no answer in sight to stop the fiscal cliff. the dow shedding 156 points right now. we are tracking the market's every move hour, of course. house speaker boehner calling on president obama and congress to keep working on a fiscal cliff solution. president obama is due to speak in about 30 minutes. he is expected to nominate senator john kerry. we will bring you the comments live just as soon as they happen. the holiday travel rush is on. are you out there, no, you are watching tv. cheap oil strategist says there could be released ahead. he will tell us just how much. time for stocks now. let's head to the floor of the new york stock exchange. nicole petallides is standing by. no fiscal cliff deal and the

market is looking a little nervous. nicole: you saw the dow down nearly 200 points. what you see is basically everybody sells everything. they are not saying i will sell my financials and hold onto my drugs. no. they are getting out today. it is the weekend. we havecome up off the as you noted, they cannot get away from the fiscal cliff. not just yet. they have not come to a solution in washington. that is front and center. we are also seeing a flock to the area that are safe. the dollar is higher. gold is higher. we are also -- there is a look at the dow jones one week. last friday we close that

13,135. we are still actually of about 30 points for the week. that is if we were to close right here. for right now, certainly, read on the screen because there is so much concern about washington. melissa: thank you so much. many believe the speaker in the senate, but it did notie -@even make it through the house last night. i next asked is not confident it will happen within the next year. >> we will see what the president says. after what has happened this week, it is not clear what the way forward is.

it is more likely than not that we will grow into january without a deal. melissa: what does that really mean for the economy? >> it is to businesses to decide when they change their holdings. there is some spending programs that will be extended. they are uncertain about the outlook. there are a variety of ways that will show up in the first quarter. melissa: you really think that this will happen? we will not get this deal? they will not stop in at the last minute? >> i think they have a long way to go to reach a deal at this point.

the disagreement that you saw with the republicans and the house are willing to support and what the president and the democrats are prepared to offer, that gap is still there. they will keep negotiating. i think, to a certain extent, you can make too much of just rolling into january 1. i would expect a deal getting done relatively quickly. i think it is getting late. melissa: is there a long-term impact if we go over the first of the year and there is a lot of panic? >> i think, ultimately, if you come to a good agreement that puts the fiscal policy on a good path going forward, i think the negative impacts do not have to be huge. you are seeing a gradual, sort

of, undermining sense. i think, ultimately, what matters is policy. process matters also. melissa: breaking news right now. harry reid is speaking on the floor of the senate. let's listen. >> we knew the so-called plan b was no plan at all. it could not pass the senate or the house. it is too bad he wasted a week on this stunt. at least, now, house republicans have gotten the message loud and clear that comprehensive solution to the looming fiscal cliff will need to be a bipartisan solution. no comprehensive agreement can pass either chamber without both democrats and republican votes. which means any solution will have two ask the most fortunate

-@to pay a little bit more. nothing that has passed the house of representatives fits that task. nothing. a few days ago president obama and speaker boehner. poised to strike a grand bargain. we have heard that before. they resorted to political stunts. that stunned fell flat. it is time for the speaker and all republicans to return to the negotiation table. we have never left, mr. president. it is time for republicans to work with us to find the middle ground. mr. president, the fiscal cliff needs to be a voided.

in the meantime, the speaker should bring the tax cut passed by the senate five months ago to the house for a vote. we know it would pass. all he has to do is let democrats but with some republicans. it will pass. the clock is ticking. there is still time for the speaker to hit the brakes and avoid that cliff. we do not need the thelma and louise production over that cliff, mr. president. they need to work towards a compromising agreement. that agreement should be comprehensive. if republicans truly want to make sure families do not go up with their taxes, they should pass the senate bill.

you work for a day or two and see if you can bring that up so it would not pass. that did not work either. americans are not fooled by the speakers ponied, procedural excuses. they are part of excuses. they expect action. i say to the speaker, this is not a game, it is not scoring political points of putting wins on the board, there will be very serious consequences for many of families if congress fails to compromise. it is time for the speaker to return to the negotiation table ready to compromise. it is time for the house, especially house republicans to remember what is at stake. i repeat. further $50,000 program would pass overwhelmingly in the house. it is up to the speaker to let that occur.

melissa: that was harry reid speaking on the floor. he was criticizing speaker boehner. we are waiting for senate authority leader mitch mcconnell to take to the podium and ressond to that. he is up at the podium. we will listen. >> here with the leaders of the democratic party, here in the senate, other than the president, these are the folks with the greatest responsibility for protecting the american people from the tax hike in america. what do they do, they stand in front of the cameras and laugh. they giggled at a bunch of bad jokes and planned they did not

do anything. they would not vote for this bill. the majority leader about you would ignore it if it made it out of the house. the president vowed that he would veto it if it made it out of the senate. democrats spent all day yesterday, literally, all day yesterday, defeating a bill that would have made current tax rates current for more than 90% of americans and they laughed about it. ten days to go until the fiscal cliff and they laughed about it. i do not know if anyone has looked at a calendar lately, but we are about out of time here, folks. the u.s. economy is at stake. million upon millions of families are counting on us to do something.

it is tte president's job, it is his job, to find a solution that can pass the congress. he is the only one that can do it. this is not john boehner's problem to solve. he has done his part. mr. president, how about rallying your party around a solution. how about getting democrats to support something. we simply cannot solve the problem we face unless and until the president of the united states either signs no will or develops the ability, the ability, to lead. this is a moment that calls for presidential leadership. that is the way out of this. it is that simple. does anyone wonder why we keep going from crisis to crisis around here? anybody that is a pattern? this should not be a crisis. this is an opportunity. the president again ignored it.

as i said yesterday, i think it is obvious at this point that the president wants to go off the cliff. i know most of the american people do not want that. today, i will make an offer. with ten days to go, we have an obligation to act on something, something that can pass the house and the senate. if the president will not propose it, if democrats will not propose it, i will. earlier this year, the house passed a bill that extends current rates on everyone for one year. one year. it has instructions for expedited, comprehensive tax reform by next year. we can bring up this house passed bill. if the majority leader has a plan that can get 60 votes in the senate, break through the disarray his own caucus and build bipartisan support, offer that. offer that as an amendment and then let's go. let's vote on amendments from all sides. then, let's go to conference

with the house of representatives. they have already passed a bill, one that i support, to pass a hike on all americans. let's get this done. it is called legislating. that is what we used to do in congress. now, democrats may be popping champagne corks today about bringing down plan b. all their effort to do so yesterday, will not protect a single taxpayer from a massive tax hike in just a few weeks. the american people are waiting. surely, we can do better than this. let's do it. melissa: that was senate minority leader mitch mcconnell. he said he is making an offer to legislators saying let's pick up the bill that extends all of the

tax breaks through the new year and then once we get into the new year or for one year and then will we get into the new year, let's take a serious tax reform. heavily criticizing the president there. accusing the president of wanting to go off a cliff. right before that, we heard harry reid criticizing speaker boehner. we are getting closer and closer to going over this cliff. there seems to be a lot of finger-pointing there and not a lot of resolutions. the s&p 500 trading down. off the lows. market participants very concerned that we are not getting close to a solution as we stand just ten days away from going off the cliff. also ahead, what is on your list

for santa? lower gas prices? tom kloza says that maybe under your tree. they spoke over 12% for the last month. will people like the new one dollar a message plan. take a look at metals as we head out to break. metals trading higher as investors are fleeing to the safe haven that rattles can provide. of almost three quarters of a percent. do not go away. we will be right back. ♪ [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso.

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melissa: welcome back. investors looking nervous. as they do every 15 minutes, let's chat the markets. nicole petallides is on the floor of the new york stock exchange. nicole: the dow jones industrials are down. not one of the energy names have an up arrow today. there is a lookout merk oil. down 2.3%. that is something they have been working on. however, at the same time, you can see the group continues to sell off.

there is so many worries about washington. the truth is you are seeing selling across the board and the financials continue to be under significant pressure. that to you. melissa: the nra is speaking out today. violent video games and movies share blame for such a tragedy and calling for armed police and such schools. >> they are already in some schools and school systems. we decided to figure out what would this cost. fox business has determined if he were to put an armed police officer in every private or public school, it would be roughly $5 billion to taxpayers assuming the security guard is making an average of $34,000. wayne from it nra had the press conference where he called uuon

all kinds of issues, but made it very clear and simple. >> the only way to stop a monster from killing our kids is to be personally involved and invested in a plan of absolute protection. the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. >> he also went on to talk about the need for hollywood to accept some responsibility. he actually recalled a game called "kindergarten killers." everyone knows "grand theft auto" and "mortal kombat." there is a big discussion that has to be going on. there is one who says she does not agree, but does support trained armed officers in

schools. melissa: some say we need to walk schools and keep them safe. in this school, the school was locked. they broke through a window. >> i will not weigh in what works and what does not work. keep in mind, the reason schools open is because of the fire tragedy in cleveland ohio. kids could not get out. there are consequences to every measure you take. you have to be careful as to what you do. wayne lapierre calling for armed guards. he does not say exactly armed guards, he says trained law enforcement personnel to protect our kids. melissa: everyone always looks at ways to stop it from happening again. adam shapiro, thank you very much. phil flynn is live at the cme next. we are waiting for the president

at 1:30 p.m. eastern. we will listen in. we will bring you his comments live as soon as they happen. first, i want to show you the dollar. looking more and more likely we are going over the cliff. the dollar is stronger against the euro. the pound is weaker against the yen, but stronger against the canadian dollar. we will be right back. the local

>> 20 minutes past the hour your fox news minute, president obama will nominate john kerry as his pick for secretary of state today. the president is scheduled to make that announcement a few minutes from now. it confirmed he will replace outgoing secretary hillary clinton, nomination represents his first move in administration over all over the second term. the u.s. ambassador to russia says he is concerned with the kremlin's response to u.s. human rights law. the russian parliament voted overwhelmingly to ban americans

from adopting russian children. to impose visa band and asset freezes, and north korea detained an american citizen, the rogue nation unspecified crimes -- >> we are awaiting president obama, expecting him to speak in a few moments. we are keeping a close eye on it. what we say about the fiscal cliff. we will bring that live as it happens but in the meantime it is not just energy stocks getting hit by the gridlock, oil prices tumbling on track to snap a five day rally. phil flynn of price futures group is in the pits of the cme. whaa is going on down there? traders losing confidence in the economy and washington and the

planet? phil: i don't think they have confidence in washington to begin with that they're losing confidence that we can get a fiscal cliff deal done. with plan b failing pretty miserably, a lot of traders can't see a scenario where this can get done. you can bet they're going to see what the president is going to say because that is a major market lower. look at oil, this morning we are above 90. yesterday looks like we are on our way, demand should be getting better and economy getting better and throw everything out of the garbage, we are down $1.56. what adds to the negative momentum is reports from the petroleum institute, the month of november, u.s. petroleum use was at a 17 year low. that is minuscule to what we were doing during the years a

few years ago. futures are down today rallying quite a bit. u.s. gasoline use is up until this year at the lowest level since 2001. that is a pretty incredible number. oil production in the u.s. is at the highest level since 1995 so we have more production. less demand, and that is weighing on prices. we are a futures markets. we have been rallying, and if we go off of the cliff very bearish. cheryl: thank you so much. john boehner gaining plan b from the house floor do house votes, what is their next step? peter barnes at capitol hill. what a mess. >> lots of finger pointing,

because there's no deal to avoid the fiscal cliff, and dipped into senator harry reid on the floor of the senate, he calls plan b phony and said the way to fix this and avoid the fiscal cliff is for the house to take up the bill the senate passed in july, that would extend the bush tax cuts for everybody making $250,000 a year. john boehner in his press conference said that is not going to happen. on his side, the senate should take up the bill to extend the house in august to extend all the george bush tax cuts for every one and use that as a starting point and the republicans still want a deal with tax reform and significant spending cuts. >> what the president has proposed won't do anything to solve the spending problem. more spending and tax hikes for the economy and simply won't be

honest. with the entitlement reform and the big issues facing our country. >> after plan b failed the white house put out a scent that -- statement saying the main priority was to in short taxes do not go up in a few short days. the president will work with congress to get this done. no one is talking to anybody. liz: it looks like an absolute circus. you were on the grounds talking to everybody off camera and have been there for a long time a you know everyone. what are they saying on the side about what they think is going to happen? are we flying off of the cliff? what are they saying on the side? >> i have been asking members on both sides what is next. can they avoid the cliff? some are saying no, the president wants to go off of the cliff because some republicans are saying it strengthened his

negotiating hand, some others think perhaps if the senate bill for extending cuts under 250,000 comes over to the house there could be house democrats vote for that and need 25 republican votes to pass that and make that the law so -- cheryl: is that reasonable? could that really happen? i am so silly, when i was listening to the last to speeches, are they proposing actual things that could happen? was that posturing or were either of the things we heard the senators say in the past 15 minutes real possibilities? >> good for you. you don't have to live in washington to see posturing, that is what is happening. people are trying to cobble something together to put a patch on this to avoid the

fiscal cliff, i can't tell you with any certainty if they can pull that off. cheryl: maybe you can work something out. stick the next -- work something out. i wouldn't give you that -- >> okay. cheryl: time for stocks every 15 minutes, nicole petallides standing by for close eye on the sell-off. bouncing around in this territory although we are off of the lows of the session. nicole: we are off of the lows, you don't want to see confused selling and finishing the day at the lowest point. that would not be good. you are seeing selling, ten sectors we follow so closely with down arrows and the last pick on here we focus on energy and that is one group that has been under significant pressure. we are going to take a look at the financials, the banking index continues to have a down

arrow. bank of america is the top ladder on the dow jones industrials, jpmorgan down 1%, wells fargo and citigroup at goldman sachs continuing to be lower. we are seeing selling, there are concerns about washington, heavy volume, the fear index to the upside, there is concern and volatility. is anyone saying i feel so confident i will get in and buy here today? not really. on the contrary there is a ways and see sort of mode going on. cheryl: have traders on the floor given up when they see the senate minority or majority leader come to the microphone and start talking? did they stop and listen and think something is going to happen or have they given up and think we're going over the cliff? >> they are outraged by call americans. they want washington to get it right already so they can continue. when they make a market whether it is trading one way or another when things go down or up $0.25, making and losing money but the

truth, this is of a busy day with exploration and balancing major averages, where there is action in this building, but definitely across america, come, washington, get it done. cheryl: democratic senator ted kaufman expects the u.s. to go over the cliff in 2013 and urging congress to push for plan to save $4 trillion in the next ten years. let's bring in senator kaufman of delaware who joins us, before we get to that i want to ask for your take because you have been there. from here to us, we're getting very frustrated. it looks like there is no progress going on that we're going to go flying over the cliff. what do you think is going on? are they getting closer behind closed doors and we don't know it? >> the basic problem we have, the problem is the country is

very split. there are a bunch of republicans in the house that believe to the bottom of there being under no circumstances should we ever increase taxes. until that is dealt with there is no way to get democrats to sit down and say we are going to cut spending and not taxes. what john boehner did showed power recalcitrant or inactive the republicans in the house are going to be. they would not even vote. [talking over each other] cheryl: say everybody comes out and says we're going to raise taxes on everybody making $250,000 and get it out of the way, that run the government for eight days. [talking over each other] >> $2 went out. there is so much that needs to be reformed, such spending that needs to be cut. this is a drop in the bucket and your hang your hat on an issue that doesn't get as close to a solution. >> whenever you sit down and do

a deal you come to the table and say here's what i want to negotiate and here's what i am not. for four years the democrats have said we are willing to negotiate on spending but you have to do something on taxes. what this last thing, plan b that john boehner turned out the american people get it. you may not get it. someone on wall street may not get it. the american people get it. melissa: what is that i don't get? raise taxes solves nothing. , and do it. >> you got to have the house of representatives have got to say under some circumstances they will vote to increase taxes and that is the only way this is going to happen and the reason we are sitting here is for the first time the president has some control over this. what i predict is going to happen, i read a column in the news journal, i predicted a while back that we're going o go over the fiscal cliff because after we crossed over the fiscal cliff, no one will have to vote for a tax increase.

what will happen is the george bush tax cuts will be eliminated and what will happen, trust me, there will be a vote on the floor to pass everything except the top 2%, the bill that pays -- passed the senate last july and go to the house and house republicans will vote because it is not a tax increase. melissa: if we get to the point you are talking about the you honestly think -- i would love to continue this discussion. the president is going to speak now. let's listen to what he has to say and hopefully we can pick this up afterwards. >> al qaeda was entrenched in their save havens. many were afraid and america's standing in the world suffered. for the past four years we have begun a new era of american leadership. we ended the war in iraq, put the al qaeda corps on the path to defeat and are winding down war in afghanistan. we strengthen our alliances including asia, forged new coalitions to the local challenges and stood up for human dignity from north africa

to the middle east to burma. we still of course face great challenges but today i can say with pride that the united states is safer, stronger and more respected in the world. in this work, i have been grateful for an extraordinary national security team. tom has been part of that and i'm grateful to him. of course, one of the most important people in this transformation has been our outstanding secretary of state, my friend secretary hillary clinton. hillary wanted very much to be here today, but she continues to recuperate. i had a chance to talk to her earlier today, she is in good spirits and could not be more excited about the announcement that i am making. over the last four years hillary has been everywhere in terms of her travels which represent america in more countries than any previous secretary of state and tireless work to restore our

glow leadership and she is looking forward to getting back to work and i am looking for to paying tribute to her extraordinary service in the days to come. i am looking ahead to my second term and very proud to announce my choice for america's next secretary of state, john kerry. john's entire life has prepared him for this role. as the son of a born service officer he has deep respect for the men and women of the state department. the role they play in advancing interest and values, the risks they undertake and the sacrifices they make along with their families. having served with valor in vietnam he understands we have a responsibility to use american power wisely, especially our military power. and he knows from personal experience when we send our troops into harm's way we must give them sound strategy, clear

mission and resources they need to get the job done. in an extraordinarily distinguished senate career and as chairman of the foreign relations committee john has played a central role in every major foreign policy debate in 30 years. as we turned the page, elements of american power and assure that they are working together. diplomatic development and political, and the power of our values which inspire so many people around the world. as john has said we are an exceptional nation not because we say we are but because we do exceptional things. the more exceptional things we have seen in recent decades was when john helped lead the way along with folks like john mccain and others to restore our diplomatic ties with vietnam. when he returns to the country he and some of the others fought so long ago sent a powerful

message of progress and healing. he has earned the respect and confidence of leaders around the world. he is not going to need a lot of on-the-job training. he has earned the respect and trust of his senate colleagues, democrats and republicans. is fair to say few individuals know as many presidents and prime minister's or grasp our foreign policies as firmly as john kerry and this makes him a perfect choice to guide american diplomacy in the years ahead. on a personal level john has been a great friend. i appreciated john's partnership to advance 74 and policy priorities including ratification of the new start treaty, called on his talent and diplomatic skills on several occasions, on complex challenges from sudan and south sudan to afghanistan. each time, he has been

exemplary. of course i aaso have to say thanks because john invited a young illinois state senate is to address the democratic convention in boston. i was proud to serve with him on the foreign relations committee under the tutelage of joe biden. and where we all became friends. of course nothing brings two people closer together than weeks of debate prep. i am looking forward to working with you instead of debating you. finally, i want to say as someone who came to this country as an immigrant, she understands the shining values america represents to the world. a former interpreter at the united nations, she appreciates how our interests can be advanced in partnership with others. thank you so much for being john's parter in this next endeavour. i have to say, i think i speak

for john and joe and myself, we left dan inouye's your, a man who represented the best of the senate tradition. i think it is fair to say there are going to be great challenges and in an uncertain world will continue to test our nation. even with all the challenges we face i have never been more confident optimistic that if we act with wisdom and with purpose and guided by our values and remind what binds us together as americans, the united states will continue to lead in this world for a lifetime. so john, i am grateful you have agreed to take on this new assignment. i am confident the senate will confirm you quickly. i guess you won't be able to

actually appear hand preside at the same time so we will have to figure out how that works but i know you're going to be an outstanding secretary of state. thank you so much. [applause] melissa: that was president obama we besetting to nominating senator john kerry to be the next secretary of state thanking hillary clinton for her service. we were listening closely because we thought he might make some comments on the fiscal cliff and you could hear folks asking questions after him but he is not taking those so instead, that is what we heard. let's check on the markets. we are a little bit even further off of the lows 133 points. nicole petallides on the floor of the stock exchange getting a little fraction of of the bottom.

nicole: we are taking them now. the point of the story is we saw the dow ntsb sell-off, the worst we have seen since early november. all ten sectors we followed so closely, hot on financials or energy, you are really losing today unless you are shorting this market. we have seen strength in the dollar because that is the save haven where people run for a little safety and also gold is another area. want to take a look at some names on the move, nike and red hot the, let's see how they are fearing. nike is coming out with quarterly profit and demand nd they talk about demand going forward and that is topping analysts' estimates so that is up 6%. red hat is a top performer in the s&p 500 and also a clear winner, 4-1/4% so two clear winners on the day when we have spent a lot of time showing down

arrows, research in motion and major markets. cheryl: you want to know make you want to highlight the winners. thanks so much. speaking of red hot, keep it here. liz claman will talk to the red hat ceo and president on "countdown to the closing bell" at 3:00 p.m. eastern right here on fox business on a down day, you want to get the ceo of a company that is moving hire. what can a dollar get you these days? you can buy at cheeseburger of the mcdonald is dollar menu. maybe paper dumb. how about direct contact on facebook? the social media giant is testing new ground. shibani joshi has details on this one. i don't know. first there was the photo sharing. shibani: you start to bring access to your in box and trivial amounts, you wonder if that kind of messing with privacy but according to facebook's log in sight, the sign up site the company remains free and always will be but that

doesn't mean it will stop from trying to make money off of you in any way, shape or form. they are doing this with gifts and ways to promote your ads and now they're trying to do this by getting into your in box. this is a test the company released yesterday. now there are restrictions. the only way to get messages into your in box is you and i know each other and you are in my circle and send an e-mail but somebody outside of that circle wants to get into my in box, another box called other, by paying $1, these guys are normally found in other boxes into the in box by paying it $1 and facebook believe this is the next or rise of the company, imposing financial cost to the sender, and effective way to discourage unwanted messages and facilitate delivery of messages, and continuing every one here.

melissa: thanks so much. will there be a lump of coal in your stocking this christmas? what to expect at the pump as you head out to your holiday celebration. we will tell you coming up but first listen today's winners and losers. on this and the 500, some winners on a down day.

melissa: with no slamming the midwest, could be trickier this year as a gasoline prices won't help travel despite a dip from a month ago, prices edged up a

notch or two by 2013. why do you think prices are going higher? people in recent days think they are dipping. >> little bit of a bounce and i am not sure it will last and is dipping on the west coast, pacific northwest, southeast and the great lakes but the northeast has higher numbers sandwich a point where gas prices actually got below the benchmark crude so it is a balance. i am not so sure it will continue for months, but it will persist for next week. melissa: we are looking at gas prices and a steady decline. is supposed to be a record for what we have seen on christmas. >> it has been just a tight year in terms of supplies for refineries although it is ending with comparable stocks but offshore prices on the coasts

have been very high. and on balance, lower-priced feedstock, it grows seven million barrels a day domestic production since 1993. melissa: don't reflect the supply and demand fundamentals in the market. consumption and demand are at lows we haven't seen in a long time. production is at highs we have not seen in a long time so why are gas prices really cheap? >> there is are some interesting problems with logistics. if you look at the gulf coast where eight million barrels refining capacity come from gas is very cheap but you can only move so much north of the pipelines, to moving ships, american flag vessels cost $0.30 a gallon these days, one of the things we are going to wrestle

with in 2013 is how to get those logistics' working to take advantage of that huge output surged in texas and louisiana. melissa: the think we will deal with that problem? >> it will be brought up in the next couple months. we probably have bigger fish to fry with the fiscal cliff. melissa: other problems we have to deal with like not going off of a cliff. it is not the biggest concern, but thank you so much, merry christmas to you. >> we cleared the minds. melissa: i can't believe i haven't mentioned that. that is the good news today. you are the best, thanks so much. coming up on money meadowlands racetrack chairman joins me for professional sports leagues. and stop the possibility of

sports gambling here. you might be able to bet on games, the leagues are so upset about it. the decision on the validity is expected today and governor chris christie was in favor of sports gambling. it is a huge fight brewing and we will break it down at 5:00 on fox business. if you like sports and gambling you should watch. tennessee congresswoman marcia of blackburn is one of many republicans refusing to support plan b. she will join tracy byrnes and ashley webster next on fox business. you don't want to miss it.

tracy: i am tracy byrnes. ashley: i am ashley webster, no progress on the fiscal cliff, take a look for yourself, the

dow off by 147 points. tracy: plan b bill failed to win support. republican congresswoman marcia blackburn is one of the republicans flatly against any tax hikes and with this in a moment. ashley: student loan debts tracking a trillion dollars to help borrowers but would it make the problem even worse? that is a question we will be asking straight ahead. tracy: time for stocks every 15 minutes. on the floor of the stock exchange, under 135 points, we have a lot going on today. nicole: where is the good news? when getting economic numbers we have gotten in over the last few days we are seeing a little bit better but the big picture is when you talk about 10% for moves in economic numbers, that

is clearly overshadowed by washington and not getting these things all and the fiscal cliff looms, weighs on sentiment, markets are based on technicals or fundamentals and sometimes psychology, they have a lot of psychology going on and people are worried and the plan we are going up with, and a lot of questions, ten sectors we look that closely. financials and energy leading the way lower and save havens doing better like the dollar and gold. and banc of america getting hit, and the dow jones industrials and obviously earnings and stuff, research in motion, down dramatically. the volume you are seeing is an

exploration friday, the s&p indices, and a lot of worry about what is going on. ashley: certainly is. 130 one points. tracy: of the were not for the worry and uncertainty we would probably be talking about how the economic data is getting better but we are not. ashley: thanks to washington and the fiscal cliff. we avoided the end of the world that may be going over the cliff. members of congress heading home for the holidays with no deal in place. what is their next move? peter barnes on capitol hill with the latest. peter: after pulling plan b last night john boehner this morning said the ball is now in the president and senate democrats's court. the pointed out in august house republican approved a bill to extend all of the bush tax cuts for one year. that might be a vehicle for compromise. he stressed he still want to

deal with tax reform and significant spending cuts but didn't sound confident about how to get there. >> the house did not take up the tax bill last night because we didn't have the votes to pass it. it is not the outcome that i wanted but it was the will of the house. so unless the president and congress take action, tax rates will go up on every american taxpayer and devastating defense cuts will go into effect in ten days. peter: the president will work with congress to get a deal done to avoid the fiscal cliff, senate democratic leader harry reid this morning said we passed a bill back in july that would extend all the bush tax cuts for middle-class families making under $250,000 a year. the house should pass that. ashley: thank you very much.

tracy: one of those things. democrats and republicans begin their bills on the fiscal cliff at the end of the day your money is at stake. it is going to take a pretty decent bite out of your wallet. you can expect your tax bill to bill by about $3,500 according to the tax policy center. earlier investment advisers said to look for in, especially from dividend paying stocks the now those payments are going to get taxed at a higher rate too. the highest earners that rate will more than double to nearly 40%. nuts. ashley: that says all, doesn't it? also believe that if it goes over the fiscal cliff ultimately the impact on the gdp negative 3.5%. tracy: the worst part of this is when they eventually sold it everything becomes retroactive so you have to make adjustments along the way. there will be your payroll check all messed up, the tax forms, forget those. i don't think they realize --

melissa: the irs has already said -- [talking over each other] ashley: lawmakers know it but they cannot find ground for compromise. let's move on. congresswoman marcia blackburn from tennessee one of many republicans not on board with plan b, and passed a bill to avoid this cliff months ago and it is time for the senate to take action. thank you so much, it has been a tough go of it. almost every hour the headlines change, can you support any tax rate increase even if it is on billionaires? and if not you are longest go over the cliff, would you support a tax on billionaires? >> i have a long history of fighting tax rate increases because they never get to the heart of the problem. if you want more revenue in the system you have got to have tax reform that will clean up the

code. history has proven that works. raising rates doesn't get us where we need to be. what my constituents are saying and i think this is the same for many members on both sides of the aisle, you have got to address spending, you have to address the entitlement, what the federal government is spending, trillion dollars annual deficit has got to go. you have to get this under control. what our constituents were saying was he really don't have a revenue problem but you do have a spending and priority problem. let's get this house in order. tracy: we have a time problem. we have no time. is so unfortunate because we have known this was coming all along, we consistently do this, save it to the last minute. we will have deja vu all over again and the same show this time next year because we will inevitably kick the can to next year. this is so disheartening to the american people because we got

our houses in order. >> i totally agree with you. i can assure you there are millions of women around this country saying exactly what you are saying, didn't you see this coming? the house has passed bill. you can look at reconciliation passed on may 10th, a tax extenders on august 1st, sequestration august 2nd, half way to tax reform september 19th. many of those bills passed with bipartisan support in the house, harry reid needs to decide which of those bills he wants to lift from the desk, take up and take action on. time for the senate to do their job. i didn't even mention the house passes a budget every year and sends to the senate and over 1300's days since the u.s. senate has passed a budget. we agree with you.

we agree with you. ashley: conservatives called last night's non vote on plan b a great day for america but does it weaken john boehner's negotiation position to the white house? >> quite the contrary. what it does is john boehner is stronger now than he has ever been. here is the reason why. rather than trying to coerce, twist and turn, the house has worked its will. the will of the house of representatives is regular order. orderly process and taking bills and the budgets through the regular committee process, passing them, many with bipartisan support on the floor of the house sending them to the senate. it is time for harry reid to decide he will be a leader. leaders make choices and the choices harry reid is making are

not serving the american people well because his choice is a choice of inaction and he is continuing to kick the can down the road. he needs to man up and do his job. the american people expect it. tracy: thank you for taking time. [talking over each other] tracy: the country is dangling. much more ahead on the fiscal cliff and market reaction. the dow is down 139 points. big money strategist says the club has traded some buying opportunities. that is glass half full and easy to tell us where coming. ashley: a plan to put black box recorder is in every new car in the media and did -- in america. plan stings of big brother. as we do this time every day how oil is trading.

fiscal cliff problems and the oil moving back over $90 a barrel earlier this week, the dow down 2% to $88.47. we will be right back. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro.

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>> again advocates and the nra have come under criticism after the tragedy to took place last week. as you can see in the video here, during wayne lapierre's press conference there were protesters not only outside the some inside who tried to disrupt what he had to say but at the end of the day what he was saying was this discussion also include hollywood which promotes extremely violent films as well as video games, he highlight one of them called kindergarten killers. but he said it boils down to this, it is quite clear, in his own words. >> the only way to stop what monster from killing our kids is to be personally involved and invested in a plan of absolute protection. the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. >> so the nra is calling on every school in the united states for a trained security

officer, several schools have arms trained police officers, and the 132,183 schools nationwide actually had someone who was trained and armed, $1.5 million based on mean average salary of $31,420. ashley: a gun problem, we should get more guns. i think about hollywood and the violent video games, part of the problem. tracy: it is quarter after. >> caller: minutes to check of the markets, nicole petallides on the floor of the exchange. markets are stuck. nicole: it really is stuck. i asked freighters do you think anyone will step in and buy? the answer right away is no. no one is willing to step in and take a risk, not on friday or a day when you still have washington up in the air and not making any decisions pertaining to the fiscal cliff, not on a

day when you have exploration, heavy volume and rebalancing of major averages. let's take a look at a name that is on the move which is research in motion. research in motion the blackberrymaker came out with quarterly numbers which works fine but it is all about fact they're going to do a different way of doing their service and those service fees account for 1-third of their revenue and the way they're doing that is not being received well. stock has accelerated to the downside and now down 22%. what about all the hoopla? everybody is waiting for that in january but for today and during tense pressure. tracy: is it true there's no keyboard? >> i don't know. nicole: blackberry lovers love their keyboards. i don't know. tracy: i have the old one with the biggest buttons of all time and still has a roller on

side. [talking over each other] nicole: a battery never dies. the iphone can barely make it some days. tracy: see you in 15 minutes. we will dig more into the sell-off coming up. chief investment officer thomas guana will tell us why he is optimistic for the new year. ashley: let's look how the u.s. dollar is moving and no fiscal cliff deal yet. save money going into the dollar. these currencies all down against the dollar, the euro and the indian dollar. the japanese yen, the lone currency on our chart moving higher against the dollar. we will be right back.

>> 21 minutes past the hour your fox news minute, president obama nominating john kerry as secretary of state, he did that in the last hour, the administration over all in his second term. if confirmed the long serving democrat and chairman of the senate foreign relations committee would replace the outgoing secretary hillary clinton. 28 bills renews of the town connecticut over that 25 lives lost a week ago at sandyhook

elementary school. similar memorials held all over the country including one at the national cathedral in washington. in a note saying allied surveillance has detected new launches of missiles in syria. the chief of the organization condemning the shorter-range rockets, a show of desperation suggesting the assad regime is collapsing. tracy: thank you very much. shibani joshi e-mails us to see blackberry 10. one with a virtual -- ashley: people -- don't panic. markets on edge to reach a budget deal appear to be in total disarray. the noise around this will put create buying opportunities. tom sowanek, chief investment

officer of omni this group, the first glass half full guy we have had in -- ashley: weeks. >> why? tracy: even the millions think the world is coming to an end. >> markets of 15% for the year. tracy: 4% over the last month. >> high-yield bonds are up 16% for the year. when we were last on on your diaz they.com show we were talking about atf, emerging market consumer. that is up 30%, september -- ashley: is a too late? >> why do i think it is just beginning? we have confirmation that ben bernanke will stay at the fed, we will be anchored at zero, we have a pledge from mr. abbey that he will force more

quantitative easing in japan. that will unleash a huge depreciation of the yen. right now we are 84. i think we will head to 115. tracy: one of the biggest since last year. >> because it will unleash tremendous amount of liquidity not just from the doj but investors in japan that have yet to move out of the japanese market. sitting on all this appreciation, if it puts some of it into the u.s. they can realize it and the third thing which is important is a tremendous amount of liquidity coming for special dividends. in the fourth quarter, they were brought forward and in the final thing that i think can get us happy for the first quarter is rebuilding after the hurricane. the number of factors that should overwhelm the noise of the fiscal cliff oncc we get through that malaise. ashley: don't forget the debt ceiling issue will come around in march.

a lot of instability. is it enough for businesses who have so far resisted from cataracts and hiring and expanding and conducting themselves in what we consider the normal environment? until they get to that point this economy will start to continue to do what it is doing, trundle along. why are you optimistic about where we are going? >> we have repaired, if you will, greece, now. we don't have to worry about europe at least until the second half of the year. we have stability in china because of economic activity and that was a drag and then we have the doj promising tease and the federal reserve doing the same thing and all of a sudden it is not the world looking over the cliff, but we 3-quarters of the world looking the other way starting to come back and that is the difference. tracy: what happens?

we are stealing from queue to. >> we always steal from one quarter to another. tracy: europe might come back to bother us again the second half of the year. could that mean an okay first half, second half disaster's again? >> we never have smooth sailing at anything. sell in may and go away. which works sometimes and doesn't work. what we feel good about is investors are forced with a problem that dividend taxes are going to go up. to me that is a good problem because it is going to take investors out of the safety of the blue chips and staples and utilities and put them into faster growth equities. riskier. if we look at the risk bucket of assets if you look at low-quality munis and wrapped around a head for awhile, 3.5% yield pretax, 3% yield, where should that be?

in a normal environment that should be probably 80% of the ten year treasury. as opposed to two times. that is an interesting opportunity for investors. the last one, which investors should look at, these are things that retailing institution should latch onto and this is the r m b s market. not the m b s market, the private label mortgage market where yields are around 6%. tracy: tom sowanek, thank you. we love the optimism. ashley: democrats and republicans could use some optimism speaking out on fiscal cliff negotiations. more of the blame game but where is the progress? latest in washington with gerri willis from the willis report. tracy: as we head out the dow is 139 points a look at the winners on the s&p 500, 90 up 6%.

red hot is up there almost 4%. we will be right back.

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tracy: is 30 minutes past the hour. let's get a check on the market. nicole petallides has more. >> this a lot feels like a big deal. it is not that big of a deal. >> the resiliency of this market, the backdrop to the shenanigans going on in washington has pretty strong economic data this week.

that is when to give support underneath this market. we will be under pressure a little bit, but this is the good news underneath the market right now. the internals are we today, two weeks ago if we had this type of plan b debacle going on, i think there is an upward bullish bias in the market, and that's what you're seeing today. >> what do investors do here? >> i would be buying gifts and get protection on the downside into something goes wrong. i would be buying on the dips. >> all right, thank you so much greatly thank you always for coming on, and also looking at the technical components. tracy: it feels like a big deal, but it really isn't. thank you guys, we will be back in 15 minutes. ashley: hopefully he's right.

tracy: speaker boehner, senator reid, senator mcconnell all urging everyone to get along. gerri willis is here from "the willis report." >> you heard speaker boehner this morning. it was amazing to me. you know, he was asked directly, point blank, where we go from here? is there anyone sitting down with anyone else? and he just blew past the question. clearly nothing is on the table now. the next thing we will see be from the senate next thursday. that is a big maybe. we just don't know what they are going to do. but they could pass something done. i want to talk to you about what we are preoccupied with today. it is astonishing and appalling. nancy pelosi calling the gop the reverse robin hood, taking food out of the mouths of babies. these are the people that are supposed to be helping each other. slinging mud. a little group had a piece of

coal delivered everybody who voted against this plan b. >> one other point that is worth remembering, a couple of weeks ago harry reid was trying to get together popcorn for a showing of lincoln. nobody is working. they are all going home. nobody cares. nobody cares about your problems with higher taxes and the fact you're going to have to pay more. the one we are winning over the cliff, and who will get the first paycheck? all hell will break loose. everyone is going to basically marched down to washington dc and say, what are you doing? [talking over each other] tracy: that's what would happen. you open your first paycheck and your head will block. then they will finally get serious. because now that's on the line

before it's not that they're serious, but they're wasting time. tracy: thank you so much, gerri willis. ashley: thank you so much. gerri: merry christmas. ashley: oil closing down $1.47, $88.66 per barrel. a loss of one and two thirds percent. the snowstorm to hit the midwest, leading to car crashes across the region. including a 25 car pileup in iowa. what if the government contract drivers actions just before the accident? requirement to have so-called black boxes in every new car. by september of 2014. jeff flock is in chicago with more. reporter: actually, we are

rolling down the highway of chicago right now. looking for action as we take a live look outside the vehicles. this is an example of the obama administration on being able to get something passed through congress. they are going to spur congress and try to require the black boxes in every new vehicle. before you get set, there are multiple sides to the story. the insurance companies and the automakers -- the transportation department and the safety folks as well as law enforcement, they all like this idea. because believe it or not, when we get into auto crashes, we somehow misreport often what happened. we said we weren't going as fast as we were. we may say that we had her foot on the break when in fact we didn't. a lot of these groups think this is a good idea. of course, privacy advocates do not like it. they are concerned about what the government might do with the

data, perhaps using it to track movement. that is not what these data recorders do right now. multiple sides to the story. a lot of people don't like the fact that the administration is pushing it through without having congress sign off on it. but i will tell you, having been in the number of accidents that i have, knowing exactly what has happened and you got accused of unintended acceleration -- it would be nice to have the real data to know what's going on. we are rolling down the highway right now. in chicago, illinois. ashley: thank you so much, jeff flock. we appreciate your update. be safe be one i think it is distressing. ashley: i agree. it's not a good thing. tracy: student loans are becoming a lot easier for americans today. details on the new government plan will be unveiled next right

here. why critics say will it will cost more. ashley: that's a good question. take a look at these 10 year treasuries. we will be right back.

tracy: employees could be seeing more of their paychecks in the next year. the united auto workers union, general motors to expect checks for as much as $7000 before tax.

$8000 based on a formula in the uaw contract. back to the very latest from the fox business network. giving you the power to prosper

%-debt loan at 7 trillion-dollar mark. an updated version of the pay as you earn plan. it goes into effect today. how is this plan to bring? will it help tackle the problem? joining us now is the founder of student may.org. i'm glad you're here, mark. let's get into that plan. definitely some nitty-gritty details. we have tuition that is up 72% since the year 2000. the delinquency rate on paying these loans back at spike. you actually think of this new plan will help all that?

>> yes, it's a safety net toward students who have borrowed more than their annual income. it enables them to base their monthly payment of a percentage of discretionary income as opposed to the amount they owe. tracy: okay, that's what it is. let's get to the plan now. regardless of the loan, we are basically looking at post-graduation, how much money they take him and then we do this little formula and determine how much that they can carry? that is really all they owe back? >> that's right. the monthly payment is based upon a percentage of discretionary income. the new plan is 10%, which is one third less than the old plan, which is 15%. tracy: after 10 years -- i'm sorry, after 20 years, it's forgiven? >> yes. after 25 years and reclaim -- repayment, the new plan pushes it to 20 years.

most borrowers will reach a point. they will pay it off after 15 or 18 years. but for borrowers that are in dire financial situations for extended period of time, they may have some forgiveness. tracy: this is part of the health care bill. something that is within that no one noticed. is their forgiveness for those who take public service jobs? i mean, do you think this is right for morals? i might as well take on all this debt, keep going to grad school and medical school -- and i don't have to pay back. >> the potential for moral hazard is only after at the graduate school level. at the undergraduate level, the $31,000 for dependent undergraduate students. that pretty much prevents most of these from borrowing too much. for graduate students, is it is up to the full cost of education. so there is a potential there. no actual data as of yet. but there is a potential of

graduate students to say i will borrow delimit because i can. tracy: here's the thing. this doesn't solve the problem. the problem is access to easy money. these kids have access to easy money. institutions know this. they keep jacking the rate of tuition. until we solve that problem, this is just yet another band-aid that the government really seems to have a big box. >> it's a band-aid after the fact. what we need to do is more before the fact. we need to reduce the borrowing by increasing grants, have better counseling of borrowers before they take on that. the bed. that way they can be smarter borrowers. tracy: institutions have to stop jacking up to widgeon. thank you so much for taking time to the time to be with us. >> thank you for having me. tracy: thank you. ashley: a point that was well made. it is a quarter till, let's head back down to nicole petallides.

>> i thought it was interesting to listen to him about the market resiliency. that is something that we should know. everybody is still very focused on washington. the non-ability to get this solved. the fiscal cliff is looming. the psyche of investors end of the same time, we should note that this is something that today's pullback is not serious. despite being down 1.5%. we haven't violated the minor trends. we are still remaining on the upside. we are still closing higher for the week. even if we maintain certain levels, we are actually doing that. there is a possibility of rallying. possibility of last-minute deals coming together. still optimism on wall street. despite the fact that everything feels like it's going crazy

today. ashley: certainly it does. nicole, thank you so much. all right, after a difficult year at the box office, hollywood is gearing up for a run at the rest of the entire year. dennis kneale has more. reporter: hollywood is gearing up for a manly holiday season. big action films will light up the box office. you have the next tom cruise movie, "jack reacher", and quentin tarantino's "django unchained" and there is also "zero dark thirty." if you're female, what even as the? "les miserables" could be box office blockbuster box office

outcomes of the film could reach $26 million in the u.s. opening weekend. 136 million and the full u.s. one. for her musical, who would've thought it? it is produced by comcast universal studios. based on a novel written in 1862. it has been a hit on broadway for 27 years. a built-in franchise. a star-studded cast. you have the gladiator himself, russell grow and hugh jackman. and anne hathaway. ahead by "les mis" would be nice. the batman shooting, the huge

flop of "john carter" by disney, and back to you. ashley: you have to have the chronically cute and hathaway. tracy: hugh jackman, on the other end. i can't wait to see it. i saw it on broadway like four times. ashley: can you imagine russell crowe? thank you very much. >> all right, guys. ashley: holiday travel rush is on. how is the massive storm affecting flights across the country? we are live from chicago o'hare coming up next. tracy: the dow jones down 140 points. here are your nasdaq winners and losers. we will be right back ♪

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tracy: if all you ever wanted for christmas was snow, plenty of people across the midwest already got their wish. a storm slamming the midwest. thousands of flights canceled. mike tobin is out chicago o'hare with the latest. >> i will tell you why. we dodged a bullet in terms of the big ripple effect that o'hare has. let's look at the big board. the flights there on time. you have to think? lake michigan and all the warm air that comes that comes off the lake. it melted the snow. the surrounding states got clobbered. wisconsin had 20 inches of snow. parts of dane county and medicine. iowa, looking at depths of snow that they haven't seen since 2009. central illinois covered with

snow. here in the windy city, where we have the ability to make it difficult for you to get over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house -- if you get there late come he can't blame o'hare now because things are cooking along. ashley: mike tobin, thank you, sir. more now on the fiscal cliff. how automatic spending cuts on january 2, affect defense contractors for. joining us now is charles wald, a retired four-star general. general, thank you for joining us. if nothing is done, we got the fiscal cliff. $35 billion or 10% of the defense budget will be cut. can it handle that kind of back? >> were the things that has been

missed is the uncertainty over the last year. in particular, the last six months. but the the budgetary cuts have already started to take place from the standpoint of spending in some cases. number two, the uncertainty is causing in the severe inefficiency and spenddng. it would be better for military had committed three or four year contract. that's not happening. we are already over the fiscal cliff someways in the military. ashley: does this affect our national security? >> absolutely. i think people think a lot about this. the national security of our nation aside completely to the economy. if our economy starts going south, which has a high likelihood, it will directly affect national security. ashley: how do you prioritize, you know, what needs to be cut and maintain? have you maintain the core strategy of the military? >> in a perverse way, there is

goodness in the process they believe the u.s. military base on national strategy has to relook the 21st century emulates a i think this may be a motivator for the military to take that very introspective look at what we really need to address what i would consider to be a persistent threat. the restaurant life, our military needs to be postured. this may cause us to end up being in retrospection. tracy: words is certainly ponder. general charles wald, thank you for joining us. we appreciate it. >> thank you. tracy: okay, liz claman is here. she's going to take us through the last hour of trading. you can afford to miss this. the dow jones down 135.3

countdown to tran-sixes max.

to