ebay. thank you so much for joining us today. closing bell is coming up next. we'll see you same time tomorrow. hi, everybody. we're into the final stretch. welcome to the closing bell. will they or won't they? the question everybody is asking today about the federal reserve. we'll know weight did and how the market reacted less than 24 hours from now. >> yes, we will, finally. as expected, many are not placing very big betts ahead of tomorrow's announcement given how much the markets have already priced in. more easing from the fed at this point. plus, we have more on that horrible story out of the middle east. senseless violence, american death over nothing more than just a movie. we are looking more at our dependance on middle east oil in light of all of this and we'll cover that coming up in a moment. first, a look at wall street, the dow is up, up 13,333 hanging

on to slight gains on the volume. the nasdaq is up just a point at 3,105. very wait and see, again, maria. >> it absolutely is. we're watching apple today. the stock is slightly higher after the company announced the launch of a new iphone 5. the phone has more bells and whistles than we expected. and they may not be finished yet. there are rumors that tim cook may be coming back to the stage later in the convention there and maybe introducing something else. >> another product. >> maybe the mini ipad will finally be introduced at this particular event. in the meantime as the market hangs on the fed's every move, will investors get what they want after tomorrow's meeting? and what if the fed falls short? let's find out what our guests think in today's closing bell

exchange panel. mark lehman of jnp securities is with us. marty wolf, m&a advisers and liesman and san till l and sant with us, as well. mark, what do you think? >> we think there's going to be quantitative easing. we don't think it's frankly a meaningful event and it certainly won't have any impact on jobs and jobs creation at this point. >> so, mark, are you a buyer in this market, regardless of the fed, if the fed acts or not? what do you think? >> we're not short-term traders. we think it's been priced in the market. we're more interested in companies like apple and facebook and so forth. >> mark lehman, what do you think? >> i agree. i think the market has priced in the easing. i also think the market is headed higher. i think you're seeing that over the course of the last few weeks and months. that's the best place to put your capital right now and i don't expect that to change through tend of the year. >> steve liesman, what do you think they're thinking at this point? >> you think, i would pay a

couple of bucks for that, to know. i'm really interested in our results from our cnbc survey. we found 90% expecting qe. 60% thinking it won't do anything to lower the unemployment rate. yet the market is up on the news. so we have this increase of asset prices, simply equity asset prices. but then really no sense that it will help out in the real economy. so that's a curious move by both the fed and by investors together. >> and i know you'll know more on that coming up next hour here. rick, meantime, the market is in a flat. although we had a rather soft ten-year note auction. who wants to step in before a fed meeting, right? >> oh, i agree. and if the focus of quantitative easing is short maturities, then some of the previous quantitative easings or twist, they figure prominently in the question marks there. but i think we're asking the wrong question. who cares, really, what investors want. the question is what the economy

needs. and that's the question we should be asking. >> okay. what does the economy need, rick? >> it needs jobs and there is no proof, there is very little proof that quantitative to the nth letter of the alphabet is giving the economy the jobs it needs. all these quantitative easing programs and all i see is 1.7% gdp and a labor force much smaller than when the president walked in office. much smaller than when the last president walked in office. >> we agree with rick completely. we think quantitative easing forces people into riskier assets. i spent lots of sales in i.t. companies, and there's too much uncertainty. until things sort out, companies will continue to make more money and we'll employ fewer people. >> but, steve, after the fed chairman has come out and laid it out for us, that he's not happy with unemployment, he's not happy with the growth rate of the economy, you know, on and on and on, is he likely to sit on his hands at the same time? >> almost certainly not, bill.

i think the fed chairman believes that quantitative easing has had an effect on gdp. then helpful in the turn around from a deep recession we had and also help turn around the job market, which has had positive growth in it, although as rick said on both the growth front and the jobs front, it's been insufficient. but it would be interesting to overlay on top of this, okay, let's say rick is right. what do we want? higher interest rates would have helped the economy? >> whatever the market dictates. >> that's been the place i've been unable to join with rick. i think there's a huge cost to the economy. but i think in general the benefits outweigh it and maybe less and less as we go along here. >> i'll tell you, it certainly has helped the market, that's for sure. let's talk individual stocks for a moment. marty, facebook, one thing we're looking a at, getting a pretty good bounce after mark zuckerberg spoke. let's hear what he had to say and then i want to get your take

on it. underestimating his company is the theme of this sound bite. >> personally, this is maybe a per verse thing permanently, but i would rather by in the cycle where people underestimate us because i personally would rather be underestimated. i think it gives us good latitude to go out and take some big betts and do some things that really excite and amaze people. >> he's going to -- >> the expectations certainly have come down. marty, what's your take on facebook? >> it's his punxsutawney phil imitation. granted, he did a fine job and he looked more like a leader, but let's be clear, it's a massive complex turn around. the core business was overvalued at its offering price and based on market metrics, whether it's revenue perusers, growth, it's overpriced by two or three times. and just to put it into perspective of the value that's been destroyed, they've lost more enterprise value than nike.

they've lost more enterprise value than hp, sony, domino's pizza all in a period of time. >> trust me, he and his employees are very well aware of that. the question is, are we underestimating their growth opportunities, the ability to grow the company from these levels? >> i don't think there's any question the company can be grown. but you're competing with three of the best companies in the world between apple, microsoft and google and some of them have $100 billion more money than they do. i have to tell you something, to be in a secondary position with those people ahead of me and my key workers under water with their stock options, that's a metric that is very different than social mead ra. >> i think they have their work cut out for them. >> is it really fair to say, though, that they're competing with apple? >> i think there's convergence going forward with it. apple with their map, apple and video, there's convergence. they come at it from the least

demon advertised portion. they have a lot of distance. >> we're going to look at the apple website, did you say? okay. very good. thank you, gentlemen. >> thank you very much. >> we are looking at a market that is hugging the flat line. no surprise as we await the fed results, tomorrow, bill, about this time. 2:00, actually, we'll get the details. >> i wouldn't be surprised if we're unchanged going into the close here, right? >> that's exactly where we are. >> plenty of people have been expecting a sell-off after the fed announcement tomorrow. maybe they're fading that. >> meanwhile, we're in the final stretch. 50 minutes before the closing dell. nasdaq composite here, negative. although certainly some bright spots. >> and don't go anywhere. we are just getting started. much more ahead on another busy addition of "the closing bell." display coming up, better dead than fed? leadership thinks the central bank needs to stop metaling with

the economy. ron and sauna believes the recovery needs more stimulus. what else when a movable object meets an irresistible force? find out, straight ahead. plus, calling out apple. here comes at this phone 5. that's great. but now what? is the world's most valuable company doing enough to attract new customeres and grow and keep shareholders happy? and counting calories. >> people buy what they want to buy, but it helps them make better choices. >> mcdonald's posting the caloric value of its food for all to see. will the move scare away customers?

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welcome back. i wanted to show you, the apple website was down for a little while. demand was a little high. people wanted to get their first look at the iphone 5. it's back up now. there it is and a handsome piece it is, maria. >> oh, yeah. it's handsome. >> even thinner than past iphones and the screen is a little larger, as well. >> and obviously faster. >> and it's going to be faster and hold more and all those good things. so you can start ordering them

on friday. it starts deliveries in the united states the following friday on the 21st. we'll have more on this coming up all day here. let's get to brian shactman with his market flash. >> thank you very much, bill. there is news out there outside of apple. i want to take a look at dole foods, the iconic brand now a smaller cap company just under $1 billion. right around 1:00, the nikkei reported. the headline and the subheader, they reported a japanese company was acquire two dole food units for $1.7 billion. the subhead says they hope to reach an agreement this month. the price spiked. the stock is up 10%. back to you. >> thank you so much, brian. if world investors are right, get ready for another

intervention to boost the economy. >> mean time, we're going to talk about whether it's needed or not. peter says any fed action is not going to help and it's wrong. others say the economy needs it right now. let's talk about it and get your perspective on this. peter, you saw the employment numbers last friday. you don't think we need more fed intervention? >> we need more fed intervention the way an alcoholic niedz another drink. the reason why the economy can't recover is because the fed wouldn't allow it to have a real recession. we are suffering the consequences of qe1, qe2, in fact, the consequence of the qe that precipitated the housing bubble and the stock market bubble. we can't let the federal reserve use monetary policy and artificially low interest rates to blow these bubbles. and then when the bubbles blow up, not let the market repair the damage, but try to juice the economy. it's never going to recover if we keep doing this. >> ron, do you think? do you think the stimulus will make a difference here? >> well, i think it will help at

the margin. and i think the notion of not letting the fed up and letting the market clear with what would have been a devastating recession or depression in 20308 and 2009 is historically long headed. we found out what happened when politics were made in the 1930s. and there is really no historical basis on which to make these predictions that intervention and assistance from a policy perspective doesn't help the economy. there are 46.7 million people on food stamps who would argue quite differently right now. >> ron, yes, there is. in fact, we're repeating the mistakes of japan, we're repeating the mistakes of the 1930s. we are intervening. we're doing it in a worse way. and the fed can't help. all they can do is make it worse. >> but that's patently false. you're not backing that up with anything, peter. >> no, i'm backing it up with facts. >> i haven't heard one yet. >> all the fed can do is delay the pain. and how do you think i knew the

crisis was coming? how do you think i was on cnbc in 2505 and 2006 worrying about it? and when everybody else was calling for a recovery in 2009 and 2010, i said it wasn't real. i said we will be back in recession and we will be. >> let me just respond by saying if it's not real, it's the best fake 100% rally in stocks i've seen. >> and the economy is growing 2% where it would have been down 9%, 10%. >> you guys are talking about two different things. >> i'm not talking about the stock market. the stock market is not the economy. qe is good for the stock market because it's inflation. it's not about liabilities. >> that's what's happening. that's why stock res going up. but if you measure stocks in gold, they're not going up. they're going down as you look at them in real money. >> first of all, gold isn't necessarily real money. there are all kinds of real money. >> no, there's not. >> yeah, there are. if you look at history, we'll see everything from seashells to

salt, paper being real money. >> that's money. >> but paper is not money. paper is a money substitute. >> we have this -- currency is not money. >> when you think about it from a political standpoint, which politician is going to be the one to sit on his hands or her hands and let the economy sink, you know, without providing some help? you know they would not be returned to office at all if they allowed the free market to do their thing back in 2008. >> if they had allowed the free market to work, we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place. but i understand we would have gone through a lot move pain, peter. >> no. >> you know the outcome would have been a lot more painful for the economy and we would have been blaming the politicians who did nothing at that time. >> but the government inflated the housing bubble. without the fed and the government, there would have been no financial crisis. >> that's only a -- >> but at the same time -- >> let's look forward. let's look forward, okay? ryan, you heard peter's points

here and it's not that you haven't heard this argument before. >> all the time, yes. >> yeah, but a lot of people feel that at this point the fed action is not really going to do anything and they're almost out of bullets. so is it too much fed action at this point? >> no. first of all, the fed is not almost out of bullets. that is a fiction. if you study the fed and what they can do during periods where there's deflationary pressure and excess capacity including what they're doing, the fed can do more and will do more tomorrow. and it impacts the deflationary, deleveraging going on in the economy. that's been proven over the last couple of years and last several cycles. >> they're going to do more harm. you can collect more seashells. i'm going to keep buying gold. >> we're not going to get any jobs and eventually, ron, we're going to have a currency crisis and a sovereign debt crisis. >> no, we're not. >> yes, we will. >> no, we won't. >> if i may, peter started e-mailing me in the mid 1990s talking about hyper inflation.

we went through the 1990s without hyper inflation. the biggest threat was deflation. some of us like myself were talking about problems in housing in 2006, 2007. >> you were? >> pull the tapes, peter. read my books. it's all if there. made the calls. >> i don't remember you out there on cnbc when i was calling about the -- >> well, i don't need you to remember. there's tape. >> guys, thank you so much. >> i can't wait to see who picks up the check at lunch. >> thank you. >> peter will buy it in gold. >> thank you, guys. we'll see you soon. >> that was as fun as we thought it would be. >> and don't forget to tune in tomorrow for the fed special we are going to have. we'll have an all-star panel for the reaction. >> we head towards the close, yes, we are virtually unchanged right now in this wait and see market mode with about 40 minutes left, the dow is unchanged. >> remember this chant made famous for years ago during the

presidential election? >> the chant is drill, baby, drill. >> drill, baby, drill? >> drill, baby, drill, making a comeback amid all of the new and senseless violence in the middle east. we'll have the story, coming up. >> but first, when you go to mcdonald's, are you health conscious? something you're doing today makes you think you want to be health conscious? we'll tell you what it is, coming up. ♪ you know, ronny... folks who save hundreds of dollars by switching to geico sure are happy. and how happy are they jimmy? i'd say happier than a bodybuilder directing traffic. he does look happy. get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. a passionate belief, and the foundation on which merrill lynch has been built.

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welcome back. so mcdonald's restaurants across this country will soon add something to the menu. the fast food giant will post callie information on restaurants and drive through menus nationwide beginning on monday ahead of a regulation that will require major change post the information as early as next year. can the stock still fatten investor wallets? jeff is with me. he's managing partner at bell point alternatives. and on the fundamental side of the story, aaron is chief investment officer with fpiq.

mcdonald's has had a nice run. i like the chart. >> i definitely like the chart. one thing we have to look at, we have to go back to january 2011. this stock had a 42% up move on the chart. in february 2012, it topped out at $102. it had a 10% correction as you can see in this down trend and it's finding support at 86.50. and it's in a nice consolidation here within a range, 86.50 to $92. get conserve it when it closes above $92.50. if you want to be aggressive, use this down trend line right here, get long today and use that as your support. i don't know if counting the calories is going to affect the chart. this is a very healthy looking chart. >> yes. anything below 86.50 is a trade set up. >> erin, what's working

fundamentals? >> we're not so worried about the counting calories. if you use new york state, they've shown that it makes no affect on consumer buying and we expect a similar -- basically a simil similar behavior from buyers going out. >> bottom line, you think there's still room for mcdonald's to move higher? >> absolutely. it's a strong buy for us. we think the biggest risk is coming from europe. but we see with all the healthy menu options being available next year, that hopefully the u.s. and china will be able to recute rate those losses. >> what is the red flag on the chart, jeff? >> what i want people to keep in mind, if you needed to close above the $92.50. then we're going to look for a price target at $102 which is the all-time head back in fed.

>> jeff, erin, thanks so much. the dow at this point is up just three points as we head to the close. apple finally unveiling the iphone 5 today. >> it is the most beautiful product we have ever made, bar none. >> but we ask, what's next for apple? does it have any other tricks up its sleeve? after the iphone keeps the stock surging. plus, forget the fed. will shoppers save the economy this holiday season? we have details on that, coming up. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 when i'm trading, i'm totally focused. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and the streetsmart edge trading platform from charles schwab... tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 gives me tools that help me find opportunities more easily. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 i can even access it from the cloud and trade on any computer. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and with schwab mobile, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 i can focus on trading anyplace, anytime... tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 until i choose to focus on something else. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 trade at charles schwab for $8.95 a trade.

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welcome back. as we have been reporting, apple unveiling the highly anticipated iphone 5 today. john is at the event with the details. over to you, john. >> maria, as expected, new iphone, same price as the old one, but the important thing here is that they did what we

expected. there have been a number of leaks of parts on the internet sharing what this thing looked like. four inch screen, longer, color saturation is higher with this screen. i'll have to see it in person to get an impression. something tells me the territory of the new ipad screen quality which really is stunning when you look at it. but perhaps one of the most important aspects of this new announcement has to do with the ipod touch. surprise there. it's about the same design as the iphone on the outside as far as that 4 inch screen, larger screen. it's got a better camera and better camera software and apple is pricing it higher at $299. interesting margin play here. interesting to present this as a camera alternative for the holidays. but the way investors i think should think about is apple is building a bit of a mote around the ipad. think about it, futh a new ipad or iphone touch and you're in the market for a tablet, are you

going to stay in the apple system or go to a completely different system with amazon? i think apple is really trying to push their overall play strong software in services where they've had a lot of momentum in the past. we'll see how they do, maria. >> all right, john. thank you so much. now that that phone has been unveiled, its much anticipated iphone 5. what is next for the technology giant? >> will it be a mini ipad, will it be the apple tv that's been mythically talked about? let's talk to our expert. we also have max's world of green crest capital. he's not exactly sold on this stock at this time. gene, i'll bet i know what max is going to say. they're relying too much lately on the iphone franchise. do you agree? if so, what can they come up with next that can help this stock move forward? >> one thing i would point out,

everything today was aspe expe d expected, but i think when you go and hold the phone and try it out, it will be the unexpected. but to your point about what's beyond the iphone, 2013 i think is going to be the year of the ipad. when that really breaks down. also, i think china mobile will kick in with another 600 million potential subs. so those two factors are reasons that this story can keep coming. >> the story does keep coming and i guess they do have a lot in the pop line. but, max, you see apple is going to -- its own product and the upcoming mini ipad. >> we see apple continuing to do quite well. we expect the iphone 5 to be a hit. let's be honest, the iphone 5 is a catch up phone. it's the first time we have seen apple release its new phone and it's now apple's version of the faster speeds, the bigger screen features that people are liking and enjoying on motorola products, on samsung products,

on hdc products. we continue to see that 70% of revenue, 40% of revenue, 70% of profits tied to the iphone, it's a gateway product for apple which builds a walls garden approach. we don't think it can grow much and of course year it can sacrifice margins or sacrifice growth. that's why we don't think it will have a repeat year 12 months from now. >> gene, what about that? >> well, first thing is this concept of it being a catchup phone, the concept of it being a catchup phone. that's what apple has done ever since they came out with the ipod event initially and the iphone was a catch up. these are not about features. they buy it for the platform. so i would strongly disagree with that, the fact that it's a catch up phone. and separately, as far as

cannibalizing themselves, that's what apple does really well is cannibalizing themselves. it will be a computer you carry with you that will be a watch or sunglasses, something that you carry in your ear. that sounds george jetson like, but if you look down the road, they'll cannibalize the iphone with something else. apple dominates the ability to share content between devices and i think that that is full in play and that will continue for the next several years. >> so what is your take on the stock, then, gene? do you want to buy it here or do you think the stock, as max said, is not going to be a three piece? >> i think the reason is this, if you look at the december numbers for iphone, the street is looking for around 30% growth. with this phone, what they just showed today, i bet that that is going to away conservative number. >> and let's be clear, max. are you selling to apple at this point? >> absolutely not. we see a q1 peak out for apple.

i agree that google glass might be the future. i'm not sure that apple makes that. but i think the problem with the new phone is that apple made a lot of money selling the older versions, the 3, 3g when they had the 4s. because it physically looks different, it's hard to sell your second generation product and have it be the status symbol. it's not really a hardware buy, but i would have to disagree that apple is playing catchup. i think apple has been the leader in the space. but i think the iphone 5 is a catch up phone. >> thank you, gentlemen. >> thank you. >> thank you. let's get a market flash update right now. brian shactman is at the market flash desk. over to you, brian. >> very interesting story. take a look at msns. dick blumenthal wants the fda to

regulate drinks. the stock down 9.5%. back to you. >> ouch. >> monster sell off. >> yeah. absolutely. we are in the final stretch, 25 minutes before the closing bell. we have a market that's picking up steam a bit. it's actually up six points there, so creeping ahead here, bill, ahead of the fed meeting. >> let's talk about that, whether the stocks will set off if the fed doesn't do enough in the market's opinion on that. that's the new concern on wall street. >> and then later, economic advisers chairman marty feld sateen is with us explaining why he believes more fed act could cause great daner to the u.s. economy. if we want to improve our schools... ...what should we invest in? maybe new buildings?

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[ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac! [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. ♪ ha ha! two of europe's largest aerospace and defense companies may be eyeing a merger. phil lebeau has details and why it could turn that defense industry on its head, as well. >> consider that if bae and eads were to combine. their joint revenues last year,

$98 billion. compare that with boeing, it's $67 billion. $49 million market cap combined, eads would be 6 0%. bae 40%. keep in mind, talks are still going on. we should have a decision by october 29th. when you take a wloob a merger was announced with the system. their strength, obviously, strong in europe, but they're strong in the middle east, india, south africa. this is just on the military side. that's why people are taking a

look at shares of boeing today. down, but not a huge drop. could this be the start of consolidation in the industry? bill and maria, over the next two weeks, you'll see a lot of talk about whether or not this is the spark that starts a lot of consolidation municipal the defense players. >> yeah, especially if they're making cuts in that industry. thank you, phil lebeau, very much. by the way, if you merge bae and eads, what are you going to call that, david? >> beads or something like that. >> so the markets are a little changed today as investors await tomorrow's fed announcement. the real question is, what will this market be doing 24 hours from now after the fed has made that announcement? >> david darch is with us now and our own bob pisani. what do you think, tim? is this a buy on the news or

sell on the news? >> i think this is a longer term buy. the things that we're seeing in the derivatives market, specifically where we look at risk pricing over extended periods of time out through december 2013 and december 2014. we've seen dramatic shifts lower in risk prices there, which means the case that people are looking for quantitative easing tomorrow, but whether we get it tomorrow or not, they will expect it on that economic news, good economic news, but they will look at continued support from the fed as we move forward. >> so what do you think to buy? >> i want to be long risk assets. i want to clip as many coupons as we can. high dividend and high yields is probably where i would focus. >> billion, what do you think happens tomorrow? >> 95% chance that something happens. part of that will be they're going to keep the interest rate low through 2015. there's at least a 75% that they announce some quantitative easing and you want to buy the

three to seven-year as part of the treasury markets. maria, all the best of the 9/11 victims yesterday and, maria, happy birthday to you from morgan stanley smith barney. a big heart. it's a paperweight. that's all it is. it's a paperweight. >> you always surprise me and you always say you're not going to. >> what is the feeling on the floor? is this going to be one of those sell on the news tomorrow? >> once you get the fomc, a lot of news, the europe news is temporarily out, the fomc is gone. so far, the only thing that's right is buy on the rumor. the draghi put is huge and enormous. maybe a little bit of a pullback seems likely here, but 10%, 20% correction. i think people are kidding themselves at this point. did you see the news earlier, bill gross announcing that he's cutting holdings? he's concerned about inflation.

there's a little bit of effect. and i liked him comment on high yaeldz because i've been talking about these high yields etfs. people believe the fed is going to extend its low interest rate guidance. >> high yield funds will be the beneficiary. >> on bob draghi, he's one of my large investors in the marketplace comment just that. he said, look, the fed is important, but don't underestimate what the news out of the ecb is. that is structurally different. >> do you see it as inflationary, though? bill gross tweeted that a few weeks ago and gold hasn't looked back. it's been higher ever since. >> i think it's going to be difficult to determine exactly what will be inflationary in terms of commodity prices or other asset prices. we talk about different types of inflation. we talk about corn and other products going higher or are we talking about inflating equities, right?

>> long-term, inflationary. short-term, not much of a difference. the thing to watch is china. china has been slowing. the iron ore prices, the retail sales, the exports po china have all been really very weak. china's stock market is in negative territory for the year. that's the one we have to keep an eye on. but that will keep a lid on prices, china's slowing. >> i will say we've given you guys at morgan stanley props for giving it right in terms of the economy. you've seen slow down in terms of growth, unemployment has remained high. but i don't think you expected the market to be sitting here today in september at five-year highs, did you? >> no, not in the least. we think you can have an economic above recession while you have an earnings recession. that's what you think is now the second half of this year. so this is a full year football game, the second half we think the profits are coming under

pressure because of europe's slowdown, because of the interest rates being low and the dollar being high. the money coming -- the dollar being high. the money coming back from europe is not that much. >> yeah. >> so those are going to keep -- >> is that worrying you, the slowdown? >> once this market continues to go higher, there are real big pools of assets that will have to chase it into year-end and that will absolutely help the market. >> great point. >> so we are going to have -- we could have pressure on earnings, however, we could still have a very good technical dip market. >> to give you an idea on how excited people are to get the market down, look what happened to apple. immediately i'm filled up with comments, oh, there's no big news here, apple didn't announce a 12 inch iphone that talks to god and walks your god. the stock goes from 600 to 66 0 in five weeks. i don't know what charts these people are looking at, but

that's 10% in five weeks. >> well, i'm going to get david's take on apple. it's been one of your marquis pick these year when we come back on countdown. >> thanks, gentlemen. >> heading towards the close, the dow with 15 minutes left, unchanged ahead of tomorrow's announcement by the fed. >> so will it be a ho-humor a ho-ho-ho? we've got some early numbers that could raise some eyebrows. which candidate does wall street think will win the election? steve liesman has that. and then a top ceo and romney's supporter react later on the closing bell. chevrolet malibu eco. ♪ sophisticated new styling, the fuel-saving intelligence of eassist, 37 mpg highway, and up to 580 highway miles on a single tank of gas. ♪ the all-new 2013 chevrolet malibu eco.

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welcome back to brian shactman. what's going on with panera bread? >> besides being delicious, it set a high on volume. up about 4.5%. if you look at it, even in the last week, it's up almost 18%. obviously, consumers are willing to pay a bit of a preyumm in the quick serve market for their food. back to you. >> the dough is rising. thank you, brian shactman, very much.

i apologize for that. businesses may be looming the impact the fiscal cliff is having to bottom lines, but apparently it's not having too much of an impact on consumers. >> holiday sales are expected to increase 3.3% in november and december from a year earlier. foot traffic is also up. big winners, likely to be apparel and accessories. seen jumping up 4%. there is a warning, though, that electronics and appliance retailers could be in for tough flooding. overall, decent news for the economy. >> they're going to be looking for value is what that's all about. now, you've got the iphone 5 coming out. whether that presents a value or not is the case. and if you look at the back to school sales, that for the last two years has been a good foreshadowing of holiday sales shopping. we had a very good back to school season this year.

>> we really did. and one thing that i've been looking at for the retail sector is the fact that it's still bifurcated. you have certain parts of the high end and certain parts of the low end do very well. and then this whole middle not doing anything at all. so i agree with you, i think people will pay up for something they believe is quality, that they believe they are getting value. it's like the analogy i like to use is lululemon. we're paying $70 for a pair of sweatpants? why? we believe there's a quality product. >> exactly. and not all of the luxury retailers have been as immune to this recession as they be in the past. we're seeing some wear and tear. >> and japan is such an important customer for a lot of these luxury high end and china, as well. >> value. that's the word for the holiday shopping season. we're coming back with the closing countdown right now with the dow up 7 points. >> and the latest round of violence in the middle east, no more reason we need to drill baby drill in the u.s.

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four minutes left in the trading session here. i want to start with the euro because we often track the euro in our markets. this is the most acceptsive indicator in the euro. almost up to $1.59. in fact, at thoughts levels, the euro against the dollar, we are close to ge getting above the 200 day moving average. that could, you could argue, be positive for the u.s. stock market. as i said, we have been tracking the euro to a great degree here in the united states with our stock market. if that goods above the 200 day moving average, could mean higher u.s. stock market. we'll see. as for our own stock market,

just waiting for the dow. apple was among the gainers and we'll talk about that in a moment. the ten-year yield moves up again today. a rather soft auction, up to 1.76% going into that fed meeting tomorrow. and they'll be auctioning off bonds tomorrow. gold, still near six-month highs as we continue to see the expectation of more easing by the fed, more intervention of some kind, more liquidity and the gold bugs still feel that is inflagdzary. as for the skters, this is going to look very familiar. the same sectors that have been wrong recently today, telecoms at the top of the list followed by energy.

>> we didn't strike out, but we've been underweight there and both u.s., as we were talking a moment ago, both u.s. and the u.s. have been very strong. the greek bonds are up 76% since june 1st. so that is an indication of how the european financials have come roaring back. >> allen bell does the dme securities. what happens tomorrow? do you guys expect the fed to add more liquidity on qe3, maybe? >> yeah. i think traders expect some kind of announcement recently. >> you get no announcement, enough is enough. >> but it will be more than the typical written statement of some kind. >> i think unemployment was the number that put in. >> allen has rightly pointed on jobs. it's the number one financial,

social and economic issue is j-o-b-s. we have 31 million more people in this country than we had ten years ago, but we have fewer pooe people working today. >> it's been one of your favorite stocks this year. do you still like it at these levels? >> yes, we do. it's going to solve there for a while until people begin to see how it's going to move. but we think the demand is there. they and the korean couple -- i'm not going to say their name -- but they share about a 46% market share of the phones that are over $400. so the high end of the market, china, new demand, new products coming, we're good with buying apple and how could you not like a company with $100 million in cash? thanks for joining us today. that st the ficht