invoking the fifth amendment. insisting she has done nothing wrong. melissa: less talk more about these markets. these are exciting times. that said to the floor of the new york stock exchange with nicole petallides. stocks holding on to big gains. >> reporter: off of earlier highs of the day, but seeing bi gains. the dow jones industrial averag sitting at 14,000 -- i'm sorry, 15,488. our highest point was 15,542. still seeing gains of more than half & on both the dow and s&p 500. it sector to sector during very well. money printing so continues. some good numbers. this is the types of things tha are moving along. also take millicurie dow component pfizer on that day where it has come out as the

biggest percentage gainer in th dow jones industrial. about 3%, announcing it will shed its majority, the animal health care company. pfizer sold about $0.22 of its shares in the company ipo earlier this year. very clear that they want to streamline the company and focu on the best interests. so as a result you're seeing th stock hit with an up arrow. melissa: thank you for the explanation. lori: fed chairman ben bernanke in the hot seat testifying in front of congress. wall street clues into every word, so has our own peter barnes as well? what have you been up to most? >> reporter: well, it was a little bit of a roller-coaster ride there for investors, melissa, because the members of the joint economic committee were trying to drill down on when the fed chairman thinks it will be inappropriate time to start to tighten monetary policy , cutting back on all that

quantitative easing in the $85 billion a month. bond purchases that are designe to keep interest rates low, put them low, and keep them off. as the markets went up with comments like this one. >> it could leave interest rate rising temporarily and carry a substantial risk of slowing or ending the economic recovery an causing inflation to fall further. >> reporter: some members weee concerned that keeping all of this easy money in place would be harmful for the economy in the long run, so the markets were listening when he -- and they heard this kind of comment. >> if we see continued improvement in have confidence that that is going to be sustained, then we could take a step down in our peso purchases. >> reporter: that is where the market edged lower, but at the

end of the day the fed chairman tried to clarify and said, listen, this will all be dated driven and the market can see the data as well as we can and will we are looking for is increased confidence that the labor market is improving and the improvement is sustainable off. he does not want to let up unti they get unemployment way down. melissa, back to you. melissa: interesting. peter, thank you so much. lori: digging in further into chairman ben bernanke's testimony this morning, here is what he had to say when asked about stock and bond prices. >> nobody can ever say with certainty what an asset price would be, but to this point our sense is that major asset price like stock prices and corporate bond park prices are not incons with the fundamentals. lori: do you agree? lets asked jefferies chief economist. hello and welcome. less talk about the market

reaction before we drill down because we know he talked to both sides of the trade. of 90 points, and new intra-day record. twenty-two, 23 consecutive -- well, not consecutive, but we are seeing record after record which is the bottom line. do you agree with lisa? >> well, really, it was a prett compelling story to support an accommodative monetary policy and that is what both the financial markets responded isn't -- initially that he was the theme was starting to wind down the asset purchases. the problem for the markets, an it was quite severe for the bon market came when he was asked a very specific question about whether or not that tapering what start by labor day, and he tried not to answer the question . unfortunately, he did reiterate

that that the fed's basic position is if things get bette and are sustainable we will start tapering. then he followed that with, if things don't get better, we could increase the purchases, but the bond market only heard the first half. lori: it is interesting. we just showed that your's, but interest rates are rising. the 10-year is back up up of that 2 percent mark. is it fair to say that the chairman almost confused investors? >> i think there was some of that, but i am sure i were attributed to bernanke so much as i would to the nature of the question that prompted the response. having said that, however, i do think that there's a little bit of a complex in the chairman's thinking in this respect. he does not want to increase th size of the balance sheets indefinitely, so there is a little bit of a conflict betwee wanting to slow down the expansion of the balance sheets

because if they do not wanted t get a bigger unwieldy, but pulling the plug too soon may cause the economy to deteriorate . lori: how much flexibility does the fed have in adjusting its moves according to the ebbs and flows of the broader economy? >> they have given themselves a much flexibility as they want t have. to this point in time the performance of the economy has not met the minimum standards that they wanted to meet before they start cutting back on the their asset purchases. and in addition, we have seen inflation dropped to one percentage point which is a ful percentage point below the target. they are not there. they are not there, and i don't think they will be there for several months. lori: i wanted the center time. do you think that we will ultimately see it dropping of the condition that ties hiking

rates to unemployment -- unemployment improving. >> that is what is all about. maximum employment and stable inflation. lori: thanks. we want to remind you. keep it right here. other big headlines. the outbreak is under control. no cases have been detected. they did when it will take they did when it will take several months

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lori: team up for thinking of something else? >> they have got a lot of partners. trip advisor, google, yahoo!, bing. they're doing all these. lori: a lot of shopping or become an acquiree themselves? >> i don't know i have to at this point. i would be worried about one of the partners mentioned to go into business themselves. melissa: yeah. >> it is so lucrative for

them. it is a money-making machine. what is ben bernanke's big dream? the ult mat thing he is trying to achieve? lori: preserve his legacy? melissa: grow the economy. >> grow the economy through the virtuous cycle. i go home and see my 401(k) statement. making money in the market. go out and shop. shopkeepers hires more people. they go out and shop. the virtuous cycle. think about this. the more restaurants they get on their system, right, the more diners they have. the more diners in their system, the more restaurants have to use them. they have got this thing going right now like crazy. one of these stocks can be volatile but i want people to know, it was $115 a share back in april of 2011. the next breakout will to higher. it is a volatile stock for those nervous about holding those kind of stocks. they have an amazing model. they pay perez vision. say you have a restaurant that mostly takes in walk-ins. if you get someone from them,

they charge you 2 1/2 bucks. it is like found money. it is absolutely amazing. melissa: that is interesting. you wonder about the barrier to entry with companies like this. sabre, tried in new york you about a lot of places in new york they tried to get in on this selling tables at unpopular times but it is about getting restaurants to sign up to be part of the network. you want to join a network that has a lot of people. it does, to some people there is no barrier to entry. really is. network has to get bigger and bigger. >> you know when i got even more bullish. two months ago i tried to raise money to go against opentable. when he told me inside scoop on the industry, these guys are tough. you're in the system, you're in the system with them. you're right, it is more than just technology. there are other barriers to entry, you can't walk in any restaurant, hey, sign up with my system too without making these guys a little upset. they have a good thing going. melissa: they're breaking kneecaps, what you're saying?

i was reading between the lines. i heard you. >> almost went there. see you later. melissa: thank you so much. lori: update you on the markets, evaporating from earlier gains. nicole on the floor of the stock exchange. watching retailers. >> interesting to look at lowe's. we know home depot did so well and both names moved to new highs. existing home sales that is type of news, economic news that can help lowe's and home depot along. lowe's had tough quarter. they did well in the recent months. don't forget these are seasonal type stores and obviously spring and summer comes along that will help names like lowe's. natural disasters and tornadoes and hurricanes and the fix up afterwards. look at target. not good news here. they saw the profit dropping 29% this year. they noted cold weather people were not likely to come in for clothing and guarding tools and items for spring. however the big picture, they lowered the full-year forecast. that is not good for profits

full year. that really tells analysts and wall street folks something is really wrong and this is an economic picture pertaining to income and consumer spending. that remains moderate. it is under pressure. we know that. back to you. lori: okay, nicole, thanks. melissa: ford revving up production. the carmaker is planning to add an extra week of production at 20 north american plants for the second year in a row, good for them. ford factories will have just one week off this summer instead of a traditional two-week shut down period, producing 40,000 additional vehicles. increased strength in the u.s. housing market pushed up demand for trucks. ford hopes the extended production period will help them maintain their u.s. market share. ford shares are up 13% for the first four months of this year. compared to that the u.s. automaker as a whole which sup 7% and that's reflected in ford's stock price. shares are up 16% over the last three months. shorter vacation for the workers but good news that their company is doing well.

lori: that is pretty impressive. lou dobbs will join us next as the heirs irs scandal continues to unfold on capitol hill in front. house oversight committee today. >> i have not done anything wrong. i have not broken any laws. i have not violated any irs rules and regulations and i have not provided false information to this or any other congressional committee. [ male announcer ] we gave the new e-class some of the mostdvanced driver systems ever made. stereoscopic vision... distronic plus braking... lane keeping and steering assist... eleven enhanced systems in all. ♪ twelve, counting your adrenaline system. the 2014 e-class. the most intelligent,

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>> at 22 minutes past the hour i'm harris faulkner with your fox news minute. in moore, oklahoma, the medical examiner now saying two infants are among the 24 fatalities in monday's massive tornado. nearly half of those people were children. the national weather service has upgraded the twister to an ef-5, the highest ranking with winds of at least 200 miles an hour. there is life after twitter. former democrat congressman anthony weiner announcing he is officially running for mayor of new york. you remember the scandal when he resigned from congress two years ago after texting and tweeting provocative pictures of himself. a video now has weiner admitting he made mistakes and hopes people will give him the second chance. that he needs apparently in the form of votes. in the city of los angeles a new mayor,

democrat city councilman, eric garcetti is a rhodes scholar and first jewish mayor of the nation's second largest city. he takes office july 1st. those are the headlines. back to melissa and lori. i love saying that. lori: we love hearing it from you, harris. >> reporter: you're welcome. lori: back t scandal few answers despite a hearing by the house oversight committee, top irs official lois lerner declining to testify. >> i've been advised by my counsel to assert my constitutional right not to testify or answer questions related to the subject matter of this hearing. after very careful consideration, i have decided to follow my counsel's advice and not testify or answer any of the questions today. lori: lerner first revealed the agency's improper targeting of conservative groups two weeks ago but has known about the probe for about a year. lou dobbs is here to weigh in.

i'll tell you as hearings continue on the irs, i just can't imagine a fortune 500 company being run in this manner wwth this total lack of accountability, people skirting questions left and right. >> let me assure you, there is nothing, there is nothing even remotely close to a fortune 500 company going here. lori: right. >> you're looking at people, how did they get to be even acting commissioners? and my guess is, there is no one in the world who wants the job of commissioner. melissa: that is exactly what i was thinking as watching it. >> this is devastating, i would think to all the career employees of irs, to have to put up with that kind of leadership. they must go to those meetings where, and talk about values and goals and objectives, and hear this, what is his name, miller, talk about customer service? lori: yes. >> i'm sorry. i get the part about customer service, the service part because i feel very serviced on the 15th of

april every year. melissa: right. >> and i don't know that i'm getting anything more my money. maybe the rest of the country feels really good about. that i don't. if you're this, this miller talk this way is absurd. then you listen to, you listen to shulman and lois lerner today. can you imagine these guys, the leaders of the irs at the big, well, customer service picnic that is thrown annually by the irs? these are the folks you really want to hang around with. they're dour. they're, absolutely too cute for words. lori: so you think morale at the irs has been poor long before this outbreak? >> i would think they're in need of deep therapy. melissa: yeah. >> having these people to account to, to report to, --. melissa: i think it is interesting you would think we're their customer. i think that the government that takes our money is their customer. that is who they're thinking they're collecting revenue from us for. >> that guy is more full of bs and nonsense than i think

any other person involved in government short of the white house. melissa: i have to tell you my favorite moment. i'm sure you saw this. deputy treasury secretary neil wolin and stood up and took the oath, it was fantastic. you know that is everyone's favorite shot at very beginning they stand up and swear in, shoot it from a low angle. neil wolin -- >> who is missing. melissa: he slides out of the way. let me move over just a little bit. the there was no reason for him to step all the way over there except he didn't want to be in the picture. he gets called on it, tell him can you please move over. can you first say no? >> he is slick. melissa: that is pretty smart. >> talking about high-powered bureaucrat talent right there. to his credit, he said, son, do what you're told. which is, what needs to be. melissa: push in there, my friend. >> idea, by the way, i want to say, congressman ron desantos last night on my

show and did the country a big favor, reminded everyone i had said at that point, this bull the irs is some sort of the independent agency, it is not independent at all. it reports through the deputy to the treasury secretary, to the president. and the democrats are having these talking points out everywhere. you heard jay carney, well it is an independent agency. it's not! i can't, any longer tell what the administration is doing out of sheer, well, in -- incompetence and pure betrayal of the public trust. to suggest it is an independent agency, the president of the united states can fire the commissioner of the, of the internal revenue service by definition. melissa: by definition. not independent. >> not at all. melissa: no. >> that's a great point. >> and great to see, well, it's great to see these fine public servants stand up and take the fifth. that is just about as good a metaphor as there can be for the entire mess at the irs. and now these people walking

around saying, like shulman the former acting director, i didn't, i didn't know that it was this serious. it's really not targeting. these people want you not to believe your lying eyes and they lie through their teeth almost nonstop. this is unsufferable what we're put through. irs not the most favorite agency to begin with. its credibility, it and of course of the white house. i think it is irremedial now. lori: good to be see you. >> great to be here. lori: each night 7:00 and 10:00 eastern. congressman trey gowdy is your guest and you will talk more about the irs scandal. who knows what will unfold this afternoon. melissa: what if ben bernanke wanted to take the fifth today? investors parsing each and every word. the dow up 155 points, we're back to the nyse to find out

why. we're up only 46 now. lori: interest rates are climbing. a congressman joins us whether or not he got answers on the scandal hearing we're talking about all morning. melissa: let's look at the winners and losers here on the dow as we head out to break.

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melissa: breaking news right now. the associated press citing sources is reporting that president obama will visit moore, oklahoma, this sunday, after that devastating tornado. lori: look at those pictures. melissa: that struck on monday. lori: what a tragedy. let's get you a look at the markets every 15 minutes. go back to the floor of the

new york stock exchange and nicole petallides. the story is post-bernanke remarks on capitol hill and stocks are losing steam. >> nasdaq moves into negative territory as we saw a record day on wall street. the dow traded 15,542 but some tech names are particularly weighing not just on the dow but nasdaq. ibm, netflix, texas instruments all have down arrows. pulling back some. taking a few profits off the table. we'll look at pandora. pandora is on the move right now up 1.6%, getting a boost on a new partnership with facebook automatically sharing what they're listening to on facebook. so streamlining what you are looking at. also getting an upgrade here. needham raised the price target from 20 bucks to -- to 20 bucks from 16 bucks. has a buy rating. now at 16.45. back to you. lori: thanks, nicole. melissa: house government oversight and reform committee four hours into the hearing. one of the committee members,

doug collins, a republican from georgia stepped out briefly to join us. congressman, thanks for taking couple minutes to come out and they vent got to your question yet. what have you so far heard. >> something in the air at irs, classic case of oops, i don't remember. that is frustrating to the american people and been said before and i think said earlier on your show, the irs needs to remember who they work for, they work for the american peopll. they don't work up here as a body designed to intimidate and investigate the folks who are trying to do what they want to do and be able to express themselves. this what i've seen today. the chronic case, oops, i don't remember. melissa: does it make you feel like we're not going to get to the bottom of this and most specifically whose idea it was in the first place? >> well i think we're continue to get to the bottom of it because we'll continue to ask questions. they can plead the fifth. they can say, i don't remember or we're not sure. but the fact matter they had preliminary reports almost a year ago. they failed to bring that back to congress after

congress asked on many occasions is this actually happening. we'll continue to push forward on this. it doesn't matter because what we're asking here is a little honesty. asking for the american people who get the answers they deserve. that is what people expect. they want honesty and the truth. this is exactly what happens when the government can't be trusted and they're leaving proof why the government can't be trusted. >> this is incredibly frustrating to you, lois lerner tried to have her cake and eat it too. she stood up nd said she had done nothing wrong. she had done nothing illegal. didn't break any policies but at the same time plead the fifth and not say anything, which to me it means by virtue of saying it will reveal she had did something criminal. how do you interpret that? >> i think it is her being cute. that will not play very well with the american people. when you're deeply involved in something, you plead the fifth yet you want to say everything what i'm doing here today i did not do or i wasn't doing anything wrong? the question if you did nothing wrong, answer the questions. answers the questions is being asked of you. you chose to have a question

planted so you can talk about it a couple weeks ago. what happened today? melissa: where do you go from here with her in particular? she says she will not testify here, she will plead the fifth. what are your options to hold her feet to the fire? >> we'll continue the process. chairman said we reserve the right to call her back and have before the committee. we continue to put pieces together. interesting thing about the whole process, seems something comes out every day. we're waiting for what comes out next. maybe what comes out tomorrow because you can't have something like this going on targeting individuals, targeting groups expressing their constitutional rights and trying to play by the rules. you can't keep doing this for so long a period and stuff not continue to come. we'll get to bottom of this..3 melissa: i hope so, congressman, this is appalling to the american people. thanks so much for coming on. >> thanks so much. take care. lori: we can confirm to you now press secretary jay carney making it official, president obama will visit moore, oklahoma, this sunday after that devastating tornado struck earlier this

week on monday. so he will be on hand to see damage and talk to the victims. melissa: up next, charlie gasparino is here with exclusive new details on the government probe into sac capital. lori: let's check interest rates. a real big story after bernanke's congressional testimony. big spike up. the 10-year over 2%. melissa: wow. lori: a lot of analysts said watch the bond market. if the 10-year goes above 2% and hits 2.04, 05%, watch out, that might be the start of perhaps a big selloff in the bond market. see on the long end, you've got a 3.21% yield. a big pop. bernanke says if the economy improves they will taper and start to think about taking the foot off the gas. extraordinarily weak monetary policy. bond market is key to monetary policy going forward. back after this. the wrht brothers became the first in flight. [ goodall ] i think the most amazing thing is how like us these chimpanzees are.

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>> i'm dennis kneale with your fox business brief. sony is looking at hedge fund activist daniel lobe's proposal to spin off a piece of entertainment business into a new stock. his hedge fund owns a 6% stake in sony. it would unlock value buried in sony's struggling electronics business. preliminary damage could top $2 billion for the tornado that hit oklahoma city suburb of moore on monday. the oklahoma insurance department says the early

tally is based on visual assessment of an extensive damage zone. the vatican's new financial watchdog agency is out with the first annual report. the agency looked into six suspicious internal transactions from last year and forwarded information on two of them backing prosecutors for investigation. that is the latest from fox biz, giving you the power to prosper

melissa: is the government dualn its pursuit of steve cohen and his giant hedge fund sac capital? fox business senior correspondent charlie gasparino has been talking to legal experts and is here with the latest. >> we should point out that steve cohen has not been charged. he claims through his spokesman, says he has done nothing wrong and he believes when this is over he will be exonerated. that said we do know there's a grand jury impaneled.

he received a grand jury subpoena and there's a massive investigation going on into whether steve cohen and or sac capital committed insider trading. what we were first to report, rico, racketeer influence corruption organization act, i'm glad we got this translator, i screw it up every time, there it is, is a very powerful tool and it is generally used against mobsters basically. melissa: right. >> that is on the table as a way to basically bring charges possibly against sac. that is very hard thing to do. you have to show many years of sort of predicate actions but there is no statute of limitations. the statute of limitations ceases to exist. on the other hand the other case they're looking at the matthew martoma trade, remember? he has been indicted for insider trading on those two drug stocks, elon and wyeth. he had a phone call with mr. cohen right before he traded those stocks. investigators think, believe that phone call essentially, they discussed what could be

inside information. that's really what they want. they think it's a much easier charge to get matthew mart tom ma to flip on that phone call than it is to basically do a rico charge. the rico charge from what we understand, and we're talking to legal experts, who are pretty plugged into the justice department. the u.s. attorney for the southern district led by braah they think the rico charge is plan. about. that will be a difficult for a rico charge. we should point out when you file a rico charge, you need eric holder, the attorney general to sign off on this like you said you have to find several predicate actions. you have to go through and find years of corruption and, it's hard to establish that. but once you do stash that, i would say this, this is why it was so effective bringing down the mob, if you're part of an organization, if they can prove you're part of an organization, for example, if there is a portfolio manager inside steve cohen's hedge fund producing allegedly illicit profits you can nail anybody in that organization. it all becomes part of a

corrupt organization and penalties are pretty onerous. i hear for --. melissa: oh, my god. lori: i think a light blue. >> i haven't been shot. [laughter] you know what is funny about this? melissa: that is bullet-proof glass. i think we're good. >> i was talking about the mob and i heard a bang. anyway, --. melissa: wow, i'm wade awake now. >> i don't need the cup of coffee. as i was saying what is onerous about this, what almost, rudy giuliani use this to destroy the mob in new york was essentially that forever activity that they nail you on, every count, it's 20 years behind bars, in jail. if they nail you on that. and basically that forces most people to come and do a plea agreement and that's, if they go that rico route they will ask from mr. cohen. it will be deal. lori: run the 10 yard line with this. is that the holdup? >> i think we're pretty

close. 10 yard line could take three months for it to occur. clearly we're at the endgame. they will do something or do nothing. they're making noises that they want to do something. steve cohen is innocent until proven guilty. he has not been charged. and he claims his innocence. listen, i think you lay all the facts out. i will say this, when, i'm not saying he is michael milken but i think there's a template what might happen. michael milken spent time in jail. i'm not saying steve cohen is going to jail, facing a rico charge, 22 months in jail. he gave away from what i understand about half his net worth at the time. he was worth a little over 2 billion. melissa: right. >> he paid, 1.1 billion and he was barred from the securities industry. you could see prosecutors wanting something like that out of cohen or sac. remember, drexel also went out of business. melissa: yeah. >> that was the firm, mike milken through his sort of activities in the junk wonder market, was known as

the junk bond king was one of the most powerful firms on wall street. that is the semiplat. i can't say it is exact. i do know this, sac was the opening salvo. its bid was we'll close is. ac. we want deferred prosecution. steve cohen could some day restart a fund. melissa: yeah. >> that was their opening salvo. we know that government said no. so now it will be something else. we'll see. this is an interesting game of chess. melissa: it is. i like the way you kept going even after it sounded like you had been shot, charlie gasparino. thanks so much. >> that is the italian in me. we're used to this stuff. melissa: no, he didn't. went right back through it. he was totally thrown. i yelped and he went through it. >> we grew up. melissa: gunfire, gun play, whatever. yeah, perfect. lori: i want to talk about the markets because we're seeing a big shift in assets today. the stock market is, all the gains are virtually erased and sinking as we speak. melissa: look at that. they fell off. lori: we heard from the fed this morning i want to

reiterate the statement from ben bernanke saying that the fed could begin winding down the 85 billion a month bond-buying program at one of its next few meetings if economic data continues to improve but warned market participants a step down doesn't mean the fed started a one way march toward the exit. the market is interpreting that --. melissa: look at the selloff. lori: yeah. get straight to nicole. actually we're going to go to jonathan corpina, forgive me. he is on the floor of the new york stock exchange watching all of this with us. of course what is your reaction to the stock markets and bernanke here? >> clearly the comments coming out of washington tin to -- continue to add to confusion the investors are witnessing over a period of time. if you look at words bernanke spoke and read them over and over again, one time you read them you think it is positive news, the next time you raid them you think it is negative news. that is the same theme we get out of washingto

washington conflicting data and conflicting statements. we do know there is some sort of time period when end of funding into our economy will stop but when does that actually occur? kind of not real transparent information coming out of today. so when we get nontransparent information, i think investors start to use this as an opportunity to take short-term profits off the table and look forward to some future event. lori: good advice. what do you want to hear from the fed chief? how should have he have addressed this because he totally confused marketplace? >> it is same statement over and over again. we get the same statement. we want dates and direction. i know i'm asking for a lot and i know i'm not getting it right now but the kind of wishy-washy statements coming out is not helping the sentiment in the market today. lori: john, thanks for that. >> thank you. lori: world leaders, ceos, politicians, "forbes" out with the 100 most powerful women list. we have the report next on who is number one. melissa: speaking of winnerses let's see who is on top of the nasdaq.

we had the dow briefly turn negative there. it is back in positive territory. we're looking at the nasdaq here. staples leading the way. we'll be right back. a simple question: hoold is the oldest person you've known? we gave people a sticker and hathem show us. we learned a lot of us have known someone who's lived well into their 90s. and that's a great thing. but even though we're living longer, one thing that hasn't changed much is the official retirement age. ♪ the question is how do you make sure you have the money you need to enjoy all of these years. ♪ all stations come over to mithis is for real this time.. step seven point two one two. rify and lock. command is locd. five seconds. three, two, one.

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lori: and "forbes" is out with the 10th annual list of 100 most powerful women. more than combined revenue of the companies, $890 billion last year alone. joining us moira forbes, president of "forbes" woman. the criteria, how do you make that list? can you hear us? this is lori with fox business and markets now. can you hear us? too bad.

unfortunately we're having trouble connecting with moye a i wanted to hear how you get on the list. melissa: i have confidence they will work it out. markets up 25 five points. we briefly turned negative on the dow. lori: precipitous declines. showing us bond yields. seeing a big shot of price of bonds are selling off. they're working on that. 10-year popped above 2% on the comments from bernanke this morning say. melissa: look at that. lori: so bernanke testifieding before, before congress this morning and we're awaiting the key minutes from the last meeting at the top of the hour. a lot of fed activity. a lot of questions as to the direction of monetary policy from here, will they taper, will they not? bernanke was not very clear. hopefully we'll get more answers with those minutes. meantime looks week we have established communication with moira forbes to talk about the "forbes" 100 most powerful women list. can you hear me now? >> i can hear you now, thank you. lori: first describe to me,

if you will the criteria and what you considered in choosing these women all exemplary in their own way shape and form? >> in 10 years doing this list the women this year, the 100 women this year have never been more powerful. we looked at an expansive and diverse group of women in seven categories from business to media, celebrity, nonprofit politics and billionaires. we looked at three criteria. money, media momentum, which included social media, how much they're driving conversations, but also, impact. lori: right. >> are they using that power for the greater good across multiple spheres. lori: moira, number one is german chancellor angela merkel. why is she outstanding? >> she is an amazing power woman. she has been on our list for eight years. shed is head of the fourth largest economy in the world but more importantly her political power extend far beyond traditional borders of country and continent.

eurozone rests in her hand, the fate restses in her hands largely. what happens to europe's economy happens to the rest of the world. lori: moira, sorry we didn't have more time with you. sorry for the technical glitch. we would love to check back in with you soon. >> thanks so much. >> coming up tonight on "money," first we'll talk about today's house vote on the keystone pipeline with congressman doc hastings, chairman of natural resource committee. spenlser abraham, former secretary of the energy to talk about the future of the pipeline. we'll pick apart the irs hearing and we'll debate tesla's explosion. that is tonight at 5:00 p.m. eastern here on fox business. lori: in just five minutes we'll get latest minutes from the federal research meeting. a inside look at the latest meeting. ashley webster joins me to go through the minutes. powerful testimony from the chairman on the hill. so you don't want to leave. keep it here on fox business.

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lori: 2:00 p.m. here in new york. welcome back to markets now. i'm lori rothman. ashley: i'm ashley webster. wall street waiting on next clues for fomc minutes. the minutes are minutes away. we'll have stocks at record highs and all that coming up. lori: dramatic turn in the irs scandal. a top official refuses to answer questions on capitol hill. congressman mike turner wants all those officials involved in the scandal to go to jail. he is our next guest. ashley: we'll tell you what the average chief executive takes home these days and which ceos are average. that is coming up. way above. lori: let's talk about the markets. we'll get fed minutes in a couple of seconds. the dow is off 27 points, well off the best levels the session. thinking here, ben bernanke

talked both sides of the trade and what is concerning investors and you see this concern illustrated in the bond market with yields rising sharply dashs the next few meetings the fed may decide to taper off the bond-buying program. they're cutting me off. i'm sure peter can pick it up with the minutes and continue the explanation with what the market is reacting to. hey, peter. >> lori, that's right. the minutes for the last fed meeting show a big internal debate about all of this when and whether to do more or less quantitative easing including whetherer to do less as early as the june meeting next month. now the minutes say, quote, most observed that the outlook for the labor market had shown progress since the program was started in september but many of these participants indicated that continued progress, more confidence in the outlook or diminished downside risks would be required before slowing the pace of purchases would become appropriate. a number of participants expressed willingness to adjust the flow of purchases downward as early as the

june meeting, if the economic information received by that time showed, showed evidence of sufficiently strong and sustained growth. but, get this, near the end of the meeting the members appear to be rethinking this discussion and the minutes say, quote, members generally agreed on the need for the committee to the communicate clearly that the pace and ultimate size of its asset purchases would depend on the committee's continued assessment of the outlook for the labor market and inflation and in addition to its judgements regarding the efficacy and cost of additional purchases and extent of progress towards its economic objectives. in his testimony today, chairman bernanke defended the fed's easy money policies. >> i would submit without monetary policies aggressive actions that this recovery would be much weaker than it has been. indeed if you compare our recovery to that of europe and other advanced industrial economies it looks relatively good. >> in the near term these extraordinarery monetary

actions become an enabler of bad fiscal policy allowing president obama an congress to avoid tough and necessary decisions that would clear the roadblocks to a stronger economy. >> talk about uncertainty, chairman bernanke was asked point-blank by a member if he would consider a third term when his term expires this coming january? and he said, he didn't answer. he said i'm in the a position to answer that. lori. lori: peter, that was interesting. that was same response he gave what do you think the long-term effects of this monetary policy? ashley: that's right. >> i'm not prepared. i'm not prepared to answer that that's what he said. lori: a bit concerning too, don't you think? >> yeah. more uncertainty, right? lori: such historical expert after the great depression. ashley: we're in territory that has never been seen before. it is hard for him to gauge because we're in uncharted territory, that's for sure. lori: i think we might be on the verge of seeing an inflection in markets. let's show the bond yields

again. ashley: you were talking about that. lori: keep an eye on 10-year-old, goes past 2.04 2.04, .05% we might see a significant selloff finally in bonds. a lot of people are wondering if the bond market has been in a bubble process if you will. ashley: there has been a lot of talk about that. lori: 30 basis points. this as the stock market gains earlier virtually all evaporated. the market is down. ashley: the dow is off 13 points. it was up 150 points at the beginning of the day. it has been a wild day for the markets. let's see how they're reacting, off by about 13 points as we say, reacting to the fed minutes and fed chairman's testimony earlier today. we have team coverage. nicole petallides on the floor of the new york stock exchange. jeff flock in the pits of the cm elt. let's start with nicole. >> all right. ashley and lori, what we've seen with the market that moves to record intraday highs. we went to 15,542. we heard from our fed head

ben bernanke, talks about monetary policy being extremely accommodative. we heard from the fed minutes that committee members are looking at factors, important factors such as labor. we know unemployment still remains very high. inflation really isn't a concern. for right now we're hearing they will continue doing exactly what they have been doing. with that being said, we moved some major highs and pulled back some which traders are not surprised by that at all. i want to take a look at both lowe's, that is a name on the me and hits an all-time high. mixed street estimates for the latest month looked a little bit better. also taking a look at home depot. it too hit an all-time high. as far as the quarterly numbers moment depot outpaced lowe's easily and home depot is number one and lowe's is number two. we're watching that for two of those main names. back to you. ashley: nicole, thank you very much. lori: oil and gold were down ahead of the release of the fed minutes just moments ago. let's get a look how they're

trading from jeff flock in the pits of the cme. what is the message from commodities postfed, jeff? >> lori, continued down here, well, in the last minute or so, couple minutes since the fed meeting minutes were released, i have oil down about 25 cents. and gold is also down. i'm looking at, it is about $6 down. it has been tremendously volatile day. this pit here, euro-dollar futures pit, you never hear anything out of this pit. there was even screaming coming out of the pit earlier today. i want to put up the gold numbers, intraday, dan isism at his desk here. >> hey. >> gold got whipsawed today. bernanke's testimony was both ways. >> whatever he said market reacts to it. early move was down not too much later was up. he is equivocating are we going to taper or not taper. the market made a corresponding move. >> llok at oil in the middle. day. that was not all bernanke. that was supply and demand.

>> oil was a more fundamental move. it came down as it should have. keep an eye on the stock market and economy. if that starts rally i think you will start see oil going up. >> dan, thanks for taking time away from it. cattle pits down there, they don't care about anything in terms of bernanke and all that foolishness. here in the rest of them they sure do. it has been a wild day. traders love that. volatility, they love that. lori: but in a million different directions, jeff. that is confusing and frustrating at the same time. >> you said it. lori: jeff flock thank you. >> thanks, lori. ashley: for more on the market reaction david joy, ameriprise financial chief market strategist. he is here to talk about what it means for investors. an interesting day, dave. we're up 150 points and basically now we're at the flat line. what is your thoughts? >> what happened at testimony the initial reaction from bernanke's prepared remarks we're not even close to tapering qe. but in response to the first round of questioning from

the committee chairman, he said, we're going to have too3 take a look and maybe over the next couple of meetings we'll make an adjustment. ashley: right. >> this is consistent with what bill dudley said yesterday. we'll see what the data shows in the next three to four months. wall street is thinking this will not start happening toward the end of the year, maybe beginning of next. ashley: right. >> this brings forward the -ppossibility if data is strong enough tapering at the september meeting, maybe the october meeting that is sooner than wall street thought. ashley: as an investor what are your thoughts now? different from before what we heard from mr. bernanke today? >> i think it is important to understand that any tapering in qe3 is ultimately a good thing because it means that there is confidence that this recovery is accelerating and that acceleration is sustainable but --. ashley: do you really believe that though? do you believe the economy without the fed's input is strong enough to stand on its own two feet? >> not yet but it might be. you saw a big jump in consumer sentiment. you saw a big jump in

leading indicators. we had some stabilization in the labor report last month. clearly march was soft. been mixed a little bit since then. but leading indicators are suggesting an acceleration but they're not going to taper until they're absolutely convinced. ashley: right. >> so watch what happens over the next few months of economic data points and if they're firm, and if we get 200,000 a month nonfarm payroll jobs created, then all of a sudden you could see tapering as early as september. ashley: are you surprised by the bond market riege unis today? it was pretty immediate seeing yields jump. >> it is consistent what happens in the stock market all of sudden if there is tapering there is big buyer out of the market. it means the demand for credit would be increasing with an improving economy. ashley: right. >> i don't think we're off to the races in terms of yields. no, this all consistent, commodity prices lower because of a stronger dollar with less stimulus. ashley: do you fear the fed really can exit smoothly and do you fear that there could be a, they're going to have

to slam on the brakes quicker than they wanted to? >> i think they can exit smoothly. there was a lot of talk about not selling mortgage-backed securities back to the market. more of letting them run off. as you pointed out earlier we're in uncharted waters here with the fed. remains to see if they can pull it off. the tools are there and understanding is there and they can adjust as they go. ashley: so, how do you play this right now? >> i like commodities here. ashley: you do? excuse me, equities. ashley: okay. >> i think first of all, the data is pointing to a stronger economy. if it doesn't pick up as we hope, the fed is going to have our back so to speak. ashley: right. >> i think this still implies a pretty good equity market going forward. if they do start to taper it is the ultimate vote of confidence in the economy. ashley: any particular rotation into cyclicals just in the last four weeks. of those i think maybe the most promising is technology.

because --. ashley: so long was the laggard. >> exactly. ashley: yeah. >> but one of the things you've seen is a lack of capital investment in this recovery, would do for some catch-up in that respect. ashley: right. >> it is a sector that hasn't participated. so the valuations there are pretty good. i think spending in the tech space going forward, in the enterprise space will be pretty good. ashley: very good. david joy, thanks for being here. very interesting day for the market. appreciate it. lori: still to come, pleading the fifth in the irs scandal. what lois lerner's refusal to testify means for public trust in the irs. congressman mike turner is on the committee that held today's hearing. he tried to question miss lerner. hear what he had to say about that just ahead. ashley: he triee. hewlett-packard ceo meg whitman feeling pressure to deliver with today's after the bell results. we'll have a preview of that next. first, time to check out oil is trading right now. we saw with jeff flock, it is trading down to 94.41 a barrel. we'll be right back

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lori: how do you characterize the markets today? wild swings. ashley: wild, baby. lori: markets are really lower. ashley: down 35 points now. lori: on the fed minutes. we heard from the fed chief on capitol hill. let's bring in charles payne for discussion. amazing how the fed chief really talked in a way both sides of the trade. we're at risk of stopping economic reccvery if we stop easing. but, if things continue to improve which they kind of seem to be, maybe we'll pull back come like this summer? what do you think of that? >> the thing with ben bernanke there were two things today. lori: right. >> the statement from ben bernanke sent the dow up 153 points. ashley: right. >>ing they had to get out of him what exactly is the scenario from here on out, most empress sieve came from kevin brady, no, we may

actually start to ease or rollout in the next few meetings. wall street is open 2014 which is out of the realm. the big debate on the street coming into the week would it be third quarter, fourth quarter, best case scenario next year. next year is obviously off the table. first thing i when i saw these minutes, i'm saying this is the beginning of ben bernanke's arab spring. he can't control them. there are some people say we want more. some people saying too much. stop now, means the truth, he can't control them anymore. these guys are herding mad, angry cats and their voice is being here if not by ben bernanke but by the stock market. lori: having said that is there anything to do from here? do you just let it go? >> i just find anyone who might have bought into this stock market in the last couple of days, based on whether it is third quarter or fourth quarter is really goofy. if you're that kind of investor, maybe day trading is your real thing. this has to come, has to

come eventually. also if it is done because the economy is getting better, i think that's what we all want. from day one i have been nervous about the way ben bernanke is characterized getting out of this, almost as if it is easy as flipping a light switch. ashley: it's not. >> that scares the heck out of me. that's where greenspan span went wrong. lori: i thought he didn't say it was first step toward exit strategy and that was important and -- >> they could go back to the 85 billion. he didn't use the word unwind. we'll roll out. we'll not disturb any markets. we'll keep buying. this is the thing he keeps saying. we'll keep being accommodative but it may not 85 billion a month but 50 billion a month. wall street doesn't want to hear it. lori: they are addicted. >> ultimate thing as investor you want a world where we don't need the feeeral reserve at all. >> of course. >> we definitely don't need them printing this much money every month. ashley: all right, charles.

>> arab spring. ashley: i will remember that. appreciate it. quarter past the hour. time to check on those markets. it has been an interesting day. nicole petallides on floor of the nyse. nicole? >> let's take a look here, ashley and lori, at thedown which at its highest point, broke through 15,500. traded as high as 15,542. it since pulled back. it was up 155 points today. now in negative territory. certainly the optimism here on wall street taking a little bit of a breather. the vix, fear index is to the upside. dollar is very strong. this is the kind of action we see when we have a strong dollar and equities and commodities sell off and that's what we're seeing in the 10-year bond at 0.21%. hewlett-packard, this dow component will come out with its quarterly numbers after the bell. some analysts are predicting bug miss on the revenue. they will be looking to see how much this company is spending on research and development. stay tuned to the 4:00 p.m. show. we'll have hewlett-packard

and limited. two hot stocks to watch between now and 4:00. we'll bring you numbers as soon as they're available. that is the latest on the floor of the new york stock exchange. back to you. ashley: nicole, thank you very much. we'll be back in 15 minutes. lori: latest drama in the irs scandal. we're not just talking about one top official pleading the fifth. details next with congressman mike turner. ashley: first, let's look how the u.s. dollar is moving right now as the market were up and they were down. as for the dollar, stronger across the board. all of these currencies ares trading down against the u.s. dollar. the euro again slipping down from the 1.29 mark. we'll be right back. thank you orville and wilbur... ...amelia... neil and buzz: for teaching us that you can't create the future... by clinginto the past. and with that:

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>> at 22 minutes past the hour i'm harris faulkner with your fox news minute. on sunday president obama is set to travel to moore, oklahoma, sight of monday's massive tornado that ripped through the town of 41,000 near oklahoma city. that twister killed 24 people. nearly half of them were children. the senate has rejected a bid to move the federal food stamp program to the states. the proposal from republican senator james inhofe of oklahoma would have converted the supplemental nutritional assistance program into grants which each state would decide how

to use that money. more than 47 million people using food stamps costing taxpayers $78 billion which is double the cost since 2008. the senate judiciary committee has passed the immigration overhaul bill on a bipartisan vote of 13-5. that bill would create a path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants and they say strengthen border security. the bill will go before the full senate next month. those are your headlines. i'm harris faulkner. back to ashley and lori. i'm sad. last one of the day. lori: you're sad for wrapping up a workday? ashley: get out of here. enjoy. lori: enjoy your freedom. ashley: run, don't look back. thank you, harris. new developments in that irs scandal. one top official invoking the fifth amendment on capitol hill and another trying to avoid the spotlight. rich edson is in washington with the details. rich? >> not as easy as it seems. at her first hearing on the matter the director of exempt organizations at the

internal revenue service, lois lerner is proud of her work, denied she did anything wrong or broke regulations or lied to congress and then pleads to the fifth amendment refusing to answer any questions. democrats and republicans slammed other witnesses for doug a last shulman for failing to alert congress once he discovered that they were targeting conservative groups applying for status. why he and treasury secretary neil wolin failed to pursue lawmaker concerns about targeting. shulman and wolin said it had stopped when they found out about it and waiting for the inspector general to stop his work. a answer that fell short to some on committee and before darrell issa swore into the witnesses t ot a little comical. >> rise, raise your right hand to take the oath. >> there goes deputy secretary neil wolin, deftly dodging his fellow witnesses leaving only three of the four in that iconic

swearing-in shot. so that left an open chair between wolin and shulman. earlier we reported wolin saying he wanted to stay in his current seat and not sit next to shulman. we checked audio again. wolin turns around asks aide if he should stay in his sheet. darrell issa said no and they all sat together where they are still testifying five hours later. back to you. ashley: you can run but you can't hide and the empty share was pretty interesting. lori: maybe it wasn't totally intentional if i'm reading rich right with kneel wolin, right? ashley: that photograph rather nicely, didn't he stepping to the side? i don't know. i'm a conspiracy theorist, seemed awfully fishy. rich, thank you very much. get you off the hook here. lori: thanks. all right. for more reaction to the hearing is republican congressman mike turner, senior member of the government oversight committee and government reform. congressman, welcome to you. you're part of the committee

again doing this latest testimony. what i thought was most poignant interviewing former chairman doug shulman, you're from the same hometown community and curious whether or not it reflects irs scandal the value of democracy where you are from? and in reading the transcript didn't even seem like he engaged you on a question as simple as that. what is your reaction? >> lori, it was extraordinary, here is scent man saying i wasn't involved, i didn't know, i didn't have any responsibility well, when you ask him you know now what do you think of it does violate the values of our democracy for your government to target them and persecute people based on political beliefs, he demurs, refis fuses to say it doesn't violate values. tremendous amount of on roy anywhere miss lerner invoked the fifth. cited constitutional rights not to answer questions about her involvement or the irs involvement in denying others their constitution gnat rights. lori: is there anything more congest -- congress can do

or ask miss learner? is there any action they can take? can they hold her in contempt of congress? >> she did confirm the answers she gave from the ig being correct under oath. she did in effect enter a testimony into the record but she wasn't subject as many members pointed out to any cross-examination. i think there will be certainly an effort by congress to bring her forward and compel her testimony in areas in areas that would not be self-incriminating. i think it is interesting she is concerned she may be facing criminal prosecution. i certainly think people need to go to jail. i introduced a bill that says if any irs employee should target citizens, taxpayers based upon either religious or political beliefs those individuals should go to jail. lori: all right. pe've had three days of testimony across many committees now. where are we? what information do we have? what information do we still need to get, and are you personally frustrated at this process? it seems like even tougher than pulling teeth with

these irs officials? >> right. you see a lot of deception going on. basically what you have is questions of congress, who, what, when and where and answers almost if this spontaneously happened in the irs. one thing we know, this didn't spontaneously happened. people directed this. people were certainly conspiring for this. they need to be held accountable. they need to be held@kbl. lori: do you think it influenced outcome of the election, a question i'm asking a lot of congressman lately? >> certainly one of the things they were trying to do is hold back these groups, not only persecute them but put them under greater scrutiny but make it them not able to operate. one arm of the government trying to prevent people from criticizing the government you're certainly not operating within a democracy. lori: what can you tell americans that they feel more confident in the irs. we were intimidated by the irs before this now it makes it much worse. for everyday people, can you give us, confidence, congressman turner, we'll not be properly audited if we're late in our taxes we

can go about proper way to make that right? >> i think people certainly have a right and a reason at this point to be concerned about the iis. certainly when we listened to someone like mr. shulman who can't even articulate it is wrong about what occurred, i think congress will get to the bottom of this. they will hold people who did it accountable. even more so, by the time it is all over it will be written in the law books as a crime. i think that, taxpayers will have the ability to hold the irs personally accountable if they are subject to persecution. lori: we'll leave it there. congressman mike turner, thank you. >> thank you. ashley: again i love the irs if anyone --. lori: you know, with this intense scrutiny you wonder if the irs has taken its eye off the ball from really uncovering people who are implicated in tax fraud. ashley: interesting stuff. lori: not either of us of course. ashley: no, we love the irs. mixed signals from the fed when it could start cutting back on stimulus.

former fed steven olin is next. lori: the dow is down 41 points. about a session low here. but bristol-meyers, reed johnson, pioneer international are all climbing today. they are winners. back after this. [ man ] on december 17, 1903,

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pulled back into negative territory. plenty of news from ben bernank and existing home sales as well. want to take a look. up 15% at the moment. watching this in particular because considering investing and could push to merge with neiman-marcus. you remember yesterday, working with goldman in order to force them. with this move and this big action that we're seeing, 15 percent, that pushes this particular stock to the highest levels since 2008, so this retailer will be in the news. tracy: thank you so much. breaking news, the oil closed off $1.90, up significant news. $94.28, this has the dollar is stronger. the client is nearly 2% -- well the second straight day of losses for crude. ashley: chairman ben bernanke said the fed could begin windin

down its stimulus program at on of its next few meetings depending upon how the economy' doing. our next guest is not expect an tapering before september. joining us now, former federal reserve senior adviser and economists now at ati. thank you for joining yes. what did you make of the chairman's comments? the prepared statement, but ended down a little more interesting during the q&a. >> it did. i think this chairman is trying to signal that the fed thinks that the tapering of that qe program is not too far down the road. they have not quite seen enough improvement in the labour marke yet to pull the trigger. he is trying to lay the groundwork for what probably will happen this fall to make sure that the market reaction i not too large and that the markets are well prepared for what they're going to do the. ashley: if we get better than expected job reports of a the next couple of months, that could push the timetable of the market did not?

>> it could. the next meeting is and made june, and after that in august and after that in september. so i think it is very unlikely that they will be tapering by june because they will only get a chance to see on report between now and then, an that probably won't be evident, even if it is a good report. august i think, a little less likely because there is no pres conference for the chairman after the august meeting, and i think he would prefer to do the tapering at a meeting where he has a press conference and an opportunity to explain that the have been immediately. ashley: obviously thinking that the qe will be affected. always advised looking ahead to the economy. >> yes. the fed is really focus on the futures. there are tests for whether they're going to taper down the program, whether they see that there is sustained improvement

in the outlook for the labor markets. we tried not to just assess where we are today, where we ar likely to be six months from no on one year from now as best as they can. ashley: listening to some of th questions come other is the fea that the fed will not be able t do this smoothly. the impact that could have on the markets. i don't think it will be as smooth. a massive portfolio that-trying to unwind. aad controlling the market expectations is very difficult. it is hard enough when you're only trying to signal what you're doing of the federal fun rate. now it is doubly difficult because they're trying to signa as well an unprecedented way what they're going to do with this massive portfolio, citing that they will do a course of indicating the markets, but i d

not anticipate a smooth exit. ashley: abcaeight. thank you so much for joining us . >> you are welcome. tracy: continuing on the theme of the fed and the market reaction, down about 60 points. let's talk about treasury. up 2% during the testimony this morning. holding at that level after the of the hour. let's check in with an income strategist. what is the message in all this to you? >> the market is reacting to this statement from bernanke that they could unwind part of quantitative easing of a the next several meetings, and i think that is what many people expect. unrealistic that they are likel to do it before september. and back, there are optimistic outlooks. january yourself. nonetheless, the market is reacting to fear that they're going to take away quantitative easing much faster than expected

. tracy: is this statement released before the q&a portion of that testimony bernanke gave consistent with heavy in some o those questions? this statement, all in. if we stop quantitative easing too soon it was the economy at risk of economic growth, and risk of failing. i'm not saying it properly, but that was essentially the message . but then he kind of stopped. maybe one of these earlier meetings, you could, you know, actually start backing off. >> you make a great point, and that is i think is prepared comments were really where he wanted the conversation to go. in response to the q&a he misle a little bit in terms of increasing the likelihood that they would on wind and earlier rather than later, and i think if they have that opporunity, i really suggests that the econom is much stronger than what even the fed expected, and if that i the case, the stock market is off base because the stock

market should be higher based upon strong growth which would be a great environment for credit like high-yielding loans a great environment for the equity market. as the market is correctly anticipating, it would be a lousy market for high-quality safe-haven slight 10-year treasurys. tracy: a rudimentary follow-up. that 2% yield today. some strategists told me last week, wants that level. you will hit that point. you could start seeing a breakdown of what some people characterize as a bond market bubble. what do you think? >> if there is a bubble anywher it is in treasury securities supported by the price -- the prices supported by the fed buying. i don't think it is likely to o monday, but the fear is causing people to run away from the markets. i would not characterize it as bubble because it suggests that

it will pop, but think that we are at risk for a long amount o time of slow price deterioratio and high-quality longer-term credit. tracy: you would not expected t rise further than it is now? >> by the end of the year they're likely to rise, but the fed has to be careful. if the 10-year treasury went to two and a half, where does that put mortgages? it puts mortgages at four and 1/4-4 and a half which was shut down housing, said down mortgag rates financing, and that is th one strong pillar of economic growth that is really pushing this economy right now. tracy: a sector of the economy that monetary easing had clearl boosted. >> and i do not think that they can afford to pull away from th economy. they certainly want to watch that carefully, and anything above 21 the quarter is going t it really cause concern until they see sustainable, economic growth which will last happen between now and the end of the year. tracy: thank you.

ashley: a new twist and the controversy over apple's tax bill. why it might be smaller than yo think coming up next. ♪

♪ >> reporter: time now for your fox business brief. the federal reserve's on its stimulus program.

the central bank's latest minutes say they would vote in favor of easing the program if the economy showed strong and sustained growth. thoss officials are arguing ove the demonstration of such gains. outstanding debt as it looks to take the advantage of a record low interest rates. the move will reduce earnings a well as have an impact on its current repurchase programs. and getting a makeover for the first time in 14 years. rolling avenue bottle and efforts to win back markets share of the premium water category. the very latest news from the fox business network, giving yo the power to prosper. ♪

♪ ashley: a quarter till the hour. time for stocks now residue

every 15 minutes. that said down to the new york stock exchange. what all mild day. how would you describe it? >> it is good to see volatility back in the market. but what i think this is is the uncertainty coming out of washington. we talked earlier about the comments that we heard from bernanke in the minutes that came out. investors one direction, more transparency and information. i think we got today just adds to a little bit of the uncertainty of what the future might hold the next few months. ashley: up 50 points. thank you so much. >> thank you, sir. tracy: does apple make itself look better by inflating the size of its tax rate? that is the latest attack. a panel investigating the strategy. with more news, liz macdonald o this story, tax fraud is not of their way to characterize it. they're paying their taxes by

the law. >> and here is the second chapter of this controversy involving apple. the latest chapter is that appl says in its sec filings thaa is federally effective income-tax rate is 25%. but what it is doing is putting the dollar amounts in the cooki jar rainy day reserve into the dollar amount of the taxes that they're going to pay, so that i not really money out the door t set. so what they're doing is essentially saying, okay, put all the then there any means that we're paying 25%. sick as rainy day finds out and it is really a around the 20 percent range with a lot of companies in china, south korea actually pay. so jim cut, what he said, the ceo of apple in testimony befor the senate panel yesterday , here's what he said. take a listen. >> with all this growth and investment, to the best of our knowledge, apple has become the

largest corporate income tax payer in america. last year our u.s. federal cash effective tax rate was 30 and a half percentage. >> what he is talking about her is factoring in local taxes would skate even higher. the effective total all rate of. but all of this is setting asid the real problem. they trade a lot of products from our indian california headquarters which puts the profits and the investments fro that in ireland. that is the real problem. 39 billion this year in the united states. that is the profit that affleck it -- apple gets reported. 74 billion is in ireland. so that is the crux of the matter. that is what is getting the senators very upset. your wrongfully reporting it then had -- should have the r&d

assets created in the united states reported in the united states and paid taxes to the united states. tracy: thank you. >> sure. tracy: just ahead, a bold move. telling japanese giant how to run its business. he may be owning up to his ideas . ashley: first, let's take a loo get some of the day's winners. an interesting day for the nasdaq. staple is up nicely today. express also moving higher. we will be right back. ♪ uzz: for teaching us that you can't create the future... by clinging to the past. and with that: you're history. instead of looking behind... delta is looking beyond. 80 thousand of us investing billions... in everything from the best experiences below... to the finest comforts above. we're not simply saluting history... we're making it.

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♪ ashley: the board of directors is reviewing a proposal by hedg fund investor that display of fudge chunk of the business as separate stock. by is it corporate governance?

say they will review the idea when you plan to kill it. it might be open to a dramatic alteration. now sony stock as long been a laggard. $150 a share in 2000. it has been as lowest in dollars . so the thin margin its clobbere by corinne and chinese rivals, looked year, stock up 35% this month, up 15% just in the last week since the spinoff idea cam out and other companies have benefited greatly. arguing for three years that sony should do it. now, they'll spend more than tw decades in pursuit of that elusive elixir known as synergy. it's all line hardware could make the tv sets and devices fo movies and tv series created by the content side same senate jean never really happened. instead, hardware struggles, 5%

profit margins, the era of the apple ipod, heads funds but, suggesting spinning off a 20% stake as a separate stock. suddenly devalue its unlocked. other companies have broken up to great effect. our parent company is splitting in half. publishing on one side and vide content on the other and stock is up since the announcement. time warner's pla is now shipping magazines. cablevision said bonn off, and those new stocks pop, but sony, perhaps repudiating over 20 years and multiple billions of dollars in investments have mad this. is a good idea, but some say it is highly unlikely. he and difficult thing to accomplish. >> held the turnaround to the world's. you've just can't afford to do it. a shakeup or income entirely ne

underestimated that's going to happen. tracy: sets a strong precedent of companies breaking up and th increasing value. >> we will see what it does. tracy: ceo rising again to an all-time high. a chief executive made it almos 10 million. almost nothing. we don't get paid that much here . well, six and a half percent more than one year before the announcement by the ap, so talking with cbs, 60 million bolland by the communications, disney's third and the viacom which owns, rounding up the top five. making the big bucks. five of the ten highest-paid ceos were from the entertainmen and media industry. ashley: gray work if you can ge it.

he's all right. liz claman. taking is to the last hour of trading. she will be joined at the barclays center. fighting to revamp and other pr sports stadium up against some heavyweights. countdown to the closing bell i next. ♪ (announcer) at scottrade, our clients tre and invest

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battle royale with another new york sports tycoon to gain the ownership of an iconic plan -- long island arena. and innovation comes from the edges, and to achieve that it i going after a segment of the population often overlooked. "countdown to the closing bell" starts right now. ♪ liz: well, the fed's fault. hi, everybody. i'm liz claman. the last hour of the trading an today it has been all about the fed. the chairman appear before congress later this morning. it is too soon for the fed to slow its massive bond buying program, but then the q&a happened and he started to say may be in the next couple of meetings with. however, and the last hour it was the fed minutes from the april 30th meeting s