have a gain of nearly 14%.ut 2008, take it out of the equation, the leap year gains nearly double to 9.9%. here are the takeaways, on average the indexes perform positively during leap years with the s&p and nasdaq beating the nonleap year gains when 2008 is removed. so based on historical trends, everything we found points towards a gain in the markets for leap year 2012. mandy, nothing's guaranteed, but it sure seems that history is on the side of the bulls. >> nothing is ever guaranteed. not just in the markets but in life. thanks very much. >> death and taxes. that's about it. >> thanks a lot for that, scott. a little child's play for you for today's sunshine stock. carter's up a whopping 10%. very nice today on strong earnings. the carter's brands seen double dij sales and double digit sales in oshkosh brand as well up 60% over the last year. >>> well, coming up next on "street signs," big mutual fund manager bob ol stooen tells us about the one stock he believes is worth half its current value. and he's n

it closed tonight over $15, clocking a first day gain of over 70%. some analysts note the small number of shares sold help support demand for the stock today. and finally, two semiconductor makers have ended four years of and that's tonight's "market focus." >> tom: selling loads of iphones certainly helped drive more customers to sprint, but it didn't lead to profits. sprint continued to lose money in the fourth quarter, although a little less money than feared. sprint lost 35 cents per share last quarter even as revenues were up 5%. the iphone has been a runaway success for apple and has driven up sales at any wireless carrier selling the smartphone, but it comes at a cost for the carriers. sprint sold 1.8 million of these in the last three months of the year, and 40% of those buying one were new sprint customers. pretty impressive numbers. but sprint spent $1.7 billion dollars to attract those iphone buyers. in exchange for getting them to subscribe to two year plans, sprint, like other carriers selling iphones, cuts the price of the device. but i

it didn't give up many of those gain gains.t's interesting is the gold market, which should have continued to power higher with the euro, gave up the ghost late today and actually finished negative. it was up to about $1750, but settled at $1730 late if the day's session here. oil continued higher. there's another round number we're approaching, almost back to $100 a barrel on wti. but that spread between brent north sea and wti is still very wide right now. the 30-year auction today, soft again, just as the ten-year and three-year were earlier this week. and i maintain it's because so many are buying stocks and taking on risk right now, where they'rt buying bonds at this point. brian jacobsen, we'll look at the strength of the day here. technology was the leader. would you buy technology right here? >> i would buy some technology stocks. i don't think i would just dump all into technology, because i think what you really need to do is be aware of those companies that are actually selling to enterprises. that's where i think th

a mix of energy stocks fueled the gains. oil and natural gas explorer cabot and refiner sunoco were up 3.4% each. coal miner alpha natural resources gained more than 3%. one to watch tomorrow could be explorer anadarko. fourth--quarter earnings were much stronger than expected before accounting for a settlement related to the 2010 gulf oil spill disaster. the stock saw some selling pressure before tonight's report, but it made up most of today's losses in after hours trading. also after the close tonight, we heard how big the appetite is for kfc in china. parent company yum brands saw continued strength in china and improvement with pizza huts in the u.s. earnings came in one penny above estimates. operating profits in china were up 15% and chinese same-store sales jumped 21%. after a 1% drop during today's regular session, they were up 2% from this closing price in after-hours action, trading just shy of a new high. but a completely different business in china, sohu.com, is struggling. this company runs search, gaming and m

another big dow stock, coca- cola, saw heavier volume today on its fraction gain. the stock is at a one-month high. the soft drink giant reported earnings two cents ahead of estimates. the company announced a new plan to save money, earmarking the savings for marketing, hoping to head off higher commodity prices. competitor pepsi reports earnings thursday. while energy stocks were among the market's leaders, coal stocks cooled off. with natural gas prices near historic lows, demand for coal, especially from utility companies, has been declining. alpha natural resources slipped 5%. last week, it announced it would reduce production at several appalachian coal mines. peabody and arch coal fell at least 3% each. but oil turned up today after dropping to its lowest of the year in the past few sessions. crude oil popped a $1.50 per barrel, settling over $98 per barrel. since november, oil has been generally in a range of $105 on the high end and $95 on the low end. some of the oil boost could have come from a drop in the u.s. dollar. the dollar index settled at its lowe

will need to gain the ability to compromise. besides from being the worst plot of a "wizard of oz" spin-off that i've ever heard, what is the like hood-- likelihood that democrats will gain courage and republicans will gain compromise? ( laughter ) ( sighs ) ( laughter ) you're speechless! you're speechless! because this is-- ( applause ) you cannot read this book without think ago almost at every page, "oh, yeah, that makes sense. oh, yeah, that sounds right." and it doesn't seem that plymouth countied. >> it's not. the problem is purely political. you have, frankly, one of our political parties is insane. and we all know which one it is. ( laughter ) ( applause ) >> jon: and this by the way coming from someone who as i mentioned earlier worked with ronald reagan. the idea then, they have all given the prescription 999, flat tax, the president-- mitt romney came out today in fact and side he wants to drop the-- not the corporate rate but the marginal tax rate on high-earning individual down to 28%. so he's saying oh, i see the

the big reason many are forecasting big gains is continued concerns about europe. even if greece is able to avoid defaulting on its debt with a bailout plan, that increases the risk inflation will become a more serious global concern. >> the ecb is funding all of these things, and how is it doing that? they are printing euros. so, longer term, i do think gold is going to be a better flight- to-quality asset than it is right now. >> reporter: but many investors are skeptical gold can continue to sparkle. after all, friday's employment report suggests a brighter outlook for the u.s. economy. and that, in turn, might prompt investors to favor riskier investments like stocks. but many analysts believe that, even if stocks do well this year, gold can, too. >> when the economy has looked like its going to make a rebound, investors start looking around for investments with the best yield. and as long as treasuries and the dollar have low yields, that would tend to support stocks, and it would tend to support gold. >> reporter: and don't discount other precious metals like

six energy majors a gaining momentum thanks to a high of group gazprom is at this point gaining around what seven percent while loop oil is adding point four percent to banking stocks are also on their back to the top of the list over one percent one this hour. and all the currency rates the euro is seeing some gains against the dollar however it's lower to the ruble supported by stronger crude the dollar's also losing gusts russian currency. since the start of the year emerging markets to seeing record cash inflows more than four hundred fifty million dollars flowed to russia focused funds over the past three weeks mark from moscow based metropol i have see explains the growing risk appetite. some managers there are changing their like asian stores more aggressive mean more equity more emerging markets exposure that's what we mean seeing this of course is on the back of the general. a improvements in expectations of the market economics picture this year and there's i think and i think most of the fund managers pretty much priced in the greek default and greece exiting the euro zone a

for capitalists called the capitalist gains tax of the capital gains tax maximum fifteen percent that's what mitt romney pays it's paris hilton pays the corporations of the very best tax dodgers the us average for big companies over the last decade has been around twelve percent warren buffett one of the richest people in america broke it down like this. interesting about the corporate rate is the corporate profits as a percentage of g.d.p. last year were the highest or just about the highest in the last fifty years they were ten and a fraction percent of g.d.p. that's higher than we've seen in fifty years the taxes as a percent of corporate taxes apposite percentage of g.d.p. we're one point two percent one hundred eighty billion that's just about the lowest we've seen so our corporate tax rate last year affectively in terms of taxes paid by the united states was around twelve percent which is well below those existing in most of the industrial. industrialized countries around the world so it is a myth that the american corporations are paying thirty five percent or anything like that

is flat to positive the my sex is gaining around a quarter percent. and now some individual movers on my segues gazprom is higher after seeing some losses earlier in the day and precious metal producers are on the rise the price of oil in bethel reached an all time high today at the moment it's a bit off those highs dollars gold is one of the best performers this hour is extending last week's gains. and some of the details about ford has called this posting have to gains more than eleven percent the sour against the backdrop of sliding indices amounts after gaining a whopping thirty five percent on friday but the company's capitalization now reaching almost nine billion dollars analysts mention a couple of reasons among the possible merger of oil is gold and it's made of russian rival oil in the tal which is also gaining as i mentioned and also the company is expected to buy back around four percent of the shares from minority shareholders and that's all the latest from the business that i'll be back in about fifteen minutes. culture is the same of ja

a gain of 1.3%, 37 points to 2,851. the s&p 500 index continues to move higher above 1,300, a gain of 1.2% today to 1,328. enough from us. what about what the traders are talking about on the floor. here's bob pisani for that. >> we're going to leave the volume out. nothing to say about that. >> let me just say, i want to tell you one thing. >> she wants to talk about volume. >> i interviewed bob earlier today at nasdaq. i wanted to get his take on the deutsche bank. he said they are expecting one month, a year, of good volume. that's what -- >> one month? >> one month out of the entire year. in 2011 they had one good month. i'm talking all of wall street. in 2010, they had six weeks. so they're looking at 2012 and expecting one good month of volume. i had to get that out. we'll have the interview coming up. >> you have to lower the bar on what's considered good volume right now. i'm telling you. >> big volume week is coming. >> i think that's a stunning thing. >> this is the month he was talking about. >> exactly. >> l

susie mentioned walmart's stock drop today-- it held today's dow industrial gains in check. the selling came as the world's largest retailer reported earnings one cent shy of estimates. but some analysts also voiced concern the company may be going too far in cutting prices, and thus impacting its profit margins. its almost 4% drop of its stock price led the losers for the dow industrials. volume was heavy, as well, as it came off a 52-week hit last week. we have a closer look at walmart's stock chart on our web site. it's under the "blogs" tab at nbr.com. now, home depot was able to continue rallying to prices not seen in almost a decade. shares gained a half-percent, but volume doubled as the company reported stronger than expected earnings. the company credits the mild winter weather for helping sales, as homeowners didn't wait for the spring to start home improvement projects. and that's tonight's "market focus." >> susie: kraft says price hikes helped it make more money in the fourth quarter of last year. but those higher prices also cost the food manufacturer customers

the shanghai market gains were capped. we had local government wuhu reversing actions in terms of property easing and that's driving some lower capping this particular market. hang seng elsewhere financials are moving higher. this after, of course, commenting china was fine-tuning economic policies. a lot of people are saying that could mean further easing ahead so that is lifting the financials in this market. the nikkei 225 is up. gentlem japan managing to shrug off gdp data for the fourth quarter t. could put pressure on the boj. the kospi is up 0.6%. australian market up 0.9% higher. new zealand to trade lower. 0.2 and sensex in india 0.42%. carolin, what does your heat map say? >> it is higher. the stoxx are up. as you said, christine, these gains could still be fragile given we still need the final okay from the finance ministers but for today we are modestly higher. let me show you the markets one by one. the ftse mib higher. the banking stocks are doing very well today but we'll come to that later. cac 40 higher by

tokyo's nikkei gained 1%. while hong kong's hang seng rose more than 1.5%. on wall street investors will get home prices. the dow lost a point, while the nasdaq gained 2. >>> an attempt by some airlines to raise prices isn't getting off the ground. big carriers like united and continental are rolling back some of their $10 fare increases they made last week. they made that decision after carriers like southwest would not match the increase. >>> the federal government is accusing bank of america of discriminating against disabled borrowers. the department of housing and urban development says b of a posed some unnecessary and burdensome requirements on loan seekers who are relying on disability income. bank of america said it did not engage in a systemic practice of discrimination. >>> and michael douglas is

now the opposition on the other hand, is gaining in power in various ways. gaining in power in terms of people who are fighting and in terms of coordination between people. and actually gaining in power, the more the regime kills protesters, so this is a very tough dynamic whereby for the regime in fact, where it's actually in this place where it must respond as far as it is concerned. and its responses are producing more deaths that are increasing the power of the opposition, an opposition which is becoming more trained. whether or not there are infiltrators, conspirators and so on. i agree that this is taking place, exaggerated by the critics. i think most of the opposition locally are fighting a regime that has suppressed the opposition for four decades. beyond the fact we can discuss four things. we're talk about how this might be broken. my last point because i was asked to stop. is where is the uprising going? and i've said this several times before. i'm getting sick of hearing myself say it. and that is, we are now witnessing the transformation of the

month's big winner when it comes to sales gains was volkswagen. its new passat and jetta models scored with buyers, sending v.w. sales up 48% to over 27,000 vehicles. those gains come as volkswagen ramps up its push for market share in the u.s. v.w. america c.e.o. jonathan browning says the recent sales success is the result of a long- term plan. >> yes, it's about products, products being very focused on the u.s. market. it's about where we produce our vehicles, the components sourcing, and how we go to market. and so we committed $4 billion in investment, $1 billion on a plant in tennessee, $3 billion in terms of product and other infrastructure, and what we're really seeing is the product of that commitment and a long-term commitment beginning to bear fruit in the marketplace. >> susie: volkswagen is deepening its commitment to that tennessee manufacturing plant. tom, the company just announced its adding 200 new jobs there. >> tom: as for the stock reaction for those american auto makers, pretty much mixed on a day generally where we saw lots

is up more than one percent to my sex is gaining three quarters of a percent the salary. and i want to the biggest movers on the my sex energy majors are gaining momentum thanks to that crude price increase gazprom and lukoil of putting on more than two thirds of a percent each banking stocks are also ups their bank is topping the list more than one percent higher this hour. and i want to currencies the euro is seeing some gains against the dollar but it's lower to the ruble supported by stronger crude the dollar's also losing against the russian turns to. since the start of the year emerging markets are seeing record cash inflows more than four hundred fifty million dollars flowed to russia focused funds over the past three weeks mark rubenstein from moscow based metropol i have seeks planes the growing risk appetite . some managers there are changing their like asian stores more aggressive mean more equity more emerging markets exposure that's what we mean seeing this of course is on the back of the general. improvements in expectations of the market economics picture t

we've seen crude oil prices gaining above $106 per barrel, highest since may last year and crude also rising. also business sentiment in europe and manufacturing in china weighing on overall sentiment, so we'll see how that plays into the opening levels. let's have a look at the nikkei and topix, you can see a little negativity in the opening levels. that goes against the grain because we've seen the nikkei boosted quite a bit recently by the weaker yen. it closed at its highest yesterday over six and a half months. we did see gains for major exporters and a lot of people looking where the yen is trading and expecting, perhaps, a boost in earnings when companies record next, and that would be on the back of those currency gains, which would boost their profit margins. having to look at some of the currency levels, we can see there what we're talking about there. the euro/yen at the 106 yen levels now and the dollar at the 80 yen levels. looking at the dollar yen rate, weaker by almost five yen since its peak in october last year when it was trading around 75 yen. that's going to help

that's a 9% gain. that's over a 5% gain. and hanging on in there. the pulse of the markets right now this thursday lunchtime, well, oil is down on strong inventory numbers. natural gas trying to recoup those recent losses. and silver actually hitting a high for the year. our midday movers here on "power lunch" gap up sharply today. up 9%. the retailer projecting q-4 earnings that are ahead of estimates. losses meanwhile at electronic arts are narrowing. the stock higher. battlefield 3 selling extremely well. and green mountain coffee roasters surging. q-1 profits up big though it has to be said that cnbc's herb greenberg is still not convinced. more on that. on the downside so far today abercrombie & fitch getting hit quite hard. it's now projecting weaker sales margins in q-4 results than the market was expecting. jds also down. and ryder system down almost 7%. q-4 profits are up 31%, but the guidance there fell below expectations. let's go straight down to the new york stock exchange and talk to bob pisani. bob, are we picking up volume here? >> n

best percentage gains for a lot of these markets since 1991. big, big gains there., up for a sixth straight session. and i'll get to that here in a moment. but the first two charts will look very similar. these are the two that are powering each other at this point. i want to start with the euro, which today is hitting its highest level in ten weeks against the dollar. and continues to power higher. it continues to move higher. look what it's doing to the price of oil. remember, as the euro goes higher against the dollar, the dollar goes lower and the price of oil goes higher. we're now above $108 a barrel on that price of oil. that is a nine-month high. you would have thought with these benchmarks being hit, that the dow would then go to 13,000. but it's not. so are we getting to a point where we're just in the beginninging phases, where higher oil price will not be as positive for the stock market as it has been in the past? something will we'll have to keep an eye on here. nine points away from the dow 13,000. price of gold moves higher. sort of a muted gain toda

"big and broad" describes today's market gains. strong economic data coupled with optimism out of europe unpinned today's stock and commodity buying. while the dow broke out to more than two-year highs, the s&p 500 sits five points below its april high of last spring. the index has shot up 23% since its october low. all ten of the major sectors were higher, led by materials, financials, and technology. those three moved up by more than 1.5% each. and among the stand out tech stocks-- microsoft. shares shot up 4%, leading the dow gainers. volume was heavy with shares breaking out to a four year high. also helping the dow, bank of america, up 4%. financial stocks were able to move higher, despite credit ratings agency moody's warning about the risks of investment banking. moody's put the ratings of 17 banks under review, including b-of-a. today's latest evidence of a strengthening economy helped fuel the rally of energy commodities. check out gasoline futures. with crude oil settling over $102 per barrel, pump prices look to go highe

today's unemployment report shows job gains. the economy added private-sector jobs for the 23rd straight month. during january, the economy gained 257,000 private-sector jobs. due to the loss of government jobs overall, the economy added 243,000 jobs during the month. the manufacturing sector, which added 237 jobs -- 237,000 jobs in 2011 gained in january, and that is always good news. in addition, the professional and business services sector added jobs and has not lost jobs since march 2010. employment in state and local governments was basically unchanged in january. in 2011, state and local governments shed 235,000 jobs and continued face budget challenges that present a head wind for the economy. the overall unemployment rate was 8.3%. the lowest since february 2009. even with this progress, more than 12.7 million people are looking for work and simply cannot find it. the unemployment rate in the african-american community was 13.6%. among hispanic workers, the unemployment rate was 10.5%. while the overall unemployment rat

currencies following gains on the russian market. stocks in the u.s. open mixed children between mild gains and losses certainty over greece counted better than expected economic reports from europe and on american manufacturing comcast climbed six percent after the cable provider reported a higher profit. most european markets are trading higher this hour but britain's footsie slid into negative territory after trading in the black lead while greek politicians assure the country's european partners that they will implement an unpopular round of additional austerity measures. here in ma in russia markets closed in the black lifted by higher prices of oil both the r.t.s. and m i six and the movement now let's check the index move first on my six most of the blue chips were higher all majors that were on the rise supported by stronger crude look oil finishing up under a percentage where banks finished higher as well the company expected said it expects to finalize a deal to buy east european folks back international later and truck maker come march that

currencies following gains on the russian market. most european markets are trading higher this britain's footsie moved into positive territory lifting by solid gains for banks that's up to the governor of china's central bank express confidence and europe's recovery. and here in russia markets are also lifted by high prices for oil tests. are adding over one percent the sour let's check on that index movers although my six most of the blue chips are higher oil majors are on the rise supported by stronger crude would look or zero point eight percent extra bank is in the black as it expects to finalize a deal to buy east european banks international later today bucking the trend as truck make a comma after an unexpected thirteen percent. tuesday. the latest short term drop of russian gas supplies to europe spurred discussions on how to secure consumers from possible cuts in the future ahead of expert brands alexander says that one of the ways is to increase store storage capacity in the region. so to choose a key. for security of supp

also, we've got muted gains in europe. gains on the future even more muted than that. the likes of the dow and also the nasdaq up by .25% in terms of premarket action, and the s&p just lacking behind, just shy of .2%. >> if you check the clock, that means the markets will open in just under five hours time. u.s. investors will then have a chance to react to the latest development in the race to the white house, and intriguing developments they are as well. after mitt romney routed the opposition in recent republican contests, tuesday saw a triple whammy for his conservative rival rick santorum. the former pennsylvania senator was tipped to take the missouri primary and minnesota caucuses, and he did so in style. he also pulled off an upset in colorado, where he edge d the favorite, who of course is romney, into second place. and he didn't mince his words about why he thought he'd succeeded. >> and you see that, when you have a republican out there talking about growth and talking about growth for everybody, right? that americans respond because i do care about, not 99%