mr. ackman and asked him to participate. mr. ackman said no and he refused. that this has been going on in the shadows, as we say for the last eight months. this is ridiculous what's happening here. we're not a pyramid scheme. that's a bogus accusations. we have millions of customers around the world. we don't pay for recruiting, been in business 32 years. we just announced a $100 million facility in north carolina employing over 500 people with the governor of north carolina this morning. this is a legitimate company. mr. ackman's proposition that the united states would be better when herbalife is gone. the united states will be better when bill ackman is gone. >> one of the folks that consider your company to be a pyramid scheme, something that's come to you in the country of belgium through a lawsuit and more recently today by bill ackman and others including david einhorn. are the sales confined to your own distribution network or is it broader than that? >> we have millions upon millions of customers. lieberman research was hired by us to go out and ver

mr. ackman's business model apart. his mistakes are too many to address immediately.scott, this is probably not unexpected considering the tough words and doled out today by bill ackman who, by the way, is still in a q and a session. >> quickly, it is not up to ackman to grant or deny access to the conference. >> i don't know whose decision that was. i know that request got to his offices and he participated in the decision to turn them down. what is the process, i'm not certain. but it is talking apples and oranges for earnings call versus a conference. >> we are expecting bill ackman to be on cnbc when he gets off that stage. we will do final trades next. that's what way is trying to say. [ female announcer ] if you care for someone with mild to moderate alzheimer's, you'll also care about our new offer. you get access to nurses who can help with your questions. and your loved one can get exelon patch free for 30 days. if the doctor feels it's right for them. it cannot change how the disease progresses. hospitalization and rarely death have been reported in patients

mr. ackman has previously said to beware of companies. we asked to be part of the call today, he refused. his miss statements are mistakes are too numerous to address immediately. once again, michael johnson, their ceo yesterday, called claims being called bogus, add matly denied they are a pyramid scheme. sounds like we will hear more in the days to come. >> i wonder if they will address the issue ever buying back their own stock with which mr. ackman says they are doing today. >> a perfect storm is brewing in washington and at this hour. the house gets set to vote on plan b which the white house has said is a nonstarter. house speaker boehner will hold a news conference in about 15 minutes or so. we will take it live here. first, to john hart wood at the white house. john? >> sue, we've had a pretty relentless game of messaging bing pong between democrats and republicans today. we hear from eric cantor about plan b that house intends to take up. then we heard from harry reed, now just behind me, jay carney is briefing. but bottom line f

mr. ackman's assertion is this stuff is being consumed. it is being eaten. that kind of makes it impossible to collapse. because everyday i eat more stuff. >> herb, real quick, before the show, brian was looking at nu skin and other multilevel marketer, do you think we will see more scrutiny on other kinds of companies like this. >> absolutely. there are a range of companies in multilevel marketing industry. but there is controversy over a number, nu sauna and nu skin. so yes, you have to look at all of them and each one by itself and raise questions about the business model and let's see what happens. >> good discussion. herb, we will let you go. but shares just got halted. so keep your eye on that on your day off. i know you like to work. thank you. >> tim, thank you. tough questions. did you great. appreciate you coming on. kate kelly, thank you. >> mandy, thank you. >> thank you. >> and thank you for watch everybody. but we're not done yet. show gez on. just ahead in fact, ranking worst trades of the year. and here is a hint, shining armor could not save

mr. ackman because after that interview, bill ackman talked to kate kelly and said he is not in any sort of options strategy. yes, there was unusual activity in the terms of the puts that expire this friday but as for mr. ackman, he says he is not involved with any of those. >> is it possible that other people could be aware that he was going to do something like this? >> the question is that illegal? it is not. if bill ackman said -- if i'm bill ackman, jim cramer, imcome out with a neg tifr position on herbalife, you can go out and do whatever you want with that? >> yes. now, obviously, one of the things that you know about, there's a fomentation rule in 13 b. driving the stock down, someone to could say it is manipulation. johnson may not have his facts right. johnson has been on "mad money" a number of times. this is a total battleground. merrill lynch reity traits does make a lot of money. herb greenberg done fabulous work here. in the end, ackman is saying all they are doing is selling product from distributor to distributor and that is a ponzi scheme because it doesn't end with cu

mr. ackman says he will make a presentation on thursday, the day before the puts expire. not we know that this has been going on in the shad dome shado eight months. this is ridiculous what's happening here. >> let's get more on this and bring in john najarian of option monster. dr. j, was this suspect activity? >> unusual activity. dan nathan krilted this, as well. i'm not trying to glom onto your work, dan, but there was unusual activity here. average daily volume in november was 10,000 contracts on the put side. and there were several days where it traded 30,000, 40,000 contracts until november. the first day of december, it traded about 21,000 puts, double normal. so, the question is, was, number one, we have no idea if it's ackman or einhorn, who it was. could it be the hedge that was done with an over the counter trade? very likely. that's a good potential. and/or it could have been somebody just wanted to accumulate a lot of these opt n options. whatever the event was, and again, we won't know that, melissa. >> right. dan, what did you make of that? >> yeah, doc an

mr. ackman suddenly announces he will make a presentation on herbalife on thursday. before the puts expire. now we know what this has been going on for in the shadows, as we say, for the last eight months. this has been ridiculous what's happening here. >> bill ackman called me shortly after that johnson interview, and he wanted to make a couple of points. first of all, he says he has no put options in herbalife, only a short sale position, only an equity position. he says he's never spoken to another short seller about the stock, including david einhorn considered to be a short in this stock, though that's never been confirmed, maria, so more questions continue, but ackman strongly denying some of the accusations that johnson has made. >> thanks so much. kate kelly with the latest there. as the debate over the deficit wears on, consider this number. $750 billion a year. that's how much it's estimated that the u.s. health care system throws away on just unnecessary care, wasteful spending and downright fraud. take this back brace, for example, medicare pays over $900

mr. ackman's premise and interpretation of our business model apart. rtain i a he said/she said case but the stock is reflecting ackman shorting the stock. tracy: crazy stuff, nicole. we'll be back in 15 minutes. ashley: time to make money with charles payne. there he is. checking profits on a previous recommendation and giving us a new stock. charles is spoiling us for christmas. >> i have been rocking in december. i'm telling you. this feels like low-hanging fruit, right? carmax, couple weeks ago after the hurricane. ashley: yeah. >> today nicole is reporting on it. stock at new 52-week high. one you would hold. i had a play earlier up big. dennis i told sell half. why would you sell half of what you like. that is biotech company with very little to know revenue. this is company, all the dem of course gras and trends going in their favor. our cars are still 11, 12 years old and people will buy new ones. tracy: this is not one you would sell half. >> no. tracy: tell us about the new one, because i love it. >> shutterfly. one of the companies i always p

mr. ackman, who is extremely eloquent, and can be quite insightful as well. you wonder whether it's not sort of yet a new pathway for activists, investors to really come after companies, certainly here on the short side. of course, he said all his profits from the short sale will go to charity. it's an interesting dynamic. one wonders, given his history as well, with these public pronouncements from way back, he doesn't seem reluctant to go at it, even though he's been criticized in the past. this is many years ago, close to sort of crossing a line, that some regulators, at least -- >> talking on the street. he did it with -- >> particularly on the negative side. particularly on the negative side, short side. but it's not illegal. >> the journal this morning, we had david from discovery on in the past week or so. the company's potential to raise ad rates is pretty good while keeping margins high. it's worth the premium that it commands, and that fits into the entire story that we went over with him when he was on the other day. >> international such an import

mr. ackman. >> they also hired shiller, the law firm. why they would hire a law firm at this point. no reason given. they have hired them, which is another, hmm, wonder what they're up to kind of move. bob pisani is on the floor with what's moving today. >> we're up 24 points in the dow. and a lot of people think a grand bargain is impossible at this point. but president obama coming back from vacation in hawaii. that's an indication that some kind of deal -- however small -- is definitely coming. i want to point out, and i know you've been negative on this mastercard data on retail sales, and everybody thinks it's going to be a mess for the holiday season. i want to point out that the stocks are not acting that way. that this is a disaster for the season. the s&p retail index hit an historic high on december 3rd. historic high. since then, it has only been down about 3%. these stocks are not acting like there's a disaster. i can give you several reasons why they're not down so far. number one, we are going to see eps growth in the fourt