Welcome back to squawk box here on cnbc first in business worldwide. Im Andrew Ross Sorkin with joe kernen. Becky enjoying the day off. And for viewers outside of the United States, happy boxing day. It comes from a tradition where boxes were given to people and the box would include a gift or two and perhaps some leftovers from the tables of the wealthy. I used to think it was boxing day. I didnt know. I learned this about a decade ago, but every year we get emails from people saying thank you for explaining that. We didnt know. Its said some of the boxes include gifts. Do some of the boxes people just give boxes . I think sometimes it was leftover food. Food or but not just boxes, right . I have to tell you, my children jumped into an empty box yesterday. Thought it was a rocketship and thought that was the greatest gift they could have gotten. Remember in splash he gives Darryl Hannah a box and she goes its beautiful. No, open it. Because you dont know for sure if its wrapped nice. Pretty box. In the headlines this morning, the Holiday Shopping season was a successful one for retailers according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. This years holiday sales growth will be the best in three years thanks to a late surge. Standard poors is near a settlement with real estate bonds. Were still talking about this. Yes. The wall street journal reports a deal may involve get this a suspension from rating some of the new issues for up to a year and a fine of at least 60 million. Japanese Prime Minister shinzo abe is planning a new 29 billion stimulus program. It will get final approval over the weekend in another attempt to push japan out of recession and deflation. We have been talking about this movie now for two or three weeks. I really do think it would have came and went kind of quietly. But a ton of buzz. Not just for the normal reasons. Sonys the interview hitting theaters after a lot of public debate. Kate rogers is outside one of the independent theaters showing the controversial film. And just for disclosure, did you see it yet, kate . Actually, i havent tuned into it yet. We all know this was the hack heard around the world. And now the interview is going to see the light of day. Independent movie theaters like the one behind me did rally behind the movies release. Of course the plot features a fictitious storyline to assassinate kim jongun. The stars did express their support on twitter speaking out over the weekend. Rogan said i need to say that a comedy is best viewed in the theater full of people. So watch it like that or invite some friends over. Rogan also thanked fans coming out to say thank you. Even president obama got in the mix. He spoke out and he said he wished sony had contacted him before they decided to pull the plug on the movie. Now some are showing it. Well be here all day long letting you know viewer reactions. Back over to you. I dont see anybody lining up there. We sure showed those North Koreans they cant push us around. I dont know about the chemical weapons and all that in syria, but these guys we took a hard stance with them. Really. Theyre groveling to us. Here to give us his take, senior media and film reporter. You saw it, didnt you . I have to confess, i did not. I was with my niece and nephew yesterday. Theyre 4 and 1, so a little younger than the target demo for the interview. You were putting family first . I did put family before job, yes. Brent, have you had anyone that youve talked to that said they really enjoyed it and they were rolling in the aisles . Well, my cousin did text me yesterday to say that she went to bed after 20 minutes and we had a member of our staff watch it with his family. He said his father enjoyed it, gave it a bplus. His mother ended up hitting the hay a little early. Gave it a cminus. Mixed notices in the early going here. None of those sounded good. Yeah. I dont think the film could live up to the hype to what came before it. Yeah. After its all said and done, i wonder whether this is just a blip. I think it might be a blip, maybe. Except it does show that if they could do it there and im not i dont care if they close down another movie. I care if they close down my power grid or my bank account. I think thats why you saw obama come out so strongly, you know, to say that sony had made a mistake. Because he really wanted to be sure that this didnt set some sort of precedent. But look at all the companies that didnt want to touch this. Thats kind of a weird thing to take a stand on, though, brent. As ukraines gone. I dont know. I look at other things that have happened and, wow, we really won on this one. But look at all the companies that didnt want anything to do with it. Netflix didnt want to go near it. Hes making a point about the president. I understand. Thats going to be your victory you won out on the interview. What are the economics going to look like when this is all over for sony . Thats part of the problem, because this was a film that was made and produced and marketed as if it was going to be a major Theatrical Release that was going to go out on Christmas Day across 3,000 theaters. Early numbers are suggesting it did about a Million Dollars yesterday which is a huge number for a film thats in just over 300 theaters. But it cost about 75 million to market and produce this movie. So theres going to be a cap on that. Now, the split is nicer in terms of the distributor on the whole. Usually about 75 a productive film maker gets 75 of the gross there opposed to about a 50 50 split with a Theater Company and the studio. But still theres a cap on what a film can do. You dont have amazon or apple. Itll be interesting to see if sony actually releases what its doing on those platforms. Then theres all those ancillary revenues that are tied to box office performance. So this is a film that needed in order to make its money back, you know, to make well over a hundred Million Dollars. Is it possible based on this oneday performance that some of the major theater chains will actually get brave and start to carry it . Not according to my sources in those kpe biexhibition compa. They see it as an existential threat. And part of the problem, too, is theres a whole bunch of tension too. That he threw them under the bus when he did the cnn interview saying they had decided not to show the film. They were saying we didnt say that. We never said we wouldnt show the interview. We said we need a delay. We said we need to see if there really is a threat here. Were not the bad guys. And were being painted as such. Have you heard that before any of this happened, werent the studios wasnt the studio worried about this movie with 75 million . I was only kidding that sony hacked itself to raise the awareness of this movie. But they must have known full well this was going to bomb and they were going to lose money. At least some of the leaked emails said there were concerns that the movie wasnt funny. That the movie was offensive. Early tracking on the film was robust. It was going to be 25 million. Quirky. And to make a full 75 million movie out of a hey what if someone hired people to kill the guy in north korea. Just to make a whole movie about it because of the quirky idea, i guess thats creativity in hollywood. Thats what they do. But, i mean, in a wag the dog world or whatever its called, i mean, thats not totally out of the question to hey, this is how we can get some im not saying that. But thank you, brent. I dont think they would do this over again just to promote a movie. Terrible few weeks for them. I dont think so either. But north korea is saying lets jo d. O. A joint investigation. You dont believe that either . No. I dont. Theres some indication it was inside sony. No. I believe its north korea. You do . Yeah. I think its closer to that. But well see. Maybe china. Still to come in the meantime, lets make a deal in 2015. The m a activity to watch. And its been a rough time for amazon. Will 2014 go down as the time wall street finally ran out of patience with mr. Bezos. Check out the most clicked upon things on cnbc. Com in tech predictions for the new year. Gopro will go drone, well hear from josh on that. Squawk box returns in just a moment. 24 7 its just im a little reluctant to try new things. Whats wrong with trying new things . Feel that in your muscles . Yeah. I do. Try a new way to bank, where no branches equals great rates. holiday mhey is playing i guess were going to need a new santa the music builds to a climax. more people are coming to audi than ever before. See why now is the best time. Audi will cover your first months payment on select models at the season of audi sales event. Visit audioffers. Com today. So ally bank really has no hidden fethats right. Accounts . Its just that im worried about you know hidden things. Ok, whys that . No hidden fees, from the bank where no branches equals great rates. I was thinking about htaking this speed test from comcast business. Oh yeah . If they cant give us faster internet or save us money, theyll give us 150 bucks. Sounds like a win win. Guys faster internet . I have never been on the internet and i am doing pretty well. Does he even work here . Dont listen to the naysayer. Take the comcast business speed test. Get faster speeds or more savings, or well give you 150. Comcast business. Built for business. As 2014 draws to a close, cnbc is breaking out the 2015 playbook. This year its technology. Heres josh lipton. Consumers can never own enough gadgets. And Tech Companies will keep pushing their latest products to them in 2015. But not every tech toy will fly off the shelves. Here are three predictions. First, the crowded market for wearables will get smaller. Fitbit and jawbone are now household names. And the launch of apple watch next year will make a big splash in the wearable space. But is there a demand for so many products that often overlap . Expect to see consolidation in this. Jawbone, for example, is talked about as a takeout target. 2015 could be the year it gets bought. Second, gopro goes drone. The consumer drone market is blowing up. And gopro is taking notice. There are reports the camera maker will take the space. And it isnt denying them either. Expect the camera maker to move into drones and drive demand for this hobby even higher. Third, more trouble for tablets. Tablets are under pressure as consumers opt for smartphones with bigger displays and socalled phablets. Expect that pressure to continue in 2015 with a category suffering a slowdown. The exception . Apples ipads will best expectations as the tech titan stakes out a bigger roll in the enterprise space. Thank you, josh, for that. 2014 of course was also the biggest year for deals this according to to stats from deal logic. Still will 2015 be another blockbuster one or will we see a dropoff . Joining us now is eileen nougat. Good morning. Good morning. So im assuming were going to have a bigger year next year than this year. Is that the working assumption . Seems on trend. It accelerated all over 2014. So hopefully that continues. Are you of the view that m a activity is a barometer of where the stock market is or confidence in the board room . I think in the last year it seems like its just confidence in the board room. And is that confidence really a function of just the way the stock market is run . Nobody does a deal when the markets are in the tank because people on the sell side usually think theyre selling for too little. On the buy side they think theyre paying too much. Well, thats another way of saying confidence. If the market is strong you think its a good time to do deals. But theres a lot of macroeconomic factors too. Theres a lot of cash. The credit markets are really strong. And, you know, when your competitors start to do deals, changes the competitive landscape. How much is driven by activism . I think activism is a catalyst for m a activity, but i its part of the fabric now. I dont think it really affects things. It changes the boardroom dynamics. But i think a lot of companies are already there and it depends on the companies. So joe was emailing with david tepper last week. Right. And tepper said that 2015 was going to rhyme with 1999. If you remember 1999 from an m a perspective youve had a lot of deals. I dont want to diminish the size of the deals, but weve had a couple of blockbusters. But 1999 was the year of the blockbuster. Partying like 1999, right . Do you think 1999 is going to rhyme with 2015 . I hope so. Your bonus will be great. It would be a better thing. The one thing i would say that really encourages that is this is pretty constant. All throughout all markets, health care and pharma have been strong all year, oil and gas is picking up. Tmt is picking up. I think pick Public Company targets being the the inversion craze, is it over yet . Zb i dont think big cross border strategic deals are over. But a lot of those pharma deals and health care deals were driven or at least people were talking. There was a lot of chatter. People were talking at least about doing those deals because of the tax benefits. I really dont think you do huge deals like that because of tax benefits. I think for a long time when cross border deals are done, they were done in a tax efficient way. I dont think thats changed. There are a lot of regular deals are great to do if youre in this industry because theyre complex and theres always a lot of regulatory challenges. One of the deals we talked about the most around this table over the past year was the valeant transaction where you had an activist team teaming up with a strategic to go after an allergan. Do you think we will see Something Like that again . Was that the beginning of something . Well, the facts were so unique, i dont think it can be a trend. But it was very well constructed. It was an interesting deal. Even the losers made money to attract some people. Legal . Youre a lawyer. No, im asking. Because theres still a fight going on in court over that transaction. If they had come to you, would you tell them they could get away with it . Actually, we are involved in that. We do represent valeant so i dont think ill comment. But actually i will comment on the fact that as i said earlier, it was a very carefully planned out deal. The s. E. C. Has been thinking about for a long tile. The tenday rule that investors have ten days. And you think that number is going to come down. That could impact how powerful it is. I would have thought it would come down. Its taking a long time for the s. E. C. To make that decision. Ten days seems like an eternity in this environment. And what should it be . That i dont know. If i was the commissioner, maybe id know that. The activists will tell you that shareholders and investors have been the beneficiaries of their work. And that the ability of an activist to create a toe hold, gain a position, and have those 12 days to do it is meaningful. And therefore investors would lose. Well, thats if i was bill ackman, thats what i would tell you right now. Ive not heard him say it live. And i understand the argument, but you have to believe the outcome to support that argument. You have to believe that shareholders necessarily gain on all that. Last question. Spinoffs. Weve had a huge number of spinoffs at the same time weve had a lot of m a activity. Usually dont happen at the same time the way they have thus far. Do you see more of that . I think so. But thats the result of strategic changes. In other words, its always been true and there seem to be trends before everyone buys and sells. Youve written about this. And whats interesting now i think is that the pace of change is much quicker. And so people spinoffs in the right circumstance make a lot of sense. People are doing them. Happy holidays. Thank you for coming in. Thank you. Coming up, well get the National Forecast from our friend the Weather Channel. What will keith be wearing today . Thats a good tease. Squawk box will be right back. Whats wrong with trying new things . Feel that in your muscles . Yeah. I do. Try a new way to bank, where no branches equals great rates. With the easytouse suite of tradintrading tools. Tures. At optionsxpress by charles schwab. And well give you a one hundred fifty dollar amazon. Com gift card when you open an account. If youre looking for a trade idea, start at the idea hub. Where options and futures opportunities are organized by volatility, earnings, market activity and income strategies. Then run your new idea through the trade and probability calculator to get a quick look at the possible upside and downside. Streaming charts give you the realtime quotes and customized views of the market that can help you make your final decision. And when youre ready to make it happen, walk limit helps you save time by searching for the most favorable price. Find new ideas, analyze and execute your trades with just a few simple clicks, with optionsxpress. For a one hundred fifty dollar amazon. Com gift card when you open an account, call 18889805745 today. Optionsxpress by charles schwab. So ally bank really has no hidden fethats right. Accounts . Its just that im worried about you know hidden things. Ok, whys that . No hidden fees, from the bank where no branches equals great rates. Welcome back. Keith, we do have a hard break coming up. Lets just see. Okay. I can see it there. Joins us from the Weather Channel dpp you hear me tease you . I said were going to do that every day. What is keith wearing. Its like where is matt lauer. What is keith wearing. Its a tease. If it gets people to watch. Todays conservative though. Pretty straightforward. That shirt is conservative. He thinks thats conservative. Thats amazing, isnt it . Youre young. Yeah. Lets do weather. Lets talk about whats going on. Eastern seaboard. Look how quiet it is. I showed you this to show you its nice and pleasant. This day after christmas a lot of people get out and have gift cards they want or dont want, but theyll use them. The one spot that will be wet this weekend will be starting across the southeast through saturday. Then sunshine moves into parts of the carolinas. Nothing like the Severe Weather we saw a couple days ago. But some heavy rain in there. Starting in houston, jackson, new orleans, mobile, and then moving into saturday and sunday. Its going to be heavy rain here. But again the ingredients arent really there for any substantial Severe Weather. One thing that strikes me about this is the rain gets in on sunday. This is basically on allrain event. Real quick before i let you go, cold air will be coming back to the eastern seaboard. It looks like around new years eve, co