>> shout out my wife's grandma is 104 today. great health. >> schlumberger. >> more "fast money" airs at 5:00 p.m. eastern time. "power lunch" begins right now. that is the look of a nor'easter. the bull's-eye is on the new york city area once again. the forecasts say it is intensifying and quickly. i'm tyler mathisen. sue herera is back with us. she's at the new york stock exchange. we will get to the markets in just a few moments but first, the weather channel's on the next storm that is about to hit the northeast. i just hope we don't need for the recovery area along the east coast right now but we are looking at a full blown nor'easter in the wednesday to thursday time frame. let me show you one of our computer models here to outline just what's going to happen. talking about a low pressure system developing along the southeast coast here that's going to intensify as it moves northward. by wednesday morning rain and wind in to the new jersey and new york area.

then, unfortunately, as we get into wednesday evening, this storm intensifies to a point that we're going to see greater than 50-mile-an-hour wind gusts into the new york city area right along the jersey coast. this green area here, a lot of rain as well. rain, wind, temperatures in the 40s. just really rough for those who are still going through the recovery. as we move ahead in time from wednesday night into thursday morning, the system slows down a bit but it doesn't completely lose its grip on the area. still looking at relatively strong winds. rainfall, temperatures in the 40s. right in through thursday night. all in all, this nor'easter is going to provide, unfortunately, more inclement conditions for the recovery area. we'll send it back to you. >> thank you so much. unfortunate indeed it is. because as we brace for the next storm, it is clear that we are still dealing very much so with the last one. gasoline lines are long and tempers are short. kate kelly has an update from a gasoline terminal, a storage area in linden, new jersey just

southwest here in manhattan. >> reporter: sue, it's not exactly rush hour here at new star energy's linden, new jersey gas terminal but there is a slow and steady string of trucks coming in and out of the racks behind me filling up for fuel for area gas stations. including a first for this facility, which was a jet fuel truck filling up on behalf of southwest airlines. new star has had to get a little bit creative because in the aftermath of hurricane sandy, they and others like them have had to do the best they can to accommodate their customers after damage and marine terminals that in many cases cannot be used. about a mile down the road nustar's facility has been damaged by the flood, battered by tidal surges, filled with debris and they're still working on that. other terminals in this area are in similar spots. as of today, at least a half-a-dozen of them are fully or even partly running. including facilities run by bp, hess, and phillip's 66. these locations provide a crucial link between refineries

who make the products and the airports and gas stations that distribute them. but as these get rehabilitated, electricity outages in this area remain a major problem. some of the operators have told me they're a little bit baffled by the fact that they are resupplying on a steady basis, yet there are still huge fuel lines snaking but the region. the only thing they can think of is there is not enough power at gas stations to get that fuel out. >> kate kelly, thank you so very much. the insurance claims will be coming in for weeks from the people who have been hit so hard by sandy. mary thompson now with more on that part of the story for us. >> reporter: sue, it could be weeks, even months. insurers just starting to assess sandy's damages. likely to take several weeks. most companies reluctant to talk about claims though. state farm does send out regular updates. latest came on saturday noting state farm received more than 63,000 homeowners claims an over 12,000 auto claims. early estimates put sandy among the costliest u.s. catastrophes.

forecasting a cost between $10 billion and $20 billion worth of insured losses. the final tally impacted by, among other things, power in the transportation grids. as for the insurance industry with over $500 billion in capital it can pay expected claims. at last year's premium increases and a decline in catastrophe claims bulked up their profile. deutsche bank claims it could trim earnings by 36% but it could also help insurers later giving them cover to raise premiums. back to you. sandynjrelief fund.org. mary pat christie is on the news line with us right now.

welcome. good to have you with us. >> thanks, tyler. >> at some risk, i ask how are you and the christie family holding up? your husband and you have both then tireless this last week. gout to be pretty tired these days? >> we're doing pretty well. it's all relative, right, tyler? we don't have power yet but hopeful that we will soon. i'm also hopeful that our children get to go back to school tomorrow. >> we're in the same boat and expected to go back to school in my town montclair some time on wednesday. is the governor, are you, satisfied with the pace of the restoration of power most especially by the big jersey power and light, pse&g. are they doing the job adequately? >> i think you hear the governor talk about how many upstanding utilities workers we have coming in from out of state as well as in state. i don't think we could expect a whole not more. i think there is 11,000 workers

throughout the state so i think they're really doing the best they can. >> mrs. christie, we just had a weather report at the top of our show indicating that a nor'easter -- i mean terrible timing -- is headed our way. given what you and your husband have been able to see as you've been touring the state, how is the state going to deal with yet another major storm? >> yeah. hi, sue. it's remarkable, isn't it, that that's coming on wednesday? i'm hoping that it is going to be rain and that it's not going to be too heavy but we'll do what we always do, which is buck up and have a good attitude and get things done. i'm confident that we will deal with whatever comes our way. >> you mentioned the out of state power companies. i have to give a shout out to georgia power and light because they got my power on. but we are facing 50-mile-an-hour winds in this new storm, that nor'easter. give me your impressions as to what the hardest hit areas might

be and how you think they will be able to deal with this new nor'easter coming. are there more relief workers that can be brought in? i know there are so many of them here now. >> well, look. i think that the infrastructure already exists. i think the red cross is all over the place. i toured two shelters on friday where we had a remarkable mobile soup kitchen from north carolina. i know they had five locations in the state as of saturday, and they were expecting to have three more. so there's an amazing infrastructure on the ground in new jersey already. so i'm hopeful that whar comes our way we'll be able to handle. and i can't emphasize how much the governor and i appreciate people coming really from all over the countries, whether it's michigan power, or ohio edison, or in your case, georgia power, sue. it's really remarkable the outpouring of support we have

found throughout the state from the rest of the country. >> indeed. i agree. thank you very much for your efforts, mrs. christie. once again, everybody, the donations can be sent to sandynjrelieffund.org. it is on your screen right now. and people in new jersey could really use your help. thank you, mrs. christie. now to bertha coombs with a "market flash." >> sue, utilities are the worst performing sector today. they've certainly taken a beating over the last three segs. not so surprising, some of the utilities here in this area like con edison and pse&g are off more than 4% as they continue to deal with this power outages. two major stories now on the impact of the storm and how it may affect politics. john harwood on some new polling with just hours to go before the voting starts in earnest. first kayla tausche reporting on

how people hit by the storm are going to vote. >> ty, it is a basic american right voting yet thousands of new jersey residents have been isolated by super storm sandy. garden state was one of the hardest hit by the storm with some 870,000 customers without power and thousands still living in shelters across the state even with election day approaching. in addition to moving and consolidating polling locations across the state, officials have provided a few alternatives. first, pushing people to vote early especially over o this past weekend. early voting today closes at 4:30 p.m. second, they've been helping displaced residents by allowing them either to mail in ballots with a november 19th deadline or by voting via e-mail or fax thanks to a new order by governor chris christie that temporarily qualifies displaced residents as overseas voters. even so voters will face many difficulties. first voeftsing by e-mail or fax not possible for the state still without power. gas, a scarce commodity, is

required to get to polling stations that have been moved farther away from a lot of these residents. national voter turnout remains low but the post-sandy resilience may help. 88% of respondents say they don't care what they've been through, voting is still a privilege. >> we'll find out tomorrow and we'll see whether the power is on. president obama and governor romney, new polling numbers out. what do they show? >> the national numbers show a dead heat race. 48%-47% in the latest nbc/"wall street journal" poll. the challenge facing mitt romney is the swing states, battlegrounds. there are nine of them. if you look at the ones where president obama is leading, average all the polls on the realclearpolitics.com website. you see the president of the united states is leading in swing states like ohio, new hampshire, colorado, iowa, nevada, wisconsin, all those are critical. mitt romney's only leading in two of the swing states, we're talking about florida with 29

electoral votes, and north carolina with 15. you add those together to the base states that mitt romney has. that only makes 235 electoral votes. president obama with 303. that doesn't mean mitt romney cannot win. he's very close in some other states. in colorado, for example, in new hampshire, he -- but he's going to have to make up a lot of ground in a lot of places to get there and the last swing state polls we showed showed six. point lead in ohio. two-point lead for the president in florida. one-point lead in virginia. big hill for mitt romney to claim clitomorrow night. let's go to the finance.yahoo.com poll. the aftermath from sandy. do you think the pace of the recovery will help or hurt either candidate? go to vote at finance.yahoo.com.

josh, do you think at this point the voters especially in our north carolina of the woods will use this storm as an issue as they cast their ballots or not? >> it is certainly going to be a matter of consequence but the real important question here is turnout. how many voters are actually going to come out. what we've seen based on historic evidence with regard to weather patterns is that one inch of rain decreased turnout by about one percentage point. after a storm like this, this gives us a baseline with which to work with for new jersey, new york and connecticut. >> let me push back a little bit. i live in new jersey, yet i come down to lower manhattan every day to go to work. i've seen both states deal with this crisis. i have found it to be somewhat of a motivating factor for people. they need that sense of normalcy, they want to get back to what they have been looking forward to doing which is voting and getting life back to normal. do you think it could act as a motivating factor and get people to take that extra step as hard

as it might be to get to the polls? >> that's entirely possible because we're talking about a very extreme event in this case with regard to hurricane sandy. but what we've seen is a historical pattern, that when obstacles are put out for voting, that ten decrease turnout. that could change, but again the historical pattern is one in which turnout decreased. >> did the storm and the events that the president had to address as he dealt with the disaster, do you think it gives him a leg up against mr. romney or not? >> well, it certainly created benefits for him in terms of his ability to appear presidential, his ability to show the command of the office, to work with someone like new jersey governor chris christie, not just a republican but the keynote speaker at the republican national convention. however, it is also important to step back and remember that new york, new jersey, connecticut are not going to be states on which this election is decided. those are places like ohio and

florida. >> very good point. josh, thank you. see you again soon. sue, united airlines beginning dreamliner flights. who but nil lebeau was one of the first to board. phil, what was it like? >> it was wider, more air. it was a dream come true. we'll tell you what people on the flight, paying passengers, what they had to say about being on the dreamliner's first flight. coming up when "power lunch" returns. let's -- let's start over from the beginning. we were just driving along, comin' back from the lake, and all of a sudden, ka-plam. it blindsided us. what is it? our college savings account. how do you think it happened? not sure. i think something we bought a while ago turned out to be something else, annnnnd, i remember a lot of other stuff in there had the word "aggressive" in it. is everyone okay? well, now, yeah. who knows later. ♪

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lunch." we're watching shares of endoderm. they are down. the company beat on bottom line. its revenue is down a. back to you. all right. to the bond market. stocks are only down 27 points on the trading session. see how bonds are doing. rick santelli's tracking the action for us. >> definitely we're down about four basis points. everybody's trying to observe are the markets being impacted by tomorrow's election. it is hard to say but here's a couple issues. you see the intraday chart down four. if you open up the 2-month chart, we're around 3, 3 1/2 low yields. the same two-month charge and the pattern for bunds, the yield around the low 1.40s is actually

the two-month low. one would argue if the fed is in play and uncertainty about easy money, dollar index similar. at a two-month high in the dollar index. the dollar index will be impacted should there be a charnlg change in guard at the fed. that's what the markets are showing at this point. tyler? we are watching shares of boeing today. its new 787 dreamliner jet making its first commercial domestic flight. our phil lebeau was one of the lucky few to be on-board for that journey and he's with us now. phil? tell us about it. >> hard to believe it's been eight years since boeing first announced plans to build the dreamliner but it is now in service here in the united states. at least it was yesterday. eventually it will be going overseas. flight was from houston to chicago. let me hear from the passengers. this is what they thought about that first flight and being on the dreamliner. >> it's a lot more open, more expansive. better lighting. very comfortable. >> airplane is incredibly

smooth. just on takeoff. you can take it now. you can't hear anything. really feels like you're on your couch. >> it was absolutely amazing. i cannot believe how quiet this plane is from comfort and space. >> it is and was quiet on that flight for 219 passengers on-board. united is going to be taking delivery of 50 deem linereamlin 2017. most of these will go in service on international routes where the ceo who was on the flight with us yesterday said this will be a game changer for the airline. >> this airplane is built for really long, long flights. using it domestically it using is optimally. there, occasions when we move the aircraft around for maintenance work. generally we'll be flying this aircraft off of the west coast out of chicago, out of houston, off of the east coast, really long haul missions. >> it will be adding new routes for the 787 dreamliner.

as you look at shares of united today, shares are up along with a number of the other airlines as they recover from last week. bottom line is this -- it is roomier, it is brighter inside the dreamliner. yes, it is a different flying experience. we'll see what people think over time, though. >> two questions, phil. did you really love it as compared with a conventional aircraft, number one. number two, did they charge a premium price for this first flight or not? >> no, there a was not a premium price. most of those seats involved were taken up by employees for united, as well as journalists like myself. there were some paying passengers. aviation buffs flew to houston so they could be part of this first flight. what were my opinions of being on that flight? two things stood out. one, it is far quieter than a typical airliner. and two, because it is a more oval shape, you're not closed in on the side. it is almost a flat wall and it is noticeable how much more space you have in there. >> phil lebeau, thanks very much. sue?

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the dow jones industrial average really off just fractionally. the nadz is positive by .1% or 3 1/2 points. and the s&p 500 is down about 2.25 points. joining me on the floor, a trader at virtue financial. seems like we're kind of in a holding pattern, little bit of wait and see ahead of the election. what do you think? >> absolutely. especially after last week. last week was a really quiet week. it was appropriate for the market because we are doing nothing for the next few days. this race is way too close to call. why is anyone going to put any money to work ahead of this? and then what we have coming out of the election is probably more stalemate. really there's more uncertainty than certainty. you're not going to invest in that environment. >> i would assume the finality of the election will be somewhat of a relief because we've been on pins and needles with the race this close. seems to me that the fiscal cliff now looms larger than ever before, and perhaps the more important races are the congressional races. >> yeah.

from what i read, we're going to get a majority of incumbents back in office. we're going to have the same problem that we have now, whether we have a change in the top of the leadership or not. that definitely is going to weigh on us. last week was a distraction from all the fiscal cliff talk. it's still -- now it is going to rear its head again and we'll talk edad nauseam because it is going to be a major factor. >> will it increase volatility? >> i don't think so. people will take the wait-and-see approach. if there is volatility, that would be great for us. i want to see -- >> gives you opportunity. >> absolutely. without that opportunity we're standing here watching the tape. i'd rather watch news services report rumors and see markets move than rather than this. >> hope we got that on tape. because most of the time they're saying why are you spreading these rumors? the other issue though is we're coming up to the end of the year and a lot of people, a lot of big fund managers may have to,

if they haven't closed their books in the last couple weeks of december, may have to make some moves. is that a factor or is that such a small portion of the trading population that perhaps is not a factor? >> i think it is. they'll have to play catch-up. the market has to produce some good results. people are going to take a look at their finances at the end of the year and say i didn't get any production here. managers will have to put money to work but do it very selectively. it won't and broad-based you're throwing at the s&p. pick individual stocks. try to have them in the portfolio and try to get some kind of return on that. it is very selective. again, like i said, i don't think people are really that excited about what's going to go on in the next few months. i think there's just too much uncertainty. and i hate to say that. i would like finality as much as anyone else. >> sure. thank you, matt, very much. ty, back to you. >> jack welsh stirring it up this morning comparing natural gas to the internet. we will help you make the connection. we'll explain the metaphor that could make you some big money

coming up. pandand a bombshell from politico regarding new jersey chris christie and presidential candidate mitt romney. we'll tell but it in two minutes.

all right. welcome back to "power lunch." gold prices closing right now. we have a modest advance in gold. sharon epperson is track being the action for us over at the nymex. >> we're up about $8 or so in the gold market. closing right around $1,683. but keep in mind, this market has been sharply oversold, some may say, or perhaps just a steep decline. $125 or so since the middle of september. right now traders are just kind of evening out positions ahead of the election. it's been, of course, a very oversold, a lot of put activity here in the gold options market. we're also looking at lower prices for copper. copper futures have been under pressure as traders look even beyond tomorrow's election here in the u.s. and look to what may happen on thursday in china and perhaps a regime change, leadership change there, that could bring into question what kind of a stimulus action they take and what that means for infrastructure projects and the like. and across the board in the metals complex, we have seen money managers reducing their net long positions. in copper in fact they went

short last week. this is also impact being the price action that we're seeing but there is a lot of wait-and-see in the metals market across the board in commodities waiting for the presidential election and the outcome there as well as what happens in china at the end of the week. back to you. >> sharon, thank you. to the trading action down here with bob pisani joining me on the nyse floor. wait and see, wait and see, wait and see. >> yeah. it is all about basically political interpretations of the stock market which i can't stand. it bugs me a lot because i tend to look at it in a much more -- i like to think dispassionate light. but who knows. some are arguing that the trading action suggests certain victories and certain people. bank stocks. i'll give you an example. they've been notably weak today. some are arguing this implies an obama victory because, well, president obama will be more pue to banks. utilities, the reits and the telecom stocks are the weakest

sectors. some are arguing that president obama would raise taxes on dividend payers more than under mr. romney -- or governor romney. that's an interpretation. the problem i have with these interpretations is they don't usually stack up to make an argument. dollar index has been up four days in a row. if an obama victory was more likely, and for example, easing was more likely, you'd think the dollar index would be down. i have a little problem with interpretation. my thought here is the fiscal cliff issues. i think they're going to get resolved quicker than people think. i think they'll extend the tax cuts into next year, through next year. that's my bet. i think you're going to see a rally going into the end of the year in the stock market. the one thing, dear heavens, let's not have, is an election where we don't have a clear victor for weeks and weeks on end. >> i think that could be very damaging. >> remember the hanging chads? >> oh, please. absolutely. >> i was here on the floor and the stock market went straight down from the election in november 2000 into the middle of december. it went down almost nth%.

>> no one wants that. they want to get the election passed, figure out who won and go forward. we'll see. >> no hanging chads. >> we'll know very quickly. no hanging chads. thank you, bob. to the nasdaq now and seema mody is there following the big movers. >> hi, sue. good afternoon. the big headline in tech that we're watching -- apple. selling 3 million ipads over the first weekend. analysts at bmo capital writing that total ipad sales for the first weekend support their forecasts for the december quarter. however, pricing could potentially be an issue for the ipad mini. nonetheless, we're seeing and the shares up about 1%. within the biotech world, we're seeing a lot of action there today. biomarin soaring after its late stage study on a rare disease drug met its primarily goal enabling the biotech to file with the fda first quarter of 2013. the stock up nearly 30%.

lastly, amgen in focus. data around its inject ababl aa cholesterol study. this could calm the market by 2020. i'll break it down more in "street signs." back to you. a big story from politico over the weekend. on how chris christie was mitt romney's first pick for vice president. this and all the latest from the campaign trail as the clock ticks down. we're joined by politico's chief washington correspondent jonathan allen. good to have you with us. with mr. christie ever formally offered the job to be romney's running mate? >> not according to reporting that my colleagues mike allen did over the weekend. certainly he was somebody who was foremost in mitt romney's mind before he went on that foreign trip. remember he went over to london for the olympics and some other countries. by the time he came back he wanted paul ryan. i think that this is a situation where again just like 2008 there

was a presidential candidate who really was interested in moving toward a moderate for the vice presidential pick and ended up going back to the base when they actually made the selection. >> so what changed in mr. romney's mind if this flirtation, that fascination or whatever it was with governor christie cooled. what changed? >> if only i could get into mitt romney's mind to know exactly what was going on there at the time. unfortunately, i don't have that power. it would be a great power particularly for predict being the stock market. but i think what you see here is a situation where it's been very difficult to have two moderates on the ticket. i think there may have been some personality clashes. they're two very different guys. chris christie is very popular with sort of lunch pail voters that typically might be democrat but will cross over and vote for him on the republican side. since then we've seen a lot of bad blood between the christie camp and the romney camp.

no love lost at all. >> let's talk a little bit about that. was mr. christie eager to take the job if it had been offered to him? and what are and what has happened between those two camps after this -- these events. >> the story broke right around the republican convention that chris christie had in fact taken himself out of the running, that he didn't want to do that. a lot of these stories are gamesmanship. you've got campaigns trying to save face, particular operatives trying to save face and of course the candidates themselves looking to their futures. chris christie in new jersey, if he wants to be re-elected in 2013 which i think he does, he's in an overwhelmingly democratic state. might not have been good for him to be on a losing ticket if he thought that's where it was going. at the same time we saw just this past week or a week ago during hurricane sandy, chris christie embracing president obama, another sign that he knows he needs to reach out to democrats to win re-election. of course, if he wants to be on the ballot in 2016, it's more helpful for him to have a good

relationship with barack obama than. >> was the romney campaign peeved mr. christie would be as wholesome in his praise for the president as he was? >> i can't imagine anything other than upset about that. there are levels of support and praise certainly chris christie is voting for mitt romney. he prefers mitt romney for the presidency. but as i was getting pat a minute ago, it is better for him obviously couldn't run for president in 2016 if mitt romney was a sitting incumbent. if you're chris christie looking at the pros and cons of welcoming barack obama to new jersey, there are a whole lot of pros. nothing in the con column. >> you have some reporting on how the president plans to spend his day tomorrow. tell us about it. >> the president is going to be at home for the next couple of days in chicago. must feel like a big relief. today he's all over the map. he's already been in wisconsin. he'll be in columbus, ohio, he'll be in des moines iowa, then head back to chicago where he hopes to have a victory party

on tuesday night and get some sleep in his own bed. >> apirparently also play some basketball with some chums as part of a ritual on election days past. to bertha coombs for a "market flash." >> watching a company that makes water filtration systems. pall corp. they now say its outlook for the fiscal first quarter and the full year are looking closer to the lower end. part of it is a headwind of 3.5% which amounts to 7 cents to 10 cents a share. >> yikes. 6% decline on that stock. let's recap some of the other big headlines in today's sessi session. toyota revving up its earnings. proftz tripled and the automaker is raising its outlook as well. but southern companies earnings miss on the top and bottom line. ceo of utility companies says is he concerned about an economic

slowdown because of uncertainty over the fiscal cliff. you're up to date on that. meantime, 3 million new ipad sales and a 2% tax rate. apple is sitting pretty, pretty, pretty. time to close those outrageous tax loopholes, you ask? plus, the president of the national urban league and former special assistant to george w. bush face off hours before they hit the polls. that's two minutes away on "power lunch." we're back in a moment.

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perceived slow recovery effort, gasoline and power problems, and the fact that many are still seeking shelter after sandy, impact the election. that's a complicated question. 26% say the president will benefit from strong leadership. 35% who answered say romney will benefit from the slow response. and 39% say the storm won't affect the vote. let's see what's coming up on "street signs." who is better for your money? that's the question. president obama or mitt romney. we ask td ameritrade ceo who has the pulse on what individual investors think. we all know that this is going to be the most expensive presidential election, ever. but you really are not going to believe how much is spent per second for your vote. we're also expected to here hear about a revolutionary way to fight high cholesterol. listen up if you have it. t we have the big unveil covered. "street signs" at the top of the hour. back to you on "power lunch."

president obama and governor romney are sprinting through those key battleground states on the last day of campaigning. president and ceo of the national urban league is here, the former mayor of new orleans. he joins us, as does the founder and ceo of christie strategies and former special assistant to george w. bush. welcome, gentlemen. this one is going to be a squeaker. ron, i'll start with you. tell me why you think mr. romney will prevail. >> i'm cautiously optimistic. i think governor romney for the last several weeks in this campaign has had the momentum shift in his direction. he has had a very strong shift from independents who followed president obama in his first election who have come over to his side. i think he's had a very confident, are very straightforward and very decisive message of what he would do if he was given the honor to be the next president. i'm feeling pretty good right now. okay, mark, tell me why you think the president will win

re-election. >> i sort of follow nate silver's thinking that the president could end up at about 300 electoral votes. a close popular vote election. but i think the president demonstrated in the response to hurricane sandy his strong, steady measured judgmental -- strong judgmental leadership. i believe that his grassroots effort has focused on early voting and i think his consistency throughout will win the day in the end. >> ron, what about the fact that the president, by the very nature of his job at this point, did take center stage in addressing the issues with the storm and he did it as the president of the united states. did that, do you think, put mr. romney at a disadvantage given what's going on in this part of the country? >> not at all, sue. i think people around the country expect the president of the united states to do the job that he was elected to do. i think that yahoo! poll that we saw a few moments ago with 39%

of the polls indicate it won't have a difference on this race. this race is about jobs, this race is about the economy. this race is about the fact that we're still at 7.9% unemployment. we still have 35 million people who are unemployed or underemployed in this country and the country in the sense that we have here is that things just aren't guesting better. so a two-day flyover by the president i don't think is really going to give him a big boost in the polls. >> marc, where are the trouble spots right now that the president needs to focus on in your opinion and win over any of those last-minute undecided voters. >> i'm certainly concerned about voir voter intimidation, of bullying that might take place in some states that may frustrate people's right to vote. i think the focus on turnout in key states is crucial. ohio, florida, virginia, north carolina, certainly just to name a few. i think the concern that hurricane sandy may make it difficult for some people in new york, connecticut and new jersey to vote remains a concern of

mine. but i think americans are so determined. this election is so important that i don't think anything's going to deter them. but we've got to be a great concern. the national media hasn't covered it but on the ground in florida, for example, there was a lot of confusion, long lines and problems with early voting. i hope the florida officials will correct that and that won't be the case on election day. >> ron, what areas of the country are you watching the most closely? i know both mr. romney and mr. ryan are sprinting across various states today trying to win over those last few votes. what are you watching the most closely? >> most closely right now, sue, i'm looking at ohio. no republican candidate has made it to the oval office in the white house without winning the buckeye state. we need to make sure our ground game is out in force. i'm also looking at a couple of states i traveled to frequently in the last several months. iowa and colorado. can governor romney turn around a state that not only the president won narrowly in the last cycle, speaking of colorado, as well as iowa.

can he split those two states. . if he does and if he can that will make his path to 270 electoral college votes that much more easily. i think he has to come out of the gate early, win florida and hope for the best in ohio. >> what do you think that the odds are in ohio? >> honestly i think the mayor and i would agree on this. i think it is so close. think it is too close to call but one thing i'm encouraged by is many of the polls we've seen are oversampling democrats so i think that governor romney might win ohio by a whisker but it is just too close to call. >> bun of the interesting factors in this election is 32 states i believe, plus the district of columbia, have early voting. that's a factor that -- and a large number of voters who have already cast their ballots. though in some cases these polls may not be adequately polling that. that's where i think the president's historic and i think legendary ground game i think is certainly going to pay dividends that we'll see when the returns come in tomorrow evening. >> we will know very soon.

gentlemen, thank you both. appreciate it, marc and ron. good to see you again. of course, a programming note -- cnbc's election coverage begins tomorrow, 5:00 p.m. eastern time. we have the best minds in politics, the markets and the economy all joining us, all night long. it's your money, your vote. and it is only on cnbc. now to bertha with another market floo"market flash." >> gasoline prices may be down but this afternoon we're watching the refiners. they are all higher right now. refiners and marketers. phillip's 66, one of them here in the area, we're awaiting word from them on that bay way, the major refiner here in new york. it has power but still no timeline. we'll follow that. former ge ceo jack welch saying today nat gas could be bigger than the internet. life just got harder in greece. germany reportedly denying them

life saving medicine. both stories two minutes away.

time for the power rundown. michelle caruso-cabrera is here. in this performance, eamon javers, the understudy is in the house. because it is election day. >> always want to talk about these elections. >> let's go to the first one. it is a day when apple is thought to have crossed the billion dollar mark for ipad mini sales. news hit that apple paid less than 2% on overseas income tax. joining the ranks of other big blue chips using european tax havens to lower their overall bills. is this a fair move or a dodge,

eamon javers? >> well, look. i donts know enough about tax policy to say fair move or a dodge. i do know something a little bit about politics. tax gurus who come up with these lines need to come up with better marketing. the double irish with a dutch sandwich is a strategy. that's something that people -- that's not going to poll well. people are going to hate that name. you got to call that grandma's retirement fund, it will poll better. sort of like the way they change the estate tax to the death tax. suddenly people started to hate it. you got to rebrand these tax strategies. >> it is completely fair an an apple shareholders. this is what i want them do. the lesson is they keep a lot of that money offshore overseas. why? because our taxes are even higher. we should lower corporate taxes, allow companies to repatriate that money. wouldn't we rather have all that money over here? our tax policy prevents it. >> they're doing something that's legal and arbitraging the tax system because of the way ours is set up. >> i think it is a good name.

sounds like a lunch special. >> the double irish? >> yeah. >> you were speaking about shareholders generically not that you are an apple shareholder. >> exactly. >> merck halts delivery of its cancer drug to greece because of unpaid bills. is this business as usual or complete outrage that patients are denied a life saving drug. >> on its face, in is a horrible stat saying absolutely. this is unfortunately business as usual in greece. when times were good, the greek government would take two years to pay for pharmaceuticals. it was ridiculous. it's always been very bad. the other thing to know about the greek pharmaceutical sector in general, it is loaded with corruption. in a nation full of corruption, the buying and selling of drugs within the hospital system is right at the very top. when you're in greece, you find they've opened up a closet and found $110,000 worth of unaccounted for drugs which somebody had bought for extra.

>> medicaid and medicare fraud in this country is also endemic. you have to think about the fiscal cliff and u.s. tax policy debate in this country. if we cannot get our picture straightened in this country the middle part of next year, we could be going down the road to where the u.s. government can't afford particular drugs. >> jack welch, also good for stirring up controversy. earlier today on cnbc, he weighed in on the nation's new energy proprospects. >> we have a chance in this country to make this the american century. this gas thing is huge. the gas and oil that we have found is in the first inning. it's like the internet in 1990. we're in the first inning of a great american century. >> eamon. >> look, a great editor once told me sometimes the most important stories aren't the ones that break, they're the ones that ooze. this natural gas story is

definitely oozing. this is a demographic and generational change in this country, it will change the face of american politics. >> did you ever think a few years ago we'd be exporters of energy? it is transformational. it is like the internet. coming up, td ameritrade ceo about what individuals should want and should you make any last-minute tweaks to your portfolio? that's at 2:00 on "street signs." top of the hour. we'll be right back.

the markets kind of on pins and needles at this point waiting to see the results of of the election and also those key congressional races. that's starting to be more of the focus down here on the floor. we're down 12 points on the dow. the s&p is down 1.25. the nasdaq is in the positive by about five points. going to be a very interesting day obviously tomorrow. you mentioned as you talked about bob that the one thing that we can all hope for is that this election gives us a definitive result and that we don't spend the next two months litigating a vote count in whatever close swing state there might be. >>