Lieutenant colonel ralph peters is here to put it all in perspective for us. Plus, new yorkers preparing for a new years eve celebration with the tightest security weve ever seen. The former Commanding Officer of the nypd Counterterrorism Division gives us the threat analysis, what can you expect . On wall street markets are wrapping up a banner year slightly lower as traders make their final moves of the 2017 calendar. Down 35, looking at the dow. Plus, apples apology. Whats ahead for bitcoin and the trade of the year for next year. Were less than an hour to the closing bell. I am Lauren Simonetti in for liz claman. Lets start the countdown. Lauren and we do have breaking news to get to you. The state Department Just releasing uma abedins workrelated documents found by the fbi on disgraced former congressman anthony wieners personal laptop. Abedin was former secretary of state under Hillary Clintons deputy chief of staff. She kept a nonstate. Gov email account that she used repeatedly for government business on Hillary Clintons email server. We are right now pouring through those emails. We will bring you the headlines as soon as we have them. All this as millions of americans are gearing up for the new years eve celebration in times square, and investors on wall street are cheering a recordshattering year. At this hour lets show you how your investments are doing. The dow trading slightly lower, we are off the lows of the session but still down to the tune of 37 points. Anything can happen in this final hour even on this final trading day of 2017. So, please, stick around to see how we end before the closing bell rings. Heres what is weighing on the blue chip index. Apple, out with a big apology, but it seems like neither consumers nor investors are buying it. Apple is one of the worst performers on the dow today despite issuing an unprecedented apology. They told customers they are sorry for slowing down old iphones. More on what the tech giant is offering to rectify its mistake. Apples shares down 1. 13. Well is more on that in just a bit. And while at t, comcast and wells fargo are among the companies basking in the glory of the new tax code, one banking giant is taking one big hit. Goldman sachs dragging the dow down after saying it does expect a onetime 5 billion hit from the new tax law all in part to the repatriation tax. Goldman shares lower today but ending the year about 7 to the upside, and that does compare with a 25 gain for the dow. Lets begin in florida. President trump meeting with heroes from the u. S. Coast guard at trump international, applauding them for their work as they rescued more than 16,000 people during the hurricanes that hit florida and texas earlier this year. But its actually the comments that President Trump made to the New York Times that are getting the most anticipation. President trump sitting down, it was an impromptu interview with the paper, and he blasted the russia investigation. He said it, quote, puts the country in a very bad position and that he believes special Counsel Robert Mueller will treat him fairly. Fair is a word that he used many times. All of this as trump continues to blast china over selling oil illegally to north korea. We have so many headlines on this friday afternoon to follow. We begin with blake burman, all over it, standing by at the white house. Hey, blake. Where do you want to start . Reporter hey there. Back here in the bureau in washington. Pretty remarkably revealing interview yesterday with the New York Times between President Trump, lauren, you probably could have picked up about a dozen or so different headlines, but you nailed the first one, that being the president reiterating he thinks he will be treated fairly by Robert Mueller. And the reason that the president laid out was because he contends, like weve heard from him for months now, that he says there was no collusion with russia. The president was also asked if the Justice Department should reopen the Hillary Clinton email investigation, to which the president opened some eyes with statement right here. He said and i quote i have absolute right to do what i want to do with the Justice Department. The president also clarified, though, that he has stayed uninvolved with this particular matter. President trump also acknowledging that he hasnt been as tough on china as he promised he would be during the campaign, but he said there was a reason for that, and here it is. He said, quote chinas hurting us very badly on trade, but i have been soft on china because the only thing more important to me than trade is war. And the president also contended that the tax bill should have been bipartisan. He said the s. A. L. T. Caps, is state and local deductions for highly taxed states, that would have played out differently than the 10,000 cap it ended up being. Just four different issues right there, probably could have given you three times as much of that, lauren, but it was a pretty remarkable closing in that, in the excerpts that the New York Times put forward. The president had also said, he claims that the media wants him to win in 2020 because if he doesnt win, then the ratings would go down. [laughter] he said, the president said, quote the media will be saying, quote, please, please, dont lose donald trump. Remarkable turn of events there at least of how he perceives the media. Just one interview there, a handful of headlines. By the way, you also mentioned the state department. They released these emails that were on huma abedins laptop actually, anthony wieners laptop from huma huma abedin, ts because of a proceeding that Judicial Watch has been asking to put forward, released by the state department. Tons of emails have been put out there. This could take hours upon hours if not days to go through, and well see if anything comes from it. Lauren . Lauren lauren i was hoping for an easy friday amp at the end of the year afternoon at the end of the year, but it certainly is busy. Blake burman at our washington, d. C. Bureau, thank you so much for following all of it for us. All right, were seeing pressure on north korea continue to escalate as the headlines keep piling on. And blake did bring you some of those headlines. Defense secretary jim mattis making an impromptu stop by the press earlier today. This is what he said when he was asked about south korea claiming to have seized a cargo ship after an illegal rendezvous with a north korean ship that was in violation of a u. N. Security council resolution. Obviously to, if the government finds that theres a ship in their port conducting trade that was forbidden under the u. N. Security council resolution, then they have an obligation, and so far weve seep nations take that obligation seriously. Lauren lauren well, the defense secretary also asked if he was impressed with north koreas Missile Program and the advances that its made. He replied, quote nothing impresses me. And with that we bring in fox news strategic analyst Lieutenant Colonel ralph peters. Good to see you. Good to see you. And jim mattis may not be impressed with them, but im always impressed with jim mattis. If there is one man or woman anywhere in our government that the American People can trust without any reservations, its gym mattis. Jim mattis. Hes a good, good man. Lauren we have seen so much provocation between north korea and the u. S. , and lets throw china into that, colonel. Are we at the brink of war . What is the next step to contain their Nuclear Missile threat, to get china to do what we want them to do and to make the world a safer place . Well, i think secretary mattis point about not being impressed was to try to tamp down the most hysterical voices, the ones that have us going to war tomorrow. We may well have to take military action to prevent north korea from threatening the american population. But hes just saying were not there yet. North korea still has some hurdles to get over. There is still time for a solution short of war. Lauren lauren what is that solution . Could it be sanctions on china which denies that theyre in violation of this u. N. Resolution, this latest one . Is it more sanctions on north korea . Whats the Tipping Point before we have to entertain a military option . Well, more sanctions on north korea are only useful if theyre honored by china and russia. Lauren right. And the problem has been the pattern. For years now and certainly intensifying in the last several months china and russia agreed to sanctions on north korea, and then they help north korea evade those sanctions. And with President Trumps interview with the New York Times, for instance, he justifiably and vociferously criticized china for trade cheating, intellectual property theft, for cheating with north korea. But then he undercut himself by personalizing. He really believes that by building personal relationships with president xi and others that he can solve great problems. The president xi, while hes willing to wine and dine President Trump, he will act in chinas interests, and hell act ruthlessly in chinas interests. And so i would like to see President Trump bring a more sober,ing analytical, real politic approach to all of this. Because if we do not crack down hard on china, china will not honor the sanctions, and then within the next year to three years we will be at war. Lauren lauren so do you think we sanction china . Their shipping companies, their Financial Institutions . What do we do . We already have imposed some sanctions on individual shipping companies, corporations, some individuals. But if you look at the size of china and its economy, its really theyre token effects. Youve got to hit china hard. Now, the problem as you know very well, lauren, to hit china hard means that some american corporations take a hit. And the strongest advocates that china has anywhere in the world are those american corporations profiting from the china trade. Its only a minority and a relatively small one of our American Business community. But theyve been a powerful impediment to us acting incisively and forcefully with china. But to sum it up, the key to north korea is through beijing, through china. Although we also have to be cognizant of the fact that the russians are gleefully helping north korea evade sanctions both because they see china as a useful ally in keeping us off balance, keeping us occupied, but also because Vladimir Putin is our determined enemy, and hes not our enemy because we want him to be. We want a better relationship. He is the determined enemy of the United States because he has chosen to be, because he hates us, and he does everything he can to damage us and our president needs to recognize that. Lauren and final question, where do we stand on in this ongoing russia investigation about Trump Campaign collusion and the like . Weve seen no evidence of it. You have congress at odds with the intelligence community, chair nunes wants more information. Trump says he believes the special counsel will treat him fairly. Do you believe that . I absolutely believe that Robert Mueller will, is a man of the law and will treat the president and everyone else involved fairly. Robert mueller is a great american. And the Vilification Campaign against him is despicable. Every american who truly loves this country and values what we have should want to know what the russians did, how they did it and with whom they did it. It should not be a partisan issue. And, again, President Trump personalizes it. Its not about him, its about the security of our elections which are the bedrock of our democracy. If i could have one wish for 2018, it would take the politics on both sides out of what is a very serious issue crucial to our democracy. Lauren lauren well said. Lieutenant colonel ralph peters, happy new year to you. And happy new year to you. Lauren all right. And lets check the big board to see if it is a happy new year. Well, not on this last day, down about 25 points. No big deal. 71 record closes in 2017. President trump now threatening amazon and their sweetheart deal with the u. S. Postal service. Tweeting this morning why is the United States post office, which is losing many billions of dollars a year while charging amazon another so little to deliver their packages, making amazon richer and the post Office Dumber and poorer . Should be charging much more. Amazon shares, which are up almost 60 this year, falling 1. 25 on the move. Well, 2017, the year of the robot. Record sales for automation and machine technology. Nearly 1. 5 billion in orders. I hope you invested in robots and a. I. At beginning of 2017, because up next our traders are going to be telling you where turbid be putting your money at the start of 2018, just a few days away now. The floor show next on countdown. Lauren countdown continues, just 42 minutes away from the closing bell on this very last trading session of the year. Markets knocking it out of the ballpark, all three major indices boasting doubledigit gains for the year. Look at that, the nasdaq is up almost 29 . Look, we didnt make it to dow 25,000 today. We came within 129 points, but we are now down 28. If we had, we would have shattered a 22yearold record, but still the best year for the major averages since 2013. And get this, since the february 2016 lows of the markets, theyve added 10. 7 trillion in value. The best trade of the year . This is something that even trumped boeings 90 return, if you can imagine that. The best trade of 2017, shorting the vix, betting against volatility. That returned some lucky investors nearly 200 this year. I do hope that you were one of them. So we ask, what is the trade of the year going to be in 2018 . Weve got traders at the New York Stock Exchange rain cme group. Tim anderson and chris robinson, i was reading the wall street journal this morning. Heres headline, everything went right for markets in 2017. Can it continue, tim . Did everything go right for the markets . Well, certainly a lot of things went very right for markets, and i think markets easily outperformed almost everyones expectations. And that being said, i think it would be very hard to to duplicate the performance returns that we saw this year between 20 and 30 for the major indices. And next year i think if we got half of those gains next year, people would still be very happy. Lauren all right. Chris, im looking at the tenyear yield right now, epping the year 2. 41 . Often a gauge of investor sentiment, but basically were ending this year right where we ended last year. Everybody was saying, chris, it was going to soar, it was going to soar. It didnt. What does this tell you . Well, i think thats classic. You know, people have opinions, and when they dont pan out, you always have to have a plan b. Were anticipating at least two more rate hikes, possibly three, you would think that would raise the yield on the tenyear. Well see what happens next year. I think that everybodys assumed that, so well see if it pans out. But if it doesnt, i know everybody last year thought wed get above 3 . I guess thats the next goal right now, a nice round number. So i think thats what, certainly, Bond Community is looking for on the horizon for 2018. Lauren yeah. Commodities looking good towards the end of 2017 at least. I mean, oil ending 60 a barrel, little bit more than that. Ira, how do you feel about oil in 2018 . Im not as bullish as people would think. I think the markets had a confluence of great events take place; opec holding together, cutting back production, the 40s pipeline, looking at libyan situations and, of course, demand coming out of countries everywhere because all economies are firing. But i think in the low 60s for wti, youre about there, probably high 60s, maybe mid 60s for the brent, about where youre at. I think itd be easier to drop back than it will be to add 5 from here. Gives you an idea where im thinking, and i like base metals. I think theyre going to be an interesting trade to the upside in 2018. Lauren all right. Ira, your trade in 2018 is metals. Tim, what is your trade of 2018 . You know, i would really focus on cyclical stocks, think u. S. Manufacturing and also on Consumer Discretionary spending. Where you might think casual dining. Lauren okay. All right. And, chris, you . I like our Commodity Index fund. It lets you have big diversification, and commodities are pretty out of favor. I think were overdue for a move higher, so i like being long a basket in 2018. Lauren all right. Chris, ira, tim, thank you so much, and i hope it is a wonderful 2018 for you guys. Thank you. Thanks, happy new year. Lauren all right. Make sure to tune into wall street week tonight, 8 00. Ill be filling in for maria bartiromo, and i will talk to jordan waxman of hightower investors about record run in the markets, plus the trump economy. 8 00 eastern followed by the property man. And you can find me each weekday foreigning, five a. M morning, five a. M. Eastern time. Get your day started with me and Cheryl Casone only on fox business. Lauren cocacola, ge and nike leading 0 on the last day of the trading year. Up next, apple is saying im sorry for making your older iphone go slower after introducing their new models. But what do they plan to do about all of this . Hillary vaughn up next with that story when countdown returns. Think your Large Cap Equity Fund has exposure to Energy Infrastructure mlps . Think again. Its time to shake up your lineup. The alerian mlp etf can diversify your equity portfolio and add potential income. Bring amlp into the game. Before investing, consider the Funds Investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses. Read the prospectus carefully at alpsfunds. Com amlp lauren well, that didnt take long, the lawsuits piling up even as apple apologizes today for slowing down older iphones. The Company Revealed a week ago that its software automatically slows down the older phones to protect the battery and its stability, but angry users view that as a ploy to get them to go ahead and upgrade, to buy new devices. Joining us now, Hillary Vaughn with the latest on the lawsuits spanning the globe. Hey, hillary. Reporter hey, lauren. Well, even though apple kept their plan secret and some is customers that asked about their slow iphones werent told to simply swap out battery to improve performance, apple still says they didnt do it to push users to buy their newest device. But youre right, angry iphone users arent taking their word for it, filing lawsuits around the globe including one in new york that says this had plaintiffs been informed by apple that a simple Battery Replacement would have improved the performance of their iphones, plaintiffs would have chosen to replace their batteries which was clearly a more Cost Effective method rather than upgrading to a new iphone that was extremely costly. One lawsuit filed here in california wants apple to pay out over a trillion dollars in damages, but a massive fine isnt the only threat looming over apple execs. One suit could mean higherups could face jail time overseas if found guilty. A french environmentalist organization taking apple to Court Alleging apples move violates a french law that prevents companies from degrading old products to push users to buy their new ones. Now, if found guilty, violaters of that law can be sentenced two years in french prison. Now apple is trying to make it right birdies counting by discounting Battery Replacements for just 29, thats 50 cheaper than before. If you even upgraded to a newer phone and you still kept your iphone 6, i would go get the 29 battery because, guess what . Its going to be more valuable if you go to resell it later or if you want to repurpose it to someone else in the family. Reporter lauren, apple says theyre also launching a new feature that will inform users of their battery health. But these fixes, while welcome for some users, certainly isnt going to make this problem go away anytime soon. Lauren not if were talking criminality in france. Thats kind of crazy, hillary, isnt it . I dont know. Reporter yeah, it is, it is crazy. [laughter] lauren happy new year to you. Thank you very much. Reporter happy new year. Lauren all right. Coming up, the dow jones, as you can see, its doing a little bit better, trading down just 21 points. Certainly off the highs of the session which took us about 130 points away from 25,000. Look, weve all seen the breakout hit stranger things. Okay, i havent, but many people have. But theres nothing stranger about netflix now cashing in on tax reform. Were going to tell you about the streaming giants big move that has some of the top executives jumping for joy. And we are just 57 hours away from one of the biggest new years eve celebrations the world has ever seen. More than two Million People expected to watch that big, sparkling new years eve ball descend from the flag pole in new yorks times square. But look, all the recent terror attacks here in new york city and elsewhere, how do you keep yourself and your family safe from harm . Coming up, were going to sit down with former nypd Counterterrorism Division Commanding Officer mike oneill. He will break down all the security concerns and ways to prevent them. Try to stay awake for the ball drop, by the way. About a fifth of people dont make midnight. Countdowns coming back. Stay awake for that too. Im gerri willis on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange with this fox business brief. All three major indexes down this afternoon, the last trading day of the year. And another corporate heavyweight is cashing in on the new tax reform plan. Streaming giant netflix planning to boost the annual salary for a number of its top executives next year, citing the recent passage of the tax overhaul. Most notably, netflixs chief conduct officer will earn a 20 million salary in 2018, thats a big boost from the 1 million paycheck from the last three years. Shares of netflix up more than 55 this year. And from wall street darlings to the biggest downers, traders are betting the hottest stocks of 2017 will get crushed next year. Facebook, apple and google are among the most heavily shorted stocks. Back to you. Attention homeowners age sixtytwo and older. 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On the hotel you want. Go on, try something fresh. Tripadvisor. The latest reviews. The lowest prices. Lauren countdown to the closing bell continues. Preparations for one of the biggest new years eve celebrations underway in times square. Stages are being built, the ball lifted up into place yesterday, and they even did a confetti test today, okay . The confetti test. The nypd has said this year the new years eve celebrationsthe tightest security ever following not one, but two terror attacks in new york city within the last two months. So just how will the nypd be out in force this year, and what they be looking for to keep you safe . Joining me, mike oneil, the ceo of msa security and the former nypd counterterrorism Commanding Officer. Hes also the firstever c. O. For the unit you helped to create, so you are an expert in keeping new york city and other cities safe. How will this years preparations be different can from a Security Point of view . I think the nypd enhances security every year. They look at what worked good last year, what didnt work good and change it every year. What theyre going to consider is how the threat has evolved since 9 11 from those spectacular type of attacks to what i will call lowtech, simplified attack which could have high consequences whether its a truck ramming into a controlled, an active Shooter Event or an improvised explosive device. Lauren so im assuming theres a barricade around times square . How are you monitoring the hotels, the highrise buildings . Right. When i was in counterterrorism, people said you couldnt secure an event like that. Lauren lauren well, can you . You can, and the nypd does a great job. Theyll put a physical perimeter in place hours before the event to lock the area down. Theyll start screening everything within that area whether its parking garages, hotels, sanitizers to make sure theres no explosives or weapons, and theyll put a procedure in place to monitor anything coming in and do ongoing monitoring of the event itself. Lauren mayor bill de blasio says, look, theres no credible threats, but are you more concerned than normal . I mean, isis is always posing a threat. We did have two recent terror attacks here in new york city. Are you more concerned than normal . Its definitely a target of opportunity. Its got Massive Media coverage as well. And with the way the threat has evolved, when we dont know credible threats, doesnt mean they dont exist. Were seeing people are getting radicalized in their home over the internet and, unfortunately, its not hard to use these lowtech methods to carry out an attack. Nypd takes precaution toss defeat an attack like that. Lauren out in will have after that in love after that shooting massacre, las vegas, theyre expecting a big new years eve celebration. Almost every Single Police officer will be working, they have the national guard, theyre protecting the airports, the hotels. How do you think vegas which might not have the experience that new york city has how do you think theyre coping with it . I think las vegas probably became fast learners after the recent terrible attack they had with the active shooter in the hotel. And theyre probably taking things into consideration every time now that they plan for a special event, using countersnipers, again, creating a physical security measure. Really people in the counterterrorism field should look at event in times square on monday, on sunday night as a case study on how to police a special event. And all the technology and manpower thats put in there to address every kind of attack modality that might come at them. Lauren and money. And money. Lauren lauren lets say youre with your family, and youre not staying home. Youre going to be in a public venue to celebrate 2018. What do you do . What do you look for . Whats the first thing you do to be awar of your surroundings . Well, the community and the public are a great part of any program. We used to go out and do training with community groups. And it wasnt to scare them, we wanted to empower them with information, we want you to go about your daily lives, we encourage people to go to the new years celebration and enjoy it, but mindful of your surroundings. If you see something that doesnt look right, alert us. And that could be the difference lauren Say Something. Exactly. If you see something, Say Something is a great campaign, and its not just a marketing ploy. It really means something. Lauren and dont worry if yo might be insulting somebody absolutely not. Lauren its better to be safe than sorry. Do you expect its going to be frigid. Its one of the coldest new years new years weve ever seen, do you expect people to say, you know what . We dont want to crowd and huddle together in times square, were going to not do that this year. Theres a saying that sometimes weathers a policemans best friend, but those pens will be full. I dont think the cold weathers going to keep people away at all. Lauren disney did something earlier this week, they put these they got rid of the do not disturb signs that you put on your hotel room doors. So, basically, every day hotel staff can go in right. Lauren kind of see whats going on. What do you make of that move, and how do you think were going to respond . I think thats probably a response to the las vegas incident. Id probably telling tell you te looking at attack geometries. If theres certain rooms that are overlooking a high consequence area where theres a mass crowd of people lauren theyre doing this where the monorails run. Exactly. They probably want to make sure people cant have access to carry out an attack there. Sometimes its good to just put it out there, to put it in peoples mind. Maybe someone was thinking about that, and that might think twice. I understand its a lauren do you think guests will understand that . I think if you explain it to them well, if youre not impeding on their privacy, i think people enjoy safety. You go to disney world to have a great time with your family. Lauren you want a great, safe time. Exactly. If you have good security measures that are clearly explained, i think people actually could appreciate that. Lauren all right. Well, thank you very much, and thank you for everything that you do to help keep us safe. As always, its one big task. Mike oneill, happy new year. Happy new year to you. Lauren all right. Lets check the big board. 24,793. The nasdaq down 27, the s p down 6. Up next, Morgan Stanley says bitcoin is worth zero. [laughter] what happened to that assessment if amazon starts taking it in 2018 . Were going to take a look into the future of cryptocurrency when countdown comes right back. Seventeen minutes to the closing bell. Achoo achoo feel a cold coming on . Zicam cold remedy nasal swabs shorten colds with a snap, and reduce symptom severity by 45 . Shorten your cold with a snap, with zicam. Lauren no power still for so many in puerto rico. Its been three months since Hurricane Maria ravaged the island. Officials there now say nearly half of power customers still lack electricity. A Power Company spokesperson says the damage is severe. A lot of work remains to be done. But the u. S. Army corps of engineers says the entire island will get the lights back on by may which is more than eight months since Hurricane Maria. Its unbelievable. Well, bitcoin blazed a path many 2017. It kicked off the year, look at this chart, at about 1,000. It soared to a lifetime high of about 20,000 by the middle of this month, but after that surge, well, look at the rest of that chart on the right. We saw the value plunge to as hoe as 11,000 at one point. Whats ahead in 2018 . Will it survive . Will it lose its spot as the worlds most popular Virtual Currency . Lets bring in jeff henry, explain to our viewers what youre actually engaged in. Its good to see you, jeff. Thank you for having me. Lauren you know, there are so many question marks about the future of cryptocurrency and bitcoin in particular. Where do you see it going . I tell you, i think bitcoin has a little bit of an identity crisis right now. People are in such a mania and a fever about getting in on it, and people feel left out. And i think bitcoin hasnt quite found its place. Is it an asset . Is it a utility . I think this year was around trying to figure out what is bitcoin. Lauren identity crisis, right . I love the Morgan Stanley note from earlier in the week basically saying, well, if its an asset, its worth nothing. Potentially, it could drop to zero, completely worthless. On the other hand, you have Something Like gold thats always going to be worth something. What do you make of that report from Morgan Stanley . I think whats tough about it, when you think about gold, its tough to go use gold at the grocery store, to pay your rent, right . So there has to be some currency. Was the worlds becoming more digital and more mobile, people need to Exchange Currency much more rapidly and fast. And as the world gets smaller and people conduct business all around the world, you need some sort of currency that is faster, and i think thats what bitcoin and really ether and other types of clip the currency present for users. Lauren yeah. I remember when people said im never going to pay with my phone. Leave my wallet at home, are you crazy . And, look, so many people are doing the mobile payment thing now. And we have, in terms of cryptocurrency, overstock. Virgin galactic, these are retailers or that are accepting bitcoin. Do you think walmart or amazon or a major, major player will . Absolutely. Because it is the fastest way to make a payment. And mobile is becoming such a big part of the commerce world. People are conducting more and more business through that. So, yeah, absolutely. I think people are becoming more comfortable with it. And as i think bitcoin is more accepted, i think some of the craze around it will, youll see it really in practical use as opposed to just being traded really on a lot of speculation. Lauren but the worry is criminality. We were seeking to the ceo of carbon black yesterday. This is what he had to say about that. The attackers out there using bitcoin as the primary currency to remain anonymous and be able to drive billions of dollars in illegal criminal activity bitcoin is behind that. Lauren so when, if ever, jeff, can bitcoin gain legitimacy . I thought for a time that the futures trading on the cboe and the cme would do it, but where to you stand on this . Yeah, i tell you, a lot of people are looking at bitcoin as the grand poobah of cryptocurrency. Theres a second currency called ether that youre seeing a lot of initial coin offerings and something were planning on doing next year. It gives really more legitimacy, because people will be using their coin or their token to be able to actually do something, utilize it for something other than trading. I think thats where the mystery around bitcoin is, is how will people use it. I think its more and more retailers and top companies, microsoft, other companies are using it as a payments mechanism. I think that will, some of that fear will be removed from the market. Lauren yeah. Your company is launching your own token. Can you tell us about that . Yeah. Were calling it the moon bit lauren nice. And were working on this now. One of the things i describe to people, 2017 was a year where it was, like are, quantity over quality. There was a ton of initial coin offerings, a lot of scams, a lot of bad apples that were doing it based on a power point and putting it in front of grandmothers, taking money out of their iras which is something we dont no one wants to see that. I think 2018 because of the legitimacy around ether and really companies that are using it, youll see more quality over quantity, and people that are doing it the right way. And thats what were doing. Were working with some of the top law firms and advisers, similar to overstock. Com. Lauren ive got to play devils advocate, because 2017 was the year of the hack attack, and a lot of these criminals, these hackers want to get paid in bitcoin because its harder to trace, and its so anonymous, you know . And now were starting to see a crackdown. But were also starting to see investors say we want in. Yeah. I think separating really utility from investment, i think thats the part, that i think, you know, bitcoin is suffering. Going back to that identity crisis i mentioned before. Theres that what is bitcoin, what is it going to be. And i think people are really perplexed by it. In ether and companies that are legitimate, we have 600,000 users on our platform that are using our freelance services, having a real utility and being able to use it for payments and other services, thats where credibility will come to the market, and i think thats why 2018 promises to be very good for companies that are using it the right way as opposed to being really a speculative asset that people are trading on. Lauren and the search for volatility in the process. Jeff, thank you very much and good luck to you. Thank you so much. Have a good day. Hawrp lauren we just want to flash in with the markets right now because at this moment the Dow Jones Industrial average, which saw 71 record highs this year, is at session low ares, down just about 50 points. The s p 500 is down 6 im sorry, its down 8, and negative at this point on the week, the nasdaq is down 40 points. By the way, everything for the month is certainly higher. 2017 was the year of the fidget spinner. Oh, remember these . The total Solar Eclipse glasses. I forgot about those. And the unicorn frappucino at starbucks. Um, yeah. [laughter] what will be the biggest investing trends for 2018 . I hope theyre not bringing the unicorn frappucino back. We break down the top moneymakers in the year ahead, well have that for you next. I tried hard to quit smoking. But when we brought our daughter home that was it. Now i have nicoderm cq. The nicoderm cq patch with unique extended release Technology Helps prevent your urge to smoke all day. Its the best thing that ever happened to me. Can you say thanks nicoderm cq . Every great why needs a great how. I used to have more hair. I used to have more color. And. I used to have cancer. I beat it. I did. Not alone. I used to have no idea what the American Cancer Society did. Research . Yeah. But also free rides to chemo and free lodging near hospitals. I used to maybe give a little. Then i got so much back. I used to have cancer. Call 18004944357 today. Your contributions to the American Cancer Society fund valuable research. But thats just the beginning. A cancer diagnosis can kick off years of challenge. Access to insurance. So, please donate today at cancer. Org and help attack cancer from every angle. Lauren we have four minutes to go. Do you have your tivo set on our show right now . Better yet, do you own tivo shares . I hope you do. Dvr maker is surging at this hour. Down on the New York Stock Exchange. Hey, gerri. Lauren, this deal for tivo was supposed to be a secret it is badlykept one. The stock is up 12 on several reports that private equity buyers are bidding on this company. The stock has been down hard this year, 33 . They are valuing the company at 2. 5 billion. This send mooingful for the company. Were expecting more details january 9th, when executives speak at a presentation of a conference in las vegas. Tivo was one of the original digital video recording companies. Now here we are years later talking about a possible buyout of this company. It is up 13 this year with several private equity buyers talking about possibly acquiring this company. A lot of viewers would know the company from many years ago when it first emerged. Value of the company at 2. 5 billion. That is pretty good amount for little tivo here. Lauren . Lauren it was the thing to have back then. Gerri willis thank you very much. You better get the last trades now. Do we get the dow positive final two minutes of the trading year . Two days the ball drops on a record fantastic recordbreaking year for your portfolio. What are you betting on in 2018 . How are you doing, lauren. Thanks for having me on. Lauren lauren of course. We Pay Attention to Free Cash Flow and relative strength things we do. On the relative strength side, four sectors we like are financials, energy, technology and materials. Materials is kind of an interesting play there, because it has been a great year for the market t has been a great year legislatively with the tax bill passing. On top of that theyre talking about infrastructure bill. So those are the four sectors that we currently have allocations to in one of our etfs that are demonstrating the most relative strength going forward. Lea telecom is one of two sectors down there year. Energy and telecom, youre betting it comes back which brings me go ahead. I was going to say we own vodafone which is not a u. S. Telecom name. Its a British Telecom name but they have just gone through a massive spend on their 4g. That spending is winding down. Their Free Cash Flow is 6. 8 billion. We expect that to continue to rise. We just a. I. D. Ed a name like vote dont to one of our etfs. Lauren how do you feel about international. A lot of International Stock markets have done better than the u. S. . Last year 2017, for sure. For the last 10 years not so much. If youre looking at your Portfolio One of the things that has been a big theme this year that should be a continued theme going next year the balance of u. S. And international is right. Weve been so heavily u. S. Because that is where the returns have been for last 10 years. Everything regresses to the mean. All things go back. International markets are behind and should come back nicely. [closing bell rings] lauren sean ohara. Were ending year down 98 points. 100. Capping a record recordbreakinr on sour note. David asman, Lea Gabrielle for the closing bell. David maybe not today but the whole year was incredible. It is official, stocks come to a close on this last trading day of the year, the dow, the s p, the nasdaq all seeing the biggest yearly gains since 2013 there. Is a lot more. The dow ending higher for the nine month in a row, longest streak since 1959. S p, longest winning vehicle there since 1983. Streak after streak after streak. Hi, everybody, im david asman. Lea im