looking at 86 points, helped in pfizer in particular. the sand the nasdaq which was all over the place today, down as much as 1.5%, closing slightly negative. losing about a point, 40.74 is the level there. noing joining me now our guests. couple to all of you. i don't even know where to begin. at least there was merger monday news. how much animal spirits do you think that is going town leash into the markets? >> saw the animal spirits at the open of the market, news not only from pfizer but the comcast charter deal for the 3.the million subscribers providing a lift underneath the market. really the technicals midday that caused a bit of a breakdown and resurgence of optimism going into the close which is what carried us through to the end but the merger monday stuff, i mean, it was big but not enough to sustain the rally throughout the day. >> art cashin was drawing attention to key levels, and it was interesting because the narrative seemed to change. this has been the case now for weeks, right? every half hour it seems like people are writ

and pfizer in talks with astrazeneca. and g.e.'s >> the fed in focus. a big two-day meeting. how are economists feeling about the taper and state of business? details just ahead. >>> and we're on retail detail. big box retailers have been bruised and battered. the final hour of "squawk box" begins right now. ♪ i think it's going to be all right ♪ >> welcome back to "squawk box" here on cnbc, first in business worldwide. i'm joe kernen along with becky quick and andrew ross sorkin who is back, rested. >> thank you. >> sun is not good for anyone. anyone says why aren't you tan say because i'm smart. >> you got a little bit. >> i, like my sons, wear those shirts. >> that and 60 spf. >> that is ridiculous. because of your boobs or the sun? >> the sun. >> you can buy them so your boobs look good. >> do you have a safp snell. >> what do you mean a satchel? >> a man purse. murse. john carries one. looks like zach galifianakis. >> he believes in the fanny pack. >> it connected to you. >> in the front. futures up about 91 points. rough sessi

s&p up 0.3. pretty flat for the nasdaq. we did see rotation into the stocks. pfizer doing well. talking about its bid for astrazeneca. e s&p 500 is currently around 7 points above fair value and the nasdaq at the moment is some 15 points above fair value. the ftse cnbc global 300, just ticking higher by around 9 points. we're two hours into the trading day here in europe. earnings helping us along again this morning. numbers out from the likes of infinium, bp, deutsche bank and nokia as well. the ftse 100 currently up 0.5%. gdp in the uk coming out with the strongest annual weight of growth, 3.2% for the first quarter. quarter-on-quarter, that growth up 0.8%. that was an expectation that might have hit 0.9%. the xetra dax up two-third. the micex up 0.2%. on the bond markets, we'll show you where we stand with treasury yields. they have inched higher during the course of the european session this morning. of course the fed kicks off, nothing wildly different from what we expect. on the currency markets, ahead of that, the euro dollar, marginally higher. 1.3867. dollar, 102.64. the euro inching up after comments from th

pfizer is going after british rival astrazeneca. here's a look at the closing numbers. the dow was up 87 points. the nasdaq lost one point. and the snd p 500 rose 6 points. opening bell at 6-30. temperatures on the milder side. fifties and forties right now. already 56. 55 and downtown san francisco. kohler and san jose. legend of how long this hour the roads looking. >> pretty slow and the bay bridge toll plaza. we're back up into the macarthur maze are ready. unnerved. of the drive time from the shore freeway is already over 20 minutes of the five posed drive times sometimes the best approach is the nimitz freeway and that's about a 60 minute proposition into downtown san francisco. more reaction continuing to pour an overnight. >>even more reaction coming in overnight over the donald sterling tapes. we're hearing from not only african american leaders. but leaders in the n-b-a on and off the court this morning. responding to what appears to be the clippers owner telling his girlfriend to not only delete pictures of her posing with magic johnson and other black professional athletes. but to not even bring them to his team's games

pfizer leading the charge. busy week for earnings. a lot of dow components as well as 150 s later in the week. >>> the mobile satellite company global star listing the common shares on the big board today. the company uses signals not only to connect people around the world but also to track data including the locations of planes. jay, congratulations, good to see you. >> thank you. >> obviously, that's going to get people's attention, the notion that this might have altered the search for flight 370. how would it have worked? >> well, if this technology were on the plane at that time and not disconnected because we had intelligent rules for that kind of issue, then you would have known every second where that plane was. and you would have known if the plane went up a few feet, down a few feet, had gone left or disappeared. and know within a few feet. >> based on data coming from areas on the planet that are currently dark, so to speak? >> they are. and what adsb is, is a technology to deliver information to ground stations to track very accurately where aircraft are. but, a

pfizer makes a fresh approach fors a stra accident ka. we'll have the details, next. >>> this is our u.s. futures shaping up before the session. the s and dow all up today across the european markets so far. bigger news out today driving sentiment. pfizer confirmed it made a renewed approach to astrazeneca. the u.k. drugmaker won't engage in talks. pfizer says it originally approached astra back in january and they have held high-level discussions, but pfizer's previous big was $98.7 billion or about $76 a share. pfizer and astrazeneca shares are on the move in the u.k. today. well, moving into the u.s. market, merck is looking to buy over-the-counter sales. >>> comcast is reporting a $20 billion deal to remake the u.s. paid tv market. the "financial times" says it is getting regulatory crew to buy cable, it would involve comcast, the parent of cnbc, investing in 4 million subscribers or 18% of his net worth. stay tuned. we'll have more on this during the break and how the big transactions are dealed, but it is valued if not more for men to stay home. >> that is true, but nowhere near the frothy levels back in 2007. so even with eve

after a british newspaper reported that pfizer made an attempt to buy the whole company for more than $100 billion. both companies declining comment. david: sources s

>> pfizer pays one of the highest tax rates in the pharmaceutical industry in the highest 20's.is an opportunity for them to say we will do this merger with astrazeneca and use this as an opportunity to re-domicile this company and the lower u.k. with a lower tax rate. it would be one of the biggest companies ever to leave the u.s. for tax reasons. you have to wonder what the u.s. government will do. >> they will stand to use a lot of that lose a lot of money. pfizer already has a good tax advantage situation where it manages not to pay a lot of u.s. taxes. -- all farmer also the the pharmaceutical companies do this. they think would they can make this happen. congress and the white house are doubly going to have something to say about this. >> you would think. thank you so much. up, it's the first test for the new nba commissioner and what will he do about donald sterling and his controversial remarks? ♪ welcome back to "market makers." we are live from the milken institute global conference. >> the hits keep on coming. with us right now is the deputy managing director of the i

s&p up 9, nazdaq up 29, crude oil rose 44 cents, and gold down $3. yield on 10 year, up to 2. 70%, twitter shares plungeing, reporting losses widened in first quarter. pfizeronfirming bid for astrazeneca would allow them to move headquarters overseas and save company a billion dollars in taxes a year. are you kidding me? and 8 other u.s. publicly traded companyed have moved overseas in the last year following their mergers, anyone paying attention? joining us sam stoval, chief equity strengthist for s&p capital. your reaction to the idea u.s. multinational is just multinationals. >> it pushes forward, the agenda, the need to discuss a global tax rate that makes u.s. competitive globally. even though companies don't end up paying full 36%, that is stated -- lou: not even closer you kidding? talk about that rate. come on, sam. a 17% rate. that puts them in at the worst at the median internationally. and their failure to compete has nothing to do with the tax rate and everything to do with fact that companies, themselves, are making choices that are not effective in markets, they sent job overseas, they have offshoreed production, what the bloody hd ar hell a

s&p 500. meanwhile, all that's happened is the earnings estimates have gone higher. what's it selling at? we have to do that alyes bray thing? it's cheaper than merck or pfizer. and it goes up 5% in a day. 5%. today. how about gilead? lately there's some negative research about the new hepatitis c drug. i can earn $7 a share two years from now. during the spring cleaning where they dumped everything it was sold down to 68 bucks that's selling for less than 10 times earnings. and the disparity became ridiculous, today it burst up 4%. i'm not saying that the grand growth sell-off can't return. especially with the flurry of the initial public offerings in the works. however if they have been in their bunkers for the last month should begin to emerge tomorrow morning at 6:00 a.m. now that first quarter selling is over, that's the way it's always played. we saw an excellent firm today, r.w. baird coming out, adding celgene to the focus list. it wouldn't surprise if me goldman sachs taking celgene off the buy list at a much higher level comes out a rndz everses that call. -- and reverses that call. it's more likely than blankfein being on jimmy fallon tonight. happ

pfizer going after british rival after shares skyrocketing in over 8 percent. here's a look of the closing numbers over yesterday's read the dow up 71.3 nasdaq down one and the s& will be watching wall street today. 30 points ahead of the opening bell. lookit earnings reports coming out today from twitter and the bay to big bay area companies reporting their closing arguments over the case of smart phone technology today. each company accuses the other of stealing key features to develop the latest mark phones on the market. jurors are to determine which company is right and how much is owed in damages to the other. apple is suing samsung for $2.2 billion. samsung wants some 6 million. >> new e cigarette laws are going into effect today in new york city and chicago. they have been too bad that when no longer allow electronic cigarettes in restaurant bars or other public places. for the chicago band also applies to endure public places but the endorsee the law extends to parks and beaches to. the cigarettes have nicotine based solutions. celebrity endorsers and candy like flavoring but all that lawmakers say are appealing to teenagers. >> if you ever been on boa

s the two companies said they will combine by the first half of 2015. the deal would be one of the largest takeovers and the industry's history. pfizer it is proposed buying the london-based drugmaker. gainzeneca is the biggest on the stoxx 600 this morning. we leave you with these live pictures of president obama speaking in manila as their meeting with the philippine president aquino. we go live to manila if we hear biggerg about possible and higher sanctions on russia. >> welcome back to "on the move." president obama has been speaking in manila. the q&a section has started. we're waiting to see whether he will field questions on the expected additions to sanctions on russia. we are expecting a second stage of sanctions, especially targeting individuals and banks. are preparing for possible sanctions. also, individuals, we're being told but treasury officials, the expanded list of individuals that might be sanctioned from putin's inner circle. as you said, president obama has yet to make any comments about ukraine. we will obviously be monitoring for those comments. how this has worked in the past is that when they are repairing s

pfizer reportedly making a $101 billion proposal to buy british rival astrazenca. >>> and a big week for earnings with a third of the stell you what to expect from apple, microsoft, milk donald's and more. it is monday, april 21st, 2014. "squawk box" begins right now. >>> good morning, everybody. welcome to "squawk box" on cnbc this monday. i'm becky quick, andrew ross sorkin is off today. gm waiting three years to address saturn ion problems with power failures despite many claims. the national highway transportation safety board did not seek a recall on the saturn ion and found 12 crashes and two injuries caused by the problem. gm issued a statement saturday admitting it did not do enough to take care of the power steering problem. phil lebeau will join us at 7:00 a.m. with more on this story. >>> and gm is announcing plans to invest $12 million in china by 2017. speaking at the auto china show in beijing,

pfizer and chairman of pharma. that's coming up, also, in this hour of "squawk on the street." s at your ford dealer think?hrough lately. polar vortexes, road construction, and gaping potholes. so with all that behind you, you might want to make sure you're safe and in control. ford technicians are ready to find the right tires for your vehicle. get up to $120 in mail-in rebates on four select tires when you use the ford service credit card at the big tire event. see what the ford experts think about your tires. at your ford dealer. i can't wait to get to mattress discounters good and early for the tempur-pedic bonus event. choose $300 in free gifts, and, get up to 48 months interest-free financing with any tempur-pedic mattress. ♪ mattress discounters >>> welcome back. she's the arch nemesis of siri, but so far the reviews are positive. it's powered by bing, the search engine of microsoft. its goal is improving the answers as she grows, more familiar with the user. we want to bring back jon fortt, the brains behind cortana, stefan weitz. >> let's jump into it. let's talk about bing. nice momentum. a high