social media companies become more proactive and think outside of selling. the dow up 28 points, near record highs. i will pass it over to liz claman and the most exciting hour of the markets. liz: in fact, i'm just looking at facebook right now. it is up 2.25% on that breaking news you just gave. we will keep an eye on it. all right. vern buchanan, a republican, he right now is speaking. we could be just minutes away from the historic impeachment of president donald j. trump. the house of representatives debating his impeachment right now. we do expect a vote at any moment. we are going to take you straight to capitol hill for the state of play. stocks that are making history of their own. look at the s&p and nasdaq. they are heading toward a fifth straight day of record gains. but with markets seemingly spiked with bullish spirit, could this santa claus rally five sessions in a row, three for the dow, be about to get ghosted? our floor show traders are going

hunting for ghosts and they will keep you posted and ready. you have heard about blood diamond but what about blood batteries? children being exploited in the congo to mine the very substance that makes electric vehicles run? a fox business exclusive with the man who says it's happening, the big tech games and names he's blame, and now the ones he's suing. could affect the stocks. we will check that and more. plus they are the shoes of the stars, from hollywood to silicon valley, made of wool and sugar cane. co-found eer is here in a fox business exclusive to talk about the kicks that have become the holiday gift. also, that beef with amazon over the knockoffs? we will ask about that and more. peloton shifting to a lower gear and tesla stock defying gravity as we head into the final hour of trade. let's start "the claman countdown."

liz: we also have this news just breaking. mortgage giant freddie mac's stock is spiking about 4% right now on a reuters report that it is offering early retirement packages to 25% of its work force. according to reuters, the government sponsored enterprise is aiming to reduce its cost base as it prepares for what we have been reporting for months, its plan to exit government control, which started during the financial crisis. we are watching that stock. it is a $3 stock. lot of mortgages, particularly the 30-year fixed rate mortgages, are protected under freddie mac. dow jones industrials up 24 points. let's look at fed ex. it is plunging, third day in a row. this time after the package shipping company reported a weaker than expected earnings report. this was after the bell. and forecast as e-commerce goliath amazon transitions from fed ex customer to competitor.

remember, it told its second and third party shippers no more shipping via ground between now and christmas using fed ex. fed ex is dropping another 10% at the moment. ups getting slightly wet in all of this water fight here. we are down about 2% for ups. let's get right now back to that facebook story. social media stock facebook along with twitter getting quite the buzz. first you see facebook up 2%. twitter better by 3.33%. not only did deutsche bank hike its price target for facebook by $10 to $270, right now we are at $202, but you heard the news, they are banning for both facebook and instagram any kind of gun-related pictures, stories, et cetera. conversely, citigroup cut its price target on twitter to $36 from $45. right now, the stock's at $31. on dim view of the microblogging site's revenue outlook. despite the chop, that stock is still up right now.

flipping it over to the real real, a new brokerage coverage second-hand luxury goods site. b. riley fbr has initiated coverage with a buy rating for all things gucci, chanel, gently used, of course. it's up nearly 2% at $17.76. to capitol hill right now on a historic hour. congress now in the third hour of debating the impeachment of president trump. will the house vote to impeach a u.s. president for just the third time in our nation's history? it was exactly 21 years ago tomorrow that congress impeached president bill clinton. you have to go back 130 more years for the only other impeachment of president andrew johnson. some of you might be saying whoa, what about richard nixon. famously, nixon resigned before congress had the chance to impeach, to even have the vote. if you missed it this morning, republicans launched a last-minute but ultimately

failed bid to prevent the impeachment vote from happening. here it is. >> madam speaker, so we can stop wasting america's time on impeachment, i move the house do now adjourn. >> question is on the motion to adjourn. all in favor say aye? opposed say no. the nos have it. liz: we take it live to capitol hill and edward lawrence. where are the sands in the hourglass when it comes to the vote? reporter: yeah. we are well into that debate, talking about the articles of impeachment. this is about the halfway point now for that vote, for the vote to start, actually, for the articles of impeachment. the debate has been going back and forth. democrats in this debate arguing that the president abused his power and it's their duty to actually impeach the president. representative kevin mccarthy, house minority leader, offering a warning, though, to democrats in swing states. listen. >> so those democrats who vote for today, what will we learn about six months from now? probably a year from now they will have a very short career here in congress because they

would not uphold the rule of law. reporter: in the setup vote to this for the rule of impeachment, there were no republicans that voted yes but two democrats broke ranks here. this is expected to be a partisan vote for impeachment today. back in 1998, you mentioned president bill clinton was impeached. that was a bipartisan vote there. still, democrats saying that they have to do it today. listen. >> if we do not act now, we would be derelict in our duty. it is tragic that the president's reckless actions make impeachment necessary. he gave us no choice. reporter: we are expecting that impeachment vote to start somewhere around 6:00 p.m. eastern time tonight. it's in the next chamber literally from where i'm standing here. back to you. liz: all right. right now, we have representative berkman of michigan speaking at the moment. we are watching this very closely. impeachment vote obviously critical for the nation, but

right now for stocks, kind of a non-event. but could the ghost of christmas past come back to haunt the markets this year, even as we are on track for three new record highs? we cannot forget what happened last christmas eve when global markets plunged. the dow nose-dived 653 points or nearly 3%, and the s&p tanked 2.7%. what spooked the horses back then? trade concerns were already hovering, but in an unusual statement that was accompanied by this tweet from treasury secretary steven mnuchin, that's what really triggered it. mnuchin confirmed that he had met with the ceos of the six largest banks and just put out that the banks had ample liquidity available for lending to consumer and business markets. that was on a sunday. when the markets opened christmas eve monday, off to the races. but again, backwards, right. that will not happen again if, of course, the administration stays off twitter. but we want you ready for anything. to our traders.

all right, phil flynn, what could cause the christmas rally to be ghosted this year? >> why show me these things from last year if we can't change the future? you know, listen, i do not see any chance of that happening again this year, unless there's a black swan event or this time of year, a black reindeer, whatever. it's not going to happen. in fact, i think there's more odds we could see the exact opposite happen because last year, we had a lot of people that were betting that the market was going to go up, they got caught on the long side, they had to cover a lot of options, it created this big selloff as we got towards option expiration. now we are seeing the other thing, on the other side of the market. there are a lot of people who were bearish selling options, believing the market was going to go down. now it looks like that might not happen. as we get closer towards the end of the year there might be a lot of short bets that have to be covered so we could see the exact opposite this year. liz: right. but you talk about the repoworries, we aren't getting too wonky here but what phil

really means is the fed and richard clarida told us last week right here, number two at the fed, don't worry, we are going to fund it up until december 31st and through that. this is short-term lending that got into a crunch in september. what do you predict, teddy? >> well, liz, a year ago we were at dow 21,000. now we are at dow 28,000. the whole year has been a santa claus rally. i think as your previous guest mentioned, barring some unforeseen event, which unfortunately, none of us have a crystal ball, i see no reason for us to be too nervous. clearly most smart investors always have one eye on the exit anyway. but it's been a good year and i think the problem a lot of folks have this year are not worried about losses but the fact is, they are looking for losses to offset some of the spectacular gains. liz: yeah, indeed. luke, always smart to take some

of the profits off the table. boy, do have people a lot of profits. i'm looking at the nasdaq, up 33% year to date. it has just been great for the tech names. people keep piling in. >> yeah, you're absolutely right, liz. but i mean, look at all that's out there again. i read a lot of stuff and there still isn't anyone that's really explained this china deal to me. and we haven't seen that huge pop we were expecting from this deal. 1,000 points, 1500 points, it's going to be all this and that. so exactly like you said, i'm thinking if you want to catch some of this january move, you think that's going to happen, go out to february, hedge yourself a little bit and again, back to the vix, look at how low it is. we still don't know what the china deal is. the germans are now blocking huawei. we don't know what's going to happen with brexit. the impeachment, who knows where that's going to go. you don't always have to catch all the moves all the time. hedge a little bit.

sell out of the money calls, collect some of that premium, then rebalance in later. it's a long game. liz: it sure is. but everybody has always got to be a little bit ready for the pounce, right? like a kitty. teddy, phil, luke, thank you very much. skechers racing to a new annual high, with about 49 minutes to the closing bell and the dow up 36, deutsche initiating the sneaker maker with a buy, saying skechers global dominance is second only to nike and adidas. all three moving higher with skechers jumping nearly 4%. speaking of hitting new heights in the footwear foot race, it's a high-flying sustainable shoe that has silicon valley and oscar winner leo dicaprio, matthew mcconaughey and the queen of media, oprah winfrey, lacing up their kicks to help reduce their environmental footprints. up next, allbirds cofounder

talks the secret and very sweet ingredient that has been the key to this hot holiday item's success. that's next on "the claman countdown." anies ready for what's next. (man) we weave security into their business. (second man) virtualize their operations. (woman) and build ai customer experiences. (second woman) we also keep them ready for the next big opportunity. like 5g. almost all of the fortune 500 partner with us. (woman) when it comes to digital transformation... verizon keeps business ready. my body is truly powerful. i have the power to lower my blood sugar and a1c. because i can still make my own insulin. and trulicity activates my body to release it like it's supposed to. trulicity is for people with type 2 diabetes. it's not insulin. i take it once a week. it starts acting in my body from the first dose. trulicity isn't for people with type 1 diabetes

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tomorrow? who knows. age is just an illusion. how you show up for the world, that's what's real. what's your idea? i put it out there with a godaddy website. make the world you want. liz: will it be bigger than black friday or cyber-monday? with just days to christmas and hanukkah, this weekend's super saturday is expected to be the busiest day not only at the mall, but of the shopping year. the national retail federation anticipates 148 million shoppers will stampede to the stores but with all that foot traffic, one type of shoe is already shaping up to be one of the hottest holiday gifts under the tree this year. allbirds, the silicon valley sustainable shoe company, is so hot, oscar winning actor leonardo dicaprio is in not only

as a customer but an investor. joey swillinger is the co-founder and ceo of allbirds, here in a fox business exclusive. there is such a run on your shoes, will supply hold until christmas? >> we got enough. come visit us, please. thanks for having me on. liz: you do have stores, you got a great website. let's talk about why people like this and a, it's comfort but b, you guys have very interesting sustainability issues, right? what's it made of? >> look, it's not -- people aren't coming to buy us just for sustainability. it does happen to be we think one of the most sustainable shoes on the planet, but we stripped off logos, made the beauty of the shoe come through with this really rich textile we have from eucalyptus fiber that looks quite distinct and really beautiful. but quite simple at the same time. the comfort is we think unrivaled. that's kind of what we set out to do first. the sustainability for us was just non-negotiatable.

i know you mentioned some of the famous people that have worn our shoes. it's always nice to see and quite humbling but that's, i think it is a draw. liz: oh, sure. especially when you are using recycled plastic bottles for shoe laces. you mentioned the wool. these are from sheep in new zealand but sugar cane from brazil to make your eco-friendly designs. where does that go? >> see, this is probably one of the things we are the most proud of. the bottom part of the shoe, the foam on the bottom of sneakers, it's probably the biggest component in the entire sneaker industry. it's an ingredient that we knew that it was not that great from a sustainability perspective and its impact on the environment was pretty bad. so we flew down to brazil and met with our now partner, the largest green chemical company on the planet, and we worked with them and figured out a

process to take the waste stream from sugar cane production which is about 50% of the world's sugar cane supply is in brazil, and take that waste stream and produce this foam in an incredibly environmentally friendly way so it sucks carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. we put it in the bottom of our shoes. liz: we did a little on the ground research. we called one of our producers' boy friends, husbands, actually, they got married, jackie, he loves them. he says they are so incredibly comfortable. i like the fact there's no logo in this logo-obsessed world. you recently wrote an op-ed. they have become so popular but because there isn't a logo, not that logos can't be knocked off, but there are shoes that are being sold on amazon right now, you basically ripped amazon. tell us the situation right now. >> well, look, it's nice that big companies have taken note, you know. that sugar cane foam i mentioned was actually, we're not just

proud that we minted you but we are proud because we opened it up and open sourced it to the whole industry. we know, we get it, we are having some initial success, we are only three years old so anyone who knows about us now is still very much in the camp of the early adopter for our company, and they, you know, a lot of people have knocked off our style. very few that we know of to date have actually used some of the sustainability credentials we have opened up to the world. you mentioned amazon. it's obviously one of the most, the largest and most valuable companies in the entire world. liz: you don't want to lose that opportunity, but you've got to get their attention. we saw birkenstock do this a couple years ago, say stop selling knockoffs. >> we never offered our products on amazon.com and maybe that's why amazon is upset but they took the opportunity and saw some search volume on amazon.com and decided to make their own version. that was clearly inspired by our product.

we just decided going down a legal route is probably an uphill battle that's not worth fighting for us given the size and scale of just their legal team alone. so we thought we would invite them to partner instead. we offered them the ingredients to make the shoes in a sustainable way. we hope they do. liz: what did they say? >> we haven't heard back yet but i'm waiting. liz: well, you are a tough uc berkeley graduate like myself. i know you guys are just going to keep climbing, no matter who tries to smack you down or who tries to copy you or knock you off. again, deckers, steve madden, skechers, casual shoe market out there, could you guys have a record holiday season? >> we are already surpassing our biggest. what we are doing, we are doing great. again, this is a huge industry. we are off to a very early start here. it's a good start. we are happy. so much more to come in the coming years. our stores, as you mentioned, we

got 15 and opening about 20 more next year. so we are really looking to reach a lot more customers. barely anyone even knows about us. please visit us at allbirds.com, or any one of our stores. liz: it's a great thing. i like the sustainability but i like the comfort aspect better. joey, great to have you. thank you so much. have a great holiday. >> appreciate it. you, too. liz: closing bell is ringing in 39 minutes. we have the dow up 22 points, s&p is up three. we are watching this closely. all three major indices should see records if we hold where we are. one of the most controversial power providers in the u.s. trying to rise from the ashes. california's pg & e, seeing some flickers of hope after getting the green light from a judge on its $13.5 billion settlement with those 2017 and 2018 wildfire victims. shares currently up 5.25%. still down more than 50% year to date. speaking of power, micron

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liz: breaking news. there are reports hitting the wires that a federal judge has just ordered the early prison release for convicted ex-worldcom ceo bernie ebbers. his daughter recently advocated for his release, saying he suffers from dementia. prosecutors had thought he was faking it, but he's getting out of prison. he's 78 years old. he served 13 of his 25 year prison sentence. he was sent to prison for heading an $11 billion accounting fraud scheme by the telecom company. bernie ebbers may be sprung from jail. we will keep you posted on that. chip giant micron seeing

shares springing higher, more than 12% in just the past week, up another quarter of a percent right now. but could today's earnings put the high-flying stock to the test? gerri willis, there is a pile-on of fan boys and fan girls on wall street about this stock. gerri: liz, you are so right. let's just talk about two for a second. wedbush raising its price target to 65. they are at 53 right now, my friend. this stock is up 67% year to date, pacing the philadelphia chip index low, even beating it. this is a sector that has been on fire. it is a favorite of investors and expected to do very well indeed under the new trade pact. we will see. in the meantime, we have to get through the last quarter of earnings for the year. 47 cents a share, $5 billion in revenue. that's what we're looking for after the bell. got to tell you, this will be important not just for micron or not just for chips but looking forward to 2020, because it is one of the last big releases of the year. people will be watching it to

see okay, how did this year end up and what is 2020 going to look like. i got to tell you, everybody loves this chip sector and few have done better than micron. i got to tell you, amd, advanced microdevices, lam research, also doing well, in the same category here. lots of details coming right after the close. back to you. liz: yeah. micron's ceo, yet another berkeley graduate, just like our friend joey from allbirds. they're everywhere. gerri: the place is lousy with them. liz: thanks, gerri, very much. first there were blood diamonds, but now, blood batteries? with the closing bell ringing in 33 minutes, s&p still up three, dow up 18, no, sasdaq up 19. apple, alphabet, dell, microsoft, tesla, just charged with aiding and abetting the child labor used to mine a vital element contained in lithium ion batteries that they use and make. we will tell you about the

lawsuit that accuses some of the richest companies in the world with looking the other way, as children in the congo get maimed and even killed while earning just $1 a day in dangerous stone age mining conditions. that's straight ahead on "the claman countdown." as a doctor, i agree with cdc guidance. i recommend topical pain relievers first... like salonpas patch large. it's powerful, fda-approved to relieve moderate pain, yet non-addictive and gentle on the body. salonpas. it's good medicine. hisamitsu. ugh, another electronic signature. you have to print, walk, sign, scan, recycle, walk, email yourself... really? more walking, try again, waiting, recycle,

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liz: you know, the term blood diamonds is pretty well used in the vernacular today but what's

blood battery siesbatteries? these shocking images provided by international rights advocates show children in democratic republic of congo toiling in cobalt mines. the agency alleges the child cobalt miners, some as young as 6, are forced to work in toxic and dangerous conditions and in the process, have sustained just horrific injuries, even death. the cobalt from the drc goes into the lithium ion batteries and smartphones, laptops and electric cars made by these tech giants. apple, alphabet, dell, microsoft, tesla. now they are the target of a lawsuit filed by international rights advocates on behalf of 14 congolese children. the group's executive director joins us. what specifically does the lawsuit say? >> well, we have four different causes of action, but the essence of the claim is that this issue of the child labor, and it's not just child labor, it's child labor that results in

the maiming and killing of children, this has been out in the news for years, and in 2016, amnesty international did this gigantic report, went to the companies themselves. so it's important to demonstrate that these companies have known for a long time that this exists, and we have different claims that derive from the fact that they are knowingly benefiting from this horrific use of children and en dangerment to their lives. liz: things that happen. tunnel wall collapses, they probably in many cases, i understand, beaten. you represent 14 of them. what is the worst case of those 14? >> well, there's two worst cases because they are just different. the very first person i interviewed was jane doe 1, who is listed in the complaint. her son was buried alive in a mine. they didn't even get his body back. we would talk for two sentences, she would break down crying, i would tear up and we were just

trying to get through this. but she had to tell me the facts. when she ended, she said please help us, they are killing our children like dogs. that stuck with me. i came home and worked so hard, and then there's one kid who is john doe 4, he had his leg amputated because it got smashed in a wall collapse. and he's done. he's going to need people to care for him. there's no rehabilitation in the drc. liz: but can you really directly connect names like apple and tesla to these particular cobalt mines where they are abusing children and forcing this child labor? we did reach out to all of the names here, and we have gotten some statements. among them, dell. see, this is where it gets a little sketchy here. dell says you know, we are committed to sponsoring of these minerals, we have never knowingly sourced operations

using any form of involuntary labor or child labor. that whole never knowingly, how do you know, well, as far as i know. how far do you know. apple has removed six cobalt refiners already in 2019 that they felt did not hold up to their standards. so how can you directly connect and sue them? >> well, the reason we have these 14 victims and the five companies that we have named is that the specific mines that the kids were injured or killed in are either supplying cobalt to glen corps or to a chinese company. both of those sell to the specific companies we have named, and we did very careful research to make sure that the injured person was working at a mine that we could connect back up to these companies, and it's all in the complaint. i'm 100% certain of that. as to dell not having knowledge, well, i showed up there in

september of this year and if you don't see what's going on there, then you're not looking. it's there, everywhere. everywhere. liz: okay. now, ford and general motors want to avoid this. they have lithium ion batteries in their electric vehicles. they are floating this idea of having a blockchain technology, meaning the electronic or digital ledger that can follow the blood batteries, if you will, to make sure theirs are sustained appropriately. >> well, i have looked at blockchain in other sectors and more recently in the cocoa west africa child cocoa cases there. we have a case involving that. the problem is that blockchain tracks a finished bag that is sealed and then they can tell you that bag goes from here to here to here. what they're not doing, and what really is the problem, is they're not looking to see who produced the cobalt that goes into that bag. you need on-site independent monitoring in order to be sure that that bag was not filled up

with cobalt made with children and none of them have even considered that yet. it takes more money. it takes people power. but that's the only way to be sure that that cobalt in that bag was not mined by children. liz: yeah. glen corps is a foreign company, publicly traded but not here, i believe. meantime, we will be watching this case. keep us posted. >> thank you for your interest. we will keep you posted as well. liz: the closing bell ringing in 23 minutes. the dow has turned negative. cannot hold on at the moment to even just a shred of green. very narrow trading so far today. very narrow trading. as we watch all of this, we should tell you that bitcoin believers, they're happy today. bitcoin jumping $558 at the moment. they are turning, though, into doubting thomases when you stretch out the year.

check out this week's everyone talks to liz podcast. okay. we know that yesterday, the great former federal reserve chair paul volcker was buried at the age of 92. he passed. but this man to the left there, he is larry cantor. he grew up, his father was very poor, his mother was in an orphanage. he went to wall street, he climbed all the way, but also with a job working for paul volcker. tune in, apple, google, fox news pod casts.com. if you are baking or cooking or packing for the holiday, ask alexa to play everyone talks to liz. "the claman countdown" is coming right back.

liz: 2019 certainly not the year of the crypto. bitcoin staging a comeback over the first six months of the year. that looked great.

recent intraday high of 13,850 per coin, back in june, just a week after facebook announced its controversial libra crypto project. but a series of subsequent slams against virtual currencies by d.c.'s top brass including fed chair jay powell and president trump virtually wiping out those gains. yes, it is up $521 right now, but at $7,137 per coin, it's a 50% drop in value since the june annual high. connell, bitcoin. boy, that was a big story last year. it started to look good, didn't happen. connell: no. that was an -- that chart at the beginning was really something else. i remember those days. crazy days for bitcoin. coming up at the top of the hour, we will talk about the crazy day we have seen in washington. we may have the president's first comments on impeachment when he leaves the white house for his rally in michigan. not impeachment news, though, out of washington. we will talk health care. we have tom price coming on, president trump's health and human services secretary for a

short time back in 2017. he has a new op-ed talking about what he feels could be a better future for health care post-obamacare. we will talk about that. and see whether or not we reach these records yet again on wall street, impeachment or no impeachment. see you at the top of the hour. liz: this is the narrowest intraday trading range for the dow and s&p in nearly two years. just about 68 points for the dow. we will be watching. connell, thank you very much. working its way to the top of the market. with the closing bell ringing in 17 minutes, dish shares trying to blow the roof off the s&p in the final 14 minutes of trade. dish is up 3.75%, as chief charlie ergen says he's got the mega-bucks needed to fund the building out of a new wireless network. but will that telecom titan actually keep up his end of the bargain? charlie breaks it on what's being telegraphed to him, next on "the claman countdown."

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liz: can we bring up peloton's stock? it's spinning in reverse after yesterday's jump. the subscription home bike spin maker stumbling back into the red despite a $10 price target hike to $39 by bernstein. bernstein saying the lifetime value of peloton subscribers to the business far outweighs the costs of luring those customers into taking a ride with the on-demand spin class broadcaster. peloton right now falling about 3%. it's at $31. >> is there ever a day you don't mention the word peloton? liz: is there ever a day where you will take my challenge? >> i'm sick of this peloton stuff. liz: because you're scared of it. i'm not. >> i'm not. i'm just saying --

liz: i'm trying to get him on my peloton. >> what was the ipo? liz: it would help if you came across the gw bridge to new jersey. >> i'm just saying there are other stories with peloton. liz: don't you want to go on that thing? >> can you get to my story? liz: yes. the trial of the state attorneys general case against the t-mobile/sprint merger, dish chair charlie ergen is one of these controversial got to watch ceos, faced a fiery round of questions and laid out his plans to compete in the wireless space once the merger, if it ever is, concluded. charlie with exclusive details on the trial and what charlie may do. >> dish is a key part of the merger between t-mobile and sprint. the reason why is because it agreed to buy spectrum from both parties and start a fourth wireless carrier so technically, to negate the antitrust concerns. this was all put together by the doj. despite that, you still have a group of state ags suing to

break up this merger. let me just get a couple headlines out before we turn to charlie ergen because he's controversial and important to the whole thing, maybe the most important witness. we do hear, again, that parties are talking, parties on both sides are starting to talk about a potential settlement as this winds down. now, they have always had sort of informal talks but real settlement talks, as this trial winds down. it's winding down this week or early next week. over the weekend, you could really see some settlement discussions. no side can really figure out where the judge who has to essentially decide this thing, where he's going. he's throwing bones to both sides. it seems to be somewhat siding, you know, moving to the side of not the state ags but to approve the merger although you can never really know what's in a judge's head. he may be just raising issues, trying to be, you know, trying to figure out where he's going. but so this weekend is key, and one other thing that's

fascinating because i'm getting this from the companies themselves because they track the street, they are saying wall street arbs, traders, are increasingly betting against the deal going through. some of that -- liz: all three stocks are up today. >> they are up today, because ergen is -- had some pretty good testimony. still, most of the arb community still thinks this thing is not going through. that doesn't mean they're right. i'm just telling you there is a betting on wall street. liz: get to the ergen part. >> ergen was fascinating. we said he would lay out his plan, essentially, to start the fourth wireless network. you know, he's a controversial guy. he's known as -- he's got a bad reputation. let's face it. the ftc, the justice department was very wary getting involved with him because he's reneged theoretically or has a reputation of reneging on deals in the past. the state ags brought that up to him on their cross-examination. i will say based on what i have heard, i wasn't at the trial, but what i have heard, he handled himself pretty well. bottom line is this.

if charlie ergen reneges on his deal to create a fourth wireless network, he's going to have -- i mean, it's very hard technically for him to renege on this deal. liz: does he have the money, the wherewithal, the ability to launch another wireless network? >> he has potential bank lines of credit. he spoke about that, that he has potential money, he can borrow. so this thing could happen. for him to renege on it, just so you know, you would be like -- i mean, there's going to be a lot of people, particularly in the justice department antitrust division, after him. i guess you have to game plan it. where are we now? i think both sides can't figure out who's going to win and when that happens, it's generally time for settlement negotiations and that's why we hear rumblings that this weekend, you know, we are going to obviously be reporting it out this weekend. there could be something happening. liz: know how you said do you ever do a show without mentioning peloton? do you ever mention a show without doing t-mobile?

>> yeah. liz: thank you. >> i break -- liz: thank you, ladies and gentlemen. >> remember when i broke the fannie mae story? liz: you saw the freddie mac news? >> what happened? liz: freddie mac is laying off about 25% of its work force to kind of get it ready. all right. dow is up four points. we'll be right back. mornings were made for better things than rheumatoid arthritis or psoriatic arthritis. when considering another treatment, ask about xeljanz xr, a once-daily pill for adults with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis or active psoriatic arthritis for whom methotrexate did not work well enough. it can reduce pain, swelling, and significantly improve physical function. xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections like tb; don't start xeljanz if you have an infection. taking a higher than recommended dose of xeljanz for ra can increase risk of death. serious, sometimes fatal infections, cancers including lymphoma, and blood clots have happened. as have tears in the stomach or intestines,

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liz: five minutes to go before the closing bell rings. look at the dow, straddling the flat line here, up, down. we'll start counting how many times crosses unchanged line. s&p up only one point. looking for a third straight record close for the dow. that will be a squeaker. five in a refor s&p and nasdaq. nasdaq up there nine points. go to gerri willis on floor of new york stock exchange. what are you watching ahead of this close which could reap another trifecta of records here? >> oh, my gosh, tesla, look at tesla stock. about to finish at new record high.

393. we've been reporting all day, that bloomberg reported that tesla is considering lowering the cost of its model 3 sedan in china by 20%. they have a new shanghai factory there. they will use local parts to lower the price this is market they have to choose. it has been very slow. i have to tell you what is interesting about this. remember this is about the level, close to the level he said he wanted to take the company private at, remember? how funny is that. we're at 393. the stock is trading higher all day long about the news tesla lowering prices on model three sedans. they want to turn china into a big marketplace for the company. doing that cutting prices at a time. china economy is pretty weaker. liz? liz: average model three made in shanghai is about 50,000 bucks. they want to bring it down sourcing from the new company, is that right? >> that's right. liz: build a plant in michigan.

gerri, great stuff. we're watching tesla defying gravity. our next guest has a different sector she says will keep profits streaming into the portfolio in 2020. we bring in ubs senior portfolio manager katarena simonetti. >> we love communications services. in this environment we need exposure to trade war. so optimistic. where can we be, where sector is relativelyces is. liz: would this be u.s. communication services companies? >> specifically large internet giants. when you think of process that we're going from advertising that are shifting from the traditional media players into the internet media providers so much original content offered to consumers -- liz: let me push on you here.

is it content providers, streaming guys, or broadband makers who enable this? >> actually all of the above. added to all ones you mentioned, telecom services. when you look at yields that they pay, considering. liz: always, right? >> it is fantastic. we're in a low-yielding environment. bonds and cash don't pay much this is a great opportunity for investors to go into defensive sector that has a great growth opportunity. in addition to that, get a wonderful yield for owning the stocks. connell: verizon has a killer yield. almost no exposure to any of the drama overseas in any country. let me just ask you though. we look what is happening. mentioned phase one trade deal, causing more calm, right? >> yes. liz: what else do you see for the market notes in 2020? >> we are excited about the phase one deal. it is, came in better than we expected. we were expecting that chinese

side is going to offer buying our agricultural goods. we were expecting some type after maybe new tariffs not going on. rollbacks in tariffs. fantastic. we are cautiously optimistic. phase two is where the real difference is going to be made. liz: that's true. we're waiting on true facts from fact sheet of phase one. impeachment, we said at top of the hour, right now the markets is slightly down. but we're not really seeing much effect. almost a non-event for the market as this process happens con currently with our show right now in washington, d.c. >> right. and, as much as we pay attention to it, so important for us as a country, we tell our clients to vote at the polls keep the investment decisions really with their investment portfolios. liz: absolutely. do not vote politics where you lose money.

kacarina simonetti. fifth straight record close. [closing bell rings]. only for the nasdaq too close for s&p and dow. that does it for "claman countdown." we have to see you tomorrow. better be here. melissa: historic day on capitol hill. a record day on wall street. the nasdaq extending gains for the sixth straight day but the dow, s&p 500 fighting for records in last minutes of trading. the dow ending down, looks like it will be about 23 points, still settling. any gain would be a record close. we'll not get there. i'm melissa francis. connell: i'm connell mcshane. it has been quite a run. appears the s&p 500 will fall short. down a point. any gain would be a record. nasdaq closes at record high again. melissa: whoo-hoo. connell: five in a row for the nasdaq. tech stocks doing well. longest strea