shortly after ben bernanke wrapped up his speech. we will get into exactly what he said in a minute. but the homebuilders seem to be kind of impervious to all things bernanke. gains across the board thanks to strong data on housing starts and permits that came out today. they looked pretty good. oil, though, taking the spill listen, up $2 yesterday. down more than $2 today. traders heading for the exits on word and it s only word that there may be a cease-fire in all of the tension in the gaza strip. over the past week, fighting between the israelis and hamas, rockets along the gaza strip, it s continue to escalate. it s caused oil prices to spike in fear of supply shortage. word on the cease-fire reversing those moves today. again you are hearing signs from both sides, who said cease-fire? who said that? it s just a word. it might be premature. let s get to the floor show with traders at the new york stock exchange cme group and the nymex. we should start with elliot warre
as well and europe moderately in the red as asia does retreat from the big gains yesterday. we have hit dow 16,000 and s&p 1,800. but then those comments from carl icahn yesterday spoiled the party a bit. there could be an announcement this morning involving that $13 billion settlement between the department of justice and jpmorgan chase. if and when, we ll fill you in. more problems for tesla as the automaker is the subject of a formal government probe involving fires in the model s. the dow hit 16,000, the s&p 1,800 yesterday. both closed below those levels after carl icahn expressed concerns about current valuations, saying that stocks, in his words, could face a big drop. jim, the story for retail in the fourth quarter is going to be price competition and margin pressure? i think companies mentioning price competition, best buy, contrast urban outfitters last night, contrast that with home depot and dick s where they re not talking about that. i was talking with j
0 howell there also, chad myers has been there for days and nick valencia in the town of el reno, where two tornadoes touched down yesterday. we ll get you the latest at the top of the hour. your money starts now. in 2012 republicans attacked the so-called obama economy, but now the economy is rewriting that script. i m christine romans. this is your money. ap phone records, irs targeting conservative groups, talking points on benghazi, that s the conversation in washington but the economy is stronger than the d.c. talk is letting on. there s a lot of reasons for to us feel optimistic about where we re headed as a country. obama s economy, the sequel. today, stocks are soaring to record highs, home prices are rising, the unemployment rate is falling, and your confidence in this economy is the highest it s been in five years, but none of that was in the republicans script for this movie in the run-up to the 2012 election they promised a horror show. obamanomics is not worki