And bob pisani at the New York Stock Exchange hey, robert. Hello there, old friend narrow trading range were down second day in a row, but a small trading range. 16 points in the s p 500, maybe 200 points in the Dow Jones Industrial average the nasdaq, though, is eking out small gains. The dow gainers for the month, theyre still the gainers for the day. Look at apple, look at nike, look at sisco, all up on the month. The laggards, its interesting, the ones that are down in the month of december also down today. Boeing had a tough month even disney. They topped out the beginning of december, 153 now, 143. Visa ending down today a little bit here that was a big mover all throughout the end of december the one sector i would point out to you is the Energy Sector. Oil exploration product up again today. And you know all of those really beaten up small Exploration Production companies, witing, southwestern, all terrible year, terrible three or four years since the tax law selling seemed to stop the middle of december, theyre all being bought i dont know if this is a mean reversion long term, remember 2010s was the worst decade in 20 years for energy stocks. Or whether this is just a temporary thing, but these stocks have all done really well in the last couple weeks back to you. I have no time to talk to you, bob, but i was going to pose a question to you were posing the age old question, should you buy at alltime highs can i ask you a question go ahead. At what alltime high that we set over the last five years should you not have bought what alltime high . What alltime high that we set each time we set one over the past five years should you ever not buy at alltime is that something we need to ask if the market keeps heading higher . You should have bought every alltime high. Thats right. If youre a longterm investor, for sure what does that mean going to wait for 10 . Ill tell you what it means this morning, i showed everybody the average the s p goes up 72 of the time year over year when you include the dividend in the last 90 years. If youre playing longterm odds, thats why you buy and hold just making a point, bob. Obviously, were at alltime highs. You should have bought every damn alltime high previous to where you are now, and you would still be making money. Thank you, bob a year to remember for the bulls. As after a dismal start to 2019, theyre set to end the year with doub doubledigit gains s p, 28 easy to say, hard to imagine nasdaq, 35 . A whopping 35 when it comes to sectors, technology, communications services, and financials are at the front of the pack. Technology on a tear, gaining 47 this year. Communications services up 30 and financials up 29 . And the best performing stocks this year, leading the dow, apple. Those shares soared 85 . Taking first place on the s p and the nasdaq 100 amd up a staggering 148 lets bring in bill stone, chief Investment Officer of Avalon Investment advisory, and scott wren, senior Global Market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute im not going to beat a dead horse, but the same thing goes, scott and bill, for individual issues people that look to buy a stock on a low, im getting a deal on a low. You know what, you usually get some new lows after that youre catching a falling knife. Dont you think you ought to buy should you shy away from a stock at an alltime high when its like an amazon or something over the years it hits alltime highs consistently because its a good stock, right well, certainly, if the fundamentals support it, youre right in those cases, obviously, like an apple, where its, you know, continued to grow earnings really moved to being ill argue a Consumer ProductCompany Maybe more than a technology company, and its also got its ecosystem out there that makes it much more resilient relative to some other Technology Companies it probably deserves a better multiple than perhaps people would have put on it in the past scott, they highlighted something on the notes that you said that its been a good year, obviously. Position for more challenging times ahead. Was there any time in 2019 when that wasnt your sort of your blanket comment anyway werent you saying position all year long, position for challenging times . You knew we were going to do 28 . Well, we definitely did not know that. Were about 6 or 7 above what our year end thats pretty good then so the market did better than what we certainly expected thats pretty good. It has been, and this year, as i look back this year, what we did is we reduced risk. We raised a little cash. We backed off on industrials, and we could have said, hey, you know, were doing this a little too early in hindsight, we did leave a little money on the table, but we thought this trade risk was going to last well into 2020 and really, the market wasnt looking for much, and i dont think were going to get much of a trade deal, but thats what really we underestimated as we look forward maybe we dont need much. Maybe we just need a trade truce. Just less tension thats really all we needed. Bill, what would surprise you this year . Ill give you three scenarios. What everybody is saying, up mid to high single digits. Thats what everybody is saying. Up 25 , so similar to this year. Or down 20 . What do you think the most likely scenario is and what would surprise you the most you know, i think the most likely is something in that, you know, i would say even low doubledigit kind of range the big losses or big loss i dont expect usually the big loss comes with a recession. Typically when you go more than the 20 loss, thats typically associated with recession. We just see very little chance of recession, and ill give us a little pat on the back we said that all year this year as well. Thats why we stayed positioned pretty aggressively relative scott, are you low double digits or low single digit i hate to be with the consensus. I know. Were in the mid single digit. The thing we could be not we could be underestimating is the magnitude of chasing, which obviously we have seen a little bit here, but were in the early innings of that. If you get some good news internationally, stabilization, maybe a little better performance there, thats where the market could put in a better return, we think, than what were looking for right now. All right well know soon enough we will as the first week goes, so goes the first month as the first month, so goes the year thats what they say none of that is true none of it is but it gives us something to talk about in the first week of january and act like oh, boy this is important. Anyway, thank you. Thanks, guys. Happy new year thank you heres what else is ahead on the exchange. Coming up, going, going, ghosn. One of the biggest Auto Executives in history is on the run after escaping japan while under house arrest a look at the story of carlos ghosn. Plus, states made a bet on online betting this year, and its paying off big. Well look at who could get in on the game in 2020. And the name thats contributed the most to the s p this year. This is the exchange on cnbc as you have probably heard by now, former nissan chairman carlos ghosn has fled house arrest in tokyo, landed in lebanon after a stop in turkey and he has citizenship in lebanon and is safe from any extradition attempt by japan in a statement, he says i have not fled justice i have escaped injustice and political persecution. I can now finally communicate freely with the media. For more, im joined by peter campbell, global motor industry correspondent for the financial times. So little time, so much to talk about. Peter, do you confirm, was it in a Musical Instrument case . What would it be, a cello case would it have to be a full bass case without getting into too many speculations about carlos gho ghosns relative size of instrument cases we still dont have the full details of how he left japan he was being tailed whenever he left his apartment he was under very severe security checks. And how he got out of the country, and then eventually made his way to lebanon. There was there have been several rumors, several of which have been fantastic during the rounds over the last few hours one of which was that he escaped in a music case with a band of musicians that came to his apartment. Now, we dont know if thats true in fact, there has been denied by people close to carlos ghosn. So we still do not have the details, and the full kind of spy thriller level breakdown of exactly how he dodged his minders and got out of the country. What we do know is this is the latest twist in a saga that has gone on for well over a year now. Now, carlos ghosn was arrested in november 2018 at the time, he was still chairman of nissan, although he stepped back from being ceo. He was then charged with having inflated his own salary at nissan and not disclosed it. He was then released on bail he was then arrested again and charged this time with using Company Money for his own purposes and then again was released on bail and its from that bail that he appears now to have fled to lebanon. He claims hes innocent. He said hes innocent from the outset and hes said that there were Japanese Forces at work to try and take him out of his position because people within nissan and within japan were worried about a merge with renno, who as we know are nissans Global Alliance auto partner. So this has been going on for more than a year now we expected a trial to start in japan in the next few months of 2020 there are now Big Questions over how much of that can go ahead and what happens with that but this is the latest case in what has become an absolutely extraordinary story. So peter, in listening to mr. Ghosn, and you have covered this very, very closely. Just a couple things would you yourself feel totally comfortable with the way justice is carried out in japan . The way that peter or the way that carlos ghosn has talked about it, it made me a little bit uncomfortable. I was a little surprised to see ghosns lawyer, i dont know whether it was just boiler plate or whatever, but he immediately said that mr. Ghosn is at fault and shouldnt have done this and that hes subverting justice but just looking at it, i would not want to be in trouble in japan because im not sure we have the same Justice System in our country versus theirs. Well, one of the extraordinary things about the case in the few hours after it transpired that he was back in lebanon that we thought maybe there had been some kind of deal, maybe they reached an agreement to drop the case, but his lawyers said they had no idea he was planning to leave. As far as we know, they still hold his three passports so the lawyers say they had no idea this was going ahead now, one of the Amazing Things about the japanese Justice System is its conviction rate, which is well above 99 . Its often because people confess, having been held and questioned they confess before it goes to trial. Its a foregone conclusion normally, this happens within the first few weeks following an arrest carlos ghosn was held for around 100 days before he was released on bail. And during that time, he never confessed. He always protested his innocence. He was kept in a cell which we are told was unheated, which had the light on for long periods of time, deliberately uncomfortable. Its likely if this had gone to trial, his case would have been heavily against the japanese Justice System doesnt sound great, peter. From the outside, he doesnt have a fair trail. On the surface, to me, it seems like theres some questions maybe i shouldnt feel empathy for mr. Ghosn, but i cant help it. We is to run hopefully we can talk to you again, and you probably have more details at that point thanks for skyping with us i like it. Pleasure. Thank you. All right okay, boomer yeah, i understand skype coming up, chipotle shares have been on fire this year and there are few things that ceo brian nichol credits for driving the gains. What they are. Plus, the 2020 playbook for Sports Betting which i know a little bit about. This year. A look at the money, the main players, and who stands to win big. The exchange is back in just a couple minutes deeper data at cnbc. November retail inventories fell. 7 from october its the biggest month over month decline since june when i see adversity, i find a way. When i hear never, i say now. [announcer] Southern New Hampshire university is education made to fit your goals with over 200 degree programs, flexible class schedules, and some of the lowest online tuition rates in the nation. cheering so when i face barriers, i can break through. [announcer] breakthrough at snhu. Edu. Im sue herera heres whats happening at this hour in our news update. Corey lewandowski, president trumps former Campaign Manager is passing on running for a senate seat in New Hampshire he tweeted out that his family remains his top priority and working to reelect president trump. Wildfires burning across australias two most populous states trapping residents of a seaside town, causing at least two fatalities on the New South Wales coast, fires were seen moving towards the highway linking sydney and melbourne Mohammed Zavad Zarif meeting his count part in beijing. They held a meeting along with officials from both countries. And china ringing in the new year in beijing. Revellers gathering at one of the venues of the beijing 2022 wint orlimpics to welcome the decade in with a new years countdown under sparkling confetti followed by a spectacular light show wow, look at that. You are up to date thats the news update back to you. All right, sue. In what universe would either one of us go into politics never what would prompt someone never thats the problem. So who do we get i suppose that is part of the problem. Part of the problem. Thats not neither here nor there. Thank you, sue sports gambling was one of the major stories in the world of sports this year, but its not the only place with big money at stake eric chemi has a look at what changes and we could see in sports business in 2020. 2019 was a big year for sports business. From California Voting to Pay College Athletes to the rapid growth of Sports Betting heres what to watch in 2020 first, sports gambling spreads sports gambling will continue to grow across the country. More states will legalize Sports Betting, bringing the number closer to 20 states that have done so. Pro sports leagues and individual teams will sign a growing number of official partnership deals with casinos and Online Sports books and there will be consolidation as smaller players will get bought out or merge with bigger companies. Second, waiting for payment the fight for College Athletes to get paid will continue to drag out the ncaa will have their committees and groups working on a variety of rules and policies. Individual states will bring their own bills forward. Warriors will be busy and talking heads will have a lot to debate, but the process will go slower than many fans anticipate and third, schedule changes are coming all of the big pro sports leagues will try and some will even succeed at pushing major scheduling changes to keep up with declining tv ratings and an ever so distracted fan base. The nba might reduce its number of games, but add an inseason tournament or a playoff game the nfl might add a 17th regular season game, and nascar might drastically alter its schedule to move into more urban markets. Were going to talk more about this were efforting getting our content officer at the Action Sports network on, and i have picks. I think this kentucky game is already happening. I have kentucky over Virginia Tech im going to give you all my bowl games if we do eventually have a segment on that hopefully we will. Anyway, heres what else is coming up on the exchange. Ahead, it was the year of the burrito. Apple does its part to help the rally. Uber sues california it was a rough year for airbnb and a special guest joins us for sllomg ot it a cinupn he exchange. Lets catch you up on a few stories that should be on your radar. Its time for our final rapid fire of 2019 and here with their take, kate rogers, bill griffeth, and Morgan Brennan thank you for being here again no, thank you our pleasure. Thank you thank you very much we saw you earlier, and i saw you yesterday. Two daysane row first up, the s p 500 on pace for a recordsetting year, and wall street has apple to thank among other tech giants. Really apple, which accounted for more than 8 of total market gains in 2019. The highest of any stock apple shares, if youre not counting, up 85 this year on track for the best year since 2009 and that was from already like an 800 billion company. How do you go up 80 when youre worth 700 billion you go over a trillion who was the big market bellwether in the 80s ibm. Big blue was the big one now apple is the big market cap. Up more than it was at 140 if you calculated from where the lows this year, its100 once again, technology is the leading indicator. Its no surprise we have been focusing so much on the fang stocks because thats where the growth is, the innovation is, the market is. Thats certainly not the leader, but who has been there and is still there microsoft. Think about that its back certainly is. It had a had a Nuclear Winter there for a while it did, but its a trillion dollar kacompany. I guess windows. Do people still use it the cloud we do here. You have jedi y2k or y22k is that what this is called. Apple, we have seen the stock earnings, largely flat this has been a straight up valuation. A pe ratio its been a multiple expansion and it really speaks to the fact that investors are starting to not look at apple as a value stock but maybe as a growth stock. And to pivot to wearables, the airpods, both ver