ullman who says, we've been taking critical steps to stabilize the business.ve been talking about. that's sort of been his key job in the moment, stabilize the business. also further down if you read, he mentions that the difference in the brands between the new brands and the long-loved brands, sort of alluding to the fact that they are going to bring back some of those brands that those core customer really wants to see, because they're going to the store and they're not there. we know they're bringing back st. john's bay, maybe we'll hear a little bit more on the conference. really anticipate what we're going to hear out of ullman, but he is using those key words, stabilizing, putting jcpenney on the path to a profitable future. i think that's really key here. that's what investors want. and i also think that perhaps it's ullman's job right now to lose. maybe he is the man for the job. for a while, i can't imagine if you pull him out and put someone else in that doesn't know the business, can you really stabilize something that you're not familiar with? i s

lafley and jcpenney ceo mike ullman.t is with the second chances especially, they were originally fired themselves. surely it is an example of the power of money or vintage money maybe. my next guest certainly knows a thing or two about all that. steve forbes is the chairman of forbes media. great to have you back on the show. >> thank you, melissa. melissa: have you noticed this trend? people like old school, steve jobs, howard schultz, who invent a company, you know, and they get it off the ground. they leave and it sort of wobbles and they have to come back and right it, that's one thing. but these other guys like a.g. lafley or myron ullman who was basically ousted out of jcpenney for poor performance. they put somebody else in and got to bring him back, what does it tell you about a company? >> what it tells you they made the wrong decision on succession. it is one thing for a founder, no one likes to leave the corporate thrown. melissa: yeah. >> so they want to get back. it doesn't always work the former head of oc

all thanked mike ullman for returning and welcomed him back.k to you. >> courtney no shareholders angry, no angry tone of any questions towards anybody including bill ackman or anybody else up there? >> reporter: you know what? there really wasn't, scott. there was a majority of the people in the room were more than likely the jcpenney employees, they had their employee badges on and wanted to hear what mike ullman said. handful of shareholders but less than 200 people in attendance of the shareholders that spoke many retired or previous employees themselves, no negative tones, no ill will. it was mike ullman that reiterated they have some trust to regain and work to do but beyond that it was forward-looking and shareholders seemed encouraged. >> court, thanks. courtney reagan outside the jcpenney headquarters in plano, texas. >>> sales down 16%, traffic down 6% and you look at numbers on the transactions are down 10%. >> that's an improvement. >> this is going to be a major turnaround if ullman can pull this off hats off to him, getting custom

all of them welcomed back mike ullman and they seemed to really be offering him some patience.ing to the shareholders, telling them what he told analysts on the earnings call yesterday, his strategy going forward, trying to reconnect with the customer, bringing back some of those beloved private label vendors. we know that st. john's bay is already 50% back and the shareholders seemed to really like that message. he showed the apology ad and the thank you ad. and while he wouldn't quantify it, he said he was encouraged by the response that he saw. he said customer surveys indicated double-digit increase in customers' willingness to give jcpenney another consideration after seeing those ads. it was quite interesting in there, no protests, no one seemed very upset, they all welcomed him back and liked the message. they said, we like the intermediary goals, at least for now, and we hope that we can ,t. >> courtney, thanks very much for summarizing that. i also know there was quality assurance as well with regard to the tragedy in bangladesh, because i know their joe fresh product

news flash, the current ceo is a former ceo of jcpenney, myron ullman. he used to work at jcpenney. do the blame game and for how long? this is corporate equivalent of blaming george w. bush. ashley: charge for the quarter. >> that's exactly right. they burned through nearly ten million a day. nearly a billion dollars cash last three months, 950 million bucks. jcpenney is retail's favorite punching bag right now. the fact sales will be down a projected 16% versus last year. better than 18%, 20 5% drags we're seeing in recent quarters but how long can he do the blame game here? this is his company right now. he has $1.75 billion credit line from goldman sachs. can he turn it around in a year? retail stores is really jcpenney a real estate play with the mall stores being valuable? no. the mall stores, you seen other mall stores gone under, nobody moves into the fancy stores. sears is talking about turning their stores into gun shops. they're not prime estate territory. this is what wall street is it waiting on to see what will be mike ullman's turn around strategy and wlrnlt he can co

bless s heart, myron ullman, he was out ofed from this company.is not like -- >> here is a very strange case. everyone felt jcpenney was on a slow decline. so they bing in ron johnson. had a great record at apple. great record at targ. target as thekills call it, and massive failure. they didn't stick with him. he didn't providehe money to see this thing through and hired his predessor. melissa: do you think that was a mistake, that they should have stuck with ron johnson? >> they should have known once the thing started to flounder that the time to reshape this thing would be massive amount of time. now where are they going to go? i'm not sure how long mike lman will be there. what they have to do is stop the bleeding. that is what he is there to try to stop. melia: do you think he is just tporary and think the samehing about a.g. lafley or is this -- >> lafley left in a blaze of glory. the company was stiltfied and turn it around and at is not more of assors had leisurely case but a case where ey have to bring in newalent. they're a lite short o

why should we bet on mike ullman this time?dn't crush it last time. >> they was taking over for allen kreshman who crushed it. i think mike is coming back to a much different jc penny this time. it's at the bottom of the cycle. he has a much leaner cost structure. very easy comp and gross margin compares. nobody knows how to drive traffic and sales at jc penney better than mr. ullman at this point. >> we're calling you the calf. you're a smaller bull, not as bullish as rick. do you agree? >> i tend to agree. also with the comparables. what we have in the store is missing the entire home section for much of the last quarter. makes comparables fairly easy going forward. >> you're talking about sales and all this great stuff. i know people concerned about whether or not this company will have the liquidity to simply stay in business in five years sfwl that was a good question. that was a basis of my different call. i felt the company had different levers to use to get cash. >> it's pulled a few. >> they pulled two of the three i y

this follows the news that myron ullman is back at jcpenney after the disasterous rein of ron johnsonsperation or a trend more companies will be trying out? university of delaware professor and weinberg center for corporate governance dr. charles ellison is here. professor, thanks for coming in. today's stock pick, p&g way up 4% on a day when the market is basically flat. that shows confidence in its decision, doesn't it? >> i think the board did the right thing but i think you have to caution it is very important to realize i don't think this is permanent fix. in other words i don't think bringing someone back after they retired means they will be there for a long time to come. this to me is something, in kind of the interim. he bring somebody in and stablizes things and you get somebody else. david: bill ackman and other activist shareholders were pushing for this change. is this something you're beginning to see by activist shareholders demand to bring back the good ol' guys? >> not to bring back the good ol' guys but to make a change in current leadership. if you make a change in

the transition from ullman to johnson back to ullman, this company has lost its way.e of the companies theoretically they're competing against, macy's, target, coles, those companies are doing pretty well -- kohl's. i have no idea what jcpenney stands for right now.% what sort of customer they're looking for. they have to redefine themselves and establish what is their market niche, what is their customer, how will they execute? right now those are very open questions. melissa: does it make you feel any better goldman sachs was willing to lend them $1.75 or are they the first creditor to get paid back if these guys go into --, does that make you feel better they were loaned the money to gold man and they have revolving line of credit. >> folks at goldman are smart and maybe they have better insights than i have. that could be good an mo any after bad if there is not a strategy to turn this thing around. this is company in my view that has clearly lost its way. melissa: phil orlando, always wonderful analysis. thanks for coming on. >> thanks for having me on, melissa.

i do think that's part of mike ullman's plan here, is reconnecting with that core customer as opposedat customer. i think he's thinking about things the right way. my view is it probably will just end up taking a little bit longer than most have patience for. >> matt boss, appreciate the conversation. thank, buddy. >> thank you. >> bone appetite magazine? >> don't judge me. >> you should try domino's. domino's on speed dial, even better. >>> coming up next, fitching the homeless. >>> but first, let's take a look at what we're doing, the dow is up by about 18 points. and we have come down from a gain of 86 points, but that was already a huge gain from a drop of 40 points at the beginning of the day. some real whiplash action going on here as we're trying to find our feet. don't go away. [ shapiro ] at legalzoom, you can take care of virtually all your important legal matters in just minutes. protect your family... and launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. and launch your dreams. always go the extra mile. to treat my low testosterone, i did my research. my do

ullman comes back to jc penney. he's in the september of his years, as well, of the ceo, right?ies trying to save the day, save the reputations and the leg cease of the brands that they love so much because of the time they spent running those businesses and those are great stories in and of itself. >> although ullman left not as revered as lafley wassas he left. >> nostalgia kicks in. it's like instagram. it looks posier and better so we'll see. >> second go around. >> the ackman tie is strange, too. >> i know, right? >> look, i don't think mike ullman was his first choice. >> scott, we know we have it covered top to bottom. >> i appreciate it. >> be here at noon. >> in the meantime the bears are fighting back on the rally. major averages are poised for the first weekly decline in five weeks amid jitters oversea, but is this a minor blip in what is a slow and steady climb for the markets or the beginning of a major correction. let's boil it down and where do the markets go from here. and they end in 2014, maintaining his bearish stance, and the president of platinum partners. y

again, ullman is loved, because no one ever said a bad word about ullman other than ron johnson. >> but if he was a big winner, johnson wouldn't have come in the first place. >> well, it is just that ullman is a congenial fellow who you are wanting to root for and i have rooted for him, but i don't see the future here. >> and ron johnson was the jamarcus russell of ceos. >> and we will have cramer's mad dash. i am looking forward to that because i have no idea what you are going to mad dash about after this. no, thank you. we know you're always looking for the best fill price. and walk limit automatically tries to find it for you. just set your start and end price. and let it do its thing. wow, more fan mail. my uncle wanted to say thanks for idea hub. he loves how he can click on it and get specific actionable trade ideas with their probabilities throughout the day. [ male announcer ] open an account and get a $150 amazon.com gift card. call 1-888-280-0149 now. optionsxpress by charles schwab. otherworldly things. but there are some things i've never seen before. this ge jet engine can

ullman was brought back in to stabilize this sinking ship, reinforce those relationships with the vendors and the people that he needs to his side to make sure that that happens. now the shareholder meeting is tomorrow. we will be there and we'll be able to bring you more. right now that conference call is ongoing. hopefully we'll be able to bring you more when there's news. back to you. >> courtney, thanks so much for that. that's what wall street wants to hear. but that's what wall street wants to see. >> absolutely. i think there may be a kitchen sink quarter. the bar was set very low. >> right. >> not on his dime at all. these numbers, that gross margin at 30 -- a little over 30, is horrible. i know i wouldn't buy it. >> you been short on bonds. they're just secured new financing. they're going back to basics, not going to be doing anything -- how do you feel about the cash flow side of this company? >> they're stuck. they have stores that are half built. they got to spend money to finish them. >> are you still short bonds? >> still short bonds. >> pushing the nasdaq to fresh 12-year

old guy, ullman came back in. we'll goack to listen to customers. that is public relations.t done anything yet. he talked a good show. the stock closed higher than two months. public relations does make a difference. dennis: was the jcpenney too much after apology. >> they blamed it on last leadership. they knew they were in rotten shape. no risk at all. what he has to do now is fix the problem. dennis: right. >> you can't poor perfume on a skunk. dennis: apology in fight in marriage it doesn't work and unless you change behavior and take out the garbage on time. jeremy, talk about netflix, in for a minute. i think knit flicks did reversal and apology a break up the company and dvd's, and streaming. people got upset. the stock plummed from 300 to $50. it is one of the biggest gainers in the s&p 500 in part because of a willingness to u-turn. >> i think netflix did a good job. that was an emple where the poll guy was not -- apology was not window-dressing. they make the apology to minimize the bad press and people getting so upset and writing bad stuff about them in a blog bu

the more measured approach from mike ullman is probably smarter given the addressable customer.o much too soon. part of that is good and will be retained because some of the stuff was quite positive but a lot of stuff has to be changed that he initiated. lori: what do you think the about many could mission where jcpenney apologizes for letting customers down and begs customers to return to their store? can it be effective. >> that part is good but need to follow up with discounts, coupons and other promotions that will make people think the apology is sincere. david: william, thanks very much. thanks for joining us. >> joining us last minute. >> thank you. lori: "forbes" is releasing america's most influential athletes. top five, we'll tell you who, when we go "off the desk". david: we ask you whether you thought we were in the midst of a genuine housing recovery or some kind of a bubble. we'll read your responses next. ♪ everybody has different investment objectives, ideas, goals, appetite for risk. you can't say 'one size fits all'. it doesn't. that's crazy. we're all totally

mike ullman was out, now he's back in, which leads us to procter & gamble, because you know the name,ey, who was the ceo, retired. he's now coming back to the company, which is interesting, because the stock has actually done pretty well over the last six months or so. still, what is old is new again. and that actually is a perfect segue to our next segment. funny how tv works that way sometimes. >> we work that out sometimes, don't we? we've got jackie deangelis sitting here and she has more on the big shake up at procter & gamble. >> as brian said, ag lafley really a legend in this industry, not just at procter & gamble, but at corporate america. harvard business school, waysing case studies on this man's career and also his leadership. under his watch, a ceo between june of 2009, the company's stock price soared 79%. it led its peers in terms of performance and outperformed the s&p. but under bob mcdonald, the company's stock price has suffered oen a relative basis. since july of 2009, p&g has seen a 54% rise, but it's now one of the laggards in terms of its peer group and its retu

billion, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 13%, first earnings report since mike ullmank to you. >> josh, thank you for that. >>> we want to turn to a crime and punishment story out of lower manhattan today. new york attorney general and the nypd announcing a takedown of an alleged massive cigarette trafficking enterprise. they say they're concerned it could be linked to terrorist financing. cnbc's andrea day is live in new york with more. andrea? >> reporter: yeah, kelly. this is something that could have funneled millions of dollars into terrorism over the years. in fact, that's what investigators are checking into right now to confirm all those links. but they just said to us that this involves a group of palestinians, about 16 of them, who essentially would buy cigarettes that were much cheaper down south, massive amounts of these, cartons and cartons, send them by truckloads a couple of times a week up to new york city and sell them tax-free. here's what the attorney general had to say just a few minutes ago. >> we know that some members of this group have ties to s

we ask a top analyst when he thinks the stock will hit bottom and should you buy what mike ullman isad of the earnings tonight. thank you very much. want to share a little news about a stock that's up. i can confirm that's the case as well. sometimes things go out of my head. perhaps to wage a proxy fight here. it has been a name in a potential activist play or a take-out play. no stagger for it. no poison pill. it red lights also does not have a dedicated sales force for the storage products, meaning it that has to go through other companies. so there's a thought among some that it would be better owned by a larger company. it's been generating a good amount of free cash flow again. so there's a belief it's been somewhat inefficient in terms of the capital structure or some would say highly inefficient. we'll see what comes here if anything does. the nominating deadline was today or a few days ago. wow wouldn't have heard necessarily. but let's watch it closely. eliot, you hear it. but jesse cohn runs the technology practice. bmc recently agreed to be sold. they're in the midst of c

i'd like to thank my tax counsel eric ullman, corey tulez, beth cook, dina, morris, rema dodan, n.j. kenny, ben garmisa on senator durbin's staff and david clary and jillan fitzpatrick and all the staffers of the bill's cosponsors and all the people in office who have kind of been taken into the process so we could get the process to work. it's always a team effort and it takes more than the ones just leading the effort. i know that there are an immeasurable number of hours on this issue, and i want to thank all of them for their hard work. i look forwarded to continuing to work with my house colleagues: congressman womack, congressman conyers and congressman welch as they push forward with the house passage of marketplace fairness. i want to thank senator durbin for all of his energy on this bill, the perspective that he was able to bring to the bill and his tremendous ability to communicate the issues. i want to thank senator alexander. we were working on a much bigger bill until senator alexander lended some expertise to make this a much simpler one, one that is completely readabl

>> people want to root for ullman, it does matter. this money and this quarter buys them time and he will get there for christmas. >> with all of that in mind, warren buffett was asked about penny earlier in the week by becky when he was on squawk and had interesting insight into the challenges. here's buffett. >> i worked for jc penney for a considerable period. i have a rooting interest. i don't have a financial interest, and i would like to see j.c. penney succeed. >> you would like to see them succeed. do you think they're going to? >> i think it's very tough. they obviously alienated a significant part of their customer base in the last 18 months or whatever it's been and retailing, it's a tough game. >> certainly, jim, the short interest on his name, as you know, has gone back up. i know, but the prefer's been doing well and that's a better tell of how the company is doing. i want to correct myself. they make it to christmas and christmas has to be good and the fact the retailers never make it to christmas. my mom worked at lcht

he said ullman is somebody he's t rooting for in that job. guys?e same cloth. no doubt about that. i can't think of a single topic you guys didn't cover, at least in part. i certainly hope that plane behind you is your ride back home because you deserve it after the past couple of days. >> no, no, i will be flying commercial. i will be flying commercial. yeah. flew commercial here and back. not quite as roomy or as comfortable as the plane we go inside today. >> thank you. see you soon. >>> as you heard, she did talk to gates, as well. microsoft is trading near a 52-week high. gates was on earlier today. he talked about the future of pcs and tablets. take a listen. >> windows 8 really is revolutionary in that it takes the benefits of the tablet and benefits of a pc and it's able to support both of those. so, you know, surface pro you've got that portability of the tablet but the richness in terms of the keyboard, microsoft office of the pc. so as you say, pc s are a big market. it's going to be harder and harder to distinguish products, whether the