liz: this sounds like ackman going after herbalife, evil. >> yeah.crazed at -- i mean, i don't think he's doing all the stuff bill ackman has dope. bill ackman has more resources, but what -- whitney has said some very violate dent comments about -- strident comments. you've got to ask yourself why aren't they suing if he's saying that? be i raised the question what would a logical person say, you know? maybe -- you know, i don't know. i'm not, i don't test vinyl, laminate flooring. i'm not an expert at. if i listened to whitney and his guys, they made compelling arguments. i listened to lumber liquidators, they make compelling arguments. liz: this is a stock, by the way, that was $96 a share. today in the wake of all of this it's $33. >> right. yeah. liz: it's come back, but it's been a finish time. >> yeah. they had same-store sales today that did better, so the stock is up a little bit today. the controversy following the "60 minutes" report habit totally -- liz: yeah, to the far right of the screen. >> hasn't totally crushed the company's sales.

this tripped up bill ackman knocking on jcpenney's door.e wants to increase dividend, buy back shares. just manage money. if you don't like the company, move on. i don't agree with activists investing at all. cheryl: even if you don't think it is good for companies but they are good for shareholders that follow them. what would you say to that? >> historically the track record is more mediocre. the thing i have worries about with this product you're buying stocks after the activists gotten in. so apple, et cetera, after a carl icahn made his move, then the etf buys shares. you're missing initial pop which can be really valuable in the scheme of things. you are missing that. cheryl: michael, you make a good point you have to agree with the strategy of activism. either yea or nay for most people you talk to. they feel very strongly. if you talk to ceos, they say activist investor does not have the best thing in mind for the company, for the future of the company. buying that index i will not be watching that, right? >> what make as money mana

i talked to ackman today as well. both of them obviously are huge supporters as you would expect of activism in general. ackman says, look, it's nonsense, we push the companies to do better, we push them to go farther than they otherwise might have gone. icahn took specific issue with several things that sonnenfeld said in the piece and what he said on "squawk" this morning regarding dell and was quick to point out as well, look, i've gotten letters from dozens of shareholders over the years who said thank you for doing what you did because we made more money as a result. >> right. here's what happens. sonnenfeld, again, talks about how the ideas that activists come up with, balance sheet management, some call it financial engineering, operational changes, spinoffs, mergers, what have you, sometimes they're obvious, sometimes they're things that management might already have under way, but perhaps the pressure that comes from activists speeds up the process. and as a shareholder that very well may be a good thing. now

last year ackman told "the new york times" it was the mona lisa but apartments.a linkedin spent $1.5 billion on an education site? who better to ask than the linkedin ceo, jeff weiner. jeff: it works for individuals, it works for companies that want to invest in their employee basis. a big portion of the current customer base is universities, and its administrators professors, and students of those universities. is a broad cross-section of folks, and it is increasingly international as well. lynda.com is producing contents not only in english, but german, french, and japanese. cory: you guys give helpful guidance about what the building -- business is doing. about 1/3 of that is a corporate business. do you see the corporate aspect of this becoming a bigger aspect of the lynda.com business because it will be matched with your big sales team? >> its growing faster than the consumer base today. both businesses are growing. we do think there are strong synergies with our platform in both the segments, with regard to individual members, we think it aligns well with o

bill ackman told "the new york times" that it was the mona lisa of apartments. did linkedin spend $1.5 billion on the online education site lynda.com? who better to ask in the linkedin ceo jeff weiner. >> it is an enterprise business and a consumer business with a seduction model. it works for individuals, companies that want to invest in their employee basis. a big portion of our current customer base is universities administrators professors and the students of those universities. it is a broad cross-section of folks and is increasingly international as well. lynda.com is currently producing content in english, german french, spanish, and japanese. we are excited about expanding our global footprint. cory: you give them helpful guidance about what the business is doing. growing at 20% clip. about a third of that is a corporate business. do you see the corporate aspect of this becoming a bigger aspect of the lynda.com business because it will be matched with your sales team? >> it is growing faster than the consumer piece today but that is often the case with s

bill: let's get bill ackman and bernie sanders in a room together.that might be better than the vegas fight this weekend. bill: it might last longer, too. stephanie: let's get to business news. a bright spot in another a sluggish quarter. consumer spending rose by the most in over four months. the increase, 4/10 of 1%. economists are counting on household spending to get the economy growing this year. businesses hit roadblocks in the first three months. the world largest energy company posted its biggest earnings surprise in at least a decade. exxon mobil per-share profit was 41% higher -- put this in perspective -- than analysts estimates. because of lower crude prices and exxon pumped more oil than expected. meanwhile, conoco phillips lost a whopping 200 lane dollars in the first quarter -- $200 million in the first quarter but it still beat analyst estimates. and the parent company of comedy central by tom posted -- viacom posted quarterly earnings that beat estimates. sales fell by 3% and the company previously announced it would take a $785 mill

i'm thinking demo, bill ackman. -- dan loeb, bill ackman. we will ask him about his strategy.hey have more than $3 billion in management. this year, we are talking more and more about activism will stop they have really come under attack recently. they're putting so much pressure on ceos right now and ceos are not making great long-term decisions, but just living in fear of guys like you and trying to return to shareholders to keep their jobs. cliff: the key issue is short-term versus long-term. some of the criticism out there is about short-term isism. erik: is that your -- is that a valid concern? cliff: i think it can be in many quarters. we are investing in our companies for three years at a time. if we are recommending something to create value for the stockholders, we expect it to be a serious way to build shareholder value. erik: three years is certainly longer than three months or six months, but many of the decisions that a corporate ceo needs to take today are for not just three years, but five years, 10 years, even 20. cliff: absolutely, and i think one of the great

ackman eventually will have to sell the apartment. he better hope a russian oligarch hasn't had his fortune confiscated. liz: then you get the call in the middle of the night. the sing isn't working. >> you can get a plumber. liz: art, real estate or something else? >> look. new york real estate of course. the baskiet of course. for eight guys that can afford it. great thing to say, but most people can't afford the kind of assets they're talking about i agree gold is really tough place to make money. you have to be really sharp. most people should avoid it. shouldn't be a major asset. new york real estate, if you can afford it, buy new york real estate. if you can afford fine art it is great place. liz: i hear story of queens is getting hot. okay. guys, coming up, is china's market set for a boom or a bust? netflix is getting "full house" back together. what show should rival netflix like amazon? which show should they bring back to counter that reunion, david? >> "dick van dyke show," of course. looking for stocks you can hold for ye

you know, like bill ackman went after canadian pacific. it's performing well. okay.wasn't performing. a lot of companies indeed. let's not go after the best companies that have built this country. >> he will also say that he has no plans on cutting r&d or capex. the fact of the matter is as well as in the stocks that he has been involved in, capex has gone up not down, in all -- nearly all of the cases and again, i could cite the names for you, i mean the record speaks for something, does it not? >> well, his initial plan was to eliminate the central research labs. dupont has a central research labs that fuels all of its businesses. it's the science base that makes a dramatic increases in a company's stock. that's the big pharma companies like novartis and merck that have a science base have really found that. you can always develop new products. but that's not where the break through come. the idea you're going to split the research and science up and just do product development i'm not sure he understands between research and product development. it's true 90% of t

bill ackman talking credit markets. the biggest risk to the markets is to do loans. at a conference that a trillion dollars in student loans that is outstanding and there is no way that borrowers will pay it back. olivia: it's a scary amount of money. michael: he said one of the problems here is because these people when rates go up, are people who protest things. the conference he gave that comment add, they were -- there were protesters. we have a situation here where the next president is going to forgive the debt. betty: there will be a bailout summer. michael: absolutely. betty: who is on the hook? olivia: my taxes will go up? betty: members of the s&p looking to avoid scams. 10% of the companies are partially exempt from u.s. taxes . what is the reason? texan versions. deals that let their headquarters move overseas. i thought we put that issue to rest in 2014. -- tax inversions. michael: we are not supposed to pay more taxes than the loss tell us we have to pay. you have lobbyists up there fronting for these companies were the special deals. this is one more e

bill ackman's maleate pharmaceuticals have agreed to and their long-standing legal battle -- [indiscernibleover insider trading. just after an unsuccessful bill last year. they have since been purchased by activists. sir richard branson, one of the wealthiest entrepreneurs in the world is also a high school dropout. like mark zuckerberg, bill gates, steve jobs, they'll quit college before graduating. i talked to branson last night. we had a long talk. it comes with the challenges of educating entrepreneurs as well as the future of virgin galactic. >> it is possible that school is not necessary. i left school at 15. i learned the art of entrepreneurs himism by getting out there and doing it. i educated myself in the real world. and i have seen my life as one long education that i never had. that is for entrepreneurs. other professions, schooling can be quite useful and universities can be quite useful. but for most entrepreneurs, the sooner they get out of there and get their hands dirty, the better. cory: do you think there is something about this education and technology being applied -- i

bill ackman talks about student loans.ckman says there is no way the students will be able to pay back the money. the government says 9% of outstanding balances, 100 billion dollars, are in default. drawing parallels to the housing collapse. that could be overdone. a notebook used by alan trying has sold for a million dollars at auction. it is the only manuscript known to exist. he was effected in last year's movie, the imitation game. coming up in 10 minutes the imf has the forecast. we will speak with the chief economist of ims. when presidents, business moguls, want to hold a party. there's one guy to call. we will sit down with the masters champion. stephanie: a million-dollar party. please. more than that. moving on. aol dialing up into the advertising world. a new platform with ad placement on how well they do with audiences in real time. it is called one by and well. cory johnson is with the ceo of aol, tim armstrong. i am nervous for you. if tim armstrong nose in real time what you are interested in, that could lea

that you have been sucked into the bill ackman and bruce berkowitz orbit.or grassley: let me suggest to those who say that that i do not care about any hedge funds. my concern is simply as a check and balance as you study in high school government, where a constitutional check on the executive branch of government and there are certain documents that are not being made public. there is executive privilege considered. and we are not getting answers and my questions are to get answers on whether or not somebody in the justice department is withholding these documents for some reason or other. are they being held under executive privilege, and if they are being held under executive privilege, the law and the constitution requires that the president himself make that determination it is executive privilege. if the president is involved in this decision but these issues are not being made public, i think i have a responsibility as a member of the legislative branch of government overseeing the enforcement of laws and to make sure that the president follows the c

bill ackman's pershing square allegan, and valiant pharmaceuticals have agreed to end their long-standingattle over a failed agreement. valiant accused allergan of making false statements. allergan has since been purchased by activists. sir richard branson, one of the wealthiest entrepreneurs in the world, also a high school dropout. he is not alone. other successful entrepreneurs include larry ellison, bill gates, steve jobs. i caught up with branson last night in arizona. we had a long talk and talked about the challenges of educating entrepreneurs as well as the future of virgin galactic. richard: it is possible school is not necessary. i left school at 15 and i learned the art of entrepreneurialism by getting out there and doing it. i also educated myself in the real world. i have seen my life as one lung education that i never had -- long education that i never had. but that is for entrepreneurs. for a lot of other professions, it can be quite useful. universities can be quite useful. but for most entrepreneurs, the sooner they get out there and get their hands dirty, the better. cor

this is the bill ackman model.u haven't seen in germany is hostile relations even between family members. the people that are fighting here are both grandsons. they are cousins, both grandsons of the legendary founder of porsche. in many ways, this is a remarkable story. we will see how it turns out. one thing about ferdinand piech, he was the chairman before winterkorn, . he basically got rid of the last ceo. up to this point, ferdinand piech has gotten what he wanted. it looks like he is playing a losing hand. jonathan: you will be a busy man. hans nichols, our international correspondent. as we head to the break, let's check on equity markets. record high closes for the stoxx 600, the ftse, and the dax. off by 17 points on the ftse in london. the dax stilwell north of 12,000 points. the best week for european stocks last week since january. the euro showing a little more weakness against the dollar this morning. join us after the break. we are going to talk u.k. politics. ♪ jonathan: let's bring the conversation

ackman is under investigation too. but they've been doing that -- >> or people he hired. >> yes.le he may have firehired. it may lead to him at some point. >> he hates herbalife. >> yeah. he's a short seller. i don't know how cnbc got the report. it's incumbent upon journalists. we all make mistakes. i'm telling you why the stock moved. the market thought it was bigger. it was as big as cnbc touted it to be. and realized the report was probably -- what is known in tabloid land as a feather. >> well, herbalife is made of titanium. it keeps on ticking after a licking. >> you like the protein shakes? >> i do not have a problem with this company. if it was a ponzi scheme, it would have collapsed by now. >> pyramid. not ponzi. a little different. >> oh, different. >> hugely different. >> every step of the way. charlie gets the news. we have a quick programming note. don't miss episode of "strange inheritance." hugely popular show. tonight, 9:00 p.m. jamie colby meets a family whose "strange inheritance" is an alligator in crocodile ranch. she pays a visit to the nursery. >> you are in

do you want to invest like billionaires like carl icahn and bill ackman, but you have no idea.ns they have. you don't know what they do. we'll tell you how you can be these guys if you want to be. or at least invest like them. speaking of billionaires. welcome to the weekend with warren. liz claman is on her way to talk to the oracle of omaha about his investment advice. also exclusive interviews with berkshire hathaway insiders. including an exclusive sitdown with his kids. howard. nice guy, by the way. susie. peter. all of them are going to be joining liz. she'll be asking them about, well, growing up off it. also what the roles are today at berkshire. and the buffett legacy. "countdown" to the closing bell is ending. ashley is in the house. be right back. ♪ keeping a billion customers a year flying means keeping seven billion transactions flowing. and when weather hits, it's data mayhem. but airlines running hp end-to-end solutions are always calm during a storm. so if your business deals with the unexpected, hp big data and cloud solutions make sure you always know what's c

sohn and we will be there speaking to those three gentlemen at the very minimum, lee cooperman, bill ackmannstein, all coming up on monday at noon. do not miss it. >>> coming up, just three hours left in the trading day, your game plan for the second half is up next. plus all the big earnings you need to watch. introducing the new can-am spyder f3. with a cruising riding position and the most advanced vehicle stability system in the industry... ...you'll ride with a feeling of complete freedom and confidence. visit your can-am dealer and test drive the spyder f3 today. we know in the cyber world, threats are always evolving. at first, we were protecting networks. then, we were protecting the transfer of data. and today it's evolved to infrastructure... ♪ ...finance... and military missions. we're constantly innovating to advance the front line in the cyber battle, wherever it takes us. that's the value of performance. northrop grumman. i would not say i'm into it. but let's see where this goes. [ buzzer ] do you like to travel? i'm all about "free" travel, babe. that's what i do. [ buzzer ]

leeian cooperman, bill ackman, barry rosenstein from jana partners.ng forward to speaking with those gentlemen. the presentations are going to be einhorn's are fun to watch. hope you'll join us on monday for that. still ahead, this is navind navinder sarao, the london trader accused of contributing to the flash crash in 2010. up next we talk to his former employer. could he have really contributed to the flash crash? we'll find out next. >>> plus, it's fed day. there's our countdown clock. 1:14:20, until the news. >>> back, white collar prison time is the subject of a new cnbc documentary airing tonight called "white collar convict." there's a common perception that when corporate big wigs go to prison they have it easy. the reality is more complicated as former tyco ceo dennis kozlowski found out when he was convicted of looting his company. here's a sneak peek. >> i did not realize i was in trouble until the jurors came back and started reading guilty. that's when it really hit me. >> in 2005, he was sentenced to eight to 25 years. dennis kozlowski,

. >> remember a few years ago bill ackman was going for the u.s. dollar to the hong kong dollar.hat be accessed by a retailer investor? >> no. those are over the counter options in the foreign exchange area. if you have a foreign exchange account, you can trade hong kong dollars and use leverage to get a bang for your buck here. it's a safer trade in a sense. leverage always adds an element of risk. but really the best way to do it is just buy the ewh or options on the ewh. >> all right. thanks for that. >>> coming up next on "fast," ford outperforming the market this year but some saying it could stall the end of the month. details on that trade next. >>> shares of ford have been beating the market so far this year but some traders are betting the stock will stall soon. mike khouw is here with the action. mike? >> so it was interesting today. we saw three times as many puts ade calls. and most of that anomaly was accounted for by one large single trade. somebody reached out to the may 14 puts and paid 6 cents for 18,000 of those. now, the interesting thing about this is it's goi

reuters saying bill ackman looked at ibm but decided to pass. ibm also apparently working with two investment banks to defend against the possible activists' attack. guy. >> ibm's stock down 2,013 early. we have been talking about this for a long time. that's been right. i guess the good news is the 154 level we traded down to and seemingly bounced from is the same levels we held in late 2011. if you want any consolation. but this becomes a math problem to me. what's the right multiple, how much are you going to make. throw a nine multiple on 16 bucks and you get a $44 stock. more aggressive, given their growth rate and businesses, you could say there should be an eight multiple. obviously makes the stock worth less. so do they need something, yes. activists something. but i still think the stock is grim death. what. >> is interesting is why reuters reported, the activists said no, because it is too expensive and because problems are too difficult. structural problems are too difficult to solve. >> and the size i think makes it not impenetrable.

demolish the stock, pegsfully they mount campaigns against the stock, like with herballife and bill ackman. the hedge fund manager was taking on the company, even he's been buying back stock and smart managers are on the other side of it. just don't underestimate the amount of damage the shorts can do, although remember. the best protection against these raids is offer from stocks that pay good solid dividends. short sell verse to borrow stock to short the stock, and that means they have to pay the dividends to the real owners. that's a terrific deterrent for those who are pernicious in the way they go about shorting. when you see a stock with a big dividend being attacked by shorts and the dividend is going high, oh, what a terrific place to be, especially if the insiders are snapping up stocks too. that would be thrice blessed. bottom line, insider buying plus f-heavy short interest can equal raging buys where shorts are determined to crush the stock at any price. speaking of herbalife. let's go to bob in florida. >> caller: great following you. i'm an action alert follower. wish i had g

the protesters targeted bill ackman, billionaire founder and ceo of pershing square capital who owns a condo in the building, for profiting off investments in burger king and private prison firm corrections corporation of america. >> stakeholders in poverty wages. >> real estate investment. they are banking on the occupation of these prisons to return their investment, which means they are banking on black and brown men, women, and children think put into these facilities so they can make money. amy: the protest came as house republicans in washington have passed a measure to effectively deepen income inequality by providing a $269 million tax break to the wealthiest .2% of americans. the house voted along party lines to repeal the federal estate tax, which only applies to estates worth over $5.43 million. president obama would veto the measure if it cleared the senate. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now! democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and ar

we talk about david einhorn bill ackman, and carl icahn more than anyone else.changing, but it is the myopia of the political structure in our country. everyone lives for today. no one wants to look 5-10 years down the road. until that changes i sure don't see how it is going to change anytime soon you are probably right. stephanie: he is so smart, betty liu, that stan druckenmiller. betty: great interview. stephanie: thank you. betty: what else is he like? stephanie: extraordinary track record. even though he is very negative long-term and is really worried about interest rates being low he is making a ton of dough. he likes equities, telecoms airbus in europe. he is positive about japanese equities and his bullish about the chinese economy. i pushed him on the property situation in china. he said look at the chinese economy. it is only growing, only getting bigger, only getting better. he is really positive. betty: even at 7% growth. stephanie: he is most concerned about the u.s. and interest rates. get on it. i will have the whole interview on "market makers.

bill ackman paid more than 90 billion -- $91 billion for a new york city penthouse. purchase one of the city's most expensive ever. the home spans two floors as a luxury skyscraper. iran's supreme leader says all western sanctions against his country must be lifted immediately if a nuclear agreement is finalized. the opposition raises new questions about the prospect given for a deal. peter cook spoke with former u.s. ambassador to israel martin and derek. lin>> it will be very tough. even the supreme leader says the devil will be in the details. it will be a lot of tough bargaining. the parameters of the deal have been set. if it continues to be the case the leaderships on both sides want the deals, i think it is more likely than not they will get a deal. i suspect it won't be by the june 30 deadline. eventually, there will be a deal. >> did you take the supreme leader's comments as an indication this will be even harder to get to a final solution? >> i think that it is an indication it will be hard to get there. i am relieved in a bizarre way because i was worried

and lee ainslie and bill ackman with returns of roughly 6% and 5% respectively as of late march appear do even better. as do a handful of commodity funds. which called the downturn in oil last year and was headed for double digits returns. had less of a good quarter, a 22% set back in the chip maker micron technology where he bet big about a year and a half ago. helped send him 1.8% into the quarter. mike had an earnings beat yesterday. if things turn around it could prove to be a better march for him. meanwhile, we'll see how everyone else is doing. it seems to be a quarter of divergence but stock picking seems to be a key issue for the first time in awhile. >> to your point, the environment is improving for these kind of investors. >> right. i would agree. i think you're seeing, like i said, a real divergence in stock performance. it's not just a unilateral bull run we're dealing with. in fact, people have talked to me about how one successful wave is fading to contrarian trading over short-term periods in the market when you're dealing with names. maybe even the spy, for example, th

bill ackman and a group of investors bought the second most expensive apartment at the 157 tower, homemost expensive condo sale in the city. who is the guy sells is -- who gets billionaires these homes were fun? gary barnett joins us now. the founder and president of extell development. great to see you. so much to talk now. are these prices sustainable? let's take new york city because that is where you play, where you do your business. these price tags are a enormous but are we heading an oversupply problem? gary: a lot more -- they are pretty unique. i do not take it is oversupply. i think we have a deep pool of buyers. bill purchased a $90 million unit. betty: he called it the mona lisa of apartments? gary: it is very special. betty: the winter garden apartment. he also said he never intended to move into it. gary: if you are worth a few billion dollars you can afford to have a good time. betty: he buys it for fun with an investor group. does that signal any kind of frothing this in the market? gary: i don't think so. he is the kind of buyer who wants to buy something real. he's go

l ackman is the reason the ftc has been looking at the stock and has been irish.ght be another catalyst. alix: a possible end to it iranian sanctions create a ripple effect route oil markets and some opec members are scared of more competition and lower prices. officials saying the cartel should reduce production by at least 800,000 barrels a day to make room for a run -- to make room for iran. joining us over the phone is the president and founder of pk for ledger -- berliger. what kind of pressure do you think we will see for opec to cut its reduction? guest: we will see pressure from other members of opec, but saudi arabia, kuwait, and the uae have embarked on a course of action to assure themselves a long-term market going out to 2050. they are not going to do anything. it doesn't matter what live via says, it matters what saudi arabia says. earlier this week, there was a very clear talk which said the saudi's would continue pushing toward 10 million barrels a day. they are at 9.8 right now. they would continue unless they got cooperation from a number of coun

according to activist investor bill ackman, it is student loans.rillion of student loan debt outstanding and there is no way borrowers will ever pay it back. u.s. says 9% of out outstanding debt balances are already in the fall. and move over, peter parker, you have got new competition. the french spiderman reach the top of dubai's skyscraper over the weekend. he used only talk and tape on his -- chalk and tape on his fingertips, 70 minutes to scale the 1000-foot structure. this is what tom keene does in his free time. that explains the calluses on his hands, scaling the bloomberg tower. barry: that is scary to watch. tom: it is. we look at iran, our peter cook from washington in new york today will have an important conversation on senate activity. and then a very important -- this is a must watch him must listen, barry ritholtz will join us for a discussion on valuation within the market, and yes, we will talk enterprise value which is always a good thing. right now, and morgan stanley has made a set of calls in the past days, never weaker euro u