Just the past five trading sessions. David all right, vixx is always interesting to note, and whenever it is at a low which, indeed, the vxx is, now, this is remember, the vixx you cant trade on, the vxx you can. Its a volatility index, it hit a 52week low today. Some people would say perhaps thats too low, well have to be watching that very carefully. Liz just not a lot of fear in the market. Wheat, we should look at that. A huge mover in the commodity pits. This rally hits a two week high, and the move sent jjg higher. The etf investment, everything from wheat to soybeans to corn did well today. David all right, well, the white house turning to Small Business other thans for input on the debt crisis. Input on the debt crisis. Coming up, one of the Business Owners who was at the meeting. Liz plus, the Powerball Jackpot up to a record 500 million. We will ask new jersey lottery executive yes, new jersey participates in the Powerball Carol headinger about the payoff options and where all the money raised really goes, and guess what . Not for the winner. David we have a very busy hour coming up, but lets start with todays data download. Congressional budget talks have stalled, all three major indices ending the day lower, the nasdaq snapping a sixday winning streak. Utilities was the only sec or to have to close in the green sector to close in the green. Consumer confidence hitting a fourandahalf year high this month, a sign that consumers may be more optimistic about spending in this economy. The index of Consumer Attitudes edging up to 73. 7 from an up yard hirevised reading of 73. 1 in october o. And u. S. Home prices climbing higher for the sixth month in a row. Property values in 20 cities jumped 3 compared to one year ago, building on a 2 gain posted in august. Liz Green MountainCoffee Roasters brewing up numbers, robert gray has the numbers. Reporter coming in better than expected, 946. 7 million bucks, well ahead of the estimate, 902, and the nongap adjusted earnings number coming in, again, well ahead of expectations, 64 cents. Thatts better than the 48 cents that were anticipated there. And theyre talking up the sales of new platforms here as theyre facing new competition from starbucks. A double beat, if you will, and you see the shares jumping in after hours. Liz yes, david was right, it has been hammered by the short sellers, particularly David Einhorn who was famed for short selling lehman brothers. But, again, this is a company that has continued to try and come through here, new management changes, right, robert . Reporter yes, new ceo, and i just did a quick search, nary a mention of starbucks, remember, still a partner in some aspects, but not mentioned whatsoever in the here. The company also providing its outlook here for the first quarter, im going to take a quick look at that, and ill have that for you in a minute. David well come back to you. We have larry silver on the pits of the cme group, tells us why a debt deal is already priced into the debt market, and steven hammers says the fiscal cliff is y2k all over again. I want to start with stephen, because hes been looking at Green Mountain for a long time, but is it too hot to handle . Even though it is popping after hours as a result of these earnings, it is a very hot stock to hold, is it not . The stocks do have consistent earnings, otherwise we wouldnt have it. But because we weight securities based on the risk, we call rise the risk. Green mountain coffee has the lowest exposure to our Large Cap Fund which is only a. 03 exposure. So we dont have much of Green Mountain coffee. But it is consistent earnings. Liz okay. You know, the trade action of the day, larry, it looked pretty ugly today, but there were some pretty good winners. Nonetheless, i like how you put this. You said there are nuisance headlines coming through, and a couple came in the form of, in essence, i guess coming out of d. C. That the talks have stalled as it pertains to the fiscal cliff. Does that just cause the markets to dive . Yeah, i think so. I mean, im actually i feel like im standing in the wrong line, as it were, the wrong checkout line. The market continues to shrug its shoulders over these things. We have the incorrigible teenagers in washington who just cannot figure this out right now. Its pretty simple, taxes and spending. They want to make headlines, and i think the markets becoming fed up with it, and thats why were seeing the action behind me, and well probably see more tomorrow. David drew kanaly, it was a negative day, all of the indices were down, the nasdaq stopped its winning streak, but look at these headlines. Liz, we had a lot of positive headlines when we woke up. Consumer confidence, the best since february 08, the richmond fed saw a positive jump for its region, home prices continuing to rise, durable goods, better than expected. There was progress on those greek debt talks. I mean, despite all of these positive news items we got today, we ended up with a market almost in triple digits. Well, i mean, theyre pricing that we are going to get a deal, right . So anything that says that might get derailed, youre going of the days like this until they announce a deal. And the deal the markets looking for is just something to extend the tax cuts until next year when you seat a new congress, and you really go to battle over the debt ceiling talks, dont you . And then, ultimately, some better tax reform. So it would be a very big disappointment to the markets if we dont get some sort of extension or a patch between now and year end. That would be a problem liz i like how stephen puts it, he says the fiscal cliff talks are like y2k. There was so much hype about y2k when, of course, we were going from 1999 to 2000. Everybody thought we were all going to die via our computers somehow yeah. Computer grit lock was going to happen. We couldnt roll the digits. Liz so tell me, why do you call it that way, stephen . Investors have got to understand, on january 1st were not going to fall off a cliff. Basically, whats going to happen is we have a lot of increasing taxes, a tremendous amount of cuts. You know, that is all throughout 2013, and if you think that our politicians are going to allow that to happen, everything to happen, the perfect storm, the answers no. I agree with drew. Somethings going to happen. Decisions are going to be made. Even if it is temporary, theyre going to soften the taxes liz so there are ways to make money, how . Theres no question theres ways to make money. The u. S. Market is a great place to be. Even though we have slow growth and were expecting slow growth, the u. S. Stock, the large cap market is a great place to be. David but, drew, the fact of the matter is we dont have a growing economy. I mean, less than 2 growth is minimal at best. And we dont have that much of a pickup in the jobs picture. Unless those two things change, are we really going to see an economy that we can call move anything the right direction . Moving in the right direction . Probably not in 2013. What do you know already . into 2012 ahead of higher ince tax rates next year. So youre going to be pulling a lot of activity into this year, so 2013s going to be soft right out of the box. Furthermore, corporate earnings, theyve done all they can do in terms of improving margins. Until you have growing top line income, you really cant do more. How are you going to pay a higher dividend . David i was surprised to see that one of your picks is for a fund of dividend stocks, an etf very much so. David dvy is the symbol. Arent you concerned, though, that with a doubling, some say tripling when you add in the extras on the of the tax on dividends as a possible, that, in fact, dividends issuers are going to be hit hard in the stock market . Well, historically dividend payers tend to survive whatever tax storm you throw at em. Sure, theres a little disruption up front, but if we really look at the longterm history of dividend payers, in all types of tax increases, they tend to survive in the long run. Yeah, maybe near term theyre going to have a problem. The good news is the tax rates not going up to 100 on dividends, and its going up on all income. So its always relative, right . If you own treasuries, the tax rate on treasuries is going up. So its all relative when you look at it on an aftertax basis. Liz but dont stress right. I want to get to larry once again because, larry, you and the traders really live sort of moment by moment, minute by minute, but yet when you stretch it out, you can see that the nasdaq and the s p are both up 17 . So we can wring our hands all we want, but the fact is that stocks have moved higher, as everybody said stay away, there are all these headwinds and questions and problems. Yeah, exactly. I mean, we have a gift this year. Given the growth that weve had in the u. S. , given the problems weve had in the u. S. , and weve rallied all this way. I mean, to retrace a little bit, i still shouldnt complain, but i dont think anybody thought that the s ps would be where they are today right now at the end of november. David but, stephen, i dont think anybody thinks were going to see the same growth in the stock market in 2013 as 201, right . Most likely not. Obviously, the economy has slowed down a little bit, but its still growing. Its a great place to be. There are problems in europe. Were going to probably have negative growth, but the time is on our side, and well get through this, and the focus is be smart, diversify and equalize your risk. David wait, did i hear a throw from you, that you think were going to go into recession . Is. In terms of europe. David okay. Just wanted to get straight on that. Definitely ovee in europe. David so things are bad, but its better than the alternative. Thats exactly right. David thank you, drew, larry, stephen, there is a lot of activity in the s p futures. Liz indeed. So the clock is ticking. Its been three weeks since the election and Congress Really no closer to a deal on the fiscal cliff, unless theyre not telling us something. Thats a possibility. Now both sides appear to be focusing on what they want to rule out rather than what theyre willing to compromise on. Were live on capitol hill with the very latest. David also, we held a Small Business summit right here on after the bell, and it looks like the president was watching. He has invited Small Business owners to discuss what they want to see from congress. Well be talking behind the closed doors with one of those who was behind the closed doors, the ceo of bottom line growth strategy, she was at the meeting. Liz david, are you feeling lucky . David yes. Liz the Powerball Jackpot at a massive 500 million, but before you run out to buy your ticket, were going to tell you what the real payouts are. I know that wont stop you, nonetheless, youll still get a bunch of coin. Is and where the money actually goes and where the money actually goes. [ male announcer ] this is steve. He loves risk. But whether hes climbing everest, scuba diving the Great Barrier reef with sharks, or jumping into the marke he goes with people he trusts, which is why he trades with a company that doesnt nickel and dime him with hidden fees. So he can worry about other things, like what the market is doing and being ready, no matter what happens, which isnt rocket science. Its just common sense, from td ameritrade. Look this isnt my first christmas. These deals all seem great at the time. But later, not so much. This isnt that kind of deal. [ male announcer ]reak from the holidaytress. Save on ground shipping at fedex office. Liz here we go, its s p futures closing right now. Larry at the cme, how does it look . Well, it looks like its a convictionless market. Its eerily close what happened 16 months ago. Keep in mind right now people are being lulled to sleep in thinking that this fiscal cliff will get figured out, just like 16 months ago. We would never lose our credit rating, and guess what . We did. So i wouldnt liz larry, everything was fine. We did, we did fall off a cliff 16 months ago. Im saying that we just cant be lulled to sleep in the thinking that this will get figured out. Im hoping it does. The markets are pricing it in, but they priced it in back 16 months ago. David it is a very dicey situation. Very dicey. Dont fall asleep. Liz we never will with you around, larry, your energys great. Shares of Green MountainCoffee Roaster soaring, at least they were a minute ago. Nicole, they Still Holding on to the gains there . Reporter yeah, soaring is a great word, clearly beating the street. Closed at 28. 9 a 5, trading around 36. David whoa, look at that. Reporter lets talk about Green Mountain. We talked about how it was heavily shorted, the singlecup coffee sales, but the Fourth Quarter profit was on the rise 22 and revenue as well. So earnings per share came in at 64 cents, that clearly beat the 48 credibility estimate, and revenue, as we know, 946. 7 million beat the 902. 7 million. So clearly beating across all lines here. And the last thing i should note always helps when you raise your fullyear profit, so raising the fiscal full year 2013 profit, too, so that outlook also gives it a nice boost in the after hours. David how much money did David Einhorn lose today . Hes a guy that not only bet against it, but tried to encourage as many people as he could to bet against it back in october. Reporter well, its down 35 year to date, so i guess if he sold today before earnings, hes all right. Or bought it back, right . Liz hes smart enough to have all kinds of stop loss programs put in place. Nicole, thank you very much. Today marks three weeks since election day and still no sign of a compromise. If congress and the white house remain at odds, will we fall off the fiscal cliff, and what happens . David rich edson joining us with the latest from capitol hill, and we just heard a trader at the cme say it is very dicey, at least the traders in chicago think its very dicey, it could go either way. Are they right . Reporter they are right, david, and congressional aides say were still at the political posturing phase of all this, both sides going out, selling their message. Maybe some real deal make anything the next couple of weeks. Harry reid just a short while ago saying there is little progress made with republicans in these discussions. He was asked, okay, where are democrats going to go on spending cuts, he says weve already done a trillion dollars in spending cuts in last years debt deal, and were going to want credit from that. The white house had not extended yet another invitation to democrats and republicans to come back to the white house and discuss the fiscal cliff. The president instead is going to meet with Small Business owners, ceos, and friday he heads out to suburban philadelphia to sell his position on taxes. Republicans meanwhile are saying, look, its time to start a deal. It seems like our friends on the other side are having some difficulty kind of turning off the campaign. We need to sit down and work this matter out. We are all here, those of us in the administration and those who have been elected to congress, to serve the american people, so to suggest that we should now that the elections over stop talking to them about these vital issues, i think, is bad advice. Reporter republicans will be selling their positions themselves. The house leadership aide says House Republicans will visit local Small Businesses around the country to emphasize the threat to jobs posed by congressional democrats, Small Business tax hikes. The election may be over, but it sounds an awful lot like it did before the election. Back to you. Liz we need to see more action. Rich, thank you very much. David just when rich thought hed catch up on his beauty sleep, forget about it. Aint gonna happen. All right, we have a panel of Small Business owners right here to discuss our debt crisis, and now the white house is following our lead, reaching out to Small Business owners. Coming up next, one of the entrepreneurs who actually participated in the meetings. Liz plus, taking apples theory for a drive. Find out the american car maker thats ready to bring handsfree access to drives. Drivers. Music is a universal language. T when ias in an accident. I was worried the Health Care System spoke a language all its own with unidhealthcare, i got help that fit my life. Information on my phone. Connection to doctors who get ere im from. And tools to estimate what my care may cost. So i never missed a beat. Were more than 78,000 people looking out for more than 70 million americans. Thats health in numbers. Unitedhealthcare. Liz time for a quick speed read, some of the days other headlines. Fife stories, one minute, billionaire investor warn buffett says jamie dimon would make a great treasury secretary. Buffett says dimon is the best perp for the job. General motors offering siri in two vehicles now, linking siri to the new chevy spark and sonic. Former ceo rejecting hewlettpackards accusations that its falsified financial statements. Hewlettpackard responded saying the matter is in the hands of the authorities and intends to take action at the appropriate time. Dollar genre placing Cooper Industries in the s p 500, added to the index after the close of trading friday. The organization for Economic Cooperation and development is cutting its Global Growth forecasts. The think tank lowered estimates from 4. 2 to 3. 4 , and that is todays speed read. And here we go with the buzzer. David three, two, one jeez. Wow. Liz all right. Extra time to spare. [laughter] good work. All right, well, president obama is meeting with Small Business leaders today to garner support for his plan to deal with the debt. This following a meeting yesterday with the white house officials and Small Business owners. One entrepreneur in attendance was carol coughlin, she is founder of bottom line growth strategies, and she