Transcripts For CNBC Closing Bell 20140811

And chevron after the pipeline operator consolidated all of its subsidiaries in a 44 billion deal. The deal is changing the face of the Energy Industry, but it could also spell the end of Master Limited partnerships, which Kinder Morgan popularized and are used by many investors for income. That is an open question and we will hear from a top oil industry executive on that, coming up. So, lets take a look at where we stand in markets as we head into the last hour of trade. The dow up about 22 points, well off its session highs above 74 points earlier. The s p 500, meanwhile, adding about six. The nasdaq is up about 30. Tesla is a key outperformer. Were going to talk about a couple of namespecific stories, but weve also, by the way, seen a 10year holding at 2. 4 . Oil, interestingly enough, slightly lower, tyler. Kelly, joining the Closing Bell Exchange is joe hider from raymond financial, sam barnett from sbb research group, Diane Garnett from clear alternatives, holly list from mcquarry and Rick Santelli is off today, so we dont have rick to join the fray. Joe, let me start with you and get you to sum up your view of the market today and over the next several weeks. What are you looking for . Well, we continue to be positive on the market. Obviously, there are always question marks, and certainly, the geopolitical questions really scared the market last week. But you know, were down 3 . Now weve rebounded on friday, were up a little bit today. So, we think that positive momentum is going to continue over the next few weeks. Holly, do you see positive momentum in parts of the credit markets, too, like highyield debt . There could be. Weve seen a lot of action in the highyield debt area, but i do think that you have positive momentum in treasury prices, meaning that youd have lower yields. I think now that were testing at 2. 40 and you see that we breached it briefly on friday, i think weve got a lower range in treasuries now, about 2. 25 to 2. 65, so i think the momentum is to lower yields. Diane, give me some ideas here based on your overall viewpoint of ways i could make a little money or avoid losing it. You know, fischer came out and said hes a little worried about the growth thats going on right now in the economy. I think its really important to take note that the pulp and Paper Industry is really doing well right now, and that is such a great leading indicator. Why . Because we have all of these Companies Like amazon, zappos, all of them today sending out their materials using corrugated box. And that has become an integral part of our economy. I think all things are going well. The one thing we need to be cautious about over the next couple of weeks is really the housing data. As the housing data comes out as expected, slightly higher, i think this is a great time. But the pulp and Paper Industry leading the way, i think thats a key barometer. I love the old corrugated box indicator. No, thats a great one to bring up, especially in light of u. P. S. Earnings today, weighed down by their workers comp costs, but the revenue is up actually year on year. Sam, to you, lets talk about housing for a second. The homebuilders have struggled to stay in the green this year. What do you think the trend is there . Well, i think that the economy is doing well in general and i think that with the breadth of indicators from gdp at 4 and the consumers driving it up, we have the highest level of Consumer Spending in six years reported, 98 a day, and i think thats going to always strengthen the Housing Market and other aspects of the financial markets. So, diane, let me go back to, i love the box analogy, too. Oh, yeah, sure. Should i buy the Paper Companies . You know, were talking about 98 a day that consumers are spending, sixyear high. I think now is a very good time to buy those companies. Remember, we always kid around and say things like, ah, in the gold mine, it was the people that sold the ax that did so well. I think nowadays, we tend to discount paper. People said, oh, technology took paper away. In fact, ill bet most of the viewers come home tonight to an amazon box or something delivered by u. P. S. Or fedex sitting in their driveway, in their mailboxes. I think it is the number one way for us to really get a good sense as to how consumers are spending. I think theres a lot of upside here in a space that doesnt normally get as much coverage as it deserves in its current role in the environment. Okay. Your favorite names, diane . Probably international paper. I think i. P. Has really done such a good job dominating that market, right . I mean, thats a company that has really taken a serious look at corrugated box and said were going to send out discounted, you know, they give bulk discounts, seconddegree price discrimination, sending all of this paper and box material out to the major warehouses. I think thats a really important place to look. Theyre worried about people like mastercard and visa having softer headlines. When i see Companies Like u. P. S. Having higher headlines, right . I mean, thats a really good indication. What about you, what gives you the confidence that momentum here is moving in the right way . Well, really, if you look at any of the numbers, we just got employment numbers, weve created 200,000 new jobs six months in a row. We havent seen that since 1997. If you look at consumer monthly debt obligations, theyre where they were relative to incomes in the 1980s. So, weve got a lot of room for consumers to continue to drive this recovery and expansion. So, i think really, all of the data points with the notable exception of homebuilding, which we talked about, tends to be volatile anyway, are all positive, and thats why we think there is continued momentum for growth in this economy, not just for a few weeks but for some time to come. Sam, why havent we had a 10 correction in so long . Do you expect one . And would we be better off if we had one . No, i dont think that were in line for a 10 correction. Come on. I mean, if we were going to have a 10 correction, we have already had all of the events that could lead to it. Remember, the economic crisis was five years ago, right . Five, six years ago. Weve had a long time of a slow, steady recovery. Its not like weve had this dramatic increase that happened, you know, literally overnight. Right. Weve seen Economic Data grow very slowly, and the market is kind of growing on pace with that, and if anything, falling behind. So, i dont think were in line for a 10 correction. Sam, could i get your thought on that . Yeah. So, of course, everyone talks about corrections, and especially as prices get higher, everyone gets worried. We make a priority of always buying insurance and always investing in options to protect against losses, but that being said, we see this broad indicator, many broad indicators of economic growth. Another thing in addition to these data points that have been mentioned so far with consumers and with jobs, im encouraged to see Small Business optimism increasing. That number also hit its highest level in six years, and that means that people on the ground selling products are also optimistic that consumers will continue to spend, and i think that strengthened the underlying performance in the financial markets. So, holly, let me go back to you and what were seeing here play out with regard to Interest Rates. If its the case that were in a lower range now, as low as 2. 25 , everything that everybody else is saying seems encouraging for momentum here for the economy. Is what you see different than that or, actually, are low rates part of that positive story, do you think . Well, i think theyre dove tailed together, because i dont necessarily think theyre completely separate stories. But keep in mind that the markets can diverge based upon what theyre trading off of. Right now, your stocks are doing well because you have a lowrate environment, you do still have an accommodative fed, and earnings have been coming out better. Theres no doubt about that, and thats helping equities. But the treasuries are also lower, almost for the same reason. You do still have an accommodative fed. And the thing that we cant lose sight of is youve got these geopolitical tensions, that while they may be calm today, theres still that undertone to the market russia ukraine, iraq, israel gaza, and we cant forget ebola virus or whats going on in argentina. So, any of those other items could start percolating thats going to drive you into the flight to safety that we have seen in treasuries. I believe thats what took you below 2. 4 on friday. So, i think you have this lower yield. And if you asked me what my favorite name is, it would be the u. S. Treasury, particularly at the long end of the curve, because its trading off of different data and it can do that over short periods of time from whats driving the equity markets. Final quick question, holly, will Interest Rates on lets say the 10year treasury be lower or higher at the end of the year than they are today . If you asked me, id say its going to be lower. Lower. There you go. Yeah. Like i said, i think the range is 2. 25 to 2. 65 . I think that 3 that a lot of people are calling for is far off. I think you have to consider whos in charge of the fed and keep in mind, the fomc voting members are going to change over in january. So, if those hawks dont start doing something, theres going to be a less hawkish fed next year. All right, folks. Thank you very much. We appreciate your all being with us today. Very interesting final point there. Thanks, everybody. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki reportedly on his way out, but he may not go quietly. Nbcs Duncan Golestani has the latest developments. Duncan. Reporter ah, yeah, thats right. It looks like there could be some kind of confrontation in baghdad. We dont know which way this is going to go. Al abadi has been announced the new Prime Minister. He was the deputy member of the parliament, but Nuri Al Maliki isnt taking that well. His supporters are saying the new appointment lacks legitimacy. Last night he was on television saying he would not give up his office, that he wanted to serve another full term. And just today there have been reports of groups, security groups and Police Officers loyal to murie al maliki on the street blocking off roads. Whether hes digging in for the long haul, whether he wants to hold on to power, we dont really know, but certainly, the International Consensus is going against him, because the new Prime Minister has already had calls from Prime Minister biden and ban kimoon, secretarygeneral of the United Nations has commended the move. Everyone really trying to get behind what they see is a consensus candidate, a unity candidate, because they want someone who can unite sunnis, kurds and shiites in this difficult time in iraq. Back to you. All right, thanks very much. As we keep an eye on markets, heading into break with 50 minutes to go, dows up about 34 points, 7 on the s p and 34 on the nasdaq. Were going to take a look at walmart. It is lagging after an analyst downgrade. Plus, reports of a government food safety probe in shenzhen in southern china. The pros will debate whether you should buy walmart shares ahead of earnings that come out thursday. Well have that one. Also ahead, Global Concerns have hit the markets, but more than iraq, more than the middle east. Well tell you why russia matters most to u. S. Investors. Emerging market hedge funds specialist bill browder will join us coming up. And next, the head of a social Media Company who laid off about 50 employees. Listen to what hes doing. Hes offering a 5,000 guarantee to hire his former employees. Its an amazing story. We want you to hear it, so stay where you are. Well be right back. Its a green day to wall street, and im not talking about the rock band. Industrials are up about 0. 25 at 16,593, nasdaq at 1,939, a seven, almost eightpoint gain there, about 0. 5 . And the nasdaq composite in percentage terms the biggest gainer, about 0. 4 , standing at 4,405. Heres a story we could use on this monday. Our next guest may be a candidate for employer of the year. He was forced to lay off nearly half his staff after losing a big client, but not only is he helping his staff find big jobs, if one of the Staff Members are fired due to performance or character reasons, hell pay that employer 5,000. So, what was behind this move . With us right now is jim tobin, president of ignite social media. Mr. Tobin, welcome. Good to have you with us. Thank you. How did you come up with this idea . Whered it come from . Well, our whole leadership team, deidra browns, marcy roggin and i were talking after we got the news about the contract loss. And what was sad, obviously, was the loss of income, but we worked really hard to find those people, and theyre really good people. And i was really sad that we werent going to be able to keep this team together. And as we talked about that and we talked about the quality of them, the sort of guarantee came out naturally, that they didnt do anything wrong here. It wasnt a performance thing. And if we can display that in a concrete way to the next employer, they should be able to find jobs more quickly. Has anybody, jim, required you to pay out 5,000 . No. We still have everyone employed through the end of the month, so we havent gotten to that point yet, but ive heard its been less than two weeks since we let people know if they had a job or not, and as of a few minutes ago, i have heard over 15 people have gotten new jobs already, so i think the guarantee seems to be helping. Obviously in your business what happened was a contract that you had with, i believe it was one of the automakers, chrysler. Right. It went away. And in your business, you staff up when the contracts come in, and when the contracts go away, you have to staff down. What was the response to your by your employees to this plan of yours . Well, the response was really surprising to me. There was a lot of gratitude. And i didnt expect that. I expected a lot of emotions directed at me when i told people their jobs were being eliminated, but not gratitude. And i think it came from not only the guarantee but just telling them as soon as we knew and trying to be open and candid. And i just felt like that was the right thing to do to try and treat people with respect. And jim, you know, i wonder, as we get more and more on the service side, firms like yours, boutique firms that might have a big client come and go, theyre bulky, theyre projectoriented, if this can maybe be an example for other firms to consider as they look towards privatesector solutions for a lot of the frictions that are going to come up in the workplace in the future . Yeah, i hope so. Whenever youre interviewing someone, youve always got that question, why are they available . Why did they leave that last job, and is there something i should be weary of . And what we were trying to say for these affected employees was no. If we still had the money, they would still very much be with us. What have you heard obviously, the affected workers are sad to be leaving your company and losing the income. Theyre happy to have what effectively is a freelook guarantee on your behalf. Have you heard from other employers in your marketplace, your competitors . What has been their response, if any . Ive gotten 20, 30plus emails from people saying, hey, i have these job openings, you know, whos affected . Do you have any talented copyrighters or art directors or programmers, and were helping share those lists. Were sharing the inbound with the affected employees. So, i think a lot of people are hungry for really good talent, and i think somebodys saying, this persons highly qualified, has had the effect we were hoping for. Jim, is there anything more that you could do . I mean, the offers already generous, but does this have you thinking of what more you or another firm in your position could offer . Well, we kept everybody on until the end of august, and weve given them unlimited vacation to go on job interviews and just said, you know, just tell us where you need to go and let that happen. So, the hr services ad has been really, really strong. So, its a start. I wish there was more i could do, but it comes in at a time when the company also loses a significant part of our income, so thats a restraint. Sure. And you mentioned that you actually, despite losing this big client, have more in the pipeline. Is there any way of perhaps giving these employees, soontobe former employees, a first look if you begin to expand again . Yeah, ive hoped to hire some of them back. There was sort of a Going Away Party the other day and the consensus was well be back here working in six months and im going to try to make that true. In fact, friday we learned that we earned a new account in the fashion industry, which is exciting. So, were hoping to begin that process very, very soon. Well leave it there then, for now. Jim tobin, we really appreciate your idea and the creativity here. President of ignite social media. Thank you. And thanks again. All right, weve got about 40 minutes before the closing bell. The dow industrials up 32 points. The s p 500 up about 7. And the nasdaq is higher by 34. Coming up, our Jackie Deangelis has a special report on which u. S. Oil giants are scaling back their operations in the middle east and how that could affect stocks in your portfolio. And up next, walmart facing an analyst downgrade and a Chinese Government probe into food safety. Two pros will debate whether you should buy walmart ahead of its earnings out later this week. Well be back in just a few seconds. Crohns disease is tough, but ive managed. 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If youre still just managing your symptoms, ask your gastroenterologist about humira. With humira, remission is possible. So i can reach ally bank 24 7, but there are24 7branches . Its just im a little reluctant to try new things. Whats wrong with trying new things . Feel that in your muscles . Yeah. I do. Try a new way to bank, where no branches equals great rates. I make a lot of purchases foand i get ass. Lot in return with ink plus from chase. Like 50,000 bonus points when i spent 5,000 in the first 3 months after i opened my account. And i earn 5 times the rewards on internet, phone services and at Office Supply stores. With ink plus i can choose how to redeem my points. Travel, gift cards, even cash back. And my rewards points wont expire. So you can make owning a business even more rewarding. Ink from chase. So you can. Welcome back. The russell 2000 again the outperformer today, and thats helped markets generally maintain a little bit of their footing here. We are off the highs of the day, but the dow is still up 29 with about 40 minutes to go, tyler. And kelly, stocks kicking off the week where they left off on friday, moving up just a bit. Bertha coombs tracking the movers for us today. What have you got, bertha . Tyler, were starting with priceline moving higher after posting betterthanexpected quarterly profits due to a jump in international bookings. The stock trading up nearly 3 on the day. Its a different story, though, for dean foods, moving lower after posting weakerthanexpected secondquarter loss, warning on its Third Quarter and pulling its fullyear guidance. Thats the trifecta the street doesnt like. Its off 4. 25 . Tesla gaining ground, though, as well, after Deutsche Bank upgraded the electric carmaker to a buy with a 310 price target, citing betterthanexpected growth. Tesla trading up 5 . That momo just comes back to that stock. And we end with walmart, falling after jefferies downgraded the stock from a hold to a buy over concerns about investment spending. The stock apparently trading down just a little bit less than 0. 5 . Bertha, thank you very much. So, should investors buy walmart ahead of earnings on thursday . Lets ask chad morganlander. Hes bullish and bert from the strategic resource insight group, just made a bearish call for walmart at the beginning of the year. Welcome to you both. Chad, first to you, because ive got a note here from jefferies, reducing walmart to a hold, lowering its price target. Why are you bullish on the name . In the short term going into earnings, you could be a holder of it and somewhat more, perhaps just a little bit subtle about it, but in the long term, going out three to five years, we believe this valuation makes sense. The key multiple is trading at roughly about 14 1 2 times 2014, 13 1 2 times 2015, trading at 11 times Free Cash Flow. Expectations are washed out. You know, Revenue Growth exceeds over 3 . Then you could see the stock higher. Revenue growth of about 3 to 5 over the next five years would put this stock perhaps at a total return of around 8 over the course of that time period. All right, bert, why dont you counter here . When i think of walmart, i think of the ultimate example of the law of large numbers. Theyve got to generate growth somehow. Chad says maybe 3 to 5 sales growth. Theyre banking a lot on international operations, arent they . Internationals really struggling. Theyre struggling with the massmart acquisition in africa, theyre struggling with south america. Theyve struggled throughout asia. Cnbcs reported today. Walmart overall is only growing less than 3 and the stocks only gained about 3 in the last 14 years. Wow. And it hasnt moved much at all. What about the cash flow here, burt . Cash flows good, but the companys value trapped as its been in for a long time because it doesnt have the right leadership to run the business worldwide, and u. S. Has been struggling with negative samestore sales for five consecutive quarters, even with the gift they got from target, and they still cant be positive. So, investors should really run from retail with the exception of luxury and some of the speciality and categorydominant segments that are well led or amazon, yeah, it would seem. Chad, thats probably i mean, the competitive threat is part of this. In that same note i referenced from jefferies, they say Consumer Shopping behavior is going towards ecommerce and local. Can amazon really fight back here . I think the pendulum is going to shift one way and then the other way here. Theres just everyones so bearish on walmart at this point in time. You know, keep in mind that they do have buying power in regard to purchasing and negotiating. So, they can be the lowest price in town. They have 500 billion of revenue, so they have a lot there negotiating power. I believe, though, that what you have to do here with this company is have time and patience, and thats whats going to pay off. Over the course of the next five years and you have to have a three to fiveyear type of time frame that this is a very good quality Blue Chip Company that you want to populate in your portfolio. And yes, again, the pendulum has swung one way, where everyones very pessimistic about it. The quarterly numbers will come out. They probably will be below expectations. The stock will probably trade down 3 to 5 , but that will probably be a good time for investors to take a position in the company. Burt, you said some pretty pointed things about management. What are you driving at there, you just dont like it . Management has largely come out of hr warehousing and transportation, finance, not from buying, not from store operations. Walmart since sam weldens handpicked people retired in the ten years after his death in 1992, managements really been struggling. And as we advise the familys financial adviser, when mr. Sam died, we said the company would be good for ten years, would struggle the second ten and would get worse in the third ten. And what we told the Walton Family representatives then still holds true today. Wow. All right. Well leave it there, guys. Thank you so much this afternoon. All right, about a half hour before the closing bell. The dow modestly higher, same for the s p and nasdaq. Russian president Vladimir Putin may be more of a thorn in the side of the west than everyone realizes. Thats what emerging market Hedge Fund Specialist bill browder says. He waged an Anticorruption Campaign in russia and paints a picture of gloom and doom. Hell join us when we come back. 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Big winner on a day of modest winners is the nasdaq, up about 0. 75 at 32 points. The industrials are higher by about 24 and the s p by 6. And yet, russia remains a huge question mark for investors in the international community. Our Morgan Brennan explains why what happens there could have major impact on financial markets, more so than any other global hotspot right now. Morgan . Thats right, kelly. Well, events in russia and ukraine have moved the needle both to the upside and to the downside this summer, so, lets take a look at some of the bigger movers. First up, the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight 17 on july 17th over the skies of eastern ukraine. That event which so tragically killed 298 passengers and crew members is believed to be the work of russiabacked rebels. So, on the day of that crash, we saw the dow drop 161 points. Russia headlines have also helped push the dow higher, though. And so, last friday, an interfax report said russia was ending military exercises near the ukraine border. So, we saw the dow finish higher by 186 points. It was the best singleday performance in five months, though only the ninth biggest economy in the world. Russia matters for two big reasons. First, its europes largest trading partner. And also, russia is one of the top oilproducing countries in the world and supplies much of europe with vital natural gas. Thats why we see exxon and bp both have a huge presence there. In fact, exxon reportedly starting to drill in Russias Arctic just this weekend, kelly. Morgan, thank you. Morgan, ill pick it up from there. The market clearly keeping its eye on russia here. Today a Ukraine Military spokesman warned that russia now has 45,000 troops on its border along with tanks, warplanes, attack helicopters, and earlier this afternoon, president obama called his counterpart in the ukraine and told him that any russian intervention in ukraine without his countrys consent that is, the ukraines consent would be unacceptable and a violation of law. Bill browder says putins motivation is not about geopoliti geopolitics, nato or history. Rather, its putins personal survival at them of russia. Bill joins us on the phone right now. Thanks for being here. With ke start with any news on exxon . It seemed jarring against the backdrop of increasing sanctions, troops along the border with ukraine, tough talk from nato. Theres putin praising the biggest u. S. Oil company, one of the biggest u. S. Companies out there. Well, at this point, putin is desperate for any kind of western investment, and particularly investment in the oil industry, because most companies dont want to get caught up with sanctions. And so, to the extent that exxon is still persevering in russia after all thats happened, hes got to go and publicly, you know, pat him on the back, which is what he did with this whole story today. You know, you maintain, bill, that putins end game here is self preservation. Explain your thinking there. Well, so, the story behind putin is that for about 12 years, hes run whats been acknowledged as a cleptocratic regime, stealing from the estate at the expense of the people. People started getting angry about that around 2008. And by 2012, there was hundreds of thousands of people in the street of moscow. And he thought he had probably gotten that under control with the secret police and so on. And then he saw across the border in ukraine a sort of Junior Varsity version of him getting run out of his country doing the same thing. And putin had watched the arab spring, and he said to himself, if they can run out the head of ukraine for being a crook, then the russians could easily run him out as well. So, he panicked right after that and he had to come up with a big, big strategy to make sure that this doesnt happen to him. And so, he gathered up his guys and said we need to invade a country. And he said, ideas, please. And someone said, well, we have 15,000 troops already in crimea. We dont even need to invade. And so, they came up with this plan, took crimea, and his Approval Ratings went up from 50 up to 80 , which then put him in a much more comfortable position. The problem is that he now has hes got this is like a drug addiction now with the russian population. He started he opened up the pandoras box of nationalism, and so now people need more nationalism. And so, hes got to go and do other Foreign Countries in other parts of eastern europe. And so, after crimea, he went to eastern ukraine. And so, for anyone who thinks this is about ukraine, its not. This is about putin absolutely scared to death that hell be run out of the country, like the yanukovych, the ukrainian president , and potentially going to jail or possibly even worse. And so, hes a desperate bill, explain to me for a second. What youve said is hes basically unleashed the popular sentiment of the russian people, and that somehow makes him vulnerable and requires him to do more in order to keep and preserve this nationalistic sentiment at high levels without it turning against him. Why is there a risk that any National Sentiment will turn against him, requiring him to continue to do more . Well, so, once you sort of take off the lid of nationalism and you get everyone all riled up and nationalistic and so on, if he all of a sudden compromises and backs down, then all those people who are all riled up will say, wait a second, i thought you were nationalistic. Then some other guy will show up and say, you know, if putin is too weak, im going to go and do this stuff and im going to arrest that guy whos too weak. Do you think an invasion, whether its guised as a humanitarian operation in eastern ukraine, is inevitable . And if so, what would the wests response be . What could the wests response be . Reporter we well, so, an invasion putin is doing Unconventional Warfare right now. One could even describe whats happening so far as an invasion. The guys who are running these socalled separatist movement, theyre not ukrainians, theyre russian. Theyre russians paid for by russia with russian equipment. These are not ukrainians running a civil war. These are russians in an unconventional invasion. Will russia do more unconventional stuff . Yes. What putin would like to do is create enough plausible deniability so he can kind of slowly creep into these places, and so by the time hes already there, we cant even react. To answer your question what should we do about it, i dont think the americans are going to send troops on the ground in ukraine. I dont think the europeans are. And so, at the moment, our options are limited to economic options, which is, we could impose tighter sanctions, we can do what was done in iran, which is cutting off the russian Banking System entirely by sanctioning swift so they dont do business with russia. That would bring russia to their knees very quickly. Well, thats why it seems a little bit jarring at the same time for one of the biggest u. S. Companies to be hailed by putin at a time like this. And i understand why. Its just, again, this seems to raise a whole host of issues about what you are and arent allowed to do, and you know, what kind of businesses will and wont be okay to move forward. Well, you know, in defense of exxon, theyve got to go to a lot of very bad places, and so, russias just on a list. Oils not located in good countries, and so, theyre just hanging on by their fingernails hoping that they can continue to mine oil in the arctic or wherever, because theres not a lot of good places to get oil. But you know, at a certain point, if things get, you know theyre not going to want to be in violation of u. S. Treasury sanctions. And so, if thats what it becomes, im sure theyll be not being praised by putin as they quietly withdraw. Just quickly before we go, because i want to make sure i understand this. Again, what russias doing, what putin is potentially going to do from here, if i understand you right, is look for other ways in which he can act overseas to feed this nationalist sentiment that youve described coming from the russian people, but thats not a nationalist sentiment, is it . Thats really almost an imperial motivation. And do you genuinely think that that kind of imperial sentiment exists today, absent some sort of provocation in other countries against russia . Well, i mean, we see it. His Approval Ratings are now at Something Like 88 . I mean, people have been whipped up into a frenzy. You can call it nationalism, call it imperialism, call it what you want. You know, its like watching the world cup. The russians are rooting for the home team. No ones spending a lot of time thinking about, you know, is this right or is this wrong. All theyre saying is our country, were at war, were going to support the leader. But hes got to carry on being at war and looking strong and being aggressive, which then leads to problems elsewhere, not just in eastern ukraine. The biggest and the most scary situation is the baltics. The baltics are part of nato. And the big question is, if putin does an invasion or a quasi invasion of estonia, will the americans and europeans say, are we ready to go to war with russia for people in a country weve never heard of, which most people havent heard of estonia . And thats the really scary part. And if were not, then all of a sudden, nato, which is this collective security apparatus, then all of a sudden, nato doesnt protect poland, doesnt protect romania and all bets are off. Putin can do anything he wants. And in my opinion, and my prediction, thats his ultimate objective is to destabilize and potentially destroy the credibility of nato. Bill, appreciate the thoughts this hour. Troubling, and of course, one of the reasons why weve seen such unsettled markets here as people try to make sense of it. Well leave it there. Bill browder, senior with Hermitage Capital joining us this afternoon. All right, kelly, we have 18 minutes before the closing bell. The dow, s p and nasdaq moving up a little bit, dow by 19 points. We are moving a little bit lower. Up next, moving out. Why some u. S. Oil companies are vacating parts of the middle east. Our Jackie Deangelis has a special report. And later, back to school. Single parents may face the Toughest College tuition challenge of all, and in some cases, its affecting their Retirement Savings. Well help navigate that particular mine field after this. Over 1. 2 billion eyeballs are on us during the two weeks at wimbledon. True tennis fans want to know whats happening. They dont want to just see whats happening, they want to know and understand why its happening. Anybody can just put data up, but we want to get a reaction, make it far more interactive. We rely on the cloud to provide that immersive digital capability. Give fans more then just the game with the ibm cloud. The ibm cloud is the cloud for business. The cadillac summer collection is here. During the cadillac summers best event, lease this all new 2014 cts for around 459 a month or purchase with 0 apr and make this the summer of style. In a we believe outshining the competition tomorrow requires challenging your Business Inside and out today. At cognizant, we help forwardlooking Companies Run better and run different to give your customers every reason to keep looking for you. So if youre ready to see opportunities and see them through, we say lets get to work. Because the future belongs to those who challenge the present. Welcome back. Just 15 minutes to go here and the dows trying to stay positive, up about ten points. The s ps up less than five now at 1,936. The nasdaq hugging 4,400. Tyler. All right, some big u. S. Oil companies are pulling out of the middle east. Jackie deangelis joins us now with the moves and what they mean. Jackie . Good afternoon to you, tyler. Well, typically, when we see instability in a large, oilproducing country like iraq, we do tend to see crude prices rally, but this time, traders taking a very rational approach here and crude really not doing that much over the last couple of days. I want to point out that the latest news right now is that there are reports out there that big oil companies, u. S. Companies like chevron, exxon and hess, have pulled out some of their nonessential staff from northern iraq. Some of these reports are not confirmed by the companies themselves. But you know, traders are looking at this from a production standpoint, and theyre really saying what were seeing in the north right now is a very small percentage of iraqs output, roughly 15 , and there are no supply disruptions at this point. If the 3 Million Barrels a day that comes out of the south, out of basra, if that is disrupted, thats the time when its, you know, relevant to be concerned and oil prices could spike. We have seen this before where u. S. Nationals leave the country because this is standard safety operating procedure, and typically, these moves are very temporary until the situation calms down a little bit. So, traders saying not to make too much of this until we know a little bit more. But i do want to point out that prices in terms of crude prices were pretty much stable today. We were just over 98 a barrel on west texas intermediate at the close. Brent crude falling under 105 a barrel and traders saying geopolitics aside, we are seeing signs that demand for oil is waning. So, if we dont have a big catastrophe, you could see these prices go even lower. And i want to point out the fact that gas prices down 6 cents over the last two weeks, and thats really good news for u. S. Consumers. So, as i said, if nothing happens, we could see these prices fall more. Back to you. Jackie, i bought gas the other day at 3. 19 a gallon. Its fantastic its really come down. Where were you, north dakota, tyler . No, this was here, in new jersey, on route 46. New jersey, oh. Come out to new jersey, kelly, well show you around. I might have to. Ill have to avoid the potholes, though. 13 minutes before the closing bell. Very modest gains and certainly not what they were at the earlier points during the day. The dow industrials up very slightly. The s p slight as well. The winner, so to speak, at 4,400 on the button, is nasdaq. And sticking with the energy theme today, coming up, Kinder Morgan may be one of the Biggest Energy companies now that youve never heard of. Well discuss what the future holds for Master Limited partnerships now that kinder is ditching that structure and consolidating and shares are rallying. Well be right back. Well, the nasdaq has been the big winner today. Seema mody keeping an eye on the action there. Hi, seema. Hi, tyler. Best twoday gain since may. And its a lot of the high fliers leading the nasdaq in the trade. Tesla the best performing stock on the nasdaq 100, but the old cap names are also outperforming. We saw a selloff in some of the high dividendpaying tech names earlier this month due to worries over the prospect of rising rates, but some of those stocks now staging a comeback. Another factor helping tech today, Morgan Stanley upgrading the tech sector to overweight, that perhaps providing a lift to the tech index. Of course, the question is whether this outperformance in tech in the broader nasdaq will hold. Some pointing that it is trading back above the 50day average as a bullish sign. Back to you, kelly and tyler. That will do it, seema. Thank you so much. As we have about eight minutes to go here, tyler, joining us now to talk markets is bob kaiser from s p capital iq. Bob, what have you got your eye on . Well, were keeping an eye on the markets, obviously. Theres been an uptick in volatility here, a lot of it driven by geopolitical concerns, obviously, but were also looking at the Federal Reserve, because increasingly, Federal Reserve policys starting to look a little out of step with the fundamentals of the u. S. Economy, nonfarm payroll growth youre not buying what Stanley Fischer is selling . Not at all. Im more in the camp of stanley druckenmiller, where he says look, youve got nonfarm payroll threemonth averages, they were at 340plus, out of step with the 25point basis fed fund rate. So, you think the fed is behind the curve here. Do you think that means its not going to end well, its going to end badly . I think the challenge now is up to the fed to signal to the markets, you know, what their intention will be, wrapping up qe and the market immediately, if the economic fundamentals hold up the way they have been recently and you dont think theyve done that . The focus is going to be on the fed. You dont think theyve done that . Not at all. Hmm. Were looking at some of the sectors today. Looks like, if we could put the sector board up for one second again. Bob, where do you see the most opportunity in this space, then . Again, a lot of its going to depend on the signals coming from the Federal Reserve. What i meant was a few weeks ago, the yellen fed started to indicate they were sending symmetrical signals and then they backpedaled on that and said we intend to keep Monetary Policy very easy for a considerable period, and they neutralized the idea of letting the bond market, for instance, take over the view for Interest Rates. So, i think if the fed plays it smart here and they signal what their intentions will be for 2015, they can manage the bond market vigilantes and keep volatility relatively suppressed compared to what otherwise might be the case. Isnt really the only question here i mean, i dont mean to quarrel with you, but i feel fairly comfortable in saying that the fed has signaled reasonably articulately, for policymakers, that is, because i remember greenspan, and he was anything but articulate in this kind of stuff, that they do intend to raise Interest Rates at some modest pace beginning some time between the second and Fourth Quarter of next year, and the question is whether it will be early in the Second Quarter or towards the end of the third and then what the pace is. Im not sure im understanding what the disconnect is. Well, tyler, a year from now it still a long way out, right . So, if you look at nonfarm payroll growth right now, i said the threemonth average rate is about 245,000. The last time we saw job growth sustain that strength was 2012, but then we had the economy fell apart, we saw qe3 at the end of the year. Prior to that, we saw strong payroll growth in 2010, but the economy couldnt sustain anything. If you go back for the last time, we saw nonfarm payroll growth sustained in the 245,000 area, it was in april of 2006, after the fed had just completed two years of tightening. So, thats what i mean about the fundamentals not really sort of being in line with the signals that were hearing from the Federal Reserve, because just recently, they put the focus back on labor market slack, and im just not sure there is much slack out there right now. Bob, thank you very much. We appreciate your insights. Appreciate it. Great to have you with us. Up next, well come back with the closing countdown right after this. And after the bell, talk about a vacation nightmare. Two dozen thrillseekers getting more than they bargained for at a six flags Amusement Park in maryland. They were rescued from what you can see there. Well discuss what this years Vacation Spending says about the economic recovery. You are watching cnbc, first in business worldwide. So ally banko hidden fees on savings accounts . Thats right. Its just that im worried about you know hidden things. Ok, whys that . No hidden fees, from the bank where no branches equals great rates. Once there was a girl who even in her laundry room. Ry. With downy unstoppables, she matched her one of a kind style with one of a kind scents. Downy unstoppables in wash scent boosters wash in the wow. [b ll rings] time and sales data. Splitsecond stats. Its so close to the options floor, youll bust your brainbox. All on thinkorswim, from td ameritrade. Its been a day of modest gains for the industrials and the s p 500. The nasdaq up about 0. 75 at 4,402 and change. Weve got about two minutes before the closing bell. Back with us on the floor is bob pisani. What are you seeing today, bob . Well, the important thing is weve had a remarkable run. Its true, a little disappointing, were half the gains we had earlier in the day, but the s p futures went from 1,890 early in the morning on friday before the markets opened to 1,940 today. We went 50 points in the s p 500 in essentially two days. Thats a remarkable rally. The markets move on any news from the ukraine, good or bad, and number two, any comments from fed officials. I thought Stanley Fischers comments were amazing. We think he is a centrist, by and large. Everybody promotes him. His comments were very dovish, and prior to the open, he definitely moved the s p futures early in the morning because he was speaking over in sweden today. So, those are the two things that move the markets right now. One of the things ive noticed, bob, you were with us on the day last week where the market really fell off the table and art cashin pointed out, it was probably a technical move. Another technical thing was the market hit, i believe it was wednesday or thursday, hit its 200day moving average. It hit it and its been mostly higher from there. Certainly, technicals matter, but you can clearly watch the market moving in relation to certain key things like the ukraine and the announcement last week from the polish officials clearly moved the market at that time. Absolutely, and im not a big believer in the technicals, but you sort of saw it there a little bit. Bob, great to be with you. And that will do it for the first hour of the closing bell. In for bill griffeth, im tyler mathisen. Kelly will take you forward for the rest of the day. Tyler, thank you. Welcome to the closing bell, everybody. Im kelly evans. And lets see if we did finish positive here on wall street. The Dow Jones Industrial average losing momentum, losing altit e altitude, i should say. It was up 76 points earlier today. Looks like it will close up only about 15, the nasdaq up about 30, the s p up about 5. Art cashin told us there were some sell orders on the close that could have contributed to that pressure as we hit 4 00 eastern time. Joining our panel, john spalenzani, lee gallagher, our own dominic chu, and for more on todays market action, fast money trader tim seymour. Welcome, everybody. John, first to you, because you say you call these things at 7 00 a. M. Or the night before. Did you see this one coming, this losing altitude, i mean . We almost went negative at the end of the session. I think it was mostly dow stocks. The s p held in pretty well, over 1,930, which was positive. We hit a 1,920 pivot for a long time, so we were kind of short below 1,920, long above. That seemed to work out fine. Financials were a little weak, tech was a little weak. The funny thing is, given the mlp news and the kmi, energy actually lagged today, so that kind of held down the dow a little bit, but they almost well definitely come back to the energy story. Theres a lot to discuss on that one. Yeah. Tim, what do you make of the action today, especially the fact that against a backdrop of just horrible events internationally, oil didnt really pop, gold didnt really get a bid, the vix was down today, stocks held up reasonably well but not that great again at the end of the day. Well, ill tell you what, kelly, i think things were a little oversold. And as it was talked about, friday morning markets were debating all kinds of things. And clearly, its a debate between the fed and Interest Rates, global growth, and so, how bad is europe . By the way, watch germany tomorrow. This is something you really should watch to get a sense of how bad things are or good things are in germany. Then, global geopolitical risk, which for the last three months have done nothing to really derail this market. Yes, theyve led to all of the 3 selloff in markets. So, not surprised to see that markets didnt go screaming higher today, but not surprised to see that over the last couple days, things are a lot better in tone. Do not underestimate the impact of fischer this morning. I think taking the fed out of the mix for the next few days is very important to let the market continue to go higher. All right. That echoes as well some of the comments we heard from Dennis Lockhart on this program last week. Yeah. I mean, if you look at the picture overall, the fed is still very much in focus, but its taken a bit of a back seat to whats happening geopolitically. But what you want to keep an eye on, at least for the most part, is those geopolitical risks, weve had a number of guests come on over the past week, week and a half or so, and talk about the nature of trading around geopolitical risks. There is a sense among many of them that these types of catalysts, if you will, in the market are shortlived, maybe a little bit more to the short and mediumterm side of things. So, yes, they affect the way things happen for trading. Remember also that as weve seen this market bounce off the lows to the upside, it was only about a 4 , 4. 5 pullback from the highs we saw at the end of august or at the end of july, rather, to where we are right now. So, thats just shy of the average pullback that weve seen since 2011. The last time we saw a 10 pullback. But whats more interesting is the volumes weve seen to the upside, they havent been hugely robust, which gives you the sense, at least for right now, that Short Covering is part of it and there is maybe a sense that people want to dip their toes in but not go wholesale into this market again. Lee, welcome. Thank you. Whats on your mind these days . I mean, a lot of what dominic just mentioned. I think that investors are getting reacquainted with geopolitical risk and more so in just the past week than they have in the past few months as there seems to be almost a pylon nature of all of these incredible disasters that are happening around the world, many of which affect large multinationals, especially russia. A very large market for any consumerfacing company. So, especially the autos, you know, any Consumer Products company. So, there is that. Bill browder raised eyebrows last half hour on the program, especially when he talked about how russias end goal is to destroy nato and potentially some involvement in estonia. And does anyone here just want to talk about what he said and how seriously we should be taking that whole scenario . Well, ill talk about it, because ive spent a lot of time in russia and i know bill browder. You have to put this in the context of first of all browders experience. He was definitely put under a lot of pressure in this country, essentially exiled out of russia, his business put at risk, and a lot of things that happened to him i think are ultimately things you have to ask questions about whos in charge in russia. But i think what you have right now in russia is a chance for putin to at least have a bit of an olive branch to come back in. The humanitarian aid concept gives him an eloquent way to not look weak domestically and maybe but tim, why does everybody always say that . Its just so strange to me the way that we all seem to somehow know, right, when these olive branches are being offered. Can that possibly be the case, do you think . Well, i think you have to understand that ukraine is something that is not how putin planned it. And everyone that thinks putin is three steps ahead i think is missing the fact that hes been reacting and he lost ukraine and Everything Else has been a bit of a show to kind of catch up. I think whats happening right now is putin clearly recognizes there is a cost to what hes doing. I dont think hes scared and i dont think his popularitys dwindled inside of russia yet, but i do think if youre playing the markets here, you do have a window where putin could give you better headlines. Its not going to change the fact that putins stripes will not change here. But to say this is a big estonia play right now, i think thats extreme. John . Yeah, i think one of the interesting things is the fact that just on the eve of us going in to help iraq, putin pulls his troops back from the border. Now, you have to remember, on a global context, obviously, theres rumors that the chechen rebels are helping isis right now in iraq. So, we dont know if there was a back doortype deal between obama and putin we should indicate, whenever we talk about rumors, please, everybody, take them with a grain of salt. But still, i mean, obviously, its very coincidental that putin decided to pull his troops back just as we said we were going into iraq. Putin pulled his troops back because hes losing the battle in ukraine and at this point i dont know about that. Its very coincidental that it happened within 24 hours debatable. I would also say this. Whether or not we know the true motivations behind what putin is doing and what ukraine is doing or what isis is doing and what iraq is doing, what we do know, at least empirically speaking over the past couple weeks is that among the tragic geopolitical issues that we have with russia ukraine, with gaza and israel, and of course, with whats happening with isis in iraq, we know that the market has put more emphasis and we have a quantification of this, the market cares more about whats happening with russia and ukraine than it does about any of the other things. Thats the takeaway. And tim, i know that you watched this. When those interfax headlines came out that putin was ending the war games on the ukraine border, thats when we saw the real on friday. Effort to the up side for the dow. Thats the reason why you see traders, at least from a perspective, theyre the ones assigning the most weight to that particular lee . I think thats true, but i think we dont know what to expect. I agree that putin doesnt know his next move and theres so much double talk. Hes not to be trusted, even if he did know his next move, its not to be trusted. So, this is very, very volatile and can turn on a moments notice, and i think thats what investors have slowly started to realize and are now kind of hyper aware of. Then its confounded by all of the other things going on in iraq and syria and everywhere else, in gaza. Its just a pileon. Its important to dwell on it not least because we are going to hear from the president today about the situation in iraq around 4 45. So, it should happen at some point during this program. Of course, well determine just as we get more information what more we can tell you about it. But in any case, there is going look, this is the first time this president who campaigned on getting out of iraq, this is a president whos now authorizing the First Military operations in i think three years in iraq. So, as much understandably as we have focused on the impact to europe from whats happening in russia, the confrontation in the middle east certainly needs its share of attention as well. And i think the market did dip a little when we went up from, you know, maybe a little humanitarian aid up to 100 possibly a day is when the market came off its highs, about 1,840. That was today. That was today, yes. How does that set us up, final thing on this point, for the rest of the week . I think that right now, i think a lot of macro guys are really cut kind of short in their models. So, i think if we move higher, as you said, dom, in terms of volume with some conviction, then those models are going to be forced to buy even more. So, i think right now were watching the 1,950 level on the s p as a big, major pivot for everybody to get back in. And were at 1,936 today. Tim, final word to you. Investment themes here. Yeah, well, you cant trade every move on this market, and i would say that youre getting windows to trade it. Were going to talk about that tonight on fast money. I would have been selling vol friday. I think youve got a couple days to see vol actually move lower, and thats how you play it. But remember, hedge funds are paid to avoid geopolitical risks. So, youre going to see guys overtrading this thing, even though i think that the world is not that bad a place. All right, well leave it there for right now. We forgot, of course, to mention your supermoon theory. Yes, supermoon. Obviously do you buy it when theres a supermoon . Is that what youre saying . No, guys in the pit believe in the full moon theory. So, i think volatility does spike around full moons. Sometimes it doesnt, but if its an exasperated move like we saw this weekend, you can get volatility. Police blotters go out. [ everyone talking at once ] cycles. Cycles are cycles. Patterns, whatever, theyre all cycles. September 9th is the next supermoon. Thank you, tim. September 9th is the next one. Tims coming up on fast money at 5 00 p. M. Theyll also be talking to dennis gart naen about the International Hotspots hes watching amid all of this unrest. Dont miss that. Now, a major merger, and we briefly mentioned this. Weve got more coming up, in the oil and gas industry. Kinder morgan paying 44 billion to consolidate its pipeline empire into one company. Up next, well look at the massive ripple effects this could have across the Energy Industry and on the future of the extremely popular investments known as Master Limited partnerships. Also, be careful what you buy on ebay and other online retailers. Coming up, why that piece of nostalgia you buy may not be quite as authentic as you think. And have you seen this video . Two dozen people stuck on a roller coaster in maryland for nearly five hours over the weekend. Not even sights like this, though, are slowing down the redhot theme park business, at least so far. What that says about the health of the economys later on the closing bell. You are watching cnbc, first in business worldwide. What if there was a credit card where the reward was that new car smell and the freedom of the open road . A card that gave you that im 16 and just got my first car feeling. Presenting the buypower card from capital one. Redeem earnings toward part or even all of a new chevrolet, buick, gmc or cadillac with no limits. So every time you use it, youre not just shopping for goods. Youre shopping for something great. Learn more at buypowercard. Com with all the opinions about stocks out there, how do you know which ones to follow . The equity summary score consolidates the ratings of up to 10 independent Research Providers into a single score thats weighted based on how accurate theyve been in the past. Im Howard Spielberg of fidelity investments. The equity summary score is one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. Call or click to open your fidelity account today. Welcome back. Lets begin here with Bertha Coombs and a quick earnings alert. Bertha . Kelly, check out nuance communications. Adjusted thirdquarter earnings of 20 cents a share, right in line with analyst estimates, but the top line came in weaker than expected at 487 million. The stock is currently trading lower. The company, though, is pointing to the fact that their deferred revenue is much higher than had been the last quarter and they are say they are trying to turn things around here. Back to you. Okay, bertha, thank you. Kinder morgan sending shock waves through the energy space today after consolidating its subsidiaries in a 44 billion deal to create the Third Largest Energy Company in the u. S. Thats also the Biggest Energy merger since exxonmobil in 1999. What does it mean for Master Limited partnerships . Kinder morgan popularized the kind of Corporate Structure that gives investors tax benefits through dividendlike payments. Joining me with more, chris faulkner, president and ceo of brightling energy. Welcome, chris. Hi, kelly, how are you . What do you think of this move by Kinder Morgan . Keep feeding the beast. Youve got to keep putting assets into the mlps in order to spin out enough cash to pay the dividends. The multi smaller mlps dont have a problem finding the acquisition to move the needle. So i cant say it will die down or soften but be very popular with investors. We saw 16 energy mlps just the first half of the year alone, so i think there will be traction still building for this kind of stuff, but Kinder Morgan just got so big. Its a unique story, i think. I want to bring the panel in. John, i want to know your advice on investors looking across the mlp space in this environment and liking low returns. Can they count on sustainable dividends on par with what theyre used to if kinder, for example, had trouble making the 5 and 6 range work . Well, i think that right now we have to see this as oneoff, and if it is indeed a law of large numbers where they just got the dividend became too burdensome. I think that if you look at after the mlp is done, i think theyre going to probably pay mr. Kinder like 500 million a year with that 2 dividend. So, hes going to be okay, but it depends how investors are going to be. I think also, one of the things we have to remember, we might have a change in the senate this year, right . We dont know what kind of things are going to come down the pike, so that could be one possibility. The other things obviously with the rates going to zero around the globe and rumors of qe and europe coming about, you know, its going to be hard for anybody really to pay 6 , 7 . Chris, that raises an interesting question. So, do you think its going to be increasingly difficult for a lot of these mass limited partnerships to pay the yields investors are used to . There might be turbulence coming down the road, for sure. I dont know if 6 or 7 s doable. 4 or 5 might be, which is still a pretty attractive dividend, but its about the acquisitions, what they can acquire as far as assets go, how much cash they can spin off. I think Kinder Morgan going back as an organization, theyll have a tax burden but also will have access to cheaper capital. That burden, that cash having to go out as a dividend all the time is now gone. They can utilize that money to grow their midstream business through acquisition, so its pretty attractive to them. I think shell is going to be very interesting. Good one, yeah. So, i think that will probably be the barometer Going Forward. Just to remind people, shell was just beginning to pursue this strategy of a Master Limited partnership. And chris it was interesting to read the coverage. Some people said, well, the majors are always kind of a lagging indicator. What is your take on this . Is this going to work for shell and is this something you expect to see more companies actually pursuing, even as kinder goes the others way . Having a super major jump in this i think brings brand visibility. Keep in mind, in 2012, chevron and shell both looked at the mlp market and were both concerned that it wouldnt move the needle for them. And i guess weve answered that now for shell, as they step into the mlp space. Well see if chevron or any of the others follow. Hess Just Announced last week theyre going to spin off their balkan assets into an mlp. So, we are still seeing movement into the space. Brian, its something washingtons going to be watching carefully in this era of inversions and outversions, if you wanted to call it that, whether its spinning off the assets for real estate or for pipelines, these structures allow you, of course, to put a lot of the cash straight through the company and then pay those taxes on the income instead of at the Corporate Tax rate. In any case, what i mean is should we look for this trend, regardless of the kinder news today to continue . And could that have an impact on the aggregate level in terms of the mountains flowing back to washington . Are you asking me, kelly . Yeah, if you have a sense, by all means. I think that the concern in washington will they change some of the laws around mlps . You know, the other panel has mentioned about the senate changing hands potentially in november. I dont know if the concern i think in washington is that theres a lot of taxes not being paid by the way these treatments work for mlps, but also keep in mind they would now have a huge private sector, this midstream space. Were able to now expand our u. S. Energy infrastructure. Which is more important . I think the government sees a small amount of that tax is not being paid. I think its outweighed by the fact that this oil and gas boom is taking place and the infrastructure now is being built by a very large private sector like the Kinder Morgans of the world. The jones act, you know. Exactly. The jones act probably with regard to exports . Yes. And i think thats what, obviously, kmi and others are setting up for. Sure. To get, yeah, to get consolidating in this space so this can be the next big wave and theyre positioned for it. Quick last word, dom or lee . You have the crude exports as welcoming down the line. This industry is positioned for an incredible spurt of growth, and i think thats what theyre doing, theyre strengthening. You know, there is a tremendous demand for pipeline infrastructure. Sure. This boom, you know, which Kinder Morgan was early to see, you know, in a sense maybe theyve gotten too big to mlp and now they have to shift and pivot so they can make bigger acquisitions as a Traditional Corporation and grow that way, because theres just the demand is huge Going Forward for the next five years. Its unbelievable. I think youre right. I would say the shift here, its interesting, because these mlps, its all about the midstream and downstream. The refining market and transportation side. It will be interesting whether or not you focus back towards exploration and production if Oil Prices Start to head back north of where they are right now. Yeah, thats a big if these days. Well leave it there for now. Chris, thank you so much for your perspective. Appreciate it. Thank you. Whats old is now new on ebay. The company sees what youre searching for and sends that data to manufacturers overseas so they can make vintagestyle versions of those items. It may not be counterfeiting, but is it deceiving to customers who may not fully understand theyre not getting authentic items . Thats next. And later, details of a scary, new study about how some parents are skipping Retirement Savings in order to pay for their kids college education. Well be right back. When the world moves, futures move first. Learn futures from experienced pros with dedicated chats and daily live webinars. And trade with paper money to testdrive the market. All on thinkorswim from td ameritrade. Ive got a nice long life ahead. Big plans. So when i found out medicare doesnt pay all my medical expenses, i looked at my options. Then i got a Medicare Supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if youre eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80 of your part b medical expenses. 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[ male announcer ] join the millions of people who have already enrolled in the only Medicare Supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp, an Organization Serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations. Remember, all Medicare Supplement insurance plans help cover what medicare doesnt pay. And could save you in outofpocket medical costs. Call now to request your free decision guide. And learn more about the kinds of plans that will be here for you now and down the road. I have a lifetime of experience. So i know how important that is. Welcome back. Be careful what you search for, or at least what youre buying. Ebay is sending chinese manufacturers your search data to quickly turn around nearauthentic items when theres a spike in demand. So, if you like to use ebay as an investment tool, ken goldman from goldman auctions who specializes in memorabilia, says buyer beware. Hes joining us from philadelphia. We reached out to ebay, but there was no executive available to comment on this. Ken, look, ebay has strict rules about whats authentic and whats not, but do you get the sense that a lot of people buying stuff just arent reading closely enough . Yeah, i mean, what theyre doing is theyre teaching them how to make manufactured memorabilia or what really is a noncounterfeitlevel knockoff. So, if you see the title and you see a picture, you might get fooled and youll buy it and you wont know what you have. Typically, if you read the description, as long as its an honest seller, hell put in the description, this is a modern replica, or theyll use the word replica or theyll use the word similar to or Something Like that. As long as they do that and someone reads it, its fine, but im sure a lot of people are buying these bags that look like they were made from the 60s and these other items that look like they were made from the 70s, thinking that they are, you know, vintage 30 to 40yearold items. Right. And the real word to look for is original, vintage, or the actual date of manufacture on the item. Right, and its a good reminder for everybody. And separate from that is kind of the issue of whether there is any problem with ebay giving this information to these chinese manufacturers in the first place. Does anybody have an issue with that . I mean, this is what were seeing is the down side of big data. I mean, this is, you know, this huge boom in these internet companies, data scientists who are able to mine things like never before, mine things about our consumer behavior, and in many cases, thats great. Thats why you can find a task rabbit to do exactly what you want them to do and anticipate your behavior. But you know, this also is creating fake goods. These are basically movie props. Theyre completely inauthentic. But as long as people know. If you wanted a pan am tote bag that seems to be the example out there today, as long as you know youre not buying the original item, does it matter if this is a replica, or isnt that filling a void in the market and just giving people the nostalgia that they want, regardless . I dont think it matters, but i think theres a gray area. I think a lot of people dont know that what theyre buying is inauthentic. I guess my question not only that i would say, ken, weve known each other for quite a while now and weve talked a lot about the Sports Memorabilia market, but my question is, do you think theres a real impact on your business or anybody else whos selling authentictype gear . I think it is zero impact on my business, zero impact on any of the highend auction houses out there that sell the vintage, authentic items. However, i do think for the casual customer, when you see a fake rolex or fake Louis Vuitton sold all the time and the buyer may know im buying it for 50 bucks, but what if they go to sell it and sell it as an original . Thats when they run into problems. The casual buyer is a lot larger size of the market. Its a much bigger market than the expert, educated buyers. John . Yeah, i mean. You give the customer what they want, right . Its just inventory taken to a new level. If theres 30 Million People around the globe searching for a panam bag, those 30 Million People probably dont think that its a real panam bag. They just like the look of it, the feel of it. Id rather have a new new vintage panam bag that will hold my stuff than a 40yearold that youll go to the airport and maybe it will fall apart. I think thats really what theyre doing. So, ebays just saying, okay, we have searches on this item. Would you like to you know, its probably worth your while to manufacture it because weve had this many hits, for whatever reason. It might have shown up in a tv show or might have shown up in a movie or something. Right. And somebody goes to search, but its not out there readily available, and not everybodys a collector. So, i think this is not really for the collectortype person. This is really for somebody who wants and that is as long as they know. Thats the central issue i think in this whole discussion is do you know what youre buying. And i guess if it seems like, wow, what a bargain and what great shape this bag is in that it looks like im buying, again, just bringing awareness to the issue that, yes, its probably made in china with the vintage label slapped on it. Exactly. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true. It goes along with my philosophy on collectibles, as is as a whole typically, anything thats manufactured solely to be a collectible is not going to be worth a lot down the road, whether its an original item or whether its a replica item. But when youre selling the replicas, the most important thing is that the sellers are accurately representing what they are selling so the consumer knows, hey especially if this is a tag sale i may not be able to afford this 40,000 item. We have to wonder about some of the other places or the persontoperson experiences that you may not know. Some people pay things for millions of dollars that after somebody buys it, they realize, oh, it was a fake, it was a replica. Sure. This happens in any market. But thats different compared to a 40 panam bag, you know . So, theres always going to be fraud i think when it comes to memorabilia, whether its vintage or not. So, i think thats always going to be out there. Especially with 3d printing now, its probably going to get more prevalent. Ken, do you think so . With 3d printing, more prevalent . I think its very prevalent. Ive seen crazy things where it looks like a signature and its a stamped and recreated baseball. So, its always going to be the buyer beware, and its very important that when they manufacture items like this, i would like to see them label them in some way to have some small stamp, date stamp or specific so people who arent that sophisticated can know, oh, this was made in 2014, not in 1962. Not a bad idea. Ken, thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. Talk about a fight of epic proportions. Amazons ceo, jeff bezos, is taking on captain america and disney over dvd pricing. After taking on Warner Brothers and publicer hachette, has bezos met his match . And it was anything but a typical day at the Amusement Park, speaking of which, for riders stuck on a roller coaster in maryland for nearly five hours. Despite incidents like this, theme park attendance has been red hot. Coming up, why trips to americas playgrounds could mean the economy is doing better than you think. Well be right back. In new york state, were changing the way we do business, with startup ny. Weve created tax free zones throughout the state. And startup ny companies will be investing hundreds of millions of dollars in jobs and infrastructure. Thanks to startup ny, businesses can operate tax free for 10 years. No property tax. No business tax. And no sales tax. Which means more growth for your business, and more jobs. Its not just business as usual. See how new york can help your business grow, at startup. Ny. Gov thats why i always choose the fastest intern. R slow. The fastest printer. The fastest lunch. Turkey club. The fastest pencil sharpener. The fastest elevator. The fastest speed dial. The Fastest Office plant. So why wouldnt i choose the fastest wifi . I would. Switch to comcast Business Internet and get the fastest wifi included. Comcast business. Built for business. Welcome back. Theme park attendance across the country has been doing pretty well lately. Six flags, though its attendance has been on a ride of its own, seeing an 8 drop in the Third Quarter from a year earlier. And to make things worse, a coaster in maryland stranded two dozen riders for about five hours yesterday. Everyone was rescued safely, no reported injuries. Disney, meanwhile, has been doing much better as their theme park revenue was up 8 in the Second Quarter. And a lot of people watching the economy think, well, as goes disney, maybe as goes the u. S. Economy in general. So, lets ask diane swonk from mesirow financial, who joins us now with more. Diane, do you think theres something to this . Remember, disney raised prices back in february because it was such a horrific winter for so many of us and they had so many bookings, not only through the beginning of spring and spring break, but right on through the summer months, that they were able to raise prices in february instead of june. And so, disney in particular did see that shift and we did see a lot of that movement, which i think was pentup demand from a horrendous winter, which spilled right over into summer. Many people didnt take their vacations until they were through with school, which was later than usual also this year. So, whats the message from the theme parks then . Well, i think we are seeing some comeback. We have seen some comeback in travel in general, but that is, a bit of it is catchup. We do have some underlying demand and have had good employment numbers. Ironically, though, a lot of the employment numbers had been driven by leesure and hospitality, not as much the case in july. As much as its building up and had been strong, it looks like it may be going through some sort of a peak as well as we get into the summer months and it will be interesting to see those july numbers, if theyre revised up on the Employment Data and also what comes in august, if were able to keep above that 200,000 level on unemployment, which i think we will. It is more jobs, but its still not a lot of money, so people traveling to just close enough, and also, the discounts that the disneys that does do for people in the local area i think helps out as well. Diane, you just hit on this here. I want to know, if i was an investor or trader, how important, how much weight should i assign to this data, anek to anecdotal or otherwise, if i know this is cyclical. We know its the summer months because its a roller coaster. Yeah, i see what you did there. But is it a roller coaster . Do you know how to wait this if you know this is a seasonal type event . Because i track that, the anecdotes from this winter and i know disney in particular was one of the big winners from the winter, i know that happened. I think it is important to think about, you know, not just the seasonal aspect to it, but also actually the unseasonably cold winter we had had an impact on how people reacted to it. We know we didnt sell any cars, we didnt have any mall traffic. A lot of foot traffic went down in the first quarter. We had a lot of bepentup deman and we saw that released in the Third Quarter and some of that spilled over into the Third Quarter. So, i think you have to take it into context. But youre right, anecdotes are only anecdotes, and other theme parks arent doing as well. So, clearly, theres some market share shifts going on here as well, and i always say, you know, when youre doing industry winners and losers, you could be a winning industry and still be a loser you could be a winner in a losing industry. Right, right. And thats, of course, your job to do, i guess. I wonder. Lee, what do you think, is disney a luxury good . Is it aspirational . Is it middle class . I think its a couple things. Its not cheap. The ticket price with the increases are 96 for anyone 10 or over. But i think a couple things are happening. Number one, when you take peoples spring break away from them, they come back in full force. They want it, they deserve it. Thats right. Number two, i do think this is a sign the economys getting better, but i also think, you know, if you cant sell your home, if youre not looking at a raise, lets say youre employed, but things are just kind of status quo, a vacation to disney is sort of its cheaper than a lot of other things, even though it can be expensive. And i even wonder, look, the way air b b has changed hospitality, can people go to kissimmee, florida, and get a cheaper place to stay . It opens up possibilities that werent there before. So, i think a number of things are happening. But overall, i think this is a good sign. I think if we were in the depths of the recession and were still losing jobs the way we were, theres no way we would be seeing this. John, real quick. I think as we get away from the great recession, you can only nest for so long, so eventually, you do have to take a vacation. You have to take the kids out. You have to go somewhere. The fact that gasoline prices have really fallen quite dramatically is also a factor. Its got to help. If you charge gas prices to consumer discretionary, theyd kind of go in opposite directions. Good point. Diane, thank you for your thoughts this hour. While were on the subject of disney, i want to ask the panel your thoughts on the dispute between disney and amazon. Who comes out on top . I dont know. It doesnt seem easy to regulate prices on something. You should be able to charge what you want to charge for it and i think if you push back, thats fine, but eventually, free Market Forces end up taking over. Youre betting with amazon, then . I agree. No, i just think thats part of their style right now is try to get they dont care what the price is as long as you know, their thing is all about delivery and thats where they make their money. So i think amazon has flexed its muscles a lot lately, if you look at whats happening with authors, and i think its only a matter of time before they go a step too far and see a serious consumer backlash. If you believe content is king, and weve been saying this concept for a while, you have to figure that those who really own the content thats in demand are going to eventually exert their channel over the distribution channels, which is in essence what amazon is. Although both with authors it is a content producer now. I know. Thats what makes it so complicated to watch. You may want to sit down for this. Uber bear marc faber says a surge in stocks is under way. After a recent selloff. The story is all the buzz on wall street. Coming up, see if its steaming up the hot list. Plus, details in an alarming new study about parents prioritizing saving for College Tuition over their own retirement. Well be right back. About speeds and feeds. Its all about latency. Its all about how fast does it run. I often sit with enterprises who ask me about how Mission Critical and hows the performance of the cloud. And i tell them, if you can make gamers happy, you can make anybody happy. Speed is made with the ibm cloud. The ibm cloud is the cloud for business. Welcome back. Lets begin with Bertha Coombs and a market flash. Bertha . Hi, kelly. Sprouts Farmers Market shares are getting hit after hours. 15 million of its shares are being sold by shareholders, including Apollo Global management. The stock currently trading down right now by about 3. 5 , it looks like there. Back to you. Hmm, all right, bertha. Thank you. Welcome back to the closing bell, a quiet monday for the markets, but a lot of buzz on the web. Lets get a check on whats heating up our website with the sites managing editor, allen wastler. Hi, allen. We are leading with a story written by dominic chu, up there next to you. His look at the most beatendown largecap stocks, a nice story he did. People will eating it up right now because theyre looking for winners and losers. We find in these quiet august days, people start going through their portfolios and saying, should i keep it, should i check it out . So, dominics story falls right into that category. Number two on the hot list today, the tony stewart story, which everybodys been talking about. If you havent heard, tony stewart, race car driver, he hit kevin ward on a dirt track yesterday and theres a lot of debate about was it intentional, not intentional. That aside, we took a look at what sponsors are doing in reaction to that. It looks like right now theyre sticking with him for the most part. But he represents like Bass Pro Shops and mobile 1, so weve asked them, and so far, theyre staying the course. And number three is jane wellss tale about two buck chuck. Thats the cheap wine sold at trader joes. A huff post blog post came out implying it has a lot of bad stuff in it. Theyve since taken that blog post down. She interviewed the owner. And its a fascinating look at the wine business. And also afascinating look at the media business, isnt it . The way they got picked up from a response on quartkabora to a that looked legitimate on huff post to something people are picking up on, and the guy making the two buck chuck is like, what are they talking about . To me, being in the business of internet media and stuff being picked up and not going through a journalistic process like we do very much here, it was fascinating to me on that level, too. Last question, too, what was this called by marc faber . Oh, marc faber, its a sign of the apocalypse. He was actually kind of cheerful this morning. We wrote it up and that story rocketed this morning. It cooled down in the afternoon a little bit and was superseded by doms wonderful piece on large caps. All right, allen. Thank you. We ask here because john doesnt like marc fabers bullishness, thats right . A contrarian sign . Bulls like to be alone. Yeah. Do they really, though . Yes. Is bulls even okay. Dom we dont like a lot of company. Youre at the top. You know, its interesting, because like you said, there are so many times when investors and institutions alike, you try to find that next idea, and this was a simple screen. Hey, if you wanted to buy on the dip, which stocks have been beaten down the most . Not to say that you should can you off hand give us the top three . What is the percentage decline . Just percentage declines from their most recent highs. So, stocks in correction territory, down 10 or more, or in bear market territory, down 20 or more. Wow. At the top of that list, bertha just did a market flash on sprouts having a secondary offering. Well, the worst stocks on the s p is whole foods, down about 42 . Peaked in october of last year. Also, the Short Interest is big. You combine that with how much theyre down and then you get a real feel for whats going to happen. What would top your list . I think whole foods. Tesla is a perfect example. When the stock was in the 50s, the Short Interest was 34 days. U. S. Steel recently the same thing. Blackberry, people talk about that every now and again. Bargain hunters love trying to pick bottoms, right . So, these are the ones that are making bottoms or trying to make bottoms. Maybe theyre falling knives, you dont know, but this is a way to highlight who they are. High Short Interest, high Free Cash Flow and a good theme, i think youre safe. Thank you, guys. Up next, a scary new study on the state of Retirement Savings in the u. S. Nearly 40 of all parents are prioritizing College Savings over their own retirement. Up next, find out how families can right the financial ship while helping their kids pay for school. Also, sales at dominos keep surging while americans lose their taste for arch rival pizza hut. What is behind dominoss recipe for success . Ceo Patrick Doyle joins us tomorrow. Kid hey dad, who was that man . Dad hes our broker. He helps looks after all our money. Kid do you pay him . Dad of course. Kid how much . Dad i dont know exactly. Kid what if youre not happy . Does he have to pay you back . Dad nope. Kid why not . Dad it doesnt work that way. Kid why not . Vo are you asking enough questions about the way your wealth is managed . Wealth management at Charles Schwab so i can reach ally bank 24 7, but there are24 7branches . Its just im a little reluctant to try new things. Whats wrong with trying new things . Feel that in your muscles . Yeah. I do. Try a new way to bank, where no branches equals great rates. People find out state farm does car loans as well as they do insurance, our bank is through. Good point. Grab an edge. Look theres two guys on the state farm borrow Better Banking sign. Nope for real theres two dudes on the state farm borrow Better Banking sign. [ reporter ] breaking news from the state farm borrow Better Banking sign. Were seeing two men that have climbed the borrow Better Banking sign gentlemen please get down from the state farm borrow Better Banking sign. Phil get the hose. Okay hes getting the hose. Alright, lets go. [ male announcer ] talk to a state farm agent about car loans that can save you hundreds. Thats borrowing better. Welcome back. With College Students prepping their return to campuses across the country, its time to open the books for our features school days, the rising cost of insurance. Were focusing today on the singleparent family. Studies finding a staggering 45 of parents surveyed says saving for my kids education is their greatest inspiration. Joining us, welcome you both. Louis scatigna and katie, a higher proportion of Single Parents relative to two headed households, whatever youd call them say their biggest priority is saving for their kids education . Yes, thats true. It was the biggest motivator, too, behind them actually saving for longterm goals. Thats good news, its also good news 21 of Single Parents have started a 529 or College Savings program. Right. I guess, louis the problem is are they doing it at the expense of their own Retirement Savings. If so, how much of a problem is that . First, i believe the headline and conclusion of the study may be a little misleading. The average single parent family here is 85,000. Single parent families make below the poverty line. So very few single parent families are saving for college or retirement. Now, having said that i think the difference between single parent families and traditional families lies in the income. The average income of the traditional family in this study is 113,000, thats 18,000 more than the single parent. So to think there is some kind of a psychological or a different feeling between that Single Parents want to take care of the kids better or give them a better life different than traditional families, i dont think thats the case. Louis, i dont think thats what anybody is saying. I think what theyre saying is exactly your point single parent households dont have the mean itself, so theyre forced to make choices in which theyre prioritizing their kids education over their own Retirement Savings. Am i reading that right, katie . I think thats exactly the point. Single parents do focus on family first. So 37 of them admit the price of sacrificing my own financial future because im placing my kids first just due to the fact that college is going to come before their own retirement. I think thats the message behind the study. Lee, what else . Also, adding to that, is that the cost of college is skyrocketing so much. But i think one of the most interesting things about this study was the way that it really broke Family Household times down into six different cohorts. It wasnt single families or dual families, it was oler parent families, Single Person households living alone, which is one of the Fastest Growing demographic boom rang householding, they have come back. So the notion of the nuclear same sex couples, the notion of the Nuclear Family is its going out the window. Its gone out the window. I think thats one of the Biggest Forces transforming our society in longterm ways. I think this is just the beginning. This is a great example of what we are seeing. Does it raise that all households are in worse shape relative to the Nuclear Family or is it the case with the traditional families . The twoperson families with kids, they are doing marginally better than all the other family types that we studied. Some better than others. Same sex couples spriegzly are doing really well in terms of savings for retirement and in terms of having an ad advisor helping them meet their longterm goals and other families like multijen rarnl households are struggling more. But back to the single parent households, i think that there is a theme that families are talking more about money with their kids and i think this bodes very well for people that are saving for their kids education. The kids have to provide for their retirement the parents retirement, john. I hope they get a good job. A student is saying right now everybody is living at home because they have such high student loan burdens. They cant buy a house. So they cant trade up. So there is a lot of things go into this. I think that might be one of the reasons single parent families feel so much angst its obviously the news. We got to go, last word to you. I think that, i think that people with that kind of income in this survey 113,000 for a traditional family. 85 for single parent family, they should be able to prioritize themselves, save for both college and retirement. Their money is going elsewhere, its going for new cars, big homes. I think theyre doing it wrong they need to reprioritize college and retirement. I agree with that. Yes. I think its the second and 3rd and fourth and 5g9. Lets send it to Bertha Coombs with a quick market flash. Trial data out of intercept. This is Companies Working on a treatment for Fatty Liver Disease which often occurs in people who are overweight and obese. Its sort of like for people for nonalcoholic reasons. Its one of the leading causes of liver failure. They met good end points a. Couple analysts we tried to call are on that call. In fact, can you see very encouraging data on that. This is something that affects a lot of people, increasingly, kelly, as weve seen a lot more children who are obese. It affects children as well. Bertha, thank you, intercept strengths again. Yeah, i think that its been wild since they came out with the news about six months ago that they had a great study out of new york, huge Short Interest, very volatile. I think its not surprising. Up 88 bucks after hours. Up next, can the momentum carry over to tomorrow . Some final thoughts before we go. See more of what you wanted to know . With fidelitys new active trader pro investing platform, the information thats important to you is all in one place, so finding more insight is easier. Its your idea powered by active trader pro. Another way fidelity gives you a more powerful investing experience. Call our specialists today to get up and running. Where the reward was that what if tnew car smelledit card and the freedom of the open road . A card that gave you that im 16 and just got my first car feeling. Presenting the buypower card from capital one. Redeem earnings toward part or even all of a new chevrolet, buick, gmc or cadillac with no limits. So every time you use it, youre not just shopping for goods. Youre shopping for something great. Learn more at buypowercard. Com welcome back. President obama is set to speak in Marthas Vineyard any moment. John harwood joins us now with some of the details. John, are we going to see the president . Reporter i think we are grand jury to see the president. I think what we will see him say is make a reference to the political transition we may be on the verge of if iraq. Though its not certain because the iraqi president has asked a new government to form a go. Nuri al maliki says he is not going anywhere. Whether we get the political clang the president says is necessary to turn around the advance of isis. Hes said the campaign is not going to be sufficient to do that, but thats where we are right now. All right. Our john harwood keeping an eye on that for us. Thank you very much. President obama due to speak any minute now in our situation in iraq. Thanks, to my panel this afternoon. That does it here on closing bell. We got fast money with sarah eisen, sitting in for melissa lee. As we handle it off to her, we are looking at a Dow Jones Industrial average up only about 16 points, the nasdaq up 30. The s p 500 up only about 5. Fast money begins right now. [ music playing ] fast money, fast money start right now, live from the fax markets site in new yorks times square, im sarah eisen in for melissa lee. Our traders, tim seymour, dan nathan, karen feinerman and steve nagerian, stocks closing higher today, near session lows as Geopolitical Uncertainty in russia and iraq keep many investors on edge. So, dan, can you trust this rally . Im not certain. We had a nice pullback on a shortterm basis. I dont think they were reasons that american investors like to sell stocks that are geopolitical. We have to remember we are off a low based volaty