>> that's why you give a credit card where you can call the credit card -- >> and this person did and the credit card said, sorry, it's on the policy. >> thanks for watching this special edition of "street signs." we're watching this market. threatening to go positive. nasdaq may go there, s&p already there. a great final hour of trade and the "closing bell" has it now. thank you, scott wapner. welcome to the "closing bell." i'm bill griffeth here at the new york stock exchange, where earlier, it did look like things were going to be off to a pretty bad start today. >> it really did. there was a lot of tension in the market. i'm sue herrera in for maria bartiromo. it did start out much worse today. why was that? italian, that's why. what you saw on your screen was a triple digit loss this morning, simply because they can't get their act together on the right side of your screen. but as much of the rest of the world sold off, u.s. stocks are roar back. we'll tell you what's happening

and why. plus, a lot can change in the final hours, as you know. we have full coverage, coming up. >> exclusive insight just ahead from billionaire john calamos, the ceo and chief investment officer of the firm he founded nearly 40 years ago that bears his name. you don't want to miss his take on these markets. he has a very long-term perspective and where he says we're headed next, we'll want to hear. >> i think it might be surprising. more trouble for j.pmorgan and its ceos. investigating whether that firm broke the law about not alerting the feds regarding bernie madoff. in the markets, let's show you what's happening. the dow was down 120 points on the open this morning. just a huge correction from yesterday's gains. but we've been crawling back, ever since. the dow now down 33 points at

14,526. the market has now turned positive after that opening sell-off, now up. the s&p needs to be up 1.38 points to hit finally, once and for all, a new all-time high. we're not there yet. down 1.6 points at 1562. will the s&p 500 break through to all-time highs the today? will today finally be the day? >> i hope it does. let's at least get it over by the end of the week. in today's "closing bell" exchange, kyle harrington from harrington capital management. paul christopher from wells fargo advisers. rod smith and our own ric santelli. gentleman, welcome. a pleasure to have you. kyle, how do you feel about the markets at this juncture? we did see the market pare its losses so considerably when we found out that not only the cypriot banks would be open, but we got a time from the central bank and there was a little cheer here on the floor of the new york stock exchange. does that eliminate the lion's

share of uncertainty or not? >> sue, these are very interesting markets. the markets have run up significantly, as we know. i get really excited here at harrington capital management, because i think from here forward, it's a stock picker's market. i think you can identify sectors that you really think are growth engines for the united states, like bioenergy and tech and pick security within those sectors. having said that, why i think you have to be so cautious and pick stocks very carefully is because macroeconomic events like cyprus can drive this market down significantly. we saw western europe and greece and all these issues. those issues have not gone away. we still have some macro issues here in this country with a $16 trillion debt, an unemployment rate that's high. i would say be very careful and identify securities that make good sense and are good values. >> paul christopher, what happens tomorrow in nicosia when those banks open? right now, we are told they've got heavy, heavy security lining

up, getting ready for people to be able withdraw, only 300 euros at a clip. will this have an impact on the deshl markets, do you think? >> people will see the shots on tv of cypriots lining up around the block, maybe two, three times over to take money out of the bank. but that could have been expected after the week that the cypriots have just had. what are those cypriots going to do with that money? that's the real question. i don't think they can take it out of cyprus. they can stick it around mattress for a short period of time, but eventually it will come back to the banks. this is going to be a little bit rocky, but it's going to be transient. >> you know, rod, weigh in on how you navigate what looks to be a rocky period of time ahead, depending, of course, on what those pictures look like tomorrow. we are at historic highs on a number of the averages, so how do you navigate this market? >> i think, i've got to say something more radical, which is that cyprus is now completely yesterday's news.

it's not yesterday's news from the point of view of the television screens, but the only thing that matters to me as an investor was when there was a threat that europe would not honor deposit insurance. and once we got clear of that, cyprus is a very, very small economy, and its impact, i think, will be -- already has been taken out of markets. >> so you don't think the cyprus bailout will be a blueprint for future dealings by the ecb or the eu, with other international banks, as has been suggested by the dutch finance minister? >> i think every bailout has been shown to be slightly different. as somebody who was born and raised in ireland, i would have loved to have seen more of the bank stockholders take a hit more than the irish people. but let's move on. cyprus is a small economy. what was really critical in cyprus was whether the europe was threatening not to how were deposit insurance. that could have caused a run on all of the banks in europe.

and they quickly reversed, that that was the most important thing. however, can i say one more thing? >> sure. >> i think that the energy and the growth is coming from the u.s., not from europe. and that is causing a very important long-term structural shift in the dollar. and i think that investors who have money overseas need to strongly consider, as we already have done, hedging their currency exposure back into dollars. >> yeah, as a matter of fact, rick santelli, the dollar continues to strengthen. treasuries pretty strong, especially early this morning, as that safe haven play continues here. >> absolutely. and unlike our guest there, i think the visual images tomorrow are not going to be pretty. imagine if people in new york had to wait a week and a half to get their cash out. you think they're going to be standing in line, playing tiddlywinks? don't think so! and as far as interest rates, we're up nine basis points on the year while stocks flirt with highs. your 52 basis points on the ten-area in japan, four basis

points on their ten-year. boon yields back negative, negative two basis points. and i think what's really fascinating is if you look at the decks and you take into account the weakness of the euro, it's actually down on the year. i always like to look at our stock market as a spread against europe. yes, we're better. but how much better? what's going on in europe just cannot over the long haul, fed to the side, just can't be a positive for equities forever. >> i think rick's right about what the headlines are going to look like and what the images are going to look like on television. but europe is where the u.s. was a couple of years ago. the news is not going to be good, but this is going to prompt the ecb to do more easing, and if you're hedged, i think the stock markets are very close to having bottomed and indeed bottomed relative to the u.s. >> don't you think it's the end of bailouts and the beginning of

bail-ins? technically, i think what i see in europe is the taxpayers are going to get stuck anymore. it's going to be people who have cash in the banks, people who own bonds in the banks. and i think that's a big shift, and i don't know how that plays in the long haul. >> i think that's the question. >> i think as long as the ecb is printing money and taking care of the problem, it's going to be exactly like all of the bailouts and bail-ins that we've had here in the u.s. >> that's right. >> and i think that as long as central banks are supportive, then it's wrong to bet against stocks and it's wrong to bet against the risk trade. because there is value all over the world today. and investors are still worried, much more worried, and therefore the markets are climbing a wall of world. >> last word? >> the picture's tomorrow certainly going to be very ugly, no question about that. agree with rick. but i think this is transient, i think it's temporary. cyprus had its chance to get out of the emu last week and they blinked. the germans know that. even the greeks don't want to leave the emu right now. euro zone breakup is a

possibility in the long run, but in the short run, it's just going to be a question of getting used to the new bail-ins, which people will, in the end, in europe, have to put up with. i think it's temporary. >> all right. gentleman, thank you all. appreciate it very much. insights on an important day and it will be very interesting to see what happens tomorrow in nicosia. >> indeed, it will. well, speaking of more easing, one of our guests mentioned that, the markets were helped a bit by a top fed official who said some things that's music to the ears of many investors. >> we've got steve liesman with details ton that. a lot of fed speak today, steve. >> principally, bill and sue, the doves taking to the air and i think providing some important information about the parameters of the debate. how dovy are the doves and where, really, the center of the debate is. the biggest news comes from the minneapolis federal reserve president. he was say, he said that the federal reserve is not easy enough. it should lower the target unemployment rate for when it

comes off its zero interest rate policy, 5.5% to 6.5%. charlie evans from chicago talking against the concept, really, of this notion of paring down his purchases, saying the fed should be very careful about reducing those purchase levels. eric rosengren from boston saying the benefits of easy fed policy outweigh costs, and adding that he did not believe that there was a bubble in stock values. that they were overprized. to my knowledge, the first fed official in this particular go around to call for a lower unemployment rate target. the first fed official to say the fed is not easy enough and he's basing his calls essentially on -- his easier policy calls on the economic forecast. i want to show you what the three fed officials, they put their forecast. they're all saying unemployment will be above 7%, pretty well above it, in 2013. not coming down to 7% until

2014. kocherlakota said it would be down to 7% in 2014. if the labor market continues to be solid and my economic outlook remains favorable, i could then see a basis for slowing the pace of asset purchases, says sandra pianalto. that does seem very much in line with what fed chairman ben bernanke said at his press conference last week. so the doves taking to the air. and now we know that kocherlakota is not among those centrists that some people were worrying about, perhaps more in favor of considering the costs of qe rather the benefits. bill? >> steve liesman with his finger to the wind in federal reserve land. thanks, steve. see you later. heading toward the close, here we go. is today finally the day? we have an all-time high for the s&p. right now it's down 1.5 points while the dow crawls back from a

120-point deficit on the open this morning, down 33 right now. >> it's going to be an amazing last hour. all right, another day of those swings in the stock market. how do you play the volatility? we'll look at all the options on today's "closing bell." and after the break, we're going to take you inside china's mysterious and infamous foxconn factory. it's one of the main apple factories. these are pictures and interviews you will not get anywhere else. stick around for that. and is the u.s. market the best house on the worst block? later on on the "closing bell," you'll find out why some market experts say the u.s. is the place to invest in right now, even though it may lack a little curb appeal. >> that and more coming up the most important hour of the trading day. stay tuned.

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a red flag for apple and the technology industry is being raised right now. workers at china's foxconn factory, you may have heard of this place, it's a major supply for apple and for dell, reporting a slowdown in orders. here's a rare report from

facility deep inside china. >> reporter: what happens at foxconn is seen as a barometer for the tech industry. we heard orders a had slowed, so we headed to the notoriously secretive manufacturer to see what's happening outside the heavily guarded gates. outside the factory, we spoke to a half dozen foxconn workers. only one would talk to us on camera. but they all said the same thing. there are no orders, he says. gener generally, there's nothing to do. like many migrants, the workers moved from the countryside to make big bucks in the big city. he, like the others we spoke to, says foxconn pays the best. big clients like apple and dell mean steady orders. to the workers, that means a chance to work longer hours and get better pay. but not since february. the worker who inspects ipads normally rakes in $480 a month. now he says he'll be lucky to earn two-thirds that. sometimes, he says, they don't do much at all. there's no overtime, he says. a lot of people have left.

foxconn employees over 1.5 million people in china, but these days the workers tell us that the company isn't hiring as much as before. in a statement, foxconn says 97% of employees returned after the lunar new year holiday and adds this period has always been considered low season for the industry. but all the workers who have been at the factory for over three years said the slowdown is more pronounced this year. what the workers tell us could be a sign of weaker sales, something we'll know for certain this earnings season. this worker may not stick around until then. killing time is pointless, he says. i might as well check out other jobs. eunice yoon, cnbc, shenzhen. >> one of our next guests says the slowdown in orders at foxconn is a concern for apple. as you can see, shares there down almost 2% there. collin gillis says apple products saw a rush of upgrades end of last year, but now there's kind of a vacuum of innovation.

>> indeed. this may open the door for competitors to jump in and take a piece of the pie. also with us is our jon fortt. jon, we'll start with you, first, if we could. you say there may be more to this than actually meets the eye at foxconn. how so? >> yes, sue, this is an important data point. we've got to be careful exactly what we read into it. a few reasons. there have been a number of changes in the way that apple is doing manufacturing. for one, they have cut worker overtime. that's something that apple has encouraged to do, because workers were working too long by law. so that's one part of the reason why they've done that. another reason, yes, this is the slow season, but they also push back a lot of products into q4, that in past years, they might have rolled out in q2. so they would be making those products now, but they're not because they already made them. a number of moving parts that might explain this. tim cook also said recently at the goldman conference, be careful how much you read into a single data point, because they are doing some things, moving constantly into the supply chain. maybe they're making some things in a different location that

they used to. >> collin, coincidence or not, the slowdown of sales and orders at foxconn has been coincident with the slowdown of apple sales. >> it's hard to say it's a coincidence. when you look at apple in 2013, we have had no product launches. and we had a great 2012. we had refreshes from all the major product lines. we knew this vacuum was coming. but the expectation was that apple would take this hole, this vacuum, and introduce new product, right, whether it's the watch or the tv. but, you know, they would fill that gap with new product and make a big splash. a year ago at this time, we had the dividend announcement, we had the ipad. so far in 2013, we've had nothing. >> how important is that? apple was the premiere brand and the shine is now off not only the brand, some say, but certainly off the stock. >> i think in terms of the brand, there's no doubt about the fact that apple still is one soft pace setters in the market. samsung are giving them a good

run for their money. but this lack of innovation is a concern, because to be honest, we've been taught as consumers to expect the next new thing every other week almost. >> especially from apple. >> and now they're slow on the iphone 5s and what's next. where's appletv? what's next from apple? >> right. jon, is that a valid criticism? what's the feeling in silicon valley about this, as collin would call it, this vacuum of innovation from apple? >> i try to be careful about feelings. a lot of people in silicon valley are very bullish on apple. apple's got a lot of influence there. i try to look at the loyalty numbers. the numbers, the most recent numbers that i saw still shows that apple commands about twice the loyalty of samsung, and, you know, maybe we can't expect apple the to come out with a mind-blowing product every year. really, i think a lot of people would like to see margin expansion from them, which means not changing designs too much for a few months, but, you know, we'll wait until the loyalty numbers come out, the data points, i'd say. >> they still are, as suggests,

a huge brand. >> and this is why the market is still valued well north of $400 billion. but the market is changing. what we're seeing is, we're seeing lower cost competitors are getting traction. amazon in the tablet space, google with their nexus phones. asps are coming down. for apple to maintain their margins and to maintain the volume units, they need to keep innovating. and that's a big issue for the company right now. >> how do they, you previously had ranked them the number two brand. has that changed decidedly, given what we've seen from apple or, what happens what we have not seen? >> brands move at a different rate to stock prices. they tend to be less susceptible to risk. they don't move up and down as fast. i think one of the things we have to be clear on here is apple don't play exactly the same game assist everybody else. they're a little bit more like the luxury brand of the market place. so they don't proliferate loads and loads of the different price

point models. they do come in with groundbreaking products. i think one of the things that we do need to be careful -- or they need to be careful about, is that the, shall we say, the margin of difference in order to break the ground nowadays is getting bigger and bigger because everybody's catching up. the phones that people like samsung are putting out there -- >> the low -cost makers are catching up with apple. >> there are reports from samsung that the preorders of the galaxy s iv phone are top $5 million. so it certainly seems that competition is here for the company. >> when do we get that watch anyway, by the way, jon? >> or the tv, for that matter? >> or anything. >> your guess is as good as mine. >> the old, time will tell from our silicon valley correspondent. gentleman, thank you very much. we're heading towards the close, about 40 minutes left if the

closing session. the dow down 42 points. the s&p is the one we're watching, down just a point. it needs to be up 1.38 to hit a new all-time high. can it happen in the next half hour? >> they're making us way for it in a big way. meanwhile, walmart testing a way for customers to pick up online orders at its stores. but is that any match for amazon delivering products right to your door? we'll talk about that next. also, vladimir putin's bodyguard getting into a scuffle with a security guard in south america. their latest economic summit. we'll tell you why and what putin did about it. wait until you see this. back in a moment. ♪ you know my heart burns for you... ♪ i'm up next, but now i'm singing the heartburn blues. hold on, prilosec isn't for fast relief.

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we have some pictures out of nicosia, cyprus, tonight. heavy, heavy security as we mentioned earlier. is there a head of state coming? is there a big economic summit coming? no, it's just cash being brought to the various banks to load up the atms in anticipation tomorrow of the opening of banks in cyprus. something that hasn't happened in nearly two weeks. they put a limit on the amount you can withdraw. 300 yeeuros per person and you cannot cash a person. >> exactly. what's going to be very interesting from our standpoint down here on the nyse tomorrow is the fact that the opening of the banks tomorrow will occur at 6:00 a.m. eastern time tomorrow morning. so depending on what those pictures look like out of cyprus, remember what happened when we saw the protests in greece. the market reacted pretty

violently to those. now, we'll see what happens tomorrow, but certainly, it's something that almost every trader i talked to said they're going to be watching at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow, and obviously, before, because michelle caruso-cabrera is there and she's going to be broadcasting from nicosia, as she has all week. but it's going to be fascinating to see how our market reacts to it, whether it's orderly in nicosia or not. we will see. meantime, as we're sitting here talking, sue, the s&p is now just fractionally lower. and we're at 1563.48. we need to be to 1565.15 to hit an all-time high. what do you think? i got my iou from yesterday. >> i was going to say -- >> do you think it will happen? >> it's played me for a fool. i'll commit and say yes. >> why not? you're a good sport. >> we've got a half an hour left to go. >> we'll see. >> plenty of time. plenty of time. see what happens. >> hope springs eternal.

meantime, call it a clash of the titans. walmart taking aim at amazon.com again, announcing plans to offer special lockers for in-store pickup of internet orders. now, while walmart is the world's largest retailer, amazon is the world's largest online retailer. so as walmart invades amazon's space, which is the better stock to own right now? let's start talking numbers on those two real estate giants, on the technical side is jaycee o'hara and on the fundamentals side is jeff killberg with kkm financial. good to see both of you, my friends. j.c., which retail do you like here on a technical side? >> i like walmart right here because they're taking a direct shot at amazon. they're testing this new delivery system and investors are already pushing the stock higher. take a look at the chart between walmart and amazon. they've moved pretty much in lockstep for the majority of 2012, until the fourth quarter, where amazon started slowly pulling away, with walmart selling off.

now, with this new news and this new competition towards amazon, walmart is slowly moving higher, as investors are committing capital to this stock. you know, look a shorter term chart of walmart. one year, you see a nice rounding recovery from the fall of q4 in 2012. i think this has upside potential and we'll look to take it to 2012 highs here. >> j.c., let me jump in here, pal. >> you do that. >> i actually really disagree with you here on the walmart and respectfully so, but i have a plethora of reasons why i don't like walmart. and yes, i did just use plethora. let's first and foremost start with the 52-weeks. overextended. secondly, this is one of the larger short interests. this is number nine of all the dow jones stocks, this is number nine highest shorted stock. thirdly, they're still dealing with the bribery situation. look at the bribery situation out of mexico. we have not pinpointed the actual loss on that. and as we have learned, bill, from the whole jpmorgan london whale, it's not over until it's over. and finally, to your point

earlier, it's this online locker situation, as they try to attack amazon. i've been in a lot of locker rooms and it's going to get stinky for walmart and they should stay away from this. >> amazon as the majority stake of ecommerce. they bring in $51 billion in ecommerce, as opposed to walmart who just as $9 billion in ecommerce. walmart is innovative. they are pulling ecommerce clients to bring them into one of their 4,000 stores. this has to be good. while it may not affect amazon to the downside, it's sure going to help walmart to the up side. >> j.c., you hit on a great chord, innovative. amazon just signed on to amazon web services. that is the cloud commuting. they just signed a contract with the cia for $600 million and they're going of that cloud space, specifically the private cloud space. in 2016, analysts are expecting to see $80 billion businesses will spend on the private computing, cloud service. so therefore, we are seeing amazon enter the space, only

represents 5% of revenue right now, but they're going to dominate this space. they do a lot of things right. and yes, it's overprizce, but people have been saying that for the last 100 dollars. >> thanks, guys, got to go. thanks for your comments on these two big box retailers, online and offline. the s&p, we need an all-time closing high of 1565.15. >> they're going to tease us here, aren't they? >> they're going to tease us all the way into the closing bell. we'll see. the dow jones industrial average, any positive close would be a new record high. >> they're going positive, first time since the open this morning. i don't know, i think we might do it. >> it's been a whacky day, so i wouldn't be surprised. >> but, even as we do this, the question is, is this historic rally running out of steam or should you be buying on the dips? famed investor john calamos will weigh in on that question next. plus, find out why he thinks it's time the fed turned off the

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welcome back. it's going to be a squeaker. we have about 25 minutes left in the trading session. the dow is down just 22 points. was down 120 on the open this morning. the s&p, ever closer to an all-time high. needs to get to 1565.15. if you're just joining us, we're at 1563.49. if you've been with us, we're not apologizing for keeping to repeat this, we're just trying to get everybody under the same tent at the same time. our next guest is bullish on estimates for at least the next 12 to 18 months. he thinks the u.s. economy has righted itself enough that the fed needs to turn off the stimulus spigot. >> joining us in a cnbc exclusive is john calamos senior, the ceo and chief investment officer at calamos investments. john, it's a pleasure to have you here. welcome. >> it's a pleasure to be with y'all. >> it's interesting that we're interviewing you today, because you think that the fed needs to turn off the spigot.

yet, we had one of the fed members today come out and say, no, they need to do more. they're not aggressive enough. they need to move down their employment target. i would assume that you would vehemently disagree with that? >> well, i think if they're really trying to focus on job growth, job growth comes from small business. with the yield curve the way it is, there is no incentive for banks to loan to small business. and therefore, that part of the economy continues to be slow. so, obviously, it's advantageous for larger business and the capital markets, but for small business, with the yield curve the way it is, there's just no incentive for banks to be loaning money. and, you know, job growth comes from small business. >> investors like yourself face something of a catch-22. you believe, or you've said, you think the markets are in good shape for the next 12 to 18 months. you like the u.s. equity market. but you also feel the fed needs to pull back on the liquidity. but what happens if the fed pulls back on the liquidity to

the markets? can they continue higher here? history suggests that that would not happen. >> well, i would think that if we were in a normal yield curve. now, if rates just run away on the upside, in the inflation scenario, that's obviously very bad for the markets. but if we got into a more normal rate environment, i think that would be good for the markets. you have a lot of equities that are still undervalued here, even with the market hitting new highs in here, in a normal environment. you know, we're, we're optimistic for the next 12 to 18 months, but as we know from cyprus and other events like that, anything can happen. so we still remain a bit cautious in here. but valuations suggest that this is going to be a good market going forward. we may have a correction. >> all right. we need to have a correction. so for the individual investor sitting at home, who is watching this and seeing us bump up

against new all-time highs in the s&p and at new highs yesterday in the dow jones industrial average, should they wait for that correction to get in or if they are already in, commit more money to the market? or do they put more money in now? >> well, yeah, if they have perfect timing, then they should wait for the exact right moment and get back in. but i've been doing this for 40 years and trying to time this is very, very difficult. market was hitting brand-new highs in 1982, in a very -- in a lot of uncertainty. and a lot of investors were waiting to get back in. and in 1982 started one of the best bull markets in history. so it's very difficult to time it. >> yeah, you know, it's funny you should say that. i've often equated this market environment with that of 1982 and that tremendous uncertainty at that time. and the fed was beginning to lower rates to try and, after it had beaten down inflation. but if you feel we're seeing an environment where we do need a

correction of some kind, how steep do you think it's going to be? what do you think? >> it's difficult to predict, but with the market the way it's done in here, i wouldn't be surprised with a 5% or 10% correction. but, again, trying to see what level that's going to occur from is very difficult. so, you know, my sense is that you look for the opportunity. remember, you have to have uncertainty to have opportunity. if everything was perfect and the markets were bouncing off new highs, that would be a different scenario. >> what would trigger that correction, though? if the cyprus situation didn't trigger it, you know, and that kind of came out of the blue. a lot of people are calling that a black swan event, what might trigger it? what might unnerve this market enough to trigger that correction? >> well, i think what the markets are paying less attention to, cyprus and these issues, much more attention to

economic information out there. i've noticed that the velocity of money has just ticked up in here. consumer spending is ticking up. homes, auto sales are all ticking up. i think the market's paying much more attention to those types of things then, oh, my god, 2/10 of the euro economy is going to take down the whole markets. >> so what do you think is the best place to put money to work right now? where would you make money in this market? >> one of the laggards in this market right now has been technology stocks and growth equities. the market has been really still searching for yields, so we've had that part of the market continue to do very, very well in here. where growth equities have really lagged this. and there you have valuations that are under the p.e. of around ten times. so wing that area of the market has not performed as well in here, but opportunistically,

that looks very attractive to us. >> you would not invest for a yield then, rate now? is that a crowded trade, as they say? >> you know, that's where, you know, if the interest rates go up, they would take the hardest. i'm not saying that, because i don't think rates are going up is next week or next quarter. i think it's still a good area, but a better area would be the growth equities, because usually, as a market rallies in those, you'll see the expansion of p.e.s in those areas. and right now those p.e.s are under the market p.e., which is unusual. >> you know, you mentioned the quarter. we're going into a new quarter, and there's a debate down here as to whether or not earnings are going to be as good as they have been. we saw caterpillar and fedex kind of put a shot across the bow. it wasn't as good as many people thought it was going to be. they were disappointing to the market. how do you think the corporate picture is going to look in terms of their bottom line as we go into the new quarter? >> well, i think that's one of the fears out there, is really

what's the earnings season going to look like, and that could cause the correction. because although we're bull iis over next 12 to 18 months, this is a very choppy market environment and we're still in that sort of slow growth scenario. so i think the earnings release is coming out. we're going to see some more of the choppy market environment. >> would you buy gold here, john? are you -- would you worry about inflation down the road with all the easy fed money right now? >> you know, i would not. i don't, i don't think that's a -- you know, it's -- you know, buying a case of tuna and a shotgun and heading for the hills is not an investment strategy for me. i don't -- you know, we have a lot of good things going on and there's a lot of opportunity here, hiding behind gold, you know, is, to me, you know, you're just caving in to the black swan scenario.

>> and tuna futures just dropped on your comments, by the way. >> okay. >> thanks, john, very much. appreciate it very much. >> thanks. thank you for having me. >> you bet. john calamos joining us today from florida. well, we are heading toward the close here. we've got 18 minutes left. i still think we can do it. we're down a fraction. just going to wait for the close. 1565.15 is what the s&p needs to get to to be at an all-time high. and we are this close, again. once again. meantime, jpmorgan chairman and ceo jamie dimon on the hot seat, again. this time it involves bernie madoff. oops. we'll tell you what's going on there. also, why on earth is vladimir putin's bodyguard getting pushed around by a south african security guard? doesn't he know who that is? now the russians are lashing out about that. up next, more of this incredible video and the ramifications it could have, coming up.

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you know, sue? >> yes, bill? >> it occurs to me that the best pro golfers say the secret to success in pro golf is to put yourself in a position to win on sunday afternoon when it really counts. and that's exactly what the s&p

has done right now. we are this close to all-time high territory with about 15 minutes left. so we're on -- we're just finishing the 17th hole, we're heading to number 18, and we're waiting to see if we can birdie in thing out to get to all-time high territory. >> it feels like we could. on the other hand, they might just be waiting until the last day of the quarter. you know? >> until tomorrow. >> go out with a bang, long holiday weekend. i don't know. you know what, listen, for the bulls, i think you take either one. >> we'll see. >> a lot of people down here want it to happen, because -- >> just want to get it done. >> get the monkey off their back and let's move forward into the next quarter. >> so a big meeting is going on in south africa. the so-called bric nations, brazil, russia, india, china, and south africa. let's just say the meeting got off to a rocky start. watch this. this incident caught on camera, showing the security team for russian president vladimir putin getting into a small altercation

with the south african security contingent. >> i don't think you ever want to mess with the russians. >> they wouldn't let putin's men inside. really? p putin didn't break stride either. used to be the head of their security. >> the spokesperson had plenty to say after the incident, however. dmitry pesrov, says, the fault lays completely at them. "football they organize better. there is a lot of confusion." it's not the first time one of these conferences had an incident like this. back in 2004, president bush had to step into a mob of guards -- he went right for it. >> plucks his secret service guy out of this scrum, gets his own guy, and they head in. that is unbelievable. >> you've got to love that. >> president bush, he was taking no prisoners. i got stuff to go, people to

see. there you go. >> poor russians. first cyprus, now putin's security. >> heading toward the close here. got the dow down 32 point, the s&p down 0.83. need to be up 1.38, but then you knew that. margaret pro steve nooemt has been very bullish, but when we come back, he'll explain why he's starting to turn cautious. >> maybe he's the reason the s&p can't push through to the top. also, a report that ben bernanke seem to be increasingly concerned about the nation's wealth gap. but what can he actually do about it. and is that something he should even be involved in? we'll talk about that. a very interesting discussion, coming up. [ male announcer ] i've seen incredible things. otherworldly things. but there are some things i've never seen before.

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welcome back. one of our next guests has been bullish on this market for the last year or so. but now he's getting sweaty palms. he thinks that worries both here and abroad may be putting a damper on this market and his outlook. >> steve neiman is joining us now to make his case. plus, we have art cashen of ubs. >> and we're playing -- we're playing groundhog day. that's the word i'm trying to get. a senior moment. we did this yesterday.

>> she still didn't get her irish coffee. >> i didn't. i owe him one at this point. >> are we going to do it today? >> i don't think so. i think the trepidation about 6:00 a.m. tomorrow, in nicosia, when the cyprus banks open. and i am told that the markets will lean a little bit to the sell side. that's two head winds we're going to face. but you have a smart fella here. >> well, you know, you have been very bullish, steve, so what makes you change your mind? maybe cyprus is part of that, certainly, but what has you cautious? >> two halves of the occasion. it's cyprus and we were starting to see some headlines about some concerns in italy and spain on the smaller banks. the larger banks will be backed by the government, there's no problem. i think you see a lot of headlines of potential bank issues, bank runs. the other half of the occasion is first quarter earnings. three weeks, first quarter earnings are coming out. and on the industrial side, they're looking weak. you saw caterpillar talk about their orders last week, not good. and on the consumer side, due to the weather and the consumer and the economy, the outlooks are not good. so you could get revisions down for both industrials and consumer names in three weeks. and that will weigh on the

market. >> what do you not want to see out of nicosia tomorrow? what would take this market down? >> turmoil spilling into the streets. i think people would be very concerned. that's one of the things. they see that the italian banks got whacked, they see a variety of things going on. but as in athens, it has not spilled into the streets. that would be a concern. and i think the european leaders kind of fumbled the ball here. because the european banks, under the new bozel, are supposed to rely much more heavily on depositors. now we've scared them all away. they've made for a potentially instant bank run. so as he said, if they start to spill over into the medium-sized italian banks, we'll have an instant bank run and we'll have to shut it all down. >> are you not buying anything here? >> you know what, we've trimmed financials. u.s. financials have been great, but they'll be at risk a little bit. we're buying energy large. we think that's the chaos trade. the fundamentals are the best in

the group. the earnings momentum is great and half the strategists on wall street have upgraded the group. so we think energy can continue to do well. >> all right. and if you've made a profit, take some money off the table? >> in financials, i'd buy energy right here. >> all right. >> we'll meet again tomorrow, see if it happens again. >> like the witches of mcbeth. >> the weird sisters. >> speak for yourselves. all right, we're coming back with the closing countdown in just a couple of seconds. >> in the meantime, forget all the uncertainty about todd schoenberger says the dow is heading, get this, to 16,000 by christmas. coming up, he'll defend that very bullish call. you're watching cnbc, first in business worldwide. [ male announcer ] this is a reason to look twice. the stunning lexus es. get great values on your favorite lexus models during the command performance sales event. this is the pursuit of perfection.

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he'll find some good people to help guide him, and he'll set money aside from his first day of work to his last, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. two minutes left, as art cashin said, the bias was to the downside on the close. doesn't look like we'll get the s&p all-time high, but you never know. we've got 90 seconds. this is a thing of beauty, the dow over the last ten days. you talk about a battle between those who would sell, buy on the dips and sell on strength, so we have 100-point swings here over the lasten t ten days, but thro it all, we're stuck in a trading range. we've got nowhere. we're down 38 points right now. the s&p, are we going to hit this all-time high? we're going the wrong direction

here. matt, does it matter if we hit an all-time high today or tomorrow? we've tried like seven times and failed here. at some point, you think the bulls give up. >> i don't think they're going to give up. i don't think they have a reason to give up. i think it would be good for the market if it did, so we can get it over. there are a lot of things we're dealing with in this market, and that shouldn't be one of them. that shouldn't matter right now. >> tomorrow morning, first thing, 6:00 a.m. eastern time, they open the cyprus banks. what do you think this market may do? will that be what everybody is focusing on? >> a picture can tell a thousand words. if we see blood in the streets and rioting, it obviously will affect the market. we probably won't see any carryover. they're just too big and they've already dealt with most of it. but it will tell a bad picture. >> very quickly, what are you doing with this market right now? >> right now, obviously, i'll try to focus on blackberry. technology has acted very well. apple has been the only laggard, really.