huh-- what is he doing? 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. twe price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. dennis: we are up 150 points on the dow and the only bad news is we were down 200 points yesterday. tracy: i think it lee will be talked about, sequester will be talked about and this market

will play sideways until then. maybe you think i am crazy. lori: that is beside the point. [talking over each other] lori: who are you? john kerry? he had a big gap in a new country. anyway. good afternoon once again. i am lori rothman. melissa: i am melissa frances. senator's attack ben bernanke and the fed's bond buying program. the fed chairman says the benefits of the easy money policy out raise the rest. president obama on the road in virginia with a warning for shipbill is about automatic spending cuts but no sign of progress ahead of friday's deadline. lori: housing market recovery picking up steam, the case schiller report signals improving home prices but not everyone is convinced that we have turned the corner and that includes the report's co-author robert schiller coming up. lori: you'll want to stick around for that. also today we have for you the latest on the battle over martha stewart, the queen of all things

domestic testifying in court as macy's tries to blocker deal with j.c. penney. let's get an update on the markets, volatile session indeed. back to the floor of the stock exchange to check in with nicole petallides, cost stocks bouncing back, 1 and points of ayes today. nicole: hy of the day was 13,009/11. not too far off of the high. 13,009, we still are up over 100 points. not a bad start. yesterday we lost 200 points. we had that back and forth action. at first, writing that negative waived out of italy as these guys were talking at the top of the show, concerns about their austerity measures that same time ben bernanke talking about the fed and very ready to continue monetary policy, bond buying and accommodative fed and urging lawmakers to basically not mess up the recovery and the

easy money recovery that he put into place. a lot of people are very frustrated with washington and that is the other level of uncertainty, new-home sales were good news, some earnings were good news and sales numbers, home depot looking good, the fear index is up 34% going into the closing bell. today pulling back a little bit and there is a look at our markets that we have been seeing over all. melissa: concern of the italian election on the back burner, you heard dennis a few moments ago. we have european markets rallied in paris and frankfurt, major averages out 2%. italy's market plunging 5% on the trading day. early results show no clear majority in parliament so the conservative coalition won enough votes to prevent a stable government from being formed. the worry for the rest of the region is deadlocking could make the euro zone debt crisis even

worse. not in favor of austerity measures. melissa: federal reserve chairman ben bernanke defending the pad bond buying program in testimony on capitol hill, peter barnes joins us with more from the capital with more questions that he is facing. how how have they been today? peter: the hearing wrapped up a little bit ago and he got some tough questions but he did stand his ground on continuing quantitative easing, additional bond buying to help keep interest rates low with an eye on the jobless rate, that is the big metric the fed is watching and the only line you need to know from the testimony, quote, the job market remains generally weak. so as a result the fed chairman saying he expects the fomc will continue with the bond buying. tough questions on some other issues including whether or not the fed would ride to the rescue to help bail out banks if there were another fighter to prices and one of his key critic on this was a new democrat on the

committee, senator elizabeth warren from massachusetts. take a listen. >> the benefits of being a large i going to define overtime meaning some banks will voluntarily begin to reduce their size because they're not getting the benefits they used to get. >> i read your predictions on this in your earlier testimony but so far it looks like $83 billion for staying big. >> that is one study. you don't know if that is an accurate number. >> we will go back and look at it if you think there's a problem with it. but does it worry you? >> of course. i think this is very important. we are putting a lot of effort into this. peter: a study suggested because the dow government would ride to the rescue to some big banks if they got in trouble that they would be too big to fail, they get a subsidy of $80 billion from the market. the fed chairman saying he

doesn't believe that and if that is correct markets are misreading of the fed's intentions. melissa: thanks so much. ben bernanke spoke before the senate today as you just saw but tomorrow facing questions from the house financial services committee. congressman michael grim is a republican from new york and a member of the committee and joins us from the capital. thanks so much for joining us. what is your first question? >> first question for the chairman is what is the exit strategy? putting it in context that we have increased the balance sheet of the fed by $2 trillion over the last five years but a lot of that is not what the fed has done traditionally. normally the fed buys a lot of short-term bills. we have a bed that is buying longer-term debt and as interest rates eventually rise what is the exit strategy? we don't know what that is and that is extremely dangerous for the u.s. economy. melissa: absolutely and a lot has been made of that lately, when you get out and we see the

market turned against the fed as everyone realizes they're getting out a lot of estimates say they could be on the hook for half a trillion dollars, taxpayers on the hook and does that concern you? >> that is a huge concern. let's go a step further. and all this long-term debt on their balance sheet, they did not selling at some point. they could start losing money, once we reach a point, those debt instruments, now they are no longer in a position to fulfil their mission which is affecting monetary policy. so it actually neutered the fact and hamstring them from accomplishing their mission and in the bond market, we are done. all these discussions of sequester and these editing all irrelevant if there's a slight run on the bond market and the fed is not in and a physician to affect monetary policy or try to shore up the bond market and everything we are talking about is irrelevant because the

economy is going to be so crushed that austerity measures will good to the united states. lori: with that your question? i would love to hear the answer to that. if you said what happens if the market turned against you and you can't exit is that a realistic possibility and what would you do in that case? i would bet that he would say that is not a realistic possibility, that wouldn't happen. are you going to ask that specifically? would you think he is going to say? >> that is exactly what i am going to ask and i have to disagree with the chairman. it is an extremely realistic possibility. interest rates are all time lows because we have been printing money. that is what the $2 trillion comes from. q e 3. we print money and by the long-term debt instruments ended its pressure to keep interest rates low. it they can only do that for so long and everyone knows that including the chairman of the jazz these interest rates rise and they're stuck in these positions and can't sell, they can't affect monetary policy the way they're supposed to and i don't know how the chairman will answer this question because deep down he has to be extremely concerned about this.

this is the whole ball game. this is the heart of our economy and we are cheater tottering on a very dangerous dangerous area right now. melissa: absolutely. are you comfortable with the fact that the fed said back at the december meeting, they are going to target unemployment and keep monetary policy loose and where it is and unemployment falls below 6.5%? that is new uncharted territory for the fed to say they are targeting that. are you comfortable with that? >> no but historically, anyone who looks at projections that the fed put out, historically they have never been right. they have never been close to the mark. it is a very unrealistic goal. most of the time what they have been doing historically to deal with unemployment is shorter-term bill but has the most immediate effect on the economy. barely doing that now because they are focusing, interest rates are so low they don't need to. i just don't think their own

policies have put them in a position where their back is to the wall and they don't have as many tools in their toolbox and as interest rates rise they have less and less where they become ineffective and that is the calamity. no question about it. it is a sequestered situation and it is a big problem. melissa: i look forward to your turn standing by with popcorn, listening, thanks for giving us a preview. we appreciate it. lori: what is more compelling and exciting? [talking over each other] lori: so far we have not seen any backup in interest rates through this whole thing. for years now. also in washington the stalemate drags on as sequestration approaches. heard that term by now and if you have been listening to the president's budget cuts calling for air pretty dire. president obama in norfolk, va. better than d.c. trying to hammer out a deal because republicans and democrats remain as far apart as ever on all things having to do with taxes and spending. is there a solution?

the chief of the wall street journal has a few ideas. we are pleased to welcome him to the show. your latest journal piece suggests they may be closer than they realize. explained that. >> it looks like it is a very sterile debate going on that sounds familiar. i don't think it is hard to come up with something. the president is looking for something on revenues and republicans say no revenue, sequester or replacement has to be all spending cuts but if you look behind those words, the president is still talking about possibly for a big deal that will include some entitlement cuts and republican leaders in congress have actually proposed some loophole closings that would raise revenue democrats are looking for so it should be possible to put these two things together. there's not much conversation under way, not much of a bridge. [talking over each other] lori: in the same piece united japan idea and point to the younger moderate democrats in the senate, having the most

potential for creating so-called bridge between the two side. tell me more about that. >> there has to be a human bridge between the two side and that has been lacking in washington for the last couple years. president obama and john boehner tried to become that bridge. that has not worked out so well. you have in the senate 13 democrats that i count to come from red states, states carried by mitt romney or states that are swing either way and who have had to in their own careers show how they can reach out to people in the center. that ought to be a core of people who can build bridges between the two parties and that the gap between the leaders and followers on both sides of the aisle narrow the little bit. i think those people are there. there has to be some way, some mechanism for them to step forward and find solutions. lori: what the you think of the president's tactics, one public event after another painting a worst-case scenario of the sequestration does in fact go into effect? republicans are frustrated because if the agency heads make

the decisions where to cut that would not be as painful or put us in harm's way, and what you think of the politicking going on? >> the president doing that in norfolk as you suggest, lots of republicans doing the same thing. seems not much talking going on the interesting thing will happen, the president will be back in washington, lindsay gramm and john mccain significant republican figures going to come to the white house and talked to him allegedly about immigration reform which is important but also have a conversation about sequester and budget and we will see what happens. lindsey graham said yesterday it saves the defense industry and the defense establishment, talk about putting revenue on the table, police and democrats, interesting statement. we will see if he is speaking for anyone but lindsey graham. lori: the sequestration itself announced 2% of a decrease in

spending, worst case scenario, we are hearing this doomsday scenario the country will be more susceptible to terrorist attacks, teachers will be laid off, flights won't be as safe and they will be delayed and these horrible things but it is such a minuscule amount of spending decrease. correct? will we be that impact will? >> over time it would be better immediately and won't be. the federal government does everything slowly including rolling out spending cuts that would happen over time. a lot of the order stories are not true if you are thinking of what is going to happen march 2nd, march 3rd and march 4th of this goes on several months. some bad things would happen and one of the problems is sequestration is designed to hit very hard a very tiny part of the government. the overall government is big but apart hit by the sequester is relatively small. the defense establishment and domestic discretionary programs, places where the deficit will comes from, the entitlement program alone so this is not a very good deficit cutting tool.

it is designed to have impact that are disproportionate to the federal budget. lori: appreciate the analysis and your writing and we will look for deer next piece in the wall street journal. thanks for being with us this afternoon. you want to keep it here on fox business. melissa has her show at 5:00, i am filling in with lou dobbs and our special guest is regina congressman randy forbes. more on the sequestration, it's a minuscule by comparison, we were talking about federal budget, but it is just another excuse for politics. so you have issues how the government is funded come march. you have that deadline. a lot of dialogue, don't want to turn the channel, keep on fox business all day, all afternoon and all evening. melissa: don't go anywhere else. jamie dimon set to speak to investors in just over an hour updating them on the health of the bank, the latest on the planned job cuts and also jamie

live thursday. lori: a great conversation on a look forward to you having with him and making money with charles payne. is it time to get active on the laz-z-boy. remember the episode of friends where they were all hanging out on a laz-z-boy? we get that next. look at metal, gold in reaction to the fed, ben bernanke, sticking by his accommodated policy so bold going way up as a hedge against inflation. we are back after this. [ male announcer] surprise -- you're having triplets.

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melissa: let's check the markets. nicole petallides on the floor of the stock exchange.

you were watching jpmorgan. nicole: we at take a close look at jpmorgan which is to the downside down nearly 1% on a day when we are hearing about job cuts and this is something we heard earlier this morning talking about 4 thousands of cuts in the year 2013. that account for 1% of staff of this company which is the largest bank, biggest u.s. bank and now we are hearing they do have their day, investor day where they are speaking with investors and the like and jamie dimon himself will get more quotes from him but obviously trying to cut over a billion dollars in overall expenses and cutting 4,000 jobs is one way to do it. melissa: speaking of jpmorgan, on thursday an exclusive interview with the bank's chairman and ceo jamie dimon live from austin, texas, no holds barred, definitely want to tune in for that one. lori: my cousin -- wrote

down. [talking over each other] lori: he is your source so i try not to step on toes. time to make money with charles payne, looking at shares of furnituremaker laz-z-boy. what does he find? [talking over each other] lori: the technology on those? charles: so funny you mention that. two cousins in 1927 decide to get in the business and the first laz-z-boy was all would. [talking over each other] charles: the new technology -- [talking over each other] charles: exciting back then and kind of exciting now. we will talk about a home sales numbers, it is obviously a big, 15% month over month, 25% year over year but what i find interesting is the median home price got hammered even though month supply was down. instead of trying to play the home builder thing you go a step further and look at laz-z-boy.

the problem is execution. absolutely terrible until the most recent quarter, the number was phenomenal. they can keep that going and judging from the management notes they probably will. margins are getting better and sales getting better and they have momentum that stocks on the cost of a nice break out, you can go to $22 a huge percentage game. lori: with the exploration of the man cave, i am sure you have one. charles: and a home office. two separate rooms. when i bring out the guard smoke out of the house until i get that i can't really use it the right way. by the way, when you talk to jamie dimon that question this morning from melissa frances was phenomenal. melissa: i wanted to use that clip when i see him. [talking over each other] charles: that is kind of crazy and surprise the market didn't take a hit. melissa: i am definitely going to play that back. charles: when you play that back and listen to -- see you

later. [talking over each other] lori: speaking of ben bernanke, testimony hanging loose with the fed chief, ten year treasury sinking 2 two month low as easy money policies stay in effect. melissa: a soap opera department store style. macy's and j.c. penney waging an epic legal battle, markets soared. lori: a semiannual testimony day by the fed chief, look at the dollar. come on. [talking over each other] lori: stronger dollar today for a second day in a row trading down 130 versus zero. titlist has been a while. back after this.

lori: fun to watch interest rates, especially these days with some much at stake. and the policy of lower rates, purchases on a ten year treasury note, near the low. welcome back to the show. in the fed, some members are calling for a policy changes sooner rather than later. what is the backdrop right now?

>> there's a lot more division in the fomc than there has been and irate that ones lower continued easing. it comes down to a fairly large group that more seriously focused on the consequences of what has already occurred and the limited benefit of additional bond purchases. you saw the fomc minutes that we, that doesn't include ben bernanke judging by today's testimony. lori: melissa was in bed for viewing melissa -- congressman gramm and one point ave raise is the risk of roiling the bond market. you see rates rise sharply, has not happened yet but still could and what would happen? what the fed be in a position to get an exit strategy that would contain at risk? >> as ben bernanke reference in his testimony there is interest in offering a very measured and slow pace of withdrawal at some

point in the future but the progression of policy ends up more like this. purchases the s q e 3 taper off and doesn't communicate how long it wants to maintain a balance sheet at this elevated level and that process could include investing the proceeds of the portfolio as it pays off. what we see is very very detailed guidance about how long the fed wants to make the balance sheet and the pace of selling and as long as you provide a clear signal to the markets i don't think there's a huge risk of excessive sell-off. lori: we have been on this track for so long we haven't had any market roiling. i am very concerned it is only a matter of time before the shoe drops especially when looking at what is happening in washington with this constant dysfunction, the latest fiscal battles. >> one thing about the fiscal outlook we have been espousing over the last couple months, even years is markets don't tend to price in credit risk, in this case the u.s. until very far

down the road and i don't think we are close to that point and the mere fact we are discussing dealing with a long-term budgetary issues is going to do a lot for interest rates because of some runaway fiscal credit quality concern. lori: does the treasury rate yields -- what is your outlook? >> until we see some certainty with regard to the upcoming budget cuts, sequestration and i don't think we will see any certainty until an end of march when congress's current resolution runs out but once we see some certainty we estimate economic fair value for ten year yield is a round 2% mark and we look to end your a little higher. lori: fair to say the bond market is disregarding all of this washington -- almost want to say nonsense but ongoing battles? >> certainly seems that way. markets have not priced in very high probability as the

sequestration cuts become permanent. one of the problems with congressional events that have become more a part of daily life is thereby mary. something is fixed or isn't and the markets are very bad at estimate or pricing a binary event, only price in probability. lori: thanks for your take. see you soon. melissa: home prices end the biggest gains in six years. there is caution in the case schiller report. robert schiller is up next. lori: take a look at who is up and who's down on the dow.

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lori: time for stocks. floor of the new york stock exchange and nicole petallides. retail earnings helping with the market. >> let's look at couple names we're focusing on. home depot. that is doing exceptionally well. you can see it is up 5 1/2%. are you showing home depot there? i can't tell. macy's would be my other topic. hard to see what the cameraman is doing. macy's is the other topic. both names do very well. they both beat analyst expectations. home depot in particular. we're getting to the spring selling season which for them to like christmastime. macy's's has bloomingdale's and doing well with comp sales. both names are doing well on a day where the dow jones industrials have had the up arrow. we'll take a peek how we're doing on the dow, up 91 points. back to you. lori: nicole, thank you. melissa: great news for investors on the housing front. the latest case-shiller

report shows prices in the 20-city survey jumped 6.8% year-over-year. that is huge. the best yearly gain since july of 2006. you remember those days, right? earlier today i talked with the coauthor of that report, yale professor, robert schiller and here is what he had to say. >> the house being market has more momentum than the stock market. so i expect it to continue to go up in the short run. the longer run is always unclear. it is a speculative market and i don't, you know, i'm not joining the crowd who is saying this is a major turning point. we don't know that yet. melissa: why? what makes you think it is not a major turning point? when you look at stats themselves, year-over-year numbers, 20-city index, ten.8%. it makes it seem like we did in fact hit a bottom in 2012, no? >> if enough people think

that that will be a self-fulfilling prophecy. i'm trying to engage that right now. we had the apparent rebound in 2009 and 2010. that one fizzled. people say that one was caused by the homebuyer tax credit. when they pulled the tax credit, home buys started falling again the may be. but government policy is very uncertain right now. we don't know what next shoe is going to dro. melissa: yeah. >> i'm saying it is going up. likely it will at least in the short run continue to do that. but people have to remember, this is a speculative market and it can go up and it can go down. melissa: let's explore some things you just said. you said we don't know what will happen with the government or a possible next shoe to drop could be? what would be that be? what are things you see coming in the next six months to a year that could derail this? >> i'm not a political pundit but there are issues with the mortgage tax deduction, with the continued support of fannie

and freddie. with fha which is close to bankruptcy. we don't know what news will come from them or how congress will deal with that. and uncertainty abroad with europe, having severe problems as we know. i'm just talking reality. it is not doomsday. i'm not saying horrible things are going to happen. but the other thing is, that housing hasn't shown in the most of the history of housing in the united states, hasn't shown a tendency to be going up and up. it was just the bubble that we saw in the early 2000s. that was really unusual. so this is not just go back and think it will happen all oaf again. if it does, it will be a surprise. melissa: that is interesting. because we had barbara corcoran on the show saying almost exactly the opposite thing. she was saying that, over a long period of time, if you look at a 12-year stretch, when you cut out that any 12-year stretch, you watch housing prices go up. and that is something, that investors can keep in the back of their mind.

it feels like the opposite what you're saying. >> i have home price data back to 1890. i do it inflation-corrected. if it goes up with the inflation rate, i don't consider that meaningful. inflation-corrected, there was no increase, virtually no increase in home prices between 1890 and 1990. melissa: interesting. >> 100 years. melissa: no, that is interesting. she also said she feels like confidence is not back. that people are still scared and gun-shy based on what happened and having lost money. and there isn't confidence in the market. that sounds like the opposite what you're seeing as well? >> i've been doing survey data on homebuyers. we have seen long-term expectations gradually declining. with have to do another survey soon. the michigan consumer sentiment people have done a survey and they find only 59% of the population in december think home prices will go up over the next five years. that is much lower than it

was in 2009. it was 69%. it is not like we're seeing a huge rebirth of confidence right now. melissa: wow, if you were watching the show yesterday, that is what makes the market, right? that was robert schiller, coauthor of the case-shiller index. opposite of barbara corcoran. mixed markets. lori: absolutely different perspectives. battle over martha stewart, talk about different perspectives, interpretationing impressions or the real story. here it is. the queen of all things domestic testifying today in court as macy's tries to block the deal with jcpenney. macy's says it has exclusive right to sell martha stewart products and martha stewart living and she breached contract signing a a deal with jcpenney. stuart is allowed to sell her products in her own stores but macy argues mini shops in jcpenney do not qualify as a stand-alone store. macy's ceo terry lundgren was shocked and blown away

over martha stewart's decision. jcpenney ceo ron johnson is expected to testify on friday. good news she won't be landing in jail. melissa: which casual dining stock is wowing the street after serving up a heaping of profits. lori: on this fed testimony today, the humphrey-hawkins testimony, semian haul -- semiannual testimony, ben bernanke, the 10-year is hovering unchanged. out the long curve the 30-year is yielding, 3.5%. back in a moment. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro.

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and still pay the mid-size price. i could get used to this. [ male announcer ] yes, you could business pro. yes, you could. go national. go like a pro. >> i'm shibani joshi with your fox business brief. the markets are on the rise after federal reserve chairman ben bernanke defended the central bank's bond buying stimulus before congress. better than expected reports on the u.s. economy also helping to push stocks higher. a federal judge has ordered former goldman sachs director rajat gupta, to pay the bank $6 million for legal expenses connected to his insider trading case. he was accused leaking news about goldman to raj rajaratnam. new jersey governor chris christie is expected to sign an online gambling bill by the end of the day.

early this month governor christie vetoed a online gambling bill saying he would support a new version with some changes. that is the latest from the fox business network, giving you the power to prosper

lori: who's next? that's the question being tossed around inside goldman sachs these days. senior executives there debate whether current ceo lloyd blankfein will stay at the firm indefinitely. everything comes to an end at some point i suppose. melissa: that's right. lori: who will replace blankfein when he does leave? charlie gasparino has the inside details on goldman's executive plan. charlie. >> ten years can be a long time. lori: in this business for sure. good point. >> lloyd is 65 years old. my phone is ringing. lori: who is on the phone? who is calling, you charlie? larry fink to be honest.

>> do you guys have lunch plans? >> no, we don't. let's get back to this. this is interesting. goldman sachs does file documents periodically, proxies which talk about long-term and emergency succession plans. here is what we know. gary cohn, the number two has been making rounds with lloyd blankfein recently, both on the fox business network and elsewhere discussing succession. and gary side steps the question whenever anybody asks him. here is the board's choice if there is an emergency succession, okay? that means blankfein has to leave immediately. here's the problem that gary faces that he knows this. there is no signs that lloyd is leaving anytime soon. we should point out, lloyd is 55, 56 i believe. got to check the exact date. in that range. gary is 52. lori: how old are you, charlie? >> i'm not going there. that leaves him with a huge quandary. lloyd blankfein could be there for ten years. i don't think gary cohn

wants to be there as number two for ten years. here is what we know, the fox business network has learned, cohn has told people he does not know if he wants to wait years to take the job. which means he can leave in a fairly reasonable amount of time. i can't tell you when, but my guess is and guesses i hear from a lot of people inside the place this guy gives it a couple more years, three years, in the number two spot if lloyd doesn't leave or split the job of chairman and ceo which is always a possibility. then he goes out on his own. what is interesting, yes, they have been making the rounds lately. they're trying to show, you know, a, a sort of, put a good face on what is beginning to be, not just beginning but continuing a lot of tension in the top suite between lloyd and gary, lloyd blankfein and gary cohn, number one and number two, as to getting a top job. they sound good on tv. behind the scenes, there is starting to be a lot of i would say bitterness because

gary wants a job he believes he dei was so the job. we should point out they have both been the number one and number two since 2006 when they took over from hank paulson. they steered the bank through the financial crisis and they are where they are right now. a pretty good run. goldman switches every five years between traders and investment bankers. these guys are the traders. they took over for investment bankers. a lot of folks think the next one little investment banker running goldman. i don't think an investment banker at the place that has the stature of those two. to they have that in their favor. he is out of the woods now. he is not telling people he wants to leave. i don't know if you remember we reported that a year ago or so he has been running around saying i've had it with this place. so that's where we are right now. i'll tell you, they are trying to put a good face on it but it is interesting, sort of dicey situation behind the scenes at goldman sachs. lori: say goldman sachs gets tired of waiting for number

two spot where is the likely knew job for him? >> for him? he always weighed doing a hedge fund or something like that. the guy is an incredible talented buy. he is smart and very plugged in. people like that generally do well. and he's young. gary cohn is 52 years old. he has a long career left. and people i know like gary cohn. they don't like being number two forever. john mack, when he was number two to phil purcell when they did the deal in 2007 which merged morgan stanley which john was number two at, dick fisher was slowly leaving merged with dean witter which phil purcell ran which was morgan stanley dean witter which is firm they have now. john mack wanted to stay five years. they had a handshake agreement. we sudden is point out, mack told me, i reported this way back when, phil purcell reneged on the handshake

agreement, that is why mack in 2001 left for another firm. so five years is usually the amount of time these number twos start getting antsy. i'll tell you at goldman sachs we're well past five years. lori: we've got to run. >> we're talking 2006 and we're in 2013ers coming to the studio. we're starting to take it personally. >> one of these days. melissa: quarter too as we do every 15 minutes, nicole petallides is on the on the floor of the new york stock exchange. you're be looking at major movers. >> one is a big name and one is a big loser. let's start off with cracker barrel. you can see cracker barrel is up 9.5%. the stock came out at an all-time high today. second quarter profit rose 37%. same-store sales on the rise. they raised earnings guidance. unbelievable how this particular dining company is doing so much better than some of the others. revenue forecast looks good. on the other hand, amc networks and think of "mad men" and walking dead, they

are facing higher programing costs. they're missing analyst estimates. it is down 6%. back to you. lori: nicole, thanks. quick programming note, coming up at 4:00 p.m. eastern, liz claman is in chicago with exclusive interview with the act treasury secretary. don't miss that chat. the samsung threat, the smartphone maker is far and away leader when using google's android platform. we'll tell you why there is new concern over the partnership. melissa: apple is annoying parents with five dollars. crazy on a class-action lawsuit settlement ahead. the market is up 102 points. we'll be right back.

lori: samsung and google together have stemmed apple's dominance in smartphones, but trouble may be brewing in paradise. shibani joshi is here to tell us what is going on. >> everything is short lived when it comes to technology and love and marriage in technology as well. at one point it was apple versus the rest of the world. microsoft, amazon, google. everyone was doing anything they could to take on apple. now you realize that comes with a little bit of a price. google and actually "the wall street journal" had a great piece in it last night and this morning about the sleepless nights that google executives have the about longstanding partnership with samsung. in the beginning a great idea. they needed some smartphone maker to take on apple. it is working. in fact samsung has 39.of% stake, the overall market versus apple which is 25.1%. the problem that this is giving more and more

leverage to samsung. google, recently bought motorola. so they will start competing head on. the money they make all cops from advertising. the talk is now that samsung will ask for more of this advertising money. they made a billion dollars from mobile advertising revenue last year. that is lot of money. melissa: speaking of apple, there is big story, disgruntled parents, playing with free videogames and rack up a fortune on the credit card. >> we all have children and we know the ipad is savior for us when we go on any trip, sitting in restaurant, here, take the ipad. yes, exactly. that buys you 30 more minutes to have another drink. it has --, not speaking from experience at all. melissa: no, no. >> these apps have had this purchase and kids are fumbling along and buy stuff. five parents got really peeved off. filed a lawsuit against apple in 2011. they decided to settle,

giving all the parents a $5 credit to itunes to settle all the claims. $5? melissa: that is not one chess of gems they bought in the middle of some stupid game. itunes gift certificate, thanks so much. >> i will spend all my money back at apple. in terms of overall total, $100 million. parents, change the password. i'm not giving up the ipad. melissa: password-based situation. shibani, thanks so much. we'll have more on the story tonight on "money". fox news contributor, adam lashinsky, author of inside apple. he joins me on the class-action lawsuit settlement we're obviously not satisfied with out here, tonight at 5:00 p.m. eastern on fox business. lori: five bucks and it is an independednt tunes card? melissa: exactly. lori: still ahead this hour, republican senator david vitter taking on fed chairman ben bernanke. he has been an outspoken critic of the fed stimulus plan. he is tracy byrnes, ashley

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ashley: good afternoon, everybody, i'm ashley webster. >> i'm tracy byrnes federal reserve chairman ben bernanke defends bond buying. david vitter questioned the fed chief and here with us in moments. ashley: stocks hit session highs on word the fed's printing press is alive and well, still open and cranking. now back to near today's best levels. the dow and s&p trading below key levels but still gaining back yesterday's losses. the dow is up triple digits. tracy: yeah but new evidence that american housing is bouncing back too. but s&p david's blitzer is urging caution about today's case-shiller home price report. he will explain later this

hour. ashley: don't get too carried a way. tracy: no. ashley: it is top of the hour. time for the stocks as we go to nicole petallides at the new york stock exchange as we do every 15 minutes. nicole, what a difference from yesterday's session. >> yesterday we ended down over 200 points. that was the biggest selloff since november of the presidential election. now a turnaround and reversal. he were managing a feign of 100 points. you can thank home depot for part of that gain. vix was up 35% going into the closing bell. today pulling back a little bit. the dow is up 102 points. ben bernanke, fed head, talked clearly about the bond buying program continues. to have very easy monetary policy to help the economy along and made it very clear comments to washington as well. let's look at some names on the move in particular looking home depot and lowe's. as i noted home depot came out with numbers that beat the street. this is their spring buying season. this equates to the holiday season. did more with the quarter.

doing $17 billion buyback, coupled with the fact that they raised their dividends. that is big news by 34%. you look at lowe's, up 2.6%. that is higher and that is on a jpmorgan upgrade, raising a target to 40 bucks from 37. the rating is neutral. home depot outpacing lowe's for 15 straight quarters. back to you. ashley: nicole, thank you very much. tracy: federal reserve chairman ben bernanke facing tough questions on capitol hill today. he also faced some stupid ones as he defended the fed's bond buying program. peter barnes joins us from capitol hill. peter, sometimes i wonder whether or not these guys even understand what they're asking? >> well, it is their right and they did the fed chairman went toe-to-toe. continueded quantitative easing and continued low interest rates for one simple reason, jobs. more specifically, the lack of jobs. from his testimony he said, quote the fomc will continue

purchases until it observes a substantial improvement in the outlook for the labor market. at 7.9% unemployment right now, the job market is not there yet. take a listen. >> the job market remains generally weak with the unemployment rate well above its longer run normal level. about 4.7 million of the unemployed have been without a job for six months or more. millions more would like full-time employment but are able to find only part-time work. >> he said that the fomc is looking at the costs and risks of its policies but that right now the benefits of easy money outweigh the potential costs and risks. tracy. tracy: don't they always outweigh the risks? peter barnes, thank you very much. of course the highlight was the elizabeth warren. ashley: which we'll get to right now. our first guest is on the senate banking committee and he questioned the fed chairman earlier today. joining me republican

senator david vitter from louisiana. i was watching, senator, thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you, ashley for the invite. ashley: you didn't concentrate on the fed's stimulus or ongoing stimulus program. you wanted to focus on what elizabeth warren was talking about, too big to fail. you say it is alive and well and basically not a lot changed since we first got into the financial crisis? >> yes. i think it is noteworthy both i focused on that and elizabeth warren on the far left focused on that. i think there is a growing bipartisan consensus, she and i sort of define the spectrum of the banking committee, maybe the senate. i think there is a very growing bipartisan con send that's -- consensus that too big to fail is alive and well and that's a problem. and giving the megabanks a taxpayer-funded subsy essentially. and oh by the way, not surprisingly they're growing significantly in market share since the crisis. ashley: the fed chair said

in response that we're moving in the right direction and he believes in time some banks will voluntarily reduce their size. do you buy that? >> no, i don't. the market already digested everything is talking about, and their conclusion, its conclusion, too big to fail is still alive and well. that has been actually quantifieded by a number of different respected research houses essentially a subsidy to the megabanks. ashley: so we have the megabanks but on the other side of this, the smaller banks then are getting the short straw in all of this. >> yeah. and they're going under at an alarming rate. as i told the chairman, even if you're right, even if we're eventually going to get there, if that is three or five years from now, the damage is going to be done to a whole lot of community banks which mean a lot, a lot america, particularly in smaller and more rural communities. ashley: so, senator, you think basil three, which the fed chairman seems to sign

up to doesn't go far enough. what would you like to see? >> i've actually reached out and worked quite a bit with sherrod brown, democrat from, ohio on the senate banking committee to talk about higher capital standards. and basically we think two things. number one, they need to be higher for megabanks. higher than what the chairman bernanke has done already and higher than basal iii. and they need to be a lot simpler and more transparent and less easily gamed than basal three. ashley: ah, but the banks, most notably jamie dimon ceo of jpmorgan, we're starting to lay off people. we'll sell off assets to the meet the requirements and in the whole thing backers too. how do you respond? >> well, you know it doesn't surprise me dooim dime is in support of a -- jamie dimon is in support of big taxpayer subsy did for his institution. that is what is going on.

doesn't surprise me supports that. ashley: isn't there element of truth there? ultimately consumers won't get loans from the banks because ultimately the banks will have to keep more money back? >> no, i don't think so. first of all a lot of small businesses and consumers now have difficulty dealing with the particularly with the megabanks. secondly i think it will change the mix of institutions and size mix of institutions, not the overall level of activity. ashley: finally we have automatic spending cuts due to kick in on friday, senator. is it going to be the economic armageddon that some have predicted? >> i don't think so. in the real world this is not even a spending cut. it's a decreased rate of spending increase. so once that really becomes known, i think all these dire predictions of crisis will pass. now i do agree that this is not the best way to handle things with across the board cuts.

we should replace these cuts with other cuts, same level of cuts, same level of deficit spending but give the pentagon, give others much more flexibility to minimize impact, minimize hurt versus maximizing it which is basically the last setup now. ashley: we're out of time. thank you so much. senator vitter thanks for joining us, we appreciate it. >> thanks, ashley. ashley: thank you. tracy: yeah. interesting right, that he and warren are on the same page. ashley: yes. very bipartisan effort there. too big to fail. tracy: still there. ashley: yep. tracy: more solid numbers on u.s. housing. is the recovery for real? s&p's david blitzer who help put together's today's case-shiller report will weigh in next. he doesn't think so. ashley: plus martha stewart's newest legal battles. will she have to rebuild her image again? that story coming up. but first as we do every day at this time, look how oil is trading. market is trading higher but the oil is starting to drop

again at $92 a barrel. we'll be right back [ indistinct shouting ] ♪ [ indistinct shouting ] [ male announcer ] time and sales data. split-second stats. [ indistinct shouting ] ♪ it's so close to the options floor... [ indistinct shouting, bell dinging ] ...you'll bust your brain box. ♪ all onhinkorswim from td ameritrade. ♪

tracy: home prices ended 2012 with solid gains. the s&p case-shiller index rose in december by most in more than six years. our next guest though says symptom of the strong numbers may be behind us. joining us now, s&p index committee chairman david blitzer. he actually helps compile and analyze the case-shiller index. so you put all these numbers together. what is your takeaway? >> my takeaway, first of all we ended last year on a fantastically good note. the index was up 7.% over fourth quarters of a year. ten city, 20 city come poise its were well. very good numbers. looking across the 20 cities, 19 of the 20 were up in the 12 months ended december. we're doing nicely that way. tracy: can we carry the numbers forward?

>> we can't carry them forward but in any period of a market recovery begins a little bit shaky and then it surges, seven, 8% gain in home prices looks pretty good. eventually the rate of gain slows down, and, maybe not tomorrow. maybe not next week but sometime in the next couple years the rate again has to slow down. unless you want to repeat 2005, 2006. aye not voting against that option. tracy: i'm with you but we're starting to see a little bit of that, aren't we, banks loosening their standards a little bit to get money out in the market? >> maybe so but although in the last weeks minutes of the federal rhee serve open market committee they specifically commented on housing, that banks were being tight with a ink about even though they weren't charging much when they gave it to you. tracy: you mentioned 19 of 20 cities were up. the one city down is new york. is it because new york started a little later? we were late to the party here, weren't we? >> that is large eltment of

that we look across 20 cities and look across at the big boom bust, half a decade back. there is pattern, if you lay one city on top of the other and match starting dates, it might be pretty similar. but the starting dates don't match up. it is a little late to the party. we have a different element. you and i were talking about how manhattan really reliant on bonuses from the financial industry. they're not coming as fast and furious as they used to be? >> the new york metro area heavily dependent on financial services. washington is heavily dependent on uncle sam. detroit unfortunate for them is heavily dependent on autos, so on, so forth. financials services is having rough moments here and there. second of all, compared to other industries, much higher portion of somebody's total compensation comes in a bonus. tracy: right. >> that compensation is likely to bounce around, be more volatile and more uncertain. all of that, in, difficult

times, like we've seen last few years, makes people a little bit hesitant. that may be damping some housing boom in new york. tracy: quickly, predict 2013 for us are we off to the races or are we going to pull back a little bit? >> 2013 we go in with a whole lot of momentum on national basis. home prices ended last year very solidly. we look at housing starts. existing home sales, new home sales, consumer sentiment, builder sentiment which did a big jump up today. all those numbers did very good. that says the housing recovery is for real and it will make a big contribution to the on economy and i would be reasonably optimistic. tracy: that is good news. david blitzer, s&p committee chairman. we like to hear that kind of stuff. thank you, sir. ashley: reasonably optimistic, when it comes to housing. from u.s. housing to italy, political chaos in italy sending shockwaves across european markets today. italy's market plunging 5%. major indexes from london to

paris, they lost well over 1%, 2% on the cac and dark. comes as no party actually won enough votes to form a majority in italy's parliament, that means the leaders, former prime minister, silvio berlusconi, he is back, comedian turned politician and peair bersani have to govern together. mario can monty putting measures to try to get italy's economy back on track and could go out the window. tracy: was this one big vote against mama germany? we don't want you to tell us what to do? ashley: exactly. no one likes to pay taxes. they're paying taxes like greece. they want perlous scone any said, forget about it. you don't need to pay taxes. that is the italian way of life. that is quarter past.

just after quarter past. time to check the markets. nicole petallides on the floor of the new york stock exchange where we go about every 15 minutes. still up trip mill digits, nicole. >> we're up erasing losses from yesterday. best buy, electronics retailer certainly has been struggling. we're hearing about headcount reductions. layoffs, job cuts, you're fired! over at best buy. 40 jobs, 400 jobs at its 4,000 employee headquarters. this is part of big cost cutting they're doing. 150 drool million in cost cuts. this is why we'res seeing cost cuts. down 4%. back to you. ashley: nicole, thank you very much. we're back in 15 minutes. tracy: it is that time of day. we have to make money with charles payne. this hour he is following up on two stock picks, one with a barrel of profits, ha, ha. the other is a health care recommendation. ashley: i hope they're not related?

tracy: one to the other. >> exactly, tell me about it. actually, the title of this hit is assessment of risk in taking profits. cracker barrel, we did this last month, we had a lot of fun with this, grits jokes, exactly. have you had a grit yet since that? tracy: no. >> anyway, cracker barrel is at a new all-time high, huge, gigantic move. it is up significantly since we did it last time. one of the stocks, if you're in, continue to ride the wave, even though you held it more than a year it is well worth holding it. it had a big move up, pulled back but it is cracker barrel. on the other hand we did this quest core pharmaceutical. i did it on the trading service. i sent an alert to go ahead and take profits. they report after the bell tomorrow. a lot of risk associated with this name. that is just it. it's a biotech. biotech, a lot more risk. not necessarily steady. they have got really one

major drug. it is actar jell. i happen to think it face nominal. only time i don't like holding kind of stocks when they go into earnings. that is when you can get big hits. there is 5% short position on cracker barrel. 52% of the float on questcor is short. that means it could be up 15%. we're looking 15% move one way or the other. if i was long-term holder, believe in the thing ride it out if i'm some one here or there, make 14% in week --. tracy: go with the lard. >> go with the lard. that is essentially it. assessment of risk and taking profits. tracy: and lard. ashley: and grits. >> and grits. ashley: can't go wrong. tracy: come on. ashley: hey, i'm an englishman and i love them. tracy: cyber criminals lurking on facebook, linkedin and more according to a new fed warning. liz macdonald is on the story next. ashley: first let's look how the ol' green back is doing.

basically unchanged between the pound, euro, mexican peso moving lower against the u.s. dollar. we'll be right back.

>> it's now 23 minutes past the hour.

i'm heather nauert with your fox news minute. secretary of state john kerry is in berlin, germany, pushing for a free-trade agreement between the united states and europe. he says it would increase jobs and growth on both sides the atlantic. it is a priority for president obama in his second term. the death toll from the hot air ballon accident in egypt has risen to 19. the accident occurred when a balloon flying over the city of luxor caught fire and crashed to the ground. one tourist says the pilot was the only survivors. it was one year ago when an attack on the world trade center took place. a bomb went off in an underground garage in one of those towers. a moment of silence was observed earlier today, during a ceremony health ad the site of the 9/11 memorial. those are the headlines. back to the fox business network, to tracy and ashley. ashley: heather, thank you very much.

appreciate it. a warning from top federal reserve officials about the dangers of social media. the kansas city federal reserve says you could be exposing yourself to international networks of criminals if you go on to sites like facebook and zynga. liz macdonald has more in emac's bottom line. this goes beyond privacy and identity theft, doesn't it? >> it really does, ashley and tracy. here is what the kansas city federal reserve has been warning. the fbi is making these warnings too. social network sites are breeding grounds for cyber criminals. social network victims are tricked into revealing bank account and personal details on these web sites. also on gaming sites as well. so it is all sorts of social network sites beyond even facebook. they include linkedin and could even include twitter. the problem the fbi is tracking, increasingly on the social sites and gaming sites people can transfer money, just on these web sites, alone, to their new applications. you can zoom money, virtual dollars overseas to 125

countries around the globe and so their fear is on the part of law enforcement is that people will be tricked into revealing account information, or, being used to launder money when they do these virtual goods transactions. fraud, even separate from that, fraud on social gaming and social network sites is double what it was in 2010. this is separate from the internet sites like amazon. the fraud going on ocial network sites is really soaring. it is increasing. >> you don't think there is a element of people being gullable here? >> yeah. i think so. there is always that danger. the other issue too is, law enforcement has been telling fox business, when you use the credit card for transactions you have credit card transactions like amex. when you do the virtual dollar accounts get billed to the mobile phone, you have no protections right? ashley: ouch. >> that is real serious issue when you pay the mobile phone account, you're paying for stuff that you didn't know is sitting there

getting fraudulently charged. even separate from that, your accounts are being used to launder money that is scary thing. ashley: don't give out your information in the first place. >> yes, that is also fraud. that is how fraud results but also the use of your accounts to do virtual dollar transactions to launder money. when criminal overseas or wherever, does virtual transaction, he is getting your money, right? your fresh american dollars to basically launder or wipe out whatever criminally gotten gains through the system. ashley: very frightening. >> interesting stuff. so be careful with those sites. that's the warning. ashley: gosh. the best thing about the internet is the internet. the worst thing about the internet is the internet. >> i didn't mean to terrify you but i'm worried what viewers and people are doing on the sites. ashley: it is going on. >> who knew. ashley: yeah. liz, thank you very much. >> sure. tracy: breaking news. best buy is announcing it is moving its fourth quarter earnings date to march 1st, this from february 28th. now the stock is down nearly

4% right now on job cuts that were reported earlier. so it is moving, it its reporting date. ashley: back a day. tracy: pretty much. they have to get ready for it all. got a lot of questions to answer. macy's and jcpenney battling in court for the right to sell martha stewart home goods. we have the latest on the trial airing some of the domestic diva's dirty laundry. ashley: as we head into break, look at some of today's winners and losers on the s&p. the dow is up 112. look at winners on the s&p. we'll be right back.

>> taking a look at the dow jones for you, when the green than in the red. home prices are making some nice gains. coca-cola is up, and of america is. it is just slightly down. looking at the new york stock exchange, let's check in with nicole petallides. >> what do you make of today's action? well, we had a selloff yesterday. what evening? >> i think the economic data for the united states shows that strength that everyone looks to to continue the bullish attitude of the market. >> are you talking about the housing today? >> yes. the housing and home depot stock, you have all of that in the housing sector. most people look at it that way, there is a justification that there is an investor to come back into the equity markets.

i've been looking for the pullback that i thought started come i wouldn't be surprised to see it happen again. >> it took away at least two days of uncertainty for that moment in time. washington at the end of the week, when you go back to that, what do you think of that? >> i could care less. i am one of the people that says if the sequester goes in place, i could see the equity's rally. it's the idea that the government has not been functioning properly will be forced to do it. it's an interesting way of looking at it. >> okay, back to you. ashely: thank you, nicole. we will check back in 15 minutes. dagen: as you see, this company has reached a contract when it signed a deal with

jcpenney's. the company claims that it has exclusive rights to sell products. gerri willis joins us now. she has more to say about this. >> do you know what i love about this? she had major problems. here is martha stewart, two men fighting over her at 71 years old. [laughter] it is a great story. at the nexus of all of this is what are these little mini stories inside that actually qualify as competitive under the terms of the contract. that is what they are going to decide. the ceo says that he hung up on martha stewart on the phone and she described and said that i'm only doing what i should do, and i cannot say anymore. >> they are very angry at each other, and it is hundreds of millions of dollars at stake here. remember that she came back from 2005, serving five months in jail to going public in

relaunching herself. in recent years, she has been less successful. if you remember her lifetime show, she is now online, when you go to the mall coming to see her brand name everywhere. >> the thing is is that she sued pennies because they are furious about the situation. but martha stewart maintained that there is a loophole in the contract that allows her to sell their goods outside of macy's, and example, with pennies. gerri: when you read the list, the thing she can do on the contract, the woman could fly to the sign and sell martha stewart did there. detail why do we care? sometimes people fight over boys to see who can have them in fight over them. gerri: they are paying martha stewart hundreds of millions for these names on her lines.

see. ashely: will you be talking about tonight? gerri: some victims of hurricane sandy are being bailed out in entirety. we will explore how that happens. tracy: some don't get anything. don't miss "the willis report" tonight at 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. eastern on the fox business network. tracy: oil is closing 48 cents at $92.63 per barrel. ashely: that is a loss of about a half precent, and the lowest level so far this year. there it is, relief is on the way. tracy: no way, i don't believe it. ashley: an exclusive interview with liz claman who joins us live with the cme with a preview. liz: here we are at the cme. we have decided to go into the great room for this quick

interview on what is happening in the soybean and oil pits. we have a fox business exclusive. our guest is the acting treasury secretary who took over after timothy geithner, and he may very well be the treasury secretary of record when the sequester deadline hits on friday. we are just a couple of days away from that. the big question will be is there an 11th hour deal? it is a fox business exclusive, we talked to him about that. how painful it would be, are they overstating it, why can we not cut 2.3% of it 3 trillion-dollar budget. i asked him all of this. neil woolen was all of the architecture for dodd-frank. what does he think? battling a certain statute that

they believe gives a treasury secretary too much power it is liquidating too big to fail or troubled banks. all that in one of 4:00 p.m. eastern. a fox business exclusive with acting treasury secretary neal wolin. we will be live for all of this and much more. we have the ceo of this big group here, talking about exactly how the ceos are found in the executive search. they found eric schmidt for google back in 2004. we also have other ceos in the next two hours. they are into the barcodes, of course, for all of the printer situations. if you see a barcode and it locates big business here in chicago. not to mention, we are talking insurance. there is a big insurance group it happens. finally, we will be talking to phil shiner brands ceo, this is a good company on the heels of what happened with warren buffett taking over.

this is a company that has done beautifully. ashley: liz claman at the cme, looking forward to it. thank you so much. tracy: coming up, wild swings for stocks. what is next for the market. ashley: and it's time to check in on the ten-year 10 year treasuries. we will be right back. friday night, buddy.

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and apply online. creditcards.com. >> i am lori rothman with your fox business brief. succession science and charlie gasparino says that this man is the board's choice for emergencies the session. he reports that one problem for this 52-year-old is that he shows no signs of leaving the job anytime soon. but cohen is debating if he wants to wait. a goldman sachs person has no comment. and the payment that is 60 days late climbs four tenths of 1% in interest. that is lower than where it was a year ago. holiday shopping season overtime

when some borrowers put off taking care of their financial obligations. that is that's the latest from the fox business network. we are giving you the power to prosper.

ashley: stocks are rebounding after having their worst day in more than three months. with all of this thinking and sagging, what should investors focus on? let's bring in the senior equity strategist with wells fargo advisors. you know, do you think the market has totally misread this? ben bernanke made it very clear that they are going to keep printing money for the foreseeable future, and the markets are responding. >> actually, i thought for sure that the markets misread it. i thought ben bernanke would set the record straight. that's laughing at the federal reserve wants to do is to make

the market second-guess. are they going to keep super easy policy or keep buying bonds, what is going to happen. i think today, that was one of his main goals, was to set the record straight and make sure that the market knew that the fed is going to be very easy for a long time. ashley: as for your clients and investors, you say the focus on earnings for this year over the next 12 months, what do you see that being? >> i will tell you that earnings growth this year is going to be modest. we are not crawling out of a recession or a whole anymore. maybe 5% or something like that. nothing to write home about, but in that environment, the economy is going to continue to recover. maybe we see 2.5% gdp growth in the states. the global economy kind of rolling on. if you believe that, you need to be looking at stocks that are sensitive to that. the consumer discretionary sector. the technology sector. materials.

those sectors have not performed very well here today. it has been pretty defensive, given the move that we have had in the market. but i don't think that is going to last all year long. i think you certainly want to take advantage of any pullback that we get. i don't think that the sequestration cuts are going to trigger that. we need some kind of an event, maybe something gets a little worse in italy or europe. whatever it is, it's not going to be that deep. we are certainly going to be telling our clients that you must be and hereby, we have to lay out a plan, we need to look at some stocks and certain sectors and industry groups that you want to buy because the pullback is probably not going to last very long. ashley: you are telling your clients to get the heck out of bonds? >> i don't think rates are going to shoot up soon. the bond market has a great day, i don't think that's going to change anytime soon. inflation is not moving up.

core headlines, all below 2%. i do not think bond market yields you'll move up quickly. certainly overtime, we want to be lightening up on bonds. our interest is in stocks, if i try to look over the next two or three years, i see stocks outperforming bonds probably in a big-time way. ashley: that's a very good place to finish. scott, thank you so much. >> thank you, ashley. ashley: exposure to equity. that is what he is saying. tracy: why not, maybe it is time. it is certainly time for for for nicole petallides on the floor of the new york stock exchange. >> that's right, the dow is up 106 points. let's focus on dow component jpmorgan at this time. jamie dimon is speaking at this time. down one third of 1%, and

investing day and they will get the headline for that. the bank is edging lower where the banking index is higher. they are looking to cut over $1 billion and they have announced that they are going to cut up to 4000 jobs this year, mostly through attrition's in the retail banking. they are doing some refinancing in 2013, that is what we are looking out for jpmorgan. cutting jobs, and that will keep you abreast of what jamie dimon himself is saying today. tracy: coming up on thursday, melissa francis will have an exclusive interview with the chairman and ceo straight from austin texas. ashley: the big midwest getting hit with another big heavy snow. and we will tell you why

inflation could hit coming up next. tracy: here is look at the winners and losers on the nasdaq today as we head out to break. we will be right back

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ashley: winter is raging in the midwest. getting hit with a second major snowstorm in the last week.

janice dean has the details. >> let's take a look at it. it's keeping us busy. close to 21 inches across portions of texas and oklahoma is now moving across the upper midwest in the great lakes. chicago, heavy snow, a quarter of a mile. delays are incredible. three hour delays at chicago o'hare, and many thought the rain and the mix of sleet and ice across the appellations area, along the coast would be the interior sections that would get the snow. taking it towards the evening hours, a snow event across the midwest and great lakes interior section of the northeast. we will get several inches of snow along the coast, a rain event as mentioned. this time around it will be just a rain event. winter weather up towards the great lakes, as we head into the overnight and into tomorrow, moving into the northeast, a

wide swath of three to 6 inches, some areas could get six to 12 inches, especially across upstate new york and vermont, new hampshire. great news for skiers, but those of us who aren't happy about winter, we are going to have a few more weeks of it. back to you. tracy: new york again misses the vote. tracy: the kids want a little bit of snow. >> well, they have to go to school. [laughter] tracy: i think some people think it's spring, but we thought he was drunk. [laughter] tracy: , that is a good image. speaking of snow, massive spending cuts set to kick in. the travel industry could be hit with much worse than the snowstorm.

>> this is a very wet and heavy, packed snow. if i get down here, as you can see, this is a wet snow. oh, right in the lens. oh, no. this is the storm, as we said, second time in two weeks, the war in the last week, actually, and this could approximate the delays that we are seeing in the air traffic control system. it may approximate some of what they are saying. there will be fewer air traffic controllers, airport control towers will be shut down. the folks in the tsa lines, there will be fewer of them. we could feed the delays we are seeing today on friday or perhaps next week. taking a look at this snow out here, let's see what the sign says. caution, falling ice. no kidding. you must be careful with the

small buildings out here. all the fear about this, whether it turns out like a chicago snowstorm. tracy: you travel like i do, single mother with three kids, they say just go. [laughter] ashley: baby out with the baby. coming through. [laughter] tracy: this is a good story. a golden treasure discovered at the home of a 69-year-old recluse in carson city, nevada. it is being auctioned off today. the poor man was actually dead for a while before anyone understood. the cleanup crews came and found his collection of gold coins. thousands of coins weighing about 135 pounds, neatly wrapped and stored in ammunition boxes.

in total, the collection is expected to sell for $3 million, even just what will be needed for the estate tax. the next will go to his sole heir, because in. ashley: that would be ashley webster. [laughter] tracy: among the records, purchasing date to go back to 1964. gold averaged about $35 per ounce back then. today it is trading right around $1600. the record show that his mom bought most of the coins, and he lived really modestly. he probably didn't even know how much it was worth. but it's very cool. he was a substitute teacher as well. ashley: jpmorgan's jamie dimon thing that all banks will have to much capital in 2.5 years. he is speaking right now. that is the big issue as we discussed this.

many people don't agree. liz claman takes us through the live last hour of trading. and leo talks about what the smart money is doing in the future. stocks, bonds, commodities, even currency. a fox business exclusive. the countdown to the closing bell is next. she's still the one for you -

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