merry christmas, everybody. >> merry christmas. >> i'm louisa bojesen. >> and i'm seema mody. thank you so much for tuning in from around the world. >> ho, ho, ho. >> santa claus is coming to town. the dow topping 18,000 for the first time ever, sparking a global rally. the u.s. economy grows at its quickest pace in 11 years.

>> but s&p giving russia a lump of coal. the s&p warnings there's a 50% chance it will downgrade moscow to junk. it's the gift that keeps on giving. shares of nestle topping speculation that the u.s. company striker will finally make a bid for the medical devicemaker in a couple of weeks. the white house welcomes sony's decision to release "the interview" saying it allows people to make their own choices about the film. >> hi, everybody. welcome. the 24th of disease. >> can you believe it? it went by so fast. >> and here we are. >> it is christmas for a number of other countries in europe. so merry christmas.

>> and if you're at home and not at your trading desk, this record continues to hit new record highs. the dow breaking 18,000. what a milestone. >> i know. and i think heading into this year, many were maybe anticipating it was going to be a good year, but not anticipating the volatility we've seen in the second half. we talk about this every year and every year at about this time, there's the factor and there's the taking stock and considering how to trade for 2015. >> yeah. there were those periods of volatility where investors had to question whether this rally could continue. but given the outperformance we've seen over the past week, the dow now up just about 5%. it goes to show you how resilient this market is and how the bulls continue to be on control. >> lowly quiddity. >> that's the point. we'll have to have this talk again as we hit early next year just to see when you have traders back at their desk, how

they reposition themselves. >> you're off now. >> i am. and you, as well. >> yeah, yeah. i'm off and then until january. >> we'll be in touch. >> yeah, yeah. >> instagram. >> and we'll talk about what's been taking place. but the dow, though, closing above that 18,000 mark for the first time ever. investors chose to set aside a week of durable goods numbers and another drop in new home sales and focusing on this bumper gdp figure we were talking about yesterday. the u.s. economy growing by 5% in the third quarter, the biggest increase since 2003 in a marked upward revision on the previous meeting of 3.9%. consumer spending jumps by more than 3% on the quarter while business investment rose by almost 9%. >> we will break down the moves we've been seeing in the dow jones industrial. how do we get from 17,000 to 18,000? dominic is taking a closer look at just how the dow surpassed

that major milestone. >> if you go 25 years ago, here on our 25th anniversary, the dow was like 2750 back then. we'll circle back to that. we go back to 2007 here in our map of the dow milestones. that was the first time, july 19th when we hit 14,000. you have to go forward about 60 years before you get from 14,000 to 15,000. that happened back on may 7th of 2013. but since then, 15 to 16, it only took about six, seven months. from 16 to 17, again, about six, seven months. from 17 to 18, if we close above this level, which we may today, it will only be about six or seven months. so if you look 5d what happened between 17,000 .18,000, this summer, july 3rd, that was when it happened, we've seen a whole

slew of dow performers that have done well, but home depot has been the star performer. it's up 26 fers just since what happened in july. united health group, up 23%. nike and visa both up about 22%. so these guys helped power those gains for what happened in the dow. if you take a look at that, remember, 2750 back 27 years ago was the dow. if you go 556% return, that's where we are right now. take a look at this. over the past 25 years, if you can somehow keep that -- no one is even thinking that, but you're talking about a ludicrous number on the dow, something like 118,000 if you go 5%, 6% from where we are today. who knows what's going to happen? these gains right now have been impressive for what's happened with the dow. >> an impressive gain, indeed. john joins us around the desk. thank you so much for joining us on christmas eve. >> thank you very much. >> i'd like to rename you john

wreath for today. i don't know if we can take some camera shots today, but we might have some wreath action going on. >> dow above 18,000, that's a major milestone for the equity markets, but it's not just equity markets that were in focus yesterday. the u.s. dollar hitting its highest level in nine years. >> yeah. clearly, the u.s. recovery, while others are perhaps a little questionable a little closer to europe and possibly to the uk, the u.s. recovery clearly going from strength to strength. a lot of impact still going on from the me asset purchases in the u.s., the fact that there's speculation about large asset scale purchases in the euro, as well. it's boosting asset prices. that's the result you see in the u.s. equity market. >> while it seems like traders were calling it the qe rally, it's the monetary support pushing equity prices higher. but now qe has ended back in october, the attention has

turned to the economic data, the fundamentals. and that continues to surprise to the upside. >> and one of the big questions, of course, was whether the u.s. recovery was dependent on qe and, therefore, when would we start to see some of that. so far, most of the signs are whether qe had done its job or whether the u.s. recover had got to a strong enough point that it didn't need it any more. there's a lot of euphoria in these markets and a lot of speculation about when or if the fed may have to move monetary policy. >> we're not trading on fundamental and we still are relying on 25 basis points. >> it's more about the signal that turns out and where they may be going next if they do so in small increments.

the gdp numbers, very strong. but they relate to a period of time that ended in september. and a period of time as they go into next year. it's a very difficult one because they have to gauge just how self-sustaining this recovery has become. and at the same time, of course, they have drags from elsewhere in the world which might become important to the u.s. >> and giving that you're our fixed income man, are we going to continue to see buying into debt? >> that's one of the questions, isn't it? and if the dow is telling you something about a very strong outlook for the u.s., why a ten-year treasury is only yielding 2.25%. that is higher than where they were. bond markets are clearly showing still the impact of qe and concerns that perhaps medium to long-term growth will be much weaker in all of these economies than we've been used to. if you then take that scenario and apply to equity markets,

some people would question those two valuations and say they can't both be right about the outlook. >> as usual, even though it's christmas, we highly encourage you to get involved here on the show. find us on good old fashioned e-mail, worldwide@cnbc.com. find us on twitter @seemacnbc or@louisa bojesen. linda writes in and says why are you guys not wearing red and snet are wearing your funeral black? i was going to wear red this morning, but i was a bit cold. this is a little woolley. >> and you're traveling. so you're running off with lug aemg, right? >> yes. but we promise to be cheerful even though we're not wearing red. >> what are you hoping to get from santa this holiday season? get in touch. let us know what you're getting under the tree. tomorrow, you can find us on

twitter and on e-mail. >> it has been a very busy time for santa claus, but we've been lucky enough to catch up with the man himself here on cnbc. that's right. we asked him, santa, if the financial sector was in for a christmas bonus. here is what he had to say. >> bankers seem to take care of themselves, don't they? so santa usually concentrates on those that are more needs. >> very nice. that's a very good answer here. i'll tell you what, as i talk to some of the financial analysts, it's been a bit father christmas like this year. the one thing that everybody insists they believe on that hasn't appeared is alpha for markets. so the fund market has been struggling through this year. i just wonder if we could leave our friends in the financial community with an upbeat message at year-end that might encourage them to work a little bit harder and find that alpha for 2015. >> well, i think all of that comes from hard work and due

diligence in analyzing things. so that is a big job. they have to take care of that, they have to work hard and do a good job analyzing what forecasts that they have out there. maybe. maybe they will find what they need. maybe they will bring us very positive outlook, you know? this whole world is changing. electronics, cyber things, lots of stuff going on and they need to use those tools to, you know, do a good job. >> and just to ask you, as we let you go here about your 40 401(k), where do you have most of your money placed to make sure santa has a decent retirement. >> oh, very simple. toys. >> toys. toys, very good. >> must be quite nice to be so popular.

you're santa claus and you walk down the streets and people just love you. stock markets open for trade today include london's ftse, the euro markets in paris, nls e, too. the ftse trading until 13:30 central european time. the other market closing at 1400 cet. russia's indices are open for a normal trading day. italy and germany, incidentally, they are closed for trade. we've got some movers, some of the top stocks that we're watching today. smith & nephew shares have been rallying at the top of the stoxx 600 on the talks that striker is nearing a takeover bid for the medical device giant. striker would offer a significant premium to the bid share price. the bid is still being finalized. smith & nephew have declined to comment. a different story of portugal telecom. shares off by around 1%.

not worth all that much per share. keep that in mind. they've been dropping in lib upon after the billionaire santos dropped her bid for the firm. in a statement, her company said it has decided to withdraw the offer after, quote, careful consideration. now, we were talking about asset classes and various moves that we've seen so far. the dollar against the russian ruble, very flat in trade over here in the corner. we've had a lot of volatility, as we've been saying in the ruble trade. people speculating there could be more to come. analysts that i've spoken to with regard to russia, especially over this last week, they're cautioning it could get harry with regard to some of the russian banks or financial groups who are now looking to raise more capital and having to

potentially go to the states for that. the euro/dollar, 1.22. the dollar/yen, a little lower, as well. seem ma, more importantly, christmas eve. >> it is christmas eve, but it is not too late to show off your handy work with some festive foliage to impress your neighbor. over the next hour, we're learning how to make our very own holiday wreath. we're joined by jessica and shinka. ladies, take it away. tell us how we start if we want to make our customized wreath. >> we're basically starting from scratch. >> was involved in the base? >> here you have spagnum moss. >> i need to know. i need to get up here on the flat platform.

>> you get a metal ring like this and you buy spagnum moss. >> the smell is fantastic. >> you literally scrunch it on. you tighten it around here until you have a firm base to basically build on top of it. >> how long does this last? >> about two weeks. it depends on how hot it is. if you put it inside, it will last less long. if you put it outside on the front door -- >> i grew up making these and we used newspapers. >> this is a bit damp. >> and then we will go out and cut branches if it is neighbor's trees. but don't do that. >> did you use moss or -- >> no, always pine for the christmas season. and you can use them for advent

candles, as well. >> and then you want to get your basic -- you get a big piece of foliage like this and you trim it off into bits, chunks. >> and then you -- >> and how do you stick it on? >> you have two options. if you're making it with a base like this, you can see it in the end. then you'll use your rear wire again to tighten it around. so you want to stick it in. >> do you have to make sure it's a certain design? >> yes. you want to be going around in sort of a spiral shape. >> so you can be very creative with these, as well. you can put fruit on, little goodies. >> you can put anything on. >> candles, your bobble balls, what have you. and i know that -- i mean, you know, there's a tradition that you height a candle before advent sundays. and it used to be also, i guess,

that if you light the candles, then you're encouraging god to turn the world towards liteness in the spring and you need to get through the winter, right? >> yes. >> do you find a lot of people coming to you and want to buy these advent candles? >> they buy them more for doors, actually. they're made to order. >> and what are the wreaths for new denmark, what does it symbolize? >> i think it's tradition. we hang it on the doors or typically have one kind of in the middle of the dinner table with the four cardinals on. every sunday, you light one. >> damages inside, right? >> no. he actually put them on the wreath. and you need to be really careful with the fire hazard. >> but the smell is wonderful. you need to keep the bugs away. >> especially with the dry fruit. >> one thing good to know is we're going to continue doing this, aren't we, louisa. >> yeah.

and we'll show you, also, the finished product here if about had a an hour's time or something. so we'll show you our finished product looks. wreath making and flower arranging, it never looked so good. so loads of ideas what you can do with your little ones and your families at home. we'll continue.

hi, everybody. welcome back. officers in the city of berkeley fired several shots after a male allegedly pulled a handgun and pointed it at him. there are reports of clashes with police. >> takata's president plans to step down over the air bag recall that has rocked the japanese company. the group's chairman, grandson of the company's founder, will take on the role. he is set to take a 50% pay cut assuming the new position. and let's switch focus to russia which of course has been

a focal point for investors. russia is now one step closer to junk territory. ratings agency standard & poor says it has placed russia's sovereign rating on credit watch negative, meaning there's a greater than 50% chance it will downgrade the country. s&p currently has russia just one notch above junk status. it says it made the move because of rapid deterioration and the impact of the weakening economy. taking a look at the russian ruble, you were just pointing out at the beginning of the show it has now come off the highs of the day. >> looking at that chart, the dollar higher by 30%? i'm sorry, 20% over the last 20 days? >> the ruble is the worst performing currency worldwide this year. it's phenomenal. >> ukraine's state energy firm says it's paid off a second charge of debt to russia's gazprom. paid $1.65 billion for the russian energy giant. the payment is part of an agreement made between the two firms that you althoughs moscow

to resume supply toes ukraine earlier this month. could there be qe in the first quarter? looking into the new year and the ecb's first meeting of 2015 on january 22nd, expectations are that the bank could finally announce a full blown quantitative easing program. this as eurozone inflation sits well below the central bank's target. and recent comments from executive board members suggesting the bank is nearing consensus over more policy action. did i pronounce that okay? >> very good. >> i love learning from you. great. >> my pronunciations aren't all that, so -- divisions in the inner ranks of the count will. . sven wideman has made his intention on a quantitative easing program clear.

>> not in the ecb and it's up to them. but what i would say, what is important, i think more to highlight, is that the slugdzs to the growth problems in europe -- for quantitative easing. that would give way to temporarily have government. in particular, low interest rates and low real interest rates. particularly to invest. so that is good. i don't think it should last too much and it cannot replace infrastructure reform and a real strategy, a real agenda. as a result, do you think that the euro will continue to drop against the dollar, for instance? >> yes, we are -- regarding

that. we would tend to think that the dollar might -- euro/dollar could be 1.20. >> do we buy periphery? if we think there's going to be kwauvent tafb easing, do we want to buy that trade in the ecb? >> that's what's been going on. a lot of the economic fundamental res still pretty alarming, not least the fact that we've got inflation in several of the peripheral countries. that has it with their longer term dead dynamics. to see yields down here tells you a lot of speculation priced about qe. we think it's coming. i think the vast majority of banks do now. we think perhaps march is more likely. you have reticence among board members. >> and what would they buy? i mean, what would they buy and

where would they buy it? >> that's obviously one of the issues that they have to address, which is very different than it was for the bank of england or the bank of japan with their ongone markets. sovereign bonds, that is there for them to buy on the source of scale that qe would have to be if it's going to have an impact. then they're going to have to decide how they're going to split them between the different sovereigns, it will probably be based on the capital keys that each of them have with the ecb. so it's as proportionate and fair as it can be. they have a lot of sensitivities to overcome before they can pull the trigger. what happened before they actually start it? the market has it effectively priced in and we saw this, for example, in the uk back in 2009. once you get confirmation of it after perhaps a little bit of an ongoing additional rally, you actually tend to see yields start to rise as those bonds get as expensive as they're going to get. >> german policymakers get vocal

about their lack of .or support in providing sovereign bond buying. why should we expect that? at in point, they will cave in and say this is the right method to revive the economy. >> this is the way the ecb works. essentially, it can go ahead with significant german opposition to it. there's the point that while qe is perhaps not their chosen, the german economy, as well, is starting to have some pretty serious issues, not least relate as has been discussed the situation in europe and some of their export markets struggling very badly. qe may not be their chosen route to go down. they understand the need for something to try and shock the eurozone economy into something of a more meaningful recovery. >> it's going be one of the big stories of 2015, watching when it is unveiled, if it's unveiled and the market reaction. >> what are you doing for christmas? >> staying at home with my family. >> you get a nice lie in

tomorrow? >> no. we have kids. >> we hope you enjoy. merry christmas. happy holidays. thank you so much, fixed income strategist at ubs. moving on, still to come -- >> still to come on the show, do you get by with a little help from your friends during the hectic holiday season? you're not alone. facebook user set to surpass the entire population of china in 2015. that's one of the remarkable forecasts from the economist magazine next year. we'll tell you more after this break.

♪ santa claus is coming to town ♪ the dow topping 18,000 for the first time ever, sparking a global rally. this after the u.s. economy grows at its quickest pace in 11 years in the third quarter. >> but it's not all good years. the s&p gives russia a lump of coal. the ratings agency warns there's a 50% chance it will downgrade moscow's sovereign debt rating to junk status. >> it's the gift that keeps on giving. shares of smith & nephew rising

on speculation that strikes will make a bid for the company in a few weeks. the ceo of takata steps down amid recalls that rocked the air bagmaker. let's take a look at how european markets are fairing after what was a strong day of european equities. up 0.2%. spain slightly higher on the day. we did see a big day, a big rally on wall street. the s&p 500 settling at a record for the 51st time this year. the dow above 18,000, a miernlg milestone for u.s. markets before christmas. and what does 2015 hold? our colleague has been looking for some of the answers.

>> russia will be an even bigger problem next year, though europe will surprise and google gets serious in a fight with apple. here are three predictions for 2015. boring, they're not. first, russia defaults on its debt. the russian ruble has hit new lows against the dollar. oil has dropped 40%. crude oil and petroleum products are half of russia's export revenues. how will they pay for imports? they will default on foredebt. second, the european stock market outperforms the u.s. stock market. no recession next year in core europe. the eurozone is stuck in a long-term, slow and no growth environment. but the core countries will not sink into a recession. the euro will remain weak. after a year when expectations were constantly revised downward, european corporate earnings will begin turning around. deflation will remain an issue.

third, google buys paypal. pay beside pal is set to be spun off from ebay sometime in 2015. it won't happen. google will buy paypal and combine it with google wallet to ward off apple's apple pay. it's not just our bob pa san knivny making bold predictions. the economist is peering into the crystal ball for a look at the world in 2015. as we've been talking about, among the more remarkable g geoeconomic developments, america set to overtake saudi arabia as the world's largest oil producer. let's bring in kenneth who made some of these bold predictions. let's start with that. as the u.s. becomes more energy dependant, does that change its relationship with saudi arain why and other oil producing nations? >> yeah, it absolutely will. all of the post -- is arranged

around capital. when oil changes in terms of who has it and who is the marginal producers and how do you get prices set, a lot of other arrangements change, as well. the shale gas explosion in america is setting precedent. >> shale isn't doing all that well, the lower oil goes. >> that's exactly right. although in fact we made the prediction that, in fact, america was going exceed saudi arabia, now that the price has fallen, some of those share producers are no longer economic at a low price point. so they're probably going to taper back on production and saudi arabia may remain champ after all. >> a lot of focus has been on china. the slowdown and what that means, what the broader implications are. you're estimating that other countries compete the amount that foreign firms invest inside china. explain what you mean. >> foreign direct investment is the way in which businesses outside of china has invested and factor toes when they

exported goods. it's the growth story of china up until now. but chinese firms are now spending money outside of china to open up factories and put in sales offices, etcetera. for the first time in 2015, the outward flow of capital will exceed the inward flow into china. so it shows china is maturing as an economy. >> i like the prediction that mobile phone subscriptions are going to exceed the world population. and i like it because we then tend to think everybody is expected, everybody is online, but we're not, because i think only a third of the world's population are actually on the internet. >> that's exactly right. as well as the fact that one reason why there's so many mobile phone subscriptions, in some places like africa you need three of them because the network activity is not good enough that if you're bound with only one provider, you need to go on to another network. so not everybody in the world will be connected, at least not

yet. >> and connectivity is precisely one of the facebook reasons for being founded, right, initially? >> that's right. >> media and what it's done for communication and making it easy to connect to people around the world. does that continue given the proliferation of other platforms like snapchat among others? >> absolutely. when you do a poll and ask people if they're on the interpret, they say no, but if you ask them if they're on facebook, they say yes. >> how about the popularity is dropping for facebook? >> there's some concerns that teens aren't using facebook as many. that's a concern for wall street because they want the millennial audience. >> from anecdotal evidence, it's is sketchy. but when you look at the numbers that facebook releases, active users are growing and it's growing at a fast pace. so, in fact, probably not today

or tomorrow the number of facebook users will exceed the number of people in china. >> what's also helping them is that strategic acquisition of instagram. instagram is playing a new role in that, as well. >> really smart because they have to get on to the global platform and now they did. >> the economist data editor, thank you so much. now it is back on. sony saying it will release "the interview" on christmas day, releasing an earlier decision to pull the film. it will be screened in 200 movie theaters across the united states. president obama has welcomed the turn around, having earlier called sony's response to the hacker threat a mistake. haley jackson reports. >> "the interview" back on theater marquiss. some screenings sold out in an hour. >> trying to stand up for free speech as well as to stand up for creativity.

>> sony announced it will release "the interview" on christmas day to small, independent theaters like the historic plaza in atlanta. >> i don't think anybody in this country wants to be told what we can see and what we can't see. >> it's a dramatic about face for sony. last week they pulled the comedy which features a splot plot to kill the north korean leader. sony's decision appeared to end the cyber attack against it. in a new statement about "the interview," sony's ceo says we are proud to make it available to the public and to have stood up to those who have attempted to suppress free speech. a rebuttal to the critics who say sony caved to north korea. >> yes, i think they made a mistake. >> now the white house is pleased with the decision about "the interview." james franco posting victory. the people and the president

have spoken. seth rogen tweeting, freedom has prevailed, sony didn't give up. >> it has become a free speech issue. there's a whole class of people a that want to pay to see this movie. >> sony may still stream the film even though a message from what appeared to be the hacker group threatens with more leaks if that happened. a town that thrives on droom ma now bracing for more. while many critics who have seen the movie mostly panned it, insiders expect theaters to be packed full of people watching this film out of principal. it's estimated as many as 300 cinemas could screen the interview on thursday and one theater owner called it the best christmas gift anyone could give. >> there you go, "the interview" will be shown in some u.s. independent theaters. many people on twitter have been reacting. seth i don't know rogen took to social media to make his statement. he tweeted his support for sony and the theaters saying freedom

has prevailed. let's take a look at how sony shares are reacting, which has been in focus given this developing story. up about 4% in today's trade. we should point out up about 5.5% over the past month. louisa. >> just looking at flashes coming through on our wires with regard to what's going on in russia, and russia now saying that france must be the fulfill the contract warships will return the money. it's interesting because this debate has been taking place for a long time. should france uphold its promise to deliver warships to russia or should they bow to, i guess, european pressure, international pressure and say we're not going to do the deliveries? that's what russia is saying now pup either have to fulfill the contract, deliver the warships or return the money. other stuff going on this morning. >> takata has been a story this year. takata's president, in fact, is

stepping down over the air bag recall that has rocked the japanese country. has been blamed for at least five deaths. the group's chairman, grandson of the company's founder will take over in the role. let's get more from today's markets. how are people responding? kaori enjoji joins us on the phone. what's been the response to this management change? >> this is a puzzling development going on in takata right now. the company issuing a statement in the last hour that its president is going to step down as president, but he's going to remain on the board. very little is known about stephane because he's been in this position just about 18 months. he was brought in last june, june of 2013, to oversee the global operations. even though at that time he came from a well known flyer, but

even at the time people were questioning why he was entering the company, it was the first time a foreigner was coming in at takata, which is effectively a family-owned business. and no one has seen him and no one has seen the chairman, mr. takata, since june in a very routine shareholders meeting despite this widening crisis. it's said he's stepping down, but he's remaining o board. the company, i spoke to them and they say it is to unify the company's response to the handling of this crisis and to accelerate trying to find a solution to this rising crisis that has involved a recall of 24 million cars. now, this recall, though, has been going on, as you know, for many, many months. i asked him why now, why mr. stocker is stepping down right now, and they say it is to unify the company's response. it is, on the surface, quite

public. at the same time, the president will now be fulfilled by takata, which who as you pointed out is the grandson of the founder. now, takata faces many, many tasks, not only to get to the root of the problem and the handling of this crisis, but it faces many, many class action lawsuits in the united states. it's also under a criminal investigation, as well. also in relation to this, honda, of course, has been particularly vulnerable because, by far, honda is the manufacturer, which that's largest exposure to the takata air bag problem. and you also have to wonder what is going to move takata's bottom line when they close the books at the end of the year at the end of march. they hadn't b been planning for class action lawsuits or criminal investigations. at a time when many automakers including general motors and

honda and other japanese automakers are saying they're going to be switching to alternative sources, you ever to wonder how much of a bloo it's going to be to takata's bottom line. >> thank you for bringing us the latest from tokyo. now, japan's prime minister abe has been re-elected today following a land slide victory and a snap election ten days ago. we have the story live from tokyo. >> yes. abe is scheduled to hold a press conference this evening to underline his commitment to pull the company out of deflation and economic policies or abe-nomics. the liberal ruling democratic party have retained a two-thirds majority in the lower house which gives abe a freshman date to push ahead with abe-nomics. he's given a clean slate to form a new cabinet. but most members who were shuffled last september are likely to be re-elected.

following the consumer tax hike in april, airp abe hopes to move quickly with the new cabinet to deal with pressing issues including consumer spending, the yen's sharp fall and revising the tax system. on the security front, abe is aiming to pass a law that will allow japan to participate to make it possible for japan's self-defense forces to aid allies such as the u.s. should they come under attack. that's all from the nikkei. back to you. >> makiko, thank you very much for that. let's get back to what we've been working so hard over the past 20 to 30 minutes. we started with a base, ladies. since then, they also what you've add. >> like we said, you can put whatever you want on it. we have fresh lavender with pine cones, dried lime. >> that smells so good. >> look at the lavender here. it's delicious. absolutely delicious. >> we went for another one with

dried fruit. >> and it's actually dried fruit. >> dried orange slices and limes. >> and that was the point, you can add whatever you want. small birds. >> you're essentially using these little pins or you can use wire and you can use glue. anywhere that you can secure anything. >> is this a tomato? >> yes. >> how do you dry a tomato without it growing fungus? >> we buy them like this, but essentially you heat it at a very low temperature. >> what else is popular around christmastime? >> we do a lot of staircase garland, to go around your fair place or your staircase. >> and, again, the thing in terms of when making these when growing up, it was always you wanted to have them keep as long

as possible. so, you know, oftentimes we will take the branches and put them in water before. >> yes. >> and you can make these -- >> any sort of ever green foliage should last a good two or three weeks. keep it as far away from the radiator as possible. >> have these been in high demand? >> yeah. we always sell a lot this time of year. >> okay. guys, stay tuned because we'll be getting more and putting the final touches to our christmas wreaths. that is coming just in time for santa. stick around.

avoid. break news from russia, it's being reported there is a major oil like in the pipeline near the black sea. there is a leak on a major oil pipeline near the black sea. we will continue to follow that story and let you know what it amounts to. but at this point, that's all we know. louisa. >> a recent report showed that

the european luxury sector managed to largely shrug off the economic down turn over the last couple of years with the industry adding thousands of jobs. will 2015 hold high for the high end consumers? we have some of our predictions. >> 2014 may end up being a mere warm-up for the wealthy. rising stocks will help create a record number of millionaires and billionaires. the number of american millionaires will likely top 10 million next year and the world's billionaire pop layer will near the 10,000 mark. in 2015, the u.s. will dominate millionaire and billionaire production. most new billionaires will come from tech. especially innovation in health and consumer apps. the feverish bidding for art, wine and other collectibles may cool with slowing demand from

overseas. real estate prices may soften with rising inventory. luxury condos will see the biggest plus with homes priced at $100 million or more will start to pipe up. spending on super cars, jewelry, lavish home improvement yachts and private jets will grow into single digits. >> the big spending will be on private health, fitness and beauty. >> full time fitness consultants and concierges will become the latest status symbols. >> this is a total trend. it's like having a fitness package for you, somebody coming to your doorstep whenever you need something. >> hey, if you can afford it, why not? >> it's christmas eve. it's not too late to put up those final festive decorative touches. we've been learning how to make holiday wreaths today here on "worldwide exchange."

ted says how the make a wreath? is it the "today" show or cnbc? why not? we're in the holiday spirit. >> wreath make class have become increasingly popular for customers this time of year. jessica simmons is still with us. welcome officially. >> thank you. >> you are one of the creators of the beautiful wreath we just saw. >> yes. we just got into our second year now. we started trading in october last year. >> and how do you get word out if you're a new company dealing in a crowed florist space? >> we rely a lot of our website, really, and word-of-mouth. so weddings and event hes we do. >> and i always wonder flowers

and things like that, where do you source them from? >> they get move os those from holland and then the rest from ecuad ecuador, kenya. >> how has technology changed your business through the use of pintrest and social media? is that a great way for you to advertise and get inspired, perhaps? >> yes. pintrest we use all the time. we use instagram, facebook all on a daily basis. >> and where is your store located and are you planning to expand next year? >> we don't have a physical shop people can come to. we work from a studio. buy from our website or give us a call and we'll come meet you. >> it's interesting when you take a look at wreaths, it's not

just the uk, not just denmark that use wreaths as a way to celebrate the holidays, it's universal. >> and you do other things, as well. headgear and things like that. >>. >> what about here in the uk when you go to rugby and you wear one of those hats? >> yes. >> i really want to wear one of those. will you make that happen, louisa? >> definitely. >> that is what we did for the week. and we try and use british police officers whenever we can. >> the surprise of flowers, how volatile is that? >> it completely dependant on the season, it dependant on what

you sort of expect from your flowers. but you can expect as much as you like. the prices don't fluctuate too much. they're sort of a constant on supply and demand. so as much as you want. >>. >> it all works on an auction basis. if there's a demand for it, the price stays the same. flowerses are more expensive because they're all haggling. >> what's your favorite? >> i love the big roses. >> i love those. >> you? >> high dran hydrangea. >> thank you so much for joining us. >> we'll see you in a second. more to come after the break.

and merry christmas eve to everybody who is watching. >> merry christmas. denmark and lots of other countries celebrate christmas today. >> these are your headlines. >> santa claus is in town. u.s. futures point higher after the dow tops 18,000 for the first time ever as the u.s. economy grows at the quickest pace in 11 years.

s&p warping there's a 50% chance it will downgrade moscow's sovereign debt rating to junk. a present for everyone. the white house welcomes sony's decision to release "the interview" saying it allows people to make their own decision bes the film. but no festive cheers for taka takata's prt who is shown the door over the recall that rocked the japanese auto partsmaker. >> announcer: you're watching "worldwide exchange," bringing you business news from around the globe. and take a look at how markets are fairing right now. u.s. futures indicating a higher open. the dow up about 45 points in premarket trade. traders buying into this rally. the nas tack up about nine points in premarket trade after the do i ended above 18,000 for

the first time ever. right now, we are seeing gains in spain up about 11 points. four focus continues to be on russia, the economic implications in the price of oil. the micex up about 4 points. we'll get you more on the oil story in just a second. the cac 40, down just about 9 points. the ftse 100 trading higher by around 18 points. a lot of focus on that uk retail sales number. that continues to be one of the reasons you're seeing the ftse 1 hunl move to the upside. a trading note, stock markets open today including the london ftse, amsterdam and brussels as well as the spanish indetective. other markets close at 1400 cet. russia's indices are open for a normal trading day.

italy and germany are closed, probably because they want to be at home enjoying christmas and not worrying about stocks today. >> the liquidity today is more like drip, drip. >>. >> and you would also make assume today is the last day before people close out for christmas and new year. looking at was going on with the currency markets, you have the dollar against the ruble, plat, evening out. you've got the dollar against the yen and the euro against the dollar a little higher, but hanging on to that 122 handle. brent and wti trading off by around 1.5%. might be some repositioning. we've got some stock daed data through, as well, that some people are anticipating could be

leading to some of the losses that are seen here. again, it might be some repositioning here as we head into a very thin session. the dow, though, loads of people continuing to talk about these important psychological levels. seema. >> t because it was yesterday that we saw the dow close above 18,000 for the first time ever, louisa. and another drop in new home sales. instead, focusing on a strong gdp figure. the u.s. economy grew 5% in the third quarter, the biggest increase since 2003. so growth continues to come higher than expected. consumer spending, by the way, jumped over 3% on the quarter while business investment wroez almost 9%. consumers now spending more, so a good sign for the health of the u.s. economy.

let's break down the dow's stellar move to the upside from 17,000 to 18,000. >> if you go 25 years ago, here on our 25th anniversary, you remember the dow was like 2750 back then. we go back to 2007 here in our map of the dow milestone. that was the first time, july 19th, when we hit 14,000. you have to go forward about 60 years before we get from 14,000 to 16,000. that happened back on may 7th of 2013. that is how long it took to get that 14,000 points. but since then, just 16 to 16. it took about six, seven months and then from 16 to 17, about six, seven months, and then from 17 to 18 if we close above this level, which we may today. so a rather quick progression from what happened at 14 to 17

to 18,000. this summer, july 13th, that was when it happened. there has been a whole slew of dow performerses that have done well. but home depot, up 27%. united health group up 23%. nike and sri can a sa up about 22%. remember, 2750 back 27 years ago with the dow. if you go 556% return, that's where we are right now. over the past 25 years, if you can somehow keep that, you're talking about a ludicrous number on the dow, like something like 18,000. but who knows what's going to happen? right now what you do know is that these gains right now have been impressive for what's happened with the dow.

>> and let's bring in jim strugger. thanks so much for getting up url with us on christmas eve. the dow surpassing 18,000. i want to ask you about who is pushing this market higher. do you think retail investors are playing this market or is it just smart mope, hedge funds able to reap the gains of wall street's move? >> this far into the bull market, i'd like to believe everyone is participating. we're a firm that fateses institutional investors. certainly they've been very active and really look at the world from a volatility perspective and in that view, 2015 sets up rather nicely, similar to 2014 and 2013. but with a little bit of a twist in that we should see higher magnitude volatility events similar to what occurred in

october and just over the last couple of weeks in december. >> and, you know, growth may be coming back. that was one of the reasons we saw markets rally was that positive read on gdp. shouldn't the real focus be on the consumer where we are seeing a lack of wage growth as well as low inflation? >> again, if you look at the gdp print for the third quarter, 5% in the u.s. quarter of 4.6%, the u.s. economy is on solid footing. we're just about 4 1/2 years on, the last two u.s. economic expansions averaged about nine years so we're looking out towards 2018, 2019 for the end of this economic cycle.

also dependent on monetary policy between now and then. but at the end of the day, you are at the sweet spot of certainly the u.s. economic cycle. pulling it back to volatility, what that means in sort of vix terms is that floor under vision that has been in sort of this 10 to 12 range since january of 2013 is maintained heading into 2015. so, really, a steady upward march for u.s. equities and that will be interexperienced with short, shallow pullbacks, again, with the view that these volatility events ala october and december could be of a higher magnitude. so s&p pullbacks more in the range of sort of 5% to 8%. similarly for europe, the move in step with u.s. equities when the volatility events occur.

you'll see mr of that in 2015. >> jim, i'm having a hard time figuring out whether i should play the vix by buying calls, then. >> well, it depends on where we're standing. right now a great way to play would be via the xiv or vxy. so at the same time like this where everyone stares at the vix, it's declining. more importantly, the entire vision futures curve is upward sloping. one way to exploit is that is to own these products, but you have to set your stopwatch. on all our timing, these events in the u.s. and europe for that matter have been spaced exactly two months ar part since january and february of 2013.

put on some long volatility exposure and we can cycle through this process over the next several years as we run into these volatilities. and then volatilities decide. >> great. i'll remind you of that when we speak in a couple of months after february the 1st after you put these positions on. jim, thank you very much. happy holidays. you're staying with us i'm being told in my ears now. christmas appeared to have arrived early for the markets. what are you hoping to get from santa on his holiday season? tell us. worldwide@cnbc.com or@louisa bojesen. jay writes in and says he knows why his danish grandmother always had to open presents on christmas eve.

nigel says he is going to be in canada snowboarding until march. loads of pooeg people saying merry christmas. merry christmas to all of you out there. >> it's fun to have an all ladies panel with you here. >> yeah. so find us and let us know what you're thinking with with regard to what you'd like to see happen here over the holidays. now, moving on to other stories today, the st. louis county police have confirmed a young male has been fatally shot by police about 30 miles from ferguson. an officer from the city of berkeley fired several shots after a male allegedly pulled a handgun and pointed it at him. there are reports of clashes with police. and let's push focus to takata. takata's president is steps down over the really that has rocked

the japanese company. the group's chairman who is also the grandson of the company's founder will take over in the role. he has agreed to take a 50% pay cut in the new position. shares down about 1.5% in today's trade. and "the interview" could be coming to a theater near you now this christmas. stay tuned for the details on that. you're watching "worldwide exchange" here on christmas, the 24th of december.

welcome back. the dow crosses 18,000 for the first time. but crude oil slumping in the red in thin christmas trade. the s&p warns there's a 50% chance it will downgrade moscow's sovereign debt rating to junk. takata's president takes the fall, saying he will step down over the budgeteled air bag scandal at the japanese firm. now, sony pictures will be showing "the interview" in a limited number of u.s. movie theater owes christmas day. last week we heard the studio

scrapped it after threats made by hackers. sonny rose around 4% in today's trade in japan. >> there are theaters stepping up saying, you know what? we're going to be showing "the interview." it will be interesting to see what kind of demand there is. >> sony reportedly considering whether to sell its music publishing unit which owns the firm. sony jointly owns the unit with the estate of michael jackson. >> i love beatles, by the way. my dad's favorite.

"yesterday" is my favorite song. >> is it? >> yeah. >> i like "she loves me." ♪ she loves me yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ let's tell but another stock. facebook, by the way, hit another all-time high yesterday, scoring a touchdown as some traders called it. "the wall street journal" reporting the social media site has inked a deal with the nfl to port short video clips in users' news feeds. the clips include game highlights and news and other content. the deal is similar to one the nfl struck with twitter last year. >> i'm definitely getting that. >> you're getting this? >> oh, man, live football updates straight to my -- >> i didn't realize you're a football fan. i watch all the games. >> i am sensing sarcasm. >> no. >> you really are a football fan? >> like the biggest football fan on earth. >> i am told you might be sarcastic in my ear. >> no, listen, i have a lot of friends who are big, big

football fans. >> you know, sometimes i feel like i might not know exactly what some of the teams are that are playing, but i enjoy the festivities, i enjoy participating in the festivities around the football game. anything that you're passionate about, go for it. but i don't care what it is you support. go for it. >> go for it. it's universal. >> it might not be the biggest fan, but hey, you know, it's fun to play. >> i'm fine watching, too. >> i like getting in there and playing. >> what's your favorite sport? >> well, i'm more like -- you know, i like volleyball. >> ice-skating. so much fun. ice-skating? >> just kidding. >> i often go ice-skating in the afternoon. >> denmark. >> we did used to do that on the lakes. you know, you take your father's old like hockey skates and you put like ten pair of socks in

them. then you go skating on the lake and then you try not to fall in. i don't think they do that today, you know, political correctness and you don't want to fall in and drown. what's your favorite sport? >> tennis. i love tennis. >> i've only played once in my life. >> i'd love to. >> back to the news, more troubles for the taxi app uber. the firm's ceo has been indicted in south korea. the south korean government has warned it may ban uber on grounds that they're unsafe. the head of the south korea business partner mx korea has been indicted. >> it's been a tough couple of months for the company. let's switch anyhow focus now to alibaba. from alibaba's blockbuster, ceo changes and stocks scaling to new heights, it has been a banner year for the technology

sector. our u.s. colleagues giving us their grades for tech this year. >> i think if you're a tech investor, you have to give 2014 an a. think about it, we had the biggest ipo ever in alibaba. apple stock had a big rebound. microsoft, internal ceo but still saw its stocks soar and people believing it can get things turned around. blackberry is in the pivot towards enterprise. investors seem optimistic. so i think overall, hope springs eternal. profits are still streaming from the companies and even on the ipo front there's a lot of new blood in tech land. it's hard to see why apple doesn't deserve an a. certainly investors think so. it's up over 30%, easily besting the s&p 500, the dow and the nasdaq. that would explain that move higher? apple introduced a range of new products, including the iphone

six and larger iphone 6 plus as well as new ipad. and it wasn't just new products that hit the shelves, but also new services such as apple pay. ceo tim cook isn't done promising consumers that the new apple watch will arrive early next year. one disappointment, sales of ipad didn't meet the street's expectations this year. they're the company that remains committed to the product and excited about a potential in the enterprise space. >> twitter gets a c plus. the stock is down about 45% this year, reflecting the fact that growth is slowing and that management is sparking major questions about the company's leadership. but, to its credit, twitter has taken steps to diversify away from its ad business. they're trying to become the backbone of other mobile apps. still to come here on the show, all putin wants for christmas is an uptick on oil prices. we're discussing oil after the break.

as we know, one of the reasons we've been seeing a decline in oil is projections for 2015. jim, we did see crude prices

rebound a little bit yesterday. now they're selling off again today. do you think we're going to see this price differentiation continue into 2015 or are lower oil prices the new normal? >> well, we're not energy experts, per se. but we're finding a way to get around the fact that crude prices are down about 50%. in the u.s. and globally, it's in the coming months. one of the things we're looking at are the largest net importers of crude and, therefore, some of the major beneficiaries. we've got stronger economic underlying fundamentals in 2015. probably some easier monetary

policy. for u.s. investors, one of the vanilla ways to play that is the epi. we want to go out to april and buy some calls outright and buy volatility relatively inexpensive. you can buy 24 strike calls for about 50, 60 cents. and, again wab nice way at the end of 2014 to use just a little bit of capital and represent a nice theme, we think, for the beginning of 2015. >> once we start to see rates heading north, jim, what is the impact going to be on some of these emerging markets, do you think? >> well, potentially, again, that plays into the volatility view historically in the united states. once the fed begins to tighten policy. there certainly is empirical evidence in increased volatility. that, again, plays into our view for a higher ceiling for u.s. equity volatility.

and certainly emerging markets will not be commune. if you think about emerging market, implied volatility on the emergency side, it never declined after october. and that, again, could be structural heading into 2015. so you've got higher volatility in commodities, higher volatility in turretsies and across other asset classes. so an important factor to consider both for u.s. and european equity investors. again, when we get these bouts of volatility, they will be of a higher magnitude. >> jim, we have to go. christmas is upon us. happy holidays. >> have a great christmas. >> jim joining us there from new york. >> you know who else might be aslide sleep or is going to be tired after today? santa claus. we are going make our list and check it twice with our retail

expert. that's coming up next.

if you're just waking up where you say, good morning, everybody. i'm seema mody. >> and merry christmas.

i'm louisa bojesen. >> santa claus is in town. u.s. futures point higher after the dow tops 18,000 for the first time ever, sparking a global rally. this after the u.s. economy grows at the quickest pace in 1111 years. >> the white house welcomes sony's decision to release "the interview." >> but no festive cheer for takata's president who was shown the door after the global air bag recall that has rocked the japanese auto partsmaker. and a young male is fatally shot by a police officer in berkeley, missouri, about 30 miles from ferguson. >> announcer: you're watching "worldwide exchange," bringing you business news from around the globe. welcome, everyone. i hope you're having a great day. let's take a look at markets. it was another strong day on wall street, the dow surpassing

18,000 for the first time ever. the dow up just about 41 points in premarket trade. the nasdaq up just about 10 points in premarket trade. keep in mind the source of trade today in equity markets will close at 1:00 p.m. eastern. let's focus on the outperformance in the dow. again, breaking 18,000 for the first time ever. a 64 points gain in yesterday anticipated trade. we were able to close above that smile stone. keep in mind, the dow is up 8.7% for the day. buyers were on the side looking for some good bargains. rights now, the s&p 500 trading at 2,082.

the next level technical traders are watching is 2100, that is a resistant level to watch on the s&p 500. louisa, european markets showing a bit of green this afternoon, as well. >> they are. morning we were called flashish. a inspect of these markets were closed today. the ftse, incidentally, trading until 1330 cet. if you're in london trading, that is when you can get away and go buy those last-minute presents. and we should mention italy and germany are closed, too. >> what's in store for retailers

when the christmas cheer fades? our next guest suggests 2015 could bring disruption to retailsers. let's bring in stacey, our retail analyst. thank you so much for joining us. this season so far has been met with some surprise given the fact that you're seeing some of the low to mid level retailers gain popularity among generations. >> you definitely are. the scene recently has been all about gas prices because they're down 30 plus year-to-date here. i would point out that the numbers that we've seen from the mid to low income retailers have really not been too great. dollar general just reported disappointing comps. so you really haven't seen those gas prices quite to get out there and spending on discretionary. they're spending on staples,

saving more and spending down their debt. >> one of the reasons we did see markets respond so positively, the dow breaking 18,000, is that a sign that some consumers will spend more on retail going into 2015? you were just pointing out lower gas prices. >> yeah. the consumer has been spending. but aapparently has been disappointing. they're spending on entertainment, on electronics, they're spending on iphones, gopros, so gadgets. that has really taken away from some of the spend in apparel. it's hard to argue if gas prices do say this low that that's not going to help the consumer. >> we've seen a lot of these steals starting earlier.

and margins could suffer. do you think that's an issue? >> that's a very good observation. you saw this year black friday arrive in a real way. it was insane. that pulled forward sales into november. that is why the retail numbers looked so good. all of a sudden, there was a big lull in december so retailers panicked and pushed the 50% off and 60% off buttons earlier this year. >> primark is a very low end retailer here in the uk. and you walk in and things cost, you know, three pounds or ten pounds. a dollar or two dollars, something like that for a sweater for, like, full clothing items. what's going to happen in the u.s.? >> so primark is going in and taking square footage away from

sears or sears is giving it to them because sears is struggling. as you just said, dem is $7. you can buy duvet webs towels for a couple of dollars. you can buy your favorite ugly christmas sweater for $12 and the average retailer is $30 and up. i think this will be a big game changer. it will give the offprice retailers potentially a run for their money. >> how is technology changing the retail experience? when do you think we'll be able to shop for something online and say i like that dress, what does it look like on me without going to the store and trying it on? >> so many retailers are testing out this technology. you can go in and virtually try on your jeans and see what you look like or what would be the best fit for you. >> i think the game changer for the online shopping experience.

my mom wants to go in and see if the sweater fits her. >> in certain categories, you'll have always have to go into the store and try on your favorite dress. certainly, people do order a dress in three sizes and if it's free shipping around the holidays, you just send back what you don't want and the retailers pay the price on that margin. that is one of the hurts here. >> and how about moving it up just a bit from himark? then you have companies or retailers where it's not high end, but it's not low end, either. where are they going to sit in 2015? >> that is so interesting. especially as these sessions move into the u.s. in a real way. h&ms are really getting into the u.s. they will own that middle income consumer. they're going to own the

department store customer. they're doing fashions better, cheaper and quicker. and u.s. retailers, this is a huge wake up call for them to tling lead times and get in the game in terms of fashion. >> it feels like they've just gotten a little bigger and more powerful. >> h&m own tess teen consumer. as they move, you know, they own europe, but as they move into the states, watch out for the teen space. a lot of these stocks are going to have a rude awakening. >> we will be right after that teen space. thank you very much for being with us. happy holidays. we just need to take a look at some of the other top stories today. as we've been saying, st. louis county police have confirmed a young male has been fatally shot

by police in berkeley, missouri. in a statement, an officer from the city of berkeley fired several shots after a male allegedly pulled a handgun and pointed it at him. the crowds have gathered at the scene. there are reports of some clashes with police. the fda has approved a drug to treat obesity. it is for overweight adults who have health problems. the drug was previously approved in 2010 under a different name to treat diabetes. and coming up on "worldwide exchange," santa may be able to complete his round in all types of weather, but heavy rain, snow and windy conditions could make tough continues for u.s. holiday travelers. we'll check for delays and cancellations. a live record from one of the country's busiest airports, that's coming next.

'tis the day before christmas. if you have plans to travel as cross the u.s., kate rogers is out among visitors at new york's

laguardia airport. kate, what is the weather like? what should we anticipate? >> hey, louisa. it doesn't look like much just yet. it's about 60 degrees in this area. some fog, slight rain. yesterday we were here tracking winter storm kado for you guys. this is set to hit the northeast later today, bringing significant rain, snowfall to areas like chicago and milwaukee and it's responsible for the tornados that touched down in the southeast yesterday. killing four people and causing tons of power outages. flight aware, they're tracking delays and cancellations across the area. in the tri state area here in new york, under 50 cancellations and delays in total. regardless, there's projected to be more and more throughout the day. this is not good news for the 98 million people that are be

traveling this christmas eve and the 5.7 million people that will be flying by air. we'll be here at laguardia all day long tracking these numbers for you. back over to you. >> thank you so much. i hope i make my flight. it's getting nervous here. i don't think wlb will be my issue. >> i'll take you out for coffee, i'll buy you a cake. we'll have a nice little talk. >> some lemon cake and then i'll head out. >> i'm good at this travel stuff. >> tennis shoes -- >> i'm going to follow your lead. thank you. sticking with the christmas theme, if you're hoping to get those presents delivered to friends and family by christmas day tomorrow, you may be to keep that tracking number handy. meg. >> hey, seema, that's right. there may be some bad news for you last minute holiday

shoppers. u.p.s. and fedex have been capping u.s. deliveries as some have exceeded their agreed upon limits. the late surge in online shopping is testing the company's infrastructure. the plane's trucks and sorting centers used to deliver tens of mms of gifts. u.s. retailers have been asked to scale back their promotions on tuesday. u.p.s. is trying to avoid a repeat of last year's disaster. a limited number of planes and bad weather. an estimated 2 million express packages didn't arrive under the tree in time. this year, u.p.s. has invested $500 million on holiday operations, including an automated sorting system that can quickly identify codes. u.p.s. has confirmed several packages sent by overnight delivery on monday hadn't reached their destination

yesterday. they're stuck at its hub in memphis. amazon says it works closely with shippers and is confident in their ability to deliver items on time. both u.p.s. and fedex appear to be doing better this year. shep matrix says they had a 97% on time delivery rate up from last year. >> indicate, i hope you have a wonderful christmas. thank you for bringing us that report. before we go to break, we need to update you on our headlines. >> u.s. pushing higher after crossing 18,000 for the first time. missouri police confirmed the fatal shooting of a black male just 30 minutes away from ferguson. takata's president takes the fall saying he'll be stepping down from the japanese firm.

hi, everybody. welcome back. you've been watching "worldwide exchange." it's christmas, the 24th of december. european markets, we're seeing most of them be higher in trade. very low liquidity, though. very thin holiday trade. the cac 40 off by a tad. we're still -- i'm really sorry, p.j., if i offended you that i'm really not the biggest football fan on earth. p.j. says that wasn't really -- >> you said you were supportive. >> i definitely support people who love supports. i support -- you can watch all you want. i won't switch the remote control. >> let's stick with the markets, though. taking a look at u.s. futures, they are pointing to a higher

open after the dow broke tlooi through and closed above 18,000 for the first time ever. the santa claus rally has lifted the benchmark up nearly a thousand points. will the rally continue? our next guest says russia will see a painful recession next year, but it won't be fault on its debt. joining me now is dan morris, global investment strategist. dan, a pleasure having you on christmas eve. thank you for joining us. a lot of focus on the resilience in the u.s. markets with the s&p 500 settling at a record for the 51st time this year. but as, you know, i was just reading, russia continues to be a concern for global investors. could that weigh on sentiment going into 2015? >> well, you're kind of looking for a trigger to maybe take away the share that we've had at the end of this year and russia is probably one of the most key candidates. we don't want to forget about greece, either. we may see more volatility. always want to focus on the

fundamentals. fundamental res still positive. for us, an opportunity to buy on those down turns. we're still going to push markets higher. >> so many are calling for the dow to continue to rise in 2015. at what point does valuation become a concern? >> that's exactly it. if you look at relative opportunities between the u.s. and europe, we still have appreciation for the u.s. equity markets, it's moderate because in terms of multiples, they are above average. average valuations, with earnings growth, you only have a slight appreciation in the u.s. equities for the year. there's a lot more potential outside the u.s. and that's why we're overweight equities outside of the u.s. right now. >> dan, it's louisa. where in particular would you please would you be overweight outside the u.s.? >> we think in terms of developed markets, japan is one of our preferred markets. there's a lot going on in terms of the abe government, hopefully see a lot more emphasis on the third arrow.

and the reform for abe nomics this year, still the potential for depreciation in the currency and hopefully really start to see more action on the part of the corporations because, really, that's what needs to happen. we need higher margins in japan. we haven't really seen that. it's been mostly a currency play. that's one of the things we'll hopefully see changed in 2015. secondly, that will be europe, clearly with the ecb moving towards count tafb easing. that should be a big boost for equity markets. >> when do i know whether or not i should be getting into some of the oil services trades? >> i think we need to wait. analysts are still trying to figure out what the implications are, how long that will last before they then revise estimates for companies. i think we need to see that happen, have it work its way through before coming to a position within the opportunities in the energy sector. >> and some experts are betting

on european stocks outperforming equities in 2015. do you think european markets can see a sustained recovery given the political uncertainty that could unfold out of greece? >> on one hand, you see the potential for a better performance out of europe. we've been waiting for that catalyst to make it happen. in the short-term, between russia and greece, it's probably not going to happen right away. i think it is going to depend probably more on action from the ecb, so we're moving into the beginning of next year and hopefully subsequent to that, towards the middle had a of the year, we start to see economic growth. times are fairley modest. everyone has been waiting for the strong recovery out of europe. it's always the next quarter out, the next quarter out. hopefully we'll hit it to around 2015. >> dan morris, ciaa creff, thank you so much for joining us today on december 24th after that mega rally on wall street. louisa, it's been amazing just to watch the dow propelling higher. >> i'm looking at the e-mails

coming through. sharon, hello to you. happy holidays. walmart being the biggest retail giant, we should mention that, as well. >> part of our reevent discussirecent discussion. >> we're invited to a rugby game over the weekend. that would be great. >> i want to watch them warm up. i like to see them skipping. we have one saying why is the festive mood missing? no decor in the studio. >> you missed our wreath making, one i'm going to hang on my door. >> for christmas, proceeds from a petsmacking stock trade. >> that's not just human watching. we have some pets in the audience, as well. >> that's not just trade. a lot of people have become more involved in the pet business, like in trade. >> as incomes rise, you're seeing more consumers are spending on their pets. it's an interesting story. >> be happy. thank you very much for watching

us. that's it for today's show. >> merry christmas. >> merry christmas to you! >> merry christmas. we'll see you in 2015. bye, everybody. >> bye, everyone. this has everything. you can still do all those things with your new microsoft surface pro 3. it's light, powerful, and runs all the applications our business depends on. plus, it's mobile. this is mobile. and cdw can configure it to our network specs. but this has a bell. a bell? [bell chime]

good morning, everybody. dow 189,000. the blue chip index starts for the first time and the santa claus rally is showing no signs of slowing down. "the interview," sony does an aboutface and now plans to release its controversial movie tomorrow. uber gets put on south

korea's naughty list. the country indicting the local ceo and subsidiary. it is december 24th, 2015, and "squawk box" begins right now. good morning. welcome to "squawk box" here on cnbc. i'm andrew ross sorkin along with becky quick. michelle caruso cabrera is here. joe enjoying the day off ahead of christmas. if you feel like many americans, you may be waiting for that final package to arrive today. the last-minute surge in e-commerce orders is causing u.s. shippers to cap deliveries. u.p.s. and fedex make those adjustments. companies are trying to avoid repeating last year's fiasco after