new york, this is squawk box. >> good morning everybody. welcome to squawk box here on cnbc. i'm becky quick along with andrew ross sorkin. boston getting slammed. six feet of snow over the last 30 days and another storm is blanketing parts of the region. historic amounts of snow on the ground and not enough space to put it all. they use flame burners to dissolve the snow and can't keep up with the amount reigningaining down. you don't want salt and sand and all of that stuff dumped into the harbor but they don't have a lot of choice. all of my complaints about my morning commute ring hollow when you look at these pictures. >> they're expecked to get another snow on thursday. boston we're with you but only in spirit. this is why people should not live in the northeast. i grew up in southern california

and now i realize why people live there. >> why do we live in the northeast? it makes no sense. >> because of jobs. >> good morning, g-20 finance ministers are gathering in istanbul turkey. here at home the employment market front and center. the labor department will release it's latest job openings and latest turnover survey the jolt survey at 10:00 a.m. eastern and on the earnings front dow component coca-cola is among the names set to post quarterly results before the bell that means this morning and pay attention to currency as well. we'll see how unfavorable exchange rates may be impacting coca-cola's business around the world. >> let's also tell you some stocks to watch this morning. qualcomm agreeing to pay $975 million to the chinese

government. this settles a 14 month long probe into alleged anticompetitive practices. the second gap's january same store sales decline 3%. it's a bigger drop than expected and that was above wall street consensus and then aeropostale shares soaring on the boost. fourth quarter sales rising a bigger than expected 1%. promotional activity was higher than expected but adding the company isering the a a clean inventory position. >> let's get a check on the markets this morning. we have been watching the futures and yesterday you saw the dow down by close to 100 points. there are green arrows. this comes after we saw choppy trading in the afternoon. stocks did close off their low of the session. the dow futures are close to 20 points. s&p futures up by 2 points. nasdaq up by 7 points. yesterday we were following what happened so closely in greece.

if you want to take a look this morning you'll see that greece is rebounding ever so slightly at a gain of 2% after pretty rough headlines. also cac is up by .2 and if you check out what happened in asia overnight you'll see the nikkei was down about .33%. crude oil is poised for what sit calling a relatively swift recovery because of all the drillers that stopped drilling but the group does not see oil coming close to returning to the highs of recent years. wti is down by about 1%. if you have been checking out the bond market you'll see at this point it looks like ten year is yielding close to 2%. 1.991%. if you have been watching currencies, this morning it looks like the dollar is up against the euro again. the euro is all the way down at

11279. dollar is also up against the yen at 11895. goal prices are down. $1,238 an ounce. u.s. treasuries rallies on worries but our next guest believes greece would be better on its own. your point is greece might as well just step out of it. it might be better for greece but what does that mean for the euro? >> it would be better for greece because the amount of debt they have to service can't be serviced by that economy. it's not possible. for the euro would be close to a disaster because it would wreck the notion that nobody can leave the euro or the euro region. i think greece if they go back

has the cheapest tourism in europe and would be fine to be honest with you. >> you put out something yesterday that interested me. it reminded me i was glad i was out of college but you have this whole equation that adds up to lower yields in america. do you want to talk through what some of those are. i can tell you the formula but nobody is going to understand it but explain why this adds up to lower yields here in america. >> certainly what is relative value which is the rv part of the equation and that's you have currently 16% of all the sovereign debt in the world trading at negative yields. you have the yields in asia spa january and europe substantially less than american yields and overtime because not all money has a man date meaning not all money has to go to one place

you're go to see european money and asian money flow in and buy our bonds and american bonds are going to equate with european yields and you have three issues in the world which are ukraine, greece and isis and we know from long, long experience that any time there's a flare-up in these situations treasuries go up equities go down and i expect more incidents to come in all of those three areas. >> as a result if we're looking at lower yields when it comes to the bond markets in the united states what do you think about stocks? you liked u.s. stocks because you didn't think there was anywhere else to go. you sound like you may be changing your tone. >> i'll tell you what i really think is attractive now especially for retail investors and that's closed in funds. both municipal ones and taxable ones. a lot are paying 8 to 9% on a

tax equivalent basis. some are higher than that. this is a time given what i see are earnings in declining fundamentals that what you want to get is yield and not worry so much about the depreciation so i would want to be in the closed in funds and capture the yield and i like that space very much versus trying to bet on something going up when i think earnings are going to be declining because of the strength of the dollar. >> i want to go back to the idea for a second which is to say i know what you think should happen. i know what you want to happen which is to say that greece should leave the euro. the question is what do you think will happen? how do you actually handicap the chances that that happens in reality. >> in reality i think the odds

are 40% that greece either leaves or is forced out and 60% that germany, austria, the netherlands cave. i think it would be in greece best interest to do this. the one problem that is difficult to argue with here is what the current government ran on to win the election which is the end of austerity and how do they go back to their parliament if they don't stick to the platform they run on and i think that's very problematic but the odds are still less than 50% that greece will actually leave. >> good morning. >> the treaty which bond europe together in 1992 makes it almost impossible -- makes it almost impossible for anybody to leave. we talk about greece leaving the

euro. the process by which they would actually leave the euro would make the greatest hollywood divorce look simplistic and all the european countries wining about greece and their problems maybe you shouldn't hate greece because it brings down the euro and makes your exports more competitive. greece does bring some benefit to the euro zone, does it not? >> you can argue that though greece is dependent upon olive oil and tourism which is their main industry and something -- and in shipping you also have to say the treaty certainly is there but the issue isn't going to be a teety issue if it gets down to it. the issue is going to be greece defaulting on its debt. >> they've already done that. >> well they have done that in terms of the private sector but now you have to look $362

billion is mostly held piano the ecb, the imf and central banks so it's going to get down to if they can't service the debt or refuse to pay the debt that's when you're going to get into screaming, shouting. >> what happens february 28th? do we run right up to the wire with this do you think? >> absolutely. we'll run it up to the wire and there will be hand ringing and threats and every other thing you can possibly imagine and treasuries will two up as a result of it and we haven't begun to see yet the screaming and shouting that's going to take place. greece is now demanding that germany give preparations for world war ii and what the nazis did to germany. howell do you think that's going to play in germany not too well. >> it does show you how messy things are going to get.

>> thank you for joining us. good talking to you. >> you too. >> we're talking activism this morning. an article suggesting that they're questioning stock sales by dupont ceo. exercised stock options and sold more than half a million shares valued at $38 million. i want to say this article is making a mountain out of a moe hill because these were part of a rearranged trading program. it's hard to make the argument -- >> that it's based on news of the day. >> we also have a column in today's new york times by a guy we know. >> i almost choked when i saw this column because i wanted to write it for fortune. you read my mind. >> i was going to ask you if you thought i lost my mind. i wrote a column in today's new york times focussing on activism but this time on women in activism and the s&p, namely the

following people marissa myer ellen coleman, what do they have in common? they have been the target of activism or vocal shareholder. we have kyle bass on our show pushing for that dividend but if you look at it there's only 23 women that run s&p 500 companies and at least a quarter of them have been attacked one way or another by activists. is that a consequence or is there something else going on. statistically it's a little weird. >> some of those women on the list -- i did enough research to start k look along the same lines. it's a little odd that so many female ceos have been attacked by activist investors. that's not to say they don't go after the men too but you wonder if they think they have a little more sway when you're going after women on some of these things. some of the women on that list,

somebody like larry ellison at oracle who is still really the guy running the show on some of these things. i thought the same thing. could be a consequence but something tells me there's a little something going on. >> there's all sorts of interesting studies done recently including one out of the university of utah where they went to 222 mba students and show them a fake company, same financials. so one run by a woman. they showed a picture of a woman as the ceo. picture of a man. same backgrounds that they described of the huge people. huge discount for the company that was run by the woman. and every activist i talked to i should tell you said no i can't believe you're raising this question. we only look at the performance that's why we would do it and you call some of the female ceos they don't want to talk about it. they want to be judged solely on the merits. >> which i can understand. >> they feel like a story like this plays into the gender

stereo-type and one issue we didn't put into the column but people e-mailed and tweeted overnight about is the idea of not the glass ceiling but the glass clip. that some of these women -- i don't know if i believe this theory but there's an idea that some of these women have been put into companies that are in trouble or have a troubled situation and therefore they're on the glass cliff in which case the cliff meaning they could go over the glass cliff. but i look at a mara y bara. >> she has been on the job a year and dealt with a crisis. >> nobody gave her that job knowing the company was going to implode. >> at ibm you could peak the stock out when she took over. the company was so big. >> it's not her or anybody. it would take a magician to perhaps run the organization.

>> you can probably look through a lot of these cases and explain why the activists in there. i thought the same thing you did. and behind the scenes you know that it's such a big game of clashing ecos when you see activists go into a room like that. >> you also have to think the stereo types and the studies suggest that -- becky would fight me on this but that women historically may be more willing to compromise. may be less willing to fight. all the things that if you're an activist. >> but they also make better investors. >> not that that's necessarily a bad thing. they listen to people around the table. >> so i did look at this idea that they make better investors. you should know this. there's been lots of studies and we help them win -- there's weirds where women out perform the market and we say they make better investors, first of all it's a toss up and the sample size is very tiny but women seem to make better investors when

the economy is in a downturn oddly enough because they make less risk so even then it's hard to generalize whether a female ceo is better than a man. there's ten year periods where they clearly out perform the men and there's other ten year periods -- it's a losing battle to make the measure but diversity at the top across the board always you get better performance. not necessarily as the ceo but if you were to count the people within management. >> meaning what? >> the more gender diversity at the top broadly speaking i think you could say that the studies suggest that you will have some form of better performance. that is true. >> all i know is having been to vegas or atlantic city i've never seen any woman put all of her chips on the table. bet it all on red. there you go. good job man. walk away. coming up disturbing news on the

u.s. ranking far behind other countries in retirement savings. plus the return of spiderman with a twist. a historic hollywood partnership but as we head to break here's a look back at this date in history. ♪

is this from sex in the city this music? we're in shares. >> which characters would we be? >> i won't go there. well let's talk about some of the issues that caught our eye this morning. first up we have been talking about retirement security and where the united states ranks among the globe. if you think you haven't saved enough for retirement you're in good company when it comes to the country. the united states barely ranks in the top 20. that's right. we came in at number 19. we also beat out iceland but andrew guess what the number one nation was on this list? >> what was it? i don't know. >> based on our recent travels where things can be spartan at times -- >> switzerland. >> switzerland is number one

which explains why when we're there they have the right idea there. saving and making sure they go for the retirement. >> how was it over there? nice trip? >> it with was. but it's spartan. >> what do you mean? it's a beautiful nation. >> it is but -- >> i think it's where we stayed. >> we stayed at a former sanitarium. >> that's appropriate. a former sanitarium. you might have made it a current one by your visit. >> by us being there. joe got the smallest room. it was probably from here to there. he had a bed. he took a picture of it -- i don't think you would fit in it because it was short and really thin. >> you had to sleep standing up. >> basically. >> it was beautiful but it made me realize they have the right idea. they're saving for later. >> but you guys are going to pebble beach later this week. is that accurate? >> that is accurate. >> she's going. i'm going to be right here. holding down the fort.

>> they don't live as lavishly and spend as much money as we do. >> without getting too serious on a tuesday morning american's homes are 40% larger now than they were 30 years ago. 40% bigger. the average car is $32,000 -- i mean my dad bought a porche in 1977 that was $5,000 brand new. today's dollar -- that was the peak of the financial fortunes right there. that was the top. >> while we're living so lavishly we're not putting away for retirement. 20% of the respondents had not even begun putting money away. >> my point about the house is i think americans use homes as their savings. i think the idea is -- >> that can be a tricky plan if you have what happened in 2008. >> it is but, listen listen i completely agree with you becky but i think that when you talk to people they'll say well my home is my savings account and they look at homes as safe.

you forget despite all the ups and downs and problems and people saying it's a rig game or whatever the stock market is greatest wealth creator with an average return of 10% of dividends. homes are not an investment. they're a money pit. >> right. >> the advantage is you can live in it but you're right about larger homes. >> american homes have gotten 40% bigger than they were just 30 years ago. >> wow. >> so i think we're putting -- now materials have gotten cheaper but we're putting our money into our homes. >> real quick let's talk about this crazy e-mail the james dolan e-mail because the guy that sent the e-mail that he called an alcoholic. >> and loser. >> said i'm not looking for an apology. i want improvement to win a championship. he wants a title. interestingly adam silver the commissioner of the nba that could have fined or said something said the opposite of

what i thought he would do. he said jim is a new yorker. >> a back handed insult. >> jim got an unkind e-mail and responded with an unkind e-mail and that was it. >> james dolan needs to be happy he has fans that still give a you know what. the guy had the effort to write in after this point after 20 years of misery as a knicks fan, you go back to late 90s, they were scrapping, those were incredible games. you couldn't get a ticket. now i watched the miami game. they were in miami. nobody cared. they found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and now there's fans that put up a website where they're trying to force the dolans to sell the team. >> do you think phil jackson will be able to fix it? >> no. >> no? >> they have the highest payroll of the nba. >> it's not that they're not

spending money. >> they have the second worse record. they stink. this is new york. >> we will leave it there. >> this is new york. >> on that note we're going to talk about washington actually when we come back. making his way to our new york city set. president obama's right hand man on the economy. jason furman is going to set off a debate. no topic off the table. when we come back we'll talk to him but first as we head to a break a look at the s&p 500 winners and losers. ♪

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welcome back to squawk box here on cnbc. i'm here with becky quick and brian sullivan. vds valentine's day is drawing near. if you're looking for the idea qdoba's could have the answer. order a smoothered burrito on saturday and share a kiss with anyone and you'll get a second burrito for free. >> nothing says romance like a smoother burrito.

>> are you going to go on saturday? >> i'm not sure i will. >> you're not sure the burrito is for you? is there going to be a competitive? >> i think we should keep escalating this until it gets completely out of hand. what would you do for a tostada. >> there you go. the new york times is reporting the justice department is pushing for felony pleas by big banks in an inquiry. at issue is whether they manipulated the prices of foreign countries. the department of justice told barclay's jp morgan and city groups to settle cases. it's domestic banks as well. >> the slow down at the nation's west coast sports having a serious impact on trades. 2-thirds of all volume moves through these ports and each day of the slow down comes with a hefty price tag. 2 beside according to manufacturers and national retail federation. here to tell us what they're doing is jason and we're going

to talk about a lot of other things as well. he's the chairman of the counsel of economic advisors. we usually see you across the way. >> it's exciting to be in your manhattan studio. >> what are we going to do about this problem? >> the two parties are at the table. it's up to them to workout. it's in both of their interests to work it out. we're hoping they do that expeditiously. >> are the numbers as bad as we just reported? >> i haven't reviewed that particular set of numbers but no doubt the best thing for our economy and best thing for both parties in this discussion is to stay at the table and deal with it as expeditiously as possible. >> big topic around the stables. how excited -- you were very excited about this. there's lots of questions about how excited we should be. >> the economy strengthened a

lot in 2013. you saw the momentum continuing into 2015. the biggest thing you hear is wages. real wages grew in 2014. wages grew a lot in the first month of 2015. >> then why do people say they don't believe it or don't feel it rather? >> i don't agree with that. look at consumer sentiment, consumer confidence they're at the highest they have been in a long time. you see that reflected in consumer spending as well. one of the strongest come poenlts of growth in the fourth quarter is consumer spending. it's deleveraging and wage gains and energy prices all together helping fuel the consumer. >> what happens now? people are looking at this jobs report and saying this is a reason for data. there's a lot of data that shows our economy is doing well. probably a good time to get away from zero interest rates and

raise rates. the fed should do it later this year, probably in the summer but then people like larry sommers come out and say not so fast. i can think of four different reasons this shouldn't be happening including what would happen if the dollar gets even stronger. if the fed raises rates. what does that do to our economy? >> i'll leave that to the fed but i'm not taking growth in 2015 for granted. there's things we need to do. we need to make sure there's no unnecessary austerity in congress. if we move forward with some plans like infrastructure that would both help our economy in the medium run but also be more insurance this year and then you see secretary lou right now engaged with the g-20 in turkey trying to deal with the other challenge we face to our growth this year which is the global economics. >> you say you can't deal with congress. you're dealing with congress controlled in both houses by the opposite party. how do you reach out?

how do you work with them? how do you get any plans passed? >> we want to work together on the budget we saw great examples of that last year with that. it had almost everything in it so we had a number of models with our ability to work together and when you talk about the numbers in the budget there's always give and take in those numbers. you don't want to blow it up with extraneous matters. >> going out publicly and saying the economy is great and it's much better than it was before and wages were up and all of that. at the same time making the argument about inequality and continuing to -- can those both be true at the exact same time? >> i think so. i certainly think you can walk and chew gum at the same time. i'm not someone that believes people are worse off today than in 1973 of course they're better off. of course living standards advanced in the last several

decades but they advanced more at the top than in the middle. we have a real challenge. we haven't dug our way all the way out in terms of real income. typical families income hasn't fully recovered from the blow in the last expansion when it fell in the recession when it fell still more. so there's a lot more we need to do. >> it's true in the gap between the 1 and the 99% has never been wider but how much acknowledgment is it that the gap is at the .01% and to make it to the 1% you have to make $380,000 but $380,000 a year is not bill gates but they're both in the 1%. is there an acknowledgment that while the gap has widened it's the .001% that skewed it so much that the numbers get twisted? >> that's absolutely right. so to give an example of your show it's step up basis at death for capital gains.

it won't effect middle class families. 80% of the taxes raised by that policy are from the top 0.1%. that's where the wealth concentration -- >> where does the limit start. when you classify people that make $250,000 as being in the upper income and policies that target them are even $300,000 you're targeting the people that aren't the .001%. >> but those should barely be effected. it has $200,000 in capital gains from it and you know the tax rate increase as you saw for the highest income households started at $450,000 for a married couple. if you look at the focus of the plan. college for chairild care. it's what you can do to get

middle class families participating. >> here's the story that doesn't get told enough and there's no reason for it to get told here but as we face a growing inequality gap the world is shrinking. inequality is coming down. we know that. capital tends to go where it's cheaper so how do we tell the story that the world is getting richer we may not be but then also convince people to narrow the gap in america without appearing protectionist? >> well let me give you a good example. >> good morning by the way. >> good morning. let me give you a good example of that. take trade and globalization. that has enormous potential for the u.s. economy in terms of creating more higher paying jobs. makes us more efficient and creating more variety for our consumers but no doubt it comes with down sides and trade offs. that's why the president as he's negotiating tpp is looking to make it a high standards agreement. >> you're bringing up the

transpacific partnership at 6:30 in the morning on a tuesday. you have to do it baby. >> by including labor standards. >> that's two treaties in 40 minutes. >> you can actually instead of having a race to the bottom make it more of a race to the top so you're raising standards for everyone helping living standards and addressing some of the problems. >> i want to touch on two other issues. one was becky's favorite topic which is the 529 plans. do you have any worry that that decision not to reverse course but even just the initial decision to go public with that man is going to hold back investment of 529 plans this year or 401 k plans where people say i don't know what these government people are doing and i don't know what the plan is going to be next year? >> i can't imagine it's going -- >> i have heard people that worry that the rules of the game could change for 401(k)s too. >> i realize y'all love this topic. i think it's time to move beyond it and ask what we can do to

increase retirement security. >> how do we fund it? do we then take away the rules that make 401(k)s beneficial to people? >> we can go back. >> but the .01% is not who you're talking about taxing. you're taxing 2% or 5% of america. >> you're the only one i know still talking about the 529 idea. >> he raised it. i didn't raise it. >> that's firair enough. but we should talk about how to make college more affordable. >> big data you guys came out with a report on this. it's much more anxiety producing than we're supposed to think? or than we thought before? and what's going to happen? does that mean we'll be regulating more? >> big data has huge potential for our economy. the council of economic advisors conducted a report that the president asked us to do and one of the things we found is it has huge potential for consumers. it's long standing things.

they get discounts at movie theaters. those are examples of very primitive use of big data it will have many same benefits but it also has pitfalls. that's why we need privacy and need to be he especially careful. >> i'd like to see regulation. when you see things like anthem and people's health information that's been compromised when you hear about the tax situations with tax preparation software that may have been compromised it starts to get scary when you realize how much information could be up for sale. >> absolutely. the president called on congress to pass data breach for a single nationwide standard for how you deal with those situations. >> can you establish legislation to help people stop being criminals? that's what we're dealing with. hackers are going to go after information. >> yeah. >> but i'm just wondering -- you said that big data has benefits.

i'm wondering what they are? of mass collection? they can say we can target your decisions to what you want to buy. i'm thinking i want to pull off the internet more and more now. it seems only draw backs. >> just look at what it's done in the government. we use it to detect patterns of fraud in medicare and have saved money. it's saving lives. there's been studies about neonatal care that helped refine the way we do that. it helps save money for power companies as they monitor the power of the grid and adjust it overtime so there's a lot of ways it's helping our economy and society. we need to deal with issues. especially private and security. >> the one and only jason furman thank you for coming in this morning. >> thank you. >> facebook makes a push into india and then is castro a fan of house of cards? we'll the details on a big play by netflix. and steve forbes stops by to talk taxes the economy and much more.

squawk box will be back after a quick break. we're live in the heart of midtown manhattan.

welcome back to squawk box. among the stories front and center this morning, facebook wants to make an internet push in india. the company is teaming up with a local company to offer free access to a hand full of online services. it's focused on low income and rural users. >> coming up is cuba the new black? what's behind the netflix move to get into a country where less than 1% of the population has broadband access? we'll discuss that next. but first check out the most clicked on stories on cnbc.com.

squawk box returns in just a moment.

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>> you want to know what takes real courage? holding it all together when the stakes are this high. >> all right there you go. a scene from house of cards and

netflix is apparently headed to cuba. they have film makers and arts culture and we hope to be able to bring their work to our global meantime, less than 5% of cuba has the internet and less than 1% has broadband services. is this just a pr service to get them more attention? joining us is senior film and media reporter. and judging by the fact brent, that we are talking about it on this program, it is clearly a successful pr stunt. this is a joke right? i mean i don't think it's a joke joke. >> i don't think it's a joke. >> 1% of cuba has high speed broadband. >> for practical purposes they might as well be launching in the rings of saturn. >> give me a break. >> when i heard it yesterday, just hearing the headline i thought they must be starting the mail order service where they will mail you a dvd. >> nope, it's streaming. and you said the broadband number there is are daunting to say the least. so this is really more about

netflix trying to get some attention for itself. and also planting a flag and anticipating that you know now that the relationship has normalized the economy there will start to grow and strengthen more internet will become available and they will be the sort of first pioneer. >> do we think there's more underground internet than we know about? when you hear these stories, people take satellite -- they have dish and directv satellites by people bringing them in pieces and they put them in their chimneys so you can't see them. >> andrew it's $8 a month u.s. the average income in cuba is $20. this is 40% of the average cuban's monthly income. no offense to netflix, but this is -- come on guys. >> i think those people are probably going to use that part of their income for food and shelter not for streaming "puss in boots" or whatever. it's definitely a publicity

move. you have to remember this is a company that turned the announcement of a new adam sandler film into a huge global event. so they know what they're doing here. and they certainly have gotten a lot of attention. >> well we fall for it. we're part of it. we're talking about it. netflix, one, "squawk box," zero. >> some of it is because netflix has done so much to revolutionize the way we consume content that we see films and television that i think we're sort of inclined to think that every announcement is the next big thing. >> can we talk about something nobody else is talking about probably because they don't want to? i use apple tv at home. there's a cnbc app which is great. you can watch live cnbc watch the interviews fantastic. how's that for a plug? you like that don't you? >> well done. >> there's another icon. there's espn showtime hbo. how big is this going to be?

when does apple make that move into tv? because people say when's the apple tv going to roll out? as far as i'm concerned, it's already there. how come nobody talks about it? >> it's always speculating. will apple buy a content company because they have the cash to do it. >> why would they? >> they don't need to. >> in the past couple months i've started to realize i can run a lot of my tv off that little $99 box. >> are you going to be a cord cutter? >> no. because i need cnbc swuch a different story. >> and you need the internet to run it. i hard wired an ether net able into mine. comcast xfinity is very fast by the way. you get my point. apple tv is already here. >> and when you look at what netflix is doing, right, some of this is preventive. they've got a global strategy because they're competing with apple, google, and amazon. and hbo is about to launch a

streaming service. if netflix wants to continue growing at the clip they've been growing at -- >> do you believe everyone becomes a cord cutter and starts buying all these things a la carte. the reason i watch cable in all honesty is because the stuff that i'm watching even on apple tv is stuff that i need the access code for over my cable system. so hbo go showtime. if you want to watch them -- >> they give you an activation code. >> if you have all the codes, it works like a charm. if you don't have the codes, it's complicated. >> i agree. but my point is everyone's like will apple unveil some tv product. i think their tv product is here and it's not bad. >> not at all. and it's in their core competency. >> is it a big deal? apple gets attention for everything they do but for some reason they're not getting any attention for this. >> it doesn't seem to be their

major business the major way they run revenue. it's something people in hollywood are certainly monitoring. you better believe they're scared it will -- something like that would encourage cord cutting. >> because you go to netflix and maybe the movie you want to watch is not there. right? in your subscription. then you go back to the apple tv app and there it is. >> i would like to see somebody streamline all of this. i don't like to jump all over. i watch more and more stuff on demand on cable. and i hate going to -- it takes a long time to go through 15 different places from where you might see it. >> you're right. it's very -- i think right now that's why sort of the internet tv thing hasn't caught on as much because it's hard to find. >> that also brings up all these kinds of licensing challenges that major studios are facing right now too. you're right. people expect now content when they want it where they can find it and where they're most accustomed to finding it.

maybe those deals aren't in place to provide for them. >> thanks for coming in today. good to see you. >> is black sails on starz the best on television right now? i'm a pirate nerd. that's a fantastic show. >> i thought "black sails" was -- >> it has pirates. >> what's the john malkovich one on nbc? different? >> whatever it is it must be fantastic because it's on nbc. >> i don't know what that one is. >> you mean with james spader? >> no. there's a john malkovich pirate show on friday nights. >> we're getting yelled at. we've got to go. thank you very much. >> "black sails," heads being cut off. when we come back this morning, a score card on the earnings season as it races to a close. then a man who knows business and politics very well. steve forbes. we'll be right back.

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earnings alert. dow component coca-cola set to report. we will bring you the numbers and the instant reaction. the iea expects oil prices to rise saying a rebound is inevitable. we'll let you know what that might mean nor the markets. 50 shades of green. the merchandise hitting shelves now we'll tell you what the buzz is all about. as the second hour of "squawk box" begins right now. ♪ live from the most powerful city in the world, new york, this is "squawk box."

>> welcome back to "squawk box" right here on cnbc first in business worldwide. i'm andrew ross sorkin along with becky quick this morning. also brian sullivan is in. joe kernen hanging out in pebble beach all week playing at the at&t pro am. check him out on the golf channel. we'll see how he's been playing. i haven't seen -- was yesterday his first day? >> i don't know that they're even playing yet. it may just be warm-up stuff at this point. >> can i say on the song "good vibrations," i'm reading a book right now called "catch a wave." a tortured genius. i wanted to throw it out there it's spectacular so far. it was written for the album "smile." our top story this morning, the iea predicting a recovery in the price of crude but no return to highs just yet. the agency said market participants are confident that

spending cuts in oil companies will lead to a recovery price. wti crude now trading $52.17. though i have to tell you i'm hearing mixed views that we might take a little dip before we go back up again. >> you've got to remember too, that drilling rigs coming down. but that doesn't impact current production one bit. when you say the rig count has gone down that's drilling rigs for future production. you want to hear supply being cut off by being shut in. >> that actually happen yet? >> no. a little bit. i talked to a number of guys. some of the lower producing wells are being shut in. >> in terms of where it doesn't even make sense. >> it's uneconomic but the reality is 90% of your capital costs are going to be initial. once the cost is in -- >> doesn't make sense to shut it down. >> no. keep flowing. that's why supply are a million barrels a day more than they were last year. we keep forgetting that. among the other stories we're watching this morning,

qualcomm has agreed to pay china a fine of $975 million to end an antitrust suit. qualcomm will lower its royalty rates on patents used in china that will likely help chinese smartphone makers. also microsoft and samsung calling off their patents. the case of measles has grown to 107. 39 have been linked to the outbreak in december. we're going to talk more about the vaccine controversy at 7:30 a.m. with the mayor of san diego. more than 60 s&p 500 companies out with quarterly results this week but we have a good read on how the season is shaping up. dominic chu joins us with more. dom, good morning. >> two-thirds of the companies in the s&p 500 have reported their earnings numbers. we're well over that midpoint. also about 75% of all market cap, all the market value in the s&p 500 has been reported. so the bulk of earnings season

is now over. if you take a look at how we stand with our earnings score card. you can see a pretty decent beat rate. 73% have beaten analysts. and 17% have missed. there's a big caveat here. analysts estimates have been coming down. so this is a beat over a low bar. low expectations for earnings season already. if you dig into it a little bit deeper, here's where a little concern is coming out. because there are some important factors to consider. sectorwise. if you look at the sectors that have contributed the most to earnings growth here jonathan gottlieb took a look at health care. already posted the strongest earnings growth this season up to 22% as a sector. but if you strip out gilead and that hepatitis c machine they have there, the overall sector growth would be 12.5%. gilead accounts for the bulk of growth in health care. technology has grown 18%.

but if you strip out apple, it's only 10% growth. i say only but it's still a pretty big growth rate. technology without apple it's 10% growth. app sl a huge impact there. if you look at the overall energy sector you can see here it's been down about 20%. earnings contraction has been there. the overall picture for earnings, brian, this is where the concern is. although i will mention that health care and technology are two of the three biggest weighted sectors in the s&p. back over to you. >> that's kind of stunning to see just those two companies alone gilead and apple. those are weighted in those sectors as well or unweighted? >> they're huge. obviously apple is the biggest part of the s&p 500. it's the most valuable company in america. and gilead is a huge part of the biotech industry and of course the health care sector overall. the key here of course is when you talk about technology you're talking about 20% of the

overall s&p 500. with health care you're talking about 15. financials are the other 16%. that makes up the top three. when you have health care and technology driving earnings it's a good sign because they're important in terms of the weight. but it's also interesting because maybe not everybody in terms of sectors or industries is participating in the big earnings growth picture. again, these are lowered expectations. that's the reason why it's important. that's the reason why pessimists are saying this isn't as good of an earnings season we've seen in the past. >> although pessimists by nature always find a way to be pessimistic. >> they do. >> thank you. now we have -- i'm going to kill the name. principle investment analyst. and head at william blair. his william blair allocation fund has a five star rating from morningstar and more than a

billion dollars under management. i'm going to start with you. with talk about greece, greece, greece. it's in all the headlines. please as you service wealthy clients, batch patch together greece with why one of our listeners are thinking what does this mean to my 401(k)? tie that to our investments here in the united states. >> when most people hear greece -- >> they think of olivia newton john. >> of course. but then is what happened in 2011 going to happen again. you saw yields go through the roof. there was this fear of contagion today -- >> the u.s. stock market is much higher than it was in 2000. not much higher b but it's higher. all the worry of greece then didn't do much. and i feel like we're repeating this. you can almost just run the show from 2011. >> well i think there are

clearly some differences between 2011 and today. if you look across all of europe there's a lot more fiscal discipline i can say, across europe. we've had many many years of austerity which has pushed deficits back in order. for many countries in europe. you also have the ecb engaging in these assets. there are some meaningful differences. i think what's going on in greece is ultimately going to lead to more market volatility. that is something we need to be prepared for. >> i guess my point, brian, is we're talking about all this stuff and you're right in everything you talked about. but for a doctor in des moines iowa, who just wants to invest in the stock market they're probably wondering why does this really matter to me? >> well, the threats that existed back in 2011 and 2012 are different. the banks in europe were exposed to that. if you're a doctor in des moines, iowa you have your pension. it is exposed to those assets on

some type of pension plan or anything like that. today it's not the same situation. but what we have to remember and you alluded to it before in terms of volatility there is an incentive now for yanis to -- >> you're just showing off. >> no no. part of a negotiation is threatening. there's a lot of bluster and progress yet. >> 29 states have a bigger gdp than greece does. >> that's not what's important. what's important is that across europe there is a populist fervor fervor. that party has not been around for about a year. already it's got 20% of the popular support. that's an astounding growth. it's what we saw out of syriza.

>> already ireland has said if greece gets a better deal it should be transferred to ireland. you know the same is takes place in spain and portugal too. >> we're taking destruction to a new level. it's a smaller level, but it is a level there. there's not a lot of backing down these players can do. the troika can't back down. you have them wanting the same deals. but sapras can't back down. we've actually been long along the eurozone in particular spain and italy. i will however, take greece out of that. we have not bought greece equity markets or had any position in the bond markets. but what is likely to happen from our perspective, we reduced by about a third a couple weeks

ago. we're looking far chance to get back in this extreme volatility. the eurozone the euro will not survive as it is today. greece really doesn't belong in there. they may find some way to shoe horn it in. >> my point i'm trying to make is i went to greece in 2009 when they were bombing banks. i was in the square when they were rioting. the dow was at 7,500. look where the dow is now. i'm not saying greece doesn't matter. it does matter politically. it's got wider implications. but it doesn't seem to matter for the dow. or the dow would be at 25,000 if we didn't have greece. i don't know. it just seems noisy. and it's also -- it might work to scare people off of investing. saying i don't know all these greek politicians. i better not buy shares of xyz

corporation. >> it hasn't necessarily bled over. but as an u.s. investor ask how much exposure do you have to european assets? given what's over there -- >> the german market is up 14% this year. french market up 10%. >> you're right. they're doing quite well. but if you consider the currency and the loss of the euro you're not looking as good. that's why domestic investors and u.s. investors care about what's going on in europe. not so much because it trickles into the markets here but because it has an impact on their international exposure. >> the u.s. is up because it's the one stable country that can offer growth. and that's the difference. you can't argue that things are bad there but we're up. that's why we're up. >> thank you. >> everybody's avoiding that. >> okay. that's the point. thanks guys. >> all agreed. >> it took awhile to get there. >> finally. >> thank you, gentlemen, for agreeing. when we come back, steve forbes on innovation. then we've got the mayor of san diego weighing in on possible

shutdown of west coast ports. and the measles vaccination debate. plus movie merchandise that isn't for kids. the "50 shades of grey" themed products hitting shelves right now. "squawk box" returns in just a moment. 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

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futures right now pointing to a sharply higher open this morning. coupons.com warning its first quarter revenues will thwart estimates. coming under pressure the i.t. provider's sales falling expectations. and there's positive news on the united continental. reporting traffic rose by 1.1% last month. steve forbes planning a summit next month to boost economic growth. he joins us right now. he is the editor in chief of "forbes media." he's also the author of a new book "money." why don't we start with the conference. because this is a repeat of what we talked with you about last year. i wonder what kind of progress we've made what kind of hope you have at this point. >> well i think the progress is self-evident. the united states is stronger than the rest of the world. not strongs we should be but when you look around the world.

we've got dynamic things going on. and even though energy prices have taken a slam the fact of the matter is in terms of cheap natural gas, that is for real. and as people begin to realize it's for real, you're going to see more and more people figuring how to use this ultra cheap energy in ways we haven't before. new materials before it comes out in the aluminum truck. nano steel is coming and you're going to see more of this kind of innovation. so the heartland is coming back just as i'm told the cubs are coming back. miracles. >> hopefully one will not take as long as he other. >> yes. >> well as george will said any team can have a bad century. cubs haven't won a world series since 1908. >> and you mentioned harold hamm. his company is one that slashed capital expenditures. they know what happens. they're slowing down on growth. how much does that slow us down

on this energy revolution? >> i don't think in terms of capital expenditures yes. because harold's seen it all, he's lived through the '70s and '80s so he knows how to survive the thing. the key thing is the energy is there. ifs cheap. and you're going to see trucks using natural gas and things like that. so look beyond the immediate horizon. and say what does this mean for the next generation. it's huge. u.s. is now cheap energy. who would have thought it? >> it's funny because i always have the tease the show, 2:00. >> i thought it starts earlier. >> it does. "power lunch" is on at 2:00. but i'm on at 2:00. it's my cheap plug. it's my pay for coming here. >> you are cheap. >> i should demand more. is lower natural gas costs. we're seeing this port disruption. and we're seeing currency

volatility. if i was a manufacturer, i might look at all these things and think it might be a little more expensive, but why don't we bring manufacturing back to the states here. i don't want to deal with currency volatility or the whims of a long shore union. let's bring manufacturing home. do you think that's going to -- i know it's started, but do you think it's going to increase? >> you look at germany. they went whole on their electric energies. that's huge in certain circles. they're coming over here. again, those companies take a longer view burden of proof are we going to be 10 to 20 years down the road? and once we get going on permits for liquefied gas terminals, it's going to have huge political implications too. the fact we will be exporting liquefied. natural gas, what does that tell moscow? your days are numbered.

>> that has been part of the missing piece. in order to attract more of these manufacturing jobs you need to have the people almost an if you build it they will come sort of scenario. what should we do with that? how do we fix that problem? >> that's one of the panels at the conference. how do you train people? and there are good ideas on that not just community college but setting up school systems where instead of one size fits all, you have a proclivity for something, let's develop it. and there are a lot of good paying jobs out there. >> trade school sort of things. >> yeah. and online. it makes it very easy. >> how much are you going to talk about politics at this conference? meaning 2016. >> i hope very little because we want to talk about, i think, things to make it happen. illinois worst state in terms of finances. how did he do it in illinois?

rahm emanuel is keenly interested in how you get an environment to get more investment going. so i think on the political side especially on the local level, there's a keen interest in what are the barriers what do you do about it we've got real things to do. we can't play games. >> but what about the games. let's talk 2016. you put jeb up against hillary. i assume you have a view. >> i think jeb wins. >> you think he wins? not only that you want him to win but you think he wins? >> yes. i think the country's in the mood. talking to a previous panel about this sentiment in europe it's here in the united states. which amazingly if warren ran, i'm not sure she would. she would be a contender against hillary. on the republican side bush is the front runner. but there's keen interest in scott walker and other candidates. so it's going to -- if you're a political reporter you're going to have a lot of lively stuff in

2016. >> let's talk about money like your book. looks to me like we are engaging on a currency war around the globe. you have central banks that are trying to devalue their currencies as the one way to beat your neighbors and to get ahead of the game. how does that end? >> they've got to stop it. because one of the great myths that we discuss in this book is that you don't get real advantage long-term by cheapening your money. in fact, it hurts you long-term. and one of the things that's amazing is qe hurts a company rather than helping it. >> although quantitative easing may have worked when you look at what every other country has done. relative to what others are doing. >> talk about cubs in baseball. when .260 is winning you a title, you know you have problems. when you should be hitting .360. and the idea that if you change the value of money that you're going to get an advantage like

saying you can change the number of minutes in an hour you're going to get an advantage. it's a myth that comes out of the '30s. we had currency wars in the '30s, did not end well. it just gums up the economy. >> i look back to the currency wars of the 1930s and we know how that ended in terms of wars breaking out and other nations getting super aggressive. >> it's the political side that there's a breakup. >> are you suggesting that's a possibly if the euro breaks down it gets us to a point of looking at another war on the continent? >> you already have one simmering in crimea. >> that draws on the rest of the globe. >> when it looks like the world is fracturing no one is in charge, that's where u.s. leadership is going to be essential. foreign policy is going to be big. how do we prevent the world from going kablewy? >> i remember being in athens

six years ago when a lot of this stuff was literally and figuratively blowing up. you would talk to people on the streets and they were ticked at germany in world war ii. they were still angry. you have 40% -- >> they're now talking about reparations. >> 40% on those 25 and younger. it is a boiling point. >> one of the things we discuss in the book is in terms of growth you don't do it through what they're doing in europe. and yet unfortunately this greek populist government in europe and greece doesn't know what they're doing either. >> you can understand the reaction to -- >> the so-called troika in europe, their aus ter the i is don't hit the government too hard. smash the class with higher taxes and regulations. 45% payroll tax. they wonder why they have a big informal economy. they should be taking hong kong

and say do that. starting a business do what new zealand does instead of going through the 50 steps tough go through there. bribes all the way to set up a legal business. a lot of positive things they can do. but the germans just say tighten up, starve to death. it's not going to work. so both sides in this don't have it right in terms of how you get the economies back on their feet. stable money, low tax rates, sensible regulation. europe would come back pretty quickly. they seem intent on going over the cliff. just hope they don't drag us with them. >> yeah. too soon for that. thanks for joining us today. >> thank you. appreciate it. coming up want to drive warren buffett's car? one lucky bidder will have the opportunity. then the mayor of san diego will join us to talk innovation immigration, and the west coast port strike.

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welcome back to "squawk box" this morning. among the companies front and center, cvs health and earnings topped for a mixed quarter. earnings falling three cents short. while revenue did beat the street. then there was wyndham results. and we have spirit airlines. they're flying high this morning. sort of a little -- anyway. but their earnings were ahead -- >> weak sauce. >> it was weak. there you go. >> moving on. google wants to change the way you search about your health. it is revamping search results for 400 medical conditions. instead of a list of links, searches will now generate illustrations and medical assessments about how serious the condition could be. it will source the mayo clinic for much of the results.

in my humble opinion switch not humble at all, i will say never google anything about your health. whatever you've got, it'll terrify you. you got to stomach ache, google it, it might be cancer. >> i know you're offering saged advice, but i can't help myself. >> you have a headache and you go there and it says you could have a headache but you may have a spear -- >> and it's worst when you do it for your kids. >> the doctors say the worst thing that happened to us is the internet. everybody is saying i don't need your advice. i know what i've got. i've got where my skeleton wants to jump out of my body. >> yes. it's the self-diagnosis problem. >> is that a thing? should i fear the outbreak of that? >> no. i'm going to look now. we have coke numbers just hitting. waiting for my screen to come along. now that i said that, it's not here.

>> let's just sit here in awkward silence. >> as we do the coke numbers. i don't see the coke numbers just yet. though there they are. coca-cola beating. we're going to be getting those as they cross our screen. across your screen faster than our screen this morning. which is making this a little bit more challenging. >> this isn't helping. okay. so revenue $10.87 billion. the estimate was $10.75 billion. so revenue up a little bit better than expected. not a lot. what we care about in coca-cola, what you want to see is case volume. that's what people go with. >> that's better than expected. global volume growth of 2% -- i'm sorry. 1% for the quarter. it's in line with expectations. >> you're saying we got in line

with coca-cola. there we go. a little bit be rt with coca-cola. it'll be interesting what they say about soft drink trend. app lot of companies having to adjust their models as soft drink sales fall. all right. there we go. and currency is going to be a massive instance for coca-cola. beat a little bit bit revenue, beat a little bit of eps. >> the chairman and ceo says they're looking at the progress they're making at this point. they see positive early signs in the quarter. we remain resolutely focused on accelerating growth and taking opportunities to solidify our position in the key markets and categories. however, there is a but that comes with this. we continue to see 2015 as a transition year as the benefits from the announced initiatives will take time to materialize amidst uncertain and volatile macroeconomic. >> they did have a selling day

in the calendar. grew 5% there. not a lot of negative comments i'm seeing on currency so far. but again the coca-cola results are very large. we're on live television and radio. so we're trying to go through a 500-page document. >> driven by positive price mix and the impact of one additional selling day. >> i'm trying to figure out the frozen orange juice sales, but i'm having trouble concentrating. >> ha. >> that was better than your spirit by the way. yeah. >> what, concentrate? frozen orange juice? no? when we come back, we'll be talking to a coca-cola analyst. plus the mayor of san diego, i had will join us on set to tell us about the priorities of the port strikes on the west coast and the debate over the measles

vaccinations. take a look at the u.s. equity futures. the dow futures up by 120 points. dow component helping that right now. that stock trading around $42.30. stick around. "squawk box" will be right back. ♪ ♪ ♪ tigers, both of you. tigers? don't be modest. i see how you've been investing. setting long term goals. diversifying. dip! you got our attention. we did? of course. you're type e* well, i have been researching retirement strategies. well that's what type e*s do. welcome home. taking control of your retirement? e*trade gives you the tools and resources to get it right. are you type e*?

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welcome back to "squawk box." got a great conversation coming up with a very interesting guy. port labor disputes and the measles scare are among the stories front and center for those living on the west coast and for the rest of the country. right now there are already more than 140 measles cases in the state of california alone. two state lawmakers there are pushing for a bill to get rid of the personal belief exemption many parents are using to avoid vaccinating their children. joining us on the set, mayor of san diego. thank you for coming to new york. just to see us i know. >> exactly. >> let's talk about the ports. that has direct impact on your city. how long do you think this is going to go on for? what should happen here? >> yeah. all of us need to come to a resolution.

we're fortunate to have the deep water port we do. all the automobile contracts we have. so the slowdown while it's probably not affecting us as much in san diego as some of the other west coast ports we want to solve it. >> do off guideline on where to stand? >> i don't. but i know there's a lot of conversations. everyone believes it's in their best interest to get this done. >> what shocks me about this is we're hearing numbers that are being thrown around. how do you have two sides across the table who can't even get to that point? something -- i think the ports and management will say it's something $125,000 or something when you include overtime. the union side is saying it's close tore $85,000. how do you get around that? >> you have to have the real conversations. as a mayor, i'm no stranger to labor negotiations. we do that for a all of our employee contracts.

tough have it in the economic best interests and from an export and import situation it's incredibly important for all of us on the west coast. make sure we're opening up new markets, we're getting the trade flow that we need to. so getting this contract solved is very important to us. >> should we segue and talk about measles? >> sure. >> how worried are you about this problem? >> i'll tell you. when you look at the spread to other states and others it's a real issue. and i think it really understood lines the absolute need for vaccinations. and i think that most folks are -- understand that and realize that. and -- >> what about this proposal to eliminate the personal beliefs exemption? >> well i think everyone should have vaccinations. i'm a father of two young kids. >> should there be an exemption? if you have a personal belief should you kb allowed to say i don't want my kid vaccinated? should that be allowed?

>> i think it's critically important that every kid should get vaccinated. >> i understand what you think. what do you think the law should be? >> that should be the case yes. >> i thought we were going to have a debate about this. but there's no debate from you. >> no. you look at the university of california that just came out and said we're requiring vaccinations. that's incredibly important. you look at the strength of this country, particularly when you look at the san diego innovation of economy. what we've done on polio. that's how we're solving these types of issues. we have to have people vaccinated. >> how would you feel about federal law? >> in terms of? >> forcing the vaccinations. >> i think we have to have vaccinations. i think it's just -- >> you would accept a federal law? >> i think absolutely. >> there are a lot of people in your party who would say that's a horrible idea. it should be a states rights issue or even beyond that it should be a personal issue. >> i say it as a mayor and

father it's critically important to vaccinate our kids. >> let's talk about san diego. you are just 30 minutes away from the border with mexico. you want outreach as well. >> we look at the border as an asset in san diego. when we look at the trade in the commerce we're doing, that is something that i try to absolutely project and say we need to expand this. i have a great relationship with my counterpart in tijuana. we signed one of the first memorandums of understanding in our cities. we are connecting on issues of water quality, the environment, transportation. it's a huge economic benefit to us in san diego to have the relationship we do with mexico. >> okay. we got to leave the conversation -- >> no we're not done. >> go for it. >> as a chargers fan, are you going to be here on national television guaranteeing the chargers are not moving to los

angeles? bolt up and keep the chargers in san diego. >> we are spending a lot of time to keep the chargers right where they belong in san diego. and that's -- >> that was not a guarantee, mr. mayor. >> it may not be his decision. >> the chargers are going to stay in san diego. >> thank you. >> there you have it. >> guys good to see you. thank you. >> appreciate it. coming up movie merchandising. we know it's big business. the gear from "50 shades of grey" decidedly not for kids. julia boorstin is going to report on what target may be rolling out coming up.

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julia? >> when we talk about a movies license merchandise, we're usually talking about kids toys. for this it's a whole other story. we're talking about adult toys. like this blindfold set and massage candle. in fact, target are selling items on their websites from the blindfolds to sex toys. target draws backlash when one store put a "50 shades" display next to kids' toothbrushes. now, this is the first time that such a racy movie has inspired branded merchandise. but there's also a wide range of pg products. like an official makeup collection from makeup forever. branded wines. red satin and white silk. and jewelry including a $150 necklace made with mini

handcuffs. plus there's clothing and lingerie. there's even a vermont teddy bear inspired by christian grey the lead character. and some are cashing in without licensing. personality hotels offers $150 package that they have a discreet box of goodies. we expect this to be a big opening this weekend for "50 shades." weeks ago it became the best selling are rks inging r-rated film ever. >> i've seen where advanced sales have gone. i think in the south it's been surprisingly strong. >> south and midwest. really surprising. south and midwest is where the sales have been huge. this could be a $60 million opening weekend. it could set a new record for valentine's day at the box office. >> thank you. all right. here are some of this morning's stocks to watch. starwood hotels posting better than expected earnings.

the company also announcing it would spin off its vacation ownership business. meanwhile aeropostale shares are soaring on their beat. urban outfitters sales rising 12%. when we come back this morning, inside coca-cola's quarterly report. we'll dig through the numbers with an analyst and talk about america's breakup with sugary soft drinks. "squawk box" will be right back. there's nothing more romantic than a spontaneous moment. so why pause to take a pill? and why stop what you're doing to find a bathroom? with cialis for daily use, you don't have to plan around either. it's the only daily tablet approved to treat erectile dysfunction so you can be ready anytime the moment is right. plus cialis treats the frustrating urinary symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently, day or night. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions

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good morning and welcome back, everybody. 7:50 here on the east coast. coca-cola beating on both the top and bottom lines. the ceo saying this year will be a transition year. here to break down the numbers is chief investment office at tigress offices. >> they had a beat on revenue and earnings. we look at their economic process. we want to see an income on capital. one of the things they've done over the past few years was to cut back on promotion and advertising to increase their net margins. however, every time coke has reduced their promotion and advertising sales have dropped off. now they're starting to increase advertising and especially point of sale promotion which is the most important thing.

the most important has a direct correlation to increase in sales. >> have you been happy with coca-cola's return the last few years? david winters who's been on "squawk box," he went after coca-cola famously about two years ago as not being map happy as a valued investor. have you been? >> no. it's dropped over time. coke was one of the original companies to incorporate or focus on economic profit. and as a company matures, their growth slows and their margins have to flatten out. like starting to buyback with their dividends. they've been returning cash to shareholders at a good base but they now have to look for niche markets to grow. the growth in carbonated soda is flat and now they've been buying a lot of teas and flavored waters. those are the key areas of growth they can expand on with point of sale promotion and the brand strength and their delivery infrastructure. >> so what is it you'd like them

to do? make additional acquisitions in the non-carbonated drink segment. i'm just trying to feel out what you think they have not done enough of. >> well they're doing a lot of different things. their focus for growth is in niche bempblverages. the beverages have greater trends. the overall trend is drinking less sugar based soda. they have to understand that trend and also population growth has flattened. so overall demand is flat. they have to look for other areas for growth. >> david winters, the investor came out. i don't know if we consider him activist -- >> he's not. >> in this case certainly. >> he put out a lis of questions he planned to pose coca-cola on its call. list of eight different questions. but he says more broadly speaking we think bthe pace of restructuring is still too slow and the board of directors seems

content to sail along as if nothing is amiss. change is coming one way or another. is he right? >> yes. these companies have to change and change quickly. one of the greatest events that ever happened for democratic capitalism was that the whole board got dismissed. the board has to realize they work for the shareholders. they don't work for themselves. when shareholders are unhappy, they have to address it quickly. when business is not growing or profitability is declineing with they have to address it quickly. >> is mutar kent's job in jeopardy sfl. >> i'm not sure. but it will be if it doesn't change. >> how much time will the market give him if you think david winters is right? and we've heard from other investors including warren buffett who give him an enormous amount of credit. >> buffett is a more patient investor. >> what do you think the mix of

coca-cola investors are like? more buffett-like or winters-like? >> i think they're more buffett-like. >> then why don't you sell your stock and go somewhere else? >> if the company is not performing the way you want sell the stock and move on. and -- >> so if you're not happy, why aren't you moving on? >> i don't know. we recently did upgrade -- we had neutral on the stock for a long time. we recently liked the changes we're starting to see. so we upgraded from neutral to a buy. >> so you like the changes. you would just like to see them at a faster pace? >> well everybody likes to see them faster. yes. >> and the comments from kent this morning suggest it's going to require patience. >> but they are addressing it. unhappiness shareholders and management are at least listening to it. then it is the first positive step. >> and you think there's a positive impact here?

>> yes. >> pepsi is up 19% over 52 weeks. dr pepper is up 57% over 12 weeks. and still has a lower forward valuation than coca-cola. with all due respect to coca-cola, i'm trying to figure out what the attractiveness is about the stock? >> the brand equity. >> we got to go but was the criticism of pepsi for so long wrong? >> no. >> no? >> no. >> interesting. that's a longer conversation. hope to is you back. meantime coming up ceo of allergan is going to join us to talk about the company's well known drug botox. we're back in just a moment. in my world, wall isn't a street. return on investment isn't the only return i'm looking forward to. for some every dollar is earned with sweat, sacrifice, courage. which is why usaa is honored to help our members

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and drive forward with broader possibilities. cme group: how the world advances. the $66 billion deal for botox. allergan's ceo joins us to talk about the best quarter in their history. a look at the top innovative companies. and love is in the air. with valentine's day this weekend, millions of flowers are coming across our borders and

into vases around the country. we go behind the scenes of the nation's busiest airport when it comes to flower imports. wake up and smell the roses. the final hour of "squawk box" begins right now. ♪ live from the most powerful city manyin the world, new york, this is "squawk box." >> welcome back to "squawk box," everybody. this is cnbc. we are first in business worldwide. i'm becky quick along with andrew ross sorkin and brian sullivan who is in today for joe. >> and i'm learning about the program. when you complain about the music in the commercial breaks they redouble the music. >> we are guaranteed to hear it the rest of the morning now. check this out. collapsing in a controlled demolition this morning. no matter how many times you see these things you can't take your eyes away. the 202 room hotel was located

just off the famed strip and it opened in 1970. it's been known as the debbie reynolds, greek isles, and royal in. the property owner is still making plans for what will replace this building. let's tell you what's happening at this hour. in the news we're watching the employment picture. the labor department will release its latest job openings and turnover survey. that's coming up at 10:00 eastern. also the iea predicting a recovery in the price of crude. but doesn't see a return to crude's highs. then there's home depot. hiring 80,000 workers for the spring. they typically add this many because this is the retailer's busiest season o. we are less than 90 minutes away from the opening bell on wall street now. see how your markets are shaping up here. mixed. not a direction for the dow, the s&p, and nasdaq. maybe slightly lower. then you go on fair value,

slightly higher. either way, the markets are trying to figure what to think about greece and everything else. there are a few stocks on the move this morning. coca-cola shares are rising. starwood announcing it with spin off its vacation ownership business and cvs earnings also beats. and the gap had a bigger drop than expected. but the retailer is raising its outlook for the just-completed year. aeropostale expecting better than holiday sale. and shares soaring on that news. an urban outfitters also getting a boost. fourth quarter sales rising a larger than expected 12%. becky? bill ackman may not have succeeded when he teamed up with valeant and attempted a takeover of allergan but it still made him money and made him the top of 2014. but ackman wasn't the only one

cashing in. the stock soared 90% over the last year. after it was announced that allergan would be acquired edd by actavis. david pyott of allergan joins us this morning. thank you for being here. >> pleasure to be here. >> what a strange trip it's been other the last couple years. >> the last couple years were going quite well in fact. over my 17-year tenure the company grew enormously. in fact, when i started back in ' '98, the total sales were about $1.1 billion. including business we spun off which now is owned by abbott. the surgical business. and last year was the sales grew about a billion across the year. so we were really on fire. and as you said best quarter ever. so we're going over what brent saunders and i referred to as a racing track. >> it has been an amazing run. shareholders have faired very well. but i just try to think about

the back and forth and trying to manage a company while also dealing with hostile takeovers. dealing with bill ackman. what was that like? >> well it was all consuming. and in fact a long time ago we said if ever we got into kind of a very tough situation, we would subdivide the management team. and that's exactly what i did. fortunately i appointed and the board obviously doug ingram as president of the company, summer of 2013. and by about day two i said okay, doug. you and head of rnd, you run the day-to-day month-to-month operations. i will concentrate on the investors, public relations, all of the above. >> you just said the word raters. force for good or evil in that to some degree bill ackman put you in this place you're in now which probably i think you think

is a good thing. >> mixed feelings. i'll try to be very balanced about this. so between the day that the valeant offer was announced, april 22 and when we -- or pretty much to date the value of the stock has increased about $20 billion. now, part of that isn't just a takeover premium at the end, but we constantly ramped up our performance. not on the earnings per share but also sales. the sales from beginning to end increased about $300 million above the expectations we'd forecast at the beginning of the year. so real strong performance. now, some of that of course is good. you know you have the sort of damocles heading your way. you have to really tone things up. but i think we have to be really careful in corporate america that things do not become too short-term.

you're always back to this it's not a sprint it's a marathon. how do you create value. not just for a quarter or year but over a long period of time. >> what's something that maybe would have been more difficult to do? something you can do at this point because you don't have people knocking on your door. >> yeah well. you know i think my attitude in general is companies that are not well performing do need a shakeup. that was the case when i was hired. because frankly i'm only the third ceo of a 66-year-old company. in our case the company was already performing rather well. now, of course we can always do better and attribute to the team. we really put on a spectacular show. tremendous performance across the full year. almost 17% growth. virtually every franchise doesn't get better than that. >> there's a class action lawsuit that your shareholders

have brought against valeant and big ackman. suggesting effectively that he or they were able to steal through insider trading, if you will, some value of the company during the period with which people didn't know that they were getting into that. >> people who sold shares. as they built up a 10% stake, people who sold shares. >> would you join that -- do you think your company should join that lawsuit? >> from a legal point of view you're right. between the first purchases and the announcement, there was about a billion dollars of gain made. so by definition somebody missed out on that. we as a company don't have standing because we weren't selling stock. i personally wasn't in that period either. but other parties are. and it's clear that there are several law firms looking into this. and we know how that goes. >> what's your take on that case? even if you can't join the case if you could join the case, would you? >> yeah.

absolutely. last time i was on tv i repeated what judge carter the federal judge in california, said. serious concerns about this and one would hope that the s.e.c. is about to take action. >> although we've heard from bill ackman himself who said he ran it by the former head of enforcement of the s.e.c. and thinks he is in the right. whether you think the laws need to be changed or not, he thinks he's in the right. >> well one often consults experts. that's appropriate. but the end of the day, it's the current officials and administration that will make that determination. >> you think we're going to see more transactions or more hostile attempts like the one that was -- that you became a target of? >> i think every situation is different. in our case as i reflect backwards, it was interesting that i think neither party were strong enough to take us on on their own. therefore they're acting together was a real cardinal

element. that's unusual. but as we say, every company, every situation at the margin is different. >> could i ask you one more question? you were the person who you put in charnlge of people you were calling raiders at the door. bill ackman is known as an intense guy. what was that like? how often did you hear from him? >> infrequently. in fact most of the tos and fros occurred in the media. you know i think what he discovered is i'm a very intense person as well. i was on this topic 24/7 for over eight months. and it was interesting. >> botox has a lot of new applications that are coming along. i mean this is not just about something fixing wrinkles at this point. some of the new applications that this can be applied to include things like -- >> absolutely. so last year the franchise was over $2 billion. grew about 16% to local currency. and to your point, the

therapeutic applications are slightly larger than the cosmetic ones. botox for migraines and bladder conditions. spastic bladder. these are people who had accidents and so on. and then just severe incontinence. that application is growing at a huge rate. in the future there's other good stuff. the one i like to look at is botox for depression. and if this were to pan out, it would be a perfect franchise for the new company actavis given they have enormous strength in neurosciences. >> are you joining the board of the new company? >> under discussion. as you know in the merger agreement, they have a slot for two directors from our side. i've been on boards for a long time and you have a lot of rearranging to do. >> is there any chance of a product coming out in the next couple years where i could eat

and drink as much as i want not exercise at all, and still look good? >> no. >> i was about to say maybe you need botox for depression because you think about it. >> david, thank you for joining us today. it's been a pleasure and we hope you come back again soon. >> thank you. still to come this morning, flower power. we're going to go inside the world of flower imports as we approach valentine's day. but we're also going to talk exports. feeling the brunt of the almighty dollar. a look at some names that could see a drop in goods shipped overseas. thanks to the strong greenback. here's a look at currencies at this hour. "squawk box" returns in just a moment.

welcome back to "squawk box." a number of stocks on the move right now. >> hold on! >> what happened? >> in the commercial break becky exclaims oh my gosh. >> neil armstrong's wife found a camera at the moon landing.

>> you mean the supposed moon landing. that was a joke. that's cool. she also found a bunch of artifacts from the moon landing. >> it sounds like the viewers should spend more time on twitter than watching us. >> no no go back. >> we tell them what's on twitter, they don't have to use it. they'll come to us. >> wyndham's results were better than expected. also hiking its dividend. spirit airlines topping consensus. traffic rose by 1.1% last month. and also qualcomm agreeing to pay $975 million to the chinese government to resolve practices. paul jacobs is going to join us on "squawk box" on friday. we'll talk to him about that and a lot more when we see him. as king dollar reigns supreme, a lot of smaller and mid-size companies might bear

the brunt of the pain going into e the rest of this year. smaller exporters account nor for nearly 40%. already seeing slower revenue growth. joining us with a breakdown is brian hamilton. they do amazing work on the private sector. we appreciate it. because the public sector have put out reports. you dig into the private sec sor which -- sector which is mysterious. what are you finding? >> you're right. the revenue growth of privately held manufacturing firms and wholesalers are going down a bit. but remember it's still healthy. so all is good on the western front. things are going well. and remember only .1% of 26 million companies in the u.s. which are privately held do exporting. so i don't think it's fuzz on the screen but i don't think it's a huge deal. >> that's interesting, too, because we always say u.s. companies especially the big public ones are going to be crushed because of the u.s. dollar strength.

but you're saying maybe not public, but the private companies, 9 t% of them are probably not going to be impacted at all. >> yeah true. let's dive into the details. if you look at manufacturers and wholesalers which as you know do a lot of exporting. about 30% of our export dollars are from those companies as you pointed out. those guys have pained. i don't know if i'm going to get this right. the point is the u.s. dollar being strong doesn't necessarily cause the lower revenue growth but it's not good for those specific companies. >> all right. so how big of an impact then would you say lower natural gas is? greece? the dollar? in other words, are viewers and listeners who own a small company, a 40, 50 100 person concern, and they're reading the headlines or watching on cnbc do any of them necessarily matter? >> yeah, well i need more iq

points for that one. but let me give it a try. all of those factors as you know they all are important. but they tend to counterbalance each other. so my view is a strong u.s. dollar is generally good. it correlates with good gdp growth. >> a strong economy. >> i'm sorry? >> a strong economy. not always. >> yeah. so if the economy is good main street businesses are very. a pi because it means more revenue and gross margins and net margins. so the dollar being strong it probably affects 160 companies. remember they're still growing. remember it's always a big deal. we have to look at the niche companies, but it's not going to drive tons of effect with these 26 million companies. >> last question brian, and i'm going to put you on the spot my friend. i know you're good on your feet. have you done any work at all at

how much these lower gas prices are really going to benefit private companies, the overall economy, et cetera? >> yeah. you got me in the morning. i'm used to you in the afternoon, brian. but not really. we don't. as you know we collect fundamental data on companies. again, let me take a whack at that. i would say that again those types of sort of microeconomic issues or whatever effect niche businesses. so on the overall state of u.s. companies, it's good. but we don't collect that type of data, to be honest. >> we put you on the spot did a great job as always. we will see you in the afternoon and in the morning again. thanks, buddy. appreciate it. >> thank ss sthanks, man. with valentine's day around the corner the customs and border agency are expecting 80 million cut flowers to cross our borders. each one has to be inspected. we're going to go behind the

scenes of flower imports. and a look at what's trending on twitter this morning. we're back in just a moment.

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a little flower power is going to be on display at the miami international airport over the coming days. some 209,000 tons of flowers with a value of about $209 million flow through that

airport annually. this week one of the busiest. mark potter joining us now from miami with the flower tale. mark? >> hey, brian. if you're wondering where your valentine's day flowers come from, you'd be correct to assume most come from south america. mostly colombia and ecuador and almost all arrive here at miami at the international airport where they are then inspected in warehouse and refrigerated warehouses. the numbers involved are absolutely stunning. officials say that in last year last right valentine's day and the six weeks before as many as 800 million cut flowers came into the united states. right before the day, there were as many as 22 million cut flowers coming into miami alone. now, of course that poses big challenges for these agricultural inspectors from u.s. customs and border protection who have to make sure the flowers are free of disease and insects that could affect u.s. crops. just a short time ago we spoke

to the commissioner who said the work being done here on this inspection line is very important. >> they're looking for mites. they're looking for aphids. they're looking for other bugs. any of those things brought into the united states can really wreak havoc with our own agricultural industry. >> now, this is the way they do it. they take the flowers, they shake them they strike them on the side. then they look on the white paper there to see if they can find any bugs. it's kind of low tech but it works and they do it all the time especially now during valentine's day coming up. >> mark question for you. how often do they actually find anything, bugs disease, anything along those lines? >> quite regularly. in fact, that lady down there just -- she's bent over the table right now looking for something. she found one a moment ago. what they'll do is if they find a bug, and they're hard to see, they'll put it in a vile with

some liquid and they'll send it off for inspection and they'll be more careful to watch those boxes coming in. they have a trusted traveler program. producers that have good records get lighter inspections than others. so they can't look at every one with 22 million coming through per day. but they are very careful and they do find them. and it's an important thing to discover because of the effect those bugs and diseases could have on u.s. crops. >> mark thank you very much for joining us today. again, that's mark potter from nbc news. when we come back this morning, boring is beautiful for lloyd blankfein. comments coming out from the credit suisse financials. and look at equities this morning. dow up close to 118 points above fair value. s&p up by 14 points. nasdaq 28. we'll be back right after the

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welcome back to "squawk box." here's what's making headlines this morning. microsoft and samsung putting the gloves down and settling a dispute over patent royalties. the disagreement about the handset business acquired a year and a half ago. also inflation in china fell to a five-year low in january. that's sparking calls for more. and the latest jolts report coming out ahead. that's the measure of job opportunities in labor turnover. if you want to drive a car like one of the world's most famous investors, guess what. now you can get that opportunity. there's an auction site to bid on warren buffett's personal cadillac. the auction will begin at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. the opening bid is $10,000. proceeds will go to girls inc. of omaha that helps girls 5

through 18 years old to be smart, strong, and bold. and if you win, you could travel to omaha to personally pick up the keys from mr. buffett. and lloyd blankfein is outlining to a business model. mary thompson joins us with the details this morning. >> hey there, andrew. we know that goldman has been called many things but boring isn't one of them. now it seems management wants to play up a quiet restructuring that makes the firm more stable along with the nimbleness. blankfein said earlier this morning we are simple but we are not simpler. at a credit suisse financial crisis blankfein highlighting the reports showing goldman's earnings have been less volatile than its peers. including the firm's risk management, the ability to manager cost especially compensation, and its diverse businesses. the diversity of businesses give 6% came from the institutional

client services group. but here blankfein lifts the veil on a business. goldman also delivering higher return on equity. than its rivals like morgan stanley over the years. even as their stock outperformed over a three-year period. marty mosby credits this to mohr dan stan lease' narrative of the fact it's building its asset management business to make it a more stable stock and firm. goalman has been transforming itself into a more stable firm. which is happening across all its line not just in asset management. this obviously is part of the effort to sell that story. becky, back to you. >> all right. thank you. you know, it raises the question whether boring and defensive is the right way to go with all the global risks hanging over the markets right now. let's ask allison dean.

she is chief investment officer at crt capital. she's also a cnbc contributor. chris wolf is here as well. he's chief investment officer for private banking and investment group at merrill lynch wealth management. what do you think? boring good right about now? >> it feels like it should be to me. we had a pretty tough first half of the year with what's going on overseas stronger dollar weaker oil, now a potential strike that could shut down ports on the west coast. it feels as if solid, steady more domestic oriented companies would be the way to go. >> such as? >> i'd say focusing on technology. the consumer retail. although some of them will be hit by the port thing. some of it has affected stocks. i'd stay domestic in those industries. i'd avoid financial services. i'd avoid for more of the economically oriented. the entire energy industry. that could come down. >> some pretty big swaths of the market.

>> that's where i felt going into the year that e the earnings outlook for the s&p was strong. you could have weak and tough comparisons year over year. whereas the second half of the year because of increased consumer confidence spending could pick up and that could boost the second half of the year. >> you know i made a chart this morning and tweeted it out of the dow. and i highlighted greek's first bailout in in may of 2010. since then the dow jones industrial average is up 75%. >> that's right. >> i'm not saying greece doesn't matter. but it does it matter. >> the markets tend to look through and ignore things. the. >> bad news is good news. for years in america, every bad news cycle, every bad number was followed by don't worry the fed's got our bag.

>> you get the moral hazard, the put, all the cliches people use. but i think to becky's point earlier, the idea that boring is good dividends if that's what boring means are key to what investors want these days. you have russia greece europe things going on in south america. all sorts of slowdown risks in china. i think many clients look at this market and say i'm going to be a little safe right now. the dividend story looks pretty good. profit margins are well supported in terms of cost structures. and they're passing that on as a good thing. >> but do you look to europe as a place that might be the next potential booming market? you think that happens? because we hear from a lot of people that domestic is where you want stay. the strong dollar. don't bwant to get caught in those cross winds. >> it's the number one question that our investors are asking. do i need to be more u.s.? not the cheapest place in the

world. or are all the other places is there an opportunity? and it's about time horizon. all the cheap stuff is outside the u.s. but you really need a three or five-year view. not saying it's going to be perfect, but there are places in europe. some of the stocks look interesting right now. >> if you actually take the three to five year view, you think it will be a clear out performance? if you come back five years from now and i invested a dollar somewhere in europe and a dollar here you think that's worth that much? >> you take the currency out of the equation. i think you have better opportunities. so yes. >> i agree. i think the valuations are good. i think you can keep currency in the equation. the next couple of months the dollar is going to get so high it won't continue to go up. it might come down. >> the majority of the big companies in europe that we talk about in these indexes, most of their business comes from the united states.

volkswagen volkswagen, l'oreal. >> if30% to 40% of their revenue comes from overseas. >> they're multinational companies at this point. not necessarily based in any one area. >> that's the flip side. would you tack the base in europe or the completely and utterly discounted company that's not yet a multinational? >> we have the really big kind of well known companies. would you buy a tiny company in germany you never heard of or would you buy volkswagen? there's a lot of cheap stuff in the second and third tier parts of europe and china. >> i like how you say it. volkswagen volkswagen. that's right. thank you for both coming on. >> thank you. when we come back retailers getting a boost on strong holiday sales. urban outfitters and more to watch. we'll see if stocks are a buy right after this. then it's a big day for jim cramer. we're going to head downtown to hear from the birthday boy himself. stick around. "squawk box" will be right back.

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welcome back to "squawk box," everyone. we've been watching the futures and they have been decidedly sharper throughout the morning. the dow up close to a gain of 115 points. nasdaq up by about 27. shares of coupons.com getting slammed this morning. revenue falling short of what is expected. that stock is down 32% right

now. computer science is coming out of pressure. the i.t. provider sales stock down to 7.5%. check this out. spider-man is teaming back into action. he's ready to team up with iron man and captain america on the big screen. sony and marvel comics are teaming up. that means that spooididey will appear in a film. big names out there with news the gap same stores sales dropped 3% but guidance was beat. aeropostale soaring on better than expected sales as well. when we come back on "squawk box," will the markets give this man is special birthday present today? we'll take a trip downtown and hear from the birthday boy himself jim cramer. find out what's on his radar, hopefully cake and ice cream

ahead. the futures are all indicating a higher open. dow indicated to open up nicely now about 118 points. and we are back after this.

♪ happy birthday to ya ♪

♪ happy birthday to ya ♪ we are going to get down to the new york stock exchange right now where the birthday boy joins us this morning. jim cramer happy birthday to you, sir. >> thank you, andrew. thank you. >> what do you have planned on your birthday? can you tell us? >> well you know it's actually low key. it's a high key date but a low key night. it's a tuesday. so i really kind of am doing my planning for thursday friday saturday. >> school night. let's talk briefly about coke. i want to get your thoughts on that. then i have a question about actavis in just a moment. >> sure. >> but let's get your take on coke first. >> i've been looking for some growth. they started to give some growth. transition year. i like the fact that they must feel the fire. because this was a whole release that didn't say how great they were. this was a release that said they're doing stuff to get better. and i really like that. because i think there had been kind of a -- they got fat and doesn't seem like they're getting fat anymore. so i was encouraged and i understand why the stock is up.

makes sense to me. >> we were talking earlier today about two articles. one i wrote, the other in "the wall street journal." the first one from the journal about the stock sales by dupont. do you have a problem with those stock sales? >> i was surprised to see it. yeah, i do. in support of hers because the stock has been good. but it doesn't make sense. i said why is costolo still selling? these are rich people. i know it's a program. and people always hide by a program. i've canceled programs. you can cancel them if you -- you say, listen i don't want to sell anymore. you've got to wait for awhile. but i would have not -- i would have done -- it just looks bad. it looks bad because it -- you do get the sense that nelson peltz had a hand in pushing the stock and so she's taking advantage of that. that's what it looks like. i'm sure it is much more benign but you know how it is. you just look bad when you're doing this. >> okay.

talking about looks, talk to me about this. i wrote a column today on what looks to be a trend amongst actavis targeting female ceos. do you buy it? >> it was a tough piece. >> you don't have to agree with it. i'm just asking. >> i know nelson well. i said on air they've got a good board member. the stock is up. is there a pattern? i know fortune's identified a pattern. i think that you look at his long history and nelson has not. but it is odd. it is odd. on stock sales, i'm -- you know i've sold stock for the street and bought for the street. people say why don't you do this. to me if you're super wealthy it just seems like costolo, why not step back. that piece was an important piece. i've got two daughters. and i'm sure they would say this is just sexism. when you've got two daughters, you can't just say no you don't

know the whole story. >> do you have a special brand of birthday tequila, jim? let's get to the heart of the matter here. it's 5:00 somewhere. >> you know it's casa amigos is our best seller. you had gerber on last week. that is george clooney's. i don't know if people know it's clooney's. that stuff flies off the shelf. it's the only one hard to keep in stock. >> jim, quickly before you go can i ask you? there's news breaking about general motors. there's a statement out saying that harry wilson who you may remember is from mave advisers now, but he had been involved with the process of going through all that, turning gm around. he's now nominating himself as a candidate to stand for election on the gm board. he says he's acting on his own behalf but also with four investment funds. the stock's up about 3%. what do you think? >> you know -- >> go back to the point, right? >> she's doing a good job.

brought in feinberg. i defer to andrew. i'm throwing that hot potato right to andrew. >> and i'm going to throw it right back. we've got to go to a commercial break. >> i think she's doing a good job. >> we've got to check it out. jim, happy birthday my friend. >> thank you guys. >> have a great day. all right. let's talk teen retail now with jan rogers of worldwide enterprises intergalactic. are you there? >> i am here. i'm sad i couldn't be there on that great new set. >> it's all right. you can talk to us via bluetooth headset. >> you guessed it. >> are you surprised by gap or the strength of aeropostale and urban outfitters? >> i think i was most pleased with what urban turned in. though i do think both are more promotional. but longer term i'm concerned that urban is telling us they're

going to increase the size of all stores by a factor of three times and make them much more destination spots and places that will be higher dwell time opposed to just focusing on what they're doing best right now which is growing their internet business. short-term it looked good. aeropostale had horrible numbers. they were down 9%. they just weren't as bad as people thought. their sales are down 24%. but people still traded the stock up because, wow, guess what. they were better than people expected. doesn't mean it's good. they're still facing into the toughest competition out there. they've got to be against forever 21 h & m, and other teen retailer and store. i can't get excited long-term on either one of those two. gap i feel differently about. i feel they can be a great omni-channel retail per. and i think they're doing the right things. but they just fired rebecca bay.

they need a new designer to gap. it's going to take a year to make that work. >> let me be more direct. given the fickleness of the teenage consumer giver the fact that a lot of these stores appear to be in my old man's eye interchangeable. it doesn't seem like anybody is able to predict what's going to happen in eye ayear or two or how they're going to have the fluctuations? >> i do like gap. i don't consider them a teen retailer. i think it's for the reason i said. they can be an omni channel player. and reduce the number of stores and make it work. being in that space right now, or even being in a mall is really, really tough. because mall traffic is probably down 4%. probably down 5% in the fourth quarter. that's really hard if you're a mall-based player. and if you're in the teen space, the competition has never been

like it is today. you've never had people whose average price point at the store was 14 bucks, you know? >> yeah. >> it's just really tough. >> i'll let you get back to the treadmill. >> thanks. more to come on "squawk box" including the fast company list of the most innovative companies in the world. plus sad news for the nfl to report this morning. ed sabol has passed away. if you don't know the name by heart, he was the founder of nfl films. he's the guy known for building nfl films and taking us into super slow motion internet reels he is seen her with his son steve sabol. was elected to the pro football hall of game in 2011. was 98 and passed away at his home. ngs account to his merrill edge retirement account. before he opened his first hot chocolate stand calling winter an "underserved season". and before he quit his friend's leaf-raking business

for "not offering a 401k." larry knew the importance of preparing for retirement. that's why when the time came he counted on merrill edge to streamline his investing and help him plan for the road ahead. that's the power of streamlined connections. that's merrill edge and bank of america.

welcome back everybody. take a look at shares of general motors, shareholder harry wilson you may remember he's a guest here on "squawk box." harry wilson announcing that he plans to nominate him as candidate for the gm board at the annual meeting. by the way, he has the backing of four different funds.

don't know the name of those investment funds. that suggest there's power behind the shareholder base. hard to know how many shares he has. the seattle automaker competing for that after that meeting. some of the actavis investors have gone after it. "the new york times" takes a look at whether those actavis investors are targeting geos. mary barra has been there dealing with a massive situation. gm's shares up 3.4%. coca-cola earnings rivaled better than expected. here we go. transition here, 2015 the cfo of coke saying we do think cheap gasoline has impacted consumer behavior. and it will help our business but ads the macro environment continues to be, quote, challenging. of course, the dollar is a big part of that as well as macro contributions in europe.

and the cfa telling sarah eisen, we're always looking at things globally. there you go. and out with the annual rankings of the world's most innovative companies showing out the best in innovation. rocket bob is the editor in chief of the magazine. good morning. >> good morning. >> let's go straight to the top of the list. the number one most innovative partners in the part. >> what's so innovative, they make glasses? >> they broke through on an area of glasses. 109% share in the glasses business. >> willy parker has come from nowhere to break into that market. it's a company created by millennials for millennials connecting across all demographics and that's really why they're on the list. >> but the innope vasion the way they sell the product, the way they market the product. the idea they're giving away one pair for all sold. >> it's all of those things

integrated and executed across the country. it's very distinctive, this sort of platform basis that make the most innovative companies take off. >> what happens? >> in the long run? >> yeah. bought. >> i think they have no interest in being bought by anybody. they want to build it slowly over time. >> i'm going to shamelessly plug a friend tris ten walker. tris ten was a technology star. started a business called walker & co. he's targeting products for the african-american companies. he's started a razor company, taking on gillette. he's killing it. targeting the african-american. he's going to have more products coming out. >> i love tris ten. we tristan, we did a big story about him in the fall. his business is not quite there yet. >> you named him. >> sure, he's on.

list. >> and harry's does the other razor. that's actually a spinoff from guys from warby parker right? >> yes. >> who has fallen off the list? >> well twitter is not on the list this year. >> yeah. >> i don't know if that's a surprise to you guys. >> #whynot. >> and amazon is not on the list this year. it was a harder decision for us but they had that trouble with the firefighter that made it difficult to put it under the list under $70 million. >> who's the biggest jump? >> the biggest jump listen there are only five companies that repeat on this list from year after year. that is because we're trying to encapsulate the change going on in the economy. warby parker apple is a repeat tesla and netflix. the repeateds. >> how do you figure out who goes in what order? i've looked at that warby parker, i've met the guys i know they're doing interesting stuff. but to put that ahead of a google or apple, how do you rate

that? >> we have a private system -- >> an algorithm? >> that's right, an algorithm, very hard to bust yeah. >> but you can't tell us anything about why warby parker -- >> we just peel like warby parker represents a next generation of a kind of company. next consumer generation. >> i like the message you're producing basically, you don't have to have an app. you can make glasses and razor blades and still be a superstar. that's what's cool still make physical things. >> all of this social good stuff. >> yes. >> all the social good stuff. >> i want to know if it's real or if it's marketing. >> it's both. ideally, it's both but it has to connect authentically to customer us and to talent. this is the thing companies in the future will need to have as part of their dna to be able to attract the customers in the town and their future. >> thank you for coming in. >> thanks for having me.

>> who is on the cover? >> neil. i know neil. >> thank you guys. >> are we -- i'm supposed to say good-bye. the show is over. we're going to wish jim cramer a happy birthday. he's coming up right now. "squawk on the street" begins right now. ♪ good tuesday morning. welcome to "squawk on the street" i'm carl quintella. with david faber and jim cramer. 60 years young today. >> thank you. thank you. >> knocking off the ball. >> what can i say? >> you can raise your hands like rocky right now. >> the scrolldown takes forever. scroll down oh my geez it takes me ten minutes to get to 1955. >> free markets in a bit of a