a talking car. but i'll tell you what impresses me. a talking train. this ge locomotive can tell you exactly where it is, what it's carrying, while using less fuel. delivering whatever the world needs, when it needs it. ♪ after all, what's the point of talking if you don't have something important to say? ♪ [ babies crying ] surprise -- your house was built on an ancient burial ground. [ ghosts moaning ] surprise -- your car needs a new transmission.

[ coyote howls ] how about no more surprises? now you can get all the online trading tools you need without any surprise fees. ♪ it's not rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. very quick correction for you. before the break i said that pandora was up 36% since its ipo in 2011. in actual fact it was down or is down 36% since the 2011 ipo. meantime, sure. their economies might be struggling, but there is one thing italians and the great shaw know how to do and that's eat. the mediterranean diet can help prevent heart disease, high in fish, veggies, fruits and oil. people who followed the diet

were 30% likely to develop heart disease than those who consumed a traditional low-fat diet. good news is what i say. thanks for watching "street signs." "closing bell" is next. ready? welcome to the "closing bell." i'm sue herera in for maria bartiromo here at the knowledge. we're higher, but don't forget it was in the final hour yesterday where we had that really big violent move down to the downside. so great to work with you, scotty. >> likewise, sue. never know what's going to happen over the next hour. i'm scott wapner in today for bill griffith. a rebound for the market, at least for now after yesterday's 200-point loss. investors like what they are hearing from ben bernanke today, that the easy money will keep coming from the fed. >> indeed, but reaction to that and more is coming up from our special guest ray duffy. he's executive chairman of the chicago mercantile exchange. he's here exclusively. he's going to be with us here for the whole 4:00 hour and has a lot to say about the stock

market, the economy and a lot more. we'll ask him about the reports he's in talks with germany's bourse. >> a warning about the sequester cuts kicking in and a warning that the banks could be hardest hit if congress doesn't make a deal. the author of that very report is here exclusively. >> look forward to that. let's get you up to date on the markets. with the dow jones industrial average up 117 points on the trading session, the high of the day was a plus move of 127. right now the nasdaq, the last trade on the tech-heavy index has been to the plus side as well on the nasdaq and the s&p is in positive territory, as well. there's the nasdaq up half 5% and the s&p 500 is up half a percent as well, but it was about this time yesterday that it all went sideways and then down for stocks. could we melt up in the same way we melted down yesterday? >> yeah. we have the markets covered from all angles at this hour.

today closing bell exchange, carol roth, anthony valeri from lpl financial and steve grasso from stuart frankel and our very own rick santelli. rick, i'll go to you first. what a difference 24 hours makes, right? in the last hour yesterday that things went haywire and flipped around. what do you make of it all now? >> well, one thing i don't make, i really don't understand how all the market participants can think that ben bernanke is reason for stocks being up today. if you show a dow jones industrial average intraday chart, at the time he spoke is when the high of the day was set. the market proceeded to move lower. it wasn't until 2:30 eastern that it took out that high that was made at 10:00 eastern, 9:00 central, and as far as italy, you know. another conventional wisdom i don't agree with. the conventional wisdom is even though there isn't a coalition

government, nobody had big enough numbers, that nobody wants to drop out of euro. berlusconi's party indeed has issues there, so i think europe is a big deal and not only for the politics. the eurozone is slowing, and this certainly isn't going to help it. >> carol, let me turn to you, if i could. welcome, by the way, to the cnbc family. thrilled that you're with us. let's talk about the last hour of trading. i think rick said it best a few minutes ago. you don't really know what's moving the market in the last hour. i think you liken it to a basketball game these days. >> i do, sue, and thank you for the warm welcome. i'm very excited to be part of the cnbc team and i feel like this is down to nba basketball. we might as well start the last hour of trading, and that's all we need. you look at a basketball game, 100 points. that's what decides what's happening here. i think the institutional investors are coming in at the end of the day. they are setting the pace for what's going to go on and nobody wants to keep positions open

overnight. i think though the one thing i will say with what rick santelli before. forget about conventional wisdom, rick. there is no wisdom. >> exactly. >> the markets and the economy are no longer related. everyone is waiting for what ben says. eventually these two have to come together, and that's the point i'm worried about. >> steve, do you think if the market was looking for a soothing voice today from ben bernanke, didn't it get? it? >> i don't know if it's looking for a soothing voice. what they are look for is any surprises, so to rick's point, as soon as he's done speaking, the market is allowed to rally. the market sells off in anticipation for what he's going to say, so it's not -- you know, it's about him dropping another word bomb on us, but we sort of know everything. >> let's put it this way. he showed up with his butler's outfit on today and refilled the punch bowl. certainly told us he's not going

to take it away. >> to a certain extent, yes, and guys are still looking for return. the only place you're getting it is in the s&p. until you don't. there could be a day when you say that day 30, 40, 50 handles down, be a then then guys are going to continue to buy the dip until the momentum switches. >> anthony, weigh n.what's the point of the market and the volatility you see at the end of the day given the fact that scott so aptly pointed through the mr. bernanke has basically signalled that he's going to be there. the training wheels are still on. what do you do in a market like this? >> i think in a market like this it's very much a trading range. i think yesterday had a lot to do with sort of the late change in the italian election results so i think that was a unique situation. you've got to be active in these markets. you have to buyons dips and take advantage of weakness and at the same time trim at the tops. we think we're very much in a trading range. there's a reason why the top is

limited, sequestration, possibility of a government shutdown at the end of march, and as we found out yesterday europe is very much a risk. we're in the trading range. you need to be active in that environment. on the bernanke front, i did think it was interesting that he talked about remittances to the treasuries, in other words, paying back the proceeds from the bond holdings. he expected a lower amount. i read he'd be willing to take some losses in order to keep his foot on the gas pedal. >> a very dovish remark. >> look, if nothing else, it shows the fragility of the move that we've seen. easily blown over, you know, by confusion out of italy or a misread perhaps on what the fed is trying to say or actually does say. is there any truth to that? >> well, i think we do have a fragile market. italian ten-year yield up 50 basis points in a matter of two days so the uncertainty is going to be a factor of keeping the bond market well supported here

over the near term and markets volatile in the equity market. >> carol, if i'm the individual investor that has, you know, anthony's point about a trading market and a trading range, i absolutely get, but if i'm signature at home and have a longer-term time horizon, how do you adjust to a market that has volatility like this in the hour of tradeing? what would you recommend? >> i think it depends on where the portfolio is right now. if you're not invested, i would stay on the sidelines until we have a bit of a pullback. if you are invested don't panic because you're a long-term investor anyway. the one thing i'm looking at for my portfolio is considering alternative investments as well, and that depends on how many liquidity needs you have so if you do maybe need not as much liquidity in your portfolio, i'm looking at alternatives to throw into the mix that have a longer time horizon because i'm concerned long term, how much i'm going to get out of equity side of my portfolio. >> rick, are we going to get back to the point where we're

watching euro dollar every day again? >> well, i think we are. i think for the next couple of months especially, the euro currency going to be very volatile, and in the end when they pick their bank governor, maybe we'll get back to the trade where everything is trading on the yen, but for now the yen have have a couple of nice up days against most major currencies. >> rick, and everyone else, thanks so much fork on the panel. carol, again, welcome to you. good to have you as a cnbc contributor. >> thank you. >> all right. is this a buy on the dip market playing itself out? >> they said in unison. bob pisani is here to break it down. box take it away, please. >> take a look at the s&p 500. i agree with rick, by the way. mr. bernie said pretty much what traders were expecting them to say and i don't think they were a factor. we declined going into the european close, and to that extent settling out of europe was certainly a factor, and we rallied once the european markets closed.

risk on is what i would call it and you can see it in sectors, see it in the industrials and the materials and take a look at the technology stocks, consumer discretionary and a look at some of the sectors that are on today, and can you see all the ones in a are off. notice the industrials just positive now at 0.56%. take a look at dow movers. the dow has been outperforming other major indices. home depot had a three-point movement that's about 25 point in the dow to the upside. finally, all of the home builders and the building material companies today on the terrific housing start numbers, new home sale numbers as well as the case shiller housing price indexes. look at whirlpool, up 2.5%. usg and mascor, all up 4%. back to you. >> apple shares spike ahead of tomorrow's share holding meeting. josh lipton with the details back at hq. josh? >> reporter: apple reversing earlier losses, now in the green. an impressive intraday spike

ahead of its shareholder meeting tomorrow. a lot of speculation about how or if apple will return some of its $137 billion cash hoard to investors. still worth noting, today marks the 9 5th consecutive trading sessi session. >> gold has had a stellar day, best day of the year so far. sharon epperson is at the nymex for us. >> gold jumped $28 today to close above 1,650 an ounce and gold prices and gold traders certainly reacted to fed chairman ben bernanke's testimony. the fact that he's looking at the positive outcome of accommodative policy far outweighing the risk and that's part of the reason why traders say we're looking at this rally in gold. also keep in mind there's a lot of shorts in the gold market so

we're seeing short kofrlg. noencht is cold on the fact that gold is set to continue to climb. goldman sachs cut 2013 price forecast for gold from $1,800 an ounce to $1,600 an ounce saying we're going to start to see a climb in real interest rates, and lock at the big drop gold has already had in the last month. back to you. >> okay, sharon. thanks so much. 50 minutes to go before the closing bell rings on wall street. the dow is holding on to a triple-digit cane. 105 points. s&p and nasdaq well into positive territory. >> we'll talk more about the fed chairman ben bernanke who took some shots on capitol hill today. >> we've now understood this problem for nearly five years, so when are we going to get rid of too big to fail? >> he held his own. highlights of this explosive testimony and what it could mean moving forward for your bottom line coming up next. >> heard about massive government spending cuts and the devastation to the defense

industry. now a wall street analyst tells us about another big victim of the sequester, banks. >> and are there merger talks with deutsche boerse? find out when we speak with terry duffy who joins us later on the "closing bell." back in a minute. [ male announcer ] this is not my home. there. i said it. they don't have pictures of my kids. they don't have my yoga mat. and still, i feel at home. could it be the flat screen tv? the not so mini fridge? ♪ the different free dinner almost every weeknight? or maybe, it's all of the above. and all the rest. am i home? nope. but it almost feels that way. homewood suites by hilton. be at home. homewood suites by hilton. (music throughout)

why turbo? trust us. it's just better to be in front. the sonata turbo. from hyundai.

. fed chairman ben bernanke strongly defensing the federal bank's stimulus measures during testimony today on capitol hill. steve liesman has all of the details. steve? >> scott, thank you. for several days the market puzzled over the outlook of quantitative easing as others raised doubt about the outlook. today fed chairman ben bernanke had a chance to set the record straight and seemed to persuade some in the market that the fed is still committed to the qe game. his comments seemed aimed at least as much at his colleagues on the fomc as the senator on the hill. >> as a long period of low rates could encourage excessive risk-taking an continue close attention to developments is certainly warranted. to this point we do not see potential cost to the increased risk-taking in some financial markets is outweighing the

benefits of promoting a stronger economic recovery and more rapid job creation. >> economists at ihs said it stopped short of being a vociferous defense declared after the testimony. in the end it was enough for us to stick to the understanding that asset purchase will continue into 2014. the proposed review of asset purchase scheduled for the march meeting will likely be a non-event. bernanke on the hill defensed qe. as we said, he urged no sequestration and said that they should really push that into the future, and he responded to senator corker who made comments about whether or not the fed was overly helping banks saying quote, none of what you said is true and saying to him we're not engaged in a currency war and rejected senator warren's recommendation on a attacks on banks that are deemed too big to field and envisioned a fed monetary policy where the fed doesn't sell any assets at all

and lets the balance sheet wind down. >> stay with us right now and we'll bring in rick santelli, right, scott? >> obviously the market liked what it heard today. i mean, you can debate as to how much bernanke has to do with the rally today, but certainly if there were those who worried that the fed was going to leave sooner than we wanted, he definitely was more in bulla camp, in the dove camp of saying we're not going anywhere and there's substantial improvement in the labor market and we all have to believe that that's not going to happen for any time in the very into future. >> i agree with your last statement. the labor market probably isn't going to improve dramatically which really i think is a snafu in ben's argument. take it a step farther. the market wasn't looking to hear anything different. the minutes, as many on this floor have said, ignore the minutes, that there's a handful of people that control the power, and nobody sees the fed.

what percentage is in it from ben's vantage point to stop any of the programs? anything that goes wrong, he gets blamed. continue down the road he doesn't. he didn't help stocks, he just didn't hurt stocks. apple, what they are going to do tomorrow is helping stocks. >> the market is not ignoring the minutes, that's the point, right? that the markets gets spooked when it thinks that there's enough talk within the fed to perhaps end the stimulus earlier than most people would think is necessary given the state of the economy right now. he certainly didn't say anything to that today which leads you to believe that his way of thinking, the bullard or dovish way of thinking, is going to prevail at the end of the day and the market is holding on to triple-digit gains. >> of course it is, and when you build an equity market on these programs we're discussing, how could it surprise you that when the punch bowl starts to wiggle a little bit the stock market is going to wiggle a little bit. makes perfect sense. >> right.

steve, let me turn you to the issue of sequestration. >> hold on. i'm trying to get that image in my head of a stock market wiggling on a wiggling punch bowl. i like it, rick, i like it. >> on the issue of sequestration. mr. bernanke, first of all, held his own on capitol hill as he always does, but some of those barbs from mr. coaching and others. on the issue of sequestration when he basically urged no sequestration take place, how much sway does he hold right now on the hill on that particular issue? >> it's a really good question, sue, and it's hard for me to answer that question. what i thought was interesting about what he said is while washington is having one debate over how the sequestration happens, you know, bernanke as well as a lot of other economists are saying it doesn't matter to us if you do it this way or that way, that's not our overall concern when it comes to growth. we care about you reducing spending right now. he agrees with the concept that

the budget needs to be cut over time and is disagreeing with the spending and points out that monetary policy and fiscal policy is going cross-purposes. his comments, sue, is washington is having the wrong argument. not about what should be cut about when it should be cut. >> steve -- >> we weren't always talking about quantitative easing during the discussion today and the q&a session. i think that the new senator from massachusetts, elizabeth warren, certainly gave you a good idea on what she's going to be focused on during her time. >> going to be focusing on taxing, taxing large institutions. i don't disagree with her that the institutions aren't too big. >> let's listen to the sound bite, rick, and then let's react afterwards. >> i've listened to it. >> i would make another prediction and predictions is always dangerous, that the benefits of being large are going to be -- are going to decline over time which means some banks are going to voluntarily begin to reduce their size because they are not getting the benefit that they used to get.

>> i read your predictions on this in your earlier testimony, but so far it looks like they are getting $83 billion for getting big. >> that's one study, senator. you don't know whether that's an accurate senator. >> rick, you were saying. i agree with her. they are getting bigger and i actually agree with that study. i think it's a pretty good study. i think the issue is that elizabeth warren is somehow involved in the process from the consumer side. you know, dodd/frank is taking forever. that was brought up in the hearing, taking forever. the banks are a real issue here. they do get a lot of benes. i don't see that any soon that quantitative easing is going to end voluntarily. >> thanks so much. we have about 40 minutes until the closing bell. the dow jones industrial average is up 105 points on the trading session, and the s & p is holding up pretty nicely as we go into the close. >> the battle over macy's and j.c. penney over martha stewart branded products is getting

nastier by the day. now it's in a courtroom. we'll have an update and tell you which stock you should be fighting for next. and billionaire richard branson blasting yahoo! shower marisa meyer saying they shouldn't telecommute. we'll get some inside information, information that you won't hear anywhere else. that's coming up later on the "closing bell." ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] how do you engineer a true automotive breakthrough? ♪ you give it bold new styling, unsurpassed luxury

and nearly 1,000 improvements. introducing the redesigned 2013 glk. see your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial services.

as you probably know, macy's is locked in a bitter court battle over whether rival j.c. penney can sell martha stewart branded products in its stores, a privilege macy's says it owns exclusively. it's a nasty fight. >> reporter: it sure is, sue, and the love-sick triangle does continue to play out in a manhattan courtroom pitting martha stewart between department stores macy's and j.c. penney. today a new york supreme court and the courts saw a videotaped deposition of former j.c. penney michael francis on its exclusive right to sell categories of martha stewart branded goods. martha stewart will testify at some point this week or next and jv penny ceo ron johnson will testify and lundgren said a

long-term contract with a renewal option with certain categories of martha stewart's company and he also said he considered stewart a friend. they argued that the martha stewart stop in jc pen's store is actually allowable. we'll see what happens. scott? >> that will be exciting. courtney, thank. big hitters coming up later in the week. is either stock of these companies a buy right now? let's start talking numbers. macy's versus j.c. penney and abigail, we'll begin with you. macy's had good earings, and the stock was representative of that. something tells me that your fundamental case on j.c. penney

will be a little more difficult. >> that is absolutely true, scott. j.c. penney is really a story in turmoil, company in turmoil, due to a transition isn't working out. the reason that we know that a transition to the new jcp isn't working, look at numbers. same-store sales are plunging and free cash flow is in a free fall and revenues, earnings, margins, all going in a right direction so until j.c. penney can prove that they are no longer burning through cash like crazy, this stock, in my view, is just very bearish, could really go no the low teens, single digits, and the way that we would see that sort of a transition would be any kind of improvement, sustained improvement. macy's, on the other hand, retail done right, really executed on great strategies relative to local merchandising, aligning the stores with the internet mobile and the quarter was great out of $1 billion to the top line and double-digit earnings growth for 2012 for the fourth year in a row.

strong store cales, comps, operating cash flow is strong and they were actually able to double the dividend with that extra cash and repurchase shares. macy's is likely to be a $50 stock in my view in 2012, within 12 months. >> 39.75 is the print right here. the stock is up 3%. >> the charts to me say all of those fundamentals are in the stock price. if we look at j.c. penney, you can see over the last three years the stock has gotten crushed, especially in a strong bull market run like the broader markets had. the $19 level is crucial support and the stock broke down from there in the fall, and it recovered and that's a breakout on volume and i think $19 is going and i think the risk reward as a result is to own the

stock here. on the other side of this macy's has actually been a very strong stock but over the last year the stock is actually stalled so it's a strong bull market run for years and hasn't been able to get over the $42 resistance level and i think we're only 5% away from there so i'd be a seller up here. >> it's funny because i really agree with your points also. there's a chance we could actually see j.c. penney pop up and in the long term it will break through the $19 support. the company will not get ahold of the free cash flow and the seam store sales will teeter along here and looking at mace's i agree with the resistance and macy's started to reorganize in 2009 and implemented a lot of strategies at that time that they continue to think that there's going to be upside opportunity, so i think that the upside opportunity going into their -- their calendar remember 2013, i think that it could really provide the reason for

buyers to take out sellers at that $42 level. i think that it will take the 12 months or so, but i think there's fundamental reasons to think that that sort of breakout could in fact happen. >> abigail, thanks so much. see you next time. as we get closer to the closing bell, the dow jones industrial average is holding on to its advance, and the s&p is doing the same, and we're now just half an hour before the "closing bell." forget the defense industry. the real harm could come to the bank stocks due to the spending cuts set to kick in this friday. that's ahead. >> and also, home prices have been soaring, and the latest report shows prices are recovering. is that a big factor of what happens in our economy as opposed to the d.c. dysfunction? back in a moment. should've seen. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 when the spx crossed above its 50-day moving average, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 i saw the trend. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 it looked really strong. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and i jumped right on it.

tdd# 1-800-345-2550 tdd# 1-800-345-2550 since i've switched to charles schwab... tdd# 1-800-345-2550 ...i've been finding opportunities like this tdd# 1-800-345-2550 a lot more easily. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 like today, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 i was using their streetsmart edge trading platform tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and i saw a double bottom form. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 i called one of their trading specialists tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and i bounced a few ideas off of him. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 they're always there for me. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and i've got tools that let me customize my charts tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and search for patterns as they happen. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 plus webinars, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 live workshops, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 research. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 whatever i need. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 so when that double bottom showed up, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 i was ready to make my move. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 all for $8.95 a trade. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 can you believe it? tdd# 1-800-345-2550 i love it when you talk chart patterns. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 trade up to 6 months commission-free tdd# 1-800-345-2550 with a $50,000 deposit. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 call 1-888-292-3787 tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and open an account, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 now with no trade minimums. otherworldly things. but there are some things i've never seen before. this ge jet engine can understand

5,000 data samples per second. which is good for business. because planes use less fuel, spend less time on the ground and more time in the air. suddenly, faraway places don't seem so...far away. ♪

well, it's just three days to go until the automatic spending cuts kick in and another day where both sides were talking to everybody but each other. john harwood joins us from the nation's capital with the late on the gridlock. hi, john. >> reporter: hey, sue. this is getting to be a familiar

story. everybody is trying to put pressure on one another. president obama went to new port news, virginia, and tried to make the case that the sequester was going to hurt jobs in the state of virginia. scores of thousands of defense jobs are going to be subject to a sequester and then back in washington you had house speaker john boehner accusing democrats in the senate of not doing their work and putting forth an alternative. here's john boehner. >> we have moved a bill in the house twice. we should not have to move a third bill before the senate gets off their ass and begins to do something. >> reporter: now, we had harry reid respond afterwards and said it's the house of representatives that is sitting on their postiors because the house passed their bills last year. they haven't acted. we are going to get votes in the senate over the next couple of days on a democratic and republican alternative to replace sequester but, of course, everyone knows, sue, that neither one of those bills is going to pass so the

president is going to keep pounding. republicans are going to try to hold line on taxes, and we've got an unresolved standoff that will go on for a few more weeks until the sequester begins to bite. >> it's like groundhog day. we've seen this movie before. it's just ridiculous. >> you know, health care, defense, public safety, education, those are some of the areas that the president said will be hurt by those possible sequester cuts. >> but hasn't said anything about the banks, and my next guest says he should. fred cannon is an author behind a report, and he's certainly sounding the alarm on the sequester's impact on the financials. fred, why? i don't think most anybody is focused on this sector. why are you, assayed from the fact that you cover it? >> it's just a spillover, right, when an economy gets hit, loans goes down and spending goes down and pages will take their hits,

especially after we've seen a big rally in the banks last year and coming into this year. >> even if the cuts go into effect, they will be rolled in gradually. we won't see the hit immediately, at least that's what we're told. would that lessen the impact on the sector? >> sure, the shorter of better, but what we're already seeing for the sector is the long bond is coming down, the yield is coming down, and just when a lot of bankers were thinking we're out of woods on the interest rates here we go again and we get the flattening yield curve. >> are we talking about the biggest financial institutions, the one -- the ones that typically get the bulk of the conversation when you look at actual stocks that are moving, or are we talking poverty smaller regional banks that perhaps could be more impacted? >> well, really what's going to get the most from a business standpoint is the community banks that the politicians like to talk about how important they are to the economy. when you look at what happens with the sequester, going to be very regionally isolated so, for

example, the d.c. area is going to be very hard hit and there's small banks in that area that have benefited from the growth that are going to take some hits. >> why hasn't the market figured this out? usual lit market knows what's going to happen before, you know, the bottom line impact hits, and we haven't seen it reflected in stock prices yet, why? >> that's right, sue. all we've really seen so far is the financials continuing until the last couple of days. i think what's going on is there's momentum behind the rally and this is a secondary effect. it's a little bit hard to put back, not like a cut to a bank job, but it's going to be a cut to a bank's business meaning it's going to be tough on the rally so far. >> let's quantify. fred, with respect, this seems a little bit of a leap to make, that -- to say that the sequester kicks in that the banks are going to be severely

impacted. >> that's right, scott. as i said, it's a secondary impact. let's face it, if the economy slows like we're talking about, the sequester takes out 0.5% of the growth, so you're starting to talk sub 1%. suddenly a sector with a lot of momentum behind it suddenly runs into a wall. >> is it region specific? in other words, are there parts of the country that you think are perhaps more vulnerable if this indeed does happen than other parts of the country? >> absolutely. you know, there's certain parts of the country where the federal government is not wanted and is not really there. if you look at the d.c. area and look at hawaii, alaska and interestingly up in connecticut when we look at the data where the government spending is the biggest in those defense areas, some of the smaller banks are going to run into some challenges. >> good to talk to you. interesting report. see what happens. fred cannon. >> great to be on. thank you. >> all right. we're approaching that closing bell and less than 20 minutes before the closing bell. right now the dow jones industrial average adding on to its advance. it's up 113 points.

not very much off the high of the trading session, and the s&p is close to its high of the day as well. >> hanging in there, up 115. ceo of bond giant cantor fitzgerald joining us exclusively later on. find out what he sees in the bond market and his take on fed hawk worries about a bond bubble. >> and the cme executive chairman terry duffy is our exclusive guest for the entire next hour. we'll talk about a whole host of thing, including where the markets are heading and reports that his exchange may be in merger talks with germany deutsche boerse. that's all coming up a little later on the "closing bell." you know how to mix business... with business. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i could get used to this. [ male announcer ] yes, you could business pro. yes, you could. go national. go like a pro.

transit fares! as in the 37 billion transit fares we help collect each year. no? oh, right. you're thinking of the 1.6 million daily customer care interactions xerox handles. or the 900 million health insurance claims we process. so, it's no surprise to you that companies depend on today's xerox for services that simplify how work gets done. which is...pretty much what we've always stood for. with xerox, you're ready feal business.

which is...pretty much what we've always stood for. how do you keep an older car running like new? you ask a ford customer. when they tell you that you need your oil changed you got to bring it in. if your tires need to be rotated, you have to get that done as well. jackie, tell me why somebody should bring they're car here to the ford dealership for service instead of any one of those other places out there. they are going to take care of my car because this is where it came from. price is right no problem, they make you feel like you're a family. get a synthetic blend oil change, tire rotation and much more, $29.95 after $10.00 rebate. if you take care of your car your car will take care of you.

jpmorgan chairman and ceo jamie dimon wrapping up the company's investor day meeting and kayla tauschy is there with the highlights. hi, kayla. >> hi, scott. yeah, dimon just finishing moments ago to cap off the end of jpmorgan's annual investor day. of course, one of the questions that inevitably he fielded this afternoon was about the possibility of splitting the chairman of role and ceo, a call that came from some pensions that are shareholders in jpmorgan. he cited various reasons why that was not the answer for the company saying the board has full flexibility and six out of his 11 bom board members can

fire him at any time and cited a study that said companies that do have the role split will do worse and a ceo at the end. day nodes to be able to set broad strategy goals for a conditions and can you only do that as chairman and ceo as well. now, he also made some comments about fiscal policy on the back of ben bernanke's testimony today and said rates will go higher but hopes that it happens sooner rather than later because the later that it happens likelier it is that rates will be rising going into a recession and that, he says, is the worst thing that can happen, though jpmorgan he says remains hedged there. i want to finish talking about some shareholder returns. the stock was down and did bounce back off of its lows and started to talk about these issues. company will continue to buy back stock even at its recent levels after a big rise last fall. they will buy about 45 bucks and if they get to 80 they will do a special dividend and hopes the dividend will keep rising every year and that he will continue to return capital to shareholders.

we'll send it back to you. >> kayla tausche, thanks so much, and we are just minutes before the clothing bell. in fact, 15 minutes. dow holding on to that triple-digit gain. highs of the day, 131-point gain. guess we're with a little bit of good luck. haven't chased the buyers away. >> yesterday at this time italy's inclusive election sparked a big selloff and next we're live from rome and why the italian job may not be done with our market. >> yesterday's plunge showed just how fragile these markets are right now. coming up, how you can protect your portfolio amid so much uncertainty. ♪

♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] what's the point of an epa estimated 42 miles per gallon if the miles aren't interesting? the lexus ct hybrid. this is the pursuit of perfection. the lexus ct hybrid. (announcer) at scottrade, our cexactly how they want.t with scottrade's online banking, i get one view of my bank and brokerage accounts with one login... to easily move my money when i need to. plus, when i call my local scottrade office, i can talk to someone who knows how i trade. because i don't trade like everybody. i trade like me. i'm with scottrade. (announcer) scottrade. awarded five-stars from smartmoney magazine.

. italy's deadlocked election battered the markets and the euro firing up concerns of the overall crisis once again. the story is very much from over and that's why caruso-cabrera is in rome with the very latest developments for us. good evening, michelle. >> sue, the situation is so concerning to global investors that even ben bernanke was asked about the situation in italy when he testified in front of congress today, and his response made clear he had spent some

time trying to figure out complicated political situation he here. >> i'm not an expert in italian politics, but i don't think any of the candidates have outright rejected either saying in the euro or maintaining the policies that are being required of italy in order to continue receiving, you know, in order to be in the eurozone. >> the reason that bernanke or anybody would care about italian elections is because the country rowes owes the world so much money. it's the third most indebted country in the world. they owe investors more than $3 trillion and right now their economy isn't growing fast enough to pay back that money. can it ever grow fast enough? they need new leadership here in italy to make changes to the economy so that it can grow again and every single day that you can go without leadership that day gets further and further away. sue, back to you. >> michelle, thank you very

much. we question now whether italy is where the market should be looking for its direction. let's get the thoughts right now have mike thompson from s&p capital iq and mark freedman from westwood holdings group. i'm going to start with you, if i could, mark. is the market looking in the right direction? is italy as big a factor as the market seems to think it is right now, in your opinion? >> i think that's a good point, but i think hopefully what the market has to realize instead of looking at it from a magnitude stand point, think about this. it's going to be a constant source of volatility for the market so we'll ultimately see what the impact is. europe and italy is certainly a mess. it will continue to be a mess. >> for a while. >> and we'll still be dealing with this going forward. >> unexpected volatility, right, mike? i don't think people expected that the election results would come out way that they have with no clear mandate to do anything, and now we find ourselves perhaps having to have another

election and then the market is roiled because of that. >> going in the polls were suggesting that monte's coalition would do better than they did. when people saw the dust settle, have you divided government. no one thinks at the end of the day italy is going to leave the eurozone. the unemployment is not 26% like spain. >> the issue doesn't seem to be so extreme that italy would leave the eurozone, it's that it would follow through on the reforms that people who think that the markets are going to go up didn't have to worry about that before yesterday. now they do. >> yeah. >> so cds backed up 40 bips, 40 basis points, the only gains they made since the beginning of the year but divided government at best impedes or waters down. doesn't mean that austerity is going away. that's the collective sense of the market. >> that's the crux of the issue, isn't it, this is more of an anti-austerity vote than a vote

for or against a particular candidate which i think is calling into question whether or not those economic reforms are going to be completely derailed, as scott suggested. >> what's interesting to see is whether or not what comes out of this, who gets some pro-growth policies. that's kind of the other side of the coin, if you will, from the austerity. >> we haven't heard that. >> what are you going to do fours on the growth side, and it's very similar to what we're seeing here. we can cut and you also need to grow and that's what i think -- ultimately that's what's coming out of this whole election, if you will. >> are you of the thought that any of these dips specifically related to italy should be bought and then your concerns as they relate to the fed because that's a bigger issue all together potentially? >> i'll take the latter part of that first. makes the fed's job easier because the u.s. starts looking like a sea of calm. we were talking about this. if you were a european and would you look at the situation as if illinois was really starting to go and bang bang up and the

federal government had to bail them out. that's sort of what the european investors look like, but i think it reaffirms risk on and risk off and does make the jed's job easier and safe haven, buy u.s. treasuries and don't even have to buy as much. >> go ahead. >> would you have been a buyer given what happened yesterday late in the day. >> yeah, yeah, probably would. >> you have knee jerk reactions on the news and the market got caught off action and that's the way the media portrayed the initial, you know, sentiment and what really came. there was a big disconnect there. >> what do you do in the market, if italy is with us for a long time. the fed chief did say if europe doesn't get itself in order that it will impact our economy overall. do you put that to the side and focus more on the fundamentals of the u.s. economy or not? >> that's a great point. >> because we can talk about europe all day, and i think from the hierarchy of relevant factor, i actually think it's

actually a little bit lower on the list. i mean, first and foremost, and secondly is the gentleman who was speaking earlier today, and that's chairman bernanke. he's saying we're going to stay the course, then investors need to pay heed to that. >> green light. >> exactly. >> appreciate it very much. back with the closing countdown right after this. >> and is the cme the latest exchange who might be getting the urge to merge? find out if the company is holding merger talks with the deutsche boerse when we speak exclusively to executive chairman terry duffy, and we'll get his take on where this market heads if the congress can't fix the sequester. that and much, much more. you're watching cnbc, first in business worldwide. [ 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. it's a mercedes-benz through and through. see your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial services.

a talking car. but i'll tell you what impresses me. a talking train. this ge locomotive can tell you exactly where it is, what it's carrying, while using less fuel. delivering whatever the world needs, when it needs it. ♪ after all, what's the point of talking if you don't have something important to say? ♪ [ cows moo ] [ sizzling ] more rain... [ thunder rumbles ] ♪ [ male announcer ] when the world moves... futures move first. learn futures from experienced pros with dedicated chats and daily live webinars.

and trade with papermoney to test-drive the market. ♪ all on thinkorswim. from td ameritrade. welcome back to the floor of the new york stock exchange. we're just a few minutes before the closing bell and what a difference 24 hours makes. in the final hours of trade where the market rolled over and sold off really hard into the close. totally different story today. take a look at the triple-digit gain for the dow today. the nasdaq is well into positive territory and the s&p is as well. perhaps you can hang it on ben bernanke, the fed chairman, testifying today before the senate banking committee and giving some perhaps soothing thoughts to market bulls and certainly they are running with it today as they do look at a triple-digit advance as we head towards the close. take a look at morgan stanley. interesting to look at the banks today.

they have certainly been volatile and a volatile day it has been off the open. probably has a little to do with what's going on over in europe and bernanke making some decent comments or perhaps some comments about the banks that he's not so worried about the contagion from europe and then you have a nice recovery and the shareholder meeting tomorrow. that's going to be closely watched. there's nice move and goes sideways and that stock is going to end up 1.5% and we'll be following the shareholder meeting tomorrow. let's bring in terry dolan, brokerage and ceo, what's your read here? yesterday we're standing here and the market is down 200 points and here we are up more than 100. what's the person watching supposed to make of all of this? >> what we've seen is both the fear and the greed in one sense. i think today confirms the underlying strength in the market that we've seen for about a month