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melissa: you know fred smith? what do you think about this comment? , first of all i've known fred for i don't know, 30 or 40 years. we were in the marine corps together and vet nam together and running mailboxes and later ups store, fedex was a vendor partner. they're very few people i respect more than in business than fred. and by the way he is not going to toe anybody's party line. i will say this. fred, i mentioned earlier that all business is not equal and fred talks about big business being the engine of the train that runs commerce in america and the small cars and the caboose is small business. but as catherine pointed out, that is exactly where close to 70% of the jobs in america are created. and all of these small businesses have the desire and dream and belief to become the big businesses or the fedexes of the world. i don't think fled's wrong. he is speaking about job production from the type of viewpoint that he has but i also think that, that speech is exactly what is wrong with not having small business at the table in washington at thi

>>guest: i disagree with fred smith.st of all, if you take the top 100 fortune 500 companies and added all their capital investment together, it would not, you would not scratch the surface compared to the capital investment, almost 18 million small businesses invest in each year. so, fred smith believes in what the government has to offer and let the government run fedex like it ran the post office. >>eric: what is the effect of raising taxes on the top 2 percent do a businesslike yours? >>guest: in new york state it would cost us $15 billion alone and 46,000 jobs. >>eric: you personally? >>guest: it would end up reducing my employee payroll, it will reduce my employees by 10 or 15 over all, and it will negatively impact it right across the board. >>eric: who is he talking to? who is fred smith talking to when he says it won't be the job killer that everyone claims. >>guest: i don't know, everyone is mystified by the comment. i don't think fred smith would be able to achieve what he did, today, if the tax hikes that the

>> i asked fred smith.wn company in 1971, and he has watched washington through all of this iterations over the past 20 or 30 years and i just said, what are company executives doing when they watch how washington is running our business? could you run your business that way? ceos say, of course, we could never run our business this way. we need some clarity on corporate taxes. we need clarity on personal income taxes. we need clarity from all of these different, you know, we need to know what's happening with the government's budget. listen to a little bit of our exchange. as a ceo, when you're watching the fiscal cliff, i mean how do you make decisions? is it irrelevant to your business if we go over the fiscal cliff? i mean how, how does a ceo look at what's happening in washington and decide for next year? >> well, i think most of the ceos look at the situation in washington with complete amazement and dismay, to be frank about it. the problem is that the ideological pinnings on both sides of this argum

fred smith the chairman of federal express said so today. he used to be a member of the bother of the cato institute. this whole idea that there's a line in the sand that republicans have drawn is ridiculous. we need different policies under different circumstances and right now, we don't need more rate cuts. >> it sounds to me like your against absolutively. that a higher rate will dissuade people from investing isn't necessarily intellectually the case. at a certain point rates have dropped low enough, such that a small bump up will not have the outcome that many republicans right now are saying it will, which is to tell people who are job creators to go home. >> that's exactly right. i mean, republicans have talked themselves into believing that the only thing that matters to a business is its tax rate and that it's sales customers, you know, and things of that sort of essentially irrelevant and that's absurd. >> it is counter that the evidence that has been presented by a warren buffet, those that control capital saying look, it's simply

at least according to fedex ceo fred smith with some 19 million packages working its way through theedex system up 11%, year over year, with those on-line sales breaking record after record. at least for the foreseeable future it looks as if this trend is going to continue. the more consumers are clicking, the more fedex is shipping. now there is still about a week left to go in order to ship your packages, to make delivery in time for christmas. however, fedex does count today as its busiest day of the year because it looks at total packages in the system. that means many of the purchases made on cyber monday are being delivered. dropped off on door steps but also purchases made today on green monday are also counted in that $19 million number. ups counts its busiest day as december 20th because they look at total packages delivered. and that's pretty much their last day to get those packages shipped to you without the expedited shipping fees. it is a very busy day. if you are expecting something, you might want to check on your doorstep. it is hard to imagine if you are left out of

smith said on the call, by the way, fred smith said that holiday shipments expected to be up double digitsohn, you just hit the key. china is the key to this story. i'm not a bull on china. if you are, that's the bull's case. >> pete, who made the more compelling argument in this case? >> i said beforehand i wasn't going toeith my brother. actual actually, i am. i tend to be a bull on china. i tend to be a bull on the global economy coming back in a big way. i think fedex is going to be the beneficiary. i think the icing on the cake is exactly what john put out there, which is the express. if they actually -- if that starts to come back better, i think the sky is the limit. >> we'll close the case on this one. there may be more optimism on housing, but one of the nation's most respected voices on that topic isn't ready to sound the all clear. it's robert shiller. he joins us on the fast line. welcome back. >> my pleasure. >> there's a lot of optimism about housing. what are we missing? >> a lot of people seem to think if the market turns around, that means more of the same, meaning another

but i would do it again in a heartbeat. [ laughs ] ♪ ♪ >>> coming up on "closing bell," fedex ceo fred smitha myth raising rates on the wealthy kills jobs. he'll join us exclusive to explain his reasoning. >>> plus, one wall street street gist to predicts the fed will announce more economic stimulus next week. but is that really what we need right now? we'll look at that. >>> another day, another deal for tv banks. ceo ed clark tells us if he's got more wheeling and dealing up his sleeve. maria and i look forward to seeing you at the top of the hour from the new york stock exchange for the "closing bell." see you then. >> thank you very much, bill. >>> all big companies begin small. as they grow, investors along for the ride often get rich. while there may not be another apple out there, there are companies that mark travis says have lots of room to grow. mark is president and lead portfolio manager at intrepid capital funds. they got five-star ratings. mark, welcome. there's no apple. that's a one-off thing probably. but starbucks started with one shop. and you got rich beyond your dreams i

i would like to call fred smith, the chairman and founder of fedex. he really needs no introduction. but the truth is fedex and what it is done in our economy is groundbreaking. they are the clipper ships of the modern age. what they see in terms of the economic growth of our country, because they touch every industry, as well as providing the transportation to making our economy grow, i think he is well-suited to discuss this issue. i thank him for being the co- chair since 2006 and joining with general kelley and myself to do this. thank you. >> thank you. i became involved in the council out of self-interest. because of the energy intensity of fedex which operates almost 700 airplanes. i was recruited to this endeavor by air chairman, p.x. kelley, who pointed out to me when i first came aboard this effort that after nuclear proliferation and terrorism, our dependence on imported petroleum was our largest single national security issue. hence but business executives like myself and the ceo of southwest airlines and other companies that use a lot of

. >> reporter: everyone here is geared up for what ceo fred smith expects is a record shipping day inected to move 19 million packages throughout the system. that's more than 200,000 per second, marking 11% increase in last year. now while christmas eve is still 14 days away, fedex counts today as their busiest day because of the record amount of packages in their system at any time. millions of gifts ordered on cyber monday will be shipped today and millions more will be ordered through today's green monday shopping event. as e-commerce continues to grow so, too, do the number of packages ordered and sent out. today's green monday. that means -- it's a term ebay coined in 2007 marking the biggest on dline shopping day f the month of december. as history proves that trend continues. more than $1 billion will be spent online today so that we'll be seeing the third biggest on d online sales day of the season. savannah? >> courtney reagan at fedex, thank you so much. personal finance expert and host of financially fit on yahoo! good morning. >> good morning. >> one of the days they call

have to remember, we are relying in this economy on the vital few, the jeff bezoses, steve jobs, fred smithsse are top earners people willing to take a risk on a new idea and on a new company that improves our lives and employs this. why would republicans vote for something that takes aim at the most productive? it would not be good for the economy. again it would be a very large tags increase precisely because the top earners pay vast majority of federal revenues. ashley: talking about the voters, people of this country, there is some interesting messages. we have president obama reelected. but then republicans hang onto the house. what kind of message does that send to the law makers? >> i think that sends a very clear message that the voters basically said we want divided government. we'll let president obama have a second term but we want the republicans who control the house and that's where tax, tax legislation originates, to basically hold the line on taxes. so i feel like the elector rate made it clear that republicans you're job to protect us from economy-strangling tags increases.

s i asked fred smith if he would accept higher taxes to get a deal done and avoid going over this clifflot of mythology in washington such as it's small business that creates all of the jobs in the united states. and if you raise the rates on the top 2%, you'll kill jobs. the reality is the vast majority of jobs in the united states are produced by capital investment and equipment and software not done by small business. it is done by big business. and the so-called gazelles, the emerging companies like the new fracking oil and gas operations. it is capital investment and equipment and software that is the solution to our economic problems. not the marginal tax rates of individuals. >> the wrong thing. >> that's my view. >> they're fighting about the wrong things, he says. the only thing bigger than the budget deficit is the trust deficit in washington. christine romans, cnn, new york. >>> developing now, nato allies say they have grave concerns that syria's government could be preparing to do precisely what so many have been fearing, unleash the chemical weaponry on its own people. pre

fred smith, the chairman and founder. he needs no introduction.rds about 1.5 billion gallons of fuel a it -- burns about 1.5 billion gallons of fuel a year. the truth is what it has done in our economy is groundbreaking. what they see in terms of economic growth in our country, they cut every industry as well as transportation to make our economy grow and thrive. i think he is well-suited to discuss this issue. i thank him for joining us. thank you. [applause] bynes thank you. i became involved out of self interested primarily because of the energy intensity of fedex, which operates over 90,000 vehicles and 700 airplanes, and i was recruited to this endeavor by our chairman, who correctly pointed out to me when i first came aboard some years ago that after nuclear proliferation and terrorism, our dependence on imported petroleum from in hospitable areas of the world was our longest single national security issue. a group of business executives like myself and the ceo of waste management and other major companies that use a lot of energy and our na

i would like to call fred smith, the chairman and founder of fedex.e really needs no introduction. but the truth is fedex and what it is done in our economy is groundbreaking. they are the clipper ships of the modern age. what they see in terms of the economic growth of our country, because they touch every industry, as well as providing the transportation to making our economy grow, i think he is well-suited to discuss this issue. i thank him for being the co- chair since 2006 and joining with general kelley and myself to do this. thank you. >> thank you. i became involved in the council out of self-interest. because of the energy intensity of fedex which operates almost 700 airplanes. i was recruited to this endeavor by air chairman, p.x. kelley, who pointed out to me when i first came aboard this effort that after nuclear proliferation and terrorism, our dependence on imported petroleum was our largest single national security issue. hence but business executives like myself and the ceo of southwest airlines and other companies that use a lot of en

i would like to call fred smith, the chairman and founder of fedex. he really needs no introduction. but the truth is fedex and what -- p. burns about 1.5000 gallons of fuel per day -- 1.5 billion gallons of fuel per day. oh, per year. [laughter] why would really be a problem. but the truth is that sex, what they have done in our economy is groundbreaking. they are the clipper ships of the modern age. what they see in terms of the economic growth of our country, because they touch every industry, as well as providing the transportation to making our economy grow, i think he is well-suited to discuss this issue. i thank him for being the co- chair since 2006 and joining with general kelley and myself to do this. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. i became involved in the council out of self-interest. because of the energy intensity of fedex which operates almost 700 airplanes. i was recruited to this endeavor by air chairman, p.x. kelley, who pointed out to me when i first came aboard this effort that after nuclear proliferation and terrorism, our dep

the truth is that staunch traditional opponents of the president's political party like fred smith andlds stephenson have recognized that raising rates is not enemical to raising the deficit. there is no reason why going back to the clinton era rates is, we're going to do -- >> you might not get the benefit if you don't do anything to the deficit you're talking ten times the revenue if you go below the 98%. you can't return to clinton prosperity only raising taxes on 2%. it's different for all taxpayers. am i right? >> you're almost entirely wrong. >> why would raising just on the 2% get us back to the clinton prosperity you're talking about? we can't return to the spending levels either. >> getting to a sound fiscal position is necessary to protect the economy. if we don't do that, as this economy recovers, that recovery is going to be aborted and that's going to do damage. then the question is how you get there, and the president believes that we should raise revenues with a tax system that has been proven in the past to go along with very substantial -- >> you can't conflate the two

fedex ceo fred smith expects his 300,000 plus employees to help move 19 million packages through thes a record. and it's autopsy 11% over last year and it is, again, online shopping. the more customers click the more they get shipped. fedex counts today as its busiest day because of the record number of orders in the system at any given date. that means all of those gifts that were ordered on cyber monday that get delivered today are counted. as well as the purchases that are bought today, on green monday. those also get counted. green monday has become a very important day for retailers, as well. walmart, for one, says that it was its highest traffic day on its website last december. they're offering deals and promotions again. hopes it gives consumers another reason to spend. macy's green monday, the third biggest online spending day of the season, and probably the year, when all is said and done. so, fedex is going to have even more shipments to make sure they get to those door steps in time for christmas. carl? >> courtney just stay out of their way. be careful. take care of your

the kre o fred smith thinks this will be a record day in fedex history.details as fedex fills in for sana clause up next. toward all your financial goals. a quick glance, and you can see if you're on track. when the conversation turns to knowing where you stand, turn to us. wells fargo advisors. monarch of marketing analysis. with the ability to improve roi through seo all by cob. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. i'm going b-i-g. [ male announcer ] good choice business pro. good choice. go national. go like a pro. i heard you guys can ship ground for less than the ups store. that's right. i've learned the only way to get a holiday deal is to camp out. you know we've been open all night. is this a trick to get my spot? [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. save on ground shipping at fedex office. >>> welcome back, everybody. take a look. 234 our headlights this morning, new york city mayor michael bloomber

what fred talked about earlier is that we never get smith changes in reality. forecasting when geopolitical events in the middle east is, is really impossible. what we do is decide cases. what we published on wednesday -- side cases. when we published on wednesday was the outlook. we will have more data, such as higher and lower oil prices, greater and lower growth and economic activity and other things that would allow people to do that. if you want to see some flavor of those things, you could look at the aeo, the annual energy outlook for 2012 that was published in july. the middle east is a very important place. a lot of the world's oil is coming from there. it has been a volatile. many of the price spikes we have had in oil over the past 50 years have resulted from wars or other things happening in the middle east. it is certainly possible that it could occur again. we do look at what the impact is of high oil prices on the economy and on consumers in our side cases. you can see that in that 2012 version. host: all of that available on eia.gov? guest: corr