summit and therefore will be involving regional and other countries talking about risk of instability and spill-over because of the crisis in syria. >> you mentioned syria, and economic cooperation,... this is "real money." you are the most important part of the show, so join our live conversation for the next half hour on twitter at ajrealmoney. for the first time in history, the dow crossed the 16,000 mark.

capping its fastest 1,000-point gain ever. the market has pulled back below 16,000 at closing, but it has gained close to 22% in 2013. the s&p 500 crossed the 1800 mark for the first time ever before also retreating slightly in the afternoon. the s&p is up more than the dow, almost 26% this year. 16,000 and 1800 don't mean anything in and of themselves, but they give me an excuse to talk to you about your relationship to the stock market. about half of you are invested in the stock market. that means about half of you aren't. stocks and bonds are the most liquid investments americans can make to help build their wealth. everyone with a little extra money should invest. that means figuring out your personal appetite for risk, and

building a smart portfolio 06 mutual funds that fit. you can start by answering some key questions. the most important being what is your investment time horizon. let's say you are around 50 years old, you want to save for retirement and you have ten years to grow your nest egg. next what are your financial goals? you want to retire to a golf course? finally you need to be honest about your tolerance for risk. let's assume you are comfortable with some market fluctuation. based on that criteria i just set up, here is a sample portfolio, which distributed your money in a way that offers to grow money and offer income. 51% of this portfolio is invested in stocks. it is split up between large cap, small and mid-cap and some international stocks. it also gives some exposure to

internation o international stocks. the remaining 15% is set aside for gold and precious metals. this comes at some type of risk. that's okay. because you might be willing to take more risk than this. you can take a risk tolerance questionnaire or set up an appointment ment with a financial manager to help you, but research shows proper allocation of your money is more important than the division between stocks and funds. mixing up your investments reduces your risks, and increases your return over time if done properly. so i have been asking you, are you getting in or out of the market now that the dow has hit 16,000?

tell me what you think by tweeting me at ali velshi and at ajrealmoney. here to help us is our good ryan is a financial adviser and ceo of optimum capital management. he joins me now. i want to pick up where i left off. asset companies behave differently. they all do different things under the same circumstances which is why i think too many people think of the stock market as on or off, in or out. >> right. you have unsystemic risks, and systemic risks. you can't get rid of systemic risks, but you can diversify away unsystematic risk. so if one stock goes up, you

might want to decrease your exposure to that, or if you say i like the low-interest rate environment and the emerging market, so i might want to increase allocation to that. it really tolerance. >> risk tolerance, there are a million ways to get it. i still find that people will find out that they are moderate risk, but then they will want to back up the truck and invest in a hot ipo. >> if you ride it down -- you don't invest according to a motion. you invest according to a plan. a lot of individuals as you said earlier, 16,000 on the dow, 1800 for the first time on s&p, all of these things are interesting type news, but what does your plan say?

what does your plan dictate ? if you are already in, you might want to increase or decrease slightly. but if you are not in, maybe if you have 5 thousand dollars to dollars. >> let's say i have 25 thousand dollars to put in. and the dow is at 16,000, do i put it in gradually or wait for a day when the dow pulls back? >> we don't want to get into market timing. essentially what individuals do sometimes is they say let me try to wait on the first dip, and happens. >> sure. >> so you want to have some skin in the game, maybe not the en entire allotment, but it doesn't

mean you want to wait for a 5% pull back. put some money on the table and dollar cost average -- >> a set amount of money at regular intervals. >> yes. >> because if you are putting 1 hundred dollars a month into the stock market -- >> 1 hundred dollars, is that too little? -- how much extra money do you need to have? >> it depends on your long-term horizons. if people say i want to buy a house, i say maybe you want more liquidity. or maybe their house is bought and kids are out, maybe you need a little less liquidity. >> thank you my friend. u.s. lawmakers are seeking answers about bitcoin.

bitcoin has gone from an obscure digital way to pay for stuff like pizza, to the main currency on a now defunct website where people bought everything from drugs to guns. the price of one bitcoin has soared from 2 hundred dollars laths month to more than 6 hundred dollars now. regulators and law enforcement sees wanted to balance the use with the need to track who is using them and why? >> reporter: as more people get comfortable with bitcoins, the value of this virtual currency along with its reported use on the black market is going up. adam levine is editor and chief of "let's talk bitcoin." most people buy bitcoins through an online exchange. in mid-november the price of a bitcoin hovered around 6 hundred dollars. there are

billions of dollars in bitcoins used by cyber shop. in october the department of justice shut down silk road, the largest narcotics and online marketplace found to date. as of last week, the coins confiscated by police. >> bitcoins are still in business, selling weapons, child hire. >> bitcoin has been drawing the attention of federal agencies like the departments of homeland security, justice and the treasury, the irs, the sec, and the commodity future trading

commission are all taking a hard look at virtual currencies. >> the treasury department already subjects bitcoin and others to rules designed to fight money laundering. that's why some say further regulation isn't necessary, and they worry that further government intervention will send bitcoin overseas. let's visit with marco santori. good to see you. >> thanks for having me. >> i fundamentally still don't really understand this, but i get that that senator said that bitcoin is about funding child pornography and selling guns and all of these terrible things. every time i speak to an advocate, it's the other extreme. it's all fine, jumping from pink

cloud to pink cloud. >> right. i'm an attorney. i'm a skeptic, and i'm in the bitcoin foundation. i realize on one end, bitcoin can be used like all kir kir -- currencies for illicit purposes. on the other end of the spectrum and this is what amazed so many people, the government was understanding that bitcoins and digital currencies in general have a tremendous potential for impact in the world. whether it's making every day transactions easier -- >> what is really going to be easier in anything i transact. >> sure, have you ever had to send a thousand dollars across the world with a wire transfer? it costs quite a bit of money on both ends. or maybe a remittance.

just sending money back home -- >> a lot of immigrants do that. >> absolutely. and this is the perfect use for bitcoin. instead of spending 20 dollars to send 150 dollars home, send 8 correct -- 8 cents. >> how does everybody work that way. i get you can collect them, mine them, second them around. how do you use them? do i have to use them at businesses that accept bitcoins? >> sure. the bitcoin is a new aspect class. it is built in, you can second value back and forth without the need for any intermediary, and it's also a store of value. i heard you announce that the price of bitcoin was up over 6 hundred dollars. just before i walked on to stage, it is now up to almost 8 hundred dollars.

but i would also say that people are recognizing that bitcoin is its own payment system in that, finally, the third aspect, it's a currency. gold, cash, stocks, commodities, characteristics. >> great conversation about asset classes and why you should have different ones. marco good to see you. thank you very much. >> thank you. all right. it's not bitcoins but real dollars that jpmorgan is reportedly shelling out to provide relief to homeowners. it is set to pay 4 billion dollars to help homeowners lower monthly mortgage payments. this 4 billion dollars in consumer relief is part of the reported 14 billion dollars deal.

the larger settlement may be announced as early as tuesday. five years after the bottom fell out of the housing market, some companies aren't just surviving, they are thriving. that story and more as "real money" continues right here. ♪ >> al jazeera america is a straight-forward news channel. >> its the most exciting thing to happen to american journalism in decades. >> we believe in digging deep. >> its unbiased, fact-based, in-depth journalism. >> you give them the facts, dispense with the fluff and get straight to the point. >> i'm on the ground every day

finding stories that matter to you. >> in new orleans... >> seattle bureau... >> washington... >> detroit... >> chicago... >> nashville... >> los angeles... >> san francisco... >> al jazeera america, take a new look at news. determining using some sort of subjective interpretation of their policy as to whether or not your particular report was actually abusive, because if it doesn't contain language that specifically threatens you directly or is targeted towards you specifically, they may not consider it abuse. they may consider it offensive. and in that case they just recommend that you block that person. >> i don't want to minimise this, because i mean, there's some really horrible things that are on line, and it's not - it's not just twitter, what has happened through social media and the anonymity of the net is that you see websites,

hate-filled websites targetting all sorts of groups, popping up. there has been a huge number of those that exist as well. the stream is uniquely interactive television. in fact, we depend on you, your ideas, your concerns. >> all these folks are making a whole lot of money. >> you are one of the voices of this show. >> i think you've offended everyone with that kathy. >> hold on, there's some room to offend people, i'm here. >> we have a right to know what's in our food and monsanto do not have the right to hide it from us. >> so join the conversation and make it your own. >> watch the stream. >> and join the conversation online @ajamstream. determining using some sort of subjective interpretation of their policy as to whether or not your particular report was

actually abusive, because if it doesn't contain language that specifically threatens you directly or is targeted towards you specifically, they may not consider it abuse. they may consider it offensive. and in that case they just recommend that you block that person. >> i don't want to minimise this, because i mean, there's some really horrible things that are on line, and it's not - it's not just twitter, what has happened through social media and the anonymity of the net is that you see websites, hate-filled websites targetting all sorts of groups, popping up. there has been a huge number of those that exist as well. the stream is uniquely interactive television. in fact, we depend on you, your ideas, your concerns. >> all these folks are making a

whole lot of money. >> you are one of the voices of this show. >> i think you've offended everyone with that kathy. >> hold on, there's some room to offend people, i'm here. >> we have a right to know what's in our food and monsanto do not have the right to hide it from us. >> so join the conversation and make it your own. >> watch the stream. >> and join the conversation online @ajamstream. determining using some sort of subjective interpretation of their policy as to whether or not your particular report was actually abusive, because if it doesn't contain language that specifically threatens you directly or is targeted towards you specifically, they may not consider it abuse. they may consider it offensive. and in that case they just recommend that you block that person. >> i don't want to minimise

this, because i mean, there's some really horrible things that are on line, and it's not - it's not just twitter, what has happened through social media and the anonymity of the net is that you see websites, hate-filled websites targetting all sorts of groups, popping up. there has been a huge number of those that exist as well.

determining using some sort of subjective interpretation of their policy as to whether or not your particular report was actually abusive, because if it doesn't contain language that specifically threatens you directly or is targeted towards you specifically, they may not consider it abuse. they may consider it offensive. and in that case they just recommend that you block that person. >> i don't want to minimise this, because i mean, there's some really horrible things that are on line, and it's not - it's not just twitter, what has happened through social media and the anonymity of the net is that you see websites,

hate-filled websites targetting all sorts of groups, popping up. there has been a huge number of those that exist as well. >> start with one issue education... gun control... the gap between rich and poor... job creation... climate change... tax policy... the economy... iran... healthcare... ad guests on all sides of the debate. >> this is a right we should all have... >> it's just the way it is... >> there's something seriously wrong... >> there's been acrimony... >> the conservative ideal... >> it's an urgent need... and a host willing to ask the tough questions >> how do you explain it to yourself? and you'll get... the inside story ray suarez hosts inside story weekdays at 5 eastern only on al jazeera america

>> audiences are intelligent and they know that their

stem education in the united states is a big deal, i'm talking signs, technology, engineering and math, stem. the u.s. is lagging behind the rest of the world. in a new report card on the u.s. student performance saying fourth and eighth graders aren't showing an improvement.

but the gap between whites and blacks is choose. patricia sabga has the story. >> good afternoon. >> good afternoon, mr. rowbuck. >> chely rowbuck is about to teach this class how to write computer code. >> we're going to learn a language called java script. >> reporter: his mission develop curriculum for public schools based on stem education. >> stem education is extremely powerful. what is the first step? i am trained as an engineer, and we're taught to raise questions and analyze and think critically and then come up with solutions. >> reporter: but stem education is expensive. the u.s. government has budgeted 3.1 million dollars for it.

>> in the grand scheme it is less than 1% of the overall budget spent on education. >> reporter: she says schools across the u.s. need entrepreneurs like chely roebuck because there just aren't enough resources to teach stem. >> the private sector needs to help us think about how we can resources. >> reporter: roebuck and his team invented their own inexpensive laptop that he brings to schools. >> this is what we came up with. to design these backpacks, we used the raspberry pie, which is a computer, and we used this in combination with our mote row

laptop, so for the price of a mac book pro an lab. >> he is finding very economical and creative ways to bring something as powerful as coding and computer science to a young age group. >> i was especially interested in frederick douglas academy, because they are often field. >> reporter: only 5% of black fourth grade students in the u.s. scored percentile. trigger? >> reporter: it's not just about sixth grade coders, he is also teaching robotics and

megatronnics to high school students. today they are hacking pumpkins. >> nothing screams halloween more than blood. >> and red eyes. >> he is using the academy as a pilot site for what he hopes program. >> we're really focused on trying to share our model as sort of a more open-source platform that school leaders or passionate teachers can adopt into their own classes and curriculum the ability to create is one of the most powerful things that can happen to an individual. well his vision has a lot of supporters. he was just awarded a black male achievement fellowship. and chelsea's nonprofit

gone a google elite award. i want to close talking about the work that people like chelsea do ever day. there are thousands of open jobs in the u.s. in stem that aren't being filled because there aren't qualified candidates. stem is a the future of the u.s. economy. we need a knew union of leaders. the department of commerce presents a 17% increase in stem jobs by 2013. by 2018, those stem jobs will tern 26% more than non-stem job counterparts. that's our show for monday. i'm ali velshi. thanks for joining us. ♪

check check welcome to al jazeera america, i'm stephanie sy in new york. here are the top stories. >> this is the deadliest series of tornados that illinois has had in the month of november. >> the governor of illinois talking about the tornados blamed for killing eight in the midwest on sunday. there were more than 70 twisters across 12 states. >> in the philippines deaths stand at 4,000. about 50 u.s. navy ships and aircraft are taking part in global relief efforts. video of the deadly plane crash in russia aave been released.