welcome to "on the money." will the markets continue to climb in 2015 or is a cool down ahead? a look at what the new year will bring your pocketbook and portfolio. 3 million americans just got a raise. minimum wage is higher. a latin record label turning a profit. new year, new you. financial resolutions you can and should keep. "on the money" starts right now. >> this is "on the money" your money, your life, your future. now, becky quick.

>> here is a look at what's making news. investors cheered solid games despite a small sell-off on 2014's final trading dade, stocks ended at close to record levels. the dow closed in positive territory ending 2014 up by more than 7.5%. that's the longest streak since the nine-year run from 1991 to 1999. the s&p ended up more than 11%, that's three straight years of double digit gains. growth in america's economy was led by improved consumer confidence. markets were mixed on first trading day of the new year. oil continues to be a big story. the price of crude dropping by more than 50% over the last six months ending its worst year since 2008. excess supply blamed for the massive drop, also weakness in demand. it was the other black cold, coffee, that ended 2014 as the top performing commodity.

coffee gained more than 50% on the year. we finish up a busy 2014. coming up, the sixth straight gain of market gains. for a look at how it impacts you, we are joined by mike holland. michael far. thank you for being here. mike, why don't we start off taking a look back at what happened in 2014. do you think this is the type of thing the trend can continue with us continuing to go higher or do you get worried after six years of gains? >> whenever you have this long a period of higher prices, you begin to get cautious, at least in the motion. but the reality is the facts are behind this thing with respect to both the federal reserve and the economy. the federal reserve has been joined by all the other central banks of note. the economies across the globe are getting a little bit better or a little less worse if you will so that for the coming year, it looks like we may have more of the same. but having said that, yes, we

get cautious. and i have raised cash. >> you have? >> sure. >> is that waiting for a dip in. >> humility over the years when i have had this much good luck, i have to say, it may not continue. >> michael, how about you? >> only two types of people in our business. those who have been humbled and those who are about to be. i'm totally with mike holland. we have had a tremendous run. we had 53 new highs on the s&p 500 in 2014. that followed returns of 2013 that were up 32%. if the rule is to buy low and sell high, this ain't low. so i'm with mike. you've got to be cautionous. >> where do you think investors are right now? is the average retail investor in on this? are they now thinking, holy cow, i missed years of gains? what where do they stand? >> it's a great question. we talked a year ago about this.

it's the same. we lost a generation of investors in 2008. it was the combination of the dotcom implosion and then 2008. people said, this market is rigged. i'm never going to be in it again. they're gone. there are people who are getting antsy to get in because of the interest rates keeping people from putting a lot of money -- they are interested in something else. i think we still have a very large group of cynics out there. >> michael, let me ask you, mike hinted at this. but you have the federal reserve out there. they are likely to raise rates this year. how does that change the scenario? will the stock market be able to handle higher rates? >> that's the biggest question for 2015. will we be able to higher the rates if the fed doesn't blink and does what they say they will do. when we had our almost 10% decline in october, jim came out and said, maybe the fed needs to do more. boom, stocks went a lot higher.

warren buffett says american investors are funny. they hate stocks when they are cheap and love them when at the are expensive. in 2009 when we were below 7000 i tell people they should buy stock and they looked at me like i was out of my mind. now they want to buy stock. probably the greatest risk for 2015 is that sense of complacency and that overall feeling that all is well and you can only make money in the stock market. mike holland and i will tell you, it's easy to lose money in this business. >> let me ask you this. a year ago we would have been sitting around very few people would have predicted two things that happened this year. one is the decline in oil prices. the other is the incredibly l incredibly- low yield y get on the ten-year note. what's your prediction? >> a year ago, 3% ten-year treasuries i know two people who were talking about lower yields on the treasuries in the coming year. >> i can think of one.

>> i think that the reality is we're going to have stable interest rates for most of the year because of the fed. the fed has -- i think where he going to end up with a year where we're going to have some increase in the price of oil, but not by a lot, because the supply and demand balance, michael will tell you, it's not going to go away. >> what do you think, michael? >> oil prices are going lower, and you don't want to try to catch that falling knife. you have to remember 2008. in the second quarter, oil went up 47.5% in, like, 84 days. everybody said it was going to go higher. it was probably the time to sell. oil has dropped 45%. i don't know if you should buy it here, but you should look at it. anything that dropped 45% you start to look at and think about buying. but i'm with mike holland in that you have to be defensive when markets have moved this high, this fast without any kind of significant pull back.

it's a time to play defense. it's not a time to go for that last 25 cents that you can possibly make out there. it's not going to be worth it when this thing starts heading south. it always heads south. >> thank you both for joining us today. it's great talking to you. >> happy new year. >> happy new year. >> you, too. >> we are "on the money." the new year brought in a higher minimum wage in 21 states. will the rest of the economy will the beaoost or the pain? the label rescan b the digital revolution. it will make you feel like dancing. as we head to a break, look at how the stock market ended the week.

more than 3 million

americans got a raise. that's because minimum wage increases in 21 states went into affect january 1st. could more states make that same move or will congress increase the minimum wage nationally? jared bernstein is a senior fellow. dan mitchell is senior fellow. i would like to thank you for being with us today. i get the sense that you disagree with each other on this issue. let me ask each of you to make your case. why do you think this is a good thing? >> first of all, happy new year to you and dan. >> you, too. >> the reason is because this is a simple policy that has its intended affect. one of the problems we -- we talked about this before. while the economy has been expanding and growing very little of that growth has reached workers in the bottom half of the pay scale. increasing the wage floor gives them a little bit of a boost. you mentioned 3 million workers. that's less than 2% of the labor force.

it's worked well why so many states are embracing the change. >> why do you think it's not effective? >> well, first happy new year. although, i'm going to have an unhappy reaction to states increasing the minimum wages, because some people are going to be thrown out of work. it's the simple reality that if a low skilled employee doesn't have the work skills that justify a wage at x, then guess what, if the minimum wage is x, they're not going to be hired. they will be let go. >> let's respond to that, the congressional budget office has said they think about 500,000 people will be put out of work by this. how do you respond to that? >> let's be very clear. i take that point and i think you and dan both have a good substantive point. you are leaving out a keeny number. low wage workers will get a racrac

raise. there's no perfect policy. but here is a policy, the a -- >> i will agree. i would much rather have states make these decisions than the central government and washington. maybe jared and i in the spirit of the new year can agree that we should get rid of a minimum wage lot in washington and let the $50 state decide what's the best policy. i will still argue that government shouldn't be interfering with the right of consenting adults to sign labor contracts. >> i will meet you at least halfway, which is i agree that this movement towards states setting their own minimum wage, even cities, makes sense in part because price differences are really quite dramatic across the country. >> right. the cost of living is very different. >> very different in seattle than, say, in mississippi. however, you do need a federal floor. yes, i do like the state variation. but i also think we need a

higher federal level as does the president so that the states don't get too far apart from the federal floor. >> jared's idea of meet meg halfway, he gets 95% of the cake and i get 5%. >> hold on a second. how do you fix it? you are talking about a lot more inequality out there. how do you fix it if you don't raise minimum rage? we need economic growth. we need policies in the '80s and '90s where the aggregate burden of government was reduced. not all policies moved in the right direction. but when on net government was becoming less of a burden on the private sector, we had fast economic growth, we had lots of job creation and in many, many states and cities around the country in the '80s and '90s, the entry level wage was higher than the official minimum wage. that's a result that we would both be happy about. >> i hate to cut you off. we are out of time. 2015 is still young.

we will have you back to talk about it. thank you for your time. up next, a comeback you wouldn't expect. a record label that had its greatest hits in the 1970s. finding new fans and new life today. if you dread making new year's resolutions that want to change your financial life to the better, we will tell you how to reach your goals in 2015.

that's ray burretto, one who recorded in the 1960s and 1970s. the label went dormant thanks to tastes and financial pressures from the recording industry. now it's an unlikely survivor of the digital revolution. its tracks are being remixed for a new consumer. ♪ >> we now have the opportunity to take the remixes back out to the world. sg >> the music of the old, the music of the audiences. we listen to all kind of music.

>> we're getting ready to listen to a track by one of our artists back in the '70s. >> what we're going to hear originally is exactly what they recorded 40 years ago. ♪ >> you hear the vocal first on its own. ♪ hey to all you sisters ♪ >> tracks that have groups of people. >> you can bring in the base. you can hear my brother playing. he is doing that now live. there's a remix. i'm a servant to the label and the incredible artist that created the music. >> perfect example of taking the best of the past with the best of today to create something new. that's what we're doin >> my job is simple. give a little spice, bring it to the world and let them

rediscover the true magic, the true masters of the music. >> joining me is michael ruker which owns the label. thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> for those who don't know, fanya, in its original incarnation, what did it mean to culture? >> it was a part of the epicenter of new york. latinos coming to new york for the first time from the dominican republic, puerto rico, cuba, it became their home. it became the basis for who they are, what they stood for and how they presented themselves not only here in new york but around the world. >> the label that was basically dead, in fact a lot of the collections were literally gathering dust. we have some here in front of us. how did you rediscovery it? what happened? >> you know, we always knew the value of this catalog and the artists. so we searched for the opportunity to do the acquisition in the first place. then we were able to do it.

but at the time that we did the acquisition, they told us that there were no recording tapes left. >> what? did they not know? were they not telling you the truth truth? >> i don't know if they were telling the truth. what we found out is that there was a receipt for a storage unit in the hudson valley. we sent someone to go check out that storage unit. here is what we found, the original recording tapes. >> did you feel like a treasurer hunter at that point? >> it was amazing and still is today. every time i say, oh, my god -- we have over 4,000 of them. >> what's the most important commodity when it comes to the music industry? is it the recording? how do you do this and -- >> people enjoy the experience. what they forget is that it is an experience and it's a feeling. okay? then it becomes a memory. so what you have here are lifetime of memories for many people. a future lifetime of memories of those still to come.

>> fanya went from nothing to being profitable in 2013. how do you do that? >> we went digital, which was a big, big step in that time. most labels were still producing physical product. so we made the effort to say, no, we're going to go and focus on the digital space. it's the best thing that happened to us, because all of a sudden the world became our market as opposed to one part of the united states. >> when you say the world, you are talking about china, you are talking -- >> japan, europe, south america, asia. i was in croatia last summer. on a friday night in the town square, they were dancing salsa, which was amazing. we have dj's remixing and producing the music today for a younger audience in the clubs. >> you don't have to worry about being lost in translation? >> we don't have to worry about being lost in translation. what we want to make sure is are we making them dance?

>> for that, i would say yes. you can't hear that without feeling a little movement. >> absolutely. >> thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> up next, a look at the news for the week ahead. making plans to get financially fit in the new year can pay off. turn those resolutions into reality for the next 12 months and beyond.

for more on our show and guests go to our website and you

can follow us on twitter. here are the stories coming up that may impact your money this week. on monday, december auto sales. tuesday, factory order figures come out for the month of november. on wednesday, the international trade report for november is out. on wednesday, the fed releases the minutes from its last meeting. it is one for the money, two for the show. elvis would have turned 80 on thursday. one more birthday. friday marks the 64th anniversary of the u.n. opening in new york city. and on friday, the department of labor releases the unemployment rate from december. it's the start of the under you year and this year we highlight how to make paying yourself first a commitment you will keep all year long, in bull and bear markets. let's talk about your money, your future in 2015. where do we start? >> you have to start by keeping track of your spending. that's the first place to start. you want to know what's going in and what's going out in terms of

your finances. but you have to do it. you have to figure out -- that's how you figure out what costs to cut, how to pay down debt, how to save more. i want people to start small. don't think you have to save a ton at the beginning. small consistent steps, that's the key. >> something you won't miss every week, something that goes aside? >> exactly. that's why it's important to create a budget. that's the other resolution you have to have at the top. you want to create a budget, stick to it. that way you will know how much you can afford to save every month. the other thing you need to think about is as you figure out how much you will save, you will have to lower discretionary spending. we came out of the holiday season. everyone is happy. now it's time to cut back on that spending. figure out what you can cut down and start to build that emergency fund that's so important. we don't know what's going to happen this year or in future years that you may have to pay for. you want to have that emergency fund putting two quarters away every day, 50 cents a day, nearly $200 by the end of the

year. >> we have gotten through the holidays, all the parties. now it's time for the hangovers and all the credit card debt. how do you go back and deal with that and get through it? >> you have to look at what you owe. you have to look at the most expensive debt. that's going to be the debt that has the highest interest rate and try to pay that down. see if you can lower the interest rate. see if you can negotiate with the lender, the creditor and see if they can lower the rate a little bit. that can help -- sometimes they will if you call them up and you talk about it. if you are paying on time, that's another way to do it. you have to do your homework and fi figure out what you may want to go for. there are websites that can help you out. >> you mentioned saving for a rainy day. we also have to save for retirement. how do you tackle that. >> saving for the long time is key. you ought mate it. the easiest way is to put it away and not think about it. if you have a 401 k or retirement plan, that's a great way. save more then year.

save $18,000 in your 401k, that's more than you could have saved last year. you can save an extra $6,000 if you are over 50. again, $24,000 if you are 50 or older, that's a lot of money to put away for retirement. take advantage of the contributions and contribute to an ira if you are eligible. that can be a great way to save. >> thank you. >> sure. >> that's the show for today. thank you for joining me. each week keep it right here. we're "on the money." have a great one and we will see you next weekend.

good evening to you, thank you for joining us. terry mcsweeney is off tochnigh. dozens of people in san jose are living without hot water for nearly a week now. last tuesday a tree fell down near an apartment complex. well that knocked out the gas and the water service. now residents are waiting for the city of san jose to approve work to fix the gas line. we talked to residents there. you'll hear from them coming up in a half