let's get out to the goldman sachs tech conference and scott wapner with a special guest. >> all right thanks so much. our special guest, goldman sachs ceo lloyd here. thanks for having us. >> thanks, scott. >> looking at all the ways technology influences our world. goldman has a pretty big technology footprint. people focus own as a bank but you might as well be considered a tech company as well. >> people think of technology as an industry, but technology obviously drives all industries, and so in something like ourselves where we have payments and have to analyze material, do a lot of processes, we really have very big investment in technology. let me just give you a statistic. almost 30% of the employees of goldman sachs are in the technology area. >> and i don't think people would realize that, first off, and they certainly don't focus on it. your cfo made some comments early today at another conference where he said technology is the way to compliance and risk management in sort of this new world that we live in. >> sure. technology involves everybody familiar with the distribut

icahn joining scott wapner in an hour's time.al trading activity around heinz before buffet revealed his purchase of the company. we want to get back to the big news. shares of herbalife after karl icahn disclosed that stake. putting icatn at odds with bill ackman. scott wapner with talk with karl icahn. >> certainly interesting, carl. the battle between karl icahn and bill ackman take a stunning turn. icahn now owns 14 million shares in the company, 13% position with the investment through traditional stock and options as well. icahn telling me last night he's done a lot of work on the company, has a good business model and spoke to the ceo several times and thinks he's doing a great job. icahn told me he thinks bill ackman is off base with everything he's been saying about the company. ackman has called it a pyramid scheme and this new disclosure comes after two men brawled on the halftime show three weeks ago today. >> i'm telling you he's like the cry baby in the schoolyard. i went to a tough school in queens that used to bea

over to scott wapner. scott? >> reporter: thanks so much. development in the battle between david einhorn and apple. apple has just released a statement saying in part they will thoroughly evaluate green light capital's proposal. we welcome green light's views and the views of all of our shareholders. apple also goes on to say that apple's management team and board of directors have been in active discussions about returning additional cash to shareholders. at the end of the day that's what this is all about. apple is sitting on more than $130 billion of cash. more than one-third of its market cap in cash. david einhorn and other investors are urging apple to do something with it, whether it's raise the dividend, buy back stock or in mr. einhorn's case urging apple to issue preferred stock. what makes it all interesting is that earlier today on "squawk box" iron horn revealed that he is suing the company and asking shareholders to vote against a proposal in apple's proxy that would limit the company's ability to issue preferred stocks, so ap

. >>> go to scott wapner, the "fast money" halftime. >> welcome to the halftime show, four hours to go until the close and right there on the wall is where we stand only the street at this hour. we briefly touched back above 14,000 but it was brief. right now we're just below that, but it is still a triple digit game for the dow. stocks are higher today, but should you buy the market's next move or should you bail. pay the toll. our top story, what's apple really worth? it's a question on the minds of nearly every market play, because the stock has slipped from $705 to just over $450. john, joe and mike. jb, what's apple worth? >> what's apple worth? at the moment, mid $400. i think the way to look at apple is that this is a stock that a lot of the hardcore traders have actually abandoned. things seem to be quieting down, volatility seems to be quieting down. if you're a trader, if you're someone looking for that higher beta, multipoint move, you probably move on, this stock just has not been delivering that type of action on a day to day buy sis. we're finding that equilibrium between

let's get to scott wapner right now. scott? >> reporter: all right, maria, thanks so much. the david and goliath battle between green light's david einhorn and apple takes another interesting turn here as today the reason why i'm coming to you live from san francisco is we are at the goldman sachs technology and internet conference where earlier today tim cook, the ceo of apple, took the stage here to my right and addressed david einhorn directly saying we are going to thoroughly consider green light's proposal. he also did call it a silly sideshow, however. now a response from a greenlight spokesperson saying as follows. if apple thinks the lawsuit is a waste of resources, it could simply end the matter by complying with existing law and filing a new proxy that unbundles the proposed changes to the charter so that shareholders could express their views on each matter separately. all of this, of course, comes back to the news of last week that david einhorn is suing apple, challenging the company to issue preferred stock as waive dealing with the $137 billion cash that is c

well talk more about the name but first to scott wapner on the closing bell. >> anheuser-busch is accusedn its beer. we will hear from a leader of the class action lawsuit against the king of beers. >>> bob old steen has been bearish on the call he made months ago. >>> after the bell, instant analysis of all of the numbers. "street signs" is back right after this break. with the spark miles card from capital one, bjorn earns unlimited rewards for his small business. take these bags to room 12 please. [ garth ] bjorn's small business earns double miles on every purchase every day. produce delivery. [ bjorn ] just put it on my spark card. [ garth ] why settle for less? ahh, oh! [ garth ] great businesses deserve unlimited rewards. here's your wake up call. [ male announcer ] get the spark business card from capital one and earn unlimited rewards. choose double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase every day. what's in your wallet? [ crows ] s the snooze button? ♪ [ engine turns over ] [ male announcer ] we created the luxury crossover and kept turning the page, writing the next chapter fo

another developing story and breaking news with scott wapner. what do you have? >> dell's leverage buyout, $13.65 a share is what that deal is going to go down for. i just spoke with a large shareholder, 14.4 million, nearly 1% of the outstanding shares worth nearly $200 million. he said he will be voting his shares no on the deal. he says the price of the deal is unreasonable. based on dell's own internal projections, that price of the deal should be in the 20s. right now at $13, mr. pzena says it should be in the 20s. much they can't do publicly. the story around that, when you're out of the public spotlight, you can have a little more leeway to do the things you need to do or want to do to turn the company around. some of that may be true. again, in his words, hard to understand what they can do privately that they cannot do publicly. says there's a clear conflict of interest the board is in. he's made an attempt to speak with the board. he's requested a meeting and we'll see what happens with other shareholder support. again, the news to hear is that rich pze

scott wapner with the numbers. >> finally numbers to go with all the noise around herbalife and the numberst on the top and bottom line and full-year guidance ahead and that's why the stock looks way it does right there. a small gain but nonetheless in positive territory. herbalife announced its preliminary results on january 17th. they said they would earned between $1.02 and $1.05 and earned at the top end of that range, and as you know this, this story as of late hasn't been about the numbers but the noise. the big billion dollar short put on here and carl icahn taking a 13% establishing, after the sell shares are undervalued. he's looking to meet with management and could include a so-called go private transaction and told us here exclusively on cnbc on friday that this was business, not personal, between him and mr. ackman and or the weekend i reported dan loeb had trimmed a bit of his stake in herbalife as well. shares up 16% since the beginning of the year and seem to be increasing here as we're speaking. a gain of 1.33%. a little drama has to hold until tomorrow because the conferen

don't forts to catch more fast at 5:00 p.m., follow me on twitter and scott wapner cnbc. "power lunch" starts right now. >> indeed it does. welcome to "power lunch," everybody. bulls, large and in charge. the dow trying to wipe out monday's triple digit loss. we have two breaking news stories this hour. president obama to speak in 15 minutes time. he will ask congress to come up with short-term packages to put off automotiatic spending cuts. hampton, we begin with you, budget office right now releasing its budget and economic outlook. give us details. >> reporter: the budget office, assumes no change in current laws, 2013 fiscal year budget deficit, $845 billion. cbo projects first time below $1 trillion since 2008, 5% of gdp, well below the peak of 2009. saying deficits decline as a percentage of gdp could dip as low as 2.4% in 2015. then they start to rise again in 2016. that 10-year-old cbo deficit projection increased overall to 4.6 trillion for the 2013 decade up from $20.2 trillion in it's previous. cbo sees real gdp growing 1.4% in 2013, the sub died growth limits

i'm sue herera in for my colleague maria bartiromo and scott wapner in for bill griffith will join us in a movement stocks rallying back after the biggest selloff of the year. here's how we're finishing the day on wall street. preliminarily the dow jones industrial average is up 17 points on the trading day. the nasdaq composite up 13.5 and the s&p up 9.5 on the trading session. let's get to today's trading market action. with us michael santolli and dan veru, welcome to boast you. dan, i'll start with you. are you surprised by the turnaround in today's trading session given the velocity that we had in the last hour of trading yesterday? >> not really because so far this year there's been so much movement out of cash into equities so i think the pullback is going to be shallow people who aren't in the market, you know, are kind of missing a party. it's like a party that you weren't invited to, so you're looking for opportunities in days like this, i don't think it changes anything. i think the chairman -- the fed chairman reiterated that the liquidity is going to stay in place so that

scott wapner last night, big distributor may leave. >> distributor who may leave is all part of the leavesiness. company has very strict rules that a distributor cannot control business sells leads to other distributor. we don't why the distributor might quite leave, though there was a change in accreditation of general businesses that some believe may have been controlled by distributors. the company has not responded to e-mails i've sent them. i know some of the executives are traveling. but i will tell you, i have a list. i'm trying to get an answer. if i do, i will come back monday and hopefully get back to me by then and we can clear it up because there is confusion. >> a very formidable thing. i will just put that one out there. thank you, herb. boeing in the meantime is meeting with the faa as we speak. this is as the sequestration fear monger is hitting the airports. phil, why don't we start with that, the fear mongering and separate fact from fear for us, please. >> depends on whether or not you think the sequestration will lead it cuts and if the cuts will happen, mandy. here is

our own scott wapner was hosting "squawk" this morning and did the interview and he's still here. i don't know how you're still standing but thanks for sticking around for us. pretty extraordinary what happened, right? >> extraordinary, because a big story, maria. the day started with davidinion calling in to "squawk" to call out apple with its massive cash hoard and ended up with apple issuing a rare response to the hedge fund giant. all beginning with einhorn saying he wants apple to issue preferred stock, arguing it's the best way to use the company's $130 billion plus cash hoard. >> people who have gone through traumas, they sometimes -- and apple has gone through a couple of traumas in its history, they sometimes feel like they can just never have enough cash. i remember my grandma roz, she was a depression-era woman from her childhood, and she wouldn't even leave me a message on my answering machine so i could call her back because she didn't want to get charged for the phone call. >> einhorn says he approach apple with the idea but was rejected and now he's suing and asking

. >> i wanted to know, i went to scott wapner, is this the get ackman trade where acahn ups the stakee has been up all morning. ackman is on that. or alternatively, there was insider buying. i don't know. >> we will wait to see what that news is. and vanity fair has a piece on ackman versus dan lobe. i read a piece of it last night. excellent. talks about ackman's cockiness and how he makes bets. >> how is -- >> the article is out in about a week. >> thanks, guys. >> we are on dow, record-closing high watch right now. we are just about 20 points away from the record closing high. the tail of two cities also coming up. how the sequester might impact the heartland. >> and we will talk to the mayors of oklahoma city and des moines. that's all coming up. do stay here with us on "street signs." [ indistinct shouting ] ♪ [ indistinct shouting ] [ male announcer ] time and sales data. split-second stats. [ indistinct shouting ] ♪ it's so close to the options floor... [ indistinct shouting, bell dinging ] ...you'll bust your brain box. ♪ all on thinkorswim from td ameritrade. ♪ [ whirring ] [

now to scott wapner. >> reporter: cnbc has learned one of the future of herbalife's biggest distributorsin question and could lead to the individual cutting ties with the company completely. on february 14th herbalife de-listed or severed ties with a vendor responsible for the sale of business leads and sales tools to distributors. cnbc has learned that the salesmen in question has had a relationship with the de-listed vendor. herbalife said it tightened its rules regarding sales generation leads. that's the way certain distributors, especially the very larkest ones, look for business on the internet. the changes were apparently made by the company to be more transparent and to deal with the long-standing controversy over how sales leads are made. we've also learned that the individual in question is a top tier salesman, a so-called chairman's club meng member of which herbalife has 49. all of this has been described by one person familiar with the company's business as a serious development. this does follow the depart you're another top sales person who left after refusing to comply wi

. >> all right, thank you very much, scott wapner.good work all day out at the goldman sachs technology conference. ebay here, we're close to 52-week highs at this point. >> most of 2011, the stock traded around $30. we talked about paypal being worth that in the stock should go higher. well, here we are now. go back and look for the move from 2001 to 2005, it looks hauntingly familiar to what we're seeing now. i'd be very careful jumping in this stock right now. >> coming up next, the top ranked analyst helps us make sense of tim cook's comments today. plus, those very comments have someone on this desk more fired up than ever before. we'll tell you why, and we'll tell you who, when we come right back. [ indistinct shouting ] ♪ [ indistinct shouting ] [ male announcer ] time and sales data. split-second stats. [ indistinct shouting ] ♪ it's so close to the options floor... [ indistinct shouting, bell dinging ] ...you'll bust your brain box. ♪ all on thinkorswim from td ameritrade. ♪ whoa! you really feel all 335 foot-pounds of torque

i'm scott wapner. bill will be back on monday, but he's missing all of this fun today.aria, that is the question, where do we close? the dow teetering back and forth all day long and, of course, now we're also within striking distance of the all-time high. get your pens ready. 14,164. we're not that far away. >> it's amazing that we're not that far. special coverage is lined up for the next hour. we'll take you through the close and beyond. top money managers, more predictions about where we go from here and how to put your money to work right now. let's check the markets as we approach the final stretch. the dow jones industrial average sitting near the highs of the day with a gain on the session of 140 points, about 1%, and now at 13,998, having just moved past and below that 14,000 mark. nasdaq also higher today. 36 points higher, better than 1% at 3177 and the s&p 500, also showing a double-digit move, almost 1% on the standard & poor's. >> the next big milestone after 14k is the all-time high, and that is very reachable next week if stocks don't do an about-face. l

pyramid scheme and carl icahn, heard those two going at it live right here on cnbc with our own scott wapnerrbalife up now some 2% on volume. that's just about in line with its ten-day average. maria, back to you. >> all right, josh. thank you so much. about 30 minute away from the closing bell right now. we're keeping a close watch on whether this market can make it to an all-time high. not everybody is convinced that this rally is for real. >> some saying we're setting ourselves up for a direction and should take money off the table and others still believe in this market saying this is the time to go long equities and both join us to duke this out. >> thanks for having me. >> once we got to 14,000 on the dow just to use that as an example, we've stalled here this, raly. >> that's right. the market is getting choppy. we saw the big correction earlier this week. those are technical danger signs. compare that with what we're seeing in the real economy, a major divergence between economic activity, growth and durable goods spending down, consumer being hit with higher gas taxes and comments o

i'm scott wapner in today for bill griffith.ound for the market, at least for now after yesterday's 200-point loss. investors like what they are hearing from ben bernanke today, that the easy money will keep coming from the fed. >> indeed, but reaction to that and more is coming up from our special guest ray duffy. he's executive chairman of the chicago mercantile exchange. he's here exclusively. he's going to be with us here for the whole 4:00 hour and has a lot to say about the stock market, the economy and a lot more. we'll ask him about the reports he's in talks with germany's bourse. >> a warning about the sequester cuts kicking in and a warning that the banks could be hardest hit if congress doesn't make a deal. the author of that very report is here exclusively. >> look forward to that. let's get you up to date on the markets. with the dow jones industrial average up 117 points on the trading session, the high of the day was a plus move of 127. right now the nasdaq, the last trade on the tech-heavy index has been to the p

i'm scott wapner. bill griffith back tomorrow.today's "closing bell" the march to new all-time highs shifting into high gear. more good news on housing and more signs that fed chairman ben bernanke is going to keep the foot on the gas has investors cheering. we're all over this teflon stock market. >> really is. apple joined the rally, however the stock turning lower after a much anticipated shareholders meeting today. we're live with what they said or didn't say that has apple investors just disappointed today. >> probably more the legend. >> and mutual fund bob ol steen on amazon saying it's primed to fall and people will get hurt. he'll make his case hurt. >> in the markets for wednesday, the dow jones industrial average now sitting at the highs of the afternoon with a gain of 1.25%, 172 points higher. 14,7 0 72. last trade on the blue chip average, check the nasdaq, double-digit move there. technology one of the big winners there. checking on the nasdaq, also at the highest level of the afternoon on the nasdaq with a gain of 4

i'm andrew ross sorkin along with mandy drury today and scott wapner. and joe kernen are off. they're going to join us live tomorrow for a special broadcast from pebble beach. they have some pretty cool guests themselves tomorrow. you don't want to miss that. >> did you draw the short straw or the long straw by not going? >> that's good. i don't play golf. so i don't think becky plays golf, either, so we'll see. we're all rooting for joe, who is playing. we hope he makes the cut. >> okay. we're rooting for joe. >> we all have to root for joe. i don't know if becky carries the bag or if she drives the cart. i don't know how it works. she's not going to like that comment, but we do love both of them, of course. our guest host this hour, chief equity strategy phil orlando and ben white of morning money fame. let's talk about the headlines this morning. a story in the "new york times" today looks at documents filed in federal court this week that relate to jpmorgan. the document suggests when an outside analysis uncovered serious flaws with thousands of hom

let's bring scott wapner back in from san francisco. scott, how close are we? close. in fact, the festivities have started in the room just off to my right here. in a matter of moments, we're expecting goldman ceo lloyd bla blankfein to introduce tim cook. the mere fact it is at least a fireside chat conversation that will last about an hour, they could have some q&a at the end. the appearance, if you will, he won't announce any new products on this stage, we know that. in the past he certainly has addressed the cash issue. and that's what everybody wants to know about. no citings of david einhorn, by the way. he is calling for the special preferred stock, and he has made his fight against apple public in the last week or so. that's the context as we wait for tim cook to formally take the stage, which as you guys know, could happen in a matter of moments. >> right. and of course, again, getting back to management, mum about a lot of things. we were talking to brian marshall last night, and he said he met with the cfo on friday, and in talking to him, he talked

. >> scott wapner, back at hq.ey, carl, red robin gourmet burgers surging higher here. fourth quarter earnings doubled. more customers dining at the burger chain and they're paying more for their meals. average guest check, increasing 1.1%. same-store sales expected to rise 2.5% to 3% versus 1.1% for 2012. bulls on this one say there's room for expansion. also in our note, business generally comes from households with income of more than 65,000. so perhaps a bit better protected than some against a weak economy. the stock right here, up some 19%. simon, over to you. >> thank you very much, josh. still ahead on the program, president obama is getting ready to address the nation sxem pitch the jobs of firefighters against higher taxes for the rich as we count down the sequester. we'll bring you the president live on cnbc. >>> and what to watch for ahead of earnings tonight and take a deeper dive into the dell buyout news as we have it. and later, remember when this happened four years ago? >> this is america. how man

herb greenberg -- in this case it's scott wapner that reports hedge fund manager daniel loeb has soldtion in the nutrition company. i don't know what to think. icahn got it up a little bit but it seems heavy, doesn't it? doesn't it look kind of top heavy? the minute it gets a chance seems like people -- >> want to get out? >> i don't know. sources tell wapner that loeb began selling a few weeks ago although he maintains a position in herbalife. icahn may have been able to buy it lower than it is now. >> 36. >> i think he bought it a little lower. but ackman is making money now, too isn't he? >> where did ackman buy it? >> sold it. sold it at. >> what did he start the? >> 40s. maybe 42, 43. >> so everyone's a little bit in the mud. it's funny, if you're an investor, in dan loeb's fund and you're an investor in ackman's fund -- >> you go both ways. >> i think by default you probably lose money. >> depending on what the banks. loeb realizes gains. >> i used to think >> if you had $100 in each fund, and they started at the same price. >> but they didn't. >> but they didn't. >> they didn't

i'm melissa lee, with scott wapner and james cramer. carl quintanilla is on assignment and david faber is in palo alto, california, getting ready for his big interview with meg whitman. it looks like a comeback. dow looking at 89 right at the open. look at the picture in europe. this is really being driven by those eco numbers, giving stocks a bounce. despite forecasts that the euro area economy will see back-to-back years of contraction for the first time. of course, now the focus turns to the weekend's italian elections. overnight in asia. shanghai is closing out its worst weekly loss in two years. nikkei managing to close higher. road map this morning starts with the markets. we' results from aig and upgrade for home depot helping stocks today, and hewlett-packard. >> hp is popping pre-market on the back of the earnings. sigh of relief for the investors as the company showed some progress with its turn-around. david will have the exclusive with meg whitman in just a few minutes. >> more signs of consumer trouble. nordstrom gives a we

i'm david faber along with, yes, jim cramer and scott wapner here live from new york stock exchange. carl quintanilla and melissa lee, they're a little under the weather today. let's look at futures. the s&p looking like a positive implied open. dow jones also, after that nice rally on friday. there's a look as well at the nasdaq. as for europe and overnight in asia, there you go. there's the european markets opening all to the positive. quite a nice rally, in fact, in germany and france. and in spain as well. let's see how we did overnight in asia. you see there again, the global rally, if you will. it continues. let's continue by starting with our road map this morning with the markets as you saw futures pointing to a higher open. despite signs of weakness in china in manufacturing. we'll dig deeper into what is driving stocks. >> shares of barnes & noble are jumping this morning. the chairman making a bid for the business. >> lowe's numbers come in strong after getting a boost in sales from hurricane sandy. >> plus, we're five days away now from the automatic spending cuts. why is

and breaking news from scott wapner who joins us on the phone.ittle bit more insight into what's been happening with herbalife. >> i do, becky. good morning to you and joe and andrew, as well. the first public comments now made from bill ackman regarding this massive position that carl icahn has taken in herbalife. bill telling me the following. we invest based on a careful analysis of the facts, after 18 months of due diligence we have concluded that it is with certainty that herbalife is a pyramid scheme. our conclusions are unaffected by who is on the other side of the investment. our goal is to shine a spotlight on herbalife. to the extent that mr. icahn is helping achieve this objective, we welcome his involvement. i would ascribe mr. ackman in my dvrgs conversations with him as being resolute, unwavering in his opinion of how he feels about herbalife. i've spoke with carl icahn last evening, as most of you know, he's going to be on our show at noon today. to talk more about this stake. a 13% stake revealed yesterday in that filing. shares,