sharon epperson has some advice on how you can turn your financial resolutions into reality. . many americans start the new year making promises. >> my new year's resolution is to save for retirement. >> try to cut back on the spending. >> try to stay away from the computer. i buy way too many things online. >> reporter: but these promises can be more difficult to keep as the year progresses. people have these goals, these resolutions, but then they never put a plan in place and therefore they never tame action. therefore never really reaching these goals. >> reporter: whether your goal is to save more, spend less or pay down debt, to create a financial plan you can stick to you need to know where you stand. and that means focusing on expenses and earnings. first sit down and start tracking your expenses and get clear about how much money you need every month to support your current lifestyle and also save for your financial goals. then you can go out and make sure you make that amount in income. >> reporter: your income is likely your greatest financial asset. like other asset

for "nightly business report," i'm sharon epperson. >> coming up as football fans converge on the new york city region for the super bowl, many homeowners are finding ways to cash in on the big game. >>> and finally tonight, just four days to go until the super bowl at met life stadium in new jersey. it's the first time the big game is being played outdoors in a cold weather state, but some local homeowners are warming up to the idea of renting out their houses to fans headed to the game. dominic chu has our story. >> reporter: new york and new jersey homeowners are hoping to cash in on the super bowl in the garden state. an increasing number of homeowners are offering to rent out their homes and apartments on web sites like home away and air b and b to football fans planning a trip to the big game. >> many people feel opportunistically they can make some money during that period. >> reporter: homeowner peter tishy is charging $1,000 per night to rent his home. that's $600 more than what he usually charges. >> the hotels and the hotels are going to be completely booked in this area. p

i'm sharon epperson. natural gas fell.eted more than 4% today as traders are much more focused on the forecast ahead looking for above normal temperatures than on the report out today from the government showing a bigger than expected decline in natural gas storage levels. we are looking at temperatures that will start to rise over the next week or two, and that is what is really driving prices down here. traders say keep in mind as well, seen a pretty big fall in natural gas prices from the $4.50 mark back in december. back to you. >>> thank you very much, sharon epperson. it is "street talk" time. exxon/mobil, one of the reasons we're seeing a drag on the dow. downgraded by citi to a neutral reading. >> one of those calls jim cramer would agree drives you insane. here's why. they downgraded the stock citing valuation. why i don't like these kind of calls, increased target price. 108. downgrading it yet see the stock going up another 8.5 bucks. chevron, conocophillips, raising as well as pa true yum to $100 a share. >> an

i'm sharon epperson. the surge in natural gas continues, up more than 7%. a 30 cent jump today. we are looking at natural gas well above the $5 mark right now and traders are looking at pipeline disruptions, they're looking at freeze-offs in production areas as well as panic in the cash market, as factors that have contributed to this rally in natural gas, up some 18% just this week. 5% rallies three days straight. we're looking also at what impact this could have on consumers and their bills as well, looking at heating bills for the northeast consumers as much as 17% higher than they were last winter, according to the energy department. we'll have more on gold, it will close in about two minutes' time. i'll be back with that. >> look forward to it, sharon, very much. >>> well, there is a way to make money in emerging markets but you have to do it carefully. for instance, take a look at the emerging market shorts when they do go down. this etf goes up, it's moved up 6% in a month. it's the pro shares short merging market, eum is the symbol. efz shorts devel

thanks to sharon epperson for that information, as always.retty decent percentage gain over a one month period of time. nat gas up better than 4%. let's check the other market that's moving today. that's the bond market. we had a weak three year note auction. the bid to cover came in at 3.25%, but that is just a tad below the recent average which was 3.26. we had a high yield of .799% and indirect bids were a little bit weak as well. the recent indirect bid average was 31.2%. the direct -- indirect bid this time around was 28%. so that will tell you where we are. ten year note, the yield at 2.94%. you're up to date on the bond market today. >>> so let's go to gold prices. they are closing right now and sharon epperson is also tracking the action for us. hey, sharon. >> reporter: lot of commodity action to watch today in terms of the gold market. we're looking at gold dipping a bit, down about $9 or so. we're seeing gold prices below 1230 an ounce. looks like we will close right around here, as the dollar has made some gains and as equities ha

back to you guys. >> thank you very much, sharon epperson. street talk time.ft up 2.25%, downgraded to neutral. >> it's one of these calls, they downgrade it but kept the target at $35. citi citing high expectations for the new ceo. they say whoever it is, if it's an outsider, the stock should react positively. that's their view. who is it? can you tell us? >> intel, upgraded to an overweight from a neutral over at jpmorgan. >> nice pop for intel, up nearly 4% to $26.49. pretty honest call. the analysts saying he's making a leap of faith. the target goes up to $29. he thinks, cramer talked about it as well, the pc market could stabilize this year. >> the analysts on "fast money" tonight. take a look at cliff's natural resources upgraded deutsch bank from a hold to a buy. >> stocks up 2.8% to exactly $23. they think the iron ore producer will position for longer term growth thanks in part to recent deals. the average analyst target is $23. that's exactly where the stock is now. in other words, be careful. i hate to say it because in the "street signs" stock str

sharon epperson has more on how and why the bills will add up. >> reporter: with the extreme cold, this year's best performing commodity is bad news for consumers. more than half of u.s. households heat their home with natural gas. and as well below average temperatures are expected to last into february, prices for the heating fuel are skyrocketing. natural gas futures trading at the highest price in 3.5 years, surging 20% in a week. and cash prices in the northeast have hit new records. >> the market was unprepared for this level of cold. and really, we've seen big drops in inventories which is really what's driving prices higher. >> reporter: the recent price spike could trickle down to consumers who are already expected to see higher heating bills this winter in a report released earlier this month, the u.s. energy information administration predicted consumers would spend $665 on natural gas this winter. that's $62 or about 10% more than they used to heat their homes last winter. those in the northeast are expected to pay significantly more, spending over $1,000 to heat their homes

my ra. >> sharon epperson will explain how the so-called my ra program will work and if it could help middle class. some aren't so sure. our panel weighs in on this one. stay with us. and it feels like your lifeate revolves around your symptoms, ask your gastroenterologist about humira adalimumab. humira has been proven to work for adults who have tried other medications but still experience the symptoms of moderate to severe crohn's disease. in clinical studies, the majority of patients on humira saw significant symptom relief, and many achieved remission. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer, have happened. blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure have occurred. before starting humira, your doctor should test you for tb. ask your doctor if you live in or have been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. tell your doctor if you have had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or

our sharon epperson. >>> in celebration of cnbc's 25th anniversary this year the network is unveilingders, icons, and rebels. a list of 200 people who have had the greatest influence, sparked the biggest changes and created the most disruption in business over the past quarter century. we'll be narrowing this list down to the top 25 over the next few months. basically, guys, the criteria is this. person must have been more than a good ceo. >> right. >> you'll see a lot of people who were on this list who were never even a ceo. a person does not need to be alive. he may have had work that predated 1989 but the greatest transformational part of their work has to have come in the past 25 years and then trying to make it as global and as diverse as we can. interesting list. provocative list. >> steve jobs and then there's the rest. how about that? >> that may very well be true. it's one thing to be a ceo of a company and have done well, but were you transformational is another sense. you won't end up with as many ceos as there are on the 200 that people have to choose from. >> right at th

sharon epperson is tracking all the action for us. e are up about $11 right now at the close, above the $1250 mark as traders square their positions ahead of the three day weekend. of course, the floor will be closed for trading on monday for the martin luther king jr. holiday. we are looking at gold prices that have had some solid gains so far for the start of 2014, up about 2% or so, and we'll see if these gains hold as traders await the fomc meeting. the big gainer here in the precious metal market has been silver, and silver coin sales have been very strong this year as well. looking at nearly double the amount sold so far in january as what we saw in december. a lot of folks very interested in owning some silver for the start of this year. back to you. >> thanks, sharon. >>> to interest rates right now. rick santelli is tracking the action for us at the cme and covers currency, interest rates, the whole thing. >> you trade it, we cover it. that's cnbc. thanks, sue. we had some important data out today, maybe we had a weak jobs rep

sharon epperson right here on "street signs" yesterday talking about how much of an effect has on the economy. back, sharon, the futures price of that gas is five and change, well up from where it was, but you're hearing stories of 15, 20, 50, even 100 dollars paid? >> last week we heard as much as $135 paid in the spot market here in the northeast. that was due to pipeline disruptions. we have seen those cash prices come down, but still higher than historical levels. one thing for certain, there is a great deal of volatility any natural gas right now. in fact, natural gas prices just dipped below the $5 mark here on the floor. we are looking at prices that have given up all the gains from yesterday in the march contract, and part of what we saw over the last 24 hours was the expiration of the february contract that contradicted to this spike up, some 10% yesterday. and to a four-year high. still near the high levels because natural gas supplies, though the decline in weekly supplies was basically in line with expectations, it's still seeing supplies that are about 17% where they shou

sharon epperson and kate kelly, carol roth. about wearing blue or green and being a burnett to make it on the set. >> you know what i think is interesting, i have been talking to traders about the possibility of some downside 5% to 10%, maybe 15% in this first quarter, and i feel like there's a little bit more consensus building around that even though from time to time people even on this panel tell me i'm crazy for reflecting that. >> i never recall calling you crazy. guy, do you think she's crazy. >> kate, are you kidding me? she's sharp as a tack. forget the dow. the s&p, the resiliency of the s&p again, it had every opportunity to sort of fail today and it looked for a long time like it was and then the last few hours of the day stages a late rally and closes up 5. to me the continued resiliency in the s&p in what i think is in the wake of or in the face of what is a hodgepodge of earnings is really interesting. >> i notice "the wall street journal" picked up on this goldman sachs report. do you think there's some traction

here to explain how this will work, sharon epperson. so, myra. my retirement account. this different, sharon, than what's already out there? >> well, it's not different really than a roth ira, your contributions can be drawn tax-free, so to some that may be a good thing, for others, wait a minute, i can use it as a piggy bank and take out whenever i want, but your principal is protected by the government, and that is a good thing. >> you can't lose. >> a lot of folks very concerned about the markets, that's why they are not investing. they are worried on what may happen on a day like today when stocks are down. >> i put in $100, i know i'm going to at least come back later on with $100. >> you're going to get the same variable interest rate on a plan that federal employees now have, one of those funds is going to be the fund that is used. it's only returned about 2.25%, but still, your money's not going down. the other thing is, when you get to $15,000, that account can be rolled over to a private sector ira. >> so who's eligible for this? >> well, there are a lot of f

. >>> gold prices are closing now, and it's a down day over at the nymex where sharon epperson is. >> looking at gold prices closing down about $19 lower, around $12.42 an pounce. below that key psychological level of 12.50. the fact we're looking at a nice rally in the equities market. part of it. gold and equities trading in opposite directions for the better part of the year and looking at what's happened to the dollar and the strengthening dollar has also put pressure on gold. back to you. >> thanks, sharon. >>> to the bond market now. interest rates and currencies, focus all week for this market. rick san tellsy back with an update at the cme. >> still a focus, 2s are wild. two auctions. second one, second year pretty good look a a chart of tens eased back a bit and 2s are wild. basically up two basis points's in 5s, 10s, 7s and 30s. the old guys, auctioned two of the maturity is. the dollar index. up close to 2/3 of a cent. big day. why? two currencies in europe. look at the pound versus the dollar and the euro versus the dollar. we continue to monitor what has been a very quiet

sharon epperson is here with the details. >> reporter: we're looking gold prices up about $17, closinghat $1245 an ounce level. we did get a nice pop in gold prices after that disappointing u.s. jobs data and the fact that the dollar has weakened a bit has also helped gold prices. we are also looking at a nice pop in silver, because silver is the best performing metal today, up about 2%. keep in mind we had a big sell-off of course for 2013 in these metals. barclays says this year gold will be 1205 an ounce. look for silver to be $19 an ounce on average. back to you. >>> to interest rates, which had a move this morning on that jobs report. rick santelli is tracking the action at the cme. >> reporter: wild day down here. you already know that. obviously the jobs report was anything but stellar. it's reflected in weaker rates. that part still works. looking at intraday of tens, down ten points on the day. weekly, we are down an even dozen. look at a one week of fives, they are down ten on the week, they are down eight on the day. and the only, the only currency that is not up against the

sharon epperson says a lot of concerns about supplies on this side and in europe is helping put the priceside. >> we can take airlines first and then oil. airlines? >> listen to what he said. he said airlines are more profitable despite the storms. used to be they take big write-offs, big losses but yet the numbers keep going up. with crude going down which i think goes to the mid 80s you've got pan seeia in the airlines. keep going. >> six-month low on crude. >> business model has changed for airlines. i agree with steve. i think the thing to look for right now, you have delta and southwest both in the s&p. airline waiting is going to increase. united airlines is going to be the next to go? >> do you have to rethink the way you trade airline it is oil continues to stay? >> i think if it were to go into the mid 80s, yes. >> positive for the consumer. you've got to look at consumer stocks. >>> coming up, nike unveiling the super bowl collection today. the company's chief designer and a special nfl guest. philly's lesean mccoy joins us next. aflac! aflac! got 'em. ♪ yeah, he's clean, boss. n

i'm sharon epperson. as the final trades are coming in here in the gold pit, we're looking at gold prices closing right now down about $5, right around $1224 an ounce. we have seen gold extend its losses after that positive report we got on private sector jobs from adp earlier this morning. in fact, we're looking at the third straight session that gold prices have fallen, and we are also watching what is happening in terms of physical demand for gold. of course, a lot will depend on what happens with the fed minutes this afternoon, traders are saying, but we have seen physical demand pop up since the fed announced on december 18th that it will taper its bond buying program. it could influence the gold trade this afternoon. back to you guys. >> thank you very much. >>> time for our series the "power pitch." founders get 60 seconds to make their pitch and our panel of experts decides if they've got what it takes to become the next big thing. >> i'm maggie curry. on today's power pitch we have a company that

sharon epperson is tracking the action. >> gold prices are closing basically flat on the session at 1238e seen quite a lot of action in gold. earlier this morning we saw what some traders are calling a flash crash as it dipped some $30 in a matter of seconds. it triggered what the cme group caused a pause in trading for ten seconds. all trades still stand. we saw the dip from 1245 an ounce all the way down to 1212 an ounce. some traders are saying fundamentally perhaps it was due to that better than expected factory order data, ism data. others are saying they don't know if it was the big fund liquidation or not but we are still looking into the issue and seeing reaction as well in the gld market. we saw a big dip there but prices have steadied in that market as well. back to you. >> keep us posted. >>> as tech companies prepare to go public, some employees are looking for ways to cash in before that big event. josh lipton is in san jose. josh? >> reporter: working at a hot startup like snap chat, listen, that can mean millions for employees if the company goes public or sell out, but ma

let's get to sharon epperson for today's pump patrol. >> reporter: as record low temperatures hit thentry in michigan to montana, gasoline prices are starting to climb, or at least keep steady. the national average for retail gasoline is $3.32 a gallon. that's up about a penny from a week ago, according to aaa. at the start of 2014, we are seeing some gas prices start to rise. they are certainly not going down. this is where we normally show you prices below $3 a gallon for the statewide average but there are no states that make that mark today. montana has the lowest statewide average at $3.01 a gallon. montana has the lowest gasoline prices in the nation right now because of the cheap crude that the refineries there are using. the heavy canadian crude from the oil sands. cheaper crude, booming refineries and lower gasoline taxes are also helping prices in oklahoma, where you will find the cheapest gas in the nation today. it cost just $2.79 to fill up at a station in norman, oklahoma. that's today's pump patrol. back to you. >>> the most expensive fish, blue fin tuna sold at the fir

sharon epperson joining us now. a couple of points. else talking about the spot problems and also, what the heck is going on to cause nat gas to spike so much? >> everyone here is talking about this spot problem and the issue is really pipeline disruptions that we saw here in the northeast area earlier this week. we're talking about spot prices that were at $135 on wednesday for the cash market. so this is an incredible record, about three times greater than the record that was set previous to this cold spell. so folks are talking about that, and that type of panic in the cash market is a big reason why we're seeing this price spike in the futures market as well. we're up now topping $5.18 and we're looking at the biggest gains we've seen here in several years in the natural gas market and the highest price that we're seeing in about three and a half years time. this is a significant move but we are hearing from the trans continental pipeline that their pipeline imbalances that they had earlier this week that caused the spikes in the c

joining us is sharon epperson and jeffrey lavine. first of all, it's rather difficult to say.n its favor. we asked the same question to bill gross a second ago and that is how can you have a so-called decent return with something that's no risk? >> their definition of decent may differ from the person to person. i think the biggest part is it is encouraging people to get money into a retirement account, to start getting the habits formed at an early age. at least it's something. i agree, i agree, definitions -- >> it feels like almost nothing, wouldn't you agree, brian? >> i just don't know where are they going to get -- bond yields are at 2.75%. where are you going to get any return? >> well, this is going to be invested specifically in the government securities investment fund that federal workers can invest in. it's average rate of return over the last three years was a little over 2.75%. >> that's inflation. that's not a decent return. that's no return. that's inflation. >> it's more than you get in a high yield savings account, and we're talking about a program that's tar

first, let's get to sharon epperson for today's pump patrol. >> reporter: here is some good news forear. if this prediction holds true, we will pay less for gasoline in 2014 than we have in the past two years. gasbuddy.com predicts americans will spend $3.39 a gallon on average for gasoline, down about ten cents from last year, and more than 20 cents below the average price in 2012. the national average for regular gasoline today is $3.31 a gallon. it's held steady for the past four days. you'll find the lowest prices for gasoline in the country in oklahoma and montana, which is where you find the cheapest gas today. you can fill up in bozeman for $2.88 a gallon. that's today's pump patrol. we'll be right back. mine was earned orbiting the moon in 1971. afghanistan, in 2009. on the u.s.s. saratoga in 1982. [ male announcer ] once it's earned, usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection. and because usaa's commitment to serve current and former military members and their families is without equal. begin your

. >>> first, sharon epperson has today's pump patrol. >> money managers are betting that this cold blastrb gasoline demand in the northeast and midwest and gasoline prices will fall as a result. hedge funds that trade gasoline futures and options reduce their bullish bets on gasoline by the most since june last week as gasoline supplies rose to an 11-month high. this was according to a weekly report. we are looking at gasoline prices at the pump that have fallen two cents since friday, $3.28 a gallon is the national average. we are also looking at just one state where the state-wide average is at the $3 a gallon mark, that's in missouri. no states are below that level. you will find the cheapest gasoline prices in the nation today in joplin, missouri and stillwell, oklahoma, where you can fill up for $2.79 a gallon. that's today's pump patrol. ♪ [ bell ringing, applause ] five tech stocks with more than a 10%... change in after-market trading. ♪ all the tech stocks with a market cap... of at least 50 billion... are up on the day. 12 low-volume stocks... breaking into 52-week highs. six u

sharon epperson always knows what it is at the nymex and she is coming up right now. >> i love how you tell it like it is. we are going to do the same here at the nymex. looking at where metals are trading, they are all lower. gold, though, able to eke out about a 3% gain for the month. of course, gold has been trading inversely to stocks for the better part of the week and with the stock market having cut its losses, we are looking at gold down a little on this session. we are also watching what's happening to equities and oil, because oil prices are also down a little bit along with stocks. they are also of course looking at the emerging market situation and what that will mean for demand for oil globally and that is why some say brent is under heavier pressure today. the big story in commodities this week has to be natural gas. look at what's happened to natural gas in the past five trading sessions. you're looking at that spike that we saw on wednesday of 10% to a four-year high and still, natural gas is finishing out this week down on the week, for the first time in three weeks' t

. >> gold prices closing right now and sharon epperson is tracking the action for us. >> we're lookingt weakness in gold going into the close, down about $10, $1241 an ounce seems to be around the closing price. we are watching to see what happens in terms of the gld. we did notice on friday we saw some inflows into gold etfs and this was the first time this has happened, the largest daily inflow we have seen since october of 2012. but it really didn't seem to give much of a lift to gold prices. in fact, precious metals have been lower across the board. silver is the biggest loser here in the metals complex. back to you. >> thank you very much. to the bond market now and to rick santelli tracking the action with the cme. >> well, it's one of these sessions where traders are continuing to acknowledge that sticky or not, yields continue to have a drift lower. as you look at the intraday chart, we are virtually unchanged at 282. open the chart up to december 10th, we are within a whisker of a fresh six-week low closing yield for tens. now, what would be a good reason to see lower yields?

sharon epperson is tracking the action at the nymex. >> we are above the 1260 level here for gold pricesabove $1260 an ounce, and we have gained about $12 here in gold price. gold was up as much as $20 earlier this session. traders say they are waiting for the fed decision and for many of the last several meetings, we have seen gold prices sell off after the fed meeting. we'll see if that happens again today. we're continuing to watch, of course, the emerging market situation and the fact that investors are looking for a hedge against that volatility is part of the reason why we have seen gold prices climb some 5% this year. back to you. >>> ahead of the fed meeting and the minutes and the decision, rick santelli is tracking the action at the cme for us. >> interesting day. you have twos to tens flattening, five to 30s steepening, a variety of wiggles. the intraday ten, down four basis points. we made high yields going back to the summer of 2011. at the last trading day of the year, we are down 32 basis points. last time we were down here around 270 was the 26th of november. when it come

sharon epperson is tracking action for us at the nymex. >> hi, sue.e in the gold market. up a about a $1 or so. a tight range today and yesterday. $9, $10 range and it seems traders are watching the technical levels, 40 day moving average, 50 day moving average. between that 12.33, 12.34 level and don't want to pick a direction until we see the outcome of the next fed meeting on january 29th. they're also paying close attention what is happening in terms of some of the other elements that, of course, always affect gold. talking about equities and the dollar and the fact they rebounded is also put a lot pressure on gold. also watching what's happening in terms of volatility. gold volatility at the lowest level it's been since april. a quiet market. we want to see what happens with the fed. that's going to determine the next direction for gold. back to you. >> thank you, sharon. >>> to the bond market right now. we have yields holding kind of steady. rick santelli is tracking action at the cme. >> thank you, sue. i continue to have fun with the thought,

as does sharon epperson, i know. she joins us now because gold is closing. >> we are looking at gold prices right now that are near the lows of the session, down about two bucks or so. gold had been significantly higher, of course, when the dow was down more than 200 points. it's given up some of the gains and continues to trade inversely to stocks as it has been the last several trading sessions. when you look at what's happened to gold this month, it's had a nice gain up 3% or so, and we are looking, though, at some of the upside according to hsbc, perhaps not being fully realized because of producer hedging and a lack of conviction among investors about whether or not they want to be in this precious metal. back to you. >>> today, it's the last day of ben bernanke's term as chairman of the federal reserve. janet yellen takes the helm. what is going to be her first challenge? >> you just look up above me at what's happening with the markets. that's what her first challenge will be. the idea that the markets challen

sharon epperson is tracking that action for us. >> reporter: we are looking at gold prices down a fewollars but below the 1250 level and really, as we have seen equities rebound from the lows of yesterday, we are seeing pressure on gold prices. but it's very much a position of what's happening to the dollar as well. if you look at what has happened to the dollar and to the metals, we are seeing the dichotomy there as well. we're watching, too, some technical levels because many traders are saying that the gold move is going to really hinge on the technical momentum that we're seeing one way or the other in the gold price and whether or not we get back up to the december levels around 1267, or whether we get back down to those lows near 1212. that's what we're looking at here in terms of the technical levels to breach in the gold market. back to you. >> very quickly, did we see any reaction to the two fed speakers? i didn't detect too much of a move in the gold market. >> reporter: there was not much of a move at all. the gold market has been pretty steady and quiet today. traders are

sharon epperson is there. >> down $10 and we're seeing gold traders weighing what -- they are anticipatingwith the fed and waiting for the employment on friday to see what the fed's move will be based on that but they are also looking at the physical demand and the numbers out of asia and that's somewhat supportive of gold. gold is up $45 from the lows we hit on december 31st right around $1181 an ounce and we've have yet to see it break the 50-day moving average. and they are watching what's happening in the oil markets, they are watching libya and there's been somewhat of a recovery in supply there but there is ongoing tensions there and they are watching the fighting in iraq and concerned about the supplies in that region. and here in the u.s. the frigid cold temperatures definitely having an impact on production in the middle part of the country and that's something we'll be watching in the weekly supply report that will show up in next week's report. we're also watching natural gas because natural gas futures among the best performing commodity today. natural gas futures are rising as

thanks a lot, our sharon epperson. >>> two days from jobs friday and, of course, that means another chanceber and win a prize. tweet us your predictions for december nonfarm payrolls. if you win you'll receive something that's right here on the desk and on time for the new year. it's a world clock. autographed by the "squawk on the street" gang. david, of course, took the very top spot, left very little room for the rest of us. >> you took the bottom first. >> should i really put it on the back? >> i put it on the bottom out of humility. >> you'll have until one minute before the friday release at 8:30 a.m. eastern to submit your predictions. we regularly have people nail it right on the number. but these are very nice clocks, we should point out. >> yes, they are. i want one. but i never get anything. i never get the jackets people have, i didn't get a "mad money" 2000 vest. >> what? >> i've had it. even though it is made of goodyear tire. >> you have squeezable bulls and bears. >> i love those. >> and the bobbleheads, of course. >> buy, buy, buy, sell, sell, sell. >> we'll see if some of

back to you. >> that's for sure, sharon, thank you very much, sharon epperson at the nymex.rrently down 115 on the dow. let's bring in ben willis, managing director with albert fre freeh. what is going on? >> the market is going through a corrective phase that we've been watching for months here, at least i have. yesterday took us down to a 4% correction and money moved into the market today. we're looking for a correction. stocks couldn't correct themselves. we'll point our finger at the currency markets and look at what happened in turkey and what happens with their currency. >> you're not buying it by the sound of what you are saying. >> i'm looking for a correction, nobody thought the bat was very important in the 1997 and it turned out to be a major impact on the world markets including russia, defaulting going into 1998, so you point at whatever you want. what the fact of the matter is the market was overextended and i'll take any excuse to get the correction. >> dow is cutting losses down 120 points, a big chunk has to do with boeing. >> absolutely and at&t. two major

sharon epperson is at the nymex with crude almost up to 93. >> that's right. with gold, because gold prices are modestly lower after u.s. retail sales data. we saw gold get above the 12.55 level in the previous session but was unable to break above that, there seems to be the dichotomy going on between the equity market and gold prices and we'll see if it continues in today's trading session. we're watching oil prices and a mixed market there as you mentioned we are seeing the u.s. oil prices, wti contract approaching that $93 a barrel level. and we're waiting for the u.s. inventory data to come out on wednesday that's expected to show another drawdown in crude supplies. meanwhile, we're seeing more barrels come back online from libya. that could be part of the reason why we're looking at the pressure here on the brent crude price. in terms of natural gas, for the last three sessions we've seen natural gas come up from those lows and we're looking at natural gas up about 10% in that period of time. we're expecting to see a pretty big storage withdrawal on the

joining me now around the table sharon epperson and kate kelly, cnbc contributor carol roth. funds and "fast money's" guy adami here to king things off in the "a" block. let's talk about what jumps out to you about the market action today and where this leaves a volatile and choppy trading month. >> what jumped out to me was i thought we'd have follow through this morning. i was convinced yesterday after the close we'd have another down day anywhere from 10 to 15 s&p handles to the downside. earnings to me have been okay. the jpmorgan report i thought was very good. some of these retailers were lousy, and i really thought that we'd start to see the follow through on the downside. today caught me off-guard. i'm not calling it a key reversal. i'm calling it further choppiness in a market i still think heads down towards 1750 at some point in the s&p. >> heather, what do you think? is this a positioning story today? in other words were a lot of people kind of like guy coming into this thinking maybe more of a breakdown and all of a sudden e re-evaluated. >> today was a big day.

i'm joined by our very own sharon epperson and kate kelly.th and shark tank investor kevin o'leary. "shark tank" is on tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern. kevin, we're so glad you could join us for this. look, i just want to kick things off with some of the ladies sitting right next to me who can tell me about the energy story in this country, sharon, and how much of an affect, for example, we have natural gas usage at a record high but that's because there's freezing weather. we have the fact the trade deficit just closed significantly. fourth quarter gdp looks like it's going to be great. does it feel like 2014 is the year america becomes a story of self-sustained energy fueled economic revivalism? >> we've already been on this trend, of course, and this is a trend that's likely to continue. you look at the latest report from the energy department today on their short-term outlook, and we're going to continue to see record levels of production of natural gas. we're going to continue to see boom in production of oil as well. this shale production

sharon epperson and kate kelly. and "fast money" contributor tim seymour. welcome to all of you.dies. >> yes. lucky man. >> while we wait for at&t and yahoo!, we have a bunch of people standing by to cover it. quick thoughts about the action we're seeing today, sharon? >> one of the things investors are probably really happy about and retail investors and long-term investors is that finally we are seeing this uptick in the market but it doesn't mean it's still not important to consider rebalancing and making sure that you're where you want to be for the first of the year. don't expect the same euphoria we saw at the end of last year. today may be a blip. till be interesting to see what's happening in emerging markets. >> i think sharon is touching on a key issue. people might be exhaling after a very rough couple days and just feeling like some of these emerging market issues we've been seeing might be i had idiosyncratic and a reminder that the emerging markets have that been at issue are a relatively small piece of the global economy. so a relative safety in the u.s. although,

for that we have sharon epperson live at the nymex. >> we're watching natural gas which just topped $5ral gas futures. that has a lot to do with the fact that the revised forecast that we're seeing for the weather calls on cold temperatures, record cold to last into february. and we are looking at production freezeoffs in some areas as well as some pipeline disruptions. that has helped to have natural gas rally 5% a day for the past three days. we're looking at natural gas as the best performing commodity in 2014 and a lot of folks may be looking to see how they can play natural gas. retail investors look at the natural gas fund. that etf is up sharply this year. up about 15% or so since the start of 2014. we're also watching what's happening in terms of the oil market and the big news this week with the starting of that trans canada, southern leg of the keystone pipeline to the gulf coast and that has caused the spread between brent crude futures and wti oil futures to come in sharply. it came in below the $10 a barrel level earlier today. that's a first time that has happened since n

. >> that's some news over there, sharon epperson at the nymex. >>> ben bernanke set to speak on thehes as fed chairman but before we speak about bernanke today, we wanted to look back and look at his time as fed chairman. >> thank you, again, and i'd be happy to take your questions. ♪ ♪ it's something unpredictable but in the end is right ♪ ♪ i hope you have the time of your life ♪ ♪ for more on what to expect today from outgoing fed chair bernanke, we want to bring in barney frank a former democratic congressman from massachusetts and a cnbc contributor. congressman, i like the beard. good morning. >> thank you, yes. i'm happy with it. it turned out to have more black than i hoped for. >> that's always a pleasant surprise. >> yes. >> you know, we're trying to take stock of his tenure obviously this morning and there are still those who say that bernanke didn't see subprime that qe will be our undoing. how fair is that? >> yes and no. he did not see the subprime problem. very few people did. little noted fact, some of us on the democratic side did try in 2004 and '5 to get a bill th

. >>> 10:30 on the nose on the east coast and let's get to sharon epperson for inventories on nat gas natural gas supplies in the last week fell by 157 million btus -- not btu, bcs, billion cubic feet. 157 decline is the number here from the energy department and that is greater than expectations. a lot of analysts were looking for a decline somewhere around 150 billion cubic feet. we are looking at natural gas futures prices that have come off the lows of the session. we saw the low of $12.04 a significant drop from last month when natural gas hit a 2 1/2-year high above the $4.50 mark. keep in mind we are looking at temperatures that will finally start to warm up a bit over the next week or so. that is what traders have been focused on in terms of the weather forecast going forward and that is what has contributed to some of the weakness here in natural gas. but next week once again they are looking for a very big withdrawal from storage. somewhere perhaps even greater than what we saw last month which was the highest that we've seen for the year, that was 285 billion cubic feet, so

sharon epperson. >> people are concerned about their budget and want to save more.y think they're too late, they're not too late. >> you're helping them out. >> women being overwhelmed by guilt. how do i be all places at all times? carve out me time, which i suggest they do, even if it's 15 minutes. a lot of anxiety as a result of frankly not having any time for themselves. >> asking why should i be doing it all? why can't i do my best? >> matt, back to you. >> carson, thanks very much. remember, keep your questions coming. >>> and straight ahead, one of the funniest women in hollywood julia louis-dreyfus. >>> plus, kevin hart and ice cube on the big screen and some big laughs in their new movie. you want to hear about it. but first, on a wednesday mornin >>> very good wednesday morning to you, it's 8:26, i'm laura garcia-cannon. a college student was arrested glover fight for reportedly hits another student with his car. witnesses told police la bell hit a student with his car while speeding out of the parking lot. it's unclear at this point if the student he alleg

let's get to cnbc's sharon epperson's take.nd paid with a credit card. >> and there's nothing they could have done because the malicious software used at the point of sale registers, nothing they could have done to protect that. but there is a lot they can do to protect their information as they're shopping, whether it's online or in the stores. >> let's move down the line. you say ask for a new account number. if that's if you suspect you've been a victim of fraud. >> immediately try to get a new account number. why wait to see whether or not there's been fraudulent activity. if you've shopped at those stores recently, you want a new account number. >> the next one is an important one. some of us don't like to check our bank account, but you've got to monitor your account. >> this is my favorite tip and i did it this morning. you want to go online and monitor your account and see what the activity has been. sign up for those text message alerts to let you know if you reach your spending limit, if there's been any type of unusu