♪ ♪ imus in the morning ♪ >> fresh, new, this monday morning, wait for it. here comes the carbon tax? good morning, everyone, yes, it's back. today, the world bank says social justice demands a tougher climate change policy. new york's governor blames carbon emissions for super storm sandy and add it up, you'll hear

more about taxing carbon to cut the deficit. you'll also hear a lot more about the twinkie, it may not be dead. the brand and the recipe may soon be sold. the question, would a buyer employ the same unionized work force? as of now no israeli troops in gaza. bombing a lot more casualties and oil up a dollar a barrel this morning. yes, it's thanksgiving week and "varney & company" is about to begin. [ male announcer ] this is steve. he loves risk. but whether he's climbing everest, scuba diving the great barrier reef with sharks, or jumping into the marke he goes with people he trusts, which is why he trades with a company that doesn't nickel and dime him with hidden fees. so he can worry about other things, like what the market is doing and being ready, no matter what happens, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense, from td ameritrade.

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>> monday mork morning, climate change, the push for a carbon tax is here now. and the world bank releasing a report called turn down the heat. here is what world bank president kim says, quote, the time is very, very short. the world has to tackle the problem of climate change more

aggressively. we will never end poverty if we don't tackle climate change. it's not just him, our own leaders blaming superstorm sandy on climate change. >> it's an extremely important issue for me and i hope we can address it, as something we've seen the storms are overwhelming our country and the world, we need to do something about it. >> but it is undeniable, but there's climate change and a great political argument what caused the climate change, whatever the cause, it is happening. >> i am a firm believer that climate change is real that's it's impacted by human behavior and carbon emissions. stuart: so, here comes a carbon emissions tax, i don't know, wait. there's more. toys "r" us chief told financial times, people should stop on-line shopping because it's bad for the environment. people are so enraptured how

cool it is they can order anything and get it brought to their home that they aren't thinking about the carbon footprint of that, the, but that will change. i'm suggesting this could be paving the way for a carbon tax, a global tax on carbon emissions. wait for it? it could be on the way. the middle east remains on the brink. israel has increased targeted attacks in gaza, going after areas where militants are firing rockets into israel, but palestinians say 50 civilians are killed in the last six days of fighting and israelis tanks and ground troops rehe main on the israeli side of the border and this is having some limited impacts on the price of oil this morning, and oil right now is back to $88 a barrel, it's up 1.83, that's a significant rally there. and meanwhile, president obama is in myanmar, formerly known as burma and stated israel's absolute right to defend itself. coming up in the next hour, lt. colonel ralph peters, we'll ask him about the iron dome missile

defense and possibly the most important weapon in modern warfare. a great american brand, hostess killed by unions, thousands of workers out of a job. how could the unions defend this? after this, someene who will attempt to do just that and we'll have the opening belfol f you on monday morning. that's next. can i help you? i heard you guys can ship ground for less than the ups store. that's right. i've learned the only way to get a holiday deal is to mp out.

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>> coming up up to the opening bell. so far the shopping, expecting an 80, 90%, bounce, and despite more credit card debt, that could be a positive, and started to open the wallets and borrow and spend money and nice sounding noises out of the fiscal cliff negotiations maybe that's another positive, but we're expecting 80 points up on the dow in a couple of minutes from now. this is one of our unofficial economic indicators, lowe's, they are the home improvement chain of course, they made more money than expected last quarter. so, nicole, it's a stock up and is it a sign of better things to come? >> yes and yes, so far for lowe's it's up 6%, those are winners, why are we looking at lowe's here, they came out with numbers and sales on the rise and raised the full year sales forecast and also say, sandy

battered the east coast and once again it was interesting, the projects in the next two months will be for less than $500. those aren't really big. >> no, they're not for sure. hey, nicole, i hear that paul otellini, ceo of intel, one of our door stopper stocks, he's leaving in may and that was announced earlier this morning. tell me, has the stock bounced at all? >> that's a big deal for intel, which is down 17% this year, we're not really seeing much here on the stock, but don't forget the, he's been with the company over 40 years, okay? but we've talked about demand and we have talked about tech and the group overall is under pressure and intel has certainly been a part of that. >> by the way, intel is not yet opened, i believe it's halted, and that's why we showed it on the air in a second and $20 a share. i guess it's to let the news get out that mr. otellini is

leaving, i guess that's going on here. we'll bring you an opening quote as soon as we have it. the dow is straight up. 100 points higher in the first, what would that be, 102, and that puts us back in almost 12-7 on the dow and there are no unions in wal-mart, but a small group of workers trying to change that. wal-mart faces a walkout on black friday, because their employees want to unionize, some of them that is. that would hurt as the day after thanksgiving, very big for retailers. wal-mart says this group is very, very small, it doesn't represent the views of the vast majority of the 1.3 million wal-mart employees, where is wal-mart? no change, 68. but there's some possibility of action on black friday in wall street, we'll see. the great american brand. hostess is no more. the u.s. bankruptcy court will decide today to approve the company's request to liquidate according to the filing. and hostess wants to shut down

bakeries and fire over 18,000 employees and pay 1.75 million dollars in incentives and bonuses to 19 managers, the management says the bakers union forced the liquidation while the union workers blamed bad management. joining us now, the author of the state of the unions, and always a defender of the unions on this program. and phil, welcome back, good to see you again. >> good to be with you, stuart. >> are you going to tell me that hostess is done in by bad management and no justice because they got pay increases and bonuses just before the close of business? >> oh, as issue, stuart, i tried to have a balanced and fairview here, look in any one of these cases there are several possibilities and i think all apply here. one is that management is either being overly demanding or trying to compensate for poor management and take it out on workers, the union can be unreasonable or social and economic trends can simply have done the company in. and i think all three of them

are here. >> you wouldn't say that the unions really did it in, because they would not allow hostess to offer it efficiently, you know about the problems, a driver of one hostess truck could not take some hostess products, he could take others and you've got to have two truck deliveries on the same route. you really cannot the run a company efficiently when you've got union problems like that, can you? >> stuart, this company could not run itself efficiently, in the last ten years they've had seven ceo's, they've had about six or eight new business plans. they gave-- they've already been in bankruptcy and come out and a financial advisor they hired last year, advised them not to come out yet because they wouldn't survive and they did come out and while they were doing that, they gave their then ceo, a 300% increase. >> when they were-- -pwhy did the union, the bakers union, let's see, it's called

the bakery confectioners, why would they vote no, knowing full well they'd lose their jobs, why would they do that? isn't at that kind of spite? i don't care what happens we're going to stick it to you because you're rotten management? >> i understand what you're saying, i think they felt they had just taken too much. a couple of years-- over the past ten years they've given up 8% in wages, they've given back a lot of things and when the company went into bankruptcy they promised the court they would pour the concessions into reinvesting in the company. 3 c1 they did not do that, instead they gave management lavish raises. stuart: okay. what happens if, i think, that twinky, the brand and the recipe, it almost certainly is going to be sold to somebody else, i mean, they sold 68 million dollars worth of twinkies in 2012. if somebody were to buy that name and recipe, they would make

money. my question, you wouldn't expect the buyer to take on the same union workers, would you? >> well, companies in general don't necessarily like to have a union in there. i don't know what's going to happen. i do think the union certainly could have done a better job, for example, communicating with the teamsters, with their fellow unionists what was going on. i don't think anybody acted particularly well here. the company or the union. stuart: and the the teamsters voted for this. they want to stay in the job. they want to go to work. and the bakers guys, they said no, no, we just can't take this. you're out of work, too. >> it's a mess all around. stuart: isn't it-- >> it's what, stuart. stuart: bloody-minded? maybe that's an english expression, cutting off your nose to spite your face. >> i see that, but it started with the companies-- again, a company that has seven ceo's in ten years is not particularly well-managed, i think you'd agree with that. stuart: i'm saying that maybe they couldn't manage it. what, 5,500 distributions, delivery routes, 565

distribution centers. 371 different pension plans? who could manage that? if the unions will not walk away from these disputes, these tiny little disputes about who, which truck can carry which product. if you can't get them to walk away from that how could you manage anything? and by the way, the guys at the end who were in-- invested in hostess, the last group of managers, they lost their investments, they lost it all. >> stuart, i know it's beyond you to ever find any fault with management, but i really think if you would look at this a little more carefully you'd find fault on both sides. stuart: i just like free market capitalism where we all compete on an equal footing and equal playing field and so the customer gets the best price and we all have rising wages because our productivity goes up. unions consistently stand in the way of that. and by the way, you should be happy if your victory, you just won the last election.

yes, you did, you did. >> yeah, i suppose you could say that because one guy, one guy was fairly favorable and the other guy was out to destroy organized labor, and he did not succeed thankfully. stuart: i've got one last one, i'm going to stretch one. i have to ask. do you think that apple would be a better company today if it were unionized? >> you've asked me this before and i'll say the same thing again. i don't know. i suppose it depends on what kind of union they have. stuart: you don't know? you don't know? you think, use your ipad and smart phone and ipod if it was union made? >> let me say this, stuart, if apple had the same management as hostess, i don't think it would matter what they'd do as far as union they'd fail. stuart: not bad. good rejoineder. always a pleasure, thank you, phil. come and see us again. >> thank you, stuart. stuart: not a bad sign for--

another bad sign and companies are scaling back, fastest pace, big names you know, spending less the next year, and they have plans to spend less, not a good sign for economic growth. spending at wal-mart, ford, boeing, intel, disney i don't think the companies mentioned all slowing down. bad sign. make no mistake, higher taxes are coming next year. and for family farms, it could mean the families cannot keep the farms they had for generations and yeah, it's the estate tax we're talking about. new at ten. we talked to cme trainer and former, owner, on the debt tax threat. also new at 10 the latest read on housing market. is the real estate market bouncing back? and existing home sales at the top of hour and you get them from us. back to nicole, wal-mart moving up dividend payment date. could this be to avoid a tax increase? >> oh, my goodness. when i read this, i find it pretty unbelievable. i mean, don't call this a

coincidence, stuart. wal-mart is moving up their fourth quarter dividend payout, which was due to be paid out on january 2nd in the new year, right? the new tax year. instead, they're moving it back a week. so, this will occur now at the end of december. so, this, obviously, on december 27th, this obviously saved investors a churning of change and it's their holiday gift. >>' they expect the tax to go up next year. >> there isn't a ceo out there who isn't saying, oh, man the fiscal cliff is coming. i mean, they're all so aware of it. you've got to right. thanks, nicole. dow is up 136. that's a rally. 134 as we speak. 12-7. and e-mail us please at varney at fox business.com. we read some of them on the air. 7 early movers, a fitness club declared a $3 a share special cash dividend.

they like that. it's up. nintendo rolls out its new wii u. that's up. construction company expecting to a pretax charge, it's up a little bit. wright medical group buying the biometric group for a-- up to 380 million dollars cash, it's up. and let expire the offer for dollar thrifty, hertz. dollar thrifty is up. lowe's home improvement store is up. cisco buying cloud network company for 1.2 billion dollars cash. it's up. whoa, how about that. seven early movers all of them up. not too hard when the dow is up 132 points by the way. we have been saying the rich are selling assets ahead of higher taxes in the new year, but our next guest says he is buying real estate now. why? that's next. [ male announcer ] at scottrade,

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and more quality time to share with the ones who matter most. i love you, grandma! [ male announcer ] humana. ♪ >> i guess you could play out old-fashioned bad news, there's no real bad news on the horizon. dow goes up, a rebound from this month's losses, but check the share price of intel. it's just opened. paul otellini, long time intel guy, retiring in may. the stock was held up for the first 15 minutes worth of business and now it's open, very little change. it's actually up 15 cents on that news, we're about 15 minutes away from the latest report on existing home sales, and very important number in the housing market. so, i pose this question. if it's a good time to buy real estate, any kind of real estate, joining us know is richard, a

commercial real estate investors. by the way, he writes novels. his latest is called the thieves of legend. we'll get into that in a second. i think i've mangled your name. >> it's deutche, but we spell it differently. stuart: i don't care, i'm sorry. >> no apologies, no apologies. stuart: you're a commercial real estate investor. >> right. stuart: you run a company that does just that. and you're telling me you're buying now big time? >> you know, it's interesting, everyone always looks at the problems and all of this fiscal cliff and all of the dangers. there's profit in chaos, that old phrase. stuart: what do you make your profit in the particular chaos. >> 18 months ago we start today look at what was going to happen. that the bush tax cuts would be expiring and we said, you know what? capital gains are going to eventually go up and right now it's going up about 9%, come january 1st. you've got a lot of people that want to get out. they've been invested for a long time. stuart: so you've got people in the commercial real estate field. they own a property and they see the end of the year approaching

and they know if they sell, take their profit this year, they pay a low capital gains tax rate there on. >> that's correct. stuart: and you, being the vulture that you are, swoop in with a bag full of money to buy at a good lower price before the end of the year, correct. >> precisely. you know, you've always got to be prepared for what everyone calls the dark days, but over 30 years all of my profits always made, now, when things are turning bad. >> so you'll sit back and you'll buy now, a decent price and you'll sit back and you won't touch this thing and you won't take any money out of it in terms of profit and you'll put money back into the profit. >> correct. >> and hold on until when? >> right. old-fashioned, go to the next election. and see where it turns up. >> so, you think that ultimately, there could be a reduction of capital gains tax? >> eventually, i think there will. i always look at real estate as a long-term hold. i don't speculate and 5, 10, 15,

20 years. and what kind of properties. >> buildings and worked very well. stuart: where. >> all over, texas, florida, new york, new jersey. >> okay. >> wherever i can get. >> the last word on the book. the thieves of legend, the title. stuart: that's right. >> thieves of legends. what's a real estate person writing a thriller, look at the real estate investing, it's a thriller. stuart: real estate investings and thrillers. >> real estate. stuart: by a long way. >> pretty much. stuart: so your books have not been selling well? >> they've been doing well, it's just you've seen publishing-- and somewhere else, go into movies and kind of make up the shortfall. stuart: i mangled your name and called you a vulture and insin ya wa wait-- insinuated that you haven't selling books. and what's going on this

morning? we're up, back to 1729 per ounce, a gain of $14 this monday morning and now we have this. med box, it's a company that makes medical marijuana vending machines. and just a few weeks ago, the stock was trading about 3 bucks a share. but after a report that suggested investing in marijuana stocks, the stocks soared 3000%. what gives? edie and tom sullivan are here. we'll get their take. ♪

>> shares in a u.s. company that makes medical marijuana dispensing machines soared 3000% last week after the article on how to invest in legalized marijuana. the stock has come down since then and the company put out a statement trying to curb investor enthusiasm we'll take steps to avoid a rollercoaster syndrome with the stock rising and falling in dramatic fashion. that was from the med box founder. and you've been on wall street a long, long time. how do you go from 450 to what

was it $250 a share? >> i don't know, i think there were people a little high and they bought when they were under the influence. because it makes-- you don't buy stocks on a rollercoaster like that? >> why not? >> because it's going to come right back down again. stuart: who bought at $250. >> a bunch of high people. [laughter] . >> for sure. stuart: with the stock by the way back to 20. >> yeah, see? went from 4 bucks to 250 back down to 20. >> and they're excited they know it's going to go up and stay up and euphoric, that's why. they think it's going to work. stuart: but it's understandable. surely. >> sure. stuart: if marijuana is legalized across the country. >> they're going to go crazy and everyone is going to go-- everyone's going to go. >> you have to remember, the story of the gold rush, who made the money? picks and shovel people. >> exactly. leyland stanford had a hardware store and how he made the money, selling shovels. stuart: these guys are selling a

medical marijuana dispensing machines. >> and you guys would make a boatload of money a big, big success. stuart: don't think about it. >> high on life. stuart: don't think about it it. new at ten, family farms could be out of the family under the new death tax come 2013. we're talking to farmer about that. plus the biggest read on the market, the existing home sales numbers. we'll find out top of the hour coming right up.

>> >> >> >>

stuart: new at 10:00, the death tax returns with a vengeance in 2013 as state taxes set to skyrocket in the new year, that could mean family farms may not be able to stay in the family. we've got a story on that one with our frequent varney & company guest what is also a farmer. that's coming up. first we're just seconds away from the latest read on the real estate market. existing home sales just got the number, 4.79 million. that's the annualized rate at which existing homes are selling. that's 2.1% up month to month. that's october compared to september. so we've got a 2% gain and a 4.79 million annualized selling rate. that's still nowhere near the good old days of 05 and 06 when we were close to 6 million homes sold every year.

but it's a healthier number, put it like that. let's check the dow industrials. we were up about 140 odd points. now up 151. signs of life in the housing market apparently putting a little bit of a jump into the already established market rally. all right. it's monday morning. here is our company eager to jump in on all of these things: g.o.p. strategist is back with us. tom sullivan is here. nicole petallides, she is joining from the floor of the new york stock exchange. nicole, i just saw apple go by on the tape. up what, 20 bucks, what's going on? nicole: yeah, nice day here for apple. don't forget it's been selling off. it was at 520 something and change. this was a $705 stock in the middle of september. here we are about a month later, two months later and it's been obviously tanking so had some room to the upside and they are getting that today, up 22 bucks. stuart: that's a nice gain. thank you very much indeed. i have tom sullivan here with

me. you are a california kind of guyy but you were looking at the housing numbers, existing home sales up 2.1% october. 4.79 million. i'm saying there's some improvement here. tom: there is, but that's for the real estate industry. in other words, how many sales there are. and sales are not as strong as the prices, and the only reason for that is one out of three people in this country are still under water and stuart, they are not going to sell. they can't sell. they can't refinance. they can't do a lot of things and so i think that sales number is going to creep along until we get positive equity for more people. stuart: essentially, i'm grasping at straws here. tom: everybody is. everybody is jumping up and down about the real estate market recovering. i'm going, i don't think so. not when you have a third of this country under water. stuart: prices rather than sales volume? >> prices are up because the fact there are so few homes for sale, the ones that are for sale, demand is going to push those prices up. stuart: do you have anything to say about the real estate market? >> i agree with tom. i don't think it's good right

now. i'm happy that you are optimistic, stuart. you know, i think it is going to take a while. the folks i know they are struggling. >> stuart: it's bad for sellers right now because you don't get a decent price. it's good for buyers. tom: probably and try and find a home. there's not that many for sale. >> what about financing? stuart: financing is very cheap. inventory is not up there? tom: inventory is way down. because again you can't put your house for sale if you're under water. stuart: i have to move on to a different subject here because today is the sixth day of fighting in gaza. israel is continuing to target sites it believes militants are using to fire rockets into israel. palestinians say 50 civilians killed so far. joining us no now -- joining us now is a fox news strategic analyst. as i look at the military news that m co -- that comes out of the middle east, i'm struck by one thing, israel's missile

defense it has. isn't this one of the most important weapons of modern warfare? >> absolutely. very few weapons are touted as revolutionary. this is revolutionary. what you are doing with this iron dome that shoots an anti-missile, missile into the sky in very short notice, rapidly detected and knocks a rocket or missile out of the sky, stuart, basically what you are doing is firing a bullet to stop a bullet mid-flight. it is astonishing. there are two game changers here. stuart: hold on a second, colonel. i'm sorry, is it working? i'm told that a lot of the rockets are stopped by iron dome, but not all of them. >> well, not all are. that's true for two reasons: one, the iron dome system has not yet been fully deployed. there are more batteries coming. at some point it is just a matter of numbers. if you fire more rockets, then there are missiles to take them out of the sky than some get through. that's a problem. that leads to number two, the

way people will try to overwhelm this, whether it's anti-missile defenses on our aircraft carriers or iron dome, is to overwhelm them with numbers. but past a certain point, as long as you can knock down the strategic and operational rockets, ones that could hit tel aviv, they could hit jerusalem, it truly has a revolutionary impact. stuart: i had one report that suggested there were two larger scale rockets that had been fired in to israel, iron dome had knocked down both of them. these were not the normal -- the smaller rockets. these were two larger scale ones. both of them were knocked out of the sky. it occurs to me, though, if one of the big ones gets through, that's a real problem. that changes the whole face of the middle east, doesn't it? >> well, it does, but there are advantages. you know, the bigger the rocket, the bigger the target. the bigger the rocket, the longer the flight path.

therefore the more time. it could be a matter of microseconds, but the more time you have to detect it and knock it down. so there are certainly trade-offs. but the ultimate game changer on the islamist terrorist side would be the advent of weapons of mass destruction, especially nukes. but the iron dome system really, this is a testament to the -- not only to israel's military capability, but to its remarkable technological capability. now iron dome was developed in concert with the united states. we have worked together on this. but nonetheless, there's this little tiny state in the middle east, the only real success story in the middle east has, coming up with something over which we alone labored for decades. it's astonishing. stuart: but it would change the situation on the ground elsewhere in the world. i mean, i'm thinking of north korea. they fire sauf the occasional -- they fire off the occasional rocket or missile, aimed at someplace else, japan for

example, an iron dome system that could knock it out of the sky would change the whole equation. i think that would be true of a lot of other places around the world. and israel has iron dome. >> it will take time for it to proliferate, very sophisticated technology, it's protected, not going to pop up elsewhere overnight. yes, that's why i say it is ultimately is a revolutionary development, but the history of warfare and weapons tells us that for every revolutionary development, there's ultimately a counterrevolution. it will take time. the meantime, the bad guys' response is going to be volume of fire, try to throw in so many rockets and missiles that overwhelms iron dome similar defenses, but over time scientists will -- whether it's advanced technology for missiles or something else, there will be a counter. it's a never-ending give and take. and sad to say, stuart, warfare has proven to be the most

ingenious field for human innovation in our history as a species. stuart: very true, sir. thanks for joining us colonel ralph peters. always a pleasure. a new report on climate change from the world bank calling it the biggest challenge to social justice. here's what the president of the world bank says: quote, the time is very, very short. the world has to tackle the problem of climate change more aggressively. we will never end poverty if we don't tackle climate change. not just him, our own leaders are blaming superstorm sandy on climate change. >> climate change is an extremely important issue for me and i hope we can address it reasonably. it's something as we have seen these storms that are overwhelming our country and the world, we need to do something about it. >> but it is undeniable, but there is climate change. you can have a great political argument about what caused the climate change. whatever the cause, it is happening. >> i'm a firm believer that climate change is real, that it

is impacted by human behavior and carbon emissions. stuart: i can see a carbon tax coming, can't you? we also have this from toys "r" us chief, this is what he told the financial times, people should stop on-line shopping, he says, because people are just o so -- how interactive it is. they are not thinking about the carbon footprint of that. but that will change. i ask you, is a carbon tax coming? >> it's amazing. it sounds crazy what they are saying. any sort of tax with the obama administration, i mean he's going to do it, it's going to be tax, tax, tax, because we're broke, we don't have the money, any excuse to do it. i think it sounds nuts. i mean there's no proof of this. i mean, where's the proof? they never come up with the proof. they say we know this is happening. we know there's global warming.

really? where's the proof? i have never seen it. stuart: they have won the pr battle. they have convinced people. some poll i think 68% of voters thought that climate change is a very serious issue. need to do something about it. they won. tom: you say it enough times, it will be. you are right, it is marketing 101. the thing about it is you talk to the meteorologists out there and most of them are very adamant about the fact that this hurricane sandy was just part of a cycle, and in the 1950s, there were three hurricanes which hit the new york area, between august of 54 and august of 55. we're back into that cycle. now, is the earth warming? well, it was, then it started cooling back down again. and now -- you know, the scientists are just politicizing this. and the politicians are going for it. stuart: i just see the writing on the wall coming from various spots. go for it because it brings in a lot of money. >> that's right. tom: if you have research dollars for your climate change

study. stuart: yeah, i will find some climate change, believe me, i will. tom: exactly. stuart: got to move on to a different subject even though the dow is nicely higher this morning, up 144 points as we speak. that's a monday morning rally, bounceback from the losses so far this month. american farmers could be one of the groups hit hardest with higher taxes when the bush era tax cuts expire at the end of the year. 97% of american farms will be subjected to an estate tax where the exemption is only 1 million dollars. the estate tax for farmers would jump 20% in january if congressional leaders don't do something about it. joining us now is scott shellidy, is chicago commodity trader, but this man ands and operates -- man owns and operates a farm. as of january 1, an estate of over a million dollars is taxed at a maximum of 55% rate. so you just get is a million dollars excluded. lots of family farms have a

value of million dollars or way more. so to pay the tax, if you subjected to it, you have to sell the farm. is there no exclusion for family farms from this rule, scott? >> well, no, but there should be. stuart, it's bad enough that the farmer has to fight the weather. but now we have to fight uncle sam? i mean, it's poetic justice that the government has flooded our markets with central bank easing and quantitative easing which has made something like real estate inflate in value. they really inflated our landowners' values just to sock them in the pocket with this estate tax. going back to climate change, i would like to see a climate change on capitol hill. stuart: you own a farm. does this affect you? are you taking steps to avoid this? what are you going to do? >> we have absolutely taken steps to avoid it. because you know what? if the estate tax happened upon my family farm right now, the children of the family could not afford to keep the farm. so my question is to the general consumer out there, who is going to farm when the farmer can't

afford to farm anymore or when the government taxes the farmer out of business? because there isn't really a good answer for that. stuart: surely the message goes out to our accountants to say hey, get me out of this. give me an estate plan so that if i pass away, and the estate goes to the estate tax people, i've got to avoid that. there are ways of doing it, surely. >> yes, there are, and the government is doing a great job of keeping those estate planners in jobs, but at some point in time, even if you've got yourself protected as much as possible, that tax can still put you out of business. so we have to have some sort of relief or have something going forward that the family farm can get out from underneath this and just do what they're good at doing best. stuart: you guys in chicago, you have a lobby for this. look, i'm a family farmer. you're a family farmer. you have to do something about it. you've got to get a family farm exclusion somehow or another. can you work on that, please? >> we need to have that little box on our tax form so we can check it off. stuart: yes, just check it right

off. all right scott shellady, i wish you well in this endeavor. thank you very much. tom: the farmers are always the example used, but let's say you have a $400,000 house and a $500,000 insurance policy and this and everything else, that 500,000 insurance policy adds to your estate when you die, you're at a million bucks like that. >> farmers work so hard. they deserve a break here. it's really unfair. they work so hard. growing up in a farming community, these are the people if anyone deserves a break, they do. stuart: yeah. if you cash in -- if you pass away, a life insurance policy pays, there's no tax when that payment is made, but that adds to your estate and could put you over the threshold for high tax rate. tom: not if you keep the policy in a trust. stuart: you're a financial planner. tom: i was. stuart: you need to brush up on that because it might be useful. dow is up 140. democrats are demanding higher

taxes on the rich, and according to a new poll, the majority of people agree. scott rasmussen did the poll. he's next. twins. i didn't see them coming. i have obligations. cute obligations, but obligatio. i need to rethink the core of my portfolio. what i really need is sleep. introducing the ishares core, building blocks for the heart of your portfolio. find out why 9 out of 10 large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expens. read and consider it carefully before investing. risk includes possible loss of principal.

stuart: i'm going to call this a solid monday morning stock market rally. look at this, please. the dow industrials up 142. that puts them back above 12,700. at the top of the hour, we have the existing home sales figures, up 2% in october compared to september. and the annual selling rate went

up to 4.79 million homes. that's pretty good. well, it's not as good as it was. but it is better. it is better okay. wal-mart is moving up its dividend payout. very interesting. it will pay shareholders on december 27th instead of early january. next year as had been scheduled they were going to pay the dividend, now they have moved into this year so those people who get the money will pay a lower tax on that dividend. okay? here comes the fiscal cliff, everyone. wal-mart is not saying why it did this, but you can be pretty sure it is the tax advantages to those people getting the dividend payment. all right, everybody, back in 90 seconds with scott rasmussen.

stuart: the latest poll from rasmussen shows that 57% of voters favor raising taxes on people making more than $250,000 a year. joining us now of course is scott rasmussen from rasmussen reports. is that number 57%, is that up or down since before the election? >> it's up just a little bit. but what we're seeing is democrats overwhelmingly support the concept. unaffiliated voters tend to support it. two out of three republicans don't. stuart, i think the most fascinating part of it all is people don't see this as a path to reducing the deficit. only 19% think that raising these taxes is a way to reduce the deficit. it's a fairness issue in the minds of most americans. stuart: that's it. it's a fairness issue. they've got it. i want more of it because the government needs the money.

so it's, you know, that's the way it is. beat up on the rich, that's what it is, isn't it? >> well, that's part of it. here's the other part that i find really interesting, among those who are at $100,000 or more, half say it is okay. we can all kick in a little bit more. however, when we said okay, is it better to raise rates or cut those deductions? people who make more than $100,000 a year are adamantly opposed to having their personal deductions removed or fazed out. they're much more comfortable with an increase in the rates. stuart: did you have any figure on people making more than $250,000 a year, who would be directly affected? >> we don't have a good enough sample on that size so i can't give you some numbers on that. but look overall, what we do know in general is that people who are in the lower or middle income categories are more resistent to tax hikes than people who earn a little bit more because people who earn a little bit more can afford it. that is their attitude as well

as lower income people's view. stuart: i think the administration, the democrats are going to grab this report, this 57% and say look, we're going to do this, we are going to raise tax rates on the rich. i mean, if you look at your entire poll there, they are going to use this as ammunition, if you like,,to do it. i think you've got another poll that looks at the likelihood of whether we get a deal, this fiscal cliff deal by january the 1st. what's the number there? >> 51% say it's at least somewhat likely we get a deal. 42% say it's not. most people are somewhere in between. only 15% say it's very likely. only 14% say not at all likely. that means about 7 out of 10 americans are saying i'm not really sure, but i think it is going one way or the other. the other thing they are very confident about is even if we get a short-term fiscal cliff deal, hardly anybody expects a longer term deal to rein in entitlement spending or military spending.

stuart: that's a pretty grim outlook. thank you very much scott. i say given a poll like that and given the victory two weeks ago by president obama scene the democrats -- and the democrats, i think the writing is on the wall. i think the tax rates on rich people go up. i don't like it. i think it is a terrible thing. lousy policy. won't help the economy. won't help the deficit, but i think it is going to happen. tom: the republicans are going to cave because they see those polls and say we don't want people to not like us. they are afraid to do what they need to do. >> it is a fairness issue. it is unfair to tax the job earners and people who have done well, it is unfortunate we're going to punish people who have been successful. it is not the american way. stuart: yes, but it is going to happen. my take on global warming, the money grab. that's next.

>> i don't know what's going to happen. i do think the unions certainly could have done a better job, for example, communicating with the teamsters, with their fellow unionists about what was going on. i don't think anybody acted particularly well here. stuart: the unions. that was phil dine in our last hour on who pushed hostess over the edge and into bankruptcy. the company is in court today asking a judge by the way to

approve its liquidation plan. time for market check, this is a rally. the dow industrials up 153 points. nicole, shares of the home improvement store lowe's, straight up i think, why is that? nicole: great day for lowe's. they are the number two best performer on the s&p 500. the stock is at the highest point since early 2007. they came out with quarterly sales and profit that beat the street, raised the outlook. they have been cutting costs. couple of things that are home -- better home and market overall. plus hurricane sandy. what's interesting is they had selection of kitchen bathroom products and small tools which helped them along. however, they still have lost some market share to home depot. their sales still lag home depot. stuart: that's interesting. nicole thank you very much indeed. california simply doesn't get it. it can't get its priorities straight. now in san diego, you could face jail time if you wash your car in your driveway or you don't clean up after your dog? 10:47 eastern this morning, this

program, san diego councilmember explains why the law and why is the city is so out of touch. have you noticed our climate change has suddenly come back into the headlines? it barely registered during the election campaign, but then with superstorm sandy, climate change came back as a big issue. what's going on? here's my take: i'm not going to argue about global warming. that's not the point. my point is this particular outbreak of climate change fever is a money grab. this is an issue which could produce a gusher of money for the government. here's how: you want to reduce carbon emissions; right? what emits carbon? fossil fuels. that is coal, oil, natural gas. and they're easy targets because they are the easiest to tax. that's the gusher of money. the carbon tax. the government brings in the cash while doing good. after sandy, 68% of voters thought climate change was a serious concern, so if the

government says it is going to do something about it, then government is addressing the concerns of the people. you have political support, taxing the polluters is very popular. you see the golden opportunity here? the government desperately needs money, and a carbon tax of some sort brings in trillions. ignore the higher cost of power. you're saving the planet and cutting the deficit and poking big oil in the eye again. follow the money, it's usually the motivating force behind policy. i hate to be cynical, but how else could this administration raise taxes by trillions and bask in the applause of a grateful world? ♪ [ male announcer thiss karen anjeremiah. they don't know it yet, but they' gonna fall in love, get married, have a couple of kids, [ children laughing ] move to the country, and live a long, happy life together

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or visit trylyric.com for a risk--free 30--day trial offer. you'll also get a free informational dvd and brochure. why wait? hear today what a little lyric cacan do for you. lyric from phonak. life is on. stuart: does it seem like everybody is coming out with a tablet these days trying to give the ipad a run for its money. even microsoft has a tablet out there. our next guest looks at all these things and makes judgment of them all. he's the editor-in-chief of laptop magazine. welcome back. >> thanks for having me. stuart: i want some ranking in the tablet market. who is out in front technologically and market share? broad question. the ipad mini, the ipad itself, still king of the hill? >> it is. so even though apple's market share has declined year over year from 60% to 50%, owning half of any market is pretty impressive.

stuart: do you like it? >> yes. stuart: is it the best tablet? >> yes, and it actually comes down to a couple things. one is the design and the other is 275,000 applications that are tailor-made for tablet use. so one of the things that apple says is that the competition and they are right about this a lot of android tablets as well designed as they are, when you go into the app store a lot of them looked like stretched out phone applications. developers think about the tablet use first. when you go into e-mail, inbox on the left hand side just like computer and latest messages on the right. there are a lot of examples like that where the developers think just like on the iphone, they go ios first and then everyone else after that. that doesn't mean there isn't really good competition in that space. stuart: right. what's up and coming amongst tablets? >> i think for the holidays if you are on a budget i think the 199 kindle fire hd which is among the top tablets on our list, came up with a top 12 hottest tablets in our gadget gift guide. that one was an easy call.

stuart: is it the top? >> i would say -- no, we put it at a close number two or three depending on your budget just because the budget is a really big concern. and amazon is doing something that apple isn't. they are paying really close attention to parental controls. when you hand off that tablet to your kid, you want to make sure a they are not running up your bill and b they are protected from certain content. you can set up profiles and set up screen time which is a big concern for parents. stuart: how about samsung, they have a tablet out, is it any good? >> they have a couple. our favorite is the galaxy note 10.1 because you can use a pen for not only note taking when you are in meetings but also do things like let's say if you are in your inbox and you want to see what's that e-mail, they are doing more with pen input not just for creative types but for business users. stuart: let me summarize this in terms of what you like, what you think is the best. up front the apple ipad and ipad mini. >> yes. stuart: that's the best?

>> yes, because the ipad mini is coming up. it's a lot less expensive than the latest 499 ipad which is our top tablet because you are getting twice the performance in something that's really portable. stuart: do you like the amazon kindle fire? >> yes. stuart: number two? >> yeah, i also -- we also like the google 7. google is paying a lot of attention to their app market and also premium content. in a little over a year, i think -- [inaudible]. it is also at 199. you have a lot more access to games and that sort of thing. i think that one is in there. stuart: as all of our viewers know and our company knows, i'm a microsoft stockholder. have you been playing around with the microsoft surface, do you like it? >> there are some things i do like about it. but it is also a work in progress. their app store is just getting off the ground. they have just a few thousand applications right now. there are a couple benefits for

business users. for example, they have this touch cover. you know the smart cover that comes with the ipad that's magnetic. this one actually doubles as a key board, so that's really good. and also you get office built in. that's the number one thing that people complain about the ipad in terms of productivity is where's office. there's some rumors it is coming to the ios store but you can get it now in the surface. stuart: have you been to the new microsoft retail stores? >> yes. stuart: are there any good? >> it is very apple like i guess you could say. stuart: is it as good as apple? when i walk into an apple store, they're terrific. they guide you into the entire operation. they won't let you go until you are satisfied. >> right after the surface launch, we went into a microsoft store in new jersey, i was impressed not only with the enthusiasm of the store employees but also their knowledge. one thing about the surface for example is it runs this operating system called windows rt which is different than windows 8. it doesn't run your traditional desk top applications that you guys have, just the new apps from the windows store. that was one of the first

questions i asked and this guy knew it cold. i think overall their enthusiasm is good. despite the fact it looks like an apple store and they are ripping them off in terms of the aesthetics, i think they are on to something. stuart: thank you very much indeed. come see us again soon. we told you earlier about toys "r" us chief telling the financial times that people should stop on line shopping because quote they aren't thinking about the carbon footprint, end quote. wait for it, now according to the "wall street journal," toys "r" us plans to make a push in both brick and mortar and on-line shopping in china, where the environment isn't exactly a priority. ing is this -- is this a contradiction? tom: i'm having a little trouble with this. i'm not doing anything to my carbon footprint when i'm shopping on-line. why should i drive all over the place? let the ups guy who is more efficient in getting that package to me. stuart: he's talking up his book, isn't he? >> i love to shop.

i'm going to shop every day. i know you don't like it. they can have kiosks with a bar in the middle of the mall and that would work, that could be a new business. stuart: toys "r" us does not believe that people buy toys on-line from toys "r" us. they think they go to brick and mortar stores. tom: have you been in a toys "r" us store in december? >> it's chaos, but it is fun. that's the way it should be. stuart: i'm the guy with six kids. i know. >> it is part of christmas. stuart: a six year prison sentence for not cleaning up after your dog. $100,000 fine for allowing your sprinklers to hit the sidewalk, you criminal, sounds crazy; right? but in san diego they are talking about that as a law. we will deal with it next. @ [ male announcer ] this is the age of knowing what you're made of.

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intel is up 9 cents. that's it. wal-mart going to pay its dividend to shareholders this year instead of next year, just in case the fiscal cliff brings a big increase in dividend taxes. wal-mart will pay shareholders 1.34 billion dollars, pay them out this year, so they pay a lower tax. good idea. back in 90 seconds. having you ship my gifts couldn't be easier. well, having a ton of locations doesn't hurt. and my daughter loves the santa. oh, ah sir. that is a customer. let's not tell mom. [ male announcer ] break from e holiday stress. fedex office.

stuart: you know, some of us that say california has gone over the edge, but even this i suspect is too much even for

california. new proposed environmental rules in san diego, you cannot wash your car in your driveway. when watering your grass, you must not get water on the sidewalk. and you must immediately clean up after your dog, even your own backyard. and the penalties could be six years in jail. what? joining us now is san diego's city councilman carl demaio, a frequent guest on this program and very welcome guest. i don't believe this. have we got this right? if i don't clean up after my dog, the penalty could be six years in jail. say it ain't so, karl? >> these regulations are crazy. it's a proposal that reflects the wrong way to achieve clean water, not through the heavy hand of government mandates and turning neighbor against neighbor because that's what they are encouraging, neighbors to turn in and report on their neighbors. we need to take a different approach to achieving better environmental quality. stuart: am i right? this is a serious proposal?

you cannot wash your car -- >> absolutely. stuart: you can't wash your car in your driveway; right? >> yeah, the rules are being proposed by the regional water control board and various other entities that have regulatory authority down here in southern california. in particular, the san diego county region. and so we're trying to fight these ideas because we believe there's a better way, providing incentives through conservation programs and education. but not the heavy hand of mandate and fines and encouraging neighbors to turn in other neighbors. stuart: it's not just a heavy hand. it's lunacy. >> i agree. stuart: okay. are you telling me that it's the water control board that's setting up these regulations and if you don't clean up after yoor dog in your backyard, that somehow or another can filter in the water supply, is that the rationale for this? >> that's the rationale, and this is a board that's really

gone overboard when it comes to trying to achieve a good goal, which is clean water. beaches that have clean water quality. but it is not the right approach. there are so many other ways to have a bigger impact on the environment and water quality, and this is just simply designed to create a bigger bureaucracy. they will have to hire government employees to take these complaints, and then of course go investigate, and ultimately levy sanctions against citizens here in san diego. stuart: how do you think the rest of us elsewhere in america, outside the formerly golden state, how do you think we should look at you guys, you californians? what do you think we ought to think about? >> well, i think it is pretty embarrassing which is why i think when these absurd ideas are proposed, we need to have san alternative. -- we need to have an alternative. we have to have common sense solutions. i think that's what californians

want. stuart: no you don't. what was the point spread for president obama in california? what was the point spread in favor of higher taxes? >> i think if this idea in particular were put up for a public vote, it would resoundingly be rejected. i think that's why we need to be vigilant. we have to continue to shine a light on bad ideas like these and offer credible alternatives that will achieve a better result by using partnerships, by using incentives and by really encouraging better education and awareness. stuart: the voice of sanity, one of the few in san diego, always a pleasure. come back and see us soon please. thank you sir. >> thanks for having me. stuart: you are a californian. tom: i know. listen, there are people running for public office in california that have no lives, and they want to stick their nose into your life. that's really what you have. you have a collection of them out there. stuart: i used to live in california. i lived in northern california, same time as you did. five years in san francisco.

paradise on earth. it was prosperous, dynamic, free, wonderful place. now, bankrupt. what happened? explain yourself. tom: i've asked these people and i had one tell me, i don't have a life. and i couldn't believe what she told me. >> i think they have really lost it. it's amazing. tom: when there's a drought, they go along and find water in the gutter and follow it to your house and give you a ticket for it. stuart: tom, you have to come back. >> my goodness sake. california dreaming. stuart: unions officially kill hostess, the company is in liquidation and wal-mart thousands of pro-union workers promising to protest the store on black friday. both of those stories are coming up next. i need to rethink the core of my portfolio.

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>> coming up tonight at 7:00 eastern, the president and speaker boehner act like they will steer clear of the cliff. and david petraeus comes clean on benghazi, sort of. what was really going on? former pacific police commander with his fascinating theory tonight 7:00 eastern. stuart: the management at hostess, the twinkie people says

the baker's union forced the company into liquidation. the union workers blame bad management. tom, who killed the twinkie? tom: the union has a responsibility tot go and get as much as they can but not kill the golden goose, but the management whether it's general motors or whether it's hostess has a responsibility to not sign contracts and make promises they can't afford. i think it was a badly managed company. stuart: interesting. interesting. next case, black friday, one of wal-mart's biggest days of the year, now wal-mart is facing an employee uprising of sorts. a group that wants to unionize is trying to lead a protest against wal-mart on black friday, big day for retailers, day after thanksgiving. >> i think they had something to do with killing twinkies, i'm so mad at them, i can't believe they are trying to kill thanksgiving at wal-mart too, bad unions, they should have some turkey and get over it. stuart: the company says it is a

very very small group of people that would do something on black friday. it's just a whole protest. >> let people shop and let them have their thanksgiving. they are taking advantage of the fact it is black friday. they get a black mark. stuart: i think the administration is going to encourage people -- the unions going after wal-mart, president obama is no -- >> they are pro-union, that's for sure the administration. tom: i may actually go shopping on wal-mart just because. >> are you going to protest? tom: i have never been at a wal-mart but i'm going friday. stuart: are you kidding? why? tom: i don't know, i don't shop. stuart: are you a target kind of guy? >> i'm walking out of target the other day, you love it, i saw you. stuart: bottom line is, men don't like to shop. women do like to shop. >> it's actually true. tom: it is true. >> i accept that. if i could shop every day, i would shop every morning noon and evening. stuart: really? >> yeah i love it. stuart: i get tired when i walk

into the mall. i'm looking at the door. >> we should go to macy's, love it, do a field trip. miracle on 34th street, taking these guys to macy's. stuart: varney & company continues after this.

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stuart: we came on board this morning and looked at the dow jones industrial average and saw a rally. it is upright now. tom sullivan, still a financial guy. what is going on with the market? >> we have been selling down for six weeks now. there are points where people will buy back in. i will go with goldman sachs. stuart: by the end of the year? >> i think there will be a deal before the end of the year. tax rates on the rich will go

on. this market goes up significantly. there will be a spike. it will be temporary. 2013, we are looking at lower earnings ahead. stuart: okay. let me look at the price of gold. we were up earlier. that is the fiscal cliff clock. 1733 on the price of gold right now. >> gold is good right now. i see it spiking up big-time. stuart: do you think that has something to do with bernanke printing up a storm next year? >> yes. they have to cut a deal. people are buying up the gold. buying up the guns. >> bernanke is partly the reason for a little work it rally temporarily. i think qe4 will be announced pretty soon. stuart: we are two or three people on this program late last

week talking about investing in swagger. [talking over each other] >> they are talking about things that go good in insulation. i think that inflation will be much, much higher. stuart: he has been a hard money man. >> 30 years. stuart: that is a long time. [ laughter ] all right, everybody. we are just about out of time. thank you for being with us. >> let's go shopping. [ laughter ] [talking over each other] stuart: it is time for dagen and