good morning, everybody. welcome to "squawk box" here on cnbc. i'm been becocky quick along wi kernen and andrew ross sorkin. in case you missed it last night, the giants are world series champions once again. they beat the kansas city royals 3-2 in game seven thanks to the partnershiping of madison baumgar baumgardmner. i think this was the first time since 1979 that you see a road team win to clench the series. let's take a look at today's agenda. on the morning after the fed ended its quantitative easing program and reiterated rates would be near zero for a considerable time, we're getting a read on the economy. first quarter gdp is set to be released at 8:30 eastern time.

forecasters predict the economy grew at a rate of 3.1%. on the economic calendar today, we've got weakly jobless claims coming out. and we'll hear lots of names before the bell including conco philips, mastercard. the bulls looking to bounce back today. you can see this morning, there are some modest declines at this point. dow futures down by about 6.5 points below fair value. s&p futures off by over 8 points and the nasdaq down by over 8 points. if you've been watching early trade in europe, you will see some biggest declines there, as well. and the major markets in asia ending mixed. the nikkei was up by just over 0.6%. hang seng down by 0.5%. shanghai higher about 0.735%. while we're talking markets, a number of stocks that are on

the move this morning, visa posting better than expected results. they're saying mobile payments will be a great driver for the business. so they're not worried about walmart and the other folks starting up their own. the company announced a $5 billion share buyback program. we should tell you about kraft foods reporting an 1 11% drop i prices. and in tech news, and i don't know if this is going to end up impacting the life of the alibabas in the future, but baidu falling short of estimates. the chinese search engine says it will continue to invest in its mobile business. dreamworks posted a bigger than expected gain in profits led by

"how to drain your dragon 2." have you trained your dragon? >> i actually have to the first time we go to break. >> and then -- it's only 6:02 in the morning. >> i didn't bring it up. you're the one reading it. i tell to talk to you about the "new york times." >> on the call, we should tell you -- >> don't you drink coffee every morning? >> i do. >> the ceo did not address rumors that the studio might be sold. lots reported there. then take2 interactive is rating its interaction forecast. strong sales of grand theft auto. >> down you think the moviemakers, that was a play on words? >> train your dragon? >> yeah. >> probably, yeah. and we're going to get to equities. let's get back to the royalties.

the "new york times" is totally on board with this. and right here, a picture all about bumgardner. you've got to bone think this was? this was a way to keep netanyahu off the front page of the "new york times." it's like what can we do? it's actually on page 8. my question is whether -- go ahead. i was having badminton lessons again and i didn't know. >> i can see -- >> they call him a court when the actual word we need to decide, because i've seen it in print and i've seen it not in print. now, when we want to say the word, we talk about the dog, the shih tzu, right? >> yes. >> they called a chicken shih tzu, basically. what do we do today?

do with use that word or do people know -- >> i think you've made it abuntdly clear. >> my favorite thing that has been left out of all this is it's bad enough to do that, obviously. israel is maybe one of our best allies. but in the piece it says the obama administration, out of all the world leaders, they've been most frustrated with, it's been netanya netanyahu. so not the guy in iran, mott the eye to ayatollah. not putin. it's obamobama. >> can we put this in context? the person that they're the most frustrated with that they're supposed to have good relations with. how about that? >> and because of pressure from us -- >> with a bleep so you could say the word but -- >> but the other thing they said is because of pressure from us, and because he was a court, he

didn't attack iran and now it's too late because they've got the bomb. almost happy that they were able to talk him out of it so that iran ended up with it. do you understand what -- this is not my idea of a good october surprise for you guys. i thought it was supposed to be the other kind. i don't think this was -- this was not the idea of how to swing the election in their favor. >> what do you think you guys smp. >> the "new york times." the senator and i, we're going to be all over you like white on rice. >> we're all going to that island together. >> we're getting along great. becky mentioned equities now. let's take a look at the broader markets this morning. we'll take a look at oil after

yesterday when the dollar was strengthening. wti is just 81.54. the ten-year, has it finally bottomed? are we finally headed back to 3%? some people think so. that was a big capitulation day. the dollar, a good time to -- if we don't end up on that island, let's go to -- let's go to an island in greece, maybe, or somewhere where there are hoteles and stuff. what do you think? if we don't end up on a deserted island. >> if it's 1.25 right now? >> i love san tu rini. beautiful, white buildings and -- >> and we can stop on our way. >> we can go to all those places. take a quick look at dpoeld. gold is now 1205. and that makes sense, too, given

that it's finally over, this long, national nightmare, which some people would say. qe infinity. >> for now. >> it's over for now. >> right. but the arrow is still in the quiver if we need it. >> forever, probably. >> probably. >> it's a new way to deal with things. >> zero, what else have you got? they had to go under zero. some countries have tried that. >> yes. >> very briefly, the treasury yield, you were actually paying them to hold on to your money for you. >> right. >> stokes stutter stepped into the close after the fed snapped up its bond buying program. a handful of other key catalysts could look at first quarter gdp. joining us right now to weigh in on the markets is karen firestone.

also serat stefy. welcome to both of you. why don't we start off with the "new york times," the headline on this. serat, the fed says it no longer needs to spend millions to bolster the economy. is that the case? >> i think the data, pass they've kept on talking, is going to show us exactly where they're looking. perils are going to get better. commodities are coming down. i think the fed wanted to finally say we don't have to be here completely. let fundamentals matter. that's going to be the key for the next three to six pose. if we get earnings, get big, stronger, payroll, housing stronger, i think you can take and wean yourself off of that. we're pretty bullish. we think longer term the market are going to rides from here given that our economy is stronger than the rest of the world at this point. >> karen, do you believe that the fed put it off? that at this point it's make or break? >> i feel the fed clearly explained what they were going to do months ago about cutting

this program back by the end of october. now that they've done it, now that we're seeing earnings are coming and well over 50% of companies have reported earnings. two-thirds of them have been above expectation, an average of 4% above expectations. 9% higher earnings. and so we've seen that the market touched down 10% below its peak. it rallied off that level, back up 9% from that point up over 7% for the year. so i think that there's support. buyers are coming into this market because this is a good market to own right now. and we think that will continue with earnings growth and labor improving. >> so do you think -- joe asked the question just a moment ago -- have we seen the bottom in terms of yields on the ten year? >> i think that we have, but i think that the increase will be slow. we've been at incredibly low levels on the interest rate side. so an increase might be

something to talk about. >> the next question, when will we move off zero interest rates? we're calling this a hawkish move. you get there by june or july of next year? >> i don't think so. i think you have to look at the difference between our rates and the rest of the world. if we move faster than the rest of the world, that would cause a huge amount of dislocation in the capital markets. capital will flow here much faster. we're so coupled right now in terms of our companies in the united states, you know, working overseas, making money, and if you see interest rates moving higher here, commodity costs are going to get volatile. >> do you think the fed considers that and says, wait a second, it's not just that we have to worry about inflation. we now have to were about other economies and whether we mess things up by making the dollar stronger, messing up their economies and making this the -- >> i don't think they will formally say it, but i think in the back of their minds you have

to look at it because if we destroy other economies or we put other global economies, talking about germany or japan, etcetera, that's going to have a big effect on the global markets. companies then look at decisions globally. they don't just look at what's going to happen just in north america. i think slowly you'll find you don't want that huge disparity wsh but if europe and occasion asia can get back to some normalcy, you'll see rates moving faster than the rest of the world. >> how do you play this? for a long time, we've been talking, there's nowhere else to go, essentially. there's no alternative except for the u.s. stocks. is that still the case or is this more complicated? oh, i think it's more complicated in that we experienced two weeks ago a period of panic. so the markets became very jittery and, in fact, we were talking about how far the market could be below zero two weeks ago or how quickly we would all

get ebola. and, you know, the tone of the market can change so facht on the up side and on the down side. it's important you see stability and support to those earnings. >> some of the names that you like? >> constellation brands where they're deleveraging, they made acquisitiones and they're showing margin improvement. beer and wine are strong growing categories for them. we like lewis allen hamilton. it's a contractor, but does i.t. software for the government and the defense and security area. we like sealed air, which is pure -- of safety, which is important. and they showed a really strong quarter yesterday. >> se where arat, karen just me some of those concerns. those headlines aren't going away. how do you try and factor any of those into your models or do you? >> you do, but there is more

noise in the system. i think there are more opportunities when the market does pullback. emotion is driving a lot of this market. you can see it. it's been two different markets. when things are good, everybody wants to come in. and the momentum stocks do really well. for us, we think given commodities have been coming down and consumers are coming book market, you want to be in the discretionary and the transport space at least for the next few months. that's really where you're going to get top line growth. >> i want to thank you both for coming in today. >> thank you very much. let's see what's going on with apple. this is interesting. it's reportedly now in talks to sell its iphone in iran. senior execs at the firm are said to have met with potential iranian distributors. it is not easy for a western company to move into iran because sanctions there are the biggest issues.

>> the decision in my head has been made, but you know i don't like to make decisions. >> waiting for the last day. in other global news, fighter jets inter-septembering russian military aircraft. the russian aircraft are said to have conducted significant military maneuvers near nato and european air space in the last day or so. last week, a russian spy plane violated nato air space for the first time since the end of the cold war. >> we've intercepted them a hundred times or something in the last year or month, three times what it was in the previous period. so there's been a lot of -- >> testing. >> exactly. like would happen in top gun. remember? >> yes. some of those migs went too far. >> exactly. coming up, chris christie has had it. >> you want to have the

conversation later, i'm happy to have it, buddy. but until that time, sit down and shut up. >> find out what got the new jersey governor so angry during the two-year anniversary on sandy. and later, ted cruz will be our special guest in studio. more "squawk box" after this quick break. i sure hope so. with healthcare costs, who knows. umm... everyone has retirement questions. so ameriprise created the exclusive confident retirement approach. now you and your ameripise advisor.... can get the real answers you need. start building your confident retirement today.

that is a live shot of san francisco. >> some of the streets of san francisco. one of the bridges of san francisco. right. >> michael douglas. >> welcome back to "squawk box," everybody. new jersey governor chris christie holding a news conference on the two-year anniversary of hurricane sandy. a heckler interrupted his speech several times. here is how the governor responded. >> i'll be more than happy to have a debate with you anytime you like, guy. somebody like you doesn't know exactly what you're talking about except to show up and show off when the cam ares here. i've been here when the cameras aren't here. and done the work. if you want to have the conversation, i'm happy to have it, buddy. billion until that time, sit down and shut up. >> this was a self-proclaimed

gentler chris christie. he's back. this is what we used to know him for. he's been known in the past for taking people down who try to go after him on stage. he's back. >> do you know what the heck got him upset? >> aid was slow. >> he kept interrupting. you know, when christie was 70%, 80% approval, that was a lot of that was based on youtube shots of the similar thing. i don't know whether it was calculated. i don't know whether he's now viewed differently because of what happened in the past year in terms of, you know, people tried to paint him as a bully. i don't know the that's taken post. but the people who were there cheered and took it positively. i take it positively. >> i just wonder how it plays on a grander scale. if you're talking about 2016 all of a sudden, and i don't know the answer to that. >> right. i think the jury is out on it.

2016, it's very interesting because of 2014. i don't know whether it's the internet or time contraction or what. but every two years, we decide, god, the party that we have now, they're the worst. we have to go to the other one. two years later, really, it's been every two years now. we hit 2008 and 2010, 2014. and then you wonder how the gop, if it does make gains on tuesday, you wonder how -- >> what that means for setting up 2016. >> and we're talking about another thing we'll talk to ted cruz about. >> i want everyone's opinion on this next story. >> really? >> yes. >> mine, too? >> your especially, joe. >> okay. we need to start getting all these things -- you know, we have to come together on a lot of things. just the two of us. >> we can debate this one for a very long time. i want to see what both of you have to say. the u.s. equal employment opportunity commission is now suing honeywell.

the government agency wants the company to keep imposing penalties on employees who refuse to undergo testing under a corporate wellness program. employees could be personalized up to $4,000 each if they don't take part in a biometric testing program. how does everybody feel? >> i'm good. >> if universal says everybody here has to take part -- >> what the private sector doesn't -- >> going after them. >> you're okay if the government -- and yeah, i'm okay with the government going after them. >> no, i think honeywell should do that. >> care programs with a good idea, but my own point is that versus the government deciding how to -- i think it's -- an employer has more of a right to be concerned, especially if they're involved with my health care. if they're involved with -- i'd like to keep it that way where they're -- you know, where the private sector -- >> i always talk about the job

owned spy wear. what happened if nbc universal comcast says to you, you have to wear one of these all the time because we want to make sure you're doing exercise and if you're not doing exercise, we are going so charge you more for your insurance? >> obviously, you would chafe at that. >> people talk about this being the future. that corporation res going to look into -- >> and you're leading the way. >> i'm on board. i like it, anyway. but i'm not sharing this information at the moment with -- >> i think it's an invasion of privacy. >> you would have to rank a priority. we all like individual freedom and personal sri come. i would let my employer dictate what makes sense for me to be able to keep my job quicker than i'd let the government. >> it's an invasion of personal privacy. you don't have to do it if you don't like, but we're not going to pay it any mr. >> i don't want to make me eat broccoli sprout, but -- >> you have a right to have privacy. again, i think these programs work if they are care programs,

not -- >> maybe auyou get a discount. >> solve the world problems. >> what would we do without the carrot stick metaphor? it could take forever what we're trying to say. >> it's good short-handed work and we'll come up with that solution for now. >> thank you for that, we are all row boats just working for the man. >> no problem. up next, a fresh read on what the consumer is doing. kate rogers will be along with that story. plus, tech in the toilet. this is not a report on struggling stocks. all was all about flushing br a look

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good morning. welcome back to "squawk box" here on cnbc. i'm joe kernen along with becky quick, andrew ross sorkin and a bunch of other people. a whole group just showed up. >> good morning, everybody. >> where did we come from? >> jimmy's democrat outfit. wow. look at that blazer. holy moly. >> billy lee, guys. come on.

he's on rm, man. >> andrew understands the whole -- he's got the bracelet thing going today. the shirt with the tie, though, jimmy. >> look, there's a woman in africa that makes these things out of -- >> jimmy williams, everybody. ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen -- >> yeah. she got a line from a.i.d. now she has a whole line of employees. that's good foreign policy. >> we'll be back to you people. >> i've got everyone covered here. i can't talk about -- specific to anybody. anyway, disturbing new findings, the shrimp lover says labels at the grocery, a group that a dna-based survey of shrimp. >> of shrimp? >> you know shrimp are descended from worms? did you know that? and found about 30% of the products bought were not what the label said. the bottom line -- >> they weren't shrimp? >> i don't know.

>> the bottom line, according to the research cheap imported farm raised shrimp is being sold at wild cot. but they're all descended from worms. i don't know if my wife toll me that. she loved them before that. it's not nice -- >> good, i'm glad i'm not the first person that you tortured. have you been around shrimp when they're alive? they're cool. they do -- all kinds of things. then you kill them and eat them if you have some spicy saw. prices at the pump, they're greek to me, falling as consumer confidence rising. will that translate into bigger sales and profits for small business? kate rogers is here with that story since i don't have a vehicle or ever go to a gas station. this is -- >> i do. and i do go to the gas station. of course, they are cheaper and retail forecasts may be sunnier heading into the holiday season. but increasing consumer confidence and lower gas prices

don't quite add up to better bottom lines for main street this year. the better average for gasoline, the national retail federation says this isn't normal. consumers will likely hang on to that cash rather than spend for holiday gifts this year. all eyes will be on small business saturday which is dedicated to shopping at local small businesses the saturday after thanksgiving. american express reports that last year sales were out about 5.7 billion. that's up 4% from the 5.5 billion in 2012. save works, also reports the average small private u.s. retail company would see a 4.5% increase in annual sales this year. now, that's down from a.5% in 2013. but it's not all -- for small businesses, which have continued to move holiday sales to the giants of e-commerce like ebay and amazon. analysts say lower gas prices may not mind hopping into their cars and driving to a local store rather than shopping

online. and energy costs, of course, a always a big concern for small companies. according to the national federation of small businesses, energy costs are among the top three expenses, with 38% saying operating vehicles is their biggest costs followed by heating and cooling and opera operating equipment. now, lower bills mean more cash to move around and potentially reinvest back into the company. >> there you have it. i learned a lot. we're going to talk now, gearing up to be a political battle royal. the white house has been occupied by a bush or clinton for the last 20 out of 26 years. and it's beginning to look like that streak might continue with hillary clinton and jeb bush is this week's favorite to enter the race two years ahead of the race. and according to a new poll by converge yex, the current president has the lowest approval rating in the living memory with 17% of wall street

approving of president obama's business. includes what hey ma happen next week or not. >> billy reed and joe watkins. good morning, guys. >> good morning. >> let's talk about what's going to happen in two dwreers and then what happens two weeks from now. >> are you going to '16 first? >> i'm going to '16 first because i want to understand -- let's do it this way. assuming the republicans win this coming week, how do you see that play or what has to go right or what could go wrong that would impact jeb bush if we think jeb bush is coming? >> the big challenge for republicans in a presidential election in 2016 is the electoral college map met the big challenge for republicans going forward. mean in terms of the midterm elections, we look great and we're going to do really, really

well. not only will he we retain the house and improve on our numbers, we have a good chance to win the senate. we have a great chance to win senate. and then that's wonderful. the downside is that in a presidential election, if you look at the electoral map and you look at the areas of the country where republicans have just been shut out in recent cycles, it's going to be very, very hard for us going forward, even with a great candidate like jeb bush. but jeb brush is a great candidate, probably the best candidate in the field so far. >> and do you think -- okay. what percent chance to you put on him stepping out? >> he's going the make sure that it's okay with his wife. he'll talk to some other advisers. but i'm banking on him to do it. i bank on him being a candidacy in 2016. >> if not him, who?

>> if mitt romney wants to go again -- >> your not saying chris christie. >> i like -- >> what he said yesterday, does that help or hurt him? >> nationally, it doesn't help him. i think what americans like about chris christie is that he's not a politician in the traditional sense of the word. he's an honest guy. >> not a bully inspect. >> but a very effective governor and somebody who has managed to win. >> think about it, twice, and by even bigger margin necessary a blue state. >> i'll give you all that. >> he gets spanish, he gets african-americans. at least he means what he says and that's huge. from that standpoint, if he emergeses as a national candidate -- >> was the add men administration didn't care about this election on tuesday because their guy wasn't up for it or no one ever went broke underestimating the competent of this administration.

the netanyahu thing, wouldn't that have been -- something that made the administration look good would have better fop for tuesday than that? >> the administration is the administration. there's only two years left. >> the power of the presidency is the power of the presidency. he can get on the plane and go aall across the country and be the president. it will be effective if the senate and the republicans take it, which is pretty likely, i think. it's not a foregone conclusion, but it's likely. let's take the republicans have the how the house and the senate and send him all kinds of crazy wright wing bills. that's going to happen. fine, fantastic. the president has one option or two. a, he can sign these crazy bills. he's not going to do that. number two, he'll veto those bills. he'll look presidential for the first time on the long time. >> but if we're going to look at

facts, let's look at faex as opposed to -- >> we've done that. >> but barack obama has done less executive orders than george w. bush. >> and republicans win, they're poor winners and as a result they set up -- >> i'm not sure they're poor winners, but republicans, once they take the playing field and they're on offense, they stumble all over themselves. so they have to wait until the democrats get the ball and -- >> explain one thing in the democratic party around hillary. there was a few that hillary has to -- ma maybe she is or thinks she has to tack even more left than she is. so sort of play clat the elizabeth warren progressive right. do you think that's going to happen? do you think that is happening? and if it does, does that make her more or less appealing? >> hasn't she already done that on the issue of marriage ae quality? i would suggest the hillary clinton hillary clinton that was

the it's senator, her position probably showed more or less what they are today. and by the way, on the issue of choice, on the issue of marriage equality, on the issue of voting rights act account, she's in the majority. mitt romney is not in the majority on that. tet cruz is not in the majority on that. >> i hate to break the news to you guys -- >> how about businesses don't create jobs? >> i thought hillary was wall street's darling. >> apparently not. >> how does she feel? >> i mean, i haven't talked to hillary in such a long time. >> do you need to talk to her on any given daytown how she feels. >> wall street guys say she didn't really mean that. >> that is absurd. of course businesses create jobs. the federal government doesn't create jobs.

arguably, wall street would be scared, for example, of an elizabeth warren, right? >> they should be quaking in their boots. >> i don't think anyone should be -- >> i think you're dead wrong on that. >> she's not electable. >> i don't think she's running. >> she's not, so it's a moot appointment, anyway. >> but he's right. you guys have a big problem. >> okay. but just the inevitable of one of hillary being a democratic candidate, hasn't anyone extrapolated some of these recent numbers about even women shifting, it's millennials it's flip-flopped. if the republicans don't screw it up, there has been a -- youth

messed this up in the last six years. there's a chance 80s not a slam dunk. >> part of the challenge for republicans becomes the fact whether women vote democrat or are trending republican. women will take full advantage of the chance to elect the first woman president of the united states. in the same way african-americans voted for the first avenue cap american president of the united states. >> my mother sitting in south carolina, she's conservative. she's not in her seconds. she has virtually nothing in common with hillary clinton except for her gender. she wants hillary clinton to be president so bad it will kill her if she's not president. >> so in general, the overall population that now all of a sudden -- >> women describe -- >> the plurality now that even in congress republicans might do better in congress, over after the shutdown --

>> then you call these issues wedge issues. but i hate to break the news. they're not wedge issues. they're not social issues. >> the only time you bring them up is during elections. >> no. i bring them up all the time. if you've been to my website -- >> it's like things are going along just fine. >> i don't think this is the case. >> i can that's exactly right. >> federally, they're both controlled. they're not -- >> weight, wait, wait, as men we probably should be quiet about the issue of women's reproductive rights since we don't have children. we don't have -- >> weird -- >> for about 25 seconds. >> speak for yourself. >> look, men should stop talking about women's bodies and leave them alone. and then republicans actually might give more women -- >> well, when women stop talking about my body, i'll stop talking about theirs.

>> we have to thank jimmy and joe. >> you don't need to thank me. >> actually, you do need to thank me wrb but you don't. >> do you want a bhu? >> i've got all blue today. >> look at you. >> gentlemen, thank you very much. >> thank you very much. >> you guys are good to go. >> you are. >> kind of. about we come back today, much of the on the battles leading up to the texas midterm. as we head to a break, a quick on what's happening in european markets right now. red arrows across the board. germany sicking up those declines, up about 1.25%.

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welcome back to "squawk box" this morning. take a look at futures at this hour. we have red arrows across the board. nasdaq, 27 points dow, dow down 33 points and the s&p 500 down 12 points. 13 points if we're going to round it. >> i'm not going to say this. would you say it? >> do you want me to read it? >> no. you still have young children. >> we use that word in our home regularly. >> we're going to talk the rolls-royce, the mercedes benz of toilets. the owner of the great hotel at st. andrew's. but nothing to set knit a powerful flush. the cutting edge of technology.

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and it's made with ibm. toilets are going high tech.

your bathroom features are now entering the 21st century. david koehler, ceo and president of one of america's largest companies. and there is -- and also, you have -- what's the name of the other division? >> the hospitality frup. >> at st. andrew's. >> right. and in koehler, we have the american club and whistling straights. pga championship. martin kymer won it last year. >> oh, bunker gate. there that's right. is this a low tech -- >> no, no, this is absolutely -- this is focused on clean innovation. i know your concerned about performance. >> exactly. >> one of the things you're concerned about is these flappers, you know those flappers that allow your toilet to run all night. these have an aqua pitch in and it creates a seal so the toilet

will never run on. so that won't happen. >> that water is fine that i stick my hand into, right? >> yes. but they've been designed to optimize performance. >> using less water and a strong flush? >> these a all high efficiency toilets. this flushes on and this seat is called a pure fresh seat. it actually has a night light and a deodorizer. the market price is less than a hundred dollars. so christmas is coming. >> no warmer. price is less tha $100. >> no warmer? >> this one doesn't, but we'll get to that. this is called the tresham. >> this is the cheapest one we're looking at? >> this toilet will retail for about $800. >> okay. we've got three minutes so we have to -- >> okay. >> this is a wall-hung toilet, a european design. we're seeing a trend in the united states. it's a clean, sleek design, wall hung.

oh, and a number one and a number two. lightweight. 1.6 gallons. and a 1.8 gallons. >> lightweight? >> you can. lightweight and -- yeah. >> okay. >> black, very hot in in europe. >> this is brand new. it's a clean, sleek design. put your hand over this. touchless technology. >> right there. oh, wow. >> so it's touchless technology. this is, of course, one of our >> what is this for? >> this is a remote control for the bidet seat. you can retrofit any toilet if you want to make it a touchless toilet. and this is top of the line. >> i don't know what this is. >> put your hand over here.

it's got notion sensing technology. when you approach it, it has a night light. in the night you can find it. then put your hands over here, so if you're a male, put your foot there. you don't have to touch this. it automatically flushes. it also has music so you can play your mp3 player. >> i had no idea it would get this cool. then when you're done it goes back down. if you're not a man, it will stay down. >> when you approach it, the lid will go up. >> so now tell me about -- you know, the housing market. i assume -- is this new homes? models? >> it's interesting. when you look at the economy and post financial prices, the auto market has rebounded as you know.

the housing market has been slow to recover. why? the principle issue right now is credit availability people are having difficulty. if banks don't have a debt to income ratio of less than 43%, they really can't lend. so you have a number of people that would be qualified that simply can't get credit in this environment. >> you're saying this is not as good as it should be for you guys. >> the housing market, it's a key driver of the economy. it creates good jobs in manufacturing, construction. it needs to be there to help the economy really fire on all cylinders. >> all of the fed action and you still don't have it up to your liking. >> you're seeing it grow, but it's really being -- it's struggling because of credit availability. and student debt's an issue as well. >> how much does this cost? >> this will have a market price of about $5,000. top of the line.

>> so if you had more than one bathroom and you wanted those in every bathroom -- >> we've had a certain superstar order over ten of these for her home. >> singer? actor? >> perhaps. >> really? okay. >> so it's a hot product around the world. >> i'm glad we got to do this. keep us updated. i'm glad you got on the anti-dodd-frank. we were talking toilets and you got to dodd-frank somehow. thank you. when we return, ted cruz is in the studio taking some time to talk to us with just a few days to go before the midterm battles. how he sees the make of a capitol hill over the next few years. more "squawk box" in a moment. cme group can help you navigate risks and capture opportunities. we enable you to reach global markets and drive forward with broader possibilities.

cme group: how the world advances. big day? ah, the usual. moved some new cars. hauled a bunch of steel. kept the supermarket shelves stocked. made sure everyone got their latest gadgets. what's up for the next shift? ah, nothing much. just keeping the lights on. (laugh) nice. doing the big things that move an economy. see you tomorrow, mac. see you tomorrow, sam. just another day at norfolk southern. [coughing] dave, i'm sorry to interrupt... i gotta take a sick day tomorrow. dads don't take sick days, dads take nyquil. the nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, fever, best sleep with a cold, medicine. [coughing] hey amanda, sorry to bother you, but i gotta take a sick day.

moms don't take sick days, moms take dayquil. the non drowsy, coughing, aching, fever, sore throat, stuffy head, power through your day medicine. e financial noise financial noise financial noise financial noise

welcome back to "squawk box." first -- right here on cnbc first in business worldwide. i'm andrew ross sorkin with becky quick and joe kernen. senator ted cruz will be joining us in studio in just a minute. but first a roundup of the morning's top stories. >> the focus back on the economy a day after the fed ended its quantitative easing program. we'll get a look at 8:30 eastern time. at the same time the labor department will be out with its weekly report on jobless claims. we've been watching the futures this morning. after some modest declined yesterday for the markets, red arrows are there once again. down by about 40 points. nasdaq down by 30 points and the

s&p futures off. in europe we have seen red arrows there. the dax in germany down by 1.5%. the cac down 1%. take a look where oil prices stand. right now down by about 1% for wti. decline to 8135. >> meantime the 2016 race for the white house is looming in the background. joining us now on set, we're happy to have him. senator ted cruz republican from texas. senator, thank you. in hollywood there's an old expression. you never want to follow a kid on a variety show. i don't know how you top a toilet segment at this point. >> i would just have to say you're setting up having a member of congress on the show. >> exactly. and you've got a use for the strong flushers in washington at times. >> there's more than a little

manure generated in that town. >> there is. you need big boots. okay. so what is today? thursday? so how do we count that. four, five days until the election at this point. here's something that's interesting to me. you can troo i to explain it to me. we've got a stock market that's doubled. we've got unemployment under 6%. like it or not, there's more insured americans at this point. things are -- there are some positive things going on. why do 70% of the american public -- i think part of that is unemployment has dropped primarily because more and more people keep dropping out of the labor market. i think the more measurable thing is labor participation. 92 million americans aren't working. number two, median incomes. median incomes have stagnated, gone down. they're at the level of 1995 is where we are right now for

median incomes. we've seen 3.7 million women enter poverty in the last six years. a lot of people are hurting and they're hurting because, you're right. here on wall street things are booming. but for working men and women, life has gotten harder and harder and harder. and what we're doing under the obama economy isn't working. that's why people are so dismayed. >> people can feel that it's not -- it's not as flush as the numbers would indicate right now. >> look. there's a lot of paper wealth. the stock market is going up. the fed has been goosing the economy. and that helps those who are invested in the market. but it's not helping your working joe who is having a harder and harder time making ends meet. >> what is it -- so, let's say tuesday rolls around, do you see the wave -- do you see it building even more than the media is willing to admit right now? more than 52 or 53?

some of these previous elections, it seemed out of reach for the gop. some of those suddenly seem unreal. what's your prediction for tuesday when it's said and done? >> i am very optimistic. i believe republicans will retake the house and senate. what makes it hard to predict is six or seven of them are within a couple of points. if they all break right, we could win ten or eleven seats. if they all break wrong, i mean, there's still a chance the democrats hold on if every one of the close seats breaks the wrong way. and so at this point it's all a turnout game. the last six weeks i have been on the road almost nonstop crisscrossing the country trying to turn voters out. if we turn conservatives out, then we'll have a big election day. >> you're leading into something that i wanted to talk to you

about. you probably saw this article. it was a bloomberg article about the isolation of ted cruz. okay? and the president has not been to any states that are even the slightest bit red. he's got to stay in the bluest of the blue states. this article pointed out you have visited georgia, you have visited kansas. these are deeply red states. but to certain parts of your party, you are -- you're what they would -- the progressives obviously think that that's the tea party is somehow a pajoritive to these people. it's in the conservative areas. why is that? >> that was one of the sillier stories you see in the media. >> sorry i brought that one up. but i'm going to get to something more positive about the whole idea. but go ahead. >> look, what that story does is repeats washington conventional

wisdom. what i can tell you is in the last six weeks, i have crisscrossed the country in addition to kansas and georgia. i've been in colorado. i've been in new hampshire. i've been in iowa. this afternoon i'm flying to florida to do a rally with rick scott. the next day i'm flying to alaska to do a rally with dan sullivan. we've done over 40 events. we've also raised and/or spent north of a million dollars for senate candidates helping turn voters out. look, i recognize folks in washington and there are people in washington who push these stories, are not happy with anything that rattles the status quo. but i can tell you. people across this country are frustrated with washington, they're frustrated with politicians in both parties in washington who aren't listening to them. >> you read a lot of these things in the media but the one thing they say and use a religious metaphor. they say ted cruz, great at stomping out the heretics. but we need someone who can

bring in the converts. and that's where it's hard. >> you know, again, that is what they say in washington. you're right. but at the same time i'll tell you, we are seeing a tremendous number of independents showing up. i cannot tell you how many people on the stump come up and say i'm a democrat. but thank you for standing up and fighting for me. that's something we hear over and over again. you know, in texas in 2012, mitt romney got 27% of the hispanic vote. same election at the exact same time, i got 40% of the hispanic vote. which meant in texas in 2012, one in eight hispanics went in to vote, voted with one hand for barack obama and the other hand for ted cruz. >> can i interrupt quickly? i just want to tell you about some news out right now. tim cook has an essay -- this was a personal, private essay he has posted on bloomberg business week at this moment.

talks about personal issues. he says for years he's wanted to maintain a basic level of privacy. he doesn't seek to draw attention to himself. but after thinking it through and really going to this, he says that he wants to let people know that he is gay. a lot of people know this inside apple. he says he doesn't consider himself an activist, but he realizes how much he's benefitted from the sacrifice of others. so if hearing the ceo of apple is gay can help bring comfort to anyone who feels alone or inspire people to insist on their equality, it is worth the tradeoff. >> this is a good segue. because when i talk about the tea party, for some reason it has this connotation that it's mired and socialist. to me i think it's small government, it's low taxes, it's personal freedom, it's earned success, it's all these things that have nothing to do with the social issues. but for some reason, for

example, we just heard this. the republican party has a heart. all of us have gay friends. in the last election, i heard individuals on the radio give a treatise on the individuals but said i'm gay. is the republican party going to keep bedroom issues out of the election from here on out? >> you're right that the tea party's focus is almost exclusively fiscal and economic. in fact tea stands for taxed enough already. listen, there are great many social conservatives concerned about directions in this country. i think they have a legitimate part of this debate. but i'll tell you what. with a threat that is bankrupting our kids and grand kids, is the out of control debt, is the size power and spending of the federal government and is the intrusions

of the federal government on our constitutional liberties. and those are issues that bring people together across parties, across income lines, across racial lines, across ages. people want to protect our liberties. >> although you have talked about anti-gay marriage legislation but at the same time you said what the supreme court did by not ruling on the state who is have allowed gay marriage, that that was tragic and indefensible. >> you are exactly right. look, i believe in the constitution. i think we need to follow the constitution. what the supreme court did effectively striking down the laws of 30 states was wrong and it was judicial activism. >> but if a state allows people of the same sex to marry, shouldn't they be allowed to do that? >> we. no, no, i agree. and perhaps you are not understanding my position. marriage is a question for the

states. marriage has been a question for the states since the beginning of this country. >> what's your position if you were running a specific state though? that's the issue. >> no, actually, andrew, with all respect it's not the issue. the issue is constitutionally should the federal government or federal courts impose their policy views in the place of the policy views of citizens of states. look, we've got 50 states. the citizens of new york decide they want gay marriage. they have the constitutional authority to make those decisions. and if the residents elsewhere want to make it between one man and one woman, they have that constitutional authority. lewis brandis said we could have the laws reflect the values of the citizens of those states. >> we're going to take a quick break. >> i want to come back and talk about this. >> you want to know his actual feeling about who should be allowed to get married, is that

where -- >> i want to know when you hear news -- i'll do it before we go to commercial. when you hear news that tim cook is now announcing he's g a rkay. if he wanted to marry another man in your state, would you be comfortable for that? >> it's not a matter if i'm comfortable. the situation is if the citizens of california decide they want to allow gay marriage, that's a decision for them. under our constitution, it's not the job of unelected to impose their views. let me make a final point that's kind of interesting. you guys asked why are you guys so focused, you conservatives so focused on social issues. i would note we were talking about the economy. and now the conversation is all shifted -- because the people focus on social issues. >> because you need to get elected and the opposing side is going to use -- i was just arguing in the segment before you came on that the wedge issues in my view only come up

every two years. the war on women. i only see that every -- everybody seems fine for a couple years then it's up again. they're going to use it. and we're trying -- the gop needs to figure out how to balance the social issues and the libertarian issues. because libertarians you would think they want small government. they want the government out of people's lives. yet the social conservatives seem like that's the one area where they let government come into everyone's lives. >> no. it is simply that government should reflect the values of citizens. >> and do it with the states. i'm comfortable with your answer. >> listen, i support marriage between one man and one woman. and i support the constitution letting each state decide its marriage laws consistent with the values of their citizens. one of the problems of the big government left is they want everything to be a one size fits all solution from washington. take obamacare. listen, a state has constitutional authority. if it wants to adopt socialized

health care, a state can vote to do that. if people decide i want to live in a state with socialized health care, i can move there. they may not find job because of the impact on small businesses and job creation. but one of the big problems of the obama agenda is every solution comes from washington and is forced on all 50 states regardless of whether the citizens want it. and it doesn't let people vote with their feet. it doesn't let people have any choice. and i think we need to have a lot more choice and a lot more freedom. >> can -- could you win in 2016? if you were to decide to run. because people -- you know what people say. and, you know, well, we can't run so-and-so. we've got to run mccain. there's no president mccain i knew of and there's no president romney. but we're hearing the psalm thing. jeb bush is the only person that could win. they said it about reagan too. that he was too conservative to

be elected and he was elected twice. >> the analogy you're drawing is the only way we can win. the central question for 2016 is how can we win? the stakes have never been higher. eight more years down this road, we risk doing irreparable damage to the greatest nation in the world. the only way for republicans to win, i believe, is to run a candidate who runs as a strong conservative with an optimistic view. >> is jeb bush too far left to you? >> jeb has not declared his candidacy. i'm a fan of jeb bush. i'm going to let him decide if he's running first. but i will say this. we need to learn from history. we need to look to history in what works and what doesn't. and one thing that's clear is if republicans run another candidate in the mold of a bob dole or a john mccain or a mitt

romney, and let me be clear all three of those are good, honorable men. they're decent men. they're patriots. but if we run another candidate in the mold of a bob dole or john mccain or mitt romney, we will end up with the same result which is millions of people will stay home on election day which is what happened for all three of them. if we run another candidate like that, hillary clinton will be the next president. >> what's the common flaw in those three candidates? what did they not have enough of? >> the common flaw, republicans win nationally when we draw a clear distinction. when as reagan put it we paint in bold colors, not pale pastels. when we move to the mushy middle and muddle the differences, what happens -- and this happens over and over and over again -- is millions of people stay home. i think where we are today bears uncanny similarities to the late 1970s. >> might feel a little worse.

>> i have joked the one person in america thrilled with the job that barack obama is doing is jimmy carter. and it's -- >> i don't think we have enough time to do this much. it's a one term. >> on the economic side, we're seeing the same failed policies, out of control spending, taxes, and regulation. the same misery, the same stagnation. internationally we're seeing the same feckless and naive foreign policy, the same hubris making the world. russia and iran are openly laughing at and mocking the president of the united states. and i think 2016 is going to be an election very much like 1980. if you think about it, ronald reagan didn't run by saying, you know, i'm just like jimmy carter. i'm just slightly to the right. reagan drew a line in the sand. he said this race is a fundamental choice. he said president carter believes government is the

answer to everything. i think it's the problem. >> early on people said how do you run against obamacare when you put in romneycare? and it was hard for him -- >> let me make a final point on this. you were asking about crossover voters. it is an interesting point in the last 50 years there's only one republican who has a group of democrats named after him. reagan democrats. and you think about it, if the washington, d.c. theory were right that the way to get crossovers is go to the mushy middle, then you would see bob dole democrats or mccain democrats or romney democrats. you don't see that because you have -- >> mushy middle is a good term. we don't want that. the more you say it, it's like how did we ever -- okay. let's say there are positive results for the gop on tuesday. once again, the dog catches the bus it's been chasing and now it's got the bus. do you have another 50 votes on repealing obamacare that he

vetoes? do you -- how does the gop snatch defeat again from the jaws of victory by, you know, for two years depending on swings back the other way. how do they prevent doing that? >> that's the $64,000 question. i think it's critical if and when we take a majority that republicans lead. the last time we had a majority we squandered it. we didn't accomplish a whole lot. just a couple of weeks ago i wrote an op-ed in usa today laying out ten priority items. a positive agenda for 2015 with a republican majority. it's up on my website ted cruz.org. we ought to focus on three big issues. jobs, liberty, and security. because those are the issues that people care about right now. and in my view we ought to tee up and vote on pro-growth legislation after pro-growth legislation after pro-growth legislation. and let them -- you know, harry

reid has preside ed over a do nothing senate. folks in the media like to blame either republican obstructionism or the more even handed as they say both parties. but you know what? the facts don't back that up. the house of representatives has passed over 350 pieces of legislation. many of them with bipartisan support. and every single one of them is sitting on harry reid's desk. he will not allow a vote on any of them. i'll give an example. keystone pipeline. it would have been authorized two years ago. i joined a bipartisan supermajority of senators in support of the keystone pipe line. there's one reason and one reason only it hasn't been authorized. harry reat won't allow a vote. one of the most egregious, enough to override an obama veto. why hasn't that happened? harry reid will not allow a vote. iran sanctions.

a bipartisan supermajority is on the record for stopping this historic mistake, this dangerous deal the obama administration is negotiating with iran. again, why hasn't that happened in the senate? harry reid won't allow a vote. i hope we see bold republican leadership that focuses on jobs and economic growth and opportunity. because that's what the american people want. >> great to have you in the studio. >> so many questions. >> there's a lot still left. but, you know, a lot of times liberals think conservatives by definition they're stupid because they're conservatives. princeton and harvard. >> i'm -- you know -- don't look at me like -- >> i've heard you say the same thing about liberals. >> usually i say princeton and harvard to liberals. >> i just want to get your view on it personally. >> we're going to kill another

break. if you've got time. >> sure. >> a lot of people are going to be talking all day today about tim cook coming out publicly and we're a business network. what does that mean for business and -- what do you think just as a guy who hears him come out. do you applaud that? what do you say? >> those are his personal choices. i tell you, i love my iphone. my wife has joked that i'm a little bit like gollum with my precious, with my iphone. it is also, by the way, the world's best child rearing tool. our daughters who are 4 and 6 frankly operate the iphone better than heidi or i do. they'll do anything to get a chance to play plants versus zombie on daddy's iphone. listen, tim cook makes his personal decisions. >> in terms of coming out -- >> and that is his life. my focus is on the

constitutional question of who has the authority to make decisions. and this is something we've seen over and over again which is the federal government and federal courts deciding they don't trust the people. that they look down on the people. they don't trust us to make judgments about our lives so the federal government and federal courts are going to impose their own policy. one of the more amusing exchanges, there was a column a few weeks ago in "the new york times" where david brooks who is not a fan of mine had a portion said two people, carl marx and ted cruz, think you can give power to the people. i have to admit i laughed out loud. you was like, wow, i don't think i've been lumped in with carl marx before. the article went on to be a pay in to rule by elites. >> so that's the connection. >> saying we need more washington elites. >> i remember the column. >> and my reaction reading that was, wow. you know what?

the elites sure have screwed things up. five and a half years ago the national debt was $10 trillion. now it's nearly $18 trillion. we are seeing -- i read that column and thought you know what? i agree with mr. brooks. we need to give power to the people and the biggest divide we have got in this country, i don't think it's between republicans and democrats. the biggest divide we've got in this country is between career politicians in washington in both parties and the american people. and part of why you're see sog much unrest but part of why you're seeing so many people get engaged and get involved is the people are trying to hold washington accountable. are trying to say listen to our priorities. my top priority from day one has been restoring economic growth and jobs and opportunity. that's the top priority of texans. i've got a responsibility to fight for 26 million texans.

in the two years i've been in the senate, with harry reid and the democrats we spend practically zero time talking about tax reform, about anything that would produce jobs and economic growth. and no wonder congress is at 10% approval rating if we don't even talk about the priorities of the people. >> you know, senator, we have talked a lot this morning about qe, the end of quantitative easing, the federal reserve what it's done to this point. i know you weren't a fan of janet yellen. you opposed her nomination. what do you think about the fed's move at this point and where do you think we go from here? >> well, we'll see how the markets react today. the last times they've tried to ease back, the markets have been pretty jittery on that. listen, qe-1, qe-2, qe-infinity has been an unprecedented experiment with expanding the money supply. now, we have been benefitted to some extent by a reduced

velocity of money. that perhaps has kept inflation in check. but i got to tell you, actually, for the average working american, inflation is a very real concern day-to-day. if you're a teacher, if you're a steel worker, you've seen the price of eggs go up. you've seen the price of milk go up. you've seen the price of chicken and hamburgers go up. you've seen the price of gasoline go up from $1.83 when obama was elected up to $4. it's still over 50% higher than it was five and a half years ago. you've seen your health insurance premiums skyrocket under obamacare. you've seen your energy bills skyrocket under the epa's regulations coming in. and you've seen median incomes stagnate. i've got to tell you, if you're a single mom waiting tables and you've seen as womens have seen their median income go down,

it's not much comfort saying a basket of goods says inflation is under control. you know in your life the things you're writing checks for, those prices keep going up and your paycheck isn't going up to match it. that's why people are saying bring back jobs and growth. bring back the vibrancy of the -- >> senator, would you come back? we enjoy having you here. "squawk box" will be right back. cute little guy, huh?

this guy could take down your entire company. stay with me. on thursday a hamster video goes online. on friday it goes viral - a network choking phenomenon. why do you care? he's on the same cloud as your business. the more hits he gets, the slower your business may get. do you want to share your cloud with a hamster? today there's a new way to work. and it's made with ibm.

welcome back to "squawk box," everyone. among this morning's top stories, apple ceo tim cook pinning an op-ed today saying publicly for the first time he is gay. he writes in part, i don't consider myself an activist but i realize how much i've benefitted from the sacrifices of others. so if hearing that the ceo of apple is gay can help bring those struggling to come to

terms with who he or she is then it's worth the tradeoff to my own privacy. this is something that may change the conversation to actually have a ceo say this publicly. often ceos don't want to get into the front of this. he says he's a private person and he wants the focus to be on apple and apple products. >> there are very few fortune 500 ceos and maybe none. i remember jim stewart wrote a piece a month or two ago saying there were so few. this is when lord brown had his book come out. there was a discussion that there probably was and is a community of ceos and board members and other who is are gay who have been unwilling to come out over the years. and this may change that. >> personally you have to admire and respect the thought process that's gone through this. the idea that this is something he has struggled with about whether or not he wants to disclose it. because he says he's a very private person.

i can understand that entirely. this isn't something he has to do, but it may help others along the way. you have to admire him for that. >> one of the reasons i wanted to ask the senator what he thought was just because i say bravo. i think it's great because i think it should change the conversation. and i hope if there are people who have felt uncomfortable about saying something or coming out or being more open or whatever that they now feel more comfortable. if that's what this does, that's my view of the moment. >> joining us now on the line is jon fortt. good morning. >> good morning, becky. >> this is something that's been talked about in circles in the past. it's been questioned. he himself has said he's never hidden it from people he's close to. but does this change the conversation? >> it absolutely does change the conversation. i mean, i think this is just a really big moment in corporate history. as you guys were discussing. very seldom if ever have we seen

a ceo of any five company write a letter like this about his sexual orientation. and for it to come from apple, the most valuable company in the world, the most valuable brand in the world by many measures is really significant. at the same time, though, this is going to surprise pretty much exactly no one who knows tim cook or works with him. it would be wrong to even probably call it an open secret. it's just sort of known in technology circles and around silicon valley. but the impact of him talking about it openly, him talking about his thought process in pointing to the conditions in society that make this an issue that he wants to plant a flag on, really interesting, really significant. and of course i think we've got to acknowledge that there are some people who will question what the impact on apple is

going to be. and certainly we've seen that when companies have policies that some people for whatever reason disagree with disney being one there's always a light shined on that. but tim cook thinks being open is big in history. >> we had peter thiel on. we asked him how do you view -- i'm gay but i don't know all the answers to all these things. i think tim cook felt the same way. so i'm gay but what does it have to do with me running apple? but i think he finally got to the point where it would be helpful to the entire discourse in the country for people to know about him. >> the essay, if you read it closely and take a look at it, it kind of takes you through his thought process on this. points out that every morning

he's greeted by a photo of dr. martin luther king in his office. he says i believe deeply in the words of martin luther king who said life's most persistent question is what are you doing for others. i challenge myself with that question. and i realize my desire for personal privacy has held me back from doing more important. >> becky? >> yeah. >> something else to point out is tim cook has stepped out and made the case for diversity, acknowledgment of uniqueness. being important in business. he has elevated a couple of black women in the executive team. lisa jackson is reporting to him for environmental affairs. former head of the epa and the head of human resources over all of apple also a black woman. he released apple's diversity

statistics along with a number of other technology companies. but he didn't just release them. he talked about why it's important to have in an era of global business to have broad representation of lots of different viewpoints in an organization. so it's also relevant from a standpoint and he mentions this in his essay. embracie ining diversity. and that's something else the people should be talking about figuring out their own perspectives on. >> all right, jon. thank you very much. we will have more on this at the top of the hour. again, apple ceo tim cook penning an essay he's gay for the first time. we're going to switch to taking a more hawkish tone indicating that maybe more aggressive with rate hikes. steve leisman now joins us with more. >> a little surprise yesterday. the fed ending the third round of bond purchases, aka qe.

which is a hawkish view on the outlook for rates. here are the changes. the fed said it is gradually diminishing. in september they said they remained significant under utilization. i guess we couldn't get that full screen up. but that's what they said. there it is. pauss, three wob two, one. and moving on. yellen had based the policy on the concept there remains to be tens of millions of americans under and unemployed. here's what she said at the september press conference. >> there still is and the statement says it significant underutilization of labor resources and a very modest pace of wage increases that's picked up very little. i see as essentially a reflection of that. >> there have been some not

zra drastic improvement, but yellen's own metric the growth rate of wages down in september compared to august. now, the outlook for the feds futures raising by nine basis points. but at just 53, the market's still discounting a highly dovish fed. now, the fed tamed considerable time from the end of qe to the beginning of rate hikes. but the market has to think now a heightened risk of an earlier rate hike than the summer of 2015. >> and as steve just explained markets getting what they were expecting. the muted response sending lower. what lies ahead in this post-qe

environment? joining us now is bruce cassman and steve wood. tell us what is going to happen now. >> i think the market is going to take this in stride. this is the least well kept secret in monetary policy. in historical context, this is still an accommodative fed. we saw yellen in april of this year. everything that could have slack has slack. this is a global phenomenon. the emergency measures have ended and they're going to begin the process of normalizing. i think we're at the beginning end of i think a tightening edge. >> bruce, when do you think? >> june of next year is when we think they will give us the

first rate hike which is earlier than the market is forecasting. >> i think one market that didn't really overlook this was the currency market. if you look at what happened to the euro yesterday, over markets round tripped as it took it in stride. there wasn't a huge reaction or a reaction that it came right back. i think it gets to this issue of policies here. bhavr else the policy is doing, it is going to be tightening over some period of time. and the expectation is out there that the european central bank will be -- i'll call it eqe. >> what's your call when this all goes down? >> i still think it's june 2015. but i have to think -- i have to hear what other people say. i really want -- i really had wanted yellen to make a speech between the meetings that she didn't use that boston time period to say go from significant slack to slack gradually diminishing. it's a big step.

right? in language there were a lot of different places going on. >> european, what is qe? >> european qe. eqe. you like that? been working on that. you could go qee. >> within a couple of months -- >> qee. >> we still think it's going to be qe-3 of 2015. but it's symbolic. i think the market dependency is going to be pronounced. he's that swing vote on the fed and they really are looking at how the data come in. and no desire to be what i called dr. 1937. she doesn't want to make the mistakes of the 1930s and overly tightened too soon. >> give us one data point you're going to watch we're not paying attention to. >> we're looking at the currency markets.

we've seen some movement there. but i think equities right now are going to be in the high single digits for the rest of the year. and the u.s. economy probably continues in that 3%. >> first we've got to go, 15 seconds. but do you have a word for outright of bonds. >> i think they do more to make it more attractive at the next meeting and a trillion on top of where they stand right now. >> when? >> over the next nine months. >> we're going to leave it there. steve, bruce, and steve. thank you. coming up harman international cranking up. out with quarterly results. we'll have the ceo on the show when we come back. today could be the day. the day we give you hope. relief. a cure. today, we believe every life deserves world-class care. as one of the top four hospitals in the nation,

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welcome back, everybody. harman international reporting. joining us is the ceo. thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> how is business doing? >> business is pretty good, actually. we're enjoying pretty nice

growth. not just the economy is doing reasonably well but the u.s. in the far east. we're seeing a connected car driving the improvement which means more and more cars are opting for on-board entertainment which means flexible platforms so they can impractical with apps out in the market place. also the audio business has done well. you can't have connected car unless you have good connected audio in the car. and outside of automotive we have done extremely well. expanding our scope in innovation. >> danesh, on the car frent right now, we keep waiting to see when apple is really going to make a move into the car or whether google and android will make a move into the car. where are they and where are you relative to them? >> i think both have done a lot of good things for the auto

industry. in terms of creating a need for lots of flexibility and bringing the lifestyle in the car which we are so used to. until recently we are expected to sort of leave it behind so to a point where regulatory saying we should turn off the phones. that's not going to be possible. technology is here. where google is driving in terms of an autonomous car working closely with google and apple for a long time. and basically we are acting as a bridge between ale con valley who has the technology but not so much deep expertise in car ecosystem. and supply for german car companies and deep expertise for 30-plus year. so it's going very well. i think it's all real in five, seven years. but most importantly for i love to drive. i would like a safety

environment where i can interact my lifestyle. >> how much do you worry about the distracted driving phenomenon? i saw there's a new microsoft device or rather a toyota car that's using a microsoft device that has cameras on the eyes of the driver and if you fall asleep, it looks at you and takes control of the wheel. is that the future? >> you know, unless you integrate lots of these gizmos safely and securely, you are causing a lot of distraction. and this is where we have a cutting edge research going on. also in germany and the united states. you talk about cameras. that's basically coming. but your steering wheel would have sensors which will detect the tiredness of your retina. based on that it will give a

visible and automobile alarm or where it will act to sker the car. but a lot of testing has to be done. a car is where the life is. you can have a device and upgrades sent to you. the difference between these two worlds. >> dinesh, we know there's this battle that's taking place between everybody who wants to get in and control the front of the car. whether it's apple. we heard from at&t. we heard about all these device and mobile companies interested getting in there and getting control. i know a lot of the auto makers have been working with them. but there's only so much. do they work with you or through you or are you a competitor? >> right now we are serving nine of the largest fifteen car companies. when you talk about where do they fit in, ecosystem is

getting complex. bringing a lot of these points solutions from google and apple. google is only one. apple is one. more search engines than google worldwide. alibaba, and samsung. car companies are designing cars that are agnostic to all these. >> so you're agnostic too? >> we are agnostic. our systems are designed to embrace all kind of handheld smart devices whether made by microsoft or google. >> i don't want to scare the heck out of the audience. maybe you can tell us not to be scared, what do you think about hacking? the idea that not only are our devices susceptible to hacking but that a car, a moving vehicle could one day be susceptible to hacking and what that means.

>> you know, cars are most vulnerable right now. because none of these cars, the software systems which we put in 20 million lines of code but they're not designed to be connected to the internet. so the next generation system which we are working on which will go out into bmws and gms of the world, this will have safety security layer just like in our banking and network systems and our office enterprise systems. once you have that, you will have firewalls. nobody should be worried about that. the companies are responsible. therefore the smart devices will be given to bring in the play list and contracts and what have you. but mission critical functions will be protected with the internet up. >> okay. dinesh, quick question. i know you're friends with jim cramer. he just had the ceo of this new company pono, neil young, he was

on talking about that. what he claims is a higher quality audio system. he wants to know if you'd adopt that. >> absolutely. neil is a friend of the company. not just neil. many of them are so upset because with digitization with the mobility which we all love, i love my music to be portable. but we have paid a price. loses 90% of what neil young recorded. so we have launched technology to solve the problem. we call it clarify to restore the sound quality. and that's just being launched in the many car farms. it's coming into handsets and devices and also streaming services. neil is saying let's also design devices that can play back high definition music. so we are very aligned. what neil is doing is supporting our cause which we've been talking about for years. >> dinesh, thank you for joining us today.

>> thank you so much. good to be on your show. coming up, when we return we'll talk more about tim cook saying he's proud to be gay. how this could change board rooms around the world. and also up next, the king is back in cleveland. lebron james, his debut tonight. his effect being felt on and off the court. we'll head to cleveland for a live report. back in moment. ok, if you're up there, i could use some help. smart sarah. seeking guidance. just like with your investments. that sets you apart. it does? it does. you're type e*. and seeking another perspective is what type e*s do. oh, and your next handhold... is there. you don't have to go it alone.

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tonight lebron james is back in cleveland and morgan brennan

is there and joining us with more on the lebron effect. >> hey, andrew. well, it's all about king james here in cleveland where the cavaliers are playing their first game of the season against carmelo anthony's new york knicks tonight here at the q behind me. this is a huge homecoming for the four-time mvp and the effects that are being felt both on and off the court. tickets on the secondary market are absolutely soaring right now. the current average price for a cavs home game, $388. that's a 224% increase over last year according to tikiq. it's about the most expensive nba team. tonight's game is the highest price for a single event this season. fanatics.com says the cavs are the top selling nba team in terms of merchandise. up 700% versus last year. the top selling jersey, you guessed it. lebron james. and local restaurants and hotels are getting more reservations.

cuyahoga county suggests this will add to the local economy. >> we collect more tax money. there's an emissions tax, payroll tax because additional people are being hired. so that creates jobs not just at the q itself, but also creates jobs in bars and restaurants and hotels because their numbers go up. so some of it directly we're getting money. >> of course all of this is going to depend on whether james and his teammates can win games. of course that starts tonight. guys, back to you. >> all right, great. that is great news for cleveland. and our buddy dan gilbert. coming up, first read. and tim cook's announcement that he is gay. (receptionist) gunderman group.

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welcome back to "squawk box" right here on cnbc, first in business worldwide. i'm andrew ross sorkin. among our top stories this morning, tim cook saying

publicly for the first time he is gay. the apple ceo writing an essay in bloomberg business week about this today. we're going to have former congressman barney frank joining us to discuss what this means for the future of corporate america. the focus is back on the economy a day after the fed ended its quantitative easing program. we are just half an hour away from two economic reports. the economists are looking for an annual growth rate of 3.1%. we'll also get jobless claims. both coming at 8:30 eastern time. this morning the futures have been under a little bit of pressure. dow down 34 points. s&p futures down 12 points. and the nasdaq down by 29 points. as we mentioned our our first read on third quarter economic growth is just ahead. some economists have cut their forecast recently. but growth should come in around 3%. joining us now director of health and economic policy

studies and also former romney policy adviser. and senior fellow at the center for american progress and professor of public policy at the university of massachusetts boston. and we'll get to gdp, but first christian, you're mad at the fed i'll bet. you wanted them to declare qe-infinity until, what? 2300? isn't that where you were on that issue? >> i'm glad you're putting words in my mouth. no, i'm fine with it ending. >> they should not have ended it, though, right? >> no. i think this was foreseeable and easy. i think the rates that keep interest rates low, they're going to stay low for a considerable time is the right way to go. i think the fed needs some room to breathe. it has created the flexibility and i think we're in the good spot with policy at this point. i think to some degree we want

to stay where we are in interest rates. the question is also on the regulatory side, what can the fed do to make sure the creditory practices are pushed out. >> wow. so -- but you would not -- if you were not janet yellen you wouldn't have kept qe going? you would have. i know you would have. wouldn't you? >> no, no. i think at this point -- >> kevin. >> it was foreseeable. >> we can say it's foreseeable. but you knew they were going to do it. you're not saying you're happy they ended it. >> well, i think the part here is also, like, qe has had its run. it has helped to do what it meant to do. stabilize the economy and help create jobs, bring the job market to a better place. but the other part is also we're pinning too many hopes on qe. also too many hopes on low interest rates for the coming months and years. i think as janet yellen has said

and i agree with that one, definitely is the fiscal policy side has to step up and hope that after the elections are over, we're going to see more action from congress. >> oh, we will. only to be vetoed. but kevin, why are they slashing gd -- why are people bringing down numbers and yet the fed seems to at least have to say they're upgrading the view of the economy as they ended it yesterday? >> the fed language was pretty good. just now that interexchange with christian looked like you were asking a senate candidate if they voted for president obama. >> i know. wasn't it good? >> it was great. >> and christian knew it. i liked how he kept saying it was foreseeable. i saw it coming. he knows it. >> and i'm not even in washington. >> he resembles that remark. >> deep down a german central banker, you have to remember that about christian. as you remember when i got

crushed on jobs day because i saw the data slowing and gave the lowest and most ridiculously wrong number, the fact is that the world is slowing. china's not looking so good. europe is probably headed into recession. and that's really going to be bad for net exports in the u.s. there are a few glimpses that aren't with what we expected. but the u.s. economy is cruising the rest of the world. and when that happens, it takes a bite out of u.s. growth. so my guess is you can still come in above it. but i'm worried we're not going to be able to post the threes and fours because of the slowing in the rest of the world. >> i agree with kevin. but i would add that what we see in the expert side is slowing overseas, that comes in with a lag. some of the shorter term benefits like lower oil prices, lower prices at the pump and lower interest rates, those are the positive effects that could

happen. look at durables and retail and just the -- you know, i know consumers felt a little bit better, but it doesn't feel good, does it? and look at the selection. >> it feels pretty good. >> why is there a 70% wrong track with the marketed new highs and unemployment? >> i'm not sure -- i would be interested to know where kevin sees the positive side on the general feeling because there are clearly markers. we're going to get a shot in the arm from the last. you look at the saving rate and poll numbers. jobs and the economy, jobs and economy shouldn't rank as high as they do. and sort of clearly there are

things holding back. the job growth is great. >> and that's the best -- >> not great, but they'd be good. >> i also worship at the alter of mark sandy. i think there are some signs that the economy is actually getting close to overheating. with that as a backdrop today seems like a layup. >> you're -- >> well, i don't know how you see an economy overheating if the jobs numbers are a little over 200,000 jobs per month and wage growth -- >> so far -- >> because he's got four and a half percent growth. >> but the ecb has been off in many ways. >> kevin, do you worship at the

altar of the stimulus he designed for the union buyouts? >> no. i never trust hum on policy. just on what the numbers are doing. >> i never trust him on policy. that's good advice. okay. all right, gentlemen. christian, you're not mad today. i guess you're -- that election's coming up and you just kind of resigned to some bad news down the road, huh? >> no. i think this -- it's a very difficult numbers to push out. there are things that are definitely bad for many people overall though there are good signs. i'm happy they're keeping interest rates low for a considerable amount of time. i'm happy we're talking about inequality seriously. i'm hoping congress will actually act on the minimal wage, for instance. i believe there's enormous pressure for congress to do something in that regard. there's a number of things i'm happy about. i'm not happy that we're still bumbling around with job growth. >> i need to know whether kevin

was really onto something. do you battle your inner demons about being a german central bank we are all of your pro-growth lean sngs. >> i've been in the u.s. long enough. >> you were the republic of cambridge, i forgot. >> i'm in boston. >> are you? it seeps across the charles. thank you. kevin's a very -- for being an aei guy, he's very nice. >> why? because he's not sucking up right now? you're implying that everybody else there isn't? >> no, i think they're more set in their libertarian viewpoints. >> okay. we do have some more news for you on the apple front. apple chairman art levinson responding. saying tim has our wholehearted support and admiration in makes

this personal statement. on behalf of the board and our entire company we are incredibly proud to have tim leading apple. in the last hour we talked to senator ted cruz on his thoughts on gay marriage legislation. >> yeah? >> i thought we were playing a sound bite there. i don't know. when we come back, we'll talk to barney frank. we'll get his reaction of the announcement and how it could change the landscape of corporate america. plus chris christie has strong words for a heckler yesterday in new jersey. that is just ahead. "squawk box" will be right back. and the freedom of the open road? a card that gave you that "i'm 16 and just got my first car" feeling. presenting the buypower card from capital one. redeem earnings toward part or even all of a new chevrolet, buick, gmc or cadillac - with no limits. so every time you use it, you're not just shopping for goods. you're shopping for something great.

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now to the big buzz story of the morning. tim cook publicly saying for the first time he's gay last hour. we talked to ted cruz on the topic of gay marriage legislation. >> i support marriage between one man and one woman. and i support the constitution letting each state decide its marriage laws consistent with the laws of their citizens. in the state of california if the citizens decide they want to allow gay marriage, that's a decision for them.

>> joins us now to talk about this barney frank. now a cnbc contributor. thank you for joining us. i was looking over an old james stewart piece. there are only two other publicly traded companies of ceos who have come out. put this in perspective of tim cook's coming out today. >> it's extremely important. the major reason we've made progress in providing equality for people who had gay and lesbian and transgender is that 60 years ago many people didn't know any gay people. and there was a prejudice that said we were immoral, weak, whatever. there was a terrible stereotype.

the only antidote to that is reality. it has been the process of millions of americans telling their friends, their relatives, their patients, et cetera who we are. that we're gay. and now of course that's been very important on a personal level. but when someone as well known as tim cook and more importantly when the man who has been the leader for several years with great success of one of the most important and successful businesses in america says by the way, you know those people about whom you had these negative feels, i'm one of them. that does such an enormous amount to diminish the negative feelings that i am very grateful to them for doing it. >> barney, how is this going to shift the landscape in terms of the conversation within the business community? as i mentioned earlier, very few others have come out publicly before. are we going to see more people coming out?

i said mazel tov to this. >> it's particularly the case we're talking about business. and people are going to put the bottom line first. when a month from now apple's stock price continues to be very impressive and has not suffered any loss as we know, that's going to be one more obstacle removed from people coming out. i'm sure there are boards that have told some boards well, you know, we don't want controversy. tum cooke just destroyed that. one of the most important, successful, innovative companies in american history is presided over and has been for some time by a ceo. at first was surprised that he had come out.

but i think they deserve -- it was a wise decision not to do it on the first day. but to have been there for several years. so that people could not perform a kind of prejudice judgment. and now it's indisputable. that his can sexual orientation is important to him personally. and who he chooses to engage on a personal level. but it's a wholly different factor economically. i do believe that will encourage some other people to do that. it's kind of hard for someone to say, well, we don't want you to come out because it will have a negative impact. when the head of apple has done it. how could anybody argue anything is bad about it? >> apple, young people, they're not going to have any problems about sales at the margin. even if a company would worry about a 1% decline -- pick another company that might not be apple. but i don't think even conservative type companies with

that sort of aura around them, i don't think they worry anymore. in fact, i'd worry more about sales going down for a chick-fil-a or something like that. i'd worry more if you were outspoken against marriage equality. >> there's no question. and to the extent it has any impact, it would be marginally helpful. i'm not a great expert in this kind of hardware, et cetera. there's no question. given the large number of gay and lesbian people, our feelings about the need to continue to get rid of what's left of discrimination, if any of this will help, i guarantee you from people yrn they are deciding whether to buy an apple product or competing product. they would say i want to support tim cook. >> do you own an iphone? >> no. i do not own an iphone.

i take it back. i do now. i just got an ipad. look, i was in congress for 32 years. one of the great bargains the american people get are the extraordinarily able, dedicated people of integrity who work for us on the staff. so for years after i became chairman i had 50 or 60 people working for me so i didn't have to learn it. and i'm not good with things. i've been in a life-long battle with inanimate objects. i push the wrong buttons and do it too hard. but i did just get an ipad. so i can read e-mails. so i do have one. >> what about people that still in their -- for whatever reason, they think that marriage should be between a man and a woman. should there be a litmus -- we were talking to ted cruz. should there be a litmus

question on whether they can reach a higher office if they have the wrong viewpoint on gay marriage? peter thiel, he's a libertarian, he's gay and out and he supports ted cruz. which i think raises the ire of a lot of other gay people that he's able to give money to someone who is seen as being seen as against gay marriage. i'm just wondering, i don't know how many people are left that are against gay marriage. but should they be disqualified at this point? >> no. i would say this about mr. thiel. the argument that you help someone, you help gay rights by voting for ted cruz is wrong. but it may well be that you're worried we will do too much about climate change or you think we should be skuting social security or medicare. i can understand people who have

issues. particularly since you make so much of it. >> i do want to say this. no, i wouldn't disqualify someone who is anti-marriage. someone who's very anti-gay or anti-black or anti-semitic. you don't want them in there. can i make a point of what's the most significant politically? ted cruz is one of the most conservative people in american politics. he just made a very important statement that you quoted. that you ran on the air. which he said if a state wants to have same-sex marriage, that's okay. that is an advance over the conservative position of just ten years ago. of massachusetts declared marriage -- george bush a more mainstream republican asked congress to pass a constitutional amendment to prevent the states from doing what ted cruz now says states should be able to do. that is push constitutional amendments which were voted on twice in the house.

would not have allowed a state to do that. would have said that anywhere in america same-sex marriage is illegal. so even ted cruz's position, he has -- he represents an evolution in favor of allowing same-sex marriage. >> like the president and others that have moved from a more nuanced -- >> they moved directly, but it's even more of an indication that the country is moving if someone on the right takes that position. >> barney frank, thank you for jumping on tv at such last-minute notice. we appreciate your perspective and insight on this. >> i will have to make an admission. i was glad to respond quickly. fortunately the camera stays up. i'm not wearing socks. >> oh, boy. wow. >> there's the morning visual. >> andrew does that a lot. coming up, chris christie -- usually it's when you're rushing.

>> yeah. >> chris christie with some strong words for a heckler. then it's the morning that markets are anxiously awaiting for. that's a first read on third quarter gdp. have things slowed or are we on track? we'll have that number and market reaction and much more. (trader vo) i search. i research. i dig. and dig some more. because, for me, the challenge of the search... is almost as exciting as the thrill of the find. (announcer) at scottrade, we share your passion for trading.

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box." governor chris christie holding a press conference on superstorm sandy anniversary. here's how the governor responded to a heckler. >> i'll be more than happy to have a debate with you, guy. somebody like you who doesn't know a damn thing about what you're talking about except when the cameras here are. i've been here when the cameras aren't here and done the work. you want the conversation later, i'm happy to have it, buddy. until that time, sit down and shut up. >> and everything's viewed through the prism of how you feel. i love it and love him. everybody's going to have a different viewpoint of what it was. i love seeing that. he's not a politician. he doesn't care. sure i would have liked to have said the same thing to the guy. i didn't even like the way the guy looked like from behind. >> i don't know how it plays broadly. >> i don't either. >> saying sit down and shut up. >> just for me. andrew -- >> i liked it. i mean, there's something

authentic about it. >> good. we're agreeing on more and more things. >> the only thing you worry about is whether that authenticity is too much in other contexts. >> there are other progressives like "the huffington post" must hate it. but i love it. we're getting closer and closer on a lot of issues. when we come back, we do have a report of the morning, gdp. getting in a groove. growth is gratifying. goal is to grow. gotta get greater growth. i just talked to ups. they got expert advise, special discounts, new technologies. like smart pick ups. they'll only show up when you print a label and it's automatic. we save time and money. time? money? time and money. awesome. awesome! awesome! awesome! awesome! (all) awesome! i love logistics. there's a difference when you trade with fidelity. one you won't find anywhere else. one-second trade execution.

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we are back and awaiting jobless claims and the first read on the third quarter gdp. let's get down to rick santelli with this number. >> a surprisingly strong number for our first look. up 3.5% on quarter over quarter change on our first look at third quarter gdp. consumption, 1.8. that's definitely a lot lighter than our last look at 2.5. it's close. price index 1.3. a lot smaller than last time's 2.1. jobless claims, they moved up a whopping 3,000 from a slightly revised 284 to now what stands at 287,000. and of course continuing claims, they moved up a swich from 2.35

to 2.34 million. on gdp, you're looking up 4.2. that's good compared to our last point. and if you look at pce prices, 1.2 versus 2.3. what do we see in summation? jobless claims still under 3,000. gdp on our first blush isn't bad. if you take into account the neg fif first quarter it's starting to average out to a better pace. and the markets, the markets like it a bit. you can tell yields moved up to 231 to 230. we'll continue to monitor. and the equities, they're not a wrong way again. today the information improved and the net change went from about minus 50 to minus 37 on dow futures. >> thank you very much. let's get more reaction to these numbers. joining us is chief economist at

stern and jim yuri. >> it's a good number. but not good in the way it was expected. rick is right. consumer spending is down from the prior quarter, but it's a bit higher than had been expected at 1.8. i saw a print of 1.3. not as big of a decline as expected. and a little disappointing on the investment side. i heard a lot of guys talking about a lot of double digit. instead i see fixed investment. just 1% overall with structures. it's hard to read this table. five and a half. equipment up just 7.2 versus 11.2. a lot looking for a double digit which isn't didn't happen one of the reasons was a better number for government. looking for a decline in

government spending. still a hefty increase here. as to when defense spending. in terms of the cap x side. >> lindsey, what's that tell us? this was during a period where you saw a lot of concerns, a lot of tumbles in the stock market. >> i think by con sujs missing that expectation, we did expect a pullback from the second quarter but maybe not as large of a pullback. what this says is the u.s. consumer is still under a significant amount of pressure. i know we've talked about this many times, but against the backdrop of lackluster job growth. >> the consumer did better this time. >> a little better. >> sounds like business is more or likely to get spooked by these head lans than consumers. >> i think we're looking more in

the range of 2% to maintain that 2% consumption range. again when we look at this relative to the second quarter, we did see the consumer fall back into less than ideal territory. and looking at retail sales, it does suggest that momentum is continuing to wane as we move into the key fourth quarter holiday spending season. >> one other thing worth noting. inventory is always a big swing factor. how much is on the shelves out there. it was a negative points. took away 0.6% from gdp after adding 1.5. you had a big inventory draw down. build back up in the second quarter, came back down many the third. >> all right. this is the first big economic number we've seen since the fed making its announcement to end qe. how does the market handle it? >> there was a five to ten second span where everyone was looking at themselves is good news good news or good news bad news. the reality is good news is

probably good news. i think it's lazy thinking to look at the way the market traded yesterday and lower this morning and think the market is spooked a little bit by the fed. the real explanation of that is probably we rallied 170 off the bottom. the path of least resistance. we have to remember we look at data from this week. the only number that was good is the consumer confidence number from two days ago. i think that has to be brought into equation this week. >> i think that's right. one of the big outlooks here for the third quarter and fourth quarter is the consumer ramps up to a 3% range from where we are right now. so if we're going get to three, we have to get there with some consumption. i don't think cap x can drive it the way it's been driving it. you had a positive contribution from that here. it's going to be the consumer. and the big question is how that gas price decline plays out. we've had a bunch of people on this week. it's been a big debate.

some people saying the consumer just isn't confident enough to spend that gas win fall that's out there. others say you put a dollar in the american consumer's pocket, they're going to spend 98.9%. >> i don't think they have a choice. >> arguably september could have been weaker but we saw them take a extra hundred dollars and bought an iphone. sop we've already seen that price reprieve at the pump translate into the retail sales numbers. >> guys -- >> we've got to remember -- >> we've got to remember the environment that's being created here. nobody's going to save anything. they don't have a choice. they've got bills too. if they're going to save it, where are they going to save it? you might as well buy iphones. if you put that money back in the pockets by lower oil, it is a net economic positive. you can say the strong dollar is going to hurt the exporters, but

so what. consumers spending money, that's going to be dollar for dollar in my opinion. not 99 cents. anyone? >> so lindsey, you have some concerns about it overall. you think they make it to 3% in this current quarter. >> fourth quarter gdp is going to be predicated on how the consumer fares. unless we start to see very rapid high wage job creation, there's nowhere for the consumer to go but down. energy price reprieve, certainly. but not a long-term. >> do you think the fed was wrong ending qe? >> i don't. i think there was a word it was no longer providing a positive benefit to the economy but instead maybe a barrier burden at the time it does become appropriate to policy firm. and i think it was right to move away. >> along the consumer here, i think we're going to get half of what lindsey said. job creation but not high wage job creation. i think what's happened is there's down pressure on it.

that means the employers have an ability to choose. and make -- and it's not a very competitive market out there when it comes to employees. except for the most talented folks out there. i think you get the windfall from gas prices, more job creation. we've been doing 250 a month. so either way, people are still -- more people are still working. that's more money. even though it's not necessarily higher wages. i think the fourth quarter is shaping up. i think the question is going to be, you covered retail. i remember back in those days at the wall street journal. if you're a retailer right now you've probably got orders into china. did you order a lot for the fourth quarter or a little. so one creates strong pricing at the retail shop. the other creates a lot of discounts. >> profits versus total sales too. >> as we know inventories are high right now. retailers are already forced to discount a lot of the inventory they're sitting on from the second quarter carrying down

into the fourth quarter. so that, too is going to keep new demand or new sales in check. >> there's only eight weekends to go. >> one more thing. at 3.5% we're 1% of the economy. these are numbers the fed would consider to soak up slack in the economy and would bring people back into the workforce. that's the theory anyway. one of the things practice in theory. tend to conflict at times. >> thanks for being here. >> did you read page six? >> no. why? >> roger got an award. did you see his line? >> no. >> behind every successful man there's a surprised wife. that's a great line. when we return, what tim cook's landmark announcement today means for corporate america. as we head to a break, take a look at futures. see how things are setting

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but it's a wonderful line. i'm glad roger used the line. i'm sure my wife loves the line. >> that's where i was going with this. welcome back to "squawk box." and i've had some personal experience with it. avon earnings beat the street by six cents. citing a successful turnaround. weight watchers go from make y up to weight, this is my stocks to watch today. revenues topping consensus. shares under pressure as membership declined again. conoco phillips. beating the street on top and bottom lines. a new customers also improve results. >> the story we've been talking about all morning, the ceo of one of the world's biggest and best known companies saying publicly for the first time he's gay. tim cook making the announcement

and explaining it in an essay. joining us now senior editor at recode. >> good morning. >> so was this a surprise to you he would make the announcement? >> just a matter of timing. it's pretty clear that tim has been sort of setting the stage for this discussion for some time. apple has taken a very strong line in cases like when arizona passed a rather discriminatory law in its legislature against gay people. apple spoke up. tim has been very vowal about lbgt rights. he made a speech in new york to auburn alumni. he's an auburn grad and football fan. he talked about equality and growing up in the south and seeing cross burnings on the lawns of neighbors in his community. and it troubled him. this is something -- equality

and social justice are things he feels very strongly about. he feels a sense of responsibility. that's what i get from reading the essay this morning. he feels a sense of responsibility in his role as a leadership of apple, one of the world's largest cocountries to distribute his voice. >> what's your sense of the rest of the valley in terms of if this changes things and whether other people will be more open. >> it probably will. you know, the funny thing is that this has been something that he's never been secretive about it, he's just never publicly identified himself as gay. there's a lot of people who have known this. it's not like he hasn't told anybody on his board or anybody in his company. it's just he's been an extremely private person. there's a lot of private people in silicon valley. i think this will change the discussion just a little. but when you spend time in silicon valley, it's almost beside the point. >> arik, people now aren't going

to say me too. people are private. for tim it's different because it's the most valuable company in the world. it can be a -- it's a great statement. but anybody else is entitled to their privacy. and it's irrelevant really. it has nothing to do with him being ceo of the company. but he can do some good because of the discussion we're having. i wouldn't imagine all of a sudden everyone rushes to do it. there's some people that i think like "the new york times" guy jim stewart did it. and there's a little bit of -- it wasn't anger but it was like, wow, a lot of these guys don't seem to be willing to do it. and it's disappointing that they aren't. and so i almost thought, you know, tim probably was thinking maybe i should do this because it looks like i've never hid it so i'm not trying to hide it. because i think there was a little bit of -- what would you call jim stewart's attitude on it? he was a little bit disappointed? >> he clearly wanted more gay executives to be public about it

because he felt that there was a sort of undercurrent of not wanting to talk about it. >> i think the number one feeling -- i go back to it. i think barney frank in your previous segment on this referred to it well. it's a sense of responsibility. i'm going to read from it now. the world has changed much since i was a kid. america is moving towards marriage equality. public figures have bravely come out. but there's still these laws on the books with discrimination. you know, you can't -- employers can fire people for being gay. landlords can convict people for being gay in certain places. the battle is not really won until everybody is treated equally under the law. and so it feels like a sense of responsibility. he feels like he has benefitted by those who have come before in this discussion. >> okay. before we let you go, i have a question that's completely a business question. unrelated to any social issues this morning. it's an apple question. there's a report out that apple has thought about trying to sell

its iphones in iran. and we were trying to make sense of that earlier today, how that would work relative to the sanctions that currently exist. and figured what better person to ask than you. >> you know, i read that story. it was very interesting. if -- the funny thing is when you go to iran you see a lot of iphones. you see a lot of things that technically shouldn't be there because of the sanctions. so, you know, if and when the rules change, and i think there's been some discussion about maybe loosening sales of communications devices officially. so there might be some loosening of the rules. it would absolutely make sense for apple to want to reach out to somebody who they might want to do business with in the future. for an official distribution channel within apple. they're getting in one way or the other. >> there it is. okay. arik, thank you for joining us. >> you bet. when we come bab, jim cramer's take on the fed, the gdp number, and the giants

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let's get down to the new york stock exchange where jim cramer joins us now. you know, i guess everybody wants to talk about apple and tim cook because it's apple. have you heard the line behind every great man there's a surprised wife? that's a good one, right? behind every great man instead of a strong woman, there is a surprised wife. andrew says that's the oldest joke. have you heard that before? >> no. that's new to me. >> thank you. the king of wit across from me. >> screen play. he knows the lingo. we are not writing screen plays. we are coming to work every day. >> showtime never picked up one

of my pilots. >> hbo repeatedly turned down by entreaties. >> i know. apple probably the -- if there is one company talked about more than any other company, apple. tim cook, the ceo is gay. that is significant. >> i don't have anything more to say than what joe said. you had great guests all morning. all of them talked about the discrimination. i'm listening to the discrimination thinking that stuff really still goes on. obviously, it does. maybe because i live where i live, i'm not as cognizant. i thought it was great. >> i agree. we were just talking because we've all known and we remember our own network had a little bit of an issue with jim stewart. >> i remember gentlemen james was on. he is one of my closest friends. i had dinner with him tuesday night. wow, why are more people -- he

did do the xbp line. that was terrific. >> gdp is pretty good. sort of being polyanna about things. maybe they are right. thanks, jim. >> thank you. when we come back this morning, we are going to float down to ft. lauderdale for a look at the world's largest boat show. hop onboard some of the most expensive yachts and who is buying these things. there was n she was the one. she reminds you every day. but your erectile dysfunction-that could be a question of blood flow. cialis for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment is right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is also the only daily ed tablet approved to treat symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently.

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because demand is outstripping supply, brokers say there's less room than there once was for negotiations. 86-year-old gomez is in the market for a new family yacht. >> $2.4 million u.s. >> reporter: here from brazil with his translator in tow, the bargaining begins. >> reasonable. >> sold six yachts. prior to even beginning the boat show. >> reporter: which tells you what? >> the economy is definitely picking up. >> reporter: show organizers estimate the value of the 1,500 boats here at $4 billion, the highest end ships top at around $70 million each. >> at the very top end things are very healthy. >> reporter: depending on your age, the organizer's voice may sound familiar. >> things are stronger in the u.s.

>> reporter: he sounds like his father. >> this is show business? >> it is. >> reporter: those polished railingses may see fewer international buyers, but just as americans are beginning to spend again. but the super wealthy? >> they feel good now it's okay to show their wealth again. >> the smaller boat is still $500,000, sometimes $1 million. you may gasp. >> reporter: with diesel running around $4.30 a gallon, it costs about $43,000 to fill up one of these babies. i think that was like andrew's lunch money, isn't it? >> maybe a little bit more than that. >> very nice. >> there are probably 100 kerry sanders.

of course he's related to efram zimbalist. >> you're showing her age. >> i do every day. you're right. we're done. join us tomorrow. what a show. "squawk on the street" is coming up right now. good morning. welcome to "squawk on the street." i'm david faber alongside jim cramer. carl has the day off. we are looking for a lower open. i think that is fair to say. of course, yesterday we got the end, the end of bond buying, that is. what did it do to the ten-year yield? it sent it up a bit. more reaction in the five-year, even the two. there's the ten. you can see we are still under