we're going to see darden restaurants, shares down 32 cents. joining us in an exclusive interview, clarence otis jr. and part of the message is that your biggest chain, olive garden, you're starting to turn things around there, right? >> we're seeing good fundamentals there. we've seen good moves in all brands. if you go back to prior quarter. >> interestingly, it was the way you were marketing your menu. you were ek emphasizing the quality of the food. when you started reemphasizing value and pricing, that's when things turned around, right? >> it's always a delicate balance, where you've got to build brand and emphasize value at the same time. we were emphasizing value, we took a different approach to doing that this quarter. we felt the old approach had gotten a little stale. and the message wasn't coming through as clearly. so we put it in the frame of a prefix offer. that has certainly worked well. >> how much have you had to eat higher input costs and i guess the next question from that would be, to what extent do you feel you can pass on

for darden?> yes. >> yes, we have? >> i thought it was a value trap. but they're able to reinvigorate two of the -- it's been -- olive garden's good, red lobster's bad, vice versa. looks lake they're all on track. clarence otis, i salute you. i should have endorsed you. i was gun shy. >> why do you like this? i'm asking you why you like this number because it seems like there are a couple one off factors. first of all, the shift in lent. the shift in lent apparently helped boost u.s. same store sales as well as warmer weather. if those two things don't necessarily continue, these sort of artificial unseasonal, unusual boosts? >> i guess what i'm more focused on is the fact that otis had been so bearish when gasoline gets high. and he isn't this time. >> you don't think he was kitchen sinking it back then? >> you know, i think he's too honest a guy. i love him. i'm just thrilled for him. i'm thrilled for the company. i think this is a company that people -- it represents where people go when they'

next up, darden. average p/e in the sector is 21 times. that's above the five-year average of 18.that reason it's cautious on restaurants in general. but bullish specifically on dri which just updated guidance above consensus and multiple remains low at 12.5. that's the lowest in the entire basket we searched and yields 3.4%. and bob evans, they sell food and a bunch of other retail stuff, i'm told they have great breakfast. anyway, a great income play. grew the dividend 25% last year. don't expect that again, but you can expect it to go up. add in 11% gains in 2012 and you have some solid returns. now, if you want to go against the analyst consensus, most are neutral on bob evans and also consider the comps are getting stronger and stronger over the winter. of course all these names extremely sensitive to changes in the economy. now, coming up on "street signs," another one that might even be more sensitive, going to ride the roller coaster world of theme parks and look at the harry potter effect. >> there's always a harry potter effect in every single sector. anyway, i have to a

darden is the parent company of red lobster. the s&p managing to rise above their highs of 2008. this is a nine-month high for oil. stock futures are lower this morning. germany holding a vote on greece's bailout proposal. the association of professional flight attendants and the transport workers union. the plan would increase costs. looking to free pensions for their pilots unions. talks with all the unions will result later this week. >> there is a lot of buzz over the ipad 3. i'm still trying to figure out the ipad 2. say theyblocggers are ready for shipment and they're on their way here. we're getting more clues from best buy. where you can get free pancakes tomorrow. >> that is what i want to know about, free pancakes. thank you . >> thank you. >> 34 degrees on tv hill. nation in turmoil. >> don't forget to e-mail us your response to our water cooler question of the day. do you think a silent film should win best picture at the oscars? you can share your response at wbaltv.com and on our facebook page, or send us an e-mail to watercooler@wbaltv.com. okay, that looks great.

i i've always used because of clarence otis, ceo of darden, darden look at things. stop going to red lobster as much as you would. stop going to olive garden as much as you would. here's ubs raising estimates today darden. there a bizarre lack of confluence between the price of gasoline and the consumer. it's also, of course, by the way, there's a lot of oil being found. you have to wonder how much of it is iran, israel. i know i had the largest oil tanker company yesterday. he says a lot of people are just hoarding oil. they're just hoarding it. betting that it's going to go up in value when the iran/israel war starts. >> more people are getting jobs. that also helps, doesn't it? more people being employed means more people are willing to spend more money sfwl growth krurs a lot. we don't have growth in europe. yesterday we were focusing on china maybe helping out. what i don't want to do is come in and say, you know what? today everything that was good is now bad. because the futures are down. because that's been a terrible way to look at 2012. it was a good way t

and in the 4:00 hour, we'll hear from darden ceo clarence otis jr. we're back in a moment. >>> time now for going global asia. >> these are the stories you want to look out for. australian politics front and center as kevin rudd resigns as foreign minister. much remains to be seen in a highly anticipated conference today. staying in australian on the corporate front. look out for earnings. and we'll be breaking lots of economic data out of taiwan. revised q4 gdp and output for january. most keenly watched is what will be said about inflation. tune into cnbc world to check all the action overseas. i'm going global with your money. ♪ [ male announcer ] offering four distinct driving modes and lexus dynamic handling, the next generation of lexus will not be contained. the all-new 2013 lexus gs. there's no going back. see your lexus dealer. intuitive trading platform that thinks like a trader. fine-tune technical analysis with the integrated chart tools sidebar. to seize an opportunity, i have to see it. with this, there's no more hide and seek. pinpoint

we can't sell darden because we think red lobster will be hurt iran strikes the strait of hormuz, and selling bristol-myers with this 4.2% yield and strong earnings momentum simply because of the budget deficit? enough already. that's just plain nuts. let's go to ron in new jersey, please. ron? >> big barnegat boo-yah to you, jim. >> nice local boo-yah back at you. what's up? >> i'm new to the stock market. i invested in ram energy. they had a purchase agreement with hk, 3-1 reverse stock split. should i go fishing or bail? >> no, no, no, no. i like that. you've got some great blood lines here in this company, too. guys who have been real, real winners. i want you to stay on it, and i think that ram was a very valuable company that built companies before. i think you're in good shape owning that. i want you to hold on. just so we know, they changed the symbol. remember they sold that? it used to be hk. i forget exactly which one. i know that hk is back and this version of it looks pretty darn good. hk. let's go to frank in new york, please. frank? >> caller: boo-yah, jim! >> boo-yah,

but when you listen to the conference call last week from darden, you know the business is on fire. they're driving, yeah, they're driving to destinations far away over the weekend. i was listening to my morning partner, david faber, on our brand-new set, tell me how jammed disney is. if it were just david not being able to get on mr. toad's wild ride or cut in line at space mountain or the runaway train, that would be one thing. but it's an all together other thing when goldman sachs comes out and recommends disney because of the throngs showing up the theme parks in spite of higher gasoline prices. espn is great too. third and finally what is really driving consumer spending, here is a head-turner, oddest one of all. your home. yep, the real strength is coming from people fixing their homes. for instance, the home improvement stores. that's how lowe's, low, boy, how long has it been? they blew away the numbers this morning. and remember, lowe's has been left in the dust, in the doghouse by home despot. it is not at the expense of home depot. both are doing terrifically as people b

i say forget cec and instead swap into some, wow, darden which i thought was a value trap but i'm nowrting to think has a genuine inflection point. then on valentine's day glenn in north dakota, north dakota we love it, asked about oasis petroleum, oas. and we want to take a new look at this given the increasing price of oil. did you see the move in continental? oos oasis is a pure play on the 3w0d kenn shale, the company has a lot of acres on land. i recommended a bunch of bakken names aw year ago. since oasis has been lagging the others, rising a mere 4 is%. i know boo-hoo. but that's small potatoes next to the 81% gain in continental. that's my fave. my view now, if you value oasis acreage the same way bakken operator bxp was valued when it got acquired by stat oil for 4.7 billion in october, i think you get another 40% here. 40% more on a takeover basis. of course never buy anything solely because of the takeover potential. but oasis looks pretty darn cheap to me with oil trading where it is. and this at less than one time its growth rate. in an environment where i think oil can s

plus, we'll get the outlook for consumer spending when we speak with the heads of clorox and darden restaurants, of course, own olive garden and red lobster gardens. brian and the gang and "street signs" are back right after signs" are back right after this. >>> do check out shares of apple. again marching toward an all-time high. $514.98. call me when it gets to $517. over the $500 a share mark. the run in apple just keeps going. i mean, apple is not just a company anymore. it is a way of life. it is a thing unto itself and it has created what we're calling the iconomy. jon, what are the hot topics? >> well, no new news on a dividend. though it did come up. tim cook all but ruled out a stock split. there were lots of questions about a number of topics. the labor stuff, the china labor stuff and fox con did not come up. and tim cook didn't volunteer any comments about that. interestingly enough, new products were an item of discussion. one of the things that i thought was interesting is cook talked a bit about how apple thinks about media. continues to say apple is looking to make money off of

take it out or there's no table service, for instance, as opposed to a casual dining like a darden wheregher price menu items, et cetera? >> yeah. improving macro, i think the latter. specialty concepts are going to do better. whether it be a drinka or darden or the strong results from buffalo wild wings or chipotle, i think those names will outperform fast food in 2012. >> is mcdonald's the top pick there? because it is the bluest of the blue chips at the moment. >> absolutely. within quick service we think mcdonald's remains the most defensive and a strong performer. i don't think mcdonald's is going to be our best performer in 2012. i think people will go for the growthier names, more discretionary in nature. >> if the company really picks back up, mcdonald's is essentially a defensive play for a lot of people. it's the dividend play. it's a play that is -- that a lot of people have clearly moved into. if the market does recover and people get more into cyclical positions will that not suck money out of mcdonald's? >> that's a definite possibility. when you see people look to trade mo

stylist antonio darden said no do for you.er grooming the gubernatorial hair three times refused any future book beings until the governor changes her position on same-sex marriage. here is antonio in his own words. >> i think it is just equality, dignity for everyone. i think everyone should be allowed the right to be together. my partner and i have been together for 15 years. >>> in france, adieu as two feminist groups persuade the the government to get rid of madam ma zell and madame refers to marital status and age whereas the term ma sewer is a catch-all. the phrases dare to be feminist and the watch dogs began a joint campaign in september. a spokesperson for the campaign protested the linguistic distinction as, quote, a reminder of the time when women passed through marriage from the authority of their fathers to the authority of their husbands. undoubtedly the french will now protest this show based on what i just did to the language. >>> and in dallas, texas, i do. well, actually, i don't perform weddings, that is. co

at $4 is whether we always thought you should sell darden and when retail would be terrible. it's not happening this time. there's a sense it's not mattering. i question that. i think that may be too xlasants. >> you do? >> yes, i do. of the things i'm worried about, i'm worried about gasoline going higher. >> are you worried about iran? >> i think you have to worry about iran. i just think that the minister of defense is a serious guy, wouldn't say they these idly. you can't take this off the table. >>> when we come back. pharma pipelines and profits. we'll discuss it with glocks osmith klein's ceo. >>> and as we head to break, take a look once more at the futures on this tuesday morning. ♪ oh! [ baby crying ] ♪ what started as a whisper ♪ every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. ♪ slowly turned to a scream ♪ there's an insurance company that does that, too. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? ♪ amen, omen >>> welcome bulk to "squawk on the street." rick santelli here. it's not a big day the week after the jobs report, but it will

darden restaurants is raising estimates. 1.23 to 1.25 from 1.19 citing solid sales momentum across theivu srs of viv and butthead up today. an fda panel backing their weight loss drug qnexa. could be the first new prescription weight loss drug in a decade. it's had some set-backs. people are still people remember the fen-phen issue but people can lose 10% of their body weight quickly and keep it off. andrew, you don't have 10% to give up. enjoy it. you're 30. >> he will. >> you have done well, by the way. >> you should see what i eat though. >> how's scarsdale? >> it's atkins now. i'm living in the past. i melt cheese on pork rinds. >> how is that -- >> it's terrible! >> i will be skinny when i die. i take steak and you can't use sauce or ketchup and i put it in egg yolks on my fried eggs. >> egg yolks? what about cholesterol? >> everything he eats is loaded with cholesterol. >> i have to have that checked. >> you can have bacon all day. >> yeah. bacon with pork rinds. that's a bacon sandwich. >> with mayo. >> announcer: you're fat. >> no, i'm not that fat. i'm unhealthy. hewlett-packa