grasso right here. steve grasso is with us. governor grasso. i didn't realize that.feels to me over the past few days that investors in equities are positioned kind of the way they want, for the year end, for the fiscal cliff, and they're not doing very much. >> i would agree with that. i think money managers, either you had your year and you're flat on the s&p and you're down or up fractionally but no one is trying to hit the ball out of the park. why would you be swinging from the fences knowing that in the next two weeks or so either we're going to get a deal and the market's going to rip higher. >> right. >> or we're not going to get a deal and the market is going to plunge. >> muddle at best. >> right. then what i think, dougie cass has been great in pointing this out. we've been enamored with the fiscal cliffs issues, we're not talking about margins compressing or earnings peaking. once we get by the fiscal cliff there is a chance that we start to focus on things that aren't so rosie either. so i'm not sure you should be buying the dip after the cliff. >> let's

. >> grasso? >> i bought mc, i bought ac steel and i bought big steel, leonard x.already sold all three. i've clipped my profit. i'm done for now. if the global economy is doing better, they will continue to go higher. >> up 7%, western digital. mike? >> accelerated dividend is one. >> and we've got a pop here for honey boo boo. >> what? >> what do secretary of state hillary clinton, chris christie and honey boo boo have in common? they've all been placed on barbara walters' most fascinating list. honey boo boo has her fair share of critics including adam lee convenient and south parks. she's sweet loving. look at that face. >> so that's not a sign? >> what? >> of the myan prophecy. >> i knew you were going there. >> that's scary. >> all right. next on fast city stores, is it safe to get into this stock? our traders will make the call. special dividends are all the rage. is there one etf? we've got an under the radar name. that is next on "fast." [ male announcer ] with wells fargo advisors envision planning process, it's easy to follow the progress you're making t

let's go to steve grasso. a remarkable run for the stock. i've asked the question on more than one occasion, whether it's style or substance that's behind the move. >> if you look at it, this is a technical call there. there is the appearance of a triple top. you have to look at 20102010, 2. 1915ish. if we can cross over that, you're looking at the same thing. >> are you worried that once the halo, so to speak, that the street has given melissa myer the benefit of the doubt. once reality has set in that her job is big that the stock is going to fade? >> i don't know what reality is going to set in. they've been able to monetize alibaba. there's still money there. they're cash plentiful at this point. there were rumors about maybe a special differ but i think they'll probably ratchet up their corporate repurchase. so all those things are positive and i think it's all of it enough to get it back in the mid 20s. >> i'm going to let you run. but what about this mcdonald's debate? do you want to chime in on it. >> i love the mcrib likemy brother

grasso. good to see you. >> boa is one we agree on. we're both adding to it.a great stock. >> all right. let's do a market flash now for a check on what's moving now. what are you watching? >>> apple hit a two-week low this morning. late morning, and then we saw huge 2.36 million share trades come in. that's about a $1.35 billion trade. a lot say that's associated with option activity. the other thing is technicians are watching it. talking about the moving average and the other stock. apple continues to go lower here moving further away from its moving day average and we are watching potentially 50 day moving average may cross below the 200 day moving average. got to wonder is the stock broken? >> let's ask joey generation, the man who said apple was a generational buy a couple weeks back. >> indeed i did. yesterday afternoon i sold a quarter of my apple quick wit position. what does that mean? the appreciation is going to slow. i think it's the asset that looks most bond friendly in a bond friendly environment and on a pullback i will go back to full share s

grasso? >> they don't show that they missed this type of a rally.nk they're going to come under pressure, though, so, i fold. >> nice and strong, all of you. >> wow. >> gold stars for everyone. except for guy. >> i never get one. >>> coming up, market predictions. our traders tell you how to attack the new year. but first, jane wells has our west coast wrap. jane? >> i'm glad i'm here and not there. i don't know how you guys are going to get out of there tonight. up next, with all the accuracy of the mayans, i make my own predictions for 2013, plus a shocking development in the k / kim/kanye/kimy ebay by story. all that coming up after the break. >>> for mobile devices to medical marijuana we've got you covered on the west coast. jane wells joins us from l.a. with a very, very special new year's eve edition of the west coast wrap, jane. >> melissa, the west is dominated by tech. i've got several predictions but i'm going to start in tech, where i have two. first, we will get apple tv by the end of the year. and everyone is going to complain about it

steve grasso is the director of institutional sales at stuart frankel.s us from the floor of the nyse with his china recovery play. good to see you. what are you looking at? >> good to see you. i did buy case steel, i did buy letter x and i did buy mt going into the end of month goldman conference. but i want to turn around. you can't pick the top of these names. i didn't want to overstay my welcome. i locked in about 10% in ak steel. 5 to 7% in letter x. and about 4% in mt. in about a week or so, week and a half. so i'm willing to roll the dice and say, hey, it could go up higher, but i would rather lock in my profit and not worry about what's going on, year-ends with fiscal cliff issues. >> grasso, good to see you. >> by the way, that was an amazing debate you just had there with joe and baker. they look like a presidential debate. that would make you candy crowley. >> funny guy. >> you have a take with what you want to do with dell, before i let you run? >> yeah, i think joe -- first of all, give joe a lot of credit for that apple trade where he was t

. >> grasso turns into a frog after 5:00. >> you're a guy who loves fundamentals first and foremost. some of the things you were talking about kind of border between technicals and fundamentals. tax rates are a fundamental phenomenon. i look at today's ism and i say this is having an impact. this is an implicit tax on corporate america. the growth of next year is being stymied and stifled right now. >> let me tell you the risk to the bears that are short. the business sector is where the housing and automobile sector was 12 or 15 months ago pent up not spent up. if you look at the ism number, for example, it is interesting to note the mentality of this risk off situation in the business sector. look at the inventory policy. it was a humongous drop in inventory both at the manufacturers and customers inventory level. if you get a grand fiscal bargain which i believe is a 50/50 chance this shows a lift of production from inventory building in the first half of the year. it reminds me again of remember how bullish you and i were in housing and autos a year ago. i can actually see an eco

grasso, just quickly. do you use this information as ben said? >> no. >> no? >> well, you don't discount it totally, but the truth is, there's plenty of reasons why people sell stocks. there's only one reason why people buy. this could be a divorce, this could be tax reasons, this could be a whole host of reasons. butch you want to pay attention when insiders buy stocks. >> okay. well, we here want to clarify some comments from earlier today. our gary kaminski was critical of the berkshire hathaway purchase of a billion dollars of purchase, saying warren buffett never believed in buy-backs and suggested it may have been motivated to take advantage of lower tax rates this year. mr. buffett was watching, responding with a letter, taking issue with both of these points. and mr. buffett is nothing but meticulous. he said that it's not true that he never supports stock repurr chases. he highlighted a 1984 annual report where he states there is good reason for share repurchases under certain conditions. he's repeated that position, including in this year's annual le

i'm steve grasso. i am "fast money."at was the bad and the ugly all wrapped into one. >> you said it, my man. >> whole foods is up 54%. hain, up 52%. still. to this day, up 52%. >> so? >> people took off -- going to year end, this was a high flier. this was a winner. full disclosure, i like irwin simon, he's the ceo. >> and steve, you're "fast money." >> and you just surrounded the trade. >> all right. >> 200-day is a stopout on the name. >> first move tomorrow when we come back. stay tuned. [ male announcer ] at scottrade, you won't just find us online, you'll also find us in person, with dedicated support teams at over 500 branches nationwide. so when you call or visit, you can ask for a name you know. because personal service starts with a real person. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. our support teams are nearby, ready to help. it's no wonder so many investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. i don't have to leave my desk and get up and go to the post office anymore. [ male an

the floor of the new york stock exchange and steve grasso. what are you looking at? >> i compare jpmorgan, goldman and citi, bank of america. all these names. obviously consensus is jpmorgan is still probably the name to own. but if you look at goldman sachs trading at $119, it looks like it wants to make a run at 130 bucks. it definitely has to hold here, though, $118 to make that move. or else you're just looking at a sliding market. a declining economy and everything else that goes with it. technically the setup here, either jpmorgan or goldman sachs. i think bang for your buck, goldman sachs. bank of america right now overbought. looks like it wants to come back in. >> guys? >> grasso, i think if -- to kind of give people an easy way to choose, if you think we're going to have -- meaning an up equity market, lots of issuance, maybe goldman is your pick. if you don't think that's the case jpmorgan is probably the better of the two. both of them look great technically. i agree with you. >> from a technical standpoint i agree with steve. he's spot on. goldman looks

. >> that's not solving a lot, but i can't remember the last time, by the way, grasso, that stab in the dark was a good thing. >> it was that time in college you told me about. >> not this kind of show. >> as far as the markets, though, i think people believe, indeed, both sides are willing to go off the cliff, melissa, but they don't believe we are actually going to see dramatic changes, except to those top wage earners. everything is more or less laid out, it's going to be a kick the can. probably the baby grand, not a grand deal. nothing really done until the middle or end of 2013. >> how about you, karen? do you think we're sort of discounting this at this point? >> we seem to be. although i was looking back today at the volatility index last summer when we faced a similar situation and it was bouncing around the teens and low 20s and then things unravelled. as we saw. and volatility index went up to 45 briefly. so i just cannot believe that we are not going to see some hiccup between now and the first of january. i find that hard to believe. so i'm a little bit cautious. i do have

let's talk to our friend steve grasso. how are you trading hpq today? >> i've been long the name. i sold it yesterday based on that dell headline gaining in server revenue and taking out a little bit of the hpq momentum. i'm looking to reenter the trade but i'm waiting on technicals. >> why do you like hpq so much? >> first of all, it's a technical story. second of all, they are trying to make a lot of cloud in the head space. and i think they will. you have to believe in meg. if you don't believe in meg, you shouldn't be long this name. >> and you wleef in her? >> i do. i believe they are going to start their r & d to '02. i think you're going to see a lot of 3-d printing headlines. they did have an agreement with another 3-d printer company but i think you're going to see them do it on their own and that's why they backed off. it was more of a distribution deal that they had with the over company. >> the washout that we had just after earnings, judge, when the stock traded down to 1150-ish. again, these are small dollarwise moves that is enormous and just when you would not thin

. >> grasso? >> you heard the guest talk about it, you heard me talk about. yahoo!. >> thank you so much for watching. see you tomorrow at 9:00 we'll have an exclusive with the ceo of bank of america. don't go anywhere. "mad money" with jim >>> i'm jim cramer, welcome to my world. you need to get in the game. stearns is going to go out of business, and he's nuts, they're nuts, they know nothing. i always like to say there is a bull market somewhere. "mad money," you can't afford to miss it. hey, i'm cramer. welcome to "mad money," welcome to kram measure ker ka. call me, 1-800-743-cnbc. so that's what it will look like if we fall off the fiscal cliff. i'm talking about how the stock market acted today, particularly near the end of the day before the closing rally, dow diving 75 points. s & p seeking .63%. nasdaq, punching .72%. because now it's dawning on stock holders they are facing something like the debt ceiling debacle. if the armed camps in washington don't disarm, and agree to talk to each other in a serious way, and not just the bluster sessions that seem to

." >> i am steve grasso, i am "fast money."o >> announcer: halftime >> announcer: halftime report is sponsored by fidelity investments. innovative ideas for serious investors. from thought to trade, on every screen. and all in real time. which makes it just like having your own trading floor, right at your fingertips. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. try our easy-to-use scottrader streaming quotes. it's another reason more investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. mine was earned off vietnam in 1968. over the south pacific in 1943. i got mine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection, and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans and their families is without equal. begin your legacy, get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. it's part of what you slove about her.essing. but your erectile dysfunction - you know, that could be a question of blood flow. ci

when you think about dick grasso, and you know i'm a partisan, toys taken hank pauls-in, john that inand duncan neared hour to dismantle something that was built over the last 220 and i worry about market structure in so far as these exchanges, the way they are constructed today with much, much less human intervention, may ultimately do a disservice to the investor as we've seen dark pools and the like, algorithmic traders. as we go down the road, greater market perspective to something like a flash crash and the less fair treatment individual investors get this this process, and this is maybe an exclamation point we've worried about for a number of years. >> that's a great point. thanks so much for your time. see you soon. >>> stocks higher today as lawmakers are continuing to work on a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff. bob pisani here with the winners and losers on wall street today. over to you, bob. >> take a look at dow, folks, and we did advance despite of an impasse on the fiscal life. ended not far from the highs of the day. in fact, we've been moving up for a while. take a look at

steve grasso is with us. what does the market want it hear from the president at 2:00?ant to hear a deal is close to booeb beieing done. fund managers don't want to take a leg and step into the abyss of the fiscal cliff. >> absolutely. we heard a short term patch is not going to avoid us from another drown grade. if you are a fund manager, do you punt in december? i think not. you wait. >> does downgrade matter? >> you did see the collapse in the market because the market always is a good lead time for you. so leading indicator. . the best leading indicator is the s&p 500 so we have seen just sitting here in no man's land. >> it is as flat as my ekg. >> god for bid. >> yeah. >> normally, might well be a big topic. >> did you say anything? >> put it this way. what could they do? i think they are tied as well as the market. they are almost like a fund manager right now. waiting for the economy to sort of take the lead. there's only so much they can do. how much further can they do anything at this point? so i don't think we are looking to the fed. i think we are looking t

." >> i am steve grasso. i am "fast money." ss? at fidelity, we do it by merging two tools into one, combining your customized charts with leading-edge analysis tools from recognia so you can quickly spot key trends and possible entry and exit points. we like this idea so much that we've applied for a patent. i'm colin beck of fidelity investments. our integrated technical analysis is one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. now get 200 free trades when you open an account. try running four.ning a restaurant is hard, fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores. rewards we put right back into our business. this is the only thing we've ever wanted to do and ink helps us do it. make your mark with ink from chase. >>> time now for a "market flash." let's go to the desk. the schact is watching something. four times its average daily volume. of course, reports in "the minneapolis star tribune" that richard sculze, founder, might ta

grass s grasso, what do you say? >> this has been a tough level for the name to pass.ould still be a holder of the name, going into -- i would think that once fiscal cliff gets out of the headwinds for the name, you should start to e so their core business really heat up. >> all right, let's talk walgreens, up 9% from a year ago. karen? >> despite their absolutely horrible negotiations with express scripts, they lost so many customers, at this price -- i would hold 'em. >> you guys are so good with that now. you got it down pat. so proud of you. let's move on. travel earl lers may have a str for getting the best price on the hotel deal. scott wapner explores this. take a look at what you're going to see tonight. >> let me give you another scenario. i walk into the hotel, i go to the front desk. you have a few rooms available that night and said, sir, room's going to be $300. i say, how about $200? here's 200 bucks. do you take it? >> never. >> why? >> no way. that is called the fade. and that's something that -- >> there's a term for that? >> it's called the fade. if y

then host chris wallace sits down with john grasso.e is german of the senate -- chairman of the senate republican committee. cnn's state of the union follows at 3:00 p.m.. candy crowley welcomes south carolina republican representative nick mulvaney, ohio republican congressman steve latourette, and independent senator, joe lieberman of connecticut. at 4:00 p.m., but basin asian tito -- host -- an interview with tim scott, the republican senate delegate. also an appearance by an affleck, founder of the eastern congo and -- eastern congo initiative. these are brought to you as a public service by the networks and c-span. they begin at noon eastern with "meet the press," "this week," state of the union," and "face the nation." you can listen to them all on a cease and radio -- c-span radio, or you can listen on your smartphone or go online to c- spanradio.org. >> if you worked for him, you'd get a merc -- under carol, sometimes generous, sometimes overbearing, sometimes cruel boss. he did not know how to apologize. men of his age and cla