think the news was herbalife and not ackman.ked a lot about herbalife. he didn't talk a lot about the potential stock manipulation of -- that's the news here. we know he's getting -- liz: he denied it. charlie: i'm saying. it's one thing -- the story is that bill ackman may be under investigation at some point. it's not that herbalife is under investigation. we know that. >> time will play it out. you can check out the entire interview that dierdre did with bill ackman on foxbusiness.com. also ris "risk & reward," 1:00 p.m. on fox business. now we get to another heavily shorted stock. lumber liquidators. working hard to dust off its image. the flooring company striking back against a 12-day old "60 minutes" report that sent the stock plummeting. adam shapiro on the story. adam, first a conference call. now they're offering free test kits at a flooring scale. >> the stock is down 15% in trading just today. let's talk about those kits. they announced they'll offer air testing kits within the home to any lumber liquidators customer

melissa: ackman really?e did "jeopardy" and whipped right back to bill ackman. >> because ackman cried once when he was talking about herbalife. melissa: i will cry myself. thanks, guys. >>> leaving money on the table, millions of americans are not getting the most out of their social security benefits. you could be getting more money. it doesn't have to be you. we'll reveal the secret earns up to tens of thousands of dollars more. you. you have got money in social security. you're not getting it. we'll tell you how to get it. plus the commander-in-chief tastes music. not even president obama can face a round of mean tweets on "jimmy kimmel" live. more "money" coming up. >> dirty -- 30 rack of coarse light is now $23 at fun stop. thanks, obama. [cheers and applause] how do you make obama's eyes light up? shine a flashlight in his ears. [laughter]. that's pretty good. there's nothing more romantic than a spontaneous moment. so why pause to take a pill? and why stop what you're doing to find a bathroom? with c

we will ask bill ackman about it.d says his country has started fulfilling its commitments on the economy. -- prime minister of greece. he says he is optimistic. >> at the end of the day, we will solve these misunderstandings and go on with this compromise. our intention is to implement these decisions. olivia: european leaders said -- one of the dallas cowboys biggest stars is going to play for one of their biggest rivals. demarco murray hasn't signed a five-year $42 million contract with the philadelphia eagles. -- the marco murray hasn't demarco murray has signed. maybe obama was practicing -- he was on jimmy kimmel live. >> is there anyway we could flight obama to some golf course have to way around the world and leave him there? i think that's a great idea. olivia: the president had some fun at hillary clinton's expense. he said he would not give her's new e-mail address -- his new e-mail address. kevin: the most popular leader on facebook. tom: i have seen him live a number of times. olivia: he gives katy perry

we care about bill ackman. how has he responded? he can once against are saying, i am transparent. they said in a statement after these reports they are proud of their work over the past two years, exposing what they call her is a food -- what they call pervasive victimization. they say they welcome any scrutiny of those efforts and they have been transparent about the position, the research, and they have acted lawfully. of course herbalife has come in saying, we deny ackman has been betting $1 billion against us to hurt our company. for more than two years, orchestrating a false and fabricated attack. the language surrounding this is huge. you've not only got bill ackman pushing the stock down, you got carl icahn buying up the stock. you've got george soros upping his stock. this is billionaires squabbling over nutritional values. it is quite phenomenal. this time, u.s. prosecutors investigating. as yet, we know that bill ackman doesn't have much to worry about. jonathan: high-stakes schoolyard playground games just got more serio

we sat down with bill ackman.full interview on bloomberg.com. ♪ >> it is 56 past the hour. that means bloomberg television is on the markets. at midday, falling deeper into the red before next week's fed meeting. we have given back most of yesterday's gains. the dollar stronger following an unexpected drop in consumer confidence and producer prices joining me for today's options insight is -- if you look at what we have gone through the last couple of days come i wonder if you could give as a narrative of what the stock market -- the narrative driving the stock market right now. last friday, we had the jobs report thinking everybody -- what is the narrative? >> we have a lot of conflicting data right now. what the market dislikes even more than that data is uncertainty. that is where we find ourselves now. yesterday looked like we would get a bit of a reprieve but today we are -- the 2045 level was key support that got taken out today. we see a picks that is still relatively cheap. i'm looking for positions i can

probed by the fbi, bill ackman's fund as investigated. we will speak to the billionaire investigator later today. welcome to "the pulse," live from london. just getting some figures from the iea the international energy agency with its oil market report. having bottomed out in the second quarter of 2014, global demand has steadily risen the record u.s. oil glut is continuing to cut prices. we'll keep an eye on oil. quite a lot of volatility and fluctuation. opec joining the conversation. brent at $57. tensions high in europe as greece's prime minister meets with the president of the european commission in brussels. greece formally complained about wolfgang schaeuble. let's bring in hans nichols in berlin. marcus is in athens. the spat between wolfgang schaeuble and varoufakis is very public. hans: we had a formal complaint tuesday night from the greek ambassador to germany lodging a complaint claiming that mr. yanis varoufakis called him "foolishly naive. here is what mr. wolfgang schaeuble said. he was commenting on mr. varoufakis' commu

i have been on the other side with ackman, i've been pro-ackman but this is wrong.e's right, you can't say you haven't been contacted. so i thought it was -- that story's not a good story. jim, i'll say, watching the markets get flip-flopped by the data out euro oil, uncertain times people about vmbeen coming to you for ten years what do you tell them. >> i notice japan is up 15 unbelievable high for japan, which means japan's coming back. i think europe's coming back. iokay. i'm watching petrobras, it's got the most debt and i don't know they can pay it. very big mutual funds own a lot of petrobras debt and have not said we're hurting. that's where have you to worry no one's looking at. >> thank you for the word of warning. see you if a few minutes. >> congratulations. will ferrell taking the field for a good cause. plus, watch list for the trade dig ing day ahead. "squawk box" returns in a moment. they're all competing with each other; they're all making very low margins making enough to survive but not enough to get out of poverty. so kickstart designs low cost i

bill ackman has called herbalife a pyramid scheme.as lost half of its value in a year alone. bill ackman will be on here at 10 a.m. eastern time on bloomberg television. things cannot be hotter for disney because of "frozen." the company is planning a sequel to the blockbuster movie. i do want to hear that song. disney also has three "star wars" movies and works and more films in the marvel comic book franchises. the shares are now at an all-time high. samsung says it's best path to prosperity is the high road. the tech giant held its annual shareholders meeting in south korea. the company will push premium features and they are challenging apple by using slim metal cases and high-definition displays. 2014 was an off year for samsung's mobile business. those are your top headlines this morning. iran's supreme leader blasting an open letter sent by 47 u.s. republican senators to tehran. it was about the ongoing negotiation and the country nuclear program. there is the shih-tzu -- negotiations are going to restart. the ayatollah said "t

bill ackman is not getting back to me. clearly mary jo white was going after bill ackman. liz: he is smart enough, he hires the lawyers and he's a smart guy. >> smart guy. it's one thing to go right up to the line, these guys meaning the regulators and the fbi hate people up to the line. everybody said steve cohen was smart, which he is, sec capital is out of business, he can't do outside money. i want say this, this is my personal opinion, covering securities and this sort of issues for many years, when you start getting on the radar screen like bill ackman is doing right now. stuff generally happens. i'm not saying he's guilty or did anything wrong. when you get on the radar screen, they do stuff. liz: he's on a mission against herbalife. >> i'm just saying. liz: he's on a mission. 35-year-old company. >> he's got plenty of lawyers. liz: it would have gone down by now if it truly were a ponzi scheme. >> i just think it's not that great of a company. liz: whatever. >> when you start getting on their screen, i'm not saying he's wrong. this is just my covering this stuff, y

ackman is sticking to his guns. >> we don't need to make false statements about herbalife.ore clear. i don't need to gild the lily. this is a pyramid scheme. that's a violation of the law. they are intentionally deceiving people promising them herbalife is a wonderful business opportunity and then they take their money. >> scott wapner is joining us along with herb greenberg one of the first to investigate herbalife joining us as well. welcome to you both. scott, your thoughts? >> important to point out i think as well and herb i know you'd agree, ackman himself is not being investigated. pershing square, the firm is not being investigated in what we believe is a criminal investigation by the authorities. this is simply a matter of whether people hired by pershing square or bill ackman have made false and misleading statements in the past about herbalife, and herbie he has hired folks and groups to lobby regulators about herbalife. it's a question as to whether those folks at any time made false and misleading statements and what their ramifications of all of that is if, in

bill ackman has bet against the stock.hat charlie gasparino said at the top of the hour. >> controversial things involving the stock. he has basically paid off a whistleblower. trying to get a charge out. stuart: john layfield. come on in. this is why people do not trust wall street. what say you? >> i do not think that they should trust wall street. i think it makes perfect sense. to prove market manipulation will be next to impossible. when they short a stock to make money off of that, the small investor i have been on both sides of this. you also have billionaire investors that are along the stock spending billions of dollars also. whether it is called manipulation or not that is what it is. it causes you to lose money. the market is not favored to these guys. stuart: it is all about disney. cinderella out tonight. frozen to. would you buy disney's stock? >> no. only because it is near an all-time high. the ceo may be underpaid. since he has come in, it is all about content. he also got pixar. frozen came out with one p

bill ackman was on cnbc on reports that they are being investigated by the fbi.ts sent shares highly sharper and sent off a flurry of options buying. what did you see, mike? >> yeah, we saw well above average options ak at this time today. seven times the average daily can call volume. a lot of it was the ones that expired today. we saw people going out and purchasing the 37 and a half calls that expire next friday. in a situation like this, it's important to note they're hoping for a sharp market reaction. this is not a bet, folks, that herbalife's problems are over. u it was an initial flurry. a burst higher. and it faed all day long. just a few people trying to speculate and catch a pop. >> does this tempt you at all in the trade sf. >> you know, ackman was as cool as a cucumber. he started at cnbc, he made the rounds. doesn't appear to be worried here. he's saying manipulation is on the other side. to their lobbyists are working other time. and then it closes the way you guys just mentioned and the conviction in the the options market, it was a lot of short d

authorities are investigating whether people hired by bill ackman may have been potentially trying to drive town the company's stock. >>> welcome to the show. after a couple of down days in wall street a rebound on wall street, the s&p 500 and the dow back in the black for the year. the bond market and currency market clearly reacting. we had some good days in europe and some bad. the same is true for the u.s. that's part of a broader sentiment but we had this long six year rally and it starts to lead to more meaningful correction. >> some say u.s. markets are looking more fully priced. the european stoxx 600 index up. u.s. futures interestingly enough a mixed picture. the s&p 500 with a higher open around 2 points. dow jones down and nasdaq up about 5. as we were telling you a couple of days on wall street. a strong rally for the s&p, the dow, and the nasdaq. we'll see if that continues in today's trade. here in europe the rally continues. the french markets down 2 points. italian market up about four points. when you look at the german dax it's on pace for the 9th straight week of g

on top of that you have bill ackman getting pushed back a little bit.ke it might be -- it's not yet -- federal investigators are, i guess, probing is the best way to look at it. it's what we first reported here on fox business whether the company's charges that bill has manipulated shares of herbalife. thatthat has also helped boost e company's stock a little bit. here's what we do know, amid all is the company is planning a major media buy to capitalize both on ackman's legal woes and on the fact that the stock is going up. from what i understand, they're going to spend right off the bat manager in the million dollar range. i don't know -- something in the million dollar range, i don't know how many millions, it's been described to me as a seven-figure buy. they may do something with the ncaas, it's going the initially focus on l.a. and miami. and then they're going to go from there, from what i understand. but what they're looking to do is change the narrative about the company, explain what the company is -- cheryl: defend themselves. being called, b

bill ackman responds to the report that he and some of the people who advise him are the subject of aovernment probe for manipulating stock prices. >>> hello, it's tim from cupertino on the line that surprise interview with apple's tim cook and our own jim cramer last night on "mad money." we'll let you hear that. >>> producer prices fell for a fourth straight month, down un unexpectedly in february by .5 as decline in food prices offset increase in gas prices, a daft the rally sent the dow and s&p into positive territory for 2015. but we'll ride that back and forth. >> yeah, i'm looking at the euro and i understand that it's really difficult for the central bank to keep buying bonds. there's not a lot of bonds out there. their work may -- which came in with a lion may go out like a lamb at the end of the week and that's why if we can see any surprise strength in the euro i think that stabilizes things. if we see the euro keep rolling over, we'll be back in the soup. be aware that it's euro euro, euro petrobras, petrobras, petrobras. >> around 1.06. goldman sees 95 cents in 12 months,

this is so important a bill ackman.oing push that person have been making against herbalife shares, shorting the stock, betting that it would fall. there have been accusations that they've been misleading distributors. basically, you've got an illegal pyramid scheme. investigation has been going on. u.s. prosecutors and the fbi are looking at the marketing that her life has been doing. herbalife shares halved over the past year because of this. herbal life continues to deny this. they are saying look at the money pershing square is putting into this. the accusations continue. we've got billionaires on the other side. carl icahn and george soros buying shares in her life. anna: caroline, thank you. mark: how does a company all about pen and paper stay relevant in the digital age? find out next. ♪ anna: welcome back to "countdown ." let's get a check on the currency markets. we are talking about the danish krone. are the troubles over for the danish central bank? the governor was in london last night talking about his eff

you know, ackman was cool as a cucumber. he started at cnbc, he made the rounds.ear to be worried here. he's saying manipulation is on the other side. to their lobbyists are working overtime. his people are working overtime. and then it closes the way you guys just mentioned and the conviction in the the options market, it was a lot of short data stuff. so to me it seems like a nonevent. i think we'll see this lower in the next couple of months. >>> coming up next, the final call for the optio"options acti" heroes charge! ♪ (explosion) ♪ (explosion) ♪ (explosion) ♪ lead your heroes in the hit mobile game! download heroes charge now! ♪ >>> all right. ♪ >>> all right. time for your tweets. "if you are short ibm would you buy puts on oracle going into earnings?" and oracle had a very nice day today. >> yeah, it did. they report next week. the options market is implying about a 5% move. that's that's how much it's moved on average. last quarter dez 17th, they reported revenue s revenues 5% . the euro as we were just talking about, is down 15%. expect worse guidance. h

billionaire investor bill ackman whose firm is the target of a government investigation into possible manipulation of herbalife stocks that no one from his office has been questioned or subpoenaed as part of that probe. in an interview earlier he said that while a contractor has been questioned by the fbi or the department of justice no one -- no employee of his was involved. ackman and his hedge fund have ways to more than two-year campaign against herbal life saying it is a pyramid scheme. he said his statements have been backed up by research. >> we have not encouraged anyone to make false statements and it do not need to make a false statement about herbalife to be negative. the truth is what is powerful and the truth is the company's harming people. mark: peaceful protests resumed as the manhunt continues for the people who shot two police officers. they were wounded during a protest outside ferguson's police story wednesday night. the fallout of a shooting of a black teenager by a white officer last year. consumer sentiment index fell to a four-month low. americans are optimisti

stick right here because we will talk about bill ackman and herbalife. looking at a triple digit loss on the dow. the s&p off by 16 points. oil taking a hit their re and the dollar is where everybody wants to be. be right back. ♪ alix: billionaire activist bill ackman's for -- firm -- said no one from his office has been questioned. >> you do not need to make a false state about herbalife to be negative. the truth is what is powerful and the truth is the company is harming people. what is your take on that? fabio: he has not backed down an inch. he said this company is still a pyramid's game. look at the problems that existed before this story broke. they spent 12 months, 16 months deciding if they wanted to do an inquiry. in the last quarterly filings, herbalife is spending a million dollars a month on legal fees to defend themselves against this ftc inquiries. they're not going away. the problem is still going away. the allegations are there. the ftc is still there. all that means is -- that is an interesting choice to have hired. maybe they did someth

find out where paulsen and ackman put their money. but first it's officially the end of the first quarter. we went out with a bang. the dow finishing the quarter in negative territory. dropped 200 points. nasdaq up for 2015 and the quarter. tomorrow is the first day of trading if they are second quarter and the kickoff to april. historically a strong month for investors. do you stick on what is winning or take some money off the table? tonight we lay out our second quarter playbook trades. tim, we'll kick it off with you. what changes in q2? >> i'm not sure anything changes. the first was fed, dollar, oil, ecb. all of those things are front and center. some of the trades took time to get going. a lot expected the consumer to rebound faster based upon lower commodity prices, lower gas prices, et cetera. i think you stay with the consumer. i think you have to stay with staples. tough go with the things that will still be resilient to a strong dollar. let's go back to europe which has been working. we're going to get european earnings se

you should have learned from big ackman, i think. to me it's just hubris.might be going to deer zero, but there might be a lot of people shooting against him. i think you saw that today. >>> pop for walt disney. up 4%. >> a me all-time high. a lot of value option particularly calls in short dated calls. people see this going on here. so new highs over the next few weeks here. i just want to say, they have this shareholder meeting. they talked what is the road map for the movies. they have a frozen shortcoming out with cinderella, avengers, new "star wars." and they laid out how many more "star wars" there are going to be over the next few years. this thing there looks like nothing to stop it. >>> droop door peabody energy. >> down 5%, making the 52-week low club. lots going on with this stock. most recently cfo talking about the balance sheet. this is a tough sector to bottom fish in there. could be more bankruptcies before the bottom is in. i would stay completely away from this name. >>> big pop for men's wearhouse. >> you don't buy stocks like this. you

probably putting bill ackman in a bad mood.harlie, this is your story. >> we should point out ackman the short seller who tried to drive this stock to zero had a pretty good year last year. had a good opening year this year. this stock has been making a comeback lately. it's above the level he shorted it. it's at a break-even point. it's rising on the markets. but also because bill ackman is facing some scrutiny for how he shorted this company. as you know we reported this a million times. the company herbalife has been progressed regulators and the fbi to open a stock manipulation case against him. i don't know if they've opened it officially. i won't call it an official case yet. but they're snooping around. talking to people. if you look, the stock is moving as that's going on. plus a couple of lawsuits -- i will say this, just for a retail investor, only roll the dice with this if you want to. >> the new york times poking another hole in hillary clinton's -- purporting the clinton aides used private accounts to communicate

. >> coming up next, bill ackman is back on the attack. why were options traders betting so big today on herbalife? we'll tell you when "options action" returns. in our house, we do just about everything online. and our old internet just wasn't cutting it. so i switched us from u-verse to xfinity. they have the fastest, most reliable internet. which is perfect for me, because i think everything should just work. works? works. works! works? works. works. >>> welcome back to "options action." we've got some breaking news here with regard to changes to the s&p 500 that are scheduled to take place next week, guys. first of all, henry schein, currently in the s & p 400, will go into the s&p 500. will replace care fusion corporation. that's going to happen after the close of business tuesday on the 17th of march. three other changes will happen on friday the 20th. and that is equinix will replace denbury resources in the s&p 500. sl green realty will replace neighbors industry. so two oriole place there. and haynes brands. four changes happening

that's coming, next, bill ackman's 3 billion-dollar debt.ing a huge stake in a company that might surprise you. the stock hitting an all-time high. we'll tell you what it is coming up. ♪ >> not only will today's agreement help protect consumers from unnecessary stress and hardship. it will help families all across america send their kids to college, buy homes, buy cars, pay for health care. it will help ensure that creditors and employers are getting accurate information. >> that was new york attorney general eric unveiling what he called the biggest overhaul to american credit in a decade. changing the way they handle credit errors and debt. >> it's a big one for the 2 million americans with credit reports. he's bank rate chief analyst greg mcbride. greg, 43 americans have medical debt. meaning, they're arguing a payment. these things take a long time to work through the system. it's been holding people back from buying homes. that apparently was viewed as not fair. who does this really help the most? >> yeah. unequivocally, liz, it helps c

ackman today.these investigation. >> is sunlight good for your investment, short in this case? >> for sure. the, first of all, i have a lot of confidence in the department of justice. they have to the very talented lawyers. i don't actually know whether the fbi has interviewed people. whether people from the department of justice have interviewed people but i know they have and i know they have interviewed consultant west work with. by the way the government should. if one party is accusing another of committing a crime, one you should investigate that, one if there is enough basis for those allegations. you two, should make the sure the person who is accuser, if other side claims we're doing something wrong you should look at them wrong. >> what if global strategies spread false information while working for pershing square? >> i think probability of that being true is pretty remote. we've gone out publicly and said this company is a pyramid scheme. it's a criminal enterprise. it is deceiving poor

the ruling said ackman did not prove the company committed fraud.otors pulling its opel brand out of russia. the company says the car will be out of the market in december. gm will idle a plant in st. petersburg. it will focus on chevrolets and cadillacs in russia. new vehicle sales in russia slumped 38% last month cap pressure on u.s. shares of alibaba could mount. many early investors getting a chance to sell for the first time as the walk-off period ends. it affects 14% of alibaba's publicly traded shares. mark of agreements keep share prices stable after an ipo. those are your top headlines. under 30 minutes from the start of trading. let's count down with the top 10 headlines before the belt. -- the bell. michael holland joining me, a lix -- alex sherman as well. number 10, chanel. the fashion house says it would increase prices of its handbag in europe and cut event and china to eliminate price disparity caused by the weakening euro. press changes will take effect on april 8. if you pay the same for your purse in beijing as you do in berlin. m

a group of investors claim they lost money after hedge fund manager bill ackman accused of company ofid scheme. a u.s. district judge in los angeles said the investors could not prove their losses were caused by herbalife misleading investors and that ackman's allegations are not evidence the company actually committed fraud. >>> you might have second thoughts about cooking up mac and cheese. kraft mac and cheese. recalling about 6 1/2 million boxes of kraft macaroni and cheese, i need to check the pantry, stat. the reason? some boxes contain small pieces of metal. best when used by dates of september 18 through october 11, 2015. >>> chanel, the purveyor of prestigious hand bags increasing prices on some hand bags and slash prices in china. chanel says it wants to eliminate the growing price gap between europe and asia, and hopes the price cut will curtail a growing market for travelers who buy hand bags in europe and resell in china. >>> let me get to the fucshia master, t-mobile shaking up the wireless business, announced uncarrier 9.0 wireless for business, taking on at&t and veriz

oh, he did it with the big shot act havist big ackman whose pershing pershing's fund owns 20%.s kind of a shell company and it has a big pile of cash. since then platform has acquired chemical companies with a fee cus on specialty and -- focus on specialty and agricultural companies. and they brought in the ceo dan leave tore run the whole company. then last week they picked up a company for $1 billion. most recently, platform made its biggest deal yet acquiring a company for $1.5 billion to give the earnings a 20% boost even before factoring in the synergies. platform is proving to be a well managed role up in the chemical space and they're up 161% since it listed 14 months. i think this stock could keep running. don't take it from me. let's check in with the president and ceo of platform and hear more about his company. good to see you. ined to get to the -- i wanted to get the price of the second acquisition right it was $3 billion. which means each time so we get all of our viewers straight on this, you have done equity offerings. >> that's correct. >> should our viewers wa

what it was like to work with bill ackman. show you the markets again. the s&p 500, is down.re are the laggards. at least 5% at the top and almost thereabouts for avon and allegheny tech. more halftime up after this. 40% of the streetlights in detroit, at one point, did not work. you had some blocks and you had major thoroughfares and corridors that were just totally pitch black. those things had to change. we wanted to restore our lighting system in the city. you can have the greatest dreams in the world, but unless you can finance those dreams, it doesn't happen. at the time that the bankruptcy filing was done, the public lighting authority had a hard time of finding a bank. citi did not run away from the table like some other bankers did. citi had the strength to help us go to the credit markets and raise the money. it's a brighter day in detroit. people can see better when they're out doing their tasks, young people are moving back in town, the kids are feeling safer while they walk to school. and folks are making investments and the community is moving forward. 40% of th

were mentored by bill abbingman, somebody we all know well, and ferg ton is even partnering with ackman'sal products maker. mcguire recently caused ripples on this very show by going public with a tough campaign at the bank of new york, his largest holding -- the largest company in his portfolio where he is calling for the replacement of the ceo, but perhaps unlike ackman at times, guys like ferguson and mcguire, are kind of picking their spots. they don't want to get over exposed. keith meister, another example, has launched over a dozen activism campaigns in the four years since starting his firm. he has run only one proxy contest, though, so he is trying to be a little more collaborative. of course, he has also been sued by one former target company, adt. he is adopting in general a more collaborative approach than perhaps his mentor carl icon is known for. we're in the idea business is something that meister likes to say, and he is all about partnering with management if possible to unlock value. now, we're sure to hear more about both the activism trend and the new guard at this year

i think many people, i'm one of them, have suggested ackman would be right in the long run. way carl gets out is hits the bid. >> perhaps he does that. i think herbal life is such a tough name to trade because you have 2 very strong personalities there. you don't know what either one are going to do. i would stay away from them completely. >> the premiums are off the charts expensive. you can sell verticals. >>> we want to acknowledge the death of leonard nimoy best known for playing spock. he died today at the age of 83. it is a reminder that we should all strive to live long and prosper. that's it for us. see you back here next week on friday and on monday on "fast." "mad money" is up now. brought to you by universal studios. (universal studios theme music) ♪ (intense dramatic music) ♪

ferguson and mcguire come from bill ackman. but their style is more below the radar than ackman's. four-hour presentations or interviews coming out of them. i even had trouble finding a photo of scott ferguson because he's such a kind of below the radar guy. so it's interesting. they're certainly approaching these companies with a tough rhetoric, but their style's a little bit different. >> in terms of not going public is that because they think they can get more done if they don't go public at this point? >> i think ferguson is low key so more of an exception. they do go public with your letters. at the same time he put together this 100-page deck and distributed it on a website rather than ackman which is what i was referring to there. he'll sit people down for four hours, invite the whole media, take any question and flood the zone with information about a herbalive or something. mcguire is not adopting that. you argue he doesn't have that platform yet, doesn't have the track record. maybe that will come later. but to my experience these guys have different personality types. th

. >> there was talk yesterday at the fbi's investigating bill ackman about herbalife and price manipulation. he comes out today and says he has not been contacted by the fbi. i'm not sure if he would have been anyway. i don't think that matters. he stands by everything he says about herbalife. it obviously rallied on this. this is not a stock for the weak of heart. but in my pit of the stomach i still believe he's so steadfast in his view that where there's smoke there's fire in hlf. >> drop for united technology. >> this is a name i'm short a bit i guess about a year or so ago. and again, they have a lot of exposure overseas. dollar issues here. i don't think this is one that you try to pick up on this 2% drop. i actually think about 114 is where it's headed next. >> el pollo loco up 14%. >> fourth quarter sales were very good. strong numbers up 12%. this is a company now telling you we're going to expect to grow even more in 2015. that's the story. that's what you have to hope for because to buy this valuation you have to see growth. in this market i would not buy this. >> nxp up 6%. >> m

bill ackman says that no one from his office has been questioned over possible manipulation of herbalife stock. the feds are investigating global strategy group. it was one of the firms hired to handle government relations. he spoken market makers. course we have not encouraged anyone to make false statements. you don't need to make a false statement to be negative about the company. within the truth is what's powerful here. the truth is the company is harming people. corey: shares of the company are plummeting. herbalife insistence not a pyramid schema. ukraine's government has accused pro-russian rebels of breaching the treaty. this comes after the imf approves the program to bailout ukraine's struggling economy. general motors has settled a lawsuit that spurred a massive recall over faulty ignition switches. gm was sued by the family of brooke milton, who died in 2010 after the ignition switch failed in her chevy cobalt. her parents initially settled the suit for $5 million but filed a second suit alleging g.m. concealed evidence in the first case. settlement terms are confidential. t

we'll see what ackman has to say about it. see you at 11:00 eastern time. >> you will.ney. martha. martha: people in missouri say they have had enough after shooting of two police officers the other night. >> people of missouri are looking for law and order. they're looking for a governor who will lead us and enforce law and order. and they have had it with this tending toward violence protests in the street. they have had it with the holder justice department. >> that is peter kinder's take. president obama and attorney general eric holder both weighed in after the latest violence but has the response been on point? our panel will debate this. bill: there is a new documentary exploring the life of the last man ever to walk on the moon. >> really wanted to reach out bring it home and show it to everybody. this is what it feels like. ♪ ask. martha: back with fox news alert. we have brand new reaction from president obama about the letter sent by 47 letters -- snorts that was sent to iran. this is vice news. >> i'm embarrassed for them. for them to address a letter to the

cash overall, 158 dollars a share after it failed to buy allergan even with assistance from bill ackman. sales did jump ahead of the halt. it was up 6.4%. i was just looking -- 11 billion shares changing hands, four times the full-day average over the last three months. and gave up its games before was halted from trading and valiant is lower right now. representatives could not be reached for comment but we know these companies, and oh and valiant, followed the strategy of acquiring smaller companies and then cutting r&d spending in the aftermath. i want to go to the bloomberg terminal to show you the enterprise value. that's the theoretical takeover value of a company when it is in takeover talks. a market cap of $10.8 billion. takeaway the cash of $422 million and add the that of $1.85 billion, you get an enterprise value of $12.2 billion. we will continue to keep an i on all of these discussions and let you know of any update. mark: scarlet, thank you. the 31 largest u.s. banks past the first round of the federal reserve pass stress tests this week. next week, we will get the more d

this is interesting only because valiant was partners with bill ackman trying to go after allergan.over to you. >> thanks. shocked if it was all of a sudden an active stake in valiant. i wonder if he thinks that valiant which has been called a rollup by some because of its string of acquisitions. >> they are a rollup. i'll be on board with that call. that's what they've been doing for years. >> see if they have another one up their sleeve. >>> gold man sax walking down its target for oil. the futures now through. hey there. >> hi there. the headline that came out this morning was goldman saying short terms going to 40. they're not really saying that if you read it carefully. they're saying there could be short term pressure. they're also saying the $65 range in 2016 could be too high. that's because a lot of people don't know what's happening with oil right now. based onnen the action we've seen here, what is the market telling you? >> i think goldman makes a good point. i think that's where we're settling in. oil behaves in integral parts. it makes very quick moves very quickly. on

they have to have a lot of staying power like ackman did with herbalife.: they shorted this for two years. it had to be losing his shirt. lumber liquidators was up huge. i was in it years ago. >> he was losing hundreds of millions of dollars. if you don't have the wherewithal or time to do this each and every day and have the staying hour, you'll get killed. many short sellers lose more than they get. they get big hits. (?) you have to be willing to take those -- charles: we know the famous saying about shorts. they go out on their shield. here's the thing, i remember when the market got hammered in 2001, people who were buying a lot of stocks said, okay, i'll play options now. i can get a lot of options. the next time this market pulls back, people will want to go short to try to catch up with their loss. >> with put options. that's the other thing too, when you look at a short position. look at herbalife. and lumber liquidators. a lot of people are looking at yahoo because they don't like the ceo marissa. it's the story. let me ber liquidators are expand

i look and say ackman's commentary have made the stock uninvestable.ming out and making some sort of comment that's going to knock this thing down another x amount of points? until they come up with some solution or resolution here they have the s.e.c. looking into it, fcc. you have two attorney generals checking into it. until they come out with some sort of resolution here all bets are off the table. i've never seen anything like it before. i'm not putting my money here. i can't imagine if you are a portfolio manager that you can justify investing in this stock. i hope that when this news does come out, i hope they actually do hold some people accountable if they're making accusation that is are false accusations based on no merit. look it's an interesting scenario here. i say stay away from it. you can't -- this has resistance written all over it for the near term. >> have you to believe some of the deep analysis that ackman or others claim they've done. they say this is phony and they say, no, it's more than real. maybe this does go a long way. som

bill ackman on herbalife says it's a zero dollar stock, it is trading at 30, way up, way down.aying this is a zero dollar stock? >> no, what we've been saying is business model is not sustainable. >> which means? >> they're going come in for a hard landing. >> you're talking about this thing is half the price? >> i think next year, it will be a mid 30 stock and slow grind down. >> let me play devil's advocate, when i put a hedge eye analyst on, they are all steak, no sizzle. last time you had one of the guys okinder morgan, he said some of the same stuff you are saying about how their metrics are. despite all the talk about manipulation, no sec investigation. there was nothing that happened. if this thing is manipulated so much, why isn't the sec coming in and saying they're doing the wrong thing? >> i think it's a couple of things. one, it's not so much that when we think about the manipulation, it's more about massaging metrics. >> and it's legal. >> to a certain degree. it really depends on really if the sec decided to go sniffing around whether they felt everything is okay.

the stock among the most volatile as the fbi continues to investigate contractors hired by bill ackman'sg square capital. he, of course, has been shorting the stock for a couple of years now, doesn't like it at all, says it's a pyramid scheme. and what the investigators are looking at is whether anybody made statements that could be an attempted stock manipulation, meaning to drive it down. this is a story fox business has been ahead and out front oranges charlie gasparino on the billionaires who are battling over it. >>> okay. can march madness -- this is an unbelievable question -- but can march madness really affect the stock market? a recent study shows stocks often produce below average returns during the popular sports tournament. this time last year despite an overall positive start for equities, the s&p 500 fell 1.5% between the opening round of the tournament to the final game. we should have highlighted that, right? because it's around this exact time. here now to discuss the money behind march madness plus winners and losers of the event -- because that's what we really want t

actkman ackman icahn, peltz, singer you're looking at a gallery of activist investors.. there's no question they know how to make money for themselves. but are they looking out for your best interests? let's bring in bethenny mcclain "vanity fair" contributing editor, also herb greenberg, pacific square research. bethenny, i'll begin with you. i was shocked in this report i read from a law firm last year that there were 237 activist situations around the world in the year 2013. that's about 230 more than i thought there would be. is there any evidence that these guys and most of them are dudes, are making money for everybody, or just themselves? >> i think that's a great question and precisely the right question. i was surprised when i started to ask long-term sharls what they thought and surprisingly the answer was that most of the time, they felt that activists are on the side of leverage investors and are actually working hand in dploef with these guys to maybe make noise in a way that the long-term shareholders aren't comfortable doing. but the feedback i got was mo

but, you know, let's see $94 billion i suppose -- i don't know if this is an ackman type of thing, do reit. wasn't that way back? >> that was a rumor. gopro jumping after catching the second upgrade in four days. the analysts behind today's move and why he says the stock is finally at the right spot to get in. >>> later, four huge biotech mergers hitting the space today. we have the one name up more than 200% since going public this year and a force to be reckoned with in a battle against genetic diseases. >> when i'm on "fast money" it's a rush. >> when i come to show i spread the facts. >> everybody on the show is a professional trader. >> we put our money where our mouth is the easy money is made with going with the consensus. >> we're always trying to look for what's the next trade. not what is the obvious trade. but what's the trade that nobody is taking a look at? nobody has put on that you can put on tomorrow. is. ♪ honey, we need to talk. we do? i took the trash out. i know. and thank you so much for that. i think we should get a medicare supplement insurance plan. right now?

the suit was poor reason for going after them saying ackman's presentation created fraud by the companyause they didn't disclose it. i don't think that goes to the heart of the matter. i think the suit will still be alive maybe not in california but bring it again. >> am ex in your portfolio. >> i like this. we've had a couple guests talk about how they like this company down here. it's been sold off. a lot of that due to that whole thing, getting pulled away from costco but now getting themselves in this loyalty program. i don't know that this is a huge story but it's one more way that am ex is trying it to make up for the loss in terms of cost co. i think the stock has room to the upside. >> oracle, michael block. >> these guys are killers wipe out competition looking good here. the wildcard here is everyone talks about enterprise spending in europe. china hurdles to get over. my money on these guys to get over them and do well there. >> all right. little more than an hour and a half away now from the fed and check out the most used words from the last fed statement in january. no sur

mer ka da's mick gir is here with a campaign and will tell us what it's like to work with bill ackman the iwatch be a hit or a flop? former apple ceo john sculley will weigh in. tracking today's sell-off, of course, as well. all straight ahead on the half. we'll see you in about 15. >> all right. we'll be there. thanks, scott. meanwhile, iconic tech blog is closing down after 8 years as one of the industry's most prominent tech blogs. several staffers tweeted about the blog shutting down and the founder wrote on monday, quote, gigaom is winding down assets now controlled by the company's lenders. not how you want the story of a company you founded to end. i got to know om a little bit when i started at business 2 0i po magazine in 2006 after he left. we take the voice of tech blogs for granted. the snashg, the authoritative voice about complicated topics. this is one of the guys that made that happen. >> is this a victim due to the fact there are a lot of tech blogs or something different? >> the business model of tech blogs has relied lately on conferences more than putting advertisi

. >> if not bill ackman, dan loeb. he got his which, he got three board seats.ave until they find a replacement. mark caught up capital was knocking at their door, i would say in a more friendly activist position, asking the cfo to step down. do activist investors really work? >> dan just got in the building. rupert was asked to step down not long ago. it's going to take some time. if you ever read download's letters, he wants this company to fundamentally change the way he does business. it is going to take some time. >> isn't it unusual -- >> mark otto has been there before loeb was. it seems they may not be working together but they are on the same page. if you look at the way these companies run many people say they needed to change the way they fundamentally to business. >> is a ceo really going to be able to make that kind of difference? >> we are not going to see it happen in six months or nine months or a year. dan is looking to fundamentally change the way they do their business. >> they have a great digital platform as well. something that has not been

julie: bill ackman in particular put pressure on mcdonald.it is this idea of activists trying to a lot of the value and get bang for their buck by doing this. in the case of p&g they are looking at 100 different brands they can spinoff to try to refocus what they consider to be the core products. and they are also struggling with a lot of these brands that they consider to be more fringe. tenant shoulders, for example, oil of the leg, the overall -- head and shoulders, for example or oil of ole, the overall beauty brands are seeing sales down. scarlet: they are being paid every time they actively advise for a spinoff. and you can maximize your value by spinning off different businesses. jp: if we are wanting to blame the managers for spinning off and getting higher paychecks we can blame the bankers as well. in a space where we are not seeing as much of an m&a opportunity in this area, the bankers are focused on ways they can get involved in transactions and encourage the investors on the board of the companies themselves to pursue these oppo

bill ackman or harry wilson steps in and gets the company to correct itself, it is not good for privatey. politico the wants to buy you -- private equity wants to buy your cheap. stephanie:jason: let's go back to the history of private equity. some of the best deals have been carveouts. stephanie: ah. jason: they put pressure on the board and the board freaks out a little bit and they say we have got to do something to make this guy happy. maybe we will buy something. matt: the big takeaways that this business is evolving. that is not to use the getting on board for an activist investor what they would have done for private equity. jason: well it is an interesting mix of the old and the new. the new is the capital market business. the old is back to the future of working with boards and taking things they don't want anymore. stephanie: these guys take home in comp hundreds of millions of dollars and nobody blinks. jamie dimon buys a new couch and "the new york post" writes about it. they have a sweet deal, those guys. jason kelly's exclusive interview could matt: the five secrets to hel

they get too big, wealthy people like bill ackman and warren buffett who can do these deals with them. brendan: they cut the cost. but they don't sell it for parts. tom: i like that idea. what is the size of this deal? olivia: 37 billion dollars. i believe it is going to be a valuation of about $40 billion. tom: is this the biggest thing that war and has ever done? -- warren buffett has ever done? >> it signals to things. the market is in great shape. the cost of borrowing is very low. at the moment, we can say -- see that there are really great companies out there in terms of brand names that are not trading over the top under presenting good inflation hedges. tom: let's look at relative valuation. campbell soup is not on here. i'm sorry, folks. i did not do here -- i did not do that. this is mondo lays -- mandalay's , which is part of kraft. it is 20.6% margin. this is a company doing a little bit better than the other two. brendan: is it possible to put up a basket of american companies that are having long-term habits because habits are changing? people don't eat these things anym

full day average share over the last three moss and just in the last hour hedge fund manager bill ackmane out responding to this saying there was not an exoneration of this court ruling. we'll watch herbal life shares as well. >> thank you, dom. >>> silicon valley business have so much trouble hanging on to cfos. there are somewhere the cfo has left recently nap story straight ahead. >>> plus a new bus service launching in san francisco this week, but a ride isn't all its offering. josh limitpton has that story from san francisco. >> tyler, here in san francisco, forget public buses. it's all about privately funded luxury buses. that's how you get to and from mork nap story work. that story next on "power lunch." and a lot helping you. technology that's with you always. this is our promise. it's never been better to wander because wherever you go, you'll find us doing everything we can, so you can. ♪ ♪ [ radio chatter ] ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] andrew. rita. sandy. ♪ ♪ meet chris jackie joe. minor damage or major disaster, when you need us most, we're there. state farm. we're a force of na