plus, leon cooperman of omega advisers will be here and dick kovacevich will talk financials.ick break. >>> welcome back. didn't even check it like that. welcome back to "squawk box." shares of merk getting a boost. upgraded by morgan stanley. two-grade notch up from overweight to underweight. i'd like to look into that and see what was different. who did we have on, gorman, had a lot of big-name people on. >> yeah, saw him out and about. is more done, do you think, honestly, andrew, isn't it really more about -- does anything ever get done? it's about the parties. >> it's what happens on the air. >> i agree. >> no deal making? >> there's deals. i think there's some deal making. it's usually the seeds are planted as opposed to real things done. a lot of regulatory conversations. >> but mostly parties? >> parties set the seeds for the other stuff. >> i think you might be right. more productive than i thought it was. you're right. >> okay, let's talk about china, is china facing a banking crisis? leader of beige book international and john rutledge. chief investment strategist.

with the solid new ceo, higher natural gas prices and the support of billionaire leon cooperman, where is san drij energy going? >> well, lee was one of my teachers at goldman sachs, i remain on board san drig. i have to tell you the rate is now over, the people who rated lynn down, congratulations. you did your job i guess. but that one has got almost a 9% yield. it is filled with natural gas. dan in florida. dan? >> caller: thank you, jim. i have been doing some -- i forgot to say booyah to you from florida. >> right back at you. >> caller: i know your charitable trust had the stock at one time, you've had the ceo on twice but you weren't happy with the last quarter. it's wind stream. >> i think this company is going to be challenged to have the cash flow to maintain that yield so i'm going to say sell sell sell. and that, ladies and gentlemen, is the conclusion of the "lightning round"! >> announcer: the lightning round is sponsored by td ameritrade. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ tires screech ] chewley's finds itself in a sticky situation today after recalling its new gum. [ male announcer ] stick it to

. >> leon cooperman an old friend from goldman sachs' days says when the market does well and respondssappointing news, it wants to go higher. that's the interpretation i put on this today. >> we've had such a lackluster beginning to this year. last year was just a spectacular year overall. from the get-go. this year nothing. >> those first five trading days, which are down, as you know, they have a 75% to 80% accuracy ratio in terms of predictpr predicting the whole year. even higher is the first full month of january. it's possible to give a false signal, but i think it's -- the party was so strong, people are looking to see what the fed is going to do. you have two meetings. you have january 29th-30th coming up and march 19th-20th. tonight forget the big positives. manufacturing, monetary stimulus, house prices, and the consumer. now, next tuesday, this coming week, you're going to get the retail sales. >> yes. >> and the consensus is looking for a weak number. so that i think might let the market pull back some further and you want to judiciously and appropriately add a little stoc

and then at 7:00 eastern, check this out, we have leon cooperman. plus dick parsons is today's guest host and later, mark mobius is going to tell us why he's staying cool, he says, during this emerging market mini panic. we're back in a moment. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. and only national is ranked highest in car rental customer satisfaction by j.d. power. (natalie) ooooh, i like your style. (vo) so do we, business pro. so do we. go national. go like a pro. anbe a name and not a number?tor scottrade. ron: i'm never alone with scottrade. i can always call or stop by my local office. they're nearby and ready to help. so when i have questions, i can talk to someone who knows exactly how i trade. because i don't trade like everybody. i trade like me. that's why i'm with scottrade. announcer: ranked highest in investor satisfaction with self-directed services by j.d. power and associates. sometimes they just drop in. always obvious. cme group can help you navigate risks and capture