we've also seen as the ceo of starwood mentioned, we've seen pick-ups on the travel side. we think last year was so bad that any improvement will be a positive for this upcoming year. >> i guess that's one way to put it. last year at this time the world felt like it was coming to an end. do things look good relative to how you would define a healthy economy? >> i think we are starting to see early signs of recovery. what we're see sthag those signs of recovery are being led on the consumer side. couple of trends i talk about, we're seeing consumers on our website, orbitz.com, are increasingly booki ining four a five-star properties over two and three-star properties. occupancy and booking levels are strengthening more weekends than during the week. signs that really the consumer is leading the recovery. a lot of what's going on here is the promotional environment really helping. we've got something like three times as many promotions that are available on our website right now that we had before the recovery. i think that's making a big difference for consumers. the final

starwoods went from around 55, 56, all the way down to the recent low of around 9. now, we put a low in in march at 9, and it could not be and still is one of the worst periods for the hotel industry that we've seen in the last two to three decades. conferences are down, bookings, business travel. yet technically the market's put in a low in march. you can argue a lot of sectors were on the cheap and people wanted to buy. however, a move from 9 up to -- toward 34 this week and now you're starting to see jpmorgan jump on and their economists say we're coming out of this cycle, could be great for the hotel sector. but the technicals led the way for the next five months. now i think it's rough when they say an objective of this stock is 39. you're into the last five points of it. you should have been on the train a long time ago and the technicals put you there way ahead of the fundamental niez. >> greg, ten-second achblt rim because we're just out of time but that is a stock everybody's watching. >> you make mention of it quite a bit, melissa. i'm worried about it. it

>> yes. >> that's why he lost. >>> coming up, we'll check in with starwood hotels, the company getting to open up its first w branded hotel in puerto rico. how the company is faring in these tough economic times. frits, good to see you. take a look at the price of oil this morning. >>> all right. welcome back, everybody. starwood hotel sincere unveiling its latest initiative, rebranding of its brand with $6 billion in renovations. here now with a first on cnbc with more on this is frits van paasen. thanks for being here. >> great to be here. thank you. >> $6 billion is a lot to spend. >> brand recognition is above 90%, right up there with coca cola. what we did over the last three years is invest $6 billion in the brand to renovate about 100 hotels, to open about 67 and to move out of a few we didn't think would get up to our standards. we feel we really repositioned the brand that it's time for people to come and see. >> where are the one that is you've redone? major metropolitan areas mostly? >> mostly major metropolitan areas. places like phoenix, seattle, denver, dallas, boston. re

here's starwood, just to give you a sense of the performance of that reit.all them a reit, fund, let's call it a fund, right? it's the property. there you see it. they're going to get managers, of course, to, again, buy all sorts of different commercial real estate-related securities. and there's a look at that one. that did a lot better in terms of raising a lot more money. first out of the gate always helps. of course, a lot of companies had been out of the gate both with secondary offerings and with ipos. another ipo to tell you about this morning, bear, are to, ipo raises $650 million. they priced 25 million shares at $26 a share. that will boost that company's, what they're calling acquisition war chest. i think we do have that as well, perhaps. art, the symbol there. curious to see how that opened. we're talking about ipos. not a bad thing. there it is. and that one is actuallying looking up. secondary offerings as well. you may have heard about them getting active here in the states, offering big numbers. a couple of weeks ago i did a story on compens

every hotel chain from starwood, the lowe's hotel have pet programs.w important pets are. people are trafing with them and want the best for their pets. >> okay. the snuggy, if you're the pet expert and your dog is wearing it, they must be good. i know i'll get them for christmas presents. >> not all dogs should be dressed up in clothing. small dogs and a lot of dogs, especially in the wintertime get really cold. i feel personally, the pet industry when it comes to clothes, dogs care about fashion. they're fine with last year's leash and collar. people are going to spend more money on the necessities. when you see purina, iams and procter & gamble, they're buying the necessities more so than the frivolous things. >> you're saying human brand products have taken off and in the recession have held in. paul mitchell -- >> yeah, paul mitchell realized that grooming products for their pets -- over half the households in america have a pet. the industry is increasing every year. ten years ago it was $20 billion industry. this year it's over 45 billion. ten y