caruso's voice.probably obviously the most famous tenor of all time, even modern day tenors still use henrique caruso as a guide for a beautiful voice. eldridge johnson was really concerned with fidelity, and he would over and over made improvements to the way that the sound was transmitted through the horn. and eventually, in 1906, he was able to patent the inside horn machine, and he called it a victrola which is kind of a generic term today. we get a lot of questions from people, and they say oh, they got a victrola when in reality it could be another machine made by a company not made by victor. but that was a real success to put the horn, which kind of had become an accessory that a lot of people got tired of maneuvering around, because it was delicate, and then it's kind of like a magic thing that happened. the horn was folded upon itself and kind of sandwiched or stuffed into that little box, and that was his major invention. i would say, in making this little tiny machine play so well. >> mr.

michelle caruso-cabrera is in havana. >> reporter: here in cuba, a muted reaction to the announcement made simultaneously by president obama in u.s. and the leader, raul castro. here we won't see major rallies where thousands bust in across the country. the city center, listened to hours worth of speeches, something perhaps would have seen in the past. but we did see last night, a small celebration by university students who were pro-government and were happy about the return of cuban spies who had been in prison in the united states. cubans here telling me today that they're hoping that the changes announced will lead to a better economy in cuba. it desperately needs it. it's been devastated by socialist policies and almost complete control of the economy by the government. they're also hoping that it means families won't be so divided like they have in the past by this policy. many cubans escaped to get to the united states over the decades and the changes announced yesterday they hope to see family members more easily and more often. for "nightly business report," michelle caruso-c

michelle caruso-cabrera has more. >> reporter: the u.s. will establish diplomatic relations with cuba for the first time since the '60s and reestablish an embassy in havana. while today's announcement doesn't end the travel ban completely, travel licenses will be much easier to obtain for family visits and educational and religious activities. u.s. businesses will be able to open certain kinds of financial accounts in cuba's banks. in order to make it easier to process authorized types of transactions. u.s. credit cards and debit cards will be permitted for the first time for u.s. travelers going to cuba. the u.s. will also allow the exporter eer telecommunication equipment in cuba. and rallied on the announcement on the anticipation that there will be increased tourism into the country. many investors told us today they don't think these steps alone are enough to invest directly into the island due to the lack of rule of law and the cuba government controls 80% of the country's economy would not provide strong enough government to ensure

"nightly business report," michelle caruso-cabrera, havana, cuba. >>> kar max surged today. that's where we begin the focus. the nation's largest used sale top estimates, car max said easier availability of credit and more dealership traffic help to rev up sales. up to $67.32. shares of finish line went the other way after lowering earnings outlook for the year and say it would cut spending. the sports apparel margin for the forecast because the company had to use discounts to drive sales of items like shoes for running and basketball. the stock plunged 19% to $23.35. >>> you won't believe what city group believes instagram is worth. they value at $35 billion. just about two years ago, facebook bought the company for about $700 million. according to city, instagram is now worth about 49 times what facebook paid for. just like my investment. shares of facebook popped almost 2% to $79.88. investors bought up shares of juneau they airapeuticstherapeu. raising more than $260 million. shares soared closing at $35. that's a move of more than 45%. the cyber attack on a retailer the

michelle caruso-cabrera has gone in search of answers. first, though, let's go check in with sue at the nyse. hi, sue. >> hi, ty. and we're at the highs of the day, as you said. a huge rally on wall street today. and basically it's been two days that have taken us up about 3%, 600 points. we are at the high of the day. and bob pisani joins me here on the floor of the new york stock exchange. santa claus is coming a little early. >> why are we up 300 points? >> i don't know, i asked you. >> that's why i'm here. thank you. they pay me to do this. number one, oil is trying to stabilize. that's the most important thing. number two, the fed is perceived to be sympathetic to the stock market or helpful to the stock market. and finally all in on the u.s. on the part of the europeans. the germans bought heavily this morning in our markets. s&p futures went through the roof when europe opened at 3:00 a.m. take a look at the s&p 500. the only thing that caused a flutter today is when oil started to move a little bit to the down side in the middle o

he used caruso as his model.you and i were young, maggie by john mcformic. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> and also i can close the lid to have the same effect. reopen the lid and my doors and you have extra volume again. it was also very important to bring this new available machine to the masses. he really was very much wanting to make sure that the music was heard by anybody who would like to hear it. in the years, he did manufacture talking machines that were very well priced. most people could afford them. >> the machine i would like to show you now now that we have seen the other too was the cre denza. what make this is machine so very special was the fact that in 1925, the company had a big promotion referred to as victor day. on that day, customers were invited to go to the local stores and by the very first orthophonic machine and also records, these were records that were recorded elect rickally by the use of a microphone where earlier records were referred to as acoustic and they were recorded inside of a horn. a new way of

michelle caruso-cabrera joins us. >> more fallout from the sanctions.e doing a deal together. morgan stanley was to sell to the russian oil company. but both have put out statements saying they are unable to get the deal done. they are very specific saying it's due to the impossibility of the deal because of regulatory clearances being refused. i'm being told that it is relaid to the political situation and the change in relationship to the countries over the past year because of the situation in ukraine. more financial fallout because of what has happened in the last year or so. back to you. >> all right. okay. >>> up next, jim cramer's wish list. plus the chief medical officers of express scripts will join us with meg tirrell next. the futures at this hour have been strong all morning. up 80 point oss on the dow. we'll be back. who are these clowns? our new hires. feels like we are just hiring people off the street. we are! we're growing so fast we need man power. at least cdw preconfigured these 2-in-1 devices with intel inside for us. it's a tablet

michelle caruso cabrera is live in havana for us today.lle, nice to see you again. >> reporter: good to see you too scott. in havana they are waking up and reacting just like we are in the united states. the head laline on the governme run newspaper. that's redundant. all newspapers are controlled by the government here. but the headline was [speaking foreign language] "they return." so it was more about the fact that there have been a return of spi spies who were imprisoned in the united states being returned to cuba. speaking to actual cubans about the announcement a lot are excited about the fact that think think it is just going to be easier to see family. not so much about the economy but for the fact for example one woman i spoke with said i've got two brothers who live in the united states. and left 21 years ago. two daughters and nieces i've never met and it's really tough on families that are divided because it's been so difficult. because people either scaped or defected or in the last couple of years have now been able to travel

michelle caruso cabrera is at headquarters. and john is at headquarters. want toet up what we're about to here. >> since john f. kennedy's administration when this embargo was put in place and the president is using his executive action to reverse it. it will require congress to lift the embargo and as we heard in the last hour that's going to be difficult any time soon. >> the white house as you know in their statement, decades of isolation have failed to accomplish our objection of establishing emergence of a democratic prosperous and a stable cuba. michelle, john mentions some of the critics today. senator rubio was on air about an hour ago. menendez saying not only is there a symmetry in this deal, meaning the president is a bad negotiator but there is very little to go on the that cuba will change its ways. >> remember the embargo to be lifted would have to be lifted by congress. the president can't do it. the requirements within the embargo are that the castro brothers have to be gone. that all

why don't we dig in more on what the saudi said and bring in michelle caruso-cabrera. saudi arabia appears to be quiet for so long is reminding the world that they carry a big oil stick. >> he said it now three times. we are not going to cut production. did you hear me? we are not going to cut production. and now even a possible increase in production. i think it makes sense. opec is supposed to be a cartel. that is what -- i joke that is what the c stands for. you are not much of a cartel if there are two other huge producers in the world, the united states and russia cht you can no longer control price. why should they be the only ones who give up volume? and then by giving up volume what do they do? they maintain u.s. production at higher levels. >> it goes one step further blaming non-opec members for decline. it is not all our fault. it is really their fault. >> the new producers. fault is a strong word. is it because of them? yeah, absolutely. we are producing more. there is more supply. what happens when there is more supply? >> if demand doesn't go up you have

michelle caruso cabrera is still with us.so want to with welcome a man investing in the hopes of cuba for a decade through his fund with the ticker symbol cuba. shot up big time. mr. hertz feld, welcome to the conversation today. >> thank you sot. >> for a gentlemen preparing for a day like this for some 20 years, what you are your thoughts. >> there is no doubt that we've seen a major historic event which will have enormous positive consequences. >> it is a small step in what could be the ending of the full embargo. i'm sure you understand the ramifications of all this and what it could mean to the fund of yours which is having such a special day. >> we've been investing in the caribbean now for 20 years, always looking at companies we thought would do well, even if there were no change with cuba but also picking companies which we thought would benefit greatly from resumption of trade with that country. >> probably worthy. as we're looking at the chart of cuba now as somewhat a cautious view i suppose. given that it is a ve

michelle caruso-cabrera just back from havana last week after a history-making week down there. how different was it this time from prior trips? >> 15 years ago people were nearly starving. now you see overweight people. being able to eat is a good measure. things are better from a year ago. opening a restaurant, does that sound revolutionary to you? >> does not. >> how about being a taxi driver? these are pretty basic -- >> uber would be revolutionary. >> these are basic commerce and business activities. in cuba where everyone used to have to work to the state they amount to changes. in 2010 the cuban government published a list of jobs where cubans no longer had to work for the state but instead could work for themselves. some of the categories will not have a huge economic impact. restaurants are going gangbusters. t there are new places to eat every day. she tells us much-needed employment and with the tips she is making more than when she worked for the government. professionals, anything that requires a degree, they are not permitted to start a business. they must work for

> before we take a quick break on this historic day here is a look at the clip from when michelle caruso-cabrera was in cuba for her documentary. >> if the embargo to cuba were to end would your port see more business? >> we believe so. we believe so because there will be an increase in demand for cargo movement to cuba as well an increased interest in passengers who want to visit cuba. >> significant increase? >> we believe so. we see numbers that would be 100,000 teus, about 10% of the current level of activity. that would just be a starting point. >> you can watch the show in its entirety online at powerlunch.cnbc.com. oh what fun it is to ride. get the mercedes-benz on your wish list at the winter event going on now - but hurry, the offer ends december 31st. [ho, ho, ho!] lease the 2015 c300 4matic for $419 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer. health can change in a minute. so cvs health is changing healthcare. making it more accessible and affordable, with over 900 locations for walk-in medical care. and more on the way. minuteclinic. another innovation from cvs health. because healt

michelle caruso-cabrera looking at the break even cost for oil around the world. dominic chu drilling on the stocks. phil lebeau with the impact on the airlines and impact of falling oil prices on u.s. producers. brian sullivan is live in bakken. are you spending more on gas prices as they drop? go to cnbc.com/vote. that is coming up next. ♪ my baby drove up in a brand new cadillac. ♪ ♪ my baby drove up in a brand new cadillac. ♪ ♪ look here, daddy, i'm never coming back... ♪ discover the new spirit of cadillac and the best offers of the season. lease this 2015 standard collection ats for around $329 a month. i'm 55 years old and i have diabetic nerve pain. the pain was terrible. my feet hurt so bad. it felt like hot pins and needles coming from the inside out of my skin. when i did go see the doctor, and he prescribed lyrica, it helped me. it's known that diabetes damages nerves. lyrica is fda-approved to treat diabetic nerve pain. lyrica is not for everyone. it may cause serious allergic reactions, or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if

bob pisani live in the nyse and cnbc michelle caruso-cabrera covering russia here at hq. let's start with the market whip saw. how much of this is being driven by moves in oil and the ruble? >> it is russia and oil and it has been a very strange day. volatility has been enormous. first and foremost oil which can't decide what direction it wants to go in. we will see if that happens. we have a quadruple witching exploration. down two and up two it doesn't know what direction it wants to go here and i think that is what is moving the markets overall, what is happening in oil today. energy stocks are holding up very well. we have a number of names like denbury, apache, deep water drillers like dominion offshore doing well. diamond offshore and nabors. some of the financials have had pressure. citi group was down earlier in the day and that put pressure on the s&p 500. guys, back to you. >> thank you very much. let's get to jackie deangelis. a big part of the story -- going together like peanut butter and chocolate. >> not just yet for a bottom is what they are saying down he

michele caruso-cabrera joins us on the fast line. >> hey, melissa. the russian central bank posting they've raised the key interest rate to 17%. that's up from 10%. they had raised it 100 basis points last week in an effort to stem the outflow of the currency from the country and the run on the currency. clearly, after today's horrendous, traumatic move, the biggest single one-day drop for the russian ruble since 1998, the decline of nearly 10% if not more. they felt they had to do something. they raised interest rates to 17%. in addition they've announced they're going to increase the amount of money they have to try to buy back rubles in order to stem the decline. they're going from $1.5 billion to $5 billion u.s. dollars. unclear whether it's going to be enough. there are predictions within the market that the ruble is easily going to 100 and potentially 150. and bk is right, there's a lot of questions about where what ross is going to do with all those rubles. ross net says what he's saying is untrue but who knows what's going on. the fear is the

guys, back to you. >> thank you so much for that report, michelle caruso-cabrera live in cuba.e should also just mention with about ten minutes to go until crude oil is going to settle for the day, we're really selling off hard. we're currently down 3.5%. we're currently sitting at $54.50 a barrel of the black stuff. >>> well, let's go back to cuba because just how significant is this shift in policy for cuba/u.s. relations? former florida senator mel martinez, he is the first cuban-american to serve in the u.s. senate. so senator, great to have you with us today, sir. i have a question. and that is do you think that we got enough concessions from cuba? i mean, they're going to benefit greatly from this. do you think maybe we're giving too much away without getting terribly much in return at this stage? >> well, we really got nothing in return, really. i mean, alan gross should never have been in prison. he returned, which is a wonderful thing to see happen. and we had a long-term-held apparently someone who collaborated with us who also was released. that's great and that's go

michelle caruso-cabrera had some breaking news.or -- should i learn how to pronounce this guy's name? is he the guy? sergei -- >> clearly he's somebody speaking to reuters and is making comments. at least they're quoting him which may be why the ruble came off of its lows. he says it is crucial in the stock markets and he says more importantly the central bank will take more measures after last night's massive rate hike. look to the right of the chart there. consider the ruble went to $79.66 and now it's only 73. that's a six-cent move in the last half an hour or so. that's a huge, huge move. it may be because they're doing jawboning and trying to threaten speculators saying there could be more to come. which is as you know this is what happens when you're dealing with this kind of situation. the central bank has to go to war and figure the tools to use to scare everybody out of it. >> they got the wherewithal to do it, you asked that question. but it was at 72 20 minutes ago. >> volatility is unbelievable. >> looks like our market

our michelle caruso-cabrera in havana us. joining me now with his take on the u.s./cuba relation larry kudlow, cnbc senior contributor. i was surprised to hear you're in support of this. why? >> i'm in support of this. milton friedman, remember him? he taught us years ago, trade liberalization leads to economic market liberalization, which ultimately leads to political liberalization. i've seen it with china and so have you. cuba's a tiny example. i'm glad we are doing doing. this going to take time. should have done this years ago. should have done this years ago. but larry, then why don't we "normalize" relations with north korea if we thank you is effective foreign policy? >> they seem to have problem with their filmmaking, maybe we will talk about that in a minute. if north korea would have anything resembling a, i don't know, quasicivilized something or other, maybe we would do the same with north korea. but it's a different animal. i think cuban liberalization is going to come, it's gonna take time, but now that venezuela is going broke, they are the last supp

again michelle caruso-cabrera live in havana.t this morning as we look at the relationship between cuba and the united states. this could be a slow process. which way do you think it gets pushed or is it entirely dependent on how oil trades? >> it was a great report from michelle, but my favorite i thinks were the cars in the background. looks like a 1950 dodge. and the other was that young woman who said i can't get a job in havana. >> two years seems like a fast turnaround to us. not to that woman coming from the province. >> and this is huge pressure for her. when she gets in contact with her relatives, hey we can open up something together. business, hotel, whatever. restaurant. i just think we took the lid off something. we took the lid off a champagne bottle that's been shaken for 50 years. you don't want to get in the way of that cork. that's the way i would look at it. >> we don't have enough time really to get too much into it, but something stuck me you said about putin's fear of joining the eu. then i saw ukraine. then

i'm joe kernen along with michelle caruso cabrera and andrew ross sorkin. becky is enjoying the day off. but there is no break in russia this year. president vladimir put yib scrapping new year's holidays for government ministers because of the unfolding economics there. during a televised session yesterday, he has other things on his mind. >> i love that. >> come on. >> that's the one. putin said cabinet ministers in his words can't afford to go on breaks. the main holiday in russia is the new year. russians celebrate orthodox christmas on january 7th. january 17th is a big day to celebrate, though, as you know, andrew. so company employees throughout russia are entitled to the holiday from january 1st to the 12th. >> i missed that. >> what are we doing january 7th? oh, our big day. >> right. >> another day to celebrate. >> it's a huge day for us. >> yes. making our move. >> the big city. >> we're fiejly growing up? >> we get to sit at the big people table. >> so that means i moved to nmg new jersey for no reason? >> there's a lot or other reasons to be he

michelle caruso cabrera is here. joe enjoying the day off ahead of christmas. if you feel like many americans, you may be waiting for that final package to arrive today. the last-minute surge in e-commerce orders is causing u.s. shippers to cap deliveries. u.p.s. and fedex make those adjustments. companies are trying to avoid repeating last year's fiasco after 2 million express packages were left undelivered. it is a half day close for the markets today. germany closed today. other european markets are having shortened sessions. take a look at futures right now and see how the market is setting itself up for this christmas eve market session. dow jones would open higher, about 43 points higher. nasdaq up 10 points and the s&p 500 up a little over 5 points. weekly jobless claims, we're going to get that at 8:30 eastern time. economists are looking for 290,000 first time filings for unemployment benefits. then we've got corporate news to tell you about. takata's president is stepping down amid the scandal over that massive air bag recall. the company's grandson w

i'm becky quick along with joe kernen and michelle caruso cabrera. andrew is off today. our guest host this hour, roger altman. uber is trying to make a break through in china. breaking overnight. internet giant baidu announcing it is buying a stake in the car hailing service. we'll have details on that in just a bit. >>> but first, it is decision day at the fed. policymakers wrapping up a two-day meeting. the fomc widely expected to speak the language in a statement and remove a considerable time frame. the statement and an updated forecast is due out at 2:00 p.m. eastern today. a half hour later, chair janet yellen will field questions from the media. beyond the fed, the ruble and oil. the russian currency dropping about 60% against the dollar this year. cnbc's geoff cutmore has made its way to moscow and will join us there in just a minute. he is looking at russia's move to sell the currency. >>> as for oil, worries about a surprise pressure in prices, france is now down nearly $20 since opec decided to keep rates steady late last month. add all these stories together

. >>> happening today, wilmington library will auction off robinson caruso drawings that are expected to fetch $250,000. the money raised will help pay for the upkeep of the wilmington library building. >>> a new warning for new moms, struggling to produce their own breast milk and considering medication to help them out. >> plus, a waitress hits it big, but plans to keep her job, we'll explain why. a look live through sky6 live hd. philadelphia international airport, meteorologist chris sowers has the exclusive accuweather seven-day forecast when we come right back. ♪ please visit your nearest jay roberts jewelers location. >> an earthquake shook southwestern china causing a wall to collapse and kill a 9-year-old boy who was sleeping inside. it hit a rural area last night. it had a magnitude of 5.5. 22 others suffered injuries, many ran out of the homes when the earthquake hit. >> time for accuweather, windy an cold today. >> reporter: windy and cold today, you'll need the umbrella tuesday and it's windy and cold wednesday. let's go live on sky 6. that's a brief description of what t

our chief international correspondent michelle caruso-cabrera is on the news line. >> that is why the greek stock market is getting hit so hard. if the election -- that is the news today. they have elections earlier than expected in january of next year rather than 2016. if that election were held today a man named alexis the leader of the radical left his party would win. if he were to win people are concerned based on all the things he says that grease would leave the euro not because he says that. he says he wants grease to stay in the euro. when you start listening to conditions he wants to impose he wants a major write down of the substantial debt. he doesn't want to do anything the imf suggests. he wants to raise the minimum wage and more state ownership. these are all things that could quite possibly be untenable and lead to a point where we are asking does grease leave the euro. first he has to win and second they have to do the negotiation. we are several steps away but closer than we were before. >> back at the previous incarnation of this crisis eurozone leaders made it cle

michelle caruso-cabrera is live in havana. there is a story in your wheel house, this is it. >> this will be the third time in three years we have come to cuba, cnbc. we are surprised by it. let me give you the initial experience here. we landed only a couple of hours ago. historically getting a journalist visa into cuba has been incredibly difficult. for about ten years, i tried at one point. they never said no, but never said yes. a year ago we were invited as financial journalists to come in and look around. that was still an incredibly, extraordinarily difficult and bureaucratic process. yesterday morning this announcement came. we were told get on a plane, arrive. your names will be on a list at the airport. no visa process required within the united states. that is a dramatic change. clearly, the cuban government is trying to make overtures to the international press, that is for sure. that will be criticized, as well, by critics of this whole new policy saying, see, the cuban government is trying to trick journalists in

. >> i wonder if michelle caruso cabrera is back on hq. >> ruble nearly positive. huge rebound.ig meeting that they did not discuss capital controls. take a look. 68 to the dollar. consider this morning we were talking about 79.91, nearly 80 rubles to the dollar. that is breathtaking interday volatility for the currency. there you can see the two day chart there what's been going on. but back down to 68 perhaps because of this talk of no capital controls. >> initial you wemichelle you w when kerry made those comments. >> that could also be a help as well. a lot of concerns about russia and not just relate told oil but the situation with ukraine and whether or not there were going to be more sanctions imposed. that kind of dovish talk would just the ukrainian bill yesterday isn't going to be implemented in its toughest form possible. that could be another reason. >> joining us on the news line this morning is the moscow correspondent for the "new york times." andrew, thanks for joining us. >> thank you. >> i don't needle need to tell you what a crazy 24 hours it's been t in the w

before the latest from cuba, i am joined by cnbc's michelle caruso cabrera who is live havana. reactions, what are people saying down there? >> first the government reaction was a little bit subdued. they would have been making a big long speech. that is going to happen. we saw a march by about 200 students. the focus is on the return of the spies that were spill in prison in the us and far less on the reestablishment between cuba and the u.s. when speaking with individuals, they are please about it. they feel that families have been split apart by the situation. we spoke with one woman who said look, i had two brothers who escaped 21 years ago. there thousands if not millions of people. it would be better if there was an easier way to see family members. the economy is in a lot of trouble, highly dependent on venezuelaa and they run the grid which is rare. for most it's only about transportation and also the cars here. if that country continues to fall apart, the delivery of that oil remains in question. they need to do something to improve the economy. that's going to have to

we have pall richards of ubs and michelle caruso cabrera joinings the conversation. josh brown a 300 point interday move for the dow. remarkable reversible of fortunes and. >> seems to be led by what people are worried bts ash some kind of the systemic collapse in russia. but looks at the reversals. the rsx is now up 20% from lows overnight. this is incredible. pay attention now. you are not going to see things like this all the time. even crude oil is up 6 percent. and these are radical moves. i don't think the market recovery is helping those things. and these are technically speaking, bullish in gulf and candles -- >> do you want to explain that? people. >> the reason why traders pay attention to things like engulfing candles because they could signal a end of a trend and start of something new. xop or oih which is oil services or xle which are the large oil companies they took out yesterday's low this morning and now ripped past yesterday's high. so that is the engulfing effect when you look at the japanese candlestick chart. >> you are talking about the technica

he doesn't pretend to play one on tv but does have a law degree and michelle caruso-cabrera who wrote about why insider trading shouldn't be illegal in her book "you know i'm right." >> i love the stars. look at that. >> let me start with you, ron, if i might. what is your reaction immediately to this decision today? >> i think it has broader implications in the sense if you look at the steinburg case where the person who gave him the information about a particular stock said he never told michael that it was, in fact, in some way gotten potentially illegal. it was second source information. there is a chance that that decision could get overturned. the mar toma case is of different ilk. i think this does have broader implications for some of the cases that may be pending upon appeal. the way in which the judge rebuked the prosecution is extremely important. they did not prove there was a material benefit. >> the judge said in this case as i understand it that the tippy had to have known the tipper was breaching a duty and the tipper benefitted -- >> you want to play act? >> yes. >> l

michelle caruso-cabrera kicks off the covers with a look at the winners and losers. hey, michelle. >> hey, there, scott. when you look at this map here, what's the break-even price per barrel in different countries around the world? north america is absolutely the biggest loser. bakken shale, the average sell cost is break even $40 to $70. every well is different. we can drill down and give you an analysis on specific wells. citigroup put together an analysis of three different wells. they say, okay, look, you invested $8 million in a well that produces 400 million barrels a day. however, if you invested $8 million in wells that produce 500 barrels a day, you only need an oil price of $55 in order to break even on that well. 700 only needs $60. that's why you see such a range. there's another way to look at what is break even price. what about break even prices for governments. remember, the u.s. government isn't necessarily so funded by oil prices, but places like saudi arabia, russia, venezuela, nigeria, they sure are. venezuela needs a price of $121 per barrel to

michelle caruso-cabrera with more on what is behind that plunge. >> we should just keep that chart up. when it came down the stairs it was trading at $64. now it is at $65. now it looks like it is approaching $66. the single largest decline for the russian ruble since 1998. in 1998 russia defaulted and set up a whole ripple effect. very large hedge funds like $5 billion. back then considered very big and led to all kinds of ripple effects within the market. oil, remember it went below 60 when it comes to brent and russia is a midger producer. also, the big oil producer put up a ton of bonds yesterday. everybody is wondering what they are going to do with them. are they going to take all of those and try to buy dollars which would collapse the market even more? there is fear there, as well. it's just been an incredible move. there is now increasing talks. one member of the government there. the legislator is trying to pass the bill that says if you are an exporter in russia you must sell 50% of the dollars you bring into the country. so really the ripple effects continue here even as w

let's bring in michelle caruso-cabrera. >> i am going to show you two sets of break even numbers.break even on wells. when you extract oil from the ground in different parts of the world there are different prices. let's show you north america. brian is in bakken in north dakota. the wells there somewhere between 40 and 80, $70 per barrel is what you need price of oil to be at for the wells to be profitable. canada is $50 to $100. let's show you the rest of the world. brazil where there is deep water they need $70 plus oil to be profitable. look at saudi arabia. $10 per barrel is what they can do when it comes to how profitable each well is. this is a very different number than the break even for budgets. they have all of this oil coming out of the ground. they love to spend the money that comes from it. saudi arabia in order to balance the federal budget needs oil at $99. russia $100. nigeria $126, venezuela $162, numbers according to deutsche bank. >> when you look at some of the numbers -- michelle stay right there i want to bring in another voice. it almost feels like strategy

here with me michelle caruso-cabrera. >> single biggest one day decline for greece in 27 years. and when you look at their ten year yield, as well,s's back above 7% which is the kreeld yi got so worried about. once again today, investors are worried about greece leaving the euro. late yesterday the primary said he wants to hold the presidential election early. the president in greece is pretty ceremonial, not very important. so why does the election matter in the the prime minister needs to prove that he can actually bring together a coalition, get his guy, his favorite guy in, to the position. if he can't, another situation with europe what they call a collapsed government, they will have to have real elections for the prime minister. that would happen in january. here is the situation. right now, if you were to hold the election today, the radical leftist would win. why is that a problem? he says he watch thes s wants euro, but all the conditions he imposes means he probably would have to leave. he talks the talk, but ultimately all the things that he wants suggests that i don

michelle caruso-cabrera has more. >> u.s. credit cards are going to be allowed in cuba as a result of this thawing in relations. also, the u.s. is going to allow the export of telecommunications equipment to cuba. up until now, it had only been food and medicine. cuba is going to greatly expand citizens' access to the internet as well. once again, debit and credit cards being allowed -- if you have traveled to cuba in the past, as an american, you've had to bring piles and piles of cash because none of your credit cards would work. this is a huge, huge change. also, the export of telecommunications equipment. they desperately need improvements to their infrastructure there and ability to communicate. that's going to be an opportunity for businesses to get in there as well as they try to expand the internet. >> michelle, we're getting word from nbc news, a senior department of defense official that alan gross will be chartered to dallas today. as of now, there are no plans to land at andrews air force base. we know he's essent

michelle caruso cabrera is back at hk to tell us what's going on in this reversal, mcc. >> citi's technicalesearch team has called a bottom in the near term and possibly in the medium term when it comes to the price of oil. they have a note out this morning saying are we there yet? we suspect yes. it's a technical note. i can't possibly do justice to it on cable tv at this int po. but suffice it to say they've gone back and looked at the big sell-offs from 1998nd 2009. they say the key level is $62.91 per barrel if you compare the sell-offs back then and assume it's going to be roughly the same now and they say, look, we got to $63.72 this morning. so they think we're pretty much there. they also say that monthly momentum is completely oversold just as it was back in those two key time periods as well. when you look at the crude curve it also suggests that traders fwlooef the price xwoes higheri like stocks. you buy it for delivery. when would you like your oil, january of 2015 or august of 2015 or february of 2016 because these are real commodities that companies need in order to power shi

mary thompson, michelle caruso-cabrera, jackie deanxious husba deangelis, but let's start with kate wrongers. >> we have a turn around here at the nasdaq. up nearly a third of a percentage point. biggest comeback since october 16. nasdaq composite still the worst performer out of the three major averagers for the month of december so far. am hehe will apple, amazon, microsoft all in the green. other big movers, o'reilly automotive, western digital up over 3% each. consumer names also seeing gains. staples and green mountain also up. if the nasdaq can finish the day high erk it will avoid its first into day losing streak in more than a month. >> now mary thompson, how are things looking your way? >> a lot better than they were this morning when the fear trade was firmly in place. worst part of the session about 10:30 this morning, dow down 222 points. we continue to see a trend starting with the gains that we're seeing in energy stocks. oil has recovered a bit. one of the weakest performers has been airlines guess spite t despite weaker energy prices. spirit has seen increased competition. an

chief international correspondent michelle caruso-cabrera is joined by a guest who bet on russia when. >> joining us is one of the co-founders of fire bird management. currently managing $1 billion. thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> what is a russian investor to do in a situation like this? did you see this coming? how were you set up? >> we started to reduce russian exposure in march when the crimea invasion happened. so in our russian funds we are about 60% under weight russia although we still have a lot of russian exposure. in our regional funds we are about 50%, 60% under weight the benchmarks. we took some of that cash we reinvested in other countries in the region which were in our mandate thinking that the risk/reward would be better there. unfortunately, this last drop very sharp drop in the ruble has spilled over to a couple of the other countries that we like just because they have trade with russia and contagion like georgia, for example. and then some of our countries really do seem to be more immune like romania. >> for our retail viewer how do you do it

. >>> welcome back to "power lunch" i'm michelle caruso-cabrera with a "market flash." check out petrobras. the man in charge of fighting corruption in the brazilian government resigned amid scandal centering around this company, petrobras. he is 76 years old and said he has done his duty and it is time to rest. he may also be frustrated because earlier this year he complained that his office's budget was cut to the point where he was having trouble paying the telephone bills and electricity bills of the corruption office. >>> time now for the power pitch where entrepreneurs get 60 seconds to convince the panel of experts that their business has what it takes to be the next big thing. >>> i'm john beakman. we sell unforgettable gifts for men. we hand select stuff guys love like best gear, grub and pack it in wooden crates. for us it is more than just a physical product. we use technology to enable a personalized gift experience so our customers can participate in the opening experience through a mobile app. the result is a totally differentiated gift and it makes our cu

cnbc's michelle caruso-cabrera, thank you very much. >>> and now, let's get to the reaction among cuban-americans. nowhere are passions running stronger than in miami. with protests in favor and opposed to the new policy facing off in the streets of the city's little havana neighborhood. and with opinions split along generational lines. and for that, we go to claudine karo. yesterday, we heard a lot of sort of loud back and forth behind you there. what are you hearing today? >> well, i can tell you, joy, that definitely today there has been small confrontation, not as heavy, not as strong as we saw yesterday and last night. but one thing is for sure, for the cuban community, it has been very difficult to process all this -- all this information, all this news, the possibility of cuba and the united states to have diplomatic and economic relations is definitely information that has not come easy for the cuban community here in south florida. i can tell you, joy, that already this saturday at 1:00 p.m., there's going to be a march at the bay of pigs memorial in florida that's been organized by cuba

cnbc's chief international correspondent michele caruso-cabrera is on the phone.e, what is the latest with greece? >> the latest is that based on what happened with the presidential election we're asking whether or not greece could leave the euro again. the same question we were asking back in 1999 and 2000. the issue here is the following. they will have to have elections far earlier than expected. supposed to happen in 2016. instead they will happen january of 2015. right now, if those elections were held today based on the poll numbers the leader of the radical left would win and even though he has said he does not want to leave the euro, all of the conditions he imposes on all the international organizations for staying in the euro, are pretty untenable. people are looking at this, not guaranteed leaving the euro but they're step closer. that's why you see the greek markets get hit hard. you don't see a europe effect because a lot of greece's debt is held by the official, not banking sector, we don't have to worry about a blowup of the balance sheets of banks