >> and the high land of misfit devices, acer ceo asks microsoft to reconsider the new tablet. the results may surprise you. plus, instant reaction to disney's earnings with the ceo.

with about 45 minutes to go in today's trading session, time now for a quick market stat check. the major averages on course for a three-day winning streak. the industrials aiming for the

highest close in some four and a half years. right now we're at 13185, so a touch less than 100 to go there. the s&p 500 energy index is hitting the best level since may. >> the latest attack line in president obama's arsenal, and it's raising eyebrows. saying there will be a full-on move to class warfare in this election. here is the president's comments. >> he asked the middle class to pay more in taxes to give another $250,000 tax cut to people making more than $300 million a year. it's like robinhood in reverse. it's romneyhood. >> and of course the implication is that romneyhood is the rich stealing from the poor, not a flattering picture for the

biggest earners in america and more of the whole divisiveness. >> yes, and our experts are hear to weigh in, you talk to them every day, they're not going to like this, but the lines are clear at this point for how this campaign is going to be run. >> absolutely, this is a campaign about the 99% verses the 1%. this is the campaign about wealth. he is doing a really good job of directing the attention away from the economy toward the people who have the most. the problem is this may work in the election, we don't know. class warfare has not worked recently the elections. it starts to have an impact on those who invest in our economy. there's new poll numbers out that show the 1% are saving at record rates. they're not investing, they're

pulling away from stock markets and from consumer spending because they're under attack, uncertain about the economy, and they don't want to be perceived or visible as wealthy people. it may be great for the campaign but it has impacts on the economy. >> there is something to what he was saying here. romney's plan to cut taxes, and yet have it be revenue neutral means that he has to make up the money somewhere. that doesn't have to be from raising taxes on the middle class. if we get tremendous growth, no ones taxes have to go up. but what robert said it right, we've gone from having a hope and change presidency to a divide and conquer strategy. i don't think it's going to work and i think it has the potential to backfire on obama. >> ultimately, john, that is the

key question. whether it is effective politically. it's been done before, john edwards ran a campaign certainly based on class warfare, he was not, you know, the sitting president, but he was running for election. i think that americans generally tend to shy away from this thing. we want to unite or not or divide. we want hope and change to bring us together as a country, not somebody that saysly raise taxes on these guys, that guy is standing for this percent and that percent. that's the way radicals have tried to portray our country, i don't think that's how most middle americans think about their lives and their country. >> i guess from a policy standpoint, does it make any sense to be making tf more expensive for the group doing the hiring, and is the characterization of the romney lan even accurate.

>> the tax policy center said, the group he quoted last night, that was governor romney has not specified how he would increase the tax base, so it's impossible to determine how this would affect them. romney has not been specific on what he would do, how he would raise tax revenues to make his plan tax neutral. balm has been allowed to define that plan for romney because romney has not done it himself. so we don't know what impact the plan would have because it's not specific, but you're right there is an impact, the job creators and people that invest, one of the reasons this economy is not taking off is because the people with capital are not taking

risks. >> that's the bottom line. now the ball is in romney's court. we know where the president is going over the next couple months and romney needs to be more specific. trying to frame the debate the way he see it's. >> absolutely, romney needs to present himself as the opportunity candidate. he needs to say i don't want highest taxes for anybody. one with less loopholes and is less complecomplex. >> he has to say if this is neutral he has to say where the added revenues will come from. >> yes, he can say it will come under growth. and so we're going to make up for the revenues under growth, but he's not doing it and i don't know why. >> this is going to be on going. >> you had bob lutz on and he

made this a centerpiece for height argument for why he is a romney supporter. >> the country has never been more divided than it is today. is that a fair statement in. >> yes. >> it's not like we were singing songs together under the previous administration either. >> do you think this is an example of class warfare. working throughout the final stretch for a tuesday trading day, the dow jones off the best levels of the session but still up. >> and will disney post super hero numbers thanks to "the avengers"? >> and bob iger will join us moments after the numbers are released. this man is about to be the millionth customer. would you mind if i go ahead of you? instead we had someone go ahead of him

and win fifty thousand dollars. congratulations you are our one millionth customer. people don't like to miss out on money that should have been theirs. that's why at ally we have the raise your rate 2-year cd. you can get a one-time rate increase if our two-year rate goes up. if your bank makes you miss out, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense.

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welcome become, stocks are rallying and futures are surging, schawe have the detail. >> traders are assessing what

damage may be and how long it will take to repair it. we saw oil prices above $94 a barrel for the wti price and a churge in the rbob market as well. we're at highs and it's likely to drive prices higher at the pump as well. back to you. if you've been betting on disney this year, it's paying off. it has been a outperformer, it's up better than 30% year to date, and investors are helping "the avengers" are going to help bump it up. we have richard ross with us, and anthony de clemnte. anthony, what are we expecting out of disney, what do you

expect to be the highlights? >> there's three, really, the studio that benefits from "the avengers," an important thing for disney this year, the second is espn, and the third is theme parks. those have all been positive delivers for disney in 2012 and we expect good news for those. >> what about the charts, what do they tell you right now? >> the stock has been on a fantastic run. disney is the second best performing stock in the dow, but even disney trees don't grow to the sky and there's a few things worrying me. tracking the stock higher, that's great, that's what we like to see. back in march, 17% it was trading above the moving day average. it was subsequently an 8% correction.

we think history repeats itself. we're looking for a pull back. we think that coincides with that 8 bank account pullback and we would be a seller at that key $50 level. >> you want to buy it back after it drops? >> yes, we love that chart. you want to buy it on the pull back. >> i what i would add is on valuation, if you take next year's earnings of 350 and use a full multiple you get to 5250, we think the upside is limited. from a fundamental view, it's true that 15 times you're accelerating fundamentals. and we don't have enough yet to call a bullish view on another acceleration in advertising and

you look at that compared to what the media has done on performance. >> thank you, stay with us, at 4:15 p.m. eastern, we'll be talking to the man behind this monster company, rob iger will join us for a cnbc interview. >> the dow jones now up 69 points. the nasdaq out performing today as it is up 1% with a little more than 30 minutes to go before the ring the bell here. one of microsoft's biggest partners says the tablet is failure and it's not even out. and the ten most profitable u.s. companies including microsoft payed an average tax rate of just 9% last year. somebody here says don't blame the company, blame the tax code.

welcome back, inside the final 30 minutes of trading, and technology continues to lead the way today. >> technology very strong today, and we're seeing the nasdaq up

above 3,000 for the first time since may 4th. lead by chips. goldman sachs says they see inventories coming down there, small caps are outperforming. the russell 2,000 up more than the big caps here at the nasdaq today. and amazon's move into zynga space on facebook with new social games not hurting zen ga, but take a look at fb, once again after being is down. >> acer is taking aim at microsoft about launching their surface tablet. he say it's will create a huge negative impact for the eco system and other brands may take a negative action.

it's not something you're good at, so please think device. ouch -- the question is is he right? one of our guests says no, and another says yes. we reached out to microsoft, but have not heard back, so why should that the not give it a try. >> they have shown they cannot run an eco system. nobody has shown the way apple can dominate with phones and tablets. micro soft is not a hardware maker, it is a software congressmen. they should listen to their partners especially for support moving forward.

acer is just the first one do to it we we showed you a string of missteps, you had the phone, all of the tablet pc, jay, you're saying microsoft is doing the right thing though, right? >> by expanding in other areas? >> exactly, there is no question that microsoft had to make this move, they struggled with hardware, and they know they have to get this right. the reason they have to do is this they can't rely on the partners they had in the past. look at hp, they were supposed to do a microsoft tablet and they failed. they tried to do palm and that failed also. hp said we're getting out of the pc business. so that's an insight into the partners, microsoft saw that mess and said we have to step in

and do something on our own, we have to build our own tablet. i think it's important to think about where microsoft gets it's money. obviously it cannot trust those partners because they're not doing it right. they're going to say we're going to make our own tablet, show you how it's done, do it correctly, and if acor sees the market develop, nothing is stopping acer from building a tablet. it's a mistake, they don't know what they're doing, if acer, this is what they do, and they cannot beat microsoft, they might as well go home anyway. >> looks like they're taking a lot of hits, the august issue of van ti fair highlight when they call the lost decade, they're

saying they missed mobile and tablets which they're now trying to make a move in, but are the attacks fair? stock is deferent than corporate and financial as well. >> i think it makes a difference. we have never seen it, xbox 360 is probably the only place we have seen success there. when it comes down to tablets, it's competing with people that have been doing this for years and years. i think it's terribly dangerous, even if it has to enter that market that doesn't mean it will succeed at it. >> of course there is no proof, they haven't done it yet. >> what do they need to do though? >> what do they need to do to break out of the rut? they're missing all of these massive trends. >> work with the partners, show

them the designs, talk about how to build these, sort of like intel and the macbook. >> those partners, where else will they go, what laptops are they going to make? they don't have an option. they're still going to have to use windows to make their laptops, they can't alienate them that much. and about the van ti fair article. sure microsoft whiffed, but it's one that's not afraid to take a big chance. sure they're two years behind, but if they sat back -- >> i they can increase licensing fees, otherwise they're going to have to worry about maintaining these products too. >> android is not even the same

field as windows 8. >> it's a competitive operating system. >> this is a different field. >> we appreciate your time. we want to get to the market flash desk. >> disney is up with a nice run. expect one and a third in revenue, the key is, a lot of people don't know how heavily exposed they are to international and domestic. they will have growth across all of their sectors, but how big is international, that will be the key. >> all right, we'll be watching, thank you, brian, 20 minutes until the closing bell sounds for the day, gains pretty steady on the day. >> so much for investor confidence getting crushed by the knight capital trading

glitch ri with will rally roll on? president obama found time to talk to the leaders of france and spain about the yur zone crisis. do you think the president's romneyhood comments are an example of class warfare? sweet us, your responses are coming up. first, the dividend, which company stock is up the most this year. international flavors, ral of lauren, or sodastream. the dividend pays off after the break. so we have ongoing webinars and interactive learning,

just before the break we asked which stock with the eeshings out tomorrow is up the most this year? international flavors, ralph lauren, or sodastream. it has risen about 30% year to date. >> write this number down. >> 13279.32, we're about 100

points from that right now. it the dow closes above that level, it will the highest level in nearly four years. this is the face of the knight capital trading glitch and all kins of other things. so what has happened? we have sam stoval. and ed from quantitative associates. sai sam, is investor confidence down? >> it is, but not as much as it has been. the it was down to 22%, and now it's up to about 32% bulls. so it's still realtively low from where we are in this recovery. >> scott said it's the rodney

dangerfield rally because it's getting to respect. >> ed, can you solve the great market mystery for us? why are we almost at a four and a half year closing high for the dow. there's no resolution outs of europe, the fiscal cliff, the economy is sluggish. >> i admit this rally has caught us by surprise. the second quarter earnings were okay, and revenues were not good at all, this is a perfect case. we're on track to get almost a 20% gain this year, and it still feels very nerve racking. >> what do you want us to do? >> we've been sticking to guidelines all month. we think there is a real risk in europe that we could get a shock. it would be very hard to react to. if you have a lot of money to

manage, you have to stick closer to guidelines. >> so, sam, where do you want to be? let's assume we go higher from here, where do you want to be invested right now? >> the momentum has been shifting. since the june 1st low, you have see the market shifting. investors were really saying oh, i have an opportunity to get into big payers at a discounted price, now we're seeing a shift into the cyclicals that indicates we have more staying power. we're seeing an improvement in the industrials, technology, and consumer discretionary category. >> where is the growth right now? >> there's not much. the market may be telling us

that growth maybe in the fourth quarter and next year will turn out better than it looks today. isa had a piece out that maybe consumer spending will pick up in the fourth quarter because of greater wealth -- >> betting the election out of the way would be one big positive. >> yes, get that sense of uncertainty reduced would help. >> so sam, seems like you're saying there may be a shift in psyche. >> they haven't done as well as the utilities and other areas that are more defensive. they could have a run. >> i would still call it a fear trade. it's fear of losing money, and in this kind of recovery, it's fear of missing out. i think a lot of people are playing the timing game, trying to kweez osqueeze out 50 more pn

the s&p 500. >> maria, about 15 minutes to go before the closing bell rings. 13279. >> so just about 100 points away from a 4 and a half year high. >> and america going after a huge british bank for allegedly doing that to the tune of $250 billion dollars. >> they try to bully somebody. >> we'll get into that and more on this very big story. stay with us.

. the global banks system getting another black eye from the charter scandal. the bank accused of hundreds billions of dollars. >> the story is generates a lot of heat not just because of the outrage of the illegal activities, some are mad that

america is raising a fuss about it. >> why is it always a british bank who do all of these evil things around the world and manipulates libor, or adjusting rates, all of the banks are in their pocket. the american authorities never go after an american bank, they try to bully somebody abroad. this is crazy. >> we're beating up whatever scandal is in front of us, it's just a british bank. >> no one has been indicted for

the financial crisis, and it has been a point of debate for many years. if that's in the camp of his argument, okay, i'll give him that, but maybe that's where i would stop. >> i think you're right, i think that is what's driving that kind of sentiment. people want to see somebody go down for what happened in 2008 and we have not seen any indictments. that right there puts america on the bad side of the ledger. to say that people beat ul all of these banks just because their not american banks is ridiculous. >> another black eye for the banks? yeah, it's unavoidable. you look at the scandal, the financial crisis, things that have happened since then, it doesn't help sentiment towards banks. it under scores the risk you take. >> exactly and that's the whole debate about if it is in fact too risky for too big to fail and breaking up the banks.

>> yes, countdown is up next. >> and bob iger up here on closing bell. is the looming fiscal cliff impacting his business are or his theme parks still overcrowded? we'll talk with bob iger after the bell tonight.

welcome back, it is time once again for the closing countdown with maria bartiromo. 13279 was the magic number, we will not get there -- >> close, but there was buying balances at the close, that's what we're seeing right now, we're faring the higher end of the range that we have been trading in the last couple hours. >> and an interesting move, the market keeps doing this market up for now real within. maybe you're more confident the

fed will act. >> we didn't have a lot of can economic data to sway, and there is a ton of money on the sidelines. what do you think? are you seeing the real conviction? >> no, we would like to see a lot more volume. i don't think with a 550 -- maybe a 720 run rate. you don't really see the institutional buyers back in the market. there is some under lying strength, but i would love to see more volume. >> i'm just trying, you know, my clients are not doing much of anything. some are selling some stocks we made money in. >> ed, what can you tell people

in terms of how you see things going here for the next couple weeks. >> i think there are good also haves. this has been a pretty good rally. maybe you say one report was better than expected. there has not been anything particularly dramatic. why would you buy treasury bonds at 1.5%. >> why am guying to put my money to stocks if the ten year spanish bond could go above 7% at any moment? >> you have to look at the value -- the risk reward ratio, if you're looking at u.s. equities, the risk is less than it would be if you started like trying to play something off the

st spanish bond -- >> are you going to watch and get a lot of retailers reporting it? you will hear from disney in the next hour, maria will speak to bob iger. >> and the theme parks is very indicative. >> i think the story is pretty well known, earnings were well and sales were weak. i'm hoping that we get a pick up toward the end of the year and that will give us a closing kick to equity prices. >> the election will have a lot to do with that, but you hit on something that i think is really important and that is revenue. we have not seen end market demand, doesn't that tell you what's going on in this economy? >> no doubt the economy is weak, will it stay week which i think is embedded in the stock prices, or is it possible that we get

positive surprises next year. think think the pries are low enough that you can get a little aggressive on that. >> i will head back to the set, see you next hour on "closing bell." get us your perspective how you see things trading out. >> yeah, i mean there's not a lot left in the earnings season, i think disney is indicative. people are spending more money and feel more comfortable, that's almost better than some of the consumer sentiment. this is a very powerful stock. >> do you feel there is a floor firmly set by the central bangers around the world whether it's bernanke or draghi? >> yes, there is a price point with what they're looking at,

brout rat growth rates, and bond yields, i think they know where they want to keep the economy going. >> that would seem to tell investors that the stock market may go down a little bit because the central banks will not let it happen for whatever hour they have to influence that. >> yeah, i think investors are showing they find a lot of value at those levels, so whether we have as much value now as we did when it was 1300 or so, it's not as acute. >> from the long run, that's where you should put your money. >> what would you avoid? >> i think there is a fair point with the good movement and the more defensive stocks. they look pricey here. maybe there is an oppni