Texas intermediate. Oil started dipping lower. We have nice market leaders. Pharmaceuticals have been strong all year. They are up. Bio tech stocks up. The problem is in the oil sector. All the names we see almost every day all down as we saw oil dropping into the 52 range right now. I want to show you what the problem is. People keep asking me should you buy Exploration Production stocks here . Look at eog. Big in the permian basin, bakkan. That stock is down 25 , almost 30 in the last few months. The numbers are plummeting almost every day. Right now in 2014 they are estimated to make 5. 32. The numbers for 2015 are down at the low threes. 40 decline in earnings. They are expecting the market earnings to drop 40 . The stock is only down 25 . People tell me on a relative basis is this still a buy right now . Id say to wait a little longer. Almost every day the numbers keep coming down. That is what makes it a little hesitant for me to say it is down 25 . Lets buy it. If you look at energy overall. I was looking at for the sector for the year it is only down 10 . Clearly some plays have been badly here. You look at oil majors and they have not fallen as you might expect. Eog, stock i know very well they have relatively low cost. Some are higher cost than others. Yet you can see numbers coming down really really fast on that. The big issue. Should i buy now. I have had this consistent question for weeks now. Im a little hesitant to recommend it. For the market 15 gain including dividends on the s p 500. Been an amazing year for those on the right side of this market. Big blue is not one of them. Big trouble for big blue. Ibm the worst performing down member for the second straight year. Shares down 14 in 2014. Where does the tech giant and its stock go from here . Josh lipton is live in san jose, california with perhaps a little forecast for us. For ibm bulls 2014 cant come to an end soon enough. Ibm shares down some 14 . This is the worst year since 2008. It doesnt look good for ibm. He expects ibm to test and break the low of 150. One knock is missed how disruptive Cloud Technology would be and ceo embraced the flow in time when ibm needed a new approach but is working to change course. Ibm is dedicated to growing Cloud Business as well as making acquisitions. Ibm reported about 4 billion in cloud revenue in 2013. That is still a relatively small part of the companys business. Ibm expects to generate 7 billion by 2015. Company made a 1 billion investment to expand its cloud foot print with 40 cloud data centers. Ibm bulls point to other reasons. They say the stock isnt expensive at least based on some metrics. Ibm trading at ten times forward earnings. And also the number of analysts on wall street rating ibm a buy is at a 20year low. Thats a possible contrary yn indicator according to the team at canter fitzgerald. Or not go with the market. It has been a tough year for big blue in 2014. Is ibm a buying opportunity in 2015 . You can join the debate at home. With us is director of Institutional Services and cnbc contributor and founder and ceo of kkm financial. Jim, you are a bull it says here. We should point out this stock has almost 3 dividend. No doubt about it. Compare that almost 3 dividend to paying italy 2 . As far as the Technical Analysis i dont know what the other guys are looking at. To me i see a chart that shows obvious big drops several months ago and then a few months of trading in a range trying to down side. I think if that stock trades above 165 to me it makes an attempt to fill in the gap. I think it is a nice play for 2015 provided it goes above the 165 level first. I couldnt disagree with him more. The last day of the year. The main reason why you are seeing ibm, the worst stock in two years backtoback. The main reason look what they did. They spent 19 billion buying back their stock, tugging at earnings per share to make it higher. What have they done in Research Development . 6 billion. Google ciscy, other firms are spenting a lot more money on Research Development and they are not. This global reach, they are everywhere. Thats one of the reasons they got hit because of their exposure to europe middle east. That same infrastructure that is all over the whole globe will allow them to tap into anything that goes anything that starts to move out. Jim, jim, jim, there are many stocks that have Great International exposure. Kodak springs to mind. Ibm is not kodak. Warren buffett doesnt think ibm is kodak. Simon is right. Think about that. 431,000 employees. Very slow moving into the cloud going into the hole 65 and older. Making changes. Those changes will be made. They are not rapid changes. I see ibm struggling. I do want to buy around the 120 level. Once it gets under 155 that is where it should go. Always a pleasure. Gentlemen, thank you. Lets lock in the vote. Do people at home think you should buy ibm stock for next year . Twothirds of you say yes. Saudi arabias king hospitalized. The saudis Stock Exchange closed down almost 3 today but was down as much as 5 on the news bulletin and the oil market was roiled this morning when the news bulletins hit the wire. Joining us to talk about that is Robert Jordan a former u. S. Ambassador to saudi arabia. He joins us live in dallas. Nice to have you here. Good to be with you. Tell me what would happen if god for bid, the king does pass. That is what the market was reacting to today. The plan what is it . Well certainly steady as you go is the saudi motto. They have been planning for secession for many years and had in place a crown prince a half brother of the king. He has served for many years in high government positions ss ss and is certainly up to the task if that is what happens. He is also the father of the deputy minister of petroleum and very well plugged into the Economic Issues that the saudis are facing. Beneath the royal family what kind of structure is put in place and would maintaining stability in the oil market be as easy as it has been in the past . Because the market is fundamentally different today than before. They have as Petroleum Minister who grew up in aramco has been one of the most technically savvy bureaucrats probably in the world. He is getting up there in years but still very active, climbs mountains, certainly still has his fast ball in my opinion. They are also surrounded by another highly confident technical ministers, for example, the minister of finance some say is the most powerful man other than the king in saudi arabia arabia. He controls the purse strings. He is a highly respected International Administrator and bureaucrat as well. This is a pretty deep bench they have. They have welleducated, very savvy individuals who i think will keep the ship steering in the right direction. If there is a change in leadership at any point, does it change the relationship between the u. S. And saudi arabia or not . To the extent that relationships are based on personal relationships as we saw primarily with some of the earlier president s we had, president obama has had a tougher time with that it will take a while to get acquainted. If he becomes king the others who is sort of the deputy crown prince are very well regarded within the United States. I think there are many and deep relationships. I consider them both friends myself and i think we will see many overtures to them to take care of whatever further Relationship Building needs to be undertaken. In closing, mr. Ambassador how would you characterize the relationship between the u. S. And saudi arabia . You mentioned the fact that the president has had a tougher time keeping that relationship close. How would you characterize it . I think it is adequate right now for what we need. The saudis are looking to other relationships around the world as the United States is. But they are still a strategic partner, very important on the war on terror and in compatting financial terrorism and maintaining stability in the oil market. I think that is going to continue. Mr. Ambassador, thank you for joining us. I hope you have a very happy new year. Sue, lets get a final reading on the health of the Housing Market as we close out the year. Diana olick is in washington with the latest and last set of figures. Reporter simon not a lot of movement in home buying last month pending home sales which are signed contracts to buy existing homes moved up just over 1 . Closed final sales in november tanked 6 . These pendings are future indicator of closed sales from one to two months from now. The numbers are up 4 from a year ago. Thats the Third Straight month of annual gains. Last fall saw a big sales drop due to jump in Mortgage Rates so comparisons are easy. Mortgage rates are about a full percentage point lower than a year ago. Realtors are saying they expect sky high rents to push more buyers to the Housing Market. We did not get a weekly read on Mortgage Applications today as we usually do because unlike us the Mortgage Bankers folks are not working today. There are plenty more online. Back to you. Thank you very much. Diana olick in d. C. Prices at the pump not so plump. They are falling. The gallon of gas now around 2. 24. Time and time again on this network you will hear that falling gas prices are good news for the consumers and good news for the economy. But is it really . Marcus lemonus weighs in next. You may be surprised with what he has to say. I wish more Green Technology and Financial Intelligence in the schools kids to learn at an early age. Bring back alf and eight tracks and kevin oleary needs to stop offering royalty deals. Stamps. Com is the best. I dont have to leave my desk and get up and go to the post office anymore. [ male announcer ] with stamps. Com you can print real u. S. Postage for all your letters and packages. I have exactly the amount of postage i need, the instant i need it. Can you print only stamps . No. First class. Priority mail. Certified. International. And the mail man picks it up. I dont leave the shop anymore. [ male announcer ] get a 4 week trial plus 100 in extras including postage and a digital scale. Go to stamps. Com tv and never go to the post office again. Already crowded times square new york. Ten hours and 45 minutes before the ball drops. I will be there. You are a brave guy if you are going to be there. It is going to be like in the teens with the wind chill. Lots of reports that lower gasoline prices are helping the American Consumer big time. Marcus says also many businesses and sectors are effected. Happy new year thanks for joining us. Happy new year sue. Tell me about lower gasoline prices. They help the consumer and in turn does it help the economy . We know it helps the consumer. Lower gas prices means less coming out of the wallet. If you look at the 80s, 90s and 2000s what we didnt have is the amount of consumer debt. We have retailers and News Networks telling people this is great for the consumer. I dont want consumers having a false notion to spend the difference on buying new things. So i worry that retailers are somehow trying to convince everybody that this is now extra disposable income when it should be extra money to pay down bills you had from christmas. Absolutely. I think they are trying to do that because some retail sales were not as expected to be. What you are saying is if you are carrying debt or one of your new years resolutions is to invest more in yourself you should pocket that money or invest that money or pay down debt. When i look at my own Business People think because im in the rv business that lower gas prices mean rv sales will sky rocket. That is a terrible misnomer. The average consumer only drives 10,000 to 15,000 miles a year in their car and 2,000 miles in their vr. It is not a sudden spike in sort of buying patterns. We dont want to get caught up in the notion that gas prices effect this kind of Global Economy overnight. They do definitely effect and we have employees that live paycheck to paycheck. They create a little more breathing room and make sure credit card payments arent late. The notion that we are going to see a great 2015 because of gas prices i think is dangerous. How does the economy look to you overall . You run a number of businesses across so many different sectors of the economy. How is business . How does the economy seem to you . It seems okay at best. I will tell you that the Holiday Season and a number of my Retail Businesses outside of camping world werent great. If you really talk to people they are more optimistic than a year ago. I think the oil price thing not only is good in one sense but creating a little bit of question. Is there something that has gone awry that is driving prices down . Why did it take so long to get to the gas pump. If you look at freight whether ups or fed ex or others i am not seeing lowering in their fees even though gas surcharge is lower. I think it is confusing consumers a little bit. I dont think you are alone in that. What do you think the consumer is most worried about . Is it still jobs as it was after the 2008 financial crisis or has that concern shifted . Anybody that is sitting on the front lines of a Company Working doesnt have amnesia about what happened in 2008 and 2009. And as the pressure to comp year over year Sales Numbers but more importantly year over year earnings numbers comes out in 2015 ceos are going to be tasked with starting to go back and looking at wages and looking at benefits and looking at all of the things that are going to give them the extra edge to improve their earnings. If same store sales are flatter or revenue is flat really only a few places to get it. I think employees are smart enough to know that there could be changes coming. I worry for some of those people. Marcus always good to have you on the show. One of our favorite guests. Have a good holiday. Simon, down to you. Off to a gravity defying 2014. These are the stocks that many people say are doomed heading into 2015. We will tell you which stocks and why. A dire warning from the cdc about the flu season this year in this country. And this years Ebola Outbreak in west africa has left thousands dead and sparked fears around the world. Now a Major New Development in the Positive Side in the race to contain ebola. Utilities up 26 in 2014 plus dividends for the sector may be due for a big pull back in 2015. If you look at the tracking etf, xlu trading three times over the 50day moving average. Using a tool used by hedge funds and cnbc to predict future market moves based on history we see a stock this much above its average it falls in the weeks ahead around 90 of the time. Remember that utilities were the best performing sector in 2011. They ended up being the worst performing sector in 2012. Check out how some of the big utility stocks have faired this year plus dividends up between 20 and 30 . Nbc universal is a minority shareholder. There is a deadly flu strain gripping the u. S. The cdc is warning it is reaching epidemic levels. Meg terrell is here with more on that. It is not even the new year and already we are seeing several people have died. The flu is here and activity is high in about half the country according to the the centers for Disease Control and prevention. That is expected to continue in the coming weeks with more flu expected in states that havent been as hard hit. The number of deaths from pneumonia and influenza hit the threshold. The agency says there have been 15 deaths among kids so far this flu season. The hardest hit group is those 65 and older. The cdc recommends getting vaccinated. It recommends treating with antivireles if recommended by your doctor including tami if lu. Prevention is key. Stay home if you are sick and remember to wash your hands. Absolutely. And please stay home if you are sick. Otherwise the whole office gets it. On a different note a Major Development in the fight to contain the ebola epidemic. That is such positive news because it is such a dreadful disease. And its a clue right now. Thats what we know. Researchers found what looks like a potential clue in what sparked the Ebola Outbreak. We have known that patient zero was thought to be a toddler in guinea. It comes from eating infected animals and starts in adults through hunting. This time researchers say it may have come from bats living in a hollow tree that the boy played in. This is still just a hypothesis. The tree that the bats lived in burned down. The outbreak in west africa continues. Cases have topped 20,000 while deaths approach 8,000 according to the World Health Organization and primarily concentrated in guinea liberia. Thank you very much. Simon, down to you. Thank you. Gold prices closing for the session and the year. Gold has been another lousy investment trading around about 1,200 an ounce. 12 years of gains last year lost about a third of its value. This year it has gone absolutely nowhere. Lets check on bonds. Bonds were the real wildcard so far this year. Remember the yield started at 3 . It is now down below 2. 2 . You had the 30year plunge by over 100 basis points and the capital gain on treasuries has been phenomenal and unexpected for many. Overall treasuries returned 5 according to barclays and more importantly on the stock market those stocks that trade like bonds like reits are up 32 . It is another reason why utilities are up 26 or 27 . Big questions as to what happens next year with the bonds. Plunging oil prices making harold hamm rethink his divorce settlement with his exwife. What is next . That is ahead. Join the discussion. Whose side are you on . Go to cnbc. Co