session with us. [closing bell rings] mostly a wild session in a good way. we're looking at 5% gain, almost up 1100 points for the dow, almost 6% gain for nasdaq composite. with that i'm handing a good finish to blake burman and susan li. susan: 1000 point gain for the dow. stocks agreeing across the board pulling a massive selloff on christmas day. four digits, 1000 points. almost up to 1100 snapping a four-day losing streak. subpoena 500, nasdaq soaring. major averages down 10% for the month. i'm susan li in for melissa francis. blake: i'm blake burman. good to see you too. we needed that after the last week or so i'm blake burman.

do in for connell mcshane. do we have any reason for the catalyst. >> i have a producer talking in my ear. i'm assuming you're talking to me. but yes, we're seeing a 1600 point swing from monday. i was here when it was down 353 points literally today. the traders are way more excited today. there seems to be more, i just hit him, there is a mood. what are we seeing in the markets? seeing technology on the you swing. consumer discretionary. microsoft being up there. microsoft being up there. amazon, retail sales moving markets. when you saw strength in consumer confidence. fact retile is up 5.1%. amazon not giving us numbers but tens of millions of new people joining prime. an interesting story with verizon and at&t. sorry, verizon and disney. all the media companies. verizon and disney. what verizon has done, sent all

of their co subscribers a letter today. even one of our producers received it. it warned people they may not have access to disney-owned channels. think espn. want to watch the rose bowl? want to watch college football, you may not have a chance because these two giants cannot agree on their partnership how much verizon should pay to get disney property. going back and forth at a time with a lot of college football. that is definitely a story. bring it back to the markets, another major topic is oil. the fact you see oil climb steadily higher over the past 24 hours. incredible movement, we were talking october, oil was at $75 a barrel. now, on monday, below $45. today it will be closing, probably show $46.89. one trader told me believes it is in oversold territory. should see up swing in some energy stocks. we did see the energy sector a little bit higher but overall,

pretty positive here. people are confused, what was the exact catalyst for this 1000 point up tick today that we saw compared to the down 653 points on monday? guys, throw it back to you. susan: let's talk through it. jonathan hoenig from capitalist pig hedge fund. a fox news contributor. melissa armo. guys i have been talking about, this is disconnect between what wall street is doing and main street is doing. main street is spending. i think wall street is catching up to that sign. >> certainly they were spending on wall street this afternoon, susan. this was stunning move. this is biggest point gain ever for dow jones industrials. not biggest percentage. this is what they call bear market rip. 1500 new 52-week lows today. only 8 new 52-week highs. you heard a lot we were

oversold. before today's session, every index was 12% below the 50 day moving average. we weren't just oversold but extremely oversold. i am glad to see the market higher but i don't think we're out of the woods. susan: people are using the term dead-cat bounce, melissa. short-covering taking place with the 1000 point gain? >> there might be short-covering. if you shorted the market last two weeks you made money. there was some decent buying that came in because the rally was big. i would like to seat market between tonight and tomorrow morning gap up from the. the market has been lacking follow through. whether it's a dead-cat bounce or profit-taking that is what we have to see. we need a nice solid three-day rally to follow through which the market has not been able to do for a month. susan: it is called consolidation. jonathan, will we see it? there needs to be conviction in the buying.

>> even with today's massive rally, the biggest point gain in dow history the market is essentially down for the year, down 10 years just this month. we have a lot of room to make up. now or never, the market has to show strength in technology and fullingals. a lot of financials. goldman sachs, northern trust, new 52-week lows. we have to see some sustained buying if there is anything other than a dead-cat bounce. susan: financials were confusing for market, since we're in higher interest rate environment, right, melissa? consumer strong. people are still buying homes. maybe this is a real realization, that financials a good place to park your cash. >> i wouldn't say any of them are looking great. even market leaders are not good like apple. susan: why? let's back it up. why don't they look good? fundamentals? >> i'm a chartists. remember the technicals, even

though holding uptrend are barely hanging on. they're hanging on by a thread. any huge gap down they would collapse. i'm not saying these companies would go out of business but fundamentally, technically speaking i wouldn't jump in to start buying. this may not be the bottom. known knows. we may have another drop why you have. susan: how about retest? guys, we'll talk through today's rally. we'll talk about so much more in the news flow. blake. blake: including president trump. before today's massive rally the president took on the federal reserve yet again. >> they're raising interest rates too fast. that's my opinion but i should have confidence but i think it will straighten. blake: that is the president yesterday from the oval office. jonathan, i see you shaking your head. what do you say? >> this was really, what essentially freaked the market out particularly on christmas eve, it was the president and i

believe treasury secretary steve mnuchin's involvement. we always say the market hates uncertainty, but uncertainty how many pampers walmart is going to sell, that traders can figure out but government's involvement, whether or not this group will get tariffs or the treasury secretary will be replaced over the federal reserve chair will be replaced, it is that type of intervention really worries traders. exactly why you saw so much after plunge christmas eve. why i think you have to say you saw the market do so well today. not a lot of tweeting from the president about market. i have to say that is one. reasons we had the rally. blake: melissa, do you subscribe to that reasoning or no? >> people dumping losers to the end of the year and write them off. you have to dump them by december 31st. people dumped the losers last few weeks. it may not have anything to do with the tweets or anything that occurred on christmas eve. a lot of people were off, they took the whole week off with the holiday on monday and tuesday.

blake: what caught my eye, part of that clip or afterward, the president seemed to accept that the interest rate hike for the federal reserve now might be the new norm. watch president trump from yesterday. i will get your reaction on other side. >> we have normal aized interest rate. that is good for a lot of people. people with money in the bank nobody got interest on their money. that for many years the people got to interest on their money. blake: first time i heard the president say higher rates could be good. >> i think normalized rates would be good. we've been living, essentially, blake, in surreal, non-real economic environment for 10 years with ultralow interest rates, to the extent that the fed can normalize, ideally get out of way, market even with higher rates can go higher as a result. blake: on back end of that sound bite the president said, quote, i think it's a tremendous opportunity to buy. he might have been proven right today but what about in the long run? >> i think trump is looking

fundamentally on the economy for the long run. that is why he is saying buy. he is looking long term the economy is strong. it should continue to stay strong into 2019. the problem is if the fed raises rates too quickly, too fast, it could spook the market again first quarter of 2019. they did it this time and i think they did it they felt they needed to a assert their independence because trump tweeted he did not want them to race rates. that is said and done. in the first quarter i think it will be touch and go. the fed needs to back off a little bit. blake: melissa, jonathan, 1000-point move. stay right there. you are not done. we might come back to you for hours. jeff flock, oil snapping a three-day losing streak, closing up 8%. jeff on the floor of the cme. jeff? >> one trader on the floor of the cme in chicago the reason for this? you talk about the president's tweets. the president is in iraq all day. he wasn't tweeting. took all the uncertainty out of

the market. that's why we're up. one man's opinion. don't shoot the messenger. in the after-hours we're up farther, percent 1/2 in the after-hours. we closed 46.22 today. as you report, blake that is 8.6% to the upside. we're now at 46.79 in the after-hours. we were a little higher a little while ago. so the rally continues. this after monday we were down 6.8%. so we made it all back and more. i guess the only potential negative in all of this would be that we have now had 77 straight days of gasoline price declines? we are now at $2.31 average gal of regular in the u.s. that is down five cents from last week, down, well, see if i can do the math on that, 24 cents from last month. we'll break that. the oil producers would like that. guys that drive cars, maybe not so much. quite a day at the cme, as well in new york. susan: helps the consumer, jeff,

good to see you. the government might be shut down. that doesn't mean americans aren't shopping. sky-high retail numbers are out. plus the white house looking forward to 2019 despite a glam my outlook from other economists. what you can expect for you and your wallet that comes your way next. and you're still not sure if you want to make the trade? exactly. sounds like a case of analysis paralysis. is there a cure? td ameritrade's trade desk. they can help gut check your strategies and answer all your toughest questions. sounds perfect. see, your stress level was here and i got you down to here, i've done my job. call for a strategy gut check with td ameritrade. ♪ ♪ ♪

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it's a revolution in sleep. the new sleep number 360 smart bed is on sale now during our lowest prices of the season. it senses your movement, and automatically adjusts to keep you both comfortable. it can even warm your feet to help you fall asleep faster. so you wake up ready to make your resolutions, reality. and now, the queen sleep number 360 c4 smart bed is only $1299. ranked #1 in customer satisfaction with mattresses by j.d. power. plus, 24-month financing on all beds. ends new year's day. sleep number. proven, quality sleep. susan: very merry christmas for retailers. americans spending $850 billion this holiday season. that is up more than 5% from last year. its also the strongest number in six years according to new report cards from mastercard. jonathan, melissa are back. i think this kind of solidifies what we've said before, that main street and consumers, they feel confident with a 50-year

low in unemployment. jonathan? >> no question. we talk about the economy being strong. from this christmas back to 2010, consumers closed their wallets. they weren't saving or spending. what is difference between the global financial crisis. interesting, susan, stocks are not doing well. this is one reason why the despite the news is good because of consumer spending, amazon up 8% today. a lot of retailers still scraping their 52-week lows. another area despite the fact news being good, this could be a dead-cat bounce we've been talking about and -- susan: subindex of the s&p rallied double-digits this year up until this month. i wouldn't say it's a weak year for retail in 2018? >> it is down, most retailers are flat this year.

this last month, everything including retailers, gotten completely sold off. in you were a bull i would like to see that hang in there. i'm not a complete bear on retail, susan. would like stocks doing better to match the good news. susan: melissa, what about the amazon story? they came out today with stellar numbers. sold millions more items this year than last year. signed up tens of millions of new prime subscribe earns which will get to 275 million in a decade's time. >> amazon is always the one to beat. everyone is out there trying to beat amazon. that is the problem. amazon had a big rally today. but that has taken a tumble off the highs like a lot of other stocks recently. retail did have a good year to me for the most part. some of the stocks wouldn't normally rally until black friday. that is unusual. target still uptrend. walmart still in an uptrend. lowe's is still in uptrend.

jcpenney, i don't know what to do with that stock. it is sad, really, really sad. as far as other ones go, macy's is still in a downtrend. but some stocks when you look earlier in the year they don't look great compared to the next month but the whole market has fallen in the last month so a lot trade off with the market. susan: retail was left for dead last year. >> exactly. susan: because they have gains this year is really impressive. back to amazon, i covered amazon's report card and earnings this morning. they set the negativity in motion for the report cards because they set the bar really low for the holiday shopping season which really concerned the market. they set expectations low. but come out with really strong numbers. you know next quarter looks pretty good for amazon. >> what is interesting, when you look at this quarter for earnings, in total, i'm talking about everything, and then you look at the market, you say, hmmm, interesting it is not surprising that we've been selling off. now what does that mean for the beginning of 2019?

well, we have a lot of upside potential. so if we get some good earnings and good reaction, some of these stocks have good earnings and bad negative reaction to the stock price. we need good earnings or bad earnings but good reaction in the stock price. because everyone had negative reactions for the most part, i'm generalizing here, talking about in general, even though some had strong. blake: fundamentally, technically speaking the stocks sold off which didn't make any sense, we want to see both of those things together in first quarter of 2019 where fundamentals are good, technicals are good and stocks get bought. we had good earnings fundamentally. yet stocks sold off on earnings. they didn't get bought. susan: that is what we call convergence. thank you so much. jonathan, melissa, good to see you. blake: president trump not backing down from his signature campaign promise. standing firm on his pledge to fund the boarder wall.

no end in sight as lawmakers set to return to capitol hill tomorrow. have you seen this, the commander-in-chief and the first lady surprising troops in iraq for the holiday. we'll have details on the unexpected trip overseas. all of that plus 1000-point move, still next. ♪ the same iot technology on the ibm cloud that helps race teams improve performance and safety. bye. girls, don't wave at strangers. can now be built into everything we drive. when you apply expertise across an industry, bye! you can put smart to work.

susan: president trump surprising troops in iraq today marking his first visit to our soldiers overseas since becoming president. to hillary vaughn standing by live at the white house, with the very latest. hillary. reporter: susan, president trump is on the way to his second stop, what has been a two-stop surprise visit overseas today. surprising u.s. troops in iraq on the first stop. we don't know where the second location is for safety reasons but once we get that information out we'll for sure bring it to you. this is the first visit to the combat zone as president of the united states. he spent three hours visiting

with service troops and officials on the ground. the president says he has no interest pulling out of iraq but explains how this country fits into his larger foreign strategy. up trump saying u.s. military in iraq will support the u.s. pullout from syria. isis can be hit from iraq if necessary. also the caliphate is gone. he says isis is quote, nearly defeated so this trip really happening during day five of what has been a government shutdown. we heard from government advisor, kevin hassett says only issue in the shutdown will be temporary. people's paychecks will be delayed, and people's unemployment will bump up slightly if the shut down lasts several weeks but he said he is not concerned about any long-term impact on the economy. then just this afternoon on the ground in iraq, the president says he is digging his heels in. he says he will not back down. he wants funding for the wall. when asked how long the shut

down will last, he says as long as it takes. susan. susan: surprises abound. thank you so much, hillary. blake: joining us to discuss, anthony tate today. retired brigadier general. thanks for joining us. author of the book, dark winter. thanks for being with us. >> great to be here. blake: before i walk you through couple headlines. i want to get your general reaction to the morale this would bring since the president had been criticized for not doing something like this up to this point? >> anytime the president visit as combat zone it's a 10-foot tall moment for soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, anybody over there. president trump is loved by our military. he loves our military. i think it is important that he visit at this time because he announced a major strategic shift in policy by withdrawing troops, withdrawing troops from syria. now is the perfect time to communicate that directly to the generals and all the way down to the privates who are prosecute

ing this war. and he brought first lady melania with him. she is so involved with military families, spouses, children's, she getting no press coverage for that. i believe she may be one of the first military spouses to be to a combat zone. blake: certainly unique. >> she is communicating to the airmen, soldiers, marines i've been talking to your families. they will be happy to she you when you redeploy. she is creating a good message from the white house. blake: we have to get a couple of reaction to headlines here. we mentioned syria, the president gave his order in the last few days to move u.s. troops. he was talking to reporters on the ground in iraq. the president said syria was never meant to be quote open-ended. is he, is his decision to

withdraw troops from that country the correct one in your estimation? >> yeah, absolutely. blake: how so? >> he is making thence absolute right call. you heard him say he is keeping over the horizon force in iraq. we'll see some public/private partnership go into syria, hold what you got. you can protect the kurds, invite private investment. he is in anbar province right now at al-asad airbase which is not far from syria. it is one of the more dangerous areas but, we have forces there that can conduct raids and continue to keep pressure on isis. blake: by the way what you're watching new video, gotten to us from president trump in iraq. this visit actually happened a handful of hours ago or so there is obviously a lot of low gist call challenges, security reasons. we're just getting first images as you can see on the left side of the screen. as far as iraq goes, general the president saying today, that he wants to keep troops in that

country, u.s. troops. there are still about 5000 people might forget inside iraq. he says troops can attack isis from that point so fast, so hard, they won't know what the herl happened. is it possible that we could still be effective in syria, where isis has strong hold on eastern side, whatever is left, with troops in iraq? >> absolutely. it is all about intelligence and communications, having boots on the ground. saudi arabia is sending troops in there. we will still have communications with the kurds. and they will have eyes on and be able to paint the targets as it's called for the air force and helicopters that can conduct these raids. this is the perfect combination, alliance between the kurds, the saudis, other forces on the ground there. and the u.s. forces, coalition forces in iraq. it is also important to stay in iraq because you have iran trying to build a land bridge through, syria, through iraq

into syria and, you know, we need to stop that. that is one of the reasons that israel is bombing syria right now. blake: general, real quickly, the future of u.s. troops in iraq looks like what? >> i think it is about ap3 to -- about a 3 to 4,000 strong logistics force. blake: pull out 20% of the troops that are there? >> that is what i can say. conduct raids and be able to do logistics on the ground and make sure we can come in to reinforce when we need to reinforce. it is time for other people to conduct this fight. the president was absolutely right. this was never an open-ended thing. the mission was to defeat isis. as you heard the president say, isis is mostly defeated. now time to withdraw, a phased withdraw. today we're attacking isis on the ground as well. just because we're leaving doesn't mean we're quitting. blake: retired brigadier general anthony tate at that. merry christmas to you and

yours. >> merry christmas. susan: the government remains portionly shutdown as the political blame game continues. we'll get to the latest fallout. just a few days left until 2019. and democrats are starting to gear up for the 2020 election. the big steps they're taking and who is the leading contender to take on president trump. ♪ i switched to liberty mutual

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susan: dow is surging 1000 point gain. we'll bring in 2020. we are robin biro, former campaign director of the obama campaign and a a. what a return for the dow. 1,000 point gain, when you own the ups, you also own the downs. with a 1000 point gain, do you think this helps trump's case, madison? >> absolutely. this on sop of some other positive economic news we see over last year, what we see over next two years i think it will be a great election for president trump in 2020, combined with many of his other accomplishments. when we look at the economy, we look at jobs, rising waynes, tax cuts and jobs act and two of that coming up to 2019. susan: up until today wasn't

looking great for the market in 2018. barring a 5% rally in the last two trading sessions, looking for the first down year in the markets since 2008. robin, how do you think this plays in a few year's time? >> it confuses things for democrats quite a bit. it was looking good for us up until today, obviously, but, hey, i never bet against the usa i'm thrilled that the markets are on the up swing. what we need to pay careful watch is the reverse mortgage market, that was bailed out by the fdic. that is something that could seriously affect the economy going forward for the next couple years. susan: yep. also, central bank policy, madison, which we know president trump he is is not happy about the central bank and federal reserve chairman jerome powell. just from your sense is it wise for the white house and the president, the sitting president to be dictating central bank policy which is supposed to be independent by the way of the

executive branch? >> i think some people are concerned about this, as you're seeing, people support what the president is saying here. robert makes a good point, never good to talk against the usa. democrats say we want the economy to be down. that is food for news election of the as americans we should want things to be up and people doing well in this country. that is something we need to bring attention to whether you're republican, democrat, independent, a trump supporter or not a trump supporter, we want things to go will. that benefits all of juice robin, what do you think? >> most definitely. everybody, nobody wants to suffer in this market. this should not be a partisan thing. we should all want what is best for our economy. democrats have to make the strong case going into 2020, that we have what it takes to protect the gains that we have already had and we can do better. so it is going to be tough with a crowded field of maybe 40 candidates to see who can best deliver that message, susan. susan: right. but the obama administration, obama himself did not criticize

the federal reserve chairman or chairwoman. >> that's correct. he was very clear to stay afrom that trump is his different ballgame. he is his own animal. every day is a new mystery with this president. susan: let's get to some breaking news and president trump doubling down on the fight for the border wall white visiting troops overseas in iraq, answering questions from reporters how long the shutdown will last. the president saying quote, whatever it takes, we need a wall. we need safety for our country, even from this standpoint we have terrorists coming in through the southern border. and robin, this looks like a sticking point when it gets to some budget deal through. what do you think, do we need this wall? >> it's tough. you know, consider for the fact, that i'm a veteran. so i'm all about physical security. i personally am not opposed to a wall because in 2006 we bipartisanly supported the secure fence act. so i see it as disingenuous when

i hear democrats coming out so strongly against it. but, i think that we're smart to renovate existing sections of fencing like president trump tweeted out today. we need more prudent financial ways of getting this accomplished. i think we'll get there, susan. susan: who do you think owns the shut down, madison? >> i don't think there will be political fall out from the shut down. number one, people are supportive of the president comes to build the wall. particularly his own supporters that what they elected him on. when we look at midterms second biggest issue was immigration. first people thought immigration was issue, voted 3 to one. there was government shut down in 1981. ronald reagan won in landslide. i don't think president trump will lose in the shutdown or necessarily gain. i think it will even out when it comes to gaining or losing

support on this. susan: robin, madison, always a pleasure. >> thanks. blake: looks like that story is not going away anytime soon. could be days into weeks and months. we'll see. meantime 1000 point gain, three days left in the trading year. what to expect at the opening bell tomorrow. we'll tackle that coming up we'll tackle that coming up next. ♪ all the life savers. the world is alive as you can see, this time of the year is so much more than a bow and a tree. (morgan vo) those who give their best, deserve the best. get up to a $1,250 credit on select models now during the season of audi sales event. ♪

blake: it is christmas week. you could go about your business, check in on the market, see how things did? nope. this is the dow's first 1000 point gain. we have christine fa part part, at the new york stock exchange. i say this is busiest "newsweek" of the year. always happens. >> this is my first christmas with fox business. what a week, what a day. especially here at the new york stock exchange. investors, even one investor left a few moments ago. i overheard his conversation.

he was talking to another guy. he said literally, what a day for those markets. you can see the sentiment has been relatively jovial. people are chatting, wondering what happened. how did we have such a large swing? the fact that markets closed in negative 653 on the dow, then closing higher today, at over 1000 points? that is massive. so, obviously everybody has their own opinion what has contributed to this massive up swing in the markets but we're seeing, i was talking to one guy, talking about retail sales being higher. jay powell, the job, the fact that that is secured. pension rebalancing, so u.s. pensions, they have a basket of stocks and equities. stocks and bonds. they need to rebalance by end of the year. that is a contributing factor as well. then you have got the energy sector, oil, really a big concern though. it is still nowhere near the 75-dollar a barrel mark that we saw in early october so that was something that i spoke about with one of the guys here because they believe, that yes, you may see a rally tomorrow and

we have a few days left. so maybe a little bit of a santa rally but there is still a lot of concern about the weakness in growth going into 2019. again i'm going to quote this one guy that said, it's a fragile growth environment going forward. i think that is weighing on investors minds. of course the federal reserve, what is going to happen. if there will be any other tweets from the white house or calls to ceo's. things you don't really want to hear because you weren't concerned about it in the first place t just added to the market turmoil on monday. blake: kristina partsinevelos on floor of new york stock exchange. thanks. >> thank you. blake: to step back and pause for a minute, the largest christmas eve drop ever, followed by the largest point gain ever. susan: that is volatility for you, right? blake: that is the definition of it. susan: it is a sign of late-stage bull markets. they're usually up and down. we've been expanding for close to 10 years now. the longest bull market in history.

coming back from the brink. lawmakers set to arrive back on capitol hill tomorrow. we latest where negotiations currently stand to reopen the government. that comes your way next. ♪ ♪ there's no place like home for the holidays ♪

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blake: lawmakers back to work, some of them at least in our nation's capitol tomorrow as a the partial government shutdown prepares to enter day six. joining me now to discuss is someone's whose emails randomly get once a month or so, brad blakeman. blake burman, brad blakeman. >> how are you doing? blake: lawmakers will return tomorrow. we can predict nothing will come from that. we enter the new year. that will be a democratic-led house so what happens? where does this go? >> democrats know where they can

find the president. he will be in the oval office. they have his number. they can drop by. the president extended an olive branch last couple days the five billion dollar number for improvements made to the southern border and walls and other security are open to negotiation. it is up to the democrats to come up with a good faith return on the president's gesture. if they do, think i they can make a deal with the president. blake: you say an olive branch given by the president to come down from five billion. white house wants democrats to come up from the 1.3 billion. the president said, i will take the man tell of this shutdown. seems if democrats can sit back here, especially knowing they have the house, right, brad? was that a mistake for the president to do couple weeks ago? >> i don't think it was at all, in reality the american people understand it takes democrats in order to make a deal. the republicans did their house. they voted. they moved the bills. and where did the get stuck in the senate where democrats refuse to give 60 votes

necessary to advance a senate bill. it is quite clear where the problem is. the president is willing to shut down the government. why? is because we need to stand on principle. blake: i will jump in here. president trump comments from iraq. let's listen in. >> sure. >> it was on your calendars for everybody to see. we need a wall. when you say how long is it going to take? when are they going to say we need border security? when are the democrats going to say? don't forget the democrats all agreed you need a wall until i wanted it. once i wanted it they didn't agree. reporter: what is your timeline on a new defense secretary? ♪ blake: well, so, when we get these playouts as you saw from president trump there, they feed them in different orders. we got a little bit of a snippet. president trump in iraq, surprising troops, with first lady melania trump. lucky for us, brad we got the

segment we were talking about. the president commenting on the wall, which he said, we need the wall. it feels like, correct me if i'm wrong, that we're not talking about this shutdown going hours or days but maybe weeks into months, does it not? >> it could. if we look historically over 22 shutdowns since 1977, the longest shutdowns happened under democratic administrations, carter, clinton, obama. they have never lasted more than a month. typically just a few days. it's a stunt. i believe this is a read my lips moment for president trump. remember president bush 41 said read my lips. no new taxes. he reneged on that pledge. this promise of securing our southern border is a fundamental promise. the president's slogan, promises made, promises kept. this must be a promise kept by this president. blake: over to iraq for a second where president trump made a surprise visit, we just saw video of the president, what

goes into something like this? this is highly secretive when you fly a president and in this case a first lady into a war zone. the president describing how they flew on air force one with dim lights. video that you saw there is probably about five hours or so old. we're getting it for the first time, security reasons, et cetera. what does it go into a president visiting a war zone and general thoughts president visiting the troops this christmas? >> i think it is awesome. it is very important for troop morale to wave the flag and the let them know the country appreciates that irservice at holiday times. i was in charge of president 43 staff, in charge of his schedule, the gate keeper. these trips are highly compartmentalized. very few people know. only those who need to know. blake: were you planning for it, for bush 43, that type of loop? >> exactly. only a handful of senior staff. the press is told president

going somewhere. get packed up. you will meet at a location, but you won't know where you're going until the president departs the airport. the good news, president doing this insures his safety is secure. the secret service and military work on this very quietly. there is an advance team that goes out, as many as seven days ahead of time. a lid is put on this you can see bit surprise of visit itself it worked exactly as planned. blake: brad blakeman, glad to get your emails. >> thank you. susan: a new warning for next year. why some are saying 2019 could be even more painful for the global economy. the white house is offering a very different message. ♪

susan: feeling the pain from the trade war. the forecast, a global slowdown in 2019 but the white house is

predicting a brighter outlook. take a listen. >> right now, if you look at the growth forecast for next year, we're once again at 3% as the data continue to be strong, that there's a lot of momentum going into next year. susan: here, dan mitchell, center for freedom and prosperity chairman. good to see you. we had kevin hassett saying there are more upside risks. yes, there are downside risks but we are still looking at 3% growth this year, the best since 2005. >> if we get 3% growth i will be happy but keep in mind economists are lousy forecasters. that's not an idealogical point. doesn't matter what type of administration you have. i think there are significant risks, not only externally, china debt, italian fiscal crisis, but also, trump i think with his trade stuff is really destabilizing the economy, and there's one other thing, although i don't blame trump for it. we have had years and years and years of easy money policy from the fed and i think that's what's creating a lot of volatility in the market right now. susan: so what's your outlook

then on economic growth? we're not growing at 3% this year? >> we're doing fine right now. the question is are we in the tail end of a bubble. economists don't have 20/20 foresight. we don't even have 20/20 hindsight. all we can do is recommend policies that will help. i'm very glad for some things trump has done. the corporate tax cut is very good news. we have had some deregulation. that's good news. but he's been weak on spending and the trade stuff, if he pulls the u.s. out of the wto or does this so-called section 232 tariffs on automobiles, those are potential big land mines for the economy. that's what i worry about. susan: you said we are weak on spending. talking about consumer spending? talking about government spending? >> i'm talking about trump being weak on government spending. take this current border wall fight. if you go back to fdr and harry truman, when they wanted additional defense spending for world war ii and the korean war, they at least proposed to cut back on domestic spending. trump is just rolling over for

the porkmeisters on capitol hill. susan: some would say part of the fiscal package is cutting taxes and that's why you look at a deficit year after year. >> no question this tax cut will lose some revenue. to me, that's not an argument for not doing the tax cut. we need that for competitiveness. my argument is that he needs to also marry the tax cut with some restraint on the growth of government. we don't need anything radical. if you simply limit government spending so it grows 2% a year, you can actually balance the budget in seven years, have plenty of room for the tax cut. susan: well, okay. this is a mark to market administration. their argument would be we wouldn't see double digit gains in the stock market since election day if we didn't have the juice, if we didn't have the spending and tax cuts and deficit spending that we saw. >> well, first of all, i don't think government spending is juice for the economy. every dollar the government spends, it's taking out of the private sector even through taxes or borrowing.

yes, the corporate tax cut, the administration is right on that, that was incredibly helpful, very long overdue because we were so out of whack with the rest of the world. but i really think, leave aside the issue of trade, on fiscal policy, they need to control the growth of government and trump has not done that, even when republicans totally controlled capitol hill, they never got around to being serious about spending and that's going to come back to haunt them if they want to make the tax cuts permanent, because the individual stuff expires at the end of 2025, i believe it is. susan: dan, thank you so much. good to see you. now, blake, i would have to say we are ending this on a positive note. a 1,000 point gain today for the dow. blake: largest gain ever. you've got the president surprising the troops in the middle east. you have the president's top economist saying the chairman of the federal reserve, his job is safe. what a day. susan: what a day indeed. this comes after the worst christmas eve half-session in

history. there is volatility for you. blake: maybe tomorrow we will just take a 100 point move in either direction. think that will happen? susan: very hard. blake: that does it for us. "bulls & bears" starts right now. david: breaking news. take a look at this. the party returning to wall street at least for a day in a major way, with the dow surging more than 1,000 points. the best single day point gain ever. hi, everybody. this is "bulls & bears." i'm david asman. joining me, morgan ortega, john layfield and rick unger. powerful stock rally today breaking a string of losses, obliterating the losses we suffered in the worst christmas eve trading session ever and making today the best day after christmas rally ever. going into today's rally, president trump said this was a terrific buying opportunity and at least today, he seems to have been right. so has t