buy 51% stake in either barnes & noble inc. or the nook digital and device business. that really is the story. it will be interesting to see how barnes & noble responds. a few other winners, intuit coming out with better earnings and safeway continues to march higher. >> great to be with you this week. that does it for this edition of "power lunch." i have been trying out my fencing. thanks to the columbia team. "street signs" begins right now. good afternoon. welcome to "street signs." i'm melissa lee. let's see where we stand right now. looks like a flat line across the board except for some pretty big moves by particular sectors. housing stocks for one, up more than 1% and biotechs hitting a new high in today's session. i'm also with simon hobbs. >> ahead in the next 60 minutes, we bring you the very latest from the ukraine. as you just heard, obama is now talking by phone to putin after a big deal is signed by the government and protesters but

will it stick? we have an on the ground report for you from kiev. plus, is the u.s. economy headed for a giant iceberg? our series on frozenomics continues. of course, the main host of this program, brian sullivan, will be live in sochi with all the latest olympic action. let's take a look once again at the markets, because we are seeing it is deceptive when you take a look, we are a fraction of a percent higher pretty much across the board. but we are seeing some pretty big moves by individual stocks in today's session. i mentioned biotechs. if you take a look at the index that tracks biotech stocks, that hit a new high. this has been a performer so far this year. also in 2013, continuing to be strong for the year here. ivb along with xpi, all the biotechs doing pretty well. >> in addition to that, you have the expiration, some expirations this afternoon which may bring your volumes up and cause chaos in the last couple hours. >> let's talk more about the markets here, bring in federated

investors linda dissell and john tuohy from usaa. linda, i will start it off with you. we had jitters about emerging markets and we also have protests that people are watching in venezuela as well as in kiev. you are bullish the markets. you don't think there's risk of contagion? >> well, no one knows for sure if contagion will occur. you know when we had that correction back in january, that was the concern, would it really hit china. we said to our clients we are really bullish on the fundamentals of the usa and are we going to worry about something, one will be sales in usa and one will be china. we must be vigilant and watch but while we do, the fundamentals look very, very good. as you can see as the weeks have passed t market has made up all the ground it lost and is challenging the old highs. >> at this point with the s&p 500 having posted a strong 2013, are you more favored towards the emerging markets or the u.s.?

>> well, we like the emerging markets better certainly in the long run. in the short run, we would admit there are some risks, particularly geopolitical and for some of the countries that have current account deficits. we certainly think the u.s. market could creep higher. our big concern is in the intermediate term. the economy looks to improving but we just have not seen that organic revenue growth that we would like to see to sustain the bull market. >> it's interesting, isn't it, we seem to be in a period at the moment where we are kind of in a whiteout, because of the weather. the big question for many people remains the economy. we simply don't know where we are. we don't know whether the effects, whether weak data is permanent, whether there will be a bounce back. what is your judgment on the underlying state of the economic rebound on which so much depends not least what the federal reserve does? >> well, first, i would agree with you on the comment about the weather. because typically, you can discount the weather, but the weather has been severe and it

has drifted very far south and the frequency and intensity of the storms, that certainly says that economic activity has been impeded. but what happens over the intermediate term, we think there's an acceleration but we are just looking for a few more signs. we saw some of the surveys of economic activity picking up before the cold weather hit and we saw the labor market improving, which is a great, great sign. but this weather has been a bit of a challenge. it mangles the economic data. we are just in wait and see mode. >> linda, we now have of course the dust settling on the earnings season which in many senses is kind of central to where you think the stock market should be and the multiples at which it should trade. what did you think of earnings season? what do you think of the prospects for earnings at the s&p 500 for the rest of 2014? >> well, we are bullish on that, on earnings, as we go forward,

because we are in the camp that says the economy will accelerate and what john said i absolutely agree with. i said what are the two things we at federated investors are concerned about, one is china and the other is sales growth in corporate america which we believe that we will get because we see the pent-up demand. i am firsthand evidence that the polar vortex keeps us really stuck wherever we are. i have been stuck, i'm telling you, as a person who travels, for the last few weeks. history shows when the thaw comes, we are dying to get out there and go shopping and all of it's leading back to jobs. it's not just me but all roads leading back to jobs. jobs situation is getting better. we are feeling pretty confident. >> simon is definitely pent up. john, i want to get to your stock picks. one of them falls in the biotech, gilead up nicely, 11% year-to-date. we are seeing today new records for the biotech index. what is the catalyst to drive this one higher? >> well, we think it's the

hepatitis c opportunity. this is a huge unmet medical need not just in the u.s. but globally. they have the premier drug regime to treat hepatitis c both in terms of safety and efficacy. and we all know that they have the great franchise in hiv. >> right. you also like eaten as well as oxi. linda, you favor health care as well as technology. technology is a pretty big sector. what are some of the trends you are investing in? >> well, i represent as a strategist all the funds that we manage here at our company, and depending on which fund, whether it's more growth oriented or even income oriented, you find a lot of excellent large cap income oriented stocks there in the tech sector which is flush with cash. i want to emphasize, as i always do emphasize, it is the price to earnings ratio. the price that we pay for earnings is what grounds us.

for the technology sector as a whole, and being a mid or later cycle group, it is inexpensive, it is flush with cash, just as a group in total and it continues to grow. so as a cyclical group, that's among our favorites. >> linda, john, thanks for your time. have a great weekend. let's get to courtney reagan for a market flash. barnes & noble moving higher after g asset management proposed to acquire a controlling stake in the company, 51%. it values barnes & noble at $22 a share which is higher than its previous $20 a share offer back in november. alternatively, it offers to acquire 51% of the nook segment for $5 a share. currently still part of the barnes & noble company but it would suggest it should spin it off. barnes & noble says it has received the offer but says no further comment at this time beyond that. right now, barnes & noble trading off its highs on speculation whether the deal will go through. >> thanks for that. it is time now to check in with brian sullivan, last day in

sochi. >> yeah, last day in sochi. thank you very much. certainly the situation here, a couple hundred miles to our northwest, is growing worse by the day. you heard the news from john harwood right at the top. american president barack obama calling russian president vladimir putin about the deteriorating situation in ukraine. i know there has also been an economic impact. remember, russia is heavily invested financially and politically into ukraine. ukrainian bonds have been hit. the entire region is on edge economically and in fact, while it has not necessarily cast a pall over the olympic games, there certainly has been a discussion about ukraine. in fact, after the meets and after the events are over, when people gather, you do hear people discussing some of the sports but also talking about what is happening in kiev. there is fear, at least some of the folks we have talked to, expressing concern that it could grow and escalate. a lot of people here, a few thousand nbc employees, obviously, need to get home. so there is some personal

concern as well about sort of an escalation in the general region. still, though, lot of reason to celebrate here in sochi. the olympic games are nearly over, but so far, the 22nd winter olympiad has gone off without a hitch. the russians really have done a fantastic job here in sochi. it has been just a great two weeks of sports. maybe not as much as the u.s. women's olympic hockey team had hoped, of course. last night with that comeback win by canada in overtime after scoring two goals in the final couple minutes, the united states losing a heartbreaker to canada in overtime 3-2. obviously tough but they put on a brave face. we spoke to them earlier today and managed to speak with them about the game and what the coach said to them after, and what they do from here. but we got a bit of a surprise. it was a really good one for julie chew. during our interview, literally got a tap on the back. the usoc had said that she was selected to be the flag bearer for the closing ceremony and i

just happened to luck out and be the one that got to tell her. look at this. >> julie, you have just been asked to be the flag bearer for the closing ceremony. >> i didn't really expect that here. speechless. >> literally, we just got that news. how do you feel? >> speechless. because this team, it's about our team, this whole time, so it's weird to think to be -- i don't know. i wasn't even thinking about this. i'm just bumbling along right now. >> do some wrist curls, get ready for the flag. >> i don't even know what to say. what an honor. >> genuine emotion from teammates there. she did not know that it was coming so some spontaneous heartwarming moments. everybody was exchanging high fives. some of us here on the tv side had quivering lower lips because this team had gone through so much together, they had worked so hard, they didn't get the result they wanted, but julie

chu getting a very classy move from the united states olympic committee, finding that out. nice to be able to deliver some good news certainly once in awhile. here's a little bit of other good news. that is the medal count. the united states winning another gold medal today. in fact, just shortly ago, a gold medal in alpine skiing. russia is close at 25. canada, 24. norway and germany, you have the netherlands on that list as well, although 21 of their 22 medals have come in just one sport as we famously have found out, speed skating. all right. there's your medal count. a little hockey going on right now. i have a feeling we might see more stock market trading volume perhaps when that men's u.s./canada hockey game ends. that is just pure speculation and opinion from one reporter who is sitting about 100 yards to the right of the bolshoy arena where the game is going on. we've got some fun stuff coming up at the end of the show from sochi.

trying to keep it a little light with a lot of serious stuff going on in the region. >> you guys look like you had a great time. what a thing to be able to remember for the rest of your life. brian, we will come back to you a little later on. still ahead on "street signs," as you have heard, we have breaking news that president obama is calling vladimir putin about the ukraine. a new truce has been signed but the big question for everybody is will it hold through to december? we'll have a report live on the ground in kiev. plus, the biggest threat to our housing recovery. we are taking the pulse of three realtors coast to coast. later, we will tell you why the u.s. economy could be headed for a big fat iceberg. (announcer) scottrade knows our clients trade

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on . welcome back to "street signs." got a sports update for you from the olympics in sochi, russia. the united states men's hockey team has just lost to canada 1-0. jamie benn scoring early to send canada up 1-0. that was enough. canada defeating the u.s. men's hockey team. canada will play sweden in the gold medal game on sunday. the united states will play finland in the consolation game for the bronze tomorrow. so twice in two days, canada has defeated u.s. men's and women's hockey team here in sochi. certainly not the results that they necessarily wanted. both fought valiantly but it was not to be. tip of the hat to our neighbors to the north, canada taking both men and women, although canada's got a tough match against the swedes. >> that is for sure.

for the moment, thank you very much. the breaking news, the other breaking news this hour of course is that the white house press secretary jay carney advised the press corps that u.s. president barack obama and russian president vladimir putin are on the phone right now discussing the situation in the ukraine. you are looking at live pictures from kiev, where earlier today, the government signed a deal with protesters that will hopefully end the violence certainly in the capital city. nbc's richard engel has more. >> reporter: you can hear them celebrating here in independence square. they are cheering after a series of capitulations from the ukrainian president, viktor yanukovych after all night negotiations, yanukovych agreed to limit his presidential authorities to give more power to the parliament and to form a coalition government with the protesters, with the opposition. now there has also been mourning because yesterday, more than 70 protesters were killed in this square. this has been a tremendous political change of events.

the protesters now have a chance for a political future but they are not leaving the square yet. they want to stay here in order to push for even more demands. they want the president who is giving up some authority to be driven from power and put on trial. back to you. >> richard engel live in kiev. many view the crisis in ukraine as a fight for economic freedom to move the economy into the 21st century away from russia and toward europe, but is this deal between the president and the opposition enough? joining us now is the former u.s. ambassador to ukraine. roman, thanks so much for joining us. given what has transpired so far, given the fact that our president, president obama, is on the phone with russian president putin right now, what is your assessment of the situation? is ukraine continuing this march toward europe and away from russia? >> well, i'm glad to be here this afternoon with you. i think first of all, we have to say that the agreement that we have heard being reported is a very welcome piece of news. hopefully it stops the bloodshed

and gets the people to keep talking and implementing the parts of the agreement that have been negotiated upon. i think one of the problems, of course, will be as with any agreement, is going to be the details, how it all plays out. if you look at the parts of the agreement, one of the parts is that there will be constitutional reform so there is a negotiation process that's going to take place among the opposition party and the government sector. there is also the issue of parliament appointing the prime minister and certain members of the cabinet. the question of course there pertains to the possibility that the party of regents, which is controlled by yanukovych, may still have a majority in the parliament and defense the type of people they appoint. we have heard reports a lot of people have been abandoning the party so that is still in flux. of course, there's the long-term process after all these issues are possibly resolved, the election that they are agreeing to will not be held until

november. that's a long time to go. of course, it all comes down to the people in independence square. they have kind of drawn a line in the sand that president yanukovych has to leave the scene and i think the whole thing will depend how they receive this agreement. >> hold on right there. i want to bring in michael blazer. his private equity firm invests heavily in ukraine. i'm sure you're watching the developments in kiev very, very closely. from your standpoint, does your view of the region change at all in terms of how you deploy money or where? >> very good to be with you. indeed, i have been watching non-sleep -- no sleep at all for 48 hours now at least. it's very exciting but at the same time, it's a very difficult trying time in ukraine. i agree with a lot of things that my friend roman just said. the jury is still out what will happen. clearly, there's a significant progress that has been made

today. i'm very, very pleased to see that. but it is less than clear in my mind whether the independence square, the people on the streets and really people not just in kiev but all over ukraine, will accept the current deal. it is a compromise which keeps the current president in power and i'm just not sure this will be accepted by ukrainians. however, from the investment point of view, clearly in the last few days, the last 91 days, to be more specific, it's been very, very tough time for any investors in ukraine and certainly no time for new investors to come in. having said that, i would also have to say ukraine is an amazing country to invest in. we have been investing in ukraine for some 20 years and the potential that this country has, the country of 46 million people, the size of france or the size of texas, in the middle of europe, highly educated work force, incredible resources, the agricultural potential of this country is absolutely amazing. this country has very, very

significant opportunities to attract investment. >> let me just ask, thank you very much for that, that was an interesting assessment. ambassador, before we let you go, i should point out the former prime minister, who is the main rival of the existing president, is also being released from prison. what is the united states interest here, ambassador? this deal was signed with the polish and german foreign ministers present. the eu has pushed very hard but we have seen notably the american ambassador locally as slightly disparaging of the european union. what does obama have to say to putin on the call? if you were the ambassador now, what would you be telling the president to say? >> i think it's very clear that the president will have to emphasize for president putin that the united states and the eu are one on this agenda, we are united in terms of our perspective to maintain the stable, viable and democratic ukraine and that the west will work with the russians obviously to try to stabilize the

situation and make sure that ukraine remains a stable, viable state. i think it's very important for the dialogue to be maintained between the united states and russia, but it's also very important for russia to understand that there is no division between the united states and the eu, that we are both working in tandem to secure the future for ukraine, for the ukrainian people. >> our thanks to the ambassador and to michael. still ahead, home sales falling to an 18 month low. is weather to blame or is there a bigger concern? we have your housing playbook ahead. if that wasn't enough, we also have this. >> coming up after the break, the sochi olympics. we will grade all the venues, including music and entertainment. oh, well in that k to vacation mode. ♪boots and pants and boots and pants♪ ♪and boots and pants and boots and pants♪ ♪and boots and pants... voice-enabled bill pay. just a tap away on the geico app. ♪

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welcome back to sochi, russia. i am brian sullivan. a live look at the olympic flame here. it is nearly 11:30 at night. a lot of discussion about the olympics beforehand, how would it go, what kind of a job might russia do. of course, so much made about the money that was spent, not only on the games but also on the infrastructure investments. generally on cnbc, we talk stocks, buy, sell, hold, and carl quintanilla, michelle caruso-cabrera, our entire team and myself have been here for over a week. some folks here for more than a month, in fact. we decided we would put our own cnbc spin, offer up perhaps our own ratings on the game, each part of them, and here's how we rated sochi. first and foremost, the olympics are about the athletes so the venues are the most important thing. and though we didn't get a chance to see everything, the ones that we did see like here at the sanki sliding center at the top of the mountain, newly built, first class.

got to give these a b-plus or perhaps a-minus. for the visitors to the games, bit of a different story. here at the coastal cluster, we will give the russians credit for putting all the sports venues in one place. they are all in this giant circle. however, because it's all new, it's a little bit sterile. sometimes you feel like you're at more of a convention than the olympics. plus you have a constant loud combination of euro pop and classical music blasting all day. the coastal cluster gets a c. but the mountain cluster, that is a different story. this feels like the winter olympics. you've got a newly built alpine village, people everywhere, restaurants, bars. we will give this center an ash a-minus. for security, the best way to describe it would be going to the airport 10 or 15 times a day, checkpoints, flashing badges, car inspections but the main concern is the safety of the visitors and athletes and that's what we've had. a former usoc official says it's the best security he's seen in

12 olympics. security gets an a. for lodging, don't believe everything you heard or read before the games began. at least inside the olympic venue, most of the hotels are perfectly nice. they are clean, spacious. if anything, they are a little too clean and generic. utilitarian is the word. lodging, getting a b, b-minus. if there's one place the olympic games lacks, as good as it's been, it's food and entertainment. there are restaurants set up inside the village but when it comes to hospitality, the russians have been nice but they have got a little bit to learn about entertainment for food and fun, the olympics gets a d. coming into the games, russia faced a lot of doubters but you know what, they pulled it off. the 2014 sochi winter olympics are going to be viewed as a success and everything all in i think deserves a grade of a b. you are now on the clock, south korea, as we look ahead to 2018.

>> that's kind of a light-hearted spin. it's kind of what we do. you want to put grades on buy, sell, hold. so we tried to do the same thing in our own way. overall, russia has done a wonderful job. the spending is overrated because so much of that is going to the infrastructure. they built an entire town in the mountains, it looks like vail, a new training system. overall, russia, very welcoming. the people have been great. they did a nice job. there is only one thing, as we know, that could have made this olympics even better. know what that is? >> what would that be? tell us. >> more cowbell. >> let me ask you a question. if they offered you the chance to go back for the formula one race, would you go? >> that's a no-brainer. >> really? >> yes. right, brian? >> of course. yes! >> even though the entertainment is otherwise a "d"? >> i thought you were too harsh.

xylophone and kazoo music? >> there was stuff better than that. that was the restaurant that was sort of funny. we had a good time. guys, thanks so much for everything you did for the show team. they said you were very polite. we appreciate that. all goes well, i'll be back on monday. >> are you leaving for the airport now? >> literally in about three hours. >> the only flight i ever missed in my life was in russia. >> good luck. >> still ahead -- >> i'm out. thanks for the optimism. still ahead on the show, we will have an epic look back at some of this network's coverage from sochi. that is still to come on "street signs." from fashion that flies off the shelves. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. and only national is ranked highest in car rental customer satisfaction by j.d. power.

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the market moved from positive territory to negative as we move towards the expirations this afternoon. street talk time. are you ready? >> i am, always. >> first up, groupon tanking today, getting a downgrade to underperform from sector perform at rbc capital and a whole lot more. >> ouch. down 22%. the target was cut 57% to seven bucks a share. rbc expressing concerns about

groupon's ability to transform to a goods company to put it up against amazon.com. the company reported results last night and it was the guidance that was a real problem here. >> absolutely. moving on. next up, biotech isis pharmaceutical reporting positive results on a recent study of genetic nerve disorders in children. >> nice spike today, up 12.25%, all time high earlier today on those findings. the company set to report quarterly results next friday. one to watch. >> moving on, aruba networks, the target increased by various analysts after posting positive second quarter results. >> this is a maker of wireless networking equipment, reporting earnings per share that beat estimates excluding some items. the company did post a loss on higher expenses. aruba announcing $200 million share buy-back program but shares are now paring earlier gains, down now. finally, pcyc hitting an all time high. >> this is an earnings story.

the company reporting results that beat on revenues and eps, also revealed the strong launch of its cancer drug. biotech, the second best performing industry this year. it is up 12.5% since january 1. new high today's session. >> let's finally take another look at the all time high on comscope, soaring nearly 20% today. >> wow. what a move. the company reporting earnings last night. upbeat guidance here, the stock upgraded to buy from hold. price target also increased, up to 25 bucks from 17.50. >> the dow is down 24. let's get a market flash now. >> we are talking about something interesting for those who were a fitness tracker. talking about the newest iteration of wearable tracking device, recalled by the company. if you have a fitbit force, the fitness tracker with the full l.e.d. display, that has been recalled by the company. they are saying because it

experienced some users experienced rashes that developed from wearing the band. if you do have one of these products and you do think you may be affected by this recall, go to fitbit.com. there is a way that you can submit or send back that fitbit where you will be given a full value refund for that product. again, fitbit recalling its force fitness tracking products. back to you. >> nasty rash. >> are you speaking from experience? all right. tmi. volatile day for blackberry shares as facebook's $16 billion acquisition of whatsapp has investors wondering about blackberry's mobile messaging system. with the stock up 24% this year, should you bid on blackberry? let's talk numbers. katie stockton and colin gillis. colin, first of all, i want to go to you because there are parts analysis, blah, blah, blah, but it's only worth anything if it's willing to sell messenger. >> correct. if you think about where

blackberry is, there is some excitement around the new ceo. there is hope that he can turn it around. he's done a good job of articulating a plan to focus in on the enterprise business, but all the execution still lies in front of him. in terms of bbm and the whole whatsapp and the big print from facebook, you can't apply that multiple to bbm because bbm is not growing at the same rate. it's more likely to get a multiple like what vibra got, something around $8, $9 per user as oppos $42 per user that facebook paid. >> if it's $8 or $9 per user, what kind of valuation does that put on blackberry as a whole? because there is some analysis now or at least when the deal was announced that its per user value was about three bucks. >> so giving 750 million to bbm, the question is what about the patents, how much are they worth. there is some talk, people say it could be worth up to $3

billion. if patents are licensed out, they are less valuable so maybe they are only worth around $1 billion. the services business is in decline. in fact, it's been declining, the decline has accelerated over the last four quarters. it declined 35% year over year. that maybe is worth $500 million on residual basis. the big question is how much cash are they going to burn. they burned close to half a billion dollars of negative operating cash flow last quarter. with the new cfo, can he reduce the cash burn-down and how much of that $3 billion can they keep. >> indicakatie? >> the stock has nearly doubled from its december low and that's within the framework, however, of a long term downtrend. we have seen an impressive up move, yet the 200 day moving average or 40 week moving average is still pointing lower. in fact, seems to be a resistance level for the stock. we have seen it stall here at its 200 day moving average and the consolidation phase really

reflects sort of neutral short-term momentum. there are some early indications that the stock may be in a basing phase after having trended lower for about four years. we did see some support tested successfully in december at that low but really, we need a decisive breakout into double digit territory above $10 to confirm a base breakout for blackberry. until that, you have to assume that long term downtrend is still in effect. >> cautious opinions on blackberry. thanks to both of you. be sure to check out the online edition of talking numbers in partnership with yahoo! finance. a deep freeze has really squeezed the housing market but there are green shoots out there. a look at which markets may be in for a spring thaw. also, one of america's most vital waterways frozen solid. it's having a huge economic impact. cnbc is out there trying to quite literally break the ice. >> reporter: well, i'm not. they are. we have been reporting all day

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how frozen are the great lakes now? try 90% frozen. shippers say a one day trip could now take up to seven days and clearly, that is costing time and money. scott cohn is live on the u.s. coast guard cutter "holly hock" on one of the nation's most vital shipping routes. have they let you take the controls yet? i see not. >> reporter: no, and i think that's probably a good thing for the good people of michigan and canada, just to make sure i sort of show you around a little bit. there's a crew of about 50 people normally aboard this ship. a lot of very skilled people throughout the vessel. here on the bridge, you can see it takes quite a few people to drive this, they are monitoring navigation, monitoring the ice both through radar and also their own experience in dealing with different patterns of the ice over the years. the man in charge of it all is

lieutenant commander justin kimora, the' captain of this vessel. you were telling me this is the worst ice you have ever seen in the three years you've been up here and a lot of people, even longer. what kind of pace are you working at? >> we have been working pretty hard, a lot faster tempo than we normally do. this is my third winter up here. this is by far the worst scene i have seen in the st. clare river. we have been working consistently since christmas until now. >> reporter: and we are getting a little bit of a thaw here, down here, 40ish or so. that's not going to be enough to break up this ice. what's it going to take to be able to really get this freed up? >> these relatively warm temps we have had this week have been a welcome blessing, to help to loosen up the ice and get the river moving a little bit. but we really do need the consistent temperatures that are warmer, above freezing, to get the river fully thawed. i think i'm on par with a lot of the country when i say i'm ready for spring. >> reporter: the vessels coming through here, there's a lot of

coordination between the great lakes and the coast guard. give me a rough idea how that works. >> that's right. the operation we are working is called operation coal shovel and they work with the industry to get vessel schedules, decide which icebreaker's the best as set to escort the vessels up and down the river. >> reporter: thank you for your hospitality the last couple days here. continuing effort, simon and melissa. it will be awhile before all this ice is gone. >> yes, it will be. scott, thanks for that. here in the northeast, while we have been basking in 30 to 40 degree temps this week, it's been absolutely balmy, here's the bad news. the mercury is going to drop again. here's the good news. spring is just 26 days away. the weather channel's kate parker is here with more. >> only 26 days but who's counting, right? well, certainly some folks in minneapolis are counting because it is 21 degrees colder there right now than it was just 24 hours ago, 13 degrees colder in fargo and that cold air is plunging farther to the south

and off toward the east as well. you can see as that low rotates it's really going to pull the cold air in out of canada and that's going to settle in. it's not only going to last through the weekend, but into next week. another reinforcing shot of cold air arrives by the time we get to wednesday. talking about high temperatures 20 to 30 degrees below average. those are for high temperatures. then even farther into the south, through tennessee, and the deep south, high temperatures 10 to 15 below average. so the cold is sticking around through at least next week. >> kate parker, thanks so much. up next on the program, she looks remarkably happy, i have to say. >> it's great for the weather person. absolutely. >> ahead on "street signs" we are going coast to coast checking on which housing markets are bucking today's pretty poor housing sales figures. and break out the vodka shots and the olympic snuggies. we have a can't-miss trip down sochi lane. change engineering in dubai, aluminum production in south africa,

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existing home sales falling more than 5% last month, now stand at an 18-month low. let's get to diana olick with more on this. >> reporter: the housing market is now quote, underperforming. that was from the realtors chief

economist at this morning's presser. he compared the dismal rate in january of 4.62 million units annualized to a quote, boring year, 2000 pre-boom when shares were at 5.2 million. existing home sales have now been down five of the down five of the last six months, a 15% correction from the highs of last summer. last summer is when mortgage rates spiked. that's why you cannot blame all of this on the weather, especially when you look regionally. sales were down the least in the northeast and the most in the west. realtors say that points directly to weak affordability, tight credit, and a lack of supply which is, quote, hindering buyer enthusiasm. prices are still way up, so sales are being hit the hardest on the low end of the market as investors price themselves out. first time buyers are not picking up the slack. their share, 26%, is the lowest on record since the realtors began tracking that in 2008. add today's report to a huge drop in home builder confidence we saw earlier this week and a

drop in housing starts. those are easy to blame on the weather, but existing home sales are closings. so these january numbers are based on signed contracts from november and december, before we got all the snow. now, the only bright spot is that inventory is up 7% from a year ago, but the realtors say 2014 is off to an unhappy beginning. next week we get home price data as well as sales of newly built homes and earnings from lowe's and home depot. so a lot more to digest but clearly not the robust start some had predicted. >> maybe we'll get the bounce back. diana, thank you very much. diana olick there. let's take the temperature of the real estate market by asking those who quite literally live and breathe it every day and we've got both coasts covered. representing the east coast now, brian lewis, executive vice president at halstead property and on the west coast in san diego, broker jim cling. welcome to the program. >> thanks for having us. >> let me kick off with you, jim. we saw a graphic that suggested

volumes were down most on the west. in fact, down over 7%. do you feel as if you've got a worse situation than arguably the east coast? >> well, the great news is the problem can be easily fixed. it's a -- when you see the sales going down, inventory starting to creep up, price will fix -- price will fix anything. it's a sign that the current sellers are too optimistic on price. buyers aren't going for it this year. last year when rates were really low, sellers got away with it. this year it's a lot tougher market and buyers are being a little more cautious. >> are you suggesting, jim, that the hype we're getting in some areas is actually doing the market a disservice? people think their properties are worth far more than they can actually clear them through the open market? >> yeah. and it's irresistible for sellers to want to tack on an extra 5% or 10% on top of what they just made last year, and

they can find their way. they can try it when it's early in the year, and you're probably going to get some sluggish numbers and it will work itself out. either buyers will rise up through the selling season or they won't, and sellers will have to adjust if they want to move. >> brian, what are you seeing in your market? it may have been surprising to see that map and see in the northeast where the weather has been probably the hardest, a decline of only 3.1%. are we yet to see the effects of the weather? do we have to wait another month to see the full on effect? >> one of the things you said earlier is that these are the results of contracts that were signed earlier, november, december. that was sort of holiday time. rates spiked, people got a little scared, but, guys, every market is local. and even within new york city, we have so many markets and i'm busy. i know that's hard to hair in san diego, but my seller's price right because i make them. a really motivated seller is going to get multiple bids in this market. we don't have enough inventory.

>> you know, brian, our own realtor was on earlier. she said it basically splits really clearly the top end of the market, it's shifting. bottom end of the market, it isn't. >> there's good reason dolly said that because in new york we just sold $100 million penthouse at 157 west 57th. there is international money here. we have the great benefit of being an international market. we have the draw of the world here. not a lot of invoentory but we'e outfacing the country. we added 100,000 jobs last year. knock it sell. even my lower end, when i say lower end, i'm talking $800,000 multiple bids there. >> we have run out of time. i'm so sorry. i wish i had sold $100 million apartment at a 3% commission. >> call me, i'll help you with that. >> thank you very much. >> coming up next, sochi, we

hardly knew you. cnbc's farewell to the winter games when we come right back. ♪ [ bell ringing, applause ] five tech stocks with more than a 10%... change in after-market trading. ♪ all the tech stocks with a market cap... of at least 50 billion... are up on the day. 12 low-volume stocks... breaking into 52-week highs. six upcoming earnings plays... that recently gapped up. [ male announcer ] now the world is your trading floor. get real-time market scanning wherever you are with the mobile trader app. from td ameritrade.

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[ bleep ]. >> this is your new best friend. >> he's a big boy. >> i told you he was heavy. >> you're so narrow minded. you waste a lot of good talent in the sport. >> i brought you guys, these are caviar flavored lays potato chips. >> thank you. >> these are crab. >> where are you from? >> i'm guessing russia. >> hollywood, health care. so different. >> you spend enough time in hollywood, you need some serious health care. if there's anyone that can make health care sexy, it's that man right here. >> is this the olympic snuggie? >> get a shot of vodka next to you just in case. >> carl, you did the "today" show taste test there. you did it again. >> he does that really well. >> is this the proper skeleton? >> go team usa.

>> you already had your say. you already had your say. >> all right. >> joe, you're getting the bronze on this. >> you're an idiot. >> that's good. >> how many shots did carl -- was that looped? is that the same shot? >> no. they've cut -- he did say, of course, afterwards it's not really vodka which i think is completely untrue. >> he looked a little happy. he should have had the vodka with the crap potato chips. >> it's the weekend. let's hope he brought some home. >> i'll see you tonight, "fast money" freestyle. we have the startup company teaming up with google to make your smartphone experience 3-d. that's going to be a great interview. >> and after the weekend on monday morning, don't forget to

tune into "squawk on the street" at 9:00. we're going to be live from barcelona. thanks for watching "street signs." what a week it's been. >> it has been. "the closing bell" is coming up next. and welcome to "the closing bell" on this friday as we round out the week here. i'm kelly evans at the new york stoke where the dow has just turned negative. >> we are watching this market, just turned lower in the past few minutes here. it is expiration day. the s&p had been rallying close to record territory again earlier in the session, but now we've given up those gains, but you never know. with expiration of various options and futures contracts coming up at the close today, we might get a push higher, could be lower. a lot of volume, but we'll see. so don't go