nasdaq higher by 58. we have a rip roaring rally after a pretty good performance yesterday. mark? >> great economic data this morning, jobless claims were okay, pretty good overall and the housing start data was fantastic, for too many years. maria: great to be with you. "varney and company" begins right now. stuart: look like a bathrobe, tepper, but i will ignore it right now. good morning, everyone. stocks continue their rebound. the fed will slow many printing and raise interest rates and there is an even bigger story that has everybody's attention. inflation. prices are rising rapidly. you can see it, feel it and you

don't like it. a new foxbusiness paul, 67% say inflation caused them financial hardship over the last six months. respondents blaming the president on getting inflation under control 47% say biden's actions are hurting. attention president biden, inflation hurts your base, and and there's so at odds about, 400 points is wednesday. and somewhere close to that. the s&p is close were record at the close and it is open more this morning. the nasdaq continues its bounce, look like a santa claus rally overall. it is down a bit, 48,$900 per coin and the yield on the 10 year treasury moving up but it

is still well below one.5%. florida's governor desantis introduces the stop woke act that allows parents to serve the best to sue schools if they teach critical race theory, covid, britain warns a deluge is coming. the health minister says a surge around christmas is inevitable and the covid related story. executive the two major airlines are questioning the need for masks on planes. how do you feel about that? thursday december 16th, 2021. "varney and company" is about to begin. ♪♪

stuart: did you know that? >> more cowbells on this saturday night live sketch. stuart: let's get to it. the president's massive build back better plan, todd pyro is with me. what is the latest? >> senior senator from south carolina lindsey graham joining hannity think the future of president biden's signature legislative -- >> i think build back better is dead forever. joe manchin said he won't vote for a bill that led to the deficit. if you do away with budget gimmicks, build back better according to cbo ads $3 trillion to the deficit. >> lindsey graham adding manchin does not want to make inflation worse, manchin gets this, pulling we will get to a moment, president biden is dealing with he doesn't seem to get it. anyone i think he has a problem with this thing. look at futures. this is how we will open up on thursday morning. dow is up close to 200 points.

the are burton. that is a nice rally going on here. do you buy into this rally your cell into it? >> you buy into this rally and the big reason is coming to the end of the year is traditionally a strong seasonal period. the santa claus rally at the end of the year, retail doing well and if we look at the two have the the month, the first half is december versus the second half. the second half much stronger in a month that is already strong. people like the certainty the fed is giving them and i think there will be a nice rally at the end of the year. stuart: that is not far away. what about the early part of next year. will it continue? >> i believe it will because we have a macro look, they did a great service to the markets

yesterday in giving their rate hike and bond tapering message. we know what to expect. that will keep the markets nicely into the first quarter. stuart: if inflation continues and the fed raises rates what point does the market rake and start to plateau and down, when will we see that? >> that is one that my crystal ball needs to be polished up, but we are trying to manage that growth of income, not letting it get too overheated which we knew we got to too overheated. if by doing these things, interest rate raises, they can give us a softer landing may not get the big plunge but i bet we will get a big

correction we haven't had this year at all. we fully gone down 5% this whole year, the backdrop we've had. i bet we have a 10% or 15% the first half of next year. stuart: first half of next year, see you again soon. foxbusiness polls, remarkable stuff shows president biden's economic policies are not popular. >> the polling unit with tough love for the president when asked about the impact of the social spending plan, 46% said this would push inflation higher, 21% say it would lower inflation. 42% said the plan would hurt the economy. the american people know what is happening in their pocket books, the fear it will get worse and the build back better plan and like we've been saying all along, biden needs to realize this was manchin realizes it, president biden has to get on board. otherwise he is in trouble. stuart: let's go to nancy

pelosi now. she has finally addressed the rise in crime that seems to have some confusion over what is causing it. watch this. >> it cannot continue but the fact is there is an attitude of lawlessness that springs from i don't know where and we cannot have that lawlessness become the norm. stuart: lawlessness comes from i don't know where. miranda divine joins us now. where does it come from? >> it is incredible to see nancy pelosi try to gaslight us again. that is her specialty. as if she doesn't know where it comes from. it is her party that played footsie with the defund the police mob all last year that turned a blind eye to rioting

and lawlessness and police being attacked and police stations being burned. her party that has installed a whole lot of radical prosecutors across the country who have not just turned a blind eye to crime but actively encouraged to it, punished law-abiding citizens while creating this revolving door of criminals, violent criminals arrested by police and out on the street the next day to commit mayhem against innocent people again. i don't know if this is a deliberate tactic to demoralize the citizenry or demoralize the police but that is the effect that it had the homelessness situation pretending to be compassionate while allowing people who are mentally ill and drug addicted to leaving

freedom on the streets. that is cruel and nancy pelosi is to blame. stuart: watch the expression on the president's face when asked why he hasn't pressed china on the origins of covid. >> why haven't you asked biden to do more to prepare on the origins? >> he smiled, walked away, silence was my question is this. does china have something on the president through his son hunter? >> obviously it seems the biden family is compromised and there is evidence for why which is tens of millions of dollars by the chinese. they were working for the chinese communist party on the road initiative doing work around the world, opening doors and president biden knew about

it, was involved and profiting from it. you bought the laptop from how, don't know what is so funny about not pressing china to be transparent. stuart: thanks for being with us, always appreciate it and see you again soon. this is how we open the market 20 minutes from now, carrying on the rally from yesterday. outgoing nih director francis collins is raising a few eyebrows singing about post pandemic life. watch this. ♪♪ somewhere past the pandemic ♪♪ when we are free ♪♪ there's a life i remember

♪♪ full of activity ♪♪ stuart: honestly i don't know what is going on but todd pyro is with us and will give us an explanation. we will talk to a native of brooklyn, new york who is fed up with new york so she is packing up her family and moving to florida. she will explain why after this. ♪♪ leaving on a jet plane ♪♪ don't know when i will be back again ♪♪ i hate to go ♪♪ there are so many times i promise to serve, not sell. i promise our relationship will be one of partnership and trust. i am a fiduciary, not just some of the time, but all of the time. charles schwab is proud to support the independent financial advisors who are passionately dedicated to helping people achieve their financial goals. visit findyourindependentadvisor.com ♪

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augustine, florida, it is quiet and cloudy. >> i don't know if i will survive the next 45 minutes here. stuart: wait until we get to the sinking. the dow is up 100 points carrying on the rally we saw yesterday. we just showed you the outgoing nih director singing a song about post pandemic life. explains this to me. there is a problem, are we going to attack him, what's going on? >> i don't like attacking people. i like making jokes. it is funny and here you go. singh me a song, you're the nih director, not billy joel's lyrics, after this you will know why. ♪♪ somewhere past the pandemic ♪♪ when we're free ♪♪ there's a life i remember

♪♪ all of activity ♪♪ >> doctor francis collins bidding farewell to his job by picking up a guitar and singing his own rendition of somewhere over the rainbow, not the first time he has done this. an explanation as to why people get fired up about this. you are the nih director, can we focus on science and the dissolves and production value of the video, don't you have better things to do as nih director? mi too harsh? >> it is the holiday season, didn't sing out of tune. >> not going to say his musical stylings were poor, just that it is kind of like why? i hated that story. i wouldn't want to run it.

look at this headline, i'm leaving new york city for florida, never thought i would. carol markowitz wrote that. i know you lived in new york your whole life so why are you leaving? >> the nih song tells the story for me. i don't think we are moving past the pandemic of the way the nih director members his pre-pandemic life is long overdue and i want to get them to normalcy and it needs to recapture that is a country and the blue areas are in no hurry to make that happen. stuart: was there a single incident in new york city that was the last straw and i am leaving? >> know one thing. it was heading in that direction for a long time. when we closed schools last year and didn't reopen in the face of all scientific evidence saying we should that was a major thing for me. the continued masking was a huge thing for me, the

mandates, i don't see evidence kids need the vaccine. all the kind of things aimed at children is the problem for me. i hear from people all the time having the same consideration, friends in staten island whose kids are already home from school because of covid cases and there is no moving on. i don't see the focusing on the children we should have, moving past the pandemic and making sure kids are leading a normal healthy life. stuart: you are moving on by moving to florida. you must have family and friends left behind. are they calling you a deserted? >> they are asking where they should go in florida. it is hard to leave new york, it is the husband we grew up in. we are feel new yorkers and the fact that we are leaving, i love the city, i love

everything about it. i was the biggest cheerleader but we are in a bad place and the thing is i don't see new yorkers wanting to climb out of that bad place. the moving on, i understand it is a pandemic and covid is serious. i don't treat it as nonserious but we have to put kids first and we haven't done that and we will look at the data that says kids live their normal lives. stuart: we understand why you are leaving and we will miss you but report from florida when you get down there. left-hand side of the screen, 6 avenue, 9:20 a.m. thursday morning, barely any traffic, not many pedestrians on the street, that is a city that's not coming back. will you go to florida? >> if they move this operation down there i would be -- my

parents are that age. everyone in florida, my brother can work from home, a lot of stuff in florida. >> a points the split between gop run states which are free and get on with life versus democrat run states which are oppressive and not getting through this pandemic. >> i do radio hits and alabama was one. it is a different world, everyone -- nobody is talking pandemic fear anymore down here. stuart: this is your story and it is related. a couple airline executives questioning masks on flights. >> the biden administration mask mandate being questioned ever comments by the southwest airlines ceo on capitol hill. >> the case is strong the masks don't add much in the air have an environment.

>> airplane filtration systems do enough to keep passengers safe, doug parker agreeing an aircraft is the safest place you can be thanks to all the filters, walking back parker's remarks he was agreed on the quality of the air, not a mask requirements, this shows anytime you question anything, vaccine, masks, anything that comes down that the blue states are doing got to walk it back. stuart: a minor-league challenge to the biden mandate in airports, planes you wear a mask, that -- >> they are so locked in, their myopic view, they are not changing, anyone who runs in airline -- stuart: you have to change sometime, can't go 10 years from now. when i going to do it? >> a fine opening gambit from the show. you see some green, "the

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stuart: let's bring in ed yarddenny. welcome back to the show. if we are looking at rate increases next year maybe three rate increases should we sell the current rally? >> i don't think so. if we get 3 rate increases we could get 0.5% other federal funds rate and the bond market is pretty relaxed about it and we can be relaxed about it. stuart: every time you and i do the interview it has to do a downturn at some point. we can't go on like this forever. we can go on like this, >> we can have collections along the way. corrections, you have to call the bottom. it is a bull market.

it would be obvious, with clinch conditions leading to recession. i don't see that anytime soon. >> i have awful memories of the 70s in 1972 and that is it. never got back to 1000, that is what worries me, prolonged period where your assets do nothing for you. >> worries me well, there are two alternatives, the great inflation 2.oh, a realistic concern but on balance things will work well. stuart: any sector of the market you think does particularly well in standard laws rally into next year? >> i know technology stocks are cheaper and all these technology spinoffs, everything is getting technology spin to it.

>> i'm going to get set up and start selling and then there is a huge rally. i see it coming a mile. >> we all have our contrary moments you do something and then regret it but the markets has made the barriers more regretful. stuart: are we back to tina? there is no alternative? >> i've looked at that very closely and why the bond yields goes to 20% where everybody agrees it should be based on history and a lot of people are scared of the stock market and they are rebalancing out of stocks into bonds figuring they are savoring to bonds and we've seen a bit of inflows into the bond fund so it has been from

any people bonds but stocks clearly outperform bonds. stuart: making it official, i'm not selling anything this year. i will give you a heads up, heads up to the audience, see you again soon. "the opening bell" will ring in 10 seconds, that all rings now, trading stock in 5 seconds. we expect some green for the dow industrials, the s&p and nasdaq following yesterday's rally. we started the gain of 138, most of the dow industrials have opened and the majority of them are firmly in the green. at this moment the dow is up 140 points. the s&p, two points i have a record, that is a record as of 4731, upper half a percentage point and the nasdaq had a big game yesterday, modest gain

this morning up a third of one%. all the big tech stocks are in the green except apple and meta-blooge apple is down to 179. let's check apple. it is hovering close to 182-86, that is the point it is worth $3 trillion. susan, there is other news on apple. >> apple is dealing the return to them office, apple will give their employees four weeks notice when it is time to go back and so they are offering $1,000 to each employee but apple had been pushing back the return from september to october, january to february, they have been closing three apple stores over the omicron variant requiring masks at all apple stores across america but as for the stock, in the last hour of trade it rallied 3%

into the close after the fed decision which wasn't as aggressive as wall street anticipated. the relief rally, took a big pardon. stuart: i want to show the electric vehicle makers, on the upside this morning and i think that is because the fed announcement helped the market. tell me how. >> they were slaughtered until 2:00 pm. did you see the big declines? up to $1,000 apiece so trillion dollar company once again in the premarket, will go back and test that number and ribion will report earnings, the first report card is a public and money, they will lose money, sales might cross $1 billion which i think is bullish. meantime elon musk sold $13 billion of tesla stock and counting totaling $15 by year's

end. he needs to raise cash but not selling at year's end so wondering how much do you care about central bank action? it is bifurcated across the pond, bank of england raising interest rates and the ecb is expanding the stimulus program and bond buying. stuart: i don't know what to make of that except that central banks will do what central banks have been doing a long time which is financing the spending plans of their governments. whether i should sell because of that or by more i don't know. i'm not selling until the end of the year. roadblocks down 2%. what is the story? >> new technology plays, member

the kid videogame maker, down about 10% at its low because of lower-than-expected daily active users. roku rallying back. until we get into central bank, high-tech is deflationary, cutting down on the need for gas. i don't see inflation is a big risk in her view. stuart: arc is down significant. >> 23%. she lost her midas touch and central bank action. everyone is trying to do the same thing in different ways tackling high prices. stuart: plug power, put it on screen. it is up big this morning, 2%. they got a deal. >> speaking of green energy and

innovation, bipartisan fuel-cellmaker teaming up with it is in motors bringing to markets and electric city bus and you can argue i would argue plug has been a retail investor favorite, there's a lot of momentum back in the amc endgame stock and broader rally we saw, the goldilocks narrative they call the federal reserve, they left themselves a lot of room for option now, whether to raise interest rates and how to keep tapering back. stuart: how about an are, it is a homebuilding company. it has something to do a supply chain. >> you know how expensive it is, to cut down trees, good for the tree producers like you but labor costs, higher lumber, shortage of ron materials and that is why i are headed delay for home deliveries and came in short when it comes to profit

and sales despite a booming housing market. wall street is disappointed in those results. stuart: see you later with more of the movers today. look at the dow winners, the top of the list is amgen, very active recently. ibm, very active recently, old tech moving up a little. s&p 500 winners, top stop is accenture, strong gain, we will do you why it is happening and gender act holdings, the generator people way up again. nasdaq winners headed by what is that? intuitive surgical? engine is on the list and so is paypal. after 6 minutes of business we are up 115, one third of one% on the dow. the tenure treasury yields 144. pricing goals well under $1,800 an ounce, 1790 a bit of a movement, bitcoin 48-8, price of oil still at 70?

it is at $71 a barrel, natural gas below four. and the average price of regular is $3.32 down $0.11 but well above last year's average of $2.19 was the governor of florida allowing parents to sue schools that teach critical race theory. florida congressman byron donald will be with us we can california the mayor of san francisco all of us and wants to get tough on crime. >> what i'm proposing today and what i will be proposing in the future will make a lot of people uncomfortable and i don't care. we are past the point where what we see is even remotely acceptable. >> that is quite a turnaround. 18 months ago she cut $120 million in the police budget.

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stuart: we have lost the rally at least in the nasdaq. we opened higher. we are 28 points lower. the dow holding onto a 100 point gain. the s&p on pace for a record close. it has turned negative. $182.86. that reaches $3 trillion put the retailers on the screen. some pretty bad retail numbers for november.

matt shea of the retail numbers, they were really weak. i presume, we did a lot of holiday shopping really early. early. does that fit your analysis? >> people changed their shopping habits was i wouldn't call them weak. we saw from month-to-month with modest increases or slight decreases but taking the long view if we go back the 11 months compared to a year ago we are up 14%, almost 15%. consumers are engaged, out there, shopping, retailers meeting expectations. we are poised for a record year in the record holiday season as well. stuart: a lot of people telling you when they go online to buy, they are told areas items are out of stock and can't get them until well into next year. does that mean more of us have to go back to the mall, bricks and mortar, anything we can put

our hands on? >> one thing we saw the last 20 month is retailers and consumers thought about the online experience and the brick-and-mortar experience differently and use our retailers using their real estate in creative ways for fulfillment and customer engagements, people getting there in stores, with the uncertainties with the current health climate. we've got the product in stock for items people are looking for is the number one product is not there you will find the second or third alternative. a lot of inventories put forward. we are in great shape the rest of the season. stuart: does inflation raise your profit margin or lower it? >> it depends on the retailer and that particular category of items. retailers are always working with suppliers and vendor partners to ensure they can

deliver what customers want at the price customers can afford in a competitive environment. no question inflation has been persistent across every category. we are seeing it everywhere, transportation costs are up, we know about shipping costs and factories and how that impacted this but notwithstanding all those things we are up 30% if you use imported goods as a proxy, we are up 30% in imports compared to two years ago so this is not only about supply, this is about demand and that goes to the things you discussed with fiscal stimulus, monetary policy. we are in a hot climate right now. stuart: up 30%. see you again soon. are related story. after the holidays millions of items are returned to the store. obviously that is bad news retailers. how bad? >> a big blow to retailers. these never shock me. the average return will cost

retailers 2 thirds of the original price for the item. that seems high but when you factor increased labor, transportation, warehouse, this comes as retailers face higher logistical costs to make the sales in the first place thanks to labor shortages, covid precautions and those supply chain issues. it leads to a likely 7% increase in the cost of holiday returns and electronic like computers, tablets and mobile devices return cost as much as 15 times higher than clothing because they have to wipe all the personal data. i did a little more research. you know who i blame for this? my wife. i have never seen a human return more goods. stuart: there may have to be a change in the business model for those clothing retailers online who regularly have a third of their products sent back to them. >> can't see how amazon can sustain. they have amazing deals with the shippers but if you have a

retailer doing clothes i don't see how you sustain this was longer. those margins are not good enough. stuart: let's turn to the social media site readit. it has significant market impact, the retail investor, they are going public. >> beating around the bush, they registered to go public with the sec. social media company not making filing publicly available. company did not say how many shares would be offered or the price range so take that information and do nothing with it because there is no information provided by redit. stuart: we showed you this op-ed from brett stevens of the new york times. biden should not run again and he should say he won't. looks like cnn caught wind and are suggesting 2024 contenders. they gave a list of 11 democrats who could replace biden. look like the media biden honeymoon is truly over. sandra smith takes that on. more varney after this.

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stuart: i am laughing because the white house blames greedy meet conglomerates for the rise in price of beef and work. meet produces not happy, they are firing back, ashley webster joining us early this morning. you spoke to the meat producers. what are they saying? ashley: they say the white house trying to deflect criticism about record high inflation by shamelessly singling out there industries for blame. in the last four months we should point out gas prices of gained 50%. propane is up 34%. even rental cars are up 37% but the biden administration pointing at the meat processing industry claiming the big companies are making huge profits by jacking up prices on a pandemic. according to the bureau of labor statistics, gaining 20%

over the past year, pork is up 14%, chicken nearly 9%. prices are higher. jen psaki blames those higher prices on the greed of meet conglomerates. take a listen. >> the president, secretary of agriculture, have both spoken to what we have seen is the greed of meet conglomerates. that is an area where people go to the grocery strand trying to buy a pound of meat, two pounds of meat, 10 pounds of meat, the prices are higher, jacking up prices during a pandemic. ashley: we contacted the major meat processing companies for a response including tyson, purdue and others and all of them referred us to the trade group north american meat institute. there is such a thing and they gave us the statement, quote, corporate greed driving up all prices across the economy? know. prices are high for consumers because of inflation which has

been given by labor shortages. the administration should stop scapegoating one industry to deflect criticism of its handling of the economy. meet produces blame a multitude of factors for rising prices going back to last year when covid shutdown production plants. that led to farmers scaling back their production and demand for beef rebounded the labor shortage reduce the capacity to produce more meat. that is not all. grounding the western us caused meat herds to shrink and higher prices all along the supply chain, farmers pay more for things like fertilizers the growth of feed for cattle and packaging materials are higher in price. meat producers say the biden ministration should fix the supply chain and stop demonizing their industry. stuart: those greedy meet conglomerates.

i tell you what, thanks very much. todd is with us still. you interviewed a distributor this morning. >> two things to follow up labor and gas, all comes down to labor and gas, there's not a group of old white guys in a room saying we must raise prices 50%, that is not how it is working. labors up, gas is up so your meat costs are up, never had a day in my career i said the word meet more often than today. stuart: that expression, greedy meet conglomerates. >> it is awkward phrasing and we are having fun with it. it is going to be really high. we when you're making excuses for an administrative it cannot counter the inflation it created. >> they blame everybody else but themselves and this is the latest example of them doing so. they've got to get it under control. labor and get the two things

they can't. stuart: and article expression, greedy meet conglomerates. i will end it right there. thank you for joining us. still ahead, senator rick scott, pete hegseth, sandra smith, dan heninger, this and:00 hour of varney is next. ♪♪ (vo) what's better than giving a better phone this holiday season? oh! i know, i know. giving a better phone on a better network. how much better? ranked #1 in network reliability 16 times in a row better. the most awarded for network quality a whopping 27 times by j.d. power better. yeah. and verizon is ranked #1 in customer satisfaction

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♪. stuart: ain't no mountain high enough. marvin gaye. good morning, everyone, 10:00 eastern. check out the money. a mice move, modest move for the dow above 36,000. the nasdaq has turned south, off 66. that is nearly a half a percentage point. bitcoin around $48,000 as we speak. the 10-year treasury yield coming in at 1.42%. that yield is going down. the latest read on mortgage rates. good morning jackie. >>year fixed on average 1.2%. this is not a surprise. slight tick up at this point. borrowing costs are very low. we have the same problem in housing right?

not enough supply. too much demand and it is causing a little bit of a frenzy. let's see as the rates tick up if that changes dynamics. stuart: we shall see. you're not supposed to say this in television but only time will tell. remember that one? >> good to see you. stuart: we'll see you later on. you're watching fox business. we gathered your opinions on the big financial issues at the day. looking at the numbers, no doubt america take as dim view of inflation and you are not happy with the president's performance on inflation either. question, what's the biggest issue facing the economy? top of the list? inflation, way above income inequality which is the left east big issue. question, has inflation caused you financial hardship over the last six months? yes, said a whopping 67%. now bringing the president into the inflation argument, question, is biden helping or hurting? this is a real slam on the biden

inflation policy, 47% say it's hurting. worse, 46% believe that biden's massive social spending plan would push inflation higher. we really shouldn't be surprised at this. the administration's response to rising prices has been confused and frankly clueless. meat prices going up because of manipulation by greedy meat conglomerates. really? gas prices are up because of price gouging? how many times we've heard that in the last 50 years. the administration will no doubt reject this poll it comes from fox. maybe they should look at the wharton school study. it found american households will pay 35 had you hundred bucks more this year because of inflation. that is wipes out wage gains because of inflation. it has been 40 years since america has been hit by an inflation surge. it ruined jimmy carter's presidency.

the way it is going it will have the same impact on president biden. the second hour of "varney" just getting started. stuart: mercedes schlapp joins me now, what do you think? inflation, i was there, back in the 1970s, inflation ruined the carter presidency. i think we're on the same track with joe biden's presidency. what say you? >> right, it feels stuart, president biden can't seem to get a handle what is happening with the economy for the democrats their solution is to spend, spend. we know that will create more stress on the economy especially when it comes to inflation and they haven't really been able to tackle issues like the supply chain crisis two months ago, the president gave a speech they would have the situation uncontrol. that is obviously not the case. creating a lot of stress in so many industries across the board. so in addition to that, then you

have the working class, the american people, who are looking at the food prices, looking at the fast prices, really wondering how are they going to be able to make ends meet as we go into next year? that in of itself, the economy, those pocketbook issues, are the ones that will drive this midterm election. let me tell you something, the biden and democrats, they are really trying to push build back better to sell it to the american people. that will simply not be enough to deal with the financial stress that our american families are facing. stuart: build back better seems to be in real trouble. looks like it is not going to get passed before christmas as the democrats wanted. >> right. stuart: will be pushed back into tech or march of next year. i call that a win for republicans. i think it will tear the democrat party apart. what do you say? >> because they're relying on build back better as their

winning message for the midterm elections. the problem is, is when you got senator joe manchin basically saying i'm not going above the $1.5 trillion number. you're looking at the congressional budget office say their reports saying this will cost more in the lines of $5 trillion, manchin can't afford to accept those big numbers. he comes from west virginia, it is leaning more republican, leaning more conservative. senator joe manchin holding the line. he does vote with the democrats 94% of the time. he will say look, democrats, trim it down, get it to 1.5 trillion, we'll get it passed. the bigger question the democrats want to move quickly to voting rights. they want to push forward with changes in the senate rules. this is very problematic as you know and republicans need to stop it. really only one helping to stop the voting rights legislation

going through is senator krysten sinema from arizona. stuart: crucial vote indeed. mercedes, thanks for joining us. >> thank you. stuart: sure thing. back to the markets. we got a rally for the dow. the dow is up 100 points, let's see, the nasdaq composite, now that is down 102 points. you have got a selloff there. jim lowell, market watcher this thursday morning. i will ask the same question i asked our other market guests this morning. are you buying today's rally or are you selling it? >> we would be net long term buyers. we think discounted prices when ever they come to us enable us to pepper our best ideas, lower the overall cost basis for the position. that said i don't think the sell something over nor is the buying. i think we'll be in a checker board pattern as we wiped our way into the new year with pretty much the same raft of issues we entered this year with. fears of inflation, fears of medical data not being able to

overcome the economic intelligence the foreground of fundamental data continues to suggest that our economy is rebounding well. stuart: okay. is this a case of tina, there is no alternative? because stocks have done so well for 12 years, no alternative at this moment? >> it's not but i understand why you're asking that question because it feels like it. it feels like fear of missing out is absolutely propelling just raw momentum in the market. you look at the s&p 500 year-to-date, you look at the fact a handful of stocks in it are really driving the overall index. there is that fear and momentum clearly driving this marketplace, both for good and ill. but that said, for long-term investors, if you can see you there the choppiness, if you can see through the fear, look, there are ways to be able to bold sister your portfolio, take advantage of inflationary

pressure, rather than view it as a absolute negative. stuart: you're talking now for people in the 30s, 40s, 50s, early 60s, they can be long term investors, right? i'm laughing because folks in their 70s are a little worried when it comes to long-term investing shall we say. but for older folks that i'm not sure the stock market is the place to be 100% but for 30, 40, 50 years old, i don't see it as alternative, you have to be in stocks. what do you say? >> i think for older investors like myself, raggal mix of stocks, bonds, cash, maybe real estate makes fundamental sense both from safe, total return perspective but in terms of the yield having to counter manned the fact that the bond market is basically dead in it tracks only serves as bolster to the stock market volatility, certainly not an income generator.

for younger investors, rather than fear of hype of inflation only being negative, think of the fact that groth stocks tend to outperform value stocks in inflationary cycles. consumer staples do as well. for the older investor, i want to be overweight the health care sector, something those of us with gray hair are knowing more about, using more. that is a beaten up sector this year. a lot of bargains in the basement. stuart: got it. thanks for being with us, sir. jim, come back to see you h us soon. i want to get back to the market, individual stocks, check out apple. it is near the 3 trillion-dollar market cap but actually it is retreating from it. >> it is unforfortunately, if nasdaq moves in this direction we may not make it. have to be up .65 points point to hit the trillion door lar mark. jpmorgan, evercore, 200 bucks

upside, bank of america raising it to 210 calling it a buy. future is augmented reality. they're working on products next year so there is still value in apple but maybe not today. stuart: they keep saying it is going up. all the big guys they say it is going up, going up. fascinating. delta i think they came out -- no, this down today. what's the problem? >> they were up in the premarket, forecast for the future, projecting $200 million in a fourth quarter profit. airlines are in a precarious position, stuart. we're dealing with pandemic problems. omicron is not helping that. delta is seeing strong holiday demand. it thinks things will get a little better. in the session it seems to be a little volatile now. stuart: do you have any opinion on two airline executives, i'm throwing this at you, who question wearing masks on planes? >> it is a tough one. you're up there in a metal box,

breathing recycled air. on a good day pre-covid, i would get sick, a cold, that thing. i like wearing masks on planes. stuart: if you had the choice that is fine. >> if you have the choice. that is what it comes down to. stuart: i got it. move on to shopify. what's the story there? >> you were talking about retail earlier, retail sales we're looking for the holidays. shopify was also up in the premarket session. now it has turned down. this is an e-commerce platform basically, they didn't say, evercore upgraded to outperform. it is 20% below last year's highs and there is some room to grow there. on obviously retail like the airlines can see more recovery. we hope it gets better. stuart: look at a company called rubicon. they are a software company. they manage waste recycling for customers. it is going public, it's a spac. >> this is really interesting,

what rubicon is doing here, technology company that is filing a spac. this company saying want to use this software will help you manage your waste and recycling programs because these are customers, they're hoping that see where the administration is going. they see that they need to reduce their environmental footprint. this could help them do that. some really interesting investors on board with this one. leonardo dicaprio, kkr, henry kravis, paul tudor jones, mark benioff. stuart: managing recycling, bottles, cans, paper, glass, all rest of it. they manage that for municipality. >> exactly. stuart: jackie, great. thanks for being here. now this, a first a "new york times" writer says president biden should not run again. on the headline, see it right there. cnn is suggesting 11 democrats who could replace the president

in 2024. today the white house will roll out new initiatives to tackle international crime. what about all the smash-and-grab robberies here at home? we'll see about that. florida's governor desantis, introduces a stop woke act. let's parents sue schools if they teach critical race theory. florida congressman byron donald talks about that next. ♪ as an independent financial advisor, i stand by these promises: i promise to be a careful steward of the things that matter to you most. i promise to bring you advice that fits your values. i promise our relationship will be one of trust and transparency. as a fiduciary, i promise to put your interests first, always. charles schwab is proud to support the independent financial advisors who are passionately

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♪. stuart: you're looking at the all-american christmas tree on fox square, right outside of our studios here. rebuilt in 24 hours after somebody burned the thing down. by the way, 56 degrees in morning in middle of december. that is extraordinary. nine days until christmas. notice how uncrowded sixth avenue is in new york city. we ain't come back yet. markets, 120 point gain for the dow industrials, after a big gain yesterday. look at the nasdaq, way down off 132 points as we speak. that is the best part of 1%. all right the governor of florida unveiled legislation that allows parents to sue schools that teach critical race theory. congressman byron donalds, republican from florida joins me now. congressman, how will this bork? >> i think the key thing it is giving parent every tool possible to defend their children. when parents send kids to

school, they want them to learn reading, writing arithmetic. they don't want them to be indoctrinated. they don't want them to be weaponized in this culture of wokism. what is the governor is doing giving parents a cause of actioning if they feel the parent are indoctrinated they can go to court, as opposed to getting back and forth with a teacher or principal which typically doesn't go anywhere. i think it is the right move. we'll see where it goes with the legislature. stuart: critical race theory is supposed to be good for minority kids in schools. as a black man, do you disagree with that? >> i totally disagree. i don't think it is good for any child. they say if you don't believe in critical race theory, you don't believe in teaching history. that is not true. i believe in teaching history, i don't believe putting in about a subjective theory to teach history. subjective view in minds of

young kids, frankly in the minds of people in corporations, high "elf" of education about a marksist view of american history with respect to race. we don't need the latter. we need to teach full history. no more, no less. the subjectivity from the radical left will divide america. we shouldn't allow it to divide our schools and institutions. stuart: we'll leaf it there. we move on to tampa. tampa has the highest inflation of any city in the united states, 8%. this is what happens when all the new yorkers come streaming in, guys like you who live here to start with to pay through the nose. do you want too send them back congressman. >> no no. as long as they vote right they can stay. i'm kidding. we want people to come to florida to live, thrive and prosper in the best state in the country. that is what we created in florida. that is what governor desantis is maintaining in florida. come to our opportunities that exist in the great state of

florida. our inflation problems stem from radical spending policies from joe biden that basically crippled our supply chain, created a massive labor shortage throughout the united states which every state is trying to work its way out of. so happens that tampa is one of the great growth areas in the country because of terrible liberal policy in the northeast. people are coming and flocking to our state, at the same time we're dealing with the same labor constraints and same inflation issues that every state in the country is dealing with. stuart: earlier on the show we had karol markowicz, columnist lived in new york city her entire life. she announced she is moving and coming to florida. i believe you were born and raised in new york? >> brooklyn, new york. stuart: same as karol markowicz. >> i've been in florida 20 years. i went to school in tallahassee,

go 'noles. the reason why people are leaving new york, stu, because the democrats destroyed that state. you can't keep the city safe. the economics don't make any sense. then you're indoctrinating children and lock down the place way longer than you needed to be? that is why people are leaving new york. they should have left a long time ago. stuart: karol markowicz, actually told us she is leaving new york because what is happening to her children in the schools. she is done with it. i'm not sure where she is going. i'm not sure it is fort myers where you are. i will recommend fort myers. how is that? congressman, great to have you on. see you real soon. >> merry christmas, stu. stuart: yes indeed. merry christmas. fewer containers arrive ad the port of los angeles in long beach last month. this doesn't sounds to me like it is an improvement in the supply chain. what is going on? jackie: it's not. import volumes are down 10%. you're right, fewer containers. what it means the retails are in such a jam they're filling smaller ships just to get the stuff right away.

holidays are coming. they need inventory. when you fill the smaller ships you can put less containers on them. so as a matter of fact there is a backlog of 101 ships. remember the two biggest ports there, los angeles and long beach, and that is where the majority of the goods are coming in. i also reported over the weekend some larger ships are being forced to stay out at sea because of the weather. there are still port problems. let's put it that way. stuart: pete buttigieg, transportation secretary has not made a significant improvement in the backlog in california ports. >> they keep saying the supply chain will get better. well, how? what are you doing to fix it? stuart: i don't think they're anything at this moment. jackie, hah h thank you. the city council in austin, texas, extended restrictions for a year. only 120 patients and million residents. eight months ago the mayor of san francisco cut $120 million from the police budget.

looks like she had a change of heart. watch this. >> it is time that the reign of criminals destroying our city it comes to an end when we take the steps to be moring a agressive with law enforcement. stuart: california guy, larry elder, takes that on, right after this. ♪. ♪♪ care. it has the power to change the way we see things. ♪♪ it inspires us to go further. ♪♪

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stuart: all right. the dow, actually the dow is gaining some ground. we're up over 200 points for the dow industrials and the nasdaq has moderated its loss. it is down but only by 67 points. i want to see at&t, please. put it up on the screen. at&t's price now at 23.50. do you realize that price at&t's stock has a dividend yield of 9.3%? susan what is going on at at&t? susan: at&t getting an upgrade today from morgan stanley. morgan stanley at&t says at&t is worth 28 bucks, that is roughly 26% upside from yesterday's

close. according to morgan stanley they say it looks cheap. could see a number of catalysts, including that spin-off of time warner and discovery. it is comes business is unvalued. bitcoin rallying after the federal reserve decision. this is independent from government policy and decentralized. how widely-held and mainstream bitcoin has become. also news this morning former first lady melania trump is selling the first nft collection for the holidays. you had that great interview with mr. trump this year, he told you, he thought bitcoin and crypto was a scam. i wonder if the nft collection if the trump's views have changed on crypto? i want to talk about mcdonald's this is a big story, they're clawing back over $100 million of pay from former ceo steve easterbrook.

he was fired, lied, destroyed documents to cover up past consensual relationships with four employees. this is one of the largest clawbacks in history. if you're paid for a certain amount, fired for wrongdoing, the company can sue you to get the money back. stuart: $105 million coming back to mcdonald's that is a lot of money. the mayor of san francisco, london breed, pulled $150 million from the police department last year. now she has done a 108. watch this. >> what i'm proposing today, and what i will be proposing in the future will make a lot of people uncomfortable and i don't care. we are past the point where what we see is even remotely acceptable and it comes to an end when we take the steps to be more aggressive with law enforcement, more aggressive with the changes in our

policies, and less tolerant of all the bull [bleep] that has destroyed our city. stuart: larry elder from california. where has the mayor of san francisco been all these years? tell me. >> better late than never. this is a woman you pointed out defunded the police to the tune of $120 million. surprise, surprise, crime has gone up. when you reduce the chance of a bad guy being caught, being convicted, being incarcerated crime goes up. now she sounds like dirty harry. you and i tacked about the proverbial rock bottom california has to hit before reconsidering voting all democrats, the london breed is spotty at best. l.a. county d.a. george gascon was asked about his policies, cashless bail, decriminalization, not allowing assistant d.a.s to impose severe penalties for his bad

guys, whether that had anything to do with the skyrocketing crime in los angeles, he said he didn't think it had anything at all to do with it at all, to which the l.a. county mayor, al alex villanueva was doubling down on stupid. he supported proposition 47. it allows you to possess three grams of meth, if you're on the street doing meth, they can't threaten you going to jail or rehab. there is no alternative, so people doing meth are saying i'm not going to rehab. you can't do anything to me. gascon is supporting all these kinds of policies. governor gavin newsom as you know has overseen the release of some 20,000 convicted felons, many of whom were violent offenders. they're surprised crime has gone up. so nancy pelosi yesterday was asked about crime, well there is a sense of lawlessness. i don't know why? perhaps you know.

they are still clueless, awaken something spotty at best. stuart: we shouldn't be laughing at this, because it is a terrible decline of a great state. we shouldn't be laughing at this. but one more for you, larry. take a look at this. this is an op-ed, in "the washington post." it says the writing is on the wall. california's influence has peaked. it goes on to say that the golden state seems to be in slow, steady decline. would you agree with that, wouldn't you, or a precipitous decline now? >> it is on a slow and accelerated decline, put it like that. when i ran for governor, one of my big issues was crime, the fact that people are leaving california for the very first time. people told me that they would stay if i won. if i lose, we're going to leave. let's assume a certain percentage will follow through on that threat. so the rate people are leaving california has accelerated implete not laughing. i'm laughing to keep from crying. it's a shame what is it going on in the state, decline of public

education, poor forest management. rolling blackouts because energy companies put more and more money into weather dependent so-called renewables. 5% of black kids in the public schools cannot read at proficiency yet they are opposed to charter schools. stuart: you have the option leaving and moving. we have space in florida. i understand where you're coming from. larry, come back and see us soon. good stuff. >> you got it. stuart: the mayor of oakland, california, asking the state to help fight violent crime. jackie, didn't they vote to defund the police not too long ago in oakland? jackie: they did and you have to ask your self what do you think happens when you defund the police. they're asking the state and gavin newsom to help re-fund the police to fight the crime. 131 homicides in oakland this year. carjackings up 77%.

robberies are up 46%. can you imagine living there? the mayor is committed to adding resources to crack down on crime but you know, she is not taking it out of her budget. stuart: dear me. it goes on, another california story. jackie, thank you. jackie: exactly. stuart: the administration is rolling out new initiatives today to go after international crime. makes you wonder what about domestic crime here as well. look, gillian turner is joining us from washington, d.c. what is this all about, international crime? reporter: that's right, two new initiatives are getting rolled out, stuart, the legal community is saying time for the biden administration to focus on crime here at home and get tough on smash-and-grab crimes at the federal level. they insist the white house is dragging their heels to leave it to city and state leaders to fend off thieves and vandals across the nation. some smash-and-grab perps are stealing millions of dollars goods from brick-and-mortar stores, reselling them, getting away with it.

now the senate judiciary, republicans there, are stepping up. they say they will come up with national level solutions if the white house won't. they write, given the many cities that are impacted by the crime surge we believe it would be even more useful if we could explore these problems on a national scale with the full committee. it is not though just republicans who are desperate now for a national solution. take a listen to nancy pelosi. >> it must be stopped. it is not just san francisco. it is in, it is in our entire country and that's evidenced by the appeals we're receiving across the country from the legislation. reporter: the justice department tells fox news they're looking for federal level solutions to the crisis but legal experts say it is far from clear whether they will actually clamp down. listen to jen psaki. >> our focus is on making sure the local leaders, the police officers, the departments who know what they need for these

communities have the assistance and funding they need. that is where we're working around the clock on. reporter: legal experts say the doj could bring criminal charges under what is known as rico. shorthand for the racketeer and corrupt organizations statute. they say the doj used similar federal statutes to go after parents at school board meetings. could they be willing to do the same to crack down on thieves here on u.s. city streets? stuart: that is a fascinating question, jillian, thank you very much. we'll see you soon. reporter: you bet. stuart: president biden dodge ad question why he has yet to confront china on the origins of covid. roll tape. >> president biden, 800,000 coronavirus deaths do you have, taken on your responsibility, why haven't you asked china to do more to be transparent on the origin? stuart: smiles, walks away. is the president avoiding it because china has something on his son, hunter? i will ask christian whiton about that next hour.

universities scaling back activities and moving final exams online. they want students to get home for the holidays sooner. they're concerned about omicron. we have a report on that. by the way it's next. ♪ at vanguard, you're more than just an investor, you're an owner with access to financial advice, tools and a personalized plan that helps you build a future for those you love. vanguard. become an owner. vanguard. some days, you just don't have it.

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♪. stuart: dr. fauci says there is no need for a omicron specific booster for now. jonathan serrie in atlanta. what's the data on boosters efficacy against omicron? reporter: hi, there, stuart. when you look at some of the recent studies they do show the existing mrna vaccines lose their effectiveness against the coronavirus over time, however,

recent studies suggest that if you add a third dose of those vaccines, in other words, a booster shot after you have been six months, at least six months after you have been fully vaccinated, that is 75% effective in preventing symptomatic disease. most importantly, people who are fully vaccinated, plus the booster, are less likely to develop severe disease. in fact many of these patients are asymptomatic. >> our booster vaccine regimens work against omicron. at this point there is no need for a variant specific booster. reporter: federal health officials strongly recommend booster shots for everyone who is eligible. people ages 16 and older. the cdc has yet to update the definition of full vaccination. right now the definition of full vaccination is two doses of the pfizer or moderna vaccines or one dose of johnson & johnson.

five republican governors are asking the pentagon to remove its covid vaccine requirement for national guard members. governors of alaska, nebraska, wyoming sent a letter to defense secretary lloyd johnson. they argue that the federal government is overstepping its authority by punishing these national guard members for not getting vaccinated at a time they are serving under state command and not serving during wartime overseas. stuart, back to you. stuart: jonathan, we got it. back to -- thanks very much ind. bill de blasio has details on the private mandate. i know it is draconian, jackie, what do we know? jackie: the date is december 27th, the employees in the private sector have to have their first shot by then f they're getting a two-shot vaccine, they have 45 additional days to get the second shot.

deblasio is very vocal every time i placed mandates before it always helped the situation. that is not necessarily true. this city is still a shell of what it once was and mandates aren't going to get people back into their offices. stuart: you can't take your kid to see the radio city music hall christmas show unless they're vaccinated. jackie: right. stuart: five an 6-year-old, has got to be vaccinated to get in there. of course they don't go. jackie: yeah, hopeless. one more, austin, texas, extending covid mandates. wait a minute, they have only got 120 cases in a city of a million? jackie: a city of million, 120 coronavirus patients 40 in the icu, only 19 people on ventilators. this is the most blue city in texas. so they are on the very liberal side. only one council person voted against this. the restrictions and the fines and mandates that are in place right now are set to expire on december 31st. those numbers indicate that they probably should. they are extending it for

another year. stuart: jeez. jackie: yeah. stuart: this is what happens when a bunch of californians come over here. jackie: bring their blue votes with them. stuart: which league, which sports league, do you know has the most covid cases? i don't know? which sports league? jackie: it is nfl. as of monday and tuesday,0 players tested positive for the coronavirus that number continues to go higher. 100 individuals in the nba, nhl, hockey, entered health and safety pretty calls this week. remember they do have protocols. they do have guidelines. not necessarily all of the players are following them. a couple things to think about here. the super bowl is coming up in february. they don't want a ton of players being sick for that. that could be huge for them. a lot of the nfl teams, their players have violated the policies essentially. so they're trying to tighten everything up. but it also shows you can't really control people. stuart: right. a lot of people to be controlled. they, you can't put them in a bubble year after year. good stuff, jackie.

thanks very much indeed. a related story, executives at two major airlines are questioning the need for masks on planes. what do you think about that? contentious story. we've got it for you. a new fox business poll shows nearly half of us believe the build back better agenda will push inflation higher, not lower. florida senator rick scott will deal with that after this. ♪. as i observe investors balance risk and reward, i see one element securing portfolios, time after time. gold. your strategic advantage.

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stuart: the dow jones industrial average is up a very solid 256 points. had a gain yesterday after the fed meeting and the fed decision on rates. it is up again 250 right now. 36,100 still your level. still a loss for the nasdaq, down 80 points. doesn't look like build back better is going to get done by christmas. senator rick scott, republican from the great state of florida joins me now. mr. senator, i think you want to kill build back better completely, don't you?

>> absolutely. the biggest gift the democrats can give the american public right now is kill build back better. think about it. the first thing they told us it was free, right? oh, no. the cbo said it will only cost us $3 trillion in more debt. you will have to pay for that. number two, they said they will tax the rich. no, they're giving $600 billion of tax cuts to the rich but only in california, new york, new jersey, democrat states. next they said would never raise taxes on middle income. yep, they're raising taxes on middle income an small businesses. better than that, they will cut charity care for the poor but only in republican states. you can't make this stuff up. stuart: no you can't. that is for sure. senator manchin, joe manchin, he has been talking with the president on the phone a few times. "politico" said these talks are not going very well, and percent are at a boiling point. sounds to us like this thing will not get done by christmas. it will be delayed.

if it is delayed into next year, does that give you guys a better chance to kill it? >> i think absolutely. it needs to be delayed. it needs to be killed. here is what it is doing. it is bad for americans. it is bad for almost all americans families. it will raise the cost of child care in this country dramatically. on top of that it will cause more inflation. already inflation is an unbelievable tax on our poorest families, people on fixed income. i watched my mom struggle with inflation growing up. we lived in public housing. rick, this is how much money we have. you have to watch what things cost. that is what families are doing across this country n my state, people are saying, moms are saying do i have enough money nor gas too get to work? can i buy enough food for my kids. that is going on across my state. it its wrong. the democrats are causing unbelievable tax through inflation on all american families. stuart: i thought there were elements of build back better which would be very politically popular. now we have this new fox

business poll. it says look, 46% of voters believe this massive spending plan will actually push inflation higher. i got this wrong. i thought voters would go for build back better but apparently it is politically unpopular. i'm surprised that the president doesn't pull it back. if you got all this lot going on around you, why not pull it back a bit? >> well you would think he would secure the border. that is not popular to have an unsecured border. you would think he would love us to have pipelines in the country. that is not popular what he is doing there. you would think he would support military not having a debacle in afghanistan. he is tone deaf. democrats are completely tone deaf. they have a radical agenda. they want to change this country, and it is hurting our families, especially poor families, especially people on fixed income. stuart: we've been reporting that tampa has the highest inflation rate in the country, 8%. we're blaming it on all those new yorkers and new jersey folks cramming into tampa and raising

prices for you guys who live there. you want to send them back, mr. senator? >> no. i was, when i became governor i was trying to make sure we were the best state for people to move to. we've become that state. lower taxes, less regulation, and it has happened because, people have the chance to live the dream in florida. we have to do that across the country. make sure people can live their dream. not what the democrats dream should be. what we think our dream is. stuart: i'm coming down for christmas, i can't wait. i know i will. we appreciate it always. >> merry christmas. stuart: merry christmas. here is what he have for you coming up still ahead, pete hegseth, christian whiton, sandra smith, "wall street journal" guy dan men dan henninger. build back better a multitrillion dollar grab bag of socialist dreams. that is my opinion. president says it cost zero dollars. you spend trillions, who believes that. the democrats economic trickery

is evident for all to see and that is in "my take" next. ♪ .. you can keep your phone. keep your number. and get your employees connected on the largest and fastest 5g network. plus, we give you $200 in facebook ads on us! so you can reach more customers, create more opportunities, and finish this year strong.

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>> biden can't seem to get a handle on what is happening

with the economy. those pocketbook issues are the ones that drive the midterm election. >> we got spending power, retailers meeting expectation. we are poised for a record year and probably record holiday season. >> i think people like the certainty the fed has given them and we will have a nice little rally at the end of the year. >> we can be relaxed about it. it is a bull market. ♪♪ i feel good ♪♪ i knew that i would ♪♪ i feel good ♪♪ i knew that i would now ♪♪ stuart: it is 11:00 on the east coast. looking at the statue of liberty thursday december 16th. on the markets we have a solid rally for the dow industrials up 220 points, the nasdaq going

the other way, they are down. big tech mostly lower. with the exception of google and meta-. let's look at apple. it is not close now. 182-86 the price it has to get to to reach the valuation, 175-66 at the moment, less than $100 billion shy. it is not quite $3 trillion just yet. now this. build back better is the ruin of the democratic party. it is a multi-trillion dollar grab bag of socialist dreams in the biggest porkbarrel this country has ever seen and that is saying something was any political party that comes up with this monstrosity should take a look at itself. that is happening right now. it is like an inquest. democrats are hopelessly split

and the fight is going public. political reports talks between moderates and progressives are going very poorly. according to politico tempers have reached the boiling point. they are mad as hell because build back better will likely be delayed until spring of next year where it is likely to be chopped to pieces or killed outright. they must think we are idiots, we will accept their math. the president tells us it costs $0, you spend trillions and it costs nothing. who is going to buy that? won't raise the deficit, who is buying the nonsense? democrats economic trickery is obvious for all to see. is a train wreck and you see it coming. aoc, bernie and the rest of the far left will never forgive joe manchin and moderates will never forgive the socialists for threatening the reelection. this happens when leaders fail

to -- things fall apart, the center cannot hold. the third hour of varney just getting started. mister hegseth is with us. i expect to see him smiling when i talk about the ruin of the democrat party. i am being extreme myself because i don't think this is the ruin of the party but it is a huge problem. they are not going to emerge from this intact, are they? >> i don't think it is much to say the failure of build back better is indicative of a party that first of all has no leadership in president biden but has shadow leadership in joe manchin who is sitting the terms of this but the actual soul leadership is in the

socialists and radicals and it is a problem for this administration whether poll numbers, president biden sold himself as a unifier, spent time in the basement talking about tackling covid. then he got into the white house and his governed like bernie sanders and is beholden because his advisers are all obama bernie type advisers and biden asleep at the wheel. as they try to lie their way through build back better it is not working. nancy pelosi took to a podium a couple days ago and said president biden is perfect. there is only one perfect person that ever lived and he lived 2000 years ago and his name is jesus christ. other than that, to declare that of anybody's beyond foolish. stuart: that was very good indeed.

florida's governor desantis introduce the stop the woke act. it will allow parents to file lawsuits against schools they suspect of teaching critical race theory. >> you are not going to have that in any school in the state of florida. most parents want them to be educated on the basics. i don't think they are interested in this indoctrination. no taxpayer dollars should be used to teach our kids to hate our country and hate each other. >> governor desantis is determined to stand up, and. and and and we have to sue about every school district. every school district under the guise of diversity, equity and

inclusion. and in fact, it is the miseducation of america. it is the tip of the iceberg of how much the left controls every part of the educational pipeline. i salute what he's doing here, nowhere near close enough. if we want to get rid of -- stuart: it is a good start because it puts power back into the hands of parents to police what is going on in schools and that's a very good thing. real fast, i want to watch you and other fox favorites live at turning point, on fox nation. >> real things about the country in phoenix, arizona. fox nation will be there.

myself and kayleigh mcenany highlighting speeches. i will be speaking, kaylee will be speaking. a bunch of fox folks will be there. and and we need that more than other. we are bringing it to wonderful viewers. and and bill baroque with me now. if all of us, we are looking at rate increases, maybe three rate hikes next year, shouldn't we be selling the market in anticipation of a selloff next

year? >> good point. thanks for having me on again. the thing to think about is recent volatility the last couple weeks was discounting the rate hikes, the market priced it in, the third hike in december, 50% pricing going into the meeting and the taper was priced in, $30 billion. the market was fearing with added volatility, they could be more hawkish and they weren't. the city hand was good. they gave a roadmap to look forward to and ultimately removed uncertainty. the volatility is not done. we will see volatility at elevated levels and valuations. look at the nasdaq today. the nasdaq didn't like the surprise rate hike in the bank of england or adobe's guidance. the market is frothy.

sort of move between different sectors and other places to park money to invest in whether it is venture-capital or crypto. i've been on the show for quite a while talking about cryptolooking to summer. i love solana. it is at highs of the session. it is telling us risk on. there is a lunch coming on better verse mining alliance and that is a dating apps that brings power more to the people, the players and they can revenue while playing this game. what i like about their pass is they could hedge the revenue streams. this is dynamic. these are the things to be looking at, investing in. stuart: tell me, what is the name of the company again?

meta-what? >> meta-verse mining alliance. it gaming apps, similar to yield games, big traction around the world throughout asia. low-income nations, getting people to play games and people earning living wage is playing these games. i'm paying attention to this space. next year, this is launching a token this week, february 1st, this, stuff like this is what you want to pay attention to. stuart: going public soon? >> not a public ipo but a point in the coin offering. stuart: better verse mining alliance, talk about getting esoteric but that is interesting. >> there is valued still to find. there are a lot of companies,

they move their guidance down slightly and look at the stock down 10% broader market with it. a lot of these companies have earnings that are extrapolated, the earnings growth is extrapolated out. look at salesforce. with guidance, revising guidance lower below expectations a couple weeks ago. i own salesforce but the edge is being taken out of official stock at the elevated level. stuart: older folks need these new ideas from younger folks like you so we get back on the ground floor something that will go to the moon. see you again soon. looking at a couple individual stocks, start with delta airlines, demand for travel rising despite omicron. it had been higher earlier.

it is down big, they released their 2022 outlook, investors disappointed with projections for next year. it is down 9%. at&t 23-50, yields 9.3%. morgan stanley upgraded the stock to overweight, up 6% this morning. ceos of two major airlines questioning whether we need to wear masks on planes. that is food for thought. imagine the fight if it was no longer mandated. a new foxbusiness poll shows 47% of us think the president is making inflation worse. we will break down all the numbers for you. watch what happens when the president is asked about china's link to covid. >> transparent on the origins. stuart: no answer. does china have something on biden through his son hunter? we will be talking about that. ♪♪ giving me a heart attack

♪♪ ♪♪ serve, not sell. i promise our relationship will be one of partnership and trust. i am a fiduciary, not just some of the time, but all of the time. charles schwab is proud to support the independent financial advisors who are passionately dedicated to helping people achieve their financial goals. visit findyourindependentadvisor.com (vo) what's better than giving a better phone this holiday season? oh! i know, i know. giving a better phone on a better network. how much better? ranked #1 in network reliability 16 times in a row better. the most awarded for network quality a whopping 27 times by j.d. power better. yeah. and verizon is ranked #1 in customer satisfaction for small business wireless service better. this round's on me. holiday better with 5g from america's most reliable network.

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first psoriasis, then psoriatic arthritis. it was really holding me back. standing up... ...even walking was tough. my joints hurt. i was afraid things were going to get worse. i was always hiding, and that's just not me. not being there for my family, that hurt. woooo! i had to do something. i started cosentyx®. i'm feeling good. watch me. cosentyx helps people with psoriatic arthritis move, look, and feel better. it targets more than just joint pain and treats the multiple symptoms like joint swelling and tenderness, back pain, helps clear skin and helps stop further joint damage. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting, get checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections—some serious

—and the lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms or if you've had a vaccine or plan to. tell your doctor if your crohn's disease symptoms develop or worsen. serious allergic reactions may occur. it's good to be moving on. watch me. move, look, and feel better. ask your rheumatologist about cosentyx. stuart: russia's putin in china's xi jinping with a united front after their virtual meeting yesterday. they seemed to get along just fine. she environment informed an accessory against the united states? >> something to be concerned about. a couple things going for us preventing the eurasian condominium which is theirs

traditional russian mistrust, china is a good thing to be mistrustful for. you have 1.4 billion people looking north at all the natural resources in eastern russia which are largely unexploited. likewise china has had animosity towards russia, been suspicious of russian expansion but the degree to which these countries that have not seen eye to why are cooperating it is very limited but it is not something good for the united states, traditionally we tried to keep those countries apart. stuart: do we know how president biden is countering this? >> i would say the administration doesn't have a plan. it is not a stated strategy. nixon had the opening to china to pull communist china away from the soviet union during the cold war and it worked. there is nothing like that being discussed in democratic foreign policy circles and frankly what we are doing in ukraine where we don't have a lot of us interest is in effect pushing russia closer to china.

stuart: look at the president's expression when asked if he will push china on the origins of covid. role it. >> 100,000 coronavirus deaths, why haven't you asked them to be transparent on the origins? >> he smiled, walked away, no answer. does china have anything on biden through hunter? >> probably. the question is, is it what is compelling here or biden's soft on china in general? hunter recently exited his position with the private equity fund financed in part by the chinese government and when jen psaki was asked if there would be basic transparency about the terms of that departure she deflected the question. biden smiling, it is curious what he finds funny about the situation. 800,000 dead, we are coming up on that milestone.

best case scenario, the spread because of chinese negligent, worst-case they created this virus. we talk about leaguers, human rights, tibetan human rights but what about american human rights? i would be more upset about that, we have a president that doesn't seem to be willing to push on this issue. stuart: can you name a foreign policy success for the biden administration? jen psaki could not name one. can you? >> know. what he tried to do was make nice with the g7, traditional allies in old europe and their mistrustful in your dated with the united states and china, afghanistan, russia, you name it, jihad is him, bringing back to life of palestinian cause, failure after failure. stuart: america is not looking good on the american stage. that is my opinion and i think you share it. see you soon. can't forget the markets on this day after the fed meeting.

we rallied yesterday, rallied this morning, dow jones rally maintaining but the nasdaq is down 180 points, small loss for the s&p, regeneron developing antibodies to fight the omicron various, investors not impressed, today the cdc meets to discuss restrictions on the j and j vaccine after rising concerns over blood clots among women but that stock despite that news is up one%. apple dealing the return, offering rewards to work from home? >> tim cook announcing apple will give all employees $1,000 to be used for work from home needs and that includes all of apple's retail workers. it was also announced apple has indefinitely delayed the days

when corporate employees have to return to the office. the return to work date is yet to be determined. apple workers previously return to the office is february 1st with a hybrid work arrangement but that had been delayed, if the omicron parent continues to spread. apple close three retail stores this week and mandating customers again, must wear masks while inside its retail stores. stuart: i am sure you saw this, executive the two major airlines questioning the need for wearing masks on planes. this is opening a pandora's box, tell us what you are saying. ashley: it really is. having flowed recently, a lot of passengers asking the same questions especially when masks are removed to eat or drink. is a game you are playing, the

ceos of american and southwest airlines, they don't think wearing masks on planes do much to limit exposure to covid. both ceos, high-grade air filters on planes capture all airborne contamination. take a listen. >> the case is very strong that masks don't add much if anything in the air have an environment. >> the filters and the same airflow. ashley: the airline leaders say the plane is one of the safest places to be but a rep for the flight attendants association tested but not aircraft are equipped with the same quality of air filters saying sold planes don't even have the filters. right now, some planes are required by the federal government based on advice from the cdc. it has led to some nasty

situations with some passengers being arrested because they refused to wear the mask. stuart: some nasty situations of the mask mandate were removed. some are masked and some are not. you have a nasty situation right there. contentious issue. see you again in a minute. new york city is banning natural gas hookups for all new buildings. it will help fight climate change. in other words in a new building in new york city in the future you got to cook with electricity, not gas. new york times writer says biden shouldn't run in 2024. cnn is suggesting his replacements for 2024. sandra smith on what the democrats are going to do in 2024. ♪♪

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♪♪ stuart: did you hear me singing? that is a song for john lennon wrote and thought it was his best song. that is phoenix, beautiful, brilliant, crystal-clear, phoenix, arizona. the dow is still up to the nasdaq way down. what have you got on forward? >> i've been trying to get you to sing for 3 and a half or four years. for dislodging approach charging service to help their electric car fleet fill up faster. installation, maintenance, operation of these chargers, home depot and public charging stations and wells fargo raising their target price, we are getting a downgrade worth $125 but most of the good news is priced in and there are concerns about travel trends

with the omicron spread and bank stocks are attractive what the federal reserve indicating they are going to hike interest rates three times next year's the bank of new york mellon being upgraded to a buy and jpmorgan worth $67 and bank of america called their top bank pick for this year. so who knew that higher yields, higher interest rates would put more money on their loans. stuart: interest rates go up with a simple equation. >> you can do that one more time. just one line. stuart: we will see you later. let's get to this. a headline from the new york times. bret stevens wrote this. biden should not run again and he should say he won't. cnn picked up on that. they are suggesting that could replace the president in 2024, kamala harris, pete buttigieg, elizabeth warren, sandra smith

joins us now graciously. it is out in the open. they are questioning whether the president can do the job the next two years and telling him you don't want to do this after 2024. this is a huge dilemma for the democrats. >> we have a long way to go. republicans want to translate the inflationary picture into doom for democrats in the midterm elections. there is a long way to go. i don't know how democrats would look at it any other way than to tap joe biden for 2024. stuart: bret stevens, don't run in 2024 and say you are not running. a bombshell. >> you have to consider his age. consider donald trump's age if he were to run. stuart: donald trump is vigorous, dynamic -- president biden is anything but. >> i stick to policies and when

you work the policies, under president biden and the impact of them you have seen the polling, foxbusiness polling, wall street journal polling, it is not good. the success for this administration, jen psaki was speechless in the white house briefing room when she was asked to tout president biden's biggest foreign-policy achievement, she didn't have an answer because we are grieving over the afghanistan withdrawal. stuart: democrats have a problem with this because they can see what is going on. that is why it is now out in the open. why didn't we go with kamala or pete buttigieg? what are we going to do if something happens to the president between now and november of 2024. >> the names will emerge that we don't have on radar. stuart: this country has a huge

problem but not just about policy but our president and his condition for the next three years and what democrats will do about it. >> are you saying it shocks you that the democratic party elected an old white male for their president? what is new coming down the pike? i will take it back to this. we talk about it every day. will republicans be able to seize on this moment and translate for the american voter what they are living through, for example in quantitative terms. i think whorton did a great job of that yesterday saying look at the inflator a picture. the inflationary picture costing the average american family $3,500 in 2021. what about 2022? the federal reserve, every economist for testing inflation to go back in 2022, that will

be paying for the american family. stuart: democrats are in trouble. totally separate. >> there is no doubt. stuart: this one is coming at you. changing the subject to sports. leah thomas, she was born male, she sparked controversy when she broke a whole raft of records in swimming. parents a swim team members are demanding changes in the rules. they say the integrity of women sports is at stake. you are a college athlete, give us your take on this. >> this is an almost impossible solution, debate, to have. no matter what, both sides are hurt in this was the challenge to make transgender athletes feel included in their sports and be challenged in their sport. stuart: tia broke the record by 30 seconds, demolished -- >> athlete after athletes stepped up and said not fair. caitlin jenner one of the most prominent athletes to come out

as transgender is against to these transgender athletes and women sports. to finish my earlier sentence, i spent a lot of time thinking about this was iran track and field for lsu at a high level. you want to include those transgender athletes, a lot of us can't understand but at the same time you have to have fairness in the sport and caitlin jenner, she weighed in and said it is not fair from her perspective. stuart: all you can say about it. it is not fair. who knows what the solution is? but it is not fair. >> i can go into some pretty heavy detail on this and how they study prosthetic limbs in the olympics and that is an example of how to handle transgenders in the olympics. the wall street journal wrote

an almost impossible debate. what else you spend me? stuart: that is it. sorry i interrupted you all the time. your pure news. we are watching you 1:00 to 3:00 weekdays. america reports. sandra smith. thanks. speaker pelosi admits there is the crime problem, stopped short of liberal policies. >> there is an attitude of lawlessness that springs from i don't know where. stuart: dan heninger takes that on shortly on this program. years ever going bankrupt toys "r quote us ready to open their only brick and mortar store in the country. madison allworth will file a report after this. ♪♪ santa claus is coming to town ♪♪ santa claus is coming to

town ♪♪ santa claus is coming to town ♪♪ (vo) singing, or speaking. reason, or fun. daring, or thoughtful. sensitive, or strong. progress isn't either or progress is everything.

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stuart: that is the best looking christmas tree in new york city. outside the studios on sixth avenue, and goodness me. speaking of new york. they banned natural gas hookups for most new building. that is radical stuff. i like to cook with gas. i don't cook with electric. i don't want to live in new york if i have to cook with electric? what is going on here? ashley: you are not alone. a lot of people prefer to cook with gas and electric. the city council in the big apple has taken the step they say will substantially/-- cut

climate change gas emissions and the country's biggest city. the bill that is being passed goes to mayor bill deblasio and will go into effect at the end of 2023 for some buildings under 7 stories and in 2027 taller buildings. construction projects must use sources like electricity heaters and water boilers instead of gas and oil. hospitals, commercial kitchens are exempt in the band. no gas connections. other states like texas and arizona have gone completely the other way and barred city from implementing such changes saying consumers, imagine this, picking the energy source, so there you have it. are we surprised? know. is that an overreach? not being allowed to use gas? i say so.

stuart: overreach is an understatement. the electric carmaker brillion will build a new electric truck plant. where are they going to build it? ashley: there is a lot of competition but georgia according to the associated press, the amazon backed electric vehicle maker will unveil the plans today for manufacturing plant in our outside of atlanta. the facility expected to employ 7500 workers but that could expand to 10,000 over time. the california-based automaker plans to pick up an suv and reportedly has 50,000 combined preorders. they went public, has market value, has market value of roughly $95 billion, higher

than gm and ford, contracted to provide electric vans to amazon for its delivery fleet by 2030. it is all about potential. now you have to deliver. stuart: a truck plant in california. so true. thanks. now this was toys "r quote us making a comeback. they will open their only brick and mortar store in the country. madison allworks is there at the store. does that store look anything like the toys "r quote us stores of old? >> it feels so similar to the stores we use to love, bringing children and in my case walking along, this is the first location. it's not open yet. it opens this weekend but we need to seek it today, to go

inside and take a look. they are trying something different with this. trying to make it more of an experience than a retail location. the source two levels, has a slide inside, an ice cream parlor and all the toys you love when it comes to toys "r quote us. the store itself is doing all that but in the location it is here inside american dream, this giant mall outside new york city. it is more of an amusement park in a retail location. only 45% retail locations. it is attempting this come back after a rough few years. it is speak in 1990 toys "r quote us had 14 brick and mortar stores and controlled 25% of the global toy market but after filing for bankruptcy in 2017 all stores were liquidated, then the pandemic

launched earlier this year. i talked to the majority stakeholder of toys "r quote us, and asked why try retail again? digital is not enough. take a listen. >> today's day and age, everything sitting here today, you want a great digital presence and really awesome interactive and engaging retail presence. >> reporter: omni channel, they have the doodle presence. the first us location with more to come into thousand 22 but if you want to meet jeffrey or be a toys "r quote us kid you can only do it in new jersey. stuart: now we know allworth, see you again soon. show me the dow 30. to give you a sense of the market, it is going up but not by much. i would say 3 quarters of the dow 30 are in the green. crime so bad in california, san

francisco, some drivers are unlocking their car doors and leaving the trunk open so thieves don't smash the windows when they break in. can you believe that? more on that after this. ♪♪ [husband whistles] ♪♪ hi. [wife laughs] i have something for you too. [wife whistles] ♪♪ ♪♪ step up to gmc with 0% financing on these gmc models. we...are professional grade. gmc

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stuart: speaker pelosi speaking out against the rising crime in san francisco which is her district. >> it is absolutely outrageous. it cannot continue. there is an attitude of lawlessness in our country that springs from i don't know where. maybe you do. we can't have that lawlessness become the norm. stuart: springs from i don't know where, direct quote from speaker pelosi. manage that with this headline in the journal, blame voters for the crime wave, maybe voters are starting to regret the consequences of electing progressives.

dan heninger, author of that piece, joined me now. do you think this destructive wave of progressive policies is beginning to come to a end? >> not exactly. it is true the mayor of san francisco, taking steps, nancy pelosi making these statements. it won't stop until the prosecutors in the cities change their policies about bailing releasing defendants. they are the ones with the authority and power. we haven't seen any evidence yet on george gascon in los angeles, larry krasner in philadelphia in statements, they are not apologizing for this crime. they think their policies are correct. it is going to take a lot of political pressure to get them to change the direction they've taken. hard to believe but none of them indicated they would change direction on the soft on

crime policies. stuart: i want to change the subject and out the window. we are on sixth avenue new york, looking down at sixth avenue midtown manhattan. there should be more traffic on the road and more pedestrians on the street when you've got 9 days to christmas. you are a new yorker. seems we've been hit with a perfect storm and nothing is going right whether it is leadership, crime, back to work or anything but this city is still hurting two years on and i'm not sure i see any improvement in the future. how about you? >> there are several reasons for the lack of people on the street. i noticed it myself. one is the absence of tourists, you're going through another wave. president biden requires anyone like friends and family who are coming have to be tested 24

hours before they leave. that is a daunting thing to do. a lot of people are staying home. second, omicron very it, i walked past the testing site about two hours ago in my neighborhood on the lower west side. a week ago there was nobody outside, a covid testing site, this morning there were 75 people lining the sidewalks waiting to be tested. the omicron very it has spooked people for sure. an area we are looking at, midtown, the heart of new york. that is where the office buildings are. that is the life of the city. a lot of offices since the beginning of the omicron variant have been telling their workers if they come to work they have to mask up all they longer and that is a disincentive to come to work. people are not coming back to midtown. the city is under a lot of

pressure from coronavirus and there's no evidence it will end anytime soon. stuart: i can't understand why a similar scene in a city in florida would be different, jammed with people, jammed with cars, bustling and lively even though omicron is presumably a threat everywhere. i don't understand the difference but we will try to figure this thing out as new yorkers. thank you for being with us, merry christmas to you. it is 11:55, the thursday trivia question. which song is the best-selling single of all time? you have a limited choice, multiple-choice question but have at it, the correct answer after the break. you trade in your old or damaged phone. here, the phone everyone wants, on america's most reliable network. better? (guy) better. (kate) that's not all. the new iphone, and up to 7 entertainment subscriptions for your family. like apple music, apple arcade, and more.

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stuart: hats off to our producers. they come up with just teriffic questions. some we get right, some we haven't got a clue. ashley, come on to this one. which song is the best-selling single of all time. multiple chills. candle in the wind, elton john, now or never, elvis. white christmas, bing crosby. i will always love you, whitney houston. you want to guess? i know the answer. i got it right. >> i got to go with bing crosby. i will go with number two. stuart: you are right, sir. definitely right, ""whitewhite christmas. that song, wait for it,

estimated 50 million copies worldwide. i grew up with that. you did too i think, ashe. >> i did, of course. stuart: if you're young, i wouldn't expect you to get the answer right, you think it must be elton john. it goes way back to 1930 bing crosby. what a singer, what a song. time's up for me, neil. it is yours. neil, thanks so much for that stuart, a lot of people at a little schools will get a chance to get whom early. neil: take exams online if they want, cornell, princeton, host of others because of spike in cases they recommend kids do that remotely. a lot of more colleges, a lot more businesses a lot more business are contemplating that sort of thing. omicron remains in focus as we follow the markets. digesting that. now at least some certainty when it comes to interest rates going up and handlin