good show. all right. back to more mundane matters let's hit the markets. we start with mary thompson here at the big board. good morning, mary. >> reporter: good morning, mark. stocks are set for a higher open on this last trading day of 2009 thanks in part to the jobless data we received earlier this morning. initial claims falling to their lowest level since july of 2008 and continuing claims their lowest levels since february of this year. the dow and the nasdaq begin today at a 2009 high. a year that has been the best year since 2003 not only for the dow and the nasdaq but for the s&p and the russell 2000 as well. we're keeping watch on the dollar today because the dollar index has fallen in light trade. it is much weaker or i should say weaker against the euro. still holding on to gains against the japanese yen where it trades above the 92 level. two stocks we're keeping an eye on, pfizer, the fda extending a review once again of a vaccine for childhood pneumonia and also city national the california-based bank repaying half of the t.a.r.p. money that it borrowed from the government. now let's check on the nasdaq. for that we go to mike huckman. mike? >> reporter: thanks, mary. the nasdaq barely eeked out a win yesterday. it might do the same thing today. you did say this is the biggest percentage gain in six years, up 45% this year by the way. it looks like apple shares will trade higher again today. this time on reports that a google executive in china blogged that the company is planning to ship about 10 million or more of the tablets, the highly anticipated launch of the mini laptop if you will than it's going to charge less than a thousand bucks apiece for those devices. a couple of more end of year factoids, microsoft and new dell component cisco are among the top five dow performers this year. finally a couple small stocks making big moves. the company quixote being taken out for a huge premium. this company makes the rubber crash protection products on the highways. the things that look like big trash cans. biodel is 16% higher premarket because it filed for fda approval of a faster acting diabetic insulin product. pharmas market.cnbc.com. rick santelli in chicago. >> reporter: let's go over some of these employment numbers. i know on the surface they look good. remember a three-day polling period, seasonalitys and holidays making a complete mess of trying to interpret the numbers. what was shown initially on continuing claims on an adjusted basis down 22,000 on an unadjusted basis down 8,000. now if you look at continuing claims, a drop of 57,000 when they're adjusted, a drop of 250,000 unadjusted. but here's the asterisk. emergency claims compensation up 200,000 on the week but the entire week is in question. as far as interest rates, wow. they're zoom, zoom, zooming up right now. whether it's the settlement date for the auction we had or the notion that maybe some of these claims numbers through the murkness of the seasonality will still surface as good numbers but mostly it's probably the last trading day but we're close to 390 on a ten-year note yield. mandy, back to you. >> as much excitement in oil prices right now. let's check what they're doing. we're sitting above $79. quite convincingly now, inching up toward 80 bucks and gaining by 0.7%. john kilduff is a partner with round earth capital and also a cnbc contributor. what's pushing it higher? >> well, mandy, i have to say going to rick's comments there about the employment data, that's very, something we watch very closely down here in the energy pits. very much core lating with gas hinn demand. right now the weather is foremost in our mind. heating oil is going to be up seven days in a row. seven sessions excuse me. why not? with new england's wet winter already being 22% colder than normal, that is the predominant heating oil consumption zone. natural gas also getting a lift today. because of the weather forecast for next week, getting colder as well. and also crude oil, look to see if we can take out 80 bucks a garl. to the upside that has been a formidible resistance level. we'll be watching geo political tensions all day. it's been a great privilege to share in for sharon epperson all week. she'll be back on monday and your team behind the scenes is also first rate. so i'll be here all day so thanks very much for the hospitality. >> thanks, john. well, in asia overnight it was actually pretty thin, the volumes of course, dwindling in the last trading day of the year and the markets in japan and south korea already closed for new year's eve. what you're looking at is the previous close there. the hang seng up by 1.7%. over in europe, let's take a look at the picture there with the ftse 100 in england up by 0.3%. the cac in france sitting flat. to the downside for the xtra dax in germany. down on the floor of the new york stock exchange a man here to remind us how much we hated 2009. gordon charlop and cnbc contributor complete with his decoder ring and the whole nine yards. nice to see you. >> nice to see you, mark. >> we kid but i love gordo. he's different. anyway, we're about to venture into the great unknown of the next year. what's your outlook for the near term? >> mark, i'm so interested in what's going to happen. are we going to see top line growth? it seems like people are out there. you go around to the malls. you look at people talking about, you know, is the consumer spending, some of the revisions of gdp. make you think that it could be okay going into the new year but you got to be somewhat skeptical, too. you look at this week and for example there's just been no volume. the complacency this week has been not like any other i've sneen the 20 years i've been down here in the last week of the year. are these guys just holding on because they don't want to affect their performance? then looking to make a move come the first sign of any bad news at all? i expect this thing to ramp up enough to see some volatility. this could go either way. we've heard different kinds of outlooks ranging from we start to retrace all the way back to what happened in march to we're set to continue forward so -- >> the economy is a mixed bag. the housing report was not too encouraging. it showed stagnation. the jobless claims number today on the other hand shows improvement in the jobs market. >> yeah. that's what it's been about, mark. there's just been nothing, even if you're looking at things with a sort of pessimistic outlook, there's just been nothing out there that's going to haunt you and say, hey. that's the piece of data that i was waiting for and that's the one that's going to prove that i was right that this thing hasn't gotten past a real vital maturation out of the lows. it's been a pleasure working with you this year. i mean that sincerely. >> looking forward to 2010. happy new year. >> thanks. back upstairs to mandy. >> thanks, mark. straight ahead, flash orders, credit rating agencies, accounting standards. money market reform, short sales, whoa. big list of possible headaches for the sec. it's actually growing longer for 2010. we'll find out which ones are topping the agenda for the new year. also, our numbers man is crunching the figures to show you what could be the big stocks in the year ahead. later on in the show, new year's resolutions on risk tolerance and five technologies that will change our lives within the next five years. as you can see a pretty full plate. fithe same tools the pros use, so you can be a disciplined trader. by selecting from eight advanced triggers, your order gets executed, even when you're busy. and with trailing stops to help you lock in profits and minimize risk, you can be confident in your strategy, no matter which way the market moves. find out why more and more active traders are turning to fidelity for a smarter way to trade online. trade like a pro. trade with fidelity. all right. with only one day of trading left in 2009 we are looking at stocks to watch for the next decade. beginning with the first day of trading next week. we have a look at those. good morning. >> good morning, mark. how are you? >> pretty good. >> all right. well, as you know, ten years ago investors were debating between old economy and new economy. well, here we are ten years later and it's clear that the old economy stocks have won. if you look at the average total return of the stocks in the s&p 500 buy sector, clearly, energy at 690% total return on average, health care, industrials, materials, utilities, those have been the stocks that have outperformed. so what i wanted to do is say if the themes that have carried these forward in this decade will continue into next decade, energies clearly an issue with $80 oil, health care obviously is something we've been talking about. infrastructure is on the agenda. what's going to carry us forward? what are the stocks to watch in 2010 and beyond? so what i did was a stock screen where i was looking for companies that have out performed their peers in the last two years that have dividend returns above average and have analyst expectations of earnings growth of double digit earnings for 10% or more for the next three years and here are the five stocks that i found. which i am waiting for them to come up. but the first stock, next screen please, the first stock that came up was eqt corp, a natural gas company based in pittsburgh. it's got a 2% dividend yield and a 33% earnings growth for next year. the next stock that came up was praxair, 2% dividend yield. third is csx, rail company, 1.8% dividend yield. 15% growth for next year. united technologies, an industrial company, illinois tool works also was over 2% dividend yields and earnings growth of over 10% for next year. illinois's tool works with 50%. so some stocks to watch in the next few years and hopefully everybody will have a happy new year. >> we certainly are hoping. thank you. >> thank you. to flash orders the sec discovered a great many things to worry about in 2009. how is it stacking up for january of 2010? good question. hampton pearson in washington with more. >> reporter: good morning. for the securities and exchange commission the 2010 agenda is all about regaining credibility, with wall street and main street, as the investor cop on the beat after having missed the bernie madoff ponzi scheme. in 2009, mary shapiro and her fellow commissioners launched a number of major initiatives in the aftermath of the madoff nightmare and the worst financial crisis since the great depression but translating those proposals into rule making with teeth will be the real test next year. greater transparency is a common theme on a list that includes requiring credit rating agencies to file more reports on possible conflicts of interest as well as proposed rules on rate shopping. there are three short sale proposals on the table but the commission seems to be leaning toward a plan that would make it easier to monitor bid sequencing based on a national best bid model. shedding light on dark pools. those private trading systems where participants make trades without the public seeing the quotes. money market reform including setting a standard for what percentage of a portfolio should be in liquid assets and monthly reports to the sec. work will also continue on international accounting standards with much of the focus on a convergence toward 2014. now as congress moves toward financial regulatory reform a primary focus for the sec will be its role in regulating the multitrillion dollar derivatives market. the house bill gives that authority to the agency and also doubles its budget. senate democrats and the banking committee want to do likewise but monitoring of trading platforms would be shared with the cftc. mark? >> sounds like a good old fashioned turf battle, ham please. >> you got it. >> thank you sir. >> happy new year. let's check once again. they've dropped a little bit and they have closed the globex. that's the electronics system. they trade the s&p 500. it's called globe x closes for 15 minutes. i don't know why. the others continue to trade. the dow is as you can see pretty flat but fair value. also the nasdaq just slightly positive. >> not exactly what you call a scintillating start for a trading day. not going to be a rousing day. >> did you know that the day before a holiday. >> yeah? >> up 80% of the time historically. >> is that so? >> yeah. >> okay. we could finish with i wouldn't say a bang but possibly historically speaking a gain yep. >> okay. well if you are returning unwanted holiday gifts, actually the chinese are buying up unwanted american companies. will the weak dollar accelerate that situation? we'll try and dig a little deeper. this is "squawk on the street." 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(announcer) we understand. you need to save money. fedex welcome back to "squawk on the street." i'm betty davis with the weather channel. we are watching a new system crash into the west coast on this new year's eve. in the meantime we've got a storm system working over the northeast. snow spreading out from pennsylvania into new york city. it won't stay snow. we'll have rain mixing in around new york city. bottom line, you need the rain gear as you make your way out toward times square tonight to watch the big ball drop here. some unsettled weather. probably a dry forecast around the midnight hour for atlanta if you're going to be in town watching the peach drop. kansas city 11 degrees. clear skies at the midnight hour here. we are bundling up. check out the west. we've got messy weather here between seattle and portland. not so great for fireworks along the west coast. at least the northwest. happy new year everyone. back to you. >> thank you, betty. as we count down to the opening bell, check on the futures for you. as you can see we are maybe plus ten over fair value on the dow-jones. maybe a point on the nasdaq. a point or two on the s&p. slight upward movement. >> a lot of people already off on holiday and perhaps already mentally switched off. nonetheless, let's find out what is going to be happening on the last trading day of the year. in minneapolis today, phil dow managing director of equity strategy at ibc world management joins us now. phil, good to have you with us. good someone is still working. >> thank you. >> what are we watching today in the markets? >> well, the main headline news today was the jobless claims number which came in lower than expected and the futures took off. i think it's possibly a hash injer that maybe we'll see a little better employment numbers as the year wears on. >> positively positive employment numbers or would that be too far a stretch? >> well, you got people smarter than me thinking possibly you could see an increase in actual jobs sometime in the january/february period. i don't know. i'm not an economist. trends are telling me that the situation is thawing out somewhat. people should recognize it's going to be relatively tepid job gains. probably unemployment rates won't come down dramatically but by and large i think it sets up the year for a positive return in stocks just because people are so scared of the stock market and worried about an economic recovery when in reality it looks like the economy will be getting better. >> what's your guesstimate on total return for equity investments in 2010? >> well, you know, i don't know nor does anyone else but my official prediction in year on the s&p's 1300 mark so that's about a 15% move up this year. ironically i think lower risk stocks, the blue chips can actually outperform that this year and could give you a total return of 17% to 20%. >> i'd take that in a heart beat, 17% to 20%. >> yeah. i hope i'm right. i just don't know. >> where do you expect to see the strength? >> well, if you look at this rally we've had this year a lot of people think it's over done. i think it's basically a repair job on the damage done by the forced margin selling in march of this year. we're back to kind of fair value. if you look at earnings, i think that's an important guide post to focus on. in april of this year earnings for 2010 were around 56 bucks, now almost 78. so you've had a dramatic increase in earnings expectations. at that level you have a pretty fair 14.5 multiple on the market on forward earnings and i think the market is fairly priced. inside that framework quality companies trade at a discount to that valuation so i think there is a real opportunity for people that missed the market to buy quality right now. >> all right. thank you very much, sir. >> thank you, mark. happy new year. >> happy new year to you, too. >> talking of potentially missing low lying fruit. did you know dow up 60% since the march low, 20% over the year. big gains. final countdown to the opening bell. these are the building blocks of a perfect girls' weekend. it all starts with having more hotels to choose from. that's why i book with expedia. so i can find someplace familiar... or somewhere more distinctive... nice! then i can compare dates to find out when i can save the most cash. done and done. we should do this more often. more choices, more savings. where you book matters. expedia. ♪ dot com bull market or bear, traders are always hungry for ideas. trading is all about strategy. and strategy... is all about information. heat mapping shows me where the money's moving. twenty five hundred stocks... one quick look. that's where the action is. plus, this amazing gadget... it's called the telephone. i can call td ameritrade anytime and talk trades, strategy... anything. td ameritrade. built by traders, for traders. this is what i need. announcer: trade commission free for 30 days, plus get 100 dollars cash, when you open an account. you are watching cnbc "squawk on the street" live from the financial capital of the world. the opening bell is going to ring in a little less than two and a half minutes. here are some headlines. marvell shareholders just approved a disney takeover. more on that coming up. also in the headlines at this hour, jobless claims 22,000 lower than a month ago. the lowest level since july of 2008. aig's vice chair for legal human resources, corporate affairs, and corporate communications anastasia kelly has quit claiming president obama's curb on executive pay. futures up slightly indicating a modestly higher open. >> we are of course counting down to that opening bell. let's get some headlines now. larry is president of secrets in traders.com. what are you watching today? >> it should be interesting. obviously the s&ps are sitting on yearly highs. we got a pretty decent number this morning on jobless claims. obviously some seasonality to that so you only take so much into it but i think we'll probably do more of what we see pretty much the whole week, move up on whole volume. though it's the last day of the year you may be expecting fireworks later. i don't think we'll see much. as most traders have probably said on air i think most of this has been done so a little gradual move up on very low volume just like most of the week and the last several weeks. >> obviously when there's low volume sometimes it creates good tradin