try one you have all to yourself. at harbor freight, we do business differently from the other guys. we design and test our own tools and sell them directly to you. no middleman. just quality tools you can trust at prices you'll love. liz: fox business aelects i'm liz claman. headlines are crossing the tape from wall street to washington, d.c., to israel at this hour. we do have breaking news out of israel where fox news and the jerusalem post report that the first of 3 3 israeli and american hostages held for 467

days by hamas could be freed as early as this sunday. israeli officials say two u.s. citizens might be among the 33. and after a a short delay of the vote by the israeli cabinet to approve the hostages for a ceasefire deal with hamas, the militant group that was accused of reneging on parts of the agreement, it has now been confirmed that a cabinet vote will take place tomorrow. from israel to washington, d.c. where the confirmation hearing for treasury secretary scott is bessent warned the u.s.' $36 trillion debt shows america has a serious spending problem, but he also stressed congress should make permanent the 2017 tax cuts, a move the bipartisan policy center warns would blow a multitrillion dollar hell in the deficit. hole in the deficit. >> this is pass-fail. if we do not fix these tax cuts,

if we do not renew and extend, then we will be facing an economic calamity. and as always with financial instability, that falls on the middle and working class people. we will see a gigantic middle class tax increase. finish. liz: from d.c. to wall street with, the semiconductor equipment makers are commanding the bulls' attention. lam research, applied materials and klac are populating the top of the s&p 500 with applied material it is looking at a 6% gain. what is the catalyst here? taiwan semiconductor, the biggest fabbri fabricator of high performance computing microchips which includes a.i. servinger -- server chips. it reported a surge in quarterly profits. taiwan semi up nearly 5%. we should look at tesla here to. tesla is the biggest drag on the

nasdaq 100 on a report the ev maker has begun discounting the price of the cyber truck as unsold inventory of the all stainless steel ev pickup piles up. shares down 3.5%. ceo elon musk had a planned to churn out 250,000 of the all-stainless steel pickup per year, but quoting employees, "business insider" reports tesla has throttled down production of the futuristic looking truck and is offering buyers a $1600 price discount on the trucks which still cost more than $80,000. and social media stocks are on the move if southward here on a new york times report u.s. president-elect donald trump is considering an executive order to allow rival tiktok to to continue operating despite a pending legal ban until new owners are found. you've got snap down 4. meta and alphabet down under 11th. we're going to to get a -- 1%.

we're going to get a live report on the very latest breaking news. and we've got bank earnings transcribe, fresh economic data to tackle as a well. joining me now, peter tuchman and freedom capital markets' chief global strategist jay woods. peter, yesterday bank earnings led the markets to their a best day since november 6th, but we're not seeing a repeat of that. what's putting a lid on the major indices when it comes to the tow and the nasdaq? >> the market right now is in absolute reactive mode. last week we saw if jobs number that came out where bad -- where good news was bad for the market. we had a 244,000 new jobs came in, unemployment went from 4 4.2 to 4.1, and the market red carpet reacted -- the market reacted negatively. yesterday the cpi number came in a little weaker than we thought, and hen the market sold off hard on that, very reactive. request yesterday the are cpi number came out a little weaker

than expected, the market liked that because then there you've got bad news is good news. that number being weak is going the make the fed have a little more powder to be able the then position themselves for more interest rate cuts. so the market is reacting on all those news, one being negative, one being positive, and that's why when we don't have news that's making the market react, that's why you have sort of a mediocre, sideways market like you have today. liz: the dow's down about 37 points -- >> it's a nothing burger. [laughter] liz: a nothing veggy burger in a way. we're not seeing a lot of action, jay. [laughter] that said, you know, we got morgan stanley moving higher. they came out with bang-up earnings here not to mention bank of america which is moving in the opposite direction, going down. and then you look at the s&p winners. we already talked about the semiconductor equipment makers. what do you read from these moves when you start to look at market internals?

jay, jay. >> go, jay. >> hey, peter, how are you, buddy? >> good to have you. >> yeah, no. the financials, let's start with them first. first of all, most of the financials, especially the big cap names, crushed it on earnings. that was a pleasant surprise. they did it on the back of some positive numbers in the cpi. so we goa relief rally from a bit of a selloff. we did retrace that whole rally from the if election, so right now we're at this limbo level with we're kind of looking for that next catalyst to take us higher. jpmorgan, morgan stanley making new highs. this is positive, but it's not enough of a catalyst to lift the rest of the market with it. then you talk about the semiconductor stocks. taiwan semi made new highs, but it's starting to fade a little bit. the other names had been beaten up. they're starting to rally a bit off of lower levels so we're goa getting a slight rally, but we're not getting nvidia leading us, broadcom taking us much

higher. there's this lack of momentum, and we're in this limbo period waiting for trump tax, tariffs to see what that will do with the market, see what doge can do, plus the fed meeting at the end of the month. they have us in this wait and see kind of mentality. great news from the financials, solid news from some of the semiconductors but not enough to really get us back on that upward trend. liz: not even the fed funds futures right now show a pause, peter. 97 chance that the fed will do nothing -- 97% -- in the next meeting a couple weeks from now. and i look at, say, for example, the retail sales number. you just talked, peter, about how bad news was good news with the cpi coming in lighter than expected. now we've got retail sales for december that came in just a tad lighter than expected meaning consumers didn't spend at such a fast clip as they had the month before. so why isn't that gripping the markets' attention in a positive

way? >> you know what? look, 2024 is already in the books, right? and so for us to start reacting to that, people are still really wound up over the fact that they felt santa claus never showed up in the last ten days of trading, the last five days of '4 and the first five days of 2025. as jay says, heir waiting for the next catalyst, for the market to go up or lower. right now we've got so many moving parts around january. january can be a bit of a sticky month in general, especially a month when you've got a presidential inauguration, and mr. trump already making sort of inroads into his positioning within the marketplace. so literally from day-to-day we're going to see the market go up and down when we get economic news whether it's cpi, ppi. all eyes are going to still be on the fed, what are they going to do and how are they going to position themselves whether we're going to to get any -- markets can handle anything

except expectations that are not fulfilled. everyone is so attached to the only reason the market is going to go up is if we lore interest rates. they should realize the reason they're positioning themselves for less cuts is because the economy's doing better than expected. liz: okay. >> that's good news. liz: it is. but so, jay, when you're talking about tech as you just referenced the semiconductor makers, equipment makers, which are doing a banger job today at least for the bulls, microsoft is the only mag 7 stock that's in the green today. everybody else is in the red. is are these names no longer that, i guess, risk-off play in a way where people say, well, no matter what happens, apple and invid request cra should really be doing well? they're not doing the greatest today. it's not a huge selloff, but is there a way to capture a different area of tech? >> no, i still think you want to be in the leadership in technology which would be the apples, the amazons, the googles and microsofts of the world. we're just seeing a little bit

with -- of a slowdown. we're in that lull between earnings and economic data. when i look at earnings, the financials started us off well, but it wasn't enough to lifted everybody else. let's wait another -- to lift everybody else. let's wait another two weeks. people aren't ready to just rush and put money to work. they a want to kind of get a feel for what the fed is doing because we just forgot two day days ago before the cpi and ppi we're talking about they shouldn't have cut, and now we're talking about maybe two cuts are back on the table. right now we know there's not a rate cut coming at the next meeting. let's focus on economic data, earnings and once we get through this lull if the big tech report stellar earnings and good guidance, we'll get back into this bull run which i suspect will happen the second half of february into the end of the first quarter. liz: okay, we'll take it. to recap, president-elect donald trump's pick for treasury

secretary testifying before the senate finance committee today and pushed for the passage, permanent passage, of the 2017 trump tax cuts. taiwan semiconductor reporting an earnings and revenue beat, and morgan stanley jumping on strong results and net interest income. the holiday shopping season hit a record $1.2 trillion, but the headline within that headline, consumers picked buy now, pay later options at a blistering pace. bnpl platform affirm sits at the center of all that spending. ceo max levchin joins us next live the tell us how he plans to capitalize on the burgeoning preponderance haiti of his site, but we'll also ask what could happen to the his customer base if interest rates stay higher for longer. "claman countdown" is coming right back. s&p up 3. ♪

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two-thirds of a percent if at the moment after wolf research down graded the chipmaker to peer perform from outperform. the brokerage cited lower expectations for data center graphic processing unit revenue this year, the big chips that charge all of the bots, right, the chat bots. amd is expected to to report fourth quarter and full-year results on february 4th. u.s. bank corp., let's take a look at that one. it's moving in the opposite direction of morgan stanley which we showed you earlier. it's down 6%. shares of the seventh largest bank in the united states on pace for their worst day in more than a year and a half. the bank's net income nearly doubled year-over-year, but net if interest margin fell more than expected to 2.7 1%. that key metric causing investors the cash out on stock. they're calling themselves tiktok refugees. social media influencers who are scrambling the find a new platform if tiktok goes dark

this weekend. we'll take a looked at their options in a live report when "the claman countdown" comes right back. stay tuned. ♪ ♪ ♪

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liz: one wall street firm has decided on it favorite fin-tech. william blair initiating coverage on a firm with an outperform rating saying it believes alternatives to traditional finance will be popular among younger consumers.

analysts saying that affirm is a trailblazer in the space because it provides easy to understand finance products, flexible payment options, transparent pricing, no late fees and clear disclosures. wells fargo also boosting its price target on the stocked today from $55 to $70. the stock right now down just barely here, but it is the up about 5 over just -- 5% over just the past two days, and week to date it's up 6%. the pair of grown up grades -- upgrades ignoring a study which found consumers with poor credit scores do make up a majority of buy now, pay later borrowers. what does that really mean? affirm cofounder and ceo max levchin joining me now in a fox business exclusive. let's start off with the valentines wall street is bestow thing you. what would you say is the number one thing that probably grabbed their attention to get you those upgrades? >> it's very nice of them to

notice. [laughter] i'm happy to hear. i think, you know, it's been a well-kept secret for about a decade now that young people dislike, maybe even strongly dislike things like hidden fees and compounding interest and all sorts of other shenanigans that the financial services industry has made a lot of to its profits over the last many decades. affirm is a great alternative. we don't charge late fees, we don't compound interest, we don't do deferred interest and all these terrible things that people love to hate. it's been growing really well for the last many years, and i'm glad others are noticing. liz: well, i wouldn't -- yeah, exactly. i wouldn't say it's in a nascent stage of the industry, but buy now, pay later has been well entricep. ed. and yet you -- entrenched. you look at this past holiday, and you had adobe which puts this together in its analytics division said from november 1st to december if 1st saw record holiday sales -- 31st -- $18.2

billion. i'm interested the know -- to know the demographic of your number one buyer. >> it certainly skews young. the generation that we serve, it's more than one at at this point, be my eleven y'alls certainly anchored the core affirm. these are the kids that witnessed 2008. they have a vivid memory of housing being sold short and credit card debts driving people to bankruptcy, and they wanted an alternative. and that's when we came along and said, here we are. we were founded a couple years after the great financial crisis specifically the deliver honest financial products. it's in our mission. that was the anchor tenets, and now gen-z, their successors, is right here with us, you know, coming of age, getting their own financial reality in order. we are serving them too, and that's the faster growing group, and we expect to continue growing welshes you know, folks that are just starting out their

financial lives. liz: how will the interest rate picture going forward affect if them if the federal reserve decides that the economy is stable enough that it doesn't need future rate cuts or at least as many interest rate cuts as people had hoped? that means that rates are higher, and we might see a pause. that's what the odds are for the fed funds futures coming up in this january meeting. how do you anticipate or model for what might happen to their buy now, pay later, i suppose, spending that they do? >> i do not have a crystal ball,s so seeing the future is always tricky. but we have performed through the likes of both growth and credit performance and consumer demand really well during the elevated rate period. let's not forget we're down from peak rates very recently. affirm performed really well financially. just look at our last couple of

quarters, in the 5% territory. folks need more access to credit, they need honest financial products, honest access to credit, something they can actually understand while they're using it. and we anticipate being there to observe them in the periods of high rates and and lower rates. liz: we're at 4.25-4.5%, so you're doing just as well and possibly better than when rates were even higher. [laughter] very interesting. talk about the partners that that you have. who saw -- i know you're in a quiet period, so we don't want to put you in a bad position here. but whom do they flock to when they're deciding where they buy from? >> yeah. i can certainly say that we just had yet another greatest holiday shopping season yet. if you're growing as well as we do, not a difficult, not a tricky thing to say. holiday season we saw really strong demand in general merchandise. that's primarily really a reflection of the fact that a

folks have absolutely taken affirm mainstream. when they go for the black friday shopping list, they look to affirm to provide services to them, and that's what we kid. but -- we did. a couple of cool highlights that are slightly off the beaten path, so i've called this holiday season sort of great revival of the covid categories. if you look at the last couple of years, electronics were really kind of the unhappy category. folks bought so many nice big screens for their home offices and home theaters during the lockdowns a this nobody if needed a big tv. that is no longer true. we saw the beginning of that that in the summer if quarter, and we really did not see much slowdown during black friday. travel is not over. folks were saying we're all traveled out, the lockdowns came and went -- not true. travel is still a thing. people are taking cruises, flying to faraway lands. that's still happening. apparel was one of the strong categories for us.

liz: okay. >> if things that people stocked up on during covid, i think we're finally out of that i don't need so much of that anymore, i can now buy it again. liz: what do you have to say about the consumer financial protection bureau's new study that they just dropped this week that says the people with who buy most from buy now, pay later, they're the ones who are in a poor category when it comes to income? do you get concerned that sometimes people are buying too much? how do you gauge that? do you watch? do you have a department that makes sure people don't get into trouble? >> the entire company is that department. credit is job number one. if you looked at our external communications, literally every single all-company e-mail i send, a vast majority starts with, just remember, credit is job number one. and the numbers speak for themselves. we can see in every one of our published reports over many quarters we are substantially lower in loss and delinquencies than the credit card industry. so i can only speak to our own consumer base. but we are watching credit all the time and and performing

really, really well. and there's a reason behind it. our business model is can designed to to only work if credit works for us. we don't charge late fees, there's no income there. we don't compound if interest. there's no tricky, hidden ways of making money other than folks we lend money to pay us back on time, every time. and so long as you have that clear in your head and you actually mind credit and you're good at underwriting, which we certainly are, it works just fine and really serves the folks who need it. liz: max levchin, good the see you. more than 70% gain over just the past six -- ail -- actually, now 81%. [laughter] nice move there. thanks, max. great to see you. >> thank you. great to see you, thank you. liz: well, tiktok's days are numbered here in the united states. but there is a big but right now. so the federal law banning the chinese-owned app that takes effect on sunday. biden administration officials telling fox business, our position on this has been clear,

tiktok should continue to operate you should american -- under american ownership. given the timing of when it goes into effect, over a holiday weekend a day before inauguration, it will be up to the next administration the implement. well,, now "the new york times" reporting in the last couple of hours president-elect trump is considering an executive order to how it to keep operating until a new u.s. owner is found. with tiktok possibly coming to a close this weekend, blackout, the 170 million americans on the app are searching kind of front ifically for alternatives to the bytedance-owned platform while keeping their fingers crossed. the potential ban having the opposite effect. chinese-owned apps called red note and another one called lemon8, they're topping the charts. and then, of course, there's youtube, flip, a whole bunch of others. let's go live the lydia hu with, i don't know, how close are we

here? does that give some of these people who love tiktok and make their money on it some hope? >> reporter: you know, i think they are holding out hope, but they certainly aren't resting on their laurels, so to speak. they are out trying to find other types of social media homes. you mentioned bytedance's lemon8 ranked second on apple's free top apps. but coming in first, red note, also known as little red book, that app's name is inspired by communist china's first leader, mao zedong, and yet we are still seeing hundreds of thousands of these so-called tiktok refugees flocking to it. it has soared to the number one spot in apple's a app store. of at least 700,000 downloads in just two days. but there is a question on how long in this flight the red note specifically will last or is permitted. you know, tech analysts are quick to point out it is completely chinese-owned, so information gathered by red note flows direct directly into

china. and our colleague, edward lawrence, he spoke with the current ambassador the to china about the rise of these other chinese apps. reason to this. listen to this. >> reporter: as tiktok threatened, other apps are rising. you're seeing this as -- is this a strategy by, you think, the chinese communist matter? >> i do think it is a strategy. you know, china is a very significant global power. they want to overtake the united states in power. they want to diminish us. our job is to retain our position and defend our interests. and one of them is the free flow of information. and that's where this data transfer is so important. >> reporter: but some tiktok refugees that we have spoken with say they know the risks, and they're not bothered. they are joining red note anyway. listen to the. to this. >> i think that all of these apps have, like, hose types of risks, and it's -- at the end of the day, if this is what everyone's going to be using then, like, i'll be there. >> reporter: but maybe tiktok

refugees, liz, won't have to lee tiktok after all. as you mentioned, president-elect trump's pick for national security adviser, congressman if michael waltz, said trump is considering options the save tiktok. it comes as the ceo was reportedly invited and is now planning to attend monday's inauguration, and, liz, we're getting information in in the last hour that billionaire frank mccourt, whom you've had on the program just earlier this week with, he made an offer to buy tiktok from from bytedance. he's telling reuters now that he's open to keeping the original investors including bytedance's founder involved in tiktok if he were to acquire it. so the big question there is does frank mccourt's offer become viable? if so, there's a provision in the law that would allow, you know, a 90-day delay on the blocking of tiktok go into place is to that the parties could perhaps pursue that deal.

is we're keeping a close eye on frank mccourt's offer, liz. liz: yeah. you and the 170 million people who are addicted to tiktok. that's part of the issue, certainly. @redfoxliz, we're on tiktok doing market updates and all kinds of investment stuff. we'll see what happens. lydia, thank you very much. let's turn to the santa ana winds battering the west coast. they have somewhat calmed over los angeles, but mayor karen bass says l.a. is not out of the wildfire woods yet. the potential for fire growth still exists, so we sent fox business reporter max gorden into the woods. that is a live picture of the elite fire fighting team he has been spending hours with to show us how they're stomp thing out any new threats -- stomping out any new threats including ones by arsonists. the l.a. area chamber of commerce if president and ceo growing a new pile of money. she's soon going to be to hand it out to countless small businesses desperately trying to

recover from the deadly destruction. how and where is she going to toe deploy it? it's a fox business exclusive next on "the claman countdown." ♪ ♪ ♪ you'll get better when you're not blamed for a condition you can't control. ♪ you'll get better when your pain isn't minimized, dismissed, forgotten. we will never stop trying to get better. because when medicine gets better, all of us can get better. ♪

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liz: it is more than a week after the southern california wildfires began torching over 40,000 acres and killing at least 25 people, and now a new threat. this time human. the l.a. district attorney's office has announced that two men many were caught attempting to start new fires yesterday. they have both been charged with felony arson. the incidents were unrelated and occurred in different parts of los angeles county over the weekend. but now there's an elite fire fighter team in the, in -- well, from everywhere, right? but they're in tarzana right now ready to douse whatever blaze anyone or anything tries to start. and fox business' max gorden got

to ride along with them to get a firsthand look at how they do it. he joins me live from the hills of santa monica above tarzana. max. >> reporter: hey there, liz. yeah, there's about 5,200 fire-fighting personnel if on this fire right now, the palisades fire. and we've been tagging along with some hand crews here in the steep and rugged terrain of the santa monica mountains. now, if you think of this fire as a battle, this is where firefighters made a stand. you can see all around me this pink retardant where fire-fighting aircraft were dropping as the flames were rushing on in. and then you can see the hand line that crews are now widening right now. this, essentially, is all part of the containment process in the effort to get this fire fully ec ting wished and fully -- extinguished and fully contained. i can explain this all day long, but who can explain it better is cal fire battalion chief bob

simmons. tell us where we're standing right now and what we've been looking at all day. >> so what we're looking at here is all the pink, obviously, from the aircraft they dropped. they stopped the major fire front. and from there we can get the hand crews in. so we bring a preliminary line in that we scratch in with our tools and our chainsaw, and we stop the fire there. and then we keep crews on it constantly putting out all the hot spots, removing the brush, digging trenches and berms to catch anything that might try and roll into the green side. so we're out here now just improving all of that to con if firm that that we have it contained, and then we'll push a couple hundred feet into the black and put out any hot spots we find. >> reporter: now, we're pang all over right now and -- panning all over and showing the viewers what this place looks like. tell me about the challenges of fighting fire in such steep and rugged terrain. >> the biggest challenge so to keep everyone safe and the keep

them on their feet and not falling. it is -- it gets very steep. you don't decide where the fire goes, it decide where it goes. and keeping everybody hydrated, keeping them, keeping all the nutrition, you know? if keeping them well rested. and just keeping the fire out, i guess. >> reporter: now, chief, we've seen hand crews and crews from all over the western u.s. there's even crews from mexico and canada here. what's it like to be working with firefighters that might not be from california, they might be out of state, even out of country? >> well, i think it's a great mix. i think we all grow from that. we share fire-fighting techniques and speak with each other offline, and i think we all grow from that. that just opens up more doors for us to be able to go help them in future circumstances. >> reporter: battalion chief bob with simmons, thank you so much for all of your work and for talking with us. once again, the palisades fire currently at32% containment.. --

22%. it's held steady at just under 24,000 acres the past couple of days, so we really haven't seen any significant growth over the last day or two. no big plumes of smoke off on the hissen, no big flames -- horizon, no big flames on the hillsides. firefighters making a lot of progress here, so folks in southern california probably breathing a sigh of relief. liz: the whole country owe es those firefighters a debt of gratitude. max, thank you so much. they're up in the hold up that towns, but down below the deadly wildfires have reduced more than 12,300 structures, many of them small businesses, to ash. accuweather is now estimating a $250-275 billion total economic loss from the disaster. in response the los angeles area chamber of commerce has created a new fund for small businesses impacted by the wildfires. through the fund the chamber's going to provide grants ranging from $5,000-10,000 to directly

support small businesses. the organization has been raising money hand over fist. money is coming in from big and small companies and not just in california. we've got bank of america providing an initial donation of $500,000. chevron and amazon-owned ring giving $250,000 each. joining me now in a fox business exclusive, l.a. chamber of commerce president and ceo maria salinas who serves more than 235,000 businesses across the los angeles business. maria, thank you for joining us. i need the latest, up to date number of how much money has come in. >> thank you. well, we will be making more announcements, liz, and i'm pleased to share that so many companies have stepped up and are putting this request through their systems and their processes. i think we will be able to double that number before the week is out, for sure. we have gotten calls from near

and father. and far. from organizations like the u.s. chamber of commerce who has stepped in to really help us establish this relief fund in the manner that it can serve those that were impacted the most. as you know, the u.s. chamber has supported many disasters across the country, and they've lent their expertise and best practices to the l.a. area chamber so that we can serve our communities in this moment of need. liz: maria, i think it's great. when? these businesses are desperate. >> yeah. liz: and let me just say this to our viewers, we want to show you what we're talking about here. the palisades village, this is tiny, small businesses. we have a before and after picture. can we take that full screen, folks, so that we can see? before, obviously, on the left. after on the right. nearly every single small business is gone.

it's just gone, maria. so when can they start to get their checks? >> so we are in fund raising pose if right now. we're reaching out to our -- mode right now. we're reaching out to our member company. we're taking calls, like i said, from many companies from outside california. the generosity is overwhelming. and we expect the, to roll this out in about the next two weeks. we're targeting february 3rd. i am so pleased with the response thus far. we're trying the get to 10 million but, honestly, we are still trying to understand the magnitude of this devastation. and we know that we're going to need a lot to get in this going. one thing that i wanted to mention about the fund of what we're looking to do so to really bring comprehensive resources to these small businesses that have been impacted. and what i mean by that, the grants are one thing. that's a direct financial

relief. but we also have a very broad network of community development, financial institutions, cdfis, that work with local businesses, local small businesses. we already have that network at at the l.a. area chamber we are activating so that it can be part of the continuum of capital that we believe will be needed here for these businesses. technical assistance will also include advisers. we have advisers today. we are rallying our members who already have volunteers that are ready to support small businesses and helping hem navigate this disaster. so i looked at this as a very come are presencive approach -- comprehensive approach. those pictures that you're to showing there, you know that in los angeles every neighborhood has their commercial centers. they have their own main street, ask if they're gone. shops, restaurants, you know --

liz: barbershops --? >> -- all sorts of -- barbershops, pet stores, the whole bit. i've been fielding cars from many of the small businesses. i live here in pasadena, so the pasadena-altadena area that has been impacted, that's my community. people know me and have been calling me. and i understand what a great need that we have right now. liz: well, you guys are watching. anybody with some money, please send it to the l.a. chamber of commerce to help out with these small buzzes. -- businesses. maria, thank you very much for all you and your team are doing. >> thank you very much for the opportunity. liz: keep us posted. fox is already in on it, by the way. fox in support of families impacted by the california wildfires has gone through in this, and you can help too. go.fox/red. >>s is the web site -- go.fox/redcross is the web site,

going to efforts to help people get back on their feet. there's a qr code that you can put your phone up to and take it if that's easier for you. the holiday quarter shopping numbers, i know they're in the rearview mirror, but some investors are at the checkout line and some at the returns counter. former gap ceo mickey drexler joins us next to tell us who wore it best when it comes to capturing america's wallets. "the claman countdown" is coming right back. dow is trying to pound. into and stay in positive territory. it's flipping between red and green here. let's see if it happens over the commercial break. ♪ ♪

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age. dvr. just watch us live. we done get tranche of retail earnings till later this week and curtain raiser and target is lower despite raising its holiday quarter comparable sales forecast and off the lows of the session and investors did not like what they had to say, down 1% at the moment and they did not increase the fiscal fourth quarter eps guidance and disappointing from investors and apparel brands including lululemon and abercrombie and pitch and american eagle raised quarterly expectations and abercrombie, american egoand will lulu in the red and macys and in order strap moving higher. we're -- nordstroms is moving higher and verne a ceo of jay j. crew and the gap, mixy drechsel

and creator of old navy. don't forget that. what does it tell you, the numbers we see and the reaction we're getting from some of these retailers about their when you're a public company, this is what happens and other thing i see t depends on the discounting going on. and, you know, my favorite, favorite retailer with tj maxx and look at them or you look at burlington coat factory, discounters. everybody seems discounted but there on the right day, you get the discount.

liz: gap has caught an edge smear in a positive way, it's been doing really well. they have a brand new fax expert on staff, zack posen and my 23-year-old is saying mom, what about gap? i mean, gap hadn't been cool for quite some time in the last couple of years. are they doing something right now? >> it's hard to talk about a business that one was involved with emotionally for so many years. it's a different gap today, and in the fashion world, i was reading an article about merchants running retail or not. i always say, who's the

authority that says that? because people write about things and i think richard's a friend and doing a great job. but, i always judge businesses that like how they look and are. gap is doing well. i don't know about old navy. those were emotions for the last few years. i don't know. maybe it's a different definition and very standard. liz: we want you always to come on the set. high standard. great to see mickey drexler. that's it for us. mixed market today. lauren: hello, folks. welcome to kudlow. i'm larry kudlow. treasuryman scott bessent joined the ship and