but in my opinion, he is not a fan of bill ackman. saw so many people short sellers, people i know, have known for showers. people short herbalife, turned around and went long herbalife, because when ackman got involved they just didn't like it. didn't like the way he did the presentation and they did this, i hate bill mang, trade. >> so despite big wins and credibility in some quarters, has bill ackman had his jump the shark moment? >> again, i have to say this very importantly, i've done a tre mend out amount of research myself. i saw his presentation laid out in a tremendous way that others have never done on this company or industry. so i believe actually, he knows a heck of a lot more about this industry and the company than anyone else -- >> herb, i -- herb, have you spoken with loeb at length about how much he knows or doesn't know about the amount of research he's done. he calls ackman's accusations and reiterated that they are preposterous. dan loeb doesn't take on deals just to have egg thrown on his face. >> i must say, spe

we have been speaking with bill ackman, hedge fund investor. carl icahn joins us live on the phone. let me see if i have both of you with us. carl, are you there? bill, there? >> i'm here. >> i'm here as well. >> you know, carl, we have been speaking with bill for the last several minutes following the accusations you made yesterday. he's essentially saying you're a hypocrite, carl, in your argument that you have laid out short positions yourself publically. how do you respond? >> well, you know, listen. i really sort of have had it with this guy ackman. you know? why don't we go back over a little history with him. you know, i'm not going to get into talking about short positions as much as maybe you'd like. hey, let's start with my history with this guy. i was minding my own business. in 2003 i get a call from this ackman guy. i'm telling you, he's like the crybaby in the schoolyard. i went to a tough school in queens. they used to beat p up the little jewish boys. he was like a little jewish boy crying that the world was taking advantage of him. he's in my office talking about how

a long standing grudge between bill ackman and icahn turned into a slug fest.indal said the republican party needs to grow up and start being the stupid party. >> the fbi reports they are investigating senator bob menendez on accusations he purchased prostitutes and attended sex parties in the dominican republic. he has rejected this party for months and much of this story frankly is still unconfirmed. joining to us explain the allegations and the newly surfaced evidence, executive editor at "the daily caller." what is the new evidence that has emerged? >> about 36 hours ago we received a cache of documents, about 58 pages of e-mails between a source in the dominican republic, abc news, the fbi and an organization called citizens for responsibility and ethics in washington. these e-mails stretched from last april through mostly through the end of the year through into early december and demonstrate somebody in the dominican republic witrectcontag prostitute, some of them underage was blowing the whistle on the senator and providing specific evidence, the names

bill ackman has done a great onwhp when he hits the ball, he does two things traditionally.lam oem run or strike out. that is is the bottom. by the way it served him very well in his shareholders and investors for a very long time. dan loeb is different under that year after year there is a greater con site of the ency to the investments. how you want it think about that, choose your own poison. >> understand. thank you for jumping in. >> the full report of marketing and herbalife. can be found on-line right now at sellingthedream.cnbc.com. check it out. >> next, facebook phone may be in the works. could it real e be a game changer for the stock? we'll find out. but when i started losing energy and became moody... that's when i had an honest conversation with my doctor. we discussed all the symptoms... then he gave me some blood tests. showed it was low t. that's it. it was a number -- not just me. [ male announcer ] today, men with low t have androgel 1.62% (testosterone gel). the #1 prescribed topical testosterone replacement therapy, increases testosterone when used daily

megainvestors bill ackman and carl icahn going at it.lms were sweating for you, scotty. >> it was fantastic. great viewing. scott wapner you did a brilliant job. and of course for those who do not know the background, why do these two have issues? >> well, mandy, their feud goes back a decade when bill ackman was a young hedge fund manager who did a deal with carl icahn who was then already an investing legend. most recently, the war of words has turned to herbalife which ackman has taken a very public short position in. icahn has blasted him for that and today the whole thing ille live tv. >> in herbalife we simply provided to the public full transparency on this investment, 330 slides in detail, not scaring people, but going through the facts about the company. okay? we did exhaustive research over a year and a half. we'll either be proven right or wrong. okay. we shorted the stock. we have not covered our shares. we believe in what we -- we have more to come by the way. >> right. >> we have some questions the company has given us the

big hedge fund guy coming out and taking a long position and saying that the accusations made by bill ackmana very public short position against the company has no merit, that ackman's claim that the company is a pyramid scheme, on top of that within the last hour we learned that the s.e.c. has opened an inquiry into herbalife. we'll have much more on this story. herb greenberg has been all over it. we'll hear from him a little bit later. meantime, walmart, the nation's largest gun retailer heading to washington to meet with the vice president about gun control, but only after some reluctance. our eamon javers is in d.c. with the very latest. why the turnaround? >> hi, scott. let me bring you up to date on what happened so far today. there was an emotional meeting at the white house today led by vice president joe biden as victims of gun assaults and leaders of the brady campaign on gun violence met with the vice president at the white house to lay out what they think ought to happen here. the vice president saying that he thinks that the administration is going to move very quickly in the w

. >> what are the possibilities you'll see bill ackman for what he's done? >> no comment. >> no update on that? >> no. >> here is the final question for you, michael. what is the heart of the business, sales or distribution? >> the heart of the business is product and product results that people get every day from taking an herbalife shake, the skin care product, that's the heart -- it's the product. you said last question. >> a follow-up to my last question. when it comes to the accusations about the pyramid scheme, the proportion of each is very important. as you know. if you had to pick one or the other, what do you think is the core center for you guys? >> one or the other of what? >> sales or recruitment. >> oh, sales. you only get paid on sales. i'm sorry, i got to go to l.a. and see distributors tonight. >> thank you for speaking with us. we appreciate it. >> thanks so much for that great stuff. we should note that the stock which was up more than 2% prior to that interview just closed at the flat line now. that does it for us on "squawk on the street

my accepts is that when bill ackman is successful, it's a grand slam.as a greater consistency to it. the ultimate results may not be that different, but it makes it harder in my mind to therefore make a judgment, so i'm probably with jim in terms of throwing up my hands. but that's my quick analysis. >> i have some hong kong dollar calls that i still would like to sell either one of you guys. >> people like canadian pacific this morning. >> how about your partnership interest in that target -- >> i got some of that, too, along with my hong kong dollar options. >> if you're a rino, you did not mean the horrible neighborhood comment to make a judgment. i think that your video analysis was important. because that's -- take a breath away situation. saying, wow, this thing -- maybe this thing is undercover -- herb went undercover. i remember when food line got hit by the undercover and that didn't work out. undercover work is incredible and if the late mike wallace within involved, it would be a three. >> i think he'd be proud of what herb has done. a tremen

under intense scrutiny since hedge fund manager bill ackman labeled the company a pyramid scheme, herbalife was thought to be the possible target when the ftc announced it would take action against an unnamed company for operating a pyramid scheme. that company turned out to be hi-tech marketing, but it has lots in common with herbalife. both companies sell nutritional supplements and have similar business models. president obama heads to nevada today -- where he will deliver a speech regarding immigration policy. yesterday -- a group of eight bipartisan lawmakers unveiled an immigration reform plan -- calling the proposals "tough but fair." the proposals would make it possible for undocumented immigrants to apply for green cards by passing a background check and paying a fine. the senators also addressed ramping up border security. the steps would be easier for children of undocumented immigrants and agricultural workers to obtain citizenship. starting friday -- japan can begin importing beef from the u.s. the japanese government is easing restrictions of a ban set in place in 2003. japan

you tend to listen. >> and i spoke with bill ackman last night.lled the cnbc exchange with icahn a side show but he doesn't regret it. he believes he's bringing attend to what he called a fraud at her ba light. we're certain to hear more from company executives by the february 19th earnings call. >> this is a fascinating story and i've been following it for several weeks and it blew up on friday. also the s.e.c. is investigating herbalife. what does that mean? >> well, the s.e.c. has yet to take action but they are investigating it. the other thing is that bill ackman is meeting with regulators. that's been a part of his short position. he's continued to meet with local and federal investigators and he told me last night he's going to be submitting a list of questions. herbalife says ask me anything, we'll answer it on the record. he's putting together a list of questions that he's planning to have go public. >> this is part of a public fight like what he had with dan loeb. >> certainly short sellers win. like you mentioned bill ackman is on one s

it went through court a number of times and the court decided with bill ackman and that animosity haslearly festered and now it is pouring out into the public. maybe because of this public position that ackman was taken and addressiveness which he has done it with, that icahn has taken issue with. it is the way these two guys roll, you know, if you will. icahn is -- i mean, ackman is methodical, right? it is the way he gives the speeches on conference. any of these events, salt in las vegas, or wherever they show up, it is the way these guys work. icahn is a little blustery. he has been in a lot of prize fights, if you will, and this is what happens. >> ackman doesn't suffer from a small ego, you guys and he is not afraid to use the public forum in order to talk about investment ideas that he feels passionate about. we saw examples of that today, clearly. but i will say, earth others made this point, he did a lot of diligence on this stock. whether he is right, i don't know. i have the same amount of diligence. but i think the numbers of herbalife have gone unanswered by the company a

this has 2.5 pill mmillion in t chain and bill ackman is ripping them off.acco kill twice as many people a year as herbalife. herbalife has in its network. they kill 400,000 people in america. hugely profitable. they are scum bags but return cash to shareholders for decades. if you have shorted them, you've been run over. herbalife, five years ago, add about 400 million shares, it now has 108 million shares. it buys back stock regularly. payes a fairly hefty dividend. they are a scum bags but have a stock market scum bag. >> you have to be careful with what you say here. the question is, will the ftc go after the company? one reason you don't believe that ackman will be right is because you don't believe the fdc will do that. >> you say something obviously wrong and you think the government will rescue you. all herbalife needs to do is find somebody who was fat and is less fat because of herbalife and somewhere in the 2.5 million distributors there will be a few of those. wheel them out in front of them, and you are know, what bill ackman's case now is that

the other thing is that bill ackman is meeting with regulators.been a part of his short position. he's continued to meet with both local and federal investigators and he told me last night he's going to be submitting a list of questions. herbalife said ask us anything we'll answer it on the record. well, he's putting together a list of questions that he plans on having to be very public. >> this is part of another fight between -- with dan loeg over what will happen with the stock, will it go up or down? if it goes down, short sellers win. >> shortly short sellers win if it goes down. bill ackman is on one side, but there are a number of other high profile investors including dan loeg on third quarter capital betting that the shares will go up. >> do we have any any suspicion of where karl icahn is or is this bad blood -- >> well, there are people who have speculated about what karl icahn's position may be or may not be in herbalife, but he is on record saying he won't admit to owning herbalife. >>> the u.s. doping agency is giving lance armstrong

bill ackman says it's a pyramid scheme and herbalife disagrees, right.r times its daily average, the stock dipped during an after-hour. our own kate kelly interviewed ceo michael johnson. at the investor presentation he counter the bill ackman major short position as we know in the stock which is now currently off its lows. one thing he said, the ceo, that may have led to the selloff was that a huge portion of his distributors are actually consumers as well. >> it's always a misstatement. 90% of our distributors, okay, who are buying our product, and let me just try to clarify this. buy it for one reason, and they pie it for self-consumption. that a misstatement on that day. i was kind of hyped up that day, wasn't i? >> i guess so. before a presentation in the statement, ackman reiterated that it's believed that 90% of herbalife distributors have zero earnings in terms of addressing his firm's questions in the presentation. ackman stated, quote, the company distorted, mischaracterized be a outright ignored large portions of our presentation. whether you

bill ackman says only 1% only make the top level.an you rectify the data point. >> our distributes buy the project and resell it by gets the margin. some work at 15% margin, some work at 40%, some 50%. we can't exactly track that. if you're a distributor of mine, i don't know what you sell the product for. if you operate on daily consumption, it's usually a 100% margin. if you sell over the internet, you're probably selling at a lower margin. i can't give you the exact margin to say here is distributor x and she made y inside the company. >> this pyramid scheme accusation has dogged you over time. the country of belgium put in litigation, it's come up in private litigation. bill ackman is contending you are a pyramid scheme. you talked about reasons why you were not. there was compelling evidence from lieberman associates and former distributors and their feelings about the products in the company and the representative from northwestern university. both were hired to make these assessments by herbalife. >> i don't think you can buy

then most recently when bill ackman announced this short acquisition against herbalife, carl icahn hads speculated that in fact icahn was on the other side of that trade. that he took a long position. which by the way i tried to get him to talk about, but he would not say in fact if he was long herbalife. it's amazing. this battle going back a decade just explodes on live television because of this argument over a stock. >> but it's obviously gotten personal. i mean, they were taking hits on one another. you're not a good investor. you're not a truthful guy. i mean, this is personal. >> it's a lot about egos too. you know? these guys, they have a lot of money. they have big egos. and you saw first hand sort of how all of that clashed. money, power, ego live on cnbc. >> amazing. >>> up next, we're back with the closing bell. >> and then yahoo's earnings moments away at the top. full team coverage on yahoo and we'll break it down b for you. >> paul ryan says all those cuts threatened from the fiscal cliff are actually going to happen. will that bring the rally to a halt? all that and a w

. >> the next thing we are waiting for is for bill ackman to come out with this list of questions becauses. >> when is that going to be? >> we don't know when that will be and people are waiting for herbalife, too t.o., if they are going to do it, sue bill ackman. because that's what companies are hitting. that's where we go next. and where is -- >> and this is a great lesson. because we like it dive in to the quarterly filings for hedge funds and try to gauge with these guys and women are thinking. even the best investors in the world make mistakes. >> they get it wrong sometimes. >> ackman may be horribly strong -- he may be right, we don't know. david einhorn, famously destroyed the florida land company st. joe. came out, a couple years ago, and said, st. joe, showing pictures, empty houses, no one is buying it. the stock is above where it was in october 2010. even the best investors will make mistakes. >> which would would you back? >> based on everything i know about this company and this industry, herbalife and multilevel marketing industry, i would say the best research on it and b

recovered everything it lost from the bill ackman -- >> you have a lot of motivated buyers.u have a signal, all you have to do is validate it. what do i get my guys to do? do some research on herbalife. they are screaming buy to me. anybody that shorts this stock has to play defense unless ackman has a catalyst that is not himself. >> well, but to your point, karen, you are saying the short squeeze, it could theoretically continue as the shorts get out, there could be more in but if you take the shares off the market -- >> out of circulation. >> it becomes smaller and the squeeze becomes more painful. >> and guy being as old school that he is -- >> that's my thing. >> i am old school. if you think this hasn't happened, it happened before. in the early 2000s, irvin jacobs, probably been on the network from time to time and carl icahn, who is a regular on the network, butted heads where jacobs actually took out an article empl'e imploring people short sales. and it went from $4, rallied to $18. he wound up being right and then carl wound up winning in tend. >> happens a lot. >

bill ackman and dan loeb fight it out. and, we have answers coming up in the good, bad and ugly.ore "fast money" coming up after this. at 1:45, the aflac duck was brought in with multiple lacerations to the wing and a fractured beak. surgery was successful, but he will be in a cast until it is fully healed, possibly several months. so, if the duck isn't able to work, how will he pay for his living expenses? aflac. like his rent and car payments? aflac. what about gas and groceries? aflac. cell phone? aflac, but i doubt he'll be using his phone for quite a while cause like i said, he has a fractured beak. [ male announcer ] send the aflac duck a get-well card at getwellduck.com. nothing. are you stealing our daughter's school supplies and taking them to work? no, i was just looking for my stapler and my... this thing. i save money by using fedex ground and buy my own supplies. that's a great idea. i'm going to go... we got clients in today. [ male announcer ] save on ground shipping at fedex office. olaf gets great rewards for his small business! pizza! [ garth ] olaf's small busi

bill and mandy now. >> happy friday everybody. welcome to "closing bell." we'll revisit the ackman icahn brawl we've been talking about in the last few hours. we're also on top of the markets that just won't stop right now. take a look at where we are right now on the dow. and the all-time high from 2007. we get ever closer to that number. we're not that far away at all. >> absolutely right. hello everybody once again. i'm mandy drury of course. and we've got more huge interviews including bill gates, right, bill, would he ever return to microsoft as ceo? we'll ask him that. and a whole lot more. >> and you see christine lagarde will join us as well from davos even as the overall markets keep marching toward all-time highs. apple continues to be rotten today. another down day for apple. is this truly a broken stock? we have a bull/bear debate coming up. >> down 12% this week. in the meantime let's look at those markets. you have the dow which is sitting up by about 50 points right now. in fact, it's ontrack for the best january since 1994. the s&p for its part is poised for its lon

and this, by the way, is pre-bill ackman levels, talk about short squeeze, of bill ackman, a short in do you notice? >> one thing we were looking at, after the presentation, the idea they would do a self-tender. we started looking at conversions that allow you a back-end put. pete would know this much better, but they got very expensive. we were clearly not the only people looking. >> people start paying up that normally shouldn't be all that costly, but because of the fact of the short, everything else, and the want to get into that position that you're describing, absolutely people get very aggressive at times like these. >> okay. let's move on here. stocks near five-year highs. the tide is turning back in favor of stocks as investors put their money to work in the equity market. is there still room in this trade? let's go to dennis gartman, the editor of the gartman letter. dennis, good to see you. >> always good to be seen. >> so, you believe, based on the early data coming out, you believe this is, in fact, the rotation that we've all been waiting for? >> i really do think it is,

ceo michael johnson defended the nutritional supplements company after hedge fund manager bill ackman called it a "pyramid scheme" with shady business practices. johnson says herbalife is a legitimate company with real products, customers, and solid management. ackman bet one billion dollars against herbalife's stock, and called for the ftc to shut it down. herbalife shares were down 70% at $39 thursday. the nomination process for the next treasury secretary is moving forward with president obama naming jack lew as his pick. "i trust his judgement, i value his friendship, i know very few people who have greater integrity than the man to my left." lew currently serves as the chief of staff in the obama administration and could become treasury secretary when timothy geithner leaves later this month. joining us now via skype with insights is jim bianco of bianco research. how is wall street responding? > > lukewarm on the jack lew nomination. they're not really that thrilled. > other than lew's poor penmanship, how well will lew's no-drama approach play out in the upcoming debt ceiling t

bill ackman, the hedge fund manager who is targeting herbalife, calling it a pyramid scheme, says he is prepared to do whatever it takes, and spend whatever it costs, to expose the truth about the company. herbalife, a nutrition and weight managment company, has been issuing heated denials of the charges and is now set to present its full case this thursday at an investors and analysts' conference. senior managment will be present at the new york meeting. lawmakers in d.c. have approved $9 billion of aid for areas devatstated by hurricane sandy, with a potential $51 billion more on the way. ed gjertsen, vp of mack investment securities, joins us with this morning with the economic punch, and how it could help stocks. good morning. and hopefully, some good will come from this tragedy. what do you anticipate? > > angie, i really don't see a lot coming out of this. it's $9 billion. it's basically going to be going more into the infrastructure of just paying the fema bills for the flood insurance. if that additional $50 billion comes, there's a lot of pork in that. i don't see that being

it follows recent accusations from hedge fund manager bill ackman that the business is a pyramid scheme. however, those comments aren't curbing the appetite of all investors. rival hedge fund third point yesterday reported an 8.2% stake in the nutritional supplement company. shares jumped 4% on the news, trading up to $41, as traders who were short the stock were forced to buy herbalife. drought is causing a crisis in winter wheat crops across the nation. according to the usda, much of the central and southern wheat belt is suffering from a severe lack of moisture. farmers in texas, oklahoma, kansas and sections of coloardo are eligible for low-interest emergency loans. president obama is expected to soon name jack lew the new head of the treasury department. lew currently serves as white house chief of staff, but is reportedly the president's pick to fill the role as head of the treasury which will be vacated by timothy geithner following the inaguration. lew has served as budget director under both president obama and president clinton. he is also a wall street alum, as citigroup's ma

activist hedge fund investor bill ackman accused the company of being a "pyramid scheme," saying distributors earn more than 10 times as much from recruitment than they do from selling products. the company called that claim a mis-representation. herbalife sells its products like nutritional supplements and weight loss drinks, directly to consumers. in defending itself, the company's c.e.o. noted today that girl scouts sell cookies directly to consumers. but given the spotlight on its business model, the criticism of herbalife has brought new scrutiny. >> the industry as a whole is going to have a difficult time in the next six months or so sorting out what they want to say publicly and what they don't that's going to affect their relationship with their banker say for a line of credit, its going to affect their relationship with their distributors and its really going to affect conversations inside the direct selling association. >> susie: herbalife's chief critic said the company today ignored his arguments. but herbalife said it is open to "every means possible" to protect the company from

don't call option viewing, it was required viewing on wall street as carl icahn and bill ackman wentestion for investors is who won and how can you actually make money off this great entertainment. >> it was phenomenal entertainment. i think both of them won on two critical points. one thing icahn said which is absolutely rue is that ackman is absolutely a risk of a short squeeze. he said mother of all short squeezes, i think that is accurate. >> ackman didn't answer the question either. >> how is he going to answer that? that's a legitimate risk. on the other hand, the thing ackman handled well was he only tried to stick to the facts. i think he could have gotten the name calling, didn't see that as much. >> he's laid out his facts. he's been very transparent about it. i thought ackman did a great job and won that debate. he is at risk of a short squeeze. all the weak hands that bought it outside of third point which have very strong hands, if there's any fundamental bad news, if there is any traction on some sort of government investigation, this stock will be at 30 very quickly. h

so far, he still has the backing of bill ackman, the big hedge fund tycoon. he is a big investor in pennies, and he says he will give them three more years to prove themselves. >> tom: the investors really like the news today. but they're down 24% since johnson came on board to j.c. penney. he still has a lot of ground to make up there. the broad market climbed to a new five-year high. growing home prices helped even though consumer confidence was down as the year began. after a choppy beginning, the s&p 500 turned higher in the first 45 minutes, hitting 1,500, and it didn't look back, finishing up 0.5%. trading volume picked up from yesterday-- 720 million shares on the big board, just over two billion traded on the nasdaq. the energy sector powered the gains, up 1.6%, followed by the telecommunications and the health care sectors. independent oil refiner valero led the energy sector thanks to its latest quarterly earnings, hitting a seven-year high. valero is one of those refiners benefiting from the increase in u.s. oil production, allowing it to use cheap

so far, he still has the backing of bill ackman, the big hedge fund tycoon. he is a big investor in pennies, and he says he will give them three more years to prove themselves. >> tom: the investors really like the news today. but they're down 24% since johnson came on board to j.c. penney. he still has a lot of ground to make up there. ground to make up there. the broad market climbed to a new five-year high. growing home prices helped even though consumer confidence was down as the year began. after a choppy beginning, the s&p 500 turned higher in the first 45 minutes, hitting 1,500, and it didn't look back finishing up 0.5%. trading volume picked up from yesterday-- 720 million shares on the big board, just over two billion traded on the nasdaq. the energy sector powered the gains, up 1.6%, followed by the telecommunications and the health care sectors. independent oil refiner valero led the energy sector thanks to its latest quarterly earnings, hitting a seven-year high. valero is one of those refiners benefiting from the increase in u.s. oil production,

in the interview with bill ackman itself, we brought it to you last week. k on december 19th. but they've risen in the last week, as you can see there. i'm hearing other investors have taken long positions or added to their positions, betting ackman's campaign won't persuade regulators, including the s.e.c. and ftc to take action. worth noting, as herbalife mentioned numerous times, the ftc has looked at the company before and taken no action. many say they admire bill ackman, investment of $60 million, rising to $2.3 billion. but for all his public success, he's also had a couple of misses. the conference back in 2011, he disclosed a big bet on the hong kong dollar that hasn't worked out. then there's the recent bet on jcpenney which we talked a lot about before, and so far has been a losing one. and the investment in target which didn't go anywhere. loeb known for successfully taking on yahoo! last year. they came off a very successful 2012, returns of more than 21%. but right now, let's take a quick look at shares of herbalife. they are rising on this new

bill ackman is against herbalife. carl icahn is in it.ave never retreated from distinguishing your company from these others including an excellent white paper where you say that herbalife is a network marketing company, and you along with others are a direct seller. can you define what direct selling is and why are you distancing yourself from some of the other companies that claim to be in your industry? >> i'm not going to take issue with network marketing, multi level marketers but they are chalk and cheese from traditional sellers. what you had from prior to 1950, direct selling companies, avon, fuller brush, even tupperware where people went out and sold to a retail customer. you had the emergence of these network marketing companies that recruited people not so much to sell, but to consume their products, and you saw it in cosmetics and supplements and a lot of them came and went because their episodic kind of businesses. they are not direct sellers. they are wholesale buying clubs and based on sign up to save money and consume the

be interesting to see what the big news is concerning the company's battle with the short seller bill ackmanilliam ackman. everybody is familiar with him. we'll see what happens here. right now the stock is gaining up 3 1/4%. ashley: whatever it is. tracy: charlie gasparino has been covering this too. nicole, we'll see you in 15 minutes. >> thanks. tracy: the government is spending more on immigration enforcement but getting less in return. gerri willis has the eye on popping results of a new study. ashley: can netgear deliver on its explosive growth? patrick lo is live with shibani joshi at the consumers electronics show in las vegas. first let's look how the dollar is moving against the foreign currencies on a day with the dow moving lower. the dollar is up against all of the currencies you can see here except for the yen. we'll be right back. can. >> at 22 minutes past the hour i'm arthel neville with your fox news minute. more proof this is a serious flu season. lehigh valley hospital in pennsylvania opened a mobile surge tent outside the e.r. to handle increasing number of patients arri

at the core of all this whether herbalife as bill ackman says from pershing capital, whether they're scheme or not. herbalife made the argument that they're a legitimate business with $44 million in research and development. they're distributors, according to a survey they hired to have done, their distributors, past distributors are still happy with the company. 83% had a favorable view of herbalife. 63 of those would recommend herbalife to a family member or a friend in order to do business. so the investors and analysts there they're on the side of herbalife according to this one we spoke to. >> i just say they point by point, went through everything and there was absolutely nothing to the ackman points after they diffused every single one of them. i think one place where they really scored a lot of points they brought in a professor from northwestern and, you know, kellogg school of business and she went through all the things that you would think about for a pyramid scheme and went through all the things you think about for mlm. basically these guys are just clean. they are a go

lori: herbalife shares surging today as short seller bill ackman is pressuring to to keep the pressuree beleaguered company. charlie gasparino is here. >> look at the chart kind of says where the stock was and where it is now. shows you where ackman was, right, back in december, trading around 40. we pierced that. this is pretty interesting. the company's shares are urge sealing up another 8%. i haven't seen the latest stock charts. why are they up? last week they had a company presentation. what went up on news we foreshadowed first on fox business that dan lobe had a major investment in it. now what we have is two sort of interesting events that don't really, you know, add or detract from what ackman is saying, that is the company is a pyramid scheme. it will run out, in a pyramid scheme you make money by more distribution, not by selling products. distributors pay you a fee. at some point the distributors run out. these two events don't necessarily detract from that argument that it is a pyramid scheme. but they provide a lift. one argument they will preannounce earnings that will b

company says it expects a temporary bumpup in expenses because of its fight with hedge fund manager bill ackman a very public one billion spot. >> intel out with the close. what should you be investing. we'll talk numbers and what you should expect next on cnbc. . with the spark cash card from capital one, >> announcer: the bond report is sponsored by pimco, your bond investment authority. [ garth ]s earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! helium delivery. put it on my spark card! [ pop! ] [ garth ] why settle for less? great businesses deserve great rewards! awesome!!! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? at 1:45, the aflac duck was brought in with multiple lacerations to the wing and a fractured beak. surgery was successful, but he will be in a cast until it is fully healed, possibly several months. so, if the duck isn't able to work, how will he pay for his living expenses? aflac. like his rent and car payments? aflac. what about gas and groceries?

today bill ackman came out with a statement with the stock saying our goal was to shine a spotlight on the company so that the world better understands the facts about herbalife. the outcome of this investment is not about purchasing square or anyone else longer short the stock. to the extent another investor, long or short, brings additional light to the situation, we welcome them. he has facts about herbalife. to send them there and learn more about his presentation. his three-hour presentation. by the way, remember rb herbalife will present in new york two analysts. >> thank you so much. >>> the director of floor operationes with o'neill security, you want it weigh in on herbalife or overall market. >> no. >> just giving you the opportunity. >> let's stay away from herbalife. the market look ford a reason to want it rally after three or four days of pressure. so i think alcoa gave it that. but they talked about what they saw in china as being very positive. so there for, the market just needed that. that could change tomorrow or the day after when someone says china is weakening so

then outcomes bill ackman with a statement of his own saying what they presented was distorted, manipulatedhave his own set of questions on the internet. >> and i have been watching herbalife stock over the course of the day, right? i was watching herbalife shares up over 2%. then the exclusive interview that cape kelly did, right, with herbalife. >> bingo. >> and the stock started appearing its gains and now it is down by 3%. what do you think it was in particular that turned negative? >> exactly. when kate asked the question about something that michael johnson ceo said to her several weeks ago on air, that 90% of our sales go to customers outside of the network. not distributors. that's a huge number. no one ever heard that number. i sat there and said, where did that number come from? she asked and he said, it was in the heat of the moment andis misstated that. what he said is that 90% of their tris distributors are for, quote unquote, self consumption. now that gets into a very interesting area. if 90% of distributors are buying product for themselves and have you turn over between 70

. >> there are a lot of other people, herb, lined up behind bill ackman, trying to ride his coattails. >> there are coattail riders all the time. this is such a complicated story, do the research on this, i've been working on this for close to a year, the nuances of understanding this industry are just so tremendous. just when you think you understand it, you turn something else over and say wait a minute. legally, economically, what is a pyramid scheme? it's not just saying it ain't a pyramid scheme. >> doesn't the short case rely on the fact that the ftc will step in and shut this down? isn't that what ackman needs to happen? >> i always say if your investment is based on courts, congress or regulatory agencies, you might have a problem. >> not a great catalyst. >> but in this case, it's interesting to see if he is shining a spotlight and it creates a rumbling. >> is it too untouchable to urge somebody to buy the stock? >> my rule, controversy equals sell. if you're going for retirement, don't play this game. >> the company lawyered up a little bit. >> i think if the stock was reall

allow billionaires carl icahn and bill ackman to explain to you at home why the other guy's a son of a gun who's not worthy of your respect. refereed by scott wapner occurred on a lot of levels. a lot of it was about a deal going awry a couple years ago that kind ltd the exchange. some thought it was a grudge match with ackman questioning the value of icahn's handshake, icahn implying that ackman was a total cry baby. but the ostensible fight, the reason it played out on air was that ackman wanted to explain again why herbalife, hlf, the company-s a pyramid scheme and while he was at it he blasted icahn, who reportedly owns the stock, as someone who is not a stand-up guy p icahn then called in to defend himself because he was incensed by ackman's description of him. he then called ackman a liar. now, while icahn didn't per se address the fundamentals of herbalife the company, which i wish he had, he did make it clear that ackman could be in trouble because herbalife the stock could be the mother of all short squeezes. >> you've got 20%, and if there's ever a short squeeze, which ther

that herbalife registered a bunch of internet domain names with bill ackman's name in there.learly stealing for a battle with ackman. let's be honest, it is bad optics. ackman winning his bid, the stock down about 8% year to date. >> next one we have is exxon with a cut. >> how do you pronounce that? is that an aussie bank? >> i think americans pronounce it macquarie. snrs it is believed that they will struggle to grow production but this is what is interesting. maybe as an aussie, you can help me understand this. they cut the target from 91. the stock is at $90.78. so they still show 8 plus bucks of upside even on downgrade. >> even on downgrade. go figure. even the aussies a bit confused by that one. is the biggest gainer, is it not be on the nyc. >> one of the biggest gainers, up 14.4%. yeah, fourth quarter loss bigger than projected but the stock is soaring because the company says sales going forward will trounce wurnt estimates. coming 06 a very difficult 2012 but free scale is up 31% this year. raising price target is 16 bucks from 12. and holy mackerel. >> yeah. what