j.c. penney, stay away from j.c. penney.he stock has been disappointing investors for over five years. down 87% from the 2007 high around $90. gotten a little bit of a bounce. you want to fade that bounce. don't trade that bounce. >> okay. >> you can sell your shares to steve because you want to buy them, right? >> i'm on the exact other side of this. bill, would i say trying to choose between these two is a little like asking me which one do you want to go on a date with, estelle getty or bea a.r.-they are, my answer is neither but if i must chose between these two stocks i think jc penny is the far better alternative. on the groupon side, fundamentally this is still a coupon company. this is not truly new technology, and it's a coupon conditions by the way, that has some incredibly scary competitors, mainly google and amazon. on the j.c. penney side, i do think j.c. penney has an interesting turnaround story here. the stores of ron johnson have been able to revamp and institute his new model of a collection of boutiques. t

j.c. penney's no sales strategy? a spokesman would only say, we continue to believe in the importance of great everyday value. it will continue to be the cornerstone of our pricing strategy. a strategy that now seems to include a return of the coveted sales. >> thanks for shopping at j.c. penney. >> reporter: julie watts, cbs 5. >>> employers are feeling a little more generous this holiday season. a new survey finds more than 70% of employers plan to give year end bonuses up from 53% last year. 21% plan on giving no bonus at all. but 70% is good. >> that's 7 out of 10. not bad >>> we have just learned that "time" magazine's person of the year this year has just been announced and it goes to... >> president obama. among the 8 finalists were yahoo's ceo marisa meyer and apple's tim cook but the honor going to the president. >> there you go. >>> more than 100 bay area kids got a very special gift. >> a shopping spree at old navy last night. gap donated $100 gift cards to kids with glide family service and there were a l

j.c. penney is part of that rally for the year. j.c. penney stocks down 40%, that is ugly.nother abercrombie and fitch executive to transform j.c. penney more. so far they have achieved supply officer and chief technology officer coming from member probably. there will be a nice experience. liz: my baby sitter said i'm going to j.c. penney and i thought she said i am over teach amax and going to j.c. penney. target is too cool. how is this for christmas present? bank of america's merrill lynch brokerage unit looking to save money by cutting broker compensation? you heard that before but not if brian moynihan has his way. charlie gasparino on the c e o who is saving bonuses. charlie: it is unusual to cut broker compensation. there's a lot of competition from brokers. recently inside merrill lynch's brokerage department run by john field disease to be the biggest brokerage department in the world. morgan stanley has surpassed it given the smith barney acquisition but merrill lynch is still considered the premier brokerage department on wall street. recently in an effort to sa

coupons at j.c. penney. >> ya! >> reporter: the store famously got rid of coupons and sales this year replacing them with everyday low prices. but well, the sign still says no coupons, tacked on the top are newly advertised sales. the website now boasts 20% off jewelry and jcp reportedly emailed friends and family coupons offering a three-day discount last week. >> i think their core base is hungry for it. >> reporter: he says that was clear by the customer turnout on black friday. the store advertised its one and only sale of the year and long-time customers who had been staying away showed up asking for more. >> people have to have something to look forward to. >> reporter: so everyday low prices won't get you in the door? >> no. >> i come less now than before. >> reporter: he says that's because the no sales strategy only works for a couple of specific types of stores. >> if you are involved in anything other than general merchandise and groceries unless you have a unique product set that's so unique that no one

in particular, apple and jb penpejb-- j.c. penney. we have shibani joshi and adam shapiro as well and first to nicole, j.c. penney, a lot of people worried about retail sales, think it's going to hit companies like j.c. penney hard? guess what? the stock is up 4%, why? >> that's a huge move on a day when the major market average, look the at j.c. penney, it's posted comments from oppenheimer this morning, talking about the fact that promotions are working well and bringing traffic into john kerry opiniony, you know that we spoke about ron johnson and came up from apple and his whole theory, was no promotion and great prices all the time and that really was working. the and so, they're back to the promotions this holiday season and it's working. traffic is pretty busy there. >> it's working very well, at least today for the stock. thank you, nicole. well, president obama has always promised not to raise taxes on the middle class, but if he can't reach a deal with republicans in the next seven days, that's exactly what will happen and a

the second thing- > > j.c. penney- > > j.c. penney?! they're going to zero. > > exactly!so that is not going to help their game. > > they have a bad business model. that is why they're going out of the game. > > i believe it is going to help one stock: hewlett-packard. it's a stock that- > > hewlett-packard?! > > -long been forgotten about- > > put it in the basket with dell, j.c. penney- > > put it in the basket with rim and yahoo, which have had big, big jumps. it has value, it's a name, it just needs to reinvent itself- > > what's their product they sell? > round 3) the fiscal fiasco - is this fiscal cliff a real issue for the market jan 1st? > > no. the answer is no. the market doesn't care. this is the most widely talked-about- > > why is the vix over 20 then? > > -financial event in the history of the world- > > why is the vix 20? > > 20? it was 28 in may. we are nowhere near these relative highs- > > it is the highest it has been in months. > > it is down 70% on the year. nobody cares. the market will move on. the market right now is still up 13% on the year. so sm

now j.c. penney is another one, they are literally selling snake- print thongs. i mean, i wouldn't want to bring my family there. > a little much. now you are an actual consultant, or you have been in another life. you did turn-arounds. so what would you tell these companies? what do they need to know? > > i think in terms of the advertising and how they relate to their consumer, know your consumer. don't follow other people. if you look at sears and you look at kohl's, they had a really good customer base. kohl's in particular could really be making a lot of money right now given j.c. penney and sears' kind of retraction. the problem is, they are looking at what is working for other retailers and trying to make it work for theand trying to be edgy. sometimes you have to look at who your customer is, and not who you want them to be. > good to have you on the show. that is margaret bogenreef. let's clean it up this christmas. > > definitely. thanks. still ahead, a former mc-market winner. a look at what happened next in traders unplugged. before taking off for the

over the past year, shares of j.c. penney have struggled. they are down 43% this year. today they rose more than 1% to just under $20 a share. a few buyers of the stock today family, closing under just $12 a share. over the past year, shares down 50%. now shares of online shares of online travel company trip advisor got a boost on the back of some positive comments. analysts at needham say they are optimistic about the company's long-term growth prospects. they expect trip advisor to exceed profit forecasts for the first half of 2013. shares of trip advisor were up more than half a percent to $42. herbalife also got a pop today. the vitamin maker says it expects to buy back more shares than it had previously announced. the shares had been down for the last eight sessions, but today it rose 4.5%. and if you're driving this holiday season, get ready to pay more at the pump. but prices are set to go up after falling more than ten cents over the past two weeks. according to the lundberg survey, gasoline prices on average around the country were $3.25 a gallon. that's the lo

j.c. penney's and nordstrom's opening at 8 and the rest of the mall opening at 8. the parking garage is opened now and it will be filling up because around 17 million people plan to hit the stores, the malls to shop to get last- minute christmas shopping done. if you waited to get your shopping done you will share the parking lots and stores with other procrastinators. it was a busy weekend that malls in stores everywhere. parking was hard to come by. long lines d you know that the busiest -- did you know the busiest shopping day of the year is the saturday before christmas not black friday. and if you waited this long, 17 million people actually say they plan to shop today on christmas eve. a good bulk of the shoppers have not started their shopping yet. yikes. the most popular present is still clothing and then gift cards and megan your favorite is some people say they would hand out ious for a present i don't get that but i guess they are brave. so again here at the mall incolumbia, major anchor stores will open at 7 this morning like macy's and j.c. penney. nor

winners and losers, j.c. penney there as the mover and names under pressure.first solar looking decent. thank you very much. has a divine intervention forced citigroup's hand? october 16th, vikram pandit ousted as city ceo. in november the benedictine sisters, city shareholders who own stock filed a proposal asking citigroup to break up so as to unlock shareholder value and last week citigroup announced 11,000 job cuts and a bunch of branch closings. no real massive break up but they are shedding some businesses. joining us in a fox business exclusive is the treasurer of the benedictine sisters, sister rose marie stoverbanner and trillium asset management ceo who is representing the benedictine sisters. thank you so very much for joining us. we have spoken when you first put out that ladder and i said i wanted to talk to the sisters about this. highly unusual, horrible press for a city to have a group like you saying unlock some shareholder value here but let me first explain why. you bought this more than ten years ago and you have lost more than 90% of the v

dreadful january and february that saw more than 50,000 layoffs at american airlines, pepsico, j.c. penney, metlife and procter and gamble. "those are very specific company-based layoffs. they're not even sector-based." hostess brands is controlled by hedge funds that have lined up more than a hundred potential buyers for hostess brands' three dozen factories that produced lunchbox staples: twinkies, ho-hos, and ding- dongs. "it's highly problematic when hedge funds own a buisness, because the primary goal is to appease shareholders and investors." asset management firm perella weinberg partners is advising hostess brands says the bidders include five national retailers such as supermarkets. reportedly, six of the bidders have hired investment banks to help. "it would not be a surprise to see a 'white knight' come in and buy the whole thing because of its market presence." but while 19 corporate officers receive nearly $1.8 million in incentive pay to stay on through the wind-down process, what happens to the employees now on unemployment who say their pensions have not received contributi

trying to keep consumers coming through the doors, retailers including banana republic, j.c. penneynd neiman marcus are offering additional promotions. shopping momentum traditionally slows between black friday and the final days before christmas. restaurant owners are taking a financial hit by threatening to cut jobs and working hours as a way to deal with the new healthcare law. darden restaurant group, owner of the olive garden and red lobster, just cut its profit forecast for the year, specifically citing failed promotions and the pr problem it encountered after admitting to limiting employee hours. under the affordable care act, companies with more than 50-full time employees are required to offer basic health coverage for workers or face a fine. other restaurant chains have also generated backlash after publicly complaining about obamacare. "i think the point is that the restaurant industry shouldn't expect to be able to have this advantageous position relative to many other industries that employ a lot of people and do pay healthcare benefits. and, quite frankly, it is the la

j.c. penney's nordstrom will open at the 8 and so will the rest of the mall. they will stay open until 6 tonight. they won't be opening -- they won't be staying opening too late. anchor stores closing at 6 and the mall will close at 7. we have learned target is extending their hours. they are staying open until 10 tonight. you would be surprised to know that so many people wait until the last-minute to get their shopping done. we have been -- heard it's around 17 million who wait until christmas eve to get their shopping done. many of the people haven't started yet. so if you plan to head out, to the malls, to the stores, just be patient and the parking lots are going to be full. i can tell you i was here on saturday, got stuck in parking -- in the parking garage because of so many cars people trying to get in and out you are waiting and stuck you need your patience. now back to you. >> apparently that's the busiest shopping day of the year. so you are brave. thanks so much. we will check in in a bit. >>> four minutes after five. sad news on this christmas eve

j.c. penney's nordstrom opens at 8. so for all of you who waited to get your holiday shopping done. share the parking lots in stores with plenty others procrastinators. you can tell by what happened this weekend it was a bessy weekend at malls and -- busy weaning at malls and stores. there are long -- weekend, at malls and stores. there were long lines. the busiest shopping day of the year happens to be the saturday before christmas. not black friday. so that was this -- just two days ago. that's when stores tend to be packed with those last-minute shoppers. 17 million people say they planned to shop today on christmas eve. and get this, a good bulk of the shoppers have not starteded the shopping yet. and while -- started the shopping yet. while they are grabbing the gifts the average shopper will spent $107 on themselves. most popular present is clothing and then gift card and some say they would and out iou and i know you like that. but anchor stores will close at 6 tonight and they won't be opened until late in the night. the major anchor stores at the mall closing at 6 tonight.

they are opening the doors at 7 this morning actually macy's and j.c. penney will be opening at 7. nordstrom will open up at 8. workers are coming early to get ready for the last day before christmas. the rest of the mall will be opening at 8 this morning and you know macy's did something interesting this year. something they have they have never done before. they stayed open around the clock nonstop all weekend long. and they shut down at midnight last night. but, again, opening their doors at 7 this morning for all of you who waited to get your shopping done, get ready to share the parking lots in stores with plenty of procrastinators. it was a big beesy weekend at -- businessies week -- busy weekend in stores. did you know the busiest shopping day of the year happens to be the saturday before christmas not black friday? and for those who didn't get -- make it to the malls this weekend, 17 million people say they plan to shop on christmas eve. a good bulk of the shoppers have not started the shopping yet. so, what are the most popular gifts? still clothing. that's why the mall is

nicole: i want to look at j.c. penney and macy's, both have down arrows. j.c. penney is down 4.4%.king about what shoppers the doing as far as their shopping and they are lowering the forecast for holiday sales this season, citing discounts they are seeing, hurricanes and the stepping in and they expect foot traffic to increase, they are seeing fewer sales for lower sales. people are pinching volatile little bit. stuart: not as good as we were expecting. thanks very much. joining us by phone is shopper track founder bill martin. you are projecting a gain of 2.5% for holiday sales. is that just in brick and mortar stores? >> yes, happy holidays to you. that is taken into consideration, consumer behavior at the brick and mortar stores and we consider all manner of retail whether it is a mall, strip center, high-speed ball. stuart: that is interesting because online sales are way up. i am reliably informed. your number does not include that. >> it does not. we keep a close eye on it because it is an important part of the retail complexity. we see that growing double digits but it only

apple in particular losing three points at four year low on the index, j.c. penneyisfaction and walmart dropped by point but confusion about the identity of the overall user experience on the web is what they're talking about. dennis: walmart is the second largest online retailer in the world after amazon. that they could come close to getting it right is great news. they have done better. the president back in washington -pto deal with the cliff crisis but what are we hearing from senator harry reid? it suggests we are nowhere near a solution. shibani: washington's in actions during traders and stocks down big today, tracy byrnes and lori rothman are up with up to the minute details on what is happening.

j.c. penney's. >> this was a heartbreaking tragedy. >> but everyone agreed was a miracle only two people were killed. >> experts say in a situation like this, the most important thing is to make yourself less of a target, run away or find cover, preferably behind something hard. >> freestanding atm or mailbox. get behind that, those are very hard surfaces. >> the mall santa dove to the floor. >> everyone else ran but to me running is is a target. >> a big red target? >> i'm a real good target. >> the mall had an emergency lockdown procedure designed for situations like this. >> from people who survive in cases like this, you will find they reacted quickly. >> quick reactions that clearly saved lives. >> let's move on. facebook has helped the f.b.i. crack a massive global hacking ring. they used malware that stole credit card numbers and bank details to one of the largest cyber crimes in history. they identified criminals, and employed tools to remove these threats. 11 million computers were affected leading to $850 million in losses. tepeople have been arrested. they are from the united state

i'm still astounded j.c. penney is up 4%. volume day but apparently off this one oppenheimer report. >> it backed off the highs of the session and now is 3%. it is interesting to hear the whole thing was based on two store visits. we respect nagle but at the same time that is fewer sources than we'd use when we go to air a story. >> given his thesis is the turn-around they had, they may be winning but not for reasons they originally envisioned. have a great holiday. >> you too. see you on wednesday. >> see you later in the week. if you just missed this morning's action here is what you missed. >> welcome to hour three of "squawk on the street." here's what's happening so far. >> i truly believe the good news is this is setting ourselves up for true entitlement and tax reform in 2013. >> people had a lot on their minds this season. this weekend was a key weekend. i think it helped. i didn't see promotions being extra promotional but it's a push till the end. >> today will be light volume, right? >> yes. >> shortened session bu

j.c. penney's will stay put, but most of the old structure is coming down. a new grand entrance will go up where the old garfinkle's was. >> springfield mall was cutting edge at one point and when this reopens, springfield town center will be cutting edge again and will bring a lot of the quality retail that we've lacked for a number of years and more importantly for me we'll bring back the citizen pride. >> reporter: in springfield, peggy fox, 9 news now. >> the new springfield town center is scheduled for completion at the end of 2014. later phase will include a hotel, residential units and even some rec facilities. >>> what began as a deadly hit and run is now a full blown murder investigation. the surviving victim says he and his brother were struck by a car in gaithersburg that just as they were riding in it moments before. delia goncalves has more. >> reporter: in the darkness it was a hit and run, two brothers struck, one dead, but as detectives dig deeper, they discovered their victim was murdered. >> montgomery county's major investigation section w

sullivan for this year, but you were on our show just recently, and you've turned positive for j.c. penney lot more positive at 17 than i do 21 and i do think the middle will do better than the upper end or the bottom. the upper end retailers will get hurt because of the tax rates and the lower end hurt because of social security taxes. guys in the middle will do better. the place to be will be the mossle so thenny's will have better numbers in q q4. >> felt like we were talking to stadler on this one. >> does that make us the money sets in. >> you're hardly miss piggy though. >> five more days before we fall off the fiscal cliff or not. we'll ask the chair of the commission ed rendell what he thinks. >> and then later, all the predigses for the certainly media interest next year. we'll see if this sector will be hot or not coming up. >>> time to today's today's close with this. gift card in the u.s. are so lop lar that if you lied the cars sold last year ent to ent, they would total just how much? we'll tell you nicks. to the best vacation spot on earth. (all) the gulf! it doesn't matter

distribution services the company that transports goods to big retailers like target, walmart and j.c. penneyill consumers see if this doesn't end soon? >> products not on the shelves. a shortage of seasonal goods so if you are waiting to shop late in the season you the item you want might not be there. >> reporter: that's not all. >> raw materials coming in to the manufacturing process that's not going to happen. we have components coming in and technology that that won't happen. so the whole supply chain is being affected by this one little issue right now. >> reporter: the federal negotiator is expected to arrive in los angeles about 8:30 tonight and get here to this community center about 9:00 and that's when negotiators are expected to arrive, as well. in the meantime, they are taking a needed rest. in wilmington, randy paige, cbs 5. >>> and new numbers are out today showing the housing market is making a comeback. u.s. home prices rose more than 6% in october compared with a year ago. that is the greatest yearly gain since july of 2006. prices increased in 45 states in october including

j.c. penney shares up more than 15% this week. the s&p 500's biggest weekly gainer. material, the week's biggest gainer, cliff natural resources up 14% and u.s. steel up 8.5%, but by far the biggest talker of the week is a. just two analysts today warning that iphone sales might be less than they were expecting. the stock down almost 5% for the week and dragging the nasdaq down right along with it. see that happen almost every time. thanks so much. >> courtney reagan with the latest. want to update you on the tragic school shooting in connecticut. let's get to nbc's chris polone. chris? >> reporter: yeah, maria, this is a stunned community as is much of the northeast and the country upon hearing of the awful event that happened here today in newtown, concould. police briefed the media giving the latest information, and here's what we know so far. 26 total victims, 20 of them young children. civics them were adults in the shooting that happened around 9:30 this morning. investigators say that a gunman came to the sandy hook elementary school here in newtown. he entere

j.c. penney's ron johnson. his sin, way too optimistic in offering up guidance on what supposedly is a turnaround. the result of a promising and underdelivering. the reason he's not winner of this list is because you have to give him a chance to see if he can actually pull penney out of the hole. next is really a tough one, one i really anguished over and thought this guy might be number one and that is steve ballmer of microsoft. after years of missteps and playing follow the leader and the windows part of business, which is really only 25% of revenue, windows 8 was the trigger. it just simply hasn't knocked the cover off the ball, and that's after years, as i say, of missteps in this side of the business. in the end, however, the worst ceo easily is groupon's andrew mason. this has been nothing short of a disaster. and from a ceo standpoint i would suspect many would look at him and say a joke, an expensive joke for those who bought in early on the stock, and as i've previously said, this now appears to be a

craig johnson says j.c. penneyrning around, quote, as we speak and apple's stores, johnson's previous store, saw foot traffic peaking and started to decline. sales growth won't be as strong as before, but those still having hope on the holiday include the international council of shopping and goldman sachs and they need to work on that name. they say sales this week, they believe, will raise all of december sales from the current 3% to as much as 5%. that would be huge. back to you. >> jane, thank you very much. all right. another cliff out there, the frequent flier cliff, all right? but you don't have to get on a plane maybe to protect your miles. brian kelly is here. he is the pointsky.com. going to be brief. got to get right into it because of the headlines. how do we save our points and maximize our points flying this holiday season? >> elite status is everything. >> everybody's got it, it seems. >> i know. that's why you've got to get top tier status. >> good grief. >> the airlines will sell you elite miles, s

j.c. penney the biggest loser because there is identity crisis and also apple.ided drop of three points as the company looks to sell more product the web site got more confusing. amazon release of the year end and holidays summary of top items. "50 shades of grey" no surprise. purchasers bought enough tvs to cover every field of the nfl. they sold enough christmas tree lamps to reach the top of mount everest. >> i will get that in the late lamp. it is fabulous. >> they had a restaurant downtown we always take pictures. >> it is excellent the answer we're waiting for who is the hollywood most bankable star? natalie portman. has the number one spot. earning a record $42 for every dollar paid. black swan she won best actress was only produced a 30 million but earned 329 million. second place kristin stewart she is the "twilight" girl. pursue more than $3 billion worldwide she brings then it just over $40. eddie murphy on the returns and $2.30 he is old but he is funny. >> i love that metric. the fiscal cliff's blame itak all onin the class. is it too late for a dea

shares of jcp, j.c. penney having their best week in over ten months. up more than 17%. the best performing stock in the s&p this week. up another 3% today. jp, what in the world is going on? >> don't get too excited. it is still off 63% from the february highs and it has rallied right into its declining 50-day moving average. this will be a very important level to decide whether or not this rally has legs to continue. there are positive analyst comments this morning i guess helping the case. just keep in mind a third of this is short so it is going to be a wild stock in one direction or the other no matter what. >> another name having a big week. cliffs natural resources up about 13%. it is though down 45% so far this year, pete, so i guess you take into context what josh brown just said. don't get too excited or what? >> i think in this name you do want to be excited because of what we heard from china. when you start to see the expansion in china and you start to see some of the global growth story maybe start to get react investigated i think a lot of these names, if

for j.c. penney shoulders -- shareholders. stocks every 15 minutes, team coverage.rading pits of the cme. first to nicole petallides on the floor of the stock exchange watching general electric. nicole: good news and bad news in general electric, depending on how you view this. general electric's dow components raising its dividend, ultimately sounds good at first glance, raising the dividend by 12% quarterly payouts. starting in january versus december which is not good news, doesn't avoid the fiscal cliff and the likely higher taxes you will pay in the new year, the other thing we should note is if we release the dividend, different tax brackets. it is not a piece of good news. they authorize the company buyback of ten million shares. and raise additional casts -- cash. phil: just when you thought you could follow the car in the gas tank, futures are on fire today, a binnacle gallon. a lot of refinery issues, bp is one and another one in the midwest. both down, one is suing some contractors because of some faulty fireproofing equipment, bp refinery, because of tha

i can't -- >> haul that weather was brought to you by j.c. penney. >> oh, lara, josh?he finale. >> macy's teaming up with make a wish. your child's wish list can benefit a sick child in need. take a look at what happened. >> oh, my gosh! >> for the last 20 years, make a wash has been bringing smiles to kids of all ages by making wishes come true for kids with life-threatening medical conditions. this year, macy's joined in the program. >> in order to participate in the believe campaign, all anybody had to do was just write a letter to santa and for every letter received, macy's would donate a dollar to the make a wish foundation, up to $1 million. >> you ready to mail? >> the campaign has inspired children across the country to help out. >> fold the letters. right to the north pole, right? >> kids likes gab yeriella mill who has a brain tumor. she collected over 75,000 letters to help other kids get their wishes, too. >> that simple act is able to have a tremendous impact. not just during the holiday season but throughout the year. >> throughout the holiday season, we

>> right weeks, we're seeing sof them mixed and j.c. penneyy's, you see the push and pull happening as the retailers are trying to find their footing. the point. story here, dave. you look at the number. rise of 7/10 of a% two months ao months coming into christmas. that's the weakest since 2008 when the recession hit. it just shows you that consumer remain nervous, they're not out there spending frivolously, they're penny pinching, trying to get the best bet. and i like the title on the board there, you're not spending, that's true. people held back. david: there are a lot of issues. i'll take it to the company. there's sandy and the fiscal cliff. >> i'm not saying perhaps we should hold off saying that the consumer is nervous because spending pulse which did this survey and put out this expectation, even pointed out that in the northeast, in the mid alantic region because of hurricane sandy, spending was drastically lower than they would have expected so this could be a result of people being shocked by the superstorm not necessarily consume

thought to have done well, analysts expect much less for retailers such as barnes and noble and j.c. penneysay that the holiday slump is due to parts of the super storm sandy and rising concern about the fiscal cliff. they say sales rose 0.7% this holiday season compared to a 2% increase leisure. >> netflix's c. ito reed hastings pay with the double to $4 million next year, after he took a pay cut due to the management missteps and this year. hastings pay will include $2 million in stock options. controversy will decisions, including a steep price hikes on subscriptions, said the stock spiraling down and 2011. hastings pay was cut shortly thereafter. >> making interstate phone calls could soon get cheaper. this is for prison inmates. prison calling systems are different and normal pay phones. a typical 50 minute conversation, and because an average of $16. and new york, where fees are banned, rates can go as low as 5¢ a minute. but in places like colorado, and rates it charged more than 96 admitted. the fcc is planning to open up public comment and reduce rates nationwide. >> we will be rig

j.c. penneym, coles and macy's being lowered, shoppers are not spending as much this holiday season. citigroup things warm weather has consumers shined away from cold weather merchandize. additionally online competition, the lack of must have gifts has dampened spending. with a tax increase living, consumers are exercising caution. do you exercising caution? lori: so much conflicting data on holiday sales. better than last year but not downgrading, all over the board. melissa: we will see how it settles a. everyone spends more and they plan to. lori: that is a no-brainer. melissa: without question. lori: are we there right now? melissa: coming up, gordon chan, author of nuclear showdown, north korea takes on the world joining me to discuss north korea's long-range missile test. this is the important part as if it weren't enough. reports that iranian officials were in attendance for the launch at 5:00 eastern on fox business. the fear is once they have this technology they start selling it to iran