it is a shame, icahn says, that anne simpson is more interested in spewing perjoratives. as for simpson's criticism that he's a short-term investor, icahn says he's often a long-term holder as well. he has owned federal mobile since 2001, for example. icahn offers another reason investors should trust him. his returns. through october, icahn enterprises posted an annualized return of more than 26% over the past decade. calpers over that same time period generated an annualized return of 7.1%. of course, icahn and calpers have very different investor styles. icahn carves out positions in companies and then rattles board rooms for change. calpers is one of the largest institutional investors with assets of $277 billion. it's not clear how all this will play out at apple's annual shareholder meeting on february 28th. one thing we do know, icahn and simpson won't be sitting next to each other. josh lipton, "nightly business report," silicon valley. >> quite a battle there. >>> coming up, a perfect storm hits propane supplies in the midwest, causing severe shortages. and now go

>> i think the efficient deployment of capital is what a anne simpson talked about.the whole carl icahn's push for this buyback but i do agree as jon pointed out many times, give us a plan. what are you doing this w. this cash? let's start seeing some of these acquisitions. let's use that capital effectively. i don't buybacks are the most effective right now. >> i agree. i bet if carl was sitting here amongst other things he would say this is what he wants. the stock is reacting positively to this. just to get some notoriety around it is playing into his hands already. i think this helps. calpers wants a buyback but over longer period of time. both sides are going to get what they want. >> the other thing is, doc, whether the short-term noise comment towards the end is unfair or not, i mean, carl has a big position in apple. it's still only maybe little north of 1% of the outstanding. but by dollar amount, it's large. he's given no indication whatsoever publicly that, you know, he's a hit and run guy on this story. in fact, if anything, he said the other. >> right. a

ann simpson, senior portfolio manager of investment at calpers which owns $1.6 billion of apple sharesple and has a problem. >> those who like to consider the long term will be talking to the company and listening to the company and having that conversation. so tweets and twitters and facebook postings is really megaphone diplomacy. >> simpson says apple's focus should be on product innovation, development and the quality of the board, not financial engineering. she says icahn is a short term investor with a short term agenda. icahn firing back, saying that simpson's priorities are misguided. it is a shame, he tells me, that anne simpson is more interested in spewing pejoratives than improving corporate governance in this country which calpers is in a position to do. as for the criticism that he's a short term investor, icahn says he is often a long term holder as well. for example, he's own biogen since 2007 and federal mobile since 2001. it's still not clear how this will play out at apple's shareholder meeting on february 28th. one thing we do know, icahn and simpson probably won't

her name is anne simpson and she is saying, in essence, good riddance. in august, it has jumped about 13%. i would venture to guess and, melissa, you're as good at guessing as i am, but his involvement inspired a significant move in the stock pause people look and see, oh, this activist investor's involved, he's going to get some action. melissa: absolutely. thanks so much, liz, thanks so much to you. that's all we've got for you. i hope you're making money today. be sure to tune in tomorrow, we're going to be talking to michelle gerard. here comes liz. ♪ ♪ liz: keeping up with carl icahn, essentially saying apple is doing the right thing now. is he really backing down? we're live with one of the largest pension funds in the country that says apple ceo tim cook and the rest of apple's team always had it right. and we're speaking with the world's largest asset manager about all this volatility and why you shouldn't run scared from stocks. the chief investment strategist of blackrock here to guide you and your money.

ann simpson the senior portfolio investor manager at calpers which owns $1.6 billion apple shares agreese has a serious problem with icahn's activism. >> now, standing outside and lobbing a brick through the window is really not a sensible way to engage in the conversation. we don't think that, you know, carl icahn who is a relatively small investor with a very short-term agenda should be steering the board of apple which is a very big company with a long-term future which many people are relying on. >> now, icahn is firing back saying that simpson's priorities are misguided. it is a shame, icahn tells me, that anne simpson is more interested in spewing pejoratives than improving corporate governance in this country that calpers can do. icahn said he's often a long-term holder, for example, he has owned biogen since 2007. up later in the halftime report with scott, i'll have more on this story including the most important reason icahn says you should trust his advice, his returns, simon, back to you. >> okay, josh, thank you very much for that. josh lipton live on the west coast. >>> let