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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? ♪ brian, this will make you go hmm. more than 100 years after the sinking of the titanic a billionaire tycoon is planning to build "titanic 2." this will be an exact replica of the doomed ocean liner. 40,000 people have already registered for the tickets. what do you think, brian? would you do it? >> i'd do it. why not? >> why not. >> okay. let's take a look at markets real quick. 100 points away from an all-time close. thanks for watching "street signs." >> see you tomorrow.

>> hi, everybody. what a week. welcome "closing bell." i'm maria bartiromo at the new york stock exchange. this market off to the races yet again. up almost 200 points right now. >> great to have you back. i'm scott wapner. bill griffith back tomorrow. on today's "closing bell" the march to new all-time highs shifting into high gear. more good news on housing and more signs that fed chairman ben bernanke is going to keep the foot on the gas has investors cheering. we're all over this teflon stock market. >> really is. apple joined the rally, however the stock turning lower after a much anticipated shareholders meeting today. we're live with what they said or didn't say that has apple investors just disappointed today. >> probably more the legend. >> and mutual fund bob ol steen on amazon saying it's primed to fall and people will get hurt.

he'll make his case hurt. >> in the markets for wednesday, the dow jones industrial average now sitting at the highs of the afternoon with a gain of 1.25%, 172 points higher. 14,7 0 72. last trade on the blue chip average, check the nasdaq, double-digit move there. technology one of the big winners there. checking on the nasdaq, also at the highest level of the afternoon on the nasdaq with a gain of 45 points and the s&p 500 higher by 20. the rally is kick off after more good news on the economy. we had strong data on housing and federal reserve chairman ben bernanke, well, he said this. >> the evidence thus far is that a housing market has hit the bottom and is recovering. >> bernanke also giving no indication at all that fed stimulus will slow down any time soon and the rally really kicked into high gear following that. so in today's closing pebble exchange, mike holland, josh brown, abs cnbc contributor if fusion ant littics, nathan

bacharach and our very own rick santelli. rick, you first. i doubt there are 20 people on the floor of the new york stock exchange who thought we would be where we are now after monday, and i'm wondering if the same dynamic exists where you are. >> no, not at all. as a matter of fact, i'm glad you asked that question. we have two charts. quickly look at the first one. interest rates moved up as the dow moved towards the high but it was the second chart that answers your question. this is a one-year chart of the dow. i'll tell you what. as a technician i've never seen a stranger looking top than that, and it is definitely due to the juice nature of the market and real growth coming in or at least contribution from housing. there has been no doubt on this trading floor, zero, we would take out the all-time highs. where the doubt starts to thicken along with the plot what happens after that? will the juice continue? will high frequency trade which is the delivery mechanism of the punt, will it all just keep

going forever? that i can't answer. >> mike, it just feels like, you know, every little mini selloff is met with the buy on the dip mentality. i guess the next question is what will create another opportunity to get into this market at lower prices. how do you want to invest knowing that the fed is there and it seems all clear in terms of u.s. equities over the long term? >> that's a great question, maria, because the pain trade has been the last couple of years and right now still is, according to rick santelli is up. and when you look at the numbers in housing, that is such a key factor for underpinning people's confidence. this is one of the least participated bull market, a four-year bull market, so little participation by people. right now we have an exhausting of sellers, and i think when you are look at billionaires like michael dell and warren buffett out there buying companies at a premium to the current market price and selling junk bonds to fund them you get a good idea of where the values are. >> how do you want to invest

them? >> i think that the things that have brought us to this dance will continue for a while. i think tech, as you just pointed out, a second ago is leading this market. financial continue to lead this market. i think the market will also be helped by retail participation sometime in the future, but we're not there, and i think when they come in, they would look at those two groups. >> josh brown, those who made big calls last week said it was the time to go all into cash. they are hurting today, aren't they? >> yeah. i'm not a big fan of all in, all out, so i'm not surprised. here's what i would point out. all of the traders that i converse with are pointing to this broadening top in the dow jones. it's not the sign of an ultimate top, but what it shows is the range is widening and historically that's not a great time to add to new longs, so when you think about that psychology you get a little bit of the higher high to the down side and a little bit of a lower low. it ends up chopping up some of the people that are being too tactical, like going all into cash so i think that this is one

of those moments where being a little bit more passive probably does you a huge favor and just wait to see what develops so our stance is we're happy to be long this tape, but we are not currently looking for new opportunities for new longs. we think the sequestration will bring some more headline risk and an uptick in correlations and a little bit more fear. >> let me just jump in real quick. looking at a note of yourself, five sane signs the rally is on hold. >> yeah. >> you have have to be surprised by what we're seeing. >> kind of stuck around these levels. could break through to a new high, but i have to tell you something. you don't want to see that happen with utilities and consumer defensives at the vanguard. that's not a great -- >> the vom tilt here -- guys, the volatility here is coming from the fact that for the last two months wall street has been unable to read the minutes of the fed correctly. we looked at a few people with a microphone. >> you're exactly right. >> and there we go again crazy. last time rick and i were on

together we're talking about 204, 205 on the ten-year treasury, down 185, up a little bit but it comes back down and everybody goes oh, father came in and told us we're going to get more stimulus, more candy and the market takes off again, and that's where we are. >> why is that a surprise? >> there's a new video called central bankers gone wild. >> we've got to get that one. you've got to get out more, nathan. why is it such a surprise? >> thank you. >> we knew that the federal reserve was going to be there. they keep reiterating that they will be there until 2015 with the low rates. why is it a surprise that there aren't any alternatives to the u.s. stocks? >> it's not a surprise. that's the point. it's not a surprise when you look at the minutes. you're looking on the edges. it's not a surprise to anybody. bernanke came in and said a couple -- the last kays, guess what, kids, i'm going to keep giving money, probably for the rest of your lifetime, maria. >> very important. rick santelli yesterday said the market had no negative surprise. that's why the markets were

benign in their response to bernanke. i think that so long as we continue to have no crisis we've been responding to potential crises for the last few years every time the market has been sold off. it's been a mistake. >> we don't have a crisis. we just have a sequester. >> what is it going to take -- i think i heard yesterday somebody say groundhog day with bill murray, the crisis du j 0 r, and they don't seem to be a big problem when they hit it. >> what would it take to get interest rates to spike in your view because that really would be the sort of disruption that this market would probably not like and would sell off on. what would it be, and is there anything on the horizon that would -- >> wage growth. >> -- move rates higher? are you expecting that? >> no, absolutely no, and i think the fed is controlling the interest rates. they are manipulating them and it's in control. >> so, i mean, guys -- >> maria, the only thing that's going to drive inflation is wage growth. >> yeah.

>> we get wages to go up. people start fighting. you get an offer to go somewhere else for more money, you say forget it, i can't get a raise because my boss is cheap, can i move jobs. that's the point you'll see inflation because you'll see wage growth. >> one final point on market direction. we're only 100 points away. it would not be shocking to see a final push through, but i want to point out that seasonality is not necessarily on our side which keeps us from going pedal to the metal here. keep in mind, we had a very similar market environment in early 2011 and then again last year in early 2012, and quite frankly it would not shock me to see us print close to the highs of the year, have our typical spring pullback and when people realize sequestration is not the end of the world, then we can resume, so i think that that's a better moment to load on new longs. >> josh, don't you think it's possible that we'll get some retail participation which we haven't had once the headlines hit that we're at new highs? >> that doesn't drive markets. i agree once the world doesn't end and retail comes back in,

but quitely there's a negative correlation the last five years. investors have yanked money out and markets have gone higher so i can't use that as a bull case per se. >> there's no liquidity to the upside, josh, that's the problem. as we see at the close of each day. >> mike, what about the issue of the sequester? right? it kicks in at midnight on friday. the president is going to meet with congressional leaders on friday afternoon. the danger in being short the market here or being -- or playing the pullback is that a positive headline comes out. look, a couple days away, that a positive headline comes out late friday afternoon. >> worst of all worlds for friends of mine short the market or out of market would be a positive headline. i couldn't agree with you morks scott. if we do get the sequester just as it is, we believe now that people are looking at the tape today and saying maybe this is a manufactured crisis. we've had a few of those before from politicians. maybe they are doing it to us again. >> let me ask you about the

laggards in this market and the leadership. do you think that the leadership that has taken us here is the same group of stocks and sectors that are going to continue taking this market higher, or do you -- are you expecting some kind of a rotation here? >> i think you need basic materials to get their act together. i don't see how this continues without stronger energy and stronger basic materials. >> why? >> because those are the sectors that tell you the cyclical picture remains on track are you? make a good point because you could have looked at copper two weeks ago, and copper was probably telling a story. >> lumber. >> ahead of that big selloff. >> on monday. i try to look at things on a weekly and monthly basis rather than daily, and you just don't have the kind of oomph that you want to see in basic materials to be able to say that this is the healthiest type of advance that you could get. >> let me -- let me bring in bob pisani. hold on, guys. market is up 171 parents. want to find out what he's seeing there on the floor of the exchange. bob? >> well, i think the important thing is mr. bernanke has done a very good job convincing everyone that he's not going to be raising rates any time soon.

not going to be liquidating his portfolio, if he liquidates it at all and the economic news has been really good in the last couple of days. i think the biggest point that the bears have on their side is 2% gdp growth is unlikely to sustain a new bull market. the question is are we going to blast off like we did in 1994 to 2000 into some kind of new bull market? i think that's the big problem. if you can argue we'll get near 3% gdp sometime later this year, i think you can argue for a sustained bull market. it's a little tough right now though. >> all right. >> 3.5% gdp, why do you need ben? today, you're the guy, bob, we were talking about it. you said it 12:30, ben said we're not going to get to 6:00 unemployment for years. maybe if he had said 20 years you guys would have rallied another 500 points. the absurdity of these guys. >> one thing for sure is we're not getting there with increased or expanding multiples. i think that's run its course.

we really will need real economic growth and real revenue growth. >> why not? >> if we get more clarity from washington, if we get more clarity from europe, you can argue for an expanding multiple. >> what clarity are you looking for? what clarity are you looking for from washington? we all know the issues. what's the clarity that you're looking for. >> good luck on the clarity. >> you need sales growth. >> what clarity? >> to get an expanding multiple. >> walmart, apple, google. >> maybe the best advice you can give an investor today would be this -- >> i -- we need clarity in the segment. thanks, everybody. >> that's what it's time toned it when you can't understand what everybody is saying. >> we need clarity in the segment. >> okay. >> in the final stretch. 45 minutes until the closing bell, market that's ripping, up 174 on the dow industrials. >> this bud may not be for you. >> beer is stronger and has more

alcohol in it. >> really? >> yeah, and americans got to drink more so they don't have time to look for church keys and openers so they just like whip them off and drink, whip them off and drink. whip them off and drink. >> consumers suing the parent company for the king of beers for allegedly watering down budweiser and other brands and misrepresenting the alcohol content on the labels. the lawyer leading the charge against the beer giant will join us next. >> and apple, yes, it was the darling of wall street for years, but the stock hasn't gotten any love from investors recently. today the ceo not telling share hold what's they want to hear. we'll have a live report from apple. >> amazon, meanwhile, has been flying up high over 50% over the past year but famed fund manager bob olstein says the dream is about to end. his bearish call is coming up, and you'll you'll only see it right here on the "closing bell." [ male announcer ] ah... retirement. sit back, relax, pull out the paper and what? another article that says investors could lose tens of thousands of dollars in hidden fees on their 401(k)s?! seriously? seriously.

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welcome back. this rally rolling on today with the major averages now erasing monday's massive losses. the dow has now hit a five-year high with a gain of 185 points. right now with just about 45 minutes before the bell, scott. >> 85 points away from an all-time closing high. unbelievable story here.

first makers planned to water down their bourbon before a public uproar helped them reverse course and now anheuser-busch is being accused of watering down their beers. now the sobering details >> reporter: difference is maker's mark told everyone, if this one is true it would be a deception, hence the lawsuit compared to twitter outrage. a class action suit has been filed in california followed by pennsylvania and new jersey and likely soon to be more. the claim, ab purposely adds water to beer giving it less alcohol content than printed on the bottle or can. the lawsuit says there are no impediments, economic, practical or legal to "a-b reflecting their alcohol content. however, they uniformly misrepresents that content. ten brands were involved, including two of the biggest in the entire world. bud wiser and bud light. 84 million barrels a lease. a quote from the leading plaintiff. i think it's wrong for huge

corporations to lie to their loyal customers. i really feel cheated, end quote. as for budweiser they have said very little saying the suit is groundless and, quote, our beers are in full compliance with all alcohol labeling laws. here's where the lawsuit moves from millions to potential billions. weak profit numbers and volume up in the u.s. for the first time since the inbev merger. damage to the brand could be a major problem, 40 billion in revenue and roughly a third of that from here in the u.s. maria, back to you. >> brian, thanks very much. a little more about this lawsuit because a lot of people are interested in this. >> absolutely. joining us now is the lead attorney in the case, josh boxer, the plaintiffs' attorney at the mills law firm. we did contact inbev, but they only provided a statement that brian reported to us moments ago. josh, welcome. >> thanks very much for having me. how do we know that all this has been happening? have you guys tested the beer independently from what people

may have told you? >> the evidence in this case derives from former employees of anheuser-busch at all varying levels, multiple plants throughout the country who have all told us the exact same thing. anheuser-busch sin tensionally misrepresenting the alcohol content of its beers as a matter of corporate policy across the board, and it's taking tens of millions of dollars out of your pocket and my pocket. >> right. so have you had the beers tested independently to find out if the whistle-blowers as it were,cations were real, true? >> fortunately anheuser-busch has really done the testing for us in this case. >> you didn't answer the the question because i want you to answer it. it seems to me to be at the heart of this case. you brought a lawsuit against anheuser-busch based on what people have told you. have you had the beers independently tested by somebody who can say whether it's true or not? that's what i want to know. >> sure, and it's a great question because testing is at the heart of the case. anheuser-busch using tens of millions of dollars to do these tests and to do it uniformly at

very final stages of brewing. because the manner in which anheuser-busch does their testing can't be replicated in a lab, or the evidence in this complaint is based pont information that we obtained from former employees. >> so the answer is no. you haven't done your own independent testing? >> that's correct. anheuser-busch has done the testing, and the discovery in this case is going to bear that out. >> were they doing this before the merger? is this an inbev thing, an anheuser-busch thing? >> it's our understanding that anheuser-busch was doing this before the merger. however, after the merger they have stretched this even further, including additional brands and diluting their product even further. >> what are the plaintiffs looking for? >> two things really. first and foremost, they are looking for anheuser-busch to stop. they have the capability, if they wanted to, to tell consumers exactly what it is that's in their cans and in their bottles. number one, we want them to stop.

number two, there are millions of consumers out there who feel cheated, and we've been flood with phone calls and e-mails from people who feel the same way, and those people feel that they deserve restitution for the excess water that they have been paying good money for. >> do we know if this is an industry thing? already we know makers mark was going to do it, and then we had all of this outcry from the public. now we know budweiser. have you checked other alcohol companies that they are not doing the same thing? maybe this is sort of a trend throughout business. >> you know, the information that we have leads only to budweiser. it's certainly conceivable that others are doing it. it's our understanding, however, that budweiser, anheuser-busch was really ahead of the curve here. >> why? >> and developing -- >> why is that your understanding? why would they be above your curve when you said it's probably your understanding that it's likely across the industry? >> i don't know if it's likely across the industry or not. do i know there's very smart engineers there who made probably a very calculated risk

and business decision to install some very high-tech equipment in order to water down their product. now if that's made its way to other brands, we don't know. we assume with the publicity coming out we may learn some things about other brands as well >> thank you so much. >> thanks so much, sir. >> we've got the market trading higher here at the highs of the afternoon with 35 minutes before the closing bell sounds. check it out. 193 points on the industrial average. 1.33%. >> with little or no help from apple, what a difference a year makes. apple shares down 15% since last year's shareholder meeting. down 35% from the september high, and that does not make investors very happy, and what tim cook didn't say today made them even more unhappy. we'll have that next. >> and president obama finally set to meet with congressional leaders to try to avoid devastating spending cuts. that's cut news, right? the bad news. the meeting is coming hours before the cuts are set to kick.

in the meeting is friday, march 1st. is there any real hope a deal can be reached? the day that the cuts are going to take effect. we'll have the latest with republican senator john holman weighing in later on the "closing bell." ♪

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welcome back. stocks are skyrocketing today. the dow getting ever closer to a record high. take a look. we're up 204 points as we speak. we're seeing new money come into this market as we approach the close with 35 minutes left

before the bell sounds. we're just about 80 points away from an all-time high on the dow jones industrial average. >> even now closer than that, given this move that we've had in the last ten minutes. definitely have some buying picking up in the last few minute, and it is proving yet again that this final hour of trade, maria, has proved to be the most interesting certainly in the last week. >> really exciting. >> the swings that we've seen and then the acceleration into the close here. again, 14,101, a gain of 200 points. looking at 14,164 would be a new closing all-time high for the dow jones industrial average. so about 63, 64 points away now from reaching that milestone. how about apple? its gigantic cash pile, the big focus at the company's annual shareholder meeting today and jon fortt is there with all the details. jon? >> yeah, scott, with the major indices rallying and apple near 52-week lows, though it's up in positive territory in the last few minutes, you might think shareholders here were

disappointed, not really so much. no new news on returning cash to shareholders which is why the stock dipped down earlier today. what do shareholders want apple to do with that cash? take a listen. >> more money spent in research and development. to be able to expand and to be able to give back to shareholders through growth. >> maybe innovation will lift the stock. take a look at the board of directors. all of these re-elected so at least the people in here -- here in cupertino pretty happy and on wall street not necessarily as happy with apple. guys, back to you. >> thanks so much, jon. what happens next for apple's stock? we're doing talking numbers. jeff toma zoo ullo and on the fundamental side jeff kilberg with kkm financial. good to see you. jeff, kick us out. how does it look from the apple standpoint? >> maria, this really comes down to a technical trade, you know, we can talk about the

fundamentals until we're blue in the face, but if you look at this chart, it's a low-risk, high-reward trade right now. we have to go back to 2011 to look at when apple broke out of the 425 level. maria, when it broke out of 425, it moved 280 points. we're coming down into that level. as you can see on this chart, that's good horizontal support. i would be looking to actually buy a position here because i could define my risk. if it breaks that level, i could give it a little bit more, breaks the 400 level i'm completely out. >> let me jump in. >> hold on a second. i just want you to -- >> 425 level is very important, but everyone is looking at it and right now today we're having an historic day. seeing the dow jones above 200, 50 handle move on the nasdaq, and apple is flat. i know there's more pain to come. the technicals, which i do expect. >> jeff, listen. jeff, listen. just like at 705 there is irrational exuberance, right now everything i hear on the -- on

the internet, on the media, bashing apple. the chinese government fined an apple supply for pollution. what kind of craziness is that? everybody is bashing apple. >> i see long-term growth. >> that's the time to get in and buy. >> i manage money for clients, it's going lower before it goes higher. very simple ballistic. it's an anomaly. why is it such a big component of the nasdaq up 50 handles and it's holding at the 435 level. >> define your risk. the upside is greater than the risk. >> sell some puts, but it's going down to 400. it's going below 425, be clear on that? >> why? >> let's hear the fundamentals. >> no catalyst here. waiting for tim cook to say something. he even acknowledged the falling stock price is happen. we need an innovation like he stated. really need a high moment. haven't had that. >> maria. >> yeah. >> the first time i was on cnbc

i talked about apple. the stock was at $125. five guys on the tv show could not tell me about verizon. they couldn't tell me about the ipad. they couldn't tell me about the ipad mini. this company is not stopping to innovate right now, and i'm kind of perplexed on how -- it's like the tiger woods of stocks. they want to both up -- >> you're saying it deserves to be a 447 or deserves to be at 700. what's your point? >> listen, i think you take a position here, and i didn't get to show that chart, but if you break it down the trend line, you'll get a nice pop. you won't get 700 again. that's unrealistic. the expectations when the stock was at 705 was unrealistic. this stock is going to be a consistent growth stock. we just need -- the company need time to figure it out. >> i'm not disagreeing with you on the long-term play. don't pat yourself on the back about your call because you're putting yourself on the line, and it's a magnet to come down

and test the 435 number. >> we'll watching. guys, thank you so. great points on both sides. we'll see you soon. >> all right. take a look at dow right now. yeah, we've shaved a few points off the best levels but still looking at a 188-point gain. 14,088 is where the dow currently sits with about 30 minutes to go before the close here. >> looks like it will be a third best close ever, even if we stay right here. never mind continuing this rally in the next 30 minutes. up next, famed hedge fund manager bob olstein making a very bearish call on amazon six months here on cnbc. >> if they don't ever develop free cash flow, i'm telling you amazon's coming back down to 100 bucks, and that's my target for two to three years. >> well, the stock is up 13% since he made the call. bob says it was just early and the pain now will be even worse. he joins us to make that case. >> wow, j.c. penney's latest earnings show any sign of a turnaround for the struggling retailer?

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all right. let's take a look at this market

here. we've got the dow jones industrial average up 1.33%. 193 points higher at 14,093. what's leading? you've got the baines and technology stocks in the lead here. economically sensitive doing well. most heavily traded, bank of america, nokia, cincinnati bell, ford motor, jpmorgan and citi. all among the big movers today in terms of volume. with overall volume today also picking up and volume has been, of course, picking this up week with -- with overall volume not looking overall so heavy today but certainly picking up in the last half an hour or so. all-time high, 14,164. we're very close to it right now. meanwhile, since months ago, value investor bob olstein told cnbc that amazon could drop 50% over the next few years. since then the stock has done well moving higher. that hasn't stopped olstein from staying bearish on the stock. in fact, now he's calling amazon a ticking bomb on valuation. he says the wrong price for investors is what they are looking at. surprised short sellers are not

piling in on this stock. >> bob joins us now along with cnbc's gary kaminsky who is a bit more positive on amazon, and, bob, we certainly want to get your take on the rally at large as we march towards these new all-time highs. let's go amazon first. people always cite valuation if they are trying to nay say on amazon. what's different? why do we think the story should all of a sudden turn negative from a stock standpoint? >> basically we'll let free cash flow and that's what calls a company. i sat with gary xhins co-on 1999 when we talked about cisco being overpriced and lose ent and they marched another 50%. stocks eventually go to their free cash flow. if you look atp john deere, microsoft, you look at cisco over the last 13 years, all tripled their revenues and all tripled their earnings, and yet you lost money on microsoft and

cisco and you made -- and you tripled your money on deere. this is what's going to happen to amazon. amazon has a business model that's great for customers. it's great for its executives, but investors are generating no free cash flow. their business model is to sell goods a little bit above cost and the earnings are wiped up. sales have gone from 6 million to 80 billion in the past ten years, and nobody is making any money off of it. >> maybe they are not, bob, concerned about profits right now and are instead focusing on growing revenue, and this firm is growing revenue consistently. is that a bad strategy? >> it is a bad strategy. look at macy's, okay? amazon's a retailer. you have to give money to your shareholders as well. you have to create value. right now it's a pyramid event. each analyst is selling it to the next one saying $300 a share, that revenues are going from 80 billion to 160 billion. this is pie in the sky. this is dream.

there's no way in my opinion that this stock can be worth $260 a share. you pay $140 billion for this company, and you'll make nothing, where macy's you'll pay $14 billion and you'll come back with $1.4 billion. if it wasn't a public company, nobody would be buying amazon. >> gary, i mean, obviously the hope is that amazon is able to leverage all of the investment that they have -- that they have made and that they are making into future earnings. i mean, that's what the story is predicated on at this point. you're either a believer or you're not. >> scott has a good point. obviously not necessarily earnings, but the fact that they will be able to turn the spigots off at some point and stop spending so much money and start generating positive free cash flow. let me ask bob. bob did point out that i was on the receiving end of his negative call on cisco which at the time when one looks back was really the top in terms of the idea that cisco is trading at 60 times earnings. >> 120 times earnings. >> bob, let me ask you this.

you were six months ago as maria pointed out, what is the catalyst that you see? is it that amazon stops spending as much money but they are not able to type -- generate the type of cash flow that the sell side is modeling in because they can't sell the goods at cost anymore? is that the catalyst, bob? >> that's the catalyst. if they changed their business model of selling goods at cost there's a lot of competition out there. there's ebay. even macy's has 2 billion over the internet. they can't change their business model. they have to keep spending. they are generating revenues and people are taking their eye off the football, and they are going to fumble. this company is not generating any cash flow, and they are talking about $20 a share of cash on the balance sheet. it's not really there. >> but to make -- but to make, you know, an example out of cisco and say we should look back to that. they are different businesses all together. cisco was a serial acquirer back then. >> scott -- >> selling into businesses.

>> not a consumer-driven business. >> amazon is a serial spender. you need cash flow. nobody cares about cash flow. all the analysts are in the moment. all the media is in the moment. there's no cash flow. >> can i be in the moment for a minute. i get your story on amazon, and it's very much a compelling sno scenario that you've laid out. we have the dow jones industrial average up 200 points, 14,100, all sorts of challenges, but, of course, this market is trading on the federal reserve. would you, bob olstein, commit new capital to this market at these levels today? >> now, you have to watch what you're buying. you've got stocks being cheeap like microsoft and cisco, john deere selling 10, eleven times free cash flow. if you're looking for free cash flow, it's not as cheap as it was two and three years ago. it's not as easy, but we still think the market is 10% undervalued because we can find companies still selling at 10% and 15% discounts and bid on

ones with great free cash flows and business models. >> gary, what about you? you were managing money for a while. you know the market better than most. would you commit more capital? >> totally a function of what your asset allocation is. >> let me give you some answers to those questions. my time horizon is long term, five to ten years, and -- and as far as valuations we know the pe of this market. still talking about reasonable pes. what's the answer then? >> if your time horizon is five to ten years and you are willing to accept the volatility of what equity markets will give you, because i can guarantee you one thing which i bet bob will agree, the fed won't stay easing for another five to ten years and as demonstrated by last week's action on the tape, when the fed begins to tighten, the initial reaction will be very negative. the answer is over five to ten year, other than the last decade, stocks in equities will be your best asset class to be in. i know bob won't like me saying that. maria, remember, this is a

fed-driven market. you said it. i showed a chart earlier today that tom mcclellan sent us. if you don't think this is all about the fed, then you're clearly not paying attention. >> gary, at some point -- >> i agree. >> at some point the hope is going to be that it's a fundamentally better economy that drives the market, right in the data is incrementally improving. >> yes. >> and if the fed does pull away it will be because the economy is in a place. the labor market is in a place where the market can perhaps stand on its own two feet. >> scott, the same strategists who come on air and tell you that all day told you in 2007 not to be wary about what was happening with securitization. when the fed closes the spigots, you will see a down market, and you will see a reaction in the stock market, and i don't have any idea, and i bet bob doesn't either in, terms of when that will be. >> give me the level on the ten-year that would scare you are. >> good question. >> ten years out and then we'll get out of here. what is the level on the ten-year that's going to make you say, okay, this is a competitive situation to stocks. now i'm going to start rotating

money out of stocks and into the ten-year. >> i'm going to shock you. i'm going to think the ten-year is okay. all the way up to 3.5%. >> 3.5%. >> up to 3.5%. got a long way to go, but there will be corrections. there will be 15% to 20% corrections along the way and got to think like you, maria, five to ten years and ride out storms. the last 20 years, our returns are fine, but we've had four or five connections in the fund of at least 20%. >> all right. 3%. 3.5%, not even at 2% yet. >> it was fun reminiscing about five to ten years and back too-to-'99. maria, you remember that. >> yeah, i guess i do. >> yes, yes. >> thanks, guys. we'll see you soon. appreciate your time. see you later. we're in the final stretch. 15 minutes before the closing bell sounds on the day. the market is up 192 points on the dow. >> much more on the rally is coming up. still have work to do on the dow, may not happen today but you get the point. >> later, former tiger hedge

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two days ago we thought the much anticipated pullback was beginning a 200-point selloff due to the italian elections. now look at this market. the italian elections still a mess, so what gives? michelle caruso-cabrera is in rome with the latest details on that story. michelle? >> reporter: it's still political gridlock in italy, and that drove the country's interest rates even higher, pushing the ten-year yield above 5%. that was exacerbated with moody's saying the country is at risk of a downgrade because of the uncertain elections on monday and a comedian candidate saying he won't form a coalition with the other party and went on to insult another candidate calling him a political stalker making indecent proposal and that he's among the talking debt and a diplomatic row in europe over the situation here. a german candidate called two of the candidates here clowns, and even saying that former prime minister berlusconi was the clown with the boost of

testosterone. that did not sit well with italian leadership. guys, back to you. >> thanks, michelle. >> so, it's a bit of a mess, but yet it's having no impact whatsoever today, as art cashin passed us some information as we head on the close imbalances. looks like a buy imball. >> not much. >> very small to the high side. >> see how that shakes out with 12 minutes to go. >> yeah. we've got the final stretch next. just as the closing bell comes in just about ten minutes. a market holding on to a triple-digit movement dow industrials up 189 points, financials, technology, economically sensitive all doing well today. we're back in two minutes time with more on this market. stay with us.

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welcome back. we're just about ten minutes away now from the closing bell. the dow we've told you soaring up 173. >> thanks for joining us. steve, would you commit new capital to this market at this level? >> very little. i would dollar cost average, and i do recommend investors be very, very cautious. >> why? >> you've got to look at the economy. the economy is still slow growth. profits are still condensing.

they are slowing down. we still have problems in europe. it's not going away. our spending is still out of hand, and the market is already up 6.5% plus in less than two months? the question i have is is it real? >> bob, what -- what continues to drive us higher despite the headwinds that steve mentioned? >> talk about mr. bernanke's fine performance and better economic news. you can talk about the fed backstopping things. what i hear from traders is this. there's still no other place to put money, and that's still the single most important factor in the market. the big issue everybody is talking about now is are we entering a new sustained bull market, one that could last several years in the problems i see is sub 2% gdp growth. historically when have you seen bull markets last for years on 2% gdp? i haven't. >> exactly right. >> and very little top line growth. we're getting earnings growth, but it's all different levels of the income scale, not on the top line. >> yeah. >> when are we going to get

top-line growth? that is a challenge. >> that keeps going head to head with the federal reserve that's creating this environment where there are few alternatives. if you were to buy anything, where would you put money, and what do you want to sell here? >> bob said large-cap stocks. still a great place to be. you know, the u.s. treasury is still a safe haven, even though debt is out of hand. rates are still going to be between a percent and a half and 2%, but in terms of growth, it is -- it is the large-cap u.s. stock market. there's no question about that. >> that's what you would sell? >> no, that's where i would go in terms of do i want growth? i would go there but i'd be very cautious. what i would sell is i'd be look at more of my risky assets. i look at mortgage-backed assets and high-yield assets, potentially looking overseas. >> but if we get a bull market, high yield is up today. look at all the high yield etf funds. they are all up today. i want to go back to the question. what would get us a sustained bull market and you laughed at me when i mentioned

clarification from washington, but i think the important thing is if we get some kind of deal on deficit reduction, that's going to be a major point. >> a great point. >> thank you gentlemen. appreciate your time. >> right back with the closing countdown. >> yeah, we are. just six minutes away from the bell and blackstone advisory will tell us how he's advising in this market. stay with us on the "closing bell." ♪ [ male announcer ] to hold a patent that has changed the modern world... would define you as an innovator. to hold more than one patent of this caliber... would define you as a true leader. ♪ to hold over 80,000... well that would make you... the creators of the 2013 mercedes-benz e-class...

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all right. welcome back to the floor for the closing countdown. the best two days back-to-back of the market year to date after we had the worst two days back-to-back year to date with friday and monday. surprising to a lot of people how strong this market is. >> it really is. scotty, i would point out volume. take a look at the difference. volume at nasdaq versus volume here at the new york stock exchange. you're not seeing the kind of volume on the europe side that you would like to see. having said that, i would not be fighting the fed in this market. we're here right now talking about the end of the day. with you seeing anything in terms of action at the end. day here that could -- that could change the story? >> we're seeing panic short covering. you know, you're never short a dull tape and had a dull tape and this kind of movement with lack of volume and the