hi, everyone, i'm brenda buttner, this is bulls and bears, and here we go the bulls and bears, gary b smith, tobin smith, jonas max ferris along with jim la camp and steve murphy, welcome to everybody. jim, growing union clashes with job creators, growing concerns about jobs? >> absolutely. look, every time you make it harder for an employer to hire somebody they're going to hire less people. we're already seeing it in the jobs numbers. look, obamacare has already cost a tremendous amount of jobs and since the president was reelected and it became apparent that obamacare was coming back in, we've seen the layoffs accelerate and now the unions are trying to kick businesses at a time when businesses are hurting and at a time when they're uncertain about labor costs and this is going to take full-time jobs to part-time jobs, and it' going to mean the closing of plants, and factories and already met one right here, with the hostess twinky factory. >> tin that was 18,000 jobs, just forget about it, you look at the auto workers, the steel industry, airlines, you go down the list and unions

hi, everyone, i'm brenda buttner, this is bulls and bears. and the gar b smith, tobin smith. max ferris, welcome to to everybody. gary k, the fiscal cliff is the grinch? >> unfortunately, it is, it's the most important time of the year, and the profits are mad and the problem is simple. uncertainty, uncertainty, uncertainty. nobody knows where they are and nobody knows how much money thr they're going to have to spend and the outcome is worse. higher taxes and less money in the economy and less money to buy. retail no good. but, susan, actually the national retail federation is saying we should see increase in holiday sales like 4%? >> that's right, brenda andnd i'm still staying optimistic, two really important numbers at that came out this week, the university of michigan consumer confidence survey shows that it's at the highest level since july of 2007 and additionally, the expectations for the next six months are also at the the highest level in five years, despite the uncertainty, consumers are feeling pretty good and the word out of washington today, is a lot of trying

joining us is brenda buttner anchor of fox's "bulls and bears." after being demonized by spending money. >> a lot of it. >> now that it is all over. in the words of rod can i king can we all get along? >> the financial services spent $61 --61 million on romney's campaign. but we really saw what wall street thought after the election when the stock market had the worst day of the year. you could see that was definitely election related. you saw investment banks get very hard hit because there will probably be a lot more regulation. you saw that utilities went down and hospitals and insurers would benefit from obamacare and managed health companies go down. wall street said we don't like this. we're seeing a lot of lobbyists come out with more conciliatory language. there is hope there can be a compromise. because in the fiscal cliff comes on january 1. >> i think the cbo was saying 9.1% unemployment and it could be catastrophic and drive us into another recession. look if taxes go up on the wealthy and that has been the president's mantra, could th

brenda buttner is the anchor of "bulls and bears" -- good to see you. problem would it seem to me is lenders. >> that is one of the biggest problems. it's legal in two states. it's illegal in 48 states and it's illegal nationally under federal law. under the bank's secrecy -- banks have to report any secret activity. so you could get shut down so why would a bank wanted to deal with you anyway. it's hard to get any kind of credit. there is no way they are going risk their reputation and pay civil and criminal penalties if they lend to these businesses. if you can't get money, how do you do it? >> gregg: i think they are waiting for doj to either seek a federal could court injunction or dea. i have a sense you are not going to get either one from holder and they are expecting a statement as to what they are going to do here. >> here is the issue largely by economics. we've got states and local governments that are cash strapped. they have deficits. they can't print money. in colorado alone this measure is expected bring in $60 million in tax revenues. th

here is brenda buttner and anchor of bulls and bears. >> harris, retailers count on the holidays for a very important gift. most ring in at least a quarter of annual sales during the shopping season and numbers out for the kickoff season, show the shoppers were out and the national retail federation more than 250 million shopped online and in stores, spending more than 59 billion bucks and that doesn't count tomorrow's big day for web shopping, cyber monday. nrf says a record 130 million americans will click on and check out web deals and it could get better. after church today, both shoppers and stores may be playing a game of chicken. consumers waiting for big deals in the past few years, stores have delayed until right before santa comes, plus, remember, an early thanksgiving means there's a longer than usual holiday season. and investors also did some shopping and buying on black friday, and major stock indexes closing one of their best weeks of the year. but keep in mind, the wall street and main street had a strong start to the season, the fiscal cliff is closer as christmas dr

here's some flipping tips from brenda buttner. >> reporter: there's great opportunities through houseg, buying a home short term and reselling it for profit. according to realty track this, year the average flipper made about $30,000 on a single house and it took them about 100 days to do it. kristen camp becker is the author of flipping confidential and says potential flippers need to have a good team behind them including a realtor, financial advisor and tax strategist and ask yourself what your motivation is to flip property. >> are you doing this for tax benefits, to diversify your portfolio, because you want to get your interior design yayas out. figure out why you need to do it. it's a great place to invest money. >> reporter: if you can't find a good realtor, become one yourself. really get the finger on the pulse of your local real estate market. >> there's opportunity everywhere, but stick to your own backyard. >> reporter: becker says to look for a good house that will eventually be under the scrutiny of an inspection when you sell it. make sure you know what you're buying b

joining us is brenda buttner anchor of "bulls and bears." you better do it the next 35 days?is is one of big igest tax deductions out there. it's about $158 billion. the cost to the federal government, 37 million tax returns, lots of people do it. it's on the table though for the fiscal cliff to be eliminated or to be capped. >> gregg: it could go away january. it could be capped or thrown away entirely. talk to us about some of the best ways to give at the same time helping yourself with a tax deduction. >> first of all americans are generous. 2% of their income they give regardless. revenues are down because we have been through a recession. but they continue to give. it's that generosity of spirit that we continue to see through sandy and all the rest. there are a couple of things you have to know. you have to itemize on your tax return. it has to go to a qualified nonprofit. if you are giving food to people that need it you can't deduct that because it's to an individual, it has to be a qualified nonprofit. you need a receipt if are giving away $250 or more. if it is over

fox news's brenda buttner joins us with a preview of the make or break time for businesses. >> the holidayn is always a gift to retailers. a quarter of annual sales ring up between thanksgiving and the end of the year. it's a big deal for big stores but for small businesses it's huge. yesterday was the third annual small biz saturday so small businesses can compete. the national retail federation expects overall consumers will spend more with increases of 4% to $470 billion this season. but that's not as big a jump as last year and there are more shopping days because thanksgiving was early so consumers may wait to open their wallets, checking online, instores and up to the last minute for deals. we saw that black friday with more foot traffic but less spending. small biz retailers expect happy holidays, two out of three saying they're hopeful sales go up. the reality is owners are not so optimistic. less than half expect higher revenues even with small biz saturday getting media attention. as customers shop small, that may not mean the engine of hiring will put out help wanted signs. >> i