still concerned about what they're going to be doing next year. and we just wanted to make sure that the hardship provision that was already existing in the law would also potentially apply to somebody who had problems during this transition period. so, that's the specifics of this latest change. you're making a broader point that i think is fair and that is that in a big project like this this, that what we are constantly doing is looking, is this working the way it's supposed to and if there are adjustments that can be made to smooth out the transition we should make them. but they don't go to the core of the law. first of all, the core of the law is that for 85% of the population, all they've been getting is free preventive care better consumer protections, the

ability to keep their kids on their insurance plan till they're 26 $1,000 $500 discounts on prescription drugs for seniors on medicare. so, 85% of the population whether they know it or not over the last three years have benefitted from a whole set of the provisions of the law. by the way if it were to be repealed, you would be taking away all those benefits from folks who already are enjoying them. you had this subportion of the population, 15%, who either don't have health insurance or buying it on the individual market. and that's still millions of people. and what we're doing is creating a marketplace where they can buy insurance and we can provide them some tax credits to help them afford it. the basic structure of that law is working. despite all the problems. despite the website problems, despite the messaging problems,

despite all that, it's working. and, again, you don't have to take my word for it. we've got a couple million people who are going to have health insurance just in the first three months, despite the fact that the first month and a half was lost because of problems with the website, and about as bad a bunch of publicity as you could imagine, and yet you still got 2 million people who signed up. or more. and so what that means, then is that the demand is there and as i said before, the product is good. now, in putting something like this together there are going to be all kinds of problems that crop up. some of which may have been unanticipated. what we've been trying to do is just respond to them in a common sense way. and we're going to continue to try to do that.

but that doesn't negate the fact that well a year from now or two years from now, when we look back, we're going to be able to say even more people had health insurance who didn't have it before. that's not a bad thing. that's a good thing. that is part of the reason why i pushed so hard to get this law done in the first place. and, yeah i've said before this is a messy process. i think sometimes when i say that people say, well a, yes, it's really messy and, b, isn't the fact it's been so messy some indication that there are more fundamental problems with the law. and i guess what i'd say to that, chuck, is when you try to do something this big, affecting this many people it's going to be hard. in every instance whether it's social security medicare the

prescription drug plan under president bush, there hasn't been an instance where you tried to really have an impact on the american people's lives and well-being particularly in the health care arena, where you don't end up having some of these challenges. the question's going to be ultimately, do we make good decisions trying to help as many people as possible in as efficient way as possible? i think that's what we're doing. >> reporter: 72 hours ago you make this change where people are buying the junk frankly, a junk type policy that you weren't -- you were trying to get people away from. >> well, keep in mind chuck, first of all, that the majority of folks are going to have different options. this is essentially an additional net in case folks might have slipped through the cracks. we don't have precision on those numbers, but we expect it's

going to be a relatively small number, because these are folks who want insurance and the vast majority of them have good options. and in a state like north carolina, for example, the overwhelming majority of them have just kept their own plans. so the ones they had previously. but we thought and continue to think it makes sense that as we are transitioning to a system in which insurance standards are higher, people don't have unpleasant surprises because they thought they had insurance until they hit a limit. next thing you know they still owe 100,000 or 200,000 or $300,000 for a hospital visit. that as we transition to higher standards, better insurance, that we also address folks who get caught in that transition and unintended consequences. that was the original intent of the grandfather clause that was in the law. obviously, the problem was it didn't catch enough people.

and, you know we learned from that and we're trying not to repeat those mistakes. let's see. phil maddingly. >> reporter: thank you, mr. president. what was the message you were trying to send with not only not to attend the sochi games but those you named to the delegation to represent the united states. >> well i've attended olympics in the past. i suspect that you know me attending the olympics particularly at a time when we have all the other stuff that people are talking about is tough, although i would love to do it. i'll be going to a lot of olympic games post-presidency. i think the delegation speaks for itself. you've got outstanding americans, outstanding athletes, people who will represent us extraordinarily well.

and, you know the fact that we've got folks like billie jean king or brian boitano who themselves have been world class athletes that everyone acknowledges for their excellence but also for their character, who also happen to be members of the lbgt community, yeah you should take that for what it's worth. that when it comes to the olympics and athletic performance, we don't make distinctions on the basis of sexual orientation. we judge people on how they perform, both on the court and off the court. on the field and off the field. that's a value that i think is at the heart of not just america but american sports. just roll down these last few real quickly.

shapiro, last day of the white house, he deserves a question. >> reporter: senator max baucus was widely seen as the best to overhaul the tax code. what is you nominating him as ambassador to china say about tax code? >> it says he'll be outstanding ambassador to china. i would like a swift confirmation. my expectation and hope is that if both the senate democrats -- or if democrats and republicans in the house and senate are serious about tax reform then it's not going to depend on one guy. it will depend on all of us working together. and my office is ready, willing and eager to engage both parties in having conversation about how we can simplify the tax code make it fair make it work to create more jobs and do right by middle class americans.

>> reporter: thank you, mr. president. how do you say it in hawaii may lay ka mele kaliki maha. >> i would like to ask your reaction to the nonpartisan truth-telling group that when they said the lie of the year is your statement, that if you like your health care plan, you could keep it. related to the health care problems we've seen over the last year the fallout from that seems to be making democrats, particularly in the senate a little rambunctious and independent of you, which is evidenced most clearly in the debate over iran sanctions. it looks like senate majority leader harry reid has expedited consideration of iran sanctions bill for january, even as your administration and you have been trying to get them to lay off sanctions while -- >> i've got to say, you're stringing a bunch of thing as long here.

let's see if we can hone in on a question. i mean i -- >> reporter: a lot less than ed henry has. >> i thought we were going to try to get along. >> now, i can see -- how about i separate out the iran question from the health care question? on the health care question look, i think i've answered several times, this is a new iteration of it but bottom line is that you know we are going to continue to work every single day to make sure that implementation of health care law and the website and all elements of it, including the grandfather clause, work better every single day. and as i said in previous press conference, we're going to make mistakes. and we're going to have

problems but my intentions have been clear throughout. which is i just want to help as many people as possible feel secure and make sure they don't go broke when they get sick. and we're going to keep on doing that. on iran -- there is the possibility of a resolution to a problem that has been a challenge for american national security for over a decade now. and that is getting iran to in a verifiable fashion, not pursue a nuclear weapon. already, even with the interim deal we struck in geneva we have the first halt and in some cases some roll back of iran's nuclear capabilities. the first time that we've seen

that in almost a decade. and whoae now have a structure in which we can have a very serious conversation to see is it possible for iran to get right with the international community n a verifiable fashion, to give us all confidence that any peaceful nuclear program they have is not going to be weaponized in a way that threatens us or allies in the region, including israel. and as i've said before and i will repeat it is very important for us to test whether that's possible. not because it's guaranteed, but because the alternative is possibly us having engaged in some sort of conflict to resolve

the problem, with all kinds of unintended consequences. i've been very clear from the start, i mean what i say. it is my goal to prevent iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. but i sure would rather do it diplomatically. i'm keeping all options on the table. but if i can do it diplomatically that's how we should do it. and i would think that would be the preference of everybody up on capitol hill because that sure is the preference of the american people. and we lose nothing during this negotiation period. precisely because there are verification provisions in place. we will have more insight into iran's nuclear program over the next six months than we have previously. you'll know if they're violating the terms of the agreement. they're not allowed to accelerate their stockpile of enriched uranium. in fact, they have to reduce their stockpile of highly

enriched uranium. ironically, if we did not have this six-month period in which we're testing whether we can get a comprehensive solution to this problem, they'd be advancing even further on their nuclear program. and in light of all that what i've said to members of congress republicans and democrats, there is no need for new sanctions legislation. not yet. now, if iran comes back and says, we can't give you assurances we're not going to weaponize, if they're not willing to address some of their capabilities that we know could end up resulting in them having breakout capacity it's not going to be hard for us to turn the dials back strengthen

sanctions even further. i'll work with members of congress to put even more pressure on iran. but there's no reason to do it right now. and so i'm not surprised that there's been some talk from some members of congress about new sanctions. i think the politics of trying to look tough on iran are often good when you're running for office, or if you're in office. but as president of the united states right now, who's been responsible over the last four years with the help of congress in putting together a comprehensive sanctions regime that was specifically designed to put pressure on them and bring them to the table and negotiate, what i'm saying to them, what i've said to the international community and what i've said to the american people is let's test it. now's the time to try to see if we can get this thing done.

and i've heard some logic that says, well mr. president, we're supportive of the negotiations but we think it's really useful to have this club hanging over iran's head. first of all, we still have the existing sanctions already in place, that are resulting in iran losing billions of dollars every month in lost oil sales. we already have banking and financial sanctionses that are still being applied even as negotiations are taking place. it's not as if we're letting up on that. i've heard arguments, well but this way we can be assured and the iranians will know if negotiations fail even new and harsher sanctions will be put into place. listen, i don't think the iranians have any doubt that congress would be more than happy to pass more sanctions legislation. we can do that in a day. on a dime.

but if we're serious about negotiations we've got to create an atmosphere in which iran is willing to move in ways that are uncomfortable for them. and contrary to their ideology and rhetoric and their instincts and their suspicions of us and -- we don't help get them to a position where we can actually resolve this by engaging in this kind of action. all right? okay everybody. i think i'm going to take one more question. colleen mccain nelson and that is it. >> reporter: thank you mr. president. your long-time advisers are leaving the white house, and new folks are coming in, others are taking on new roles in the west wing. as you reshape your team a bit, how does that change the dynamic here and how does it impact what you think you can accomplish going forward? >> you know i just had lunch

with pete, who's leaving me. that's tough. he says not right now at least. no, you know, i love that guy. and that will be a significant loss, although he'll still be in town. hopefully, i'll be able to consult with him on an ongoing basis. i think the fact that john is coming in will be terrific. he may deny it but i've been trying to get him in here for quite some time. he ran my transition office. i asked him when he was running the transition office if he would join us. at that time i think he was still feeling he wanted to develop c.a.p. and other organizations. john is a great strategist. he is as good as anybody on domestic policy. and i think he'll be a huge boost to us and give us more band width to deal with more issues. i suspect that we may have additional announcements in the new year.

there's a natural turnover that takes place. people get tired, people get worn out. sometimes you need fresh legs. but what i can tell you is the team i have now is tireless and shares my values. and believes the thing that i think i've repeated probably four, five times in this press conference, which is we get this incredible privilege for a pretty short period of time to do as much as we can, for as many people as we can, to help them live better lives. and that's what drives them. that's the sacrifice they make being away from families and soccer games and birthdays and some of them will end up working over christmas on issues like iran. the fact they make those kind of

sacrifices, i'm always grateful for. if they then say to me after making those sacrifices for three, four five years, you know, i need a break, you know, then i completely understand. all right? have a great holiday, everybody. appreciate you. >> president obama wrapping up his final news conference of 2013. a wide-ranging conference looking at a number of issues facing him right now. i'll bill griffeth along with kelly evans. this is "closing bell." i'm at headquarters today. kelly, you're at the new york stock exchange. we have a rally on the way and a big expiration where we'll see volatility and volume presumably coming up in a few minutes. let's get to eamon javers at the white house. he talked about a number of things but he did make news about healthcare.gov. >> reporter: that's right. he said a lot of people have signed up for healthcare.gov just in the first couple of weeks here of december. so, the president really

positioning this that the health care situation with the website is turning around. you saw in the press conference what the reporters really wanted to ask him about. a lot about poll numbers mistakes the president has made. you also saw in his opening statement what the president himself wants to talk about, and that is the economy. the president citing gdp growth housing and other metrics including jobs to suggest that the economy is really reached a turning point here in the united states. he says 2014 is poised to be a terrific year for the united states of america. and in terms of the economy. and that gives me a sense of just how far we've come. for a president elected in the midst of financial catastrophe to cite economy as the thing he wants to talk about, more so than the scandals and problems and questions he's been facing that represents a real turn-around in the political and economic landscape for this president of the united states. >> eamon, it's still tricky ground for him because just today a rasmussen poll found half of americans think the u.s. is more or less in a recession at the moment. in other words you know you

see this in the consumer confidence figures as well. even as good as things are, the indexes here are going to close as records again. and the entire country doesn't necessarily feel like they're participating. >> reporter: what's interesting is you get a disconnect between what we're seeing in wall street and what we're seeing in main street in the united states of america. i've said, forget the technical economic definition of what recession is. it's recession if your brother-in-law is still out of work. that's the way people relate to the term recession in this country. a lot of people are really having a hard time getting back to work. you've got pocketings of really severe, long-term unemployment. unemployment number historically very very high. just very difficult times for middle class americans who as the president said in the press conference just now, many of whom haven't gotten a raise in years and years. those are not people who are going to say we're out of recession when a pollster calls and asks them about it whatever the technical economic definition of recession is. whatever's happening on wall street, that's outside their

purview. doesn't affect their lives. >> there's a disconnect somewhere. would he feel that on wall street sometimes. eamon, thanks. we'll talk to you later. meanwhile, the dow and s&p on track for another record close. is there anything stopping this rally? let's get to our "closing bell exchange" with janet engels ken from money matters, mike mcqueen from hightower, rich peterson from s&p capital iq and rick santelli. i apologize, folks. we're late. we'll be tight on time so i say, give it your best shot on the first question we ask. janet, this has been the second best week of the year for the markets. the first week of the year was only better. what's going on? is this the santa claus rally and can it last, do you think? >> this is a santa claus rally. most investors have been underinvested. the economic data is beginning to turn. earnings continue to grow. we think 2014 is another up year for the market. good years can follow great years. we've had a great year in the

market. no recession in sight. and, in fact the opportunity for some acceleration and economic growth in the united states based on energy manufacturing and what we're seeing in housing. you could see some butches in the road but it looks like another good year. >> mike there are squirrely things happening in the market today. you've got sort of the longer end of the treasury curve falling. the yield is falling at the same time stocks are rising and the short end is rising. in other words is there a sense that things look pretty good right now but longer term risks remain if not rearing their head? >> i think that the economy and the market clearly have a lot of momentum. we don't think it's out of the question to have a bit of a correction along the way. i agree with the first guest, 2014 looks good. the real question is where do you find value? where do you put money? we're looksing in the reit space, short muni bonds. we don't think that's the case anymore. we think there are alternatives and that's where we're looking. >> rich peterson you're looking at earnings.

you're looking toward the next reporting season. we're already getting some early indications. they don't look all that great, do they? >> i mean f you look at the guidance, the numbers for fourth quarter with things skewed toward negative guidance kernels of optimism. we saw oracle numbers come out favorably. remember this, we're it's not the $10 billion reduction in the taper. it's not the $4 trillion fed balance sheet. the number of the week is $3.3 trillion, increase in market value of the s&p 500 this year. that includes any dividend increases. the wealth is helping consumers spend, helping the gdp, helping the job picture, helping the housing picture, which will carry over to 2014. >> ken, there are people on the floor who say now that we've made it there are headline risks we saw toward the end of the year it's smooth sailing toward dow 7,000. what do you think about that? >> last time i was on you asked me about reaching dow 16,000 which i saw for the year. you asked me what next?

i said dow 18,000. we may see that by the end of next week at this point. i'll have to change my forecast for next year. you know what i think is looking very good is the momentum. we look at trends for our clients. as long as a trend is our friend, we like to play with our friends, so we're going to stay in the market and we're going to ride this for as long as we can. it's always important, though, to look for the exits and be ready to get out. in november of '07 we told our clients to get out of the market and stay for all -- stay out for all of '08. having an exit strategy is important when the market is running like this. sometimes it is setting up for a bear market as well. >> rick santelli we had this fourth -- this revision for the third quarter gdp, 4.1% first time since december of 2011 weaver had a 4.0 handle on the gdp and yet the bond market just sits there today. what's going on? >> the bond market is in recalculate mode. on the yield curve it's position logistics. look at two-year it's up four

basis point. five-year, it's up 14 basis point. ten-year virtually unchanged. there's your readjustment. dollar up a whole handle. simply stated, i think stocks can go up a lot more, too. but on that exit better be one darn big door because everybody will get the same idea at the same time. we just don't know when. >> let's happen if that's not for a longer period of time bill? i guess that's the question. >> yes, it is. i've got to write this down this date rick santelli made a prognostication on the stock market and it's much higher from here. i love that. thanks, folks. have a good weekend. appreciate that. have a merry christmas. >> merry christmas to everybody. >> thank you. >> a little more than half an hour to go in this "closing bell" session. we have to look at major indexes. record highs across the board except nasdaq which continues to be below all-time nomal high. 74 points on the dow. we have a lot of things happening with regard to

reweightings and options engs pir rags at the close. >> all the traders at the big board will be very busy over the next half hour. red hat hitting a one-year high after better year than expected. when we come back ceo with us laying out his plan for keeping that momentum going. the white house making another change to obamacare, which the insurance industry says could cause significant instability in the marketplace. we'll hear from howard dean coming up.

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welcome back. take a look at red hat here. shares spiking today after it posted better than expected third quarter earnings and revenue. >> look at that up 14%. shares surging into the close here. let's talk to the man in charge red hat ceo jim whitehurst. you had a good quarter, by one account it was a spectacular quarter. 14% gain, that's pretty good. >> yeah i think that certainly exceeded our expectations. obviously, it's a nice christmas present to the shareholders. >> jim i wonder if you can talk a little about the trend you see into 2014. you have a lot of products that have to do with the cloud that seem to be catching on with businesses here. but that what is it -- where was the inflexion point? your shares were higher last may than today. do you think this quarter was a significant point for your business when you start to look into 2014? >> well you know i think it was significant in a lot of the

analyst and investor minds to see is red hat really a player in a lot of the cloud technologies. we said we are and he can continue to make progress but we really demonstrated it this quarter. i think cloud and the move to cloud computing is happening faster than anyone thought would happen. and we're certainly seeing that. our leadership is technology is open staff, one of the leading cloud platforms. certainly made investors feel more comfortable with the red hat story. for us we're just amazed at how quickly enterprises are looking to adopt cloud technologies in general. >> is that indicative -- i want to ask a broader economic question. is that indicative of a better economy? would you have you had this kind of demand three years ago, for example, or is the embracing of cloud faster than anticipated as a result of the growth we're seeing in the economy now? >> well certainly a growing economy helps because if there are no incremental dollars, it's

hard to do new projects. certainly, a slightly improving economy with slightly larger budgets helps a lot. but cloud technologies aren't just about doing now things. it's also about doing things enterprises have been doing at a much lower cost. i think having the few dollars to invest is helpful. but it really is about trying to save money to be able to do more with basically a flat budget. >> you guys are taking on amazon jim. your strategy for that, in a nutshell? >> well i don't see us as taking on amazon. we are certainly providing tools and technologies that other cloud providers are using to take on amazon. but we're actually very good partners with amazon. we sell our products directly on amazon. in fact, our platform is a service offering which is, you know what are the most. popular platform offerings out there runs entirely on top of amazon. we see them as a great go to market partner, certainly our customers like the ability to buy our software and run it on

cloud. they've been a great route to market process for us. >> jim whitehurst ceo of red hat, which more today is green hat. >> great to be here. happy holidays you. >> you, too. >> the dow up 75 points. having a great day. having a great week in fact. the s&p 500 at 1820. a lot of people watched it jump above resistance levels and pointing to perhaps more room to run. >> white house doing another major about-face, this time allowing americans to purchase bare bone insurance policies if it was canceled their old ones. we'll hear from somebody who says the latest change will lead to tremendous instability and confusion in the marketplace. chuck vo: there's a saying around here you stand behind what you say. around here you don't make excuses. you make commitments. and when you can't live up to them, you own up, and make it right. some people think the kind of accountability

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welcome back. during his news conference last hour that you saw live here on cnbc, president obama announced a half million people have now signed up for insurance on healthcare.gov since the start of december. but the site was down again unexpectedly today and for people with canceled plans, there's another change. bertha coombs here to wrap up details for us today. >> a lot of headlines today. the president giving us real-time snapshot of enrollment during today's press conference something his administration has been reticent to do until now.

he says he expects well over a million people will be enrolled in exchange plans by year's end. >> i now have a couple million people, maybe more who are going to have health care on january 1st. and that is a big deal. that's why i ran for this office. >> a big deal yet that still would be about a million shy of the original estimates for enrollment in exchange plans december 31st. and the surge in usage is not going good. a glitch today put healthcare.gov to go down putting people in thequeueing system to hold their place in line. meantime, the president defended another policy change last night for people whose plans were canceled in the fall. extending a so-called hardship exemption from the individual mandate for those who cannot find an affordable plan giving

them the option to buy into low-cost catastrophic plan generally reserved for those under 30. the president said the change doesn't go to the core of the law and he calls it an additional safety net for those who may have slipped through the cracks. kelly? >> that's one way to put it. thank you, bertha. what does this change mean for obamacare going forward? >> let's talk about it with howard dean, former government of vermont, cnbc contributor. robert is vice president of strategic communications at americans health insurance plans, a trade association representing the health insurance industry. you were out very quickly last night after the change was announced saying this will be more disruptive to the industry than helpful, this latest change. why? >> well first off, thanks for having me on. what's happening is here we are, once again changing the rules in the ninth inning. that just creates confusion for consumers and kreepts uncertainty and challenges for companies trying to implement all of the new changes in the reform law that are going to be

taking place in just a few weeks. >> but what about the point the president made this is offering the opportunity for those who did lose their policies and can't find an affordable one to get coverage they need by the end of the year? >> we're taking people who would otherwise be going into the broader marketplace and letting them either opt out of coverage or be able to buy separate policies. and so that changes the rules. it changes all of the aassumptions that were made about premiums for the marketplace and ultimately that could mean that costs go up and premiums go up when we look to 2015. >> governor dean it's starting to feel like there are more opting out of this program than opting in, by the time you add up all the exemptions and grandfather clauses, and what have you. the key to the success of this law is having the biggest number of people involved to bring costs down for everyone. >> actually i think the key to the success of the law in the long run is to have as many people enrolled as possible and that's where they're getting to. this was a deal made with the white house, senate finance

committee and insurance i can stri. that's how this bill came about. it's stru uncertainty is not good for business and it's going to be rough. this is a marriage that was made. as i tell the ukrainian, you dance with a bear the bear may not let go. that's where the insurance industry is right now. we'll get through this but it's going to be a rough first year because of the unforeseen problems mostly having to do with the website. >> howard, come on. this is a rough start. the president, knowledged all the bad press and, you know, the glitches and things but this has been an embarrassment, hasn't it? >> i think it's been a rough start. i don't know if embarrassment is a subjective thing. this is not unexpected. i mean huge tech rollouts don't go well no matter what field they're in. and i think actually -- and as you know i was not terribly enamored of this approach but i think since we have this approach so far the insurance industry and the government's been working fairly well together to come through all this. and the insurance industry has played a very positive role in trying to make this work. yes, this is an unpleasant

surprise. i think it will give the insurance industry a rougher year -- first year than they think. but i still think in the long run it's a good deal for the shurngs industry, a good deal for the government we hope it's a good deal for the consumers. >> investors and analysts largely see it that way for the hospital industry. robert, i mean what is going to happen here heading into next year as hospitals are looking at people who -- and trying to figure out who they're egg able to cover, who they have to turn away. even 350e78 who they sign up in one state and they're in another part of the country, if they move, or just happen to be somewhere else walk us through how the insurance industry you think generally, is likely -- the hospitals likely are to respond here? >> you raise very good questions here. the reform law took a lot of steps to get millions of people into the health care system. that's a good thing. but what we haven't addressed is the underlying cost drivers

driving up health care costs, higher out of pocket costs for consumers and patients. unless we focus on the prices that are being charged by hospitals, by drug manufacturers, by device manufacturers, we're not going to be able to have a sustainable system. costs will still go up. we made a lot of progress but we still have more that we have to do. >> robert costs -- i mean, this is the banner year for costs. costs have been coming down generally speaking. what costs are you talking about? >> actually health care costs are still going up. they're just not going up as much as they were before but still going up faster than inflation, faster than gdp. they're still going up faster than our economy can sustain in the long run. >> there's a difference between anecdotal costs and statistical costs. an ection costs are going up -- >> well, there's no cost rationalization. the cost structure makes no sense. i agree with robert. until we get rid of fee for service, medicine will be no serious cost control.

i don't care what people talk about, how people talk about outcomes. >> we have to go. thank you. have a good weekend. merry christmas. >> thanks. >> just about 15 minutes left to go before the closing bell. looks like another banner week banner day for the indexes. dow adding 75 points. this will be another nominal record high, same for the s&p 500, facing some reweightings after the close. right now, up 11 points at 1820. >> riddle me this, blackberry loses 4.4$4.4 billion in the fourth quarter and the stock is sky high today. we'll see if it's time to hang up on the stock or if interim ceo john chen can dial up a turn-around for the smartphone maker. the american dream is of a better future, 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

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amazon.com crossing the $400 per share mark for the first time ever. the stock is up some 60% alone this year. and then there's textron, after "financial times" report it was close to buying bchltd eec beechcraft. >> we get ready for whatever fireworks we'll get for expirations coming up. sounds like an outlandish plot from an james bond movie. a u.s. air force general meeting russian beauties, drinking too much vodka with military secrets at stake. it's actually a spy game that's all true. [ female announcer ] thanks for financing my first car. thanks for giving me your smile. thanks for inspiring me. thanks for showing me my potential. for teaching

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with the market losing altitude, dow up 66 points with ten minutes left joining me david darst, wayne wilbanks, good to see you guys. david, tapering on one hand we've had a rally, and then the government tells us the economy grew 4% in the third quarter here. this plays into your forecast

for next year which you're very bullish on right now. >> we are, bill. we think the market can earn in 2015 $122.90 in gate for all 500 companies. you put 16.4 multiple on that which is one point higher than it is today, and that gives you 2014 2014. on the tapering number one, the market already priced it in. number two, $75 billion is almost as much as $85 billion. number three, it's december. the books have closed all right? so basically you -- the markets are going to focus not on much on quantitative easing as they are on forward guidance. are they going to keep interest rates low? we think they are. that will help the market lift. >> are you as bullish, wayne? >> i think what the investors have to start focus on is the tapering. we took out $10 billion. we're still growing this monster fed balance sheet with what will be then $4 .5 trillion by the

middle of this year. we think the party may get dampened when reality sets in of what the world looks like when they cut it to $20 or $30 billion. >> are you being cautious going into the year? >> i think you just need to be aware of where things like the 200-day moving average is. 10 12 13% above that average. make sure you're comfortable owning stocks if they drop 12 % or 15% in your portfolio. keep a khloeclose eye on your bond portfolio. >> you're still forecasting 2014 on the s&p? >> yes, 2014 -- >> even with tapering? >> even with tapering, bill. we would also basically as you know we are equal weight in the united states. we're underweight in emerging markets. we remain so. we're overweight bill in japan. we remain overweight in japan. >> even with the 53% gain this year? >> even with the 53% gain. we think the yen will continue to weaken.

we think abenomics, which is the restructuring, and we'll start to warm up to europe as you know. add a little to europe. we're overweight in europe now. >> got to go guys. thank you both. merry christmas. have a good weekend. we'll head back with the closing countdown. when we come back here we have this rebalancing and expiration coming up. also after the bill breaking up hard to do. don't tell that to one venture capitalist who is trying to break california into six separate states. could that really happen? would that actually benefit citizens of the golden state? we'll reveal your best tweets on that later on the "closing bell." find out why we're playing this game.

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announcer ] now the world is your trading floor. get real-time market scanning wherever you are with the mobile trader app. from td ameritrade. at its peak today the dow was up 110. we're losing altitude as we go to the close. bob pisani quickly, we have this expiration going on re -- all kinds of things happening right now. >> yeah. and the important thing is we've lost some altitude because there have been market on close orders starting to look a little more on the sell side. disney, for example s a good example. some to sell at the close and they sort of advertised that. the purpose of these market on close orders is to sort of indicate to the public that there are imbalances that attract people on the other side. if you have a lot to sell they advertise that and it atracks

people who were buyers. really, it's an opportunity for institutions to buy or sell big blocks of stock at the close. let me give you an example here, bill. exxonmobil's here pfizer trades right here. these two stocks are seeing reductions in the s&p 500. their share counts are going down. there will be stock to sell towards the close. everybody knows that so they're trying to attract buyers. exxon is down a little bit, about two-thirds of a percent. 10 15 years ago there would be a lot of gaming going on where they would try to sell to the people who are getting rid of the exxon stock, or having to move out of the index, lower the amount of stock in the index. that's kind of gotten smoothed out. they figured out ways index people so they don't get taken of advantage of. there's exxon slightly to the down side. pfizer. we want to keep an eye on a couple other stocks. apple is having a big rebalancing. share count reduced. several going into the s&p.

facebook is another one that will be going in. they'll be very, very large volume in the -- in facebook. that secondary announcement yesterday that was the whole point of this thing s to balance off that amount going in with the secondary offerings. gm also, bill, will have stock to buy. it's going -- it's having its weighting in the s&p 500 increased right now. you can walk around here -- go ahead, bill. >> if we were talking futures i would say a stock like face facebook was in fast market conditions. i'm watching it trade on my computer right now. it's incredibly fast. i'm sure the volume is skyrocketing, just using that as an example of one stock moving in and those institutions that will have to own that stock now that it's a member of the s&p 500. that's happening over and over right now. >> the volume is picking up. all of this happens toward the close because most of the -- the people are indexed in this want the final print. so, what these guys are doing, this is greg here you can see what they're doing here. they have orders here for people to buy and sell here.

you can see them moving right back -- we just did a billion shares down on the floor, bill. that's a big number. >> haven't done that in a while. that will do it for the first hour. if i don't see you next week have a merry christmas, great week and start that christmas shopping. here's the second hour of the "closing bell" with kelly evans. >> thank you very much bill. it is another historic day down here on wall street. the dow, the s&p 500 closing at record highs. welcome to the "closing bell" on this friday. i'm kelly evans. here's how we're finishing the day. finishing the week in fact an incredible week for these indexes. the dow jones industrial average sinking a little into the close here adding 70 points on -- or about 60 points on the day. that's less than half a percent. 16,239, write it down, your new closing high. same goes for the s&p 500, up about half of 1% to 1819. a lot of people looking at resistance in the 1817 level. nasdaq closing above the 4100

mark adding more than 1% on this day. let's get straight to it with today's panel. we've got our very own mary thompson and robert frank, andrew stoltman and dennis gartman, founder of the gartman letter. thank you for being here. >> nice to be here. >> mr. gartman, what did you learn today? >> i learned that the bull market continues. i learned that it's not going to stop. i learned that liquidity continues to be force fed into the system a little less than previously, but the market's moving from the lower left to the upper right. i'm listening to the volume in that last five minutes. pretty impressive here at the last day before the holidays. >> it certainly is. i've got to tell you, i've been down here for months. i don't think i've seen the board print something like 1.2 billion shares just about. there's a lot going on today. quadruple witching at the open we had -- we had expirations i should say, for index options. at the close for a lot of single names. that's the volatility bill was referring to and bearing some. names like facebook. mary thompson what jumps out at

you here? >> again, record close. i think we're seeing the markets really respond positively to the news from the fed this week. a continuation of the rally we saw post-wednesday's meeting. something that basically sets the stage for 2014 when investors are looking ahead to still decent earnings growth for corporate america where profits are already at record highs. >> robert frank, if you talk about the wealth effect from this market even before today, even before this week just through the third quarter, we were seeing -- the u.s. was basically adding the size of the chinese economy in terms of wealth this year based on the equity performance alone. >> $3.3 trillion in added market value. now, it's also interesting, just a few hours ago we had news. the most expensive property sold this year in the hamptons was $75 million. now, this is a profit that was listed for $48 million. sold for $75 million because they added on some acreage. the point is no coincidence we have markets at a high hamptons

property for $75 million. from where i sit we have too much capital. >> is it too much capital in few few hands? will that be a drag? too much meaning in the hands of a certain part of the population that spends it on certain things. we talking earlier, what does this mean for mcdonald's, dollar general sales, what does it mean for sales of walmart. >> i was encouraged this week. this could be a turning point for me in this dual side. this was a recovery for the rich. you're looking at housing, looking at cars, all these other broader sectors starting to do well. now that the taper started, we can stop using that as an excuse subsidizing the wealthy. i hope for next year this will broaden out, we'll see more people participate in this. >> dennis is this priming the pump effectively? is it jump starting the -- i mean let me quote ray in the journal earlier this week he said, the fed doesn't have a choice. they have to create a bubble here. in other words, to prime the pump and hope those gains have

been more evenly distribute add cross the economy. >> well clearly they would have wished to see those gains be distributed a little bit better. eventually, they shall. that's what we do here in the united states. we will see over the course of the next several years as unemployment rates decline, per capita incomes increase that the fifth, fourth and third quaurtiles of the economy in incomes would go up. it would be stunning in it didn't happen that way. yes, the pump has been primed. better than having a pump unprimed. >> this is the point to some extent, which is, you know is this a better outcome than if we hadn't had this kind of whacky distribution of wealth from the get go in perhaps it will even out? andrew, some thoughts here sir? >> i don't know. i don't mean to be a debbie downer but i seem to be the only one that looks at the situation and says, there's still a lot of roadblocks out there. a lot of things that could go wrong. it seems like the best possible

outcome is baked into the share price. and now we have all these pundits coming out and saying gee, 2014 is going to be great. those same pundits at the beginning of last year said this is going to be a year where markets were up 5% to 10%, maybe. i think it's a cracked crystal ball. maybe i'm not quite as bullish as everybody else. >> tell us what are things you'll be watching in 2014? what are your concerns? >> look you know i want to see -- i want to see the market broaden out a little bit. i want to see -- i want to see the retail investors getting back into this market and sharing in these gains. because right now, it's a little disconcerting disconcerting, people that lost money in 20008 are still on the sidelines. i want to see them get back into the market so we can see more people enjoy these gains. >> this caught my attention today as well. just because of the timing. the juxtaposition of it the russ rasmussen poll half of those

said they believe the country is in a recession. >> let's remember, when we talk about broader market participation, that's so important. 10% of the american population owns 80% of the stocks. you look at the same thing, if you look at deposits financial assets. so this has been most of the wealth created in this recovery is in financial assets and most of the financial assets are owned by a small group of people. so, we really need housing, which is most people's wealth comes from housing and their jobs. those are two things that have to get better next year before this can broaden out. >> the housing piece starting to move the right way. dennis, yesterday on the program we talked to bill mueller of leg mason and he was saying he likes the home builders because we haven't had a great year. if you get in a situation in 2014 where rates are rising and prices are rising people will feel like, i have to and i want to acted now in this space. >> kelly, i think that's exactly right. i'm always amused by the number of people who say that a 50 baste base point increase from

these low levels in mortgage rates will shut the mortgage market off. that's not true. a 50-basis increase in mortgage rates will bring people off the sidelines who have been awaiting the chance or reason to come up and buy. they will do so next year. housing starts are finally above a million. you have to remember only seven, eight years ago we had housing starts at 2 million. much more normal for united states to have housing starts at 1.4, 1.5 million. we'll get there over the next several years. people will start buying houses. we'll create new families. i told somebody said we need to see the divorce rate go back up so we can create more houses. >> you don't -- >> divorces among wealthy go up during peak market times. so, this could be your chance. >> no people, give it a chance. come on stay together. >> i want to say something about the housing market. my concern is do the people who have been sitting on the

sidelines, have they been able to save up enough money they need for the down payment? it's harder to get a loan right now. so a lot of people who have the money, they probably already bought in. the question is, are the people people -- are those people who have sat out over the last five years, do they have the money saved? can they get the loans? >> it all comes back to one thing. if there's a theme right now for the u.s. economy, it's the missing piece is higher wages. that sort of sustainable wage price upward spiral that will potentially make 2014 a real year of transition, kind of the breakout year, the gear year if you will. if we don't get there, there's no reason these inflation indexes will move higher. dennis, by the way, i mean what is the trade in that environment n a still low inflation 2014 environment, if that's what you foresee? >> i'm going to continue to say the same thing i've said for months and months and months. i want to own simple things. i want to own copper. i want to own aluminum. i want to own railroads. i want to own ships. i want to own the things incumbent in long term slow

laborious, economic growth and i think that's what we'll get. i'm just -- i'm an old dog and i don't learn new tricks very well. i don't understand high tech. but i can count copper usage. i can see ships being moved. leaving here on hampton roads, third largest port on the east coast, we're seeing a lot 6 of ships moving in and out of the ports. and you see that in baltic freight index. those are the things i want to buy. >> andrew a couple points where it's actually the legal profession which is suffering right now. there's law school enrollment down, earnings haven't been that great. i just saw today thompson reuters investment on investment banking. mergers and acquisition, fees are down lowest level since 2005. where does that leave the industry? >> i think that's a bad sign. i wish i could short the legal profession. yeah, it's really going to be

hard going forward. i think law school admissions are down something like 11% or 12%. it's a tough industry and only going to get tough aerz this year goes on. >> i think unless you're a lawyer who's focused on the financial industry right, andrew? i mean if you look at the volcker rule it's 1,000 pages. that means a lot of lawyers are needed to interpret it and make sure they're -- >> try interpreting dodd/frank. >> even so, if you're not doing m&a now, if it's not happening right now in this market that is a broader structural shift i think we really need to figure out because this should be the time when we should have had big m&a. lawyers should be raking it in. this should be a huge bonus year. it's not happening. that tells to me something bigger is going on. >> thanks, guys. we'll take a quick break. more on the market's record breaking week is coming up. we'll go live to the nasdaq for a check of the movers. see which tech stocks blew it out of the park and which ones

just blew it. it's not exactly the hunger games but perhaps just as fierce. who will come out ahead in next year's board games? we'll tell you how boards plan to deal with agitators in the new year. keep it right here. ) at scottrade, our clients are always learning more to make their money do more. (ann) to help me plan my next move i take scottrade's free, in-branch seminars... plus, their live webinars. i use daily market commentary to improve my strategy. and my local scottrade office guides my learning every step of the way. because they know i don't trade like everybody. i trade like me. i'm with scottrade. (announcer) ranked highest in investor satisfaction with self-directed services by j.d. power and associates. my customers can shop around. but it doesn't usually work that way with health care. with unitedhealthcare, i get information on quality rated doctors, treatment options and cost estimates so we can make better health decisions. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. ♪ i want to spread a little love this year ♪ [ male announcer ]

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. welcome back. well all told, huge volume at the close today. a banner week for stocks. the dow, s&p 500 finishing at record highs. the nasdaq best performer today and hitting another 13-year high. sheila covering all the nasdaq -- all the action from the nasdaq today. sheila what were the big movers? >> i want to talk about volume. it's a theme we've been talking a lot about today. the nasdaq 100 is getting rebalanced. we saw nearly 3 billion shares trade, highest level since june. the risk-on mentality here on in full force. take a look at momentum sectors. biotech having a great day. up nearly 2%. companies like reagain ron. momentum stocks we love to talk about, baidu netflix. amazon crossing the $400 and google over $1100 a share. a manufacturing company,

fastenal, downgrading fourth quarter. i want to end on a surprising winner at the nasdaq, and that's blackberry. shooting up over 13%. here's a company that actually reported a wider than expected loss, has definitely had a lot of issues competitively keeping up with the smartphone wars. at end of the day, the company said, look we have more cash than we expected. we have a new manufacturing deal with fox com and john chen having comments. >> khloe close up 15%. early other "squawk on the street" jon fortt sat down with interim blackberry ceo john chen. >> in the past couple of years, the issue that the enterprise customer has with us is a clear direction and financial stability. i think i could lay out a road map to show we are managing that. i think the market needs blackberry to do well.

>> interesting way to put things. with us to dig deeper into blackberry, mark from rbc capital markets. thanks for being here. >> good to see you. >> in a word what do you think the 15% bounce today is all about? >> it's a little short covering but i think at the same time investors for a company that's been through quint of pain want to give john new ceo, benefit of the doubt. that's a clear change from what we saw before. >> we've been talking about the companies last year at this time best buy, beaten down turn around and one of the best performers of 2013. can blackberry be that kind of company for 2014? if so what will it take? >> i think it's still very competitive out there, fighting against apple, fighting against android and samsung. i think what's really constructive, however, is the company is saying look we can't be all things to everyone. the prior management team was torpedos, full speed ahead,

we'll get a new device and conquer the world. this new management team is taking a more pragmatic approach. we want a sense of what they're going to do but they're exiting some hardware assets because that's not the core competency. >> early we were talking to krak crackberry.com. is this a shift away from emphasizing the hardware? >> i think they'll continue with the hardware but they're taking that -- what is a liability on their balance sheet and shifting it to somebody else. foxconn, makes devices and does it very well. blackberry should work on software differentiation. >> it also looks like investors here just like john chen.

grade his performance as interim ceo here and what does this mean as the company's management will remain in transition? >> i think john is very open. he's -- the investors we talked to they feel he's very candid. nothing is very scripted. i think he really wants to fix the organization. he's bringing some new energy. we'll see him in a couple weeks. we would love to sit down and see if things can turn around. but the people -- investors, want to give him the benefit of the doubt. >> certainly do. 15% bounce today. by the way, mark what's your price target on this company? do you have a buy recommendation here? >> we have had an underperform. it's been a stock that's trended lower for the past five years. and a price target is around $6. but we'll take a fresh look in the new year when we sit down with john. >> with fresh eyes. thank you so much mark sue at rbc. it's been a challenging year for corporate boards. you won't be bored by what our panel has to say about corporate maneuvers coming up in 2014. jingle bells or jingle

nightmares? how about retailers fare on this super saturday? it is the last weekend before christmas, one of the most important shopping weekends of the year and one of wall street's top retail pros will give us her take.

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expiration for indexes in the morning. for single name stocks at the close. there's a lot of shouting in the last couple minutes, parago pharmaceutical struggling. and total volume approaching the $2 billion -- excuse me i'm sorry, 2 billion level today on this friday. 1 billion right at the close, as art cashin was saying earlier. nevertheless indexes moving higher. generally as they have on these kinds of days. corporate boards under pressure all year from activist investors looking to shake things up. in silicon valley the heat is on to build more diversity in boardrooms. josh lipton has a look at what's happening over there. >> it's interesting just as someone who was born and raised in the bay area i know there is said to be a value placed on innovation and inclusion but a lot of times when you look at the boardrooms in tech companies through silicon valley, you often -- you don't see boards that really seem to represent their company or their customers, their country. can you look at apple, for example, or yahoo!.

we're not picking on these two companies because it's broader. tim cook has talked about diversion. it's a question a lot of corporate governance experts are asking about what sort of explains that trend in silicon valley? why is it happening? and also what can be done to address it. >> josh thanks. i want to get our panel's thoughts on this. andrew, you're calling this offensive and problematic. >> yeah you know, it is. you look at the board of directors of a lot of the silicon valley companies. they're about as white as a ken yl kenny g concert in minneapolis. a lot of these companies have a stone age mentality. it's problematic. if you look at the numbers, only 9% of the boards of silicon valley companies are women versus 90% for all other companies. it seems like these companies are stuck in the stone age and it's extremely offensive. >> i have to say, you know 9%

is bad. 19% doesn't sound that much better. there's still a lot of companies out there who actually have no women on their boards in the energy space and also in the casino space as well. las vegas sands just being one of them. i was on a panel recently. one of the reasons there's concerns there aren't more women -- or one of the efforts to drive more women onto the boards is to reach below -- the excuse is there haven't been enough women ceos. as a solution, a number of people are saying let's look a level below. is there anyone who runs a major -- you know a part of a major corporation who would bring valuable insights to any board. that's a trend we should be keeping watch on. >> europe has been quite proactive on this front. they instituted quotas and mandates for threshold of females to be involved. mary i can ask you, what do you think? is it because there's a supply problem or a demand problem? what seems to be the reason rye there's not more participation on these boards? >> i would say it's certainly a supply problem, not a demand

problem, because any board would say they'd want more diversity on there. now, whether or not it's just lip service or they pay attention to it you ask anyone involved in any corporate board searches they say, yes, they want them. the problem is when they define the criteria the criteria are too narrow. it's only these females who have been ceos or although a certain level. what they're trying to do is focus some boards on looking below that level so they can find a deeper pool of candidates. >> josh, it's interesting when twitter was looking for female on the board some of the names that came up, i'm trying to recall there were diplomats, hillary clinton was mentioned, and they think, are those the only kind of people they think of? >> the why is an important question. i was talking to jeff sonnenfeld at yale who's done a lot of work and research and thought deeply about these issues. when it comes to silicon valley i asked him his thesis his perspective. he thought part of the problem was actually a lot of people in

this area define themselves as politically perspective so you get trapped in a style of thinking where you don't think you even have to consider these issues when of course everybody here is trapped by the same biases as everybody else. >> robert explain that for a second. >> that's such an important point. when you look at top leaders in silicon valley they're very politically liberal. they are in their philanthropy do a lot for women. and i think in their minds, they are always helping women and they don't really see that right in their backyard where maybe they could do the most in their companies, they're not doing enough. so, i think -- you know it's an important point. they're blinded by how much they do in their personal lives and philanthropy and they don't see how many customers and employees are women and how important that is. >> dennis is it forgivable if this, in other words, is a blind spot because it's not thought of as a women issue at all? it's happened -- it's almost happened accidentally or am i putting it too lightly? >> i'm the old guy here. i can toll you that over the

course of the last 35 years, the populations in the mba programs have changed dramatically. when i first came along there were maybe in a class of 150 people, there might have been two women. now there's 50% women. that game has changed dramatically. in the next three or four years you're going to see a huge crop of women who have come up through the ranks, finished their mbas finished law school been in the workforce for 20 years who have done their yeomen's work and be appointed. you have betsy duke you don't think she'll be appointed to a number of boards? you have sandy from the fed cleveland -- >> and a woman running the federal reserve, too. mary? >> yes, most certainly. janet yellen. the other thing i want to point out is why is silicon valley different from any other corporation or segment of corporate america that has been criticized before? if it is a group of people who are your peers, if you were looking at people who look the

same as you, maybe your first instinct is just to bring them onto the board because they're the ones you trust and the ones you talk to. >> last word josh. >> well, i think -- listen the bottom line i was -- in addition to sonnenfeld i talked to a fellow at sanford law. at the end of the day he says one, it has to be thought of awareness. you have to agree there is an issue that needs to be addressed. he thought ultimately, it's up to shareholders a lot of times at companies to move the ball forward and decide for themselves where they think it's an issue that has to be addressed going forward. >> dennis did you want to say something there? real quick. afternoon drew, sorry. >> what i was going to say, silicon valley has a free pass for very very long. very little publicity on this issue and it's problematic. you can't implement policies to protect my neerts and women unless you have them on the board of directors. i think it's unfortunate they haven't come into the modern age yet. >> they will. >> we'll see if this changes things. wishful thinking, dennis. it's the time of year

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welcome back. this is the last opportunity for procrastinate hes, myself included, to get christmas shopping down. how will sales fare on super saturday after the last scare for shop arers, including the data breach at target. curiously, you think here -- i mean is this super saturday going to be different from super saturdays past? >> well i think the retail industry has been trying to create these gimmicks that are these often fabricated sale days for the last few years. and i think that really what happens is that it gives an opportunity to market a new level of promotional activity. but the truth is is that other than deeper discounts, there's probably at this point not a whole lot that's going to drive more than what's been in the past. the retail sales, i think in stores. go ahead kelly. >> i was just going to say super saturday, i thought, was one of the more organic days.

in other words, it's not a black friday, not a cyber monday and all these named events. it's a day when people out of desperation have to get to the mall and don't necessarily get the best deals because stores know they're under some pressure. >> yeah but i think that what's interesting about this year is that it was a shorter holiday season and there was more pressure to make up the sales, which really haven't happened as much in the bricks and mortar stores because not only of the shorter season but more customers have been shopping online. that's probably been the single biggest factor that has been affecting the physical store sales. the web has taken a significant amount of share. this is the time that people -- that web retailers pick up share is during q4 because it is often such a frustrating experience to go to the physical store. that's what i'd be looking for, is which retailers are going to be able to capture that web share, that are going to be able to at least have decent web comp so that even if their store

comps aren't as strong it's still a good story. >> is that partly why you like macy's? who else might benefit? >> the department stores have actually been doing pretty well. macy's nordstrom. i would even say best buy's come back in a significant way. they've really really -- their entire ad campaign this holiday season was focused on omni channel. it's okay to bring in your mobile phone to the store, it's okay to shop online. i think those are some of the retailers that i expect to have decent comps this year. >> that's a great point about best buy. i walked by one earlier today that had a big sign in the window saying, you know make this your showroom of the year or something like that. in other words, promoting the fact they're he a showroom and embracing it. >> exactly. >> that seems to be a winning strategy for them. i wanted to ask you about a store making the rounds. google mail gmail, famously changed the way it handles incoming messages to divert

sponsored messages to folders and retailers complaining saying shoppers haven't seen the offering because they haven't seen it come through the inbox. do you think google might be the grinch that stole christmas? >> in the earlier part of the season i think that's what we saw, that e-mail volume was soft in november. but what we saw is during key promotional dates, consumers were actively going to their e-mail inboxes and e-mail particularly for instance i was tracking this on cyber monday. i was looking specifically that see if there was a drop-off on e-mail but e-mail was as strong as ever before. i'm not persuaded that google is the bad guy here. >> to the point about bricks and mortars, around new york last weekend, store traffic waent that huge. it didn't feel overwhelming like it often can. obviously, we'll see what's in store this weekend. i guess what you're saying is that don't count bricks and mortars out entirely but find plays that have a strong web presence to make up for it.

>> yeah. i think that's really it. now, i mean this saturday and sunday should definitely be strong because typically the saturday before a christmas, typically a christmas that falls on a wook day is going to be one of the strongest days, fnt the strong strongest day of the season. usually those weekend days spike. it's been harder and harder as stores have been increasing the amount of hours they're even open. you have huge marathons from toys "r" us and kohl's when they're open all night. when you spread over that shopping over a 24 or 48-hour period, what ends up happening is you won't see the huge lines and the huge queues, which is good for making a more pleasant shopping experience. >> just a last question on this target data breach which has a lot of people thrown off. that happened in the store. it wasn't online. do you expect any reverberations? >> well, i think it -- a lot of it remains to be seen. i think a significant part of it is how target handles it and whether or not they can identify what was the cause of the breach

and quickly make sure that any customer dissatisfaction is quickly addressed. this is an opportunity for them to maintain the faith they have in their customers. and, you know hopefully this is something that they're not going to, you know take lightly. >> right. appreciate the perspective. we'll see how the stores do this weekend. have a good one. >> absolutely. thank you. >> if you want to know what's clicking on our website, speaking of dotcom the "hot list" is coming up next. fact following fiction. get a load of this one. air force general going on a bender with two women in moscow without any security clearance. he's now out of a job. no surprise on that one. eamon javers has the incredible story coming up. . they always will. that's why you take charge of your future. your retirement. ♪ ♪ ameriprise advisors can help you like they've helped millions of others. listening, planning, working one on one. to help you retire

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welcome back. we're coming right up to christmas. what's firing up our website? christina -- i am so sorry. cnbc.com retail reporter with the lowdown. what can you tell us? >> so we have a couple big stories right now. first up is one that's been doing well all day. by diana olick. she's talking about how bank-owned homes is surging. saw increase in november because home prices have been increasing. as a result, banks are trying to unload these properties. get rid of them at a quicker rate than usual 37. next up is a story from the new

york times talking about how paying with plastic could cost you more. the most recent one involved american express. end result could be you go to your local retailer local coffee shop. if you pay with a credit card you could pay more than if you used cash or debit. people are reading that at about 60 clicks a minute. and last up on our list is a piece of commentary from our frequent contribute iror carol roth. >> friend of "closing bell.." >> today she's talking about how no matter what your skills are, no matter your education, nobody owes you a job. people have been diving into it all day. people always want to hear what she has to say. today is no different. >> and i think we're heading into an area of more transparency on credit card pricing stuff. thanks. have a great weekend. >> you, too. two stories -- one involving a u.s. air force general getting fired for getting drunk and carrying during a trip to

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in t welcome back. the spy who came in from the cold two best selling spy novels but nothing on the tale

involving u.s. air force general michael carey. eamon javers looking into this head-spinning story. >> look this is one of the most surprising stories of the day. broken by "the washington post" in full detail this morning. major general carey relieved of command of the 21st united of air force, overseeing icbms nuclear missiles over an incident in the summer when he went on a multiday drinking binge, allegedly on official trip to russia. during that binge he apparently met several attractive young ladies at a facility where he was staying, red square and squired them to a number of parties until 5 a.m. this obvious erratic behavior for a nuclear forces general, he was relieved of command. his deep concern about russians using young women, alcohol to

ply secrets out of u.s. military officers and to put himself in that position is one of the most head-scratching things going on in washington today. people trying to figure out, how did that happen. >> this is a general who had a hand on the nuclear arsenal. >> yeah, absolutely. there's nothing more serious than the responsibilities that he and his men and women in uniform have to keep those weapons safe and secure. the idea that he was carousing around russia is something people in the capitol here are astonished by. even the major general himself, when he was asked by air force investigators looking into this incident later, he said he acknowledged there was maybe some suspicious possible ulterior motive by some of these young ladies. one of whom he met at a tobacco store. he ltsd,said, yes, in retrospect a tobacco store girl asking me about physics in the wee hours of the morning might be suspicious. >> yeah, a little bit. eamon, thanks very much for bringing us that story. it is quite troubling.

another tale involving russia in the meantime, once russia's richest man was released from prison by the same person who landed him there in the first place. none other of course than vladimir putin. michele caruso cabrera joins us with details on this. a face-saving move ahead of the olympics or more to it? >> that's what a lot of people think at this point, yes. he was landed in germany erlder today. a picture tweeted out by his son, showing him being greeted by germans on the tarmac. he had been in a siberian prison for ten years. the reason he is there is because he crossed putin. he was officially charged with tax evasionle and financial crimes, however many believe the reason he really ended up in prison is that he funded the opposition against putin and even considered running against putin. i spoke with bill browder earlier today he runs a hedge fund that used to be the largest

investor in russia until russian officials seized his assets and the lawyer who prosecuted the case died in prison in less than a year due to lack of medical care. he has the same assessment about what happened here. he thinks this is putin being self-serving. >> it's all about pr before the olympics. putin is humiliated because obama isn't coming german president is not coming belgian president is not coming. putin wants to have good news about his human rights record. >> they say it's a real embarrassment for putin day after day some leader in the world says they're not coming because of the issues minorities face in russia. >> you will covering sochi, correct? >> yes. we're watching to see if there are protests. the athletes by the way, are prohibiting from protesting. >> that's right. isn't there a media crackdown at the same time happening? >> we've seen a lot of journalists covering the environmental devastation happening around sochi has they've done the construction, have been imprisoned or

attacked. those stories coming across from the associated press in recent days and human rights watchers swrl have noted there are issues with the press in russia. >> stay with us if you will. i want to get some thoughts from the panel on this. robert frank i mean i guess soft power -- >> not soft. look i think the reason the khodorkovsky story is so important for the u.s. is we have so much money coming from the wealthy in china and russia. the rich in china and russia are afraid what happened to him could happen to them at any minute. chinese and russian officials could take their money and their stuff at any moment. that is why the russians and cli niece are buying apartments in new york islands across the world. >> diamonds by the way. >> diamonds, swiss bank accounts. i think khodorkovsky is exhibit a why wealthy overseas are

stashing their money so they have something. >> or in left. >> mary? >> or in bitcoin. >> you can understand to some extent why china is more aggressive on something like a bitcoin than the u.s., which is taking a friendly open minded approach. they have real concerns about capital controls, in that country. >> yes. obviously, they do. i have arguments against bitcoin that can go on forever. but i think that clearly this incident circumstance is nothing more than pr. and as robert said it's a clear attempt to quell the movement of cash out of russia and even the numbers of people moving out of russia. i'm surprised it's taken this long to have freed him but with the olympics coming up putin, a very smart man, a very adept political advisor, made a smart move, long overdue. >> to robert's point, a lot of investors or former investors in russia, say there's a reason why

the multiple on the russian stock exchange is only somewhere between 4.5 and 6, in theory it's an advanced industrial country. because people are terrified of the corporate governance there. >> when people are looking to 2014 talking about how they like emerging market stories but are worried about deficit countries, i mean the way for example oil goes has so much to do with the fortunes of a lot of countries. and a lot of them are in real trouble, if prices don't rebound. >> oh, absolutely. russia watches the wti and futures more closely than do i. they pay very close attention to it, their entire -- the economy depends on crude oil, wti remaining above $95 a barrel. and if we have -- if we continue to do what we have been doing properly in the united states with fracking and are able to push crude oil prices down it puts pressure on putin and the russian regime. >> yes. and drew? >> i think putin at this point

has credibility of miley cyrus, take a look at how bad it is in terms of what's going on take a look at why would anybody even invest in russia at this point given what we know about the economy? >> i would argue, he has the same influence as miley cyrus, if you look at what's happening in the ukraine. if you look at what's happening in syria. i mean this is a man who projected his influence in a remarkable way. he's punching well above his economic weight. >> well, sure. i mean take a look at from the adoption issue last year to the issues related to the anti-gay laws coming up with respect to the olympics he has zero credibility. the investment community is decimated in terms of being an investment opportunity. he has done more damage to that country in ten years, than probably the 50 years before that. >> michelle? >> that says a lot. >> kelly, last week the head of one of the wealth funds who defended putin endlessly to say he brought stability there. but stability as a tradeoff for

what? do you accept all these other things for stability? >> exactly. all right. i think it's gone from bricks thanks, guys. i appreciate it. have a good one. tim draper wants to polit california into six separate states. is it a crazy idea or a long overdue move? you've been tweeting your thoughts about this one, we'll show responses coming up next.

[ bagpipes and drums playing over ] [ music transitions to rock ]

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welcome back. we asked you to tweet your thoughts on the idea of california being split into six states. here are some of our favorite responses. first, split california into six states? how about three, southern central and northern. why go crazy with six. or break up california into three states disney monsanto and google give residents shares and corporate board in charge of state government. and jeff tweeting if california splits into six parts can jane wells be governor of one of them? but no kardashians. i think jane wells would accept. it's an interesting proposition, you know what it comes down to actually silicon valley almost saying we're in the best position financially best position we have all the -- to the rest of you guys you're weighing us down. >> i think silicon valley should split off and call itself what

it is rich-astan. >> same thing for new york city to some extent. because of all the money -- >> you never really hear that here, anything about splitting off new york city. why is that? i mean is it just the case where people in california, have more of a sense of being different from -- >> -- creating a technical utopia, which would essentially be in this area. >> that's what the google barge is for. >> kelly, i don't remember silicon valley saying that in 2001 and 2002 when they were in the depths of the recession, now that times are great they're saying let us leave and be our own kingdom. that doesn't pass the test. >> well, it's still an interesting proposal. and this is tim drape whore puts out big ideas and backs it up with serious money. he says maybe it would make sense, california is after all has a massive population has only two senators. it kind of goes its own way.

and yet if they want to exercise autonomy, in certain regions, it's not just about silicon valley maybe the southern or eastern parts of the state feel differently about the direction silicon valley is headed. dennis. >> of course. of course they would love to split up and send 12 senators to the washington and the same number of representatives. but get 12 senators out of it. ain't going to happen. it's never going to happen. none of the other smaller states would ever allow that to happen. so it's a great idea. i understand why they are talking about it. not going to happen kelly. >> all right. andrew. >> more craziness from california. what can we say? i mean, those are the sort of ideas that they have out there. it's not going to happen. it's just not worth pursuing. >> i do think to a large extent it tells you about the mind set. and when you talk to people out in the valley, it's very interesting, the way that they -- when they are talking about real estate prices for example, or how the economy is

doing. i mean, it's almost -- >> it's another world and part of the reason california works, is that world subsidizes so much of the rest of california. and i think, you know once you take a one piece of it out, economically, california starts to fall apart. and what's amazing, when you look at the tax base of california, what a small group, and geographically small group sustains that entire state. so i think economically the whole place would fall apart, if you broke out one piece. >> it is a little reminiscent of the debate happening across spain. anyway, we should mention here before we go of course we had a major day on wall street. both in terms of volume because of some of the options expiration that was happening, but also in terms of index performance. we're coming off the week heading into the final trading days of the year. the dow, 42 today. puts it at 16,221. fresh high same for the s & p 500 at 1818. and that nasdaq not back where it was in 2000. a big thank to you the panel for joining us all here on this friday afternoon.

have a great weekend, guys. fast money coming up in just a few seconds. melissa lee. >> hi there, kelly. airlines hot this year spirit airlines in particular up 157%. 2/5 of revenues comes from fees, we'll talk to the ceo of spirit ahead of this big holiday travel weekend. >> i want to know if more people are shipping luggage instead of checking it, because of those fees. >> you will be charged, kelly. be forewarned. you will be charged. thanks kelly. fast money starts right now live from the nasdaq market site in new york city's times square here's tonight's lineup. what could end the rally? markets powering higher today strong gdp report. taper is here. we have a budget deal. tesla, on the move. we got the details on the electric car maker's new plan to take on auto dealerships. and investing in bitcoin, one of ou