another activist move on the historic auction company sotheby's and this time from marcatto.to sotheby's lead independent director this morning, marcato founder, nick mcguire a sizable shareholder, argues fort immediate purchase of $500 million of shares and argues for more possibly down the road as well as the installment of a new cfo. he also has choice words for the board and its executives accusing them among other things of willful neglect and misguided policies motivated at times by tactical considerations to avoid a proxy contest rather than thoughtful balance sheet management in marcato's view. a spokesperson declined to comment. mcguire's push is notable, regarded as a friendlier activist notably dan lobe known for harsh rhetoric. lobe led a proxy might last year to which mcguire eludes here and is now on the board and made peace with management. but even with that mcguire's saying, he's disappointed in the company's leadership. today mcguire cites embarrassing em mail ex e-mail exchanges that came to light last year in with sotheby's ceo and director describe mb gir

this spring at sotheby's in new york. it's expected to fetch between $19 million and $25 million.ther selling points the head of sotheby's jewelry department describes it as whiter than bhooit white and compares it to a pool of icy water. stunning. >>> hidden away this a secret london location lie treasures usually only seen on the big screen. the most famous props from some of the biggest film of the last few decades are stored in the secret vault of cnn's corporate cousin warner brothers. max foster was the first reporter inside with the camera crew. here's his exclusive. >>> a very ordinary reception to a very ordinary warehouse, somewhere on the outskirts of london -- we're not allowed to reveal the location. that's because it's the perfect disguise for priceless archive. just look at the size of it. more than 10,000 props, 3,000 costumes. iconic objects from some of the world's favorite films. all meticulously sorted and stored here in the warner brothers' archive. in this section, rail upon rail. "the dark knight rises." christian bale as bruce wayne. the "harry potter" fran

the sotheby -- south bay is clear and accident free. >> fell authorities say california's $68 billion high-speed rail project could harm the protected federal railroad administration are out of compliance with environmental commitments for building the bullet train line in fresno area. the fish and wildlife service claims the contractor preliminary's work infringed on habitats for a fox. the contractor denies the claims the fox has been on the endangered species list since 1967. >> unwanted home news, mercury levels in yellow fin tuna are rising 4 percent each year according to findings published this week in the journal of environmental toxicology and chemistry. it is a trend that scientists say will continue and be worse. murk you -- mercury is dangerous if regulate women and young children and linked to birth defects. the key is to eat in moderation. >> mcdonald's mexico is apologizing if a post seen as trashing tamales saying they are a thing of the past, and facebook lit up with comments like, how dare you insult or traditional. the post has been remanufactured but several spanis

wants the automaker to buy bam stock, and another activist is bidding hard to get the auction house sotheby's to buy back shares as well. small investors will vote on proxy access at over 100 meetings this ye >> a number of public pension funds including new york city want the companies they own to allow investors who owned a combined 3% of the company stock for three years to have the chance to nominate up to a quarter of the directors to the board. new york city comptroller filed 25 proxy access proposals, saying a seat on the board will give investors a bigger voice on three key issues. >> concerned about energy companies that are not focusing on climate change. we're very concerned about ceo compensation excess ceo compensation. we're also concerned about corporate diversity. >> behind closed doors, a quiet movement to shake up boards is taking place. talking with firms to replace long-serving directors, feeling their tenure increases their independence while replacing them gives them the opportunity to create more diversity on the board. private talks looking to avoid a public fight in a

>> reporter: sotheby's international realty is responsible for making sure the penthouse has a buyer. lynn says they have already received several calls from all over the world from interested buyers. so the penthouse will have five bedrooms, five bathrooms including two half bathrooms, eight terraces, two kitchens, the list goes on. certainly, you get a lot, certainly it's a lot of money but you get a lot in return. live in san francisco, christian hartnett, kpix 5. >> i don't know. is it worth it? >> $50 million? ew, that's for sure. beautiful up there. >>> bravery beyond her years. an 11-year-old girl puts her life on the line to save her little brother. >> the latest on road conditions and snow conditions in the sierra. that's coming up. ( yawn ) bulldog: i just had a dream i was at mattress discounters with tempur-pedic and the largest selection of memory foam mattresses under one roof! icomfort by serta... posturepedic hybrid... ( yawn ) comforpedic by beautyrest... oooh! 48 months interest-free financing, free delivery, and queen size memory foam mattress sets as low as $697! t

sotheby's this week sold $200 million in contemporary works. the stand-out, this masterpiece gerhart richter. last time it sold for just $600,000. now $46.3 million. this rare self-portrait by francis bacon, he must have had a bad self-image issue. $22.4 million. that's a 4,000% spike. the last time -- since the last time it changed hands, and that was back in 1993. if canvass aren't your thing, this 100 care at flawless diamond, i bought it for you, mandy, for valentine's day. could sell for $25 million this spring at sotheby's. >> i now know what i want for valentine's day. hubby, better be listening. >>> brother and sister duo who quit their wall street jobs to get centered. >> coming up for this brother and sister a new business that runs in their blood. loo. >> we carry that heritage the soul of yoga that comes to us, and we were -- >> escaping the cube next. at ally bank no branches equals great rates. it's a fact. kind of like shopping hungry equals overshopping. anything? no. you? no. aflac! what are you guys looking for? claims! legend

sotheby's. he likes the business but says it is close to the price targets.g to a market perform also saying that you know what theshgs like the clientele. insulated, but not completely immune to a slowdown economically. that's an interesting call here. down 1.25%. >> six analysts cover bid. the ticker the average target price is $48.67. most of wall street does see a few bucks of up side left on sotheby's and stock five as always. you're under the radar name. pattern energy. san francisco based renewable power company. wind farms the u.s. canada and chile. bmo resumes coverage of a $34 target. before 20% up side. still new to the nasdaq but coming out positive on the name. >> yeah. the interesting cautionary note is the exposure to canada because of the weakening of the canadian dollar. they're pointing out that by 2018, the canadian exposure will be up from 23% today. that could be a huge head wind for the stock. >> why are you looking at waste management? >> i like talking about trash. yes, i'm talking trash. the stock is surging on an earnings beat earlie

sotheby's says collectors from 84 countries participated.ders from asia and russia were the most aggressive. altogether, the auction raised $282 million. that is the highest ever for a single sale in london. >>> well the comment that set off a firestorm of controversy. is the ceo of microsoft sorry for the advice he gave women about wanting a raise? the exclusive abc news interview is next. >>> and in honor of black history month we're using our instagram feed to bring attention to events where you live. today we honor the work of famed photo journalist jeffrey blankfort. you can see a collection of his photos documenting the fight for civil rights in the bay area starting friday at the african-american arts and culture complex in san francisco. there is more information at >>> covering santa rosa, berkeley, san jose and all the bay area this is abc 7 news. >>> we have an abc news exclusive for you. the ceo of microsoft is talking about that gaffe that set off a firestorm of debate when he told women who want a raise don't ask for one, just

the hedge fund now asking sotheby's for a new rfo and an immediate repurchase of around $500 million worth of its shares. they own about 9.5% of sotheby's, and the parent company of ann taylor and loft stores jumping on board. said it's working with jp morguon on an possible sales. let's go to the share price and jumping on the back of this news. >> trying something very different. >> 900 square sfeet. the asking price, tyler, $800,000. there's an issue with this unit and it's a big one in san francisco. no parking space. the listing agent and the seller theshgs came up with a very san francisco solution. they're going to offer the buyer one full year of free rides with uber. now, that perk is capped at $5,000 but it is attracting a lot of attention. >> it's been exciting. tons of action on the unit. not just from buyers but other sellers who are interested to find out more about how we can creatively innovate and do new marketing for their properties. >> now obviously, the seller here is trying to distinguish the unit in what is a hot market driven by tech money, by demand from over

they look at what sotheby's did fighting to the last minute and losing over three director i think moren that if i recall, to mr. lobe, or the case of darden fighting and watching the entire board be replaced by starboard. they say, hey, why go through it, why go through the distraction and everything else let's just give him a board seat now. in the case of dupont, of course that was not what they chose to do. if he wanted a board seat this summer they would have taken one. they said no and they are fighting strongly. yesterday many people argued regardless of which side you believe in these two directors, jim, who turned around liondell and ed breen, very familiar with spin aufs and splitting up a company as he ran tyco, are certainly superior to the directors that they are replacing at dupont. so that is one we'll be watching closely in the weeks and months to come as both sides argue on the fundamental viewpoints that they have. dupont continually coming back to the fact the stock has outperformed its peer group, trian remembering they learn less in 12 13 and 14 than they did in 201

you like sotheby's, and you like 3-d systems, the 3-d printer.u wouldn't be buying this at the high. i want to give mev the last word here. if you were to tell somebody the stay here in the u.s., do you have picks that might have exposure to the countries you care about right now? >> well, we tend to shift towards the larger side of the spectrum, and to be clear, i'm market cap agnostic, you know? sometimes large caps have their place, sometimes it's mid and small. purely looking at valuations, we much prefer the large caps in the u.s. we think overall u.s. market is actually quite expensive and actually think small caps are relatively expensive to the large caps. but looking for companies that have high dividends, high buybacks, net buyback, what we call shareholder yield, think if you can get a pretty high single-digit yield from looking at those companies in the u.s. hopefully, whether -- weather the broad valuation storm. liz: apple is now at $132.86: great to have you both, we do appreciate you coming here. >>> closing bell ringing, five min

. >> drop for sothebys down 1%. >> down on the kalin report.day they announced they're going to suspend their capital allocation program pending that process. so it's okay here. i wouldn't initiate any new position here. >> drop for box down 6%. pete? >> a high growth company, storage company. they don't make money. as a matter of fact, they're bleeding money because they're spend so much for their acquisition. i think right now it's a no touch. you got to give it a little time. they have to smart sttart showi can make money. >> pop for good year tire. >> the release of 2.2 billion u.s. tax valuation allowance after 12 years is a major milestone. it says we've made our turnaround in north america. that's management. pete talked to me about good year tire a couple weeks ago. it wants to trade up to 30 bucks here. >> com builder sentiment falling to its lowest level in four months. february, record snow and temperatures. the u.s. home construction etf, itb, are up 7% this year. check out the top holdings in each etf. xhb has names like lumber liq

obviously sotheby's is looking who the rental agent. looking for someone international buyer.'t want to put money down to buy something but want to have uber luxurious experience in new york city with a place to call home. there is a spa of course a bar, restaurant, all kinds of good stuff in the surry. only thing comparable on upper east side the pierre hotel. one bedrooms go from $150,000 per month to $250,000 per month. this is not just indicative the of surry not some outrageous story, we're seeing in the high, high-end of luxury, gerri in new york city. gerri: when people ask me how crazy is new york this is the story i'm going to start telling. >> absolutely. gerri: pretty nuts. thanks for being with us. good to see you. >> you bet, thanks. gerri: coming up the president of mothers against drunk driving to a lawyer who was on the show last night and hopes people dodge dui checkpoints. you want to see that. >>> the white house wraps up a three-day summit on terrorism, bus the obama administration have what it takes to fight radical islamic terrorists? the future of the ma

sotheby's hong kong sold a bottle that set the record for the most expensive single malt ever sold at is a growing market. >> lots of growth opportunities in asia. not just china. it it is getting started. if you visit shanghai in the last 2-3 years, there are 5-6 whiskey bars popping up. you are seeing a lot more whiskey selection. it is just the beginning of what we see as a 10 year trend. >> that is good news for collectors like chan. a bottle similar to his ace of spades whiskey sold for more than 14 times what he paid for it. but the idea of parting with the single malt is a sobering thought. >> i probably won't give you a price. it is so hard. but everything has a price. why don't you make an offer. >> bloomberg hong kong. >> follow us of both on twitter. you can find out what mark thinks about whiskey personally. i don't mind whiskey. >> i will do it. >> more a cognac man myself. >> how make a yards are trying to change their image -- make a yachts -- mega yachts are trying to change their image. ♪ >> time for today's bar chart. i am talking about silver here. even though the m

on the sotheby's board. again a loeb action there.son ran for public office in the state of new york. he is known as a restructuring guy. my friend carl bassett has made no secret of the fact that he wants to see gm use much of its cash for a buyback, as much as $8 trillion in the near term. i will say something is interesting as a quick background on this. wilson apparently approached the company on february 3rd. and said i want to talk to you. they said okay let's talk. he wouldn't tell them who is in his group. in other words he indicated he might have an interest being on the board but they didn't know who he represented until 11:57 last night when he told them. >> why did he do that? >> i'm not sure. he has one of these -- what we're calling a golden leash, is what the bankers are calling it. he's going to get a fee. a percentage of the group's profit from their investment in gm. from the time i believe of his nomination. i think that's correct, but i want to read the filing. >> like the malkovich deal? >> yeah. >> paid by the co

harry wilson's efforts to get him a board seat and buy back shares and the marcato's request to sotheby's buy back its stock. the most popular proposal will be allowing certain shareholders, rather than just a company, to nominate directors. a number of public pension funds including new york city submitting these proposals. comptroller scott stringer finding them at 75 firms asking that a group of shareholders owning 3% of the company's stob that they've held for three years, be allowed to nominate up to a quarter of the directors to the board. stringer said the desire for proxy access is being driven by hair shoulder concerns about three issues where are. >> we're concerned about energy companies that are not focussing on climate change. we're very concerned about ceo compensation, excess ceo compensation. we're also very concerned about corporate board diversity. >> now, the last issue that is focused this year is board refreshment. mostly behind the scenes movement by investors to get firms to replace long serving directors who some feel are no longer independent, and this also allows