and now that this has come out in the open, i'll guarantee you 95% of the raisin growers are behind us and now they want to get paid for all their lost crop. >> reporter: they're both now waiting, guys, for the 9th circuit to set a date. horn says if he loses, he could be on the hook for $1.5 million worth of raisins he never forked over. back to you. >> thank you very much, jane wells. that does it for us on "street signs." >> thanks for watching, everybody. "closing bell" right now. hi, everybody, happy september. welcome to the "closing bell." i'm maria bartiromo at the new york stock exchange, where the market is trading on what may not happen half a world away, in syria, major reversal for the market as we approach the close. >> welcome back. i'm in today for scott wapner -- i mean, for bill griffeth. i am scott wapner. [ laughter ] >> you are scott wapner!

>> that's right. see, i'm still on vacation. >> i know. >> it seems to have started to head south when speaker boehner and others came out in support of president's call for military action against syria. so the market seemed to be able to handle this better than expected ism news. can it handle higher interest rates, 2.09%, cannot handle syria. >> you know, it's the unknown. and now that john boehner says he's agreeing with the presid t president, that ups the ante in terms of a real military action on the horizon. and that's a complete unknown. syria also on the mind of former home depot and chrysler ceo bob nar deli. he said it's a looming issue over the economy. he has a lot to say about that and the impact of new healthcare law. he'll also be here to tell us who he thinks should be the next chairman of the federal reserve. you don't want to miss this exclusive interview. that's coming up later on on the "closing bell." >> and if buying nokia was such a good move for microsoft, why is the stock getting slammed today? we'll take a closer look at the two companies, and if, in this case, the sum is actually less than the parts.

we'll have both parts. let's check where we stand as we approach the final hour on wall street. the dow jones industrials average down a fraction. we had been up strong earlier, about 100 points earlier, and having given that up and then some, and now trading flat on the heels of john boehner agreeing with the president on the willingness to have some kind of military action in syria. nasdaq and s&p 500 actually showing gains. take a look here. the nasdaq up 14 points. once again, technology the leadership group. although it, too, off of the best levels of the afternoon, even with that double-digit move. s&p 500 looks like this. a gain there, as well. just barely. also off of the highs. scott? let's jump into it and find out what's moving as we kick off september, which has been the worst month for stocks since 1950. mary thompson at the big board, dominic is back at the headquarters. mary, kick us off. what are you seeing out there? >> reporter: maria, of course, today is flat, the session coming on the heels of a miserable august for the markets, as well. they've been trying to rally the

dow above the flat line, not having much success. slightly -- or fractionally higher right now. here's the story. 11:30, you had headlines crossing that house speaker john boehner said that he did support the president -- or would support the president in the event he went ahead with military strikes against syria. that caused the dow to sell off. as a result, the marks gave up over 100 points. the dow remains under pressure again today. look at what happened with the 10-year yield. sas scott mentioned earlier, the yield climbed above the 2.91% area. it pulled back a little bit. nevertheless, the elevated rates are keeping pressure on interest rate-sensitive groups today. and they continue to be the leaders to the downside. they include telecom, utilities, as well as consumer staples. we do want to note that microsoft is a drag on the dow today. a lot of people questioning why, when it comes to the $7.2 billion acquisition of nokia's handset business. scott, back to you. >> okay, mary, thank you so much. dominic chu, over to you now. september not usually kind to stocks, we know that.

>> no. not at all, scott. it started off pretty strong. the first trading day of september has lost a lot of its steam as the days progressed, just like mary said. should investors be concerned? if you go all the way back, like you said, to 1950, on average september has traditionally been the worst month for the dow jones industrials. it falls by .8% on average. the dow also in that timespan closed down six out of every ten times. 60% during that timespan. meanwhile, look at another asset class. the opposite for gold. historically speaking, september comes up glittering for that yellow metal. since 1990, gold finished up in september by an average of 2.7%. now, of course, past performance is never an indicator of future performance. let's not forget we have a lot of other factors like geopolitical risks, a la syria, so the crystal ball is cloudy, but interesting stats for september. good for some, not good for others. >> all right, dominic, thank you. we're about an hour away

from the close, and the markets have lost the early morning gains. is it still over syria concerns? let's get into it with mike from hi hightower. gentlemen, thank you for joining us. let's look at this market. i guess my question is, why is the market reacting so strongly to syria? what is the big threat here given the fact that we were looking at a gain of 100 points earlier and we've completely -- we've completely lost that at this point? kicking it off with you, jeff. >> maria, look, you hit the nail on the head before, that this is -- if i was going to use one word to describe this market, it's confused. i don't think it's just syria. i think syria is one catalyst of a market that's very fragile. one of the things i looked at, i thought was very interesting, v spoke investment group did some research on this, when you look at what happened in august, as we had the bad sell-off in august, the stocks that outperformed that month were the stocks that normally would

outperform in a rally, not would outperform in the market going lower. you talk about high p/e ratios, high shortages, internationals. and we had big outflow from equity, mutual funds. i think the institutional investors were out there trying to find some type of value anywhere. and as far as just what the fundamentals are, look, we saw this morning on the ism number, we're back to good news is bad news kind of thing. so you have the syria, the fed, a whole bunch of things out there, a lot of uncertainty. >> steve, you can make the argument that good news can be good news. ism was better than expected. market was up 100. syria just sort of turned the table on things. it seems as though the market is being more able to condition itself to higher interest rates and everything that is coming down the pike. >> i don't think syria's really moving this market. i think it topped out -- the dow and s&p topped out in early august. in fact, if you look at the new york stock exchange composite, it made its interday high last

may and was unable to best that high with the dow and s&p. so the market has been going down for a little bit. the most bearish thing a market could do is be oversold and then try to rally and not be able to. that's what happened today. >> wait a minute. wait, wait, steve, did you say you don't think syria is moving the market? >> i don't think syria is -- >> boehner moved the market. the minute boehner came out, the speaker of the house, said he agrees with the president, that a u.s. military strike would be warranted, the market sold off. we went from up 100 to up nothing. >> i don't think -- i don't think news moves a market. news is just a reaction to the social trends that are occurring. sure, you have short-term emotional spikes. but, look, this market has been down since early august. so there's something else that's moving the market right here. and i think the psychology of the market is we turned in the summer and now continuing that trend down. >> yeah, fair enough. because you do have a fair amount of catalyst this month, let's face it, that could really change sentiment, whether it be the tapering and the beginning of the tapering or the announcement of a new fed chairman.

so, mike, knowing all of this, would you put new money to work long on equities? >> well, we would, even though this time of year we seem to pay our annual dues to be a member of the "i am long equities club." we don't think this is a reason to move out of stocks. many of our clients are saying something roughly similar to what jeff is saying, which is they're not afraid, but they're using this as an opportunity to reposition for growth ahead. we continue to focus on technology, because that's a play on albeit slow global growth and also folk use on healthcare, because it's a demographic shift. syria may be the excuse now, and it's a humanitarian issue we should be conscious of, but it's probably not the reason why people are selling off here. it's the time of year we shouldn't be surprised. >> rick santelli, i think the 10-year note yield topped today at 2.90, or thereabouts, you correct me if i'm wrong there. do you believe the market is starting to or has already priced in a taper coming in september? >> i think there's a pretty good chance it's priced that in. i really think that that's the

crumb at the edge of the crust. i believe that the fixed income market is on its way to pricing in a new era of monetary policy without crisis management. and i think we're one chapter into that pricing book. today, whether you look at 5s, 10s, 30s, judge, the further down the curve you look, the bigger the difference with yesterday slash friday's net change. meaning a five-year's up four basis points. a 30-year is up eight basis points. but yet the five-year's going to most likely make a new high-yield close going back to july of 2011. why? i agree with alex. it's an issue of confusion. but not about the markets. the markets could look at data sets and points and make a decision. it's confusion among the various leaders in charge, whether it's on foreign policy, monetary policy, or fiscal policy. >> so what's the number that would cause you to move away from equities, mike, on the 10-year? is there a level -- i mean, is

2.9% troublesome? is it a lot higher than that that it would become problematic? >> no, we have room to go up. the bond market would hate anything above that, but stocks will handle a three-handle. it's inevitable, but they'll handle it in the context of growth as a relative number there. as long as we have global growth and earnings growth in the united states, we can handle 3% on the 10-year. and we will -- >> and i have to say, i think this whole taper thing -- we're all taking our eye off the ball in terms of what really -- what really has the market concerned about monetary policy. the whole dynamic between yellen and summers as far as who's going to get the fed chairman sharapova fship. treasuries are not affecting -- the purchase of treasuries are not having a lot of effect on the credit markets now. it's about the mbs and it's about the rate structure. it's not about this little -- the taper per se. >> over the holiday, i had conversation with some market watchers about who might be the chairman. and there is a feeling within

some circles, deutsche bank has this feeling, that tim geithner is also an option out there. >> a stealth choice? >> yeah. i mean, i don't know, anybody buy into that of our panel? tim geithner a possibility for chairman? >> i mean -- [ overlapping speakers ] >> -- want it -- >> i'm sorry, what, steve? >> yeah, i have no -- no idea who will be the fed chairman. i don't think it matters that much. what's interesting about this taper talk is that yields on the 10-year note actually bottomed in july of last year and started rising since then. that's well before anybody was talking about a taper. so i think what's driving the trends of the market is not so much taper. i think rick has it right, we're in a new era so to speak, quote/unquote, where the rate structure is starting to turn, because psychology has turned. >> you say he doesn't want it. >> i don't think he wants it. it's another thing to say you don't want it and something else when the commander in chief comes and says, i want you to do this. >> yeah. >> how do you say no at that point? and if you have enough

vibrations as far as summers goes, if you get enough, you know, pullback on that, the market doesn't want it, yeah, geithner could be seen as kind of the compromise guy between yellen and summers. but i would still bet on larry summers as far as the chairmanship goes. >> what about the markets, guys? it's interesting to talk about what the president may like, because he gets a huge say-so in this. but don't you think behind closed doors there's people that are worried about how the market will react if it doesn't like the processes or the procedures of the new person? i think that's key. >> yeah, of course. that's rebutting steve who said it really doesn't matter. i would agree with rick and say that it matters wholeheartedly to the market who the next fed chairman is going to be. >> monetary policy will be everything as far as the market going forward. you can't overstate it. >> yeah, especially given the fact we have to do this big exit. >> right. >> eventually. whenever that is. >> yeah, eventually. and you're seeing the reverb racials in the foreign markets now. the emerging markets. and that's where you really will

get killed, and you start to get the rate pressure from abroad, and, you know, you get to that point when the fed starts to lose control of the whole rate structure and you have chaos in the market. and then the next guy is not -- is going to have his work cut out for him. >> all right. we will leave it there. thank you, everybody. appreciate it. we're in the final stretch of trading for the day. 45 minutes until the closing bell sounds. a pretty good rally that has developed in the last few minutes. up 24 points on the dow. coming up, what is microsoft's acquisition from nokia mean for the smartphone, and what about microsoft investors hitting the stock hard today on the deal? we'll find out why. after the bell, don't miss my exclusive interviews with former chrysler ceo bob nardelli. that and more coming up on "closing bell." stay with us. i'm a careful investor. when you do what i do, you think about risk. i don't like the ups and downs of the market, but i can't just sit on my cash. i want to be prepared for the long haul.

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hi, welcome back. we want to show you a live look there at secretary of state john kerry. he is on capitol hill, a senate hearing on syria under way. key testimony from the secretary right now, and also defense secretary chuck hagel. there have been some protests in the room, maria, thus far.

and i believe we're listening in the break, we heard another protester come in there, and secretary kerry addressing that, as well. so that continues to go on, and we continue to follow it. >> and joining us right now on the telephone is new york republican congressman peter king, chairman of the house homeland security committee. congressman, good to have you on the phone. thanks for joining us. we know that speaker john boehner and majority leader eric cantor say that they will support acting against syria. will that be enough to get the votes needed? >> maria, first of all, thanks for having me on. it's going to be tough. i'm going to vote yes. i believe we have to take action. having said that, the president started late, and i give john boehner credit for stepping up and really putting politics aside. it will be tough. it will be an all-out effort, i think, over the next week by the president, by the speaker, by nancy pelosi, you know, to get the votes. because right now, the average person does not know why we should be in syria. i think we should attack. we have to take action. but it's going to be tough to

make that case, because the president has really waited a long time to engage the congress. >> it certainly seems, though, representative king that the president has his work cut out for him, as you say, on a couple of fronts, not only convincing your colleagues that this is the right move, but you alluded to, as well, there's a new poll out by abc that says only 6 in 10 -- or 6 in 10 oppose a u.s.-only strike. what if we can't get any of our allies to join in? should we go at it alone? >> i think we have to. the fact is whether it was kosovo or really almost anywhere else, certainly when it involves these types of attacks, the u.s. is going to go it alone anyway. kosovo, we had 21 countries, and we did 95% of the air attacks. and the british did the other five. so it helps -- certainly helps diplomatically to have more support. but if we feel -- the president feels military action is needed, then he has to go it alone, even if we don't get other countries. because for the most part, at

this stage, not that the brits won't be in, a lot of the others would really be almost (unintelligible). >> congressman, i guess i have two questions here about the way we've been communicating all of this. first off, was the president right to hit the pause button and ask congress for approval? it seems to have sparked real debate across the world, by the way, you know, people are wondering why he hit the pause button in the face of such -- such a story. and secondly, why are we telegraphing our every move to syria? >> on the latter point, my 9-year-old grandson the other day asked me whether or not syria gets cable tv, because all of this was coming out on television, what we're doing, how we're going to do it, a limited attack, not going after assad. he's 9 years old, and he, again, was hearing -- the very thought.

now, he's looking for cover, and it's so important we attack, why is he waiting another 9, 10, 15 days before congress will be able to meet, debate, and act. so, no, i think he set a terrible precedent for the office of presidency. >> right. >> and sent a terrible message. >> you wrote an op ed that said obama cannot show weakness on syria no matter what congress' vote. haven't we already shown weakness? >> i guess i should have said we shouldn't show more weakness. >> yeah, exactly. >> yeah, he has shown so much weakness, vacillation. it's not been in any way a profile in leadership. it's been a profile in vacillation. >> congressman, whose credibility do you think is more at stake here? is it the president's? what about the united nations? ban ki-moon is out saying an attack could lead to more

bloodshed, arguing against a punitive strike against syria. so whose credibility here is more at stake, and what happens if the united nations does not go along with us in the way that we may act in the future? >> well, i don't have any great regard for the united nations when it comes to these issues. i mean, basically, we have to do what we believe is in our best interests. the united nations, to a large extent, is controlled by third world countries, and the security council, you have china and russia, they're going to veto any meaningful act that we're going to take. it's anti-israel, it's anti-west. listen, i would never let u.n. opposition deter the united states from acting. >> now, john mccain is out this afternoon, as well, sir, saying he cannot guarantee that he'll vote yes. if the senator votes no, what would your reaction to that be? >> i can understand why john mccain -- he and i are basically on the same side here. john mccain would vote no if he thinks the president is not doing enough.

i wish the president would stop saying what he's not going to do and would do more. if we're going to do this, we should make it meaningful. having said that, if it does come to a vote, to preserve the credibility of the presidency, i would vote yes even though i am concerned right now that it's going to be too weak of a response by the president. somehow he keeps toning it down. i mean, if it's so important that we act, why does he keep scaling it back? so i would -- i think what john mccain is do, also, is put leverage on the president to make the resolution of the action more meaningful and more robust. >> so what do you think the answer is? i mean, why is the president acting this way, then, putting the pause button, waiting for congress' approval, telegraphing what we're doing to the world? what's the answer? what do you make of it? >> well, i'm not a psychiatrist, but i just feel that what the president -- somehow that there's almost an embarrassment he has when it comes to american power. once he said, like it or not, we're the most powerful nation in the world. you know, why wouldn't anyone like it?

certainly why wouldn't any american like it? he seems somehow maybe to be campaigned so much against george bush and he is doing so many of the things that george bush did, he feels guilty about that. i can't figure it out. if he says it's a red line, if he says congressional approval is not needed, military action is needed, the last minute he changes his mind and asks for congressional approval, it seems to me it's someone who is -- again, when it comes to crunch time, he's reluctant to take the action. >> but, congressman, are you -- by using the word meaningful, are you making the argument we should do a full-fledged effort for regime change, that we should have boots on the ground in addition to any sort of air strikes? that's what it sounds like. >> as a president, i wouldn't tell assad what i'm going to do. so we start with that. having said that, no, what i'm -- what i am saying as a member of congress is we should have large amount of cruise missiles and tomahawk missiles going in there to weaken and

degrade the military as much as we can, particularly chemical weapons. the military -- and do that, it would hopefully -- but ideally bring about negotiations in talks between the regime and the rebels, and i do have a concern about the extent of al qaeda infiltration of the rebels, that if we're the ones who are bringing the -- we have a lot more say at the negotiation table, bringing about a resolution, would not have -- would not have al qaeda in the final -- (unintelligible). >> hmm. all right, sir. good to have you on the program. we appreciate your time. >> thank you. really appreciate it. >> we'll see you soon. peter king joining us. we have about 35 minutes before the closing bell. on wall street, a market that is higher although well off of the highs. >> after the break, more details on the verizon/vodafone deal. wait until you hear who's getting paid and how much. the numbers are eye-popping. and another major deal, microsoft, an acquisition of

nokia. but what is the right move, and does it give us an insight into the company's succession plan for steve ballmer? we'll find out more on "closing bell." stay with us. [ female announcer ] it's time for the annual shareholders meeting.

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more consolidation in the telecom world with the $130 billion verizon/vodafone deal and big pay days coming out of this marriage. let's get more from kayla. >> reporter: school, the deal was a decade in the works, so a

hard-earned payday, but a big one, too. it's expected to reap $600 million in fees for wall street. that would be a record, topping vodafone's 2000 acquisition of mannous, which dolled out $530 million to wall street bankers. in this case, jpmorgan taking home the lion's share of that, not only providing advice to the company but also underwriting some massive debt packages for the deal. the second-largest acquisition ever. among the business the banks did, underwrote a record loan which will become record bond issues in a matter of months, ib shoed $60 billion in verizon stock, and they also will be hedging the currency of this deal as it nears completion in the coming quarters. the -- it's one reason why verizon is down today. vodafone is down because the market is wondering if this is a done deal. if regulators pay too much in taxes, there's a stipulation the company can walk. for banks that have come this

far, though, they're counting their paycheck not just yet. they can smell it, but not quite here. maria, back to you. >> kayla, thouch. we want to look at verizon here in talking numbers. the stock lower by better than 2%. is the company setting itself up to be a long-term buy? we're doing talking numbers on the technical side, richard ross, global technical strategist, and on the fundamental side, john stevenson, with first asset management. gentlemen, good to see you. rich, kicking it off with you. how does verizon look to you? >> maria, let's be clear. this deal is more a divorce than a marriage, and as henny youngman said, divorce is typically so expensive because it's worth it. and when you bring up that stock chart, you'll see verizon is a company that is newly single and potentially ready to mingle. now, we got off to a hot start, climbing 25% in just the first four months. we've pulled back 16% as the interest rate-sensitives plays have fallen out of favor with

the spike in rates, but even taking out the 200-day, i love today's bullish reversal, key around the $45 level, tables us back to prior resistance earlier this year. i think we get a bounce up to 49 at a minimum. that's the low end of the well-defined trading range that we just broke down from. i really like verizon on this pullback. >> you like this chart, huh? tom, what about you? how does the fundamentals story look? >> they totally top-tipped this, maria. they're spending $130 billion in the market cap of verizon is only $131 billion. this is not a name you need to own. it's been underperforming for sometime, and the reason it's been underperforming is the fundamentals of the wireless industry are looking pretty pathetic at this point. you have 105% penetration in wireless in the u.s. where is the growth going to come from? margins have stalled and essentially been flat for two years now. and the only growth whatsoever in the sector is coming from the prepaid segment of the market, which is the low-end segment. so rpus are falling, margins are falling. so they overpaid right now.

and if you look at valuations on the sector, it's pretty high. it's trading about 16 1/2 times earnings, 8 times almost in terms of ebitda. and what does the sector return? 6.2% versus healthcare year to date, 25.5. i'd be a seller here. >> john, you're far too bearish on the sector. looking at a 6.4% dividend. this is the class-leading play. >> rich, the rotation's already occurred from the census to cyclical. >> yeah, but 16% pullback in a blue chip stock like this, well defined multiyear uptrend, this is when you have to be a buyer of a stock like verizon. you don't have to case it into the highs. this is a gift, right here for you. >> not a gift at all. this is a red herring, and i would avoid it. where is it going to grow? they can't acquire at&t. there's no growth, and you're already over penetrated in the u.s. >> all good insights, yes. thank you very much. we'll keep watching the stock. >> thanks, maria. >> we'll see you soon, guys. thanks. maria, speaking of

developing stories. breaking news from the hearing on syria is happening now in washington, d.c., where eamon is. >> reporter: secretary of state john kerry is testifying up on capitol hill, making the administration's case for military intervention in syria. but the hearing was just interrupted by a group of protesters, forcing kerry to respond. take a listen to this moment. >> -- the world is watching not just to see what we decide, but it's watching to see how we make this decision. whether in a dangerous world we can still make our government speak with one voice. they want to know if america will rise to this moment and make a difference. >> we don't want another war. >> -- please to restore order. >> reporter: so what you see there is protesters interrupting as kerry is trying to speak,

finishing up his prepared statement. this is a group called code pink. they show up pretty often these days up on capitol hill just about every live televised hearing, you'll see some pro-pink folks in attendance and some people trying to interrupt. what kerry did there was respond to the protesters, though, by citing his own experience as a 27-year-old vietnam vet when he first testified himself up on capitol hill. he himself was a protester. he said the administration respects their views and he says that congress ultimately is going to make the decision here on behalf of all of america. so some pretty dramatic moments up here on capitol hill. they're continuing to make the case right now. we're going to see some of the members of the committee have a chance to ask tough questions as well, guys. >> all right, we know you'll be following it. we'll get back to you. thank you very much. in the market, meanwhile, we have a steady move here up, about 20 points on the dow. well off of the highs but off of the lows, as well, about 30 minutes before the close. up next, maria, the microsoft/nokia deal may have far-reaching ripple effects on who uses which cell phones in

the years to come, but it's having an immediate impact on microsoft stock price, and it's not a good one. was this the right move? that is next. after the bell, a former chrysler and home depot ceo bob nardelli is with us. he's not pleased with the state of the jobs market. he'll tell us why and what he plans to do about that. that and more coming your way on "closing bell." i've been doing a few things for a while that i really love-- tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 playing this and trading. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and the better i am at them, the more i enjoy them. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 so i'm always looking to take them up a notch or two. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and schwab really helps me step up my trading. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 they've now put their most powerful platform, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 streetsmart edge, in the cloud. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 so i can use it on the web, where i trade from tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 most of the time. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 which means i get schwab's most advanced tools tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 on whatever computer i'm on. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 it's really taken my trading to the next level. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550

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welcome back. the final stretch of the day. 20 minutes before the closing bell sounds. the dow, as you can see, is up about 14 1/2 points. the volume on the light side. no surprise. given the shortened holiday week and the jewish holiday is this week. nasdaq and s&p 500 are higher, once again technology really catching the bid once again. the nasdaq up 22 points and the standard & poor's 500 looks like this, with a similar chart pattern bouncing off of the lows, a gain of six points. scott. >> the big deal of the day everyone is buzzing about, microsoft's $7.2 billion acquisition of nokia's mobile phones unit. >> we want to get more on that from jon fortt. he's been tracking the story in san jose. jon, over to you.

>> reporter: hey, maria, if you believe microsoft should retreat from the consumer market and become more like oracle or ibm, then you hate this deal, not because of the financial costs, $7.2 billion of overseas cash -- pretty cheap for microsoft -- but because of the strategic cost. the energy on phones and wrangling 32,000 new employees, and it can't focus on the other things. if you think it can get mainstream computing, it's probably a deal they had to do. the traditional pc system no longer exists. dell is back on its heels. microsoft's only true loyal hardware partner was nokia and the two companies were tripping over each other trying to get products out. now, nokia's ceo and former microsoft executive stephen elop plans to rejoin the company. he used to run the most stable and profitable business, now he'll run its riskiest. he might be the next ceo. but the first big test of microsoft and nokia's mettle will be whether they can withstand the iphone onslaught

coming in about three weeks. guys, back to you. >> all right. thank you, jon. not everybody is calling this tech union a marriage made in heaven, by the way. a debate, digital wedlock -- >> gene, managing director with the capella group, says it's a win-win. but cnbc contributor carol ross says these two wrongs cannot make one right company. welcome to you both. carol, why do you believe this is a bad deal? >> well, i think you hit that m&a map. you can't take one company struggling to find its growth, another one on the decline, put them together and say, okay, that equals a growth company. when you think about m&a, microsoft is doing everything wrong in this acquisition. they are going away from their core competency in enterprise and trying to make a big splash in consumer, but they're doing it with a company that is not a market leader. nokia is not even in the top five when it comes to smartphones. and then you've got the culture clash that could potentially come by putting these two very different cultures together. so strategically, i think that

this is a merger that makes no sense and is going to be a big distraction for microsoft. >> big distraction for microsoft. what about that? i mean, do you think, gene, that, you know, two troubled companies, the stocks have had tough times, getting together is a positive? or what do you say to that analysis there, that two wrongs don't make a right? >> thanks for having me. i think this is a great deal for microsoft. look, microsoft for -- they want to acquire nokia, because they want a seat at the table. the smartphone and cellar business is not going to go away. and microsoft wants to compete with both apple and google. they want a larger slice of this lucrative cellular pie. i think the reality for microsoft, they have nowhere to go but up in market share. and i think a lot of people are suffering from apple and google fatigue. i think many people are ready to switch users for another

competitor or another provider. i think the integration risk is quite minimal, quite frankly. look, these guys have had a partnership the last couple of years which has been successful. elop knows the business. he's proven he can work with microsoft. he's proven that he can work with ballmer. and, you know, although they're have different countries, they speak the same language, which is cellular. >> if people are so clamoring to use another operating system or another device, why is nokia so far back in the race of apple and samsung and all the other players? that's number one to your point. but number two is the stock of microsoft is down 6% today. so investors are voting against it. and if nokia was so dependent on microsoft already, why did microsoft have to spend $7 billion to get the business? >> well, i think those are great questions. and to your first point, look, i don't think microsoft is getting

into this business because they want to be a mobile phone manufacturer, right? microsoft wants to own the hardware. they want to control the software. and they want to integrate it into this huge enterprise that they already have. as far as the stock price goes, i think that's really going to be the only effect microsoft is going to see with the announcement of this deal. >> well, let me ask you the downside here. i mean, let's say this deal goes through. are they really going to have enough fire power to compete with apple? >> absolutely. >> yeah? >> i think there's no question. >> yeah, no, look, listen -- >> i think it's -- >> no, no, hold on. i think that it's completely a farce, because if they were going to make a really big push in here, they had to acquire somebody who has some market leadership. this is going to put them nowhere in terms of being on the map. and frankly, their history in terms of the device side, the consumer phase-in side, the handheld side has been a complete and abysmal failure. so this not only makes no sense,

takes them from the core competency, but it doesn't give them the fire power and the innovation. nokia is not known as an innovative leader, and that's the issue with this acquisition. >> carol, i think -- go ahead, you can respond, and i'll respond to carol. >> yeah, i think the -- i think the thing you don't want to do here is, it's always -- it's always bad to underestimate anybody. and i think underestimating microsoft is a really dangerous thing to do. you know, they're a very successful company. they have a huge enterprise. i think they can make this acquisition work and be very, very successful. >> no, no, they have struggled to find growth and the challenge, if you look at m&a for these very big companies, it has a really bad track record. you can look at aol and time warner. you can look at sprint and nextel, and sears and kmart. the list goes on and on. there aren't a lot of case studies of putting two companies of this scale together and having it be a huge success, when you take into account all of the parameters that we have here in terms of mergers and acquisitions. >> all right. >> great points, both sides.

>> yeah. yep. all right. >> thanks. we have about 15 minutes to go before the closing bell. the dow is holding onto a gain of about 26 points. >> we're tracking the market movers on this first trading day of september. it's been a volatile one. after the bell, i'll go one on one with bob nardelli with the august employment report just three days away. he has some concerns about the jobs market. we'll be right back. stay with us. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] some things are designed to draw crowds.

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welcome back. plenty of market action. mary thompson has been following it. what's the bias as we approach the close? >> certainly a bias to the upside finally after spending most of the middle of the session trading to the downside. the dow is now up just about 27 points. the reason we've seen gains in shares of caterpillar, ibm, and intel in the last 40 minutes or so of trade. nevertheless, these are the themes that have been playing out throughout the session. of course, there was a lot of buzz coming in to today's session. there were some big deals, vodafone and verizon, of course, with verizon buying the remaining stake of their joint wireless network. both of those stocks lower on that news. and then, microsoft, of course, paying $7.2 billion for nokia's handset business. of course, it's benefitting nokia, but everyone is asking about microsoft's move. why? it's kept pressure on the stock, which in turn has kept pressure

on the dow jones industrials. another thing is concerns about syria. the dow came off a 100-point gain, when john boehner said he would support president obama in the event he did decide to go ahead with military strikes. that's given a lift to defense stocks which have been stronger throughout the day. and a third theme is we did have strong manufacturing data here in the u.s. on the heels of strong data that came out of china as well as euro zone over the last couple of days, so this is helping to boost the materials stocks, which have been healthy pretty much throughout the session today. nevertheless, as we approach the close, we'll wait to see whether the dow can hold onto the gains. right now, off the better levels, up only 10 points. back to you. >> all right. thank you so much, mary. we're in the final stretch. about 12 minutes before the closing bell sounds. we have a market that's up, just by a fraction. 9 points. technology is definitely a leadership group on the upside. up next, we're talking to the market experts about how you should prepare for the possible september headwinds facing this market. we will be right back.

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time for a market flash on

herbalife. this is a stock we never talk about. >> yeah, we never talk. the new regulatory filing. this is william, the ceo of post holdings, the food company. in a regulatory filing, he has just disclosed that he has accumulated a stake in herbalife. now, he controls 4.8 million shares himself, but if you add in the other shares he has control over, in addition to his own stake, he's got 5.3 million shares, or a 5% stake in herbalife. so we're watching those shares. but just another -- scott, another person or hedge fund manager getting on the long side of herbalife. back over to you. >> yeah, all right, dominic. thank you so much. 10 minutes to the first closing bell of the month, and joining us now, mary ann bartell and paul, welcome to you both. mary ann, the question to you first. it certainly seems like syria, as much as it's dominating the headlines, is dominating the market, as well. >> right. we think it will be an overhang now for the market and could

potentially cause some market volatility. now, we're now into the month of september. it's notorious for not being the best performing month. the technicals aren't that strong. but we still like the markets on any dip, and history shows even if we get a spike in crude oil, you get a dip in the market and it creates a buying opportunity. >> we're getting a spike in crude. we have crude oil above $108 a barrel. kenny, has that been an issue for your clients, your investors out there? >> it's been an issue overall, because higher oil prices are certainly going to cause demand or the psyche of the consumer, right? as we know, the consumer is still struggling. no matter what they say, the consumer is still struggling. that's evident in the macmacro data that we're getting with the mixed picture of the economy. and i do agree with you, although i think the end of the year in 2014 will be better, i do think, though, september and october, for sure, syria only exacerbating that issue. >> take the market in two stages today. pre-boehner/post-boehner. pre-boehner, a pretty good story to tell.

>> whoa, whoa, whoa. >> ism -- >> we were up 100 points but people are short, right, because they were short last week, the end of the month, got short, expecting a strike, expecting a big event. a, was it not only an event but great news out of china and europe, and boom, markets were up. tuesday, they had no choice but to cover. so you saw this big reaction, and, boom, it faded. >> and a couple of m&a deals. >> m&a should have added to the excitement. >> it should have been a positive. >> of course. >> huge deals in telecom? so why not? >> i think certainly syria is a problem, but we're in a timeframe where the markets tend to struggle anyway. >> we're announcing syria and we stop tapering. tapering again, in the month of september, will it happen or not going to happen? at bank of america, merrill lynch, we've been forecasting it won't happen in september but happen in december. but that's also been a concern of the markets. >> i agree with you. you're saying if tapering begins in december, it's a concern?

>> no, no, no, it is a concern. is it happening in september -- >> i agree it doesn't happen in september. i don't know how it happens with the numbers we seeing. >> it can't. it flies in the face of everything ben bernanke has been saying. >> so the market will be up, then? the minute it's known to everyone that september is not going to bring the taper, what happens to the stock market? >> well, then, i think, listen, we find plenty of support here at the 1625, 30 level. if you don't get the tapering in september, you get a push. but don't forget, you have the broader issues in this country. you have the fiscal debate. the debt ceiling debate. and then you have syria that will overhang. so i think we'll be stuck in the 1625, 1650 range, at least until we have more clarity on certainly what's going on in geopolitical. >> we'll leave it there. kenny, good to talk to you. mary ann, thank you. closing countdown is next. after the bell, two exclusive interviews for you you can't afford to mix. bob nardelli and peter orszag, former white house budget director, now at citi. that and a lot more coming up on "closing bell."

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stocks pretty much sold off immediately on that comment. and that's pretty much where we've stayed. microsoft the big story, the $7 billion deal for nokia's handset business. that stock selling off by 5% into the close, and verizon, of course, its $130 billion deal with vodafone, the other big m&a story of the day. so a couple of big deals. syria overhang. we bring in keith bliss. he is with catone & company. good ism, mega deals, but syria. >> it's a shame we have these global problems that we've got to contend with, because the economic data is getting better. the market got oversold last week. so it should have bounced in here, which we would fully expect. listen, scott, everything is hinging right on what's going on inside that committee meeting now. so as the words turn more hawkish, we'll sell off, as we'll get more dovish, we'll rally. that's the way we'll trade the next couple of days. >> you have any indication, by the way that the market is acting, that it can handle higher interest rates? it's going to have to get used to that idea sooner rather than later. >> yeah, i think so.

and people have told me that. it won't be a real problem. companies are still borrowing at historically low numbers, as well as consumers. so we'll get used to that like we got used to higher gas prices. [ bell sounding ] >> good to talk to you. thank you. up next, bob nardelli and peter orszag, who picks up the call right now. and it is 4:00 on wall street. do you know where your money is? hello, welcome back to "closing bell." i'm maria bartiromo. this month has been the toughest for stocks historically since 1950. news of syria, giving up a triple-digit gain on the dow when key republican leaders said they would support a military strike in syria. the latest from the hearing. when it wraps up, we'll take you live to washington. let's look at how we're settling out on wall street.