activist investor dan loeb swoops down on dow chemical now.ind out why the billionaire hedge fund manager decided to buy a huge stake in the chemical giant and what it means for investors. and while another huge snowstorm hammers the northeast and midwest, we'll tell you how it's impacting retailers and whether another round of m&a activity is in the cards for this industry. ♪ [ male announcer ] wt kind of energy is so abundadant, it can help provide the power for all th natural gas. ♪ more than ever before, america's electricity is generated by it. exnmobil uses advanced visualization and drilling technologies to produce natural gas... powering our les... while reducing emissions by up to 60%. energy lives here ♪ energy lives here my dad has aor afib.brillation, he has the most commonind... ...it's not caus by a heart valve problem. dad, it says you afib puts you at 5 times greater risk of a stroke. that's why i take my warfarin every day. but it looks like maybe we should ask your doctor about pradaxa. in a clinical trial, pradaxa® (dabigatr

. >>> the activist investor strikes again dan loeb revealing that third point's largest investment is? dow chemical. urging the company to spin off part of its business. faber will have some details on that when "squawk on the street" returns. in 1953. afghanistan, in 2009. orbiting the moon in 1971. [ male announcer ] once it's earned, usaa auto insurance

our traders s debate it. >>> dan loeb making big news today. should you follow his lead?ous case. stephanie link is looking into j and j's earnings. steven weiss, rob from ubs, the managing director, 8 billion --

dan loeb and mr.nger. >> just this morning we heard reported that he is taking a stake in active chemical. >> really? >> indeed. >> the ceo is here. cans this a time when a ceo say that an activist investor that has done a lot of things right, i could sit with them and say what can we do to improve? side ofhat he is on one the mountain and i am on the other? >> this is a significant shift, where ceos are paying the exorbitant fee to come here. to me that would not be unimaginable. >> if you're the ceo of the dow chemical, you might say this i is gunning to get me knocked out. what do you do in that situation? year.has been a slow a stormy year. >> if you look back far enough, stock prices have not wedged. there's been a lot of volatility between now and then, but stock is nowhere it was -- i cannot remember the exact date. >> this is not the bad for the world economic forum, this is the badge to get into the piano bars. >> all you need is your boat w tie. now getting involved in dow chemical does not

looking at dan loeb's involvement.alk about how they are doing with the investment. >> making a compelling case. it is one resonating in wall street now. look at some of the analyst notes out. a breakup, which is what dan the breakuping for, value is 150 one dollars and $.40 per share, versus the 43 it was trading yesterday. it is a compelling case, a logical 1, 1 we have heard other activist's make. the question is, will he put pressure on the company given the fact warren buffett has been gotod supporter and has supporters. dan loeb has taken on bigger and bigger supporters. $.22, i'm an idiot. 61% loss in the same quarter. i wonder if you look at this business. dan loeb's investment. has it changed a lot for ham? >> yes. it changed exponentially. nothing.d with almost it has been a good ride for him. that has forced them to take on companies because it is not efficient to go after smaller companies. >> the one thing he is known for is doing a lot of work. let's talk about those that are forked out well. seen it'sr,

dow chemical, the target of activism welcome dan loeb is take advantage of the cheapest natural gas, just not fast enough for activist loeb to do so. to please him. more on activism later in the show. however, the glut of natural gas also represents one of the big negative themes that come to the fore in 2013. the glut stems from oil drilling. as the amount of oil being produced continues to astound the skeptics. and the independent oil stocks have been such stars for so long. schlumberger's otherwise outstanding quarter confirmed this trend, as north american jewelry is one of the dark spots for the period. although, the second disaster here, coal. as scene from the weak domestic consumption reflected in csx's numbers. another step down in the industry at the hands of an aggressive epa and cheap natural gas. by the way, only cabot oil and gas or cob seems to be capitalizing off the extremely cold weather, and that's because it pipes its natural gas from the marcellus shale in pennsylvania to the gnat gas star in northeast. one last negative thing for the 2014. the bizarre disappeara

third point, which is run by dan loeb has a $1.3 billion stake in the country, the firm's largest investment by dollar value. they are pushing dow by revenue to sever the pet trow chemical business, shares rose more than 10% today to $45.93. the oreo cookie maker mondelez, ends pelts's campaign to have the company to sell itself to pepsico to generate more profit. shares fell more than 2% today to $34.45. >>> amd posted earnings after today's close. they swung to a profit of new gaming consoles. the chip maker, however, posted a weak outlook and that disappointed investors. shares initially plunged after hours as you see on that graphic. the stock ended the regular session do you kndown slightly. shares of blackberry spiked after it landed a big government contract. 80,000 blackberry devices will be linked to the pentagon's management system at the end of january. that secures the company's position as the long time supplier of government phones. shares popped more than 9% to $9.93. td ameritrade was popular with investors, surged by 31% from last year. the company says that's because more c

the art auction house is fending off an attack by activist investor dan loeb and his hedge fund third point capital, last year loeb slammed the company demanding a new ceo.third point has 9.3% stake in sothebys. to free up capital-- sothebys plans $22 million in costs cuts, payout a $300 million special dividend in march to investors and potentially sell the new york headquarters. new beginnings mean a new name for two car companies. recently merged chrysler and fiat will be known as "fiat chrysler automobiles." it's "office" is based in the netherlands, however it operates out of a detroit suburb. the merger is off to a good start. chrysler's earnings report revealed the company quadrupled revenues in the fourth quarter, which will help boost fiat's results. now onto more earnings news.. boeing cruised through the 4th quarter with a 26% profit increase as the jet maker delivered a more orders for commercial aircraft. however the stock dropped 7 dollars as investors remain cautious about the year head. dow chemical shares moved up more than a dollar and stayed up in yesteday's down ma

course of the last year is really the success of the financial engineering principally brought on by dan loebthe cfo is one of the best in the business. it has this pile of assets. they got together and said that we want you to parcel these out so shareholders will get value. some of the moves wrought on has happened and ali baba is the biggest piece. i don't think that they could have predicted that the market would go crazy for growth stocks in china and suspect that ali baba could have numbers that would be so big that it would flow to the whole company. that is one the side benefits they have got. you mentioned the hiring of one single employee for over $100 million over the course of the year. you talk about these acquisitions that have failed to deliver revenue growth. some of the moves that marissa mayer has made have been very expensive. they have yet to show any results. >> what can she do about this hole in her see suite? it seems like she will be taking on a lot of responsibility. what does it mean when a ceo is personally doing what the coo should do. >> these jobs are different i

>> one of the more tone deaf moves this year was dan loeb suggesting that sony would spin off their motionicture unit. an american man telling an iconic japanese company what to do. sometimes these men miss it, but it is good for companies to go after. >> the elvis presley of activist investors still has his sights on apple. he has been calling on the tech giant to give some of its massive cash hoard back out. icahn announced he was building more leverage in that push, boosting his stake to $3 billion. that means he owns 1% of the company. >> there is nothing wrong with the management of apple. i cannot necessarily say that with ebay, but i will with apple. i just think the board is wrong in not taking advantage of a very undervalued situation and not using their capital to help the smaller shareholders. >> looking out for the smaller shareholder, that is very noble. >> thank god carl is looking out for the smaller shareholder. [laughter] in both instances, the level of cash they have is a little over the top. >> apple plans to return 100 billion dollars to shareholders in the form of divi

you really see the financial -- youd sharing of lope really see financial engineering of dan loeb. >>hey are to monetize part of their investment in ali baba last year. they did a good job of returning proceeds to shareholders, they have done a good job from that perspective. if you look at the stock, it is a complete bet on the value of the ali baba ipo. no real improvement on fundamentals, marissa mayer suggests it is a "multiple your turnaround." super mario.n nintendo's third-quarter profit down 77%. christmas shoppers shun the wii u. not in good is shape. you are not having developers who want to make games for it. is struggling because you have hard-core gamers going to the xbox one and ps4. then you have players who play on the ipod. five dollar game. nintendo has an ecosystem similar to apple, they make everything. it is also the hard part about their company in the short-term. >> a challenge for super mario. challenge for new york, hosting the super bowl in four days. talking to one of the men making deep date game happened. john tesh, -- jon tisch. the super bowl's most excl

carl icahn and dan loeb are at taking thatd frontline approach. we have chosen to partner with their management teams and boards and find situations where we can help that the margin with suggestions which we call suggestiveism./ it was unique in 2013 where the hma board refused to engage in any sort of productive dialogue. we had to take error suggestions directly to fellow shareholders. >> we want to know more when we come back. we will take a quick break but we are speaking to larry robbins. >> we will also talk about new mortgage rules that take effect today. we will explain what they mean to you and what they mean to mortgage lending in the mortgage market. of the top officials from the financial protection bureau will be here. this is "market makers," on bloomberg television, streaming on your phone, your tablet, and bloomberg.com. ♪ >> you are watching "market makers." there is word that the president will nominate stan fisher, former governor of the bank of israel as well as former treasury undersecretary leo brainard to the federal reserv

act of its investor dan loeb betting on a merger between t- mobile u.s. and the sprint.age between the two creates "the only real counterbalance to an industry dominated by at&t and verizon." a stake inund has softbank, sprints daren't company. our smartphone photos of the future of search? stone iset biz zton making with jelly. he cofounded mediaman the as aus corporations or social media pioneer, why did he choose search? i sat down with him in the early edition of "bloomberg west" today. >> it happened by accident. we were going on a walk-in we accidentally asked the question, what would we build if we had to build something that could answer any question. we had this idea on our hands that we had to do. i really enjoyed helping people in the people help each other and i just could not get it out of my head. >> did you mean to start a company? >> not really. we were going to hack on it. this could be a really good all- around business. >> what kind of questions are people asking? >> it's early days. the three canonical types of questions we are seeing now are, should

if fund run by dan loeb will invest in dow chemicals. that is it for headlines. >> thank you.xt guest best illustrate where wall street means -- needs mainstream. thergan chase awarded quarter million dollars in grants to small businesses across the states. one of the companies is called rolling in dough. it serves woodfired, brick oven pizza from a fully restored 1943 international harvester firetruck. gellerined now by scott matthew miche. pizza, huh? this is how it starts, a truck and a dream. are a fully restored 1943 international harvester and what we do is private of that's all long island in the north fork. we will keep -- cater all laments -- cater all events imaginable. but you have able moving woodfired pizza oven. what did you decide to give this gentleman your money? appreciate what small businesses do in the local communities and what they do to the general economy as a whole. isch and main streets grants our opportunity to go above and beyond -- mission main street rants is our opportunity to go above and beyond what we do every day. a panel of experts reserved

next thing i know, we're hearing in realtime about my partner david faber right next to me, that dan loeb has taken a stake in dow. he's pushing for a breakup. a dead dow springs back to life as if by magic. last week, we were supposed to throw away our bonds because interest rates presumed higher. we've seen the interest rate sensitive stocks, the real estate investment trusts spring back to life as they haven't in months. here's the bottom line, not virtually overnight but actually overnight. not in slow motion, but in as it happens, not time lapse, but instant. that's the market since the new year began. and judging by the cross-currents, if you want to be successful you've got to be able to surf the rip tide. >> caller: boo-yah, jim cramer. >> not bad, partner, how about you? >> caller: i'm hanging in there. my question is on cliff natural resources. recently cliff dug below the 200-day moving average, but having problem making deliveries due to some heavy rains in brazil. is now a good time to get my feet back into cliff? >> vale has been a virtual house of pain for my charitable tru

. >> andrew liveris sat with you, did he know about this dan loeb news? >> he did not know. believe he knew. just so you know, we've put calls out. we believe -- we're going to try to get andrew liveris to come back and sit back here. i don't know if we'll succeed at that. we are on the case on that issue. what were you saying, david? >> i'm pretty certain he did not know this was coming. again, this has been released on that harvest site i referenced. one quick point here, of course, mr. loeb and other shareholders will make the underperformance of the stock over a long period of time, talking about a generating return of 46% over the last decade versus 199% return for the s&p 500. chemicals index, 101% return for the s&p. stock price the same as it was in april 1999. >> andrew -- >> we know he can do a lot with that, mr. loeb. >> it's scott. for either one of you, you or andrew, the presence of buffett in dow chemical means what now that loeb has taken such a big position? >> you know, it's interesting -- >> that's an interesting one. >> go ahead. andrew, feel free to go a

pressure from dan loeb trying to improve their position. >> at&t down one percent, still consideringver bid from vodafone. at&t will probably have to wait out the deadline for making that offer. >> there is a lot of moving parts on this stuff. thes interesting -- interest in cable systems in the u.s. and europe -- you have charter and liberty and at&t. very interesting. >> you remember when deutsche tell bought vodafone around 2000? it was heralded as the great merger. it was going to bring self- service globally and it just never really -- >> that was europe looking west. >> imagine how it's going get away. ,> number four is dow chemical rising three percent after stepping up its share buyback program. they are extending it to 4.5 billion from 1.5 ilion and raising their dividend to $.37. >> it is the carl icahn trade, putting cash to work. boeing shares falling five percent, the most since july. they say revenue and profit will fall short of analyst estimates as the pace of jet orders slows. >> jetblue following 2% as costs rise. half the projected increase in cost will come from a

along, and his investors do not want to wait anymore, and he has got the likes of carl icahn and dan loebing on his lawn with a bazooka. >> the market can stay that way longer than you can stay solvent. >> what about what senator ed , getting regulators to look into what herbal life --herbalife is doing. >> members of congress send letters all of the time. regulatory agencies receive them you very much. you obviously intended this for a public market rather than us." that about her balife. other people are. and do you want to look like you ?re front running you do not want it to look like you are being led by the nose, even if that is the reality. >> you could ignore it, bernie madoff style. >> it is a scam. the sec was warned about bernie madoff for a decade or so and did not do anything about it, and that was a situation where you could have shorted ernie made off, and the sec would have madoff,shorted bernie "wethe sec would have said,"w do not want to look like we are being led by the nose." it is a great challenge for them to be sifting through it, but it is no doubt that every trade

but dan loeb his letter to dow chemical and a large dollar position but a small percentagewise for aon market cap company. here a 1% of a $70 billion market cap company and yet he's coming with the fight and i think oit interesting also of the suddenly of the nonbinding shareholder proposals to put it to shareholders. donahoe for his part wouldn't say one way or the other what they'll do if, in fact, that vote goes against them. >> they have to split the company and the company management is very, very upset. there are people openly agitating that alcoa should split. but they said over and over again, look, that aluminum business doesn't stand alone. leading up to a key point here when you are trying to look at what a stock will do you look at earnings and expectations and now activism. >> the dow not a single component is in the green. is it pmi? >> i was going over china and china is plain out disturbing. what is really going on in china? it's not just the pmi after six months of going up, it's all about credit equals gold number one collective trust. this is a piece of $500 millio

bill ackman stands alone, whether we are talking to and love, bill steer it's -- talking dan loeb, billever seen anyone willing to take traits to the end of the earth. >> we saw the canadian government, a senator. bill ackman does not seem alone and regulators. >> things are finally starting to move in the right direction. does he have the patience, are his investors going to continue to ride this? herbalife big wins, is not his only trade. >> tom, when you look at what is going on in china, we mention how herbalife is under attack. what is the chinese government's position on direct marketing companies? with a viewed him certain amount of suspicion, as rival organization. almost like a type of political organization. >> a political threat? >> it sounds paranoid, but at the back of the mind of some people that is a potential issue. the bigger question is the political risk for foreign companies operating in china. over the last couple years we have seen everyone from yu m! to apple come under attack from the press and regulators. now, so much of their earnings is coming from china, when

this comes months after dan loeb called for a management shakup..3% stake in the company. the company would consider the sale of its new york city headquarters. carl, back to you. >> thanks so much. >>> when we come back snow and ice wreaking havoc on roads all across the south from the carolinas down to atlanta where the major highways are nearly abandoned. we'll get an update on the conditions in the south from the weather channel's jim cantore when "squawk on the street" continues. the most free research reports, customizable charts, powerful screening tools, and guaranteed one-second trades. and at the center of it all is a surprisingly low price -- just $7.95. in fact, fidelity gives you lower trade commissions than schwab, td ameritrade, and e-trade. i'm monica santiago of fidelity investments, and low fees and commissions are another reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. call or click to open your fidelity account today. afghanistan, in 2009. orbiting the moon in 1971. [ male announcer ] once it's earned, usaa auto insurance is oft

guys around town, you would they do the blue risk their own capital, you know, the bill ackman, the dan loebsf they are, carl icahns, the ones getting paid, you know, 500 million dollars a year, $1 billion a year. right, so jamie dimon, who got paid what, $13 million last year -- >> $11.5 million. >> ok, a down year for him. this year it will we closer to something like that, we all scratch our heads as to why if you are paying $22 billion in fines. -- itow, that is, frankly isn't, but for the guys who kind of -- are in the hedge fund world -- >> it is a lot of money. >> it is chump change, and that's what you get paid if you are managing to hundred thousand people in a complex business. >> it is easy to see why they pay him that much because he has made them the investors, the shareholders to the extent that they are active in that that she has made them a lot of money. and they think of them as the best ceo on wall street, and if they do not pay him enough, he will go somewhere else. >> he is an exception. >> first of all, where are they going to go? it is not there are thousands of compani

. >> that was driven primarily by dan loeb when he was on the board and when ralph levinson was ceo. don't think it's correct to give the current management team credit for that agreement. >> just finally -- i know we have to go -- is this. would someone else have done something much better, more significant, more ad revenue generating for this company? >> no. in fact, i think doing the smaller acquisitions is the way to go. any sale with alibaba will give them more money to work with. these things take time. >> we're out of time. we have to leave it there. thank you very much. it's an important conversation for a lot of people. collin and todd, have a good evening. >> those shares having their worst day in two years. keep the tweets coming. your thoughts will be revealed later on "the closing bell." >> the dow is down 180 points. we're off the lows but still it has been a very deep day of red. >> that's right. global market turmoil continuing to impact stocks in the u.s. what the fed just did will have consequences. up next, what you need to know to protect your portfolio. >>> and a

loeb alln, dan challenging high-profile public companies.panies targeted by active investors up 90% from a decade ago. he says that art of the increased activity is increased awareness that changes can actually be made. the value oriented activist investment firm, on the activist beat for the past year and a half. what have you seen that has really stuck out for you? >> one of these inks that is interesting is that you are a very high-profile activist, and you are one of the most low-profile, and due to this you -- and part of this is that you ada.eals in can it thehave also called activist paradise. >> one of the biggest differences is that if you own five percent of the canadian company, you can requisition a shareholder meeting. that gives the shareholders and the activist tremendous power. you are under the radar, you do not have to report your stake. correct, it is a five percent stake here, 10% in canada. -- get attempted to do on 222 companies, and we've gotten onto the boards thereof companies, and we've gotten onto those boards, . b

. >> the other holder is dan loeb, not really an activist. >> yeah, loeb, you have to remember he gets. certainly management's attention has been brought to bear as a result of not just mr. icahn but other potential activists who are all sort of focused on the same idea of creating value around some sort of the split-off of -- >> can we have a look at the three-month chart? that's the most compelling when you look at hertz. yes, it's up 13% in a week, since you got the poison pill announcement, but it's that three-month chart that's really dramatic. there you go. again, 32%. >> and an opportunity, though, to buy the stock in the mid-20s after what had been sort of a not great quarter, simon, as i think you know better than i. >> yes, david, great to have you back, breaking news. i love it. >> thanks, simon. >>> not exactly a december to remember with ford with auto sales coming in well below expectations. so is this just a blip on the radar for ford, or is there more trouble on the horizon? we'll talk about that in a moment. welcome back. how is everything? there's nothing like being y

. >>> in market news, activist investor and hedge fund manager dan loeb beat most of his rivals last year. his flagship fund returning 25.2%. wow. he kept pace with the index for only two and 20. loeb said the bulk on his debt are on large u.s. stocks opinion expected to give more details when he releases his fourth quarter letter. give me just a second. he releases that letter to investors in the next few weeks. there's no sweetener in there. thank you. >> there's no sweetener. >> i think i need a -- yes, please. >> i'm calling my agent. >> i'm getting the swede ner because i want to get a coffee, too. go for it. >> there's no sweetener, mac? seriously? no, wait a minute. what is that, sweet and -- no, no, i need equal. no, i'm kidding. that's swimming with sharks. great. whatever the guy brings them, he needs the other. >> joe, i can help you. >> thank you. >> do you want some equal? >> no, i'm fine. i'm kidding. >> here is some equal. here you go. >> i'm going to mix and match. lovely. sorry. >>> a watchdog for the labor department says the agency needs to improve how it releases

just think about the week that we've had whether it be dow chemical with dan loeb or ebay with mr.hn or apple with mr. icahn. we will continue to talk about this in significant ways, but juniper is a company now as you point out, carl, not just of elliott. >> if i were at juniper, i'd be so angry, listen, we have the cycle going for us and the volume of business is finally good and now you come in starting to make noise it's been awful and the whole way down and you said nothing and now it's finally good to us and are suggesting. >> they are probably saying shrink to grow. >> they finally got it right and now they are all over them! throw the bums out! >> stanley beats by two cents. sales up nine. construction up six two in do it yourself. >> europe did not hurt them for once. i have a theory. and stephanie bounces back and forth with me on this. when you see a company that has horrible quarters last fime they don't let it happen again. they did pull it off. europe turning is a continuing theme. i know we have to focus on -- on countries that are right now currency plunging, but wh

dan loeb is a major shareholder. also at a tchlt&t under a bit o pressure.than analysts were anticipating. and also take a look at shares of marathon petroleum, on the rise. the company reported fourth quarter earnings of $2.10 per share, that's well above estimates of $1.15 per share. revenue also above estimates although marathon's numbers were below year-ago levels. and finally, is cirrus logic earned 12 cents above estimates. the chipmaker issued a weaker than expected current forecast assist the sales mix apparently now includes lower priced products than recently. >>> have i been overdoing it today? it's entitled "bias." and it says joe, i'm an avid follower of your show. i am very disappointed that you continually attack the republican party. the republican party has brought many good ideas to the table. if you recall during the last election, much of what paul ryan said has come to fruition. your and andrew's misguided support is exactly why our country is no longer number one. >> limousine liberal. a communist. >> it's entitled "bias." and if i was

and apropos, but dan loeb talking about the chemical number has directly to do with louisiana, texas,heap ethane and propane and propane going up a lot in the midwest because it's so cold. but this is the natural gas world. >> yeah. >> and, of course, the flip side is that coal is bad because of natural gas, but there is an oil boom and a natural gas boom and norfolk southern is cashing in on it. >> we'll watch norfolk southern and a lot of other names we mentioned this morning and a lot we haven't gotten to yet. the opening bell's coming up right after this. female announcer: female announcer: get beautyrest, posturepedic, even tempur-pedic mattress sets, at low clearance prices. save even more on floor samples, demonstrators, and closeout inventory. the year end clearance sale ends sunday at sleep train. ♪ your ticket to a better night's sleep ♪ i'm bethand i'm michelle. and we own the paper cottage. it's a stationery and gifts store. anything we purchase for the paper cottage goes on our ink card. so you can manage your business expenses and access them online instantly with the ga