said mike murphy won our debate. >> mazel. >> sorry, josh. >> final trades, murph, you're off. >> buy ip, international paper. >> stephanie. >> i like discover financial. >> josh brown? >> when bonds open tomorrow they will be down. >> follow me on twitter. power starts right now. >> "halftime" is over. "power lunch" and the second half of the trading day starts right now. all right. they say they're optimistic. they say they may be closer to a deal, but what if there is no deal by deadline day? what does it mean for your money, stocks, housing, fixed income assets? the answers not terribly appealing. we will examine them. remember, rise above new bipartisan meetings are set for today in about two hours at the white house. the congressional leaders and the president will get together. but are we so close to the deadline and so many americans are so angry, we didn't have to go very far to find some

business leaders who were really fed up with washingtonp. we're going to hear from them. these are people who have lost money including one business owner down about a quarter of a million dollars since the shutdown. we're going to give them a chance to speak on our hour and we hope washington will listen. i'm going to -- look at this. how can i be here and there at the same time? you figure that out. the guy by the computer went and showed us where the error actually was in the string of code on those health care things. he's going to help us analyze the mess that is signing up for obama care. he found new problems and he will give us an update. sue is out today. happy to be joined by simon at the nyse. hi, simon. >> hello, tyler. day 14 of the government shutdown and three days and counting until america maxes out its debt limit. negotiations breaking down as you know over the weekend. president obama to meet congressional leaders now importantly, in two hours. will a deal be done in time?

eamon javers here with the latest. that's the big question. >> it is a big question but senate majority leader harry reid says they are getting closer to a deal. he just emerged from mitch mcconnell his republican counterpart's office, walked down the halway to his own office telling reporters he thinks they're getting closer, he would like to have something to present to the president at the meeting at the white house at 3:00 p.m. you could see congressional leaders and the president coming together on something importantly, joe biden the vice president, who's played a key deal making role in the past, will be in this meeting at 3:00 at the white house today. but one of the big questions is whether the senate and the house can really get anything together on the same page. we had a senator, senator corker on our air earlier today, little pessimistic. take a listen. >> i do think that there's a good chance that we will get back on the right page and the right paragraph today in the senate and i think we have an

opportunity to move something ahead on a broader bipartisan basis. the question is, how is that dealt with in the house of representatives which has been off on a total not only a different page, almost a different book, if you will, over the last several months. >> different page, different book. the house and senate and white house need to come together at this meeting at 3:00 today. a lot of pressure on these deal makers to make a deal at some point today before we get too close to the deadline on thursday u.s. simon? >> actually. i'll take it eamon. thanks very much. thanks for being in the main house today. the big house in enginglewood cliffs. as the drama unfolds in d.c. we are starting to see some signs of cracks in the markets. steve liesman has found them and here to tell us what they are. >> they're small but measurable, tyler. what they are is they're get out of the way of when the government could possibly default. let me show you what a normal short-term interest rate market would look like. you would see it extends up as you go out into time essentially

it becomes more expensive to borrow money. take a look at what the market looks like now. see the arrow going the other way. shorter rates are above longer. why? because essentially they're pricing in the risk -- >> the potential they would not be paid. >> some sort of technical glitch. what's looks like specifically in rates. four-week above six-week above 13-week and as you go out, where they think the extension has already done, they basically get back to normal. you can see that's three times or whatever it is seven basis points on the five day, 30, 25 basis on four-week paper right there. and that is guys saying i think they're probably going to pay interest, i think they'll probably fix this, but i don't want the hassle. >> a little boil right there at that place in the yield curve. >> it was as high as 48 basis points last week before they started talking about a deal. >> new information out, some studies indicating the effect that the government shutdown is having on overall economic greet. >> okay.

not just that, tyler, but macro economic advisers on behalf of the peterson foundation did a study and they went back to 2010 how much has this cost us over the whole period of time. for example, 0.7 of gdp, 1.2 million jobs, all of this uncertainty spikes markets, creates people not investing, not hiring, essentially adds up. since '09 it fiscal cut gdp by 0.3% over a year added up over three years. scenario number one, according to them is treasury pays the interest on the debt, it does not pay social security medicare, military, does that later, but conditions deteriorate sharply, global economic weakness. the good scenario. scenario number two and you find only pays interest november to december, cuts amplified by tax revenues, longer, deeper recession in the first scenario. gdp whip saws. bottom line, economists don't like this at all. they want you to raise the debt

ceiling. they want you to create a long-term debt reduction plan. these guys are not arguing it's not important to cut the debt. what they're saying is, it's really important not to breach the debt ceiling. >> not to breach it. thank you very much. interesting couple days ahead. >> thanks. simon, down to you. >> let's plug back into the market and bring in kenny from o'neill securities and our own bob pisani. kenny, there will be people at home i get it, you think everybody thinks that we're not going to hit this debt ceiling. tell me what i should do if i think that i'm -- we're going to hit the debt ceiling. >> if you're in equities look at it as a buying opportunity. if there is that quick violent reaction on the downside that's when you want to have the opportunity to jump in to get stock or buy some equities that are clearly much cheaper that will be much cheaper quickly but just as fast as they went down they could go up. sitting around waiting deciding thinking -- >> people say it would be -- [ inaudible ]. >> first of all i think we've been talking about it so much and everybody is getting so

ready and half expecting it's going to happen, that it's not going to be this black swan event that came out of the blue. >> i would agree if you are convinced there is going to be a default, then you should raise cash now and then come in at the worst moment. i think very few people are going to do that and i don't think it's going to happen. the problem is simple, how do you lift a debt ceiling, get the government back into business, and give both sides the feeling they're going to win here and we're going to see, we can see the outlines of the deal already. the republicans are going to get spending cuts of some type. the dow jones is two points away from turning positive. >> therefore, i actually don't think we're going over that edge. i think we'll come close but won't go over. >> happy columbus day. >> thank you. >> to you both. back to you. >> the defensive sectors are getting hit during the shutdown, seema mody at the nasdaq with more. >> simon, that's right. during the 1995 government shutdown, utility and health

care stocks actually outperformed while risk sectors like technology underperformed. now this trend holds true today. we're looking at defensive sectors down on the day. just this month alone utility stocks and consumer staple stocks have gained momentum while technology continues to sell off. now analysts indicate these defensive names even after a resolution is found will continue to get a bid. we what i not see this comeback in high growth sectors like tech and while we've seen a run up in consumer staples take a look at safeway and walmart, both of which are trading at a discount to the s&p 500. while southern company exle energy, conedison and entergy are trading at a price to earnings ratio lower than the benchmark. brian at isi says it if you're looking at playing tech stick with the incumbents like cisco and vm ware. back over to you. >> thank you very much. a should tautdown tale wort

than $200,000. that's how much susan's kaltsering company has lost. they handle events for government contractors, k street and exclusive caterers for the house of representatives. a member of the cnbc young presidents organization chief executive network and with us from washington. if you know washington, you know those purple trucks and when they're there, it's a good time, generally. how much exactly has this sho d shutdown cost you in business and what have you had to do with your work force? >> it's costing us a lot and right before i got on air i got an e-mail and i am mad, holiday parties are starting to cancel and that's just not acceptable. i thought perhaps we could come to a resolution, but for the holiday parties starting to cancel with the government contracts that's a problem. >> have you had to furlough people? >> absolutely. the capital host company on the hill, we furloughed 30 managers, 32 union employees aren't working and i'm afraid that 20 more will probably have to lose their jobs next week as well. >> capitol host is your

subsidiary that does food service at the capitol on the house side am i right? >> yes. that's correct. capitol host is -- has all the access to all the government buildings, but the government buildings aren't open. even though congress is open, people can't get into these buildings. >> so what do you hear from your workers who you've had to lay off? they're experiencing real pain, loss of income, and these jobs some of them are very nicely well paid jobs, but some of them, these are folks who really need that money. >> tyler, you couldn't be more correct and the problem is that a lot of this, the hourly employees, are living paycheck to paycheck. if there's no paycheck, i don't know how they're going to pay their bills. the loss of revenue has a big impact but more importantly i care about the people that work for us. i worry about what they're going to do next week to pay their gas bill, their rent. a true concern of ours. >> so where are you feeling the pullback most? is it from government contractors or events that you might have held in buildings like the smithsonian that aren't

open or other places like that? who's canceling? >> across the board. so initially when the shutdown first happened we had events in government buildings, we struggled to get things and move things out of those buildings into other places. some unfortunately did cancel. that was lost revenue on the ridgewell side. we are continuing to try to find other places, but i think people are a little gun shy, not ready to entertain, especially when we rely so much on the government here in washington, d.c. on the capitol host side nothing is happening. nothing is happening there. again, this is one of our highest revenue months and unfortunately it's going to be a big bust for us. >> let's assume harry reid and mitch mcconnell are list whang would you say to them? >> get your act together, let's figure it out, stop this stubbornness and acting like children. we've got to get back to work and get small businesses like ridgewell and capitol host back to work. >> i love the purple trucks. thanks a lot. >> thanks so much for having us.

maybe the next time we can talk about a fall menu instead of a fall shutdown. >> i love that. tell washington what you think, head to cnbc.com to vote for top ways to punish congress for the shutdown. don't miss our cnbc special, it's tonight at 6:00 p.m. called "it's the economy, what average americans are saying about the state of the u.s. economy right now." you heard from one business o owner and she is not amused. >> i tell you, three americans that are, three americans that won the 2013 nobel prize for economics. for research that has improved forecasting, they say of long-term asset prices. eugene fame mer, peter hanson and robert schiller sharing $1.25 million in prize money. schiller who has been a guest on cnbc held a news conference in new haven, his work led him to suggest back in 2005, that the u.s. housing market might be overheating and remember in june, this june, he warned of a potential new bubble, tyler, in some of america's largest citys.

>> congratulations all three of those nobel prize winners. obama care glitches continue. we've got the latest and we'll speak with a web developer who was here last week and identified are where the coding problems were. he'll tell us where he's seeing more problems and maybe solutions. what happens when you take the actual voices of washington politicians bickering over the shutdown and put them in the mouths of puppets on a playground. you're about to find out. the puppets from the cnbc digital workshop are back. the entire basis of the republican strategy is we're going to shut down the government. >> the president reiterated one more time he will not negotiate. >> my friend john boehner, i repeat, cannot take yes for an answer. >> this isn't some dam game. >> i'm ashamed, i'm embarrassed.

all of us should be. ♪ geoff: i'm the kind of guy who doesn't like being sold to. the last thing i want is to feel like someone is giving me a sales pitch, especially when it comes to my investments. you want a broker you can trust. a lot of guys at the other firms seemed more focused on selling than their clients. that's why i stopped working at my old brokerage and became a financial consultant with charles schwab. avo: what kind of financial consultant are you looking for?

talk to us today.

> welcome back. president obama a few minutes ago going to a d.c. area charity called martha's charity where some members of his administration and furloughed employees have have been volunteering. >> we have a lot of volunteers who are furloughed federal workers these are folks who have

not been paid, in some cases are eager to be back on the job but are not allowed to work, yet they're here contributing and giving back to the community and i think that shows the kind of spirit we have among all kinds of federal workers all across the country. people who dedicate their lives to public service, think that what they're doing is important in terms of helping this country and yet find themselves in a situation in which because of politics, they're not able to do their jobs. now, this week we'll be entering into the third week of a government shutdown that was completely unnecessary. and i'm going to have the opportunity to meet again with the congressional leaders this afternoon and i am going to once again urge them to open the government, and make sure that the united states government is paying its bills. this is fairly simple. and this whole shutdown has been completely unnecessary.

keep in mind that the problem is not that the u.s. government has run out of money. the problem is not that our deficits are going up. our deficits have actually been cut in half since i came into office and are continuing to go down. the problem is not that there's not the opportunity for us to work intelligently to come up with a budget that creates long-term fiscal stability while still investing in growth, the problem is we've seen this brinksmanship as a strategy time and time again to try to extract, extreme or partisan concessions and i think the american people have made very clear that's not how we expect washington to do business. there are going to be differences between the parties, in terms of budget priorities but we don't need to inflict pain on the american people or risk the possibility that america's full faith and credit is damaged just because one side is not getting its way.

and, you know, not only is it untenable for us to continue this shutdown, this week if we don't start making some real progress both in the house and the senate, and if republicans aren't willing to set aside some of their partisan concerns in ord ter to do what's right for the country, we stand a good chance of defaulting and defaulting would have a potentially devastating effect on our economy. sending interest rates shooting up, people, whether social security recipients or people with disabilities or small business people who are vendors to government not getting paid on time, we've already had a damaging effect on our economy because of the shutdown. that damage would be greatly magnified if we don't make sure that the government's paying its bills and that has to be decided this week. my hope is that the kind of spirit that is shown by these outstanding volunteers is going to carry over in the meeting

with the leadership this afternoon. they can solve this problem today. and it doesn't mean that the differences between democrats and republicans go away. that's what elections are for. but between elections we're supposed to be governing and not supposed to be hurting the very people who sent us to represent them and i hope that kind of spirit holds true during the course of discussions today and over the next several days. all right. thank you very much, everybody. thank you. good. >> are you confidence a deal can be reached? >> i think that there is -- there's been some progress on the senate side with republicans recognizing it's not tenable, it's not smart, it's not good for the american people to let america default. there's been some progress in recognizing that we're not going to be able to completely bridge the differences between the parties all at once and so it

doesn't make sense in the meantime to try to use a shutdown or the threat of default as leverage in negotiations. so that's progress. but obviously until the details are done, until these folks are back to work, so that they can volunteer on weekends during their free time as opposed to when we'd like folks to be on the job, you know, i'm going to be, you know, continue to push congress as hard as i can. but we'll see if we -- we'll see this afternoon whether this progress is real. i think there has been some progress in the senate. i think house republicans continue to think that somehow they can extract concessions by keeping the government shutdown or by threatening default and my hope is that a spirit of cooperation will move us forward over the next few hours. all right. thank you, everybody. thank you. >> there's the president.

donning an apron and volunteering along with he says furloughed federal workers at martha's table, a washington, d.c., hunger fighting charity. meanwhile, the computer glitches that have prevented millions of americans from signing up for obama care continue 14 days in. is there progress? bertha coombs has been watching this. >> it's kind of glacial. the government continues to make fixes on the federal exchange during off peak hours overnight but it's still not a smooth process. we met emily and josh a week ago. the new jersey couple hadn't been able to set up an account on the federal exchange. 14 days in they have managed to do that, but haven't been able to get past that point. they didn't get much further with chat or on the phone either. a number of analysts say there remain underlying code flaws in the system that could take a long time to fix and although it's early in the open enrollment season without a fix soon, it will be hard to ramp up the necessary enrollment numbers. the obama administration aims to

sign up 7 million uninsured through the exchanges over six months, that averages to about 39,000 people a day for 180 days. of those, they aim to enroll 2.5 million young adults. like the austins that are both under 30 that would average 14,000 being able to enroll a day over six months. on squawk box they said the administration is trying to scale up and fix things now. >> all of it has been op the fly. we didn't get code drops until probably the last month before the system went live. from a user testing standpoint. we're in a place now where there's so much wrong, you just don't know what's broken until you get more of it fixed. >> he's concerned young adults will get so frustrated by the it tech issues they may give up trying if it's not fixed soon. coming up on "street signs," it's not just the front end problems. there are back-end problems at that some of the insurers are

experiencing as well. >> let's talk once again with michael, director of development at blue fountain media, michael was with us last week and pointed out in the code, welcome back, michael, where some of the worst flaws were. and it turned out that it was right here where you had to select some security questions to enroll. that's where i got hung up when i tried. have they fixed it? >> this issue has been resolved. if you take a look if you were to log in right now, you were to take a look you can see the questions are loading. that's great. good to know they're making progress on here. if i were to run tests these aren't -- these tests aren't going to run on the back end of the system where many of the issues we're finding exist but we're still going to be able to see there are some issues. >> that blockage has been cleared. can people go through and sign up and list and enroll? >> they should be able to. i'm sure that a lot of that is going to depend on the network that they're on. if there's still issues in terms

of actual load on the ser vers some people might experience issues. if, you know, their network is a little slow. >> mr. bertlini of aetna said we didn't get the code on this until a month ago and looks like even though this law was passed in 2010, that a lot of the coding didn't get done until, what, this summer? >> yeah. so really where the issue is going to be when you're actually going through the process isn't going to be in the initial registration phase. it's going to be where you're storing data for the user's name and password and security questions. it's going to be when you're trying to apply because we're tying into a number of systems that are very complex and ultimately, you know, many of them are going to be somewhat outdated and a little bit inefficient. one of the main issues that you experience when you're doing product development is trying to make sure that you keep your timelines and -- >> that just hasn't happened here. >> right. >> they've gone through stop signs and points where they ought to have things done.

they've missed. michael, we have to leave it there but thank you once again. >> no problem. >> pointing us to where some things have been fixed. >> some things have been fixed. >> a lot remain. >> we got to make sure that we get back on schedule for the future and not take so long to plan things out. >> i feel sorry for this young lady who is a model and probably felt this was the biggest moment in her career and now the people are frustrated. >> she's got a good amount of exposure. >> thank you very much. sime town. >> ahead on the show, big calls from the street on coach, merck and expedia. are they the right calls? big power plays on "power lunch" this week. former new mexico governor bill richardson, morgan stanley cio mike wilson, nyu business school dean, peter henry, northern trust management katie nixon, jpmorgan global market strategist, joe it tanious. . weekdays are for rising to the challenge.

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♪ to help you take charge. sometimes they just drop in. always obvious. cme group can help you navigate risks and capture opportunities. we enable you to reach global markets and drive forward with broader possibilities. cme group: how the world advances. gold prices closing and sharon epperson closing in positive territory. >> that's right. something a little higher for gold prices and perhaps that is some comfort to gold bulls after we saw gold at a three-week low on friday. but keep in mind, a lot of it is

just treading water until we figure out what's going to happen in washington. we have seen actually a slide in gold prices so far this month of about 4% or so. as that has happened it has caused some folks to liquidate or redeem their holdings in terms of gold etfs. looking at a decline there as well. we're also watching what's happening in the playedium market, doing well after the positive sales data from china on their vehicle sales. back to you. >> thank you very much. time to analyze with jim, a cnbc contributor. welcome. let's get to it, merck, downgraded from outperform to market perform by bernstein saying the recent announcement of cost cutting does little to bolster the investment case. the stock is up almost 14% this year. do you agree or disagree with this cut? >> you know, i disagree with that call just because the language to me was kind of soft. they said the multiples aren't ek seedingly low, meaning they're kind of low.

the fact that cost cutting doesn't bolster investment case. i think the 3.85 dividend comes into greater play, too, with ten-year yields trending a little lower. i disagree with that. >> downgrading coach from a buy to a hold saying that executive depar sure tours are taking 60 plus years of experience with them throughout the door. what do you think, yes, no? >> i agree with that call. they say that traffic trends are deteriorating. they say they're hearing foot steps from michael coors. those are fine. i would point out too the last three earnings reports have been characterized by neck snap in volatility. that's a net negative. if you're going to play you better be right. >> deutsch bank downgrading expedia to hold from buy quoting its brands are facing much more intense competition in the u.s. market competition. the stock is down 22% this year and now they downgrade it. what do you think? >> you know how i love calls

like this. could have used them a few months back. they're saying competition, that means priceline. they're also saying some of the acquisitions they've made may have cost more than they thought they would. that's well and good. to me the chart doesn't look good. seems like it tests 4580 and then we find out if it's good or not. break s below that forget about it. at some point in time people may blink and sell priceline. >> agree on the expedia downgrade. let's get down to simon now and check in with some of the trading action. >> it's worth pointing out we've got a triple digit range from the bottom of the dow down about 80 points to where we are now up 20. bob pisani has been tracking the action all day here on the floor. >> very simple. when senator reid said getting close, a meeting at 3:00 with all the congressional lipps that's when we moved up. we've been moving off the bottom since the beginning. that's when we move into positive territory. that meeting at 3:00 highly anticipated. you can see the vix been -- i'll show you a two-day chart.

been moving down all morning, vix is still up but see how much it dropped as senator reid indicated there was progress being made. and the other sectors that would have been very damaged today had nothing gone well like cyclical stocks are the market leaders today. the xme, metal stocks, coal stocks, base metal stocks like nickel and aluminum stocks are on the upside. the other group that would have been down would have been emerging market stocks. these are the leadership groups today. china, brazil, thailand, india. these are exchange traded funds. these markets may not be open except for brazil but you can make estimates of where you think the stock will be trading and here and buy them every day here on the new york stock exchange. in the form of etfs. the important thing all the sector leaders doing better anticipating a deal, are the market -- are the ones up today. the market is clearly anticipating something is going to happen. >> thank you very much. meanwhile, any temporary fix

to the debt ceiling could spell uncertainty for businesses trying to plan through next year. we're going to speak to td am i ameritra ameritrade's chief financial officer about he and other cfos are preparing for an uncertain environment. is of a better fut, a confident retirement. those dreams, there's just no way we're going to let them die. ♪ like they helped millions of others. by listening. planning. working one on one. that's what ameriprise financial does. that's what they can do with you. that's how ameriprise puts more within reach. ♪

our leaders say they may be getting closer to a debt deal but it may just be a temporary prach and the lingering uncertainty would be a problem for corporations trying to plan for next year. mary thompson has been taking the pulse of business executives. >> hey, tyler. as you said a temporary fix does great ongoing problems for firms putting together their plans for 2014 because the u.s. could still default and if there isn't a deal it could mean mandate the budget cuts that impact corporate america or if a deal is reached it might mean new taxes. the former citi chairman says this makes planning difficult and for conservative spending. >> if they had confidence if they knew the countries of the landscape they had to traverse were they would start investing again. >> most declining to comment on washington's action or inaction and how it would impact them. the former ceo of continental airlines and a director on the

boards of sprint, honeywell and prudential told cnbcs for corporations washington's impasse makes planning treacherous because you don't know what next step is and you don't know if you're going to step on a bomb or if it's going to set you free. now even smaller companies like new jersey based flex line are being impacted. the maker of metal hoses used in a variety of industries telling cnbc in an e-mail a temporary fix does not allow our customers to plan. it makes revenue streams and therefore planning chaotic. does so for everyone in the supply channel. blanket orders go out the window, lead times get pushed out which causes our costs to go up. it's a mess. a mess a trerry fix won't clean up. back to you. >> thank you very much. let's continue the conversation on these topics with one of our cnbc global cfo council members live from omaha is bill gerber, td ameritrade executive vice president. good to have you with us. >> thank you. >> mary raised the point an

awful lot of business executives are saying how can we plan for 2014 and beyond when we lurch from crisis to crisis. are you feeling that as you look ahead? >> i completely agree with what mary reported. i think, you know, the real issue what we're probably going to get here is a temporary fix. i would anticipate something six months or less. and although that's going to be viewed as a sigh of relief, it doesn't address the long-term structural issues and $17 trillion of debt and without any long-term fixes, we are gujust going to go from crisis to cry sis. >> i was with my family two weeks ago in disney land. let's say the white house and congress are able to come together on a long-term fix that does some of the things that we all agree we need to do in terms of fiscal sanity and don't lurch from crisis to crisis and get a

long-term plan, what would that do to business? how unleashed would business be? >> i think that makes a complete difference and i would love if your fantasy land actually came true, tyler. i think, you know, once you have certainty, veen if it is relatively speaking what people consider a bad certainty, at least it is certainty and you can plan accordingly. right now the uncertainty is what is keeping businesses from figuring out where they're going to go and, you know, i think that congress needs to really get together, focus on the long-term, and provide some solutions. >> i want to get two more quick questions in. first, is are you seeing the effects of the sort of lack of confidence, lack of ability to plan, and the government shutdown in your business? >> in our business at ameritr e ameritrade, no, we're in good shape, of course. our clients are in very good shape. we encourage them to look at

their own portfolios and review that and get help where they think they need it. but this volatility does affect more client trading and we are seeing more trading activity. generally speaking as a company, ameritrade is doing just fine and we'll be able to get through this. >> simon has a question he would like to get in. >> a lot of people are concerned when we take our eyes off the debt debacle about what might happen with earnings season, a concern we're not going to get the earnings momentum we've had moving forward because the cost-cutting can only go so far and co have been buying back their own stock rather than investing in jobs and growth. do you see amongst the cfo and the community any chance we're able to more broadly change the atmosphere from stock buybacks and dividends to putting money back into the economy, creating growth, creating jobs? >> i do, simon. i think what you're seeing is a little bit of hand in glove here. as government policy becomes

more predictable, you'll be able to do more long-term planning and that long-term planning will enable the companies to grow and continue employment. i think the issue right now are just so uncertain that people are not able to assess where they should go and what type of environment you're going to be in, so people get into a wait and see mode and wait to see how the -- how all this plays out and where the government is going to end up. i do see the opportunity going forward. >> i want to get your reaction to chinas's official news agency early today in an editorial calling for what it says is a de-americanized world. among other things they say that the dollar should not be the international reserve currency. basically they're saying, washington, you've messed it up, we can't depend on you, you're hurting the rest of the world. how do you react to that and how much do you think america's reputation globally is affected

by what the rest of the world sees going on in washington? >> well, i do think it is a little self-serving for china to say something like that, but ultimately i do think that, you know, democracy is not pretty as we all know and, you know, we are absolutely living that right now. but i do think that ultimately we will stay as a reserve currency. we are still the strongest economy in the world. we do have our problems and the ability and willingness to tackle them but it is very muddy for sure and trying to get to the end game here is still going to take a little bit of time. i'm not worried about being at a loss from the reserve currency. >> bill gerber, thank you very much, of td ameritrade. >> let's check the yahoo! finance question of the day. anti-d.c. sentiment is growing with three days until the debt limit. how confident are you the debt limit will get raised?

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40 years. it's unclear whether the increase announcement what it will be or when it will be made because the shutdown has been delayed to the inflation report used to finalize the annual percentages not yet emerging. billionaire hedge fund titan steve cohen putting reportedly some of his prized art pieces up for sale and what does that say about the art market right now? cnbc's wealth editor robert frank is following that story this lunch time. >> hey, simon. he is selling at least two andy warhols and a gearhard ricktore for $70 million. is he managing his collection or does he need the money. expensive art coming up after the break.

coming up on "street signs," the top of this hour, former apple ceo john sculley will be joining us with thoughts, praise, and one whopping suggestion for what apple could buy. the tesla model x, how sexy is it? sexy enough to put this stock higher? and the incredible story of some tourists in new york city who got the real deal when they thought they were just buying fakes. all those things and lots more coming up, guys, on "street signs" at the top of the hour. meantime back to you on "power lunch." >> thank you very much. well known art lover steve cohen planning to sell a few pieces from his world-class collection. which ones? why? and why now? robert frank joins us.

>> tyler, that is the question, whether these are distress sales or discretionary ones. the "new york times" reporting he's selling three paintings from his collection as he faces legal bills. famous warhol called liz number one that could fetch more than 20 million. sources it telling me he's selling a brice martin that could fetch millions and $70 million worth of art he's selling as prosecutors aim to settle those against cohen's hedge fund which could total more than $1 billion. art dealers telling me this is not a desperate effort to raise cash. s he sells a few pieces every year and these are some of his weaker pieces if he needed the money he would sell his more expensive pieces. he owns the piece he bought for $150 million. he would likely sell them in a one-time private sell to a collector like the qatarty family so it would be off the public.

even if it's a $2 billion fine i think they will be okay. >> thank you very much. netflix business is booming and the video service is reportedly in talks with certain cable companies to use its service on the set top boxes. but what happens when you make a deal with your competitor? i am today by luck. i put in the hours and built a strong reputation in the industry. i set goals and worked hard to meet them. i've made my success happen.

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nbc is reporting that senator harry reid and mitch mcconnell are meeting right now in the republican leaders office. earlier senate democrats emerge from a meeting with majority leader reid apparently optimistic according to nbc with a deal to reopen government could be reached or at least was close at hand. up now 22 points on the dow. netflix is in talks to offer its

service through set top boxes. sources tell our julia bo boarstein. from more from julia and web bush analyst michael, let's start with julia, over to you. >> simon, there's great potential for both netflix and comcast if they could work out a deal. what this would do is allow viewers, consumers to seamlessly switch from netflix content and content from regular television and help comcast or the other cable companies better hold on to their subscribers and potentially allow them to charge more for high-speed broadband and for netflix another way to grow their user base. >> interesting. michael, it's interesting to really ask whether you see netflix as being a competitor to the cable companies. i think netflix and the bulls would say it's more like a content provider like cbs and this is a natural place for it

to be? >> you know, netflix positions itself consistently as not competing with cable. the truth is, that they offer very much the same content as you can get on nickelodeon. they offer old television shows, old movies, and they have some new stuff. so they absolutely compete. i think if you ever were to do a survey and ask people who cut the cable cord why they did, they would tell you they get enough from netflix and hulu and they don't need over the air broadcast any longer. i think julia is right. i think this is something really good for net flicks, they can become a channel on the cable system it's going to attract a few more subscribers. >> the netflix ceo says the offer has been open for two years for the cable companies to pick them up and they haven't done that. which leads know believe i assume the cable companies are moving forwards netflix. they are reevaluating the way which they have to be the provider of everything for all to the point that julia was making a moment ago? >> i'm not sure that's right.

>> okay. >> i think the sticking point is the cable companies are accustomed to actually getting paid to broadcast any content so they pay less than what the subscriber pays, about 30% to 40% of fees go to the content provider and the rest to the cable company. i think netflix has positioned itself for free on row cu boxes and consoles and game players, netflix has approached the cable companies let us be there for free, the cable guy says you to pay us. that's been the sticking point. my guess is netflix is now positioned to pay cable something to attract more users and that's a great result not necessarily good for netflix's bottom line. >> i would say simon -- i would actually say it's something else. i think netflix wants the cable companies to use their technological systems, their servers they call the system called open connect which would allow them to better monitor and make it easier and have better

streaming for their customers. a company like comcast which has plenty of technological capabilities says we don't need to use your open connect servers we have it under control and don't need to use your systems. there's a lot of battle about what systems and how they're going to manage the flow of data over those high-speed broadband pipes. some of the back ends stuff holding things up. i think the fact in the uk and virgin media has started it to do this kind of partnership. it's a great way for everyone to see how well, it works out. >> yes. and joe would like to see a lot of changes. guys we've got to leave it there. thank you. fascinating conversation. michael and julia. the big winners in today's trading next on "power lunch." peace of mind is important when you're running a successful business.

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headache, diarrhea, vomiting, and increase in psa. ask your doctor about the only underarm low t treatment, axiron. right now, in senator mcconnell's office harry reid and mitch mcconnell are meeting presumably going over their notes prior to a meeting in one hour's time at 3:00 p.m. down pennsylvania avenue at the white house where they will be joined by the leaders on the house side. so senator mcconnell hosting senator reid, two guys who haven't exactly gotten along often, simon. >> that's true. let's hope they get the ducks in the row and the question of what the house gop will do.

markets higher. as you can see pfizer, disney, microsoft, western digital and monster beverage are those making gains today, tyler. bond market closed today for columbus day. >> and simon, it could be a very interesting close to the markets today with lots of moving parts. that will do it for "power lunch." >> "street signs" begins right now. 2:00 p.m. on wall street and washington, t-minus 58 hours until america runs out of money, but we may be getting closer to a deal. president obama summoned bipartisan congressional leaders to the white house for a meeting in just one hour's time and the senate has reconvened, reid and/or mcconnell could take the floor any minute if they do we will bring that to you live. >> we will. the markets with the uncertainty like any glirm of hope the dow erasing a triple digit loss,