nassim taleb is joining us now. good to have you on the program. >> thank you for inviting me. >> i want to get to the book in a moment but let me start with the fiscal cliff. this is what everybody is talking about, this debt and deficits of this country. the drama is playing out. how do you think it impacts the economy? >> first thing is i don't like what i see. i noticed that the politicians don't have their head in the game. they are like two teams playing to win. we're not represented by them. they are not coming to agreement to try to win points from each other. that's not what we want. >> it is all about winning. >> we are paying the price. these people are not paying the price. absence of the game is becoming the main source of fragility in american society and of course in the world economy. >> what do you mean by this? they aren't in the game. the john boehners and the barack obamas they don't have skin in the game. >> they are shooting for numbers to look good but they don't pay the price of the mistakes.

. >>> a special conversation with noted author and investor nassim taleb.k is called "antifragile." >>> halftime report returns in two. >>> it is time for our traders to face off over one of this year's biggest battleground stocks. jcpenney has lost nearly half of its value since january as the company struggles to remake its image. steve, john, you guys are going to debate it. i know you love this one. >> i love to be short this one. i'm short again and when jim cramer came out this morning and talked about pvh and related that to jcpenney sales in izod, stock popped up over $1. i shorted some more. >> he still said he didn't like it. >> he came back and said he didn't like it but the market misinterpreted it. so i went through the circulars before black friday and they undercut macy's on every item. i went through the circulars. couldn't help it. that's the only part of the "times" i was reading that day. but they undercut them by 10% on some items. that means they're going to lose mr money. you can't discount your way to profit apt. ron johnson sold stoc

black swan author nassim taleb.onversion to and interesting guy. >> should be an interesting conversation. >>> powerball jackpot now worth $500 million. advice forth future lucky winner, that would be me, is on the way. >>> plus, a washington insider's view on why going over the fiscal cliff might not be so bad for both sides. we will rise above, next. >>> powerball jackpot now worth >>> powerball jackpot now worth at merrill lynch, we understand the importance of your goals. today, our financial advisors lead from a new position of strength. together with bank of america, they have access to more resources than ever before. a steadfast commitment to help you achieve your financial goals in life. that's the power of the right advisor. that's merrill lynch. >>> welcome back to power lunch, i'm courtney real when a market flash. look at shares of adt corporation, the home security monitoring service. you are seeing shares trade just off the highs of the day but right now, in this day, the shares have hit the all-time

. >>> nassim taleb spotted the financial crisis of 2008 before anybody else did.e is the author of "the black swan," it was a groundbreaking look at highly improbable events with massive repercussions. his new book is called "antifragile -- things that gain from disorder." it is nice to have you back with us. pleasure to see you. >> thanks. very honored. >> tell me what antifragile is. what does it mean? >> all right. when you ask people what's the opposite of fragile, they're going to tell you solid, robust, resilient, adaptable, all that stuff. it's not true. antifragile is something that gains from disorder, not something that's safe. something that requires disorder, requires volatility, requires vulnerability, requires some kind of stress -- up to a point, of course. >> can you give us an example of what sort of things are fraent fragile. >> i started my life as an option trader. for a long time i thought of nothing except in terms of he's short volatility, long volatility. if you had an option portfolio that's gabd frined from turmoil ibts's hurt by turmoil.