help good cholesterol after it failed to help heart problems under a study. the drug is not approved in the u.s. but is sold in about 40 countries. lets elook now at shares of merck which are higher by about a half a dollar the 43.26. sue? >> market's treading water right now, ty. dow jones has a modest game. it actually just now turned negative. it is making me wrong on that. it was higher five minutes ago. now turning down on day by nine points. s&p down three and nasdaq is down almost 1 1/2. everyone is waiting for the earnings picture. we want it see more of the big banks reporting to see if there is a trend. the head of that, everybody i talked to down here is very hesitant to be either aggressively long or short the market. >> but sue, i thought the most interesting thing i learned today on this broadcast was that the news that individual invest oors seem to be pouring money into equity funds for a change. >> yeah, absolutely. >> so either rightly or wrongly, they are jumping in even if pros

are holding back. folks thank you for watching "power lunch" today and everyday. that does it for this edition. >> have a great day, everybody. "street signs" begins right now. something's happening in the stock market that hasn't happened in years. what it is and why it may be very good news for your money. check your paycheck. because your pay is probably down as taxes go up. but will this really crush our urge to shop till we drop? plus, if you weigh more, should you pay more in heavyweight debate on health insurance and we peck our f we pick our favorite cars of the year. >> hey, brian, it might look like a soggy day in the markets but major averages looking at a second straight week of gains. s&p five-year highs. s&p mid caps are at historic highs. and vix, by the way, the fear

gauge is hovering near 5 half # year low. gets's get straight to the floor. bob, if markets are up big and vix is down big, how much room is there for the market to expand? >> well, it's a problem with volatility is low, usually risk assets, a little bit of a problem. you really got to go out there. and i think that's a major issue for the markets right now. my sense is today i did buy, sell or hold on a lot of this stuff. right now, most of the stock market and high yield funds for example, it is a hold right now. i want to show you bank stocks. this is the first day of earnings for banks. they traditionally drop immediately on the first day after the first mover comes out. here is wells fargo. very typical pattern that we see. no one is upgrading the outlook on wells fargo comment. getting compressed. hard it argue for them to expand unless you have loan growth and interest rates move up on the

long end. no one is arguing for that right now but still most stocks have had nice run-ups overall. want to show you what else is going on. i think people are missing a lot pf concentrating on restructuring. getting out of the travel business which they've been in for a long time but card spending is up 8%. 8%. that's an excellent number over all for american express and mandy, we are just a few dollars from an historic high on american express. last high was 2007. finally for the week, let's just ska call it treading water, digestion, whatever you want to call it. but given the big moves we had last week, mndy, i think a little digestion is fine. >> always good to digest your food, isn't it bob? thank you very much. to what extent have we seen this week, the market really tried to grapple with and find a new range for yields. >> you know, it is a fascinating question. and i think it is almost over dramatic and i will tell you why tp sometimes when you want a

good view of the world to answer questions like this, sometimes it is best to step back. mandy, look at 20-year chart of 10-year note yields, then look at the right side there, down there, that little tray right under 2%. it is very hard for me to get excited that this long-term trend is going to end under a huge move to the down side price and upside to yields. granted we may be bottoming, interest rates are a lot like housing. now if you want to take the other side of that, but the same argument, look at 20-year chart of stocks. well, i'll tell you, to me, if you took the name off that, i would say you have to be careful with the stock chart as you approach the double top that so obvious when we count five-year highs. think i both markets are getting way ahead of themselves. i think yields and stocks will be much more compressed than most the optimist belief. >> that is a 20-year chart you were talking about a moment ago, it tells a great story in

illustration. thank you rick. thank you, bob. >> as you saw from rick, we are at an important time for stocks, maybe technically but also otherwise. earnings may not be so hot. so let us take a minute to break down the biggest bull and bear arguments and let us start with the negatives so we can end on the positives. these are the bear cases as we hear them, right? flat earnings, growth expectations for fourth quarter. nobody is saying the cover will be knocked off the ball. we've got taxes going up on the wealthier. which may, may lead to lower consumption. so people talk about in just a few minutes and hey, just the trend. you heard rick talk about a double talk. mark set now up four years in a row. let's go to the bull case now, right? the reasons to perhaps be optimistic about the stock market. number one, the biggest by far. we've got an improving u.s. economy. is it soaring? are we surging? no. but things are getting better and that leads us to the second

part. market psychology, right? good begets good. your 401(k) goes up. you think hey, maybe the mark setback for good or ill. that's when people get back in and they are. bye-bye bonds. hello, stocks. that could be a trend. in fact, the first part bond market still getting a lot of inflows but people are coming back it stocks. look at the data from bank of america. seven continuous weeks of inflows. 19 billion of inflows and stock mutual funds this week alone. and this is what we talked about at the top of the show, mandy, that hasn't happened in years. the largest weekly inflow into u.s. stock funds since june of 2008. and that was the fourth highest weekly inflow in a decade, not bad. >> that is not bad, brian. that the case for the u.s. and even bigger inflows into the surging market equity. who wins the arguments that

brian just put out? let's bring in gina and dan greenhouse. both are cnbc contributors. gina, bull case or bear case? >> well, probably near term bull. but full year bear case. we're expecting s&p to end at about 1400 on the year. but that doesn't mean that markets can't expand all the way probably through june because there is a lot of positive sentiment and pent up demand that we are starting to see. we saw hiring today announced by ford. and we are expecting that to continue. however at some point we will start to see the expectations are far too high and markets expecting 2 percent plus growth. we have to be content with 1.7. market expectations for earnings at $112 are just too high in our opinion. we think that is probably

somewhere 102, 104. and quite frankly, the risks are fatter than ever. and they, right now, are being suppressed. the mark set very, very bullish right now. >> okay. >> probably give back. >> so you will be a bull and then a bear around june of this year. what about you, dan? bull or bear? >> i don't see how you can be a bear in the second half of the year when a lot of the fundamentals for the u.s. economy and companies look better in the second half of the year. certainly, if anything in the first half of the year, we deal with the tax cut. we all know that's about $120 billion sucked out of u.s. economy. certainly effecting savings rate and disposable income. so if anything there is more reasons to be negative in the first part of the year and leave alone the debt ceiling debate which could implode the earth. i don't see why i would be bullish in the first half and bearish in the second half. i disagree with gina on that. >> give us your case and we will let gene gentleman respond. >> listen, gina mentioned how the mark set looking for 2

percent plus grej. i that i is hardly a reason to sell off stocks. certainly there are medium to longer term reasons to be suspect with valuations but in shorter term either four quarter trailing, the u.s. stock market isn't particularly a screaming unattractive buy and certainly we are dealing with suppressed the yields, so to speak, which has an affect on valuation. but we think things are getting better. we don't find the market particularly unattractive and assuming someone doesn't screw this up, bias is probably to the upside. >> you want to respond, gina? >> i think that's an interesting comment. the biggest hurdle we will have in the first half is the march 27 deadline of the db -- what allowes a government to continue to fund itself. and that, as we kind of deal with the delay and the debt ceiling debate, that is probably the most important negative

contributor to sentiment in the first half. however, what we've seen is that market really has switched from being extremely nervous about these things to really putting a lot of faith and sort of innocent until proven guilty kind of sentiment that is happening. we saw that basically going into the end of the year deadline. and market hardly sold off. >> gina -- >> in one day. >> gina, i used to hate earnings season, right? oh, we got to talk about earnings again. i would love to go back it earning season. i would love for earnings to matter instead of the fiscal cliff, right? and all these debt ceiling debates. when do earnings matter again? do they matter right now? >> hold on, i got to jump in. earnings do matter. >> all we talk about is the fiscal cliff. this and that and the election. >> brian, just because you talk about it doesn't mean that something else doesn't matter. >> well, that's not what i

think. >> well. >> can we get back to -- we never answered earnings today. >> okay back it earnings. >> you steam rolled me like i did everybody else and i don't like wait i treat myself, apparently. gina, do earnings matter, and if so, how snch. >> earnings do matter but what is important is the expectation for earnings. bottom $112. top down, 107. pron probably you end up around 102, 103, maybe 104. that's the biggest difference that has to be moderated. yeah we expect 13.5 times earnings. that's isn't a screaming sell, isn't a screaming buy. but we have risks in the market. and i think we will deal with a stream of disappointing data rather than a stream of surprising positive data. and that will be a difference. >> okay. >> the only point i'll make quickly gina, and i'm sure everybody knows this, is earning

expectations have been coming down wab quarter after quarter, for three years now. it hasn't led to a stock market sell-off yet. >> can i make an important point on the vix dan? often we see an extreme low level o on the vix. proceeding big lurch lower in the market. i will take 2007. does that give you any concern in terms of complacency? >> yeah. i think it does. i would make two points. first is volatility is as low as it is. in terms of the academic kind of things. if volatility is as low as it is and bgig has a really robust options desk and i'm begging client, when the vix is at 13, when you buy cheap protection to hedge, if i'm wrong and gina is right, you buy cheap protection and a lot of clients are reluctant to do that right now. >> okay, dan, gina, thank you very much. up next on "street signs,"

check your paycheck. you might be in for sticker shock. one of the world's top economists tell us if this will crush consumer spending. >> later on, great american car come back. why u.s. auto makers are finally back in the driver's seat. and we're asking, if you could buy any new car under $100,000, right, so leave out the varon, folks, what would it be? tweet us and we will share your picks as well as our own, later in the show. [ 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 from busser to waiter to chef before opening a restaurant specializing in fish and game from the great northwest. he'll start investing early, he'll find some good people to help guide him, and he'll set money aside from his first day of work to his last, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade.

so you followed all of the debate over the fiscal cliff and probably you might have been relievered to hear taxes were only going up for the rich this year, right? wrong! because neither party wanted to defend it. the temporary payroll tax cut here and that enacted under obama. that died at the end of 2012. which means everyone in the country will see a bigger tax bite out of their paychecks this year. when you get your first check of the year. might be today. look at the amount charged under fica. you will pay more than you did under december. how big a bite? for many middle class workers it'll work out to a trip to the grocery store. might be a tank of gas. less that is, every two weeks, this year. let me run you through the numbers. for a sixth person, here making about 60 k a year, $60,000 a year, who paid bi-weekly, gross income per paycheck is $2,307. now in december 2012, you would

have to have subtracted that from the federal withholding taxes of $403. fica were about $96. medicare about 33. i'm leaving on the change, by the way, state withholding, like someone from maryland, $177. that gives the taxpayer net pay in one check in december of $1596. so, what happenes this month? let's just move along and take a look for your gross pay. which, by the way, stays the same. 2,307. medicare is the same. state taxes are the same. but, here is the but, fica goes up sharply. so that goes to $143 here in yellow. that is a $46 bite from the political decision to allow payroll tax cut to expire. here is the good news though. federal withholding from this pay check is down by about $4 to $399.

due to the way the federal government calculates inflation. so that gives our taxpayer net pay of $1,554 or just over $41 less than he or she made for each paycheck in december. and by the way, folks, i'm sure you're doing the math in your head right now, that money could have gone to, the groceries or could have bought you, brian, tank of gas. this is real money. >> if you drove the elio, it would buy you more than a tank of gas. >> might buy you 15 tanks of gas. >> exactly. good analysis. so the question becomes this. will this return now to two years ago levels and the numbers mandy threw at you, is that really going to wack the consumer and thus the economy? let us bring in mauery harris. he has been named the most accurate economic forecaster of 2012. thank you very much for joining us. we heard these increases will just obliterate consumer spending. is that true? >> i don't think they are going

to obliterate consumer spending. economists have been studying tax increases for a long time. and what we know is that a temporary tax cut, like you had with this social security tax cut, doesn't get spent like a permanent tax cut would have. in fact economists estimate that that tax cut we had in social security -- in social security probably cut consumption by less than 50 cents on the dollar. so if it didn't take that much away from consumption, if it didn't add that much to consumption in the first place, it won't take that much away now. and -- >> and to jump in, i love that conclusion because it is so gloriously simple. if it didn't add, it's goning to subtract. if it didn't add then, where did the money go? >> where did the money go? the studies show a lot of the money went into paying off debt. mou, in the longer run, the consumers and better shape in you pay off that debt.

but the last couple of years, the consumers have been working off debt and a good part of the tax cut went to pay off debt. some of it went into savings. but the important thing is that for this tax increase, the effect on consumption will be only about half as much of the tax increase. in terms of negative effect, because it wasn't such a positive effect in the first place. >> that thing you just said about saying this is my next question, because up until now, a lot of this has been theory, very academic. in terms of what kind of tax increases you will have. but for example today, we all open our statement. you see, oh, my pay stub is now gone down by x. what are people more likely to do? save less and still spen the same on what they want or will they make decisions leak okay next week i won't go out to dinner.

>> well, let's put it this way. remember, a good part of this was going to repay debt. so this suggests to me that debt repayment isn't what they had on hand and people didn't have debt so they didn't have as big a monthly payments that were still owed. but i would think that, you know, if your paycheck was cut by $10, $20, i would think about half of that shows up in consumption. and again the rest of it either in savings or more likely in not paying off as much debt. >> listen, i'll do you a favor, mauri. my wife and i are in the group. not heavy. but the highly paid people on tv, ablgting like it won't impact them, i will just be real and tell you. we will cut back on consumption. cut back on eating out and save a little less. a combo of everything. not one thing is destroyed. is that what research has shown in general?

>> right. it is a combination of things. it really isn't, for the household as a whole, it is not any one thing where you just cut back consumption. it is a combination and can cut back consumption. cut back savings. i cut back what i had been paying to pay off debt. though after two years of paying off debt, you probably don't have as much debt to pay off. >> in terms of overall debt, if there a consumer consumption as a result of tax hikes, are there other areas of the economy like manufacturing or either areas that you see that can pick up some of the slack? >> i think the most important thing is what happening in the real estate market right now. not only are home sales and housing starts going up, but you're finally seeing a recovery in home prices. and that is so important for the consumer, that the biggest part of most people's assets.

and they've been going down the last couple of years but now they are going up again. and i think that, that's an important buffer right now and in a year where that social security tax increase did go up. >> so if we go back -- if that's the case, quickly, then why go back to prebush tax cuts for everybody. let's call it 3% across the board. i don't agree with it but if there is no appetite for cutting spending in d.c. we have to raise the money somehow, why would that then destroy the economy. that's all we hear about. >> i think from the. standpoint of supporting economy and longer term growth you had to keep the bulk of the bush tax cut. i think that tax cut may have been only for ten years. but i think the public was probably putting that type of tax cut is something more permanent and really wasn't worried about it until we got to this fiscal cliff when the tax cut happened to expire. on the other hand, the social

security tax cut has always been advertised and reported widely. it is just a temporary tax cut. so those two different tax cuts had very different impact on the consumption. >> i like when a was saying about real estate as well. the fact that home prices are going up and recovering in many areas. a huge psychological boost in terms of winning people's trust back in investing and buying and owning. >> of course it is. just like gas prices have began down. heating prices have began down. mortgage prices have gone down and that helps met gate the higher taxes. >> yeah. >> just ahead on "street signs," what do you think, should it be the more you weigh, the more you pay for health insurance? we'll debate. >> and high end porn. just wait until you hear what down and out in beverly hills are hawking these days when "street signs" returns. i don't spend money on gasoline.

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in part it sites concerns about its ability to grow the sales of baby formula, in store baby formula and also a lack of new otc launches next year. mandy back to you. >> mary thank you so much for that. in the meantime posh pawn shops are popping up in some of the swankiest areas of los angeles. jane las been out there scoping them out. jane, what are they hawking these days. >> everything. jeffrey says the growth in pawn fees is slowing. it is booming in mexico. but the pawn association tells me it is seeing growth in the high end. he wealthy have been turning to pawn for quick bridge funding now and some want to avoid credit checks. who are these people in mark friedman is a real estate

investor and bail bondsman to the wealthy. he often uses collateral, including his wife's ring. >> this is my wife's ring. so my partner, she said, i need 50 or a hundred, she's right there. >> is it her engagement ring? >> diamond ring. wedding ring. i'm in the real estate business and sometimes you need 50 or a hundred thousand on the spot. can't take the family jewels to bank of america when you need money that day. so come to beverly loan and this particular case, i had to put up a hundred grand quickly, and beverly loan was here to accommodate me for that. >> this is a tough business. sometimes you got to go to the street, literally stand on the street corner to get money. here you know, if you put a million, 2 million, 5 million in jewelry here, you will get it out when you make your payment. >> loans in california are for four months and beverly loan charges 4% a month.

later on the closing bell, one new development in one what the rich are pawning. something they've been collecting over the last few years. >> do you feel that as the rich are making more, if they put it that way, it is losing its stigma to go to a pawn shop? >> that's the difference. they are seeing people who have never come in before but they are different than the place in vegas on pawn stars. it really is for people who need cash right now. and the wealthy had their credit dinked like everyone else and they don't want to go to the bank and get their. i apologize for my australian accent. and the way we say pawn, and there is no evil going on here, just the silly australian accent. . a love/hate relationship, why we love the stocks with the companies we loathe. >> and jc penney getting slammed. one analyst saying the company's

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happy friday, everyone.

we are out in the newsroom once again. we have street talk you really need to know about. why don't we start with jelly. >> jams, smucker and general mills. goldman downgrading the entire food sector this morning as well as these names. cut smucker saying the outperformance will be constrained. and cut general mills, get this, to a sell. $40 price target. the portfolio looks overextended and could be crooned, whatever that means, i guess dumping ill performed brands and adding cereal portfolio is at risk. >> yesterday talking about ultria. and also, about tobacco. >> yeah. philip morris this time, not altria as you mentioned. goldman with the conviction buy list. from neutral to conviction buy. they expect the emerging markets it drive another year, double-digit growth. people are chain smoking constantly. the list of the growth will be

out of the world for emerging markets and say the cigarette maker what they call offeres a compelling valuation play. >> yeah, try and talk to the chinese it is bad it smoke. anyway be a a hotly contested company coming up. >> a battle for years over dendreon. upgraded from market perform. saying the drug maker could be the one of the best performers of the year, which is good. because last year it was one of the worst biotech performers. they added what they call the progressive disaster at the company. appears to finally be coming to an end. >> i was going to say that this is the point at which we will bring in herb. but he is awol, mia, hiding out not wanting to join us. >> by the wiley, this is herb's desk. this is the kind of stuff that herb keeps on his desk. >> now i know where he is. he is out in the fetal position nursing a hang over. all right, we don't have him so

what is the news, brian? >> best buy higher overall. holiday sales did drop a bit. however, they were supported by surprisingly strong showing in the u.s. against expectations. that's key. because sales were flat. >> yeah. but some people as you know, mandy, predicted a disaster. >> flat v disaster means good news. probably a short covering. >> i think flat could be a bit of a turn around from disaster. this is another stock that, by the way, herb, we wanted to talk about with you. and jan, normally would be joining us, but jc penney cut to a sell. >> this is a big call by ubs here. i was reading a report thinking, they are tough on this company. >> yeah. >> ubs cutting it, saying there is a deteriorating outlook. there are emerging signs ever cash flow distress. that's never good to hear about, right? you got to have free cash flow to pay the bills. ubs says jcp needs significant changes to its turn around

strategy and that sales appear to be below plan. that is a bad call. i don't mean bad, but bad for jcp. >> i think it is clear what their thoughts are on this retailer. absolutely. >> yeah, sell it. >> video games, stocks have said video games are getting a bit of a boost today. julia boorstin has been digging in opt surge. what's behind it. >> handy, here is the thing. stocks are getting a boost. but video games sales plummeted 22% last month according to new numbers just out. but activision is up. reporting its black ops 2 is the best performing game of 2012. that makes the fourth straight year that activision has been the top. electronic arts had the second biggest game, madden nfl 13. shares up nearly 2% today. take 2 interactive with two of the year's biggest titles.

both in top ten. those shares are higher as well. now game makers release nearly a third fewer titles in december than the year ago december. but mandy an brian, looks like the established brands areiajul >> investing can be emotional, can be complex. kind of like dating. but companies you might not like, you may still fall in love with. or you should. think about that. makes no sense. let's bring in kathy, contributing editor. not to so sure about the dating analogies that i wrote. >> you can love someone without liking them, can't you? >> a love/hate relationship. like taylor swift songs. >> all right, forget this stuff. companies that you don't like to use, you don't like the product. dent like their whatever it is is, but they are great

investments. give us a few that fit this category. >> oh, gosh we are talking about banks, insurers, cable companies, airlines, car dealers. all of these industries have some really great buys. and provebably because we find these companies annoying. we hate them and we hate it buy their stocks so that makes them cheap and a great value. >> give us an example outside of banks. we were talking about tobacco stocks, right? you might want it invest in them because they might make you money. even though from an ethical point of view you might have a little bit after dilemma about it, right? >> absolutely. one of the companies we feature in the article is an airline. and it is one of the most hated airlines if the world. it is called spirit airlines. and it is copy of europe's ryan air. a relative newcomer in the u.s. scene. and they are like ryan air. they are a bust in the air. you pay extra for everything.

>> have you it pay to pee, i think. >> that's the only thing they don't charge you for. >> i think ryan air was proposing that. >> you have to carry around a bucket of the quartsers to booze it up. >> just a bucket. you don't have to pay. >> exactly. >> this airline has done phenomenally well in the stock market. and there is reason it believe it is going to do even better as we go forward. >> it is a very good buy. >> comcast is a joy to deal with, right? just a fantastic corporation. other cable companies like time warner and maybe the phone companies like verizon are tough. and by the way, our parent company, comcast, has been a spectacular investment. i know sometimes people don't like to deal with consumer facing companies like those. >> one of the reasons i think people hate these companies is there are few other places to go. and so you kind of feel like you are a captive market. but that's one of the reasons that again, they are good investments. when you get the cable lines going into somebody's house,

chances are you are not going to cancel your cable agreement and maybe you are now going to get internet with that company. maybe phones. you will buy movies from them. and for them, the invest many was the wires going to your house. and once they have actually made that investment, every additional bit of revenue that can get from you drops pretty quickly to the bottom line. >> kathy, not only a pleasure to have you on the show. but our sympathies for having to deal with us. thank you for coming on. >> do we have to apologize to all of our guests now probably. we set a precedent. corn on the move today. arongoing on with corn. >> this is after the usda report, showing that farmers put in about a third, three quarters, i should say, less corn than what they earlier anticipated with the planting. and what does this mean? the tight supplies of cowrn definitely impacting future price and why traders here care about it. higher corn prices, higher ethanol prices, higher gas prices. all tied in.

traders have to watch very closely. >> back to you. >> thank you very much. is it time no cut the fat and cut to the chase on healthcare costs? coming up, we will ask this very simple question. if you weigh more, should you pay more for health insurance? the u.s. car come backs. we are asking you, if you can buy any car or any truck under $100,000, what would it be? it has to be a new car, 2013 model, by the way. not like a 1977 gemini, like i used to drive. tweet us and we will share your picks and ours, later on in the show. but i'm still stubbed up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't unstuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus liquid gels speeds relief to your worst cold symptoms plus has a decongestant for your stuffy nose. thanks. that's the cold truth! ♪ [ male announcer ] don't just reject convention. drown it out. introducing the all-new 2013 lexus ls f sport.

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could we be entering a new age for the golden car make sners yeah, he can tigs is tough out there but gm and chrysler are holding their own and the inferior imported cars is just tired, old and wrong. but how can they gain even more market share? joining us is car and driver east coast bureau cleef justin berkowitz. pleasure to have you on the show. i'm a subscriber, reader. thanks for coming on. how are the american kr companies doing in general? >> they are doing quite well. unfortunately, i hate to rain on

the perfect vethe per verb yl p i think they are doing well compared to five years ago. the industry is expanding generally so they are expanding theirselves so they have a smaller proportion of the overall market in the u.s. >> who in particular are they losing the market share to and what are the chances they can regain that share in the future years. >> bear in mind that japanese companies, nissan be toyota, honda, are bouncing back after lowering production from japanese tsunami. it is important to bear in mind that last time the gm's market share was this low wab hoover was president. it is under 18%. it hasn't been that low since the 1920s. >> but some is by choice. they have called brands and gotten smaller? >> in part by choice. they have called brands. and in some senses they have, and some they haven't. i agree with you, there is a

bigger picture. gm is operating nearly debt free and that is very important for them. >> the resurgence we talk about, driven by trucks versus cars, justin. >> pickup trucks outsold all of its cars combineded. those are the products in demand. housing starts are are increasing. it is a very healthy profit on each vehicle for ford, gm or chrysler. >> thank you so much for joining us. here comes the fun part of the show. we've been asking you all show, if you could by any new car or truck under a hundred k, what would it be? and thank you to everyone for tweeting in some fantastic answers and a few agreed with me. the nissan juke. quirky, fun. the juke beats them all is one of the tweets.

audi s6. not even a close second out there. and george is sticking with the good old usa with 2013 ford explorer sport. >> i agree with everybody but the juke. ugliest car on the road. >> we took a poll on "street signs." here are our teams, dream cars. executive producer, what did you say, albert? volvo? >> very safe. >> very safe, albert. have fun in your beige. kevin, in our ear right now. cadillac cts. >> be careful what you say. he is our voice of god. >> great looking car. good selection. jenny, naturally, look at the texan. escalade. she want it sit in the back. how she rolls. producer, acura -- oh, i'm surprise he you went with the two-door. good looking car though. >> jackie with the a5 convertible. can i see jackie in that.

that is like a girly car. >> this is jackie o'sullivan and mark the last name because this is important. >> myself, audi tt. and i particularly love it because i can't fit the kids in the back. so it is my car and not the family car with all of the stains and veggiemite all over the back. >> and mine, audi a5. i tried to tone it back. it was tough for me. i almost went with the ford fusion. love the grill, great trim, great lines. in the end, a tough fight. i went with the a5. three audis. >> a lot of people tweeted audis. this is not a real car, it is a concept car. hot rod holden. that is sex on wheels. i'm sorry, i said it. but that is beautiful. >> roof line is a little low for that purpose. but you never know. >> one day might be out on the streets. up next on "street signs," a fat stat that got us thinking, should you pay more if you weigh

more? very controversial, you don't want it miss the debate.

today's thing that makes you go hmm. 5 billion. that's how much we are spending

just in extra, not total, extra jet fuel to fly heavier americans around the globe each year. that is based on the typical number, based all the way back -- 5 billion in gas because we're heavy. >> well, there's bulging waist lines aren't just taking a toll on our skies, folks. you are more likely to die young here in the united states than in any other developed country, even though the u.s. spends way more on health care. shocking stat. the likely culprit is obesity, so should there be a fat tax? joining us is the president of national action against obesity and dustin wilson, senior research analyst at the center for consumer freedom, obviously a very contentious and sensitive debate and what say you? >> your personal choices impose a cost on others. therefore, you've got to pick up the cost. got to pick up that tab. it's your responsibility. >> justin? >> you know, if mimi was elected to an office, i think we would end up living in a police state.

this idea that everything we do is regulatable is ridiculous. you know, the government doesn't regulate what we do in our bedroom. >> justin, get off it. it's so silly. i think people, adults should do whatever they want with their own bodies but if you -- pay the price for your decisions. how is that the police state. >> let them eat whatever they want to eat. >> pick up the tab. >> she's not saying don't let them eat what you want. eat it. >> you have to pay for it. enjoy. >> it's almost two grand a year more for an obese person in medicare costs, do you want to pay for that, justin? >> what you've made is an argument against having a single-payer health care system and not an argument for actually taxing people for owe beings. we don't have a system where we bear the cost of each other's bad decisions. >> really, yeah, we do. we pay the price. >> obesity is the only condition that you think it's okay to invade personal lives and yet

there's a whole lot of other things that we could do and regulate. should we lower the speedly. to 30 miles an hour? maybe we should make speed limits so low. >> one at a time. >> if it's costing us 550 billion in the next 20 years, that's something to look at. not every personal choice that people make cost all of us that much money. >> people cut themselves every year -- every time they cut themselves -- people cut themselves with sharp knives and it costs 20 billion a year, and it's not an argument for us to make all the knives in this country dull. >> the actuaries say obesity is super expensive and we're all paying the price. >> i have a question here. we're just talking about health care costs, right. >> productivity. >> we pay more if we smoke. >> crash your times six times a year you pay more in car insurance. >> exactly. this gets into a really sensitive area but not just health care premiums, right? what about, for example, when you go and book an airline

ticket. if you are over a certain weight should you pay more. because you're heavier should you pay more at an all you can eat buffet bus you're likely to eat more than the slim person there? where do you stop with that? >> just season laughering at you. >> the buffet thing is a tricky one but i've been a long supporter of a total weight, you plus your luggage past a certain point may have to pay a premium. alaska airlines has been that way a long time because they -- it's not the same -- >> first of course, where's the line. i'm 6'4", 230, according to the government i'm grotesquely obese. justin -- >> what about your bmi? >> my bmi says i'm grossly overweight. is there a line that we can do here? any way to do this without discriminating in any way but also being fair? >> so all the research on this has found is that when you force people to lose weight, whether it's a loved one who is, you know, given the guilt trip to their husband. >> no one said that. >> or dump your friends that are

fat, whenever tries to force someone to lose weight, you know what happens, they put on more weight. when we start blaming these people, they -- they, unfortunately, actually keep putting on weight. the solution is to encourage personal responsibility, not discourage people from exercise their own responsibility. >> go back to where we started responsibility. personal responsibility, pick up your own tab, if you order it, pay for it. >> there's a huge difference, mimi, when the government takes over our lives. >> who is talking about the government taking over our lives. i'm saying pick up your own tab. >> we have to go. however, listen, we're going to get together and hash this out over a banana cream pay, all hang out together. >> one each. >> one each. >> it's going to be fine. >> perfect. >> as long as mimi never throws it in my face. >> never. you know i have a secret crush on you. >> and we'll pay per pound for cream pie. >> mcdonald's making british kids smarter. that's a true story. ♪

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