tells us how europe should bail out. let's make a deal. the super committee comes down to the wire. will they meet in the middle and find $1.2 trillion to cut? we're talking about the bird. is it too much to crunch the nuers? the wal street journal r report begins righght now. here's a l look at what's making news as we head into a new week on wall street. retail figures came in much stronger than expected. that was for the month of october. they rose half a percent. the sixth straight monthly increase ahead of the big holiday shopping season. that's important because consumers make up 70% of the u.s. economy. but the markets were not cheered mostly because of, well, you guessed it, more worries about europe and european debt.

the focus now movi to italy and now france and now concerns that american banks could suffer europe's economy slows down. a mixed bagag as we movee to th end of earning season. dell surpassed expectations on profits, but it raised revenue. target came in ahead of expectations. oil pricescreeping back up again, rising past the $100 a barrel mark on wednesday for the firsrst time since july. partly because the u.s. economy is not doing as badly as some had predicted. warren buffe acquired shares of ibm, intel, cbs, caremark and directv. joinining me nowow is managing director and head of global equities at pimco. neil also oversaw the bank government program, t.a.r.p.

he bs us a unique perspective. thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> i feel like this is the topic every day on wall street and in the u.s. last week everyone was concerned about italy, its rising bond yields. now we're focused on france which has a triple a rating. is this contatagion now spreadi? what do you thin happens now? >> it absolutely is spreading from the peripheral starting in greece except for germany. germany is, as we call it, the cleanest dirty shirt in europe, so it absolutely is spreading and the markets are looking r a final, definitive solution. in our view only the european central bank hasas the power to deal with this crisis now, and 's going to be up to them to take bold action the way we took in the u.s. with the t.a.r.p. and the federal reserve to stabilize the u.s. finanancial system. we need such a final definitive solution in europe, and we haven't seen it yet. >> that's interesting. do you think that's what they

ne, they need a t.a.r.r.p.-like program europe? >> in a sense. in the u.s. we went to the taxpayers to pay for the t.a.r.p. and used that t stabilize the u.s. financial system. europe is a little bit different because you have 17 countries that all have to reach agreement before they can spend money. so only the european central bank has the ability -- if it has the willingness, it has the ability to act unilaterally to y to stabilize the system. it's a very tough thing politically, but they y have th power do it. >>hat's very critical. really great point there, neil. so what impact does this have on the united states? everybody is t trying to figure out, are we going to become a safe haven now because our banks are in better shape, or is the world too interconnected again? >> i think in the short term, the u.s. is relatively stronger than what's happening in europe, so in the short term the u.s. could be a safe haven. but if the eurozone were to fragment, if the european experiment, so to speak, were to

fail, that would absolutely affect america and it wld absolutelyly bring our economy down into a recession and likely trigger a global recession. if the eurozone were to fragment and the eu collapse, it would bring the global economy down and there would be no safe place to run. >> where do you see the u.s. economy going? putting that aside for a moment, do you think we hit a double dip recession? the was a smattering of news on the good front lately. earnin rose and were strong. that's good news. whatat's your take on the u.s. economy? >> hing that catastrophe we just talked about, we think the s. economy is going to continue to muddle along. we'll see some positive economic data point, some negative economic data point, but at a very high level, for 30 years, e american economy borrowed money to fuell our consumption. now americans are paying dowown their dekbt, which is a good

thing, but we're more limited than we used to. in the next seven years, we're in for a harder adjustment period and, unfortunately, sustained high unemployment. >> neil,,during the recent republican debates, w really saw a strong distaste for any bailouts once agai you heard them on the gop presidential debates, whether it be automakers europe, and america's financial institutions. you were the administrator of ththe gornment's$8 billion t.a.r.p. program. how do you defend the program looking back with the persrspective that you can give? anything you would have done differently? >> we defend the program --- we were a republica administraratin that believed in free m markets and hated interving to stabilize banks and bailing anybybody out. the analogy that ihink ben bernanke used, which is a great analogy, imagine you told someone don't smokee in bed. it's very dangerous. but then they go ahead and do it and their house catches on fire. you would d like their house to burn down to teach them a lesson, but if burning down

their house burns down the entire neighborhood, youave no choice but to go and put out the fire even though they don't deserve the assistance. so we intervene to stabilize banks not for the sake of banks but for the sake of the american economy. >> so given all the pressures we've seen in the economy a all the uncertainties, h how should people be investing these days? what are you doing on that front? >> we're very focusesed on a fe things. we're focused inin investing on the long term. the short term isoing to be dominated by these macrofactors in the u.s. and that's overwhelming individual investmentnts, such as individu stocks people are buying. focus on the long term is very important. be sure you can stomach volatility. if you need your cash in the next three or six mononths to b a house, you probably shouldn't be invested in equities today. but if you're saving for retirement, inequities can be attractive. for example, exporters exporting

the higher growth markets, such as emerging markets. he c equitihehe can wiequiti and fix tease are attractiveve. >> thanks for lking to me. >> thank you very much up next on "the wall street journal report," the clock is ticking in washingtoton. can members of the congress's super committetee get the fisca house in order? our vice chair tells me why the stakes are so high. and later, cleaningng up th biggest eating day of the year. we'll dig into the numbers behind that thanksgiving feast. as we take a break, take a look at the stock market end of week.

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$300 back. hurry, go to verizon.com/greatdeal. fios. a network ahead. contact the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v. welcome back. the november 23rd deadline is approaching for congress' joint select committee to agree to a plan that cuts one and a quarter trillion dollars from the federal deficit over t t next cade. this is the latest in a number of attempts to find a sustainable path to a smaller deficit, including the commission on fiscal responsibility and reform known as "the simpson bowls plan"s well as the bipartisan popolicy center debt reductionask force.

the co-creator of that plan joins me now from the vice-chair of the federal reserve and sounding director of the congressional budget office. alice ridlinin is with us. thanks for being on the show. >> thank you, maria. it's great to be here. >> how h high are the stakes rit now for the supercommittee? >> wwell, i think the stakes ar very high. we have not been ae to get on top of this defic problem. our normal procecesses of government seem to be tototally broken. the supercommittee has a cnce, with extraordinarpowers, to do what is necessary to reduce the looming deficits, and i would hope -- have hoped fofor a long time -- that they would go beyond the minimum to put together a plan that would actually get the deficit on a sustainable track, meaning that our debt would notbe rising fast than our economyis growing, which is what is

happening now and prorojected t happen. >> and everybody knows you can't just keep spending and not sasaving. this is from an individual standpoi standpoint, a rporate standpoint, and of course a country standpoint. let me ask you, alice, if no deal is reachehed, the doomday scenario for automatic cuts in 2013 is called sequestration. walk us through whatthat looook like. > sequestration is s a terri word, but it was jt meant to be a sorort of damicles hanging over the committee saying, if you don't get a sensible deal, then we have an automatically unsensible deal. this would cut proportionately across the board, account by account, both in domestic spending and in defense. now, that's totally mindless and nobody wants it to happen. so it wasn't sposed to happen. it was supposed to get them to the table and to the deal.

>> so what would you like to see happen? you sasaid a moment ago you wou like to see even more thahan th minimum, the minimum, of course, being $1.2 trillion. whwhat would you l like to see hahappen here? >> 1.2 trillion sounds like a lot of money, butt it's over te ars, and it's not actually enough to stabilize the deficit to keep the future debt from growing faster than the economy. so what i would like to see is something th does stabilize the debt, and that's going to take two major reforms. reform of medicare and possibly medicaid o the entitlement side and reform of the taxx code so that w we can raise moreevenues from a better and fairer and simpler tax system. >> that couldean lowering corporate taxes but getting rid of all those loopholes and ways that corporations can get around paying taxes; is that right? >> i it isn'tust corporations,

it's individualss well. our whole tax cut in both the corporate and individual income tax is just riddled withh specil provisions and things that have been favored by congress for one reason or another. >> it's amazing to someone mentioned to me the otr day that the number of people who are not paying taxes have been risi so 52%of the country pays no tax? then you've got that top 1% paying 40% of the tax? so it really does seem like we need reform here and we need it quickly. >> wel i wouldn't bleed for the top 1%. they have actually made out extremely well, and the reason they pay so mucuch tax is they earn so much compared to the rest of us. and the reason that about half the population doesn't pay income tax, they do pay plenty of other taxes like the payroll

ta the reason for tt is they don't earn enough. >> let me ask you about entitlements. they've, of course, been a hot button issue of this debate. you just mentioned medicare/medicaid. talk more about the political difficulty in cutting the cost of mecare. the idea that your bipartisan policy center t forth that both pre serves traditional medicare but also caps the growth of mecare to save money. how do you do it? >> well, we would preserve as you say, traditional medicare. everybody could stay in it if they wanted to, but we would also offerer competitive biddin on an exchange, and seniors would have a choice between ststaying in a traditional planr going to the exchange and picking a plan that would offer theame benefits, a a plan th would have to t take you, guaranteed access. we think it's the best of both worlds. it has the opportunity for

competitition to drive down the costs and make health care more efficient, but it preserves traditional medicare at the same time. >> congressional approval, alice, the rating is at an almost laughable 9%. i mean, 9% of the country approves its congress. is it too late for them to slog past the polics and come up with a bold solution? >> i hope not, maria. they have such an opportunity. they have extraordinary powers and they are a group of qui sensible republicans and democrats. why wouldn't you fix the problem, which the country badly needs to have fixed? >> absolutely. alice, it's nice to see you. thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you, marie a. >> we'e'll see you soon. alice ridlin joining us. up next, the bird is the word. the $40 billion turkey industry about to celebrate its biggest day of the year. day of the year. we'll take you behind the what going on here? hey, whats up guys? this is not how witness protection works!

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thefourth thursday of november neerz, cooks and consumers everywherere are preparing for the biggest eatig day of the year. will your thanksgiving feast mean famine for your wallet? ed editor in chief at food magazine. when food prices go upup, does that dictate or impact t way famililies plan their meals? >> i think it certainly impacts the way they plan their meals, but not their holidayeals. two things at holidays: calories don't count. you spend a ttle more because it's your family, your friends, itit's important to you. >> let's talk rkey. 240 million turkeys raised in 2011. this is a $40 billion industry. >> there are a lot of turkeys on the table. the average american e eats abo

14.3 pounds of turkey and a lot of that is during the thanksgiving season. and then people who make their turkeys, usually it's like a 16-pound turkey. yeah, there's a lot of turkey out there. >> how long does it take to make a 16-pound turkey? >> aboutour hours or so. >>o the usda report thg week that localally grown fd is a growing industry. how does that trend for local foods, organic, locally grown, apply to the holidays? okay, if you're going to get a turkey and you want a local turkey, you probably are going to buy a heritage bird, something grown down the road, and that's a turkey that's walked around and eaten what it's supposed to eat, so i'm all for these heritage breeds. they're a little more expensive and i would say, again, if you're going to spend a little more money, this a good time to do it. >> you brought a heritage turkey for us today. >> i did, because i want to influence you to b heritage birds. >> why is this so good

because they're eating what they're supposed to. >> they are, they're eating the right thing and they're grown very slowly and they're wholesome birds. >> you've got cranberries, potatoes, sweet potatoes as well as other potatoes. cranberry production is up this year. >> yes, cranberries, as it turns out, only 20% of the cranberries grown e eaten during the holidays, unlike turkey. and the cranberries -- this is my favorite stat -- 5 billion individual cranberries are harvested a year to make for quite a lot of sauce. >> are prices for all of this -- are they up this year? >> everything is going to be up a little bit this year, and for varying reasons. for example, if you look at a pumpkin, there was some challenges in the pumpkin harvest. hurricane irene decimated the northeastern crop, so we're

definitely seeing price increases there. on the other hand, if you're looking at your potatoes and your green beans, you're in good shape. >> you brought those onions down there from a bag. tell me about that. >> i did. i don't know if you grew up with green bean casserole with the durkees that had the pop in the can with the onions inside? the seneca chrrispyy onions are improvement over that. if you're dedicated to e old fashioned tried and true, i think this is an improvement. >> they look good, actually. what about pies? pumpkin pie and other flavors? >> yes. now, you might think the big trend is cup cakes and you would be right. but the trend right behind that is innovations in pie. thanksgiving is a perfect time to experience that. so we have a pie from first prize pies in brooklyn and it's spiced pumpkin with a little dark rum and molasses. but one of the innovaons rightht next to it is from high five pies in seattle.

wee seen peoe baking pies and serving them in glass jars. so there is a little jar trend, or you can make individual pies for people, or you can make hand pies, all with pumpkin. >> if you get the small ones, actually, it works because you can have lots of variety and not have huge pies. >> right. >> thank you r bringing sauch a feast to therogram. we appreciatee it. for more information check out our web site, om. feeling good. i think i'm really going to nail it.

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. i hope you'll follow me on twitter. look for me at maria bartiromo. in the weeks ahead, on monday, the nations real estate report the number of homes sold in the last month. tuesdayy we get the estimate of the growth domestic product. and the federal reserve also releases the mines fro the latest meeting on tuesday as well. wednesday, the d deadline for t congressional supercommittee to announce its plan for cutting $1.2 trillion from the u.s. budget. and thursday is thehe thanksgivg holiy. happy thanksgiving, everybody. all u.s. markets will be closed

for the holiday. and you have to laugh sometimim. saturday night live did a spoof that portrayed al eight candndidates, asell as me,e, a it poked fun at texas governor rick per's now famous brain freeze. >> you ill haven't n named the third department. >> i didn't? oh, i know, it's mard. that's not a word. look, maria, can we just move ? i want to be predent, bu not like this. >> i just lovoveded seeing that. i guess imitation is the sincerest form of flatterry. each week keep it right he where wallll street means main street. from all of us here at "the wall street journal report," have a wonderful thanksgiving. we'll see you next weekend.

the following program is made possible by the friends and partners of time of grace. so tell me,e, at thanksving day