here is bill ackman struggling for air. >> the crux of at least the early part of the article is the ke trip, loeb and ackman and ackman hasn't been on a bike in a long time but he gets up there -- >> well also a try athlete -- >> but it is like they are building loeb up and ackman is this straw man everybody is making fun of. i think that's the mentality of the hedge fund right know. >> shocking, a henl fund billionaire is arrogant, filled with ego, overconfident and takes big bets. that describes pretty much everyone -- >> right. >> he had some spectacular wins too. >> but he had huge failures too. they go down the list. it is easy to pick the target. target, borders, j c.j jcp, gol. >> it is beautiful to see these guys taking the opposite side of each other. oh, those evil hedge funds. we don't know what they are doing. it is faceless. now one directly against the other. it is wonderful to watch and i hope educational to people. we have two smart people taking the opposite side of the trade. >> i think this is cultural transformation going on in the hedge fund world. behind the sce

that worth $1.2 billion for bill ackman. tory burch, dagen -based reference to earlier.ond youngest billionaire. congratulations to her, as well. who was the youngest self-made? dagen: from spain. women who actually make something and produce something and then some dude who just moves money around for a living becomes a billionaire. connell: what is the woman's name? sara blakely. dagen: from great news to bad news for greece. reclassifying the country from a developed market to an emerging market. the money manager which designated greece a developed nation back in 2001 said since the company began revealing unsustainable levels of public debt since 2009, it has been an unfortunate economic tailspin. any opportunities in the greek economy have become inherently riskier. connell: there you go. the right way to cut spending in washington before returning to greece. art laffer will be talking about all of this coming up next. dagen: at the growing threat to our nation online. are we as a nation prepared for the cyber world attacks? the weeklong series of cyber threats. he

the politics of who on that board, bill ackman, somebody who has a gene jius aura, that theyn cover toelp protect them. the hold hp board that kept car carly fs farina longer than they should. bob dime of barclay's. or when he was at maky nike /* /* nike, chris. boards become weak-kneed. on that case, there is a different set of board politics. this caniving, maneuvering how to take the job from the boss. it is hard it figure out, when do you move or not move. >> here is an example where andrew mason was the founder but because eric l put in the first million dollars, if mason put in the first million, would he be out today? >> i learn from you that, i think you told us this morning, he has 7% still with owner stake in the company. so he has a pretty strong, if not controlling interest, he what has a strong voice. when we saw david kneelman prematurely ridiculous removed as founder of jetblue, david neilman was overwhelmingly the larger shareholder. this was able to happen despite background and ownership and governance issuees. a lot has to do with control over the board politics. if

on the other side of the trade, hedge fund manager bill ackman had a short position in the stock while telling reporters he believes herbalife is a pyramid scheme that will send the stock to zero. boeing's dreamliner could soon be airborne - again. boeing is testing jets with a re-designed battery that safeguards against overheating. depending on approval from the faa, the jets could take off within weeks. in japan, aviation officials want further investigation. samsung is introducing more than just a new smartphone. the tech company has named two new co- ceos, bringing its total up to 3 chief excutive officers. with great fanfare last thursday, samsung unvieled its galaxy s- 4, which runs on google's android platform and is meant to do battle against apple with a 5-inch touch screen and technology that allows your eyes to move the screen. but, in the face of a downgrade and the new competition, apple shares rallied $1 friday. it's a busy week for ipos. kicking off the list, nursing facility aviv reit, a company that provides conference calls; west corporation; and on-demand digital ad

a week to forget for bill ackman. we'll explain that. and we'll find out who cramer did induct into his wall of shame last night. >>> what a new record high for the dow, set a bear market trap for investors? we'll explore that question. >>> one more look at futures. implied open down 48. back in a minute. [ woman ] if you have the audacity to believe your financial advisor should focus on your long-term goals, not their short-term agenda. [ woman ] if you have the nerve to believe that cookie cutters should be for cookies, not your investment strategy. if you believe in the sheer brilliance of a simple explanation. [ male announcer ] join the nearly 7 million investors who think like you do: face time and think time make a difference. join us. [ male announcer ] at edward jones, it's how we make sense of investing. [ construction sounds ] ♪ [ watch ticking ] [ engine revs ] come in. ♪ got the coffee. that was fast. we're outta here. ♪ [ engine revs ] ♪ >>> shares of best buy up sharply in the premarket. the electronics retailer posted be

mick mcguire who was bill ackman's right-hand man. ot of new guys coming out that aren't as well known. cheryl: we were talking about bill and carl icahn and the herbalife story, and they're pitted squarely against each other. i'm assuming that's something you're going to stay away from. >> yeah, we're going to stay away from that. that really hasn't happened in the seven years that i've been following activist situation, and i'm not sure it's going the happen like this in the next seven years. we respect carl and bill very much, and we would never take a side against either one of those. cheryl: i know you know carl icahn, what makes him tick, do you think? >> he's just investing. he loves what he duds, he love -- does, he loves making money. making money and investing, i think, is really what he's all about. cheryl: making money but also, i mean, he creates a lot of controversy. >> well -- cheryl: there's got to be a piece of him that all -- >> all activists create controversy, and, you know, most activists at least, and that's the n

that's the question that's been put on the table by bill ackman and how do you answer that?n you give us any sense of where that investigation is going right now? >> i can't comment on it at all. i don't have the information on that. and can't comment on the ftc. but the, as you said, how do you answer that? you keep performing. and really, performance speaks for -- performance will speak. the company will speak for itself, i believe. that's what has to happen. >> is there a proxy contest on the horizon for this company? >> i don't see one. we just settled two icahn directors on. bought a large stake in the company. the company's happy to have him on. and all good ideas are welcome. but, i don't see, unless you know something i don't know, andrew, there's nothing i know of. >> okay. ken moelis, thank you for joining us this morning. what time is your panel? >> i'm not on a panel today. i had dinner last night. >> part of the summit more broadly. ken moelis, appreciate it. back to the studio. >> all right, thank you. we're going to continue to talk here about what's working n

it's clear that bill ackman is not wavering one bit.he letter that was sent to the chairwoman emboldens his resolve in his case. >> do we know if his campaign -- the one thing i haven't figured out, has his campaign hurt the company? earnings continue to be good. last quarter reported good earnings. are there not potential distributors and potential customers who are reading or hearing about this or maybe they're not hearing about this because it's just so in the financial world that it hasn't touched the consumer market that people say actually i'm not going to do this? >> i don't know if it filtered down to the consumer level. there's been some impact on the distributor level because there have been changes to some of their distributors and some of their big ones. everything pretty much hinges at this point on whether the ftc does something. >> it's whether you can get the government to do something or not and the question is what does the government do? the government doesn't shut down the business. the government fines the business.

. >> ty, bill ackman is risky business these days, apparently. wins and losses with scott wapner. t the man who brought you the big fight between mr. ackman and mr. icahn. that's coming up. a talking train. this ge locomotive can tell you exactly where it is, what it's carrying, while using less fuel. delivering whatever the world needs, when it needs it. ♪ after all, what's the point of talking if you don't have something important to say? ♪ >>> never afraid to make big bold bets without blinking. you wouldn't be a billionaire, i wouldn't know, without being bold. some are questioning mr. ackman's strategy. case in point, brand new vanity fair profile which traces the simmering grudge match between ackman and fellow hedge fund rivals dan loeb and carl icahn. that is mr. loeb on the left and icahn on the right. how is ackman doing, really? >> depends on what you want it look at. he has a couple investments doing good. general growth properties has been a winner. but isn't it interesting that most people don't focus on those. they always point to

determined to take the stock higher single handedly out of disdain for the silver fox, my new name for bill ackman. who may be surprised to see boiled out of jc penney tonight. i have become a huge fan of this marissa meier and what she's doing with yahoo. nothing but a wholesale remake. a straight line tare since she came in, hitting another 52-week high today. but remember what brought her to the job. activism, it was the canny investor dan lobe who pressured into this action and that's how she came in to tame this undermanagement company and bring it back to oblivion. a relationship with yahoo, i have been flogging this yahoo. the stock's not done. these days is highly unusual to see -- not to see a takeover of some size when you come to work. admittedly when i talked with david faber this morning on "squawk on the street," not a big one, schulman buying. think about all the lightning that struck since this year began. there's linn buying barry. michael dell trying to purchase his own company because of the low valuation, it's just the first week of march. these deals matter. they have other wa

bill ackman saying they're pleased by the news, a thorough investigation, they say, will reveal herbalife scheme that's harmed millions of consumers. for its part, herbalife firing back, telling the journal, if anything, pershing square should be investigated by the appropriate authorities. scott, back to you. >> all right, josh, thanks. that's an interesting response from the company, which, by the way, you guys, obviously knows by now that carl icahn is on the side of the trade. icahn buying 3,000 more shares. so, you know, he's on that side, ackman is on the other side. now the national consumer lea e league, don't know much about them, but they write a letter to the ftc saying you guys should investigate this thing for a pyramid scheme. what do you make of the development here as you look at what the stock is doing? it's down another 2% today. >> yeah, i'm managing retirement portfolios, so i'm a million miles away. but this is getting more fascinating by the day. i guess i enjoy watching it more than trading it. >> anybody have an interest at this point of getting into the stock? you

. >> reporter: maria, dow jones quoting sources is saying the company's directors, including bill ackmannd investor or manager who has been a big supporter of ceo ron johnson, the headline says that the directors, including ackman, could consider replacing the company's ceo ron johnson if, if sales don't improve this year. the headlines also saying that they would consider options for the company including the s.e.a.l. sale. now take a look at the company's stock. spiked initially as the headlines crossed and it's retreated a bit but jc penney has been under a lot of promised turnaround by mr. johnson which hasn't taken effect yet and as a result its shares have been under pressure and while there have been rumblings from underneath, this is the first sign we've seen any discouldn't from the directors. again, from dow jones quoting sources that the directors would consider pushing to replace mr. johnson if sales don't increase in a year. we'll be watching this one, maria. back to you. >> all right, mary. thanks so much. it is called the wealth effect and doesn't just apply to housing. ho

you know, if david eihorn shows up at your door or bill ackman, let's write confidentially agreementsst advice if you are representing a big company. >> the first interesting thing is that activists are much more likely these days to be going after large cap companies and making a mark there. i think the right thing to do is to get away from the motivation of people. to be fair, lots of activists show up. they have different motivations and whether or not you bring them under the tent depends on that. but they are well versed, schooled. they show up with good ideas, good plans. they are talking a lot more to all their stockholders, including these people. >> what do you tell them? >> engage. you have to engage. activism has changed. their only goal was put the company in play, hopefully sell their stock out of the profit when somebody came in to buy. there's no longer one size fits off. you have to listen. >> and activists trying to push for a deal. i was going to say, what do you do with the short sell senator bill ackman comes out after herballife and basically said it is a fraud. w

and i think another important point is, in the testimony you see bill ackman playing a big role in thisf jcpenney. many people believe he's the puppeteer who pulls the strings of ron johnson, and there's e-mails in there indicating that this still wouldn't have happened if bill ackman hadn't pushed it. >> all right. tell me where -- how martha's comp plays into all of this. >> how her compensation? >> yes. >> well, there was like a side deal in this thing where royalty payments and money was going to go directly to martha stewart. not to martha stewart living. it's a terrible example of self-dealing by a ceo in my opinion. although, as i said, this is not new. the idea that martha stewart wants to line her pocket, i don't think any of us can be all that shocked at this point. on the other hand, if you're a shareholder of this company, i would think you would have to think twice about someone who puts their own interests so much ahead of the company. >> right. finally, you know, there's been so much discussion abouts extension of her grants through retailers time and time again, we had k

this is fascinating, listen, when bill ackman came after jcpenney, so to speak, and got board seats, he did so in partnership with vornado. this is a real estate company that actually had its start with two guys. >> two guys. >> and they had a huge -- alexander -- >> couldn't afford bloomingdale's, you had to go to alexander's. >> they took that. so they had history there. and of course, they installed mr. johnson. now they're getting out. one question, why aren't they actually selling all of it? is it because the market simply couldn't handle the sale of that size? >> deutsche bank said we can't. >> my understanding is that it's been an embarrassment to mr. roth who is the ceo over vornado. it's been embarrassment for some time. if you take a look at the dno, it's underperforming under its peers over the last few years. perhaps a distraction. some ask why not do these kinds of public company investments outside of the real estate investment trust itself. and so they're getting out. and doing so in a large way. but not the entire amount of their stock. instead of trying to effect mor

he was named jcpenney board member around the same time as bill ackman.oth was asked if this compromises independence to exit his stake, he actually answered yes. yesterday we heard from jcpenney's ceo, it was the judge's tone ma made the biggest headlines. he's getting increasingly frustrated with lawyers on both sides. he said, look, i asked you guys to settle. this is what happens when you don't. what the bigger headline is, too, is when this trial is scheduled to end on friday, the judge will hear oral arguments about how to proceed with a preliminary injunction going forward on these martha products in jcpenney that are nonbranded in the exclusive category. it's possible the judge could say, hey, jcpenney, you have to take all the product off the shelves whether they martha stewart or not before i make my decisions. >> jcpenney is not thrilled about that, as you can see imagine. >> that's the last thing they need. i'm trying to figure out what happens after there's a decision in this case. if the judge rules in jcpenney's favor and allows them to kee

we've seen what bill ackman and cart icahn have been doing.s that they have with the s.e.c. he says, though, that both ackman and icahn are members of the giving pledge, so he would like to see both of them make a lot of money so they can give them to charity. >> it's a wealth of information that you got out of him, as always. i wonder, though, having been to a few of these meetings, having sat with him in a context like that, is he -- would are argue -- even marginally less enthused about stocks, because of how far we've come? >> he said he likes stocks better when they were cheaper than he does right now. but he said he's still buying stocks now. all things being equal, he's looking at this as being the best place. but he doesn't think they're as much of a great value than 2008, because they were a lot cheaper then, but he's still buying. >> great stuff, as always. i know you've already had a long day, beck. thanks so much. talk to you soon. >> thanks, carl. >> do you want to point out google here? >> new high on shares of google. and some p

well-known short seller, and "the post" is basically saying that chanos had ackman's back on the whole herbalife, whatever, bill'scalled him. chanos yesterday said i'm not crazy for this multilevel marketing business. i said yesterday that i thought a lot of the products were just the best you could say about them is that they won't hurt you, probably. but that there's never been any effectiveness proven. i said same with half of the gnc stuff. you can throw whole foods there there as far as i'm concerned. the big high market stuff that doesn't have preservatives to keep it fresh. anyway, herbalife got mad at me. but, fair enough. julian is the -- julian is the vice president of worldwide corporate communications, i think he's been like recently had a lot of stuff to do, you know, being head of corporate communications. >> he's a little stressed. >> he's mad. he said i was dismissive of the product in terms of science and effectiveness. but given my prominence -- i didn't realize this, my prominent role as an anchor of a major business program i was hackneyed and ill-informed comments. so they're going to send me

bill ackerman. to totally wreck the business or get the government to wreck the business. but icahn seems determined to take the stock higher single handedly. bailing out for jcpenney after the close tonight, ackman's baby is jcpenney. and marissa meyer, what she's doing at yahoo! stock has been on a tear, a straight line tear since she came in. hitting another 52-week high. up big. but remember what brought mayer to the job? activism. it was the canny investor dan loeb and that's how she came in to tame this company. cnbc for the record has a relationship with yahoo!. i have been flogging this yahoo! ever since mayer came in. i'm not done because the stock's not done. this is highly unusual not to see a takeover of some size when you come to work. admittedly when i talked to david faber, and it's a packaging company buying a materials company. think about it. all the lightning that has struck since this year began. there's liberty buying, version media, michael dell. it's just the first week of march. these deals matter. there are other ways that value keeps being brought out and i'm trying to keep that in front of you. the effort by david einhorn to do something failed miserably and the stock is