Oslo, norway, very expensive city, a pack of smokes governments 15 bucked and number three, sydney, a bottle of table wine will cost you 25 which is a disgrace considering how much wine we produce and the runner up osaka, japan, where a dinner for four costs you 950. Worlds most expensive city, tokyo, loaf of bread, 9. 60. Thanks for watching street signs, everybody. Closing bell is next. Hi, everybody. We enter the final stretch. Welcome to the closing bell. Im embroemo at the New York Stock Exchange. This market trying to finish and retake that 14,000 level, not so fast. Were coming back here. Im bill griffith. A seesaw day so far, the markets february volatility does continue and setting up to be an interesting final hour of trade, this being the most important hour of the day. As weve noted well be watching to see if dow 14,000 is in the cards over the next 60 minutes here. Also in the show, hewlettpackard. Is it really exploring a breakup . Ive got my questions here. The stock moving a bit higher today on the spec calculation. Former ph ceo Carly Fiorina here with us as well. And a scary story. The Federal Reserve was hacked. What . Are you . Heard that correctly, maria. The United StatesFederal Reserve, the one that ben bernanke heads up, was infiltrated by hackers, and if that can happen to them, is any website safe, we s. Were on top of that developing story at this hour. This is a scary story. Lets check the market. The Dow Jones Industrial average was positive for a few minutes there. Unfortunately, it came right back and went negative again. The dow tune 10. 66 points, 13,969 on the industrial average and nasdaq composite weaker and the s p 500 under pressure by the tune of one point. I have to call this a victory seeing that weve seen such a huge runup, nothing to write home about these losses. At this point, that would be the case. Less talk about this in todays closing bell exchange. Jim bianco, our guest from Alliance Bernstein and steven wood joins us at the New York Stock Exchange and our own Rick Santelli joins us from chicago. Steven wood, what do you make of the volatility weve had so far in february . We had high Single Digits, a lot concentrated in the first number of trading weeks in january so i think there could be some chop but high Single Digits makes sense. If you look at fundamentals and risk obstacles, for equity markets, thats reasonable. You think hit the high for the year. I dont know about that. Got the russell 3000 and 2000 both above 900. Alltime highs but an improving economy, housing, but i think top line is going to be key here. Top line is going to be very key in 20 tlooen. And so far revenue hasnt been keeping up to some expectations so were looking at the top line. How do you want to allocate capital and, of course, the Federal Reserve stimulus . Yeah. So i still think the markets will be higher by the end of this i do think we built in a lot of positive expectations. It would not take a lot in terms of either some hiccup in asia, particularly in china, a slight slowing of growth to get the market to correct a bit. However, i still think consensus expectations for the rest of the year are unusually low, and i think they will be exceeded as we go forward. Jim bianco you think this is all about the fed right now, dont you . The fed has their foot on the gas. The numbers that weve seen so far this year, the numbers have been soso. The economy has been soso. If it stays like that, thats actually good. The fed can keep their foot on the gas. If the economy approves we Start Talking about the fed stopping. Three 10 corrections since 2009. What do they have all in common . Either we talk about the fed stopping or the fed stopped, and i think once the fed stops well have another 10 correction, so as long as things stay soso they can keep the foot on the gas as long as europe doesnt look completely apart. What are you watching, jim benco, youve been so prescient on these markets so far. What do you watch to make you feel like, okay, we could be seeing a reversal in sentiment, that this market doesnt want to go higher anymore. What are the key metrix youre focused on . I think europe is going to be the first one. Never been in the camp that europe is fixed. Never been fixed. Just goes away for a while and the same problems arrive and if that comes back with a vengeance that could be a problem and the other one is inflation. We have to define inflation. The fed defines it at 2 , 2. 5 , not 10 like we had in the 1980s. All the forward measures of inflation are starting to creep up to the highest levels of the year, and if they continue to creep higher, that can really put the kibosh on the rallies as well because the force would be forced to step. Rick santelli, i took your advice this morning from what you said yesterday. When i got up this morning, i looked at the japanese market first thing, big rally, but we didnt follow through here in the u. S. , did we . The extent or velocity of the stock market, but it definitely works to some extent and especially when you look at what europe has been doing. If you look at our Interest Rates, bill, they are just not convinced that everything is rosy. I just saw Citibank Research paper that talked about, you know, they are nervous about europe because its more of a positive contagion fueled by, well, i can go on and on, but you could have substituted the u. S. For europe in any one of those instances, and the hacking is a big topic on the floor today. Many people think, you know, just like everything the fed does, it was probably easier to get into that website than find an exit to get out. Hotel california, as it were. Yeah. Steven wood, youve been following the International Markets quite a bit. Now, we all know that all the Central Banks around the world have the race to the bottom going on right now. Does that make it easier to pick equities, for example, in japan where they are trying to devalue the yen at the same time . Well, i mean, whats happening in japan right now it makes equities and securities much more interesting in japan. Were standing in the forefront of this global tidal wave of liquidity. The fed has really been a leader on this, but the europeans and my belief as well, its more of a chronic condition. They are going to be remissions and theres flareups as well which we saw on monday but the europeans need unsterilized and quantitative easing and when that happens youve got wind at your back what. That happens, globally diversified, dont be a hero or any given day but security selection will count for more than it has. Would you buy europe right now . I would buy the good parts of europe. Look north of the alps right now. Its a fishing pond. Great companies and strong Balance Sheets and do a lot of business outside of europe as well in the north so there are good Balance Sheets but, again, do a lot of homework. Where are you fishing, steven is going north of the alps . Im cautious on europe, but there are a couple of good things happening. Youre seeing a significant decline in unit labor costs, particularly in the periphery which over time could make them somewhat more attractive in terms of Economic Growth and current account surpluses, but actually right now im still fishing primarily in the u. S. And some parts of emerging markets where i think the opportunity are better and less risky. Let me ask you about Interest Rates. What rate on the tenyear would bother you, that you would feel like maybe its worth keeping my money in fixed income as opposed to taking the risk on stocks. Whats the sort of magical number in terms of the tenyear or rates in general that you would look at . Well, i think for me, if you get a reformization in Interest Rates which would mean real rates of around 2. 8 and nominal rates of around 5 on the tenyear, i do think that at that point you would have seen reformalization and until then it offers a pure risk reward. Thank you, gentlemen. Thanks, guys, so much. Appreciate it. A flood of earnings after the bell could have a big impact on the market as well. Josh lipton with a preview of the big names. Josh, over to you. Reporter maria, lots of big names reporting after the bell today, starting with visa. Analysts will be watching the overall global payment volume, and more importantly listening to the companys new ceo on his very first conference call. Charlie scharf came from jpmorgan where some say he might have been on track for jamie dimons position. Next up green mountain, two stats. Everybody will concentrate on here, first the brewer shipment figure which determines how many brewers are in peoples homes and kcup sales volatile in the past few quarters. Rupert murdoch and news corp. , two important metrix to watch, cable fees and advertising growth and the companys tv businesses as the tv businesses account for the majority of the companys earnings and advertising important for yelp. Here its more local watching year over year change in local revenue. This is the core of the business, advertising accelerating or not . Last quarter we see a deceleration in that growth rate. Back to you, guys. Thanks so much, josh. In the final stretch of trading for the day. About 50 minutes before the closing bell sounds. A market down but certainly off of the lows. We had been positive. We did already see a bit of a comeback in this market, down about nine points on the industrial average right here. Lets see if we can finish positive and back to 14,000 today. A lot of talk on the Trading Floor about 14,000 and how much snow were going to get on friday. Quote, this market is a wildly spinning top which is going to end badly, end quote. One of many potentially damaging emails the government is using in its lawsuit against Standard Poors so why do executives still send these kinds of messages that exist forever in cyber space knowing that they could come back to haunt them . Former top internet analyst henry blodgett, sort of the Neil Armstrong of emails you wish you never sench hell join us next. Some of these emails are so unbelievable, trashing the securities and then recommending, and they are still sending these emails. Yes, they are. Also ahead, hewlettpackard, weve got reports that the company may be thinking about breaking it self up. Is the best move for both the company and investors . Well talk with former ceo Carly Fiorina coming up. Stay with us. Lets go. [ male announcer ] introducing the allnew cadillac xts. Another big night on the town, eh . And the return of life lived large. We all work remotely so this is a big deal, our first full Team Gathering i wanted to call on a few people. Ashley, ashley marshall. Here. Since were often all on the move, ashley suggested we use fedex office to hold packages for us. Great job. [ applause ] thank you. And on a protocol note, id like to talk to tim hill about his tendency to use all caps in emails. [ shouting ] oh im sorry guys. Ah sometimes the caps lock gets stuck on my keyboard. Hey do you wanna get a drink later . [ male announcer ] hold packages at any fedex office location. All stations come over to mithis is for real this time. Step seven point two one two. Verify and lock. Command is locked. Five seconds. Three, two, one. Standing by for capture. The most Innovative Software on the planet. Dragon is captured. Is connecting todays leading companies to places beyond it. Siemens. Answers. You probably have heard by now the Justice Department has unveiled the emails that it says supports its allegations Standard Poors defrauded investors over mortgagebacked securities ratings ahead of the Housing Market collapse of a few years ago. Our Senior Correspondent scott cohn has details of the potentially damaging document. Scott . Reporter bill, these emails, instant messages and memos are all right here in the 120page plus 5 billion complaint filed by the Justice Department this week, and while Standard Poors argues they are cherry picked and taken out of context, these sorts of unplugged comments have become a staple of these cases and a key legal egmont of what the Justice Department says is a massive fraud. Heres s p managing director david tesher in confidential working notes, december 2006. This market is a wildly spinning top which is going to end badly. Remember, thats 2006. A little more than six months later, a newly hired analyst writes jobs going great except for the mortgagebacked world is crashing and investors in the media hate us and in the same thread the analyst sauks about internal pressure within the s p to downgrade deals much earlier and the leadership was concerned about ticking off too many clients. Much earlier on in 2004, an executive writes an impassioned email to the top brass complaining that the firm is lowering its standards to win business. What rating implications what does rating implication have to do with a search for the truth . Are you implying that we might actually reject superior analytics for market considerations . The government claims that is exactly what Standard Poors did. S p argues otherwise, but legally emails written while the alleged fraud was taking place can be a hugely powerful tool in court or in settlement talks or bill, and maria, in the court of public opinion. Amazing. Hour next guest knows this issue firsthand. In fact, he was one of the first to have the government publicly take an old email and tuesday against him. Henry blodgett gained fame as an internet analyst during the dotcom bubble, but that fame turned into infamy after regulators charged him with securities fraud for allegedly giving stock assessments that conflicted with what he publicly published. Yes, henry, we have an example. Here we go. Thank you. This is allegedly an email that henry wrote. He emailed this about online direct company life minders in december of 2000. Lfmn at 4. I cant believe what a pos, locality stock, that thing is. Shame on me and us for giving them the benefit of the doubt. Henry blodgett joins us now head of business insider. The mindset is what . Why would you write something if you know, you know of all people, youre very internet savvy, that thats never going anywhere . That can always be used against you. Lets establish what we know about s p. They did a horrendous job, along with the other rating agencies during the crisis. They missed the whole thing. Theres a huge inherent conflict of interest there. Clearly that is coming out in the emails. What i would respectfully suggest is we dont know yet whether that means that analysts actually lied. What you see is a lot of people after a market crash i knew it was coming. To look smart. Youve got to get in there and see actually did they mean that and just because there was pressure and stress, did they say, you know what, im going to lie. Just want to keep my job and lie and thats the key question. Email is very tough an comes out in all these cases, as you suggested and a lot of problems immediate immediately assuming something with it. You bang out an email, send it and then youre not thinking about what it may conjure up or suggest, but this is one of the most important tools that regulators are using. For example, i was stun that had moodys wasnt being investigated but after the emails i said, okay, they have something on these guys. They have the emails at moodys. Lets also be clear if what the email shows is clear wrongdoing, good that theres email. Thats great. Right. And if youre stupid enough to be doing something illegal or wrong and put it in email, you deserve what you get, very obvious. But the problem is lets say were arguing about a particular stock. Maria, apples going to zero and then we go to commercial and you talk about it. You make a good point, you know, actually thats a good point, i didnt think of that, and i go back and then i have my professional opinion that i issue but im on record saying its going to zero. Can you really say because you said in an email why are we waiting this stuff, this stuff is garbage, that youre actually sort of manipulating in your head let me defraud somebody . I dont know that it equals defrauding somebody. Thats right. Looking at that email, so i i think the email is Something Like if it was structured by cows we would rate it. Right. It seems as though the deals were structured by cows. They were all terrible, and yet one terrible deal, another terrible deal, here we are. The question is does the rating they gave it, was that not in keeping with what s ps definition of that rating was . If it wasnt, if they said it deserves a b, whatever it is and they gave it an a to keep their job, thats fraud, but stress and interactions and arguments about ratings come out where you come out at something youre comfortable with. Thats not fraud. Right. Can these emails be used to s ps advantage in some ways . Absolutely. I would hope and assume there are other emails in there where people said, look, i was initially totally uncomfortable with this deal. We did a lot of work on it. Im comfortable with the rating. They have to dig up their own email to make their own point. The unfortunate thing about email. The problem, often what happens in emails the conversation starts. You get some information and you react to it and you pick up the phone and the conversation there but you cant prove that later. Right. And theres the email sitting there looking like a horrible thing and they look terrible. Yeah. Look at them in the documents, oh, my goodness, how could i have learned that. Whats the Lesson Learned here. Be incredibly careful in email and only write memolike emails totally boring and bland. The problem is i can tell you that 500 times, and in ten minutes youre going to d