well, herbalife's shares obviously spiking.ing a 14 million share stake, 12.98% of herbalife. and part of the strategy could be taking the company public. carl icahn will be -- private, excuse me. carl icahn will be on the halftime report tomorrow at noon so you will not want to miss that. >>> coming up, why one of the top strategists on the streets say it is time for the bulls to take charge. >>> and why it may pay big dividends to emulate the biggest active investors like carl icahn. more details straight ahead. at tyco integrated security, we consider ourselves business optimizers. how? by building custom security solutions that integrate video, access control, fire and intrusion protection. all backed up with world-class monitoring centers, thousands of qualified technicians, and a personal passion to help protect your business. when your business is optimized like that, there's no stopping you. we are tyco integrated security. and we are sharper. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and the streetsmart edge trading pl

herbalife gives them a support network.fe makes the product and it's at the forefront of obesity. to me obesity, and nutrition are one of the growth areas. you have people that are out of work that herbalife gives a chance to make money unlike ackman is saying. ackman wears the mantel i'm helping these people. he's hurting them. he's putting them out of work. herbalife gives people an opportunity to make money and that will go. the concept of selling into 87 countries, i think, is going to continue to grow despite ackman and at the forefront of what i consider to be paradigm shift. on the one hand you have people much more interested in obesity, much more interested in nutrition. on the other hand you have the internet. and the internet makes it easier for these poor people to get in contact with a number of people in that your countries or rural amer this country and the internet, you can get in touch with your friends, in touch with your neighbors, in touch with people you talk to very easily. i see as a growth thing -- a

we are getting breaking news from herbalife.re increasing the size of their boards. josh, what are we hearing? >> yeah, mandy. this news just crossing. herbalife just announcing reaching an agreement with carl icahn. herbalife to increase the size of its board of directors and nominate two icahn representatives for election to the board. they have been in the middle after big battle between bill ackman who alleges the company is a pyramid scheme and carl icahn. herbalife to increase the size of the board of directors and nominate two icahn representatives. >> thank you for that. we will watch and see what shares are doing. >>> in the meantime, we are keeping our eye on the dows all time closing high. we have about 40 points away from that as where we are sitting right now. >> but up next, the free ride is kind of, almost over, on pandora. what the company is doing that could make free music listeners, you know, angry and stuff. back after this. [ kitt ] you know what's impressive? a talking car. but i'll tell you what impresses

the war of words has meant some big swings recently in herbalife shares. ruben ramirez reports on a battle that's being played out in what's typically a very secretive industry. >> reporter: hedge funds typically take big positions in companies and are very careful not to disclose what they're buying or selling. but the battle between hedge fund giants carl icahn, who now owns 13% of herbalife's shares and bill ackman who has a billion dollar short or bet that herbalife shares will fall is taking a nasty turn. >> a number of other hedge fund managers have gone public with shorts especially when they claim that something wrong is going on at a company. what's different in this case is that icahn also came out and was very vociferous and said, "oh no, this is a wonderful company and bill ackman doesn't know what he's talking about." it's very rare to see these guys go head to head in public. >> reporter: icahn's disclosure that he now owns 14 million shares came in a filing to the securities and exchange commission late yesterday. icahn said quote "herbalife

here comes herbalife.ckman and carl icahn will be anxiously awaiting those herbalife numbers, so will we. anxiously awaiting the last hour. >> the australian dollar bouncing back. when i hear that song, a little tear comes to my eye. the question is whether or not it is going to last or what traders call a dead cat bounce. that's what kathy says, she joins us live. remember when australian dollar? >> that's a possible scenario in the australian dollar. if you take a step back and look at what central banks are doing right now. you'll find reserve bank of australia is looking to be a lot more aggressive than many of its piers. theres s weakness in the bank. they had nothing good to say about the economy. i think in march they could cut interest rates. the dollars not trading like the market answer patz it. i do think there's a possibility to see further losses. nothing more than dead cat bounces in the aussie today. >> australian central bank has been cutting rates a while but really makes hardly a dent in

herbalife has just wrapped up its conference call.e kelly was listening in and joins us with the details. i was listening in, too. what did you make of it? >> we have to compare notes. essentially, the call went a little less than an hour which surprised me. sometimes when you've got an embattled situation, the q & a goes on for longer. the news to me was that it was seeking to simplify its business model in hopes it would be better understood by folks. this comes of course after a barrage of criticism from some investors, including short player in this case bill ackman and an inquiry by the s.e.c. into herbalife's finances and operations that the company indicated it actually kicked off by requesting a meeting. in a new statement on its own website, the company defines the word distributor as either a person who sells products to other people or in 71% of cases, wants to buy herbalife products for himself or herself to achieve the discounts. essentially selling to themselves. distribution can involve hard work, the statement notes, a

take a listen.is bullish view on herbalife stock.en. >> the fact that i don't like ackman, you could say maybe is the strawberry, you know, on top of the ice cream. but i am saying to you that this is not done to squeeze ackman or squeeze anybody. however, it must be understood when somebody goes out and shorts 20% of a stock and makes that very public, i have said this before, in my opinion, that's a huge, huge risk. >> he went on to say herbalife is a viable company and didn't dismiss the possibility of a short squeeze in the name. the interview captivated trader attention who sold the stock. in fact, over 9 million shares changed hands in that hour. the question now is ackman or icahn? who is right and how can you make money? time to put up or shut up where dan and mike duke it out over puts and probability. wow, guys. who would have thought you would be up there on the plasma. dan, kick off the debate. >> we are all equally fascinated by the situation here. to be honest it has little to do with the company and their prospects. it

herbalife. we will see where it all goes. carl icahn, thank. >> thanks. >> stock trading off as he started to speak. and i think you have to be rest assured that he is not doing this out of a vendetta against ackman. there is too much money on the table. he likes to make money. he can k get those jollies out somewhere else. i'm still going with him on this. i haven't heard from sullivan and cromwell. i went through the presentation but i like the chance with loeb and icahn. >> i like the fact that he talked about, this is not vindictive, this is about making money. >> come on, look -- >> that's what he is saying. >> i know it is what he is saying. and look, he wants it make money. >> yes. >> it is what he does. >> that is what he did. >> make no doubt about it, i've never seen somebody come out with 20% shortage in public company -- you just don't see that. he is right about the short. the short is quiet. it's a squeeze. >> what sticks out the most to me is that he mentioned the idea of this created an opportunity for me. and

herbalife shares jumping 7% today.he company reaching agreement with carl icahn to expand the size of its board by adding two of his representatives. herbalife allowing him to increase his stake in the company to up to 25% of outstanding shares. this means more pain for icahn's foil bill ackman. he has a sizable short trade in her ba line. is ackman's pain the herbalife investor's gain? and, of course, you know, if you are a fan of carl icahn, the poetry in this, it happens on a day when jcpenney's shares tanked. >> i'm sure carl's thrilled right now. get him on the blower, frankly. but i think today, herbalife's move, you mentioned -- i think it was as simple as the loss in jcpenney, the move down in jc penney was offset here. you smell blood in the water, as carl probably does now and other folks do, as well, you see jcpenney go down, you have to believe at some point you're going to squeeze people out of their short in herbalife. you get ahead of this. you might not say that's nice, but that's trading. and trading i

he says herbalife is pyramid scheme.is interesting he used as an interview they were ducking his questions, an interview we did here on the fox business network, that i did with dez walsh and basically read the transcript of the interview where we talked about, i asked walsh, will you answer all the questions that bill ackman puts to you? we knew at the time that bill ackman was going to put questions to them, a bunch of questions about their business model and des walsh danced around the issue but he would basically be happy to answer any legitimate questions from ackman. what ackman said at this conference to date none of his questions have been answered. half is a victory lap,fox businesses make as little news here. the second half there's a legitimate story here according to ackman. melissa: it's a huge story. this has been a fight to the death between des walsh who heads up herbalife. >> he is the president. melia: he is the president of herbalife, fighting against bill ackman, a activist investor, a short seller wh

this is it herbalife.ng closely watched with the much talked about feud between bill ackman who claims herbalife is pyramid scheme and carl icahn who has taken a position on the other side. as for the ep ask. -- eps earnings, the $1.5 on herbalife. the estimate was for 1.03, so we have a beat on that. revenue coming in 1.1 billion for herbalife. the estimate was for 1.05. it beat on top and bottom. we also have results from marriott, the big hotel chain. eps coming in at 56 cents on revenue of 3.7 billion, beating the eps by one cent. also beating the revenue estimates which were at 3.66 billion. of course we'll be watching for more information from both of these companies but we have seen herbalife moving slightly higher in after-hours trading, guys. back to you. liz: not bad, a beat and a beat. thank you very much. today, let's look at the market drivers that really drove stocks. stocks moved higher on reports of corporate deal-making. all three major indices as s&p 500 advanced to a new five-year high.

karl icahn took a big stake in herbalife.t company. $528 million in stock this year. that is part of the buyback program. herbalife says they have approximately 4500 nutrition clubs in north america. they have a retention rate. they keep selling over 51%. they talk about record sales. here are two things you should look at. look at the repurchase program. i think they have a billion dollars to repurchase. they have some more to go. that is good short-term for the stock. long-term. this is interesting. we should point out herbalife is under investigation by the securities and exchange commission. part of the accusation, by the way, we got into this on fox business. if your customers are your distributors, you know, at some point, is that a business model that is sustainable? maybe they do not by that much. maybe the fact is they cannot sell that much and as a customer they cannot buy as much. essentially, your revenues implode at some point. it is not a product that is selling very well. they will more clearly delineate , my o

bill ackman, really, versus carl icahn over herbalife. we're going to hear from carl icahn in the noon hour today. >> how much -- i mean, it won't work, scott, but did you beg ackman to come on? there's no way. because i loved him because he gave you a 20-minute answer last time and said, but you know, this isn't helping any cnbc few viewers. after he talked for 20 minutes. there's no way he's coming back on with you. then icahn like was mad at you. thought you were being mean to him. >> i'm actually surprised he's coming back on. >> i love carl, though. i can't wait to see that today. this is a great talk about -- i can't do an ack man imitation. i was offering to call up and pretend to be ack man so we could do round two. but that probably is you know, illegal or unethical or something, right, scott? >> maybe. some people may have an issue with that. but i think it's fair to say that bill ackman will be watching. he will be listening to what carl icahn has to say on the program later today. it certainly makes for an interesting story. t

herbalife, bill, is rocketing higher.balife saying it plans to add two more directors to its board chosen by activist investor carl icahn. remember icahn owns 14 million shares or 13.6% of this company. herbalife is in the middle of a big battle between two big names. bill ackman, a legend, saying that the company is a pyramid screen and carl icahn, herbalife now over 7%. bill, back to you. >> a big movement josh, thanks very much. let's get you caught up if you're just joining us. first, where have you been but here's what the markets are doing right now. the dow was up 2 points. we got to be 16 points away from an all-time high. we're up 22. s&p, that's not going to happen today. needs to be up some 40 some odd points and nasdaq, 2,000 points away from an all-time high. here's an interesting thing to note here. since the last time we hit a peak in october of 2007, only four s&p sectors are positive in that time, and the big laggard has been the financial sector, even though it's been a leader the last couple of years. s

want to get to the results on herbalife.with the numbers. >> finally numbers to go with all the noise around herbalife and the numbers are good. beat on the top and bottom line and full-year guidance ahead and that's why the stock looks way it does right there. a small gain but nonetheless in positive territory. herbalife announced its preliminary results on january 17th. they said they would earned between $1.02 and $1.05 and earned at the top end of that range, and as you know this, this story as of late hasn't been about the numbers but the noise. the big billion dollar short put on here and carl icahn taking a 13% establishing, after the sell shares are undervalued. he's looking to meet with management and could include a so-called go private transaction and told us here exclusively on cnbc on friday that this was business, not personal, between him and mr. ackman and or the weekend i reported dan loeb had trimmed a bit of his stake in herbalife as well. shares up 16% since the beginning of the year and seem to be increa

he is taking new aim at herbalife and bill ackman. big battle, coming up next. >>> could last night's meteor explosion in russia have anything to do with the massive astroid that is barreling towards earth as we speak? we are all over this story. we will have live pictures for you as well on the show. when "street signs" returns. ♪ [ engine turns over ] [ male announcer ] we created the luxury crossover and kept turning the page, writing the next chapter for the rx and lexus. this is the pursuit of perfection. >>> i don't like ackman, everybody knows that. i don't respect him, everybody knows that. actually, i thank him for calling me a great investor. i think that's a point. i do not, as great investor, that what he calls me, buy things just to get even with everybody. i'm not buying this company and putting money into it unless i've done a lot of research on it and believe in it. >> that is carl icahn just a short time ago on cnbc. he has taken, to the tune of what, 13% of herbalife. i love that line where he says, i don buy things

could ackman be right about herbalife but lose money on the stock?nd dan and mike battle it out to show you how you can make money, too. [ indistinct shouting ] ♪ [ indistinct shouting ] [ male announcer ] time and sales data. split-second stats. [ indistinct shouting ] ♪ it's so close to the options floor... [ indistinct shouting, bell dinging ] ...you'll bust your brain box. ♪ all on thinkorswim from td ameritrade. ♪ okay. [ male announcer ] with citibank's popmoney, dan can easily send money by email right from his citibank account. nice job ben. [ male announcer ] next up, the gutters. citibank popmoney. easier banking. standard at citibank. makes it easy for anne to manage her finances when she's on the go. even when she's not going anywhere. citibank for ipad. easier banking. standard at citibank. [ 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 m

but it really boils down from this point forward as to what herbalife does, what the herbalife story ends up being. and at least since that appearance last friday one week ago today, if you look at the tale of the tape so to speak since all of that happened, there is a look. i mean herbalife, the stock is down 19% since bill ackman disclosed his short. it's down about 16% or 18% or whatever. the stock is down since last friday is the point that we're trying to make here. >> so i think what you have to look at here, herbalife, their fate is out of their hands. right now it's in the government's hands who is allegedly investigating the pyramid scheme. in terms of the trade we know -- he just played the short factor that bill ackman had an unreasonably large short position in the company because he hedged it with a short in another company. we don't know if icahn did the same thing or not. i'd stay on the sidelines t is too difficult for the average investor to decipher this trade. >> there are those deciding whether they should be at this point the low side of it or the ackman side of

could ackman be right about herbalife but lose money on the stock? and dan and mike battle it out to show you how you can make money, too. that's when we return. [ indistinct shouting ] ♪ [ indistinct shouting ] [ male announcer ] time and sales data. split-second stats. [ indistinct shouting ] ♪ it's so close to the options floor... [ indistinct shouting, bell dinging ] ...you'll bust your brain box. ♪ all on thinkorswim from td ameritrade. ♪ [ 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. >>> welcome back. i'm kate kelly with breaking news. the s.e.c. froze assets in a goldman sachs account after spotting options behavior ahead of the heinz deal it considered suspicious. in a complaint against unknown traders in new york federal court the s.e.c. charges that one or more people with a single account pu

, but i'm a bit obsessed with herbalife. i'm happy to speak about it if people care. so, there are microphones, let's get it started. >> i'm sure we'll come back to herbalife, but i just wanted to ask one thing. you had early presented about the hong kong dollar and i was wondering if you could take a moment to update you on what your thoughts are on that now. >> sure. >> and what you're doing. >> so, about, i think around 15, 16 months ago, we gave a presentation about our view on the hong kong dollar and at the view was that it was the most undervalued currency in the world. because it had been pegged for, you know, almost 30 years, you know, to the u.s. dollar and it was pegged at a time when hong kong was a bit unstable. there was a run on the currency. the u.s. had one of the most stable currencies in the world and to create financial stability for the country, not the country, but the independent region of hong kong, special region of hong kong, they pegged the currency. because it's been pegged for 29 years, the volat

herbalife came out with a pretty specific statement.t was reviewed by david boies, their outside counsel. emphatically saying there is no ftc investigation. the stock as you know is off, it was down dramatically, i think something like 10% today. it is only down 4% last i looked. it was a lot on our reports that herbalife would come out with news that it doesn't believe it is under investigation. if you're the average guy at home, i will just say this. stay away from this stock. i don't give stock advice but this thing moves like, if someone sneezes the wrong way this stock will move. by the way it is only down, it is coming back. it is only down 97 cents now. that is interesting. the stock is actually coming back. that's what i mean with this thing. it is a morass of trouble. you will see reports going both ways. you have bill ackman out there, who is a guy that likes to plant stories with reporters. that is what short sellers do. he has a short on this thing. you have the company out there. this company has been around for a long time

of herbalife.stion here is is carl going to engineer a further short squeeze by taking the company private or perhaps launching a tender. you can mechanically engineer that because in order to, you can't lend your shares out if you have to tender your shares. you have to take them back off the market, which is the spot. exactly. >> including when you're short. so when you're mr. ackman as well. >> yeah, it would be interesting if that happens. i'm not sure how the company, i think they're happy to see his presence to some extent because he can cause a good deal of trouble. >> to some extent, he's a white knight here. he's their best shot at squeezing bill ackman out. >> and defending. they've done a reasonably good job of defending themselves. my sense is there's a lot more to come and they're finding back against the charges that ackman has levelled at them. >> i think it's interesting he's coming back on after he told wap ner. it should be great entertainment at noon. we're still seeing the trick

new developments in the herbalife story. to scott wapner. >> reporter: cnbc has learned one of the future of herbalife's biggest distributors is in question and could lead to the individual cutting ties with the company completely. on february 14th herbalife de-listed or severed ties with a vendor responsible for the sale of business leads and sales tools to distributors. cnbc has learned that the salesmen in question has had a relationship with the de-listed vendor. herbalife said it tightened its rules regarding sales generation leads. that's the way certain distributors, especially the very larkest ones, look for business on the internet. the changes were apparently made by the company to be more transparent and to deal with the long-standing controversy over how sales leads are made. we've also learned that the individual in question is a top tier salesman, a so-called chairman's club meng member of which herbalife has 49. all of this has been described by one person familiar with the company's business as a serious deve

the clash of the titans of herbalife.ckman said herbalife is a period mid scheme and icahn bought a 13% stake and is talking with management. the company's future is still on the line. >> herbalife is at the center of a paradigm shift right now. multi-market leveling is here to stay. levels of multi-level marketing. that's what i consider to be a great way to retail products, and the reason i believe that it's doing well in 87 markets is that you have a secular change. >> reporter: herbalife, of course, is a $4 billion market cap. not to say the world's largest company is immune from activists. david icahn wants higher yielding pension funds and the california pensions are backing their home state company and they are telling "the post" preferreds can be more harmful and those who say it's inane posturing, there's actually real money moving here. apple is down 3% this week as that situation is played out. tic cook called it a silly sideshow. herbalife soaring to 9 million shares alone, up 9% this week and 2% today. maria.

herbalife getting a nice boost. herbalife shares are up 4% during the session.have the whole ackman versus icahn and what herbalife even means these days to investors. they're certainly watching that stock. mine al -- finally marriott they report on the q4 of at bell. shares are down a little bit. back to you. ashley: thank you, lauren. we'll check back with you in 15 minutes. don't forget stay tuned to fox business for complete coverage of today's earnings coming on "after the bell", that is 4:00 p.m. eastern time on the fox business network. tracy: all right. president obama yet again calling for tax hikes to stop automatic defense cuts which are now less than 10 days away. and no surprise republicans are blasting back. we're going to have details ahead. ashley: plus the gas price spike hitting hard. jeff flock is live in chicago with a preview. jeff? >> why are these cabs parked in chicago? not because it is 16 degrees although i point out it is indeed 16 degrees. i will tell you why these cabs are all sitting idle when we come back. maybe you can guess? all

herbalife's stock fell more than 6% yesterday, then bounced back. clorox turned in healthy profits due to the flu outbreak, and that leads off our look at earnings news. shares of clorox hit a new all-time high after the company reported a 17% jump in profits. clorox is also lifting its sales projections as consumers scoop up cleaning products and disinfectant wipes. investors abandoned ship on shares of royal carribean. the cruise line had a 4th quarter loss and lowered its forecast. royal carribean claims some of its business was hurt by the carnaval shipwreck last year. airfare could soar higher this year, which has many people asking when is the best time to get the best deal? jen waters of marketwatch.com has the answer. good morning to you jen, and what do you think? > > good morning angie. what i think is based on a very exhaustive study by cheapair, and they found that the best time to get a deal on a domestic fare was 49 days ahead of the flight. that is roughly seven weeks. international, it is about 81 days. so, you really need, especiall

hedge fund manager bill ackman has a fresh attack against herbalife. he sent a 40-page series of questions to the vitamin supplier with topics including compliance with california laws, phony retail customers, and earnings disclosure. herbalife had no response. ackman has accused the company of operating a pyramid scheme. analysts say herbalife stock is immune to ackman. it closed at $35.92 thursday. the proposed leveraged deal for dell may be the first in a buyout boom in 2013. this week, michael dell and silver lake, a private-equity firm, unveiled a plan for a $24.4 billion leveraged buy-out. the money would return to shareholders. if shareholders agree, the transaction will be the biggest such deal since the financial crisis began in 2007. analysts say there will be a handful of buyouts of that size in the upcoming year, but most will be on a smaller scale. "a lot of that is being driven by the debt markets, which are extremely robust. the debt markets, i would say, are almost hungry for large deals." that was mergermarket's soma biss-was. the last

herbalife stock had a wild ride on that erroneous news monday, dropping more than 12% before closing with a slight gain for the day. yesterday was a much milder. the stock rallied 21 cents. a billion dollars. it's the amount of federal student loans that u.s. bororrowers are defaulting on. and because of those defaults, schools are suing former students over non- payment. bloomberg news took a look at court records and found that yale, the university of pennsylvania and george washington university have all taken former students to court over non-payment of loans, specifically perkins loans. those are federal loans earmarked for the poor. president obama is looking for a few good techies. round two of the presidential innovation fellows program has just been announced. its goal is to use innovation techniques to tackle national issues. the fellows are assigned to work on a variety of sophisticated projects. in the first round of this program, 600 people applied in the first 24 hours. the application process is available at whitehouse.gov. united is applauding a record performance in

law enforcement firm on herbalife.been very volatile, headline driven particularly since the middle of december when we started to hear it was some sort of a timid scheme to a certain extent. down 3.6% on news headlines and a name that has been moved around a lot on each headline. back to you. dennis: thank you very much, nicole. the g.o.p. pushing for a balanced budget. cheryl: and there is this, joining solar and wind power as an alternative energy source. dear. beer. yes, beer. how about you have a few names. a big charles payne pic today. we will be right back. officemax is celebrating our new collaboration with go daddy! with an online package including: domain name, website builder with five pages and basic email just $49.99! that's up to 76 percent below online providers and only at officemax stores! cheryl: it is time for your west coast miss. california could soon surpass north dakota and texas when it comes to shale oil production. two-thirds are located in southern and central california. a massive untapped

and, trading strategies in gold, coca-cola and herbalife from our team of traders. first business starts now. you're watching first business: financial news, analysis, and today's investment ideas. good morning. it's friday, february 22nd. i'm angela miles. in today's first look: selling continues in the market. stocks and commodities fell yesterday on distressing economic news, including a rise in unemployment claims. but it was the vix that made the day's biggest headline. the gauge of anxiety in the market jumped the most since 2011 this week. investors are becoming concerned about the march 1st deadline for sequestration even though traders tell us a deal is likely to happen. earnings after the close came in from hewlett packard. aig turned in a loss due to superstorm sandy. hpq shares shot up 6% last night on better-than-expected news. and today, the midwest is digging out from winter weather as the northeast prepares for the next round. tim mulholland of china-america capital joins us now following earnings from aig and hewlett- packard. what kind of cues will

ackman will speak about herbalife.i think it will be his first post-, i guess smackdown remarks when he had the infamous smackdown with carl icon a couple weeks ago. this will be the first remarks about his short position and how long he will be in it that is expected to come this afternoon. interesting enough herbalife has prepared a response. they may know what he is going to say but from what i understand they do have a response, when he comes out with his thing they will come cut with their thing. if you're in the stock, look at, and this is short term. long term battle between ackman or herbalife, whether it is a pyramid scream, a fraud or not the being stock will move around. two data points that are pretty interesting for investors. number one, herbalife next week reports earnings. they will give an update on their buyback program, exactly where it is. as they previously reported, their buyback program a lot of people expected a massive buyback. they're doing it incrementally, from what i understand. going very

they are worried about herbalife properly discloses its financials. see a ompany right now say we'll more clearly delineate between customers and distributors which is the heart of its business model, right? ashley: right. >> they have distributors. distributors get paid a fee and presumeably get customers. what ackman says all the distributors are doing, paying fee. they're not getting enough customers. hence it is a pyramid scheme that will collapse at one point when you can't get anymore distributors. they will clearly delineate between the two. i suspect, this is putting my reporters hat on they expect trouble from the sec or looking to head off trouble from the the sec on disclosure. two. things, if you're worried about the stock at least in the midterm. ashley: yeah. >> you have to worry about the overhang of an sec investigation or being fined or sanctioned in some way because of this disclosure issue thhy're pointing out. they're pointing out they need to do it better. if that's what they're saying you can bet the sec will say the same thing.

herbalife report after the close, edging into the green here. herbalife beats on the bottom line by two cents. revenue basically in line. looking ahead for the full year, eps a bit light, but revenue better than the street expected. as for that guidance, the company saying it excludes one-time costs of $10 million to $20 million, mostly legal and advisory services relating to its response to information put into the marketplace by a short seller, which the company believes to be, quote, inaccurate and misleading. melissa? back to you. >> josh, thank you. >> one effective way to get your short to run to fruition. just drive these games into a legal battle. >> spend more, more, more. >> kills energy. >> i'm not sure it's an earnings story at all. if i had to choose between mr. icahn and ackman, i love carl, i sort of side with bill ackman. he's done three, four times the amount of work that carl's done. carl appears to have it right for now. i think the market at some point will bear out the fact that mr. ackman's spot-on. >> this is ultimately, t

what did you show, herbalife? and carl icahn and bill ackman will be watching this one very carefully as well. herbalife up 2.25% right now. they are looking for $1.03 in profits on revenue of $1.05 billion. peter costa. >> yes. >> this market just -- we were just talking to bill nichols as you saw from cantor

perhaps it's all the news coverage giving herbalife a lift. and macy's goes to to court today hoping to persuade a judge to permanently block martha stewart's living omnimedia from its deal with jcp. here to kick off our trading day on this wednesday, mark sebastian of option pit mentoring. i would love to get your reaction to the earnings coming out from dell after the close last night mark. > > yeah, kind of interesting. we daw dell tick up a little bit. i think this lends further credence that maybe that deal price is going to go higher. $13.65, maybe i think we seek something closer to $14 now that these earnings were not bad. > google crossed $800. is this stock inexpensive or expensive? > > you know, i think it is a little of both. it is certainly a momentum stock right now. i think a lot of money has left apple and moved into google, so don't be surprised if we see who google threaten that $850 level before we see any type of resistance. > what will the situation in germany mean to traders in the united states? confidence is up there, t

shares of herbalife moving higher ahead of the earnings report on the company after the bell.s been a wild ride for the company as they continue their very public feud on the short versus the long side of this stock. alice is leading earnings of $0.39 per share on revenue of $14.12 billion. investors should be watching overall sales figures in the most recent quarter herbalife sales grew worldwide. very specifically keep an eye on china, this area provided the fastest growth of 41%, but accounted for the smallest slice of the pie. watch out for accounts receivable and inventory numbers while sales did grow, unwelcome sign each up 27% last quarter. coverage in all the big reports out after the market closes, marriott, dell and herbalife all reported, don't miss that "after the bell" in less than 30 minutes. now we continue with our "countdown to the closing bell." liz: investors are taking chips off the table when it comes to casino stocks today. let's go back to lauren at the new york stock exchange to talk about that. lauren: let's talk gambling, let's talk casinos. the chine

herbalife just responded with a statement. in that statement it says, other than voluntary dialogue with regulators, which we communicated on our january investor day, we are unaware of any other regulatory interest or investigation. we are demanding a correction from the new york post. the company went on to say, since its founding in 1980, herbalife has positively impacted the lives and health of consumers. for a direct sales of a company our size we have a low number of complaint to the ftc. however we take every one of them seriously and stand by doing right to our consumers of our product. >> the stock sold off more since you broke that news for us, down almost 4% on the trading session that is not where it started the day. it started the day lower than that. we will watch that one throughout the afternoon. thanks, herb. >> let's talk more about the super bowl winners and losers, not the players of course, but the ad. joining us is legendary ad man, ceo of several super bell spots under his belt. nice to have you here, be

>> i do. >> herbalife? >> this is battle of the titans. right now, icahn slightly in the money, ackman definitely in the money. i think you just stay way. such interesting tv. such interesting stuff to read about. i have no idea who will win on it. seems like the tide is turning negative. stay way completely. >> i haven't commented on herbalife but let me say a trading observation. december 19, at 33. now 27. perceiving somewhat bullish and lifting stock, it hasn't. that leads me to believe the stock is going low. >> finally a look the at chart meantime. cirrus logic. doc, what do you do? >> i like this. because today we have somebody upgrading the stock. end of january, the stock was $30. it has come to a low of 23 yesterday or right around there. now it is starting to bounce. but i don't see the big commitment yet, judge. but yesterday and the day before, i saw institutions coming in, traded lie double and triple normal volumes. if that occurs again next week, then i will say the bottom has been in and this one can go higher. >> the dow

this is like herbalife is a supplement company. love and i think it goes higher. >> gilliad. >> when does it quit? the answer is never in an environment where you still get slow growth and they've got a lot of good stuff in the pipes. >> biomarin. >> this is one of those companies that has been a specialist in or fan drugs. i've had them on air on "mad money." they are a remarkably good cup. >> arco. are they in apple, are they out of apple? i think they're in apple in the next again ragz. >> and cypress. >> wow, this stock has been horrendous, but remember, rodgers is the biggest man behind cypress and he's a buyer. if he's buying, i'm buying. >> tonight on "mad" sounds like you had some time to develop some new themes. >> yes. and i think american electric power is in the cross hairs of the united states government. we had a new epa head. i really wonder -- you see norfolk southern going much higher and that's because they're exporting coal. but is this country about to do a major crackdown on fossil fuels? i'd like to know. i ha

i think you would be talking about, i guess, the saga that has become with herbalife.harles: this is an amazing story. we have talked about it. gasparino has talked about it. car icon is no joke. we know that. he is very successful at what he does. he really seems serious this time around. you have two real smart guys that have been around for a long time. ackman, who last fall hinted that he would do a patriotic -- he sees it as a pyramid scheme. he is doing the public a favor. it is not about money. it is about doing the public a favor. if i looked at it as purely a stock, i would say it has merit to the upside. consensus continues to add a little bit higher. they have great management. i am not in the stock. i would have been out. i missed it. it will go on. keep in mind, their 52 week high -- connell: more from charles payne later on market now. we will have a report on the penny coming up. goodbye penny. the president would be open to dropping the penny. steve forbes will be on a little bit later on. the president has the wrong game plan. surprise, surprise. you m

where herbalife is actually halted. it was very interesting. right. you had news pending.t halted. we're talking now about new members being moved to the board of herbalife, carl icahn's favorite. that is obviously what we're watching for as far as the headlines crossing. you can see the stock which obviously since the middle of december has been jerked around with so much volatility based on carl icahn, also ackman over at pershing square. is it a ponzi scheme? is it a great company? they clearly denied that. carl icahn stood behind the company while ackman stood by his claims. really their accounting seems a little fuzzy to him. so over the last, since the middle of december we've really seen this stock going back and forth. today is no different. as you can sigh the crowd is back there, continue to follow it. go into the crowd and try to get a feel when it may reopen. as we noted they will nominate two icahn representatives to the board and that was something that everybody had speculated and of course carl icahn has been a real supporter of herbalife, unlike ackman of

the lately very controversial company, herbalife, obviously believing in the company.losing value. we will be watching this and more. as we said, fiscal year 2013 filings. more from berkshire hathaway coming up. david: charlie gasparino had an interview about that. that might have affected move. [laughter] liz: american airlines and u.s. airways creating the largest airline. they will retain the american airlines name and based in fort worth, texas. but what impact will it have on us and the industry as a whole? david: neil cavuto sat down with them and here's what they had to say as ceos. >> we will create about a billion dollars in the industry, it makes the two airlines are stronger together. that is good for all of our investors, good for our employees, also good for the customers that we serve. stronger airline and we can serve in more places. david: joining us now is the analyst who will tell us if this is good for the industry. >> what is interesting about the regulation standpoint, the company said that they had about 900 daily flights, about 12 of them -- only

herbalife's moment of truth. hitting the wall. is the consumer finally starting to crack? the take on the biggest retailer in the "halftime" squabble. but first market milestones. the s&p up selven straight week, nasdaq at a high. are the traders setting themselves up for a fall? how about that question, steve? are people just too optimistic? >> i don't think so. i still there still is a wall of worry out there. the walmart news comes out, the market barely flinches or recovers quickly. i think there's still enough negative news out there and we haven't seen the flow of funds that i would like to see. having said all that, you've got a market that's up, unimpeded so far. it's got to take a break but that break will be met with more volume. people are worrying about the continuing debt ceiling negotiations going on in the budget negotiations. doesn't seem to matter. i think we go higher still. >> josh brown? >> i think there's very little optimism. >> what do you mean? the market is on the cusp of hitting its all-time high in terms of the dow. the s&p is add seven straight

it prompted herbalife to raise its forecast for today. that strong quarter came just as hedge fund manager b bill ackman was delivering a short position based on his belief after more than a year-long investigation on his part that herbalife is running a pyramid scheme. they've, of course, denied that they're doing that. despite a simultaneous influx of bullish investors, including dan loeb and carl icahn who has been touting his position and the reasons he thinks ackman is dead wrong on our air as well. today's call will shed more life on where herbalife sees upside in the coming year. and we could hear more about an s.e.c. investigation. the s.e.c. requested details on herbalife's books and operations after they itself asked for a meeting. it will be interesting to hear more about the back-and-forth that went into that. >> presumably once they've completed that, we might get statements from the other players this afternoon. >> possibly. we'll see. absolutely. ackman and icahn in particular and to a lesser extent dan loeb has used cnbc a