back. >> you're coming back. >> let me know where you're going to be. >> we're going to have a big party tonight. >> stay safe be careful. >> can you rent "whiplash" yet? >> maybe we should just go to theaters. maybe theaters will be open. >> or "birdman." >> movie night. "squawk" movie night. join us tomorrow. there will be a lot of snow. hopefully we'll all be here. "squawk on the street" begins right now. good monday morning. welcome to "squawk on the street." i'm carl quintanilla at the new york stock exchange. what a week we have in store. the busiest stretch of earnings season. a two-day fed meeting begins tomorrow. obviously the snowstorm, the market actually rebounding a bit after those greek elections over the weekend. european stocks mostly in the green. oil is about even after falling about 6% last week and then the ten-year yields right around 1.82. our road map begins with the markets steadying a bit after

those greek elections. we'll talk futures, oil, the euro all bouncing off overnight lows. america's largest home builder up more than 6% that is the stock and the pre-market. and apple earnings on deck a report that apple sales in china exceed those in the u.s. plus is apple pay at a tipping point? more on those stories in a few moments. first up though let's talk about these markets. obviously a lot of people wondered what this morning would look like after the greek elections. the serisa party taking two seats short of an outright majority, but looks like they are going to have a working coalition partner. are you impressed that europe's not in the red? >> i think that the partner might be this greek far right wing. >> i know yes. >> and i feel that what this says to germany once again is look, this is the future. unless you get it right, you're going to see extremism in these countries, which is making it so that draghi won last week in terms of qe. now we see this. it just seems like everything is

going the non-german way, which means they're trying to hit expansion rather than talk about balanced budget. so i think that that's the second wave. the first wave is wow, this is bad for the currency. the second wave is you know, wait a second. the guys who want more growth just won. and that's very important, because we're starting to see some pretty good numbers out of europe in the last six weeks. >> right, but it does not auguster for greece leaving the euro.auger for greece leaving the euro. a potentially negative event. >> first of many. i think what happens here is that anything that signals expansion is being viewed as possible. because with oil going down with qe you're suddenly coming up with a scenario that makes you feel like ex-ukraine, europe could come back. >> i'm sorry, how is the greek election pro-expansion? >> the coalition with this far right party. >> yes, yes. >> and the far right party is very frightening to people. because suddenly you say to

yourself, okay, well maybe france, which has a far right shortage starts doing well. >> other highly leveraged countries. >> yeah next thing you know you've got what do they really care about there? they don't care as much about economic expansion as they care about social revolution. they have to stop that no matter what. i think draghi is being motivated by the idea that the wrong parties are going to start winning. and this is the shot across the bow. this is the wrong party if you're the germans. wrong party if you're draghi. >> does it cancel out the intent of european qe and that is to -- >> no. >> i think qe -- qe and lower iowa. honestly, a lot of companies that i talked to beginning to see a bit of a change out of europe. >> really? >> yes. >> kind of surprising. seems a bit early. >> seems early, but look there's no reason -- >> i'll tell you one thing that conceivably could be helping, at least for the exporters, is that move in the euro. >> hanging in there at 112.6. had been lower than that. >> right. >> but the move in these

currencies, other than the violent move down in oil the last six months it's really been -- this is another big story in our markets. incredible strength of the dollar. what happened with the swiss franc. there's got to be more pain being felt amongst some hedge funds and the like. but this is a big story. you don't see moves in currencies like this that often. >> bw the largest auto company. merchandise. bmw, you start seeing a competitive advantage. i know that jim stuart came on the show and said no competitive advantage yet. but you know what? there's a loft things that work that people haven't seen yet. for instance, in the earnings last week, a lot of the major companies haven't yet seen the decline in their raw costs. but they all say it's coming. raw costs are coming down including energy. i'm portraying a situation where the u.s. companies -- it's a push, but not yet. right now the dollar is just bad for them. but for europe -- >> right. >> 10% in six weeks. >> yeah. just incredible. it's good for europe.

it just is. >> there's a school of thought that says the strength of the dollar is -- actually will stem any tide at the fed to raise rates. >> look they are data dependent. no one wants to believe it. they keep thinking they have the greenspan fed. the greenspan fed makes up its mind and ignores. this fed says show me the data and we'll make up our minds. and no one seems to want to give this fed that level of credit. they're not auto pilot. i didn't say they're not stupid. i just said they're not auto pilot. >> all right. >> we do have some corporate news today. dr horton reporting 39 cents, beats by a nickel. new orders up 35. closings up 29. average selling price up seven. nation's biggest home builder. >> this is very different from what we heard from k.b. homes. very different from lenar. union pacific talked about the amount of materials they're

shipping for housing. and how great they were the fourth quarter. when you have the nation's largest home builder putting up these good numbers, now you start thinking okay i see, they're building homes. that's a very positive number for the u.s. economy. >> for a sector that -- i mean this stock is down 9% for the year. in part because of what k.b. said. >> k.b. was terrible and k.b. tried to make it into a home building issue. lenar was not as strong as i thought. they tried to make it into a home building issue. the fha talking about how they're going to cut the amount of skin you have to put in the game. a lot of banks -- they take the loan, they just give it to fanny mae and freddie. but this was shocking to me. when i got there, i said all right, another bad housing. i said, wait a second. wait a second. good numbers. >> but how do you square it -- >> the less than sanguine news. >> inexpensive homes relative to lenar. >> raw costs meaning land.

>> well land. but also kph just had bad margins. i still can't figure out how kph makes a house and doesn't make as much money as everybody else. this is important. it signifies that there's industry that we know as stewart miller said the ceo of lenar, is in recession mold. >> we are getting breaking news. mattel has earnings on friday a company now saying that brian stockton resigning as chairman and ceo. just getting this across the tape now. >> they've been challenged. it's been all hasbro. we're going to hear from microsoft. it's been all gaming. these companies that are traditional non-gaming toy companies not doing nearly as well as ea which has downgraded. >> also earnings this week. >> but i think take two is having a very good quarter. a big game coming out, evolve that i think is going to take people's breath away. >> i think it's interesting that he is being replaced immediately. obviously that is -- you don't have to read too far into these

kinds of announcements typically to know that that was likely unexpected. >> also declaring a first quarter cash dividend. 38 cents. the plot thickens a bit. >> there are a lot of people who think that some of the companies that reported last week that were quite weak would have also taken this kind of action. but there's support in the boardroom. >> thanks for your time don't let the door hit you on the way out, which is basically what they seem to be saying to this gentleman, as carl said. christopher sinclair named the company's new ceo, interim ceo, at least. effective immediately. brian stockton stepping down. >> interesting that there's nothing about his family in the release. nothing about the need. >> no they just say thanks for your time thanks for your years of service to us and we've got to move -- now is the right time for new leadership to maximize its potential, the board believes. but this does go to a larger issue, which is the timeline --

the typical service of a ceo has shrunk over time. boards are more active. and i use that word purposefully, of course, because if they're not active somebody else is going to be. >> it's natural for an activist to come in say listen you've got to sell it. the government is no longer going to say if hasbro merges with mattel that that's antitrust. the gaming companies are really at the center. >> what represents gaming these days is the same way with so many other things in terms of the digital world that we now live in. that you could have and other shareholders argue that office depot and staples should get together, even though years ago they were told not to. again, because of so-called digital competitor. >> did you see the estimates versus what they were reporting? >> no. >> 44 cents. >> they're reporting 52. that is one of the worst misses of this year. that's a bad miss. >> that's not good. >> they've lost control of the company for the moment. but maybe chris sinclair is going to put some discipline in there. >> for now, he's going to be starting from a lower base on

the stock price. so at least he's going to be able to look at his interim tenure as they search for a successor. >> my advice take the 25 bid there and start that as the new regime. start from there. >> unbelievable. yeah that 91-cent estimate and 44 cent guide. >> barbie? >> hot price. >> stock down from 48 not that long ago. end of twirtd2013. >> i think kids play on their ipad. i think that's the toy of choice. i think that everyone's changed. i just don't think that people want to give these kinds of -- grandparents want their kids to be smarter. and there's somehow that if you give them br bee, that is just not doing it. >> we'll come back to mattel, no doubt. in the meantime let's briefly cover the storm. thousands of flights being cancelled and delayed as the northeast braces for a blizzard.

chris palone joins sjoins us from boston. >> they're using words like unprecedented and historic to describe this storm. it's shaping up to be a pretty nice if not frigid morning here in boston. the morning commute is well under way. massachusetts governor charlie baker is urging people to use the next six, seven eight hours to get ready for a storm that will not only bring potentially record-setting snow, the record here in boston is about 27 1/2 inches. they're saying this storm could bring anywhere from 20 to 30 inches of snow. that's bad enough. but this storm will also bring 60 to 70-mile-an-hour winds along the coast. that could bring storm surges coastal flooding, people in places like plum island have started boarding up their homes much like they would for a hurricane because this really is going to approach hurricane force winds. the city of boston says it's prepared 700 pieces of snow removal equipment. 35,000 tons of road salt. but at the peak of this storm sometime late tonight early

tomorrow morning, this storm could bring two to four inches of snow an hour. snow removal equipment just cannot keep up with that pace. so the governor has said be prepared for widespread power outages. he said make sure that you are prepared to stay in your home possibly for next two, three days. depending on where the power outages are and how much snow actually falls here as the city of boston prepares for what they're calling possibly a historic storm. >> same for the city of new york, chris. thank you so much. when we come back more upward momentum for apple after a strong week for the stock. the iphone maker said to have hit a new milestone. the journal today says apple pay is catching on. we'll talk about that. another award-winning night for netflix at the sag awards. and the futures continue to trend upward at least for the moment. and by the way, the new greek prime minister has been sworn in. a lot more from post nine in just a minute.

you just got a big bump in miles. so this is a great opportunity for an upgrade. sound good? great. because you're not you you're a whole airline... and it's not a ticket you're upgrading it's your entire operations, from domestic to international... which means you need help from a whole team of advisors. from workforce strategies to tech solutions and a thousand other things. so you call pwc. the right people to get the extraordinary done. ♪ ♪

some big news for apple. according to "the financial times," the company is expected to announce this week it has sold more iphones in china than in the united states for the first time. meantime, the journal reporting that apple is making some inroads by persuading people to use apple pay. the paper says finance industry

veterans believe the popularity of apple's gadgets and a big marketing push from banks are adding to apple pay's success. stocks up 5% in five days jim. >> it's just what you don't want. hyper comes out today and says there's 5% upside. when apple runs into the quarter, that has always been problematic. i tell you, i always say the same thing. invest in apple don't trade it. but understand that you do better in apple when the expectations are far lower than they are now. they're very high. i'm sure someone's going to come in and downgrade it the next day saying listen we've seen the best of the six and now we have to deal with the watch and the watch isn't that great. just be aware that the way that the stock is as soon as it goes higher, there's always someone itching, itching to get out of it. some analyst wants to just say time to go. so just be careful. >> does this speak to the potential strength of apple pay as a real business into the future, something that is going to become a great deal more ubiquitous and something we'll

talk about as we talk about itunes now? >> definitely. i think the visa wells fargo jp morgan trio and bank of america. bank of america, visa wells fargo, jp morgan they love it. >> but you do have these large retailers such as wal-mart that will not do it. >> i think they get rolled. this is very different from the previous pay systems. and people really like it. i think the article was a very accurate article. my sources say look this is the way to go. howard schultz has another system for starbucks, which obviously is going very, very well. but that's a situation where you don't want lines. this is happening and it's happening whether you like it or not. it's really happening. >> the journal argues consumers seem to feel that it's safer. >> fingerprint. anybody has fingerprints. really does sound very good. i do not use it yet. i just got the six, so i have to load it up. >> i've got to load it up, too. anything that can cut down on

credit card fraud, which is just out of control. >> it is. and i just got my balances again. i told you every monday morning, i check. >> i know but you think am ex ex and all of the card issuers -- i know they are spending a great deal of money on it, but not enough. you have to have your card replaced during the course of a year because of fraudulent activity. >> i've had several cards that have had to be replaced. i also think that the whole system is very flawed. when you're overseas, you've got to let them know that that's you over there. there's just a lot of changes that people really like this apple system. i think this is beginning to be one of those things that's going to end up being like records. like the music industry. and i think wal-mart is very powerful. but you don't want to lose sales to the other guy if you're wal-mart. meantime, another victorious night for netflix winning three screen actors guild awards. two went to "orange is the new black."

it took the prize for best female actor. kevin spacey won for "house of cards." there's a stock, jim. closed new year's eve at 341. almost up 100 bucks since then. >> those numbers were fabulous. really took people by surprise. the idea going into that quarter, and there were two analysts that got it very right. they went in thinking they could have 100 million subs seemed fanciful. now it seems very realistic. and a lot of it if you read the conference call "orange is the new black" and "house of cards." "orange is the new black" it's breathtaking in its humor, in its darkness in its fun. in europe they said that plays really well. you've got programming that matters. red. i love her. some of these actresses are so amazing. >> unbelievable. and content that's going to be very hard for any broadcaster to replicate.

>> i know. everyone sees caputo. there's rumors that he went to my bar. i can't prove it. >> i'm sure it's true. we'll count down to the opening bell after the braechblgeak. we cap off the single busiest week of earnings season. more "squawk on the street" from the nyc straight ahead. ♪ [epic music] ♪ introducing aleve pm... the pm pain reliever. that dares to work all the way until...

[birds chirping] the am. new aleve pm. it's the first to combine a safe sleep aid plus the 12 hour strength of aleve. for pain relief that can last all the way until morning. new aleve pm, for a better am. being a keen observer of the world has gotten you far but what if you could see more of what you wanted to know? with fidelity's new active trader pro investing platform, the information that's important to you

is all in one place, so finding more insight is easier. it's your idea powered by active trader pro. another way fidelity gives you a more powerful investing experience. call our specialists today to get up and running. it's time for a mad dash on a monday. yep, we're there again. got about seven and a half minutes to go before the opening bell. >> this has been a popular favorite. it's been just a dynamite stock. and of late, there have been rumors -- ever since micron said some not great things. people have been looking at these component players.

this is disc drive. they say on their conference call pricing has been competitive, temporary issue. you know, david, that when you hear pricing is competitive, there's no way anyone's going to view it as temporary. they're going to shoot first. there is large cash flow generation here. i would not bet against this company for too long. >> what about the, as you like to see, the cohort here. >> obviously people are going to shoot that one. d-ram is tightly controlled. microprocessor for intel was very strong. people worried about qualcomm this week because of china. the group is choppy. business is strong for them. it's case by case. >> what's move on. what have we got next? >> there's a little outfit called granger. they supply different odds and ends to different businesses. and they missed the quarter. in near term, remain cautious given the low inflationary

environment in the u.s. economic headwinds internationally. i brought this up. growing pressure from weaker currencies in japan. in canada. canada is now becoming a headwind. >> we talked about that at the open of the show. that move in the canadian dollar. was it last week or the week prior. has been dramatic. >> dramatic. >> and the peso has been a little weaker. our trading partners are also in turmoil. canada is very big oil and gas. the moving parts for this quarter are so difficult. kimberly clark on. venezuela, a nightmare. i mean if you're a ceo, you're being challenged on something that you're not used to being challenged. keep that in mind. granger, canada. i mean, really? but it's a great company. i would never bet against them. >> your point is well-taken. getting back to currencies which really are very important right now overall if you're thinking about -- whatever you're thinking about when it

comes to financial markets. >> restaurants. >> domestic. >> jack in the box. >> benefit from the fall in gas prices as well. we haven't even talked about oil this morning. >> we've got plenty of stuff there. >> we'll get to that and a lot of other movers this morning including the firing of pamattel's ceo. >> sinclair's coming in. he's from pepsi. pepsi co, i'm sorry. >> the opening bell five minutes from now. vote on twitter for your chance to win a mercedes-benz big race viewing party.

opportunities aren't always obvious. sometimes they just drop in. cme group can help you navigate risks and capture opportunities. we enable you to reach global markets and drive forward with broader possibilities. cme group: how the world advances.

you're watching cnbc's "squawk on the street." live shot from the financial capital of the world. opening bell set to ring in a little less than two minutes. what a busy week we have ahead. a lot of earnings. 128 s&p companies. a two-day fed meeting begins tomorrow. a lot of snow heading to the northeast. some 60 million people on the path of this storm, jim which is hitting even as we speak. >> yeah going to be thin trading and very quick reactions. we saw a lot of that last week a lot of quick and wrong reactions. there's four weeks of the year that i completely dread. i try to do "mad money," like live. we do live to tape. it's difficult to get everything done because of the phone calls. but this week determines what's going to happen in the next two months. >> it does? >> well corporate-wise. not greece. >> oh, i see. because of earnings. >> it's just gigantic. i think people have to recognize. please, do some work. the releases have not been representative of the quarters. they just haven't.

a union pacific report that kind of looks good and then goes way up. the conference call -- starbucks. first announced it's good. and of course, that was after hours. it was way up. don't make a decision until you listen to that conference call. because of the currency things are just not being adequately portrayed in the release. they're not. >> speaking of which all the names we're going to get. microsoft tonight. and texan. tomorrow, it's 3m it's cat, it's dupont utx. amazon later in the week. >> a nice comment today, amazon finding expectations are low. this is my friend rob peck at suntrust. talking about how the expectations and comparisons are easy for amazon. this is rather amazing. because amazon you don't think of as a value. but maybe it has some value. >> let's get the opening bell. there it is. look at the s&p at the top of your screen. down here at the big board, k12 inc. highlighting national school choice week. over the nasdaq horizon farm

specializing in products for arthritis and inflammation diseases. >> the stock's okay. >> did you want to talk regency here? >> i just think this is a very big deal. this rgp, energy transfer partners is buying two units. and this is etp. buying rgp. this is an $18 billion deal. this is again, one of the things we're seeing is that with these pipeline companies that do -- they do creating -- they basically gather natural gas. there is rationalization coming. but this exactly like what we saw kendra morgan last week. buying the howard hand company. so the really smart savvy companies like etp -- and i used to not think they're savvy, but they've done a lot right. they are taking advantage of the tremendous declines in a lot of these m.o.p.s, not the ones that have that much commodities expoe sure. these are huge deals. >> these are big deals, just to

go over it again. we're talking now $18 billion, including 6.8 billion in liabilities. so assumption in net debt and other liabilities 6.8. but still a large value equity here. >> stock deal. >> yes. it's .4066 etp common units and a cash payment of 32 cents for each common unit of regency. so that implies an all-in price of 26.89 per unit. these mlp units, these pipelines and the like. we're seeing consolidation here. there's also a couple other deals this morning that i'll get to in a bit. a merger of equals that are worth mentioning. >> we mention oil. this is a texas play. they've got permian. these are deals worth watching. people have fled this group. and maybe some are better than others? it is really good to see these deals. this is very positive. >> yeah. gas prices averaging now $2.07.

we might actually see an uptick because wholesale gasoline has stabilized a little bit. >> the next one to go down is diesel. diesel is 40% behind regular gasoline. this is rbn. an outfit that i use that's so superior to everybody else. when you see diesel go down, then you'll see the big earnings gains. a lot of them run on diesel not on regular gasoline. >> by the way, nyc is reiterating this morning it does plan to be open tomorrow in case there was any question. >> i know a lot of hedge funds brokers, i think in florida are trying to get back. they might have explain why planes don't fly. >> it closes? >> they got the conference today and they'll try to get back tonight, but they may not make it. >> oh, jeez. >> so volume could really be low. all be trading from their hotel rooms. >> they learned their lesson. >> they did. >> everyone's back from davos, though, right? >> from davos straight to the

breakers. >> between the video gamers and the conferences who works? >> they're always working. >> oh, yeah. >> garmin best buy, pier one? >> pier one had a terrific quarter. smith is back on his game. no one seems to care. they have a fabulous web development going on there that they didn't have before. pier one remains an inexpensive stock. i like it very much here. >> garmin was a move opting to outperform. mcdonald's too got an upgrade today. >> stevens saying listen the best is yet to come. they're going to make some changes, do some re-franchising. i'd like to see e what they're doing, is they're calling an architect instead of calling the fire department. they need the fire department. that was good. >> that was good. but i was thinking about

something else. i was thinking about google and cable vision. this idea of introducing wireless plans basically using wi-fi networks is catching on. cable vision rolling out -- again, this is according to other sources, a wireless plan that will be all wi-fi. so you'll be able to -- you won't be able to use it always but hopefully you'll be able to use it frequently. google, the journal reporting incorporating wi-fi into its potential plan that we heard about a little bit last week where it may be also buying capacity from sprint and t-mobile. but we're entering perhaps a new iteration of wire lesserless services. >> do you think this is more realistic than the sprint t-mobile thing? >> it's all part and parcel to get people to use the internet as much as they possibly can with google as their entry point. >> and where does this fit in

net neutrality and the cable companies? >> well where it fits in interestingly is antitrust point of view, if you say sprint and t-mobile can't get together and yet google may be a competitor or a cable company such as cable vision. by the way, there is a larger issue that i hear about sometimes in talking to bankers who like to at least try to be thoughtful about these things. it says eventually the large cable companies are going to need to get back into the wireless game. that if you are a large provider, given everybody's watching video on their phone, how can you not also own that pathway? and that's potentially years down the road. at this point. >> mattel's down 8%. if you missed the news a few moments ago, chief executive brian stockton is stepping down. chris sinclair has been on the board since '96 has been named chairman and interim ceo. people are looking at the preliminary profit of 41 cents. looking back to the third quarter, it was down 21 on a 22%

drop in profits. an 8% drop in sales. all the things you mentioned in addition to slumping birthrate. >> they just have the wrong profile. these do not resonate. they resonated with my generation. he's a young man. he's 64. because i turn 60 next week. >> are you kidding me? >> he's going to be interim. the gentleman that they have fired, that is the word here certainly. was there for 15 years. you don't just get this announcement coupled with terrible earnings and not know that the guy was shown the door. the question is who will actually take over longer term. sinclair, the independent director for now assuming those responsibilities. >> this is instant. it really is instant. it's like finalfully the in the nfl, a season ends. john fox only won 12 games.

>> so you're saying they're calling the fire department. >> they're calling the fire department. yes. mattel's fire department and mcdonald's. you've got to do something. that mcdonald's conference call was a brutal call. >> was it? >> yeah because i would say that what's going on at mcdonald's is they have a lack of urgency in their urgency plan. >> rbc by the way cutting their target to 93. high 80s have been a consistent floor. >> it is a bond in the end. no one is denying that they have great cash flow. just that yield has been there paying for you to wait until they simplify the menu. and yet they add more items. you cannot tell what they think they should do. and that's what bothers me. i mean versus wendy's where they did a remodelling. made that to be the burger place to go.

shake shack very interesting. the initial comparison very expensive. >> although growing a lot quicker than chipotle. >> and does it ever taste good. i treated myself to one recently. >> to what? >> shake shack. really good. >> more or less the only reason to go to citi field the last few years, was to have the shake shack. >> you know, someone invited me to cut the line shake shack at citi field. i thought better of it. 1,500 people right? more people were at shake shack than watching the game. >> without a doubt. without a doubt. but you can get the seat where is they'll deliver it to you and those only cost like $7.50. >> i was surprised to see the ticket sales. actually, i wasn't surprised. the mets have a lot of pitching. >> we've got a lot of pitching. we'll see what else. >> the dow is down 61. let's get to mary thompson, who's on the floor. >> we have a fairly temperate opening on wall street. a very busy week for earnings. one of the busiest weeks of the earnings season with the fed in focus with the two-day meeting.

the market's reaction to the greek news, the elections. there was a lot of concern coming into today's session. seems to have moderated somewhat. what we see is the dow up 63 point. other than that it's pretty much a broad base decline. it's also a merger monday. let's take a look at a couple of companies that are combining their operations. these two companies are going to be forming a $16 billion packaging giant. this after meadwestvaco reported better than expected openings. axis capital and partnerre, as they come under a lot of pressure recently. the two companies will be one of the combined one of the five biggest reinsurers in the world and it's expected to save the companies about $200 million in combined costs. on the earnings front, we did have d.r. horton coming out with better than expected results. you can see it's up almost 5%.

it tends to focus on the lower end, and had very positive forecast. very optimistic about the spring. so in turn this is giving a boost to the rest of the home building group. there are some key earnings on tap after the close. a number of people are focusing of course on microsoft and texas instruments. i'm keeping watch on zions bancorps. it has exposure to the oil industry. it was one of the few that said it actually could see an increase to loan loss reserves because of exposure to the oil industry. we'll see whether or not it has any additional commentary when it reports after the close today. i just want to end with cliff resources. this of course, is an iron ore firm. cliff natural also cutting its dividend as well. stock up on the news. it's faced problems in large part because of weakening demand from china. right now the dow is down 72. that's the lowest of the session.

back to you. >> the downside of activism, didn't work out too well. >> five-year low. >> did want to second quarterle back -- circle back to some of those deals. m.o.e. standing for merger of equals. and they are large deals. yes, they're in packaging and reinsurance. not the most exciting of areas perhaps. but we haven't seen as much merger activity this year as we did this time last year and so hey, it's what we've got. you can take a look at how the stocks are performing this morning. we'll start with meadwestvavo. you're going to have it 54-49 in favor of -- i think it's rock-tenn. meadwestvaco having that much so they can keep their spin-off of chemicals as a tax-free

transaction. >> couldn't figure that out. >> that's why -- because rock-tenn was the bigger of the two in terms of its market cap. they're talking 300 million in synergies over three years. >> could be much more. >> and you want to see how the stocks are doing, both in this case, and there's that thing i was referring to in terms of the tax attributes of this already announced spin-off of meadwestvaco's chemical business, which they expect to close by the second quarter of this year. >> how much of an influence here? >> they had 6%. i don't know how much of an influence they've been. they've been there for a while. >> yeah. >> they've been there for a while. >> this company has been this ridiculous mosaic. and it really got rid of the office supply. it was getting rid of the special chemical. packaging can be a great business. and i'll tell you, you get two guys to stop going against each other, this is a big deal. in a boring industry. >> rock-tenn ceo will be ceo of the combined company.

john luke jr. stepping down as ceo of meadwestvaco. it's always been headed by a member of the luke family since it was founded in 1899. >> they've been a conglomerate that really got focused. the sales to food beverage health care, and tobacco company companies. >> let's quickly just give you a quick rundown again of the reinsurance deal. an area where there's been a lot of talk about the need for consolidation given pricing. i know, it's reinsurance. but 2.18 shares. axis capital you get one. 200 million in annual pretax cost synergies is what they're talking about the first year and a half. and return in equity as well. the splits here 51-6. but again, really they are more or less very close to true merger of equals.

which we do see announced sometimes. if an interloper were to come along, they wouldn't be forced to sell the company. but in this case true m.o.e.s. >> you have a situation where you can't pit those two against each other if you're trying to get a better rate. >> consolidation matters to eps, not just from synergy cost takeout. but from the point of view you can't play one guy over another. just doesn't work. >> let's get to rick santelli at the bond pits in chicago. >> good morning, david. ten-year note yields like much of the curve this morning are a bit steadyish. we're looking to see if any of the volatility around the globe is going to continue or resurge based on maybe election returns out of greece. if you look at a grooekeek ten-year it's hovering around 9%. but it has been as high as 10.75% a few weeks ago. so we'll monitor that. a year to date reveals we're not on the 20-month lows.

we're not far. we're about ten basis points away. if you look at boons year to date, they're in the 30s and pretty much making new low yields just about every session at this point. if we look at 30-year bonds, they are very near once again retesting a comp going back several years, where the five-year isn't. there's your curve flattening. if you look at foreign exchange we could see a year to date the euro versus the dollar. it made another new low, and it popped back a bit. do keep in mind, we are very near in hovering close to the lowest levels since 2003. end of 2003. but maybe the currency cross trade you're supposed to be watching is the one that there's a lot of e-mails about this morning, and that is the euro-yen. it seems the japanese really would like to see the euro-yen get more traction in favor of the euroowe, not the yen. if you look at this chart, we are hovering at the lowest euro

levels versus that currency since november of 2013 and when it comes to the exports, we are going to watch all these export economies continue to play the game. but at this point, it really does seem like this is the cross trade traders seem to be jumping onboard the most in the most aggressive fashion after the big volatility we experienced last week with the swiss franc. carl, back to you. >> rick santelli over at the cme. let's check in on oil. hi jackie. >> reporter: we're looking at pressure in the energy complex today actually bouncing around between positive and negative territory. a couple of things going on here according to traders. number one, they're bracing for some volatility. but also, they're saying that these prices are trying to find some direction here. we did have some comments out from the opec secretary-general saying that the price is now at 45 to $55. may be the bottom here and that we'll see a rebound very soon. that's what sent us back up into positive territory. but again, some selling pressure

here at this point. stronger dollar certainly going to help with that. retail gas prices $2.03 is the national average. everybody eyes that national average to get under the $2 mark. and also curious, even though we are expecting and bracing for this very severe storm in new york city, natural gas prices are down. traders telling me that's because we're in good shape in terms of the stocks. with a storm like this it doesn't really increase the demand either way. temperatures were forecasted to be cold. so this same amount of heat is going to be used. back over to you guys. >> jackie, thank you so much. when we come back a start-up is opening the firstcensed bitcoin exchange. although the dax is still up 80 points, we've got some losses down state side. don't go away. startup-ny. it's working for new york state.

already 55 companies are investing over $98 million dollars and creating over 2100 jobs. from long island to all across upstate new york, more businesses are coming to new york. they are paying no property taxes no corporate taxes no sales taxes. and with over 300 locations, and 3.7 million square feet available, there's a place that's right for your business. see if startup-ny can work for you. go to startup.ny.gov. ♪ ♪ when it comes to medicare, everyone talks about what happens when you turn sixty-five. but, really, it's what you do before that counts. that's thinking time when you ask yourself, how do you want this to go? see, medicare doesn't cover everything. only about eighty percent of part b medical costs. the rest is on you. so, get started on an informed decision. [ male announcer ] consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare

supplement insurance plans these plans could help pay for some of what medicare doesn't. that could really save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. so, call now and request this free decision guide. just a little preparation could mean a lot down the road. make sure you have the information you need to go long™. think about this -- do you want to choose your doctors? avoid networks? what about referrals? [ male announcer ] all plans like these let you visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients with no networks and virtually no referrals needed. hey, you've made health insurance decisions before but this time, you're doing it on your own. so, the partner you choose is big. [ male announcer ] unitedhealthcare insurance company has over thirty years experience and the commitment to be by your side. call now and discover how an aarp medicare supplement plan could go long™ for you. these are the only plans of their kind endorsed by aarp and nine out of ten plan members surveyed say they'd recommend their plan. having the right information is just smart. do you really want to leave

something this important up to chance? [ male announcer ] remember, medicare doesn't cover everything. the rest is up to you. so, call now request your free guide, and explore the range of aarp medicare supplement plans to choose from based on your needs and budget. sixty-five may get all the attention, but now is a good time to start thinking about how you want things to be. [ male announcer ] go long™. the coming blizzard already coming havoc at east coast airports.

kay roj our kate rogers is live at laguardia. >> it's finally starting to snow outside and we're seeing delays pick up not just here at laguardia, but across the country. more than 2,000 flights have now been completely cancelled today in and out of the u.s. and within the country. they also just recently tweeted that they're expecting nearly all flights in the new york city area to be completely cancelled tomorrow. now, as for the individual carriers and how they're handling winter storm juneau united, southwest, jetblue, and american airlines they're all waiving those costly change fees for travelers in and out of select cities on the northeast coast. delta airlines is refunding you if your flight's been significantly delayed or cancelled due to the storm. most of these airlines asking that you reschedule by or on friday january 30th. travelers here at laguardia, they're telling us many of them changed their plans just to get out and beat the storm. >> we changed to an earlier flight. we had a 3:00 flight this afternoon. >> i'm a little concerned that you know if this does live up to the hype that things won't

be clear in time and i'll get stuck in columbus for the weekend. >> reporter: we should also note that issues aren't just limited to air travel. amtrak is hoping to keep things as planned as a regular schedule, but they did say they'll continue to re-evaluate their schedule as the storm progresses. and that if you're traveling by amtrak this evening or tomorrow morning, you may want to look at rescheduling your travel so that you don't get stuck in this massive blizzard. back over to you. >> jim and i were just talking about utx, scheduled to post tomorrow morning. going to report post tonight because of the weather. >> it's not a recent -- it's not mattel there. it's a weather situation. mattel is more of a barbie situation. >> yes. we will get stock trading with jim in a moment. with the dow down 67. don't go away.

time for cramer and stock trading. >> by far the best in terms of oil. this $45 number is key. the return on investment. 1% return on investment right here. permian, 3%. no return on investment. utica, minus eight. marcellus, minus 11. you've got to hold this level. existing projects do fine. they're just very lucrative. this is the level. >> so nobody's going to put a new hole in the ground at 45. >> bingo. this is the aggregate and this

level must hold. >> barely able to contain their glee. >> this is the level. right here right now. >> you've got a lot to work with tonight. >> i've got kimberly. kimberly's been straight down. my friend put out a note today, saying listen don't bail. tom falk is going to tell a pretty good story. they do have venezuela. it's a nightmare. some people say that they're losing shares to procter. we're going to cover all that. but my bias is i like kimberly clark. >> see you tonight, jim. >> hope everybody gets home safe. >> apple shares picking up where they left off after a strong week. the iphone china, what's ahead for the stock when we come right back. psssssh. guaranteed. you picked a beautiful ring. thank you. we're never having kids. mmm-mmm. breathe. i love it here. we are never moving to the suburbs. we are never getting one of those. we are never having another kid. i'm pregnant. i am never letting go.

for all the nevers in life state farm is there. she's still the one for you. and cialis for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment is right. cialis is also the only daily ed tablet approved to treat symptoms of bph like needing to go frequently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision or any allergic reactions like rash, hives swelling of the lips tongue or throat or difficulty breathing or swallowing, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a free 30-tablet trial. know that chasing performance can mean lower returns and fewer choices in retirement. know that proper allocation could help increase returns so you can enjoy that second home

sooner. know the right financial planning can help you save for college and retirement. know where you stand with pnc total insight. a new investing and banking experience with personalized guidance and online tools. visit a branch, call or go online today.

good monday morning. welcome back to "squawk on the street." i'm carl quintanilla. simon hobbs is on assignment. a lot going on on this monday morning. not just the weather, of course headed to the northeast, but the busiest single week of earnings season. got a fed day meeting. a fed meeting starting tomorrow. obviously reaction all weekend long to those elections in greece as well. >> let's get to the road map for this monday morning. investors watching the greek elections as the anti-austerity

party claims victory. more on what that could mean for the skmi and theeconomy and the markets here at home. apple seeing big gains. we'll tell you what you should be doing with the stock ahead of earnings. and the first ever bitcoin exchange launching in the united states today. we of course will be talking to the co-founder of coin base a little later. >> investors are watching greece as that country's election results in a victory for what we'll call the anti-austerity party. cnbc's chief international correspondent michelle carewka caruso cabrera is live in athens. >> that party is the anti-austerity party. alexis tsipras only 40 years old, he campaigned and won on the notion that he is going to face down the creditors of this country and convince them to change the terms of the bailout.

in exchange for the loans, they've had to do a loot of things. cut government spending. cut government workers. cut government salaries. cut pensions etc. they were also supposed to do a lot of reforms. he's against all of those things and he promises he's going to roll them back. he and the greek people in general have been at lagger heads with the germans, who are the biggest providers of the bailout money. and we've now heard from the german government. we've heard from the german treasury spokesperson. also the german government spokesperson. they say listen, we're not going to haircut greece's debt again. we've done it before. what we might do we might be able to extend the maturities. we might be able to lower interest rates but they've got to stick with the program. that's the same thing that came from the german government spokesperson as well. he did add that angela merkel the leader of germany, would call alexis tsipras to con grandchild late him. there's a lot of things that alexis tsipras would like to do

and that is not going to be popular with the germans. we spoke with a representative of the german think tank who happened to be here in greece, he's half greek and half german to examine exactly what alexis tsipras would like to do, and he told us that there is a long list of things that are going to be very unpopular with the team that is giving greece so much money. >> more or less, everything is bad for the economy. they're increasing public spending, either making public investments, either saying we increase the number of public servants or increasing the minimum wage. >> reporter: so greece is still waiting for even more bailout money from its bailout partners which means there's going to be some kind of showdown. he's going to demand changes, and yet at the same time he needs the bailout money, because just in the last hour standard and poors told reuters that even though they weren't supposed to review greece until march, they may do so earlier if it looks like there's going to be issues with the country's ability to pay its debts. this could be a rock 'n' roll ride for the next several months

as we see how these negotiations go. it's one of the reasons why people are talking about the possibility, small they think, of a grexit, a greek exiting of the eurozone and being forced back to their own currency. >> whether that is the reason or not, the euro interestingly enough michelle is a bit stronger bouncing after some losses overnight. we'll talk to you later. thanks very much with a report on the ground from greece. watching u.s. markets, the u.s. indices slightly lower after that victory for greece's anti-austerity party. the global markets managed to shake off election results. the euro overnight hit a fresh new low. also, of course watching oil. gary thayer is the head of macro strategy strategy. also joining us steve masoca. given what michelle just said about how greece's new government and creditors are so far apart on what needs to happen next do you think investors here are underestimating the risk of a grexit, or the fact that they can come to some kind of

agreement? >> i don't think that they're underestimating it but there clearly is a risk. i think it's clearly upsetting markets worldwide. there's a big disagreement between greece and germany. greece exiting the euro could have negative implications. but countering that a lot of companies reporting very good earnings. so in my mind they're sort of balancing circumstances. it's very negative what's beginning on in europe, but there's a lot of positive things happening in the united states. >> except for you don't really see it in the markets, steve. the german dax the stock market there is up half a percent. does it all matter given the fact that draghi stepped in against earlier opposition from germany and is buying bonds en masse? a lot of folks are saying that's just papering over some of these political problems. >> well there's a lot of truth to what you say, that it is papering over political problems, and mario draghi has

got a much bigger problem now with this greek election. i don't know if this bond-buying program is going to be sufficient to overcome the problems that will be created by a potential greek pullout from the euro. so i would have a lot of concerns about the european markets and i don't think they'll be doing very well going forward. >> gary you look at it from a macro standpoint. do you see any potential here for disruptions in the european bond market? more losses for the euro. and potentially the ripple effects on stocks here in the united states? >> we think that the euro could trend a little bit lower here over the near term. obviously this is some disappointing news for the euro. but, you know, it's going to take some time for the greek government to sort of sort out and negotiate what they want from the european union. so we're not expecting it's beginning to be an immediate problem. for our economy, we think that we still have some very strong fundamentals that will support economic growth, particularly improving consumer sentiment. >> you expect that to play out

over this earnings period? i mean it is a busy week here in the united states. we've got i think 150 s&p 500 earnings including a lot of the big heavyweight industrials coming into tomorrow. it's a federal reserve week. we get first look at fourth quarter gdp. we're dealing with potentially one of the worst snowstorms ever in new york city. what do you think is going to be the focus gary? >> well you know the snow probably is beginning to be the most important thing for a lot of people in the northeast. but if you look at the economy itself, we've seen a lot of indicators pointing toward healthy economic growth. it may not be quite as strong as we saw toward the middle of last year, but with lower energy prices and improving sentiment, i think we're in an environment which our economy should weather a lot of these international problems very well. >> no pun intended. steve, fx is still front and center. stronger u.s. dollar. do you think investors really have understood the implications for that on earnings and revenues, not just this quarter, but in terms of guidance going forward for this year as well? >> well i think that's one of

the reasons why, guidance being sort of rigged. roughly 80% of the companies that have reported so far have beaten their expectations for the fourth quarter. but many of those companies are guiding lower going forward. i think currency plays a very big role in that. i believe the dollar will continue to strengthen. the euro will continue to weaken. for those people -- for companies that have a lot of export, where a lot of their earnings come from overseas, it's clearly going to hurt their bottom line. but i think companies see that and i think that's in their guidance. you might see a slight lowering of guidance but we haven't seen anything dramatic yet because of currency. >> we will see. gary and steve, thank you both. we are cutting some of those losses. the dow now down 34 points. speaking of the weather, 60 million people in the northeast bracing for what could be an historic blizzard. just moments ago the governor of connecticut issuing a travel ban for the entire state beginning at 9:00 p.m. tonight. reynolds wolf is live in philadelphia with the latest on

that. reynolds, good morning. >> good morning, guys. right now we're dealing with scattered snowflakes. no significant accumulation right now, but this is the whisper before the roar. we're expecting greater amounts in some places, six to eight inches of snowfall here in philadelphia. possibly a few isolated spots up to a foot. we're here in independence hall way off to my immediate left. the wind is starting to pick up quite a bit and the snowfall is too. something else is starting the pick up. on the roadways a lot of reports of accidents. one of those took place around 2:00 in the morning near hershey, pennsylvania. a large truck jackknifed, but no injuries were reported. around 6:20 there was word of an incident between a snowplow and a person. minor injuries. so you have a lot of people on the roads. roads for the most part are fine. but it was only a week ago where we had the bridges that spanned across the delaware from

pennsylvania, or from florida, that they're actually iced over. so there's a lot of concern about that. travel, as you might imagine with a system of this magnitude, is going to put a strangle hold on millions of people in parts of the northeast over the next 24 to 48, possibly 72 hours. rough times. time to bundle up and get ready for it. blizzard conditions expected for much of the northeast. >> you're right about that reynolds. reynolds wolf at the weather channel. speaking of which, let's get to dominic chu. it's like clock work. >> it happens every time there's a severe weather event. you've got to watch shares of generac. in case you haven't heard, there is a major snowstorm that's about to hit the north eastern corridor dumping up to 36 inches of snow in some places. shares up by 37%, and we definitely want to stay tuned, because at 10:30 a.m. eastern time, generac's ceo will be joining "squawk on the street," an interview we'll all want to pay attention to. when we come back, apple

gaining more than 7% in the last week. now the ft says that apple will announce that it's sold more iphones in china than it has in the u.s. the question is, what's next for the stock? of course they report tomorrow night. we'll talk about that when "squawk on the street" comes right back. your old 401k is rolled over into a td ameritrade ira. yes! so no set up fees! wooh! yeah! so i get help from rollover consultants? wooh! yes! no rollover hassle. great. woah oh, we're spiking things, robbie. for all the confidence you need. that's better! td ameritrade. you got this. if you're running a business legalzoom has your back.

over the last 10 years we've helped over one million business owners get started. visit us today for legal help you can count on to start and run your business. legalzoom. legal help is here.

move over, america. china is now a bigger buyer of iphones. apple is expected to announce this week that for the first time it has sold more smart phones in china than in the united states last year. shares of apple have been trading on a pretty good tear here. winning performance last week for beth apple and the s&p tech sector. where is the stock heading? will power is a senior analyst at baird.

he joins us. will it's good to have you back. good morning. >> good morning. thanks for having me. >> some argue they're coming in hot, right? good news on china. there are these whispers of a big capital return. wouldn't you prefer that the news weren't so good going into earnings? >> well, all things being equal, that's probably right. our expectation is not only are they going to have a strong quarter, but we think the guidance will prove encouraging, too. the focus will be on iphones. we think there's nice upside to gross margins and that can still drive the shares higher from here. >> what do you make of -- i'm just curious -- these other upgrades in the past couple of weeks saying the cash levels are getting excessive. people are talking about big programs of buybacks and dividends, hundreds of billions of dollars. is that reasonable to expect? >> well, we might be getting ahead of ourselves a little bit. $50 billion a year in free cash flow. so at a minimum, they've got to

find a way to spin that. they've got another $150 billion-plus sitting on the balance sheets. so there's no question there's a lot of capacity there. our expectation is that it will get addressed in the april timeframe, which has been their recent history, and a little question that we'll see an update and higher numbers there going forward. >> just want to ask you about what carl mentioned up top, the fact that china could be selling more iphones in china than it is in the united states. ubs estimating that china accounted for 36% of shipments this quarter versus 24% of the u.s. how important is that especially with all the talk that the market in this country is saturated? how much more potential for growth is there in china for apple? >> i think there's a big opportunity. i mean their share is still probably single digits. that's a market that's been dominated by android and lower end phones. there's a big middle class, needless to say, in china. that continues to be an enormous opportunity. i think one of the thing that's been encouraging for us has been

the sides from various studies that suggest they rebegined a fair omt of shares not only in asia, but also throughout europe. and even in samsung's home market gaining some shares in south korea. >> apple has gotten some of it. actually going to play with the hand sets later on the program today. how much of a competitive threat are? >> they've done great. no question about it. to date. that's been relegated principally to china. they have aspirations to move beyond china. we'll see how successful they are there. a lot of the chinese brand names haven't fared well outside of that chinese market so that will be something to. with a. there's no question they have a very competitive product and will continue to make inroads, at least in the chinese market. >> everybody is expecting strong sales from the iphone 6 and

6-plus this quarter. what do you know about how the ipad sold, after three quarters in a row of declining ipad sales for apple? >> we're looking for a pickup from the normal seasonal trends. we're forecasting 22 million ipads, but that's still down double digits year over year. so it remains to be seen whether they can reinvigorate that growth to get on a positive growth curve through the year. maybe some bigger screen options. but i'm kind of a case in point. i've used my iphone 6-plus quite a bit and i use it as a replacement in some cases for the tablet. if you're apple you'd rather be cannibalizeing your own products. that will be something to watch. >> how much of your price target is built around new cat giregoryies like the watch, like apple pay? >> the reality is while we're bullish on apple watch, as you're probably aware, that will contribute more to revenue the next couple years.

but i think it is critical to the stock in terms of sentimentdem demonstrating innovation. it speaks to the innovation and their ability to continue to differentiate. >> it's good to have him around especially in a quarter where s&p growth might be a bit challenged. we'll see what happens tomorrow night. thanks. >> we'll be interested as well. thanks for having me. when we come back, we'll talk to the ceo of generac about preparations as the northeast is bringsing for as much as three feet of snow. the stock is on the move. we'll be right back. push your enterprise and you can move the world. ♪ ♪ but to get from the old way to the new you'll need the right it infrastructure. from a partner who knows how to make your enterprise more agile, borderless and secure. hp helps business move on all the possibilities of today. and stay ready for everything that is still to come.

they're still after me. get to the terminal across town. are all the green lights you? no. it's called grid iq. the 4:51 is leaving at 4:51. ♪ they cut the power. it'll fix itself. power's back on. quick thinking traffic lights and self correcting power grids make the world predictable. thrillingly predictable.

some of wall street's biggest names gathering in florida today to discuss the state of exchange traded funds. bob is there live, probably enjoying the sunny weather. hi, bob. >> and worried about you guys making sure you're going to stay warm up there. the important thing here is 2,000 investment advisers are gathers here for the etf.com, the biggest one of them all. let me show you some statistics because they passed the

milestone last year. $2 trillion under assets. assets under management. it's very important. it's a small number compared to what's actually in mutual funds. $15 trillion if you include money market funds. but etfs are winning. they're attracting money now. much more than mutual funds. the investment community is sitting up and taking notice. it's a very simple reason why. they've got a much lower cost structure. that's helpful. number two, index funds have been outperforming active management for a long time. right now, most etfs are pegged to indexes. so the asset managers are paying attention. they're buying etfs. last year we had two big purchases. janice bought velocity shares. they run all the vix products. new york life bought index iq. they do all the hedge fund replication products. companies are sitting up saying wait a minute there's four etf companies out there thatdom flat dom dominate the business. between them they own 90% of the whole etf business.

the mutual fund companies are saying wait a minute the train is leaving the station. this year i think you'll see some big purchases. i think you'll see a fidelity. i think maybe a franklin templeton. maybe overseas companies like hsbc, or some other ones. maybe even some big asset managers. maybe a mario gabelli or someone like john calamos might be interested in that. how about maybe hedge funds getting into this buying an etf and trying to spin it off. don't count out the hedge funds. they're here this year. the big talk is jeff dunnlock. he's teaming up with state street to create an actively managed bond fund. sound familiar? there's not much success in active management in etfs, but now you're going to start seeing it because it's the last face that hasn't been cannibalized. they'll be picking the bonds. the sponsor will be state street. we'll be talking with state street tomorrow about that. i that haven't had a lot of success. the only one that's been successful, of course is

pimco's bond b-o-n-d. formally created by bill gross. that's the actively managed bond fund that pimco has been running. i predict more hedge fund guys will be getting into the hedge space. robo advisers would you -- would you trust your money right now to accompany the picture etfs robotically? that's what robo advisers are all about. the famed investor behind a random walk down wall street he's backing this. a lot of people are saying this is where you want to go. a lot of money, but can you trust machines. a lot of people don't. finally just want to note. smart beta, everybody is talking about better ways to build indexes, not use market cap. they want to use indexes to bayernings or indexes that are equal cap weighted. the big one here currency hedged etfs like the hedj and that's pegged to europe and

hedges out the effects of the euro. so a lot of people -- this is the hot etf right now. attracting $5 billion in assets in just the last couple weeks. a lot of discussions here about where we're going to be in 2015. i'll be here the next couple of days. guys, back to you. >> nice work bob. see you soon. when we come back barbara corcoran joins us live at post nine with one of the most profitable shark tank investments ever, after a break.

before earning enough cash back from bank of america to help pay for her kids' ice time. before earning 1% cash back everywhere, every time. and 2% back at the grocery store. even before she got 3% back on gas all with no hoops to jump through. katie used her bankamericard cash rewards credit card to stay warm and toasty during the heat of competition. that's the comfort of rewarding connections. apply online or at a bank of america near you. take a deeeeep breath in... and... exhale... aflac! and a gentle wavelike motion... ahhh-ahhhhhh. liberate your spine... ahhh-ahhhhhh...aflac! and reach, toes blossoming... not that great at yoga. yeah, but when i slipped a disk he paid my claim in just four days. ahh! four days? yep. see why speed matters, at aflac.com. have you heard of the new dialing

procedure for for the 415 and 628 area codes? no what is it? starting february 21, 2015 if you have a 415 or 628 number you'll need to dial... 1 plus the area code plus the phone number for all calls. okay, but what if i have a 415 number, and i'm calling a 415 number? you'll still need to dial... 1 plus the area code plus the phone number. so when in doubt, dial it out!

up 120% over the past 12 months. >> new york city is prepping for what could be a very large snowstorm. if you haven't heard. morgan brennan is live in times square and she has the latest for us. >> in the tristate area officials are preparing for what

could be potentially a historic snowstorm. a blizzard that could produce anywhere from 18 implgnches to three feet of snow. whiteout conditions in certain areas. for commuters coming back and forth to connecticut, the governor there just holding a press conference and stating a travel ban that will go into effect tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern. >> this is potentially a dangerous storm with significant accumulation of snow heavy wind and coastal flooding. it is imperative that you have a plan in place to get home safely this evening before the heavy snow begins and remain there through the duration of the storm. >> reporter: new york governor andrew cuomo and new york city mayo bill de blasio encouraging commuters to work from home today if possible. the national weather service has issued a blizzard warning that goes into effect at 1:00 p.m. eastern today, will be in effect until midnight tomorrow night.

we are seeing government agencies working around the clock. they've been preparing since the weekend. the new york state through-way, for example, has more than 400 pieces of snow equipment and 126,000 tons of road salt on hand. as for businesses many are playing it by ear right now. the nasdaq, the new yorkorkew york americaen tile exchange open today. the last time the new york stock exchange was actually closed because of snow specifically, 1969. we've got a press conference at 12:45 eastern. at 1:00 p.m. a press conference from the new york governor's office. guys, back to you. >> thanks a lot. morgan brennan talking about the storm. barbara corcoran has spent a lot of her own cash investing in businesses looking for a break. one of her favorites, delivery cake service daisy cakes. joining us is barbara corcoran

and daisy cakes founder kimmel in son. >> she's not one of my favorites. >> this is the most lucrative ever? >> only recently i've been paid back, but because she makes the best darn cake in america and she is an entrepreneur who knows how to come back from the dead. she was alive, dead and she's back. >> what's it like going up against the sharks and specifically this one sitting between us? >> careful. >> for me what was so great, i was feetding them cake. that helped a whole lot. even mr. wonderful liked it. the guys didn't want to invest in my business because they thought it was too small, but barbara liked me from the beginning. it helped too that the men just kept eating the cake so i told them that was a big selling point for barbara, and then for customers on the show to order the cakes, because those men were so excited.

>> just seeing those guys eating the cakes made me buy in. but most importantly 5,000 cakes were ordered within three seconds on the show. >> how long have you been onboard? >> four years. each year is more profitable. this january against last january, exactly double in sales. but it's mostly because the cake is so good. >> i'm always curious what the entrepreneurs do with that money as soon as they get it. 50,000 for a 25% stake? >> what do you do with it? >> well, you insisted on those beautiful print boxes, which was nice. i was glad we did that. it also took a good chunk of that money to buy the product to make the cakes, because we knew that we were going to get a lot of orders in. so we wanted to be sure we had about 1,400 cakes ready at the get-go. so we can start shipping them out on that monday. >> we want to know what it's like to work with barbara. >> what are you asking a question like that for? are you a wise guy? >> i want the know how active you are on a day-to-day basis. >> i like to tell people that

barbara is a hands-on person but she's not a control freak, and that is the truth. and she really does care. she really wants all her entrepreneurs to succeed. and she's very encouraging. she's gotten a hold of me. >> i've made her cry twice. on purpose. >> and she said you've got five minutes. step outside. cry. and get back and get your about to work. >> how many of these investments can you keep in your head? >> i actually have 29 investments, but i spend time on nine of them. what i do is i give everybody a chance. i put their face on my wall, a beautiful photo. the minute i realize they're not going to make it, i turn it upside down and i don't spend another minute. she's still right side up four years later, as well as my eight others. but when even the bad people come to office to visit, i turn them right side up just to make them feel good. >> what's a sign they're not going to make it? other than the obvious that they're going out of business. >> a laundry list but i would say first and foremost, the

inability to get over a hit. and if you're going to build a business, you're going to get hit all the time. i find the important difference is how long they take to feel sorry for themselves. a great entrepreneur takes about a minute. i mean, a kick in the gut hurts. a disappointment hurts. but they just wipe it off and get back up. like daisy, like my other great seven or eight great entrepreneurs. >> which was the worst investment. >> oh, god, do i have to use a name? an investment in an exercise product where i invested $250,000 and did an infomercial that i had no business doing. didn't know what i was doing. and i saw that 250 poof blow up in a 30-second ad. >> unbelievable. so advice for anyone who goes on the show, short of feeding the sharks. what would you say? what's the smartest thing to do? >> i think you have to be a genuine and sincere person. >> well said. >> and you have to have passion and believe in what you're trying to get them to invest in because if you don't believe in it, i just don't think you could possibly expect anybody to give

you a lot of money. and i also expect you have to be respectful. you've been given this opportunity to be in the tank and i get upset with people who are so rude to someone that you're asking for thousands and thousands of dollars. >> it happens. >> we love watching it. >> you're not going to end it without announcing her new cake. >> is that what this is? >> give them the spiel. >> barbara's been after me to do two cakes in a tin. four layers. but you get two cakes. two layers each. >> for small families. >> so you can have a red velvet and a carrot. you can have a carrot lemon. whatever you want. you get two cakes. still four layers. so you get a nice variety just in time for valentine's day. >> and now you're supposed to say wow! >> wow! >> producing the show. four minutes, she's our producer. >> can't wait to order on daisycakes.com. >> this is what it's like to have barbara onboard. >> it's great seeing you.

always good seeing you. you've heard a lot about xiaomi. we'll have one of those phones live on set. that's coming up a little bit later. we'll be right back. ] whether it takes 200,000 parts ♪ ♪ 800,000 hours of supercomputing time 3 million lines of code, 40,000 sets of eyes, or a million sleepless nights. whether it's building the world's most advanced satellite, the space station, or the next leap in unmanned systems. at boeing, one thing never changes. our passion to make it real. ♪ ♪

so what's going on today? news alert! message! email! calendar update! most of us admit to being overwhelmed by information at work. that's why ibm created verse. it uses powerful analytics to uncover hidden patterns in your email, calendars and social feeds. it continuously learns how you work. and helps you prioritize the people and projects you need to focus on. there's a new way to work and it's made with ibm.

welcome back to "squawk on the street." check out shares of brookdale senior living. the stock has fallen after it cut its 2015 profit view while saying fourth quarter results will fall short of wall street's expectations amid lower than expected occupancy rates. the stock is currently down by 9.5% sarah, on the day's trade. back to you. the northeast is bracing for a major storm. generac, maker of backup

generators the stock up more than 5% this morning on that storm. aaron jagdfeld is the ceo of generac power systems, joining us now by phone. so thanks for joining us aaron. i know it must be very busy. what's it like this day before these dire predictions of a northeast blizzard? >> well, it's typical kind of scrambling around to try and get products positioned ahead of the storm, to take a lot of questions from customers. our phones are pretty jammed this morning. any time you get something like this coming in we just -- we're in kind of preparatory mode right now. >> so i know you cater to both households and businesses. is there actually a boost in sales today from either of those categories in preparation? where they're actually going out and buying generators? >> you know we'll see on the small gasoline powered portable generators, the first line of defense for somebody who doesn't have a permanently installed unit, we do see some sales increase ahead of events like this but generally, you won't

see sales spike tremendously until you really kind of see the extent of whatever damage may have occurred from this and how many people are actually without power on the back end of this in terms of homeowners looking to protect things in the future. >> based on what you've heard so far about the predictions and the forecasts, how bad do you think this one's going to be in terms of power loss across the northeast? >> well that's a great question. i mean, we watched -- we're not meteorologists here, we're manufacturers, but at the same time, we've watched a lot of events over the years and this one certainly has all the makings of heavy wet snow and wind. people love their trees. unfortunately, the trees are what bring down the power lines, and the infrastructure in this country has been underinvested in for a long long time. that seems to result in large-scale outages when you get weather like this. >> how many people in this country have their own power generators? >> on a small gasoline portable

generator, about 10% to 12% of house holds have one of these. only about 3% of households today have that product. that's been an area of growth. people who have experienced outage after outage especially out east you know, after sandy, after irene, and some of the other events there, an area that's been hit a lot the same area that the storm is bearing down on and that area we've seen -- we call them home standby generators. they work off natural gas or pro pane. automatically turn on. that's been growing very rapidly in the last five or six years. >> i mean we almost forgot that the winter was so bad last year that it actually led to a contraction in economic growth in the first quarter. do you need to see more -- i mean, your stock did very well in the first quarter of last year. do you need to see more of sustained weather patterns like this instead of the one off crazy blizzards to get that kind of impact? >> we are a generator of manufacturers, so they do play a

role. if you just look at the underinvestment i talked about, the grid is less reliable today on an everyday basis. the power can go out on a bright sunny day. we don't know why, but equipment failure, accidents, things of that nature seem to be increasing, and you look at all the statistics that are supplied to us by the national regulators and the local regulators of those utility companies and reliability has suffered over the last two decades and that's in direct proportion to the amount of underinvestments that's occurred in the grid. and so we think reliability is going to continue to be a problem. generators are going to continue to be something that people need as a backup plan. every once in a while you'll get a major event like this that's going to drive awareness. it's the day in and day out garden variety outages that happen all across the u.s. over half a million people every day are without power in this country. >> is that because of lack of infrastructure spending? is that a u.s. government problem, the fact that we have just not updated it enough? >> that's exactly it. i mean it is a -- it's a

dollar-based equation. and if you don't have the dollars to put into the grid and the infrastructure whether it's roads or bridges or whether it's electrical grid we've all talked a lot about infrastructure. the grid is a massive piece of that infrastructure, and unfortunately, you know, deregulation has been great for us as rate payers homeowners and businesses, but the flip side of that equation is a massive underinvestment in infrastructure. so we see it as a long-term cyclical issue. you're going to want to have some kind of backup power source as a business or certainly as a homeowner, and we think the long-term, that's something that we're very well-positioned to be a part of. >> i know you're taking a lot of calls today, so thanks for making the time and speaking to us. aaron jagdfeld is the ceo of generac. >> thank you. let's get over to the cme group this morning. rick santelli get the santelli exchange. rick? >> good morning, carl. i'd like to welcome ira harris. i can't think of anybody else we like in the post-greek

elections. so summarize what's changed in greece that viewers and listeners should be paying attention to? >> well, economically nothing changes. i think it puts greece in a better negotiating position because now the europeans will have reason to think that outlie outlier parties like the national front in france and more of the french parties do have a chance. >> spain italy. >> correct. so that gives greece -- greece is not going to be tossed out. it would be a terrible terrible -- listen based on the cost-benefit analysis it wouldn't make sense. so it's better to extend and pretend. listen to will berbur ross this morning. they'll cut the interest rate and extend the grace period and they'll try to reduce the pressure. >> what's the current rate in germany? >> about 6%. >> if it isn't at it's very close to all-time historic lows. >> correct. >> what do you have in spain? >> 23.7%.

>> now how is one central bank at one speed, and the new qe -- what is that going to do to prices in these various parts of the eurozone? >> rick this is the problem. the economic table has been set. draghi has set the table. we are now into the politics. and the politics in germany are beginning to get ugly. and here's why. germany is a country of savers. good bad, or indifferent, that's just a fact. i'm not saying it's a cultural thing. it's just what it is. and being savers if they're at full employment, or basically at full employment and you have negative -- and you have very low interest rates, and they have the same euro currency and they are an export engine so their economy is going to be booming -- >> could you actually see more inflation in germany than they expect at this point? >> listen, the french are hoping that they have 3% or 4%. now, that's great, because that will try to relieve some of the pressure. >> it makes sense, if you have growth, you have inflation. if you have no growth, you're not going to lap.happen. >> can german politics withstand

with a 4% or 5% inflation rate? that's going to be the question going forward. what we'll see in europe for the next three or four years, this is not economics. this is politics in the way it plays out. >> let's talk markets specifically. in my opinion, the high quality sovereigns, the boons the treasuries, i can't see them moving much higher in rates, can you? >> oh, no. >> okay. currencies. are we going to see parity with the euro versus the dollar? >> sure we certainly can. will we? we saw the action today, which the market i think realized. in my blog you can buy this after the initial effect, because they're not leaving. the greeks are not leaving. >> they can check out checking out, but they can never leave. >> that's right. and then, of course, now we're going to have to look to the fed. and is the 15% rally in the dollar over the last six months is that going to be enough to stay their hand? we don't know. i think the wild card at the fed is the quiet of stanley fisher. >> let's finish up.

representation. whether we agree or disagree with many of the uses in the states, i think most listeners and viewers at least had a hand in voting the type of leaders that have dealt the cards. >> correct. >> but it's not so true in europe. finish off. >> it is not true in europe whatsoever. nobody's ever asked the voters what they've wanted. that's why cameron's threatened a referendum for 2017. anybody who says the word referendum, everybody gets nervous. the french actually ran one and it was 50.1 to 49.9 in favor. this is what the problem is. and i tongue-in-cheek will say that germany is a national tea party. and they are savers and they would rather punish borrowers. and the way that the ecb is proceeding, it's rewarding borrowers and punishing savers. >> higher interest rates, that's the bottom line i guess. yra, thank you, as always. back to you. when we come back, coin base launching the first ever bitcoin

exchange here in the u.s. the co-founder is with us next. dow was down 105, now down 5, and the s&p is in the green. don't go away.

if you're running a business legalzoom has your back. over the last 10 years we've helped over one million business owners get started. visit us today for legal help you can count on to start and run your business. legalzoom. legal help is here.

welcome back to "squawk on

the street." we're watching shares of ww granger. the seller of office supplies and office workplace solutions. the stock is moving lower after they reported weaker profits. they are also lowering 2015 profit guidance because of currency weakness. those shares as a result down by 3% on the day's trade. back over to you. >> yep, the currency weakness is the big thing. bitcoin startup coin base is opening the first licensed u.s. bitcoin exchange with regulatory approval. they also launched a round of $75 million in funding. could this be the move that brings legitimacy to the digital currency. i love your background. you're a former foreign exchange trader. >> that's right. i would sneak into the back to trade bitcoin on sites that

aren't particularry reliable. >> the price has collapsed down to 200. is this something launching a legit exchange? >> yeah, i mean we certainly hope so. i think a proper u.s. exchange that's truth worthy and insured. we were the first guys to get insurance on bitcoin in some form. >> what does that mean, that you're insured? what's happened with bitcoin exchanging, there was one in europe they just disappeared into thin air and customers lost hundreds of millions of bitcoin. is that what you have insurance against? >> yeah. to be clear it's insurance against bitcoin loss. on top of the fact that we've been operating successfully in the u.s. for two and a half years. have insurance to back it all

up. >> isn't this vulnerable to hacking? given the fact that it's all done electrically. how do you protect yourself? >> so i'd actually argue our site goes far beyond what normal bank security does and we'vebe operating without incident thus far. have insurance just to give everybody peace of mind. i think the really good sites are going above and beyond normal financial security looks like. >> what would you say is the biggest cyber currency competitor to bitcoin? we might be talking about more in a couple years? >> in my opinion, there really isn't. bitcoin is more than an order of magnitude ahead. we have over 2 million customers in the u.s. really, no other -- no other digital currency has the following and types of companies build like bitcoin does at the

moment. >> then even pro known independents argue that it may look a lot like that. why make that argument? >> i think people -- it sort of follows on this idea that people think about the real underlying innovation of the block chain, without being transferring without a third party. so i personally don't agree with that. with pretty high probability, bitcoin will be the winner. the broader trend is obviously important. >> you have some competition any consideration of merging the two? >> you know i think we -- we feel pretty good about your engineering team and the product that we've launched. they obviously were onto a pretty good theme here in that the u.s. really did need a regulated bitcoin exchange. funny they mentioned it couple days ago. we've been working on ours for a

couple months. we're happy with what we put out there. >> we just talked to your partner. the new york stock exchange one of the investors, is that why they're getting involved here because of what they're doing? >> certainly the new york stock exchange. that was the interest there. frankly speaking i'm surprised there wasn't more speculation prior to the launch. so i'm glad to just have it out there now. i think the new york stock exchange sees this as an important trend. you're seeing hedge funds, it's not talked about a whole lot, but some hedge funds dip their toe into the water in bitcoin in increasing amounts. wouldn't surprise me if you see banks get involved at some point as well. >> thanks very much. the co-founder of coin base, starting the first ever u.s. regulated bit down exchange. hey, john. >> quite a few things. first off, a tie up between the

nfl and google. could this have to do with youtube? replays, might it inflate the views on youtube? also microsoft earnings after the bell. we talk about valuations a lot. here's a different twist. netflix and amazon are they boosting content valuations at sun dance. coming up on 1kw58. with a fidelity investment professional... or managing your investments on your own. helping you find new ways to plan for retirement. and save on taxes where you can. so you can invest in the life that you want today. tap into the full power of your fidelity greenline. call or come in today for a free one-on-one review. ♪ approaching medicare eligibility? you may think you can put off checking out your medicare options until you're sixty-five but now is a good time to get the

ball rolling. keep in mind medicare only covers about eighty percent of part b medical costs. the rest is up to you. that's where aarp medicare supplement insurance plans insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company come in. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans they could help pay some of what medicare doesn't, saving you in out-of-pocket medical costs. you've learned that taking informed steps along the way really makes a difference later. that's what it means to go long™. call now and request this free [decision guide]. it's full of information on medicare and the range of aarp medicare supplement plans to choose from based on your needs and budget. all plans like these let you choose any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients and there are no network restrictions. unitedhealthcare insurance company has over thirty years

experience and the commitment to roll along with you, keeping you on course. so call now and discover how an aarp medicare supplement plan could go long™ for you. these are the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp an organization serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations. plus, nine out of ten plan members surveyed say they would recommend their plan to a friend. remember, medicare doesn't cover everything. the rest is up to you. call now, request your free [decision guide] and start gathering the information you need to help you keep rolling with confidence. go long™. ♪

good monday morning. it is 8:00 a.m. at google headquarters, 11:00 a.m. here on wall street. "squawk alley" is live. welcome to "squawk alley." joining us this morning, john