he's the best that they can do given the departure of ron johnson. ough, for investors tonight, is, did you like the jcpenney of mike ullman preron johnson? because if you didn't, are you getting more of the same at this point? >> right. that's the question. you're right. and i think we know they have a real estate problem. we know this company is a bit of a dinosaur. so what is the answer here? we know there's more competition in the market. we know that they're trying to get a younger, hipper customer in the store. and none of these things have worked so far. so ron johnson had tried to change this company. what he did was scare away the core consumer and not get the new ones in. so going forward, i think, again, the damage is done here. the only good news is that ron johnson, who, as i said last week on your show, he had a circle of yes around him. he had nobody challenging him. so now you bring in somebody who's open to other people's opinion and who won't just act unilaterally. >> i guess the question is, is jcpenney going to go out of business h

on the first reports that ron johnson is leaving. came in a year ago, jcpenney stock popped on hopes of johnson could do something to add some sizzle to this middle of the road retailer. it is not as hip as it needs to be, not as young as it needs to be. ron johnson tried to establish all of these branded stores within a store. they are now fighting over the martha stuart brand. one of the new store in a store they started. now we will see what happens when the new officer will come in to set the company on the right course. the problem is apple and apple stores were dealing with a product people super loud and exclusive. jcpenney was selling run-of-the-mill retail goods you could get almost anywhere where price and discount becomes a way to compete. ron johnson tried to change the entire industry with his approach of everyday low pricing and it failed numerous times in previous years in other sectors. p&g tried it and bacacked off of it. people love the idea of a discount even if it turns out you're giving them lower prices every sin

ron johnson. >> has he turned on the ron congress dollar yesterday? he had 140 xharcharts that show this was going to happen. >> if you're going to though these things, you have to go all in. and salesmen, people that seem to succeed in life. but you don't have to be smart to just stig to something. >> although this got down to the wire. ron johnson is out at jcpenney's strategy. >> shares of the retailer jumping nearly 11% in after hours trading when cnbc' scott wapner first broke the news, but then the stock dropped after jcpenney announced his predecess predecessor, mike ullman ras coming back to take over. we'll have more from dana tellsy in just a moment. >> but that's what you needed, a big guy to come in and turn it around. jp penny fell so far, and you bring the savior in and he doesn't work and then you bring the guy back in. >> but this is essentially the guy there ackman brought back in, too. >> under ron johnson, all the other department stores, macy's especially ksh. >> plus he turned it around once. jcpenney came back and then it lost it

our own scott wapner, who broke the ron johnson news for us right here on "closing bell" last night ish us, as is courtney reagan, who was interviewed johnson many times. thank you all for joining us. brian, i mean, what was the alternative? i mean, it wasn't working and we're just getting word now that maybe jcpenney's first quarter sales were down a whopping 10%. so, it was clearly that they were starting to lose some market share and money at this point. >> yeah, well, look, there's a random line with where the street actually estimated. what i'll say is that now the company is like half pregnant. don't fire the ceo now. fire him about six months ago or fire him in about another six months. so six months ago, when the pricing strategy went wrong, or in another six months, when we find out, if there's a new shop and shop strategy actually pans out. but when we're just about to see if it works or not, it just makes no sense to actually go ahead and to fire ron johnson right now. especially when it puts a lot of relationships at risk with vendors, because you will have a couple of big

ron johnson imp le apple retail. ron johnson imp lmented what steve jobs wanted done.ecute. we're saying now there's an opening at retail at apple. that correlates with, with johnson leaving. johnson left. steve jobs died right around the same time. those two things happened right around the same time. a lot of problems that happened at apple, we can trace back to jobs. bringing back ron johnson isn't going to solve anything. >> you know the apple story is as good as anyone. the destruction in shareholder value over the past year or so. where does retail fit in the fires that they have to essentially put out right now? >>. >> i don't think there's anything wrong with retail right now. i think it's running on auto pilot right now. which says to me they're just running the show the way jobs would want to. i mean, sales per square foolt and everything else. it's fantastic. i don't think there's a problem there. there's problems in other parts o it have business, primarily. can apple innovate and do another big problem like ipad or iphone or ipod. none of this has anything

he described ron johnson during his visit. he has been incredibly critical of as delightful and energetic. he said the shops look good but the customer will decide whether this new thing actually works. we will find out when that first shop is scheduled to open in may. the largest shareholder, has the big long position in j.c. penney was making comments today as well at a conference up in boston and he said the criticism of j.c. penney, and he has been ron johnson's biggest defender and j.c. penney's biggest defender to date. in his words, too much change too quickly without adequate testing and that so far the execution has been -- again, in bill's words, something very close to a disaster. no surprise then that we just found out in the annual report that ron johnson got no bonus. his total pay was $1.9 million after some 50 some on million a year ago. >> and he bought a lot of stock which is basically worthless. i think it's overstating it to say that allen was optimistic by what he saw. i don't think he was willing to go th

well, ron doesn't think so, and not ron johnson, our viewer, ron.ne of their stores since my mom shopped there when i was a child. david weighing in, he says: he remembers tweeting the day they announced their new ads, how it was doa. he should have stepped down a while ago. thank you, david. you know what? the board doesn't get enough blame for this, right? the board should be replaced for allowing him to do what he did. mike weighing in, mike says: he doesn't think they can compete in the current retail environment, just too horse and buggy. join in, don't forget to like us at face book.com/liz claman. also help me beat charlie in the twitter or war we're having, @lizclaman. i think i'm 3,000 behind. >>> okay, when this analyst was on our show in september, he picked a stock that has rallied nearly 55%. yes, 55%. don't we all wish we put everything we own into safe? i mean, who would have thought safeway? but his second pick almost as good, it's up more than 30%. the man, the legend behind these two picks, look at don schreiber. been in the busine

ron johnson came in from apple. to apple he was very well-regarded in the retail industry from target. and he tried to come in and say we have no coupons, no deals, low prices all the time and didn't bother to test that strategy. it didn't work, it failed miserably and when you look at the number, bleeding, sales dropping quarter after quarter and finally enough is enough. the one strategy that the ceo coming back in likes, is the shop within the shop and see if that helps j.c. penney in the quarters to come. stuart: i think it's down because of the mess he left. all right, nicole, thank you. dow is up 20 in first nine minutes of business. and i've got 7 early movers, j.c. penney not the only company with a change at the top. the security software, sourcefire, and new chief, remember what charles payne says about leadership changes. star surgical makes implantable lenses and an upbeat forecast, nicely higher. up a buck on a $6 share. and alcoa, dead flat there. plastics maker shulman lowered the outlook, bad news fo

. ♪ >>> jcpenney shares falling today that ron johnson was ousted.aturally, i'll go to you on this. the shares are looking at the lowest close in some 12 years. >> do we have that tape of me saying when he resigned the stock would go down? can we play that for a second? >> are you going to buy the shares today? >> i'm short. i think it goes to five. the scuttlebutt is they went to others and say, would you take the ceo role and they couldn't get a take her? so mike who was a great ceo -- >> i'm sure they are still shopping around. does anybody expect this guy to stick around for five, ten years? >> no, but who's going to take it? they have no balance sheet left. their stores are just a mess, you have confused the customer. it's not like the customer even knows who the ceo is. they are very limited to what they can do. i think they are in a terminal downdraft. i'm short the stock, it goes to five, there's no hope here. >> their case is easy to make, is there a bookcase? >> i was long in the stock and then i was long in the calls on the stock, jcpenney

ron johnson's predecessor becomes his successor.iest financial picture. they own 426 of its 1100 stores. jpmorgan values those at -- which works out to about $11 a share. when it comes to cash, j.c. penney has $930 million on the books. it's estimated they burned through $600 million more in the current quarter, which assumes same-store sales are down 50%. under johnson, they fell to 116 per square foot. to get back to the 2011 level, j.c. penney would have to average a 30 to 35% com store sales for the entire year, practically an impossible scenario. in 2012, j.c. penney they loss $25 million under alleman. jcpenney shares have lost 51% of their value under johnson's 17 months as ceo, but they lost 17% under alleman's seven-year reign. this is a mess. >> that's an excellent way of describing it. thank you very much for that, courtney reagan. let's take a look, meantime, how jcpenney shares are trading right now. it is currently down by 11% at 1409, which clearly showses what investors are feeling about all of this. joining us now f

nasdaq and s&p also higher. >> and ron johnson out at jcpenney, but is he headed to another retail job? after the break, we'll talk to former apple ceo john sculley who says this company should hire johnson now. >> and why is elon musk angry at sarah palin? it's a battle being waged on twitter. tesla founder billionaire elon musk is here to tell us his side of the story. >> and we are calling them the rip van winkle trades. what if you've been asleep for this rally. why some experts say it's not too late for the names that can still make you money coming up on the "closing bell." i know what you're thinking... transit fares! as in the 37 billion transit fares we help collect each year. no? oh, right. you're thinking of the 1.6 million daily customer care interactions xerox handles. or the 900 million health insurance claims we process. so, it's no surprise to you that companies depend on today's xerox for services that simplify how work gets done. which is...pretty much what we've always stood for. with xerox, you're ready real business. which is...pretty much what we've always stood f

penney, with the huge negative reaction to the ousting of ron johnson. so, you know, ackman, it's still performing well, and it remains unclear how it will affect his current quarter. her alive, it will be interesting to see how the kpmg situation plays out. i would say it's probably a net neutral for the company. and investors are reacting as such. >> nothing to do with either ackman or icahn. it's apparently a rogue employ decree of kpmg. >> exactly. my only curiosity if the new auditor takes a fresh look, will it get a rubber stamp or raise any questions about the financials because of course the financials, the accounting, the way they structure their business and describe it to investors, has been under scrutiny with ackman in particular, we know he's short to the tune of some $1 million, so any all tore who raises questions would be beneficial to him. >> kate kelley spent the whole morning scripted that. >> not a bit of it was spontaneous. >> thanks, kate. >>> another stock held this morning. skechers. the company announcing the resignation of kpmg

martha stewart omnimedia made the deal with j-c penney when now ousted ceo ron johnson was at the helm. no word yet on how johnson's departuure might impact the case. britain's "iron lady" has died. margaret thatcher, england's first female prime minister, died yesterday after a stroke. she was 87. politically formidable, and a strong proponent of free- markets, thatcher spent her career transforming britain's economy. she dubbed it "a culture of dependency" and set it on a course of far fewer government controls. if you could renovate fort knox to house all the gold in the world in a single vault, how big would it be? according to a tally by thomson reuters: the world's supply of gold could fit in a cube of 68 feet high, tall and wide.for those who like to measure their gold in sheer weight.it's about 3-7-7 million pounds or the weight of 26,250 elephants. the u-s geological survey thinks there's at least 114 million pounds of gold yet to be discovered. still to come farmers are preparing for a bumper crop this season....but could a little rain get in the way? find out later. but firs

ron johnson what do you make of all of this? the idea that he did it, he wanted to superimpose his will on jcpenney. had he ever walked through a jcpenney's store? is there a point where -- charles: at some point, this will be a screaming buy. it was a ninefold move. every year same-store sales were up. the stock had a good run. it surprised the street. they probably want some fresh blood in there. it is pretty obvious that this guy will be temporary. the people, the service, they had that stuff. finally, they turned it all around. if people think these cannot come back, they are absolutely wrong. twenty-seven hedge fund old jcpenney coming into this month. cheryl: thank you. charles payne. credit card swipe fees. retailers say they are not ready to let the credit card companies off the hook on that. we will have the money behind the story. is it easier to raise money to tell these important stories? first, a look at our world currencies are faring today on markets now against the dollar. we will

ron johnson, ceo of jc penney, is that ruptured appendix right now. dr. bill akman in my opinion is going to go in and remove him. bill akman has been very clear about his support for ron johnson until last friday when he said that johnson's tenure has been, quote, very close to a disaster. he used the word "disaster." if my boss used the word disaster i'd be looking for a new job pretty quickly, updating my resume. >> ron johnson as ruptured appendix. i've not heard that one yet. carter? which way would you go here? >> looks like a ruptured appendix, that's for shoe. i think that's quite right. look at the comparative chart for fun. i've got a ten-year chart which juxtaposes macy's and jc penney. beautiful moves off the '02, '03 low. they top in '07. that's where things go terribly wrong for jc penney. jc penney is back at its '09 lows. that's emergency room type stuff. the market is at its '07 highs. macy's returned to '07 highs. mark makes that good point. it is a good chart. here's the thing about let's just say it is someone in the emergency room. wh

he was the ceo before ron johnson. during the time that he was ceo, the stock price fell 17% and earnings were relatively flat. as far as where the company goes from here, a lot of questions still unanswered at this hour as to what this interim ceo will change, if anything, as they make the transition and search for a prominent replacement. >> so there's no likelihood that mr. ullman will be the permanent successor to mr. johnson whatsoever? >> at this point we don't know. it is possible. however, we know that the board moved him out and moved him in. it's possible he could stay, but at this point j.c. penney is using the words interim ceo. it has happened in the past that these interims become permanent, but as with best buy, the new interim ceo did not become the permanent. >> courtney, i think the $1 million question here is, is j.c. penney fixable, no matter who's the ceo? >> i think it is fixable. i think the big question is how and how long it will take. they are in the middle of a very big turnaround plan. they'

frequent guest on our show, said the smart test guest ever in retail. >> he's been very critical of ron johnsonhim as delusional at one point on our air. but johnson took him through a tour and he talked to scott wapner about it and he said, there's a lot of things there that i like, that i saw in the prototype. ultimately, it will be up to the customer. but it seemed as if, even in a measured way, he might have been changing his tune. i don't know, maybe people are changing sides here. >> i could have the best-looking store in the world, but if i don't know how to get people into it, i won't matter squat. >> and that's what matters. if your traffic is down 17%, you could put gold in that store -- >> one in six customers has gone away. >> and you know what else i think is interesting? so often companies look at marketing dollars as like, i don't know, does this really work? you've got to put money in marketing. you have to. you have to aggressively market to people laike stacy and who aren't your typical jcpenney shopper. because i actually like this stuff, but i know it's there because i follo

ron johnson was in the top job for a little more than a year at j.c. penney, shares dropped after the new ceo's name was announced. and president obama speaking about what he calls common sense measures to reduce gun violence, meanwhile in washington, support growing for a filibuster to block a gun control bill, republican senators are trying to force any gun bill to require 60 votes to pass the white house said they are trying to hide behind proceedal maneuvers, larry. >> i want to get to this gun thing in a second. the argument with j.c. penney, they are wrong guys coming in and the old guy is going out, stock fell, bad move by the board. >> since ron johnson came in, they lost money all four quarters. and he is the guy who hand picked ron johnson, what did he say at a conference last week. he said mistakes have been made, and the impact, he said were huge. it's interesting, he had friends like that. maybe the news is not that surprising. >> will we have a gun control bill? filibusters like crazy. the issue seems to be universal investigations and re

she thinks ron johnson had the right strategy, but just at the wrong company. welcome. what do you mean by that? >> i mean, i think actually johnson was on to something when he was doing this. within the department store industry, i mean, you're seeing significant shrink in terms of customer loyalty. customers who returned to brick and mortar and really customers that are driving to specific department stores. i think the store within a store concept that he was trying to innovate at jc penney was actually where this industry's going and i wouldn't be surprised if you see nordstroms, nieman marcus, maybe even macy's push this strategy. >> bloomingdale's already doing it with some success. so do you think the new ceo ought to walk away from what johnson was trying with the store within a store? they're not inexpensive to do. >> right. well, i think what johnson with was trying to do was he was trying to overly innovate 10% of the store and ignored the 90% that was left behind. that was really jc penney's core base. if i was walking into this situation as a ceo, obviously,

the bottom line here, ackman saying the criticism of ron johnson was deserved. i want to know if anybody is willing to buy the stock. >> as i mentioned, i'm long the stock on jcpenney. we bought calls yesterday. if you look at the charts on jcpenney, if this gets through, 17, start to see people all of a sudden saying technically the stock looks good. the fundamental story, i'll give you. i'm not saying they're going to turn around their sales tomorrow or the next day, but i think they are on the right track. this home sales division, the home goods division, that may really help them. >>> all right. coming up on the "half" facebook's mobile move a reason to buy the stock? two of our traders square off in a spirited debate. >>> he predicted the dotcom bubble and housing bubble. yale university's robert shillor making a big call on the markets. >>> kate kelly found where the hedge fund's fortunes will be won or lost this year. stick around to find out where the next battleground lies. with scottrade's online banking, i get one view of my bank and brokerage accoun

ron johnson taking over at ceo of j.c. penney in june of 2011.that day, so much more optimism about what ron johnson of apple was going to do when he came to j.c. penney. he put in that new, no-sale strategy from the get-go,t

---jc penny thought ron johnson would bring the magic from apple to penny's. as ceo, johnson's vision was to freshen up the store's staid image and go after younger, more brand-conscious millennial shoppers. as our cover story explains, it wound up turning into a retail disaster that alienated its customer base before the new one had been lured in. ron johnson's tenure as penny's ceo was short--just 17-months and by many accounts--not at all sweet. his strategy to stock higher-end merchandise and lose the discount coupons drove away the store's value- conscious customer base well before sought-after millennial customers knew the 110-year-old department store chain even existed. "you can't be someone's #5 store on their shopping list if you're trying to reinvent yourself solely through that customer base." sales fell 32% in last year's 4th quarter--when holiday seasonal shopping is at its peak. company stock dropped 53%. the company may have been boring before but analysts say johnson drove it toward the rocks too soon for his vision to catch on. without revenu

even if ron johnson is not there. >> you mean swrrjcpenney. >> i did. thanks for the correction. you were in and then bought back. >> i bought back. >> added? >> no, i'm out of it now. i took risk off of the market a few weeks ago. i haven't added risk back yet. >> tjx continues to deliver it. back half of their month will show on thursday that actually things are better than expected. >> you can only own so many stocks. i don't want any brick and mortar retailers clogging up space. >> best buy. >> yeah, i'm not long. i'm not long any of the department stores. i'm not long any of the decount retailers right now. the one i like the best is target but i'm going to wait for it to setback up again. >> the high end one like michael koor kors. >> on the high end, i would buy nordstrom. >> not only is it entertainment, it's a shopping experience as they market it and you still want to go and try it on and see how it looks at you. it's not as big a risk as with best bid and commodity product or some of the others, frankly, like staples, where you can order and just mail it in. the brick

we did maintain our underweight rating this week with the departure of ron johnson.l tell you we are feeling incrementally more constructive on the stock. mike almam we think will come back with afternoon more compelling balance proposition. but they're depleted the cash. we think they need to cut back on capex and we're worried because even in 2010 and 2011 when the rest of retail was vie brabt, jcpenney was struggling. so we a wait a real thoughtful go forward strategy that can help jc pen any w krchlt pecpen. >> why are you more constructive on the stock? >> we think the prior regime was effectively firing the customer and looking to hire a new customer. our experience in retail here is that that takes years and years and probably more like five to ten year, not one to two. so the prospect of a turnaround under the prior strategy was very, very small to us. now i think you've got a management team that really appreciates and understands this customer and has at least an opportunity to develop some strategies that will be more effective with the current customer ba

. >>> and jp penny fires ron johnson, replacing him with the man he took over from, former chief mike>> you're watching "worldwide exchange," bringing you business news from around the globe. >>> all right. we're into the second half of "worldwide exchange." welcome to the start of your global trading day. u.s. futures after an interesting session yesterday are pointing a little bit higher at the moment as we wait for this press conference in berlin, as well. that's where the pictures are on the left. right now, the dow is currently, what, 19 1/2 points above fair value. it was up 0.3% yesterday. the nasdaq is currently up about 8 points above fair value and the s&p 500 at the moment is currently up, what, 3.6 points above fair value. worth pointing out, a volatile session yesterday. we did finish up near the best levels of the day. this is how it compares right now with the european stocks. and you can see we are firmer. we've just come off the best levels. the ftse 100 up 0.4%. ibex in shape up 0.78%. bond yields by and large have been higher across the board today. ten-year treasur

obviously a big pay cut in terms of his pay package for ron johnson. $1.9 million in 2012 versus 53.3. is this one you can invest in? can you see the forest for the trees in the jcpenney tunnel? >> one of this things you want to see is him gone. >> or take a dollar. you earned $53 million the year before. >> steve jobs said to him point-blank right out of the box, why you doing this? at the end of the day, impression is as impression does. his job security is in trouble, and now his compensation is evidently in trouble. >> the problem you have with jcpenney, even if everything worked, the stores worked, everything is fantastic, it might be too late for the company. >> if he said i'm going to take a dollar in pay, would you feel a little bit better about the story? >> no. it sounds like a dollar more than he thinks he zirvegs a dollar not well spent. all right. coming up next on "fast," how to play like the big boys. look at where the world's top activist investors may be taking stakes, next. and why it may be the end of an era for gold. back right after this. we went out and asked peo

penney ron johnson ceo has learned you can't take away people's coupons.ment store announced johnson famous for leading retail operations for apple is stepping down and the guy he replaced in 2011 was taking over again. it's been a rough year for the company with shares dropping over 50% and sales down nearly 30%. you can't say johnson failed because he refused to try something different. he offered free hair cuts for kids, for example, more controversially he got rid of sales saying j.c. penney would always offer a fair price. that didn't work. people like sales. so he brought them back. the big question, was this one man stumbling or is there a larger problem with all retail stores? joining me now from los angeles is rocco pendola columnist for the street.com. rocco, can you point to one thing and say, this was johnson's downfall at j.c. penney? >> i don't think so, jake. i think you can certainly say, well the sale thing and bringing it back wasn't a good idea. we always like to focus and hone in on one thing but i think it's a bigger problem. i think i

you know what, ron johnson is only out midway through the major overhaul of the stores.ike olman rejoining us, the ceo and he's got to kind of work out real fast whether or not to press on with or roll back ron johnson's changes and something does need to be done fast, because this company is burning through cash, it's losing customers and you know what, not a lot of retailers in the past have been able to rebound from such sales decline. i think they've been as deep as 25% under johnson's first year at the helm. so ullman has to make decisions not just on that but whether or not to also keep johnson's management team and i guess you could also say the choice of him in itself shows the challenge of filling that top job because a number of other retail ceos have said they would be unwilling to take on that job given the size of the company's problems right now. >> that's a tough job. let's talk car loans. now up to eight years, you can get a duration of? >> yeah. you know, this is kind of a new trend in the u.s. auto industry. in the final quarter of last year, apparently

it is pivotal for ron johnson here. this has to work for him.business, home used to represent about 20% of the business years back. so there's a huge opportunity here. and they're bringing in brands like michael grays, like jonathan adler, but martha stewart, that's a big question mark. there's an opportunity, but the question is, they've got to get the traffic back to let the people know that the home is transformed and the traffic's down 17%. >> now, the problem is they have to get the traffic back in every single category, not just home goods. and for home goods, that's where the lunch has absolutely been eaten. if you take a look at home goods the t.j. max brand, their sales were up 18% last year. does look like they're losing share to some of these other competitors. william-sonoma came out with numbers there. >> absolutely. and if you look at the home business, it was up 8%, 10% last year. you're seeing killer numbers from all the retailers that you just mentioned. the there's no excuse here. they've got to bring in the brands. the big dea

shares down 11% as the retailer ousted its ceo ron johnson. waiting for that call. they brought back the predecessor, i don't know if people expected that. adam shapiro is here, right? bring the old guy back at that was the problem to begin with. >> a couple reasons ullman has brought back. he has strong relationship with vendors. vendors are not betting on jcpenney. they're charging premium. they need to stablize that. he has to raise cash. in words of standard and poor's, the rating service says they have less than adequate liquidity. they will need money to get through this transition. there are things coming down the pike for them really troubling. listen, we have statement from oppenheimer equity. they put out a note on jcpenney's this morning. quote, we're concerned this change could further upend the company and further a spiral down for j. cp as you read further into the note, we believe near term risks for jcp are severe and turning more treacherous for the company. the company, their web page. look at this. they're still listing ron

look, that is ron johnson. a guy who was hired because he was a genius over at apple who helped design those apple stores to be this go-to place, slick, appealing to young people, appealing to people who have money to spend on consumer products. guess what? ipads are different than sweatsuits and towel sets. and he changed jcpenney so much so quickly that jcpenney's core audience said, i don't like what i see. they took their money and went elsewhere. i went in recently. there was all this drama about jcpenney and martha stewart and macy's. i went in. i said why are sales falling so badly? what has this guy done to jcpenney? i walked in. first thing i noticed, there weren't checkouts. there weren't counters with checkouts. there were people with mobile checkouts like at an apple store. i saw women all over the store with merchandise who didn't know where to check out. didn't have a place to put their purse to find their coupons. that's what women have done for jcpenney and men for years. he changed it so much,

thanks norfolk using on the senate, ron johnson. >> when we come back, our guest host reveals his next big investment idea and what he's learned creating a successful business portfolio. >>> coming up, a special interview you can't afford to miss. jobs, economy and the future of best buy. brad anderson, former ceo. we went out and asked people a simple question: how old is the oldest person you've known? we gave people a sticker and had them show us. we learned a lot of us have known someone who's lived well into their 90s. and that's a great thing. but even though we're living longer, one thing that hasn't changed: the official retirement age. ♪ the question is how do you make sure you have the money you need to enjoy all of these years. ♪ arrival. with hertz gold plus rewards, you skip the counters, the lines, and the paperwork. zap. it's our fastest and easiest way to get you into your car. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz. but i wondered what a customer thought? describe the first time you met. you

we have martha, macy's, debt, ceo ron johnson. for whatever reason you still like this name.ock. why? >> i do. i think they have a lot of options to expand their liquidity of the next year. number of different beverages including the credit agreement and the ability to finance with blackstone, their ability to design get a mandatory convertible offering less of their ability to finance a number of ways. ashley: but they brought the ceo before ron johnson. he could not get it on. what is his function? >> i think he would point out one of the more successful businesses has been support, which he introduced. already a business that he introduced. in that think it would also be argued that his relationship which is pretty critical at this point, a longstanding relationship with them, and that's important for stability. liz: you began by saying they still have a lot of options. let me push you on this. i don't expect analysts to be perfect or have crystaled appalls, but you are always got . you have to buy at $22. we are now at $14. this thing has dropped like a rock. anyone who l

penney is talking about what ron johnson now stands to lose and we're hearing at least 37 million dollarsnge benefits and of course, the shareholders probably wish it were more than that, but right now, obviously, ron johnson out and j.c. penney getting a boost and we should note, holy toledo, a new record all-time intraday high on the dow jones industrials, 14,740 at the moment. stuart: yes, let's be clear, that's as high as it's ever been during a trading session, intraday, as they say. 66 points higher, look at it go, 14,740. art laffer is with us. and minutes ago you said we've got a ways to go. and i was going to talk about the market. 16, 17, 18-- give me a number. >> i don't know how to give you a number. i think in the next three years, it will be a very, very good market, next three or four years and it's based on politics as you know, and i think good changes in economic policies would really fire that dow just the way they did under reagan and clinton. stuart: now i've got the budget, it was just released, okay? i'm going to pick an item. number one, there's going to be a cap o

yep, ron johnson, the errant ceo of j.c.enney, who destroyed more value than anyone i recall, is history. not a moment too soon. we put ronnie on the wall of shame back in february 28th, urging him to spend more time with his family back in california for the good of the brood as well as for the brooding shareholders. i'm calling this a win for the johnsons and the penney people. mike goldman, the man so mistreated by johnson is back. at least in the interim. he can do no worse than johnson. i felt hope for the people who are work at j.c. penney that ullman can save the company. even though they lagged the stocks of other department stores at the end of ullman's tenure. now, it is time -- it is time for the "lightning round" on cramer's "mad money." that's where we take your calls. buy buy buy, sell sell sell. ♪ are you ready skeedaddy? let's start with will in tennessee. will? >> caller: hey, jim. boo-yah from arkansas alumnus living in nashville. >> what's up? >> caller: the stock is tri. i've been buying it for the last y

. >> it's back to the future for jcpenney, ron johnson's predecessor because his successor. doesn't look like investors have any immediate confidence, with shares trading at 12-year lows as he reinherits a shaky financial situation. jcpenney owns 426 of its 1,100 stores valued at 3 million to $7 million. per average 100,000 square-foot location, about $11 per share. when it comes to cash, they have $930 million on his balance sheet at the end of 2012. they've already burned through 600 million this quarter, assuming a 15% negative, same-store sales for the quarter. deutsche bank thinks they could have burned through $750 million assuming 11% negative same store sales comp. sales we jp morgan says in order to get back, they have to average 30 to 35% same store sales for an entire year. that scenario seems almost impossible at this point. and another blow that jcpenney could face is if ullman loses the ability to sell martha steward in some categories. that battle wages on in a courtroom in lower manhattan. while the judge is holding his cards pretty close to his vest, he's gr

and their ceos, especially not ron johnson.ho was fired tonight from jc -- who is stepping down from the ceo job at j.c. penney and not a moment too soon. something we will certainly address later on. when we remove his visage from our own wall of shame. we do however believe in our president. and when he says as he did as recently as four weeks ago that the u.s. economy could collapse because of the sequester, he does have the ability to freeze hiring and frighten people beyond belief. did he use the term collapse? i heard the same thing you did. which was to be afraid. be very afraid. now, i didn't know how badly the nation's business psyche was hurt by the president. president obama's endless pronouncements. neither is one of my favorite columnists peggy noonan hailed him as the fear mongerer in chief. the vast majority took the president seriously when he warned of chaos and gigantic layoffs. think about it, are you going to apply for a loan to start a new business if you know there are going to be layoffs to rival those in

ron johnson has tried the idea. is this a good move for best buy?s well. good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> just specifically, what do they have in mind? >> i think the big difference for best buy is they already have these samsung products. they're different from jcpenney where they're also introducing new products. they're going to group them together. they're going to be specially trained employees. that is the big difference, especially when you're dealing with consumer electronics. you may not need as much help picking up a particular top at jcpenney, but if it's a phone or a tablet, you may need someone to explain it to you a little bit more, and that's where the competitive advantage, i think, comes in at this point in this strategy for best buy and samsung. >> interesting. peter, say what you will about the turnaround efforts. it's clear that they are trying some new things. >> yeah, i think this is a great example of the leaner and meaner best buy. we have new management that has come on board. and so they're getting to work m

the company fires former apple guru, ron johnson, the ceo. one analyst says this 111-year-old retailer is very close to heading for bankruptcy. i asked two of our people in the last hour on the subject, do they agree. they said yes, bankruptcy. adam shapiro with the details breaking next. ashley: we want you to know, would like to know what you think. the irs, get this, may now use social media to catch suspected tags cheats. is social media fair game? that is the question. log on to facebook.co facebook.com/afterthebell. we'll read some of your answers if they're readable, later this hour. ♪ . [ male announcer ] at his current pace, bob will retire when he's 153, which would be fine if bob were a vampire. but he's not. ♪ he's an architect with two kids and a mortgage. luckily, he found someone who gave him a fresh perspective on hisortfolio. and with some planning and effort, hopefully bob can retire at a more appropriate age. it's not rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. it's just common sense. all stations come over

we have cared because ron johnson, fresh face from outside, from apple, no less, came in to clean uphe mess allegedly made by the former ceo, mike holman. at least that's what the party line was. at the behest of hedge fund manager bill ackman who had basically taken over the company. the daring, some would say arrogance of ron johnson and his backer created a polarizing set of expectations that led to total failure and then collapse and then the comeuppance, johnson getting fired yesterday only to be replaced by his allegedly disgraced predecessor. that's all history. what matters right now is that there is a land grab of retail sales as i genuinely believe that jcpenney could go away, and johnson's buffoonery has opened the floodgates for every other retailer. how do we play? dismiss the notion that jcpenney is worth buying. not worth the risk, the retail is the hardest business in the world to attempt to turn around. the biggest winner so far is macy's and i think a huge chunk of what is left in jcpenney sales will still go the way of that chain. especially if penny loses its laws

jcpenn jcpenney, closing at a 12-year low after the retailer fired ceo ron johnson after only 17 monthsied to remake the store as a high-end store but alienated original customers. >>> kpng resigning as auditor from skechers own herbalife, an executive accused of insider trading. that's it from cnbc. martin will be back in just a moment. [ male announcer ] at his current pace, bob will retire when he's 153, which would be fine if bob were a vampire. but he's not. ♪ he's an architect with two kids and a mortgage. luckily, he found someone who gave him a fresh perspective on his portfolio. and with some planning and effort, hopefully bob can retire at a more appropriate age. it's not rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. arrival. with hertz gold plus rewards, you skip the counters, the lines, and the paperwork. zap. it's our fastest and easiest way to get you into your car. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz. but i wondered what a i tcustomer thought? is great, hi nia... nice to meet you nia, i'm mike. what do you drive? i have a ford exp

meet the new boss, jc penney firing ceo ron johnson after a disappointing tenure that saw his turnaround strategy backfire and sales plummet 25%. he's being replaced by the man he took over for, former ceo mike ullman. and dreamliner jets which have been grounded since january could soon be back flying the friendly skies. united airlines has put the 787 back on its flight schedule for may. and people are riding the rails in record numbers. amtrak says passenger numbers are up since september, despite disruption from hurricane sandy on its most traveled route. the northeast corridor from washington to boston. richard, that's the latest. back to you. >> seema, thank you so much. >>> now time for a business pop quiz for you. which retailer got his start in the jc penney management trainee program? ray kroc, jeff bezos, sam walton or george dayton? we'll tell you in a minute. >>> the numbers are in, and ford's compact focus outsold all other vehicles with more than 1 million sales. jetblue being made in mobile, alabama. speculation is swirling after fox and univision execs raise the possibil

. >> steve, ron johnson promised big changes about two years ago at jcpenney. things have not worked out well what went wrong? >> he has tried everything, new merchandise, new designers, new advertising, new pricing structure. he has only been in the job 17 months, a lot of these things take time. they have gone back to the previous ceo, who basically now could gain all the fruits from that transition strategy. remains to be seen. it was a work in progress, but the shares were down 50% over last year, that sealed his fate. back to you. >> i know, he threw a lot against the wall, nothing stuck. steve sedgwick live for us in london, thanks. >>> they are two of the most recognizable people on the planet. when jay-z and beyonce visited cuba, it was only a matter of time before controversy began. the "new york times" says the u.s. treasury department is investigating whether the couple had the proper clearance to visit the island. during the vacation, they reportedly toured a children's theater group and visited an art institute. about 10,000 americans visit the cou