Jcpenney especially. That stock is very strong today on better than expected holiday sales. We certainly are. We have had a down couple of days for the market and set up perhaps for a spring back and surprising to see the resilience today, not more of a flight to safety bid after the tragic shootings in paris this morning and, in fact on that note as we keep an eye on that horrible terrorist attack on the magazine that previously ran the cartoons of mohammed the president and much of the world condemning the barbaric murders. Well get you the latest as the attackers are at large. At this hour i think pictures out of france a vigil is taking place. Hundreds of thousands of french people citizens are in various squares in paris and elsewhere to mourn the loss of those lives today. Yes. And what theyre holding i believe there are signs saying we are charlie referring the magazine attacked. I know that you know we are the business channel. I should mention it was interesting to note that the french stock market did not fall on this news. The part of the european markets higher today, finished up and this time thinking more about the Human Element than anything else. We heard from french hollande theres a day of mourning tomorrow as the grief shared around the world and final hour of trading on whats happening looking to close, the dow up about 180. Strong session today following a couple of very weak ones to start off the year. Thats still the talk of the floor. S p nasdaq also up 1 as we go into this final hour of trading today. Get to the Closing Bell Exchange lindsey piegi and jack and Keith Fitzgerald and weve got Steve Liesman and Rick Santelli to talk about things. Steve, give us a play by play on the fed minutes. You know not a lot of surprises. We knew what came out of that meeting in the press conference. Right . Theyre talking about Global Economic weakness. Theyre talking about the affects of Lower Oil Prices. But overall, what they see is that the u. S. Economy is able to withstand that some seeing risk to the up with side. Maybe a touch aukish with one comment that the fed could raise rates at the current core pce level and they qualify that saying they would have to see Movement Towards a goal of 2 . Overall, you know im more focused today than on the minutes with the data of adp number at 240. Small business hiring at a record since 2006. And finally, that trade deficit number guys showing the effects of Lower Oil Prices on the u. S. Economy, thats a boost to gdp. Our cnbc rapid update up by 0. 4 and looking at a 3 or 3. 2 Fourth Quarter growth and this is a quarter that a lot of people thought down in the low 2s. Especially following that 5 bounce. Exactly. Tell us what you think the fed is going to do here and thatwhat they should do. The vast majority of Committee Members saw new language as a path that it would not occur for a several meetings and they talk about the risk of fed forecast for growth and inflation being to the downside and very likely that again, that pathway to normalization does not occur until well beyond mid2015. Possibly in 2016 as we have maintained for quite sometime. And i think in the end the fed remains data dependent as they always have. If the data comes in under expectations theyre very happy to extend that time line. You know i just want to put out there that i think the comment on the core may be took off the notion they wouldnt raise in 2015. If theyre okay with the core that was a big argument why the fed may not hike this year. I think it takes it a bit off the table. With the expectations go ahead. As you said they also qualify that with they had to be confident in their expectations for inflation reversing course back towards 2 so if we do continue to see downward pressure, that certainly will take rate increases off the table. Even with the expectations of greater growth from the feds staff in that meeting, weve had this rough start to the beginning of the year. Keith, you think this selling is logical. What do you mean . Well i think it is very natural for traders to want to take some money off the table. Logic of big portfolios to rebalance and logical to take some protective action against an uncertain backdrop. But to me it was overdone i think a kneejerk reaction and everybodys ready to get back to work. The key takeaway the markets didnt drop on the horrific events in paris and says to me the psyche of the markets is stronger than terrorists want to believe and thats a great testimony to faith of capitalism. Talk about the faith in a strong outlook after the weak tart to the year. Since the minutes are a couple of weeks old and seen market Inflation Expectations drop precipitously again that we should take these as an indicate indicating where the fed stands now, as well . Well you know its not only that but think about this, kelly. We know that the Oil Producing stocks and those that are related to crude suffer. What we dont know is ancillary affect of the low oil prices and we saw with the retailers today and all of that is playing into whats happening with the fed and one of the things i took away today is they said its unlikely to move before april. Now, unlikely and, steve, ill go back to you with that term. Unlikely is very vague word for me. If the numbers start to heat and todays numbers were hot, if we start to see real good solid numbers, then ive got a feeling that the fed has their hands tied and move quicker than people think. I dont think thats right. Unlikely is probably the best guess. 70 , 80 probability. Youre missing an important number and thats wage inflation. You dont have it. Were not seeing it. Plus to the extent of overseas economies affecting the United States, so far it appears to be through lower inflation, that stronger dollar Lower Oil Prices lower overseas growth perhaps taking an edge off export growth in the United States and all of that if you think about it is a bullish foundation. You couple it drn. I agree. I agree. Couple everything you said not an inflationary foundation. Lets raise a quick question. Hang on a second. Been on my mind. Curious what you think about this. We had jimmy keenan on the show yesterday. The more they say whether its credit or the real effect were talking about a 2016 and beyond kind of event. So quhas the fed supposed to do if theres this sense again because its dropped so sharply that it takes a while for us to feel the feel effects of the decline on the oil patch and those parts of the credit. Bringing rick in on this . Go ahead, keith. I actually dont think its a negative because i think the average American Consumer finally got a very real tax cut in the pocket no keith. I understand. Do you think that thats still strong so the initial that boost is going to be strongest right away when everyones excited about 1. 99 gas and then next 18 to 24 months parts of the oil patch really come off and oil doesnt rebound, what do you do if youre the fed and worried about that potential outcome . I think you sit back and let the market sort things out, which is completely abnormal thats the last couple of days. Yeah. Exactly. The fed doesnt want to do that. It doesnt know what to do if it has to sit back and relax. But i think that the cumulative effect takes a process in tw or three quarters from now. That similar plus feeds into companies and earnings and stock prices ss and i think the market adapts and drive forward off of this. Rick . You are waiting for us to tap you. Lets bring in santelli. We have given you a lot to address here. Pick your spots here. Where do you agree or disagree right now . Well i read the text and to me its still mostly gobbledy goop and having a debate on whether the fed raises rates or not is a crazy discussion. Rates are too low. No matter the outcome of oil. In the end, theres only one question to be asking. If steve thinks that the problem with the economy is we arent getting wages to move up i want the know why another year of 0 Interest Rate policy makes a difference. Or another two years or why is it going to bring some areas of the globe like europe with as high as 12 or 13 , why is qe american style going to bring that down . None of it seems to add up. I will have a discussion of whats going on with Interest Rates. Yesterday, we came very close to that october 15th 1. 86 intraday low and the markets are different today. I think we have a cycle of the equities to get the sea legs back a bit and Start Playing the range now probably between the mid 180s and 205 in terms of rates. I dont think see anything changing dramatically at all. Rick . With all due respect, theres a notion inside what youre saying that somehow you know better than the market knows. No. No but the fed doesnt the fed doesnt. Okay. But hang on. One at a time. They dont know what theyre doing. The fed ended quantitative easing and signaled the next move is up. How much good did the last couple of batches do . Hold on rick n. That time frame. No the markets by themselves have moved down. So when you say rates are too low, rates are too low relative to what . Relative to what you think . Relative to the fact theyve been tinkered with at. How do you know where they would be . Agreed. Agreed. Agreed. Then what are we talking about . Somebody mentioned this is good for capitalism please any country thats a capitalist raise their hand. Gee, dont see any. Hang on a second. Rick, remember we have had this discussion before and we have listen. Listen. Im with you. I get it. Guys, we have the long end of the curve to look at. Far less if you will manipulated if you will. Its a big market of u. S. Treasuries. Thats right, kelly. You cant argue that on the one hand the moves matter and they dont. If we have Material Information from the last couple of months especially expressed in the long end, rick what is that telling us . What Material Information . Ratds have moved down significantly. And why have rates moved down here . Thats what were saying to you . They have moved down for a different reason rick they moved down because traders thats right. Rick, rick you hit the nail on the head. Theyre going down because of europe. Thats it exactly. You cant say its all the fed and europe, thats my point. One or the other. 17 trillion economy an you let the academics with a meeting every 6 1 2 weeks think theyre experts on everything from energy to what kind of products our mortgages should be . And you think that im the one who doesnt make sense . No. But what theyre hang on. Setting the policy rate. Hang on. What theyre trying to do. Its not then we need to find a Different Group of people to make different policy. Why . Rates should be higher . Based on what rick . Not based on the market. Rates should be how can you say that . Listen. Let me get you in here as well. Lindsay, would you argue theres real genuine price discovery happening in the long end of the u. S. Treasury yield curve if you will pressed by whether its players in europe or hedge funds or whomever and not just manipulation by the fed . I think it would be impossible to argue its solely manipulation by the fed but in part i never said solely. Look at all the programs that the fed put in play and they definitely have had a hand but to say the fed is 100 responsible for the level of rates i think thats a difficult argument to make. Rick, lets bring it this way. We have to go. So arguing degrees now and awfully cold in chicago. Implied in kellys question is if yields are going down on the long end of the curve even as the fed talks about raising the short rates, implied in the question is are the long yields guessing a slowdown in the economy if the fed starts to raise rates prematurely . I dont know any other possible conclusion to draw. Exactly. I would draw a different one, bill. Wrong wrong, wrong. Thats keeping people out of the market. The market saying that inflation will be lower. Keep going on wait a minute. Wait a minute. We have to go guys. Youre missing the fundamental point here. Okay okay. We are yelled at in our ears. So what . We are yelled at here by me. I was going to say try having about seven right now. Thank you so much everybody. This afternoon, a big day here for the market. A lot to talk about, obviously. We have still got 45 minutes to go. Still gains of about 1 across the major averages. Much more ahead on the rally and whether this is a head fake or a start of a bull market for 2015. Also coming up Discovery Communications david zaslav from las vegas and how he plans to steer discovery through the storm of disruption in the media landscape. Stay tuned. Female announcer get beautyrest, posturepedic even tempurpedic mattress sets at low clearance prices. Save even more on floor samples, demonstrators, and closeout inventory. The year end Clearance Sale is on now at sleep train. Your ticket to a better nights sleep last few weeks, you wonder whether, you know, the question is is this a oneday wonder or a beginning of a new trend . The dow up 173 points or 1 . The s p and the nasdaq up like a mountain at this hour and day two of the International ConsumerElectronics Show in las vegas and not just about gadgets, by the way. Julia boorstin joins us now with david zaslav. Thank you for joining us. Thank you for having me. You announced the final renegotiation with the Cable Companies is done for the year. Right. And i know theres a lot of pressure with the number of cable subscribers flat to down and pressure to increase the rates youre getting. How did it get . We were able to do really well, a number of deals up and part of it is because the viewership of our channel is up over the years so five years ago we were about 5 of the viewership on cable. Now were about 11 with channels like own and i. D. And discovery, tlc, Animal Planet and a very good story to the distributors that more people spending more time with our channels and we have spent more money on content and we were able to get better than double digit increases. Which will be very helpful to us particularly because were seeing Significant Growth outside the u. S. In terms of subscribers and viewership. But inside the u. S. , its relatively flat and the growth has to come from either pricing or really outperforming the market with the channels. Better than double digit. Whats that mean 15 . Better than double digit. 10 , 11 , 12 . Nice increases on the subscriber fees. Not all of the deals were up. This year you know every year theyre somewhere in the range of 20 , 25 are up. Here everyone is talking about the new over the top direct to consumer services. Dish announced on monday. We have hbo, showtime direct to consumer. You have some offerings overseas. Are you going to launch one here in the u. S. . Overseas we actually have a really interesting product. We have a sports channel in europe called euro sport which is 130 million homes and bigger than espn and eastern and western europe and we offer a direct to Consumer Product for 7 a month and started a few months ago and going great and so thats a little bit unusual because since were in 55 countries, theres not one distributor for all of europe and able to offer actually euro sport directly to your phone and what were finding is its not changing the way people watch euro sport. The viewership is growing. But were able to establish a direct relationship with economics with consumer who is on the go want to watch Tour De France or tennis. Not cannibalizing the service, why not do it here in the u. S. With the Discovery Networks . It is trickier here in the u. S. Were working with the distributors. One thing showtime and hbo will do is not really directly with the consumers but working with distributors to do it and charlie announced with espn is for people that dont have cable. Trying to get the people that havent subscribed to cable but only have broadband and want some video so i think outside of the u. S. It is actually more progressive. In Northern Europe in norway denmark, sweden and finland, we have large broadcast and cable assets and in those markets we are going directly to consumers also. You are seeing a hodgepodge. Here i dont think its going to have a Significant Impact because the ecosystem of the Cable Operators and directv and traditional distributors is where the majority of viewing still happening, at least for the next few years. Interesting. Bill . How are you doing, david . Are you getting everything you want out of the Oprah Network . Its four years old now. This month, as a matter of fact. Youre finally getting some traction among women aged 25 to 54. So its a niche play right now. Face it. This is about oprah and you had High Expectations when you launched this network. You know are you wanted to be at this point . First, its great to see you, bill. Nice to see you, david. Funny you should ask because own is doing terrific. Last night was tyler perrys program the haves and have notes and it was number one on cable and beat the other Cable Networks and most of the broadcasters with a three rating in the demo. In the aggregate, own is now a top 20 network in america. Oprah is on the network and shes really having a huge impact. We also have oprah. Com which is doing very well. But most importantly, we were able to get very good subscriber fees from distributors approaching 90 million homes and the network is very profitable. And in a world where people are looking for content, a little bit differently, we have real super fans of oprah now on own and a big, big advantage. So the network is doing fantastic. It started four years ago. Oprah and i made a lot of mistakes. We have to