our personal finance expert sharon epperson has more details.xplain how that could work. >> it's a bell weather company with a highly rated 4011 k plan, but ibm is making big changes to its 401(k) plan starting next year. it's going to be giving its employee matching contribution only once a year at the end of the year rather than with each paycheck. ibm says it's doing this with its 401(k) plan because it is part of its continuing commitment to invest in its company's 401(k) plans while maintaining business competitiveness in a challenging economic environment. now, how exactly is this going to work? well, ibm is going to continue to contribute 6% to 10% of an employee's pay, depending on what that employee puts in. that employee will not qualify for the plan if they leave the company, unless they retire. so they will not get that matching contribution. companies offering an annual matching contribution, this is not new. there are about 14% of companies that currently do so, giving their matching contribution to the employee only once a year. t

hey, let's ask sharon epperson. she's at the nymex with some answers. >> do i have some answers for you, bill, and traders telling me all day how the fed was such a disappointment and the fact that the fiscal cliff keeps lingering on. we'll have stimulus and lower rates and that's all tied to the condition of the unemployment rate and that changes the whole script for many traders. oil prices at their lowest levels in a week and looking at selloff of metals across the board and gold prices down more than 20 bucks. gold is where you can see what the fed action means to the market and the fiscal cliff as well, but add to that the fact that a lot of traders want to take profits going into the end of the year. seen gold gain 8%, even with the selloff we're experiencing right now and even with gold prices below $1,700 right now. some traders say 2013 could be a different story for gold, still a lot of demand for physical gold as well as exchange-traded funds so that is one thing that may be a bright spot for gold going f

sharon epperson is live at the nymex. good morning, sharon. >> good morning, carl.tic, particularly in the gold market where we saw a big selloff in gold initially on what was a better than expected number. but once traders parsed through that number, they saw there was more to it than the first headline. as we look at gold prices right now, they're basically unchanged, right around $1,700 an ounce. the oil, now near the lows of the session. in terms of crude oil, they have really been range-bound and they continue to be that way, though, of course, at the lows of the day. there's a lot for traders to watch in the days ahead and that's why they say they're not making any significant bet. also what's going to happen with the fed meeting and an opec meeting on wednesday. back to you. >> sharon, thank you so much for that. bob pisani is here at post 9. i'm sure you're going to talk about market action as it relates to what the speaker said a few moments ago. >> did you watch john boehner the speaker of the house? normally coolool and collected. looking a littles by fru

sharon epperson at the nimax. >> i'm in the gold pit. gold below $1,700 an ounce.ep selling we see today in gold is reminiscent of what happened just a week ago. heavy volume. a lot of selling. last week the story was we saw a lot of put option activity. a lot of puts at the strike price around 1,700, and where are prices today? right in that range. it seems unusual that we're looking at exactly what was actually forecast by some of the put option activity we saw a week ago. we're watching the prices fall. some traders say it's a liquidation of many global macro funds who now before the end of the year want to take their profits here in the gold market and not only in gold, yes, gold is at a one-month low but we're looking at a sell-off in the natural market and natural gas looking at seasonal demand figure, storage levels with weaker prices across the board in commodities. >> sharon epperson, thanks for that. coming up next, a live interview with house majority whip kevin mccarthy. hear the message on the fiscal cliff he plans to send when he meets with governors

thank you very much, sharon epperson. we've got a little extra from jamie dimon. but before we get to that -- >> a quick talker on urban outfitters. this morning "usa today" had their new holiday catalog which features a bunch of profane products. there is, for instance, a photo album that says -- basically uses the "f" bomb, drops the "f" bomb and said it was blanking awesome. a candle that spellings ospells out the "f" worth in black. and let's reminisce. a lot of discussion -- one marketing expert said it's brilliant, explosive, short-term marketing that generates buzz. it's the right word for the team market. >> it's awful. >> i was struck by how -- i think they've lowered the quality of urban outfitters, made free people to be this terrific, terrific team name. i think urban, they can bring them in. but it's anthropology i think is the star here. i don't know when you guys were in one of their stores last, but they do have a great look this season. >> i like how you look at us, but not david. >> union square's got a good one. >> i've walked by it. >> it's by

let's go to sharon epperson. gold market down more than 20 degrees, below the 17 mark. aron, how does it look? >> we're having fun down here within too, sue. so on the floors, it is always a good time. we're looking at gold prices right now down 20 bucks. and we're below $1700 as you mentioned, of course a lot of focus is back on the fiscal cliff away from what feds said in terms of what they will do in terms of monetary stimulus and now that it is based on data, the unemployment rate, that another data point that caused a lot of traders to reevaluate positions here in the gold market. not only gold that is taking a hit too. look at silver. down almost 4%. and year to date, gold is up about 8%. so there is a lot of money out there that just want it take the profit and run. back to you. >> all right, thank you, sharon. to brian shackman. brian. >> i want to follow up on sharon's point. gold stocks getting thumped pretty hard. take a look at names. new mom mining down 3.5%. also abx, g x, gold, all these storms underperforming metal. you see 3.2, 3.5%. back to you, sue. >>

at the close, sharon epperson tracking the action at the nymex.g into stocks and out of the metals. >> they are. we're seeing a little bit of weakness in the gold futures price. gold etfs held up steadily over the last several weebs as well as record levels, in fact. in term of the flat price we are looking at 1710, down $4. investors say they are waiting, waiting to see what comes out of the fed meeting tomorrow. because of that, that is helping to mitigate losses we've seen, perhaps, in the gold market. we are looking at lower prices across the board in the metals complex, lower prices for silver, lower prices for copper as well, even for palladium that had a nice run in the previous session. platinum is a gainer, two-month high. it may have had room to run, more so from palladium and the positive data from china. back to you. >> sharon, thank you very much. breaking news to brian shactman, nfl bounty case. brian. >> nine months after this story broke, paul announced he's vacating all penalties on four players. they are exonerated. the key here

sharon epperson is track being the action down at the nymex. sharon?> gold prices are finishing the day basically flat here, sue. we're right around $1,693 an ounce. keep in mind, gold prices have lost about $50 in the last week or so and goldman sachs today saying that they are lowering their three, six and 112-month forecasts on gold. they say $1,825 is down from the $1,840 level were expecting. for 2013 they look for the arch price to be $1,810. freeport mcmoran, $9 million deal to diversify into energy, the world's largest copper producer, still a lot of interest in copper. they say their opinion on copper has not changed. retail investors looking to buy copper, buy gold as well. of course freeport is one of the world's largest producers of gold. they're doing it through the exchange traded products. the jjc for copper and gld for gold. copper prices nearly coming in to where gold prices are the last month or so as gold prices and gold holdings are at record levels. back to you. >> thank you very much, sharon. >>> let's get the trading action here.

sharon epperson with a look at what could be in store for the industry in 2013. >> reporter: on the roado north american energy independence, the next decade is crucial. and in the new year, the dramatic rise in u.s. oil production will continue its extraordinary climb. at the same time, u.s. petroleum supplies will have a greater reach. in the first quarter of 2013, more of the nation will have additional pipeline capacity. helping to alleviate the abundance of domestic supplies and perhaps mitigate any meaningful price gains. after a year full of fluctuations, by the end of 2013 oil prices my not stray far from where they started the year. it's no secret we have a lot of natural gas. enough to have flooded the market with more supply than the nation could possibly have consumed this year. but those days may be coming to an end. what will we do with all this natural gas? in the new year, the u.s. will find more ways to utilize or export the cheaper, cleaner fossil fuel and set the stage for continuation of rising prices. >> what should investors expect at the open? we have david katz, c

sharon epperson is tracking the action at the close for us from the nymex. >> looks like women see thelose below the 1700-mark in a month as well a lot of activity here in the gold market this morning and the pressure comes as traders tell me many global macrofunds are seeing redemptions here ahead of the end of the year, whether it is fiscal cliffs relight tax related or just year-end book squaring and seeing in the last week, a lot of options activity you particularly put options, pets that we are going to see lower price. seeing more action around the 1675 level, something the traders are say is the next technical level to watch. keep your eye on the etfs and silver as well, sold off quite a bit today but still up about 18% year to date. back to you. >> thanks so much. bob pisani is here on the floor of the nyse, steady as she goes, caught in the narrow range today. >> sectors either side of positive or negative, a few individual groups are meeting, i want to highlight, a lot of questions about the retailers. historic high yesterday a number very weak. a lot of questions on gap. the

sharon epperson is live with big declan. >> big decline. we're at a six-week low for natural gas. the fact it's below the $3.50 level. and of course there are a couple of factors. the fact it's over 60 degrees here in new york and warmer than normal across the east coast. that's part of it. but those temperatures are expected to stay for awhile. at least a week or two. so that is something that is bearish for natural gas. ed add to that the potentially small increase in weekly storage levels when the report comes out from the energy department this week. that is a another bear signal. and barclays is saying look for around $3.20. back to yo pu. >> warm weather forecasts through end of next week. we like that very much. thank you very much. >>> where were we now? let's see. we're heading towards the close here with the dow up 24 points. again, this market feels very much like a wait and see kind of market. i think sarge has it right. they're waiting for the fed meeting this week. >> we've barely moved in either direction. after the break, we have the legendary investor for you. jac

sharon epperson is track being the action at the nymex for us. t look going into the close, sharon? >> an active session for sure. traders are really active in the -- with a lot of call action in the trading pits as well. we are looking at goal prices settling in the next couple of minutes around $1,720 an ounce. that would be up $7. we're seeing the fact that we're seeing a little weakness in the dollar as well as new money and the beginning of the new month helping disperse momentum in the gold trade. so far this year gold has done well, up about 10% year to date. that's something that has caused a lot of retail investors to want to be in the gold market particular lay in the goticparp market. also some significant interest in gold coins. other metals doing well, so far this year platinum has done well, it's up 15% or so year to date. part of that has been due to the interest in clean diesel cars. those auto converters that are used and platinum used for those auto converters in diesel cars here in the u.s. that's certainly helping that market.

they are closing and sharon epperson tracking the action at the nymex. >> reporter: gold moving in thee direction, a major selloff in the gold market with gold prices down, more than $20. a close that could be around 1670 an ounce and may drop toward the 200 day moving average, 1667. several factors pressuring prices. many sides talking about both sides. that having an impact on gold. moreover, what happened in china with them canceling orders for soybeans highlights the fact there may be cooling off going on in china. that exacerbated a selloff in the agriculture commodities and that translated to a selloff in gold and silver as well. what's interesting to note are some reports out from firms talking about what happened in commodities overall. so far this year we have seen losses overall for commodities sector. gold, though, has fared pretty well up 7% year-to-date. back to you, sue. >> thank you so much, sharon. let's bring in jeff kilberg. i know a lot of people are longer term quite bullish on gold. why are we see this pressure taking it apolo the 1700 mark. >> well, sue, i think w

. >>> sharon epperson put out a note today saying gold went over its own fiscal cliff today, at its lowestce august and is at the nymex with the latest details. >> reporter: when you look at the intraday chart of gold prices, can you see how the price started to drop and drop significantly as house speaker boehner was talking and then as white house press secretary jay carney offered his response to the plan "b" budget deal. we saw the prices fall to the 1,670 level and continued to fall breaking the 1,667 level and falling to an intraday low of 1,662, the lowest price since the end of august. keep in mind that gold prices have had a pretty good year so far. we're looking at a 7% gain in the gold price and in the 12th on sective annual gain that we've seen in the price of gold if we stay on track and traders are looking for near term weakness thouwea weakness. >> as you mentioned, eight trading days left. >> amazing. >> after today, left this year. yesterday we told you about the financial sector hitting all-time highs. today we're looking at another of the year's strong sectors. this one

i'm sharon epperson. take a look at how u.s.preted what the ecb did earlier today, cutting its european growth outlook. we saw the dollar strengthen. that has weighed on commodity prices. energy prices in particular across the board with the wti contract closing at a three-week low. we're looking at pressure across the board in the energy sector. that's good news for people driving over the holidays. we're looking at gas prices coming down. futures market and prices at the pump, only ten cents higher than a year ago. back to you guys. >> sharon, thank you. well, consumer reports out with a new report on ford's top hybrids and their big mileage claims. the results, let's just say, are not ideal for ford. phil lebeau joining us here. what is the news? >> essentially we're talking about the ford fusion hybrid and the ford c-max hybrid. both of those models claim, according to ford, they are believed to get 47 miles per hour. that's how ford advertises them. that's on the sticker eer on t windows. consumer reports brought them in, d

sharon epperson has been track being the action for us all day at nymex. >> we're looking at a lot ofction in the gold market in this session on this jobs report friday. as we saw gold prices plummet when that number came out to right around $1,685 an ounce. closing right now though near the highs of the session around $1,705. the key here of course has been this range that gold prices have been in for the better part of the month with the low side around $1,680 and the high side around $1,750. what is interesting is what has happened despite the decline we've seen this week in the gold price. the slight decline there. the resilience of the retail investor, the fear trade, the safe haven trade definite rly o that traders and investors who want etfs are going for. they want the gold and silver largest etfs and increasing their holdings there. those levels for the holdings are near record levels even with the price price lag we've seen in the flat price of gold and silver this week. >>> bob -- still talking about that ibm story but let's talk about the trading action today. >> we are ba

back to you. >> thank you very much sharon epperson. >> we did want to note for the viewers, a fairlyge hedge fund that was in the news for not good reasons. diamondback capital management, a fund run by richard shimmal and larry kipanzi. richard schimel is the e ex-brother in law. lock capital management. two of those had already closed. level global has closed, in fact one of us founders, andrew chasen is on trial right now. diamondback went down to about $2 billion, but as of this morning, that is no long ter case. the hedge fund saying that given redemption requests came in about 26% of total asset ors $520 million. it would be left with $1.45 billion apparently that's just not enough to run the successful hedge fund. they did have 140 or so people working for them. not sure how much they have trended that. as of now, their seven-year track record at this point. but they have spending redemptions as you might expect. rushing all of the assets to fund holders. often times in these cases, you'll see people run out and look at 13, and say oh, what are they going to be selling? but th

back to you. >> thank you very much, sharon epperson. financials have been on fire. bank of america and citigroup hitting 52-week highs. we'll explore that next. henry mcvey taking the asset allocation, what's next for china, how might that affect your portfolio. ...so as you can see, geico's customer satisfaction is at 97%. mmmm tasty. and cut! very good. people are always asking me how we make these geico adverts. so we're taking you behind the scenes. this coffee cup, for example, is computer animated. it's not real. geico's customer satisfaction is quite real though. this computer-animated coffee tastes dreadful. geico. 15 minutes could save you 15 % or more on car insurance. someone get me a latte will ya, please? we create easy-to-use, powerful trading tools for all. look at these streaming charts! they're totally customizable and they let you visualize what might happen next. that's genius! we knew you needed a platform that could really help you elevate your trading. so we built it. chances of making this? it's a lot easier to find out if a trade is potential

sharon epperson over at the nymex. bob pisani is here with what's looking at the big board.ased on reports out of d.c. >> well the good news is, we're anticipating some kind of deal. and we're moving in that direction. it's a good sign. look, to me, all of this talk over the weekend, it was very simple. let me just show you what the most important thing is. they're not going to do nothing. the market was afraid that they were going to do nothing. that's not going to happen now. we now know that they're moving towards some kind of deal. it looks like a tax hike for the wealthy. we don't know where it's going to come down. half a million or a million dollars. some spending cuts. capital gains. that senate bill that was passed in july, a lot of people passing around 20%, 25% for capital gains. and dividends. are there. not -- not 39% that we were talking about for ordinary income. the grand bargain is still a long way off. some deal is coming at this point. whether you sell on that news i'm not going to say here. but, the deal is coming of some sorts. meantime, if you look, unu

back to you guys. >> thank you very much, sharon epperson. let's look at the dow heat map. is one component in the green. and that is verizon. but largely in the red here, ibm is down by just half a percent. that's helping the dow to be the smallest loser, if i can say that. the smallest loser in terms of the major indices. the nasdaq we're down 1.5%. interesting sort of separation between the indices. technology a weak spot here. >> it's very early. >> it is. >> very early in the day. >> boehner will speak in a moment's time. >> if he throws a bomb and says there's no hope, i think you have a second leg down. if he says, we need to get this solved by the end of the year, people will say, you know what, i won't sell anymore today. i don't envision a scenario where they do a radical turn-around. people want to take their profits before they leave now. it's obvious that this boehner press conference is very important. >> yes, it is. still, there are individual stock stories, even amongst the huge move lower. we still have nike shares holding on to its gain. up 4.5%. very, ver

sharon epperson, cnbc. >>> comfort food in the kitchen.simmons from food and wine magazine and bravo's top chef says you can make dinner with what you have in your fridge already. it's rainy, cold in the northeast. >> the world needs some love. >> the world needs some mac n cheese. >> that's right. >> what are we doing here? >> this is a classic recipe. the thing that makes it extra special is i'm going to bake them in mini muffin tins. they're great to eat ooet with your kids, great for portion control and really easy. i buttered my muffin tin. take some cheese and sprinkle it into the tins. we're going to dump it out and tap it out. that will add that extra salty, crunchy crust when we bake it. tap it over the sink just like that so it's nice and coated. i have the base for my cheese sauce, butter, flour, three-quarters cup of milk. it's nice and thick. dump in two kinds of cheeses. classic american cheese, nostalgi nostalgic. you can't go wrong. throw around the cheese. and sharp cheddar, sharp white cheddar. throw it right in. you're g

. >> thank you, sharon epperson. starbucks making a heavy metal move. how much will it cost you.have the answer coming up. in a little more than an hour from now, president obama will address the fiscal cliff before ceos at the business roundtable. we'll bring you live coverage including the q & a session. as we head to break, look at movers on wall street. melons!!! oh yeah!! well that was uncalled for. folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico sure are happy. how happy, ronny? happier than gallagher at a farmers' market. get happy. get geico. chances are, you're not made of money, so don't overpay for motorcycle insurance. geico, see how much you could save. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 this morning, i'm going to trade in hong kong. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 after that, it's on to germany. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 then tonight, i'm trading 9500 miles away in japan. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 with the new global account from schwab, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 i hunt down opportunities around the world tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 as if i'm right there. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and i'm in total control becau

let's check out latest news in energy and medals with sharon epperson. >> it's the euro that we see inng commodities and risk on trade across the board in the sector. the fact that we are looking at that euro dollar and above 130 level is significant. also keep in mind that we did get improving factory activity. that pmi data out of china best in seven months. that's also helping the energy sector and technical buying is also contributing because we have nimax crude future, wti contract above that 89.80 level that traders are watching. 112 was the session high. in terms of gold prices, we are looking at new buying for the beginning of the month in gold and that is helping the gold futures contract but also the gold etf market at a record level right now. we've seen retail investors interested in gold not only in buying etfs but also in gold coins and in terms of etf market we look at highest levels we've seen for the year here as we begin the new month. back to you, carl. >> all right. thank you so much for that. i want to draw your attention to technical levels on the s&p crossing abo

sharon epperson has a look at what could be in sore for the industry in 2013. >> on the road to northenergy independence, the next decade is crucial. in the new year, the dramatic rise in sufficient oil production will continue its extraordinary climb. at the same time, u.s. petroleum supplies will have a greater reach. in the first quarter of 2013, more of the nation will have additional pipeline capacity. helping to alleviate the abundance of domestic supplies. and perhaps mitigate any meaningful price gains. after a year, full of fluctuations, by the end of 2013, oil prices may not stray far from where they started the year. it's no secret we have a lot of natural gas. enough to have flooded the market with more supply than the nation could possibly have consumed this year. but those days may be coming to an end. what will we do with all this natural gas? in the new year, the u.s. will find more ways to utilize or export this cheaper, cleaner fossil fuel, and the increase in demand will set the stage for the continuation of rising prices. >> let's head to chicago to get a bit more

. >> thanks very much, sharon epperson. i did want to look at shares of largest for-profit hospital in the country. a secondary offering this morning. hga finds itself in the of so many movements of the capital structure, reflective of the 250i78s. don't forget, they borrow at incredibly low rates not long ago, $1 billion, to pay a special dividend. you want to pay a special dividend prior to any tax increase on dividends as well. capital gains figuring into that debate, let's call it at this point that we've been detailing down in d.c. with our "mission critical" coverage. this morning, two of the owners of hca, it was a huge leverage back in '05, and '06, almost four times their money at this point, they take 32 million shares off the table. why now? you know why, their capital gains rate may go up, or will likely potentially will go up as well. that is pressuring hca stock as you see there. they take their ownership stake down, and they have a significant one. it levers itself back up to 4 1/2 times, and comes down and b

thanks very much, sharon epperson.ps the largest dollar deal of the day, it is not a merger monday. don't be mistaken, of course. we haven't had many of them. but we have an announcement of a deal, maybe a strong possibility on friday, ilfc, owned by aig, on the block, is going to be sold to the chinese. in a deal in which the unit itself is being valued about $5.28 billion. there you have a look at aig's stock price, which we'll get to in a moment. 81.1% being sold for $4.2 billion. an option to buy another 10% of the company. and finally, but roughly 10% will continue to be held by aig. an investor group, led by the chairman of new china trust that will be doing the buying here. it will require approval to the various regulators, including the review that we referred from a national security point of view from the usa. aig is a favorite, in part because it's very cheap. it trades well below -- but it's also -- they've become kind of a liquidity provider when you have a noneconomic seller which would be the u.s. gover

here is sharon epperson with a look at the energy sector. >> on the road to north american energy independenceade is crucial. and in the new year, the dramatic rise in u.s. oil production will continue its extraordinary climb. at the same time, u.s. petroleum supplies will have a greater reach. in the first quarter of 2013, more of the nation will have additional pipeline capacity. helping to alleviate the abundance of domestic supply. and perhaps mitigate any meaningful price gains. after a year full of fluctuations, by the end of 2013, oil prices may not stray far from where they started the year. it's another secret we have a lot of natural gas. enough to have flooded the market with more supply than the nation could possibly have consumed this year. but those days may be coming to an end. what will we do with all this natural gas? in the new year, the u.s. will find more ways to utilize or export this cheaper, cleaner fossil fuel, and the increase in demand will set the stage for the continuation of rising prices. >> it's been a wild ride for oil this year. oil prices fluctuating because o

get down to sharon epperson and see exactly where we stand. aron. >> good morning, simon. natural gas futures right now selling off once again p the selloff has continued for the better part of a week now and we are looking at natural gas prices that are right near a key technical level, around $3.35 per million btus. this is a very technical support level and a low here and the low here this morning could send prices down to 3.25. so, maybe even the $3 level some traders are saying. right now the energy department is saying there was an increase in 2 billion cubic feet in terms of natural gas in storage in the past week. now, this is very bearish compared to what we have seen in the past year and the five-year average, where we have seen as much of a trim digit triple di in storage levels. we have seen warmer-than-normal temperatures and is expected to continue the next six to ten days, another factor pressuring price bs but in terms of what w are seeing here, 2 billion cubic feet, is still in the range that we saw from analyst expectations, a

share on epperson is tracking action for us. hi, sharon. >> hi, sue. very subdued market here in the gold pits. we are looking at gold prices closing right now up just a dollar. right below. 1700 level. we haven't seen much activity in terms of net long positions and changes there, according to the traders report we got on friday. that lets you know traders say no one want it make big bets. before we know what happenes with the fiscal cliff as well as traders pointing out. until we know bhmore about dodd-frank as well. we are also looking at cupeling taking place between the dollar and gold as the dollar has come down, gold prices lost ground as well. that doesn't normally happen but it has happen el a few times this year, elsewhere in the meadows market, we are looking at somewhat of a mixed market in the medals. one commodity has been copper. largely because j.p. morgan received approval for its physically backed copper atf. not mu it is something that was anticipated and we will watch carefully as it does launch. >> thank you very much. >>>> now, do