bill ackman will be here in just a few minutes for an interview. rublessian leader and the as the fed rats at its meetings today. -- is it time to say time to say goodbye to opec? if the oil cartel cannot affect price anymore, what is the? on assignment.is he may be back in a few minutes, but in the meantime, a very special cohost today. of weisenthal is the editor bloomberg markets, but that is not why he's on. your hair looks so good. to matt miller, obviously fantastic. but standalone, it still looks good. it's time to start the top business stories of the morning. we have seen some very big swings in the ruble today, but nothing like yesterday. the ruble soared more than 8% at the open, fell back, and now again it is strengthening against the u.s. dollar. russia intervened for the second day in a row, buying rubles out in the open market. meanwhile, russia said it will keep well production steady over the next year. that sent oil prices down as much as 3%. west texas intermediate has been trading below $55 per barrel. brent crude is around $59.

bill ackman spoke on bloomberg's speaking about" releasing an internal herbal life video that he says shows deceptive practices. >> hey, this is a ripoff. it is time to step away from it. it has an economic effect. it is not possible for herbalife to continue to recruit distributors in a world with transparency. >> meanwhile bill ackman has added meaningfully to his bet on fannie mae and freddie mac. sec planning to find sprint $100 million for billing customers for unwanted services horoscopes. it is a practice known as cramming. people familiar with the fcc commissioner tom wheeler has imposed to penalty. the fcc has yet to vote. now to hackers. hackers threaten to movie theaters showing the interview," and theaters are taking precautions. carmike cinemas, the fourth show thehain, will not movie and the premier was canceled in new york city. the hacking group, known as guardians for peace, is trying to disrupt the movie, which tells the story of two journalists plotting to killed north korea for a leader. and ag us -- our guest member of a security firm based in palo alto. how serio

you mentioned bill ackman. do you have to make it to this public?activist hedge funds look at some of the recent deals that have been done quietly, behind the scenes. or can be the hero mr. ceo we can do this the ugly way. shareholders are better off doing at the different way. they are better off having spun off paypal from ebay. we can do this one of two ways is a very powerful argument that more and more people are listening to. obviously, everybody in the world to new would be better off spinning off paypal. >> we have been saying that forever. growthenerating so much of the rest of the business is not. it was pretty obvious to much of the street. you are also seeing apple, we talked about apple, you are talking about companies that the old corporate raiders could mess around with, but you could could get anywhere to the upper echelons. it is now i have my army and i'm ready to go to war now. it changes the dynamic. isng forwards, the question -- and this is an important question -- what have we done? did anyone get fired in the paypal spinoff?

we've been talking about it on fast and the options action 7 and there's rumors that bill ackman is going to get in and cause them to take the real estate holdings. it's acted poorly. there's a yield. there is a good brand. >> that's a dog you would like. >> there's a potential catalyst. >> if that were to ever happen the call activity suggested something big is getting in there. >> coming up on mad money, could e harmony fall in love with wall street and the people behind your paychecks. coming up next final call from the options pit. >> options action is sponsored by think or swim by tdameritrade. >>> thoughts on doing a vertical on gld as the gold volatility has come in. >> it has come in. that's the way to do it. i think with gld at 115 probably trade 100 before 130 but heres the thing you can define your risk. the 115, the 125 call spread would cost you about $3. that's a third of the spread. >> time now for the final call. >> netflix been a great winner over the last four or five years. >> yeah a lot of them look into some protection looking out to february. >> boeing calls put them

if you are a bill ackman and you have these extraordinary track records, investors will say here is theide. versus someone starting out, no one will have that faith in you. furthermore, and answered her question. our picture being editor says the typical starting hedge fund fee right now is 1.25. --ther big story today >> still working out for hedge funds. >> we have to talk about russia. top government official says recession facing for the first time in five years. carl is here with us. can't surprise anybody that russia faces a gloomy economic outlook. >> right. we see it happening with russia. intensified ors exacerbated by russia given all the sanctions following the ukraine crisis. early on, a lot of people said it these sanctions don't have enough teeth. the sanctions finally are delivering a substantial economic drag to russia. >> what is going to be the effect for the average citizen of russia? you expect unemployment to rise? >> they are seeing that already as the economy is stagnating. they have 9% inflation. or you raise rates to combat that inflation? you are only going to

bill ackman will be with us.g still to bring down her life -- her herbalife. ♪ >> resident barack obama plans -- president barack obama plans tuesday today about -- to speak today about strange u.s. relations with cuba. this is after a man was accused expanding internet access to the jewish community. we are looking to hear from the president at noon. dynamics.eresting one is the release of allen gross. president obama has been participating in that channel talks to secure his release for a number of months. he has been in prison there for five years and is in his 60's and his health is not good. the administration has long said that as long as allen gross is being held captive, there will be no push on the diplomatic front to try to better relations with cuba. what we are hearing from u.s. officials right now is what the president will announce today, the start of the process moving toward a normalization of relations with cuba. obviously, 50 plus year embargo in place, travel bans, bans on banking, money transf

bill ackman is facing allegations of insider trading.lion from his investment in the botox maker. he is being accused in a federal complaint by a shareholder. he says they are reviewing the matter. hackers who broke into sony probably spent months collecting passwords and mapping the network before they launched the virus that wiped out data and crashed the system in 10 minutes. research.cording to they ran simulations on a copy of the virus that struck sony. they declined to say where it got the malware. mention thatt to they were way out front on the analysis of the cost of these wars. years ago. on international relations, the press,eagan gets but george herbert walker bush -- it is good to speak to necklace burns. he was the ambassador for president bush long ago. it's wonderful to have you with us, ambassador. what is the back story for mr. putin. his banks are broke. what are you monitoring? >> he's increasingly isolated. you can see the run on the ruble. new sanctions ordered by the congress and signed by the president and new eu

zoetis, the top animal health company, has been soaring since we found out that bill ackman had taken major position. in fact his joint move with valiant to take a run at alalle aller allergan. to where it's going in the takeover. didn't that demonstrate how cheap and perhaps ripe for consolidation the whole sector might be? especially given the monster rally since the acquisition was announced. the biotechs rallied right along with them. in the old days we used to see the stocks move up in tandem. but the market stopped doing that for some time until this we're, when the bull can no longer be knee nighed. next then we saw the four horsemen that i detail endlessly in "get rich carefully." they've been soaring for ages, and biogen is still rocking up 19 bucks, a promising, let's say abstract. and after that critical downgrade from jpmorgan rallied almost $5, a nice move that continues to buck any rotation. but rather suddenly, the flow of funds into these recessionproof stocks have started to reverse. you saw that today. consumer packaged goods, drugs, biotechs nearly rolled over. this

bill ackman has launched a new attack on herbalife. he's calling herbalife a pyramid scheme.istributors have -- he spoke exclusively with stephanie ruhle. we don't know much about them. a number of them have come to us and say they are scared. i want to be protected. what if the companies whose me? -- sues me? we have been -- >> how does that work? you guys don't have them on salary. >> that is correct. >> herbalife has continually denied being a permit scheme. .- pyramid scheme the post-fed reaction -- , ira jersey and lisa abramowicz. now, mia saini is standing by with market reaction. have taken tos this news. we are seeing green across the board on this wednesday. we learned of the projections that 15 of 17 fed policymakers see a rate change in 2015. 1.125%. what are we to make of these? >> that is a bit lower than the previous thought. we will reprice and the bond market for the expectation of how quickly the fed goes. not that they won't hike next year, but said of going -- jump, look at the biggest high-yield bonds are rallying the most since october of 2011. a vote of

first, bill ackman at it again. takeover of the drug maker allergan, but he made billions of dollars when it went rogue on him, so he'll be emboldened to try it again. expect him to pair with another public company for a new corporate takeover and to hire more lawyers to make sure it passes regulatory muster. zoetis could be a target to watch. second, elliott management settles up. after years of battling argentina in court and getting nowhere, the sun sets on a crucial element of the country's contract with other lenders on december 31st that made matters hard to settle. after that, it'll want to get rid of its peskiest vul cherture investor. third, hedgies take on energy. with crude at less than $60, expect someone to go after the drillers over inefficiencies and spending. and maybe to urge m&a as well. managers aren't usually a welcome sight, but with the pain they're facing in the oil patch these days the companies might even appreciate it. >> when we come back it's a tradition that's more than a century old. dr

. >> rumors hitting the street of bill ackman's latest investment. we'll break down the trade next.if you could see more of what you wanted to know? with fidelity's new active trader pro investing platform, the information that's important to you is all in one place, so finding more insight is easier. it's your idea powered by active trader pro. another way fidelity gives you a more powerful investing experience. call our specialists today to get up and running. had taken interest in mickey ds. >> stock was trading a new 52-week low. stock went up 3.5%. i guess the rumor is that he would push for the company to actually spin out a bunch of their real estate into a read, which obviously has a lot of favorable tax implications. 80% of their stores are franchise-owned. i don't really get it, but the stock actually held a bumnch of those gains. the most active strike was december. this friday expiration, 90 calls. when i see that sort of short data call activity. it's traders looking to kind of play the momentum. i don't really put a lot of merit into it. when you look at the chart here

>> it was ups because people feel there could be a takeover or something at work with the bill ackman and his pershing square fund. he did saber rattle. i think he did the right thing. i think the stock is up on the spike and when stocks are up. >> sell sell sell. >> jim cramer's get rich carefully, spike is a good reason to sell stock. you did the right thing. if things are so bad then why is there so much good? when the machines finally recognize the positives, then and only then will there be a bottom. else we're going to be driven by the linkage. oil not done going down yet. testing the metal of aluminum giant alcoa. will a bet on aerospace take this company to new heights. i have the ceo. the biggest tax cut we've had in years but oil's decline is rattle the wider market. don't miss my take on when this insanity could stop. could honeywell put sweet gains in your pocket? i will ask the ceo about the company's plans for the new year. stick with cramer! don't miss a second of "mad money," follow @jimcramer on twitter. have a question, tweet cramer #madtweets, send jim an e-mail to

bill ackman at it again. though he didn't prevail in his takeover of the drugmaker allergan he made billions when it went private on him. expect ackman to prepare for a new takeover. >>> and animal health nut coetis could be one to watch. the sunsets on a crucial element of the country's contract with other lenders on december 31st that made masters hard to settle. after that it will want to get rid of its pesky vulture investors who whom it owns 1.5 3w8 in cash. >>> with crude at less than $60, expect someone like dan loeb or david einhorn to go after drillers about inefficiency. with the pain they're facing the companies might even appreciate it. >>> joining us now with more on this year had a great story about the highs and lows mentioned a couple other names in there. one of whom i had not focused on at all who had a huge year this year. >> adage capital in boston. it's bigger than citadel. and you've never heard of them. >> how much money do they have under management? sgldz 28 billion, not$28 billion, n

. >> on the flipside, bill ackman, david einhorn, dan burrell, they have had some of the best returnsth. [opening bell] >> facing to be outliers. >> exactly. i want to bring in the president of outlook research in chicago. jim, you are on our program a few months ago, in september and october, you said at that time that stocks were fully valued. we went through our october miniature crash, you could say. to you feel better about valuations? or are you still pretty worried? >> i am still worried. the market is not overvalued, but it is just a little bit forward pe -- the favorite metric -- that is at nearly 17 for next year's earnings on the s&p 500, well over 20 for small-cap stocks. those are pretty heady numbers right now. for the market to move forward from here you would need strong earnings growth, strong revenue growth, and guess what? what -- wall street has been cutting those numbers rather aggressively. can the market go higher? yes, but it would have to go into overvalued range. to stay fully valued you would need a stronger economy with strong earnings and no one is looking

in that building, bill ackman and an investment group or just an apartment on the top floor -- purchasedent on the top of the floor. >> probably to flip it. >> that's my point that he had to do it with the group -- >> my question is do you really want to live on the 90th floor? >> you live on the first floor -- >> or brooklyn or something with that. number eight, cbs said it will pull its programming from the dish satellite tv service if the -- they don't accept a new agreement. alex, this is right up your alley. >> this has been an ongoing thing with dish and are 2 main reasons why we have seen -- this goes into last year with amc, but we saw it with turner and we are seeing it with cbs. reason number one, charlie ergen is the cheapest guy out there. he is difficult to deal with on these programming deals. dish tends to be the outlier on the major pay-tv networks. the second big reason is that dish wants to put together this over-the-top tv service. that means internet tv service. >> the area has gone bankrupt and they want to get in. expect to hear something soon. but he needs programm

bill ackman's pershing square. thanks to a great call on allergan rose 35% through mid-december.nd. trades futures and other forward contracts rose more than 27% through mid-december. it's worth noting that those two offshore funds have either limited or no availability to u.s. investors. >> all right, kate kelly. very interesting stuff as always. happy holidays. good to see you. >> same to you. >> when we come back, check out this year-to-date chart. this is twitter versus facebook. as you can see, facebook has been on a tear this year. twitter has not. what is the 2015 playbook for social media stocks? we'll talk about that in a minute. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 [ male announcer ] your love for trading never stops, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 even on the go. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 open a schwab account, and you could earn tdd# 1-800-345-2550 300 commission-free online trades. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 so when a market move affects one of your positions, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 schwab can help you decide what to do. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 with tools like free live-streaming cnbc tv tdd# 1-800-345-2550 that g

. >> well, that's -- >> if i was bill ackman, that's what i would tell you right now. >> i've not heard say it live. and i understand the argument, but you have to believe the outcome to support that argument. you have to believe that shareholders necessarily gain on all that. >> last question. spinoffs. we've had a huge number of spinoffs at the same time we've had a lot of m&a activity. usually don't happen at the same time the way they have thus far. do you see more of that? >> i think so. but that's the result of strategic changes. in other words, it's always been true and there seem to be trends before everyone buys and sells. you've written about this. and what's interesting now i think is that the pace of change is much quicker. and so people spinoffs in the right circumstance make a lot of sense. people are doing them. >> happy holidays. thank you for coming in. >> thank you. >>> coming up, we'll get the national forecast from our friend the weather channel. what will keith be wearing today? that's a good tease. "squawk box" will be right back. . what's wrong with trying new thi

but if you actually look at the studies and you look at a bill ackman, for example, their ownership stakesyears long. if you look at an actively managed fund, the average turnover is usually something like 11 or 12 months. so it becomes very complicated very quickly to decide is it the activists that the short-termer or all of us to some extent with these mutual funds? >> you almost have to divide it by specific instances whether you think there's a contribution being made or just disruption in the the mind of those who pursue it. but look at the paypal situation last year. six months later they did do it. i don't know. i think some of them have made a positive contribution. >> it's possible is that an activist has the wrong idea for what the company that's on the right track should do. that's why you have to do it on an individual case to derail a great future or a great story for a company. >> but if they're wrong, you ought to be able to persuade them or your other share owners that they are wrong. and hopefully you can. so there's cases where it doesn't work. but in general and a lot o

ackman, theyd bill unload. >> they tend to do it more public.omplicated for me is it's a webpage where they said these guys are wrong. the usual defense and they issued some press releases and caved. they split the company into wood and steel. that was the limit. what you going to do in a manager goes beyond that limit? you withdraw? how much control can you have on a manager if he goes ugly? to take a quick commercial break. it was great seeing you as always. will be back in two minutes. ♪ >> coming up, better or worse question mark a bloomberg poll in race relations are not especially encouraging. ♪ >> live from bloomberg headquarters, this is "market makers." >> i am erik schatzker. we have the chief investment officer of the california state --chers retirement officer fund. race relations may be the most talked about issue in america, here in new york city and missouri after grand jury's declined to indict police killed unarmed black man and a new poll shows the majority of americans believe race relations are worse since president obama bec