hands-free bird's-eye view of a rare fourth century work of art. up next, xbox dance central under the mona lisa, maybe. very interesting. sue, the markets seem to have a bit after hiccup here. the dow is still higher. but s&p and nasdaq -- i guess the nasdaq not unexpectly after apple yesterday both down. >> consolidation is one of the words we are hearing down here today. i don't think that is unexpected given the fact we've had such a big move over the dow and s&p the past few weeks. keep in mind they don't want to see a negative close here because we did move through levels on the s&p 500 but we do have a fairly broad-based advance. transportation average is up strongly. that's confirming early move we saw in the dow jones industrial average and still have some move in the utilities average only about one or two points on traysing session but nonetheless we do see movement into utilities as well.

the stocks index on the sell off in technology is down on the traysing session. that is worth noting. hopefully we will get a close for the bull and who want the market to move higher. >> thank you very much, sue. and of course, apple, bill constituent of that decline in s&p 500. worth maybe five of the down points. that will do it for today's edition of "power lunch." >> have a great afternoon. see you tomorrow, "street signs" begins now. . >> well, the cohost here says everybody is special. and guess what, you are, folks. we have a special "street signs" from new york stock exchange. big news on wall street and two big event we are monitoring at this hour. president expected to nominate sec chairman and we are waiting on a statement from the ntsb on boeing. >> by the way, everybody is

special, no one is sperl. that's a direct quote from, which movie? "the incredibles." since december 2007, it is slightly lower now, but has risen the past six days. if it manages to finish higher today it'll be the first winning streak since october 2006. how is that for a step for you? we will talk about a fruit company called apple. let's get to the floor of the nyse, where i are today. mary thompson, what are people talking about from apple? >> apart from apple, of course something you meng hmentioned, mandy, breaking the 1500 level. since then we have seen a bit of consolidation on the s&p. the dow well off its highs of the day. at one point up triple digits. now a gain of 24 points. there you can see the s&p is now down on the session. nasdaq has been weaker

throughout the day. again that concern about apple's report putting pressure on the tech sector today. what we are seeing though is continued strength in consumer sector. consumer discretionary stocks, pretty much at an all-time high in today's session. they are among the leader we are seeing. healthcare and industrials also. telecom briefly lower. it has turned higher. but the other big story is weakness in tech stocks. transportation average continues its record run up 65 point today. couple of airlines out with earnings that were better than expect or i should say a also smaller than expected in the case of united continental. also southwest coming in with earnings ahead of expectations still down for the year. nevertheless, dow transports continues to post very strong gains, up 65 point in today's session, as i mentioned earlier. held by airlines at a two-year high in today's trade. but, volume has picked up after the 1500 mark and again consolidation going on here.

brian, back to you. >> mary, thank you very much. three big tech stories are dominating your markets today. so we are calling it our tech trifecta. here is your rundown. first, apple, tanking after last night's earnings and spooking the market about how it'll issue new guidance. second, netflix, soaring after an out of the park corner that surprised everybody. and third tonight, another big tech name releasing numbers. we are talking about microsoft. and we are covering all angles straight up for you and let's begin now with apple. because yesterday's results really make it everybody panic. but let's talk about apple from a valuation perspective. right? this thing could still be cheap. joining us now is roger cape, president and founder of input technologies associates. roger, what i did this morning is look at apple, still right now, number one, exxon, google and wal-mart. on price to sales, a ford priced

earning basis, on peg ratio basis, apple is trading at discount to other three biggest names, even though it's growing more quickly. why? >> right. well, that would indicate a buy, i would say. apple is a great company. the apple stores were full, not only through christmas, but through new year's, and right into january. the enthusiasm for product that has never been higher. they have a tremendous cash flow. you know, people think the stock is expensive because its got a high number. but they forget tech stocks during their growth periods split their stocks a number of times. when they stop growing and settle down a price likes microsoft has between 20 and 30, after a number of splits and apple and google are distinguished by not doing that. >> "street signs" coined the cod rod knee dangerfield term a couple weeks ago about how the

market rally is getting no respect. in some ways, you could say the same for apple. on the metrics for another name, where do you think it would be? >> absolutely. the stock could be quite a bit higher than it is. one of the things, in the street's favor, i think rap el ran up rather quickly on the anticipated earnings in the future as well as what they were doing currently. one of the things that happened is that since steve jobs passed away, there is a market that no one has seen before, come out of blue and rescue the company, that's pretty much the product they have in the pipeline. they have been coy about tv. but that's probably the next product. those are things in store for the company. but even as you say that, the cash flow is spectacular. who else is doing business like that? >> you are right. this is very much a show me stock, right?

show me the continuous flow of innovative cutting edge products. i want to ask you, you said this is a stock that's not split for years. is there any case for it to split? >> it is the old case that splitting always had. you make the round lot accessible to the ordinary investor. right new you want it buy a hundred shares of them, it is 50 grand. that's a lot of money. a small investor, you want to put a couple thousand in, that's not much of an opportunity. >> do you think there is any possibility they might do that? >> no, i don't think so. there is no reason for them to. part of the prestige of tech stocks like google, which set the pace, is not to let it split the stock. let it run up and let people see how much growth you've had over time. ber berkshire hathaway is like that. it does mean that buyers have to be pretty weal healed to buy any quantity of it. >> absolutely.

thank you very much for joining us. next up, netflix and it is absolutely soaring today. and your next guest says netflix is the next hbo. a great magazine article, thanks for joining us, nancy. they want to be hbo, but bet arer, right? they want to bring it to you when they want it bring it to you. >> that's the future. eventually everyone will stream everything. no one want it wait for that appointment tv any more. despite what advertisers would like them to do. >> do you think they can come up with consistently good addictive great content though to be able to back that up? >> unfortunately for them, and for everyone, there is enormous competition for that at this point. you have hbo, show time, lots of cable companies and lots of networks trying to do it. we see. we will see if we can get that kind of talent. >> it seems that netflix, while slamming the traditional content

delivery model, is morphing into one. >> well, they are in the sense that they are creating these kinds of shows. but they aren't in the sense that they are doing it only on demand and cutting advertisers out of the loop entirely. which changed the paradigm radically and quickly. >> but content is incredibly expensive to produce. they can produce a couple of shows right now. if they want it produce the level of shows after quote unquote real network, they will have to pay for that themselves, which is expensive. or bring in advertisers. >> well, they did talk today about issuing debt. which may be one of the ways they do it and of course, carl icom made his 10% buy based on the fact they would be swooped up by perhaps google, facebook. because they do need cash. they need to produce that very expensive content. >> i'm not going to ask you where you think the price will go. but i think yesterday the stock was up nearly 50% since the last

report in late october. what do you think the challenge is for this kind of come back to be sustained? >> in terms of the stock price, perhaps overvalued at 300. >> where is it valued at a hundred? we'll see. what they have to do to sustain that is really compete with hbo. really come out with perhaps five, which is their goal, five big budget pieces a year. that's a lot. >> the thing about netflix, aside from the dvd business, it is hamstrung by the weakest link. it is streamed by whatever you have at home. it gets stuck with with me sometimes at home and i have the latest routers. >> they are at the forefront of it, with the band width, will give them plenty of band width to do that. >> so they recognize that issue.

>> yes. >> i hate that little circle, buffering, buffering, buffering and you are just about to get to the most exciting part of the story. thank you, nancy. be sure to check out the article in februaryish you've gq on stands next tuesday which is january 29th. brian? >> let's round out our tech tri. microsoft, reporting after the bell tonight. what can we expect about a company whose stock is back to where it's been the last decade. let's bring in senior analyst, ed, what do you want to see from microsoft tonight? >> well, this is a quarter where expectations have been set fairly low on the pc side. i think what we're looking for and what investors are looking for is validation that long-term strategy is showing progress. windows 8 has been off to a start that's equivalent to the pace of windows 7. but the lack of available touch screen laptops seems to have crimped some of the uptake.

we've seen some concerns in the pc supply chain. weighing on sentiment in the stock. but what we like to focus on is what microsoft is doing around the enterprise. the growth and enterprise licensing agreements and pending products like cycle that is right around the corner. >> but you really hit on this, right? enterprise business is the growth driver where some other businesses are not. is there any case is here to split some of the businesses? break itself up? >> that's a great question. i think the argument is much stronger to keep everything together. what really makes microsoft's value proposition attractive to buyers both consumers and aechb enterprise is that it works together. can you use a spreadsheet an power point and cut and paste a. and this works with all of their

product. and the division that they are laying out for phone and windows 8 and server to have this common platform is attractive for developers. but i think it'll take time for the strategy to play out. >> ed, let's put aside mandy's half hearted attempt to validate her prediction for 2013. >> i believe it is vendcated. >> that is one of hers. if steve ballmer doesn't vendcate this summer, does he need to go? >> i'm certain there will be more calls for him to make changes. in many respects, the departure of stevecy nop ski was by the company wanting it integrate pieces across all of its silos. and this is the -- this will be the test case for sure. they need to show they can pull the pieces together and offer an attractive value proposition to consumers. which is where they have been lagging. >> okay. buy with a price tag of 36

bucks. and by the way, the year is young. but all predictions have so far been coming true. >> that is true. >> yours as well. >> i think we should end the year now. happy new year, mandy. >> well done, we will take you to dinner. there you go. >> up next on "street signs," apple, netflix and microsoft all in headlines. but there are under the radar stocks, according to herb, that be making as much, no, bigger news. we will have them for you. >> and this is controversy folks. all you hear from politics says how the middle class is stagnant for decades. guess what? we've got a guy with the data to back up, but that's not true. that actually the middle class has made huge gains and politicians aren't exactly telling you the truth. >> by the way, folks, we are waiting on president obama. a very big hour this hour. he is nominating mary jo white to head up the scc minutes from now. and a real double whammy. double barrel of excitement for you. the 2:30 live news conference on

the investigation of the boeing 787 and we will have the live coverage for you right here on "street signs." [ engine revving ] ♪ [ male announcer ] every car we build must make adrenaline pump and pulses quicken. ♪ to help you not just to stay alive... but feel alive. the new c class is no exception.

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occasionally chaotic. you hear on both the right and left, middle class is stagnant. wages have remained flat for decades. the middle class is struggling. but is that true? maybe not. there's an interesting article in the wall street journal today that you have to read. i tweeted it out earlier. and the auj our of that joins us now. economic professor at george mason university who says the middle class stag nation is a myth. professor, welcome to the program. really enjoyed reading your piece today because, you went right after it. and it is a controversial topic because there are people out there who indeed are suffering. but late lay out your arguments as to why all we hear from politicses about the middle class may be a myth. >> yeah. if you look at what ordinary americans are able to consume and the increase in what they can consume since say 1907s, when the middle class living standards was supposed to reach their peak and have allegedly

stagnated since, americans are consuming more and more higher quality. the increase in our living standards, living standards of ordinary americans, why they repeat the trove that americans are missing middle class is not true. >> why do you think that. >> this is the alleged age of deregulation and deregulation is supposed to leave middle class struggling so perhaps they think that well since we had this reagan revolution the middle class must be suffering so they look for statistics that support their point. and you can find stati statisti that support that point. but we know that statistics are easy it use in toward mislead. statistics that they use don't get at the truth. why politicians on the right think the middle class is stagnating, i don't know at all. but it is clear to me and my

coauthor, mark perry, when you look at the data, we are living longer. our income goes much further than it did even just 30 years ago. quality of healthcare, even though that is one thing which price increased, but the quality of healthcare is indescribably better than when reagan took office in '81. by almost all measures, america's middle class is far and way way better than 30 years ago. no question. >> so don if the middle class does not need to be protected, to the extent that the president and other politicians say, should they and can they pay more taxes and share their burden? >> i'm kind after low tax guy. i think taxes are too high. i think middle class has been thriving in spite of an unusually high tax burden. >> if we keep spending to the extent we are and expect entitlements, shouldn't everybody, including middle

class, pay more? and it sounds like you are saying they have the ability to do so. >> to the extent we have taxes, they should be distributed more equitableably. >> but let's be clear. let's be clear. you know, they are paying more, right? according to your article, professor, which they are not getting wage gains because the cost of healthcare and other benefits they are receiving from their employer have gone up to the point where they are now 31% of total compensation so if healthcare costs were controlled, people might get raises. they're not because companies are paying the raise in higher healthcare and other benefits costs. >> that is one way in which higher compensation is passed on to workers. but keep in mind, for that, they are getting better healthcare than they did 30 years ago. even 20 years ago. >> if i were a progressive, and i'm not, but if i were a political progressive, i would

celebrate these facts. social security, medicare, medicaid, national science foundation, all these great government programs, these the fruits and they should be celebrating. but it is unusual that people on the political left are the ones who are most insistent on the claim that america's middle class is suffering. >> because professor, you know as well as i o do, right, doesn't matter what country or political affiliation you are, if you tell people they need you, it is easier to sell what you're selling. >> that's right. >> get voter back in. >> right. we have a big problem so entrust me with power so i can help solve it. when in fact the middle class, it is not perfect. but it is not in the dire straits that the typical politician and many pundits make it out to be. >> fantastic stuff. thank you very much. interesting article indeed. >> thanks. >> coming up on "street signs," forget about apple. we have been talking about that a lot today. there are way more earnings stories out there and a lot of

them considered very important as well as herb greenburg will explain. >> that is right. and we will have a big beer bash, which is better than the coffee i was seen drinking on television. >> that's okay, live tv. >> you just think this is coffee. that's why the end of the show is better than the beginning. >> a malty milestone coming pup. (announcer) scottrade knows our clients trade

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there's a live look at white house, folks. a reminder, we could have two press conferences for you. first, the president announcing mary jo white as head of the scc and an upcate on the boeing 787 dreamliner. the moment those happen we will bring them directly to you. >> in the meantime why don't we check out today's sunshine stock. it is shares of bed, bath and beyond. they are up almost 5%. this is one of the best hard line retailers. year to date, i think the stock is up about 6%. >> all right, now let's go to mr. herb greenburg. while apple is a story today,

i've read about apple a little bitt bit. it's been on the twitter verse. so mr. greenburg, if apple is not it, what is? >> there is stories that are interesting, at least to me. i start out every single morning in this earnings season going through earnings reports. i look out for things that stick out like a sore thumb. if you caught my attention this morning starting with xerox, this company has been trying to morph increasingly into services businesses. services now count as of the last quarter 52% of revenue. that's up 7%, at least revenue in that segment. 7% in the quarter. this is an improving trend cord the company's goal of getting more recurring revenue. i was also intrigued with mccormic company this is a

favorite of jim cramer. now this pension thing really seemed to catch investors and analyst off guard and even though it is a one time thing you can see from the stock how much investors were kind of surprised by this. then stanley black and decker. while up 2%, organic growth, the company made it clear it has to do a better job driving that organic growth. acquisitions will only take you so far. and finally, brian, this one is for you. lockheed martin said something i've not heard a company say before. now that the fiscal cliff is solved, somewhat, it is now moved on to worry about the budget deficit. noting that it faces the quote uncertainty of sequestering. my guess is they may be the first company to say that and they will not be the last. back to you.

>> up next on "street signs" -- >> all right, herb. you know what, buddy. with these ears, i will say something i've never said in my life. i can't hear you. i would like to engage, but i can't. now we will go to a quick break. again, waiting on the president. new scc chairman. update on boeing. shake up at the nyse. >> what else? >> lots of things coming up. i will also duck out early because i'm doing "closing bell" as well as the new york stock exchange. >> wow, so repeating everyday. >> it really is. >> it is. fantastic. we are back right after this.

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welcome back, everybody. what you are looking at is an empty podium there. watching live tv. we are monitoring two events that are just about to happen any time now. first of all, at the white house, the president is set to announce the nomination of former u.s. attorney mary jo white will be the new sec chair. and the second thing we are awaiting on is the ntsb, they will hold a briefing on their

investigation of the boeing 787 dreamliner problems that caught fire at boston logan airport two weeks ago. in the meantime, okay, this is the ntsb conference just starting. let's listen in. >> -- is to never experience a fire on board an aircraft. in two weeks' time, we saw two case of battery failures on the 787, and the grounding of the entire fleet by the faa. the significance of these events cannot be understated. this is why the ntsb has been working since january 7th to determine what happened and why. today i can tell you what we know so far. we know that the lithium ion battery experienced a thermal run away.

we know that there were short circuits and we know that there was a fire. the work that we continue to do will tell us why these things happened. and it is answering the "why" question that will insure that the appropriate corrective actions are taken. i with like to begin by showing you a presentation about what we have found. first we will go through the time line. at about 10:00, the aircraft arrived at the gate from norita. 183 passengers and a number of crew members deplaned. within about a half an hour, the cleaning and maintenance crew arrived. and they noticed the smoke in the cabin. at 10:35, a mechanic noted

flames coming from the apu battery in the aft electronics bay. at 10:37, airport rescue and fire fightinre n at 10:40, they arrived on scene. and at 12:15 they reported that the fire was controlled. i'm going to talk to you a little bit about apu battery, and particularly the ones we've examined since the event. the battery that you see here that's damaged is the one that we have been working on in the lab. the other battery is the battery from that same aircraft from the main battery location. once we removed the battery from the aft electronics bay, this is what the aft electronics bay looked like.

you can see damage to surrounding structures and components. in the bay. and it was confined to an area immediately near the apu battery rack. within about 20 inches of the rack. in the photo on the right, that you will see adjacent to the apu battery, where the wing anti-ice controllers on the left and battery charger on the right. these batteries are manufactured by gs uasa, an installation ingrader and they are unique to the boeing 787. the same battery is used for primary airplane battery and for the battery that is used for the apu. the main battery is the final power source, should all other electrical generation fail.

this slide is going to give you a sense of our investigative activities occurring all around the world. we have done a number of examinations of different component parts and are participating in groups in different locations. the battery charger unit and start power unit have been functionally tested. there was one minor finding with each unit but given the damage experienced in this event, that is not unusual. so we are trying to still determine the significance of those findings. two general purpose modules are being downloaded in seattle today. we are looking to retrieve maintenance messages and records from nonvolatile memory. the battery monitoring unit had extensive damage, which prevented functional testing. individual circuit checks and

detailed examinations have been performed and investigators continue to validate their findings. there are additional activities that are being conducted by boeing and in which the faa is participating in seattle and other locations. the ntsb is participating in many of those activities. we are evaluating potential scenarios with the systems, failure modes, we are gathering factual information to support and rebut different scenarios. we are also reviewing manufacturing records for potential issues or trends. and we are gathering information that was collected in recent supplier audits. so there's a tremendous amount of work going on all around the world. we actually have two shifts of employees. both here and in japan who

really are working around the clock to try to solve this. we're going to talk a little bit more about the batteries. >> we are getting out of the ntsb pressures. you heard very highly technical about the battery. a thermal runway as the headlines cross we will continue to bring them to you on cnbc. but we also have another big press conference moments away. the president introducing a new head of the sec. let's go now and get a preview of what the president is likely to say with john har way john? >> the president will announce mary jo white as head of the sec and richard corps dray as head of consumer protection bureau created by the dodd-frank act. in both cases the president signaling a tough hand on the side ofonsu mary jo white would replace mary shapiro. mary shapiro, when we were going through a financial crisis,

brought a background of expertise in financial regulation. mary jo white has a different profile. she is prosecutor, serving under president clinton. has a reputation for toughness and the president is trying to signal na in addition to after 2009, now that we are implementing dodd-frank, he wants a tough cop on the beat. that is also richard cordray's profile. he was not able to be confirmed. he was a recess appointment, because the republicans in the senate blocked his nomination to a permanent job. but the president is counting on his stronger position post election to get both nominations through. with respect to mary jo white, we will see whether the president has enough steam behind him that she can be confirmed on her own or if there a package deal with a new republican seat on the sec, that

will be appointed later. >> john, the president is speaking. let's listen in. >> -- depends on smart common sense regulations to protect the vast americans pro people with a different view. the kind of abuse that nearly brought the economy to its kneees. today there are rules to help familyes. responsible families buy a home or send their children to college without being tricked out of their life savings and there are rules to end wall street bailouts once and for all. but, it is not enough to change the law. we also need cops on the beat to enforce the law. and that's why today i am nominating mary jo white to to lead the security and exchange

commission and richard cordray to continue leading the protection bureau. this guy is bothering me here. mary jo white was a big fan of the hardy boys. i was too, by the way. she built a career the hardy boys could only dream of. over a decade as u.s. attorney in new york. she helped prosecute white collar criminals and money launderers. in the early 1990s she brought down john gotti, head of the gambino crime sendcate and brought those those who brought down the world trade center in 2007. as one form ear sec chairman said, mary jo does not intimidate easily and that's important because she has big job ahead of her. the sec played a critical role in protecting our financial system during the worst of the financial crisis. but there's much more work to be done to complete the task of

reforming wall street and making sure that american ip vestoinve are better informed and protected. we need to be sure taxpayers do not pay the price. i'm absolutely confident mary jo has the experience and resolve to tackle these complex issues and protect the mer scan people in a way that is smart and in a way that is fair and i want it thank elise walters, who has done an outstanding job holding down the for the as chairwoman. and i expect the senate to confirm mary jo as soon as possible so she can get to work. my second nominee is a familiar face. a year and half ago i nominated richard to lead the watch dog agency we created to give americans the information they need to make sound financial choices and protect them from unscrupulous lenders and debt collectors. as former attorney general of ohio, with a long record of working with democrats and

republicans on behalf of the american people, nobody questioned richard's qualifications. but he wasn't allowed and up or down vote in the senate. as a consequence i took action to appoint him on my own. over the last year richard has proved to be a champion. american consumers. thanks to his leadership we made it tough forare families to be tricked into mortgages they can't afford. we have set clearer rules so responsible lenders know how to operate fairly. we have launched a know before you owe campaign to help parents and students make smart decisions about apaiing for college. we tracked down on credit card companies that charge hidden fees an forced those companies to make things right. through it all richard earned a reputation as straight shooter and shob wsomebody who is willig to bring every voice to the table in order to do what is right for consumers and our economy. now richard's appointment runs out at the end of the year. and he can't stay on the job unless the senate finally gives him the vote that he deserves.

financial institutions have plenty of lobbyists looking out for their interests. the american people need richard it keep standing up for them. and there is absolutely no excuse for the senate to wait any longer to confirm it. so i want to thank mary jo, richard and their families, once again for agreeing to serve. i would like it invite them to say a few words, starting with mary jo. >> thank you, mr. president. for the confidence that you've placed in me and the faith that you have shown in me by nominating me to be the next chair of the securities and exchange commission. i'm deeply, deeply honored. if confirmed by sentate i look forward to committing all of my energies to working with my fellow commissioners and the extremely dedicated and talented men and women of the staff of

the sec, to fulfill the agencyes a mission, to protect investors. and to ensure the strength, efficiency and transparency of our capital markets. sec along a vital and positive force for the markets has a lot of hard and important work ahead of it. i would welcome the opportunity to lead those efforts and to build on the work of chairman mary shapiro and elise walter. and finally and most importantly i want to thank my president, john white, who is here today, on wh what is our 43rd wedding anniversary. >> today? >> today. for his strong support of me and seeking to engage in this very significant and challenging public service. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> richard? >> thank you, mr. president.

for the confidence have you placed in me and our team at the consumer financial protection bureau. we understand that our mission is to stand on the side of consumers. our mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, sons and daut daughters and see that they are treated fairly. nor than a year we have been focus owned making consumer finance markets work better for the american people. we approach this work with open minds, open ears, and great determination. we all thank you and the congress for the opportunity and the honor to serve our country in this important way. thank you. >> well, i just want to thank again mary jo and richard for their willingness to serve. these are people with proven track records. they are going to look out for the american people. for mer con consumers. and make sure our american marketplace works better, more

transparently, more efficiently, more effectively. so i again would urge the senate to confirm both of them as quickly as possible. and i also want to express congratulationses to the whites for their anniversary. if i had known, we would have, maybe rolled out a cake or something. but have fun. >> thank you. >> hope you enjoy it. >> the president officially nominating mary jo white as head of the sec. let's get back to john harwood. john, is there any question whether or not she will be confirmed by the senate? >> i think she will be confirmed. there may be a question of timing, when she will be confirmed. and when the president came on, whether that is a free-standing deal or kun done in a package with the filling after republican seat on the commission. but the president said as we expected, referring to a tough cop on the beat. said he wants common sense regulation. similar theme for richard cordray. while talking and listening to the president, got an e-mail from the chairman of the house

financial services committee. he talked about resuming the debate over the consumer protection agency and wanted to engage in debate with mary jo white about job measures passed bit congress but did not criticize either of the nominees. i think that is positive. >> scott, give us more of an illustration or a picture of exactly who this woman is and what her background is, as well. >> right. the emphasis and emphasis in the president's remarks is that this is a tough cop on the beat. former prosecutor. but remember she has been out of that for more than ten years. now the top litigator where she has represented big figures on wall street. ken lewis of bank of america. john mac at morgan stanley. she has seen both sides. as i have talked to people in the legal and regulatory communities, the word that comes up the most is that she is fair.

ben law ski is new york's superintendent of financial institutions. she worked for her and worked on the other side of the table while working for andrew cuomo. he says the benefit of mary jo white is that she sees the whole field. that may help ease concerns about the first prosecutor ever, former pros koutor ever, to head the sec. >> scott cohen, thank you very much. >> coming up, the other big story of the hour, ntsb investigation into boeing's dreamliner. we will give you more live from the nyse, right after this. we've completely integrated every step of the process, making it easier to try filters and strategies... to get a list of equity options... evaluate them with our p&l calculator... and execute faster with our more intuitive trade ticket. i'm greg stevens and i helped create fidelity's options platform. it's one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. now get 200 free trades pen an account.

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♪ the national transportation safety board making a statement just moments ago into its investigation into the boeing troubled 787 dreamliner. let's get to phil lebeau. from what we heard, highly technical and lots of terms that necessarily i'm not thinking exactly what they are talking about. i hope you did. >> what they are trying to do, brian, and what they are still doing, the ntsb chairman debby herr'sm hersman is in the process of running down through exactly what they are doing. breaking down what they are doing in the investigation, strip that all away and a couple headlines come out of the press conference, the first one being

they do not know the root cause of the battery failures, the main point, that they are continuing to investigate, and as a result you're looking at a situation that's far more serious than perhaps can appreciate any time you have a fire in the air. as layman as you can get it, an explanation from the ntsb chairman in terms of what happened with the batteries on the two dreamliners. >> there are findings to date. fire was present. there are signs of thermal runaway and of short-circuiting. we have a number of next steps we're early in our investigation and have a lot of activities to undertake. >> and just so you can appreciate where they are at, brian and mandy. just a few minutes ago the chairman said they have no time for wrapping up this investigation, and she was asked specifically would you feel safe

having the dreamliner fly again? she did not answer that question. she did not come out and say no or yes. she said we're strictly here looking for the cause of these battery fires so we'll continue monitoring this. if there's any further headlines we'll bring them back to you. guys, back for you. >> the story continues. thank you very much, phil lebeau. up next, the hamptons, housing cliff. any story with housing and hamptons and people struggling is worth a watch. trust us. ♪ [ male announcer ] when we built the cadillac ats from the ground up to be the world's best sport sedan... ♪ ...people noticed. ♪

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got some good news now for the 1% or 2% out there. housing in the hamptons is hot, hot, hot. robert frank, what is driving the hamptons resurgence? >> the hamptons real estate market has always been about big money, but the deals and the money just got a lot bigger according to data released from brown harris. sales of homes in the hamptons priced at more than $2.5 million increased 98%, get it, 98% in the fourth quarter alone compared with last year.

the average price rose 27% to 2.1 million bucks and more than 1,300 homes sold in the last quarter. average prices increases 67%. what drove all the boom? taxes. realtors tell me that sellers rushed to do the deals before january 1st to avoid the potential tax hikes on capital gains. the big surprise was that sales are even continuing through this january, and inventory is getting very thin. brokers tell me the wealthy want somewhere safe to put all this cash, and they are turning to real estate. here are a few properties that are still for sale and could still be yours in the hamptons. this estate in bridgehampton could be yours for 43 million bucks. 12 bedrooms, get this, two bowling aliz, a tennies in court, a rock climbing wall and a full disco. or for the