just concern some of it to work and just ride this thing out. >> i love it. i love on theism. -- optimism. i know you have optimism as well, jonathan. >> just wish everybody a merry christmas and happy holidays. we can see merry christmas again. >> yes, we can. we can actually wear american flags on our chests, on our hats and be proud. isn't it weird that for a while you had an american flag, oh, you must be republican, you're a bad person. [laughter] no -- >> i wore a hat the other day with an american flag, and i thought, oh, it's okay, right? >> be proud. >> yeah. feels good to be proud again. >> all right. thank you, adam and jonathan. appreciate your help and time today, guys. great job. "varney & company" is next. ashley ashley webster is in for stuart. ashley, take it away. ashley: merry christmas, gerri, and to everyone. thank you so much. good morning, everyone. i'm ashley webster in today for stu varney if on this christmas eve. can you believe it?

guess what? if an early christmas gift. senator rand paul's annual festivus report on wasteful government spending is out and p oh, yes, there's some beauties this year. it reveals hat biden administration squandered more than $1 trillion on let's just say questionable projects including a drag cabaret show on ice, i kid you not, to promote climate change, a $12 million pickleball complex in las vegas, everyone needs one. a sesame desperate show in iraq -- street show in iraq and even border security for pair guy. are you kidding me? -- paraguay. american airlines issuing a ground stop for if flights nationwide because of a technical issue. the faa now says that ground stop has been canceled, but it lasted for about an hour, so you can imagine the domino effect. we'll have updates on that throughout the show. to the markets, the futures now showing essentially a flat market, not a big surprise. the markets themselves close at

1 p.m. today. the bond market closes at 2 p.m. but as you can see, most of the major exchanges on the flatline although the nasdaq is up a third of a percent. let's take a look at the 10-year treasury yield, hitting 4.6% yesterday, and it's still there. look at that, up another close to 4 basis points at 4.62% on the 10-year. what about the 2-year? that's also a little higher, up 4.36, up nearly 2 basis points. and what about bitcoin? taking a beating in the recent trading days but now it's the up about $1700 at $95,982. nearly $9 6,000. on is the show today -- on the hoe today, a power house democrat fundraiser announces her departure from the democrat party calling it a cult after facing backlash for her criticism of vice president harris. of linda lee will join us to discuss the fallout to.

and according to party separated gists, the democrat party's brand is, quote, mt. toilet. "the new york times" hosted an online discussion, and many their words, quote, trump tore down the blue wall. unquote. and a true varney if holiday tradition, stuart will read the classic christmas poem, twist the night before christmas -- twaz the night before christmas, but you need to stay stay tuned for that one. it is the december the 24th, christmas eve, and "varney & company" if about to begin. ♪ ♪ jingle bell, jingle gel, jingle bell rock ♪ jingle bell swing and jingle bell -- ashley: what a wintry, gorgeous christmas scene as snow if flakes -- snowflakes fall if down in midtown the manhattan and brenda lee belts out jingle bell rock. i know stu would love it.

what a scene. and let's kick off this christmas eve morning with senator rand paul's annual fest us have report where he does highlight areas of government waste. remember, this is where your tax the collars went this year. -- dollars went this year. $20 million spent on a sesame street show in iraq, why not? $12 the million spent on that pickleball complex in las vegas. i hope they're enjoying it. $10.8 million for an experiment on cats at the university of pittsburgh, the details of what would shock you, so we're not going to go into that. $3 million for goal-centered climate in brazil. what the heck's that? more than $2 million on border security in paraguay. and last but certainly not least, $10,000 for a drag cabaret show on ice. the focus of the show, however, was climate change, so i kid you

not. the biden administration spent $1 trillion on these, yes, very questionable projects. aren't you glad you work for those tax dollars? automakers, meanwhile, ford and general motors are the latest companies to donate to. donald trump's inaugural fund. they're going to send $1 million each along with a fleet of vehicles. some of trump's policies hike are killing the ev tax credit would put a damper on the auto automakers' sales, but ford ceo jim farley says he is optimistic that trump will be open to hearing an opposing point of view. he's going to find out. and two top aides of president-elect donald trump are joining an outside group, 501c4 building america's future as advisers. they're going to provide strategic counsel as the group looks to rally support for trump's policy. the group, by the way, helped campaign for trump during the

election. and promise the continue doing so throughout his presidency. now this, republicans are ready to rally behind president-elect trump. we have just 28 days now until if they have control of the senate, the house and, yes, the white house. meanwhile, democrats appear to be a little adrift without a leader. according to reports, lawmakers are breaking down in private meetings and clashing over what steps to take next. lots of hand-wringing, apparently. joe concha joins me now. oh, joe. bottom line, the democrats have no clear message and, basically, no clear leader. in disarray, i would say. >> oh, that's being generous, disarray. in the toilet is what that new times piece described it as. look, this is one of the most common sense perspectives, ashley, i've seen off the democratic party postelection in that new york times piece. and if those are the two key words here, right? common sense. don't print hundreds of billions of dollars in a bill insultingly

called the inflation reduction act that doesn't reduce inflation. don't urge people to, quote, surge to the border. remember, those were joe biden's words when he ran for president in 2020 and then wonder why so many common sense people are against that. it's imploding local budgets across the country. those are two of the main reasons why donald trump did so relatively well with urban voters, for example. so don't spend what you don't have, embrace immigration, by all means, but only through legal means. but i think in the end, ashley, from a cultural perspective that's what hurt democrats the most. for instance, an overwhelming majority of americans don't want biological men competing gwen biological women in -- biological women in sports. again, this is common sense stuff. that party needs to get back to the bill clinton type of party if they expect to win win any number elections again. ashley: you know, joe, biden has less than a month now left as president f he even is

president. he served just one term, was forced out of his re-election effort by people he called allies. now he doesn't, i don't think. i mean, when we get to the end of this term, what is joe biden's legacy? >> he will be, if you're under 50 years ogg, d old, the most unpopular president of our lifetimes, even more than jimmy carter. you've got to go all the way back to richard nixon to find a lower approval rating. overall, look, this is a man who sat the oval office and presided over 40-year-high inflation, crime driving major american cities, driving people to places like texas, tennessee and florida. obviously, an open bofder, that will be part of his legacy as well, chaos overseas and a man, quite frankly, who seemed to be on vacation more than he was actually working because he was not up for the job anymore. i can't really find any positives about joe biden. and the fact that democrats like nancy pelosi said that he should

be on mount rush more, again, you can't be any more tone deaf to think this was any -- [inaudible conversations] [laughter] ashley: yeah. i mean, honestly, very quickly, joe, before we say good-bye, i still don't think democrats have leonard. but ultimately, this administration if lied to us about the mental, cognitive abilities of this president, and that will be probably the one thing we all remember. >> oh, precisely. and it was, if you read that "wall street journal" piece last week with 50 sources, basically everybody knew that his cognitive decline began back in if 2032 the 1, and no -- 2021, and no one a had the stones the come forward and say this isn't good for the country, maybe you should step aside, sir. and they paid for it at the ballot box, that's for sure. ashley: boy, dud they ever. joe joe concha, great stuff. merry christmas to you and your family. >> merry christmas are. take care, ashley. ashley: i love christmas. i love this time of year. thank you. you too, joe.

futures pretty flat. the market closes at 1 p.m. today ors so trading will be -- today to, trading will be especially light. ryan payne joining us now. ryan, okay, what about the santa rally? still alive? if. >> you know what? i give you an all-year rally, ashley. [laughter] the market's been rallying all year. a little bit of a selloff last week, but bottom line, look, market's up 25% this year. a lot to be grateful for. full employment, americans are at their highest net worth ever at $154 trillion. i even gave you a white christmas eve here in new york city. ashley: i love the humbleness, ryan payne. [laughter] what do you think of the magnificent seven stocks? if i mean, we talk about 'em basically every day. they've still got room the run. >> i think they've been extremely magnificent if you look at profit margins at 25%

versus the s&p 500 at only 13. growth rates next year, they're still better hand the market at a 19% growth rate. but they trade at 30 times forward earning. it's extremely expensive, and i think they can go higher here. it's foolish to say they won't. but there's plenty of places to put your money if you look at industrials right now, materials. we're going to have a lot of infrastructure spending in the u.s. their earnings are going to grow, like, 18% next year. and the other thing the i look at is every company is going to be an artificial intelligence company. oil stocks, for instance, they're using automation, artificial intelligence. like, if you look at their break even on oil prices now, it's $40 a barrel, it used to be $90 a barrel. so i think this artificial intelligence is going to basically benefit every sector out there. so i don't know when, i don't know why, but it's always better the diversify as opposed to concentrating all your wealth. ashley: it's the greatest market

commentator in the world, and we're very lucky to have him here on fox business with. [laughter] ryan payne, thank you so much for coming in if on this snowy morning, and merry christmas to you and your family. >> merry christmas, ashley. thank you. ashley: coming up, joe biden is facing plenty of backlash over his decision to commute sentences of 37 federal inmates just before christmas. >> this is nuts. this is totally nuts. and so the outrage is real, it's justified. and, again, joe biden on his way out is again cementing his status as one of our worst presidents. ashley: so why did biden choose to do it now? kaylee mcghee white will be here to discuss that. bill maher, meantime, sounding off on democrats' habit of cutting people out of hair lives because of politics. their lives. >> we live in this time when you're not allowed to have friends from the other side or cross lines politically. the worst thing you could ever

do, be friends with a republican? ah! call 91. 911. [laughter] ashley: our next guest is leaving the democrat party. lindy lee joins us next to tell us why. ♪ joy to the world, if lord -- the lord is come ♪ let earth receive her king. ♪ let every heart -- kevin? kevin... kevin!!! and kevin - uh, i mean, macaulay - take a very special trip to the mall where anything... come and get your little kev! is... cashbackable!!! -really? -yeah. anything is cashbackable!!! chill. sorry! 'tis the season to cashback with chase freedom unlimited. how do you cashback? chase, make more of what's yours. to go further, you need to be ready for what's down the road. as energy demand continues to rise,

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ashley: new members of the house will vote for speaker on january the 3rd. meantime, the odds of speaker mike johnson could be in doubt after last week's spending bill chaos. aishah hasnie if joins us this morning. aishah, i guess the first question is, does johnson have enough votes, do you think, to

remain speaker? >> reporter: i've got to say, the gavel has to be on top of his christmas wish list because when congress left town last week, he did not have the votes to become speaker. house republicans will have a very slim majority, 219-215 in that new congress, which means johnson can really only a afford to lose one republican. right now he's got president-elect trump's support, that's a big deal, but as many as 38 members bucked trump last week over that government funding bill, and they could do it again. congressman thomas massie has announced he will vote for somebody else. congresswoman victoria spartz says she's undecided and the biggest problem is probably freedom caucus chairman andy harris. that could open the door to other freedom caucus members revolting as well. johnson's predicament follows the his deal with democrats on that saw 1500-page government funding bill which was later

derailed by trump and elon musk and then johnson passed that clean c.r. without resolving the debt ceiling issue, and a source tells fox news president-elect trump was pretty unhappy with that movement another big blow is that johnson survived a motion to vacate in the spring thanks to democrats but, ashley, they will not be coming to his aid time around. leader hakeem jeffries says there will be no democrats around to save him this time. so it is tough. the numbers are tough, but we shall see. ashley? ashley: we shall see, indeed. aishah, thank you so much. merry christmas to you. >> reporter: you got it. you as well. ashley: thank you. joining me now is former dnc fund raiser lindy lee. lindy, thanks for being here. you announced your exit from the democrat party after coming under attack for criticizing vice president harris and her campaign. you say you were basically ostracized. how so? >> ashley, merry christmas. it's wonderful to be with you. ashley: merry christmas.

>> this has been a long time coming. my initial disillusionment became clear when i realized hay essentially set $2.5 billion on fire. they raised $1.5 billion through the campaign, another billion through the super pac future forward, and there's been no accountability. we still haven't gotten any answer as to why oprah, oprah, a billionaire, got $2.5 million through her production company. why couldn't she pay for it? she's an old backer. she could have just paid for th. she could have just paid for the production costs herself. not to mention the fact they paid $450,000 putting kamala harris' face on the sphere. tell he how -- me how that would help her win. and then they spent $500,000, essentially, bribeing al sharpton moments before he interviewed her. this is the money that i worked so hard to raise. i raised millions of this, and donors are feeling burned. though i might be the only one

coming forward, i haven't met a single donor who disagrees with me. ashley: so what's been the response, lindy, since you made your announcementsome if -- announcement? >> vitriolic. and they say they're not a cult, but look at how they behave when one of their own dares to think for herself. the excommunication, the defamation, the public shaming, the boycott campaigns, the psychological terrorism. i no longer have comments on any of my social media because it's just too much. i don't need that. [laughter] it's just endless. as soon as you step out of line, they will get you. ashley: yeah, that is clear. so what's next? are you going to to turn republican? if independent? if what's next for you? >> this all has been so fast for me and, actually, someone scooped my own exit. some random person on twitter got 3 million views saying that lindy li's going to exit.

i wasn't -- i couldn't even to own my own departure. so this is all happening really quickly for me, but you might see me at the inauguration. i don't want to see too much right now, but somebody on team trump reached out to me. on day one they were kinder to me and more humane than the dnc ever was. ashley: wow. >> i just think that speaks volumes, yeah. ashley: i think you're right. i want to to get your comments on this one, lindy. listen to what bill maher had to to say talking about the democrats. listen to this. >> remember him hugging nixon and hen -- >> so what? >> i know. but at the time -- >> yes. >> -- he was seen as a traitor. >> that's so funny you mention that, because like today we live in this time when you're not allowed to have friends from the other side or cross lines politically. and i forgot that there's an example of that way back when, a guy who crossed lines

politically. ooh, the worst thing you could ever do, be friends with a republican? ah! call 191. -- call 911. ashley: the irony is, lindy, democrats will always call donald trump a threat to democracy, and yet there is no democracy within their world. >> exactly. ashley: you either believe what they say, or you are no longer worthy of any conversation. >> ashley, you're so bright. and now on -- you're so right. you know what? this was meant to happen. and i've had friends just in the last couple days, so-called friends block me and and just -- simply if because i expressed a view that wasn't officially sanctioned. this is kind of authoritarian. and i grew up in an authoritarian regime. this reeks of that. this isn't american democracy, you know? what happened to the first amendment? if. ashley: right. exactly. well -- >> and i do want to say one thing -- ashley: -- agree with the

doctrine -- yeah, go ahead. >> you're so on point. sorry. one haas thing, i've been a conservative all my if life. i've been saying that, and they're just not listening to maine all of a sudden they're saying that i shifted? no. i grew up as a christian conservative. this is just who i've been. and so they just -- they want to demonize anybody who's willing to, who has the courage to speak for herself. ashley: right. well, lindy, we really appreciate you taking the time the talk to us and your bravery and this divided -- in this divided political world. merry christmas to you. >> merry christmas, ashley. ashley: all right. lindy li. interesting stuff. quick look at the futures, essentially flat. we're showing green but very modestly so. the opening bell is coming up next. ♪ santa baby, a '54 convertible too, light blue ♪

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ashley: the opening bell many just about two two minutes from now. kyle wool joins us. kyle, are we going to get this santa claus rally? >> i do, i think we're going to get a santa claus rally. i also think we have the january effect and people positioning themselves for the trump trade

coming up. if i was looking at stocks right now, i would look at some of these a.i. stocks that people have taken profits on, that have been beat up just a little bit over the last 30 days, especially in the data center space. love are vrt, i like cls and, again, you've got to power these data centers, ashley. you've got to power them with nuclear whether it's constellation energy, vises that or of course low. -- oklo. ashley: are you generally bullish for the new year ahead? >> i i am. i think you're going to see tax cut, i think you're going to see oil and gas prices come down and a rotation into the small caps, especially these made in america stories whether it's u.s. drone makers, i think there's a lot of money going into it and a real sense of optimism. it is christmas, but i think there's a sense of optimism in the u.s. economy going into the election. and the new year. ashley: do you worry about the fed keeping rates higher for

longer, or is that off the table now? >> i don't think they're going to cut rates. if they co, it's -- if they do, it's going to be a quarter basis point. i'm pretty comfortable. this is a very good place for us to be historically, and if we can bring inflation down a little bit by pumping more, drilling more, using our pipelines, i think we could be in a great place. ashley: well, i already feel more optimistic, kyle we'll. -- kyle wool. thank you so much for that. covered add a lot of ground in a short amount of time. merry christmas to you and your family. >> you too. thanks again. ashley: we are just about getting ready to the get this abbreviated session of trading on wall street today. markets will be closing at 1 p.m. on this christmas eve. they'll be closed tomorrow and then start again on thursday which for some is boxing day, the day after christmas. here we go. yes, there quos the confetti. -- goes the confetti.

someone has to clean up that every day. let's take a look at the big board, essentially flat. about the same number of gainers to losers. we see amazon and goldman leading, the top of the pile. johnson & johnson and amgen on the bottom of the dow 30. let's take a look at the s&p, see where we are there. by the way, all three major exchanges actually finished with gains yesterday. modest, but nevertheless on the upside. the s&p up just 9 points, about a tenth of a percent. and take a look at the nasdaq as well. nasdaq was the best performing yesterday, finished up about three-quarters of a percent, and it's up again in the early going, about a third of a percent. let's take a look at those big tech names, the behemoths that we like to track every day. all of them on the up. amazon, meta, apple and alpha if bet, just microsoft down a ten theth of a percent. okay -- tenth of a percent. okay, i guess we have to start with american airlines. they had technical issues this morning that resulted in a

nationwide ground stop. good morning, taylor riggs. i mean, of all the days, right? [laughter] they're flying again now though. >> yes. so the ground stop has been lifted. i'm just glad that you and i are not in the airport flying american airlines. ashley: amen. >> some delays, but at least if you are traveling, that has been lifted. still trying to figure it out, but sounds like it was some technical issues this morning. ashley: yeah. i'm just worried about that domino effect. anyway, what are you going to do? if you just have to be patient. something i'm not very good at. let's move on. the nasdaq has new members this week, palantir, micro strategy and axon. what does that mean for the nasdaq heavyweights, hey to have? if mig? -- heavyweights? >> it's about the second time in a year that the a nasdaq 100 has had a rebalancing. the weights that were reduced were tesla, meta and broadcom. basically, their rules say they don't want any one company making up too much of the index.

so after the massive rally, if a stock triggers that rule, he was to go and rebalance. some of the companies that had hair weights increases were apple, nvidia, microsoft and google. it all depends if on how much these companies with worth, it's the second time now they've had to rebalance this. ashley: very interesting. let's move on. taiwan semi. they had a record high. they're having quite the year, aren't they? >> unbelievable. the best year since, you guessed it, party like it was 1999. the stock is up over 82% this year -- [laughter] we're looking at the american depository receipts. over in taiwan it topses thousand -- topped a thousand overnight. a lot of analysts think this is the a.i. play. taiwan semi on a tear. ashley: very good. what's this about microsoft using a.i. models that don't actually come from if its partner, openai? what the heck's going on? >> yeah.

it sounds like they're trying to reduce some of their reliance and costs on openai, right? as you mentioned microsoft has been trying to end -- open up their co-pilot to non-openai systems basically so they can diversify. actually, probably a smart move for microsoft when you think about diversification. ashley: you know, we mentioned palantir just a few minutes ago. this is another stock that's having a record year. how good hassett been for this stock -- has it been for this stock? >> 370%, the top performer in the s&p 500. remember, this is the perfect play that analysts say between a.i. and defense. it's up something like 58% since the election, the third best perform of all the stocks that are listed out there. is so, again, when you think about defense spending that a lot of people think will increase plus an a.i. play, that company is the one to beat right

now. ashley: that looks like a chart of the rockies. it's the impressive, isn't it? [laughter] let's move on to netflix, airing a pair of nfl games tomorrow for christmas. i bet that cost them a pretty penny, didn't it? >> it did, about $1500 million. but what is so interesting -- 150 million. this is netflix continued push into live sports. so they're going to get the two big games on christmas tomorrow, i think one of them is the kansas city chiefs that are plaguing, so a lot of people will be -- plague, but again, you have to be a subscriber. i'm actually one of those cord cutters that actually cut off netflix given all the price increases that i kept getting, so that means i don't get to watch the game. so you have to be a subscriber. but as long as you're a subscriber no matter what tier, you get to to watch. you'll have to see how hay do the with live sports. ashley: it'll be interesting. what's the latest on the nippon/u.s. steel soap opera? >> this is interesting. so cfius, which is the committee

on foreign investments in the u.s., actually came in, and they were deadlocked in the record effort -- report. there were a lot of skeptics saying if nippon steel bought u.s. steel, they weren't sure if there would be security risks at all. basically, they handed it to the president. biden now has 15 days to come to a decision, but we know in the past he has signaled that he will block the deal. we'll find out in t-minus 15. ashley: t-minus 15. we'll have to leave it right there. taylor riggs, terrific stuff the as always. thank you so much. >> merry christmas. ashley: merry christmas to you. yeah, i love this time of year. it's christmas eve. let's take a look at the big board, why don't we? it's all been very mutedded. as i say, the markets close at 1 p.m. today, the bond market at2 p.m. the dow up very slightly, essentially gnat. jpmorgan chase is up there, boeing, walmart, amazon. all the very familiar names, all of those stocks up anywhere from a half to 1%.

take a look at the s&p 500 winners, why don't we? tesla is there, up 3% this morning. broadcom continues to motor if on, up more than 2%. we also have other familiar names. blackstone, for one, nvidia, of course, up another close to 1%. let's the take a look at those nasdaq winners while we're going through the list. and on the nasdaq eng -- again, tesla, broadcom, amazon is up as well as apple up more than half a percent. there you have it. very muted trading, but that's to be expected on christmas eve. all right, coming up, the white house says pakistan is working on developing a long-range missile capable of hitting the u.s. the question is, how serious is this threat? we're going to ask former state department spokesperson organ ortegas later in the show. progressive congresswoman alexandria ocasio-cortez issuing this stark warning about the state of politics: >> i don't think we're witnessing the start of an oligarchy, i think we are fully

here but completely unelected billionaire who has just taken over. ashley: are you kidding? an old garre arely? really? we're going to see what kennedy has to say about that. i can't wait for her thoughts. and donald trump promising to drill, baby, drill to boost the economy and, yes, bring down energy prices. gasbuddy guy patrick dehaan will be here to discuss all of that next. ♪ ♪

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ashley: -- christmas tree right here on the fox square right ear in new york city. what a great scene that is. the snow, the tree. why don't you come on down and see it for yourself? you can snap a photo in front of that tree and e-mail if it to us, varney viewers@fox news. you may see us open the show mt. 11 a.m. hour. norad is following santa and his reindeer can as they begin their journey across the globe. you can send your questions, by the way, to norad to varney viewers varneyviewersfox.com, and we'llen answer system of -- answer some of them in the 11:00 hour. look at them go. all right, the mad dash to get home for christmas, of course, is underway. max gorden joins me now from lax, los angeles airport. all right, max, we've been talking about talking about the american airlines ground stop. we know it's been lifted, but are the flights being delayed? >> reporter: yeah. well, flights are still delayed

especially at american airlines hubs. according to american airlines, this ground stop lasted for about an hour and was due the tech issues. let's take a look at the flight aware misery map. this tracks flight delays as well as cancellations. right now we're seeing significant delays in dallas, charlotte and miami. those are three american airlines hubs. also delays and cancellations in chicago, washington, d.c. and new york. this as the holiday travel season is expected the set records. according to aaa, a total of more than19 million americans are expected -- 119 million americans are expected to travel, up 2.8% from last year. aaa expects air travel to set a new record this holiday within is 7.85 million passengers flying. the average domestic ticket is $830 while international flights are averaging about $630 a ticket. i asked one flyer what she's done to prepare for the christmas travel rush. >> i don't think you can ever really prepare but, honestly,

just, like, checklists. and once you have all of that, it's just making sure you're on time. because you to never know, you know? if just wake up early. >> reporter: while many are taking to the skies, most americans are getting to their holiday destinations by road. 90% of americans will be driving to their destinations, but likely today is actually a pretty good day to be driving. most metros won't see as heavy traffic as over the weekend, but when it comes the flying, you should probably get to the airport early and especially if you're with american airlines, check with your carrier. ashley? if. ashley: very good advice. thank you very much, max. merry christmas to you as well. >> reporter: merry christmas. ashley: thank you, sir. donald trump has prod to open up the spigots on day one when he takes back the white house. gasbuddy guy patrick dehaan joins me now. tell me, patrick, where are energy prices headed in 2025, do you think? >> well, ash, i think there's

going to be a bit of pressure if on trump to deliver the drill, baby, drill mantra. by the way, u.s. oil production is closing out biden's term at record levels. i do expect trump is going to be a little bit more friendly, but unless he breaks out a magic wand, it may be hard to defy economics. if we see oil prices struggling to hold to $70 a barrel, it's certainly good news for consumers but, again, it may be tough for oil companies to be incentivized to increase production. we're closing out 2024 with some of the lowest gas prices we've seen in the last couple of years, so certainly good news for consumers that are hitting the road. ashley: yeah. and where are the cheapest prices right now? are they in the south, you know, oklahoma, the usual suspects, as they say? >> yeah. the usual suspects, ash. you go down into the states that have low taxes and have proximity to large oil refineries. we're talking about areas like oklahoma, texas, mississippi, alabama. a lot of areas in the deep south

and the gulf coast are seeing average gas prices around $2.50 a gallon. oklahoma city, one of the cheapest cities in the nation today, prices there in some areas down to $3.30 a -- 2.30 a gallon. we track over 100,000 stations across the country below $3 but also throwing in california where you may still see a station or two in downtown l.a. at $5-6 a gallon. ashley: that's absolutely insane. what about diesel prices that were remaining stubbornly high? has diesel come down as well as, you know, regular? >> yeah, it really has. regular gas look and diesel prices -- gasoline. diesel fell the its lowest level in over three years before gasoline fell to that same metric are. the average for deals about $3.49 a gallon, and that's terrific news for the broader my when you think about those semi trucks delivering those gifts ahead of christmas. it's been a good holiday season

for truckers. ashley: excellent. it's a good place to finish. patrick, thank you so much, sir. merry christmas to you. >> merry christmas, ash. ashley: all right. now this, new jersey dealers are pushing back on mandates for electric trucks. the new rules require truck manufacturers to ensure that at least the 7% of their sales are zero emission models starting january 1st, right around the corner. at least ten other states have adopted these rules, but new jersey dealers are calling for a delay saying that the mandates are just not feasible. there is a bill currently before the state legislature that would delay that mandate for another two years. you see the ev makers today though all moving higher. coming up, the biden administration is withdrawing student loan forgiveness plans, so is biden finally giving up on the handouts? professor brian brenberg will be here to discuss. and the amazon picket lines are quiet this christmas eve, but is the strike over?

madison alworth is there, and she'll have a full report next. ♪ last christmas i gave you my heart. ♪ but the very next day you gave it away. ♪ this year -- to go further, you need to be ready for what's down the road. as energy demand continues to rise, we're harnessing breakthrough innovations to increase production in the u.s. gulf of mexico. our latest deepwater development, anchor, produces

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ashley: it is christmas eve, and the amazon strike seems to have the taken just a little pause. madison alworths me now from maspath, new york. are we expecting the picket lines to pick back up after christmas? >> reporter: you know, ashley, i've not been able to get a clear answer from the teamster it is. they definitely are leaving the option available, but the reality is no one's here today, and this was not something that we were made aware of. they've been doing this strike since thursday of last week. the plan was to be here 24/7 until their a demands were met, but we showed up this morning at 6 a.m., and this sidewalk which had been covered with hundreds of peoply. so that's when we reached out to teamsters. they're still touting a victory even with the pause of the end of the strike. i want to pull up the statement. they said in part, quote: we told amazon there would be consequences for not coming to the table. there were. the teamsters know now that

amazon is scared. at least 200 amazon locations nationwide saw picket lines with thousands of amazon workers exerting their strength. as pickets break for the holidays, make no mistake that the team issters will never let up and workers will never stop fighting for their rights at amazon. so we saw strikes at nine locations with thousands of drivers strike thing. two things i do want to clarify, one, nub of the strikers were -- none of the strike thers were technically amazon employees. that's something the company has been very clear about. these were all contractors that work for third parties that amazon hires. so, and then to talk about the 200 locations, i know at least here in new york some of the protesters here were moved to other locations such as in brooklyn where they were picketing in order to convince more drivers to join the strike and to join teamsterses. teamsters. back here in maspath, you know, we saw strikes 24/7 from

thursday through today, although we now have this pause. so one day to go until christmas. -the big push ahead of the holiday. there's a lot of push before such a holiday. big question is, does this resume after christmas. teamsters unable to give me that official answer, but what we know for now is it's a white christmas here in new york, people are home and packages are getting to their house on time. ashley? if. ashley: madison, great report. you're with all by yourself there but merry christmas to you and stay warm. >> reporter: merry christmas. [laughter] ashley: all right. let's take a look at the markets very quickly if we can before with we head to the commercial break. and as you can see, up across the board. very muted. markets shutting down for christmas eve at 1 p.m. today eastern time. very quickly, take a look at the 10-year, if we can. that's been around 4.6%. that's to exactly where it is,

4.62%. taking a look at gold as well. we haven't talked much about gold. gold is down a little bit, down $3.50 at $2624. bitcoin was trying to rebound a little bit, the up $1700, it's now up $3,000 at $97,200. and again, a quick check of oil, up nearly $1 at $70 a barrel. okay. now you're up to speed. still ahead, kaylee mcghee white will react to democrats struggling with no clear message and no standout leader ahead of trump's presidency. border guy, lieutenant chris oliveraz will react to sanctuary city officials pushing back on trump's mass deportation plans. kennedy will go, will react to aoc claiming that we're witnessing the start of an oligarchy in america. and, yes, stay tuned for stuart varney if reading the classic christmas poem 'twas the night before christmas. you don't want to miss that. the 10 a.m. hour of "varney & company" is next.

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