weight, i want to be a faster runner. i've been running since i was 25 years old. i've done marathons but i want to get quicker. my resolution when i the new york city marathon is to do a lot faster. i'm putting it out on national television, there is no going back for me. great to have you guys was great to have you with us, you're a big part of our lives, we love the producers. big shout out to our senior producer on this program and foxbusiness colleagues in the team at "mornings with maria" and all of you. i'm also grateful i get to work with ashley webster because ashley, one of my people to hang out with. happy new year to you.

ashley: happy to you. christian needs a hug after those new year resolutions but i digress. happy new year to you. happy new year to everybody. i am ashley webster in for stuart varney. president biden and russia's president putin speaking for the second time this month as tensions rise over ukraine. russia requested the talk but the white house very tightlipped as to why putin wanted the call. avoid cruise travel regardless of vaccination status. that is what the cdc is advising to travelers. we will talk to doctor barb l ahita about that. hillary clinton taking aim at the far left warning progressives could torpedo her party and the 2022 midterms. i'm sure the squad not happy about those comments but new

york congressman alexandria ocasio cortez spotted in restriction free florida dining maskless in miami. we will get into that. let's look at the markets. it is the last trading day of the year. mostly lower in premarket, modestly so. the nasdaq showing a slight gain. we will see what happens when the bell rings in half an hour. the 10 year yield has been all over the place. bitcoin coming up $760, $780. we've got a very big lineup for the last show of the day. mike huckabee, byron donald, sean duffy, a great show,

december 31, 2021, "varney and company" about to begin. ashley: there is times square. all eyes on times square tonight as the ball drops. 15,000 people in person. they will have to be vaccinated. they must wear a mask. now to this. president biden and russian president putin held another call to discuss tensions in ukraine. and good morning to you. do you think -- happy new year to you.

do you think putin takes biden seriously? >> probably not that much. he may take the overall american to mathematics course seriously. remember this whole idea of ukraine and letting them into nato goes back to at least george w. bush days, continue through the obama years. obama was very interested in getting ukraine in. germany and france said absolutely not. ukraine is corrupt, we can't trust them, it is going to be a mess. we kept toying with it and in the trump year, doesn't have to be that intent. when the biden administration came back and they pushed much harder for ukraine to be admitted into nato and that bothers putin because i think we all know deep down he would like to reestablish the old soviet union.

that means taking ukraine. he has 100,000 troops amassed at the border and everyone is getting edgy about it. ashley: yes they are. i want to draw back further. how do you think the rest of the world perceives the united states when it comes to foreign policy especially our adversaries? >> unfortunately it is pretty weak. we have not carried out what we said particularly with afghanistan, we left people behind. the most darling of military activists. and 330 americans are not sure who is in charge.

ashley: thanks, and happy new year to you, thank you. >> down half of one%. cdc issuing new guidance for cruises. warning americans, avoid cruising, omicron too hard to contain, if you look at the numbers of the last 2 weeks cruise ship sailing in us waters, 5000 covid cases on board, it is a number we are seeing on land, it is unfair to the cruise ships but i understand point.

ashley: the cdc releasing a new study on the side effects of vaccine in kids age 5 to 11. what are the highlights? nicole: a competent of study, 42,000 kids over one.five months. out of that, 10% of the kids reported adverse effects from the shot but minor things, 97.6% of symptoms were considered minor. there were 11 reports of myocarditis. there were two deaths. but the 5 and 6-year-olds who died had health conditions, contributed to the pfizer vaccination. ashley: thank you very much. let's check the futures again and bring in jonathan koenig. the dow and s&p down fight, nasdaq flat, and our good friend jonathan has begun his new year's celebrations and i

applaud that. final trading day for the year, your wine, your champagne, what do you make of the markets this year? >> happy new year to you, your viewers, the fox business family. 2021 was a triumph of not just the stock market but american ingenuity, big pharma coming up with all these innovations, technology, zoom, facebook, apple, amazon, over and over again the creative ingenuity of the american businessmen big and small to come up with a way to deal with the pandemic, to get through it. that was all good. what you saw bad was a lot from government, the inflation that was top story time and again in 2021 was caused by president biden and government spending so 2021 was a triumph of good for the american businessperson, not bad for the

american government headed by president biden and so many democrats as well. ashley: looking ahead you see interest rates higher, stocks lower and plenty of volatility. where does that leave the investor? >> having to be very nimble. many of them, stocks are below the 200 a moving average. and 2022, and doing that in 2022. this is a year you are really nimble given that the big unpredictability isn't so much the success of american companies that spending of american government that inflation isn't going away anytime soon.

ashley: we should always be cautious, a stockpicking kind of situation, anything in particular you like going into the new year? >> one area i am looking at, shorting bonds, and etf tbf. this fund goes up as interest rates go up. always consult with your own individual advisor, do your own due diligence, anticipating higher interest rates could be one of the great trades of 2022 in the next 5 or 10 years. ashley: happy new year, thanks for splurging $4, have a drink for me. thanks as always great stuff. check the futures. all in the negative but nothing to get excited about, the nasdaq essentially flat, same for the dow and s&p. we see what happens in 20 minutes.

now this. hillary clinton has a warning for far left democrats ahead of next year's midterms. take a listen. >> i think it is a time for some careful thinking about what wins elections, not just in deep blue districts, a liberal democrat, is going to win. >> sean duffy will be along to -- aoc spotted in miami beach. the congressional district real from the omicron surge, that story next. ♪♪ ♪♪ another day of living ♪♪ i just want to celebrate ♪♪ another day of ♪♪ the faces of evil ♪♪ the people that made that

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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. ♪♪ let the good times roll ♪♪ ashley: what a beautiful picture, surfside beach, south carolina in this new year's eve heading up to 17 degrees today. let's look at futures, a pretty muted open for the last trading day of the year. the dow, s&p and nasdaq ever so slightly lower ahead of the open. now this. congressional republicans are calling on the supreme court to block president biden's vaccine mandate. you have the details. lauren: 47 senators, 136

congress men and women writing a letter to the high court to block the mandate for big private businesses. their argument is osha is not the health police and they are exceeding their authority when they are asked to prevent workers from workplace hazards, not really from viruses. that is not osha's job. the supreme court will hear our -- oral arguments coming up but the republican leaders asking the supreme court you have the department of justice, the biden administration urging the court to uphold the vaccine mandate. it will affect 84 million private-sector workers. both sides are having at it and a january 7th is right around the corner. ashley: 84 million people affected. let's bring in congresswoman

claudia tenney, thanks for joining us on new year's eve. what do you make of the president's vaccine mandate? >> i oppose it. i of the cosigners of the amicus brief opposing the mandate, having a tremendous impact on our country and our labor shortage particularly new york where we have a vaccine mandate and i will be celebrating tonight that it is the last day mayor deblasio is in office but let's hope the new mayor doesn't do the same thing, the past worst mayor of the modern era has done but look at this, i got the vaccine. i made the choice, i got it. people feel healthy and something the doctor advises them to do they should get the vaccine but no way should there be a mandate so i oppose the mandate and i hope the supreme court ways in. ashley: you mentioned new york mayor elect eric adams. he says he is going to uphold deblasio's business vaccine

mandate, that is pretty disappointing. >> this is a disaster for new york. new york city is in freefall it is new york state under 1-party rule in albany and it concerns me they have no regard for what they are doing and how many people are still unable are choosing not to get the vaccine who may have had the virus, antibodies, they are denying people access, the biden administration, to very effective monoclonal therapies, antibody therapies, many people do not have the omicron which seems to be a little less onerous than prior variants but denying these life-saving techniques so it is a struggle in new york. ashley: would you agree all the information we are getting on a daily basis is completely confusing. one person says this, another says that, doctor fauci always wants to take the extreme on

this hand. it is always difficult for the average person to understand what is going on and that makes it that much worse. >> that is because it is all about political science, not the actual medical science. they are trying to control people, this is about authoritarianism and i am a business owner in upstate new york, we have less than 100 employees which means we don't have to comply with the vaccine mandate, so the guy across the street with 101 employees has to comply with it. this is the absurdity of what the democrats in charge of new york and the nation are doing, it is hurting our country. there is -- a lot of major employers or public service or national grid new york state electric and gas haven't been vaccinated. what do we do if we have a major winter storm and these required line operators can't fix the power lines, this is going to be an emergency.

ashley: people in the healthcare industry, local police refusing to take the vaccine are out of a job. public safety a threat. >> not only do we have a healthcare crisis from the pandemic that they created a healthcare crisis, kathy hokoul, who i call kathy cuomo, a crisis by banning leftist surgeries, a lot of people not getting life-saving surgeries and preventative care, and this provides the resources and money to the hospitals that have to operate every day so it is a real disaster, it is all about politics, not science. ashley: let's hope 2022 will be better. thank you for joining us. we do appreciate it. >> happy new year to you and your viewers.

ashley: thank you and happy new year to you. aoc has escaped new york for the new year and she has been spotted in florida. what is she up to? lauren: she was dining alfresco, drink in hand, maskless, in miami beach. she is on vacation. governor desantis seizing the beautiful optics of this moment. this is what his office tweeted, welcome to florida, aoc, hope you're enjoying it, taste of freedom here in the sunshine state and the editor of the "national review" says where else would in new york city socialist go to escape her city during a massive surge in covid cases? some are paralleling her escape from the disaster here in new york to republican senator ted cruz who went to mexico on vacation during the texas power emergency. why i'm bringing this up is repeatedly aoc called on him to resign and some are saying she

is doing the same thing. no comment from her. ashley: hypocrisy, thank you very much. let's get a check of the futures, very quiet on this last trading day, read across the screen but nothing to get excited about or just slightly lower on the dow, s&p and nasdaq, see how it works out, "the opening bell" will ring next. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

♪♪

ashley: let's look at futures, a slightly lower open. playing the market more defensively, >> that is a defensive way to play, when there is so much potential disruption right on the horizon.

any new money is more defense give but consumer staple, energy and financials, not getting rid of my tech stocks, the pieces haven't changed. even if they sell up, it is long-term money and will be an opportunity. new money people have to start to consider what some of the potholes are going to be. january and february, the first 1:45 thousand 22. ashley: when i think safety i think maybe utilities, healthcare, goals, is there any particular area like? >> consumer staples is one, year to date, it is up 14%. procter & gamble, colgate, johnson & johnson, defensive americana names. utilities up 13%.

i'm not suggesting you go completely to one side but overweight more to the defensive side. ashley: what about the cryptos? are you in that game? >> i am in bitcoin and ethereum, it is the infrastructure, i continue to dip my toes in that and say to people you should have some exposure depending on who you are and how big a position it might be, 3% to 5% if you are an older investor. if you want to go more in, you have to be in it. it is not going to go away. who the ultimate winner is is yet to be determined but my money and my focus is on ethereum and bitcoin.

ashley: given what you have said it could stay there are little longer. >> you may get a selloff, the selloff you get in the high growth and disruptor names. ashley: happy new year to you. "the opening bell" has rung. the last trading day of 2021 and right out of the gates, a little more red than green, down 26 points. volume is sins this week because of the holiday week. the s&p as well, see where the s&p is a down 0.one% at 4774 and let's look at the nasdaq,

the tech market, that too down barely 7 points at 15,00734. if we can, microsoft, off of it, meta-platforms, facebook all moving slightly lower. apple on the upside modestly so, amazon up to dollars. let's begin with exxon. their final quarterly reporting 2021, the energy sector has done well this year. what are they saying about profits? >> expensive gas will add up to $1.1 billion to final quarter earnings. all year, they recorded profits, a sharp contrast, $22 billion loss, oil prices down sharply, refining margins are squeezed. what exxon did was cut costs so they could stay in bland

entering 2022 in a pretty good position. ashley: let's take a look at advanced micro devices, they are about to take over one of their rivals. lauren: in a battle for both of these companies. it has been delayed but it is expected to close in the first quarter of next year. it is pushed because of china, antitrust reviews, they are waiting on that but they have rigorously clearance, and the uk, in addition to helping both companies fend off competition for players like intel. it puts amd and new industries like defense for instance. ashley: if you can't beat them join them or take them over. look at pfizer. pfizer has had their antiviral covid pill been approved in the uk, right? >> it was approved by the british.

they do say this is a great treatment as covid becomes endemic but too early to know whether the omicron variant will have any impact on how effective the pfizer pill is but look at pfizer shares up again at 5856. ashley: let's take a look at pellets on. rough end of the year, a wild ride, pun intended. it was a banner 2022. lauren: almost 430% this year. it completely cratered and stock is at 171 at 37. the latest bad news, they got a cut downgrade. why decreased it online. palatine demand was

significantly down during lockdown, this analyst among others completely stepping to the sidelines looking at bike sales. they are falling, workouts, they are falling, we will see if palatine's expansion in the markets next year can help. ashley: down 76% in the past year. that's like the rocky mountains if you look at that chart heading down. let's talk big picture. what was the best performing sector? lauren: it was energy, up 47%. i will show you some names, dow stocks, chevron up 39%. diamondback more than doubled and apache came close to doubling. the s&p 500 in 2019 was up 29%, last year up 16%, now up almost 30%, a still a 3-year period for the broader market for

investors so 2022 for normalization. >> the s&p has outdone that, the nasdaq. let's look at the other side, in the worst sector? >> it is not only positive but it is up by double digits and that is utilities because people were more risky, less defensive. the tone of the market is changing as we end your but utilities were the worst performer up 13.6%. cha ching. ashley: let's take a look at the dow winners this morning as we are about five minutes into the trade. american express, intel, jpmorgan chase, mcdonald's up one third of one%, those were

the stocks on the upside, s&p 500 winners now. amd and their acquisition, american airlines which is pretty good for the airlines who are struggling, united airlines, the las vegas sands casinos and 10 national gaming on the upside. take a look at the nasdaq, amd again up nearly 2%, nvidia another chipmaker, they are all moving to the higher level. amd is up 2% and that is impressive. as for the big board. the dow up 31 points, trading levels are low today which can exaggerate any moves. the 10 year yield is up 151, one.51%. take a look at gold, gold up $9 at $1,823, could be a defensive play next year.

check bitcoin up $865, over 48,000. oil has been on the rise as well, a barrel down $0.77, 7622 a barrel down one%, natural gas, $3.71. as we tell you every day the average price for a gallon of regular same as yesterday $3.29. how much is it in california? all those taxes, all those people driving, $4.68 is the average price of gas for a gallon of regular in the golden state. coming up, vice president kamala harris appears to stumble over a simple question about inflation. >> was it wrong to consider inflation transitory? >> we have 2 address the fact

that folks are paying for gas, groceries, need foolishness to it. ashley: what was that? tammy bruce it is like watching a kid in class to be, and when they have no answer to the question when they have no idea what the assignment was. tammy bruce will be here coming up. making money off crime? the irs telling couples to declare income from stolen goods when they file their taxes. another day, another round of cancellations and delays, take you to philadelphia international airport, a live report after this. ♪♪ ♪♪ i'm still standing ♪♪ after all this time ♪♪

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ashley: viva las vegas. you are looking at sin city on new year's eve. a few clouds out there early in the morning. it is 50 degrees in the desert was a little bit of new year's eve children las vegas. let's check the markets. a little bit of a chill, nothing too drastic. we've been slightly lower. we turn things around, the s&p up one point, the nasdaq up 11 points, the dow off by 17. are very quiet at this stage. airlines canceling thousands of flights as covid cases surge in the us. jeff flock is at the philadelphia international airport. some good news?

>> reporter: i wish i did. i'm a bit of a broken record, sorry to say. we are up two, over 1200 cancellations again today. delay is not so bad. 700 odd delays. yesterday cancellations got to 1439, delays over 8000. expect that later today, but it is largely about covid related personnel issues at the airlines. in terms of the covid issue, united yesterday canceled 10% of its schedule, jetblue canceled 17% of its schedule, delta 6%. it is all because they get people calling and saying i got a positive covid test. maybe i don't have symptoms but i got a test. listen. >> this variance is hitting up the worst possible time, so

many people traveling. it will require a lot of patience on those that are flying and deft maneuvering of flights get delayed or canceled. >> reporter: the airlines are trying to assist with that, jetblue canceled flights into january. alaska air pleading with customers to not gum up the works. i read their statement, we strongly urge flyers with nonessential travel still before january 2nd to consider changing. we are not accommodating must guests for several days so if you get canceled you might be stranded, if you are stranded overseas, virtually stranded at home. ashley: i am so glad i never left the house for the holiday, i feel smug about that.

philadelphia international airport. today is new year's eve, let's bring in jane mine are. what is the forecast for tonight? >> it is going to be a tricky one. we are watching the storm system that will bring severe weather and snow but definitely a rough week of travel. this is real time, connection to those hubs when those lines turn red, that is when these cancellations are piling up out of seatac connecting to boston, minneapolis, chicago, a rough go. i want to check in with those airlines, travel trouble, los angeles 73 flights delay, 74 canceled, atlanta, georgia, another big hub seeing delays and cancellations some due to weather but some due to the covid 19 troubles. getting to the storm system, keep in mind this is an area that was battered by the

devastating tornadoes earlier in the month. we are expecting things to get tricky as we get into the night tonight, memphis, nashville and the threat for severe thunderstorms. the threat spreads further east as we head into saturday, tracking storms all day long from start to finish into the overnight, very likely risk for strong winds, tornadoes and flooding rains, mississippi and alabama into tennessee, nashville, chattanooga, be mindful as we get into the afternoon hours, all hazards possible with severe threat, talking tornadoes, damaging winds and hail. from start to finish morning tonight, nighttime more so for georgia and the carolinas, greatest threat area northern mississippi, alabama and tennessee valley. that is just one side. i mentioned the snow on the north side of the low-pressure system tracking into the middle the country, we are talking the first significant snow event for many, warnings and watches painted across the midwest and

that will take us through saturday night. look at those snowfall totals. impressive band of snow on northern kansas and into iowa, chicago moving into the 528 inch range, trenton and quincy could see a foot of snow. you sea sharp drop off, kansas city teetering on the edge 3 to 5 inches and 7 state of kansas will deal with severe weather. ashley: quickly from snow to the wildfires being driven by strong windss, how is looking in colorado? >> we are seeing some impressive wind gusts from the storm, low-pressure developing and we have those wind gusts upwards of 100 miles per hour which fueled that fire. right now it is 1600 acres. the human cause is likely the downed power line that sparked

that fire but we will keep you updated, weather conditions improving greatly. the one thing we are seeing, the winds are coming down but the added threat on top of this area is the snow. another storm system will bring a foot of snow to this area, boulder, still reeling from that fire. ashley: 100 mile an hour winds, great update. also coming up straight ahead, lawmakers in washington state want to reduce penalties for drive-by shootings in the name of racial equality. seattle radio host jason rants will be here. we will look at crypto's biggest moment of 2021, what roadblocks lie ahead in 2022 next. ♪♪

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ashley: crypto got a lot of attention this year. kelly oh grady will look at their biggest moment and

possible head winds in 2022. >> reporter: 25 unmarked crypto currency's, $3 trillion in value, bitcoin and ethereum with all-time highs, we will see some super bowl ads from the top crypto exchanges. people embrace crypto's extreme volatility, bitcoin saw 10 days, greater than 10% swing in value, that scared investors but the massive upside excited the average investor and big-name companies capitalize on the trend. when they accept bitcoin it gains legitimacy helping dispel crypto's past association with the black market and get investors more comfortable with the positive. the fact that it is secure and decentralized. the investor profile changed at dramatically. 55% of current investors got in this year alone, 49% of millennials own crypto. my mom asks me if we should be

investing in crypto experts are urging everyone to hold some form of the digital currency. >> the average investor should have a little exposure, increase over time the same way you would any asset that starts to accumulate in your portfolio. >> in 2022 regulation is brewing at 130,000 bitcoin options expire which experts warn may cause a $6.8 billion earthquake but if you play the long game there is upside in the financial services digital revolution compared to what amazon did for e-commerce, weathering that volatility. ashley: do your homework, do your research before any investment and ask your daughter for advice. now this. milania trump is back in the public eye. what is she up to?

>> reporter: french artist inspired by her lies, about $150 a pop. proceeds go to charity for underprivileged children. i bring that up and highlight that because she's getting slammed by some in the media for trying to make a quick buck but she's giving away a lot of the proceeds to charity. just pointing that out to you. ashley: i am glad you did. take another look at the markets, santa claus rally pulling into the rest area, very muted, the dow, s&p and nasdaq slightly higher. new york congresswoman, tammy bruce, jonathan morris, the 10:00 am hour of varney's next. ♪♪

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ashley: ♪ do a little dance, make a little love -- ♪ get down tonight, get down tonight ♪♪ ashley: i absolutely love kc and the sunshine band. he was actually on "varney & company" if years ago, great to meet him. going to be a lot more people there tonight. good morning, everyone. it is 10 a.m. eastern time.

i'm ashley webster, let's get straight to your money. as you can see from the major markets, the dow can, s&p and nasdaq all down very, very slightly, very muted opening to the trading today on the last trading day of the year. let's take a look at big tech. we always like to see where the big names are, and as you can see, uniformly down. microsoft, apple, alphabet, amazon plus meta/facebook all down anywhere from, well, a quarter to nearly 1%. now this: new york state just shattered its all-time daily record for covid with over 74,000 new cases. tammy bruce joins me now. great to see you, tammy, good morning. new york, as we know -- >> good morning, happy few year. ashley: yes, same to you. new york has some of the strictest covid rules in the country, so do these numbers suggest that mandates are just not going to get us out of the

pandemic? >> well, this has been the big discussion. i mean, there's many layers, of course. we've got winter, the new variant, all of that. but what new york and what our federal authorities, our experts kept telling us was that vaccine passports were necessary, vaccine mandates, that social distancing would work. and remember, it was being called a pandemic of the unadvantage vaccinated -- unvaccinated. well, that's now not true. we see around the world that, in fact, of course, the vaccinated are being infected by omicron. so we're getting -- and this is, i think, concerning to a number of people regardless of your political party and especially a lot of democrats and progressives and liberals who feel shocked that, in fact, their overlords have perhaps either just been wrong or been deliberately misleading them. we don't know yet. but it clearly are means x this has got to be grasped by everyone around the world -- and many of us have been saying this

from the start -- is that you can't stop a virus. you can delay it. you can hide from it for a minute. but it's going to do what it wants to do. it doesn't care if you've got a cloth thing on your face. it will arrive. and the issue becomes how do we mitigate it like with vaccines. we can mitigate it, but we were told the vaccines would stop it, would prevent it. ashley: right. >> that too was untrue. so we've got a rot to deal with -- a lot to deal with this and the aftermath. ashley: next one for you, tammy. vice president kamala harris struggled to answer a question aboutnflation. roll the tape and i'll get your comments. >> was it wrong to consider inflation transitory? these price spikes seem like they're going to be with us for a while. >> we have to address the fact that we've got to deal with the fact that folks are paying for gas, paying for groceries and are -- need solutions to it. ashley: simply put, tammy, she

couldn't answer that question. it just highlights the complaints that she's had from her staff that she refuses to read briefing materials and is simply unprepared. >> you know, americans also aren't getting briefing materials, and we know the answer to that question, right? after. [laughter] the average person, we understand. you pour money into the system, it's supply and demand, you've got the supply chain crisis, you cut out the keystone pipeline, oil prices are going up. we know this by watching fox business, reading some basic newspapers. what concerns me -- because that was embarrassing -- is that she's known this for months, if not a full year, that she's in over her head. and she's done, it appears, nothing to correct that, ash. she's known that this is a problem. she seemed nervous at that question, and that is a natural, automatic question she should have expected, a gentle question from a compliant media. and the first phrases you heard

there, ash, were crutches. she was nervous. you could even tell that with her mask on. so our concern, of course, is that this means the administration doesn't care, isn't interested. she is not interested in adapting and learning, and that means the next year ahead is going to be rough, but it reinforces everyone's duty in november of next year to change the framework. ashley: the only thing she didn't do there that she normally does is do this kind of awkward laughter at the end of everything which always signals to me that she's uncomfortable and doesn't want to answer any more questions, right? >> that's a crutch too. it's another crutch. ashley: yeah. >> you have these delays that you put up in order to reach an answer or to deflect, and she's not even very good at that. some people are good at that. barack obama was good at that, but every now and then he actually had answers. the vice president does not. ashley: very quickly, you have a new op-ed out, trump's legacy lives on despite biden's

numerous failures. you say a lot was realized this year because of trump's policies and actions in the four years prior, right? >> yes. we're thinking about now as we have the new year what are we grateful for. here's the reality. while the last two years have been difficult, this year in particular has been horrific. what trump accomplished in the four years that he was president, we're still getting the benefit. americans now know the difference between leadership and non-leadership. we can't be told this is just a new normal. we've got the benefit of, as an example, afghanistan was awful, but imagine if al-baghdadi and isis and soleimani were still existing. we would be in a world of hurt, even more than we are now. the economic strength he gave us has allowed us to not completely be undone by what biden has done economic chi. so -- economyically. so we have a great deal to be grateful for. the fact that the trumps have not abandoned us, we have an interesting year coming up, and

we can still be optimistic and still be happy warriors in getting this nation back on her feet. and it's because of what the trumps represented, what they accomplished and what they will accomplish next year as well, i predict. ashley: great place to leave it. happy new year to you, tammy tammy bruce. >> same to you. thank you. ashley: thank you, tammy. despite the cdc shortening quarantine recommendation, ah, one state is sticking to the original set of guidelines. which state, lauren? lauren: it's michigan. so, okay, it gets confusing. positive individuals regardless of symptoms have to isolate. quarantine yourself for ten days. the cdc, as you know, cut that in half to five days for those who do not have symptoms, but there's this constant dichotomy between state rules and federal rules, and people and businesses are confused. it also highlights the clash between what public health officials are saying and what

businesses are saying because they need to run the economy. i just got an e-mail from our school district, and they're going with the 10-day quarantine. so a lot of people are just -- and i'm in new jersey. you're saying which one is it going to be. it adds to the confusion. i know these are hard times, bu- ashley: yeah. lauren: you think something's going to happen, and all of a sudden it doesn't happen, and something else happens. i feel like that's been a big part of the last two years. ashley: you are exactly right. the rules change with the change of the wind direction, i think. lauren, thanks very much. let's get back to the markets, bring in bill burr. stocks ending the year at new highs. we're a little soft today, but many headwinds, as we know, are in store for next year. rate hikes, midterms, inflation and more. so where do you see the markets heading next year? >> happy new year and thanks for having me on. you're right, there's a couple hurdles especially early on that we're going to have to face. right now the probability of a

fed rate hike in march is about 55%. so i think we've been able to enjoy this holiday rally and seasonality that the market has rebounded from, but the volatility, i don't think, is going to go anywhere. my upside target's about 4850 in the near term. i'm planning with my clients how can i work through this volatility the, what sectors are going to outperform, and i look at health care, energy. and i'm also vested in looking at web three. ashley: okay. so where in health care? what in particular do you like there? >> well, a name that has just broken out of the consolidated multiyear trend. it has outperformed recently very well. very nice technicals throughout the whole time. you had in september some harsh selling, 10% down one day due to an arthritis drug that they were going to rework the labels. but the fda ended up approving

it and it had extra tailwinds with the build back better plan not being passed. so great company, i think higher to go. wait for it to come in just a little bit. thermal fisher and in the research and diagnostics space, thermo fisher. the 200-day moving average, their focus is in the veterinary as well as livestock space. i think there's a lot of development, a lot of upside in that space but also very technical, good chart. the earnings extrapolation is very good there too. but back it out, the monthly chart, very nice. and also i think energy's going to outperform. i think crude oil we're going to see back above $90 in the first half of next year, chevron and pioneer, they have trend line resis resistance that they're pushing back above right now, and i think those are going to add a tailwind technically. but also these companies are

priced at $45, 50 crude. ashley: right. >> these stocks are going to perform. ashley: wow. you love energy because you have plenty of it. very impressive stuff, bill. again, also health care, energy, metaverse. good stuff. happy new year, thanks for joining us this morning. thank you, bill. >> thank you. ashley: all right. now this -- thank you. speaker pelosi's husband is betting millions on some big companies. come in, lauren. which stocks did he just invest in? lauren: paul pelosi is betting on big tech. last week he bought ten call options for google's parent at a price of $2,000, 50 calls for disney at 130 and 130 for salesforce at $210. begging the questioning ashley, is pelosi purposefully speeding up or slow-walking legislation that could impact some ofhese big tech names? >> -- members of congress and

their spouses be banned from trading individual stocks while they're in office? >> no, i -- no, to the second one. any -- we have a responsibility to report in the stock, but if people aren't reporting, they should be. we're a free market economy that should be able to participate in that. lauren: despite being privy, potentially, to insider information when your wife is speaker of the house and has been involved -- ashley: not going out on a line though -- yeah. not going out on a limb with alphabet and salesforce and disney, let's be honest. all right, lauren, you've got some movers. let's begin with carnival, the cruise line. lawp lauren i'm actually surprised it's not down more than this. but, you know, the covid news is really affecting the volatility of the cruise lines. carnival was down sharply moments ago because you have omicron surging and now the cdc slapping cruise lines with that level iv warning calling them

unsafe even for boosted individuals. take a look here at nutra band. up 138%. they make painkillers that are absorbed through the skin, and they got a major patent win in korea. and finally, novavax. they have a covid-19 vaccine. they've been promising it, that they would apply to the fda for approval here in the u.s. it's down 3% because the ceo said that would happen by the end of the year. it is the end of the year, and they haven't filed the application, ashley. ashley: yeah. it is the end of the year, indeed. lauren, thank you very much. novavax, as you see, down 3%. all right, failed presidential candidate hillary clinton warns that progressives could cost democrats the midterms, but is her warning too little, too late? we're on that story. and d.c. mayor muriel bowser says she already expects schools will shift to situational

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muck. ashley: let's take a look at the markets. as you can see, the s&p and nasdaq just barely above the water line, the dow just down 17 points. very muted to finish off 2021. all right, now this: the shortage of covid tests could create major problems next week when students return from break.

students have to test negative to be allowed back in the classroom. lydia hu is in washington, d.c. this morning and, lydia, what is the mayor there doing to make up for the shortfall? >> reporter: good morning, ashley. well, d.c. mayor muriel bowser is making sure that the tests are available to all students at public and charter schools. she's mandating students test negative before they return on wednesday. parents have to pick up the tests on monday or tuesday. this announcement made on twitter drew ire though when she said she expected schools will need to return to virtual learning throughout the next semester. already 25 city public schools have moved to virtual learning in just the past month. meanwhileing ashley, chicago public schools sent 150,000 covid tests in areas with low vaccination rates. they're asking families to voluntarily test students before the return to the classroom.

take a look at this, parents were instructed to return the tests for processing by fedex, and parents were outraged this week by the overflowing backlog in dropboxes. they had to leave their covid tests piled up, unsecured, waiting for pick-up. because of this log jam, the deadline was extended by two days. anding happening just this morning, massachusetts teachers' association -- that's the union in massachusetts -- it's asking that schools stay closed on monday. the union wants that a day so that teachers can be tested, and after the teachers and staff have a chance to be tested, then they say the schools can reopen. the tests have been delayed in the supply chain. but in a statement given to fox business this morning, the state of massachusetts is making clear that they will not close schools monday, telling us, quote: it is disappointing that once again the nta -- that's the union -- is trying to find a way to close schools which we know is to the

extreme detriment of our children. strong language, to say the least, ashley, and it's becoming clear that this testing issue is once again hitting some teachers' -- pitting some teachers' unions against students and parents. ashley. ashley: lydia, thank you very much. appreciate that. now let's bring in dr. marc siegel. good morning to you, doc. this isn't good news heading into the new year with. your reaction. >> well, i don't like hearing tools that were used before being reused again to bludgeon parents and kids at a time when omicron is totally different than the previous variant. it's spreading wildly. and so the whole idea that you can contain it with threatening school closures or mandating tests which you do before you arrive and then, you know, as you just heard, you can't necessarily get the results in on time and there's backlogs. i'm okay with schools testing on the premises. if the mayor of d.c. wants to do

that, that's fine. but, you know, you're going to see breakthrough cases anyway, and there's already a mandate there that you have to be vaccinated and boosted to be going to the school. i think this is using a card out of the old deck. and the other thing that this ties into is the tremendous shortage in tests which we're having which we should lay on the hands of the biden administration because they didn't plan for this at all. and finally, with omicron, the tests aren't as accurate. you're going to test an asymptomatic kid, and it's not going to tell you anything accurate. so to be threatening virtual learning which has caused so much mental aping wish, we're down on im-- anguish, we're down on immunizations, socialization has affected -- has been affected, d.c. has a very large black population, and we're going to be affecting minority communities directly with this kind of approach. it doesn't fit omicron. ashley: it certainly doesn't. all right.

i want to get on to this issue, doctor. the cdc says to avoid cruises even if you are vaccinated. do you agree with that? >> no. i think it's once -- well, i agree that cruises should be, should be approached cautiously, let's put it that way. same as any kind of travel, plane travel should be approached cautiously. but i think it needs to be another all hands on deck approach like maybe a cruise line, if they could get rapid tests, would do testing. maybe that they would, you know, check to see if you had prior infection. do you have evidence of prior infection, do you have evidence of vaccination or booster. all that should be on the table. the cruise ships are saying that they do a lot to insure that things are really looked at in the proper way onboard the ship. so i think the crude ships have been -- cruise ships have been hit very hard, and i don't think the cdc needed to add that warning. everybody was already aware of this. when they do that, they cripple

the industry, and i don't think that's so good. ashley: right. the cdc releasing a new study on the side effects of the vaccine in kids aged 5-11 claims vaccines rarely caused any serious problems. your response to that. >> i agree with that. i actually think that we have, in doing our due diligence, have placed way too much attention on the very rare risk of myocar diets in teens. and when they studied the 5-11-year-old group, they're not finding that at all, and i'm much more concerned about the risks of long covid. i don't want kids vaccinated to protect adults. i don't want to be vaccinating a 6-year-old because a 25-year-old or 50-year-old refuses it. but i think within the group itself, ashley, i think there are risks of long covid; concentration problems, smell with delta at least and other risks. myocarditis itself is much less uncommon, so i do want to see

kids vaccinated, and i'm happy to see this research showing it's safe. remember, it's one-third the dose, it doesn't have to be stored in a super freezer, and i think we're doing well with it, and we should be encouraging more compliance especially with omicron which is spreading widely among our kids. it's to protect our kids, not to protect their parents. ashley: we're also talking children here, pediatric hospitalizations are running pretty high. why is that? >> that's exactly right. and in new york city, it's been up about four times in the past week, and it's among children who either are unvaccinated, haven't had covid before or are too young to get vaccinated, under 5, we're seeing that a lot. it's a reminder, again, i think that this vaccine is safe, and i think it's been tested, and i think it's useful, but it's only one tool. and the other tools are missing from the tool shed right now. where are the monoclonal antibodies, where are the tests we need. all of that should be ramped up. you know, i lookeded at roche

today, the stock would be flying with the fda approval if we had the drug -- if we had the test out there. ashley: all right. doc siegel, great information, as always. doctor, thank you very much. appreciate your -- >> happy new year, my friend. happy new year. ashley: happy new year to you, thank you. incoming new york city mayor eric adams wants to bring the city back, but he's planning to keep vaccine mandates, so the question is, won't that just continue to hurt the city from making progress, bouncing back? new york congresswoman nicole mall ya tack the kiss will react to that. meantime, dr. fauci isn't retire thing yet, but when he does, he'll be cashing in more than $35,000 per year. we break it down -- $350,000 per year. we break it down next. ♪ ♪ dancing, yeah. ♪ you should be dancing, yeah ♪♪

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three of those exchanges very much in the positive for the year. all right, lauren, come back in, if you can. you're taking a look at alibaba. lauren: i am, and some other chinese names like d can idi. -- didi. so much volatility this year and this week. rebounded sharply yesterday, ashley, trying to rally at the end of a rocky year. that effort falling apart on this final day of 2021. alibaba's down over 2%, and some of the other names were down at last check too. i want to look at the broader market again because it's up 1,000 points this year, and i remember last year with goldman sachs, they had a 4300 price target on the s&p 500 for this year. that was the highest on the street, and we blew it away. so this is the first time since 2005 that the s&p has beaten both the dow and the nasdaq in the same year. so it's been a very strong year for so many investors. not for peloton ones though.

too much growth during the pandemic, and now j and p securities is cutting peloton to market perform. traffic is down, stock is down 2.66% as a result, ashley. ashley: all right. thank you very much, lauren. appreciate that. now this: dr. fauci isn't retired yet, but he is on track to collect the largest retirement in american history. take a look at this. he is estimated to bring in more than $350,000 a year. wow, not bad. the ceo of open the books.com joins us now. adam, good morning to you. you're behind this report. this is a very generous retirement package, right? >> well, it is. it's the most lucrative golden parachute ever in federal u.s. government history, ashley. so let's break that down. from day one when dr. anthony fauci finally retires, in retirement he's going to be

making nearly $1,000 a day. and that'll come with cost of living adjustments going forward. so every single year he's going to be making more than $350,000 a year. and if you think about it in the first three years of his retirement, he's going to clean off more than a million dollars. ashley: yeah. that's pretty impressive. but on the other side of this, adam, he works for the government. he could earn a lot more in the private sector. he is 81 years old. you know, way beyond the 67-year-old retirement age. there are those who could say, okay, he deserves it. what say you? >> well, last january, you might remember this, ashley, we broke the national news that dr. anthony fauci was the number one most highly compensated federal employee other than the president, four-star generals in the united states military. and those folks have millions of men and women underneath their command. and many people had questions. how can the director of a

subagency of a subagency of health and human services outearn everybody at the federal level. well, we unearthed -- using the freedom of information act -- a 2004 memo. paw chi was paid on a permanent -- fauci was paid on a permanent fee adjustment to become the most highly compensated federal employee to stop the next pandemic, and he failed. ashley: it's interesting. so i'm sure other people are on to this. would they change the rules? i mean, he's obviously playing by the rules, so the system is set up like this, right? >> well, it is. fauci's been there for 55 years, mostly at the national institutes of health, and about 30 years ago there was reform at the federal level. so fauci is in the more lucrative paid pension system. now, what many people don't realize is that this is only one aspect of the federal government's pay into the household. his wife is actually the chief

bioethicist at the national institutes of health, and she outearns the vice president of the united states. so when you take dr. anthony fauci, his wife, on pay, pension and perks and if you add up the total taxpayer cost of the agency and entity's payments into the fauci household, you get to a number between $900,000-1 million a year. ashley: that's what we call a very comfortable retirement. adam, thank you so much for breaking all of that down for us. we appreciate it. m thanks for joining us this morning. >> thank you, ashley. ashley: all right. ikea -- thank you. ikea is going to raise prices due to the supply chain crisis. do we know by how much, lauren? lauren: the average is 9%, and i think that includes the meatballs. and this is happening everywhere, at all of their stores in every cub. but -- in every country. but ikea's known for their low prices. like walmart and target, they

did everything they could to keep the prices for consumers down, and they just can't do it anymore. so in the new year, you're going to see an average 9% increase on items that you buy from ikea because inflation has hit them too hard, and they can't keep absorbing those costs. so sign of the times. inflation is not transitory the at all, actually. ashley: no, it's not. it certainly appears to be here to stay at least for the short term. things are getting expensive. all right, lauren, thank you. did you hear about this? new york city mayor bill de blasio owes taxpayers more than $300,000 that went towards security in his failed presidential bid. we're going to tell you when or even if he plans to pay it back. take a look at those market gains for the year. pretty impressive, but will we rally on in the new year? gerri willis will be along to break down what could shape the market in 2022, next. ♪ -- when the nightfalls, the

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ashley: well, today is the last trading day of 2021, and gerri willis is here to take a look back at the year's biggest market winners and trends to look for next year. good morning. >> reporter: hey, ash, good morning to you. that's right. 2021, the year of the retailer trader, meme stocks, you name it, also a big year of stock gains. the s&p 500 setting 70 record closes, more than double the pace of 2020. now, it was a strong year, for sure, and one that may not be repeated given the clouds on the horizon like rising interest rates, inflation, remember covid, right? well, stocks climb a wall of worry if you listen to the

traders out there, and we have one for you to hear. listen. >> as we look forward, i think we're going to see a bit higher volatility, 3-5% pullbacks of 2021 will probably be more likely 8-10% mini corrections in 2022. that said though, we should finish the year higher. >> reporter: all right. so leading the way, the energy sector, in 2021. oil climbing to a 7-year high starting at $50 a barrel at the beginning of the year to 74, 75.97 right now, sparking calls for $100 a barrel in 2022. and big winners in that sector, devin energy with gains of nearly 200 percent% -- 200%. moderna, you know that, a leader in mrna vaccination, and the chipmaker invidia benefiting

from shortages caused by supply chain disruptions. now, we also saw the stay at home stocks. they have performed so well the previous year, not this year. you can see the mixed performance here. netflix up a little bit, but zoom and peloton certainly down. and as we move along here, a surge in consumer spending. gains for stocks like bath and bodyworks, consumers were out there spending. and as we head into the new year, the meme stocks -- although much lower than they were in january -- still posted eye-watering returns. amc, 1,246%. losers, gambling stocks penn national gaming which was a huge chunk of dave port now's bar toole sports. shares of viacom cbs. lots going on, ash, hopefully

things hold steady next year and we have more gains. back to you. ashley: thank you very much, gerri, appreciate that. talking of numbers, the powerball jackpot just jumped even higher. what's it at now, reign? lauren. lauren: half a billion dollars, and the drawing is tomorrow. >> are you feeling lucky, ashley? maybe the second time -- go ahead. [laughter] ashley: no, i was just going to say,ing i have played the lottery in the past, and i always have stuart varney's ear because he says it's a complete fraud, a waste of time, you're never going to win. but despite that advice from stuart very first i have bought the odd ticket just for the fun of it. lauren: right. and we know you haven't won. but i can tell you that there were six jackpot winners this year. they had $2 billion in total winnings. take out taxes, you know, lump sum, federal, state, under a billion total but still, i wouldn't be complaining. ashley: well, i tell you what,

if you don't play, you can't win. lauren, thanks very much. we are just hours away from a new -- that's right. we're wrapping up pride ifennen's first year in office. i wonder if sean duffy has any new year's resolutions that heepped suggest to the president? i'm going to ask him. plus, a new bill proposed in washington state wants to propose if lower sentences for drive-by shooters. the bill sponsors say it's all about promoting social equity. jason rantz has the story and joins me next. ♪ ♪

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ashley: colorado is in a state of emergency as a life-threatening wildfire forcing thousands to evacuate. the pictures are remarkable. alicia acuna is in boulder county in colorado with the very latest. alicia. >> reporter: hi, ashley. and we are now located up above the towns of superior and louisville, and you can still see that there are areas where there is smoke that is still continuing. there are firefighters, we do

know, that are continuing to protect homes and try to put out some of the fires. we are expecting to get an update here from emergency management officials in a little over an hour. again, an update on the count. right now it stands at 580 homes that were lost to this incredibly wind-whipped fire that came in yesterday about 11:00 in the morning. a power line went down and sparked a grass fire. but it was also in an area that is not only incredibly dry, but also incredibly populated. this is a suburban area. just about 20, 25 miles north ask west of -- and west of denver. and there were some 30, 35,000 people who were advantage evacuated. . right now the office of emergency management is telling people who now that the sun is up who are trying to get back into their neighborhoods to stay away because it's still a dangerous situation. i can tell you for myself and my

photographer, we have been trying to go in through the neighborhoods, we were kicked out multiple times for our own safety, quite frankly, so it is an ongoing situation. in terms of yesterday when folks were realizing actually what was happening here, they had minutes to get out of their homes and businesses. we have a little video here from the chuck e. cheese where there were parents just trying to get out as the winds were whipping around them to safety. [inaudible conversations] >> it's just black. there's embers blowing and coming over your car, and it was just, like, where am i? >> reporter: yeah. that really just was the situation all around. people just trying to get to safety and, ashley, what we were told by the governor here, by other law enforcement officials that when this all started -- keep in mind, there were winds going from, wind gusts 40 miles an hour to 110 miles an hour, so it was whipping those flames so

fast that firefighters weren't able to actually battle the fire for a great deal of time. they were too busy trying to get people out of the way. and this wind event e went on for seven hours straight. it was just incredible, something most people around here say they've never seen before. ashley. ashley: remarkable images. all right, alicia, thank you very much, from colorado. changing gears now, democrats in washington state have proposed a new bill that would lessen the sentences for drive-by murderers. don't understand that. jason rants joins me now. i guess they're arguing it's racial equity. is that right? >> it's very bizarre. so the way that it works right now in washington state is that a murder one charge, first-degree murder, will get you somewhere between 20-30 years in prison. but as an aggravating factor of a drive-by shooting, you can face a mandatory sentence of

life without parole. now, the argument coming from the two lawmakers behind this, they're saying that it's being used to target young black men, but there's no data to actually back that up. in fact, the argument coming from tara simmons, the statement that she released to my radio show said it was only used once. so if it was only used once, you're clearly not targeting anyone except in that case one instance of a drive-by murderer. drive-by shootings are not just dangerous to the people being targeted, but, of course, dangerous to people in the communities that end up getting hit by stray bullets. we've certainly seen some significant stories across the country of that happening. ashley: yeah. it's awful. all right. next one for you, jason, one police dispatcher in chicago is warning of safety concerns over the shortage of police officers there. roll tape and i'll get your comment. >> it's outrageous, and i'm not happy. when you say chicago, people are

afraid. it's like it's a death zone. several of my officers who have texted me, okay, and said that they were scared -- [laughter] they're tired of this nonsense. they have no backing, and they're scared of being out there by themselves. ashley: well, that is a very frightening summation of what is going on in chicago. what's your response, jason? >> i mean, i'm not shocked by any of this. and it's not just an issue that's facing chicago. you've had a lot of officers who have decided to retire early or go into different departments in cities that haven't been so hostile to cops whether it's the defund movement or the embracing of the activist community that screamed at the top of the lungs only to get silence from the people in charge or, weirdly, support from the politicians in charge. they just don't want to have to deal with that kind of stuff. on top of that, you have the issue that's not being talked

about all that much of staffing shortages as a result of vaccine mandates. here in seattle, for example, we're seeing a ton of cops get pulled off the force to the point where we're not even seeing staffing minimums be met in some of these precincts. and it's creating an incredibly dangerous she far owe -- scenario for a lot of these officers who are going to the scene of a crime and don't have anyone backing them up. ashley: absolutely. it's absolutely awful. i look at the video as you're speak, it's just -- my blood boils. jason rantz in seattle, thanks so much for joining us, we do appreciate it. thank you. >> happy new year. ashley: now this -- happy new year to you too. wealthy residents of one major city are buying up guns for the very first time. which city, lauren? lauren: beverly hills, santa monica. rich people going into gun shops and buying shotguns for their homes, equipping their houses with these, like, tony

stark-level home security systems. they're scared. they've seen smash and grabs, they saw the home invasion and shooting death of jacqueline avant. heavy had enough. and fortunately, cities like beverly hills have the money. they also hired two private security firms to go around and patrol the neighborhoods. so between that and arming themselves, they'll feel more protected. ashley: all right. we got it. lauren, thank you. still ahead in the show, sean duffy, new york congresswoman nicole mall ya tackies and jonathan morris. the third hour of "varney" is next. ♪ ♪ tonight we gonna get on the floor ♪♪

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change many of us have been safe from the start you can't stop a virus. doesn't clear if you have a cloth thing on your face, it will arrive in the issue becomes how do we mitigate this. >> i will be celebrating the last day mayor deblasio is in office but let's hope the new mayor doesn't do the same thing. >> there's a lot of anxiety about what america might do and people are not just afraid we would do something crazy but

the we won't do anything at all and they see that with the biden administration. they are not sure who is in charge. >> 2121 is a triumph not just of the stock market that american injury, inflation the with the top story time and again. it was all caused by president biden and government spending. >> thanks for having me on. we've been able to enjoy this holiday rally and seasonality the market has rebounded from but the volatilities and going to go anywhere. ashley: what a great picture. happy new year. taking a live look at hong kong where the clock just struck midnight. earlier we saw oakland, new zealand, sydney, australia. on the east coast of the united states, it is 11:00 am or just

thereafter on friday december 31st. i'm ashley webster in first varney. let's look at these markets, pretty muted is the word we are using, the dow off 40 points, the s&p down four points, the nasdaq done a 12:45%. we like to keep an eye on the 10 year treasury yield. that is down 0.6 basis point, one.50%, one.5%. now this. let's move on up, president biden's first year in office was filled with broken promises on the covid pandemic, rising inflation, uneasy economy and tanking approval ratings to name a few. sean duffy joined me now. good morning to you. when you look at the president's year in review, what new year's resolutions you suggest for him as we head into the new year. >> happy new year to you. this year for biden has been so

bad it is not hard to think of what he could do different in 2022 to make it better. a couple options, if you would just, i will secure the border or i am not going to assume a non-mexico policies, stop the flow of migrants to the southern border, that would be helpful. he could give a speech and talk about how das have to start prosecuting crime and get crime under control. he could lead the way as head of the democrat party to show democrats and republicans believe in safe cities. one of the biggest issues is inflation. stop the spending, stop threatening massive spending bills like build back better, put it on the shelf, leave it alone. let this thing calm out and get inflation back to a reasonable number, maybe 2% or 3% and then finally if you go back to the energy industry, let's get our

production up for not relying on other players in the world energy markets. let's be productive here and have more jobs. those are four things he could do it if he did them i don't think the left-wing base would be that angry at him and more modern americans would go with them. ashley: those are fine resolutions. i have a feeling he will ignore all of them but talking of his party i want your comments on this, hillary clinton is issuing this warning to progressives. take a listen and i will get your comments. >> it is a time for some careful thinking about what wins elections, not just in deep blue districts where a democrat and a liberal democrat or progressive democrat is going to win. at the end of the day it means nothing if we don't have a congress that will get things done and we don't have a white

house that we can count on to be sane and sober and stable and productive. ashley: that is interesting. i don't think the squad is going to be happy with those comments. >> the ones my end the year with me agreeing with hillary clinton? she's right. if they want to win elections you got to come to the center but the problem they have is this socialist communist wing of the democrat party hasn't gotten smaller, it has gotten bigger and how democrats manage that wing is challenging but if you can't navigate spending and crime, inflation, if you want to kick america out of energy those things don't work for the average american, you can't fill up your gas or put food on your table, those are primary

concerns were americans, the democrat party has a long history of working for working men and women, they have abandoned that and got to the uber wealthy, really rich and people who don't work and those are small segments of the population were republicans and especially with donald trump, everybody who works in america who cares about their policy and to your point, i don't think democrats are going to listen to her, they are not going to follow her lead and shame on you for making the agree with hillary clinton the last day of 2021. ashley: i apologize profusely. that was underhanded but i will say to your point if they don't listen it is going to be a brutal midterm election for the democrats. >> you are 100% right. this is going to be a bloodbath. i won my congressional race in 2010, we saw the same numbers early on in 2010 we are seeing now. 35 to 55 seat pickups for republicans.

it could be massive and you will see seats you didn't think were in play, you'll wake up after election and go who is that republican running in that seat? we didn't know it was competitive and they won. that is the kind of thing that happens in these kind of cycles. so bad for democrats. ashley: i think you are absolutely right. sean duffy who occasionally agrees with hillary clinton. we will be watching you. i will never let you forget that. we will be watching you today as a guest host on kudlow at 4:00 eastern on foxbusiness. looking forward to that it will be a lot of fun. >> looking forward to filling in for the great larry kudlow. ashley: he is great. thank you very much, great stuff as always. let's take a look at the markets. what do you see as the biggest issues facing the markets as we head into 2022. there are quite a few of them. >> the biggest issue is clearly

inflation. if it continues to move higher that will create a problem for the fed and the fed is the other issue, how do they react to inflation? they remind behind the curve? try to get ahead of it? supply-side disruptions, supply chain disruptions are another issue up ahead and finally let's not forget the pandemic isn't over. it has gotten worse in terms of how quickly it is spreading with the latest variant and hopefully will burn itself out like a brush fire might but then again who knows what the next variant might be. ashley: a number of analysts kind of advised, to be very cautious, to be defensive, talking about utility stocks, gold, those kinds of investments. would you agree? >> not really. the bull market continues.

the more cyclically sensitive areas, i'm not sure we will play the stay at home versus opening up trade anymore but i am still keen on the technology financial, energy, that suggests the economy will do well in 2022 and it should. ashley: there are so many unknowns. will there be another variant crops up and what have you. having said that there is so much cash on the sidelines. will we see that come back into the market? a lot of people missed out on the gains this year. >> correct. a tremendous amount of money, demand deposits have been soaring. liquid assets measured, never more liquid, tremendous amount of money just sitting there in cash earning nothing, getting a negative return considering inflation has become a significant issue but if you

extrapolate the trend of the money supply prior to the pandemic and look where it is today, we have 2 to $3 trillion of excess liquidity. ashley: that is a lot of cash. ed yarddeni, thank you for joining us. you are looking at some of the movers, let's begin with pfizer. neil: i have two pieces of positive news on pfizer, stock is up 2%. in the uk they have approved the covid pill, the take-home pill and then you had the study in the us that found the pfizer vaccine for 5 to 11-year-olds is overwhelmingly safe. take a look at amd and xilinx, the chip deal has been delayed both stocks down a bit on the news. it is now expected to close in the first quarter of the new year coming there have been

regulatory setbacks and i leave you with a sweet note, krispy kreme, my favorite, look at this, 1881, they are doing better in their first year again, the average target for krispy kreme in 1825, they got over that. we will see what happens in the new year. ashley: donuts to quote homer simpson and boston creams in particular. i love this story. one bank put surprised he posits into customers bank account. i said no which bank and can i open a new account myself? >> it was christmas day, the best present ever when you pay double, the bank is in europe. the amount of money was 176 million us dollars the city across the transactions. like i said the upshot was workers pay double. the issue is a scheduling one. the problem now, the bank is

trying to talk to other banks that got those deposits and get them back. i don't know about that. ashley: some will be looking for a new job in the new year. neil: it was really fast. ashley: it is gone, sorry. looking for love in the new year? the pope just revealed the secret of a happy marriage. how would he know? we've got the story. democrats failed to pass build back better this year but they tried to revive it when they get back to work in january. this woman nicole malleyattalkis says it is dead on arrival. we are hours from the famous ball drop in new york city, 15,000 people will be allowed to watch it live and they've got to follow along list of rules, we take you live to times square next. ♪♪

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ashley: waiting for tonight. you are taking a look at times square, we are about 12 hours and 43 minutes from the big ball drop. you can see it live right now. 15,000 people will pack into times square tonight. that's a lot less than normal.

laura ingall is there. what is the nypd saying about tonight's celebrations? >> reporter: it has always been about keeping people safe. every year we come here on new year's eve day and talk about all the security measures being put in place and you mentioned at the top that there would be far less people in times square tonight but this year unlike last year we will see a lot of people. it is all about less people, more precautions as we move forward. safety, security and keeping covid numbers down, keeping people away from covid is best they can. we will talk about those measures. let's look at times square so you can see what is happening. usually this is really packed with workers at this time of hour. a little different field this year but there is no more recognizable place to watch new

year's eve celebrations in times square but it will look, sound and feel different when we ring in the new year. a new year's eve 2022 will be a scaled-back celebration at the symbolic center of new york city. the big apple is dealing with another spike in covid cases sitting in a record of 44,000 confirmed cases. that is just one day and that is why the rules are strict for revelers. attendees must show proof of vaccination, a valid photo id and wear a mask to get into this area. in years past we've seen it, 58,000 people crowded in the viewing areas. last year crowds were banned altogether so a gentle restart this year as covid concerns are front and center the nypd keeping a watchful eye on security that is always top of mind saying there are currently no credible threats but security efforts will behind.

>> plainclothes observation, bomb squad response teams, radiation detection teams, drone detection, sand block trucks from the nypd and sanitation. >> reporter: chicago like new york will move forward but we are keeping an eye on other cities around the us. a lot of them are canceling celebrations including atlanta and san francisco, sacrament oh as well and there is one place you can for sure see all the action, fox news channel. tune in 10:00 pm eastern, that is when we will have the all-american new year's celebration from times square in new york and nashville as well. we've got you covered. finally, one of the first years and along, can feel my fingers in my face. usually things are very cold this year things feel different and there's a sense of hope and celebration with the weather

feeling warm, people are masked up and looking forward to it. ashley: we are indeed. maybe the cleanup will be easier with smaller crowds. thank you very much. now this. incoming new york city mayor eric adams says private sector employee vaccine mandate will stay in place after he takes office. adams will keep the mask mandate in place for those businesses with 100 employees or more. this woman nicole maoiohtalkis joins us now. you still think the incoming mayor could fix new york. the question is what needs fixing and how is he going to do it? >> i don't think it can get worse then bill deblasio i have concerns when you have a are talking about keeping these mandates that are hurting our businesses, making it more difficult to fill slots and it

is hurting the overall recovery of new york city. we are seeing how new york city is recovering much slower than the rest of the nation. the unemployment is twice that of the nation. i thought eric adams would come in and have a discussion with the business community and see how we can move forward together and turn new york city around. one of those things, at least allow companies to allow for a testing option. the company wants to allow their employees to be tested weekly as opposed to mandating the vaccine and losing an employee, that would make sense and be rational. also crime is another area where eric adams needs to focus. the highest it has been in a decade. we are seeing crime and other categories across the board. we need to restore the nypd clean clothes unit which went after trains and guns.

make sure we are giving the police the resources they need to be able to do their job and restore the $1 billion cut the nypd has to endure due to mayor deblasio and the democrats in city hall. ashley: absolutely, we will see how many issues he addresses and the next one for you, changing gears, democrats failed to pass biden's massive build back better bill before the new year. do you think they can revive that when they get back into session even if it is in a piecemeal fashion. >> i think the build back better is that as we know it. the provisions of amnesty will not make final attempts, the parliamentarian said it cannot be part of reconciliation. following through on doubling the irs and some of the taxes and new entitlement programs that are costly and unaffordable at this time of high inflation and the debt approaching record numbers. done a gjod as as as

publ sesav rocontofhehehe use or theor thi w hsewesewe adonethdodob stoppib st pingp no lduiac bbrk hat ha os e eitha wt it ia tisionsiheonwere y y asas also ae o ti-polane measurmeth att apts topt dilly chany gelectws, e taxpayer money toy und limpa. ckincour pushing back on the democrats and do the same next year. keep playing defense and stop bad policies. a lot of bad things that happened was because biden unilaterally decided to kill the keystone pipeline, or other things that led to high inflation. it wasn't because congress, we were able to stop a lot of those bills on the floor.

ashley: thank you for taking the time this morning. happy new year to you. new york city is spending $11 million on 184 mustang suvs for law enforcement and emergency response lose the electric cars will replace the gas powered cars being used, $11.5 million order is part of the largest purchase of all electric vehicles to date. a new study shows 29% of adults have no religious affiliation. americans are praying less often. what is behind this shift away from faith. jonathan morris will be here to react and give his opinion. say it ain't so, champagne shortage just in time for new year's eve. that means he will have to pay a little more for your bubbles tonight. grady trimble has the report from chicago next. ♪♪

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ashley: you are taking a look at nashville, music city, already filling up with people. what a great city. that is where fox news will ring in the new year. will kane, and pete hegseth, gets all the best assignments, will be live at the famous wildhorse saloon. coverage begins at 10:00 pm eastern, hopefully line dancing is on the agenda. let's get a check on the markets moving slightly lower since "the opening bell" some 2 hours ago and the dow jones down 37 points, the s&p very slightly lower, 4777. show me jpmorgan and citibank.

we are told employees have the option to work at home for the first few weeks of the new year, but workers are connected to return to the office no later than february 1st. both of those stocks moving slightly lower. it could be harder to find your favorite bottle of champagne tonight. there is a shortage of bubbly. this story has grady trimble written all over it. he's a champagne bar in chicago. i hope you have a couple bottles stashed away. >> no shortage here. they are ready for tonight's new year's eve bash but they are worried about the first few months of next year because even for champagne bar the bubbly has been hard to get. the owner, ready for tonight, but it has been more difficult. >> as with anything the past 18 or so months getting what we

need has been difficult but we have 40 years of experience in history and 40 years of relationships that make things easier for us but it is an interesting time for every one. an opportunity to try new champagnes from small growers or sparkling wine from different reasons. >> reporter: there's a champagne index. it shows prices of bottles up almost 34% this year. of you passed on 34% price increase to customers? >> know. as much as you think that would be how it works, we are eating those costs ourselves with the cost of doing business during covid. >> reporter: what does the future look like next year? the hope was the supply chain bottlenecks would resolve themselves but you're still dealing with them. >> we are dealing with them on a day-to-day basis. we are fortunate we order a lot of our wine directly imported to us so those orders were

placed 69 months ago and they are starting to arrive, still a little delay but plenty in the future. >> reporter: the alcohol delivery service drizzly said champagne made up 17% of wine sales on the apps and delivery service in the month of the summer so people are stocking up and that could be another reason for the shortage, demand is through the roof. people are ready to celebrate new year's eve tonight. ashley: champagne hoarding is a big problem in this country. grady trimble looking very debonair this new year's eve. that is the bubbly story. a new poll shows 29% of us adults have no religious affiliation. that is up 6 percentage points. let's bring in jonathan morris, fox news contributor who joined me now. we are told millennials are meeting the shift away from organized religion. the question is how do you get

them back to the church? >> just a couple pieces of data. christian believers in the united states outweigh nonbelievers, atheists, agnostics or unaffiliated 2 to 1 justin 2007, 5 to 1, that is a massive change. i'm sorry does little loud here. i'm getting ready to celebrate the new year. here we go. how do you get people back? i don't think it is about making church more interesting. there is a lot more -- it is about entertainment, other things to do, it is two things. one is having people have an experience of god in some way or another, doesn't have to be within a church. and experience of god.

that can happen in so many different ways. people come back to church when they go through terrible times and there is no place else to turn so i prefer people to have an experience of god in a positive way outside of people suffering, sometimes it can takes a deep suffering. ashley: next one for you. pope francis says the secret to a happy marriage is the power of saying please, thanks, and sorry cannot be underestimated. you have been married a little over a year now. oh those words to live by? >> you would have to ask my wife. that the first response. i think there's a lot of wisdom to it. let me explain briefly. please is that as a sign of respect. when we get used to relationships we can get used to treating someone without deep respect.

please, the second one was thank you. what is the final? gratitude. it is hard to keep a sense of gratitude when you are so used to something day in and day out in marriage, family life. i was changing a baby's diaper eight times today, hard to say thank you. gratitude. the third one, the third one is sorry. what is sorry? that means something very simple. sorry means that i am humble enough to recognize that i am not perfect and i need to ask for forgiveness. number one, please, respect, number 2, thank you, gratitude, number 3, i'm sorry, which is humility. those are pretty good things even without asking my wife i can say pope francis has got it down to a t. ashley: words to live by. great to catch up with you.

happy new year to you. >> happy new year to you. let me tell you one thing. paris is alive. paris is booming. no matter what you see on television right now, all the lockdowns, it is hard to get reservation, things are booming. ashley: that is good to hear, nice positive note, thank you, enjoy paris. from that to this. don't get on a cruise ship regardless of your vaccination status. that is the new warning from the cdc. the us reported 486,000 new covid cases on wednesday but how much longer will the omicron surge last? could we finally see a end to the pandemic in 2022? i will ask doctor bob ahita next. ♪♪

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ashley: you are taking a live look in london, already nighttime, the fireworks display show will reportedly go on. it was originally canceled for covid. that is the report and there is the city of london. the uk reported 190,000 new covid cases thursday. the country is preparing field hospitals to deal with a surge of patients. now this was the us saw 480,000 new daily covid cases wednesday, that is the second day of record high numbers.

charles watson is in atlanta. what is the latest? >> the omicron variant is not only caused the us numbers to surge but also sending a record number of children to hospitals. take a look at last week's number, an average of 378 children under the age of 17 admitted to hospitals with coronavirus infections, 66% increase and overall high, according to cdc data but there is good news when it comes to the virus among children, new cdc research showing fewer side effects between the ages of 5 and 11 who got the pfizer vaccine and all the children who became seriously ill were unvaccinated. the fda on the verge of approving the pfizer booster to 12 to 15-year-olds, parents

like kimberly pooley who is certain she will get her daughter a booster. until then the two aren't taking any chances. take a listen. >> 100% nerve-racking especially with the amount we had in the last week, my daughter understands the need to protect herself and her sister and the rest of the family. she is willing, able and happy to wear a mask. >> the cdc warning americans to avoid cruise ships regardless of vaccination status. the agency has neither the ships under investigation and under observation because of covid 19 infections. the cruise lines international association is calling the new recommendations disappointing and saying the cdc is singling out the cruise industry despite following stricter health protocols and most travel sectors. public official were urging people to avoid large new year's celebrations amid record

daily infections across the country. festivities will be much later than anticipated in new york city is officials limit the number of people flocking to time square to watch the ball drop to 15,000, far fewer than the 50,000 spectators they once hoped for and despite record new infections in new york alone, outgoing mayor bill deblasio says the festivities tonight in times square will certainly show the world that new york is fighting back. ashley: indeed. charles watson, appreciate that. now we are joined by doctor bob ahita. the covid vaccine rarely causes serious side effects in kids age 5 to 11 but what would you tell parents who are perhaps a little larry? >> children are not vaccinated, they were the ones admitted to the hospital, children are at

low risk of getting covid and when they get the omicron variant they generally have a very low clinical state, some cold-like symptoms come may be a little headache, slight fever. the vaccine is very safe. every child that is admitted, virtually every child is unvaccinated who winds up in the hospital on a respirator high flow oxygen. the vaccine is very safe for kids. there are side effects in 99% of children, negligible. parents need to know that. ashley: that is interesting and very pointed. johns hopkins data shows more than 2.5 million covid cases recorded in the us in the past week. i am assuming this shows how easy it is to catch and pass on omicron. >> omicron is very transmissible, 7 to 8 times

more transmissible than the delta variant although it comprises we believe only 60% of the total infections of patients in the country. the delta variant is still quite deadly, filling up our icus, filling up intensive care units with people who largely have the delta variant and having difficult times with respiratory failure and other complications. ashley: i want to get your opinion on the cdc essentially warning americans to avoid cruises regardless of their vaccination status. do you agree with that? >> i do. i think the cruise ship industry is taking a big hit and i feel badly for them but they are basically floating petri dishes. you are on an enclosed environment with people who could be infected and you can be vaccinated and still carry the virus and infect others so

they suggest you test negative 1 to 3 days before the trip and after you get off the boat, 3 to 5 days and to quarantine for 5 days additionally so it is not a safe thing to get on a cruise ship right now. ashley: we will leave it there. great stuff as always. thank you. still to come taking a look at your best friday feedback questions this year, don't go anywhere. more varney after this. ♪♪ i get by with a little help from my friends ♪♪ get by with a little help from my friends ♪♪ going to try with a little help from my friends ♪♪ if you need anybody ♪♪ ow! i'm ok! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ only in theaters december 17th. some of my best memories growing up were cooking with mom. so when she moved in with us, a new kitchen became part of our financial plan. ♪ ♪

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ashley: you are taking a live look at new orleans where it midnight tonight they will drop a giant fleur-de-lis to ring in the new year. the famous new orleans sugar bowl parade. it is not even noon here, it is 2022 in parts of the world. new zealand held one of the

first celebrations with a light show, fireworks and this was australia, the stroke of midnight, fireworks lighting up over the famous sydney bridge and the opera house. we bought almost 12 hours to go, a little more than 12 hours before we start doing that. time for your friday feedback and today we look at the best moments from 2021. role that tape. stuart: getaway on friday after almost every show, do you go more often to naples, florida or your farm in upstate, new york? answer is to my farm in upstate new york. >> i go to the beach and hang out with my wife and dog. it is a good life. >> i am stuck at home with my cat watching netflix. stuart: you've got a cat? didn't know that. put her on the show.

your bump music has been outstanding lately, perfect fit for the subject. i have been playing a lot of beetles, rolling stones. what your favorite music? >> gangster rap. stuart: if you didn't know me where would you think i came from? >> differently not east london, definitely not cockney but i would say pretty aristocratic. ashley: mid-atlantic. >> ashley, the slippers. ashley: it looks great. stuart: you said watch out. you said ashley was an excellent dancer. got a new video of him cutting the rug. it is all yours. ashley: i have to dignity but i did find some. look at that face. i'm looking so concentrated. i did a dancing with the stars in nashville.

>> my giant on the floor. i knew you had many talents but i didn't think that was one. stuart: i cringe every time you say good stuff. it's not good stuff to your audience. only you and your production of the show. i watch every morning and enjoy your show. stop with the good stuff. good stuff? what is wrong with that. i often say it to you. >> i do pay attention when it comes through. did i hear that correctly? ashley says it too. stuart: there you go. good stuff. couldn't believe lauren's reaction to spam. has she ever tried grilled spam and cheese or cheesy noodles? have you ever even spam? >> held like dr. seuss. never have. stuart: every day of my life since i was 10 years old but look at that. what could go wrong. ashley: s2 would say, good stuff.

for the trivia question today, how many glasses of champagne are consumed on new year's eve, the answer right after this. before investing consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. go to flexshares.com for a prospectus containing this information. read it carefully.

♪ ashley: all right. before the break we asked you about how many glasses of champagne are conceived on new year's eve. i went with 410. the answer, 360 million. it was the lowest amount. don't forget to ring in the new year, by the way, with fox.

want to remind you that "fox & friends" weekend cohosts will cain, rachel campos duffy and pete hegseth, they're going to be live tonight at the famous wild horse saloon in nashville. line dancing, all sorts of shenanigans. fox will begin that coverage at 10 p.m. eastern. i wish i was there. it'll be fun. all right. jackie deangelis in for neil. take it away. jackie: i think it's going to be 360 million plus 1 or 2, give or take, depending on what i do tonight -- [laughter] but happy new year to you. ashley: same to you, jackie. jackie: welcome to "cavuto coast to coast," i'm jackie deangelis. we are just 12 hours away from 2022. some of the top stories we are watching for you this hour, higher prices hitting consumers coast to coast this year. so will the new year bring some new relief from inflation? we are going to ask a former top treasury official.