Mission critical, rise above d. C. And we do welcome you to closing bell. Im Bill Griffith here at the new york stock exchange. Hey, maria. Hey there, bill. Big rally where you are. Im bartiromo coming today from the white house for our special coverage. Stocks rallying on the on the missile that perhaps we are nearing a fiscal cliff deal. Coming up well, find out from key lawmakers in the fiscal cliff negotiations how we can actually get a deal done before the deadline. Representative Chris Van Hollen, lynn jenkins and Javier Becerra as well as sore orrin hatch with us. Well hear from former treasury secretary altman and jeff greenfield. Bill . Stocks are trading off the highs of the day with less than an hour to go. Final hour, really from the getgo. Optimism about the cliff talks and senator harry reid made some comments this afternoon that put a damper on that real. Weve lost about 30 points. In that time. Up 74 on the dow at 13,244. The nasdaq is doing well today, up 32 points. More than a 1 gain, although it is off its highs of the day at 3019, and the s p 500 index is 8 plus points at 1426. The word on the street is because of the fiscal cliff, some investors are actually selling the winners, the winning stocks, and they are holding on to the poor performers, the opposite what have they have been doing the last few years. Maria . Makes a lot of sense given the fact that tax les go higher on capital gains. You want to get out of some of those names. Lets find out how you should be investing 20 days away from the deadline. In todays closing bell exchange, carol roth with us, rich peterson from is p, Jonathan Corpina from Meridian Equity Partners and our own rick santelli. Good to see you all. Jonathan, well kick this off with you. Whats the right strategy going into these negotiations and going into year end . Running out of time at this point, and as the days trickle down look to this week and next week. After that everybody in holiday mode and trading sessions will be very, very light. At this point we still talk about the santa claus rally, cant forget with that, but as we get closer and closer to the deadline i think that inside people feel that we are going to get some sort of resolution put in place. When everybodys back is against the wall smarter minds will prevail and come to sort sort of a resolution, but right now the comments that we got a couple of minutes ago out of washington does not really help the situation. So whats the strategy, jonathan . Whats the strategy given the comments that we just heard. Not knowing what taxes will be like next year, i agree with what you said before earlier. You have to take some of the profits off the table, pear down some of your risk and exposure and hold on to ones that you think in the locker term will have performing gains. Joining us late, the comments were talking about came from Senate Majority leader harry reid who said he does not expect a deal before christmas, and he also said if the republicans are expecting the democrats to come up with a list of spending cuts they want, its not going to happen. They are expecting the republicans to come forward with that first. Those are the comments that weve been talking about. Carol roth, youre the one thats been identifying those Financial Planners who are telling their clients sell those winners, and to hang on to the losers here. Right. This is completely backwards to what they would normally be advising their clients. Im from the midwest so im talking to people who say they are conservative. Normally they would be harvesting losses right now. Its just the opposite this year. They are say going ahead. Take any gains that you have, hold on to those losers, and i think that thats going to play into whats happening in the last couple of weeks. Actually its going to create buying opportunities come the first of the year. If they are selling, rich peterson, they are missing out on what you expect to be a pretty good raly. All the talk about doom and gloom, forgetting about the special dividends. Every day s p 500 companies, major american corporations issuing special dividends, sell those special dividends. Thats a really good point. Rick santelli, where exactly are we in terms of this market, and whats behind this rally . Do you think theres actually a deal in the air . You heard what reid just said. It seems actually that its not happening, and yet weve got this real under way for stocks. Well, i think theres a lot to be said for our one trader who said smarter heads will prevail, and i think a lot of investors are taking that route. As much as i love my rise above pin, i am not officially in the camp that were going to get a solution. I think harry reids comments sum it up. That is, there is no way that the democrats really want to talk about spending, and i know that the republicans have been light on detail as well, but if the issues facing this country are tackling the biggest part of what we spend in the form of entitlements, we are kidding ourselves that anything is going to be done in a timely faction. They are going to want to do the tax part and kick the rest, and ill tell you what. I think a lot of conservatives will go along with the potential tax increase, but they are not going to take a promise on the rest of it, so i think its going to get ugly. You know, carol, are Alan Greenspan is going to tell us later in the program that maybe we should go over the cliff, that the minor recession that is expected as a result is a small price to pay for greater fiscal reform in this country. You know that i believe that. Youre teeing that one up for me. Im giving you a softball here. Im all about accountability and responsibility so i would love to see us go over a fiscal cliff or at least tie some metrics to what we decide. My biggest fear is we end up a deal that kicks the can down the road and doesnt solve anything, and i think that that is the biggest problem facing us. Either go over the cliff or come up with something with real solutions. Rich peterson, let me get your take on earnings in 2013. We know the expectations on the economy if we go over the fiscal cliff, that the economy will see a contraction of a couple of percentage points. Where are you on earnings for 2013, what are your expectations . Maria, look at the s p numbers, looking for a slow single digit percentage gains. For this period of the Fourth Quarter looking for gains in telecommunications and financials. I think the critical part, investors ought to be very keen just to weigh in the risk, you know, and the fact they had a very rewarding year in 2012, we were up about 12 on the s p 500. Earnings will be very much held captive by the fact that the uncertainty not only about the fiscal cliff but debt ceiling. Very quickly, john, were lose altitude in this market rapidly. What do you make of this, and what are you expecting to close here . Just shows you how fragile our markets r. One comment out of washington can take profits off the table intraday. Well hold on to our gains here. Thanks, everybody. We appreciate it. Where exactly do we stand in these fiscal cliff negotiations in the latest now from our john harwood, on your stomping ground. Good to see you both. What do you make of this comment from harry redd, john, saying its unlikely we get a deal by christmas . Are they posturing . They dont want to put their spending cuts on the table but want the republicans to. Is this posturing . I think its posturing. Jay carney gave a White House Briefing saying im not going to reveal anything about the status of the talks in negotiation beyond the fact that they took place. The support trying to hammer republicans publicly. Hes got the high side Public Opinion on this. Traveled to michigan yesterday. John boehner went on the floor and said i need to see their spending cuts. Thats whats going on in the public level. Privately staff are working together and the fundamentals remain in place for a deal. Dont know if its before or after christmas or before new years or just after it, but i believe will happen. All the vacations are planned, right . Weve reached one of the weirdest days because Speaker Boehner came out and said the president has not offered specific spending cuts and the president says weve offered spending cuts and its gotten to this point of childish points and these guys are saying did not and these guys are saying did, too, and these guys again saying did not. I agree with john. They need to get really close then because then theres a sense of urgency and thats what they feel like they can get the votes to get this done right up to the edge of disaster. Its not he said, she said. They have put out spending cuts. 600 billion that the president talked about in his proposal. Less than that on medicare, somewhat of a third of that on medicare. The problem is medicare cuts are very, very unpopular deeper they are, so the reason, you know, the president s put his revenue ask out there. Wants taxes to go up on the top 2 , thats very popular. The stuff that the republicans want, deeper cuts in entitlements, thats not popular hand thats why they are trading who is going to propose their proposal first. The republicans said we want to raise the medicare eligibility age, whether you like the idea or not and change the inflation adjustment. The question is what in addition to that gets done, and who is going to lay it out on the table first . Will we get specifics from the white house on medicare cuts . Not until they have to get them. So the final week of the year. Possibly, yeah. Right before we get a deal well get some specifics and the reason is they are going to get hammered on both sides from the political bases. Amazing moment from jay carney in the briefing saying im trying to be as opaque as possible about what happened in the meeting between the president and Speaker Boehner on sunday. They dont want to talk about it and they are acknowledging they dont want to say. Truly honest. Medicare cuts are extremely unpopular with the public. Thats the difficulty i know youre following this as closely as anybody, so well be back to you on that. Bill, over to you. Well head to the close with 50 minutes left. When we came up at the top of the hour, up 100 points and the harry reid comments have taken the wind out of sails of this rally. Up 65 and well see how we do as we head to the close, maria. A huge show ahead from washington and wall street. Up next, representative van hollen is here to tell me what spending cuts developments are willing to give up. And also senator orrin hatch says the white houses willingness to go over the cliff is one of the most irresponsible things hes heard what. Would be the responsible thing . Well ask him coming up live from capitol hill. We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of tim and laura. Its amazing how appreciative people are when you tell them they could save a lot of money on their Car Insurance by switching to geico. They may even make you their best man. May i have the rings please . Ah, helzberg diamonds. Nice choice, mate. And now in the presence of these guests we join this loving couple. Oh dear. Geico. 15 minutes could save you 15 or more on Car Insurance. How theyll live tomorrow. For more than 116 years, Ameriprise Financial has worked for their clients futures. Helping millions of americans retire on their terms. When they want. Where they want. Doing what they want. Ameriprise. The strength of a leader in retirement planning. The heart of 10,000 advisors working with you onetoone. Together for your future. Were going to take you to lansing, michigan, where a dramatic story is developing at this hour. Thousands of Union Supporters have swarmed into the state cap hole there to protest a socalled righttowork bill that was just passed by the state legislature. Its expected to be signed by the governor. Nbcs ron mott is in the thick of it with the latest. Reporter all those protesters are starting to make their way away from the stateho measures passed the house. I just came back with an interview with the governor who expects to sign these two measures tomorrow, though it could happen later tonight. No signing ceremony because of the contention surrounding the issue. One of the things that a lot of workers on the ground talked about says its an issue of fairness. Its unfair for nonunion members to benefit from generations of hard work, all the advancements for organized labor and Blue Collar Workers through the generations. The governor says they believe this makes michigan more competitive not just to attract businesses here but around the world to attract International Companies to michigan and puts them back on a level Playing Field with other states that have passed similar legislation. If the governor signs this, as expected. Michigan will become the 24th right to work state, joining a lot of other gop republicancontrolled legislature. A partisan issue, republicans versus democrats. The governor says that this is about fairness, that every worker should have the right to choose to join a union rather than being forced to join one as a condition of employment. The irony is not lost on anybody that michigan for decades, a bastion of unionized workers in the auto industry, and now they will become a righttowork state. Fascinating developments there. Ron mott in lansing, thanks, ron. You bet. 20 days left to get a deal done on the fiscal cliff. House Speaker John Boehner said hes hopeful it will happen before the deadline, but Speaker Boehner making the case accepting the white houses plans would make the u. S. Problems worse. Listen to this. We did exactly what the president wants, we would see red ink for as far as the eye can see. Thats not fixing our problem either. Its making it worse, and its hurting our economy. So whats it going to take for both sides to come together and strike a deal . Lets ask our next guest, congressman Chris Van Hollen of maryland, the top congressman on the budget committee. Welcome back. Always good to be with you. I understand maria was just down on capitol hill. Sorry i missed you. Come on back. She will be back. We will all will, because were all taking the temperature right now. How hopeful are you that you get a deal in a timely manner on this miss call cliff right now . Well, i think theres a better than 50 chance that by the end of this month, so by december 31st, there will be an agreement, but obviously there are lots of hurdles to go before we get there. The good news is the lines of communication are open, as youve been reporting. The other good news is many of our republican colleagues recognize that the strategy they had been pursuing isnt working, and and the president s also been very clear that hes prepared to make some compromises and tough decisions to get an agreement. Congressman, let me ask you. No doubt you heard what your colleague, leader harry reid just sait said, and said its unlikely this a deal gets done before christmas. Why is that . Well, theres still a lot of agreement that has to happen. I mean, i think, that you know, the deadline, as you know, is the end of the month. Obviously the sooner the better. Obviously everybody would like to get it done by christmas, but, you know, the main thick is that we get it done by the end of the year and avoid the fiscal cliff, and thats what were focused on. The other thing that senator reid said was that its up to the republicans to come up with the spending cut proposal, not the democrats. Do you agree with that . I mean, shouldnt both sides be sitting down and putting their cards on the table . We only have a few days left before the deadline here, sir. Im having trouble hearing you and i got the gist of it. Heres what i would point out. I have Speaker Boehners letter a to the president in my hand where they call for 900 billion in cuts but dont specify how they are going to get the cuts. The president , on the other hand, if you look at his budget, its on the internet, he spells out in great detail how hes going to get the 600 billion cuts. Another very important fact to know is that the republican ryan budget, the one that passed the house last year and Senate Republicans supported, that budget has less medicare savings over the next ten years than the president s budget has medicare savings. They just dont like the way the president achieved his medicare savings. How would you achieve the medicare savings . For example, are you ready to say that you would be, for example, willing to change the ainge for recipients to achieve . Maria, im losing sound here. I cannot can you hear me, congressman . Very faintly. Shes asking whether means testing would work with medicare, would you up the age of eligibility for medicare . I think i heard that question. Look, theres a very different approach on medicare savings. The republican prob proposal, as you say, is to shift Rising Health care costs on to the backs of seniors because changing the age doesnt do anything to contain growing health care costs. What it does is transfer those health care costs, whereas the approach the president has taken is to build on the accordable care act where you better coordinate care. He has a provision to reform medigap and has provisions that asks form suit Call Companies to increase the rebate, to go back to where it was in 2003, so its not that we cant find savings in medicare, its every republican proposal is to transfer the rising costs on to the backs of seniors whose Median Income is under 22,000. I would hope we would all agree to find best way to reduce medicare costs, and the other thing i would say, getting a little whipsawed here. Less than four weeks ago the republican colleagues would were saying that the president had saved too much in medicare, 716 bill beyond and now the complaint is hes not saving enough when his budget has more savings. He just doesnt do it the way they want to do it. Congressman, well be watching. Thank you so much for joining us. Thanks very much. Well tell him when hes off camera. Too bad about the sound. Thats how things work sometimes in live television. Heading towards the close. 40 minutes left. Continuing to l