middle of november, how much we bounced back. the narrative has not changed. people have to remain in the stock market to remain diversified. >> larry shover, great to see you. thanks for being here. thank you, tracy. tracy: trace i. thank you and rich edson -- rich: good evening, everyone i'm rich edson in for gerri willis. tonight the big stories that matter to you. christmas comes early to wall street as stocks hit new highs. the dow closes above 18,000 for the first time in history. plus another holiday surprise. gdp growth taking off in the third quarter, posting its best results in 11 years. will american workers finally see the economic recovery in their own wallets? we have latest coverage with scott brown, chief economist for raymond james research, klaus bell, from raymond james and david, go to you first. what does this number mean? where do we go from here?

>> it is a great number. we get a number like this, a big revision upward to 5%. the dark cloud all year has really been been the bond market. 10-year yields hovering 2%. we dipped below two a couple times. that makes investors a little concerned. the problem is not here but in europe. high yield keeps anchor on our yield. there were dark clouds in this. durable goods still a problem. i have some questions about aircraft manufacturers. i think we'll hear more from some of the other guests on that. rich: talk about that in terms of what we're seeing on exports. dollar is weakening. strength in europe. klaus, what does it mean on this one? what does it mean about exports? do we have to worry on that front? >> i would be concerned of a little bit of a headwind in some areas of the world. asia slowing down a little bit. i think that will affect exports but i still think that consumer

demand growing is a good thing. domestic demand grows, overall i think we'll see strong growth going forward. rich: scott what about wage growth here. we've seen strong jobs numbers. a quarter of a million jobs added every month for the past year but wages have been slow to pick up. we're seeing a little life lately. where are we on that front and what does it mean to the recovery? >> it is one of the signs of slack we're still seeing in the job market even though labor market conditions are improving we're still not seeing much upward pressure on wages. that should come over time but still may be quite a while before we see some up lift in average wage growth. i think big issue as you look into early part of next year, this drop in gasoline prices which will provide an important tailwind for consumer at the end of the year. rich: david, want to go to you. not much wage growth, not much concern about inflation. we have good numbers on economy. where does the fed go from here?

>> i don't think it accelerates their picture. if anything they look for ways to hold back. i was wrong at beginning of the year. i thought it would be end of the first quarter. that i think will prove wrong. we're looking mid-year, earliest at best. there is many so pushing out by end of the year. >> klaus, your thoughts on the fed. do we see much of a change in strategy? we had a meeting right now. number comes out afterwards. you have to have a little insight what happens to this number but does this change the fed at all? >> i don't think so. i think they're looking inflation, seeing it staying below 2%. seeing it stable there. seeing huge output gap remaining between potential gdp and what is out there now. i think they probably are going to stick to their guns. rich: scott, you mentioned gasoline prices. we're about as low as we can get, do you think? how much of an effect does that have on consumers? does that play well into 2015? 2.38 now. last year we were almost a dollar more.

where do we go from here on gas prices? >> if you look at the futures market they're suggesting a bit more of a decline in gasoline prices. oil futures are suggesting some stability. the futures market is not always best predicttor what happens. there are supply and demand issues. the oil market has to find a new equalibrium as we work through first part of the year. i would suspect this would be a sustained decline in gasoline prices. that is what really matters. consumers will have more money to spend on other things. that in turn will get plowed back into the economy and we're likely to see some pretty good job growth numbers in the first half of next year. rich: david, you're nodding your head. >> i'm in agreement. i don't think we know where gas prices is going. we knew where oil is going. opec effectively committed suicide on thanksgiving day. we'll find a new equalibrium like we just said. we don't know what the effect much lower gas prices will be yet.

we haven't really seen it. oil peaked around june and started coming down pretty dramatically. but gas trails that, gas station operators are very reluctant to lower their prices. we'll see more to come. rich: klaus, i want to talk a pit about, we discussed a bit about headwind especially when it comes to europe and overseas markets. what other he had do we have going into 2015? what other growth areas do we look for? we're at 18,000. where do we go from here and where do see see -- we see growth especially domestically? >> as consumer confidence builds and people feel more comfortable and the jock market, as some slack begins to disappear we'll see growth domestically like we saw in this report. that is really positive. gas prices again will have behavioral component as well. people will see that psychologically important number and feel more confident and able to spend. real estate market has been beneficial for the mind set of

consumers. you're beginning to see business investment pick up. so, i think are really bright spots domestically. but again, you are seeing that slowdown in china. seeing europe continue to be stagnant. that will be a little bit of a limiting factor. rich: scott, do you think this is finally the turning point? we had so much data out there, poll data out there showing that americans don't feel the economic recovery. is this it with gas prices and consumer sentiment? we'll finally start to have a better perception about the economy? >> i think certainly consumer perceptions of the economy are going to lag the actual recovery in the copy. this is, this is not your typical recession. we like to say this is not your father's recession. this is your grandfather's depression we went through. this is a major financial crisis and it takes a long time to rebuild balance sheets and forge ahead. we had a number of headwind for the economy last few years, the housing sector most notably. you had contraction in state and

local government and tighter physical policy last year. we expected with headwind out of the way growth would pick up. we ran into bad weather first part of the year. gasoline prices went up first half of the year. softness in the rest of the world, relatively lackluster wage growth and it looks like things are about to start clicking for the economy. credit is getting easier for particularly for small and mid-sized firms. those firms account for lot of job growth in economic expansion. rich: david, when do we see next, 17,000 or 19,000. >> i knew that would -- i hate the dow. driven by high-priced stocks like ibm. ibm is no more barometer of this market or economy than any other stock. we're always one headline away from a correction. probably 19,000 but it's a guess, a wild guess, where do we go? what is next year? >> i think next year i will do what i did at beginning of this year, when i came into the

beginning this year i thought we were looking 2,000, 2100 at outside. we'll track earnings growth. that is 8%. that could get to you 2250. but there is whole host of barometers and whole lot of things that have to go right. rich: we will watch it. thank you very much. we appreciate it. still plenty more to come including "the interview." it is back on. on sony's reversal could have you spending the holidays with seth rogan and james franco. will next year's laws be any different? we'll break it down next. check out the live weather radar. severe thunderstorms, tornadoes causing big delays for christmas travel. we'll have the latest. hang with us. she's still the one for you.

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rich: president's executive actions on immigration stirred up controversy with the administration embracing for legal fight with republicans. what lies ahead for immigration reform in the new year. joining me is senior analyst for your asia group. thanks so much for joining us. >> thanks, rich. rich: start off what can republicans do? they're promising to attach some type of policy rider or provision to the funding for

department of homeland security. that comes in february. i've been trying to figure out exactly what they could come up with here. what are they going to do? >> start from the starting point that there is virtuallily no chance that republicans will let funding for department of homeland security lapse in february. they are law enforcement minded than democratic rivals. i virtually see no scenario where funding for dhs lapses after february 27th. that being said they will try to attach policy riders. i could see them trying to advance a border security bill which for many republicans is the core of the immigration problem. how do you stop more people getting into the country as opposed to those already here. could see them. this is more doubtful. try to attach visas for highly skilled workers or for the agricultural sector? do they want to keep this as blunt political messaging tool.

border security seems most likely policy they will go for. rich: even with border security, republicans have the largest problem getting their members on poured to pass anything, even if it is their own policy, if it has been attached to something like funding bill or debt ceiling increase. even boarder security, do you think there are 211 republicans alone without the help of democrats to get something through the house? will they get stuck on this again? is john boehner going to put a clean funding bill on the floor and move forward? >> very difficult to see. obviously the republican majority increases next year. that being said a lot of folks arriving fresh to congress are less conservative perhaps than some of the holdouts in the house currently. even if they get it through the house, let's say he rallies 218 votes to the cause, they will have to get it through the senate where you need 60 votes where republicans have only 54. they would have to find six democrats to vote with them in order to get the bill to the president's desk. rich: when you look what

republicans might do beyond this do you think they buy this argument if they don't pass immigration reform bill, they are relgated to losing presidential elections especially with the hispanic vote between now and when they get on board with the issue? >> depends who you mean by they. republican leadership and in house and senate and national apparatus of party clearly think the case. if you ask rank-and-file house lawmaker i doubt very much if they see it from same point of view. they represent many cases majority white, when they go back to districts when they come back about immigration not how we deal with the folks 11, 12 million living in shadows but they hear strengthen the border and kick those illegally here already. it's a top priority of leaders within the party to try to convince their members that voting for immigration, an immigration overhaul is in their

best interests. although i don't think at all that is going to happen in the next two years. rich: do you buy this? republican what is they have said, is that president issuing executive order, this is what they said before they issued the executive order it poisons well on host of other issues? do republicans move beyond immigration once they settle whatever they do, funding department of homeland security or does this remain an issue they continue on for the rest of the president's term, the next two years? >> i think it definitely remains an issue, as much because democrats are going to want to keep it in the headlines because they clearly feel they have an electoral advantage for immigration. that being said there is clear desire within the top echelons of the republican party to get things done next year, to appear to be competent, to appear to have a pro-business growth agenda. whether that permeates itself through tax reform which i think is doubtful or trade policy or energy policy, they will want to do more than rail against immigration reform all next

year. rich: thank you so much for joining us tonight. >> thank you. rich: coming up later, how one simple fix could have prevented jpmorgan chase from getting hacked. a new supreme court case is challenging obamacare much the plaintiff's star witness, controversial professor who helped design the law, jonathan gruber. [ male announcer ] you wouldn't leave your car unprotected. but a lot of us leave our identities unprotected. nearly half a million cars were stolen in 2012, but for every car stolen, 34 people had their identities stolen. identity thieves can steal your money, damage your credit, and wreak havoc on your life. why risk it when you can help protect yourself from identity theft with one call to lifelock, the leader in identity-theft protection? lifelock actively patrols your sensitive, personal information every second of every day,

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rich: obamacare has a date in the supreme court. march 4th. they will look at the federal insurance subsidies in the law.

we have a business law attorney. seth, thanks so much for joining us. i want to get down real quick to explain exactly what the issue is here. critics say the way the law is written, if you are a state that has not he is h set up a state insurance exchange and the federal government again, according to way the law is written, is that correct, what happens in the court? >> that is exactly right. this is case that challenges an irs regulation that tries to stretch language and scope of the affordable care act. statute in relevant part says, that individuals that live in states that establish their own insurance exchange that are entitled to these subsidies which is the critical financial action again to access this, the insurance and basically what is happening here, the irs jumped in and leapfrogged over that language, jumped over what congress actually said and applied that to 2/3 of states that thought about it, decided you know what, we'll not set up our own insurance exchanges.

that really therefore is alleged to violate not only the language of the act but language of the whole underlying constitutional framework of our government. that is really what is at issue and a very critical case. rich: why would congress write the law in at that fashion? was there an assumption all states would take the money and set up their own exchanges and want to do so for their citizens? or was there some other motivation behind this? >> that is exactly right. you hit it on the head, because they wanted to incentivize the states to create their own insurance exchanges. ironically, professor jonathan gruber, who had some pretty controversial coverage lately, said a couple of times, in taped statements that he has made, and remember, he is really one of the self-proclaimed architects of the act, that the whole purpose why they created this language was to incentivize states to set up their own exchanges because if they didn't, their citizens would not qualify for these subsidies. one of the basic legs of funding that is the whole financial heart that makes obamacare work. rich: given what the court

decided with the individual mandate with just challenge to entire law a couple years ago, where do you think this court goes on this issue? >> i believe at the end of the day that the government is going to lose. the executive branch is really has a bad argument here, ignores language of the statute. only to be applied for funding leg through states that establish their own exchange. it violates the language of affordable care act. violates whole constitutional framework by having executive branch legislate that doesn't work. that gets struck down and going to have profound impact on the financial heart of obamacare. it really puts the entire act on life-support. it is not going to obliterate it because global constitutional standpoint but really give it a huge kick in the gut from a financial funding perspective. rich: so many arguments we heard before the supreme court decided its first case and chief justice roberts surprises everyone with this tax surprise, ruling that the one issue was a tax.

>> right. rich: and not a penalty. so, why do you think that they won't surprise you again? do you think that the chief justice is done with his surprises? >> it is very interesting, that four justices have already granted the review and you have to have four. technically there was not even a official split of authority in the circuits which is usually the triggering event. the four justice justices reached out to pull this up and want to view this. you only need five to overturn it. i believe this will be critical and defining moment. you have inference that four of the justices will rule against the agency in this case. it will be a close call but i predict this is going to have, it is very interesting case. not only the quiet evident case with respect to the obamacare but really most lethal case, if the government loses on this, then it will blast a hole through the financial heart of how the whole operation works. rich: march 4th, those arguments. something tells me i'm sitting in a little chair on the side of

the court. seth, appreciate it. >> my pleasure. rich: time now for a look at stories you're clicking on foxbusiness.com. new home sales unexpectedly fall to a four-month low. commerce department reports that november sales dipped 1.6% from years before. consumer sentiment jumps in december. reading hit the highest level in eight years on cheaper gas and hiring. >> no coca-cola is getting rid of voice mail at the corporate headquarters. the company says the technology is increasingly redundant. ditching it will help increase productivity. keurig green mountain is recalling seven million could have fee makers amid complaints of customers getting burned. reports of hot liquid colling from the mini plus maker. grow to cpsc.gov. those are many soft hot stories right now on fox business.com. later in the show, sony does an about-face. "the interview" lives but in which theaters? 2014 is the year of the

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♪ ♪ rich: sony shrugs off north korea, finally. the studio is releasing "the interview." it's now letting some theaters show the film on christmas day. the studio says it's trying to find a way to release the film to a wider audience, perhaps putting it online. let's bring in variety co-editor, andrew wallenstein. i want to start off with the way sony has handled this. they've gotten presidential criticism out of all of this. does this help them save face? where does sony's reputation stand after all of this?

>> absolutely. i think they're making the best of a pretty bad situation after the presidential criticism, criticism from hollywood's creative community, and there's also now tension with the major theater chains to get the independent theaters and, hopefully, a vod deal is really, you know, the best available option. and i think it does help prepare some of the considerable -- repair some of the considerable reputational damage done over the past week. rich: do you think that hurts their bottom line even more than the initial hack did? are there actors who might not want to work with the studio, theaters, or are they beginning to repair that and eventually they'll move beyond it? >> i think they're going to certainly think twice in the short term. i think the questions are regarding what is sony going to do to rebuild in the longer term. i think they're going to make all the right moves to get in good with the creative community. if you don't have the right stars, the right producers in your project, i mean, that means everything. so they'll figure out a way to

get it done. rich: if this movie is half good, does this become a cult classic of some sort? they're going to make some money off of this, i'd imagine. >> it's going to be interesting to see. i mean, i think you can make an argument that it's iconic already before mass audiences have even seen i. -- seen it. whether it gets to cult status, you know, i do think it almost sounds naive to say let's see what the quality of the movie is, but i think it's going to have to have the good, and frankly, the initial reviews were mostly negative. [laughter] rich: you know, when you look at where hollywood goes from here, are there other companies out there that are beefing up security? is this a warning shot that perhaps, first off, don't do a controversial movie about a country that might do this to you, something the president has warned about, sort of pre-censorship, but also a cybersecurity warning? major banks have invested so much money into this technology, and they continue to get hacked.

is hollywood on alert now? >> hollywood is most definitely on alert. i do think to your first point there's going to be a chilling effect at least in the short term. i think everyone's going to take a very hard look at is the content that i want to put in my film or my tv show going to alienate the wrong people, could there be backlash there? and i don't think those projects will make it through. i'm much more optimistic in the longer term as we get out of this heated moment that that won't be so much a problem. as to your point about cybersecurity, yeah, certainly every studio, everyone in hollywood has got to be asking themselves are we doing you are utmost to make sure that cybersecurity is up to snuff? and, frankly, as you alluded to with the banks, i don't really see this as a hollywood issue. i don't care whether you're making cars, candy, cuckoo clocks, sony has served, a movie studio has served as a dramatization for the evils of

cybersecurity that's not at 100%. rich: and this might be the most high profile case we've seen. there's always the consumer with the target hacking, but i don't think i've seen something play out this much on the cybersecurity front in a really long time, if at all. >> agreed. i mean, they're actually -- and you mentioned target, there's been a number of instances with credit cards stolen. strangely enough, it didn't really achieve the level of prominence that, i mean, let's take a look at the facts here, this has become an international incident. it sort of transcended mere credit card fraud or cybersecurity. and if there's a silver lining to this mushroom cloud, it's that. rich: andrew, thanks so much for joining us. much appreciated. >> anytime. rich: from securing your personal information to staying safe behind the wheel, the insurance institute for highway safety is out with its list of safest vehicles for 2015. fox business' very own jeff flock is live in chicago with the details. jeff? >> reporter: rich, all day long we have been focusing here

on the fox business network not only on the vehicles that made the list, but some surprising ones perhaps that didn't. and this year was a big year despite all the recalls, this year even though the institute for highway safety, the insurance institute made the tests much tougher, they actually found that more cars passed the test. a total of 71 this year compared to 39. take a look at one brand, namely subaru, that has done real well in terms of sales. take a look at the various categories and see how they came up against some of the competitors. so let's take a look at the first category, that one is small suvs. the subaru forester versus the jeep cherokee, which do you think, rich, would have won the safest award? rich: i'm going subaru, it's the volvo. [laughter] there you go. >> reporter: you're a winner. indeed, the forester a very popular vehicle. that jeep cherokee has been selling a lot of vehicles too. next up, compacts, this is an important segment. we looked at the toyota corolla

versus the subaru impreza? rich: i'm going subaru here, jeff. i gotta go subaru. >> reporter: i feel like our version of the npr show, "wait, wait don't tell me," but finally, this is where the accord plays the camry, the ford fusion, and we've got the subaru legacy and the buick' gag. which -- regal. rich: i'm going to let it ride, jeff. letting it ride on subaru. [cheers and applause] >> reporter: it's pretty amazing, subaru, seven vehicles -- more than any other manufacturer, actually, toyota had season as well -- on this list of the safest vehicles out there. and it's, they're tremendously popular too. you know, they don't make a lot of unsafe cars out there anymore, except the ones, of course, they have to recall because they screwed something up. rich: right, right. >> reporter: beyond that, it's

not bad for cars. rich: by the way, could we play the sound effect if i'd gotten it wrong? there we are. >> reporter: and i would not have put my voice on your home answering machine. [laughter] rich: jeff, thanks a lot. >> reporter: there you go. what can i tell you? rich: all right. the defective gm ignition switches and takata airbag pushed new records for recalls. robert from michigan writes, quote: what if the american public refuses to purchase a vehicle supplied with a takata airbag? i know this would have had a temporary impact, but it would show takata they cannot disregard consumer safety and influence the auto companies to take a hard look at who they are doing business. and harold from idaho asks: if maybe takata is considering for bankruptcy themselves out of liability just like john's manville was forced to over

asbestos claims. go to gerriwillis.com. still to come, we have the best snowblowers to get you through the winter if you live in a place that has that, and some of us might see a white christmas this year though a holiday storm is already causing major travel headaches across the country. delays are piling up in some of the nation's busiest airport, details after the break. ♪ ♪ (trader vo) i search. i research. i dig. and dig some more. because, for me, the challenge of the search... is almost as exciting as the thrill of the find. (announcer) at scottrade, we share your passion for trading. that's why we rebuilt scottrade elite from the ground up - including a proprietary momentum indicator that makes researching sectors and industries even easier. because at scottrade, our passion is to power yours.

rich: for some it'll be a white christmas. for many more, it'll be a cold, wet christmas. the bad weather is already delaying people especially in the east and southeast. right now these are the average delays we're seeing, jfk in new york, at least 45 minutes, laguardia at 80 minute, philly an hour, that's flying out of the northeast, come on. this is all due to weather.

atlanta had delays earlier, it's back on schedule. justen has all the latest from accuweather. >> i'll tell you what, it's hard to pick out a spot in the country right now that is not dealing with weather-related traffic delays. very, very active patterns setting up not only this morning, but into tonight. busy, busy travel day tomorrow and right into our holiday weekend as well. right now want to take us toward the gulf coast where we have the threat for tornadoes, that's the red boxes you see highlighted. 6:00 central time heading toward the central gulf coast, 11:00, this is a dangerous situation because we're all now under the cover of darkness, so you can't really see the storms as they are approaching. we have had reports of tornadoes on the ground with damage, damaging winds, another concern as well as large hail as this line of ferocious storms sweeps off to the east. interstate 20 from jackson to montgomery and south along interstate 10, heads up over the next several hours as we are dealing with these dangerous thunderstorms into the

overnight. isolated tornadoes, gusty winds and heavy downpours. this storm will be remembered for its size. not its strength or its ability to produce a lot of snow. there will be some snow, but a lot of rain. it's over the south right now, working its way toward the middle atlantic tonight and then right up the 95 pike as we head towards wednesday night. big traffic delays around jfk, laguardia, newark, into boston with a couple inches of snow back towards chicago. busy, busy weather in the northwest looking for storms as well. rich: well, that's awesome. thanks, justin. so with the holiday weather threatening your travel, what should you do? orbitz.com travel editor joins us with her tips. janine, how am i going to get home? [laughter] >> well, i don't think we're seeing too much problem yet, so folks who are heading out today, there have been a few hundred cancellations around the country, but so far things aren't looking too bad for travelers heading to the

airports. the biggest thing you can do is get there early and stay up-to-date, sign up for alerts. and if the airlines do start waiving or changing cancellation fees for affected areas, you know, check on that and see if you can proactively change your plans that will suit you a lit better. rich: can they do so much more than waiting on the phone and waiting for an agent over the phone? it really does pay to talk to somebody there sometimes, right? >> it can. you know, the agents on the phone can be really helpful as well, you know, but if you are at the airport, i always recommend having that 1-800 number programmed into your phone, but also at the same time going over to the service desk because you never know how long those lines are going to be at the airport for people that may need to get rebooked. you want both options on hand. rich: there was that storm a i few years ago, and it took just weeks to get the travel system back together. we started seeing flight cancellations earlier now. of are airlines still doing that?

are they still protectively canceling flights to insure they don't have people waiting in airports for days? >> yeah. they will particularly take measures like this over these holiday periods because this is when there's so much volume in the airports, and the flights are full. quite frankly, there just aren't flights to rebook travelers on, and that's when you run into that type of mess. it's also why they get into proactively waive those change in cancellation fee, because they want you as a traveler to call them in advance of your flight getting canceled and go ahead and rebook or cancel so it does open up some seats. rich: so snow is good for some people, skiers and snowboarders come to mind, but when we look at this year, is this a particularly good year to get away? be where are people looking to go after the holiday season clears itself out? are there deals out there? if you're a skier, snowboarder or just like outdoor snow sports, what's available to you? >> sure. it's been a great season so far in the rockies, into tahoe and

the california resorts. they've seen significant snowfall. so those resorts, you know, they already have a lot of early season visitors trying to take advantage there and the east coast as well. they have snow-making capabilities so they can open on time every year. but when these winter storms do hit, you see even more terrain open up and more people getting out there. there's lots of good options whether on the east or west coast. i'll just run through a few of my favorites in particular, okia resort in vermont is a family-run resort, and what's interesting about this resort in particular is there's hundreds of slopeside condos and rental homes it which is a bit unusual because a lot of ski resorts will lease their land from the national forest service, so those types of other resorts p won't allow that on that land. they also have kids 6 and under can ski for free, so that's great for families. heading into the midwest, i really like boeing mountain in

michigan. michigan has more ski areas in their state than any other state in the country, so there's a lot of options here. this is another family-run resort that even has an indoor water park, one of the largest in the country, and a winter zip line in addition to their 60 runs that they have on the slopes. heading out west, some great tried and true resorts, breckenridge, colorado, has long been a great family resort. last season they actually opened an entire new peak that brought over 500 skiable acres to this resort, and they always have lots of great promotions throughout the year for families. rich rearview mirror we're winning out of time and if you are a first-time skier, bring plenty of advil. i have personal experience with that. thanks so much for joining us. >> thank yous. rich: coming up next. while many of you might be dreaming for a white christmas, it hopes to be prepared for the snow. we head to consumer reports with a look at the best snowblowers on the market, coming up.

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and could save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. call now to request your free decision guide. and learn more about the kinds of plans that will be here for you now -- and down the road. i have a lifetime of experience. so i know how important that is. ♪ ♪ rich: the willis report likes to keep you prepared. some of you might want to think about a trip to the hardware store tonight or tomorrow. gerri headed to consumer reports to see the top-rated snowblowers. ♪ ♪ gerri: all right, here we go. gosh. do it again.

peter, what do you have for us today? >> we're going to look at four of our top-rated snowblowers. gerri: they're gorgeous. i need one. what are the major things i want to look for? >> the first thing is what type? do you want a single stage or a two-stage? that's a function of your driveway and how much area you have. larger areas you want to go to a two-stage. wheels are self-propelled on it, it handles the plow pile at the end of the driveway very well. when you get to these two-stage unit, you then want to look at some of the features. gerri: you want to show us a single stage snowblowers, you like this one, the toro, right? >> right. it's our top performer. this is really the best single stage snowblower you can get. it uses this rubble paddle that brings the snow up here and into the chute and right out all in one motion, up and out. and this rubber is nice because

it can contact the surface of the driveway or the walk and helps -- gerri: ah, so who would buy this machine? who is this for? >> this is for smaller areas or if you want a few compact unit. gerri: it can't throw very far, right? >> it throws reasonably far, 10, 1, 14 feet. gerri: tell me the prices. >> the single stage toro, $570. remember on your driveway, you have a plow pile at the end of your driveway after the plow comes through. [laughter] that's the biggest challenge. the two-stage units are much better at that. gerri: you've got one you like here. >> this troybilt is $1100. this is our top performer in our compact area. this is 24 inches wide, and the difference here is that you can see you have a set of augers here which pull the snow in, and the if you look a little bit in the back here, it's right here, this is the impeller.

this spins around this way so the snow comes in, it screws the snow in, and then the impeller throws it out -- gerri: this is more powerful, right? >> much more powerful. there's one feature that you really need the see here. gerri: what's that? >> these are heated hand grips. gerri: holy cow. what a great idea. >> and more importantly, you're holding these levers down, and your hands are tight, and the heated hand grips are just right. it has a little switch you can turn them on or off. gerri: or this is also on your list. >> this is the 28-inch, this is $1300. top of the line. gerri: whoa, look at this. >> top performer. gerri: look at that. look at the gears. this looks complicated. >> oh, but this is fun. [laughter] on a hot of these -- a lot of these, you have to turn the chute, this way you're operating the snowblower, you're in a hurry -- gerri: nice. oh, let me do that. yeah. i like -- i feel in control.

a light on the front. you always end up doing this at night. >> yes. a light is very important. it's a little extra to pay for on some models. these two models are fully featured. they have everything from the heated hand grips to the light, and often it gets dark, 4 or 4:30 in the morning, it's probably going to be dark. the light helps a lot. gerri: how does this work differently beyond this? is this the same technology? >> exactly the same technology, it's just 28 inches wide as opposed to 4. gerri: a little wider, stronger -- >> and this will handle anything. gerri: all right. let's see what you've got over here. this is your budget buy? >> this is less expensive. this craftsman is $900. this is a classic machine. you'll notice the yarder is just all parallel here. gerri: uh-huh. >> but it's a two stage. and this has a lot of the good features, you know? it's also got -- gerri: i love that. >> there's another feature that people seem to miss. these are fairly hard to turn.

now, with the slippery snow they're fine, but these are turning questions. i can, as i turn whichever direction i go, i squeeze this, and it turns easily, and you can make this big machine maneuver easily. gerri: so, peter, this is a big investment. you've got to make the right choice. >> absolutely. and there can be variations. some of these machines don't work that well. gerri: let's try this one here. i'll let you do it this time. >> okay. gerri: pull down, right? [laughter] rich: there you go. thanks again to consumer reports for helping us out on that one. we'll be right back, but first, here's your consumer gauge with the numbers that matter to you. ♪ ♪ it's more than the driver.

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bank. take a look. ♪ ♪ >> hello, bank trust. how can key help you? uh-huh. yes, we can issue you a credit card in one day. rich: but now russia's financial crisis has defeated the action star. the bank has been kept afloat with a bailout, but the decline of russia's ruble, analysts are predicting they're going to have to bail out more banks there. sorry, john mclean can't save 'em all. that's it for tonight's willis report. thanks for joining us. don't forget to dvr the show if you can't catch us live. "making money" with charles

payne is next. have a great night. ♪ ♪ charles: dow 18,000. i'm charles payne, and you're watching "making money." we did it, we finally hit 18,000. now i'm looking to dow 20,000. much more on that, but first let's go to nicole petallides on the floor of the new york stock exchange with all the big news today. nicole? >> hey, good evening, charles. well, another day, another record here on wall street, a record for the dow, a record fop 500 here at the close, and it's worth noting dow 18,000. we saw some of the dow names actually hitting lifetime highs including travelers, visa, 3m, procter & gamble, disney and home depot. we've had a great year on wall street so far, some of the best performers include tesla, up more than