andrew is joined by dow chemical ceo andrew liveris.nal hour of "squawk box" begins, right now. >>> welcome back to "squawk box" here on cnbc. we are first in business worldwide. i'm michelle caruso-cabrera along with scott wapner and steve liesman. joe, becky and andrew have arrived in switzerland. all three will be together in the alps, talking to some of the biggest names in the business, live from the world economic forum going on live in davos. andrew joins us with a preview and breaking news. andrew? >> thank you, michelle. we do have breaking news as we talked about in the last hour, nelson peltz joining the board of mondelez and the ceo of that company coming to davos. also, pindra nooyi will be here as well. i got off the phone with nelson peltz. here's the headline. as part of his agreement to join the board of mondelez, he will not be pushing for a merger between mondelez and pepsi. that's an important distinction. a lot of people waking up this morning scratching their heads, looking at this announcement that he's joining th

the billionaire made it clear to me and fox business today he's fine was jumping into andrew liveriss $3 billion worth of dow preferred shares. i spoke on the phone with this afternoon and he told me "liz, combination be run for the shareholders who are staying, not for those who are leaving. i believe dow is following the course." you guys can read between the lines or not, but companies should be run for the long-term investor, not the johnny-come-lately or the hedge fund guys looking to make a quick buck. which what drove dow's earnings and dealing with daniel loeb. >> think you for having me. the phrase i use is a self-help. a slowing economy 12, 13 continuing into 14 china not doing what we all wanted to do, europe still sidelining, the u.s. a slight bright spot. we recognize 18 months productivity it self-help, managing cost cash capital, being productive was what we had. record cash flows, doubled earnings, sales growth because we have targeted growth, expanded margins with a little bit of price, really self-help. gerri exactly. the whole list of things that drove it. this was

liveris is a professorer. >> he was a guest this morning on cnbc. he joined andrew sorkin from davos. ris did know that loeb was coming. interesting timing on their part. concluding the interview just prior to mr. loeb's release of the letter. here's what liveris had to say. >> we should all be thinking like the nelson peltzers, i have no problem with people saying here's better waifs to get things done but as management you have to think about those ways which i believe at dow we've been doing. if you look at something like my balance sheet which is the best it's been in about a decade, we've got expensives on it like the preferred from warren buffett. >> if you get the stock up above 52 for any length of time you will get rid of those preferreds. they can convert. they will be converted, i believe, and that will, he mentioned how expensive they are, of course, paying that dividend, so that's another thought process here if you can get the stock moving towards 52 and get it to average that price for 20 of 30 trading days, they convert. that's another expensive thing done away with on

andrew liveris will talk about the numbers. that's speaking with us on squawk.irst, as we head to a break, a look at yesterday's winners and losers, we're back in a moment. i'm only in my 60's... i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i got a medicare supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call now and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, it could save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. call now to request your free decision guide. i've been with my doctor for 12 years. now i know i'll be able to stick with him. [ male announcer ] you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. plus, there are no networks, and virtually no referrals needed. see why millions of people have already enrolled in the only med

andrew is there already. we'll be talking to dow clem kal ceo andre liveris and ken rogoff at 8:40 a.m.aking headlines, earnings season is in full swing plunge the names reporting before the bell today, johnson & jounsan, travelers and verizon. after the bell, we'll hear from ibm and texas instruments. roughly 50% of s&p companies have reported, roughly 50% have missed estimates. u.s. equity futures this morning are suggesting that we are going to have a positive open. the dow would open higher by about 57 points. the s&p by 6. the nasdaq by nearly 16. scott. >> michelle, thanks. in corporate news, two people have been nabbed at the texas border in a credit card fraud