caterpillar has struggled to gain momentum this year. stock is down about 2%, underperforming the market but with china picking up steam is the stock ready to break out? joe terranova says it's time to get bullish, weiss sees headwinds ahead. let's debate it here. what's the problem with caterpillar? shouldn't the stock start rising? >> china's also getting more competitive. and you've got two thirds of cat is in nonmining, but the interesting thing is the third that is in mining, those margins are twice as high as they're average, so with all the cuts in production, lower the numbers for next year you're going to see more pressure on that. dirkly in the construction market it's also more competitive. san francisco, just announced $1.7 project in san fran that's funded by china development bank. guess who's bringing the equipment? my bet is it's going to be the chinese equipment manufacturers. so there's margins from mining coming down. there's pressure on margins from cost competitors. i just think it is a great story and i think street

>>> still to come we'll dig into the fiscal cliff with caterpillar's ceo.as we head to break a drawing at sotheby's in london sold for nearly $48 million, nearly double the expected price, it was sold to an unsided buyer. we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of tim and laura. it's amazing how appreciative people are when you tell them they could save a lot of money on their car insurance by switching to geico...they may even make you their best man. may i have the rings please? ah, helzberg diamonds. nice choice, mate. ...and now in the presence of these guests we join this loving couple. oh dear... geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. >>> welcome back, everybody. we've been watching the futures, they are mixed, dow slightly higher but you can also see futures are lower for the s&p and the nasdaq. in our headlines apple and samsung are back in court in a high profile patent case. samsung is seeking to overturn an august verdict that found it guilty of infringing patents and ordered it to pay apple $1 billion. apple is

keep caterpillar in mind. as well as dear. they go out and buy new equipment.s a look so for this year up about 11% outperforming caterpillar. look at the farm equipment companies. also the fertilizer and seed companies. planting as much corn as possible if they fall and corn going up 13% from today's prices. you want to look at stocks that produced not only fertilizer, but seed, if you're looking for some cheap stocks, i will point out mosaic. and also if you're looking for cheap agricultural company, the pe is just ate. it seems like investors are ignoring the agricultural place because we are not in the growing season, and be a good time before the turn of the year to get a new portfolio. tracy: a winner in a huge powerball lottery is taking his money up front now rather than wait. and histories in why speaks volumes. dennis kneale has this story, i love this story. >> is a choice anyone would love to have to make. he just won the lottery, should yoshetake less up front now fort the whole sum in annual increments over decades. the $582 million powerball lott

say you want to buy 400 shares of caterpillar, saying it's trading at 90.f it trades down to 85, you're going to feel like a stooge. and worse, you'll have lost two grand in practically the blink of an eye. that's why we don't do that. >> start small, maybe you buy 100 shares at 90. then you wait for a pullback. you have a better entry point. you buy the next hundred shares, if cat drops to say 81 and you put on the final hundred, if the stock sinks below 80, you know what, you got a pretty good basis. basis matters. basis is price. the worst case scenario, caterpillar goes higher and you make a little money. and when you decide to sell it, you should unload it incrementally into strength. but, oh, boy, i sold it all and then had it a big move. eliminate that thinking. now let's talk about scales. if you're buying a company that's sinking a little lower every day, it could be good because you can buy it with strict or wide scales. what's the difference? if you are using strict scales, you would buy say a thousand shares of time, the stock loses a point. eac

let's talk about caterpillar. charles: i like caterpillar.his will be one of my 2013 and investments. i have always liked the company. it is extraordinarily well-run. 20% of the revenue comes from outside of this country. it always feels a little myopic that we are always talking europe and america. this company has exposure to the global economy. what triggered it today was this china pmi number. i know gordon chang has been on. dagen: yes. we were there. charles: a lot of people do not believe the china story. this number to me tells really nice with other things. dagen: most people already own it in their 401(k). charles: you are absolutely right. the stock is down pretty big from where it was. this last quarter was a disaster. north america construction was up. almost everything should go up next year. i love the risk reward on this. connell: this will be a huge story whether china is about two, you know, come back or collapse. charles: a minimum of 8.5% next year. we would take it in a heartbeat. dagen: deceleration is dangerous even if

caterpillar decided to move the jobs to indiana where the workers weren't members of a union and would work for $14 an hour. so sure some of the states get more jobs but the question is it a net overall improvement of jobs or is it moving jobs from places like pennsylvania that are nonright to work to places like michigan that are right to work. >> eliot: what this leads to is the most important data point or trend line in terms of our economy which is the decline in median family income, the overall decline of wages in real adjusted terms over the past 30 years as the capacity to negotiate with employers has diminished. >> yeah, now let's look at the uaw alone in michigan. you're going to see the uaw my experience in covering unions in right-to-work states is only about -- in a good union maybe 60%, 70% of the workers will voluntarily give dues to the union. that's in a union shop where they're very active. that's in most right-to-work states. so i think what you're going to see in michigan as you look at the uaw it has 150,000 members in michigan. i think they're going to lose about

. >> caterpillar on global recovery.ng time. whether or not the economy recovers, it's a good. >> neil: what are you buying? >> vanguard re-index. the criticism i wanted to pick something, it has a generous yield. >> neil: i love that company. i love vanguard. i love reit and it's a great gift. biggest index of them b.t.

. >> caterpillar on global recovery. you think of that. >> i like cater pillar for quite a long tim whether or not the economy recovers, it's a good. >> neil: what are you buying? >> vanguard re-index. the criticism i wanted to pick something, it has a generous yield. >> neil: i love that company. i love vanguard. i love reit and it's a great gift. biggest index of them b.t.

it is caterpillar. what's going on, nicole? caterpillar joining over a couple of hundred companies accelerating the dividend payout in order to avoid taxes. we are hearing from the ceo who is talking about the fact that because of uncertainty in the u.s. tax policy, that we are acting in the interest of our shareholders, and shareholders could save 30 million dollars by this accelerated payout. stuart: still no word from microsoft i take it? nicole: i will be waiting by the phone. we will see if they call. stuart: so am i. i live in hope. nicole thank you very much. >>> here's another example of -- can you really say union outrage? i say yes you can say that word. chrysler workers fired for drinking smoking pot on the job couple of years ago. do you remember that? >> hey, guys. hate to be a buzz kill but shouldn't you guys be building cars? don't you guys work out at the chrysler factory? you know, the government spent a lot of money bailing you guys out. and you're coming outthere on your lunch break drinking like this? stuart

it just, it's like a caterpillar or centipede coming over these hills. >> i hope the route is straightg to make like a three-point turn? you'd be all over the place. >> are you more respected in the trucker world if you can walk into a place and say -- i hauled four trailers. >> i think so. i think you're measured by, you know, the length of your trailer. >> size does matter in this profession. >>> plastic cups and a bunch of ping-pong balls. >> beer pong for nerds. >>> see how this one blows up, next. >> and cute kids hamming it up. >> cute kids hamming it up. see what jasmine and zane put down on video, "righ >>> welcome back to the show. but don't forget to check in at rightthisminute.com. great video, all day long. >>> obviously with technology we're able to do x-rays, mris, all kinds of medical advance ths, but watch what we might be able to do now. >> what if instead of fearing the worst when you notice something out of the ordinary, you could identify the condition yourself. getting the right diagnosis would save you worry. and an unnecessary doctor's visit. >> now everyday peop

fellow big equipment maker caterpillar gained 0.7%. four of the five most actively traded exchange traded products were up. the lone loser was the nasdaq 100 tracking fund, slipping 0.2%. and that's tonight's "market focus." >> susie: tomorrow on "n.b.r.": nearly half of baby boomers say they're not ready for retirement. tomorrow, we'll show you one couple who are ready and show you how you can do the same. and we'll look at how some companies are preparing for the new health care rules that are coming soon. >> tom: this week, it became legal in the state of colorado to use marijuana without a doctor's recommendation. it's the second state to do so; washington was the first. the legal fate of these state laws is uncertain since federal law still considers marijuana illegal. but the legal business of marijuana is already growing in 18 states where it is allowed for medical use. we recently spoke with tripp keber, c.e.o. of dixie elixirs, a company that makes marijuana- infused products. >> tom: tripp keber is the owner of dixie elixirs.

caterpillar,/4% and hewlett-packard down 1.5%. stuart: thanks.m all of this is the republicans will not accept higher tax rates and the president does not want to make serious cuts in spending. is a standoff and that is still true on the market where the dow is down 127 points. new subject. the nra's leaderships to speak today, one week after the mass shootings that killed 20 in connecticut. on tuesday the nra released a statement that said it would, quote, make meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again. let's address the company. i have an expert in a second the first of all the company. ssould the nra be saying anything at this point? gerri: i am not sure they said. peck of the point where people are so anxious and nervous and upset about something that you need to back away and now is the time to back away. stuart: say nothing. charles: they should say something. in the election we saw when mitt romney didn't stand up for bain capital was characterized as a vulture and vampire on society, he let that winger too long.

we had caterpillar, ge, home depot and take of america all up 1%.ackard year to date is down about 46%. bank of america is up 104%. dagen: thank you, diane. though ford focus was the top-selling car of 2012. we take a look at hotter models that are coming in the new year. speaking of another type of learner, those on the nasdaq today. ♪ dagen: ford has the world in focus, literally. it was at the top selling car globally in 2012. 750,000 in units. expected to top 2 million vehicles sold in the gear -- year. the company will remain second. shares of ford down about half of a percent today. from the top of 2012 to 2013, joining me now is editor of fox car report.com. talk to me about chevy. >> a lot of new cars. the corvette is the top anticipated car of the next year. dagen: what are they doing to it? >> they will reveal it at the north america international show in detroit in two weeks. we are getting an idea of what it looks like. very much in the tradition of the corvette. it is a lot edgier. definitely a lot more updated and modern. it will be ve

some names leading the you way include caterpillar and jpmorgan.ng other the way way, microsoft, verizon. the jobs report, everybody takes it what it is. they're well aware of revisions for the prior month which were not as good as they first appeared. back to you. adam: nicole, thank you very much. we'll see you in 15 minutes. melissa: speaker of the house john boehner calling the past week of negotiations over a fiscal cliff a waste. even if both sides come to a deal the federal government will still be spending trillions of dollars a year with no tax plan to match it. rich edson joins us with more on this depressing story. rich? >> right. you know even if you were to somehow find the trillions of dollars you're looking for we're still out of balance. a large piece of the fiscal cliff is $94 billion in automatic government spending cuts over the next year. part of a trillion dollars in federal cuts over the next decade though even with these cuts the federal government is still projected to spend more each year over the next decade. to put this i

we have bank of america and caterpillar. all of that pales in comparison with research in motion. the stock getting taken out to the woodshed. the services business is about 30% of revenue. to be pretty clear about this, research in motion change the pricing model for 2013, and the impression is it the thumbs down. totally different story for investors. the software maker jumping about 4.5% here. better than expected third-quarter numbers. prescription revenues are up year-over-year. we are going to talk about the drivers. something called private cloud with red hat ceo, james whitehurst. what uncertainty is cooking up. we will ask them as a business leader, his perception of ceos who blame the uncertainty for what is happening to their companies and their stocks. okay, when we look at the calendar, almost single digits -- 10 days before we head over the fiscal cliff. it really doesn't look like we're any closer to a deal. now, there is no plan. it is republicans fighting while democrats watch. reporter: that's right. speaker boehner in the face of opposition from dozens of conser

so he had just little stumps, caterpillar-like stumps for eyebrows.at did you do to your eyebrows? >> everything has a meaning to it, you know, and it means i'm a homosexual. >> okay. >> it's to let everybody know that i just -- >> i didn't know that. >> i told you that. >> but i didn't know that it had a meaning. >> oh. for me it does. >> for you it has a meaning. so you classify yourself as a gbg? a gay boy? >> all day. >> all day. >> i can't deny it. >> then we got this really interesting candid moment where wicked was trying to explain the tv thing to angel. >> they're going to follow us, for a little bit. our lives together. >> why? >> yeah. >> hopefully we'll sell. >> why wouldn't it? >> i'm just saying. >> tomorrow hopefully -- i know for sure you're going to move in. and so we'll be cellies and then we'll go from there. >> this is when things started to get a little strange. it was odd enough to learn about the gay boy gangsters, but now we're following this love relationship between these two gay boy gang members. two guys who had known each

caterpillar off, freeport mcmoran off, and newmont mining down, the sentiment for so much undecided in washington. the selling in the mining shares is due to the weakness in gold, down 16.54, down to 9.40 an ounce, dollar rising against the euro, a flight to safety. silver moving lower and flirting with $30, right at $30 an ounce. platinum also lower. a lot of weakness in the metals contracts. getting to the floor show. we got traders in the new york stock exchange, cme group, and imex. beginning with bobby at the nsci. it's held hostage for so long now. what happens if there's a deal that doesn't address anything? is the market stuck in limbo for more weeks, maybe months down the road? >> well, i suspect you're right. if they come out with a cobbled deal that extends it out a little bit, i imagine there's some sort of a rally, maybe not a big rally, a couple hundred points, but back in the same place for a couple weeks. the weeks before the election, everybody talked about the fiscal cliff, and until they really put this deal together fully and for the long term, it's the same thing g

. >> one thing i'm really anxious, is caterpillar.is a big global industrial company, very, very competitive worldwide, benefits from housing, benefits from china, and mining production in china, and even in the ag business. liz: what price? 87.24 right now. >> may pull back 10%, maybe down in the low 80 #s. we think it's got a lot of juice in it for next year. another single digit stock. liz: good companies in shaky times, wait for the pull back and pounce. >> wait to see the eyes of the tiger. liz: the eye of the tiger or the bear or bull at this point. steve, your number one moneymaker now? >> this is controversial, in china, people worried about china. a two year bear market, new leadership in place, economic recovery underway, leading indicators suggest it's started. this is a company that benefits from all of that domestic growth in china. it's one of the national carriers, and it's connected to the star alliance. stock is trieding at three times, down 45% off its lows. liz: now, if there's a domestic rebound, is that what you b

the great thing of our stock market we have companies representing america around the world so caterpillar was up big. we do not want to hurt the large corporations that could take advantage of the rest of the world besides america and europe that are on fire. we will be lucky to escape a double dip recession. we will bump along the road. >> you are not satisfied this is the new normal? >> no, capitalism is just trying to survive by the skin of its teeth. >> great stuff, guys. the president today not giving republicans an inch for spending cuts. >> if republicans think i won't finish the job -- will finish the job of deficit reduction through spending cuts if they think that is the formula if how we solve this thing, they have another thing coming. that is not how it will work. >> and ed henry on how this is playing out. that is your take on how close we may or may not be to a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff? >>guest: we have a framework on taxes. they are working out a deal on the massive spending hikes. taking an amount to it as the president said, not a scalpel and it could be too deep.

hewlett-packard, alcoa, cattle, cisco and dupont, the best performers, hewlett-packard up 5% this week, caterpillar great company that joins 200 companies that accelerated the hat. names like walmart and home depot and united technologies, when i think of walmart and thinking of the ceo talking about fiscal cliff worries for the consumers, people worried what was going on in washington and that is going to walmart. then take a look here. winners and losers, j.c. penney there as the mover and names under pressure. liz: first solar looking decent. thank you very much. has a divine intervention forced citigroup's hand? october 16th, vikram pandit ousted as city ceo. in november the benedictine sisters, city shareholders who own stock filed a proposal asking citigroup to break up so as to unlock shareholder value and last week citigroup announced 11,000 job cuts and a bunch of branch closings. no real massive break up but they are shedding some businesses. joining us in a fox business exclusive is the treasurer of the benedictine sisters, sister rose marie stoverbanner and trillium asset management ceo

well, there's a wocket in my pocket ♪ and a horton hear as who, a very hungry caterpillar's on the loose oh, yeah ♪ butterflies in the sky, i can go twice as high ♪ take a look, it's in a book, a reading rainbow ♪ a reading rainbow, a reading rainbow, yeah ♪ >> the great jimmy fallon. thank you so much. >> that's it for us tonight. it's been an extraordinary year. thank you for watching. >>> tonight the biggest names of 2012. my conversations with world leaders. >> the question was do you believe that israel -- >> translator: but i will get to that answer, please. don't be in such a hurry. >> do you trust ahmadinejad? >> not on this i don't. >> the word peace is almost become fashionable. >> headline makers. >> this is much more important than any election. >> if the president didn't know exactly what happened, he sure as hell should have. >> candidates -- >> i was the perfect candidate for america. >> what if mitt romney isn't the best person. >> the idea that somehow making a business profitable is different than helping people is really a foreign idea. >> and more. >> it's ridiculousl

and caterpillar and.edu pont, those dipped as well. the themes with the weakest, a lot of these companies have big international exposure. you can see how the global economic crisis has hit us here at home. >> thanks for that. alison kosik, happy new year to you. >> same to you. thank you. >>> i'm joe johns. thanks for joining us today. cnn newsroom continues right now with christine romans. >> hello, everyone. welcome to our viewers around the world. and happy new year. today is the day to celebrate. but it's also a day to worry. it's the last day of the year. the last day to avert the fiscal cliff before americans plunge head long into smaller paychecks. the u.s. snalt gets back to work right about now. the house has been in session for about an hour now. senate leaders are the ones trying to hammer out a deal picking tax break ceilings, trying to lessen the impact of spending cuts. there are still major obstacles to pass. but this morning we're hearing that progress is being made. we'll have more on that and the fiscal cliff negotia

earlier this year msci delisted caterpillar from its list of socially-responsible investments prompting financial giant to divest close to 73 million from their social choice fund. these are just two of the most recent examples. but the greatest success of the bds movement is its effect on the discourse. here in the u.s. campaigns playing out in mainstream churches, shopping centers, university campuses and city councils have fundamentally shifted the question about whether or not -- from whether or not israel is committing crimes to what are we going to do about it. the gatekeepers of the occupation are suddenly on the defensive where they have never been before, and more than any book or speaker -- and i'm speaking as an author and a public speaker -- ever could before, bds campaigns whether they win or lose are changing the way that people think about israel and the palestinians. i believe the success of bds is behind some of the exciting phenomena that dr. finkelstein writes about in his book. this shift in discourse will also be key in forking an -- in forcing an end to corporate s

you bring up caterpillar lately in your presentations. what did you do for cat? >> cat wants to do things like smart farming. their big iron should be in those farms actually really understanding the turf and the dirt and what's likely to happen for the farmers so they become a strategic adviser to the farmer with their big gear. so you now take business models and rethinking them and innovating them in ways that were never possible. nonfu springs? china go to a spring, bottle up water, put it in trucks to deliver to their constituents. that process was five hours. now with hana we have the transportation plan figured out. not from five hours, in 2 1/2 minutes. what does that mean? 30% lower transportation costs. 15% lower total costs for their company. 4% margin improvement across the enterprise. the winning strategy. >> yes, it is. but now i want to one up that. tell me what you've done for nfl. i am very tired. we have a commissioner here for fantasy football. sometimes i want to wring his neck. he says i can't get the download of the waiver wire for multiple

caterpillar and ge suggesting return. the indication moving to session lows today. these are the groups where the enclave right now. now, i will turn it over to jim and the rest of the traders here on the floor of the new york stock exchange for time honored tradition since the depression, and the singing of wait until the sun shines again. mr. mcguire? ♪ wait until the sun shines, as clouds go drifting by ♪ ♪ we will be happy, nelly, don't you cry ♪ ♪ ♪ sweetheart you and i ♪ wait until the sun shines, nelly, 12340e ♪ >> with breaking news from washington, john harwood. john? >> i just add conversation with an aide who confirmed there is a deal on the middle class tax cuts pks and it appears they agreed on threshold of $450,000 for families, $400,000 for individuals. that's a narrower gap at that income level tp. it is designed to catch more individuals with $400,000 incomes to catch a greater proportion of those making higher incomes. under the higher 39.6 rate. the gop aide says he expects president obama to affirm that publicly at 1:30 on additional portions. we

caterpillar, i believe, is doing it. ge has done some of it, is talking about doing more of it. and i do think we, as americans,

caterpillar, i believe, is doing it. ge has done some of it, is talking about doing more of it. and i do think we, as americans, have talked about this a lot more publicly and made an issue of it since the great recession. when you have unemployment at the levels that we have it, you're going to have more people demanding that these companies will make a lot of money here, do more of their hiring here. >> and, of course, we should point at one of the filibusters that the republicans throughou

economy names like caterpillar in the green, up three in the third. a similar story for ge up to one 1/4. so these are widely held stocks that could be in your portfolio. your pension fund doing very nicely on this last trading day. there is a school of thought that no matter what happens in the debt deal negotiations gold is the ultimate winner. the idea being that the fed is going to have to print more money either way, deal or no deal. gold very close to session highs, up $20 in the aftermarket. take a look at silver up one 2/3%. high-grade copper up one and three-quarters percent. what does that tell you? optimism. the countdown is on. now we are eight minutes, eight hours, 59 minutes to go watching this every single second for you. this, of very serious situation as we plan -- plummet over the fiscal cliff. negotiations are still not there yet. complete coverage. rich edson has been grabbing lawmakers in yanking into the microphone all day. peter barnes watching every word of the white house. one e-mail that i have in my hand caught our attention

dupont and caterpillar round out the top five of losses. >> thank you. >>> when we come back, we've got some wild predictions for technology in the new year. how about facebook buying netflix? how about microsoft taking over research in motion? and wait until you hear what experts are saying about apple. >>> and what are the best bets for the market in the new year? three of wall street's investing pros give you their best ideas the the back half of the show. you cannot afford to miss them. >> also we'll get the view from top lawmakers. we have representative barrasso and yarmouth. along with our own maria bartiromo on the fiscal cliff. stay tuned. you're watching cnbc the first in business worldwide. i've always had to keep my eye on her... but, i didn't always watch out for myself. with so much noise about health care... i tuned it all out. with unitedhealthcare, i get information that matters... my individual health profile. not random statistics. they even reward me for addressing my health risks. so i'm doing fine... but she's still going to give me a heart attack. we're more than

go listen to the earnings calls of caterpillar, joy global, incumbenti kins. peabody, vail. rio pinto. it's like owning a piece of the great wall of china. you want to be in them when the great wall is crumbling. such a pervasive worry that i've seen down grades of stocks like yum because it's got a huge chinese business through kfc. and coach which has been expanding aggressively in china because of worries about a slowdown. can you imagine a kfc? similarly, owning a steel company without paying attention to what the chinese are dumping in their market is like taking a financial life in their own hands. how do you find out? companies as diverse as corning, 3m, ppg march to the beat of the asian drummer. you're not going to see it in the release. it's all in the pestering by analysts. pretty simple. listen to the call. and don't hang up until you've heard the last questions. you can read the transcript, so you can tell how worried the analysts are about the market that's didn't move the needle a few years ago. one final piece of the earnings puzle which is incredible. this i

i like caterpillar much more.hanie link, co-research director with me in my charitable trust which you can follow along at actionalerts.com. the good news is out in cummins. let's go to john in georgia, john. >> caller: merry christmas and boo-yah to you. >> same to you, sir. thank you. >> caller: tractor supply. it's one of my long-term holdings. i know you sort of have not bought it, but i'm seeing a little bit of an uptick. [ inaudible ] can i keep it in my long term? >> okay, tractor supply. i like tractor supply. there was an important upgrade today. the stock had been hit. it had been one of my stocks that i said money was going to pile into, and it had been the most disappointing of all them, but i think it's coming back. i would hold on to tractor supply. i bet you the sales went that bad anyway. i think people get very nervous about hurricane sandy. let's go to rafique in wisconsin. rafique. >> caller: boo-yah, mr. cramer. how are you? >> all right. how about you? >> caller: okay, great. i just need to kn

caterpillar, i believe, is doing it. ge has done some of it, is talking about doing more of it.cans, have talked about this a lot more publicly and made an issue of it since the great recession. when you have unemployment at the levels that we have it, you're going to have more people demanding that these companies will make a lot of money here, do more of their hiring here. >> and, of course, we should point at one of the filibusters that the republicans throughout the last session of congress was that dealing with companies being incentivized to bring jobs back to the united states. but i guess that's another story. e.j. dionne, great to have you with us tonight.

go into the earnings calls of caterpillar, joy global, cummins. calls of freeport mcmoran, peabody, or vail. rio tinto. owning pieces of these stocks is like owning a piece of the great wall. china. you want to be in them when the great wall's crumbling. i have seen downgrades of stocks like yum because it's got a huge chinese business through kfc, and coach which has been expanding agrefsly in china. imagine kfc. similarly a steel company without paying attention to what the chinese are dumping on our markets slyke taking your financial life in your own hands. how are we finding out? companies as diverse as corning, ppg all march to the beat of the asian drummer these days. you're not going see it in the release. it's all in the pestering frt analysts. pretty simple. listen to the call and don't hang up until you've read the questioners. read the transcript. one piece of the earnings puzing which is incredible, this is the earnings season that you have to weather something that i've never talked about before. and we've got to do this before we're

travelers, caterpillar and chevron accounting for a big chunk of that advance. >>> apple having its worstn four months. pushing the nasdaq into negative territory. >>> bob, apple is lower than 4% -- we're going to toss it back to brian. >> courtney, hold your horses. >>> but first we've got to get a big development on the fiscal cliff negotiations. at this point we are still just a quarter way to a deal. eamon javers, though, some republicans, call them defectors, call them break-aways, call them independent thinkers, whatever they want, what's the latest here? >> what we've seen just within the past couple of hours is a new letter from some republicans saying they'd like to see all options on the table here. that's a sign that there is some willingness among republicans to have some negotiations. i'm talking to lawmakers here on the hill who say it probably strengthens speaker boehner's hand to go out and make a deal with the president. we've seen some rancor in the ranks on the right from the speaker dealing with sort of an insurrection yesterday. this might give him a bit of wiggle roo

we just need the state department to have eyes open, to open up doors for caterpillar and g.e. not pick winners and losers but at the end of the day -- look, i like my chances in africa against all comers. they like the united states, they like the way we do things. we train people, we invest in countries. i like that. >> rose: on the question of what the u.s. government should do, is there anything that this government should do-- or any government, whether it's the obama administration or some future administration-- ought to do in terms of u.s. companies being more competitive internationally or? or do you want them to stand out of the way snrjts look, i think they can be -- i don't think we need the same levels of investment support that even germany and japan have. but the fact that secretary clinton has been very pro business, that the state department opens up doors, that the president publicly says i want to double exports, that the u.s. is very aggressive in trying to do that, i think attitude helps us all. it's really a -- you know, when chancellor merkel flies from b

caterpillar, i believe, is doing it. ge has done some of it, is talking about doing more of it.cans, have talked about this a lot more publicly and made an issue of it since the great recession. when you have unemployment at

we have companies like caterpillar and john deere that do business in our state, headquartered in illinoisand there are investment decisions obviously. they want a predictable situation, and that's why it's so important that republicans join together with the president to work these issues out, these fiscal issues out so we can have a good business climate for investment to take place and job creation. that's what we're all for. there's no such thing as republican jobs or democratic jobs. they are american jobs, and these negotiations are really central to a job growth economy. >> so what do you think seeing where you sit would be the important or easiest ways to cut spending? >> well, we've done it in illinois. we've cut our spending back to 2008 levels, and we may have to go back even further in the coming year. having said that, the federal government has to make economies, but we have to have a fair tax structure in order to have good economic growth during the few. we learned during the time of president clinton that having a fair tax structure based on a little higher rate on the wel

at the dow jones industrial average has now dipped into the red, a modest lost only 3.5 points, caterpillar one of the weaker members of the dow helping to lead it as you can see there on your screen into the red. let's look big movers, lululemon is one of them, that stock is getting a pop. >> before the market got earnings coming out, guidance was a little bit weak. we have to focus on the gross margin which improved dramatically here quarter on quarter. i like the ceo comments. i like the name, trading 70 i think it moves to the mid-70s. >> weiss, what do you see with walter? >> one of the most rumored stocks in terms of being bought. hp is always the name mentioned. eventually one day is happens. don't buy it on rumors. >> men's wearhouse a drop today. >> shouldn't be that surprising since joseph a. banks disappointed so i think this is a tough space. i don't care if they're getting into the outlets or not. it will take time to work. >> the commodities king will make a big statement about crude oil. denis? >> looks bad, going down, a lot of inventory, crude numbers were down and the size

these are not small potatoes ceos, exxon, walmart, caterpill caterpillar.gest of biggest companies. they have done their part. i think the thing is what they have said is what everyone has said. they're basically saying compromise on taxes. it's time to compromise on taxes and that's not what congress wants to hear. they can say it until they're blue in the face. they should go directly to lawmake lawmakers. they may be dock that. it's definitely how they feel. these biggest of ceos really want this deal to happen and it's time to compromise to end the paralysis. that is far and away the message across business and across wall street. >> leigh, i imagine they want this because it affects the bottom line for these companies in a way that washington politics maybe didn't before. is washington and sort of wall street becoming closer in terms of their relationship here? >> definitely. you know, it's funny, it used to be wall street was really focused on mechanics of companies. companies fundamentals. how did coke do this quarter? now they're much more focused o