Welcome to squawk on the street live from the New York Stock Exchange, im carl kin ten nia with melissa lee, cramer and neighborer are off today but we are joined by dennis. Good morning to you dennis, thanks for coming in. Futures today, a lot to deal with as you probably know. The fiscal cliff headline watch continues. You just heard john kanas say the market not too concerned. Futures up 21 points. Decent data out of europe, we will talk about in a minute what a day for the asian markets again. Also coming up. Our road map begins at Andrews Air Force base where the president arrives in a couple of hours, cutting his hawaiian vacation short to address the fiscal cliff s there really any hope in the last attempt . Does the market fade if theres no news tomorrow night . The nikkei continues its 21month run. How much is the boj willing to put up with . Looking a at potential strike in the nations port on the east and southern coast, the first since 77 that could cost retailers and importers billions. Businesses now asking its white house to get involved. You can now get the nokia lumia for free, depending on the Service Provider contract you sign s that Standard Practice or a sign the companys flagship phone suspect selling well . We will start off with news about the fiscal cliff. Congress returning to capitol hill today to try to get a deal done on the cliff before the deadline on december 31st. Senate majority leader harry reid is working to see if the scaled backpackage the president laid out last week can get through congress before monday. Meantime, treasury secretary Timothy Geithner says the government will hit the debt ceiling on monday and he is launching an emergency plan to avert a crisis. Amm eamon javers is live. What do we know . The president is coming back early, a couple days earlier than his vacation. Did a little bit of jogging, working out in the gym over his vacation. Now he will be,ing would out on this fiscal cliff. The senate is coming back and the house of representatives is going to have a Conference Call for all republicans later on today and then yesterday, we saw the secretary of the treasury, tim geithner, announced the 16. 4 trillion debt limit is going to be reached by monday, that was a little bit surprising to people who havent been following this kind of thing and raises the stakes for the fiscal cliff end game because the white house had wanted a debt ceiling deal as part of the overall deal here on the fiscal cliff. Republicans have been resisting that by announcing the debt ceiling limit will be held on monday, ratchets up the pressure to include the debt ceiling piece in the final package, whatever that may be, but still not clear, carl, there is going to be a final package of any kind. One quick note, we saw the realism. Pact in the real world of the debt situation. Treasury announcing yesterday it has suspended the sale of state and local government securities, Government Series securities. So already, they are doing some maneuvering here financially to try to avoid that debtly limit. The treasury secretary says he doesnt know how much wiggle room they are going to have, given that all the fiscal cliff uncertainty is out there. Eamon, on this idea that the house members get called back with 48 hours notice. Traders are looking for that headline if it happens almost that bleed out there or procedural moment where that is announced, so to speak . A good question. I have been in touch with Republican Leadership about that today. What they have said is they have told their members they are going to give them 48 hours notice. Now, that would be typically in an email alert to those members offices but we would find out about it relatively shortly thereafter. You would expect if they would be called back here to vote on monday that on saturday, we would have some indication that thats, in fact, going to happen. Thats just a promise from the leaders. You know, anything could happen here. It could be the case they have to call them back on short notice but the leadership has told its members to be ready to come back on 48 hours notice. They will work with the airlines and get them back here to vote on something if theres nothing vote on. Travel wont be an issue at all. Thanks, eamon. Eamon javers. Those that dont live in new york, here is look at the tabloids this morning. The new york post, off the fiscal cliff. This fall is really going to hurt. Ben white of morning money, dennis, said an excuse to get a bic can keeney on the cover. Relatively slow news day. What geithner did yesterday is almost as if he is strapping a damsel in distress to the tracks and saying the stakes are rising higher. The markets are taking all this tension, all this sort of these things at stake to really make the point perhaps that you have to have those stakes really high for people actually to get a deal. On fast last night when that letter crossed in the green rooms, we were chatting, we said this sounds like a ploy on the part of the treasury to actually get people to start moving. Obviously, there wasnt a market selloff, did have the stumbling blocks and traders on friday said almost better if we did see the markets pull back more to crystallize what this could mean for the u. S. Economy to members of congress. We didnt see that. It is a numbers game though in terms of what will happen. We know need 60 votes to clear a fill buster in the senate. Seven republicans need to go along a lot of jockeying that needs to be done, even if we have a deal put forth. Interesting what the market is pricing in. We thought the market wanted a grand deal. Clearly, dennis you willing to put up with a bandaid. I have been surprised how static it has been, the stock and the bond markets, carl. I think the market, i think, has internalized that idea we are just going to shuffle along for a period, the beginning of january. Then for another six to nine months. The bigger question really becomes beyond the equity market in particular, becomes the real functioning economy of this country. We are going to be stuck again. We went through sandy, that was a natural disaster, to think that all this really is man made, still boggles the mind. Sickening. Especially with claims back to 350, decent number this morning. There is a little bit of interpretation to that. To think that the government, federal government certainly was closed on monday and tuesday, some of the State Government was closed for both days, one of those days as well, saying maybe it came in a little bit light. Some interpretation but funny to see all the headlines crossing this morning saying the futures were moving based on claims or the treasuries based on claims numbers and not what was going on on the fiscal cliff. A crummy start to the year we get a fourth strike on top of all that, true. Not such a crummy year for japan. Japanese stocks rallying you can the yen continuing its slide against the dollar in all the major currencies, in fact. Asian markets mixed overnight trading. The nikkei climbing to a closing level not seen since just before the march 2011 earthquake, marking a third day of gains, mostly drive bine hopes for a new stimulus policy. The yen is sitting closes to the lowest level since september 2010 against the dollar. Interesting here because now a lot of people are saying the best or the hottest trade in 2013 will, in fact, be long japanese stocks and short the yen because whats different this time around, now there is an actual target, 90 is the target. We know where it is going to go. If they are able to weaken the yen to that point, it is a core roll lary stocks will go higher, exactly what happened with the United States, ben bernanke ease he can the Monetary Policy and the 14 gain in the stock market this year. Seen the yen basically strangling japanese exports for so long. Exactly. So you know, obviously i the reason to go long those japanese stocks. Of course, by exporters, all you out there toyota, honda motor, thats investigation sportdriven economy. Nissan, sony. All the like. You know a lot more about currencies than most of us, if youre in yen, right, your cross counts for a lot too, right . Thats true r. Whether youre dollar, euro . Its true, although the yen is showing weakening against all 16 major currencies. This is across all crosses and, yes, youll get the most bang for your buck, so to speak, depending what cross. Okay, melissa, sort of gotten the idea this time they mean it right . Putting a target out there inflation target as well. Do we really mean they really mean it . Seen so many boj strat teen jcj edge judges. They will act through rates. Here in the u. S. , where are we . Zero no room to have any more impact at this point. That is different. One of the points made by jeff gunlop, his presentation he made a couple weeks ago, outlining he would be short yen and long japanese stocks. People watching not just january but china. Ir ir ir iron oar a lot. Lets get more insight from steve from web bush securities. How much of a nail biter is this for you in terms of fiscal cliff and the markets . I think pretty clear at this point that if theres a deal coming, its gonna be coming very, very soon. I think the markets discounted the fact we are going to get some sort of deal t has held up fairly well here and i think if we dont get a deal, we will see a selloff. I dont know how considerable, but certainly see the 2, 3 decline in the market. Does it amaze you, steve, that the markets, in your view, still consider a given that we are going to reach a deal . Here we are thursday, december 27th. They still havent issued a 48hur notice for congress to return to capitol hill and yet youre saying the markets have baked in some sort of deal . Yeah, i think so. I dont in he isly think the deal happened december 31st. If we pass waite without a deal earthquake the market will think something is going to happen in early january this is the way washington works, they walk right up to the edge of the deal, maybe even past the edge of the deal and then something happens. I still think the market believes there will be a deal, but it is a deal that might happen on january 14th. So, i dont think december 31st is a real deadline, in the mark its mind. Steve, tell us, what are the things that can happen that will sort of rouse the market here, move the market up or down ire way . Well, first of all, i think the tendency for the market right now is to go higher because you have zero Interest Rates and zero Interest Rates act as a tremendous stock market flotation device. Opposing investments are, you know, yielding essentially nothing at this point, so stocks become very attractive. But i still think the big story and the stories that most traders will be watching is the fiscal cliff so thats story number one. An interesting thing happened yesterday and thats the price of oil traded to an alltime high going back to october, not an alltime high, but a high going back to october f that continues, that could be a bit of a negative here, we are starting to see a rally in some metal prices as well, commodities perking up, might be inflation coming in, something to keep an eye on. At what point, steve, i mean, if we fall, we have been i dont know why, for some reason, the 500, 600point level appears to be peoples favorite talking point now, say we gave up 500, 600 points where would be your entry point to buy . You believe this would eventually get settled but wouldnt be anything that would happen in the next couple of weeks . I anywhere any kind of significant decline of say 2 to 5 or 3 to 5 s, its driven by them saying the absolute reality of deal is going to fall apart. Booth parties walk away, not going to be a deal ever kind of comments start coming out you can the market takes a 3 to 5 tumble. I would be stepping in and looking to buy there and be looking to buy stocks that have a significant dividend yield. I continue to see this as the cheapest part of the market. A lot of version you know, very good stories yielding are 5, 10. Theres stocks out there that yield 15 that i think are definite buys here, given where the fixed income markets are. Steve, did you say stocks are yielding as much as 15 . That would imply most likely those are stocks that have seen their prices decline significantly, like a pitney bowes, for instance . I think a decade low in yesterdays session, maybe more and that stock yields 15 or so. Right, i am referring to agency reads or hybrid reads, stocks like American Capital that are Financial Intermediaries but deliver a 15, 17, sometimes 18 yield. I think that is a very cheap part of the market now for a lot of reasons ridiculous fear that people think the reach structure will be abandoned as part of the dakotas deal, i dont see that happening and i think value in the stocks. Steve, we are going to leave it there, great to speak with you. When we come back, congressman and chief deputy whip, peter welch, joins us with the late on the fiscal cliff negotiations in washington. What are they thinking as go into what could be a tumultuous couple of days. Moderate strength after good data out of europe. 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Maritime alliance are going back to the negotiation table to in an attempt that could close 15 ports from massachusetts to texas. 4500 work lines, the east coast could walk off the job on december 30th if no agreement was reached. The last time there was a strike like this was 1977 and did, by some estimates, cost 1 billion a day. This could have a huge impact. The president has some Emergency Powers that he could use. Yes. To bring the two sides together, if he so chose, but we are talking boston, new york, new jersey, baltimore, charleston, miami, houston, i mean, these are these are big things here. Whats interesting about it i just begun to understand a little bit about this port strikes the workers were getting royalty payments they first got 50 years ago when those big containers started coming over in u. S. Ports that is the fight, should we get paid because the containers are coming in or should we not . Really a fascinating historical artifact of the 1960s. You got to think that these royalties have to come down at some point or the other, especially because the expansion of the panama canal is going to increase the ability for ships to move to lots of other ports. A lot of other issues as well because this is of course, a union issue. There for example the strength of the unions and at what point does it make the u. S. Less competitive than some other port thought . What point do we need reform those structures to become more competitive and preserve the jobs . Some trouble at northwestern ports, we just had the Clerical Workers in california. That was a near miss. Something about labor disnews is the port. We try to move more energy outside of the u. S. To asia in particular, getting those contracts in place will be more important. But that is a ten year timeframe. Notsogood news for nokia, a month after the launching in the u. S. , cell phones are offered at steep discounts or free on u. S. Carriers or amazon. Nokia is betting heavily on that phone which runs Microsofts Windows 8 system. It launched in november with at t for 99. Another version of the phone also available force 99 at verizon. Some discussion, dennis, this is just how things work. I dont think thats how things work. If you buy an iphone 4s. This is not the most current model, iphone 4s, had verizon, tough pay 99. That is the outdated model. I encourage i dont know if people can tweet to the show, i would love to see photos of people actually using the nokia lumia. Even for free, you mean . Free or charged. Would they use it for free . Dont believe it is being used. On the subway, i count whos doing what. Ive seen being very parochial. We live in new york city all three of us, we are on the subways in new york, not on the subways in asia where knowing yas and samsungs are much bigger players. Fair enough. But . For the u. S. Carriers. I have seen one nokia lumia on the subway the last three months. But heres what a nokia spokesperson had to say ultimate slick, a car years decision on operation, up to at t and verizon and so on and the spokesperson points out that samsung is doing the same thing. Not just us. Samsung is doing it, too. Good response there. What stock should you be watching when the opening bell rings . Get word on the street from a trader and on what to expect. That is next. Later, commodities i hating snag the next few months what is ahead for the new year . We are making predictions. Take another look at futures as we head into this thursday open. Looks like we are a little bit higher, jobless claims did come in better than expected here. The dow looking at 18 at the open. More squawk on the street, straight ahead. [ male announcer ] this december, remember you can stay in and like something. Or you can get out there and actually like something. The lexus december to remember sales event is on. This is the pursuit of perfection. 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