and the issues at herbalife and my guess is that carl bought herbalife. if he did, because that's what someone i think leaked to the press and he flipped it out when the stock went up. he made good trade. congratulations on a good trade. i don't think there is any good investor who can own it long-term. we believe he can prove that it a high degree of certainty. >> i apprte

herbalife.ou can't just -- as jim would say, do it because the -- [ inaudible ] >> herb, we got a bad connection there. you got 20 put the tin can and string down. we will get you back when you have a real connection. scott, let's get back to you. were you surprise bid -- i i'm sorry i keep coming back to this. but it was like, a cage match with two different styles. mma where you have one guy who is sort after street baller, right. then the other guy trained in brazilian jiu-jitsu with a more delicate touch. >> no, i'm not surprised. these guys don't like each other. they made it clear. >> but they used to do business together. they had dinner together. somebody wanted to be someone's friend. >> yeah, carl icahn came out on the short end of the stick. the court said so. he is not happy about that and he is not happy about the waybill ackman is in the public and short sale position. i'm surprised it happened one li publicly the way it did, but i'm not surprised their dispositions were the way th

and herbalife has firepower.firepower, loeb has firepower and ackman only sold a lot, and maybe could sell a lot. and he could cause the short squeeze i still feel 23 years after that near career-ending event. the nasty buy in on my short. and if it matters, a year later, stock i was short, a bank it closed. yeah, just closed. went to zero. i was right, but i never got the promised land of profit. >>> scott in new hampshire. scott. >> caller: hi, jim. a warm booyah from snowy new hampshire. >> i like that. kyle loves to ski. how are you, kyle. go ahead. >> caller: send him up. you recommended dole foods, in the process of selling its worldwide packaged foods and asia fresh businesses. stock price dropped since september. do i sell, hold, or buy more shares? >> i don't think it's that bad. i was surprised that the stock got hit as hard as it did, and i am inclined to be a buyer, not a seller. i would buy dole, d-o-l-e. >>> randy in california. >> caller: randy from the cap r cappernick coast, first time caller. >>

bill ackman may know herbalife.ke others, including dan loeb, understand stock investing and you can be very -- >> you are talking about a trade. >> no, it is not a trade. how about a trade that can make you billions? when you go to the bank, do you think -- hold it, this is a trade. i'm not taking that money. >> this is a duration, isn't it? you think it will move because of technicals, versus you think the company is heading for zero. >> i was shorted versy bank. one of the greatest banks ever. i bought in and it went to zero but i bought for the people of the public. i came in one day and instead of being short a million shares, i was flat. >> can i throw herb a bone here? >> it works like that. >> i know how markets work. i also understand that in the end fundamental kes bear out. >> not if the company is taken over. >> if this company were to be taken over -- >> the company was putting -- illness in -- biggest joke of the company. i lost a fortune. and troproctor bid on that. it was a horrible quarter. >> if th

. >> two big money managers are clashing over herbalife.s translating all the lingo to let you in on what it all means for them battled stock going forward. all coming up on "mad money." >>> don't miss a second of "mad money." follow @jimcramer on twitter. have a question? tweet cramer. #madtweets. send jim an e-mail to madmoney@cnbc.com. or give us a call. at 1-800-743-cnbc. miss something? head to madmoney.cnbc.com. officemax can help you drive supply costs down... and down. use your maxperks card and get a 10-ream case of officemax multiuse paper for just 4.99 after maxperks rewards. find thousands of big deals now... at officemax. ♪ alright, let's go. ♪ shimmy, shimmy chocolate. ♪ shimmy, shimmy chocolate. ♪ we, we chocolate cross over. ♪ yeah, we chocolate cross over. ♪ [ male announcer ] introducing fiber one 80 calorie chocolate cereal. ♪ chocolate. >>> when a stock has a big run-up into the quarter, then no matter how great the results are the stock's going to get dinged after reports. take weyerhaeuser, the long-time cramer fave lu

. >> two big money managers are clashing over herbalife. cramer's translating all the lingo to let you in on what it all means for them battled stock going forward. all coming up on "mad money." >>> don't miss a second of "mad money." follow @jimcramer on twitter. have a question? tweet cramer. #madtweets. send jim an e-mail to madmoney@cnbc.com. or give us a call. at 1-800-743-cnbc. miss something? head to madmoney.cnbc.com. >>> when a stock has a big run-up into the quarter, then no matter how great the results are the stock's going to get dinged after reports. take weyerhaeuser, the long-time cramer fave lumber company that i consider to be a terrific play on the housing rebound, one of my top ten teams for 2013. where else is the world's largest owner of soft wood timberland? it's the second largest owner of timberland in the u.s. a major pulp and paper business. also got a real estate operation where it develops land and actually builds homes, great homes. here's a company that covers multiple stages of the housing food chain and the c

. >> two big money managers are clashing over herbalife. cramer's translating all the lingo to let you in on what it all means for them battled stock going forward. all coming up on "mad money." >>> don't miss a second of "mad money." follow @jimcramer on twitter. have a question? tweet cramer. #madtweets. send jim an e-mail to madmoney@cnbc.com. or give us a call. at 1-800-743-cnbc. miss something? head to madmoney.cnbc.com. ♪ [ male announcer ] how do you make 70,000 trades a second... ♪ reach one customer at a time? ♪ or help doctors turn billions of bytes of shared information... ♪ into a fifth anniversary of remission? ♪ whatever your business challenge, dell has the technology and services to help you solve it. >>> when a stock has a big run-up into the quarter, then no matter how great the results are the stock's going to get dinged after reports. take weyerhaeuser, the long-time cramer fave lumber company that i consider to be a terrific play on the housing rebound, one of my top ten teams for 2013. where else is the world's largest

let's get to herb greenberg on herbalife. >> reporter: a multitude of new angles on this story on herbalife, this just crossing. dow jones reporting that the securities and exchange commission has opened an inquiry into herbalife. that doesn't mean anything is necessarily going to occur, but it's an inquiry in the company. the stock on this news is down. last i checked it's down 4%, still coming down, as are other companies in the group. i want to point one thing out here, and a lot of times we talk about the federal trade commission. people ferg that the s.e.c. itself can and has in the past probed multi-level marketing companies. maria, back to you. >> herb, thank you. >> amazing timing that this happens on the same day that we find out that dan lobe takes a long position against bill ackman's short position, so you have this clash of the titans in the hedge fund world, and now the s.e.c. staff opens a probe into herbalife. >> what do you think about this? i mean, you've got these two guys on totally different ends in terms of herbalife? >> i think -- >> i know you've covered it so much.

. >> two big money managers are clashing over herbalife. cramer's translating all the lingo to let you in on what it all means for them battled stock going forward. all coming up on "mad money." >>> don't miss a second of "mad money." follow @jimcramer on twitter. have a question? tweet cramer. #madtweets. send jim an e-mail to madmoney@cnbc.com. or give us a call. at 1-800-743-cnbc. miss something? head to madmoney.cnbc.com. every year we pick a new city to explore. but thanks to hotwire, this year we got to take an extra trip. because they get us ridiculously low prices on really nice hotels and car rentals. so we hit boston in the spring-- even caught a game. and with the money we saved, we took a trip to san francisco. you see, hotwire checks the competitions' rates every day so they can guarantee their low prices. so, where to next? how about there? ♪ h-o-t-w-i-r-e... ♪ hotwire.com [ coughs ] ♪ [ male announcer ] you can't let a cold keep you up tonight. vicks nyquil -- powerful nighttime 6-symptom cold & flu relief. ♪ i feel more insp

ackman issued this statement regarding herbalife's presentation.romised to provide a detailed refutation of each of the facts he enumerated in his presentation. instead he said the company distorted, mischaracterized and outright ignored large portions of our presentation. he said the company did not respond to the inaccuracies and statements and he said the company could have questions and they will release a detailed series of questions that will assist regul assist regulators and distributors. >> the shares are under pressure since michael johnson, the ceo, appeared with kate when we were on the air. >> that was 90% he said of the purchases by distributors are for self-consumption. now, that can be parsed a variety of ways but that's what he said. >> well, ackman speaks. maybe loeb will say something now the way this has been going. >> it wouldn't surprise me. >> he may be one of the most m bullish analysts around but that hasn't stopped him from cutting apple's price target. he joins us from boston, gene munster. you're considered one of the mo

get the names before trading begins, with jason trennert. >> and the herbalife war of words. >> herbalifether activist investor disputes these claims. we're going to get a response from herbalife's president as the second hour of "squawk box" begins right now. >>> good morning, everybody. welcome back to "squawk box" here on cnbc. i'm becky quick along with joe kernen and andrew ross sorkin. the bank of england is leaving that key interest rate unchanged. that is as expected at one half of one percent. the futures this morning, still looking like the dow is up by about 30 points. s&p futures up by just over 4.25 points and the nasdaq up by about 8 points right now. let's get to a few of your morning headlines today. apple could be taking a key step toward boosting sales in the key chinese market. apple's ceo tim cook met today with the chairman of china's biggest wireless carrier, china mobile. the company would only say that they talked about matters of cooperation but the meeting is raising hopes that apple can strike a deal for china mobile to offer its iphone. also deutsche bank made

he is short herbalife?parently iron short. >> how come he can sea herbalife, and i can't. >> because he is here. >> at your age, i better give it back. >> are your supplements going down smoothly, herb? >> my supplements are going down smoothly. >> or is it just iron ore supplement you're taking. >> am i turning red? here is the deal, when this came out earlier today, this sh classic wall street. why david einhorn is the one we talk about on this is beyond me. we talked about rumors that maybe he was shorting soda stream but no one really knows. if you were here when they mentioned it on fast money halftime, i like stopped in the news room and said, no. because nobody can know exactly what he is doing. and as a turns out -- >> and does that on purpose, right? with this little cryptic, my apple is bruised. or iron ore supplement -- >> we know he is short green mountain because he made a presentation on it. but we don't know where he stands on herbalife. fourth quarter of last year, had he been short, he woul

herbalife is caught in the middle. this whether herbalife as bill ackman says from pershing capital, whether they're actually a pyramid scheme or not. herbalife made the argument that they're a legitimate business with $44 million in research and development. they're distributors, according to a survey they hired to have done, their distributors, past distributors are still happy with the company. 83% had a favorable view of herbalife. 63 of those would recommend herbalife to a family member or a friend in order to do business. so the investors and analysts there they're on the side of herbalife according to this one we spoke to. >> i just say they point by point, went through everything and there was absolutely nothing to the ackman points after they diffused every single one of them. i think one place where they really scored a lot of points they brought in a professor from northwestern and, you know, kellogg school of business and she went through all the things that you would think about for a pyramid scheme and we

i wouldn't be surprised if there are tiger funds that are long herbalife.nd, you know, at the end of the day, sort of ackman against the world. >> thank you. >> it's been a good trade so far, clearly. off of its two-year lows in december, after ackman unveiled the position. it's up 48%. maybe more. roughly that. at what point do you think about exiting the trade? even if you do believe herbalife is legitimate, the ceo didn't do any favors today by doing the interview on cnbc, during which the stock went lower. he didn't seem to have a grasp of the numbers when he was asked about numbers and that is always troubling to investors. >> i think the issue is that a lot of people have made fast money here, you know, certainly makes sense. you are going to see profit takers, the stock might drop down to 35 bucks or so. but we think, you know, this is a business that's trading at nine times earnings and growing at 20% a year. very strong numbers. this is a business that's grown its revenue, profit, every year since 2001. >> so, what is this worth in your view? how l

. >> two tight ends are battling over herbalife. we will read between the lines to find out what is really talking about. and we go inside the company to find out why there's been controversy for years. ♪ [ male announcer ] how do you make 70,000 trades a second... ♪ reach one customer at a time? ♪ or help doctors turn billions of bytes of shared information... ♪ into a fifth anniversary of remission? ♪ whatever your business challenge, dell has the technology and services to help you solve it. >>> like it needs it but another black eye for boeing. the third in three days. our very own phil lebeau has been following this since the beginning and you have the latest for us now. phil? >> we heard from boeing executives an hour and a half ago hearing where things stand for the 787. defending it is a reliable aircraft. as we look at a picture of the ntsb increst gating the batteries, the trace the cause of the fire on monday, boeing today on a conference call defended the use of lithium ion b batteries. boeing says it has 1 million miles

at an analyst meeting in new york, the company argued herbalife's direct-selling model is legit. activist hedge fund investor bill ackman accused the company of being a "pyramid scheme," saying distributors earn more than 10 times as much from recruitment than they do from selling products. the company called that claim a mis-representation. herbalife sells its products like nutritional supplements and weight loss drinks, directly to consumers. in defending itself, the company's c.e.o. noted today that girl scouts sell cookies directly to consumers. but given the spotlight on its business model, the criticism of herbalife has brought new scrutiny. >> the industry as a whole is going to have a difficult time in the next six months or so sorting out what they want to say publicly and what they don't that's going to affect their relationship with their banker say for a line of credit, its going to affect their relationship with their distributors and its really going to affect conversations inside the direct selling association. >> susie: herbalife's chief critic said the company to

there is a battle that's been heating up over herbalife. the company swinging against accusations it's a pyramid scheme. is legal action next? after the break, charlie gasparino sits down with the president, des walsh, in studio. stick around, you don't want to miss it. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] this is karen anjeremiah. they don't know it yet, but they' gonna fall in love, get married, have a couple of kids, [ children laughing ] move to the country, and live a long, happy life together where they almost never fight about money. [ dog barks ] because right after they get married, they'll find some retirement people who are paid on salary, not commission. they'll get straightforward guidance and be able to focus on other things, like each other, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. [ male announcer ] how do you make 70,000 trades a second... ♪ reach one customer at a time? ♪ or help doctors turn billions of bytes of shared information... ♪ into a fifth anniversary of remission? ♪ whatever your business challe

if he wants to win for real, he needs herbalife to be knocked down for real.ill need much more if they want a short squeeze. it's odd we haven't seen one already. herbalife has started an aggressive buyback in the purchase roughly 9 million of the company's 113 million shares outstanding. you'd think if icahn wanted to make something happen, he'd go in and do what he did with transocean, buy 5% of the company. herb greenberg who has produced an online explication, but my question is whether that matters. think about the chart followers. we don't hold them to be foolish buyers even as they often revel in their lack of knowledge of the fundamentals. unless the short squeeze develops or we get an indictment, herbalife stock is going nowhere and the only winner is you because you're getting the full public airing of a stock that would have been unimaginable just a decade ago. stay with cramer. [ engine revving ] ♪ [ male announcer ] every car we build must make adrenaline pump and pulses quicken. ♪ to help you not just to stay alive... but feel alive. the new c cl

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bank corp. >> let's talk herbalife. back in the headlines today as activist investors take different sides. dan loeb revealed an 8% stake in the company. bill ackman revealed his massive short position. c nbc's herb green berg has been following the story. herb joins us with the very latest on this and herb, this is a day ahead of the big meeting. what are we expecting? >> what we're expecting is the company to come back, as they said, shred ackman's presentation. but the question is, will they do that? in one sense, it is theirs to lose. and most important here, you want to see what the company says about a comment they actually gave kay kelly on cnbc, when she asked the question, how much of your sales go to customers that have nothing to do with herbalife, they are outside the network. and michael johnson, the ceo said, 90%, kay said, really? he said, absolutely. that's a number i certainly have never heard, because the company has said they don't know the number, they don't know what that number is and now we need t

investors will be watching herbalife very closely. >> two investors arguing about herbalife and each on national television. rebecca jarvis is with us. good morning. >> good morning, charlie and norah. most people on the street may not recognize bill ackman or carl icahn, but on wall street they're legendary investor activists. on friday they revived a decades-old feud and raised big questions about the weight loss maker herbalife. bill ackman controls about $12 billion in assets and he has his sights set on herbalife. >> how is it that herbalife sells six times more than abbott labs, euna lever, and gnc. the answer? he says it's a pyramid scheme. when the hedge fund manager went on cnbc friday, the share price dropped to its lowest price of the day. >> we believe this is a company causing enormous harm to millions of people and has done so over a very long period of time. >> reporter: but minutes later the price soared when another activist investor carl icahn, who won't say whether he owns herbalife stock, called in and accused ackman of trying to manipulate the market. >> you have

tobacco kill twice as many people a year as herbalife. herbalife has in its network.y kill 400,000 people in america. hugely profitable. they are scum bags but return cash to shareholders for decades. if you have shorted them, you've been run over. herbalife, five years ago, add about 400 million shares, it now has 108 million shares. it buys back stock regularly. payes a fairly hefty dividend. they are a scum bags but have a stock market scum bag. >> you have to be careful with what you say here. the question is, will the ftc go after the company? one reason you don't believe that ackman will be right is because you don't believe the fdc will do that. >> you say something obviously wrong and you think the government will rescue you. all herbalife needs to do is find somebody who was fat and is less fat because of herbalife and somewhere in the 2.5 million distributors there will be a few of those. wheel them out in front of them, and you are know, what bill ackman's case now is that the government's going to go and rescue a littbillionaire hedge manager. >> i know an

he filed but took 8.2% stake in herbalife. he had a tremendous year. what is interesting, is he and ackman, the stock short to the equivalent of 25% of the companies shares are allegedly friends. today bill ackman came out with a statement with the stock saying our goal was to shine a spotlight on the company so that the world better understands the facts about herbalife. the outcome of this investment is not about purchasing square or anyone else longer short the stock. to the extent another investor, long or short, brings additional light to the situation, we welcome them. he has facts about herbalife. to send them there and learn more about his presentation. his three-hour presentation. by the way, remember rb herbalife will present in new york two analysts. >> thank you so much. >>> the director of floor operationes with o'neill security, you want it weigh in on herbalife or overall market. >> no. >> just giving you the opportunity. >> let's stay away from herbalife. the market look ford a reason to want it rally after three or four days of pressur

>> herbalife handbook.an of gold and the outlook for gold and tony telling us the break-up value of hewlett-packa hewlett-packard. how does he get there and the traders make of the prediction? all that top of 5:00. >> see you in 30 minutes, simon. >>> here's what you missed earlier on. >> welcome to hour three of "squawk on the street." here's what's happening so far. >> if washington could just get out of the way, then 2013 could be a half decent year. >> the real answer is that there are too many people making too much stuff out there. it's -- the world competitive environment is too intense. >> he has perhaps the best grip now of global finance, too, because that decision to go on morgan's board, smarter than the average bull. >> i have never heard you so excited about alcoa. >> great call. >> yeah. >> i love the offensive. >> activist investor now buying a more than 5% stake in herbalife. the third point manager is betting it will go up. >> will become a company that's owned by the market. not by partia

herbalife closed at $40.00. the federal trade commission may be the latest entity eyeing the business practices of herbalife. under intense scrutiny since hedge fund manager bill ackman labeled the company a pyramid scheme, herbalife was thought to be the possible target when the ftc announced it would take action against an unnamed company for operating a pyramid scheme. that company turned out to be hi-tech marketing, but it has lots in common with herbalife. both companies sell nutritional supplements and have similar business models. president obama heads to nevada today -- where he will deliver a speech regarding immigration policy. yesterday -- a group of eight bipartisan lawmakers unveiled an immigration reform plan -- calling the proposals "tough but fair." the proposals would make it possible for undocumented immigrants to apply for green cards by passing a background check and paying a fine. the senators also addressed ramping up border security. the steps would be easier for children of undocumented i

i was watching herbalife shares up over 2%.exclusive interview that cape kelly did, right, with herbalife. >> bingo. >> and the stock started appearing its gains and now it is down by 3%. what do you think it was in particular that turned negative? >> exactly. when kate asked the question about something that michael johnson ceo said to her several weeks ago on air, that 90% of our sales go to customers outside of the network. not distributors. that's a huge number. no one ever heard that number. i sat there and said, where did that number come from? she asked and he said, it was in the heat of the moment andis misstated that. what he said is that 90% of their tris distributors are for, quote unquote, self consumption. now that gets into a very interesting area. if 90% of distributors are buying product for themselves and have you turn over between 70 to 90% or whatever it is every year of distributors, that's nonsustainable. >> where do regulators stand in all of this? >> that is the question, mandy. i asked david, until recen

herbalife stepping up. last month a few big funds jumped in on the other side of the trade since ackman's presentation. since then, the stock is actually up by 5%. interesting course for the stock today. which i'm sure we will hear about. herbalife's ceo michael johnson defending the company in front of analyst today in new york and kelly spoke with him very interestingly on cnbc one hour ago. kate? >> tyler, thanks so much. very interesting morning here in terms of herbalife's defense in charges against bill ackman. among other things they are a pyramid scheme. they spent about two hours speaking to investors. as well as take something q and a afterwards. i just want to give you the highlight of the latter part of the presentation, which is bring flg a consult front northwestern university who defended the pyramid scheme allegations in particular. she talked about a lot of people getting into herbalife sales because they want to get into the product themselves. they want it receive a discount. this self co

>> the answer, herbalife is a pyramid scheme.o sure of it that he shorted them $1 billion and when the hedge fund manager went on cnbc, they dropped to the lowest point of the day. >> we believe this is the company causing enormous harm to millions of people and has done so over a very long period of time. >> but minutes later the price soared. when another activist investor carl icahn who won't say whether he owns herbalife stock called in and accused ackman of trying to manipulate the market. >> he's got a bunch of innocent investors, retirees that are going to lose their money. so ackman can show a good record at the opened of the year. >> at times the insults turned very personal. as the two traded blows over herbalife and a long simmering feud, a business deal that ended up in court where icahn lost. >> ackman is a liar. he's major loser. this is not an honest guy and this is not a guy who keeps his word. >> this issue seems to be dating back many many years. and maybe it was festering beneath the surface. there's serious ba

herbalife's ceo is fighting back. ceo michael johnson defended the nutritional supplements company after hedge fund manager bill ackman called it a "pyramid scheme" with shady business practices. johnson says herbalife is a legitimate company with real products, customers, and solid management. ackman bet one billion dollars against herbalife's stock, and called for the ftc to shut it down. herbalife shares were down 70% at $39 thursday. the nomination process for the next treasury secretary is moving forward with president obama naming jack lew as his pick. "i trust his judgement, i value his friendship, i know very few people who have greater integrity than the man to my left." lew currently serves as the chief of staff in the obama administration and could become treasury secretary when timothy geithner leaves later this month. joining us now via skype with insights is jim bianco of bianco research. how is wall street responding? > > lukewarm on the jack lew nomination. they're not really that thrilled. > other tha

guess is carl bought herbalife. did -- i think someone leaked that to the press and he flipped it out when the stock went up and made a good trade. congratulations on a good trade. i don't believe there is any real investor who can own this business long term because we believe it is a pyramid scheme and we can prove that to a high degree of certainty. >> hey, i appreciate, bill, that you called me a great investor. i thank you for that. unfortunately, i can't say the same for you. >> well, so as you hear there what began as a business deal gone sour has now definitely gotten personal. >> after the whole thing called me up and literally said, bill, we can be friends now. okay? i wish i had a recording of the conversation. i simply said, look, carl. you are no friend of mine. and that was it. >> okay. >> every time he goes on cnbc -- let me defend myself. >> i never said i want to be friends with you, bill. i wouldn't be friends with you. >> okay, carl. okay. >> you said to me you'd like to be friends so we could inv

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he couldn't discuss herbalife. say without mentioning any company in particular, was something along the lines that no matter how long a company has been in business or how big it is, way more people appear to be losing money than making money. now some of my observations after looking at fortune high-tech among its big rewards are bmws. much like another multilevel market be we have mentioned here called visalis. fortune's high-tech website was filled with smiling faces and success stories and like many multilevel marketers, it has been highly charitable. and its board of advisors includes a former kentucky attorney general. they are greeted with this message today. we are confident our side of the story will be heard. we are defending ourselves vigorously. we expect to be vendcated. guys, what i think is important here is the fdc is moving on this one company. now does it open up sort of clear the desk so to speak so it can go after -- >> you think? >> i think that i believe that-knowing nothing, i think if the f

wwe're watching herbalife right now. turbulence at boeing. a top analyst out in front. have ol goldman stellar quarter. and stocks are mixed. weakness in the dow jones industrial. so much of that has to do with boeing. so what is the story? boeing is the biggest drag on the dow jones industrial pulling it down by more than 20 points. getting clipped by about three and change%. another dreamliner safety issue in response japan airlines grounding their entire fleet of 787 today. particularly noteworthy because these two airlines own the largest numbers of this aircraft. on the other side, he optimistic side, investors are bidding on financials. goldman sachs and morgan stanley are moving higher. a new 52-week high hitting q4 earnings in sales blew away wall street's estimate. investment banking revenue jumping for goldman. on top of that we have jpmorgan had a big beat on the bottom line. cough it up to 50%. banks with jpmorgan releasing some of the loan loss reserves. morgan stanley moving higher, quick check of they want to keep it up-to-date on jpmorgan. jpmorgan up ab

marketwatch.com reports the sec is opening a probe into herbalife. it follows recent accusations from hedge fund manager bill ackman that the business is a pyramid scheme. however, those comments aren't curbing the appetite of all investors. rival hedge fund third point yesterday reported an 8.2% stake in the nutritional supplement company. shares jumped 4% on the news, trading up to $41, as traders who were short the stock were forced to buy herbalife. drought is causing a crisis in winter wheat crops across the nation. according to the usda, much of the central and southern wheat belt is suffering from a severe lack of moisture. farmers in texas, oklahoma, kansas and sections of coloardo are eligible for low-interest emergency loans. president obama is expected to soon name jack lew the new head of the treasury department. lew currently serves as white house chief of staff, but is reportedly the president's pick to fill the role as head of the treasury which will be vacated by timothy geithner following the inaguration. lew has served as budget dir

bill ackman is against herbalife. carl icahn is in it.ave never retreated from distinguishing your company from these others including an excellent white paper where you say that herbalife is a network marketing company, and you along with others are a direct seller. can you define what direct selling is and why are you distancing yourself from some of the other companies that claim to be in your industry? >> i'm not going to take issue with network marketing, multi level marketers but they are chalk and cheese from traditional sellers. what you had from prior to 1950, direct selling companies, avon, fuller brush, even tupperware where people went out and sold to a retail customer. you had the emergence of these network marketing companies that recruited people not so much to sell, but to consume their products, and you saw it in cosmetics and supplements and a lot of them came and went because their episodic kind of businesses. they are not direct sellers. they are wholesale buying clubs and based on sign up to save money and consume the

positive on herbalife recently when it moved below $26.t, what happened there was the same thing. we experienced a decline from april, around $73, down to $42. we made a low and then we had a rally into the end of july that topped around $56, $57. in this case, the decline was $30. and instead of taking one half, freefall decline, we took the full $30 decline and that projected down around $26. at the same day that the stock moved below $26, we identified the low with a 13 and we made a forecast that the stock would rally $55 to $57 in a matter of, we thought, a month to six weeks. and that's what we're seeing right now. we see the stock currently at a count of seven. and we need six higher closes just to make it to identify the peak, which should be $55 to $57. >> right. and, your methods, you are able to apply this to almost anything. so, give us the outlook on -- i want to know if i need to get a flu shot at this point, tom. >> if you look at the chart that's on the screen, back in july of last year, we bottomed with the percentage of i

but first, the strange saga over her herbalife.es to add new chapterer every day. cnbc's herb greenberg has more on this financial showdown on wall street. >> today promises to be a big day in the world of multi level marketing and herbalife. an analyst today in new york, company ceo michael johnson has promised to shred the thought that herbalife is a pyramid scheme. first news broke that the hedge fund manager of third point partners had taken an 8.2 stake of the company. the stock rose on that news. then the dow jones later in the day broke a story citing sources that the securities ask exchange commission had opened an inquiry into herbalife. the stock took a dive before recovering. but is herbalife a peer mead scheme? that's for the u.s. government to decide if it ever takes action. there are plenty of red flags flying over herbalife and the industry. some say the industry is creating a main street buffalo. >> madoff, kahn, a relatively small number of people are investment money. multi level marketing is using a different lev

cheryl: we are live at the herbalife conference. as we do every day at this time, let's look at oil. ♪ ♪ [ cows moo ] [ sizzling ] more rain... [ thunder rumbles ] ♪ [ male announcer ] when the world moves... futures move first. learn futures from experienced pros with dedicated chats and daily live webinars. and trade with papermoney to test-drive the market. ♪ all on thinkorswim. from td ameritrade. cheryl: it looks like the dell is trying to make it a six day in a row. phil flynn is in the pits of the cme. you have charles payne here in studio helping you make some money on molly corporation. dennis: first, nicole petallides on the floor of the new york stock exchange. nicole: there is a lot to look at today. let's start off with some of the retailers. they have beat their own forecast. the stock is up 4%. tiffany with a disappointment. they did not do as well as they had hoped. also the parents of dress barn, justice, that is at almost 7%. aeropostale gave a disappointing profit outlook. quickly, here is a look at your dow, s&p

he has an opinion that herbalife is a pyramid scheme. point out at least right now looks like herbalife is more right than ackman. the shares have recovered. >> i was going to follow up, charlie, and suggest has ackman gotten in too deeply with herbalife? >> i can tell you i spoke with him before he went scuba diving. lori: good timing. >> this is what he told me. he said listen, i, he is a rich guy. he doesn't need to, you know, attack companies if he doesn't think it is right. he claims he will give all this money to charity. we'll see if he makes money out of this but he put a big bet down. he really believes this is a pyramid scheme and that, there's a lot of regulatory interest. if you listen to the longs, guys that are calling me, they're essentially trying to say that the ftc and the sec interest in this is more an interest into ackman manipulating the stock than the company itself. that does not make sense to me. these guys usually go after, when the sec and ftc look at the companies, particularly their disclosures. so, you know,

bill ackman says it's a pyramid scheme and herbalife disagrees, right.r times its daily average, the stock dipped during an after-hour. our own kate kelly interviewed ceo michael johnson. at the investor presentation he counter the bill ackman major short position as we know in the stock which is now currently off its lows. one thing he said, the ceo, that may have led to the selloff was that a huge portion of his distributors are actually consumers as well. >> it's always a misstatement. 90% of our distributors, okay, who are buying our product, and let me just try to clarify this. buy it for one reason, and they pie it for self-consumption. that a misstatement on that day. i was kind of hyped up that day, wasn't i? >> i guess so. before a presentation in the statement, ackman reiterated that it's believed that 90% of herbalife distributors have zero earnings in terms of addressing his firm's questions in the presentation. ackman stated, quote, the company distorted, mischaracterized be a outright ignored large portions of our presentation. whether you