welcome back. the people have spoken. dr. "j," you want the debate on apple. probably no surprise. >> this is a stock i'm buying. i own it. >> why the dip on lulu? >> resources shot. >> buy bonds, tlt. >> have a great rest of the day. we'll see you tomorrow. "power" begins now. >> "halftime" is over. "power lunch" and the second half of the trading day start right now. >> today on "power lunch," the house of the future. there it is. yes, crayons. lots of crayons, orchids and lime green chairs. the wine is going to be served, ladies. lots of changes and what people want in a house today. we'll show you it in about 45 seconds. well, not so exceptional, u.s., us, excuse me, larry kudlow responds to vladimir putin's scathing opinion of the usa in "the new york times." a plea for caution. and a massive flood out in colorado and a few other western

states. it's gotten so bad that the university in boulder had to be closed today. the students deeply upset that they have to go and party. first, though, to sue at the new york stock exchange. >> yeah, it's a terrible situation out west. we'll talk about that in a minute. but we start this hour with two things on just about everybody's radar these days. your house and your car. general motors unveiling two new vehicles. phil lebeau is in new york. we'll get to him in just a second. first to diana olick in chicago where we're getting an exclusive look at the home of the future. can't wait, diana. >> reporter: well, it's true, sue. look, it uses the most unique form of market research i've ever seen. it's literally built the frames of 11 full houses, upstairs and downstairs. they've decked them out with the cardboard kitchens. they've got the paper-made fireplaces. they've even mapped out in tape on the floor where your furniture might go. so it's like a housing crime

scene. what they're doing is they're running focus groups through these models, finding out what their buyers want and of course what they don't want. >> it makes me want to buy a new home, that's for sure. i saw nice floor plans in here today. the idea that they're not decorated already can give you a sense of how you would decorate the homes rather than looking at a house and seeing it already decorated, that's something that's not your style. >> i like the work station for the kids and then having the laundry room right off the kitchen, the pantry and then having the kitchen and then the open area. >> reporter: now, most of the homes being viewed here are larger, more expensive, poouf-up homes. polty execs say that's where the buyers are because rising mortgage rates are pricing out first-time buyers. their finished models are geared toward that higher end even as affordability sinks and buyers slow down. a new report today showed mortgage applications to buy a newly built home dropped 14% in august month to month. builders have to think outside

the box. pulte's ceo already knew that from 20 years of selling cars. >> consumers will pay for what they value. and with a car, you really have to spend a lot of time understanding what do people really value? where are they unset needs and how can you solve for those? i've taken the same thing that we learned from vehicles now to what we see in home building. and pulte group has said that's how we deliver the most value to someone. >> reporter: and executives say that they will actually get five brand-new innovations from each one of these focus group events. and this was actually one of them that came from an early event. they call it the pulte planning center so your kids can work here, and you can still watch them from the kitchen. it keeps you from getting the spaghetti sauce on the math homework. what's new, what's coming up, two words for you, mud room. everybody wants it bigger, better. they want the charging stations, the cubbies, all the junk out of the foyer and into huge mud rooms. that's what they're walking people through in this house.

they also want to see the completely automated home. that is everything in your home from lights, alarm systems, heating, cooling to be working right off your phone. sue? >> i'm on board with the mud room. i'm not so sure about the fully automated home. it's fantastic either way. thanks, diana. all right. we're going to get to phil lebeau in just a second, but what affects car buying and what affects home buying? interest rates. and we have an auction. rick santelli, how'd we do? >> reporter: well, sue, interest rates affect everything, and this auction gets a "b" plus. we had three solid auctions, one of them yesterday's was superlative. so we have and billion on 30s, really 29-year, 11-month, originally last month. a bid to cover 240 was a little light, but you have to remember, bid to cover has been trending down quite steadily. but when you look at indirects, they're pretty close to auction average. directs were better than their ten auction average. but here's the kicker. 3.82 is the yield.

3.83 is where the w.i. was, priced through in a good way, "b" plus, solid auction. i guess everybody's enamored with supply this week. just think verizon. can i buy more? back to you, tyler. >> rick, thank you very much. everybody wanted that verizon deal. and clearly the ten-year deal also yesterday did very well. we're watching general motors today. let's take a look at the stock as we move along here. down 15 cents at 36.20, but it's been a nice move upward, about 25% year to date. the automaker trying to take advantage of rising demand for trucks and suvs by unveiling key new models. our phil lebeau has been speaking with gm's ceo at an unveiling event in new york city. >> reporter: big event because they're showing big rigs. these are the new chevy tahoe and suburbans, 2015 models that go on sale early next year. you might be saying to yourself, yeah, these aren't really huge sellers. is the large suv mark that big?

it may be a shrinking market, but it is big business for general motors. in fact, 3 out of every 4 large suvs that are sold, they come from general motors. they have -- they dominate this category. sales up 16% this year. compare that with the industry, up just 9.3%. a few minutes ago we had a chance to talk with the cfo, and we asked him about the disconnect we're starting to see between auto sales which continue to rise very quickly and the rest of the economy which at times seems like it's puttering along. here's what he had to say. >> the economy is still not showing all of the signs of recovery and growth that you'd want to see at this point. employment's still challenged. household income recovery still hasn't been there. but auto sales have been very strong. what we're focused on is making sure that we're delivering real value to the customer. >> reporter: ever surprise you, that disconnect, you're seeing people still come into showrooms. i've been into some of your dealerships on saturdays and it's packed. yet you don't see that optimism of the broader economy. >> we'll see how it tracks together. at the moment consumers are spending. they're in the showrooms, as you

say, on the weekends, and we hope they'll keep doing that. >> reporter: we like to call this gm's big love because the big suvs, they're all up for general motors. look at the yukon xl, up 54% this year. take a look at shares of general motors, down a little bit today, but this is a stock that has been trending higher. if you go back to the ipo, it's getting close now to that $38 mark. tyler and sue, that's sort of the high water point, if you will, once the ipo happened since then. a lot of people i talk with think that they'll be eclipsing that relatively quickly in the next year. >> all right. phil, i loved my suburban. i took the mirror off the first week i had it. i was a menace, but i love it had nonetheless. phil lebeau, thank you. the number of people filing for first-time unemployment benefits dipping to its lowest level since 2006. initial jobless claims dropping below 300,000, but the labor department says that that surprising drop is because of computer-related delays by some

of the states. instead of a sudden improvement in the labor market. as for the markets down here on the floor of the nyse, not much of a chance right now, anyway, of a triple-digits day on the dow. we're down 18 points on the dow jones industrial average. interest rates are lower as well. nasdaq composite is down 4, and the s&p 500, ty, is off about 4.25 points. thank you very much, sue. you know, a slew -- i don't know how many constitute a slew -- but, you know, it's a lot, a slew of stocks in the s&p 500 have been hitting record highs. and our dominic chu has been working the numbers at his desk. look at that chart you've got there. >> yeah, we've got all kinds of fun stuff. >> i don't know what's more impressive, the char or tt or t stocks. >> they've got momentum in those stocks. >> momentum stocks and socks. >> let's talk about the momentum. earlier today we saw 50 companies in the s&p 500 hit a 52-week high. so some momentum. now, 32 of those 50 stocks were hitting record highs. so they are, again, history --

>> all-time highs. >> all-time historic levels. so we've been talking so much about netflix and starbucks, but here are some of the other names hitting milestones. investors really are shaking off some of the worries tied to budget cuts with defense stocks. look at united technologies. look at lockheed martin, boeing. they are all sitting right at record highs right now. and also some of the energy names, eog resources, anadarko petroleum, noble energy, those stocks all at record highs. so that's the huge key here. it's not just netflix. it's not just starbucks. in this market, we're steadily creeping higher and a lot of stocks are gaining some momentum. >> when you get this kind of momentum and this kind of record-setting price movement in a lot of stocks, is it a sign that the market could be getting toppy? >> it's interesting. we're only about a percent and a half away from where we were in records in the s&p 500. >> early august. >> exactly. now, before that record, we saw 124 stocks in the s&p 500 hit those 52-week highs. so we still have a ways to go.

but a lot of traders are saying take a look at the momentum because it could be an indication things may be slowing down. but we're not there yet. >> dom, thank you very much. dominic chu reporting. another stock on the move, though it has not had a lot of momentum lately, lululemon, the yoga apparel retailer, posting better than expected earnings. but investors focusing a cut in the full-year forecast. down $3, down 4.5% today. it has been, of course, a volatile year for the company, as you see on that chart. the company down about 15% year to date. sue? ty, the u.s. department of agriculture increasing its projection for this year's corn harvest, already expected to be the largest ever, but they cut the forecast for the soybean crop. the september production forecast was increased to 13.8 billion bushels from an august reading of 13.7 billion. meanwhile, the monthly report projected soybean production of 3.1 million bushels for the

2013/'14 marketing year. the september production is down 3% from the august forecast, but it matched analysts' expectations, and we see a gain of 2%, ty, in the soybean market. well, sue, dell shareholders have approved founder michael dell's plan to take the pc giant private. end of a very long, drawn-out saga for sure. so what is next for that pc company? jackie deangelis has been covering the meeting in round rock, texas. jackie. >> reporter: good afternoon, tyler. well, that's exactly right. the question is, what lies ahead, and there are many unknowns when it comes to what lies ahead for dell. what we do know is with the vote behind them today, now it is up to michael dell and silver lake partners to not only execute a devise but a strategy to turn this company around. a lot of people think that is very doable including activist investor carl icahn who's been very openly opposing this deal

up till this week when he said that he thought that the vote would be very difficult to win. and the reason that icahn's been against it is because he believes there's value there, but he doesn't think that dell should unlock it when the company is private. he thinks the value should be distributed to the shareholders. so that's certainly one issue. meantime, dell did attend the meeting today himself in person. later he was on a conference call to discuss the results of the vote. and this is what he had to say. >> this is a great outcome for our customers and our company. and i am more than excited to move even faster towards our goal of becoming the industry's leading provider of scalable end-to-end technology solutions. >> reporter: now, there were some investors that were saying that they were relieved that the vote was over today regardless of the outcome, that they needed some clarity. they were tired of traveling to these meetings. this was the fourth one that we had all attended this summer. but in some ways it's also the end of an era for a company like this. very iconic american company,

dell, now going dark for a while. and the question is going to be, can michael dell, who now owns 75% of the company, really bring that value about, and will he reap the benefiteds of what he wanted so badly? tyler, back to you. >> jackie zee ang deangelis rep for us. michael dell will be on "squawk on the street" tomorrow to discuss the future of the company with maria bartiromo tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. special interview, michael dell, you'll hear it straight from him, what his plans are to rejuvenate that company. sue? some terrible weather out west. a wave of flash flooding tearing through boulder, colorado. a lot of the flooding was on the campus of the university of colorado. get this, during a three-hour window last night, up to seven inches of rain fell. extraordinary, really. two people were killed, and there is extensive damage, so the university of colorado will be closed today due to the

damage and of course the ongoing danger. vladimir putin has taken another swipe at the united states. he says we're not so exceptional. michelle, larry and american university professor allan lichtman are ready to react. guns blazing. we'll find out what they have to say. and we want you to weigh in as well. take a vote. finance.yahoo.com. and you will absolutely not believe who caught this foul ball. watch it. it is a catch for the ages next. we went out and asked people a simple question: how old is the oldest person you've known? we gave people a sticker and had them show us. we learned a lot of us have known someone who's lived well into their 90s. and that's a great thing. but even though we're living longer, one thing that hasn't changed much is the official retirement age.

♪ the question is how do you make sure you have the money you need to enjoy all of these years. ♪

welcome back to "power lunch." check out shares of do-it-yourself soda maker sodastream, up 4% after positive comments from analysts at dougherty, walmart made some positive references to the company's products in a presentation it made at an investor conference. so apparently if walmart likes it, investors should, too, and that's why those shares are up. back to you. >> thank you very much. a catch for the ages. watch this foul ball in the giants/colorado rockies game earlier this week in san francisco. keep watching. the lady who catches it, look at her. a great-grandmother of 15. she came with a glove. her name is virginia smith, a longtime fan, brought her glove to the game for decades, she says. it's her first catch, though. look at virginia there. whoa, baby! she can scratch, she says, catching a major league foul ball off of her bucket list. as they used to say down at memorial stadium in baltimore, give that fan a contract, sue.

>> yeah, she just got a cheer from the guys down here on the floor when they saw that video, ty. let's get to the latest now on the crisis in syria. secretary of state john kerry opens two days of meetings with his russian counterpart. president obama opening a meeting with his cabinet said he hopes the meeting would produce concrete results. all of this as russian president vladimir putin in an op-ed in "the new york times" railed against what he called u.s. exceptionalism. so what to make of all of that? joining us right now is cnbc's chief international correspondent michelle caruso-cabre caruso-cabrera, larry kudlow and allan lichtman, history professor at american university in washington, d.c. thank you all for joining us. professor, i'm going to begin with you. it was quite an exceptional op-ed, and we'll get to some of the passages from it in just a moment. but given the fact that mr. putin penned this particular piece, does it make president obama look weak, in your eyes? >> i think you're thinking about it in exactly the wrong way. i couldn't care less who looks weak and who looks strong at the

moment. that's the kind of narrow-minded thinking that gets us nowhere. lives are at stake here. the future of the middle east is at stake. war and peace is at stake. who cares how people look at the moment? what matters is the end result. and if this results in a diplomatic resolution of the problem of chemical warfare, then all the better. if it doesn't, then obama's case, which looked very, very weak a few days ago for military action, will be greatly strengthened, and that's all that matters here. forget all the rest of the baggage. >> larry, i think you disagree with part of that, at least. >> well, i disagree with the first part. i think allan got the second part right. look, the united states has always been an exceptional nation because of our constitutional democracy, because of our humanitarian goals, because of our world leadership during world wars and so forth. and most recently our insistence on the rule of law regarding chemical weapons.

what putin was saying in this thing is very simple, i think. he's saying, look, you're not exceptional, usa. you've got to play by the rules of the united nations, which means no military action. that is incorrect. first of all, chapter 7 of the u.n. clauses suggest if a resolution is not completed, military action can be taken. and mr. putin has a short memory. back in 1999, he wrote a "new york times" op-ed piece where he defended the russian bombing of chechnya terrorists. he should have put that in his op-ed today. and that was, i think, one of the biggest flaws in the whole thing. >> sue, what is particularly rich about vladimir putin invoking the u.n. is that he continuously thwarts it. i mean, it's incredibly hypocritical from his part. >> exactly. >> i mean, he just loves the fact that he's been able to enter the world stage and we the united states and president obama have to eat it because country and the president is looking for a way out, like mr. lichtman is so that we don't

have to bomb syria even though the president once said that there was a red line. and so this gives him that option. and then he's go the to swallow the bitter pill of this thuggish little man taking all the credit for no bombing of syria. >> and i just want to say, sue, allan may or may not agree with me. i appreciate the disagreements, but look. do not expect in the media inventory of chemical weapons from syria. >> never, never. >> do not expect that. putin is in the driver's seat, as michelle said. so don't expect that. >> let me respond. >> number two -- i'll give you one more. general barry mccakacaffrey was last night, four-star retired. one of his missions in the army was to preside over chemical warfare issues. here's what he told me. he said it will take a year or more to get the inspectors in place, to be able to make the examinations and the verifications and to do so safely. and in other words, this process, even if it continues, will take a year before we know

whether syria is telling the truth or not in whether they're handing over their chemical weapons or not. >> professor, respond to that, if you would, please. >> yeah. all of this, you know, who's up, who's down, this belligerence is exactly the problem with our foreign policy. it's exactly what has got into a war in iraq, which thousands of american lives later, tens of thousands of iraqis lives later, doesn't seem to have improved the situation there. the american people now believe that was a mistake. we've been at war in afghanistan for more than double world war ii. that doesn't seem to be resolving it. so there's belligerent approach looks bad. i don't care who looks good or bad, what takes place if we can have a diplomatic, peaceful solution. maybe -- >> is this op-ed today -- >> let me belligerent, this op-ed today? >> i don't care. i don't care how they make even

other look. i care about peace in the middle ea east. i care about resolving this situation. and we all know lobbing a few bombs at assad is not going to solve in any way the situation in syria. >> we don't know that. >> of course we know that. it's never worked before. >> we don't know that. i beg your pardon. i think that's ambiguous, by the way, and i don't think president obama has made a strong case -- >> give me an example of where that's worked. >> look, we've done this in bosnia, with the serbians. the russians did this with chechnya. we did it in libya. i mean, these things can work if they're done properly. one of president obama's problems is he hasn't been able to define what the action will be. >> what do you think it should be? >> he doesn't have the resolve to do it, larry. >> you may be right. i'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt. i'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt. i don't want another war in the middle east. >> yes, you do. >> there is a war in the middle east. it's in syria right now. >> exactly. we've got to leave it, guys.

>> let me just make this point. senator john mccain and senator chuck schumer and other bipartisan senators are asking president obama to work with them to create a new resolution that would authorize military action. they want to put a timetable on these discussions that are beginning in geneva. and if that timetable is not met and if syria doesn't begin to show what its inventory looks like, then the president will be authorized to take military action. >> that's what i said in the first place. >> i think that is precisely what mr. obama should have said in his speech. and i think that is precisely what he should do right now. >> to be continued. >> the topic could go on forever, and it may, but at least we should put some numbers on it. >> unfortunately, this cannot go on forever. we'll have you all back. thanks so much, everybody. appreciate it. michelle, larry and professor. >> thank you. ty, up to you. >> speaking of former soviet republics, they've certainly made a name for themselves in the industry of cyber crime. andrea day tracking a global

ring today stretching from the ukraine to blorooklyn involving almost 100,000 stolen credit card numbers. >> you might spend a fortune at home on security for locks, cameras and fences. but cyber criminals are coming straight through the wires and will stop at nothing to penetrate your network. in fact, major banks are hit with thousands of attempted hacks of day. but this time investigators put the brakes on one of the biggest cyber crime rings in history. take a look. >> reporter: a massive international cyber crime ring taken down. almost 100,000 identities stolen. 15 criminals behind bars. two more on the lam. and law enforcement around the world on high alert. >> it can create a global economic collapse if it goes unchecked. >> reporter: a wild eight-year-long investigation and prosecution from the ukraine to brooklyn, eventually leading manhattan d.a.'s team to greece.

>> we will go to great lengths to ensure that victims get justice. >> reporter: investigators say cyber criminals began running a secret operation dubbed "the western express." the group trafficking stolen credit card numbers by the thousands. >> a dark, shadowy interpret market of identity theft thieves who are scattered all over the world who communicate in code and who buy and sell this for money. >> reporter: here's how it worked. prosecutors say this guy, egor, operated in the ukraine selling stolen account numbers. another team including douglas latta and anna ciano working out of brooklyn bought the stolen numbers, charged up expensive goods like apple laptops and sold them on ebay or the black market. they also forged complete identities, including a victim's name, d.o.b., and social security number. and used these machines to create more bogus credit cards. the group used this guy, vadim, as the money launderer. he used a digital currency

called egold to move funds from the ukraine to new york city. it was then turned into millions of u.s. dollars for the cyber ring. >> it is enormously profitable. what you really have is organized crime. >> reporter: but catching the secret network of thieves wasn't easy. >> this is the kind of worldwide, massive identity theft cases that prosecutors are seeing all over the country. and i think this was for us sort of a presentation to the court of, hey, wake up. this is really what's happening. >> reporter: we got exclusive access into stafford associates where some major corporations store sensitive information. anthony roman runs a global private investigation and risk management firm. >> there are billions of dollars stored in here. corporate secrets, everything that you can imagine. >> reporter: we can't reveal any names, but roman says cyber protection is more critical now than ever. >> the business of hacking overall is a multibillion-dollar

business. it's a major corporation in the world. >> reporter: and he says ng gag like western express aren't slowing down. >> these are invisible predators. invisible predators and they're growing in number, and they operate in countries in which there's no extradition. >> reporter: the western express crime ring was finally taken down. but he was still at large in the ukraine where u.s. investigators couldn't touch him until -- >> he was put on the watch list, unbeknownst to him, so he goes from the ukraine to greece for a vacation. he's picked up in greece, arrested, ultimately extradited back to the united states. >> reporter: he was convicted on a slew of charges including scheme to defraud and conspiracy. he's now serving up to 40 years in lockup. other members of the western express crime gang are also facing decades in prison. and two others are still on the run. and we've got some great tips on how to prevent hackers from getting in. just go to cnbc.com and check it out. back to you. >> andrea day reporting. well, believe it or not, the

countdown to christmas has begun. so which retail giants are already preparing and what are they doing? we'll tell you a little later. be right back. the cnbc trend tracker live databoard is brought to you by cme group.

welcome back to "power lunch." mining stocks are get being whack today as gold prices fall. look at barrett gold, newmont mining, royal gold, you get the theme, right? they're all losing ground as gold prices fall. remember, big fed meeting, maybe some anticipation of tapering, sue. back over to you. >> all right. thank you so much, dom. gold prices closing right now. it has been a brutal session. sharon epperson has the closing numbers for us from the nymex. she tried to say. sharon, over to you. >> sue, we're looking at gold prices that have seen tremendous selloff. it's largely been technical momentum that has driven the down side here. gold prices closing down more than $30 on the session. right around 1330 an ounce, and it is, as dominic said, preemptive selling some traders are saying ahead of the fed announce. whenever they decide next week from their meeting about tapering. some believe that if it's going to happen, don't want to be long this market. but you add to that breaking below the 100-day moving

average, that started the ball rolling overnight, and we've seen momentum in the selling as we've progressed through the day. next level to watch, 1325 or 1300. back to you. >> okay, thanks, sharon. let's get the trading action. joining me, kenny, director at o'neill securities, and a cnbc market analyst. we really seem to be on hold today though we're bettering our position. >> right, we've been fluctuating. not only the moves from the last seven days, but also once again the whole fed thing is right at the top of the list. you know, if you look at all the business programs, today they've had both sides on. yes, we're tapering, no, we're not. the market remains concerned thus no real movement either way. >> the fed looming seems to be taking a little bit of a back seat, so what do you do? >> what some people have been doing is they're taking some money off the table after the move up, but they're not necessarily getting short

either. because if the fed does nothing, expect the market to push higher again. if they do, then they'll back off a little bit. >> with all this confusion, eat chicken cacciatore. what to make for dinner should not be one of the decisions. thanks, kenny. rick santelli tracking the action at the cme. ricky? >> reporter: well, we just finished all the supply for the week. it ended with a 30-year market. intraday chart. a couple things jump on it at you. yes, rates have dipped a little but not much. you see that big spike at 830? that spike like in football, the market spiked on that drop in claims. but that was because the ball was dropped by two states. if you open the chart up to a ten-year, you could clearly see over two days we're losing momentum. open the chart up further, we're toying with a significant 2.89 yield pivot. boy, these currencies are running in wet sand. they can't get any traction. reject at 100 level. tile, back to you. >> thank you very much, rick santelli. so where does a ceo turn to

when the company's in trouble or trying to get a leg up on its rivals? we're going to take you inside the fantastically secretive world of the consulting giant mckinsey next. ♪

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welcome back to "power lunch." after hitting its all-time highs early yesterday, netflix is continuing to fall. morgan stanley is the latest firm to downgrade the stock based on valuation concerns. this coming as netflix debuts its newest original series titled "derek." back over to you. >> thank you very much. to outsiders, they're simply a consulting firm, but the biggest hitters in corporate america, mckinsey, is an indispensable tool. mckinsey's influence over a century in business is virtually unparalleled. it's where executives turn to advice and where boards go when they need a new ceo. duff mcdonald has taken a rare look at the secretive world of mckinsey in his very well-received new book, "the firm." duff, an old friend, good to have you here. >> thanks for having me. >> congratulations on the book. for those who aren't familiar with mckinsey, what do they do? how big are they? what are their revenues?

>> they're management consultants. so they help with corner office decisions when the ceo has a question, what do we do? what do we next? what do we do about this problem that we have? they have about 7 billion or 8 billion in revenues. they're private so it's not exactly clear. >> certainly smaller than the companies they advise. >> most of the major companies in this country, if not the world. >> so they are problem solvers. they come in and they give advice. they don't execute. they don't come in and manage. >> no. and that's actually the beauty of their business model. they take no credit publicly for advice that turned out to be the wrong stuff. but they also take no blame. it's not their fault. their whole pitch to their clients is, it's up to you to do with it what you will. >> they are stocked with the best and brightest from the mba schools. young. they have high turnover. the average person there works about five years with the firm. and then they move on. a lot of people call them a farm team for ceos. >> absolutely.

>> true sf. >> yeah. there was a study -- usa today" did a couple years ago which named them the top generator of ceos the world's ever seen. you know, at any one time, dozens are running multibillion-dollar public companies. >> look at that list of them, including a couple of people we could call, well, crooks, basically. jeff skilling, gupta, those guys. they don't get it right every time, and enron was one of the shining examples of where the best and the brightest clearly didn't get it right. gm and other companies where they haven't been able to turn them around. talk to me a little about that. >> yeah, enron is a very interesting example. jeff skilling is ex-mckinsey, and mckinsey celebrated everything enron was up to for years just before its collapse. i think that is at least partly about buying their own b.s. skilling was preaching mckinsey's stuff he did, so it was an echo chamber. on the other hand, they're brought in to help companies in real trouble sometimes. >> like a blackberry, like a

dell. i don't know whether they've been clients of theirs, but it would be those kinds of guys. one more question. and this is my perception of them from having observed the kinds of companies that hire them, is that they are old school. they go with big dow 30, fortune 500 companies. are they too old school to be cool in a digital economy? i don't really see a google hiring them. >> you know, it's an open question i posed at the end of my book which is whether the new era of companies who organize themselves a little differently are going to want this kind of advice. on the other hand, they keep growing. and they're growing internationally as well. so there's still demand out there. 85% of their business is repeat customers. but again, you're right. like whether or not the new era of tech companies in particular wants to use their advice. who knows? >> the story of mckinsey. the firm, duff mcdonald, secret influence on american business. congratulations on the book. good luck. great to see you. sue, down to you. all right, gentlemen.

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so the turbines of today... will power us all... into the future. ♪ coming up on "street signs," by now, right, we've all read putin's op-ed, googled those pictures of him on a horse and various other things. but what does it all mean for investing in russian stocks? we are going to find out. also, does buying blackberry on top of nokia make sense for microsoft? and stock picking based on pockets of economic strength out there. all those things and of course lots more, folks, coming up top of the hour on "street signs." back to you on "power lunch." >> thank you, mandy. now to dominic chu. >> disney, sue, is going to buy back $6 billion to $8 billion worth of shares. their cfo made some comments.

you see the intraday chart spiking higher on those comments. disney looking to buy back possibly of billion to $8 billion worth of its own stock helping drive the dow higher as well. we're seeing a bit of a reversal, and of course that's helping to drag the broader market up higher. "power house" time. a look at the las vegas real estate market. cindy is a realtor with century 21, martinez and associates. so what, cindy, does the las vegas market look like? let's look at some stats. single-family homes in august. median sales price, $182,000, up 30% year over year. almost 32%. the inventory, 14,000 houses on the market there. that's down 15%. sales down a little bit. 4.3% year over year. average days on the market, 78. is the market likely to stay hot, cindy? >> absolutely. 2013 has definitely been the

year of recovery for the las vegas housing market, largely due to a reduction in inventory. and available inventory meaning it's not a short sale or some other sort of distress sale. >> let's move on. you've picked some out. they look very interesting. the first one is 6394 west haleh avenue. taxes, $902,000, $160,000, three bedrooms, two baths. 1257 square feet. >> at $160,000, this property exemplifies a starter home here in the valley. it's located in the fastest growing southwest portion near some master plan communities and our newest water park, minutes from mccarron international airport. and also the las vegas strip. more importantly, three-bedroom, two-bath, two-car garage, it's the perfect home coveted by investors and first-time buyers alike. >> and just $900 in taxes. for a guy in new jersey, that is really painful to see. >> absolutely.

>> number two. stepping it up, 564 staghorn pass avenue in vegas. listed at $295,000. taxes there, about $2300 a year. that's a year. that's like my monthly taxes are $2300. four bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, 3,000 square feet. this is a big one, cindy. >> it represents our middle market perfectly. this home has a separate office. it has a pool and a spa with a dramatic waterfall. and it's located in silverado ranch which is the fastest growing southeastern area of las vegas. very desirable. >> i don't know what i'd do in las vegas, but i'd like to live right there. right there. i don't know what i'd do. all right. now, the power house of the week, stepping it up, 11 clear crossing trail located in henderson just outside of vegas. the list here, $799,000, taxes, $5600 a year, four bedrooms, 4700 square feet. tell us about this showplace.

>> this luxury home is a stellar example of what a buyer can find in this $800,000 price range. it's located in highly desirable anthem country club which is a guard-gated community. this home has golf course frontage, imported marble and hickory wood floors. this home has every possible amenity. and at only $799,900, you can't find that in any other market. >> that is a nice looking place. does that have a pool also? it has a pool table, i see. >> it has a pool table. this one does not have a pool, however, it has a full lower level entertainment room and a wine room. >> and a very nice outloor difing area there. thank you very much. continued good luck to you. >> thank you very much, tyler. >> sue? another injury ending derek jeter's season, but the yankees' captain says stop speculating about the end of his career! how do you know when to quit? and guess what? the countdown to christmas, believe it or not, is on. really?

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russian president vladimir putin slams the u.s. in a "new york times" op-ed piece. so in today's "yahoo! finance question of the day," are you offended? 21% said yes, he's wrong and offensive. 31% say no. he's right, we're not so exceptional, but 48% of you say he has some points, but the u.s. is still the best in the world. "power rundown" time. joining me are dominic chu and john kearney. welcome, guys. good to have you with me. u.s. jobless claims falling sharply to the lowest level since 2006, but the labor department says the majority of the decline appeared to be because two states were upgrading their computer systems and didn't process all the claims that they received. should we trust the numbers? well, that has kind of been the case. there have been a lot of glitches, revisions, and that's one of the things that makes wall street crazy. >> right. this is totally insane. we're going into the upcoming fed meeting. everybody's wondering, taper, no

taper? and here we get the numbers, and they're, like, oh, but you can't really trust them because one large state and one small state wasn't able to process the claims. it's driving people bonkers. i don't get how this can happen. but, you know, that's -- >> dom, couldn't they upgrade the computers maybe two weeks from now? >> the timing is so crazy, right? because like you said, this is the last real data point that we're going to get on jobs before the fed makes its interest rate decision and makes any kind of comments about l whether or not we're going to taper, pull back on bond purchases. as you talk about the numbers, they say it will eventually smooth out with revisions over the coming weeks, but it sure doesn't give anybody on wall street confidence in what the data's going to tell us right before a very, very pivotal decision. >> all right. this next story makes me out of my mind, frankly. the countdown to christmas is on. yes! just 103 days away. and some retailers are all about it. walmart having 1,000 kids vote to pick their favorite toys now

featured online. kmart launching a holiday tv ad on monday promoting free layaway. the question is, is it too soon? i mean, can't we just all enjoy thanksgiving first? it's such a lovely holiday. >> how about halloween? >> i'll give you halloween, too. it makes me crazy. it's so much pressure. takes away from the holidays. >> there's actually kelly grant who writes for cnbc.com did a great story on this. you should definitely not do your holiday shopping right now. no matter how much they push it at you. really good sales do happen around the holidays, but they don't start until october at the earliest. it's crazy to even think about doing your christmas shopping now. >> yeah. i just -- i can't -- it's 90 degrees outside, first of all. i mean, thanksgiving deserves its due. thanksgiving always gets kind of pushed aside. >> the only reason why i would want this thing to really be, you know, happening right now, it is, of course, is if i could get those great deals. and like john said, i don't know.

if i can wait till christmas, i'll do my shopping then. >> i will tell you my daughter rose would like it to be christmas all year long. >> so would my kids. they would. if i could do it, i would make it christmas all year long. yankees' captain derek jeter out for the rest of the season due to an injured ankle. he says stop speculating about the end of my career. jeter's contract expires at the end of 2014. john, i'm going to go to you first. when do you think the 39-year-old should bow out of baseball, if at all? >> look, he's been around a long time. he's made a fortune. i wonder whether after he's had this long break whether, you know, he might just decide, eh, i'm not sure i really do need to keep doing this. >> athletes at derek jeter's level, they kind of know most of the time when they think they're approaching their twilight. if they do, they will make that decision. but derek jeter is still a great shortstop. he's still the yankee captain. he still puts fans in the stands. he does all those things well. >> yeah, he does. >> maybe he should stick around for a while. i'm a football fan. i think tony gonzalez is still

doing great as a tight end for the falcons. he's sticking around one more year. but these guys all know when their clock is going to run out. >> i also think jeter's going to missing in the spotlight, you know, not playing for the rest of the season. >> sure. he's spent most of his life in the spotlight. >> maybe no more page 6 appearances, i don't know. >> or maybe a lot more now that he doesn't have to play. >> page 6 for those of you in other parts of the country is the gossip column in one of the new york papers. dominic, i love football, too. thanks, guys. dow rebounding. biggest winners this hour coming up next. we're actually fractionally positive on the dow. back in two. my mantra?

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welcome back to "power lunch." sisco systems may replace easy chip processor in its routers with a new programmable network chip. it unveiled on thursday. about 40% of easy chip's revenues in 2013 were estimated to come from cisco according to benchmark analyst gary mobile. he used to watch those ezchip shares. sue, back over to you. >> thanks very much. we were briefly positive, ty, mostly driven by disney on that news they're going to buy back quite a bit of their shares in terms of between $6 billion

and $8 billion. we're down about 3 points on the dow. the s&p down almost 3 and the nasdaq is off 1.5. the winners, disney, with that announcement. walgreens, united, tech and sears. >> thank you very much. thanks, everybody, for watching. >> we'll see you tomorrow. "street signs" begins now. what do stretch pants, suit pants and streaming video have in common? they are all top stories on today's show. they are all stocks that are down today. the names and why they're moving ahead. new ceo, new logo, and now maybe new users. the big claim that yahoo! is making. plus, putin giving russia its mojo back. we're going to show you their surprising stock market move. we're calling it the putin pop. and what else are the new must-haves that everybodat