♪ liz: good afternoon, everybody. i am liz claman. it is the last hour of trading. this is countdown to the closing bell. stocks are up for the first time in three days. investors warming up for the idea of a budget deal. john boehner keeping the dialogue open with president obama. we rub our fingers together and look at where we stand. dow jones industrials off the highs of the session. it has been up more than 90. boehner and obama are speaking. check out the financials. they say that you cannot really have a rally without the financials. check out bank of america flirting with $11 a share.

first time they have seen that in 18 months. citigroup also chugging higher. apple, though, let's take a. look, interesting day here once again. it is moving higher on better than expected iphone5 numbers in china. 2 million sold there. morgan stanley pounding the table. ipad and iphone demand remains robust. you need to own apple into the early part of 2013. earlier this morning, first, on the flip side, you have citigroup saying they are downgrading apple. my phone suppliers have cut back on some orders.

attention, that donald's shareholders, here, i have one. i will put it on ebay. the race is officially over. we are talking pork, pickles, onions smothered in barbecue sauce. mcdonald's a widely held stock in light of your portfolios and 401(k)s. they bring it back every year for a limited time. look at what it is doing for the stocks. it is up one full percentage point today. it has been kind of a rough couple weeks.

the fabulous mcrib, i do not know, is it really a rib? let's get to the floor show. [ laughter ] traders at the new york stock exchange, cme aad the imax. >> i was forced to do one for another network last year. liz: they are super popular, at least when it comes to the stocks. once again, is it this headline out of washington, d.c.? >> the headline definitely helps, without a dow map. the overall fax are a rally into the end of the year.

if that happens, that changes everything. we are going into the end of the year with some strength. liz: i am looking at all that is happening. we cannot ignore volume, guys. volume continues to be a little anemic. chris, at the cme, looking at what is working, you guys do with the trades that are coming through, what are you seeing? >> we are measuring low-volume right now. things tend to drift lower. the big thing we are on right now is still the gold position. we are right around that $1700 mark. if the pops over that, a lot of these traders will become buyers.

it is acting as a resistance to the upside right now. with japan coming through with the more liberal, you know, monetary easing, sort of scenario, it may be really good for gold. liz: let's get the gold chart up. we are a full $10 above. if it goes down just a bit more, you may see the real buyers come in here. >> i think buyers will come in here. as we get closer, i think that 1700 level becomes a support level. liz: eisele, terry terry get pretty bad when gold was falling. >> it has.

liz: manufacturers are trying to come back here. hedge funds down 25%. commercial short and down by 30%. that is according to the cftc. >> i think if you have watched over the past three or four months, the trading right has been really, really tight. the only time we had a big move was what we had geopolitical tensions with iran. i think oil is in a sweet spot where the countries are getting enough money for their oil. manufacturing in america should be making a comeback. liz: you want to split my mcrib? [ laughter ]

>> it has been a while. liz: off now more than a full percentage point. >> it is a classic performer. whether it is plus or minus, it moves markets. money flows, money flows from hedge funds. that is out of commodities. that includes gold and it includes oil. liz: into equities? >> suggesting money is flowing into equities. obviously, not a big vote. money flowing in today. liz: good to see all of you. thank you so much. i am considering putting it up on ebay.

[ laughter ] let's get to the market driver today. given the uncertainty, today it looks good, the past couple days it has been down. they implemented special payouts simply because they do not know what kind of tax treatment will really happen after that ended the year. >> should you be aggressive, assertive or -- liz: putting the mcrib aside for a moment, are you in assertive investor or are you a shrinking violet feedback this conservative texas investor is assertive right now. despite the fiscal cliff worries, what we have been watching closely is the housing market. we are convinced that u.s.

housing has bottomed. on five years of inventory, that has been worked out. mortgage rates are so low. that helps consumer sentiment so much. we are very positive on the market and, if in the next few days, next few days, there is a correction because a compromise is not met, and, i promise you, no one will like the compromise. liz: does that mean it is successful if everyone is a little unhappy? >> exactly. exactly. liz: if you are going all out assertive, what are you buying? >> we are buying a lot of companies. our portfolios have about 60 to 70 stocks in them. liz: are you up for the year back yes. definitely. definitely. we are around 13%.

liz: what is your favorite investment right now? what do you like right now? >> the best way to stay fully invested is to have a good hedge from high quality bonds. barry, ironically, we are still buying bonds as well. muniz, yes, in most cases. tax-free in a simple security. you can very easily by high-quality single-a, aa or higher that have lots of good joyce's.

liz: longer or shorter duration? >> shorter. we work with about 50 dealers a round the country to get that better pricing. we do want lower duration. that is a bit more defensive. liz: should they be hospital -- [talking over each other] >> that is where there is no full taxing authority to raise taxes, if needed, to cover the interest payments. very conservative strategy. even where investors do not necessarily need the cash flow, it is a very good hedge to the equity position. liz: in the 4:00 o'clock hour, we have the ceo of -- they make gigantic cranes. manufacturing, and it looks of interesting right now.

>> our firm has been talking for the past two years about the anticipation that we could have a manufacturing resurrection in this country, primarily because of low natural gas prices and the abundance of natural gas. i am in south texas. it is right at our back door. it is amazing how much our energy independence in this country just changed in a short timeframe. it is very positive for manufacturing here in the u.s. in the long-term. liz: on that note, she is coming back in just a moment with some of her favorite moneymaking names. do not miss jamie. she will be back in just a minute. forty-nine minutes until "the closing bell" rings. a gift that keeps on giving. a $25 million investment.

taking the stores national. coming up on the next fox business exclusive. we have brad kinstler. will the second time the hr? they tried this before. they will try it again. real stores will get his take on holiday sales. ♪ i always wait until the last minute.

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liz: time for the market check after very few encouraging trading days. hewlett-packard back in the red. nicole petallides and sandra smith are with us. first, to you nicole. nicole: the question here is a real push and pull. is hp better off as one big unit or better off to be broken off into parts?

it is not were broken up. he says that the company is so quick to gather.. really, this is a head to head with deutsche bank. karl icahn would basically lead for a push to break it up. now, it is dropping on the comments from deutsche bank. liz: nicole, thank you. now, over to sandra. >> look at these cocoa and sugar prices. cocoa prices flat to down today. up about 10% in 2012. there has been some major supply prices higher.

there is almost constant political turmoil. they have also had that coupled with bad weather. the main ingredient in chocolate, those cocoa prices are higher as we head into christmas. also, sugar prices. they are off today. it has been a big recliner in 2012. there has been some supply of sugar and not price is down. one thing to note in the sugar market, when we are talking about hedge funds out of the commodity market, they were seen big-time and sugar. dropping 68% in the latest week. there is a very bearish sentiment in the sugar market right now. still, cocoa prices, way up. liz: to have seen these two-year lows was pretty unbelievable for shoulder. what goes down, eventually goes out. remember, we said that.

sandra, thank you. to a god who has a total suite two. the oracle of omaha. he has since generated within $1 billion profit for warren buffett. right now, these are polar bear paws. white chocolate with the caramel and the nuts. those are flying off the shelves. this is a cash machine enabling warren buffett to buy other companies. how will they finally open permanent stores on the coast? joining me now brad kinstler. he is the ceo and president of see's candy.

>> we enjoyed this holiday season. it is really big business for us. liz: well, it has to be. you open up these pop-up stores, these little gift centers, that do very well. now, the big story is you will try to go national. have you tried this before? >> in the 1990s. it was in the midwest. at that time, the competition was a little bit different than what it is today. the brandt was not quite as well known. california had a very growing population. the opportunities for the business was really back in the west coast during those years. they collected to pull back and focus on the west and, at this point, we now see the land scape a little differently and we are very excited and open to several

stores in texas this year, as well as oklahoma. they are doing terrific. liz: these are the lucky states florida, georgia, pennsylvania and maryland. how did you choose those four states? >> we actually started in texas this year. two in dallas and two in houston and one in san antonio. liz: i am talking east coast. i am a california girl. it is unbelievable how everyone there knows their favorite ones. i know everyone talks about how the bordeaux is the favorite. that is not mine. my favorite is the milk chocolate covered caramel. i would leave 50,000 of them if they were put in front of me. the unit hurdle is, of course, warren buffett's favorite.

>> the product just felt like hot cakes in those locations. they will do very well with stores in. liz: job creation, is it in meaningful numbers? >> you know, in every shop, we will hire 20 people or so to run the shop. we will expand the deployment, obviously, during the holidays. it all adds up over time. this year, at christmas, we are employing over 7000 people in our business. we do our part. liz: yours, worn buffet, turns into within 1.6 billion into profits. he and charlie munger: yeah,

they charged the floor,,but they sit there for four hours snapping off pieces of peanut brittle and shoving it in their mouth. >> it is our job to run the business the way we can get the most out of it and continue to service the customers with this great candy. the pressure, it may come -- the boss eats a fair amount of candy. liz: cocoa, let me just ask you, cocoa and sugar looking pretty good. can you hedge? can you buy? how tough does that make your business at these prices

skyrocket? >> well, over the last five years, you have seen the cocoa market as low as $1500 a metric ton and as high as $3700 a metric ton. currently, we are at about $2500. we ride this roller coaster. we ride ahead. generally, we just work our way through. liz: brad, good luck with the holiday season. >> appreciated. nice talking to you. liz: i have to try one of those polar bear paws. my mother is obsessed. brad kinstler, see's candy, ceo and president. we will be right back. market up 68 points for the dow jones industrials. we are watching this very

closely.

liz: and eerie, quiet has descended over the market right now. the dollar a a 20 month high against the yen. an election in japan and people believe they will be more investment and infrastructure in japan, rebuilding after its done a couple of years ago. he starts to see the yen begins to weaken and the dollar has gotten a lot stronger. but let's get to where it is pretty quiet, jersey city. probably not quite in jersey city, but knight capital, nobody is talking but the first board of directors continues to weigh the company's future. there is a meeting, charlie gasparino knows all about it about the bidding more. charlie: it has descended over

the trading said. the board meeting is in new york. liz: the opposite of the giants. charlie: whatever. i got what you mean. but the board on these two bids finally the saga is it looks like it is coming to an end. what is interesting here is that the board has been meeting since 8:00 a.m. why is it taking this long? you would think, former new york mercantile exchange chairman who allegedly put up a cash bid. if you put up a cash bid for $3, this thing is done. i wonder there is something about financing. 1.50 ye$1.50 billion. they literally have financing from our place. they wonder why they did it not being hit very hard.

on the other hand, they virtually do the same thing. high frequency trading. they want to get the market making unit. it is a hard business. making the market, putting the buy and sell together. the handle retail order flow. why aren't they hitting this thing? the bottom line is the employees, we have been reporting this last couple of days but employees are shot themselves to other firms because they ar they're likely t fired, likely to take non-core businesses and basically sell them off. the hotspot unit is for currency and commodities. nasdaq is interested in that. the bond department because there are midsize firms

interested in it. people are shopping themselves. liz: this all began when i had a massive trading glitch in the middle of the night with software they did not test properly. charlie: the stock went from 10 to three. below three. 2.50. the strike price is $1.50. if it can stay around $3, all of those guys who build them out, they would make a lot of money. that is why people get interested. but i can't understand why a cash bid for $3, anywhere from $3-$3.20, why that is not getting hit very hard.

then he is not the chocolate kind of guy. he went to the u.s. military ketamine, airborne ranger. a smart guy as well. i don't know if chocolates are enough. liz: believe me. charlie: maybe your smile will do it. liz: charlie always has it, everybody else follows. we're up 74 points. it looks like a healthy day. stay tuned, much more ahead. we will look at the chart. where you may want to sell the s&p coming up.

>> i'm adam shapiro with your fox business brief. the financial times reports three dozen bankers and senior managers will be implicated in the rigging of leiber interest rates when ibf settles with global regulators later this week. close to finalizing a deal in the united states, the uk and switzerland in which the bank will pay roughly 1.5 alien dollars. morgan stanley paying $5 million fine to the state of massachusetts over facebook ipo. the complaint against the banking giant cited improper influence of bankers over wall street analysts. morgan stanley shifted into fox business state is pleased to have reached a settlement and put the matter behind us. american drivers are getting more relief at the pump as gas prices dropped to the lowest level of the year. according to aaa daily fuel gauge, the national average is down $3.25 per gallon.

we continue our countdown to the closing bell with liz claman. liz: thanks, adam. nicole, let's get to you. looking at one mobile phone record that has been on a roll. everybody has these things for holiday gifts. nicole: let's take a look at the stock, up nearly 3% on the day. nokia cracked the $4 barrier today. one of the reasons, one of the competitors, htc, could be pushing aside some big plans to compete with nokia. large screen windows phone, and the technology doesn't support that. htc recently launched droid dna. guess what, i am not really into the insides of these phones, but

i know the ins and outs and i understand competition. when one of the competitors pulled something off the shelf, that is good for the other guy, and the other guy is n no nokia. liz: i know adam got lazy. he must be burning the midnight oil. adam: i have been eating chocolate. i had to get it in. liz: save some for me. thank you. after bouncing sharply off the mid-november lows, stocks have been turning searching for direction and investors seemingly wait for some sort of all clear signal to get in. are you missing the opportunity if you're doing that, taking your time? he will explain all this because he is head of technical analysis with a fox business exclusive.

some people say i want to own mcdonald's, want to own apple or don't want to own apple. you get serious signals by looking at the s&p, which i guess is coming off of its worst week in a month. >> when we think about the last three weekly moves, 1418, 1413, we haven't made a ton of progress after the balance we got on the mid-november lows. investors are unsure, but what is actually most interesting is the price action has been a bit more bullish than the levels would tell us. it is impressive stocks haven't sold off more. liz: that is an excellent point. look at apple, you might panic and little bit, but $14.26 you tell me there is a resistance and there is a support. what is the resistance, what is the floor? >> would have kind of merge them. marking the top of the rally

about a week ago. liz: is that a signal to investors? of what? >> it would be a positive signal. on the converse side of that commie look at the support, 14, 1405. the odds are higher you retest where we visited several months back. let's look at the overall backdrop, the fact despite apple been down 50% over the last two weeks, the fact that the gap has emerged between the s&p and apple is actually pretty interesting stocks aren't down more. stocks have filled the leadership void over the last couple of weeks. liz: what is filling the apple void? >> it is about 50% of the nasdaq 100, to where it goes is important for the overall direction of the market. the fact it is down the last two weeks and stocks as a whole are

off more means of the names have filled in that convoy. industrials have emerged over the last couple of weeks with a better tone. emerging markets have emerged over the last couple of weeks with a better tone. risk assets are acting a bit better than the tape would show was. liz: those are at eight-month high. are you suggesting there's more room to run? more energy and fuel for these two continue to do well? >> i think you could continue to see it do well. look at the s&p, still the emerging market above the september highs, so the message from groups have been stronger than that on the broader market. weavinwe think that is a good sl for risk. we favor em industrials. looking at carter's and tiffany's.

trend is changing. liz: don't shop until you drop, but names at the moment. coach, herbalife, gnc. >> the trend is now changing, they are losing relative appeal. that is the first time we see that. liz: happy holidays, thank you very much. look at these numbers, get a real sense, he is the partner. we still know of any two points for the dow jones industrials, so financials have been on a tear. some nearly doubling this year. are the banks your best bet for 2013? two that she really loves right now. i always wait until the last minute.

can i still ship a gift in time christmas? yeah, sure you can. great. where's your gi? uh... whew. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. ship fedex express by december 22nd for christmas delivery.

liz: on this pretty strong day from the bowls, this is your fox business markets check. what are consumer staples? let's say general mills, this has hit three record highs this year, but hit 38 record highs since the first one in january of 2010, following the recovery for the financial meltdown. hershey's has hit 24 record highs this year, that is just incredible. the chart over one week for heinz. if we stretch it out to a one-year chart, you can see four record high sessions in the last five sessions, that is why the one-week is there. but what a year for these consumer staple names. earlier in the show, told us she

was asserted in the fiscal cliff preparations meaning she is just buying stock. now specific names. in part because natural gas. that brings their costs down, what is your take? >> on a on the manufacturing sia good stock in that sector. one of the world's leaders, electronic controls, they work all over the world, great balance sheet, greater earnings. it has been a very good stock. our upside not quite as high as it was. liz: the pe is 13. a 14% run.

let's get to financials because they have done very well over this past year, but your name, go east, young man, you say go north. >> go north, actually. once the fiscal cliff compromises reached it is interesting are to see really good, strong visibility in the financials. i think one of the best performing sectors. it is a large canadian bank that came in here to the united states in 2008 when all of our bags were having mortgage issues. they came in with a clean slate and they're picking up the u.s. market shares very fast making smart acquisitions. they lost the target credit card business, part of bank of america credit card business so they are gaining market share, so we will think we will get good earnings from toronto

dominican bank and people will relish them as a serious u.s. bank. liz: 3.8% dividend, so you're getting paid no matter what happens here. your number one moneymaker. let me just stand by for a moment and tell you she has more than $2 billion in client assets. high network clients, but you have a number one moneymaker that is right in front of peoples faces right now. >> that is right. it is not that much, it has been disappointing in the financial sector, and we can buy large bids and small-cap stocks. we like it because of the evaluation, they're very high-quality, not just because warren buffett likes it.

raising the earnings visibility are best based on next year's earnings estimates for wells fargo. liz: money-management ceo and cio. happy holidays. we are seven minutes away. brewing higher after the deal to go private. which stock investors are asking for a fill up today, that is next. can you smell the coffee? [ male announcer ] this is steve.

he loves risk. but whether he's climbing everest, scuba divi 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 doesn't nickel and dime him with hidden fees. so he can worry about other things, like what the market is doing and being ready, o matter what happens, which isn't rocket scien. it's just common nse, from td ameritrade.

liz: triple digits, we are up 100 points for the dow jones industrials. look at what is brewing higher. here's what is happening. a company is buying this, take it public. we are up a penny above that right now. a big move for caribou. but a huge move, looking at the fox 50 looking very healthy as well. s&p 500, up 16, the nasdaq, david, let me just get over to you. david: we are kidding, we're kidding.

$13 to 38 is the high of the day. what a nice turnaround. lot of people wondering how in the virtual stocks would the market. let's go to nicole petallides at the nyse right now. apple stocks in the beginning of the day there were some negative moments, trying to find a direction, it looks like apple with the rest of the market finding direction all the way up. nicole: know what is interesting, it did not do that in the full-day trading, 501 and change. he did all right despite the analyst cutting it. liz: let's get to clear where agreeing to a deal with sprint-nextel. not helping the other stock right now. >nicole: that is certainly one that we will continue to watch.