dennis: the dollar is negative, apparently maybe the latest round of did not did too from harry reid in washington. cheryl: hold your vote on plan b but it will get nowhere in the senate, right after that but there will be a lot of wrangling going on. it is all in the negotiation, a little back and forth. melissa: so much theater. i am melissa frances. lori: i am lori rothman. this is the real deal. no kabuki theater here. this takes the spotlight on capitol hill with the clock counting down, any chance plan a, b will pass in time? john boehner expected to speak about the cliff in 15 minutes, we will bring those compelling comments live. melissa: the national federation of independent business met with the president yesterday about the cliff. he will join us in a moment.

american banks on guard for a new round of cyberattacks. your money could be at risk. we will talk to one cybersecurity expert who helps banks, stock exchanges or more protect themselves from attack. lori: a blockbuster deal for the intercontinental exchange, taking over the 200-year-old wall street institution in an $8 billion deal. charlie gasparino has new details. let's get updated on the markets, stocks belong. as we do every 15 minutes, we will check with nicole petallides. nicole: stock market bumping along not far off of the unchanged line so the dow industrials are up nine points worth a gain of 0.1%, the tech heavy nasdaq is one of a three with the down arrow and sweeping out a game today. we are continuing to follow nyse very closely on the heels of the

deal that charlie gasparino noticed yesterday and it did come to fruition this morning, duncan neiderauer was here with the ceo of the eyes, intercontinental exchange. they were chatting about the deal that has come to fruition, $8.2 billion deal, premium, a lot of folks are happy about a meeting of two american companies. you can see the nyse is up $8 and $31.99 and in its 52 week high and some remember when the stock went over $100 so far they are not too happy with $32 at this time but they will take it because shareholders have been frustrated to a certain extent and that is the latest. lori: tell us more, give us more color what the reaction is like and how it is being received a. nicole: they don't like to have this deal happen, they worry about toward jobs or how this will change or what will happen to be named but the truth is two

huge american companies coming together continues to move things forward and you think they could stand alone and other people speculate intercontinental is taking over because they want another futures exchange in europe in london so that is another factor. do they want the nyse or just the futures, there are so many, obviously very smart and a very highly respected and this has a certain standards, this building is regarded as a place of safety for your money. it really is. melissa: john boehner expected to speak in a few minutes as his plan b approach to the fiscal cliff, rich edson is at the capitol with the latest. >> waiting for the vote on the back a plan expected to come in the 8:00 hour this evening and even if it does pass the house democrats in the senate and in the white house say it has no

chance to be passed or signed by the president so it gives the senate's one day to change this thing or do anything tomorrow because senate majority leader harry reid says the senate will be out at the end of this week not returning until december 27th so it appears this will be hanging over congress's head and the economy's head for quite some time but while this uncertainty is going on republicans say the house is moving ahead. >> the speaker indicated to the white house and president almost daily that he would like to see a broader, more balanced approach from a white house. in lieu of that we are proceeding with plan b which is the permanent tax relief bill coupled with spending reduction act. >> want to be absolutely clear. john boehner's plans are nonstarters in the senate. >> this protect investment in regular income, less than $1 million from tax increase,

permanent minimum tax, tens of millions of americans from having to pay the alternative minimum tax. one thing it replaces the first year of the automatic federal spending cuts that $94 billion with cuts elsewhere in the federal budget. lori: let's continue with our first guests who met with president obama at the white house to talk about the ongoing negotiations to avoid the fiscal cliff, the ceo of the national federation of independent business joining us from washington. give me your impressions. i you more optimistic or pessimistic after meeting with the president? >> we did meet with the president, we met with most of the top economic team and i would say there wasn't anything new at the meeting at all. lori: what we got was you were face-to-face with the president and able to state your case and explain your concerns going forward. that was not what happened.

>> we did not meet with the president and wasn't just me. there were eight organizations. everyone was able to state their case, but i don't think there's any change in opinion. the white house believes their proposal is a good one and republicans ought to accept and -- cheryl: how do you feel? >> we're very concerned about raising taxes on the job creators and this would do that. we think there would be a loss of jobs and you take their ability to invest away and cost jobs for small business people. cheryl: you must be frustrated this discussion is zeroing on household incomes, the threshold for what households take in because so many especially small businesses report in similar fashion and that element of the

debate is being ignored. >> absolutely agree. the escorts pay as individuals. all the money at the end of the year was not take home. you raise taxes on that and you will get less investment and less ability for them to create jobs. that simple. melissa: with the clock ticking down to the end of the year, where do you stand? it looks like taxes are going up, most people would agree. how do you see this ending up? >> we remain optimistic. small-business owners are optimistic or they would never have gotten into business in the first place. we are hopeful, and heads will prevail and do something that won't hurt small business across

the board. lori: the final print showed better than expected gain, over 3% so the economy feel look at that snapshot is a clear expansion mode. two consecutive quarters of contraction which characterize a recession but how concerned are you that we get into that negative territory. >> latest economic data said in terms of their optimism or pessimism small-businesses are less optimistic than they have been for months. was one of the lowest ratings in 37 years of doing this economic data. small-businesses think things will get worse before they get better. lori: thank you for your time and good luck. melissa: should we curb our enthusiasm? third quaater gdp growth and second quarter results but will

that tap the fiscal clift? melissa: lou dobbs is huge away and. let's check metal, weighed down, stronger dollar weighing on the commodities, you can see gold off $25 and silver and copper following suit with silver up 4-1/3%, we're back after this. si i always wait until the last minute.

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melissa: charles payne has a stock known for the little blue box, i gave it away. charles: i am not saying it is a buy. i am not. i went to tiffany's last night, very nice. the guy recognized me, came out i knew melissa frances. melissa: well done. charles: the service is great but hardly anybody was buying anything expensive. last week i went to the store and scouring the store because i have a new granddaughter, and it is the cutest thing in the world. a silver teddy bear. help you lot. and it was beautiful but on the other side, the big bling is on. the october miss was below consensus.

is down 3%, same-store sales, gross margins down, more recently japan and europe and for these guys to become a by and they have a new interior decorator. they need a hot designer. something -- [talking over each other] charles: like you have got to get that. the dollar is weaker and they do so much outside the country. it fluctuates, and i am not as concerned about that as you got to get the foot traffic and get them out. melissa: a got a beautiful present from tiffany's, came from the store with no card and no receipt to. no idea who sent it. [talking over each other] melissa: i did not say what it was. [talking over each other]

melissa: who sent me this gifts. not a great endorsement there. [talking over each other] lori: their housewares department is stunning too, the crystal -- charles: a name that is iconic. [talking over each other] charles: it feels like the old gimbel's, va. santa claus, i feel like i walked in a time warp, freshen it up. [talking over each other] charles: the teddy bear is beautiful. melissa: let's get a check on the markets. nicole petallides on the floor of the stock exchange. a couple name is moving on earnings. nicole: i enjoy the story about the mystery tiffany gifts. i have not heard a story about them lately. i will give you a winner and

loser. jeff: setting a new all-time high over $3, that is a gain of 9% so, max is surging because of better than expected quarterly numbers. earnings are looking good so as a result they beat the streets and stocks are jumping ahead. and obviously anticipated good numbers and so far so good and one of the things that helped them along and then there is bad, bad and beyond, hitting a 52 week low, and talking about hurricanes and the affecting their numbers so what we are seeing is they are down 8% here and this is on their results so losing day for bed, bath and beyond and there's a 1-year charge and the company maintain full year guidance but they are concerned about the fourth quarter.

lori: home values get their first gain in six years, values have risen $1.3 trillion since the end of 2011 and more good news, they expect prices to rise into the new year, largest gains in los angeles, san francisco, san jose, phoenix and miami for lauderdale, lee philadelphia failed to report annual gain in cumulative -- and down $6 trillion from the peak in 2006 but we will take weekend that. lori: i was amazed. melissa: when you look at the name that was not just northern california where you see -- was also l a, that was interesting. new york values went up as well. lori: markets are scattered. that is a debate over what the fines wealth in america, cost of living, property values, you can't have one single threshold

the works across the board because -- lori: bringing it back to taxes. melissa: i love it. lori: and $8 billion deal, what does it mean for the future of trading? charlie gasparino will be along with exclusive details. melissa: look at how the dollar is fairing, the market up slightly and with that, currencies are weaker across the board. we will be right back.

melissa: we want to take you to capitol hill, john boehner. >> the president called on the house again and again to pass a

bill to protect 98% of the american people from a tax hike. today we will do better than that. our bill will protect 99.81% of the american people from an increase in taxes. it is permanent tax relief for individuals. a permanent hatch on the alternative minimum tax, the marriage penalty, death tax relief and permanent extension of higher child tax credit and capital gains and dividends rates we see today. all in all the nonpartisan joint committee on taxation says the bill represents a $3.9 trillion tax decrease. after today senate democrats and the white house going to have to act on this measure. two years ago, 53 democrats voted for a bill like this one, now they say they oppose it. rather than tell us would they can't do maybe they should tell us what they can do.

in the senate, democrats and white house refused to act, they will be responsible for the largest tax hike in american history. the house will pass a bill to replace the sequester and not only replace the sequester but even further address the deficit problem we have and the democrat-controlled senate and white house have no plan and of offered no plan to deal with these looming cuts. i call on senator reid to make sure we have a vote on this before the senate adjourns. back in may, i will remind you, i said we should not wait until new year's eve to address the fiscal cliff. since then, republicans have made every effort to avoid the situation we find ourselves in. we passed a bill that would protect middle-class families and small businesses from the

looming tax hikes. we move the bill in may that replace the sequester that will undermine our national security. the same bill also has additional cuts which would help reduce our deficit and pave the way for long-term job growth. president obama and senate democrats haven't done much of anything. their plan b is to slow walk us over the fiscal cliff. 4 weeks the white house said that if i move on rates, they would make substantial concessions on spending cuts and entitlement reforms. i did my part. they have done nothing. the president's last offer of $1.3 trillion in new revenues with only $850 billion worth of spending reductions fails to meet the test of balance that he continues to call for and frankly i am convinced the president is unwilling to stand

up to his own party on the big issues that face our country. time is running short. the house will act today and it will be up to senate democrats and the white house to act. >> senate majority leader harry reid said house republicans know the bill has no features. they don't know, what is that? >> i talked to senator read this morning. he was more polite than that. >> we know the reality here, you get the vote the passes the house will not go to the senate. do you see this as a necessary step? >> i am not convinced at all when the bill passes the house today that it will die in the senate. at some point of the senate has to act. they fail to act, we have a built sitting on the desk in the senate that protects all americans from an increase in

taxes. they could take up that bill at the desk, they could pass it, they could amend it and move the frost this but to date they have done nothing. >> when do you expect to talk to the president? >> i remain hopeful. our country has big challenges and the president and i have to work together to resolve those challenges. >> when might you talk again? >> the white house says the reason you are resorting to plan b is you realize you didn't have as much republican support as you wanted for your own proposal in fiscal cliff negotiations. is that true? >> the president knows that i have been able to keep my word on every agreement we ever made. the fact is his plan is not balanced and as a result time is running short. i will do everything i can to protect as many americans from

an increase in taxes as i can. >> in light of the tragedy in newtown there's a new push from the white house about gun control measures. would you be open in 2013 to allowing gun control measures on the house floor? >> we join the president in mourning the victims of that horrible tragedy in connecticut. he has appointed vice president joe biden to lead a commission, the vice president's recommendations come forward we will take into consideration but at this point i think our hearts and souls should be thinking about those victims in this horrible tragedy. >> a vote on the house floor -- >> we will look at vice president biden's recommendation then taken under advisement. >> your own description of their

offer and you often 1:1 balance, only $450 billion apart, the president has said senate democrats say you are close, why can't you split the difference and get a deal done? >> the real issue is we all know is spending. you go for through all of these discussions i don't think the white house has gotten serious about the big spending problem our country faces. when we were down at the white house just days after the election, tim geithner in that meeting outlined the minimum credible plan that had to happen. the minimum credible plan. the minimum credible plan somewhere around where the president and myself are. i suggested at that meeting why should we be attempting to do the minimum credible plan? we have a very serious spending

problem that has to be addressed. >> senate democrats in the white house, do you believe knowing what you know about negotiations that this is over and we're going over the fiscal cliff? >> listen. our country faces serious challenges. the president and i in our respective roles have responsibility to work to get resolved and i expect that will continue. >> mr. speaker, after the house passes plan b today, what are you going to do? are you going to adjourn? >> the house has other work scheduled for tomorrow, possibly for the balance of the week. we have work to do and expect to do it. >> that was abrupt. melissa: house speaker john maynard supposed to be his weekly address the talking about what is going on with the fiscal

cliff. he was bowling to pass both bills through the house saying it would be up to the senate to do what they needed to do. we heard harry reid earlier saying these bills were essentially dead on arrival but i would say from the tone he seemed more positive. yesterday he had that 45, 50 seconds conference which was an abrupt exit. lori: you have to imagine he is becoming tired of all this. what stuck out -- [talking over each other] lori: president is unwilling to stand up for his own party. maybe he feels he has a live ridge. might be a good point, saying this plan to protect 99% from a hike in taxes, a tax decrease, stating the case, a plan b in congress, house of representatives, we shall see. melissa: entity $8 billion deal at the stock exchange, joining forces with intercontinental exchange, fox business senior correspondent charlie gasparino

broke this story, duncan neiderauer about the timing earlier. >> the time was right for both of us. let's see if we can get this done. use the bus ceo in the exchange industry in my view but i am happy to be president of the company, the teams have been working great to get there. it is about shareholder value. melissa: charlie gasparino has more on this. what was the undercurrent? charlie: he is a guy we should be doing more on. he is the king of wall street and the exchange business. one of the top players, he basically created an exchange located in that wind at, electronic exchange, matches buyers and sellers, created 12 years ago and now has taken over 200-year-old icon of finance, an amazing story. some of my thoughts, we try to

move this forward, this is good for the stock exchange, it drove the exchange business and there are lots of exchanges, so much stuff to trade. people don't trade stocks, they buy commodities which is why you have cme, what does terry duffy do? i know a lot of people ask -- what does the cme do? they have to respond in a competitive way. what does bob greifeld do at nasdaq? bob greifeld, basically team that to take over the stock exchange, a deal that was shot down by u.s. securities regulators. what does bob greifeld do? he is up against a formidable player in the stock exchange, new york specializes in stocks, trading equities. these guys specializing in commodities. they have to do something competitively. why did duncan neiderauer sellout? we have a chart and we will show

you. it talks about volume. if you look at the amount of trading volume, we have that charge. >> best laid plans. lori: that is double of new york stock exchange, euronext, is that what you're getting at? no. >> what i'm getting at should be on a chart right now, is volume. this is like a amazing. this is coming. move on. there we go. that tells you the story of why duncan niederauer had to sell. look how trading volume shoots up. and it has been coming down ever since. that is bad, bad things. that means if, that means that, revenues, at the new york stock exchange are in a secular decline. that is bad. that means you have to sell. melissa: and by combining with ice this remedy as lot of this. is ice becoming more popular? is trading volume down across the board because

people are bitter? >> commodities are the growth area and future and contracts that don't trade on exchanges. that is the growth area. that is why he has been bought out. listen, we were first to report there were initial reports last night this was a merger. okay, this is the new york stock exchange being bought out. this is, defining moment in american history. it shows you, i think it is a good thing. capitalism and not like we're selling out to germans. we're selling out to entrepreneur. the new york stock exchange is he will selling to an entrepreneur. jeffrey sprecher, developed this thing 12 years ago and built a $10 billion business. this is a good thing, okay? and, we should, it should be celebrating. i know people will celebrate it, because he is selling to an entrepreneur, an american entrepreneur. lori: we were talking about this earlier, what happens to the floor? does it increase in size anymore from here. open outcry a little bit? >> i talked to sprecher

about that. no, i think now we finally come to the conclusion in its state, used to be, three or four 4,000 people down there. melissa: way more. now a tiny fraction but maybe it is the right amount. >> i think we finally come to recognition both from duncan, remember, duncan is not devotetae of floor trading. he came from goldman sachs which basically wanted to get rid of floor trading and new york stock exchange bought goldman sachs's market making unit archipelago. he come to the conclusion as sprecher does there is place for humans. when computers go down, they need humans. there are at the place where they are now and it is not a bad model. lori: does neiderauer stick around post transition? >> says. i say no. i asked them him that question. point-blank. duncan has been looking to do something different. me and duncan didn't get

along at first. we get along now. lori: at least he says to your face. >> you try to be objective, people have personality and you get in these littletives. i got to know him a little bit. he is a very good ceo. he have definitely did the right thing here. i like this deal better than deutsch borse although that would be more compelling business model. that would be amazing business model. transatlantic. it would have been huge. this is keeping new york city stock exchange selling to entrepreneur is not bad. he knew his business model had some issues. no doubt about it. look at the volume chart. it's bad. he sold to a place, let's face it, it is a brilliant entrepreneural company, no doubt. lori: pending regulatory approval we can't forget. >> of course. they kill it in the past. lori: speaking of which, let's go down to nicety euronext. it has been 15 minutes since we checked in with nicole

petallides. what is on your mind, nicole? >> we're talking about a couple names in the drug industry other than nyx on the move. look at some names in the drug industry making headlines. we start with vivid. they have an obesity drug. apparently a drug that would be more popular if people didn't have to pay full price. the dream has come true. the stock is up almost 2 1/2%. because viv u.s.'s drug will be covered by express scripts a largest pharmacy benefit management in the country. patients will pay roughly between 50 and $60 for this obesity drug, rather than paying the full retail cost. on the flipside, dow component merck is under pressure and has to do with cholesterol, i guess if you eat too much you get high cholesterol. this particular one they did studies not going as will increasing good cholesterol that would reduce stress and

heart attacks and build up and such, but turned out that they are not going to seek regulatory approval for this particular drug that was supposed to boost the good cholesterol. so with that, you're seeing merck under some pressure. of course that weighs on the dow. back to you. lori: wow, you've become a real expert on those things. nicole, thank you. melissa: launched by russian hackers, project blitzkrieg is taking hacking to a new level. this year citi, countless other big banks have been victims of cyber attacks. your money actually could be at risk. but radware helps companies prevent such problems by working with major banks and stock exchanges around the world to protect assets. we have the vice president of rad ware and he joins us now. we were hering about the attacks earlier this year especially on the web sites of various banks in the u.s. and elsewhere and they are trying to bring down the web sites to sort ever slow commerce or cause inconvenience. this is totally different situation where you have

russian hackers actually stealing money, right? >> yes. good afternoon, melissa and lori. thanks for having us on board. i want to thank you for that. yeah, the new attacks appear to be focused on actually, at the same time, confidentialty. as we're continuing to have a very massive uptick in availability-based attacks what we call them, the attacks on the web sites. it is not all together clear these availability attacks aren't somewhat promulgating some more attacks. it is a focus item. melissa: and i understand mcafee put together a huge report on this a lot of people are looking at, documenting what has happened so far. roughly $5 million has already been stolen is that your understanding? >> mcafee has been reporting on that and there are a few other reports out there, that we're led to belief these are pretty good bonafide numbers. however, these other operations are going on at the same time and we see massive up ticks here in the last half of the year and

looks like 2013 won't slow down anytime. melissa: how does it work? they need your help. they prey on victims by getting them to, like in so many scams, give away personal information, right? >> yes. cyber attacks in particular, prey on human behavior at the end of the day. they manifest itself through cyber means. and so what you see here, is a call for, in an operation for a idealogical based attack against the u.s. banking operations. in this case looks like some people are making personal financial gain but in others cases they look what they consider to be the fundamental roots of the problem of the western culture which is making money. melissa: let me stop you for a second because we're running out of time. if i'm a customer, what does it look like to me? how do i protect myself? what am i looking for? >> you're looking to protect your personal private information looking to be smart at what you do. you're asking a lot from your banking operations. you should be able to oos ses yourself whether or not

you believe your bank has done many of the good things that are out there. they're either in the news or not in the news. if they're not not in the news from financial perspective that is good news story. melissa: my understanding you get an e-mail that says, we need to update your password that sort of things? that is how the scams work through ebay and others. they trick you into giving personal information or password. the hacker has access to your bank account. obviously you don't want to answer any questions unless you know you're on a secure site or want to call your bank directly. other advice that i have heard that you want to check your bank balance every day and make sure that every, you know, while this is going on or during this period all the transactions make sense and it is what you think it is. am i correct in those? >> you're correct, melissa and lori. the idea here is to use prudent good sense. not do something different on line than you would do in grocery store. you wouldn't be giving people carte blanche information on a grocery

store. you won't do this online. many people do. social behavior problems. social internetting causes roots of some of these. we at radware take a lot of precautions to have technical solutions around it. but at the end of the day it is a social problem. melissa: carl, thanks for coming on and sharing the information. >> thanks very much. take care, now. lori: definitely this growth report, gdp growing at the fastest rate since last career but with a looming fiscal cliff abort that? lou dobbs has his take for us next. melissa: first look at the 10-year and 30-year treasury as we head out to break here. the yield falling slightly on the 10-year. down one basis point. we'll show you the 30 too. we'll be right back ♪ [ cows moo ] [ sizzling ] more rain... [ thunder rumbles ] ♪ [ male announcer ] when the world moves... futures move first.

learn futures from experienced pros with dedicated chats and daily live webinars. and trade with papermoney to test-drive the market. ♪ all on thinkorswim. from td ameritrade. ♪ [ male announcer ] they are a glowing example of what it means to be the best. and at this special time of year, they shine even brighter. come to the winter event and get the mercedes-benz you've always wished for, now for an exceptional price. [ santa ] ho, ho, ho, ho! [ male announcer ] lease a 2013 glk350 for $399 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer. >> i'm cheryl casone with your fox business brief. bernie madoff's brother will face victims of biggest

ponzi scheme in history when he is sentenced in federal court. he pled guilty for his role and under the plea agreement expected to go to prison for 10 years but victims written letters to the judge saying he must have known about his older brother's fraud and he deserves a stiffer sentence. according to bank rate, one of three americans have cut back on personal spending over concerns of the fiscal cliff. people are feeling less secure than they did a few months ago. u.s. economy grew faster than expected in third quarter. gdp expanded at an annual rate of 3.1% that is up from the 2.7% pace reported from the commerce department just last month. that is the latest from the fox business network. dow up

22. melissa: it is just about quarter to. as we do every 15 minutes, let's check markets.

nicole petallides on the floor of the new york stock exchange. we're looking a big tech names there. >> that's right. this is exciting. we'll look first at amazon. they will move into producing their own content. can you imagine if amazon shows grow and grow in popularity and they will have amazon instant video? they have six sitcom pilots. the stock is up 1%. they're going to use viewer responses and go into full production of certain shows. so the writers on "the daily show" and the onion have been tapped to create original shows. it is very interesting. we'll look at apple. apple was dealt a blow today. down almost 1%. patent authorities here in the u.s., actually rejected apple's pinch to zoom patent. you see a picture and spread it out. people do that on the iphones and ipads. samsung has been right at them. they have obviously stepped in on this one.

this decision handed apple in more than a billion dollars in damages. that is another issue. apple and samsung gone head-to-head constantly every single day. today you see apple down slightly. back to you. melissa: nicole. thanks so much. lori: stronger trade, faster health care spending an increased local government construction helping third quarter gdp see its fast text growth since 2011. good news comes as the pesky fiscal cliff hangs over our head. can growth continue if there is no deal? here is lou dobbs with his take. third quarter showed improvement not a decline. do you feel enthusiastic about that, that we're on the right path? >> absolutely. there is no question, the real economy is moving in the right direction and doing so with some, some energy, some firmness. and, we should be pretty happy about that. and i think you're seeing that reflected in these market numbers overall. i know over the course of the past week it has been a lot about the fiscal cliff, understandably so.

but this has been basically a move on good news on the economy anticipating good news on the economy six months out. and i believe there is no point in arguing with markets. they're right. and even points out how silly the republicans were during the election to keep asking, are you better off than you were four years ago? hell, yes. we're a lot better off. and that couldn't quite apparently penetrate the minds of the brilliant strategists in the republican party. i think they really hurt romney with that. melissa: so do you think that a lot of business leaders said they have stalled in their planning a bit as they prepare for the fiscal cliff? do you think that in this most recent period in the last month or two as it becomes more apparent we don't have a deal we've seen a slowdown or dent in the economic activity that will show up in the next read? a lot of people are saying that this morning. >> i don't. melissa: really? >> i don't. i think all of the noise you're hearing from the so-called ceo's who are angst-ridden and beside

themselves with worry and concern about the fiscal cliff are exaggerating and they're probably in point of fact using that as a, an excuse for some understandable reticence given the fact they don't know how to go forward right now. it is a difficult international climate for business. where are you going to drive your product and your services, given the general global weakness? right now, this country is the, the, market to be in. lori: so is this a case of maybe good news is bad news in that the democrats can so easily say the economy is expanding? we can afford to raise taxes? >> i think only a fool would argue with them. and i think the republicans should be gleeful about the fact that this economy is strengthening, not to the point that we have sufficient hiring. we've still got 23 million people out of work, underemployed, given up looking for work. that is the reason that our unemployment rate to the point it is.

not because we created jobs but because people have withdrawn from the workforce. meanwhile the discussions going on in washington are utterly off point. and are not relevant to the public policy choices that really confront the country. and that's the shame of it. melissa: so you don't think raising taxes on individuals that might be small business owners that higher people will have an impact on the economy here? >> you're talking about people making a million dollars or more? or are you talking about --. melissa: 500,000 threshold that they think this group hires 50% of the people in the country. >> i don't think there is any question, it is a very bad idea. i don't think it is a bad idea from which there is no survival. i do think the fact, that which there is no survival that we could knot go forward without significant spending cuts, there is no survival of that. the games being played i said last night on my broadcast and i will say it again here, i believe president obama, if he continues on this stubborn

line that he has now presented boehner, he will sflach defeat from the jaws of victory and he will have played, this is become, he is becoming not imperial president, which is one kind of problem but he is now the imperious president. there in lies --. melissa: you think you get concessions on spending side? >> no. concessions no. i think he should lead. he should eagerly deal with entitlement reform. he should eagerly deal energetically as he has with tax hikes he should deal with bringing fiscal balance, which is what he promised. lori: snatch defeat from the jaws of victory? beautiful quote. >> less a quote than a old saw an cliche i repair occasionally desperate for the expression. lori: it was in perfect place right there. so eloquent, lou, thank you very much. here is a tease. you can see lou every day at this time and 7:00 and 10.

brent brozell will discuss house speaker john boehner, his vote to flight and what it all means for the republican party. will research in motion's blackberry 10 be enough to compete with iphone and android phones? what we expect from rim's earnings after the bell today. melissa: as we head out, winners and losers on the nasdaq. flextronics trading higher by almost 3%. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] how can power consumption in china, impact wool exports from new zealand, textile production in spain, and the use of medical technology in the u.s.? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global economy. it's just one reason over 75% of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. ro price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing.

lori: research in motion bested by competitors like samsung and apple but could a comeback be on the horizon? today's earnings release could provide a clue. shibani joshi is here to talk about this. >> this is important quarter. calm, not before the storm

but big unveiling. blackberry 10 will come out in january. here is what we expect at the close. loss by the company. revenue $2.65 billion. normally we pay so much attention to how many device this is company sells, unfortunately the trend is not this company's friend. device sales down 5% and 25% in the last two quarters over quarter. but this quarter we'll be paying attention to other data points, including its subscriber numbers. surprisingly or shockingly to a lot of people they have 80 million subscribers and that number grew last quarter. can it keep up the trend? can it keep the cash balances high. this is something investors are really excited about. any new details on blackberry 10, bb-10 which will come out in january. ahead of, but ahead of i want to point out the stock price. we thought this was like doa, right? the last three months the stock price has doubled up 99%. there is some hope here. investors are holding onto it.

lori: blackberry is the best business solution. >> we all have them, right? lori: people love the type of keyboard versus iphone touch type. melissa: what is the haven'tal solution? i know so many people say the same thing. they can't live without the keyboard. so many people have the iphone. that's why blackberry doesn't go away. >> why people are holding out hope is because the company will release new devices. january this, i already got the information. we'll cover the blackberry 10 launch. here is what we already know. it is being already tested by 120 institutions. 64 of them fortune 500 companies, this is their bread and butter, businesses, companies like ours need it for the security and sort of the safety reasons. two devices will be launched. one with a qwerty keyboard, the actual keyboard and a touch-screen. we'll get details in january. already all the big u.s. and european carriers, t-mobile, orange, at&t sprint, it is

getting some pretty good reception. we haven't seen a single device. it is this sort of partnership with business, enterprise customer that will keep this going. lori: service has not go down in a while. people forgot about those little hiccups. remember the blackouts of 2012 when their blackberries went down. people have moved past that. lori: shibani, thanks. keep it right here for full coverage of rim's earnings "after the bell" with liz claman and ashley webster, 4:00 p.m. eastern. melissa: on "money" tonight bret baier will join me to discuss his series, the cost of spending. it is fantastic. he breaks down how the government makes $5 billion a day and spends 11 billion. where that money goes. really crunching the numbers. no one bothers to do it. he got deep into it. fascinating stuff. right here on 5:00 p.m. eastern. this is the core of what washington fight is about. we're spending so much more than we're taking in.

he looks into that in great detail. lori: tracy byrnes and ashley webster with more good stuff as they guide you through the next hour of fox business. they talk with mark vitner, about the fiscal cliff, economy, markets, so much more so keep it here.

tracy: good afternoon, i'm tracy byrnes. ashley: i'm ashley webster. house speak inbarer says plan b is getting its day before the house. boehner says both sides need to keep working to avoid the cliff. do you think? the white house says there is not much more president obama can do. we'll bring you the very latest of all this stalemate that goes on. tracy: i love when they say, time to get series. ashley: that was weeks ago. tracy: right. the new york stock exchange teamed up with rival intercontinental exchange to take on the future is it victory for machine over man? reaction from the floor of the nicely coming up. ashley: to really mess up they say takes a computer.

research in motions share more than doubled. they have been in motion from their 52-week low. the hit less than three months ago. the blackberry maker out with earnings in a couple of hours after the bell. so is rim a buy? we'll be asking an analyst straight ahead. tracy: yeah. but top of the hour. time for stocks as we do every 15 minutes. we head down to nicole petallides on the floor of the new york stock exchange. nicole, dow is up 42 points. we're heading up a little bit. >> that's right. at session highs with the dow up one-third of 1%. we haven't been too far off the unchanged line. we're getting action to the upside. the vix, the fear index, is higher. you see the tech-heavy nasdaq is higher. s&p 500 up nearly half a percent so far. a winning week on wall street if you close the dow right here right now. you mentioned the big news of the day, $8.2 billion. ice buying nyse, the intercontinental exchange buying the new york stock exchange at a 38% people up why.

that is why you see nyse shares jumping to new highs. jeffrey sprecher, ceo of ice and duncan niederauer ceo of nyx, they're obviously happy with this deal. sprecher went on to say, traders keep talking about it, he wants to keep the nyse floor the way it is. there has been talk about moving into more electronics and such but for right now that is not the tune that they're delivering. back to you. tracy: i'm sure a lot of guys down there are nervous about it. we'll talk more about that in 15 minutes. thank you, nicole. ashley: house speaker john boehner says he is very confident his so-called plan b for the fiscal cliff will pass in the house later today. he spoke within the last hour. rich edson following all of the trials and tribulations on capitol hill with the very latest, rich. >> well, ashley, democrats and republicans for them the political posturing continues. that is not a good sign. aides say the president and speaker haven't really negotiated in the last few days. that's not a good sign. if you look beyond it, one way forward here, might be

what speaker boehner said earlier today. he said he spoke with senate majority leader harry reid. the fact that they're talking, the possible way forward with the house were to pass its backup plan this evening, the senate could make changes to it in a way that maybe brings democrats along in the house so we could solve this whole thing. still too early to tell if that is the direction it is going. for now it is this bill in the house this evening. a republican sponsored bill, and republicans say, leadership says, he has enough votes to pass it. they say it is up to the senate. >> i am not convinced at all that when the bill passes the house today, that it will die in the senate. at some point the senate has to act. >> plan b, which is the only thing the house of representatives, the republicans in the house are focused on right now, is a multiday exercise in futility at a time when we do not have the luxury of

exercises in futility. >> plan b, "the back-up plan", the republican plan, whatever you want to call it the vote tonight is on a proposal that makes permanent tax rates for any income amounts of less than one million dollars. it keeps capital gains, dividend rates, at 15% for amounts less than amounts of 15% for amounts more than that. makes permanent the alternative minimum tax patch. the estate tax goes to 35% for amounts more than $5 million. it replaces cuts, allic cuts called the sequester, government spending cuts that are supposed to hit next year. back to you. ashley: not convinced the senate democrats will go for it. but you never know. at least they're doing something as you said earlier today. rich edson from d.c. thanks. >> thanks. tracy: for more on the cliff and its impact on the markets, steve wood, russell investments chief market strategist.

steve, we've got a dow that is up about 4% over the course of the last month. in the midst of all this, what is the market saying? >> i think the market is pricing in the fact that the fiscal cliff doesn't give us its full impact. if you look at funding liquidity, libor, high frequency financial data and markets they're saying something will get done, piecemeal, probably but something will get done. we'll not get the full blast of the fiscal cliff. tracy: we said before on here does it matter what kind of deal it is? is it any deal? a bad deal could be a bad deal? >> true. all in the sequencing. there is the spending and sequestration. and taxes for most people will come due april 2014. unless you're a quarterly filer. if they do the spending and deal with taxes if they buy themselves time in the interrim and make a commitment to the grand bargain, this long-term fiscal consolidation the markets could like that a lot. i'm going to give them a little bit of the benefit of the doubt. this is the first time in the america we've had a

meaningful substantive dialogue on balancing the budget and getting fiscal house in it order. it is rocky this time but if we make progress --. tracy: it is under duress, right? >> it always is. politics historically is distributing prosperity. now it is about distributing scarcity. the bill is coming due. everybody has to pick up their share of the tab that is different political dynamic. people haven't been elected on that. and. tracy: we've got earnings season coming up. how do i feel what kind of results we're getting this quarter? >> i think earnings will flatten out. we know we're in maturing earnings cycle. revenues will be challenged going into 2013. we're not necessarily bearish on earnings. we understand it will be very lumpy. you need to pick better stocks. not all balance sheets are created equal. you will need to look globally and multiasset diversified approach to find those stocks that can perform better in this environment. tracy: based on dividends are you staying away from

dividend stocks today? >> i don't think it is so much the tax treatment currently an volatility that gives us pause on dividend stocks is how expensive they have gotten. it has been a very, very crowded trade for a while. even before the fiscal cliff conversations we were looking at them not being attractive. valuations ultimately matter and think looked unattractive for a while. tracy: you're looking s&p target 1500. we're 1438. that is not much. >> sure. but it is positive. if you look at these targets, they're, looking at where the direction will be, magnitude and direction. from our perspective, mid to high single digits on economy stablizing and improving given housing. fiscal cliff doesn't blast us back. it will be volatile. mid to high single digits seems like reasonable magnitude and direction for u.s. equities in 2013. tracy: you're glass half-full, sir. i'm so glad you're here. we learned earlier you are a cheesehead. >> born and raised. like my mom. foolish cheesehead. ashley: strange but true.

good job, steve. we're all cheeseheads at heart really. tracy: the cold thing that throws me off. i'm cold thinking about you being a cheesehead. ashley: have to be packer tough. joining us with more on the economy now is wells fargo managing director and senior economist mark vitner. mark, thanks so much for joining us. look, we find out that the last quarter, the third quarter, the economy grew at 3.1%. kind of did a trouble take on that. what are you looking for in the last quarter of this year and the first quarter of next year? we can't keep up 3.1%, right? >> well, the 3.% was incredibly deceiving because a lot of that was inventories. we have improvement in the trade deficit which sounds good except for we had a drop in imports, which meant consumers were buying less stuff and had an increase in exports doesn't look sustainable if the global economy is slowing and for some reason federal government was growing and we've got this fiscal cliff

right ahead of us. that will not be a source of growth. when you strip all that out, that 3.1% growth turns into 1.3% growth in private final demand. that's about what we have for 2013. we have one 1/2% growth projected for 2013 but the fourth quarter, sear -- 0.7. first quarter of 2013, 0.7. less than 1% growth over the next couple quarters. and it's not anything all that complicated. businesses are just a little nervous about what the outcome of all this talk is washington is going to be. ashley: no doubt. we saw initial jobless claims spike up a little bit by 17,000 but the four-week moving average at a two-month low. just like everything else it is all excruciatingly slow movement upward. until businesses feel more confident, they are not going to hire, are they? >> no. layoff announcements have picked up, even though we haven't seen it in the claims. claims numbers are messy

because of sandy. we have the holidays in there it is hard to get a clear view what is going on in the labor market from the claims data this time of year. there is good news. there is one area clearly going to do better in 2013 and that's housing. housing numbers we got to date were spectacular. existing home sales rose 5%. over five million unit annual rate. distressed sales. foreclosures and short sales, bank sales, fell to the lowest share that we've seen since the recession. so, we're, we've seen traditional buyers come back to the market. the inventory of unsold homes has dropped to the lowest level since way back in 2005. we're seeing real improvement in housing and that should keep us out of the ditch in 2013 even if, even if the government messes things up a little bit. ashley: prices still have a way to go though, don't they, mark, from pre-financial crisis levels. until they really get back i don't think we'll ever get back to those levels but until we get a lot more

appreciation in price consumers will not that willing to spend, will they? >> that is true. that sun w things qe is trying to do, is support home prices, lift the stock market and get consumer spending again. ashley: yeah. >> not so sure that is the right way to do things but that's the plan. in terms of consumers though, about a quarter of households that have a mortgage owe more on the mortgage than it is worth. another five to 6% in near negative equity. those folks are effectively out of the market. many of the folks would like to sell their home and move to another part of the country or move to a bigger heem but they don't have any equity. that equity is what they would use for a down payment in the past. that is one of the reasons why inventories of unsold homes are so low today. ashley: we'll leave it there. we need those prices to come up. mark vitner, with wells fargo. mark, thanks so much for being with us. we appreciate it. >> good to be with you. ashley: there you go. 25% of homeowners out there are still underwater.

as mark just pointed out, take them out of the equation. so those prices need to start really gaining ground. tracy: huh. on that note, coming up, carmax shares surging today. there's a bright spot. charles payne told you about this stock a few weeks ago. what does he think about it now? we'll find out next. ashley: as we do every day at this time, the oil is trading breaking through the 90 dal a barrel level up a quarter of a percent at 94.24 cents a barrel. -- 90.24 cents. we'll be right back.

tracy: that time of day. every 15 minutes we check on the markets. nicole petallides on the floor of the new york stock exchange. hey, nicole, you have a big loser, huh? >> this is big loser between a big battle between a hedge fund company and a major u.s. company. let's start off and show the stock the stock is her a life. everybody knows the supplements and vitamins and stuff. the stock is down 10%. it's down because a very famous investor, phil ackman, per are pershing square, bad-mouthed the company and said it was pyramid and ponzi scheme. pyramid scheme he said. he says the drugs are getting to sales reps and

not end-users and in turn is shorting the stock that put pressure on it. herbalife come out and of course is defending their company and saying that his analysis what is going on with herbalife is full of misstatements and mistakes. this is according to a press release from herbalife. they're going on, had our executives been there they would have been able to tear mr. ackman's premise and interpretation of our business model apart. it is certain i a he said/she said case but the stock is reflecting ackman shorting the stock. tracy: crazy stuff, nicole. we'll be back in 15 minutes. ashley: time to make money with charles payne. there he is. checking profits on a previous recommendation and giving us a new stock. charles is spoiling us for christmas. >> i have been rocking in december. i'm telling you. this feels like low-hanging fruit, right? carmax, couple weeks ago after the hurricane.

ashley: yeah. >> today nicole is reporting on it. stock at new 52-week high. one you would hold. i had a play earlier up big. dennis i told sell half. why would you sell half of what you like. that is biotech company with very little to know revenue. this is company, all the dem of course gras and trends going in their favor. our cars are still 11, 12 years old and people will buy new ones. tracy: this is not one you would sell half. >> no. tracy: tell us about the new one, because i love it. >> shutterfly. one of the companies i always played the stock as trading vehicle. i'm starting to think maybe it can hold its own as a long-term play. they bought a big patent, 55 patents from eastman kodak, half a billion dollars. valued almost $3 billion. this might be a company that could stand on its own. revenues in the last quarter up 29%. 47 consecutive quarters of year-over-year gains. this is growth company doing very well. if i had some problems the margins were a little bit low. guidance for current quarter margins will go back

big-time. customers are up 40%. this is stock looks really good. through 30 i think you get another 13 to 15% on it. tracy: use it for everything. ashley: really? tracy: holiday cards i make album. i have app on phone you take a picture send it to your shutterfly file. >> you're perfect mother. tracy: my third child doesn't have a baby book. so she will be in therapy. so i'm not perfect. it might help me make the baby book sometime. ashley: thank you, charles. >> see you guys. tracy: all right, will the grinch, i mean the fiscal cliff steal christmas this year? why the dithering in d.c. could make for a blue christmas. that's next. ashley: blue christmas. first see how the good ol' u.s. green back is moving right now. guess what? it is down against all these currencies, against all these currencies up against the dollar, euro, punching

through the 1.31 level. british pound, oh, my gosh, london is expensive and getting more so. we'll be right back.

>> right now 23 minutes past the hour. i'm jamie colby. this is your fox news

minute. today family and friends are paying respects to five more victims of the tragedy at sandy hook elementary. that is in newtown, connect cult. 6-year-old classmates, catherine hubbard, benjamin wheeler and allison wyatt laid to rest. teachers are held for teachers, anne marie murphy and victoria soto. lawmakers are grilling top state department officials following a scathing report faulting state department leaders for inadequate security in the american consulate in benghazi, libya on september 11th. look at a live look at the white house hearing going on. one official has already been given the boot. three others may follow. we have to tell you about severe winter weather sweeping across the midwest. if you're there, you know already. blizzard conditions expecting to disrupt travel plans for millions of americans heading out for the holidays. the travel nightmare is only

getting worse as the weather system heads eastward. that is your headlines. i'm jamie colby. back to tracy and ashley. we're looking maybe for a white christmas. tracy: jamie colby, thank you. >> take care, guys. ashley: snow on christmas eve. tracy: bah humbug. i'm sorry. ashley: boo, hiss. tracy: being a scrooge. here is christmas scrooge for you. shoppers surveys blame the fiscal cliff why consumers are cutting back on spending. liz macdonald with emac's bottom line. it is contradictory,. we hear gdp is going up while consumer spending is going down. >> i totally agree with you, tracy. there are all sorts of different forecasts out there. the one interesting to look is shoppertrak. they put those devices in all the retail outlets, about 40,000 of them. so the cofounder of shoppertrak out this morning because shoppertrak is saying hey we'll cut our

retail sales forecasts again, down to 2 1/2%. usually those sales average around 4 1/2% annually but i'm still optimistic. but here is the cofounder of shoppertrak why they cut the forecast for holiday shopping. take a listen. >> we've had a lot of interesting events that have occurred. a lot of tragic events occurred, sandy, that weighs on the psyche of the consumer. we see them headed to the stores from a foot traffic standpoint they're a little stingy with the dollars putting out there. >> that is what is key, foot traffic, is trending nicely. if they turn out to hang out, socialize maybe they will shop. ashley: put in a situation where the retailers really have to cut the margin razor thin to attract the shoppers being very careful with their money. >> that's right. that is weighing on sales, shoppertrak says, are the discounts. despite the mayan apocalypse coming shoppers are going out there to shop. they are. the numbers are coming in

pretty great despite everything. i'm pretty positive. christmas will be hanging out with family. not so much about spending. you know what? the numbers are coming in pretty decent, around 2 1/2% i would say. tracy: the bar is low enough we'll probably do okay, bas baseally? >> that's right. tracy: liz macdonald, you're great. ashley: she says everything with a smile. i love it. optimistic today. tracy: and the world is coming to an end. ashley: that is tomorrow, isn't it? tracy: yeah. ashley: big news. the world is coming to an end tomorrow. earnings news after the bell before we say good-bye to everyone, we have preview what to expect from blackberry maker research in motion. they will are still alive and kicking. tracy: you will be there for the earnings at 4:00. ashley: oh, yes. tracy: as we head out to break, no surprise the nyse euronext up top. look at that up 33%. merry christmas to those shareholders. we'll be right back. what's next?

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save >> reporter: a check of the markets. at the stock exchange, where you hearing about when you have ben willis? >> let's get the ins and outs of the deal, what floor traders are exchange, the stock exchange, nyse is on monumental date in history. what do you hearing? what are traders saying? >> it is not a surprise. the new york stock exchange group has been in play for a while.

would go to deutsche boerse, the nasdaq took a run, eyes was part of the consortium that make the bid, we knew this would happen eventually. the only real surprise is that happened to happen, we knew it would happen eventually but here it is without much warning more anticipation, seems to be a little rumors out there, but here we are. >> did you feel nothing needed to happen or something needs to happen to keep this place a live? >> i would like to ask the question if i could, what was the motivation for selling to somebody else? is a 220-year-old institution selling to the 12-year-old. there is a question to be asked. i don't know at what time that would be the proper -- what will be the proper time to ask that question but i would like to hear the answer. nicole: that is something we could ask a. let's take a look at the great

chart of volume of composite volume versus nyse the volume here is actually executed here and you can see since 2004 that divergence continues to rise and stay above the the volume. what else goes forward with this? we heard keep it the way it is, keep the people but he could change that tune at any time. >> they a understand the value of the brand because they chose the list when they became a publicly traded company. that is the plus side. even in the electronic world you need cumins at the point of sales to control volatility, and the hoops that happen, and and the eyes and those places, that volatility, that being said chart is interesting, but what

should not be obvious is at 2004, when the government started to tell us how to run their business their benefactors for water flow, and the fact of the matter is we maintained where we are. >> there were times there were errors, you need -- ashley: you need cumins. ashley: shares of research in motion in motion oo a tear in the last few months. third quarter earnings after the bell today, what you need to know ahead of that release. peter, what are you looking for in particular? >> and full of things, that they burn cash and we don't think they will, and do they lose any subscribers? they didn't lose many and third, many details on b. v. 10, the

story is success or failure. ashley: what is the timing, what are you hearing about the blackberry 10? i heard it is getting good reviews? how critical is that to rim's future? >> they could survive in a smaller form then each player, make a break in the current form. on january 30th in stone, get into people's hands, they suspect they will be will review the. we had a beta unit and an al fa unit, we thought was better than and android device on the market, we like our i phone 5 better, is a very good device. ashley: it really is in the corporate world black berries have a lot of people out there celebrating to the blackberry 10 would make more sense than ditching altogether and going with and i phone 5 or android system so they have that going

for them. >> there is a quirk in that enterprise, existing servers and infrastructure they use are compatible, they will actually have upgrades to the new server software. rim will pay for that and frame that, that is just another example. ashley: right around eighty million subscribers, where do you expect that to go? is it hard to maintain that level? >> over the next couple quarters saying where anywhere above $75 million would be a huge achievement. you should rise from that level, that should be one of the big benchmarks. ashley: you have a hold on this stock, what will make you put out by statement on this? >> buy or sell, the ability for

us to figure out the probability success of this device and we think the probability will be higher and we will upgrade and if improbability is zero we put that 30% and downgrade. we are on that grain right now. ashley: make or break. appreciate it. full coverage of rim's earnings on "after the bell". i will be joining liz claman. nike as well reporting after the bell. lots to report on. tracy: i have been buying so much like the stuff. but ram -- rim is like a nail biter. ashley: it is getting [talking over each other] tracy: crazy. more crazy stuff on the fiscal cliff. the office of senate majority leader harry reid says the senate will simply not act on john boehner's plan b.

it will go before the house today and gerri willis has all latest. liz: who surprised he said this? is it is a plan to raise taxes on everybody and $1 million or more and not everybody -- john boehner, keep people away from these tax hikes, when the broader economy is so weak. that is what is happening this week. we will go right up to the deadline. i spoke to somebody familiar with a lot of the players, they told me there is not enough pressure to get anything done yet. can you believe that? ashley: there truly is. [talking over each other] ashley: once they started talking about going beyond the december 31st deadline it will not be we falloff of the cliff at midnight on the 30 -- you start realizing it could very well drag on.

gerri: we have several days. the pressure is ratcheted so high they think they have to find some kind of solution but as we have been talking about any solution we come to in that time frame is not going to be something anybody will like and it is not going to do the broad job we want to do which is reform taxes, curb entitlements spending, get spending under control. ashley: john boehner talked about accepting tykes hikes, there are republican lawmakers that will never put their signature to a. gerri: they're talking about opposition to what john boehner is saying and the big question, can john boehner bring home enough votes? one aide says we feel momentum is on our side. a lot of things people are worried about, the estate -- [talking over each other] gerri: he addressed that in his plan so that is a starting point i guess. i am not sure anymore. of like there is none.

[talking over each other] gerri: what was going on is john boehner wanted to say we did our job. we passed this bill and gave you a starting point. with the pick up or not is up to you. ashley: don't miss gerri willis tonight, report at 6:00 p.m. on fox business. what you going to get into? gerri: we have an exciting story about a maple syrup highest in canada. strategic maple syrup reserve has been compromised. this could affect your holiday. stuart: ashley: my pancakes. terrible. it is being stolen? compromise? someone with sticky fingers. [talking over each other] ashley: i am such a sack. tracy: we have to get out. coming of a rare bit of bipartisanship on capitol hill, senators from across the aisle working together sounds great, solving our nation --

blockbuster movie. believe it or not that is next. ashley: as we do every day and look at the 10 and 30 year treasuries unchanged on the ten year. as for the 30 year let's take a look. unchanged just under 3%. the right back. [ male announcer ] this is joe woods' first day of work. and his new boss told him twongs -- cook wt you love, and save your money. joe doesn't know it yet, but he'll wk his way up from busser to waiter to che before opening a restaurant specializing in fish and me from the great northwest. hel start investing early, he'll find some good people to help guide him, nd he'll set money aside from his first day of work to his last, which isn't rocket science. it'just common sense. from td ameritrade.

tracy: i am tracy byrnes with your fox business brief. stocks trading higher in afternoon trading on optimism over budget negotiations. republican house speaker john boehner expects to be working with president obama to avert the fiscal cliff. jobless claims rising more than expected, 361,000 americans filed first-time benefits. the four week moving average which moves volatility fell to lowest level since late october. general motors is recalling

145,000 pickup trucks because of a hood and unexpectedly fly open blocking the driver's vision. the recall covers chevrolet, colorado and gmc canyon midsized trucks. 2010 to 2012 most of the trucks were sold in north america. that is the latest from the fox business network giving you the power to prosper.

>> ups turned its money, expecting to deliver twenty million packages. adam shapiro in louisville, kentucky, and make sure they make it to jersey. >> a couple boxes make it to jersey. have you ever been inside a 757 and don't have leg room? how is this for legroom?

this is one of ubs's 230 plus full time aircraft and is being loaded. they stop for a second so we could introduce you to the chief of international flights, chief pilots for international ups, i want you to meet capt. houston mills and he is one of the pilots who fly your packages, twenty million today, three million to this facility, the busy day. >> it is a great day. we execute like none other in the world and we're excited to get those out for all the customers around world. >> you have been flying for 18 years, marine fighter pilot, you fly all over the world. people don't think of ups this way. you think of ups as guys in a brown trucks but your trek has legs. >> 2,000 vehicles overall, 230 aircraft over 500 aircraft in the facilities, we connect all over the world whether by ocean or train or package car or flight, a total long-distance

provider. >> that is what people don't realize. this is a corporation with $53 billion in revenue, can shift five million packages. >> we go to operation all the time. as you mentioned twenty-eight million packages, tomorrow night or friday morning, six million packages. we are 24/7. >> merry christmas and happy flying. back to you, tracy. chocolate written on it, my producer grabbed it. tracy: adam shapiro, thank you very much. ashley: a lot of room. it is a quarter till, just have time for stocks, let's head to

nicole petallides on the stock exchange. a couple drug companies making moves today. nicole: that is right. let's look at merck, dow component merck, there is an obesity drug that will be covered by express' script. one reason people say they weren't purchasing the drug was it was expensive. with this coverage, the largest pharmacy manager in the country the drug will be $50 to $60 with this copayment. a lot more affordable and reasonable that it had been at the normal retail cost, basically a third of the price. wanted to take a look at merck which is saying they will not seek regulatory approval for particular drugs pertaining to cholesterol. what it was supposed to do was boost good cholesterol. everybody knows ldl and hdl, what is bad and what is good and the idea was it was boosting the good cholesterol which had been a concern to stop strokes and

heart attacks or help with that and it was failing in the study so this is the one they will not be seeking approval, stock down 3-1/3%. ashley: i know all about cholesterol. keep trying to find the perfect drug. thank you very much. tracy: hollywood ruffling feathers on capitol hill. dennis kneale is on that story. ashley: let's look at some of today's winners and losers. the dow in positive territory, research in motion reporting after the bell, talking about that, 2% of third quarter earnings. we will be right back.

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ashley: of bipartisan a 4 over a

new hollywood flick, a handful of senators using harsh language to describe director kathleen bigelow's for trail of the hunt for usama bin laden. dennis kneale covering this story and joins us with more. >> it opens this friday amid controversy, and usama bin laden, john mccain, a republican and prisoner of war democratic senator dianne feinstein, sent a letter to sony pictures objecting to the film. the protest follows reports that it makes a hero of a female cia agents who in real life was passed over for promotion because see should -- she is such a pain. like carry on the series homeland. this is just the kind of controversy that can make even more people line up to see the film. already set up records for a limited opening on wednesday

plaaing in new york and los angeles, directed by kathleen bigelow who won the oscar for best film for her previous military -- shea beach avatar and james cameron for that. one scene shows water boarding of one suspect who doesn't end up cracking, senators sent a letter that said, quote, we believe the film is grossly inaccurate, suggesting torture led to the location of usama bin laden. below is undaunted, saying the senators are taking that scene out of context, bigelow putting it bluntly saying, quote, this is a ten year intelligence operation brought to the screen, a 2-1/2 our phone. we encourage people to see the film for characterizing it. note to the u.s. senator. ashley: on the same side too

much. thank you. tracy: some good news for the housing market. existing home sales jumped to a three year high, our next guest isn't convinced we are any real housing recovery. managing director at graham fisher, you are not buying this is off to the races. >> off to a slow trot. housing prices are recovering, starts are doing better, foreclosures are defining conclusions arising, home prices are almost 17% below the 2007 peak. we have 20% of all sales cash purchases, still constrained for credit availability and securitization market is set down, we have demographic problems. over $1 trillion of student debt, baby boomers who historically the biggest part of consumption are moving to retirement, often stuck in homes

with negative equities and kids sell those homes and move to the retirement community. we are recovering, it is a slow recovery and will remain a slow recovery. we have some bounds, we had foreclosure moratorium is which kept inventories depressed, we had the banks that were slow to build the real-estate don't because of lack of foreclosure, finally building those those will come to market and there is an imbalance which is supporting a lack of properties and good number of buyers. at some point we start seeing the moderation again. tracy: let me throw in the s h a. must of the loans are from fannie and freddie, and -- [talking over each other] tracy: you have between fannie, freddie and at 88 a trifecta of a mess and throw that into the mix. >> and you have got f h a whose underwriting standards have been

abysmal, 3% down payments which resulted in huge losses coming through pipeline and fannie and freddie which since they were putting conservatorship time in the underwriting standards, i am not approving a lot of borrowers and those are going to have a a and we don't have private markets and the administration has done little to nothing to address these. tracy: before we go, 2013 housing market flat. >> we're of gdp type levels being 1% to 2%. ashley: liz claman will take us through the last hour of trading talking about the night see inter-continental exchange, someone who has a big stake in both companies and talking holiday sales in commercial real-estate with the ceo of kid co realty, david henry, a fox business exclusive. "countdown to the closing bell" is next.