retail workers according to the government retail doing well means maybe fewer store closings and fewer people losing their jobs also, we joke about the mall on a barge. i'm going to give credit to one of our followers credible l.a. named it the bon voy barge. >> very clever. >> that's a winner. >> thanks for writing us, guys thanks for watching "power lunch." >> "closing bell" begins right now. ♪ hi, everybody. welcome to the "closing bell," kelly evans at the new york stock exchange. >> and i'm bill griffeth happy boxing day, everybody. retail rally holiday sales look very strong for both brick and mortar, and let's face it, for amazon. have retailers finally figured out how to take on the online behemo behemoth former ceo of walmart usa and the former ceo of toys "r" us, and also hudson's bay, will give us their take on a quick assessment on the first wash

numbers coming out on the holiday shopping season. >> look at those numbers today kohl's now up 6%, performing well all session, the retailers. not under armour, though the ceo reportedly telling its team 2017 sucked with the stock down 50% this year, although it's up 1% today we'll tell you which one of plank's adventures is reportedly doing well. >> and for some people, that's the problem, that the other venture's doing better bitcoin rebounding from friday's sell-off we have a debate on whether it's still worth investing in the crypto craze >> oh, joy. >> i can't wait for that. but we start with the move on apple today, again weighing on the dow and getting hit on reports that the iphone x sales are slowing. the company reportedly telling suppliers sales will be 30 million units versus the 50 million units previously forecast. >> joining us right now, our friend russ gesht gerbeert kawasaki and matt wolf from disruptive technology advisers happy new year, guys

welcome back. >> thank you. >> happy new year. >> ross, i know we're ringing our hands over 30 million in sales. that's nothing to sneeze at, but it's not 50 million. what do you think? >> i think they do this every quarter! it's like they come out with these low estimates. they're always wrong i mean, the only guarantee in finance is that analysts are wrong all the time and so, i think it's just way premature. we know there's a ton of sales that are in the future because by our estimates, 75% of iphone users have not upgraded to the 8 or the "x," so there's still way, way more sales to come. but iphone x sales have been affected by the launch, the dual launch of the 8 and the "x" essentially at the same time, splitting sales, and it's also a very high-priced item here so we're not that worried about it because the margins aren't huge. >> did you notice that, ross calls it the "x," too. >> it is the "x." >> i'm telling you, this is a problem. >> it is the "x." >> so there will be a 10, i guess, in the near future.

>> or an xs or a 10 -- anyway, max, what do you think is the significance of these reports that shipments may be as low as 30 million units >> look, i mean, i think we usually have two extremes here one is the company, which does guide below where they get to. that's kind of their game, right? they always say hey, we think we're going to do a certain number and then they beat it but then you have the enthusiasm in the run-up, in the back orders and difficulty getting the new phone, so you got to 50. the truth is probably in the middle and the big truth will be if they can sell enough of them to keep the average selling price up and to sort of really cement in everyone's mind that the 10, or the "x," if you will, is the dominant, sort of top of the heap pay center in smartphones. looks like they're going to be able to do that, so we don't see this being problematic we do think it's high time they release that home pod, though. if they don't do that pretty soon, they'll cede that unit to amazon. >> ross, come on, wasn't it -- i don't want to say it's a

mistake, but i mean, part of the issue here is they brought out two phones at essentially the same time, the 8 and the "x." >> and the 8plus >> one cannibalized the other, don't you think? >> i don't know cannibalization. either this is a new strategy for apple equal they're just putting a premium phone out and a typical phone out, which if it is their strategy, i think they've been successful for it if it isn't their strategy, then it's a failure because they sold a lot of lower-priced phones that might have been higher if they didn't have phones two phones, but i think it is their strategy to have two price points, because it is a very expensive phone, and they wanted to create a premium experience, and it's really working well for them in china because there's that cache now of pulling out the iphone "x," and i call it the "x" because it sounds cooler, personally but the bottom line, when it comes down to it, this is the best iphone i've ever used it's an amazing phone. i highly recommend it.

and you know, i have a lot of confidence into the future a year ago i wasn't as confidence, you know >> ross, what do you think about max's point, though, amazon is trumpeting these numbers again alexa was the number one app searched over and downloaded over the weekend it wasn't siri the homepod is delayed it's nowhere to be seen. is it a big deal that they are ceding this market to their competitors? >> yeah, it's a big deal because it's easy money. these speakers in my mind are almost like worthless, but you know, people love them they're buying them, a lot of them i mean it was very popular this christmas. it was requested by several relatives of mine. and you know, we had to buy them the google or the sonos or the amazon, and not having the apple product as simple as this is a huge failure for them. and this has been my criticism of them over the last year or two, being reactive instead of proactive in innovation, but all things said, they're having a great quarter. i can't even imagine their

services revenue and the truth is, people are buying these headphones that i don't even like, like, by a ton, and i'm seeing the watch finally. so, apple's hitting on all cylinders, not to mention tax reform and anybody selling the stock in here, you know, i have to question their thought process a little bit >> okay. max, i mean, you've been equally critical of the company for the last of innovation for the last few years, but yet, here's "barron's" over the weekend forecasting that this will be the first company to have that $1 trillion market cap in 2018 what are we missing? i can hear tim cook's voice right now, we're doing fine, folks, right >> yeah, they're incredibly good at making money and at doing the unthinkable, historically, which is selling enormous, you know, tens of millions in unit volume and keep a 40% gross profit margin, which is kind of the holy grail or the pot of gold at the end of the electronics rainbow. no taking that away from them. my question is, as they become more of a darling on wall street than in the silicon valley,

that's when you begin to lose the halo that gives you a premium. but the truth is, that's probably a ways away they're sitting on a cash hoard. and to the extent they were sort of spared by some of the antitech rhetoric we've heard of late, i think they continue to be the only value play in tech land that still has some growth. that's going to mean they're beloved by stock-pickers and investors and that romance will continue a lot longer after they've stopped being beloved for their innovation that being said, the innovation's a canary in the mine. >> ross, we've got to go do you think they're $1 trillion next year, 00 bucks a share? >> yeah, i think it's going to make it. i completely agree with max, too. i think this is a great opportunity for investors who have a good risk tolerance for technology >> very good thanks, guys. >> thank you. >> see you later. >> happy holidays. let's get to our closing bell exchange today. lackluster numbers for the major averages, even though we've had some very good news, especially on the retail front, which we'll get to as well

the dow right now down just 16 points tom fross is with us today from fross & fross wealth management, ken aeny volcari with o'neil securities and rick santelli from the cm nenk chicago probably going to be a quiet week here, kenny, even though this is as bob pisani likes to point out, this is the week where we expect the santa claus rally. >> it is now, today will be particularly quiet just because all of europe was closed, so no action out of europe this morning, and it is the first day back after the holiday. but typically, what you'll see happen as we move into the very last trade day of the year, you might see thursday and friday get a little bit hectic just as we get into the closing bell because it is the final day of the year for people to trade, for asset managers to kind of move some positions around but i agree, i think today and tomorrow are going to be relatively quiet, not a whole lot on the calendar in terms of any economic data that's going to really cause anyone to change their mind and so, i think most asset managers are going to just coast

into the end of the year and ride out these 30% gains that they're going to get in the dow and the s&p and the nasdaq and almost 25% in the s&p. >> tom, you're looking into next year, though, and you think that infrastructure stocks are a good play here, right >> yeah, we do you know, let's face it, 2017 was a hard-fought year for trump and his administration, right? i mean it was very difficult trying to get, first of all, working on obamacare and then came in at the bottom of the ninth inning and batted it out of the park with tax overhaul. and so, i think the thing is about u.s. infrastructure is it doesn't matter which side of the aisle that you sit on, i think all of us agree that it's something that's needed. our bridges are in horrible shape. you name it, roads and so, yeah, we think that this would be an easy win for the trump administration to go after infrastructure, and we think those are some really good names there. >> sounds like that is coming next year. rick, yields keep going up on the short end. you had the two-year note auction today, highest yield awarded in, what, since september of '08

how much higher do you think they go in the near term what are you guys talking about down there >> well, you know, if you figure in there's going to be 50 more basis points of tightening next year, most likely at a minimum, and many think that's all we're going to get, i'm leaning more in that camp in many regards but you know, there's 50 basis points that has to find its way either through a little more richness, meaning it will price in more, maybe a little thinness because some of it's priced in, but you have to add something on so, i think we're going to be somewhere around a five to seven-year note is somewhere between $225 and $250. remember in june of 2008, you were correct, highest yields at an auction since about september of 2008. in june of 2008 that two-year note yield was 3%. i don't think we're going to get there in 2018, but i do think most of the activity that's driving the yield curve will remain in place, even though the fed is snugging other central banks and a variety of other

investing issues, considering where yields are, they will have buyers to mitigate some of the effects that normally push long-term rates higher. >> tom, i just wanted to circle back to the infrastructure thing for a second, because it's not a -- it wouldn't be a big surprise, let's say, that they're going down this path so, do the stocks reflect that optimism and are there any names you like here? >> i think the stocks, some of this is already priced in, but no, i think there are some really good names that are attractive look at caterpillar. we like united rentals, because not everything's going to be built new. there will be a lot of rework on u.s. infrastructure, so we like united rental. u.s. steel is also a very attractive name right now. but really, that entire sector we think still has a lot of room to grow. the train has not left the track yet. >> okay. kenny, popping oil today with that pipeline in libya blowing up we hit 60 bucks for a time on wti, first time in 2 1/2 years

here there was a time when the equity market overall would have responded to that but that's not the case now. >> well, it doesn't seem to be the case it might be partly because of where we are in the year, right, just with two or three days left in the trading year. but look, that popping oil not because of that pipeline burst in liba, but also the saudis came out and they're talking oil up what i don't get about the said yahoo thi saudi thing is they're talking about oil eight years from here, so i'm not sure how that plays into the picture, but one way or the other, you're right, i think we see a little pop in oil but then again, once into the new year, the oil backs up again, the producers are producing fine here and as oil gets to this price, they'll produce even more. >> and sort of on that note, rick, while it's notoriously hard to figure out what's going on with the u.s. dollar, the "journal" has a big article today saying repatriation's going to boost it, but we're still down around 93 from over 100 last year on the dollar index. so, what do you think's going on

there? if it goes up, maybe that's a headwind for oil and other things. >> yeah, i just don't see it and i read the "wall street journal" article and it made sense, but the problem i see there is that the "wall street journal" sees it investors saw it one of the big reasons i think the dollar index is down is investors have been trying to jump in front of a variety of issues, like the fed tightening, like repatriation, that normally bolster the currency, but it hasn't it's been a losing trade and i'm not sure that's going to end we can barely hold on to the $92 handle at this point and quickly, tom, on infrastructure, 2018, everything's politicized nowadays do you think the democrats really will work for the president on infrastructure, even though that type of bill normally gets democratic backing? do you see any harbinger that will lead to democrats and opposition for the midterms? >> that is a possibility, no doubt about it, but they have go

home and meet with their constituents at some point and explain why they voted against infrastructure, right? which is going to be a tough conversation to have and if they really want to maintain their seats in those midterms, i think they've got to stand behind this. plus, this is a great thing that america can finally pull together here and say we're going to work together on trying to solve some issues here. so, i'm hoping that they don't politicize it. i'm hoping that cooler heads will prevail, and at some point, that they come in and say, look, let's -- they all belong to the same country, right? >> yes that would seem logical, you would think, but then, we are talking about congress gentlemen, thank you all appreciate it. >> yes. >> happy new year, if we don't see you later. >> you as well. >> 25 minutes to the close here. dow's tipped lower again, down 18 apple is weighing there, but the retail names are doing pretty well s&p down three, nasdaq down 24 and the russell in positive territory by a couple of points snp this holiday, shopping sales hit a six-year high. two former retail execs tell us what's behind the gains and whether companies have learned

to bridge the gap between online and brick-and-mortar. and bitcoin bounced back after last week's big slide. coming up, we'll debate whether the crypto craze will stage a comeback or come crashk down. >> and we want to hear from you. reach out on twitter, facebook, or send us an e-mail convince us you love bcoitin you're watching cnbc, first in business worldwide so that's the idea. what do you think? hate to play devil's advocate but... i kind of feel like it's a game changer. i wouldn't go that far. are you there? he's probably on mute. yeah... gary won't like it. why? because he's gary. (phone ringing) what? keep going! yeah... (laughs) (voice on phone) it's not millennial enough. there are a lot of ways to say no.

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mixed day on wall street the dow's down 18. we're down a little bit on the s&p and the nasdaq as well i was just trying to remember what the low was on the dow. >> today >> it's not been much. we've been hovering around unchanged all day. >> futures were above 60, so we're now lower. >> the russell is positive right now. plus, cryptocurrency investors are getting some postchristmas cheer. bitcoin prices have bounced back today after last week's big decline. and there are all the prices enjoy. >> all four of them. christmas may be over, but shoppers are out in droves today to return gifts and in a hunt for great discounts. kate rogers is at the mall with all the details. hi again, kate. >> reporter: hey, kelly. that's right, shoppers we have

seen today are certainly not slowing down in fact, today, the day after christmas, is on track to be the fourth busiest day of the holiday retail season in terms of foot traffic, according to shopper track. the first is black friday, followed by super saturday, which was this past weekend, and the saturday before that the week between christmas and new year's isn't a slow one at all for holiday spending in fact, consumers are set to spend some $69 billion, nearly 10% of the overall holiday spend, according to the national retail federation, which was projected to be around $682 billion for the season shoppers we caught up with today were doing a few things. they were looking to spend their gift cards, looking to return items, and of course, hunt for sales. >> target, below five. walmart, just because they're the ones we normally shop at, and we're shopping for next year's christmas. >> i'm going to dick's sporting goods to get stuff for the winter classic, which is next week. >> we wanted to come back here today with my son and his girlfriend and do some shopping

now because he got a lot of money for christmas. >> reporter: and data that we've gotten from mastercard this morning shows this retail season was a particularly strong one, the best pace since 2011, up 5% from november 1st through christmas eve. e-commerce grew 18% during that same time period and of course, one more reason why shoppers are coming in today, we mentioned it, was returns. on average, about 10 million people are set to return items this year, guys. back over to you. >> now, you happen to be at the mall that used to be my mall, but we've moved on there's another one that opened down the road there. and that one lost a jcpenney how's traffic, foot traffic there today? >> reporter: so, i think you guys can see behind us, bill, i mean, it's been pretty packed throughout the day we got here very early, around 8:00 a.m i don't know that people necessarily knew the mall was open that early the day after christmas, but we've really seen steady foot traffic all day. i think it's building to a high and a pitch right now, throughout the day

and everyone we've talked to are hunting for deals, a lot of people wanting to buy christmas and holiday items here and put them away for next year, which we said on "power lunch" is planning so far in advance i certainly don't operate that way, but i admire people who do. >> i know. i'm so impressed by that. >> that's just too much. >> thank you, kate. >> thanks, kate. >> kate rogers. according to mastercard, holiday sales were up 4.9% this year from last year. so, have stores finally figured out the right balance between brick and mortar and e-commerce? >> a couple of veterans, juriy sturigge is former ceo of hudson's bay and toys "r" us, and bill simon is former president and ceo of walmart u.s. welcome back. >> great to be here. >> good to see you jerry, the numbers have been very good. right now the first blush guestimate is 4.9% increase over last year. that's a very good year, isn't it >> it's a good year, and certainly, the sales at bricks and mortar surprised some people, but we said for a long

time that this ascendance of the internet is somewhat xanl rated with bricks and mortar sales still being 85% to 90% of the sales, but this is no time for complacency. if anything, the pressures will only get worse between the growth of e-commerce it's not like amazon's going to lay down and let things go they innovate at a tremendous rate so e-commerce needs to keep pressuring retailers and there are way too many physical stores still in the u.s., so this is a time for retailers to double down on reinventing their businesses >> bill, it does include, too, the 4.6% increase includes an 18% increase in online shopping. so the better that amazon does, the better the holiday season's going to look. all the same, we have seen a lot of those traditional retailers doing quite well today why do you think that is >> well, people -- >> well, you can see -- >> bill, go ahead. >> i'm sorry >> okay. i think you're going to see uneven growth. while 5%, i think it might

actually be my top 5%, is going to be the number that people are talking about. that growth will be uneven when amazon with its size and walmart and target with its size have seemingly done well, they're going to suck up a lot of oxygen in the room. so you'll see people that aren't as differentiated and focused as these really good retailers beginning to struggle. and i think that the switch to e-commerce, the transition to e-commerce is really being driven by that amazon effect that is probably an investment-driven phenomenon more than anything else and that, you know, the mantra used to be grow your profits faster than sales, and now it's grow sales almost at all costs. and walmart's a great example. you know, a few years ago, they were -- the operating income was close to $29 billion, and last year they were around $23.5 billion. they've done good focusing on e-commerce growth, but it's come at a price. >> but i think nobody's been more aggressive, besides amazon, of course, with online sales

than walmart, bill and it's paying off. but they're coming up with many different storefronts that cater to what we don't often think of as the walmart customer. is that a smart idea they're obviously trying to broaden the horizon of customers that they can bring under the tent here. good idea or not >> well, sure. i mean, they're doing a lot of things right right now first and foremost, they're running their stores very, very well secondly, they've found a way to integrate e-commerce, the jet.com acquisition has helped bring a lot of skill and capability into the company. and they've taken this opportunity, this transitional period, as jerry just said, to not be complacent, to be aggressive but i would note, as i was saying before, it's come at a very, very expensive price, and not all retailers are in position to be able to make that kind of an investment to transition so i think you're going to see clear winners and losers in this. >> jerry, who do you think those winners and losers are >> well, there's no doubt that amazon's going to be one of the

winners, and everyone believes walmart will be another winner, as bill just pointed out it's going to take tremendous investment on the internet and in stores to be a retailer in the future so there's going to be significant consolidation ahead. there's going to be more store closings so, those that are best capitalized are the ones that are going to survive now, there are entire segments of retail doing great no matter what home depot and lowe's, the diy stores are doing fantastic value players and off-price are doing an amazingly great job t.j. maxx market capitalization is vastly higher than that of target and ross stores is closing in on it burlington coat factory is worth the same amount, you know, equity cap, as macy's today. so, the value players are doing well, and costco has a fantastic business and is doing a tremendous job. >> does your former company, toys "r" us, survive what do you think? >> oh, i'm sure that toys "r" us will survive in some form, but toys is a very tough business.

it always has been but it got a lot worse when amazon got in. every year, a fairly small number of skus account for a significant part of the business a small number of hot products they're heavily footballed on price. the internet's a perfect vehicle for trashing the margins on those products and that's part of what's happened the other thing is that big baby business at toys "r" us is particularly vulnerable to the growth of the internet and there are only a few million babies born in the u.s. and too many competing for it so, toys "r" us will survive in a different form >> all right, guys, thank you both good to see you. happy new year. >> happy new year. thanks. >> you bet >> i think you're jumping the gun on the new year a little bit. >> what's that >> it's not until monday. >> what? we're not going to see them again until next year. >> you don't know that we could see them tomorrow. >> that's true we just might give them a call again. 34 minutes left in the trading session here the dow is down 23 points right now. shippers facing a mad

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mixed day on wall street we've got 30 minutes left in the trading session. here the dow, s&p and nasdaq all

lower today, not by much, and volume is rather light as we start to wrap up 2017. we start to wrap it up [ laughter ] we're not going to rush it now we still have three more trading days to go shares of sucampo pharmaceuticals are rallying right now after being acquired by mallinckroot for a total of $840 million it will help grow its rare disease pipeline that's a 60% premium over friday's close. time for a cnbc news update. let's get to morgan brennan. >> hey, kelly. here's what's happening this hour the u.s. has sanctions two north korean officials for their role in the missile program, that according to a posting on the u.s. treasury department website. any property they have within u.s. jurisdiction is blocked and it's illegal for u.s. citizens to do business with them. meantime, russia says its foreign minister, sergey lavrov, spoke on the phone with u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson and told him "washington's aggressive rhetoric on north korea is unacceptable.

and we now know the identity of the man who sent the package to treasury secretary steve mnuchin that caused the los angeles bomb squad to respond. 45-year-old robby strong dropped off the package with a note saying in part, "the american people are returning your christmas gift of the tax law. the box actually contained horse manure. and a zoo in japan showing off a brand-new panda cub celebrating christmas. it's been one week since xiang xiang went on display at the zoo. she spent the holiday like many of us, moving around, scrambling around, and climbing her favorite log that's the "cbs n news update" this hour. back over to you guys. >> all right, morgan, thank you very much. we are in the final half hour of trade here with the dow down 29 points peter, what's the matter what >> just, no -- >> you have that look on your face. >> it's just a very, very long, drawn-out day, you know. >> and will it be like this the rest of the week

>> normally, it's not, but apparently, this is the new -- >> tell me what has happened this year that we expected, right? everything has been -- >> yeah, i mean -- >> all traditions have been wiped out. >> everything's been wiped out it's like, the expectations are that you have a market up 15%, there should be some pullback. i mean, everything that you want -- >> bob pisani keeps mentioning, the week of the traditional santa claus rally. >> yes you know, i still think that's very possible. you have retailers acting really well today, but oil's not and then financials are iffy so i mean, you're having these sector rotations, these little mini rotations, but with such little volume, i don't even know if you can really go and say that but normally, what we've had over the last 37 years, the last 35 of them, we've had what traditionally would be either a santa claus rally or at least some, you know, some idea of a rally. this is not anything like we've had before. >> and it's a mug's game trying to predict what's coming in the near term, but typically, you

get a change in the tone of the market with the new year. >> yes. >> either if it's been a down year, it suddenly wants to go higher with new money coming in or if it's been higher, people are going to start taking profits. what do we have to do here >> i think with tax reform, a lot of people are still trying to figure out what it means to them even though it's out there and you can read it, but sometimes it takes time to see how it's going, you know, trickle down to you. or there are certain things that will be up front, you know, the tax write-off on taxes on your house. everyone i know is paying their taxes now, as opposed to waiting until next year. i mean, that's a significant amount of money that's being taken out of, you know, investments and put in to pay taxes. so i think that might be one thing. then the corporate,you know, once we see what happens and how most these companies react towards this, it's going to be some sort of windfall. how is it going to react and how are the companies going to react towards that hire more people buy more stock whatever the case may be, that's

a work in progress and i think that's what people are waiting for. >> all those townships are getting this windfall before the end of the year. maybe they'll fix our potholes. >> i wouldn't count on it. they're politicians. >> thank you, peter. kelly? >> yeah, you'll have to wait for the infrastructure bill. >> that's true. >> thank you, guys. heading into the close, just about 26 minutes to go here. dow's down 27 and the s&p's down 5, nasdaq's down almost 0.5% under armour kevin plank not mincing words when talking about how bad this year was for his company and its stock. why some investors are worrying about whether his focus is the problem. and energy is the best sector on wall street today as crude on wti touches $60 again still, it's one of the worst performers this year coming up, a top energy analyst tells us whether the sector can stage a comeback in 2018 >> announcer: "c "nightly business report" se

what's critical thinking like? a basketball costs $14. what's team spirit worth? (cheers) what's it worth to talk to your mom? what's the value of a walk in the woods? the value of capital is to create, not just wealth, but things that matter. morgan stanley

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welcome back under armour ceo kevin plank is facing scrutiny now about whether he is successfully

balancing his role as ceo and head of his private investment firm according to the "wall street journal," at a town hall meeting with executives earlier this month, mr. plank told them 2017 sucked that's a quote for under armour now with shares down 46%, the company's rough year included its first quarterly sales decline. nearly 300 employees were laid off, and there was the loss of many of its top executives. >> yeah, his private investment firm, which is plank industries, did see the opposite, which opened a boutique hotel, a whiskey distillery, and received $233 million in funding for a real estate project, so they're having quite the year. despite investor concern about his ability to balance the two roles, plank says he is focused on under armour and helping to turn the company around. >> if things were going well for under armour, this would not be an issue. >> correct. >> people would be saying, good on you, kevin plank, plank industries, go get them, congratulations, but they're not doing well. >> well, but also, this is -- you know, he's really become so

prominent himself, especially in baltimore, and it's not surprising he'd want to capitalize on that a little bit and redevelop the inner harbor and all of the various things that they're doing, and we've seen people run into this before, this question of are your energies too divided? i mean, look at twitter. every time it hits a rough patch, people say why is jack dorsey running square, you know. so, i can understand why he wants to have several things going on he also hired an executive -- >> yes, he did. >> to help focus. >> new chief operating officer to focus on under armour. >> they've lost a lot of other executives this year, too. plank has had to take on a number of more hands-on roles. so, i think you're right, the cure for this all will be a stock price rebound in 2018. >> we've got to go, but it's very unusual for a founder -- under armour's 21 years old now, almost 22 years old. kevin plank founded the company himself and is still around and still running the country. that's highly unusual. >> which may explain the itch to do other things. he's so much a part of their identity. >> yep. 20 minutes to go, down's

down 27, as we said, s&p down about 5. transports a bit lower, vix higher, nasdaq is down 29. up next, delivery companies are pulling out all the stops over the weekend to get gifts to customers in time for christmas, and one company called on a surprising group to help deliver some of those packages we'll explain, ahead. also, the bitcoin roller coaster rolls on after a week of ups and downs. will 2018 be the year of the bitcoin crash? will it lltoew hray nighs we have a bull-bear debate coming up, which i cannot wait for.

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check out shares of stitch fix, doing very well today, up almost 18% the personal shopping service staging this rally we can find no specific news to the company. maybe it's because of the strong holiday sales data that's been lifting the rest of the retailers out there, but at any rate, this is a stock that came out running hot. its ipo, i think it was in november, maybe in october then it just suddenly fell apart after announcing its first earnings report after becoming public now it seems to be coming back again. >> back over 29 bucks. we'll keep an eye on it. delivery companies were scrambling over the weekend to ship last-minute gifts to xherz

across the u.s., and they utilized some creative solutions. morgan brennan is back with a look at how they did this. morgan >> hey, kelly, that's right. we won't have the full picture until earnings, but early readings indicating that it was a strong performance for both u.p.s. and fedex according to shipper matrix, fedex managed to deliver 98.4% of its express ship packages on time at the week ending december 23rd factoring christmas eve, day that delivered 99.9% of packages on time. for u.p.s., after record volume at its air hub in louisville, 96.4% of its express packages got there on time, according to ship matrix, adding in christmas eve, 99.3% these are very strong numbers. similarly strong numbers for deferred shipping as well. but getting there was easy u.p.s., as the "wall street journal" first reported, repurposed several hundred office staff to help get packages sorted and delivered this holiday season. that's something it's done in the past with so-called ready teams, but this year doing it

with less lead time for workers as volumes turned out to be higher than expected in some markets. drivers worked extended hours as well, and that is really one of the other big takeaways from this peak season record volumes, strong service, but all executed in the midst of a tight labor market u.p.s. and fedex were looking to hire combined 145,000 seasonal workers. they're competing from the same pool as amazon and the retailers. it was tough finding folks guys, back over to you >> you know, maine had a shortage of snowplow drivers. >> yes. >> because this labor pool -- were they grabbing people from headquarters, morgan, telling them to throw on a -- >> yeah, i heard murray and audoding had to come out. >> yes it was people out of corporate headquarters in atlanta as well as other locations and office spaces around the country this is something that's happened in the past, but usually there's a longer lead time in terms of people signing up and saying whether they're willing to do this and overall, the company has

basically told me that, you know, this is part of what it is at u.p.s., that it's crucial, you've got these narrow delivery windows, and that everybody's just sort of on board to do whatever it takes to get those packages to people in time for christmas, but yeah, it's certainly -- best way i could put any, i'd almost compare it to the property and casualty insurers when you have a hurricane coming in. they have these ready teams that are sort of assembled. >> right. >> and then they come in once they know where the damage has happened in this particular case -- >> so they're not grabbing murray in auditing for that project. >> package deliveries, yeah. >> whatever it takes 14 minutes left in the trading session, the dow down about 19 points coming up, did santa leave bitcoin in your stocking this christmas? if so, your gift is worth a lot more today, but with volatile swings over the past months, should you take your profits and run? we have a bitcoin bull-bear debate, coming up. plus, puerto rico is still reeling three months after hurricane maria struck the

island in a new cnbc documentary, marcus lemonis caught up with governor ricardo rossello. take a listen. >> just want to give you perspective. when we say the hurricane comes over this way, the width of the hurricane was 35 miles puerto rico's 30 miles so, once it's touching over here, it's touching over here as well 100% of the island got hit by a sustained category 4 hurricane winds. the mountainous region of puerto rico had vulnerable housing -- >> that's a nice way of saying housing that was built a long time ago it wasn't built with concrete. >> that's right. >> at any code. >> that's right. >> sticks and stones >> sticks and stones >> tune in tonight at 10:00 p.m. eastern and pacific for the full documentary. and more "closing bell" right after this break easy to analyze and take action? how about some of the lowest options fees? are you raising your hand?

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bitcoin briefly climbed back above $16,000 today, rallying more than 50% from friday's low. by the way, coinbase made news today after warning of transaction delays due to high volume is the cryptocurrency worth the risk, given the recent volatility joining us now to debate are nick colis and larry mcdonald.

welcome to you both. larry, you think this is a bear trap, don't you? >> well, i mean, i think it's buffett once said, the three is, the innovators, the imitators, and the idiots and i think you guys have a pretty good hand, finger on the pulse here in terms of kind of some new players coming in, they're probably late money. and we've put a note on, on december 12th, recommending the gold miners as a hedge gold miners are up about 8% since the 12th of december, and bitcoin's down about 8% or so i'm recommending clients move into either edges on bitcoin or -- >> the problem is you're as crazy as the gold in the gold miners as the new kids are about bitcoin and crypto everybody's going, larry, come on, stop beating me over the head with this stuff >> if you want to take a long-term look at cryptocurrencies, look at natural gas and uranium. what's happening in china, you're talking about an energy

usage, 16 kilometers above their usage of bitcoin annually. and that's unseasonable. so, natural gas, nuclear power, uranium. there's a lot of ways to play it. >> all right you're a cautious bull. >> yes. >> now, i've made no secret of the fact that i just think that this is a speculative bubble but i'm separating that from the practical use of a cryptocurrency and the speculative mania that's caused these wild swings in prices. those are separate things here where do you stand on this do you see a big future for the cryptocurrencies >> you have to merge those concepts together, you're absolutely right, because the underlying technology is, first of all, rock solid the bitcoin has never been hacked how many systems on this planet can you say have never been hacked and are so complex, they probably can't be? tie that back into the potential uses of bitcoin, the currency, over time, and it feels a lot

like say online shopping in 19 i. when hear of bitcoin nay sayers, not my friend, larry, but people who really think it's a bubble and going to zero -- >> or today we have an article saying ten years in, nobody has come up with a use for blockchain. >> that was funny because it's so inaccurate. first of all, it's not ten years old. the ninth anniversary is next year, so -- >> okay, nine. >> second of all, for most of the prior eight years, it's been the realm of illegal speculation and all kinds of other nefarious things only in the last 24 months have we seen really adoption. and black masters company got the australian stock exchange to use the blockchain for their settlement processes, so there are really uses in place now. >> i think about program trading in the 1980s that was supposed to keep the stock market from crashing, and it caused the crash of 1987. i think of the dotcom mania. i think of the collateralized debt obligations, those infamous cdos that had a big role in the market crash in 2008 am i wrong to equate all those

manias with the one we're seeing right now with bitcoin >> you know, manias are like families the same unhappy one is different. so this feels like those prior ones, but at the same time, there really is underlying utility to this technology, and i think properly constructed, you can see a bright future for it but it's too early to say for sure if it will happen and in what form. bitcoin is less than half of the crypto currencies outstanding in terms of market cap. it could go to 35% as other ones take their place. >> it's interesting, because even charlie amongar was making a case for i can't even see gold, at least you can wear it or it has some value, but not for the cryptocurrency are you just bullish on the yellow metal or specifically bearish about the prospects for bitcoin's cryptocurrency >> bitcoin's 100-day moving savage down around 7,000 it hit it twice in 2017. so we're probably going to have

a drawdown in the 7,000-8,000 range, and it's probably in the near term, i think, just because of the money that's moving in. and then if you look at sustainability in terms of china, you're talking about china, they're selling this year 340,000 electric vehicles. it's up from 30,000 say five years ago. so, countries like china are buying electric vehicles at that type of pace, and they're using 40% of the world's bitcoin so, there are sustainable issues here facing -- >> nick, we've got to go, but i will say, i know the ledger itself has not been hacked, but plenty of exchanges and wallets holing it, so effectively for the user you've had millions of problems with the cryptocurrency. >> that's right, the stuff on top of it still needs a lot of work. >> thank you, appreciate it. >> thank you. >> larry mcdonald on you know what. up next, we're coming right back with your closing countdown. >> and after the bell tonight from florida citrus to broadway

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the open this morning and then drifted lower the rest of the day. and it was on light volume a standout group today would be the retailers. the xrt itself did pretty well today, but a lot of retailers did very well on those reports of a gain of 4. 9% in holiday sales, best we've seen in six years. the two in year note continues higher they auctioned off $226 billion of two-year notes at a nine-year high yield of 1.90%, where we sit today. and wti oil moved to $60 a barrel for a time today, bob pisani the libyan pipeline had an explosion there and they've been losing about 90,000 barrels per day of oil over there, a gain of 2.25% today. >> and remember, a lot of analysts have $60 as their price target. >> well, there it is. >> for 2018. we're there already. the s&p has a similar problem. a lot of people are near 3,000 i have to point out new highs today. a lot of oil companies, chevron

with a new high, home depot, lowe's, plenty of retailers. and you pointed out, not only were overall numbers good, but online shopping for a lot of these guys has been pretty good. caterpillar and some of the deep industrials also new highs. >> three days left in the trading year for 2017. we'll have a look ahead to the rest of the week coming up on the second hour of "closing bell" with kelly evans see you in a bit, kelly! thurank you, bill, and welce to "closing bell," everyone. i'm kelly evans at the new york exchange a small decline for the dow at eight points, the s&p down about three points the nasdaq the biggest decliner, down nearly 0.3%, but the russell 2000's managing to stay in positive territory, gaining a point and a half to close at 1,544 today. how about the biggest movers we can take a look at the dow. let's see, a name in the dow

leading the way today was a home depot with more than 1% gain biggest dap decliner was apple with a 2.5% drop and we talked about the report of weaker iphone x shipments weighing in on that. the s&p 500 also, the worst performer micron kohl's up 6% in the s&p. with less than a week left in 2017, crude prices rose above 60 bucks a barrel for the first time in more than two years. a top energy analyst joins us with his 2018 outlook, coming up and joining me now, charlie from aerial investments and chris burstin. welcome to you both. i appreciate you being here. >> thank you. >> we just mentioned the big movers in the dow, but it was home depot, apple lagged on the s&p, kohl's was the big leader along with a lot of retail names today while micron lagged. getting ready to wrap up the

year, "the average s&p 500 stock began the year with an average $89.24 share price now the average stock is triple digits, $106.85 a share. average tech stock went from $80 a share and $107.80 a share this year." charlie, what do you make of it all? >> we may see the end of what didn't make sense, which is the stock split. it cost a lot of money, caused confusion, made us have a hard yes, sir time and it was a way for people to convince the market their stocks were cheap finally, people are finding out it doesn't matter and are allowing their stocks to go to higher and higher levels, which is the rational thing to do. maybe we're finally hitting the death of stock splits. >> why are you so anti apple wanted one to get in the dow and it worked. >> it's silly. berkshire never split its stock until it was forced to there's no reason for it it's just paperwork.

it just creates fees for lawyers and it causes recordkeeping hurdles. >> so you don't believe it's good for retail investors, because a lower share price is easier for them to buy and sell? >> no, because you have to buy more shares. a stock that trades for $1,000, you can buy ten shares, and most transacti transaction are on a per-share basis. it costs more per trade. >> chris, one of the arguments against doing this was oh, the higher the price gets, the worse the liquidity for some of these names. do you have any concerns >> i don't really have any concerns i agree that certainly the splits, and particularly reverse splits and all those i think are more an academic enters. so i'm kind of in the idea -- unless it's an outrageous price, $50,000 or more or something, okay, then it becomes a little more difficult for the smaller investor but no, apple should stay the way it is. >> how about, before we move on, chris, how about the fact that we've just gotten to his, you

know, historic marker where the average stock now costs over 100 bucks simply because of the kind of year we've had? >> yes, but you know, i think also, there's plenty of opportunities for stocks that are below $50 or even below $30. so there isn't like this other opportunities in the same segments, or you can buy the etfs, which give you a broader diversification anyway. >> and that might be whatty of people are doing these days. let's talk about shares of apple, which closed down nearly 3%, and that dragged down the dow all day today. apple suppliers took a hit as well, all of this on a taiwanese report of weak iphone x first-quarter shipments. it slashed the forecast to 30 million units from an initial 50 million units. charlie, what are your thoughts? >> look, i've been wrong on apple a year my kids keep reminding me, they told me to buy it five years ago and i didn't i'm going to be stubborn and just say that this is a company which basically now has one product. what do blackberry and nokia and

motorola and even the palm pilot all have in common they were all the must-have phone that no longer is must-have. so, i'm going to say at this point, i'm not chasing apple >> chris, what about you did i see you gave your wife an iphone x for christmas >> yes, i did, and she gives it pretty high markets. i think the highest expectations won't be met counter argument to the one trick pony is that apple owns the pony, and i just don't see apple or samsung falling much by the wayside. i think they dominate still five years out. the question is, have we seen that all priced in >> right, because i was just going to say that "barron's" cover this weekend talks about the first company to have a $2 trillion market cap. do you agree with all that >> i heard that about cisco in early 2000 and it's still away from the high.

so i'd be cautious about that. >> charlie, you feel the same way? >> absolutely. it's a great company i don't want to doubt that, but i am not paying $1 trillion for it. >> all right we'll see if you like retail, or at least you, charlie, like retail anymore we had a rally today, early indicators ha it was a good holiday shopping season, both for retailers online and brick and mortar up, macy's, 4.5% american eagle, urban outfitters, best buy and nordstrom all up in the 2% range or so. but amazon was also a winner the online giant announced prime membership continued to grow this holiday season. it said more than 4 million people started prime free trials or began paid memberships. the shares are up 0.75%. charlie, who are your picks in the retail space >> we like nordstrom we do think you have to be very careful in retail. you'd better have somebody with some distinguishing characteristics. and we think nordstrom does. but this is still tough. we still have amazon taking share. the big story here is consumer

confidence, which is very high consumer spending levels, which are very high, and improving economy, which is all good for retailers. but you have to be very, very, very careful here. amazon continues to take share >> that's said, chris, you like simon property >> yes, i do i agree. you have to be really careful about this bounce we've had in retail simon property, though, is a different way to play it you get the yield and everyone who wins at the mall, from tesla stores to restaurants, so i like that as a different way. >> it's interesting, chris, so you like simon property, but you're not necessarily a fan of the retailers which have in a lot of cases been up 25% to 30% in the past three months. >> yes, and that's the reason why. i think there's no question that they're still getting amazon now, they've had that bounce, and they're not going to go away i mean, we're going to get clicks to bricks, but it's still going to be tough for them from a long-term basis. i like target in here, but i think you have to be careful of them they've already seen quite a bit of improvement >> real quickly, where do you

both stand on amazon, then chris, first to you. >> i think in the short run, valuation doesn't mean anything. in the long run, it rules, and at some point, you're going to look at amazon at 290 times earnings and say, wait a minute. and then we'll see a more moderation with price. >> all right so, amazon's your apple. like, it's the one -- you know, you've been at them for five years with the kids telling you, you should buy it, dad, right? >> yeah. let me just jump in here, kelly, and say i do think that the antitrust risk is a big deal here i think that that is what could bring this stock down a lot. there are absolutely credible reports that the trump administration has been analyzing whether amazon is a monopoly you can absolutely argue that they've engaged in predatory practices. we could walk through what those look like, but i think that is a real risk here and if they file charges, they would bring this stock down dramatically >> what would be one example of that, charlie, real quick? >> well, just what predatory

pricing is all about is going into a business, losing money up front you are so profitable elsewhere, driving out your competition, and then jacking up your prices afterwards that's exactly what a&p was accused of, it's what rockefeller was accused of it's predatory pricing, willingness to lose money. and clearly, amazon is losing money in a lot of these new businesses that it goes into. >> all right they might have to start earning money just to forestall those arguments. the bulls will be happy, either way. but let's talk about some more reverberations from the new tax reform law capital one will cut back its stock repurchase program to $1 billion from $1.85 billion as a result of last week's passage. the company said the change in plan is the result of the anticipated short-term hedge to profit because the new law, which will lower the value of its so called deferred tax assets charlie, this was an interesting one, sort of shrugged off, the shares down about 0.5% what do you make of it >> yeah, i think i would say 80% of all companies in the s&p are

going to have significant improvement from the tax bill. they're going to be 15%, for whom it's a push because so much of their results are outside of the u.s. or they have a low tax rate already there will be a small number that will actually have a negative impact, and companies with big deferred losses are that example citi is another one i worry about which has a massive deferred loss carry-forward. so to me, this makes some sense from a fairness point of view, but it is going to single out certain companies that have lost money in the past. >> would you not invest in those companies as a result? >> i think they probably haven't had this properly phoned through. the people at citi would say we were never getting proper credit for that tax loss anyway, and so, you shouldn't penalize us for this change now. i can see both sides of that argument, but all in, i think this is probably -- we still need someday time for this to filter through the market. >> all right let's talk about bitcoinbefore we let you both go it did rebound today

it is up 50% from the sell-off that we saw last friday. chris, what do you make of it? >> for the sell-off of what stock did you mention? >> for bitcoin, chris, what do you make of the volatility and the price it's trading at today? >> bitcoin, oh, sure i still see it as a bubble i think that, you know rg just like dutch tulips, it will have some value 300 years from now, but i think it's more like $100 than it is at five digits, and i think that it's certainly something that you've got to be very careful of. i don't like it at all i'm with jamie dimon on it. >> a tulip has more value. a tulip is beautiful i can give it to my wife and she will appreciate it a bitcoin has no value it is not a medium of exchange it is not a way to store wealth. it has no intrinsic value. >> all right, we're bringing down the bears today guys, thank you again very, very much for joining us.

>> thank you. well, beast or bust? which category does the iphone x fall in today after apple's stock price fell 2.5% on the report from asia on lowering demand we size up the situation next. plus, oil prices reaching their highest levels today since 2015 we touched 60 bucks on wti what's that portend for the next year our energy playbook for next year is just ahead. and contact the show on itr,acooortwte febk closingbell@nbcmuni.com. ♪ feel that? that's the beat of global markets, the rhythm of the world. but to us, it's the pace of tomorrow. with ingenuity, technologies, and markets expertise we create the possible. and when you do that, you don't chase the pace of tomorrow. you set it.

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shares of apple were lower 2.5% today after reports that it's cutting iphone x sales forecast from 50 million units to just 30 million units despite the weak outlook, the cover story from "barron's" this weekend says apple isn't anywhere close to reaching its peak, says the stock could hit $1 trillion in market value. dan ives from gbh and david trainor from new constructs are joining me dan, what are your prospects for apple in light of the reports of fewer shipments for the iphone

x? >> i view this as a speed bump overall, it's a goal and opportunity for the upside cycle. 50 million users we think could upgrade over the next year i think you sort of look at this, multiple expansion, asp increase i view this as a bump in road. and ultimately, this is really the opportunity that the next phase of the growth evolution for apple in terms of what the next step is but this upgrade opportunity we still believe is a supercycle, despite some of the bear reports and sentiment that came out. >> do you believe the reports, dan? i mean, what if it's true, that it's 30 million versus 50? how does that change your numbers? >> all of our work shows that december, we're looking above expectations for units in asps i think about 3 to 5 million units got pulled forward from march to the december quarter, so i think if you factor that in, we're about 40 million units from march i think some of the report about some soft spots could be true, but ultimately, if i look overall to the totality, which

why the stock's now down so much, i think it's a forest with trees. this is a speed bump i still look at the iphone x as a supercycle combined with the 8 and 8 plus. >> david, do you agree >> no, not really. i think apple is seeing a diminishing competitive advantage we really seasons any innovation in the iphone probably since steve jobs, right? samsung, google phones keep getting better faster, and it's just difficult for people to pay that big price point for an apple when you can get something just as good or better at a lower price. >> but what do you mean we haven't seen any innovation since steve jobs >> i don't -- when i mean innovation is something to differentiate it when has iphone done something that samsung or google haven't already done, right? the last i think it upgrade was just a bigger screen this time around, a better camera, more like an infinity screen, features that the others alreadyhave, or they have better cameras. >> what about facial recognition?

>> i guess that one is unique, if the other folks aren't doing that you got me on that one, but i think at the end of the day, is it enough to drive a significantly higher price point as it has in the past? and i just don't see that being there anymore. i don't think the apple phone or iphone is different enough to justify the huge price difference. >> dan, it is true they've missed the boat on the home speaker. and while apple was late to other markets and then conquered them, can they pull off the same feat this time around? >> yeah, i think that's the next question to the other comment, your guest -- and there's about 700 million users that would disagree in terms of there, but i think right now, what's the next step? that's really the key. is it streaming content? do they take what i believe is $200 billion of repatriated cash and use that toward significantly stepping up the streaming content? the software services piece, that's something i could see them augmenting. so now it's really what's going to be that second and third act, the meat and potatoes for the next decade?

it's still the iphone, but the next act's going to be key that's why they repatriate cash. and what they do in 2018 is really what investors are no objection -- focused on for the magic act of what cook has in his back pocket. >> earlier today we had a consumer researcher, i guess we would say, on the market share of apple versus other platforms and i asked him, do you see a higher number of people leaving because they see other phones as more attractive or innovative or what have you? he said actually the opposite is happening, that the switch rate from android to iphone has slowed even, and that it's 90% loyalty for people on one platform versus the other. >> i think the iphone has done really well, and as dan has said, it's been the meat and potatoes, but what's the next act going to be? i don't think there is one look, i think streaming is a red herring. nobody's really making money at streaming. you have to do it as an additional channel, but netflix is losing $1 billion a year.

that's not going to be a big money-maker for apple. the iphone itself is not going to be a big money-maker anymore. i don't think there's going to be much growth come from that. so, we're waiting for another rabbit to come out of the hat here to drive growth i think it's just a bad idea for investors. >> dan, what's your -- sorry, i was just going to say, dan, what's your price target on apple? >> yeah, $205. and i think right now december's a beat quarter and march and june are really the make-and-break quarters for iphone x to show us this is just another supercycle or another products cycle that's where this is key for apple. we still think $1 trillion that we hit in 2018. >> all right, we'll see. guys, thank you both. >> thank you. >> thank you for joining us. dan ives and david trainor. elon musk is at it again he has his sights set on yet another type of transportation we'll tell you about that in "the takeaway" after this. mrs., "hamilton" won't be the only play benefiting by ties

to d.c the new tax bill signed by the president plans to boost the bottom line of all shows on the great white way next year. that story coming up (siren blaring) ♪ they say the neon lights are bright ♪ working as an emt in a small town usually means hospitals aren't very close by. when you have a really traumatic injury, we have a short amount of time to get our patient to the hospital with good results. we call that the golden hour. there's nothing worse than when we're responding to the hospital, and the hospital doesn't have the right specialist. evaluating patients remotely, by an expert, is where i think we have a potential to make a difference. robots can do a lot in medicine these days, but they can't think. they're still machines. for nuanced decision making, we still need humans. we would save a lot of lives if we could bring the doctor to the patient.

verizon is racing to build the first and most powerful 5g network that will enable breakthrough innovations to take place. as we get faster and faster wireless connections, it'll be possible to bring those capabilities to more remote sites, and be able to operate on a patient in a way that was just not possible before. when you think about underserved areas, you tend to think of remote locations. but the reality is, an underserved area is anywhere where the person that you need, who has the expertise for the problem that you have, is nowhere near you. low latency is crucial for things like surgery, because the response time has to be immediate, it has to be real. i could put on vr goggles like these, and when i move my hand, the robot on the other side will mimic the movement, with almost no delay. who knew a scalpel could work thousands of miles away? (dr. vasquez) it's going to be life-changing,

and life-saving. i put everything into my business. and i had all these points from my chase ink card. so i bought ingredients, utensils, even made custom doughnut cutters. wow! all with points. that's how i created the ripple. the doughnut, in a doughnut, in a doughnut. suddenly, it's everywhere. i mean, it really took off. what will you create with your points? chase for business. make more of what's yours. florida fruit farmers, and yes, broadway improceed sarros are one of the few that received a gift in the form of the tax

bill ylan >> santa has moved on from milk and cookies. apparently, he likes beer. that's right, beer brewers will be enjoying lower federal excise taxes for two years under the new tax legislation. for small brewers, the tax is cut in half. and for the others, it's reduced by about 10% the industry has been lobbying for this for about a decade, but it was ohio senator rob portman who finally delivered that christmas gift now, broadway, as you mentioned, is also toasting the new tax code live theatrical productions will get to take advantage of full and immediate expensing for the cost of the show that's a tax break that had expired at the start of this year and the new law puts it back in there. moving on down south, santa also made a stop at florida's citrus farms, who get a carveout for writing off the cost of replacing damaged plants and over in alaska, the jolly old elf made one more stop before heading back to the north pole alaska native corporations can now deduct donations to special

tracts dedicated to the least of local tribes it is kind of random, but alaska senator lisa murkowski was a key supporter of this tax bill, kelly. those are just a few of the presents in the 305-page tax bill i'm sure the lobbyists will find every one under the tree back to you. >> i think i need a list you know, you think you know what's in it, then you keep hearing more and more and more it does remind me a little bit of the obamacare bill. they said you have to pass it to know what's in it. >> that's right. and especially because this bill really needed support from a unified republican caucus, they made sure there were provisions in there that could appeal to members across the geographic region that they represent. >> yeah, provisions, gifts. >> provisions, breaks, loopholes, whatever you want to call it, kelly. >> i know the beermakers are excited. thank you very much, ylan mui in washington. how about a cnbc news update morgan brennan has the latest. >> hello, kelly.

this hour, vladimir putin formally nominated as a candidate in next year's russian presidential election. hundreds of supporters gathering to make it official. his chief rival, however, was barred from running by russia's election commission. and delays as a passenger tried to board a plane with guns and bullets in a carry-on bag. it was the 91th time this year security at orlando airport intercepted a gun. and a white christmas is nice, but this is just ridiculous erie, pennsylvania, digging out after getting hit with 53 inches of snow. that's a little over 4 feet, in just over a day. and what do you get the woman who has everything well, kanye west buying his wife, kim kardashian, stuck for christmas. she posted an instagram video showing gifts from disney, adidas, netflix, amazon and apple, and also stock certificates in all of those same companies >> i love that >> isn't that a good story >> that is fantastic we were just having this

conversation over christmas. i was thinking, i want to start doing that more often, but then i wasn't sure about our rules for buying and, you know, and giving, you know, because we have all these -- we can't buy anything, morgan, as you know. so i was like, i don't know if a stock gift certificate could count. >> i guess we can live vicariously through kim kardashian it wasn't f.a.n.g., but media and tech in terms of the investment >> thank you very much i'll put my blue wig on now. morgan brennan let's look at how we finished the day on wall street, shall we the dow was down 7, s&p down 2 and the nasdaq down 23 it was a weak performer after apple suppliers took a big hid hit. the russell 2000 eked out a one-point gain but let's get to the other stories on our "rapid recap. >> santa delightium is on this year, the company announcing its biggest ever holiday season with the echo becoming the top-selling product across all categories. >> i was saying 50% of all nonbar, nonrestaurant sales

would be online by 2030. we're on track for that. it's going to happen we're going to have less stores, less malls, but that doesn't change the fact that this has been one heck of a good selling season >> more wild swings for bitcoin overnight. as morgan stanley came out with a new note saying the cryptocurrency's true value could be zero. >> the force was with disney again. "star wars: the last jedi" brought in another $100 million over the holiday weekend. >> intel may lose a longstanding distinction this year. japan's nikkei newspaper saying the preliminary figures show samsung replacing them as the number one seller of semiconductors this year. >> there are reports citing taiwan's "economic daily" that apple in the first quarter is going to cut its sales forecast for the "x" to just 30 million units, and that is down from what it said was an initial plan of 50 million units. >> the oil market closing for the day. crude and present prices jumping, wti trading above 60 bucks for the first time since june 2015. >> i made it i made the "rapid recap.

this is a great day. >> good for you! >> there he is i keep looking over at you. >> i was sure kanye bought kim bitcoin, but i underestimated him. >> that's such a twist, isn't it it is time for our takeaway and bill is joining me for a special edition of that to let's begin with a $100 million loan that may have saved tehranos from bankruptcy fortress made the lone they are still under going investigations by the doj and s.e.c. and his move to cheaper newark, california, from palo alto that said, i'm shocked they were able to keep borrowing and raising money. >> i am, too, and that amount of money will only last them one year they got significant cash for that fortress specializes in investing in distressed assets, and i suspect they have their eye on that patent portfolio i don't know what's in it specifically, but i suspect that, hey, if we don't get the money back, we get the patents that are in that portfolio what theranos is going to do to

earn that money to pay the loan back, i have no idea. >> i agree maybe it's a sign of how bad it got that they had to even collateralize the patent portfolio to secure that loan. next, textbook prices peaked at 24 bucks on average in the 2014 school year, fell $2 to $80 on average in 2015, but that's just for new books when you factor in rentals, used books and e-books, students are saving so is the time for textbook publishers over? >> finally i worked at the campus book store at my alma mater in college days and i saw firsthand what was going on, especially if professors wrote a book or edited a book -- >> oh, that's a racket. >> right that's the book they put on the syllabus and the profit margins were unbelievable. we had no place else to go the only opportunity we had were the used copies, but then professors would update the book. >> and the used ones were written all over and usually in bad shape. >> exactly

look, competition is a wonderful thing. technology has equalized everything in that category as it has for so many other things, and i think it terrific that prices are finally going to come down look, they don't have to cost that much. profit margins in textbooks are astronomical. >> i agree and i didn't realize when i was in college, whatever kind of etextbook was expensive. it was like, why couldn't you use one that cost half or a third of the price maybe it didn't have a lot of the famous economists on it but a lot of them don't need to do that to get the concepts across. >> finally the invisible hand of the free markets is working there on the textbooks. tesla's elon musk tweeted in response to a question that tesla will make a pickup truck after it's done with the model y. i had for gotten about the model y. as a pickup truck driver, i think this is great, but if the next step is taking $10,000 deposits for this truck, i'll say here we go again.

>> i think we're getting to the point where elon's getting too ambitious, right don't you think so >> show me. >> just this year alone we've got the production of the model 3 under way. you've got this semi truck you have the roadster that he pulled out at the last minute there. >> yes. >> and now he's talking about a pickup truck i -- let's take it one vehicle at a time and make that as good as you can and sell that thing. >> right i mean, it takes so long for them to get these models to market, and i think people, since they've seen how good the model s was and they've seen the model x now and they're still excited about the model 3, but we are several models beyond that now >> exactly. >> we know it's going to take forever and he's taking the money now. >> there's only so much the technology can do to transform the production process, the assembly process it still takes a lot of money and equipment and time to produce a vehicle, and you can't transform that. >> and the big question is will texans drive an electric pickup truck? okay and maybe it will become the new f-150, but --

>> pickup trucks traditionally are the most popular sales item for vehicles on a monthly basis. >> oh, yeah, and great profit margins. >> all the time. so it makes sense to go after that market. >> yes. >> but let's take it one car at a time. >> i agree thank you. this is fun. >> it's been a pleasure. may i luplug, i'm anchoring "nightly business report" tonight. so join us for that. see you tomorrow. >> thank you up next, we peer into the energy crystal ball u.s. energy companies are enjoying a positive day today but storm clouds may be forming on the horizon that story is next. and maybe it wasn't on your christmas list, but it wound up under your tree. bitcoin. tiead, we'll map out your opons for your christmas cryptocurrency gift. ♪

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the energy sector had a pretty nice day. it was up nearly a percent, although it's fallen more than 3% in 2017 and been one of the worst performers this year jackie deangelis has a look at what to expect with they are 2018 playbook. >> 2017 was a volatile year for oil. with barrels from $40 to around $60, crude traded a broad range. fluctuations in price didn't just impact the futures market,

they impacted stocks as well the s&p energy sector underperforming the broader market here's what to expect in 2018. crude trades a range oil prices move because of supply and demand. as a result of the u.s. shale boom, the market is still oversupplied opec and russia have made an effort to correct the imbalance, but it may not be enough as long as crude bounces around, energy stocks will, too. u.s. shale will pump the name of the game is rebalance, but that's difficult to achieve when all the players aren't cooperating in 2017, u.s. shale producers pumped at record levels. it's likely that trend will continue in 2018, especially if opec supports the market opec cuts will be unsustainable. opec producers extended their production cut agreement through the end of 2018, but many of the countries will have a difficult time adhering to these cuts as they rely on oil revenue for survival well, joining me now with what he expects for the energy

sector in the new year is paul sanky, managing director and senior oil and gas analyst at wolf research. thank you for joining me you feel differently about opec next year and you think oil in general looks pretty good here >> i do. the main thing is demand and we've had very strong demand this year. that's what's made the underperformance of the sector so sdpoipting this year, but we expect demand to keep raging it is raging globally. i don't know what will slow it down, unless there's some sort of external crisis and once you've got that kind of demand growth, generally speaking, the sector should do a lot better -- >> but everyone's talking about supply growth and that was jackie's point about opec. can they keep members from violating the agreements and putting more barrels into the environment -- >> i think it's a miss i think open yeblg's producing high levels. saudi's at nearly 10 million barrels a day. iran's at full capacity. libya's struggling we have issues in nigeria and venezuela. i don't think the opec strategy issue is not a big deal for me the first principle is demand is very strong.

the second is can the u.s. supply enough oil? we don't disagree that the u.s. is going to grow strongly, but they might not be able to grow strongly enough. >> what about shale? >> that's what i'm talking about. there are 800,000 barrels a day of growth from the u.s. point. can that really be sustained up to 1.5 million probably not and with the strength of demand growth right now and the issues that we're seeing on a rolling basis with supply reliability, so as i mentioned, venezuela, nigeria, libya, we have got problems there today the 40s field. we had enchilada in the gulf of mexico we've had numerous issues just recently that tend to indicate that the investment of the period of $100 oil is beginning to creek and grind a little bit at the margins so, first demand, second year generates supply i don't think supply will surprise the up side. >> we know where you stand on the oil outlook in general what companies do you like here? >> well, we still adore eog. that's the player that we think has the best management structure, the best systems. really, what we're looking for

there is an increasing cash return so we're hoping that eog will start increasing the dividend, may, in fact, do buy kbabacks a stop looking for growth as aggressively oils, we are not fans of exxon we think they've got big problems because of the russia issues, the sanctions in russia -- >> how big -- the sanctions in russia, you think it's going to be a headwind? >> it's a 15-year headwind the company really went after russia as the next big thing, and then the invasion of crimea really put, you know, a spanier in that work essentially what happened now is trying to catch up in the permian and the shale. we prefer chevron over ex-ron and probably would like the yield of the european guys as well because we generally feel the market will be in good shape next year. >> what about refiners >> again, the first principle is demand so although it's seasonablywea and cracks have fallen off a lot recently, i think our view is that we should see very good refining earnings over the

coming year as long as demand holds up, and they haven't added a lot to capacity. and there's an interesting kicker in the year 2020, when all ships globally are going to have to change from heavy sulfur fuel oil to light sweet diesel that is an interesting play into the next three years, not just the next one, if the economy begins to slow a bit. >> you talked about concerns with exxon what other companies would you sphere clear of here >> generally speaking we're positive going into next year so there's nothing we absolutely hate we've been critical of pxd because they are overly pursuing growth it's a basic point, but we expect u.s. enp companies to improve their management and management strategy and improve their communications as regards to actual returns because of what you were talking about earlier, the threat from tesla so we really want these companies to pay us out over the next ten years and not just grow for the next ten years, and that's a crucial point. >> that's an interesting point before we go, what about nat

gas? how do you see the fundamentals there? >> out of china, you have insane demand it really is a remarkable story and really good for u.s., but there's just so much supply. it's difficult to see it breaking out of the $3 range so we're not particularly excited about natural gas, but some of the lng export players in the u.s. could do very well one company i don't cover but should do well is shell, the dominant lng player globally. >> there's a lot of good news there for everybody to research. paul, thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you, kelly. >> paul sankey from wolff research. you might want to think twice about returning those christmas gifts. we'll tell you why after this. and on "fast money," one hedge fund manerag sees bitcoin surging and the crypto craze it far from over. re you retire? oh yeah sure... ok, like what? but i thought we were supposed to be talking about investing for retirement? we're absolutely doing that. but there's no law you can't make the most of today.

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is a learning experience for everyone. find articles, tips and tools from experts and others who have been in your place. the caregiving resource center at aarp.org/caregiving. the day after christmas, that being today, of course, ranks as one of the top ten busiest holiday shopping days as people head to the malls to make returns, but they may want to think twice about seeking refunds. there's a ratings company judging every single consumer in america and black-listing some from making returns. cnbc asked shoppers in the palisades center mall in west nyack, new york, what they thought about this. >> i don't really think that's fair because you know, there are loyal customers here that usually shop target and macy's and stuff like that and they should have the right to return their stuff. >> that's messed up. if the tags are still on it, then like, they're still good. >> if you're trying to return something that doesn't necessarily fit you or it's something that you didn't really

want at the end of it all, then you should be able to return it or exchange it for something else. >> it's not my fault i bought something my cousin didn't want and i gave her the receipt she should have a right to return it. >> i worked in customer service for seven years at walmart a while ago. we had to take everything back, regardless of a receipt. >> eric chemi is joining me with more details on the ratings company. eric >> there's an equifaxlike company that rates whether you're a problem returner. it's called the retail equation. its main goal is to help stores stop fraud, like thieves trying to get cash for stolen goods, organized crime printing fake barcodes to change the prices on expensive items, even extreme return-a-holics who constantly buy and return things and shoppers who return clothes after wearing them plenty of shoppers who do nothing wrong could be banned if their return matches a pattern

displayed by the crooks. the retail federation works with 25 of the top 100 retailers, including best buy, vick tomorrow yotorah' secret and nike. that's why you're asked for your driver's license at the counter, so they can track you. they say it's not a perfect process and innocent shoppers might get falsely banned this week if that happens to you, you contact the company to get your return history and ask to be unblocked. the good news is the information does not get shared among retailers, so a ban to one retail only applies to that store, not any other places you might shop. >> which is a little surprising, actually, if the whole point is to profile the shoppers. i was just going to say, one of the producers, her boyfriend had this issue at a best buy and got banned for a year and he was just a legitimate shopper. >> that's what happened. best buy's one of the companies that uses the retail equation. if you look at the best buy forums, it's littered with a lot

of customers saying hey, i got blocked by the retail equation, there was a number printed on my receipt and it said i had to call them and i call them and then they say you have to talk to best buy. so it's exactly like these ratings companies. it's a third party making a decision behalf of the provider that you're working with directly >> so, what are the red flags? would it be electronics, high-priced electronics, if you're asking for a cash refund in particular? >> a lot of different things it's one of these machine learning algorithms that takes into account a lot of factors -- how often are you returning? when are you returning do you have a receipt or not what's the price of the goods? did you come a bunch of times in the past year doing the same thing? it's not just for electronics. like we talked about, it could be home depot or victoria's secret where they're selling hardware and clothing, so it's not just electronics there's a lot of different goods that get counted on this >> i know, i wonder if andrew ross sorkin could return those yoga pants. >> from this morning, exactly. i don't know that's a good question. >> we haven't gotten an update eric, thank you very much.

eric chemi. bitcoin climbing back from its plunge on friday, making the people who receive bitcoin for christmas a litt mleore merry. how to protect and store your new cryptocurrency there he is. your new brother-in-law. you like him. he's one of those guys who always smells good. his 5 o'clock shadow is always at 5 o'clock. you like him. your mom says he's done really well for himself. he has stocks and bonds. your dad wants to go fishing with him. your dad doesn't even like fishing. you like your brother-in-law. but you'd like him better if you made more money than he does.

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damage from hurricane maria left thousands of puerto ricans completely isolated. we've been to the island several times since the storm and found one town struggling on its own to get by. >> reporter: think for second what it means to be truly stranded no power no water no communication stuck. it's been weeks since hurricane maria. and the people of rio abajo are

feeling left behind. the sign says it all "camp of the forgotten." there's only one way in. and it's not easy. >> if you knew how much i hated heights. >> reporter: marilyn luciano has lived here for 25 years. now she's trapped here too scared to make the climb down the ladder. >> it's a nightmare. >> it is waking up the next day, not having a bridge, it's horrible this is our only entrance and exit there's nowhere in and nowhere out. >> holy cow. to find out more from marcus about how people are copying with the hurricane's violent aftermath, tune in tonight, 10:00 p.m. eastern and pacific, to see "the profit in puerto rico: an american crisis." did you receive bitcoin for christmas? where to store it and how to spend it, after this

directv has been rated number one in customer satisfaction over cable for 17 years running. but some people still like cable. just like some people like pre-shaken sodas. having their seat kicked on an airplane. being rammed by a shopping cart. sitting in gum. and walking into a glass door. but for everyone else, there's directv. for #1 rated customer satisfaction over cable, switch to directv and for a limited time get a $100 reward card.

call 1-800-directv. what's critical thinking like? a basketball costs $14. what's team spirit worth? (cheers) what's it worth to talk to your mom? what's the value of a walk in the woods? the value of capital is to create, not just wealth, but things that matter. morgan stanley

dad promised he would teach me how to surf on our trip. when you book a flight then add a hotel you can save. 3 waves later, i think it was the other way around... ♪ everything you need to go. expedia. if you got bitcoin for christmas, seema mody is here now with how to protect your

present and where to spend it. seema? >> reporter: kelly, first and foremost, you have to secure your bitcoin write down the alphanumeric sequence that serves as your password if your phone is stolen and you didn't write down the key, chances are you're not getting your bitcoin back. because of this risk some people like to have a third party store their private keys, for example coinbase another option is a hardware wallet like ledger these devices store your keys offline where hackers can't access them. if you plan to convert your bitcoin to cash, watch out for extra charges. if you transfer your bitcoin to a debit card, there will likely be a transaction fee as well that changes depending on where bitcoin is trading third, if your bitcoin has risen in value, you are subject to cal gains tax because bitcoin is not defined as currency like the dollars in your purse.

instead, bitcoin is seen as property lastly, if privacy is important to you, keep in mind when you create an account on coinbase, it will ask for your name, credit card, and bank account information, so perhaps not as anonymous as you were hoping and as far as where you can spend it, there are a limited number of businesses that accept bitcoin, such as expedia or microsoft. you can buy a gift card at gyft.com and use that card to buy whatever you want at retailers. >> seema, it's a very good point about writing down these private keys a fifth of all the bitcoin in circulation is just gone >> reporter: can you imagine those many bitcoin aren't even being used because the private key is lost forever and you'll never get it back. that's why it's crucial, if you own bitcoin, write down the

alpha knnumeric password becausi you lose it or it's hacked, you can't get it back. especially as bitcoin rises, more people are saying, i actually forgot i even owned it a few years ago, now i want to know where i can find it >> there was like a guy who has a server in his house, he's trying to keep cool, hoping it can run algorithms these codes are like 50 characters long. my heart goes out to him it isn't like, okay, type in the street you grew up on and you can get your bitcoin back. >> reporter: that's why protect, secure, and write it down. >> and when it comes to doing the wallet thing, that's another thing i don't quite understand are you supposed to put it in a wallet online or are people saying you have to take it offline, and how do you even do that >> reporter: ledger is a virtual wallet online. they'll ask you for your private key and then they'll encrypt

that private key and store it for you virtually and also physically zappo actually has a mine in switzerland where they keep the codes. it's interesting to see how different companies are offering different services to ensure that users worried about losing their private key can store it and get it back if they need it. >> it cracks me up i've gotten e-mails from people who did get bitcoin for christmas and they're saying, i've tried to use it and basically no one will accept it. that's going to be a challenge for them >> reporter: that's certainly a challenge, especially when you look at coinbase i was looking at their website today, saying they're unable to transact or execute transactions for users with bitcoin and ether right now. this goes to show this is still an emerging set that's in its infancy. >> still, a good christmas gift. i guess. seema, thank you very much that does it for "closing bell."

thanks for watching, everybody "fast money" begins right now. >> now. live from the nasdaq market site overlooking new york city's times square i'm melissa lee. gene, you don't need that red phone right now, put it down tonight on fast," bitcoin is bouncing back, trading just below 16 k as we speak if you think you missed a rally, think again. ari paul, the man who sees bitcoin hitting 50,000, yes, 50,000, will be here to tell us how soon it could happen and why he's so bullish. plus retail stocks surging after holiday spending nhit new record high. first we start with apple's lump of coal for investors the stock sinking more than 2% on reports that the tech giant could cut its sales forecast for the new iphone x and spark a chip