spot. we will talk about predictions. does russia default in 2015? >> no. >> i think they will. >> real pleasure. we had a rough start but recovered nicely. >> yes. >> we are still up for you in a bathing suit bet. "power lunch" begins right now. "halftime" is over. "power lunch" and the second half of the trading day start now. the dow going for the eighth straight day of gains. the s&p 500 and the nasdaq on track for the eighth straight water of gains. and the nasdaq is within 5% of its all-time record tech bubble close. we have the 2015 play book. the health of the american housing market. could 2015 be the start of the negative price dip. might that be a good thing. forget uber. this company is the most valuable tech startup in the

world. we will take you inside. tyler is off today. my partner bill griffith is here at cnbc headquarters with me. >> the major averages trading in a narrow range, light volume. you would expect this for the last trading week of the year. we have seen several new records. the s&p, the russell 2000 closed in a new high on friday. here is how we stand at the moment moment. the s&p is up a fraction. now $53.30. brent is back below $60 with conviction down 2.8% now or $1.66. that is taking a toll on blue chips. back to the new york stock exchange. bob pisani, happy monday. >> let's take a look at the s&p 500. we are lower as oil moved to the

new lows. not that much lower. i think the market is holding up fairly well here. you see us off of our highs. s&p still positive. dow went negative a short while ago. we did see oil stocks move down. look at the exploration and production index. oil started moving south a little before noon when we started moving into negative territory. energy stocks mixed today. they all just move negative. positive a short while ago. trans ocean also lower. most of the group is in negative territory. broader implications like the hyg here. that is what you want to watch. that is the high yield momentarily a few moments ago moved into negative territory but had been positive until five, six minutes ago. the broader indexes holding up pretty well. we have a swath of bank etfs, home building etfs, metals and mining etf on the bottom

remaining in positive territory. my point here is oil is effecting the market but not that dramatically not the way it used to. as for the other big story about greek elections being called for the end of january. france and germany actually ended to the upside. i think this is going to strengthen the case for the ecb to begin quantitative easing program sometime in the next several months with all of the greek stuff going on. >> we will talk about that. the big news out of europe early elections coming in grease now in mid january. the stock market steak taking a huge hit on the news. could this be possibly the first step in greece leaving the euro zone? our chief international correspondent michelle caruso-cabrera is on the news line. >> that is why the greek stock market is getting hit so hard. if the election -- that is the news today. they have elections earlier than

expected in january of next year rather than 2016. if that election were held today a man named alexis the leader of the radical left his party would win. if he were to win people are concerned based on all the things he says that grease would leave the euro not because he says that. he says he wants grease to stay in the euro. when you start listening to conditions he wants to impose he wants a major write down of the substantial debt. he doesn't want to do anything the imf suggests. he wants to raise the minimum wage and more state ownership. these are all things that could quite possibly be untenable and lead to a point where we are asking does grease leave the euro. first he has to win and second they have to do the negotiation. we are several steps away but closer than we were before. >> back at the previous incarnation of this crisis eurozone leaders made it clear

they didn't want greece leaving. why would they change their mind this time around just in haste or what? >> that was a long time ago. i think back then the biggest issue was a lot of the debt that greece had was held by international banks and european banks in particular and if they didn't pay that debt there were going to be big holds blown into balance sheets. that is no longer the case. they handed in the bonds. a lot of those were taken. now bonds are held by other governments. they are held by hedgefunds and pension funds. they are not held by banks, held by ecb, some of them. so the impact isn't as big. they have had a lot of time since 2009 to get their head around what should the euro be. there is less an of insistence at this point. i think that greece should stay within the euro if it really doesn't want to do all the things that they think it shed

do. >> what the impact will be on potential quantitative easing by the european central bank. joining us is former board member of the irf. how does this complicate the expected quantitative easing down the road? >> the short answer is it complicates it a lot. draghi has a hard enough time get s support of hawks in the governing council. if you add this uncertainty in greece this makes the january 22 board meeting three days before the scheduled election in greece extremely difficult for him to announce on that day that ecb is going to buy greek sovereign bonds as part of a sovereign exercise. i think the hawks are going to have a hard time swallowing that. >> i tend to agree with that. as you just heard her

expectation is that this could possibly be the first step in greece eventually leaving the eurozone. do you agree? >> i don't think i'm ready to start talking about so-called -- yet i certainly think the risks have escalated dramatically as the greek drama is played out. i think that the words that he doesn't want to leave the euro sound good but the implicit if not explicit follow up statement is i don't want to do things required for me to stay in the euro. that is a real problem. i think michelle made reference to bonds held by the ecb itself. that is the big trigger point. they own around 6.85 billion euros of greek bonds that were not restructured when the other ones were several years ago. those come due in june and july. the ecb is in no mood to simply

roll those over out of good will. that falls in the face of everything the hawks want and it is difficult to reconcile. >> we thought we would finish this but i guess not. good to see you again. thank you. >> as we close out the last trading week of the year with more record highs what does the stock play book look like for 2015? let's talk about that with jack chief investment officer and john buckingham. welcome guys and happy new year. maybe a couple days early. let me start with you. we have had quite a phenomenal market year this year and things didn't exactly play out the way a lot of people thought they would. the expectation was that interest rates were going to rise. they have not. they have stayed low. give me a thumbnail sketch of what 2015 will look like to you. >> it's really going to be i think a convergence between this

bullish environment in the u.s. where all this money is flowing from other countries here because we are the safe haven. we are probably the oasis in a global slow down against this deflationary back drop the fact that oil prices are coming down credit spreads are widening interest rates are lower. the question is -- to bill's point earlier here will the ecb really be able to jump start the european economy? will abe be able to help revitalize japan? it is hard to really know. i think we are going to find out in 2015. >> well 2015 may still be a safe haven play for the u.s. certainly. but you think before i go to john you think the s&p 500 in general looks a little pricey a little expensive. >> it does. i would argue that the last time

the s&p 500 was fairly priced was probably the second or third quarter of 2013. so this phenomenon that we are seeing this surge of liquidity domestically and from abroad has been occurring for roughly six quarters. it could continue but just like 1998 to 1999 eventually the market became a victim of its own success. it just fell on its own valuation. >> john weigh in on that. i know you were bullish for 2015. you don't seem to see valuations as stretched as jack does. what is driving the market for you? >> i certainly see some areas of the market as being expensive. we have to keep in mind where we are on interest rates. when you are getting 2.2% yield on ten year treasury compared to my own portfolio yielding 2.8% in under valued companies raising dividends that is not a great trade off. i much rather be in equities.

i don't think valuations are stretched when you consider interest rates. if i could get 500 basis points in a money market fund i would look at the stock market differently. now i am getting one basis point in a money market fund. stocks look attractive. i did mention dividends. i think dividends are poised to continue to grow. corporate profits are likely to remain healthy. significant earnings growth. i think we will have a positive year next year although i think you need to be selective because there are areas that are overvalued and areas that are under valued. that is the great thing about active portfolio management is that you don't have to invest in the expensive stuff. >> thank you very much. good to see

>> that they believe this plane

is at the bottom of the java sea. we have our own airline reporter joining us now on the news line. another missing airliner incredible for that region of the world. what is next in this search? >> it is going to take some time. i think they have a pretty broad area that they are looking. if they get a sense that they are getting close obviously you know that the plane is going to be sending off pings, that there is technology that will locate those pings. you have to get close. short of that there is also discussions heating up about whether or not the entire airline industry world wide needs to make a push along with government to fund and implement a satellite transmission system that tracks all airplanes at all

times. the next generation of aircraft tracking, the technology is there. the question is will the airlines it has been a huge surge

since the middle of october when we had solid market volatility. it is one sector that has driven that small cap performance since then. one in particular. we are going to tell you which one after the break. in 25 years your finances will be in the cloud.

we have new numbers on the housing market. it could be good news. diana olick is live with the details. we know we are all freaking out if we are not making crazy money on our houses. prices up just 4.5% in october

compared to a year ago according to a new report from black knight financial services. it is still a healthy gain but about half the gain we were seeing last fall. affordability has been sidelining a lot of potential buyers. home sales were down dramatically in november and price could be the culprit. the number of homes for sale is down a bit from a year ago. the number of affordable homes for sale is way down. a survey of potential buyers found 11% said their biggest obstacle was lack of homes for sale. nearly 33% cited biggest obstacle as affordability. that is the first time since 2012 that buyers were more concerned about affordability than lack of inventory. with prices still higher more low end sellers are up from under water and may list homes in the spring market. you want to know where your market stands please head to our

on the recovery map on cnbc.com. over 100,000 people have. knowledge is power especially in today's housing market. >> thank you very much. just a couple of guys hanging out here at the wall right now. dominic chu with me. here as the russell 2000 hits an all-time high. >> here is the interesting part. josh brown made this observation before about this reverse head and shoulders. it just means that there could be room for the market to go higher. >> i think it were a thing of beauty. this is a six-month reverse head and shoulder. this is the bottom in october. >> october 15. >> and then another pullback in the middle of december. >> and then a move higher here. >> that is what defines. i know some viewers start rolling their eyes there goes bill doing that technical analysis. >> here is the thing. you only get this movement when you have a lot of volatility in the market. they are only up 5% year to date

despite the moves that we have seen here. if you look at where the action has come from it has really been in this last part. that move higher has been 14%. there is one sector. we looked at the etf that tracks the small cap index. we said what are the top 50 best performing stocks in the index with market cap of at least a billion dollar. 50 of them. 38 of the stocks came from the health care sector whether bio technology pharmaceutical medical services. if you take a look at this a huge move here. the three standouts that we picked out here. over that time span look at alder up nearly 150% since the lows back on october 15. a huge move higher. blue bird bio up 174% since then. the best performing stock in

that category ovascience up 223% since october 15. 32 of the 50 best performing stocks at least 500 million in the index from bio technology health care services or pharmaceutical. an interesting theme developing. >> all washed out in october. sue, we are going to stay here and wait for more firings of nfl head coaches, too. >> they are dropping like flies out there. they really are. and that was a thing of beauty, that reverse head and shoulders. i like to see the technicals. let's go to morgan brennan looking at mid and large cap winners and some of the losers for 2014. >> that's right. dom was talking about small cap names. let's look at mid and large cap names specifically those that we combed through in the russell 1000. let's start with the top stock so far this year in the russell 1000.

sky works solutions gained about 160% so far this year. this is a semi conductor stock that has gained strong demand for apple devices. the company also boosted its outlook in october and we are really seeing this move up in response to that. another name this is one of my favorite charts for the year, intercept pharmaceuticals. in january the stock trading around $66 a share and then exploded. it spiked up about more than 500% because of its liver treatment. it was in trials. it ended those early, better than expected results. we have seen the stocks come off a bit since then but still up more than -- about 125% so far this year. another big winner southwest airlines. this stock has more than doubled this year, as well. obviously lower fuel costs, higher fees higher prices contributing to this. in general the airlines have done really well this year. let's look at losers. on the flip side some of the

biggest losers in the russell 1000. this is an oilfield service company. it has felt the effects of lower oil prices with oil sliding more than 40% since its high in june. this stock is up about 71% so far this year. slashing dividends recently. another loser this year, nu skin enterprises down about 66% this year. it has had issues with regulators in china. also just recently slashing outlook for 2015 profit outlook on the stronger dollar. you are seeing that play a role here. lastly take a look at sprint, the number three wireless carrier has had another rough year down about 60% and continues to lose subscribers. we are seeing that in this stock. >> morgan thank you very much. morgan brennan at the nasdaq. opening weekend online and in select theaters for the motion picture "the interview." did anyone watch it?

jane wells has the story coming up. >> i'm busy watching it on youtube on my android phone. we want to hear from you. this was a legal purchase. there were plenty of illegal ones. do you think sony made the right move by releasing the movie online? go to cnbc.com/vote and weigh in. "power lunch" is back in two. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ the evolution of luxury continues. the next generation 2015 escalade.

welcome back to "power lunch." we have seen the lowest levels of 2014. $52.90, a low so far in trading for crude oil up off the lows still down by about 2.5%. ice brent crude futures off by almost 3%. also interesting because we have the latest update to baker hughes rate account information, the number of active oil operating in north america.

saying the u.s. rig count has fallen. also the canadian rig count is down 135 rigs to 256 active oil and gas rigs. it looks like as oil prices slide, sue, it still looks like active oil and gas rigs are apparently on the decline and that trend continues with this past week data. >> not much incentive for them to continue to expand given the way prices are performing. as you might know it was opening weekend in select theaters and online for "the interview." how many people watched it? jane wells is live in los angeles breaking down the numbers. we want you to weigh in as well. do you think sony made the right move by releasing the movie online? go to cnbc.com/vote. you can vote while jane reports. >> reporter: really for the first time we have seen a mainstream movie distributed on all platforms at once and the results are telling. >> i'm actually like --

>> not quite. "the hobbit" won the weekend on the big screen. "the interview" won the battle on the small screen. of the $18 million the film made 15 million came in from legal downloads. there were 1.5 million illegal free downloads. more money might have come in from theaters if the film was on the original 3,000 screens instead of 300. we may see more of this day and date release for smaller films in the future not expensive blockbuster. did the big theater chains end up losing out? >> everybody won this weekend. it was a great test of this controversial situation and changing the play book and

releasing. >> i downloaded the movie on my samsung and android phone. i have it on silent because they say some bad words. i'm about 25 minutes in. i can only watch it for about five minutes at a time. i am not their core demographic. apple was not letting people download it through itunes until yesterday so google got a jump on them. >> let's lock in the vote. it is pretty overwhelming. 86% say that sony made the right move. 13% say they did not. time for the "power lunch" count down tech edition. joining us is managing editor at recode. ed mond first the hack attack. will any of these ever become hack proof? >> nothing, i don't think anything will be hack proof in the future. the more everything is digitized

the more we live our lives online, the more chances for hacking. and it's more a test of how quickly these companies these services can respond to hacks versus whether they will be hack proof. hackers to point out the flaws in the second basem. they feel they are doing a service by exploiting holes in the security. it will come down to how quickly and actively they respond. this hack i think play station has been down for a few days a week. that is a long time for people to wait. >> especially those waiting to play those games. on friday we know the chinese government blocked g mail. google like other tech giants are learning you have to play by china's rules, aren't you? >> you definitely do. you want to reach the billion plus market you have to play by china's rules. media is tricky for any u.s. company wanting to go in there. the state likes to control the media. they want to control the

message. they want social stability. that is their aim. they are never clear as to why they turn things on or off. in this case china has not said either way what is going on if they have turned it off or why they have. either way whether google or facebook, any major service that wants to exploit that market or get into that market they have to play by china's rules and they will. there is no reason for them to not do that at this point. it is a different territory, a different government. if they want those people they have to do what they say. >> a company most of us in the u.s. have never heard of but the new leader in the tech startup space. susan lee told me how to pronounce this. did i get that right? it raised over $1 billion in the latest round of funding with valuation of more than $45 billion. who is this company? are we in a new bubble in some degree here? >> discussions about if we are

in a new bubble has been brewing for at least the past year. whether or not there is a bubble is not clear yet. we know that the important thing to note here is that the most valuable tech startup is a chinese company. if there is a bubble it is being more widely distributed. the reason it won't be so sharply felt in one market versus another. everyone will ultimately bear the brunt of it if there is a bubble. it signals that technology is becoming more wide spread across the world. the nations where china, india, countries in south america. that will be good for the sector. >> a company like uber. thanks. have a good week. >> the metals market closing. let's take a look at where gold has been performing dpiven the fact that we have oil on the down side that can sometimes influence plays. right now the bold market is

down about $12 on the trading session better than 1%. silver copper platinum and palladium biggest losers better than 1% decline. to the bond market we see where interest rates are performing in terms of the yield curve. the ten yield at about 2.2%. and the 30 year is yielding 2.78%. you are up to date on interest rates. back to bond market report for today. back to you, bill. >> i feel up to date. we are going to take a break. what will education look like in 2015 you ask? we have the latest tool that lets you fight back against landlords who don't keep the heat on. and it's the air b&b for pets. all that ahead.

so ally bank really has no hidden fees on savings accounts? that's right. it's just that i'm worried about you know "hidden things..." ok, why's that? no hidden fees from the bank where no branches equals great rates.

things are pretty study. we have a fractional loss. the nasdaq s&p is hitting new

highs as is the russell 2000 which we told you about earlier. let's get to morgan brennan. >> taking a look at the nasdaq trading about flat here at 48.06 right now. as you recall friday we broke through the 4,800 barrier. this is the second day in a row we have seen the number. we are watching just less than 5% from the all-time record close of the nasdaq composite in march 2000. we have to hit 5,048 to move past that. at 4,800 0684,806 is something to take note of. gilead sciences today rallying on the heels of friday up about 3% on an upgrade from morgan stanley. another name that has been gaining is amazon early reads on holidays really strong also reports that amazon prime has

grown strong at the end of the year. apple also higher. on the flip side some of the large cap laggers intel seeing softness and move to the down side. microsoft and facebook each down about 1%. >> thanks so much. let's bring in bob pisani down at the new york stock exchange and kenny polcari. >> i haven't seen you since christmas. i miss you. >> we are in the holiday season and so volume tends to be a little lighter. that can bring in volatility. what are you seeing today? >> very light volume. we have created 265 million so far. you can feel it. there is not a lot of action. it does bring that exacerbated moves. today the market is not doing anything. we have been between plus two and minus two all day. we are stuck here in the s&p. i don't expect a lot until wednesday where you might get more year end activity.

until then i suspect it is very quiet. >> i think everybody's head is 2015. we have been talking about 2015 all day. i think the valuations aren't stretched. a lot of people seem to feel they are. when you look at 2.2% i think stocks are a pretty good value. dividends are still going up. earnings going up. >> we are the best performing out of the group although i think a lot of people start looking at europe. i think europe will be a turn around play next year. people have been talking about that. i think it makes a lot of sense. especially if we hear early in january. >> january 22 is the meeting. it will be a lot of pressure because he's got a lot of pressure on him because the elections are coming right there. >> the timing is very difficult for him. he is really between rock and a hard spot. talk to me about the drop in oil. i hear some people say this is

the tail wind for the economy, tail wind for the consumer. there are some people out there who are saying we are on the verge of a deflationary cycle and that has them worried. that is one of the watch words that i'm hearing. >> the only response as we close out the year is can the stock market decouple from the oil market. i would like to see it happen. oil hits a new low but the stock market didn't fall apart. energy stocks move down. the broad market held up very very well just afternoon when the oil started moving down. >> the market has been holding up and oil going down. there has been a decoupling already. the market has made new highs even with weaker oil. >> that is very encouraging. >> thanks guys. i'll see you tomorrow. >> it's like a team or something. i like that. >> as 2014 draws to a close we have been all day breaking out the 2015 play book looking at what to expect in the coming year.

this hour it is the cost of admission. >> the cost of going to college is sky rocketing. student loan debt in the u.s. has topped $1 trillion and greater than every major category of consumer debt except for mortgages. the sticker shock is only going to get worse. first family income will not keep up with the rise in college costs. over the last three decades the cost of tuition more than tripled. in 2015 we'll see more of the same. as families continue their struggle to pay for education. second government programs will fall short. obama's proposal to expand eligibility to all borrowers may not materialize. insufficient savings to cover the cost will be the culprit.

we will have more college graduates than ever. even though people are shelling out more than ever to pay for college they are buying into a bigger upside. next year wewile seel see a larger class. congratulations to all the future graduates. coming up game changers the latest tool making slum lords think twice about cutting heat off this winter. and the best part about it it is free for those in need. we will have that story coming your way in two minutes. in the next 25 years ought animus drive vehicles will become a reality. the car will be making the decision in terms of stopping and accelerating. almost all cars will be communicating on the same wave length sending signals to landmarks. all major auto makers are developing autonomous drive

vehicles but so are tech companies.

it is heating season. that means landlords are acquired to keep buildings a koftdable enough temperature. for those who don't follow the law tenants are often literally left out in the cold until now. every year new york city gets more than 200,000 heating related complaints. >> freezing. >> reporter: court documents show the battles for heat and other basic services for the tenants in this building in harlem has gone on for years. >> so many landlords have been getting away with this. you make complaints and then tell the landlord that there have been complaints please turn the heat on. we are coming for an inspection and then heat on for three days. as soon as the inspectors leave

the heat is off again. >> reporter: one new nonprofit startup is making sure that won't be the case anymore. >> we create web enabled temperature censors that can track temperatures within the apartment and our web app will show you when based on new york city housing code the apartment is in violation of the heating laws. >> we call this a cell. it includes very tiny chip which you can't see that measures the temperature. >> i thought it was amazing. it is the answer to our prayer because it is almost impossible to get a violation for heat. >> reporter: since the landlords know the temperature is being monitored the heat is back on. >> something is happening. it is good for all of us. >> thanks in part to raising $15,000 on kick starter and winning the new york big app's competition it plans to roll out 120 censors across new york city

through community partnerships for those in need. it is all free of charge. for more on heat seek and the full story head to cnbc.com. that is a great story. >> love that. really good story. take another break here. many americans taking their end of year holidays and those with pets face the decision of how to care for them while you are gone. some startups are going to the dogs giving your four legged friend their own get away. details coming up on "power lunch."

the s&p 500 hitting a fresh all-time high today. that index on track for its eighth straight quarter of gains. that is almost unprecedented. the russell 2000 hitting intraday highs earlier. oil going the other direction down to 5 1/2 year low. it is the lowest level for brent of this year so far. we have the report from baker hughes this hour reporting a sharp decline in the number of rigs going offline in the u.s. another indication that energy companies are starting to pull back. >> should we do the yahoo finance question of the day?

i think we should. where do you see stocks heading in the first quarter of the new year? here are the results. 54% said stocks will climb and move higher. 22% say they will stay flat and 24% said stocks will drop. that is what makes a market. let's go see what is coming up on "street signs." >> coming up crude oil hitting fresh five. can it hold above $53 a barrel into the close. we will tell you all about college football $48 million man. is he worth it? and can you name today's charts? single best performing stock in the s&p 500 this year. the answer and a lot coming your way on "street signs." "power lunch" returns right after this short break.

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the dow jones sits at a record high. up about 30%. today's trade also excel energy are shooting to the upside. you can see right there. all moving to the upside. utilities continue to be a very big theme of the 2014 trade. we will see if that continues into 2015. >> all-time highs. and it is the holidays. for a lot of americanness they are on vacation means figuring out what to do with the family dog while you are gone. now you can board your pet at someone's home instead of at a kennel. josh lipton is live with a story of this startup offering just that. >> so the question is is leaving your dog in a kennel like leaving your child in an

orphanage? that is what he says. his firm invested $12 million in a startup that aims to disrupt the kennel industry. it is called rover. you go online. you find the dog sitter near you and book a reservation at their house or they can come to yours. there are now 25,000 sitters available across the u.s. rover makes money by taking a 15% commission from sitters who earn extra income by opening up their homes to your dogs. >> i charge on the lower scale at $25 a night. because of that i think i attracted a lot of customers and have made upwards of $35,000 a year since i started. >> now, rover isn't alone in this space. there is dog vakay which has 20,000 dog sitters and has raised $47 million from top tier venture capitalists.

ceo says his company does carry insurance, $25,000 per dog. if your dog gets sick he is covered. venture capitalists are putting money to work in the startups. they know pet care is big business here. americans spend nearly $60 billion this year on their pets according to the american of pet products association. let's take a look at the dow. it has traded in a range of about 51 points today. light volume. a lot of that early this morning. represents the smallest trading range since september. right now down eight. we are still positive on the s&p. we will see when you do "closing bell." >> i will see you in an hour from now on "closing bell." >> "street signs" starts now. have a great day. happening right now, oil

falls again. could $1.50 gasoline be just around the corner? i am brian sullivan. oil may be the loser of the year. stocks, bonds and especially the u.s. dollar are ending the year the big winners. wait until you see the surprise stock of the year. mandy is off today. susan lee flew in from hong kong just for us. >> it is a long way to fly. let's take a look at what is happening in the markets. the big story is