chair yellen: good afternoon. as you know, the federal open market committee this afternoon reaffirmed the current zero to 25% target range for the federal funds -- .25% target range for the federal funds rate. the target range for the federal funds rate remains unlikely at our next meeting in april. with continued improvement in economic conditions, however, we do not want to rule out the possibilities that an increase in the target range could be warranted at subsequent meetings. let me emphasize, however, that the timing of the initial increase in the target range will depend on the committee's assessment of incoming information. today's modification of our guidance should not be interpreted to mean that we have decided on the timing of that increase. in other words, just because we removed the word patient from the statement doesn't mean we're going to be impatient. moreover, even after the initial increase in the target funds rate, our policy is likely to remain highly accommodative to support continued progr

. -- of flexibility for janet yellen. that would give her ultimate flexibility. people in the marketplace might want a better idea of where she is headed. we will see. about 20% of the folks in our survey think there is no replacement. some economists think there will be some message that they are moving back to the 2% target. tom: thank you. the chief international economist at deutsche bank now president of william r rhodes global advisors and joins us this morning. the reality is, the data is tepid. is it just the weather or something that will be tangible? guests: we traded 300,000 jobs last month. that is fantastic. all other data, retail sales, why comes to consumers and businesses, we are seeing a slowdown. tom: it is a mixed picture. this is the atlanta fed study that everyone is talking about. here is the forecast. these are people like peter hooper and torsten slok at deutsche bank. this is not pretty down here near 0%. torsten: they are scratching their heads, saying how can some data be fantastic and other dat

janet yellen: i agree with that. many studies over decades and decades showed there were lags in the way monetary policy affects the economy. that is why it has so much time and forecasts and discussing them to we want to put in place a policy that will be appropriate for where the economy is heading. that is a reason many of my collies, most of my colleagues are anticipating it will be appropriate to begin policy sometime this year in spite of the fact they are projecting that inflation will be low. they are looking forward and they see that by the end of 2016 and 2017, with the labor market recovering, and assuming that inflation expectations remain stable and transitory, influences, no longer affecting inflation, they see inflation heading back toward a 2% objective. so just as we don't want to be premature, in tightening policy and aborting a recovery we worked long and hard to proceed as far as it has, we also do not want to be behind the curve beginning to tighten given those legs. >> i would like to preface th

yellen clarified the timing. yellen: we are seeing an economy growing up above trend. labor market is improving. some of the headwinds that have been holding the economy back are receding which is reason the committee wants to evaluate incoming data and consider when it may be appropriate to raise rates. peter: she stressed that means a rate is not a lock, only that a rate increases possible. the median forecast for the fed funds rate increase is well below the december forecast. that suggests the fed is in no rush. it depends on the data. yellen: we cannot and should not provide certain teepee ty because developments are uncertain. peter: she also defended the fed against congressional criticism it is not open enough. she also said it is appropriate for her to be quizzed by congress. she acknowledged the inspector general is investigating a leak dating back to 2012. peter cook, bloomberg, washington. for a line switch gears and talk luxury. -- caroline: let's switch gears and talk luxury. the world's largest watch show. what to expect. reporter: we are here in basel s

there were so many tweets right when janet yellen said that.y question to you rate estimates for 2015 16 and 17 have come down considerably. is that because the fed is reacting to the recent bout of disappointing data or does this have to do with expersonal factors like weakness in euro and stronger dollar? >> this is a new level. talking about being impatient, patient, back and forth but the pathway for rate increases and significant deline to .625 kpem my identifies how we see the fundamentals in the u.s. but it's both the fundamentals domestically in declining inflation and lingering under utilization of resources but also the international development including central bank policy around the world. geopolitical turmoil. a rising u.s. dollar. all of these factors providing barriers and burdens to that even actual lift off. >> are you surprised that janet yellen referenced the stronger dollar and the impact on export growth? it seems like she is listening to what markets have been saying over the past couple of months. >> it's interesting it

we want to go back to fed chair janet yellen. the current stance is providing considerable economic stimulus. it has facilitated a sizable reduction in labor market slack over the past two years, and appears to be consistent with gains. a modest increase in the federal funds rate would be unlikely to hold this progress, though such an increase may slow its pace somewhat. we must keep in mind the full effects of monetary policy are felt only after long lags. policymakers cannot wait until they have achieved their objectives begin adjusting policy. i would not consider it prudent to postpone normalization until we have reached or are on the verge of reaching our objectives. we create a risk of overshooting both our objectives of maximum sustainable employment and 2% inflation, potentially undermining economic growth and employment if the fomc is forced to tighten policy abruptly. in addition holding rates too low to long could encourage inappropriate risk-taking by investors, undermining the financial markets. we must be confident

enough said about janet yellen. the curve flattens. some maneuvering after janet yellen discussion. what matters here? let's bring us to the bloomberg terminal. here is 0% on american gdp. this is the storm of a year ago. that gave us the terrible first quarter. over here you have the blue-chips near 3%. the atlanta fed is much lower here. this is brendan greeley. brendan: the atlanta fed has the gdp now forecasting model. they are looking at the forecasting model a lot sooner. the atlanta fed model has trouble getting the net exports right. there is still some uncertainty there. tom: let's get right to the strong dollar. we are less patient this morning. they recalibrate this morning. oil will adjust lower. first, the dollar and ellen zentner's call for delay. do you keep your long-term view of a strong yellen dollar followthrough? hans: absolutely. in 2012, we called for a move between 45% and 50%. we think in the long-term better growth is going to matter that will be dollar supportive. for now we are looking for a pause. tom: dovetail in ellen zentner's call for a delay until 20

chairman yellen: good afternoon. as you know, the federal open market committee this afternoon reaffirmed the current zero to 25% target range for the federal funds -- .25% target range for the federal funds rate. the target range for the federal funds rate remains unlikely at our next meeting in april. with continued improvement in economic conditions, however, we do not want to rule out the possibilities that an increase in the target range could be warranted at subsequent meetings. let me emphasize, however, that the timing of the initial increase in the target range will depend on the committee's assessment of incoming information. today's modification of our guidance should not be interpreted to mean that we have decided on the timing of that increase. in other words just because we removed the word patient from the statement doesn't mean we're going to be impatient. moreover, even after the initial increase in the target funds rate, our policy is likely to remain highly accommodative to support continued progre

janet yellen still speaking. intel and altera coming up on the second hour of "the closing bell" with kelly evans and company. have a good weekend, kelly. >>> thank you, bill. welcome to "the closing bell," everybody. to close out this week i'm kelly evans and let's begin with how we closed out the session on wall street. janet yellen, the fed chair, is continuing to speak in san francisco. those comments hitting the wire at about 3:45. we saw some action right before during, and, of course, after that. we're going out with the dow seeing a gain of 31 points slightly above the 17,700 mark today. the s&p adding just under 5, to 2,060. the nasdaq by far the outperformer on the session. we'll talk about a big deal that looks like it's happening in the chip space there in a moment. the composite up 27 points to 4,891. joining me now is michael santoli from yahoo! finance, mark la pressie, and robert frank. also with me is "fast money" trader tim seymour. we begin with dominic chu. dom, you can tell us just what has h

a lot of yellen no screaming.len ran out of patience, you as an investor better start having some. i think when you cut through all of the headlines, guess what? gold is up. i don't think it's staying up for very long. oil went up it's not staying up for very long. there's way too much of it building up in cushing. it's not going to be around for very long. the dollar forget about it. the dollar has only one way to go and that's back up because the euro only has one way to go and that's back down. >> that's why it's so interesting and we were asking jack, if suddenly the dollar is weaker, that's going to totally upset the trades everybody has on. >> it's helpful for the u.s. stock market. janet yellen and bill gross said this i'm sorry, larry, but the gut reaction was janet yellen put the u.s. in the currency war. she mentioned the dollar a number of times. it was mentioned in the statement in terms of export weakness, concerns about the pressure that it was putting on inflation. obviously it is a growing concern,

the warm hug of mario draghi and janet yellen.ary 15 is an example that the central banks -- it really is out of their hands. betty: thank you very much. march madness is in full swing and so is the bloomberg racket. i will tell you which teams heavy hitters have winning the big dance. ♪ betty: it is the most wonderful time of the year for basketball fans. march madness is no joke. bloomberg is betting big this year. we reached out to the biggest names in business and finance to be art of the bloomberg bracket showdown. they are putting $10,000 each in the name of philanthropy. stephanie ruhle spoke with one of them. stephanie: one of them? all of them. 36 of us are in on this. that is $36,000. you have to be a huge college hoops fan. you might not follow basketball but there are so many games and teams. luck is a huge part. 63% of our participants bet on kentucky. we have guys playing with other teams. we have one with the boston celtics and one with the milwaukee bucks. they want to have their eye on kentucky players because the

how does cheap crude affect janet yellen? an fomc meeting this week and we get the statement tomorrow. tweet us. ♪ tom: good morning. oil south. not near the $42.85 west texas intermediate but we are getting there. the yield, two point -- 2.075%. brendan: in israel, the race is too close to call. polls show benjamin netanyahu's likud party trailing isaac herzog's finest party. -- zuioionist party. iran sending weapons to fight islamic state in iraq. there are concerns the weapons are not precision guided and could harm civilians. iraqi forces are trying to recapture tikrit from islamic state. house republicans set to unveil their budget this morning. the plan would partially privatize medicare, turn medicaid into state bought grants and repeal obamacare. president obama is criticizing caps on military in domestic spending. apple is expanding its smartphone trade-in program. it will accept blackberries. apples are outselling android devices in the u.s. new financing boosts pinterest to $11 billion. more than twice the value of

getting those comments in from fed chair yellen.the progress of the ship with scott kelly on board. they're heading to the international space station. i want to show you the pictures. we'll be right back for your market close. ♪ >> so we just got some comments from janet yellen. david, the market isn't reacting. >> came up on yellow. it was 37 to the plus side. now 38. not much happening there. a lot happening with oil. nicole petallides oil is down big time. almost 6%. oil stocks are doing pretty well. >> we had a big run-up. almost 10% when we started the day. for the weekend, we're giving some of that back now. >> breaking in the last hour, intel shares soaring. what's going on? >> that would be a big bite. >> all right, the bells are ringing on wall street. i said oil stocks. i meant airline stocks are up. they do well when the price of oil -- >> we knew what u you meant. >> the biggest jump is in the bottom. russell 2000 has fallen. it's interesting to know what happened at nasdaq. people looking for bargains found them in the

people are trying to dissect what janet yellen yellen and the rest of the fed are saying. really, they shouldn't be. they should be spending their time on more important endeavors. the bottom line is very simple. they are telling us that they remain data dependent. we will raise rates when we think it is time, dependent on the data. employment data, inflation data. they are bringing us back to that. what they did do is shift the goal post slightly by dropping the rate at which unemployment can drop without pushing inflation up. anna: nearer to 5%. edmund: which means there is less pressure on wage growth than previously thought by the fed. anna: so they can wait a little bit longer. edmund: potentially. but it wage growth accelerates and unemployment accelerates they can still move in june. they will move where the data tells them to move. anna: you quoted bridgwater in saying your biggest concern around all of this is that they move too soon. do a tree shape or and ecb. what do you mean by that? edmund: if you remember president reagan a -- president triche he raised rate

mark: what are they expecting to hear from janet yellen? talking at the san francisco fed. as far as the mn&a space is concerned -- scarlet: janet yellen probably is not point to go out on a limb and say too much about interest rates. -- going to go out on a limb. they are keeping their powder dry and choosing to stay flexible. we want to also look at the value of deals announced too. in terms of that chart, we are nowhere near the last cycle. from the fourth quarter of 2006 to the third quarter of 2007 -- this time around, the high was in the second quarter of 2014. the difference between now and then is that private equity was so much more active back then. their activity was triple the normal rate. they work out these mammoth deals. mark: the kraft food deal, they went boutique. scarlet: you see that in the way it shows up. for the year-to-date, you still have the big three banks -- jpmorgan, morgan stanley and goldman sachs making up half of all the deals announced. you see center view partners and lazard. it is notable that they made a

this is a janet yellen dollar.om: excuse me, shot stop the show, is that a "surveillance" correction? carl: it is a "bloomberg view" objection. jiolivia: -- jon:im: i think we will come and that will stave the market above $100 will about this price, gold will be very attractive and the emerging markets them up but they held off because there were thought that the indian government would reduce the tearrif, which is very high on gold, 10% in the last budget on the 28th of february, and they did not, so those who held back may have to now replenish the coffers. tom: fabulous. olivia: thank you so much, jim. we have to have you back on simple stop james steel -- back on soon. james steel with hsbc commodities. tom: oil falling beneath $50 a barrel. good morning, everyone. "bloomberg surveillance." ♪ tom: good morning everyone. "bloomberg surveillance." futures up 6. here is olivia sterns. olivia: my morning must-read comes from ambrose prichard writing in the "daily telegraph" -- gerardo rodriguez of blackrock still

janet yellen's speech reaction across that important speech on friday. that has captured the art world. this is one of the most important picasso paintings. we are privileged to bring you one of the leaders of christie's. a gorgeous painting. the numbers being touted are extraordinary. barry reynolds i have to recapitulate what he said. i can think of 18 million reasons for the u.s. -- 18 trillion reasons for the u.s. to issue a 50 year bond to refinance all of its debt. interest rates will rise one day. those who are been predicting a return to traditional rate environment have been dead wrong. are they just early or is this a paradigm shift? we might not know for some time. neil dutta with us. are just assume within your economic work that someday we'll get back to normal rates? neil: i think we will eventually. if interest rates are at these levels, the market is telling us stagnation cases are right. i think at this point, the view has to be correct in order for some of these trades to pay off. i'm not a believer in secular stagnation. i'm with the f

all eyes will be on janet yellen. the greece, of course, the outlier on that trade not currently involved in the bond buying over many of the issues that's at 10.8%. the 10 year in the uk 1.6. and the euro dollar has highlighted the monetary policy better than any pair the last couple of weeks. it is bouncing back today. it is up 1.4%. 1.05. goldman sachs said they're apparently expected to hit over the next six months to be down 0.8. goldman sachs you can see the u.s. flat against the yen today. the ruble losing about 2%. let's look at the commodities. the weakness mainly pred catted on the i did vir gent. but also on weak oil prices. today we're at 44.4 on wti and 53.3 on brent. putin ordered the navy's northern fleet to go full alert for the military exercises in the arctic. meanwhile the world waiting for president putin to reemerge after last week. let's get out live to moscow for the latest. >> reporter: good morning. i guess it's a measure of how critical vladmir putin is to the country. he's not been seen in p

yellen chair yellen and the fed. will she lay out a plan for rate hikes? steve laid out his ideas of what may ensue here in an hour's time. is this the end of a patient federal reserve? let's start to scott mather. he works for pimco. good to see you. what do you think the fed will say and is anything the fed is likely to say today going to change anything you do later today? >> yeah, good morning, tyler and andy. the fed will remove "patience" but they want to keep a summer timetable for people's expectations. and we think that is really appropriate. of course there are many people that wonder if there is some sort of you know, apocalyptic armageddon scenario that unfolds if they move off zero. we don't think that is the case. we think they will indicate the costs and risks of staying at zero are greater than the costs and risks of moving. we are sticking with our view they will begin to move rates in the summer time. but they will be moving very slowly not many mechanical fashion up to a neutral policy rate of around 2%. but that's probably the best way

they misinterpret janet yellen. janet yellen's saying when it's time it's time. >> s&p 2100. obviously the nasdaq back above 5000 at 5029. home depot up slightly, up over 10% year-to-date. >> kelly evans, good interview. >> on closing bell yesterday, talked about the company's growth. take a listen. >> we have benefited obviously from the buyback program as well as increase in our dividend which we have a commitment to as well. the majority of our growth in our stock has been driven by performance and by the fact that we've had great innovative product in our 400,000 or so associates, take it drive it into the marketplace. >> the company had its best earnings beat in 15 years. closing in on coke is the big of the market cap out of atlanta. >> incredible. the previous ceo, this is to me like jim senegal and craig jelenak. who thought you could transition to a new unbelievable ceo. what's kelly evans doing in vegas? i see the home depot sign, she's doing her job. that's where you should be. >> stock hasn't really tested its 50-day since october. >> i had -- my char

mark: jerry yellen expressed concern about stagnant wages -- chair yellen. is the fed prepared? >> they are as long as core inflation does take higher. one factor of the labor markets right now is that among skilled and educated workers, there are far more jobs open then there are people able to fill those jobs. we see it in the fact that the unemployment rate is less than 3% among those with a bachelors degree. for skilled workers, that supply demand imbalance for labor has to increase wages at some point. i'm betting it will happen this year. seems a little strange that the federal reserve is skipping over this imbalance. mark: scott joining us from philadelphia. thank you for your time. >> have a great afternoon, mark. mark: jeb bush may be raising a lot of money but still facing an uphill fight for the 2016 republican presidential nomination. mark halperin and his team went to new hampshire and talked to a focus group of 10 likely republican voters. mark: i want to start with jeb bush. >> i don't need to keep voting for bush over and over again or clinton over and over again

chair yellen, i wanted to check in on whether or not you see or have concerns about bubbles out there in the economy. particularly the financial markets, debt and equity markets and wanted to refer to your most recent monetary report to congress last month which you said overall equity valuations by some conventional measures are somewhat higher than the historical levels. valuation metrics in some sectors continue to appear stretched relative to historical norms. in the same report last year in july, the report specifically mentioned biotech and social media stocks as being substantially -- let's see, substantially stretched. do you still feel that way, and can you comment on bubbles in particular in these sectors? >> well, i don't want to comment on those particular sectors. you know, as we said in the report, overall measures of equity valuations are in the high side but not outside of historical ranges. in some corporate debt markets, we do see evidence of unusually low spreads and that's what was referred to in the report. more broadly, we do try to assess potential threats to fi

fed chair janet yellen's dovi dovishness having halted the decline.ook to adjust positions for the quarter end. the german market retrenching from last week's record level. although do bear in mind, the best part of 17% so far this year. exporters of luxury goods also notable decliners today. over in paris. meantime, the big focus is berlin where angela merkel is hosting the cash strapped greece. more than detailing specific measures that might unlock eurozone cash chl the two leaders will hold a news conference, but it's later at dinner the most progress is likely to be made, on whether@thens will get a third bailout package. >> sue herrera now with the latest headlines. >> here you go with your cnbc news update. defense secretary ash carter welcome the afghan president to the pentagon this morning. he personally thanked american forces for the sacrifices they made in the nearly 14-year war in afghanistan. >> microsoft and samsung have extended their partnership to bring microsoft services to more samsung twidevices. >>> the company that makes the lo

guy: bonds jumped on yellen's comments, while the dollar saw its biggest drop in six years. for more, we're joined by our chief economics correspondent, simon kennedy. she just backed off a little bit. the market can now rule out june and we're on to september. simon: maybe not rule out june quite yet. if the data picks up, june is still a possibility. but yes, the consensus is that economists overnight is that september more likely than june now, especially given the recent data. francine: how much does it have to do -- what she's looking at is a soft patch. she said you have to kind of rethink on the forecast, but at the same time we have a very high dollar. simon: yep, and the dollar, as i said yesterday, other people have been wondering, can the fed decouple from this interest rate cut that we've seen globally maybe norway today? and the answer from the fed is we're not as confident that we can decouple. for the dollar reduces inflation pressures and helps them out if they do want to keep rates lower. guy: how do we think this works? if we look at what the members are pr

definedcember, yellen patience.y her.s a mistake i in february she came out in her testimony and said patients does not mean what i said it meant and that -- she pretty much told us going to get rid of the word. it was about a correction of a mistake. removing patience has no meaning. everything else had meeting -- the lowering of the fund rate target, the downward assessment of the economy, pushed off the idea that there is going to be a rate hike anytime soon. the takeaway is not with the new york times or wall street journal said, the takeaway is the fed pushed it off to the end of the year 2016. that is what you saw the markets take off. pimm: today, that trend has reversed. stocks are lower. bonds are down and oil prices are falling. the dollar also reversing course. at first, the dollar weakened after chair yellen acknowledged a stronger dollar has hurt exports and inflation. the u.s. dollar has resumed its stronger uptrend. morgan stanley has said we are only in the middle of a bullish super cycle. we asked h

janet yellen will hold a news conference.e'll have complete coverage of the fed decision beginning at 2:00 p.m. eastern here on cnbc. it's being called the end of an era, end of the zerp era and end of an era that promises low rates for a given period of time. >> the word "patience." the reason it's important, if she does remove it it gives her flexibility to lay the groundwork for interest rate increase as if it weren't a high stakes fed meeting, how about the letter from ray dalio, major macro hedge fund strategist, talking about risks here. to be clear, we don't know nor does the fed know how much tightening will knock over the apple cart. what we do hope the fed knows, which we don't know is how exactly it will fix things if it knocks it over. sort of begging and warning the idea of the fed having a plan b, in case the tightening backfires, and -- >> that's a trader's position. that's a trader's short-term position. at the homemoment he doesn't want to be overexposed to the market. it's the rubber meets the road. janet ye

police yellen tomorrow will need the luck of the irish to dig her way out of it.iz: tom, she basically said what she would do. hold on one second, we just got oracle numbers. adam shapiro has them. orcl. how did they do, adam. >> a miss on revenue. the street wanted 9.46 billion. earnings per share, 68 cents. adjusts earnings per share, in line with expectations, liz? liz: adam on oracle. this is widely-held stock. watching reaction, pretty much flat since the close. close to $42.87. the ask, 42.64. back to tom lieden. give us your sense what happens here. are you still feeling pretty bullish about equities? still a best place looking for better yield? >> absolutely. investors waiting for yellen's comments tomorrow, let's get back to the fundamentals. really the etf world, something we pay a lot of attention on, why not invest in companies that invest in themselves? there are three specific buyback etfs, power shares, ttfs, which is, the trim tabs float shrink and also cambria has shareholder yield. if you want to find stocks that are buying back their own shares,

perhaps a more cautious approach as they wait to see what janet yellen will say. will she remove the word patience? that's the big question. here in europe after the rally we saw yesterday the german dax with a better than 1% gain. perhaps investors here watching what the fed will unveil as well. down about 50 points. the french markets seeing a bit of red down about 5 points keeping an eye on the russian market which is have rebounded a bit today just about 10 points and a quick look at the ftse 100 up about 30 points. usually when oil tanks stocks follow suit but that was not the case yesterday. we're looking at oil prices continuing to move to the down side. so the sell off does not seem to be over. wti crude at $43.59 down just about .6%. brent crude the international gauge also trading at $53.84. the big concern of course has been the oversupply of oil in the markets. that seems to be weighing on oil prices in today's trade. >> thank you. if you didn't know the fed begins a two day meeting today on wednesday afternoon followed by janet yellen's news conferenc

janet yellen and whether she will lose it. jon: welcome back. it is a big day for the federal reserve and will yellen lose patience? the founder of the largest hedge fund has sounded the alarm. if the fed raises rates, how much tightening will knock over the applecart? he oversees $2 billion and did not want any big position. what is your view? >> i am dovish. you look at the rate and the market is halfway there and my idea is that it will take it out and get rid of forward guidance. it will go back to the meeting and greater dependency, looking at the employment numbers. of course, you had a good report. i do not think he wants that. john: -- jon: i have heard him step away from wall street and main street and we are obsessing about a word in a statement. greenspan did this and, a month later, they hiked. you cannot tell what they are going to do off of the back of one word. >> howdy you interpret that? we look at the data and the recent set of data and they do not tell the threat. the best case scenario is the first rate hike in september. i w

janet yellen is the smartest person in the class, that's okay.need a smart person. >> what does it say, all of the dovish talk, the lowering of interest rate trajectories and inflation? >> february was a weak month. we'll hear from williams-sonoma today. amazing company. and this port slowdown directly impacted their numbers. we can say, well that's one off. but wait a second oil, how come oil's not going higher? that's one off. housing starts they were weak. that's one off. no, enough. february was weaker. it's true i can point to lennar, say that's a good number. i can point to retailers having a good time. it's easy to say not yet, not yet, not when the world's trying to figure out what to do in terms of restart growth. give the rest of the world a couple of months and we may not be in this jam. >> don't fire until you see the whites of inflation's eyes. >> or s.o.s. band take your time, do it right. how come the "usa today," i've got to tell you, they -- >> zeitgeist. >> yes. larry cramer by the way, involved with race together "usa today." >

this afternoon, as well as janet yellen news conference at 2:30 p.m. eastern time. first, we will your the senate side of the budget. what won't they accept from the house version? will be joined by republican congressman tom cole of oklahoma. he is a member of the house budget committee. and also upgraded the world to 5g and why hans vestberg is out to stop apple. johny hendricks, the founder of discovery joined us in just a few moments. here's a look at our top stories this morning. benjamin netanyahu is in a strong position to ask and his lengthy role -- to extend his lengthy rule in israel. his party winning one fourth of the seats in parliament, meaning they will be able to build a coalition with relative ease. his party was trailing in the polls and it was not clear at the outset. netanyahu: against all odds, we achieved a victory for the likud . a great victory led by the likud. betty: the coalition will probably include conservative and religious allies. violent protests broke out as the new european central bank headquarters officially open. demonstrators i

is fed chair yellen losing patience?s after this. >>> "the halftime report" with scott wapner is the place for market moving interviews. >> when you see large currency moves and large price moves in a commodity like oil, you have to be worried. >> real money. >> what makes things cheap is uncertainty. >> real debate. >> interest rates are going to go up, they can't drop as much as they did last year to this year. >> the most profitable hour of the trading day. >> do you think dick costolo will leave that job? >> we think there's a good chance he's not there within a year. >> the "halftime report," weekdays at noon eastern. in my world, wall isn't a street. return on investment isn't the only return i'm looking forward to. for some, every dollar is earned with sweat, sacrifice, courage. which is why usaa is honored to help our members with everything from investing for retirement to saving for college. our commitment to current and former military members and their families is without equal. start investing with as little

and of course janet yellen's news conference at 2:30. offer sophisticated investing strategies. my technology can help you choose the right portfolio. monitor it. and automatically rebalance it. all without charging advisory fees, account service fees or commissions. that may be hard to compute. but i'm a computer. so trust me. it computes. say hello at intelligent.schwab.com >>> welcome back to "squawk box" this morning. we have big news. microsoft confirming, this is for joe, i bet you still use this joe. internet explorer software is going away. >> don't we have it here? internet explorer user. >> i do. but i have fire fox. >> what do you use for all your incognito browsing at home? >> i get i'm not incognito. i don't know. >> his is on a server. the company microsoft is using a new name code name and revealing the company is working on a new name. the internet explorer brand will have some versions of windows 10 with compatibility but the new project will be a primary way for 10 users to access the web. >> internet explorer had 80% m

we will bring you janet yellen's news conference in 15 minutes.et's get back to our fed roundtable. joining me this afternoon, constance hunter sebastian gailey and lisa abramowitz standing by with wall street's reaction, scarlet fu. what more reaction are we seeing on wall street from this latest news? scarlet: we are holding on to our gains. you can see on the chart behind me, following the fomc announcement we have continued to build on our advances. at the best levels of the session. it is pretty much across the board. the only sector not participating its consumer staples. lisa just mentioned the higher rates in the credit market. maybe a rush to refinance debt as well. for equities it would increase the cost of share buybacks for companies that tap the credit market in order to get cash to buy back their stocks. which could mean less ability for companies to boost their earnings-per-share number. in the slow-growing economy, there is struggle to grow revenue. companies were able to engineer their eps by cutting costs and boosting their earni

janet yellen will be giving a speech before the closing bell.e futures this morning and while the futures have not been a clear indication of where we have been headed for much of the week you can see this morning they're down about 41 points. we haven't seen something like this since last march. right now you see that the dow futures

yellen also referenced the negative impact of the stronger dollar. we saw the dollar see the biggest one day reversal since 2009. it's come back a bit. still up about 9% year to date. this was a chart that every investors was watching. especially after the dovish fed statement on wednesday. >> it was a big chart. it was important. but i picked something that had a little less focus and i think is a bigger story. let's look at the ftse 100 up the best part of 3.5%. it hasn't been focused on. record highs as i said. this has also come despite a very weak week for oil which effects the heavy energy index. on wednesday it really shot up 1.6% in the middle of the week. that's because similar to the sentiment we got out of the fed we had a dovish commentary out of the monetary policy committee here in the u.k. suggesting that rate cuts aren't coming any time soon. rate rises aren't coming any time. possible we might have a rate cut instead of a rate rise. we also heard from the chancellor with his budge before the election where he had positive outlook for

why did janet yellen give a shout-out to one company on capitol hill?e ceo of that company. we're always on call for you. foxbusiness.com/oncall. sign up for claman on call. guess what? we're hitting the multi thousand mark of you who are doing this you want this information. you got it, free. ♪ doug. you've been staring at that for awhile, huh? listen, td ameritrade has former floor traders to help walk you through that complex trade. so you'll be confident enough to do what you want. i'll pull up their number. blammo. let's get those guys on the horn. oooo looks like it is time to upgrade your phone, douglass. for all the confidence you need. td ameritrade. you got this. ♪ liz: business alert here. the battle for smartwatch dominance is heating up. just days after apple's blockbuster watch announcement. the world's largest watch maker swatch is striking back. the swatch ceo bashed the whole concept of a smartwatch saying that, quote, we don't want to produce a mini mobile phone on your wrist. let others do that. take that, apple. and remember, when st

a read on what to expect from janet yellen. >> a live shot of capitol hill. the state of the international financial system before the house financial services committee. headlines from that testimony, of course, we'll bring it to you as soon as it crosses. >>> sometimes an image says it all. happy st. patrick's day, art. >> the rest of the day to yourself, sir. >> nice to see you. good morning. congratulations. are you surprised that the strong bid we had in the last two hours of yesterday didn't follow through this morning? >> yes but as carl pointed out we've had a difficult time putting together back-to-back updays through the month of march. i think it's a kind of sense of the indecisiveness of the market's exemplifies indecisiveness of the players themselves, can't be sure things data dependent yet data looks weak and fed might want to inch closer to lift-off if you would. >> well, certainly we expect them tomorrow to formally announce they're opening the way to a rate rise by removing the word "patient" on future interest rate rises but you suggest jan

is janet yellen to manage the dividend growth of jpmorgan?> the fed is managing growth of all of the banks. they are so focused on the capital ratios that they want them to hold as much capital as possible and banks are trying to push back a little bit -- tom: jamie dimon made $32 million in operating income line. why is komar sri-kumar were others telling jamie dimon what to do? i'm lost. >> the fed once more and more capital. tom: why don't they just settle up? >> they have been slowly upping the level. rather than being like the swiss bank and setting a higher level we have been more gradual. >> i think the objectives of major bank and the federal reserve are very different. for the federal reserve, it is all about stability. if your member 2007 and 2008 and how 2008 crept up on us so suddenly that this is not something the fed wants to see happen. in a sense, it makes -- you can understand why they're being extremely cautious over all in terms of the capital requirements. >>olivia: we're actually going to get comments on what the fed thin

if you warning signs for janet yellen and her colleagues. the beige book includes activity through february 23. economic activity continued to expand at a moderate space -- any moderate pace. activity slowed in richmond, boston said contacts were generally upbeat not withstanding the severe weather. consumer spending rose, travel and tourism increased across the board manufacturing posted gains at varying rates across the country. home sales increased but construction is mixed. the warning signs -- agricultural conditions worsened and oil and gas drilling declined, not surprising, given the gas prices. contact in dallas and san francisco noted a stronger dollar was hurting agricultural exports will stop the dollar is a factor for the fed to consider. the beige book says chicago and san francisco district noted that portal on the west coast had a negative impact on exports will stop that has since been resolved but the port issue did come up in a couple of references. on the job and wage front -- payrolls remain stable. her were employment ga

manus: let's talk about jeremy yellen -- janet yellen. suppose we have the debate, inflation is down for the ninth day, bond yields are lower, the dollar is a mighty strong currency. where are we in the great dollar debate? >> today is a perfect day for a change in the communication. yellen can drop the word "pati ence" and she has plenty of other tools to signal to the markets that the rates will come down in june. perhaps not next year, but certainly this year. then she has the conference at which she can reinforce the points that you just made, all of which are pretty much deflationary. in that context, i think the message today will be we have changed the guidance because we did not want to be in a situation with a time commitment, but we have flexibility. currently, it is a situation where perhaps we do not have to go into -- in june. >> highest since 2009. does the view that the strength of the dollar could not postpone the timing of the rate hike, but slow down the pace of the rate increases, is that right? how does the dollar play

what does that have to do anything, wayne what janet yellen said today? >> janet yellen didn't say anything about stress tests. the stress tests are still there. the stress tests, what she should have said is that we're not, going to remove all of this liquidity. because we're not letting the stress tests any longer dominate the money market. >> okay. so, one of the things people are wondering what stress tests have to do with anything. economic outlook, speaking about gdp, outlook -- you'd put of all goods and services. fed brought it down for 2015 between 2.2.%. it was 2.3 to 2.6%. you have a different level. what is your level for gdp in 2015? start with the high point. >> my level gdp has been in a two to 3% growth range and it will move over the next 12 months interestto 4% growth range. >> four? why 4%? is it really stress tests are freeing up or rat least pulling weight off banks for them to start lending? what they do and say they are two totally different things. >> liz, you're exactly correct. the stress tests tends to cause banks to hold back o

this is janet yellen speaking today. janet yellen: the activity appears to be closer to its potential than it was a year or two ago. the economy in an underlying sense remains quite weak by historical standards. pimm: yellen also said the federal reserve policy will evolve based on economic conditions. senator chuck schumer of new york emerging as a likely successor to the current senate democrat leader harry reid. harry reid says he's not going to run for a sixth term in the senate. reid endorsed chuck schumer and the chamber's number two democrat said he's not going to see to the top job. the germanwings airbus copilot who apparently crashed flight 9525 on purpose was suffering from an unspecified mental illness, according to a person familiar with the matter. investigators found a note in the desultory flat of the copilot, saying he was unfit to work on the day of the crash. that note was not submitted to the airline. lawyers say the families of the victims will be able to seek unlimited amounts in settlement from the

so what did janet yellen have to say? >> well catherine, as you know policy makers at the federal reserve, they've kept rates near zero since the global financial crisis in 2008. well, the economy has improved significantly since. so everyone wants to know when rates will rise. policy makers say they're not going to raise them until they see more clear signs that the economy is improving. they say they won't likely announce a rate increase when they meet again in april, but they've changed their stance about being patient when it comes to raising the rate. they say they'll do that when they're confident prices will rise over the medium term and the labor market shows further improvement. market plays expect the central bank could raise the rate as early as june but fed chair janet yellen says nothing's been decided yet. >> in particular this change does not mean that an increase will necessarily occur in june. although we can't rule that out. as we noted in our statement, the decision to raise the target range will depend

bill: how is janet yellen going to wind down the interest rate problem? how will hedge funds deal with this? even the mere mention of being impatient set the markets reeling. it is an addiction. roxanne: everyone expects it to unwind pretty slowly and gradually. i don't think anyone wants shocks to the system. we saw that in 1994 in february where there was a shock. i think people learn from that even though it is kind of ancient history. it will be done gradually so people can digest it and predict it coming forward. bill: we shall see. this is one of the big issues of our time in the markets. stephanie: we have to leave it there, but thank you. she is the ceo of aurora investments, roxanne martino. when we return, republican voters weigh in and what do they think of electing a third member of the bush family for president? bloomberg politics team went to new hampshire to find out. when luxury meets silicon valley and the world of high-priced watches will never be the same. maybe it will. maybe it is just a fad. ♪ stephanie: welcome back to market makers

>> you and i differ, i love the fed, i loved bernanke not so sure about yellen.? >> i think he was second worst fed chairman of all-time. >> okay. >> we talked about the economy, it will be better i in second, third quarter, the fed should not raise rates. charles: ar do you like idea tht this money helps you, where does this help main street. >> why do you keuhl m call me s. charles: the viewers might be, you say fed get out of the way. >> in 2009, ber ban key said that ibm is not making payroll, i thank god we had bern ba ban . key. >> one thing. market sky-rocketed, market is going up. charles: paul. >> this is all just noise. we don't have inflation. why raise rates? charles: all right, leave it there. remember though it about long-term investing. we appreciate you watching us. catch us 6 p.m., dvr it, tell your friends, lou dobbs is next. next. >> good evening, i could lou dobbs, hours closer to finding out whether obama administration has been successful in its effort at reyield change. in removing another world leader from office. you are looking now at li

janelle yellen talked about policymakers meeting in april but she left the door open on june for the feds to raise rates for the first time in nine years. fred watchers were obsessing about whether they would prop the word. but in the end yellen refused to be pinned down by two syllables. >> it should not be interpreted to mean that we have decided on the timing of that increase. erin other words just because we removed the word patience from the statement doesn't mean we're going to be impatient. >> when the fed does raise rates, it will be a tremendous vote of confidence in the u.s. economy. and there are certainly signs of help, especially in the labor market, with the economy adding 195,000 jobs last month but, and it is a big but there's evidence that the economy mane be doing as well as the labor market suggests. consumer spending, for example fell in january and it's the engine 6 u.s. economic growth. and u.s. firms have been selling fewer goods overseas, thanks to the dollar strength thing against other occurrences. fewer things soda broad which drags on our growth. and it ma

there's no more patience in the fed statement but chairman yellen also doesn't seem to be in a hurryo raise rates. so how do you trade it? what is your impatient playbook? pete? >> well, i think that you got to stick with what's been working so far, michele, and i think everybody, we talked about it yesterday on the desk, 90% of the folks who have come on here patience will come out but that doesn't necessarily mean june or necessarily mean september. probably signals in that direction, but i still continue to pound the table, i think these health care names, that's a place to be, because of the fact that not only are you getting yield, yields, one of the great beneficiaries of this area but getting companies that have growth. if you look across there, look at what's been going on, j&j over $100 a slayer, some of these biotech names, biogen, gilead, amgen, you get yield in many of the various parts of that market in health care, unh, some of those, but you also have companies who have plenty of growth in front of them. >> josh, looking at no follow through in the dow from yesterday b