d your team to give you support. that will tell you a lot on how your success is going to be. hopefully they get a good team around them. >> good work derrick. thank you. thank you, dr. j. >> thank you. i'll see you on "fast" tonight. >> thank you very much, "closing bell" begins right now. welcome to "closing bell" on this tax day. a happy reminder. >> don't remind me. it was going well. >> buzz kill. i'm bill griffith at the new york stock exchange. >> i'm michelle caruso-cabrera in for kelly evans. the nasdaq threatening to close above that 5,000 mark. it's only done so twice since the dotcom bubble burst 15 years ago. we'll take you to the close, see if we can get it done one more time. right now 5,018. that's pretty good. >> speaking of which, here's something that traders on the

floor of the new york stock exchange have been thinking about all day today, late in the session over in germany, the dax index had been in rally mode until the very end. look at that sell-off. >> fell out of bed. >> and finished with a gain of three points. some of the traders are wondering if the same thing could happen here in this last hour with the dow up 108 points. just something to think about as we go toward the close. we'll keep an eye on that here. meantime, also an hour from now, netflix will be reporting earnings. that stock has been up 38% just this year. it's now approaching $500. it's $474 right now. could the earnings push it past that mark? it's been very volatile. we'll have the numbers the moment they cross the tape. we'll have some of the best analysis on wall street coming up as well at the same time. also in one hour the treasury secretary of the united states, jack lew sits down with sara eisen. so much to get into with him.

what does he think about ted cruz wanting to get rid of the irs? stay tuned for this important interview. in the meantime let's get you caught up on the markets. rally mode as we said the dow up 104, comfortably above 18,000, the s&p is up 14. the nasdaq up 41 points right now. comfortably above 5,000 as you mentioned. meanwhile, oil surging today, huge gains there. let's go to jackie deangelis who's standingably by at the nymex. >> we were up $3.10 in your 6% move wti finishing at $56.39. now, first reasoning for this was that we got an eia inventory report this morning. it was a small build, much less than we've seen in recent weeks and months. traders took that as a positive sign that the supply/demand

balance is starting to come into play for the bet per meantime geopolitical tensions in the middle east also causing some nervousness. definitely adding to the upside movement here. but still, on the fundamental side it's going to take a while to work itself out. technically we keep driving higher. the question is really is this a head fake or is it the real thing? have we finally found a bottom? i will tell you this we've seen a lot of volatility this year. moves of 4% to the upside and the downside, 22 times this year. those are big swings in either direction. so it's really hard to say if today's move is really monumental or not. the market certainly will tell us in the coming days. back to you. >> that is for sure. jackie, thank you very much. let's get to our "closing bell" exchange. we have a lot to talk about today. keith vincejeryl is with us. meg green, interestingly is the head of meg green and associates. nathan bacharach from simply money and rick santelli joins us

from chicago as well. keith fitzgerald a lot of trepidation about the earnings to come. so far they've been better than anticipated. you're not surprised about that, are you? >> no, i'm not. i mentioned a couple weeks ago i thought that was going to be the case. i'm suspicious because the derivatives exposure they carry. i'm encouraged here. this is all about confidence right now. so far, it's holding. >> jack what do you i don't i this of the earnings so far? >> larry kudlow says earnings are the life blood of stocks. as the financials come out, break down the numbers. the trading numbers are actually bigger. these companies, these banks, these financials are making money trading throughout all this volatility. that's something that doesn't

translate into growth down the year. >> nathan bacharach, the bar was set low in terms of expectations. but we shouldn't get too carried away with the kind of growth we're going to see from the first quarter. >> there's not going to be much to write home at all about. this market is trading on fedmentals. growth is moderate. it's okay to start trading stocks again. on the other hand, what's, i think really curious, we say this from a distinct midwest perspective, wall street is waiting around for the consumer. our simply money survey is clear, the consumer is allowing that money it's a happy accident, building up in checkings and savings. 20% of people are spending the savings they're seeing at the pump right now. main street is saying you know what, i go to costco things are

cheap. i don't worry too much about corporate earnings out here in the midwest if i'm a consumer i'm very happy with the way things are. wall street, you figure it out. by the way, the way wall street is figuring it out, we have a high jump called earnings. we put the bar on the floor and say can we jump over it. >> meg, what do you think of the earnings picture at this point? are you satisfied with it? and what does it lead you to do when it comes to what you're buying or selling? >> you know what i'm satisfied with the earnings but the s&p is up 2.5% this year. take a look overseas take a look at the emerging markets. look at europe. you have to be balanced and diversified. this is a call for diversification. we're definitely stock picker as opposed to index. if you're not balanced and diversified, you are missing huge returns. europe at bay, emerging markets up 9. within there there's always kinds of problems going on. it's a ball anded portfolio. the s&p is part of it. the dow is part of it.

>> why is it so strong is that because of quantitative easing? is the same going to happen in europe do you think? >> ecb-onomics. >> bingo, michelle. we called it. here it is. there's no surprise. people who were running away from europe and the emerging markets, remember boys and girls, buy low, sell high. it's a great opportunity. it was, to get into those markets and they're flying. we saw this happening. >> you have to hedge that position. you can't go running over to europe and not have a hedge position. >> that's the comment about balance. >> you'll go, how come when i translate it into dollars i didn't make a lot of money? you have to have a hedge over there. >> hang on, hang on guys. let me bring rick into this as well. he won't start until we acknowledge him here. what do you make of all the moves in the markets today? >> oh, goody. >> a huge rally in oil, the collapse of the dax late in the session what's going on with the dollar here?

the interest rates, what's the big feature for you today? >> well it was what about three months ago where the average headline i was reading every other e-mail was energy, a ticking time bomb. well, it didn't really turn out that way. i think when you use a commodity as aggressively as energy with the geopolitical world like we live in i'm not shocked. did i call the exact day or the exact week or month? no. but it makes sense. as far as what's going on with the dax, exhibit "a," let's look at a 24-hour chart of the euros versus the dollar. that's volatility. it looks like a crown, up down up, down. that's going to continue. in terms of the bar being low in terms of earnings we all know that's true. i continue to say, you know whether it's corporations that are buying stock back because the real mother milk of this market is low interest rates. and everybody's in. whether it's corporations whether it's the end user, i continue to think that the main feature is, it's going to all continue because central banks

are just not going to be able to do much about it. even china. what's the story today? the weakest growth since the crisis. what's the residual story? well, what kind of stimulus are they going to do? that's what we're conditioned to do. >> 7% 7% growth in china. guess what i take 7% growth here any day. >> absolutely. >> all day long. >> that's not real growth, though. 7% is not real growth. >> the way to change that matters. >> the thing that we're seeing in china, all right, is a turn a turn takes a while. this is all part of the global growth story. pay attention, not only to china but what is going on in mumbai. look at kuala lumpur. the world is coming together. there is a global growth story and we are going to be the beneficiaries when we talk about this mean a fed-mentals market

or a fed-driven market every market is a fed-driven market. i've been in this industry for 30 years. [ talking at once ] >> china is growing to slow down and what we're talking about here is a long runway for china. so china, the only thing china can do is mess up the party by having more uncontrolled growth. i don't think they play a major role moving forward. they nullify themselves. >> china is the 800-pound gorilla in the room. they are the undisputed kings of capitalism for now. they'll play a role for decades to come. >> you're absolutely right, keith. >> there's no need to think they're going to go anywhere. >> what does it mean right now in terms of what you do with the stock portfolio? do you focus day to day on whether china is growing 7.1, 7.2 or. 7.5?

or do you buy netflix? >> you do what every qualified ceo is doing, you're looking around the world, assembling a portfolio of growth something that will produce earnings in the future. china, it's a part of their investment portfolio. i don't care what s&p company it is. that's how the game is played. to think that china will go away people have been making that call for 40 years. for 40 years they've been dead wrong. those who have gone to china have done very well. >> thanks, guys. very spirited. >> yes, we never have to work very hard with these guys. they take off. we just have to hold them back a little bit here. good to see you all. thank you for joining us. see you later. >> 49 minutes left in the trading session. so far, still dae sent gains with the dow up 106 points the s&p up 14. s that back-- nasdaq has been the standout. netflix reporting earnings after the bell. we'll bring you the numbers the

second they hit the tape along with instant analysis from the pros. stock has been on a crazy tear this year, selling off a little bit before the numbers are out. up in e, for the first time ever americans are spending more money eating out than they are on groceries. the experts will weigh in on what this says about our economy when we come back on "closing bell." stay tuned. doug. you've been staring at that for awhile, huh? listen, td ameritrade has former floor traders to help walk you through that complex trade. so you'll be confident enough to do what you want. i'll pull up their number. blammo. let's get those guys on the horn. oooo looks like it is time to upgrade your phone, douglass. for all the confidence you need. td ameritrade. you got this.

45 minutes left. rally mode today on tax day. the dow up 99 points. let's show you the ten sectors inside the s&p 500 index. nine of them are positive with that huge rally in oil, energy leads the way to the upside up 2.25%. consumer staples are the laggard today, down a fraction. we have the beige book out a little over an hour ago showing slow steady growth. didn't have much impact on the markets here. >> let's talk to steve lease maniesman who joins us now.

he has takeaway from the beige report. >> it's worth pointing it out, it's a collection of economic anecdotes from the 12 federal reserve districts compiled into one place. it says a little bit weaker growth. the beige book saying economic growth was moderate slight and steady depending upon what district you were in rather than an overall moderate which we've gotten previously. it blamed it on three factors that we've been talking about, the strong dollar and harsh weather. i want to go into the detail about the effects of the strong dollar. most of them negative. at hurts chemical experts in dallas, a falloff in canadian shoppers, that can be any kind of shoppers in the united states, was reported in new york and overseas manufacturing profits, we know this story, quote, down significantly. then i want to turn to the other big thing, oil. they talked about oil-related layoffs in multiple districts that were out there. here's some of the details. energy suppliers, these are the

folks that supply the equipment to oil manufacturing were hurt in five districts across the country. it helped tourism in the atlantic district which includes florida, because people are driving now. drilling rigs are down, but production was strong. lower manufacturing prices were seen in chicago. a little give and take. it was bullish on real estate in language that i had not previously seen. i want to show you an exact quote if the beige book here. context across the system uniformly reported they were optimistic and many expect a greater than normal upswing in home sales. so maybe that weakness guys is behind us. some of the strength in the economy, especially, residential real estate could be yet to come. >> we just had a long discussion with our market guests who are pretty divided. one guy was like the u.s. economy is taking off, we're at the turn now in the time. and saw it as such a reason to buy stocks right now, steve. >> from what i could tell

there's three forces out there, the weather hurt us in february. the dollar seems to be hurting us although there are some positives not as apparent and then there's oil prices. some of this stuff will be working out over the next several months. i don't feel like we're on the cusp of a boom here. some of the bounce-back of pronounced weakness seems to be in the cards. >> don't move. we want to talk about another story that can be seen as a different kind of economic indicator. >> this is a great story. according to new data released by the commerce department last night, americans spent more money to dine out than they did on groceries in the month of march. first time that's happened, going back to 1992. what does this say about our economy right now? essentially this was millennials versus baby boomers. you can guess which way we were going. >> joining us now along with steve is chris lowe from ftn financial. what do you make of these numbers? i presume you believe them. why do you think they're happening? >> it's very much a story about demographics.

it's baby boomers who are trying to save money, you know. they undersave for retirement. they're eating in more but there are more millennials than boomers. and they tend to be frugal but they also tend to live in cities and they like to eat out. they like to customize their food. and this is a combination, not just of sales in restaurants but also people taking advantage of apps like grub hub and seamless to get meals sent to them. >> what do you make of that steve? this is very much a demographic story and the demographic change we're seeing in this country, the boomers have dominated for so long. here come the millennials. they are a huge portion of our economy as well. what do you make of the impact they're going to have? >> i agree with what chris is saying. if you don't mind, i'd like to talk about a different aspect of it. i want to talk about economic cycles and what this says about

where we are. we had a case of eating out interruptous. were those lines back before it flattened out, the orange line flattened out? that's before the financial crisis. we were on track for eating out to become bigger than groceries and buying food at the store. but the financial crisis came along, people started to save. now we're getting back. when i see this bill i see a return to normalcy a return to the prefinancial crisis trend, pre prerecession. i think people are feeling better about themselves, able to go out. it's one of the first discretionary items that is cut. i think there is a demographics story there but also what we see is food and restaurants have found a way to deliver ral yew at a lower price. i don't know anybody better than michelle who understands the economics of that. >> speed and -- i think there's a lot of faster eating options, right? >> faster, better but not crap. that's the thing. you can go out and quickly and relatively inexpensively --

>> yes. >> when people come over from other countries, they cannot believe the ratio of food over price in this country. >> that's so true steve. >> i'm glad you brought that up. let's bring up that chart. you no he what i noticed about this chart? we're all eating more. it's all going up. we're eating out more. is that population inflation or are we getting heavier? >> let me point out another wrinkle, chris. millennials are eating out but they're eating fast food. they're not eating at the fast casual places. they're eating the cheaper food that's out there. so are we really going to see a growth rate in spending down the road when both of these huge demographic groups are not going to be big spenders? >> we will. we will see growth but you're going to have to see some changes in the industry. one of the best examples of that is traditional restaurants like

mcdonald's suffering because they don't offer that customization where others like chipotle that do are taking off. there has been a shift in preferences as well that goes along with this. but i do think steve's point about this being discretionary is key. this is one of the almosts that makes me optimistic retail is going to come back in the second quarter. >> you know what, steve, really quick, there's a caveat here. they didn't include grocery stores at places like walmart, target and costco. there's been a big shift as well. it could be the way they gather the data is antiquated. >> people buying in bulk and transferring the inventory from the farm or the warehouse to your house. that's what's been happening. i think that's a significant part of it. that probably is left out. i like your point earlier,

michelle, everything seems to be on the way up. if you ask a person tell me one thing you'd like to be relieved of from your responsibilities? cooking or cleaning up the dishes. >> i have a rule at my house, the cook doesn't wash the dishes that's why i do the cooking. >> i'm still wait for the dinner invitation. >> you got it. >> all right. we have about 37 minutes before the closing bell. the dow jones industrial average is up 101 points. triple digit gain still. and the nasdaq is well above 5,000, a gain of 40 points at 5,017 right now. >> you know what etsy is. >> yes. >> they're gearing up to price their initial public offering tonight. should you buy the stock when it starts trading tomorrow? we have a bull/bear debate whether you need to put shares of etsy in your portfolio?

>> central banking head this morning. what do we call this? we call this a glitter bomb. right. we'll explain later. >> it was a scary moment. >> we'll explain later on "closing bell." big day? ah, the usual. moved some new cars. hauled a bunch of steel. kept the supermarket shelves stocked. made sure everyone got their latest gadgets. what's up for the next shift? ah, nothing much. just keeping the lights on. (laugh) nice. doing the big things that move an economy. see you tomorrow, mac. see you tomorrow, sam. just another day at norfolk southern. bring us your aching... and sleep deprived. bring us those who want to feel well rested and ready to enjoy the morning ahead.

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the dow up 100 points. nasdaq is having a good day. dominic chu keeping an eye on the movers. >> let's start off with firepower here. smith and wesson shares up 12%. the company boosted estimates for its current quarter and fiscal year that will end this month. the gunmaker is citing stronger than expected firearm sales and recent sales, they do single demand for consumer handguns and how it's returning to some semblance of normal. smith and wesson up 5this year. the ceo of angie's list is stepping down after 20 years with the company. those shares up by 9%. alcatel luis sienecent down on the news that it will be bought by nokia. we'll watch one more thing. etsy is getting ready to price its ipo after the bell today. at the high end, the company

would be worth $1.7 billion. so another possible possible hot ipo in the cards if this thing gets all the attention they hope they do michelle bill, back over to you. >> we'll talk about that more. right now, dom, should investors be shopping for etsy stock once it goes public? >> we have a bull and a bear. our bull is brian hamilton from sage works. james gehler is our bear from rapid ratings international. he says its weak profitability makes it risky. >> brian, i always thought you were crafty. is this why you like it? what's at traction here? >> how often do i get on this show, bill in the last two years and say a tech company is a buy. this one i think is a good company. they've got good growth. james is going to argue about the profitability. i agree with him but remember they have positive cash flow from operations. and cash is king especially in the tech sector where most companies are not generating positive cash flow.

a good niche market they should be able to protect it. i like the company. >> okay. >> james you're the bear here. >> i think brian is correct. they have cash and they'll have more cash tomorrow.at the end of the day, if this is a long-term good investment etsy has to be able to show they can have a good path to profitability ultimately. companies have to be profitable. when you look at etsy it looks like a lot of companies like a box. it has a long road to prove they can be sustainable. >> why don't they make money? they lost 5 million or $15 million last year. they said in their s.e.c. filing brian, essentially i'm paraphrasing we're not likely to be profitable -- >> for a while. >> yes. why don't they turn a profit? >> james, yes, usually i'm the james here right? >> right. >> profitability is important but, look cash flow is way more important than profits.

profits is a cool-based accounting term. i'm always talking about that. my beef with tech companies is when they don't have profits and they don't have cash flow. this company for the last three years is generating positive cash. >> got it. you've made that point. james, can you answer the question, why aren't they profitable yet? >> they're not profitable yet because they need much bigger critical mass. they're in a niche market that niche has to grow and they've got to get more and more buyers and sellers through their system. they're spending a lot now. you look at the filings, they are planning to spend a lot more in visibility marketing. >> it's not making it easier or faster, it's about just getting marketing, get more people to do it? >> the wording is very much about exposure. look brian's right. cash flow is important. financial health rate, which has it rated at 23 is a measure of 70 plus different elements that are looking at the myriad

changes. profitability is one of them. >> okay. >> guys we have to go. >> okay. >> all right. sorry, brian. >> i'll get you next time. >> we'll put you on the bear side next time. >> no problem. >> see you later. if they do price, we'll have that pricing of etsy coming up next hour on "closing bell." it's time for a cnbc news update. >> lufthansa and french officials held a join the news conference to discuss the ongoing investigation and cleanup of last month's germanwings crash. they told reporters 80% of the debris from the plane has been cleared. there will be a memorial service on friday in cologne, germany. one person was killed and scores of homes destroyed when two earthquakes struck in northern china. you can see that surveillance video shows panicked people running out of buildings as one

of the earthquakes hit. he is the highest-ranking judge in the united states but even chief justice john roberts gets called for jury duty. he reported in montgomery county, maryland as a potential juror in an automobile negligence case. he was not selected. a texas family has expanded by five with the birth of the first set of female quintuplets in the united states. danielle and adam buzbee are the proud parents of five girls born on april 8th in a houston hospital. start saving for college now. i cannot even imagine. they are going to be so tired and busy but i'm sure very happy. that's it. back to you. >> thank you, sue, very much. >> we have 28 minutes before the "closing bell." the nasdaq is up 40.

the dow up 108. as if we didn't have enough to worry about when flying a federal watchdog group warning that u.s. commercial flights are hackable by passengers using the plane's own wireless entertainment system. right? okay. we'll speak with hackers who will tell us how this could happen and how much you should be concerned about it when we continue on "closing bell." well, a mortgage shouldn't be a problem your credit is in pretty good shape. >>pretty good? i know i have a 798 fico score thanks to the tools and help on experian.com. kaboom... well, i just have a few other questions. >>chuck, the only other question you need to ask is, "what else can you do for me?" i'll just take a water... get your credit swagger on. become a member of experian credit tracker and find out your fico score powered by experian. fico scores are used in 90% of credit decisions. ♪ if you're looking for a car that drives you...

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one feature in today's market, we highlight the gains we're seeing in other averages. the s & p 400, the midcap stocks hit an intraday high. >> do you think they're less influenced by the dollar maybe they have more domestic sales, that kind of thing? >> 3-d systems, some resource companies are doing good today. that puts the midcap in record territory. >> a disturbing new government report out says that airplane

why phi wi-fi services can be hacked possibly by the person sitting next to you or behind you on that flight. >> wow. the report suggests those wi-fi systems could be used to gain control of the plane. possibly crash it. how could it happen? how realistic is this? let's bring in david kennedy, the ceo of trusted sec, i assume that's for security and also a white hack hacker that used to work for the national security agency. david, i'm going to start with you, explain to me is this reality? how does this work? i get in there, i open up my computer, log into the wi-fi system. what would i do if i wanted to try to take control of the plane? >> you have the public wi-fi space which is where the normal users can go into. there's a fire wall that separates it between the aviation equipment. the gao is saying it's possible to breach that fire wall and get control of the aviation systems and from there take control of

the plane, potentially crash it or steer it in a different direction. it would require somebody who would at least be a skilled hacker. >> steve, what do we do about this? we're talking the same wiring system on the flights or could you separate them? what do you do? you're the expert on this. >> no. we really have to put this in perspective. it's important that people don't misinterpret this report by thinking that connecting into the cockpit is the same as connecting into theive ive aavionics. we're using well understood security protocols and defense mechanisms. the government is right to draw attention to this but we really need to understand that folks can fly safely. the transportation system is actually safer than it's ever been. i have a lot of confidence in

the systems that are in place. it is a very good thing for us to look at anything that has this level of criticality. >> the headline is it's possible but not likely. is that correct then steve? >> yes. so i think that nothing is ever impossible, but i think we also need to understand that the transportation, especially the aviation industry is world-class in setting up their systems for redundancy for security and what they've done for the systems that are in place today have many many measures that are in place to protect against the of scenario we're talking about. >> okay. >> with that said i think it is great that this is getting exposure and is an area for the industry to put extra focus on. >> david, we said possible but not probable. you agree with that? and tell me could you do this? do you think you could successfully do this if you wanted to. >> i agree with steve to a

certain extent. the faa has a lot of safety regulations in place to try to prohibit these types of attacks. there's another study that came out about two months ago that showed that the faa had no security controls in place, that they couldn't detect or monitor for intrusions. so i think this is a much larger scale issue when it comes to good security practices. while safety's a big concern, i don't know if it's necessarily been in the cyberspace or the technology space yet. a lot of these systems while they do set them up and do decent controls it's possible to breach them and go after them. it's definitely possible. the g.o. pointed out there were exposures identified as part of it. >> you notice he didn't answer whether or not he could do it. >> we called you a white hat hacker. you're a good guy but you could still do that. could you hack into a plane's security system. >> with technology you can hack into it. it's just a matter of how much

time you have. could i hack into it? probably. >> thank you for your insights. >> we'll have cyber crime cops of the future. think about that. imagine if you had a car that's driverless, could somebody program your car to drive it off a cliff? >> take you some place else. the horror. >> 20 minutes to go in the trading session here. we're coming off the highs. the dow is up 86 points right now. had been up 120 at the high of the session. s&p up 12 nasdaq up 36. no european central bank news conference has been this exciting. it's scary for a moment. >> it is. >> what does today's protest there have in common with the fast food strike going on here in the united states? we'll tell you and why we may need to be concerned. there's a heck of a segue. netflix raising the curtain on earnings after the bell. we'll have the results the second they hit the time along with instant analysis and market response. coming up. stay tuned.

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so it's no longer a triple digit rally for the dow jones industrial average but it's still up positive territory by 81 points. the nasdaq still steadily above 5,000, 5,013. now it's up only 35 points

rather than 40 as earlier. >> that would be the third close above 5,000 ever if we do it today. >> i know. gosh, it took more then a decade since that very first time. >> fourth time i guess. >> it's been a day full of protests for those who say the rich have too much it and they want more. this morning, european central bank president mario draghi was interrupted when a woman charged at him calling for an end to the ecb dictatorship. >> i want to know how she got in there. >> she pretended to be a journal journalist. she's crazy enough looking. right? protests across the united states with fast food workers calling for a minimum wage increase to $15 an hour. >> former treasury secretary hank paulson was on "squawk box" this morning. he talked about the wealth disparity. he says it's a real problem. >> in this income disparity is a serious problem. and i think we're not going to grow at the level we need or begin to solve this unless we get some important things done. >> like what?

>> and these are -- so i could just tick them off. we need to restore the competitiveness of the u.s. economy. we need a corporate income tax system that lets our companies be competitive with those around the world. we need a federal income tax system that lets us raise revenues we need and create jobs. >> so should we expect these kinds of protests and outbursts to ramp up until there is some solution to this income gap we keep talking about? joining us with our thoughts diana is back with us from the manhattan institute, gary from the brookings institution is joining us as well. thanks for joining us. gary what do you make of this? do you think we'll see more protests? i'll give you the question we started off with here. >> i don't think we'll see very many protesters go to the street asking for the program that hank paulson laid out. lower corporate taxes and those

other items he mentioned. i think they're asking for higher minimum wage more gal galitarian distribution. it probably means we'll have higher taxes at the top. >> diana, what do you make of this? do we have rising income inequality in this country and what should be done about it? >> we have a lot of income inequality in this country. we also have a lot of mobility. we need to make sure that mobility continues. we need to make sure people at the bottom have a chance to get up to the top with good education, even though we're the most unequal country in the world, one of them anyway. millions of people want to come into the united states in search of opportunities that we have. so there is nothing wrong with inequality. we need to make sure --

>> i want to underline this you're saying we should accept the tradeoff that yes, we have greater income disparity but that's because we have more mobility and if you try to get rid of the nick disparity, the mobility goes away which would be a greater problem? >> i'm not saying we have income inequality because of the mobility. i'm saying as well as income inequality, we also have mobility, which is why so many people all over the world want to come here. what we need to do is make sure this mobility is real that we educate people at the bottom. we don't send them to failing schools where there's a 55% graduation school. >> got it. >> so they have a chance to have well-paying college, go to college or community college, get a job, work their way up. >> do you buy that tradeoff gary? >> i don't think it's a tradeoff. >> i don't think there's any evidence whatsoever that we have more mobility than countries with whom we typically compare ourselves, great britain, canada sweden germany. in fact, there's a lot of

evidence suggesting that the bottom of the income distribution we have less upward mobility than these other countries do. it's no surprise that people want to come to the united states from poorer parts of the world. we are more accepting of immigrants than much of the world is. and come on compared with people in latin america, africa most of asia incomes are definitely higher even if you come in in the bottom 10% of our income distribution. there's no mystery about why people want to come in. >> very quickly, gary would raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour solve this problem? >> you know $15 in one jump is a little bit of a stretch. i think there would be adverse employment consequences. but boosting it to 10 bucks or 12 bucks an hour is certainly feasible without very much in the way of adverse employment consequences. >> okay. thank you, lady and gentleman. >> appreciate it. never enough time. we have about 11 minutes before the bell.

the dow jones industrial average is in positive territory right now. still losing steadily some steam here as we get to the close 78 points is the gain down from the more than 100 points we saw earlier. nasdaq close above 5,000, well within sight. >> again. >> finally. netflix out with earnings after the bell. sara eisen sits down with jack lew, treasury secretary. don't go anywhere. that's after this. legalzoom. legal help is here. when the moment's spontaneous, why pause to take a pill? 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.

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it's tax day. may be the source of frustration for millions of americans but for investors, there's actually good reason to cheer. >> yes, dominic chu has that story now. you got to hear it's also been killing it on cnbc pro today. >> it has. we already know april is a seasonably strong time for stocks but what happens to those markets in and around tax day? so we asked our friends and data partners over at kencho to crunch the numbers on five days after tax day. here's how the numbers stacked out. we looked at the nasdaq composite, s&p 500 and the russell 2000 small cap index. it turns out in the five trading days right after tax day, the

nasdaq composite has actually been up nine out of the last ten years in that five-day span right after tax day. on average, the nasdaq composite is up 1.3%. again, positive 09% of the time. if you look at the russell 2000 small cap index, the best performer on average among our sample of three here it's up an average of 1.4%. it's been up 8 out of the last 10 years. if you look at the s&p 500, also up nearly a percent. it's up 70% of the time. again, in the five trading days right after tax day over the last ten years, we've seen some strong moves for some of these major indices. we'll see if that carries over this time. again, for more on the story go to cnbc.com/pro. interesting look there. bill, michelle april is typically a strong month for stocks. you have to put it in that context when you look at these numbers, guys. back over to you. >> suggesting maybe it didn't have the anything to do with tax day. >> maybe. >> thanks very much. we're coming back with the

closing countdown for this day. netflix unveiling earnings right after the bell. we'll have the numbers. that's sure to move the stock along with full team analysis. plus our colleague, sara eisen sitting down with treasury secretary jack lew. a lot to talk about with him, that's just ahead. you're watching cnbc, first in business world side. ahhh- ahhhhhh. liberate your spine... ahhh-ahhhhhh......aflac! and reach, toes blossoming... not that great at yoga. yeah, but when i slipped a disk he paid my claim in just one day. ahh! so he had your back? yep. in just one day, we approve and pay. one day pay, only from aflac. [duck snoring]

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2 1/2 minutes left in the trading session.

we're watching the nasdaq composite. it's still above 5,000 right now. this would be only the sixth time in history we've closed above that. two times back in 2000. this would be the fourth time in 2015. a gain of 35 points right now at 5,012. two earmark etteother markets to review, the dax in germany certainly got a trader's attention. they were in rally mode until the end of trading. a big sell-off and finished up with a three-point gain. oil, very strong today. there are signs that supply is coming down finally and that's pushing prices higher. brent crude was at $60 today and wti crude up about 5%. we're now almost to $56 per barrel. but we're watching the nasdaq as we go to the close here. bob pisani is here as well. you're looking overseas at china. our own market showing signs of

growth. nasdaq a good example. >> it is. some of them are generating 25% earnings growth. china, overseas we think could be the leading edge. one of our etfs is up 60% this year. if you want to look at best performers and emergeing markets, even though the u.s. is melting up, it may be outperforming year to date. >> big thing on china, number one, there's no alternatives for chinese investors. real estate is not very hot, gold is not very hot. they're putting money into the stock market there. the chinese authorities seem to want it it. 4 million new brokerage accounts open in china in march. that's the city of los angeles opening a brokerage account.

>> maybe they're buying nasdaq stocks. >> new highs on the russell 2000. >> midcap as well. stay tune for sara eisen's interview with treasury secretary jack lew. that's coming up on the second hour of the "closing bell." welcome to the "closing bell," i'm michelle caruso-cabrera. bill griffith will rejoin me in just a moment. here's how we're finishing the day on wall street. rally faded, still, positive dow up 72 points as we head to the close. s&p 500 higher been 10.5 points. the nasdaq higher by 33 nearly 34 points. what's key? closing above 5,000 only the third or fourth time in history that's happened. >> sixth time. >> sixth time. >> it was a lot more than i thought. >> two times back in 2000. >> twice in 2000. >> and this is the fourth time

this year that we've done that. >> okay. >> we'll have a lot more on this big market day as well as netflix earnings due out at any moment. breaking news from sara eisen. she just sat down with treasury secretary jack lew. he seems to be optimistic about the economy, is that right? >> plenty of optimism. i started by asking him on the economy, why are we seeing a bigger boost in consumer spending and retail sales as a result of all of those gas savings? here's what he said. >> one thing that's unquestionable is that u.s. consumers have more cash in their pocket because of lower energy prices lower gas prices for the average family means hundreds of dollars, if not more of extra cash that they have. the question of what they do with that cash is a bit of a puz that'll we're all trying to understand. obviously the short-term economic benefit is greatest when it leads to immediate demand, immediate consumption. >> but there's also a benefit to

households fixing their balance sheets. i think it's too early to say what consumers have decided to do. >> how long do you expect this soft patch that we're in that we're coming off of in the first quarter to last? >> i think obviously the first quarter had some unique things going on between a rough winter port strike on the west coast, all of the forecasts that i see show for the remainder of the year to be pretty strong. i feel pretty confident that the economy will do well for the rest of the year. and you know we're going to see from week to week and month to month data that's a little bit noisy. >> now, one thing, guys that he did not mention in terms of the impact, the temporary impact on the first quarter was the strong dollar. you can bet, i grilled him on that. because of course the treasury secretary always says it's in our best interest to have a strong dollar. that's not what corporate america is saying or the data is saying. we had a long discussion about that and talked about this idea of liquidity concerns for the first time really on the record

we got his thoughts on just what happened on october 15th the bond market flash crash when we saw that crazy move in the bond market. really interesting to hear what he said. i'll have all of that for you later on in the show. >> i had a $50 bet with somebody you know very well that you'd ask him about the yen. we'll find out later if i win that bet. >> 50 imnot going to tell you. you'll have to stay tuned to "closing bell." >> can't wait to hear. >> we'll see you in just a bit, sara. let's bring in larry kudlow and carol roth also with us. for more on today's market action. we have "fast money" trader tim seymour. we started to fade away but nasdaq above 5,000, glass half empty or half full? >> my glass is half full. definitely the u.s. markets are trading better they've overcome technical levels on 2085 on the s&p. draghi showed the downside risks are fading emerging markets are

moving higher. it's interesting to see how the tail wind is actually good for those economies. i think the banks are giving you what you need. we'll hear from netflix and some of the high flyers. there's been enough for everybody in a low expectation environment that we continue to trade sideways to hire. >> larry, the bank earnings have come in better than expected. expectations were so low, right? >> we talked about this i don't know if it was late week or the week before. c & i loans, business loans are growing, up 15% from year to year. most of that is thanks to the midsize bank that's a healthy sign. makes me optimistic. i'm actually stunned, still in recovery because of the clip that sara eisen played with jack lew. i actually agree with what he said. i find this a stunning moment. >> what did he say? >> he's relatively optimistic. he blames the winter weather for the lousy gdp.

sounds like he wants a stable dollar and he believes that the energy tax cut will take root with consumer spending. as i said it's a stunning development for me. but i agree. >> but larry, you know who's not optimistic. unfortunately that's the small business owners that their optimism hit a nine-month low yesterday. i think there still remains this disconnect from what is going on on wall street versus what is going on on main street. >> why are they less optimistic? >> why are they less optimist snik whooptimistic? there are loans that are going out to a lot of the bigger companies, it's still more difficult for a smaller business to get access to capital. there's a lot of regulation a lot of taxes. and i think that they are still being cautious. so they are not quite as optimistic as they were previously. >> we want to highlight that we've got netflix numbers that we're going through right now. the stock is starting to trade.

>> it's a complicated report. they are trying to figure out the bottom line. the market is already voting right now, up 10%. julia julia boorstin. >> the company deals with a foreign exchange swing, 38 cents per share, compared to expectations of 69 cents. up just one penny -- sorry, down from 86 cents a year ago. earnings per share coming in lighter than expected. revenue coming in at 1.57 billion, right there with expectations. subscriber additions, the company adding many more subscribers than expected. adding over the course of the quarter, 4.9 million subscribers, total compared to a forecast of 4.1 million subscribers in the quarter. the big upside there, in terms of subscriber additions coming from overseas.

in the u.s. the company gained 2.3 million new subscribers versus a forecast of 1.8 but internationally was the big beat there, adding 2.6 million new streaming subscribers overseas as the company continues to ramp its expansion. looking at the forecast for q2 because of course the company does provide guidance there, it looks like they expect -- the guidance is stronger than wall street had been expecting in terms of those streaming numbers which wall street is paying very close attention to. that foreign exchange number did really seem to hit the earnings per share pretty hard. i'm going to continue to dig back through here. we'll be back with more. >> when you miss that much on the bottom line. >> but subscriber growth is what it's all about. >> which is why the stock was probably higher. >> ross gerber is with us from gerber kawasaki. it is about subscriber not how

much money they're making per se right? >> that's clearly what the market says. this thing is going nuts after hours. i hate this stock, that i don't own it. it's so overvalued yet it still goes higher. it is about subscriber growth. i think that's important long term. they've taken the amazon strategy of grow at all costs and eventually shareholders will make money. the stock is just going crazy. i love it. >> christine, do you think this move is justified based on the subscriber growth. >> i'm shocked by that 38 cent number. when you first flashed it across the screen i thought there has to be a problem here. this is a company known for low-balling guidance. they had 60 cents as expectation. the street was higher than that. over the last eight quarters to give perspective this is a company whose guidance has been 23% lower than what they actually report. we've come to expect them to

low-ball guidance. i take it with a grain of salt at this point. for them to be so far below on the bottom line somewhat surprising, however, we know they've been spending a lot on original content and expansion internationally. it seems to have worked. those numbers are very strong. >> hold that note because we want to get julia back in. she has more details and info. >> more commentary michelle from netflix's numbers here. one of the reasons the overall user numbers are so strong they finished with 62.3 million global subscribers because, because retention continues to improve due to the growing value of the service overall. what that basically means people think with the original content being added to the service, they don't want to drop the service. it's higher retention, they also say here that due to those new additions, better than expected additions, the u.s. contribution margin grew above estimates. margins are getting better and there's also something here about the stock split. there is an s.e.c. filing last

week that indicated they were saying preliminary steps toward the stock split. here in the letter to shareholders, reed hastings says they are seeking shareholder approval for increase in shares. if that is approved, it will recommend a stock split to make the company's stock more accessible. it's trading near an all-time high. >> $534 with that 12.5% gain. ross, you like the company? you think it's expensive here right? >> my problem is i'm a funmental investor and care about ype ratios. it keeps me out of the stock though i love the company. same thing with amazon. this company is a leader in the future of television. that's what they're doing so well. even though they have these huge competitive issues on the horizon, i still think that netflix will be a core part of most people's entertainment system in the future. so netflix is in a great position longer term. and short term. but the issue for me is you know they're really not making money still.

>> they'll have a lot more competitors, aren't they? hbo is -- >> big time. >> apple, sling tv. the fact of the matter is they're doing well in the face of that competition. it's because they're doing a really good job with creating new content and getting access to existing content. >> that's not so true. that competition isn't there yet. the competition is coming. and some of their shows are absolutely horrible, too. did anybody watch "marco polo"? this is a difficult business they're in. let's not underestimate that. >> hold that thought, to use a phrase from kelly evans. julie has more on that very note, right? julia? >> i'm sorry. right now i'm more on competition. there have been questions about whether the launch of hbo now and all these other services over the top services in the works would prove competitive to netflix. reed hastings addresses those issues head on. he says as they've said in the past, they believe netflix and hbr are not substitutes for one

another given the differing con ten. we think both will continue to be successful. we view internet offerings, apple's offering and sony play station view and others. piracy remains the long-term threat mostly outside the united states. clearly undaunted by the launch of hbo now as well as all these other options. clearically all these other options aren't preventing them from continuing to add more than expected subscribers, both in the u.s. and abroad. >> i don't want to give anybody ideas but did you hear the anecdotal story, the number of people who put their cell phones up and periscope edd the episode on to twitter? >> i'm no expert on this but netflix has a big stock of inventory. you can pull out your old favorites. whether these other outfits, i

don't know if hbo will have that, cbs will have that they'll have to buy it. secondly, it's not going to be that easy. to sign up the new players on internet streaming. netscape, i think, to use a phrase -- >> you mean netflix. >> netflix. they've climbed the wall. the others are going to have a wall to climb. and it's not going to be as easy as some people think. i think as long as netflix keeps its subscribers up were they're in good shape. >> i think they're in good shape for the short term. from a long term -- >> you can't couldn't the out hbo. >> you have to ask yourself the question is this a stock i want to be in long term. i think i agree with ross in terms of the type of investor i'm in. this is purely a momentum valuation. >> ross, you were saying don't couldn't the out hbo? >> yes. we're missing a big thing here. entertainment business is about content. and netflix con ten really isn't that great for an adult.

my kid loves it. my kid watches it every day. but as far as when i go on it there's really nothing on there i want to watch. >> they have a lot of -- >> think of the competitive advantages that they have. they have older content that some of the providers don't have. >> kids don't watch that. they're watching "game of thrones". >> in addition to the original content. >> they have to pay a lot for that. >> let's get final thoughts. sthoughts. you have to like it below three times price to sale. which is reasonable for this growth. the key questions is how will they continue to spend and have growth. it's about the international. i think the domestic subs have at least stabilized a marginal decline. i agree with what's been said on the content. i don't think this is a media content company. i think it's a technology company. i think they'll be overpaying for a content or to produce it. at these levels i don't buy the stock. you have to test these levels

first. it will test back down to 48 a5 before it goes to 600. >> ross watch "blood line." it's on netflix. >> is it good? >> it's wonderful. the best show nobody's every heard of. >> i'll check it out. >> we'll see you on "fast money" at 5:00 a.m. >> etsy is expected to price its ipo tonight. could the company be the perfect takeover target? "fast money" with tim seymour and everybody else will be talking about that at 5:00 eastern time. it's a wonderful show "blood line." i don't know why netflix doesn't promote it. they all talk about "house of cards" and so forth. >> stick around a lot more on netflix results coming up in just a moment here. then the stock market closing higher and the stock is tfl is high -- itself is higher on the

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okay netflix is out with earnings moments ago. the stock is going crazy right now because the subscriber

growth was very good right? >> yep given the company's results, what should investors be think when it comes to the stock? we're going to do a stock brawl. brawl it out as we say. david sieberg from cowan and company says it's a buy while david trainer thinks opposite. >> why do you like it see spite the big miss mr. seaburg? >> the q2 guidance with subnumbers was in line with the bull case at 2.9. they came in and met it. i think the stock had a nice run and upgrades we see momentum based on international growth. i think it continues. look, they're in 17 18 markets projected to be in 200 markets by end of 2016. there's a big growth opportunity here. i think it's being looked at -- valued wrong. you can make the argument that

they're value be this company like a traditional media company. it's growing faster than a traditional media company. >> i heard. we have to get mr. trainer in here. >> i could keep going. >> is it too expensive or why don't you like it here? >> it's extremely expensive. this thing is priced like a junk bond. to justify 485 bucks they have to have over 2 billion customers or grow cash flow at 25% compounding annually. margins are negative 20% internationally. so at some point the market stops being a voting machine and becomes a weighing machine. they're not going to find any cash flows to weigh at netflix. if you're thinking about putting investors or clients into the stock, you have to think about risk. i think there's just too much risk here to really make a rationale argument for owning it at this price. >> mr. seaburg, carol roth.

i wanted to ask you about the likelihood of this being a takeover candidate given the competitive space they're in and the median content game being so important going forward. do you think that netflix could potentially be a buyout candidate? >> no, i mean it's possible absolutely. i think this is a company that will be built up into one of the largest media companies around. right? they're there. they're on the edge. they're doing all the right things. their international growth their delivery of con ten is the right on pace. i heard earlier value it like a tech company. if you want to value this like a tech company, it's cheap, right? so value to traditional media, it's cheap. i look at it and say, big growth opportunity, 200 markets by the end of '16. i think they'll continue this momentum and i love the stock. i think long term it will work. >> larry. >> mr. kudlow. >> let's ask mr. trainer, where is the growth coming from in subscriptions? are we talking china, india, or

are we talking tired, old europe? >> i'm not sure about the breakdown between europe and china. the international profit marges are highly negative minus 20%. they're pretty much saturated in the u.s. they have about as many subscribers as hbo. where the profits are there's limited growth opportunity. where there are no profits, they're paying people to be customers or using shareholder capital to pay people to be customers. you're growing an unprofitable business. that's not good long term. that's why you're seeing a miss on bottom line. i don't know for how many quarters the market will accept that. >> hbo is 15 bucks. this is 8.99? >> they're not making any money. >> it doesn't matter. the growth is there. >> it does matter. >> they'll be able to build this business. >> look what amazon said right? >> i hear you. long term -- amazon has turned the corner right? look at the stock chart on amazon. it's done very well. >> look at it over the last several months.

you have a spending problem. >> david can i re-ask my question? >> love you, larry. >> where are the subscriptions coming from? i think that matters a lot. >> i agree. >> is it tired old europe or vibrant asia. >> it's a little bit in tired old europe and australiaia, what have you. they're in 16 to 18 markets right you, expanding to 200. >> why are the marge bes so negative? do they have to advertise like crazy in order to get subscribers. >> there's a tremendous amount of advertisers. >> there's a lot of competition as well. >> look at the u.s. consumption market. it was expected to be roughly 30%. it came in at roughly 30%, which is fine. if that were much lower, i'd be concern. 30 plus plus is what people are looking for and they nailed it. they've done a good job, they've grown their international business appropriately or they're moving the needle there from the standpoint of subgrowth. i think it continues.

>> david trainer, what would you pay for the stock? >> i think it has to be below 250 bucks to be reasonably priced. >> that's a long way away. >> look at the competition from every angle. again, it's about risk. i don't feel like it's appropriate to put clients in something that has that much risk. . >> david seaburg, how much higher before you start to get a nose bleed here? >> i'm not worried. i think the stock right now, we're looking at probably after this quarter, stock up 10%. and i think it works higher. i'm not saying it's going straight up like it did over the past several weeks with all the upgrades. we've seen a tremendous amount of upgrades before the quarter. the stock reacted to that. good numbers, up another 10-ish percent. i think it levels. >> what do you like to say, that's what makes a market? >> something like that. >> i'm always good for those platitudes, aren't i? >> david trainer, david seaburg, thank you so much.

>> thank you to all the folks on twitter who think "blood line" is a great show. >> all three of them. >> no. it's a great show. watch it. coming up next -- he has more followers than that. we're heading back to washington. the rest of sara eisen's one-on-one interview with treasury secretary jack lew is straight ahead. and etsy could price any moment now. we'll have the number as soon as it comes out. we'll bring you the numbers. this could be a big number for tomorrow's trade as well. stay tuned. help northern china reduce its reliance on coal fire heating plants and prevent 60 million tons of co2 emissions? when emerson takes up the challenge it's never been done before simply becomes consider it solved. emerson.

earlier we gave you a taste of sara eisen's one-on-one with treasury secretary jack lew. >> there was much more. here is some of it right now. i know what you're going to say, a strong dollar is in the best interest of the united states especially when it reflections strengthening economic fundamentals versus other economies. >> i guess i've been consistent. >> don't you have to say that though? that's the policy. >> i think when you look at what we were just talking about, the performance of the u.s. economy versus economies around the world, that's the real story. the real story is -- >> it's not helping us. it's hurting us. you look at corporate america, what they are showing during earnings industries, it's hurting the economy, no question. >> if you look at the overall u.s. economic performance, the u.s. economy is strong and in comparative terms to other economies around the world stronger. there are pushes and pulls in different directions.

so one can easily say if any one thing was led to more strength it would be stronger. there's a lot of other factors at work as well. the focus of this week's imf meetings is actually very important. how do we make sure there's stronger growth around the world? that would lead to currency values changing a bit. >> if the dollar does get even stronger from already some unprecedented moves we've seen in a relatively short period of time would you consider doing somebody about it? >> i think the questions of monetary policy i will leave to the federal reserve. that is where those decisions are appropriately made. my core responsibility is to focus on the strength of the u.s. economy. i think we have a strong u.s. economy. i think to the extent that other companies around the world were stronger, it would actually help to address the disparity in currency values. >> we've had two of your predecessor

predecessors, two previous treasury sections on cnbc in the last few days warning about liquidity risks, warning about the fact that regehrulatorsregulators like yourself, need to appreciate the value of market managers when it comes to managing risk and providing liquidity. that was hank paulson on our air this morning. do you share those concerns. >> the liquidity of u.s. market have been of great strength. our treasuries are the most liquid and deepest in the world. it's part of what adds to the strength of the u.s. economy and the strength of the u.s. when you look at the factors that are at play in terms of what's happening in the markets today, there's an awful lot of things beginning on that have been changing. i've heard questions raised that suggest that there may be just one thing that is driving the evolution of economic -- the economic environment.

there are many things at work. we're in a recovery period where we're coming out of low interest rates into a world of more normal interest rates. >> i think specifically the concern was if we were to go through another crisis again, i think jamie dimon mentioned this events like what happened on october 15th in the bond market, for instance make us vulnerable. >> if you look at october 15th, we've looked hard at october 15th. >> what happened? >> 0 kt 15th there were a lot of things going on. there was a period of several days leading up to october 15th where there was heightened sense of risk around the world for health reasons and geopolitical reasons. there were large market participants who had to cover positions and there were a lot of transactions driven by that. there's a huge amount of electronic trading activity. i mean going back to what i was about to say, it reflects the evolution of the market and i

think that there are a number of people who jump to a conclusion that somehow regulatory policy was the reason for what happened on october 15th. i actually don't believe that that was the predominant factor at work on october 15th. there were a lot of other things at work. >> so secretary lew pushing back against the idea that in fact it has been regulators' fault in going too far on some of the financial regulation that it's hurting the liquidity. it's been a hot topic of conversation. i thought it was interesting, he's looking into this fact but he is against that idea that it's regulators' fault. in terms of greece we had to talk about that again, guys as we find ourselves yet again at these imf world bank meetings on the brink of another major deadline, i asked whether greece would be able to come with a deal with its creditors to prevent it from running out of money. he says we'll be active in the discussions and pushing everyone

to the table. it is in greece's best interest. this is not going to be a pain-free event for greece if they let it run out without coming to some sort of deal. obviously that's top of mind. all of these world leaders, finance ministers and central bankers descend on washington to prevent yet another greek crisis. as you know very well michelle. >> yes. we'll see if they can manage it. >> deadline is an artificial construct by the way. the greeks made it up. >> always are. >> let greece go out. i don't think it matters one whit. it might that particular day. they're all totally prepared for it. the banks -- >> wolfgang schroyble said the same thing. >> greece is like that family member, hey, can i borrow a few dollars this week? i'm short this week. it's a hopeless cause. >> the banks and the ecb is prepared for this.

it's just a question of whether the chancellor of germany wants to pull the plug, angela america americaamerica america -- angela merkel. >> i'd like to probe more on that. i've heard concerns about excess liquidity. >> we're talking about lack of liquidity and corporate bond trading. >> those markets are fundamentally on a price and yield basis in great shape. one thing lew got wrong, it is the treasury department that has the statutory play over the currency. >> exactly. >> it is not -- it is not the federal reserve. >> i thought, larry, i agree with you. i thought that answer surprised me when i said what could you do about it? could you do anything? he said i'll leave monetary policy in the hands of the central bankers which was an interesting nod. >> intervention is their

mechanism, right? >> he's untutored in this area. he has no long experience in this area. one thing i want to say, sara eisen with the greatest respect, i disagree with you that the dollar is hurting the economy. i think it's helping the economy. i think it's keeping inflation down. consumer costs down business costs down. i don't think there's any concrete evidence that the dollar is hurting this economy. >> sara for what it's worth, i agree with you. i think it's of course interesting that mr. lew was optimistic about everything. everything's great. regulation is really helping things out. i think you did a fantastic job. >> thank you. >> did you ask him later, sara, about the corporate tax cut? you know this administration keeps flirting with the corporate tax cut. and then they don't do anything. in fact the latest iteration, as you know, they want to take deducks away from businesses without lower marginal race. >> we didn't talk about it. we only had ten minutes.

some of the more pressing issues of realistic policy sort of top of mind for investors i wanted to get to like the soft patch in the u.s. economy, the strong dollar, the liquidity issues. but clearly he has been an optimist of corporate tax reform and said there's appetite for on both sides of the aisle. we didn't get an update on that. i think that's part of the reflection that it's not in the discussion at this point. there's nothing actively on the table. the only thing i'll say to push back on the strong dollar i think there's a mix. there are positives and negatives. as the treasury secretary himself said we are in earnings right now, 46% of s&p 500 revenues come from abroad. they take a hit, on the strong dollar j & j said it impacted the results by 13%. we haven't even started to see these big consumer multinationals report. even if it is temporary. that is a hit and that impacts investment and gdp. it impacts exports.

>> i've seen investment companies get through this dollar thing other companies, caterpillar got through it. let me make one point on the corporate side. >> very quickly. >> paul ryan is talking to lew about a corporate tax deal due in june. i no he that conversation is there. >> okay. >> whether they have the backing of the president, i have no idea. that conversation is going on. >> something to watch for there. >> thank you, sara. >> great job, sara. thank you. >> thanks guys. >> sara in wonderland. she's in d.c. time now for a "cnbc news update" with sue herrera. here's what's happening at this hour. police arrested a man who steered his gyrocopter on to the west lawn of the capitol today. the pilot wasn't immediately identified but a florida postal carrier named doug hughes did take responsibility for the stunt on a website to draw attention to campaign finance corruption. play was stopped at 2:49

p.m. today during the game between the boston red sox and the washington nationals to remember those who were killed on this second anniversary of the boston marathon bombings. 2:49 was the exact time the first bomb went off at the race's finish line. gunfire rang out and large dark plumes of smoke billowed into the air as iraqi forces battled isis militants over the weekend. and. a large marine helpicopter made an unexpected landing. firefighters were called to the scene to investigate a possible fuel leak. no injuries were reported. that's your "cnbc news update" at this hour. back to you, bill and michelle. >> if i'm protesting campaign finance reform the thing i'm going to do is fly a gyrocopter.

>> yes. he got everybody's attention. >> we're talking about it. >> enthralled by the video. >> exactly. the u.s. has already run out of investor visas. if you don't know what that is it's very important and interesting. these are people from china and other nations trying to become american citizens and start businesses and grow jobs in this country. some people say that's a good thing. that we've run out of these visas. we'll find out why in a moment here. talk about too close for comfort, this driver in illinois barely escaping a tornado just feet from his car. more of this unbelievable video is coming up. holy smokes! >> this is in illinois. >> yes. >> 70 miles northwest of chicago. >> nice. >> wow. it gets talked about... ♪ ♪ ♪

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news alert on general motors. fill -- phil lebeau what happened? >> a federal bankruptcy judge has been asked to rule whether general motors keeps its shield that was given as part of the bankruptcy plan. that's the shield that was put in place as part of bailout for

general motors. a federal judge has ruled today that gm is entitled to that shield. which essentially means that anybody who had a loved one or was involved in an accident involving a defective ignition switch before general motors declared bankruptcy, they're likely not going to be able to sue general motors because of that shield. as a result of this decision, this is highly anticipated, watch shares of general motors tomorrow, because people will be sitting there saying all right, at least gm can now define its exposure in terms of the defective ignition switches. accidents after the bankruptcy are still open for lawsuits. anything before bankruptcy, which is the bulk of when most of these accidents happened they're not going to be going to court. guys, back to you. >> i definitely want to talk about the stock. i'm confused by the after-hours trading. it seems to be moving lower here. like phil says it's a positive. >> it almost went flat. there we go. >> that makes more sense. >> there we go.

>> yes. >> i mean i think the one thing gm has to be very careful about here is the negative pr surrounding this. obviously it's a sensitive issue. if i have a loved one that was killed and my tax dollars paid for the bailout, this is not going to be happy news. hopefully they'll do the right thing by their consumers from a brand perspective. >> they get away with murder. can i say that? this is typical. i hope your conclusion is right. they get away with murder. it's because they were bailed out, they're under the protection of this administration and i resent that. i just think that's absolutely wrong. >> wait a second larry. one thing to point out here, larry -- >> somehow gm always wins. >> let me point this out, larry. they set up that compensation program and opened it up to cases before bankruptcy and basically said we don't have to do this but we are opening up. if you had an accident that happened in 2004, 2006 you can be part of the compensation

program. >> is it possible that this is a moot point, this judgment? and that instead they can -- >> no there were some people -- i don't know how many michelle but there were some people who made the decision that they were going to try a case instead of taking the accepted compensation by ken feinberg. the last time i talked to ken feinberg, there are some people who are going to roll the dice here, not a lot but some people. >> i see. >> as a result those people are going to find themselves in a tough position because -- >> good pr move right here. let them opt back in. do the right thing from a pr standpoint. do the right thing by your customer. >> they won't. >> even if they do it sounds like bottom line the exposure goes down or the unknown exposure. >> the exposure would be limited. >> they are just protected time and again by the administration and the administration appointed judges. it's all because of the bailout they're trying to preserve.

this is the same company that made big mistakes in the past. they should pay for it. same company. a lot of consumer as carol is suggesting, were hurt by some of these dumb things that gm did. why should they get off scot-free? >> i know you're angry about it. i know my friend you didn't literally mean they're getting away with murder. >> in a colloquial sense. >> i thought we needed to point that out. >> i appreciate that. you know i go off the edge all the time. >> that's what we love about you. >> phil lebeau thank you very much. many chinese investors have been looking to spend big bucks in order to get a specialized visa to the united states. they're about to be very disappointed. >> yes, china has hit its 10,000 limit on investor visas. starting next month, new applications will be turned away. coming up next is this a good thing or a bad thing? chinese individuals, any foreigners can buy their way into the united states? with visas. we'll discuss that right after this.

and the hit movie "twister" had nothing on what trucker sam smith witnessed in illinois. an amazing video you cannot miss when we come back. >> scary.

the wait list for what are called investor visas, u.s. investor visas keeping getting longer and now visas have run out for the chinese who want to come it this country. the state department announcing no more spots are available for chinese investors in the

immigrant investor program also known as eb-5. that lasts until late september. >> the chinese use far more u.s. investor visas that money to do so. who better to talk about this than our panelists here and robert frank who covers all things wealth for cnbc. how much do these visas cost? >> they're $500,000 that's investment in a project that has to create a certain number of jobs ten jobs. the global business of passport portfolios is booming. the problem is the u.s. undersells this thing. >> we're too cheap. >> i saw these numbers and said which should be selling a million. >> australia charges 4 million. britain charges 3 million. malta charges $800,000. we're $500,000. >> we should be top. >> the other problem just quickly is that this program was created when there was not enough investment capital in the u.s. right now there is a flood of

liquidity. there are many condo buildings in new york city that are eb-5 programs. do we really need eb-5 money for those programs? >> probably not. >> you're making some great points. i'm not sure i have all the answered what the motives are, but i don't think we have a shortage of investment capital per se it's just all overseas because it's taxed less. that's what's happening. second point i would make is the restrictionists in both democratic and republican parties just want to close the doors, put up a fence, and keep everybody out. >> but should we sell passports? >> we absolutely should. investment is good. creating jobs is good. why would we have a cap on this? i think this is exactly the kind of immigration we want to have in this country -- >> it's visas. they get a visa. >> ten jobs a piece. it's fantastic. >> first of all, a lot of these programs would happen anyway and, look a chinese person it's worth it to pay half a million dollars on an investment that never returns money because they're getting a passport. that's going to crowd out an

investor that actually wants a return. >> but that's about -- >> this is not real investment money. >> that's about shaping the program. say you can't do real estate that you have to be in these certain areas. there are ways to tweak the program. >> then they should do that. >> last comment. >> they should have an auction -- sotheby's should do this. >> they should have more legal visas. h1b brainiacs, students who come from asia and come to mit. >> you're absolutely right. >> we need more legal visas. >> this is great stuff. >> i like the highest bidder. >> thank you, robert. >> thanks, guys. >> we'll take a break. earnings season marches on tomorrow. >> more big results from the financial sector as well as other names you're familiar with. dom chu has a preview next.

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american express and goldman sachs, two big banking names among the companies out with earnings tomorrow. >> dom chu has them all rounded up with the big companies to watch with the list. dom? >> we'll keep it short and sweet because tomorrow there's a slew of them but here are the highlights. of course, goldman sachs will be the big one people watch because it's going to give us a more pure play look into the financial sector from just the investment banking and trading

standpoint. not mixed in with a lot of other commercial banking and lending. citigroup and american express after the bale tomorrow. united health group, definitely a slew of companies to watch. back over to you. >> all right. coming up, a nail-biting close call in illinois. >> one trucker got up close and personal with a tornado. we'll somehow you the incredible video when we come back.

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all right. breaking news etsy has priced its ipo that begins trading tomorrow. dom chu? >> $16 per share. it means etsy prices at the high end of its previously anticipated range of 14 to $16. at that valuation etsy would be worth approximately, again, approximately, $1.27 billion. they will look to raise $267 million in ipo proceeds at that valuation. it looks like etsy met with at least a certain amount of strong demand. pricing at the high end of the range, 16 bucks a share. >> the craft store of the internet, carol roth. is it worth that much? >> this is a great example of the sharing economy at its finest and, frankly, it's better to have a job that pays you money than one that sucks up all your money like golf right,

bill? >> she hits me with a zinger at the end. melissa francis, you guys -- melissa lee, i'm sorry. >> that's okay. >> this is actually something that we got on etsy. we'll explain a little later on -- >> is that a sock puppet? >> and whether etsy is a takeover target. >> that looks like a sock puppet. >> i can't wait to see this. trust me it's all yours. >> thanks guys. "fast money" starts right now. live from the nasdaq market site overlooking new york city's times square. tim seymour, steve grasso dan nathan and guy adami. the massive addition of global subscribers has investors so excited to the tune of 12% in the afterhours. san dusk missing on earnings and the stock is taking a hit. and the ipo for onloon