>> court approval for shareholder vote on the merger is expected to come today. >> the u.s. disease center investigates a new strain of e.coli linked to chipotle saying it's unclear whether it relates to an earlier outbreak in

october. >> lift off and landing. spacex gets it's rocket in orbit and lands safely back on earth in a space first. >> we still have a couple of hours to go to the open but we're called a tad bit lower. we saw a stronger close out here in europe yesterday. a little bit of weakness coming through from wall street overnight and that's set to continue as of now. now when looking at our year penne equity markets here today this morning we were called a little bit higher. we reverse that here. we initially opened green and now we're very very flat. lighter volumes than usual due to the holidays.

the cac, xetra dax and ftse mib all lower. >> this is on the back of wall street rallying to a close. the nikkei 225 though, off by 0.2%. in part because toshiba is down by roughly 12% at a six year low after yesterday's major, major profit warning. elsewhere we're seeing modest gains. the shanghai comp up by .3%. in the commodity space we're seeing a little bit of a rebound for wti and brent crude. up by 0.2%. 36.41. recovering from the 11 year lows that we saw in yesterday's overnight trading session. wti crude off the lows we saw since 2009. up by 0.6%. in part because some contracts

have been rolled over and hopes for winter demand picking up but by and large the fundamentals haven't changed. >> thanks. it was a tough session for magnegas yesterday. they fell after an anonymous report on a website seeking alpha called them a stock promotion shell with an immediate 92% down side risk. they have responded saying the report contains false and misleading information and joining us here this morning is the ceo of magnegas. welcome to the program. thank you for coming in to talk to us. the report is not a good report. it's a scathing report, in fact. a stock promotion shell with an immediate 92% risk. they say business practices are existent or defunked. how do you respond to the report? >> as you mention it's an anonymous blogger. he is posting on a website which

has done this from time to time. they post various things. we are looking at our legal council regarding what our response is but there's about 14 items on that report we disagree with many of them we're not going to respond to them publicly one by one but as we're speaking off air we're up 120% so far this year so when you're in the microcap space and up that high you attract a lot of attention. some of it good. some of it bad. >> they say your previous auditor was barred by the sec for false identified and back dated audit documents. they say they failed to file filings or hold shareholder meetings in a timely fashion and tests show it's 30% slower and 20% more expensive than your competitor for example. >> yeah. our auditor, those issues did occur with our auditor but

magnegas is not implicated. regarding our product that's one thing that everybody knows magnegas, knows our product and they know that we are the fastest product. in fact, magnegas supporters and shareholders angry about this posted on the website in support and their posts have been deleted. >> so you say that 14 points have been listed. 14 points of criticism and you say that most of them are incorrect but you can't say that all of them are incorrect. so not all of them have been created out of thin air. where are they right? >> well, if they're talking about something that happened five years ago, if they're talking about something that is unrelated to magnegas corporation, those are the kind of things that they'll go after and they will post. >> the family related with 14.1 million plus dollars of insider compensation. roughly 12 times more than spent on r and d. is that correct or incorrect?

>> that's incorrect in two ways. one is spend is higher if you look at it. but we're not going to go through point by point. we are insider held as were many successful companies in the world and there's nothing wrong with that. >> what's your shareholder base? what's the reaction been? >> our shald who ares are very active. we're considered to be a cult stock. we had a 50% increase in our shareholder base this year. they're angry. they see that people that know the company look at these points and say, you know, the vast majority of these are wrong. this guy should be arrested. he is a shorter and he's anonymous. this has happened before. it will happen again. social media has really

decentralized news. that coupled with very lax laws on shorting means that companies in the microcap space are challenged with this from time to time. >> can we just clarify again what exactly it is you do. you convert liquid waste into a type of fuel; is that correct? >> yes. we are completely unique. we employ a new technology that we patented that is called submerged plasma so we take liquid waste from vegetable oils, motor oils, sewage and we essentially zap it in our unit that shoots electricity and from that we either get a pure gas which we sell to new york fire department. we have on site at nasa or u.s. army bases or the u.s. navy or we get a sterilized manure as well. >> what would you say in response again? part of the criticism is that you have an unsustainable

valuation. 113 times 2014 revenue or $120 million and the report claims that the last time you hit a similar valuation the stock price immediately imploded. shareholders experienced swift and uncompromising 94% stock price decline at the time. >> well, magnegas corp., we operated in a pure commodity industry. so as purely commoditized as you can get. we're the only renewable fuel in that market. we're the fastest fuel in the market and that's why we're getting all of these market customers. the real wildcard is our third use for our fuel which is combustion. we take our fuel, which is confirmed by new york and we mix it with the smoke from coal fire power plants and you get a secondary combustion. so if you're replacing a $700

million scrubber system, what's the valuation? >> thank you very much for being with us. the ceo at magnegas. >> thank you very much. >> we need to give you a run down of what you need to be watching today. the final estimate on third quarter gdp is due at 8:30 a.m. eastern time. growth is forecast to be revised lower from 1.9% from the previous estimate of 2.1% reflecting slower consumer and business spending than previously thought. at 10:00 a.m. the november existing home sales which should remain steady after a more than 3% decline in october. they both report results before the opening bell and you have companies like nike and micro technology out after the close. >> let's take a look at today's other top stories. the u.s. centers for disease control is investigating a new strain of e.coli linked to chipotle rest rantds. they're looking into new cases

but it's unclear whether they're related to the outbreak that began in october. last month they said fourth quarter same store sales could drop 8 to 10% which would be the first decline in company history. earlier this month, co-founder apologized to customers and promised to implemented new food safety procedures. hitting a 17 month low in monday's trading session in german trade. currently off by roughly 5%. >> the sec is moving ahead with a revised civil case against steve cohen. it will now pursue a claim that he failed to supervise a former sic capital portfolio manager now serving nine years in prison for insider trading. the sec will no longer base it's case against cohen for failing to do the same for another employee. his insider trading conviction was overturned in october. in 2013 they agreed to plead guilty. the firm has been rebranded

as point 72 asset management. >> star wars two reaches a new orbit. they made $529 million worldwide. $12 million more than initial estimates. that means it topped the record debut of jurassic world in june. but that's not helping disney overall. they're concerned art cord cutting and pressures on espn. downgrading the stock saying while disney pay top expectations this year due to star wars it will underperform after that. disney falling more than 1% in yesterday's trading session in german trade. currently it's flat. now still to come on the show, we have lift on. spacex falcon nine successfully rockets. we'll get the latest from the space venture after the short break.

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it's gotten thinner. even curvier. but what's next? for all binge watchers. movie geeks. sports freaks. x1 from xfinity will change the way you experience tv. welcome back to the show. these are your headlines. shell and bg shares rally as they expect approval on the mega merger. another ecoli strain linked to chipotle and spacex brings it's rocket booster back to earth in a space first. >> all right. welcome back, everybody. you're still watching worldwide

exchange. spacex is back in business. they launched a falcon 9 rocket on monday night with 11 satellites on board. it's the first mission since a rocket loaded with cargo exploded back in june. now for the first time, spacex managed to land the rocket's first stage booster back on the launch platform as part of the effort to reuse them and cut costs. you had employees that were cheering and musk tweeted welcome back, baby. >> a judge in california is granting a partial victory to his former girlfriend and her lawsuit over his mental competency. she claims he can no longer make decisions for himself. the companies and redstone's doctors dispute that though. they will allow for depositions from others but not red stone himself. >> shares tumbled in after hours

trade on monday falling by 20%. the u.s. retailer of office furniture reported third quarter results that soared on lower costs but adjusted results on the company's fourth quarter outlook missed forecasts. industry wide orders in the u.s. slowed amid spending by corporate customers here in germany this morning. we're off by 16% on that one. >> worries about flight restrictions or danger to neighbors don't appear to be slowing sells of drones in the u.s. mary thompson filed this report. >> drones getting plenty of buzz this holiday. the faa forecasting americans will buy 800,000 recreational drones in the fourth quarter. an estimate that has new jersey drone academy owner jim barnes racing for a post christmas rush. >> i'm expecting probably next year, before june, probably up to 500 students. >> that's a big increase from the 71 students he taught after opening academy this spring. he's moving to a bigger space,

turning a former driving range into a netted facility where come april anyone over 14 can take a series of classes on drones. >> they'll learn safely how to build, program, and fly a drone. >> 15-year-old owen is a former student and long time fan of these unmanned arial systems. >> i really like the strangeness about it. i liked how it was outlandish and i kind of went in the hobby from there. >> with interest in drones soaring, the faa is taking action to make sure our skies remain safe. federal workers visited big box retailers selling drones to educate workers on how to operate them properly and starting today owners need to register their drones or face civil penalties of $27,000 and criminal penalties of up to a quarter of a million dollars. the faa sees the registration process as a way to educate users on how to fly safely and within the laws of the land.

like keeping drones below 400 feet and five miles from an airport. hob hobbiests will learn those lessons at the academy. but he's partnering with professor mike schumer to conduct research with drones and train first responders on how to operate them. >> they can permit first responders to communicate much faster and make decisions faster. the likelihood of saving lives there is. >> also working with the jersey city school system on a program to get kids out of the classroom and into the field so they can put drones in the air. expecting the sky is the limb when it comes to the future of drones. for cnbc, i'm mary thompson in new jersey. >> all right. well we have been asking you here throughout today's show what you would be shorting if you're shorting at all because last year apparently was a really big year for shorts as we heard a guest talking about. you sent your e-mails and tweets

through. for example, michael says, short caterpillar. linda says netflix because the grand kids showed me a lot of other ways to see movies in the u.s. with the fed hiking cycle underway we anticipate that gold prices are sliding more. so short gold. jeff says i wouldn't short any stocks and david says short emerging markets. the higher u.s. interest rates mean pressure on commodities, strengthens the dollar and pressures emerging market debt as well. >> alex adds short the u.k. property market. he doesn't really give me a reason. bradley says gm is not a short. bottom ups buyer. shorting is too negative for me. i don't like seeing any business lose. >> dan writes in and says maybe short utilities since heavy capital investment in the u.s.

surmising that the fed is in a rate joke mode. they also receive less for output due to falling coal and natural gas complex. keep your messages coming in. you can find us on good old fashioned e-mail worldwide@cnbc.com and also on twitter and our personal handles are on the screen. >> all right. still to come on the show, this is going to be really exciting. santa is making his last minute preps in the north pole. we're live from the north pole next. yeah, you heard me right but what is he getting bankers this year? we'll find out. >> i don't know. the bankers seem to take care of themselves, don't they? so santa usually concentrates on those that have more needs. teacher of small children. that's right. i have read it is the hardest job in the world.

that's why i'm here. can you... i can offer advice from the accumulated knowledge of other educators... that's wonderful but... i can tailor a curriculum for each student by cross-referencing aptitude, development, geography... sorry to interrupt. but i just have one question: how do i keep them quiet? (pause) watson? there is no known solution.

welcome back. you're still watching worldwide exchange. if you're waking up in new york this is what you're looking at. clean and dry and very pretty. the christmas tree lights having been turned on in the last hour. hour and 15 minutes. something like that. u.s. futures ahead of the open were called a little bit lower and european equity markets?

>> they're mixed because we saw a higher start to the trading session. ftse 100 still in the green. in part because we saw that stabilization in oil and commodity prices and that's helping many of the miners and the oil stocks like bg and shell. xetra dachshund a little bit of pressure now just three days to christmas and santa is making last minute preparations at the north poll. bob is there for us. what's happening? >> well, like you said, christmas eve a few nights away from us. thursday night. time is running out. right now santa is getting much rest inside while the elves are scrambling to put the toys together and we have been trying to get inside the toy shop but it's so top secret that santa won't let anyone inside. hold on -- got what? we have weak security camera

footage from inside santa's top secret toy workshop. carolyn, this is unprecedented. never seen before. they have the star wars light sabers. one of the hottest toys and as part of their quality control they must test every toy before it gets sent out the door on the sleigh and i thought the force ran strong in elves. wasn't yoda an elf? i'm apparently mistaken there. i think i saw three violations in there. but i'm getting word from inside that that's a minor thing that happened. all the toys will be fixed and ready in time for the trip thursday night. >> bob. first of all, what time is it? just for viewers? what time is it. it looks dark. >> it is i believe -- we're in the 1:00 a.m. hour here and today it's the shortest day of

the year. so really if you're not somebody who lives up here like myself on a regular basis, it really messes with the rhythm and the sleep but for can at a and the elves this is ideal and they're forecasting, even though right now it's only minus 1 degrees, forecasting minus 40 for christmas eve which even in this part of the world is extremely cold. >> oh, wow. minus 40. ouch. >> have you seen, what do you call them? the green sky. the northern lights? >> i'm sorry. >> have you seen the northern lights yet? >> to see the northern lights here in this part of the north poll it has to get very cold. you have to have the right conditions in the sky. i have been coming here for a number of years but when i say the right conditions we're not talking about negative one, we're talking about negative 20, negative 30. when you get really cold is when those start to fire up and i'll tell you what, they're very

beautif beautiful. >> thank you very much and say hi to santa. >> why don't we get to do that gig? travel to the north poll. >> visit santa. >> visit santa. it's a great one. >> how excite as good that job? >> long time nba referee is apparently on santa's naughty list because last night the pacers visits the spurs in san antonio. he brought a special present for mchutchen. one of santa's little helpers pops out and kicks him in the shin before running away. it seems that referees don't get any love during the holidays at all. >> a grumpy little elf. still to come on the show,

chipotle shares continuing to feel the heat. u.s. investigators investigating whether the five new cases are linked to the mexican grill. we'll get the latest coming up here on worldwide exchange. it's hard to find time to keep up on my shows.

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>> and crucially lands the booster safely back on earth in a space first. >> welcome back if you're just tuning in. it's always nice to have people out there participating in our conversations. lots of you writing in in what you would be shorting. we continue to take your e-mails

and your tweets. what would you be shorting? >> a couple of people have written in. the u.k. property market for example. a lot of people don't like materials. caterpillar is one of the stocks being mentioned or commodity plays or commodity related currencies. >> yeah. let us know what you think. when looking at the u.s. futures we have just seen a little bit of a change in the s&p 500 being implied flat to a bit higher. dow jones and nasdaq also coming back from some of the negative calls that we were looking at this morning. i say negative. everything is relative. we saw some of the bigger tech names being sold back and some of the hospital stocks being sold off incidentally. european markets a tad bit higher after a slightly negative close yesterday and you saw negativity surrounding spain in particular yesterday as well.

initially on the back of uncertainty about what's going to happen next after the election results from this weekend showing us that no party got enough votes to actually run with the majority but today, this morning, we're seeing a bit of flat lining and the ftse a tad bit higher over there. the u.s. markets rallying into yesterday's close. >> the three major indices all snapping their two day losing streaks making strides in the last half hour of trade. meanwhile natural gas saw the biggest daily gain since october: thank you for getting up for us. you say there's more volatility in store for the u.s. markets because of tax based transactio transactions, explain. >> this year, 2015 was a wild roller coaster. you had a good early part of the year and then august we saw everything really come down

sharp and a huge rebound in october. it created a situation we haven't seen in recent years which is tax selling and earlier in the gains and the year. they are working on such thin markets this year. there's no return unless you own the top ten stocks. a lot of the professional institutions are doing a lot to mitigate the tax burdens they might be passing on to their clients. we're seeing a lot of that activity go on. if you find something you like attractively priced given where some of the things are trading now, you might want to move in on it. >> you said 2015 was a year of

volatility, no doubt about that but also a year of very, very narrow leadership. is there any indication that this is going to change in 2016, ken? >> absolutely. we could maybe say look at apple. apple is going to have the first down year in quite awhile. we've had such leadership in such a narrow band of stocks. represented 21% gains but all the other stocks combined in the s&p 500 were down like 2% for the year. so the market has kind of shunned quality company with great earnings, great balance sheets and above average earnings in favor of a lot of the kind of go-go names and we'll start to see fundamentals matter again as the frotheof trying to trace a name from yesterday because fundamentals do matter but 2015 was not a year where strong fundamentals

were rewarded in the marketplace. >> what's going to happen, ken, to some of the small caps out there as well? what's the interest going to be in the russell 200 compared to the big names? >> that's the big question. domestically here the russell 2,000 is a place to be looking because they're certainly less effected by the stronger dollar because their business tends to be more domestically focused. we've been talking about this oil dividend. beefing up their own balance sheets and increasing their savings and as we look further and further on in the cycle of oil being down early on we have seen what we called experience activities. restaurants and entertainment and theme park type stuff and

people doing those things but the things that spur individuals which is local stores, manufacturing and smaller companies, i think 2016 looks very, very good for them on the strength of a stronger american consumer. >> ken, you said something like make sure that your money has a passport. where should your money be going then in 2016? >> i think -- i say that here a lot to people in the united states because a lot of people don't have an international allocation. there's logic to be allocated in the euro zone. we have quantitative easing going there. you just announced this morning some moves by the bank of japan to increase their quantitative easing to get inflation going so i they while the united states might be tightening and i still think we'll get a moderately positive year in the united states i think the rest of us need to have a broader allocation, certainly into 2016 to take advantage of some of the other things that are happening around the globe with currencies weakening around the globe which should help the economies and could be attractive places for

certain u.s. investors to be looking overseas. >> thank you very much for being with us. we're talking about apple. the firm has bitten back at u.k. surveillance plans. proposed new british laws could freeze up tech all over the world and cause serious international conflicts. fresh u.k. legislation wants to give security services access to u.k. citizens internet use without the need for judicial permission. they would demand that u.k. access in data be handed over. apple's concern is shared by other tech titans out there including google, facebook and twitter. meanwhile when looking at the share price of apple it looks set to have fallen over the course of 2015. over the past 12 months off by 4% or so. if apple ends the calendar year in the reddit will be the first annual fall for the stock since the credit crisis. they have highlighted fears over

a slowing demand for the firm's main product, the iphone but as we were saying with companies like apple you have the analysts out there and they're like it's a one trick pony but they beat again and again and again. and it could be for other reasons also why they have chosen to trade out of the stock this year. >> but the problem is they have been so incredibly successful when it comes to iphone sales. they make up 60% of their overall revenues so in a way they're a victim of their own success because now the comps are getting incredibly tough. specifically this current quarter because last year this quarter we saw the launch of the iphone six and that did tremendously well so now we're going to see those comps very very hard to beat. the stock was really under pressure in the month of december. down some 10%. down 21% from the record levels we saw in the month of april. falling into bear market territory last friday and that wiped out $160 billion in shareholder wealth. if you just compare it with other companies.

nike for example set to post earnings for today, $111 billion in that shareholder value. so it's -- because it's such a widely held stock a little bit of a dip in apple, it will effect so many. it's hard to say whether they could move beyond the comps. >> it does. but again i just look back and every single time analysts said they're not going to make it. they're not going to hit. they always managed to pull something out of the hat up until now and even if they have gotten it wrong then they correct it but the question now is also if you're going to buy your loved one an iphone, do you buy or six or six s or wait for the 7. >> or do you buy the apple watch? is that going to be the big catalyst for apple? a lot of people don't think so. >> how many people do you know with an apple watch? >> not many. >> one or two people. >> yeah. >> maybe the people we hang around aren't the most tech savvy either. >> maybe not.

>> our director has one. he's always on time. >> he should be. >> so when you send me text messages. >> i send you plenty of emojis. but now i could send you a kimoji. kim kardashian unveiled a range of emojis in her latest digital stunt. she unveiled them to her 55 million instagram followers and promptly crashed the apple store in a rush to download the $2 app needed to use them. in true kardashian style there are a few pretty racy emojis available. so what are the racy ones? you see the famous behind. >> yeah, there's two bums. there's some breasts as well. can i say that on air or is that really bad? there's a pole dancer i think. >> yeah. >> there's a lipstick. is that a pumpkin down on the bottom? >> can't see. they're quite small.

but it's incredible. her clout. her power. the fact that she has broken the apple store. she has broken the internet a number of times and now the apple store. >> but as said, one other person actually managed to break the apple app store? i can't think of somebody offhand. that's amazing power. these celebrities. >> and she knows how to monetize it. she's brilliant with that. with her entire franchise she knows how to do it. >> for sure. they're going to be quite popular because, yeah. there's a doughnut. painting your nails. some girls standing upside down on their heads. i'm not quite sure what that's about. you have a pregnant woman. you might be using that one maybe. >> maybe i might. >> you never know. >> we are going to go for a quick break. still to come on the show, nike reporting quarterly results after the closing bell.

will they continue to impress investors? we take a look, next.

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that's huge for my bottom line. what's in your wallet? welcome back. you're looking at a very beautiful shot at the hong kong skyline where it's 6:45 p.m.. tend of the business day. now let's get back to one of our top stories.

it's not quite christmas yet. we have a couple of earnings reports to get to. one of them is nike due to report after the close today. recent earnings reports really impressed investor with the firm posting increased growth in all product categories. analysts do expect that positive momentum to continue and it's been reflected in the share price. year to date the stock is up 35%. >> i was in a nike store yesterday. full disclosure and i bought socks and they were 10 pounds per pair of sox and the place was packed. >> that's a pretty high margin on socks. >> very high margin. they aren't cheap but they're doing well. let's move on and talk about one of our other stories. u.s. health officials are looking into e.coli strain linked to cihpotle. piling more issues on the chain that's come under pressure over the last months. let's head out to lan did not

dowdy. good to see you. not good news for chipotle. >> unfortunately not. the centers for disease control announcing on monday it's investigating another and more recent strain of e.coli tied to chipotle. it's unclear if it's related to the outbreak at the end of october. the cdc identifying five new cases in kansas, north dakota and oklahoma with the illness starting between november 18th and the 26th. all five patients ate at chipotle before getting sick. this comes after people were sickened with norovirus. they faced a separate outbreak last year and cases after salmonella at several restaurants in mip minute. the same store sales could drop 8 to 10% which would be the first decline in it's history. they haven't determined the

cause but believe it came from produce. the founder apologized to customers earlier this month promising stricter food safety guidelines such as preparing vegetables in a centralized kitchen. they reiterated that on "mad money" last week. >> we worked very hard to try to find the source of this contamination and we haven't been able to find it. we have done thousands of tests. we have tested employees and surfaces and all the ingredients. nothing came up showing any e.coli whatsoever. >> hitting a 52 week low on monday. a spokesman tells cnbc they expected more cases might emerge but it is still confident it can reduce food safety risk to near zero. there's a buy rating on the stock saying chipotle is doing everything it can to contain the issue and checking shares in europe they're down about 5% today. guys over to you. >> thank you, landon. good seeing you.

landon dowdy from cnbc headquaters. let's look at the other top stories making the rounds today. shares in steel case dropping on monday following by 20%. they reported third quarter earnings that soared on lower costs but adjusted results in the company's fourth quarter outlook missed forecasts. industry wide orders in the u.s. slowed amid muted spending by corporate customers. currently off by 16 or 17% in germany. >> meantime the sec is move ago head with a revised civil case against steve cohen and will pursue a claim that he failed to supervise the former sec capital portfolio manager that's serving nine years in prison for insider trading. but the sec will no longer base it's case against him for failing to do the same for another employee. his insider trading conviction was overturned in october. in 2013 they agreed to plead guilty and pay $1.8 billion. the firm has been rebranded as

point 72 asset management. it's only three days until christmas and worries about flight restrictions doesn't seem to appear to be slowing sales of drones in the u.s. >> drones getting plenty of buzz this holiday. americans will buy 800,000 drones in the fourth quarter. an estimate that has the new jersey drone academy owner racing for a post chris mass rush. >> i'm expecting probably next year, before june, up to 500 students. >> that's a big increase from the 71 students he taught after opening the academy this spring. he's moving to a bigger space turning a former driving range into a netted facility where come april anyone over 14 can take a series of classes on drones. >> they'll learn safely how to build, program and fly a drone. >> 15-year-old owen is a former student and long time fan of the

unmanned systems. >> i really like the strangeness about it. how it was outlandish. >> the faa is taking action to make sure that our skies are safe. federal workers educate workers on how to operate them properly and starting today owners need to register their drones or face civil penalties of over $27,000 or criminal penalties of up to a quarter of a million dollars. it's a way to educate users on how to fly safely or within the laws of the land. like below 400 feet and five miles from the airport. >> hobby yiss will learn those questions at the academy. barns partnering with professor mike schumer to conduct research

with drones and train first responders on how to operate them. >> they can permit first responders to communicate much faster and make decisions faster. if they can make decisions faster the likelihood of saving lives is there. >> barns also working with the jersey city school system on a program to get kids out of the classroom and into the field so they can put drones in the air expecting the sky is the limit when it comes to the future of drones. for cnbc, i'm mary thompson in new jersey. >> and as we go to break, these are your headlines, crude ticking up from multiyear lows. european markets drift lower from a positive open. u.s. investigators probe another e.coli strain linked to chipotle and spacex brings it's rocket booster back to earth in a space first. we'll be back in two.

>> that was another beautiful shot of that christmas tree at 30 rock. we wanted to know from you what would you short next year? are you also worried about commodity stocks? do you see a slow down in tech? what about the retailers? we had a lot of people writing in. if you want to join the conversation get in touch with us worldwide@cnbc.com. our personal handles are at the bottom of the screen. they say commodities made up half the topper forming north american short positions this year. no surprise about that. american apparel also making the list. the top 2016 short position game stop most shorted at the moment. >> yeah and our viewers just recapping a couple of your

views, michael stay short caterpillar. linda short netflix. yogi short gold. david short emerging markets. a number of other suggestions coming through and many of you say i don't want to short because i don't want to hurt other people. >> it might make you money. >> it might. >> but no real contrarian short. >> no. >> nothing that would benefit from an interest rate hike. >> the critic on apple says it's different this time. expect apple to drop from the first place in smartphone sales to the competition. u.s. futures as we close out the show indicated to close a bit higher now but yeah that's all we're seeing for now. a couple of days before christmas. >> we saw u.s. markets rallying into the close yesterday. we're close to the session highs and now we'll continue that momentum. that's it for today's show. >> up next, u.s. squawk box. have a lovely day. we'll see you tomorrow. sure, tv has evolved over the years.

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>> a little bit of a bounce back with oil prices rebounding and google in talks to get some help building self-driving cars and food safety scare, federal health authorities now investigating a new e.coli strain linked to chipotle. it's tuesday, december 22nd, 2015 and squawk box begins right now. ♪ >> live from new york, where business never sleeps, this is squawk box. >> good morning, everybody.

welcome to squawk box here on cnbc. i'm becky quick with joe kernen and andrew ross sorkin. breaking overnight a spacex falcon rocket with a safe landing. officials say that the launch was the first attempt to land a rocket on land after previous attempts used floating landing pads and those were not successful. you can hear the cheering though from the staff at spacex. right now let's get to the u.s. equity markets. we have been watching the futures at this moment. the futures are relatively flat. dow futures are up by 15 points and the nasdaq is up by 6.5. check out oil prices as joe mentioned there was a rebound in oil prices but this is ever so slight. you're back above $36 barrel but just barely. up by about 28 cents to