joining us is brenda buttner, anchor of "bulls and bears." thanks for being here.f you want a good credit score, take care of your credit card bill? >> it's amazing how much weighs on credit scores. 58%, compare to mortgage lenders to 7% as well as educational lenders. so taking care of your credit is incredibly important. it's important if you want to rented a home or any kind of loan at all. it's really important. >> rick: what happens if you have a bad credit score, you had a rough as so many people in a rough economy and you fell behind a little bit. your credit score has dipped. what does that mean for you? >> that means it's going to be really hard to get a loan. it will be hard to rent a place. it affects anything, if you want to borrow or get credit, it will impact your ability to do so. basically what the credit score looks at is your ability to repay a debt. if you haven't been repaying debt particularly on credit card someone is going to look at that and low credit score. because of that, why should eric giving them money if they are not willing to pay i

fox news.rk, brenda buttner, a minivan careens into a georgia jeweery store...'s all aught on tape. 38-43minivaa crashing inside, woman screaming screamiinthe horrifying crass surveillanceecameras at chandlee jewelers lasttweek. the driver says a carbon dioxideecanister wedgedd causing the minvian tt lunge into the store.. the van narrowly missed the store ownee's daaghter and a 43-54"heard what i now know o be the revving of an eegine. i lookeddto my ight and blinked store ann my customer was missi" missing."105-111"she ssid, 'can you please help me up, where's my pursee she was ll talking.the crash cost he dollars worth of dammgeeandd lost jewelry. the driver f that van isn't 3expected to face any charges. riving while high. the leggl limit marijuana users can smoke whhle behiin the wheel. dozens of mailing your holiday packages - the year... onday. 3 people came together to celebrate the holidays and raise money for arthritis. the 23-rd annuul jingle bell 5-k run is a nationwide fundraiser. the burnn arena. paatiiipants dressed as santa, elves and his reindee

fox's brenda buttner has the details. >> reporter: the holiday shopping season may have started withidn't end with christmas. the post holiday window is a key part of the retail rush for business owners and consumers alike with sales including both winter close-outs and redemption of gift cards. >> it's a great time to use holiday gift camps one, you get a lot more bang for -- cards. one, you get a lot more bang for your buck if you take advantage of holiday sales. that's why it's such a great gift particularly for parents to give their own children if you'd be buying those things. >>> >> reporter: winter apparel is moving. >> hats, coats, merchants will really be trying to move that merchandise out. you will find great deals. >> reporter: another smart buy post christmas, anything holiday oriented. >> they've got to make way for things in the spring. think ahead. the wrapping paper that isn't too holiday specific can be used all year wrong to wrap wedding presents and birthday presents. the heavily discounted toys could be birthday gifts throughout the year. it's a good time to stoc

hi, everyone, i'm brenda buttner, this is bulls and bears, let's get right to it.ere they are, the bulls and bears this week. we've got gary b smith, tobin smith. and julian epstein, welcome to everybody. todd, if taxes go up, get ready for that unemployment rate to shoots u, too. >> you've got that right. brenda, not only going to go higher, we're looking at hundreds of thousands of jobs eliminated because of higher taxes. you can't, you can't simply look at small business owners small business comprise of two-thirds of all jobs created in the country in the last ten years, if you're going to raise that personal income tax, that's going to hit the small business owners they won't have enough to go out and hire and we all have to be epared because the lor picture is going to get fragile real quick. >> julian, you agree? >> no, and a certain point on the show and elsewhere we have to stop utterin opinions and using facts. the most definitive study done about this, the nonpartisan agency that republicans and democrats agree to be the ultimateuthoty is the congression

hi, everyone, i'm brenda buttner, this is bulls and bears. let's get right down to it. bullsnd bears gary b smith, tobin smith. jonas max ferris and larry glazier, welcome to everybody. and larry, you say delay it? >> that's right, that's right, brenda, given the choice between the loss of millions of jobs in a deep and severe recession or delaying a deal in hopes of getting meaningful spending cuts in washington, the kind of spending that would cut the 4 billion dollars worth of additional spending every day, that's the long-term not the short-term to prevent being back in this place a year from now and that's going to get the country back on its feet. >> don't get excited. i know gary b will as well. and short-term uncertainty. it's been long-term and we've been going through this for years and washington in the doing anything. what does that do to the economic recovery? >> i think you see it with the stock market, brenda, everything is pretty much frozen. look, you cant pick up a paper, a paper or look on the internet and see fiscal crisis. everyone now is focused on

brenda buttner, bulls and bears. gary b smith, tobin smith. jonas max ferris. a no deal better than a bad deal. >> it would create more uncertainty or one of the deals they're talking about, which is raising taxes and now, and they trust us, we'll get to the spending cuts later , let's not worry about that right now. the last thing we want to see is a we-need congress and a weak-willed president patting themselves on the back because they have some watered down deal. i think they need to feel some ain, i think they need to see he the implication in the markets, in the ecomy, so, yes, i think no deal right now is better than a bad deal. >> okay, gary b, jim mentioned the market, let me play wall street on tv. basically i'm sick of this. 'm going to keep heading south because the uncertainty, the anxiety is killing me. if we had any kind of deal, at least we might see stocks move up a bit. that wld be good for our 401(k)'s, wouldn't it? >> that's exactly my perspective, brenda. this was a really rough week on the market and it's all related to, n the-- not the fi

joining us is brenda buttner. good to see you. that is the good news. seasonal hiring is a record high? >> yeah it really is. we have had some reports from that basically we've seen 20% increase of holiday hiring from last year. amazon, target both reporting 21% more increase in hiring. >> gregg: how long are those going to hang around? >> that is a good question. we always see a drop-off that cliff of the employment cliff in january. what is more revealing we're seeing so much increase of hiring it was mainly in november. i would like to see december's numbers. we expected a strong consumer spending season. it's turning out to be much more disappointing than we had anticipated. >> gregg: why is that? >> many of the people who were surveyed say they are expecting they are going to have higher taxes. they are worried about the fiscal cliff. we saw a drop-off of spending as the fiscal cliff seemed to be more and more real as all the talks fell apart. >> gregg: we are seeing other things. average work weeks in some regions shrinking, online job posting may

joining us is brenda buttner. newly smaul businesses they have to budget in advance. they have to budget for the coming quarter. so they are already tightening their belt? >> you budget based on what the economy is going to do or what the customers are going to spend. we had key surveys that the optimism level of small business levels is at record lows close to what it was in 2008 and 2009 when basically the recession started and financial mess imploded. 50% of small business owners think that things are going to get worse in the economy in the next six months. if you are dying to buy that computer or hire that new person and you think things are going to get worse, you rein in. >> small businesses create 64% of nay jobs in america. they employ half of the workers in united states. the president is holding absolutely firm, i want to raise tax rates on those earning above $250,000 a year. that is 8 a 5% of the small businesses, isn't it -- that is 85% of the small businesses, isn't it? >> what they do is file as individuals. so if the rates on individuals are raised, n

no new york, brenda buttner. >> doug: thank you.makers have two being assignments to finish before the end of the year. up next, i ask the fox all-stars if congress can get it all done. lot of weight, c-max has a nice little trait, you see, c-max helps you load your freight, with its foot-activated lift gate. but that's not all you'll see, cause c-max also beats prius v, with better mpg. say hi to the all-new 47 combined mpg c-max hybrid. i played a round of golf.id in the last five hours? then i read a book while teaching myself how to play guitar; ran ten miles while knitting myself a sweater; jumped out of a plane. finally, i became a ping pong master while recording my debut album. how you ask? with 5-hour energy. i get hours of energy now -- no crash later. wait to see the next five hours. they don't help single moms. hi! hi! [ sarah ] what happened to our house last year? [ daughters ] it flooded and the water flooded out. yeah. [ sarah ] the red cross arranged the hotel for us. they gave me that break, that leverage, to be ab

brenda buttner, fox news. >>> and sometimes people can be hard reads on christmas morning.this is one way to find out if you bought the right christmas present. did they cry tears of joy? >> what is it, guys? >> daddy, i'm so happy. >> you're so happy? [ laughter ] cry cry. >> what's -- [ crying ] >> what's wrong? >> the viral video of little reese who got what hosted for christmas, which was a game for his wii. he was so happy, he could not stop crying. you ever get a christmas gift that made you cry? >> no, i can't say that it did. i love these videos. yesterday, i was googling christmas surprises and there is 50 videos like that, they're happy, surprised and sad. >> i will never forget my atari2600. >> back in the old days. >> pretty happy. >>> coming up, an anti-adoption bill is signed into law in russia. how the controversial measure is having an impact on families in our area. >> and remembering norm an schwarzkopf. the reaction pours in for the general known as stormin norman. >> and two weeks after the newtown tragedy, volunteers become overwhelmed by the donations

. >> brenda buttner joins us.nyone want to give one machine power over this. >> the reason that wall street does it, wing thing it hates is uncertainty. if you remember when the talks went on and fell apart there was a downgrade, threat of default. wall street was up. and down. they want to know that someone can raise the debt limit without a prolonged battle. the battles in congress do affect wall street. >> some would say this means, bring it on in. add more. pile it up more. there would be no control. >> yes. boehner actually said in the last sound bite something important. the only leverage republicans have with the president they have control over raising that debt limit. especially what the president would like to do is say he can raise it. congress could, quote/unquote, disapprove of it. for congress to do anything it would take two-third majority and it would be hard to have disapproval of the debt limit and keep it down. >> an we think things don't get done in washington. what about the fiscal cliff? do y

here is brenda buttner, senior business correspondent and anchor of bulls and bears. >> harris, theytores, but not emptying out their wallets. after a strong black friday, this holiday shopping season may not have a strong finish. consumer confidence is at a five month low and shopper track, cut its forecast for holiday spending down to 2.5% increase rf the expectations of 3.3% rise. what does it mean? remember, the holiday season is huge for retailers. it can make up about a third of annual sales and half of profit for many chains, this final stretch is especially key as many buyers wait to get the deepest discounts. retailers are cutting. big discounts hit this final shopping weekend. better late than never perhaps for those looking for deals, but profits could suffer. almost anytime you save 50% off, retailers may be losing money. looking for a grinch in all this? d.c. gets the blame. the increasing chance we may fall off the fiscal cliff has americans worried. one in five surveyed by reuters says that's the reason they're spending less. in another survey, one in four shoppers sai

here is brenda buttner, senior business anchor of bulls and bears. >> harris, wall street watching washington hoping we don't fall off the fiscal cliff. the fear we might could mean a fall in your savings. this, even though december is a month you usually see gains, often more than okay for your 401(k), the s&p 500 a big part of many retirement accounts, has gone up 16 in the past 20 years during this month. but now, investors are scared a plunge over the cliff could send the economy falling back into recession. those worries sent stocks falling. the s & p down two straight weeks after the election, even though it has made up four of the 5.3% loss, whenever there was a glimmer of a hope of a deal, headed up. and the fallout from the fiscal cliff could put even more pressure on unemployed americans, or those just trying to keep up with house payments. except more ups and downs for your investments ahead, but not so much because of big numbers out this week, among them, an important reading on manufacturing tomorrow, and then, what is often the biggest market mover of any month, the jobs report

brenda buttner, anchor of "bulls and bears."as reading this article where shoppers in beijing have seen the prices of vegetables double in one week alone. inflation is a problem over there. what is causing it? >> basically it's not a bad problem, it's growth. china has numbers we can only dream of, growth of about 8%, we're below 2%. their factory output was up 10%. retail sales, 15%. so it is basically growth driven not supply side driven which is the kind of inflation you want to see. it's only 2%, that is well below the target of 4% is. it came down from 6.7%. >> gregg: so it's an issue not really a problem and outweighed by the huge growth. how does the inflation american consumers if at all? >> we buy a lot from china. it may be that some of the input may be more expensive. we may have to pay more, but it's more that china is becoming really a hub of capitalism despite the fact it's run by a communist government. >> gregg: let's put graphics on the screen. china has now purchase sur passed as the leading trading partner in

joining us now is brenda buttner.as amazed to read december markets in 16 of the last 20 years have actually been big, good months for investors who were counting on the market to go up. >> that is broad market. so your 401-k ends the year on a high note. >> gregg: this is different, why? >> we can't look at historical factors in this because do i need to say it again. here we go for the 18th time, it's having a big impact, not only does wall street hate uncertainty but major tax increases that could impact stocks. capital gains, dividends so a lot of investors are say why not sell now when taxes are lower in case they don't come up with a deal. we could see selling pressure on stocks. in addition to to uncertainty which is enough. >> gregg: i talked to a couple brokers, they can't keep up the phone calls. what do we do? do we take a dividend. companies are sending out dividends. cash in on capital gains? >> it's a hard thing to know. if you are in the market for anything less than five years, you ny, then you shouldn

senior business correspondent brenda buttner will tell it us more. with savory garlic shrimp.to red lobster and sea food differently. and introducing 7 lunch choices for just $7.99. anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? yeah. one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. approved! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'. share "not even close." share "you owe me..." share "just right." the share everything plan. shareable data across 10 devices with unlimited talk and text. hurry in for a droid razr m by motorola for $49.99. >> touch their hearts. ease their pain during this season more fervently to prayer and to -- those affected by this tragedy, blessings. >> shannon: pope benedict offering prayers to everyone who lost loved ones on friday in connecticut. the pontiff says he was deeply saddened by the shooting and also grieving with the families. ♪ now to some holiday shopping less than encouraging news from small business owners, brenda butler joins us

. >> juliet: first, let's check in with brenda buttner, what's coming up on the business block. >> dealnd americans in fear of losing their job, is there great news for the economy or burnout and the new year about to bring higher prices on the grocery store. and the government with an eye on every mile you drive. the cost freedom the top of the hour, we'll see you again. '. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needingo go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or if you ha