"power lunch." i'm off tomorrow working on a documentary. see you monday. >> can't wait to hear about this one, ty. you know it is my favorite documentary you've ever done. street signs begins right now. "street signs" begins right now. have a great afternoon, everybody. it is a perfect storm "street signs" today. three storms in fact. first, the tech storm. apple and amazon earnings out within hours. microsoft out with windows 8. next up -- the debt storm. 80 ceos calling for action now. is congress listening? and third, the storm storm. hurricane sandy. looking like a major threat to america's east coast. she is a big one, mandy. impl it's been a back-and-forth day for stocks as they try to avoid their fifth day of losses out of six. dow and s&p are also trying to

avoid falling to fresh seven-week closing lows. earlier today the nasdaq briefly went positive for the week before beating a hasty retreat. those are the things we are watching in the markets. let's get back over to you, brian? let us begin with that first perfect storm. technology. you got microsoft out with windows 8 today. and a new tablet. but you've also got apple and amazon set to report their numbers after the bell tonight. let us begin with microsoft. jon fortt spoke with steve ballmer earlier today. jon, we've got to stop meeting like this, buddy. what was your take on the tablet? >> i've had had a little bit more time to mess with it today and it's growing on me. microsoft has done a tough thing here. they had to have this new touch interface. the us face used to be called metro. marry that with the old desktop. so it's a little bit odd sometimes when you go into an office app. you want to make that work. you move from the tiled interface, more of the desktop.

but apple had to deal with that with os 9 moving to os 10. i think microsoft's done a pretty good job. it is getting some pretty good reviews. >> yes, it is. >> they're trying to merge the tablet and pc world. okay? and it is completely different than what we've seen before. >> tim cook calls it the toaster fridge. >> ouch! >> not really complimentary. >> nat at all. let's not get into what tim cook thinks. he's a competitor. some neutral observers say maybe it is a little bit too different, that corporations are going to be slow to upgrade because they don't want that waste productivity teaching employees how to use a new operating system. >> i don't think there's any question about that. i'm hearing -- even from intel -- we don't expect corporations to rush into windows 8. this is a consumer play at first. this is a bring your own device play. some business people might get this on their own and bring it in to the office but we won't

see mass enterprise buying up windows 8 any time soon. >> this stock has only gained 6% over the course of ten years. not exactly a fantastic rueturn on investment. what do people feel will be the game changer for this stock? is it windows 8 or does it need to be something else? >> to be fair, they run up a lot ten years ago. they're on their way down and they do pay a dividend. i think a big deal is this mobile issue. at least perception wise. microsoft only gets a quarter of its revenue from windows. about one-third of operating profit. the perception is they've got to get that end user thing figured out if it is ever going to really start working for them valuation wise. >> let us bring in reuters media file columnist here. windows 8 too different to succeed or perfect? >> well, somewhere in the middle. the problem is that they've tried to put two pounds of salami into a one-pound bag. it is correct that they need a

mobile operating system that makes sense and they also need to upgrade their desktop. question is why is it all in one package? apple bifurcated these things. it has ios 6 running mobile. it has osx running desktops. i'm not quite sure why they have to be together. but both have to be done properly. >> do you agree that there is the confusion aspect in the whole relearning aspect that a lot of people -- myself included -- don't really want to do? >> yeah. i haven't played with it myself but people that have, that are across the spectrum of power users, the consensus is that, yeah, it is something new but it is not something that you can't figure out. problem is that there are some sort of unintuitive things that you have to do that you can't work around. it is poorly thought out design features. but look, something new that makes sense is perfectly okay. >> here's the big issue i think. it's touch. this is an operating system that's really bill for touch. but to get the touch experience, you either need the arm based

tablet or you need a full pc with a touch screen. those pcs with one or two exceptions are going to cost more than $1,000. >> some of the monitors alone, touch screen monitors alone, i was looking at them the other day -- are $900 running normal lcds, maybe $250. >> i think that's fine. those are all pcs. people are used to a $1,000 price point if they want kind of this big, beautiful -- but for a laptop where consumers have been targeting around $500, that's why intel said on their call last week we are working with the supply chain to get touch down in price in 2013. >> jon, is $499 too much for the surface? >> no. actually, this is the secret weapon. this might actually be the reason that we're not quite seeing. the surface, i think, is going to bridge -- has a good chance of bridging the worlds between the ultra light notebooks and tablets. it does both. it has a keyboard that's the cover. and it might eat into macbook

air and ultra light notebook sales more than it does it be blets. so this is the testing ground. if they can get this operating system accepted on a $500 device which competes with an entry level ipad, that's pretty good. i think we'll be talking differently in six months if the surface takes off. >> let's talk ipads and apples. thank you so much to reuters john abell. this is all coming two days paf a very big announcement from apple along with the ipad mini. the company said it also sold 100 million ipads, a number that actually, despite the headline, disappointed the street. was it a canary in the coal mine ahead of apples's earnings announcement which is after the bell today? will power, senior research analyst at robert w. baird. great to have you on the show today, sir. apple has exceeded the whisper number in 47 of the last 52 earnings reports. today is there the potential for a miss? >> i think we'll know more in a couple hours. i can't remember a quarter in

recent history with apple where there's been more uncertainty. i think that relates to the relative ipad weakness. i think it is a solid number overall but below where some of the forecast wrs were. numbers will lie squarely on the iphone. >> you've still got an outperform. target $750. there's no bumps on the horizon that you see? >> well, we still like the stock. near medium and long term. i think as you look at overall demand for iphone 5, we think it continues to look very strong. even as i look at the current quarter, judging from the numbers out of at&t and verizon, that would suggest that we think they can do a mid to $20 million iphone number this quarter. >> will, then why is the stock down $100 a share in a month? >> well, i think it's a number of things. there are some questions on the ipad. i think they answered some of those probably earlier in the week. the ipad mini and the new

traditional legacy ipad refresh will help them as they move through the next couple of quarters. the big question is around iphone 5 supply and to what degree apple perhaps isn't as immune as it has been in the past to the macro economic environment. i think we hope to learn more on that later today. >> sthant reisn't that really t? we want to hear what kind of supply apple can bring to the market in the holiday quarter. so many analysts i'm seeing notes out from are saying "meh" about calendar 03. unless it is a huge surprise either way, it is not going to matter that much. >> i think that's right, jon. one thing that was encouraging yesterday out of the at&t report and some of the commentary was the view they're actually starting to see a more normalized trend in terms of supply. if that continues through the balance of the quarter, that would be an encouraging sign. >> a moment ago we were speaking about microsoft's surface. do you think that this is a threat to the ipad?

might it eat ipad's sales going forward? >> well, i think clearly there's room for another provider in the tablet space. look, we all know the ipad has dominated that space. there have been a number of aen void devices that are over time. windows is now going to give it a shot. it's like windows 8. it may be a platform but whether or not it is enough to drive consumer interest remains to be seen. >> we'll have to wait for the numbers, will. see what happens. you're predicting no epic collapse though. >> i'm not predicting an epic collapse. i think it will be an okay quarter and that real lly hinge on the iphone number. >> all right, will. thank you very much. seema mody, you understand have "market flash" on yahoo!? >> we have news that yahoo!'s buying a start-up named stamps. ceo marissa mayer tweeted -- got

to visit our new acquisition stand this morning. i'm happy to be reunited with robby and his team." shares of yahoo! up .6%. >> since we have you right here, jon fortt, what's your reaction? >> this is one of the start-ups people were thinking that yahoo! might snap up with marissa mayer at the helm. this is stocked with talent that came from google. this start-up is a year and a half old. was seed funded to the tune of about $3 million, in part by google ventures. so not sure yet whether this is an aqua hire -- that's the term they use these days for taking on a start-up, not necessarily keeping the product going, just getting it for the talent. but nonetheless, an interesting move showing that mayer's going back to her roots. >> what is it? >> what it is, it allows you to show the sorts of services, the sorts of sites that you find the most interesting and let your network know. you got a limited number of stamps. >> seems like a synergistic fit.

>> you got a limited number of stamps to put on things. you let your people know, hey, i like this service, i like that service. not sure if that's what yahoo! wants to do -- >> what if your friends have absolutely terrible taste in everything? >> are you saying something about your friends? >> just throwing it out there. >> if he has any friends. >> i just avoid the ones that are stamped. then i'll know. >> you need to join pinterest and join mandy's friends. now if you live in a swing state, you cannot miss the endless campaign ads that seem to be on repeat. those ads cost money. in fact, quite a lot of money. we're going to tell you how much every second of those ads cost the presidential campaigns. and then, they're mad as hell and they're not going to take it anymore. america's ceos firing off a letter to washington -- fix the debt now, they say. we're going to talk with two of those ceos next.

everybody knows there is a debt concern. but how much of the concern is the debate. why did a bunch of ceos from wall street put their name on an open letter calling for action on debt and the deficit? let's bring in two who put their

names on that letter. katherine wylde. why did you attach your name to that letter? spl because i represent 200 ceos of major american businesses who do not believe washington can solve this problem. we have to get the american public engaged and this is the beginning of a campaign to make sure we not only avoid the fiscal cliff on january 1 but we fix this $16 trillion debt once and for all. >> i think what's interesting as well, that douglas -- this letter is not backing one candidate or the other. right? it's completely bipartisan. it is saying all of you need to get your act together. right? >> absolutely. in fact, the group was inspired really by simpson-bowles which was an extraordinary bipartisan effort to get people from different sides of the aisle together and make some compromises. there's a bunch of good stuff to come out of simpson-bowles and we think that's the path to getting this thing fixed.

>> because, as we know, kathryn, simple calculator tells us that just tax hikes on the rich isn't even going to make a dent in the deficit. although largely, we are being sold that in some respects. what's your reaction? >> well, in new york city we know how to count. we understand from a pragmatic point of view we need to raise revenues, we need to cut spending and we need long-term reform in entitlements and our tax codes. we have to get all that done but that is going to take a lot of pressure from the american public because in washington, they seem stalemated. no matter who's in charge. >> there's only so much rich people, kathryn. do you believe we need to broaden the base, which might mean -- and i can say it because i'm not running for office -- that the middle class may have to pay more? >> well, i think broadening the base means we grow our economy. we create more jobs. we have more taxpayers. we have more business activity. we've got more than $1 trillion sitting on the sidelines tied up in our american businesses that they're not putting to work

because they can't figure out what's going to happen in washington. we've lost faith that there's a solution to this problem. we have to bring this country together to get something done, and then we can all benefit. i don't think that the middle class will suffer. i think the middle class is going to benefit from this. they are our most important asset. >> when you look at the letter, you're obviously putting forward some outlines from simpson-bowles. but at the end of the day is pretty much anything on the table as far as your concern, as far as business leaders in america are concerned, they'll consider anything to get some kind of deal done or are you very specific on what you want? >> no, i think an open mind is required. when it comes right down to it, though, the amount required both in terms of finding the base, increasing revenues, cutting a deal on entitlements is not that bad, it is not that painful. but you can actually bend the curve quite dramatically when you take those small incremental changes and put them over 10 or 15 or 20 years. i think we've been beat up with

a lot of propaganda around how difficult these changes would be. they don't have to be that hard because the long-term effect will be quite impactful. >> bingo, douglas. you know if you watch larry kudlow at night that every 1% gdp growth over time will add $3 trillion in a decade. why aren't we talking more about growth? >> well, this initiative -- this encouragement is really about deficit reduction. there's no question that if you reduce the deficit, you reduce the draw on the capital markets from the government and that will end up providing excellent growth in jobs. >> kathryn, as douglas was saying, it's not rocket science. yet we can't seem to get any kind of agreement. what do you think is the biggest sticking point? >> i think that this has been a problem that the american public hasn't fully digested. we're going to try and launch a campaign across the country in the next few months that will mobilize that opinion, help people understand how the

national debt affects every american. how it's holding back our economy. we're going to try and launch this campaign. we're going to try and engage the entire country, not leave this up to washington to solve, because this is not a matter of politics. this is bringing our country together in our critical national interests -- >> kathryn, how are you going to do that? it hasn't been a problem. our debt is still in demand, albeit largely from our own federal reserve. but to the average american it hasn't played a role in their life. right? and most people, if you ask them will say, i'm dramatically overtaxed even though federal income tax rates for the median income household have dropped in half in the last 30 years. >> people who are suffering today -- almost everybody either has a kid who's unemployed, someone in their family who's unemployed or underemployed. the standard of living in this country has not gone up in the last three decades. it is time for us to come together as a country, forget our partisan differences and figure out how we're going to deal with our long-term

entitlement and spending problems and overall reform of our tax code. the business community is prepared to join with others across america been leaders in the states and the cities, in organized labor, to push for serious conversation, dialogue across party lines and reform. >> best of luck. thank you both very much for joining us on "street signs" today. how do you spend $1.4 billion in less than 24 months? you can run for president! the heaviest spending is going on right now and it is breaking all records and when you look at the numbers, quite stunning. >> since january 1st of 2011, the race for president has racked up kwitdquite a bill. top three super pacs have been burning through the cash. combined mega spend something fast approaching $1.5 billion. that's billion with a "b."

that's not easy to do over the course of 21 months. rate of mega spending averages over $70 million per month. that's more than $2.3 million in spending. every single day in this campaign since 2011 or more than $96,000 an hour. yes, we're going to do by minute and by second breaking it down even further. it is over $1,600 a minute. and go over here to by second, if they were spending every single second of every day for 21 months straight, they'd have to burn through $26.86 every second of every day of this campaign. because both sides spend even faster in the final weeks leading up to election night, this billion dollar total and all these average rates are likely to increase dramatically, guys. back to you. >> how many teachers is that? >> that's a lot. that's absolutely a colossal amount of money. >> how many police officers is that, right? bl it . >> it is a huge amount of money. over the course of 30 years, this amount has been going up

every single year. later on in the day we'll bring you information that goes into exactly how much this costs per registered voter. answer is that registered voters are getting more expensive for these campaigns to reach. >> thank you, eamon. coming up next -- a rubber seouled disaster and it is game-on for a stock that's been beating down. plus rethinking your retireme retirement. is 75 the new 65? sad stats about retirement cash or lack of. coming up. president obama: there's just no quit in america...

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it's another reason more investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. today's disaster -- crocs. last quarter's earnings weren't awful, but the company -- look at that stock is getting whacked because it cut its forecast. can you blame europe in large part, folks. sales rose 7.4% in the americas. 11% in asia. but they dropped nearly 3% for europe. quarter fourth projects break-even earnings per share of revenue of $220 million versus the consensus of 10 cents. in other words, it is a huge miss. stocks getting hugely crushed. thus, it is our disaster. let's bring in a little sunshine, guys. a sunshine surprise for you

today because it is zynga. although it is still down, 73% year to date, the stock is higher today by about 12%. quarterly revenue beat and its higher full year earnings forecast shows the embattled farmville creator may be on the path to recovery. an analyst raised the rating to buy from hold. zblf zblfrg . >> everybody's fine. based on what boomers have in the bank, 75 might be the new 65 when it comes to leaving your job. sharon epperson is with us. i hope you're bringing good news because the stats are ugly. >> let's get through those first. some may find they have to work until 75, maybe even later, even if they have a sizable nest egg. a new survey by freeretirementreport.com looked as baby boomers, and they have a

little over $900,000 in investable assets. that's after about a 40% decline in their portfolios as a result of the 2008 financial crisis. even with $900,000 making no changes to expenses, to income or savings, this 51-year-old boomer would have to work until 75 to be able to retire. portfolio manager and founder of freerirmtreport.com frank choice says the market would have to regain a lot more ground to put the boomer back on track. >> the fact of the matter is that they would need a dow of 17,000 to be back on track relative to where they were pregreat recession. the good news is for those baby boomers today they can simply reduce their expenses by 5% to 10% per annum and be right back on track. >> that is if they put that 5% to 10% a year that they're saving on their expenses back into their portfolios. the bottom line is, they're going to have to make a lot of changes. $900,000 is a significant sum of money, but you have to think about how you're going to be living, how you may need to cut back. >> who are these people --

>> there's a lot of people who have a lot less. >> let's just make it clear. that's not the average baby boomer. >> this is not the average. these are wealthier baby boomers. >> so they're worried at $900,000. imagine other people who have like $25,000. >> i'm going to tell you something. i'm 41 years old. going on 80. right? but i could retire on $900,000 right now an never work a day in my life and be okay. because i'd go live in a hut in montana. these dudes want to have their lexus -- >> that's right. four cars, and also you have to think about what you're doing at 51. at 51 you may well be putting children through college. >> my kids aren't going to college. >> i'm sending mine out to work in the coal mines. that's more lucrative. i think one of the other really concerning things is, you might be saying, i don't think i've got enough money to retire at 75. i'll just keep on working until maybe i'm 85 if i'm able to. but the problem is a lot of people obviously can't. not just because of health. a lot of employers don't want to

have older workers. >> that's against the law, by the way. >> but you have to think about -- >> that's completely illegal. >> you cannot assume i will be able to keep on working until i am 85. >> they can't push you out bass of age though. >> that's why some of the people are are starting new businesses are older workers, because they have been aged out of the corporate workforce and they're having to do their own thing, consulting, and that's how they are making their money. >> a lot of them have fantastic experience and have a great work ethic as well. >> that's true. so how can you grow your retirement nest egg? check out retirement.cnbc.com to find out. sharon, thank you very much. some are saying that we could have a weather and possibly even economic disaster in the northeast next week. hurricane sandy is looking like a real threat up the entire atlantic seaboard. the latest timeline and the scary storm track coming up.

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it is street talk time. first up, let's take a look at p&g, procter & gamble. the stock is higher today, rise

morgue than expect more than expected. $1.06 estimate versus 96 cents. p&g didn't raise its profit forecast for the fiscal year but it may not be bad. they're going to spend more money on marketing. that's a good thing. and apparently they're struggling to find more absorbent material for -- there's a diaper factory explosion in japan. >> yeah. we covered it here on the show a few weeks back. >> they're actually suffering through that. who knew? >> another stock we're looking at today is best buy which is tanking after warning earnings would be quite significantly low those of a year ago. >> same-store sales expected to drop. they also say the head of the u.s. business will leave. it is starting to restructure under the new ceo. he cut their price target. s and b capital iq cutting it to sell. the stock down 41% in the past

year. they better hope for a big holiday shopping season. >> isn't this your -- >> when i drafted the stock i did it purely on expectation of a bid. that's it. not opposition on the actual equity. >> i'm not gloating here because i have facebook. okay. cheese cac factory is one we're watching here. and the stock's doing very nicely. well, 1% gain. >> but it is still up 1%. this is a story -- we talked about cheesecake factory two weeks ago on the program. every time our producer, andrea, goes there -- beautiful woman, by the way -- thooe sheshe's al the line. sales rose, higher profit margins because of something called the fancy cocktail trend. apparently more people boozing it up at cheesecake factory. andrea just loves to sip. the third quarter profit for

cliffs national resources. >> here's your problem. china. they got a glut. they got a slowdown in steel, building is slowing, steel is slowing, too much iron ore, iron ore prices down, cliff national resources's third quarter profit dropped 85% -- not 8.5%. 85%. fbr cutting the price target to $258 to $54. herb greenberg is here. talk first of all underarmor. >> underarmour's interesting because the numbers and guidance were okay but not okay enough. when you have a stock trading at around 34 times forward earnings, you cannot merely beat the street and tighten guidance. let alone cut gross margin guidance. investors want blowout. on that score, ua did not

deliver. and then there are the guts of the business. if you look at some of the people i talked to -- rob wilson at tiberon research. noted disappointing apparel numbers. in a desperate attempt to raise cash, navistar needed to raise $10 million. she continues to rate the bonds a sell and still thinks bankruptcy is a possibility. finally, world acceptance. this is a subprime install many lender i've mentioned here in the past. it had a huge miss in revenue and evgs. that's even with its focus on buying back stock which by the way, they actually went into debt to buy back some of the stock. even though it had strong cash flow. one other name -- generac,

with hurricane sandy. start even in cnbc. people talking about buying generators. >> you cannot find one in stores. i'm not promoting the company, but my dad during last year's storm found one like in nowhere, pennsylvania and brought it half-way, then i took it the rest of the way because they sell out. and this sandy is looking like a really big deal. it is a good stock to watch. by the way -- you'remakering me nervous with that thing. >> talk about who is going to benefit -- >> do you want to know when they report earnings? they report earnings october 31st which would be right around the time the storm goes through the northeast. >> as this smart guy over here always says, it is not the quantity of earnings that counts, it is the quality. so far, that gives us reason to worry. gina sanchez, director of equity asset allocation strategy for media global economics joins us. gina, are you worried about what you've seen? >> well, we've been calling for earnings misses for the better

part of this year now. what we expected was that because earnings were propped up by margins and productivity for so long, whether that went away, we knew that eventually we were going to have to see some disappointments. not only were we seeing disappointments twlb is actually the worst revision cycle in 15 years. it's been extraordinary to see sort of the guidance, the negative guidance for 2013 and revisions. even with those negative revisions, we are still seeing misses. >> when do you think we'll see the earnings cycle bottom out, according to you, gina? >> well, we think there has to be some more significant guidance down for 2013. 2013 earnings are still up at $115. we know that that's way too high. we're expecting actually -- we've seen a lot of positive data coming from consumers and that's been driving some positive data flow. but where we're not seeing positive data is actually from businesses and any of the new order spending today. today really underline that story, new orders are not

improving. >> i want to make sure we've got something right on our graphic there, gina. we showed that health care and energy up 100% which to my math says all of them -- revisions to the negative? >> all of the revisions that we have seen to date -- >> everyone of the major corporations have been to the negative in health care. >> for guidance in the s&p. that is what has been extraordinary about this. >> you are seeing the s&p as a result of this go down to 1,300. but below 1,300 would you be a buyer? >> we would be a buyer below 1,300. this is a very interesting and tenuous time because consumers are driving this. obviously we're seeing a little boom in housing. that's feeding consumer confidence. but one thing we do know is last time we had the debt ceiling debate and the debt ceiling freeze, consumer confidence was hit pretty strongly. so we know there are some potential for negativity there. but generally speaking, that

consumption story can probably take us through the end of the year except that businesses are firing right now at the fastest pace that they fired since 2010. that's going to offset that. >> colgate said today they're going to lay off 6,500 people, something like that. >> exactly. colgate, ford. we've heard from advanced microsystems. there's been a slew -- i think something like 62,000 job announcements -- firing announcements have been made since september 1st. that's a two-month big, the biggest two-month drop since 2010. >> gina, thank you. let's give you some good news after that. right? gas prices fell last week. we're going to show you how much, and more importantly, how much it might put back in to your wallet. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro.

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latest earnings after the bell tonight. we'll have full team coverage and investor reaction as only closing bell can. maria and i look forward to seeing you from here at big board at the top of the hour. back to you guys, mandy. >> thank you, bill. consumers may be feeling maybe just a little richer today because according to aaa, gas prices are down 14 cents over the past week. andy liphauer says that equates to $19.3 billion in savings. so, speaking of oil and gas, who are the top global energy companies? with its new list out, it shows that china is making major strides. let's bring in ross mccracken, managing editor and energy economist at platte's. i want to ask you about this growth in power in particular of chinese energy companies because when you consider that some of them, like petro china, are majority state owned, what are the implications for countries like the united states as they gain more power in the energy

patch? >> well, i think it certainly means a lot more competition from these companies when international oil companies are going into places like africa and asia looking for assets. they have to face competition from equally aggressive chinese companies. those chinese companies in particular have moved up the 250 ranking steadily over the last decade really. you can see they're around in the top ten. >> there are no energy security implications there? is that what you're saying? >> there certainly are energy security implications but the global oil market is very much sort of based on price. so in a sense, it is not so much in terms of security of supply in a physical sense, so much as competition on price. as you see china, which is sort of the epicenter of global oil demand, sucking in more and more imports, that is going to make it difficult for the western international majors. >> where is the best place to invest in the future of energy

right now, ross? >> that's an interesting question. if we look at the top 250, you can see the majors at the top. but the real story is the companies which are growing the fastest. perhaps you don't have to look that much further than texas in fact. if you look at contrary resources, that's a small company with a three-year cgr of around 50%, 52.3%, to be exact. that's fantastic growth. that's coming out of the base in texas. but more broadly, asia is really the place to be. you have such dynamic growth there in terms of energy demand, 10%, 11%. if you want growth on investment, that's the place to be. >> got it. ross, thank you for bringing your findings to us. core logic reversing course midday. seema mody has a "market flash." >> really interesting chart.

core logic reported better than expected earnings last night. the stock hit a 52-week high this morning. a firm named stevens downgraded to equal weight from overweight. street account reports that mq3 first american financials sold its remaining position in corelogic. the stock down better than 11%. you are looking at a perfect storm. an actual storm brewing in the atlantic. how this massive storm, hurricane sandy, might impact you next. [ male announcer ] the 2013 smart comes with 8 airbags, a crash management system and the world's only tridion safety cell which can withstand over three and a half tons. small in size. big on safety. the potential of yelp unlocked. nyse euronext.

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hurricane sandy is really gaining strength. the question everybody on the east coast wants answered, where is she heading? let us get to the weather channel and meteorologist reynolds wolf. >> we're going to do the best we can. i know there are a lot of people out there on social media who are scared as can be. understandably so. it's a big system. first of all, before we give you a long-term answer of what we can expect, let's talk about what it's doing right now. winds are 105 miles per hour. it's moving to the north at 20

miles per hour. not really a major rainmaker for the time being with the exception of what you see in the bahamas. in this particular image, you're seeing the heavy, deep convection air now moving north of cuba. as we put it into motion, you'll see bands moving through nassau. parts of the united states are already being affected. you see the heavy rainfall along parts of 95 south of ft. pierce. that's only one thing we're seeing so far along the coast. at the beaches we're seeing enhanced surf. rip currents are going to be an issue. you have an idea where it is now. you see what it's doing. now to answer your question of where it might be going, we take a look at the forecast from the national hurricane center. we get into thursday, still a cat 2. winds of 105 miles per hour. what we see as we get into friday morning, it's expected to weaken with winds sustained of 90 miles per hour, a category 1. notice how we have that cone of uncertainty. it's very narrow. then it tends to widen out. that's because in the coming days, there are chances it could

move out to sea. there are also chances it could move closer to the outer banks. saturday, still a category 1 hurricane. as we fast forward monday into tuesday, notice how wide the cone of uncertainty happens to be. there's a chance it could make landfall somewhere along cape hatteras, north carolina, as a glancing blow, or could make its way on to parts of the jersey shore or towards boston. so, again, we're going see some major changes, i would say, in the forecast, possible changes, in the next several days. so you've got to be vigilant along the eastern seaboard. a lot of things can happen. these storms wobble. they don't move linniear from point to point. >> okay. vigilance is what we need to have. thank you very much for that. let's get the potential economic impact of a significant storm. joining us on the cnbc news line is fred fox, ceo and co-founder

on planalytics. what could be negatively affected by these storms? which could benefit? >> well, you have three parts to this storm. you have your prestorm period. that's actually going to see a huge increase in traffic all up and down the east coast for the last retail week of october. you're going to see increasing buying of all types of consumables. water, canned foods, property items such as plywood, nails. gas sales are going to go up. quick-service restaurants. this weekend you will see a list as people get ready for the storm and start buying. >> and then you have the storm itself, which is just going to kill traffic at least for a day or two all up and down the i-95

area. and then you have the poststorm. then you have two parts for this poststorm. the first part, you have cleanup. that's going to be all types of cleaning items. first-aid, generators, roofing, et cetera. then after the storm, you have a fairly significant cooldown for the east. what we are saying, risk followed by opportunity. that's going to be the first serious cooldown for the fall period. we think you're going see an increase in sales of all types of warm weather goods, fall, winter items that will go into the following week. >> okay. fred, we have to leave it there. thank you very much for giving us the low down. well, some people don't use maps anymore. our next guest does to make money. we have some really old, really amazing maps you can invest in. you don't want to miss the next segment. [ male announcer ] this is joe woods' first day of work. and his new boss told him two things -- cook what you love, and save your money. joe doesn't know it yet, but he'll work his way up

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let's face it. stock and bond investments aren't much fun to physically look at. so as part of our continuing alternative investing series, we found you some amazing things that are and can also be incredibly valuable investments. daniel crouch is president of daniel crouch rare books. we met last weekend. i was pretending i was fancy. came across your displays and

these books. they are absolutely insane. tell us what this is. >> this is the first printed map from 1475. it's sadly anonymous, but published in germany by a guy called lucas brandus. >> how much is that worth? >> that's $1 million. >> who would invest in this? >> typically my customers are people who love the maps and first see there's an investment as a nice by-product. they tend to be people who are wealthy individuals or institutions as well. >> yeah, this map here i'm looking at, i see something that sort of resembles north america, perhaps. we got south america, north america. obviously early 1500s. >> that's actually from 1540. that's the first printed map of the western hemisphere. it's also the first map, if you look just there, to name the pacific ocean. >> price? >> price on that is $450,000. >> if i invest in one of those,

how much would i expect to appreciate? >> it's very difficult to say that. on the whole in the last 20 years, maps have shown to be a very good investment. as with everything, investments can go up as well as down. >> it's amazing how well preserved they are. 1473. if one of our viewers were to buy that, how would they have to store it? how could they keep it? >> basically, the real enemy of old paper is lots of water. you want to keep it reasonably dry. >> don't read that in the bathtub. >> exactly. >> and do i have to be wealthy? haven't you got, for example, some investable maps or rare books that would be in the hundreds of dollars as opposed to the millions? >> certainly. we start from $500 and go up to $5 million. walk with me here, another map that is certainly more affordable than these two. for $80,000, you can have what is essentially the most important 19th