tv Closing Bell CNBC February 11, 2015 3:00pm-5:01pm EST
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lie lionsgate stock swap. we'll talk about the new deal with john malone. all right. thanks a lot for watching. you can get more "power lunch" to go. brian sullivan is on his way. "the closing bell" is up next. and welcome to "the closing bell." i'm simon hobbs in the new york stock exchange in for bill griffeth. >> and i'm sara eisen in again for kelly he was. let's on monday the market went down on greek concerns. yesterday it went up on greek optimism and today new concerns about greece not getting a deal done during the emergency meeting is putting us in the red. the dow down about 40 points as we speak. it was worse earlier. >> absolutely, far worse. some major earnings are due out importantly after the bell in about an hour's time. cisco topping the list amongst many others.
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we'll have the numbers the moment they cross and the best analysis in business news. >> of course we are waiting for president obama during this hour to speak at the white house. set to speak about his request for congress to authorize money and power to fight isis abroad before they infiltrate the united states. we'll bring you, of course his comments live as soon as he takes the podium. >> let's have a look at exactly where we are on the markets right now. the dow at its lows was down 109 points. it's quite a strong comeback although i guess for your broader market the s&p still negative for now the third time in four sessions. we keep trying to make a hit at 2,068 and keep failing on that. we're five points higher than our recent range. >> the nasdaq is higher. this is the third decline in four sessions for the dow and the s&p 500. >> okay. let's bring in our contributing panelists today. they include keith fitzgerald from money map press, jack bouroudjian with us from index
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financial partners jeff reeves of investor place.com, meg green from meg green associates and, of course our very own rick san tale santelli. >> jeff, you really like the markets. >> yes -- >> i think -- >> which jeff? >> i think the numbers were strong from the jobs number. we've seen an uptick in oil. the pessimism over greece is a little overblown. i think investors have a short memory. i think we're pretty good right now if you look at the grander scheme of things. earnings have been okay. the blended growth rate is 3%. i'm pretty optimistic. >> in the meantime we keep coming up on the s&p 500 against this 2,068 level. we approach it and fall back and that's been very much kind of the situation for most of the
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year. why do you think we're unable to make further gains at the moment? >> well, i think it's partly just investor sentiment. i think investors are kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop, but i do think, again, long term investors don't have a lot to look beyond the volatility of january. i think we have to have a catalyst to get us out of this funk but earnings have been pretty strong. the blended growth rate is 3%. in some subsectors of energy we're negative 20% year-over-year earnings growth. i think to put q4 numbers up that are modestly okay and a lot of people have beat expectations considering the big head winds we've seen i think all we'll need is a little more good news and some more reassurance from the fed and i think we're going to see a strong finish to 2015. >> jack with all this hand wringing over greece and whether they will finally be able to strike a deal or answer oon extensionex an extension, here are some refreshing thoughts greece an
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exit doesn't really matter. can you say that with confidence? >> sara look and simon, we've talked about this two or three years ago i remember because we were talking about an implosion in europe at the time. all of us know that the economy in greece doesn't really matter in the overall grand scheme of things. it's more of a structural issue. it's adding into the greek bonds. it's the structural issue that is are the problem. if we were sitting here talking about germany leaving the eurozone, then we would have a serious issue on our hands, but the reality is if greece leaves guess what? it's not going to be that big a deal. and if it was going to be a bigger deal, we would see a lot more volatile in the markets. the fact is the subdued trade we're seeing and it is subdued, tells us the market doesn't think it's a big deal. >> meg, where are you on munis? a lot of people say perhaps the tax-free. where were you suggesting clients go? >> we love the muni market right now. people are looking for yield.
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we also like the stock market don't get me wrong, and worldwide there's a good market coming, but munis are basically funding 75% of our infrastructure. states are doing much better. remember a lot of them can raise taxes themselves. so if people are looking for yield and they're afraid to go too far out, although i don't happen to think interest rates will be going up so fast not by the fed anyway but i think if you really are looking for some yield and you're looking to save a few taxes and you're going to the intermediate muni area and you're careful about it i think you can really have a nice safe return there. that's not the exciting bit that's in the market. >> right. >> well no. >> speaking of yields rick santelli, had a pretty decent bond auction. above 2% on the 10-year. was that notable? >> i think it's notable because it's a psychological level but, trust me i think at least in my opinion, there's very very great chance we're going to be spending a lot more time in the next few sessions above 2% than
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below even though it might not be big, but what is big is the fact we settled here at 2.17%. with regard to greece, obviously that meeting is going on now and i agree with jack it isn't about greece but greece is super important. anybody who is a parent understands why. if you let greece get by with a couple things here and a couple things there portugal is going to want it spain is going to want it france is going to want it. that's why they need to draw the line. it's not about the size of the economy, it's about the size of their notable demands for more for less. maybe they should start collecting some taxes. >> spoken like a true german rick. >> now you're talking. >> who said that? >> to me guys greece is like a bug in search of a windshield. they have a lot of obligations, they lied to get in thee u, they mismanaged themselves for year, now they want to renege on their obligations and then some. the question is not like greece
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itself. it's like letting montana go out of business. it's a dizaisy chain of collateral traders -- >> hang on hackng on. you're really confusing me. most of the greek debt is held by governments or public institutions like the ecb. i think for most people i don't want to dwell on greece forever, but we've got to do it it's in the news and it's merckingaking headlines. it's more about the run on the banks. whether the greece people pull their money out of the banks. that's the fire isn't it, that might not be contained here? >> well i would take issue with that. i think that's certainly an issue if you're local and if you're in greece. i think the other issue is much broader than that. i think it's the derivative traders who have offset the risk. the worldwide financial system
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has rehypothecated eight or nine times. nobody knows who has got it. if there's a run on the banks, everybody will be looking for that buck and that's going to be what the short-term disruption is to the market. if greece debt settles, if they get a deal there will be a sigh of relief. if greek debt gunt go look what's happening. traders are subdued because nobody knows where the risks lie until everybody comes out of that meeting. >> jeff what also happened -- >> but argentina defoughtfaulted and it wasn't the end of the world. >> they didn't have all the eu backing it. >> right. >> it wasn't that cascading effect it could happen to others. jeff, i want to turn it back to u.s. markets right now. we're seeing utilities lagging again, tech and health care outperforming and energy continues to swing around here with what we're seeing in terms of crude oil. do you see that as a big factor as a big drag on the overall equity market or have we gotten past that point? is it really only going to move
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the energy stocks? >> there are energy stocks that have actually kind of bounced back a little bit lately. so again i think it depends what time frame you're looking at whether it's the last week versus year-to-date. but if you want to get forward looking about this one sector i think is coming into vogue right now amongst tactics it's pretty important to talk about is cyber security with all the stuff we saw with aetna or i'm sorry not aetna, i want to say athena -- >> anthem. >> yes, with anthem. and on the heels of sony and on the heels of target on the heels of everything else i think cyber security is kind of getting in fashion right now. if investors want to look at a segment of technology stocks i think cyber security offers a lot. >> meg, what do you like in the stock market? we covered the munis. you say you still like stocks. which part of the market? >> i like the broad market. i really do. i'm always a small cap girl and sometimes i lag behind, but i like the small caps, but techs did not do that well except for
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apple flying so we're looking at a really good tech rally and they keep knocking things down for interest rates. i don't think this market is being volatile about greece. i think it's all about interest rates. i remember a year and a half ago when we were worried about the taper and everybody was fearful what was going to happen when the fed tapered and it kept everybody off balance. >> right. >> well that's done and now they're saying when are the rates going to raise. every time you think a rate is going to go up the utilities get knocked. they were great last year. >> utilities are getting hammered again. >> down 2%. >> utilities are not just about income. there are a lot of utilities that have a lot going on that's far above and beyond just the yield. people look at utilities and say interest rates are going up, knock down the utilities, knock down the preferred stocks. i think you have to look beyond that. there's an awful lot going on in the utility world. a lot that has to do with new energy looking for different places to -- so you can't just take utilities and put it in a broad brush. but that's why i say that the
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interest rate scare of raising the interest rates, and i don't see the reason for them a couple reasons but, you know, i think that that's what's spooking the market. i remember that taper was the big spook. so, you know, take a look and say utilities are still utilities. you can't ever deny yield if you are a long-term investor and you want to have utilities in the portfolio, you want to have yield, and with these interest rates being the way they are, look at microsoft. went out 40 years on a bond. microsoft is borrowing money. apple is borrowing money. what is that telling you? they're going to be buying back their stock -- >> so you love the stock market and you love the economy but interest rates have to remain at zero for you to keep that love going. >> well -- >> rick -- >> you're talking about corporations that are making money. look at the earnings that are coming out rick. how can you -- >> then the fed should have no problem. they should have raise rates like three seconds ago. >> this has become the inspite of stock market rally.
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in spite of the fact that people are scared -- >> we -- >> the economy has improved in spite of all it. >> i think it's more like a country dance, one step forward and two steps back. >> we're going to leave it there. a fiery discussion. thank you for your time. have a great evening. >> that was exciting. less than 50 minutes to go before the closing bell and we're looking at the dow now down less than 40 points. the nasdaq remaining in positive territory as apple makes new highs up another 2% today. the s&p 500 is pretty much flat. >> up next a big guest, howard lu lutnick speaking exclusively with cnbc. when he thinks the fed will raise rates. plus the earnings parade continues. cisco, metlife, tesla, and whole foods among those companies reporting. we will bring you the numbers as
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a live shot of the white house where we are expecting president obama to address the nation make a statement on his request from the u.s. congress where he sent a letter today to authorize military force to, quote, degrade and defeat the islamic state forces in the middle east without sustained large-scale u.s. ground combat operations. of course, this is stirring a lot of debate within congress and lawmakers, and, of course it will put them on a path to a vote. let's take a look at how the markets are doing as we head into the closing bell a little less than 45 minutes to go. we're still seeing declines with the dow down 45 points. the nasdaq has remained in positive territory. if we close lower third day in four sessions of declines for the s&p. >> okay. three-quarters of an hour until we shut up shop. let's see what's moving with dom chu. >> let's start with apple. another record high in trading today. activist investor carl icahn is
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tweeting he thinks apple is worth $216 a share in today's mark and even more if they introduce a television product in 2016 or 2017. he anticipates a capital program will include a large increase to shares. >> pepsico reported better than expected earnings. the pipeline of new products is perhaps the strongest in its history. bgc partners reported earnings slightly better than estimates. shares are negative. the interdealer brokerage and real estate company says it expects fiscal first quarter pretax earnings to be between $68 million to $80 million. the fiscal services business improved and the real estate
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business continues to benefit from positive trends. back over to you guys. >> thanks. we're going to pick it up right there. break down those results with the man in charge. joining us now exclusively is bgc partners chairman and ceo howard lutnick. it's good to see you again, howard. >> great to see you guys. >> you posted an $18 million loss in the fourth quarter despite better revenues increased volatility which you like. what do you attribute the loss to? >> look we settled a long-running lawsuit. that was just our gap earnings. if you look at the operating earnings of the company, we had our second record in a row, and we're guiding for our third record in a row. revenues were up 20%. profits were up 50% on the quarter. so we just had one settlement to try to wash out the past and just resolve this stuff, but the company is really hitting on all cylinders. it's really doing great. so it's a great opportunity. we also announced we expect to raise our dividend next quarter which usually your viewers kind of like to hear.
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>> there's no doubt about that mr. lu tnick. where are we on gfi group, the new york brokerage that you're trying to get your hands on for just shy of $800 million. have you got enough people signed up for that because i see that your sixth deadline looms. >> so close, so close. so last week we need 45%, 45% at $6.10. last week we got 43.3%. so we said, okay this thursday thursday in a week february 19th we expect enough shareholders to come and we will cross the 45% line. so we're very excited about it very optimistic. we were up from 30% about a month ago to 43.3%, so come on. it's so close. >> yeah. >> howard are you going to have to push the extension farther than next thursday if you can't get to that number? >> look right now from my opinion, i can't imagine that the shareholders don't come across the line. you know i don't know that people expected us to get so
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close. you know they had a deal -- management had a deal with the cme. that was voted down. we're the only deal. it's 25 cents higher than theirs was anyway. it's all cash. i think next thursday is going to be a good day for the company. we're going to cross the 45% and off we go. >> i guess you might not have got enough acceptances yet because there are these reports that mickey gooch, who you know extremely well clearly doesn't want to get it go and he may be working with icap or other people to try and get some sort of counteroffer again on the table. why would people kind of sell out now if there are those sorts of reports around that he's doing his best? >> i like the way "the new york times" took it. they put a space and they wrote, seriously, put another space and big question marks. this has been going on for six months. if anybody else had any interest they would have come a long time ago. the difference between bgc and all these other guys we have the money. we have liquidity of $820 million. we have 20% of the nasdaq stock market which is worth $625
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million. we are a really really rich strong company capable of buyingg fbuying gfi for cash. it's a good transition for everybody. i think the management will come around to it. i think the shareholders are coming around. so i would expect that we should cross the 45% and move onto the next level. company is hitting on all cylinders. real estate business loves the low interest rates. with the company raising its dividend, i think we're in great shape. our yield was 5.5% today. next quarter off it goes higher. >> why is your cfo stepping down? we learned graham sadler who has been with the company for a yew ears is going to be leaving. does this have anything to do with the takeover battle you have been dealing with? >> i think it has to do with his 59th birthday. >> he's retiring. >> he was the cfo of bear stearns europe. he's a great guy, and, you know, he's 59 years of age, and he said, look i'll stay as long as you'd like. i'd like to find my replacement.
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he's involved in the search. this is a lovely retirement with a retirement party. anything to the contrary is just silly. >> hey howard what do you think of the markets? >> well look low interest rates are great for a whole variety of categories. the u.s. economy is growing much faster than people think. 3.5% to 4%. but the end of tapering, right, with the tapering means we have the easiest monetary policy in the history of the world. you have europe falling off a cliff. you have to assume stocks will continue to perform well because we have low interest rates. if the fed raises in june or october, it doesn't matter. it would only be a quarter of a percent. low interest rates means stocks melt upward and nice growth in the u.s. economy. feels good. it just feels right here. i like the markets. >> all the action howard is in the currency market. highest volatility in nearly two decades. how are you capitalizing on that? are you growing your foreign exchange business? i know you have recently started to do more in terms of trading
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and that was in the results today. >> so the bebsst part is we have a fully electronic foreign exchange business. the foreign exchange business we were up 50% in revenues and 80% -- 79% in profits last quarter, this quarter, the fourth quarter. so just incredible numbers. great volatility. you know our fully electronic business, people don't really think about the fact that you take a business like ours in the wholesale financial markets and move it electronic the profits explode. that's why earnings were up 50%. we love the currency markets. we're in a great spot electronically. volatility is a friend of the company. we hate boring but we love when it's chaotic. >> ain't that the truth. >> i love how fired up you are. howard lutnick, always good to see you. chairman and ceo of bgc partners. >> let's have a look at where we are on the markets. down 23 on the dow. we continue to cut those losses sara. >> we're awaiting a statement
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from president obama any minute now. the president pushing for congress to authorize the use of military force against isis. we'll bring it to you live as soon as he starts to speak. plus our weekly "beat the street" segment focusing on fund managers outperforming their benchmarks. find out what this week's portfolio manager is doing right now. hey, girl. is it crazy that your soccer trophy is talking to you right now? it kinda is. it's as crazy as you not rolling over your old 401k. cue the horns... just harness the confidence it took you to win me and call td ameritrade's rollover consultants. they'll help with the hassle by guiding you through the whole process step by step. and they'll even call your old provider. it's easy. even she could do it. whatever, janet. for all the confidence you need td ameritrade. you got
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where president obama is expected to speak any minute now. he just asked the u.s. congress to authorize military force to degrade and defeat the islamic state. we will continue to monitor that shot for you and as soon as the president comes, we'll take it for you live. >> okay. it's time now for our weekly beat the street segment where we highlight a fund manager who is outperforming their respected bench mark. this week's fund is the schroder's tax aware value bond fund. it's actually up about 14% over the past year against the benchmark the barclays municipal bond index which is up 9%. proof positive that if you wait around long enough two britons will turn up. joining us is the fund manager, schroder's. >> thanks for having me. >> the name of the fund tells it all. we target the maximum after tax total return whether it's in municipal bonds or corporate bonds so we combine a team of specialists on the credit and
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the muni side, try and take a long-term strategic view ignore the noise as best we can -- >> when you say noise, do you mean federal reserve interest rate hikes. >> it's a bit early for that question. yeah, your previous guest talked about it. i think there's a lot of focus on the fed and what they're going to do. we expect them to raise rates in the middle of the year. but at the end of the year it might be 50 75 basis points. there's an interesting statistic, the market has been predicting rate rises for the last five years. for us that shouldn't be the only focus. there's a lot more things to work with. >> within the elements you invest in what do you think is going to do best moving forward? >> well certainly the last 12 months munis was the place to be. going forward we think munis are beginning to look a little bit richer. you're seeing supply of munis increase, first time in seven years that net supply is going to be positive in the muni world whilst corporate credit has cheapened up. even on an after-tax basis in some sectors like energy it
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makes sense to take an interest in that sector. >> if you're taking advantage of these crazy oil moves we've seen and the cornage within the corporate bond market how do you pick a high quality credit in that environment? >> we use the resources we have internally. we have to call all the different people involved in the energy sector from the equity guys the high yield guys. the resounding conclusion was that the most likely winners will be the high quality investment grade names with access to capital. >> so we've seen all the bonds and the bond-like stocks kind of moving and doing extremely well recently because we've had rates plunging. i mean in essence why do you think that is? why are rates so low? is it about the economy's being so bad? >> i think rates here are certainly impacted by what is happening in the rest of the world.
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the front end may well be policy dominated. the longer end you have pension plans, you have overseas investors. there's $9.7 trillion of central bank balance sheet that's got to go somewhere. >> question on munis. i know they had a great year last year. i think they almost actually outperformed stocks, the s&p 500 in terms of returns. this year there was some concern that there would be too much issuance, too much supply. do you see that? >> i think that's certainly a concern. we think that the seasonals will have a bigger impact this year when suecoupon flows come in january and june. there may be volatility before that. the one comment about the fed, the real opportunity in the muni market was in '13 with the taper tantrum in the muni market. that's clearly going to be a risk for this year. we want to have a balanced kind of exposure to both credit and municipals. >> unless of course as was said yesterday they actually don't raise rates until 2016. >> well, yeah.
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>> would you subscribe to that? >> our house view isn't that. certainly the risk -- the danger of forecasting interest rates, it's a bit of a tricky game -- >> even if you're a central banker. >> even if you're a central banker. >> good to see you, andy. >> thank you very much. >> by the way, the major averages have just turned positive after the dow was down as much as 100 points earlier. now the dow in positive territory as we march toward the close. >> that's a sharp move on the dow. i imagine something may have triggered that. we probably climbed 40 or 50 appointments within a few minutes. >> and the s&p and nasdaq both positive. much more to come on "the closing bell" as we await the president who is set to take the podium. >> first, let's get to sue herera with a cnbc business news update. sue? >> thank you so much simon. here is what's happening at this hour. the captain of the "costa concordia" has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for causing
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that fatal shipwreck. 32 people were killed when the cruise ship crashed in 2012. the house is expected to begin voting next hour on the senate approved keystone pipeline legislation. it is expected to pass but the president has vowed to veto it. it takes a two-thirds vote by both houses to override a presidential veto. and we are waiting for the president to speak regarding his request to congress to authorize the use of military force against isis. it is expected any moment now and when it happens, you can see it right here on cnbc. meantime coming up on "fast money," michael burns will discuss the company's new stock agreement with john malone and stars. more "closing bell" in just a couple minutes.
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no what is it? starting february 21, 2015 if you have a 415 or 628 number you'll need to dial... 1 plus the area code plus the phone number for all calls. okay, but what if i have a 415 number, and i'm calling a 415 number? you'll still need to dial... 1 plus the area code plus the phone number. so when in doubt, dial it out! still awaiting the president. there's your live shot inside the white house where he is set to speak any minute now, simon on the threat of isis and what the u.s. is going to do about it and what he is asking congress to do about it authorize another attack. in the meantime though we're keeping an eye on the markets. >> it's quite interesting. what's happening at the moment appears to be on the s&p 500. the dow is going in and out of negative territory. the s&p keeps trying to make a run at 2,068, and it keeps
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failing and falling back bringing the whole market down. we have probably done that four or five times now on the session overall. we just can't inch higher though we are about five points higher than the top of the range we've had more recently. >> watching in terms of the major groups it looks like we have utilities at the bottom of the group as we have seen along with energy as we have seen the price of crude oil slip. on top, consumer staples and information technology. let's bring in cnbc contributor middle east expert david phillips as we await the president with the two-minute warning. what are you expecting the president to say as this has become very political what he's asking congress to do? >> he's going to state the apparent, which is isis is a threat. the u.s. needs to respond. if we had any hope of degrading and destroying the islamic state fighters, we're going to need more than just air attacks. for the u.s. to consider boots
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on the ground the white house is going to need congressional authorization. >> my understanding is that he's very anxious to limit the view that this will be significant boots on the ground not the least for his own party, mr. phillips. >> that goes without saying. the administration has maintained all along no u.s. troops, but the moment that we start intensifying our efforts against isis it's a slippery slope. we're going to need more special forces to complement kurds and other iraqis who are fighting the islamic state. it's inevitable we will have more u.s. troops on the ground in iraq and syria. >> so let's assume he gets this through congress. how will that change what happens given that we're now six months into the campaign anyway. forgive me, we have the president about to speak. >> good afternoon. today as part of an international coalition of some 60 nations including arab countries, our men and women in
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uniform continue to fight against isil in iraq and in syria. more than 2,000 coalition air strikes have pounded these terrorists. we're disrupting their command and control and supply lines, making it harder for them to move. we're destroying their fighting positions, their tanks, their vehicles, their barracks their training camps, and the oil and gas facilities and infrastructure that fund their operations. we're taking out their commanders, their fighters, and their leaders. in iraq local forces have largely held the line and in some places have pushed isil back. in syria isil failed in its major push to take the town of kobani losing countless fighters in the process. fighters who will never again threaten innocent civilians. we've seen reports of sinking morale among isil fighters as they see the futility of their cause. make no mistake, this is a
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difficult mission, and it will remain difficult for some time. it's going to take time to dislodge these terrorists, especially from urban areas. but our coalition is on the offensive. isil is on the defensive, and isil is going to lose. the barbaric murders of so many people, including american hostages, are a desperate and revolting attempt to strike fear in the hearts of people it can never win over by its ideas and ideology because it offers nothing but misery and death and destruction. with vial groups like this there is only one option we are going to degrade and ultimately destroy this terrorist group. when i announced our strategy against isil in september, i said that we are strongest as a nation when the president and congress work together. today my administration submitted a draft resolution to congress to authorize the use of force against isil.
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i want to be very clear about what it does and what it does not do. of this resolution reflects our core objective, to destroy isil. it supports the comprehensive strategy we have been pursuing. a systemic and sustained campaign of air strikes against isil, support and training for local forces on the ground including the moderate syrian opposition, preventing isil attacks in the region and beyond including by foreign terrorist fighters who try to threaten our countries. regional and international support for an inclusive iraqi government that unites the iraqi people and strengthens iraqi forces against isil. humanitarian assistance for the innocent civilians of iraq and syria who are suffering so terribly under isil's reign of horror. i want to thank vice president biden, secretaries kerry and hagel, and general marty dempsey for their leadership in advancing our strategy.
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as we meet this challenge in iraq and syria, we all agree one of our weapons against terrorists like isil a critical part of our strategy is the values we live here at home. one of the best antidotes to the hateful ideologies that try to recruit and radicalize people to violent extremism is our own example as a diverse and tolerant society that welcomes the contributions of all people including people of all faiths. the resolution we've submitted today does not call for the deployment of u.s. ground combat forces to iraq or syria. it is not the authorization of another ground war like afghanistan or iraq. the 2600 american troops in iraq today largely serve on bases, and, yes, they face the risk that is come with service in any dangerous environment, but they do not have a combat mission. they are focused on training iraqi forces including kurdish
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forces. as i have said before i'm convinced that the united states should not get dragged back into another prolonged ground war in the middle east. that's not in our national security interest and it's not necessary for us to defeat isil. local forces on the ground who know their countries best are best positioned to take the ground fight to isil and that's what they're doing. at the same time this resolution strikes the necessary balance by giving us the flexibility we need for unforeseen circumstances. for example, if we had actionable intelligence about a gathering of isil leaders and our partners didn't have the capacity to get them i would be prepared to order our special forces to take action because i will not allow these terrorists to have a safe haven. so we need flexibility, but we also have to be careful and deliberate, and there's no heavier decision than asking our men and women in uniform to risk
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their lives on our behalf. as commander in chief i will only send our troops into harm's way when it is absolutely necessary for our national security. finally, this resolution repeals the 2002 authorization of force for the invasion of iraq and limits this new authorization to three years. i do not believe america's interests are served by endless war or by remaining on a perpetual war footing. as a nation, we need to ask the difficult and necessary questions about when why, and how we use military force. after all, it is our troops who bear the costs of our decisions, and we owe them a clear strategy and the support they need to get the job done. so this resolution will give our armed forces and our coalition the continuity we need for the next three years. it is not a time table. it is not announcing that the
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mission is completed at any given period. what it is saying is that congress should revisit the issue at the beginning of the next president's term. it's conceivable that the mission is completed earlier. it's conceivable that after deliberation, debate and evaluation, that there are additional tasks to be carried out in this area and the people's representatives with a new president should be able to have that discussion. in closing, i want to say in crafting this resolution we have consulted with and listened to both republicans and democrats in congress. we've made a sincere effort to address difficult issues that we've discussed together. in the days and weeks ahead, we'll continue to work closely with leaders and members of congress on both sides of the aisle.
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i believe this resolution can grow stronger with the thoughtful debate this moment demands. i'm optimistic it can win strong bipartisan support and we can show our troops and the world that americans are united in this mission. today our men and women in uniform continue the fight against isil and we salute them for their courageous service. we pray for their safety. we stand with their families who miss them and who are sacrificing here at home. but know this, our coalition is strong. our cause is just, and our mission will succeed. and long after the terrorists we face today are destroyed and forgotten, america will continue to stand free and tall and strong. may god bless our troops and may god bless the united states of america. thank you very much, everybody. >> and so the president explaining his request to congress today for a new three-year authorization for the use of force against islamic state. it doesn't involve large-scale boots on the ground he says. it won't involve a ground war,
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though he would allow special forces in. let's brickng in john harwood. as the president said he doesn't have -- this is the beginning of a negotiation. there are those like speaker boehner who believes it doesn't actually go far enough. is it a done deal? >> no it's not a done deal. in fact, it's going to take a while, weeks or maybe months to finish this. a lot of negotiation. there will be some hairy moments along the way, but i think eventually the president will get the authority that he's seeking today for a simple reason. republicans control the congress. they've been urging him to take the fight against the islamic state, and it's not tenable for them to block it at least a critical mass of republicans. and on the democratic side there will be many democratic opponents to this people who think it hasn't tied the president's hands enough but ultimately there are going to be enough democrats who are not willing to undercut their own party's commander in chief that this is eventually going to pass both houses. >> you know what? let's bring back cnbc
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contributor middle east expert david phillips into this conversation. david, with your expertise on the region on the islamic state, on the threat it poses, is this presidential solution for now enough to fight isis or isil as the president calls it? >> it's a big step forward, but there are two fundamental flaws in the approach. i was just in iraqi kurdistan and the peshmerga say they are not receiving the right weapons from the united states. we're giving them guns and bullets but not the heavy weaponingsweapon weapons they need to counter the heavy armor isil seized. the second flaw is the idea of a unified iraq as part of the response. we need to face the fact that iraq is a failed state, and as long as we somehow condition our support to iraqis on the presumption that they're going to get together and find some reconciliation, we're not simply going to be able to move forward. we need to know who our friends are in iraq. those are the iraqi kurds. we need to support them more
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fully and we need a steely-eyed assessment of the politics on the ground. >> just to give us a political view on that if you would, or political analysis of what's being said there by david, arming the kurds and where that would leave the president. obviously, he would prefer that the kurds didn't go off and attack other people i guess is the point here. >> sure. and i think it's fascinateing that the debate has reached this discussion. remember that a partition of iraq was what joe biden, now the vice president talked about during the run up to the 2008 campaign. a lot of people ridiculed him for being sort of way out there and unrealistic with that kind of approach but given what's happened in iraq that issue is back on the table. i don't know if that's going to be the long-run solution. i think we can't fail to note the drama really of what's going on today because this is a president who, of course rose to prominence initially by opposing the iraq war. now seeking not just the buy-in
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and the imprimatur of the republican congress for military action but it will put his own stamp on that military action. it will make it in a way more than he is right now, going to make him the owner of this conflict and that puts burdens on him that i think he never imagined he would be assuming. >> yeah. no doubt about it. all right thank you for now, john harwood, outside the white house and, of course to our cnbc contributor david phillips for weighing in. >> 11 minutes to trade on the session. we've cut a lot of losses during the course of the session and still trying to break higher towards what would be highs of the year. about 1% below the record all-time high on the s&p. a storm of earnings heading our way. cisco, metlife, and tesla among the biggies. we will deliver their numbers as soon as they hit the tape for you with instant analysis. your mom's got your back. your friends have your back. your dog's definitely got your back. but who's got your back when you need legal help? we do.
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minute each. >> the important thing is we're waiting on what's going on in brussels. the eurozone finance minister is meeting with the new greek finance minister. they should be out with a declaration. we were hopeful it would be before the market closes. there's been nothing. there's peace talks going on in minsk about ukraine. >> it looks like we're down 30 points on the dow. we haven't gone two days back-to-back without triple digit moves on the dow. this would be one but so far in 2015, volatility is the name of the game. >> and folks really shouldn't be surprised about that. if you sit and look at the vix, we're exactly where we should be. we're back to normal. in the last year we're down around 10 now up around 19. no big surprise approximates. >> this has enabled a lot of traders to get long and short the markets very quickly. you play the trend. oil stocks one day up one day down. a lot of people are doing very very trading the stocks. the problem is there's still not a long-term trend.
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>> are markets taking their cue or any asset class? it seems we're breaking some of the correlations. >> when the dollars stops going up and oil stops going down and bond yields stop going down when that stopped at the end of the january, that's when the market stabilized. >> we have to take a quick break. we'll be back shortly with the closing countdown on "closing bell." >> and brace yourself for a flood of earnings right after the bell. tesla, whole foods among the big names we'll be watching. you're watching cnbc, first in business worldwide. or stop to find a bathroom? cialis for daily use is approved to treat both erectile dysfunction and the urinary symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently, day or night. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. side effects may include headache, upset stomach,
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oil was a big mover err again today. >> we moved in a five-point trading range. let's take a look at the chart. we were as low as almost $48. that was right after the market opened and we went almost even on the day up to $50. we're, again we're routinely moving in these 5% ranges and we had a big move to the downside and that was on the weekly inventory numbers that came out in the middle of the day but it bounced back once we got the numbers. >> can you put me up a chart of the s&p 500. i want to demonstrate where we're brownsingouncing. we're at 2067. we're five points higher from the tops that we've had so far this year. but still unable to break substantially to the upside. can we do this?
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>> i think we're going higher. we're going to have volatility. we're going to have spikes but the market at the end of the day will head higher. the internals are good. >> why will it go higher? >> i think folks want it to go higher and really right now we have syria, we have the whole thing in greece, the whole thing in ukraine. folks are getting numb getting tired of it not paying attention to it anymore. 73% of the s&p beating on earnings. >> and here is what's important about this chart. here is where we started bottoming and this is when bond yields stopped dropping so much. we saw oil starting moving into a trading range, and we saw some other things including europe start to stabilize. when those things happen the market calms down. >> a lot of people a lot of really respected analysts are still saying oil hasn't bottomed and we may not bottom until well after the summer. can we rally if oil doesn't stabilize. >> it will be difficult it oil moves back below the level. $45 is the level.
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that's a lower level that oil has established. it's now in a trading range between $45 and the low 50s. as long as it stays there, i think the market will be all right. later in the year most traders feel oil will be higher. >> there is a delay in terms of gasoline. >> yeah. what we're seeing now is dramatic cuts in capital expenditures. i think the important thing here is the market is responding very very quickly. the great thing about the shale plays is they can shut down production really fast. a lot faster than other production around the world. u.s. shale plays very dynamic. turn it on turn it off really fast. >> frank, if i was to give you $1,000 to invest for five years, where would you put it? >> frontier markets, not the u.s. and not traditional emerging markets. smaller countries growing faster. lots of excitement. >> also lots of problems. middle eastern banks. >> no question but you have a
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small correlation between these countries. >> okay. there we go. the bells are ringing. frank, bob, thank you. "the closing bell" continues with sara and simon. in today for kelly evans. sim mon simon hobbs will be back on set in a moment. we're talking dow component cisco as well as tesla and, of course, whole foods. here is how we're finishing the day up on wall street. it was a choppy one today. the dow ending the day pretty much flat. down less than ten points. the s&p 500 also unchanged on the day. the nasdaq an outperformer throughout the day. apple going higher and the nasdaq finishing the day up 0.3%. let's get straight to it with today's panel. stephanie link nathan bachrach
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from simply money. our own kate kelly and "fast money" trader guy adami from the nasdaq. so guy, this was a choppy day and it turns out we ended with barely a move on the dow and the s&p 500. are you worried about greece? >> i think you have to be. if you're not worried about it i think you're just burying your head in the sand because if things go pear shaped there, you have the trickle down with portugal and italy. so, yeah i think you have to be worried, but, you know, you have to also respect the resilience of the broader market. the s&p had every opportunity to sell off today, didn't do it rallied back to unchanged. it was positive a little portion of the day. what i'm most encouraged by and most impressed with is the continued resilience of the broader market. >> yeah. nathan, the resilience of the broader market. it's a good point, had the opportunity to sell off on lack of headlines or a deal. we stayed in there. is it corporate earnings? >> i think what it is is confidence in america and we look at the rest of the world
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and we go i'm okay. you i'm not so sure about. we've been able to get rid of the noise. i think this morning when the head of deutsche bank came on "squawk box" and said we have a lot less risk in the banking system to greek debt they're starting to set the table to say, if things don't go the way we want i think we'll be okay. interest rates i believe are still what's driving everybody. i wish janet yellen would just say, you know something? i'm raising the rates and we're done with it. just as we saw with qe the tapering of qe we're worrying about it. >> just get it out of the system. >> just get it done with already and rates are not going up terribly high. >> stephanie, what do i buy? what's good value here? >> i think you use kind of the choppiness of the market to buy good earnings. companies that have reported but they fall on a headline news from greece. so look at pepsi, organic growth of 5%. look at mondelez guiding for double digit earnings.
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>> 80% international really getting hurt by the currencies. >> but offset by lower commodity costs and restructuring. go back to starbucks. reported a very good number. look at some of the banks that have fallen off now that the 10-year has stabilized. i like morgan stanley, goldman sachs. they're talking about better trading activity in the most recent weeks. i think you can look at specific companies, stories. when the headline hits them that's where you go. >> i think to some extent we're seeing a continuation of trends that have been choppy but ongoing for a while. for example, you saw today that junk bonds are seeing inflows. people are still searching for yields. yields are higher than they were in june. there's still an idea that we can't get any yield out of the developed country bonds so we have to go elsewhere for it even if there's a lot of trouble in the energy patch. in terms of greece clearly there's a lot of legitimate concern. i was looking at dan loeb's latest third point hedge doesn't letter. he tends to be an interesting observer, has a greek fund. he's basically constructive.
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he thinks the germany has the motivation to make a deal with greece as long as there's some reasonable alternative to austerity. >> a greek fund of what? >> he invests in greek bonds. >> i guess provided they stay in, they get bought by the ecb in two months' time. >> i think stephanie makes a good point. you look to market leadership. if the yield curve is going to steepen again, the financials look interesting. a name like blackstone people don't talk about. they reported a pretty solid quarter. is that stock recently made all-time highs. i think big cap pharma still works. look how pfizer has rallied. they announced a $5 billion accelerated program. a bit of good news. pfizer works. i like the biotechs although they have gotten beaten up a little bit on some marginally bad news. i think somebody was trying to
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get out of the space entirely. there are single stocks that work and those stories have been impervious to what has been a choppy tape. >> we're getting whole foods earnings. courtney reagan has those results for us. courtney? >> that's right, sara. whole foods turning in their first quarter earnings. 36 cents. that is a penny better than what analysts were expecting on revenue of $4.67 billion, exactly in line with what wall street was looking for. whole foods also reiterating 2015 guidance, this again for the first quarter. sara, back to you. >> looks like that's positive reaction in terms of the after hours, stephanie link. you don't own whole foods, correct? >> no, but we have in the past. >> it's turning around. >> it is turning around. i think the expectations are very low. i think they're seeing some tailwinds from lower oil. they have done some company specific things. >> they've lowered prices. >> and i think they're now more competitive because we have been seeing competition from the
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krogers of the world but i think expectations were so low for this name that just an in line report is good news. >> you mentioned -- >> they're going to have to get a new nickname. they're still called whole paycheck out in the midwest. >> that's the reputation. >> kroger is in the space, they're growing revenue at 10%. they're growing profit at 18%. they're getting the same multiple and you look at kroger if you had a chance between buying one or the other, i will go with kroger over whole foods. >> although it has been going up and up. we just got cisco quarterbackly results. jon fortt has those. >> well it looks like a beat on the top and bottom lines. revenue came in at $11.94 billion. the street was looking for $11.8 billion. eps nongap came in at 53 cents. the street was looking for 51 cents, and gross margin came in at 61.7%. cisco had guided to a range of 61% to 62%. the street was hoping for 61.9% so that's just about in line. should also mention repurchase
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stock repurchases were $1.2 billion in the quarter. a little bit lower than in prior quarters, but then again the stock has appreciated quite a bit lately. also the dividend is up 2 cents to 21 cents. they did all that in the quarter. so overall looks like a decent quarter but guidance comes on the call so expect a lot more action then sara. >> interesting. jon, stay with us for more on cisco's earnings. let's bring in daniel ives. you're absorbing this as everybody else does. what are your initial thoughts? >> i think it's a stark contrast to what we've seen in large cap tech with the softness out of microsoft, ibm and s.a.p. at this point with a lot of these traditional stalwarts in tech, it's about a race to the cloud. they're all trying to transform with cisco, ibm, microsoft, among others. that's what investors are focused on.
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which of these large cap tech names will be able to successfully make the leap into 2015 on cloud, and that could be through organic as well as through acquisitions and cyber security, big data as well as cloud. >> dan i have a question for you. when does this stock really going to trade on those growth initiatives as you mentioned, data center collaboration, security versus the switching and the router business which everyone seems to be fixated on given that the margins have been under pressure in those two segments? >> i think this is really what a lot of large cap tech investors -- sure the conundrum they face is you're looking at the next jen trendsgen trends. as investors feel like they've started to cross the chasm, that's where i think you see more of the multiple and valuation, a lot of these large cap tech names get the respect as they go to the next gen
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trends. i think it's still prove me stories across large cap tech but this is for investors a contrast to what we saw with ibm and microsoft. i think investors feel good going into sort of post earnings season, the outlook into 2015. leaves some hopes for optimism. >> and they're raising their quarterly dividend. as a shareholder you like that. >> and they have easy comparisons to the next upcoming quarter. the stock really does trade though on guidance guys. so we have to get -- >> do you like it? >> we own it we like it and we like it because i do think eventually we are going to get that appreciation and maybe a rerating as people do focus on the cloud and on security. security right now is about 23% of total revenue. so if that really kicks in as well as the next generation switches, i think that bodes well for the story and the stock is still very attractive. >> at the end of the day you look at the large necktologytechnology stocks and you have to ask a question do i buy technology or
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buy individual issues. in this case you have to say to yourself they're really going to get into the cloud and get momentum and i'm not sure i see that even though i love john chambers and cisco. >> jon fortt, what do you have? >> something else i should mention, not specifically in this release but having to do with the cloud. a new threat to cisco. facebook coming out today saying they have designed even further a piece of networking equipment. the reason why this is important is what facebook tends to do it's done to some extent with servers and now also with networking equipment, is they design this equipment for their own huge data centers and then they allow these blueprints to be used for free by anybody who wants to use them. microsoft, facebook the likes of apple, google and others are huge customers now in this cloud era and there are certain areas they're choosing to come mod advertise. you might hear questions from
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anesthetists to cisco about players now like facebook coming in with their own designs threatening to come momd advertise a high margin business. >> will that be your foremost question? >> i think jon hit the nail on the head. there's a convergence across the data center with cyber security with next gen data center and investors are really starting to look into 2015 and trying to understand which path this is going to take across this next gen data center. who is going to be successful as well as how fast this convergence is happening, especially in cyber security and networking. that's a key theme tech investors are focused on. you have to big cyber security guy, fire eye reporting tonight as well. that's a big theme in tech for '15. >> i want to ask you, guy, from a trader's perspective, are you a buyer? it looks like a positive reaction. the stock is up 20% over the past year more than 9% over the
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past 3 months. do you like this mega cap tech infrastructure. >> you know, what i found interesting was last quarter. stephanie can speak to this. i didn't think it was a great quarter but the stock reacted really well, and to her point now, you got to wait and hear what the cats have to say because this thing moves a lot. with that said it's not expensive. i don't think -- there are better beta plays if you want to go into cyber security which is what i heard you folks talking about. names like palo alto networks has been a monster. if you're looking for beta, i think they will provide you with that. >> on the stock in particular when john chambers used to give guidance, he could move the entire stock market two or three years ago. is that still the case? >> maybe not as much. i think his credibility has been kind of hit over the years, but i think the company is back on track, and this is kind of a like a turnaround for cisco specific. this is them figuring out what the growth drivers are, what the end market is where they want to be. trying to position themselves to see margin stabilization in some
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of the more commodity-like businesses. i think they're doing a really good job. the last couple quarters have shown they're executing better. so it's encouraging. to guy's point on the security companies, fire eye just reported a very good number. that's a really great story there, and i think that's -- if you really do want security you want to go to the peer plays. >> stephanie, guys thank you very much. we'll be back shortly. tesla's earnings supposed to be out about now, but ceo elon musk delaying that until the top of the hour due to the spacex rocket launch. it's good to be the boss i guess. we'll take a closer look at tesla next. will the numbers now turn it around? >> and oil touching a new record with supply reaching an 80-year high. we're talking about ibnventories. where is oil headed? we'll try to figure it out. you're watching cnbc, first in business worldwide.
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estimates reporting a loss of 38 cents a share. that's compared to estimates of 49 cents. revenue copping in at $149 million versus estimates of $149 million. the stock taking a sharp dive on the results then rebounding 6%. it's currently trading up 5.5% on heavy volume. >> lots of earnings. and simon, tesla's quarterly results would have normally come out but elon musk moved them to the top of the next hour. these earnings getting a lot of attention as the stock has been under some pressure for the last few months. >> let's double back on fire eye because stephanie link you had seen those results, you already reacting to them as being good. is this -- >> it's a great story. cyber security is a really powerful thing for 2015. and we've all been talking about it for the last several months but i think this company is starting to deliver more
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consistently. it's been up and down but i like their guidance. i think they're in the sweet spot. i expect to see m&a in the space. >> and a presue ofview of what we can expect when elon musk gives us the results. are you a buyer? >> no we're not. at best we are a holder of the stock. i think expectations are a little too high when you look at it compared to the rest of the market. let's face it, a couple months ago elon musk told us the company is overvalued. i think 2015 will be a year of struggles. looking forward, margins are coming down revenues have been coming down on a year-over-year basis. the sweet spot for this company in terms of growth i think has passed and they're starting to find out how tough it is to compete. >> even elon musk himself said last year he thought his stock's valuations were getting a little
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sky high a little too much but just curious, how would you size up the competition from some other luxury carmakers that want to compete with tesla's electronic vehicle? electric vehicle rather. are they posing real threats? is it just the sheer number of competitors that are getting in the space or how would you assess that in terms of looking at the year to come? >> i'm sorry, that question is to me? >> yes. >> to carson sorry. go ahead. >> carter why don't you answer that question from kate kelly. how do you sum up the competition and where it leaves elon musk? >> i think it's still pretty early on to size up truly who the competitors are. bmw clearly with the i3 and the i7. audi will come out with a couple models. i have had the question posed to me if the bolt is a true competing vehicle. i think once you see the model 3 come out i would be more concerned about competition. right now they're in the sweet spot.
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model s is still selling steadily. the key for me is the model s. does it remain on track for a production ramp that's commensurate with the expectations out there today. i agree the next couple quarters it will be a little bit hazy in terms of what the next catalyst is but if the model x remains on track, i think that's the next major catalyst. >> carter can they get to 50% production growth for 2015 in your view? >> oh, yes. even with the hiccup in china, very publicly elon musk is disappointed with the start in china. he said on last quarter, if we don't tell one vehicle in china, we can grow 50% year on year. >> we have a personality in musk and we have a gig ga factory and they also happen to make cars and who cares. 25% of the cars -- they sell. that person also owns a toyota. you want a conservative approach go buy a toyota stock and leave it at that. but other than the gig ga factory, tell me long term where
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this place goes. >> you also got to -- >> nathan, let mebuild on that. you just made the comparison between whole foods and kroger. i think the exact same thing is going on here with tesla and the other automakers. you know the whole paycheck idea. tesla at some point will get out of the niche market and they will have to get down and dirty and compete with toyota. they're going to come out and other car companies are going to expand. i'm right with you there. outside of the giga factory what else is there. >> the bull case is it's the battery and the battery kansas city power other cars and make deals like they have been making with bwm and others and then they will make them more efficiently in the giga factory. why are you not convinced of that? you think the other carmakers will go at it alone? >> let's not -- >> i think the other carmakers will go at it along. >> chris, go ahead. >> i think the other carmakers will go at it alone. i think there are other alternatives. we need to look at c and g
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market. north of cincinnati we've now got a cng depot there. ford has come out, mercedes-benz has come out and said we think this is an interesting alternative. >> cng meaning come presscompressed natural gas? >> yes. >> i know it's abundant and relatively cheap in the u.s. especially after this winter that was colder much later than expected so now we have such oversupply, aren't we years away from having the infrastructure to really make that work? you got to love the idea from an environmental perspective, but still. >> i think you will see it -- >> let me jump in there for a second -- >> -- much faster. the electric -- i'm sorry. go ahead, carter. >> i was going to give carter the last word. you have been trying to get in. >> natural gas is i think from the trucking perspective makes a lot more sense.
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with light duty vehicles, you must have dramatically much better infrastructure. i'd be more concerned about people who had a much more protracted approach like bmw, like daimler. i think they have a two to three year lead on technology battery costs, the range perspective and the wow factor. i think that has a lot of legs. >> all right. we'll leave it there as we await the results. gentlemen, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> meantime oil continues to confound. after a brief rebound, oil prices falling again below $50 a barrel on wti after u.s. stockpiles hit new record highs. could those calls earlier this week for $20 oil be actually correct? we'll talk about it next.
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and he was instrumental in wiping out general motors' bondholders during the automotive makers government-backed bankruptcy. now this guy harry wilson is an activist investor who wants gm to buy back $8 billion of its own stock. but is he doing it to help gm shareholders or the united autoworkers union? some here have a very different take. and if you think this looks like a holocaust uniform, you're not alone. why is one major retailer calling this item which some are calling deeply offensive? that story is later on "the closing bell."
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let's send it over to kate rogers for another earnings alert on a busy afternoon. >> that's right, sara. zhuo lili missing on the top and bottom line this afternoon. earnings coppingming in at 11 cents versus the estimates of 14 cents. revenue reported at $391 million versus estimates of $407 million. the online retailer's shares getting crushed in the afterhours. they were down more than 20% initially. they are down 16% right now. zhuoulily also issuing light guidance for the first quarter and the full year as well. back over to you guys. >> okay. thank you very much. crude oil falling, down more than 2% on the day back below $50 a barrel with gas prices on the rise. will this slow their climb higher? >> joining us now to discuss, jef kilburg, kevin o'leary of
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"shark tank" along with "the closing bell" panel. >> jeff curry, the chief commodities analyst at goldman sachs threw out a three handle. he had said essentially his target was in the low $40 range. this is a target they dropped by a huge margin just in january from like $80 to $40 for the second quarter. he's still saying he's looking at about $40 in august. he thinks the oversupply issues we have really around the world but particularly in the u.s. are going to persist for another 6 to 12 months but he said today sara, he thinks we could see $35, high 30s in that period of time while we continue to work out the supply issues. >> jeff what happened today? >> well short-term i think to goldman's point, we are seeing crude levelinventoryies rise. the highest level we have seen
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in 80 years at this time of year. we feel like the momentum is going lower but volatility will persist. we're seeing 4% 5% movement in the crude oil space. >> one is there was all this thinking going into the opec meeting, would they cut their production quota which was 30 million barrels a day. as it turns out not only did they not cut it which sent oil way lower in domestic and overseas market they're actually producing at 30 million and change right now which they recently reported. the other thing is and this came up with curry but also other people recently is that the rig count, even though it's way down it's down like 18% year-over-year according to baker hughes we're not seeing a slowdown in production because the nature of the rig cancellations is such that the highly productive wells are still going. >> what happens when you pour oil in a shark tank kevin. what's your view here? >> i think what happens over the next 60 days is we're going to find out to an interesting question what is the value of an incremental barrel of oil
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where there's nowhere to store it? is it zero? because if you bring oil out of the ground and you physically have nowhere to put it no container ships, no physical inventory unless you build more we're going to find that out when we get to 7 million barrels which will happen in the next 60 days. so if you're in the camp that says the increment barrel is worthless if you can't store it, you're going to see that price sometime in the next two months, and that could have a three handle on it a low four, but all of this optimism about rig count down from 1600 to 1200 maybe it goes to 1,000, it doesn't matter. the production keeps rising and there's just more oil to put to storage. nowhere to put it. >> to kevin's point -- >> i'm bearish. >> you're right. you are bearish, kevin. talk about the rig count being mitigated by supply. when you see the job owning by opec and that doesn't have any effect. kev is right, chomp, chomp from
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chicago. >> jeff how much higher can inventories go at this point? i think that number today was a surprise to even those that were expecting these high inventories. >> sara you're right. exactly. >> it's going to go to 7 million barrels. >> what did you say, kevin? >> it's going to go to 7 million and there will be nowhere to put it. you will be awash in oil. it will be free oil by the cup anywhere you want it. >> kevin, i think you're raising a key point. the oversupply that we are projected to have by later this year, i think it's 400 million barrels, something of that nature is about what we have in terms of available storage. so you take andy hall the respected oil trader he said recently it's a coin toss whether we'll have enough storage or not. obviously if we run out, you're talking about cheap oil from there. >> just hang on a minute. if we -- and a lot of the people that you speak to have been storing oil, that's been the deal, that's what they're doing. if you then have no more room to store the oil, the price of oil falls, what happens to what is in storage, jeff? presumably that too falls. what happens? does this become like a
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cumulative kind of overspill? >> it does. but right now the future structure is allowing that trade. you are allowed to go out farther down the road and store that but you're write, to kevin's point, when we run out of that storage, it will cost a lot of money to bring the storage vehicles overseas. right now the supply puts everything else to rest. we are seeing $38 oil and the research we do in the short term but right now the supply can't be mitigated by any other rig count, opec job owning. there's nothing that stops the supply which to kevin's point is gushing out of the ground. >> in the whole conversation the consumer is going really? i like that. it's getting cheaper at the pump. americans don't budget. we have surveyed them. eventually it will leach into the question. it will be good things for the consumer and we're going to have to trade off cheaper gas prices and what it does to the energy sector and to bonds that have been issued backed by the energy sector with what it's doing for the consumer and the stocks that they're spending -- their buying. >> this is why i highlighted
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pepsi and mondelez. consumer, auto parts. i think you can own a lot of specialty retailers. i think there's a lot of momentum still in this sector and i think -- >> and the pepsi cfo told us today it sometimes takes a few months lag. >> six months. >> i was going to ask about that because haven't we seen so far people are paying down debt or saving money? when do we expect the extra -- >> howard schultz at 125rstarbucks said they haven't seen it yet and he doesn't expect it until the second quarter or second half of the year. >> five months. it's a lagging effect. >> and the hedges too. >> we haven't seen qe start in europe. >> that's a good point. >> we've to leave it there. >> we're not going to mention the "d" word. jeff, kevin, always good to see you both. coming up which retailer is selling this item which looks shockingly like the uniform holocaust prisoners were required to wear?
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that sounds like a disaster for the company, but that story is coming up next. first, sue herera has a news update. hi, sue. >> hi simon. here is what's happening at this hour. president obama says it will be a difficult mission, but he is asking congress to authorize the use of military force to defeat islamic state forces in the middle east. mr. obama's request does not involve deployment of ground forces. however, the president says he could deploy special forces if the u.s. had what he calls actionable intelligence about the location of isis leaders. the spacex launch of a deep space observatory is a go but the company has scrapped the attempt to land the booster rocket on a platform in the ocean. rough seas are to plame. kb said it received almost 1500 orders in the quarter 2345 ended last woke. coming up cisco's ceo john chambers at 6:00 p.m. eastern
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michelle caruso-cabrera, what can you tell us? >> i have a source familiar with the situation going on in the meeting in brussels and that source tells me that greece has reached an agreement in principal with the eu with the other finance ministers, but discussions are going to continue through monday. so once again, an agreement in principal, but it is not a done deal yet. it could fall apart. there will be more technical discussions and hopefully it will be finalized on monday. one of the concessions apparently greece has made is they are going to stay in the very hated bailout program. they were trying to get that completely revoked and they're going to say in an eu bailout program. what isn't clear is whether or not there would be some changes to that when it comes to extension of matureitiesmaturities. i am told they were told it is out of the question at the moment. but it seems there's some kind of agreement in principle and perhaps we'll finally have something done and signed on monday. >> and if we can perhaps take a look at where we are on the euro which after hours would most
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likely be what we would see shifting here. i think a lot of people will be surprised that this has moved so fast given an absence of market stress. >> well that may be why it moved so fast. that may be why -- step by step simon, you may have seen the finance minister of greece has been forced to back pedal on nearly everything. if he's backpedaled even more within these negotiations, that would be consistent with what we have seen. he's going to come out and talk in front of the cameras at some point we assume so let's see how he characterizes the situation and perhaps he thinks he's getting something. maybe there's going to be some kind of shifting within the bailout program, within the reforms that he's comfortable with. but right now it looks as if maybe he didn't get a lot of what he was trying to get. >> and we are seeing the euro come off the worst levels of the session. it's come back to the flat line 1 1.1313.
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we don't know what the deal looks like or the technicals of renegotiation, but the important point for investors, there is something on the table, they are making progress, and it looks like they're going to be able to come to some sort of agreement. >> and that greece also committed to saying within the eurozone. >> correct. >> pushing their exit aside. >> michelle, can i ask you this question? can we say about greece there's nothing that focuses the mind quite like an immediate hanging? >> i suppose. i mean i think the situation with the banks really had begun to corner them because thempy were running out of breathing room when it came to cash. if at some point the ecb got even more stern with them, they were facing a situation like cyprus where they were going to have to deal with capital controls, the inability to withdrew money from atms, not paying suppliers. it would push them into a corner and that could be why he maybe didn't get what he was wanted or maybe was willing to give in more than he wanted.
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>> i want to point out we are seeing a move in the afterhours trading. s&p futures were higher. they're spiking up a little bit on this and the euro is going to the flat line. >> michelle it's kate. i wanted to say so much for a broad mandate of reforms in terms of greece and their economic programs. we're not seeing a whole lot of change in terms of how you're hearing this is playing out. now, that probably doesn't surprise the investment community entirely but it may surprise some of the greek voters that voted in in new group. >> that's a key point. we're going to have to see how the voters in greece react to this, whether -- and whether the coalition that the current government has can hold together based on this. and i want to caution, this is one source. >> yes. >> what's going to happen with this meeting is all of these finance ministers will come out, all of their undersecretaries will come doubtout. everybody will start talking and we'll start to get details and spin as well. >> what is it 20 to 1:00 local time in brussels at the moment. as far as the public of greece
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is concerned, they're getting exactly what they wanted because if there's an agreement in principle, they will stay in the euro, that's what 75% of greeks wanted. the question is where the rubber meets the road. what the austerity will be and what the other terms of any agreement will be. i'm surprised that they've agreed in principle to agree without actually having nailed that down. i don't know michelle. >> yeah. i mean let's see. i want to definitely hear what the greek finance minister says when he comes out because that's going to give us a lot of clarity on those very issues you're talking about, simon. >> we've also got christine lagarde, the head of the imf in the meetings at this point. thei 346789 f imf is one of the creditors. the ecb is a creditor. the germans are a big creditor. here we are again going late into the night with the euro group meetings. >> yes, yes. and so let's see -- we understand that they're preparing a statement at this moment and let's see the
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statement when it finally comes out. >> why do you think we won't see a finalization until monday michelle? it's kate again. >> they had to work out the technical details of the extension of the current program. and why there are more technical details to be worked out, i could not get clarity on. >> yeah. all right. we'll leave it there for now. thank you, michelle for bringing us that. we're seeing the euro go into positive territory. 1.1325. we saw a little pop in s&p futures. this is the kind of reaction investors were looking for. >> that's a great scoop for michelle. i was looking at the "ft" and other sites and nobody seems to be reporting this yet. >> we'll see what happens when the finance ministers come out. >> harry wilson pushing general motors to push that $8 million share buyback. >> but one watcher says the move may be in the best interest of the united autoworkers, not gm
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we've got a rally going on for cisco shares in the afterhours. jon fortt has more on the company's results. >> that's right. the stock up more than 3% after hours after john chambers gave guidance on the call. unusual, normally he doesn't give it. the guidance was in line with analysts' expectations. a lot of big enterprise players had taken the opportunity to guide down given fx and other headwinds and because cisco is
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known to sandbag their guidance chambers talking about how strong cisco has been over the last six quarters saying they have gone from negative 6% to 7% growth in q2 and saying we remain cautiously optimistic. we continue to listen to the call. the stock up nearly 4%. >> you mentioned europe middle east africa why would they have done so well? >> it's not clear. and so analysts will certainly want to know on the call because chambers said they even had growth in southern europe which john chambers was not slow to point out was unusual in the enterprise enterprise. they had had trouble there along with everyone else but they're managing to find growth in that region and also in asia at large, though china was down 19%, overall i think he was saying in the region it was down just 1%. >> thanks john. >> at first it seemed like it was just another activist investors at work but our next guest says something else is in play here. we're talking about harry
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wilson, the restructuring expert who served on president obama's auto industry task force during the financial crisis and was instrumental in bringing gm out of bankruptcy. now wilson is a gm activist investor and represents hedge funds holding a total of 34 million shares asking general motors' ceo mary barra for a seat on the board and is pressing for a stock buyback. >> our next guest is a former gm bondholder who says the company isn't so financially healthy it should burn through its reserves and believes wilson's move is designed to boost the united autoworkers union and more he says than the gm shareholders. mark joins us. he's an associate fellow at the national legal and policy center. also with us kevin o'leary, chairman of o'leary funds and more importantly than all, a "shark tank" investor. mark, make your case, if you would. >> hello, simon. i think this is just a farce and
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the first evidence is look at gm's performance since the ipo which is a little over four years ago. underperformed the s&p 500 by close to 70%. so the idea that this underperformance is coming because they have too much cash on their balance sheet is nonsense. so now we have harry wilson re-entering the scene. mr. wilson best known as one of president obama's men on the auto task force, helped crush the individual bondholders to the benefit of the uaw. since then the teamsters insisted he join yrc, worldwide's board, to help with their negotiations in restructuring. now he's coming back to gm to spend more of the taxpayer supplied money. coincidentally, uaw still owns about $5 billion worth of gm common shares. i'm betting those are the shares that are going to be purchased at a premium or at the least they can start selling those as this is run up.
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hedge funds benefit, mr. wilson benefits uaw benefits. it looks like a big pump and dump. >> that's certainly one view. kevin o'leary, what's your take and are you shareholder? >> no i'm not. i would never buy gm shares because i actually think something very unholy occurred in the restructuring of gm. instead of letting the natural darwinian forces of the market actually take these assets, completely cleanse them through bankruptcy, the way it should have occurred we took my money as a taxpayer, your money, and allowed it to go through a very evil and unholy restructuring. didn't cleanse -- i look at it this way. claims the legacy cost -- >> mark hang on. kevin to the point that's being made here do you think it would be to the benefit of shareholders now if that cash was returned? they don't return enough cash to the shareholders and after all,
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it does belong to them. >> the business model is broken. we should have bankrupt that relationship put it through a cleansing so that it started as a new company, competitively on a global basis, and went out there and competed. the reason you're seeing it underperform continually and even now is because it bears legacy costs that were not shed through the bankruptcy. it was a huge mistake and you paid for it as an american taxpayer. i paid for it as a taxpayer. i'm outraged. >> we've got to leave it there. it is a heated discussion. an ongoing one. >> well-said. >> thank you very much. 2015 certainly has not been kind to the tech sector so far. >> but can tech turn it around? we've got the bull and bear case. that's next on "closing bell."
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turned around. red hat, semantic all of those leading the gains and that's putting it merely in line with the broader s&p 500's performance year to date. you can see that right here. a number of experts like tech in 2015. black rock chief investment strategist russ costrich thinks the sector is not cheap, looks reasonable. he says these are cyclical stocks that tend to have low debt and farewell in a rising rate environment. however, the sector is still facing strong headwinds from currency since an estimated 60% of tech revenues are coming from overseas, and that's why other folks are more bearish this year. so mike o'rourke at jones trading is particularly worried about large caps that are exposed to slowing global growth and a strengthening u.s. dollar. names like microsoft and intel that were outperformers last year in 2014. you can see here on weak
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guidance during the earnings season. it remains to be seen, who's right, the bulls or the bears but here's why it matters so much. according to o'rourke the tech sector drove the majority of the s&p's gains for the past two years. you can see that right here. 29% in 2014. and 17% in 2013. so keeping an eye on the tech sector. guys, back to you. >> morgan, thank you. more "closing bell" after this. startup-ny. it's working for new york state.
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already 55 companies are investing over $98 million dollars and creating over 2100 jobs. from long island to all across upstate new york, more businesses are coming to new york. they are paying no property taxes no corporate taxes no sales taxes. and with over 300 locations, and 3.7 million square feet available, there's a place that's right for your business. see if startup-ny can work for you. go to startup.ny.gov. 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 and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain as it may cause an unsafe drop in
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breaking news on netflix. julia has the details. >> that's right. netflix accidentally posting season three of "house of cards" two and a half weeks before it was scheduled to be released. netflix issuing a statement saying due to a technical glitch some fans got a sneak peek. it will be back on february 27th. guys, back over to you. >> "fast money" with tes lala earnings starts right now. >> "fast money" with an earnings alert on tesla. those numbers expected to be out any second now.
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>> you mentioned oil prices. they have to change the narrative a little bit. we know that they have this suv, but it's also going to be a high end luxury aielectric car. this is the mass market product. and so if there's any pushout, and we don't get real clarity on the model three, this is what's going to drive the stock right here. so to me i think you have to way. i don't think you buy the stock right here. i think if it goes down a whole heck of a lot if there is the disappointment, then it could be a good buy back towards that 180 level. >> what's the options move? >> they're expecting a significant move. to dan's point, on a selloff down underneath 200, i think it's a buy. i think you have to be very
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