Traders say that the vix illustrates the central bank as backstopping the markets so that means theres less demand for downside protection. Speaking of Central Banks, we have two key decisions to watch today. The bank of england is expected to withhold fresh monetary stimulus as the start of the new year gets under way. Forecasters say that the Economic Data is still too mixed to try and trump inflation worries. The ecb also expected to stay steady, holding its key rate at. 75 . Policymakers are seeing refraining as the eurozone economy shows signs of stabilizing. We are going to bring you both decisions as soon as they are announced. And the ecb reports comes out 45 minutes later. First, breaking news out of washington. Today, president obama is going to be announcing his plans to nominate jacob lew as the next treasury secretary. The president will be making that announcement at 1 30 eastern time in an event in the east room of the white house. John harwood joins us now with more on that. John. Andrew, president obama is going inside his inner circle to fill a key job as jack lew is somebody who served as chief of staff. He was budget director before that. He served in Hillary Clintons state department. He does not have a deep background and ties to wall street and business. Hes a creature of congress, made his name in washington working for tip oneal, the house speaker. Very hard working, very key, very bright. Republicans found him a difficult negotiators in some of the budget talks over the last couple of years, but i would expect, andrew, that hes going to be confirmed pretty handily even though hell have difficult questions in his confirmation hearing. John, how disappointed and perhaps now, but it appears that the Business Community seems disappointed, if you read the wall street journal editorial page today. Theres a sense of disappointment that the president didnt pick somebody from the Business Community, somebody with more experience in the world of finance private sector as joe would say. I understand the disappointment because they want one of theirs. But, you know, president obama wants one of his in that job. When he looks at the Economic Issues that are most important and most potentially dangerous for him over the next couple of years, its how do you deal with congress . How do you deal with longterm fiscal challenges, how do you deal with the debt ceiling, entitlement reform, all of the things that jack lew has deep experience in. And i think thats the economic issue that he thinks is number one of his plate and he chose somebody who he trufts who he thinks can negotiate on his behalf and i think thats the issue. Sometimes when president s pick people from the Business Community, the Business Community has an ambassador but is not an insider in the administration. We saw that in the Bush Administration early on. My next question, is there a chance for somebody of the Business Community talking about coming in from Business Community or is it difficult to get another member to join when you give away the big title . I think when you give away the big title, the biggest names are not going to want to come as somebodys deputy. I dont know how theyre going to fill out the lew treasury department, but i expect they will take some care and attention to tending those relationships. But when you look at the big guns on wall street, theyre not going to go in as somebodys number two. John, was jack lew the first and only choice . Thats been the principal focus of speculation from the beginning. I remember having a conversation with roger altman who is a friend of this program and somebody that served in the Clinton Administration about after the election how the president was going to fill out his cabinet. And he said if you look at the pattern that this president has followed, it has tended to pick people close to him who he feels very comfortable with. The criticism of president obama from some is that hes insular and that he has a very close circle. The positive of that is that its a pretty Cohesive Group and he deals with people that hes comfortable with. And jack lew is clearly one of those people. You know, john, i know when you read the New York Times editorialal page you know what youre getting when you read the wall street journals editorialal pages you know what youre getting. But the point is, anyone that is Still Holding out some hope for a clintontype packet more to the center is just becoming clear, more and more clear that that is not what were going to get. The president has ideas about where he wants to take the country and theres no reason, once youre reelected, why he cant put his own people in that will further his goals. But you just read some of the stuff about if you were going to pursue a deal with republicans on tax reform or on pro growth policies, this is not the guy you would pick. If you were going to move more to the center and become more private sector oriented, this is not the guy you would pick. If you wanted to sort of the strides that were made in the first four years in terms of entitlements and what weve seen in terms of raising taxes now, if you want to extend those and entrench those, this is the guy, a foot soldier that you would put in place to do it and its just i guess its not a surprise, but any republican that is disappointed probably hasnt been watching whats been happening for the past several months. Well, a couple points about that. First of all, youre right, this president , i think, having won elections handily in november is feeling a sense of confidence in who he is and the course that hes set and his ability to prevail in that with the american people. Thats one. Second of all, you know, the president is the president regardless of who is around him. And you may remember after he was elected in 2008, some people thought what when he picked Larry Summers to head his National Economic council that that was a clintonesque kind of bill daley. And when tim geithner was picked, having worked closely with hank paulson at the Federal Reserve bank during the crisis, people were comforted by that. They said, well, maybe hes not so liberal. Well, as it happened, Larry Summers was an advocate of more stimulus than others in the administration. So you cant necessarily read that much. Events are going to dictate, i think, whether this president adapts his own view necessary a way that people interpret it as going to the center or not. But for the moment, he knows where he is and where he wants to go. And hes picking somebody who can help them achieve his agenda. You know, the thing you point out, that this is a situation where Business Leaders probably wanted one of their own, they may argue they want somebody in there looking for pro growth policies. But maybe more important is somebody who was very familiar with the Financial Markets. That was somebody that tim geithner created a lot of confidence because he knew the markets so well, knew the underworkings. And when there were big issues, you knew there was somebody who was going to be dealing with that. How do they deal with that when jack lew is the treasury secretary . Well, youre right, becky. Jack lew is somebody who knows the political market took place better than the Financial Markets. He did work at citigroup for a couple of years during the Bush Administration. But hes not deeply rooted in that world. He is a very smart and hard working guy. He did get a significant grounding in international affairs. And he worked with tip oneal and he watched reagan made some grand compromises, too. Oh, yes, he did. Including on the Social Security deal that greenspan, reagan and oneill worked out. He did have grounding in international groupeding issues. So everybody has a point of assets and a set of holes in their resume. And you guys are identifying exactly right. So the things missing from jack lew, which is he is not deeply rooted in business and wall street or Financial Markets or financial regulation, it seems, anyway. John, thank you for this. We look forward to seeing more. Perhaps well have some what . Weve got a thanks, john. The journal, another piece i thought was interesting, just to expand about the aig, you saw the media sneers at the whole idea of it. The government is worried about it because of what it says about the way it happened. And i think david royce will make that case when we talk to him today. In our news, aig announcing it will not join in that suit of the multibillion dollar bailout. The ceo bob ben lachey explains that position. This is the deal the Government Cut and weve been able to pay that back with a profit and were moving forward. But hank is going back saying the shareholders paid way too much for that loan. And the governments response was you wouldnt be here if it wasnt for our loan. Thats the argument and we feel we shouldnt pe part of that. But greenberg is not backing dune and he is being represented by david boies. He will join us live at 8 00 a. M. Eastern. If you read the journal, you can i wouldnt read why the the board of directors was unanimous, though. Right. But if you were a former aig ceo or if you were a former shareholder, you might it will be interesting to see. They are going to continue to pursue the case, it was knocked down in new york and continues on in d. C. But if they win, it will be more interesting. Even gm, which benefited from the government, you can see that theyre chafed at being part of government motors in recent months. And i think aig, these guys would never admit it, but blame the former board directors. Blame the people why arent they suing the company, suing aig instead of they didnt accept it, it was forced upon them. Here is the thing. I read the piece and it is worth reading, everybody out there, if you have an opportunity to read it today. The government negative received the approval of aigs owners to seize the company, which is one of the but they expected to have a shareholder vote on whether or not we want this deal to be made . This is not a democracy. You chase your chances by investing and you may lose everything. If it was a frivolous lat, the government may not be as concerned as it seems to be. It was not thrown out the first time they asked them to throw it out. Well talk to david just because you may have a legal ground doesnt mean that its the right thing to do or that its just. And i think theres a larger question about whats right for the country. And i think when you go back to the fateful days of september 2008 well, we dont know what would have happened. Well, you dont really know what would have happened, but i do remember those days. You remember waking up and i watched you back then and how horrific things felt. And the idea that aig was going to topple up, which it would have and declared bankruptcy, what that would have meant to the markets, what that would have meant to the economy i think is a lot larger. We build the bond that could bring down the economy and youre mad that it costs you money to defuse it. In the meantime, the governments Consumer Watchdog Agency is tightening the mortgage lending rules on banks. The cftb will be forcing banks to verify a boor rowers ability to repay loans. The goal is to ward off the loose lending that helped push the economy into recession. Diana olick sat down with the head of the ftb and she will join us with that conversation coming up at 6 30 eastern. Right now, its time for the Global Markets report. Kelly evans is standing by in london. Kelly, good morning. Becky, good morning. Its been an interesting and exciting session here to some extent. Weve seen the spanish tenyear poke below r5 . This following a spanish auction where in their first big debt aukz of the year, theyre 5. 8 billion euros above their 5 billion target. Here is whats happening across the curve in bond markets in europe. The spanish tenyear, 4. 99 . In italy, 4. 17 . The bund, meanwhile, about 1. 5 . Gilt just over 2 . The interesting point here, guys, is that part of the reason why this is were waiting on the ecbs latest decision. Theyre not going to need to do much more if current Market Conditions prevail. This is a pretty good way for them to start. So that Auction Going well, spanish yields coming into euro. If i can give you a sense of whats happening in other markets, the euro is higher. European equities for the most part as youre looking there are mixed to flat. But here is a look at whats been grabbing our attention. Up. 3 to 1. 31. That i just want to bring your attention to. The all of points down there, youre looking at the dollar yen. Thats the other major story that we continue to follow. 88 was the level breached in trade today as the yen continues to weaken by the dollar by. Is 3 . Well wait to see if we hear anything more specific. If the Central Banks were to cut rates, it would be a major surprise to the markets now. But if anything, this business strength that we see will be continued if the ecb doesnt deliver anything, gives us more of the same. That decision is due out shortly. Well keep an eye out for it. Bank of england is expected to keep rates roughly unchanged. Back to you. Kelly, thank you. It sounds like we have a lot more to come from europe. We will we watching. Googles eric schmidd is on his way home from a controversial visit to north korea. We have a live report right after this. This is america. We dont let frequent heartburn come between us and what we love. So if youre one of them people who gets heartburn and then treats day after day. Block the acid with prilosec otc and dont get heartburn in the first place [ male announcer ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. Zero heartburn. Abecause what you dont know can in tabouhurt you. Ce. What if you didnt know that boxes by the curb. Make you a target for thieves . Or that dog bites account for a third of all home liability claims . What if you didnt know that one in seven drivers is uninsured . And that grease fires have to be smothered . The more you know, the better you can plan for whats ahead. Get smarter about your insurance. We are farmers bum pa dum, bum bum bum bum welcome back, everybody. Right now, dow futures run by about 28 points. Yesterday, the do i finished up by just over 60 points. Now todays National Weather forecast. Reynolds wolf joins us from the weather channel. Reynolds. Hi, guys. Lets get started with whats happening out along the east coast. It should be a fairly quiet day for you. Sunny skies and 45 degrees in new york city. 54 at cape hatteras. Could see some clouds and maybe rain in atlanta before all is said and done. Near record high temperatures for parts of central and south florida. Back out towards the west, the story not so much in terms of rainfall, but rather snow and wind. Major delays expected for tomorrow out towards the west. But in terms of your delays today, not really an issue for you in places like atlanta, georgia, where we expect the clouds to build up. Maybe some rain drops by the afternoon. But, again, no backups expected. Just the opposite for you in chicago and st. Louis. Los angeles. We might even throw in san diego. Could have some moderate delays in the afternoon hours. This is a quick snapshot on your forecast. Lets send it back to you in the studio. Thanks for that. Joe. Andrew, Googles Eric Schmidt and former new mexico governor Bill Richardson are returning from a trip to north korea. Eunice is joining us with highlights. They were going to look at hopefully diminishing the possibility of more missile firings and also access to the internet. I love that. Because those two always go together, i think, dont they . They always go hand in hand. Its all about technology there. Yeah. So for the past several days, Googles Eric Schmidt was basically on a tour of north korea. He and his delegation led by Bill Richardson visited several facilities including a computer lab to get a better sense of how the internet is there. Schmidt determined that it was more open. He told the reporters after leaving beijing this once it starts, citizens the build on this. But the government has to make it possible for people who use the internet which the government in north korea has not done. Its their choice now and time in my view is time now for them to start or they will remain behind. Schmidt says north korean officials seemed receptive to technology exchanges, which is a good things. Former ambassador richardson did agree. He pushed pungon for a moratorium on missile tests and this is after a rocket launch several weeks ago and he was serving for more information on a korean american detainee who he is told is in good health. Richardson said as a private citizen, he was hoping the new leadership could be help to reset relations. The delay wasnt too bad. We visited. Remember, eunice was here. Thats right. Very good. And its good to see you. And have you return to us for squawk box. Well see you. Thank you. Now lets get to the u. S. Economy and the markets. Joining us is chief economist jerry webman at oppenheimer funds. Jerry, you see when you look around, there arent too many tail winds in terms of the macroeconomic picture. Thats not good news. Were looking at slow growth . I think were looking at slow growth. There are some places in the world that growth is picking up. China came out with nebs that were better than we can expected. Some of the emerging markets are better than we expected. But this is not going to away market here driven by macroeconomic excitement. Its going to be driven by companies that are able to figure out how to produce some growth and whats going to be an economic and political environment. Thats going to be the story for 201