next up is ulta salon. they got hit in mid october when the chief financial officer announced his sudden resignation. we never liked that when the cfo resigns. a sign that something could be really wrong with the financials. given that this particular cfo had been there less than two months, it probably was the case of him being the wrong guy for the job. last thursday went on to report a terrific quarter. and the stock shot up seven points in the news. they're seeing a strong start to the holiday shopping season. the real story with ulta, and the reason it's been such a fabulous stock -- is that the company is growing like a weed, expanding all over america. they've 537 locations, ultimately they plan to double that. next year alone the company intends to open 125 new stores. that's tremendous growth. ulta, it seems very much intact. i think it's a buy if we get a fiscal cliff deal and it might be a buy if we blow through the january 1st deadline. go over the cliff and get a huge marketwide selloff. give a

co-founder and president of ulta capital management, jack otter, editor and author of "worth it, not worth it" and walter upgrade, editor for cnn. >>> figure how much money in stocks, how much in bonds largely determined how for a until you retire. the faurter you go the more in stocks. then stick to it. don't get swayed by gloom or euphoria. this year, per effect example. people scared, didn't invest much in stocks and a good year. s&p up about 16% year to date. bonds rose. diversified portfolio 4%. can't outguess them. don't try. >> make a strategy and stick with it. many viewers may be in the same spot. what one investor is worried about. lyn. >> i should have been very aggressive, but i played very conservative, and so how do you play catch-up? >> what's the best catch-up strategy? >> that is a very dangerous question. it's a very common question, and understandable, but the problem is, we all tend to make our decisions based on whatever has just happened. so this woman probably got scared in the financial crisis. her stocks plummeted and then she sold them and went conservative.

same with ulta. you may laugh at ulta. won't finish my sentence. >> i may. >> this double the store thing is what whole foods says. any time you can double stores, growth guys just love it. >> we're told there's no concern if we go over the fiscal cliff that that will result in some sort of a chill in the housing recovery offer the housing market. this harvard study that bob toll cited, 1.8 to 2.8 million households fewer since 2007 were formed and that's playing catchup. we should have the formation of those households unrolling now. >> i thought it was amazing. saying the optimism has to do with demographics and not the fiscal cliff. kimberly clarke talkeded abo ee decline in birth rates. i don't shop for diapers. >> i did. not long ago. >> are you out of it? >> tail end. >> such a nice thing. >> amazing statement by them saying, listen, not a lot of people are having kids. >> what about adult diapers? >> there is some household formation in the u.k. we'll get at least one new baby in the u.k. right? >> she's a smart per

ulta salons, but i want to suggest to other groups that are going to give you bang for the buck, betting that the hope will be squeezed out and the bottom gets put in before a deal is made. why not? we know the auto market is for 11 years now and we have been sweet on ford domestically. what are some of the other key areas. asia already turned. i think europe could be stablized. ford is the one to watch. i'm out blessing it. in europe i'm thinking that i'm excited about ford. we have ample evidence today that i'm right. the rates remained too low. and pricing is moving up in california, nevada, arizona all things we learned from the luxury home builder toll today. that is fine. but what i hadn't heard is a demographic play, how the demographics are going to take over. household formation is unnatural and because of the great resection. well, from the delay of creation of new families, which is highly unusual, what makes that so special? the fiscal cliff could be a big deal. i'm going to put it in an amusing way, it is the need to get out of your mother in law's house. pretty intuitive co

like the fabulous names, amazon, ulta salons. buy them down in scales like i outline in the book "real money." now suggesting other groups giving you a bang for the buck. new groups betting that the hope will be squeezed out and the bottom gets put in before a deal is made -- or not. why not? we know the auto market is for 11 years now and we have been sweet on ford domestically. before sandy. where are we internationally? europe. what are some of the other key area, though? i think latin america, though. i think it's coming back. asia already turned. here's the new piece of data. i think europe could be stablized. ford is the one to watch. you get that thing at 11 or blow. i'm out blessing it. haven't done that in a while. in europe i'm thinking that i'm sanguine. excited about ford. we have ample evidence today that i'm right. affordability is skyrocketing. the rates remained too low. homes down sharply. and pricing is moving up in california, nevada, arizona all things we learned from the luxury home builder toll today. oh, th

we love ulta.ululemon setting the trend for all of that. >> two of my faves so par. >> costume jewelry, shoes, michael kors, we love. they are unstoppable. we have some things that are very positive. >> the slowdown that we saw going into -- you yourself saw, what was the cause? >> the hurricane. the fiscal cliff. yes, people know what the fiscal cliff is outside of this arena. and the third is unseasonably warm weather. >> what about newtown? did that -- >> hard for us -- it had to have. i mean -- that's not something that we can monitor but common sense indicates -- retailers are saying that oh, my god, it did impact us. why not? and that wasp just in the northeast. that was across america. >> right. >> it was devastating. put them all together and it was challenge. >> i bet it made a lot of parents rethink material. >> absolutely. one would think. yes. >> now what? even if you see a pickup in sales afterwards everything has been discounted. this is not that good anymore. >> it is not as bad as y

the culture and liberal left wing is running this country -- the ulta and liberal and left- wing is running this country. host: thank you for the call. 44% of voters think congressional republicans are to blame. 15% blame both sides equally. a lot of focus in new york. funding for hurricane sandy relief efforts totaling $60 billion. it is unlikely to be in the house. many are saying it is too expensive. "lock them up until they deal." we will continue our conversation on the fiscal cliff. damian paletta will be joining us from "the wall street journal" as negotiations resumed at 3:00 p.m. today at the white house. later, randal o'toole with the cato institute. he has a new book and will be joining us at 8:30. "washington journal" continues on this friday morning. we're back in a moment. [video clip] >> there are cynics who say that a party platform is something that no one bothers to read and it does not very often amount to much. whether it is different this time than it has ever been before, i believe the republican party has a platform that is a banner of bold, unmistakable colors with n