>> remember, we were down over 140 points on the dow when putin said that he would fight with syria in any conflict. that's a 200-point move to the upside. e-trade, hcp and hp and expedia all having a great day. >> that's it for "power lunch." we'll see you on monday. are we feeling seasick yet? a topsy turvy day on wall street with stocks moving higher on the jobs report and turning south on new syria concerns and lo and behold we're back up again so what does the market really want to hear? should ford's alan mulally get behind the wheel at microsoft? why it might make more sense than you think. round six in the million dollar

home challenge, and the always outspoken mark cuban is in the house. he is here to announce a really big new investment. you have to stick around to find out exactly what it is. okay. well, let's get to the markets because stocks are heaving themselves out of the red. managing to move higher. look at the dow. now back above the 15,000 mark. we were down on the dow by as much as 148 points on the low. mary thompson, first of all at the nyse and rick santelli in chicago. mary, it seems like there does seem to be some realignment of expectation on the back of the jobs reports. can you tell me why stocks have managed to pull higher. >> the jobs report was weaker than expected which has people thinking maybe the fed won't taper or end the easing policy as soon as expected on the bond buying program and all of that was erased by the putin comments. the dow is very close to the session highs right now.

rate sensitive sectors leading the way. reits, utilities and consumer staples and home builders are stronger as well today. they, too, are contributing to the broader rally that we're seeing here on wall street. the last thing we wanted to mention, the dow has seen a bit of a pickup and johns johnson & johnson is starting the process of selling its digtics and expected to fetch $5 billion this that sale. >> thank you very much. looks like money is moving back into treasuries, pulled away from the 3% on the ten-year. do the bond market traders fear that the weak report will stay in the fed's hands? >> i can't speak for traders but many believe as i do that in the old days, if you had a weak report, interest rates went down. if you had a strong report interest rates went up. i still believe that the normalization of interest rates is occurring, and whether the fed wants to sign up or not, i'm not so sure that makes the biggest difference. take it a step farther.

i will sense, yes, that traders are looking to buy a weak number, but now put yourself in their shoes. long from 2.86 and 2.87 and here we sit at 2.91. still 13 basis points up on the week. >> rick santelli, mary thompson, thanks so much. president obama reiterating his case for action against syria at the g-20 summit in russia, but the markets really did not like reports that russia's putin will continue to aid syria, even if america strikes. john harwood breaks it all down for us what. are the headlines we should be taking away here, john? >> reporter: look, the markets don't like it. the american people don't hike it and many members of congress don't like it. this is a g-20 economic some mitt that was dominated by talk of syria. the president say wear of the growing support from the rank and file american voting public, that they don't like this, and they are putting pressure on their members of congress, but he'll keep making the case, not only to congress but to the american people with a

nationwide address. >> continue to consult with congress, and i will make the best case that i can to the american people as well as to the international community for taking necessary and appropriate action, and i intend to address the american people from the white house on tuesday. the kind of world we live in and our ability to deter this kind of outrageous behavior is going to depend on the decisions that we make in the days ahead. >> reporter: now those decisions are a vote in the house early -- in the senate early in the week and then in the house later the nat is more likely because it's controlled by members of president obama's party. house is a closer fight. some leadership aides tell me they believe they will pass it in the end, but right now they are having trouble with strong constituent reaction from both democratic and republican members. mandy. >> john harwood, thanks very much for that. let's bring in art hogan and i've got a question for each of you.

what is the one thing we should be most worried about for the markets right now? art, to you first. >> i would have to turn to dysfunction in washington, and whether that manifests itself in a long drawn out decision-making process over syria or whether we have to wait and see a debt debate and circus over the continuing resolution, all of that is probably the most dangerous thing for the markets right now. i think one of the most clear presentations we have is our inability to get things done, decided on and move forward with and a lot of that coming up. the debt ceiling, a new nominee for the fed and syria. >> art, i certainly don't disagree. i think there's a lot of dysfunction in washington. we could talk a lot about that. we won't right now but i'm going to push back in terms of the market. to what degree has the market become desensitized to that dysfunction in washington? >> well, that's a very good point. gone through this before. gone through a couple of rounds of debt ceiling votes on

sequestration and not having to do that and moving forward and going over a fiscal cliff so, yes, the used to parade and waiting until the 11th hour before something gets accomplished. don't know -- i think it's a very sensitive level and some very important decisions to make and whether it's the debt ceiling or who is going to run the fed for the next six years, all of that is coming down the pipe in the next 60 days. if markets are looking for a reason to pull back here, i think washington will probably deliver. >> bob, what is the one thing you're most worried about considering there is a little bit of a risk out there right now? >> talking about syria and the debt limit and you're talking about what's going on in washington, about the fact that they can't get anything done. these are all short-term concerns. i wouldn't be worried about any of them to the extent that it's going to make me pull out of market. the one thing i can't control and what i don't have a handle on is what's going on in china. there could be a financial

situation that could spread throughout the world and affect all markets here and others going forward. any kind of opportunity that arises from a pullback associated with the debt ceiling, associated with syria and hey i'm going to use that as an opportunity to buy. >> you're not a summer you said, bob, but also our not a buyer right now. >> i think there's going to be opportunities, exactly what art has said and what you have just mentioned. i think that will create uncertainty. many investors sell stocks because they don't know what's going to happen. that creates an opportunity for the investors that have the wherewithal to step in and to look through the trees, through the forest to see what's actually going on and actually make some real money going on in the future. >> what are you waiting to buy, bob? >> i'm looking at the cyclicals, higher interest rate and better environment for the financials and consumer discretionary, technology. that's the areas that i want to buy along with the industrials. >> and, of course, the one thing we really haven't talked about is what the fed is going to do.

does it real maert at this stage? >> it does matter. i think what the market has probably priced in, not if or when, they will announce tapering on the 15th. it's the magnitude and the degree to which tapering begins and probably the lackluster jobs report just barely average. you know, that discussion probably has shifted more started with the pullback of $10 billion as opposed to $20 billion so very much like the term tapering implies. it will be a slow and deliberate process. i think what we will see, mandy, a decision at this meeting or october meeting to actually have a press conference after every meeting so that the fed has the ability to taper after every meeting as opposed to four out of eight and what's happened this year, meeting in december, can't do it in october without a press conference so you need the flexibility to go forward to make that simple change and start having a press conference after each one. >> what do you think would be the cost of waiting before they taper, bob?

>> i don't think there's that much. most of this has been priced in. it depends on what will happen between now and the september 18 time frame between the united states and syria. i don't think anything is going to really develop with russia in the united states and neither country -- both countries realize that this is not worth having some kind of nuclear exchange over. i think that this is just an ability for putin to stick his thumb in obama's eyes. industry wants to watch the market and step in on opportunities, again, any kinds of concern about syria and any kinds of concerns about the tapering. you'll see the tapering announced in the $10 billion to $20 billion, a little off the mortgage-backed and a little off the treasuries and i think you'll see the market pull back a little bit and then i would use that as an opportunity to get back in. >> got t.art, bob, thank you very much for joining us. look forward to seeing you. >> countdown time here to the fed meeting. also on deck, silver lining in today's lackluster jobs report.

two places where we did find growth and wouldthe always outs mark cuban is here to announce a new investment. a hint for you. he's going back to school. i set goals and worked hard to meet them. i've made my success happen. so when it comes to my investments, i'm supposed to just hand it over to a broker and back away? that's not gonna happen. avo: when you work with a schwab financial consultant, you'll get the guidance you need with the control you want. talk to us today.

all right. let's talk jobs. a troubling trend brewing. more and more people are working, but they are taking low-paying jobs, like in retail.

some growth there. 44,000 jobs in august and nearly 400,000 added in the past year. at the same time though the wages for those jobs have been falling for the past 12 months, so people are being forced to take low-paying jobs and making less and less money. it's not all bad news though and for that we'll bring in our guests. great to have you both on the show. let's get the good news out of the way, first of all. you're actually seeing a really good trend in terms of the creation of digital jobs. >> absolutely. when you look at jobs numbers and drill down into the industry you'll notice that almost any category which touches digital jobs is growing so whether that's technical jobs, product jobs, jobs that are supporting digital companies, seeing some real strong growth and a lot of competition there. >> every kind of digital job? >> across the spectrum, social

media, products manager jobs, web analytics, products jobs, engineering jobs, really, you know, almost anything which touches this new very kind of kutty edge digital age. a lot of companies are realizing they may not have invested in the sector during the downturn. >> i don't know about my generation but hear a lot about people saying to move forward or get a promotion you had to jump jobs. everybody i know has been in several jobs and now others are looking for a career where they can grow in one company as opposed to jump from job to job to job. >> really interesting. people said overwhelmingly, 95%, they wanted a career and not a job and they were looking for growth opportunities so when they were investigating the jobs it wasn't just what's the salary and the industry but is there an opportunity for me to grow to my next position and we hear about that across the board. >> to get a career like that, do they have to start at the bottom with a small startup that has to grow or do they go to the big

standout names? >> i say there's a trend for those in smaller companies, a boutique company, a startup, smaller business with a lot of room for growth. young people can get their to the in the door especially if they don't have the classic qualifications. >> that's the good sign of things. let's take a look at something else. this is a scary headline that you brought up in terms of the research that you've been doing. about 60% of the employment growth that has occurred since december 2010 has occurred in below average wage industries. explain this to us. >> that's right. >> and why is it such a big problem. >> well, so what's happening is -- it's not like we're not creating higher wage jobs, certainly are as your other guest has pointed out. only 2.5 million of the 7 million have been in the higher wage jobs and the other have

been below average jobs. why is this a problem? i don't know if it's so much a problem for the economy per se but in the longer term sense it certainly brings about social and political implications that depending on how these are resolved could have some feedback effects on the economy. >> is there any evidence at all that some of this trend at the moment is due to the affordable care act? >> we looked at that and divided up industries into three buckets, if you will, objection so there's the industries where you work more than 32 hours a week and industries where you work less than 28 hours a week and industries in the middle, 28-32, and we figured if there would be any implications for the affordable care act, people trying to avoid the employer mandate that's where it would show up in the 28-32. when you go back and lock at the last two years the hours worked in the middle bucket declined so this is over a two-year period. is it the affordable care act or

something more structural going on? for instance, in retail, you figure a decline there, is that because of the affordable care act or because people are going more online than shopping bricks and mortar. >> it is hard to say and, of course, it's a worrying trend and thanks for bringing your view as well. >> great to be here. cramer thinks it's times to really shake things up at microsoft so could ford's ceo be just the guy to do that. >> think hogs, frequent fliers and sand paper. essipes is back right after the break. xpand their business... before trusts were created for their grandkids' educations... they chose a partner to help manage their wealth... one whose insights, solutions, and approach have been relied on for over 200 years.

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i think that company is going to be broken into three pieces and should be broken into too big. not getting anywhere. time to break it up. >> you think microsoft should be broken up. >> never heard you say that before. >> my new deal. >> that's a new one. >> i think the xbox business is buried within. you do the nokia and make it a

cell phone company and go buy sprint, go do something wild. go by netflix with xbox. listen to me, and then have you that windows utility, kind of like american electric power. >> that is cramer's take, so with steve ballmer's pending departure, time for a shakeup and is it right for allen mulally to get behind the ceo wheel? >> and google glass. >> practically everybody in the studio totally ignored microsoft's software that was running and everybody focused on this, and this is the intro that i wanted to make, and that's the problem with microsoft in my opinion is not necessarily that it's too big or too unworldly, it's that management is failing to create the wow factor that had t had back in the '90s. >> failing in innovation.

would allen mulally be the guy to do that? >> it's a possibility but i don't think he's the best choice, not a bad choice but not the best. he hasn't shown the proclivity to bring the wow factor in this industry to my knowledge. someone like eric schmidt who both has the hardware experience and expertise. >> if eric schmidt left google, what would happen to google? >> if he did his job correctly then he has a significant hierarchy of management to take the reins. >> quickly going back to mulally, phil lebeau put out excellent points, why it wouldn't be that crazy for him to take over. he's a fan of the tech industry and my question is whether or not alan mulally at this stage of the gage would be ready to take on the challenge that would

be microsoft. >> that would be dangerous. microsoft is a high-risk, high-reward endeavor. you either stand up at the ballpark and you're known for the rest of the century our fail miserably, which may not necessarily be your fault because you couldn't stop the ship from sinking and you're known as taking down microsoft so i do own center point >> what about splitting microsoft up? a little bit self-serving as well because this is one of my 2013 predictions, that, you know, microsoft will not look the same as it was eight, nine months ago at beginning of the year at the end of the year. >> okay. >> is splitting up the answer? >> no, i don't think it's the answer. i think you're right it will not look the same and so far you are right. microsoft is becoming more of a solutions company and less of a software company. i noticed they bought nokia. the handset division and also started with their tablet division, so they are actually actively getting in the hardware and challenging the hardware.

microsoft's problem is microsoft blows apple out of the wire in patent and i.t. why are they outmaneuvering them? >> splitting is not the answer for you. got to leave it there. thank you very much for joining us. thanks for bring on the google glass as well. >> matches your dress. >> does match my dress. i might take it later on. round six in our million dollar homes challenge, the pre-war condo up against the colonial charm. which house has what it takes and we'll be talking to mark cuban about his investment. doing a good job to chip away at the student loan crisis. "street signs" is back in two.

so, what do motorcycles, aluminum and sand stocks have in common? well, harley davidson, kaiser aluminum and another are top picks of our next guest.

want to start with harley davidson, why did you buy in. >> harley davidson is an example of all the stocks we look for, companies with a good growth profile, reasonable valuation relative to that growth and a strong technical profile. harley fits all three. they are in the process of updating a lot of their models to kind of incorporate more performance as well as consumer friendly features, and we think that's going to result in a company whose earnings are going to grow 20% this year and probably 15% to 20% next year, and it sells for 18 times earnings. >> peter, they are doing something really clever, going after the ladies recently. what a great idea because traditionally harley davidson, you know the picture, the tough guy with the beard and et cetera, going after the ladies as well really opens them up to a massive demographic that they haven't been after before. >> i read something, mandy that said the lady is often the decider on whether her man gets

a bike or not. >> oh, really. >> if she will sit on iticallybly, he'll get that bike. if she is uncomfortable he will not get that bike. >> happy wife, happy life. kaiser aluminum. you also bought this recently. >> everything i'm talking about we bought in august or september. kaiser aluminum is a fabricate orf aluminum. about 70% of their products go into the aerospace or automobile industries. the name of the game for both industries is fuel efficiency and lighter weight, and you're seeing both aerospace and automobiles incorporate more lum numb number into each plane or automobile. this should increase over the next decade really, and, again, reasonable valuation, 15 times earnings, a company whose earnings should grow from 380 perhaps 470 between 13 and 14. >> and so far this career it's only been up about 14% so pretty

much in line with the broader market. let's move on to your last pick year. u.s. silica, not very sexy but what makes it sexy it's now a fracking play as well, right? >> that's exactly right. u.s. silica is a 100-year-old company with 15 quarries throughout the united states. until fairly recently most of its products went for glass making and industrial purposes. however, in the last half dozen years the sales of sand for fracking purposes have skyrocketed and now makes up roughly 60% of their business. you know, with a good growth path inside the company expects revenues and earnings to roughly double from the 2012 to 2016 time frame as more wells are fracked, et cetera, and, again, good growth, reasonable valuation, our type of stock. >> and it's already been up

quite a lot year to date. thank you very much for joining us and enjoy your weekend. >> thank you, mandy. >> the final oil trades are just coming in right now. we just might close at a two-year high. why don't we get to sharon epperson for more is there we are closing on a two-year high. in fact, is this the highest chose we've seen for mime "x" crude oil since may 3rd of 2011 and we're settling around $110.47 a barrel, up more than $2, 2% on the session. of course, all eyes are on syria and traders behind me said no way they will go home short and the that accounts for a large part of the gains we've seen this week in both u.s. oil prices and brent crude as well. but certainly wti has outpaced brent this week. also seen a great deal of volatility in the oil space and that's not likely to change any time soon as we're continuing to see what will happen here in terms of the situation in syria. so, again, we're looking at oil

prices at a two-year high, above $110 a barrel. back to you. >> thanks very much for the headlines there, sharon epperson. on deck, why fears about syria and the jobs report could be really good news if you're house hunting. speaking of homes, round six of the million dollar homes challenge, the pre-war condo going up against the colonial charm. mark cuban here to tell us about his plan to tackle student debt crisis and before we get to that david faber is here to tell us what's coming up on "closing bell." >> former economic adviser christina romer will react to today's jobs report and tell us who the best choice to replace ben bernanke is. we'll hear from the cfos of at&t and utf on obama care and former defense secretary william cohen will tell us whether possible military action in syria could

end up sparking a larger war in the me. all of that and, of course, the closing bell on this friday ahead of the "closing bell." of fans on social media can be a challenge. that's why we partnered with hp to build the new nascar fan and media engagement center. hp's technology helps us turn millions of tweets, posts and stories into real-time business insights that help nascar win with our fans. ♪ [ male announcer ] some things are designed to draw crowds. ♪ ♪ others are designed to leave them behind. ♪ the all-new 2014 lexus is. it's your move.

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to push treasury yield back down, and that is a brief respite for mortgage rates which as we know have been headed higher. diana olick, give us the full story here and how much are they actually going to keep on going down. >> reporter: well, that's a big question, mandy, but we know just as they were nearing 5%, that weak august jobs report that you talked about sent mortgage rates slightly lower today. the rate on the 30-year fixed now standing at about 1.75%, down from 4.75% yesterday, according to matthew graham of mortgage news daily. he called it a bit of a consolation prize as mortgage rates are the highest this year with the exception of yesterday. all of this rate volatility is making for some strange permutations in mortgage products, that is, cheaper loans are actually more expensive than big loans. take a lock, if you will, the average rate on the 30-year fixed conforming low was 4.73% last year, according to the

mortgage bankers association. the rate on the jumbo loan was 4.71%, and the spread is historically around a quarter of a percentage on rates. the current spread right not sign very big and the pred could get even larger. fanny and -- as overall mortgage rates rise fannie and freddie want to lend and it's only for those with the most pristine credit who are putting down very high down payments. jumbos are supposed to be cheaper than the cheap loans of all very strange. more online. >> that's why we're in this business, right? nothing is so strange as what happens in the business world every single day. thanks very much, diana olick. all day today on cnbc we're showing you how much house you get for a million bucks these

days and in the theme of back to school we focus on homes in ivy league neighborhoods so we sent out eight cnbc reporters to eight northeast markets to check out million dollar homes. we show you two homes side by side. only one home moves forward to the next round. so to make it more interesting the reporters do not reveal hair locations. we'll reveal that after we get a look at home. the stately estate near yale lost the challenge to the pre-war condo in new york city and now in round six of the new york pre-war condo goes up against another ivy league home called colonial charm. here are kayla tausche and our own brian sullivan. >> this sits on a bustling avenue in one of the city's most historic neighborhood. nestled between two parks this apartment has a rare view of

greenery. >> this home was built in the '20s with all the modern upfwrats and lee-car garage. >> most of the 843 square feet in this two-bedroom, two-bath area come from its bright living room and brand new kitchen with custom hardwood cabinets, modern appliances and granite countertops. >> the host boasts approximately 2,300 square feet of living space. the house was built in the '20s, nice modern appliances in a kitchen fully renovated four years ago, room for an eatp kitchen table or island. >> hardwood floors cover the entirety of this apartment, even the bedroom. just 100 square feet apiece and closets and windows are perks in this town and small luxury in the bathroom, too, a jacuzzi tub. >> marble tying and his and her sinks and the house has four bedrooms but the highlight is here with vaulted ceilings, ceiling fan and two beautiful

sky lights. >> this lower level apartment has one de resistance, skyline view. head up to the building's seventh floor and the cityscape is all yours just listed at $1 million on the nose. >> off the kitchen is a family room with high ceilings and built-in shelving and if you're going to go outside, double sliding doors lead out to a cute backyard with a nice deck perfect for entertaining. this house listed for $990,000. >> okay. we clearly know the pre-war is in new york city, but the colonial charm is what we have to guess, isn't it? >> it is. >> and you know what, dolly, i mean, one of the producers came up to me before the show and was all nervous because he said do you know where the ivy league schools are, i think i might say something stupid like it's in oklahoma or something like that. i have a fair idea, right? we've got real estate superstar dolly lenz here with us. i'm going to say for the colonial charm, it's kind of new

englandy. >> it is new englandy. >> it is. >> it's a charming house. >> charming house. >> exactly. >> okay. >> you want to guess. >> connecticut area? >> it is in princeton, new jersey. >> princeton, new jersey. >> and looks like a house in connecticut, exactly that type of house which is all the appeal, so there are only two houses that compete in this price and perfect location in princeton so it's walking distance to the school. it's really pristine. the house has four bed roms and 2.5 baths as we heard and what's great about it because it's four bedrooms it can accommodate a nice size family but by the same token it's 2,300 square feet and only .22 acre so it can accommodate an empty nester okay, you know, a retired person or single person. >> when you contrast these markets trying to weigh out which is the better value, it's apples and oranges, isn't it? >> both great properties because

they are both close to irreplaceable. >> one has no competition pretty much in that specific market and the other also has very little competition so scarcity is a big factor. >> right. >> so the winner is. >> well, the winner is, based -- the winner is princeton based on the fact that princeton also has very favorable financing for all of their teachers and faculty members so there's a lot of demand for these houses and it keeps prices very high, so that's one of the big reasons, and all the big employers, princeton, johnson & johnson, besquib bristol-myers squibb, princeon is the answer. >> the colonial is winner of round number six. tweet us usin using #milliondollarhome and catch dolly in the 4:00 p.m. of "closing bell" when she declares the winner of the million dollar home part seven. >> exactly.

>> seven of eight. back-to-school challenge. >> thanks so much. >> coming up next, must-see tv with mark cuban. he's standing over there and waiting in the wings and walking over right now. what is he investing in right now? what is he going to invest in next? it's must-see tv, and it's coming up after the break. with fidelity's options platform, we've completely integrated every step of the process, making it easier to try filters and strategies... to get a list of equity options... evaluate them with our p&l calculator... and execute faster with our more intuitive trade ticket. i'm greg stevens, and i helped create fidelity's options platform. it's one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. now get 200 free trades when you open an account.

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we have a very special guest today, a man who knows a thing or two about business so we want to ask him where he's putting his money right now. it's in a new venture called renku. here is chairman and co-founder of access tv and kim taylor who is co-founder. great to have you on the show. kim, give us a sip sis of what renk suh all about. >> it's a discovery engine for online degrees. we focus on that traditional universities that have gone

online. when you do restaurant reservations you use open table and now with your education you'll use ranku. >> you have a number of for-profit universities like apollo group or university of phoenix out this spending tens of thousands of dollars a day advertising on places like google. why would he come to you? >> i used to work on strategy for a lot of big for-profits. they are the largest spenders in google, hundred of thousands a day so we realized we needed to isolate them and put all the non-profits in a relevancy-based environment so the user is getting what's best for them instead of competing on a dollar spend. >> that's what ranku is all about. the next question to you, mark. you've invested in a lot of startups. >> you name, it right. >> the list -- i couldn't read them all out now so why ranku? >> because i think there's a bubble right now in tuition costs for higher education and that's got to change. what is happening now, kids know

where they want to go to school or have an idea and they look at the tuition and they freak out and parents freak out. go to ranku and see who is offering online degrees and what it will cost. kim talks about open table and kayak in the same way that they did. parents can't afford to send their kids to traditional schools and this will show the benefits of getting an online degree. >> to what degree is this particular website trying to align people better with the job outcomes that they will get from that online degree and if you've got a better job outcome may make it more worth it, may be paying 70,000. >> the idea that you can go to georgia tech, $7,000, lamar for a four year degree like $29,000, but as you were alluding to, ranku links you to the outcome. they will tell you what your job opportunities might be right, how much you may make with this degree and link you to connections. i'll let kim go into more detail. >> we're heavily integrated with

linkedin and we believe in the future people are just going to shop for degrees based on job outcomes, so the idea of going $200,000 in debt and becoming a barrister isn't going to cut it anymore. we want to push people to better decisions. >> really works for all of them. you don't allow any for-profit universities on this site. why did you make that decision? >> our focus, i don't care about university of phoenix shareholders, i care about education in america and people finding the things that are best for them and outcomes are what's most important and as soon as they have outcomes that are appropriate i'll put them on the site but right now we didn't need to? you've been a big critic of the for-profits. >> i have. i don't think people are getting their money's worth and they are taking advantage of the largesse of the fegt which there is many,

and to me i'd be happy if there was a 10,000 limit on student loans guaranteed by the government. all of a sudden you would see prices of tuition crater and we'd get better decisions being made? >> look, you can point in a thousand different directions. it's not an easy decision to make. who's going to take the -- every single university is going to combat any approach like that. but it is the right decision to make. >> and our own herb greenberg has been talking about this, as well. i did read you were on the record saying you don't think the apollo group will be around in a few years' time. is that correct? >> that's correct. if we do our job, they won't be. right? because to kim's point, they spend so much money on promotion, they create the illusion that you're going to get value. i'm not saying no one's never got value. i'm not here to completely trash them. >> sure. >> but i think if you look at the outcomes, that kim refers to, it's just not there. >> mm-hmm. >> and we will be in an outcome-based universe because

of the price of tuition, people will have to get results and going through ranku, you'll get those results. >> we'll see the prices come down. like something we do for our e useri userius us users, we'll send them updates. so students are, like, why are the universities so expensive? >> or even the same degree from a college being dramatically less online than it is, you know, if you go to the school. >> so it's all about educating the public, giving them transparency. >> and i think when you think of something like mls is probably a good comparison, there is all -- there is all this data out there, but none of it is actionable. we synthesize. >> what's your number-one challenge? >> it's educating people, that online education can be great. you can get that caliber of education. you can create a social network.

>> i think where there's going to be that period of time where we show demonstrable results. people coming on, look, i went through this, found a degree, look where i'm working, and recommend that, and it will blast off. >> thank you so much, kim. mark cuban, you are not going anywhere. you are staying in the hot seat. >> can't wait. >> we'll come back and talk about everything. mark cuban's musings on the world. it's coming up. stay here on "street signs."

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investor, philanthropist, and other hats he wears, mark cuban, is in the house. jim cramer has jumped on the set, as well. >> mark cuban is an old friend and a great guy. he's just been a fabulous part of our efforts, and i've been a fabulous reporter of your efforts. great to see you. >> great to see you, too. we haven't sat down at a table in a long time. >> i know. well, what you were doing -- i ran out here, because i have two kids in college. i mean, yes, thank you. >> somebody has to disrupt it. >> yes. >> as long as the money keeps coming in to universities, they'll keep on taking it. >> yes. >> it's exactly what happened with the real estate bubble. the money kept coming in. why not take it? prices go up. >> you're the only one talking about it. it's, like, who is -- i knew it was mark. yes, why is it -- >> well, it's a no-brainer, and yet people aren't coming up with -- >> well, right now, $1.2

trillion in debt. plus extra debt we don't count in that number, right? what do you think it does to the economy? we have a whole generation that when they graduate, they can't go out and buy things. they can't buy houses. they can't buy cars. >> yeah. >> and the generation, multiple, parents paying off the student loans, the kids are paying off the student loans. perpetuating itself. thank you for trying to break the cycle. >> and when you hear common sense, it's, like, holy cow, common sense. >> somebody has to do it. they're a great team. ranku has a great team. i'm thrilled to be a part of it. >> that's your current investment. what's your next investment? >> i was talking about personalized medicine. now, it's more as it applies to the mavericks. obviously, our asset base is our players. being able to add a few years, eliminate injuries, reduce injuries -- what's happening is the bodies are becoming a math equation, whereas we're able to decode the genome. that's happening faster and faster and faster. so i've been looking at different companies, you know,

that break down the genome, that allow you to introduce new things, anything related to personalized medicine i've tried to take an interest in. >> is there any particular company you have your eye on -- >> not i'm going to talk about -- not that i can talk about. i'll tell you an aside, something interesting, with the mavericks, we've taken 23 and me, a consumer product. >> right. >> getting all of our guys tested, getting the breakdown on our guys, because we're looking for mutations. they've getten so advanced, we can look for mutations that might impact how we train them, might impact how we resolve issues if they get injured, how they might perform over time. we're trying to build up a baseline of information to make us smarter, what i call bioanalytics. >> again, other than dr. james andrews, you never hear about medical people using this kind of -- you know, you guys are a great lab. these are superhumans. >> we really are. it's amazing the things we find out. we learn more every day. we've completely changed our training. we no longer have the strength and fitness coach.

we have a director of performance technology. >> yes. >> it's a whole different ball game. the net result will be once a player gets past 28, you pretty much know if he's a keeper in the nba. and most professional sporting. with all of this, we'll be able to keep a bunch -- most of our players able to play into their 40s. so, hopefully, it will have an impact. >> what was the last stock you bought? >> last stock was jcpenney. a million shares, a couple days ago. >> you are going to be so right. mike ullman will get it out of the wilderness. they raised a lot of capital. the guy that knocked it down, was take my bat and ball and go home. i don't want to mention his name. gave a lot of people like you an opportunity. ullman is a uniter, and that was a good company. and it can be a good company again. >> yeah. and they're based in dallas, right? >> oh, right! >> so i have the stores, you know, and hopefully -- >> have you met mike? >> no, i have not. hopefully, i will. >> yeah. >> i'm reaching out, because i want to talk to him about things we're doing on "shark tank." >> love it. it is -- i know it's on another network, so i know i'll get in

trouble -- >> yeah, that's okay. i want to talk to you -- talking about jcpenney, i want to talk to you a little bit about how you feel about all of the agitate i agitating active investors. >> i like carl and what he's doing, right? but it's a reflection of what the stock market has become. right? when you use -- it used to be the thought was, when i went to business school, you own a share of stock, you own a part of the company. we're no longer owners. and for the agitating investor like -- that's fine, right? you know, they deserve that opportunity. but the reality is they stand out, because people really don't own stocks, don't own parts of companies. they trade in and out and it's become a platform more for hacking. >> can i ask you, do you agree that icahn should have more cash? >> yes, i do. they have so much. right? there's a point of diminishing returns. i had microsolutions way back in the '80s. if you retained too much cash, you had to pay it out or pay taxes on it, right?

it's not like there's not precedent for ways to get it out there and incent them to spend it. look, apple is repeating what they've done through their entire history. >> right. >> do something amazing, have this long lull that puts them behind. >> okay -- >> we're running out of time? >> you're the best. >> we talked to genetics, a company in that area, just yesterday. i'll leave it there. mark cuban. thank you, jim. enjoyed it. >> great. >> have a pleasant weekend, everybody. hi, yes, we enter the final stretch. welcome to the "closing bell." i'm maria bartiromo at the new york stock exchange where we have already had a very volatile day in this market. >> i'm david in for bill. we're on dow 15,000 watch, of course, on today's show. for a while, syria wasn't overshadowing,