It is cubist pharmaceuticals. Merck buying the company. Meg terrell was ahead of the story on friday telling us a deal was in the works. She is in San Francisco at one of the biggest cancer meetings of the year and scored a live interview with mercks ceo. Thank you so much. Lets bring in ken frazier, the ceo of merck. Thank you for joining us. Thank you, meg, for having me. Always good to be on cnbc. Well, so this is a big deal in a space that has been a tough area, antibiotics and a Huge Public Health need. Tell us why this makes sense for merck. Every year in this country about 2 Million People have a form of infection that is resistant to conventional antibiotics. About 23,000 of those people die. So these kinds of infections are critically important in our society. So this is a great opportunity for us because merck has been committed to the field of antibiotic research for 70 years. And cubist has also been a leader in this area bringing forward novel antibiotics that can be useful in the context of growing global resistance. This is an area that policymakers are focusing on a lot more now. Does your move in this way by buying cubist signal optimism about a space that has been difficult for drug makers . We are optimistic about innovation. Cubist has been a very Innovative Company as has been merck. We see this as an opportunity that married unmet medical need, Public Health need and innovation in scientific opportunity. As part of your strategy you have outlined four areas you are focused on. One is oncology. You have done other big deals including identics. What can you tell us about your Business Strategy . We think we have the Balance Sheet strength and the cash flow strength to look for additional opportunities that fit our strategy. As we have always said our Business Development goal is to get the best science, best innovative science. We believe we have the ability and flexibility to continue doing that. You know, a lot of your peers in the industry have been doing these larger industrytype consolidation deals. You told us that doesnt make sense for you guys. How big of a deal is that to you guys . We dont have a specific upper limit but you are right. We have said we are not interested in doing a large consolidation of the industrytype transaction. We are more focused on licensing opportunities that allow us to have innovative drugs. You mentioned you are out at the ash meeting. You know there is a lot of excitement about immuno oncology. Merck is on the forefront with the first drug of its kind approved in the united states. We have innovative drugs in hiv, osteoporosis, cardiovascular. Its an exciting time to be at merck. We dont think a big merger will help us bring those kinds of drugs to the patients who need them faster. Ken frazier, ceo of merck thank you for joining us. Thanks for having me, meg. Ill pick it up there from meg terrell. Thank you for that. Sticking with us health as the kind of top of the broadcast theme. Get the chicken soup ready it is shaping up to be a rough flu season. Bertha coombs has more. I havent gotten my shot yet but i am headed across the street to get one soon. The cdc says it is early yet and have seen elevated flu in texas and georgia and alabama and the south. They think this could be a bad season because of the severity of the flu strain they are seeing already. This year the h 3 n 2 is most prevalent. In the last three times we have seen it over the last decade most recently in 2012, 2013 it is one of the most severe flu seasons when we get that strain. Officials say this years vaccine is only about 40 effective towards that strain. So they still say while it offers protection for children and the elderly it may not protect everyone completely. Analysts say it resulted in a boost to sales and earnings. If you think about drugstores growing this kind of got you undermid to high single digits. That is a pretty good trajectory change. Demand was so high there were shortages of the childrens formulation of tam aflu and they say they have produced sufficient supply for a severe flu season and are working with physicians and pharmacies to monitor demand. The Health Care Sector tends to outperform the s p during flu season between october and march. Some of the best performers in recent years not just in drugstores but Tenant Health and hospitals and anthem. Some of the ones that lose are medicaid players who have seen high costs. Absolutely. Thank you very much. A big cold wet storm certainly isnt going to help the flu situation. Brace yourself. This major weather event is set to start almost any minute now. Here is carl parker. So we are going to see a pretty strong low coming up along the northeast coast in the next couple of days largely a rain storm for the coast and a pretty good snow storm for interior parts of the northeast. This is what it looks like on the maps. The low pulling in a lot of relatively warm air and a lot of moisture. The result in the colder air is going to be a pretty large area of heavy snow, broad area of several inches in the empire state and maybe a couple of feet. Heavier snow in northern new england. Mostly a rain storm up and down 95 with a lot of wind. Its not going to be a picnic. That wind will be Strong Enough to drive the water into the coast line tomorrow morning there along the jersey shore there are coastal flood alerts in effect anywhere from tidewater, virginia in through long island tomorrow. We may see another low later this week. Carl, thank you very much. Whatever that storm brings it wont hold a candle to the typhoon that hit the philippines this weekend. Terrible flooding. People wading through knee deep water. Other parts of the philippines also heart hard hit. The nation is on stand by for mudslides. Oil markets continue to tumble. Prices down about 4 falling to fiveyear lows. Morgan stanley cutting the 2015 price forecast for brent to 70 from 98, but says prices could go as low as 53. Gasoline prices also falling. Prices at the pump hitting fouryear lows. The average gallon of gas in the u. S. Is now about 2. 67. To dominic chu for a market flash. Lets continue that theme here. The drop in oil is having a huge effect on the Energy Stocks overall. The S P Energy Index is the weakest sector by far in the s p 500. You can see down by over 3 . Big oil has taken a hit, as well. If you look at big names like the exxon mobil, chevrons all in the red as are oil service companies. Big names are taking a hit, as well. Oil service companies, exploration and Production Companies the Energy Sector the worst performer on the day. Thank you. Meanwhile americans love affair with cars hitting a new major milestone. Phil lebeau is in chicago to explain. It is a real shift for consumers and auto makers. Huge shift. It used to be if you told somebody you were going to buy a car and you earn 55,000 to 65,000 people say that is pretty nice. Nowadays it has become the new norm especially when you look at the latest data put together by true car. True car looked at all of the average transaction prices and look at the shift. Sales of vehicles under 50,000 up just 4. 1 this year. If you go over 50,000 sales are up 30. 8 according to true car. Why are people buying these more expensive models not just cars but also suvs . A couple of things are happening. Remember most of these vehicles are leased. About 60 of them are leased. If you can get a lease for 550 or 600 a month that is a pretty good deal. In some of the vehicles you could get a six to seven year loan meaning you keep Monthly Payment under 600. When you look at this segment of over 50,000 vehicles a couple of things stand out. One is large high end suvs are in demand. Take a look at the gmc yukon. Depending what you get it will sell for 46,000 to 63,000. Sales up almost 50 this year. When you look at the Cadillac Escalade sales up 32. 6 . That is a vehicle you are spending at least 75,000 for. It is up 32 . When you look at shares of General Motors. I know people want to focus on what a tough year it has been in terms of recalls and charges the company has taken. When you look at what they are doing on the high end particularly with suvs that has been a bright spot for General Motors this year. 50,000 is no longer considered really pie in the sky expensive cars. For a lot of people it is the new norm. It is the new norm and im sure they dont worry so much about the gas mileage with gas averaging 2. 67 a gallon. Thank you. Goldman sachs making big calls today. The firm is neutral on the restaurant sector as a whole but rating starbucks as a conviction buy. Putting a buy on burger king and chipotle. It has a sell on panera bread. Goldman also upgrading the airlines to buy from neutral saying fundamentals remain favorable. Southwest stock up 120 this year alone. Tiz the season for giving and also the season for stealing. Staggering statistics on shop lifting. The financial calls for retailers, Small Businesses and how to spot and catch a thief. Check out this brazen teen caught stealing a ups package left for a neighbor. It was all caught on camera. Oops. Thats next. I have the worst cold with this runny nose. I better take something. Dayquill cold and flu doesnt treat your runny nose. Seriously . Alkaseltzer plus cold and cough fights your worst cold symptoms plus your runny nose. Oh, what a relief it is. Were for an opens you internet for all. Sing. Were for creating more innovation and competition. Were for Net Neutrality protection. Now, heres some news you may find even more surprising. Were comcast. The only isp legally bound by full Net Neutrality rules. Welcome back to power lunch. Keep an eye on shares in the technology sector. If you look at the sector overall you see it is down about a percent on the day. Big Name Technology stocks are leading the way to the down side. Apple is good for almost a 14 point negative drop on the nasdaq 100. You can see shares down by 2 . Microsoft a drag. The charts near the sharp drop in the s p that we saw noon to 12 30 today. Apple and microsoft the two most heavily weighted stocks. Tech the most heavily weighted sector in the s p 500. This is a good way to get on a naughty list. The ups truck driver was easy prey for a couple of teen thieves. A neighbors camera caught one young man stealing a macys box. Five people were arrested in chicago for the same crime. Security footage in new york city shows the mailman dropping off the package and a thief picking it up hours later. Shop lifting a major concern for retailers and Small Businesses this time of year. Kate rogers here with very, very alarming statistics. Thats right. Added foot traffic and an increase in Seasonal Workers may mean boosted bottom lines for businesses but means added risk for shop lifting. This years Retail Survey conducted by retail knowledge finds 11 of losses that occur in stores are due to shop lifting. More surprising here is that employee theft is the biggest cause of shrink or losses at 38 . Travelers insurance notes the holidays bring about added risks when it comes to theft especially at Small Companies because they have fewer resources to combat from internal workers and external shoppers. According to travelers Small Businesses have a few things to kpael combat. Pair hires up with workers you know and trust. Let them know you have a zero tolerance policy towards shop lifting for external shoppers as well as those who work at the business. Investing in a Security Camera isnt a bad idea eeth. Keep them near the cash register. Experts say to let workers know that they are there and being monitored to discourage any sticky fingers you may have in the business. They say Small Companies skimp on background checks. It is something worth investing in. Helpful tips there. How can businesses keep themselves from losing money . Scott humfry is a director at travelers. Scott, welcome. Good to have you with us. Kate focused on the amount of loss attributable to employees. Do those numbers surprise you at all . Actually, they dont. Employees tend to count for greater amount of loss than shop lifting. The good thing is while this is their time of the year unfortunately theft goes with it. The good thing is employees or employers can manage that loss the same way. Meaning what . Well, as kate alluded to you want to hire the right people and do a background check. Install visible Security Cameras and make sure employees know that they are working. Have a policy that says how you are going to deal with theft so that you know you are serious about it. You certainly want to monitor transactions. If you have cash registers make sure that you know who is allowed to open them, who is allowed to void a transaction, return cash to somebody and another big area is monitoring daily transactions. So if you want to understand whether or not certain products are walking out the door and you are not collecting money for them monitor the profit margin on certain items that you sell. How do you spot a thief . How do you catch him . Apart from a Security Camera that might reveal it. Well, if youre talking about a shop lifter one of the best ways to do it is have the right number of people available on the retail floor. If you dont think you might have a situation where it may actually warrant having a security guard. We got to leave it there. Thank you very much. Very helpful advice there. We appreciate your being with us. Have a happy holiday. No pressure but its 16 days until christmas. As stressful as that might be for you it is just as bad on the other side of the counter. Is it make or break time for the retailers . Yes it is. Who is winning and who is losing in the battle for the holiday dollar . With us is liz dunn, retail analyst and ceo of talmeteorology associates. My husband went shopping over the weekend and was able to find a parking space at the mall and didnt find it that crowded. How are the malls doing versus specialty retailers . I really didnt have a hard time finding a parking space at the three or four malls i went to. We do see a lull here in the second week after black friday weekend. It doesnt look like there is a lot of shopping going on right now. What does that lead you to believe the Holiday Season will look like overall . Like i said, it is sort of typical of this time of year, but typically that would be me. What stores do you think will come out on top . What do you like at this point . Macys looks fantastic. I think they are winning with strategies. I do think nordstrum is doing a good job, as well. Tiffany is doing a great job. Beyond that the mall based retailers, specialty retailers in teen are really struggling. Earnings report last week were horrendous. A lot of promotional commentary. That is a tough group to sell to. They are so fickle. If you dont have just the right mix you will miss out. They have changed. They are not the same as they were. They are very individualistic. They are not impressed with brands and are not wearing a uniform. Thank you very much. Which do you think is a better long Term Investment . Stocks or owning a home . There is mathisens law that says whenever i buy a house in your Neighborhood House prices will peak within six months. We will break down the numbers. 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