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Transcripts For CSPAN Book Discussion On Alabamas Civil Rights Trail 20140823

freedom. >> i come to say to you this fternoon, i understand the hour. it will not be long. how long? not long. you will reap what you sew. >> this is called an illustrated guide to the cradle of freedom. and basically, it looks at the hist referee: the civil right's movement in beal kind of telling the story geographically. i wrote a book history telling it chronologically. and kind of the theme of both books is that alabama had a central role in the civil rights movement starting the montgomery busboy time in 1956 on through the freedom rides, the birmingham movement in 1963 and the settlement in 1965. but there are a lot of smaller stories scattered all around the state including here in mobile. and so i try to tell those as well. a lot of them were people i had never heard of, you know? and in many ways they were as ordinary as, you know, as you or me, except they did these amazing things under such stressful situations that existed at the time. and so it seemed to me that it was a movement of foot soldiers as well as great leaders. i want to track down as many people as i could who were still alive and talk to them about their stories you know, while they still remembered the details of what happened. you can watch the old film footage and see the state troopers charging at demonstrators but having somebody remember that as an 11-year-old she thought they were monsters because they had these masks on their faces. i don't know. i just love those kind of details as an old recovering journalist and storyteller at heart. it just makes the story kind of come alive and gives it a face, i think. in mobile, for example, there's a little jesuit college on the western part of mobile called spring hill college. spring hill college was the first school of any kind in the state of alabama to desegregate. it began that process back in the 1940's. had its first african-american graduate in 1956. and that was very early in the deep south. and spring hill kind of went ahead and did it quietly. and so in martin luther king's letter from a birmingham jail he mentioned springfield college as one of the places that had inspiration and tried to do the right thing. i just want to call attention to the fact that in addition to those dramatic headlines where you saw police dogs and you saw the bombs church in birmingham and those horrific scenes that were the flip side of the courage that the civil rights leaders and protestors were displaying but you had these quieter things going on in a number of different places. mobile had a man who -- an african-american man whose name -- ohn le fluorescent and ledfleur decided that he was going to take on segregation and started one of the chapters mobile.aacp here in he went about pursuing the right to vote, lynching, desegregating buses and public accommodations and mostly he did it through negotiations and lawsuits and that kind of thing , less by demonstration and confrontation. e found a few moderate a alleys that would part ways that became the mobile story although there was a lot that needs that apparent progress -- where there was still a lot of, you know, hard core segregation and some pretty hard racial attitudes. and so it took a while for all that to play out. but there were people going way back in mobile who tried to get things started earlier. john hewitt became the first african-american sheriff's in lambs county, alabama. lambs county was the toughest county in alabama in terms of its resistance to civil rights. it was the county that the settlement montgomery march actually mostly took place in lambs county. some were in dallas county. and then the next 50 miles of the march were through lambs county before you get to lambs county and montgomery county. at the time that the march started in lambs county there in 1965 there were no african american voters in lambs county at all. 80% of the population was black and there were no african americans to vote. john hewitt became one of the first two african-american people until lambs county to register. and it was 1965 before that happened. there was violence in lambs county. the detroit housewife who came down to the march was murdered in lambs county. a little bit after that jonathan daniels a white supporting urch was it. so he became the most visible leader in lambs county and actually was a -- was a -- one of the founders of what became the black panther party which was an all-black political party designed to support black candidates for office. and he eventually won the office of sheriff in 1970 and served in that capacity off and on until he died. very interesting man. brave man. it was a rough dangerous place. and he knew it. very soft-spoken guy. got this tall, you know? physical as unimposing as a person can be. and yet he just had this -- this boldness about him and this courage about him and he -- you know, he went about the business of building a movement there. one of the interesting things about bame is as tough as those years were in the state at the time, alabama's probably done as good a job as any other state of kind of claiming that history officially and preserving it in civil right sights and museums and markers and the alabama department of tourism works really hard at bringing in people in alabama to see the place where is these dramatic things happen. although the civil rights movement was -- you know, was a , rbulent time and it was hard violent ugly things happened during that time. but it was also a time when people confronted violence with nonviolence. and so there was something incredibly courageous about that. and because they did that, all of us became a little more free. official segregation ended because of the civil rights movement. the voting right passed in 1965 essentially ushered in a period of interracial democracy in the south, in the deep south which really hadn't existed in so many of these rural county. there just weren't any black voters or hardly any. people could vote or could participate in the life of their own place. and so they were more free and alabama in that sense became the cradle of their freedom. but think it became the cradle of other people's freedom too, my freedom because, you know, it became easier just to be decent, just to treat people like you maybe wanted to all along. there was a time tham if you were in alabama or that you were publically respectful toward an african american person you could get yourself and that person in trouble. i mean, it was that hard at times. and it isn't anymore. so i'm not saying racism is dead. it certainly is not. but -- but it's no longer respectable and you don't have to be afraid to be a person who treats people as human beings regardless of who they are. >> c-span's american history tour next friday focus on native americans. we start off with the battle of the little big horn also known as custer's last stand. also a tour of the new mexico pueblo. 9,000iv

Transcripts For FBC MONEY With Melissa Francis 20150325

ah. just when you thought that it couldn't get any worse, federal workers and retirees owe the government more than $3.5 billion in unpaid taxes. that is just from last year. that is according to the dedicated number crunchers over at irs. let's bring in today's panel. fox business's david asman. along with brad blakeman, former senior staff member under president george w. bush. we also have james freeman from the "wall street journal." what kills me about this story is not necessarily the fact that you have federal workers who didn't pay their taxes because people out there also not paying their taxes. it is how inefficient the government is that all they would have to do is garnish their paycheck. like you have the money that they owe you. and instead you give it to them and don't give it back to you. am i being too hard on government, mr. blakeman? >> you are not being too hard. it is mind-boggling. melissa: so easy for them to get money. they're the ones paying these workers. >> no question. to even think somebody would do that to work for the government, and think they could do that when the ordinary citizen could not is absolutely unconscionable. >> when the irs is part of the problem. they're the ones that told us about it, but irs workers are among those who are not paying. by the way enter ted cruz and his tax reform program. he comes out, after he announces, it was yesterday he announced right? he announced yesterday. came out and biggest point of his platform is tax reform, something that prevents whether you work for government or whether you're a big corporate guy who has his cut away that nobody else get average guy pays taxes. average guy is one that needs a break. melissa: amazing to me. the irs is reporting, doing a special investigation into the fact their own workers are not paying them. james freeman. just -- wow. go ahead. >> to be kind you could say not even they can figure out the tax code. this would be argument for flat tax that cruz is making but i think you're a little too kind to the government. melissa: really? never. >> not to mention the latest gao report, $125 billion a year in improper payments. so they're sending it to the wrong person. sending it to someone who isn't qualifying for program. melissa: david do you -- >> liberty tax service, founder around ceo, john hewitt will be joining us exclusively at 4:00 p.m. we'll get him to talk a little bit about this. we will give hints how best not to be overcharged as we enter tax season. >> i hate getting overcharged. anytime i'm paying taxes i'm being overcharged. that is rough day for the markets followingdown beat economic data but there is some green on the board because mac and cheese and ketchup are getting together at least. heinz and kraft merging to form the world's fifth largest food and beverage company. that marriage will bring brands like oscar meyer, velveeta, bagel bites all nutritious and delicious under the same roof. james freeman. what do you think of this deal? good stuff good iconic brands. >> they are but get a lot of grief. obviously it is good for kraft shareholders, they have been excited but part of the reasons these companies have not been able to grow, they have been laggards in the market, there has been a campaign against traditional foods saying they're unhealthy, can't be part of a good diet. i'm in your camp. there is nothing wrong with these brands. melissa: i love me some kraft mac and cheese. >> it can be part of a good diet. doesn't mean you have it at every meal. this is sad. obviously a lot of people will get fired when the deal happens. melissa: yeah. >> not purely because of the market. it is really part because of effective campaign often fact-free because of these foods. >> let as not lose sight of the stock, at that when the market is down 200 points kraft's stock is up 34%. this with is one of these why didn't days? melissa: mac and cheese is natural color. when you make it fans sir, doesn't work the same. less than a month to go, nearly time for the apple watch, however the tech giant is cutting production in half, you due to display problems. this is according to udn mobile. but have no fear. apple employees will be ready to give you fashion advice as you've been choosing between the different versions. that is being reported by 9:00 to 5:00 mac i feel like brad blakeman will get the apple watch. will you get the $10,000 one? >> it ain't happening tell you why. don't they do focus groups when they put out products? the iphone to make my wristwatch work when i have the iphone in my pocket and iphone does everything the wrist does? it is really insane. your investment is nine hundred bucks. melissa: you're injecting logic into this. when it comes to apple it is no logic. my kids want every apple product ever made doesn't matter if it duplicates. james freeman what think. >> the idea not reaching into your pocket to get the phone. melissa: thank goodness. that is taxing motion. >> if this is true bolsters comment my colleague has been saying this is play to get people in the store to buy of the iphone. if that is the play, you don't need that many watches. >> you can't sell apple short. again when you go to the apple store, see all those genius devices none of them have watches on. none of them have watches. i think apple tv will work. i don't think apple watch won't. melissa: nearly half of americans are living paycheck to paycheck. whopping 40% of u.s. households save nothing zip, zero, nada out of current income according to a analyst at deutsche bank. brad blakeman does this make sense to you? >> no, it does not. melissa: do you believe it? >> i do believe it and i believe america is suffering from the fact that we're not savers. we're spenders. we're living paycheck to paycheck. we're seeing homeownership go down. we're seeing incomes go down. people are not being responsible but government doesn't lead by being responsible. >> and the fed. >> absolutely. melissa: wages, i understand that, i also wonder if you're in this situation what do you think is going to happen? you will get a raise down the road? >> true. if we go into recession a lot of people will lose their jobs. if you have no savings for rainy day, you will be in big trouble. the fed is being most irresponsible not giving any savers any opportunity or incentive to save with 0% interest. >> they have missed a great era in the equity markets, certainly last few years. looking forward you can't say you shouldn't be that confident that social security and medicare will take care of all of your needs in old age. tragedy in the making. melissa: amazon firing back at faa the online retailer blasting the agency for being too slow to approve commercial drone regulations. it says the delivery drone the faa just okayed is already obsolete. that is exactly what is wrong with government regulating technology. is that they are so slow and so behind it, by the time they get done testing something it is already on to the next. brad how do you solve that problem? >> you solve it making sure the government, and i think, congress probably has a lead on this because as presidents come and go congress stays with their standing committees. they should be on top technology. the internet -- >> brad, they will never be on top. regulators, regulators and politicians will always trail technology. what surprises me that amazon is not more upset about regulation of the internet because they make their live lie hood on the internet. if the internet is regulated as they plan, things will be very slow on that thing. >> no question about it. melissa: james freeman, this one's for you. >> okay. melissa: donald trump might be making a play for the white house but first the mogul is introducing us to "empire." his second -- not to be outdone. we decided to make our own scent here on fox business. our is inspired by charlie gasparino. he is out today. but the scent we think would -- >> no, oh, please. look at that. melissa: it smells like confrontation. >> you made up a wonderful graphic like that and son of a gun never showed up? what is up with that? melissa: not here to get mad with us about the lines my producers put on the face. which i objected to, charlie, if you're watching somewhere. james freeman, what do you think, empire, putting dispute a side has bold notes of peppermint and hints of juicy apple. are you going to wear that? sounds delicious. >> strangely alluring. melissa: it is. >> but i have -- >> you're worrying me, james. >> i a feeling understated elegance of donald trump is not exactly what people are looking for. melissa: you don't know if you want to smell what "the donald" thinks you should smell like might be overpowering like "the donald" himself is what you're saying. i don't know, pep every mint juicy apple, sounds delicious. >> i think it stinks and not very presidential. melissa: he is out to make a buck. only running for president to sell what he selling on the side. >> he knows the brand. melissa: i love it. it is wonderful. >> that word trump sells products. i bet it will sell it here. melissa: it will. >> this is comment how much better the republican field is this year. where he was sort of in the mix last time. >> he is still in the mix. >> yeah? melissa: thanks, guys. i want to bring your attention back to the markets. the dow is currently down. take a look at that. >> ouch. melissa: down better than 200 points. we'll check out oil. we're 20 minutes from the close. crude is up more than 3 1/2%. 3.8% on the day. big spike in crude oil there. a critical find a new clue into the germanwings crash. investigators recover an audio recording from the plane's black box. we'll bring you all the latest developments. ford, keeping you on the right side of the radar gun. the car that could make speeding tickets a thing of the past. smart slow money coming up. ♪ the real question that needs to be asked is "what is it that we can do that is impactful?" what the cloud enables is computing to empower cancer researchers. it used to take two weeks to sequence and analyze a genome; with the microsoft cloud we can analyze 100 per day. whatever i can do to help compute a cure for cancer, that's what i'd like to do. s. melissa: new details emerging right now in the deadly plane crash in the french alps. the state department now confirming that three americans were among the 150 killed in the germanwings disaster. a virginia man claiming two of them are his wife. a u.s. contractor, and their grown daughter. meanwhile a promising sign as investigators recover an audio recording containing sound and voices from one of the severely-damaged black boxes. back at the crash site the leaders of germany, france and spain arrived by helicopter to thank workers as they begin a long process of locating debris and bodies. while on its way from barcelona to dusseldorf, an a320 began the unusual descent just who minutes into the flight, falling for eight minutes before crashing into the french alps. the reason for the crash right now is is unclear because the pilots did not send a distress signal and the weather was favorable. a full investigation could take months. i'm joined by mike boyd, aviation security expert. thanks so much for joining us. some of the details that have emerged today, french officials have said that they are ruling out a loss of cabin pressure. we don't know how they would know that at this point but that is a statement they made earlier today. they said that, they heard from the pilots at 10:30. the at 10:31 they notice ad descent in that minute and there was no response. given those new details what do you think happened? >> it is very clear something happened in the cockpit to take out the pilots. it is very clear. i hear all this stuff about come computers and all rest of it. this is not a situation of like, hall in space odyssey. these computers can not be overridden to a large degree. something obvious took the pilots out at 10:30 and 10:31. melissa: what could that be? type thing, even though the french government is saying no, do you think that is what happened or seems unlikely to you as well that they lost cabin pressure? >> they lost something in the cockpit. melissa: in the cockpit, pardon me. >> whether windshield, cracked windshield. it could have been some kind after fire in the cockpit that had toxic fumes or something like that. but it is very very clear the pilots were not in control of this airplane from roughly 10:31 on. so something took the pilots cognition out. that is it. whether it was, i don't know how the french can rule out loss of cabin pressure. they might know, i don't know. maybe they heard something on the cockpit voice recorder. melissa: so when we do hear what was on the cockpit voice recorder, if it is just silent, that doesn't necessarily help that much because it could be, you know, some are already saying is it pilot sabotage? you look back to that malaysian flight. there were some thoughts maybe a pilot in that case did it intentionally for whatever reason. if they're just silent, they could be in there and could be malicious. isn't it still a possibility if we just don't hear anything on the voice recorder? >> you will hear something because they call it a cockpit voice recorder. it is really a cockpit noise recorder. so any kind of background noises, wind noise that sort of thing, that would be recorded there as well. movement noise. there will be something there, probably. not just voices it records. melissa: what are the other possibles? you said a shattered windshield.ething in there that could explode and immediately render them unconscious? >> something did apparently. we don't know what that was but it could be some part of the airplane that might have caught fire behind the control panel. something like that. so the issue is we know this something happened in the cockpit to cause that airplane not to be guided anymore by the hand man. that is where we're at right now what took them out. melissa: mike boyd, thank you for your insight. >> thank you. melissa: radioshack's fire-sale sparking outrage among customers. why your personal data may be on the auction block. plus he doesn't always ride in the carpool lane but when he does it will cost him. this is definitely the most interesting commute ever! do you ever have too much money? 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[ female announcer ] who are we? we are the thinkers. the job jugglers. the up all-nighters. and the ones who turn ideas into action. we've made our passions our life's work. we strive for the moments where we can say, "i did it!" ♪ ♪ we are entrepreneurs who started it all... with a signature. legalzoom has helped start over 1 million businesses, turning dreamers into business owners. and we're here to help start yours. you can't predict the market. but at t. rowe price we've helped guide our clients through good times and bad. our experienced investment professionals are one reason over 85% of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper averages. so in a variety of markets we can help you feel confident. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. call us or your advisor. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. melissa: we have some breaking news right now. army sergeant bo bergdahl who was held captive by the taliban for five years we are just learning right now that he is going to be charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. that is according to the fox news. we're getting that news right now. whether it is on wall street or main street here who is making money today, including mcdonald's. it is taking inspiration from martha stewart by launching a lifestyle collection. look at that! homewares, apparel each item emblazenned with the image of a big mac. delicious. products include big mac bedsheets. wallpaper obviously and big mac yoga pants. what you really want is a giant hamburger on your ass. back to make more money. mulder and sully. fox reopening "the x-files" for one last season. it has been off the years for 13 years. fans are promised six new episodes. the show's creator says they will be weirder than ever. perfect. a little help from the world's most interesting man. this guy right here, he was caught trying to carpool with a cardboard cutout. look closely. you will see that is the man from the dos equis commercials. troopers working carpool lane, spot it right away. they weren't fooled. they issued the driver a ticket for 120 bucks and tweeted about it. ford doing your best to keep you on right side of the law whether you look it or not. new intelligence speed limiter, i don't like the sound of that at all, topping speed limit, impossible reducing fuel supply to the engine. i don't like it at all. this will make its debut, ford s max getting a test drive in europe before heading to the states. this would be undesirable for me. i pretty much never obey the speed limit. >> i drove a truck once with regulator. they use those to make sure people renting gasser and trucks don't use a lot of gas, don't break the laws. it is really annoying when you put your foot on pedal nothing happens. this is really the nanny state. i know it is private, not government getting involved but it does feel nanny statish, doesn't it? melissa: you know when i step hard on the gas and slam my horn in order to get around somebody irritating me in front of me, the car needs to react in order for me to do that properly. james freeman, this does not work for me at all. >> this doesn't seem like consumer driven innovation, no. who wants it. >> i would hope if you needed to accelerate avoid a crash. melissa: or cut someone off which i'm usually doing. >> only application i could see is kids. but you know if they're able to override it, you probably got to teach them not to drive recklessly. melissa: the kids are ail little smarter about technology than us older people. >> if happens at split second to push another button for override. melissa: ford we don't like it. thanks, guys. from speeding cars to more relaxing way to travel, the rv industry getting a boost from lower gas prices and retired baby boomers looking to hit the open road. our very own road warrior jeff flock is rolling along in indiana. jeff. you're driving on tv. that is not dangerous. >> i'll tell you, i can go as fast as i want to in this thing. shake bob up with the camera. oh, almost fell down. actually in one of the most popular rvs out there. they call this an ruv right john? >> they call it a ruv. >> this is thor industries. look at numbers, melissa. sales of rvs this year are through the roof so far. january, february, big-time. take me inside of this one. that is one of your most popular ones. that is the vegas, right? that one right there. now what is this one over here. >> this one is called the outlaw. this is the ultimate tailgating machine right here. >> show me why. you come inside of these things, melissa, how much does this cost? >> this is about 160, $170,000. >> this is more space than a condo in new york city. and here's the cool thing about it. you come in here, look at this. 10-foot sealings in the bedroom for one thing. and then you go out your bathroom here. let me through here. and we got, we got a porch. we've got a, what do you -- what is this? >> outside kitchen, big-screen tv. everything you need to go to your favorite tailgating event. >> before we get away bob hurry up melissa runs out of time here. this one here not only have a big wide screen tv it also has a fireplace in the rv. these things are getting out of control. >> jeff, that is amazing! i am blown away! i was ready to make fun of you at the beginning of this segment. i never do stuff like that but i am blown away by this all i need is my big mac yoga pants i'm right there. learned so much in this block of television. jeff flock, thank you so much. amazing. i'm going right there. i can't wait. getting a little too comfortable with the white house. google frequent visits. will raise a few eyebrows out there. you won't believe how long this has been going on. what could be a must-have for parents everywhere. how folks can now diagnose an ear infection by plugging this little device into their smartphones. "piles of money," mcdonald's, rvs we have all kinds of stuff on this show! we'll be right back. ♪ when the moment's spontaneous, why pause to take a pill? or stop to find a bathroom? cialis for daily use is approved to treat both erectile dysfunction and the urinary symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently, day or night. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision or any symptoms of an allergic reaction stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a free 30-tablet trial. if you take multiple medications, a dry mouth can be a common side effect. that's why there's biotene. it comes in oral rinse spray or gel so there's moisturizing relief for everyone. biotene, for people who suffer from a dry mouth. 's k-12 for thinking. both are golf be charged with desertion. you will remember that enemy. more. passing a bill that would keep official business. a full house go. all right. getting cozy with the ad ministration within matters most. but obama white house has met with google 200 dirty times. google executives flooded the white house in 2012. here to discuss it, our own rich rob and brad. >> fairly exhaustive. everyone from larry page to the top lobbyist. they are looking out late 2012. staff recommended that charges be brought against google. what you got from here basically is the suggestion that google has done such a effective job. they do a lot of things. a lot of companies lobbied. melissa: nonetheless they were at the white house an awful lot more then anyone else. their employees have been to the white house a total of 20 times. brad you actually scheduled appointments for george w. bush. what did they think they were getting out of these meetings? >> and american companies would be visiting the president or his staff almost every day when you take out holidays and weekends. it certainly has a perception of things that may have been overreached. certainly, the perception is there that they do. if they are having this many things that the white house how many meetings i think having at agencies. melissa: eric schmidt did an incredible job. google donors were very high on this list. they were the sixth largest source of cash for the president in 2008. what do you think google thought they were getting out of meeting with the president? >> they were very concerned and rightfully so. putting themselves between content creators and content consumers. clearly, their scale and size, they were very concerned that a combination of concerned people was. they visited the government 10 times more then any other companies. they had seven of their folks interspersed. they bracketed the government. google was funding. google was staffing. melissa: totally separate. independent agency. making all of these decisions on their own. it is a totally separate thing. do you buy that? >> no. nobody agreed on the recommendation. it kind of looks like they ought to do something. it looks like the decision was political. remember all of these folks have careers in government. melissa: okay. we will leave it there. thank you. let's go to nicole petallides on the floor of the new york stock exchange. nicole: lumber liquidators is up over 11% rate now. the program shows that they thought there was cancer-causing formaldehyde in the flooring. it is the same way that lumber liquidators. it. a buy rating and a fair value. things will be okay. melissa: thank you so much. dropping the label. if you thought your commute to work was pat of imagine this. find out what happened to this bus. more "money info coming up. ♪ hey, girl. is it crazy that your soccer trophy is talking to you right now? it kinda is. it's as crazy as you not rolling over your old 401k. cue the horns... just harness the confidence it took you to win me and call td ameritrade's rollover consultants. they'll help with the hassle by guiding you through the whole process step by step. and they'll even call your old provider. it's easy. even she could do it. whatever, janet. for all the confidence you need td ameritrade. you got this. ♪ melissa: i am suffering this with your fox business brief. stocks still in selloff mode. president obama's budget taking a beating in the senate. a 98-one vote. shut down. sting spending and raising taxes. shares following after the company failed to follow its report on time. another food recall. analyst area scare involving a spin which supplier. that is the latest from the fox business network. giving you the power to prosper. ♪ in new york state, we're reinventing how we do business so businesses can reinvent the world. from pharmaceuticals to 3d prototyping, biotech to clean energy. whether your business is moving, expanding or just getting started... only new york offers you zero taxes for 10 years with startup ny business incubators that partner companies with universities, and venture capital funding for high growth industries. see how new york can grow your business and create jobs. visit ny.gov/business melissa: selling your information to the highest bidder. putting patents. now we are learning the names it e-mails and phone numbers of billions of customers. this is an interest in stories. it would make sense to sell it. at the same time, there are judges in two states that are furious about this and say that it is not legal. >> yes. you are going to have some challenges. people probably should not worry all that much about it. melissa: these people turned over their name and number and e-mail they were told that it was not the sold. it was just for radioshack and if was not going anywhere. >> some of this information and updating sold under some conditions. it is really a pain in the neck. it is very expensive. as a result of his somebody may offers you something you want to five. melissa: it is only so we can track of your foreign keys. we will not give it to anyone else. that is just a straight up lie. that is not okay. at&t is in there as well. >> right. you have the allegation from the texas ang. that is fine. they can do legal briefs. melissa: i put your number up on the screen right now. you are fine with that? >> most of this data is publicly available. you look at the irs going after people because of their political views. we live in an open society. melissa: thank you for flying with me. be sure to watch strange inheritance tonight at 9:00 p.m. jamie boots with a montana cowboy who discovered ancient fossils at his ranch that could be worth millions. one of the best episodes ever. be sure to check out my new show unpacked. we get up off of derek you did not leave the first time around. do not miss any of it. it is a lot of fun. the campaign to and the label plus size. i am joined by now five diana. a fox news reporter. normally when you see a movement like this, it is from the pc police and that is annoying. in this case, it may be good for business. >> it comes down to the negative connotations. it has caused a lot of the attention of not only the normal average woman but also the plus sized models. the label is kind of arthur cherry. it does not affect any of them and it does not damage their self-esteem. melissa: the women that we are showing our stunning. you could call them anything and i think they would be fine with it because they know that they are smoking hot. other people are using terms like kirby. >> i spoke with a modeling agent who says a lot of the agencies are getting rid of the term to begin with. they will go with curved or none of that. it comes down to trying to realize that the average woman is not a size two. she is a size 10. we have been talking about this for years. melissa: speaking out about the german wings crash. the takeoff delay before the flight crash was due to airport congestion. that has no relationship to the crash. a flight from barcelona tomorrow warning for relatives and friends of the victims. no one wants to host the olympics. that is for sure. boston resident lashing back. we have an alternative. it does come with a price. you can never have too much money or too much chocolate bunnies. ♪ ♪ approaching medicare eligibility? you may think you can put off checking out your medicare options until you're sixty-five but now is a good time to get the ball rolling. keep in mind medicare only covers about eighty percent of part b medical costs. the rest is up to you. that's where aarp medicare supplement insurance plans insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company come in. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans they could help pay some of what medicare doesn't, saving you in out-of-pocket medical costs. you've learned that taking informed steps along the way really makes a difference later. that's what it means to go long™. call now and request this free [decision guide]. it's full of information on medicare and the range of aarp medicare supplement plans to choose from based on your needs and budget. all plans like these let you choose any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients and there are no network restrictions. unitedhealthcare insurance company has over thirty years experience and the commitment to roll along with you, keeping you on course. so call now and discover how an aarp medicare supplement plan could go long™ for you. these are the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp an organization serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations. plus, nine out of ten plan members surveyed say they would recommend their plan to a friend. remember, medicare doesn't cover everything. the rest is up to you. call now, request your free [decision guide] and start gathering the information you need to help you keep rolling with confidence. go long™. ♪ melissa: money is flying around the world today. russian fighters jets have been flying since ashes late overhead. they were flying with their transponders turned off indicating they wanted no communication with the other aircraft. pipelines were often targeted by thieves. people no longer find it worth the risk. watch this. a huge sinkhole swallowed an entire virus. watch that. it is gone. they all got out or else we would not be showing you this and laughing. trust me. markets in steep selloff mode. offering major averages down about 1% rate now. let's check in with cheryl casone. cheryl what you have on the show? >> we have a lot coming up. something that you and i both have in common. my previous life, i was a flight attendant for southwest airlines. what about going inside the cockpit? that is what we're going to do in the next hour. what could have been half inning in the cockpit. what was going on with those pilots. why did they not communicate with ground control. what was happening. we will talk a little bit about facebook. they're going to be expanding the messenger platform. why facebook wants to take it off of some of the applications that they are putting on your phone. melissa: look forward to it. thank you so much. the obama administration is trying to impose stricter regulations on power plants. supreme court justices signaling that they are divided on the issue. residents of massachusetts now. offered the opportunity to vote on whether or not they want the games. most people are against it. the l and how child in the final phase. she claims that: failed. so long to ear infections. the game changing device that could make waiting at the doctor's office obsolete. at the end of the day it is all about money and really cool technologies. ♪ opportunities aren't always obvious. sometimes they just drop in. cme group can help you navigate risks and capture opportunities. we enable you to reach global markets and drive forward with broader possibilities. cme group: how the world advances. ♪ melissa: this is the top. you might want to think twice before biting the head off this chocolate bunny. hand carved from gourmet chocolate. it weighs 11 pounds. but this delicious beauty doesn't come cheap. it will set you back $49,000. the sweet treat has 1.7 karat diamonds for eyes. if you're in that food coma, no longer do you need to leave home for the doctor. say goodbye to the precious hours lost in the waiting room. your ear infection can be diagnosed at home. pop a device on your smartphone and snap a picture. joining us now is eric douglas. he's the ceo of selsko. >> so it works by using the phone, which is a great camera on its own to turn it into a medical device. the family can take an image and send it off to a remote doctor who can make the diagnosis and save you the trouble of the visit. >> it's $79. you get a device scope that snaps on to the case of your iphone 5 or 6. who are the doctors on the other end? >> it depends. we have doctors in california. we have our own network of doctors that we're working with where families can connect directly to those doctors. we're also expanding around the country, working directly through doctor's offices. many doctors are handing the device out to their patients so they can connect with them and get a diagnosis. >> what is your success rate here? have you been testing this? >> we have. yeah. it's gone through extensive testing. it's been a long process. starting with critical evaluation at emory. working with 1000 doctors who are using themself at the clinic. now that we have them in the home proving out that the ability to do the remote diagnosis and to get high quality care from home, we're finding that parents are very successful in collecting the data, recording a video and sending it to the doctor. about 75% are able to get a diagnosis based on the data. about 95% satisfaction. >> do you have plans to expand -- i don't know what else you would do with a scope like that. an ear infection is very specific. other applications, other things down the road? >> there are. ear infections are a great place to start. everyone has experienced it with young kids. but our broader vision is to do smarter vision for health. taking that and expanding it to a derm scope. we can take the tools and make accessible to users at home. >> thank you so much. very cool stuff. (?) we appreciate it. we want to take another look at the markets right now. we're off session lows. but we're still down, better than 200 points. we think we know what's driving the trade. heartthrob zane is leaving one direction. teenage girls are crying everywhere. look at that. leaving. oh, no. yeah i don't know. that's all we have for now. "countdown" with cheryl casone starts right now. >> he's leaving the band, oh, my god melissa francis. thank you very much. (?) melissa, thank you very much. following breaking news this hour. on the german plane crash in the french alps. french investigators are analyzing the voice recorders. just within the last hour by the way, the usa department also confirming that a third american was on board that flight. we can now add kraft cheese to warren buffett's eclectic appellate. what about his taste for doing business with 3g capital. who is 3g. we'll take a closer look at a company -- mark zuckerberg opens up his messenger app to the masses

Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20210112

clearer, colder air moving down across the country. still some cloud stuck across western areas on this weather front. over the next few days it will be a battle between the colder air and this milder air which is trying to come in from the atlantic. today, the highest temperatures will be in the south—west of england, where we have still got weather like we had yesterday, temperatures will be in double figures here, but also sam rainbird drizzle. there is a bit of a shield of cloud in northern ireland, wales and the south—east of england. elsewhere, where we have got more sun, it is going to be quite cold. this evening and overnight, we see the cloud coming backin overnight, we see the cloud coming back in again from the atlantic, bringing rain into northern ireland, patchy rain for wales and the south—west of england. but although we will see some cloud further east, it is not going to prevent a frost from forming very quickly in the night. and in the morning, the threat of freezing rain and ice for a while in these areas as this band of rain moves across. and the threat by the end of the day of summer snow developing over the hills of scotland. it is going to be cold again in scotland and northern and eastern england. much milder in northern ireland, wales and the south—west. but these weather fronts are moving into the uk and they are just going to hang around. they are not moving very far, and they are not moving very far, and they are not pushing away the cold air that we have got in the north and the east. wednesday night into thursday, we will find snow falling merrily over the hills of scotland and northern england. it should turn drier across wales and the south—west of england, where it will be windy and britain's top police officer has warned that those who break the rules are now more likely to face fines. where somebody is breaking the law, breaking the regulations, and if it is absolutely clear that they must have known, or that they do know, that they are doing so, then we will move very swiftly towards enforcement and a fine. we nowjoin the bbc news teens where you are. good afternoon, it's 1.30pm and here's your latest sports news. the new formula one season will start later than planned after the first race — the australian grand prix — was postponed beacuse of covid restrictions in the country. it means the season will be delayed by a week, with bahrain hosting the opening race on march the 26th. despite the disruption to this year's calendar, organisers are still planning on running a record number of races, six more than last season, as our formula one reporter jennie gow explains. as our formula one reporter 23 as our formula one reporter race season is what ti with 23 race season is what they came out with provisionally and even with this revised calendar they are sticking to it. this season will start a week later, so no australia opener. a little break before we head to italy which is a race that we we re head to italy which is a race that we were not expecting. that has taken a spot. then china looks as if it will not happen at the moment because of covid and want to be announced at some point and australia shuffled back eight months. now a november race. will formula i get those races away? that is the big question. they manage i7 last year to great plaudits. fingers crossed they are expected to welcome vance back in the paddock club. it will be interesting to see what the season will be interesting to see what the season is. pressure's growing against the continuation of elite football. it comes as the premier league reminds players and staff of adhering to the rules as they step up their protocols. referees will be asked to remind players to socially distance and avoid unnecessary contact on the pitch like goal celebrations and handshakes. there are growing concerns that footballers are breaching too many of the regulations. totte n ha m tottenham playful fulham this week. i don't even celebrate goals. because of the var. i believe the players can do a little bit more of the same. organsiers of the tokyo olympics say they will make a decision on whether to admit fans to events in february or march. in february or march. the games have been delayed for a year because of the pandemic, and are scheduled to take place at the end ofjuly. a state of emergency has been called in tokyo amid ecent rising infection rates. the british olympic association have said british athletes should notjump the queue in receiving vaccinations. the australian cricket captain, tim payne, has defended steve smith over claims that he deliberately scuffed up the crease duing scuffed up the crease during the third test match with india. smith was seen on the stump camera scraping the crease with his boot during the drinks break — something that the former england captain michael vaughan said was very, very poor. smith, remember, was banned over his part in australia's sandpaper scandal, but his captain says he's done nothing wrong. it is something we have a laugh about because he loves batting so much. even when he is on the field he is shadow batting. he does a lot, there was no chance he was trying to change. it is one of these things that he does. it has come up like it is, again, it is something he might need to look at because of the perception of it. and the legendary american football coach bill belichick says he will not accept president donald trump's offer of the presidential medal of freedom. the new england patriots boss — who's won a record six super bowl titles — said he was ‘flattered' when he was first offered the medal which is the top award given to civilians in the us. but he has now refused it after last weeks riot at the capitol week's riot at the capitol building in washington. belichick had previously spoken of his friendship with president trump. plenty more on the bbc sport website and app, including the full draw for the fourth and fifth rounds of the fa cup. some brilliant ties set to be played. we will have plenty more later on. for now it is back to simon. the first minister nicola sturgeon has announced that pre—departure testing for people travelling into scotland will begin on friday morning. it means anyone arriving in scotland after 4am on friday will need to present evidence of a negative test taken in the previous three days. speaking at her daily press briefing, the first minister said the need for people to quarantine for ten days will continue for anyone travelling from a country not on the exemption list. we confirmed last week that we would introduce a requirement for predeparture testing for anybody travelling here from overseas. this requirement, i can confirm today, will come into effect on friday morning. so anyone arriving in scotland after four o'clock on friday morning will be required to present evidence that they have received a negative test result from a covid test that has been taken in the previous three days. the nature of the test will be set out in regulations, but it will need to be highly reliable, and that means in practice that the test required will almost certainly be a pcr test. there will be some limited exemptions from the requirement for a test, for example, for younger children. but the details of who exactly might be exempt will be set out on the scottish government website. now, i want to be very clear here that this requirement for testing before entry to the country is seen, not as a substitute for other protections and mitigations in place, but as an addition to those. testing before entry to the country is not a magic solution to the risk of cases being imported, so it will reinforce rather than replace our current travel restrictions. in particular, anyone travelling to scotland from a country that is not on the exemption list will still require to quarantine, to self—isolate, for ten days on arrival. and, of course, any of these mitigations and protections should only be applying right now to a very small number of people. in short, people who have an essential purpose to be travelling. the most important point of all i can make in relation to travel remains this one — we should not, as a general rule, be travelling in and out of scotland right now, just as we should not be travelling freely within the country. it is only legal to travel to and from the country if you are doing so for an essential purpose. so the fundamental advice remains, do not travel right now unless you have a genuinely essential purpose, stay at home. british companies doing business in china could face fines if they are unable to demonstrate that their products are not linked to forced labour in xinjiang province. the foreign secretary, dominic raab told mps there was clear evidence that more than a million uighurs and members of other minorities are being held in camps where they face forced labour and torture on an industrial scale. mr raab has been outlining the measures the government will take to ensure companies are not complicit in or profiting from human right violations in the region. ouraim, put simply, is that no company that profits from forced labour can do business in the uk, and no uk business is involved in their supply chains. let me set out the four new steps we are now taking. first, today the sdto have issued new robust and detailed guidance to uk businesses on the specific risks faced by companies with links to xinjiang and underlining the challenges of conducting effective due diligence there. a minister led campaign of business engagement will reinforce the need for uk businesses to take concerted action to address that particular and specific risk. second, we are strengthening the operation of the modern slavery act. the home office will introduce fines for businesses that do not comply with their transparency obligations. and the home secretary will introduce the necessary legislation setting out the level of fines as soon as parliamentary time allows. third we announced last september that the transparency requirements that the transparency requirements that apply to uk businesses under the act will be extended to the public sector. so they will work with the cabinet office to provide guidance and support to uk government bodies to excludes suppliers where sufficient evidence of human rights violations in any of their supply chains. let me say that we, in the united kingdom, rightly ta ke we, in the united kingdom, rightly take pride that the overall majority of business do so with professionalism around the world. that is the hallmark, it is part of oui’ that is the hallmark, it is part of our usp. it is because of that that any company profiting from forced labour will be barred from government procurement in this country. fourth, the government will conduct an urgent review of export controls as they apply specifically geographically to the situation. to make sure that we are doing everything that we can to prevent the export of any goods that could directly or indirectly contribute to human rights violations in that region. this package put together will help make sure that nobody —— british organisations, deliberately oi’ british organisations, deliberately or inadvertently are profiting from contributing to human rights violations against their uighurs are other minorities. of course, i am sure the house will accept the overwhelming majority of uk businesses would not dream of it. today's measures will make sure businesses are aware of those risks and help them to protect themselves. but it will shine a light and penalise any reckless businesses that don't take those obligations seriously. as ever, we act in coordination with like—minded partners around the world and i welcome the fact that later today the foreign minister will set out an approach on these issues. australia, france, germany and new zealand are considering the approaches they take. we will work with all of our international partners but how should know in the comprehensive scope of the package i am setting out today, the uk is again setting an example and leading the way. mr speaker, we want a positive and constructive relationship with china. we will work tirelessly towards that end. but we will not sacrifice our values or our security. the foreign secretary. in terms of the prime minister's controversial bike ride at the olympic park over the weekend, which the metropolitan police commissioner said was not a breach of the law. we are hearing from the official spokesman for the prime minister who has insisted he was cycling in accordance with the guidance. we have trusted the public to exercise judgment. we did in the first lockdown and continue to do so. the prime minister acted within the guidelines at all times and the word from the met commissioner were wise. the instruction is to stay local and for her reasonable understanding was to exercise from your front door. but everyone should exercise their ownjudgment. sort but everyone should exercise their own judgment. sort of clarifying it, sort of not. anyway, a reaction to the row over free school meals. this is marcus rashford criticising food parcels been sent to children and families and a response from the prime minister's spokesman. we are aware of the images, these are images of one particular food hamper, which showed a parcel supposedly costing £30 with £5 worth of food is in it. we are aware of the images and clear that those contents the images and clear that those co nte nts of the images and clear that those contents of those packages are unacceptable. the department for education is looking at this urgently and then minister of children is speaking to the company responsible. that is happening right now. food parcel should contain food that allow parents to make a healthy lunch throughout the week. the ad that the department for education will be opening a free school meal voucher scheme and working closely with schools and the companies responsible for those food boxes. just updating you on a couple of stories that are rambling on today. now on bbc news — another chance to see your question's answered a little earlier with geeta guru—murthy. well, you've been sending in as your questions in us your questions on the coronavirus vaccine and lockdown rules across the uk. with me now to answer some of those questions i'm joined by doctor naomi forrester—soto, a virologist at keele university and by professor keith neal, emeritus professor in infectious diseases at the university of nottingham. thank you both very much forjoining us today. can i start with you, naomi. and a question from david williams who says, on vaccines, does the second dose administered have to be the same type as the first? that's a really good question. against the same spike protein and there is evidence from the literature that what we call giving one dose of vaccine and a second dose of a second vaccine, has sometimes been beneficial. so although the vaccines were tested in clinical trials with the same repeated dose, there are now trials going on, i think, orjust about to start, to test whether or not this heterologous boosting would actually be beneficial. so in an ideal situation, i would say no, get the same vaccine. but under these circumstances, i think we need to wait and see what the data says for the different vaccines. can ijust pick up with one question i have been sent on twitter by peter lewis. i am 80 years old, i had myjab five days ago and want to know how much protection i now have. what does 70% after 21 days mean, naomi? so that means after 21 days, 70% of people didn't show any evidence of disease. it's quite complicated. but i think that if you haven't had your second boost, you still need to take precautions. i can't state that enough. the second boost gives you the full protection. you are probably somewhat protected with the first dose, but it is definitely better to protect yourself until you get that second dose. 0k. and if i can bring in professor neal with a question from joe davenport in brighton who says, does the government's roll—out plan include ensuring we are only invited to have a second dose of the same brand, which is, again, the same theme, really? i think generally the answer is yes for the same reasons that naomi alluded to. that we have to deal with the vaccine on the evidence we have got. at the moment, the evidence is that we will use the same vaccine in the trials. the question comes really if there is a problem with vaccine supply and one brand isn't available. in which case, we are left with the situation, do you give nothing or do you give a second dose of a different vaccine? one of the things that has plagued vaccines for years and decades is the supply issue. personally, i would have no qualms about having a second dose of a different brand if that was the only alternative. 0k. that's very clear. naomi, a question here from jean who says do people who recover from covid also need the vaccine? that's a good question. so we do know that immunity wanes a bit after coronavirus infection. so it's likely that even people who have been exposed to the virus or who have had severe coronavirus may actually require a vaccine at some point. when? i think is probably, we don't know. but i think at the moment the idea is just to give it to everybody, thinking that the vaccine willjust boost whatever immunity anybody has, even if they have already got immunity to the virus. and hopefully that vaccine induced immunity will last longer than virus induced immunity. yes. and liz gray, professor, asks again in a similar theme. what happens next year, will we all need a booster? i haven't got a crystal ball, so we don't know. there's also the possibility the virus may change, that we might want to modify the vaccine to improve it. but i think it's relatively simple because we will be able to do this, flu in one arm and covid macro in the other arm. so it isjust a technical exercise. we don't know, but it's... it can be done at great... not at the same speed we are having to roll out this emergency programme. yes and the vaccine may need to change to take into account all these different mutations. claudette lyons asks, why does herd immunity affect not seem to work in one as we have seen with the vaccine? we don't know if that is true, naomi, because you just need to get up to a certain level of the population and you hope there will be herd immunity. yes. we do hope that there will be herd immunity in a certain proportion of the population once enough people have been vaccinated. the reason why herd immunity hasn't been working is because prior to 2019, nobody had ever seen this virus before. so the whole population was what we term naive. that is had no immunity to this virus. so there is no herd immunity in our population because we haven't vaccinated enough people yet to get to herd immunity. professor neal, a very interesting question that keeps being asked. john hewitt from preston, is it definitely safe to leave a longer time period before administering the second dose or do we risk the virus getting immunity to the vaccine? we know that in the united states, plus the world health organization, they are all having, you know, they are sticking really to these shorter intervals of three weeks or so, six weeks at the most according to the world health organization. i think it's quite, some people who are in this actually have to follow the evidence based on what the drug companies... and they are not only allowed to say what is actually being published on licensing criteria. i think the issue is if you have got 1000 doses of vaccine, do we give it two doses to 500 people or one dose to 1000 people? and we will protect a lot more people and faster by giving a second, one dose, and then delaying the second dose. what we don't... what we do know is that many people do miss vaccines in their routine schedules, children may have a cold and not well or they fail to get an appointment for their basic childhood programmes, and it doesn't compromise the long—term immunity. and children's immune systems are actually a little bit more sensitive to this than adults. personally, iwould prefer to have my first dose early and a second dose later, than not having a dose at all. 0k. there is a question about whether the virus then will get around it and perhaps be immune to the vaccine, there is a slight risk of that, isn't there? there is. viruses, you know, especially the coronavirus, mutate all the time. however, ijust... i am not sure that we would see a huge amount of change. the virus is so well adapted to humans infecting to humans, we have a statement on the military involvement. we have been getting weekly updates on the work. what we fight back against this awful virus. we might not be on the front line of this fight but we are with them in trenches. since last year, in increasing numbers. defence's contribution to the covid response is the largest since peacetime. more personnel are committed than any time since the pandemic. that is why it is important to make a statement to the house detailing the breadth and complexity of these activities. it is worth considering some statistics on what has been provided thus far. since last january, the standing joint command has received some a85 military assistant to civilian authority request since the start of last year. some a00 of which have been related to a domestic covid response. that is more than three times the average annual number. we currently have 56 ongoing tasks in support of 13 other government departments with a670 personnel committed and almost 10,000 more held at high readiness, available to rapidly respond to any increasing demand. as is well known, the uk armed forces have billed nightingale hospitals around the country and distributed vital ppe, delivering more than 6 million items to hospitals and clocking up enough mass to circumnavigate the world ten times. personnel from all three services have backfilled oxygen tanker drivers, welsh ambulance drivers, nhs hospital staff such as those deployed to the essex trust this week. they have helped care assista nts this week. they have helped care assistants shoulder the burden in ca re assistants shoulder the burden in care homes and in schools and the wider community. during christmas, when the new variant of covid disrupted the board of crossings, the military stepped up. while most of us were settling down for a festive dinner and break, the military when working with the department for transport to test wholly as crossing the english channel. approximately a0,000 tests have been conducted in that operation. and at all times our people have shown fleet of foot, switching tasks as the occasions demanded and well relatively small in scale, always having a catalytic effect. our involvement in testing isa effect. our involvement in testing is a case in point. with diploid personnel to liverpool for a mass testing pilot. the lessons learned are being applied in testing across the country from medway in kent, to merthyr tydfil, kirklees, lancashire, greater manchester. recently in greater manchester i author —— not authorise the employment of 8000 personnel and yesterday the started focused community testing. the country is eager to see the roulette of the vaccination programme and the nhs is delivering vaccines to those who need it at an presented speed. the defensive contribution has been primarily through planning support provided by defensive cetaceans providing supply chains in need in complex environments and as the commander said in the press conference last week, this operation is unparalleled in its scale and complexity. as that operation has shifted from planning to execution, and is now focusing on rapid scaling up, preparing to adapt its support to the nhs, not only have we set additional planners to assist expansion, including in devolved administrations, but following a request from the department of health and social care, we have a vaccine quick force of medically trained personnel who are in other regions and they can respond in the vaccination process and can be scaled up if required of any of the national health services across the united kingdom. throughout the pandemic it is understanding the requirements that has has been the priority in all... we have sent ten military assessment teams to each of the ten nhs regions and devolved administrations. they're the ten nhs regions and devolved administrations. they‘ re helping the ten nhs regions and devolved administrations. they're helping to assess the situation on the ground before formulating and coordinating the best effective response. we currently have experts working at the newly reopened nhs nightingale hospital and a mass vaccination facility that will help the capital and covid—19 second wave. defence's effo rts and covid—19 second wave. defence's efforts have been visible like providing critical support to overseas territories. last weekend the royal air force delivered 5000 doses of the pfizer vaccine in gibraltar. we should not forget our armed forces. our plan is embedded in local authorities, working aside regional liaison officers and logistic support. they know how to deal with deadly diseases like ebola and how to stay calm under pressure. those cool heads have been pivotal not just according those cool heads have been pivotal notjust according effort but assessing where defence can deliver the best response. i have mentioned the best response. i have mentioned the personnel we have deployed and at high readiness but a real number helping the nation to combat the coronavirus is greater. we have an excess of 5000 armed forces personnel and civilian staff supporting the covid response from behind the scenes as part of the routine duties. today i want to pay tribute to these men and women. they include the hundreds of personnel in defensive quarter is responsible for coordinating covid support force. among 100 staff of the winter operation team and many... that is the secretary of state outlining the current role for the military and the pandemic crisis. i role that has moved to helping the nhs with the vaccination programme. if you want to keep watching that, bbc parliament is the place to keep watching the defence secretary. this is bbc news. the headlines... britain's top police officer warns those who break covid rules are now more likely to face fines, saying it's preposterous for anyone to claim they don't know what the rules are. where somebody is breaking the law, breaking the regulations, and it is absolutely clear that they must have known what do that they must have known, or do know that they are, then we will move very swiftly to enforcement and fining people. 2020 saw the largest increase in uk deaths in a single year since the second world war. a warning that core staff could leave the nhs after the coronavirus crisis — due to the "unsustainable" workloads. free school meals: parents and marcus rashford blast the ‘woefully inadequate' food parcels for children

Transcripts For FBC FOX Business After The Bell 20130111

gets special treatment. stock's up, there's the bell. david: thank you, lauren. liz: bells ringing on wall street, and in the last couple secs, wells fargo down, but under 1%. here's the stock picture, just as lauren called it, the dow and the nasdaq moving hire, not by a lot, but at least flipping over to the green. s&p down just a fraction. listen, as trades settle, it could change to green, but we'll watch that. the internals, investors piled into u.s. equities at a near record pace this week, and what david said, a strong start to the year. equity funds bullish, seeing 19 billion dollars in inflows, the biggest surge since 2008. david: out of the money market funds because they are not guaranteed like they used to be. looking for a place to put the cash. people are not putting character in gold. they were bmp, but not today. gold falling 17 bucks, but posted a gain, this snaps a six week losing streak, the longest losing streak that gold had in more than eight years. liz: coal names not hot, a struggle since late november. analysts predicting coal miners face fierce global competition. most of them down from 2% to 51/3%. natural gas spiking 4%. this push helped push up to natural gas with unl and unga, people putting money in them, up recently. liz: bringing up the tax man. the tax man combs just a little later this year. people can finally start filing at the end of the month. others will have a few more months 20 wait. we will talk to the chairman and ceo of liberty tax service about how to make the most of the deductions. there's some you don't know about. we'll tell you, and, also, what the impact of the delays could mean. david: i have to hear about that because the paycheck is light these days. pentagon bracing for cuts, hundreds of thousands of jobs at stake. the fiscal cliff did not end the automatic cuts, gist delayed them. look at the impactses that just that threat of cuts, just the threat of cuts is having, and how much worse it's going to be if congress does not act. liz: first, what drove the markets today with the data download. stocks struggling for direction today with the dpow crossing the unchanged line 56 times before settling into the green. all three major indexes ending the week higher with the dow and s&p closing up six of the past eight weeks. that's a pretty significant trend for the bulls. consumer staples and technology were today's top performing sectors while financials and industrials were the ones that laggedded. action in the precious metal pits today. ending lower, platinum is the week's big winner, ending up 4.7% rising above 1630 an ounce. palladium, that metal that auto companies use in the cad converters, that jumped 3%. highest after government stockpiles shrank more than expected. inventories down 17% more than a year ago. david? david: we are in the pits of the cme, and markets panel, joe bell, senior equity analyst, and mike harris, president of campbell and company. tim, we had a ruering start of the year. the question is whether the momentum can be sustained. what do you think? >> well, i mean, at least as far as -- closing near a five year high today, very positive, more than 7% of the all time high set back in october of 2007. you know, momentum's there, and i think liz commented earlier, people finding nowhere to go. flows coming into equities, zero interest rate right now, this is the alternative. it's good, but be care. another debacle, debt ceiling coming up in a month or so, but right now, that's long term. liz: howard of counter fitzgerald in the last hour said that. he said this is the real debt ceiling. there's always something, isn't there, david? i mean, that's the point. where do you get the best deal? equities? you see that with the inflows to mutual funds. i worry when you see that that some people call the smart money the ones that were in during the time of fear and the slower money that retail money coming in now is that a sign of the top? >> that's called distribution usually. this is because all the money in mutual funds on the sidelines, more or less, a sign of a correction, but as far as we can see without knowing anything else, all the information we have to did on right now, you know, dips meant to be bought as far as we know. >> the markets are complacent about europe. used to be just a couple months ago when whenever, one way or the other, the markets jumped, the mission has been accomplished over that. too optimistic about that? >> well, listen, last three years we started like this in january. be cautious. first quarter is good and problems in europe surface around april or may. i think it's premature because, let's face it, europe's gotten so much bang out of the buck for not having to do anything. they just stand behind it, but has not bought anything yet. again, i think it's may believe premature on that front as well. david: see you when the s&p futures close. thank you very much. >> sure. liz: bringing in joe bell and mike harris. joe, you, bullish for 2013, but here comes q4 earnings. it's not so much that we're worried about what the numbers would show, and, in fact, a good chunk, a good percentage of the 27 or so s&p companies that reported have beat. it's the downward revisions for the quarter that worry us. does that worry you? >> it's a concern looking at the analysts expectations. what you have remember in october is analysts predicted a 9% growth rate this quarter. fast forward to today, what are we seeing? about 2 #.5%. this expectation have been brought down quite a bit as we move into the earnings season. we also saw a lot of downward revisions as well. early on, i think it's early, but overall, i think there's low expectations that could be a good catalyst because that sets the bar lower to meet or beat those expectations, and i think that could be a good catalyst. david: michael, we talked about millions of dollars flowing into the market, and that has to do with changes in terms of guarantees, ect., but there is a lot of optimism about the equity market, because because there's no place else to go, nowhere to get a rern on other than equities. some people are concerned about this, though. they are kind of spooked by the bullishness. are they too pessimistic or what? >> we're a momentum based trading shop. we're happy with the money in the market. we followed a trend in u.s., european, and asian equities for the last few months, and, certainly, it was nice when everybody else panicked and got out of the market, we had opportunity to add to the long position and with more investors coming into the market here in january, it's only going to continue to drive higher and push markets up to the five year high. liz: okay. you know what? everybody wants to know whatever your perspective, why -- where do you put the money? joe, starting with you, i mean, where do you find the most compelling investments for the retail investor out there? >> i think when you are looking at the sector, the economy as a whole, the sectors that stand out to me are housing sector and consumer discretionary. that falls into the same thing looking at the broad market. the sectors performed well despite that, the short sellers continue to target them. we see a lot of bashish bets from option speculators, and analysts have not bought into it. we don't want to focus on low prices, but low expectations, and we think those are two sectors for 2013. liz: housing still have gas? they had a beautiful runup for the derivative plays on this. >> they have, but i think on the shorter term of the past 52 weeks, they look overbought. looking back and look at a longer term chart, most of those are still about half of their all-time high. you couple that with the fact, like i said, there's a lot of skepticism towards housing, a lot of people like you said mentioned too far, too fast. we think when there's doubt on the sidelines that represents a lot of money that has yet to be put to work. you talk about the inflows into equity funds this week, we think, perhaps, that could be the start of the acceptance phase where money comes in and pushes prices higher. david: sticking with joe, michael, have not forgot about you but i mentioned netflix earlier on, and, i know, joe, you're a fan of netflix, but it's over a hundred bucks a share, and people worry with the competition out there, it's on a sugar high now. what do you think? >> yes, that's right. it's had a good run, but that's another one. look at the longer term chart, nowhere near the all time highs like you see some of the other consumer discretionary names, but that's one we just look at a lot of shorts, a lot of analysts, just a lot of doubt towards netflix in general. the bar is so low for netflix, doesn't take much to beat it. david: michael, back to the general picture. some say we head towards a dumps of stocks, dumps of equities in the springtime. you don't see that coming? >> well, we follow trends. we don't predict them. i can't say i see it coming, but interestingly enough, you know, one of the benefits of systematic futures is we don't have a bias to be long or short so in we see the dump happen in the spring, models shift from being long and start to follow the down trend, and in many ways, provide protection that investors need because we are seeing investors move into equities in 20 # 13. liz: you don't like precious metals, mike. we saw the platinum made a nice move today. is there a base metal you prefer? >> certainly on the base metal side we've seen more of a downward trend recently with short positions in those markets. in precious metals, it's not that we don't like them. there's a trend to the upside from a long term basis, but, certainly, there's been a pull back in recent weeks. shorter term models -- liz: sorry, could you say copper on a recovering economy might do better? >> right now, following a down trend, but it's absolutely possible if we see the emerging markets, the china slow landing story, it's out there, and whether or not we see a pickup there, base metals could come back into fruition for sure. david: joe, would you go to etfs? generally bullish in equities, but don't want to focus on individual stocks even though you are big on netflx, lulu, lemon, which ones would you prefer? >> sure. i think for the common investor, etfs are a good way, especially in the earning season, there's event risk with individual earnings plays. home voter, look at the spider, and then even the xrt is one. heard about the consumer, but the retail names are doing well. xrt for retail is good as well. david: joe bell, mike harris, great stuff. thank you so much. have a great weekend. a tough week for boeing to say the least after a fire and fuel week. the government ordered a comprehensive review of the aircraft. is the dreamliner a nightmare for investors? what the analysts say coming next. liz: risk versus reward. a portfolio manager who looks overseas, totally old europe there. few countries you might not have thought about. find out which ones later this hour. ♪ [ indistinct shouting ] ♪ [ indistinct shouting ] [ male announcer ] time and sales data. split-second stats. [ indistinct shouting ] ♪ it's so close to the options floor... [ indistinct shouting, bell dinging ] ...you'll bust yo brain box. ♪ all onhinkorswim from td ameritrade. ♪ david: s&p futures closing for the weekment right now, they just barely went negative today. it was like .00001. back to tim at the cme. how's it look for monday? >> liz, 60 times back and forth, above unchanged, but i think it's a very constructive close in the sense that we closed unchanged at a five year high. looks to me like everything, next week, retail sales and inflation data. that's, as we go on throughout the year is more important based on the fmoc statement from last month when they put a 2.5% market on the cpi, but that's later. i think as far as we can tell, earnings coming out, watching that, but constructive close and looks positive for now. david: tim, happy friday, tim, have a great weekend. >> you too. liz: shares of nokia building on yesterday's double digit gain ending the trading down up more than 5.5%, a big move for the company. back to lauren on the floor of the new york stock exchange. >> yeah, liz, and over the base two -- past two days, nokia's stock up over 25%, the second biggest maker of mobile phones. the lumia phones selling better than expected, great news for the stock, and offered guidance on the fourth quarter that was pretty strong. total smart phone sales for nokia at under $16 million, and half of that is on that lumia system, the new one, back to you. liz: thanks, lawn. david: it's been a bumpy rise for boeing this week. companies anticipated the boeing 787, first a fire and then a fuel week. liz: oh, boy, following those events, federal regulators ordered a comprehensive review of the plane. that's what they are supposed to do, liz, but it effected and gyrated the stock. yesterday up, today down. >> one of the heaviest, if not thee heaviest weight on the dow. you saw the action in the stock after that joint probe by the faa and boeing into the design manufacturing assembly of the 787 dreamliner. faa is out in full force as well as boeing. listen to what the faa said this morning about the safety of the 787. >> now, from day one, we have worked with boeing to certify the systems and further ensure this innovative aircraft meets the high level of safety for the flying public. we believe this is a safe aircraft. >> all right. he's the other issue. you know, basically, boeing says, look, there have been no more problems than similar to what we had introducing the 777 in the mid-90s, and so why the action in the stock of both sides of the aisle and even the transportation secretary said it's safe. reached out to 17 analysts, and getting feed back from wall street. they don't like the fire issue or the lithium battery issue. fire's scary. the lithium battery creates fires in mobile phones and laptop computers, and but listen to what steven is telling fox business about this issue, though. here's what he says, "we do think a fix is a available" just swap out the battery, a heavier battery rather than the talk about the boeing 787 being light, you know, go for a heavier battery and go for safety. "therefore, we let the dust settle on the news," and basically, he would buy it once the dust is settled. david: on the weakness, though? >> on the weakness. it is reasonable to have concerns because of the fire issues, but he's saying it's not out of hand and can easy fix the problem. whether or not boeing accesses that, remains to be seen. steven reached out to boeing about their ideas there so we are awaiting to hear back. david: i hope they take it seriously. when they hear the word "fire," they are reluctant. >> wait until the dust settles. buy it on weakness. >> 17 analysts, good job, liz, thank you very much. are you looking for an opportunity in fixed income? not just talking about treasuries. you know, you might want to look overseas. david: that's mexico. liz: mexico. what about mexico? up next, a portfolio manager who specifically is going to tell you where to turn, which countries, which sovereign debt, a few countries would surprise you. david: that was poland, the first country we showed you. we'll test you throughout the hour. didn't agree with the defense cuts, but pushed them a few months ahead meaning hundreds of thousands of private sector jobs are still at risk. how will they keep the contracts? what happens? to all the companies that put in bids for contracts? we'll tell you specifically coming up on "after the bell." ♪ ♪ this is $100,000. we asked total strangers to watch it for us. thank you so much. i appreciate it. i'll be right back. they didn't take a dime. how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money? if your bank takes more money than a stranger, you need an ally. ally bank. your money needs an ally. [ male announcer ] how do you make 70,000 trades a second... ♪ reach one customer at a time? ♪ or help doctors turn billions of bytes of shared information... ♪ into a fifth anniversary of remission? ♪ whatever your business challenge, dell has the technology and services to help you solve it. liz: long term interest rates at record lows as fed continues the bond buys program. we have an analyst who says it's not the u.s. treasuries because they are not yielding that much. there's ways to make money on fixed income. david: global portfolio manager and senior research analyst joining us. jack, good to see you. central banks, what they are doing is getting people out of the savings accounts into the equities markets, stimulating the equity markets, but, boy, folks in fixed income, that makes your job harder than it used to be. how is the whole idea of fixed income changing as a result of what central banks all over the world are doing? >> yeah, if i was a u.s. based investor, my universe was just the u.s. bond market, it would be challenging, but i got the luck ri to allocate capital away from the u.s. into higher yielding bond markets out there. it's not just the yields. these are also improving credits out there, particularly, away from the developed markets that have those over lever the balance sheets. there's a lot of economies with cleaner balance sheets, and we should see continued declines in the yields as money is allocated away from the u.s.. liz: what we wanted to do here at fox business is give people ideas, and when we saw your ideas, it was interesting. those feeling they still want to be in country's debt, but, again, as you say, the u.s., you may as well dump it underneath your ma stress. talk about the -- mattress. talk about the countries where you like the sovereign debt. >> talk about europe. we have been moving money into italian bonds, been in poland bonds, moved somebody in portuguese bonds, and what's driving is the attractiveness of the nominal and low yields. you have a major shift, about a year ago, in the ecb towards running accommodative monetary policy, and that was a big development, and them you've got drawing a line in the sand doing whatever it takes to defend the euro, and to me, that was a game changer. not too many game change everies, but when he said that over the summer, hey, think about putting money to work in italian bonds. they have attractive yields particularly relative to treasuries, and poland, it's got an attractive yield, a strong currency out there. not as attractive as italy right now, but there's money allocated to it. david: jack, when you talk about italy, poland, and mexican bonds, i used to cover mexico in the 80s, and 90s, and i remember defaults there. to me, it sounds more like junk bonds than fixed income? >> well, you know, i make the comment that, you know, they are not your father's emerging markets. there's been a huge development over the last ten years or so in the the developing world right now, and mexico is a classic example of that. david: i have to challenge you, jack. >> sure. david: mexico had terrible crisis with the drug war, and that eventually effects investments in mexico of the there's a lot of developments looking worse than my father's mexico. >> well, i agree 100%. there's headlines about the nasty drug cartels, but despite that, they continue to attract significant fdi. you know, to the tune of $20 billion every year right now so, yeah, that is a big negative issue, but it shows that beyond that, the mexican economy continues to experience better than trending growth. great demographics, a young productive work force, and there's a leverage play on the u.s. and also a very opened economy. they have about 44 free trade agreements, and to put that in perspective, the u.s. has 19, so we continue to see mexico, and one of the themes with mexico, latin america in general, but mexico competes with china on a cost of production basis. wages stagnant for the last ten years. liz: that's true. you have a lot of plants there that move. you have big u.s. multinationals building plants down there. you know, flextronics and auto makers. i'd be remiss if we didn't ask you on currencies. viewers play the market right now, real yield in pockets of it. you are staying away from the euro at the moment. do you like the dollar, or is there other currency plays that bring people money here? >> yeah, i'd say we turned less bearish on the euro. we had been building some exposure, but, again, we liked the british pound. we have been in europe, just not in the euro, and you're right, there's a lot of commodity related currencies with growth prospects. china reaccelerating, that should be a good thing for the commodity currencies, particularly, the latin america currencies as well, and that includes the south african brand in that as well. david: buy low, sell high. now's the time. thank you. liz: thanks, jack, brandy portfolio manager and senior research analyst. david: nissan ramping up production here. that's in the speed read. liz: preparing for your returns, the irs says most of us can file at the end of the month. some of you need to wait a couple months. up next, the ceo of liberty tax services says for all of you, better ideas on deductions you can take, but you have to remember to take them. he'll remind you. log on to facebook.com/afterthebell, click the "like" button, and if you expect taxes to go up this year. some of you have seen a cut in your paycheck already. thank you. ♪ nd us online, you'll also find us in person, with dedicated support teams at over 500 branches nationwide. so when you call or visit, you can ask for a name you know. because personal service starts with a real person. 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[ all ] i'm with scottrade. it's no wonder so many investors are saying... have given way to sleeping. tossing and turning where sleepless nights yield to restful sleep. and lunesta®(eszopiclone) can help you get there. like it has for so many people before. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving, or engaging in other activities while asleep, without remembering it the next day, have been reported. lunesta should not be taken together with alcohol. abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, hallucinations, or confusion. in depressed patients, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide, may occur. alcohol may increase these risks. allergic reactions such as tongue or throat swelling occur rarely and may be fatal. side effects may include unpleasant taste, headache, dizziness, and morning drowsiness. ask your doctor if lunesta is right for you. then find out how to get lunesta for as low as fifteen dollars at lunesta.com. there's a land of restful sleep. we can help you go there on the wings of lunesta. nothing. are you stealing our daughter's school supplies and taking them to work? no, i was just looking for my stapler and my... this thing. i save money by using fedex ground and buy my own supplies. that's a great idea. i'm going to go... we got clients in today. [ male announcer ] save on ground shipping at fedex office. david: it is time for a quick speed read of the some of day's other headlines. five stories in one minute. first up, california projected its first surplus in years. they are forecasting $851 million surplus if the democrats approve the governor's plan to keep spending down. japan's free spending prime minister unveiling $224 billion stimulus plan. the money goes toward public works, government incentives for corporate investment and direct aid for small business. nissan is expanding its mississippi plant. they are announcing plans too begin to assemble the murano crossover at the plant. they expect china to overtake the u.s. as its biggest sales market. apple has only 11 stores in the country. they saw chinese sales double in 2010 and 2011. on the other hand panasonic is closing its tv plant in china as part of broad restructuring. they are closing the shanghai plant as demand for plasma tvs begin to plummet. that is the date's speed read [buzzer] liz: nice. the irs won't begin processing tax returns until january 30th because congress passed the last minute tax law change. they have to have some time to catch up here. yes, your refund check will be late as well. get ready for that. what deductions do you need to take advantage of and how will the delay impact you? joining me now live, chairman and ceo of liberty tax services john hewitt. john, everybody gets so aig schuss when they start to look at that point on the calendar, first of all, you get eight days to breathe at least for the moment but what do you think the most significant change really will be for people? >> well the biggest change will affect tens of millions of people is later refund. many low income taxpayers are used to getting money in january and they will not see it until mid-february at the earliest. liz: how are you advising clients now that a solution has been agreed upon at least for some portions of the tax laws? >> we're advising our clients that it is now, the fiscal cliff turned into a fiscal slide and we fear for the economy. the 2% payroll tax withholding, that is now reinstated. the higher taxes for the wealthy, we're concerned with later refunds that the economy is going to stall. liz: okay. well, all right. later refund checks. that is a big deal. a lot of people wait for that. they turn around and spend it either to draw down debt in their own household they need things to buy. time between now and then, deduction opportunities. we brought you on because we wanted you to advise our viewers and let them know in advance don't forget certain deductions. what do you have to offer us? >> you know, liz, i think the number one thing people need to think of expenses related to their income. if you need an expense to generate income, for example, if you're a reporter and you buy books or magazines or need cosmetic surgery or travel, just think about your expenses related to your income. liz: i'm laughing because, the cosmetic surgery, if you're on camera, sure why not. you're telling us you can write all those things off, drive your car to story or work for example, if you were journalist. you park, you save those receipts, everything related to the work that you do? >> that's exactly right. and that is the most commonly missed item out there is expenses related to production of income. liz: on your screen, everybody, look at it, teachers, write off the school supplies. students, any educational spending. does that include, say, for example, tutoring? >> it can but it obviously most of it is taken up with tuition. liz: truck drivers, meals and hotels can be deducked. these are things everybody needs to know and should ask their tax preparer certainly in advance. the eight days later issues, the irs has to wait eight days because of the last minute tax changes of last year, are you advising people don't look at that time for you, start putting this together now? >> yes. actually, liz, it is really 15 days because the irs already put it off seven days. it is a total of 15-day delay from last year. we're telling people, go ahead and get ready to file, those file first get their refund the soonest. liz: all of these changes cause confusion with people. i'm just interested from the perspective of a ceo of a tax preparer like liberty, does this help your business? because a lot of people say, i don't know what i should do here, i need these guys? >> absolutely. whenever there is change, when there is consternation it drives people to prepare. as it should. liz: john, nice to see you. happy new year. >> nice to see you again. >> we'll be hearing from john in the future between now and tax time. john hewitt, chairman and ceo of liberty tax. david? david: everybody here in studio is looking up at that list of deductions. that is a good segment. we'll put the list up on the facebook page. you don't want to miss it. sure there was a deal on the fiscal cliff but while major tax cuts were put on a temporary hold they're still a very real possibility and that will impact jobs, hundreds of thousands of jobs. more on that right after the bake. your paychecks are a little smaller now thanks to that cliff deal. that is already taking a bite out of restaurants. we'll tell you who is already feeling the pain. that is coming right up. ♪ i'm only in my 60's... i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i looked at my options. then i got a medicare supplement insurance plan. 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[ male announcer ] join the millions of people who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp, an organization serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations. remember, all medicare supplement insurance plans help cover what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you thousands a year in out-of-pocket costs. call now to request your free decision guide. and learn more about the kinds of plans that will be here for you now -- and down the road. i have a lifetime of experience. so i know how important that is. >> i'm sandra smith with your fox business brief. stocks struggled for direction. all three major averages managed to end the week higher. at the closing bell the dow is up 17 points at 13,488. applications for jobs in the airline industry are flying higher. us airways, delta, and bankrupt american airlines have all received thousands of application for flight attendant jobs they have available. according to the labor department the average yearly salary for the roughly 90,000 flight attendants employed is just over $37,000,700. more passengers took to jetblue than they had just the year before. capacity for the airline rose more than 6% year-over-year. jetblue is saying its on time performance was over 70%. that's the latest from the fox business network, giving you the power to prosper. [ male announcer ] where do you turn for legal matters? at legalzoom, we've created a better place to handle your legal needs. maybe you have questions about incorporating a busiss you'd like to start. or questions about protecting your family with a will or living trust. and you'd like to find the right attorney to help guide you along, answer any questions and offer advice. with an "a" rating from the better business bureau legalzoom helps you get personalized and affordable legal protection. in most states, a legal plan attorney is available with every personalized document to answer any questions. get started at legalzoom.com today. and now you're protected. david: we have breaking news. according to wire sources air force leaders are about to make sweeping budget cuts in coming weeks if congress can't agree on a budget and billions of dollars in automated cuts that are triggered. in a memo obtained by the associated press, air force secretary michael donely laid out steps to slash spending, slash of base improvements. a loss of construction jobs by 50%. what happens if you're with a country that -- a company that relies on military contracts? todd harrison, center for strategic and budgetary assessments. todd, thanks for coming in. is this breaking air force muse about this hit all branches equally? >> i would definitely expect all the military services coming out with memos. if they're not already written i'm sure they're being written as we speak. david: what happens if i'm a company with a existing contract, is that in danger in any way? >> well, if you have an existing contract and the department of defense already obligated money on that contract, that obligated money is safe. it is not subject to see questions tricks. -- sequestration. if you have a contract and not all money is obligated, there are additional option years to be exercised on that contract, then that money will be subject to sequestration. it will be looking at 9% cut across the board, across every program, project and activity. so just about every program out there within dod will be affected. david: that is very interesting because a lot of these contracts do have these many stages to them. companies have to of course plan years in advance and they plan on fulfilling the second and third and fourth parts of those contracts. many of which now may be ended. so they may have, companies may have already spent the money trying to fulfill those contracts. >> well so what will happen is, if dod can not, they don't have sufficient fund to exercise the additional option years they will have to go back and renegotiate with these companies. it is not they will be caps selling programs outright, they will be short funding by about 9% for the remainder of fiscal year. they will have to go back and renegotiate costs. it won't necessarily be a hurt for industry because, you know, they can still come out of that negotiation making a healthy profit. david: one thing will be clearly hurt, a lot of these companies spend a fortune on proposals. that is really where they spend a lot, they front end money on proposals making them look the best. >> yeah. david: those, that money has been wasted, right? >> ultimately the government ends up paying for all of that because they charge that money back in the form of overhead to the department of defense. even if it is a fixed price contract or cost reimbursable contract --. david: what i'm saying a company that has just done the proposal, has no contract with the government, the government doesn't have to pay for those proposals? >> no, they're not paying for it yet. but down the road if those company's overhead costs are higher you can be sure they will pass it through to the government. david: if they keep their relationship with the government. >> yes. david: who will get hit first? you have a lot of construction jobs and i guess if there are not more housing being built they would be affected. of course you have big companies like boeing that actually manufacture some of the equipment, food services, who is going to get hit. >> the service contractors will tend to be hit first because that money goes from being a budget authorization to being an obligation an an outlay much faster. the companies that make things, that money, procurement money is spent at a much slower rate so it will take more time before the cuts trickle through to them. i think the service sector has more to be worried about than others. david: boeing, which had its problem with the dreamliner, they have a cushion built in that the smaller companies don't have? >> right. they have got a nice, healthy backlog of procurements coming through. if you take something like the lockheed joint strike fighter program, the f-35, if you walk into the factory in fort worth the day after see questions take -- see -- sequestration takes effect. you won't see any change. they have a good pipeline of work to keep them going for a while. it will eventually hit them just not right way. david: todd, we have to run so you have to make it quick but a deal, what happens if there is no deal, if there is no delay, just a deadlock? >> if there is a deadlock and this goes into effect on march fist, one of the first things we'll see are furloughs of department of defense civilian employees. these are civil servant people. we'll see rolling furloughs throughout the year. we'll see defered main nance for major weapons systems. like the air force canceling air shows and nonessential travel. we'll see a lot of that we'll see a flurry of contracting activity to renegotiate a lot of these contracts and have to slow down programs. it will be a real mess. david: we'll see a lot more unemployment. todd harrison, good to see you, my friend. thanks very much. >> thanks for having me. liz: the payroll tax, all you have to do is look at your paycheck and know it is back and know working americans have smaller paychecks and restaurants are already seeing consumers cutting back. that didn't take long. david: didn't at all. how some high flying workers fix these powers lines. this is fun stuff. the video is coming right you up. look, if you have copd like me, you know it can be hard to breathe, and how that feels. copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. spiriva helps control my copd symptoms by keeping my airways open for 24 hours. plus, it reduces copd flare-ups. spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled copd maintenance treatment that does both. spiriva handihaler tiotropium bromide inhalation powder does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. tell your doctor if you have kidney problems, glaucoma, trouble urinating, or an enlarged prostate. these may worsen with spiriva. discuss all medicines you take, even eye drops. stop taking spiriva and seek immediate medical help if your breathing suddenly worsens, your throat or tongue swells, you get hives, vision changes or eye pain, or problems passing urine. other side effects include dry mouth and constipation. nothing can reverse copd spiriva helps me breathe better. (blowing sou) ask your doctor about spiriva. david: what a lot of small-time restaurants could be in for a rocky new year as consumers grapple with smaller paychex and less disposeable income. liz: which dining spots are already feeling the pinch and what are they doing about it? sandra smith with the details. >> hey, liz, hey, david. this is concern among analysts on wall street who look at these stocks. with folks seeing smaller paychecks, they have less disposable income and one area they might got out is going to casual dining chains. we're naming names. ruby tuesday day's cheesecake factory and darden restaurants. some are already talking trouble. ruby tuesday, just this week alone the stock lost 6% of its value. on wednesday it reported a bigger than expected fourth quarter loss. that weighed on shares. raymond james was optimistic after the selloff on the stock. they said the valuation is strong. it looks relatively good compared to its pierce, such as the -- piers. taco bell, kfc, pizza hut, this stock took a big stumble on monday after it warned slow sales growth not just here at home but overseas and china as well. you see a big change in the fast-food names. mcdonald's are pushing lower priced men use, dollar value men use. pizza hut is touting any size pizza for $10. all the restaurant chains are trying to really react to these lower paychecks that we're all experiencing, just trying to get you through the door. also by the way, olive garden, this is one owned by darden restaurants. same strategy as mcdonald's but on a higher pay scale. you're talking about they're offering two meals for $25. you're seeing the same thing with chile's. they're offering two meals for $20. we're seeing a lot of this out there, but liz and dave, bottom line, one long time industry analyst malcolm knapp, said the best hope restaurants have for 2013 is improving job market. even though we have a smaller paychecks if we're getting more paychecks into the hands of folks and more people are working it won't be such a problem for the restaurant chains. but for the time-being they're threaten ad bit. back to you. liz: as long as you offer a great product, turtle cheesecake at the cheesecake factory i will get it. carmel nut chocolate. david: that was charlie gasparino lurking around. he was making fun of you hand signals. >> it is friday. you can't stop him. david: you can never stop charlie. liz: thanks, sandra. ever wonder how high power lines get repairs. high flying workers. we have more on that, when we take it "off the desk.". david: love those stories. key things to keep an eye out for next week. things that will impact your money. you can bet on it, coming next. copd makes it hard to breathe, but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now i can be in the scene. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. if you're still having difficulty breathing, ask your doctor if including advair could help improve your lung function. get your first full prescription free and save on refills at advaircopd.com. david: let's go "off the desk" and over to a job probably isn't for everyone but not a dirty job. look at that. ever wonder how they do this? a virginia power company uses helicopters to get workers to the top of the power lines. the workers are lowered down. they are attached to the helicopters along with equipment including ladders to get to the hard to reach lines. virginia dominion has been using helicopters to assist with maintenance over 10 years. like a james bond movie. liz: give those guys extra pay. i did something dangerous at consumer electronics show. i was throwing around glass an trying to break it. gorilla glass. this is corning's gorilla grass. david: wait a minute. you have sneaker

Transcripts For FBC FOX Business After The Bell 20121218

at one point, but 114 point gain. two day of triple digit moves here. the russell had a nice percentage move up 1 1/2%. the nasdaq better by a full 43 points. david: we have been talking about the up moves. liz is wearing green in honor of the -- she saw it coming. we do have some red on the screen. gold down significantly today. almost $25 an ounce. ending the day at 1673. coming up, we have a very big bull on gold who says now is the time to get in, while some people are saying it could go down to 1200 an ounce. liz: media stocks surging the new highs today. discovery communications, all-time high. comcast also hitting all-time high. time warner, getting a big boost here, 10 1/2 year high. big move. david: overall technology is today's top performing s&p sector. let's take a look at the etf xlk shares closing up more than 1% on this etf. we are closing watching oracle of course ready to break in with the tech giant's earnings, any second they happen, keep it right here over the next hour. liz: we can't forget the housing market. it's showing signs of strength and homebuilder hovnanian has been flexing its muscles, the stock as david mentioned up more than 300% this year. chairman and ceo of hovnanian looks ahead to what 2013 might hold. david: last time he was here he said buy into the stock. he was right. also thinking up picking up gold? -- thinking of picking up gold? before you do, there are reports that gold could be heading down to $1200 an ounce next year. liz: first we will tell you what drove the markets today with today's data down load. stocks pushing higher on hints of a fiscal cliff deal. this time it was more inching to the middle on both sides. all three major indices posting gains for the second day in a row. we have technology and energy as today's top performing sectors while consumer staples and telecoms lagged. see the euro? huge move here, $1.32 and change, rising to 7 1/2 month high versus the dollar on speculation that u.s. lawmakers will reach a deal on the fiscal cliff. why that makes the euro so much stronger, you know, the euro hit intraday high of 1.3238, it is up 1.6% so far this month alone against the greenback. homebuilder confidence jumping to its highest level in more than six and a half years in december. the national association of homebuilder index posting its climbing 2 points to 47 this , month. a lot of optimism today. david: and we have the numbers from oracle. they are out. adam shapiro has been parsing through he numbers. adam: investors will be pleased with oracle. revenue of 9.1 billion, up 3%. and the street was expecting 9.02 billion. one thing i want to tell you from the press release, they are saying that cloud software subscriptions revenues were up 17% to 2.4 billion. and that's one of the things that investors are really paying attention to as oracle goes into that space. david: that is one of the things they are pushing most heavily into. adam, hank you very much. let's get reacts from the chicago mercantile exchange. larry, what do you think of these oracle numbers? >> i'm not surprised. i think management has done a really good job at managing expectations over the past couple weeks. they are the leader in enterprise application. they have pockets of great database business. and their sales application is basically very very good. there's a big risk to the market right now and to oracle specifically with the foreign currency exposure that they had, people were worried that the euro had rallied 4% since the last guidance period, so with that in mind, people were very very modest with their expectations, so this is great news. liz: you know, that's an excellent point larry. because a clot of people just think -- because a lot of people just think oracle is a u.s. company, but a lot of companies have seen themselves get swamped because they didn't hedge their foreign currency risk. mcdonald's in the past has been bitten by this, there are a lot of other companies. sap is out there scratching away big-time and their stock has hit highs consistently, and then you have sales force.com, which right now i'm looking at that, almost appears to get a nice boost from the halo effect of oracle right now. >> yeah, no, i'm glad you brought that up, because they are on their heels. and that's why i think oracle deserves to be maybe a 39 or 40 dollar stock a year from now, if it wasn't for sap or sales force, it would be much higher than that. right now the immediate competition is microsoft and i bshb m -- ibm and that's a good thing for oracle because oracle is better than they are in specifically what they do. david: it was a nice significant rally whenever you have triple digit gains on the dow even though it was off its highs, it is a good day. is the market sensing that there is is a deal being worked out inside the beltway and that we may be off to the races come 2013? >> yeah, david, i think ttat ping-pong match is over, and i think whatever that compromise ends up eing, it is going to be a 1% drag to gdp. i think that's what the market is implying, and we're just making up for lost time. i mean, keep in mind, back in september, we were willing to pay 14 times multiple for the s&p 500. that would put us at 1500. so right now we're less than 2 1/2% away from the all-time high -- not all time, year to date high, if a deal does get done, like the market is implying, i have no doubt that the market will hit 1475, by the end of the year. liz: wow. that's a bullish call here. wait till you hear what our next guests say. stand by and listen in. david: we will check in with him at the close of the s&p futures at about 15 past the hour. liz: let's bring in the market panel. schaffer's investment research senior technical strategist is joining us. also joining us is center state bank chief investment officer. joe, you heard a very bullish call frommlarry. you are saying you expect little or no growth in 2013. why? >> the economy's underlying growth rate is about 1 1/2 to maybe 2 percent. the possibility clearly exists with consumers holding back because savings rates are so low, with businesses holding back, business capital spending and hiring because of the uncertainty surrounding the fiscal cliff, that i think the down side exists more than the upside for growth in the first half of the year. we're not -- it's not our forecast that we're going to not grow. our forecast is we will grow about 1 1/2%. but clearly the risk is there surrounding the fiscal cliff. david: ryan, you have spent a lot of time looking a at options contracts. you think you found some key indicators that tell you that a big rally is m co -- is coming, explain. >> that's right david. we've had a real good move, especially the last few days. can it continue? if you look at short interest, it's as high right now as it was back in june. remember june big downturn and big up move. a lot of shorts. as those shorts cover their bets, the market will go higher. that's very bullish. david: let me stop you right there because of the rally we've had the past couple of days if it continues, we could have a lot of short covering and that will lift the market, a lot of money is going to come into the market? >> it's cliche to say, but that's right. so many bearish bets are out there. if you follow the news, you would never know the market is as strong as it is. following prices has been more advantageous. we look at various put to call ratios, our work says hedge fund institutions have drastically missed this rally. we think they are extremely underexposed. that's another reason they can play catch up. they can keep going in the near trend. liz: joe, as cautious you might be about actual growth, you're still investing. show us the money. tell us where you like to invest and how right now. >> sure. well, liz, we think the market -- we think maybe high single digit gain for the year. the primary reason being than thanom -- that nominal gdp growth will be --. we would say go with companies that are doing a great job turning out investment income. let's go with a company like pepsico that has a3.1% dividend yield. they have grown their dividend 27% over the past four years. they are expected to grow at about 15% the next four years. a great place to be. totally different sector teva pharmaceuticals the largest generic pharmaceutical company in the world. they have grown their dividend payout 63% over the past four years, looking to grow it at about 57%. liz: go with those guys that consistently raise the dividend quarter after quarter. >> absolutely. and in fact with pepsi, they have raised their dividend 40 years in a row. david: ryan, housing, we're about to talk to hovnanian right here. he will be talking about his particular company but you have some housing picks. you think the housing boom is here to stay at least for the next couple of years, starting with lennar, why do you like lennar right now? >> that's right david. i was on with you guys december 15th last year, i said i liked housi housing, now a year later they have had a big rally. you talk about lennar, looking at the option activity, there's a lot of bearish puts coming on lennar, also increasing short interest. what does that mean? that tells us again a lot of bearish bets, climbing that wall of worry, still a lot of monny on the side line. lennar looks good. look at longer term chart of a lot of housing stocks, they are still nowhere near the highs from 5, 6 years ago. that tells us yes as good news keeps coming, that negativity upward pricing action, housing could perform. liz: do you like maybe some of the materials guys? >> absolutely. i think housing is a great place to be invested in today. but i think the most attractive place to be today, liz, is in pipeline companies. you can go into master limited partners of pipeline companies and get distribution yields in the 7 to 8 percent range. they are going to grow that distribution about 6% annually. liz: will that be doing a different tax strategy after the first of the year regardless? >> always a concern about that, but if they put a corporate income tax on these companies as opposed to treating them as partnerships, that's going to raise three to four hours worth of the budget deficit on an annual basis. it's just not worth it. david: finally ryan the consumer seems to be a little more confident. that doesn't always track in terms of retail sales. you'd go in now even before you get the figures from the holiday season; right? >> that's right. look at the xrt, the large retail etf, up 20% year to date. if you look at the news and negativity out there, people would never know that. a lot of these names, abercrombie & fitch is one we like. recently good earnings. goes higher. a lot of shorts, a lot of bearish puts coming in. the xrt specifically a lot of bearishness on also in the option world. contrarian indicator, it goes higher, people don't like it, that's what we're looking for, stick with retail and betting on the u.s. consumer. david: look at the options markets folks for clues on how to bet in equities. thank you guys, good stuff. >> thank you. david: debt talks continue as the clock keeps ticking to possible tax hikes for everybody. a lot of plans out there. rich edson has been on top of every made being made inside the beltway. find out what's in the plans and the hit that you could be taking. liz: plus take a look at this, hovnanian, hov, up nearly 300% this year, actually more than that. can it keep rising at this pace as housing continues to recover? we have the ceo and president of hovnanian enterprises. what does 2013 going to look like? better than that? david: let's hope. [ male announcer ] this is amy. amy likes to invest inhe market. she also likes to ride her bike. she knows the potential for making or losing money can pop up anytime. that's why she trades with the leader in mobile trading. so she's always ready to take action, no matter how wily... or weird... or wonderfully the market's behing. which isn't rocket scnce. it's just comm sense. from td ameritrade. david: s&p futures are closing right now. let's go back to the cme group. larry as we ended the trading day, we saw a little drop off. did that continue into the futures? >> it did. we see a little bit of drop-off in the futures. keep in mind, front and center is the fiscal cliff. people are squaring their positions, going home so they can sleep at night. traders are really looking at things underneath the seat cushions other than the fiscal cliff. they are looking at hey there's no hard landing in china. europe didn't fall off the map. the u.s. didn't go into recession. we didn't have worldwide food inflation. maybe there's a reason to be constructively bullish on this market. liz: wasn't 1442 supposed to be that support level? >> it is a support level. below that though 1430. that is a key level. i think people are squaring up because hey, we don't know what will happen overnight, but by in large, the market is pricing in that something will get accomplished, but hey, if i was standing in that pit right now, i'd go home flat as well but you'd never know. david: i won't tell those guys about the asteroid that's planning to hit at 12:00 midnight. but that's a whole other story. larry, great to see you. liz: david you just panicked half of our viewers. oracle beat on the top and bottom line. let's head back to nicole on the floor of the nyse. nicole: i have been talking with traders taking a look at the stock in the afterhours. it is a winner. we're watching oracle on the move to the upside, beat on both top and bottom line. they said that they have seen demand for web-based services. they have been doing a lot of acquisitions. we know larry ellison has been working on that, doingns in ord accelerate in the cloud computing area. that's an area that actually did well for the company. another thing we should note is accelerated dividend payouts for three quarters starting on december 21st like so many companies that we have seen. these are some of the action that we have seen here for oracle now after the bell coming out with numbers that beat the street on both the top and bottom line. so it's a good one. back to you. david: thank you. well the back and forth inside the beltway continues. the white house makinggsome concessions on taxes from the original offer, but then rejecting speaker boehner's plan b proposal. liz: what are the main sticking points? listen, this news flow is changing moment by moment. joining us now from the nation's capitol, fox business's rich edson maneuvering all of the flows here. what are you hearing, rich? rich: well the difference is basically few hundred billion dollars in spending cuts, tax increases and how much to raise the debt ceiling. they have come pretty far away in the last few days. the president wants 300 billion dollars more in tax revenue than speaker boehner. the speaker's willing to allow a tax rate hike on those earning more than a million dollars. the president wants to exempt only those making less than $400,000. boehner wants a trillion in spending cuts. take away interest savings and the white house is at about 930 billion dollars in spending cuts. also have to counter with 80 billion dollars in additional spending. so speaker boehner is calling for a back-up plan, considering the two sides are apart that would shield most taxpayers from next month's scheduled tax increase. >> i believe it's important that we protect as many american taxpayers as we can. and our plan b would protect american taxpayers who make a million dollars or less and have all of their current rates extended. >> everyone should understand boehner's proposal will not pass the senate. >> even as a last ditch -- >> not as a last ditch. rich: house republicans gather at the top of the hour for a special meeting about this proposal. that's where leader begins selling the back-up plan. democrats and republicans say they plan continue bipartisan talks to reach a larger comprehensive debt deal, but there's a little bit of a way to go. back to you. david: rich, it was interesting listening to senator harry reid dismiss that plan when in fact back in may pelosi came out in a letter specifically to speaker boehner saying, quote, democrats believe the tax cuts for those earning over a million dollars a year should expire and that we should use the resulting revenues to pay down the deficit. well, that's the boehner plan. nancy pelosi was on board back in may. what happened? rich: minority leader pelosi said she introduced that plan to quote smoke out republicans on taxes. she says republicans passed on that plan six months ago and the president took his case to the american people for those making more than $250,000 a year, those folks should get a tax increase and that voters supported that position by re-electing the president. i've got to say david democrats especially from states like california and new york, senator schumer had a simple over in the senate, where those states and certain cities in those states, $250,000 a year, catches a lot more taxpayers than it does elsewhere. david: rich edson great reporting all day rich. thank you very much. rich: thanks. liz: we still don't know what the new year will bring for you and your taxes and your tax filing. that could make life difficult for tax preparers. up next, the ceo of liberty tax, john hewitt on the fiscal cliff, how he's advising clients and why tax refunds could actually be delayed. david: how many different possibilities could there be? he will tell you. plus how about a big mac on christmas? why is mcdonald's expecting its biggest day ever on christmas day? that story is coming up in today's speed read. ♪ girl: don't look at me. second girl: your hair's a bit frizzy today. aw! ha ha! you should pick that up. announcer: every day, kids witness bullying. poor you. ha ha! they want to help but don't know how. teach your kids how to be more than a bystander. visit stopbullying.gov. david: time for a quick speed read of some of the day's other headlines. first up the gap is opening its first stand alone stores in brazil. the first ones are expected to open in the fall of 2013. with more to follow. photo sharing service instagram got explaining to do, which is owned by facebook saying it will have more to share following criticism of its user agreement which allows it to share photos in connection with paid or sponsored content. mcdonald's could be open for christmas. an internal memo leaked points out the opportunity for profit following the millions brought in on thanksgiving. christmas could add over 70 million dollars to the fourth quarter. travellers love tokyo, a new survey from trip advisors says tokyo has the cleanest streets, the best public transport and it is the safest city. new york was number one for shopping. and toyota getting hit with another safety fine. the national highway traffic safety administration slapping the automaker with a 17.4 million dollars fine for delaying a safety recall of 2010 lexus rx 350 s and rx 450 h models. that's today's speed read. liz? liz: well done. washington even during that speed read is still trying to find some type of solution to avoid the potential tax hikes and spending cuts set to hit at the end of this year. so look, taxes are coming april 15th. how can you the taxpayer prepare for whatever type of decision comes out of the beltway? joining me now is john hewitt, yes, of course from the former jackson hewitt. he's chairman and ceo now of liberty tax, one of the largest tax preparation businesses. oh, boy, a lot of people want to hear from you because perhaps there's a low-grade panic going on in their hearts and minds right now,,thinking what should i be doing in advance to limit my tax bill that i might get? can you even know when we don't know the landscape? >> it's hard to tell. and it's the most confusing it's been in my 43 year career. there are certain things we can do and certain situations. you need to check with your tax advisor. we eastbound p help people -- we even help people that aren't our customers so you can call and give you advice for your particular situation. liz: let's break out the most common situations. i know everybody is different, but there any way to minimize what could be coming, the pain that could be coming for tax bills? >> it is difficult to tell. if we go over the fiscal cliff, i think the biggest danger, more than the tax situation is the economy. and one thing that isn't talked a lot about is refunds are going to be later than they have been in 25 years. the irs is going to delay refunds just because they postponed electronic filing start date. in addition to that, they are still trying to put the final touches on the last forms waiting for the changes. some people who file in january may have to wait till february. liz: yes, they are waiting, the irs has to wait, and at some point there are the early birds who want -- i know some of you are out there thinking, but i want to get started now. >> exactly. there are 10 or 20 million people that will file typically by january 31st. they are used to getting their refunds in january. they are not going to get them until february. it is going to affect the whole economy. liz: not everybody procrastinates? >> exactly. about 50% offthe people do wait until last minute. but 50% want their money quickly. liz: okay. so tax refunds could be delayed. is there anything people can do to make sure they get theirs on time? some people depend on that refund. >> exactly. there's really nothing they can do. the irs has made a decision to postpone electronic filing. and it's going to be worse if congress doesn't come to a resolution quickly. liz: you're tax preparers -- you're a franchise business, your tax preparers are they standing by waiting to go to a quicky college to quickly learn the changes that are coming in? >> exactly. we will have a webinar and train our 30,000 preparers across the country. >> everybody is on standby. if it were to hit in the next 48 hours, would you start then and there? >> we will be ready within 24 hours of getting the information. >> how long does it take to train an individual? >> typically less than eight hours a year. >> many taxpayers have been confused and turn to companies like yours. do you expect this to help your business? you are one of the fastest growing tax prepares. it is a silver lining for you guys. >> it is. change drives people to preparers. there's going to be millions of questions. they are going to call us. it is good for our business. liz: what type of resolution would you as a business owner and ceo really like to see? >> first of all, i would like to solve the tax situation. but also lending to small businesses really dried up. and the number of franchises of all kind in the united states, mcdonald's, subway, has declined over the next few years. that needs to get back on pace. we need to find lending for small business. as everyone says small business are the job creators. liz: in the end you have started many businesses. you have been successful. you have a gold standard name in tax preparedness. is this still the best nation to start a business? >> it still is but declining every year. liz: on that note -- i don't want to end on that note. let's see if we can get some optimism going. good to see you john. thank you. >> thank you liz. liz: liberty tax ceo. david? david: optimism is his business is going up because of all the confusion. homebuilder confidence is rising. that's good news for the 8th straight month. up next we have one of the biggest homebuilders out there. ara hovnanian, chairman and ceo of hovnanian enterprises, the stock is up over 350% this year. and later this hour, you may be tempted to buy gold on the dip. what if we told you gold price is going down to $1200 an ounce. golden opportunities or dead weight? we debate coming up. copd makes it hard to breathe, but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now i can be in the scene. advair is clinally proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both a an-inflammory and a long-acting bronchodilator working together to help improve your lung function all day. vair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chce of pneonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking aair. if you're still having difficulty breathing, ask yo doctor if including advair could help improve your lung function. get your first full prescription free and save on refls at advaircopd.com. ♪ [ engine revs ] ♪ [ male announcer ] oh whatun it is to ride. get the mercedes-benz on your wish list at the winter event going on now through december 31st. 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[ male announcer ] lease a 2013 e350 for $579 a month at your local mercedes-benz deale liz: time for a look at today's market drivers. drove right straight up. all three major indices moving higher for the second day in a row. dow just short of session highs. the dow was up 127 points. this marks the 7th time the dow jones industrials ends the day within the green in just the past 10 trading days. the price of regular gallon of gasoline dropping nine 1/2 cents over the past week, bringing the fuel to the lowest level this year. decreased seasonal demand and rising supplies resulted in the dip. did you see precious metals? platinum and palladium seeing red. palladium which helps make catalytic converters convert dropped 1%. platinum shaving off 1% bringing it to the lowest settlement in two weeks. you saw gold today. a big drop there. david: homebuilder confidence reaching the highest level since 2006. this is helping to boost home-building stocks. liz: one homebuilder is up 350% just over the past year. could this boost of confidence send their stock even higher. let's ask the chairman and president of hovnanian enterprise, ara hovnanian. put this in perspective. everything is relative. you used to be $7 billion market cap. now you're 750 million. not like you totally recovered. >> we're in the early innings of this recovery. our market cap used to be 4 1/2 billion. we're still under a billion. we have a long way to go but we're very confident and feel good about the momentum right now. david: let's get into basics supply and demand. supply of housing gone way, way down. number of contractors, i think we can put up the full screen if we can. we used to have 1.6 million housing contractors in the united states. that was at the boom of the marquette -- market. look where it has fallen. look at recent fall in housing that is huge drop. that means far fewers houses are being built s that why prices are going up? >> it absolutely supply and demand on used and existing home side. that supply is coming down. on the new side, home builders, many public builders went out of business and many private builders have not been able to get capital and are out of the marketplace. that's an unfortunate thing fore surviving, those with good capital structure that means a lot of opportunity on the recovery. liz: as the darwinian play shaking itself out and you are among the fittest surviving so far, can we get a prediction for 2013. >> boy, let me put it in perexecutive. housing starts averaged 1.6 million per year for decades. last in, this downturnnwe got down to 500,000 starts. was a million six average. 500,000. everybody is excited today because it is about the 850,000 plus or minus starts. that's good. it has been a big recovery. if i had to venture a guess i would say we'll approach a million starts this year in 2013. a big up tick from where we have been the last few years but, still, well below what's average over the last few decades. david: let's get a little more specific into hovnanian for a second. you have very successfully refinanced a lot of your debt load. >> yes. david: how important has been that freeing up of capital for you? >> it's been very important. it has done two things. it reduced interest costs 17 million a year. that is certainly helpful we finance in better environment, lower rates but it is also important it extended our maturity ladder. we had a big chhnk of debt due in 2016. we extended that out to 2020, 2021. that gives us a lot of runway to have this recovery maintain moan tum. david: what are you doing with the capital? >> we're reinvesting it. we're buying land all over the country. we've been buying it and stepped up a little more. there is a lot of opportunities out there. liz: we yesterday dolly lenz, prudential elliman, high end realtor, done billions over the years. she is seeing massive bottleneck by the end of the year because people are so scared about tax implications if we don't have a fiscal cliff deal, either way. are you seeing that same bottleneck in sales? >> i can't say we're seeing. we and all public builders reporting quarter over quarter improvement we reported our quarter recently, up 44% in dollar volume over the same quarter last year so it is really building up but i don't think it is a year-end phenomenon. i think we're building momentum. people are feeling good about the housing market in general and when you combine these record low interest rates, 3 1/2% for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, our parents didn't have it that low. liz: do you thank ben bernanke? >> i do. i think he has done a fabulous job making sure the economy --. david: although he has been hurting savers. interest rates are so low people on fixed income are not getting any kind of return. which leads me to wonder whether a lot of them are actually buying real estate as an investment. do you see more investment-related real estate right now? >> not on the new home front but a helpful phenomenon on the existing home resale. foreclosures and short sales, we are seeing some investors there that are buying, both mom-and-pop investors and sophisticated hedge fund money and private equity money. buying the foreclosed homes and then turning them around and renting them and taking a long term perspective. not a flip. i think that has been helpful to the overall market. david: ara hovnanian. if you listen this buy a year ago when he came on the stock would be doing well you would have made 350%. congratulations. >> hopefully more to come. liz: happy holidays for the new year. >> thank you. liz: thieves could be stealing your money from your bank account via cyberspace. we have details coming up. you may not even notice. that's why you have to watch this. david: a lot of gold bugs buying up the metal on a huge dip today but if you buy now are you in danger of catching a falling golden knife? one report says gold could fall to $1200 an ounce by the end of the next year. coming up, is gold a safe bet or could it become a weighty albatross in your portfolio. ♪ . >> i'm adam shapiro with your fox business brief. cerberus capital selling its stake in gunmaker freedom group after friday's tragedy at sandy hook in connecticut. they acquired firearms making bushmaster in 2006 merging it with other gun companies to create freedom group. they manufacture the ar-15 rifle believed to have been used by the shooter. conocophillips selling its algerian unit for $7.5 billion. shares of the company closed up over 1% today on that news. mcdonald's is reportedly urging its franchise owners to stay open for christmas. that's according to a memo leaked from the fast-food giant obtained by advertising age. mickey d's wants to capitalize on stellar sales it recorded by staying open on thanksgiving. that's the latest from the fox business network, giving you the power to prosper. d#: 1-800-345-2550 this morning, i'm going to trade in hong kong. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 after that, it's on to gmany. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 then tonight, i'm trading 9500 miles away in japan. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 with the new global account from schwab, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 as if i'm right there. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and i'm in total control because i can trade tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 directly online in 12 marketets in their local currencies. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 i use their global research to get an edge. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 thr equity ratings show me how schwab tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 rates specific foreign stocks td: 1-800-345-2550 based on thinglike fundamentals, momentum and risk. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and i also have access to independent tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 firms like ned davis research tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and economist intelligence unit. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 plus, can talk to their global specialists 24/7. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and trade in my global account commission-free tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 best part. no jet lag. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 call 1-866-294-5409 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and a global specialist tdd#: 1-800-345-25 will help you get started today. david: should you ring in the new year by investing in gold. it fell big-time today by more than $25 an ounce. trading well below $1700. one report out today even suggests that the precious metal will slump to $1200 by the end of the next year but our next guest sees it jumping in 2013. even says gold is one of his top picks. chief investment officer spencer patten joins us now. ssencer, great to see you. i've known you long enough you're right more often than you're wrong but let me paint out the gold $1200 scenario for a second and get your reaction. this is how it works. they say one, fiscal cliff doesn't happen. looks like they may have resolved something today. lord knows. two hedge fund cashes. a lot of hedge fund cash on the sidelines. once the fiscal cliff subside that money will come into the stock market. three, that will lead the fed to be less money printing than they have been. so they will pull back. four, china and india will unload a lot of their gold because they're going to want to have the cash to build their infrastructure. and finally president obama will realize the tax bonanza from shell oil and shell gas and therefore lift off the regs of those two things to the point where we have a lot more oil and gas coming. all those things bring us down to gold at 1200. how do you react? >> wow, that is really incredible run-down. there ii one interesting thing i think will knock a hole in the whole theory that the fed has tied interest rate policy to the amount of unemployment that we have. it has to be at 6.5%. and what that means is, that you're boeing to get low interest rates that are very bullish for gold and will lead to inflation coming down the road, endless money printing. doesn't have anything to do with the other parts that we mentioned here with, you know, with china and all the rest. it he is going to be tied to getting jobs created. none of the those things that the author mentioned create any jobs. david: one thing that might create jobs is all this money on the sidelines. if that money does begin to come in. and again, the one thing that the fed has assured us that interest rates are going to be low at least for the first part of next year. which means nobody will get returns. they will have to go somewhere. probably they go into the market. that might revise it. give a lot more capital to companies to expand and maybe hire people. >> i think it very well could generate a little bit of growth for the economy. i also think as hedge funds bring in cash, running one myself, gold is an investment allocation that makes a lot of sense for hedge funds. i think the gold theory could really benefit as money flows into the market. you see that from individual investors as well once they get more discretionary income and they are fearful of their dollar losing value, they will start buying into things like gold and silver, in order to for gold to get to $1200 an you would have to have deflationary collapse which would be catastrophic. i think the lowest i can imagine gold being 1550 at the bottom. i think we'll be visiting 2,000 in 2013. david: by the way i don't buy into this theory. i got to say what this theory doesn't take into account what japan decided to do is print even more money than we're printing right now, more yen. there is a whole lot of money printing going on all over the world. there are a couple of price targets out. you mentioned one, 1550 would be the lowest of the low. i hear 1662, 1640 an ounce. those two price points are very important to buy in. why? >> i think what you see on the chart of gold you see it going side ways in a trading range. this is really beneficial for gold because a lot of times what happens you see prices go up and then see them consolidate and see them break out of that range. we've been in that type of trend for gold, if you look historically more than 10 years. gold has been a very safe investment but you do have some volatile ranges you can see gold earlier this year, saw it move more than $100 an ounce in a single day. i think once you get further down you start seeing how much buying interest there is but i think that we'll start seeing buying interest in the 1600s. i don't know that we'll make it down to 1640 especially as we get this fiscal cliff resolved, i think it will be the biggest y2k thing ever. i don't think the fiscal cliff will be a big deal at all and we'll get more confidence in the economy and see gold prices go higher. david: meanwhile other commodities, copper directly related to the gdp growth around the world. how do you see copper going? >> i don't have optimistic feeling toward copper. i don't think it is something to sell. i don't think it is something to buy. i look at something like rbob gasoline. gasoline prices are lowest they have been in a year. we'll start moving seasonally strong periods. buy gasoline, it's cheap right now. not necessarily copper. david: spencer, we have you on tape, 1550 is the lowest possible price will gold will go in 2013. we'll bring you in if it goes lower, do you mind? >> absolutely, bring me in. >> spencer, great to see you. >> thank you. liz: let's get to banks. they are facing a pretty credible threat from cyber season. your money could be at risk. will you even notice though? adam shapiro making sure you do. he's got the alarming details next. ♪ liz: your dollars that you thought were safe in banks they may not be safe. hackers are close to launching an attack on a number of u.s. financial firms. david: this is really scary stuff. they're targeting your money. adam shapiro joining us with the details of this credible threat. adam, tell us about it. >> it is a creditable threat according to mcafee labs. the security firm saw a posting in september from a cyber criminal in russia who goes by the name, thief in law. that is how it would translate into english. claiming they're going to be launching a trojan horse kind of virus that allows hem to use password and access to your bank accounts to transfer small amounts of money. if you do it on large enough scale you can make millions. according to mcafee they tested variants of this trojan virus since 2007 and goten away with transferring roughly $5 million. at least that is whht the hackers are claiming. i spoke to cedric layton an expert in this field, he will be on "money" with melissa francis in a few minutes on ways to protect yourself. you should check your bank account daily for any bizarre activity. he said banks need to ramp up security procedures. keep in mind while there are 30 institution in the united states being targeted. it will start perhaps this spring. that's when they say the attack will begin. they are going after high net worth indivduals. if you ask john boehner that is someone worth over million dollars, if you ask the president it is someone over $250,000 a year. back to you. david: adam shapiro. rich edson reported house speaker john boehner introducing plan b as he called it, legislation to raise taxes on those earning a million dollars or more. this after president obama raised his threshold for topping income earners to 400,000. taxes are set to rise for everybody if some kind of a deal isn't reached by the end. year. liz: take it off the desk. you don't like the high taxes? in france, well move to belgium. french actor gerard d pechlt l pardieu says is doing that. he will welcome anyone from france who thinks taxes are way too enter us -- onerous who wants to follow in the actor's shoes to escape the high taxes the foreign minister says it is france's own fault if its citizens are leaving and they should accept the consequences, i agree. time to go off the desk. shaquille o'neal launching his own line of vodka. according to the "new york post" it will be called love shaq. luvshaq. our crew is giving it thumbs down. it might taste well. it will hit it next year. cocoa nut flavored vodka is sugar and gluten free it will have the nba star with giant wings. let's hope move into vodka successful than the rap career. liz: pitbull has its own vodka. i would rather that have. there is carmel vodka and cookly flavored vodka. not a vodka drinker. would you do that? david: i like good potato russian vodka. put it in the freezer. good stuff. liz: we'll see what melissa francis likes. she is next with "money"

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