. >> hi everybody, i'm brian sullivan and this is the power pitch. where entrepreneurs have 60 seconds to make their best pitch. we have the opportunity to dig into their business model, giving you an inside look at the fast paced world of venture capitol. ceo and founder of one full. they offer a more simple way to give gift. here is his power pitch. >>? >> i'm john, founder and ceo of a retailer hoping you find exceptional product and great gifts. we collected beautiful items from designers around the world that you don't see in mainstream retail. if you struggle with getting the perfect gift, we help you and we are very rarely wrong. we help you find 12 perfectly suited choices and present them

let's send it back to brian sullivan. >> you have done extensive reporting on this space. metro pcs shares are down because of a report out of reuters. people familiar with the situation are saying that sprint is unlikely to make a counterbid to buy metropcs. they agreed to be bought by deutsche telecom and according to the report there's concerns that if sprint were to also go after metropcs, it would complicate the regulatory review of its pending deal with softbank. the bottom line is if you are hoping for counterbid for metropcs, reuters says that's unlikely. david, i'm sure you have views on this. >> in fairness -- >> cnbc said it many times after the deal. >> just reporting why the stock is down today. >> it's interesting. its stock did move up.

big deal for brian sullivan who is a virginia tech guy. we'll be in orlando, nice and warm and sunny. we'll be right back. americans o work hard for a better future. since ameriprise financial was founded back in 1894, they've been committed to putting clients first. helping generations through tough times. good times. never taking a bailout. there when you need them. helping millions of americans over the centuries. the strength of a global financial leader. the heart of a one-to-one relationship. together for your future. ♪ i heard you guys can ship ground for less than the ups store. that's right. i've learned the only way to get a holiday deal is to camp out. you know we've been open all night. is this a trick to get my spot? [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. save on grounipping at fedex office.

brian sullivan. >> mandy, thank you. >>> well, netflix feeling the heat from regulators over a facebook posting by the ceo, reed hastings. julia boorstin is in l.a. live and in person, not on facebook, with more. >> reporter: well, brian, the s.e.c. is looking into whether netflix ceo reed hastings violated fair disclosure rules. back on july 3rd, hastings posted on facebook telling his 200,000-plus followers that netflix viewing topped 1 billion hours in june. that's his post right there. now, check out this july 3rd chart. the stock gained about 4% before his post. about 2% after before the markets closed early for the july 4th holiday. but on july 5th, netflix flew 13% higher. they say this pop was due to hastings disclosurdisclosure. hastings knows that the stock started to gain before his post on a positive citigroup report that gave netflix $130 price target. s.e.c.'s final verdict on this

continues, although we thank brian sullivan and you, mandy, for bringing us back to positive territory in the last hour. >> i'm not sure we can take credit but we'll take it. >> the dow is up a fraction at the moment. 13,139 after a meandering much of the day. the nasdaq hardest hit today. technology has been very volatile recently. still down a fraction right now. 13 points, fraction percentage-wise and the s&p is down 3.33 at 1423. five days left until the fiscal cliff deadline, and though the market has been very resilient to this point, what happens if we go over the cliff and if lawmakers cannot get it together come january 1st? will it be a big meltdown for wall street? that's what everybody wants to know. >> certainly hope know. in today's "closing bell" exchange, former chief economist of the vice president joe biden, oliver perch from gary goldberg and matt cheslock and rick santelli, thank you very much. jarred, you wrote an article

where we have a special report hosted by brian sullivan and kelly evans. happy new year. we look forward to seeing you back here in 2013 as we hit noon on the east coast. let's get the "fast money halftime" back at hq. >>> all right, carl, thank you so much. welcome to the halftime show. four hours to go until the close and here's where we stand on this final trading day of the year. it is a mixed market picture. pretty tight reigns thus far for stocks. here's what we are following on halftime. gross profits. the man in charge of pimico's freerly $2 trillion in assets is here live with the best place to make money in 2013. >>> coffee talk. green mountain is up 95% over the past six months. now two of the traders debate whether the comeback is for real. but first, our top story, edge of a cliff. that's where the markets currently sit as lawmakers in washington continue their 11th hour of negotiations. cnn's amen jabbers is live at the hill with the very latest.

. >> brian sullivan, thanks. >>> it is one of the industries most sensitive to the fiscal cliff negotiations, we're talking about defense. what is ahead for the industry in 2013. we've got predictions. plus, how to play the defense stocks going into the new year. . and i'm here to tell homeowners that are 62 and older about a great way to live a better retirement. it's called a reverse mortgage. [ male announcer ] call right now to receive your free dvd and booklet with no obligation. it answers questions like how a reverse mortgage works, how much you qualify for, the ways to receive your money, and more. plus, when you call now, you'll get this magnifier with l.e.d. light absolutely free. when you call the experts at one reverse mortgage today, you'll learn the benefits of a government-insured reverse mortgage. it will eliminate your monthly mortgage payments and give you tax-free cash from the equity in your home.

thank you very much, brian sullivan. breaking news on crude oil inventories after a gain of 2.5% in the last five days. will the data push us even higher? >> also ahead, manolos for christmas? we're going to sit down live with the president and vice president of the famed shoemaker to talk about luxury spending for the holidays. [ male announ] at scottrade, you won't just find us online, you'll also find us in person, with dedicated support teams at over 500 branches nationwide. so when you call or visit, you can ask for a name you know. because personal service starts with a real person. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. our support teams are nearby, ready to help. it's no wonder so many investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. it's no wonder so many investors are saying... try running four.ning a restaurant is hard, fortunately we've got ink.

jim cramer, brian sullivan, mar maria and they will talk about how they will stand and how they will do their part it rise above partisan politics and reach a deal. >> one of the big debates involves housing. including what could happen to the mortgage interest deduction in their state if we do good over the cliff? our real estate correspondent, diana, here with exclusive data. diane? >> that right, tyler. talk to anyone in the real estate business and they say getting rid of or shrinking the mortgage rate reduction, specifically by raising home prizes, we wanted to look at who get the most and where. we are doing that with an exclusive calculation run by cnbc by lending tree. who gets the most category? taking into account mortgage size and income. borrows in hawaii and washington, d.c. get the greatest benefit. from 3 to 5%.

differ from the opinion of our good friend, brian sullivan here. you say that the gop plan might adversely affect the red states more than the blue. >> the state and local property tax deduction would hit the blue states. other elements would affect republican voters in the red states. the home mortgage interest deduction generally affects small business owners, professionals, might call the small rich. on the spending side of the cuts in medicare, by raising the eligibility aim would fall heavily not only on democratic-leaning black and latinos but heavily on the white working class base of the republican party. >> well, michael, listen up, push back a little bit, i do get your point, the mortgage interest deduction enjoyed by all. say they reach a deal, you can

it will and like people a lot smarter than me -- brian sullivan, i didn't understand a word he said, he's a lot smarter than i am. he believes a good deal will cause the economy to take off. if it happens, we'll get so much increased revenue coming in, that will make up for the cuts in what the federal government givers us. >> governor, how do you think this ends up playing out over the next few days? do you think we'll end up with a deal by december -- or midnight on december 31st? and if you're going to go that far, tell us what kind of deal do you think it would be? a skinny deal, a really skinny deal, or a more comprehensive deal. >> first of all, it's clear from what came out of the meeting, the senate will have to reach an agreement and pass a bill that the house can deal with, starting sunday night. the senate's got to go to work, probably obviously tomorrow and sunday and put something together, a compromise that suits them and suits the

welcome back, i'm brian sullivan, the market flash. dpz, domino's pizza, another all-time high for this name, oppenheimer out making positive comments on domino's pizza saying they see eps expansion through higher sales both here and abroad. we know the international story has been very strong as well. they like some of the technological and productivity innovations of dp. >> and raising their price target, domino's pizza continues its nice run that stock up more than 1%. back to you, simon. >>> meanwhile, of course a major storm hitting the east coast and affecting travel across the region. we will update own the storm's latest track after the break. >>> and still ahead hurricane the dollar has had a phenomenal run against the yen over the last three months. cot fiscal cliff derail the green back's rally? we are back in two. when you have diabetes... your doctor will say get smart about your weight. that's why there's glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes

>> we're going to check in with brian sullivan with a market flash. >> i want to watch oracle. oracle quietly keeps going up, up, and up. up over 30% on the year. the company coming out and beating the street by three cents a share. you had sales up. you had revenue up. operating cash flow higher. this company is pulling in about $13.5 billion for operating cash flow. larry ellison keeps buying malibu mansions. he has more money to do that now. i just want to say, this has been your best show by far. this has been a spectacular "fast money." >> fewest words but best show. thanks so much. >> brian, he's buying hawaii. he's not just buying malibu. >> first of all, he only bought 98%. >> i meant the state. all of those islands comprise the state of hawaii. i don't know if they taught you that in west virginia. >> let's get to the matter at hand, seriously. oracle, is it too late to get in? >> no. >> the stock's had this good run. >> we had that yesterday as you

d.c., all day long, of course, becky, jim cramer, brian sullivan, maria will be holding lawmakers' feet to the fire in direct interviews about where they stand on the fiscal cliff and how they'll do their part to rise above partisan politics and reach a deal. earlier on "squawk box," erskine bowles, the co-founder of the fix the debt campaign, co-chair of fiscal responsibility and reform was asked about the progress he thinks both sides were making. >> i think the atmospherics are getting so much better. we've kind of gotten out of the ka kooky theater and gone to dancing the tango with those two guys. any time you start to tango you got a chance. >> joining us this morning from newton, mass, greg manke, economic adviser to the romney campaign, former chair of economic advisers under george w. bush now an economics prof s professor at harvard and ron johnson, director at the institute for new economic thinking and a senior fellow at the roosevelt institute. skwre, good to have you both

>> i'm maria bartiromo along with brian sullivan. representative patrick mchenry, republican from north carolina. good to have you on the program. thanks for joining us. let's talk about where we are. what would you say? where are we in terms of a deal? >> not as bad as last week and not as bad as the week before. not really in a great position to get things done. the president's more interested in campaigning around the country and telling people to send twitter messages to me on my twitter account. i haven't really seen much. we haven't seen much in the way of phone calls either. that's what he's trying to do. this campaign style rather than sitting down and actually negotiating. >> we did see a tweet earlier from the president basically saying, look, if your taxes go up, it's the republicans' fault. what are you willing to give on? >> what is he willing to give on? this is an interesting question. the president has spent the last month talking about tax increases. and my question to him is, where are the smepending cuts? come to t

back with us on set, brian sullivan.on, and richard wolffe in washington. obviously, that was general norman schwarzkopf on the screen who passed away yesterday. i have a lasting memory of general schwarzkopf who served in the war in vietnam as well as obviously gulf storm i. there was a woman from iowa, her name was peg mullan. she wrote a book about the death of her son, michael mullen. the name of the book was "friendly fire." and norman schwarzkopf was the battalion commander, then a kernconcer colonel, and she was so approachable to peg mullan, so human in his relations with peg mullan to sought to find out how her son was killed in vietnam. he died from friendly fire, which means he was killed in the confines of his own unit from shrapnel from american weapons fired, but it was so impressive to read about then the colonel, later to become norman schwarzkopf general, "time's" man of the year, so human. and just that clip we showed right then, compared to a lot of military officials who we see on tv, an actual human

i'm brian sullivan and this is "way too early." thank you for being with us this morning. we have a lot to talk about this friday. including the president. trying to bring both sides together at the white house today to try to reach a deal on the fiscal cliff. in the meantime, harry reid refers to john boehner's leadership as a dictatorship. not helpful. >>> but first, to your top stories this morning -- retired general norman schwarzkopf died thursday at his home in tampa, florida, he's credited with devising the plan that drove saddam hussein's forces out of kuwait in 1991. known as stormin' norman for his strong personality. >>> the general said that he did agree with president george h.w. bush's decision not to follow saddam's decision into baghdad. >> ladies and gentlemen, when we here, we were 150 miles away from baghdad and there's nobody between us and bagsd. if our intention to take iraq, to destroy the country, if it had been our intention to overrun the country, we could have done it unopposed from this position at that time. >> schwarzkopf was honored for his s

and the co-anchor of "street signs," brian sullivan. we've got a lot to talk about, mike barnicle, but i saw a headline on the front page of "usa today," a tease that is very intriguing, and that is one of the greatest players in major league baseball trying to get his worth right now. and if i were a major league team, i would pass on josh hamilton in a new york second because the guy phoned it in when his team needed him the most. there's an attitude problem. and yet he could be such a huge payoff. are the red sox looking at josh hamilton? >> i think any team that's looking at hamilton is looking at no longer than three years with him because of the things you just mentioned. >> he, of course, had an addiction problem, a terrible addiction problem. he got passed -- it was an inspiring story, but he seemed to fall off the cliff. not on alcohol or drugs, but something's up. >> yeah, he appeared to be mailing in his at-bats during the month of september when texas really needed him. and in the playoffs when texas really needed him. but,

joining me with the latest on this is cnbc's brian sullivan. not 300 million a week, but 300 a week. how quickly average americans will start to feel the pinch in their paychecks. >> hey, 3 million a week that's joe scarborough type money here. but i get your point. taxes are very complex. it depends if you're married, do you have kids, do you own a home? all the numbers you'll use will be pretty general based on sort of the average family calculation. if you're a median income household, you'll probably be what canned to about $300 every week. as your income goes up, especially in the higher%, you're going to get hid. in you're in the fact top 1%, and certainly -- those are tax increases, $120,000 a year in additional taxes. for some people, as rich as they are, that's going to hit, but to your point it will hit everybody. you can just google and put in your own information, kids, house, whatever income. you can figure out exactly where you're going to get hit. let's hope we get a deal form the president is supposed to outline something you ad

i'm mario bartiromo with brian sullivan. we continue our fiscal cliff coverage, "mission critical, rise above d.c." we've heard a lot after a morning of interviews and action on capitol hill. here is what we know now. just a short while ago house speaker boehner said he's still waiting on a solid plan from president obama. >> i'm hopeful we can reach an agreement. this is a serious issue. there's a lot at stake. the person people sent us here to work together towards the best possible solution, and that means cutting spending. the president doesn't agree with our approach, he's got an obligation to put forward a plan that can pass both chambers of the congress. >> meanwhile despite all of the back and forth, the market is seemingly optimistic today. at least some form of a deal will be released. we've been up 100 points on the dow industrials for the past hour. senator mark warner of virginia perhaps putting it best saying compared to the size of our economy the current proposals are relatively small and government should st

welcome everybody i'm brian sullivan along with mario bartiromo. this is our special all day coverage live from capitol hill, mission critical, rise above d.c. after candid interviews with lawmakers all morning long, this is what we know now. just last hour representative lee terry, republican from nebraska tells us he feels like discussions on spending cuts are going backwards. early in the morning, democratic senator conrad, about to finish his term, sees says optimistic a deal will get done but would like to see a whole lot more added to it, a $4 trillion big deal, as he calls it. >> yes, he did. earlier this afternoon, a key word from speaker boehner. the recent silence from his office and the administration breaking down. listen to this. >> i'm hopeful we can reach an agreement. this is a serious issue and there's a lot at stake. the american people sent us here to work together towards the best possible solution. that means cutting spending. now, the president doesn't agree with our approach, he's got an obligation to put forward a plan that

i'm brian sullivan and welcome to way too early. only 2 1/2 more shopping weeks left until christmas by the way. so do your duty, america, bring our economy back from the brink. we've got a lot to talk about on this wednesday, december 5th. thanks for joining us. including a shameful display of partisanship in congress that resulted in the voting down of a u.n. treaty aimed at spreading rights for disabled people. even the venerable bob dole could not bring both sides together on this one. also major unrest in egypt as 100,000 protesters stormed the palace in cairo forcing president morsi to flee. we'll update you on the situation there. but first our top story live here at 5:30 a.m. at 30 rock in new york city. and we begin with the latest on the rapidly approaching fiscal cliff deadline of automatic tax hikes on everybody and what appears to be a stalemate in the negotiations. in his first interview since the election, president obama reiterated his demand that any deal must raise taxes on the highest earner. yesterday obama also

brian sullivan is at the market flash desk with those details. what's up? >> well, it's best buy and it is making the move opposite to what it made yesterday and earlier in the week. here's the news. look at the stock down almost 15%. ouch. it is now reported, remember we talked about how richard shoals the founder may be coming in with a bid to buy the company and take it between $5 billion and $6 billion? now it is reported best buy has amended his time to make an offer by another month. or two months actually. he can make it between february 1st and february 28th and i guess that is being perceived as being bad because there's concern about whether or not he is going to be able to raise the money so it is seen that he needs more time to raise the funds to put together a group to buy. that's what we're hearing about why the stock is down. if he had the money right now, wouldn't he just go out and make the bid? so i guess some concern about whether or not richard shulze will be able to come in, sweep best buy off its feet, and take private the company that

cnbc's brian sullivan for the latest. brian, what are they?bs created in november. >> wow. >> reporter: the expectation was for 85,000 jobs to be cruiserweighted, guys, and the unemployment rate drops to 7.7%. there was a lot of concern around this number not only because of the election, maybe firms sitting on their hands but superstorm sandy. still, guys, the number much better than expected. few tuesday, which were down right before the numbers hit, turned around. they are now higher fractionally so a big turn for stock futures and better than expected jobs number for november. i can dig in more once i get to the website. but those are your headline numbers. better than expected. >> gillian, better than expected. a lot of people blamed hurricane sandy again but that's encouraging. >> i have two economists, a liberal, who both said it was going to be somewhere between 80,000 and 100,000 jobs -- say that go sandy was worth 80 -- negatively 80,000 to 100,000. you take 146,000 and this could have been a 200-plus number. >> it's interesting beca

so amy and brian sullivan's new bundle of join was born at 12:12 p.m. on 12/12/12.ive in and of itself, right? well, the brother was born on 1/2/12. i'm lynn berry. "way too early" is next. >> bruce springsteen, bon jovi, a tip of the iceberg last night. rent

head to brian sullivan for a quick market flash. brian?you was the pun that maybe gave the clue to car max, kmx. that stock is higher, more people buying new and used cars. sales continue to rise. pricing also getting better. although average used car prices were about the same as last quarter, things keep ticking up. this is the third year of revenue growth for karma and that stock is at an all-time high, backs to the ipo in 1997. guys, do you know who car max used to be a part of? who were they a subsidiary of since from 1997 circuit city. >> i don't remember. >> oh, that's right. >> hard to believe, car max is still around, too. >> yeah. all right. brian, thanks for that. love trivia, too. >>> it was once the world's most hated currency, now looks like perhaps it is the most loved. the euro ticking higher again today, hitting an eight-month high. so how much more can it run? let's hit "money in motion"? editor and chief of the bush update newsletter, andy, good to see you. >> thanks for having me on. >> are we still range-bound here? >>

brian sullivan is the coanchor of "streets signs" on cnbc and he's joining us with the latest. hi, brian. >> how are you doing? >> how are protracted negotiations affecting the markets so far? >> it is markets are closing out the year with a high note however, just moments ago cnbc report john harwood at the white house said his sources tell him there will be no vote tonight. so even if we get a deal, it looks like the deal will not be made before the new year, so technically we are going to go over the fiscal cliff, but if we get a deal in the next couple days, everything could be made retroactive. they remayes optimistic a deal will be reached. indeed dow jones industrial average going up 168 points. >> we haven't seen them panicking so far. >> not yet, but last friday there was concern we would not get a deal and we saw the market sell off, and then the futures, which indicate where we'll open the next trading session, they completely collapsed. they have come back on an optimism we will get a deal, but listen, there's still a lot of sticking point. the number of deductions p

> that's nice. >> 1990 gorbachev. >> '81. >> what an incredible year. 1981. >> solidarity. >> brian sullivan >> hakino in '86. gorbachev in '87. >> the endangered earth in 1988. >> who was '89? >> gorbechav. >> '87 and '89? >> yeah. >> so ronald reagan had nothing to do with bringing down that law, i guess? >> no. ♪ [ male announcer ] with free package pickup from the u.s. postal service the holidays are easy. visit usps.com. pay, print, and have it picked up for free before december 20h for delivery in time for the holidays. you can even give us special instructions on where to find it. free package pickup. from the u.s. postal service. because it's nice to have an extra pair of hands around for the holidays. >>> you know, among the many questions surrounding last week's horrific school shooting in connecticut has to do with the gunman's mop. >> she reportedly took her son to shooting ranges several times, at least. and thex 20-year-old used her weapons in the attack. >> the operate over this nearby shooting range says there's nothing unusual about the guns the shooter's mother owns. >> he

thank you for coming by. >> thank you. >>> brian sullivan has a market flashback at hq.arl, i want to give you an update on herbal life. bouncing back a little bit. they are going on the aggressive as i know you guys know. if you're just joining us on cnbc herbal life has hired david boys's law firm. investment banking firm. they have a january 10th analyst day. they're accelerating a stock buy back program. they are not taking bill ackman's claims lying down. this is an all and out stock brawl now over herbalife. although the stock has been whacked the last couple of weeks. it is coming back just under a 6% gain. >> when we come back, bernie madoff writing to our own scott cohn from prison. find out what he had to say. first, rick santelli's working on something for a little bit later on. rick. >>> >> yes. about exactly 600 seconds from now to be precise we're going to have harry clark. let's see, he's the president, the ceo, the founder of clark capitol management. we're going to talk tow him about the fcc. n no, not what's about in the airways. the fiscal cliff condit

. >>> up next, cnbc's brian sullivan. we're at walmart with the simmons family.n seventy six a month! okay, come with me -- we're gonna save you money. with straight talk at walmart, you get unlimited talk, text and data for only $45 a month per phone. would we get the same coverage? same coverage on america's best networks. you saved $146.76 by switching to straight talk. awesome! now you can afford to share your allowance with me. get the season's hottest smartphones like the samsung galaxy s2 and get straight talk with unlimited data for just $45 a month -- from america's gift headquarters. walmart. ♪ can your moisturizer do that? [ female announcer ] dermatologist recommended aveeno has an oat formula, now proven to build a moisture reserve, so skin can replenish itself. that's healthy skin for life. only from aveeno. he loves risk. but whether he's climbing everest, scuba diving the great barrier reef with sharks, or jumping into the market, he goes with people he trusts, which is why he trades with a company that doesn't nickel and dime him with hidden fees

brian sullivan back at hq. >>> inc magazine naming its cop of the year. the ceo here at post 9 later on. >> and subaru making plans to expand in the u.s. we'll tell you how to play it with chief executive operating officer tom doll. twins. i didn't see them coming. i have obligations. cute obligations, but obligations. i need to rethink the core of my portfolio. what i really need is sleep. introducing the ishares core, building blocks for the heart of your portfolio. find out why 9 out of 10 large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. read and consider it carefully before investing. risk includes possible loss of principal. with scottrader streaming quotes, any way you want. fully customize it for your trading process -- from thought to trade, on every screen. and all in real time. which makes it just like having your own trading floor, right at your fingertips. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just

brian sullivan back with another big mover. brian, what are you watching now?> because we're not saying the word cliff enough, i throw it out there one more time. cliff natural resources, clf. making a big move. one of the better performers. 2.4% is not a huge move. given today that is. so clf making a big move. no real news on this name today. maybe on the back of oil going up, some of the renewed confidence around china or the commodity market. i'll let you guys figure it out. my job is merely to point out movers. you can dig in. i'm the chef, you're the diners. >> we'll put the pressure on joe terranova. what do your taste buds come up with? >> his name means earth. >> new earth. >> you have to watch michelle more when she's doing the show. >> she has that pegged, 17% prices up this month over in china. signs that the economic trough in china are actually recovering. global inr pricing has reached the trough. 2013 looking for appreciation. >> the coal stock is moving as well and some of the steel stocks. that whole complex related to iron ore. >> oklahoma so

cnbc's brian sullivan, business before the bell. to apple's stock yesterday? why the big loss? what does tim cook and apple need to do to make investors a bit more confident? >> there are a couple reasons why people cited apple stock being down. not just down yesterday. apple shares are down about a hundred plus bucks over the last six weeks. there's been a report out they are losing share to google's android. there is also concern about capital gains taxes. apple has been such a great performer over the last couple years that if you believe capital gains taxes are going to go up this has been a big winner for you. that's selling now could save you a ton of money versus selling next year. it's kind of a couple different head winds but i love the story. i think it will be a small portion of mac manufacturing but, still, having any manufacturing coming back to the united states especially high tech manufacturing from a leading company like apple, i think sends a very, very strong and good message. >> brian, harold ford. good morning. >

brian sullivan rounds that up for us. brian? >> yeah. got four names, bill, hitting all-time highs today and let us begin with hershey. obviously not only a brand but also a town in pennsylvania. company started in 1894 when the guy, milton hershey, decided to make chocolate as a coating for caramels. little did he know they would have 14,000 employees now. that's an all-time high for hershey. another food company, condiment company is heinz. making ketchup for 140 years. sell 650 million bottles of ketchup every year. file that under facts you did not need to know, but i'm going to throw it out there for you anyway. heinz, an all-time high. let's switch to tech. salesforce.com, mark bennoff, rich guy already, crm, a favorite of jim cramer for a long, long time. that stock up 50% this year alone and slightly different note. ppg, another company that makes coatings, paint, things like that, stuff you put on other stuff. operates in more than 60 countries around the globe. that stock, pittsburgh-based up 5% this year but enough, bill, to p

. >> i think it's too late to save herb greenberg's bet with brian sullivan for this year, but you were just recently, and you've turned positive for j.c. penney. >> i was a lot more positive at 17 than i do 21 and i do think the middle will do better than the upper end or the bottom. the upper end retailers will get hurt because of the tax rates and the lower end hurt because of social security taxes. guys in the middle will do better. the place to be will be the mossle so thenny's will have better numbers in q q4. >> felt like we were talking to stadler on this one. >> does that make us the money sets in. >> you're hardly miss piggy though. >> five more days before we fall off the fiscal cliff or not. we'll ask the chair of the commission ed rendell what he thinks. >> and then later, all the predigses for the certainly media interest next year. we'll see if this sector will be hot or not coming up. >>> time to today's today's close with this. gift card in the u.s. are so lop lar that if you lied the cars sold last year ent to ent, they would total just how much? we'll tell you nicks.

. >> i do believe that was a little bit of smug gloating, am i not wrong, brian sullivan? >> you're wrong. it wasn't a little. it was a lot of smug gloating. >> you take the shameless crown for today. >>> let's get right to the trading floor. i'm down here at the new york stock exchange. bob pisani is down here at the new york stock exchange. we have rick santelli in chicago. bob, you have been trying all day to figure out a retail dilemma. have you figured it out yet? >> i think i have. it's been bugging me all day. we have mastercard saying retail sales up 0.7% for the holiday season. the national retail federation comes out and says their survey indicates it will be up 4.1%. i know it's different surveys but that's a big, big difference. it didn't make sense to me. i asked mastercard how exactly they're computing this survey and what they include and what they exclude. i think you ought to know these facts the company provided to me. number one, their mastercard survey includes the week of hurricane sandy which was the last week of october. some of these companies don't

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we'll come back to you in a little while. >>> let's get to brian sullivan for a market flash here at ker hughes, the stock is actually higher despite the fact that it cut its outlook for sales and margins. perhaps analysts were expecting worst. remember, they warned as well, morgan stanley downgraded the stock this morning. however, the target for morgan stanley remains at 50 bucks. bhi was at 50 bucks a share a couple of weeks ago. baker hughes -- i guess the idea is that people thought they might cut but they did, just not as bad. a big problem for the drillers is despite all of the fracking optimism, they can't find workers. it's hard to get the workers and equipment where they need to be fast enough. sometimes there are manpower sho shortages. >> one of the man bites dog stories. that's for sure, brian. thanks. >> you've heard from house speaker boehner that we may be inching closer to a deal. but from europe to asia and beyond, how is the world shaping up for 2013? joining us is henry mcvay from kkr. henry, it's good to have you back. you've been to china a lot in recent week. we