>> obamacare is the gift that keeps giving. they're giving americans north america chance. what are the latest developments? >> basically yesterday was the deadline. if you wanted to have insurance by january 1st you were had to have signed up. the problem was there were so

many people on the website they're giving a grace period. if you were in line yesterday waiting to sign up and the system told you you had to wait, you could sign up actually by the end of today. here are obamacare statistics brought to you by cmx. more than 50,000 were on the site. it's only designed to handle that many people and then put you in line. 1.2 million visitors over the weekend. what officials haven't said how many people signed up in the last minute flurry. president obama expects 2 million by january 1st, half of those would have private insurance and the other half government or medicaid or chip. and this is halfway to the goal that the administration projected a couple of months ago and doesn't sclu-- include the millions of americans who had their health care canceled.

the mandates have been delayed and the botched rollout of the website and the numbers are far below what they hoped. the administration says it will% get better as the website improves. 2014 a lot more goes into effect. the bulk goes into effect and they really don't know what to expect when 2014 rolls around. back to you. >> the idea that it can only get better is something hard to argue. have a great holiday and we'll talk to you soon. thanks a lot, rich. >> you, too, charles. charles: liz? >> reaction is pouring in. and it's becoming one big not applicable. and how difficult it is to get insurance and buying is. and one person says it's really shop till the drop because that's how long it tanks. and now we have the president enrolling in health reform and

can't put his own personal information on the website. charles: that's the phoneiest move. really, what is he going to do now, a commercial even i signed up at obamacare? >> and tell you something, reaction pouring in on that we don't have the youtube video, the president on his lab top signing up like to donate to his campaign. they didn't want him doing that. he's not allowed to have his personal information on the exchange. charles: the fact of the matter he won't use the insurance anyway. the government insurance-- >> it's already admittedly, quote, symbolic. charles: that's the nicer one and that's christmas eve. clock is ticking, time is money and 30 seconds is what i'm looking at for you today. the space walk outside international space station is happening right now. astronauts trying to fix the cooling system. this is the second time this week they expect to complete the fix today and not good news for the retailers.

traffic at brick and mortars fell, and it's an early christmas present for federal workers, president obama signing an executive order giving them a 1% raise in the new year. folks, we know tech stocks have been on a tear and leading the rally and wall street. will the names that you know keep going up? after the break, someone says yes. stay right there, the opening bell is next. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ tires screech ] chewley's finds itself in a sticky situation today after recalling its new gum. [ male announcer ] stick it to the market

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>> well, we're just a minute away from the opening bell. joining the company from chicago is larry levin and everyone is jumping on the band wagon, for me i get nervous, a contrarian, should we wave the yellow flag. >> a lot of your viewers active in the market feel that's the most dangerous thing to do. you've been forced to do that for the last several years, it's the right trade and it might continue to be the right trade, but, the key is protecti protecting yourself. protect with options, stops, do something to make sure, even though that risk is high that you've got yourself protected. charles: we've got to tell you one of the oldest axioms, the

trend is your friend and there's no disputing this trend right now. >> i would keep a close eye on interest rates. if interest rates rise we'll get a pullback in equities. if you don't we'll see the rally continue. >> is there a special number to put you in automatic defense mode? >> well, certainly at 3% yield, we bounced off that a bunch of times and until we get there, there may be buy stops and the high and yield at that point. something to watch for, that 3%. >> one of the things i've noticed with that rally from the beginning, it's been-- we found a way to celebrate mediocrity and expectations begin to increase and that could be a risk to the market as well. right? >> yeah, absolutely. we doesn't like to think like that, but certainly we've been doing a lot like that, the key to me, to see thh market take off and see us prosper, as the economy to take off and job cuts to get better and we've

seen that, but not as much as we need to. we'll see the market going up and the economy prosper and that's what we're looking for. charles: we've benefitted in the past and good luck on the trading day and folks, you can hear the opening. [bell ringing] bell the ruchs were up and the market has been on something of automatic pilot. we're up 16, 298 the way we like to start the sessions. it's been a huge year for the stock market. and the market is up 7 points right now. one of the most amazing things we're seeing confirmation all over the place. corporate america, disney, they're tapping one of the big names in the tech industry to be on the board of director. twitter chairman is going to be joining the board. got to go to nicole at the nyse

to get reaction on the stock. nicole: the stock is higher up 1/10 of 1%, 73.39 right now. obviously, big news, bob iger bringing on jack dorsey on the board. only 36 years old and obviously by far the media conglomerate's youngest board member and he's going to bring valuable perspective to the board of disney and bob iger, by the way, he gets his compensation slashed by 15%, with a bonus cut. charles: i know. was that carter moving out this year? what was it that hurt them this year, that check, that crazy debacle. was that this year or last year? >> that really bad movie? no, it doesn't say why they're getting the bonus cut. the bonus. because it did not outperform its targets. as a result, he gets the bonus

slash. charles: on the board of directors, bring them in young and hot new talent and penalizing the ceo for not living up to expectations. we've got big highs from other tech companies that continue to lead the way. twitter has been phenomenal. almost $56. facebook, 58 almost $59 a share and of course, apple, which has reignited up to 571 a share. want to bring in michael robinson, money map press. i want to talk to you what you think about the tech heavy hitters? >> well, they continue to drive the economy because the story here really, a growth and also earnings, these guys are up a lot of cash and investors in this market are looking for good cash flow and solid earnings. >> here is the disconnect. okay, the top line is hard to argue. the bottom line has been

relatively-- twitter isn't making a lot of money and facebook isn't bringing anything to the bot -- bottom line. and i'm being facetious, but that's the point. >> in those particular cases, what we're talking about is sales growth, earnings growth. not showing up at the bottom line. if you look at apple or google, the money is falling directly to the bottom line, a huge amount of of earnings. on one hand we've got the growth story which helps to drive the market and really good fundamentals on a lot of the tech leaders. charles: what would you say to someone who says golly with the tech names leading the way and going parabolic, we're talking straight up like a rocket ship, what about viewers who say this feels like 1999. >> no way is it like 1999. year to date tech ipo's, in

1999, charles, it was 260%. so, that one statistic right there tells you we're not seeing the kind of lazy euphoria and throw a dart at anything that says.com on it. and internet stories, biotech is doing well. there are a lot of new drugs on the market and throwing the big names and the cap companies, throwing a lot of cash's earnings. i would say and i tell everybody two things, you should be in technology, and health care slash biotech and you have to be selective. you can't throw a dart at the board and say, each company has a unique story to tell. >> it's liz macdonald here, thank you for joining us and merry christmas. let's talk about apple. system cook is again teasing the world saying, watch out, 2014, not just new products, but new product categories. this is the third time he has made these statements since april of this year. what do you make of that?

what do you think is going to come out of apple? >> better be something fairly big. at one point people said he was the king of vaporware because he was always promising. but the chinese mobile deal is huge and talking the iphone 6 three to four months early so i think a number of things will be going on there. the china mobile, i would underestimate the importance of that. 700 million potential new customers, not just the iphone, possibility to upsell the i-bad. once they have that and then the. on your point, do you think that 2014 is the year of apple tv, the apple wrist watch or what? >> i really don't know to be quite honest with you. this gets back to your central point. he keeps teasing the market. we've talked about apple tv for two years, it's fish or cut

bait. he's going to have to show what he's got in 2014. charles: michael, we appreciate a tech stock and everybody is thrilled what you just had to say. all right, buddy, we'll talk about something soon. and big news for tesla and the five star rating. reaffirmed by the national highway traffic safety administration. so that stock has got to be-- talk about a christmas present. this is great news for tesla and its shareholders. the stock is up 6%, 152.33. they continue to ruling it five star, the highest safety rating and that the model s, the driver and passengers achieving the best safety track record of any car on the road. that's unbelievable, despite the fires, we've talked about those fires, but even in those instances they were in certain areas of the car and even notified the driver to get out, get out of the car, we're on

fire. something to that extent, right? so great news here for tesla. charles: great news and a great move, thanks a lot, nicole. social media has taken the world by storm, but more things to keep your eyes on. shannon is here and we're going to talk about what's big in tech for next year. okay, it sort of remind me of back in 1999 almost every week something new and exciting was coming around the corner. what can we expect for 2014? >> yeah, i know, i think there are so many important things and friends coming out in 2014. there are three that i'm looking at, one is digital currency and this week we heard bitcoin was going to be accepted as payment by overstock.com. a large retailer in 2014 and that's a trend to watch. the second thing is location and location awareness, a lot

of apps out there and twitter is one of them. they recently rolled out who is nearby. with someone having a smart phone in your pocket, that's basically a location beacon. and companies even like my own banking on 2014. finally, i think we're going to see more about robotics, their 8th acquisition in the robotic's region in the last months. i think it's om the tip of the i iceberg. charles: you talked about digital currency. bitco bitcoin, victoria's secret is accepting that. and they are he a getting watered down, does that make it more difficult?

>> i think it's a difficult concept for people to grasp. it's volatile. and bitcoin fluctuated between 500 and 1200 and i think it may be not bitcoin, but another player in digital currency. a lot of trying to solve the issue, how do we decouple from government regulation and many other things and i think that bit coin is ahead of theegame and might break out in 2014 as things stabilize with more acceptance of on-line currency payments. charles: we're running down and don't have a lot of time. i'm extraordinary cited about these things. thr some serb-- there could be some, and ultimately some jobs for americans. as this is happening we have to celebrate this and that's exactly what you guys did. >> yeah, i think that it's a bit of a broad statement to say that robotics could mean less

jobs for manufacturing. i think there are a lot of ways to the kinds of jobs that are done in manufacturing and expand some onshore manufacturing opportunities in the u.s., it's certainly an exciting near ahead and i look forward to seeing what exciting, every week something new out there and i look forward to that. >> i agree a thousand percent. thank you very much, we appreciate it. >> thank you so much. >> let's check on the big board, the markets now up 28 points, dialed back above 16,300 maybe the new barometer going into the new year. no holiday for christmas traffic and it was down big before christmas. what are they going to do to hit the stores. we've got someone coming up next. announcer: where can an investor

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♪ >> all right. you're looking at a couple of the early movers in the market, also let's checkkonce quick on the big board. the dow jones industrial average at a new high and entering a new high. 16,331. rock on, baby. time now for your morning gold report. oh, we have rebounded that 1200 a sticky number. a lot of people were hoping this is where gold finally makes a stand. in the final countdown of the years in biggest shopping season and they're worried. in-store traffic drop, sales for the last week before christmas fell 3.1%, this according to shopper track. and it's our retail trend watcher is here to help break it down. here is what i feel interesting.

traffic down dramatically, but sales aren't off that much. what does that mean? >> the reason why traffic are down so much. people are not going into the stores and shopping. not because they're not buying, but because a lot of the shopping is taking place on mobile devices. paypal came out with a study that says that customers, 50% of customers don't want to go in stores and shop anymore, they're doing it by noble devices and hand-helds. charles: when you do walk in the store and this is me, i'm old so maybe i'm doing it differently. i look on the internet for things i like and then i think everyone else, people must be doing that because the few people that are going in are spending money. >> sure, and people are doing that. and that's a-- it's almost an epidemic that's hitting retailers and what they're trying to do is get away from that. so what they're doing is they're trying to make-- have as many promotions as possible happening in the stores and that's why you're

seeing all the stores open for hours, you know, 100 hours. charles: kohl's 108 hours. >> listen, when is the reality show going to come out. robo shopper. going to the malls is like preparing for a small military battle. word is that this is going to be the most heavily discounted shopping season ever. is that true? >> you're absolutely right. >> we see the discounts happening now? when do we see them coming out? what is your advice to shoppers? >> if you're like me, i've been in the studio the last couple of hours and i don't know, i haven't really been at the malls, but when i was out there last night. 70% off. nts between 50 and when stores go above 70% off. 75, et cetera, that's eating into their margins? >> is that the true discount? >> 1% above 70% that's when you're getting a discount. and the benefit for the

customer and about things with the retailers. right now they're trying to get that merchandise 0 ut out and seeing things up to 70%. charles: last minute shoppers, a whole lot of people held off and could it save the retail space? what is going to happen here? >> the promotions and discounts, once you've overdiscounted and and overpromoting. charles: it's a catch 22? >> it's a double-edged sword and you need to bring the sales up high in order for the extended hours to make it worth it. a lot of overhead going into the stores. >> what the are the best deals you're seeing quickly? >> electronics, a lot of them are-- name brands, 20, 30%, and also winter apparel as well. charles: i just have one word

for them, if they want to get me in the store, free. a lot of free stuff. >> costco, free samples, there you go. >> could have a pick in with free samples. >> and things have been spiraling out of control, this is the interesting idea. how about the salaries tied to students' post college suck -- success? we've got more on that next. , we route your order to up to 75 market centers to look for the best possible price -- maybe evenetter than you expected. it's all part of our goal to execute your trade in one second. i'm derrick chan of fidelity investments. our one-second trade execution is one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. now get 200 free trades when you open an account.

>> well, there's a new trend in higher education. we're not talking rising tuitions. some schools across the country are linking graduation and hiring rates to college. >> i totally agree. too often we forget that college academics, deans,

>> i've been personally tracking some of these, and think they're honey pots and sitting on billions. are they using it on college bling like white elephant football stadiums? the business model for college is this and this is important, it is a hotel industry, they need more students in, college students into their dorms and that's how they make money and why they have glitz why i-- glitzy cafeterias. it's about helping the middle class family and getting the

costs down. >> and maybe a more parn settiparn-- to put this simply, it's been a, it hasn't been a good year for president obama, can the g.o.p. capitalize next year and why did he sign up for obamacare when he didn't need it? was that a political stunt? if it was, i think it's a bad one. we'll explain it all in the next hour and more than half of america thinks that christmas is a cultural holiday, has the country lost its faith? we're going to ask father jonathan morris next. you can separate rwayridicu. from fason that flies off the shelves. and you...rent from tional. because only nional lets y choose a car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above,nd still pay the mid-size price. (natalie) ooooh, i like your ste. (vo) so do we, businespro. so do we.

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means keeping your family protected. charles: good morning, a and charles dean in for stuart varney. the white house delaying the deadline to sign up for obamacare. not been a good year for the president. can the gop take advantage? both sides of the aisle on that this hour. the messaging service that lets pictures self-destruct as a competitor called welker. is that much more secure? we will ask this company ceo. it is christmas eve. have we taken religion out of the holiday? what about the pope's recent comments on capitalism? father jonathan morris is here. stewart is outside the that does not mean we won't have a christmas message, 10:45. another hour of "varney and company" happ

we start by checking the big board, dow 27 points, trading much higher. i know that you have news from the fed. we will get to that later, big interview with the fed, david asman is here but we talk about the tech rally, stocks have been on an absolute tear. some wonder if this parabolic move is a yellow flag. what do you think? >> i was ready to go. you are a pro so you could reload. liz: that was charles's christmas present to you. >> what is happening with tech stocks is symbolic of most tech stocks. we talked about this and you have been on top of the rally from the get go. nobody in this building has been on top of this rally like you have but i am wondering if it is topping out.

i don't know what you think of the we have a strange situation. the vix is down -- has a 12 handle, 12.78 as interest rates are up three basis points. when you have interest rates going up and the vix going down that is a situation that can't whacks and what is happening with tech -- charles: vix is -- they call it the fear engage. you are saying is too complacent. >> when interest rates are going up that usually increases fear. not a lot. it is still a little below 3%. you have a disequilibrium and that don't think will last. liz: i call it an e. cagey monitor. charles: when this one goes flat it has been pretty good the last couple years. i never had much, guys always e-mail me and teach me how to

use the vix that seems like common sense to me. if it closes of 100 that is volatility. liz: global stocks are at a six year high when you look at global indices. six year high is the story line. charles: is not just text box rising. win resorts' hitting a new high so let's go to nicole petallides to find out why. nicole: an all-time high for win. this is extensions for casino companies up 1.7% and what we are looking at, it is a huge gambling mecca that brings in tons of business, $38 billion in 2012 and much the same this year. how about another alternative in asia? maybe japan? they have looked not too far too snags' those high rollers from china.

singapore and malaysia accommodate don't want their own citizens gambling so it looks like could be japan, the prime minister looking at a bill because currently it is illegal to have a casino but tokyo's 2020 olympic games, this could be a story of the future. charles: they have those callers used in japan that make a lot of money. why not? japan is trying to kick start its economy one way or the other. why not take the wealthy chinese money. i would pass a bill tomorrow. you look wonderful in your redtop this morning. good to see you. now to the obamacare situation. january 1st coverage, extended to the end of the day, that is not at all. the white house, a symbolic move president obama had his staffers sign him up for the bronze plan that he does not need nor will the ever use and even they didn't use the web site so let's bring in gop's strategist, what

does this mean? to a certain degree you have to be salivating over this. >> it is a big christmas time for that. happy new year. the president is in hawaii hanging out by the pool hanging out by the beach, the bronze plan, it is a lie. christmas eve -- everybody is mad about that because their shopping and trying to get that thing then. people have a life. now extend another lie, why -- charles: the gop has not been able to capitalize on it. >> you are wrong. people realize and especially -- it is the democrats who will take him under because you are not going to make us lose the race so midterm they will say he lied, we didn't know.

democrats are going to -- >> the president signing up for health reform, can't put his own personal information but did send a staffer. we were talking about what do you think of this? there won't be a youtube video of the president using a laptop to sign up on the exchange because the site could crash on him and again, he'd basically said to a staffer what do you think of the optics of that? >> the optics are so terrible. it is another live. is being dishonest. do you think he will use that plan? of course not. he has his own plan like members of congress. a big fat lie. >> extended to christmas eve something working terribly. talk about a scrooge in the white house extending the day before christmas to send people to website that is barely working at all. if anything was ideal for the opposition it would be focusing

on that, the optics of mr. scrooge on christmas eve on a website the doesn't work. >> why don't they make a new year's day when everyone is hungover. it gets worse and worse. charles: at least you could wait. i have to give you push back on the idea of the gop will take advantage of this. i have little confidence in that. >> if we sat and did nothing -- may be. because sometimes when we attack we get burned so we can just sit back and have eggnog the. charles: everybody realizes now that ted cruz was right when he said it is better for this nation even if we have to slow down the government to do that in order to stop this thing from unwinding. thank goodness he was saying that before this thing rolled out. >> regardless, obamacare, in this end, the american people,

it will be repealed in the end. charles: march 31st, the penalty, that will be moved, no way in the world. it will keep coming and coming, the flip side is the economy is getting better, the president friday when he gave his press conference sort of jumped on that bandwagon. anything? >> on the night level of dante's in fern know when the economy -- charles: have not woken up. >> rates up a little bit. i don't think rising up the level is going to help obamacare. charles: the expectation game is something. ed snowden is claiming victory in a new interview with the washington post. the nsa leaker says his mission is accomplished at feels validated by the media attention he brought to government surveillance. i want to ask you about this. i never got where you stood with ed snowden. >> my son has been in the marine corps 12 years, anything the jeopardizes his lifetime

against. ed snowden has jeopardized my son's life. how could i be in favor of that? liz: and the lives of others. been narrative is he did try to alert authorities about what he was thinking, now being called into question. charles: there are ways to get the information out without putting people's lives in jeopardy. has been done before with the pentagon papers and others. if he felt individual liberties were being abused as i think they were and they are there are ways to get the information out without this incredible release of information. charles: the exact opposite, if you would have gone a traditional route, there would be interference by the government we would never know the secrets we know now. stuart: i have talked to intelligence officials and information that has gotten out has very dangerously jeopardized some missions that we have in this world and some of those

missions my son is on. >> you can equate it with the pentagon papers, daniel els bird took a different route than ed snowden did. ed snowden ran to foreign countries and basically told them what it was about. charles: is there anything good that has come out of this? >> yes. the danger putting lives at risk from fall the good. the good is we know the government was doing stuff it should not have been doing. the bad is u.s. lives have been -- charles: i would love to see him make a stand here. liz: about surveillance. charles: yesterday, "after the bell" david asman spoke to richard fisher. his first interview after the fed decision last week. i want to play the following clip and get your impression. the first one on money printing. take a listen. >> i action will be argued for

$20 billion. the market could have digested that. we have to see how the economy proceeds. charles: it was an interesting reaction by the stock market to capering which we heard. we were going to free fall. would it have made a difference? >> this is a bombshell. he wanted to double it. the important thing about fischer is he will become a voting member in 2014. he lost that privilege in 2011. he will be more important a voice than he has been. charles: he will be in the midst. >> the fact that he would feel comfortable pushing that taper means perhaps every time, eight times in 2014, at $10 billion per meeting is going to be tapered. that is an increase of $450 billion into --

charles: here is what fisser had to say about job creation and who is responsible for it. >> the private sector creates jobs. we have given them the fuel to improve themselves, clean up their vouchers and go out and hire but they haven't been hiring with all the massive liquidity because all the question-mark about regulatory policy. charles: is this another example of the obama administration taking a victory lap because for fiscal policy, in his last press conference and we got it from fisher's mouth. and by the way, that answer was in direct response to something ben bernanke said where he took credit for job growth. he said part of the reason we had more jobs is because of what we have done at the fed. first thing out of richard fisher's mouth is the private sector that creates jobs. fisher is not an actor domitian. pe is not a theoretician. he is an economist, a business

economist. he understands business because he was in the business community unlike these other guys who were academics their whole life like ben bernanke. he knows it is the private sector. charles: use a business term, return on investment, 4 troy in dollar balance sheet friends everything about our economy, has that been worse -- liz: when will banks lend the money into the system? is parked at the federal reserve and earning interest will the fed cut the rate on the interest that it pays banks? we don't see inflation just yet. when will we see the return on investment? when banks start doing that. i will say this. unemployment is a lagging indicator. it is a lagging indicator. and it is initiatives and with that in mind. bernard: they can take advantage of this cash and little companies cannot and it is little companies that create the

new jobs. charles: the big companies have taken advantage by the buyback and dividend increases. liz: have we paid for problems in the economy without -- charles: great interview. let's take a look at the brick and mortar companies. tie that obviously feeling the heat from the data breached yesterday. stock is down more. nicole: shop till you drop, ot even a day left till christmas, extended hours, target may be on the hook for $3 billion. and the secret service leading the investigation. u.s. senators, blue and fall, chuck schumer of new york and others looking into the investigation as well. stock is down 2% from black first day and obviously still under pressure. we will see, did they actually put their customers at risk?

that is the question and all these investigators want to know. charles: it is a huge deal. we appreciate it. between rampant consumerism and secularization of christmas are people forgetting the true meaning of a holiday? father jonathan moore's next. [ bagpipes and drums play] [ music transitions to rock ] make it happen with the all-new fidelity active trader pro. it's one more innovative reason serious instors are choosing fidelity. get 200 free trades when you open an account.

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charles: eight months after the building that collapsed in bangladesh, retailers and labour groups partner in with the bangladesh government to create $40 million compensation fund to aid the families who were lost and their loved ones. father jonathan morris is here. the comments the pope made recently on capitalism in the discussion with steward and myself week ago, you seem little bit frustrated with the role of capitalism in these poor countries. >> when pope francis put out this document in which he did talk about the dangers of what he said unfettered market, no regulation whatsoever, the dangers i am hoping that trickle-down economic theory is going to cover every one. that is what his concerns were. but he never used the word

capitalism once in the document. i would say he is from argentina, not the greatest experience of capitalism ever, and therefore he might b critical of capitalism. charles: take bangladesh for instance. this garment industry that came out of left field, the second largest garment industry in the world, december 1st day of the race for the minimum monthly salary, doesn't sound like a lot. we are talking women whose mothers, great grandmothers parrot never had a nickel or a penny. it is sort of a beginning towards something that could be amazing for them years down the road. >> colleagues in the church of mine who lives in the same house i do just got back from bangladesh two weeks ago by the garment industry factories and said yes, it is getting a little better but that is pressure put on the outside, not just at

home. the market will give the mores of a sudden. if you have -- you are the only provider of a living wage, you are the only one, you can decide how much you are going to give to them. liz: i wrote a column what the pope said. >> the best column on what the pope said that i have seen. liz: what i am wondering about is the pope had a front row seat to crony capitalism. that is what is at issue. what charles is talking about is a problem of crony capitalism which is socialism by another name. capitalism has been the best driver of solving income inequality in the world. deegan the ft is saying that in a major blowout section today so shouldn't -- don't you feel the pope should talk about the problems of crony capitalism, socialism, communism in north korea, in china and other

places? >> he certainly does and he has done that in the same document the taaks about corruption which is a huge thing especially in latin america but what he says to me when he is talking about this is remembers that some people even in the wonderful market like the united states of america are going to be left out and keep your eyes open for them and this bangladesh issue is an example of that. bangladesh could be booming in the industry, in the textile industry but is someone watching out to make sure that they are paid a fair wage? charles: the more important they become those workers will garner more power to have more say in their futures but i want to switch topics because a new poll out shows one in four american adults believe christmas is a cultural holiday rather than a religious one. the poll also shows half of americans say happy holidays as a greeting rather than merry christmas so they wouldn't offend anyone. >> one in four. probably a cultural, not a

religious holiday, it probably is for them. therefore they should say it is a cultural holiday. it is not a religious holiday for them. they don't celebrate anything religious about it. look at the history books, look at the origin of christmas. it comes from the fact we believe god became man, god took on human flesh and become -- put his tenth among us. charles: that is what we're celebrating but are you concerned? i think there's a serious effort making big strides in this country that is totally against religion. a big atheist movement if you will landed is making big strides. >> i do but i don't think the way to solve it is somehow to outlaw, that type of cultural -- charles: but christians become afraid to defend themselves by saying happy holidays instead of merry christmas are you giving in to that? >> i agree we should be doing that but the best way to preserve the real celebration of

christmas is we are going to make christmas a celebration of the birth of jesus and that is what you celebrated you are a christian and to do that and create traditions in your family. the biggest one for me growing up was my dad running down the stairs to open gifts, would stop us and make us kneel down before the crash before the nativity scene and would meet us in prayer. a little thing like that -- charles: people talk about taking christ of christmas. you can take a mass out of christmas eve. >> tonight and tomorrow i will be in front of the church with all these new faces i haven't seen all year and one part is where have you been? it should be -- charles: one of our best traditions is when my little brother would get frustrated with one ploy and break it. thank you very much. anthony wiener take note. popular apps out there, snap chat has a new rival up next.

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charles: time for a market check. let's look at the big board. sort of a cool chill lot mode, 35 points, 16,330.

come allowed motors tesla on uts care, the psa reaffirming the five star safety rating. check out those shares, 7% back above 150. nikko sell's co-founder, ceo of the security apps welker developed a way for millions to increase their most private cellphone interactions with no % charge. nikko join this from san francisco. this has been billed as a challenger to snap chat which was obviously extraordinarily somewhat controversial. tell us a little more about what is going on. >> wicker is a free apps that allows anybody to send messages in media that self-destruct, messages last to five days so a little less frivolous. you can do text and video and files, more of a replacement for

a regular texting or what is up. charles: a cynic would say once it is out there someone could take an extreme shot of anything weather is result immediately or not and still out for public consumption. >> very good question. mission impossible was the theme behind we are doing so this is sending a message side to side. what we say is we are trying to protect you from facebook and the government and all the people in between that are trying to make money off of your pictures and personal information. liz: is that why you are wearing glasses? >> yes. i am careful about my digital footprint that i leave on line. it is important that everyone be aware of the digital footprint, and losing control of photos and conversations they have when

they use a service like skype or facebook. charles: i agree with that and the interesting thing is we have been talking about all these credit card numbers that were taken from target and how they are being sold on line and when you go to target any wet today, you think we -- americans have given up? they don't care anymore? they don't have these freedoms and they come to the conclusion it is too late and too bad? >> snapped chats, we haven't lost that way, just that we need a cool, easy way to do this and not many other choices between shopping at target. liz: liz macdonald here. you said something interesting about skype. what do you mean losing control of your transactions on skype and other digital media. >> if you look at their privacy policy and trends of service they clearly state in 80 pages

that they can do whatever they want with media and conversations and pictures. the summer of ed snowden was not a big revelation to us because the u.s. government is the only one that is looking at your skype conversation, the pla is too. people making money off of the are the real threat to my family. charles: all 8 page disclaimers are clear and concise. i love the green hornet look and you are onto something big here today, thanks for spending time with us. website woes and health care headaches, tough year for president obama. is now the time for the gop to shine? democrat doug shoen will weigh in on this and it will get worse for the president in 2014. the details next. [ male announcer ] here's a question for you:

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♪ charles: so, the worst year for president obama's presidency. his former press secretary think so. listen to what he said, no doubt about it. i would say this is the worst year of the presidency. it does beat out 2011. well, and especially given sort of where he started the fact that the first year of his second term is historically the most productive of the second

term. let's bring in a former clinton adviser. you actually think it is going to get w

bottom-line it is every man and woman for themselves. charles: can we label the pres lame-duck? if we can, will he go out quietly? so many decisions have been driven by his ego and ideology that it does not matter where the casualties lie even within his own party. >> i guess what i would say is, he is heading toward a lame-duck status. he is still the president and has the veto power. his use of the bully pulpit is necessarily more limited and less effective. that being said at don't think he's going to go quietly if i'm char

has not gotten a lot of attention. they are moving away from the president the way they did in 2010. that is a huge story, and that could spell the difference in the midterm. charles: before i let you go, you have always been pretty straightforward, but you have also always seems to be very confident that they would market up in some kind of way. as you chill out in miami making as all jealous, is that where you stand? even with all of this going on, the republicans will find a way to mess it up. >> the way i would put it is the democrats and president obama have huge liabilities, as i have suggested. they're one great asset is the republican party.

[laughter] charles: merry christmas. of course, if i had that backdrop i would be smart, too. planning on buying a house in 2014? up next, we will tell you where the hottest real-estate markets are and how you can get the best deals. that is new in 2014, and is next. ♪ (announcer) scottrade knows our clients trade and invest their own way. th scottrade's smart text, i can quickly understand my charts, and spend more timtrading. their quick trade bar lets my account follow me onli so i can react in real-time. plus, my local scottrade office ishere to help. because they know i don't trade like everybody. trade like me. i'm with scottrade. (announcer) ranked highest in investor sisfaction with self-directed services by j.d. power and associates.

♪ charles: topping one of the busiest names. twitter chairman and co-founder jack dorsey will be joining the board. big-name tech companies continue to lead the way. twitter, facebook, apple, giving back some of the huge. that is big news for tesla this morning. the model s sedan safety rating has been reaffirmed by the national highway traffic safety ministration. that stock up as much as 12 points, still having an extraordinary session. hitting a new all-time high, talking about a tokyo casino. up almost 3%, having a huge state. it is christmas eve. last-minute shopping. it we are talking housing next. is it time for you to get in on the act?

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♪ stuart: the christmas shopping season in its home stretch, but not all of the brick and mortar is a telling . j.c. penney. >> reporter: you know, we are looking at j.c. penney. the sales seem to be improving for the month of december according to cleveland research. but the stock, $8.604. a lot of people who still doubt j.c. penney. down and a half% on a day when the dow, nasdaq, and s&p are all

hitting some sort of record highs. it down 15% just december alone. you know what, i think that will make a comeback for december and tried to get in when they thought it was a low point and lost 15% just in one month. over 50 percent for the yeer. charles: i have people in. we will be the short. just wait and see. thanks a lot. mortgage rates and home prices are much higher than they were one year ago which could lead many buyers on the sideline. what should you do? what should you know when it comes to real-estate? with us, and he is going to help us figure it out. a lot of people just like the stock market. maybe i missed it. home prices have rebounded. it feels like from an opportunity point of view may be all of the discounts are gone. >> home price appreciation has been up between ten and 12% on

average. however -- charles: since the bottom they have come roaring back. >> however, the big negatives and positives still equals -- charles: if you lose 50 percent you have to make 100% to break even. >> we are still about 20 percent short verses where we were at peak in third quarter of '06. charles: talk to us now. a lot of people on the sidelines that want to come in and get back to the old american dream of home ownership. what did they do, what advice to you bring? >> we are seeing a lot of strength on the west coast. san francisco, san diego, los

angeles, -- charles: san francisco has been gnats. if you don't have of a hot ipo you cannot even afford a place. >> the median home price is about 745. charles: the regular person out there who has been sitting on their hands. they cannot afford it. >> there is value. it's one of the best markets. tampa is another one. cincinnati, indianapolis all reflecting value relative to, you know, the 20-year average. even in tucson. end ownership verses rental basis. it is still historically very

charles: is that the single biggest threat to the housing recovery?

>> it is interest rates. how they affect affordability. charles: thank you very much. stewart is at home, but he left a special christmas message that you're going to want to here. call-up all of your friends. spoiler alert, he might even -- this is the quicksilver cash back card from capital one.

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stirring, not even a novice. the stockings were hung the but the chimney with care in hopes that sceee nicholas soon would be there. the children were nestled all snug in their beds while visions of sugarplums danced in their heads. mother in her kerchief and i and my cat had settled our brains for a long winter's nap when out on the lawn there arose such a clatter i sprang from my bed to see what was the matter. when what to my wondering eyes should appear but a miniature sleigh and tweet tiny reindeer. and then in the twinkling i heard on the roof the prancing and plying of each little hoof. as i drew in my head and was turning around down the chimney st. nicholas came with a bound. he was dressed all in fur from

his head to his foot and his clothes were tarnished with patches and so to. his eyes how they twinkled, his dimples how mary, his cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry. he had a broad face and round belly, the children laughed like a bowl full of billy. he went to his work, and filled all the stockings and turned with a jerk. and linda finger side is nose and giving and not up the chimney he rose. he sprang to his sleigh his team that will lead the way they all flew like official. happy christmas to all and to all a good night. ♪

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no matter which list you're on santa ] ho, ho, ho, ho! [ male announcer ] get the all-new 2014 cla250 starting at just $29,900. charles: we asked on facebook and twitter what you thought was the bigger threat to draw additional christmas, consumerism or taking of a christ out of christmas and

here's what you had to say. on tweets consumers and, i am an atheist and going to the store is insane. mary says when christ is removed from christmas it is just another day. there may be gifts that the purpose of the gift would be gone. randy says consumers and has always been a part of christmas. is much worse now but still filled with consumers and but when you remove dotted takes out family, love, thank everybody for the comments. what you planning for the holidays? >> i have a latin white, the latin thing is the night beffre christmas, it is christmas eve, we will be with friends and go to midnight mass and that kind of thing, very quiet hristmas for my wife and daughter, my son in japan serving the country. >> i'm going to dinner party tonight. honestly feel like going to do search for a christmas vigil. charles: when father morris was

here he was going to be in the city, not too far. my mic check them out at 120 1st street broadway. my wife is catholic. charles: what is weird is all the kids have gotten bigger so the teenagers in my family don't want anything in particular. >> my daughter has not asked me for laughing, not a thing. charles: my son asked for a trip to india. liz: i got a new vacuum cleaner. charles: i don't know if that is some sort of worldly kid or wanting to get as far away from me as possible. liz: i think it is the latter. charles: wouldn't be the first time. >> ask for a condominium. charles: what was that? this consumerism thing because

we got a great response on this, overwhelmingly people said taking christ out of it or taking got out of it or taking a phased out of it and to a larger degree, it gets back to what the popefaith out of it and to a la degree, it gets back to what the pope was talking about too. we spark the industrial revolution but also consumers and that little away our souls. liz: the pope is so interesting to me and he did say we talked more about the stock market going up 2 percentage points when we have homeless people dined on the streets. the christmas messages about peace and july and remembering the human beings in all these economic systems -- charles: capitalism saved the world in my eyes and brought

people prosperity around the planet. >> it has and you want to see the worst sweatshops in the world in communist countries, north korea, cuba, every example you can think of. even though china has released the longer course of strict communism, when you talk about communist countries and countries that focus their attention on government enterprises those are the ones with the worst sweatshops of all. there is about to rail against. they are not good places to be. family members to go against the countries that emphasize those. charles: the last couple years all those chinese workers at the fox contact factory, now they -- the we are all getting the power. was a lot of fun. merry christmas, had a lot of fun and we will pass it to connell mcshane, if the dow is up 37 points, we have the

christmas spirit going here. connell: hope for the holidayy, the big saying around this time of year no matter how you dress up your house today's report on the real-estate market one of the reports not something to celebrate. another report has a different story. this will bring you one story close to the heart of one of our guest driven by one of the great charities in the country to talk about, and the new technology helping to make travel a little better for the holidays. there is boeing's decision where to build its next generation plane could change the fortunes of one town in indiana, one of these towns left behind in the age of manufacturing. a good story coming up in this hour. we have it and more on markets now. connell: we welcome you to markets now in new york, about housing in just a moment and his