just putting it in perspective. don't think the market is necessarily getting away from you or it's necessarily overbought or overenthusiastic. well, that's my soap box. liz claman, i will slide it over to you. liz: am i wrong, charles, in dubbing this the teflon market? charles: you know, right now, it feels like that but a lot of things, almost every day, this morning we got initial jobless claims that were great. yesterday we had an adp number that was great. we will see what happens tomorrow with the big jobs number. liz: you and i are here for those two final very important hours of trade. see you then, charles. forget the sigh of relief rally. stocks picking up right where they left off yesterday and shooting to new record highs. folks, the dow earlier today came within 12 points of 29,000. we are still up 204 points but at 28,947. it could get there again or pull back. you've got to stay with us. the nasdaq crossing 9200 for the

first time ever. we are just slightly below that, barely. the nasdaq is any gain bringing us a new record. president trump confirming the signing of phase one of the u.s. china trade deal will happen next wednesday. he broke the news after revealing that new rules to speed up environmental reviews for the buildings of new roads, bridges, airports, railways and waterways are on the way. in a fox business exclusive, we are about to take it all up with commerce secretary wilbur ross. we are back in new york after traversing the world's largest tech show in las vegas. secretary ross is still on the ground there at ces, but he's only speaking to "the claman countdown." also joining us from vegas, the micron man. micron technology ceo here in the world, of course, 5g is a hot topic at ces. the need for memory capacity, it's what they do, skyrocketing and juicing the chip market in the process. by the way, his stock is up 62% year over year.

plus, as amazon fires ring employees, wait until you hear why. we've got amazon's vp on alexa privacy and more. carlos ghosn makes his escape case to fox business. and charlie breaks it on whether softbank's vision fund is a little nearsighted. less than an hour to the closing bell on another record day. let's start "the claman countdown." liz: all right. we have this breaking news, i'm just keeping my eye on what we call the hot wires here. the head of iran's civil aviation dismissing reports at this hour that the boeing 737 plane that crashed near tehran was accidentally downed by iranian missiles. he's calling that accusation simply an illogical rumor but u.s. sources, multiple ones, say iran did accidentally shoot down the ukraine airline that killed all on board, using

anti-aircraft missiles that came from iran. we are looking at boeing's stock. why? it is up 1.75% on the news that its plane machinery may not have been at fault as the aircraft maker is already reeling from two deadly crashes last year of its 737 max plane. big tech riding the record road. apple hitting a new high on a price target hike and news that china iphone sales popped 18%. apple up $5.75 to $308.94. google and facebook also punching higher on cowan price target hikes. we have alphabet up 1%, facebook up 1.33%. also, jacking up the price target on snapchat parent snap, we have jeffreys citing accelerating user growth in global markets. looking pretty good, up 4.5%. tesla's string of records has ceo elon musk, you know, we can't show this enough, right? he's doing a little jig, dancing like nobody's watching, but

today investors are pumping the brakes just a bit. look at this five-year chart. does it really matter that it's down 2% today? tesla bull baird downgrading the stock from plaid mode, to a hold from a buy. musk refers to plaid mode, classic punchline from "space balls" when talking about the fastest power train options coming soon to the company's electric vehicles. you got that. can't look at it enough. the five-year chart of tesla just slamming the short sellers who did not believe that tesla would come back starting last year. want to get to uber. uber is discontinuing up-front ride pricing in california. stock is flat but this could make a big change, at least maybe in their revenue. what uber is doing is opting for a more traditional taxi style pricing model, putting the cost burden of the golden state's new gig worker laws on its customers. the new law requires that ride hailing services to classify more of its drivers as employees

rather than independent contractors. it is recovering intraday. you can see that. let me go to costco shares, doing the happy holiday dance, jumping 1.66%. costco at nearly $300 a share. the warehouse chain climbing 11% in december as shoppers stocked up on toys, candy and liquor. however, not all brick and mortar having a merry day. we are looking at the floor of the new york stock exchange. gerri willis tracking all of the action when it comes to retail. hi, gerri. gerri: that's right. you have the good news story. i have the bad news story. bed, bath & beyond stock is tanking today. they disappointed with earnings and revenue and then said oh, you know that forecast we gave you for results, forget it, we are not going to match that. they have had 11 consecutive quarters of declining same store sales. just a horror for them. the ceo saying guess what, i'm going to come out with a turnaround plan but not until this coming spring. so investors not happy about

this, as you can see from what the share price is doing. macy's is also down on news it's closing 28 stores, plus one bloomingdale's store. they did announce a smaller than expected fall in same store sales but are paying the price today. kohl's also down here, as you can see, 7%. they released holiday sales numbers that missed expectations, but just barely, and jc penney announced the same thing, but their same store sales fell 7.5%. this stock barely holding on, trading just above a dollar. back to you. liz: i looked at that earlier, i thought maybe since i hadn't checked in on penney, it might be $2. just one buck. okay. gerri willis, thank you so much. we want you to take a look at infrastructure stocks in this final hour of trade. it is a mixed picture, but when you see martin marietta, moving higher as president trump said this afternoon he's going to aim to modernize, his words, mode modernize environmental

regulations in order to fast track improvement of america's infrastructure. our next guest plays an integral role in the latest step in the trump administration's plan to cut red tape and boost the economy. last night at a 700-person leaders in technology dinner put on the cta in las vegas, u.s. secretary of commerce wilbur ross took the stage to stress the importance of tech and innovation. secretary ross joins us live right now in a fox business exclusive from ces in las vegas. you know, secretary ross, i attended that dinner last night with you, and what i noticed with the crowd, you really struck a chord, you know, filled with, what, 700 techie people, because you were very supportive not just of tech in general, but of green technology, food technology, like impossible foods which we will get to in a moment, but on this infrastructure news, what do you envision streamlining the approval process for things like new bridges due for american technological ingenuity? >> well, it will be wonderful.

i have a chart in my office that's about seven feet tall. it shows the 120 steps that a major infrastructure project needs to get approval for. that's why they take too long, can take ten years, can even take longer than ten, and the rules have not been really reviewed for over 40 years. this will simplify, it will make faster, will make less paperwork and a lot less expense. frequently, the cost of paperwork for infrastructure is as much as 30% of the whole project cost. that's ridiculous. shouldn't take seven to ten years which is what it does for the federal highway administration. so we got to save time, save money and really get on with fixing our infrastructure, because it desperately needs it.

liz: you know, this is actually a bipartisan issue. both sides absolutely want infrastructure. you are surrounded behind you at ces, the biggest technology trade show in the world. what would it do for u.s. technology, call it that, and all of these companies that are dying, chomping at the bit to get out there and work on things like bridge technology, communications, everything as it pertains to highways and everything else? >> well, highways especially need upgrading because we are going to be moving toward autonomous vehicles, and the technologies that are being brought to bear, sensor technologies, radar technology, all kinds of things can also have other uses. they can have military applications as well. all these are being brought to bear on the problem so there's a very very intense high level

technological focus. liz: we were watching all the past couple of days about the innovation. it's the tech hub of what is going to be and what people will have in their hands, but one of the things that jumped out at me, i don't know if you have gotten a chance to see it, was the hyundai/uber flying taxi. obviously this thing with all of its propellors is way off in the future, or is it, and how then do you feel america can be at the forefront when you've got a company like uber pairing with hyundai which is a south korean company to maybe change our world as we see it right now? >> well, we are seeing in the automotive industry more radical change than at any point in time since the horse and carriage buggy was replaced by internal combustion engine. it's coming at a time when car sales both here, in europe and in china have peaked out.

so it's a tricky period but from a point of view of the technology, it's mind-boggling. i saw one company called vox. there's a big problem now with little children being locked inadvertently in locked cars with closed windows, they suffocate, it's a little tiny device that's going to solve that problem. all kinds of things that right now are problems, are being solved with relatively inexpensive technology. liz: 5g is a real touchpoint over there. i'm still waiting to see it in a grander way, but we spoke to big leade leaders, the chip architecture giant, you name it, they talked about it. what they all have seemed to say is it would be very helpful if the u.s. government shouldered some of the cost of the buildout for things like the towers that

are needed to make 5g happen, make our roads safer, have cars being able to at least speak to each other. is that something that president trump, you and elaine chao, the department of transportation secretary, are willing to shoulder at this point? >> well, the federal government has been increasing its budget quite a bit, both the defense and other parts of it, national science foundation. in fact, our u.s. patent and trademark office is sharing a booth out here with the national science foundation. every day they have a line of people coming up for grants. national institute of health, their budget is up. so the federal government is contributing. but at the end of the day, the best innovation is likely private sector and they really have to do it and they are doing it, and i think steps like the

president took today will help, because one of the tech guys described to me a car now is really going to be a smart cell phone on wheels, or maybe wheels and wings, if the hyundai venture succeeds. the key to all this is semiconductors. that's what's driving everything. liz: in fact, coming up, we will speak to one of the chip giants, micron technology. if you can, grab him. he's really interesting. he's going to be right in the area where you are in front of our cameras. i have to ask you about huawei. when we talk about 5g and we are talking about a china phase one trade deal being signed next wednesday, how much longer will huawei remain on sort of that blacklist, because at this point, you've got specific limited engagements and transactions involving the export and re-export and transfer of the items, is this license extension going to be

short term or longer term? >> well, huawei is under two federal indictments and their chief financial officer is under house arrest in canada because they won't let us extradite her to the u.s. so there's a big pending litigation. that's a very important thing. huawei has had lots of litigation before. there are lots of problems with them. our government is very skeptical about the likelihood that anybody should use them for its whole 5g infrastructure. liz: i need to just ask you about something that at the moment is not necessarily at ces, but i'm very interested in the space force. of course, the space military arm that president trump green-lit, at least signed into law on december 20th. congress is all for it. you need to kind of give us a sense of what it actually means. what will we see in this new war fighting domain? i'm imagining, i don't know,

jamming and destroying kinetic objects like satellites, missiles. how close are we to take? what's the status of the space force right now? >> well, space is becoming a huge industry. it's already over $400 billion a year heading toward $1 trillion. but we started out behind and the reason we got behind is president obama took us out of the space launch business in 2010-11. so we were literally paying the russians $85 million a ride to take our astronauts to our space station. we are doing away with that. we are becoming self-sufficient. you are seeing launches all the time and as you have more launches, you develop more technology. more capability for load, more

capability for satellites and communications. the big trend now is toward large constellations of fairly small satellites in relatively low earth orbit. that will help a lot with bringing broadband to rural communities, which otherwise have a very difficult time being served because they are -- liz: indeed. we have been covering that story extensively. secretary ross, thank you for coming to speak on "the claman countdown." so glad to have you. i know there's a lot you need to see behind you at ces in las vegas. we will head to the floor of the new york stock exchange and to the cme on this record-breaking day, next. "the claman countdown" coming right back. as a struggling actor, i need all the breaks that i can get. at liberty butchemel... cut. liberty mu... line? cut. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance

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trade battles with china, obviously if there's a phase one deal, that will be a positive relative to more escalation of the trade war. there's a lot of uncertainty around that. brexit and how that ultimately plays out is something else we're paying close attention to and then more recently, the geopolitical tensions with iran but if they have a shock to confidence and everybody just gets scared and businesses pull back, there could be a non-linear effect that could have a bigger impact on the u.s. economy. liz: folks, that was a warning,

an outright yellow flag perennial interest rates dove minneapolis fed president neil kashkari just finished an extended conversation with fox business's edward lawrence specifically about what could upend this very bullish economic picture and bullish stock market picture, too. look at the markets right now, on auto pilot, spiking to new records. to the floor show. sarge guilfoyle and phil flynn, what do you make of that, sarge? >> well, i mean, he's right. once phase one is signed, then we move on to phase two which will create headlines and as we know, president xi and president trump negotiate, there's a possibility of negative headlines so we are going into that phase just as earnings season starts, right? that will create more positive and negative headlines. as we roll into the year we go through earnings, we go through the temper tantrum we expect around march or april when the fed tries to pull back from their balance sheet expansion program. so there are risks that are going to have to be priced in, even before you get to the

geoblit:. we know how volatile that can be. yeah, i think going into earnings season, if you have some home runs, why not shave them a little, take some money off the table. you don't have to take all the money off the table. you can stay invested. i'm going to stay invested, like lockheed, microsoft, the ones where i have real winners, i might take some money home. liz: okay. you take some money home. that makes perfect sense, phil, except that anybody who got out of these markets a week ago, a year ago, two years ago, has missed an unbelievable run. i like to say that because at the same time, we do have to be careful that people should not be totally greedy. they should take a few profits here but where do you stand on the extension of this bull market? >> you learn not to be greedy when you are in vegas? is that where you learned that? liz: that's not the place for that. >> you are absolutely right. listen, we talk about this, let's go back to the beginning of last year. all the predictions of what

could go wrong, a looming recession, brexit, u.s./china trade deal, you name it. you put it all together, none of it really was as bad as everybody feared it would be. and the things that he's throwing at us right now, you know, as far as brexit, actually i think a brexit deal is a lot more likely to have a soft brexit than we had in a long time. we are hearing from a lot of fed officials that even if we do slow down, it will be a soft landing. so my biggest concern going into the new year is earnings, right. can the earnings live up to expectations. liz: that is the perennial question. the past several quarters, they have held up. good to see you both. thank you. you need to hear this story, everybody. you guys included. amazon tightening the ring. with the closing bell ringing in 37 minutes and the dow still up 192, lots of green on the screen, hackers accessed ring doorbells. that put amazon, which owns ring, in the crosshairs of those saying the online giant is not protecting the privacy of its

customers. well, now amazon has done something about it. we will tell you who is out of a job. and while i was out at ces, i caught up with amazon's vice president of smart homes. find out what he says amazon is doing to keep alexa from spying on you. there are now hundreds of millions of alexa enabled pieces of equipment all over the world. you got to hear what he says they're doing. that's next on "the claman countdown." and when you open a new brokerage account, your cash is automatically invested at a great rate. that's why fidelity leads the industry in value while our competition continues to talk. ♪ talk, talk

liz: a fox business alert. the amazon-owned ring revealing it has now fired four employees over the last year for separate incidents of abusing access to customer data. the smart security cam and doorbell company breaking the news in response to law makers who asked amazon and ring in november to clarify their privacy and security practices. we're looking at a stock that is

just kind of flat at the moment, up about half a percent, you could say, but very very strong over the past year. when we saw that amazon was expanding its footprint this year at ces in las vegas, we ran to meet up with daniel roush, amazon's vice president of smarthome, and i asked what are you guys doing to prevent smart assistant alexa from abusing customer data. here's what he said. we know that privacy is a growing issue, certainly, and there have been use cases where we have heard about whether it's a contractor or somebody at amazon listening in, you know, to try and help refine some of these demands. how do you prevent that fear of somebody's listening to my most intimate moments or personal information from slowing the sales and adoption of alexa? >> first of all, i think privacy and security are just foundational to everything we do. there is a center of all of our hardware and software and services that we develop, you know, we do use a fraction of a percent of customer utterances

to ground alexa's understanding of natural language. we were the first company to offer customers control so they could opt out of that. i think everything about privacy and security is about transparency and control and affording that kind of control to customers. liz: can i ask about the opt-out? how hard is it to find that option? >> we actually built a privacy hub to bring everything together in terms of your privacy settings for alexa. it's a few taps in the app. it's a single toggle. and it's over. it's right alongside other controls that we afford customers like automatically deleting their utterances after three or 18 months. you can find all that in the privacy hub. liz: that is daniel rausch of amazon's smart home. you know what, i have to tell you, amazon, everybody else there, 4500 exhibitors, i'm calling it, this is the most exciting ces in years. i have been 13 times. because the show is expanding its idea of what is disruptive technology. perfect example. last night i had the pleasure of

talking to pat brown, the ceo of impossible foods, the man behind the impossible meat, impossible burgers, and now pork. he and i headlined this year's leaders in technology dinner at ces, an exclusive by invitation only fireside chat for 700 of the most cutting edge tech leaders in the world. that's not all. i was also on the other end of the microphone yesterday at the equality lounge put together by the feminist quotient, the female quotient. i had the honor of being interviewed on my career and success in the news business. it was really fascinating time at ces. we hope that we at "countdown" brought you all of that feel of what you are going to have in your hands technologically this coming year. i couldn't have done it without our incredible crew in vegas and in the booth in new york city. you can find all of our exclusive behind-the-scenes video, interviews and more and the coolest technology that we got our hands on on the floor of

ces. lizclaman.com, find it all there. same for facebook.com/lizclaman. don't forget to check out our twitter page. we have more than 99,000 followers. guys, we are hoping to get 100,000. smash that follow button and send it to all your friends and family. as we look at the markets, we are kind of chipping away a bit at new highs. still up with lots of green on the screen. the nasdaq powering ahead by 19. we only need it up by four points to see a new record, with the closing bell 28 minutes away. advanced microdevices, amd, joining the new record club. going all-in on the semiconductor maker, upgrading shares from neutral to a buy. also hiking the price target by 45% to $55. we are at $48.97 right now. micron also hitting its highest level in a year, just days after an upgrade of its stock sent to it the top of the market leader board. with tariff tensions in the rear

view mirror, will 2020 be the year of the chip maker? micron's ceo standing by live at ces in las vegas. "the claman countdown" coming right back. knowing we're prepared for tomorrow. wow, do you think you overdid it maybe? overdid what? well planned, well invested, well protected. voya. be confident to and through retirement. cologuard: colon cancer and older at average risk. i've heard a lot of excuses to avoid screening for colon cancer. i'm not worried. it doesn't run in my family. i can do it next year. no rush. cologuard is the noninvasive option that finds 92% of colon cancers. you just get the kit in the mail, go to the bathroom,

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so the semi industry as a whole, the industry has been through one of the toughest downturns it's been through and the stock is actually performing really well because of the optimism about the future. i mean, specifically around how the trade war's affected us. from a business point of view, not actually that much. liz: okay. if you are saying what's arm, i guarantee you, any of your electronics have arm chip architecture in there. that is simon segars declaring the worst may be over for the semiconductor sector. that's follows micro

technologies' announcement that they were passing through a cyclical bottom. when micron speaks, investors listen. it is one of the biggest semiconductor makers in the world, counting china's huawei as a big client as well. micron tech ceo sanjay mehrotra on what's driving the turnaround. let's get to that. after a year where there was so much confusion about trade, shifting under our feet about where you could manufacture, where you couldn't, what's happening with china, what's happening right now in your world? >> nice to be back on your show. in our world, in the world of semiconductor, these are exciting times. these are the best times ever. i have been in this industry for 40 years and we are coming down from a slowdown in the industry, but when you look at the end market demand drivers, 5g driving for the smartphone.

the trends of ai, acquiring more memory and more storage, the new server architecture is actually enabling higher density memory and all these trends are requiring more memory, more stora storage. autonomous features in the cars requires more sensors in the car, requires more memory installed in the cars. these are exciting trends and micron is well positioned with these extended portfolio solutions for the fast' growing markets. liz: did you get to talk to secretary of commerce wilbur ross? he was right on before and he said exactly what you said in a different way, that the cars are now becoming smartphones on wheels. i heard an interesting expressi expression, you don't turn on your car anymore, you boot it up. but from autos to phones, we saw

samsung's foldable phone 5g, not yet in this country, but 5g will really need a lot more memory. that's your bailiwick. that's your business. barron's is saying that could make a huge punch for your company. based by the way in boise, idaho. i want our viewers to know that. tell us what that means for american jobs in the future. >> well, i think, you know, more demand for memory and storage in advance of this technology definitely does mean that, you know, micron does well and that translates into more r & d. fortunately, micron has a large center of manufacturing that is actually very much geared toward markets such as automotive. micron has been the leader in the automotive market for 28 years. trillions of miles have been driven with micron memory products in the vehicles. we are excited about the trend.

of course, our manassas factory is supporting some of that technology and it's wonderful. but i'm also very excited about 5g, about the foldable phone. 5g phones with the advancement that 5g enables and low latency, that means a lot more data can now move to the devices -- liz: sanjay? >> that data, in order to process it, you need more -- liz: i'm holding that foldable samsung phone right now. wow. very very cool. >> really cool. liz: so cool. it sold out. 4g is sold out here in the states. we would be remiss if we didn't bring up the situation with china. the president said next wednesday, phase one of the u.s./china trade deal will be signed. apparently it includes a commitment possibly from china to end its long-standing practice of forcing technological transfer. do you believe that?

do you trust the chinese? >> i think we will wait to see what are the details of the phase one agreement, but what i want to say is we really do appreciate the administration's focus on things like i.p. protection, technology transfer, these are important aspects in order to attain a level playing field for all global enterprises. china is an important market for micron. china is working very closely with micron just like all other kuft mrs. around t customers around the globe are working whether in smartphones or other devices such as automobiles so we absolutely look forward to an environment where there can be level playing field and of course, environmental enforceability around i.p. protection as well so that enterprises can do business without worrying about intellectual property and really drive innovation to the full benefit of humanity, consumers and businesses around the globe. liz: sanjay, we have to run.

i know you have to run, too, because there's so much behind you. a world of disruptive technology. quickly, what's the coolest thing you've seen on the floor? >> i think some of the coolest things i've seen are all around 5g. you talked about the foldable phone. i saw some examples of that. this is going to be amazing future that is going to be driven by things like 5g, ai, and micron technology and products are going to be very much at the center because it's all going to be about data and data layers and products micron makes. we are really driving technology and products and product leadership effectively into the marketplace to address the growing needs of the future. liz: the future is now. good to see you, sanjay. go, cal bears. we are both cal graduates. nice to see you. >> great to see you, too. go, bears. liz: micron technology, sanjay

mehrotra. the reports of carlos ghosn's escape quote, greatly exaggerated. with the dow jumping 194 points, folks, that is i believe a record at the moment, yeah, we are watching it all. up next, what the former nissan chief had to say to fox business about those reports that he fled japan by box. "the claman countdown" coming right back.

liz: ripped from the headlines mini series in the making. carlos ghosn alongside his wife carole joining maria bartiromo this morning to talk about his shocking escape from japan to lebanon. the embattled former nissan chief saying he determined he could not get and would never

get a fair trial in japan, and he accused authorities there of not caring about the truth. lebanon now barring ghosn from traveling outside of that country after questioning the auto icon regarding an interpol warrant issued by japan for his interest. that so-called red notice we talked about. a lebanese prosecutor also sending a request to japan for all files on the financial misconduct charges against ghosn as it weighs whether to abide by interpol's red notice. the big question still lingering for many, did ghosn really escape in as what we heard, an audio equipment box with holes drilled in it? here's what he told fox business. >> i was not in a physical box. i have been observing all the stories that went around my leaving japan. it's funny because obviously, i know exactly what happened, you know. some people are not very far from the truth but nobody got it right for the moment.

liz: okay. we are splitting hairs here. not a musical box but a box that held something else? connell mcshane, there you have it. they said it was one of those big bass boxes. he says no. connell: it wasn't that. it was something gasparino would do. you and i are trying to talk, i already hear him. liz: i know. i know. jumping in. connell: the guy with the most informative -- i'm sorry i did that. sorry i did that. if carlos ghosn flew delta it would be an interesting story. whatever it was. we will talk to the judge next hour about that. tell you another thing real quick we will do next hour, we will watch the president's movements because he's supposed to leave the white house to head to toledo, ohio for his political rally. he may say more about iran, may say more about china with the phase one signing next week. charlie: you need more of this great analysis. liz: you created a monster, connell. really? thank you very much.

charlie: what would we do without you? trump might say something. liz: thanks, connell. this is a good stat. last year for the first time since facebook went public back in 2012, nasdaq made more money on initial public offerings than rival new york stock exchange, but this battle is only heating up. charlie gasparino with the latest right now. charlie: i think this is a fascinating story. i love covering both of these exchanges are businesses, right, the publicly traded companies, they make money getting listings, companies to list their shares on the exchange. you get a small -- nasdaq gets a smaller fee than the new york stock exchange, but you know, there's other reasons why people want to be on the big board as opposed to the nasdaq. used to be a lot of stature. right now nasdaq is going back saying listen, you are a big company on the new york stock exchange, that stature is waning. the new york stock exchange is under investigation for its designated market maker business. that's a key part of how stocks, companies come public and are traded on the new york stock

exchange, particularly at the onset. they have other issues. they charge you three times as much as we charge you and guess what, you're not getting that much bang for the buck in terms of marketing. we want you to switch. so it's very interesting. by the way, if you do an ipo on the new york stock exchange, it hasn't been doing so great lately. not even direct listings. as you know, you saw what happened with uber and some others. that is part, from what i understand, the latest part of their sales pitch to get companies to not just list on the nasdaq, but to switch from the new york stock exchange to the nasdaq, and bring with it, you know -- liz: it always -- charlie: what we understand is since this investigation which we first broke i think on your show, as a matter of fact, a couple weeks ago, that they are using that designated market maker investigation as sort of like a talking point, that if you want to go there, one of the main -- what they're saying is one of the main parts of the new york stock exchange system is now under serious regulatory

review and who knows what's going to happen next with this designated market maker. so this is a horse race. it's going on now, it's fairly interesting. we'll see how many switches they get. from what i understand, you know, they have been looking at switches for a long time but there's obviously new emphasis based on the uber blowup and some of the other issues, and the investigation. we'll see how many switches they get. but from what i understand, they're looking not just for the little companies that, you know, that may or may not switch, it doesn't matter. i hear they're looking at big companies. you know? maybe a citigroup. i don't know. liz: it could happen. charlie: it could happen. i'm telling you. liz: remember when fox news corporation jumped from the nyse to the nasdaq several years ago? charlie: by the way, i'm going to turn into connell's show to find out what trump might say. liz: just interrupt him. i'm sure he will appreciate that. charlie: you think trump might say something about iran? liz: charlie gasparino.

we are coming right back. dow is holding on to 200 points of gains. and etfs are commission-free. and when you open a new brokerage account, your cash is automatically invested at a great rate. that's why fidelity leads the industry in value while our competition continues to talk. ♪ talk, talk . .

♪. liz. gang, you have to stay with me with just three minutes left before the closing bell rings let me give you stats here. the dow is just about, i want to say 40 or so point, less than 40 points away from dow 29,000. we have the s&p in record territory. same with the dow and nasdaq. look at nasdaq. crossing 9200 for the first time ever. can it close there? we're at 9200, right there, straddling it at the moment. all major indices from the blue-chips, small caps, transports are flying high. as we wait to see whether we can hit at least three brand new records, let us bring in right now, our "countdown" closer. michael sheldon, chief investment officer at rdm financial group. you can't ignore the nasdaq as year-over-year, up more than 30%. >> well, last year it was

interesting. last year everybody thought that markets couldn't go higher. markets climb a wall of worry. there were all kinds of issues. this year we're moderately constructive. technology is one area we like along with financials and health care. we're moderately constructive. we think gdp is rising. trade deal with china we think is a positive. trade deal u.s. and china were having trade war. now de-escalation. fed cut interest rates. interest rates will be very low for a while. melissa: yeah. >> this year we expect corporate profits to rise again. as investors you have to be moderately constructive as we head into the year. liz: striking moderate tone with moderately constructive i guess the pillar of the construct is technology for you. we came from ces, world's largest tech show. it felt different this time. i've been many, many years and this one felt like it was real time stuff, not just, oh, one day, this is a concept we might be able to see it in the future. what do you think was cool

there? >> it is important at rdm financial you build portfolios, important to be diversified. one of the things we're excited about technology, because clients need growth in their portfolios. so for example, some things like 5g, artificial intelligence, big data, all those are exciting. foldable phones, foldable laptops, artificial laptops, cloud computing, those help portfolios on the growth side. liz: demoed laptop by lenovo. no seam at all. some technologies are actually interesting, you know, that okay, that i would upgrade for. what is your sense of markets overall? do you sometimes get worried, you think we've run up so far for so long? >> sure. i think it is important. the markets are relatively fully valued on p-e basis. next year heavy lifting will have to be done by corporate profits. liz: got it.

>> estimate is nine to 10% eps growth. we're a little below that. liz: we'll see if we hit it. [closing bell rings] cue the fireworks. markets see records across the board. dow, nasdaq, mid-east tensions ease for a moment. connell: how about the market? another day of records on wall street. all three major averages ending the day at a record high. melissa: i was so spoiled i wanted it above 29,000. connell: it is almost there. melissa: i know. connell: i don't think it will settle. it is close, 40 some points. iran news we've been following all week. perception, tensions eased there. trade news working in. anyway the dow closing just short of that mark of 29,000. still up 213 points. this is the second record close of the new year. so,. melissa: whoo-hoo. connell: whoo-hoo she said. melissa: she did. connell: i'm connell mcshane. melissa: i'm melissa francis. this