i'm joe kernen and this is "the kudlow report." larry's under the weather and i'm filling in. i've got the shirt, the suit, p pinstriping even the cuff links and the tie. the dow finishes at 52-week high today after a european leader signals progress in the greek bailout agreement. we came oh, so close, with dow closing at 12,950. so when will we hit 13,000 and beyond? here with us, chief investment officer, famous for his piece in the journal. "fast money" contradicter and steve cortez founder of veracruz and author of "against the nerd." i'm sorry. i'm sorry. >> "against the herd." >> this teleprompt sir far away. sorry, steve. all right. boy, that's embarrassing. let me start with you. i can't tell whether yew bullish, overly bullish or -- over bought or is it the early stage of a nice move maybe up above 13,000 and beyond? >> first, one thing on the table. i ak pro-nerd. all right? >> that's what i was saying. really. why i made that point. i don't like excluding anyone. i think it was directed at brian kelly, which i don't think is very nice. >> hey, listen, i'll take wha

>> 16 and the popular co-host of cnbc's "squawk box" in the morning, joe kernen. there's a hole there as well. and is that -- oh, yeah. he gets a shot there. so playing with steve elkington. joe actually has a masters degree in biology. he's one smart man playing with elkington who is not that smart. >> one very smart man. >> he didn't -- he's great. he was -- you could see he was hesitant to say that's a three -- it was a par 4. i had a stroke but it looked like maybe it was a par putt. it really was a three for two and that's a net eagle. >> how far was that? >> like 25 feet probably but elk had read it for me and then, i don't know, sooner or later, he's like the greatest guy. he's an aussie and a major winner. >> right. >> if you've seen the pga logo, the tour logo that you see the silhouette, that's his swing. >> how perfect it is? >> how classic his finish is. he's an amazing guy. he's great. that's the best thing about him. the scenery is great. >> we have a picture of you on the 18th hole, too. >> yes, from the quick album. >> my mom apparently didn't get t

we are loving it out and first on business worldwide, i'm andrew ross sorkin and mandy drury and joe kernenican enterprise institute. joe? >>> let's get a check on the -- he's from the ae1, but we'll go to europe, is that okay? boil go to the european markets and see what is happening over there, where socialism abounds, let's take a quick look. the cac up four, the dax up 19. and now i like that, we've added the athens composite which we found out earlier from someone the economy is the size of philadelphia and they don't -- >> it contracted, what, 7% on the latest reading? can i say earlier on in the show we were talking about the downgrades by moody's of various european countries and we were showing the idyllic pictures of the fairy tale hills and the danube, and they should be showing lines of people. >> in certain areas, and the worry is that there's contagion from them -- >> right. >> a picture of crete. >> civilization started there and hopefully the breakdown of civilization doesn't happen there. look at u.s. equities which continued to do well in january, 2% on the dow so far in f

i'm becky quick along with joe kernen and andrew ross sorkin.ust want to let the music play for a while. >> ground hog day a lot around here. >> it is. it's a familiar thing for us. >> taking that holiday and making a movie -- >> we're just excited because bill murray will be joining us in a week and a half. there's punxsutawney, where it all happens, people have been waiting. >> it's a funny name, gobbler's knob. >> punxsutawney? >> that looks just like a scene from the movie. i see that girl that he -- >> there's the dancers. >> remember he goes back and finds who her high school teacher was and he was in her class. >> i kind of want to be broadcasting -- >> next year. >> we're cable. >> streaming. >> you are dying to send out signals that rabbit ears pick up. you are. does broadcast make you feel like edward? don't you that think it's -- >> isn't it morrow. >> edward r. morrow. >> i have pronunciation issues. >> not only is it ground hogs day but facebook day. the ocean offering after year's of speculation facebook unveiling plans for the big

. >> and liam neeson is a better joe kernen than joe kernen. >> he's better than nick leeson. >> ask eduardo about the bathroom stalls. >> that's exactly what i was talking about. >> mr. mile-high club. nigh u yo were going to be in the bathroom stall except for normal places. >> we're going to see brian again in the next hour. that was great. by the way, if you have any comments or questions go ahead and e-mail us. still to come, a trifecta of news maker. at 7:00 eastern former ceo of bear stearns, alan schwartz. then rep jeb hensarling and then martin heldstein. stay with us. "squawk box" will be right back. [ female announcer ] goodnight gluttony, a farewell long awaited. goodnight, stuffy. goodnight, outdated. goodnight old luxury and all of your wares. goodnight bygones everywhere. [ engine turns over ] good morning, illumination. good morning, innovation. good morning unequaled inspiration. [ male announcer ] the audi a8, chosen by car & driver as the best luxury sedan in a recent comparison test. >>> welcome back, everybody. as you can see, the dow futures are indicated higher

i'm joe kernen along with michelle. becky quick is off today.rew sorkin sit downs with hank paulson. he'll join us in just a minute with a preview. he'll do the interview at 7:00 this morning. the headline, none of these are lower headlines, i would say, would you? >> only top headlines. dwoemgt do low headlines. >> for example, the airbus is ordering an investigating how the company allowed wing cracks. the plane maker's been dealing with embarrassing publicity about the problem. roche says that counterfeit versions of its multi billion dollar cancer drug found in the u.s. there were only two that rose to the level of top. >> right. >> headlines. that's all of them though. as we've been telling you, andrew's in new york this morning where he's going to sit down with former treasury secretary hank paulson. you weren't watching right at the top, andrew, we when we were talking about how excited we are about china, about talking about debt, and also about how you're going to try to get back here by 8:00 when the interview is over at 7:30. i said y

i'm joe kernen along with becky quick and andrew ross sorkin. welcome back. e are the headlines today. >> tell us about them, joe. >> well, you saw oil prices rising again today. you know why? >> why? >> traders say it's concern over cuts in iranian supply. >> really? >> offsetting worries that high oil prices could -- >> demand. >> european buyers of iranian oil have cut back on purchases ahead of an eu embargo that is effective in july and some of the country, iran's biggest customers in asia including china have also reduced purchases. also new home sales topped today's economic agenda. the report is due at 10:00 eastern. we will be so long gone by then. but earlier in the week the national association of realtors said that home retail increased 4.3% to the highest levels since may 2010. the u.s. postal service pushing ahead with planned cuts to more than 260 mail processing centers around the nation. the agency says it's complete add review of closings and the consolidations are to result in a loss, unfortunately, of roughly 35,000 jobs. >> thank you. it m

i'm becky quick along with joe kernen and andrew ross sorkin. u.s. stocks starting the year on a bullish foot. last month watt the best month for the markets in 15 years. the dow was up by 3.4%, so joe is well on his way to getting a better than 30% return for this year. >> yeah. >> at this point, you were underestimating things, my friend. >> yes. the. >> the s&p 500 was up by over 4%. and u.s. equity futures at this hour on this very first trading day of the new month, february, up by 91 points, s&p is up over 9 points and the big portion of the up side has to do with china. the cup's manufacturing sector better than expected in january. meantime, a similar hsbc survey showing that the sector contracted at least -- contracted by the least amount in three months. the news is supporting some hopes that the world's second biggest economy will avoid a hard landing opinion guys, that's why we're seeing green arrows once again. >> and one of the big stories this morning, eu anti-trust regularitiers wronging the merger of nyse euroneck and deutsche boerse.

i'm joe kernen along with andrew ross sorkin as well as michelle caruso-cabrera.rney gener general. we're back up today because greece was able to push that through. >> yet another austerity package and supposed reform package. yeah. you're comparing our, you were looking at -- >> our finances to greece's? much bigger numbers. >> a look to the future. >> david walker brought a comparison of where we fit fiscally compared to the rest of the world. greece is the worst out of 34 countries and we come in at 28 on the sovereign fiscal responsibility index. >> down dramatically in the last eight years. we were top ten and we've just fallen off the wagon. >> it's been a bipartisan created problem. >> absolutely. there is no party of fiscal responsibility the last eight years plus have been terrible. >> and if we want to look at potentially what our future could be, let's go to athens, greece. cnbc's julia chatterley joins us from athens, where they had to pass the austerity measure in order to get the next round of bailouts. julia? >>orter: thanks, michelle. that's absol

i'm becky quick along with joe kernen and andrew ross sorkin. standard & poor's is cutting greece's long-term ratings to selective default. now this move was widely expected because ratings agencies have said that a bond swap with private creditors would constitute a selective default. but now the ecb is suspending the eligibility of greek bonds for use of clarl and its funding operations. the ecb requires guarantees in the form of eligible collateral for all banks to seem funds in its lending operations. today greek lawmakers are voting on a package of salary and pension cuts as part of measures needed to secure a second bailout. >> and back in the u.s., gop voters head to the polls in michigan and arizona today. arizona looks like a shoo-in for mitt romney but his home state of michigan will be another story. the polls now have him virtually tied there with rick santorum. >> senator santorum is a nice guy, but he's never had a job in the private it tech tore. >> we're doing very well. >> john harwood will join us live at 6:20 eastern, 20 minut

good morning, everybody, welcome back to "squawk box" here on cnbc, i'm becky quick along with joe kernenross sorkin. among the top stories this morning, some european budget worries, this time the focus is not on greece, but hungary, the eu says it wants to with hold $655 million for hungary because the country hasn't done to bring down its deficit. >>> ford is putting $3.8 billion into the global pension plan to try to protect against potential shortfalls and will be investing the fund's assets into bonds. >>> france's peugeuot is in alliance talks with another automaker. it won't say who it is, but several media reports say it's general motors. peugeuot is europe's second-largest automaker. >>> the dow futures are down by about 21 points, the s&p futures off by 3.5. and check out our new futures board which shows you the implied percentage change at the open. right now, .25% down. the dow futures would be down by 0.16%. >> and the obama administration set to release its corporate tax plan this morning. it will propose lowering the current 35% corporate tax rate to 28%. but taxes overal

i'm joe kernen along with andrew ross sorkin. is in omaha as we spend three hours with berkshire hathaway's warren buffett. first, a quick look at this morning's headlines italy's borrowing cost, their lowest level in 17 months, which is really good news that the country's latest debt auction sold 12.25 euros in six-month bills paying the smallest interest since 2010. whatever happens in greece, we can at least point to italy as something to feel good about. we are watching the shares of metro pcs this morning. somebody is. we is a strong word. david favor reporting friday that sprint turned its back on a nearly final deal to acquire metro pcs. the company's board rejected it despite an endorsement from ceo, the guy in the trench coat in the dark walking around central park. >> new york city, going over that bridge. have you ever seen the back of the car? >> yeah. i see a guy at night in a trench coat in central park -- >> in black and white. >> yeah. the whole thing is disturbing, isn't it, andrew? you know what i'm saying. you'

joe kernen is back in the house. good morning to you, joe, after a big week out at pebble beach.

also, joe kernen and andrew

i'm becky quick along with joe kernen and andrew ross sorkin. we're all together,

i'm becky quick along with joe kernen and andrew ross sorkin.nonforeign payrolls were likely added last month. they call for 150,000 new jobs

i'm becky quick along with joe kernen and andrew ross sorkin. happy friday.the markets. the dow within 100 points of that 13,000 level. yesterday the blue chip index sprinted to its highest close

i'm joe kernen along with becky quick and andrew ross sorkin.nd ceo of w.r. ross and company and he knows about everything. financials, autos, coal, turn arounds. he is loaded. anyway checking u.s. futures this morning, down 33 points or so. for a lot of you that have written in, andrew i was kidding whether he needed to get a wrid you. they wrote in wilbur can afford his own helicopter. yeah. if he needs one. >> share the carbon footprint. >> you going to share with ben bernanke as he's throwing dollars around pap lot of merit. >> if wilbur came with us we could throw more dollars out. >> absolutely. >> they won't be taxpayer dollars. >> that's true. >> he's very generous. >> could be a charitable writeoff. >> hard to document bills you throw out the window. >> might not get the deduction for charitable contribution. >> earnings miss for general motors. reported earnings of 39 cents a share. that's below what the street was looking for. street had been looking for 41 cents a share. revenue game in at $38 billion. that was below expectations. gm

i'm joe kernen along with becky quick and andrew ross sorkin.aking headlines this morning, toyota says it expects group wide global sales to climb 21% this year. probably low numbers make it easy to do 21. the automaker is recovering from supply chain disruptions after last year's earthquake in in japan and flooding in thailand. and the january jobs report is now less than two hours away. economists in a poll by dow jones are looking for 125,000 nonfarm payrolls. you heard michelle girard talk about softness. >> she said under 100 and lou brien said 100. >> i've seen 145. >> reuters consensus is 150,000 new jobs. we'll see. >> this is against last month's number of a surprise gain and revisions that we watched on all of these. the market, though, as we head into this number is showing strength. the dow futures are up by 38 points after giving back just 11 points yesterday. the s&p is up by over 3 1/2 points and the ten-year note is still at these incredibly low yields. right now the ten year is yielding 1.28%. we had it testimony from ben bernan

house in order, mandy drury, kayla tausche, steve liesman and gary, filling in for becky quick and joe kernent for a very big show tomorrow. becky and joe will be joining us from the at&t pro-am in pebble beach. take a look at futures now, looking lower, dow would open up about 14 points lower, s&p off about 3 points and nasdaq off 3 points right now and steve you have breaking news. >> the bank of england confirming expectations to inject another 50 billion pounds into the easing economy. some positive comments, business service more positive painting of a picture. it will keep the bond size under review. it expects a gradual strengthening of output supported by a gentle recovery. >> is it nan in us? >> i'm looking to that. the inflation is expected to fall in 2012 and new bond purchases completed by the end of a. and it's worried about the euro debt problem, so again, that's one shoe. we have the other shoe we know is going to drop, the ecb. >> in 45 minutes' time. >> and what they're going to say we'll probably keep interest rates unchanged but this is a big financing operation. >> 50 bill

i'm joe kernen along with becky quick and andrew ross sorkin. andrew?d senate are to vote on an extended payroll tax cut for the rest the year. it's expected to pass early in the house although it's seen running to some resistance in the senate without the deal the cut would expire at the end of this month. signs of optimism in greece this morning. spokesman for the greek government says athens expects to get eu approval monday to begin a debt swap with private bond holders, european equities trading on higher that greece can avoid a messy default. we heard this on fridays before and waited with disappointment on mondays. u equities at this hour, european markets looking up too. the u.s. not so bad actually getting better. dow would open bullpen 25 points higher. >> today's guest host making a very rare one hour appearance today, john stumpf is the ceo and chairman of wells fargo -- >> it's big. it's big and i worry, john, because when your picture -- a full size picture goes on forbes and says this guy is the best ceo in the banking business, where do

to "squawk box" here on cnbc, i'm andrew ross sorkin, along with becky quick and our good friend joe kernengreek political leaders are at it again today, trying to finalize a fiscal reform deal needed to secure a new $172 billion rescue package. of course they've missed several deadlines along the way, angering leaders of other eu leaders and prompting them to warn that the eurozone can get along just fine without greece. >>> also this morning, nokia cutting 4,000 more jobs, about % of the workforce, the chief executive has announced plans to slash more than 30,000 positions in total. the latest cuts taking place at the smartphone assembly plants in finland, hungary and mexico. >>> and watching shares of dow component walt disney, disney beat estimates by eight cents, with quarterly profit of 80 cents per share, but revenues were short of consensus. the movie studio posted a decline. take a look at futures right now. we're looking slightly up across the board. dow would open up about 29 points higher. s&p 500 would be up about 2.5 points, the nasdaq would open up a little over four points h